Get well soon.
Slightly nervous, Yamada Hanatarou walked along the corridors of his division, clutching the bentou he had prepared.
Please look after her.
Why in the world did they choose him to be the one to look after Hinamori-Fukutaichou?
It's not that I'm that talented in cheering up people. Momohara-San said she didn't even look at him, not to mention talking to anyone. What am I supposed to say?
He knew it was quite simple, and he also knew he'd make it totally complicated nevertheless.
I'll just have to say "Hello, Hinamori-Fukutaichou, here's the lunch I made for you. Please eat it." It can't be THAT difficult, can it?
Lost in his thoughts, he bumped into one of his officers and almost dropped the bentou. "I-I'm sorry!!", he yelled automatically and looked up. "Oh, it's you, Fukutaichou..."
The female fourth division Shinigami, about 30 centimeters taller than he was, looked down and smiled at him. "Ah, Yamada-Nanaseki.. 's okay, don't worry." She noticed the lunchbox he still was still clinching.
"I see, so it's your turn to look after Hinamori-San now?" "Y-yes...", he said quietly and looked to the ground to cover his nervousness.
Still smiling, she patted his shoulder. "Good luck with that. I'm sure it'll be alright... Hinamori-San is no cruel person. She's just rather disarranged at the moment. Maybe you'll be able to make her feel better, who knows?"
He looked up in disbelieve. "D-do you think so, Fukutaichou..? It's not that I'm talented or something.." "Oh, you are. More than you know. Remember when you had to look after Kuchiki-San? You made her smile, too..."
If I remember?
Of course he remembered. The reminiscence of his meeting with her was quite the strongest of all the memories he had... how could he ever forget it?
"Yamada-Nanaseki, are you okay?"
Hanatarou winced and noticed that he had been zoning out. "Oh, n-no, of course not, I'm okay..." He laughed nervously. "So, uhm, I better get going... s-see you later, Fukutaichou!"
He rushed off, not without slipping and dropping some of the rice he had made on the floor.
A few minutes later, he was standing in front of the door, still too nervous to open it.
So, here I am now.
He hated himself for being such a coward, and shook his head.
It's just Hinamori-Fukutaichou. It won't be difficult, it won't be...
But why was he so nervous then? He raised his hand and noticed that it was shaking.
Come on now, you just have to knock at the door...
And he knocked. Barely audibly. But he knocked.
"Ano... Hinamori-Fukutaichou...?"
No answer.
"Hi-Hinamori-Fukutaichou?", he repeated, even more insecure now. "I... I have... uhm...", his voice broke.
He took deep breath and asked for a third time. "Hinamori-Fukutaichou? Can I come in?"
And then he heard her.
"Who's there?"
Her voice sounded fragile and a little whiny, too. Had she been crying?
But she was talking to him... she was actually talking to him, which made him feel at least a little more secure.
"I...i'm Yamada Hanatarou, ma'm, f-fourth division's seventh seat and... and... I.. I made you some food... can I please come in...?"
For a few moments, he didn't hear anything. But then-
"Yes."
With his heart beating, he opened the door. She was sitting in her bed, looking straight in his face when he came in.
"Uhm..." He wasn't sure where to look.
The expression of her eyes made him feel really uncomfortable. He had seen her before, he had also talked to her, and he had only known her at a light-hearted, smiling and laughing person.
But now, she had deep eyerings and her face was looked so terribly sad he couldn't stand to look at it.
"Well...", he tried again. "Uhm... I... I brought you this..."
He looked down at the bentou, and suddenly realized that he had been squashing it so hard that it didn't look very appetizing anymore now.
"WAAAAAHHH!!! Uh, I, I'm so sorry, it... I didn't mean to... uhm... aaaah, I knew something was going to be wrong, I... I hope it's still tasty, I-I'm really sorry, I was just so nervous that-"
He was interrupted by a strange noise.
"Uh... Hinamori-Fukutaichou..?", he looked up, expecting that she was going to scold him now.
But she didn't - she was laughing. Actually laughing.
"Hinamori-Fukutaichou?", he asked again, not able to trust his own eyes.
"I'm sorry", she giggled and then calmed down again. "It's just that...", she smiled a smile that made his heart even beat a little faster - Why is my heart beating so hard?
"I haven't seen anyone acting like this for so long... thank you, Yamada-Kun." She took the bentou from him and opened it.
"So, uh... what exactly... is this now..?"
Hanatarou's cheeks got a little red. Embarassed he stammed "Uh... riceballs, ma'm...".
"Is that so."
She took a bite.
"H-how is it..?", he asked nervously.
"Fine."
There was still a barely noticable smile on her face.
Such a little smile... and it makes her look a lot prettier...
He snapped. What am I thinking!? It's Hinamori-Fukutaichou...
She didn't seem to notice him staring at her though. "Why don't you sit down here?"
"W-what? N-next to you?"
"Why not?"
"Well, actually... it's just that I... uhm..."
"Aww, come on. I don't want you to stand around while I'm sitting here."
Why is she suddenly so relaxed? I don't get it.
"Uh, okay..."
Anxious about not touching her, he did as he was told. For a while, neither of them didn't say a word and he just sat there, watching her eating the food he had made.
When she was done, she finally looked at him.
"So... Yamada-Kun... Can I ask you something?" "W-well sure... what's the matter?"
"What's the situation like at the moment?"
Don't mention Aizen-Taichou in her presence. That was Unohana-Taichou had told him.
"Uhm... well... the ryoka just left and.. uh... we don't really know what Ai-, I mean, the enemy is planning at the moment..."
"The enemy, huh...", she stared at her blanket, with glassy eyes.
"Hinamori-Fukutaichou..." He so wished to be anyone else, somebody who knew what to say in a situation like this, a person like Ichigo-San or Abarai-Fukutaichou or Hitsugaya-Taichou, somebody who knew how to make her feel better...
But he wasn't Ichigo-San or Abarai-Fukutaichou or Hitsugaya-Taichou. He was Yamada Hanatarou, a pathethic little medic who didn't know how to support his friends.
"Hinamori-Fukutaichou..", he started again. With his heart beating and a little blush on his cheeks, he took her hand and closed his eyes.
This was everything he was able to do right now...
"Hinamori-Fukutaichou... please get well soon." He opened his eyes again and smiled at her.
- THE END.