A/N: Bleach isn't mine. My block is cured, but I am in a Bleach mood. So shove it. TouMo fluff FTW! Dedicated to Renren, who also has some really good Tou/Mo fluff. PurpleWolfStar35. Go. READ HER STUFF NAO.
-oOo-
The fourth division captain, Unohana Retsu, bent over the fallen form of Hitsugaya Toushiro. His blue-green eyes were glazed as the melting ice he lay upon, yet the faintest fog of breath affirmed the fact that he was clinging to life, an icicle desperate to remain dangling from the branch of an evergreen at the onslaught of Spring.
"Winter isn't yet over for you, Hitsugaya-kun," Unohana murmured as she began to heal the worst of the tenth division captain's wounds.
"Hina…mori…" Toushiro whispered faintly, and Unohana swept her blue eyes over to the still form of the girl in question.
-
Aizen-taichou…why? I looked up to you…I admired you…what did I do wrong, to lose your trust? What faults do I possess, that you would use them to betray me?
Hinamori felt incredibly heavy, as if her robes were saturated with water, weighed down. It took all the strength she could muster just to take a step towards her captain. She didn't understand how she found herself standing before him, when her own body was clearly laying on the ground a few feet behind him.
"Aizen-taichou, what's going on?!" Hinamori yelled, but he didn't seem to hear her. He smirked as the sound of quick feet echoed in the dark chamber. Gin simply stood there quietly in the shadows, his usual fox-like grin in place. There was a rush of cold air as someone ran right through Hinamori and she gasped.
"Shiro-chan?" Hinamori murmured, but he wasn't listening either. He was furious with Aizen-taichou, and when he saw Hinamori's dead boy lying there in her own blood, he sped past Aizen and Gin and stared in horror.
"Hina…mori?!"
"Shiro-chan, I'm right here!" Hinamori sobbed, running to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.
But her hand didn't make contact. Hinamori's fingers went through him as if she were no more than a ray of light, and a cold, numb tingling soaked into her skin. She withdrew and frowned at Toushiro's distraught face.
"Please don't be upset, Shiro-chan. I'm still here…"
"Hinamori…" Toushiro repeated, and she followed his gaze to her body.
At that very moment, her predicament set in, and she felt fear wash over her as if the icy fingers of death itself had gripped her heart.
"No…I can't leave him alone…" Hinamori whispered to her dead body.
There was a loud roar as Toushiro summoned his bankai form, and Hinamori turned to see him topple to the ground, blood spraying in a crimson arc in the air.
"N-no, Shiro-chan!" Hinamori cried, falling to her knees before him.
Toushiro's eyes went out of focus, and Hinamori shuddered as tears streamed from her eyes. The droplets rolled down her chin and disappeared on Toushiro's face.
"Shiro-chan…please don't leave me…"
Hinamori tried to grab Toushiro's hand, and gasped when she found that she actually could. But he was also drawing away from his own body. Toushiro sat up, teal eyes wide with shock. His body stayed flat on the ground as he got to this feet, Hinamori standing with him.
"Oh no, no, Shiro-chan, please go back!" Hinamori whimpered, pressing her tear stained face into his chest.
Toushiro placed a timid arm around her, pulling her close.
"Hinamori…what…?"
"Please go b-back…" Hinamori choked out, clinging desperately to his robes, almost in mockery of her actions towards Aizen moments before he took her life.
"What do you mean?" he asked, forcing Hinamori to look up at him.
"Just do it, please, for me?"
Toushiro smiled softly and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Only if you come back with me."
"Wha…?"
"Idiot. Just do it." Toushiro frowned, but Hinamori wasn't sure if the look was one of pain…or maybe something else. She simply nodded.
"Okay…"
-
Unohana had felt the strange shift of reiatsu from her two patients, a sensation she'd experienced before when a shinigami was on the edge of death. She knew what must have happened, and began to work harder to ensure that their spirits returned to their bodies.
When Toushiro began to stir, Unohana smiled, the unease she felt dissipating. Yes, the winter was not yet over. Not while there was a brown eyed doe trampling through the snow.
