I might be projecting onto Hitsugaya by intimating that he's a night owl, like me, but I think the logic holds and I'm going to be sticking with it. I think it suits him and … well, he's my favorite. And we all project at least a little bit onto our favorites.

Don't we?

.

The Tenth Division was a place that ran on moonlight, much more than sunlight. Hitsugaya preferred the night when it was colder, more attuned to his abilities, than the heat of the day; Matsumoto preferred the night because that was when she was free, and her obligations were done, so that she was able to pursue her own interests.

No one bothered to mention anymore that, half the time, Matsumoto pursued her own interests in the middle of the day—actively avoiding her obligations—because it never made any difference to her. The point still stood, according to her: at night, it was easier to do those things, because there was so much less guilt associated with it. Besides, the night was when her friends and associates were also free, able to join her, even those who were disinclined to ditch their patrols.

Since both of their leaders operated best at night, the rank-and-file and officers both of the Tenth Division eventually adapted to do their most important work under the custodianship of the moon.

Hitsugaya tended to think that this was simply a fluke, an oddity that was noteworthy, but that was about it. He didn't seem to understand the truth: he tended to be sluggish and irritable during the day, and it was simply a better way to wait for the temperature to drop before approaching him with anything. Matsumoto tended to think that her subordinates came after her at night because they thought it was funny; she was closer. The truth was much the same as with her captain. She was often in a better mood after she'd knocked back some drinks, so if a matter could wait until nighttime, the division would wait until nighttime.

All this tended to explain why, despite Hitsugaya's reputation for having a rigid and exacting leadership style, the Tent Division didn't actually have a set starting time like many of the others. Plenty of divisions in the Gotei 13 got their start at first light, seemingly to instill and maintain discipline. A select few—the Eighth was a notable example, alongside the Tenth—did not.

"I don't believe in misery for its own sake," Hitsugaya was wont to say. "It doesn't teach anything. It doesn't help with personal growth, and I have serious doubts as to its necessity to maintain discipline. Or do you mean to imply that my soldiers are inept?"

Shuhei Hisagi would ask Matsumoto some nights: "Are you sure your captain isn't just coming up with excuses so he can sleep in?"

"Even if he is," Matsumoto would say, "what difference does it make? It's not like he gets a ton of sleep as it is, and half the time he's up well past the witching hour doing paperwork anyway. I don't think it's fair to call it sleeping in, considering I've taken count for months now and he gets an average of three hours in any given night."

"Small wonder he's so personable."

Matsumoto would shoot a glare that was half-joking, half-threatening. "Oh, and you're such a social butterfly. Everyone always talks about how bright and bubbly you are, and how the Court as a whole would be so much brighter if only more of us were as happy and approachable as you are."

"All right, all right, you made your point." Shuhei would give up for the moment, but he would bring it up again within the next couple months. "I just don't know if I believe this idea that there's no benefit to rising with the sun."

"My captain doesn't exactly have the most amenable relationship with the sun."

"That still doesn't explain you."

"Oh, I'm absolutely making up excuses."