Disclaimer; Don't own Bleach. 'nuff said.
They should have seen it coming.
She'd been wasting away, day after day surrounding herself with lies. Convinced they were hiding him from her. Convinced he was alive, that he was still the man she thought he was. Convinced that he had to stab her, in order to fool the others. That he had to leave her behind, pretend he didn't care.
Muttering to herself day in and day out about how much he cared for her, how he'd never let this happen normally, how he was clearly being forced into this by Ichimaru and Tousen.
Her friends gave up on her after the first month. They couldn't stand to be near her in the state, couldn't sit there and smile and shake their heads as she continued to proclaim her captains innocence.
So they should have seen it coming. But no one was prepared for her knocking out most of the fourth division and fleeing Seireitei in the middle of the night.
They knew where she'd gone though.
Hitsugaya cursed softly. He could sense her reiatsu, just ahead. Finally, after so long, to be reunited with her. He'd really have to kill Aizen for this. His grip tightened on Hyourinmaru as he pushed forward, decimating Arrancar that lay in his path. Nothing would keep him from bringing her back.
He wasn't the only one that felt responsible for her defection. Had they been more patient, stayed by her side, maybe she wouldn't have left them.
Maybe.
"Do you think of yourself as a knight, child?"
His bankai wasn't, hadn't, never could be enough. Ragged breaths were all he could manage, struggling to stand upright.
"Is that it? Let me tell you something. She came to me willingly. I thought to kill her there and then but honestly... There was something about that determined little face. She wasn't a little princess I needed to guard from a dragon. She wasn't even a pawn anymore. Hinamori has become what I need, Hitsugaya-kun, and she won't be going back to Seireitei with you. No, she won't be going anywhere at all." He smirked, turned, and there she was, the girl that had been his most precious friend.
She looked the same, but clad in white and for one small moment he thought he saw her mouth that stupid nickname as she stared at him. But her eyes were cold and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go very wrong.
Wrong turned out to be an understatement as he flew across the room, slamming against the wall and sliding down, so painful, so cold, so unlike the days he used to fight her for fun. There was no fun in this, nothing but the sight of her, grim, determined, cold, aloof. She made no noise, her shunpo placing her beside him as she kicked again, hitting his head, sending him flying again. He could hear laughter, Aizen's, Ichimaru's. Someone's calculating laughter. She'd moved again and he hadn't spotted it, and suddenly he had stopped moving as she grabbed his captains' cloak, twisting him around so he could see the three men she'd left them for. She was cutting off his air supply as she held him out, the sacrificial lamb already coated in blood and dust and sweat. Hitsugaya didn't remember Hinamori being so strong, but then again things change and he should have seen it coming as he was forced down on his knees before the three traitors he'd sworn to kill.
Ichimaru just smiled at him, smiled that creepy smile he'd had since the first time they'd met, before grabbing Tousen and wandering off, he assumed, to where the distant sounds of a battle could be heard. It occurred to him that not a word had been uttered since Hinamori had entered, and he shook as he clambered to his feet, grip tight on Hyourinmaru and vision blurry as he glared at the former captain his friend had so admired.
And then the word he'd never thought he'd hear came, from her, of all people, and he whirled around in shock but it was already too late and he was thrown back from the sheer force of her release, back towards Aizen who stood there, unaffected, smiling as he watched his work in motion. Oh, he'd never been happier as he watched her move forward, her bankai in place, so undeniably Hinamori-esque but not something anyone would want to attribute to her, the force of it pinning Hitsugaya to the ground as he struggled against it. He was a captain, damnit, and no vice captain should have enough reiatsu to pin him to the ground, but here it was, here she was, and he couldn't even think to say it himself, to bring Hyourinmaru against her in that manner, not even as his left arm went numb and his legs gave out on him and she was there, in front of him, staring down at him with cold eyes and that cold smile and she was saying something, wasn't she? But no, not really, because Hinamori had said all she could to prove to them what Aizen was doing and they'd left her to it, left her to the madness, and now this was what it had come to and he was bleeding and she was bleeding and he blinked, confused, staring at the sword in his hand, the sword in hers, the sword in Aizens.
Then suddenly she was in his arms, and it was like the world stopped for a minute as his determination wavered, concentration broke, and then they were falling and he was clinging to her and she wasn't crying but she was smiling and he couldn't help but think how that smile echoed Aizens faintly, even though this was clearly Hinamori, Hinamori in his arms, not crying, but taking shaky breaths, her body shaking in his grasp and even as she clung to him she was whispering an apology for getting blood on his captains robe and he couldn't stop the tear that tricked down his cheek as Kira and Abarai rushed to his side, Aizen already long gone.
And even with the blood pouring out in a steady stream, she stood, bankai shattered but Tobiume safe in her hand. "You've bought yourself some time, Hitsugaya-taichou. But not enough." She was gone in a flash of red and white, leaving the three to stare at the pool of blood she'd left behind.
Yeah, they should have seen it coming. But maybe that was why they didn't.