"Just for an afternoon, Captain! Please? I promised her!" Rangiku Matsumoto pleaded with her captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya, as they walked swiftly down a hallway towards his office, a new stack of paperwork in their arms. Toshiro shot his lieutenant an icy glare.
"What makes you think I even have the time for such a thing?" He snapped as he flung open the door with his foot to the familiar, paper-strewn room. He carelessly cleared off the chair behind his desk, ignoring the documents that fluttered down around his feet.
"Well, it hasn't been very busy lately, and you know it." Rangiku frowned, crossing her arms sulkily over her enormous bosom. "Say, if you do this, I'll handle all the paperwork."
"Really?" Toshiro looked up from his unorganized desk, interest in his expression.
"Really!"
All morning, Rangiku had been pestering him to spend a day with their friend, Momo Hinamori, who was still in recovery from Aizen's betrayal. Rangiku had suddenly been assigned to take on a re-con mission in the human world. The only other person she knew that had a close relationship with Momo was him, Captain Hitsugaya.
"If you don't go back on your word, I suppose I can clear out my schedule for a day." Toshiro muttered contemplatively, placing the new stack of papers on the corner of his desk.
Rangiku allowed herself to show a victorious, mischievous smirk.
"If I may, Captain. You say you're having to clear your schedule, and that it's something bothersome to you…but in reality, you've been wanting to see Momo for a while now, right?"
"Rangiku! If you have time to imagine strange scenarios in your head, then maybe you should start on the paperwork now." Toshiro snapped, before sweeping out of the room in a huff. Rangiku continued to smile long after the moody captain had left the room. He may be able to hide it from everyone else in the Soul Society, but she knew for a fact how her captain was always thinking of Momo and her recovery. She could see it clearly in his electrically blue eyes. Every day.
The next day, Toshiro made his way to the recuperation center, where Momo was waiting on a bench, looking up at the bright blue sky. As he got closer, she glanced over at him, her eyes widening in surprise when he stopped in front of her. She gave a weak smile.
"Shiro-I mean, Captain Hitsugaya!" Momo stammered, correcting herself in case Toshiro was insulted with his childhood name. He returned her smiled.
"Hinamori, how are you doing?" He inquired.
"I-I'm fine!" Momo stammered in reply. Toshiro gave a low chortle at his childhood friend, while she glared playfully at him.
"Rangiku was called away, and asked me to take her place today. You should be honored. I cleared my whole day to spend it with you."
"Y-You did?" Momo stared in awe at the young captain, "You didn't have to do that! I'm just a bother to you! I-!"
"It's fine." Toshiro cut her off before she could continue.
"Ok…" She mumbled twiddling her thumbs.
"Well, um…what did you have planned?" Toshiro coughed to hide his awkward attitude at having so much empty time without any responsibility towards paperwork or missions weighing on his mind. Momo laughed.
"Well, you see, Rangiku said she had it all figured out, so I don't know what she could have meant…"
"Oh…well I guess…we could go for a walk and think of something as we proceed." Toshiro suggested.
"Sure!" Momo agreed, her voice ringing delightedly in Toshiro's ears.
The pair soon began strolling down the cobbled pavement, Momo chatting animatedly to Toshiro, who mostly listened as she spoke of pretty much anything.
"I have a request." Momo said, suddenly placing herself front of him.
"Which is?" Toshiro smirked at her.
"I-I want to talk to you like we used to. Before you became "Captain Hitsugaya of Squad 10" and all that." Momo said in a defiant tone. Toshiro blinked his eyes up at the girl, before side-stepping her and continuing on.
"No way!" Toshiro spoke, half-laughing at the ridiculous favor.
"Please." Momo had abruptly reached for the sleeve of his clothing, holding him back.
Toshiro was quiet for a moment, before speaking, in a voice no higher than a whisper, "Fine…but one day only."
Really!"" Momo clapped her hands together in happiness, "Oh, Shiro, I'm so glad!"
"Yeah, yeah, fine." Toshiro hid his smile so as to keep up his image as a respectable captain.
As they continued to walk, they passed a huddled group of students clearly freshman from the Soul Society's Academy. Their whispers easily reached both Toshiro and Momo's ears.
"…yeah, that's her."
"The one who attacked Lieutenant Izuru in a crazy rage…"
"Oh, yeah, she even had the nerve to escape from imprisonment…"
"I heard she was in love with Captain Aizen from Squad 5, before he went rogue…"
"I thought she was supposed to be in isolation, but here she is, walking around free…"
Suddenly, Toshiro had appeared before the immature group of novices, his eyes ablaze on his calm face.
"Y'know, talking wrongly of someone higher up than you while they're clearly in hearing range isn't going to help you move up in the Soul Society. Did they not teach you that in school?" Toshiro hissed in a cold, nonchalant voice to the shocked cluster of people, before they shuffled away hurriedly.
"Shiro, you didn't have to do that…" Momo blushed, "It looks like you scared them…"
"It was a lesson that needed to be taught." Toshiro shrugged.
"Hey, since we can't think of anything to do, let's go sit on the grass, somewhere where we can see the sky, if it's not too much trouble." Momo pointed to an empty training field to their right.
"I suppose…" Toshiro stepped after Momo's clumsy skip.
When they were settled on a patch of the bright green, ticklish grass, Momo looked over at her childhood friend, and smiled when he met her gaze.
"You don't seem all that sick to me." Toshiro arched his eyebrow, confused.
"Well…" Momo put a finger to the side of her face, "I guess that's because you're with me, Shiro."
Toshiro fell back into the grass, his cheeks red from Momo's straightforwardness, "You're ridiculous…" He muttered.
Copying his actions, Momo threw herself back into the lawn, looking straight up at the brilliant sky, "Maybe…" She sighed, "But, I'm so happy that I could burst." She turned her head to look at him, "Is that so ridiculous? To be this content?"
"No, of course not…" Toshiro murmured, looking into her eyes.
"I've missed spending time with you, Shiro." Momo fitted her hands together, "Do you…ever miss the old days like I do?"
"I dunno…I have to think about it." Toshiro looked away from her.
"If we just had a watermelon…"
"What?" Toshiro laughed aloud.
"A watermelon. Remember how we always used to eat them during the summers when I came to visit from the Academy?" She prodded him on the arm with her finger.
"Yeah…"
After a prolonged silence of the two taking in the gorgeous weather and reminiscing to themselves of the past, Momo opened her mouth to speak.
"I wish every day was as nice and easy as this…" She whispered, sadness coating her words.
"Momo…" Toshiro's eyes softened, before heaving a heavy breath, "You really are impossible…"
"Am I, really?" She giggled, sitting upright again. Toshiro stood up.
"Wait here a moment, please." The white-haired boy requested, before running off back towards where they had come.
A few minutes later, Toshiro returned, a heavy looking bundle in hand. Momo stared blankly at the strangely shaped package, before staring suspiciously at the captain, who held it just out of Momo's reach.
"What's that, Shiro?" Momo inquired, still sitting in her place on the grass.
"Uh, nothing you need to concern yourself with at the moment…" He avoided her eyes.
"Ok, then…" She nodded, still quite unconvinced.
"Shall we be on our way then? I was thinking we could make our way to the outskirts of the Soul Society. It's pretty open there, with the fields you can lie in and look up at the sky. It's pretty quiet there…" Toshiro's voice trailed off in realization of how hard he was trying to make Momo happy.
However, Momo got to her feet, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she replied, "That sounds great!"
Toshiro led the way until they eventually reached an empty flower-speckled meadow. It was incredibly familiar to the pair, and Momo turned in surprise to her friend.
"Shiro, I didn't know you remembered this place! We used to have picnics here in the summer all the time!"
"Why don't you think I'd recall something like that?" Toshiro asked her as they settled in a particularly sunny patch of grass.
"Well, I just didn't think it was very important to you…" Momo shrugged, lifting her head to look up at the cloudless sky.
"Huh?"
"When you entered the 13 Court Guard Squads, I assumed you had left the past behind you, that you just forgot it all…"
"What led you to believe that I had simply disregarded my entire childhood?"
Momo was quiet for a moment, before looking down at him, "It's like…you didn't want to be my friend anymore…Like your captain's seat came before everything else in your life. It became your life."
"But that's all wrong…" Toshiro spoke in a low voice after an uncomfortable silence that had seemed to press down on them like an extremely powerful spirit energy, "Especially since you're the one that gave me a reason to join in the first place."
"Shiro, why would you work so hard to become a captain? Isn't there a reason?"
"There is…but I never intended to be a captain, Momo. What I wanted…" Toshiro paused to stare down at the soft, green earth, "was to be strong enough to protect you from harm…"
"T-Toshiro…" Momo sounded out his first name, shocked by his words.
"What, is it that big of a surprise? Well, since it is you…"
Momo blushed furiously at his snide comment of her low level of observation, "Oh, yeah? Well at least I look like a member of a squad! You just look like a kid dressed up for Halloween!"
"Why, you-!" Toshiro began to retort, before he noticed tears glistening in the girl's eyes, "Wh-What is it?"
"I-It's just…I said and did such awful things to you back then…" She sobbed, referring to when she was under Aizen's influence and had turned against Toshiro, "And all this time…you've been trying so hard to take care of me!"
"It's ok!" Toshiro spoke hurriedly as Momo seated herself on the ground, "I got over that ages ago! It's not your fault, really!" He stared, wide-eyed at the troubled lieutenant, who sniffed and wiped the tears from her face.
"Thank you, Captain…" Momo breathed deeply. Toshiro smiled kindly, and placed his hand on her head, kneeling in front of her. He gave her a confused look.
"Hey, now, what's with this "Captain" stuff? I thought you said you weren't going to call me that today? Not that I mind either way, of course." He looked away, his cheeks warming as she took his hand in hers.
"Y-You're right…How funny of me to forget, huh?" She spoke in a calmer tone of voice.
The sun had sunk considerably lower, and early evening had dawned upon them. Toshiro, as if on cue, brought out the strangely wrapped item from earlier that day. Momo shed the paper covering to discover it to be a watermelon. She stared blankly at the large, round fruit, before glancing at Toshiro and bursting into laughter. He rolled his eyes, before taking out a knife that had been stabbed in the center of the watermelon, beginning to slice the food into even pieces.
"Shiro, I didn't know you were so nostalgic!" Momo chuckled at the boy, taking a large slab from the center of the wrapping that had served as a plate.
"You really don't think much of me, do you?" Toshiro glared at Momo, who threw him a playful smile.
"It's just like all those years ago…" Momo sighed, "The warm breeze, the setting sun, the grassy field, watermelon, and you!"
"Guess so…" Toshiro mumbled through a mouthful of seeds.
"So wonderful…" Momo suddenly felt tears slipping from her eyes again, and her hands trembled, her watermelon shaking in her grip, "Today was…so wonderful…I don't want it to end…"
She felt Toshiro's hand press down on her arm in a kind gesture. She swallowed, and tried to pull herself together.
"I'm s-sorry…I'm j-just so grateful that you did this w-with me today…" She gasped between breaths. Toshiro stared ahead of them at the slowly retreating sun.
"One day, everything will be ok again." He spoke in a hushed voice, his eyes reflective as he looked forward.
Back at the recuperation center, where Momo had been residing, she turned to look at Toshiro, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"It just occurred to me, Shiro. I haven't thanked you yet."
"You don't have to, it was…fun." The last word came awkwardly, but he meant it.
"Not just for today, silly! I meant for everything you've done till now!"
"Still, you don't have to thank me…" He muttered, smirking at her.
"Well, I want to!"
"Fine, then get on with it!"
"Um…you have to close your eyes…" Momo said, twiddling her fingers in a fidgety manner.
Toshiro consented to her request, and shut his large blue eyes. Momo, in turn, slowly leaned down and pressed her lips to his forehead, her own eyes closed as she made contact. Toshiro's eyes opened again in astonishment, but he was too shocked to move until she had pulled away. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and looked him in his bewildered eyes.
"So, thank you very much, Captain, for being there for me, and taking me out today. I'll forever be in your debt." She bowed low, and walked inside, closing the doors behind her.
"So, how was it?" Rangiku asked in a sing-song voice to her captain a few days later, after she had returned from her mission. He gave her a searching look.
"How was what?" He questioned, but knowing what she was referring to.
"You know! Your little outing with Momo!"
"Oh, that. Fine." He shrugged.
"Details!"
"There are no details I would wish to discuss with you, Rangiku!" He spoke haughtily.
"Man, you aren't any fun. Momo must have been so bored with such a stick-in-the-mud like you following her around all day."
"Don't you have some paperwork to do, Rangiku?"
As the lieutenant scurried off, Toshiro instinctively felt the place on his head where Momo had kissed him, sighing heavily at nothing in particular. It had become clear to him, on that day, that he must have missed the old days as much as she did, but hadn't wished to admit it. Life was so much simpler than it was now. Wouldn't anyone miss that?
Because he had certainly wished, at some point during that day, for time to stop. For all to be as relaxed and easy as he himself felt while with Momo. Effortless like the sun, forever beating its rays against their faces, and the nostalgic smell of dirt and watermelon that he could still smell on his clothing…
Ta-DAAAA! I finally finished it and i like how it turned out ^^ i hope u like it 2! it made me kind of sad, the whole story. Im not sure why tho...Lol i guess im good at feeling compassion for certain characters. I luv this couple, its really sweet. if anyone's seen one of the newest chapters, u mite understand that I'm a bit worried about this couple actually happening, but I wont put up any spoilers here tho lol! Hopefully, I'll hit my stride in my new Soul/Maka fanfic, but what I want to do in that story is a bit vague rite now. But look 4ward to it anyway! 3