A week after she unleashed Kira on an unsuspecting Hanatarou, Hinamori found herself sitting alone in her room. Hanatarou had managed to gain permission to visit the human world again; this time to visit Ichigo and his companions and carry messages and goods between them and Soul Society, and he would not return until the next evening. As she grew closer to the healer; her room began to fill up with more salvaged items that he meticulously transformed into little gifts and ornaments. No trace remained of Aizen's existence. Now Hinamori sat on her bed and toyed with a small carving of a terrier dog that had one of its paws broken off and carefully replaced with a rough chunk of wood of about the right dimensions. Damaged or no, it was quite an attractive piece; and she could see why Hanatarou thought it deserved a second chance on her shelf.

A second chance; Hanatarou said, was what she needed to give herself as well. Once he was gone, Hinamori had the solitude she needed to contemplate her relationship with him. Why had she fallen in love with Hanatarou? She remembered the girl she once was and how she became infatuated with a man who was handsome, strong, wise, brave and gentle…and who ended up killing a part of her the day he stabbed her. No, Hinamori corrected herself… it died a long, long time ago when she chose to let herself become completely dependant on one person as the core of her being and only source of support. She killed her self long before Aizen planned her death.

So how did this explain her feelings towards Hanatarou? Hinamori decided that part of it had to be a knee-jerk reaction. Hanatarou was the polar opposite of Aizen in uncountable ways. He was wretched enough for her to kill with her bare fists, clumsy enough to trip on a seamlessly polished stone floor, and silly enough to mop himself into a corner. Perhaps she loved him because she subconsciously wanted someone so unlike Aizen that he would be the least likely to turn out the same way; however illogical that reasoning may be. Objectively speaking, Hanatarou gave her the impression of complete honesty, just like Aizen once did. But had she fallen into the same trap in a different guise?

This was a disturbing thought for Hinamori, but after some consideration, she decided that it was not the case. For one thing, Hanatarou couldn't hurt her even if he tried. Not only was he severely lacking in both combat skill and deception; she could choose to not give her heart to him, so that it could never be broken…

Hinamori stopped herself suddenly. She would love who she chose and with her whole heart. For if Hanatarou did the same and she refused, she would do him a great dishonour. And that left one, last reason: as she loved, trained and protected Hanatarou, she rediscovered the independence and spirit that she had forsaken so long ago in favour of complete emotional dependence. Where Aizen had groomed her to remain as a devoted child, Hanatarou's love allowed her to grow and mature. Hinamori learnt to be weak for Aizen's comfort, and strong for Hanatarou's protection.

What if she had simply turned the tables and made Hanatarou dependant on her? This too, was a chilling thought. Hinamori dwelt on this a while longer, pausing only to replace the carving back on its shelf. After some serious consideration, she discounted that notion too.

Hanatarou had always been, and will always be, Hanatarou. He understood he was outwardly weak and was unashamed to seek help when necessary. And yet, Hinamori guessed that somehow, Hanatarou knew his own strength and directed it with his conscience. She could train his swordwork and combat reflexes; but Hanatarou's moral compass, self-respect and inner courage needed no instruction at all.

She was jolted out of her reverie by a knock on her door. Peering out of the window, she spotted the pale spikes of Hitsugaya's hair and opened the door to admit him. The Gotei 13 captain and childhood friend stepped into her room and gazed about in surprise. Within two months, Hinamori's bedroom had gone from being nearly bare to overflowing with bric-a-brac. "Good afternoon, Hinamori," he said.

"Hello, Shiro-chan!" Hinamori grinned with mischief. Now that her guilt and sadness had lifted, she was recovering her old sense of humour. Hitsugaya groaned inwardly. Must…not…stoop to calling her 'Bedwetter Momo' again…He took a deep breath and decided to cut straight to the point.

"I know you are together with Yamada Hanatarou."

"Mmm-hmm," came the reply.

"You love him don't you? He is a fine man…"

Hinamori simply beamed; clasping her hands together and thanking him for his approval. At one point, cold Hitsugaya had been the only person who dared to challenge her to seek a new life for herself in the shadow of Aizen's betrayal; and it would be months before she realised the depth of his understanding and concern towards her. The solemn captain was inwardly overjoyed at her emotional recovery, but also a tad concerned. "But don't you think this might be a bit too rushed? Only a few months ago, you were seriously troubled. Have you been taking your medication?"

Hinamori glanced reflexively at the little bottle of antidepressant pills on her bedside table. Yes, she had been taking them. She was ashamed of it, but there was nothing that she would hide from Shiro-chan or Hanatarou. She nodded shyly at Hitsugaya.

"That's very good of you," he admitted. But this revelation meant that he had to put his plans into action. How could I possibly tell her that the antidepressants make it hard for me to discern if she is truly content with Hanatarou, or if she is just slap-happy because of the drugs?

Trust Hinamori to fall in love with the first man who puts on Aizen's glasses!

The next day…

Hanatarou was returning from the human world. He'd arrived at Kurakara Town on a Tuesday morning and pestered Uryu Ishida into allowing him to pass as the Quincy's younger brother at school. Ichigo had already played host to multiple shinigami and already exhausted his supply of imaginary siblings and cousins as far as school authorities were concerned. Hanatarou remembered the lethal glare Ishida gave Ichigo when the latter helpfully suggested that the resemblance between them was uncanny. According to him, Hanatarou looked like a miniature Ishida without the glasses and an obsessive urge to put sewing pins and arrows in everything.

He stayed overnight at Ichigo's place and shyly told him and Orihime about his new relationship status. Ichigo simply congratulated him, but Orihime became terribly excited and insisted on spending most of the night giving him helpful advice on dating as well as grooming tips. So after a perfumed bath, haircut, manicure and clothes shopping trip, Hanatarou returned to Soul Society bearing a passing resemblance to Orihime's rather ambitious vision of male beauty, and bearing an armful of food and flowers for the romantic candlelit dinner she had helped to plan.

As he stepped out of the portal, he was greeted by the buxom figure of Rangiku Matsumoto. The lieutenant took one look at him and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hello, Hanatarou. Going on a date tonight?" Reflexively, she arched her back and stretched; a gesture that thrust her most womanly assets forward to strain against the opening of her kimono. Hanatarou could not help but stare for a brief second before looking down and blushing furiously.

"Er…hai, fukoutaichou." The shinigami tried to walk away as fast as he could without being impolite.

"Aww, Hanatarou...don't go away yet. I need your help…I've got period pains and I think I'd like to ask you for some advice in private."

Once again, Hanatarou was unable to escape his fate. He was helplessly dragged away by the lieutenant to sit and chat with her on a bench in a nearby garden. When Hanatarou finished his doctor's speech on the various causes and cures for menstrual pains and the availability of painkillers at the 4th Division's medical centre, Matsumoto begged him to examine her abdomen, 'in case its something more serious'. Before he could protest, Matsumoto pulled her kimono out of her hakama and lifted it to just under her breasts. After looking around nervously, he bent to examine her. For all her heartfelt lamentations, he could not find precisely where she claimed she was sore…

"Oh Hanatarou, I've heard about other medical conditions that women can get; from the posters at the Kurosaki Clinic. Please don't tell anyone else but I'm four-hundred-and-thirty…" She whispered the latter under her breath "…and I don't know if I'm at risk of breast cancer. Dr. Kurosaki says he knows more about treating humans than shinigami so he said I should self-examine regularly."

Hanatarou stopped trying to look away. Entranced, he waited until she asked the inevitable question.

"Could you teach me how?"