Hey! man, i'm on a roll for HitsuMatsu fics! personally, i think this one is better than the other one I uploaded recently! .

DISCLAIMER: i do not own Bleach or any of the characters... sadly... but if i did, it would be really messed up, cuz i can't draw nowhere near as good as the author can!

Frozen Tears

"Taichou?"

Matsumoto's normally bright and cheery voice was tinged with worry as she entered the 10th squad captain's office. Hitsugaya neither acknowledged nor replied to her comment as he continued to furiously work through the papers that had accumulated on his desk (courtesy of Matsumoto's naps). "Taichou?" she questioned again. She got no answer.

Matsumoto slowly walked over to stand right in front of the desk, leaning down so that her face was level with his. "Daijoubu?" The young captain finally looked up with an irritated look on his face. Matsumoto repeated her question.

"Fine," he replied flatly, returning to his papers. Matsumoto stared at him for a while, carefully studying his face, before she walked over to the couch in the middle of the office. Sitting down, Matsumoto sighed as she got to work on the relatively smaller pile that was on the coffee table. He didn't look fine to her.

She shot a quick glance back at her small taichou, who seemed not to notice, carefully noting all the things that hinted at the fact that he was in fact, not fine. His pale skin seemed to be even paler than usual, and he looked like he had lost weight since her last "inspection"… which had been two days ago. Add that to the fact that she, even though other people might not notice, could see that his eyes reflected exhaustion- too little sleep, and too much work. Of course, even to people who did not know him as well as she did, the dark shadows under his eyes was more than enough.

Matsumoto returned to her work, picking up her pink pen with little red hearts that she had picked up from the living world. She actually managed to work, at least partially diligently, before she realized that she could not hear Hitsugaya's pen scratching across paper. She turned around to see that he had, once again, slipped into one of his trances, his turquoise eyes dull and half-lidded. His pen was still in his hand, poised loosely over another document, but he seemed to be staring past it, instead of at it.

Matsumoto shook her head silently, deciding to not disturb her taichou this time. She returned to her work again, determined to get it finished this time. She honestly didn't want to give her taichou any more work than he already had.

A loud knock sounded in the office, snapping Hitsugaya out of his self-induced trance. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, before calling, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal one of the new recruits, a young boy with short brown hair and brown eyes. "Ano…" he said, wringing his hands nervously as he looked at the two most powerful Shinigami in the 10th squad. "You have a visitor waiting in the main office, sir."

Matsumoto narrowed her eyes, already having suspicions of who it might be. "Who it it?" she asked without preamble, getting straight to the point.

"Eto…" the young boy said nervously. "Hinamori-fukutaichou of the 5th squad."

Matsumoto shot a quick glance at her taichou, which he returned. He sighed, running his hands over his face, before standing up. "Send her in," he ordered wearily. The young recruit nodded quickly, before darting away.

Matsumoto looked at the young genius with concern clearly reflected in her eyes. "Taichou?" she asked again, in a softer voice than usual.

Hitsugaya sighed again, adjusting Hyourinmaru on his back. "It's fine, Matsumoto," he replied, not meeting her eyes. Matsumoto was not convinced. "I'll be fine," he insisted again, looking at her straight in the eyes this time.

Matsumoto looked away, showing her consent by not protesting. She had seen the look in his eyes before. It had been there every time Hinamori visited. The fatigue of having to endure yet another long walk with Hinamori, who he no longer trusted, and the wariness if her, knowing that she could betray him again at any time, just like she had all those months ago, when she had raised her blade to his throat.

Matsumoto raised her head to glare at the door as it opened, and the young woman who appeared through the door. Seeing her taichou shake his head slightly in the corner of his vision, she quickly schooled her face to a blank expression, clenching her fists tightly.

"Shiro-chan!" Hinamori said happily, skipping over to hug him tightly around the neck. Hitsugaya cringed slightly at the sudden, but not unexpected, contact, before hugging her loosely back, with a weak, "Hinamori", and a slightly pained smile.

Hinamori, of course, didn't notice this, but instead bounced back to the door, leaned out, and said excitedly, "What are you doing? Come on!" Matsumoto raised her eyebrow as Abarai Renji, fukutaichou of the 6th squad, and Madarame Ikkaku, from 11th squad, walked in.

Renji grinned. "How're ya?" he asked lazily. Ikkaku smirked. "Didn't expect us, did ya?" Renji said smugly.

Hinamori glanced at Hitsugaya. "They can come, right?" she asked innocently. Hitsugaya gave a quick glance to Matsumoto, before nodding. "Matsumoto-san can come too!" she exclaimed happily. Matsumoto quickly forced a strained smile that managed to look passably pleasant. It occurred to her that this would be the first time seeing what happened on these little "walks" of theirs.

"Ne, Shiro-chan, let's go!" Hinamori turned around and practically skipped out the door. Once she turned her back to Hitsugaya, the young captain dropped his weak smile and sighed, running a hand through his spiky white hair. Renji and Ikkaku looked at him with something almost like pity, before following Hinamori's example and walking out.

Matsumoto stared at her taichou in concern. He once again smiled weakly at her, before striding out with even, confident steps, not showing the tiniest bit of his fatigue in his attitude. The busy fukutaichou sighed heavily, letting her strained smile drop, before following her taichou out the door.

Hinamori chatted excitedly as they walked through the hallways of Seireitei (1). Hitsugaya trailed behind her, looking at her with a sort of tired smile, with Matsumoto by his side. Renji and Ikkau trailed just slightly behind them.

Hitsugaya stared at the back of his once-best friend, his lips frozen into a bitter and tired smile. Why did he put up with her after what she had done? He didn't honestly know why. Maybe it was because he felt that maybe, just maybe, they could go back to what they used to have. The young taichou was sure that that was why he had cared about her before she… before the incident. But now he knew that things wouldn't go back to the way they were; they couldn't, not after what she had done. So why? Why did he continue to act like he cared? Maybe Matsumoto had a point.

Hitsugaya was snapped out of his musing as Hinamori suddenly turned around, a happy smile on her face, and asked, "Ne, Shiro-chan, want to go shopping with me in the living world sometime?" Said taichou looked at her with something akin to shock. Hinamori continued, oblivious to the odd looks she was receiving. "I mean, I've never been there, and I'd always wanted to go with Aizen-taichou, but since he's not here, could you go with me?"

Suddenly, they all knew why she was bringing this up. They all knew and dreaded what she was going to say next. And Hitsugaya could only stare in apprehension as he awaited what she would say next. He knew then that his once-best friend was too far gone, too infatuated with her traitor of a taichou that she would not listen to reason and fact. Something stirred in him. Something cold and cruel, as he realized that if she said what she was no doubt going to, the Momo he knew would be dead.

Matsumoto narrowed her eyes at the considerably shorter female that was chatting happily, unaware of how her words were affecting the young genius that accompanied her. Time seemed to slow as her mouth formed those terrible words.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? Don't tell me you actually believe that Aizen-taichou would betray us... Aizen-taichou didn't betray us! He's on our side, you'll see! He can't be evil! Someone else is controlling him, you'll see! You have to save him! Shiro-chan! You have to save him!"

Dead silence followed her outburst. Hitsugaya was staring at her in what almost seemed like horror. Renji and Ikkaku wisely decided to back away from the other three as they saw that Matsumoto's fist was clenched tightly at her side. Matsumoto could feel the anger swelling up in her, until it suddenly exploded.

"How could you be so selfish?" Matsumoto's icy voice broke the silence. Hinamori, who had been glaring at everybody, stared up at her in shock, before her face once again twisted into a furious expression at Matsumoto's next words. "How could you still believe in that traitor? How could you cling onto such an evil soul when you have others here who are still willing to help you? You disgust me! I don't see why taichou still puts up with you! You are driving everyone up the wall, brat! We're all tired and sick of you, yet my taichou still puts up with you, even though he is just as tired as we are! Even though he knows that you would betray him again in an instant!"

Hitsugaya paled as she neared the end of her "speech". Renji and Ikkaku looked at him with wide eyes. Hinamori turned toward him, his name dying on her lips as she searched for any sign that everything Matsumoto had just said wasn't true. But Matsumoto wasn't done yet.

"Do you know how much taichou cared for you? No, you don't. You have no idea what he would've done for you, had you only asked it. He would have done anything, anything, for you. Yet you betrayed him. You tried to kill him, and you killed his trust."

Hinamori was shaking like a leaf by the time that Matsumoto had finished. She kept her tear-filled eyes lingered on the young god that had started everything, desperately searching for a sign that Matsumoto had just been making things up, that the woman was lying.

Hitsugaya sighed, leaning against the wall, a hand covering his eyes. "Matsumoto…" he said softly, so quiet that Hinamori had to strain to hear it. But Matsumoto obviously heard it fine. She moved to his side with a soft, "Yes, taichou?", putting her hand gently on his shoulder. The young captain slowly lowered his hand, revealing pained turquoise eyes to the two shocked, and one tearful Shinigami.

Hinamori took a sharp breath, letting it out in a sob. She saw no denial in those mesmerizing turquoise orbs, nothing to indicate that this was all a lie. No, what she saw only made the pain in her heart worse. Those beautiful eyes that were once so open, so happy, as they gazed at her now looked so tired, so pained. He avoided meeting her gaze as if his life depended on it.

"Shiro-chan…" she called softly, trying one more time.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, before the albino looked up at her. Tired eyes stared at her, dark circles framing them from underneath; contrasting drastically with the too-pale skin of the young captain that Hinamori had never taken the time to notice before. "Hinamori…" Hitsugaya said in a low voice, "there is no 'Shiro-chan' anymore. I told you, didn't I? It's Hitsugaya-taichou."

Suddenly, Hitsugaya disappeared from his place beside Matsumoto, leaving her hand resting on air. The busty blonde's hand dropped down, before she turned to the tearful girl standing next to Renji. Icy cold aqua eyes glared at Hinamori from her perfect face. "I hope you're happy, Hinamori-fukutaichou," she said, twisting the young girl's name sarcastically. Matsumoto turned and walked away from the remaining trio, never looking back.

"Yes, Hinamori-fukutaichou, are you happy?" Ikkaku's voice was like ice as he turned and walked away, with Renji right behind him. The redhead looked back at the girl coldly, before stalking away to catch up with his friend.

Hitsugaya stared straight ahead listlessly as he heard the familiar sound of the 11th squad captain screaming at his subordinates to get their guard up, strike faster, dodge the goddamned blade, from his perch on the roof of a random building. 'The never-ending cycle of life, huh?' he thought sarcastically, but even his sarcasm seemed empty.

The feeling of something cold and wet on his face suddenly dragged him out of his thoughts. Hitsugaya slowly touched his face, eyes wide. Was he… crying? Over Hinamori?

"Taichou?"

Hitsugaya hastily wiped at his eyes as he heard the soft voice of his fukutaichou. He heard Matsumoto slowly walk over to stand behind him. "What, Matsumoto?" he asked, trying to sound indifferent, but, even to him, he only sounded tired and lost.

"Gomen," was the soft reply from behind him. 'What for?' The thought ran through his head as he heard his fukutaichou gently settling down behind him on the rooftop. "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. It's no business of mine if you want to keep putting up with Hinamori-fukutaichou."

A bitter laugh passed through his lips before he could stop it. "It doesn't matter," he commented bitterly, so soft he was almost whispering. "It would've happened sooner or later. It just… happened sooner, that's all." He could feel his eyes tearing up towards the end of his reply, but he stubbornly held them back.

Arms suddenly wrapped around his neck, pulling him back against his fukutaichou so that his back was leaning against her front. His eyes widened as she hugged him tightly, her head leaning down so that it was right by his. "Gomen," she whispered again.

Hitsugaya closed his eyes, a whimsical smile on his face, and leaned his head against hers. "It doesn't matter," he murmured again quietly. "There's nothing to be sorry for." Slow tears trickled down his cheeks, escaping from closed eyelids, and Matsumoto gently tightened her arms around him. No words were needed between them as he allowed himself to be swallowed by the warmth that she provided and, just this once, to shy away from the cold.

"Matsumoto…" the name slipped out as his eyes slowly fluttered open. It seemed like the many sleepless nights had suddenly caught up to him at this moment. His mind was fuzzy and his eyelids seemed to be so heavy. He struggled to move, to sit up, so he could thank her, so he could show her how much it meant to him, but his weary limbs were heavy and numb.

"It's okay," Matsumoto said, softly. "Rest…"

Hitsugaya shifted, and stared up at her hazily. Suddenly, his lips were on hers, and his eyes closed, enjoying the moment. She froze before softly returned the kiss. Hitsugaya clung to her as his mind slowly shut down. The last thing he saw, as he forced his eyes open a sliver, was her beautiful eyes, her face, her hair. Then, everything turned black.

Matsumoto gazed at her beloved captain, a small smile on her lips, as he collapsed in her laps, his arms still encircled around her neck. His face was relaxed and peaceful for the first time in weeks. His chest rose in fell with steady breaths. She slowly leaned down and kissed him softly.

"Sleep well, taichou."

Japanese translations:

taichou: captain

fukutaichou: vice captain/leiutenant

Daijoubu: are you okay?; can also be said as "Daijoubu ka?"

Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls; where the Shinigami live

Hope you enjoyed it!