Disclaimer: All Bleach Characters belong to Kubo Tite, not me.

Note:This chapter was fun to write, because Matsumoto is such a cool character! I hope you enjoy.
Thank you, everyone who made it through the first chapter and gave me a second chance!^^

Chapter 2

Renji had just settled down in his chair, thankfully arriving even two minutes before the time, when the door to the office slid open.

"Good morning, Byakuya-san, Abarai-fukutaichou!" said a woman's voice.

It's her from yesterday! thought Renji as she walked in, lightly nodding at them both. What was her name again? What the heck's she doing here?

"You sure have received notice that I'm to support you with your paperwork", she drawled coolly, perfectly mimicking the Kuchiki tone.

"You should start with Renji's work, Shihana-san, seeing his calligraphy still needs a lot of improving", Byakuya commented. Shihana could see a flicker of mirth in his grey eyes.

"Is that so?", she said indifferently.

Great, thought Renji. Two of them to harass me.

"Well, don't look like that, Abarai-fukutaichou. After all, I'm here to help you with your work." She smiled at him, catching him off guard.

"Y-you can take those then", he stuttered, pointing to a high pile of papers teetering on the edge of his desk. "They only need signing."

"Fine", she said and picked them up.

Near Byakuya's desk, another table had been set up for her. Shihana dropped the documents lightly and sat down without even the slightest scratching of the chair.

Renji had always wondered how his captain did this. Now another family member did the same. Scary, he thought. Maybe they have lessons in silent sitting? With a soft sigh he left this train of thought and returned to his own work.

For a while, the three of them worked silently, only the light sounds of the brushes and Renji's soft curses resounding in the room.

"Byakuya-san", Shihana said suddenly, "it really was a good idea of yours to insist on adopting Rukia, she's a real pleasure to be around."

"You know Rukia?" Renji burst out.

"Sure", answered Shihana. "She's my adopted cousin after all."

"Oh, right", mumbled Renji. "Forgot about that." He went back to his papers again, but not quick enough for Shihana to notice the slight blush on his cheeks. She found it quite appealing.

Around noon, Shihana was finished with the stack of documents Renji had given her and excused herself to get some fresh air. She was wearing a light blue kimono today, adorned with white clouds. Looking up at the sky told her it obviously fitted the weather.

She walked down a few streets, her mind set on not strolling too far, because she was actually enjoying the shared silence she had left and didn't intend to stay away for long.

A small hand touched her arm and turning around she realized it belonged to Rukia, standing before her in her black Shinigami uniform.

"Lucky", said Rukia, "I was just looking for you. I wondered if you would like to meet some friends of mine in the evening. It's our girl's day out."

"Sounds like fun", said Shihana smiling, only to quickly regain her façade, when someone walked by. "I would be pleased", she said proudly, but Rukia saw her eyes twinkle.

"It's settled then", she smiled. "I'll pick you up at the 6th squad baracks when my shift is over." With one last smile she turned and walked away.

Shihana turned back the way she came and could barely refrain from adding a certain spring to her pace. It had been ages since she was last out with women other than those of her family. And she deeply hoped there would be the chance to get thorougly pissed. She almost giggled at the thought. Even thinking such a common word was considered unbelievably improper in her family.

Upon returning, she found another stack of paper on her desk, ready for signing.

After a few more hours, even inventing more variants of how to write her name grew boring. She began sneaking glances to her right, where the red-headed fukutaichou was working.

Right now, he was absentmindedly scratching his nose, leaving a tiny inkspot there. Utterly cute, she thought and bit back a snicker.

Byakuya caught his cousin several times looking at Renji. She was here barely one and a half days and already developing a crush? And on this clumsy oaf, too? He shook his head lightly. He must be mistaken.

Just to lighten the mood, Shihana volunteered to fetch some tea which was gladly received by the two men.

When she returned and had set the steaming cup in front of him, Renji rubbed his neck and stretched himself.

"Ne, taichou", he yawned. "did they set up even more work with her here to help us?"

Feeling slightly hurt, Shihana was just about to snap at him, when Byakuya spoke.

"Need I remind you it always piles up over the weekend, Renji? And Kurotsuchi-taichou's constant demands for new volunteers get more by the day."

"Hm, ya right, taichou", gave Renji in. "Sorry, Kuchiki-san." He turned an apologetic look on her which she countered with her coldest glare. Here she was, unselfishly offering help and that was how she was thanked. She turned back to her work wordlessly, leaving Renji somewhat guilty.

The atmosphere had become quite tense, so Shihana was more than relieved, when Rukia came in just as she was signing the last papers.

"Good evening Nii-sama and Renji", Rukia said and smiled at them. "You coming, Shihana-san?", she added then.

"With delight, Rukia-san", said Shihana, laying down her pen.

"Um, where are you going?" asked Renji.

"The 10th barracks", responded Rukia. "It's our girls' day out."

"Better let her not be influenced by Matsumoto then", adviced Renji, a smirk on his lips.

Byakuya sighed inwardly. Knowing Shihana, she would find a soulmate in Matsumoto-fukutaichou.

"Goodbye then, Byakuya-san, Abarai-fukutaichou. I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

"You know", said Renji quickly, before she could head out, "you can call me Renji. Being a friend of Rukia's an all that." He grinned at her.

Shihana shrugged. It was his way of making up with her, she guessed. "Why not? You can call me Shihana then, Renji-kun."

Then she walked out after Rukia, lighthearted and curious what the evening would bring.

In the office room of the 10th squad, five women had already gathered. Shihana would have known their names, but off duty none of them wore her badge.

"That's Rangiku-san of 10th, Isane-san of 4th, Hinamori-san of 5th, Yachiru-san of 11th and Ise-san of 8th division. All fukutaichou except me," pointed Rukia out, a little ruefully.

Shihana looked around. Rangiku-san must be Matsumoto Rangiku. She was tall, with curling light brown hair and the biggest breasts Shihana had ever seen. So why had Renji warned her about her? She would find out soon.

Isane Kotetsu was equally tall and with short hair that had a tinge of violet. In her eyes was a warm welcome. She was a true member of the healing squad, obviously.

Hinamori Momo... as far as Shihana remembered, Aizen Sosuke had been her taichou. She looked at the small girl, her black hair tied in a tidy bun at the back of her head. She had a certain sad air about her she had not learned to hide. Well, not everybody had grown up a Kuchiki.

Yachiru seemed to be the youngest fukutaichou ever. Barely reaching her knees and with bubble-gum pink hair, she grinned at her. Something about her smile was wicked, Shihana couldn't quite place her finger on it. She wasn't surprised, Yachiru being the lieutenant of Zaraki Kenpachi and all.

Ise Nanao of the 8th squad looked a little irritated. Ah, remembered Shihana, she was Shunsui Kyoraku's subordinate. Despite her scowling she was quite pretty. It would be like the old pervert to have such a lovely fukutaichou. Shihana grinned.

"Very pleased to meet you all. I'm Kuchiki Shihana, well Shihana to you all, no –sama's included."

"Welcome and have a seat, you two", Matsumoto said. Then she produced a bottle of sake, seemingly out of thin air. "You like a drink, Shihana-san?"

"Sure", Shihana grinned, accepting a bowl from her.

"So are you a sister of Pretty-chan?", asked Yachiru curiously.

Without a moment of thought, Shihana gave back: "No, a cousin actually."

"Ha, Booby-chan, I win! She is Clever-chan!"

"No fair", sighed Matsumoto and flipped the grinning Yachiru a coin.

Several bowls of sake later, they began to play a rather popular game: 'Who would you rather'

"Ukitake or Shunsui?", asked Matsumoto, her voice slightly quivering.

"Geez, they're both so old", complained Shihana, having dropped her cool demeanor quite a while ago.

"I'd say Shunsui, or what do you think, Ise-san?", teased Matsumoto. The said Ise snorted and shot her a glare.

"Pretty-chan or Tiny-chan, Rukia-san?", piped Yachiro.

"Not much of a choice there", murmured Rukia, reddening. "Hitsugaya-taichou, then."

"I always thought you fitted pretty well", said Hinamori.

"Yeah, size-wise!", cried Matsumoto and broke out in laughter, the others joining in.

"Ikkaku or Yumichika?", Isane asked.

"No fair", said Shihana, pouting. "I don't even know what they look like."

"Really?", asked Matsomoto with gleaming eyes. Leaning towards Shihana, her breasts were in a dangerous situation indeed. "Then we could show you. Because...", now she had a dreamy, yet wicked grin on her face, "today just happens to be the day some guys visit the public bath."

"How did you know that?" asked Hinamori while they were sneaking up to the high wall surrounding the bath.

"Just overheard Ikkaku asking my taichou if he would like to come", whispered Matsumoto. "Sure got a grumpy answer." She giggled.

Shihana was helping Rukia up, trying to be as silent as possible. Then they robbed to the crown of the roof, peering curiously over it. Strangely, even Ise-san was with them.

And it was a pretty damn interesting sight. Five men were soaking in the hot water, their exposed upper bodies cleary visible despite the steam.

The others began pointing them out to Shihana.

"The bald one ist Madarame Ikkaku, 3rd seat of eleventh squad", whispered Rukia. "Beside him, the one with the dark hair and flashy eyelash ist Ayasegawa Yumichika, the 5th seat."

"Beside them is Hisagi Shuuhei, the one with the scars over the eye. The blonde is Kira Izuru", she heard the soft voice of Isane.

"And Sunny-chan", pointed out Yachiru. "Tetzusaemon Iba, fukutaichou of 7th division", added Rukia.

"Now let's resume. What do you say, Shihana, Ikkaku or Yumichika?" asked Matsumoto in hushed tones.

"Well", pondered Shihana, "I guess Ikkaku then, because Yumichika looks like he would be more interested in his hair than anyone else."

"Hisagi or Kira?", Rukia ventured, getting into the spirit.

"Hisagi", Isane answered surprisingly, blushing slightly. Just when she wanted to ask, a surprised gasp made her pause.

"Now that's a fine ass", said Shihana and she meant it.

Just now a sixth man had appeared, his back to them and stripped off his towel. Tightly bound up on his head was a ponytail of bright red hair.

"He really has tattoos all over his body, Rukia", whispered Shihana.

"So then, Shihana-san", Rukia said softly, an evil smirk on her face. "Hisagi or Renji?"

"Hisagi's not that bad, but definitely Renji."

"So, Iba or..."

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING MATSUMOTO?"

"Uh-oh", said Matsumoto. "It's taichou."

Faster than anyone could say "Shunpo" they were down from the roof and fleeing a seething Hitsugaya Toushirou, brandishing his Zanpakutou.

"What do you think", cried Matsumoto slightly out of breath, "it was worth it, wasn't it?"

"Definitely", agreed Shihana, a big grin on her face.

"Rukia", she breathed when they had finally arrived at Kuchiki Manor, still gasping for air, "that was the most fun I've ever had in my life."

Rukia grinned at her, than quickly sobered.

"They'll want revenge though", she mused, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Even more fun", laughed Shihana. Then she shook her head, facing the Manor. Every bit of emotion drained off her face. With slow, confined movements she climbed the stairs, a silent Rukia beside her. Rukia shuddered. Shihana felt like a different person suddenly, as if the whole evening had not happened and they hadn't been running like mad just moments ago. The Kuchiki family was a really difficult one.

As a little rewiev motivation: the next chapter is already written, but I'd really like to hear your ideas what the guys could be planning in revenge.
The next chapter, the plot will get in motion.