He'd never left. She was still trying to wrap her mind around seeing him again after so many years but now, knowing he'd been so close every time she'd been home triggered a string of what ifs that frustrated her to no end. Las Spring, she and the others had been home for break and they had all gone out for one last bit of fun before the crunch period started. Renji had dragged them to last least four different bars before she tapped out with Rukia and had gone home. Maybe if she had stared they would have ended up at the Ice Ring. Maybe if Tobiume didn't have such fun themed nights she would have explored some of the other bars. Maybe if she'd left college sooner, or hadn't gone on that trip to Spain. Momo groaned and shook her head as she made it home.

Most of the lights were already off save for the kitchen light. The kitchen attached to the small porch out back that overlooked the small garden. Unohana was sitting on the porch enjoying her usual evening tea under the glow of the full moon. The woman gave her a small smile, acknowledging her presence. She had the uncanny ability to always be able to tell when something was wrong. Patting the spot next to her, Momo sighed and sat down with the tea kettle between them. Unohana poured her a cup. Momo knew that she often preferred her solitude at night, she always brought a second cup, a small gesture that let Momo know she was always welcome. Momo took a long sip of the warm drink, sighing and looking up at the moon.

"Something happen?" Unohana asked.

Momo held the tea in her lap, looking down into the cup, counting speckled dots patterning the bottom. "I saw Toshiro," She said quietly. She felt Unohana's eyes on her.

"I see…"

Unohana sounded entirely unsurprised. Momo's grip on the cup tightened, "Did… did you know?" The tone made her wonder if she had perhaps known where he'd been all these years and had kept it from her.

The older woman returned her eyes to the sky. "No," She said. "Naturally, I worried. But I figured he wouldn't go very far," She said. "He'd never leave his grandmother alone. And she certainly wouldn't want to move to another part of the country."

Toshiro's grandmother had been born and raised here. Seen this town at its best and worst during the war and was adamant that this was the only place she could ever call home. Even in the imaginary futures Momo and Toshiro would think of, Granny had always insisted that she was fine right where she was. No need to move her. Just a promise that the two of them would at least come and visit so she wouldn't get lonely. She could be stubborn like that and along with the old woman's dry humor, it always made Momo laugh.

"I wish you had told me that when I was still in school," Momo sighed. She wouldn't have gone to university as far away as Kyoto and she would have looked more thoroughly in places she otherwise wouldn't have thought to look.

Unohana shook her head, "It wouldn't have made a difference," She said. "He didn't want to be found. And he was your best friend. I'm certain that he didn't want you to put your life on hold for him."

Momo finished her tea and put the cup down on the porch and moved to stand up. Unohana reached and lightly touched her hand, her fingers warm from the tea. "Be mindful of your expectations when you see him again," She said. "Time can be cruel even to those who least deserve it."

Her words sounded a little cryptic, but that was not entirely unusual for Unohana. While generally kind, there was a side of her that was Machiavellian in nature.

Momo nodded, and bid her goodnight before heading up to her room. She flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. She kept replaying the event over and over in her mind, in part just to convince herself that it wasn't a dream, but also searching for some clue as to what happened all those years ago. Toshiro had always been good at hiding what he is feeling from the world but there had been a time when she could at the very least tell when something was off with him. Turning her head, she looked at the photograph of the two of them. He'd always been a bit of a grouch but at least when they were growing up she knew that she could always find a way to make him smile. And he had smiled a little bit tonight but there were lingering traces of… something else she couldn't really discern.

Momo shook her head, and pulled out her phone, and opened her social media profile. Pinned at the top was the post Toshiro had made when he'd hacked her. It had a couple likes and Renji had made one of his joking comments about fruity cocktails being weak, while Rukia was more interested in making plans to go there with her after the fall term ends. Momo smiled, liking the comments then looking at who else had liked the post. She had hoped that maybe Toshiro had since he clearly knew she still used the account but other than a few friends from Kyoto, nothing. Unohana was right about one thing; he knew exactly how to stay hidden when he wanted to. It explained his lack of presence on social media and his disconnected phone number. She hoped that maybe that would change now that she knew where he was.

Sleep had been elusive last night. Between finishing up the late shift at the bar, dragging Matsumoto back to his place, and staying up an extra few hours to work on the SQL project for his statistical analysis course, Toshiro was physically exhausted but his mind was wide awake. Seeing Hinamori again after all these years had been unexpected. After she graduated and moved on to university in Kyoto, he'd figured he would never see her again. She would build a life for herself and eventually forget him entirely if she hadn't already. A perfect scenario that allowed him a clean break without all the mess of explaining or coming up with petty arguments to make people hate him. He had taken all the necessary measures to completely disappear and it had all worked out to his benefit up until last night.

Toshiro glanced at his clock on the side table. There was still about three hours until the alarm went off but he knew that any amount of sleep he'd get before he had to get up was only going to make him too groggy to pay attention in class. Turning off the alarm he headed for the shower. The water never stayed hot for long, but that had never bothered Toshiro much. He preferred cool showers to wake him up and give him a cold dose of reality in the mornings. He used the momentary peace to run through the next two days. He had class this morning, and he'd visit Granny as he usually did before work. He had the late afternoon shift so the bar wasn't going to be crowded like it was during the night shifts. Fewer tips, but more time at night to work on his assignments.

He splashed water over his face as the temperature dipped slightly. He had mixed feelings about tomorrow. No class in the morning meant he could actually sleep in a little and maybe get ahead in the assigned reading and practice some of the exercises in the book for once. The time he normally spent with Granny in the afternoon wasn't happening tomorrow since she had a doctor's appointment. In the early days when it became evident that something was wrong, Toshiro had gone to every appointment with a list of questions and concerns to address. He had taken rigorous notes on the medications and recommendations the doctor advised and had spent hours conducting his own research. Nothing he did helped and it only caused him more stress that he took out on everyone around him. Now, he didn't even bother going to all the appointments. There wasn't anything new any doctor could tell him that he didn't already know. In addition, if there were any new concerns, they'd be well noted in the doctor's notes he received after every appointment via email.

With Granny unavailable, he had the rare afternoon free. Normally, this was a good time to spend taking an extra shift at work or studying but instead he was using it to see Hinamori. Toshiro braced his arm against the shower wall, turning the tap onto the coldest setting and letting the ice cold water pour over his head. What had he been thinking last night? It would be a lie to say he wasn't glad to see her. But to meet up with her again? Foolish. Utterly foolish. He knew exactly the kinds of questions she wanted him to answer and he knew exactly the kind of pity he'd receive. He didn't need that. Not from her. It was why he never confided those problems with her.

Toshiro turned off the shower and shook his head, letting the water drops splash against the shower walls as he went about the rest of his routine, strongly considering not even showing up to the park tomorrow. He wrapped a towel snuggly around his waist, absently scratching at his jaw, realizing he needed to shave today. He pushed Hinamori out of his thoughts for the next few minutes as he went through the familiar routine, knowing that for him it was impossible to formulate solutions with a razor at his throat.

He went through the rest of his morning ignoring the Hinamori problem and instead focusing on the more immediate Matsumoto problem. The woman was still passed out on his couch by the time he was dressed and brewing some coffee. Her soft snores mixed with mumbled words that only made sense if she were dreaming of that weird boyfriend of hers. Standing in front of her, with his hands shoved in his pockets, he kicked the base of the couch to try and wake her.

"Mmm, stop," She mumbled, "Don't stop."

His eye twitched, and he was about to shout to wake her when her eyes slowly opened. Matsumoto groaned and placed a hand on her head, her eyes squinting. Toshiro's frustration ebbed slightly. "Finally awake then?"

Matsumoto sat up and looked at him. "Toshiro? What are you doing in my room?"

"Better look around, idiot. You're in my living room." Rangiku groaned, likely feeling the sensitivity to sound that often accompanies her hangovers. He left her for a moment to go into the kitchen as the coffee machine made the soft beeping sound that signaled the brew was done. He poured two mugs and walked back to where she was hunched over, her hands covering her face.

"And now that you're finally up, get moving. I've got somewhere I need to be," He held out one of the mugs toward her as she made a hushing sound.

"Don't be so loud… it's too early."

Toshiro rolled his eyes. "Maybe for you. But this is when normal people start the day. Get up. I don't want to be late."

Rangiku took the mug and sipped at the coffee, cringing. "You really need to get a better machine," She said. "This stuff is really bad."

"Shut up."

Toshiro had been smart to wake her up when he had. She liked to take her sweet time getting ready all while giving him decorating advice in case he brought a girl home with him someday. He had learned to tune most of it out, scrolling through his phone while nursing his second cup of coffee as he stood leaning on his counter. Normally, he'd find an interesting news article or something to read while giving her the occasional grunt of acknowledgment; but there wasn't anything good to read this morning. His finger hovered over the barely used social media app. Tapping it, he logged into the dummy account he used to use to check up on things. The account didn't have much. A fake name, fake profile picture, a handful of meaningless posts to make it look legit, and was a part of a few groups with about a hundred friends. It had been pretty easy to set up and once the secondary school started group pages for each of the graduating classes, it had been impressively simple to get people he used to know to friend him just because they had gone to the same school, though no one really knew it was him. Hinamori was one of them.

He used to check in on her every now and then to see what she was up to. That was how he found out she attended university in Kyoto. The pictures she posted or was tagged in, the conversations in the comments all painted the picture of the happy life his friend was living. In the early days when he was still coming to terms with the drastic shift his life had taken, looking in on what she was up to gave him a small glimpse into what his life could have been. A life where he only had to worry about schoolwork, where he could go out with annoying friends or take a trip. After awhile the dwelling made him a bit resentful and angry. He stopped checking after that.

Looking at the page now, curiosity got the better of him and he scrolled through until he found her page. The most recent post was the one he had made last night. There was a small thread of comments from her friends and several likes on the image. Hinamori even liked it. Who even likes their own photos? The corner of his lip curled into a small smile. She would for the slim chance he might come across it.

His body was roughly shoved forward, his knee colliding with one of the cabinet handles as a head leaned over his shoulder. "What you looking at?" Toshiro hissed, his knee throbbing as he ducked away from Matsumoto. She gasped, "Did you meet a girl last night?"

"No."

"But you're looking at—"

"—It's none of your business." He sighed, putting the used mugs in the sink and walking over to grab his bag by the door.

"Oh, come on I understand," She followed after him as they finally left the flat and he locked up. "A man can get lonely sometimes."

Toshiro rolled his eyes, ignoring her as he walked towards the bus stop, hoping that the bus was running a little early today so that he could get away from her sooner.