Author's note: Hey! I hope you guys all had a nice Christmas and New Years! :P I decided that the winner of each chapter will be the group least annoyed at the end of said chapter. (:

Er, for those of you who don't know (but sure everyone will!), hide and seek tag is just like normal hide and seek, but you have to tag the person you just found. If they get away without being tagged, then they can re-hide, and will have to be re-found. That's how I use to play it, anyways! (:

Thanks SO much for all of your reviews! Hehe. Please continue to do so!~

~ One Hundred Ways to Make Captain Hitsugaya Throw a Temper Tantrum. ~
~Chapter 15~

Number Fourteen.
Play 'Hide and Seek Tag' in his house.

"Hide and Seek Tag! Yay!" Yachiru chirped, bouncing up and down on Kenpachi's shoulder. "Can I be 'it' first?"

"Sure, Vice Captain." Yumichika assured her.

"When are we gonna 'play'?" Ikkaku asked.

"Well, I was thinking tonight." Rangiku answered.

"Tonight? I'll be asleep." Shunsui commented lazily.

"It's okay if you don't want to be a part of this one." Rangiku said.

"Right." Shunsui said, yawning.

"How do you play?" Shūhei asked.

Everyone stared at him.

"What? I never played it as a child." Shūhei said, holding his hands up defensively.

"What kind of childhood did you have?" Rangiku wailed dramatically.

"It was fine, actually. We-" Shūhei started to say, but was cut off by Rangiku's hand patting his head.

"Don't worry, Hisagi! We'll teach you the art of 'Hide and Seek Tag'!" she said enthusiastically.

After thoroughly checking his house for stray Lieutenants, wandering Captains, lost seated officers, and/or Ichigo, Tōshiro managed to drift off to sleep.

He had only been asleep for an hour or two, when he felt something climbing into his bed.

He shot upright, his turquoise eyes wide with fear.

"Who's there?" He demanded into the dark, his voice shaking with fear.

I thought I'd locked my doors… and windows…

"Shaddap! You'll give the game away, Shiro-chan." Came the masculine, tough-sounding voice.

It was Kenpachi.

Automatically, Tōshiro recoiled, and pressed himself up against his bed frame.

Wah!

O-Of course. I should have known that it would be someone from Matsumoto's group.

"What the hell do you think-" Tōshiro started to say, but was silenced by a strong hand clamped over his mouth.

"Be a good kid, and keep your mouth shut. I don't want Yachiru to find me." Kenpachi hissed, pulling Tōshiro's dark blue blanket over his head.

His spiky hair was visible through said blanket.

Why me…?

What have I done to be punished by having Matsumoto as my Lieutenant…?

"Lie down." Kenpachi instructed. "Try to act natural."

It's hard to 'act natural' when you have a massive, scary brute hiding under your blankets with you.

But Tōshiro didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he lay down awkwardly, and squeezed his eyes shut.

It's all just a dream.

A really bad dream…

A few minutes later, Tōshiro heard small feet padding around outside his door.

He resisted the urge to yell 'Kenpachi's here!', because, although shouting would get rid of his Kenpachi problem, he would receive a punch in the shoulder by said Captain, and would also be greeted by the sight of Yachiru, which wasn't something he wanted.

So Tōshiro was silent.

But it didn't make any difference, as Yachiru pulled open the door, and immediately flicked on the light.

My eyes!

Tōshiro blinked, his eyes slowly adjusting to the brightness of the room.

Yachiru immediately raced over to Tōshiro, and pulled his blanket off the bed, revealing a grinning Kenpachi.

The pink haired girl reached out, and slapped Kenpachi's arm.

"Tag! Gotcha, Ken-chan!" she said, beaming.

Tōshiro rolled his eyes.

"MATSUMOTO!" he yelled.

There was a bang, a crash, a high-pitched squeal, and then both Rangiku and Shūhei emerged from Tōshiro's wardrobe.

They were in there the whole time…?

"You wanna play, Captain?" Rangiku asked innocently.

"No. I want you to get out of my house." Tōshiro said coolly.

"Aw! You're no fun!" Rangiku whined, flinging an arm around Shūhei. "We're teaching Hisagi how to play!"

Tōshiro simply stared at Rangiku, a slightly sceptical look on his face.

"Go and teach Lieutenant Hisagi the art of 'Hide and Seek'-"

"Hide and Seek Tag." Yachiru interrupted.

Tōshiro ignored her.

"-somewhere else." He instructed.

"But…"

"Now." Tōshiro said firmly.

By now, the entire group of 'hiders' had gathered around Tōshiro's bed.

Zaraki, Yachiru, Hisagi, Abarai, Kurosaki, Madarame, Ayasegawa, Matsumoto, and… Momo.

They're all freaking here.

"Leave, now." Tōshiro said, reaching for his Zanpakutō.

Rangiku smiled, and grabbed the arms of Shūhei and Yumichika.

"Let's go."

And with that, the entire group trooped out of Tōshiro's bedroom.

What are they up to now?

After an hour of not being able to sleep, Tōshiro finally managed to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

"He's asleep." Rangiku, who had been in charge of monitoring Tōshiro's every movement, announced. "Who wants to be 'it' now?"

"I'll do it." Ichigo said, lazily raising an arm.

"Okay! Count to… one hundred and forty nine then." Rangiku decided, as she dashed off to hide somewhere.

"One… two… three... four… five…"

…

"…one hundred and forty seven… one hundred and forty eight… one hundred and forty nine!" Ichigo hissed to himself. "Ready or not, here I come!"

He dashed off into the living room on his left, and started examining all of the possible hiding places.

Hm.

After thoroughly checking the room with the aid of the torch Renji had brought, (and completely missing Ikkaku who was hiding under a low coffee table), Ichigo stalked out of the living room.

Rangiku-san told me to check Tōshiro's room last, so that I didn't wake him up before we finished the game…

So, where should I check..?

Ichigo made his way into the bathroom, and immediately noticed Yumichika in front of the mirror.

"Er, tag." Ichigo said, placing a hand on Yumichika's shoulder. "…Why were you not hiding?"

"One of my feathers wasn't straight. It wasn't very beautiful." Yumichika commented.

"Alright." Ichigo shrugged. "Let's go and find the others."

"Found you, Yachiru." Ichigo announced, right outside Tōshiro's bedroom. He didn't get a chance to tag her, however, as she squealed, and immediately started running.

Because she was the last one to be found, every member of the group started chasing her.

"We're gonna wake him up." Ikkaku yelled to Rangiku.

"That'll annoy him!" Rangiku grinned, and narrowly missed tripping over a stray coat stand.

The group continued in their pursuit of Yachiru all around Tōshiro's house.

As they passed Tōshiro's bedroom for the third time, Yachiru looked back behind her, and giggled as she realised just how close Ichigo was to catching her.

"Bakudō Number Sixty One. Six Rods Prison of Light." Came Tōshiro's cold voice.

Rangiku shrieked as Ichigo was trapped in the six light rods, therefore stopping him from moving.

"I remember asking you to leave my house." Tōshiro said, narrowing his turquoise eyes at the group.

Kenpachi guffawed.

"Shiro-chan! We were only playing!" Yachiru said crossly, folding her thin arms.

"Yes, but you shouldn't be playing in my house." Tōshiro said evenly, not wanting to upset the pink haired Lieutenant.

"Aw!" she frowned at Tōshiro.

Silence.

"…Captain, are you gonna let Ichigo go if we leave?" Rangiku enquired, pitying the Substitute Shinigami.

"…If you make sure that you don't come back." Tōshiro said.

"Fi-ine." Rangiku scowled, and made her way to the door.

The following morning, Tōshiro went to the Sixth Squad Barracks.

He knocked on Byakuya's door, and waited for the reply.

"Enter."

Tōshiro strode inside, and stopped in front of Byakuya's desk.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by the Kuchiki Noble.

"I heard about my Lieutenant's misconduct last night."

Tōshiro exhaled. "Oh."

"He is currently finishing my paperwork, as a punishment." Byakuya said.

"So is Matsumoto. But… I want to do something to annoy them." Tōshiro said, frowning. "Well, I say 'them', but I think we should target only Matsumoto and Abarai."

"I agree. But, what did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking… we could make them temporarily deaf." Tōshiro started.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"You know. We could get something from Captain Kurotsuchi."

"And how will that be of benefit to us?" Byakuya asked.

"Erm, it'll annoy them…?" Tōshiro said. He meant to make his sentence sound like a statement, but it came out sounding like a question.

So, Tōshiro was a little surprised when Byakuya sighed slightly, and said: "If you think it'll infuriate them, then I'll help you."

Tōshiro nodded his head. "Thank you, Captain Kuchiki."

Rangiku was sitting at her desk, doing paperwork (surprisingly), when Byakuya knocked on the door to her shared office with Tōshiro.

"Come in." Tōshiro said.

Both Byakuya and Renji stepped inside.

Renji was complaining to his Captain. "Why did ya drag me over here…?"

"Enough, Abarai." Byakuya said harshly.

"What brings you here?" Tōshiro asked, pretending as though he didn't know.

"I thought that you and your Lieutenant might like to try this tea." Byakuya said.

Rangiku's eyes widened.

Captain Kuchiki is… acting host?

Hm. I didn't realise that he was so friendly.

"Yes, please." Rangiku said, smiling at Renji.

"I could'a jus' had mine at the office." Renji grumbled, sitting on the edge of Rangiku's desk. "You didn't need to drag me here."

Byakuya ignored his Vice Captain's ramblings, and handed out the tea.

After Rangiku and Renji had had a sip or two, Tōshiro started smirking.

"What's so funny?" Rangiku asked.

Tōshiro said something, but Rangiku couldn't hear him clearly.

"What was that?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ears in a futile attempt to hear him better.

Tōshiro mouthed the same words, and gestured to the tea.

"I can't hear you!" she wailed.

I can't hear me either.

She also couldn't hear the sounds of the Tenth Squad training, the birds chirping, or the sound of paper blowing in the wind.

And then she realised what was happening.

They've… made me deaf…!

And for some unexplainable reason, Rangiku found it extremely funny.

Aw! He's finally joining in!

"Renji can you hear me?" Rangiku screeched, glaring at her Captain.

She wasn't going to let her Captain know that she was amused.

Silence.

Renji didn't react. He was too busy inspecting the tea, his eyes narrowed.

I'll take that as a no…

Tōshiro smirked, and grabbed a bit of paper. He scribbled on it for a second, before shoving it in Rangiku's face.

'I wished for silence last night. Now I'll watch you enjoying the silence I wish I'd had. You can thank me later.' – it read.

Rangiku scowled.

Darn. He's so mean!

Tōshiro passed her another piece of paper.

'I'm such a nice Captain.' – it read.

Rangiku looked up at Byakuya, who was also writing notes to Renji.

"Captain!" Rangiku screeched, not actually sure if she was speaking.

Both Tōshiro and Byakuya flinched, and covered their ears.

Heh…

I must be really high-pitched.

Rangiku nudged Renji, and started shrieking.

She had no idea what she sounded like, how high-pitched she was, or even if she was making a noise, but Renji soon caught on.

He, too, started yelling.

Byakuya threw Tōshiro 'a glance', that obviously said 'our Lieutenants are deranged'.

Tōshiro nodded, said something, and the two Captains left the room hurriedly, obviously afraid of damaging their ears.

We got rid of them!

Rangiku reached for a piece of paper, and wrote on it.

'I think we won this round. We can say that we couldn't do our paperwork, 'cause we were to traumatized by the fact that we were temporarily deaf.'

Renji nodded, and the two settled into a game of tic, tac, toe.

Tally

The 'Hitsugaya Annoyance Team' – 1
The 'Retaliation Team' – 2