It seemed he was never going to get any work done. Toushiro sighed, leaning back in his chair. He kept seeing Rukia glance at him while she thought he wasn't looking. That, in turn, made him pay more attention to her cautious glances. She was a curious girl. She was so weird. She seemed to like working—she had taken on a large amount of work since they had returned, although her actions were hampering his own ability to work.

Matsumoto looked on with a grin. She felt like she'd been doing that a lot lately, but everything seemed to be going SO well. "Oh Captain~!" she sang, bouncing up and down. "I think it's time we did something other than boring paperwork. Can we get some sake?" If she could just get them drunk enough…

Hitsugaya spared her a glance. "You aren't doing any work at all. You've been sitting there; watching us like Mayuri watches his experiments. Rukia isn't even from our squad and she's more helpful than you."

The cherry-blonde haired woman gave him her prettiest pout. "But you don't need me here. As you said, I'm not doing anything. And you two shorties have done loads! What do you need me for?"

"Shorties?"

"Whoops slip of the tongue. I meant; Oh most honored captain and cute little Kuchiki." Rukia grumbled at that.

"Oh don't be such an ice queen," Matsumoto retorted playfully, "it's positively a compliment!" she beamed.

"I suppose I am starting to get Carpal Tunnel from all this sorting and writing…" Rukia said hesitantly, not wanting to upset the captain but desperately wanting a break. Her mind was still whirling at one hundred miles an hour and it was starting to form a neat little migraine just above her temples. If I could just rest…maybe on his shoulder. That would be comfy. NO! she cut herself off rapidly. She wasn't going to feed this little…crush. If it could even be called that. She'd only just begun to know him. Anything she felt at this point was shallow. It was his looks…she bet he would feel cooler than normal, just the right temperature for a fellow shinigami of ice. Quit that. She scolded again.

"Alright you two. Fine. But I am NOT drinking." Toushiro sighed. He should be able to stand up to them better. Women.

"Me neither." Rukia stated calmly but firmly. Rangiku sensed she would not be swayed in the matter but tried anyway.

"Why not? It's so FUN."

"Well it's only about noon- far too early to begin such…playfulness. And two, I can't drink. I might do something to damage the Kuchiki name, and we wouldn't want that." It was plain that Rukia didn't care much for restricting herself for the good of the clan. She did it all the time. It meant a lot less fun on her part, but a lot less scolding from Byakuya; which was always good. His cold, calm fury made her feel guilty.

"Well I'm going to go drinking! You two will find something fun to do, I'm sure." She winked obviously. She would hate not seeing what was going on while she was gone, but alone time never hurt, and the sake seemed to be calling her name. These two were far more compatible than she'd first thought. They needed to work on the conversing, but it was obvious that Rukia at least was physically attracted to the captain. It would play out eventually.

Rukia blushed. How could Rangiku see the thoughts hidden in her mind? Not that she would do anything. But she should be free to fantasize! To her surprise Toushiro looked away from her, as though he too were embarrassed. Maybe he was thinking the same thing as me….? She put her foot down on that thought. Love struck girl hunting for signs. It was ridiculous. She'd just end up hurting herself. That's why it's called a Crush. Let it go now. The calm and sensible voice in her head warned her.

The raven-haired shinigami abruptly arouse from her seat. Stretching her cramped muscles, she noticed that Hitsugaya had decided he could face her. His eyes lingered on the muscles she stretched. Or so it appeared. She ignored it, and the warm redness that threatened to coat her cheeks. She didn't blush! Nonsense.
_

She had seemed delicate before. Now he watched her firm muscles ripple under her skin. Of course she'd be strong. She was a soul reaper, and a decent one. She could hold her own in a fight. He'd forgotten. He would never admit that of course. He was sure she'd show him full force what she could do, if she felt her ability was question. That could be something. Rukia had seemed like a butterfly at first, delicate, graceful, beautiful. He wondered if she might have a little fight in her. He bet she'd be extraordinary on a battle field. Her zanpakto was the most beautiful, he'd heard. And with that, came the idea. He didn't even realize what he was doing.

"Want to fight? Just spar—I wonder how strong you are"

He had definitely been staring at me… but for a fight. The romantic in her head sighed in defeat.

"Okay. But you know I am totally going to smear you."

"We'll see." He smiled at the thought of a fifth seat beating him. Of course. She may just distract him into losing with those beautiful amethyst eyes…. He sighed. Perhaps he could take care of those particular feelings once they had sparred for a few rounds….

Authors Note: Alright, it was a filler. But hey. We are making PROGRESS. Definite fluff coming up. And maybe some plot twists? Who knows? That's the twisty part :P