Chapter 2:

The three of them stood in shock while staring at the man who had just claimed to be Hinamori's uncle. Never before had any of them even heard of this man. Yet, here he was, standing confidently in front of them with his arms crossed while he waited for the three of them to process the information he had just given them.

And just as before, Toshiro was the first to recover from his shock. "You're her… uncle?" he slowly asked as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yes, boy, I'm her uncle" the man called Futari Ryotaro replied as he turned to addressed the younger Hitsugaya. "Did you not hear what I just said?"

Toshiro's right eye twitched as he felt a sudden rush of annoyance rush over him. "Listen you, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but-" he began but was immediately interrupted by Futari.

"Didn't you hear me? I just told you that I was Momo's uncle. You're not very bright, are you boy?" Futari said as he eyed an annoyed Toshiro.

"What did you just say….?" Toshiro growled as his annoyance turned to anger. Just as he was about to say something else, he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned his head around to see that the hand belonged to Hinamori. Seeing her slightly shake her head from side to side, he felt his anger extinguish as he decided not to further edge on the man claiming to be her uncle.

Satisfied that her childhood friend wasn't going to further escalate the situation, Hinamori decided to continue the conversation with the mysterious man. "Futari-san, was it?" she asked as her self-proclaimed uncle turned his head to properly address her. "Is what you said true? Are you really my... uncle?"

"Well of course I am, Momo-chan!" Futari replied as he graced Hinamori with a dazzling smile. "Why on earth wouldn't I be?"

"Well, um, because…" Hinamori muttered as her gaze shifted to the ground. Seeing his childhood struggling with her response, Toshiro decided to respond in her place.

"It's because you haven't been around" he stated bluntly with his arms crossed over his chest. "If you were really her uncle, you would have been there for her when her parents died. So where were you then? If you're really who you say you are, what's your excuse for not being there for her?"

Futari Ryotaro eyed Toshiro for a moment. Sighing, he finally decided that the younger Hitsugaya had made a valid point. A point that deserved to be addressed. "I have been there for her. Or, at least, I tried to be..." he replied before turning his attention once again to Hinamori. "You see, Momo, I'm your uncle from your mother's side. And as I'm sure you know, your mother cut all ties with her family once she married your father. What happened was that your grandfather disapproved of her marriage to your father. Because of this, he made her choose between marrying him and still being apart of the family. And as I'm sure you've guessed, she choose your father."

After pausing for a moment to allow Hinamori to digest this information, Futari decided to continue. "So, she left. Without so much as a single goodbye, your mother ran off and eloped. I remember father being quite furious when he found out what she did. Because of his anger and his pride, he forbade any of us from trying to seek her out. He really was such a stubborn old man, even to his dying breath…" A solemn look then made its way onto his face as he appeared to be reliving some sort of memory in his head.

After another moment had passed, Futari shook his head and decided to continue with his explanation. "So years passed without a single word from your mother. I had heard from some family friends that she had given birth to a daughter, but that was the extent of what I knew of her new life. And then, one day, I got a letter saying that she had passed away… Truth be told, I didn't know how to react. I hadn't seen her since the day she left home and never came back, but she was still my sister. No petty dispute could ever change that. So, I tried to find out all I could about her and her family in the hopes of being able to do something, anything for her. Unfortunately, I had only gotten the letter a year after she had passed, and by then it was too late. You were already gone and settled in with another family."

Futari then took Hinamori's right hand into his own as he look deeply into her eyes. "So please, Momo, don't you ever think that I never tried to look for you. Because I really did. Do you think you could ever find it in your heart to forgive my absence from your life?"

"O-Of course, Futari-san!" Hinamori exclaimed as a single tear ran down her cheek to show just how moved she was by his story.

"Oh thank you, Momo-chan!" her uncle exclaimed as he wrapped his niece into another back-breaking hug. "You're truly are a saint in a world of sinners!"

As they watched the scene taking place in front of them, the two Hitsugaya's didn't know how to react. Mrs. Hitsugaya was still in shock about Futari Ryotaro's existence as well as his relation to Hinamori. Toshiro was in a similar state of shock, but there was skepticism mixed in with it. There was just something about Futari's story that just didn't make sense to him. However, he decided not to voice this concern. It really was just a gut feeling, so it wasn't yet worth destroying the happiness his childhood friend was feeling about being reunited with her long lost uncle.

Finally seeming to remember the presence of the two Hitsugaya's, Hinamori let go of her uncle. Seeing that her uncle looked slightly disappointed that she had pulled away from him, she gave him a smile reassuring him that he shouldn't be worried about her sudden action.

"Well, I think it's about time I get going then" Futari said as he straightened himself up. "I'd say I've been away from the office for long enough."

"Oh? Do you have to leave so soon?" Hinamori asked as a disappointed expression began to dominate her face.

"Don't fret, my dear." her uncle replied with a wink. "You'll be seeing me again. After all, I've finally found you, so don't you think I'll be letting you go again so easily."

"Well, if that's the case, then why not join the three of us for supper this evening?" Mrs. Hitsugaya said with a gentle smile that was now replacing her shocked expression. "I was planning on cooking Momo's favourite tonight."

"Oh, thank you so much, Mrs. Hitsugaya!" Futari exclaimed with a face full of delight. "I would love to join you for supper! Would it be alright if I stopped by at around 7? I unfortunately have a meeting until 6:30 that I simply cannot miss."

"7 it is then." the elder replied with the same smile on her face. "And would you like to have our house phone number? It would be a lot easier to get in contact again if you had it."

"What a lovely idea! Of course, I would love to have it!" Hinamori's uncle replied as he quickly took out his phone and began to input the telephone number Mrs. Hitsugaya was giving him. Once that was done, he gave them a quick farewell and headed back down the hill towards the cemetery entrance.

Hinamori, Toshiro, and Mrs. Hitsugaya watched Futari walk further away and out of sight. Even once they could no longer see his figure in the distance, the three of them stood frozen in place while they stared at the spot where he had just been. Now that the reality of the situation was finally settling in, the three of them weren't too sure how to act.

"Well, he was definitely… Something." Mrs Hitsugaya said as she turned to face her grandchild and his childhood friend.

"You've got that right." Toshiro replied as he turned around and faced the direction of the Hinamori grave stones. "Anyway, we should go pay our respects before the crowd starts to arrive."

"R-Right." Hinamori stuttered in response as she pulled her gaze away from the spot her long lost uncle had been just minutes before and headed towards her parents graves.

The three then silently prayed in front of the graves and each vowed different things to the deceased parents. Mrs. Hitsugaya vowed that she would look continue to look after Hinamori, just as she had done for the last fifteen years. Toshiro vowed the same, though he also added that he would kill anyone who dared to hurt her. And Hinamori, well, she vowed that she would do her best to cherish the life they had given her.

"Oh shoot," Mrs. Hitsugaya suddenly exclaimed as she roused Toshiro and Hinamori from their prayers. "I forgot to give Futari-san our address. Oh well, I guess he'll simply call and ask for it later. Also, we should probably head on home now. I can already see the crowd start to form at the bottom of the hill."

"Oh, you're right" Hinamori stated as she noticed the crowd as well. "We better get going then."

Mrs. Hitsugaya and Hinamori then began to walk towards the entrance at the bottom of the hill. Noticing that her childhood friend wasn't following them, she turned around to see him intently staring at her parents' graves. Noticing that he was taking under his breath, she took a step closer in the hopes of hearing what he was saying.

"I swear, I'll do whatever it takes... So please, rest easy. I promise, I'll never let anything happen to her." Hinamori heard him whisper as his hands clutched into fists. Hinamori felt her cheeks begin to flush at his comment. Noticing that Toshiro was about to turn around and see her staring at him, Hinamori immediately spun around around in an attempt to hide her rose coloured cheeks.

Seeing his childhood friend just standing there with her back to him, Toshiro gave her a questioning look. It then dawned on him that she was close enough to be able to hear what he had just vowed to her parents. As he was about to ask if she had overheard him, his grandmother called out for them to come down the hill and join her.

Hinamori, taking the chance that she was given, rushed off down the hill after her grandmother. Toshiro merely sighed as he watched her run off. Oh well, he thought as he began to make his own way down the hill It's not like it's necessarily a bad thing even if she did hear me.

Disclaimer:

In order not to make things too confusing, I'll refer to Hitsugaya by his given name when his grandmother is around. That way, you won't have "Hitsugaya" and "Mrs. Hitsugaya" in the same sentence. I mean, there's no point in making it confusing when there's an easy alternative, right?

Also, I know there haven't been too many HitsuHina moments yet. But don't worry! Once I set up the story, there'll be plenty of them!

Anyway, thanks for reading!

~ H-Mira