Second to last chapter until the end :)
I'm soon going to laugh at myself for making Aizen an uncle…'Uncle Aizen'…pfft hahaha

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

Chapter 14: Revealing The Truth

Previously:

Renji chuckled. "Can't reject a friend in need!"

Soi Fon examined her long plaits. "Isn't it obvious? All four of us are going to go dress shopping."

Rangiku Matsumoto sighed. "Toshiro, you don't know what you're missing out on."

"…Bye." Hitsugaya hung up on the phone, and opened his wardrobe. Looks like I'm going to have to go anyways…and no, it's not out of jealousy…!

"Am I late?" the cool voice said.

"Haha, I've always liked women with attitude…the name's Ggio Vega. And you?"

"I believe he's one of the top ten students there…" Byakuya held her hands, and started to dance. "If I were you, I wouldn't get too close to him."

Hitsugaya pulled Hinamori's wrist, as she spun into him, and he wrapped his arms around her. "Being in a position like this…makes me not want to let you go."

•

Hinamori tossed and turned, as the same nightmare haunted her at night. Her face was sweating, and she felt as if she was suffocating. A hand then stroked her head, murmuring to her that everything would be alright. Her eyes shot open.

"Morning, sleepyhead." greeted the snowball.

"T-Toshiro!" She looked around. "This is…"

"My room. You were really tired after the dance last night, so I took you to my place because it was closer."

"Ah…" she nodded her head in thought. That dream… She wiped her sweat off, and put her hand to her head.

"Bad dream?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" she nodded.

"I'm here to listen if you'd like."

"No, it's fine…"

"Don't forget who carried you here and even gave you the bed to sleep on." Hitsugaya pressed on.

"Uh-ahahah…thank you." She sweat-dropped. Momo glanced at the clock, and saw it was 2 in the morning. "Wait, if I was on the bed, where did you sleep, Shiro-Chan?"

He leaned back on the chair he was sitting on. "Next to you, of course."

"Eh?!"

"But you were moving around so much, I woke up, and decided to sit here instead."

"…Hey, Toshiro will you listen to my story?"

"Your story? Of course." He nodded in agreement.

"R-Really?!" she looked up at him, surprised.

"I told you Momo, I'll listen to anything you have to say." He smiled warmly at her. Then he glanced at the door behind him. "Let's go downstairs. I'll make us some drinks."

•

The two were sitting on couches next to each other, and drinking hot chocolate. Hinamori held the cup tightly, letting the warmth of the drink heat up her hands. Hitsugaya threw a blanket on top of her, and simply said, "You should stay warm."

"But so should you!" Hinamori offered to share the blanket with him.

He sighed, and the two cuddled together with that one blanket. "So…I'm all ears."

Hinamori took a sip of the chocolate drink, and then she stared into the brown liquid. "I…I have this friend. And she has this boy that likes her, but she doesn't know what her feelings for him are. One day, she disappeared from his life, and he wanted to know why. Then later, she told me the reason why she left was because she was being stupid. She had received a phone call from her uncle living in a different country, and he told her he was going to die. My friend was saddened by this news because he was the only family she had left, other than her Grandfather. My friend asked the boy, 'would you miss me if I disappeared?' and he said no. She was so stupid, because she actually took it to heart…" Hinamori felt tears brimming on her eyelids. "She felt like she didn't belong here, and took the earliest flight to see her uncle before he died, and she didn't tell anyone about her leaving. She visited the hospital every day, and then…" flashbacks ran through Momo's mind.

"Please…you can't leave me uncle!"

"I'm sorry, Momo…" he patted her head weakly.

"No…god has already taken so many important people away from me already! Don't go, not like Mom and Dad!"

"You've always been a good girl Momo…look after your Grandfather for me." Her uncle's hazel eyes were turning blank.

"Uncle…no, don't go…Uncle Aizen!" she screamed his name until his eyes closed, and his heart stopped beating. She clutched onto him tighter, and cried her eyes out.

"…He passed away. The last relative she had alive was her Grandpa, but he was greatly ill. My friend stayed in the country and took care of him. Her grandpa kept telling her to go back and spend time with her friends, but she insisted to stay and take care of him. However, she did feel sad and bad for leaving her childhood friend behind without a word…so she only hoped for his safety, and continued taking care of her grandfather. Years had gone by, and she had still not returned to the place called 'home'. My friend was walking back to her Grandfather's house after doing some grocery shopping, but when she arrived, she was so shocked and scared."

"Grandpa? Grandpa?!" Hinamori shook the old man's body, which was lying on the ground. The grocery bag full of vegetables and fruits scattered across the floor. "Grandpa…?"

Hinamori took a deep breath in, and drank some more hot chocolate. Her grip on the cup tightened. "She sat next to him on his hospital bed, wishing for him to open his eyes. The doctors said that the illness that he had been suffering had gotten so bad that they couldn't cure it. And so her Grandpa was going to die in…well if he's lucky a month. Most likely less though. She wondered why her Grandfather didn't tell her that the sickness was getting worse. When her relative woke up he told her that he didn't tell her because he didn't want her to worry anymore. He had already seen her always working hard for him and he didn't want her to get too stressed out because of him. After nearly a month, her Grandfather passed away." Momo all of a sudden felt even colder. She rubbed her arms , and snuggled into the blanket more. "My friend inherited the last of Uncle's and Grandfather's belongings…but she had no other family to turn to. Then she remembered that her friend back at 'home' had told her that she was always welcomed back because they were like a 'family'. So, she finally decided to go back to hoping that the boy was still there. She packed her belongings and used the last of her Uncle and Grandfather's money to catch a plane back. And with that money she also enrolled to 'Shino High School'; where her friend attended…"

Toshiro was gazing at her with eyes full of sorrow, but he still smiled, and he wiped her tears away with his hand. "Momo…"

"I…I wished so hard to see you again, Toshiro…and when-when I found out you were in the same class as me, I was so…" she was choking on her own words because of her crying. "I was so happy…!"

"I was too." Toshiro patted her back. "Need a shoulder to cry on?"

"No…" she shook her head stubbornly. "I'm not a kid anymore…"

Hitsugaya smirked, and watched her cry by herself. "Are you sure…?"

She put the cup down, and hugged him tightly. "No, I need a shoulder now…!" she cried harder.

He chuckled, and hugged her back. "That's not my shoulder, that's my chest." He had some tears in his eyes, but he was thankful they were hugging, because he didn't want her to see such a sad expression on his face.

Momo kept apologizing, and saying his name while crying, and he just silently nodded and stroked her head. It seemed like the two stayed like that for hours, until Momo fell asleep.

Hitsugaya sighed, and laid her down onto the sofa. He took the cups and washed them, then looked down on his pajama shirt. "Soaked…" he groaned, and went up to his wardrobe for a new pajama shirt. "She's still the same crybaby as ever…"

He closed his eyes, and remembered the day of her disappearance. Then smiled sadly, and went back to where Momo was sleeping. He sat next to her, and moved her head so that it was leaning on his shoulder. He pulled the blanket up around them, and he soon drifted to sleep.

•

The peach's eyes opened and she looked around. "Did I fall asleep…?" she noticed she was on the couch by herself, and she looked at the clock. It read 11:10 AM. "Oh my…I'm late to school!" She jumped off the couch, and ran into Toshiro's kitchen.

"Hey, good morning. Why the rush, Momo?" he smiled at her, as he laid two plates of a good looking breakfast onto the table.

"Wha-How can you be so calm?! We're late to school."

"I'd check again if I were you, Nomo." He untied the apron he was wearing.

"…Huh?" she looked at the calendar. "Toshiro, what day is it today?"

"The 15th." He replied, sitting down, drinking from the mug.

Hinamori's finger moved around, looking for the 15th on the calendar. "15th, 15th, 15th…oh."

"Yeah." He replied.

"Ohhh…"

"That's right."

"OHHHH!"

"So you do have a brain after all."

"It's the weekend today!" she smacked her forehead.

"Well, I would find it very illogical if they had a late school dance on a weekday with another weekday the next day."

She plumped onto the chair opposite the teenager, and looked at the food. "You're…a really good cook."

"I try." He smiled.

The plate had sunny side up eggs, with toast and some bacon. "Itadakimasu!" she clapped her hands together, and ate the food.

Hitsugaya watched her eat, amused. "Haha, you have some egg on your face."

"What? Where?" she blinked.

He grabbed a tissue, and wiped it off for her. "Here."

She blushed, and she wondered why her heart was beating so fast. "H-Hey, Shiro-Chan…"

"Yes?"

"What do you think of…love?" her pink blush didn't fade.

"Hmm…" he put his knife and fork down, and thought about it. "Well, I'm currently IN love, so I suppose it's a good thing?"

"So, you believe that out there, there's always someone for everyone?" she looked at him.

"Yep. I mean, look around, Hinamori. People may say 'it's a small world' but you've got the whole world full of many different people."

"And you think you've found the 'right one' already?" she sat back in her chair.

"Of course. She's sitting right in front of me." He grinned.

"Don't joke around." She closed her eyes, hoping that the weird fluttering feeling would fade away.

"I'm serious, you know my feelings for you already." He leaned on the table.

"B-But how can you be so sure?! It could be Rangiku, or someone else!" she stammered.

"Oh please, no one in their right mind would want to date Rangiku." He rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I'm so sure because I know."

"Eh…but how do you just know?"

He stood up, and took her plate, and his to the sink. "You know, they say if you see angel wings on someone's back, even for just a glimpse, it means they're your soul mate." said Toshiro, calmly. "And I don't know if I'm going crazy or something, but I'm pretty sure I saw a pair of wings when I first met you."

She blushed, and thought to herself, Did I ever see those wings on Toshiro's back…?

Hitsugaya finished cleaning, and started to put his shoes on.

"Going out?"

"Yeah. I'm just going to buy some more groceries. Can you pick up my mail for me while I'm out?"

She nodded. "Sure. By the time you get back, I'll probably be at home."

"Got it." he looked back at her one last time, then left the house.

•

Hinamori changed, and went to collect Toshiro's mail. She flipped through the envelopes, and saw that most of them were just rubbish. But then her eye caught onto a small pale pink envelope. It was addressed to Momo. "Hah? Did the mailman put the letter in the wrong mailbox? Oh well." she took the mail inside, and then locked his house up, keeping the pink envelope in her pocket. She then walked back to her place, sat down at her desk in her room, and examined the envelope. I wonder what it's about…

Momo turned the envelope around, and saw a tiny chibi drawing of Hinamori on it. She laughed, and opened the envelope. Inside was a letter with fine dark pink writing. She blinked. This is exactly like the time I left that blue envelope behind for Toshiro…

Carefully, she unfolded the paper, and stared at the words. She read over them three times.

I don't know if you'll ever come back, Momo, but I just want to let you know a few things… I miss you, I can't stop thinking about you. I don't know what to do without you...you're always on my mind. I feel calm when I'm with you. Please...I don't want to lose you...I'm sorry for lying. But you're already gone, so I suppose it's too late to say these words. But… even if we're apart, we're still gazing at the same sky.
I'll be waiting for you.
-Toshiro

Momo's hands trembled, as her tears dropped onto the paper. "Shiro-Chan…" she knew it was his handwriting, but it was slightly messier than usual, probably because he wrote this when he was still a kid.

She sniffed, and hugged the letter. "I'm sorry I didn't realize it before…"

•

Hitsugaya finished grocery shopping, and he went back to his place first. He noticed Momo had picked up the mail like he said so, and she wasn't at his house. He smiled and wondered if she had read the letter yet. He placed the groceries on the table, and grabbed the plastic bag full of peaches. He walked to her place, and opened her door quietly. Soundlessly, he paced down the corridor and paused before her bedroom door. The door was the same plain white and she still had a sign shaped as a peach. In pink letters, it read 'MOMO'.

Toshiro glanced down at the plastic bag of peaches and smiled a bit. Slowly, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned. "Momo? If you're in there, I'm coming in."

It's just like that time…that day of her disappearance.

He opened the door, and he was actually expecting for no one to be in there, but he was wrong. Hinamori was sitting at her desk, crying over the pink letter. She turned to face him, and mouthed the words: I'm so sorry.

He just smiled, and lifted up the bag of peaches. "Let's eat them together like we did when we were younger?"

Momo nodded, and walked over to him, she held his hand, and he took her down stairs.

"Hinamori?" his turquoise eyes looked at her.

"What is it?" she didn't look up at him, she kept looking at the ground.

"Want to know something else?"

"?"

His smile was like gold, and his voice was dreamlike. "Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over."

-End of Chapter 14-

Japanese Translations:

Itadakimasu-Thanks for the food

•

And the next chapter is the last chapter! I think it might be shorter :/

Well, I hope you guys have liked it so far :D

Bye now~!

ミ コ ト • Mikoto

•

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