A slender finger trialed along the wood in silence before stopping at a glass, a glass that was filled with sake. The finger twitched once before five slender fingers curled around said glass and held it tight, deep entrancing turquoise eyes gazing at the drink in silence, a hidden grief laid neatly beneath them, a grief that no-one had been able to see these past few days. But tonight, the white-haired teen had broken down.
He had always heard Matsumoto say how she could drown her sorrows in sake for a while. He had seen her and Kira getting drunk after they had talked to each other again, though he hadn't stayed all to long. It had been their business.
And then he remembered what he had told Matsumoto once.
"I don't see why you drink, it's not gonna solve anything. In fact, I find it quite cowardly to drink to wash away your sorrow and pain. And it's not nice... I don't like the taste."
That was what he had told her once, when she had been in a fight with Gin and she had started drink, Hitsugaya had been the one who had to pick her up from the bar and get her to her apartment.
Which had been a complete mess.
And where was he now? What was he doing now? He was drowning himself in the sake, just to wash away the pain and sorrow for a night.
How cowardly...
"Ne... You glasses have nice lifes.. No troubles.. No nothing." he grumbled before taking another large gulp of his drink until it was gone and he slammed the glass down, resting his forehead on the wooden bar, staying still for a while before shoving the glass forwards a bit. "Gimme some more sake..." he grumbled softly towards the owner.
Said person slowly nodded before filling the captain's glass once more, looking at the child prodigy in silence before he cleared his throat and stepped back.
"Stupid Aizen..." said child prodigy grumbled, pushing himself up and dunking down the glass of sake once more before slamming the glass down, once again.
"Hinamori." he breathed out, glaring at the wood in silence before he gazed up at the ceiling. "Baaakaaa..." he groaned, slamming his head on the bar counter once more, muttering something inaudible.
He had been seeing Hinamori today. But only one look of her made his heart ache, and ache more until it broke, with that, his posture dropped too. He broke down too. "Hinamorriii..." he muttered, shaking his head slightly. She changed so much. His Hinamori. His Momo.
"Naaande..." he moaned, his head throbbing slightly.
"Another one." he stated with a mutter.
Though before such a thing could happen, a slim hand was slammed onto the counter, whilst another one pulled the glass away the hand that had been lying on the counter hit the white-haired captain's cheek hard.
"Shirou-kun!!" a familiar voice called out. "What are you doing?! Didn't you told us once you hated drinking?"
That voice...
Hinamori?
"... Nande..." Hitsugaya mumbled, slowly looking up, staring at Hinamori in utter silence, his eyes widened in shock, a red mark upon his face.
"... Shirou-chan..." Hinamori mumbled, staring at him in silence before biting her lip once, finally she slowly nodded. "I see..." she grumbled softly. "I see." she repeated, swirling around and stepping off, tears burning in her eyes. So her Shirou-chan was gonna face problems like this now? Drown in them instead of standing tall to face them?
How could she ever rely on him then... If he wasn't strong enough to face what was bothering him. If he broke down because of that. Maybe she had to make sure she wouldn't bother him anymore. Her problems would be her own.
Yes.
That was what she had to do, for Hitsugaya's sake...
And all the white-haired teen could do on that moment was stare ahead of him, stare at the door where Hinamori soon passed through, then stare at the emptiness it left behind.
Though he ignored the stares he got from a few familiar persons. Where under a certain blonde haired vice-captain, called Kira Izuru. And a spikey ebony-haired vice-captain, called Shuuhei.
"Hinamori!" he blurted out finally, jumping off of his chair and rushing forwards, tripping a few times over his own feet before gaining his balance and running after her. "Hinamori!! Matte!" he called out. "I was- Because- I mean!" he stammered, not knowing how to get out of his words.
"Drinking." Hinamori finally muttered, slowly slowing down near a tree and turning to look at him. "Nande? Why would you do such a thing, Hitsugaya-kun?" she whispered softly, pain and grief hidden beneath her brown orbs. "Nande... It's nothing like you to do that..."
Hitsugaya, who hadn't noticed she had stopped crashed into her, sending them both to the ground whilst Hinamori let out a surprised yelp and Hitsugaya simply stared down at her, mouth slightly agape before he snapped out of it, face flushing a nice pink as he pushed himself up, stumbling backwards. "Gomen!!" he called out, eyes still wide in shock. "Go-go-go-go-go..." he stammered.
"Gomenasai. Hai hai." Hinamori stated with a flushed face, pushing herself up and smoothing her shinigami garb before looking over at him. "An answer? Why would you drink." she asked, still flustered about the fact Hitsugaya had crashed into her.
"... Demo... It was..." the white-haired teen stated, rather nervously as he ran a hand through his messy hair, staring at Hinamori in silence before letting out a breath. "I was... Everything that had been happening.. It's breaking us down..." he whispered, biting his lip. "When I saw you today.. Looking so far away... I just.. I just..."
"Gave up...?"
Hitsugaya looked up in silence, desperation running through his entrancing turquoise eyes.
"Couldn't go on with it..."
The white-haired boy slowly looked away from the truthful words she was spilling out.
"... I don't want you to be hurt." he finally whispered, staring at the ground for a while before glancing up at her. "Demo... I want to stay strong for you!" he finally said, frowning slightly. "I want to really..." he added, looking to the side.
"... Taking such a burden all alone is hard..."
".. Well... Sometimes... But you're worth it..." he muttered, fiddling with his fingers, suddenly finding himself lost in his own words, not knowing what to say to her. "It's just..." he finally started. "So hard... Being... Being a captain. You can't fall. You can't crumble. You can't let yourself go. You just can't. You have to be the leader. Have to take the burdens." he blurted out, looking up at Hinamori. "But.. But it's so hard to do that alone..."
And all Hinamori could do was look at him in silence, biting her lip once and finally wrapping her arms around the boy, holding him close to her. "Hitsugaya-kun.. My Shirou-chan... Then how about we carry the burden together..." she whispered, barely audible.
Hitsugaya remained still for a while before finally his lips found Hinamori's soft ones.
"The best idea ever..." he had mumbled before their lips locked, the kiss sealing their promise, tears trialing down both their cheeks.
---
The next day, Hitsugaya had gone to work as always, and Matsumoto had asked him if it was true he had drank and had a fight with Hinamori, and after that. She had asked why he had drank, then she asked how he thought about the taste of sake.
Hitsugaya had simply tilted up his head, looking tired yet satisfied, and gave a wide grin.
"The taste was bitter sweet. But the aftertaste was heavenly." he stated simply, concentrating on his paperwork once more.
"... Did he just grin..." Matsumoto mumbled more to herself then to anyone else as she stared at her captain in silence, finally slipping out of the office and running off to tell this to the first person she saw.
The sake must've still been active. Yes, that had to be it. But no matter how many times Matsumoto told herself that, she knew it wasn't true. Something had happened, and she had missed it.
"Snap. I should've asked Kira and Shuuhei to make a picture. Or follow." were the vice-captain's last words as she dissapeared in a bar.