Just a totally random idea I had today. I had finished my chemistry exam in an hour and fifteen minutes, but they make you stay for two hours, so I had some time to brainstorm. On another note, YAY! My first HitsuHina story!

Bathwater

Toshiro Hitsugaya: an ordinary kid living in Rukongai. Momo Hinamori: an ordinary Rukongai girl, and friend to Toshiro. Momo had known Toshiro since he was a baby, and she had always helped his grandmother raise him, much to his dismay. Toshiro thought Momo was a loser, and he affectionately referred to her as "bed-wetter." Momo referred to him as "Shiro-chan," which absolutely drove him crazy! Nevertheless, the spent their days together, and they came to care for each other like siblings. They were always there for each other when it counted, just like the time Toshiro broke his arm when he fell out of a tree.

XXX

Toshiro had taken a watermelon from his grandmother's pantry, run outside with it, climbed a tree, sat on a thick branch, and commenced with eating his snack. As he ate, Momo ran up to the tree, and shouted for his attention.

"Hey, Shiro-chan! Couldn't you have waited just a few more minutes? Dinner is almost ready. Ahh!" Momo held her hands up to shield herself as Toshiro launched a flurry of watermelon seeds at her.

"Be quiet, bed wetter Momo! You're not in charge of me!" Toshiro yelled back.

"That's not nice, Shiro-chan!"

"Pfft, whatever."

"Come on, Shiro-chan! Come eat dinner!"

Toshiro rolled his eyes, and took one last seed and flicked it at Momo. To his amusement, it hit her right between the eyes. Momo flinched and began to pout about how mean he was being. Toshiro looked at her pathetic face, and began to laugh hysterically. Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell backwards out of the tree. Momo screamed as he hit the ground, and she ran over to him. Toshiro screamed out in pain, and gripped his arm. He was pretty sure he had just broken it. Toshiro had also knocked his head on the ground, and the last thing he saw was Momo crying. Then everything went black.

Toshiro opened his eyes, and found that he was staring at the ceiling. As he sat up, he grasped his arm. It was wrapped up in bandages, and hung in a sling. He assumed his grandmother did that; she always knew how to make things better. Toshiro looked around the room. He was surprised to see Momo sleeping beside him. He didn't really feel like receiving excessive amounts of pity when she woke up, so he went to go take a bath. He needed one; this was Rukongai after all.

Toshiro sat down in the tub, loincloth still on. He was unable to remove it due to his lack of mobility. He rinsed himself down, and scrubbed what parts of himself he could reach. Unfortunately, he could not reach his back, no matter how hard he tried or how he contorted his singular arm. Toshiro sighed as his snow white hair fell over his turquoise eyes. He didn't like where this was going so far. Toshiro let his head drop.

"Need some help, Shiro-chan?" a faint voice called out. Toshiro's head shot up to see Momo sitting beside the tub.

"M-Momo? What are you doing in here, bed wetter?"

"Calm down, Shiro-chan. I just want to help." Momo smiled brightly. Toshiro stared at her like she was stupid.

"… Fine," Toshiro said, exasperated.

Momo took a washcloth from the side of the tub, and motioned for Toshiro to lean forward. When he complied, she began to run the wet cloth down his back. Her strokes were smooth and gentle. Momo made sure every piece of dirt was wiped away. Toshiro noticed how soft her hands were, and how long this was taking. He was sure his back was clean, but he never said anything. Eventually, Momo stopped her cleaning, and left Toshiro to get dressed.

XXX

That day had occurred many years ago, before either Momo or Toshiro had gone off to be shinigami. Nowadays, Toshiro was known as Captain Hitsugaya, and Momo was known as Lieutenant Hinamori. Recently, neither of them had had the best run of luck. The Winter War had just ended a few months ago. Hinamori was finally out of the hospital, but she was weak. She could barely move on her own. Toshiro wanted to see her, but they hadn't really talked since the beginning of the war. Momo was barely over Aizen's betrayal, and Toshiro's stabbing her didn't exactly help their friendship at all.

Toshiro finally built up the resolve to go see her. He walked to the 5th squad barracks alone. He looked around for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Finally, when he was out of options, he walked up to a group of female shinigami from the 5th squad and asked if they knew where she was. The girls giggled, but them told him where to find her.

Toshiro approached Hinamori's private quarter's, heart racing. Toshiro stopped outside her door. How would she react to seeing him? Toshiro decided to hope for the best, and went in through the door. Toshiro glanced around, but didn't see Momo. Then he heard water slosh around from another room. Toshiro quietly went further into the house, and ducked behind a corner when he caught a glimpse of Momo in the tub. Toshiro peeked again, and was relieved to see her wearing her linen undergarments. Toshiro listened for a few minutes. His eyes dropped when he heard how much she was struggling; how much pain she was in. He couldn't stand for her to be in that sort of pain.

Without thinking, Toshiro walked into the room, removed his haori, took a rag in hand, and began to run it over her skin. Momo jumped at his touched, and let out a small scream.

"Shiro-chan! What re you doing here?" Momo yelped.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you," Toshiro smirked. "… I thought you could use some help." Toshiro smiled faintly at her. Momo smiled back.

Toshiro took this as a sign of consent, and continued to rinse off Momo. Her skin was as soft as he remembered from that day, years ago. Toshiro's hand stopped; Momo raised her eyebrow, confused. She was surprised when she felt Toshiro's forehead fall onto the back of her shoulder. Momo turned her head to see that he was crying. She lifted her hand and ran it through Toshiro's hair.

"Shiro-chan, what's wrong?" Momo asked, concerned.

"I – I can't lose you Momo. Aizen trying to kill you, Aizen tricking me into almost killing you, it's all too hard to go through. I want you to be with you."

Momo couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did Shiro-chan lover her? No, that wasn't possible. She wasn't pretty, strong, or incredibly smart. Momo paused; had she been saying all that out loud?

Toshiro lifted his head, and brushed the hair out of her eyes. Then, he held one side of her face with his hand, and kissed her.

"Momo, you are all of those things. You're the most beautiful person I know, you're strong enough to master any kido spell, and brilliant enough to know how to use each one. And yes… I dolove you."

"I love you too, Toshiro," Momo wrapped her arms around Toshiro's neck and kissed him back.

"That's Shiro-chan to you."