So! I did this story for HitsuHinaMonth2018, a mini event on tumblr where HitsuHina fans got together and made content for the HitsuHina ship. It was tons of fun, and got me back into the fanfiction mood after years of being away from it haha. This was my last entry for it, titled "A Snippet Of A Story" since I wasn't sure If I was going to continue it. I'll see how it does here and whether or not I actually get this thing into a cohesive plot or not haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

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The woman stood in front of the door. She took a deep breath. The smell of medicine and illness filled her senses before she breathed out. A hard time has fallen upon the Seireitei; many people were injured from the unexpected rebellion, needing to be treated. Hard times like these she wished Captain Unohana were still alive, but Captain Kotetsu has long proven to be a respectable replacement.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the door opening. A tall man with long greenish hair stood in front of her. She hadn't knocked. Perhaps he heard her sigh? Rumor has it the dragon spirit's senses were unbelievably fine-tuned.

"So you've come again," he says, voice only slightly layered with an emotion she couldn't quite pin down. Worry, perhaps? Or more so trepidation of what could possibly come as a result of her coming here. She'd be lying if she said it only took a little nerve to do so.

She nodded. "I had to leave to deal with my duties, but I couldn't help but check on him. I had to make sure he was okay. How is he?"

She tried to look around the man but he moved in front of her vision, blocking her view of the man inside. He took her by the shoulder and went out into the hall with her, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him. She tensed up at the sudden movement of what was said to be a rather reserved spirit.

"W-What are you-?"

"You must be warned," the spirit said quietly, "that he is… changed. Over a century alone without me, after what had happened that day, has done him no favors." He leaned in closer, whispering to her now. She held in the shudder from his cold breath. "And I am afraid that there has been some influence over him throughout those years. I can not be sure." He pulled away from her, turning back to the door. "Be careful," was his final warning as he re-entered the room. She soon followed after him, staying alert.

The room was dark and empty, the only light being the moonlight that spilled in through the window on the opposite wall. A chair sat nearby the door but she soon lost interest in it. At the sound of them entering the man on the bed snapped his head towards the door, looking at the spirit in front of her.

In that split second he hadn't noticed her, she had seen his eyes. They looked different. The same as when she first saw him when he returned. Nothing like she knew before.

He soon saw her and his eyes widened, perhaps not expecting to see her.

"Hinamori…"

So quietly he said her name, as if he were talking to himself. She saw him shake slightly.

"You're… alive. Really alive…!"

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, ready to come to her. He was fast. Much faster than she thought he would be. Before she knew it he was halfway to her, before being stopped by an icy hand to his chest.

"Hyorinmaru… move," he said. He was strangely calm. He never stopped looking at her as he spoke to his zanpaktou.

"You should not be walking around yet, Master," he told him. He gently put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Don't overexert yourself. Let your leg rest."

Leg? Was that why he was here then? The thought briefly crossed her mind as she watched Hyorinmaru try to talk to his master. Hinamori would have guessed that he was ignored, given the man has yet to look at him. Teal eyes still bored into hers.

"Will you stay if I do that, Hinamori?"

She jumped at the question. "W-What…?"

"There's so much I want to talk to you about, Hinamori. I want you to stay. Will you?"

She felt her chest swell. She resisted the urge to sigh.

"Sure, Shiro," she smiled at her friend. Her childhood friend. "But if your leg hurts we have to sit down."

He turned around at her words, moving back and sitting back down on the bed. She stole a glance to Hyorinmaru when Shiro's eyes finally weren't honed in on hers. He looked behind her before heading to one of the walls, leaning his back against it.

She grabbed the nearby chair and sat it beside his bed.

"Hinamori… Hinamori…!" Shiro sat there, staring into her eyes once again. His had taken on a mesmerized look for a moment. Then they closed a little, taking on a more bashful look. It almost looked familiar. "I'm sorry for how I reacted when I first saw you again."

He screamed so loudly. Thrashed like a madman. They had to sedate him.

"I thought… All this time, I thought you were-"

"It's alright Shiro," she put her hand near him, ignoring what he was about to bring up, "you just scared us, that's all." She moved her gaze from his eyes to his leg. "I'm just glad it was handled before you hurt yourself. Your zanpaktou said your leg was hurt? It would've been bad if something happened."

She felt his eyes on her.

"My leg isn't hurt that badly. They're all overreacting." His response garnered a grunt from the spirit.

"Well… can you walk?" She looked back at him. "You tried to go fast earlier but can you walk normally?"

Something flickered in his eyes. Or maybe she just imagined it.

Shiro again swung his legs over the bed, slower this time, before standing up. He walked past Hinamori and casually walked along the walls of the room.

"Master," Hyorinamru warned.

"I'm just walking, Hyorinmaru," Shiro said, still not looking at the spirit. "Relax. I'll be fine."

She watched as he walked around the room. "So, how did your leg get hurt Shiro? Was it from you two's fight?"

Shiro smiled and nodded as he passed by Hyorinmaru.

"It's nothing to be happy about," the spirit said, his voice laced with what sounded like anger. She kept her eyes on Shiro and as he passed the spirit he certainly looked unhappy.

"I beg to differ."

Hinamori was confused. Shiro caught it immediately.

"He's angry because I didn't have to use his power to get him back," Shiro said, eyes half shut as for an instant he finally stopped looking at her to glance at Hyorinmaru from behind him. His tone was even, as if he were describing the weather. "That after so long without him I didn't come groveling at his feet begging for mercy."

An odd noise, almost like glass tinking together, came from where Hyorinmaru was, but she dared not look away from Shiro. "That isn't true," Hyorinmaru said through gritted teeth. "Master, I held no grudge against you-"

"Of course you didn't." Sarcasm oozed from his voice now. "Among all the zanpaktou it was you, and only you, who's fine with their master." His tone shifted. From calm to accusatory. "I got you sealed. I was dependent on you before that. When last we met you wanted nothing to do with me, and for good reason, but now suddenly!" His sudden shout made Hinamori jump. "You don't seem to remember me! You're looking for your master!" He stopped walking for a moment, near the corner where his wall and Hyorinamru's met. "I can't believe you thought I was dumb enough to fall for such an obvious trick."

"It was not a trick!"Hyorinmaru shouted, his deep voice reverberating Hinamori's chest like a drum as he pushed off the wall-

Before either of them knew it Shiro was in front of him, his hand in front of the spirit's face. A second passed, and Hyorinmaru grew limp. Shiro caught him before he hit the ground.

"Shiro!" She jumped up from the chair, shocked at her friend's action.

"He needed to go away and he wasn't going to." Shiro dragged the unconscious man to the bed, grabbing his legs to put him on it completely. "I'll deal with him later..."

'That was Inemuri…but he knocked such a strong spirit out with such a simple Kido? Without the incantation?'

"You don't have to play dumb, Hinamori."

Her head snapped to his voice. She saw his eyes stare back into hers again. "W-What do you mean, Shiro?" She couldn't stop her stutter. 'Dammit, dammit, there's no need to be nervous!'

"You knew he had to leave too. I picked it up when you asked if I could walk." He smiled at her. She felt her blood rushing. Her friend held out his hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Something was building up, fast. She couldn't help but ask. "Why-?"

"Come one, Hinamori!" he yelled. Another jump came out of her but she managed to suck in her own shout of surprise and shock- not fear, never. "Please, there's- not much time, please."

"A-Alright Shiro! We can leave." Except he can't. He's still hurt. They wouldn't let him leave. She glanced back at the window, hoping she hid her anger at stuttering again. "We have to come back, Shiro."

He looked ready to protest, but she took his hand. He stopped whatever he was going to say. He smiled again.

They escaped through the window, its thin bars not enough to hold in their lithe forms, and Shiro ended up leading her to one of the many destroyed parts of the Seireitei. He looked up at the cloudy sky, face filled with gaiety.

"Perfect…" he whispered. He turned to face her. "Here… I can show you here."

She looked back at him. He was shaking, very slightly. "Show me what?"

"My Kido." He sounded excited. "I've been practicing and practicing it, trying to perfect it, trying to think of new things. I remember what you did to those fracciones - it was awe-inspiring. I thought I… could honor you by becoming better at Kido." He took a deep breath and released it shakily. "But now… now you can see it! You can see for yourself if I'm good enough!"

She looked at him, feeling her face relax in melancholy. It saddened her to think he felt that way for so long. "Shiro, you don't have to-"

"Raikohou!"

From the sky, a pillar of lightning shot down, striking the ground in front of them.

"AHH!"

'What was that?'

"What-"

"They don't expect it coming from the sky." Shiro carried on. "You have to try it!"

"Shiro- What- How-" Raikohou comes from the user. How did he do that?

"Just think about Tsuriboshi!" He pointed a finger to the sky. She couldn't pay attention to where he was pointing "You have to fire off your reiatsu to where you want it to go off, right? It's the same! Just make it Raikohou! I couldn't see why you wouldn't be able to but with time I found that you can! Reiatsu control, that's key, it's has to be perfect or else it's a waste. I'm sure you can do it, Hinamori, you've always been better at this than I was so please try it out-"

"W-Wait, Shiro," she tried to get him to slow down, his rambling fast and hard to keep up with in her shocked state, "you said you wanted me to see you, r-right? Keep going!"

'Why do I keep stuttering? Why am I so nervous? Shiro's acting strange but I knew he would, who wouldn't after so long alone?

He looked at her, eyes wide. "Really?"

She felt herself shaking as well. "Of course, Shiro!" Good. Sound confident. Be confident. She threw a smile at him. "It's been so long… I'd love to be stay with you a little longer."

He looked at her. Looked at her. Looked. Looked. He breathed out. Then he breathed out again. He ran one hand through his hair slowly. Hinamori looked at him, brows knitting together.

"What… What… What?!" He took a step away from her. "But- But Hinamori I - I- I-"

"Shiro, I already came here with you." She took a step closer to him. He was tense, like a cornered animal ready to lash out. 'Why? Did I say something wrong?' She didn't feel uneasy. He was her friend. "What happened's happened, alright? Let's calm down and go back to the Forth. You looked really stressed, you should really get some rest. I'll stay with you if you want me to."

His breathing started to even out, if only a little. She heard him inhale like he was about to respond.

Then he shot up straight.

She yelped, startled by the sudden movement. She watched as he turned his head towards where the Senkaimon was.

"Shiro?"

He didn't answer her. Just kept looking. Soon he started shaking his head, first slowly, then fast, before he finally shouted "NO!"

He ran up to her, grabbing her desperately by the shoulders. He stared straight into her eyes, wide-eyed, a cornered animal.

"I have to go," he said, fast, almost unintelligibly so. "I have to go now."

"What?" Her eyebrows knitted together. "What happened Shiro?"

He just shook his head again. "I have to go. I have to talk with someone. I'll be back."

Just like that, he was gone. Hinamori was alone on the roof.

"SHIRO!" She screamed after him.

Nothing. Her friend was gone.