Yay thanks for the reviews! Here's the fourth chapter.
Matsumoto ran into the shop once again to find the shopkeeper.
"Hey, mister, this crystal ball ran out of battery..." Matsumoto stopped midway. The shopkeeper is hanged upside down from the ceiling with his mouth choked with a dirty rag.
Matsumoto suppressed her laughter as she helped untie the shopkeeper. "Haha, you mean Ichigo did this to you? He must be really angry about what the crystal ball showed him..." She shook her head. "Sometimes, Ichigo need to face the reality more... It okay if he's gay! I know a lot of gay guys and lesbian girls out there. Some girls also seemed to be attracted to my boobs! Ah, the popularity of mine..."
Matsumoto went into her fantasy world while the shopkeeper went and gurgle his mouth.
"Okay, back to business!" Matsumoto snapped into reality. "This crystal ball of yours, it went out of battery!"
"Oh, really? You can always buy new battery." The shopkeeper stated nonchalantly.
"Really? How much?"
"Only $1."
"Okay I'll take it!" Matsumoto grabbed the battery excitedly and left.
The shopkeeper shook his head. This is how dumb the consumers are. When they got addicted to the story the crystal ball show, they would use up all their money to buy batteries to continue watching.
"Hey, mister, another battery, please!" Rukia ran into the shop agitatedly. The shopkeeper smiled. He had earned about $500 today.
Meanwhile, Matsumoto and Hitsugaya continued watching Hitsugaya's past life...
...
"Come out now, before I kill you!" Through the shadow, Hitsugaya saw with shock that the person was holding a knife!
Sweat slowly dripped down of Hitsugaya's face. He covered his chest for fear they could hear his heart beating.
He stared frantically around, hoping to find something that could help. He saw the door to the staircase. Wasting no time he swung it open and ran away.
"He's running away!" Aizen and the other guy chased after him. Then Aizen stopped chasing.
"No need to chase him, Ichimaru. I know who he is." Aizen smiled.
Hitsugaya ran out of the school and all the way to his house. "Mother! Mother!" He shouted agitatedly.
"Eh, Hitsugaya, I thought I sent you for a mission?" Hitsugaya's mother came out wiping her hand on an apron.
"Aizen-sensei, he...he..." Hitsugaya was trying hard to find words to describe what he just heard. "Anyway that scholarship thing, it's fabricated. Please, please don't, never allow Hinamori to accept it!" He was so anxious he looked like he going to lose his mentality.
The worried mother immediately hugged Hitsugaya. "It's okay. I'd always known that Aizen is not a good person. Come in and explain everything slowly and clearly to mother. Do you want some watermelons?"
Matsumoto was also in his house too. Hitsugaya blushed when she smiled at him.
"Well, I overheard Aizen-sensei talking to some guy I don't know. He said that there isn't a scholarship at all he just wanted to trick Hinamori into believing him. Actually he just wanted to send Hinamori away to America just to sell her off. Plus he said that Hinamori is extremely talented and many couples who could not have children would fight for Hinamori. In that case Aizen-sensei can earn lots of money and stuff. He said that Hinamori is too close to him and treated him too nicely he wants to get rid of her. And...and...he told the other guy that if nobody wants Hinamori, he is free to do anything to her, just remember to kill her after everything."
Hitsugaya panted after the long chain of words he just said without breathing. His mother and Matsumoto stared at him dumbfounded.
"So, you mean that the scholarship does not exist, Aizen-sensei just wanted to sell Hinamori off?" Matsumoto helped Hitsugaya translate. Hitsugaya nodded.
"I...I never knew Aizen was this bad..." Hitsugaya's mother stared at the floor with an awestruck face. "I just thought he was not as good as Hinamori described him..."
"What are we going to do?" Hitsugaya asked, on the verge of crying. "Hinamori's targeted..."
"Don't lose hope too soon!" Matsumoto said encouragingly. "As long as we have the will, we can always save Hinamori!"
"What about me?" Hinamori walked into the house, curious. Everyone stared at her. Hitsugaya spat out a watermelon seed at her. (He was eating watermelons. Refer at 8 paragraph before this.)
After explaining...
"No, it can't be true! Aizen-sensei is not this kind of person!" Hinamori argued.
"But Hinamori I saw it with my own eyes..."
"No way, Onii-chan! There's no way Aizen-sensei would do this. It must be your Hallucination. Or there must be someone manipulating him!" Hinamori shouted adamantly.
"But, Hinamori..." Hinamori cut off her brother's speech, covered his ears and shouted, "Aizen-sensei won't do this! You're all mistaken!" With that she ran out off the house.
"Hinamori..." Everyone stared at Hinamori's running figure.
There was an awkward silence.
Hitsugaya was the first to break the silence. "Mother, please don't sign the agreement for Hinamori to go to America..."
"Don't worry; I'm not so stupid as to do that. Hinamori's my only daughter after all." The amicable mother said gently. "Now, be a gentleman and send Rangiku-chan home, would you?"
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto walked down the streets. Matsumoto went and hold Hitsugaya's hand. Hitsugaya squeezed her hand affectionately. Matsumoto's hair tickled Hitsugaya. "Her hair smelled good." He thought as he breathed in hardly.
Matsumoto turned around curiously. "What are you doing?"
Hitsugaya stared at Matsumoto's flawless face for quite a while. "Nothing much."
They walked in silence.
Nobody spoke.
"Ne, Matsumoto..."
"Hn?"
Hitsugaya thought for a while. "Nothing."
"What?" Matsumoto looked at him worriedly.
They reached Matsumoto's house.
"Nothing." Hitsugaya gave a swift peck on Matsumoto's lips. "Goodnight." He reached out to sooth her hair and walked away.
Hitsugaya knew that Hinamori would not want to succumb to mother's decision on not allowing her to take the scholarship. He had to somehow tell the police about Aizen's motive.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
When he ran away, why didn't they chase him? It couldn't be, that they found out who he was? After all, his hair is quite unique in the school, anybody would be able to tell.
He breathed in and out slowly, calming himself down. No, even if Aizen knew who he was, He could not do anything. Hinamori's still not going to accept that scholarship of his!
But, he better watch out nowadays, if Aizen wanted so deeply to trick Hinamori, Hitsugaya would be the first of his target list.
The next day, in school...
Hitsugaya took out his bento for lunch. "Hitsugaya-kun, can I talk to you for a minute?" Aizen-sensei stood in front of him, smiling sweetly.
The whole class stared at them as they went out of the house. Ichigo saw that Hitsugaya's fists were clenched, and he looked extremely uncomfortable. Putting down his bento, he decided to follow them.
"Hitsugaya-kun, Hinamori said that you won't let her take the scholarship. Why is that so? The scholarship is a golden opportunity for talents like her."
Hitsugaya tightened his jaw. "I know what you're up to, I know all about it Aizen!"
"Pardon me? I don't quite get what you're saying." Aizen looked at Hitsugaya through his glasses.
"Stop joking around, Aizen!" Hitsugaya shouted, and punched his fist onto Aizen's table. "I know what you're up to! What scholarship, Australia art school, they're all crap! Those are your cheap methods to harm Hinamori and I won't let you! I will never allow Hinamori to accept that…-" –Please cover your ears- "…piece of…" –I'm sorry please cover your ears again- "…scholarship! So go to hell Aizen!"
Hitsugaya glared at Aizen, trembling with anger and animosity.
"Calm down, Hitsugaya-kun. It's not good to use vulgar language. Cursing is also not allowed here." Aizen smiled. "And where's your respect? It's Aizen-sensei, not Aizen."
"Who'd want to respect you, you cheap little…" –I'm so very sorry you have to cover your ears once again- "You don't deserve to be called sensei!" Hitsugaya turned around abruptly towards the door.
"Let me give you a piece of advice, Hitsugaya-kun." Aizen said when Hitsugaya was about to turn the doorknob. "If you still don't agree, something bad will happen tonight. Ichimaru would not give mercy on children."
Hitsugaya hands started to sweat. Then he turned the door knob and walked out.
"Something bad will happen tonight." "Ichimaru would not give mercy on children." "Who the hell is Ichimaru?" Hitsugaya thought. His hands started to tremble. Then he felt slightly faint and retreated a few steps. A strong and gentle hand caught him.
"Are you alright, Toushiro?" Ichigo's reassuring hands lifted Hitsugaya into position.
Hitsugaya merely nodded.
"I heard everything." Ichigo looked down at the floor gravely.
"…"
"Would you mind explaining everything in detail to me?"
"…"
"It's alright if you don't want to." Ichigo looked at his friend worriedly. "But are you sure it's safe tonight? Do you want to come to my house and stay overnight?"
Hitsugaya thought about what happened that day that Ichigo kissed him. That day Matsumoto was angry with him. He still had not forgive Ichigo for that.
Ichigo saw the anger on Hitsugaya's eyes. He sighed. "Guess you're still angry with me, huh?"
"…"
The two friends walked silently back to class and finished their lunch in silence.
Ichigo stared at Hitsugaya. A cloud bloomed over the sky and covered the sun, making the classroom seemed ominously dark. "Ar! Ar!" A crow flew past the school.
Ichigo shivered. There's this premonition of his that something bad would happen to Hitsugaya tonight.
- - -
"Eh, so many ominous signs…scary…" Matsumoto said, staring at the crystal ball as intensely as Hitsugaya. No, her captain was so intense no one could beat him.
"Hello? Anybody here?" A knock on the door disturbed them from continuing their intense moment.
"I'll get the door." Matsumoto volunteered. She rushed to the door. There was a random shinigami outside the door. "What is it?"
"I'm here to promote a highly popular manga, Bleach. If you would like to read some of the fanfic of this manga just for a few minutes, ma'am…" The shinigami dug into his sleeves to find some fanfic.
"Chase him away." Hitsugaya said coldly. He wanted to continue watching the crystal ball!
Matsumoto was about to close the door when the shinigami showed her something interesting.
"Ooh! This is interesting! Where did you get it?" Matsumoto asked.
Hitsugaya triggered a dangerous vein. "Matsumoto, get back here!" And the sound rings throughout the soul society once again.