Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights of this series goes to Tite Kubo.
Author's Note: Gah, loved Bleach 274! Not only the fight is so awesome, but there's a minor HitsuHina moment as well. Kyaa! Unfortunately, we have to wait until next week to see Hitsugaya's Hyoten Hyakkaso in action. Sigh...anyway, special thanks goes to my awesome reviewers: tanithhh, j cloud xD, Rinka Tomiya, MoonLightView, HoneyFlower15, yumi-2121331, Epoch95, chococat450, cool!, KnowledgeandImagination, icyangel27, Samantha, Neko-cheung, applestoapples, becomeafan, AznInvasionGirl, athfdrizzle, Pieps XD.
Message to applestoapples: I intended for the whole story to be about 30 chapters long which does not include the prologue and the epilogue. So, yeah...just like you said, Part II is for sure going to be longer than Part I. Part I is about 10 chapters. As for Part II, you do the math. xD Anyway, thanks for your review!
Enough has been said; it's time to read chapter eight. Enjoy!
LEGEND
"Talking." "Thinking." Voice Message from Toshiro's Older Sister, Miyuki Hitsugaya. Flash Back.
The Healing Heart
Part I - Hope and Friendship
Chapter Eight: Recovery
A few minutes after the school bell rung, Momo ran out of the classroom in a hurry. "Mou, if only the teacher didn't keep the whole class inside, things would have been alright. Why do these things always happen on days when I have plans scheduled?"
Stopping at the shoe locker room, the peach girl is exchanging into her outdoor footwear when Kira noticed her. "What's wrong, Hinamori-kun?" he asked. "Did something bad happen?"
Noticing her school friend standing next to her, she shook her head and replied, "No, it's nothing like that. I need to get to Seireitei Hospital a little earlier than usual. However, no thanks to my last teacher, he kept us in longer until he's finished with his teachings."
"Why is that?"
She put on a smile on her face. "Today is the day when Hitsugaya-kun gets his leg cast off and is going through rehab."
"Oh..."
"I'm sorry Kira-kun, but I have to get going now."
"Alright then."
"Hai."
With that said, the thirteen year old teenager rushed out the door, leaving the pale blond haired teenager behind. Izuru let out a sigh and put on a faint smile on his face. After knowing her for so long, he could tell what kind of personality she takes on. Momo Hinamori is a kind and sweet girl who loves to help others whenever they are in need. "Have fun Hinamori-kun."
When she finally came to Hitsugaya's room, she found him sitting on his bed, pressing buttons on his silver cell phone. Without taking a look at who is at the door, he commented, "You're ten minutes late."
"Sorry, but my teacher was holding me up," Momo apologized as she pulled out a chair to sit next to him. She then noticed a sudden change about her white haired friend. "Hitsugaya-kun, you already got your leg cast removed."
With a single finger, he closed his cell phone cap and stuffed it into his pants pocket. "Of course, I had to get it removed. You were taking too long."
Despite that, he still has his arm cast and forehead bandages on. "Oh, what about your other injuries?"
"They'll be removed within after week or so."
"I see; that's good to hear."
"I suppose..."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. As the two friends turned their heads to the side, they saw Doctor Unohana and Nurse Kotetsu enter the room. "Unohana-sensei, Isane-san."
"Konnichiwa Hinamori," the tall nurse replied.
"Did Hitsugaya ask you to come and see him?" Retsu asked.
The eleven year old boy made a face and answered back, "No, I didn't ask her at all. As a matter of fact, she insisted that she comes and see me go through my rehabilitation procedure for today."
Unohana smiled. "Either way, it's nice of her to come and cheer you on."
In response, he turned his head to the side. "Whatever..."
Isane walked up to Hitsugaya's bedside and held out a pair of crutches. "Here you go," she said. "It's time for you to head to the rehabilitation room."
After letting out a small sigh, Toshiro shifted to the side of his bed. Taking a hold of his crutches, he put his right slipper on and slowly got on his foot. Slowly, he began making his way out of his room. Just to make sure he's alright, Hinamori, Unohana, and Kotetsu followed closely behind as they headed to the rehabilitation room together.
Hitsugaya's eyes are fixated on the floor as he slowly took short and simple steps toward the other end of the bar handles. From time to time, he would feel a minor shot of pain running through the veins in his left ankle. As a result, it caused him to halt his movements. After waiting for a few moments to let it die down, Toshiro returned to his training. "It's amazing to see that Hitsugaya has finally gotten to this point in his recovery," Isane said.
"Yes, when we first met him almost two months ago," Unohana explained. "He was fighting for his life. It's nice to see that he's now growing stronger and stronger every single day."
"If this keeps up, there is no reason for us to keep him here."
The black braided haired woman slowly nodded with agreement. "Yes, it's only a matter of time before he leaves this place."
Meanwhile, Hinamori has her hands held up in front of her, worried yet excited for her white haired friend. Once he made it to the other side of the bar, Momo called out his name. However, he didn't hear any of that. He is too busy letting out a sigh of relief that he didn't seriously get hurt during his first round of rehab. After waiting for a few minutes, he slowly turned his body around. With him facing the other direction, he began slowly walking back. "Do your best Shiro-chan," Hinamori thought.
There was one point where he nearly had an accident, but it only turned out to be a false alarm. Luckily, Hitsugaya arm hooked on the bar handles and prevented himself from falling onto the ground. He along with some of the others let out a sigh of relief. It is not long after he resumed his full attention back to walking again. "Unohana-sensei, about the thing you told me to do the other day, it has been done," Isane whispered to the doctor. "Paperwork and everything."
"That's good to hear," Retsu replied.
"They'll drop by next week."
"Okay then, thank you for your hard work, Isane."
As they continued talking, Hinamori couldn't help, but wonder what they are conversing about. However, her focus is soon changed to her eleven year old friend, whom she saw fall onto the ground. With no time to waste, she ran to his side and got down to her knees. "Hitsugaya-kun, are you alright?"
Using his uninjured arm, he slowly got onto his hands and knees. Once he sat on his bottom, he turned his head to face the worried thirteen year old teenager. "There is no need to be so worried; I'm alright, Bed-Wetter."
"Mou, there is no need to call me that. You might have gotten seriously hurt or something."
With his right arm, he took hold of the handle bar above and used it to help get back on his two feet. Glancing back at the peach girl, he replied, "I won't allow myself to get hurt even further than I am now. Besides, that would be breaking my side of the promise."
"He still remembers..."
"Anyway, as much as I would like to chat, I have to get back to my training now. So, if you don't mind, give me some space to move around."
"Ah hai." With that said, Momo silently watched him get back to his walking training once more. Though he doesn't say it out loud, Toshiro does want to get better so that he wouldn't burden anyone anymore. "Shiro-chan..."
"Now, let's see," Momo mumbled as she is writing down the answer into her notebook. "The common factor for 3x to the power of two plus 36x equals 0 is 3. So, the answer should be 3 (x to the power of two plus 9x) equals 0."
"That's not the true answer," Hitsugaya corrected as he is sitting in bed, reading her history textbook. "You can still common factor from there by taking an x out. In order to save you time, you might as well do everything in one go. The common factor of 3x to the power of two plus 36x equals 0 is 3x which makes 3x (x plus 9) equals 0. From there, set both sides equal to 0. 3x equals 0 and x plus 9 equals 0. Isolate both sides so that the variable is on one side and the number on the other. Your two answers should be x equals 0 and x equals negative 9."
"S-Sugoi, you're able to do all that in your head?"
Toshiro placed the book down on his lap and explained to the peach girl, "Of course I am able to do that especially after hearing you mutter the question out loud for three minutes."
"Mou..."
After the eleven year old went through his day of rehab, he went back to his room to relax. As for his raven haired friend, she sat in the empty bed next to him, doing her school homework. "The answer to (2x+3)(x-5) = 0 is 2x to the power of two minus 7x minus 15 not 2x to the power of two minus 15. You forgot to do the distributive property for the O and the I in FOIL."
"What are you, my teacher?"
"Hn, a few minutes ago, I could have sworn I just became your tutor."
Momo let out a pout, leaving Toshiro to show an amused grin on his face. He finds teasing the older child so entertaining. "Hey, did you learn all this from your sister?"
Upon hearing his friend mention about Miyuki, Hitsugaya let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and rested the back of his head against the pillow. It is also when the peach girl realized she has spoken about his family. She began to worry if she has gotten him into depression again. After a few seconds of silence, he cracked a faint smile. "Onee-chan was always frustrated over the fact I'm able to do everything easily as planned by the school curriculum," he explained. "She wanted to teach her little brother stuff he doesn't know yet. So, she started teaching me the lessons she recently learned. Eventually, I learned how to do homework at your grade level."
"I see..."
Toshiro opened his eyes and began staring up into the white ceiling above him. "When my father and mother found out about it, they couldn't help, but be very proud of the both of us. We get along with one another very well."
"Has...it always been like that?"
"Probably not; there must have been a time when Onee-chan was jealous of my existence like what normal siblings do. I was probably too young to understand how much she felt at the time. Who knows..."
A silent pause filled the atmosphere for a few moments until Hinamori suddenly apologized, "Sorry, for mentioning about your family..."
"There is no need to say that; I-I'm...glad that you're willing to listen to me."
Momo gave him a sweet smile. "In that case, whenever you need anything, don't be afraid to say anything to me."
"Since you put it that way, I have something else to say."
"What would that be?"
"Stop wasting your time chatting with me and get back to your homework!"
"Mou Shiro-chan, what does that supposed to mean?"
"Just do your work like you're supposed to and stop calling me Shiro-chan!" he snapped.
Hinamori let out a sigh of defeat. Once minute, he acts all nice, the next minute, he freezes people over. Momo couldn't help, but feel sorry for him. Most likely, it's a persona he has developed in order to keep himself from getting too close to others. He only did that so that he wouldn't experience that harsh pain again.
She looked over to the wall clock and suddenly gasped. "I-It's already 7:30 pm! I have to go home now or else I'm going to worry my grandmother and miss dinner!"
As Momo is gathering all her belongings into her bag, Hitsugaya let out a sigh of defeat. Shifting his body to the edge of the bed, he grabbed his crutches, put the top cushion under his armpits and slowly stood up. With his healing foot lifted slightly into the air, he walked toward the exit and slammed a fist at the button to open the door. "Let's go, Hinamori."
"Eh, you're walking me out?" Momo asked after she closed her bag and got out of bed.
He gave her a stern look. "Don't get the wrong idea; I just so happen to feel a little hungry and Kotetsu's office is not too far from the lobby entrance. So, I might as well lead you out while I'm at it."
"I see; arigato."
Toshiro then began walking out the door ahead of her in hopes that she didn't see the change of expression on his face.
"Oi Shiro-chan, chotto matte!" Momo exclaimed, running after him.
Hitsugaya waited for the girl to catch up with him. In response, he corrected, "For the last time, it's Hitsugaya."
Hinamori merely let out a small giggle before silently walking to the lobby entrance together. By the time they have arrived, she said, "Well, take care of yourself and I'll see you soon."
"Ja ne."
With that, he watched the peach girl leave the hospital, leaving him behind once more. Eventually, Toshiro turned around and began making his way to find Kotetsu.
Luckily, it didn't take long for him to find her office. Since he has been staying here for the past two months, it wouldn't be a surprise that he memorized the map of the building. After taking a short peek into the room, he saw Nurse Isane with Doctor Unohana. Just as he is about to step in, he heard the taller woman say, "Should we tell Hitsugaya the news tomorrow?"
Upon hearing that, he quickly retreated back and leaned his back against the wall. Suddenly, he began to wonder what they are hiding from him. So, he continued listening to the conversation. "Yes, I believe so," Retsu replied with agreement. "Besides, there is almost no need to keep him here any longer."
"I see."
"There's also the fact that the Orphanage has called to tell us that there is a young couple who is willing to adopt him."
"That's great to hear!" Isane said.
"Yes, in three days, he will be discharged from the hospital and live with his new family."
Unlike them, Hitsugaya is shocked to hear the news. After everything he has gone through, another wall has came in his way to stop him. "I-I'm going to be adopted..."
Japanese Word Translations
Hai - Yes, Sensei - Teacher/Doctor, Konnichiwa - Good Afternoon, Sugoi - Amazing, Onee-chan - Older Sister, Arigato - Thank You, Chotto matte - Wait for Me, Ja ne - Good Bye (informal/casual)
Author's Note: Gah, a shocking blow to Hitsugaya. He's going to be adopted. How is he going to react to this? Well, there is only one way to find out: please review! Thanks.