CHAPTER 41: WARM GREETINGS

Tayomi stepped out of the Senkai gate, with a bunch of flowers in one hand and a stuffed toy in the other. She could not stop smiling to herself for several reasons. Firstly, it felt great to be back at home, at the Gotei 13 headquarters. Secondly, she had bumped into many people that she had not seen in ages, like Hisagi, Kira and Hinamori. They had all smiled at her happily, glad to see her after such a long time. Ukitake was elated to see her after such a long time. Everyone knew where she was headed. There was only one place where she desired to go right now. Tayomi wanted to return to Hitsugaya. Hardly able to contain her excitement, she clutched her gifts tightly, eager to see him.

Entering the 4th Division's barracks, she was greeted by Captain Unohana, the first Captain she had ever worked under. Unohana smiled at her gently, leading her to Hitsugaya's room. Isane had just left Hitsugaya's room and smiled at her former colleague, telling her that she had left some instructions on Hitsugaya's treatment procedure on the bedside table. Tayomi nodded and thanked her, before gently pushing open the door to Hitsugaya's ward. She smiled, once she noticed that he was fast asleep. As per usual, he was still frowning in his sleep, clearly troubled by something. She tiptoed into the room and placed the flowers on his bedside table, picking up the sheet of instructions. Skimming through it, she clicked her tongue, wondering how he would react if he knew that she was treating him today. It had been a long time since she treated his injuries personally and it usually involved some sort of embarrassing experience. She placed the stuffed bunny beside him and tucked it under his right arm, while she gently picked up his left hand and held it close to her warm cheeks. His hand felt cold and she rubbed it against her cheeks, sighing in content. Watching him sleep was most peaceful to her. Just then, Hitsugaya rustled from his sleep, slowly opening his eyes. Once he saw her, he smiled immediately. Tayomi helped him sit up, still holding his hand and smiling.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice sounding slightly weak.

"I'm here to visit you, of course!" Tayomi beamed. "Unohana Taicho let me be your personal nurse for today! I never thought I'd be playing nurse again after such a long time..."

"You didn't really need to come here... I'm fine." He sighed.

"Eh... But I missed you too much... You mean..." Tayomi had a sudden thought. "You didn't... miss me?"

"No..." Hitsugaya leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Of course I missed you. But you had to take time off to visit me, didn't you?"

"It's alright." Tayomi blushed, well-aware that her cheeks were burning up at that instant. "I finished up most of the paper work over the weekend anyway!"

"Even so, you didn't have to get me anything..." He glanced at the flowers and the stuffed toy.

"I'm not even done yet. I've yet to give you my third present."

"What is it?"

"This."

Tayomi leaned forward and ran her hand from his neck down his chest, as she kissed him passionately on the lips. They drew back slowly, unable to stop smiling. They had not seen each other for two weeks and being apart proved to be very difficult for them. Hitsugaya pulled her closer towards him and locked lips with her again, knowing that they had been apart for too long and that he had missed her dearly. Not hearing her girly laughter and seeing her adorable face was akin to torturing him. Tayomi looked down and blushed as they drew back again and he tucked a strand of her dark black hair behind her ear. He interlocked his fingers with hers, their shiny silver rings touching each others. Hitsugaya smiled as he looked at the ring, happy to know that she had kept the ring on all this time.

"You didn't think I would take it off, did you?" Tayomi smiled.

"I'm glad you kept it on..." He blushed.

"I wouldn't ever take it off. I haven't taken off the bracelet you gave to me as a birthday present back in school either."

Tayomi scratched her head, still blushing madly. She felt slightly awkward, treating him after such a long time. All of a sudden, she remembered that Unohana had previously informed her that Hitsugaya had attempted to train even though he was still injured, and ended up injuring himself again. She sighed and shook her head, half smiling at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya glanced at her with a puzzled look on his face, before she burst out giggling. She told him exactly what Unohana had told her, causing him to look down at his hands and blush. Smiling, she asked him where it was and he pointed to his back. Tayomi's face turned red instantly as she watched him remove his shirt. RESIS RESIST RESIST! She tried not to stare, since it was rather rude, but it was hard to turn her eyes away from him. Though she had been in the same situation at least thrice before, she still felt rather awkward. She could feel her heart thumping loudly in her chest and her cheeks burn up. It was undeniable that he was extremely good-looking, even though he fiercely denied it. Climbing onto the bed and sitting behind him, a pale green light appeared over his wound and she focused all her attention onto it, instead of the fact that Hitsugaya was shirtless. Once she was done, she hopped off his bed and helped him put his shirt back on. Hitsugaya hesitated, wanting to thank her. Instead, he pulled her in towards him and ended up hugging her. He could feel her resting on his shoulder and smiled.

Suddenly, he let go of her abruptly and ran to the bathroom. Tayomi was a little shocked by his sudden action, sensing that something was definitely wrong. She crept near the bathroom door and pressed her ear against it, trying to hear what was going on inside. At once, she knew something was wrong. Choking sounds and gasps for breath were vaguely heard from her position. She wondered if she should barge in and check on him, but that seemed rather inappropriate. Jumping on someone who was in the bathroom was not exactly the most respectful thing to do. But then again, she felt uneasy to leave him there. She had to know what was going on with him. If something had happened to him while she foolishly stood outside, she could never forgive herself. Slowly, she opened the door and peeked in.

Hitsugaya was seen bending over the sink, blood dripping from his mouth. Once he heard the door creak, he cringed. He wished that she did not have to see him in such a state. Just then, he felt another wave of blood come from the back of his throat and choked, spitting the blood out and watching it run down the sink. Tayomi could feel herself getting emotional. She knew at once that it was a side effect of his treatment. The poison from Ichimaru's blade was being removed from his body in such a painful manner. Hitsugaya violently wiped away the blood stain on his mouth, hoping that it was over. Unfortunately, it was not as his body lunged forward, while he spewed out a whole gush of blood from his mouth. He knew that she was watching him. He knew that she was already crumbling, breaking and bleeding inside. He detested the fact that she had to see it all and watch the side effects of the treatment take place before her eyes. He had hoped to be able to hide it from her forever, but in the end, she still found out and saw it for herself. Tayomi could feel tears rushing up to her eyes as he washed the blood stain on his mouth and looked up at her. Hitsugaya ran up for her immediately and held her in his arms, as she cried. She hated watching him in pain, especially if it was because of her.

"Susu-chan... I'm sorry..." She sobbed. "I wish I could have taken the poison from you and be the one in pain instead..."

"It's alright... It'll be gone sooner or later anyway." He sighed, stroking her long black hair. "I'm perfectly fine with it. I'm the one in pain, not you, and that's what's important."

Tayomi shook her head and tightened her grip around his waist.

"Idiot..."

"Let's go for a walk, alright?" He tried to smile and steer her attention away from the whole blood-spitting incident.

Tayomi nodded her head slowly. Hitsugaya sighed and put his arm around her, walking out of his ward together.

The sun was about to set and formed a beautiful gradient, fading form bright orange to a pale purple shade. The sun sank into the horizon and the sky was clear, without a single white cloud in sight. Hitsugaya climbed onto the roof of the 4th Division's barracks with ease, later turning back to pull Tayomi up. She had always been horrible in climbing up onto objects. Tayomi blushed, feeling remorseful that Hitsugaya still had to help her up, even though he was injured and the poison was still more or less in his system. Climbing up beside him, she rested her head on his shoulder and let him kiss her forehead gently. The atmosphere was peaceful and tranquil up there, as they watched the Shinigami hurry about on their errands around the Gotei 13 headquarters.

"We have to get off in half an hour's time, right?" Tayomi asked.

"Yeah. Sou-Taicho's coming by and he doesn't exactly approve of public displays of affection, or inter-division romances for that matter." Hitsugaya replied coldly.

"Do you think he knows about us..?"

"No. He doesn't even know how to use SpiritBook, so there's no way he knows. Besides, the other Captains and Shinigami know that it's best not to let him know."

"What do you think he'll do... If he ever found out?" She started to feel a slight panic in her heart.

"I don't know. He wouldn't demote us, because we're still in the midst of our battle against Aizen and every Captain is a top priority right now."

"You know what? Maybe I don't want to know what he'd do to us if he ever found out..."

"Same here."

Tayomi wound her arm around his and sighed. It was a rare moment for them to sit on the roof and not have to worry about anything that was going on in the world below. That rare moment of peace hardly came by ever since Aizen appeared and wrecked havoc all over the place. She had a strange feeling that she would be clashing with Ichimaru soon and that she would have to go all out on him. Clearing her mind of all thoughts, she looked up at Hitsugaya and smiled, as he looked out at the sky, smiling.

Author's Note:
YAY :D Reunion! They finally get a moment together, in peace without disruptions.
As expected, Tayomi will be clashing with Ichimaru in the next chapter. She's gonna go all out on him, determined to defeat him. She also has much to say to him anyways XD
Stay tuned for the next chapter! ^.^
I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review!Thanks! :D