Christmas Nightmare
~ Momo's Angst~

Ever since the incident with Aizen, Momo had felt as if she was being slighted, despite the fact she was a fukutaicho and thus should be able to perform the job just as well as anyone else with the same rank. Yet she found herself running around doing errands for other people, not really doing anything to help to find Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Having to go search for the gigai had been a big blow, but the major blow came when she was told to watch Ichimaru Gin. Momo was told to watch a man she disliked by another man she had a major dislike for. She felt she had kept her cool for the longest time, and then she found herself completely losing it, due to the unfair situation.

"I'm to watch that monster?" The female snapped. Isshin choose to ignore her and went to work knocking out the small taicho's gigai so that no suspicion from Yuzu would wake up and come into the room. "In case you haven't noticed, that man happened to be one of the people who were traitors to Soul Society. It is his fault that Aizen Taicho is gone."

At that, Isshin paused as he lay the small child down. He then finished and turned towards Hinamori. "Let me make this clear with you. It was not Gin's fault what happened to Aizen. It was Aizen's own fault. Do you really think you should still be calling that man taicho, when everyone knows full well the things he got up to."

"Don't act like you didn't go and betray everyone yourself." Momo snapped out her words, her cheeks suddenly puffing out in frustration.

A look of disgust spread on Rangiku's face, and she folded her arms across her chest. "Hinamori Fukutaicho, you shouldn't speak of things that you don't understand. Also, don't make accusations you can't back up."

"He left! I remember... I remember how upset Shiro-chan was when you disappeared. He lost it... he..." Momo bit her lip in frustration.

Rangiku's voice suddenly became louder. "I don't think it is your right to decide if taicho and I should be upset with him." There was a moment of silence as the smaller female glared at the older one. "It is also not your right to decide whether or not taicho and I are upset with Gin either."

"What does that have to do with anything!" Hinamori folded her arms across her chest, her frustration growing.

"A lot more then what you think." The woman snapped, just as the door to the room they were in suddenly opened.

"Dad... Yuzu says that she'll have breakfast ready soon." The small girl paused, seeing the small figure lying in the bed. She then glanced from Rangiku to the female she didn't recognize, and then back again. "More shinigami?"

"She can see me?" Momo blurted out, turning to look at Isshin with shock.

"She's my daughter. It is more surprising that one of my kids can't see hollows and shinigami, then the fact that they can't." Isshin stated, his arms folded across his chest.

Karin slipped into the room, quickly picking up that something wasn't right. "What is going on? Did something happen to Toshiro?"

"We still haven't found him. A few of the closest shinigami are checking out that reiatsu spike." Rangiku's face suddenly lit up, her dark mood suddenly disappearing. "Did you feel the change?"

"Yeah... I felt the change." Karin went and sat down on the edge of the bed, giving the brown haired female a strange look.

Momo though, blinked a couple of times and then turned on Rangiku. "Matsumoto! She isn't one of the Gotei Thirteen! Why are you telling her this stuff!" There was a small pause, and then before Rangiku could answer the question, she spoke up again. "And why the hell is she calling Shiro-chan by his first name!"

"Because I'm his friend." The small female stated, glaring at Hinamori intently. "I think the better question is, why are you calling him Shiro-chan. I mean, he isn't a little kid, and I know for a fact, he hates it when people treat him like one."

"What would you know!" Hinamori spun around. "He and I grew up with each other as siblings. The only reason you're saying that he isn't a little kid is because your a little kid yourself and you don't think of yourself that way!"

"Hinamori!" Isshin and the eldest female in the room suddenly snapped out their words.

"But..." Momo stammered out, her eyes wide suddenly.

Karin though, stood up, her face close to being in Momo's. "I don't care if Toshiro and you grew up as siblings. You don't act one bit like an older sibling should. From what I can see, it has been Toshiro whose been taking on that role, and how is that fare to him? You honestly need to grow up. I see that you have a badge like Matsumoto-san, but the truth is... if you are of the fukutaicho rank, you aren't acting like someone who deserves such a position."

A look of anger suddenly appeared on the younger shinigami female's face and she raised her hand up, only to have Rangiku grab her hand. "You and I need to talk. Now.

The female tugged the irate Hinamori from the room, and then shoved her to the wall. "The only reason I put up with the crap you give taicho is because I want him to solve his problems on his own, and I know that he wants to solve the problems between you on his own. If things get out of hand, I know full well he will come to get my help."

"We don't have problems!" Momo stated.

"You... you will very well let me finish speaking. The two of you do have major problems, and they come from your inability to not see the truth, because you are constantly living in the past and in this dream world of yours." Matsumoto snapped, her mood darkening. "You really crossed the line, when you tried to slap Karin back there."

"She mouthed off to me!" Hinamori leaned against the wall, her mood rather dark.

"She told you the truth. The truth no one has been wanting to tell you, because they don't want to hurt your feelings and as of late, we honestly don't know how you are going to take anything. That, and we don't want to hurt taicho's feelings about all of this. If taicho had been here..." Rangiku paused, placing a hand on the bridge of her nose.

She then took a deep breath and continued. "If taicho had been here, I think he would have finally have lost his temper with you."

"She's just a girl, a friend... I mean, she's not..." Momo shook her head, pausing suddenly.

"Not what?" Matsumoto backed up, folding he arms across her chest.

The girl's cheeks puffed out. "Shiro-chan is a little kid. He's too young to date."

"That isn't your decision to make." Rangiku stated, shaking her head at the other female.

"I'm his family!" Momo blurted out. "You're not!"

"You are really blind. Karin is right, taicho's taken on the role of older sibling. You don't have any respect for him, and you made that apparent to someone who hasn't yet seen the two of you interact with each other. The honest truth is, once he admits he has feelings for Karin, then he'll be ready to date. You... you aren't ready."

"You can't go placing feelings on a person who aren't there Matsumoto!" Hinamori fumed.

"You are being hypocritical." The busty woman then grabbed the small female and shoved her into the room where Ichimaru was.

A pale teal eye opened up, as they came in. "Any news?"

"I don't want to have to watch him! I hate him!" Momo stated, continuing her tantrum.

"You aren't babysitting him, he's babysitting you. Because the honest truth is, I've had enough with the nonsense you are spouting off." The woman then turned to Gin. "Since you aren't well enough to help, you might as well do something by keeping her out of trouble."

Matsumoto then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ichimaru pushed himself up on one arm. "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything. Rangiku seems to think Shiro-chan has a crush on this stupid Karin person." The female stated, sitting down in a chair and sulking.

A deep sigh came from the man's chest. "He does have a crush on her. I've seen the way he acts around her."

"He's a little kid!" Momo muttered. "And she calls him by his first name."

"You're just overly jealous. You were jealous of how well he did at the academy, at the fact he became a fukutaicho before you, the fact he is a captain while you are not. You're also jealous that the little kid is able to act more maturely then you ever have." He then finished it up. "And now you are jealous of Karin because he's told you not to call him Shiro-chan, yet he lets her call him by his first name."

"I am not jealous! He's a little kid for crying out loud!"

Ichimaru simply lay back down, covering his eyes as his own frustration grew.

Author's note – While I like Momo and the role she plays in Bleach, I've realized that Momo is a lot like Bella Swan from Twilight. The difference between the two is, Momo has stuff happen to her because of her immature behavior. There are consequences, and if Bleach continues, we'll either see her actually growing as a person, or getting into more trouble.