#I love you 5th division ..aizen you’re on thin ice

[lemonadethefifthart]

A Story of Snow and Peaches Chapter 4

Hitsuhina Week 2017

Day 5 - Vow

Author’s Note: This is gonna involve a lot of timeskips. Also, it’s pretty long. Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!

“Look, Shiro-chan! They’ve bloomed!” Hinamori pointed at the cluster of trees whose limbs were thickly covered with pale pink flowers. Unable to contain her excitement, she dashed ahead, stretched out her arms and spun around under the branches. She laughed as the delicate petals rained down on her face, arms, and hands. 

“Geez, you’re such a kid,” muttered her friend. She didn’t seem to hear him because she didn’t stop dancing under the trees’ outstretched boughs that showered her with blossoms. Stretched across her rosy face was a blindingly bright smile...a beautiful smile.

Heat crept up Toshiro’s cheeks as he wondered about the foreign feeling he was experiencing. His granny was waiting for them back home, but she let her carry on with her silly dance. Because silently, secretly, he loved seeing her happy like this. Maybe the snowy-haired boy felt this way because he saw her crying while granny treated her dislocated shoulder a month ago. Or maybe it was because yet another group of kids were acting hostile to her for hanging out with him.

But whatever the reason, Toshiro wanted her to stay like this - happy and smiling and carefree. 

The young boy looked up when he heard the sound of footsteps walking towards his house. It’s been a year since Hinamori left for the Shinigami Academy, but she still came to visit him and his grandmother every week. No matter how grumpy he was sometimes, no matter how many watermelon seeds he spat at her, no matter how tired she was from her training...she still kept coming back.

And he was glad about that. When she announced that she was leaving, he knew that he’d miss ol’ Bedwetter Momo. Just a tiny bit. Not that I’ll ever admit it, he huffed internally. Besides, he still remembered the fire he saw burning in her eyes the day she stood up for him. He knew she’d make a brilliant shinigami. So why stop her from going by showing that he would miss her?

“You’ve grown taller, Hinamori-chan,” remarked their granny. “Did I,” she said, “or is it just that Shiro-chan grew shorter?” Those were the kinds of jokes the three of them shared on her days off. They’d spend the mornings helping their granny with work, then spend the afternoons eating watermelon or walking around the village. At the end of the day, the three of them would exchange stories. 

Hinamori always entertained them with stories about her friends and their misadventures. “A few days ago, we got attacked by real hollows!” she exclaimed, waving her arms dramatically. Their granny gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Don’t worry! Luckily, Aizen-san and Gin-san saved us just in time,” the petite brunette said before gazing off into the distance, reminiscing about the incident. Toshiro frowned. His granny breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, it was time for the young shinigami-in-training to leave. With a cheerful wave, she headed back to the Academy. But even after she disappeared from sight, the white-haired boy remained out on the porch. In his startlingly blue-green eyes was a knowing look, tinged every so slightly with sombreness. He’d noticed how Hinamori’s cinammon eyes shone with admiration and longing as they stared off to a certain moment in the past. That certain moment being, of course, Aizen and Gin coming to save her and her friends.

Hinamori still came to visit every week. But Toshiro wasn’t surprised when the number of hours she spent with them grew smaller and smaller.

The bully cowered on the ground. A fierce look blazed in his opponent’s icy eyes. “If you hurt Hinamori again, I’ll make sure you regret it,” the snowy-haired boy said. His anger was only quenched when the brunette put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go,” her warm voice said. Only then did he leave the bully alone.

He jumped when he felt her hand slip into his. “Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun,” she said. She kept her promise to call me by my actual name, he realised (albeit after he made that bully pretty much wet his pants). Smirking, he replied, “No problem, Bedwetter Momo.” While Hinamori was busy trying to defend her dignity, Toshiro silently made a promise. I’ll keep doing what I just did. I’ll protect Hinamori just like she protected me.

“AIZEN-TAICHOU!” the lieutenant’s scream tore out of her body. Something in her chestnut eyes seemed to shatter when she saw her captain’s body pinned to the side of a building, the long red trail a stark contrast to the white wall. The rage, shock, grief, and anguish in her face as she recklessly fought Kira was clear. And so was the rancour in the youngest captain’s voice after they took the two lieutenants away. “If you make Hinamori shed even a drop of blood, I’ll kill you,” he threatened. No, it wasn’t a threat, not quite. It was more of a promise.

His stoic eyes widened when Yamamoto moved aside to reveal a very familiar brunette behind him. 

“Hinamori!” 

Even though she was behind a screen, he and Rangiku could see the dark bags under her eyes and the fact that she’d grow so thin that her wrist bones showed. The watery smile plastered on her face was just a ghost of her usual buoyant expression.

“I’m sorry, Hitsugaya-kun. I should’ve believed in you more...I don’t know what got into me,” she said. Although his childhood friend’s attempt to kill him had unnerved him, seeing her like this upset him more. “It doesn’t bother me,” said Toshiro, “so you should just forget it. Also, you should get more sleep. You still look like a kid. I mean, look at Rangiku.” Flustered, she shot back immediately, “You’re one to talk, Hitsugaya-kun! And Rangiku-san is a unique example!” There. That was more like the Hinamori they all knew.

“Hinamori! How many times do I have to tell you?” She froze when she head the scolding tone in his voice. But when he looked up to face her, his blue-green eyes had melted, and he was smiling. Rather uncharacteristic for the stolid young captain.

“It’s not Hitsugaya-kun. It’s Hitsugaya-taichou.”

But the happy moment between the two quickly gave way when Hinamori pleaded with him not to kill her beloved Aizen-taichou. Her mind still couldn’t wrap around the recent events of his betrayal. Toshiro clenched his fist, his eyes turning to steel. He would make Aizen pay for what he did. He’d make sure that no one would ever hurt Hinamori like that again.

Toshiro was pushing his sword against Harribel’s when he sensed the familiar reiatsu. Rangiku gasped when Hinamori emerged, her zanpakutou smoking from the fireball she’d thrown at Apacci. 

“Don’t worry, Rangiku-san. I’m wearing my lieutenant’s badge to show that those in the 5th division are subordinate to me. That is why I’m here to fight Aizen-taichou, who is an enemy of Soul Society,” said Hinamori, smiling reassuringly. 

Harribel’s sword clashed against Toshiro’s again. “Your reiatsu just spiked a while ago. I wonder what could’ve caused that,” said Harribel. I have to focus on this battle...but Hinamori... But he’d seen the soft fire burning in her eyes as she faced the Fraccion. And so he decided to have faith in his childhood friend, put aside his worry for her and concentrate on defeating his opponent. 

“How careless of you to leave a shadow on the ice,” said Kyoraku as he rose up from the shadows behind her. “What...” began Hinamori. What was happening? Her whole body was wracked with pain from Ayon’s attack, which had broken pretty much every bone in her body. Just a second ago, she was lying on the ground with the other injured shinigami. Now, the captains were...fighting her? A snide smile was stretched across Hirako’s face. Soi-fon was facing her, ready to attack. 

“It’s over,” she faintly heard his familiar voice just before a sword impaled her through the chest. Her whole body erupted in pain, just like the time Aizen stabbed her. But even that pain couldn’t compare to how she felt when she realised that it was none other than her childhood friend who had stabbed her.

Why is he glaring at me like that? With so much hatred? She’d never seen him look at her like that. But the rage in his eyes were definitely directed at her. 

Why?

Her vision drowned in a pool of black, but she still fought to stay awake. Her dimmed senses grasped for information about her surroundings. The captains yelling Aizen’s name in anger.

Why?

She felt the sword being removed from her chest before a pair of arms picked her up gently. Finally, she broke the surface of the black pool. A captain’s haori, a shock of snowy hair, and a pair of horrified blue-green eyes swam into view. 

“Shiro-chan...why?” her broken voice reached out to her childhood friend. Just as she heard the scream rip out of his body, the black pool dragged her under again.

He’d broken his promise.