Sorry this took so long, but there were 'issues' with my computer amongst other things, and a bout of Glandular Fever. The best advice if you get it is 'don't push yourself', which is incredibly annoying, but completely right, so please if you ever get it, keep this in mind.

Anyway, long story short about the computer-

Apparently laptops are really not meant to be kept on the ground. You see there is a danger of walking into them- not stepping on them mind, but giving them a nudge with your foot (it was not even a real kick or anything...)... which can completely screw up the hard drive.

Things just aren't made to last these days, or meant to stand up to much hardship (although it really was pretty minor)...

Anyway enough talk about my poor laptop...

This is the last chapter unless by some miracle I am convinced to do an epilogue (please don't ask me to do one), so I really hope you like it, and thanks to everyone who has given me a review. Every comment really has been greatly appreciated!

Chapter Nine: One Perfect Day

Yamamoto-Genryusai Shikegeni had officially given up. This week was obviously cursed, and so he decided to bow out gracefully, he declared the day an official holiday for the Shinigami. He'd been a shinigami for long enough to know when to throw in the towel.

Over a third of Seireitei had been destroyed in the past week- normally it was only the eleventh division which was affected by any sort of massive destruction.

Then there was the matter of Inoue Orihime's cooking- over half of the Shinigami who had not been injured within Seireitei already had come down with food poisoning.

-Again normally only the eleventh division or their victims were filling the fourth division. This meant that the normally calm Unohana Retsu was clearly highly annoyed, which just made everything even more dangerous.

To make matters worse the two divisions he could normally count on for paperwork were falling far behind- the tenth and fifth (and again normally the eleventh was the only troublesome division in this category as well).

All in all, the Soutaicho was a firm believer in giving up when the going got this tough.

Even when he'd been betrayed by three different taicho in one day the going had not been this tough. Nor had the paperwork been this immense!

So, this was why he was now at the beach, sipping the English ale- 'Old Speckled Hen', which his fukutaicho had introduced him to, relaxing and working on his tan.

In fact he felt so relaxed he was considering taking a whole week off and letting everyone else fix up the mess. Perhaps he should have felt like taking more responsibility, but he was over two thousand years old, and had spent more than a thousand of those years cleaning up these sorts of messes. These sorts of messes were always started by the same people- which made them even more tiring, the solutions were always the same, punish, rebuild and wait for the next crisis.

All in all, he much preferred a day at the beach with no whining fukutaichos, no lazy taichos, a large, cold drink and lots of sun.

Hitsugaya Toshiro in contrast, hated the hot weather and was far more content to be in his current position. Namely, lying indoors on the over-stuffed couch, hiding from the heat, with his arm around a sleepy Momo.

"Mmmm... Toshiro you are so much better than an air conditioner," she sighed, her hand slipping inside his robe and spreading one small hand over his chest.

Toshiro personally thought that life could not get any better than this point.

It didn't last long- nothing close to peace or contentment ever did in Seireitei. The door opened after a brief knock and a polite 'excuse me', which would have been good, if the person had waited for his permission. He glared at the older Kotetsu sister for disturbing him.

She flushed, obviously completely embarrassed, but when Momo tried to move and sit up, his arm tightened and he held her beside him. If Kotetsu-san was going to interrupt him then she and others like her would have to pay the price. He got precious little private time as it was.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, Hinamori-fukutaicho, I have a message for you from Unohana-taicho," she said sounding apologetic.

"What is it?" Toshiro was distinctly grumpy.

"She would like you to both come and visit the Fourth Division to pick up some... uh... supplies," Kotetsu stammered, flushing a dark pink.

"I don't need any medical supplies for the division," he growled.

"She doesn't mean Medical Supplies for the division, she- uh, means for you... and Hinamori-fukutaicho- personal supplies," Kotetsu was going steadily pinker- she was almost fuchsia, "such as... contraceptives," she finally blurted her face even pinker than before- though that should not have been possible.

Toshiro was suddenly feeling a little pink cheeked himself, and he was fairly certain that Momo had turned bright pink beside him.

"I see," he mumbled, wondering how to get out of the room and away from this situation.

Kotetsu lost a little of the pink flush, "if you would come by the division later today, it should only take a few minutes," she mumbled, not daring to look them in the eye.

"That would be fine," Momo answered for them, and he began to wonder if he could send her on her own.

Kotetsu fled, and Toshiro suddenly found the thought of doing paperwork very attractive. So much for a perfect day; he probably should have left Seireitei if he really wanted a perfect day.

"I suppose Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki-taicho will also get a message like that," Momo said, trying to say something.

For some reason, the thought of this struck Toshiro as an impossibly hilarious situation. (Possibly because he was picturing Kuchiki Byakuya's face if the message was given in his presence, or if he even found out)

No doubt about it Kurosaki was quite dead if Kuchiki ever found out about it.

Kurosaki Ichigo was currently enjoying a nice afternoon tea-ceremony underneath the plum trees in the eighth division. He was sure that it was Ukitake-san's idea of a nice peace-maker between him and Byakuya, they certainly needed it.

Byakuya was glaring daggers at him from the other side of the Renji. Unfortunately Ichigo had not been able to persuade Toshiro to let go of Hinamori, or to come outside, so he had been forced to invite his third-seat in her place, much to everyone else's amusement.

Unohana-san was sitting beside Ukitake-san, chatting easily with him, while his third seats were fighting. Kyoraku-san, who had apparently organised this, was slumped beneath a large book. He'd drunk too much, as usual, and Ise had little sympathy, she'd thwacked him quite solidly when he'd begun to make a scene. Ise was surprisingly violent, given her calm appearance.

Unohana's fukutaicho, Kotetsu, entered the gardens to join the party, and sat next to Sasakibe-fukutaicho, who was next to Rukia.

Byakuya noticed where Ichigo was looking, and glared at him. Ichigo glared back- Rukia was not off limits to him, and Byakuya had no right to give him any limits anyway. Kuchiki family rules and regulations meant little to him, as little as social propriety.

Ukitake-san noticed their glare, and moved himself and Unohana-san into a conversation with the two of them in an attempt at cooling them down. Rukia, in a rather unwise move also joined the conversation.

There was suddenly a gleam in Unohana-san's face that he did not like. "Kuchiki-fukutaicho-san, Kurosaki-taicho-san, I would like both of you to visit me in the fourth division this afternoon," she said in her calm voice- one that should not be argued with.

Byakuya did obviously not care for this at all, and Ichigo could already feel the sharp edges of Senbonzakura coming in to attack him.

"But why would you like us to visit Unohana-taicho?" Rukia asked- as if he was not already damned enough in her nii-san's eyes.

Unohana-san's eyebrows rose slightly, "there are some 'supplies' I believe you will need," she said delicately, her expression conveying her full meaning.

Rukia's face was suddenly the colour of dark plum, his probably wasn't much better, and Byakuya's eyes were suddenly black. Ukitake-san could clearly see the way this was going and just as clearly could see no way to fix it.

Unohana-san smiled gently and then looked at Byakuya, "it is a sensible precaution, do you not agree," her voice changed and her eyes went very blue, "Kuchiki-taicho-san?"

Ukitake-san had gone completely white, and the air was still- all conversation had stopped.

Ichigo had the highest respect for Unohana-san as a terrifying force, but when Byakuya snapped- his temper was lethal. He didn't think her deathly stare was going to be enough this time.

Unohana-san continued talking;

"After all, there are sexually transmitted diseases," Ichigo could feel the first nail hammered in to his coffin.

"And then there is the danger of unplanned pregnancy," Ichigo felt the first handful of dirt get thrown onto his coffin as it was lowered into the ground.

"Then in that event, I suppose to maintain the Kuchiki family's honour, Kurosaki-taicho-san would have to become a member of the Kuchiki family, and marry Rukia-san," Ichigo felt the blood drain from his face.

"Just think about that Kuchiki-taicho-san. You and Kurosaki-taicho-san could be brothers," her voice would have been mocking, if it wasn't so gentle.

Ichigo was feeling suddenly rather ill, and Byakuya didn't look much better- a strange expression combining nausea, terror and raw fury was on his face.

Unohana-san was talking rather cheerfully and casually about very big steps. He'd never thought about the implications of being in a relationship with Rukia as affecting the rivalry (it was not a friendship) between him and Byakuya. He didn't want to be Byakuya's brother-in-law- basic family; it would be incredibly weird and uncomfortable.

"I think Kuchiki-taicho-san that to encourage a young couple to be safe is of benefit not only to themselves, but to those around them," Unohana-san lectured her eyes bluer than ever.

Byakuya stood up and moved away from them, down to Kyoraku-san's end, where all the sake was. He didn't even bother with a dish; he actually drank straight from the bottle. Within minutes underneath everyone's eyes he had collapsed in a drunken heap.

"Give him this when he awakens," Unohana-san said, pulling out a sachet from her sleeve and passing it to Renji. She'd already given one to Ise, and was apparently completely indifferent to the fact that she had basically stuffed the alcohol down Byakuya's throat- manipulation did not excuse her from the crimes.

What kind of a healer was she? He made another mental note- his tenth, not to anger her in any way. Who knew what might happen to him?

Renji pulled Byakuya to his feet and was dragging the taller man away; apparently Byakuya was heavier than he looked.

Ichigo was busy watching Unohana-san, trying to wonder if all women were this cruel, when Rukia whacked him on the head.

"Baka- stop looking at Unohana-taicho and go help Renji with my nii-sama!" she yelled furious violet eyes glaring holes into his head.

Sadly, he was fairly sure he already knew the answer- he, and any other heterosexual males were almost certainly doomed. All women were this cruel- why hadn't he been born gay?

Kira Izuru was never going to move again, he was terrified of disturbing the reality which was better than anything he'd ever dreamed of. Rangiku was asleep on top of him, and while his limbs all had pins and needles, he refused to squirm- it might wake her up.

Rangiku had fallen asleep naked on top of him, and he was enjoying the view, and reluctant to give her an excuse to run. She was beautiful, intelligent, powerful, brave and strong- how could he ever be right for a woman like her?

He was quite relieved that Rangiku had been given a 'kit' full of interesting and very adult toys by Unohana-taicho- such a sensible, kind woman, despite the assault. As far as Izuru was concerned, it was a completely perfect day, and it could stay that way.

The polite knock at the door was slightly irritating, and they both sleepily ignored it, "Matsumoto-fukutaicho!" the man outside sounded slightly desperate.

"Please- I have an urgent message from Ayasgawa-fifth-seat!" the man pleaded with the closed door.

Rangiku perked up, "ohh- gossip!" she gave Izuru a smile and quite literally leapt out of bed. It was amazing how quickly she could get dressed and presentable; it took him a lot longer. She opened the door smiled briefly at the messenger and then made off for the eleventh division.

The door was still open and Izuru was only wearing a sheet, he gave the man a nervous smile, "Perhaps you could shut the door?" Izuru asked.

His Tou-sama had always warned him about one thing- you could never get in between a woman and gossip- it was painful. Experience with female Shinigami had shown him just how correct that was, even Hinamori and Ise-san loved gossip. He was a little disappointed that Rangiku valued gossip above him.

But he wasn't so disappointed when she reappeared minutes later, "you aren't going to believe this!" she squealed, she was almost dancing with delight.

If he was important enough to share this news with, and important enough for her to make sure he was the first to hear it, that was enough. It meant he was valued. He was happy enough with that, and besides, women weren't the only ones who liked gossip, he quite liked it too.

Unohana-taicho had a welcoming smile on her face as she ushered her 'guests' into a vacant room. Of course this was in the context of great white sharks and tyrannosaurus-rex, lots of teeth, lots of menace and danger, prevalent in the air.

Toshiro would have felt a lot better if Kurosaki and Kuchiki Rukia were not present at the same time. Even Momo being present was bad enough, but with the other two, somehow he felt like his limbs had been replaced with metal stilts. It was hard to remember how to move, breathe and speaking was out of the question. The icy boy was not feeling very cool, he was fairly sure that his face was just as red as Kurosaki's.

The only thought in his mind was that it would take a miracle for gossip of this level not to reach Matsumoto and Ayasegawa. He had no way of knowing what was already in motion, and more unfortunately, no way of stopping it.

Unohana-taicho pulled out a set of 'things' he had not seen before, even if he knew what they were. Truthfully, Toshiro had never really thought about any of this before- he loved Momo, and he knew about this stuff in a vague way. It just never seemed important because they weren't in a relationship, why worry about those things when he had no practical use for them?

Somehow looking at these things in this clinical manner took out all the eroticism they should have and made him feel embarrassed. Unohana- taicho was very thorough, and stopped frequently to ask if they had questions- no one had questions, they were all torn between being stunned and embarrassed.

The contraceptives were perhaps not 'idiot proof', but it did not take a genius to work them. The toys she showed them also did not require a degree in anything. She also had lotions, creams and several more exotic things that he wouldn't have thought of. She also had the name and card of several shops which specialised in this stuff.

Unohana-taicho even brought up the question of bondage and safe practises to do with this and other 'practises'. He'd never heard of some of the things she talked about, and honestly until this point, he'd thought that his education had been quite thorough.

He felt rather hot at the thought of buying anything like this- was it all part of being an adult- was this what Momo wanted? He was feeling, lost, confused, ignorant and completely overwhelmed by this.

He was relieved when they were released, and was unable to look anyone in the eye anymore- he needed to flee. He took the first chance he got, and used the excuse of work, completely forgetting that it was a holiday today. He bolted with one of the boxes Unohana-taicho had forced on all four of them in his hands.

Momo tried not to laugh as Kurosaki-taicho copied Toshiro and bolted guiltily from the forth division carrying that rather conspicuous box in his hands. Towards the end she had felt more curious and less embarrassed, and she thought Rukia-san might have felt that way too, but the men had clearly been overloaded.

She and Rukia-san exchanged looks and burst into giggles, because really, it was just too adorable. Their two strong, capable men were in reality shy and ignorant boys, who were just so easily embarrassed.

"Shall we go out for some tea?" Momo offered.

"That would be nice," Rukia-san agreed.

They agreed to meet at their favourite tea-shop in half an hour- both wanted to check on their boy and hide the incriminating boxes in their quarters.

Momo found Toshiro working on a large stack of papers- almost taller than him. She knew that when he wanted to work out something, he worked hard on something else until his mind was ready to put the pieces together. He refused to even meet her gaze, concentrating so fiercely on the papers that if he'd not had good control over his reiatsu, they would have been ice.

Chances were he'd work it out for himself. If not, she was fully prepared to send him to Ukitake-taicho, who she was sure would be able to put things in a more male and comfortable light for Toshiro. Sometimes female thinking bothered men- she didn't understand why; it always made perfect sense to her!

Rukia-san had apparently found Kurosaki-taicho in the middle of sparring Abarai-kun. Both women had agreed that Abarai-kun and Kurosaki-taicho related well to each other. So Abarai-kun would probably be able to help Kurosaki-taicho understand and deal with whatever embarrassed him so.

"I still don't understand why they were so embarrassed," Rukia-san said, pouting, "they are men, aren't they supposed to be really interested in sex and everything to do with it?" she asked.

"Perhaps Unohana-san was too forward," Momo mused, "perhaps they like it, but they don't want to talk about it?"

"I think it was too much information," Rukia-san sniffed.

"You're probably right; their brains are too small to cope with it," Momo agreed.

The two girls burst out laughing again.

"Still, I wish he would talk to me about what was so embarrassing. It doesn't seem like he wants me to help him with this, or anything else," Rukia-san said softly, sounding wistful.

"I think Kurosaki-taicho is quite shy," Momo commented.

"Yes, he is- but it's still annoying," Rukia-san said.

"You're worried about him and your nii-san?" Momo could see the seeds of Rukia-san's irritation easily.

"A little- I love them both, I want them to like each other," Rukia-san's anguish was so obvious.

"It is early days, he and Kuchiki-taicho are still getting used to the idea and each other. I'm sure it will work. Besides, neither of our relationships is older than a few days- perhaps we are over thinking all of this, the boys are still adjusting after all," Momo said, trying to sound responsible and thoughtful, as if she knew what she was talking about.

"Momo-san, thank you," Rukia-san said, "I really needed to be told that," she whispered

Ichigo had spent all afternoon sparring Renji, and he still wasn't ready to face Rukia. He was suddenly nervous all over again, worse than he had been before their first date. Unohana's words had opened up a whole new world of possibility. What if Rukia felt pressured to do something with him? What if he actually did get her pregnant? How did she feel about everything they'd been shown?

He'd never seen or heard of it before- and she was heaps older, she probably knew everything, he'd look like an idiot. Not something new, but something he wanted to avoid looking like in front of her!

Rukia suddenly appeared, and for a second he considered running. Then he reconsidered- Renji had been no help, the stupid fool had started laughing, until Ichigo had beaten him into a pulp.

"Are you alright now?" she asked him, sounding more curious than concerned.

"I'm still working it out," he said, fighting the urge to lash out.

"What is there to work out?" she asked.

"There are new things to consider," Ichigo said, still feeling angry.

"Like what?" it was the third question in a row, and she didn't seem to tire of asking them, if anything she was becoming more insistent.

He couldn't take it, and cracked under the pressure of her 'interrogation', "uniforms, sauce, contraceptives, toys- I don't know what you like, I never thought about it at all!" he blurted out, going a brighter red than Renji's hair.

She blinked, three times, "you really are an idiot," she muttered, flushing faintly, "we are supposed to do that sort of thinking together, openly, so we both know what we like and how we feel," her words were simple, so was her logic.

Somehow, he'd not thought of it as really being that easy.

His chin dropped, "that does make sense," he admitted weakly. She was right.

"More importantly, what about Nii-sama," she asked suddenly, throwing him off balance.

"What about him?" Ichigo was baffled.

"I want you two to get along," Rukia said, her voice serious- no hint of a joke.

"We get along well enough," Ichigo groaned, really not wanting to be pushed into this.

"Not good enough- I want you to try harder," Rukia demanded, her voice shrill.

"No- that would be really weird and we might blow up Seireitei!" Ichigo argued back and quite justifiably as far as he was concerned.

They both froze, Rukia sighed, "fine, but if we ever decide to get married just remember, we need his permission," she said, letting him win the argument, but really he would have preferred to lose, when she gave him a closing like that.

Ichigo wanted to throw himself off a cliff right then and there. Byakuya would never let him marry Rukia, unless she was pregnant, and if Ichigo actually got her pregnant, he would never survive...

Ichigo should just throw himself off a cliff right now and save himself the agony that would await him in a few years time.

Toshiro found Momo in her rooms at the end of the day, he looked exhausted, and his blue eyes were flat- a sign that he'd been staring at the paperwork for too long.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

"Fine, just had a lot of thinking I needed to do," he murmured, finally looking at her for the first time since Unohana-taicho's words that afternoon.

"I thought so, but what about?" she asked.

"I never considered any of that stuff," he muttered a dark blush covering his cheeks.

"Should you have?" Momo queried.

"I don't like being ignorant," he said in a small voice, and she smirked- he hated being ignorant with a passion. He went out of his way to research things he thought he might possibly need, and studied with a vengeance when he found himself lacking in knowledge.

"I thought you were a little disturbed by all this," she said trying to keep her tone light.

"Perhaps a little- sorry for that," he admitted.

"It's okay. We are both new at this relationship and having a relationship in general. We aren't supposed to know everything, or get everything perfect first time," she said, her voice serious.

"I guess you are right," he agreed.

"Besides, it would be silly to rush in- shouldn't we just enjoy ourselves?" Momo said, finally getting the conversation into a light mood.

"I suppose now would be a good time to ask you if I can spend next week with you, and the week after, and the week after, and so on?" he asked casually.

Her breathe caught, because for the whole day it had been a shadow on her mind. They'd decided to spend the week together, but he'd never openly said that he wanted more than this week with her, implied it, but never said. She was so relieved that she surprised herself by starting to cry.

He grabbed her and hugged her, "Silly Momo, you thought I would let you go after this week," he laughed gently, "I'm not going to let you go, not ever," he said, and he kissed her gently, still laughing against her mouth.

She broke the kiss and sighed leaning against him; the words were so romantic, like nothing she'd ever thought he would say to her.

Unfortunately the mood did not last long- nothing romantic in Seireitei ever did. He was just leaning forwards to kiss her again when-

"DID YOU HEAR? THERE IS A BETTING POOL- BETS ARE BETWEEN HITSUGAYA-TAICHO AND KUROSAKI-TAICHO! WHICH ONE OF THEM WILL LOSE THEIR VIRGINITY FIRST!" one man yelled excitedly.

"I heard Matsumoto-fukutaicho and Ayasegawa-san are in charge of taking bets," another man said in a smaller, but no less excited voice.

It didn't take long for this to sink in, or for Toshiro's reiatsu to turn black and bitterly cold.

"MATSUMOTO!" Toshiro yelled, running off in her direction, leaving Momo to face the two eager, and now embarrassed, men.

She heard more yells on the other side of the Fifth Division Compound- apparently Kurosaki-taicho had found out about this too. It probably would not be too long until Kuchiki-taicho, and several others were also involved in this.

She sighed, the rebuilding of Seireitei had not been finished yet, chances were by the morning, there would be a lot more work to do. Some things in Seireitei would never change- the natures of the men within it were one of them. She pitied the Soutaicho.

The perfect end to a relaxing day at the beach was spending a night in the inn and having a massage. Yamamoto-Genryusai Shikegeni had been pampered at the inn, but he broke off reading a relaxing magazine to sneeze.

His fukutaicho fussed about him having picked up a cold, but the Soutaicho's eyes narrowed; he already knew what he would face the next day. He grabbed another pint and downed it within seconds, he really hated work-related romance; it always made his job so much harder.

All finished, I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to this piece, sorry if the tone changed a little, but I have not written this story for a while, I tried to write something that fit. Once again I really am sorry that it took this long!

A big 'thank you' to everyone who reviewed, I really needed the encouragement.

Translation of Japanese Words:

Arigato- Thank you

Ba- Grandma/Old woman

Baka- Idiot

Chan- a suffix indicating a close relationship, often used by girls and when addressing someone younger.

Chibi- little/small

Fukutaicho- Vice-Captain/Vice Unit Commander

Hai- Yes/Correct

Haori-Hip/thigh-length kimono coat which Kyoraku Shunsui wears over the Shinigami uniform. Also the white coat that the taicho wear over their uniform.

Imoto- little sister

Kido- Ghost Magic

Kokoro- Heart-Soul

Kun- a suffix considered quite familiar, often used for addressing classmates and friends.

Mou Hidoi- That's mean/rude

Nei- hey

Reiatsu- Soul Power

Rukongai-This is part of Soul Society outside of Seireitei, anyone not in Seireitei dwells here.

Sama- honorific- generally means master/lord, used only in cases of high respect.

San- a suffix considered polite, often used for addressing people who you don't know well.

Seireitei-The city in Soul Society where the Shinigami and nobility dwell.

Shinigami- Death God

Shunpo- Flash Steps

Soutaicho- Head Captain/Commander General

Taicho- Captain/Unit Commander

Zanpakto- Soul Slayer