Author's Note: Oh, my...Am I the only one who was completely disgusted with that new episode, which marcates the beginning of a long line of crappy fillers...That stupid Shusuke or whatever his face was dude, getting drunk on his first day of duty...Not smart. Though, the fillers are mostly to help Mr. Kubo produce more work without feeling rushed or stressed, so we should be grateful for them.

"Kusaka, please. We can't go on like this anymore. Why should we have to meet in secret, sneaking around the sotaichou's back after dark when everyone else is asleep? I don't like it! It…It's like breaking the law! And we just keep doing it! If we get caught…"

"Toshiro, I know we're not supposed to be seeing each other anymore, but you have to understand. I love you, alright? I can't keep living how they want me to. That would mean not being able to be with you, ever. I would rather die than have to do that. I can see it in you, too, Toshiro. You're in pain. I know you are. I hate to see you like this, and any punishment if we really do get caught is at least better than seeing you hurt."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you. Please…Please, let's just give up. Let's just listen to what our superiors say for once."

"I know you, Toshiro. You can do better than this. I know you can. If we just give up, what will happen? All these years I've known you will have gone to waste, and I want to hold on to them just a little longer."

"Kusaka…I-I'm so sorry…I'm just so afraid of what they will do if they find out we're still seeing each other against their orders…"

"Don't be afraid, Toshiro. Even if all of Soul Society is against you, I'll still be right here with you. I promise that nothing will happen. I mean, what're they gonna do? Execute one of us?"

"It's possible."

"Don't be paranoid. They wouldn't do that."

"That's what you think."

"Like I said, don't be scared, alright? I don't want to hear you say that we should give up, ever again. Soul Society and those stupid laws can all go to hell for all I care. Everything's going to be okay, so chin up. Don't look so glum."

"Kusaka…"

That had probably been at least fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, under the same crescent moon that shone over the Seireitei at this precise moment.

It was already rather late at night, past the time that one should be in bed, sleeping peacefully instead of sitting outside in the cold and the dark, staring up at the sky and having too many regrets and too many worries. That was exactly what Hitsugaya was doing.

He had been trying with all of his might to forget what Kusaka had told him that night. There had been truth in his words, but he still had his doubts. After all, the line separating determination and stubbornness was a very thin one. Not only that, but the day after Kusaka had said those words to him, they had been discovered meeting in secret.

And he had been sentenced to death and killed.

He had been forced to watch.

On that day he would never forget, he could clearly remember everything that had happened in precise order. Kusaka Sojiro had been branded a criminal, a conspirator against the good of Soul Society.

He hadn't meant to make his intentions bordering the point of leaving Soul Society and betraying the Gotei 13. He had only wanted to figure out a life where both of them would be happy.

And that was what hurt the most.

Kusaka Sojiro hadn't died because he was a "traitor."

He had merely died only because he had wanted to make Hitsugaya happy. Only because he wasn't one to give up easily. Only because he had refused to let Soul Society tell them how to live and what they could and couldn't do.

Only because he loved him.

In the end, it had all been completely and utterly useless. No good had come out of it. It had been a hopeless fight from the very beginning.

What was the point of not giving up? Why didn't he just turn Ichigo in to the sotaichou?

Hitsugaya himself didn't understand very well why he was still keeping the strawberry safe in his office. For some reason, he thought, maybe this time, everything would be okay. He would just have to try.

"What're you doing out here all alone, Toshiro? Aren't you tired?"

Hitsugaya turned to see Ichigo, who was looking curiously at him.

"Kurosaki," he snapped, "Why did you come out here? You know what will happen if you are seen. Go back inside and go back to sleep."

"I'm not going back in 'til you do," Ichigo insisted stubbornly.

"Then you can stay out here forever and freeze to death for all I care."

"If I freeze to death, you're going down with me."

"No, I am not, you fool. Go back inside, now."

"I don't want to."

"Then don't start complaining if someone sees you and arrests you."

"Oh, come on. No one patrols around this late at night, do they?"

"You'd be surprised."

There was a long and awkward silence. Ichigo was still intently watching Hitsugaya, as if he was expecting him to do a circus trick. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was using all of his willpower to completely ignore the strawberry and pretend he wasn't even there to start with.

"Are you cold?"

"No."

"Oh, come on! It's probably at least ten below zero right now!"

"Kurosaki, you forget that I wield an ice-based zanpaku-to."

Another silence.

"So, what?"

Hitsugaya was about to respond, but he suddenly felt a fabric of sorts being draped over his shoulders. He turned his head to look at Ichigo, fully prepared to give him a super-death glare, but his gaze instantly softened when he realized what Ichigo had just wrapped around him.

"Kurosaki, you fool," he muttered, "Take your kimono back. You'll catch your death of cold."

"No, I won't," he insisted stubbornly as he seated himself next to the scowling captain. "You need it more than I do. Soul Society would be worse off with a sick taichou than a sick ryoka, right?"

"Shut up. I'm not going to get sick."

"Says you."

There was another long silence. By this point, Ichigo had drawn his knees up to his now bare chest. "Damn, it's killer cold out here," he whistled through chattering teeth.

"Of course you're cold!" Hitsugaya snapped in an irritated voice, pulling Ichigo's kimono off of his shoulders and thrusting it back at him. "Put your kimono back on, you idiot!"

"No," he frowned. "Then you're going to get cold."

"I've already told you, I am not cold. Put your kimono back on this instant or you'll be sorry."

"Fine, fine," Ichigo sighed, taking the rejected garment back and pulling it back on, re-fastening the obi around his waist. "Then what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Go back inside and go back to sleep."

"I already said I wasn't going in until you did, didn't I?"

"I don't care what you said. Just go back inside."

"But you'll be lonely and cold!"

"I will not."

"Yes, you will!"

"Shut up."

There was yet another long and awkward pause. A cricket somewhere chirped, and a bitterly cold gust blew from the east, buffeting the two shinigami with its icy breath.

Ichigo watched Hitsugaya closely, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he saw the slightest shiver rack the boy's small body.

"You little liar, you are too cold," Ichigo murmured, scooting closer to Hitsugaya. Then, without so much as a second thought or any consideration to what the consequences could possibly be, he firmly wrapped his arms around the dainty taichou's smaller body, pulling him close to his chest and trying to shield him from the night's cruel chill.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened in shock as his cheeks instantly flushed a bright scarlet. The bodily contact was completely unexpected, but though he refused to admit it to himself, it wasn't entirely unwanted.

"K-Kurosaki! What do you think you're doing!?" he demanded indignantly as he instantly tried to pull away from the strawberry's vice-like grip. "Tried" being the key word here.

"What does it look like?" Ichigo frowned, only tightening his grip against the thrashing taichou. "I'm keeping you warm, of course."

"I don't need you to keep me warm! Get off of me!"

"No."

After more struggling and complaining, and after succeeding in nearly jabbing out Ichigo's left eyeball, Hitsugaya finally stopped moving, too exhausted to keep protesting.

"K…Kurosaki…You goddamn idiot…Let go of me…"

"That wasn't very nice, Toshiro! Kids like you shouldn't talk so rudely!"

That was an extremely stupid and suicidal thing to say in the presence of the juuban tai taichou, but fortunately, it didn't make much of a difference.

Hitsugaya was already fast asleep, curled up against the strawberry's chest and in his arms, exhausted from the day's work and trying to escape from Ichigo's grip of doom.

Ichigo smiled to himself, patting the sleeping captain's head fondly.

"Sweet dreams, Toshiro."

He then stood up, taking care not to awaken Hitsugaya as he quietly carried his sleeping form back into the office.