Chapter 4: Acquaintances
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
A/N: There's not really much to say. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)
"I'm gonna quit piano, I'm gonna quit piano!" Hinamori cheered in a sing-song voice. "Aizen-sensei is the exact opposite of Hitsugaya-kun!" Humming, Hinamori skipped home. The rest of the school day had passed by without incident, and Hinamori was glad for that. She had had enough humiliation in two days.
"I'm home!" Hinamori cried out as she flung the door wide open. She was surprised to find her mother waiting for her with a slight frown.
"Hinamori Momo, please come in and close the door behind you. We need to talk," Mrs. Hinamori said. Momo gulped; whenever her mother used her full name she knew she was in trouble. Closing the door, Momo sat down on the couch. Mrs. Hinamori followed suite, then sighed.
"Honey, what's this about your history teacher giving you extra lessons?" Mrs. Hinamori held up a piece of paper, namely a letter. "Didn't you realise…your first piano lesson is on exactly the same day? The two lessons clash!"
"Hontou ni?" Hinamori asked, feigning surprise. "But oka-san, history's so much more important than piano, you know that!"
Mrs. Hinamori shook her head. "That may be true, Momo-chan, but we arranged your lessons with Hitsugaya Toushirou even before this. It would be mean and selfish of us to back out now. I'll send an email to your history teacher apologising on your behalf and saying that the extra lessons won't be necessary." That said, Mrs. Hinamori got up and went into her study. "I'm counting on you to apologise to Hitsugaya-kun tomorrow," she called back.
Hinamori swallowed hard. Hitsugaya would never forgive her now.
At Hitsugaya's house
Hitsugaya Toushirou could not believe what Hinamori had done. Gone and ditched her piano lessons indeed! In other words, Hinamori had thrown at him the worst kind of insult possible. Staring sadly at the photo of his parents, Hitsugaya apologised to them. He had failed them, after all. Looking at the photo, the child-prodigy suddenly realised something. Rushing into his room, Hitsugaya carefully put all his papers aside. It would not do to have a messy room.
Ah, here it was. Picking the cheque from the Hinamoris up, Hitsugaya inspected it. The cheque was still in good condition. Putting the object in his school bag, Hitsugaya sighed and looked out the window.
He would return the cheque to Hinamori tomorrow, no matter what.
The Next Day
"Momo-chan, you look exceptionally angry today. Why's that?" Isane asked as the five girls walked down the street.
"I tried to get extra history lessons from Aizen-sensei, but my parents wouldn't allow it. They still want me to take piano lessons from Hitsugaya Toushirou," Hinamori spat the last sentence out as if she had just been forced to kiss an insect.
"Aw, that's a bummer," Inoue whined. "I thought history was supposed to be more important that piano?"
"Yes, but oka-san said that she'd already arranged the piano lessons beforehand, so I have to go to piano," Hinamori said gloomily.
"Hinamori-chan!" an all too familiar voice called out. "I need to talk to you for a moment."
The girl turned to see Hitsugaya running towards her, a yellowish piece of paper in his right hand. Excusing herself, Hinamori made her way towards Hitsugaya.
"Hinamori-chan, I'm sorry for all the trouble I gave you yesterday. Since you decided to quit my piano lessons, please give this cheque back to your parents," Hitsugaya said, holding out the yellow slip. He had rehearsed this several times over.
Hinamori stared at the cheque as it flapped in the wind. "How…did you know…?" she whispered.
Hitsugaya looked away. So the girl had decided to take the hard way-but it was inevitable. She wasn't that stupid.
"I-I overheard Aizen-sensei's conversation with you. At the time, I was planning on saying sorry about all the things I put you through, but now we're even, ne?"
Hinamori blushed. "Gomen ne, Hitsugaya-kun," she muttered miserably. "For being so rude."
Then, to her surprise, Hitsugaya grinned. Although it was a two second grin, Hinamori saw the immature fifteen year old boy hiding in the smile. She felt herself melt inside, but the cold, distant Hitsugaya was back again. "Forget it," he said. "Just take the cheque and go."
"Demo, Hitsugaya-kun, you've got it all wrong! Keep the cheque, my parents cancelled the extra lessons."
"Hmph, you're such a nuisance. Toushirou inserted the cheque in his pocked and walked off, turning back to yell, "Be punctual for the lesson, bed wetter Momo!"
Although he had come close to humiliating her again, Momo simply shook her head and returned to her friends. There had been no malice in that insult, she was sure of it. "Well, that's one problem solved," she thought. "Now, what about detention…?"
In the library, lunchtime
Where's Shirou-chan? Hinamori thought. Kominara-sensei had told her via note to go to the library for detention. While she had been waiting, Hinamori had forced herself to come up with an embarrassing name for Toushirou. 'Shirou-chan' had been the only thing she could think of. Hey, she had to get revenge somehow! Leaning against the librarian's desk, Hinamori observed the library.
It was a well-lit library. Books were crammed on the shelves, and in the middle of the room there were desks for the students to work. A row of computers sat on the far right corner of the room. Paintings and posters were plastered on the walls. Some were of historical figures, others of beautiful lands that stretched out to the sea.
"You got Kominara-sensei's note, too?" Hitsugaya's voice sounded out in the still silence, making Hinamori jump.
"Yeah…" she muttered. After that they were silent, wondering when their punishment was going to be carried out. Finally…
"Are you two serving detention today?" a man stepped out from behind the librarian's desk.
"Yes, Kurotsuchi-sensei," Hitsugaya's expression was emotionless.
"Well, then, your punishment is to help me file some books onto the shelves! MUAHAHAHA!" Kurotsuchi-sensei threw his head back and laughed, and Hinamori could not help but sweat drop. When the laughter had subsided, Kurotsuchi-sensei said, "In any case, I'll leave you to it. Tell me when you're done," the librarian took his leave, but not before dumping a huge stack of books in front of the teenagers. "Get to work! You have forty-five minutes, maximum!"
Splitting the books between them, Hinamori proceeded to place the books on their respective shelves, watching Hitsugaya out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be wandering from row to row like a lost puppy. Hinamori was about to offer help when she remembered her mother's words, "…you're trying to say he can't handle things on his own after four years." She closed her mouth, smiling. If he wanted help he would come to her himself. "Arigatou, oka-san, you just stopped an argument for me," Hinamori smiled before resuming her work.
Fifteen minutes later found Hinamori climbing down a ladder, panting slightly. She had finally finished, and as there was half an hour of free time left, she looked around, searching for her partner. He was nowhere to be seen. Not wanting him to have already left, Hinamori desperately looked for Hitsugaya, running from aisle to aisle. She finally found the boy lying on the floor in the Romance section, casually reading a book. His pile of books waiting to be filed lay on the ground in a neat stack, untouched.
"S-Shirou-chan!" Why haven't you-?" Momo hissed, eyes widening. "I-I thought you were wandering from aisle to aisle, looking like a lost puppy!"
"That was to deceive Kurotsuchi-sensei," Hitsugaya flipped a page before fixing his blue-green orbs on Hinamori. "Since when have you started calling me 'Shirou-chan' anyway? Don't-it's freaky."
Hitsugaya's nose twitched, and Hinamori instinctively knew he was lying. "Why not?" she whispered. "Tell the truth."
There was a pause. "'Shirou-chan' was my mother's name for me…and it's annoying being called that by you, bed wetter Momo!"
Hinamori ignored the jibe and sat down beside him. "When are you going to file your books?" she asked sweetly.
"Later," the fifteen year old grunted as he flipped another page. Peering at the front cover, Hinamori exclaimed softly, "One hundred and one of the Most Romantic Places in Osaka where you and your Love can Visit! Shirou-chan, I never knew you read these things! Who's the lucky girl?"
Hitsugaya muttered something about entertainment and not liking anyone.
"Ano, Shirou-chan, there're four minutes left of lunch hour. If you don't finish soon, you'll get into even more trouble!" Hinamori warned. If she had had to finish her pile in fifteen minutes, what made this cocky boy think he could finish everything in four minutes?
"Fine, I'll do it! Just stop bugging me!" Hitsugaya glared at Hinamori. "And I told you, don't call me Shirou-chan!" he slammed the book shut. Picking two books up off the stack, Hitsugaya showed the titles to Hinamori. "'Wolves' and 'Night of Death'. Remember these titles." At that moment, Hitsugaya disappeared before Hinamori's eyes. Alarmed, Hinamori ran to the centre of the library, eyes searching desperately for the fifteen year old. She blinked, her eyes opening just as a blur stopped next to her. Hitsugaya reappeared slowly, a few books left in his hands.
"Don't move," he grinned before disappearing again.
Within a minute the boy was back, dusting his hands off. Hinamori stared at him.
"Where'd you learn to run so fast?"
"It's a martial art technique, called Shunpo. It's like a flash attack," Hitsugaya replied proudly, smirking. "If you think I just placed those books anywhere, check yourself. 'Wolves' is in the second aisle from the front door, fifth book to the right on shelf four from the bottom. 'Night of Death' is in the same location except that it's in aisle nineteen."
Hinamori checked, and sure enough the two books were there. Still unable to believe her eyes, Hinamori went back to Hitsugaya.
"You can't just have used Shunpo," the girl protested.
"That's true, so that 'aimless wandering' wasn't just to deceive Kurotsuchi-sensei, it was also me acquainting myself with the place," the boy explained.
"Sugoi, Shirou-chan! Let's tell the librarian that we're done now-our forty-five minutes are up!" Hinamori said, and the two went to inform Kurotsuchi-sensei.
"Alright, you can leave now," the librarian smiled. "If you have detention again, you can come to me!" After laughing and saying goodbye, Hitsugaya and Hinamori left the library.
"Ano, Hinamori-chan," Hitsugaya said.
"Hm?" Hinamori wondered if her partner was going to insult her.
Hitsugaya gulped. "If you want, you can spend an extra hour after piano lessons learning history with me. It doesn't cost anything," he added hastily. But he knew she would reject his offer. He was nothing like Aizen-sensei, who was kind, warm and funny.
Toushirou turned to look at the girl. Hinamori had lifted her head, beaming. "I'd like that. Arigatou, Shirou-chan," she said.
"It's nothing, bed wetter Momo," he replied in a friendly manner, then walked ahead to their next lesson. Hinamori followed, smiling. Hitsugaya Toushirou wasn't such a bad person after all.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review!
Japanese Dictionary:
Sensei: Teacher (e.g. Aizen-sensei literally 'teacher Aizen)
-chan, -san, -kun: -chan is used for girls or kids the same age as other people, and –kun is the same, but for boys (or kids). –san is polite form, for both genders.
Hontou ni: Really
Oka-san: Mother
Gomen ne: Sorry
Demo: But
Shirou-chan: Hinamori's nickname for Hitsugaya. 'Shirou' stands for 'white', but as it's a nickname, a better translation would be 'Whitey-chan'.
Arigatou: Thank you
Shunpo: In this story, 'Shunpo' means 'flash attack', but in Bleach, it means 'flash steps'.
Ano: Um
