Prompt: Diary
Characters/Pairing: Hanatarou/Hinamori
Genre: Romance
Summary: Hinamori begins to realize that falling out of love with Aizen won't be as painful as she expected.
Wordcount: 568

Hinamori sat down at her desk and brushed off the dust, feeling overwhelmed. She hadn't been in her own room for months, having stayed with the 4th Division for treatment ever since Aizen... left. Everything in the lieutenant's room was untouched, just as she'd left it; her bed still unmade, a stack of papers on the side of her desk waiting to be signed, and her diary still open with her pen lying across it. The girl leaned forward, reading the entry, and frowned. "Something's definitely wrong with Captain Aizen," it began. She flipped the pages back, irritated, continuing to read and never escaping Aizen's name. "I'm worried that Captain Aizen is upset... This morning Captain Aizen told me he was proud of me. I was so happy... Captain Aizen was wounded in the last attack, but Captain Unohana says he'll be okay... Captain Aizen is so kind! He did that stack of paperwork while I was asleep..."

Hinamori cried out in rage, tears forming in her eyes. She no longer had any illusions where Aizen was concerned, but the memories still caused a painful twist in her stomach. Even more than she hated him for everything he'd done, she hated herself for falling for his false charms. She hurled the diary into the trash and fell forward onto her desk, tears trickling silently down her face. How could she ever be completely free of him?

A knock sounded at her door. She sat bolt upright, wiping her face hurriedly and trying to look as a lieutenant should. "Enter."

"Hinamori-san?" It was Hanatarou Yamada. Her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected to see him much after her move back to the 5th Division compound.

"Hana-kun!" She whirled around, blinking the remnants of tears out of her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I... came to see if you were doing okay," Hanatarou said, glancing at the ground. His eyes - keener than most realized - had already picked up on the tears on her cheeks, but he didn't say anything. "A-and I wondered if... maybe... Well, I thought you might be lonely up here, having dinner by yourself, so..." He held up a bento. "In the 4th Division courtyard... the cherry blossoms are in bloom and..."

Hinamori's eyes softened. "I'd love to." She stood up, leaving the desk behind, and walked forward. She didn't have to face the memory of Aizen, not yet.

Just being around him calmed her down. It had been he, after all, who at last had gently brought her to believe the truth. It had been he who'd pulled her out of depression. She didn't know where she'd be now without Hanatarou... and she was glad to know he still wanted to speak to her, not as medic and patient but as friends. She realized she didn't want to say goodbye to him yet.

When she walked back into her room after their impromptu picnic, there was a dance in her step and a light in her eyes, and her heart was at peace. She bent down and picked up the diary from the trashcan, seizing a full half of the pages, and with one strong yank tore the remnants of Aizen out of her life. The pages scattered into the trash as she sat down again, picked up her pen, and began to write.

"Dear diary, I think I'm falling in love."