Part Three
The sun had risen. Hitsugaya and Hinamori were still sitting on the roof.
"The meeting is starting soon." Stated Hinamori. Hitsugaya gave a nod for acknowledgement but neither of them nudged from their position.
"Gomen ne Hitsugaya kun" Hinamori said quietly, not looking at him. "For turning my sword against you, for not believing you, for not trusting you."
"I forgave you a long time ago. Besides, it wasn't your fault anyway. We were all being played by that bastard Aizen."
"But I should have known…it couldn't have been you." It came out as a whisper; Hitsugaya could sense the tears starting to arise. He let out an intentional frustrated sigh.
"I told you already; don't worry about it…bed wetter Momo." His heart fluttered as he saw a small smile form on her face. It warmed him to know that he could still make her smile.
"We should get going soon, the others would be thrilled to know you're awake." Hinamori nodded but still neither of them budged from their position.
"Contest huh" Sighed Matsumoto. The meeting had already started and the vice-captain of the first division had begun to give a rundown on what was decided by the captain-commander during the captain meeting.
"As you all know, due to the treacherous events of the three captains, there are three vacant captain seats available. Yamamotogenryusai-taichou has decided that a contest will be held in three months time. Any shinigami, with the approval of their division captain, can challenge the captain of any division to a contest. If the fight is deemed worthy to the judges then they will be added into the consideration list. These contestants will then enter another tournament in which they will fight each other. The top three winners will then undergo the three-day-method of achieving their bankai."
"Three months, three days! Such a short time span!" exclaimed several vice-captains.
"With Aizen and Ichimaru sided with the menos grandes, it is only a matter of time before we need all the defences we have. Naturally the captain seats have to be filled quicker then usual" stated the first division vice-captain. "That is all."
Isane fuku-taichou of the fourth division stepped in to make a statement.
"I know you are all alarmed with the news that nibantai fuku-taichou 2nd division vice captain has just given us but I have something else of alarming nature. This morning, Hinamori fuku-taichou's bed was found empty. Fourth division was dispatched immediately to locate her but have not being successful as of yet." Gasps erupted in the room.
"Hinamori san is awake then?" asked Renji, wide eyed.
"If so, she is probably with taichou then" said Matsumoto, after recovering from the news. Judging from the past events, it was the most probable possibility. Who else would Hinamori-chan want to see more then taichou after she woke up?
As Renji plus some others were about to go looking for her, the subject of the discussion showed up with, as Rangiku suggested, Hitsugaya taichou.
Hinamori bowed, greeted and apologised to everyone. "Sorry for all the trouble."
"What trouble, the important thing is that you're well and awake" responded Renji, followed by noises of agreement from the others who had all gathered around her.
"Glad you'll all okay now" smiled Isane fuku-taichou. "I have to go recruit those looking for you now. Stop by fourth division headquarters later on for a check up." With that the gentle vice-captain left.
"So not fair of you, Hinamori chan, to only think of taichou when you woke up." Rangiku remarked, smiling inwards. Hinamori's face became red as she apologised once again. Hitsugaya glared at his vice-captain…and was promptly ignored.
The rest of the day was quite uneventful. Hitsugaya was piled up with mountains of work. By the time he finished the last paper he was dead tired. He quickly retired to his room and laid down on his futon without bothering to pull the blankets. He was about to go to sleep when he realised that he was lying on an incredibly wet spot. Huh? It was then he heard someone in his bathroom. Annoyed from being kept from sleep, he flung the bathroom door open and walked straight in…and froze. There, lying in the bath tub was Hinamori, with her head resting on one side of the bath. Luckily bath bubbles covered her up to her lower neck line. And she had obviously being playing with his rubber dog.
Quickly he turned from her to face the wall.
"Umm, Hinamori" He said loudly. When she didn't awaken he took it upon himself to yell.
"Hinamori!" It worked. The girl was startled from her slumber.
"Ahh...Shiro-cha…Hitsugaya kun!" Hitsugaya immediately left the bathroom, closing the bathroom door behind him with his back still facing her.
She came out of the bathroom a few moments later. Hitsugaya was sitting on the floor, looking at her with a stern expression, silently demanding an explanation. Hinamori tried to hide her giggle. Shiro-chan, so serious. She sat down, facing him.
"I…I was bringing you some tea but then I tripped. It fell on your blanket. I got wet trying to clean it so I decided to take a bath. I must have fallen asleep, I guess I was more tired then I realised."
"You guess…" His eyes narrowed for a moment then he gave an exasperated sigh and looked away. I guess it happened because she was bringing tea for me. He could never be annoyed at her for very long. He turned to look at her when he heard her giggle.
"I'm all wrinkly!" she said as she smiled, observing her prune like arms and hands then holding them to show him. She then got up and moved purposefully towards his wardrobe.
"What are you doing?" He turned to look at her.
"Replacing your blankets with new ones" she replied as she carried them out of the wardrobe and placed it near his bed. She was about to remove his dirty blankets when all of a sudden she was seized by a fit of coughing. Hitsugaya got up at once and moved towards her.
"I'll do it. Don't strain yourself" He said as he poured her a cup of water.
"Here." She took the cup from him. "What did Unohana san say?"
"She told me that I'm still healing and prohibited me to do anything strenuous for at least two weeks. Mou, I'm going to be bored out of my brains for two weeks of doing nothing."
"Your health is more important than boredom" Hitsugaya scolded, it's one of the most important things to me, "besides, I'm sure you're find something to entertain yourself with. As vice-captain I'm sure you still have other duties to tend to."
"Yeah, paperwork." Hinamori yawned.
"It's late, you should get some sleep now" commented Hitsugaya when he saw her yawn. She seemed reluctant to go though.
"I won't be able to sleep. I'll start thinking about things." An idea suddenly arose. "Can I…stay with you tonight? Like I use to do back in the old days?"
Hitsugaya gave another sigh. In truth, he had absolutely nothing against the idea. In fact, he extremely welcomed it. However, appearances had to be kept. He wasn't the master of ice for nothing.
"Okay" She grinned. "Just don't let me wake up on something unpleasant." This time she threw a pillow at him.
Eventually they set up the bed and turned the lights off. Hitsugaya laid there, staring at the ceilings and thinking about the old times when he felt Hinamori snuggle up to him.
"Goodnight Shiro-chan." She murmured.
"Goodnight, bed-wetter Momo." He replied, still staring at the ceiling.
It was afternoon and Hitsugaya was starving. He hadn't eaten much since Hinamori was critically injured but now that she was better, the hunger hit him at full force. As such, he ordered an enormous meal and after it he sat back, feeling bloated. No sooner had the plates and containers being cleaned, a certain vice captain came in with an incredible large bundle. She smiled her sweet smile and greeted him happily.
"What is that?" He asked pointing to the large bundle covered in cloth.
"Rangiku-chan said that you haven't eaten properly for a while so I made you a large obento" She exclaimed. Hitsugaya paled and stared incredulously at it as she unwrapped the bundle to reveal about two dozen sushi rolls and two medium sized rabbit shaped inari. She then took a chop stick and force fed him one of her sushi rolls. His stomach retaliated but he forced it down anyway.
She looked at him in anticipation, her eyes wide. "How is it?" She asked.
"Good." He said, forcing another piece down his throat to prove it to her. Hinamori seemed oblivious to his situation.
"Try the inari next."
He was going to kill Rangiku afterwards.
End of Part 3
