"But I am here right beside you,

I won't go anywhere…

In the sky called 'you' is where I'm trapped,

I am not going anywhere,

So please don't go anywhere either.

It is enough if you are here,

For in this sky, I do not need wings anymore."

...

"Hm~?"

I could only blink, big cinnamon tinted eyes observing the beaker full of chemicals being roasted over the Bunsen burner. These goggles were bothersome, obscuring my vision of this potential scientific breakthrough. If this experiment was a success, Kurotsuchi-Taicho would have to take notice and promote me a couple of seats.

"Nope…~" I tisked, deciding to abandon the rather large goggles as I carelessly tossed them over my shoulder. "Besides, this should have been boiling by now..? Its combined effects must have lowered its boiling point. Interesting!"

While I hummed a tune, one I faintly recalled hearing during a trip to the World of the Living, I quickly jotted down facts about the experiment. I knew I was in the process of working with unstable chemicals and reishi, so I had to be extremely careful; now wasn't the time for me to slack off and get injured in yet another experiment and get sent to Fourth. Kurotsuchi-Taicho would have my head. Quite literally, too, I'm sure.

Slowly but surely, I adjusted the flame of the burner.

A few moments of breathless silence passed, before the mixture started to bubble. The dark purple color of the mixture quickly began to lighten; first to a deep violet color, then a grape shade, then magenta. My gloved hand shot to the side, quickly finding the glass swirl rod so I could stir the mixture.

This was the point of no return.

The last six times I had performed this experiment, this was the point where everything seemed to backfire.

"One stir clockwise, one stir counterclockwise, add a drop of the reishi…" I bit my lip in suspense, closing my warm cinnamon eyes out of reflex; this clockwise then counterclockwise method was one that I hadn't tried before. A hissing noise echoed throughout the room, followed by the usual gurgling sound of the boiling mixture.

"Hm~" I slowly opened one eye, "Success?"

The beaker full of chemicals had turned a vibrant, icy blue color.

It was such a color that one could only identify with snow and ice.

"…success..!" I murmured, feeling my lips quirk to a smile. "My element is ice, after all…"

"…to-Chan..!"

"…koto-Chaaan..!"

"Makoto!"

"Hm~" I blinked as I looked up from the notes I was currently scribbling down, which documented my recent success. Facts and numbers were swirling through my mind, so I could hardly blame myself for not really hearing my name being called until it was being yelled into my ear. "Did you want something, Rin-Kun?"

The brown haired male sighed, his drooping eyes slid shut as he meekly shook his head back and forth; I had to suppress a giggle at the sight of his small ponytail on top of his head swaying at the movement. "Makoto-Chan always gets so focused whenever she's working..! It's too sad!"

"Sorry, Rin-Kun," I sheepishly smiled. "It's just… I've finally succeeded! Well, with my own reishi being detected; the mixture successfully identified the element associated with my Zanpakuto!"

"Oooh, congratulations!" Rin beamed as he grinned and rushed over to my side to peer into the beaker. "Mind if I try it next time?"

"Sure," I shrugged, knowing that I needed to repeat the experiment many more times before it was considered an actual success. Kurotsuchi-Taicho wouldn't consider it a breakthrough without the necessary evidence. "You'd need to leave me a sample of your reishi."

"I can do that," Rin grinned.

His grin; it looked so much like his grin.

The guy who belonged to the Fourth Division, utterly complacent with healing and cleaning whatever was ordered. The guy who was like me; shy at first, but eventually warmed up to people considered 'friends.'

The guy that I had, without a doubt, fallen for.

Yamada Hanatarou: Seventh Seat of the Fourth Division and leader of the Fourteenth Advanced Relief Team.

Tsubokura Rin did bear a great resemblance to Hanatarou, which was probably why I was able to befriend Rin so quickly in the first place. He was the only one I would consider a real 'friend' in the Twelfth Division.

"Ah, it's frozen." Rin observed, tapping the frozen mixture with a glass rod. "Here, maybe you should turn up the heat-"

"DON'T..!" I tried to warn, but it was too late.

The mixture became volatile, the reishi particles suspended in the chemical mixture violently bouncing around and heating up the frozen mixture. Before I could continue my warning, the frozen ice block exploded.

...

The computer screen in front of the Taicho flashed; fire alarm activated in lab four.

Lab four was the one that Makoto had reserved earlier that day.

The cameras around the fourth lab relayed all of the damage that had been done: the inside of the lab was filled with a thick smoke, obscuring the small maroon haired female from view. The blast was strong enough to blow the door to the lab off of the hinges this time.

"Good grief," Kurotsuchi-Taicho growled. "Honestly, that imbecile should not be allowed anywhere near a Bunsen burner."

...

"I'm so sorry, Makoto-Chan..!" Rin apologized over and over. His strings of apologies were only interrupted by him coughing, due to the thick white haze that lingered in the air. "I'm the one who ruined your experiment this time! I'm sorry! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

My hand rummaged around inside of my lab coat's pocket, groping around for that spare piece of candy I had. Bingo! As I removed it from my pocket, I quickly unwrapped it.

"Rin-Kun," I cooed sweetly, "Come over here~"

The brunette obeyed, quickly rushing to my side to check for any injuries. "Are you okay!? Can you get up? Oh, look! You've got a bad burn-"

I grinned as I stuffed the jawbreaker into Rin's mouth; that's one way to shut him up.

"For the last time, I'm fine." I explained as I stood up and began dusting off my lab coat. A wince flashed across my face, causing my eyebrows to furrow and my eyes to clench in pain. Rin was right; I did have a pretty bad burn on my left forearm. I was left handed, so it probably occurred when I rose my arms up to protect my head during the explosion. The entire left sleeve of my coat was gone from the elbow down. "It's… just a burn. It's nothing to worry about."

"But it could be serious!" The brunette protested, "You should go visit your boyfriend in the Fourth and get him to treat it!"

"B-Boyfriend?" I stuttered. I'm pretty sure my blush right now appeared as quickly as that explosion! "W-Who are you r-referring to?"

"You know who I'm talking about!" Rin crossed his arms, rolling the jawbreaker around in his mouth a few times before continuing. "He's got droopy eyes, I think they're blue, and a dull facial expression? Dark hair about to his chin, with bangs framing his face? He always stutters a lot around me."

"Hanatarou? Is that who you're talking about?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows rise. I was tempted to point out how similar the two males looked and that by describing Hanatarou as 'dull' he was also describing himself, but I resisted.

"First name basis with no honorifics?" Rin questioned with a cheeky grin.

Deep cinnamon tinted eyes cut into a hard glare, quickly wiping the cheeky grin off of the other Twelfth Division member's face. "Hanatarou and I have been friends for a long time now. We were only a few years apart when we were at the Academy. Besides, our families have known each other for centuries."

"So you admit it is him?"

"Hanatarou is a good friend," I hesitated in my answer. I wasn't exactly sure how the dark haired male felt about me. I had succumbed to the conclusion that I liked him very much a few years ago, but I knew that I didn't want to risk our friendship by me opening my big mouth. So my simple crush on him has simmered throughout these years, only growing bigger as time passes. "I'd be stupid to risk our friendship in exchange for anything more."

Rin placed his hand on my shoulder, "Don't you think he's grown to care for you, too, after all of this time?"

"Hm," I hummed. "I… I just don't know. It's not something that I'm able to think about logically. Besides, isn't love just a chemical reaction? And there's no way for me to experiment with something like that; it'd probably blow up in my face too."

"Ehehe, not everything is about experiments, Koto-Chan." Rin sheepishly laughed. "Even if they do blow up in your face. Though I'm not sure you're supposed to experiment with love. Isn't it supposed to be fragile?"

With a heavy sigh, I bit my lip. "I'm not sure. I've never felt this way before, especially not about anyone else but Hanatarou. And all of the books that I've read pointed all of my symptoms to love sickness. Though there's no cure for it, yet. Maybe I should try finding a cure for that next?"

"Well, wouldn't it all have to go bad first before you get love 'sickness'? Like, wouldn't he have to reject you or something? That'd make you sick." Rin reasoned, "Regular love isn't supposed to make you sick, right?"

I listed off the reasons on my fingers. "Well, my stomach does get all fluttery. And my heart starts pounding really fast and hard. Sometimes it's hard to breathe. Then I start second guessing myself, because I wouldn't want to look like a fool. All of this sounds like a sickness to me."

"Only because you haven't acted on your feelings yet!" The brunette exclaimed, waving his arms around in the air to emphasize his point. "Once both of you realize this, all of those things should go away and everything should seem brighter and fluffier, right?"

"I… I guess." I sighed, starting to sweep up shards of the broken beaker off of the floor. "That's only if he feels the same way."

"Which he probably will..!"

"I'm still not sure if I want to chance it." I shook my head, sweeping the pile of shards into the garbage. "I mean, I've waited this long… Why not wait a bit longer?"

"I didn't know that you were a coward, Makoto~" Rin teased, "I knew that you were a bit shy, but you're a strong person underneath it all. I've seen video of you slaying Hollows; you've got no mercy in battle. But that toughness vanishes around this guy?"

As I sat down on top of the counter, I busied myself with turning off the Bunsen burner to stall for time while I thought.

Rin was right; I did lose my confidence around Hanatarou. Just being around him was enough to make me feel all fluffy and happy. I lost the tough edge that lingered inside me when I happened to be around others.

"…You're right," I spoke, only to pause for a moment to fiddle with the frayed edges of my sleeve. Determination flooded through me, giving me some of my edge back. "Nothing will ever change if you don't try, right? I suppose you've got to experiment a little with different tactics." At Rin's look, I hastily added to my spoken train of thought, "Tactics that don't involve chemicals or Bunsen burners..!"

"Exactly," The brunette beamed. "There's the Makoto-Chan that I know!"

"Mhm~" I hummed a bit, managing to smile. "I guess I've been hiding away for a while now, haven't I?"

"Yeah, it's been longer than you've realized."

"Sorry," I sighed. "Anyways, since you caused this mess, do you think you could clean up a bit? I wanna head over to Fourth to get this burn looked at."

The brunette grinned impishly, "Passing the dirty work onto me while you go spend time with your boyfriend? I see how it is! Anyways, let's fix your hair a bit before you go to Fourth. You look like you have an afro."

...

"Honestly, what was he thinking?" I fumed, closing my eyes as I released a terse sigh. My hand rose up to my hair, tugging the hair tie from the top of my head. "How is a ponytail on top of your head attractive? That's right, it isn't."

Rin's idea of 'fixing' my hair just so happened to mean replicating his hairstyle.

As I ran my fingers through my hair, I quickly gave up with the strands. They were still frizzy from the heat of burning chemicals and the earlier explosion. At least Rin had gotten the powder out of my hair, even if that's the only thing he managed to do correctly. With a speed gained only from experience, my hair was soon pulled into an attractive looking braid. The loose pieces of hair surrounding the braid gave it a natural messy look.

I didn't have time to change my Shihakusho before Rin shoved me out of Twelfth Division. I barely had time to report to Kurotsuchi-Taicho before the brunette tugged me out of the painted man's sight; which was probably for the better, Taicho seemed angered that I had caused yet another explosion in the labs. On the other hand, Taicho did seem somewhat impressed with the experiment before Rin had interfered. Hopefully I'd get the chance to continue with it.

"Ah, Makoto-San..!" Kotetsu-Fukutaicho gasped as her doe like eyes fell on me as soon as I walked into the Fourth Division, "What in the world happened to you?"

"You know me, Kotetsu-Fukutaicho; another experiment gone wrong." I sheepishly laughed, "I was forced here for treatment. I've got a burn on my left forearm…"

"Yes, I see…" The tall gray haired woman sighed, "We're short of hand at the moment, so you might have to wait a bit."

"Oh, I'm fine. I can wait; it's not like it's a life threatening wound!"

"However, it still needs attention." Kotetsu-Fukutaicho began, "I'll try to-"

"K-Koto..!" A voice called out, faltering a bit at first due to concern. "W-What in the world happened to you? It wasn't a H-Hollow, was it?"

Softly smiling, I turned to stare into Hanatarou's worried blue eyes. "No, it wasn't a Hollow. Just another experiment that went wrong, even if it wasn't my fault this time."

"Kotetsu-Fukutaicho," Hanatarou bowed. "I'll take care of Makoto."

"Okay, I'll leave her in your hands." The Fukutaicho knowingly smiled, pushing my shoulder forward and causing me to stumble into Hanatarou.

The male was quick to react, his hands firmly pressed to my hips to steady my movement. My head still lightly bounced into his chest, mainly due to the fact that I was (luckily) a few inches shorter than Hanatarou.

"T-Thank you." I heard myself stutter and regretted it. I had to be stronger than this! Butterflies in my stomach or not, I was going to be stronger! But… it was so hard, especially with his hands still on my hips..!

Hanatarou looked down at me, a caring look in his eyes. "You need to be more c-careful, Koto. I… I won't be able to t-take it if the only time I see you is whenever y-you're injured…"

"Hanatarou..! We don't only see each other when I'm injured; we run into each other when I'm completely fine, sometimes." I argued, pouting a bit. "Besides, I always know you'll heal me up in no time. You are the best healer to me, after all..!"

A dark pink blush quickly spread across his cheeks at my compliments.

"Now, now…" Kotetsu-Fukutaicho tisked as she walked back to her desk and saw us still standing there. "No public displays of affection out here, you guys. At least wait until you get into a private room."

Hanatarou's blue orbs darted down to his hands still on my hips, blushing furiously as he fully realized that his hands had been sitting there the whole time.

"I-I'M S-S-SORRY, KOTETSU-FUKUTAICHO..!" Hanatarou exclaimed as his hands flew from my hips, almost like he had been burned. The dark haired male then bowed at the waist, hiding his crimson tinted cheeks. "I'll h-heal M-Makoto r-r-right a-away!"

When Hanatarou's eyes landed on the large burn on my left forearm, the dark haired male softly grabbed my right hand. "R-Right this way; that injury l-looks like it'll take some t-time to heal."

"I'm sorry to trouble you…" I sighed, obediently following the meek male as he led me into one of the spare rooms that the Fourth Division members used while healing people. "It seems like we really do only meet whenever I'm injured, like you said."

"Ah!" Hanatarou's eyes widened, "You're no trouble, Koto! N-None at all!"

"Really?" I couldn't help but ask; once again I despised the meek feelings the male brought out in me. He evened me out and calmed me down.

"Really," The healer echoed me with a soft expression on his face. "Although I-I do wish you'd be a b-bit more careful. I-I hate seeing you hurt."

I winced a bit as Hanatarou gently touched the burn, inspecting it. While he meekly apologized, I shrugged the apologies off. "Well, I hate being hurt, too. I guess it's just my clumsy nature. Not to mention I only usually get injured when I'm experimenting around with things."

"D-Do you normally wear any pr-protective equipment to protect yourself?"

"Um, sometimes…" I hedged, sweatdropping as I faintly remembered throwing the large pair of goggles over my shoulder early on in the experiment. At the chastising look on Hanatarou's face, I quickly amended my words. "I mean, I wear them all the time~"

"Koto," He sighed and closed his eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hm? Heal me?"

"I-I meant after that." Hanatarou chuckled a bit. "Please promise me you'll be more careful and wear the safety equipment properly."

"I promise," I honestly vowed. "I always try my best, but sometimes my best isn't good enough. Especially when there are chemicals and Bunsen burners involved in the equation. Besides, ice is weak to fire; so that's probably why I get burned all the time."

"Haha," Hanatarou laughed, "Y-You're not made out of ice, Koto."

I grinned at the male across from me, "So you think~"

"A-Ah," The male stuttered a bit, cheeks tinted a pale pink. "B-But, Koto, you're the warmest, k-kindest person that I know. You can't be m-made of ice."

Before I could stop my body from moving, it moved out of pure instinct; most likely from chemical involvement.

My lips gently pressed against the healer's cheek as my eyes looked up at him in sincerity. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Thank you, Hanatarou. I-It means a lot that that's what you think about me."

"N-n-n-no p-pr-problem..!" Hanatarou squeaked, his voice several pitches higher than usual.

"Good," I smiled.

Hanatarou continued healing my burn in silence after that, his hands lightly shaking from time to time; mainly whenever he met my gaze. Had I done something wrong? My gut was the one that made the decision to kiss his cheek, not my brain.

"T-There," Hanatarou meekly smiled. "Good as new."

"Mm," I nodded as I looked down at my arm. It was healed, but still wrapped up in gauze; Hanatarou didn't want to risk the sensitive flesh being exposed so soon. "Thank you very much."

"It's no problem." The dark haired male meekly waved his arms as he attempted to stop my flattery.

I blinked as I tilted my head to the side as I stared up into his deep blue eyes, "No, I do owe you Hanatarou. You've healed me countless times and I've never repaid you. That's got to change. Do you have anything in mind?"

"A-Ah," Hanatarou blinked as he looked away from me. "W-well, there is o-one thing."

"Name it."

"W-Well, I-I'm supposed to go to the World of the Living t-to pick some things up for Unohana-Taicho…" The healer began, "O-Only, us Fourth Division member's c-can't go a-alone. I-I need an escort."

"Oh?" I asked as I grinned in excitement. "That's it? That's fairly simple! Sure! I'd love to be your escort to the World of the Living. When are you scheduled to leave?"

"Whenever I found an escort," Hanatarou meekly spoke as he fumbled around with his fingers. "T-There's really no time frame; whenever y-you can go, then I-I'll go."

"That's a relief!" I laughed, "Kurotsuchi-Taicho's about ready to get me off of his hands for a while. I'm sure he'll jump at the opportunity for me to escort someone to the World of the Living. This way I don't blow any more labs up."

"G-Great!"

"Mhm, just let me speak to Kurotsuchi-Taicho~"

...

"Wow, look at this, Hanatarou..!" I exclaimed as I pressed my nose against the cool glass of the shop window. As I looked inside the glass, I could easily see the newest sets of beauty products that had been recently released.

Unohana-Taicho had sent her seventh seat out to buy her beauty products; she had recently run out of her favorite eye shadow and shampoos. Not to mention she also had scents of lotions that I'd never heard of before on the list. How Hanatarou and I were able to find most of it was pure luck.

"A-Amazing," The healer breathed out as he pressed his face against the storefront window as well. "All of this stuff looks so different from what we usually have in the Soul Society."

"I agree." I nodded. I turned my head as I scanned the copy of the list I had in my hand, "It looks like this is our last stop. This is where Unohana-Taicho's conditioner for her hair comes from."

We were able to find a sales associate, one that was able to quickly help us and take us right to the correct product. Without much hassle, we were able to purchase it and leave the store.

"That's everything," Hanatarou spoke. "I-I think."

I tugged on my braid as I nodded my head, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we got everything. Not only that, but we were able to get all of the correct brands, so there's no way Unohana-Taicho won't be pleased."

"T-Thank you so much, Koto." The healer stuttered as he lightly bowed his head towards me, "Thanks to you, I-I was able to find everything quickly."

"This is nothing, compared to everything that you've done for me, Hanatarou." I smiled as I placed my hands on Hanatarou's cheeks and raised his head up to a normal position. Placing a quick kiss on his cheek like I did a few hours prior, I grinned up at him. "Don't even try and argue; I still owe you so much more."

"I-If you s-s-say so…" The healer blushed bright red as he avoided my gaze and fumbled with his fingers once more.

My breath left me in a sharp gasp as my hand latched onto Hanatarou's hands, bringing his trembling fingers to a stop. That sharp burst of reiatsu didn't belong to a Shinigami; it belonged to a Hollow.

"Hanatarou," I sharply spoke; I could feel my inner 'take charge' side come out. "There's a Hollow around, I can feel it. I want you to stick close by me, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Makoto." The dark haired healing Shinigami nodded towards me, as his hand moved to squeeze mine in affirmation. "I trust you."

As I nodded up at Hanatarou, I let go of his hand. I had to reach into the pocket of my street clothes that Urahara had given me when we had first arrived, with our gigai of course. I withdrew the Soul Candy and popped it into my mouth. I could feel the peculiar tingling sensation of my soul leaving the human shell; I felt much more comfortable in this form than in that shell.

The faux soul that was in the gigai stood protectively before Hanatarou, her arms spread apart (waiting for any attack) and her muscles tensed. I nodded towards the gigai; at least Hanatarou had another form of protection if I failed.

My hand rested on the hilt of my Zanpakuto, fingers tracing the cold silver metal. The edges alternated between smooth and jagged, appearing eerily similar to a snowflake, even if no two snowflakes looked the same.

I closed my eyes as I tried to feel any shred of reishi coming from the Hollow; I had to know where it was hiding before it made a sneak attack. I couldn't let all of these humans get drug into a battle, even if the only current 'human' on my mind was Hanatarou.

"Makoto..! B-Behind you!"

My cinnamon eyes widened in surprise, but I had managed to block the Hollow's sharp claw with my Zanpakuto. The screeching sound of metal against metal filled my senses, which caused my eyes to squint in a wince; that sound grated on my ears, sending chills down my spine. The long, sharp claws pushed back. I cursed to myself as I felt my zori clad feet slide back across the pavement.

With a sudden surge of strength, the Hollow overpowered me and sent me flying into a store. Humans in the vicinity screamed; they had no idea what was going on. None of them could see the Hollow. They could only see the destruction that it caused.

"Makoto!" Hanatarou yelled, his eyes wide in horror as he saw the blood streak down the side of my face. I could feel the blood; it was warm and the metallic scent was making me dizzy. "Makoto..! Get up! I-It's headed straight for you..!"

Hanatarou's voice cut through the fog in my mind. I opened my eyes, blinking away the bleariness. I was still dizzy; the world seemed to be spinning all around me. However, I was able to see the Hollow before me.

It was large, bigger than most Hollow that would show up in the World of the Living. The creature resembled a sloth, complete with the razor sharp claws and slanted eyes looming behind the traditional white Hollow mask. Its fur was a rustic shade of brown, crimson red tribal looking designs circling around its body.

"Makoto-"

"Kiretsu, Reitou Miraa." I commanded, the phrase that called upon my Zanpakuto leaving my parted lips. [Crack, Frozen Mirror]

The air around me seemed to explode, icy wind bursting forth from seemingly nowhere. Hidden by the cold fog, I stepped into view with my Zanpakuto at the ready. Once released, Reito Miraa took on the form of an icy white scythe. Three small bells of frozen ice hung next to the sharp blade; everyone could hear the soft twinkling in the slight icy wind that continued to flow down the street.

The Hollow roared, not liking the sudden temperature change. It lunged, aiming its sharp claws right at my head. I was able to dodge under its large swipe; I angled the blade of my scythe and managed to cut the Hollow's arm.

As it cried out in pain, the dark blood gushed into the street.

I reached up and ripped one of the three bells from the scythe and crushed it in the palm of my hand.

The Hollow's cries increased; ice exploded from the cut. Even the Hollows own blood cells were frozen, being carried to its heart and ripping the organ apart from the inside out before it would get the opportunity to freeze as well. The ice traveled towards the Hollow's mask, cracking the pure white plane and sending the Hollow on.

With another burst of icy wind, my Zanpakuto returned to its normal sealed state. As I heaved a shaky sigh, I fell to my knees and brought a hand up to my head to try and get the spinning to cease.

"..Koto..!" I heard, "Makoto..!"

"Hana…tarou?" I questioned and tried to smile once I saw that he was safe and unhurt. "You're alright, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah, but you're n-not..!" The healer exclaimed as he fell to his knees and winced as he eyed the cut on my head. "Head injuries are always the w-worst..!"

I forced a laugh as I tried to wave his worries away. "I'll be fine. I've seen much worse, remember? I'm just glad that you're okay. I really wasn't expecting a Hollow like that to have such a sudden surge in power. It took me by surprise, that's all."

"…Y-You promised me that you'd be more careful."

"With experiments and such, I never said Hollow attacks~" I laughed, only to stop once I saw the disappointed look on the healer's face. "I'm sorry, Hanatarou. I really was taken by surprise. If it wasn't you I was protecting, then I might have had an even worse time. I heard your voice telling me to stand, that the Hollow was coming for me. I… didn't want you getting hurt."

"W-Why me?" Hanatarou stuttered as his face lit up in embarrassment, "I-I'm not worth you protecting me. I'm… I'm not as s-strong as you are. I could never…protect you like you just did for me."

"That doesn't matter to me," I bit my lip as I moved my hands to force Hanatarou to stare into my eyes and not at the ground. Even if I looked like a bloody mess, I wanted him to hear me out. "Hanatarou, you're a healer, not a fighter. I would never want to see you with a sword, fighting off these monsters. That's not the Hanatarou I know. The Hanatarou I know… has a strength that I don't have. I… I couldn't handle seeing people injured all the time; I couldn't heal people or watch them die if there wounds were too much. Hanatarou, you protect people from death, much more than me or any other Shinigami from another division would. To me… you're the strongest of them all."

Blue eyes widened at my confession, his cheeks tinted a bright strawberry color. "D-Do you really mean that, M-Makoto..?"

"Every single word." I vowed and grinned, "It's not me being kooky from blood loss or anything. Well, it is me finally acting on all of these chemicals and hormones that have been rushing through my system. I still don't understand love… but I do know that I feel different around you. It's like… an explosion of butterflies in my gut every time I get to see you, talk to you."

"I… I feel the same thing..!" Hanatarou gushed, "I-I-I get so tongue tied s-sometimes when I think about y-you, or talk t-to you. My heart starts p-pounding in my chest… I… I think I l-l-love you, too, Makoto..!"

The air left my lungs in a rush; I laughed out loud due to pure happiness. "I love you too, Hanatarou..! God, that feels so good to say and get off of my chest!"

Hanatarou shakily wrapped his arms around my waist; his head was buried in the crook of my neck. I could feel the upwards turn of his lips on my sensitive flesh, so I felt no hesitation in hugging him back just as tightly. My heart was fluttering so fast, it felt as if it would soon leave my body.

I knew a couple of things.

First, I knew that I would never leave Hanatarou. He was so precious to me. I wanted to protect him from anything that would harm him. He protects people in their own way, and I protect them in my own. We're like two halves that form a whole.

I also knew that I didn't fully understand all that 'love' was. Sure, I knew the definition about all of the different hormones and chemicals that invaded your brain and body, producing pleasurable feelings. But… there was more to it than just chemicals. Hanatarou doesn't know much about the topic either, but I had a feeling that we'd be learning together through this experience.

After all, love was just another explosion that occurred in my life.

A chemical explosion.

...

Authoress' Note: Thank you so much for reading! This OneShot was written during my long ago Quizilla days, dedicated to animefangirl0013! She requested the name Makoto, which means "sincere," so credit goes to her for that. I'd like to say that I do not own Bleach or the lyrics above, which are from Matsushita Yuya's song, "Bird."