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rays-of-fire-and-ice · 1 year ago

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Happy 7th blog anniversary! As a celebration could I request something featuring Hitsuhina during the early days of their relationship, when they first started dating? Could be either a fic or headcanons, I'll leave the choice to you! Thank you in advance and also thank you so much for keeping this community alive with your posts, keep up the great work! 🫶

So I was hoping to make this a whole fic, but in the end, this will be a combination of fic snippets and headcanons. These all pertain to the early stages of their dating, so I’m think the first six or so months. I’m sorry if this a bit strange anon (and for how late this is!!), I hope you enjoy it though! ^^;

They finally get together in their late teens or early young adult years. Momo is the first to confess, tired of constantly feeling flustered around him and keeping her feelings unsaid. It wasn’t done on any special occasion, but it wasn’t spur of the moment either. They had been spending a break together, and Momo got to thinking about the future. She knows Toshiro won’t live as long as he’s meant to, but even so, she wants to be by his side, whether that's as a friend or as a partner.

They plan to keep it quiet, but it doesn’t take long for word to spread, and the whole Seireitei more or less does a collective ‘Finally!’ when find out.

In the early days, neither can really believe the other likes them, Toshiro in particular. He’s had feelings for Momo for years, but because of what happened in the past and with her being a sunny, extroverted person, he thought she’d end up with someone more like herself and far removed from all the events that happened with Aizen.

He’s also clueless about dating and love. He knows Momo, but how does he ‘date’ her? How does he show how he feels makes sure she feels appreciated and loved? He also finds the whole experience at first a little overwhelming, not used to the emotions he’s experiencing and how he goes about expressing them. He has to discover a part of himself he’s never developed or looked into before.

Momo has an easier time; she’s had crushes before and has better social skills. There is an adjustment period for her though, as she gets to used to being able to be affection with Toshiro beyond what they did when they were platonic. However, there are also gestures she sees in a new light, like when she holds his hand. She takes note of things she never noticed before (like how calloused his palms are), and can’t help but blush seeing their hands together:

It’s strange how a gesture one so familiar can take on a different meaning. Momo had discovered this in the last few weeks, and she's still not sure what to do with this new information.

Once she would've thought of nothing to be next to Toshiro, bumping his shoulder or holding his hand to lead him to something. Now her heart races when she reaches for his hand, and she has withhold a gasp when he shuffles closer to her. Sometimes, even glances got to her, making her duck her gaze away form his. He's also had deep gaze, one that could piercing one minute, then soft the next. It was like watching ice melt, turning from icicles into calm seas. Those were the gazes she couldn't look away form now, and they only made her want to lean in closer.

There’s a lot of baked goods. Momo shows her affection for Toshiro through making various sweets and desserts, usually his favourites. She’ll come back the division with a box or a bag of sweets for him, trying to encourage him to take a break. He of course appreciates it every time, and thinks of how he can repay her back despite her insistence he doesn’t have to. As the months go on though, Momo does slow this down, but worries Toshiro will have grown accustomed to her making things for him. He’s okay with it though, btu does tease her about it when she first tells him she can’t make as much baked goods for him as she used to. (“You’re going let me starve then?” “…You know I won’t.”)

Toshiro asks Rangiku for help with gifts at first. He gets Momo various sweets and small stationary items, like new ink brushes, and a pen set she eyed on one of their dates. He thinks practical gits are best as she can use them in her everyday life (and maybe think of him as she does), but he does his usual with his ice sculptures as well on special occasions, making her ice roses and other flowers. He once made a bouquet and brought it to one of their dates.

There’s also the issue of work getting in the way. Both are hard workers who take on a lot for their division's workload. It comes down to Shinji and Rangiku encouraging them to leave work on time and to take longer breaks to make sure they can see each other.

They’re actually surprised at what they each learn about the other. They think they know each other, but in a relationship, they discover things they hadn’t realised or seen before about the other.

For instance, PDA. Toshiro always knew Momo was physically affection with friends, but in a romantic relationship, she’s even more affectionate. She holds his arm or hand without hesitation, often reaching for it while they’re walking about or reaches across the table at any restaurant they’re at. She also kisses his cheek and hugs him quite often. He unintentionally shirks away from her physical touches in public, and his embarrassment and discomfort shows. Momo expected this, but is still a little hurt when it happens. She therefore tries to restrain herself, but Toshiro notices:

“Ah there you are!”

Toshiro raises his head, and he can’t help but smile a little when Momo rushes through the crowds towards him. He’s surprised he even heard her over the crowd at all. However, as he’d discovered, love gave one odd abilities, such as being able to focus in on their partner's voice when there were hundreds around them.

“Took you long enough,” he teases when she finally reaches him.

“Just had some reports I couldn’t ignore. Let’s go…” She’d reached her hand out, but it freezes midair. She’s quick to raise it to brush a lock of her over her shoulder. “Let’s go before anyone else gets there.”

They make their way to the izakaya, her focus on the path and people in front of them, but Toshiro frowns at her. The way her smile had briefly faltered hadn’t gone unnoticed either. She’s holding herself back for him. She wants him to be comfortable. And what had he done to deserve it?

He recalls the way he’d recoiled last time she’d tried to wrap her hands around his arm. Even after explaining why he didn’t like it, he could see it still hurt her.

Every fiber in him protested at the idea forming in his mind, but his heart ached to see her like this. He knew relationships have compromises, but not ones like this. This cannot stand.

So, fighting against his discomfort, he comes to a stop before they enter an alleyway. “Hinamori.”

She halts, frowning as she turns to him. “Is something wrong?”

He forces his hand out. “Here. It’s, uh…” He’s never like this, lost or stumbling for words. “I-It’s about to get more crowded.”

It’s perhaps the most surprised he’s ever seen her. She stares at his hand as if it had grown a sixth finger. Then, her gaze softens, and a faint blush colours her cheeks. “Are you sure?”

He gives a firm nod.

She hesitates, but then reaches for his hand. He goes rigid and squeezes her hand back a little too tightly. They only get ten steps before Momo speaks up.

“We don’t have to do this,” she reassures.

“It’s fine,” he grinds out from between his teeth. His face is as red as a tomato, and his gaze is on the ground.

Around them, some Souls stare, but as soon Momo meet their gazes, they’re quick to bow their heads or pretend to be distracted by something.

Why did this have to be so hard for him? It’s a simple gesture, one he’d done with her hundred of times. She’d usually be the one to initiate it, but there were times he did, and he’d done so without much thought. Why had it changed so much now that they are together? Shouldn’t he enjoy something like this now more than ever?

Momo rests her free hand over his. “It’s okay. This isn’t that important anyway.”

“It is though, to you.”

“Not as important as how comfortable you feel.”

Again she puts him first. With a sigh, he looks down at their hands, one of hers enfolded with his, the other resting on top. Her hands had become smaller compared to his over the years. Despite all of the battles, hers somehow remained finely boned and delicate. The pinks of her nails are bright, as is the red in her knuckles. There’s a faint scar on the back of her pointer finger, reaching the second knuckle; it's the first time he's noticed it.

Somehow, observing her hands calms him. His heart still races, and there’s still a part of him willing him to pull his hand away, but it’s not as bad as before. Why did this have to be so hard for him? Was he really that afraid of showing others how he feels about her? Was he afraid showing her?

He lifts their hands in the space between them. “If this makes you happy, I want you to do things like this.”

“But you’re not –”

“Be selfish for once, Hinamori.” More gently, he says, “Besides, I’m already happy.”

Her eyes brighten and she smiles with a small gasp. She squeezes his hand, and it sends the smallest pulse up his arm and straight to his chest. It makes him smile in return.

It’s a different story behind closed doors, and this surprises Momo quite a bit. She always knew Toshiro was more expressive when he's around people he's close but, she noticed he'd opened up more since the end of the war against the Quincy. She never expected him to be as affectionate as he is in a relationship when it's just the two of them. Toshiro is hesitant to show it at first, but after a month or so, he starts putting his hand over hers while they’re sitting together alone. Eventually, he hugs her without prompting and resting his head on her shoulder when he’s tired.

He won't ever admit it aloud, but now that he's taller, he takes a small bit of joy and pride in being able to hug her from behind and rest his chin on her head, much to Momo's chagrin...and also joy.

They also discover they don't have any hobbies in common anymore. Momo went on to reading and baking after she left the Academy, while Toshiro discarded most of his hobbies to focus on training and running his division. While each are happy to listen to the other ramble on about their interests and hobbies, they still feel like something is missing.

On one date, Toshiro asks Momo for book suggestions. She's never known him to be a reader, but complies and brings a few books on the next date. They spend that date reading together, but as she discovers, Toshiro is one to criticise the characters and plot aloud as he's reading ("Why would he do that? It makes no sense to investigate Yuki when there's clear evidence against Naru." "Cars don't work that way, Kurosaki said as much." "This is clearly a contrivance. How did they get from the station to the warehouse in less than three minutes? And why would he lead Naru there without Ichiro or backup?" "...What is a 'maid cafe'?").

On the bright side, Toshiro does get an interest in reading (his favorite genre is mystery and crime) and Momo does enjoy their discussions about the books after he's read them. He also learns what her favorite kind of stories are and keeps an eye out for books that she might be interested in.

There's also the texting. Momo was on the texting scene long before Toshiro, using her denreishinki to message all of her friends out of the work hours. It takes quite a bit of convincing, but Toshiro eventually agrees to do the same with her. However, his texts are...:

Momo: Hey Shiro-chan! ヾ(•ω•`)o Toshiro: It's Captain Hitsugaya. Also, you missed a ','. Momo: You don't have to grammatically correct in text, Shiro-chan. Momo: How was your day? Toshiro: It's CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA, Hinamori. My day was fine. What about you? Toshiro: Also, I didn't mean those capitals because I was angry, just emphasizing the point. Momo: I know (❁´◡`❁) My day was great! I found the fourth volume of the Crimson Chrysanthemum saga while I was on my break!! ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ Momo: Also, Captain Hirako and I got all of our paperwork done before the end of the week ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ He's got this new CD from the World of the Living and I think it helped me focus. Toshiro: That's good. I'm glad you found that book, I knew it was important to you. Momo: What did you do today? Toshiro: Mostly reviewing reports. In my break, I started work on a new sculpture. Momo: (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) Toshiro: I wasn't done. Momo: Sorry!! m(_ _)m It's just you didn't text for a while after your last message. Toshiro: There's a time limit? Momo: Not really, but there's an assumption that if you don't message after a certain time period it means you're waiting for the person to respond or you've left the phone. Toshiro: What's the time period? Momo:...It depends?? Toshiro: Why are there so many vague rules around this?! Momo: You'll get it in no time (✿◠‿◠) Tell me more about your day!

As a side note, she has him saved under 'Shiro' and has a picture of a❄️for his caller ID (until he makes her the ice roses and then she has a picture of that for him). He has her saved under 'Hinamori Momo' and has a picture she took as a selfie on his phone...which Rangiku put there because she was outraged that he didn't have a picture of his girlfriend as her caller ID picture.

When he does get his texting game better (sadly this won't happen until after the early days of their dating), he also becomes more open with his feelings over text (also the denreishinki update their emojis catalogue to include more...but Momo is prefers the Kaomojis with occasional new emjoy thrown in):

Momo: Thank you again for last night, I had a lot of fun!! (* ^ ω ^) 💕 We need to go to that ramen restaurant again! Toshiro: Me too. Toshiro: *attaches a picture they took together on their date* I really like this picture. Momo: You look so handsome! That scarf really suits you (´• ω •`) ♡ Toshiro: *several minutes later after getting over her compliment* Thank you🙂. Momo:（　ﾟ Дﾟ）Did you just use a '🙂'?! Toshiro: It's right there, dummy.

It takes him a while to use '❤️' and '💕' but he gets there.

Their dates are nothing extravagant, and neither wants to make a fuss. Toshio does worry if Momo wants more though based on Rangiku and others tell him about romance, but she reassures him that being with him doing things together with him is enough.

Their dates are mostly in the higher districts of the Rukongai, going to various restaurants, visiting local attractions, going to festivals when they’re on, and sometimes just walking through the forests and mountains. For the latter, Momo sometimes brings a picnic basket with her. A lot of their dates happen at around sunset, perhaps deliberately so…

They try to go to a different place each time, but discover they have a few places they like to revisit: there's a restaurant in the first district, a town in the World of the Living they make short visits to (and often say they want to go on a longer stay sometime), and a spot in the mountains which has a beautiful view of the Soul Society.

They try (and fail) to keep work out of their conversations while on dates. It worries Momo at first, as she thinks that might be all they have in common aside from their shared past.

Eventually, they open up more about their thoughts about random things, like what they think about a certain idea or philosophy, an event that's recently happened, or an idea for what they can do together. These conversations can get pretty deep.

In terms of verbal affection, it takes them both a while to use it openly. It comes easier to Momo, but she still struggles with it because she's had feelings for Toshiro for a while and doesn't completely know how to put it into words. She also worries she might come across as overly affectionate or saccharine.

Little does she know Toshiro lives for her verbal affection. If she says he looks handsome or that he did something sweet or that she likes him, it makes his days all the more better - some say he even 'glows'.

Toshiro is better with verbal affection than physical in public, but tends to keep his voice low when he expresses himself. He struggles to find the words sometimes, but other times, he knows exactly what to say. When Momo's reaction is particularly cute to him, he will also include a teasing comment or say something else to make her more flustered or surprised. A small pat of him takes a bit of pride that he can make her react like this...but he also knows she is capable of doing the same.

Their first kiss happens after their fourth date, which is a few months down the track. It's while they're walking through the mountains. Something about the way the light hit Momo just made Toshiro lean forward. He stops when she's surprised, and thinks he's made a bad move. However, she's quick to assure him by leaning forward and plant one on him (no pun intended). It's not a perfect kiss, but it's enough for them.

They don't kiss too often, and it's almost always behind closed doors. They don't feel the need to express their affection in that way, but gradually, they start to kiss more and more oftne after the early stages of their relationship.

Momo soon discovers just the depth of Toshiro's feelings through moments she intends to be lighthearted but he takes seriously:

"I'd do it."

Momo looks up from her book. Her grins falters with Toshiro suddenly so close. "Huh?"

"If that's what you wanted, I'd do it," he says, as if it clarified everything.

She lowers the book into her lap, and the light-hearted air she'd been ensconced in vanishes. As she takes in Toshiro's face, Momo is once again confronted with the notion that she truly doesn't know the extent of his feelings for her.

He says he's felt for her for decades, but just how many? Since the end of the Quincy war? Since they became Shinigami? Since they were children? The way he looks at her in moments like this, it's as if she were staring out into the ocean.

With heat rushing up to her cheeks, she asks, "You'd really do that if I ask you to?"

He nods, determined. She could almost see the logistics he was planning in his head to make her wishes a reality.

She can't help but chuckle. He'd once again taken something she meant rhetorically or without much thought so seriously; it shouldn't surprise her, but sometimes it still does.

He glances away, perhaps discouraged by her reaction. She's quick to put him at ease, raising a hand to cup the underside of his jaw. She smiles and holds his gaze, letting him search her eyes to see she appreciates the sentiment.

Several heartbeats later, she leans forward and puts her lips over his in a slow, prolonged kiss. He's quick to respond, following her lead. It's only the fifth time they've kissed, but it's nowhere near as awkward as the first.

She shifts to be even closer to him, and the book - and the silly romantic scenario she had derived from it - tumble to the floor, completely forgotten.

And that's it! Hope you all enjoyed these! :D

#hitsuhina #toshiro hitsugaya #momo hinamori #bleach #blog anniversary requests #fanfiction #fluff and sappiness #absolute overload of it here if you ask me XD #headcanon #for the texts I ended up trying to research Japanese texting culture #it was a whole rabbit hole and I still don't think I captured it accurately #any native speakers or those familiar with texting culture in Japan please let me know if anything was impolite or incorrect

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