Chapter 2:
Once Hitsugaya managed to exit the classroom, it didn't take him very long to make his way out of the school. Even as he made his way towards the source of the sudden outburst of spiritual pressure, he still just couldn't believe it. She had told him that she was only coming tomorrow, not today. Had he known that she would be coming a day early, he never would have bothered to attend class that morning. Sure, he was suppose to as part of his mission, but he highly doubted missing one day would have made that much of a difference. Besides, being the first person to greet her once she finally arrived was much more important to him.
Hitsugaya pace got quicker and quicker in anticipation as he got closer to his destination. After all this time apart, he would finally be able to see her again. Sure, it had only been a couple of months, but he hated being apart from her. And while he had been able to manage distance being them alright in the past, he just couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone after what Aizen had done to her. A voice in the back of his mind kept whispering that someone else might try to hurt her like he did and then-
Hitsugaya shook the thought from his head as he quickly made his way down the streets of Karakura town. That didn't matter right now. All that mattered right now was that she was here and waiting to him. So he turned a corner and took a shortcut towards Urahara's shop.
Once he had reached his destination, the tenth division captain burst through the door panting. He instinctively looked around the room for signs of his childhood friend, but couldn't see her anywhere. Figuring that she must be in one of the backrooms, Hitsugaya made his way towards the back of the shop.
"Oh, Hitsugaya-taichou. Fancy seeing you here" a mischievous voice spoke from somewhere to Hitsugaya's right. The tenth division captain halted his advance towards the back of the room and turned to see who had spoken.
Urahara emerged from being a stack of boxes with a knowing smirk on his face. That smirk told the young captain that despite what was said, the shop owner was not at all surprised to see him there.
Hitsugaya remained silent for a moment as he tried to regain his composure after his sudden dramatic entrance into the shop. While he knew that he didn't do a very good job at hiding his affections for the fifth division vice-captain, he still tried to maintain his icy demeanor when others would question him about it.
"Oh, Urahara. I'm just here for-" the tenth division captain began but was immediately interrupted by the shop owner.
"Hinamori-san is just in the other room getting her gigai ready. She should be out any minute now" Urahara stated as he watched the baffled young captain try to maintain his indifferent demeanor once more. The shop owner found it rather amusing that the tenth division captain kept trying to maintain a calm and icy aura when it was obvious that he had ran straight here the second he felt the fifth division vice-captain's spiritual pressure.
Before Hitsugaya had a chance to muster a reply, Hinamori entered the room through one of the back doors. She was wearing a light blue sundress that had a dark blue flower pattern towards the bottom of it. It looked as though she was about to say something to the shop owner when she spotted her childhood friend in the middle of the shop.
"Oh, Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed as her surprised expression turned into a bright smile. "I thought you would be in class right now with Rangiku-san."
"Well, um…" Hitsugaya fumbled as he tried to think of a logical reason for why he was currently here and not in class. "I felt a sudden burst of spiritual pressure in this area and thought I should check it out…"
Hitsugaya felt like facepalming himself when he saw Hinamori's bright expression turn to confusion at his response. As a captain and as her childhood friend, he should have been well aware that it was her spiritual pressure that he was sensing. God, he felt like such an idiot. Before he had a chance to redeem himself, Urahara interrupted their conversation.
"I think what the poor captain is trying to say," he began as he saw the two shinigami turn their heads to face him "is that he felt your spiritual pressure and rushed all the way over here just to see you because he missed you."
Hitsugaya turned red in response. As he was about to muster a reply to the shop owner's claim, he felt a pair of arms embrace him from the side. Turning his head to the side, the tenth division captain saw his childhood friend burying her head in his chest.
"Aww, Shiro-chan" she began as she lifted her to gaze to her childhood friend. "I missed you too!" she exclaimed as a warm smile covered her face.
The tenth division captain's blush deepened. Not trusting himself with words, Hitsugaya remained silent as he turned his head to the other side in an attempt to hide his reddened cheeks.
After about a moment had passed, Hinamori released her childhood friend as she stood to face him. "While I am happy that you came all the way here to see me, Hitsugaya-kun, you really should be getting back to class. It's not right to skip, you know" she said as she attempted to scold her childhood friend.
Hitsugaya sighed. "It's not like it really matters, anyway. I'm not here to attend human school, I'm here to search for and train new substitute shinigami." he replied as he looked to his now pouting friend. "Besides, you're only here for a day, and it's not like missing one day of classes will really make that much of a difference. So there's no need to give me that look, Hinamori."
"But Hitsugaya-kun!" she whined in response. "It's just not right to skip! Even if you're not here as a real student, you really should attend class! Plus, you get to learn a bunch of things there that we never got the chance to learn at the shinigami academy!"
"Trust me, it's really not as interesting as you're making it out to be" the tenth division captain stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Please, Hitsugaya-kun…" the fifth division vice-captain pleaded as she gazed deeply into the eyes of her childhood friend. "I would feel bad if you skipped class because of me…"
"Fine" he sighed as he gave into Hinamori's pleas. "I'll go back. Classes are done at four anyway, so it's only a couple more hours." The fifth division vice-captain instantly perked up at his response.
"Great!" she replied as the smile returned to her face. "In the meantime, I'll try to think up some things that we could do once you get out!"
"There's no need" he abruptly responded. Seeing the smile start to fade on her face, he quickly added "I already have something in mind."
"Alright!" Hinamori happily replied as Hitsugaya began to make his way out of the shop. "I guess I'll see you after class, Hitsugaya-kun!"
"Oi, it's Hitsugaya-taichou to you" he stated as he stopped and faced her once more before finally exiting the shop.
"Oh, Taichou. You're back." Matsumoto stated in surprise as her captain joined her and Karin on the school rooftop for lunch. Knowing exactly who her captain had taken off in such a hurry to go see, she had expected him to simply skip the remainder of today's classes. So she was quite surprised to see him come back to school half way through their lunch break.
"Yeah, I'm back" he replied with an annoyed expression on his face. It was clear, even to Karin, that he really hadn't intended on coming back after his sudden exit an hour ago.
"Let me guess," Matsumoto began as a smirk made its way onto her face "Hinamori felt bad about you skipping class to go see her, so she made you come back."
Judging by her captain's lack of response, the tenth division vice-captain knew she had hit the nail on the head. Satisfied that she had guessed correctly, Matsumoto quietly continued to eat her sandwich with a smug expression on her face.
Meanwhile, Karin frowned at their exchange. So this Hinamori is a she the young girl thought as she gazed at her white haired friend Just who the hell is she, anyway? And, more importantly, who is she to Toshiro?
And there you have it, chapter 2!
There'll be a lot more HitsuHina interactions in the next chapter, so please look forward to it!
Anyway, thanks for reading/favouriting/reviewing!
~ H-Mira
