The party was great, except Matsumoto-Fukutaicho kept slurring and spilling sake all over me. I hated that everytime I'd turn over to talk to Hitsuguya-Taicho, he'd smirk at me and I would feel myself blushing.
"That was so funny! I thought he would kiss you and judging by your face you thought so too," laughed Shirobarakaze.
After the party was over, I went back to my barracks to get some rest. Unfortunatly, I remembered that I had papers that had to be delievered to Squad 10 immediately. I grabbed the whole stack of papers and shunpoed to Squad 10. I slammed the door wide opened and stormed across the office to put the papers on his desk. But I tripped on the couch leg and all the papers flew out of my hands. So I am now stuck at his office, scrambling to pick up papers before he came back.
"Hello, Kurohime-chan." Too late I thought. I scrambled faster and almost tripped again. Over in the corner, I heard a low chuckle coming from him. I whirled around and and hissed "What'cha laughin' about, midget?" Immediately, he stopped and growled "I'm not a midget, in fact you're shorter then me, Hime-san." I resisted the impulse to stick my tongue out like a child and thought about what would happen if I punched him in the face.
I just stooped down again and started to pick up papers. Suddenly, Toshiro kneeled down to help me pick up his papers. It was awkward and I was flusttered especially when we were both reached for the same papers and our hands accidentally touched. I jerked my hand back like I had touched fire. It wasn't like I did though. His hand felt as cold and hard as marble, but warm at the same time. As soon I finished, I ran out without saying goodbye and shunpoed back to my barracks to get some rest.
***
Toshiro had finished signing the papers, but it was too late to get Matsumoto to deliver them. His memory randomly pulled him back to the moment his hand had touched Hinamoto's. He remembered the light blush that had spread across her pale face afterwards.
"She is quite pretty even after all those years. The purple on her lips add a more mystique look her face," said Hyorinmaru.
"What do you want, Hyorinmaru?"
"I just wanted to ask why didn't you kiss her earlier. She was alone with you and nobody would have noticed."
Toshiro stiffened up and said through clenched teeth "It doesn't matter if I kiss her or not because its not your love life and I don't even know what she is feeling. Besides if I did then she would have just slapped me."
Toshiro walked back to his room. He took a shower and went to bed afterwards. He thought about the party and remembered something. The song Hinamoto-san sang during the party was last song she sang during that night so many years ago. Hyorinmaru was right, she had grown over the years, though her stubbornness hadn't changed at all. He was lucky to have her as a friend.
Morning came and Toshiro woke up to the chirping of the birds. He put on his uniform and his haori and walked down to his office. There was a sudden commotion outside but Toshiro didn't care. But it came back again and he realized it was Matsumoto's voice, but that was impossible. She never got up this early before. Then Toshiro heard another voice. A timid, musical voice within the loud, singy-songy voice of his fukutaicho.
"Come on Hime-San, The Captain wants to hear you sing again." Toshiro grimaced and Hyorinmaru burst into laughter in his head. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho, please let go of me. I just came here to ask your Captain something." Toshiro heard some more struggling and a loud whack came from outside his door.
"Hinamoto, Kurohime, requesting permission to ente-" WHAM! The door flew open and there stood Rangiku with all her obnoxious glory. She walked in with a reluctant Kurohime. She walked up to his desk and asked quietly "Hitsuguya-Taicho, do you have any paperwork you don't want t-" Rangiku cut off Kurohime by giving her one of her famous back-breaking hugs. "Awwww, Hime-san! You're helping taicho so he could get a day off! That so adorable!"
Toshiro looked at Rangiku to Kurohime. He wanted to do his paperwork but he also wanted to sleep. Finally he nodded to Kurohime and she walked over to the counter to grab a stack. Toshiro was almost bursting with glee when he saw she was struggling under the weight of the papers. He went over to help her. "Here, I'll help you carry these to your squad." She looked annoyed but nodded again.
***
I normally would have shunpoed to my barracks, but I don't think he would catch up to me. Is this what he does all day? I was just volunteering because my squad had nothing to do until the afternoon patrol, but WOW with capital w-o-w. We finally reached my office and once he set down the papers he just stood there like a dunce. "Umm. . . you can go now, Hitsuguya-taicho." He just grunted and left. My guess would be that he spent so much time in his office, that he lost his ability to socialize.
How long was it since I started working? I looked at the clock on the wall, Shoot! I had to get to front of the barracks or my squad will leave without me. Without looking where I was going, I rushed to the barrack door knocking over people and crashed into various parts of the barracks.
I was rubbing my shoulders when I finally arrived. My squad had already opened the Senkiemon gate and were falling in to their positions. I nodded to my new fukutaicho, Soi Fon who lead my squad out to the field. I threw my haori to the ground and hoped none of the captains would find it, then I ran with the rest of patrol to the world of living.
***
Toshiro was just sitting in his office with nothing to do. Matsumoto on the other hand was out in some bar with Kira and Hisagi getting wasted. He sighed and poured himself another cup of tea. Maybe Hinmoto-taicho was already finished and was on her way here. But after a couple of minutes, he got impatient and ran all the way to Squad 2.
When he got there, he found a haori crumpled on the ground next to barrack doors. Toshiro picked it up and walked in, but a sudden thought stopped him. If her haori was here, then she was probably on a mission or she was attacked. He sighed again and proceeded into the barracks. It took a while to find her office, considering that he only followed her to it just today.
Kurohime was almost done, but she had skipped several papers and had a minute pile left. He pocketed the incomplete stack and a familiar item on her desk caught his eye. It was a ragged book, but when he flipped through it he realized that this was Kurohime's journal.
He sat down on a chair and started to read. The journal entries were of no interest to him. He had noticed that her art was more pronounced then ever, but he turned to her bookmarked pages. It was her music section. He read through the couple of pages of tiny neat handwriting. Toshiro still had no idea what the lines and dots were, but he read her lyrics.
"I think my heart might I might explode, cause now I feel the weight of your love on me now. Fro-"
"Hyorinmaru, what are you doing," asked Toshiro.
"Singing, of course. You held the music in front of me so I might as well do that."
"I would appreciate if you don't, please."
But Hyorinmaru didn't listen as he continued.
"Now I know just a girl, trying to make my way back through this night. But now I feel bigger than the world, with your hand in mine."
Toshiro listened closely to his zanpaktou as he sang offkey. It didn't sound good but he was sure that the rhythm was just as Hyorinmaru was singing to. Then he felt a familiar reiatsu in the distance. Kurohime was back from her patrol. He quickly slammed the book shut and tried to not focus what would happen if she caught him in here.
***
I ran back to my office to finish the papers that I hand to turn in. When I got to my desk, I saw nothing but the stack I finished and my journal. That little sneak! I went over to my chair to grab my haori, but my hands only grabbed air. Oh yes, I had thrown away my haori in front of the doors before I left. I quickly zoomed there, but all I found was dead leaves and dust. Oh why didn't I leave it in the bushes? My brain quickly ran through the list of the suspects and I finally find one. Wait till I get there. He's going to learn a new definition of pain.
Squad 10 was very far away from Squad 2, so I had to double my speed even though I was not on a mission. I burst through the entrance like an angry cow. People moved to the side and gave me a salute. Then I heard all kinds of gossip when they thought I was gone. I didn't care, I just wanted my jacket back because I was cold. Yeah that's right, I was cold.
I didn't bother to knock on the door as I stormed in. Toshiro just looked up and gave me a small hello. I walked up to his desk without tripping and grabbed his collar. "Listen, you little sneak. I know you came into my office today. So where is it?" It was like watching . . . nothing. He looked down at me and said " I have no idea what you're talking about, Hinamoto-Taicho."
"My haori, you dumbass. I left it outside my barracks when I went on the patrol. Give it back." A look of understanding spread throughout his face. He gently pulled my hand away from his collar and went over to his desk. He pulled out my haori, folded and sparkling white. He smirked and threw it over to me. "You wear too much perfume, Hime-san."
I almost tripped over nothing when he said that. I wear perfume? Sure I wash my hair everyday with scented shampoo but I do not wear perfume. "I wear no such thing ever in my life, Hitsuguya-Taicho," I said through clenched teeth. His smirk grew and said "It smells like a rose garden, Hime-san. It either that or you roll in a garden every morning. So which is it?"
I lifted the sleeve of my haori to my nose and cursed when I confirmed that he was right. I could feel myself blushing as the thought him smelling my haori ran through my mind.
"He was just curious, Hime-san. You should really watching your face right now. It like watching paper getting painted on," said Shirobarakaze.
"What's wrong, Hime-san? Your face looks like it on fire. Maybe we should get you to a bed and a cup of water." I almost cursed out loud but retrained myself when I saw his face. He looked almost sincere, but I didn't know if I should buy it or not. I shrugged it away with a wave of my hand.
He just stood there and finally spoke again, except it was not what I wanted to hear. "So getting back to my previous question, do you wear perfume or not?" "NO!" Toshiro almost choked and he managed to say "So you're saying the scent just comes of you like sweat?" I ignored the question and asked him if he needed help with his next wave of paperwork. He just nodded to the couch and I took a stack of paperwork to the table and started working,
***
Toshiro sat at his desk, breezing through the paperwork like nothing. But it seemed to never end, so to pass the time he started humming a random tune. Suddenly a voice rose to the beat and started singing silently.
"Cause I can see everything from high and above, the earth is a little place next to my love. I can reach from here to where you are . . . "
Hitsuguya remembered that Kurohime was in the office with him and he tried to stop her, but she was vocalizing and she sounded beautiful.
"Bigger than the night that leads to day, bigger than the waves that crash the seas. Whooooaaaaaaaa, and now I know just a girl, trying to make to make my way back through this night, but now I feel bigger than the world with your hand in mine . . ."
She finished and went back to work , but then her head shot up and she turned around with a funny look. "How did you come across that song, Hitsuguya-taicho?" His face went from tan to a sickly shade of white. "Uhhh . . . I just remembered it from somewhere," he said. Her eyebrows shot up and she rose from her seat to his desk. "Lies," she hissed. "I made up that song just . . . oh why am I not surprised? You read my journal again, didn't you?"
Toshiro had no idea what to say, but she whispered darkly "What else did you see, Hitsuguya –taicho?" He thought back to the time he was in her office. He saw another song but the song she had sang had caught his attention, but there was nothing else. "Nothing else, Toshiro?" She sighed and went to the counter to pour herself a cup of tea. She took a cup near the pot and filled to the brim with the cold tea. As she was raising it to her mouth, Toshiro raced to her and snatched it from her hand.
"What the hell, Taicho? I was going to drink that." Actually, Toshiro had only snatched it from her for one reason, he had drank from that cup and he remembered what Matsumoto told him about an indirect kiss and if Kurohime found out then it would be madness. "You don't want to drink from that. It's dirty because its been sitting here for ages. Here, let me get you some warm tea."
Kurohime looked at him like he was crazy but she nodded. Trying to make some idle conversation with her to ease the tension he said "That song you were singing, was it about someone?" She grimaced and hastily replied "None of your business." He finally poured some of the steaming liquid into a clean cup and handed it to her. She winced at the temperature and set it down on the table.
Toshiro attempted to talk with her so she could reveal something about herself that wasn't her dark past. "I don't really know much about you, I always thought there was something mysterious about you, but I never knew what?"
Hinamoto shifted in her seat and asked "Well, what do you want to know, Taicho?" He thought about it for a while and said "I don't know. Your interests? I've seen your artwork and you always draw flowers."
She opened her mouth and closed again for a while. "I've always had an affinity for flowers, that's why I always draw them. They remind me of beauty and hope, that I'm not as horrible as people would like to think. That might also answer you question about my "perfume".
***
I never knew someone this observant before and I felt happy that I could talk with another. We would continue asking each other questions and when either of us blushed, the questions would step up a notch. When he asked me if I've ever loved a boy, Shirobarakaze was trying hard to stifle her very noticeable giggles and I was blushing hard. He then asked who but I told him no one.
"You're lying, Hime-san. You must have at some point." I responded by telling him that I was just blushing because the thought of it was just impossible. I looked out the window and saw stars. I got off the couch and opened the door. The moon was bright and the wind ran through my hair gently. I closed my eyes and relished in everything.
I heard Toshiro come outside, but I really didn't care. I started humming a song my mother used to sing when I was just a child. Then I turned around and said "Isn't the night wonderful? It's so much better than the day, right?" He gave me a small smile and I could her myself laughing. I was astonished because it's been a long time since I did. When I looked over at Toshiro, he gawked at me like I was from a distant world.
I suddenly remembered the time and I closed my eyes to remember this moment. Then I opened them and bid Hitsuguya-taicho goodnight just as a white cherry blossom flew into my hair.
The song was Bigger Than The World by Esme Denters
the last chapter wasn't really good so I'm gonna edit it soon, but if you want to help me click that little button over there . . .
