Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Bleach. Except the kind you clean your clothes with. That's a different story.


Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th Division, let out a soft sigh. He got up from his desk, where he had spent a good part of the day doing paperwork a certain fukutaichou hadn't even bothered with, and stretched. He needed to get out of his office before he completely snapped from all this work.

Without even realizing it, Hitsugaya soon found himself in the 5th Division. His feet had just walked here on their own. Yeah, great excuse, he mentally chided himself. Well, he was here now; might as well go visit Momo.

He quietly peeked into the 5th Division's office. There sat Momo, dreamily looking out the window and not noticing Hitsugaya's presence. The white-haired captain couldn't help noticing how thin she looked with those bags under her eyes. True, she had been improving as of late, but still, there seemed to be something missing. Momo always seemed to be somewhere else. She became easily flustered, and had become especially klutzy. Hitsugaya assumed Aizen was to blame.

It's all his fault she's like this now, Hitsugaya thought bitterly, his hands curling into fists at his sides, and it's all my fault for not being there for her…

"Yo, Bed-wetter Momo, quit staring out the window like that. You're going to dry your eyeballs out." Hitsugaya said in a bored tone. Momo jumped about two feet in the air, her chair falling over and a couple papers off her desk falling to the ground.

"Sh-Shiro-chan! You scared me!" she said, a small smile gracing her lips, lighting up her face slightly. She bent over to pick up her papers.

"So what brings you here?" Momo asked, curious. Hitsugaya had been particularly busy recently, and she hadn't seen her childhood friend for a while.

"Just felt like it." Hitsugaya replied. "More importantly, how are you?"

A slight blush crept up Momo's face. "Err, I'm fine!" she mumbled, looking down.

Hitsugaya sighed. Here we go, with that weird behavior again.

"Come with me." He commanded more than asked, as he abruptly turned towards the door.

"What? Where? Why?" Momo asked, completely bewildered.

"Just come with me."


They ended up on the roof of the 10th Division. As the sun slowly set and the stars began to peek into the black sky, the best friends remembered back to their days growing up together in District 1. Finally, though it seemed like the worst thing for Hitsugaya to do, he had to tell her. He had to let her know he was there for her.

"Momo."

She looked up. Hitsugaya had never used that tone of voice before. Ever.

"Yes, Shiro-chan?"

Instead of his usual retaliation ("It's Hitsugaya-taichou!") he let the nickname pass.

"Listen, Momo, I want you to know, no matter what, I'm here for you. Aizen's gone, so please, forget him. I'll do whatever I can, just go back to the way you were before he ruined everything. Please?"

Momo sat there in shocked silence. Hitsugaya was pleading with her. This was a first. But what brought this about…?

"Ok, Shiro-chan." She replied slowly, staring at him bemusedly. "Um, what makes you say that?"

"You've just been acting so weird recently. And it's killing me thinking that it's all that stupid bastard's fault." Hitsugaya said coldly. He stared straight ahead, waiting for Momo to say something. And then…

"Oh! That…" she said, her face going tomato red. "That… that has nothing to do with Aizen, Hitsugaya-kun."

"Really?" Hitsugaya asked, looking up now. Curiously, he asked, "So, then, what's up?"

Momo hid her face, her face bright red as she tried to put her thoughts into words. Slowly, she mumbled,

"I've been trying to think of how to tell you I love you, Shiro-chan."


End!

That one hit me randomly today. Hope you enjoyed! Apologies if you feel it's too OOC. And sorry about how short it is. Sorry!

Please review! And even if you don't, thanks for reading!

-Feronia