Will to Remember by abilityPOINT
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters; I am merely using them to create a story of my own.
-x-
Toushirou Hitsugaya leaned against the doorway of the room, looking at the sole occupant of the single bed in it. The faint beeping of the heart rate monitor echoed in the silence.
He sighed as the moonlight shone on her face. "Hinamori..." he muttered at last. Even then, his voice trailed off as he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. It was all his fault that she now lay here comatose, and might never wake up again...
It pained him to look at her. Her face, the face that so resembled an angel. Every time he looked at her, he cursed himself inwardly for letting this come to pass, for exposing her to his practices, for letting her so near him when he was practicing that new skill that the Head was teaching. As a full-fledged sorceror he knew that it was dangerous for her: it was already life-threatening to normal humans when sorcerors used the most basic of spells, but it was a miracle Hinamori had managed to survive a spell that he was not used to performing.
Overwhelmed by guilt and his conscience whispering that he wasn't fit for her, which he agreed on, Hitsugaya gathered energy from his reserves to form a glowing turquoise sphere. Holding it in his hand, he walked towards Hinamori and held it over her forehead.
He closed his eyes and silently apologized to her, before chanting in a hypnotizing voice,"A song from an age of years long gone, A song of hope, of love, of reunion; But it is here that we shall part, So let our memories blend as one and fade into this here golden orb, or us to remember in a thousand years and one.... Clear this memory of pain and hurt, Yemomr!" The orb glowed for a single second, before disappearing.
Hitsugaya stood up from where he had been kneeling next to the bed and bade her a quiet farewell. Drawing out a slab of rock that he and Hinamori had once vowed to be their 'Lucky Rock', he engraved on it a note
Momo,
When you read this I would be gone from where you are. Should you ever recall my face and remember my name, know that I, Thief of Time, Shadow of Ice, have and shall always love you.
Shiro-chan
Then he was gone, a shadow in the immense corridors of the hospital. That night, all traces of Hitsugaya Toushirou were erased from the records of Karakura Town.
-x-
The next day, Hitsugaya woke up to find his makeshift raft washed up on a sandy beach with palm trees swaying in the distance that concealed a small seaside resort behind it.
He stumbled to his feet and made his way towards the resort. Five steps or so away from the door, he stopped and used a space-rejection spell to patch up his torn and tattered clothes before entering the long wooden building.
The receptionist at the front desk looked at him inquiringly, to which Hitsugaya replied in a matter-of-fact voice, "Room for one, please."
Without further inquiry, the receptionist took the money - which was magically produced and would disappear soon - and gave Hitsugaya a key to room 108.
Taking the key, Hitsugaya nodded by way of thanks and hurried towards his room without a second word. He sat down on the solitary bed and looked at the many brochures on the bedside table, from which he deduced that he was in Naorizune, in one of the more rural areas by the sea.
He attributed the amazing speed by which he had reached Naorizune to his uncanny ability to speed things up no matter if he was awake or deep in slumber. Now his next worry was where he should go now...
-x-
At Karakura Hospital, it was a normal day for Assistant Head Nurse Kuchiki Rukia as she made her rounds to check every ward and its patient. Entering the next block, she walked into the first ward, Ward 405, and saw the patient alone. There was no sign of the white-haired boy who had been standing like a guard over her for the past few days. Rukia shrugged it off and closed the door behind her after she had checked the few things she had to do in it.
-x-
The world was upside down. Buildings were sprouting from a crimson sky threatening to fall on the black haired girl who was trying to run from the imminent danger but seemed rooted to the ground, her brown eyes wide with shock and fear as a pillar crashed to the floor, mere inches from where she stood.
A shadow blocked everything from her line of sight. She blinked, before turning warily to look behind her. A giant skyscraper swayed ominously, before it toppled towards her. She closed her eyes and prayed that the pain would not be for long.
After a few seconds she opened her eyes, wondering if she had passed on so painlessly. Instead she found herself looking into teal eyes which seemed very familiar save for the fact she was unable to recall to whom they belonged to.
Even as she watched, the collapsing buildings were fading from view. Finally the stranger stopped running and put her down, those cold emerald eyes looking intently into her soft brown ones all the while, and then a gentle but firm voice said, "It is time for you to awaken from your prolonged slumber, Hinamori. Take this stone and search for me. I will be wai...ting... Hinamori..." there was a feeling of cool rock against her left hand, and she instinctively clenched her fist around it. The stranger's eyes crinkled and then the cloaked figure faded into nothingness.
-x-
Hinamori jerked awake, sorely distured by her dream. She looked tentatively at her left fist and slowly opened it. She was holding in a deathlike grip a cool slab of stone. On it was a note, which she read and re-read continuously. Shiro-chan...
Shiro-chan... the word struck a chord within Hinamori, but she could not place on who it was and why. It was as if a part of her memory had been blacked out, but something told her that the stranger with teal eyes was Shiro-chan.
-x-
Hitsugaya woke up with a throbbing headache. It felt like the world was spinning when he stepped out of the bed. Summoning the sphere again, he noted that there were some hints of pink within the misty blue depths of the orb. The corners of his lips turned upwards in a faint hint of a rarely seen smile.
"You are fast at remembering, Momo..." he murmured. "Eskiponokia!" he produced a piece on parchment and focused on an image of Hinamori, which he made as life-like as possible.
Soon the parchment was full of crosses as he tracked Hinamori's movement. For the time being she was still in Karakura. That was when Hitsugaya noticed that Hinamori was moving around, outside the hospital. Did she escape? Or did she get discharged...?
-x-
In actual fact, Hinamori had sought permission to be discharged from Head Doctor Kuchiki Byakuya, who was the brother of Rukia. He had granted her permission after a thorough checkup showed that she was fine, even though common sense made it clear that she should not be moving once she had woken up. She would not obey orders to stay in the hospital either way, and thus she was now walking along the streets buying supplies with some money she found in her purse.
"Shiro-chan, I am coming to look for you. Just you wait!" she smiled gleefully.
-x-
Psst. Finished. My hand was so freaking sore after I finished LOL x.x
Review please? x)