The idea for this came to me from the Tenth Squad ending to the anime. I thought the scene with Toshiro protecting Hinamori from the other Soul Reapers was cute and interesting enough to warrant a story.
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The Present
Toshiro stared at the screen in shock.
"Toshiro." Hinamori said sadly.
He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. She looked pale and exhausted.
"So you've woken up."
Hinamori nodded.
"Are you well enough to be walkning around?"
"Yes." she said cheerfully. "I'm all better!"
'Idiot.' Toshiro thought. 'You don't look well at all.' "That's good."
Hinamori sniffled, and Toshiro thought she was about to cry.
"I'm sorry, Toshiro."
'Ah. Here it is.'
"I doubted you. I even attacked you. I don't know what was wrong with me. Really, I-"
"Idiot." Toshiro interupted. Hinamori looked up in shock. "I don't care about that anymore. And if I don't care, you shouldn't either. Hurry up and get back to bed so you can get rid of those bags under your eyes."
Now Hinamori did start to cry. "Thank you, Toshiro. I was afraid...that you'd resent me."
"Idiot." he said again. "Why would I do that?"
"Be-because I couldn't believe in you the way you believed in me."
For just an instant, Toshiro's eyes widened. Even when he had gotten them under control, he could not keep the corners of his mouth from twitching. Thankfully Hinamori was too busy wiping her eyes to notice.
"Don't be ridiculous. The situations were totally different."
"Yes they were! You had much more reason to doubt me!"
"Hinamori..."
Toshiro wished that she had never brought that subject up. In the months since the night she had tried to kill him for the murder of Sosuke Aizen he had done his best not to think of that particular incident.
Doing so, comparing the two cases, would confirm everything he had feared since Hinamori had first entered the Soul Reaper Academy.
