SUMMARY: Momo is going to protect Toshiro even if it kills her. Hitsugaya is just as determined to protect her, even if it kills her. Ichigo gives love advice. Oh, and handcuffs are involved. (Not in that way; get your mind out of the gutter! ^_^)

Pairings: Hitsugaya and Hinamori. Don't like that pairing? Then let me save you the trouble: Don't read. Some Ichigo and Rukia.

Simple plot, simple story, but I wanted to write it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is just a short story involving a few chapters.

The long and short of writing is this: I write what I would like to read. In this little story, the central idea is one that I have taken from Momo: Action Hero or Cat Burglar but wanted to take it in a different direction to see what it looked like. This is the outcome of those musings. Hope you enjoy.

I do not own Bleach, although I ask Santa for it every year. He never listens. I am starting to doubt his existence.

I Will Protect You

Chapter 1

The Determined Heart

The sun was sinking and full dark was falling swiftly. If she wanted to leave without being caught, this was the perfect time. The guards from the day shift were yawning, shifting their feet impatiently as they waited for the next shift to show up and relieve them. It would take a while for the guards to fill out reports, debrief their comrades and for the new shift to get settled before making their usual rounds. Definitely, this was the best time to slip out without being noticed since Aizen and company had defected.

Hinamori opened the door and peered about her, pausing for a second to make sure no one was around. After taking one last look, Momo slipped her arms through the regulation backpack filled with essentials for camping out. Tied to her waist and resting on the small of her back was a thin camping futon. It was obvious that she was planning on a trip and not being questioned about where she was going, what was going on, and why, was crucial to her plans.

The Fifth's fukutaicho tried to move quietly while at the same time not appear as if she was lurking; lurkers always attracted attention. The last thing she needed right now was attention. Once she turned down a narrow, rarely traveled alleyway, and filled with handy to hide in shadows, she softly chanted a kido spell under her breath. Once the force field to hide her spiritual pressure was in place around her she started off.

The small form of the shinigami female was still visible to the naked eye so she needed to stick to the lengthening shadows as twilight descended. It was imperative she not be seen by any of the others as they would only think it their duty to stop her if they knew what she was up to.

Not seeing a soul, Momo darted from the concealment of one alleyway into the one on the other side of the small street. Although she had a long way to go before she would be in the clear, the brunette vice-captain couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her; but only when the city was leagues behind her could she truly relax.

"Momo? Are you ready?" Hitsugaya yelled out as he stood on the porch outside of her living quarters, just in case she was in the bathroom and didn't hear him knocking. "Geez baka yarou*, I hope you didn't forget our sparring session!"

Even before he was done calling out, he could tell by the absence of her particular flavor of reiatsu she wasn't home, but he couldn't bring himself to accept she wasn't there. Where else would she be at this hour? It was before sunrise. She was never up before sunrise. When they had been growing up in the Rukongai it had always fallen on him to wake her up in the mornings.

The previous day he had suggested that before starting the workday they could spar a bit in the continued effort to get her strength back up to where it had been before she had been pierced by Aizen's zanpakutou.

It was odd that she was up so early. Hinamori was not known for being an early riser and was definitely not a morning person. He wondered what was so important that she was able to get herself out of bed without assistance. Maybe she was… No, nothing came to mind, and especially since he had seen her the day before and made it a point to ask what her schedule was like. Since her injury and near-death experience, Hitsugaya made it his mission in life to keep an even closer watch on her. To keep her from doing overdoing it so she won't have a relapse, he told himself. Something that was becoming a daily mantra to cover a terrifying realization he refused to let see the light of day.

He stood on her porch, wavering between feeling irritation and indignation before settling for both. Reaching for the door, he slid it open. Normally Hitsugaya would respect Hinamori's privacy even if the door were unlocked; rarely were doors locked in the Soul Society. After all, why would Soul Reapers need to lock their doors, they were the top of the food chain here.

Peering in, the captain of the Tenth then poked his silvery-white head in and called out again, even though he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wasn't home. That's when he noticed the blizzard of a mess that had gone through her living area. Alarm and an unnamed panic sent him charging in, ready to mete out justice with an icy blade. Studying the room with a frantic yet careful eye, he saw immediately that there were no traces of blood or signs of violence done. Everything was just thrown about as if the occupant had been hurried and distracted.

Now Hitsugaya stopped in the area between the living room and kitchen, slowly scrutinizing everything as he slowly turned in a circle. This was not the work of a burglar or foul play, this was Momo's doing, but why?

Deep in thought, the youngest captain cupped his chin in hand as he once again turned in place while examining the room. Then he tried to recall what was missing. Having a photographic memory and having seen every inch of Momo's living quarters in the past, it wasn't long before he came up with a list of items that were gone. All of her camping gear. Again, why?

To leave so suddenly and in an all fire hurry wasn't like her. Momo liked things to be meticulously thought out and well planned before leaping into anything. Hitsugaya knew for sure that she didn't submit any request forms lately and unless there was some kind of emergency, she wouldn't have received an answer this quickly. That meant she left without permission. If she had left on an urgent mission he would have been informed by a messenger as soon as it happened. All captains were kept up to date on any missions, especially those of other captains and also vice-captains.

Puzzled, he unconsciously wandered around the room thinking back on the previous day going over everything he and Momo had talked about. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a thing that hinted to this odd behavior and disappearance. It was as Hitsugaya was passing by her desk when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.

It was an incident report. Recognizing his handwriting he picked it up wondering how it had gotten here. He only scanned the first two lines when he realized exactly which report it was and then the panic flared up. Flinging down the paper, Hitsugaya made it back to his office with a mere couple of shunpo steps. He knew what she was going to try and do; he just didn't know how she was going to achieve it.

Matsumoto emerged from the bathroom after giving herself a quick grooming. She had been drinking the night before and had fallen asleep on the couch. Her bladder woke her up and demanded it be taken care of with such urgency she had no choice but to obey.

Once finishing up, she started to leave when she got a good look at herself in the mirror, realizing she was a frightful mess. The sunset-haired fukutaicho decided a good grooming and a brushing of the teeth were called for.

It wasn't like she was planning to do anything but go back to sleep, but it made her feel better. Then she glanced down at her clothes and gave a little sniff. They definitely needed to be changed; they were wrinkled and reeked of sweat and stale alcohol. That would not do. Matsumoto was not one to be obsessed with her looks or clothes, but the one thing she did take pride in, besides her awesome bust size, was that she was neat in her attire. Good thing she kept an extra shihakusho in the closet.

After changing, she smiled and her reflection in the mirror smiled back at her. Good, she was all clean and ready for a nap. She gave her hair a pat of approval and turned toward the door.

Upon exiting she found Hitsugaya rummaging through the papers on his desk, opening and then slamming drawers shut with a loud bang. Not looking up at her he snarled out, "Matsumoto, did you take my pen again? I can't find it anywhere!"

She flicked her hair back with the back of her hand and thrust out her chest (her best distracting techniques) as she walked by her desk and quickly palmed his pen.

"No I didn't. I don't know why you always accuse me of stealing your silly little captain's pen!" She passed by the edge of his desk and dropped the aforementioned pen on top of the papers in his in-box, hoping her voice covered the sound of it hitting the pile. Then she spun and pointed, "Oh, look, there it is Taicho! Right where you dropped it when you were doing reports last night."

Hitsugaya just grunted and snatched it up. He had seen her drop it but knew yelling at her for taking it wouldn't change a thing; some things in the universe were constant and one of them was named Matsumoto.

"I need to find Ichigo Kurosaki…"

"Oh? I thought you didn't like him.

"That's not true…"

"Well, are you friends then?"

"Define friends."

"Taicho, it's not that hard of a question. You know, pals…"

"Matsumoto…"

"Bar-hopping buddies?"

"Matsumoto…"

"Have the same tattoos on your chests of girls in string bikinis?"

"What?!"

"Biker chums?"

"Matsumoto!"

"OH! I know, you are both male models, but that's your day job! In reality you are both art thieves being chased by two beautiful Interpol agents sworn to bring you both to justice!" Here she winked him while placing a hand on a rounded hip.

Hitsugaya merely stared at his fukutaicho while one eye twitched uncontrollably. He lifted a hand to hold it still, not that it worked.

"Where do you come up with this stuff?" he finally managed to croak out in a hoarse voice.

She waved a slender hand vaguely in the air, "Oh here and there, but mainly at Renji's place on movie night. You ought to come Taicho! He's been borrowing stuff from Ichigo and lately he's been on a spy kick."

"Really."

"Well, you're in luck. Since last night was movie night, Ichigo was there and I happen to know that he spent the night. He came to visit his girlfriend!" She practically sang that last word while fluttering her eyelashes. "He's probably still over at Renji's, but you might want to hurry because he didn't drink last night. He has a condition that he called, what was it now?" she looked at him from under her lashes, 'Oh, yeah, Un-dera-age."

"Simpleton, that's underage." But noticing that his second seat was actually at work so bright and early, and presentable after a night of drinking (since how often in a century was this bound to happen?) he decided to give her some positive feedback; it might encourage her to do it again.

"I am pleased to see you here before you need to be, Matsumoto." Pleased? He was shocked to the point of being traumatized.

Matsumoto waved him off, "Oh it was nothing Taicho. I had this sixth sense you would need me today and hurried in so I could be of help."

The needle buried itself in the red zone of Hitsugaya's bullshit gauge. He lifted a thin silver brow at Matsumoto. His vice ate up compliments and praise like Yachiru devoured candy. This modesty on Matsumoto ill-fitted her and only confirmed his suspicions that something was definitely off.

Then he remembered why he was there. He didn't have time to delve into the warped morass that served as his vice-captain's mind.

Hinamori was all he could concentrate on for now. Quickly he filled Matsumoto in and ordered her to stay although he had to threaten her with Hyourinmaru when she insisted that she should come with him. Hitsugaya would be the first to admit that Matsumoto had many quirks and, quite frankly, flaws, but she was loyal and when it came down to it, she was trustworthy and reliable in a pinch. The problem was, the running of day-to-day life of a division couldn't be classified as a pinch.

(24 plus some Hours Later)

Momo woke the next morning and sat upright with a jerk before remembering she was waking up in the cool, fresh air with the sky as a canopy overhead. Chuckling at her startled reaction, she stretched out her arms and yawned.

If she weren't on such a serious undertaking, this would be a thoroughly enjoyable outing. Except the sun gets up way too early! She groused while scratching at a few bug bites received during the night. Her mouth turned down at the thought she would probably not be returning from her quest, and then shook her head to get rid of the dark thoughts that threatened to overwhelm her. Well at least there's a bright side, she shrugged and it's that I won't have to worry about getting in trouble for this.

Remembering the stream nearby she had found the night before; Momo went to perform morning ablutions before trying to make the difficult decision whether to eat the hard-as-rock traveling biscuit or the other one for breakfast. It was a tough call.

After a hasty breakfast, if unsatisfying breakfast, Momo swiftly gathered and packed her gear so she could get started. Still on her haunches she jerked on the last strap to make sure it was tied tight enough, she didn't want things banging around on or digging into her back. Finally satisfied, she stood. She wanted to make it to the wasted lands by the end of the day and get as far away from the Seireitei as she could get before opening up the unofficial Senkai-mon. Undoubtedly when switched on it would still set off the sensors in the security division and then a search party would be sent. Hopefully by then she would be long gone.

It was as she bent to reach for her backpack that she felt the approach. Straightening up she took a step back in surprise and consternation upon seeing Hitsugaya and an orange-haired stranger dressed in a shihakushou standing at his side. Momo had never laid eyes on him before but knew by the coloring that this was the Gotei Thirteen's substitute soul reaper. She found that she couldn't stop staring at his hair, which was the same color as Rangiku's. It was unusual since it wasn't a color one saw that often, and then she wondered if he was frequently asked if that was his real hair color.

Finally Momo stopped staring and noticed that both shinigami males had their arms crossed and wore expressions of eminent doom; all directed at her.

The idea of turning and sprinting off crossed her mind but it would never work. Hitsugaya was stronger and faster than her and from all reports, so was Kurosaki. Maybe perky and friendly would help defray the friction and strain building between them.

"Hello. What a pleasant day. Are you two going camping also?"

Momo smiled as warmly as she could despite the queasiness building in her stomach. "I only brought supplies for one, but maybe we can catch some fish in the stream over there." She gestured a hand off to the side. Neither male broke eye contact with her.

Toshiro eyes, the color of blue-green gems, were hooded. He wasn't buying Momo's act. However, a quick glance to the side told him that Kurosaki was softening. Blast Momo's cuteness! Of course, the human hadn't grown up with her so he didn't know that when she was being adorable and endearing like this, she was also being her most deceptive. At least that's what she thought! However, he didn't think that the orange-haired idiot would fall for it.

Momo noticed right away when Kurosaki's brows began clear and his expression stopped looking so ominous and scary. Maybe if she pressed just a bit more this shinigami could be persuaded over to her side since he was an unknown factor.

"Of course, without a chaperone of sorts, it would be rather unseemly for us to be on a campout together." She ignored the explosive, and not to mention rude, snort from Hitsugaya.

"It would only start rumors and blemish reputations." She flashed her dimples in a charming smile at the human soul reaper, and now that she had an opportunity to study him, she could see how handsome he was, well, once one got accustomed to that brilliant hair and actually looked at his face. And what beautiful brown eyes he had. "She could see why Rukia was so taken with him; at least, that's what she heard through the grapevine. And, if it were also true that he was sweet on her, he wouldn't want to do anything to damage that regard. It would be in his best interest to leave. Momo widened her smile.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed and flicked back and forth between Momo and Kurosaki. He definitely did not like the admiring gaze she was giving the former ryoka. An unexpected rush of jealousy flooded him and even as that and a savage anger flared up in him, he realized how out of control it was making him feel and he wrestled it back down. This was ridiculous; this idiot wasn't after Momo, his Momo. If Kurosaki needed that made clear to him, then Hitsugaya would take him aside at some other point in time and explain it to him with the sharp end of Hyourinmaru.

Kurosaki was not oblivious to the perilous aura radiating off his friend in an ominous corona. He didn't need to turn to look over at the silver-haired shinigami to confirm his suspicions, he could also feel the venom of Hitsugaya's glare stabbing at him. If such things had power, he was sure the skin on that side of his face would have been burned to a crisp and peeling from the intense smolder of that glower.

What do you know. The little iceberg has a soft spot, no, make that an internal, raging blizzard of emotion when it comes to this shinigami girl! Now he knew why Hitsugaya had been so adamant and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer when he had showed up at Renji's quarters to inform him that he was going to help look for Momo.

"Why do you need me if she's just lost?"

"There may be hollows involved and much worse. I want someone with me I can depend on."

That comment made by the usually aloof captain was the deciding factor for Ichigo; that and along with the fact that it sounded like another girl in need of rescuing. He just couldn't seem to turn those missions down.

It was obvious how important this girl was to the white-haired captain since he barely let the human have time to get dressed before he was hauling Ichigo out the door. Ichigo still wasn't sure he understood what was going on, but part of it that was clear was that Hitsugaya cared deeply, very deeply about this girl and that, Ichigo could understand. Now the part about Hinamori going off to commit suicide by way of stupidity was still a little unclear to him.

Ichigo looked over at Hitsugaya and then rolled his eyes away and looked off to the side as he placed his hands behind his head and said, "I told you she probably had a good reason. Geez, talk about overreacting."

Hitsugaya acted as if he didn't hear Ichigo's words, as he studied Hinamori. She was twisting her fingers around each other, a sure sign she was nervous and trying to deceive or lie to someone. Momo wasn't good at either one of them.

"Don't be fooled Kurosaki. Hinamori is lying, or trying to."

"What? I'm not…," she trailed off hearing how unconvincing her own voice sounded. Toshiro was right.

Now Kurosaki was scowling at her again with the same intent stare as Toshiro. Momo couldn't help but flinch as she stepped back a pace. Anything to distance herself from those sharp, fierce eyes, fixated on her much the same way a hawk studied a fat field mouse. Not only that, she could feel the depths of the power of their reiatsu threatening to erupt and knew both were incredibly strong, although at the moment both were keeping it well in check. She really didn't want to see either one's reiatsu explode out.

Hitsugaya saw Hinamori take another involuntary step backward and knew she was seconds from fleeing.

"Hinamori, as Captain of Tenth Company I am taking you into custody. You will have to face charges of leaving without permission." He paused and then added, "You will be held in the Tenth's detainment cells as pending an investigation and until the Captain-General sees fit to have you released."

Momo's mouth gaped open before snapping shut. Stabbing a finger at the infuriating little snowflake, she angrily protested, "You don't have that right!"

"I do."

Kurosaki turned and leaned in a bit to whisper, "Are you sure about that?"

"No," Hitsugaya turned to scowl fiercely at him, "but I can pull rank and favor as I am one of the few captains in the First's good graces."

"Ah, brown-noser."

"Nothing like it! I do good work."

"Oh, then you're like the son he never had."

"Shut up Kurosaki!"

"The nephew?"

"I really don't like you."

Hitsugaya slid his hands out of his sleeves and clenched them into fists. Damn but this former ryoka made his blood pressure go up, making him so angry that he wanted to… Then he felt it. He turned to confirm with his eyes what he already knew.

"She's gone."

"Shouldn't have taken your eyes off her Toshiro. She's slippery."

"No, just headstrong when she feels that deeply about something."

"That little wisp of a thing?"

"She yelled at Captain Kuchiki once when he was willing to let Renji die of his wounds."

"Wow, really? Didn't think she had it in her." Ichigo stared off in the direction they both knew Hinamori had gone.

"Good thing Izuru was there to stop her. That's what kind of idiot she is, always standing up for the people she cares about."

"Uh, Toshiro, that doesn't sound like a bad thing."

"That's Captain Hitsugaya!"

"Right, sorry Toshiro."

"Why do I even bother," and then he flash-stepped after Momo with Kurosaki close behind.

It didn't take long for them to catch up with her. One moment Hinamori was on one hill ready to flash-step to the next when she collided with two hard, muscled bodies and bounced backward.

"Darn it!" she muttered as she fell back bracing for the fall, but both arms were grabbed and she was hauled back into an upright position. She started to thank them (already knowing who it was) when she heard a distinct metallic snap and her world went gray. It was not her sight that went, but that inner 'seeing' that came from the awareness of, collecting information, and measuring the world about her through the sense of her reiatsu. In a word, being cut off from one's reiatsu was the same as having one of the senses being turned off. Part of her was deaf, dumb, and blind.

Momo staggered, her knees crumpling beneath her, but once again strong arms caught her up. Trying to recover from the abrupt sensation of loss, Momo was near fainting as she fell against Hitsugaya's chest. With eyes closed and trying to catch her breath, she let her head drop against him. One area of her brain noted with surprised at just how broad his chest and wide his shoulders had gotten. Every part of him she was in contact with was chiseled and firmly toned. Underneath her cheek she could feel the strong rhythm of his heartbeat and the warmth of his skin through his uniform. For a brief second she enjoyed the guilty pleasure the well-being and reassurance she felt just by being held in his arms. Vaguely, she was aware that an arm had slipped downward, wrapping around her waist in a seemingly possessive manner. It was as if he was no longer holder out of necessity, but embracing her out of want.

Against all better judgment, and some amazement, Hitsugaya instinctively encircled Momo within his arms, drawing her close, flush against his body. He was astonished to find how soft and perfect it felt as if she were meant to be there, meant for him, and then he simply soaked in the pleasure of the moment while wishing it could stretch on indefinitely.

It started like an itch. One notices the tingle at first but then ignores it hoping it will go away. As always such an irritant never does, it only gets worse until the tingle escalates into a burning desire to scratch. That is what Kurosaki's gaze felt like on the Hitsugaya's back, the area right between the shoulder blades.

The Tenth's captain fervently wished the human were anywhere but here to witness Hitsugaya's predicament. How could he possibly extract himself from what this looked like, what this was: him clutching Momo in a fiercely possessive and overprotective embrace.

Regaining her wits, although still reeling from being cut off from her reiatsu, Momo straightened and hissed, "Let go of me!"

Reluctantly Hitsugaya dropped his arms and took a step back, but was ready to move in again if Momo showed any signs of collapsing.

As for Momo, when staring down at her wrists an array of various emotions ranging from disbelief to outrage threatened to overwhelm her although at the moment, overriding them all was shock. That white-haired sneaky bastard of a captain had slipped handcuffs on her! Worse, they were the kind used to seal away reiatsu. Studying them, she saw symbols engraved around the edges, which meant they were also sealing away her kido powers at the same time.

Hitsugaya waited, knowing what was coming next.

"Why?"

He met her indignant frown with his own unperturbed ones but was feeling anything but inside of him.

"You can't be trusted."

"Harsh. Handcuffing your girlfriend like that," said Ichigo.

In the same breath one yelled, "She is not my girlfriend!", and the other, "I am not his girlfriend!"

Ichigo held up his hands ceding to their vehement protest, saying, "Right, got it. You can turn down the high beams now." At their uncomprehending expressions he just shrugged and looked back and forth between the two as their expressions settled back to normal. However, the tension between them was escalating again and making him uneasy. He looked around; hoping against hope a hollow would magically appear so he could have an excuse to leave.

Jerking a thumb over one shoulder, he announced, "I'm going over there… because I want to. See ya."

Momo watched Kurosaki's receding back for a moment before turning back to find Toshiro's unwavering gaze on her.

"You are coming back whether you want to or not Momo. Even if I have to throw you over my shoulder."

Momo almost snapped out that if he did they would crumple into a heap on the ground because she was too tall and too heavy for him… But looking up into Toshiro's blue-green eyes as they drilled into hers and she knew he was not in the mood to be trifled with.

Then she looked him over. No, she wasn't taller than him anymore, she couldn't loom over him using her height to try and intimidate him. Not that it ever did. Examining him, she noticed what had been overlooked before this and it was with a sense of deep shock that the truth finally dawned on her; Toshiro was not only taller than her, but he was whipcord lean even as she could see muscles rippling under his clothes. He wasn't a kid anymore; he was turning into a man. A man? A man!

Feeling the telltale heat rising to her cheeks, Momo wrenched her gaze away to the side, hoping Hitsugaya would mistake her flush for anger.

Thinking the glance away was an artfully passive show hiding rebellion underneath; he snapped out, "Do you understand the trouble that you could be in and what I am saying?"

Setting his lips in a grim line when all he received was a curt nod, he resolved to keep a close watch on her. Turning from her he lifted his hands and cupped them around his mouth to shout at the distant Kurosaki, "It's time to go." Blast, could he have gotten any farther away!?

Came the faint shout back, "Are you two done with your lover's spat yet?"

Instantly two voices yelled back, "We are NOT lovers!"

Ichigo shrugged and then muttered to himself even though no one was near enough to hear, "Not yet anyway."

"Kurosaki."

A snort came from one side of the bed.

"Kurosaki, wake up."

"Hn?"

"Kurosaki!"

"Shaaadup, lemme 'lone."

"Wake up Kurosaki!"

"Fivv mor m'nuts…"

"WAKE UP baka head!"

Ichigo bolted upright and tried to swing out of bed even as he reached for where he had placed Zangetsu the night before, only to be jolted backwards. Cursing he pulled on his right arm which was being hindered in some fashion. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the heel of his left hand, he turned to frown at his right. Instead what he found was two livid blue-green orbs glaring daggers at him.

Instinctively he leaned back and asked, "What?" Then he scrubbed his face with his hand, damn, it was way too early in the morning to deal with one of Hitsugaya's pissy moods. Then Ichigo realized his left hand was stretched out behind him in an uncomfortable position and he could feel something cold encircling his wrist. Oh this had better not be what he thought it was.

Ichigo peered down at his arm, following it all the way to his wrist to an unpleasant discovery that blew away the last vestiges of sleep.

"Huh!"

Fuming he turned to Hitsugaya and pointed at his wrist while grinding out, "What the freaking hell dude! You'd better have a damn good reason for this! Forget it! There's no reason good enough for this! So, what the hell! And give me the key!" Ichigo jerked on his wrist for emphasis.

"Stop it you orange-haired freak!" Yelled Hitsugaya as he yanked back on his own wrist, which pulled on the length of chain attached to Ichigo's cuff. "You think I did this! Not by a long shot! Who would do this? Think about it for a minute! No, in your case that would take too long. Here, let me make it easier for you, who in this room is missing? Just take a wild guess."

Ichigo took a deep breath to calm down as his looked about the room and then returned to eye the handcuff on his wrist. He followed the chain and saw that it was wrapped around one of the bars on the headboard and then handcuffed to another cuff with the other end firmly fixed around Hitsugaya's wrist. That little… He was so angry he couldn't think of anything to say. His eyes went up to Hitsugaya's and both men's eyes locked and held, hard and stony.

"You breathe a word of this to anyone and I will kill you."

"This is something we both take to the grave, agreed?"

The two continued to stare each other in the eye before nodding. This would not be mentioned even in a deathbed confession.

*baka yarou - depending on how it is inflected could mean 'damn guy, stupid guy, idiot guy, or idiot' or even worse. Having read some of Bleach in Japanese, I have come across this as what Hitsugaya calls Hinamori when he is irritated with her and decided to use it here.

So how did they end up handcuffed together? Find out next chapter.

Oh, **big watery-anime eyes**, please leave a review.

Thanks for reading

Dwellin