Hello all! Happy New Year to you!

I've been a little down lately, but that's nothing new. I seem to always be down.

Anywhoo, I'll be going to the Bahamas tomorrow, forgot to mention. Whoopsie!

Anyway, so I won't be around for a week, not like that's anything new either. But I just wanted to let you know, in case any of you watched me deviantART account (ShinigamikaitoEd – check it!) and to let you know that there will be pictures when I get back. You can count on it.

So, obviously, this is about that little snippet of cuteness after the credits of Diamond Dust Rebellion.

Chapter 35: Fixing Wall-E

Hitsugaya sighed as he waved Hisagi and Emi away. "Are you sure, Taicho?" Emi asked. "We'll take it back to Yamamoto if you want."

He stared down at the lavender hilt in his hand. Kusaka's sword. The one that almost killed him many times over in the previous few days. "No, Emi. It's fine."

"Emi," Hisagi said gently, putting his arm around her waist. "Let's go…"

Emi nodded and bowed to her captain before wrapping her fingers around Hisagi's and disappearing into the darkening evening. Hitsugaya closed the door and went back into his dorm.

"Who was it?" Matsumoto asked as she set the small table for dinner.

"Hisagi and Emi." Hitsugaya muttered half-heartedly. He walked over to the bed and sat down, running his hand up and down the leather hilt. Matsumoto looked up and her eyes locked onto the broken sword. She already knew who's it was. How could she ever forget something that caused Hitsugaya so much pain?

Matsumoto sat up on the bed with him, gently taking the hilt from him and examining it herself. "What do you want to do with it?"

"I don't know," Hitsugaya sighed looking out the window at the dipping sun.

"In my personal opinion, I don't think you should keep it here." Matsumoto said. "But, in the end, it's up to you."

"No, no," Hitsugaya said as he stood. The sun wasn't too low. There was still time to go there before dark. "I should probably give it back to him. Come on, Rangiku."

She nodded and followed him out. She held out her hand and gently took hold of his as they walked. He didn't object and still didn't say anything at all. There was no need.

The cemetery wasn't far from the dorms. That was good; Hitsugaya didn't want to see anyone else.

They went through the gate and, as they approached, could see a dark bundle on the ground in front of Kusaka Soujirou's grave. It was the traveler's cloak that Hitsugaya had acquired from Kusaka. Although it had his own blood all over it, like the hilt, its rightful owner was his old friend.

When they got a few yards away, Hitsugaya let go of Matsumoto's hand. She took this as a sign to stay back, and stopped as Hitsugaya walked another two steps forward. He stared at the tomb marker for a moment, reliving those days when they were reunited.

It was a shock to see Kusaka again, let alone know his goal of destroying Soul Society. After all, the Kusaka he knew and cared for as his best friend had always lived for protecting Soul Society in every way.

It wasn't fair. Kusaka's only dream was to be a shinigami and fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves. Hitsugaya only ever went to the Academy because he didn't want to hurt his old granny anymore with his reiatsu. He wanted to control it so he couldn't hurt anyone.

And in the end, the power and control they both strived for was what destroyed them.

Best friend versus best friend.

Hitsugaya didn't want to do it. He knew Kusaka's dream and wanted to help him fulfill it. If only Central 46 would have listened to him. If only they would have let him relinquish ownership of Hyorinmaru…

'What if I'd…'

If?

What if you'd what, Kusaka?

Hitsugaya bent down and placed the hilt on the cloak. He staggered as he stood back up. Staring at the grave once more, he whispered, "Goodbye."

He closed his eyes and fixed the collar of his uniform. There was one more thing to do here. One he should have done the moment she tackled him after Kusaka's defeat. "Rangiku?"

"Hm?" she muttered.

"I'm sorry for…well, for everything." He said quietly. She was the one of the few who still believed in him after he was marked traitor. Even now, she continued to support him, following his mood swings to a tee, trying to cheer him up in the smallest ways or listening to him when he needed to vent. "And thank you…for not giving up on me."

She blinked, "Toshiro, what'd you just say?"

Hitsugaya's face turned red as he heard the smile in her voice. She was playing dumb on purpose! That jerk! "I didn't say anything." He said as he turned towards another row of graves, "Let's head back."

"What? Already?" she blinked again as she chased after him. "Aww, how come? It's a nice night! I know! We could go to that hot spring near by! I hear it's real nice!"

Oh, hot springs. Matsumoto's favorite. Hitsugaya smirked as he continued walking away from her. "You can go by yourself."

"Aw, don't say that!" she pleaded, tugging on his sleeve. She was being his support stick again, trying to cheer him up in any way possible. He continued to smirk as they walked towards the sunset. "Hey, come on!"

"Quit it!" he said, pulling his arm away. Now he was teasing her, and she knew it, but continued to play along anyway.

"You'd like it!" she said, twirling in circles beside him. She spun until she was in front of him. She looked at him with a devious smile. "They don't have gender segregations there…"

Hitsugaya stopped and stared at her for a moment before sighing in defeat. He began to walk past her. "Fine. Let's go."

Ha, oh silly little Hitsu.

Yea, just a little something for the New Year.

Actually, there were two songs I listened to while I wrote this, though I just used one for the title.

'Fixing Wall-E' by Thomas Newman from the 'Wall-E' soundtrack

And

'Cry' by Hans Zimmer from 'The Holiday' soundtrack

The reason I used 'Fixing Wall-E' as the main title is because after you lose a friend, as Hitsugaya had done here, you feel broken. You need to be fixed. Normally, the only way you can be fixed is if the ones you love help you to do that.

I lost a friend, as most of you know, and I'm still trying to be fixed :/ All well, what can you do, right?

Though, 'Cry' would have been a very good title as well.

See you in a week!

BlackAngel