A/N: Aaaand so the apologies continue. Guys I'm sorry, I really really am. This writers block is not leaving me alone and is making writing chapters really hard. Ugh. BUT I tried to put a bit of humor in this one so hopefully that helps make up for it xD

NEW FANART! Saileasa drew a marvelous picture of the scene in front of Hitsugaya's mother's grave. So touching! Link is in my profile as usual J Check it out!

Momo awoke the next morning feeling happier than she had in weeks. It took her a second to remember why before her mind flashed again back to the lake and then continued on to replay the events of the night before, ending with Hitsugaya crawling into bed beside her, his arms wrapping protectively around her middle. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking blearily in the bright sunlight streaming through the cracks in her blinds. She glanced over at Hitsugaya's bed to see that it was empty though the warm breath tickling her neck clued her in to his where-a-bouts. Ever so slowly she turned, a soft smile folding onto her lips as she saw Hitsugaya's peacefully sleeping form. It was unusual to see his face looking so serene, the usual mask he wore dissolving in the peace brought about by pleasant dreams.

Carefully Momo brought her hand up, gently brushing pale bangs away from his face, his hair feeling silky smooth on her fingers. He stirred for a moment causing the girl to pause and draw her hand back, though a moment later his breathing regulated and the girl knew he'd fallen back into sleep. Turning her eyes to the bedside table she blanched as the little red numbers swam into focus reading 11:45. In the chaos of the night before, neither she nor her roommate had set an alarm, resulting in their sleeping right through morning classes.

Momo hesitated, her hand poised over Hitsugaya's sleeping form, debating whether or not to wake him. True missing class wasn't high on her priorities list and likely less so in Hitsugaya's case, yet at the same time she couldn't bring herself to draw her roommate from dream world back into reality. Clearly he'd gone through a lot of mental strain the night before and his body was exhausted because of it. With his smarts missing one day of class would hardly prove to be a problem.

Sighing she lay back on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling, knowing that just because Hitsugaya had a legitimate excuse for skipping class didn't mean she did. If she got ready now she would have enough time to make her afternoon classes at least. Yet despite the logical side of her brain telling her to get her butt to class, her body refused to follow suit. Odds were that Hitsugaya would be perfectly normal when he awoke but just in case something was even slightly wrong, Hinamori wanted to make sure that she was there for him.

Her stomach chose that second to make itself known, growling loudly in a not so subtle reminder that she had yet to eat that day. Momo winced, glancing guiltily down at Hitsugaya who shifted in his sleep before opening his eyes and blinking blearily up at her.

"Morning," she said, a warm smile melting on to her lips. "Or good afternoon I guess," she corrected sheepishly. The young man raised an eyebrow and glanced in the direction of the clock, his eyes widening slightly as he read 11:52.

"I forgot to set the alarm," Momo said weakly, watching him carefully for a reaction. Hitsugaya snorted and sat up, stifling a rather large yawn in the process.

"How long have you been up?" he asked. The girl shrugged.

"Only a few minutes," she responded. "I'm sorry, should I have woken you up?" Hitsugaya's mouth quirked into the lightest hint of a smirk as he shook his head.

"No, it's okay," he answered. Momo nodded, chewing on her lip as she deliberated on what to say next. A silence fell over the room as the events of the night before moved to the forefront of their minds. Momo wasn't sure if she should mention anything, aware of the fact that it was probably a delicate subject.

"Do you want to go to Urahara's?" The girl blinked, her roommate's question catching her off guard. Yet her stomach chose that moment to rumble again, answering the question for her. Hinamori grinned weakly and nodded her head.

"S-sure."

The usual bell tinkled merrily overhead as they stepped into the homey café fifteen minutes later, mouth watering aromas consuming their senses almost immediately.

"Welcome, welcome! Long time no see," Urahara called, poking his head out from behind the counter and grinning widely at them.

"Hello," Momo responded, waving and flashing the man a pleasant smile of her own. Hitsugaya led the way to their usual booth, plopping himself down, lacing his fingers together and immediately turning his gaze to the window. Momo, used to this behavior, sat down across from him and fiddled with the sugar packets, contemplating whether to go with the pancakes or something entirely new. Her eye fell on the image of a goldenrod waffle resting beneath a mountain of whipped cream while lushes red strawberries cascaded down the side and onto the white plate below. Her stomach gave an approving rumble and her mind was made up. Urahara bobbed over a few minutes later and took their orders, his usual lopsided grin on his face, his striped hat sitting crooked atop his head.

"No class today?" he asked them, one eyebrow raised in obvious amusement. Momo grinned sheepishly at him while Hitsugaya merely shrugged.

"Just one of those days," he responded mutely. Urahara chuckled and wiggled his fingers at them before turning on his heel and walking back behind the counter, his wooden clogs clacking against the café's polished tile flooring. Momo sighed contentedly, leaning back into the soft padding of the booth and allowing her eyes to rove from table to table before finally coming to rest on the young man across from her. He raised an eyebrow questioningly and she grinned, giving her head a slight shake.

"I feel like it's been forever since I was last here," she said, grabbing one of the sugar packets from the table and once again twiddling it between her fingers. Hitsugaya nodded distractedly, his attention obviously elsewhere. Momo paused, once again resting her eyes on him and allowing them to travel from his white hair to his stormy eyes, down to his lips for a moment and then back to his eyes again.

"Hitsugaya are you…?" she began, trailing off as the words she was trying to say drifted off her tongue. He paused for a moment before a small smile found its way to his lips.

"I'm fine, don't worry," he told her. A moment passed before he hesitated again, obviously debating whether or not to tell her something. Finally he sighed, once again turning his gaze to the window before absent mindedly picking up the sugar packet she'd dropped and placing it back with the others.

"My mom…died when I was pretty young," he said suddenly, his gaze still fixed stubbornly on the window pane. Momo blinked, her mouth opening in surprise at the suddenness of the comment.

"Hitsugaya I-"

"My dad passed away before that, a long time ago. I don't really remember him at all," he continued, cutting her off before she could say anything. "My dad was really rich but he never flaunted it or anything. When he died he gave it all to my mom and she followed his example completely. She never made a big deal out of how wealthy we were or made habits of showing off our money. I think half the time she forgot herself how well off dad left us… Anyway about two years after dad died she met Kazuo and for some reason she saw something in him. I think he must have acted differently back then because I don't remember hating him until after mom was killed," he muttered almost as an afterthought. Momo winced at the word 'killed', marveling at her roommate's ability to say it so easily considering the circumstances.

"They saw each other for awhile before Kazuo finally proposed to her and she said yes. I think she thought I needed more of a father figure because I never really got the feeling that she loved him that much. He moved into the house and then a year after that she was murdered," he said, his face suddenly going completely blank of expression. Momo bit her lip, immediately wanting to reach out and pull him into her arms, to get him to show emotion of some kind, maybe even cry a little. But no, this was Hitsugaya she was talking about. There was no way, especially considering their current location, that he would ever publicly show that much of his inner self.

"A week later they held the trial, accusing and condemning some guy by the name of Tosen. I remember going to the trial and sitting next to Kazuo. He was sweating the entire time and, for some reason, Aizen was the man sitting on his other side. Apparently he had assisted in Tosen's arrest in some way and Kazuo wanted him at the trial just in case. I never really figured out if that was the real reason or not but it never really sat right with me," Hitsugaya said. "Kazuo's been my permanent guardian ever since." There was another pause and Momo was about ready to open her mouth when Toshiro spoke up again.

"I should be over it but for some reason I can't stop wondering if they really arrested the right man," he said, his fist clenching a bit on the table top. Momo frowned.

"Well if all the evidence was correct in pointing to Tosen as the killer then it should be alright. They wouldn't put someone in jail if they weren't absolutely sure he was responsible," she said, trying to sound positive. Hitsugaya frowned, his body tensing as he shook his head.

"Tosen was blind. My mother was killed by a gunshot wound directly to the heart. Even with highly developed hearing it should have been almost impossible for him to hit her with the bullet as accurately as he did. There might have been someone else involved!" the young man exclaimed, his eyes flashing angrily as his fist pounded into the table. Momo swallowed, her eyes flitting briefly to the other customers who were now glancing their way, each and every one of them looking more than a little put out. Hitsugaya took a deep breath and closed his eyes before exhaling, his fists unclenching in the process as the tension visibly left his body.

"Sorry," he muttered. Momo swallowed back the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat and shook her head. Getting to her feet she walked around the table and to his side before pulling him up out of the chair and into her arms.

"H-Hinamori! What are you-!" he started, his cheeks flushing a violent shade of magenta.

"Shut up! You need this okay!" she shot back, tightening her grip on him. There was a slight pause before he tried again.

"People are stari-"

"I don't care!"

"…You're supposed to be a boy remember?" Momo's eyes shot open at his whispered comment and she immediately felt heat rise from her neck and into her cheeks. Of course. She wasn't Momo right now she was Masaki. How must this look to the customers seated around them or to Urahara and Yoruichi preparing their meals behind the counter? Clearing her throat she backed away, laughing nervously and scratching the back of her head.

"Y-yeah!" she began, speaking as loudly as she could. "Y-you need this right now…Uh, that's exactly what my girlfriend said to me the other day before she hugged me just like that! I had to show you how tight that hug was because there was no way I could explain it! Y-yeah…" she trailed off, trying to avoid the many pairs of eyes that had suddenly turned their way, Hitsugaya's exasperated expression not helping matters at all. He had finally opened up to her about something deep, something really deep, and she had to go and behave like an idiot.

"B-bathroom," she stuttered before turning and dashing in the direction of the restrooms located around the corner in the rear section of the café. She had to get it together if she wanted to help Hitsugaya out. There was no way she should have hugged him like that, especially not in front of all those people. He was probably furious with her now… Wincing she shoved the bathroom door open and marched over to the sink, immediately turning on the faucet and splashing cold water in her face.

"What in the world is wrong with me?" she asked her reflection though it looked as lost as she did.

"Hinamori?" Momo blinked and turned to see it was Yoruichi who had spoken having just come in the door.

"Yes?" she asked, blinking a drip of water out of her eyes.

"This is the girl's restroom…" the woman said, a single eyebrow raised pointedly. Hinamori blinked, not catching on for a moment before all of the sudden she remembered who she was, where she was, and what she was dressed like. Her face that had been so flushed seconds before now drained of all color and her mouth fell open, leaving her gaping like a beached whale.

"WAAH!" she shouted before sprinting past Yoruichi and out of the bathroom, past her booth where Urahara was just depositing their food on the table, and out the door of the café, leaving the bell jingling in her wake. Hitsugaya blinked, looking from the food to Urahara to the café door, and then to the food again.

"Um, is it okay if I get this to go?" Hitsugaya asked. "I've got the bill…" Urahara chuckled, amusement written all over his face.

"But of course," he responded, his eyes twinkling as he headed towards the back of the store, obviously to confront a very amused looking Yoruichi as to why one of their customers had sprinted out of the store like a child on caffeine pills.

Hitsugaya sighed and dropped his head into is hands, running his fingers through the locks of his hair and clenching them into fists. He didn't regret telling Hinamori about his mother, yet he should have known she'd react like that. Next time he spoke of anything that might produce even a hint of an emotional reaction he'd make sure they were some place far from the public eye. Another trip to the lake might be nice…

Urahara returning with the boxes shoved that train of thought from his mind and Hitsugaya quickly thanked him, apologizing before handing the man a wad of cash and hurrying out the door, his eyes already scanning the streets for any sign of his roommate. He found her about five minutes later sitting on one of the campus benches, holding her jacket tightly to her body and staring moodily at the ground. She glanced up at his presence before immediately flushing and looking away again, plucking at a loose string on her mitten. Hitsugaya sat beside her and the two remained in silence for a moment before the young man turned his eyes to her, eyebrows lifted inquiringly.

"What happened?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Hinamori visibly flinched before covering her face with her hands and mumbling something indistinguishable into her mittens.

"What was that?" Hitsugaya asked, doing his best to hide the amused smirk desperately trying to break free from his stubborn lips.

"…rng bathroom."

"What?"

"I went in the wrong bathroom! Or actually the right bathroom but-" she stopped when she saw the expression on her roommate's face, the smile no longer hidden behind his stoic mask.

"Is that all?" he asked. Momo shook her head miserably.

"Yoruichi walked in…" she responded. Hitsugaya blinked before an uncontainable snort suddenly left his lips, leading the way for the not so subtle laugh that followed.

"It's not funny!" Momo protested, turning to him with wide eyes. "What if she finds out?" Hitsugaya shook his head, having finally conquered the smirks and laugher threatening to spill over.

"Well you were, I mean, you were dressed right?" he asked. "It's not like she walked into the stall." Hinamori slowly nodded.

"Yeah but…"

"Then she'll probably just blame it on the way you're always acting like you have your head in the clouds. Honestly you're so out of it all the time anyway she probably wasn't surprised you might have accidentally taken a trip into the wrong bathroom," he said to her.

"You think so?" Momo asked, clearly having completely overlooked the fact that he'd basically called her an airhead. He snorted.

"Either that or she'll think you're a complete pervert," he said, not able to stop the corner of his mouth from quirking upwards.

"That's just as bad!" Hinamori protested, her eyes widening in horror. Hitsugaya shook his head before getting to his feet and offering her the box with her waffle in it.

"Come on, let's get inside before the food gets cold," he said. Momo nodded before completely freezing in place.

"The food! I completely forgot! Is Urahara mad that I stormed out? He probably thinks I'm really rude!" she gasped. Hitsugaya shook his head.

"No, I think he was more amused than anything else," he responded, handing her the box as she got to her feet. Momo sighed, letting the breath leave her lungs in one big whoosh.

"Why is today so terrible…?" she muttered, kicking the ground in frustration. Hitsugaya merely shook his head before heading off in the direction of the dorm, having no intention of telling her just how much she'd managed to brighten his day without even trying to.

Momo dropped the empty waffle box into their room's garbage can, pausing just long enough to lick the rest of the sugary sweet strawberry syrup from her fingers before returning to her bed and plopping happily onto the comforter.

"I know why they invented strawberry waffles," she said matter of factly.

"Why's that?" Hitsugaya asked, his tone distracted as he turned yet another page in the large biology textbook sitting on his lap.

"To turn bad days into good ones," she responded. "Maybe if Kurotsuchi ate a strawberry waffle every morning before coming to class he wouldn't be such a grouch all the time." Hitsugaya snorted.

"Could be," he replied. Momo sighed, watching as Hitsugaya turned yet another page in the book before jotting down a note in the open notebook at his side, the pencil making tiny scratching noises in the otherwise silent room. It was amazing that he could continue to act so normal especially after telling her something as personal as he had. Despite all the attention it had caused she couldn't help but feel a little bit happy that he had let loose a bit at the café. If nothing else it proved that he still felt something and wasn't completely numb to the past.

Deciding to go out on a limb she quietly stood and made her way over to his bed, pausing for just a moment before sitting herself down beside him. Hitsugaya blinked, his eyes coming into focus as he gave her a questioning look. Smiling at him she carefully reached out, wrapping her arms around his middle and leaning into his chest, closing her eyes and inhaling his comforting scent.

"What're you…?" he began, her actions clearly catching him more than a little off guard.

"For earlier," she murmured. "Since I messed it up last time, I have to try again." There was a moment's pause before Hitsugaya sighed, his tense frame relaxing into her embrace, his arms wrapping around her as well and pulling her closer to him. She couldn't help the warmth that shot through her veins as she felt him rest his cheek against the top of her head, loving the way they seemed to fit together so well, her small frame a perfect match for his own.

Her eyes opened in surprise as she felt Hitsugaya pull away for a moment only to feel his lips brush against her forehead a second later before finding her own in a soft yet warm kiss. She blinked, startled, before relaxing into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and shyly kissing him back. Right then she wanted nothing more than to have this moment last forever. No crazy adults telling them how to run their lives, no teachers shoving books in their faces, no distrac-

"WHERE THE HECK WERE YOU GUYS IN…class…today…?" Hinamori and Hitsugaya leapt apart, the expressions of shock on their faces nothing compared to the wide eyed, open mouthed gape currently occupying the face of Renji Abarai as he stood in the doorway with one hand on the knob of the unlocked door, the other frozen in an accusatory point. Three seconds ticked slowly by before the redhead made a rather strangled sound, turned, and promptly bolted from the door. Less than a second later Hitsugaya was on his feet and sprinting after him while Momo merely sat on the bed, her brain still trying to process what had just happened.

Hitsugaya pounded down the hallway after Renji, taking three huge steps before launching himself forward directly into the redhead's middle football style, sending the two of them tumbling none too gracefully to the ground. Catching his breath he looked the other boy straight in the eye, his fingers wrapped securely around Renji's wrist, driving home the fact that the young man was going nowhere fast.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going?"

Okay the end! Of the chapter anyway haha. Well hopefully you guys enjoyed that. I tried to put in fluff and humor as well as giving you more of a look into Hitsugaya's back story. Thank you so much for your patience! You all really are the best! Don't forget to check out the awesome fanart!

~Phoenix