To all those still following this story, I owe you my biggest apologies. This last break was unfairly long, and I have no excuse as to why I did not get this up much, much sooner. I hope now that I have a steady outline (Finally!) for the plot that I can update quickly, but now that I am back in school I will have less time than ever. A special shout out goes to Farewell FanFiction for the review that made me continue with this story (as I was beginning to think I may stop writing fanfictions for a while). I really appreciate reviews, and if I do start taking a while updating, any encouragment to get me back in the mood is a huge help.
I don't know how good this chapter is as I am quite rusty, but I believe it may be my longest yet and hopefully will satisfy you guys even briefly. I hope to get the action started in the next couple chapters so look out for that!
Each day the regime grew more intense, but as time passed each of the soldiers became more conditioned. Momo admired the muscle building on her arms and legs, noticing they looked much less scrawny then when she had come in. She had never been in such good shape in her entire life, as she had never needed to be.
The day was slow, one of their few rest periods in which the group got to relax and rest their aching bodies. Momo flopped down on her mat and propped her arms behind her, staring up at the tent canvas. Life at the encampment was getting easier. She made fewer mistakes, and had finally managed to replicate the general behaviours of her fellow man. She still felt embarrassed and reverted back to her quiet, clumsy self if she was to close to one of the boys that she saw in the pond a couple weeks back, but most of them hardly noticed any change in her behaviour, and she did her best to blur that night out of her memories for good.
As she lay, daydreaming of her recent adventures with the rest of the troupes, a certain man kept intruding upon her thoughts. She recounted how the flour bag she was instructed to take on her jogs had become increasingly lighter after that first training day. She also noted that the captain always seemed to have his back turned when she skimmed off 50 or so push-ups and sit-ups. What frustrated her, however, was that she felt like he was ignoring her. She understood that there where quite a few soldiers in the encampment, but she felt as though since her sword fight with them, they would have gotten a bit closer. She feared considerably about whether he had suspected her that day, but as he had not done anything to give her something to worry about, she really wanted to get to know him better. His mysterious behaviour perplexed her greatly, and she wondered if maybe he was holding a grudge against her because of that unfair win. She thought of the easier training and wondered if it really was him that was helping her out, or just luck.
The musing continued until finally she flung her arms up into the air in exasperation. Her mind was getting all muddled up, as it always did when she though of Toushiro Hitsugaya. She decided a refreshing walk was what she needed to clear her head. She brushed past the tent flaps, straightening up to meet the sun, but instead was met with a mans face holding a frazzled expression. Momo looked up curiously at Izuru's anxious features. His hands were wringing themselves and he looked flustered and slightly out of breath. She wondered if he had just gotten to the tent, though knowing how he was, he could have equally been pacing there for a little while. If he had, she hadn't noticed.
"May I help you?" Momo asked in an all too polite tone. She still had to work on the vocabulary.
"Um, yes, well, no, but maybe, um if you want to, but if you don't that's fine too, I just thought, oh, no, I mean the guys thought, but I did to, and now I'm here, but maybe you don't want to…" Izuru rushed, trailing off as his tongue seemed to become tied up by his words.
"Excuse me?" Momo asked, hardly understanding a word of what he had just said. At his look of anxiety, she continued; "Did you want me to go somewhere? Do the guys have something planned?" She guessed, trying to pick out the few things she understood from his speech and piecing them together.
Izuru nodded, then slowly, finding his words again, explained, "Everyone's down by the stream fishing. The captain thought it would be a good idea to have some fish today to build up everyone's strength so he gave everyone fishing rods to catch some fish with."
Momo nodded. "And you came here to ask me if I wanted to join in?" At his slightly too vigorous nod, she continued. "I would love to help, though I don't exactly know how to fish."
Izuru laughed shakily, a huge smile growing on his face. "I know how! Well I mean I can teach you, if you want, though if you don't that's ok too." He began trailing off again and Momo had to stifle a far too girly giggle. She covered it up with a gruff clearing of her throat and stepped a little past him, looking back.
"Great, you'll teach me how to be the best fisher in history so I can beat the tar out of all those sissy's." Momo turned her head back, traipsing down the hill towards the small stream that led through the thin forest beside their camp. Izuru stood for a moment, confusion building up in him before he shrugged it off, following after the girly boy.
The stream was sparkling and clear as schools of fish slithered along the soft current. There where a few boys parked along the bank, their fishing rods poised lazily in their hands, a sharp thread trailing from the top and leading to the crisp waters surface. There weren't nearly as many people as she expected there to be, but as a few boys packed up their poles and hauled the small pail of fish they had collected past her, they idly noted that the fish had stopped biting for a little while. Izuru suggested it was just the time of day, as dinner was only an hour away, but Momo suspected that a large group of rowdy boys may be the cause instead.
Izuru picked out a spot where the water was deeper, so it would be harder to snag rocks and roots on the bottom, and had a better chance of catching fish. Momo sat down beside him, careful not to get too close, both because of the shiny fish hook he was waving around on his rod, and also because of the memories that flashed back to the last time she saw him around a body of water, which made her supremely uncomfortable. Izuru cleared his throat to get her attention, as it had quickly wandered off to other areas in her mind. Momo snapped to attention, determined to help with dinner, as she had messed up so many meals before that.
Izuru showed her how to latch a worm onto the hook, which grossed her out profusely. He then threw his rod back, and then whipped it forward, sending the thread flying far into the middle of the stream. He gave a triumphant smile and turned to Momo. "See? It's easy. After this you just have to wait until something tugs on your line. Then you just have to hoist it quickly out of the water and you have it!"
Momo nodded and turned back to her empty hook, eyeing the bag of worms beside her. Izuru noted her hesitation and quickly grabbed a worm from the bag. "Here, I'll put the worm on for you. If you don't do it right, it could fall off, and then no fish will want to bite onto your line."
Momo nodded and smiled in appreciation as Izuru staked the worm onto the hook and wrapped it around to conceal the deadly point. She sat there for a second, looking perplexed. "Um, ok, now what was the next step? I kind of forgot once I saw the worms."
Izuru laughed, shaking his head. "You are the least manly guy I know, which is a surprise, because Yumichika is just about the most womanly a man can get."
Momo frowned at this and puffed up her chest, glaring at the boy. "I am not! Just teach me how to catch a stupid fish already!"
Izuru quieted his chuckles, putting on a serious face at the sight of the boys' discomfort. "Alright, you just whip the rod back and then forward. You want to get enough momentum so it will hit the middle of the stream, otherwise it could hook on something in the more shallow water." Momo nodded placing her hands securely on her fishing pole and with all her might swung her arms over her head. She then whipped her arms back down in front of her. The line gave a little tug and as she pulled down on the pole and she heard a loud rip coming from behind her, as well as a sharp shriek. Her line went slack at last and sailed over her head, bearing a new lure, a bright red piece of fabric. As the now colourful hook dipped into the stream, much too close now because of its heavier bottom, Momo and Izuru looked behind them.
One of the soldiers was looking behind him, his features stunned and surprised as he assessed his own bare buttocks. He gave another yelp and quickly covered it, looking around at all the eyes watching him curiously. Laughter was already starting to spill from the lips of those who had caught the incident, or who pieced things together quickest. The boy turned bright red and fled from the stream as the rest of the boys erupted into boisterous laughter.
Momo, red herself, slowly looked to Izuru, whose lips had cracked into a grin.
"You don't need any training with weapons when you're so deadly in whatever you do." Izuru blurted, his laughter hard for even him to subdue.
Momo sighed, glaring daggers at the boy. She punched him lamely in the arm as he continued to laugh. "Shut up, it's not funny!" She growled. "You're supposed to be helping me!"
"Ok, Ok." Izuru calmed, putting his hands up in surrender. "Pull your line back in, and be careful not to snag it on anything else." Momo gave him a cold glare before he added "Like rocks and roots!"
When she finally managed to reel the line back in after snagging it yet again along some large rocks, she pulled the hook onto her lap, detangling the red swim short cloth from it. "Ok, so now you want to do the same thing you did last time, but this time don't hesitate before whipping the line forward and try to do it on more of an angle so it's less likely to snag on anything in the area." Momo nodded, placing her hands once again on the pole. As she was preparing to send the line flying, Izuru stopped her. "Wait, you want to hold the pole looser, and a little more like, here, let me show you." He scooted over to Momo and placed his hands on hers, spreading them slightly, and indicating that she needed to hold it with a looser grip.
"Oh, ok I think I get it! Thanks Izuru!" Momo turned her head to meet Izuru's face inches away from hers. His face suddenly turned five shades darker and he quickly released his hands from hers, which soon became clammy and sweaty. He coughed and scooted farther away than he had been before. He gestured with his shaking hands for her to try it out. Momo gave him a questioning glance, wondering what his strange behaviour was about, before complying. She loosened her grip, angled her throw, and checked behind her just to make sure there weren't any unsuspecting passerby's around. She then cast the line, and to her delight it landed just short of the middle of the stream. Izuru clapped a few times lamely, before recasting his own rod.
They sat like that for a good half hour without any bites from the fish. Izuru shifted after a bit, bobbing his fishing rod up and down, boredom overcoming him. "Well I guess Joey was right, there really aren't any fish biting." After a few more minutes, as his rod once again returned to him untouched, he huffed and stood up. "Dinner should be ready shortly; did you want to head over there to get a good spot in line? All the big fish will be taken first."
Momo shook her head, gazing across the stream at what she assumed to be some white fluffy bunnies grazing in the bushes. "Nah, m' ok, I think I'm just going to stay here for a bit longer."
"Are you sure?" Izuru asked, torn between staying with her and getting dinner. His stomach was growling and he really did want to get a good piece of the delicious fish, but he felt bad for abandoning the young boy, and after all, he'd asked him down, if only to spend some time with the intriguing young man. He'd learnt so much from their small conversations over their training and again today while fishing. He now knew that Masaki was an only child, and had taken his grandfathers position in the army. He had also been told that the boy was 17, but that fact was something he was not quite ready to believe. He had also told the boy a little bit more about himself, relinquishing the story of his poor mother, bringing up two girls and himself on her own. His mother sold flowers for a living and taught him all about the many flowers in her garden. That was what his basis was on wanting to be a florist.
"Yeah, just go, I'm all good here." Momo answered absentmindedly, her gaze far away.
"Ok well I'll try and save you something for when you get back. You're going to need your strength for training tomorrow, I hear the intensity is going to become worse from here on out." Izuru waited until he received a half-assed nod from Momo. He then turned and walked back to the camp, his mind in the clouds.
Once Izuru's footsteps had faded into the distance, Momo heaved a sigh and sprawled out beside the banks. She gazed up at the sky. The blue was less pale as in the morning, and darkening quickly as the seasons slowly changed to a much more chilly weather. She thought of someone who would be enjoying the cooler nights. As she mused on this thought, she heard a rustle in the bushes where she had seen the bunnies. Lazily she turned her gaze over to the little white ball of fur hovering a little further into the forest. Momo propped herself up on her elbow and studied the white patch harder, perplexed with the placement of it. The ball seemed to be hovering waist high in the bushes, bobbing slowly from side to side. Something tugged at Momo's memory and she was certain she'd seen that white ball before. She couldn't remember where, and as she studied it further, she realized it couldn't be a bunny, like she'd thought it was. Bunnies couldn't climb trees, and most certainly couldn't hover in mid air. She resolved to check it out. She had been determined to catch some sort of fish before she'd head back but it seemed quite unlikely at this point, and her curiosity pulled her to investigate the white blob.
A little further down the stream it got quite a bit narrower, enough for her to jump across, at any rate. With a running start, she leapt between the banks, and slowly crept back to the place she saw the little white patch. As she made her way deeper into the woods, she caught sight of the white tuft. It drifted in and out of her view as she crept towards a tree that was blocking her view. Finally she tip toed past the last big tree and came face to face with a dozing Captain Hitsugaya. She nearly shrieked when she found out it was a man, and then nearly shrieked again when she noticed it was her Captain, all defences down, resting against the stump of a fallen tree. She looked around, confused as to why he was in such an odd location. To her right she noticed the stream that she had been fishing at had forked into two further down the stream, creating a little island where they were. Sitting loosely in his hands was a fishing rod, and on his left side stood a pail full of big dead fish. It seemed like the captain knew exactly where the best place to fish was. Momo wondered if he often took naps in obscure places, or if this was just an accident.
She crouched down and admired the young Captain. She couldn't believe how young he looked, now that his eyebrows weren't mashed together in a scowl. He looked like he could be even younger than her. Especially considering his height, which couldn't possibly be more than her, if even her height. Getting a closer look at him she realized just how beautiful he really was. His skin was soft and smooth, rich with a light tan, something most girls would dream of. And that adorable white hair, which often made him look like an old geezer from the back.
"You done inspecting me yet?" The voice startled Momo, who was leaning in almost nose to nose with the Captain. She sprang back, loosing her footing, and fell back onto the ground, surprise and chagrin lighting up her features. One glowing green eye broke from its lidded tomb and glowered at Momo.
"No,No I, I was just, I didn't mean to, you were just," Momo stuttered. Oh man, I sound just like Izuru now! She thought, trying to think of a suitable explanation.
"That's enough." Captain Hitsugaya announced, silencing her sputtering. "Why are you here?"
Momo took a moment to compose herself, then answered as best she could, "I thought I saw something in the bushes and wanted to check it out. I ended up stumbling upon you, and um, I just wanted to see if you were really sleeping."
"Normal people don't examine those who are resting, unless they want to be run through." The Captain warned, gesturing slightly to the dagger strapped around his belt.
"Ah, yes, well I will do my best to umm, not do that." Momo fumbled once again with her words. He was making her nervous, especially now that he probably thought she was some creep who liked to watch her superior as he sleeps. "I'll uh, go now, you probably want to rest." Momo made to run away, but the Captain stopped her.
"You've already woken me, you may as well stay." He told her, gesturing for her to sit down. She complied.
"Why don't you try to catch a few more fish?" He suggested coolly, his posture relaxed against the tree trunk, her arms resting behind his head. His eyes however stared attentively at the girl as she scrambled to pick up the pole he had placed beside him when she interrupted his rest. She scooted down the bank so there was at least two meters between them before attempting to skewer the worm she'd grabbed onto the hook.
The worm squirmed constantly in between her fingers and she felt nauseous looking at it. Every time she tried to stab it with the end of the hook it seemed to dodge and wriggle further into her grasp.
"Oh come on!" She snarled, trying to reassert her grasp on the slippery creature. She was battling the acid building up in the back of her throat. She would definitely not puke in front of her Captain, no less because of a stupid worm.
Cold hands slid around hers as she struggled. She let out a small gasp as she realized how close the Captain was to her. Pressed against her back, the Captain grasped the part of the worm sticking out from her hand and with his other hand guided her own which was holding the hook until it pressed firmly into the worms' exterior. With a quick motion, he pierced the hook through the wriggling creature, then guided Momo's hand and wrapped the worm around the hook.
"There." He whispered, his breath tickling her ear. She'd tried to focus on what his hands where trying to show her, but feeling the Captain so close to her, nearly embracing her, she couldn't seem to focus on anything other than the incredibly soft skin of his hands, the lean muscle building his small arms that were brushing against her shoulders as he guided her hands. His chest felt surprisingly warm considering how cold he always seemed to be. She became more engulfed by him, noting the smell of pine that clung to him and the way he quirked a lopsided grin when he'd finished hooking the worm. It was a sharp startle when he suddenly released her and stood abruptly, wiping the slime from the worm onto his pristine Captains clothes. His eyes, which had previously been keeping a steady watch on her, were now anywhere but her. He looked to the trees as he instructed her to cast her line.
She stared up at him, wanting nothing more than to ask him to return to his previous position. She thought briefly to ask him to show her how to properly cast the line, but thought better of it. As she focused on the last couple of minutes, it dawned on her that the way he had behaved would possibly seem odd between two boys. She couldn't see someone like Renji doing such things, much less the captain. Izuru had helped her, however, so she proposed that maybe certain guys liked to teach hands on.
The sound of a throat clearing alerted her back from her reverie and she looked up to see the Captain, his eyes finally focused back on her. He nodded towards the rod with an expectant look. "Don't you know how to cast a line?" He quizzed her, cocking a brow.
"Oh, yeah, yes I do!" She grabbed the rod securely with her hands, but couldn't remember the way Izuru had told her how to hold it while Captain Hitsugaya was watching her like that. She threw her arms back hard, hoping to reach an impressive distance in the lake. She heard a soft rustle above her before she whipped her arms forward.
"No, stop!" Captain Hitsugaya yelled as she thrust her arms forward, sending her pole forward. She sighted that yet again her line was taught but couldn't make sense of how or why the Captain had yelled until she finished her forward thrust and the line once again went loose. Her eyes followed the line up to the hook, which was now encased in a large yellow ball coming towards her. Before she could understand what the ball was, a hard force shoved her forwards, sending her splashing into the stream.
Captain Hitsugaya grabbed her waist roughly and dragged her under the water, pushing her deeper into the center of the stream. She couldn't make sense of the situation. As she struggled to hold onto her remaining supply of air, she fought against the Captains restraints. Why is she trying to drown me? She cried, panicking as her lungs began to burn. The boy towed her further away from the bank, swimming diagonally with the current. Finally, as she started a last ditch effort of clawing his arm, they broke the surface of the stream.
Momo inhaled as much oxygen as she could manage, then exhaled and repeated the same task hastily until she felt her lungs relax and the panic dissipate. They were now quite a distance from their last post, and stood only feet away from the other side of the stream. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She finally screeched, ripping away from the scratched arm still slung around her waist. "Are you trying to kill me or something? Do you hate me that much?"
"Shut up." The Captain coughed, trying to catch his own breath. "I just saved you from an enormous amount of pain!"
"You tried to drown me!" She accused, emphasizing the word drown to somehow strengthen her argument.
"I was getting you away from that wasp nest you snagged!" The boy countered furiously, trudging towards the opposite embankment.
"You were, wait what?" Momo thought back to the yellow bulge coming towards her before she was thrown into the stream. "That was a wasp nest?"
The Captain looked back at her with an incredulous look, then turned back to pull himself over the grassy ledge that led him to land.
Momo thought things over briefly before understanding what really happened. The Captain had yelled at her to stop because he had seen what her line had hooked onto, then seeing that she was going to drop it right on herself had pushed her in the water and dragged her away from the scene so the wasps wouldn't know what to attack for the destruction of their nest.
"I guess I have to give you my thanks." She trudged up to the ledge where she could view the Captain laying down on the grass a few feet away. She climbed onto the grassy surface and walked over to the boy, water droplets splattering onto his face.
"Do you mind?" He growled, swatting her away with the hand that wasn't resting over his eyes.
The girl sat down beside him, squeezing out her heavy clothes as she thought of what to say now that she had just acted so rudely towards him when he was only trying to help. "Thank you for saving me back their, and uh, I'm sorry for treating you so wrongly, you're arm isn't too badly scratched, is it?"
The hand resting over his eyes slid to reveal on piercing green pupil scrutinizing the drenched girl. "I didn't save you from anything; I am in charge of taking care of all of my soldiers."
"Well that seems awfully silly." Momo cocked her head, pulling her legs up to her chest to warm her up as the chilling air blew through her. "I mean you are training us for war, one of which many of us may not survive. You're job shouldn't be to take care of us, but to prepare us so that we have a better chance of saving ourselves when the time for battle comes."
The boy surveyed Masaki for a second with his cool eye before giving a grunt and turning his face away from the small boy. "Shut up, bed wetter." He grumbled, nearly unintelligible. After a few moments of silence, he heard Masaki's shaky breathing, and chanced a glance in his direction. The boy was gazing out over the stream, but his body was rigid, his arms clamped around his legs as a stiff shiver made its way up his spine. Sighing, the Captain sat up, reluctantly turning to him. "Look, why don't you strip down while I get some wood to build a fire with. I want to get back as soon as possible, but as the sun sets further it's only going to get colder so we might as well spend a little while extra to get dried off before finding a passable point in the stream to get back." He was struggling to his feet, weighed down by the heavy material when he heard the sharp squeak that blurted from the boys lips. He looked at him quizzically, though dismissed the strange noise as the kid poised to speak.
"Undress? You mean like take our clothes off?" She whispered, clutching at her drenched attire.
"What else would I mean by that idiot?" As if to emphasize his command, he slid his robe off and then began pulling his top off over his head.
"No don't!" The girl squeaked again, shrill and feminine. The boy stopped, his top still half pulled over his head, his hidden face first surprised, then melted into something calculating and ominous.
"You know what?" He finished pulling his top off, tossing it onto the ground and turning to the stiff girl. "If you don't take your clothes off you could catch a cold and spread it to the entire camp. Now if you don't want to be the cause of the downfall of the entire kingdom, I suggest you remove your clothing." He stood before her, hands on his hips, waiting expectantly.
Momo gaped up at him in disbelief. "What?" She inquired in a small voice.
"You heard me." The Captain grunted, holding his ground.
"I, I, I can't!" She blurted, throwing her arms up into the air.
"What, are your clothes pasted on you? Here, I'll take them off for you if you won't." He made to grab her but the girl scuttled away as quickly as if he were a ferocious bear.
"No! No I'm fine; really, I'll just let them dry off on me."
"And how do you suppose that will work? Why won't you just take off your clothes?" The Captain snarled at her, then continued in a darker tone; "what are you hiding?"
At this Momo became white as a sheet. "N,n,n,nothing!" She screeched, wrapping her clothes tighter around her body.
Tell him you have a nasty scar and you don't like people seeing it! The voice suggested. It had been a while since she'd heard it and it gave her a small start, but she willingly took the advice.
"I have this really really disgusting scar on me and I don't want anyone to see it!" Momo threw the words at him, hoping he would be satisfied with the explanation. He only seemed to grow more annoyed.
"If that's the case then you don't have to worry, most of the men here, including myself bear many scars. You don't have to hide yourself just because of something like that." He made to grab onto her clothes but she whacked his hand away.
"No, It's really nasty and I really don't want you to see it, I swear I'm fine, really!"
"That's not necessary, you don't have to be all self-conscious, you're acting like a girl!" This time the Captain snagged her arm, in which she did her best to wriggle out of his grasp, however like the worm, it felt impossible to escape.
"I am not! You can't force me to do anything, and I told you I'm fine! Let's just go back to the camp and warm up there!"
"No, I have every right to force you to do something, I am your Captain!"
"Good Captains heed the words and opinions of their soldiers!" Momo countered, earning her a steely glare from her Captain. They were now tangled in a mess of limbs, the Captain's hand struggling with the collar of her shirt while Momo had one fist restraining his grasping hand and the other on his chest, pushing him away from her. She felt trapped, he obviously suspected something, with all the hints and his determination to have her shed her clothes.
She was panicking, she couldn't think of a way out of the situation, and he was slowly gaining the upper hand. Soon he would find out everything and she would be as good as dead. As a last ditch effort, she thought of something that may get him to stop. If she suggested the forbidden, that he liked another man, it may get him to rethink his actions.
"Stop it Captain!" She started, regaining his attention as they struggled. Before he could retort she continued; "Why do you want to see me undressed so desperately?" She paused a second, feeling ashamed for what she was about to insinuate to him, knowing full well how uncomfortable he would feel afterwards. "Could it possibly be?" She paused again, thinking one last time of any other way out of the situation. No such plan came, so she continued. "Do you like men, Captain?"
This question received the effect Momo had desired. The man went sheet white as he digested her words. His eyes raked their intertwined limbs and the compromising position he had her in. Just as quickly as he had acted to get her out of the way of the wasps, he untangled himself from her and bolted a good three meters away from her.
"Uh" He struggled to find something to say but could find no excuse in his defense.
Momo took the moment to diffuse the tension. "Why don't we head back now? It's getting late and the soldiers will be wondering what happened to us."
Assessing the opportunity Momo presented him Captain Hitsugaya nodded, still pale and weary. "There should be a narrowing of the stream a little farther down the bank." He looked the opposite way at the blob that was the bucket of fish he had caught and the fishing rod, but noticing the buzzing insects still swarming the nest, he decided to leave it and collect it another day.
The walk felt like it took forever. The awkward silence stretched on between the two and their damp clothes chilled by the cooling air slowed them down considerably. By the time they reached the camp it was already dark out. Without saying a word to the Captain, Momo parted ways with him and fled to the safety of her tent, which held warm clothes and the security of her makeshift bed.
Toushiro paced inside his large tent, wearing tread marks into the deadening grass. "Something's not right." He whispered, recounting the events of the day. "Something's definitely not right."
Ok guys, so a little bit of fun, this is just setting up for the next big stages of the plot, getting them to know each other a bit better and such. I will do my best to update asap but reviews definitely help!
I apologize once again for my lateness and hope you guys continue reading this fic!