Life of Simplicity

~Simply Alone~
*Kira*

As soon as the other three broached the subject of Hitsugaya Taicho, Izuru knew that the conversation would become deep and heavy with Momo. Logic went to speak, that since Hinamori had been acting a certain way over Aizen, that she would have had some sort of feelings remaining after the event. However, the fukutaicho of the third division knew the truth all to well.

He had been there when Aizen had tricked Hitsugaya Toshiro into stabbing someone that the small taicho considered to be family. The whole fact that this had occurred was kept shut from those who didn't already know, to protect both Toshiro and Momo's privacy in the matter and hopefully make it easier for the two to reconciliate with each other.

When Renji said the words, "oh come on, it isn't as if Hitsugaya Taicho attacked Hinamori," Izuru felt himself flinching, a memory of the ice blade piercing Momo's chest. He also remembered how the small taicho had reacted, how he had lost the adult composure he normally had about him and became a complete child.

Momo's reaction, he couldn't say he hadn't expected her to react the way he did, but it still stung. He found himself wishing that he could have been of more help, other then healing the others at that point in time, but what could he have done against Aizen's ability? Truth of the matter was, nothing. He was left staring as two people he cared about were hurt mentally and physically.

Well, there would have been a point where he wouldn't have thought that he cared about the small taicho. To him, unlike Momo, Toshiro was just a person, a snot nosed brat as Renji liked to put it. But he knew that Hinamori thought of the child prodigy as a younger sibling and knew he was important to her.

He couldn't explain their bond as anything but a familiar one, for the two of them in truth didn't seem to get along. Actually, he couldn't help but notice that the two of them were growing apart over the years, but he never thought that the bond between the two of them would break. The event with Aizen shook up that belief.

For some reason, he found himself trying to repair said relationship. This was despite the fact he had always honestly been jealous of the small taicho being so close to Momo and getting a good deal of her attention. But something felt wrong about the two not speaking with each other. "It has to do with the fact that you've come to see him as an obnoxious younger brother, despite him out ranking you."

However, Momo went ballistic. "How can you take his side! He stabbed me through the chest! I am so glad he feels too guilty, that he hasn't come! I don't want to see him. Ever... again!"

Why Toshiro came to apologize for something that wasn't his fault, Kira didn't know, but the results definitely weren't pleasant. The whole aura of the room was tense and everyone could feel their frustration boiling. It ended with him suddenly moving to sit by her, placing a hand on her shoulder and saying something she likely didn't want to hear, and the other two choosing to leave.

The whole place remained silent as she simply sat in the bed, staring at her two feet sticking up out of the covers. Finally though, she spoke up again. "Shiro-chan... what all do I owe him an apology for, other then throwing that at him?"

"I would say that accusing him of trying to kill you is one of those things." Izuru sighed, glancing at the floor. "You also ended up trusting Aizen far more then you ever trusted someone you considered to be your family. I mean, I saw you try to kill him, Momo." He paused for a few minutes, and spoke up again. "You also owe him an apology for treating him as a child."

"He is a child though!" Hinamori protested, her body suddenly twisting so she was close to Kira's own body.

"Physically, mentally, emotionally, Hitsugaya Toshiro is in fact a child. However, he has the intellectual capability to stand with a good deal of the older shinigami. He never did trust Aizen Momo. I think the only reason he sided with Gin being the one to blame at the beginning and not Aizen was that we thought he was dead and... he decided to put his dislike for the man aside for your sake."

At that, Momo's hand grabbed the back of Kira's uniform. "You are telling me, Toshiro never liked Aizen Taicho? All the way back during our academy days? How is that even possible? I mean... I talked about Aizen back then, but..." At that, she paused and her head hung low. "All I ever did talk about when I came home was Aizen Taicho. He noticed and it bothered him. He tried telling me in his own way, but I never listened."

"There is something else that you owe him an apology for then." Izuru stated, his entire body tensing up.

"He's not interested in girls yet, is he?" Hinamori asked, her head suddenly hitting the middle of his back.

At this, Kira found himself pausing. "Why is him being interested in girls or not a problem?"

"Because... I don't know. It feels like I missed something important with him." A few wet tears from her brown eyes drenched the back of his kimono.

"To be honest, Hinamori, you've been so focused on Aizen, that you haven't noticed other things." Izuru sighed, thinking back to the fact that he had feelings for the female and his comfort level was quickly dropping into the uncomfortable range.

"Aizen... I still find it hard to believe that he was the person behind all of this and not Ichimaru Gin." Momo sighed. "I always thought Ichimaru was the more likely person," She then paused for a few minutes. "What did you think about Renji's comment?"

"He made quite a few comments that were not exactly called for, so you need to be specific about which comment he made." Kira remained still, letting the tears gather on his back.

"Is... is Toshiro really as scary as that man is?" The small females voice wavered.

"Am I really the best person to ask this question of?" The blond male sighed, suddenly glancing at the ceiling.

"But didn't you happen to be afraid of him when you were in his division?" Momo suddenly glanced up, just in time for him to glance over his shoulder at her.

"What I feel around that man is hard to explain. I never felt comfortable around him, but I now think it wasn't because I feared him, it was because he choose not to be someone you could be comfortable around." Izuru glanced at the ground. "I think I was following out of blind loyalty as much as you were."

"You said feel, not felt." Momo paused. "Ichimaru... he's still alive?"

Kira saw the sudden fear that sprung up in the females eyes."Yes... he's somewhere in the forth division."

At that, Momo glanced down. "I never liked him."

"Well, even when we were in the academy, he was quit scary." At that, Kira closed his eyes and let out a soft chuckle. "I guess I did have some fear of him."

"You don't... fear him now." Hinamori leaned her head against his back, tilted to the side so she was looking at the bed again.

"I pity him. He... you didn't hear that he was pretending to be a traitor in order to stop Aizen?" The male paused, only to feel her suddenly pull away.

"That can't be!" Momo closed her eyes. "He's... I've always hated him."

"Are you sure you aren't just being jealous of the fact that he was Aizen's fukutaicho before you and Aizen favored him. I know what that man said after he cut you down, about how you were just a tool and how he only ever had one fukutaicho."

At that, the small female opened and closed her mouth. She then paused. "I think... I didn't like him before I entered the academy."

"Momo... you never met him before we entered the academy, let alone saw him." Izuru blinked a couple of times.

However, Hinamori swallowed a few times. "No... I think I saw him a few times before I entered the academy, around where we used to live. He had always been... frightening."

"You've possibly only been giving yourself nightmares of late. Or even while you were in that coma of yours."

"Possibly..." Momo simply leaned into him, letting the silence engulf them.

Izuru thought for a few minutes, then decided to tell her. However, as he opened his mouth, the door opened. "Have you seen my taicho."

"Matsumoto-san!" Hinamori squeaked out.

"It is good to see you up and about." Matsumoto gave them a weak smile. "I haven't seen him since he left Gin's room while we were arguing." The female had a far away look on her face, but then glanced at the pot shards on the table. "Momo-chan... are you the reason that taicho had that scratch on his face?"

At that, Kira let out a deep sigh. "She lost it and threw it at him. Hitsugaya Taicho will show up."

"With the way Gin is acting..." The busty female paused. "Hinamori... avoid Gin. Also, avoid telling him that you were the one who threw that bowl at taicho. He's... he has completely lost his mental state."

At that, Momo turned to Kira. "See, he is scary."

Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "Right now he is, but normally he is... he is more like a lamb. We think he bottled so much up for so long, he's simply lost it. Taicho and... lets just say people are trying to calm him down and I really need to find taicho right about now.

"But what does this have to do with Hitsugaya Taicho?" Kira shook his head.

"Plenty that I am not ready to go into." However, Matsumoto took a deep breath. "Taicho... he's also been bottling up things, and... I am worried, due to the way that Gin reacted, I am worried about how taicho will react. It makes sense though..."

"Renji was right then about Shiro-chan being scary like Ichimaru?" Momo pressed up against Izuru's back.

"Well... taicho isn't scary. Gin isn't scary either, when you get to honestly know him. However..." Rangiku paused. "I just need to find him. I'll leave you two love birds alone."

"Rangiku-san!" Hinamori snapped the words out. "Why say something silly like that?"

"I do wonder..." Kira sighed as the door clicked shut, his cheeks flushing a little, making him glad tat Momo was behind him. "Hinamori... Unohana won't let you get up to look for Hitsugaya Taicho. Would you like for me to go look for him?"

At that, there was a pause of silence. "I'm supposed to be... not treating him like he is a little child, am I not?"

"Well, normally I wouldn't go looking for him unless there was business, but something tells me that finding him is important and doing so wouldn't be treating him like a child. Plus, we can pass it off as Rangiku being worried about him, like she always is."

"Why does she get away with treating him like a child."

Izuru paused himself. "I think it has to do with the fact she knows when she is pushing the line and when it is fine, something you don't know." He then got up and headed to the door. "I am going to go look for him, so don't worry about the situation."

I won't update, until I have at least one-hundred and one reviews.