CHAPTER 36: OUR TIME

"Our song is the slamming screen doors, sneaking out late, tapping on your window! When we're on the phone, and we talk real slow, 'cause it's late and your mama don't know! Our song is the way you laugh, the first date 'Man I didn't kiss her and I should have'... And when I got home, before I said 'amen', I asked God if he... Could play it again!"

Hitsugaya entered their room to see Tayomi jumping on her bed, playing the guitar and singing some song which was unfamiliar to him. He sighed and smiled to himself, as he went unnoticed by her again. Her long black hair bounced up and down as she jumped, her smile widened and her fingers ran over the strings of the guitar. She continued to sing, not noticing that Hitsugaya was sitting on his bed, staring at her. It seemed that as easy as it was to distract her from her paper work, it was never easy to drag her away from her guitar. After a few more minutes of jumping on the bed and singing, Tayomi finally stopped. She put down her guitar, before running over to give Hitsugaya a hug. He grumbled, telling her that she had failed to notice his presence again.

"I'm sorry..." Tayomi giggled, before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I was sort of distracted..."

"You're practically in love with your guitar." Hitsugaya muttered.

"Heh heh, you're jealous!" Tayomi playfully poked him in the cheek, much to his joy and annoyance. "Don't worry, I won't neglect you because of my guitar, or my work... Because I love you!"

"Yeah..." Hitsugaya poked her back and ruffled her soft hair. "I know."

"Hm..." Tayomi pouted, teasing him. "What about you? You're practically in love with paper work..."

"No, I'm not." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"You spend at least half of your day at home doing paper work and one quarter of your day sleeping." Tayomi frowned.

"Paper work can't be helped. And I want to sleep. I need to grow taller." Hitsugaya sighed.

"What about me? Where do I come in?" She began to feel hurt, as he had not mentioned anything about her being part of his day.

Tayomi's face fell. She felt disappointed. She had been hoping that he would agree to spend more time with her. Aizen and Ichimaru had not made any further moves and it was rare that she got to spend quality time with Hitsugaya, without him running off in the middle of their conversation for a meeting or to do his beloved paper work. During such a momentary time of peace, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, before the trouble and action started again. She missed talking to him while holding his hand, without him letting go to rush off to complete his work. She missed gazing into his eyes and watching him gaze back at her, without him standing up and leaving the room to answer a phone call. Although they shared a room, she could not help but feel slightly distanced from him at times. Work distracted him all the time. Hitsugaya finally noticed her sadness, when he saw tears about to fall from her eyes. Tayomi was definitely on the verge of crying. His heart broke to see her so upset. Though it seems really minor, I know how precious our time together means to her. That bastard Aizen and Ichimaru haven't struck yet, but it seems as if I've left her alone most of the time... Have I... Have I really been neglecting her for that past month?

"I'll devote my remaining quarter of the day to you, alright?" Hitsugaya smiled, using his fingers to wipe away her tears and hoping to cheer her up.

Tayomi looked up at him, her eyes slightly red in colour and her cheeks in a shade of bright pink. He thought for a moment, wondering what to say. Perhaps he should just reveal his thoughts to her. It always happened that way. He never felt like hiding his feelings for her, whenever she looked at him that way.

"I'm sorry for neglecting you... Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to you." Hitsugaya held her close to him. "I'll spend the whole day with you tomorrow, to make it up to you... Do you want that, Sakuri?"

Tayomi nodded. She tried to say something, but ended up squeaking again, as she felt tears rush to her eyes. He felt extremely bad by now, seeing her in so much pain. She had managed to cope with the fact that he had neglected her for a month, despite being in so much pain. She buried her face in his chest, trying to calm down and stop herself from crying, but to no avail. Tayomi felt him wrap his arms around her tighter than ever.

"Alright, I'll spend the whole day with you tomorrow. No paper work, no phone calls... Just you and me." Hitsugaya smiled. "Don't cry now..."

Tayomi nodded. Hitsugaya took out his phone and texted the rest of the Shinigami in the house.

"Matsumoto, Abarai, Madarame, Ayasegewa, please leave the house early tomorrow morning and come back only at night. Don't ask why. It's an order."

"Oh man!" Matsumoto whined as she read her Captain's message. "Taicho's chasing us out of the house for the day!"

Tayomi woke up the next day and realised that Hitsugaya was already out of bed. Looking at her clock, she realised that she had woken up much later than usual. It was two hours before noon and she sighed, realising that she had forgotten to set her alarm clock again. She could hear sounds coming from the kitchen and dragged herself out of her room, still in her white singlet, black shorts and oversized shirt. Peeping into the kitchen, she saw Hitsugaya doing something at the stove. Oh wow. Susu-chan is... HE'S COOKING FOR ME! She walked into the kitchen and kissed him on the cheek, before running into the bathroom to wash up. She had decided not to see what he was cooking for her, allowing herself be surprised. She walked back into the kitchen to search for him, when she felt someone's arms around her waist. Tayomi smiled and giggled to herself.

"Morning." He whispered into her ear, before kissing her on the neck.

"Morning..."

He dragged her to her seat for breakfast. Tayomi sat down, trying to make sense out of what he had cooked. What... is that? There was a squishy yellow thing on her plate. He noticed the confused look on her face and apologised for the horrendous cooking. She looked up at him and ruffled his hair, appreciating his efforts in trying to make her happy. Ignoring the fact that it looked strange, Tayomi ate his cooking with a warm feeling in her heart. That was the first time he had ever cooked, and it was for her. Hitsugaya smiled as he watched her eat.

After that, they decided to watch a movie together. Flipping through the huge mass of DVDs that Matsumoto had previously bought, they wondered what to watch. Though it was bright and early in the morning, Hitsugaya was sure that they would never touch a horror movie, because Tayomi would freak out in broad daylight. All that was left was Matsumoto's soppy romance movies, which she had previously forced him to watch while tying him to the chair. He grumbled as he recounted the time before he finally confessed to Tayomi and Matsumoto played all the DVDs before his eyes, as he was restricted and tied to his chair, with his eyes forced open. Tayomi blinked twice, wondering what Matsumoto's taste in movies was. They were mostly romance movies, but they were all rated. There was definitely inappropriate content inside and she sighed, throwing herself onto the floor. There was not much to do. But things were not supposed to be boring when it was just the two of them around. Hitsugaya ran his fingers through her hair and kept all the DVDs, telling her to get changed and grab the keys. Tayomi got up and smiled. They were going out together, for the first time.

She ran into her room, wondering what to wear. It was autumn and the cool breeze had been blowing past ever so often. After a few minutes of thinking, throwing out her clothes and trying to match them, she finally picked something to wear. Grabbing her denim skirt, black leggings, white shirt and dark green jacket, she quickly got changed. Tayomi hurriedly pulled on her clothes, anticipating their first outing together. When she came out, she saw Hitsugaya changing behind the door of their cabinet, putting on his black, long-sleeved shirt. They stared at each other for a moment, before blushing. Looking down, Hitsugaya finished buttoning his shirt and walked over to his girlfriend, whose cheeks were bright pink by now. He held her hand and led her out of the house, locking the door behind them.

"I'm taking you out shopping." He spoke coldly.

"REALLY?" Tayomi squealed happily. "YAY! THANK YOU, SUSU-CHAN!"

He patted her head and continued walking down the street with her. She's definitely going to burn a hole in my pocket. I'm glad I've been saving for these past few months.

Tayomi turned her head left and right, looking at the various shops located on the streets. She was completely spoilt for choice, as she smiled uncontrollably. Suddenly, she remembered that Hitsugaya did not really adore shopping. Being a guy, it was not surprising that he found shopping boring. I shouldn't spend so much time here. Or else, Susu-chan will be so bored here. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"Don't you want to buy clothes?" Hitsugaya asked her, knowing that Tayomi liked shopping for clothes.

"Huh?" Tayomi shot him a blank look.

"Matsumoto told me that you wanted to buy a dress." He replied.

Tayomi suddenly remembered. She had mentioned to Matsumoto that she intended to buy a dress soon. Matsumoto had been continuously asking her why she did not have that many dresses in her closets, determined to see her friend dress more like a girl and show her feminine side. Tayomi remembered herself sighing and telling Matsumoto that she needed to save up. Even though she claimed herself to be completely uninterested in dresses, she knew that she would not mind owning a dress or two. Somehow, Hitsugaya must have sensed that and wanted to give her something that she wanted. Smiling, she nodded her head, as they headed into a shop.

Ichigo was in his room reading a magazine, while Rukia was drawing in the closet. He sighed, as Rukia showed him her 'creative' drawings. As per usual, he told her that her drawing was hideous, causing her to smack Ichigo in the head with a sketchbook. Suddenly, he felt his ceiling vibrate and he stood up. Is it a hollow?

Just then, his ceiling lamp dropped to the ground and was smashed into pieces. Renji jumped out from the hole in his ceiling, where his lamp used to be. Ikkaku, Yumichika and Matsumoto followed suit, practically giving Ichigo a heart attack. It was not everyday that he saw Shinigami jumping out of nowhere. Ichigo grumbled, as his lights were broken once again, by the same people.

"What are you guys doing here?" He screamed in anger.

"Taicho chased us out..." Matsumoto twirled her hair with her finger and whined.

"Yeah. He just texted us all of a sudden last night and told us to get out of the house for the whole day." Renji shrugged and shook his head. "I wanted to ask him why, but he specifically stated that we were not to ask him."

Rukia snatched Renji's phone and read the message. She began to smile and laugh to herself. Ichigo, Renji, Yumichika, Ikkaku and Matsumoto looked at her, wondering what was so funny.

"Can't you all tell?" Rukia smirked. "It's pretty obvious why he chased you all out..."

"No..." Ichigo scratched his head. "No, it isn't!"

"IDIOT!" Rukia smacked Ichigo in the head with her sketchbook for the second time that day. "Think about it! With the four of you out of the house, who's left in the house?"

"Hitsugaya Taicho and Tayomi Taicho." Ikkaku replied.

"Oh! I see! I understand the beauty of Hitsugaya Taicho's message now!" Yumichika cried proudly, flicking his hair left and right. "It's beautiful! Absolutely heavenly!"

Tayomi preened in front of the mirror, wearing a white, strapless dress that had caught her eye. Though the dresses there were all beautiful, this dress had managed to draw her attention the most. Perhaps it was because it was simple yet pretty, or because the whiteness of the dress reminded her of Hitsugaya's snow white hair. It looks really nice... Just then, she heard Hitsugaya calling her. Laughing to herself, she realised that she had spent ten minutes in the changing room and left him waiting outside. She opened the door slowly and nervously, wondering how he would react. Hitsugaya gazed at her, as he felt himself smile. She looked like an angel to him, as the flowing white dress showed off her figure perfectly. The cream-coloured belt at her waist matched the white dress well, as the rest of the skirt reached down, covering the top half of her thighs. Tayomi blushed, when she realised that he was gazing at her, unable to take his eyes off her.

"Do you like it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah..." Tayomi nodded.

"Okay then, I'll buy it for you." Hitsugaya took her hand in his and smiled.

"YAY!"

Tayomi smiled to herself, clutching the bag containing her new dress in her hands. She rested her head on Hitsugaya's shoulder. All of a sudden, an idea came to her.

"Let's cook dinner together..." She grinned.

"Alright." Hitsugaya nodded.

Just then, his phone rang. He took out his phone and gasped. Darn, it's Yamamoto. Tayomi looked up at him with puppy eyes, wondering if he would take the call. Hitsugaya felt torn between his work and his girlfriend. He had promised her that he would not take any calls that day and end up forgetting her presence. However, the one on the line was their Captain-commander, who hardly called unless there was an emergency. Tayomi blinked, as Hitsugaya hesitated to answer the call and looked back at her. Sighing, he flipped his phone open.

"Sou-Taicho. I'll call you back later." He hung up and switched off his phone.

"I can't believe you just did that..." Tayomi gasped in shock.

"Work can wait for now. But you can't, and I can't either." He replied coldly as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. "You wanted to cook tonight? Let's go then."

Tayomi giggled to herself as Hitsugaya pulled her towards the supermarket. They looked around, randomly grabbing ingredients. With this, we can make ramen... I think... The supermarket was air-conditioned, making the interior extremely cold. She was glad that she had worn her jacket, protecting her from the freezing conditions. They went home together, holding the groceries in one hand and each other's hands in the other.

On the way home, they walked past a soft toy shop. Tayomi stopped and stared at the cute bunny plush toy in the window. She smiled and continued walking. This time, Hitsugaya stopped and dragged her into the soft toy shop, much to her surprise. He glanced at her, before purchasing the bunny plush toy in the window. After he had paid for it, he passed it to her, smiling. Tayomi grinned and cuddled the bunny in her arms, before going on tiptoe to give him a kiss on the cheek. Hitsugaya smiled and dragged her home.

Laying out all of the ingredients on the table, she thought hard and smiled, knowing that they could somehow make ramen out of all of the ingredients they had bought. They got to work immediately, soaking the Shiitake mushrooms in the water and boiling it. Meanwhile, they started on the ramen, boiling it in another pot of water. Hitsugaya smiled as she suddenly walked up to him and cuddled him. Though it was a purely random gesture, he still liked it and hugged her back. She smiled and they waited for half an hour, before making hard-boiled eggs and slicing the meat, adding it to the ramen. Not before long, they were finally done. They had finished unexpectedly early, at five in the evening. Sitting in front of the television, they shared the bowl of ramen as they watched television. We're not bad... Tayomi smiled as her eyes were glued onto the television screen and she slurped on the strands of ramen. Suddenly, she felt her lips touch something. Turning to her left slowly, she realised that she had been slurping on the same strand of noodle as Hitsugaya. His lips were touching hers, connected by the strand of ramen. Her face turned bright pink, as he continued to slurp on the noodle and ended up kissing her on the lips on accident. She giggled, as her heart beat twice as fast.

"Heh heh..." She giggled as she felt her face burn up.

"You're so cute." Hitsugaya reached out his hand to pinch her cheek.

"We finished dinner really early, didn't we?"

"Hm..." He thought for a moment. "Do you want to go for a walk at the beach and watch the sunset?"

"Okay..." Tayomi's face continued to turn bright red.

They quickly finished up their ramen and placed the bowl in the kitchen sink. Tayomi was just about to wash the plates when Hitsugaya stopped her.

"It's okay. Let Matsumoto do it."

"Huh?" Tayomi was surprised by his sudden idea.

"She's been slacking on the paper work, so let her clean up." Hitsugaya smirked.

"Matsumoto, clean up the kitchen when you get home. This is what you get for slacking on the paper work and hiding sake in my office."

"TAICHO!" Matsumoto fell to her knees dramatically. "NOOOOO!"

"Wow..." Ichigo gasped. "Good one, Toushiro..."

"Hitsugaya Taicho's such a genius..." Renji smirked.

"HOW COULD HE HAVE FOUND MY SAKE?" Matsumoto cried, obviously agitated by her Captain's text message. "I HAD IT HIDDEN UNDER HIS TABLE! THE RISKIEST PLACE IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAFEST PLACE!"

They walked to the beach together, letting the cool autumn breeze blow past their hair. Tayomi had to rearrange her hair and adjust her pink hairband several times, causing Hitsugaya to laugh to himself a few times. They had arrived at the beach at a perfect time, when the sun had just begun to set and the beach was empty. Tayomi linked arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed in content, as the sky turned from a single blue into a myriad of pastel hues, surrounding the sun that was sinking into the horizon, getting ready to make way for the round, glowing white moon to rise into the sky. Hitsugaya sighed, suddenly realising how much he had missed out on. He enjoyed every single second that was spent with her and felt guilty for putting her aside because of his work. His turquoise eyes turned to look at her. Placing his hands around her cheeks, he bent down and kissed her on her lips, before running his hands through her soft black hair and down her back. Tayomi was a little shocked by his sudden gesture, but showed no signs of hating it, as she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the feeling of their lips making contact with each other's. Suddenly, the sky turned dark and grey. She felt raindrops fall on their faces incessantly, drenching them in rainwater. They drew back slowly, before Tayomi held his hand tight and ran home, dragging Hitsugaya behind her.

They reached home drenched and dripping wet. Matsumoto, Ikkaku, Renji and Yumichika stared at them for a moment, as Tayomi and Hitsugaya ran into their room and locked their door.

"Oh my gosh... WET WET WET!" She squeaked, dragging him into the bathroom.

She pulled off her tights and squeezed all of the water out of them into the bathtub. Hitsugaya looked down at his feet, still in a daze. Tayomi noticed that he was especially quiet and threw his towel to him, landing it on his head. She took out her jacket, squeezed it dry and threw it into the laundry basket. Just then, she realised that Hitsugaya had been completely silent the whole time.

"Susu-chan... You're going to catch a cold if you don't dry yourself..." She held his hand.

Hitsugaya remained silent. Tayomi sighed and grabbed his towel, drying his hair for him. His spiky white hair drooped downwards, as it was soaked in rain, but she had to admit that he still looked really hot. She quickly rushed out to grab another shirt from his closet and thrust it into his hands. He was still as dazed as ever and clearly unfocused. At this rate, he's really going to catch a cold. Blushing slightly, she unbuttoned his black shirt for him slowly, feeling slightly awkward. She took off his shirt for him, beginning to worry as he continued to space out. Looking straight into his eyes, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him on his lips. His lips did not move. She drew back slowly. Forcing him out of the bathroom, she quickly changed into dry clothing. Hitsugaya blinked, as Hitsumi and Shikuri ran towards him and sniffed his feet. He bent down to stroke their fur, his facial expression still as stoic as ever.

"Susu-chan... What's wrong?" Tayomi held him close to her, looking up at him.

"Nothing." He replied, turning away from her.

"Something's wrong. You can't hide it from me." Tayomi spoke stubbornly. "Is it the paper work? Is it the phone call? Is it... Is it me? Did I..."

"No... It's not you." Hitsugaya sighed, kissing her forehead. "No... It is you..."

"I... I'm sorry." Tayomi drew back abruptly. "Maybe I should have just kept silent. Maybe it would have been better if I didn't force you to go out..."

"No, you didn't force me." Hitsugaya walked after her and took her back into his arms. "I wanted to do it of my own accord. It's just that... This made me realise how much I've missed out... It made me realise how much time I spent doing something else, instead of spending it with the person I hold closest to my heart. You shouldn't be the one apologising. I... I should be the one saying sorry."

"Susu-chan..." She sighed as she wiped the tears that fell from his eyes. "It's alright. I'm glad that we spent time together today... "

"Me too..." He tried to hold his tears back. "I'm never going to repeat my mistake. I'm never going to leave you feeling ignored again. Every single second that I have on my hands... Every single moment when I'm free... I'll spend it with you. I'll sacrifice my sleep if I have to."

"But if you don't sleep, you won't grow taller..." Tayomi poked his cheek.

"Yeah... But it's not like I've been growing very much either." He smirked.

"It's okay... You'll grow taller someday. And maybe I will too..."

She smiled, before resting her head on his shoulder and letting him stroke her hair. He kissed her on her lips, before going off to take a quick bath. Shikuri and Hitsumi ran up to her, sniffing her feet. She bent down to stroke their fur and placed them on her lap, cuddling them both.

"Yeah..." She sighed. "Your daddy is so sweet..."

Author's Note:
So kawaii :D This chapter was so extra fluffy and action-less. Now I know how far I can go with romance scenes XD
Next chapter, we will get serious. (Hence the reason for this fluffy, super long chapter ^.^) Really serious. We shall enter Tayomi's inner world, just as Inazuma Kaze is enraged... Yup, we're going to face the Drowning Inazuma Kaze! :D

Ooh and I got an idea for a new FanFiction! I'll probably start on it once my exams are over :D But my focus will still always be on this FanFic :)
I hope you all liked this chapter! Please review and stay tuned! Thanks! :D