Well... TOUSHI IS BACK! Kasumi and Shinsetsu left for a vacation, BUT THEY LEFT TOUSHI! MWAHAHA! I'm going to force him to say the disclaimer! Mwahaha...

Toushiro: URUSAI! YOU'RE TOO LOUD! Why'd Kasumi leave me with YOU of all people?

Don't be mean, Toushi! NOW SAY THE DISCLAIMER OR NO WATERMELON!

Toushiro: I h-have... t-to resi- StarCloud-Chan does not own bleach, only Kasumi, Shinsetsu, and the stuff she makes up! Now gimme the watermelon!

Okay, here! NOW ON WITH THE STORY! AND STOP SLURPING SO LOUDLY, TOUSHI!

A Helping Hand

Normal POV

After a troublesome sleep, Kasumi woke up to paperwork. After getting ready, she wore the same outfit as yesterday when she revealed herself. Momo, who wasn't used to Kasumi's new looks, nearly knocked Kasumi out with her zanpakuto by attempting to bang it on her head, thinking she was an intruder. Thank goodness for fast reflexes. Momo apologized endlessly, until Kasumi flared her reiatsu a bit. As soon as Momo finished the surprisingly low pile of paperwork, she left, and Kasumi was left with her two zanpakuto's.

"Oi, Mizuhebi, long time since we've talked." Kasumi said in her mind. A chuckle was heard from Mizuhebi.

"Yeah, that's true. Yukihime is very pleasant, she's already my best friend." Mizuhebi replied. This time Kasumi chuckled.

"Yukihime is sleeping right now, isn't she?" Kasumi asked. She could practically see the sweatdrop on Mizuhebi's head.

"Ehehe... yeah..."

Mizuhebi left Kasumi's mind to do something else, leaving Kasumi to think about someone that was on her mind for quite some time. Toushiro Hitsugaya. Ever since the first time they've met, Kasumi kept thinking about him. He was a nice person, and from what she heard from Yukihime, Hyourinmaru was pretty nice also. She thought about how Toushiro thought about her now that she revealed she was a Shinigami and a Gensokoru. Kasumi sighed and blew at the long bangs that covered her left eye, and let the bangs float back gently. A knock was heard.

"Oh! Come in." Kasumi said. She wasn't expecting visitors. The door opened to reveal the person always in her head. Toushiro.

"Hey, Toushiro-kun." Kasumi greeted happily. She was usually happy whenever Toushiro was near. Kasumi couldn't help but let a small fleck of sadness flit across her eyes, and Toushiro seemed to notice.

"What's wrong, Kasumi?" Toushiro asked bluntly. Momo had come over to his office and asked to try and cheer up her taicho. Toushiro knew she'd be upset after that meeting.

"Wh-what? N-nothing's wrong, don't w-worry, Toushiro-kun!" Kasumi said, slapping on a fake smile. Tears grew on the corners of her eyes. Toushiro sighed and walked over.

"I know you aren't fine, Kasumi. What's wrong?" Toushiro asked, a commanding tone laced in his voice. He was determined to find out. He wanted to fix it.

"Oh, Toushiro-kun!" Kasumi shouted, throwing herself at Toushiro who was caught by surprise. Kasumi buried her face into Toushiro's shoulder, tears streaming down her face. Kasumi hugged Toushiro tightly, as if he was her savior. A few moments later, Toushiro's eyes softened and he hugged Kasumi back, running his hand through her long hair. It was pleasantly cool, and flowed like water around his fingers.

"Shhh... It's okay, Kasumi... Now, what's wrong?" Toushiro asked, more softly and gently. A different tone then his usual cold tone. Kasumi sniffled a bit and let go of Toushiro.

"G-Gomen, Toushiro-kun..." She blushed lightly, turning her head away. Toushiro noticed her blush and his own spread across his face.

"A-Anyways... I'm upset over Shin-chan. I'm afraid what they're going to do to her. L-last night, I snuck out the window to visit Sh-Shin-chan to see if she was alright. I-I was stopped by a few guards, and they told me Sh-Shin-chan was be-being interrogated. She's being tortured, Toushiro-kun!" Kasumi cried, tears running down her face faster.

Flashback

Kasumi opened her window, the night air blowing across her face. Jumping out and lightly landing on the ground, she made her way to the Eleventh Division. She was permitted access, and weaved her way around and went to the Captain's office. There stood two guards and a very upset and angry Yachiru.

"OPEN THIS DOOR! LEMME IN! LET ME IN NOW!" An upset Yachiru cried, banging repeatedly on the door, the guards holding her. The door was locked, and had some sort of barrier around it.

"Ch-Chiru-chan? What is happening?" Kasumi yelled at the guards, who shied away from her flared up reiatsu.

"I-It's Shin-Shin! Th-they're do-doing something h-horrible to h-her! LET ME IN! NOW!" Yachiru cried, banging on the door. Voices were heard from the door.

"Have you been leaking information on Seireitei to this 'Elemental Valley'?" A male voice asked.

"N-N-No! I-I-I w-w-wouldn't! P-Please, d-don't hu-hurt me!" Shinsetsu's voice cried. In the next moment, a piercing scream was heard. Kasumi widened her eyes in horror.

"SHIN-CHAN! NO!" She hurtled at the door, ready to knock it down. She was stopped by a big body wearing a captain's haori.

"Watsaru, calm down. There's nothing we can do." A gruff voice said. Kasumi looked up to see a saddened Kenpachi, staring pityingly at her. Kasumi broke down, crying. Yachiru came over, tears also falling from her pink eyes. She and Shinsetsu were great friends. After a while, Kasumi stopped.

"I-I'm sorry for the dis-disturbance. G-Good night, Kenpachi-kun." Kasumi muttered before walking back to her division. Kenpachi stared at her retreating back.

"I feel bad for her..." Kenpachi muttered while scooping up the still sobbing Yachiru.

End Flashback

Kasumi clutched to Toushiro again, crying harder. Toushiro muttered comforting nothings into her ear like his grandmother used to do. It clawed at him to see Kasumi like this, and he didn't even know what would make her feel better. He stroked her hair, absolutely loving the feeling of it. Soon, Kasumi stopped crying and pulled away from the embrace. She smiled sadly.

"Arigatou, Toushiro-kun, for comforting me..." Kasumi murmured gently. Toushiro looked at her, a small, rare smile set on his lips.

"It's no problem, Kasumi-chan." He replied. Kasumi walked over to the couch, and patted the spot next to her. Toushiro, blushing, went over and sat next to her. After a while of a comfortable silence, Kasumi laid her head on Toushiro's shoulder and was soon sleeping. Toushiro smiled; he wondered if Kasumi loved him as much as he did. Soon, he fell asleep, his head laid on Kasumi's.

Later

Kasumi woke up, blinking several times. She looked at the clock to see it was already 5'o clock. She tried to stand up, but something was trapping her. She looked down to see Toushiro had slung his arm over her, holding her close. As she tried to get up, his grip grew tighter. Kasumi smiled and rolled her eyes. This time, she tried to get out again but his grip just kept on growing tighter and tighter. She sighed.

"Toushiro-kun..." Kasumi murmured gently, poking his forehead. He snored.

"Toushiro-kun...!" Kasumi said a tad bit louder. Again, Toushiro snored lightly. Kasumi had already had enough.

"OI, TOUSHIRO-KUN!" Kasumi yelled into Toushiro's ear. Toushiro toppled off the couch and landed face first on the ground. Since his arm was wrapped around Kasumi, she went down with him. Kasumi yelped as she landed, and Toushiro went 'Oof'. Kasumi had ended up on top of Toushiro, and she had knocked the air right outta him.

"Ehehe... at least you woke up!" Kasumi scratched the back of her head, a large sweatdrop on her head. Toushiro grew a sweatdrop of his own.

"Anyways, sorry about that. You wouldn't wake up! So I resorted to that..." Kasumi said. Her smile grew large.

"Toushiro-kun, whaddya wanna do now? I'm so bored!" Kasumi said, flopping down onto the couch while blowing at her bangs. Toushiro smirked.

"Hey, Kasumi..." Toushiro whispered into Kasumi's ear. He slung an arm over Kasumi, bringing her a little bit too close. Kasumi blushed furiously. His lips were mere inches away from Kasumi's.

In a quick and sudden movement, he pushed Kasumi down, making her fall on the ground. Hard. She yelped in pain as she met the ground, and looked up at Toushiro.

"Meanie," Kasumi pouted while crossing her arms. Toushiro chuckled, and helped her up. Kasumi smiled inwardly as she thought of a devious plan. When Toushiro helped her up, she quickly pulled on his hand and rolled out of the way to avoid collision. Toushiro landed face first on the ground with Kasumi laughing next to him. He sat up and glared at her, causing her to laugh even harder. With a swift roll, she was on top of Kasumi and pinned her down. Slowly, he leant in...

And his lips met hers.