Chapter Nine: Test Me, Baby

Two whole weeks had gone by since that fateful day. Momo seemed to be the same, though a little more confident in herself (still holding on to her artwork, though), but Toshiro was a mess. He was falling head over heels for this happy-go-lucky girl and he didn't know if he even wanted to stop himself. He had heard of this before, this 'Love at first sight' thing, and scoffed at the idea. It could be lust, or maybe just a strong connection to the person, but this was...this was love.

He sat there, watching her from the corner of his eyes, wondering if she felt the same. Not just a 'like' or 'affection', but love toward him, too. Toshiro just sighed for the fourth time that class period as he continued to watch the girl. They would be able to mingle soon, so they could work on the project together, but it seemed like they talked about anything but the project!

The teacher waved them off, smiling as he did so before he buried his face back into his novel. Toshiro smirked as he made his way over to the smiling peach. She seemed to glow when he approached her, and he couldn't be more pleased. He knew that on that day, she opened up a little to him, wanted him to find her and earn her love, a trail he was willing to charge head first into again and again.

"So, how's the sketch going?" Hitsugaya asked as he sat down next to her, trying to steal a peek. She wouldn't show him, saying that it wasn't done or some other thing like that, but he trusted her.

"Okay. I'm trying to visualize all the colors in it now." Momo hummed as she placed the sketch book into her satchel.

Toshiro noticed something odd inside the bag...two different sketch books? The one he saw in the bag was the one that contained the warning, so...what was in the one she had out just now? He knew she was very neat and organized, so maybe she had a sketch book for school and one for doodles? Maybe...it sounded like something she would do.

"This isn't going to be hard, is it? I'm still a novice here." He reminded.

"Don't worry. I'll be there to guide you." Hinamori giggled as she saw him blush a tad.

"Hitsugaya-sama!" The two friends turned to see three girls come up to them. Hinamori knew this was bad, as she already knew the girls as the bullies in the school. They had a little more money then others did and they would often pick on her for her dull clothes. "We want to see what you work looks like!"

"Yeah! I just know it'll be the most beautiful thing ever!" One of the other girls sighed dreamily.

"Actually, I'm not so good at art, but my friend here is wonderful at it. We're doing something top secret. Wouldn't want others to get jealous and copy us, huh Hinamori?" Toshiro winked at the shocked and blushing girl. He smirked at her timid nod before turning back to the group of girls. "So, I'm afraid we can't show you."

"If she's so great, then let's see some of your artwork, Hinamori." The leader, Carla, snarled.

"We-well...I..." Hinamori gulped as she looked at the mean girls, they were laughing at her and had earned the other students' ears and eyes too. All she wanted to do was vanish, but knowing full well that she couldn't, she decided to shake her head. "No, I really don't want to."

Carla went to go grab Hinamori's bag when Toshiro stopped her from doing so. "She said she doesn't want to show you, so get lost. I don't think you could handle it anyway."

The girl's were stunned, but obeyed the order given to them. "Thank you, Shiro-chan."

"You think you'd stop calling me that after just helping you." He sighed as she just gave a small giggle.

~ Art Class~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Look! We totally got an 'A' on our projects!" Renji laughed as he held up his polar bear to show everyone. They were gather around, happily celebrating their success when a pissed off Toshiro and a worried Momo trying to calm him down entered the room. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Some girls were being mean to Momo right in front of me! Can you believe that?!" Toshiro snarled as he clenched his fists tighter.

"It's okay, Shiro-chan-!"

"It is not okay. Why didn't you stand up for yourself? You were just letting them pick at you!" Toshiro huffed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're going to have a stroke if you don't stop. What am I going to tell Granny then, huh?" Momo asked as she poked his chest, earning her a shocked expression before he just snorted.

"Oh, this lover's spat is so cute!" Rangiku squealed as she hugged the two sighing teens before she pulled out a small piece of paper from her pocket. "I have just the thing to help you two!"

Toshiro snatched the paper from her hand and quickly read it. "I got an 'A'?" He asked as the paper turned out to be his work. "She even said that it looked good!" He turned and showed Momo, who just smiled as gave his shoulder a small nudge.

"It's all really simple if you just put a little effort into it." She giggled as he just glanced back at his work. "Now what are you all going to do? I'm excited to see what's next!"

"The teacher said we can do whatever we want for this one! I'm going to do Chappy!" Rukia smiled as she showed everyone the cover of one of her notebooks. It was decorated with an image of a smiling rabbit.

"I don't know, I'm going to paint. Maybe some flowers." Ichigo shrugged as he scratched his cheek in thought.

"I'm going to draw me winning the last soccer game!" Renji laughed.

"You boys are such idiots, you should do something easy! Like what I'm doing." Rangiku smiled as she pointed to herself. "I'm going to draw a plain field of grass. Slap some green on there and bam! Done."

"I don't think that counts, Rangiku." Renji sighed at the laughing woman.

"What are you going to do, Shiro-chan." Hinamori asked.

"You didn't hear? Mr. Songston talked to the art teacher about our projects, so it's counting in both classes. I'm betting this is where he got the idea from, too." Toshiro sighed as he thought of his love sick teacher. "Well, whenever you're ready to start it."

"Oh...Well, uh..."Momo nervously chuckled as everyone eyes her. She was being pushed into a corner that she might not be able to get out of when Toshiro asked her something about math. "Huh? What?"

"I asked you if you're nervous about the math test today." He rolled his eyes at her, but then noticed the paled expression and the widening of her eyes. "You didn't forget, did you?! I told you to study last night before you left my house!"

"Whoa! Hold up...she was at your house?" Ichigo asked as he smirked at the boy. "How long has this been going on for?"

"Toshiro is putting on the moves, huh?!" Renji laughed as he saw the two blush.

"We're not dating!" The both of them yelled, which just caused everyone to laugh harder.

"Who says you have to be dating to play! I knew you took care of Momo's headache somehow!" Renji continued, which caused the two to blush harder.

The rest of the class went on like that, teasing the youngest pair in the room went everyone's stomachs ached from all their laughter. The only two not laughing were the blushing pair in question, whose minds were silently hoping that maybe...all these little jokes could come true...one day.

~ Math Class~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was okay...everything was going to be okay...IT JUST HAD TO BE OKAY! Breathe...all she had to do was breathe...She glanced over to see Toshiro giving her a thumbs up...he seemed to have a great deal of confidence in her...too bad it was so misplaced. Momo lowered her head in her crossed hands, praying that if anyone could hear her...then they would have mercy upon her. A 'D' was all she was asking for...

The teacher smirked as he placed the sheet of paper on her desk, walking away like it was no big deal- IT'S A BIG DEAL! IT'S A HUGE DEAL! Hinamori glanced down at the sheet and gulped. It was only ten questions...ten lousy questions could possibly ruin her entire year...of course, this is what she thought about every test no matter what the number of questions were. Hinamori gulped and began to take the quiz.

~ Momo's House~~~~~~~~~~

"Granny didn't want us over today?" Momo asked as she set the two cups of tea down on the small table in front of them.

"No, she's playing poker tonight and they decided to do it at our house. It doesn't matter though, since we need to focus more on your math than that project." Toshiro smirked as he heard her sigh. "Don't worry though, we'll get you through this, alright?"

"I guess so."

Toshiro smirked as he thought of a way to get her more involved in her studies. He scooted closer to her and gently held her chin in his hand, turning her face to look at him instead of the worksheet on her lap. "I've got an idea...on how to get you to like math a tad more."

"What's...that?" She whispered as she stared deeply into his softened eyes. Her breath was caught in her throat as his gaze made her heart skip beats and head feel a tad foggy. The thought of him and Tobiume swiftly entered her mind, reminding her that even though they had kissed on their first encounter, their second encounter early this week they did nothing more but ask and answer yes and no questions. Nothing big or important happened so maybe...maybe he loved her more?

"I'll ask you a question and you'll answer it. If you happen to get it correct...I'll give you a reward. Let's try one...shall we?" He smirked as she slowly nodded. "What's one plus one?"

"Two."

"Correct." Toshiro leaned in slowly, to give her time to reject the advance or to accept it, and kissed her lips lightly. She tasted of sweet peaches, knowing she had some for lunch that day. He was amazed on how soft her lips were, like the petals of a rose and plump like a forbidden fruit. He pulled away, the corner of his lips upturning into a delicious smirk one that made her want to nibble his bottom lip before kissing him again. "Ready for the real questions?"

"Test me."