I thought this would be an interesting couple, though the chances of them actually getting together are, like, 0.1 percent. Sad face. :-(

Review if you like. No flames, please.

AI NO KANSHOKU
Renji x Hinamori

Looking over his past record, he seemed to always have a weakness for the small, cute girl, torn apart by turmoil and hesitant about her own duty. That was both Kuchiki Rukia and Hinamori Momo in a nutshell.

I found it amazing that he was able to overcome the heartache that was caused by Kuchiki Rukia's leave from Soul Society. She left him flat and he never confessed the way he felt about her, though of course that was as obvious as the sun in the sky. She just never noticed.

That Kurosaki Ichigo did, though. But he never said anything to Kuchiki, because I guess Kurosaki figured that since he had her, there was no need for him to say anything else.

We were all there when they left.

"…goodbye, everyone…you have to sort out the government here…and I'm going to Earth. You know where to find me if you need me," Kuchiki Rukia said, but she wasn't looking at us; she was looking very pointedly at both the sixth and thirteenth divisions. For their part, neither said a word until she paused, looking a bit lost for expression.

"You're okay, Kuchiki," Ukitake-taichou said, with a generous smile as always. "Hope to see you back here soon. Make the most out of happiness, eh?"

She blushed, and then turned to her brother.

"Byakuya-nii-sama…"

I really expected him to say nothing. But he did.

He nodded his head in her direction, and said, "Until we meet again."

Visibly, her spirits lifted considerably at even that small amount of recognition…and then all that was left was Abarai Renji. I think Kuchiki thought that he might be hurt by her leaving, but in truth, I had already known that the worst storm of his emotion had already passed and cooled.

And how did I know that? Well, of course, it just had to be me to have stumbled upon them, that night that I did.

"Rukia…"

"Renji, I…I wanted to thank you for all that you've done…" she pauses. They're empty words, what she's saying now, because she already said them before and with a whole lot more emotion. "So I hope that until I return, you can be happy…"

Astute. Very astute. I don't think that even she realized how astute her words were.

He smiled at her, slightly, and there was still some hurt in it, but it had already begun to fade.

"You take care, Rukia. And you too, bastard," he said, in reference to the orange-haired shinigami who was standing just behind her. "Maybe I'll drop in one day, when I don't have anything more exciting to do. You know, to liven up your boring, dull human lives and all."

He smiled at her, she smiled back, Kurosaki Ichigo's eyebrow twitched (because he is very possessive, did you know?), and everything was fine between the two old friends. The jealousy and heartache was gone, and all that was left was Abarai Renji's sincere wish for Kuchiki Rukia's happiness, in any way or form.

Abarai didn't even flinch when her hand came out to hold Kurosaki's as they stepped through the portal. If I remember correctly, I think he even smiled. I knew it was because of her, and what she had done to him.

Later on, no one would ever know how it quite came about…but I do.

And now Abarai's all silent and serious again. It's been almost two weeks since Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia left and I haven't seen him brood this depressingly in all that time, so it must not be about Kuchiki; it must be something else.

"Abarai Renji."

He turns, but, appearing disinterested, doesn't even respond to my greeting.

"You could at least say hello."

"Yeah…hi."

"Why the long face?"

"What face?"

"The one you're wearing now."

"It's nothing," he scowled. "This is the face I always have." And indeed, that scowl did shape his face back into a mime of how it usually looked, but I wasn't fooled.

"Sure. And I'm first division captain, did you know?" I sighed. "Seriously, Abarai, what's bothering you? All this doom and gloom will affect your missions." I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as I said this, but he just looked disinterested again. That made me wonder if he was even listening. "Why, are you worried about Hinamori?"

Now that definitely got his attention, and I gloated. "Wh – what?"

"I repeat:" I said slowly, just to piss him off, "Are – you – worried – about–"

He cut me off mid-sentence. "No I'm not!" he said, standing, as a fierce breeze ruffled the spikes of his hair. "And stop talking to me like I'm stupid! I'm not you know!"

That made me smile; that he was a strong and immensely intimidating vice-captain under Kuchiki Byakuya, and yet he could still blush like an academy schoolgirl.

"Why, Abarai, is that a sunburn on your face or do I see red?"

"Oh, just shut up." He sat back down with a huff, dangling his legs over the edge of the raised floor. "Go away; I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

I sat down next to him. "Please. I know that you're thinking about Hinamori. Just like when you were thinking about Kuchiki Rukia, that look on your face is way too predictable. You should learn something from Kuchiki-taichou…you know, about his poker face."

His face is turned away from me. I don't expect him to answer just yet, because he hasn't cracked. I haven't pushed him.

"So what's between you and Hinamori lately, hm?"

Silence.

"I can understand why you're worried about her."

Silence.

"Captain trials are much harder than vice-captain trials."

Silence.

"And with Aizen-taichou, Ichimaru-taichou, and Tousen-taichou dead, not to mention Kira arrested, everyone's looking to move up the food chain."

Still silence. This pointed ignorance is beginning to annoy me.

"You know, the only reason Hinamori wants to become captain is so that she can disprove the image of the traitorous former captain of the fifth division. She wants to prove something. She thinks that becoming captain is the best thing she could do to show the rest of Soul Society that the fifth division is still worthy of merit."

Nothing. Doesn't even blink.

"But people have died before in captain trials…"

Hah. Now he looks edgy.

"And even though Hinamori's strong, I wonder if she could stand up to the pressure of the trial. I mean, she isn't a genius or a child prodigy, and she isn't possessed of extreme power like Zaraki-taichou or the former Aizen-taichou. Do you think she'll die?"

"Will you just shut up?" He jumps to his feet, and I conceal a smile with some difficulty. I knew that mention of her death would be the catalyst through which I'd get a rise out of him. "You just keep talking to me about all this fucking shit about Hinamori dying! Damn, just shut up! I don't want to hear another word about Hinamori and the captain trials! I already know, all right!"

Abarai Renji might be power-strong, but surely, somewhere, someone is walking around with an extravagant I.Q. to make up for what he lacks. For trying to make me disbelieve the fact that he is not thinking about Hinamori, he's failing miserably, horribly, and completely.

"So stop trying to deny you're worried about her," I counter, sitting up a little straighter so that he'll start to take me seriously. "I know that you and Hinamori have become a little…close, shall we say. You don't have to deny it."

The look on his face is priceless. Baboon king, indeed.

"H – how did you–"

I shrug. "That doesn't really matter, does it? All that matters is what you're feeling now."

"Yeah, but…I…"

"You think you're betraying Kuchiki Rukia's memory."

"Jesus how are you doing that?"

"You're not a particularly hard subject to unravel."

"I'm not a damn specimen!"

Again, I shrug. "Perhaps." Then, to stem his tirade, I add, "It's natural to feel the way you do, Abarai, but I think you're already in too deep. Just because you loved Kuchiki Rukia once doesn't mean your heart has to be chained to her forever."

"Look, just stop this, all right?"

What had I been thinking earlier? "And besides, Kuchiki Rukia and Hinamori are so similar in their beliefs. You go for the same type of girl…so no one can really blame your heart for having healed itself from Kuchiki's rejection so quickly."

"I said–"

"Otherwise," I say loudly, over his furiously rising voice, "you wouldn't have kissed Hinamori."

He makes a strangled noise in his throat that I believe is incredulity.

Abarai Renji, I had noted, was a sucker for a crying woman. And just like the typical man, he had absolutely no idea what to do when the tears were falling and the girl sobbing her heart out on his shoulder.

Seeing Hinamori doing this to him, Abarai frozen like a statue, was almost laughable.

It was so easy to melt into the shadows when I spotted them, but my split-second curiosity cost me the chance of escape. I had wanted to leave them alone, but I had stayed too long; a slight tread of my foot caught his attention before Abarai dismissed it as his imagination. If I moved again, he would most definitely sense me…and I didn't want Hinamori already more distraught than she already was.

"Abarai-kun…" she said through her tears, crying on his shoulder. "Abarai-kun…"

"Eh, Hinamori…it's okay," he said, very awkwardly patting her shoulder, before his hands wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. "Everything will be okay."

"No it won't be," she said. And even as I was trying not to listen, the words carried to my ears. "I'm taking the test to become the fifth division's captain…it was Aizen-taichou's job, and I have to prove the fifth division isn't all bad…that I'm not evil like he was…"

"You aren't, and you know it."

"But…but I'm scared!" she confessed, choking back another sob. "The captain trials are hard, and I'm not at the level of someone like Yamamoto-soutaichou or Ukitake-taichou…"

"Jesus, Hinamori, be reasonable. First of all, Yamamoto-soutaichou is the head of all 13 divisions, so no one's expecting any captain to be stronger than him anyway. And Ukitake-taichou has one major advantage over you, and that's experience. So stop putting yourself down. If you try out, everything's gonna be fine, Hinamori."

She nodded. "But…what if I don't get the position?"

"Then so what? Is anyone gonna give a shit?"

"What about Hitsugaya-kun?"

"What about the pipsqueak?"

"He'll be…disappointed in me. He's younger than me, and he's already captain!"

"So what? Not everybody's a genius. And if he tells you something sarcastic then tell him to go to Hell."

I was amazed at the level of insincerity in his words, but what I took for insincere, Hinamori must have reached much deeper. She started to laugh slightly through her tears, the drops falling into the corner of her mouth. "…thank you, Abarai-kun," she said softly.

He blinked, a strange expression coming over his face, before he suddenly pulled her closer. Much, much closer.

Suddenly I didn't want to be there.

"Abarai-kun…?"

"It'll be okay, Hinamori," he said. "You'll see, everything will be okay."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Abarai-kun…"

"For what?"

"You've just put everything in a much better light."

"Did I?"

"Yes! Now I don't feel so bad. You're right," she smiled, "I'm doing this for myself, just to show that stupid Aizen-taichou I can. So what if I'm not like the other captains? I can be a captain in my own way."

The relief that overtook his features was like a wave.

She smiled.

I wondered if he was seeing Kuchiki Rukia.

But then suddenly, he smiled too, and it was so real that I blinked. I'd never seen his face grow lax like that before. And then, to the surprise of Hinamori and me both, Abarai said, "…thank you, Hinamori."

From the way she blinked her eyes rapidly, I knew she was confused. Hell, even I was surprised that it had happened so quickly. "Abarai-kun? What are you thanking me for?"

I could see the image of Kuchiki Rukia dissolving before his eyes as clearly as if the image had been real and solid, standing in Hinamori's place. But he said nothing, only smiled a little more and a little longer.

"It's nothing, Hinamori. Forget it."

"O – okay…if you say so. Hey, Abarai-kun…can I tell you something else?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that Hitsugaya-kun likes someone?"

That definitely caught my attention.

"Why? Do you like him?"

"No…it's just that I think there is someone. Hitsugaya-kun is my closest friend. But he gets farther and farther away from me every day…you know? It just makes me sad when I think about it."

"Don't be. Even if he doesn't like you, he wouldn't want you to worry about him."

She sighed. "I don't know why I can tell you these things."

He shrugged lightly, and, as she looked up into his eyes, the connection that drew them together was so strong…strong enough that even I could sense that it was greater force than just loneliness and understanding, found in the other.

And Renji kissed her…or was it Hinamori that kissed Renji? I don't really know, because I didn't want to watch.

He's babbling again. "How – how – how did you…how did you…?"

"I just know these things," I shrug.

"I fucking knew there was someone there in the shadows!"

"Well, obviously, if you knew, you're a poor vice-captain for not having acted upon instinct," I say, and hide another smile at how his mind changes course in one instant. He was embarrassed for me knowing about him and Hinamori, and then, all of a sudden, he switches to angry at my jab at him.

He turns his head away, silent, fuming, but all the same needing to know my opinion. Wanting to know it.

"Hinamori will be fine," I say. "She's stronger than she thinks. Regardless of loyalties, she spent her vice-captain rank under one of the strongest former captains of the thirteen…and anyway, it is more acceptable for a vice-captain to ascend to captain status than for a seated shinigami to. So I wouldn't worry. These things have a way of working themselves out."

He doesn't say anything, back still turned to me, but this time I don't mind.

I make my way to my office after having left Abarai Renji alone to his thoughts. Although someone can show him the direction, I can't make him go…so whatever he decides from here on out will be entirely his own decision. And I think he'd be able to live with that, in spite of my help.

"…Hitsugaya-taichou?"

Said captain looks up from his papers, and I smile at how he slouches so lazily…so like a child.

"Matsumoto."

Hitsugaya-taichou always acknowledges me. My eyes soften.

"You know, I think Hinamori knows more about you then she lets on."

Quirking an eyebrow, he asks, "What?"

"She knows you like someone."

"So?"

"So, that's friendship for you."

"Hmph," he scoffs. "Really. I could tell she liked Abarai Renji from a mile away and I haven't talked to her once all month."

I really shouldn't be so amazed that he already knows, but still, I can't help it. Hitsugaya-taichou has gone and amazed me again with that quick wit of his.

But since that's just how he is, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I come over to his chair, kneeling next to his side, and slink my arms around his neck.

"You know, when you grow up, do you think we can finally tell everyone?"

"I won't look like you for a long time."

"I don't care," I smile. "I can wait."

"Hmph," he scoffs again. "I can't believe I once thought you liked Ichimaru."

"I can't believe I once thought you liked Hinamori."

"What do you expect? Childhood friends…everyone's out to make a couple out of the age-old platonic relationship that begins with casual friendship."

I smile at his serious pouty expression, talking and working at the same time, and lean forward to place a soft kiss at the corner of his lip. I don't mind that the person I love looks like a child, and that even by the laws of Soul Society, the kind of couple we are would be marked as disturbing. So I just have to wait for Soul Society's time to catch up with him.

"Do you think I should say something to Abarai?"

"Something in your voice tells me you already have."

I smile.

"And how do you know that, oh great captain?"

"That smirk on your face tells me everything."

"Do you think Abarai is her type?"

"I don't know and frankly, I don't want to know."

That's Hitsugaya-taichou for you.

"…you know, you're going to be so handsome when you grow up."

"I know, you keep telling me. But until that day comes, do you think you can keep your hands off me so that I can work?" He casts me a half-irritated glare that I know is only covering the surface level of his emotions, and I know he's glad I'm there.

His happiness equals mine.

And somehow, however I can manage it, I want Abarai and Hinamori to feel the same way. To know how amazing it is to be in love. I want them to know.

I want them to know, and because of that, I'll keep wishing for them together.

owari