Chapter Six: Broken Night
--A/N--
So first of all- I changed all of my chapter titles. I was running out of ideas. Go me, right? … Yeahhh.
Yay for skipping re-capping and making up my own plot that totally never happened but we all wish did.
No, really, I'm sick and bloody tired of just adding on to what we already know… so… we're going to shorten those parts. Considerably. I really can't think of much more to add to them, I guess.
Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. If I did, I would make dubs illegal.
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"Taicho. She needs you."
Matsumoto looked over the back of the couch she was lounging on to her captain seated in his desk. Honestly, she had completed double the paperwork he had in the past hour. That itself was a good sign that there was something else on his mind.
"No, she doesn't. She needs Aizen." He replied stiffly, not bothering to look to his lieutenant.
Matsumoto sighed in annoyance at her childish captain.
"Well, she cant very well have Aizen-Taicho, now can she?"
Hitsugaya looked up at her. "Obviously. Now shut up and do your paperwork."
"You know, Taicho, " Matsumoto sighed as she got up from the couch and walked over to the front of her captain's desk "I think that you are too afraid to face her after this afternoon's incident, ne? Maybe you just don't want to see a different side of your precious little Hinamori. Or maybe-"
"Matsumoto." he cut her off in a warning tone that told her if she said one more word…
"Gomei, Taicho." She said with a slight bow as she sat back down on the couch and picked up her pen.
After a few moments of pricing silence suffocating the room, Matsumoto looked slightly over her shoulder to see her captain's expression fathomed in indescribable worry as he clutched his pen so tightly it looked as though it would break in two. She turned her eyes back to the paper she was filling out only to hear him slam the cracked pen on the desk and run from the room, turning towards the division's prison.
Matsumoto smiled in achievement as she pulled a bottle of sake out from under the couch.
--
His running footsteps echoed through the heavy air suffocating the dark stone building. Darting through the never-ending hall of rooms with barred cells his eyes seared for a small girl in a state he was afraid of. Slowing to a walk, he reached the end of the hall. One single room was left. The single, small window in the cell provided only a memory of light from the stars soaring freely outside. Drawing closer to the bars separating the captive from freedom he was able to make out a crumpled figure in the center of the cell. He knew instantly.
"Hinamori…" his whisper reached through the bars to her. She didn't move. It nearly broke his heart to see her so… so…
"Ah! Hitsugaya-Taicho-" A prison guard erected himself to his right. He had obviously been sleeping.
"Leave." Hitsugaya said coldly before the worthless guard could say another word.
"B-But Hitsugaya-Taicho, I have s-strict orders from-"
"I told you to leave. It wasn't a question, it was an order and I would suggest you follow it. " He pointed to the lock refining Hinamori. "Open it."
With a meek "Hai, Hitsugaya-Taicho." the guard fumbled for the correct key with trembling fingers, opened the lock, and walked away as quickly as he could without seeming as though he were running from the young captain.
As soon as the guard's frantic footsteps were out of earshot Hitsugaya slowly opened the gate to Hinamori's cell and speechlessly walked over to the frail figure on the floor. Her head was turned to the window where slivers of starlight scared her face through the metal bars. Kneeling down behind her shivered figure, he gently placed his hand on her arm as they stayed in silence.
"I'm sorry." Hinamori broke the silence with a weak and trembling voice. "I shouldn't have been so emotional. And…and I'm sorry that you had to deal with it. Please, don't blame Kira-Kun for anything… It was all my fault."
Unsure of how to respond, Hitsugaya let the aching silence fill the room once more.
"Don't be sorry. Your reaction… was understandable. Or, at least it should have been… I should have been more… empathetic."
"Its okay. I know that's how you are, Hitsugaya-Kun. You think about rules and laws before emotions."
"Not exactly. I was actually thinking that it might be nice to you alive instead of killed by Kira. Not to say that he could. I'm pretty sure it would tear that guy apart to lay a scratch on you."
Hinamori replied with a tiny sigh that could be interpreted as some sort of laughter and then they listened to the silence slide through the cracks once more.
"I should be getting back to my division now…" Hitsugaya said deciding he had had enough of the awkward stillness between them and shifted to stand up. "I will fill the report out and we'll get you out of here tomorrow, I promise. I'll come and see you tomorrow morning." Sensing no form of reply, he stood up and turned to walk to the door when she grabbed his haori. Startled, he looked down at her and for the first time that night, looked into her eyes. Any trace of their usual brightness had dispersed, leaving a blank dullness behind. Deep, tired bags of purple hung from her lower lids as sullen tears clung to her eyelashes. But, most of all, he could see the loneliness and depression she was keeping inside as much as she could.
"Don't… don't leave me… " Her voice hoarse and cracked from fighting tears.
Kneeling back down next to her he nodded slightly. This time, instead of facing away from him, Hinamori's head fell onto his lap, and her arms wrapped around his waist as she let the tears fall freely from her eyes. "Don't… leave me! Don't leave me alone!" she sobbed out to him.
"I wont, Hinamori. I'm right here. " He calmly said as he rubbed her back gently.
No wonder. Aizen left her alone without a warning… It's only reasonable that she needs someone right now…
--
Time was lost in the hours spent on the floor of the cell, the silence between them scared away by Hinamori's aching sobs. After awhile, her cries died down to her normal, gentle breathing and Hitsugaya was able to lift her off of his lap.
"Are you feeling better?"
She nodded, unable to speak through her dry and cracked throat. Looking up at him through puffy bloodshot eyes she cracked out a small "Arigato" as he handed her a glass of water from a colander nearby. She tenderly sipped it as Hitsugaya walked over to the small cot on the other side of the cell and ripped the folded mattress off of the frame. Dragging it over to where Hinamori sat on the floor, he unfolded it to make it large enough for two.
"W-what are you doing?" Hinamori asked with large eyes.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked in his usual matter-of-fact tone. "I'm spending the night here since you can't make it without turning into a puddle of tears."
As he walked back to the de-matressed frame to get the blankets left behind Hinamori couldn't help but break a small smile on her depressed lips.
Its just like old times, isn't it, Shiro-Chan?
She thought to herself, recalling just how she acquired the "Bed-Wetter" nickname.
They had lived together for as long as Hinamori could remember. All she knew of her past was that she was found outside Hitsugaya's Grandmother's house in Rukongai when she was only a baby. She was only a little bit older than Hitsugaya at the time, so they went through the same times of their lives together. (Well, mostly. Hitsugaya still hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, which she informed him of constantly.) For as long as Hinamori could remember living with Hitsugaya, she remembered having a re-occurring nightmare that was un-recallable once she woke up, leaving her trembling, terrified, and alone in the suffocating darkness. After one extremely treacherous episode when she woke up screaming for her life she covered her face with her covers and silently wept the tremors away. Soon the covers were gently drawn back revealing a pair of concerned emerald eyes looking down at her. Without any questions, the young Hitsugaya lifted her up and handed her a new shitagi from her drawers. As she changed he quickly and quietly unfolded his own mattress for them to share for the duration of the seemingly never-ending night. Gently taking her hand in the blackness, he led her to the makeshift bed and as soon as she lied down, he scooted as far to the other side of the mattress as he possibly could. But, as soon as she called out his name into the eavesdropping darkness, he was right beside her, holding her close as if to tell her that he would fight her dreams away. That was all it took. Hearing his steadily reliable heartbeat through his chest her heart matched his pace and she was soon drawn into a deep and dreamless sleep.
Every night for a while it was the same routine. She would wake up and crawl into his bed seeking the calming arms that held her shivering body so tightly. Never once was she turned away. And soon she gave up on sleeping by herself altogether. Hitsugaya was the only one who was able to seethe comfort into her veins. By the time she moved away to Seiretei, she had adapted to sleeping by herself, as the nightmares became a rarity. Only, once her piercing screams woke up half the barrack in the middle of the night… she soon realized that the intensity of the dreams had increased. Soon Hitsugaya entered the Gotei, and just like the old times, he was the one she ran to. Even if he was a bit more reluctant to comfort her than when they were little, he still held her close as she slipped back to sleep, away from the claws of her dreams.
Looking back now, she really shouldn't be called a bed-wetter anymore, since she hadn't had a soul-tearing dream in a long time. Now, Hitsugaya on the other hand, well he was still short. So "Shiro-Chan" still fit. Much to his disgust. She could hear his aggravated correcting in her mind: "Its Hitsugaya-Taicho! Is it that hard to remember, Hinamori? Hinamori?…"
"Hinamori!" a voice knocked her hard out of her daydream.
"E-Eh?"
Hitsugaya was kneeling in front of her, looking at her as though she had lost her mind.
"Baka." He muttered as he stood up, shaking his head.
Hinamori stood up behind him and gently pulled off his captain's haori before he could, and folded it before setting it down on the floor. Looking up at his bemused expression, she gently smiled a small smile. "Arigato, Hitsugaya-Kun. For always being there."
"… Its Hitsugaya-Taicho."
Did she expect anything else? Of course not.
Pulling off her black layer of robes, she sat down on the lumpy mattress while she let her hair down from its restraining bun. Only half of the pins clinching her hair were out when Hitsugaya sat down on the bed next to her.
"Do you think…" He slowly began as she stopped gently pulling out pins to look at him, "That is slightly strange that we keep sleeping together?" A second pause as he realized what he was saying allowed his face to turn a bit red. "I-I mean-"
He was cut off by a small giggle from Hinamori's side of the mattress as she began her hunt for clips again.
Ignoring his own miss-interpretation she responded "Sure, Hitsugaya-Kun. Whatever you think."
Apparently he doesn't remember when we were little…"Its Hitsugaya-Taicho and how many pins do you put in your hair? Holy hell."
"Well, usually not many at all… I just had left my hair up last night and then I pinned stray hairs back on my way to the… " She trailed off as the last pin fell from her hair and the first tear rolled down her cheek, remembering finding Aizen on her way to the meeting that morning.
Hitsugaya looked over at her when she didn't finish her sentence to find her face pressed in her hands and tears seeping through the cracks in between her fingers. Not delaying a second, he wrapped his arms around her as she turned into his side, her frail figure shivering against his.
"I-I don't u-unders-stand…" she choked out "How c-could he die? How, Hitsugaya-Kun? How?"
All he could do was gently caress her back as he felt her tears seep through his shitagi. Soon enough, her breathing returned to normal from her hoarse panting and her body leaned against his in weak relief. Tenderly, he lifted her broken body from his chest, and laid her down on the mattress, and himself down next to her. Automatically, he felt her shift into the cavity of his chest that she fit perfectly and wrapped her arms tightly around him; one around his neck and the other around his waist, with her face buried in his neck. A small smile spread across his face as his arms pulled her closer.
"Still cant sleep on the other side of the bed huh, Bed-Wetter?" He gently teased at their closeness.
"Shut up, Shortie." she murmured through a veil of sleep.
After a pause, Hitsugaya asked "Momo… will you be okay?"
He felt her nod slightly against his neck. "It hurts right now. That he just walked out of my life without a word."
He was like my father… just walking away from me and I'd never get a chance to see him again. Don't you ever do that to me, Hitsugaya-Kun… I don't know if I would be able to endure it…
She felt his fingers rub her arm comfortingly as her mind and body finally gave into the seduction of sleep.
Hitsugaya's eyes remained open as he looked out the window into the starry abyss. And to the dreaming darkness around him he murmured to himself, "I know it's hard… to loose the person you love more than anything. And I might have been happy that he is gone, if I hadn't respected him so much for whom he was. " He looked at the aburn hair that was spread across his chest and he gently twirled a strand through his fingers, "… And because it hurts too much to see you this way." he murmured as he kissed her hair and pressed out the rest of the world other than the small woman next to him as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
--
Its like last night never happened to her…Her sword was drawn. But not at Ichimaru who stood paces away with a threateningly corrupt grin on his face. No, the cold, harsh blade was pressed against his throat. The holder's teared-up eyes told him what her words never could. Clearly speaking the pain, betrayal, and torment 'he' had put her through stabbed him clear through.
Aizen's letter? What is she talking about?How was it possible…? But yet, there she stood, convinced that Hitsugaya had murdered her captain. And that he was now planning to destroy Soul Society?
That's crazy…! How could I kill Aizen? I was the one who warned her to be careful!
Looking across to Ichimaru's sly smile… Hitsugaya's anger flared.
It was you… Ichimaru! Was his only thought as he charged towards the betrayer, knocking Hinamori out of the way and to the ground, unconscious.He turned to her still figure.
Then he saw the blood dripping from her hands and seething into the hilt of Tobiume.
"Ichimaru…" He said calmly through clenched teeth " I thought I told you… that if you caused Hinamori to spill blood… I'd kill you myself!"
On the last words, his icy riatsu erupted into the night air and the smirk plastered on Ichimaru's face only grew larger.
--- Author's Note ---
Huzzah! We officially start official plot next chapter! Be excited! Do a little boogie! Eat starbursts!
I love starbursts. They were my fuel for this chapter.
So thanks for reading! And I'll send out Chapter Seven as soon as humanly possible.
But now… I'm going to bed. I'm this close to falling asleep on my keyboard.