Matsumoto's POV

We started to head to the Kuchiki Manor. When I got a look at it, I was speechless. I knew Rukia-chan was a noble, but this is just amazing!

She invited me in. She took me through the halls and led me to her room. On our way there, we passed a small garden. It had a small pond with koi in it and everything!

We finally got to her room. I expected it to be big, showy, and full of stuff. I was wrong. It was fairly simple. There was her futon and a desk. And the room was actually pretty small. When I paid more attention to the desk, I noticed small drawings of Chappy engraved on it. That's just like her.

She went into her closet and pulled out a small bag. She was already packed?

"You're already packed?"

"Yeah, I always have a bag packed."

"Rukia-chan, you're amazing."

She smiled.

We left the Kuchiki Manor and headed to the gate. I let Rukia-chan ride on my back again. When we got there, Captain was there and ready to go. No surprise there. He looked surprised to see me there on time.

"I'm surprised you actually got here on time, Matsumoto."

"Well, I had some help from Rukia-chan."

"It looks like having her around is good for you. Rukia, you'll have to stay around us from now on," he said as he looked at her. She blushed. Was he flirting? I'm so proud!

The next person to arrive was Momo. She immediately rushed to Captain. That was to be expected.

"I'm so happy to be going on a mission with you, Shiro-chan! We can spend more time together and go to the park and… What is she doing here?" she said, pointing at Rukia-chan.

Rukia-chan looked hurt. I'm starting to think she was right about Momo not liking her.

"Rukia is coming with us. She'll be helpful. She knows the territory well and she's skilled at many things," Captain replied harshly.

He's sticking up for Rukia-chan! That so romantic!

Momo looked shocked.

"Rukia?" she asked, confused. "You're calling her by her first name."

"Momo, don't take it like that! They're friends!" I reassured her.

She looked relived at my words.

We waited for the others. As we did, it was just awkward. It was completely silent between all of us. I think I even caught Momo giving Rukia-chan nasty looks. I'm starting to think Momo doesn't like Rukia-chan too much. But, why wouldn't she. Rukia-chan never did anything to her. I thought it over for a really long time.

I think I've figured it out! For a while, I thought that Momo liked Captain but I let it go because they never went out! What if I was right? She's always been clingy with him. And she's always trying to be around him. But Captain doesn't have those feeling for her. Despite this, she still tries just to end up failing. Then, out of nowhere, Rukia-chan shows up and Captain is attracted to her instantly! Maybe that's why. But, if Captain doesn't like her she should just let it go. I've been rejected many, many times but I always let it go... after some revenge.

"Hey, Matsumoto, the others are here now. We have to leave," Rukia-chan said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go."

"All right every one, listen up! Kurosaki is waiting for us at Urahara's shop. When we get there, he'll be telling us everything about these mysterious hollows. We'll be helping him and his friends track them down and defeat them. So far, all we know is that these hollows are fast, dangerous and they have the ability to go into a person and control them. They've managed to easily defeat Kurosaki and his friends every time they've encountered them. We'll be patrolling Karakura Town regularly, too. Every night, I'll choose two people to go on patrol. Does everyone understand?"

We nodded.

"Then let's go."

We went into the gate with our hell butterflies. It was all going just fine.

Rukia-chan is really strong. She was attacked just a while ago and she's going on a mission already. She can be real stubborn sometimes but that helps her plow through things like this. I hope that she'll put her stubbornness aside for today though. She hasn't slept much.

Just then, I felt Rukia-chan's head come down gently on my back. She fell asleep. I turned to look at her. She looks comfortable when I carry her like this. I bet she'll feel more comfortable if Captain carried her. I imagined the image of Captain carrying Rukia-chan on his back. Oh, they'd look so cute!

We finally made it to the world of the living. I took it all in. I haven't been here in a long time. I remember posing as a teacher the last time I came here. Those were good times. But the subject was a bit disturbing. I had to teach kids about things like the changes of the human body and sweat and stuff. It was so gross.

We were walking on the sidewalk, making our way to Urahara's. I keep on forgetting that the humans can't see us right now. It's kinda funny.

Suddenly, I felt Rukia-chan start to wake up.

"You're finally awake," I said to her.

"I fell asleep?" she asked groggily.

"Yeah, thank goodness you did. Who knows what could've happened if you didn't get some sleep."

"Matsumoto, can you put me down? I want to walk."

"You sure? You're still weak from what happened."

"I'll be fine. I want to walk so Ichigo doesn't start to worry like an idiot."

I laughed. "I will never be able to understand your relationship with him," I said as I put her down.

I saw Captain stiffen.

"What relationship? We're barely able to have a conversation without fighting," Rukia-chan said.

Captain seemed to be reassured by that.

As we walked, I helped Rukia-chan with walking. She's strong. She was able to force herself to walk. I could see it was exhausting for her though. I was glad she accepted my help.

We got to the shop and the first thing we did was get into out gigai. I hate having to wear those every time I come to the world of the living. All of us, besides captain and Rukia-chan, complained.

Ichigo and his friends entered the room. All of them seemed to be really happy because Rukia-chan was here.

I saw Inoue's face light up. She rushed to Rukia-chan and hugged her.

"Oh, Kuchiki-san, I'm so happy you're back!"

"Yes, I'm glad to be back," she replied.

"Kuchiki, it's nice to see you again," Ishida said as he came to see her.

"Hey, Ishida, it's nice to see you too. Hey, glad to see you again," she said to the big guy.

He grunted. He's quieter than Captain.

She looked over at Ichigo. He started back. It looks so romantic!

"What are you staring at, fool?!" Rukia yelled at him as she rushed to him and kicked him on the head.

And the romance is lost.

"Ow! What was that for, Midget?" he yelled as he rubbed his head.

She got angrier and kicked him again.

They began to yell at each other back and forth. Wow, I know she told me that they're always fighting, but this much?! I'd hate to be the one that has to calm them down.

Ishida started to step in. He tried to calm them down. Instead of them calming down, they started to yell at him.

Urahara came into the room.

"Now, now, Ichigo, I know you missed your beloved Rukia a lot but you have to keep this to a minimum. And, Rukia, you're a noble! You can do so much better that this," he said, gesturing at Ichigo.

They both turned to Urahara. Their mouths were wide open.

"I do not love him!"

"I do not love her!"

They looked at each other with pure hate.

"Stop copying me! I'm not copying you! You're copying me! Shut up! No, you shut up! I told you to shut up first! Nu-uh!" they said, their words perfectly in sync.

"Ok, if you two love birds are done bickering, we need to know about the hollows," Renji said, taunting Ichigo.

"We are not love birds!" they said at the same time again.

"Come with me and we'll start," Urahara said. He led us to a room. We gathered around the small table. He passed out tea for us.

He took a sip of his tea then began to speak. "As you know, we've recently encountered a strange hollow. This hollow is not like any of the other ones that we could defeat on our own. These hollows have defeated Ichigo and the others easily. They are faster and smarter than the ordinary hollow."

"Couldn't these be Arrancars or something?" Kira asked.

"That's what I originally thought. But they're not as powerful as Arrancar but still quite powerful. These hollows can't be tracked down. And they have an ability that other ordinary hollows don't. They can get inside of their victims and control them. They are able to plan their attacks instead of just attacking anything. They're hard to attack. We haven't been able to land a blow let alone see these hollows. Usually, I'd come up with some way to stop them but it's become too dangerous to fight them."

"Too dangerous?" Captain asked.

"Ichigo, Ishida, show them."

They stepped up. Ichigo and Ishida took their shirts off. It revealed bandages covering their chests, stomachs, and arms.

I looked over at Rukia-chan and saw her eyes widen. She was full of worry. Most of it was for Ichigo.

"If things were easier and less… life threatening, we would have found a way to deal with things ourselves. But, as you can see, we are in need of your help."

"Is that all you know about these hollows?" Captain asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry; we aren't giving you much to work with."

"No, it's fine. They told me you'd have all the information about our arrangements," Captain said, changing the subject.

"Oh, yes, I do," Urahara said as he took out a folded piece of paper and an envelope. He handed them to Captain.

"Thank you. All right, everyone, we're heading to our temporary home. It will be empty so we'll be sleeping on the ground. Tomorrow, we'll head out to buy necessaryitems."

We were about to leave when Ichigo came up to Rukia. Captain turned.

"Captain, I'll wait for Rukia. You guys go on ahead."

They left and Ichigo started to speak.

"Rukia, aren't you coming to stay with me? The girls and even my dad miss you a lot."

"Ichigo, you know I really want to. But because of what happened, I have to stay with Captain Hitsugaya and Matsumoto. I really miss your family, too. I'll try to stop by tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah, all right, that's fine. I won't tell them so they're surprised! But you better come by."

She smiled up at him. "I'll do my best."

Rukia-chan and I left and caught up to the others. All of us were silent all the way there. Well, everyone besides Momo. She was talking to Captain the whole time. He didn't talk back to her besides the occasional "Shut up" or "Stop talking." That didn't stop her though.

I was starting to get tired. We had been walking for a long time. I mean, to me it seemed like a lot. I don't have a very good sense of time.

I looked over at Rukia-chan. She looked pale and tired.

"Rukia-chan, you should let me carry you. You're looking tired."

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

I looked at her. My stare was telling her "I know you're lying and if you don't let me help you, I'll knock you out and force you to accept my help!"

She understood the message. "All right."

I let her get on my back. I carried her the rest of the way.

When Captain stopped, I stared at the house in shock. It was huge! It was three stories high! I hope I don't have to share a room. Then again, if I share it with Rukia-chan, I could talk to her about Captain more.

Captain took a key out of the envelope and opened the door.

We went in and I started to look around. The ground was wooden and it was so clean that it sparkled. To the left of the entrance was the beginning of the stairs that led up and to the right was a place that seemed to be the living room. Ahead, on the left, was the entrance to the kitchen.

We all went our own ways to see the rest of the house. I went upstairs with Rukia-chan still on my back.

I opened every room we passed. So far, on the second floor, there were two rooms and two very fancy bathrooms. I went to the third floor. There were two really, really big rooms and one bathroom that was also quite fancy. Oh, what I would've given to have grown up in a place like this instead of Rukongai. Wait, there were two rooms on the second floor and two here. That's— one, two, three, four—four rooms! And there are—let's see here: Captain, Rukia-chan, me, Momo, Izuru and Renji—six of us! That's not going to work out.

"Um, Matsumoto, there are only four rooms here," Rukia told me.

"Yeah, I realized that too. We have to tell Captain."

I went downstairs to look for Captain. When I did, I went up to him.

"Captain, we have a problem."

"What is it, Matsumoto?"

"There are only four rooms in this house and there are six of us."

He got an annoyed looks on his face. He sighed.

"Everyone, gather over here," he called out.

Everyone came to the living room and gathered around Captain.

"Matsumoto found out that there are only four rooms in this house. That means that some of us are going to have to share."

"I was looking at the rooms on the second floor and they're pretty big but I don't think they'll be enough for people to share," Renji pointed out.

"Rukia-chan and I were on the third floor. There are two really, really big rooms there. Those rooms could be shared," I said, feeling smart.

"Ok, who's willing to share a room?" Captain asked.

"Oh, oh, I'd love to share a room with Shiro-chan!" Momo practically yelled.

Kira and Renji started to chuckle.

"Shut up! And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you!"

"I still want to share a room with you!"

He looked over at me. His look was saying, "Help me!"

"Um, Momo, Captain can't share a room with you," I said.

"But, why?" she complained.

"Well, um…" I couldn't think of anything.

"Because he has to share a room with me," Rukia-chan stepped in.

"What?" Renji and Momo yelled out.

"Yeah, those were Yamamoto's orders. I can't leave Rukia's side for a second," Captain said, relived that he didn't have to share a room with Momo. "So, Rukia and I are sharing the first room. Who's sharing the other one?"

"Momo, do you want to share a room with me?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said, her tone showing how upset she was.

"Ok, so Renji and Kira get their own rooms on the second floor, Momo and I are sharing a room and Captain and Rukia are sharing the other," I said.

"Now that we've figured all of this out, who's taking the first patrol?" Captain asked.

No one responded. With the corner of my eye, I saw Rukia-chan was about to volunteer. I turned to look at her. I stared at her, telling her that if she volunteered I'd knock her out. All thoughts of volunteering left her.

"I think Renji and Kira should go since they get their own rooms," I said teasingly.

"That's a good idea. Renji, Kira, you're taking the first shift," Captain said with a smirk on his face.

Renji gave me a death glare and Kira groaned. They got out of their gigai's and left. The rest of us went to the third floor. Captain went to his room. I told Momo I'd be in our room in a moment. I went into Captain's and Rukia-chan's room. I set her down carefully.

Rukia-chan looked scared and reluctant about sharing a room with a guy.

I smiled at her. "Don't worry Rukia-chan. Captain's only interested in protecting you. He won't let anything bad happen to you."

She looked more reassured. I left the room and went to mine.

Toshiro's POV

I wasn't expecting this. I didn't think I would be sharing a room with Rukia. I really would have tried to figure something else out, but Momo would find a way to share a room with me if I did. In a way, I'm glad this happened. I know it must be really weird and uncomfortable for Rukia though.

I looked over at her. She had wondered off to the window. She was staring out at the night sky. She looked so at peace. She looked as if nothing had happened to her. If this had happened to Momo, she'd be crying and seeking pity and attention from her friends. But Rukia, she's independent and strong. She doesn't show her emotions or weaknesses. She seems to hate taking help from others. It makes her look like a strong but stubborn person. But that's what I like about her. Although, I do wish she'd accept more help from her friends. I guess it's kind of similar to me.

I started to remember the night Aizen came back for her. She looked so scared yet she fearlessly fought him. She even managed to land a blow on him. How is she an unseated officer?

"Captain Hitsugaya? Is everything all right?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, I lost myself in thought. And I said you didn't have to call me 'Captain' anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hitsugaya-san."

"You don't have to apologize, Rukia."

She smiled. Then I heard her stomach growl.

"Rukia, are you hungry?"

"No! I'm fine!" she said as her stomach growled again.

"Rukia, how long have you been hungry?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me!"

"Those were the orders I was given; I have to worry about you! Now, how long have you been hungry?"

"A while now," she admitted.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To a store. We don't have any food right now."

I grabbed her hand and knocked on Matsumoto's door.

"Matsumoto, we have to go to the store, right now. Let's go, you have to come because of the orders we were given."

"Calm down, Captain. I don't see why you're so—" She opened the door and saw why I was worried. She smiled.

"Momo, we're going to the store. Are you coming?"

There was no response. I looked into the room. She was asleep.

"Matsumoto, write a quick note. Catch up to us when you're done. And hurry," I added.

Why am I panicking so much? Rukia's not in any real danger, yet my heart is racing.

I practically dragged Rukia by the hand out of the house. I was fast walking. I hadn't noticed how much Rukia was struggling to keep up.

"Hitsugaya-san, please slow down!"

I looked at her. She looked exhausted. I instinctively pulled her into my arms.

"I'm sorry. I didn't notice how tired you were."

She looked shocked. That went away and she smiled up at me.

"It's fine. You were only worried about me. That's really sweet!"

"Come on, get on my back."

She didn't protest. She got on and held on to me. I was more relaxed now. I walked this time, more conscious about how fragile Rukia was at the moment.

The store was really close to the house. That's good. We reached the store. I heard a click. What was that? I turned and saw Matsumoto.

I put Rukia down and held her hand again. I heard another click. What is that? It's so annoying! We all entered. The store was pretty big. Matsumoto went to get a cart. She followed behind me and Rukia.

We headed to the fruits and vegetables first. I really didn't know what to get. I know Matsumoto wouldn't know anything about cooking either. I turned to Rukia.

"Do you know anything about cooking?"

"Yes, but not a lot. I've seen Ichigo and his sister cook before. I was never that good. I remember coming to the store with them though. I think I could remember some of the things they got."

"Lead the way."

She didn't look too sure of herself. I gently squeezed her hand, telling her I trusted her.

Rukia's POV

I stared to look at the vegetables and fruits. How did Ichigo and Yuzu choose the right ones? I remembered coming to the store with them. I remembered what Yuzu would do. I did the same. I chose out some vegetables and fruits. We headed to the aisles now. I grabbed some canned things that Yuzu would always get. We went to the fridge section. I got some meat and other things.

I noticed Matsumoto looking at the popsicles.

"Can we get some of those?" I asked Hitsugaya-san.

"Sure," he said.

Matsumoto looked at me and mouthed, "Thank you."

I grabbed the ones she was looking at.

I looked at what we had. I think that's good. It wasn't much but that's fine.

"Is there anything you guys would want to get?"

"No, I think this is good," Hitsugaya-san said.

"How about Lieutenant Hinamori? Is there something she likes?"

They looked surprised that I'd ask about her.

"Rukia-chan, you're so kind!" Matsumoto said.

"I think she likes cookies," Hitsugaya-san said quietly.

We went and got a packet of them.

We went to pay for the items. While we waited, I noticed Hitsugaya-san was still holding my hand. He's really nice.

We got to the front and paid for the things. We left, carrying the bags back.

I started to feel really tired. I pulled through. We made it back. We put the things in the kitchen.

"Should I cook? I'm not that good at it though," I asked.

"Rukia-chan, I'm sure you'll do great. I'll help!" Matsumoto offered.

"Um, Matsumoto, maybe you should go check on Momo." Hitsugaya-san said.

"Why? Ooooooooh, I get it!" she said, nudging me with her elbow and winking at me.

"No, it's not because of that!"

She had already left. I went back to the kitchen. Rukia was staring at me, confused.

"She's a really bad cook," I explained.

"Ok, so, what should we make?"

"I don't know. Is there anything you know how to make?"

"I think I remember how to make spaghetti. Yuzu tried to teach me, but I wasn't that good."

"We'll take out chances. What do we need?"

I started listing off the ingredients we'd need. He got each one and placed them on the counter. I tried thinking of the first thing Yuzu did to make spaghetti. I did exactly what I remembered. I tried not to ask for help, but it was hard because I really needed it. Hitsugaya-san knew I needed help. He offered his help. I accepted it. With his help, we finished quickly. It smelled nice actually.

Hitsugaya-san called Matsumoto and Lieutenant Hinamori down. We took out the paper plate we bought and started to eat.

"Mmmm, this is so good!" Matsumoto said with her mouth full. "This is amazing!"

"Did you make this, Shiro-chan?" Momo asked as she enjoyed the meal.

"No, actually, Rukia did," he said.

"Rukia-chan! You're such a good cook!" Matsumoto cheered.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Hinamori got up and headed upstairs.

"Lieutenant Hinamori, is something wrong?" I asked her.

"No, I'm just not hungry anymore," she said. I could see she was angry. But, why is she angry?

I was about to go see if she was ok when Matsumoto stopped me.

"Rukia-chan, I think it would be best to leave her alone for now."

We finished eating in silence. Matsumoto went upstairs to sleep, leaving me and Hitsugaya-san alone.

I started to clean the dishes we used to make the meal.

"Rukia, let me clean up. You should go sleep," he offered.

"No, it's fine. I'm not that tired anyway."

"But, you haven't gotten much sleep."

"I still should clean a bit."

"Fine," he reluctantly agreed.

I cleaned the table as he did the dishes. Pretty soon we finished and headed to our room. We made it to the second floor when I remembered something.

"Hitsugaya-san, I'll meet you up there in a moment. I have to do something."

"What is it?"

"Lieutenant Hinamori didn't eat much."

"Rukia, you should leave her alone for a while."

"I just want to bring her some of the cookies we bought at the store."

He looked shocked that I'd remembered that. He was shocked that I was worried about her when it was obvious she didn't like me.

He nodded and went to our room.

I went down to the kitchen and got a napkin. I placed five chocolate chip cookies on it then headed to her room. I opened the door as slowly and as quietly as I could. The lights were out and it seemed like both Lieutenant Hinamori and Matsumoto were asleep on the wooden floor. I walked quietly to Lieutenant Hinamori. I placed the cookies down next to her face then made my way to the door. I closed it quietly and went to my room.

Matsumoto's POV

I was about to fall asleep when I heard someone opening the door. I pretended to be asleep. It was Rukia-chan. She had something in her hands. I opened my eyes a bit more. I saw that it was a small pile of cookies. What is she doing with those? She walked over to Momo, who was sleeping on the floor. Rukia-chan put the cookies down next to her. She was worrying about Momo?

After Rukia-chan left, I heard a small noise. It was crunching. Momo was eating the cookies! Rukia-chan is such a good person. She'll be good for Captain.

Toshiro's POV

When I got to the room, I went to the window. I stared out into the dark sky. The sky reminds me of the day when Rukia was in bed and I was talking to her as she slept. It was such a strange idea. I can't believe Matsumoto made me talk to her that day. But I'm glad I did.

Just then, I heard the door open. I looked over to see Rukia entering the room.

"You know, you don't have to worry so much about Momo," I said to her.

"But, she didn't eat."

"That was her choice, Rukia."

She stayed quiet. I turned to look out the window again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rukia yawn. She got out of her gigai and stretched. She took the bag that she brought with her and placed it on the ground. She lied down, using the bag as a pillow. After a while, I did the same and tried to sleep.

Time passed and I was still awake. I feel like it's been a long time. No matter what I tried I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned but it was all useless. I finally decided that tossing and turning wouldn't solve anything. I stopped moving and looked at Rukia, who was ten feet away and sleeping on her side. I started at her back. I'm glad she's asleep.

Then she turned over, reviling that she wasn't sleeping and, like me, couldn't sleep. We looked at each other.

I finally decided to say something. "You can't sleep either?"

"No," she simply replied.

"Why? Is the hard floor bothering you?"

"No, not at all. It's just…"

"What?"

"No, it's nothing."

I sat up against the wall. "Rukia, I'm here as your friend. You can tell me anything."

She still didn't speak. Was it because she was thinking of Aizen and was too ashamed to admit she's scared he's come back?

"If you're scared of someone finding out, you shouldn't worry. I'll never tell anyone."

"I know it's really weak of me but… I'm scared. When Aizen got me the first time, I was terrified. I didn't know why he wanted me. Then, when he had what he wanted, he was gone. I was so relived. I thought it was over. But then he was back. He was after me again. I was so scared. When I fought him, I felt like running away and hiding. And, when I was told you'd be protecting me, all my fear went away. I felt that if anyone could protect me from Aizen, it could be you." She looked me in the eyes. She trusts me. She believes I can protect her.

I felt myself start to smile. "Thank you. I'm glad to know that you trust me. Rukia, don't worry about a thing. I'll do anything I can to protect you."

She smiled. "Thank you, Hitsugaya-san!"

She was about to lie down when I saw her shiver.

"Rukia, are you cold?"

"No, no, I'm fine!"

I stared at her.

"Well, yes, a little bit. But, I'll be fine"

"Come here."

"What?"

"Just come here."

She came over to me slowly. I took off my captain's haori and put it around her shoulders. Her eyes went wide.

"Hitsugaya-san! I couldn't!"

I smiled at her. "I insist, Rukia."

I looked at her with the haori around her. It suits her well.

I readjusted the haori. "Rukia, the haori suits you, you know. I can tell you'd make an amazing captain one day."

She blushed. "Thank you. But…"

"But, what?"

She started to look sleepy. Her head lowered and rested on my chest.

"I'm just an unseated officer. Nothing more," she said slowly. Then she fell asleep.

"No, you're way more than that," I whispered. "You're the first person I ever fell in love with."

I kissed her forehead. I felt myself start to doze off too. I looked at Rukia. She was sleeping in my arms again.

I smiled then fell asleep.