Summer in Junrinan was a hot affair, temperatures easily rising to the point that it forced people to vacation elsewhere in order to escape the heat. Whilst the older population of the small Tokyo suburb retreated inside, the younger population took to the streets in droves. They'd been born here, they'd long been acclimated to the hot, arid climate that set this suburb apart from the rest of the city. Those that moved here, usually never lasted. Despite the easy transport links and the cheapness of the real estate, it was the weather that sent people searching for higher property prices in favour of cooler summers.
If it weren't for his new foster carer, an elderly old lady, kind and with a penchant for Amanatto, who insisted he called her Granny, Hitsugaya Tōshirō would have retreated indoors with the rest of the population who hid from the sun. But as soon as summer hit and the kids took to the streets in droves, Granny pushed him and the other girl she was fostering out of the house, hats on their heads and tied around with string so they wouldn't get lost, with water bottles and snacks in bags and told them to be back for dinner.
Hinamori Momo took to the sun like a duck took to water, and half dragged half led Tōshirō to the river's embankment where Granny had said all the children played at this time of year. They found a sheltered spot underneath the bridge to place their bags and water bottles before Momo had dropped her hat and ran off to play with her friends from school.
"Make some friends, Shiro-Chan!" She called with a wave, t-shirt and shorts flying over her shoulder as she stripped down to her bathing suit and plunged into the water of the river. Her screams and cheers mixed with those from the other children.
Tōshirō just scowled after her, he hated the nickname she'd coined for him. He'd only moved in with them last week, certainly not long enough for her to have a nickname for him already. He stepped out from under the shade of the bridge and grabbed Momo's discarded clothes before retreating, very quickly back under the bridge again. He hated the nickname, but he didn't hate her. They were both in similar circumstances after all. He folded her clothes and placed them in her bag, making sure to wrap them in a plastic bag, so they didn't get wet from the spare water bottle that had been placed in there. He then sat down, hugging his knees as he watched the children play.
There were no adults, only children, and they were all his age or older. In fact, he was probably the youngest, being only seven, the eldest, if he had to guess was a tall boy, with spiky black hair and the remains of a black mark on his cheek, who looked to be about 10. What the black mark had been before the boy had gone into the water, Tōshirō didn't know, but after, it was just a black undefined smudge. If the kid had wanted to look cool with a tattoo, he should have used a waterproof marker, Tōshirō thought to himself. That said kid was hoisting a laughing Momo onto his shoulders, so they and two other kids could attempt to push each other off and into the water.
He watched them for a little, not realising that he'd shifted forward slightly until the leg that was out in the sun started to feel warm and he pulled it in quickly, tucking it under the blanket he was sitting on. It did look like fun, and if they had been playing in the snow, then Tōshirō would have joined them in an instant, instead, he pulled a book out of his bag and started to read.
"Shiro-chan!" Momo sing-sang and Tōshirō stirred. He'd fallen asleep, his book whilst interesting hadn't managed to curtail his boredom, that combined with the heat, had him lying down and closing his eyes. He'd promised himself that it would have only been for a few minutes. Those few minutes had easily turned into a few hours.
He blinked, opening his eyes seeing Momo, smiling with someone else's towel wrapped around her.
"Why is his hair white?" a voice asked and Tōshirō looked around. Momo hadn't come alone.
"Why is your hair red?" A voice rebutted and there was a chuckle from the others. The voice that had stood up for him belonged to a young girl, face hidden under a rather large, and comical hat. She was easiest the smallest out of the group, if not the same height as Tōshirō.
"Wow, Rukia, you wound me so," the red-head gasped, one hand dramatically clutched to his heart, the other, subconsciously flattening said red hair.
"Fool," Rukia muttered before turning back to Tōshirō. She sat next to him and removed her hat, placing it behind her. "Why are you hiding over here, that's no fun." Tōshirō decided then and there that he liked this girl. A little brash, perhaps, but in reality, it was her eyes. She had violet eyes, filled with wonder and amusement. He had teal eyes, and whilst he didn't know what people saw in them, he knew they were rare enough that people constantly made fun of him for them. He didn't doubt for a second that Rukia, should she ever get made fun of for anything, would allow anyone to get away with it.
"Shiro-chan doesn't like the sun," Momo supplied helpfully, pulling on her shorts and up-ending her bag of snacks onto the blanket. Tōshirō scowled at her. "Oh this is Hisagi Shuhei," she pointed to the tall boy with the water-smeared marker on his cheek, before pointing to a wallflower type with blonde hair and a solemn expression. "Kira Izuru, pay no mind to Abarai Renji and that's Kuchiki Rukia. Rukia's in second grade with you." Renji spluttered at his introduction but sat down with everyone else on the second blanket Momo had spread out to enlarge their seating area.
Tōshirō glanced around at the group as they all started upending their own bags onto the blanket. "It's a free for all," Rukia supplied helpfully. "We all just pool our snacks together and eat what we want." To demonstrate she reached over and grabbed an onigiri that had fallen out of Renji's bag.
"It's plum..." Renji warned but Rukia just bit into it without a care in the world. "So you don't like the sun huh?" She asked, mouth full of food. "What did the sun ever do to you?"
"It burns," Tōshirō supplied, mentally slapping his face at how idiotic that sounded.
Rukia laughed, but in a way that wasn't making fun of him. "Well yes, I suppose it does, but only if you haven't got sunblock on."
Tōshirō blushed. "I mean the heat, it's hot." Even that sounded really uneducated and Tōshirō really started to doubt his ability to talk.
"That's why we play in the water," she deftly caught the juice box Shuhei threw at her. "Can't melt if you're already a puddle."
Rukia's analogy, whilst inaccurate, made sense and he nodded thoughtfully. He pulled his own bag towards him and upended it, pausing briefly as a tub of amanatto tumbled out on top. He contemplated grabbing it, hiding it so only he could eat it later, but in the end, left it. Food tasted better shared after all.
"So Momo says you just moved in with her and Granny?" Shuhei asked, settling across from him and Tōshirō nodded. "First thoughts of Junrinan?"
"Hot," Tōshirō said with a shrug. Opening up a bottle of water, he took a swig, relishing in the coldness of the bottle. It had been pure ice when Granny had packed it in their bags, now it had melted nicely in the sun, to the point where there were just a few little ice crystals left floating around.
"Just you wait until winter," Kira mumbled, hand reaching for an apple.
"Does it snow?" Tōshirō asked hopefully but was met with a chorus of laughs.
"I wish!" Rukia gasped. "It doesn't even rain here, I miss the snow. We used to live up in Inuzuri, and it snowed all the time. Down here it's nothing but the sun, it's deplorable!"
Renji barked out a laugh. "You've been listening to your brother rant again haven't you Ru?"
Rukia blushed. "Brother-in-law," she corrected. "But yes, it's a good word, don't knock it." She turned back to Tōshirō, whose face was now contorted up in a mixture of horror from hearing the news that it didn't snow, to the admiration of the word she just used. "It's not all bad down here, that's why I spend most of my time in the water. It's only melted snow after all."
Melted snow, Tōshirō hadn't thought of it like that. He loved the snow, he much preferred playing in the snow than he did the sun. He glanced over at the river, the water sparkling like crystals, the light refracting and twinkling.
"The crystals are the same colour as your eyes," Rukia whispered and Tōshirō turned to face her, face going as red as Renji's hair. "They're pretty." Her face took on a sort of grin, and she pulled back from him, hand reaching for the box of amanatto. Tōshirō froze, a cry of objection on his lips, but the box was passed to him. "You keep them, the guys are ruthless, if you want to keep something for yourself, don't be afraid to do so."
Tōshirō smiled his thanks, opened up the box and popped one of the candied soybeans in his mouth before offering one to Rukia. She took one, returning his smile and they chuckled as if sharing some secret before Tōshirō put the lid back on the box and placed it in his bag.
"Come swimming with us?" Rukia asked, violet eyes shining. Tōshirō nodded and she grinned, hands clapping together. "Oh, that's great Shiro-chan!"
Tōshirō opened his mouth to correct her, but strangely enough, the nickname, coming from her, didn't sound so bad at all.
A/N: This is a work that I created for the Sereitei Discord Server Gift Exchange over on A03, where I'm known as Chaotic_Dreamer.