Eyes followed him everywhere he went. It wasn't unusual for him, his white hair and turquoise eyes tended to draw attention whether he wanted it or not. But these days, the stares were more intensely judging him. It was no secret that Toshiro Hitsugaya had been working on mastering his bankai for the past few years. But since Captain Shiba had vanished, and the 10th Division was in need of a captain, he'd begun to consider taking the Captain's Exam to fill that vacancy. Once word got out that he'd take the exam, every soul reaper he'd pass would stare and whisper among one another. He'd learned to ignore most people talking about him but hearing it from within his own division was another thing.

He'd heard a few unranked members talk about transferring if he was made captain. Laughing at how ridiculous it would be for them to take orders from a kid. Fortunately, Lieutenant Matsumoto seemed to be in full support of him should he be made captain. After all, he'd practically been running the whole place since even before Captain Shiba left. His administrative skills were evident since the very beginning. The questions laid mostly in his maturity and leadership. Hitsugaya made it to his room after training after dodging most of the larger streets to avoid the stares. Entering his room, he began his nightly routine of polishing his zanpakuto and planning with the spirit for what to practice tomorrow. "My Sennen Hyoro could use work. The pillars are too thin. I'm sure there is a way to strengthen them without expending too much energy." He said.

In his mind he heard Hyorinmaru rumble in agreement. "You think too much in preparation," The dragon said. "Lay the trap. Then lead the enemy within."

"That leaves too much up for chance."

The dragon spoke quietly in an almost nurturing tone and said, "Not ready."

Hitsugaya caught his reflection in the blade and simply held the sword where it was. Not ready meant too young. And as he looked at himself, he thought that perhaps the dragon is right. Not ready to perfect his bankai. And perhaps even too young to become captain. His face was still boyish and he was quite short even for his age. The idea that he could even achieve bankai wasn't even taken seriously by most. Men in his own division had doubts. Maybe the entire division would be better off waiting for someone else to take over. He'd still be the 3rd seat and that would give him time to grow up and gain further mastery of his bankai.

"Lil' Shiro!" A loud knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts as he looked at the shadow of the figure outside. "Lil' Shiro you in there?"

Hitsugaya groaned, putting his zanpakuto away. "What is it Hinamori?" He asked as he slid open the door.

"Hello to you too, Lil' Shiro," She beamed at him, not even bothered by the annoyed tone of his voice.

"I thought you said you'd call me by my name once I became a soul reaper."

She just smiled and shrugged, "I did. And I do, at least when on official business. But right now, we're both off so, you're Lil' Shiro."

He groaned, realizing he wasn't likely to get her to stop at least not now anyway. "Can you at least drop the 'Lil''? I'm not that short anymore."

Hinamori laughed, "Okay Lil'— I mean, Shiro."

"What do you want anyway?"

"I wanted to know if you'd come with me back to my barracks." Her voice dropped into a whisper as she cupped her hands as though it were some big secret. "We planned a special fireworks show for Captain Aizen's birthday tonight."

"You realize everyone already knows about that, right?"

"Come on it'll be fun. Just like the ones we'd watch as kids." She reached out and grabbed his arm and began tugging.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and debated the option of going versus staying for a solid minute before agreeing. Outwardly, it looked as though he was reluctant to attend. But deep down he knew that his mind had been made up the moment she smiled at him.

Together, the two of them made their way in the direction of the 5th Division. The closer they got, the more people seemed to already be crowding the street waiting for the fireworks. Hinamori had to elbow her way through, dragging him along behind her in order to get to the gate where guards stopped them. With a flash of her lieutenant's badge, she got them both in without any further fuss and they made their way to the roof where a bunch of other officers gathered. They found a relatively quiet part and Hinamori sat down, her feet dangling over the edge while Hitsugaya remained standing.

"Hey I meant to congratulate you on getting a date for your Captain's Exam," She said.

"Hmm."

"When's it going to be?"

"Two weeks."

Hinamori frowned. "I thought you'd be a little excited about it," She said.

He turned his head towards the nearest pair of officers, feeling their eyes on the back of his head. When their eyes met, the pair just laughed and turned in on themselves.

She noticed this silent exchange and stood up. "Hey I'll take care of it."

"Don't," Hitsugaya sighed.

"Hey, you're going to be a captain. I can't have members of my division not be respectful to the other captains."

He was quiet and glanced around to make sure no one could hear him before he spoke again. "What if… what if I don't become captain?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

He shrugged and bowed his head slightly, his shoulders rolled forward a little. "What if… I don't get it? What if I fail?"

Hinamori moved around to step in front of him, looking down at her best friend who was one of the smartest, bravest people she knows show her how nervous he really is. Hitsugaya was not one to show weakness often and for him to do so right now, she had a feeling this had been eating away at him for awhile. "Here, come with me." Taking his arm, she quickly brought him down into the barracks and then into her room shutting the door behind them. "Talk," She said, pushing him to sit down on the futon and taking a seat right next to him.

Hitsugaya was quiet as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on bent knees. "There are some… doubts about my ability to become a captain," He began. "Since Captain Shiba left, I thought I could be the next captain. He'd always say I was bound to be captain after him but… I never thought it'd be this soon."

"He believed in you for a reason, Toshiro," She said. "I'm sure he saw how your determination, intellect, and talents would do great things for the division. And between Shiba and Matsumoto, you've been captain in every capacity but in name."

He scoffed and shook his head, "I don't think I'll become captain with administrative skills alone."

"No, but you have mastered your bankai. That has to say something, right?"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "'Mastered' might be too strong a word," He said. "I can use it for about eight minutes but after that…"

"That's still more than most. I don't even know my bank's name." She wasn't getting through to him. She could see him curling further and further in on himself as his thoughts seemed to snowball. "Is this all because of what a couple people said?"

"A couple?" He scoffed, "Try just about everyone in the Soul Society. I've heard it all from 'turning the 10th into a daycare', to me 'lying about having achieved my bankai'. Even members of my own division don't want me as captain. How am I supposed to lead them, if they don't want me?"

Hinamori scooted closer and wrapped her arms tightly around him like when they were kids. Normally, he'd just push her off and the fact that he didn't spoke volumes to how much weight this exam was putting on him. She wished there was something she could do to get rid of everyones doubt about him because she believed so much in his ability, but she couldn't. "Let's go back to the 10th," She said.

"Huh? But I thought you wanted to see the fireworks."

She waved them off, "They're just fireworks. And this is way more important."

Rather than taking the long way back through roads that were now crowded, the two of them traveled by rooftop using shunpo to get there quickly. Making a quick stop at his quarters, he took his zanpakuto at her instruction before heading to the empty courtyard the division used for training. "What are we doing here?" He asked as she pushed him to stand in the middle of the yard before backing a good distance away and sitting down.

"Practicing your captain's exam, of course," She said.

"Huh?"

"You're going to have three captains and the head captain you'll have to demonstrate it to. So you're going to pretend I'm the captains and show me what you can do."

Hitsugaya's face was vacant as he stared at her almost incredulous at the idea. "Do you even know how the exam works?" He knew of course but had been sworn to secrecy about the exam process.

"Nope. I'm just guessing."

"This is ridiculous—"

"—No it's not!"

"What if someone—"

"No one is here! They're all at the fireworks."

"But what about—"

"—Just show me already, Shiro!"

"Ugh! Fine," He grumbled, drawing his zanpakuto. Looking at her across the yard, he suddenly felt a bit nervous having never shown anyone his bankai before. Taking a deep breath, he looked around to check that there was in fact no one around, before lowering himself into a fighting stance. "Bankai!"

The temperature dropped around them and ice crystalized across the yard as his reiatsu flowed evenly from his body. Ice formed across his shoulder into a pair of wings that spread wide, with a crystal tail at the base of the juncture where the two wings met and his legs and right arm were encased in ice. Hitsugaya stared across to the other end of the yard where Hinamori sat quietly taking it all in with a wide smile.

"Wow, you're amazing, Shiro!" She said, standing and taking a few steps closer before stopping. "Um, can I come closer?"

He nodded and watched her smile broaden before she trotted over to him and circled around him. He felt her eyes on him and for the first time in a while didn't mind the intensity of her stares. Maybe it was because she was one of the only ones to believe in him, or maybe it was just because it was her. Either way, he wouldn't mind if she stared at him like that again.

Coming to stand back in front of him, she reached out and gently touched one of his wings. "It's so cold," she said.

"It's ice, dummy," He said with a roll of his eyes.

"It's so amazing though."

Overhead, the sound of the fireworks beginning drew both their attentions skyward. The bright colors illuminated the sky but from where they were they couldn't see them. An idea popped into his head and he found himself speaking before properly thinking it through. "Um, you know these wings aren't just for show. I actually can fly with them." Hitsugaya felt his cheeks heat with the unspoken suggestion and turned his body sideways to avoid her laughter.

To his surprise, she took a sharp intake of breath and grabbed his shoulders. "We can watch the fireworks from the sky!" She said. Her excitement, too much for him to even consider denying.

Opening his arms, she gladly wrapped her arms about his neck and he held on tight to her before using his wings to thrust them skyward. She screamed at the sudden speed with which he took off and held on tighter before erupting into giggles as he reached a point in the sky where he was level with the fireworks taking place at the 5th. He felt her head lean onto his shoulder as they watched and he felt himself smile. He paid the fireworks little attention, focused only on her, taking in her smile, her relaxed breaths, the small 'ooh's and 'ahh's she'd say after particularly interesting fireworks went off. Time faded into a single moment that he longed to stretch out as long as possible.

After the last of the fireworks had ended, Hitsugaya slowly brought them back to the ground and he released his bankai. "That was amazing, Shiro," Hinamori said, hugging him tightly.

"I'll say."

The two friends broke apart and looked over to the entrance to see Captain Aizen standing there, his gentle smile easing them into a sense of calm.

"Captain Aizen! I thought you'd be at the party." Hinamori said, torn between leaping to his side or staying at her friends side.

Aizen gently raised his hand in a calming gesture that made it clear there was nothing to worry about. "I was for awhile. But then I was wondering where my wonderful lieutenant who planned the whole thing had run off to." He smiled as he walked closer to the two of them. "I wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into this day."

Hinamori beamed under the praise and bowed respectfully to her superior. "It was nothing really. Everyone helped out. We all wanted to show our appreciation for you."

Aizen placed his hand on her head affectionately, "Still, your passion and attention to detail are much appreciated by me personally." He looked over to Hitsugaya and folded his hands in the sleeves of his shihakusho. "3rd Seat Hitsugaya."

"Sir," Hitsugaya bowed stiffly.

"Your bankai looks quite impressive."

"Thank you, sir."

Aizen leaned closer to him, "You know, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'll be one of the captains observing you at the exam." He stood back to his full height. "I look forward to seeing what you can do, future Captain of the 10th Division." With one final nod at the two of them, he took his leave, walking leisurely away from the barracks.

Once he was out of sight, Hinamori grabbed him by the shoulders and squeezed him tightly. "See? Even Captain Aizen thinks you'll do great!" She said, smiling and laughing with joy.

Hitusgaya felt himself smile as he wrapped his arms around her as well. His nerves were still there but the doubts in his head had quieted. He was going to become the captain of the 10th Division. And no matter what anyone says, he'll work hard to prove he is worthy of that title.

AN: I got this idea from a small line in the previous chapter: "She hadn't seen him this nervous since before his Captain's exam"

I wanted to expand on it and ended up with this.