I miss Toshiro
Oh, how true that was. Hinata sat alone in the Shinigami Academy cafeteria with her arms wrapped around her knees and hardly any food on her plate. Today was her first day at the Academy and so far no-one had so much as looked at her, let alone talk to her, unless you counted those ridiculously hostile glares and Hinata was getting at least ten of those per-second. They all seemed to believe because she was a little kid barely thirteen years old in the Advanced Class that she had to be a stuck-up bitch who thought they were all idiots though she never dared to say it out loud.
She had been excited about entering the Academy. Now she just wanted to get out and go back to training with Toshiro who at the moment appeared to be the only person with any reiatsu who didn't loathe her very existence.
To pass the time, she withdrew her time table. Her first class was Kido in room 2-B and Hinata was smart enough to guess it would be the boring kido theory Toshiro had told her about and that the forty minutes spent listening to it would be a complete waste of time. She sighed. According to the sheet her teacher would be a guy called Pinto-sensei and Hinata wondered if he would be a strict teacher like the ones in the Ninja Academy, excluding Iruka-sensei. He was okay...
Hinata spent the rest of breakfast prodding her food. She thought back to her dorm room and how she lacked a room mate. That was good because she could spend the entire night alone doing whatever she wanted and she wouldn't be plagued by those terrifying stares.
She jumped as the bell rang and quickly threw her food away. For some reason a girl near her scoffed as though she disapproved and yet did nothing when her friend shoved a whole can of pea soup into the garbage bin. Hinata frowned but kept silent and instead tried to focus on where the hell room 2-B was. The Academy was like a maze and Hinata seriously doubted she would be able to find her room without her byukugan but she really did want to avoid using that technique so she simply asked some random guy for directions. He gave her a what-are-you-doing-here look but did end up pointing her in the right direction.
Hinata arrived to class two minutes after the bell. Two minutes too long, apparently. Pinto-sensei was not pleased and crossed his arms threateningly when Hinata arrived shuddering in her sandles. The look in Pinto-sensei's eyes made her want to sink into the floor.
"Well, little Hyuuga Hinata-chan finally treats us with her presence. Tell me, Hyuuga, but why is it that you delayed my class?"
"I-I, u-um, g-got lost, s-s-sensei." Hinata mumbled and she desperately avoided his eyes. She wished Toshiro was beside her, offering his comforting presence. She felt alone and vulnerable without him.
The teacher remained hard as stone but several of the first years snickered. Hinata swallowed and bowed low. "F-forgive m-me, s-sensei, i-it w-w-won't h-happen a-again."
"Be sure it doesn't, because next time I'll have you scrubbing toilets! Now to your seat!"
Hinata wished she was invisible as she walked to her seat. Everyone was looking at her and everyone appeared to be suppressing some sort of amused sound. She sat glumly by the very girl who had given her that disapproving 'hmph' when she'd disposed of her food. Her spirits fell even lower.
She really missed Toshiro.
0-0-0
"Shiro-chan!"
Toshiro sighed and pushed his paper work aside. He knew he would eventually have to face Hinamori's wrath and explain just why he had neglected his captain duties for the better half of the month and had sent nothing but the occasional Hell Butterfly to assure her he wasn't dead. He opened his turquoise just in time to see his 'girlfriend' fly through the door and wrap her arms around his neck and rub her face against his. Her chocolate eyes were watery and her cheeks were pink.
He didn't find it cute in the least.
"Where have you been Shiro-chan! I was so worried!"
"I sent a Hell Butterfly. But anyway, you needn't get to concerned about me, Hinamori. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."
"I know! But I was still worried..." She trailed off and pouted and Toshiro knew he was supposed to be overcome by her cuteness and sigh in defeat. He settled for just looking away but Hinamori translated it the same way. She brushed her lips against his cheek and Toshiro stiffened.
He still hadn't summoned the courage to break up with Hinamori, but then again he hadn't really been thinking about it for quite some time. Taking care of Hyuuga and organizing for some teachers to keep an eye on her had kept him far to busy to worry about his personal life and now he knew why Matsumoto preferred to goof rather then work, because that way you're absorbed by your personal life and nothing unexpected happens. Like this.
Toshiro glanced at his papers. He missed Hinata, though he would never admit it to anyone other then himself and Hyourinmaru. He missed her smile and her laugh and especially her cooking. But he missed training with her, too. She had never questioned his judgement and had always tried her hardest. It made him proud to see her entering the Academy and a part of him hoped she would graduate early like he did...but that was for selfish reasons.
It occurred to Toshiro that he may have been falling for Hinata. Literallyfalling for her. More then once he had caught himself staring at Hinata's figure while they'd been training and he enjoyed her company more then anyone else's. He fought the urge to sigh. The thought that he might actually be falling in love with someone seemed ridiculous, but the idea of falling in love with Hinata didn't actually seem too bad.
"Shiro-chan?" Hinamori mumbled and Toshiro realized he'd been spacing out.
"Hinamori," He said firmly. "I've told you time and time again to stop calling me 'Shiro-chan'. Must I remind you?"
"You're cold," Hinamori said as she pulled away and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's wrong with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with me, Hinamori, I just want to you to stop addressing me that way."
"You're always so formal when talking to me." Hinamori complained. "Rangiku-san, too."
"So?"
"We're you friends, aren't? And besides," Hinamori added. "I'm more then your friend. I'm your girlfriend, Hitsugaya-kun. We shouldn't need to act like we're nobles being forced into an arranged marriage or we'll go crazy."
Nobles being forced into an arranged marriage seemed to describe it quiet well in Toshiro's opinion and with his temper slowly rising he had half the nerve to tell her just that. But only half. She was still his Bed Wetter Momo and no matter how annoying the brunette managed to be he wouldn't knowingly upset her. But even so he didn't feel like discussing this particular topic at the moment so he picked up his ink push and selected a document from his monstrous pile.
"I have work to do, Hinamori. Please leave."
"Hitsugaya-kun-"
"Now."
"Fine." Hinamori spun round and stormed towards the door. Toshiro felt a small pang of guilt for upsetting his childhood friend but before he had the chance to fall her back for him to apologize she was gone. Matsumoto poked her head in and frowned.
"Taichou...is everything alright?"
Toshiro sighed. "For the moment, I guess."
0-0-0
"Fight!"
Hinata raised her bokutou in a frantic block as her opponent brought her own wooden sword down on the smaller girl with as much strength as she could summon. But Hinata was better then they suspected and she threw the blondie off with a powerful push and then dived in with a slash. It was blocked and then Hinata side stepped to avoid a thrust. She ducked at a slash and jumped over semi-circle that was designed to cut the Hyuuga in half.
Her toes hit the ground and she pushed forward and caught Blondie off guard. The bokutou made contact with her leg and the force made Blondie stagger backwards. She fell back and landed awkwardly on her wrist and let out a cry of pain that was lost among the thuds and slaps that resounding from the other battles going on around them.
Hinata froze and immediately dropped out of battle mode. Before the training exercise they'd been instructed to wear protective gear but their was none for the wrist and Hinata feared Blondie might really be hurt.
"U-um, a-are you a-alright-"
"Get your hands off me, filth!" And Blondie slapped Hinata's out stretched hand away and for some reason it hurt a lot more then it should've. Hinata clutched her hand and instinctively took several steps back as Blondie's friend hurried over and helped her off the ground. The friend was taller then Blondie and had long brown hair and a freckled face and stone-grey eyes.
Blondie shook Grey-eyes off and took a step towards Hinata. "How dare you injury me, you worthless child! This is what happens when little brats like you join the Academy! People get hurt!"
"I-"
"I am not interested in your excuses! I'll have my father expel you, Hyuuga-"
"You will do no such thing."
All three girls jumped when Osuka-sensei appeared out of no-where and stalked over with a menacing gleam in his eyes. Their combat sensei was a lot more easy going then Pinto-sensei but was extremely strict and passionate about treating all students as equals and Hinata was pretty sure Blondie had just crossed some unseen line if the look on his face was anything to go by.
"But sensei-"
"I saw the fight, Maaka-san, and you fell on your own. Hyuuga-san did nothing wrong and you are simply blaming her for your lose. And besides, their is no way Hyuuga would be expelled for something as small as this. Noble or not, all students are treated equally in this school." There was a note of finality in his voice that made Hinata afraid to speak and she pressed her lips together so that not even the faintest sound slipped through them. Maaka-san (Hinata didn't know her first name yet) glared at their sensei but held her toung and Hinata was grateful for that.
Finally Osuka-sensei said "As you were." before turning on heel and walking off to deal with some boys shouting at each other.
Once he was gone Maaka-san gave Hinata once savage look and then stepped forward and gave her shoulders a hard shove. Hinata stumbled backwards and just barely caught herself on the bokutou. Maaka-san smirked.
"You will fight me tomorrow. And I will beat you."
0-0-0
Maaka-san lost. Again. And again. And again.
The whole week passed without incident apart from Hinata beating Maaka Bunko every single day during combat class and the blond was not taking it well. Each time she vowed to win the next round only to loss miserly in front of all her peers. No-one had talked to Hinata yet but she'd heard some nasty rumours and Hinata was willing to bet her comfy futon that Maaka was behind it...
...so, in retrospect, Hinata should've known something was going to happen...
Hinata was walking back to her room. It was late in the afternoon and the sky was steadily darkening and Hinata was tired. Tired. Her hands ached from hours of scribbling notes and her eyes stung from hours of staring at the stuff she had to scribble down as notes. She just wanted to sleep and never get up again but less then a second later she wished she'd stayed back in the class room to clean up or something...
...because the moment she rounded the seemingly deserted corner a hand covered her mouth and suddenly she was being kicked in the stomach.
The blow was so suddenly and violent Hinata was unable to respond for several seconds and the enemy used that time to deliver another five painful kicks to her gut. Then she was thrown against the wall and she laid there, gasping for air, as a kick was aimed at her back. It struck and Hinata let out a gasp of pain.
Hinata saw the next one and refused to be hit again. She flung her arms out and grabbed the flying foot and pushed her self off the ground. Her attacker lost their footing and crashed to the floor and just as Hinata was about to catch a glimpse of their face someone else snatched the back of her uniform and gave it a savage tug. Hinata was pulled back and for a short, horrifying moment she couldn't breath. Then she spun around and elbowed her captor in the face.
She staggered away rubbing her throat and turned to see that her attackers were none other then Maaka Bunko and Kagurashi Miyuki, formally known as Grey-eyes.
Miyuki was off the ground and was racing towards Hinata at a frightening speed. Hinata dodged the flying kick aimed at her head and then blocked the punch going for her stomach. A dozen others followed but Hinata managed to dodge or block all of them expect for one, which just skimmed her shoulder but was never the less painful and Hinata couldn't imagine how painful it would've been to suffer a direct hit from Miyuki.
"Hiyaaaaa!"
Bunko's foot made contact with Hinata's head and the Hyuuga was knocked to the ground. She tried to roll away but Miyuki grabbed her and held her still. Bunko kicked her again and again and again and Hinata tried desperately to escape but her struggles were in vain. Miyuki was seven times her size and her puny, twig-thin arms had no chance against her-
Kido!
Holding back tears, Hinata pressed her flat palm against Miyuki shoulders and yelled "Hado no Ichi: Sho!"
Miyuki let out a cry of surprise as her shoulder was forced away from Hinata by some unseen force and her grip on Hinata's small body lessened, almost disappeared completely. Hinata immediately rolled away so Bunko's furious kick hit Miyuki's gut rather then Hinata's and Miyuki was sent rolling around on the floor gasping for air.
"Mi-Miyuki!" Bunko cried but her concern evaporated when she realized Hinata was trying to get away. "Wait!"
Hinata tried to run but Bunko's legs were longer and she reached her before Hinata could escape. She clutched Hinata's hair and furiously tugged her back and Hinata let out a cry of pain as Bunko flashed a kick at the back of her knee. Her leg gave way and she partly collapsed and Bunko's smirk returned. She threw Hinata to the floor and hit her. Again and again and again. Miyuki's foot joined in and Hinata realized dully that she'd recovered.
Hinata knew it would be impossible to run now so she just followed some ancient human instinct to cover her face, her eyes and nose, and wait for the beating to be over. But then someone kicked her gut again and suddenly Hinata's body was shrieking with pain and Hinata screamed. They'd broken something inside. They were going to kill her!
Hinata began to cry in earnest and Bunko began to laugh.
"You see, gaki! See what happens when you damned Hyuuga come to the Academy! People get hurt! Hahahaha!"
Despite all the pain and despair she felt Hinata's brain still managed to process that comment and she wondered momentarily whether or not Bunko had something against the Hyuuga Clan, if she knew them at all. Then she wondered what would happen when Toshiro came to find Hinata beaten to death and she saw an image of him crying. Her own weeping increased. She didn't want Toshiro to cry! Never, never, never...
And then the evil was seeping into her again.
It seemed to come from everywhere and suddenly Hinata's spirit was filled with this evil and dark and cruel presence and pain washed over her like a tidal wave. Her blood turned to acid; her skin was on fire; her head was being crushed; she was being snapped in two; her eye balls were melting-
The world spun like a whirl pool and Hinata was barely aware of her body moving on its own. She was suddenly on her feet and she was moving forward but she didn't care. All she cared about was keeping the excruciating pain at bay and Hinata could barely do that. She felt as though something was clawing at her flaming back and she heard the shrill squawk of a bird and saw something black and blurry dart across her vision.
Suddenly she was fading in and out of that fiery world and the Academy and she saw the man again and he was walking towards her. His face was still shrouded in darkness despite the fact he was surrounded by red-hot fire and every square inch of ground was bathed in that fiery light. Then Hinata saw something bright shine in his chest, something small and round and she was suffocated with the blackest and darkest reiatsu she'd ever felt. She was drowning in its presence and tried to run but her body would not listen to her. She was faintly aware of her fists moving and that something sticky and warm sparkled on her knuckles but that wasn't important...
"Who are you!" Hinata screamed into the fire. The raven was on his shoulder and its red eyes gleamed in triumph.
The man stopped and she saw him smile. And suddenly the shadows around his eyes vanished and Hinata found her lavender eyes meeting chocolate brown. He appeared calm and collected but Hinata immediately saw the evil behind the mask.
"Who am I?" The man said and his voice was just as cool and calm as his expression. He chuckled. "You need only ask Hitsugaya-kun. Just ask him...who he hates the most."
Wh-why...? Hinata felt as though she was falling and suddenly she couldn't breathe. The evil was sucked out off her and she stumbled backwards against the wall and she drew in as much air as humanly possible. The fire was gone and the pain was gone. But his words remained, echoing in her ears...Just ask him...who he hates the most...
And then Hinata blinked and realized something was on her fingers. She'd forgotten. She lifted her hands to examine them and her heart instantly stopped.
Blood.
Blood.
Blood painted her fingers and it was insanely bright and warm, the purest red Hinata had ever seen. But not only her fingers. There was blood all over her front and even on her feet. It dripped off the walls and pooled crimson on the floor. She felt vomit rising in her throat but swallowed it down. She took a shuddering breath and forced herself to look at the hall way...
...and almost burst out screaming then and there.
Miyuki and Bunko...she had never seen such horrible things done to a human body. She couldn't bare to look more then a second but knew they were dead as a door nail. No human could lose that much blood and survive. Hinata swallowed.
There was blood on her hands, on her front, on her feet...it was only logical to assume she killed them. But she couldn't remember doing so. No, all she remembered was the pain of that evil presence and the man speaking to her in the 'dream' of fire and ravens. And besides, they'd been attacking her. They'd broken something inside her...and Hinata only noticed then that her gut no longer hurt. That nothing hurt anymore, like all her bruises had disappeared. She unconsciously brushed her hand against the spot where they'd kicked and broken her. The pain had been agonizing.
She closed her eyes and sobbed. She'd killed Miyuki and Bunko. Why? Why? Hinata didn't like fighting...never have and never will...now she'd gone and killed two students without even meaning to and Toshiro would never speak to her again. She was positive of that. He'd be disgusted by all of this...the brutality, the cruelty, the everything...
"T-Toshiro-kun..." Hinata whimpered and she reluctantly opened her eyes-
And she gasped.
Bunko and Miyuki were healed!
They looked perfectly fine, perfectly brand new, and though they were still covered in blood all damage seemed to have just vanished. Bunko's head was in one piece and Miyuki's limbs were still enact though Hinata was sure she'd seen them thrown carelessly across the room. And...and they were breathing!
They were alive!
0-0-0
Hinata ran.
She didn't know what else to do.
She only stopped when she reached a large river far away from her dorm and the now-living bodies and the blood, that warm, sticky, red liquid that painted the walls and floors and her. She dived into the water and washed it all away. She tore off her uniform and washed it as thoroughly as she could managed and she didn't give a damn who saw. She just wanted the blood to be gone.
A hour later and she was sprawled up against the tree that grew by the river, clad in her drenched school uniform, and she was bathed in shadows. Her breathing was heavy and shallow and her entire frame shook. She worried about Bunko and Miyuki. She worried about being caught. She worried about everything so much that her head began to hurt.
She was going to be caught. The principal would figure she'd done this somehow, that she'd beaten then to a pulp and then somehow healed them before fleeing...they would find out and expel her, perhaps even imprison her, and they'd tell Toshiro and he'd...he'd never...
She started crying again and she didn't bother to try and stop because she knew it was helpless. She was too upset and very, very confused. Had she healed them? If she had, then how? Would Ookami-san know? She seemed to know everything. Hinata sniffed. Since when was becoming a shinigami so damn complicated...?
"Hyuuga? Is that you?"
Hinata almost jumped out of her skin. She let out a yelp of surprise and spun around to see none other then Hitsugaya Toshiro standing behind her and his eyes were narrowed in concern. They widened slightly when he saw she was crying and Hinata hurriedly turned back to the river and wiped her tears away.
"H-hi, H-Hitsugaya-t-t-taichou.." She mumbled and she struggled to keep her voice even.
"Hyuuga, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" She heard him move closer and she stiffened.
"I-I'm no crying!" She protested meekly. She betrayed herself by sniffing. "I-I j-just h-have s-something in my e-e-eye..."
Toshiro dropped down beside her. She could feel his gaze drilling into her but she kept her watery eyes glued to her hands. She knew it was impossible but for some reason she though he knew. That he knew what happened in the corridor...but he couldn't, could he...?
"You're soaked." Toshiro said flatly. Hinata snuffled in response.
"I-I f-fell in."
"Hn." He didn't seem convinced.
For a while they just sat in silence. For Hinata it was suffocating. For Toshiro it was somewhat awkward and frustrating. She was hiding something from him and that hurt. He wanted to demand she tell her but held his toung because he knew that would only upset her.
Hinata examined her hands. They were very boring.
"...Hyuuga..." Toshiro said suddenly and Hinata's shoulders tightened. "I know something is wrong. But if you really don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Just know that no matter what's happened, I'll stand by you."
Hinata felt her face growing hot. "...Y-you will...?"
"You're my friend, Hyuuga. And it's a rule of mine to protect my friends, no matter what."
Hinata risked a glance at his face and found him staring out at the river. Light danced on his features and his hair and eyes seemed to glow. Hinata's mouth dropped slightly as she stared in awe. And then she was smiling and tears were swelling in her eyes again but she managed to hold them back. This boy...this amazing white haired boy was someone she could completely depend on, no matter what. That thought made her heart beat so fast it almost hurt.
She hesitated, blushed, and then rested her head on his shoulder and she felt him stiffen at her touch but thankfully he didn't push her away.
"...Thank y-you...Toshiro-kun."
His mouth twitched. "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you."
!I don't own Bleach nor Naruto!
Hi! I hope you all enjoyed Christmas! I know I did. I got The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Great movie and I recommend it to everyone.
Anyway...I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Toshiro pulled a Kaien! And Hinata has finally started to heal people, like it says in the summary...I wonder why~...I don't mean to sound demanding but I wish someone would review chap 4 or 5 -_- I feel like I've suddenly gotten really bad at writing because there weren't any battle scenes. This chapter was hard to write because I wasn't sure if anyone would actually read it...so...
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Thank you!