A/N: Wah! I must really be feeling the holiday spirit or something. I'm actually updating, and it hasn't been five months since my last update! I'm so proud of myself. I hope you guys like this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo.
Toushirou watched Momo as she spoke to the girl clinging to his legs. She froze, and then her amber eyes slowly drifted up to meet his own turquoise ones. If this had been five years ago or even a time before that, he would've never noticed the emotions in her eyes. Now he did, and they stung him somehow. He could sense hurt, betrayal, and confusion flowing through and radiating off of her. What had the girl said?
Her eyes broke contact with his and went back to Misaki. "M-M-Misaki-chan, I-I-Toushirou—I mean, Hit-Hitsugaya-san can't—he can't possibly be…" Momo looked up at him again, her eyes pleading. "You just can't be…can you…?" She asked him, hoping with her entire being that he hadn't moved on. Had there been a time when he'd actually been able to forget her? Ever since she'd left him, she'd never gone a day where she'd forgotten him. He'd haunted her every moment of her life, if not in dreams, then in objects, things found in her everyday life.
"I just can't be what?" Toushirou asked. Whatever the girl had said couldn't have been good if it produced this sort of reaction from Momo.
She searched his face, his eyes, for any sort of answer. He seemed confused. Perhaps he didn't know he had a child? Of course; that had to be a fact. If his child was here, then he wouldn't have had to enroll as a student teacher. He would've instantly recognized Misaki, also. Toushirou was usually very good at hiding his emotions, but it seemed as though the wall between him and his emotions was breaking.
"I can't be what?" Toushirou asked again. It'd been a few minutes since he'd asked his question, and it'd still gone unanswered. Now, Toushirou wasn't used to that kind of behavior; the only one would dare leave his questions unanswered was Momo, and that was when she was teasing him. But now was not a time to be teasing him, and Toushirou sort of figured that she was still in shock and denial from whatever had been revealed to her.
Perhaps if he could've, he would've bent down and softly asked her once again what he couldn't be. However, Misaki refused to let go of him. If this were an adult female, he would've calmly and politely told them to remove themselves, and if they refused, then he would resort to force. But this was a little girl who barely reached his hip.
Finally deciding that Momo wouldn't answer his question, he gently removed Misaki and bent down to look her in the eyes. "Misaki-chan, wasn't it?" She gave a small nod, her head bowed. Now…how to ask his question so that she could understand. Hm…. "Who am I?" Expecting her to answer, he was surprised when she looked up and mouthed something. Totally unprepared for it, he'd missed her answer. "Who am I?" he asked again. She bit her lip hesitantly as if afraid to answer now. Daddy.
So that was what made Momo freeze. Although it wasn't a particularly good thing that Misaki thought him to be her father and Momo probably thought he'd forgotten about her and moved on even for a moment, her reaction sparked some hope in him. She wouldn't have reacted that way if she hadn't really cared for him. But now he had to push his feelings aside and sort out the mess at hand. Who would've thought that being a CEO of a company would come in handy in this sort of environment?
He cleared his throat and tired looking as gently as he could at Misaki. "I'm sorry, Misaki-chan, but…I just…can't be your daddy." She shook her head furiously and detached herself from him. She ran towards her desk and searched through her book bag. After a few minutes she ran back with a crinkled photo in hand. She shoved it into his hands and looked at him expectantly, hopefully. She had proof. Now that she'd found daddy, she wouldn't be alone anymore. He'd take care of her.
Toushirou stared at the photo in his hand. Standing there with a small smile on his face was someone who looked exactly like him. It just couldn't be him though. He would've remembered taking this picture if it was. And…conveniently enough…the mother wasn't in the photo. It wasn't one of those pictures where the portion with the mother was torn off. She must've been the one to take the picture. And the two had been married; Toushirou could tell by the small glint of a ring on the man's left hand.
Although their looks were similar, Toushirou knew that this person couldn't be him. Unless he'd been drugged for a portion of his life, he'd never been married to anyone nor had a kid with them.
"Misaki…who is your mother?" She looked from him to Momo and back to him. She shrugged slowly and took back her picture.
The rest of the day continued on with even more awkwardness between Momo and Toushirou. None of the kids seemed to have understood what was really going on, which made Toushirou envy them. When he'd decided to enter education, he hadn't expected that someone would claim him as their father. He already had enough obstacles with Momo. He didn't need her thinking that he'd gone and had a kid with another woman.
After school Misaki reluctantly filed out of the classroom with small bouts of encouragement from Hoshiko, her best friend, and the little girl who'd asked her before if she was okay. However, Misaki sat herself outside the classroom door, determined to stay and wait for her daddy. Hoshiko sighed and sat herself down beside Misaki. Sometimes she really couldn't understand Misaki, but Misaki was a sweet and kind girl; sometimes she was stubborn beyond all belief, but she was good. Besides, Hoshiko's older brother probably wouldn't be coming for another hour or so anyways. His girlfriend was much more important than his younger sister.
"Is there something you wanted to ask?" Momo asked stiffly after fifteen minutes of having Toushirou stare at her while she finished up some things on the computer. Of all days to be stuck with paperwork, it just had to be today, the one day where everything had just been going downhill. She'd woken up half-an-hour late and hadn't had time to make lunch. She'd arrived ten minutes late to the meeting and gotten a major scolding from Igarashi-san; today had also been the one day when the head of the school board just had to attend a meeting. And then Shirou-chan had decided to spring up on her as a student teacher. If that hadn't been uncomfortable enough, one of her students had claimed him as her father. Then during lunch she'd been bombarded with the paperwork she was currently working on. Shirou-chan had sat in the room with her, working on some of the paperwork he'd offered to take up. He'd also offered to get her lunch, and that resulted in her debating with herself. She wanted him out of the classroom, even if for a little bit so she wouldn't feel so nervous, but there was something about his presence that brought on memories and comforted her. She was stock full of conflicting emotions. In the end, he'd decided to get her lunch, fed up with her indecisiveness. And then that led her to the present. Sure, she could work on the paperwork at home, but installing the program she needed at home would take forever.
"Momo, I just wanted to explain about this morning. Misaki-chan seems like a really good kid, but…she's not mine. I know she had the photo, but that wasn't me."
Momo bit her lip. Saying what she was about to would take some effort. "…Why…would I care…? If you had a child with someone else…why should that matter to me…? It's not like it's affecting me personally. You don't have to explain yourself to me. After all…it's not like we really had anything to begin with. Infatuations aren't meant to last. They're simply there for the moment like everything else." The words that had escaped were so uncharacteristically like her; her jealousy was getting the best of her. She avoided his eyes, knowing full well that he would be able to tell she was lying.
If Toushirou were any other man, he would've strode forward and grabbed her, forcing her to listen to him. But he was Hitsugaya Toushirou, and he didn't (usually) act on his emotions like that. He took a deep breath. "Yes, you may be willing to think something like that, but the both of us know you're lying. Until you come to terms with yourself, I'll still be here, waiting." He slipped on his coat and walked out the room without a second glance.
Momo watched him walk out, swallowing the words that wanted to come out of her mouth. She wanted to call him back, wanted to apologize, but something was stopping her. So she simply sat there and watched him walk away, as if he were going to totally disappear from her life as she had done to him.
As soon as Toushirou walked out of the room, he almost tripped over himself. Waiting in the hallway were Misaki and her friend, Hoshiko.
"What are you guys doing out here?" He asked, fixing his scarf.
"We were waiting for you," Hoshiko answered, standing up. Misaki stood up beside her, dusting herself off. "Well, Misaki-chan was waiting for you. I still have to wait for my onii-chan."
Misaki tugged on Hoshiko's hand. Hoshiko looked at her and then shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want to impose on you. I'll just wait here. Maybe Hinamori-sensei can just take me home." She smiled reassuringly and then walked into the classroom.
The two stared at each other until Toushirou spoke up. "Misaki-chan, look…I'm not your daddy. I'll take you home, but that's it." He began walking ahead, but stopped when he didn't hear her small steps following after. "What is it?" He walked back to her and kneeled before her.
I don't have a home to go to. She told him solemnly.
"But…I can't take you to mine. If anyone found out that I'd taken you home, well…they'd think bad things, and I would get in trouble."
But I want to go home with daddy.
Toushirou sighed. There was no way he'd be able to get her to understand. And then if anyone asked, it's not like they would believe he was her father. There was no proof, except for that photo, and that wasn't much. How'd she get enrolled in school anyways? Having guardians was a requirement. Maybe…he'd get Matsumoto to look after her tonight, and he'd try to find out more about her. Yeah…that was the best thing he could do. But then what if they thought Matsumoto had kidnapped her or something? Then again, if she really didn't have a home to return to, no one would really question anything. And if that happened, Matsumoto could just blame everything on him. Yeah, he'd just have to take her over to Matsumoto's. He'd have a long night ahead of him.