Toshiro ran a hand through his white hair, frustrated. Lately, he and Momo hadn't been communicating as often as they used to because of the upcoming war. He clutched Hyourinmaru, taking comfort in the smooth hilt of his sword. Maybe he should train. Yeah. Training. That would get his mind off his predicament. And his unfinished paperwork. Or should he say Matsumoto's unfinished paperwork. Shaking his head roughly to get rid of the thoughts, he trekked out to a more obscure training field. He didn't want anyone to disturb his training.
For a few hours, he unleashed his frustrations onto his training. Sweat started to drip off his face and he took off his captain's haori. He felt like a student again, training hard to prove to everybody that he wasn't weak despite his short stature.
"Hitsugaya-taicho?" he heard a soft voice ask. He turned around to glare at whoever had dared disturb his training then looked in disbelief at the person standing there.
"Kuchiki?" The petite girl nodded.
"I'm here to train, but if you mind…" she trailed off. He shrugged.
"Just don't disturb me," he said shortly and returned to his training. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kuchiki draw her sword and begin training as well.
Night came closing in fast. Toshiro dropped down to the ground, his breath coming in ragged pants. Kuchiki joined him on the ground, out of breath as well.
"Ne, Hitsugaya-taicho?" she said after a pause. He gave her look that said 'what?'
"Is something the matter? You usually don't come and train until you're out of breath. I come here every day but I've never seen you here," she gave him a look that said if he didn't answer; she would just bug it out of him. And he had enough frustrations without it.
There was an uncomfortable pause as Hitsugaya thought of a way to phrase it nicely. Then he decided to go the blunt way. "I like Hinamori. We haven't been talking," he said bluntly and turned to look at the sky. The stars were huge tonight, winking points of light.
The reply was so soft, he almost couldn't hear it. "I know," Rukia had said softly. He turned his head to look at her. Her violet-blue eyes were turned towards the sky. "To tell you the truth, I like Ichigo. A lot. But he's so…." She searched for the right words. "…dense. He probably wouldn't understand me even if I told him I liked him. He'd just say 'I like you too Rukia. You're a great friend'," she sighed, letting her head fall back against the ground. "Fool,"
Toshiro nodded sympathetically. It was nice. The two of them lay down beside each other in comfortable silence. He had always preferred silence. Everyone was always bickering and goofing around. He guessed Kuchiki preferred silence too. She always had a demure air around her.
At one point, the silence had evolved into quiet conversation. Hinamori, Kurosaki. Toshiro poured his mind out to Rukia, the latter listening intently and giving sympathetic nods and comforting words when needed.
Rukia was just as amazed. Hitsugaya-taicho and she hadn't talked much in her entire time in the Gotei 13 but now they were talking and Hitsugaya-taicho seemed happy that she was listening to him. Momo doesn't know what she has, Rukia thought sadly.
After a while, they got back to training but Hitsugaya just couldn't concentrate. His eyes were starting to drift toward Kuchiki more and the way she moved, fluidly, graceful even. Her pure white sword shimmered in the darkness and he could feel his eyes transfixed on her moving figure. Slash. Block. Slash. Block. He couldn't tear his eyes away.
Thump. Thump. Thump. His heart was beating rapidly. From training? No, he hadn't been training for a while because he…had been…staring at Kuchiki, his brain helpfully supplied. He shook the thoughts away roughly. Was it possible that he…liked Kuchiki?
Rukia wasn't exactly stupid either. She had seen the not-so-discreet stares he had sent her way and each and every time she had blushed. Thankfully, the dark of the night prevented her from further humiliation. If she actually thought about it, Toshiro was the exact opposite of Ichigo. One was cold, the other burning hot with passion. He was logical, whereas Ichigo rushed into everything without using his head. He seemed understanding and more observant while Ichigo was a fool, dense and completely oblivious to the not-so-discreet hints she had been sending him.
They sat down together again, each secretly hoping the other one didn't notice that they hadn't been training.
"Ne, Rukia," Rukia was stunned. Toshiro had never called her by her first name before.
"Hai, Toshiro," she half expected him to snap at her for using his first name like the others but he didn't.
"What if I said I liked you?"
Rukia blinked. And a slow smile spread over her face. Now she understood. The stares. The blushes. The comparing him to Ichigo.
"Well," Toshiro held his breath. "I'd say I like you too,"