CHAPTER 14 PART 1: AMENDS & RESOLUTIONS

I decided to make "mushy ShiroxMomo scenes for all" (As Bizoitnott puts it) mwahaha … though hopefully not too mushy. And there is no smut (or lemon, or whatever you people call it) in this entire fanfic at all so don't worry, though I know what some of you from LJ would be thinking. :smirks:

Epsilon Zeta: I'm interested in the picture, can you please email it to me. xD

Another Author's note: I haven't re-read this so there are probably mistakes. And don't worry, it's only going to be two parts in this chap otherwise it's too long.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Bleach, manga or anime.


AMENDS & RESOULTIONS


"Come on, the festival's starting Hinamori-kun." Said Kira worriedly as he watched his melancholy friend. She was still sitting besides Hitsugaya's sick bed with his hand in hers.

"No, you should go, Kira-kun. I don't feel like going, I want to stay here in case he wakes up." She replied, her gaze never leaving Hitsugaya's form. She placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

Kira sighed, it was hopeless.

"Okay then, but don't hesitate to join me at the festival if you feel like it."

"Thanks." She replied absentmindedly.

Kira gazed at his friend once more then exited the room.

"It's been four days already, Shiro-chan. When will you wake up?" There was no response from him, he seemed empty of life. Ironic isn't it, the turn of events? She thought sadly as she watched his pale and motionless form.

"Excellent job, Kuchiki Rukia." Appraised Yamamoto as he surveyed the festival layout from the main tower.

Four days earlier, Rukia was granted the position of festival designer and manager at her request. Of course, Byakuya, Ichigo and Renji were against it as organising a festival in four days would place a large amount of stress on her. But Rukia had been vehement, arguing that she had already rested for three months and doing this task would brighten her up.

Since then, Rukia had received exclusive rights to duplicate objects from the living world to add to the festival. The objects ranged from sweets and stuffed bunnies to rides such as the Ferris wheel. The product was a very … unique layout – mixing feudal age Japan with the modern age.

Rukia beamed proudly at Yamamoto's compliment and stared out at the glowing lights and alluring music of the festival grounds.

"You should go and enjoy yourself." Yamamoto continued after a moment, he turned to Byakuya, Ichigo and Renji who were all standing behind Rukia.

"All four of you. That is an order, Kuchiki Byakuya." A disgusted expression played on Byakuya's face for a split second then quickly returned to its state of placidity.

"Yes sir" He obeyed. With that he turned around and walked gracefully out the door. Rukia followed him happily while Ichigo and Renji trailed behind her.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia called out. Byakuya stopped and turned to look at her.

"Yes Rukia?"

"Would you like to join us?" Rukia asked, knowing full well that if she didn't then he would just walk off by himself. Byakuya thought for a moment.

"I shall." Renji and Ichigo's jaws dropped to the ground. Rukia seemed oblivious and smiled happily. The Kuchiki siblings walked off together, leaving two dumbstruck shinigamis to trail behind as they wondered if the Kuchiki siblings actually got closer then they've let on in the last four days.


.

Where am I? Wondered Hitsugaya as he peered around. He was enveloped in pure darkness, the eerie silence deafened him. But the strangest thing of all was that he felt comfortable here. He did not want to leave.

The truth of it all was that Aizen's words had gotten to him. However, a trait he had picked up throughout the years of being a captain enabled him to complete the pentagon successfully – and that was to set aside disruptive emotions. But in the end, when everything was over, the words had hit home and buried themselves deep within him. Or, you could say, brought up doubts that already existed in him.

/ "Doesn't it just kill you to know that I meant more to her than you did?" /

Did Aizen really mean more to her than I did? If the situation was reversed and I was the one who died, would she have turned her sword on Aizen for me? Hitsugaya scoffed, up until his betrayal was crystal clear to her, she would have never dared raise her sword to Aizen.

/ "But in the end Hinamori chose to believe me. Tell me, how did you feel when Hinamori pointed her sword at you Hitsugaya?"/

There was no word that could describe what he had felt at that moment, but the closest word to it was perhaps 'shattered'. He had kept the pieces intact for too long and avoided anything to do with it for such a long time. When Hinamori was in her coma, he had concentrated on worrying about her health. When she had apologised for it, he had dismissed it for her sake. Then after that, he had concentrated on the shared goal of destroying Aizen and winning the war. But now that everything was over, he no longer had any distractions. The pieces that had shattered the moment she pointed her soul slayer at him now fell apart. For the first time in his life, Hitsugaya gave in to the darkness.


Hinamori woke up in the middle of the night, something was not right. She lifted her head from Hitsugaya's bed and shifted in her seat to stretch. The moonlight streamed through the window, casting rectangular shapes on the blanket.

Hinamori lit a lamp and moved to sit next to Hitsugaya on the bed. She leaned down to kiss his forehead then jerked back. He was cold, too cold. Hinamori jumped up immediately and leaned over him, taking his shoulders and shaking him harshly.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Hitsugaya-kun!" She yelled repeatedly. Her head spun towards the door. "Somebody help me!" She screamed out desperately. She leaned down and placed her ear against his chest, her eyes widened in disbelief. There's no movement and I can't feel his heart beating. Horror overcame her. She ran out of the room.

"Somebody help me! Hitsugaya is… Hitsugaya is not breathing!" She yelled as she ran down the hall, peering into different rooms on the way. A shinigami ran into the hall.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou! What's wrong!" He asked breathlessly.

"Quick! Get Unohana-taichou and tell her that Hitsugaya is not breathing! Hurry!"

"Wha… Hitsugaya-taichou… Right away" He managed to reply before he scurried down the hall in search of his captain.

Hinamori let out a sob and quickly returned back to Hitsugaya. As she approached his room, she saw a blue flash of light shining through the door.

"Hanatarou-kun!" The fourth squad shinigami looked sheepishly at her.

"Hitsugaya-taichou's condition has been stabilised but you have to wait for Unohana-taichou to be sure." Relief flooded through Hinamori.

"Thank you, Hanatarou-kun. If you hadn't come when you did then…" Hinamori trailed off, she didn't want to think down that path.

A few moments later, Unohana walked into the room and hurried to Hitsugaya's side. She tended to him then turned to face Hinamori.

"He's fine now. But…" Unohana stopped mid-sentence, deep in thought. "That's strange." Hinamori's eyes widened.

"But what? What's strange? What's wrong with him, Unohana-Taichou!" Hinamori pressed, anxiety becoming her.

"Physically he is completely healed yet he still won't wake up."

"He's completely healed? But he stopped breathing! Even his heart stopped for a minute. If Hanatarou wasn't here then…"

"Calm down, Hinamori-san." Unohana interrupted gently, "Right now he is fighting a war inside. But because it showed physically on his healed body, I presume he is loosing to the darkness." Unohana closed her eyes. "There is nothing else we, the fourth division, can do now. Whether he wakes up is up to him." She placed a hand on Hinamori's shoulder then she examined Hitsugaya once more before she left the room.

"Come, Hanatarou." She ordered. Hinamori bowed a little as she watched the captain and Hanatarou exit the room.

"Thank you, Captain Unohana. Hanatarou." As soon as they left, Hinamori returned to Hitsugaya's side and took his hand.


Hitsugaya sat in the darkness with his eyes closed, hugging his knees. He seemed to glow as light seemed to emit from him.

"Hitsugaya, can you hear me?" came a familiar voice.

Hinamori. He slowly opened his eyes and peered into the darkness.

"You know…" Her voice sounded so soft and sad.

"I'm really annoyed at you." She continued bluntly.

What! Was he not in a coma?

"You should have said something if you had doubts. Cos you know, that's what couples do – they talk out their problems. They don't keep it to themselves…or go into a coma."

Hitsugaya listened in disbelief. She has got to be the first girlfriend ever to scold her in-a-coma-boyfriend. These kind of things were unprecedented, or so he thought.

"You were always like that though – putting me in front of everything. But you were never like this: so expressionless and so … so comatose." Hitsugaya felt his eyebrow twitch a few times.

"And when have you ever given up willingly without fighting?" She continued.

"Ne Hitsugaya," said Hinamori, her voice going low and serious, "you might be comfortable in there but what about the people who care about you out here?"

Hitsugaya flinched inwardly. He was no stranger to the feeling of waiting for someone you care about to wake up, not knowing whether they will or not. And now I've put Hinamori through that.

There was a moment of silence. He sensed it before he heard it – her tears. Great, now I've made her cry. Smooth Hitsugaya, very smooth. If there was one thing he hated more than Aizen in this world, it was Hinamori crying – especially because of him.

"You promised" she sobbed in a child-like voice, "Remember? When that thing with Ayumi happened, you promised me that you would never leave me. You promised!"

Hitsugaya closed his eyes but that just seemed to accentuate the sound of her crying so he opened them. This time though, when he opened his eyes, he saw not darkness but a blurry vision of Hinamori wiping her tears. He blinked a few times until he was no longer affected by the dim light that lit the room, and until the blurriness went away.

He saw her clearly now, sitting near him and caught in her tears. A dull pain tugged at his heart as he watched her. He reached out to touch her hand.

The soft contact surprised her, causing her to jerk up straight in her seat. Her eyes widened and she turned her head towards him ever so slowly.

"Hitsu…Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed.

A grin broke out on her face as she jumped at him and hugged him. He was startled at first but then returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her and holding her closer to him. Hinamori snuggled closer and laid contently into him.

At that moment, a fourth division shinigami who had been camped outside the room for the night walked in. His face went bright red when he saw the position they were in and quickly averted his gaze to the side.

"Uh-hmm… sorry to interrupt Hinamori-fukutaichou, I heard noises in here so I came in to see if something had happened. My name is Fujita by the way, I was posted here by Unohana-taichou. I apologise again." Hinamori in turn went red and quickly got off the bed.

"No, not at all" she replied hastily, scratching the back of her head as she gave him a goofy grin accompanied by a high pitched laugh. The shinigami looked at her weirdly then lowered his gaze to observe Hitsugaya. His eyes went wide.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" He exclaimed, "You're awake!" He walked over hastily to the annoyed captain who now was sitting up in bed with his arms folded.

"Pardon me but I have to examine you now to see if everything is okay."

"I'm fine." Hitsugaya replied stubbornly.

"Hitsugaya, let him examine you." Said Hinamori. Hitsugaya glared at her. Hinamori glared back. A drop of sweat slid down the back of the fourth division shinigami's head as he observed the two. To his surprise, Hitsugaya faltered after a while and plonked back onto the pillow. Only Hinamori-fukutaichou can defeat Hitsugaya taichou's icy glare. He thought as he moved to examine the boy captain.

After he was done, he announced that the captain seemed to be completely healed. The genius just grunted a "I am not called a genius for nothing" grunt and began to climb out of the bed.

"I shall be returning to my room now." He stated as he kicked the blankets off him. Fujita moved to protest.

"But sir, Unohana-taichou said not to let you go if you wake up until she has come to see you tomorrow morning." Hitsugaya shrugged and continued to get up.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" He pleaded, moving his gaze to Hinamori for help.

Two hands shot out and pushed Hitsugaya back onto the bed. He sat up again straight away.

"Oi!"

"I think you should stay here until Unohana-taichou comes tomorrow, Hitsugaya-kun." She said politely but firmly with a small smile on her face. Hitsugaya shuddered inwardly. In other words, she means "you better stay here and wait until Unohana comes or else".

He crossed his arms and looked away.

"Whatever."

Fujita gave Hinamori a grateful smile.

"Well, I better let you get some rest, Hitsugaya-taichou. You should get some proper rest too, Hinamori-fukutaichou. I heard that you have been sleeping on the chair next to Hitsugaya taichou's bed ever since he went into a coma."

Hinamori scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously as she felt Hitsugaya raise an eyebrow at her. Maa, I'm going to get in trouble later on. She thought timidly as she avoided looking at him.

"Thank you, Fujita-kun. You should get some rest too." She replied in a voice that could match Kuchiki Rukia's pretence voice. He nodded at both of them before leaving the room.

Hitsugaya was still looking at her.

"Sleeping on the chair huh?" He said evenly, "for…how many days have I been in a coma?"

"Four days." She answered.

"You've been sleeping on a chair for four days!" He exclaimed.

"It's your fault for not waking up sooner!" She retorted somewhat illogically as she folded her arms and stared him down. He may be the same height as her now but he was currently sitting down on the bed and she was still standing.

Hinamori abruptly turned around to face the window. Hitsugaya could see her trembling from trying to hold her tears in. He let out a sigh.

"Momo, come here." He said.

"No." She replied stubbornly, refusing to turn around to face him. She wiped her tears away with her sleeves and sniffed. Hinamori jumped a little when she felt Hitsugaya embrace her from behind. He turned her around to face him. She looked away from him.

"Oi Hinamori, look at me." She slowly met his gaze.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." He raised an eyebrow at her. She leaned in and rested her forehead on his.

"I was scared" she whispered, "I thought you would leave me." She clung onto him tighter.

"Baka Hinamori, I promised remember." He reminded her.

"Sometimes promises can't be kept." She argued.

"I'll keep the promises I make to you." He assured her. She started to cry again.

"But you left me, even if it was only for a moment. You stopped breathing! You made me believe you left me for good!" She pounded his chest with her fists. "How could you do that to me!" She was crying freely now, her hits coming slower and lighter each time it connected.

"You promised me!" she cried forcefully, "You promised me you would never leave me!"

Hitsugaya stood there shocked. I stopped breathing? Was I really gone for a moment?

She flung her arms around him and held him tightly.

"It's okay, I came back didn't I?" He said soothingly as he hugged her back. She buried her face in him in response.

They stood like that for a while until her crying calmed down.

"I…" She whispered weakly near his ear.

"Hmm? You what?" He asked gently as he continued to rub her back in a comforting motion.

"I love you." She finished. Hitsugaya stopped, his eyes widened. He knew she liked him already but hearing the love word so bluntly from her had a huge impact on him.

She moved so that her forehead was once more on his.

"Now might be a good time to say something." She smiled. But Hitsugaya was a man of action. He searched her eyes for a moment then slowly leaned in to take her mouth with his. The kiss grew and Hinamori felt her knees give in as she clung onto him for support. She stumbled forward and in her process of doing so she pushed Hitsugaya backwards. They fell on the bed with Hinamori on top of him.

"Whaa!" she let out as she landed with only about an inch to spare from Hitsugaya's face. Her face became bright red as soon as she realised that she was lying on top of him. She quickly got off and sat up straight on the bed, her eyes avoiding his eyes as she looked directly ahead.

She caught him smirking at her though and gave him a "don't you think about anything, Hitsugaya Toshiro" look. According to Ichigo, most human males can't wait till they are eighteen at the least to do the deed, and Hitsugaya was over a hundred and fifty years old.

An uncomfortable silence drifted past them.

"So…" started Hitsugaya, "What's been happening?"


"Shhh, they are sleeping." Whispered Fujita at the two other shinigamis with him, one of them was Hanatarou. The other one was Rangiku.

Matsumoto watched as Hinamori snuggled closer to Hitsugaya in her sleep.

"Aww, they are so cute!" she exclaimed.

"Do you think that these two have, you know?" hinted Fujita. Matsumoto was confused for a moment then her eyes widened in realisation. She took a fan and hit him on the head with it, hard. Hanatarou was still confused.

"Most men can't wait a hundred plus years…" Fujita continued as he rubbed the large bump on his head. He was interrupted by Matsumoto.

"My captain isn't like that you moron" she snapped at him.


Hitsugaya slowly stirred from his sleep…to find an audience. He looked from right to left – Ichigo, Renji, Rukia, Matsumoto, Kira, Hanatarou and Fujita. He was about to bolt upright when he heard Hinamori moan and slowly open her eyes. She sat up, stretched her arms and yawned. Then she noticed the audience. Ichigo, Renji and Matsumoto were smiling while the others looked amused.

"Umm…" she managed to let out. "What are all of you doing here?"

Renji and Ichigo looked as if they were about to say something to tease them – from the way they were smirking. Luckily, Unohana arrived before they could.

"My, my, there shouldn't be so much people in here." She said as she ushered them out the room.

"Just here to see Hitsugaya" smirked Ichigo, giving the couple a look.

"Yeah, apparently taichou decided to stop sleeping." Said Rangiku. Hitsugaya glared at her.

"I was in a coma, Matsumoto. Besides, stop making me sound as laid back as Shunsui."

"Sorry captain. Besides, I think captain Shunsui's 'slothfulness' is inspirational." She said as she walked out the room, leaving with a "glad you're well, captain."

"You are free to go now, Captain Hitsugaya." Said Unohana when she finished examining him.

"Thank you, Unohana-taichou."


"What's that Rukia-san?" exclaimed Hinamori as she pointed at the pink fluffy cloud in a clear bag. Ichigo, Renji and Hitsugaya trailed closely behind them.

"It's called 'cotton candy'." She informed her, obviously proud of her expert knowledge. "It's a type of candy that melts in your mouth." Hinamori was intrigued.

"Can I have a pink one of this 'cotton candy' please?" She asked the seller. The old man smiled and her and asked,

"Do you want to have a pre-made one or would you like to watch me make one?"

"I can watch?" Hinamori exclaimed excitedly. Rukia seemed intrigued as well. She had never watched one being made before.

The men watched the girls weirdly as they squealed in delight over the making of cotton candy.

Hinamori stared in awe as the sugar slowly formed a large cotton ball and shrieked when he handed it over to her. She observed it closely for a moment then pinched off a bit then placed it into her mouth.

"It's delicious!"

She turned around immediately to Hitsugaya.

"Shiro-chan, try some!" Before he could protest, Hinamori force fed him a bundle. Ichigo laughed at the scene but was soon silenced when Rukia stuffed a bundle in his mouth. She then passed some to Renji.

The group continued moving forward, stopping at little trinket stalls on the way. Suddenly Hinamori and Rukia screamed. Standing a few feet in front of them was a rabbit shaped store. Both girls gasped and covered their mouths in shock, then they sprinted towards it as soon as they recovered.

The men stood there for a moment watched them enter the shop. Hitsugaya turned to Ichigo,

"So how long did it take you to convince Kuchiki Byakuya to permit this?" He asked pointedly. Ichigo just shrugged and walked towards it.

Rukia looked around, it was absolute heaven. There were different assortments of bunny stuff everywhere – from plush toys to stationery to real rabbits. She wanted to buy one of everything in the store!

"No need to buy one of everything in this store Rukia" came a voice behind her.

"Ichigo." Then the words registered. "Why not?" she asked.

Ichigo shrugged. "Byakuya figured as much. Everything is already at your house."

"Nii-sama did this, for me?" She asked, deeply surprised.

"Uh…yeah." He replied, looking away.

On the other side, Hitsugaya was watching Hinamori feed a white rabbit.

"Kawaii!" exclaimed Hinamori.

"Are you going to get one then?" asked Hitsugaya, somewhat amused. Hinamori thought for a moment then shook her head.

"I won't be able to look after it properly." She concluded.


.

Night fell and the festival lights illuminated the grounds.

"I want to go on that!" said Hinamori, pointing to the Ferris wheel. Ichigo and Renji's mouth fell while Hitsugaya looked at it sceptically, seemingly checking for any signs of danger.

That Rukia, she actually made them recreate the Ferris wheel. Thought Ichigo, though he couldn't really put it past her – she was stubborn and determined that way.

"Abarai-taichou!" screamed out a voice. They turned around to see a subordinate running towards them.

"Abarai-taichou! There's been a situation at the ninth division headquarters, sir."

"Damn it!" swore Renji, he turned to his friends. "I'll catch up with you guys later, if it's not too late." With that he stormed off.

"Shall we go then?" Hinamori asked, dragging Hitsugaya by the arm towards the Ferris wheel. Rukia and Ichigo followed behind in silence. Hinamori eyed the two discreetly and thought of a brilliant plan.

When the four of them reached the Ferris wheel and were about to be seated, Hinamori turned to Ichigo and Rukia.

"Is it okay for Hitsugaya and me to share a cart? You two can take this one or the one after us." She asked sweetly, ignoring Hitsugaya's raised eyebrow.

"Why do you want…" Rukia elbowed Ichigo in the ribs.

"That's fine, Hinamori-chan." She replied. Hinamori smiled back at her then entered the cart. Hitsugaya followed her.

"Why did you elbow me?" asked Ichigo irritably as they entered the next cart.

"They're a couple, naturally they would want to go by themselves you idiot." Answered Rukia in a matter-of-fact voice.

On the cart above them, Hitsugaya confronted Hinamori.

"What are you up to, Momo?" He asked.

"Don't you think Ichigo and Rukia make a good match?" she asked, turning to look at the two. Hitsugaya gave her a look of disbelief.

"What?"

"Are you going to be looking at them this whole ride?" He asked. She looked at him puzzled for a moment then grinned.

"Are you jealous because my attention was diverted from you?" she teased. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Of course not." He said stubbornly, folding his arms again. She looped an arm into his and snuggled into him.

"Wait until the fireworks start." She said happily as she stole another glance at the two below. Hitsugaya groaned.


END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN PART 1


Once again I had to split a chapter in two otherwise it would be too long. So next time would just be the continuation of this. Hitsugaya and Hinamori still have to work out some issues...and tell me now if you want Ichigo/Rukia cos right now it can still go both ways.

Please reviewThanks again for those who have.