This chapter was inspired by the song, Birds by Kate Nash. I do not own Bleach.


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Birds

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Tenth Division captain, Toushirou Hitsugaya, was always afraid of birds.

Everything about them made him grimace with a familiar revulsion that he's always had for them, even when he lived in the outskirts of Rukongai.

It began on a fateful summer day, the sun was smoldering hot and the air seemed to stand still, unyielding to the gentle summer breeze that yearned to pass through.

And there he was, peacefully chewing the last watermelon of the harvest, the juice running down his young features wearing a smug smirk. Bringing the last piece of the moist fruit to his mouth, he—

He shouted, "Give it back, you filth!" while chasing the mongrel with wings across the yard, until it flew away.

Finding a stone on the ground, he picked it up and heaved it into the air after the wretched bird that stole his delightful summer evening.

"Shiro-chan," Hinamori said shyly, wishing she hadn't seen the odd episode, "don't be mean to the bird, it was only hungry!"

He sat back down and held his chin in his hands. "Yeah, well I was hungry too and I don't go stealing whatever those things eat!"

Hinamori giggled, "I bet you will now after what that bird did."

He scowled and shook his head, "I never want to go near one of those things again."

And ever since that day, Hitsugaya saw nothing but thieves in the sky. But there were other casualties as well, even though he swore never to see them again,

It was inevitable.

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Walking through the Shinigami Academy during one of his first days, he crossed paths with another one of those flying thieves.

He couldn't see properly thanks to the whirlwinds of dust before him, and seemingly out of nowhere flew this thing right through the dust. He squinted his eyes to see just what the hell it was and—

"Oooww!"

People gasped, "Hitsugaya, are you okay?"

"That damn bird," he huffed, holding his head, "It flew right into my eye!"

Now they were not only thieves, but eye-poking villains.

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Hyōrinmaru

The name of his zanpakuto, his soul, his power.

He mouthed its name for the first time, the syllables rolling over his tongue, tasting the name that was so familiar but just newly revealed.

When he saw the magnificent creature before him, he was nothing short of amazed.

An ice dragon shielded in resplendent scales, capturing every ray of the sun and returning it back into the receiving atmosphere. His eyes a piercing crimson red, slicing its focus and sealing it with ice.

Hyōrinmaru was one of the only ice zanpakutos in Soul Society along with Kuchiki Rukia's whose was the most beautiful but he knew his was to be the most powerful.

And yet… looking at the extraordinary creature before him, he felt a tinge of awkwardness for it had…

…wings.

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He remembered arriving late to an important meeting and panting when he arrived at the double doors leading to Yamamoto's hall. Matsumoto stood waiting for him.

"Matsumoto?" He breathed heavily, running his hand down his face, "We're late!" He grabbed hold of her hand and began to push open the doors.

She stopped him. "Taichou…there's something--"

He groaned, "Matsumoto! I don't have time for this, let's go!"

"Taichou," she bit her lip, "There's something in your hair."

He looked at her. "My… hair?"

She nodded.

Rolling his eyes, he pushed open the double doors and led her inside to meet one of the most embarrassing meetings of his life and the only thing Matsumoto could offer at the end of the day was one simple phrase,

"At least it matched!"

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One of the coldest winters he remembered was the one where he took a walk with Matsumoto… and saw a bird.

He thought it odd, for of what he knew, birds were supposed to leave during wintry weather.

Another point for winter.

Regardless, the wayward flying bird sat upon a snow dusted branch that once held rainbow leaves now fallen and crusted into the ground below where they strode beneath.

It noticed them first, cocking its head in a feathery manner and peeping once or twice before Matsumoto looked up to find the cherry red bird looking at them with black, searching eyes.

And then the bird began to sing. The song was burdened and melancholy, its notes sharply stabbing the cold and frozen air as it sung a melody of missed springs and long forgotten migrations.

Setting his scowl, and lifting his hand to shoo the aggravating creature that made annoying noises, he heard another's tune join the bird's.

Matsumoto's.

He stood still, listening to her voice, so serene and pure, laced with an immortal sorrow he had recognized before, but forgot when.

"Matsumoto"

She stopped then, and so did the bird.

The song ceased to be nothing more but the tree's memory.

"Why did you stop?"

She looked at him questioningly. "I thought you … wanted me to."

"…Do you like to sing, Matsumoto?"

She thought for a moment, "Yes," she whispered, "I do."

"Can you sing… once more?"

Her smile dimmed the gleam of the crystal snow and she laughed, "Of course, Taichou."

"For me?"

She looked at him and said nothing for the longest while until she finally inhaled the sweet wintry air to sing. The song was no longer of sorrow or sadness, but of a cold winter, warmed by tender feelings.

And the song was his.

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That was the winter before their mission into the real world to defeat the arrancars. He learned then that birds were the same, living or dead, they were flying pests.

And that was what he thought of them, observing them fly from the roof of Orihime's apartment. He wanted to watch the sunset, but the nuisances kept flying through the sky in packs, stubbornly ignoring his glare that willed them to fall out of the sky at once.

So involved in his gandering, he had not known she was behind him, watching the birds as well.

"Taichou"

His eyes widened with realization, but he did nothing but acknowledge her, "Matsumoto"

She sat next to him with an unsaid invitation, leaning back on her hands and looking at him with a concerning interest.

She ran a hand through locks of copper hair, "I was looking for you, taichou."

"And you found me."

"No," she remarked, "You seem to be somewhere far away."

He glanced at her then back to the sun. "I'm right here."

"Well now you are, but I've been standing here forever and you--"

He closed his eyes and began to rub them free of the neon light from the sun. "How long have you been there."

"I told you I've been standing here forever and you--"

"Shhh, Matsumoto. Look." He pointed to the setting sun, drowning into the horizon to be born into another world.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, tilting her head so her hair fell over her shoulder and he caught a trace of her scent. Like citrus and vanilla, he determined.

"Ah," she giggled, looking somewhere else, "Look at the birds!"

Hesitantly, his gaze made it to where she was pointing and he squinted, but found nothing.

"Look how high they can fly, taichou."

He looked closer, and for the first time noticed how far in the sky their wings could take them, fighting against every wisp of wind that took them away from their goal.

"See how they fly with so many others? And how they all stay together… but that one…" she observed a certain bird that seemed to have been left behind.

Looking back, he could have marked down a hundred reasons why she was beautiful simply looking at the abandoned bird with a timeless look in her eye, but there was only one evident sign of beauty he took note of in that one moment.

He decided against her hair, cascading down her back in a waterfall of iridescent strands of gold, against her wistful smile of her lips the color a soft rose on a spring day, and against her fair skin, radiating with the suns warmth.

He caught her gaze and decided that her eyes were the most breathtaking of all, like mirrors reflecting the spectacular sunset.

"Don't worry," he said, his gaze unwavering, "Look. That bird is flying higher than the rest… "


Birds can fly so high

And they can shit on your head

Until they almost fly into your eye

And make you feel worse yet

But when you look at them

And you see that they're beautiful

That's how I feel about you


And Matsumoto, he decided, was like a bird.


As I said before, this chapter was inspired by one of my favorite songs by Kate Nash... I love her music. Anyways, I don't think this is an 'awesome' piece, but I laughed while I was writing it and I think its lighthearted and fun, so I guess that makes up for the lack of awesomeness... XD Thank You!

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