Softly Snowing
~ Switching ~
The bank of the river was covered in soft grass that tickled Hana's fingers. She found the river flow to be quite enjoyable, however, the other reason she came was that she had long after starting school, figured out that Hitsugaya Toshiro would come there and sit and watch the clouds pass on by him.
She had a major liking for the cool grass in her fingers though, and on top of that preferred the water, so she had a hard time understanding why he would just go and stare at the sky sometimes. He could sit for hours watching the same thing, but on the river, boats went up and down, so that was defiantly never the same.
She had thought many a time to go and ask him about this, but she had to clearly remembered what Nashini had done before. He had been hurtful, cruel, and hurtful, to the point that she could not trust the eldest of the Kamoku family not to do something hurtful to her ever again.
In fact, as she glanced down at her arm, which had yet another bruise, ever since Nashini had figured out that he could blame the injuries on Toshiro, he had not hesitated to hurt her when he was frustrated at her. This had become more and more frequent as of late, and she choose to hide them in her kimono.
She not once spoke up against her brother, but she didn't accuse Toshiro about the whole matter either. However, she didn't once go and defend the boy and tell the truth either. It was almost as if she feared what the older boy might do, even in front of their parents. He also had a look in his eye that said that he enjoyied it.
That look had never been there before, and now was playing at her heart, pulling at it and causing her a great deal of grief. A small voice inside her head told her she should speak up, but truth was obvious that she never did. There was also a reason perhaps beyond the fact that she was afraid of her brother.
She was also afraid that she wouldn't be believed if she told the truth, as a whole lot of people she knew thought that the boy was a jinx. Sometimes, she felt that way too, concidering that she had gotten hurt everytime she had been with him. She also had met him in a snow storm, of all places, the first time that they had met.
She found the cool grass, to be nice, cool and refreshing to her finger tips. Of course, it also tended to stain her kimonos if she was not careful, so she was always extra careful with this, lest her mother became angry. Thus she never ran around playing in the grass, only letting herself lie in it, her finger tips touching it.
She glanced over to where Toshiro had been sitting, but found him to be gone. Frantically she glanced back up, only to see that he was glaring down at her. "Why do you keep following me?"
"I can sit on the bank too, can't I?" she suddenly asked.
"The only days you haven't come have been the rainy ones, and you always glance over to where I like to be. You didn't come here before school started," the boy stated firmly, his teal eyes narrow.
"Perhaps it makes me feel grown up," she stated, a smile on her face.
"You wouldn't know what that means," he stated coolly, continueing to stand there and glare at her.
"And you would?" she suddenly asked.
"What I know is that being an adult means one can't act like a child anymore," the boy stated firmly.
"So then, you wouldn't know, right?" she smiled, thinking she had proven her point.
"I have never been allowed to be a child," the shock was evident on her face when this comment came from his mouth. "I have never been allowed to play along side other children. I've always been stuck in the background, staring in."
"But that doesn't mean you can't act like a child anymore,"
"No… but I defiantly am not allowed to. Perhaps an adult can still act like a child, but very little of the time. It is part of growing up, they say," the white haired boy began to walk away."
"Toshiro-kun!" the girl suddenly called out, sitting up from the position she had been in, only to have Toshiro stop, turn, and glare at her.
"It's Hitsugaya," the boy stated firmly. "What is it that you want exactly?"
"Who says it is part of growing up?"
"My Granny does," he sighed, continuing to walk away.
"She must be very wise then!" Hana continued to smile.
"Stop following me…" Toshiro glanced down at his feet and watched the pebbles roll about as he stepped.
"Hana!" both looked up at that very cheerful, somewhat familiar voice.
"Shirezu!" Hana suddenly called out, then realized who she was with, and wondered if they might get in trouble. The boy walked over to them, while two teal eyes glanced him up and down.
"Does your brother Shirezu have a twin?" Toshiro asked compeltly out of the blue.
"Yes! His name is Hita," the girl smiled, quite please that he had guessed this.
"You're not Kamoku Shirezu, are you?" Toshiro stated firmly. "You're Hita, Kamoku Hita?"
"Don't be stupid Toshiro-kun! Of coruse Shirezu is Shirezu! Hita is sickly, so he isn't allowed out of the house!" Hana protested.
"Is he really sick, or do your parents just think so? Am I right that you and your brother switch every so often so that you can have some freedom?" the small white haired boy continued to walk away.
"How did you know?" Hita asked, causing Toshiro to stop again and turn.
"Because your two personalities aren't the same," and then he was gone.
"Hita… but…" Hana became confused. "How long…"
"A couple of weeks now… ever since school started really, though we hadn't tried sending me to school," the boy replied sadly. "Please don't tell anyone…"
"But… Hita… you aren't supposed to leave the house," the small girl protested, full of worry.
"And not to get to live life? I really am not sick, like he says. But if I was, don't you think I would wish to see the outside world while I can?" the boy stared at the sky. "I like watching the sky… it is the one thing I can do from the house. I wish I could be free like a bird sometimes. Please don't tell?"
"I promise… no telling," Hana then made a comment. "I am starting to think that Toshiro-kun really is a jinx."
"You know what, I kind of felt that he was, sort of," Hita commented suddenly. "… the good kind of jinx that brings you good luck!"
"No way, all I have ever had was bad luck because of him!" Hana stated.
"It is all in perspective, if one thinks about it," Hita stated. "Anything can be either, so it isn't really him, but the person thinking they've been jinxed who sets everything, right?"
M
Meanwhile, Shirezu sat in his brother's place at the house, himself staring at the sky. Not only was this enjoyable, but Hita being able to have some freedom was also something that made him for some reason or another feel good. He closed his eyes for a bit, relazing, only to have his arm suddenly grabbed, hard.
"Nashini?" he suddenly growled.
"Don't take that attitude suddenly after all these years, Hita!" the other boy laughed. He then threw a punch at Shirezu's face, only to have it grabbed. "What the…"
"I am not Hita…" the boy grinned. The plan had been, when this had started, as a way to catch Nashini in the act.
"Shirezu?" the older boy suddenly turned pale, then he got a snotty attitude. "Where is Hita. Mother and father will be quite livid."
"You tell them, I tell that it has been you abusing Hana, not to mention also Hita," the older of the twins stated firmly. "I know it hasn't been Hitsugaya Toshiro hurting her."
"How would you know!" the older boy stated.
"The handprints in the brusing are larger then mine. That boy's hands are smaller," the boy stated. "Here is the deal, you not tell about this, I won't tell about your abusing them."
"What, don't you care about them?" Nashini snapped.
"Actually, I do care, which is why I am doing it the way that I am," the other boy smirked. "See, I don't want to say anything about you unless they want me too, or for some reason you've gone too far."
The eldest couldn't argue the point.
Author's note – I have what I want to do for each chapter jotted down. As you can see, it has formulated a kind of slice of life type fanfic, but it all leads to one concusion at the end!