Promises
Author's Note: ...All I can say is, getting an overdosage of DiamondDust Rebellion is good for your health xp Oh, and, this is sorta like a preview to one of the scenes from the upcoming IchiHitsuKusa trilogy I'm drafting. I wouldn't make any references about it here, but there will be hints in the trilogy scene itself (I'm only writing this because I have a damned writer's block and I -desperately- need to clear it up). Oh yeah, and about the flashback scenes at the end...I sorta skipped majority of the real flashback from the navigation cd -scratches head sheepishly-
Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Bleach. All I own are some manga and D-Dust merchandise.
Spoilers: Am asuming that Ichigo has already become sixteen years of age. If you haven't heard the navigation CD for D-Dust, there will be one point where it'll be a major spoiler. Translation is definitely not 100 percent accurate; my Jap isn't in an advanced stage yet, but I'm just writing down the idea I got while listening. I'm open to correction, to all those really-good-in-Jap ppl xp One thing I am certain of; Kusaka has a knack for making young Hitsu laugh. Seriously.
Inspiration note: Dang, there are too many notes. Anyway, inspiration came from a chat I had with my friend, known as Mornie-Alantie99, who was the one responsible for my obsession with Bleach now (I take this chance to give her a lot of credit and huggies!). Not too long ago, we were having a marathon discussion about Hitsu and Kusa which lasted for a few hours over sms (xp) and then, this idea struck me. We had images of Kusa and Hitsu standing together in their academy days stuck in our head...Kusa smiling...Hitsu smiling...both of them laughing...ah...we were in heaven. You can say that this ficcie is specially dedicated to her. Her birthday passed not that long ago, too. 3rd February. Hehe. Late birthday fic... -is guilty-
Playing the staring game wasn't exactly Hitsugaya's idea of a conversation.
And it wasn't exactly Ichigo's either.
It had been strange - odd, even - of the orange-haired substitute shinigami to initiate a conversation that they both knew wouldn't last for long. The famous one-word answer of Hitsugaya Toushirou had kept many others away from him, knowing exactly what kind of person the white-haired taichou was when it came to conversing with him. So why wasn't it working on Ichigo?
All he had been saying was 'ah', 'hn', 'mn' and those magic words would be enough to keep even Komamura away from him. Sure, they weren't the best talkers out there, but Hitsugaya would be Byakuya the Second when it came to conversations. Komamura wold be the Third, but that's a different story. What was getting on Hitsugaya's nerves at the moment was the fact that one orange-haired doofus was running his mouth about some crap which the icy taichou didn't even bother to listen. In fact, he had been continuously relaying the message of 'go away' in his head, wishing that the substitute would just, really, go away.
Hyourinmaru was currently inactive in the taichou's mind, but he knew that if the dragon were awake, it'd be smiling at his expense, trying hard not to laugh. And it was true when people say that certain zanpakutou were similar to their wielders; Hitsugaya was practically dying for a well-earned nap right now, but a certain noisy, obnoxious someone was holding him up and depriving him of his nap time, and lookie here, you have an ice dragon in a peaceful slumber, residing in a twelve-year-old lookalike's mind and having had no trace of it awakening at any moment yet. How...luckily irksome.
The staring game had gone on for about five minutes and neither party was willing to break the silence. Hitsugaya could feel a yawn and a sigh tugging at his vocal chords, and decided to end the meaningless conversation before he would begin snapping. "So, Kurosaki, is there anything else you would like to talk about? I have some work to do and I can't afford to get held up."
...Liar.
Scratching the back of his head somewhat sheepishly, Hitsugaya noted, the orange-haired shinigami spoke, "...So...is that a yes or a no?"
Pause.
"What?"
Ichigo took in a deep breath and sighed, as if relieving himself of the nervousness Hitsugaya didn't notice earlier on. "I asked if that was a yes or a no..."
"I know what you said, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya replied rather hastily, curious about what exactly Kurosaki meant by that (well, that oughta teach him a lesson for not paying attention). "but when I asked, what, I meant...what did you mean by yes or no?"
"Well...I was wondering if you would like to, y'know, drop by school?" Ichigo asked, glancing down at the young white-haired taichou standing before him, albeit a bit shy about asking. "We're having a graduation ceremony and, even though it sounds kinda retarded and crappy, I want you to be there, Toushirou."
"Hitsugaya-taichou," the icy prodigy corrected.
The other simply shrugged. "I won't really be performing anything, except for this song I'm forced to do with Ishida," he paused and shuddered slightly. "But still, it'd be great if I could see you there. My old man's too busy and Karin has a soccer match scheduled with an opponent school and Yuzu's sorta helping Dad out, but if you could be there, I'd really really appreciate it."
Finally, the white-haired taichou gave out the sigh; he couldn't contain it any longer. "I'm very busy at the moment, Kurosaki. Soul Society has given me a task and I have to carry it out. I'm sorry, I doubt I'll be able to make it..." To himself, he thought about all of the possible consequences he could come up with if he were to leave the matter of guarding the ouin in Matsumoto's hands; One, she'd drink on the job. Two, he would be severely punished if anything were to happen as he wasn't present. Or three, things would go perfectly well, but he highly doubted that. The transport ceremony was going to be held in just one week and he really, really couldn't afford to make any mistakes on the job. It would be very irresponsible of him if he were to just...leave before it even began.
The orange strawberry stopped mid-way in rubbing the back of his neck and let his hand fall to his side numbly, face falling a little. "Oh, ok. If you're really that busy, then I guess I'll just have to ask Rukia to come along..."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Hitsugaya thought about the possibilities if the Kuchiki girl were to go along with Kurosaki. So far, he could only get one conclusion, and he - for some reason he couldn't explain - didn't like the sound of it. At all. There had to be something he could do to prevent that possibility from happening...well, unlike any other shinigami with the exception of Byakuya, he wasn't hoping for the two to end up together. To put it bluntly, he couldn't be bothered with matters concerning the romance that the Shinigami Women Association members were crazy about. But if it was Kurosaki they were talking about, then...
Hitsugaya really couldn't explain why he was feeling so...awkward. Like he wasn't exactly thinking straight, especially when he's around with the obnoxious little (ok, not little) strawberry. And most especially if people would be talking about Kuchiki Rukia ending up with Ichigo. He didn't know why he would feel so strongly about the matter which shouldn't even be part of his business; it was like the feeling he would get whenever anyone tried to hurt Hinamori, or any other person he cared for, for that matter. But why would he feel overprotective of his relationship with the orange-haired doofus? It didn't make any sense.
...Unless it was something that even he, the genius, wouldn't be able to explain and understand.
And anyway...he was secretly hoping for Kuchiki and Abarai to become a couple eventually (the sister, not the brother).
He sighed in defeat, and gave the one responsible for it a cold glare. Seriously...being around the clown made him do things in a different manner; how the hell does one Kurosaki do it? "Don't bother asking Kuchiki. I'll try and turn up, if that's what a baka like you is hoping for..."
Chocolate brown eyes that were once dimmed with dissapointment instantly lit up with a flame. "Really!? You'll go, Toushirou!?" With another sigh, Hitsugaya gave a nod of his head and Ichigo jumped for joy. "Alright!! Now I won't have to worry about standing up there and blanking out on my lines...but, hey...you know, I could have just asked Rukia if you're really damn busy, though...why'd you change your mind?"
Blink.
"...Do you honestly think Kuchiki-taichou would let you take her to the human world?"
Awkward pause.
"...Oh yeah...that's true..."
Inwardly heaving a sigh of relief, Hitsugaya thanked himself for thinking the most plausible reason out at the last minute. If it had dragged on any longer, the baka would reveal himself to be a genius and figure out that he didn't want he and Rukia to be, well, 'together' in human terms. At least, not yet. But he still didn't really like the sound of it (and besides, Abarai told Iba who told Ikkaku who told Yumichika who told Yachiru who told Matsumoto who told him that Abarai was going to ask her out someday).
With a toothy grin, the clueless baka-face went out of his daze and spoke, "Ah well. So...I guess I'll see ya next Saturday, Toushirou?"
"...It's...next Saturday?"
"Yeah. Well, actually, it's from Friday night onwards and it'll probably last the next morning...Didn't I tell you?" Hitsugaya merely blinked, mentally shaking himself for not paying attention; sometimes an idiot's blabberings might be a good thing in the end. "Well, never mind. If you have anything on next Saturday, you can tell me. Since Byakuya probably won't let Rukia come, I'd ask Renji then."
It could be a horrible memory mistake on his part, or on Kurosaki's for that matter, but...the ceremony held for the transportation of the ouin was...next Saturday.
...Well, Abarai can't be that bad, but he wouldn't feel so right about letting Ichigo know about something that was meant to be top secret and just let him happily go ahead and bring Abarai to the human world.
But there was another reason why he agreed to take up the job to guard the ouin. Skipping out on it and attending Kurosaki's graduation ceremony would be fulfilling his promise to Kurosaki, but it would also mean breaking a promise to...someone else. It had already been long broken, though, but Hitsugaya hadn't forgotten about it. He knew that by making the first promise he would have to make sure it stayed fulfilled. Even though the initial plan would never be carried out, he was more than willing to carry it out on his behalf. He probably wouldn't dislike the idea, but Hitsugaya knew, more than anything, that the certain someone would really much prefer it if he could do it on his own.
"...I really want to see it; on that fine, clear day of winter. I want to see it...the ceremony held for the ouin."
'...That fine, clear day of winter...huh?'
Laugh. "Well, I don't know about that, Toushirou. But from now on, let's have a competition to see which one of us will become a captain someday."
"Hah!? Oi, matte, why should we decide on having that? ...I don't have any interest in becoming a captain at all..."
He had remembered that; he still sustained that very same interest, even after being a captain himself. Although the demand for respect was there, there were still a considerable number of people - well...namely Kurosaki - who wouldn't give him the respect which he demanded. But it had been good being a captain, he admitted. It would've had been better if...
If the promise had been fulfilled.
"Really? Ah, I know! Hey, Toushirou!"
"Huh?"
"If you become a captain, then I'll become your lieutenant, and if it's the other way round where I become a captain, then you'll become my lieutenant."
"What!?"
"How about it? Don't you think it's interesting?"
"...No, I don't have anything on, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya lied, after the thoughts flooded his mind and clouded his senses. "I'll be there. From Friday onwards," he added, gluing his eyes to the floor.
Ichigo's eyes brightened once more. "A...ah! Ok, so, um...it's a promise!"
He paused.
"You're my rival from now onwards. Work harder!"
"...Kusaka..."
"...It's a promise."
The white-haired captain turned towards the direction of his office, and stared at the doors for a moment. He turned back to face Ichigo one last time and gave the strawberry his much-desired answer. "...Alright. I understand."
And as the haori disappeared into the closing doors of the office, one Kurosaki Ichigo was wondering to himself why the strict, austere prodigy of the 10th Division had that drop-dead beautiful smile on his face which clearly belonged to that of an angel.