Author's note: Back from the dead. I don't make any guarantees as to when the next chapter might appear.

Genre: Humor

Rating: K

Characters: Hitsugaya, Matsumoto

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Are you as tired of repeating this as I am after 160 chapters?

Hitsugaya Toushirou had never felt so exhausted or so happy in his whole life. He was completely worn out because he had just finished taking his captain exam. He had never deluded himself that it would be easy, but he had never imagined it being quite so taxing. But he had passed and he wouldn't have to suffer through it ever again and that was all that counted.

Yes, after so long the Tenth Division was going to have a new captain and it was going to be him. That was why he felt so ecstatic. Finally, after more years than he cared to count, Matsumoto Rangiku won't be his superior anymore. That thought filled him with so much joy that he barely stopped himself from cackling aloud.

From the moment he had first joined the Tenth and quickly worked his way up to Third Seat, he found himself stuck doing not only his, but also the captain's and the lieutenant's paperwork. And he hated it. He'd much rather train or study or just relax or even visit Hinamori and her oh-so-perfect captain, but instead he was stuck with triple dose of reports, requests, forms and memos to read, fill in, sign an file into the correct folder. And had he mentioned how much he hated it yet?

It used to be not so bad while Captain Shiba had been still in office. Back then Matsumoto had occasionally managed to make him do his share (or a part of it) and thus lighten Hitsugaya's workload if she nagged him enough, but from the moment he had mysteriously disappeared everything had landed in the poor Third Seat's lap.

But that was all over now. He was the captain now and he was going to order Rangiku to do all her paperwork diligently and she would have no choice but to comply. Even she wouldn't dare to disobey, would she?

He shunpoed quickly towards Tenth's barracks, looking forward to a significantly lightened workload and then collapsing to bed. But when he entered the office (his office now, he should start thinking about it as such), he saw that Matsumoto's stack of paperwork was untouched (big surprise there) and the woman herself was nowhere in sight. But his reiatsu sense informed him that she wasn't far off.

"Matsumoto!" he shouted. To her credit the lieutenant appeared almost at once. That favorable impression was however marred by the sake jug in her hand and the glazed look in her eyes making it obvious that she had already drunk more than one today.

"Toushirou!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Or should I call you Taichou now?" she swaggered closer and hugged him so tightly to her bosom that he couldn't breathe. This chest of hers is really too dangerous, he thought. Is that why everybody stares at it so much?

Eventually he managed to wiggle his way to freedom. He panted for a while, battling the oxygen deficit, before regaining his composure.

"Matsumoto!" he bellowed angrily. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Why, taichou, we're celebrating your promotion," the blonde fukutaichou answered in a bubbly voice. It was a wonder she could articulate so well in her inebriated state, but then she had a lot of practice. Loads and loads of it. Then she offered the jar to Hitsugaya. "Have a drink too!"

"I don't drink," he scowled. "And how did you know I passed?"

"Of course I knew," she smiled beatifically. "You're a genius, aren't you?" Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel mollified.

"Whatever," he sighed. "Stop celebrating now, we have paperwork to do." It was unbelievable how many forms a newly-instated captain was obliged to fill. Tackling it all alone would be a nightmare, but fortunately he had Matsumoto to help him.

"Don't be such a killjoy," she pouted. Or maybe not. But he didn't want to abandon all hope just yet, so he pressed harder.

"These have to be done by tomorrow," he pointed out. It was already dark outside. Matsumoto didn't care.

"Relax at least today," she prompted. "It's your big day."

"That's why there's twice as much paperwork today," he pointed out.

"Aw, you really are no fun," the blonde complained and took a long drink from her pitcher.

"I can be plenty of fun when the paperwork is done," he countered. Unfortunately such a situation hadn't occurred even once during his tenure at the Tenth. Matsumoto didn't grace it with an answer. Instead she took another swig, sat on the couch and promptly fell asleep.

Hitsugaya sighed. It looked like he was going to do all the wretched paperwork alone again. All the captain's paperwork, all the lieutenant's, everything relating to his promotion and let's not forget, they didn't have a Third Seat at the moment, so he was going to have to do it too. He wanted to cry in despair. The only thought that kept him going was that this was only temporarily. Tomorrow Matsumoto will sober up and he'd make her do her work. And he'd find a new Third Seat to do his own work. Dealing with just the captain's workload was going to be as easy as pie.

And so the young captain set down to work, struggling to convince himself that everything was going to be alright tomorrow. Surely. It would be. Certainly. Because there was no other way.