The next morning, Hitsugaya awoke to Hinamori's sleeping face and figure curled up close to him. He couldn't help but take in the sight before him. Seeing her looking so peaceful was was enough to bring a gentle smile to his face. It was at times like this where he truly noticed just how beautiful she was: her hair, her complexion, her eyes…. Wait a second he thought to himself. Her eyes?

That's when he realized that her blindfold had fallen off while they slept. And it was just his luck that Hinamori chose this moment to start fluttering her eyes open in an attempt to wake herself up. Hitsugaya was now faced with a choice: desperately try to prevent eye contact with his childhood friend or allow her to look straight into his eyes. Since he only had a few seconds to decide, the longer he took to make his decisions increased the chances of the latter choice happening.

Just as Hinamori was about to fully open her eyes, Hitsugaya immediately shut his own. While it would be nice to have her return my feelings, I wouldn't be satisfied if it was under these circumstances he thought to himself as he listened to Hinamori desperately try to put her blindfold back on before he "woke up". Guess I'll just have to wait a little while longer.

"Hey, Hitsugaya-kun, are you awake?" Hinamori whispered just loud enough as to not wake up her childhood friend if, indeed, he truly was asleep.

"Yeah, I just woke up…" Hitsugaya replied slowly in an attempt to convince her that he truly was asleep till just now.

"Well!" Hinamori began happily with a bright smile on her face "Good morning Shiro-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah, good morning to you too, Bed-wetter" he replied as he noticed a frown appearing on his childhood friend's mouth in response to him calling her by nickname.

"You're so mean sometimes, Shiro-chan!" she said as she began to pout. "Even if you aren't a morning person, it doesn't mean that you have to be such a grouch in the morning!"

"Yeah, whatever." Hitsugaya retorted as he started to get up "Anyway, we should get started for the day. I have some paperwork I have to get done before submitting it this evening." He then extended his hand out and gave Hinamori a hand standing up.

"Right! I also have some paperwork I need to submit." the fifth division vice-captain replied as she tried to get her bearings. Unfortunately, she couldn't see just wear the futon ended, which resulted in Hinamori tripping and falling flat on her butt.

Hitsugaya sighed as he once again tried to help her get up. "Yeah, like I'm letting you walk around on your own in your current condition." he stated as finally managed to get her back on her feet. "Just leave the rest of your paperwork to Matsumoto. After all, she is the reason you're in this situation to begin with. In the meantime, just stay with me in my office till your 24 hours are up. I know it's a pain, but it will only be for the day. So…. just try to bear with it, alright?"

"It's not so much that it's a pain or anything…" Hinamori began "I just… don't want to be a burden to you…" she finished as she hung her head low

"Listen, Hinamori" the division replied as he lifted her head back up with his right hand. "You're never a burden. In fact, considering all the times I was such a brat to you while we were growing up, I'd say you've more than earned the right to be taken care of every once in awhile. So just let me take care of you for once, okay?"

Hinamori simply nodded in response since she was too embarrassed to verbally reply to him.

"Good, now let's get going" Hitsugaya stated as he picked Hinamori up and made his way to his office.


Hinamori sighed. After being in her childhood friend's office for hours without anything to do, she was starting to get pretty bored. Furthermore, since Hitsugaya was busy catching up on Matsumoto's share of paperwork, he wasn't exactly in the position to help ease her boredom.

"I'm stepping out for a second, Hinamori" the division captain stated as he got up from his chair and started heading towards the office entrance "Don't let anyone into the office while I'm gone."

"Alright!" the fifth division vice-captain happily replied as she heard her childhood friend exit the room. Hmm, what should I do while he's gone… she thought to herself.

Too caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that a certain third division vice-captain quietly made his way into the tenth division office.

I guess what Matsumoto said last night was true then… he thought as started to make his way towards a blindfolded Hinamori. If I remember correctly, all it takes it a split second of eye contact for the serum to take effect… Only a split second for Hinamori to fall in love with me…

Kira froze once he was standing right next to the fifth division vice-captain. Still in a world of her own, Hinamori had yet to notice his presence. Through no conscious effort of his own, Kira's hand started to make its way towards her blindfold with the intention of untying it. And just as he was about the touch the fabric…

"What do you think you're doing, Kira?" a cold voice spoke as the third division vice-captain was finally freed from his trance. Kira immediately turned around to meet the cold hard eyes of the tenth division captain as he was entering the room.

"Huh? Kira-kun is here?" Hinamori said as she finally noticed his presence for the first time since he entered the room.

"Um, uh…" Kira began as he tried to think of some excuse as for why he was just trying to remove Hinamori's blindfold. "You see… I was out drinking with Matsumoto last night and she was saying how Hinamori accidentally drank this serum and… uh… I was just curious to see whether it was true or not…"

"And you thought the best way to figure that out was to remove her blindfold? You weren't already convinced by the fact that she was even wearing one in the first place?" Hitsugaya replied harshly as he closed and locked his office door. He then started to make his way towards Hinamori and Kira.

Kira remained silent, unable to think of a reply as Hitsugaya made his between himself and Hinamori. As a result, the third division vice-captain being pushed off towards the side.

"And one more thing, Kira" Hitsugaya began once more as he focused a glare towards the taller male "You said Matsumoto told you about this. Did she tell anyone one else about Hinamori's current situation?"

"Well, as far as I know, it's just me, Renji, and Shuhei-" Kira was then suddenly interrupted by shouting that was coming directly from the outside of the tenth division office.

"Come on, I heard she was in here!" a voice shouted from outside the office.

"Are you sure? This is the tenth division office!" another voice replied.

"She totally is! I saw Hitsugaya-taichou bring her in this morning and she hasn't left since!" a third voice yelled.

"So come on then!" the initial voice spoke again "We have to get in there and remove her blindfold before Hitsugaya-taichou comes back or someone else beats us to the punch!"

"Right!" a fourth voice replied. And those were only the ones who spoke. Judging by the extent of the noise and the large amount of footsteps that could be heard from outside of the tenth division office, it was pretty obvious that was far more than just four people trying to get in.

Hitsugaya cursed under his breath. He was afraid something like this would happen if word got out. He then turned towards Hinamori and grabbed her hand. "We have to get out of here, Hinamori. It's not safe for you to stay here with that crowd outside. So we have to leave, now." he said urgently as he pulled his childhood friend onto her feet and made his way towards his office window.

Hinamori had no time to reply as she was immediately dragged across the room. Fortunately for them, the window was just big enough to allow both of them easy access out of the tenth division office. Once outside, the two made their way along the roofs of nearby building while running hand in hand. While Kira had wanted to follow them, he was far too big to fit through the window and there was no way he'd make it if he tried going through the main entrance with the crowd growing ever larger outside.


So caught up in the need to get away from the crowd, Hitsugaya failed to noticed how Hinamori was doing everything she could not to trip and fall. Since she had no clue where they were going or where she was walking, it was purely luck that she managed to last this long without stumbling.

However, that luck was about to run out. Just as they were about to jump to the another roof, Hinamori lost her footing and fell. Since she was holding her childhood friend's outstretched hand, she ended up dragging him down with her.

To make matters worst, her blindfold came loose as they fell. By the time they hit the ground, it was nowhere to be seen.

"Hinamori, are you okay-" Hitsugaya began as he was interrupted by the realization that Hinamori had lost her blindfold. She immediately lifted her gaze to meet his to give him a reply, but then froze as her eyes made direct contact with his.


"Dammit, where the hell did Taichou and Hinamori go? Don't they realize that half of the shinigami population is trying to get their hands on Hinamori at the moment?" Matsumoto angrily said as she flash stepped her way around the Seireitei.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a familiar head of white hair and nearly scream with joy when she realized that the two had just made direct eye contact.

Meanwhile, Hinamori and Hitsugaya were frozen in place. After several seconds of staring at one another, Hitsugaya finally broke the silence. "Um, do you feel any different?"

"N-No, I don't actually. Do you, Hitsugaya-kun?" a very confused Hinamori replied.

"No, I don't either. I guess that prototype didn't work after all." he said as he started to chuckle. "Looks like we went through all that for nothing, huh?"

"Haha, I guess so" Hinamori replied while producing some laughter of her own.

"Well, let's get out of here. Want to grab something to eat? I know I've had a hell of a day and wouldn't mind having something to eat" Hitsugaya stated as he offered a hand out to his childhood friend.

Hinamori smiled and accepted his outstretched hand. "That sounds great!" she said as Hitsugaya helped her stand up. Together, the two started to make their way towards some of the most popular eating places of the Seireitei.


Hiding behind one of the nearby buildings, Matsumoto was furious. "What seems to be the matter, Matsumoto-san?" a voice spoke as the tenth division vice-captain turned around to see Nemu with the same indifferent expression on her face.

"What's the matter? Are you kidding me?!" Matsumoto yelled as she began to glare at the twelfth division vice-captain. "The serum you gave me didn't work! Taichou and Hinamori were suppose to fall heads over heels for each other, but nothing happened! They even went as far as to say that they didn't feel any different!"

"Relax, Matsumoto-san" Nemu replied as she tried to calm down her voluptuous friend. "The fact that they didn't feel any different can mean numerous things."

"Oh? Like what?" the tenth division vice-captain asked sarcastically, her anger fizzling out in the slightest.

"Well," the other woman replied. "Since the serum only affects one's feelings and not one's behaviour, it is very possible that the reason they did not feel any different is because they aren't experiencing anything new."

"Wait…" Matsumoto began as her anger died down. She paused for a second as she tried to wrap her thoughts around the situation. "Are you saying that Taichou and Hinamori already had feelings for each other to begin with!? And that's the reason why nothing extravagant happened!?"

Matsumoto was now overjoyed. This had to be the reason why nothing happened! Finally! She happily thought as she began to bounce up and down.

"Now before you get too excited, it still is possible the serum simply didn't work. It is a prototype after all. So try not to get too ahead of yourself-" Nemu began but stopped as she realized Matsumoto was no longer paying attention to her and was starting to make her way back to the tenth division.

The twelfth division vice-captain sighed as she watched her fellow officer disappear in the distance. Oh well she thought as she started to make her way back to her own division.


Well, there you have it. My first fanfic. Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed it!

~ H-Mira