Bleach: The Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya x OC

Chapter 5: Books

The next morning, I awoke with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I hoped today wouldn't be as difficult as yesterday, but some how I was having a terrible run of luck. For starters, my squad had tasked themselves with hiding all of the brooms the area. Or possibly the whole Seireitei, I considered. That made my first task of the day extremely difficult.

I had found the key to my new office late last night and was eager to get things set up this morning. When I opened the door, I invisioned a room full of books that was warm and inviting. Sadly, that wasn't the case. Inside the room was bare, the floor to ceiling bookshelves were stripped of their contents. Only bits of paper littered the shelves surface. The desk in the centre of the room was on its side, its drawers pulled out and discarded on the floor. To my right there would have been a cozy seating area with two love seats and a coffee table. The cushions for the seats, however, were scattered on the floor and the coffee table was covered in dust. There were no paintings on the walls, only one panoramic window featured the room. It was centred in the lounging area and based on the number of shinigami that were poking their heads in the window, it needed curtains. After spending an hour or so dusting everything down and setting what little furniture I had back up, I decided to clean the floors.

Wandering the halls of Squad Fives main building, I slowly became acquainted with the rooms in it. To my relief, the main building of the Fifth Division had a similar lay out as Squad Eight. I found my way around the building with ease. The floors were spotless; no doubt my squad was up late last night rubbing polish into the wood and wiping the walls of scuffs and marks. It made me proud that they had taken my orders to heart.

At the end of the hall a shinigami approached, his attention fully fixed on the book he had open in his hands.

"Excuse me what is your name?" I asked, I thought it was a harmless question.

He panicked and tossed the book into the air, cracking it off the top of his head on its downward path. He stood at attention, "f-fourth seat H-Hiroto Yoshida, captain!" he practically yelled it.

I uncovered my ears and politely nodded to him. I had finally bumped into one of my seated officers. Now I was getting somewhere. "At ease fourth seat Yoshida. I just have a question and I hope you can answer it for me."

He relaxed imperceptibly. "How can I help captain?" there was no stuttering that time.

"I'm trying to find a broom and mop, but there aren't any in the usual areas around here. Where could I find a set?" I asked.

He thought about it for a second. "What exactly do you plan to do with them when you get them, captain?"

I stared at him. For a moment I thought he was joking but he didn't laugh. I looked at him, confused. If I was going to attack someone, I had a perfectly good zanpakuto strapped to my back.

"Fourth seat Yoshida," I said, slowly enunciating each word, "I plan to clean my office floor with them." I tried for my best deadpan look.

"Oh right! Of course thats what you'd do with them! What a stupid question for me to ask!" he bowed several times. This was bordering beyond ridiculous.

"Yoshida?" I sighed, staring at the ceiling so he could stop embarrassing himself.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Just show me where they are please," I slapped my palm to my forehead, I attempted to hide my irritation.

"Right away!" he saluted. With out further prompting he marched down the hall in the direction I was originally heading. Rounding the corner, he stood in front of a door. Turning a key he held in his hand, he opened the closet and gave way for me to look inside. As I had suspected, my squad was hoarding them. Handing both items to me, he looked instantly sheepish. "I'll have someone put all of these back as soon as possible," he said.