A/N: Might as well add the author notes in this document, since it doesn't look like Kaa-san's gonna be fixing my computer any time soon, so for the time being I'm stuck on hers. And chapter 3 of I'm a WHAT?! Is back on my computer, along with two colored drawings, and – okay, I'll stop whining about my computer woes and continue this author's note.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach.
OOC/SCREWUP WARNING: This is my first time writing a serious one-shot, and even as it is this fic has a comical twist at the end that is really more or less a "wtf" moment that I probably shouldn't leave in. Also, this is my first Bleach fic, and I'mover 100 eps behind (ep. 58 was the last I watched, I think), so there is a slight chance that I may fudge up a few details by accident (and semi on purpose on a few things, including the age difference). Third, keep in mind this is AU, and that I am not perfect.
It was raining, which was unusual for the time of year, since in that town it often snowed in the winter. But the low temperatures definitely affected the rain no less, almost solidifying it into a hail-like slush, I think many call such sleet. If I got the term wrong, I'm sorry; I live in Arizona and have my winter weather terms slightly confused beyond snow and hail. But sleet or no sleet, that wasn't stopping him. He was intent on seeing her, on telling her how he truly felt before it was too late. And for that, he couldn't wait for the weather to get better. The next day, he would be leaving, perhaps forever. I have to tell her in person, no matter what! He thought resiliently as he ran through the sleet-like concoction pouring from the sky, despite his hack of an umbrella or raincoat. Besides, he reminded himself, she doesn't have long-distance.
"Gah, I can't finish this stinkin' essay!! Aizen-sensei can't possibly expect us to write FIVE PAGES on a flipping EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT!"
"Seriously? I'm already done," Momo Hinamori responded into her cell phone, writing the very last word on said extra credit essay. She slipped the paper into her folder and placed it in her schoolbag for the next day. Her friend continued on the other end of the phone.
"Why did you even do the assignment, Momo-chan? It was extra credit, and you have an A in history already."
"Wait… it was extra credit?"
Matsumoto went silent on her line of the phone, sitting at her computer working on aforementioned essay.
"Very funny, Momo-chan."
"No really, it was extra credit?" Momo asked her friend, dead serious in her inquiry. Never before that point had it occurred to her that their homeroom teacher would assign such a hefty plate of work and label it as extra credit. Then again, it was Aizen-sensei. On her side of the conversation, Matsumoto dropped her cell phone and hastily picked it up again upon snapping out of her stunned stupor. "Ra –"
"Yeah, I'm here, sorry about that. For being at the top of the class, you're kind of a ditz sometimes, ya know that?" Momo flushed in embarrassment.
"A-a ditz?" She replied, a panicked expression forming on her face that none was present in the room to witness. Matsumoto's laughter rang out from the phone.
"Momo-chan, you take things way too seriously. Lighten up a little, will ya?" A sly smirk suddenly appeared across Matsumoto's face. "Perhaps it's about time you get a boyfriend." This time it was Momo's turn to drop the phone.
"Are you kidding, Rangiku-san? I-I-I've never been asked out before, and I'm too shy to do it myself!"
"Figures you'd be the old-fashioned, 'it's the guy's job to ask' type," Matsumoto replied after a brief fit of laughter. "But you know, I've seen Hitsugaya-san steal a glance or two at you in the hallways. He was blushing to boot. Maybe he –" Momo's mocking laughter interrupted her thoughts.
"Shiro-chan? We're just friends; it's always been that way."
"Oh, do you have any idea how many couples have gotten together that way? I mean, look at Shihouin-sensei and Urahara-sensei. They – wait… never mind, I'm not even sure they're dating. But rumor has it… speaking of Hitsugaya, isn't he moving soon?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Momo replied, her voice suddenly dropping.
"Crap! Mom's caught me not working! Gotta go!" And with that, Matsumoto hung up the phone on her end, and consequently Momo followed suit. She set the phone down on her night stand and collapsed onto her bed. Almost immediately the memories began to flood her mind, along with a seemingly indelible melancholy. From the day they first met, she and Toushiro had been close friends, despite the two year age difference. When he told her a month before that he was moving hundreds of miles away, she laughed it off, as though it were a joke or a bad dream, as if he were a permanent fixture in her life. Someone she could depend on in a pinch, even if he showed overall indifference a majority of the time. So he's really leaving, she thought solemnly. Soon her thought pattern was shattered by a soft thump against the window.
At first she thought the rain had finally succumbed to the freezing cold and solidified to hail. But then it came again. It was almost repetitive, but not in the random "pattern" that rain beats upon a surface. She walked over to the window and opened it in between the fifth and sixth thump. When the sixth should have occurred, a small stone came in flying at her face. She frantically dodged it before it hit her and the rock fell on the soft, sand-colored carpet. After staring at the rock that could easily have left a goose egg on her forehead, or worse taken an eye out, she looked down from the window to see the source of the stone. It was him.
Noticing the rock hadn't bounced off the window this time, Toushiro Hitsugaya looked up to the window in confusion. IDid it break the window? /IHe wondered. But no shattering sounds had been heard, and no glass shards had flown in his direction. As he thought of what else could have happened, a pang of fear struck his heart. Had she opened the window just as he threw it? Toushiro, you idiot! He thought, reprimanding himself and already thinking of what he may do if by some chance that stone had inflicted any mark upon her in any way. But the look on her face as she leaned over the window to peer down at him, it wasn't with flinching or in anger. In fact, upon noticing him, her face showed more surprise and concern than anything. She pulled her head back in and the window shut. After that, he didn't know what to expect. Did she even remember he was moving? When he told her, she just laughed it off. He was almost left as if to wonder if she even cared.
After closing the window, she rushed down the stairs as quick as her little feet could carry her. IWhy is he here now? Shouldn't he be packing? Did something come up? /IWhatever it was, it must have been of extreme importance for him to throw a rock at the window to get her attention. Many other questions in addition to these burned in her mind as she flung open the front door.
"Shiro-chan!"
He turned around to see her standing in front of the now closed front door of her house, umbrella in hand. He finally realized what must have caused her concern: the weather and his lack of proper rain gear. It was just like her, too. Always sweating the small stuff. He returned her stare, and the two just stood as they were. Finally Toushiro gathered the courage to break the silence.
"Uh, hey," he greeted her in his usual manner, trying to the best of his ability to detract attention from the pink tint that began to color his normally pale cheeks.
"Shiro-chan," Momo replied, now tossing an extra umbrella to him. "Don't you have any concern for your health? It's freezing out here, and it's been raining for hours!" He caught the umbrella, but he didn't even bother to open it.
"First off," he began, "I wouldn't care if we were in the middle of a hurricane if we were in the same situation as we are now, I would've come here regardless!" He took a step toward her, and then another, and still another until they were standing face to face. Though he was shorter than her, the height difference mattered little to either of them. What mattered was that he made it here, and he intended to tell her flat out how he felt. "Second," he continued, "You… know we're leaving tomorrow, right?"
"T-Tomorrow?!" Momo stammered in shock and disbelief, her eyes already beginning to brim with tears. She hadn't realized that it was so soon. Does that mean he's here to say goodbye? She braced herself for the stinging word, but instead was faced with something totally different. Not even a second after, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She didn't understand. Would he just leave her with that single gesture, and not even a word? She couldn't tell which would be worse, which would leave a bigger hole in her heart. Why she was feeling such dread at the thought of losing him, not being able to see his face again, she didn't know either. As she had explained to Matsumoto earlier that evening on the phone, they were only friends, nothing more. Or were they…? She was still in this state of perplexed and pained confusion when he uttered the three words in her ear that, at least in her mind, couldn't have come at a worse or better time.
"I love you."
The confession rendered her speechless, and this time she had no chance of fighting back the tears. They weren't merely tears of sorrow – though partially they were – but more tears of joy, relief, and understanding. For what seemed like an eternity, they remained in that same embrace, the slushy rain beating on and then sliding off the surface of Momo's pink umbrella. He needed no words to interpret her answer. Their reverie was soon interrupted by the ringing of Toushiro's cell phone. It was a text message from his parents.
Last-minute change of plans. The owners of the other house decided they don't want to sell.
Not allowing himself even a moment of hope, feeling something would instantly go wrong as soon as he did, he quickly typed in his reply.
Meaning?
"You have to go soon?" Momo interrupted the silence, surprising even herself that her voice didn't break. Moments after he pressed the send button he received his reply.
We're staying.
The "Couple" stood looming over the cell phone, dumbfounded by what they read. Momo's heart seemed to leap for joy, whereas Toushiro… looked almost half embarrassed. His confession was for nothing. He could've waited until he was better prepared, until the weather was better, maybe even by that time he would be a little taller. Yet now he felt a lot lighter, as though a burden had been lifted from him. Before he could even regain his typical too-cool attitude, Momo glomped him in the biggest tackle-hug she could manage without causing them both to topple over into the sidewalk. Another text came in, this time from a classmate of theirs.
Hitsugaya! You won't believe this, but Aizen-sensei just admitted in front of the whole student council that he's GAY!
A/N: I know, I know, I should've left it as is. But for some reason, I would've felt somewhat dissatisfied with myself if I'd left it off at a bittersweet departure-type confession fic. And the last text… I'm sorry, I had to. I was considering omitting it, but when my friends and my stepbrother read the rough, they both thought that to be funny, so I decided it would stay.
NOW! Review please, constructive criticism is appreciated, but flames will be ignored.