Lol... I was bored and so this was created lol . I actually got the idea from the first movie's ending, yknow when Ichigo brought senna to the graveyard, but I ABSOLUTELY HATE SENNA AND ORIHIME. Anyway, I think it's totally sweet and melancholy for a hitsuruki I had just to post it. Please Rate...
Rukia couldn't believe what she saw.
A boy was lying sprawled on the bloody war field, his white hair sticky with blood, his face deathly pale, his black Shinigami robes turning even darker. The rain was pouring heavily on his helpless body, tiny droplets of rain trickling down his face.
"H-Hitsugaya Taicho!" the girl gasped, bending down instantly, touching his hand. His skin was ice-cold.
How could anyone not know about this?
The war against Aizen had just ended, with their victory. Many was injured, Izuru Kira, Madarame Ikakku, and Zaraki-taicho were dead, but they said there were no other victims.
How could the rescue team not know that Captain Hitsugaya was dying? It was almost like, six hours since the war ended, and did the captain just lay here bleeding since then?
She looked around her. The field was empty, except for some stain of blood.
"Don't move," she told him, panic clear in her voice, "I will get help soon,"
Rukia was just about to stand up when Hitsugaya's trembling fingers clutched the hem of her robes.
"S-stay…" he begged, his voice almost inaudible.
Rukia was surprised. She rarely talks to the tenth-squad captain, and the sight of the usually strong Shinigami lying so helpless, soaked with blood it's just… too much.
"But you'll die if I don't get help-" she protested.
Hitsugaya's fading turquoise eyes gazed into her own, "Please…" every words he said seems to kill him from inside, "I need.. a favor,"
"Anything," Rukia answered, tearing her robes' sleeves and tied it on Hitsugaya's bleeding torso to prevent the blood spilling. Her blue eyes widened as she saw his chest covered with slashes, his skin covered with dry blood.
"No use for that," he smirked a little, "Kuchiki, I want you… take me back, to my hometown…" his voice trailed away and he seems to have difficulties in breathing, "I want to die in my home,"
"You'll not die," she promised him, putting his arms around her neck, feeling his blood seeping through her clothes, shivering at his cold icy body, "You'll not die, taicho,"
He made a strangled sound which might have been a chuckle.
"Baka," his voice was still quiet, but it had a hint of humor in it, "You see the condition I'm in, you know it's hopeless,"
Rukia knew it. He bled so much, just like the night… the night Kaien-dono died.
"Just fulfill my last wish, Kuchiki," he pleaded, his voice broken, "I want to see home. See my grandmother's grave…" he smiled bitterly, "I received a letter… she died a day before the war… haven't visited her. That's why now I have too…"
Rukia didn't say anything.
"Please?" he asked again, his voice quieter.
Sighing, Rukia nodded. She knew this was wrong. She should just took him to the infirmary and let Captain Unohana saved him. There might be a chance he might still live but…
If he don't, it would be her fault he didn't get his last wish.
"Okay, I will," Rukia said, standing up with the captain on her back. It was still quite a wonder how someone as small as she could carry a person.
"Your home is Rukongai's third district, right?" Rukia asked and could feel a feeble yes from him. The girl shivered at the captain's icy body and the night's cold wind but she obeyed anyway and soared to the dark, starless night.
Around fifteen minutes later she landed lightly in Ryukongai. The village was silent, everybody were still asleep, oblivious of a girl walking in the dark, dusty streets, carrying a half-dead boy.
"The graveyard is north… you see the hill over there?" Hitsugaya asked, his voice no more than a mere whisper.
"Yes," she said, shunpo-ing to the hill. The dark horizon was lighter now, indicating that dawn is going to take place soon. A slight pink in the black crest could be seen, making the rest of the horizon blacker somehow.
Soft grasses touched her feet as she landed on the hill. It was surrounded by around two dozens tombstones of the souls that had died. It might sound silly, for souls who died in Soul Society didn't stay dead as a corpse but disintegrate, becoming spirit particles, becoming a part of the world itself.
Just like Kaien-dono.
So the tombstones were empty. What was buried were perhaps the dead person's remaining things, such as his clothes and his possessions. And a name to remember them by.
"C-could you look for my grandmother's tomb?" he asked, his voice not commanding as usual, but almost pleading, "Her name is Mizuki Fuyuu,"
Rukia didn't answer and the dark haired girl started walking around the graveyard, searching for a grave bearing that name.
There was none.
She then saw there was one grave left. Slowly, she walked there, gazing at the carved name…
Sora Takehiko.
"Is it… my grandmother's tomb?" Hitsugaya asked hopefully.
Rukia's heart clenched. It wasn't. She was about to say no but she couldn't bear disappointing the captain on his last moment.
No. Sometimes you would just have to lie.
"Yeah it is," Rukia answered quietly, "Mizuki Fuyuu,"
The girl couldn't see him, but she could almost felt him smile.
"I…" he said, "I wasn't there when my grandmother died."
"It wasn't your fault," Rukia insisted, her eyes avoiding him, looking past the false tombstone.
"When I died, bury me next to her," Hitsugaya continued, "Will you?"
Slowly, Rukia nodded, guilt weighing her down. Her heart almost shattered at seeing his hopeful and somewhat happy tone. How could he spoke like that even though he's going to die?
In the east, the sun had begun to rise, illuminating the landscapes and the moist grasses. The rain was still falling, but it wasn't a downpour or something, just a pitter patter, a rhythm amongst the peaceful silence.
"It was nice being here for the last time," Hitsugaya smiled, for a moment there was no frown creasing his forehead. He closed his turquoise eyes slowly.
"Kuchiki… arigatou," his voice trailed away.
Rukia felt his hands went limp, falling from her shoulders. Without looking at him, without checking his pulse and heartbeats, she knew that Hitsugaya Toshirou was gone.
"Your welcome," the girl whispered back, her answer drowned by the wind. For a moment she just stood there, a lone figure in the glimmering dawn, her blue eyes gazing sightlessly at the sky, feeling the boy on her back slowly… disappearing.
It wasn't long before she broke down, her tears mingling with the rain on her cheeks.
Epilogue
The two Shinigami walked uphill, under the sky's beautiful sunset. The girl's expression changed when she saw the tombstones bearing the name Hitsugaya Toshirou.
They stopped in front of the grave, and Rukia, for that is who the girl is, put down a bouquet of blooming red rose on the stone's smooth surface.
"Rest in peace," she whispered, "Taicho,"
Rukia had done what the tenth captain asked her to. She had buried him in his hometown, even though she couldn't find his grandmother's tomb. The girl gazed at the carved name, trying to keep her tears at bay.
Hitsugaya Toshirou
Captain of the Tenth Division,
Beloved son and grandson, captain and friend
May the world remembers you
"May the world remembers you," Rukia repeated the last line. She stood there for a moment, remembering that day a year ago when he had died in her arms…
After a while, the man that accompanied her, Ichigo, put a hand on her shoulders.
"It's dark," he said, smiling tenderly at her, "Let's go,"
Rukia looked at him and smiled back, "… Yeah," and both of them started walking.
Ichigo took one last glance, the smile still on his lips.
"Bye, Toshirou," he murmured, more to his own. He grinned when he could almost heard his sulky voice retorting back, "Not Toshirou. Hitsugaya- Taicho for you,"
"What are you grinning at?" Rukia was standing still as she looked at him curiously. Ichigo didn't answer, still smiling as he took her hand.
Together, they walked down the road, hand-in-hand, leaving the lonely graveyard behind.
Hitsugaya Toshirou.
May his name be remembered,
Forever.
There. Reviews please and I'll consider making lots of other oneshots...
Hope you Hitsuruki lovers enjoy it.
T