Sorry for the wait, here is my story! Please enjoy everyone!!
Watching Over You
The peaceful, Autumn morning that was drearily creeping over Seireitei was broken by a small, dainty sneeze.
The almost inaudible noise seemed to be nothing more than a harmless exhale of air. However, only seconds later, the sneezes were overcome by violent spasms of coughing.
Hinamori held a tissue over her mouth as she coughed, but had to hold it up farther as she sneezed yet again; it must have been the 100th time so far that morning. She wearily threw away the umpteenth tissue as well, and grabbed another one. Her eyes were half closed and wet, for she had gotten no sleep the previous night because she had been kept awake by her cold.
After she had changed into her shihakushou, she picked up the blue cloth that she normally had in her hair, as she made her way down to her office. Once there, she attempted to tie the material into her knotty hair, but it was so loose that she would not be surprised if it fell out the next time that she sneezed.
She sat down at her desk and was only half way through reading the first paragraph of one of her papers before she sneezed so hard that she dropped the paper, which went flying across the room. Specks of red appeared in front of her and she was delayed about 3 minutes because of a severe nosebleed.
When she had wasted about 15 more tissues, she decided that she would just go back to bed, and deal with the paperwork when she woke up. She groggily trudged back up the stairs, and changed into a small, white, sleeping robe, and then she crawled under the sheets with a cough and tightly wrapped them around her shivering body.
After about ten shaky inhalations and exhalations, she was fast asleep.
Hitsugaya walked out of the large room where he had been summoned to attend a captain's meeting.
As he began to make his way back towards the 10th division, he was almost knocked over by Kiyone, one of the thirds seats from the 13th squad. She was followed more slowly by her elder sister Isane, and the two approached the 4th division captain.
"Unohana taichou!" The younger girl exclaimed as she raced up to her. The lieutenant caught up to her a little slower, apparently embarrassed to be surrounded by captains with her little sister running around like an idiot. Unohana turned to see the two.
"What is it Kiyone?" She asked in her sweet gentle voice. Her sister answered for her.
"She wants to know what Hinamori fukuutaichou's condition is."
Hitsugaya's ears perked up immediately and he stopped in his tracks and turned slightly. He did not want to eavesdrop, but he just needed to know what was wrong with Hinamori. He heard Unohana sigh and worry overcame him as she responded.
"The last time that I went to visit her she was still in her quarters. She was very ill. I demanded that she get some rest, but knowing Hinamori fukuutaichou as long as I have, I am afraid that she may have persisted with her work, which worries me. I would go back to check on her, but my entire division seems to be busy healing all of the Shinigami who have recently been wounded in battle. And I am sure that you have your own duties to attend." She added to Kiyone when she saw her anxious expression.
"But I promise you that I will get her tended to as soon as someone in my squad has no other job to do." She smiled at the smaller girl sadly and turned away, signaling for Isane to follow.
The lieutenant said good-bye to her miserable sister and followed Unohana.
Hitsugaya stayed to hear no more and dashed off to the 5th division's building.
And back at the dispersing taichou's meeting, Kiyone smiled to herself, knowing that Hinamori would be okay now, for she saw where the 10th division's taichou was headed.
Hitsugaya stopped running once he reached the 5th division.
He first tried her office but she was not there so he darted to Hinamori's quarters, and softly knocked on the door. When he received no response, he tried several more times but still there was no answer. Finally, he slid the door open and looked around the small room but it was also empty.
The last room that he could possibly think her to be was her bedroom, which was where he went next, and had to travel no farther. As he again knocked, he got a small sneeze as his answer. He opened the door and stepped silently inside.
The only light in the room was filtering in from the window off to one side. The bed sheets revealed the small, sleeping from of the girl that he sought. He noted all of the tissues scattered about the room, as well as a half drunken glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed.
He slowly made his way over to her and pulled over a chair and sat down next to her. The sheets moved up and down slowly with the rising and falling of her body as she breathed. Her mouth was slightly ajar and her breaths were short, ragged, and unnaturally uneven. Her face was pale and her hair was messy, she also wore a white robe that seemed far to large for her small, fragile form.
Hitsugaya could not recall the last time that he had ever seen anyone so sick. He looked down at her and it pained him to see her suffering like this.
He reached down and felt her forehead but before he could even fell her temperature, he pulled back surprised.
Hinamori gasped as her eyes flew open and she shot up in bed, panting. She glanced over at him.
"H-H-H-Hitsugaya…k-kun…" She wheezed. "I-I…you…you scared me…" She trailed off, still panting in shock.
"G-Gomenasai." He apologized.
Hinamori shook her head, telling him that it was all right, but before she could say another word, her panting transformed into short coughs, which led to harder, and more violent ones.
"Hinamori!" He shouted worriedly and raced to her side.
He placed one hand on her back and the other across her neck and shoulders as she leaned over and coughed uncontrollably. Her eyes were tightly closed and she felt as though she were going to cough up a lot more than just air. She tried vainly to control her spasms, but to no avail.
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya repeated her name. "Breathe, just breathe." He said as calmly as he could manage.
She tried her best to do as he instructed and she gasped for air, while at the same time, trying desperately to cease coughing. Her throat stung horribly now and the taste of blood tainted her mouth.
All the while as she tried to stop coughing, she heard her friend's voice, soothingly repeating the same word: "Breathe, breathe…"
Finally, she felt as if she could not cough any more, and her scratchy throat soon gave in, and her coughs slowed and became less violent. Finally, she gained control over her air supply again and her coughing ceased, for now.
She still felt Hitsugaya's hands across her shoulders and on her back, supporting her, and her eyes flashed open for a split second. All that she saw before her on the once white sheets was red, and her eyes closed once again.
She sat there and gasped for oxygen for about 3 minutes afterwards, a drop of scarlet blood escaping her dry mouth regularly. Eventually, when Hitsugaya thought that she would be okay, he began to lay her back down, which she did not resist in the slightest, in fact she almost went limp in his arms and passed out.
He slid his one hand from under her as he placed her back on the bed, however his other hand was still across her shoulders and he could feel the pulsations of her rapid heartbeat. She was still breathing heavily for some time afterwards, but in the end, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Hitsugaya pulled the bloodstained sheets off of her slowly, as to not wake her again and experience something similar to what he happened prior.
As the materials slid off of the bed, he noticed just how loose the robe she was wearing seemed to be. It looked far too many sizes big for her and he wondered just how long she had been sick, and if the illness caused her to loose her appetite.
He left the room to cleanse the sheets and returned with new, clean covers for his childhood friend. Whereupon his return, he found her shivering and cold and he quickly wrapped her in the sheets he was carrying.
He sighed in dismay, thinking of what he should do. Hitsugaya sat down again and placed a hand on her forehead again, yet this time, she did not jolt awake. He did not know if it was because she knew, subconsciously that it was him, or if she was just too weak to wake up.
Although her body was quivering, her forehead was hot and coated with sweat. The white-haired boy frantically thought of what he could do, but he did not know all that much about curing the sick and he wished that Unohana were there. The only thing that he could think of to do, however, was to emit an icy chill from his palm and let it seep onto her skin, cooling her down a little, but also causing her to sneeze pitifully.
As he began to understand just how sever her condition was, he knew that he could not leave her alone again until she was better.
He made his way across the room and slowly opened the door and slid outside onto her balcony, closing the door behind him. He summoned a Hell Butterfly, and told it to give a message to Matsumoto. The message was that he would not be returning to the 10th division until Hinamori was well again, or at least, until Unohana could tend to her.
The black insect took off to the skies and Hitsugaya watched it until the only part of it visible was the slight pink lining on the tips of its wings, and then it was gone.
The aqua-eyed taichou turned and quietly re-entered the room. Hinamori was still asleep, although her breathing was not any more relieved of coughs than it had been before.
The day was wasting away and the sun sank away behind gray, Autumn clouds and Hitsugaya figured that he was going to stay the night there.
He sat down in the chair again and just stared out the window, thinking, until the room became filled with dancing shadows. Then, he fell asleep as his eyes came to rest upon the sleeping girl. Her soft breathing that night was his lullaby, even though he knew that she was unconsciously in pain.
When Hitsugaya awoke in the morning, Hinamori was still asleep, and it did not look like she intended on waking up any time soon. She has coughed frequently throughout the entire night, and all that morning was no exception. She also sneezed regularly, and every time she did so, Hitsugaya got a prickly shiver of pity and worry sent up his spine.
He brought her a new glass of water even though the one before it was still mostly full. As Hitsugaya got himself breakfast, he noted that Hinamori had not eaten anything for about two full days now.
He paced around her bedroom, wondering if he should summon the 4th division.
Just as he was about to call a Hell Butterfly to contact the infirmary, one of the black insects was fluttering towards him. As it rested on his fingertip, hope filled him in thinking that Unohana herself was already on her way. However, when he did in fact receive the message, he found out that it was Matsumoto, wishing that Hinamori got well again soon, and that everyone missed her.
Once the message was finished, Hitsugaya gave the butterfly his own announcement to carry to the 4th division. As it took off with the urgent proclamation, Hitsugaya returned to Hinamori as she experienced another coughing fit, only this time, she was still asleep.
Blood stained her pillow as her coughs slowly died away and the white haired taichou covered the stained parts of the material with a few tissues, for he did not want to take her pillow away from her. It seemed to be her only comfort at the moment, and she buried her face into in as she coughed again. It supported her dizzy head and let her relax just the slightest bit.
He rested his hand on her forehead yet again only to feel that she was still sweating, and at the same time quivering.
A sharp pang of worry ran through him again and he cooled her off, but pulled the sheets up to her shoulders.
He sighed and sat down on his chair, not knowing what more he could do for her.
The 4th division was still busy, with injured Shinigami and the people who were treating them.
As Unohana gave out orders in her gentle voice, with Isane at her side, a black butterfly appeared. Isane looked up and let it land on her finger and she was silent for a moment as she heard its decree. Then she spoke to her captain.
"Unohana taichou that was an urgent message from Hitsugaya taichou. He is desperately requesting that someone tend to Hinamori fukuutaichou as soon as possible. She is apparently suffering violent coughing fits that cause her to cough up mouthfuls of blood. She has a fever and brutal shivering, as well as the fact that she has not woken up nor eaten for almost two days."
She sounded worried as she spoke. Unohana's eyes widened as she heard of the poor sick girl. She never thought that it could have gotten that severe.
She was about to leave for 5th division herself when she heard her name being called by someone. Unohana turned to see Matsumoto, who had overheard the entire conversation.
"Unohana taichou," She said softly. "I know this sounds incredibly reckless and careless of me, but I have to ask you to wait just a while longer." Isane stared at her fellow fukuutaichou in shock, but Unohana was clam.
"And why is that Matsumoto fukuutaichou?" She asked kindly. Matsumoto sifted a bit uncomfortably.
"Well, i-its just that…I have this feeling that no one else but taichou can really help her right now." She explained as best she could. Unohana knew that she was right and she sighed.
"You are right. Very well, we shall wait a while longer, but if things get worse…"
"I understand completely." The 10th division lieutenant spoke with a nod.
Isane glanced from one to the other in confusion, but then she decided that they knew best, and she would not question their judgment. And perhaps they were right, and Hitsugaya was the only one that could truly help her now.
The cold night was coming on fast and Hitsugaya was a bit irritated that the 4th division had still not come to help his friend.
She still showed no signs of waking up, and she continuously coughed, so much that Hitsugaya was getting used to the noise. But it did not cease to pain him inside, for he knew that every time she coughed, she was suffering more and more. He sighed as he stood up from her desk, for he had been filling out her paperwork all day.
Dammit! Can't these people tell when someone is sick and obviously can't do paperwork?! He thought to himself with irritation as he set down the completed papers.
He retreated to the girl's room to find that nothing in her condition had changed much; she had not woken up either. But he did have to bring down her temperature again, and clean off her bloodstained pillow.
The fact once again occurred to him that she had not eaten for a couple of days straight now, and she seldom drank. She would only take a sip of her water when she was roused from sleep by her coughing fits, and when Hitsugaya was there when she woke up, he desperately tried to get her to eat. But she would only get as far as placing the glass back on the table, giving him a tiny, sleepy smile accompanied by thankful chestnut eyes, before she collapsed into her pillow again.
This process occurred presently as soon as Hitsugaya arrived in her quarters and took his seat.
She had just place the glass back and he could see through the dim, fading sunlight, that the color was beginning to return to her face. She smiled at him again, but this time, it was brighter, and her eyes were not half closed with tiredness.
In fact, they were open as if she had never been sick at all. Hinamori even looked like she was going to sit up and stay awake, but apparently some invisible instinct told her that night was drawing near. She blinked once at her childhood friend until her eyes closed once again and her head fell back onto her white and red pillow.
She buried her face into the cool, clean sheets and was fast asleep again within moments.
Seeing that she was getting somewhat better, Hitsugaya was washed over with a wave of relief.
He eventually fell asleep from watching her small body rise and fall calmly and mostly un-interrupted by coughs.
And for the first time in several days, the two of them slept fairly well.
Next morning, Hitsugaya awoke early only to find that Hinamori was still sleeping, and even after his breakfast she was still caught up in slumber. As he glanced wearily out the window, the aqua eyed boy saw that it was beginning to drizzle lightly, and then he thought miserably, that the hum of the rain would only cause his friend to sleep even more.
And he knew.
He knew that while she was sleeping, she was wasting away ever so slowly under those sheets.
He thought that her coughing had ceased as well, but again, he found himself to be wrong when he returned to her room that morning; he was sure that souls all across Seireitei could hear her gagging roughly.
This also raised the silent question of why Unohana was still not there.
The drizzle was soon a downpour and Hitsugaya gave one last glance at his sleeping friend until he left for her office to do her work. He wanted nothing more than to dart over to the 4th division with his fastest shunpou, but something, he did not know what, something held him back and kept him sustained in this place. Maybe it was because he somehow knew that the medically trained Shinigami would not be available, or maybe it was because he knew that they could not help her.
He sighed again, not knowing the true answer, but knowing for sure that he could not leave her all alone.
As he sat at her desk, the rain continued to patter on the roofs outside, and it was so gray and gloomy out that only a pale dusty, shadow produced light for him to see what he was reading and writing.
But soon, it was too dark to possibly do either of the two things and he flicked on the lamp on her desk. He got about three more papers done before the room went dark again and the power went out. He cursed between his teeth at the shadows that now enveloped the whole of Seireitei.
His eyes then flickered to the window, where the gray rain was pelting down. But then, a noise that was almost inaudible caused his head to snap around in the opposite direction, near the door to the office, which was now open.
A small, thin figure lingered there and the white haired taichou raced to her in a flash, at which instant she took a step forward and stumbled.
"Hinamori!" He said as he caught her and then supported her, letting her lean on him. "What are you doing? You're not well, baka." He told her, with a voice that was serious, concerned and irritated. She slowly pushed herself back against the door and leaned partially on it and partially on the boy.
"I-I don't know…" She finally whispered as she looked up at him through the darkness, her once beaming chestnut eyes were now sickeningly dim.
Hitsugaya sighed and led her over to the couch in the office, gently helping her and sitting down beside her. He laid his arm across her shoulders and only when he felt a different material did he notice that she had changed clothes. Well rather, she had just draped a thin, silky, pink robe over her shivering shoulders.
He let her head rest on his shoulder, and he slowly felt her drift off to sleep once again.
And since there was nothing more that he could do now, he too let himself surrender to his eyelids.
When Hitsugaya woke up again, it was far past noon, but not yet dusk.
And he was not surprised to find that Hinamori was still sleeping on his shoulder, immobilizing him temperately.
The rain was still falling heavily outside, and a waft of cold air seemed to blow in from every direction. Hitsugaya pulled Hinamori closer when he felt her shiver multiple times. Then, knowing that the thin robe would not be enough to keep her warm, he was about to stand up to get her a blanket, but then he knew he could not do so without waking her.
So he gave her the next best thing. He carefully slid his arms out of his haori and wrapped it around her.
Although she was out cold, a small smile came across her lips.
The hours passed by steadily as Hitsugaya fell into yet another silent sleep, as Hinamori did not show signs of waking up any sooner.
Finally, the two of them were awaken with a start at the same time, thanks to a bone-rattling blast of thunder that made them jump. As they both looked around and observed their situation, they both quickly realized that now since they were awake, they would not be getting back to sleep any time soon.
Hinamori yawned and rubbed her eyes, and Hitsugaya pulled his arms above his head and stretched.
Then he glanced over at Hinamori who was staring at him for some reason; he could tell by her shining eyes in the darkness.
"You okay?" He asked. But it seemed that she did not hear him, for she shook her head and looked at him again.
"Come again?" She tilted her head.
"Are you feeling better?" He reworded his question for her.
"Mm, Hai." She nodded with a grin. "A little. Well actually, considering how bad I felt before, I feel a lot better now."
"That's good to hear." The aqua-eyed boy sighed in relief at the fact that his friend was finally getting better.
The rain patted on outside, and a blindingly bright flash of lightning colored the room for an instant and the two got a good look at one another. A final rumble of thunder growled in the distance as the storm faded away and gray clouds parted and gave way to faint sunlight, pushing the shadows away, back into hiding.
Soon, although there were still no light, it was bright enough to see, and Hitsugaya and Hinamori caught each other's eyes for a second, locking aqua with chestnut.
And then, finally, after all those years of waiting, pretending, and keeping secrets, Hitsugaya leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers.
Hinamori almost leapt out of her skin at the gesture, but she dared not move an inch, in fear of breaking the passionate kiss; she never knew how much could be said by such a sweet, simple, little thing.
Sadly, they pulled apart far earlier than either had wanted to, and they gazed into the other's eyes yet again.
"Hitsugaya-kun, you shouldn't have done that." She told him.
"Hm? W-Why not?" A puzzled blush crept over his face, which she could see clearly even in the dark, because it was so pink. She almost laughed.
"Because, silly, now you'll get sick too." She gave him a small smile that was sweeter than honey.
"Hinamori, think. I'm a taichou of the Gotei 13, I have the most powerful ice-elemental Zanpakutou of all time, and you grew up with me and knew that I never got cold. So now, how do you think I can catch a cold?" He teased her playfully, while ruffling her hair.
"Neeh! Shiro-chan! You're messing up my hair!" She tried to pull away.
"Have you seen your hair? I'm doing you a favor!" He laughed.
And as the day turned to dusk and then night, Hinamori's cold had surprisingly vanished completely vanished into thin air, as if someone had stolen it away from her, just to see her smile.
The next day, Hinamori saw Hitsugaya off to his taichou's meeting; he had stayed the night and now left from her building.
When he arrived, the taichous that showed emotion normally, such as Ukitake, greeted him happily.
"Hey, Shiro-chan your back!" He gave him that ridiculously comical grin. "So how's Hinamori-chan?" He whispered into his ear.
Hitsugaya whipped around to face him, about to hiss him an annoyed remark about the pet name, but then he decided to ignore it and focus on his question, for he knew he could not avoid him or get the other taichou to shut up unless he spoke to him. But things did not come out as well as he had hoped.
"W-What do you mean? S-She's fine! And she always was!" He blushed slightly, and wondered how the others had found out.
"Oh really? Then why did Kiyone tell me that she didn't show up to Nanao's meeting yesterday?"
"I-I don't know-"
"Oh stop trying to hide it! We all know what was going on. So what exactly did you two do?"
"Ukitake shut up, you're starting to sound like Matsumoto…which annoys me." He clarified.
"Oh does it now, taichou?" An irritatingly familiar voice joined in the conversation. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.
"Matsumoto! Get out of here! This meeting is for taichous only, not you, go home." He regarded her as if he knew that she would be there and that this was all planned out.
"Oh? Well then I guess fukuutaichou aren't allowed here neh? Fine then, let's go, Hinamori-chan." Hitsugaya turned around to find that Hinamori had been kidnapped by Matsumoto for her to use as an excuse to annoy the Hell out of him.
"Matsumoto, leave her alone." He commanded as he took the brunette by the hand.
He ignored the grin shared by his lieutenant and the captain of the 13th division.
"Aw don't be like that Hitsugaya-kun, you know she means no harm." Hinamori giggled. "Anyway, when's your meeting over?"
"With any luck, before midnight." He sighed.
"Alright." She laughed. "Well then, I'll wait for you out here."
"Fine. Now," He turned around. "Matsumoto, LEAVE!"
When Hitsugaya escaped the meeting at last, he was fairly surprised to find that Hinamori really had waited for him.
She was leaning against the building, gazing up at the lazy clouds when he emerged. Matsumoto had also hung around and walked up to Unohana.
"Well Matsumoto-fukuutaichou, it seems that you were right." She said in her motherly tone, and Matsumoto laughed.
"I usually am."
As Hitsugaya and Hinamori walked back to their buildings together, Hitsugaya invited her over, and she accepted with a smile.
"You know." She told him as they walked. "You didn't have to do that." She avoided his eyes for her face was a bright pink shade.
"What if I wanted to?" He nudged her.
"Well you could have gotten sick-" She was cut off as his lips met hers again and her heart skipped a beat or two.
Then a moment later he pulled away.
"Well I'm not going to get sick, so there." He grasped her hand. "And besides,"
They shared a smile before he embraced her.
"You should know, even if its something as simple as a cold, I'll always be watching over you."
A/N: Well there you all have it! I hope you liked it and I hope that it had enough fluff. Hopefully this also satisfied all of you until I get my next story up!
Please take one minute out of your life to review and make me happy!! I really appreciate it!