Not Mine Valentine
Advice Giving

The fifth division offices were nice and quiet as Shinji worked away at his paperwork so he could finish and work on other things. As he set down one of the forms he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards his desk. Without looking up he spoke. "Welcome back Hinamori."

"How did you know it was me?"

"The sound of your steps are very distinctive." The man didn't look up. "How did the woman's society meeting go?"

"I don't think that anyone noticed I was there."

"If you don't bother to speak up, nobodies going to know that you're there. If you have something to say, then say it." The man picked up the next paper and began to work away at the piece. "Wasn't there anything you wished to speak up on."

"Yeah... Shiro-chan's gone nuts!"

"What else is new." The man continued to work away at his paper work. "I already know he isn't acting like himself and that it has something to do with Gin."

"This is new! Shiro-chan isn't nuts. He's... well, he's wanting to dye his hair." The small female blurted out the words. "Except the Shiro-chan I know would never do something that silly. I guess that's why I didn't speak up."

"You didn't speak up because you aren't sure if the others will take your opinion seriously, but you won't know for sure unless you do speak up." The man continued onto another paper. "But him wanting to dye his hair is something new."

"Rangiku-san has already told him no, but he tried to get Ise Fukutaicho to help him instead."

The corners of Shinji's mouth suddenly twisted up. "Well, this conversation is becoming very amusing."

"It's not amusing at all! Shiro-chan is turning into a delinquent! You know, I should have spoken up about that and voiced my concerns at the meeting."

"You make me suddenly glad you didn't." The man's smile became a frown. "I think you're worrying about this too much. All kids go through a stage where they go and try to figure out who they are."

"I should have said something about you dating Rangiku and not sempai."

The man's frown deepened. "Are you even listening to me Hinamori? And what is this about me and Rangiku dating? We went out to lunch because I've known her since she was fresh out of the academy."

"Taicho is an absolute flirt. I bet he's flirted even with Yachiru-chan."

"Ouch... I think I deserved that comment."

"And I was listening. You said all kids go through stages, but I didn't. Renji didn't. Kira didn't."

"Umm..." The man frowned. "Anyways... lets just leave it as normal for people to try to find out who they are."

"Yeah... but something felt off as if something was bothering Rangiku-san about the whole thing."

"I guess I'll go talk to her and try to figure out what is going on." Shinji frowned before standing up. The man then headed over to the tenth and found Rangiku actually working on the paper work."I heard from my fukutaicho that the boy wants to dye his hair."

"Oh that? Yes. It does. He didn't just ask me, he asked Nanao and then went to the hair stylist I take him to get his hair cut at and apparently stared at the jars for awhile before taking off." The woman continued with her work. "I have no clue where he has gotten off to, but I think we both know who he gets that trait from."

"What is wrong with letting him experiment a bit though?" The man went and sat down on the couch. "You should let him be himself?"

"Even if it means he takes to bothering Gin constantly?"

Shinji glanced at the ceiling and began to pick his nose. "You know... that may very well be where he's gone."

"Shoot."

"After we talk a bit I'll go and look for him for you. It's bad enough you were the bad guy and told him no on something as simple as dying his hair."

"What if I told you the reason he wants to dye his hair is because he wants to annoy Gin and he's already gotten a no answer from him."

"I would think all things considered you would be quite happy that your child was annoying your former significant other from some sense of revenge."

"Oh, I don't mind that either. But I also don't want that man anywhere near my son." Rangiku stopped what she was doing.

"Yes... well, he is going to have to interact with Gin for work purposes. I still haven't talked to Momo about what I plan on doing, let alone Gin. I'm still thinking about it." The man frowned. "And to be honest I think it would be a good think for the boy to experiment a bit. There are worse things he could be doing, like self mutilation, drinking or even … umm... what else is there? Oh, having sex with lots of girls and becoming like Kyoraku! Yup. You don't want him like that man."

"Yes... but I also can't help him through those choices. I may be his mother, but that's kind of... how to put it."

"It needs to be a male role model. I could try talking to him, even explaining why it is important he does this to find out who he is and not because he wants to annoy Gin. He's a great kid and really could use a little branching out to boost his self esteem."

"I'm honestly not sure if you're the right person either. Let me think about that."

"Well, I'm off to see Gin. I'll tell your taicho if I find him that it is dinner time in order to get him back here. That way he doesn't feel as if he's being ordered about." The man got up and walked out of the room and towards the jail cell. When he got there, he came to find that both Toshiro and Yachiru were visiting Gin again.

He walked down the stairs and shook his head once he got to where the silver haired man was located. Gin was lying on his cot ignoring the two children and they were sitting on the wall staring at him without blinking. The man spoke up when Shinji got there. "Hey... Taicho... could you please take creepy and creepier away from here."

"How long have they been staring at you."

"I don't have a form of telling exact time, but from the movement of the sun its been a couple of hours." Gin grumbled. "And I've also told him that Ran doesn't want him near me, but he isn't listening.

The blond haired taicho let out a deep sigh. "Toshiro... Rangiku is looking for you as you need to be getting your dinner."

"Ahh... all right."

"What about me!" Yachiru piped up, her hand raised up.

Toshiro had stood up and looked down at her. "I don't think Matsumoto will mind a third."

"Yay!"

Shinji let out a sigh. "There is something I wish to talk to you about, but it can actually wait for another day."