Brown orbs stared ahead as her friends chatted the afternoon away. She was too deep into her own thoughts to even finish her food. The image of the man she loves keeps on flashing in her mind and she desperately needed a distraction lest she loses her sanity and get an earful from her captain for being late for the nth time. Sighing, she smiled thinly at her companions, told them that she was tired, and left the restaurant.
As she reached her private quarters, Momo stripped off her uniform and donned a sleeping robe. She made herself some green tea before flopping on her bed. She smiled softly to herself.
Who would have thought that they will reach this point? Or maybe it was just her who did not see it happening. Was she that naive? Her experience has thought her that hurt would be the only feeling she could out of loving someone. Or maybe that was just judging too easily.
She only loved one man before and his betrayal almost killed her. Literally. Twice. Her entire life shattered right before her eyes. Aizen left her broken, damaged beyond repair. She missed on a lot of things while she was in coma. Waking up from her first coma, she still held on the hope that everything was just a nightmare, that Aizen was innocent.
For pete's sake she loved the man more than her own life.
After all that have happened she never expected anyone to pick up the pieces... to wait. Everyone acted careful around her as if they were walking on eggshells.
Her former captain's name have been taboo in fear of her going crazy over him once again. Needless to say, it chocked her and made her feel ashamed. She let everyone around her down.
For the longest time she felt weak and alone. Tall and impenetrable walls began to build themselves around her. She cannot let anyone else in until she managed to get herself back on her feet, until she was sure that she redeemed herself.
She never expected anyone to wait. Especially not him.
Toushiro always made her feel safe. He was one of the few people who welcomed her back into the world of the living the moment she opened her eyes. Seeing Toushiro again for the first time after her that fateful incident felt like a bucket of ice-cold water poured over her head. How can you possibly face the only person who genuinely cared about you without the guilt eating you up alive? She basically took their lifelong friendship and slapped it back to his face.
She shook her head. Reminiscing would not do her any good, it will just cost her a good night's sleep. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to inhale all the negativity and slowly exhaled them. She then finished her tea and prepared for bed.
"Momo! Hey! Wait up!"
Momo stopped on her tracks ad turned to see Rangiku Matsumoto waving frantically as she caught up to her.
"Good morning, Rangiku-san," Momo smiled.
"You okay? You suddenly left yesterday we thought you were sick!" Rangiku exclaimed. Momo blinked.
"Oh, I was just... I was just really tired yesterday. I didn't feel like staying long," she explained. Rangiku did not looked convinced but decided to brush it off.
They started walking towards the first division and continued chatting when Rangiku screamed and waved her hand, "Taichou!"
Momo froze. They have not seen each other since that day, and it happened a week ago. They have not spoken a word to each other for a week. This was awkward.
The said man turned to their direction and was about to reprimand his lieutenant for shouting in the hallway when he caught sight of the brunette beside her. He tried to hold his composure. He thanked his lucky stars for the amount of self-control he has or he may already done something drastic the moment he laid his eyes on her. Like push her against the nearest wall and kiss her senseless.
It took a while but he managed to tear his gaze off of her and shifted his attention to his lieutenant, lecturing her about improper decorum.
The moment his teal eyes left her she let out the breath she did not realize she was holding. His eyes, ever so expressive, stirred up emotions inside of her that she thought was impossible for her to feel again. His eyes gave her a clear message of what he wanted, and that alone almost made her weak to her knees.
A wave of hand cut off her musings.
"Momo? You alright?" Rangiku asked with worried eyes.
She nodded. She looked at her right and saw Toushiro walking ahead towards the Captain-Commander's main office and conversing with Captain Jushiro and Kyouraku.
She was hoping to get a chance to talk with Toushiro tonight. With a bit of luck, they will be able to sort thing out between them.
"Cheers!"
Sake bottles were clinked with each other and soon, they were emptied by their owners. Laughter ensued as the guests drank more sake and danced in the middle of the room. A party was being held at the Kuchiki manor in celebration of Kurosaki Ichigo's and Kuchiki Rukia's recent engagement, much to the girl's older brother's chagrin.
Momo arrived an hour late because of her insistence of finishing her paperwork in spite of the objections of her new captain. Shinji Hirako have always reminded Momo to take a break once and a while as the dark circles beneath her eyes continue to grow dim and this does not do him any good because 1) it makes him look like he is overworking his lieutenant 2) Hiyori has been teasing him of being a bad captain and 3) the 10th division captain is already threatening him of freezing his ass.
So, in as his last resort to make sure Momo goes to the party and unwind, he hid half of the paperwork under his desk. How Hiyori would laugh at his face now. Chugging down his half-empty cup of alcohol, he approached his vice-captain.
"Yo, Hinamori!"
Momo smiled at her captain, "Taicho, you shouldn't drink too much tonight! Don't you have a date tomorrow with Hiyori-san?"
Hirako resisted the urge to smack Momo at the back of her head. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine which only meant one thing, he was in proximity.
"It ain't a date. Who would like that rowdy midget anyway? If she were any closer to Orihime-chan I could consider tomorrow as date. But she ain't so..."
Momo giggled at her captain's excuse. He was babbling now, and was only cut off when Kyouraku and Renji dragged him to sake drinking contest.
Suddenly, Momo felt her stomach rumble. She had not gotten a chance to eat lunch or any snack since she locked herself up in the office and busied herself in a mountain of paperwork. Well, more like distracted herself with a shitload of documents that only needed her signature.
She was about to walk towards the buffet table when an all-too-familiar reiatsu nailed her foot on the ground.
"Oi, Bed-wetter."
Breathing deeply, she turned to him and pouted, "Mou, stop calling me that, Shiro-chan."
Crossing his arms, Toushiro retorted, "Only when that nickname gets erased from the face of this planet will I consider to stop calling you a bed-wetter."
Momo sighed in reply and giggled. He smirked. Her heart skipped a beat.
This was their typical conversation. The would always bicker about the nicknames they have for each other and let the conversation flow from there. This however felt a bit more... different.
Like he's flirting with me or something.
She shook her head lightly. Stop thinking about it, stupid!
"Come on, let's get you something to eat."
His warm hand wrapped around her wrist and dragged her towards the buffet table across the garden hall. The incredible aroma of fish and miso soup wafted in the air which made her stomach protest even more but really, all she could think about was the man who was holding onto her tightly.
She vaguely remembered what happened after eating dinner. The party was still in full swing and it was already past midnight. Momo was now sitting on the roof tiles of the 6th division building with the 10th division captain munching on a dango. They opted to just watch the party since it was getting wilder by the hour with the number of people downing on sake and getting drunk on their feet.
Momo never felt more conscious in her life. All night they acted as if nothing happened a few days before and truth to be told, it is making her feel more anxious. Should she ask him how he feels? Nope. That is stupid.
"Don't be so assuming, Momo," she muttered under her breath.
Toushiro looked at her, "What was that?"
Crap. He heard her. She cleared her throat. Well, here goes nothing.
"Shiro-chan, about what happened last week-" he cut her off.
"I don't regret it," he said looking straight into her widened eyes.
Silence.
"I would do it again, if you'd let me."
Her eyes were practically saucers now. She swallowed.
"You said... but you said you only did that to shut me up," she murmured.
He chuckled, "It was like hitting two birds with one stone. I kissed you to shut you up and I kinda been wanting to do it for a really long time."
Her mouth dropped. Is he confes-
"I'm confessing right now if you still don't get it. You're really dense," Toushiro said smiling teasingly.
It was as if the whole world was spinning around her. She couldn't think straight and really all she wanted to do right now is vomit all the food she ate because wild animals stomping their feet in her belly.
Truth to be told, she was not completely oblivious to his feelings. No. Of course not. She knew that he loved her deeply and at times even contemplated that as something more than the love between camaraderie. He treated her as a family and as a close friend, his first real friend. He looked after well-being and acted as her knight in shining armor (more times than she can ever count).
Plus, Toushiro was pretty easy in the eyes. He was handsome no doubt. Most female (and male) Shinigamis voted him as one of the most attractive officers in Seiretei (only losing two votes against Captain Kuchiki for the number one spot). And his looks are also very much appreciated in the real world according to his vice-captain. She heard that several students from the "high school" they were attending in had confessed to him and often watched him play "soccer".
He was really strong too and incredibly smart. No wonder many of his subordinates adore him.
"Wow," was all she could let out after exhaling deeply. He smiled. Toushiro felt somewhat hopeful with that word.
Looking up the star-filled sky, Momo said, "What do you think grandmother would've said about us?"
She felt Toushiro's heavy gaze on her, "Us?" He asked amusingly.
Slowly, she looked at his deep green eyes and smiled, "Yeah... Us."
His large hands then enveloped her own and brought it up to his lips.
"She'd say, 'it's about damn time!'" Toushiro said kissing the back of Momo's hand. She then took him by surprise by grabbing the back of his head and kissing him deeply.
"Mmm... I agree," she smiled against his lips.
Author's Note: This is actually a product of a writer's block. I was supposed to do a one-shot of Ariana Grande's Almost Is Never Enough but the inspiration just never made it through hence this random drabble (tho I went past 1000 words). I would still try to write a short story about that song. I think it fits HitsuHina really well. Do any of ya'll have any song request? (If you've visited my profile and checked my other stories out, you would know that most stories I write are based on songs so... send in your HitsuHina theme songs! *ENGLISH ONLY PLEASE*)