Ukitake woke up considerably late the next morning, which wasn't surprising since he'd had a pretty busy day, and was up half through the night finishing his paperwork. After seeing that everything in the squad was in order, Ukitake took Shiro chan with him on their daily stroll.
Without a specific destination in mind, the 13th Squad Captain walked on, wondering if Shiro chan would be able to balance on top of his head while he walked. To satisfy his curiosity, Ukitake lifted the little kitten up, and placed it on his white hair. Quite puzzled but content, Shiro chan looked around as Ukitake continued to walk, with the kitten on his head.
It was when Ukitake saw a recently opened sweet shop that he realized that he was rather hungry, beside the fact that he'd had a late breakfast before he set off. Being the candy-lover he was, he walked towards the sweet shop, and started wondering what he should order.
"Ukitake Taichou?" he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned towards it to see the 9th Squad Fukutachou, Hisagi Shuuhei, laden with a dozen plates piled with sweets.
"Ah, Hisagi san, what are you doing here?" Ukitake asked.
"Um, the Shinigami Women's Association is currently having a meeting here, and Rangiku san asked me if I would be so kind as to… help them out." Hisagi said, in a rather tired tone.
"Is that so? That's very kind of you, Hisagi san," Ukitake smiled at him warmly. At that moment, Shiro chan meowed , and the Fukutaichou's eyes went up to Ukitake's head.
"Ukitake Taichou! WHAT IS ON YOUR HEAD?" Shuuhei said, alarmed. He took a step back, unfortunately tripping on his own feet, and, plates and all, he fell on his rear. The sound of plates shattering resounded rather noisily, and Ukitake could hear several people running towards them even as he winced when Shiro chan leapt to her master's arms in shock.
"Oooh~ Ukki is here!" Yachiru's voice sang.
"Ukitake Taichou! Why are you here? Is something wrong? I KNEW that idiot Kotsubaki cannot handle on his own for one minute!" Kiyone yelled.
"Are you alright, Hisagi Fukutaichou?" Nanao adjusted her glasses.
"Aaah, all those sweets gone to waste…" Rangiku moaned.
"I… It's a cat?" Hisagi finally realized.
"Yoruichi Sama? Where?" That was Soifon Taichou, ofcourse.
"I'm so sorry, Hisagi san. I did not know that little Shiro chan would surprise you," Ukitake said, as he helped him up.
"Shiro chan…? UkitakeTaichou, is that your pet?" Hisagi eyed the cat, curiously.
"That's right, Hisagi san. I can see that this is quite the hot topic in Seireitei these days?" Ukitake laughed warmly.
"Yes, I guess you could say that. Infact, some of the reporters of Seireitei Monthly News wanted to do a report on that." Hisagi grinned.
"Oh, did they? I'd be glad to have an interview with you, then." Ukitake said to the Editor-In-Chief of the magazine.
"Thank you, Sir. Would you like to come in right now?" Hisagi asked.
"Of course, I'm quite free right now." Ukitake said.
"Whaat? Hisa-Hisa, you're running away?" Yachiru squealed.
"But Shuuhei, you said you're going to help us out…" Rangiku whined.
"Rangiku san…" Hisagi looked torn from wanting to get some information for the magazine, and to 'bond' with the 10th Squad Fukutaichou.
"Hey, why don't we go with them? We can get some take-outs, and go with Ukitake Taichou so that we can also gather some data…" She turned to the women, and whispered, "and use them for our fundraising somehow…"
"That sounds good. Lead the way, Hisagi Shuuhei." Soifon demanded.
"Uh… I don't think it will be a good idea to observe during an interview…" Hisagi insisted.
"Awww… C'mon, Shuuhei. For me?" Rangiku cooed, and bent over somewhat. Hisagi's eyes instantly travelled down her neck, and blushing, he said awkwardly, "Well, if you insist, Rangiku san…" Almost robotically, he turned, and started walking.
"Ah, but we should have take-outs, right? Why don't you take care of it for us, Shuuhei?" Rangiku winked.
"R…Right, Rangiku san!" Hisagi flashed her a pained grin, as Ukitake and Shiro chan watched on, quite amused.
***OoO***
After a photoshoot of Ukitake with Shiro chan, he was led to an interview room by a rather intimidated Shuuhei, being followed each step by all the members of the SWA. Halfway through, someone had actually been stupid enough to give Yachiru a lollipop, and right now the little Fukutaichou was bouncing around the place, high on sugar.
"Kusajishi Fukutaichou! Please behave yourself!" Isane said, taking her down from a high shelf she had managed to climb, and was unable to come down since there was only one person who was tall enough to reach.
"Hey hey Ukki! Are you done already? Hey, can we go out to play with Shiro chan? Like we did yesterday? It was so fun! C'mon Ukki!" Yachiru clung on to Ukitake's haori.
He sighed and put a hand on his forehead. Really, he might have somehow gotten through the last time, but he knew he could not handle a Yachiru high on sugar.
"Okay, Yachiru Fukutaichou. You may play with Shiro chan. Why don't all of you ladies go outside to play with Shiro chan? Here, Yachiru san. Take care of Shiro, okay? I'll join you after the interview." Ukitake handed the little kitten to her. With a squeal of joy, the hyper girl ran out with the rest of the SWA in tow.
Ukitake sighed. "Now we can continue in peace, hopefully…" he said. However, deep inside, he was having second thoughts on whether it was safe to leave his precious kitten with the 11th Squad Fukutaichou.