Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Bleach series in any way. All copyrights go to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: The climatic chapter you have all been waiting for! Thank you everyone for being so patient especially my reviewers: Pieps XD, feronia. wings, Kay. Shirogane, Amiru-chan, Yukiko Shiroryuu, KnowledgeandImagination, cool!!!!!!!!!!!!, Neko-cheung, samantha, MoonLightView, OrigamiPearl. Without any further delay, enjoy chapter nine!

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking."

Blessed from the Heavens ALT

Chapter Nine: Thank You for Everything

Hitsugaya opened his emerald-teal eyes and the first thing he saw is the face of Hinamori Momo. He flinched and immediately sat up to see the sleeping guardian resting right next to him in bed. "That's right, we must have been very tired last night," he concluded. "We accidentally slept together."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Slept together?"

Suddenly, the young prodigy began picturing an image of him and Hinamori in bed together, wrapped and tangled in each others arms and legs, protecting one another with the special seal of trust and love: a deep loving kiss. Hitsugaya flinched and shook the thought out of his head. "Shit, I knew I should have not hung around with Matsumoto for too long."

He then took a look at his clothing. He slept in his school uniform. Looking over at his alarm clock, he determined the time to be currently seven fifteen in the morning. "It's still early, huh?"

He heard a moan followed by a groan. Hitsugaya turned his head to the side to see the raven haired guardian shifting around in his bed. It is moments later, Momo rolled off of it and crashed onto the wooden flooring below. "Itte!" she exclaimed out loud as she sat up.

"Baka, that's what you get for moving around too much in bed," Hitsugaya retorted.

Momo blinked a few times and then looked up to see the white haired boy standing there. "Sh-Shiro-chan!"

An eye twitched from Hitsugaya, but it didn't take long for him to sigh with defeat. There is no point in trying to correct her when she's only going to get it wrong again. "You're finally awake."

"Ah hai," Momo replied, nodding with agreement. But then, she realized something. The peach guardian turned her head to see the empty bed beside her and then to Hitsugaya. She pointed at the bed and asked, "Was I...sleeping on your bed?"

Remembering the image of the both of them sleeping in the same bed, Hitsugaya felt his cheeks heating up. He immediately turned his body to the side so that the girl couldn't see him. "Y-Yeah, you were sleeping there."

"Gomen nesai for taking your spot," she apologized.

"Iie, it's alright."

"You must have a difficult time sleeping last night. You slept on the floor instead."

He turned a few shades darker. "Actually, we slept together," he thought. "I wasn't bothered by it."

"So ka?" Momo then smiled with content. "Arigato Hitsugaya-kun."

He looked back to see her smiling sweetly at him. He couldn't help, but feel the same way. "Her smile is always the best..."

"Hitsugaya-kun."

He snapped back into reality and noticed she has been calling him a few times. "Hn, what?"

"Obaa-san just called you down for breakfast," Hinamori said.

"Ah yeah." With a nod of agreement, Hitsugaya began straightening the wrinkles on his clothes and then fix the dark blue tie wrapped around his neck. Grabbing his sports bag from the side, he opened the bedroom door and ran downstairs to meet his grandmother in the kitchen.

Momo then looked down on her hands and began fiddling with it. "That's right. Today is my last day to be with him."

Once he made it upstairs on the second floor of the school, a swarm of girls came crowding around him, preventing him from going any further. "W-What is going on?!" Hinamori, who is standing right behind her client, asked.

"H-How am I supposed to know?" Hitsugaya asked, trying to slither his way through the screaming and squealing girls.

"Is it true Hitsugaya-sama?!" one of them asked.

"You have to tell us!" another exclaimed.

"Is it true that you have a crush on someone?"

"W-What?!" Hitsugaya exclaimed. "W-What are you all talking about?"

"We heard a rumour that you have fallen in love with a girl and she attends this school!"

"I love you! You have a crush on me!" another girl exclaimed.

"No, he has a crush on me!"

"Shut up you bitch!"

"You're the bitch around here!"

As the girls started arguing amongst one another, Hitsugaya ignored them and turned to the raven haired girl beside him. He said, "Let's go before they notice."

Momo then nodded with agreement. "Hai!"

They used the opportunity to get away from them and quickly make their way to his homeroom class 2-1. Hitsugaya opened the slide door, entered, and immediately closed it behind him. Hearing the loud shut, Matsumoto and Kusaka raised their heads to see the panting white haired prodigy standing against the door. "Oi, you look like you just got hit by a truck," Kusaka said.

Hitsugaya sighed with defeat and then slowly made his way to his desk. "Tell me about it," he replied. "Apparently, a bunch of girls came crowding around me, asking if they are the girl I have fallen in love with."

"Fallen in love with? You have a crush on someone?"

He sat on his seat at his desk, turned his body around, and then glared at the person most likely responsible for all this. "Since it's not much of a secret anymore, I might as well say it out in the open: yes, I am in love with someone. I wonder who the dope that started the rumour is."

Matsumoto suddenly pointed a finger at herself before folding her arms over her chest. "Taicho, now don't you dare start pointing fingers at people when you don't have evidence."

"I don't need evidence to prove a rumour," Hitsugaya retorted. "You are a witness to the whole thing! You know the exact words that came out of my mouth in regards to that!"

"Yeah, I know. However, you still haven't told me your crush's identity," Matsumoto replied. "So I thought spreading a rumour should do the trick."

"In other words, you were trying to pressure me to saying it."

She smiled happily. "Yep! Using the girls from the Hitsugaya Fan Club, I'm glad my plan is working out perfectly!"

"MATSUMOTO!"

"His crush's identity..." Momo thought as she silently watched from the back of the room, her client's behaviour. She only has one day to see, to hear, to touch, and to love the white haired boy. She only has one day before she has to let him go. "I hope you are able to return his sediments once he confesses to you."

Hitsugaya glanced back to see her watching him from the back of the classroom. He then adverted his attention to the front and began wondering to himself. "She...still hasn't gotten over it, huh?"

Thoughts about the peach guardian continued to linger in his mind. By the time it is after school, Hitsugaya is walking home with his two friends, Kusaka and Matsumoto. "Hey did you hear?" the woman asked. "Fuji-senpai and Kumi-senpai just broke up at lunch time?"

"Eh, again?" Kusaka asked.

"Yeah! This is the third time they've done that!"

"It's actually amazing they keep coming back together."

As the two teenagers continued to chat, Hitsugaya is busy thinking of a solution to his little problem: how is he going to make Hinamori happy? "Oi taicho, you're dazing off," Matsumoto said.

Snapping back into reality, noticed the strawberry orange haired woman is in his face. "W-What?"

She smiled. "You're in deep thought. Are you thinking about your one destined lover?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "Uruse."

"So you are thinking about her. Have you told her your feelings yet?"

"Shut up Matsumoto. I don't want to talk about it."

"Don't tell me she rejected you?!"

"That's not it!" he yelled.

"Now Matsumoto, leave Hitsugaya alone," Kusaka said. "Sometimes I can't understand why you keep picking on him."

"Well, let me tell you the reason then: I'm teaching him the essence of being a man."

"W-What?"

Hitsugaya glared at the older woman and then sighed with defeat, shaking his head back and forth. "Making friends with her is a big mistake."

"You're a woman Matsumoto! Don't you dare go around and teach us how to be men!"

All of a sudden, a thought came into mind. Hitsugaya picked up his walking space and eventually passed by Kusaka and Matsumoto. By the time the two teenagers noticed, they began following behind him. "Oi, where are you going?" Matsumoto asked.

"I have important business to take care of," Hitsugaya replied. "I am needed at home."

With that said, he ran the rest of his way home, leaving the other two teenagers to ponder. "It must be important," Kusaka said.

Matsumoto let out a sigh. She folded her over her chest. "At least we know, he's not moping around anymore. He's going to get the job done. Besides, that's the kind of person he is."

Momo sighed with defeat. She spent the last couple of hours sitting on the rooftop of the Hitsugaya residence, reflecting to herself. "There's only about six hours left until the expiration time," she said.

She watched the clouds passing by slowly above her. "I wonder what Hitsugaya-kun is up to. Around this time, he should already be at home."

The peach guardian sat up and jumped down to his balcony. She placed a hand on the door handle and slowly opened it. Suddenly, Momo found Hitsugaya's bedroom to be empty. "I guess he's not home yet," she thought.

As she scanned the room, nothing appeared to be out of place except for the single small fruit tart sitting on the kotatsu table. "What is this doing here?" Momo wondered as she walked up to it.

"It's for you," said a voice.

The peach guardian turned around to see her client leaning against the bedroom door sill. "Hitsugaya-kun, I-I don't understand," Momo said.

"Just eat it, okay?"

"Ah hai!" Momo turned back to the tart. With one glance at it, she concluded it to be homemade. "It looks delicious. The way the fruit are placed: the strawberries, the blueberries, and the peaches; it looks like a blooming flower."

The peach guardian picked it up and took a bite from it. All of a sudden, Momo stopped. Hitsugaya noticed her behaviour and became a little worried. "Did I overdo it?"

"Umai! It tastes so good!" Momo exclaimed. The peach guardian quickly left her seat and ran up to the shorter teenager. "Sugoi, where did you get it from?"

"I made it."

"Eh? YOU MADE IT?!" Hinamori glanced at the tart and then once again to Toshiro. "Wow, I never knew you were good at making desserts."

"I rarely make them," he admitted.

"Hn, why don't you make them?" Momo asked.

"I only make them for my family on special occasions."

"So ka? Then, I'm the first friend to eat this." Momo then smiled. "Arigato Hitsugaya-kun."

"She looks happier. That's good," he thought, smiling back at her.

"Do you have more of this?"

Hitsugaya then showed a grin. "If you eat anymore, you might get fat."

Momo made a blow fish face and pouted, "Mou, that's so mean to say Shiro-chan!"

"For the millionth time, don't call me by that childish nickname Bed-Wetter Momo. It's Hitsugaya!"

Time has passed by so quickly for Hitsugaya and Hinamori. The guardian and the boy both spent the next three hours in each other's presence. In their thoughts, they knew their futures with one another couldn't exist. So, staying together like this is enough for them. As long as the other is happy, they could be happy as well. Silence is present in the room as the two friends were sitting next to one another, eating watermelons together. "Three months ago, I came down here to help grant your wish," Momo suddenly said. "Hitsugaya-kun, have you found the place where you belong?"

Hitsugaya stopped eating for a moment and then turned to the raven haired girl. "W-What's with the question all of a sudden?"

"I just want to know."

The white haired boy didn't answer right away. He is too busy thinking about her previous comment. "That's right; it has been three months since she came down here. Time seems to pass by so fast," he thought. "I think so."

"So ka? That's great to hear," Momo said. "I'm glad that you're happy."

"Hinamori..."

"Hn, nani?"

"I'm glad to have met you," he suddenly said, surprising the raven haired girl. "If it weren't for your help, things could have been worse for me. Thank you for everything Hinamori."

Seeing him smile made the peach guardian content. "This looks like the last time I will see you smiling like that," she thought. "You're welcome Hitsugaya-kun."

Late at night, when Hitsugaya and his grandmother are long asleep, Momo made her last appearance at his bedside. Sitting down on my knees, she leaned over towards the sleeping teenager. Watching him rest peacefully made the raven haired girl raise a hand and gently brush his bangs aside. "Thank you Hitsugaya-kun for being my friend."

After a few minutes of sitting there, the peach guardian left her seat and face towards the glass door. Just when she opened the door, Momo heard a voice ask, "Where are you going?"

She gasped knowing whose voice it belongs to. Momo slowly turned around to see the white haired boy sitting up from bed, looking at her. She personally didn't want him to know, but she couldn't get away now. With a sigh, the young girl half turned to him and said, "Gomen nesai, but this is where I depart."

Hitsugaya quickly left the safety of his bed just to rush up to the older girl. "Depart?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

Hinamori looked down on the wooden flooring and then raised her head to face him. "After a mission is done or the guardian's given time has expired, they must return to the heavenly afterlife."

Hearing her comment hurt him inside. "That's right. I said that I have found the place where I belong. There is no purpose for her to stay here anymore," he thought. "Wi-Will I ever see you again?"

Momo silently and slowly shook her head. "No..." she quietly replied, "not for the rest of your life here."

"Hinamori..."

"Daijobou, I know we'll see each other again up there," Momo suddenly said as she pointed a finger up to the ceiling. "Then, I can show you around and everything. I'll also introduce you to my friends. I'm sure they'll like you. They're very friendly people. So...so, I'll wait for you until then, okay?"

"Waiting for me, huh?" Hitsugaya thought. "I'll look forward to that."

When Hitsugaya said that, it made Hinamori a little happy even if it's a misunderstanding on her part. She then gave him a warm smile. "I-I...Take care of yourself."

The young prodigy slowly nodded with agreement. "Y-You too Hinamori."

All of a sudden, Momo became shrouded in a pinkish-red aura. "W-What's happening?" Hitsugaya asked.

"It's almost midnight," she replied. "I have to leave now."

Just as she turned around and stepped into the balcony, Momo felt a tug on her wrist. She looked back to see Hitsugaya. "W-Wait for a second..."

With a short nod, the young boy left the girl's side to go to his work desk. He opened the top drawer and took out a thin flat dark blue box. After closing the drawer once more, he slowly walked up to the raven haired girl and held it out. Hinamori looked down at it and then looked up at Toshiro. "Is this fo--"

"So that you wouldn't forget me," he interrupted. "Just...be lucky that you're getting something from me."

Momo gratefully accepted his offer and held it tight against her chest. "Thank you. I'm sure when you make it to the heavenly afterlife; you would make one great guardian Hitsugaya-kun."

"We'll always be friends Hinamori."

"Yeah, just friends..." she thought. The peach guardian nodded. "In this life and the next, we're friends forever."

With a short nod, he followed the girl to the balcony. Momo silently waved a small farewell to the young prodigy before she began spreading her pinkish-red wings. Just as she leaped into the air, Hitsugaya ran to the edge and watched her for one last time.

"Sayonara Shiro-chan," Momo thought before turning around and flying away towards the shining moon in the clear night sky.

Hitsugaya watched her fly away from his sights for a few minutes. Once she is gone, he let out a sigh. "There she goes along with your chance for happiness..."

Just as he was about to retreat back into his bedroom, he noticed a single pinkish-red feather fluttered down from the skies. Extending it out, Hitsugaya allowed the feather to fall into the palm of his hand. With one good look at it, he clenched it tightly and looked towards the direction where she is headed towards: the heavenly afterlife.

"Good bye...Momo."

References

Itte - Ouch, Baka - Idiot/Stupid, Hai - Yes, Gomen nesai - I'm sorry, Iie - No, So ka - Really/Is that so, Arigato - Thank You, Taicho - Captain, Senpai - Upperclassman, Uruse - Shut Up, Kotatsu - a low table with a built in electric heater underneath, Umai - Delicious, Sugoi - Amazing, Nani - What, Daijobou - It's alright, Sayonara - Good Bye (formal or when one is not seeing someone for a very long time)

Author's Note: *wipes tear away* You must really hate me now for breaking this lovely couple apart. It's understandable. However, don't expect the story to end just yet. There's still chapter ten and the epilogue. (What?! The story's about to end already?!) In the meantime, please leave a review for me to read. Thanks!