Author's note: Hi everyone, I hope you're all enjoying this story so far. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.
Chapter 12: Results and Ranking
"Hi Momo."
Kira was still on the bed recovering from some of his injuries. Though feeling some sympathy for Kira, Momo couldn't bring herself to go near him because of what recently happened. "…Hi Kira-kun."
"Don't worry, Momo. I won't hurt you."
"That's right, you don't have anything to worry about." Matsumoto reassured her, and she took a few steps towards him. "So, are your wounds getting better?"
"Yea, I'm fine, but I want to talk about before." She nodded signaling him to go on. "When I… when I kissed you and told you I loved you, I meant it! I meant every word of it! I just shouldn't have forced myself on you. I'm sorry."
"It's ok."
She didn't know what else to say. Someone had just openly declared his love for her, but she didn't feel the same way. "So would there be any chance for me?"
"I-I…" She stood there just staring, as if in deep contemplation. When she saw Kira's disappointed face and injuries, she couldn't feel a little sympathy for the boy, so she pushed aside her own feelings for the moment for the sake of his. "I guess…"
No one was as surprised as Matsumoto. She thought for sure Momo had feelings for Hitsugaya, and she was usually right about these things. "Really?" His face lit up with a smile at Hinamori's response.
"Well, I'm getting a little tired and it's pretty late already, so I better leave now. Good-bye, Kira-kun. Matsumoto-san, I'll be waiting outside." She went for the door and left.
"I can't believe Momo's willing to give me a chance over Hitsugaya."
"… Kira, she's taking pity on you." Her words were as sharp as a knife. "The only reason she said that was because she felt guilty. You can't make her go through with this!"
"I don't care. If she doesn't want to be with me, she would've told me!"
"You know what I think? I think you're being pretty selfish right now!" She left and slammed the door without a single good-bye.
Matsumoto made her way out of the hospital to find Momo waiting out there throwing stones into the nearby pond. She seemed to be pretty down about something. "Momo-chan, we need to talk. How about over some… umm… ice cream."
"Actually, I just want to get to bed."
"Oh come on, please?" she said as she gave Momo a pleading look. "Well… fine." Momo responded.
"Thanks."
They went off to a small shop and bought some ice cream, then went and sat down. "So, what did you want to talk about, Matsumoto-san?"
"It's about you and Kira."
"What about me and Kira?" She knew full well what Matsumoto meant, but would just rather not talk about it. "You know you don't feel that way about him. You're just doing this because you feel guilty." It was one of the few times, aside from battles, that Matsumoto was serious, not to mention angry.
"I… I said yes, because I meant it, Matsumoto-san, and besides, I should feel guilty. He's all injured and it's all my fault."
"It was not your fault! It was Kira's! Sooner or later you're going to have to admit that you're in love with Hitsugaya. You're just going to hurt yourself, and Hitsugaya too!"
"I don't feel that way about Hitsugaya-kun, and it's not like he feels that way about me, and what about you and Hitsugaya?"
"Really, are you that dense? He's crazy about you, he's just too big of a baby to admit it, and there's nothing between us but friendship!"
"I know he doesn't feel that way about me, Matsumoto-san."
"Fine, I can't force you to believe me, but if you go through with this, you'll be hurting yourself and Hitsugaya."
"… I'll think about it. Thanks, Matsumoto-san."
"No problem. I've always wanted a little sister, but I got stuck with an uptight, little, white-haired, over-stressed, over-working midget."
"Matsumoto-san! Shiro-chan wouldn't like it if you called him that."
"He's not here, so no problem. Now come on, I better get you back before he throws a fit." They left and chatted among themselves on the way back. When Momo got back, Hitsugaya was busy working on his paperwork.
"I'm back, Hitsugaya-kun."
"Ok. You should get to sleep now. I still need to finish the rest of this paperwork." He said without looking at her. "Ok." She said before proceeding to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.
"Ok, Shiro-chan. Good night."
"Good night." He decided to let her off the hook this time for calling him that name because he knew she must've been tired this morning. It only took but a few moments for Momo to drift off to sleep.
After seeing her innocent face, he turned back and resumed his work. When he finally finished it all up, it was about a quarter after midnight. He went and got ready for bed and went to set the bed on the floor. He heard a slight shiver come from Momo and covered her with the blanket as to not let her catch a cold. He then brushed away some hair covering her closed eyes, and then went to his own makeshift bed to sleep.
The night ended, and Toshiro was called to a meeting; he was also ordered to bring Momo with him. "Momo, it's time to wake up. We have to go to another meeting. You're going to get your rank today."
Her eyelids sprang open, and she quickly rushed out of bed to find Hitsugaya all ready. "Hurry up, Momo, or I'll leave you here again."
"SHIRO-CHAN! I'm going as fast as I can!" She struggled get everything accomplished as quickly as possible, but it did pay off. After getting ready, she followed Hitsugaya to the meeting room and when she got there, she was greeted with smiles from everyone, even Karin.
"Hey Momo. Hi Hitsugaya."
Hitsugaya replied as if he didn't care, and he really didn't. Momo replied back with her usual smile and then gave Hitsugaya a slight glare for being so rude. "Hitsugaya-kun, you should be nicer to Karin-chan. She was nice enough to help me."
"Whatever."
"Come on, Shiro-chan. Go say you're sorry for being so rude." She pouted and Hitsugaya fell for it. "Fine." He grudgingly made his way to Karin, who inwardly smirked. "I'm sorry Karin for being so rude before." She seized the opportunity, and gave him a hug, knowing full well he wouldn't stop her with Momo being right there.
"It's ok." Hitsugaya was absolutely repulsed beyond words. When he finally spoke, it was in a harsh tone. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I just forgave you, and gave you a hug." Ready to push her off, Toshiro saw Momo's smile at the two of them getting along. He reluctantly allowed Karin to continue her hug. When Karin broke apart, she knew for sure now her plan was working. She knew she could use Momo to get closer to Hitsugaya.
"You see, Hitsugaya-kun, that wasn't so bad."
"Momo…" Seeing her innocent look compelled him to lie. "I guess not."
Momo cheerfully gave him a pat on the back as if congratulating him. The sound of General Yamamoto clearing his throat was enough to put all the knights, Momo, and Karin to silence.
"I'm sure you are all aware of the reason for today's meeting. Momo and Karin are to be ranked after yesterday's test. I have carefully reviewed the results and am now ready to give them a proper rank. For Karin, the rank of Bishop, and for Momo, the rank of rook."
Momo and Karin exchanged quick bright glances, both really excited. When the meeting finally ended, Toshiro was asked to stay afterwards. "Hitsugaya, I would like for you to further train Hinamori."
"About that, General Yamamoto, she seems unable to learn any new spells."
"That is because I sealed her magic away in order to hide her away from her predators. However, despite my efforts, they still found out where she is. So I have unsealed her magical energy. If it had been left unsealed and she received proper training during the time before the test, I'm sure I would've ranked her as a bishop as well. She proved herself to be resourceful and cunning."
"Yes sir." He left outside to find Momo.
"Hey Shiro-chan." She waved and Hitsugaya was there in an instant, literally. "I told you you'd do great."
"Thanks, lil' Shiro. Should we go back to train now?"
"Stop thinking about training all the time. You did well, and I'm going to take you out to celebrate."
"Really?" She was overjoyed at the idea until Kira arrived with a bouquet of flowers. "Here Momo, I heard the good news." Kira then glared at Hitsugaya and Toshiro likewise gave him a really dirty look. Hinamori, in the middle of all this, didn't know what to do but stand still silently.
Author's note: There, all finished. I thought it was pretty long, and who's Momo going to choose, Toshiro, or Kira? You'll have to read to find out. I'll update when I reach 186 reviews.
