Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.
Chapter 8. Old Friends
Hitsugaya looked up at the dull, Autumn sky, lazy clouds strolled sluggishly behind the naked trees.
Although it was early in the morning, he was sitting on the porch, burying his face in a cold watermelon, alone.
Something told him that today was going to be a good day, although ever since Hinamori had left, every day for him had been lonely and miserable. But there was just something right about today, it whispered through the wind in the trees and swished in the swirling waters of the small stream nearby.
As he finished up the watermelon that he had been snacking on, Hitsugaya glanced something in the distance. It was a figure, of a person of course, and the instant he saw that figure he jumped up; it was none other than his Bed-Wetter Momo.
He called to his grandmother and then tried to calm himself down, he did not want to look like he had actually missed her, and he did not know why.
When Hinamori was almost to the house, she seemed to notice Hitsugaya for the first time and took of running towards him, almost knocking him over as she rushed in for a hug.
"Shiro-chan!!" She exclaimed gleefully. He stumbled for a second before regaining his balance, and hugged her back.
"Oy, Bed-Wetter Momo." He joked with a good-natured smile.
As she pulled back, their Obaa-san appeared and was then quickly hugged by the brown-eyed girl. Then, all three of them sat down together on the porch, Hinamori in the middle.
"So why'd you come back? Did you fail or did they just kick you out?" The white-haired boy kidded. He knew that she had made it because she had been away for about a week, and was wearing the Academy's uniform.
"Oh, Toshiro that isn't nice." His grandmother scolded softly. "Pay no mind to him dear, we both know you were accepted. Congratulations." The old woman said.
"Arigatou." Replied the girl.
She then proceeded to inform them of all that she had done at the Academy, including her classes, teachers, and all about the new friends that she had made.
"So, why are you here today? Isn't there class?" Hitsugaya asked.
"No, today's Sunday, which means there are no classes. It's sort of like a free day and the students can do whatever they want really. So I'm going to come and visit you guys every week!" She grinned. Warmth and relief overcame Hitsugaya at these words; he would get to see her at least.
"Why that's wonderful!" Her 'grandmother' said cheerily.
The rest of that day was spent on the porch near a pile of watermelons, telling stories and asking questions. Hinamori proceeded to tell about when a captain from the Gotei 13 came in to inspect the Academy.
"Taichou are just amazing!" She told mainly Hitsugaya in hopes of persuading him to join her school. "Their reiatsu are so much more powerful than ours." And by this time, the boy had buried his face into a watermelon, trying to ignore her feeble attempts to convince him. "Oy, are you even listening Shiro-chan?" She thought that his pet name would make him hear her, which it did.
"I thought I told you a thousand times to stop calling me Shiro-chan!" He avoided her question. Then he spat out an arsenal of watermelon seeds at her and she squeaked. A moment passed before she went on.
"When I become a Shinigami, I'm definitely going to join Aizen taichou's 5th squad." He only nodded sarcastically, doubting anything she said to be true.
"Hey I'm serious!" She told him.
"Mm hm." Was his only mocking response.
After a while, the old woman invited Hinamori to stay for dinner.
"Oh, Obaa-san I would love to!" Hinamori replied. "But the Academy requires that all of its students are back on Sunday nights before 6. Gomenasai." She saw her friend's lively aqua eyes dim a bit at the thought of her leaving already.
"Well that's alright Momo-chan. I just have to make sure that I make dinner early from now on. Now, you had best be off, we don't want you getting into trouble." Hinamori gave her Obaa-san a hug before turning to Hitsugaya.
"Okay then, I'm going, Shiro-chan." She said playfully patting his spiky hair, and his eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"Quit calling me Shiro-chan!" He huffed. "And don't pat my head!" He pushed her away.
"When you enroll in the same place as me, then I'll call you by your name." She promised.
"Forget that! As if I'd even want to go to Shinigami school!"
She just grinned.
"I'll still come back to see you on holidays and weekends!" Then, with a final smile, she turned away and began skipping back down the path she had come.
"Don't come back, Bed-Wetter Momo!" He called after her sarcastically.
Hinamori walked alongside Rukia in the school courtyards.
It was nearing the end of the day and the two were walking back to their dorms together, with Renji and Kira trailing a little ways behind.
"Where do you go every Sunday?" Rukia's question was out of the blue. Every Sunday since she enrolled, Hinamori had always gone off somewhere that no one ever bothered to ask about. She was always back before the designated time though, so the raven-haired girl figured that wherever she went was not far.
"Oh, I visit my best friend and Obaa-san. I told you about them neh?"
Rukia pondered for a moment and then seemed to remember.
"Oh you mean the boy you used to live with, with the spiky white hair and you call her Obba-san even though you're not related? Them?" She asked without thinking.
Hinamori laughed.
"No my other best friend and his Obaa-san." The two giggled and continued to walk, and then said their good-byes as the boys had to go a different way to reach their dorm.
"Tomorrow's your big day." Rukia pointed out to her friend; again the comment came out of nowhere.
"I know, and I'm really nervous! School's only been going on for a month! How do they expect us to go fight Hollow already?" She was shaking and trembling with fear. Rukia placed her hands on her shoulders.
"Hey, hey! Take it easy Hinamori-chan! It's not like your going alone. You'll have almost half of the Academy with you and a bunch of your sensei too. I just can't go because I have to make up Kidou practice, but Kira and Renji are going. And besides, they're just dummy Hollow. Its not like you'll be fighting the real thing. Trust me, you'll be fine."
Her words seemed to re-assure the chestnut-eyed girl a bit and they just walked together back to the dorms. When they reached their room, Hinamori automatically threw herself onto her bed with a sigh. She had been cheerful until Rukia brought up the topic of the training with dummy Hollow, so the older girl decided to switch back to the prior topic.
"So, what's this Shiro-chan of yours like?" She asked. The other girl rolled over and mumbled.
"Boy Kuchiki-san! You have the most random things to say today."
"Would you please stop calling me that? Call me Rukia." She pleaded again. "'Kuchiki-san' makes it sound like I'm royalty! You don't have to be so formal just because I'm a few years older than you." She stated. Hinamori sat up and somehow, this caused a smile to come across her lips. "What's so funny?" Rukia quirked an eyebrow.
"Hm? Oh its nothing." The chestnut-eyed girl replied. But Rukia knew better.
"When you don't pay attention that means you're daydreaming. The question is, about what?" She sat down on the bed opposite her friend and folded her hands in her lap, waiting for a reply.
"Its just…name-wise, you're just like him." She said softly.
"Who? Toshiro?" Rukia posed the question.
Hinamori nodded.
"I call him Shiro-chan because his hair is white, and I just came up with the nickname one time. He says that he doesn't like it, but deep down, I think that he secretly does. Sumimasen, I'll call you whatever you want me to…Rukia-san."
A pang of guilt went through Rukia's heart. Somehow, that name did not sound right coming from Hinamori's lips, or maybe it was just the fact that Hinamori was unhappy. Either way, at that moment, Rukia hated her name, for it was what Hinamori had said when she was sad.
The shorter, raven-haired girl realized now just why her friend treated her so formally. It brought back memories of her best friend to just simply call her by a different name.
"No, gomenasai." Rukia sighed. "I was being insensitive, and I had no right to make you call me something you didn't want to."
"No, it's your name Rukia-san." Hinamori contradicted. Now, she was a little less sad, and Hinamori's calling Rukia by her desired title did not sound as bad.
"Alright, just call me whatever comes to mind that fits." Rukia giggled, and the other girl did as well. "Why are we arguing about names anyway?" She asked good-heartedly.
The two of them laughed a bit longer, before finally getting dressed and curling up under the sheets.
They exchanged their usual 'oyasumi's and fear once again came over Hinamori at the thought of her upcoming test.
A/N: Gomen, I know that whole name thing was a bit confusing, so just ask me any questions you may have.
Ugh! The day I posted this chapter was my first day of school! It was horrible! I had to get up at 5:45am and my new school is so big and confusing! I got 6 heavy textbooks on the first day! (cries) And this is only 9th grade!
So I thought posting a chapter of Houkiboshi and getting some reviews would make me feel better.
Please review!!