The idea for this story came entirely from Artificial Life Creator who requested it. I hope you enjoy it!

Matsumoto was in a scheming mood. Specifically, she was in the mood to scheme about her taicho and Ichigo's raven haired little sister, Karin. She wanted them to get together. Badly. If they couldn't see the sexual tension that existed between them, she most certainly could. But, she also knew that her taicho was way too stubborn to do anything about it himself. So she had to do it for him.

She called a conference. She sat in 4th squad's office with Isane and Hinamori. Isane was vital to her plan and Hinamori, well she just wanted to help. It was her Shiro-chan's happiness after all.

"So, Rangiku-san," Hinamori said gleefully, "do you have a plan?" Matsumoto grinned mischievously.

"Yes I do!" she replied.

"Why am I here?" Isane asked nervously. "I really have work to do. Maybe…"

"No!" Matsumoto insisted. "Isane, I need your help on this one. You're the only one who can do this." Hinamori looked excited.

"So," she said eagerly. "Are you going to tell us or not?!" Matsumoto grinned, then explained the plan to the two women. Hinamori's eyes grew wide with devilish excitement, Isane's with worry.

"I'm sure you can manage to make me a potion like that," Matsumoto told Hinamori when she was done. "4th squad should have everything you need, and with your kido skills, it shouldn't be too hard. Just be quick about it."

"Let's go, Isane-san!" Hinamori said excitedly, dragging a rather reluctant Isane away with her. Matsumoto chuckled. Her taicho wouldn't know what hit him.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

A few days later, Matsumoto was walking lazily down the hall, humming mindlessly, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Rangiku-san!" Hinamori cried, red faced and breathless. "It's done!" she said proudly, holding up a small vial and trying to catch her breath.

"Did you run all the way from 4th squad just to give this to me?" Matsumoto asked with a smile. Hinamori grinned and nodded.

"Thanks!" Matsumoto said, taking the bottle from her with a flourish. "I'll go use it right now." She headed off to the tea room and made a strong cup of green tea. Finally, she poured several drops of the potion into it. Not too much, she didn't want to overdo it.

Trying to look innocent, Matsumoto strolled into the office carrying the tea. Hitsugaya was at his desk buried under paperwork. Matsumoto stepped around a tower so that she could actually see his face.

"Taicho," she said sympathetically, "you work too hard. Here, I brought you some tea!" Hitsugaya scowled at her.

"I wouldn't have to work so hard if you did your share," he pointed out. Matsumoto batted her eyelashes.

"Me taicho?!" she said innocently. "I work as hard as the next fukutaicho. Anyway, your tea," she said, pushing it towards him. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"Soul Society would collapse if all the fukutaichos were as lazy as you," he intoned, ignoring the tea completely. Matsumoto frowned at it. He was going to drink it no matter what!

"Taicho, why don't I take over the paperwork for a bit? You relax and drink your tea." Hitsugaya looked at her suspiciously.

"Really?" he asked incredulously.

"Really," she replied, sitting down at her desk and pulling a stack of papers towards her. She really didn't want to do this, but it was worth it if he would take just one sip of tea.

Hitsugaya stared at her in disbelieve and doubt, thinking she might be up to something. But, he was tired. So he leaned back in his chair and sighed, deciding that a five minute break might do him some good.

"You know," Matsumoto said casually, deciding to prompt him a bit, "I think you would be a lot less stressed out if you found yourself a girl!" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"Matsumoto, please pay less attention to my personal life and more attention to your work."

"But taicho!" she whined. "Ichigo has Rukia, Hinamori has Kira, everyone seems to have someone but you!"

"Matsumoto," he began.

"Yes taicho?" she replied in a honeyed voice.

"Get back to work!" he screamed. Matsumoto smiled, and returned to the paper in front of her.

Hitsugaya sighed. His fukutaicho was such a pain sometimes. He looked back at his desk and saw a cup of tea. He had forgotten about it. He never really listened to what Matsumoto had to say anyway. Deciding he was thirsty, he picked it up and took a sip.

Matsumoto was watching him intently out of the corner of her eye.

"Success!" she thought to herself, and did her best not to grin.

ooooooooooooooooooo

An hour later, Hitsugaya was feeling awful. Really awful. His throat was sore, his face was red, and his nose and ears felt slightly clogged, like someone had shoved something into them.

Matsumoto looked up from her desk. She unfortunately had been unable to escape the paperwork once she started, but it was worth it to be here now. It was vital to her plan.

"Taicho!" she said with concern. "You look awful!" Hitsugaya scowled.

"Thanks for the complement," he said, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears. Matsumoto stood up and came over to him.

"No, really, you look awful." She put a hand to his forehead. "And you're burning up! Taicho, I think you need to go to 4th squad."

"Matsumoto," he said, "there is nothing wrong with me. I…" but he was interrupted by an enormous sneeze. Matsumoto put her hands on her hips.

"See, I told you taicho!" she insisted. "Now go to 4th squad!" Hitsugaya really didn't want to leave, but he did feel horrible. Caving to Matsumoto's demands, he stood up.

"You'd better get the paperwork done while I'm gone!" he threatened before leaving. Matsumoto smiled. Now it was Isane's turn to hold up her end.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Isane was waiting for him, still wondering how she managed to get herself dragged into this. She approached him the second he set foot in the 4th squad's hospital.

"Hitsugaya taicho!" she said, trying to sound cheerful. "What brings you here today?" But then she looked down at him and answered her own question. He really did look awful.

"Never mind," she said embarrassed. "Just come with me." Hitsugaya followed her into a small room. She looked in his ears and eyes, down his throat, and took his temperature. She marveled for a moment at Hinamori's success with the potion, then turned to Hitsugaya with what she hoped was a grave look.

"I'm sorry, Hitsugaya taicho, but it seems that you've contracted some form of disease from the living world. We don't have treatment for it here. I suggest you go see Kurosaki Isshin. He is a doctor in the living world after all." Hitsugaya looked like he was going to explode. Ok, scratch that, he did explode.

"WHAT?!" he cried, causing the entire building to shake. "Where on earth did I get a living world disease?!" Isane was cowering in fright.

"May…maybe because you spent time there recently?" she suggested. Hitsugaya tried to retort but couldn't. He did spend a lot of time there, especially recently. So, very displeased, he headed towards the senkai gate. Unbeknownst to him, Matsumoto was hot on his trail. She wasn't done with her plan just yet.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

"Oi, Toushiro, you look awful!" Ichigo said when he spotted Hitsugaya.

"Shut up, Kurosaki!" he barked. "And it's Hitsu…Hitsu...A-choo!...gaya taicho." Ichigo shook his head.

"Wow," he marveled, "you're really sick!" Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Isane fukutaicho said it was some kind of living world disease. Any chance your father's free?"

"Yeah, he should be," Ichigo replied. "Come on." Ichigo led Hitsugaya to the clinic.

"Oi! Oyaji! I've got a customer for you!" Ichigo shouted when he entered the clinic. Isshin promptly ran over to him and side kicked him in face.

"How many times have I told you not to shout in the clinic?" Isshin cried in a much louder voice than Ichigo had used.

"Oi, don't kick me when I'm not expecting it!" Ichigo bellowed. "Anyway, my friend here has a cold or something. Anything you can do for him?" Isshin eyed Hitsugaya curiously.

"Hmmm, well, it seems to be just a bad cold. Maybe I can get him some…" but he was interrupted by a ringing phone. "Oh, excuse me a minute, that's my emergency line." He raced to pick up the phone.

"Kurosaki speaking. 40th and Cherry, got it." He hung up. "Sorry kids, emergency, be right back." And he left without another word. Hitsugaya stared at the place where he disappeared in annoyance. He really just wanted some treatment. But emergencies come before colds. Damn.

Suddenly, Ichigo and Hitsugaya both checked as they felt the presence of a hollow. Actually, multiple hollows. Ichigo looked at Hitsugaya, who sneezed again.

"I'll go, Toushiro. You're too sick to be effective. Why don't you go lie down in the next room?" Hitsugaya wanted to protest, but he felt really miserable, so he decided to let Ichigo deal with the hollows and went to collapse in the bed provided.

Soon, Yuzu came in with a cup of tea and a cool towel.

"So, you're Ichi-nii's friend?" she asked curiously. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"I didn't know he had friends in elementary school," she said innocently. Hitsugaya's face turned redder than it already was, but he chose not to argue the point. Thankfully, the doorbell rang, and Yuzu ran off to answer it. Now, he thought briefly, there was only one other person in the house to visit him…

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Matsumoto wanted the house to be empty. Well, empty except for Hitsugaya and Karin of course. She wanted them to have some time alone. But unfortunately, everyone but Karin seemed to be home. So she had to do something to get everyone else out.

First target: Isshin. He was the doctor and therefore the one who was most likely to cure Hitsugaya and push him out of the clinic before Karin had a chance to even see him. Matsumoto pulled out her phone and dialed the clinic's emergency number.

"Kurosaki speaking," she heard at the other end.

"Oh, come quick!" she said in a panicked voice. "There's been an accident at 40th and Cherry! Lots of injuries!"

"40th and Cherry, got it." She heard the sound of the phone hanging up and smiled. One down.

Second target: Ichigo. Luckily, she had thought to bring some hollow bait with her. Not a lot, but enough to draw ten or twenty hollows, which would keep Ichigo occupied for long enough. She released the bait, then watched the house closely. A few minutes later she saw Ichigo jump out the window, dressed as a shinigami. Two down.

Third target: Yuzu. Matsumoto went to the local grocery store. Putting on her best flirty face, she waltzed up to the young man behind the counter.

"Excuse me," she said seductively, leaning forward slightly to expose the maximum amount of cleavage possible. "Do you have any coupons?" The young man was blushing furiously and very flustered.

"Here you go miss!" he said breathlessly, handing over a lifetime supply.

"Thanks!" Matsumoto replied eagerly, snatching the coupons from his hands and racing out the door. When she got outside, she started laughing her head off. Men are soooo easy to manipulate.

Once back at the Kurosaki's, she rang the doorbell. As expected, Yuzu answered the door.

"Um, can I help you?" Yuzu asked politely. Yuzu had never actually met Matsumoto in person, which was the only reason this could work.

"Hi miss!" Matsumoto said brightly. "The Fresh Grocer around the corner is distributing coupons. One time only! Would you like some?" Yuzu's eye's opened wide when she saw the enormous stack of coupons Matsumoto was handing her.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully. "I'll go use them right now!" She ran out of the house and headed for the market. Three down.

oooooooooooooooooo

Karin was hot and sweaty from playing soccer all afternoon. She was looking forward to a snack and a hot bath.

"I'm home!" she cried, slamming the door behind her. No answer.

"That's odd," she thought. "People are usually home this time of the day." She heard someone sneeze in the clinic and decided that if no one else was around, she should probably go tend to whoever it was.

She opened the door and gasped.

"Toushiro!" she said with delight and surprise. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you until this weekend. You look awful."

"I think you just answered your own question," Hitsugaya said amused. "I've caught some living world disease. From you, no doubt." Karin grinned and shook her head.

"Nope!" she said with satisfaction. "I never get sick." She came over to the side of the bed and started to lean forward, but Hitsugaya put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"No," he said seriously. "I'm really sick. I don't want you to catch whatever it is." Karin rolled her eyes.

"I just told you!" she insisted. "I never get sick. Now pucker up!" And with that she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. Hitsugaya hesitated for a moment, then kissed back, deciding that if his girlfriend didn't mind that he was sick, then he wouldn't either.

Hitsugaya and Karin were too engrossed in each other to hear the strangled cry outside. Matsumoto, who had been spying on them through the window, was furious.

"They were already together!" she cried in frustration. "Oh, I am going to kill that boy!"

Sorry there wasn't so much Karin in this story, but I thought it was fun anyway. Please review to let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading!