THIS MARRIED LIFE
CHAPTER TWO: SHINIGAMI COSMOPOLITAN
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! They made me one heck of a happy chappy.
Author's Notes: Got the idea when I was flicking through a Cosmo mag. Ideas are generalised so don't flame me to say that "that so wasn't true", lol. Men, just be amused. XD Anyway, I wrote the first half during a social psych lecture so my mood completely changed in the second half. Oh, in my world, shinigamis have weekends.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. Some titles are taken from Cosmopolitan or Cleo mags.
Hinamori slumped down on the sofa, bored.
"What are you doing, Hinamori-chan?" asked Rangiku as she walked into the fifth division headquarters.
"Nothing, I have nothing to do since Hitsugaya took my papers and did them before I even woke up." She replied. She had woken up this morning and gone to her office to find a pile of already finished paperwork with a note sitting on top that read "take a day off."
"What are you doing here, Matsumoto-san?" She asked, realising that the tenth division vice-captain was in the fifth division headquarters. Matsumoto shrugged.
"Taking a break." She answered as she reached into her robes and pulled out a magazine, handing it to Momo.
"What's this?" She asked.
"This month's issue of Shinigami Cosmo. If you're bored you should read it. It has some…interesting things." She winked at Hinamori then left.
Hinamori looked at the cover curiously and blushed – some of the articles in there were just not appropriate for her eyes. But one of the titles caught her eye. It won't hurt to read it she decided, flipping to the page of the article.
: Is He Really in Love with You? :
So, you think you've got your man wrapped around your little finger?
Any one can say one thing and think on a totally different track. Translating man-speak may be really hard at times but, shinigami or not, you'll find that by observing your man's actions you can find out just how deep his devotion really is. Here are some behavioural clues.
Hinamori smiled to herself as she decided that since she had so much time off today, she could put it to good use – why not test out some of these behavioural clues. She tucked the magazine into her robe and set off to find her unsuspecting snow-haired boyfriend.
Hitsugaya walked down the hall towards his division headquarters. Captain meetings are so boring he mulled, sighing inwardly.
"Hitsugaya-kun!" called out a voice. Hitsugaya turned at once to see Hinamori walking happily up to him.
"Want to go have lunch? I'm starving." She smiled when Hitsugaya's stomach growled in response before he could voice it. Hitsugaya smiled weakly and agreed.
When they reached the dining hall, Hinamori couldn't help but smile when Hitsugaya sat next to her. Behavioural hint number one: this sitting style, as opposed to sitting facing each other, not only reinforces the link, it also pinpoints their natural possessive instinct – conveying to other men to stay (romantically) away. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.
"What are you smiling at?" he asked, looking around for something amusing.
"No, nothing." She replied, shaking her head slightly. He looked at her suspiciously but let it pass.
"Did you sleep well yesterday night?" He asked, autonomously reaching out to pick up a sushi with his chopsticks and settling it on her plate before grabbing one for himself.
Hinamori smiled again at this action. Behavioural hint number two: It's uncanny how men can sometimes their guard their food by gobbling it down in lightning speed. However, smitten men won't hesitate to share in an autonomous way. She looked at Hitsugaya and smiled. Shiro-chan, you're doing pretty well so far. She thought reflectively. But we haven't truly tested this hint if we haven't tried it with watermelons.
Hitsugaya noticed Hinamori staring at him and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Oi, Hinamori!" He called out in hope of bringing her back from the fairies.
"Huh?" She snapped out of her reverie. "Err, Oh, yeah. I slept well yesterday." Hitsugaya observed her carefully, reaching out a hand to touch her forehead as if to check whether or not she has a fever.
"Are you okay? You seem a little…distracted." She looked and saw his concerned expression which made her heart flutter.
"I'm fine." She assured him. Hitsugaya didn't buy it for a moment.
After the meal the two split. Hitsugaya went off to train his squad while Hinamori returned to the fifth division headquarters to perform her vice-captain duties. After her duties, she decided to pursue the third behavioural hint from Hitsugaya and took out the magazine from her robes.
"Hinamori." Came a voice behind her, startling her.
"Kyaa!" She turned around abruptly.
"What's that?" Hitsugaya asked, pointing at the magazine. Hinamori looked down at the magazine and froze. She quickly snapped out of it when she saw Hitsugaya approaching her and placed it back in her robe.
"It's nothing, just a magazine that Matsumoto-san gave me to read when I'm bored." She replied in a shrill voice and laughed nervously. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.
"You know, you've been acting weird all today." He eyed the area where the magazine was hidden by her robe. "And if that magazine is from Matsumoto then I bet it has something to do with that."
"What! It's not really, in fact, I haven't been acting weird at all" she declared. Hitsugaya was unmoved.
"Oh?" He asked smoothly as he advanced on her slowly. Every step he took forwards, she moved a step backwards until she was finally caught between Hitsugaya and her desk. Hinamori clutched her robes protectively at her chest. He held a hand out, palms up.
"Don't make me get it off you" he dared. Hinamori shook her head and blushed.
"How are you going to get it off me? You're not going to just reach into my robes and get it…are you?"
Hitsugaya smirked and withdrew his hands, crossing his arms at his chest.
"A challenge then." He moved closer to her and kissed her on the lips.
"Baka, I'm not falling for that." She laughed.
"Oh? Let's see how long you last for then?" He teased, pulling her into his arms once more and capturing her lips. Hitsugaya smiled inwardly when he felt Hinamori's clutch on her robes loosen then eventually move around his neck to bring him closer to her. He kissed her for a moment more before extracting the magazine from her and stepping away. He waved the magazine at her and smirked. Hinamori gawked at him.
"That was cheeky, Shirou-chan!" She scolded, laughing a little when she realised that she actually fell for his trick. Then she abruptly changed to flustered when she realised that he was holding the magazine.
Hitsugaya looked down at the magazine and scanned the cover. A deep blush filled his face.
"What…" He tried to find the words. "What exactly do women read these days!" His eyes were wide. If Hinamori wasn't dying of embarrassment, she would have laughed at his innocence. I mean, she was innocent too but the expression on his face was priceless.
Worse yet, Hitsugaya decided to read them out.
"'How to beat the new-lovemaking shyness', 'what your love dreams are trying to tell you', 'how to copulate in every single room in the house'…" Hitsugaya put down the magazine and swallowed hard. If Hinamori wasn't a tomato before she certainly was one now.
But it was what she heard him say next that turned her into the epitome of embarrassment. Hitsugaya looked at her with the expression and blinked a few times before saying bluntly:
"I don't believe in sex before marriage."
THUD. Hinamori crawled under her desk.
"Hinamori?"
"I wasn't reading that, BAKA!" she yelled, though it came out a little muffled due to the desk.
"Hon, come out from under there."
"…"
Hitsugaya sighed and moved to the desk, kneeling down to face her. Hinamori was cuddled at the corner.
"Come out of there, Momo." He requested in a gentle voice. Hinamori shook her head.
"No" she replied stubbornly.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm too embarrassed to come out. It's dark here, I like it."
"It's dark by the lake as well - you want to go there instead? It's not good to be cooped up like that under the desk. At least there you can watch the moon."
Hinamori remained stubborn. "I won't be able to see the moon anyway."
"Why not?"
"Cos there's a dark oppressive cloud above me so it'd block my view." She replied in a childish voice. Hitsugaya chuckled and leaned in until he was just an inch from her face. Then he drew his breath and blew a gush of wind at her.
"What was that for?" She asked, confused.
"See, now the clouds are blown away and you can see the moon." Explained Hitsugaya, proud of his logic. Hinamori stared bewildered at him for a moment then started laughing. He smiled at her laugh.
"Much better, will you come out now?" Hinamori gave a small smile and nodded.
"So, what were you reading?" He asked. Hinamori went over to the floor and picked up the magazine, flicking to the page she was on.
"It was the only thing I dared to read in there." She explained. He looked at the article, that explains the staring. He thought as he closed the mag and placed it down on the desk.
"Hinamori" he paused before continuing, "do you have any doubts about how I feel about you?" Hinamori shook her head.
"No."
"Good." An idea occurred to him.
"This coming Saturday" he looked away, a light pink colouring his cheeks, "do you want to have an all day date?"
End of Chapter Two
After note: Urgh :mental note - never write a story when under assessment pressure: I didn't really like this chapter but decided to put it up anyway since it's written...
Hopefully I'll get the next one up by thursday when I've hopefully finished my assignments.
I'll give you a cookie for a review XD Though no refund - my cookies aren't that inedible :P