Momo and Toshiro were quietly talking to each other in the lounge after another concert. It was late, and most everyone else had collapsed from exhaustion. The two band mates, however, had managed to stubbornly fight off sleep to discuss the finer things in life.
"I'm telling you, you're never going to have a mosh pit at one of your concerts with the songs you write." Toshiro was explaining to Momo.
"Why would I want a mosh pit? Those things are scary!" Momo declared, taking a sip of hot chocolate from her Hello Kitty mug.
"They're scary to you cause you're a girl."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that of course mosh pits scare you, you're a girl, and a nice one at that."
"… You think I'm nice?"
Oh, fuck. Toshiro thought, face growing hot. To buy some time, he looked back at his other band mates while taking a swig of water. For the first (and probably last) time, Toshiro wished that they were awake to make some loud, obnoxious noise to drown out this awkward silence.
Toshiro turned back to Momo to find her staring at him curiously. Just start talking, he told himself.
"Well, yeah. You're really nice, you probably wouldn't like to see anyone get hurt." Toshiro explained, avoiding her inquiring eyes.
"Yeah, your right. I hate to see anyone in pain." She finally answered, her eyes suddenly filling with a sadness that made Toshiro want to hug her and tell her it would all be okay.
"Oi what's with the sad face?" he asked instead, thoroughly ruining any desire to hug Momo. What a random feeling, he decided, focusing back on the singer.
"What sad face? I'm perfectly happy!" she smiled, but the smile was fake. Amazing how Toshiro could already tell.
"Tch, sure your fine. And the sky's green." Toshiro retorted leaning over to pinch Momo's cheeks.
"Gah, Shiro-chan, cut it out!" Momo laughed, trying to fend him off. This caused Toshiro to grin widely.
"Oh, you don't like when I pinch your cheeks?" He asked, instead noogying Momo's head, causing her hair to pull out of its bun and fly into a million different directions.
"Toshiro!" She cried unhappily, trying to fix her hair as the boy in question laughed softly. She pouted at him for a moment before she was struck with an idea. She picked up her Hello Kitty mug and held it over Toshiro's head threateningly.
"Don't make me turn you into a brunette!" She told him. Her serious expression, so out of place on her usually smiling face, only caused Toshiro to laugh harder. Momo sighed. There was no point in trying to scare Toshiro, he knew her too well.
A sudden thumping noise interrupted their merriment. Toshiro instantly quieted and moved to stand next to Momo, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. After a moment, he determined it was directly outside the bus. But what was it?
"What do you think it is?" Momo whispered, curious more than scared. The thumping was loud, as if directly outside the bus.
"I don't know." Toshiro replied, also in a whisper. Their bus driver was gone for the night, and everyone else was asleep. It was up to him and Momo to solve the mystery.
However, the mystery never needed to be solved. A few minutes later, with one last crash that failed to wake up any of the bus's occupants, the noise quieted.
"Well, I'm glad that's ov-" Momo was cut off by a loud creaking noise. Toshiro and Momo were frozen in place as a dark figure creeped in through the window by the kitchenette. The person was hidden in the gloom, so Toshiro and Momo were unable to see who it was.
Toshiro moved to stand in front of Momo. Whoever this was would have to go through him before he could so much as touch the girl.
Momo, on the other hand, had other plans. Reaching behind her, she grabbed Hisagi's precious laptop and lobbed it at the intruder, hitting him square in the head.
"OUCH!" The figure shouted in pain, falling to the ground clutching his head. However, that voice definitely did not belong to a man… or a boy, for that matter. No, if anything, it belonged to a girl…
"Momo? Captain? What's going on?" Rangiku asked sleepily from her bunk, her disheveled head peeking out from behind the curtain. The rest of the band was up now, yawning and stretching, all wondering the same thing.
"Why the hell did you wake us up, you little punks?" Renji peered at the two through blood-shot eyes, still not entirely awake. Ichigo, standing just behind him, suddenly did a double take as the intruder moved into the light.
"My God, what'd you throw at me? That hurt!"
"RUKIA?!" Ichigo and Renji shouted in unison, staring at the diminutive girl.
Toshiro watched her, curious. So this is the famous Rukia. He thought to himself, having heard plenty of stories about her from Ichigo and Renji. She was just as pretty as the strawberry had described her to be. She was shorter even than Momo, who had to be one of the shortest people Toshiro had ever met. (A/N: Oh, the irony!) She had hair so black it was almost blue, and eyes the color of amethysts. Yes, she was definitely pretty, but…
She doesn't hold a candle to Momo. Toshiro decided, silently slipping back to sit down on the couch, his role of protector over now that the danger had been identified as friend.
"Hey, guys!" Rukia greeted them cheerfully, waving.
"Rukia!" Momo exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement over the arrival of their old friend. The two girls hugged, happy to see each other after all this time.
"Momo, Renji, Ichigo, it's so good to see you all again!" Rukia said, smiling at them. Her smile turned into a smirk as her eyes came to rest on Ichigo. "So, Ichigo, are we gonna pick up where we left off?"
Before Ichigo could answer, Momo stepped in. "Now, now, no fighting! Wait till later, okay you two? Anyway, Rukia, this is Rangiku Matsumoto, our manager, and Toshiro Hitsugaya, our new lead guitarist."
"I've heard about Snowpuff over there, he's been in all the mags since he signed on with the band!" Rukia stated, flapping a hand Toshiro's way. Toshiro could feel a vein threatening to pop in his forehead.
"Snowpuff?" He asked menacingly. Rukia, never one to miss out on a challenge, turned to face him, arms crossed and scowl in place.
"Yeah, I did. Gotta problem with that, Shorty?" She questioned menacingly.
"You're shorter than me!" The boy snapped.
"You guys! C'mon, quit it!" Momo said, stepping in between the two and placing her hands in front of their faces.
Rukia sighed. "Okay, no biggie. I'm just happy I was able to find you guys!"
"How did you find us? And what are you doing here, anyway?" Renji asked, crossing his arms and a scowl forming on his face. His tone had turned from overjoyed to suspicious in the blink of an eye.
"Pssh, it wasn't hard! All I had to do was figure out where you would stop from here to your next concert. This was the best location, so of course I knew you'd be here! As for your second question…" Rukia's voice petered out for a moment, her gaze downcast to her shoes. "Well, me and Nii-sama, we… kind of got in another fight. I think we just… need some time to cool off."
Toshiro was surprised by this other side of Rukia. It seemed so… helpless.
"Rukia, of course you can stay with us. Right, guys?" Momo pleaded, her eyes big and wide. How could they say no to a face like that?
"Of course!" Ichigo shouted loudly, pumping his fist into the air. Hisagi nodded mutely before turning around and slipping back into bed. Renji punched Rukia on the arm as answer, and Rangiku clapped her hands, excited.
"Excellent, another girl!" She said excitedly. "Maybe I'll finally get the chance to have some proper girl talk with someone!"
"Hey, you have me!" Momo protested.
"Momo, don't get me wrong, you're a doll, but let's face it, you're not the girliest girl in the world. I need someone to shop with, and do my nails with, and trade juicy gossip with, and-"
"Sorry, you're going to have to keep looking. I hate all those things." Rukia replied, a wide grin spreading across her face, her apparent sadness forgotten.
"Oh, poo! Screw all of you, I'm going back to bed!" Rangiku huffed, turning on her heel to march back to her bunk.
"Rukia, there's a spare bunk at the end. Go ahead and make yourself at home!" Momo urged, the smile on her face genuine. Rukia suddenly lurched forward and hugged the girl.
"You're the best." She barely whispered. She turned back to the other three guys. "You all are." Her eyes flashed with playfulness as they landed on Ichigo. "And tomorrow morning, your ass is getting kicked so bad, you'll be sharing tea with your ancestors!"
"In your dreams!" Ichigo snorted, disbelief evident in his voice and demeanor.
"We'll see, we'll see." Rukia replied, gracefully making her way through the mess cluttering the floor of the bus as she made her way to the bathroom. Turning back around to face them in the doorway, she told them, "And don't bother waiting for me to come out, I'm going to be a while." With that, she slammed the door shut. Within minutes, the soft hiss of the shower running could be heard throughout the bus.
Renji sighed. "That's Rukia for you." He stated before trudging to bed, Ichigo following close behind. This left just Momo and Toshiro, once again, alone on the bus.
"So, Rukia…" Toshiro started, looking down at a bowl of what once might have been grapes ooze over the sides of the china.
"Rukia grew up on the streets with Renji. Her parents died a while ago and she was abandoned by her last living relative, her older sister, Hisana." Momo whispered, her voice sorrowful as she sat back down on the couch next to him. "She, Renji, and a bunch of other kids off the streets lived together, like a family. But… they were all killed one day. Only she and Renji were left. They were eventually picked up for foster care, and then, she was adopted by the Kuchiki family. Rukia's 'Nii-sama,' as she likes to call him, is very protective of her… he means well, she just looks so much like her sister, his deceased wife, he's not sure how to show his love." Momo explained, tears wetting her eyes for a moment. They never fell, and when she looked back up to meet Toshiro's eyes, she had another of her heart-stopping smiles on.
"Wow… that's so much. I never thought one person could take all that." Toshiro muttered, his eyes flickering to the bathroom door.
"Yes… Rukia's a very strong individual. She's independent and fiery, and refuses everyone else's' help. But she looks out for her friends." Momo told him.
"Hmm…" Toshiro glanced up at the clock and almost had a hernia. "And now, it's time for the two of us to go to bed… now."
"Haha, what are you, my dad?" Momo teased, poking him in the ribs.
"No, I just want to make sure your not dying of exhaustion tomorrow." Toshiro retorted, poking her back in the ribs, causing her to squeak.
"Nighty!" Momo said cheerfully as she scurried up the ladder to her bunk.
"Night." Toshiro called quietly. He made his way to his own bunk and slipped in. He stared up at the top of his bunk for a moment, thinking about everything that had happened in the past hour. Eventually, Toshiro turned off his overhead light and dug under the covers, but not before noting that Momo's light was still on.
Woo, that was a long one! (At least, for me it was) My idea of how Rukia and Toshiro would act if they ever met XD
Thank you Moonlight-Milkyway, HitsugayaXxXHinamori, rolf-hitsugaya, neokillerqc, lil' katie, nexuswarrior (Glad you liked it!), JoaNyMar12 (Momo's a sneaky little Soul Reaper!), xIxLikexMusicx, Momo – Toshiro, KnowledgeandImagination, AznVKai, HalfJillHalfJack, Ophianara Blade, and Lord Slayer for your fabulous reviews! My inbox was flooded with your love!
This chapter was inspired by a conversation held at:
w w w . t h e i n s a n e a r m y . p r o b o a r d s . c o m (no spaces)
Check it out and join in the fun! … Please? :3
Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review! Keep an eye out for the next update, which is going to be the special edition Halloween chapter I promised you all a while back. I'm putting it up Halloween night, so be sure to R'n'R… unless you don't want to, that is! That's perfectly fine as well, I'd just love it if you would… anyway, thanks again!!