A Series of Usagi
Summary: No matter how much the ice withstands, the sun will always melt it away in the end
Crossover: Bleach
Characters: Hitsugaya, Usagi, Matsumoto, mention of Hinamori
Pairing: UsagixHitsugaya, maybe
Usagi sighed as she reached the 10th Division Captains Office, annoyed as the stinging cold of the said captain's anger grew stronger with each step. She really couldn't decide if she was either blessed or cursed, considering the fact that her zanpakto's effect allowed her to brush the effects of ice and snow based zanpakto' aside like it was a fly. This often led her to being the messenger of choice whenever the famous "prodigy" Captain had one of his 'fits'. She was fine with that and all but for the love of the Spirit King what she didn't get was why everyone always insisted that she try and talk him out of his fit whenever she was sent for.
I mean even the Soutaichou had hinted that he expected her to somehow be able to end his fits! What was with that?!
Sighing again Usagi knocked on the door. "Hitsugaya-taichou, I have a message from squads 11, 9, and 4." She told him with a dash of annoyance. She had become so used to being messenger to the 10th barracks that the 'pipsqueak', as she dared call him in only her head, didn't care if the only respect she showed him was calling him by his title.
She only had to wait a second before she heard him reply for her to come in. Noticing the state of the door she growled lowly before kicking it so that the ice lining the space between the door and frame broke and shoved it to the side. The sight that met her was what she expected.
Hitsugaya was sitting at his desk, piles of paperwork on both sides, and not a sign of ice or snow covering either. At the wall to her right was poor Matsumoto, shivering even as she wore two layers of winter clothing, and trying to do some work for once. The rest of the office was covered in ice so dense that it would take the strength of Sajin-Taichou's bankai to shatter. The windows were open but it did nothing to stop the winter wonderland from holding.
The pipsqueak didn't even look up from his paperwork when he ordered her to tell him the message. Usagi mentally shouted profanities at him as his tone hit home. She knew exactly why he was so angry and she sympathized with him but enough was enough.
Screw getting in trouble for once. "The message is from the 11th, 9th, and 4th squads. Long story short Taichou, turn off the winter works. You're so angry that you're causing all of the Seireite to go through a flash winter. Many members of the 9th and 11th are being sent to the 4th for treatment of frost-bite and the 4th division is at their wits end by now. So I ask you personally to GROW UP ALREADY!!" the pipsqueak stopped his work and slowly lifted his head to look at her, his glare almost making her loose her nerve.
Almost.
"What did you say Tsukino Usagi, 3rd seat of squad 9." Matsumoto was watching this with wonder and a dash of fear, whether for her own safety or for Usagi she did not know. Usagi decided to help her.
"Rangiku-san, please leave. What I need to say to your captain is not something you should hear." Usagi told her softly, Matsumoto wasted no time to even reply. By the time the captain realized she was actually going, the lieutenant had closed the door behind her. It was now just the captain and the third seat.
Usagi did not even flinch when the sound of ice growing to cover even the windows reached her ears, she refused to be intimidated. "Hitsugaya-taichou, I will not repeat myself so listen to what I have to say before you send an ice dragon in my face." The glare did not waver, but it did not intensify either.
"I know you are worried about Hinamori-san, and I know you hold yourself guilty over what happened to her. I know that in your mind you are going over every single event that took place that you believe that you could possibly have changed, I know that even now there is a 'if only' whispering in the back of your mind telling you that it could have been different. Well guess what, no matter how much you think it over it's not going to change the fact that it happened." The intensity of the captain's spiritual pressure nearly choked her at this point, but she refused to let the idiot wallow in self-pity anymore.
"Hinamori made her choice. When she read that letter she choose to believe it over someone she had known years if not decades before ever joining the Academy. She choose to listen to that letter so much that she became blind to any other truth, not even caring about what she was doing to those around her as she took justice into her own hands, until reality stabbed her through the heart. And though it is true that her captain molded her into his most loyal puppet only to throw her away in the end, it doesn't change the fact that it is not Aizen who is making her remain in her coma but her own will."
The ice, which had slowly begun to grow around her legs when she spoke the lieutenant name, stopped instantly. For an instant Usagi wondered if the captain was intending to actually use Hyoinmaru on her when the ice slinked off of her legs. She mentally sighed in relief before continuing. "Hinamori sleeps now because she choose to walk the easiest path, not you." She leveled the captain with a stare that even Kenpachi Zaraki had not dared challenge the one time he faced it. She nearly smirked when she saw Hitsugaya shift under her stare.
"Just as every person is responsible for moving their own legs forward, so too do we make the decision of whether to look forward or to stare over our shoulders. No matter what choice you make Taichou, don't make it under the weight of doubts over the past. All it does is chain you to the past until that chain consumes you completely." The ice had receded completely, Hitsugaya's glare fading to almost nothing. Usagi allowed the young captain a moment to think before finishing with the words that she had to tell herself every day. "No matter what path you take, no matter how many chains try to hold you back, as long as you desire to move forward and become stronger than the chains than nothing will stop you from reaching your ultimate destination."
The entire room was silent as the two gazed into each other's eyes. For hours it seemed they gazed at each other, Hitsugaya with cold intensity and Usagi with steeled resolve. Then without warning the captain closed his eyes and nodded tiredly, and he spoke so low that only her training under Tosen had allowed her to hear it."You may go." Usagi gave him a small smile before leaving the room without a word more. She truly hoped that he could let go of the chains holding him in place, if only for his own sake.
When a vase of dark pink roses, purple lilacs, and snowdrops arrived at her desk a week later with no return address on it, Usagi couldn't help it as the sun outside suddenly blazed to try and match her smile.
\/\//\/
Just if anyone is curious about the sybolism of the flowers chosen;
dark pink roses: gratitude
purple lilacs: first emotion of love
snowdrops: hope