Short & Sweet

Hitsugaya had been planning this for months now. Hinamori's birthday had to be just right. After all, she had been planning so many of his birthdays that now he wanted to return the favour.

It was the day before her birthday, and Hinamori was oblivious. Well, he hoped that she was. His vice-captain also knew about this, but there was no telling how long Matsumoto could keep a secret, especially if she had been drinking. On top of that, the two girls often shared long conversations with one another.

Matsumoto strolled into the office. "Hey, Captain. You nervous about tomorrow?"

Hitsugaya ignored the question. "Took you long enough to get back. Now, I need your help delivering this paperwork to the Captain Commander."

Matsumoto grinned. "Aww, don't avoid the question. Are you going to tell her how you feel?" She teased.

"Matsumoto!! Go, now!" He snapped at her. She giggled, took the papers from his desk and left. 'She must have been drinking again.' He thought.

In truth, his vice captain had been inaccurate. He only saw her as a close sibling, one that he wished all the happiness, health and safety in the world. Hitsugaya never denied it when people dared to tease him, but only because he felt it would have been too childish of him to yell at them for such a trivial matter, and he had better things to do.

It was the next day when everything went downhill. Hinamori had unexpectedly caught the flu, so there was no way she would be able to celebrate her birthday, or do all the things that Hitsugaya had planned. He spent the rest of the day worrying about her, and the moment his official working hours had ended, Hitsugaya shunpo-ed all the way to her quarters.

"Hinamori! Sorry I'm so late!" Hitsugaya ran through the door, only to find her half asleep. When she heard his voice, Hinamori's eyes opened fully and looked at him. "Shiro-chan… I knew you would come."

He opened his mouth in protest, but remembered that it was her birthday and closed it. "Happy birthday, Hinamori. Here's your gift." He handed her a slip of paper, and she read it aloud.

"This entitles you to call Captain Hitsugaya whatever you want for a full twenty-four hours without his protest. Signed, Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou."

She was laughing by the time she finished, and couldn't seem to stop. "Shiro-chan! You really brightened up my day with this! Thank you!"

They were both grinning now. "I think I'm going to cut this up and share it with Rangiku-san."

"W-what?"

"Well, there aren't any terms and conditions, so…"

While Hitsugaya tried to think of something to save him from his vice-captain, Hinamori spoke up. "You know, Hitsugaya, you're just the way I like my haiku."

His attention went back to her. "And what way is that?"

She giggled. "Short and sweet."