14 Years Ago
It had all happened so fast and yet the days somehow still felt like they were dragging on much longer than they should have. Momo Hinamori's entire world had changed in a single day. At seven years old, she and found herself being carted from her school, to a police car, then the hospital and a children's home before ultimately finding herself on a plane to an entirely different part of the country to meet a distant aunt she'd never heard of before. The social worker accompanying her had tried to ease some of her nerves but nothing seemed to work. The entire trip, Momo had held on tightly to the stuffed bunny her parents had given to her for her last birthday, not letting it go for even a second.
Her new guardian met them at the airport. Restu Unohana was a doctor at the local hospital. The social worker said she was kind and gentle, someone who Momo could open up to when she was ready. Unohana smiled warmly at her when they met in the baggage area. Her focus remained entirely on Momo even as she spoke with the social worker. Getting down low to her level, she placed her hand gently on her shoulder, "I know all this is hard for you," She said. "But I promise we'll figure it all out together." Momo just nodded, still unsure about everything and the three of them made their way on the last leg of the journey to Unohana's home. Momo's new home.
The town was far from the city she'd grown up in. Small and quiet with snow covered fields visible over the hills. Unohana pointed out some places of interest on the drive the park that was a popular place for kids to play, the school she'd be attending, the hospital Unohana worked at; Momo took it all in, wordlessly staring out the window. The social worker asked a few questions on the way, trying to find something to spark Momo's interest. The library was about two blocks from her new home. And there were some kids around her age that lived nearby. Nothing really worked to get her to do much other than clutch her doll closer.
The house Unohana pulled the car into was a small two-story house with a small front lawn and a quant but dormant garden in the back. Getting out of the car, her new guardian had kindly guided her inside and up to her new room. There wasn't much. A small bed, already made with sheets identical to the ones she'd had before, and some boxes full of toys and little trinkets. "The rest of your stuff should arrive in the next few days," Unohana said. "We can paint the walls and decorate however you'd like." Momo nodded, and hugged her bunny tighter.
Downstairs, she could hear the social worker and Unohana talking about grown up things for the next hour or so before finally, the worker left. Alone, Momo had seen enough movies to anticipate something bad would happen next. Unohana came from around the kitchen to stand at the bottom of the stairs. Smiling up at where Momo sat at the top, she gestured for her to come down. "Why don't you go outside for a bit," She suggested. "There's some kids in the neighborhood that like to play around this time. Have some fun and I'll call you in in a bit for some hot chocolate."
Outside, she could hear some kids laughing, but Momo was hesitant to leave. Unohana gently urged her to go though and after dawning her coat, hand and gloves, went out to the porch. Across the street, she could see a group of three kids around her age running and throwing snowballs at one another. She watched them for a while and sighed, wishing she were home with all her friends.
Something cold hit her in the side of the face, sending an annoying chill down her coat. Momo leapt from her seat, jumping about to shake it all out before turning towards the source. A small boy stood on the sidewalk, his winter coat wide open showing off a t-shirt with a snowboarder on it. His white hair was a mass of messy bangs that stuck out in places and his turquoise eyes were bored yet piercing while he stared at her. His hands were shoved in the pockets of a pair of dark jeans. "You know if you want to play with them, you just have to ask." He said.
Momo blinked at him, "Huh?"
He rolled his eyes and flicked his thumb over his shoulder towards the group of kids playing. "Abarai and his bunch," He clarified. "Just ask." His eye twitched at her lack of response, and after huffing a sigh, began walking down the sidewalk again.
"Wait! Why aren't you playing with them?" Momo asked, taking a few steps closer to him but stopping as he directed his striking gaze at her again.
He scoffed. "I don't play with little kids."
"Eh? What do you mean they look older than you."
"Shut up you dummy."
"Dummy is a mean word, Shorty."
He grunted, barring his teeth, "Don't call me short you bedwetter!"
"I don't wet the bed! And only a little kid would say something like that! You can't be older than five!"
"I'm eight! If you stay in school, maybe you'll learn how to count."
"You're not very nice." Momo crossed her arms as she glared at the little boy in front of her.
"Hey!" The kids from across the street came running over. The taller of the three kids had bright red hair and he locked eyes with the white haired kid. "This jerk causing you problems?"
The white haired kid rolled his eyes and turned away from the group, walking along the sidewalk then turning up to walk to the house right next door to her. Great. He was her neighbor.
The red haired kid tapped her on the shoulder, "Toshiro isn't the nicest guy. I'm sorry if he was mean," He said.
"Renji, he isn't that bad," The short dark-haired girl beside him said. "He just likes to keep to himself."
The red head, who she now knew was Renji, groaned loudly while rolling his eyes, "Excuses, excuses. It wouldn't hurt him to use manners every once in a while. Anyways, did you want to play with us?"
The group smiled expectantly at her and Momo gave a small nod before practically being carried off by them to the 'forts' they were battling over.
She quickly learned the names of everyone in the group. Renji was the red-head with a short temper and a near constant sugar-high. Rukia was the small artistic girl with dark hair. Izuru was the quiet blond boy who liked to poke fun at how quickly Renji went overboard. Momo found it wasn't difficult to fit in with these kids and for the first time in what felt like forever, had fun.
After awhile as everyone got tired, Rukia's older sister called her inside. After that, the boys agreed it was time to go home as well but only after making plans to play again soon. Alone standing in the snow trenches they had built, Momo looked back across the street at Unohana's home. Hot chocolate was probably waiting for her and the call of the warm drink was enough to convince her it was time to go back but stopped, catching sight of Toshiro sitting on his porch, his back leaning against one of the wood pillars.
Momo crossed the street and went over to his house, following the imprints left by Toshiro in his yard. In his hands, he held a wooden top that he was winding the string around tightly before giving it a tug and watching the top spin and dance on the wood porch. "Hey," Momo called, freezing up when he glanced up at her. His eyes seemed to always catch her off guard. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for calling you short."
His top fell over, "… okay," He turned his attention back to his toy and began winding it again.
Momo furrowed her brow, "Isn't this when you say sorry for calling me a dummy?"
"…No."
She groaned and placed her hands on her hips. "You really are mean."
"Took you long enough."
Her eye twitched but she watched as he wrapped the string around his top carefully and meticulously, unwinding it when the string isn't exactly how he wanted it then, once satisfied pulled the string and let the top go. She watched it spin with him for a whole three minutes before it began to wobble then fall onto its side.
"You're good at this," Momo remarked.
"Whatever."
"I'm trying to be nice. Why are you so mean?"
Toshiro leaned back against the pillar and sighed. "Just be friends with Abarai and the others," He said looking up at the clouds slowly moving across the sky. "They seem to like you."
"They don't seem to like you."
He shrugged, "I don't really care what they think."
"Wanna know what I think?"
Toshiro scoffed and began winding his top again. "Not really."
"I think you do care. Why would you tell me to play with them if you didn't?"
"Granny said your mom and dad are dead," He said, the bluntness catching Momo off guard.
"S-so?" Her fists clenched, uncertain if he was just bad at talking to people or if it was a prelude to an insult.
He kept his eyes focused on his top, winding the string all the way one way, then unwinding it and rewinding it in the opposite direction. "…I… didn't want you to be alone."
Momo relaxed, and caught his hesitant eye for a split second as he glanced up at her before looking back down again. In that single moment, a look of familiarity passed between them. An unspoken kinship shared between two kids who had both lost their parents. She smiled, then boldly declared, "I'm going to be your friend.
The top slipped out of his hand and bounced off the porch and into the snow. "Huh?"
Momo hopped up to sit on the porch beside him. "We're gonna be friends!" She said again.
He blinked at her twice, then shook his head, "No thanks."
"Too late. I've already decided."
"How's that gonna work if I don't want you to be my friend?"
Momo shrugged, "You live right next door. So I'll just visit you every day."
"Like I'd want to be friends with a bedwetter!"
She pouted, "You can't keep calling your friends mean names."
"I'll call you what I want and we're not friends."
"Fine. Then I'll just call you…" She thought for a moment about what kind of nickname would suit him. 'Grumpy' seemed appropriate. But she didn't think it sounded cute enough. "Shiro!" She proudly declared. "I'll call you Lil' Shiro."
He opened his mouth to argue, but the door to the house creaked open and a sweet elderly voice came through, calling Toshiro inside. Swallowing the insults he'd meant for Momo, he hopped of the porch, grabbed his top and made his way inside, ignoring the cheerful goodbye from Momo and her promise to come see him again tomorrow.
After the door shut, she crossed through the yard to Unohana's house. For the first time not feeling the weight of loss from her parent's absence.
6 Years Ago
Time heals all wounds. It was a lesson that Momo had spent the past eight years learning since she moved in with Unohana. The longing for her parents had been difficult and milestones had been harder to celebrate, but time and the new relationships she had build went a long way in making the pain bearable. Her early friendships with Renji, Rukia, and Izuru were treasured in the early years as throughout elementary school she was fortunate to have at least one of them in her classes. She didn't see much of Toshiro in school being a year older than her. But she still made it her mission to see him every day whether he wanted to or not.
He had not tried to avoid her very much the first few days where she'd find him sitting on the porch. He'd spend most of the time sulking or insulting her but Momo took it all in stride, trying hard to befriend the lonely boy. After a few days, he took to hiding in his house but that provided little protection as she then got the opportunity to worm her way into his grandmother's heart. The sweet old woman doted on her as if she were another of her grandchildren, showering her in affection and snacks while practically forcing Toshiro to sit and enjoy her company. It was impossible for him to insult her with his Granny present and the growing bond between Momo and the elder made it easier to break through the walls he kept between him and everyone else. Little by little, Momo cracked away at his barriers, building their friendship until they became inseparable.
Trust was built between them slowly. Toshiro told her about his parents and how his mother had died from a staph infection and his father took his own life while Toshiro was asleep in the next room. She told him about the day her parents died and how quickly everything changed. They talked about the past; the things they could remember, the things they made up to fill in the gaps. They talked about the future and the fleeting dreams of children who want to be astronauts one day then a vet or a doctor the next. Sometimes they didn't even talk and just sat outside eating watermelon and taking in the warmth of summers.
Most of Momo's other friends didn't understand why she spent so much time with Toshiro. While he had opened up to her and began to treat her like an actual friend, he still maintained a cold and distant front when it came to the other kids. Even when Momo managed to convince her friends to let him join, he'd come up with an excuse and leave or just sit and watch from the sidelines. Why he did that was one of the few things she never was able to get out of him.
But as time passed and he eventually entered secondary school, more activities and more opportunities had been exactly what was needed for Toshiro to show everyone just how amazing he really was. He consistently scored the highest on all examinations, and he impressed the local youth football club coach enough to be in the starting XI his first year. 'Genius' was the word that floated around when people talked about him. And Momo was happy to see people actually wanting to talk to him instead of avoid him. But even with all the attention he got with school and the club, he still ignored most of them, complaining to Momo most days about how much of a pain everything was at the secondary school. The following year when she joined him at the same school, the complaining stopped and whenever they had the free time, they'd spend it together or with her friends — the only ones he seemed to not mind sharing the wealth of knowledge that everyone seemed to want from him.
Momo sighed contently as she sat on one of the benches next to the football field waiting for practice to end. She watched as Toshiro casually adjusted the captain's band on his left arm, still getting used to it after being offered the position three days ago. At sixteen and only having been with the team for three years, he'd tried to pass it off to one of the older players but after every single one of his teammates practically begged him to take it, Toshiro finally relented and took the job.
Compared to everyone else, he was without question the shortest one on the squad, a fact he hated, especially now that he was the captain. Whenever it was mentioned, good or bad, he had to visibly hold back his anger and even went so far as to spike his hair up a bit to add a few inches to mask his height. Yet despite not being the most physically imposing player, his leadership and skill was impressive enough to earn him the respect of his team. He pointed to several of his offensive players and gave orders for setting up a 3v3 drill to pressure his wingers trying to get them to read the field better so that they can deliver more accurate crosses at better times. Toshiro was a natural leader when it came to football. His understanding of the team and their weaknesses allowed him to better devise drills that would focus on the skills that needed improvement. His voice was commanding and unwavering, instilling confidence in his team even when he called the backups to train against the starters. He never let anyone feel like they weren't in the starting XI and during matches no matter the score, they always played like each and every goal would be the winning goal.
The coach blew the whistle, calling the team in. He gave a simple speech about how well everyone was doing and the different things they all still needed to work on before the game this coming weekend and after having Toshiro rallying everyone around him, they broke and ended practice for the day. Momo stood from the bench and walked over to where Toshiro was gathering his things.
"You didn't have to wait for me, idiot," He said as he unlaced his cleats and swapped them for his normal shoes.
Momo shrugged, "It's not like I had any plans. Besides every time I've asked you how you feel about being the new captain, you always just say 'fine'. And that doesn't tell me anything."
Toshiro rolled his eyes and stood up, slinging his gym bag over his shoulder and picking up his school bag with the other. "Whatever. Lets just go. Its gonna take me forever to help you with your math homework."
"So mean, Lil Shiro." She reached down and ruffled his hair receiving a smack on her wrist for her efforts.
"Quit it. You're not that much taller than me. And stop calling me that, Bedwetter."
Some things never change…
Until they do.
The football season went an amazing 12-4-2. Local and regional tournaments resulted in two first place wins with three second place. Word of the team's success had left many wondering if there was a chance some of their classmates could go professional and Toshiro's name came up as one of the top contenders to possibly make it big. Momo certainly thought it was a possibility. But Toshiro always brushed it all off and shut down any conversation about his future in the sport. It was strange. Everything about him got weirder and weirder as the season drew to a close. His attitude shifted and he came off more grouchy than normal. He said mean things more often and he found ways to avoid her and everyone else. She'd even spied him leaving school early with no explanation to anyone not even the teachers. Momo was worried about him. He was going to great lengths to avoid her and not even his grandmother seemed to know where he was either.
Momo was determined to speak to him after avoiding her for almost two months. Football practice was the best place she could think of to corner him and so she took up her normal spot to watch practice. He was harder on the team than he normally was. With one final tournament to go, he was being more critical of everyone, especially to team's keeper. Sojiro Kusaka was a good teammate and friend to Toshiro. He always spoke highly of Sojiro's skill and the two were fans of the same club so they'd sometimes spend some time talking about past squads and managers, debating lineups and such. They were friends. But that day, Toshiro acted like they were bitter enemies. During a penalty kick drill, Sojiro misread a shot and the ball hit the back of the net. Toshiro stopped the drill, and he yelled at him. Scolding him for goofing off earlier in practice, calling him a lousy keeper if he couldn't defend that easy shot; it all came to a head when Sojiro asked if he was only being an ass because he was crying himself to sleep at night. Something snapped, and before anyone could react, Toshiro's fist went flying into Sojiro's face. The hit sent the keeper reeling back before he regained his balance and launched himself at the captain. The two were locked in a death roll, punching and kicking at any opportunity. The coach had to pry them apart and even ended practice early.
Momo went to Toshiro, trying to talk to him, but he ignored her. She grabbed at his arm to get him to stop and talk but he roughly pushed her away. Grabbing his things, he pulled his captain's band off and tossed it into the grass, walking off the field without even changing his cleats. Momo wanted to follow him but he was heading in the opposite direction of home. She could tell from the set of his shoulders, and long strides he was taking that his walls were up and they likely wouldn't come down until tomorrow at the latest. He needed time to cool off if she was going to be able to talk to him. Taking out her phone, she sent him a text.
"I'm here when you need me."
He never looked at his phone and just kept walking.
She sighed and headed home alone, planning on talking to him tomorrow. But he never showed up at school the next day. No one answered the door to his house. His phone went straight to voicemail. And after days of trying to reach him any way she could, a sign went up out front of Toshiro's house. "For Sale". Momo tried to call him but this time instead of his voicemail, it said that the number had been disconnected.
Toshiro Hitsugaya was gone.