Chapter 17. For Now
I do not own Bleach.
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Hitsugaya stared at his friend, too guilty to speak, or bid her a final farewell.
He curled his arms around her and laid her head on his lap, her brown hair streaming over his knees in places where it had escaped the security of the blue cloth.
As he looked down at her, several times he thought that he saw faint with puffs lifting from her slightly ajar lips, and the pain in his heart receded as he thought she was breathing. But as he blinked his eyes, he realized that his eyes were just playing cruel tricks on him.
"Gomenasai, Hinamori. This is all my fault. I could have prevented all of this but…I-I was too late. I'm so sorry…"
His voice trailed off into the dark echoes of the cave. A soft wind blew, ruffling her shihakushou but nonetheless she remained still. He closed his eyes and pulled her closer, letting his warm hands dance over the skin of her frozen ones.
He leaned back against the rock wall behind him, and just kept his eyes shut, praying for any kind of miracle that might not come. As another gust of wind slipped by, her shihakushou ruffled more than it did the last time, and Hitsugaya was forced to un-seal his eyes at the sound.
"Mm…" It was a small, quiet, sound, but it was all that he needed. He pulled her into a kneeling position in front of him and held her shoulders.
"Baka." Was all that he could murmur. She drowsily lifted her head, discombobulated hair fluffing out in all directions, but the shadows were so dark that neither once noticed, nor did they care.
He smiled as her shimmering chestnut eyes met his aqua ones; they locked each other's gaze. Hinamori seemed to be on the verge of tears, Hitsugaya simply gave her an affectionate glance.
"Why am I not surprised?" He asked jokingly. Hinamori cocked her head to one side, puzzled.
"Nani? What do you mean Toshiro-kun?" She brushed some loosed, tangled strands of hair away from her face, and tucked them behind her ear.
"I mean, why am I not surprised that you woke up? It seems to me that you always do this to me and always wind up being alright." He teased. "And since when am I 'Toshiro-kun' neh?" Hinamori giggled and gave him a playful smile.
"I just wanted to see if you'd notice Hitsugaya-kun." Was all that she gave away. But the white-haired taichou saw the glimmering hint of a friendly challenge residing in her eyes.
"What if I called you Shiro-chan?" She smirked.
"What if I called you Bed-Wetter Momo?" He grinned. Then he sighed. "Like I said, you're always finding ways to get yourself into trouble, but this time you went a bit too far. Just promise me you'll never do it again." He told her, half jokingly, half serious.
"I promise, Shiro-chan." She kidded the last part of her response.
As they quarreled over their pet names, like only the best of friends would, the rest of the world was forgotten, what had happened in the past, and what might happen in the future. The only thing that either one cared about was the other, and the time that they shared together now.
The darkness was once again overcoming them and their sight was drowned out by darkness. Hitsugaya felt Hinamori shiver and her held her tighter.
"I hate to say it, and I mean I really hate to say it, but I think that its best if we stay here for the rest of the night." He suggested.
Reluctantly, Hinamori nodded. If they returned to Soul Society now, they would be as blind as moles, scuttling through un-familiar tunnels. They had best wait until the faint light of 'morning', whatever morning may be in this place of eternal night.
Dusk was long gone when Hitsugaya finally noticed Hinamori's breathing deepen as she fell asleep. He however stayed awake, his gaze shifting uneasily around the moonlight-bathed cave, as if he expected more Arrancar to spring out at them.
But his fretful worries were all for not. This cave seemed to be out of reach of all other Hollow and Arrancar other than the ones that had previously lived there, whose blood stained the very walls that once made up their dwelling.
Never again would Hitsugaya have to hear that awful voice, sounding of an animal whose throat was torn to ribbons and frayed so much that it drowned in its own life-blood. As the events of the past days re-flooded his mind, Hitsugaya recalled all of the pointless bloodshed that had taken place. He probably would have let some of the manipulated creatures live if they had simply left Hinamori alone. But that was just not how things wound up to be.
The silence of the cave was eerie, and the simultaneous whistles of the breezes petting the rocks flowed around them. Occasionally, sand would blow in through the entrance of the cavern, making the aqua-eyed boy think that a possible sandstorm were taking place, and he feared returning to Seireitei with the two of them in such weak and vulnerable states.
Eventually, Hitsugaya became calm, listening only to the whispers of the wind against the rocks and the soft breathing of the girl at his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, gently as not to wake her, and pulled her closer to him.
Only then did he notice just how cold she was, the Winter air and frost did not hold back, nor show mercy for this girl.
His mind flashed back to the time when the two of them had sat like that in his office back in the 10th division's building, back in civilization. He longed to return, as soon as he could, but with Hinamori in such a frail condition, he knew that they would be targeted by many savage Hollow, and that their return home would take a while.
In order to return to Seireitei, they had to find the exact spot where the portal that had gotten them in had closed. And then, they would have to make another portal in order to get back.
But Hitsugaya shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being; he would deal with those issues when they aroused.
He let Hinamori's head rest on his shoulder and he gently nestled his body closer to hers, her tranquil breaths soothed him and he forgot all of his troubles, if only for now.
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A/N: Well here you have it Chapter 17! I hope you liked it! (Next chapter will be a songfic). Plz review!