"Dear diary… Izuru Kira was hauled nearly unconscious out of the Farting Kitsune Pub last night. He has obviously disobeyed the doctor's orders to stay away from alcohol! His friends Renji and Shuuhei must be a bad influence on him and he will receive a telling off during his next appointment!"
"But worst of all,I had to fetch Hanatarou back to our division. How could someone like him be such an irresponsible little twat? And he said he was fighting with Kira. How could that have happened?"
"Oh, I know…it must be that Hinamori-kun of his. All day he talks about her when he is off-duty, if he hasn't actually left to see her. I wonder if Kira is the jealous sort, but I doubt it since Hanatarou said it was he who took him to the pub. And worst of all, I was confronted outside by none other than the short-arse Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, demanding to know what Hinamori was doing with Hanatarou. I said that they were probably in love…as if I can't see the obvious. He left without a word. How rude…"
"And people here call me an emo-dude. So here I am writing in my diary about how unfair this is. MY LIFE SUCKS!!!"
Absorbed, 3rd Seat Yasochika Iemura of the 4th Division finished his daily diary entry and spoken diatribe. Once he closed the book, the small crowd of shinigami that snuck up behind him crumpled into peals of mad laughter.
Author's notes:
Whew, I've made it halfway through the story. The 5th chapter is very nearly done and the ending is already well-planned, but I felt that a break at this point would not be inappropriate. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, especially from SamuraiJedi, Kokaku and Kemious…really, anyone that had offered me encouragement. Prior to this story I had written a small Bleach drabble and a pair of Gundam fics that didn't get much feedback due to the use of an unusual theme and obscure canon characters, so I was very disillusioned for a while when it came to writing. Then the inspiration for this one came along and it was too irresistible to refuse.
I realise that I did not go into much detail on the process of writing this fic. So at the risk of boring my readers (that is, you), I would like to say what an incredible experience it has been. When I first envisioned a romantic and rather comedic pairing between Hanatarou and Hinamori, I had no idea that it would gradually blossom into a multi-chapter story with an actual plot. But after seeing how the various ideas could be coherently knitted together at the end, I decided to give it a go.
One of the greatest challenges was to make the characters seem human and yet inspiring. This is particularly difficult with Hinamori as she is understandably often characterised as being, quoting Crescent Venus (another reviewer) a 'shrieking basket case', which is putting it mildly. But when I looked at things in perspective, Hinamori acted the way many people do when they first emerge from cult brainwashing and receive support. The denial, addiction and finally, crushing guilt is the legacy that these manipulative organisations leave behind. But those that recover are much stronger for the experience. For this story, I drew upon that as well as the simple fact that Hinamori is a shinigami who is skilled enough to be a vice-captain; and capable as well as generous enough to impart these skills to others.
Writing Hanatarou's strong side is easier as we see glimpses of it in the canon, like when he goes to confront Byakuya…without a sword. But I have to admit that in general…he would suck as a fighter. Thus it was a real challenge to write him into a battle that didn't insult his opponent's abilities; coupled with the restriction on not killing Hanatarou outright or causing too much structural damage to the surrounding infrastructure! Enter Izuru Kira, wielder of a mass-doubling zanpakutou that doesn't randomly smash nearby objects or summon unruly monsters…
Well I hope you enjoy the coming chapters. Things will begin to heat up for the couple. You can't have a love story without conflict, but I promise, it will end well.
Greenzaku