I UPDATED! I'm really sorry it took so long, I've been so busy for the past couple of months. Going back to college, tons of coursework, going to uni open days and applying to universities, chronic illness flare ups, etc. I really wish I could've updated sooner, but unfortunately real life has to come first.

Anyway! This chapter is basically a follow on from the last, seeing as people asked for a sequel (and I wanted to write a sequel) so yeah. But this kinda works as a stand alone piece as well. I hope you like it, and I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting.

SUMMARY: Momo watched Karin leave before turning back to Rangiku. "Ok, so how are we going to get them together?" Sequel to chapter 19. AU.

Chapter 20: Night

"Good god what on earth are you two planning?"

Rangiku turned round to face Karin. "Oh, nothing important!"

Karin arched an eyebrow. Working in the tenth squad for three months was long enough to know that Rangiku was clearly lying. Karin's first assumption was that Rangiku was planning some sort of party (her Captain had warned her to look out for such behaviour), but she doubted Momo would plan one with her. Still, she figured she should check. "You're not planning some office party are you?"

Rangiku grinned. "For once, no."

"Then...What?"

"You'll find out. If you don't, then I'll come clean one day. Maybe on your wedding day."

Momo couldn't stop the grin from spreading on her face. Karin stared at the two older shinigami before rolling her eyes and walking away, going back to her office, mumbling something about superior officers doing less work than lower ranking shinigami for more pay.

Momo watched Karin leave before turning back to Rangiku. "Ok, so how are we going to get them together?"

"I suppose I could actually throw an office party."

"What good would that do? They both hate that sort of thing."

Rangiku smirked. "Exactly. Those two will end up in a corner, or outside in the garden, hopefully together. They'd start talking and maybe things will work out."

"That's leaving an awful lot to chance. They might just talk about work or other boring topics, not about each other. Besides they could both just decide to leave the party."

Rangiku shrugged. "In my experience I have found alcohol works wonderfully as a catalyst for personal conversations. And if they do both leave, they'll be the only ones coming in to work the next day, so they'll be together alone then."

Momo sighed. She doubted this would have any sort of immediate effect, but then thinking about it, both Tōshirō and Karin were stubborn people, so spending one night together wasn't going to magically make them a couple. "I suppose it could be a first stepping stone to them getting together. But I think we need to be more meticulous. We can't leave so much to chance. And if it doesn't work I get to think of the next plan."

"Deal."

XxXxXxX

Tōshirō stopped suddenly. He had been making his way back from another squad, but something was off. He started walking instead of shunpoing to his division, a little apprehensive. There was more reiatsu in the area than usual. He could sense Karin, in her office, Rangiku, who was in his, but there was a good dozen also with her that he wasn't as familiar with. Tōshirō clenched his fists. Over the years he and his Vice-Captain had come to some sort of agreement. She would only host parties in the division if she didn't do it on weekdays, and as long as she cleared up afterwards. It was a Monday. It was four o'clock in the afternoon on a Monday. Whatever had possessed her to do this he didn't know, but he sure as hell knew he was going to put a stop to it.

He made his way to his office, making a point of slamming the door behind him. "Matsumoto!"

Said Vice-Captain bounced over to him, as if she wasn't throwing a party in his office at a completely inappropriate time. "What's up Captain?"

Tōshirō stared at her incredulously. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Throwing a party."

Tōshirō gritted his teeth. He may not have been as quick to anger as he was in his adolescent years, but he was still struggling to control himself. "It's four o'clock in the afternoon!"

"Is it? It's getting dark out."

"That's because it's December! That doesn't mean it's late! It's still office hours! I should be working! And so should you!"

"Oh come on Captain! It's Friday, loosen up a little."

Tōshirō's anger quickly changed to concern. "Matsumoto, it's Monday."

"Rangiku eyes widened. "It is?" She sighed as she sat down on one of the office sofas, staring blankly ahead. "That's not good."

Tōshirō sighed. Rangiku only ever got like this when she drunk non-stop for days, which she only ever did when something bad happened. "Just...Don't worry about it. But make sure you clean up. I'll go work somewhere else." He started walking to his desk before turning round again. "And make sure you drink lots of water, or eat a lot of bread, something like that, yeah?"

Rangiku nodded and watched her Captain walk to his desk, to walk back again.

"Where's my paperwork?"

"Oh I put it in Karin's office! She didn't want to join in, so I figured she'd keep it safe."

Tōshirō sighed and nodded before making his way to the door. Momo waited for the door to close behind him and made her way over to Rangiku. "How did it go?"

Rangiku smiled slyly. "Perfect. He bought everything, and he's going down to her office now."

"I'm still not sure I'm comfortable manipulating him like this."

"What's done is done, besides, if everything goes well, he'll be thanking me for it."

XxXxXxX

Tōshirō made the one minute walk down to his third seat's office. He knocked and waited a while, receiving no answer. He tried knocking louder, assuming the noise from the party made it hard for Karin to hear.

"Come in!"

Tōshirō walked into the small room, closing the door behind him out of habit. "Hey, Matsumoto said she left my paperwork in here?"

Karin tilted her head to the side. "Did she?"

Tōshirō bit back a groan. He didn't know what he would do if Rangiku had lost a wad of his paperwork. "Yeah. She said something about how you didn't want to come to the party, so she thought you'd look after it."

Karin nodded, more to herself than anything. "Yeah, she asked me about the party around two. Then I went to go visit my sister in the fourth for an hour and half. By the time I came back she had already started. She didn't give it to me in person, but that doesn't mean it's not in the office. Give me a minute."

Karin got up from her chair and started looking round the room, trying to figure out where Rangiku would put the paperwork. It certainly wasn't with hers, she knew that much. She checked a couple of bookshelves, coming up short each time. Tōshirō, not really being able to look with her as he didn't know the layout of her office, found himself standing in the middle of the room doing nothing. Feeling awkward, he tried starting a conversation. "Why was your sister in the fourth?"

"Hmm? Oh, she just had a baby."

"Oh really?" Children were something of a rarity in Soul Society. "I wish her congratulations."

Karin smiled at him. "I'll be sure to tell her. I'm pretty excited to be an aunt, but my dad's started bugging me because of it."

"Bugging you? How?"

Karin rolled her eyes as she squatted down to check another one of her bookcases. "He keeps nagging me to have kids now as well."

"Do you not want children?"

"It's not that. It's just, I'm not in a position to be even thinking about that. I mean I could do with a guy first, for a start. Ah! Here it is."

Karin rose from her position on the floor, handing the paperwork to Tōshirō. "Thanks. Now I just have to find a place to actually fill it out."

Karin shrugged. "Do it here? There's enough room on the desk."

Tōshirō looked at Karin for a moment. "Oh, I wouldn't want to disturb you."

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded. It's fine, honestly."

Toshiro thought for a moment. He felt comfortable enough with Karin to work on the same desk as her, plus it was a lot easier than going somewhere else. As he settled himself on one side of the desk, Karin turned the lights on. "I've been alive for decades and I still find it weird how early it gets dark in the winter." She pulled the curtains across the window, hoping to keep the heat in the office. "Then again I've always preferred night." Tōshirō watched as she sat down opposite him, trying to ignore the fact that he noticed how close they were. The two of them worked in silence for a few minutes, before Tōshirō spoke again. "Your sister whose just given birth, she's your twin sister isn't she?"

Karin answered without looking up from her paperwork. "Yep."

"And she's already married with a child?"

"Yep."

"Isn't she a bit young?" Karin raised an eyebrow, causing Tōshirō to feel a little embarrassed. He hadn't really thought about what he said until he had said it. "It's just, I know your age, and it's very rare for a shinigami that age to marry. Let alone have children."

Karin shrugged. "Yeah I know. But she was so sure that they were perfect for each other. Still is. I suppose everything just fell into place for her or something like that."

"I guess she's lucky then."

Karin finally looked up. "You wanna get married?"

Tōshirō stared at Karin. He wasn't sure he was should have this discussion with her of all people, but talking with her came so naturally, and besides, if anybody was going to understand, it was her. "I don't know. Some days I do, some days I don't." Karin leaned back into her chair, listening carefully. "It's just...I like the idea of having a partner, someone to come home to, someone to look after and someone to look after you, but if anything happened to them I would struggle with it."

"Surely that's the same for everyone though."

"To some extent sure. But...I'm a Captain. I'm a Captain and if something happened to them it would mess me up a lot. I'm responsible for hundreds of division members. I'd feel..."

"Like a failure?"

"Something like that."

Karin shrugged. "My brother went through that. Actually he and his wife struggled a bit in the first few years of their marriage because of it. He'd never feel comfortable letting her go on the battlefield, and she took it the wrong way." Tōshirō nodded, knowing full well who she was talking about. "Maybe you just gotta find someone who can take care of themselves. I mean that feeling won't go away, but if you know they're strong, then it's less troublesome. I'd also recommend finding someone you're comfortable talking about this with, so they know what's going on."

Tōshirō nodded, trying desperately to ignore the voice in the back of his head that was promptly informing him that he felt comfortable enough with Karin to talk to about this. "If only it were that easy."

"Oh come on. You're a Captain. And you're not exactly bad looking either, you're telling me you can't find a girl?"

"Yeah, because I'm a Captain. I'm too busy to go out trying to meet women. Besides, a lot of people are intimidated by me."

"Huh. Maybe it's a Shiba thing then, being attracted to power."

Tōshirō couldn't stop himself from laughing. All of the partners the Shibas had ended up with were powerful, in one way or another. He wouldn't be surprised if it was a Shiba thing. Karin continued talking. "Probably a good thing though. You'd never be left alone otherwise."

Tōshirō leaned back in his chair, work left abandoned. "What makes you say that?"

Karin stared at him. "Have you ever looked in a mirror?" Tōshirō just stared back at her, confused. Karin rolled her eyes. "Jeez, no wonder you haven't got a girlfriend. That was my not so subtle way of telling you you're hot, Captain prodigy."

Tōshirō blinked. That was...bold, to say the least. And he had absolutely no idea how to react. He was at war with himself. One side, the intelligent side, told him to ignore it. She was his subordinate, it wasn't appropriate. At all. The other side was telling him that the fact that it was inappropriate just made the whole situation better. It was one extreme or the other. He knew exactly which side to go with, but the fact that he had been attracted to this woman for weeks now wasn't making it easy.

Karin laughed at his reaction. "Have you ever been hit on before?"

"...Can't say that I have."

"Oh good, that way you can't tell how bad my pick up lines are."

Tōshirō bit back a smile. "Have you ever gotten anywhere with bad pick up lines?"

"You're my first victim, so I don't know yet. But hopefully I'll find out soon enough." Both of Tōshirō's eyebrows went up. "So Captain, you're always talking about how I make your day, how about I make your night as well?"

Tōshirō laughed slightly before looking away, slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. "That was bad." Karin grinned as she watched him, prompting Tōshirō to speak again. "I couldn't though. We couldn't."

Karin pouted. "You just said that you like the idea of having a partner."

"Yeah, but we couldn't. You're my subordinate. You're underneath me."

"No Captain, the problem here is that I'm not underneath you."

Tōshirō blushed darker. "But seriously. It's inappropriate."

Karin shrugged. "Yeah, that's how I felt about it too until I realised something the other week." Tōshirō gestured for her to continue. "You're a Captain. By definition, anybody who isn't the same rank as you is your subordinate."

She had a point there. "Yes but...Well, it wouldn't be as bad if you weren't in my squad."

"If I weren't in your squad, you never would've met me. You never actually go out. And besides, it's not like I would expect you to treat me any different in the workplace. Although if it got too difficult I suppose I could always transfer out."

"Don't do that, I don't think the squad has ever run so smoothly without you."

Karin smiled at him. "Thank you. But seriously Captain, you want me in your squad, and you want me in your life, and the only thing that seems to be stopping you from having both is your ethics, which I would argue, are flawed. Unless you date a Captain, anybody you date is gonna be underneath you. And it's not like I'm doing this to get special treatment, nor are you using your rank to try and take advantage of me. What's the problem?"

Toshiro tried hard to think of an argument, he really did. He knew that he shouldn't let this happen. He was the Captain here, wasn't it his responsibility to make sure that this didn't happen? And yet, somehow, ten minutes later, he still ended up pulling her into his lap, kissing her until she couldn't breathe.

It was hard to be guilty when all he could feel was her rubbing up against him.

EXTRA:

"I should probably go check on Matsumoto."

"How come?"

"I'm pretty sure she's been drunk for a while."

"She can't be that bad, she was completely sober when she talked to me about the party in the afternoon."

"What?"

"She wasn't drunk when she came to talk to me. Unless she can get unbelievably drunk in the space of three hours, I think she's fine."

Tōshirō stared in front of him as he put the pieces together. "MATSUMOTO!"

XxXxXxX

(Sorry, I think I'm funny when I'm not). I reckon Karin's the kind of person who would try her hardest to get what she wants, even if it means flirting outrageously with the boss. You know it's funny, I wrote this because I felt like the previous chapter was unfinished, but I think I have the same problem here too. I could probably write a whole series just based on this, but what can you do. Anyway, the next chapter prompt is 'Purr', which should prove interesting to write. I hope you look forward to it! :)