#I love writing more about hitsuhina

[canariie]

For your reblogs milestone requests (congratulations!!) If this pings you, I'd love to see Hitsugaya + Hinamori + CAMPING. Good trip, bad trip, planned, unplanned, business, pleasure... Any kind of camping and any kind of tone!

how to start a fire

Rating: K+

“Hinamori, you’re imagining things—go to sleep.”

“I am not,” she hissed, with a little more bite than intended. She was still bitter about their squabble. “I know there’s something out there.” She turned to her backpack, fumbling around in the dark as she searched for the flashlight. “Did you read the information pack that Hisagi-san had sent? Apparently, this used to be a habitat for bears.”

“Yes, and I read the amended version Ise-fuukutaicho sent—the local bear population has become endangered. The only thing we’re in danger of is losing our sleep,” he grumbled.

…

Momo is sent to train Toushiro in the World of the Living in combination kido.

Word Count: 3670 words

Setting: after the Bleach Anniversary Hell Chapter

Prompt: @hitsuhina-week Gift Exchange 2023 for @whipplefilter

"maybe we didn't argue, but we don't agree"/ "Hitsugaya asks Hinamori to teach him her kidou-weaving"/"HitsuHina from unexpected/outside POVs"

Authour’s Note: This is SO LATE IN ALL THE SENSES. Firstly, because Whipple sent this request in like, summer. And then I was matched with them for the Gift Exchange which I thought I could make! but holidays! & falling sick! (are we really ever as productive as we would like over the holidays??)

(Thank you @rays-of-fire-and-ice for being understanding!)

When I saw the prompts that Whipple sent, I immediately thought of their initial fic request & thought it was such a perfect thing to combine! Unfortunately, I couldn't get in the Hitsuhina from an outside POV but maybe one day in the future!

I had a lot of fun trying to flesh this out and was really happy to go back to writing after so long! However, I believe much like the rest of the fandom, life is going to get busy in the coming months for me and I won't be as active in writing as I would like to :( I hope to still participate in events but it does really inspire me reading everyone's work when I come back to try to write on my own!!

Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2024 is one with happiness and laughter and fun for everyone!!

I hope you all enjoy this!

---

Momo dropped her duffel bag and began to rummage around it, pushing overnight clothes and toiletries aside. “Here’s a clearing: we can proceed here.”

Toushiro looked around skeptically, noting the abandoned fire pits and wooden pavilions in the distance. “Won’t we be disturbing the humans?”

“Soutaicho had reserved the whole camping ground area while the Twelfth Division set up a barrier that would send any human that would walk towards the training facilities, confused but turned around.” She swallowed the gikon pill, feeling her human body leave her as if she were shedding a coat off.

The tenth captain raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t the Kido Corps have facilitated that?”

Momo shrugged, though she admitted she wondered about the ethics of the research division sometimes. “All the training leaders were assured that they wouldn’t be harmed. Nanao-san also reiterated that each cell would be allocated a parcel of the forest—so we don’t have to worry about anyone else while we train.”

With the new frontier of Hell on the line, the Gotei 13 were implementing new training tactics to prepare for the unknown battle. Each division had received a list of candidates for leaders of the cell groups—specific internal training groups to provide targeted instruction on skills soldiers may find lacking. Momo had been selected from the Fifth Division to lead high level kido proficiency, specifically on combination spells. The leaders ranged in rank, from captains to lieutenants and even high ranked seated officers. She had heard later from Matsumoto, Ikkaku had been selected to lead swordsmanship skills, Isane for healing during combat, a fourth seat in the eighth division for defensive spells among many. The cell groups would then be volunteers from across the Gotei 13 that would train with the leaders in World of the Living on a reserved human camping site.

Momo had been flattered (even when her captain had bemoaned jokingly why he hadn’t been picked) but was also left feeling disconcerted at the letter.

A few weeks ago, there was an expedition team sent out earlier to understand the spells and mechanisms that opened Hell’s Doors as well as scope its initial terrain. The list was short and concise with only a few captains and lieutenants selected. Renjii & Rukia were on the list as they had already prior experience in the hellscape. Momo had been keen to go, as she heard her name was nominated by Rukia to help with kido to break down the entrance. However, the day before the mission, her name was taken off the list with a curt note saying that her kido services would no longer be required. During the prior lieutenant’s meeting Renjii looked at her with a regretful glance, squeezing her shoulder sympathetically and she later received an apology Hell Butterfly from the Thirteen Captain before the expedition team left.

Momo had walked back to the Fifth Division in a daze, feeling a bit bereft at the sudden change in plans. The shock must have been evident on her face as her captain immediately took one look at her before bringing her to the couch and placing a warm cup of tea in her hands.

“Hitsugaya-taicho seems to have requested you for your first training session.”

“Why?” Momo asked. She had been reviewing the list of volunteers who wanted to train with her and was surprised at the number of people. If she were to spend time with each one, she would have to remain in the World of the Living for at least a month.

However, she had not seen Toushiro’s name on her initial list—much less expected him to volunteer. The tenth captain was quick on his feet in battle and she never assumed his skills were lacking.

Hirako-taicho shrugged. “Maybe he wants a brush up as well? I know he had gone on the Hell Expedition Team & him and the little Kuchiki realized there was some reworking off spells to be done.”

That got Momo to pause as she was sorting through the files. It had been a couple of weeks since the team had returned from Hell. “Hitsugaya-taicho had joined the expedition?” As far as she knew, he was never a candidate for the expedition, and he hadn’t mentioned anything like that to her.

Her captain stilled, his eyes avoiding her questioning look. “I believe he was the last-minute change…”

“Hirako-taicho—why did Hitsugaya-kun go on the expedition?”

He sighed in quiet exasperation. “I heard from Abarai that Hitsugaya-taicho requested you off the mission,” he said reluctantly. “And when there was no other candidate to go, he volunteered himself.”

“And why would he do that?” she asked quietly, still processing what she had heard.

Hirako shook his head, his bangs falling away from his eyes. “He never brought it up at the captain’s meeting. He went directly to the Soutaicho & the expedition team.”

The news sat with Momo as she prepared her training plan and packed her bags to go the World of the Living. The unease festered inside of her, leaving her with feelings of self-doubt and anxiety. She found herself unable to sleep well and only when she stepped onto the campgrounds and breathed in the fresh air, could she feel the tension loosening in her shoulder.

Momo had an earlier departure time and was preparing the grounds when the Tenth Captain dropped in, much later in the evening when the sky was hedging into dusk. It had been the first time they had seen each other in a long while, and Momo was still feeling unsettled—so introductions were short, and she immediately led him to the training area where she was now beginning a demonstration. If the boy noticed anything unusual, he made no comment and followed suit.

Momo slipped into teaching mode, something she had learned while part-timing at the academy to help compartmentalize her life as a lecturer separate from a lieutenant.

“We’ll start off with one of my prior combination spells in battle: from during the Winter War era when Rangiku-san and I had to fight the three arrancars.” She avoided looking at Toushiro for she knew much after the fact that he hadn’t approved of her coming onto the battlefield—which apparently, things still hadn’t changed between them. “Let me show you first.”

The girl lifted her hands in front of her, demonstrating as she spoke. “The strength of the spell also comes from the foundation of the pose. I know after we graduate and go into battle, it’s very easy to skip this step as we’ve become comfortable with the incantations.” She moved her hands as if they were framing a triangle. “However, as we introduce combination spells, I find that there’s strength in using combative stances with defensive spells and vice versa.”

Her student nodded along, with a furrow in his eyebrows that Momo knew he was mentally taking notes.

“It started off with Hadou 12 Fuishibi: I had used it as a defensive base before obscuring it with a concealment spell.”

“That was Kyokou, right?” Toushiro piped in.

She nodded in affirmation. “Yes—that was the key to catching the arrancar off. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to blindside them in the initial attack.”

Toushiro’s eyebrow raised slowly, almost as if he were impressed if Momo had to guess. “That’s quite commendable that you were able to weave that many kidou together—especially for your first time.”

Momo had to stop herself from reacting openly to that. She hadn’t remembered telling him that it was her first attempt, a decision crossed in between luck and adrenaline. However, she had a lot to prove—and evidently, there were still people that doubted her.

“However, the key is finding the right igniting spell: Shakaho is a common one and it doesn’t matter how proficient you are in kidou—it’ll still give you the right amount of power you need.”

She beckoned with her head, her arms still held in front of her in stance. “You can follow me for now and then we can try separately on our own, Hitsugaya-taicho.”

When he mirrored suit, she started reciting the incantations—pausing in between lines to explain the steps.

“You start trying to imagine a series of lines, crossing each other. Imagine the intersection and focus on that. Personally, for me, it helps to visualize the centers becoming brighter to build a stronger net.”

“Like Bakudo #4, Hainawa?”

Momo winced, sensing the kidou web pull away from her. “Not really. It’s the foundation—it’s not the main goal. You’re setting up trajectory for the blast to follow.”

“Is it necessary to recite the full spell?”

“Sort of—I find it helpful to not focus fully on the incantation but instead what it represents. Breaks down the rigidity of the tradition and make it more malleable in combining different spells.”

“How do you control the scale of the net?”

“It’s all in the visualization—you need to imagine it,” she responded quickly as she felt herself faltering. The net grew dimmer and wilted, like a flower causing Momo to repeat the previous line again. She wasn’t used to being interrupted so often.

“When do you switch hand positions?”

“Hold on Hitsugaya—”, Momo could feel the net pull away from her like a storm wind catching hold of a kite. She proceeded forward and, in her haste, she skipped two lines ahead in the incantation.   

The effects were immediate with the strings of the net burning brighter and brighter. Momo faltered, immediately stopping the incantation but it was too late. The net hummed in power before it exploded, sending sparks back at the shinigami & the wooden structures.

Momo could only watch as Toushiro immediately called a cool wind forth to snuff out the embers, leaving just a sizzling trail of smoke as the remains of the misspell.

“I think we better call it for the night,” he said with a measured tone, evaluating the scene.

The slip back into their gigai was so quiet and routine that even the shift of corporeal bodies couldn’t cut the thick tension between the two. The moon was hanging high & alone by the time they had returned silently back to their campsite.

Momo immediately started collecting broken branches and twigs to start the fire. She kept her head down, repeating the recent events in her head over and over. Even though Toushiro had been peppering her with questions, she knew she was accustomed to that from teaching new recruits—and inwardly Momo knew that it was her earlier feelings towards the young captain that made her mess up the incantation. There was a strong part of her that was ashamed for getting her emotions get in the way of teaching—something she had promised herself she would learn to keep professional and private matters separate.

Momo sighed deeply, walking back to their clearing, and dumping the wood into the firepit. As she rearranged the pieces into a tented position, she could feel Toushiro’s eyes on her—much like earlier, observing quietly and learning.

“It’s to help structure the flame,” she explained quietly. Momo pulled some newspapers she had brought with her and began shredding them over the pit.

“How do you know how to do this?”

“Hirako-taicho and I went on camping trips as a way to get to know each other when we first started working together. The other Vizards would also join us as well.”

Toushiro rolled his eyes. “It still amazes me how he can circumvent rules to do it.” It was an offhand comment, nothing out of the ordinary for the young captain. However, at that moment it deeply grated at her nerves, and it struck raw.

Momo snapped a branch in her hand. “Hirako-taicho completes his work as necessary. He also doesn’t cross the line—unlike you Hitsugaya-taicho.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Hinamori?”

“You pulled rank and took me off the Hell expedition,” she said curtly, yanking out the matchstick box from her pocket and snapping the match strong against the box.

There was a pause where Momo could only hear the friction of the match. “You’re not ready,” Toushiro said carefully, as if he were approaching a skittish creature. “There are far too many unknowns, and the risk is too great.”

“You had no business deciding to do so.” The match didn’t catch, and Momo cursed under her breath as she flicked it to the ground. She pulled another one out and began again.

“Other lieutenants were pulled off as well, it came down to essential personnel only.”

“No, Hitsugaya-taicho, you are a captain of the Tenth Division and were overstepping your bounds. Kuchiki-san had requested me on that mission for my skills and you decided to pull me off.”

The match ignited brightly in her hands. Momo dropped it into the pile of wood where it immediately spurred into large flames. She looked up to see the fire reflecting in his turquoise eyes, resolute.

“If I had to do it again, I would,” he said solemnly, holding his ground across the fire from her.

“Well that’s the difference between us, Hitsugaya-taicho—I would be honest with someone if I didn’t think they were good enough.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he sighed.

Momo straightened her shoulders back and stared firmly back at him through the flames. “I am a lieutenant of the Fifth Division, I have earned my way to serve the Gotei 13—whether you like it or not.”  

--

Dinner was a quiet tense affair with the two of them eating their packed meals quite far and separated from each other. Momo had already started to feel awful from such negative feelings, but on principle she held her ground, quickly scarfing down her onigiri.

They had changed in silence to their sleeping clothes, each taking turns to watch shift before tucking into their respective sleeping bags across the fire pit. In the absence of a “good night,” Momo felt remorse, and found herself consciously holding back from asking if Toushiro was awake.

When they were younger, they’d climb up onto the thatched roofs to stargaze during the night. The hay would itch at bare skin and it would always take the two of them a while to get settled, but when they had found their spots, it was like the world quieted again and they lost themselves in counting the constellations. Sometimes she would speak and Toushiro would respond, in either one sentence responses or noises of affirmation—but always honest. And when it became too quiet to speak, the two would just lie in silence. It was those peaceful moments that would ground Momo whenever she was away studying in the academy; where it felt like possibilities were endless, but home was right behind her, keeping her grounded and safe.

But that felt like a different lifetime with too much death in between to tie them to the same life.

A loud rustle startled Momo from her stupor.

She pushed herself up off the ground. “Did you hear that?”

There was another sound, a creak.

“Hitsugaya-kun,” Momo called out, a twinge of fear creeping into her voice.

“I’m trying to sleep,” he groused.

She persisted, sitting up and listening carefully. The fire crackled and hissed, and Momo strained to hear through the crackle of the fire. Internally she felt at lost without being able to detect the rieatsu of whatever was out there.

“Hinamori, you’re imagining things—go to sleep.”

“I am not,” she hissed, with a little more bite than intended. She was still bitter about their squabble. “I know there’s something out there.” She turned to her backpack, fumbling around in the dark as she searched for the flashlight. “Did you read the information pack that Hisagi-san had sent? Apparently, this used to be a habitat for bears.”

“Yes, and I read the amended version Ise-fuukutaicho sent—the local bear population has become endangered. The only thing we’re in danger of is losing our sleep,” he grumbled.

“I forgot how grumpy you get when you don’t get your sleep,” Momo murmured.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

A rustle was heard and Toushiro shot up, his eyes much alert. “I think there’s something approaching.”

Momo fought the urge to roll her eyes as she fished out the flashlight. “That’s what I was saying.”

A twig broke and immediately Toushiro slipped a gikon pill in, his human body falling back onto the sleeping bag.

“I’m not going to use Hyourinmaru—the weather changes will alert the humans nearby.”

Momo rustled through her duffle bag, pulling things out rapidly. “I can’t find my gikon pills—I must have left them at the training site.”

Toushiro stepped in front of her sleeping bag, his stance defensive as he mimicked Momo’s earlier pose from the training session. “I’ll handle it. I’ll use the kido weaving to stop whatever it is in its tracks.”

That got Momo to pause. “Wait, Hitsugaya-kun—I’m not sure if you’re ready.”

He started to chant, slow and steady as the noise picked up. Momo could only focus on her heart racing that she almost missed the slip of incantation: Toushiro had skipped a line—a very crucial line.

“Hitsugaya-kun—you forgot—”

The threads burned amber, casting a bright glow against the surrounding boundary of trees before they began to constrict against themselves. The woven net grew and expanded, closing in around the two of them instead of pushing outward. Toushiro realizing his error, quickly turned around and crouched over Momo as the net imploded into great sparks, rivaling a fireworks show.

The rustling noise got louder and two of them could only look up as the bush rumbled and rustled—before a bunny slipped out. It stared comically at the two of them, cocking its head to the side before hoping through the campgrounds as the two childhood friends watched.

A bubble of laughter escaped from Momo’s mouth which earned her an exasperated look from her friend above her. Toushiro’s hair was mussed with grey soot streaking the spiky edges; he looked like the human confection of a burnt marshmallow—which made Momo laugh even harder.

“This isn’t funny,” he grumbled, swiping away at his face with soot coming off.

“It kind of is,” she continued to laugh. “I’m sure when you get back into your gigai, it’ll go away.”

Whatever previous tension that was there before, disappeared and now there was a lightness as the two young shinigami cleaned up the area. The campfire that had been blazing strong before had calmed down to a dying ember, its small spark still burning bright against the night.

Momo cleared her throat, sheepishly looking down. “Would you mind if we pull these closer?” she gestured towards the distanced sleeping bags.

Toushiro shook his head. “No, not at all.”

After rearranging the bags, the two settled in quietly, lying on their backs and looking up at the stars. Momo sighed in content, feeling a lot more at peace than before but still wanted to clear the air about one more thing.

“Hitsugaya-kun,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you today.”

There was a long pause and she had wondered if he had heard her. “I deserved it. I apologize for not being transparent with you.”

Momo raised an eyebrow. “The great Hitsugaya-taicho is apologizing to me?”

“Oh, shut it.” Even though it was dark, she could hear the eyeroll in his voice. “And I’ve done it before,” he added softly.

“I know.” Momo remembered it well, especially after the Winter War. “But those for things that were out of your control. This is for something you deliberately did.”

The young girl heard him sigh deeply. “It’s something I’m working on,” he conceded.

“Rangiku-san put you up to it?”

“Something like that…” he drifted off.

“Well…” Momo tucked the blanket around her tighter her shoulders. “Thank you.”

When he didn’t say anything back, she continued on, speaking softly. “You need to trust me—I understand you’re worried, but you can’t go around making decisions on my behalf without talking to me.” She turned onto her side and faced him. “I can take care of myself, Hitsugaya-kun.”

He sighed. “I know you can—I don’t doubt it at all.”

“Then what makes this different?” Momo whispered.

Toushiro was silent for a while before turning to her. “It’s what we don’t know—everything we’ve been taught feels…upended.” He grimaced & even in the dark she could see the storm brewing in his eyes. “Ukitake-taicho, the Soutaicho…they’re all there now. It feels like the rules have changed and things are out of control.”

Momo smiled sympathetically before reaching a hand across, and gently placing it on his shoulder. “I know. I’m scared too. I’m scared for everyone at the Fifth, for Hirako-taicho, Rangiku-san.” She paused and stared into his eyes. “I’m also scared for you.”

His eyes widened slowly. “Hinamori…”

“But I won’t let that stop me from wanting to protect everyone—to protect you.” She squeezed his shoulder. “That’s why I became a shinigami, right?”

Momo could sense his inner storm abating and smiled in relief. “So—trust me, okay? Like I trust you to stay safe.”

He sighed deeply and stared back at her. “Okay—I will try.”

She chuckled quietly. “That’s all I ask.”

Momo let her hand fall in the space between them. “Now let’s go to sleep. We still have to finish training tomorrow. I can’t send you back not knowing how to do one combination spell.”

“This will definitely be an experience I will never forget,” he said softly.

She smiled, her eyes already closing shut. “Good night, Hitsugaya-kun.”

Sometime during the night, Momo felt her hand being pulled, and held tight. That even if they drifted in dreams under the stars, she was grounded and safe, held tight to home.

---

Authour's Note: Again, this happens late at night because I am a sucker for late night conversations. I had a lot of fun trying to write Momo's teaching methods for the kido (as if I know anything lol) I also just love that something doesn't go splendidly well for Toushiro (though I wish there were more people to witness it hahahaha)

Until next time everyone :)

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

For the fanfic asks: 6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time? and 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Fanfic asks

Must admit, I was excited to see you sent in an ask! XD But in answer to your questions:

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

There's quite a few so buckle up:

it was all a dream, i just called to say, and in law out(ing) by @canariie: her writing is beautiful, her plots are offer many sweet and homely moments, and they all feature my OTP. The first was a request form me and I love the direction to she took it, giving Toshiro and Momo a soft moment where they're both scared but then turning it into a moment Toshiro can express how he truly feels. The second is beautiful from start to finish, giving us an interaction between two like-minded individuals who have been through a lot and would probably benefit from meeting each other in canon; also the last third is just so good for a Hitsuhina fan! The last is just great fun, and I love seeing Shinji and Toshiro interact like this (it also gave us #letshinjifish2k23, what's not to love?!) If for some reason you haven't read these fics (or any of her fics for that matter) and you're a hitsuhina fan, read them after this post!

Bleach Returns day 3: A Time to Celebrate by @recurring-polynya: yeah that's right, I go back and read this fic of yours! It's one of the most humorous fics I've read, and it never fails to make me smile. I love all the characters' banter with each other, it feels organic and it's awesome to see some character interact with each other (seriously, I never thought I'd want to see Chad interact with Rangiku and Toshiro, but here we are). I've been meaning to read your submission for this year's BLEACH Anime Celebration too, but I'm sure I'll love it!

a cacophny in stillness by @visionen-im-spiegel: I mentioned it in my last ask response, but there's just something about this fic. I love to come back and reread it as a whole, but there's just certain sections I read it for. I love in the last chapter where Momo finds Toshiro, and there's that shock of seeing him at first, but more than that, there's relief that the war is all finally over, and they have each other in that moment of realisation.

the warmest place in the world by @pinkhairedlily: this is such a fluffy read! I love snippet of the hitsuhina married life here, it feels authentic and organic. I always laugh at the drunk Toshiro scene, the poor guy forgets he finally married Momo! XD

D O N K I and Away, Away by @bleachbleachbleach: I've said many thinks about their writing, and I cannot praise them enough. These two fics in particular hit me though. Again, a little biased here, but the first was written as a request from me, but like with canariie, it got taken in a direction I didn't see coming but absolutely loved. Toshiro and Orihime interactions are always a 10/10 for me, they're a soft friendship that needs to explored more. And this fic even got me to care about the weird unspoken side characters in Orihime's neighbourhood! Away, Away holds a special place for me, as it was the first fic I read from bleachbleachbleach, I come back to it because I still marvel at the world building, the atmosphere throughout, and the character interactions being so on point.

18. What's one of your favorite lines you've written in a fic?

There's more than one line here, but I feels it needs context for me to explain why it's one of my faves. This one is from On the Shoreline:

“I-I didn’t understand why you were becoming so distant, I thought getting away from the Soul Society would help, but now I think I know. Are you…?” She’s conflicted, her lips opening to continuing her question, only to close seconds later and becoming a taut, pressed line. He’d wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but not like this. To his own ear, he’s ended up both paranoid and like a child complaining about something not going his way. He's upset her. Toshiro sighs, suddenly more tired than before. “What is it?” She still hesitates, her focus on the waves circling his ankles. Eventually, she raises her head and steps closer. “Are you scared?” It hits him in the chest like a stone thrown into glass. For a second, his blood runs tight and cold in his limbs. His heart skips a beat, then clenches. He can feel hairline fractures running through him, threatening to break apart.

I still can't forget how long I sat there trying to come up with a line to emphasis the impact this question has on Toshiro. This was the moment in the story where he finally breaks down more or less, and finally tells Momo what's been going on for him. He's been keeping his walls up, but they aren't strong ones; he's at a point where they're being worn down and he's barely making it through this trip, and Momo's concern, her insight into who he is and how he's feeling, finally breaks them down completely.

It might be a corny or cliched line, but love how it turned out in the grant scheme of the story. Her question hit him hard, and finally got him to open up to her when he's been the exact opposite for most of the fic.

Thanks so much for sending these in! :D

[neko-bri]

Hii!! Just want to say that I love your blog and that you are a sweetie! If I can ask, I would like to see your personal headcanons about hitsuhina or Hitsugaya (or both of them XD) , as I'm a huge fan from their bound Xxx

Hii!!!! OMG just fkfhfkfkfkw this ask message made me smile! Thank you so much for sending this!!! I just...am crying so bad! I thank you anon-san!!! I love your blog too!! I am sure of it since you love hitsuhina too!!! < 333 they are one of my favorite ships ever!! * 3 * I want to write more drabbles of these two precious babies of ours! < 333 I am sorry if this was late!! ; a ; you are so precious!! We all can be friends with our love for hitsuhina!! < 333 I did find my old headcanons too from my old momo rp tumblr as well! * 3 * I may have made this too long with some headcanons. sorry sorry!!

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Momo headcanon -- [ Growth ] For Momo as a headcanon I did have a few but one of them was I thought about how Momo looked at herself after Aizen's betrayal and her admiration for him was shattered. I thought that she wanted to become stronger with experience of that pain over what happened. To grow into someone who is mature and want to gain more experience but to also keep moving forward with time to gain new experiences. She is thankful for being able to look at herself with happiness and even the sadness, she could learn and cope with her feelings to learn to grow up. Her feelings for Aizen slowly diminish and her heart is set on new goals for growing stronger. As she met her new captain she wanted to share that strength to learn to be stronger so she can find the strength to never feel that again. Her Captain Hirako shares the pain of being betrayed and used like a pawn. Knowing Momo's pain and Toshiro knowing that Momo went through all that. His strength to protect Momo is what he strives for. I just thought Momo want to keep going and look back as a strength to see how far she has come. She is healing with time slowly but, will also open the door for her heart to trust again with all the bad experiences she faced and pain. She is such a strong woman to heal and also learn to walk forward.

____________________________ [Momo's headcanon] Hair cut || Headcanon

A new start. New life was beginning the day of all the heartache. The long hair had symbolized the time with a distant past. So long forgotten. Back then it also meant forgetting the love that was forged from becomming a fukutaichou  within fifth division along with a dearest love that has for long betrayed deep within this very soul. Symbolize of change the brunette had thought about how hair change and the appearance over starting over. A new light had shown on her with the hair clip given from a very special friend dear to her own heart. Not mentioning the name—-she had thought of moving past all the pain and everything that caused the cheerful shinigami to frown. Fresh start on how childish, naive, and foolish the very girl thought change was in order.

A new light has shine upon me… That is why I wish to change, to become a better person. This is my time to shine. _______________________________________________ [Momo Headcanon ] Trust

—-ღ Trust has many ways of words through your mouth. It can be a trust that no longer alive. Or this trust has been broken by a deep wound to the heart. That trust…had always effected the brunette when a sword by her admirater had broke her in half. That pain lived through her each day. Still remembering the way he use to smile at her, teach her things, show her how to become stronger. Those days—-were now gone with that trust completely destroyed. After her coma; the trust that normally would be able to surround the ones easily. Had been slightly putting Momo in fear. Fear to approach others or even to love. If she ever found it again; it take her time to slowly sooth the wound that was gravely wounded by the one who she once trusted… Hinamori had troubles giving that trust to the ones who use to be near her. Or new ones. Once she opened her heart; fear began to consume her between being used again like a tool. That is what eats her alive each day until finally breaking into million pieces.

__________________________________________________

Hitsuhina [Bonds] [Headcanon]

—-ღ Bonds… This word meant a lot to the brunette who created many bonds with her friends. One of them was a child along side her which she never forget. That person had kept at her side since day one. Hinamori still remains beside him even after everything. Blaming herself for what little thing wasn’t her fault. Her childhood friend, Shiro-chan still forgives her and continue to do so. How Hinamori could not understand his reasoning in forgiveness. It was something she always want to keep their bonds strong. Holding hand in, hand they will fight against anything that would try to break them apart. Never again would she wish to point her blade at someone who never gave up on her. He was the most important person to her. Still remaining as her precious friend that never will die out. For his forgiveness that made her smile to herself in the mirror. It was something she will never mistaken from his words. His words that helped her through so much. She will keep a good grip on his hand and forever keeping the bond that the two have created.

Never again will let it break apart…

[bleachbleachbleach]

Fic: Away, Away

This was written for Day 13 of @hitsuhina-week! If you prefer, you can also read this on AO3. Which is my preference, because Tumblr keeps eating my spacing whether I use Rich Text or HTML so it looks absurd on here. >.>

Aftermath / Going on a Trip Together Hinamori Momo + Hitsugaya Toushirou Pre-Series

--

This will be the last time. 

(Whisper it, so he won't hear.)

--

Every spring, Junrinan finds its way to the western mountains. (The souls of Rukongai wander.) There is no grand procession: They disperse across the vast range, often alone and sometimes in twos. They are always careful not to cause disruption, because while one soul in a forest full of spirits generally isn't worth the effort, seven is a meal.

They are three. 

Soon, they will be two. Hinamori can't stop whispering her new name, hi na mo ri. It's early to be out here, but the snows were mild this year and new growth is already peeking from beneath the thick, rich leaf rot. She feels an affinity with this year's tender saplings, a feeling that grows hotter with every whispered repetition of her name. Her grandmother had given it to her, showed her how to write it. She'd studied her name harder than she had the exam.

Hinamori has an acceptance letter. In April, she is leaving. 

Hinamori nearly walks straight into a nettle spirit--the hair-eating kind--draped across the game path plain as day.

"Do you wanna be bald?" Toushirou grouses as he yanks her back just in time. "I guess it fits. You're acting like a blind old man." 

Hinamori blinks, brushes imagined hair from her face. It's the fifth time she's tried to walk straight through a spirit in as many days. 

"Studying is bad for your eyes," says Toushirou. He doesn't care for moony Hinamori. Momo had paid a lot more attention to what was in front of her. But she's Hinamori now. At least, that's the only name she'll write, dragging her thin stick through the dirt outside the house. So that's what he calls her.

Toushirou squeezes through a bumble of pot-bellied mushroom spirits and Hinamori follows him, stepping carefully into his tracks.

"You'll need to keep reading even when I'm not around. It'll go if you don't practice," she says.

Toushirou makes a noncommittal sound.

"I'll send you letters full of kanji and quiz you on them when I visit." I'll learn how to write them pretty, she promises, just like Baachan does.

"Will you write me back?" she asks.

"Probably not."

This hurts her. But Toushirou plans to go the rest of his life without writing a single thing. It's not personal.

"Why would I need to tell you what happens in Junrinan?" he says. "You already know."

--

And if I forget?

--

Life in Junrinan doesn't change. That's what Toushirou was promised. The winters are quiet and slow, and in spring they go to the mountains. Summers are for farming, and autumns for harvest. Then winters are quiet and slow again.

Spring passes with bracken and angelica in hand. It is counted in the spirals of ferns as their number grows in the baskets. Some are dried; some are steeped. Mostly, they are sold. Many of the men in Junrinan spend springtime waking before dawn to sprint to the mountain, forage the lowlands, and return to the village for evening revelries, but Toushirou and Hinamori and their grandmother have always spent the whole of the season between the trees. The mountains prefer it when you stay. 

This will be true no matter how long Hinamori is gone.

April 12th through July 20th, then our first break, she says, scratching numbers in the dirt. But Junrinan doesn't have dates the way the Academy does. She draws the way the trees will change. The change happens in a long straight line, and beyond July 20th there is an emptiness rather than a repetition. How do you draw an unwritten future?

Hinamori writes her name again.

--

In the spring, everything is full: Toushirou enjoys the wet green of it, the late snows and vernal flooding. The water flows down from the mountains ice cold and the forests are loud and thick with spirits.

The spirits have no names that are written and no faces that have ever stayed the same, unremembered but immemorial. They are loud. Most of them respect the borders of his body. They brush against his legs with thick wet fur or scrape his cheek with leathery wings. They coil around his throat, treating him like a tree or rock. Some of them are trees and rocks. They are the mountains and forest, just like the wandering souls of Junrinan. They all belong here, more or less.

Toushirou can see most of them. When the blurry ones pass through you, it's feverishly unpleasant for the split-second it happens and then is nothing at all. The blurry ones, Toushirou figures, aren't actually in this forest. They are like shadows at sunset, cast long and far from their bodies. Their true bodies roam a different world entirely.

That's what Hinamori wants to do. 

Hinamori used to clamor for shinigami stories any time one of them passed through town. She'd been told one time that all travelers carried stories and now expected it.

The shinigami never expected her. Unless commerce was involved they didn't tend to acknowledge souls, or even look at them. So they always seemed surprised by Hinamori, like it hadn't occurred to them that they'd meet a real, full person out here. Which is fair enough, Toushirou grudgingly allows--there are plenty of souls in Junrinan so old and staid they cannot move, nor speak. (Don't touch them. It's unlucky.)

We don't talk about those.

The shinigami talk story: The story of black dye. The story of a tall bathhouse. The story of grilled meat on sticks. The story of the time they saw a noble. The story of a big fish. The story of a bigger fish. The story of the bullet train. The story of my sister, who isn't very interesting but is the only thing that comes to mind right now sorry. The story of 19th seats should be paid more. The story of the soul who wanted a story. 

Almost none of the stories are about death.

"Little girls shouldn't go into those mountains," one shinigami once said, which is as close as a story ever came to it. "Nasty stuff in there. They're called Hollows, you know. Real bad guys."

The shinigami patted the sword at his hip. He'd just told Hinamori a story about the third son of a lesser noble whom everyone loved and thought deserved better than the shadows of his elder brothers. And how preposterous is it, really, that he should have to prove himself when his brothers never did? Pushed out here into the boonies, seeking honor and fame. He really feels for the guy. Don't you? Don't you?

"You seem to know a lot about 'this guy,'" Toushirou offered.

"I'm a master storyteller," said the shinigami.

I've killed a Hollow before, you know, boasted the master storyteller. He'd led a unit of twelve men into those mountains out there, which were so quiet you could hear your own heart beating. When you can hear your terror--that's when you're on the cusp of valor. His eyes lit up. I was the one who cut the mask, he said.

Twelve is obviously far too many (seven is a meal), and those mountains have never been quiet. Toushirou didn't think he'd really been.

In the spring, though, there's a dark scar where once there'd been a copse of trees. Shattered branches and burned ground. His grandmother says it smells like Hollow. 

"They see things differently," his grandmother half-explains, of the shinigami and their Hollows and the silence of their mountains. Of course this would seem a different place to them.

"They're idiots," says Toushirou, though suddenly he's not sure. The scar is hair-raising, and his stomach roils. Maybe they really shouldn't be out in the woods.

"The shinigami know more than you," says Hinamori, taking his hand in hers. She grips it tightly, reassuring, or maybe annoyed. Both. She has a lot of school spirit for someone who hasn't even been yet.

But she doesn't let go of his hand, even after they've returned to the cover of the live trees, kitsune fire nestled in the brambles at their feet.

Toushirou makes the mistake of noticing a spirit that tends to linger just out of sight. It feeds on your instinct to look, and it grows higher and higher the more you crane your neck, so sure you'll be able to sneak a glimpse of it. By the time you realize the trick, you've always been had. It's very annoying.

--

This will be the last time.

(Scream it.)

--

"It's so dark out here," says Hinamori, in spite of the kitsune and all the rest. Lots of spirits glow. She is still holding his hand.

Toushirou thinks of the small lamp Hinamori had bought to study by, the wild shadows it cast on the interior walls and the way it had made all hours bright. He thinks of all the hours she hadn't slept. All because some shinigami had told her a story about a school. 

Anything would seem dark by comparison. He can't remember the last time she hadn't had her lamp on when he went to bed.

Hinamori is going to snap the bones in his hand. He yelps. Tears prick in his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

She doesn't let go, and then she doesn't let go.

"It's so quiet," she says faintly. Her free hand wavers over her heart protectively.

It's so dark. It's so quiet. Quiet enough to hear your terror.

Except it's not. It's not dark.

It's not quiet.

The forest is full, air thick with chirrups and buzzing, screeching, hooting, chittering. Bodies clack and bones shudder. Reeds whistle and something large makes a whomping, resonating tone. Foxfire hisses as it makes sparks, throws phosphorous motes that dance high above. A heartbeat glow marches up the ridged spine of a lizard spirit. The forest is as it has always been.

Toushirou's eyes widen. 

"You can't hear them anymore."

To Hinamori, it is all darkness and silence. 

She sinks to the ground, burying her head in her knees as though to hide from the quiet. From the black. She drops his hand.

"Momo--"

She shakes her head. She opens her hands to the sky like she's waiting for a bird to land. For a split second, a small warm flame billows from her palms. 

Then the entire forest catches.

The thought had been innocent enough--to be her own light in the darkness, conquer her fear. But the forest only hears the conquering. It's the kitsune who don't take kindly to Hinamori's light. Their fire screeches up and outward and then all the spirits are in frenzy. A meal! scream some; and others, a threat! A danger to be expunged. A strange thing not of this forest, these mountains.

Outsider! the world around them hisses. Away.

away, away

Hinamori screams as the flames leap forward--the claws, the vines, the terrors and all in between. She throws herself in front of Toushirou. 

Toushirou can't find his voice at all. The wide whites of his eyes feel the propulsive gust of the forest coming down on them. On Hinamori. No! he can't shout, cold fear coiling over his frozen legs and pricking at his shoulder blades. Something serpentine rushes past him and he's on the ground. His head smacks hard against a writhing tree root and he tastes bile, feels nothing. 

Hears everything.

away

When he wakes, snow is falling, wet and sloppy. Kitsune are nibbling at the singed edges of a hanafuda. Hinamori is in her grandmother's arms. She's crying.

--

Before Hinamori started studying, with her bright lamp and her long nights and her feverish poetry scratched into the ground, before the hunger came, she'd woken one morning to a futon streaked with her blood. Her grandmother said that this was womanhood.

"The tea will stop the bleeding," she assured a tearful Hinamori as they scrubbed at her futon, pinking the waters. Toushirou beat at the stain with his feet, splashing everywhere.

"You don't have to touch it," Hinamori had said quietly, her eyes fixed on the water. "It's my mess."

"Baachan said I have to help," Toushirou objected. "Besides, am I supposed to just sit here and watch you bleed?"

--

Just one last time.

--

Hinamori isn't hurt, but she is in pain. The forest doesn't want her anymore. (She is leaving.)

"The forest sees them differently," his grandmother says, the other half of her earlier explanation. "Them," meaning shinigami. "Them," meaning Hinamori, now.

Shinigami see and are seen differently. They belong differently. Toushirou had only ever distinguished them by their black clothes, and sometimes their attitude. But his grandmother talks about reiryoku, about reiatsu, about the realms the shinigami travel through and the spirits they are blind to. The spirits that belong to different worlds than theirs, even when they're side by side. Some worlds are bound to one another, tied by fate and duty; others are repelled.

As Hinamori's reiatsu blossomed with her womanhood, slowly folding outward past her skin, beyond her body, her worlds were chosen for her. Like the bleeding, there's a tea to help this, too, but it's not the same. 

There is no going back.

"What're you looking at," Toushirou scowls at her. He's not sure what to do with her pain. There's nothing he can do for her pain. But she's looking at him differently, a little less like Hinamori and a little more like the rest of Junrinan does, and that scares him.

She asks him if he'd felt anything. Something cold.

She's asked him before. Every day since the incident, she's asked him.

His answer is always the same. No. Just fear.

He should be helping his grandmother. They're here in the forest for a reason, and that hasn't changed; they have foraging to do. But he doesn't want to leave Hinamori alone. 

"Don't be afraid of it, Shiro-chan," says Hinamori. Hinamori, who's now afraid of the dark.

Hinamori, who is leaving.

--

She doesn't have a choice. When her power comes into her she knows there is only one place she can go. It's a place she has always wanted to go. (She has always wanted to go places.) But now she has to.

She smiles. 

If she is going to go, she's going to fly. She will love, and yearn, and cry. She will give all of herself to the future before her, even when it means that precious things can be only memory. If there is something Hinamori leaves in him when she goes, it's flight. 

Someday, Toushirou will remember to remember that.

--

"Will you write me?" she asks.

--

--

(You will be written.)

--

She returns for the summer, then is gone again. Winter, then gone again. But she doesn't come home for the spring. They'll be going to the realm of the living. They will fight Hollows, just like the Gotei 13. She explains the meaning and stroke order of the characters, go tei,  though she doesn't explain what the Gotei 13 actually is. That part must already seem obvious to her. Shinigami stuff. That's all Toushirou will ever need to know. Seems pretentious.

When Junrinan returns to the mountains this year, Toushirou and his grandmother stay behind. "It's dangerous," she says. She squeezes his shoulders.

It's dangerous now. 

There is no going back.

Junrinan may not change, but life does, and by the second summer, Hinamori has mostly forgotten the shapes of the forest spirits. Toushirou is forgetting them, too. 

The difference is, Hinamori has found replacements. She talks about incantations and sword stances, friendships and histories. She has been to the realm of the living. It's only been a year, and already they have nothing in common but their memories, ever-receding. 

Sometimes she wakes up screaming. She doesn't say why.

--

Toushirou dreams of a chill ripping through him. He dreams of a place where there are no mountains as far as the eye can see.

--

He wakes to Hinamori.

[pinkhairedlily]

Yellow Meadows of Happiness

Hi! I made this one-shot into a 12-part series to flesh out the plot and of course, to feed my HitsuHina scenarios.

Original Tumblr post here | AO3 Prologue | This chapter | 2 of 12 

Summary: Childhood memories and the shift that changes it all.

“He looks like I could send him back to the oblivion where he came from with one flick of my finger,” Momo said to her grandmother.

Baba, as she fondly called her, just continued washing the scrawny, beat-up kid in front of her. He had a bulging left eye from where another street kid punched him, and he seemed to miss some of his teeth. His silver hair stood out, but it was littered with dirt she dared not go near. Despite his measly state, the kid glared at her through his swollen eyes. “Momo, a child cannot go back on the streets.”

“I know you have a big heart Baba, but you cannot just pluck a scrawny spiky broomstick from the road and bring him home.” Momo grimaced. She felt sorry for him, but she did not enjoy the fact that she will have to share her only relative to this stranger and a troublemaker, she bet.

The kid was trying to spat back at her, but his mouth was too wounded his words came out incomprehensible. Baba chuckled at this ‘little’ argument, and her soft, gentle hands started applying medical ointment on his face. “My dear Momo. He helped me bring home your favorite fruit. The other kids wanted it and tried to grab it, but he fought them off. See, he respects elders.” Baba gave her a fond smile.

Oh my god, my grandmother is smitten. Momo glanced at the kid again, and he flashed an attempt of a grin. But then she felt suddenly apologetic. The watermelon Baba brought home has a crack, and some of its juices already flowed out. The net bag that was supposed to carry it was tattered and split. She didn’t ask for one, but it was summer, and Baba knew it was her favorite fruit so she traveled to the farm on the opposite of town to get a piece.

“His name is Hitsugaya Toushirou, and he’s two years younger than you.”

And she came back home with a scrawny kid. “A whole dumbass eight years old.”

After several days, Momo learned that he was not only scrawny, he was also snarky. Every time she instructed him to do house chores, he would stick out his (healing) tongue at her and make monkey noises, and she would proceed to hit him with a broomstick that looked like his hair. Baba treated these interactions as her daily form of entertainment. After all, it was a good noise that enveloped a rather lonely house.

Momo lost her parents to a fire accident when she was three. Since then, she started living with her grandmother and treated her as her whole world. She would learn later on that the Hitsugaya kid was an orphan abandoned when he was the same age. She had Baba, he had no one. But she didn’t feel particularly sympathetic when he would just randomly yell, “Bed-wetter Momo!”

They started to notice it when Momo devoured books from the town library. Hitsugaya or Shirou-chan as he hated to be called prodded her open book with a stick while she was reading under the large camphor tree. “Hey bed-wetter Momo, what are you doing?”

She swatted away his stick and kicked his shin. “Reading, broomstick Shirou.”

“You know I hate that name. Stop using it. What is it about?”

“Then stop calling me bed-wetter. I never wet my bed you schmuck. It’s about the evolution of forests, how they bounce back to normal after a fire or a drought. You’ll never understand so go away.”

“Hey.” He continued prodding with the stick. “Teach me how to read.”

It was probably the first time she felt a semblance of pity because reading was close to her heart. She was adept at learning, but they didn’t have the money for formal schooling so she took what she could from the public library, almost religiously worshipping its grounds. Books transported her to worlds, far from the sadness that was always creeping in from her periphery. It was a productive distraction and her safe space she could access anywhere and anytime. Books were her friends and her teachers.

Grumbling, she went inside the house and grabbed some papers. He may not also know how to write. This was the starting point of everything, and the petty fights and aggressive name-calling scaled down to kind banter resembling childhood friendship. The most evident change however was Hitsugaya’s quick capacity to learn. He started accompanying her in libraries, reading more books than she did. Soon, he abandoned fairy tales and fiction and went straight to scientific journals in the reserve section.

Momo joked that he was only pretending to understand so he could one-up her, but he just dismissed her with a scowl. When she joined him in the archives, she saw his brows furrowed over a big book with many numbers and equations. Nature fascinated Momo but never math. That kind of focus Hitsugaya only occurred when he was cutting firewood or catching fish in the nearby riverbank for their dinner.

“Hey Momo, can you lend me your pencil?” he asked without looking up.

“You’re not supposed to write anything on the pages,” Momo refused. She also didn’t have a pencil on her that day. “Whatever is it for, Shirou-chan?” He grew tired of scolding her for calling that nickname some many months ago.

“Well, I think the results for this equation is wrong.” That was when Momo knew he was bound for something greater.

“Why don’t you borrow that book and we’ll solve it on our way home?”

They spent hours hidden among the stalks of yellow daffodils with Momo listening to Hitsugaya’s explanation about the equation’s mistakes. She noticed that he never failed committing to memory what he read even for just a second. The books called it photographic memory. For some time and in this yellow field, she was his student, and she eagerly learned from him. They started on a rough patch and such prejudiced footing, but there they were, lying in the middle of the daffodil meadow no one really owns, giving and taking about the secrets of the world under the glowing halo of the dipping sun.

His small but already rugged hands suddenly reached out towards her, and she inadvertently gasped. He was just brushing the petals from her hair. “Ah Momo, we might get allergies from too much pollen. Let’s go home to Baba.”

And when the afternoons on the yellow meadows weren’t enough, their conversations extended to night escapades atop the hill behind the house where the stars were almost near enough to touch. Momo never expected this kind of happiness, especially from the scrawny kid with an irritable disposition. Well, he was still irritable but not to her, not anymore. She wished this would go on forever.

But of course, that wasn’t possible. Because the world has plans of its own.

Baba was accompanied by a black-haired guy one day. Momo was sure he wasn’t an orphan or a street kid her grandmother took pity on. He was dressed in coordinated tan blazer and khaki pants and had glasses on. He looked like the typical professor she would see in the library and would frequent the reserve section and archives that Hitsugaya loved the most.

“Hitsugaya, this man is Dr. Kuchiki. He wants you to go to the academy.”

Notes: So I’m diverting away from Bleach canon as if it wasn’t obvious already. Just a small, itty bitty change – Hitsugaya’s grandma became Hinamori’s grandma. This is for plot friends, please trust me on this! >.<

NEXT CHAPTER | 3 OF 12 | LAST SUMMER INTO THE BEGINNING

[manikas-whims]

hi manika i really like your new todomomo bodyguard fic. Are there any other ships that you love and write from? sorry just randomly asking tgis 😅

Omg anon, thank you so much. I'm not entirely sure about how readers will receive my todomomo bodyguard au but I'm glad you like it. 💛

Other than that, i have many ships in bnha: kacchako, KiriBaku, KiriMina, KamiJirou, JirouMomo, Aoyama x Deku, etc..

Basically everyone is so shippable in bnha 😆

But considering other shows/anime/series, here's my fav ships of all time:

SasuSaku (Naruto)

HitsuHina, GinRan (Bleach)

Gruvia, Jerza, Nalu, GaLe (Fairy Tail)

Vegeta X Bulma (DBZ)

Zeki (Vampire Knight)

Zenyuki (Akagami no Shirayukihime)

TodoMomo, Kacchako, KiriBaku (BNHA)

HanaNene, MitsuKou (JSHK)

Vmin (BTS)

Olicity (Arrow)

MariChat (Miraculous Ladybug)

Dramione, Neville X Luna (Harry Potter)

Queen Tara X General Ronin (Epic)

Kyoru, HaruRin (Fruits Basket)

Usui X Misaki (Kaichou-wa Maid-sama)

Akabane X Kurosaki (Defying Kurosaki-kun)

...and many, many more...💛

[amanyaika01]

Nightmare

Desc : The moment that I want to Forget so much. I broke the promised. The promise that I'll protecting Hinamori and keeping away from hurt and pain but I bring the pain and hurt to her. My hand is filled by your blood. The one that I loved. Hinamori... Forgive me.

Hitsuhina oneshot! 

Character and anime credits to Bleach and Tite Kubo 

 Rate : T 

Words : 1k or more 

Genre : Romance and Tragedy 

Character : Hinamori Momo, Hitsugaya Toshiro  

------------------------------------------ 

"Shiro...chan" 

Hinamori seeing slightly Hitsugaya and everyone while he fighting with Aizen. She can't help but feel so worried to everyone especially her childhood friend. Watching him with her state like a useless to everyone, she let out a bit tear from her right eye. The reason she came here was to make useful to everyone. Not bedridden for so long anymore. She get tired of it. She too feel being burden on 4th. Just about it, Hinamori trying to move her body but the pain filling her too much. She cursed on thought. Only move her hands it's really hurt so much. She heard Kira saying that she injured so badly. Plus she just recovered not a long. So her pain is like 2x of that. 

'please...move my body. I want to help them. I want to be useful too. I don't want to being protected by Shiro chan always. I can't just like that. Please god...let me help them. Let me fighting Aizen by Shiro chan side!' 

"if you wishing that. I'll make them came true, Hinamori-kun" and then Hinamori mind is all blank. 

Hitsugaya and everyone else is still fighting Aizen. He completely freeze his hand and Kyoraku attack him from behind. it'll be succeed! They'll be win. Then, next attack is from Hitsugaya. his swords is piercing so deep on his chest. That would be Aizen loss. Still hearing Aizen trying to removed his swords, Hitsugaya push more so Aizen can't move anymore. Aizen didn't show any movements. So it that's mean they win. Victory is just came. 

"You guys..." 

"WHAT THE HELL YOU GUYS DOING!!!!" 

While hearing Ichigo shouting at them, Hitsugaya was the next person who realize the one he stabbed all this time is.

"Hi-"

"Hinamori...?!"

Quickly he removed his sword and pick her so tightly. Now he feel numb. All of his body is freezing and shaking too much. This reality, is hurting him. Hitsugaya turquoise eyes still fall upon her. That look, it's same but somehow different. She looks almost dead but trying to stay alive, and most shocking is she being stabbed by her childhood friend who said will protecting her any cost. His hold is tight but, his reiatsu is shaking too much. Anger, horrified, sadness, shock, and anything else is on him now. Right now on his mind is, is he...can said to her that he capable to protecting her for all of his life anymore? 

Hitsugaya think he can't.

"u...uh..." Hinamori too shocked when Hitsugaya and Kyoraku stabbing her. When she awake she is about to be killed by Soi fon but sooner she being back stabbed by Kyoraku and Hitsugaya. At time Hitsugaya stabbing her, she trying to wakes him up from Hypnotism of Aizen. But she feel too weak. She can't remove the zanpakuto and she feel nearly dead when Hitsugaya push more his zanpakuto.

'n...no...Shiro...chan...he can't be...'

"Shiro...chan..."

"W..hy..." After that Hinamori passed out, before the darkness filling her she can hear Hitsugaya painful, angry, and regret scream. It's hurt her so much.

'..no...' 

Hitsugaya put Hinamori gently then dash out to Aizen for making him pay. unfortunately he made himself clearly opened to the enemy so Aizen can easily cut him. and the other's same too. Hitsugaya cursing at him before he fall to the ground. The ice and blood be one. His breath almost out but he can stay stable so he can stay conscious.

"Hang in there, Hitsugaya taicho!" one of Unohana man healing him. He trying too feel the reiatsu and finally he can feel Hinamori thin reiatsu. He trying to reaching her but his injuries pretty badly.

"Hinamori...someone...help her" Hitsugaya mumbled.

"everything is alright about Hinamori fukutaicho. Now she being healed by Unohana taicho and everyone else. But..."

"She hurt too badly so she must being hospitalized for a long time" Hitsugaya surprised. He blaming himself about Hinamori. He failed to protect her. He don't valuable to being called Captain if he can't protect Hinamori. The worst, he hurts him. More badly than Aizen.

'I'm so sorry...Hinamori...' 

Hitsugaya failed upon her.

Hitsugaya snaps out from his sleep. His breath is quickly but now he swallowed it. He taking a deep breath while wiping his sweat. He...having a nightmare. About memory 7 years ago.

"Shiro chan?" Hitsugaya glanced at worried face Hinamori. He let out a sigh then patting her head softly.

"it's nothing..."

"What is nothing. I heard you screaming. So loud that woken me up" said Hinamori pouting.

"is that so?" Hitsugaya didn't know that he will screaming. That possibly when he...shocked at Hinamori. That moment he didn't want to remembers but it's haunting him like forever.

"are you really alright, Toshiro?" worry Hinamori.

Oh yeah in this year, Hinamori and Hitsugaya already married for about 2 years. Hitsugaya nodded then he catch a glimpse of scar on Hinamori chest. Even it was behind the fabric that cover her naked body, he can see it. Clearly. He bought his hand to the scar then touched it tenderly. Feel a sting of cold, Hinamori shivered a bit then look at her husband confused.

"just a while, I had a nightmare. About that moment" Hitsugaya still touching it but the regret feeling is came to him. Saw that making Hinamori lift Hitsugaya face to her.

"don't. Let this pain flowing by the time. This is not your fault. All of it was his fault. Don't let yourselves think that this scar caused by you" Hinamori stroke the cold cheeks of Hitsugaya. She smiling so angelic. Feel that his fault is always being forgiven by her.

"no matter what you did, I'll always forgive you and stay by your side so you don't have to walk on wrong path. I'll be your guide to the right path, Toshiro" Hinamori pecking his lips. Then Hitsugaya push her to kiss more deep. Filled by love and happiness. He was glad that Hinamori accepting him for who he are. Now he don't have to worry about it, because Hinamori always be with him. Forever and ever.

"I'm glad that you're the one. The one that I fell in love with" Hitsugaya playing with her back neck with full of affection. Hinamori blushed then smiled.

"I'm glad that you're the one. The one that I want to meet and to be in love with" At the end of conversation, they filled the night with a passionate kiss that will always be remembers for eternity.

------------------------------------------ 

Okay the end of Hitsuhina oneshot!! How is it? I think it's looks weird especially on my English. I'm so sorry if it was bad. By the way the story just came up so suddenly and my fingers is itched to writing about Hitsuhina and here it is. Enjoy~

[hitsuhinalover]

Hitsuhina day 2020

A/N: A word ‘challenge’ was mentioned so I had to write a fic where I used all of the prompts ‘:D Actually it wasn’t using all of the prompts that was difficult (just my perfectionism) but I don’t know how it seems to a reader. I especially want to note that I didn’t write both angels and shrines in the same story out of disrespect to any existing religion. Also, the ending was supposed to be happier (I got bad news and then didn’t feel like writing something very happy), sorry about it. I hope you’re all well and able to be where you want to be.

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“Matsumoto will be up and about in no time and then you’ll be transferred back to the healing wards,” Hitsugaya announced, marching along empty streets without even looking if his partner was following him or not – which, judging by the echo of rapid steps and slightly labored breathing behind him, she was doing. Streets lights were far and few between, coloring his hair and wings with warm yellow hue only for moments before he dived back into darkness, yet she knew where he was going. Whether he wanted or not, they had a bond – a bond that made them too good a battle pair for higher-ups to pass the opportunity to put them on patrol together. And maybe there was also a fact that he wouldn’t leave her alone, not in proximity of a possible enemy, no matter how pissed off he was.

“Hey, don’t make it sound like I should be on a hospital bed right now,” Hinamori huffed. “First of all, I didn’t get so hurt as badly as you two because I arrived later. Second, I’m a field healer, which means I work more outside of the healing wards than there, as you already know.”

As Hinamori said that, she had almost reached him, for which she had to stumble a step backward when he suddenly twirled around, a frown furrowing his eyebrows. Automatically, Hinamori’s wings fluttered to balance her, the fact that certainly didn’t pass by Hitsugaya’s sharp gaze, like neither did a deep blush that her cheeks acquired.

Why was it nowadays so difficult to be around him? It wasn’t his fault, she knew it, for he continued being the same person as always, worried about her well-being. If there was someone at fault, it was her. His proximity had begun to produce physical reactions in her she didn’t know how to interpret, how to deal with. Was it fine her cheeks flushed red when he looked at her, or was there a medical condition involved that had nothing do with him? Why would she stumble when he walked too close if there was nothing else than plain ground? Deep down, she feared she knew why. But if a realization were a person, she was continuously turning around when they came from the opposite direction, taking stairs instead of lift, blocking their number.

Because their bond was worth fostering, and not only because they fought well together. Despite difficult moments, for most of time their friendship was so easy. A wave of warmth washed over her when her mind transported her back to a moment a week ago, to the night neither of them had had to patrol, their laugh still ringing in her ears. In her company his usual frown disappeared (or at least very often), substituted by a slight smile, a teasing smirk or a small chuckle.

They had walked through the part of the town that was almost void of demonic and thus angelic activity too, hardly passing by any patrols, talking or just enjoying a silence they wasn’t used to associating with nights, stars usually witnessing a clash of blades instead of their casual hanging out. In outskirts of the town, moments before they had been about to turn and return, they had stumbled upon a shrine. In contrast to other shrines that worked as outposts to angels and helped to keep demons at bay, the shrine’s once bright colors had been dimmed, the same way its magical protection. When demonic activity had reduced in that part of the town and soared in others, there hadn’t been time or resources to take care of that particular shrine. Once it had served well, then discharged and forgotten.

Up until the moment Hinamori and Hitsugaya had found it.

Since it was a beginning of the spring, they hadn’t had fresh lavender, the flower that worked against devil, to recreate the protection the shrine had had, but they had planted seeds in the soil around the shrine and decorated it with dry lavender as a temporary protection until the plants would have grown. If Matsumoto had been there, she would have scolded them for using their night off for doing something that they could do in working hours without no one being able to say anything, instead of – well, it was better ignore Matsumoto’s suggestions what to do in their free time, she sometimes had funny ideas about Hitsugaya and Hinamori’s friendship.

Yet in their opinion – Hinamori voicing her thought aloud and a corner of Hitsugaya’s lip rising in agreement –, it had been the best use of their time because the company had changed everything. Though Hinamori had somehow managed to bang her head, scratching the same area on her forehead that a demon would injury the following day, they had had fun.

His fingers brushing the injury, almost faded into a sole memory, brought her out of her thoughts, sadness in his gaze trapping her and crushing her heart. Then he dropped his hand and turned to look at the same shrine they had visited a week ago, when it still had been in an area ignored both by angels and demons, before they had noticed a great amount of demonic activity there and sent Hitsuagya’s patrol into trap. Some parts of the shrine were burnt, tips of lavenders black, still reflecting the aftermath of the battle.

It could have been worse. Still, Hinamori didn’t like the tightness in Hitsugaya’s shoulders, the way he suddenly seemed to dodge her gaze.

When Hitsugaya finally talked, she almost felt a need to pinch herself to make sure she was dreaming – or having a nightmare, to be precise. “Do you ever feel that everything you do is in vain?”

No, Hinamori wouldn’t have given Hitsugaya the prize of the most optimist person, but asking questions like that, sounding like he was giving up, it wasn’t something he used to do. No matter how many times he fell, the Hitsugaya she knew stood up time after time. But everyone had moments of weakness sometimes, like when Hinamori had run to help wounded Hitsugaya ignoring a high presence of demonic activity near, in contrast to all the training she had had.

“Hitsugaya,” Hinamori said carefully, her eyes fixed on him to observe the tiniest change in his posture, “it wasn’t your fault.”

If possible, his posture tightened even more. “No? I couldn’t protect you.” His voice was composed by shards that tore Hinamori’s heart, shards of self-loathing, anger, sadness. She took a step forward, reaching out with her hand, almost dropping it but finally taking hold of his sleeve and leaning her head against his shoulder, feelings his tense muscles. “You’ve protected me many times in past,” she comforted him, “and I can protect myself, too. But sometimes we commit errors and luck isn’t on our side,” her lips tried to form a smile even though his desperate gaze were still on the half-destroyed shrine.

“I know,” Hitsugaya whispered. “Matsumoto and I would have died if you hadn’t come, but...I just...when I saw you...”

“I know,” said Hinamori this time, a tremble cursing through her body as an imagine of Hitsugaya on the ground flashed in her mind, his blood bright red on his wings and hair, his grip of his sword’s halt loosened. The anger and fear – love – that moved her before her mind had time to evaluate the situation. The understanding of their feelings for each other as she listened to his words and wrapped her arms around his waist, supporting him the way he always supported her. “I know.”

[davantrask]

Winter King

So. I haven’t posted anything in years for Hitsuhina but I have written a thing for a friend so I will post it here. It was kind of an experiment in getting back into writing again so it is jumpy and might not be entirely linear but oh well.

It is kinda long.

This may or may not be my first attempt at tumblr.

Momo moved through the bullpen quickly, ignoring the talking idiots while she walked. She was pissed. She was very, very, pissed. Mostly, she was pissed because the captain had reassigned her partner without talking to her first. Well, no one had talked to her first. Her partner had asked for a change without consulting her because he was an idiot. 

The last case has been hard. Children had been taken and skinned by a local member of the fae community. No one liked the fae, well, most of them. Children were easy targets, delicious targets according to the asshole that was currently sitting in a cell of cold iron. The idiot had taken one look at the crime scene when they had finally caught up with the fae and well… run. Now she was going to have to have some of her protection runes re-done and that hurt. Magic inked runes were wild things. She had lost five in that fight and if she was honest with herself she was still mad about it. 

She rolled her shoulders and kept walking. Coffee, she needed coffee. The bakery down the street would give her what she needed before she had to meet up with whoever the captain was going to stick her with. 

She gritted her teeth and ignored the rage demon who walked past her. Michael was a nice guy, so long as you didn’t piss him off. When she had first started here his ears had thrown her off, but she was used to seeing them now. The receptionist was a lovely fairy whose wings were gorgeous. Her eyes kind of reminded her of a dragonfly, but it would be worth those eyes to have those wings. Renji was half a something weird that she had not figured out yet. She had hoped that they would get partnered together but he didn’t do general police work. He got a lot of the shit cases that required more brute strength than detective work. 

His runes made her eyes water some days and she wasn’t sure how to explain that to a partner. Seers, good seers, could see through the glamour that let people live their ordinary lives. What was left of their ordinary lives after the walls came down and the supernatural invaded. It had taken a lot of cold iron, a war, and a few cautious treaties, to keep humans from being the main course on the easy to harvest table. That didn't mean humans weren't hunted. It did mean that someone had to hunt the things hunting the people in the dark.

When you hunted things in that went bump in the night you didn’t have the luxury to walk around pretending that your knives weren’t perfectly balanced and the runes that you had etched into your skin wasn't to keep others from wearing it. Partners, good partners, were hard to keep. Damned weak willed asshole who had run, run, from the whole thing babbling like an idiot. 

She ran her fingers through her hair and stomped out of the building. Coffee, coffee would make all of this better. 

--

Her new partner was not what she had expected. First of all, his forearms were very distracting. She wasn’t sure where he had gotten those tattoos, they were beautiful and dazzling and she had to work hard to keep from looking at the runes. She was fairly certain she knew what most of them meant but there were a few that were complicated enough that she couldn’t make them out without drawing them and studying them herself. Doing that would tell him that she was busy looking at his forearms, so that was out. 

She wasn’t entirely sure that the girls in the office saw when they looked at him. It had to be something. Those forearms weren’t his best trait, they were just the most distracting part for her since they sat across from each other each day. 

She hadn’t quite figured him out yet. He presented himself as an elf, but Momo wasn’t quite sure that she had ever seen elves with teeth quite that sharp. He didn’t have fangs like a goblin but his incisors were sharper than any humans. His ears were definitely pointed, but Fae, Goblin, and Elves all had the pointed ears. The fae that she had seen were so far gone into their blood madness that she wasn’t sure she could tell the difference between any every day elf and an everyday member of the fae court. Then again, if he wasn’t such an utter dick about life she might have taken the elf thing at face value. 

She took a bite of her chocolate cake and ignored the eyebrow. Two weeks with him as her partner and she had already decided she wanted to stab him in the face when he looked at her like that. 

“Cake? ” 

She waved her fork at him. “I don’t judge your shake things.” It was self-defense to argue back. If you didn’t argue he thought that he was right and quite frankly she had only been able to handle that for about an hour.

Pretty or not, the man was an ass. 

“Protein shakes.” He corrected, eyes narrowing. 

She shrugged. “If you choose to live on water and powder that is your decision. I choose to live on cake.” The eyebrow arched higher. “Don’t give me that judgy eyebrow. I have lived just fine without your judgmental eyebrows about my cake.”

“Judgmental eyebrows.” His voice was the same flat tone he used on the girls upfront when they annoyed him. 

Momo smiled her most charming smile at him. The one that got stupid cops to talk and cantankerous old men to calm the  fuck down. His eyes narrowed at her and she grandly ignored that, taking another bite of her cake. 

“I have a mirror, would you like to borrow it?” The surpy sweet voice she had practiced on Renji until he just twitched at her when he heard it. Toushirou just kept watching with that narrowed eyed expression so she took her last bite of cake and put her container into what she had labeled her food drawer. 

She rather thought that no one bothered the man from wherever he had come from. Someplace across the pond before they had transferred him here. She wasn't sure why he would  want to come to this city of all places he could have chosen. He was a good investigator according to her boss. He wouldn’t run when they found fae attacking children nor would he get in her way. He had asked for a competent partner, apparently, and gotten her. She didn't think he thought much of her yet, that was all her partners though. 

She didn't need her partner to approve of her methods to do a good job.

---

“If that is the kind of trouble you attract on a regular basis, we need to work on your hand to hand.”

Momo let the sound of his voice distract her enough that she could ignore the tug of the needle in her shoulder. She glanced back at him cautiously, her shirt held in front of her boobs to maintain her modesty. “My hand to hand is fine. He had ten inch claws for hands. He only grazed my shoulder.” And then she had used the many knives she carried on her person to keep him back.

Toushirou leaned against the door to the ambulance and she forced herself not to react. He had blood and dirt smudged on his person but some of that was probably hers. His cheekbones seemed sharper in the light and his eyes were glowing. She could ignore both those things if it didn't add a feral edge to the cast of his features that made her very aware of the fact that she was a small woman and he was a very fit man. Very fit. Other parts of her were very, very, aware of just how fit he was after playing toss the Momo and he had played catch. He wasn't human and Momo had rules about only dating humans. Pretty was never a good indication of anything when it came to supernaturals. 

“If you're going to run ahead of me like that into a dark creature with ten inch knives for hands, then yes, we do.”

There was a light tug and then the tech was patting her shoulder. “Let me get a bandaid so your stitches are covered and then your free to go.”

Momo nodded, glad for the brief distraction. “Thanks Mike!”

“You can thank me by not needing stitches again for awhile.” 

“Sure thing.” Band Aid applied over her back she carefully tugged her shirt over her head, ignoring her partner. She climbed down the back of the ambulance and was surprised when a jacket dropped down over her shoulders. She glanced up at Toushirou and mimicked his raised brow. 

“It's snowing.” He reminded her. “Half of your shirt is gone and your jacket is in shreds. Take the jacket.”

“You will get cold.”

He shook his head. “The cold doesn't bother me.” 

She wasn't currently cold, but that was probably adrenaline talking. She hadn't come down off her high yet, but she was certain when she did she would notice the snow. She hadn't expected snow tonight, the weather had said very cold… eh. Things like that happened when supernaturals got involved. Probably some stupid weather witch. 

“Thank you,” he had pulled their car up to the police barricade. Thankfully, he had the keys since it was his turn to drive. She slid into the passenger seat gingerly and was surprised when he handed her a mug.

“Drink that.”

She frowned at it. It looked like tea, but it didn't smell like any tea she had had before. “What is it?”

“Tea.”

She glanced over at him. He was watching the road and not her but she could hear the judgment in his voice. Tea, she snorted and took a cautious sip. Warmth slid down her throat and curled in her stomach before continuing down to her toes. She pulled the mug back and stared at it. 

“Drink all of it, Momo.”

She stared at him suspiciously. “Did you get this at that poor crazy elf ladies cart?”

He glanced at her. “No.”

“Are you sure? Because it might turn me blue or something if you did and this is weird tea. Weird tea generally only comes from the crazy tea lady.”

His mouth tucked up at the edge in what she thought was almost a smile, almost. “No, drink your tea.”

She huffed and took another cautious sip. Same reaction, what did he put in the tea? Minus that almost grin, the man was wearing his 'see no evil, hear no evil,’ stone face. He wasn't going to tell her what was in the tea and he wasn't going to stop nagging her about drinking it if her previous experience was anything to go by. 

She fell asleep somewhere between the city they were in and the precinct. She didn't end up spilling the last of her tea on herself but the gentle shaking of her good shoulder managed to help her claw her way out of her dream. She glanced at her partner who was looking at her with those glowing eyes and she wondered if he knew she could see them. 

“I am dropping you off at home, I will handle the paperwork.” 

She glanced to the right and blinked. Right she was home. Had she told him where she lived? Probably at some point she had. She blinked at her apartment complex and decide not to ask. She glanced back at him and narrowed her eyes. “I have gone in and done paperwork with stitches before.”

He shook his head. “Not today.” 

She frowned and shrugged, carefully. “Suit yourself.”

She opened the car and shut it behind her. Her body was tired, but he thankfully didn't try to walk her up. She managed to get into the house and locked everything back up. Her wards were in place, the salt on her windows was undisturbed, so she stripped out of her clothes and curled up on the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

--

Momo wasn't awake by the time she hit central the next morning. Her back had burned like fire, waking her up more than once. She wanted to blame the stitches but a quick glance in the mirror that morning had promised otherwise. Her fingers itched to touch the runes that had somehow etched themselves into a line just under her shoulder blade under the wound. They gleamed silver in the early morning light and she had the vague impression that they were unfinished work. She had still been able to walk through her wards and none of her tokens of power had flared in alarm, so they weren't dark magic. She didn't know what they were, but she knew better than to ask. Half finished as they were someone would throw her in a mental institution and lock the door. 

When she had slept she had dreamt of a dragon of ice with red eyes and lord that wasn't helping her disposition either. Dreams were the worst as a seer. It could mean anything or it could mean nothing. Still someone had started the communal pot of coffee and she was going to take advantage of that. 

“I hear you rescued some fae blood last night.”

Momo turned cautiously, eyes narrowed. Ah yes, big and dumb was here. She was fairly certain he had a name but she hadn't been bothered to learn it. Anyone with that much prejudice leaking into their work wasn't someone she wanted to be associated with. 

“If we did?” she kept her tone polite but shifted to the balls of her feet. This one she could probably take but if she popped her stitches someone was going to see the runes. That would be bad.

He marched forward. “Fae deserve what they get. Don't waste our resources on them.”

She jutted out her chin. “She was a child. Our job is to defend children from the things that go bump in the night.”

“She was a fucking animal.” He was looming over her, his face turning red. 

“She was a child.” He raised back his hand and Momo braced for the hit. If he hit her, when she stabbed him in the throat with her knives it would be self defense. 

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” The cool, clipped words of her partner broke into the room. 

Big and dumb turned to sneer. “You going to do something about it pansy man?”

Toushirou arched a brow at him. “You are, of course, welcome to try your luck.”

Momo decided she didn't want to deal with any of this. She wasn't sure how to get out of the break room without having to engage one of them. 

“Daniel, what are you doing?” The captain was suddenly there and Momo was fairly sure she had never been so happy to see her. 

“Just talking.”

“Take your talking elsewhere.”

Momo watched him walk off and tried to not look startled when the captain nodded and her and headed off as well. She ignored her partner and went for the coffee. 

“Did you know the child was fae?”

Momo turned with her cup of coffee and stared at her partner. Since she suspected him of being fae she hadn't thought that he might be prejudiced against them. “I don't see why that matters.” 

She moved to slip past him but he curled his hand around her forearm, halting her progress. “Momo.”

She glanced up at him, eyes narrowed. “Unless it relates to the job, what I see is none of your business.”

“We were on the job.”

She frowned and sighed. “I suspected. A human child wouldn't have still been alive after what had been done to her. Elves would not have tried to fight the way she did and she didn't have a goblins  fangs.”

His fingers relaxed and he dropped her arm. “You dove between a fae child and a creature with ten inch knives for hands.”

She stared back at him. “It's my job. If you don't like it, find a new partner.” She pivoted on her heel and stomped towards their desks. 

She was done with today and it had just started. 

--

She dreamed of fire and ash being swept away by the cold snow and ice of the mountains. It was there deep within the cold mountain heart of the glaciers that the dragon rumbled her name with the voice of thunder. 

But it wasn't her name he called. The words were about her but they weren't her. Still, it crawled down her spine and settled along the skin of her back. Vivid words that hung like magic on the air. 

Even upon waking it hummed under her skin and through her blood until her ears rang with it. 

--

“You need to eat more.”

“You should mind your own business.” She slid into the passenger side car door having lost the toss to see which one of them was driving. She was starting to think he was cheating to get his way and drive. She would suggest rock paper scissors next time and see how he liked it. 

“You're losing weight.”

She turned and stared at him. “Are you going to drive?” A family had been murdered and they had been called to check it out. 

He made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded vaguely of disapproval but she ignored it. She had a blinding headache and wasn't sure if it was good or bad that the sun was going down. All she had been able to get down was one of those ridiculous protein shakes he seemed to enjoy so much since he always had one with him in the morning. 

Last night she had woken up in the middle of the night and did not realize there was no light in the room. Her night vision had improved rapidly and she didn't know what to do about it. At this rate she was going to have to quit and move somewhere where no one knew her or thought she was supposed to be fully human. 

Granny had died a few years ago so it wasn't like she had anyone or anything holding her to New York City. Pain sliced down her spine and she shifted in her seat to take pressure off her back. That morning when she got up and checked the runes were now gracefully lined down her spine, a dragon had been curled through them. A beautiful silver dragon shaded to blue, with red eyes. Throwing up into her toilet had not been the way she had wanted to start her morning but it had happened. Now she was rocking the world's worst migraine and was headed to a triple homicide. If she was lucky she would finagle coffee out of something at some point today. If she wasn't lucky, they would end up on a hunt through the streets. 

Toushirou was blissfully quiet on the drive. No music, no talking, just the sound of the car engine and the occasionally angry tourist on the road. Even the five o'clock traffic was strangely muted inside her head while she leaned against the headrest with her eyes closed. 

The car door opened and shut and her eyes opened wide. When had he stopped? “Here,” Toushirou slid into the driver's seat and handed her what vaguely resembled a pork bun. A cup of tea settled in the cup holder next to her. “Eat.”

She caught the food on reflex and stared at him. “You stopped for food?” 

He glanced over at her. “You clearly didn't eat enough today. Eat your food and drink your tea.”

She blinked at the pork bun and then back at him. He didn't get anyone food, not even a donut. Some of the supernatural communities were weird about feeding each other, she had always just assumed he was one of those. Clearly, if he was getting her a pork bun be was not. Maybe he just didn't like doing people favors.

The food was delicious and at least the tea tasted normal this time. The sun was down so her eyes weren't hurting as badly as they had been. She wasn't going to tell him it had helped, but by the time they were at the house her headache had eased back and she rather thought she could get through the evening. 

She opened the door and turned to go inside the house. 

“Momo.” She turned to look at her partner, eye arched in question. A habit she wasn't going to admit picking up from him. He walked past her, hands in his pockets. “Don't forget to eat next time.”

She scowled at his back and headed after him. Partners. 

--

She was flying this time, tucked carefully under the dragon's wing and he screamed into the night air. She was safe, safe, safe, from whatever was hunting them. 

Then the fire came and there was an explosion of ice.

--

Momo woke up slowly, her head was spinning like a top and she wasn't sure what to think about it. She rolled into her back carefully and stared at the ceiling. She frowned and blinked at it. That was not her ceiling. In fact it wasn't her house. She sat up gingerly and touched the bandage wrapped around her chest and shoulders. 

She wasn't quite sure what had happened exactly. She remembered going to the house and the runes that had been carved into their bodies had activated. Something...bad come out of that hellhole. Whatever it had been, it was infinitely worse the second time around. 

“You’re awake.”

Momo turned to blink at her shirtless partner. She turned her head away and frowned at the wall. “Where am I?”

“Home,” he said quietly. She turned her head again and frowned a little. The room was a lot bigger than she had thought it was upon first glance. 

“What happened?”

“A nightmare creature was summoned from the bodies of the victims.”

She summoned her inner fortitude and turned to look at Toushirou. His shirt was off so the eye watering runes that curled around parts of his body were fully visible. She ignored the muscles under those runes and froze when she caught his face. His eyes were glowing again but it was the lack of human anything that had her breath catching. Sharp cheekbones, pointed ears that were not the soft ears of elves. It was the power clearly radiating off of him that alarmed her. He was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

She wobbled to her feet and held onto the post at the end of the bed. Home, he had said home. Not her home, not his home, but home. “What is going on?”

He stayed where he was, leaned against the door jam. “It was a trap set for the two of us.”

She snorted. “I am human. Granted I can see through glamors, but totally human. Supernatural creatures don't set traps like that for humans.”

He sighed. “Momo, I -”

There was a loud noise that echoed through the rooms and he snarled, sharper than human teeth gleaming in the low light. It was an inhuman sound from an inhuman throat and she had…

“Send me home.” 

He whirled. “You’re not-”

“Home, Toushirou. Mine, the one I pay rent on every month. Now!”

He moved forward and settled his hands on her shoulders. “It's not safe.” This face was inhuman and full of an emotion she couldn't name.

She pushed her chin up. “I want my bed and my clothes and my shower. Not whatever this is.”

There was another roar in the distance and this time when he snarled she could feel it rumble down her bones. There was a snap and a rumble and she was wobbling in front of her apartment. He reached over and opened her door for her. “Do not leave until I come get you.”

She walked into her apartment and shut the door, locking the deadbolt behind her. She stumbled across the floor and crawled into her bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and closed her eyes. 

--

The dragon was curled around her this time. His breathing deep and even. She turned her head to stare at it.

Alive. They were both alive. 

--

She woke several hours later to something echoing through her head again. She crawled out of her bed and wobbled her way to the table. There was a bowl of what looked like soup, that strange tea, and some sort of fruit. 

'Eat the food, Momo.’

She crumbled the note into a fist and was tempted to ignore it. Her stomach gurgled up at her so she forced her shaking hand to test the broth. It tasted like soup and not magic soup. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not. The fruit was strange and sweet on her tongue. The tea did that thing where it warmed her down to her toes. She struggled back across the room and rolled into her covers again. 

Tomorrow she was warding her house so that nothing bigger than a flea could get in here. 

--

He had been looking for her for a long time, he told her. Had not expected to find her in the human world. Would not have looked for her at all, except she had drawn their attention by saving a child of the court. 

Drawn attention how? 

Magic.

--

Momo felt better the third time she woke. Her head wasn't spinning and the world wasn't on fire. She managed to make it to the bathroom and the all important shower this time. It took some careful work to get the bandages off her shoulder. They were sticky with blood and some pungent smelling herbs. She vaguely remembered something tearing into her shoulder but once she got everything unwrapped all she found was smooth unblemished skin. No scars, no wounds, just Momo skin completely untouched. 

She glanced behind her and swallowed; the runes are her back had shifted again. They we're definitely protection runes of some sort and made her eyes twitch just looking at them, but the dragon was no longer a shaded outline. Intricate, delicate, detailed work had been added to the markings when she had been asleep. It was gorgeous and done by a master hand or…. magic. She was fairly certain it was the dragon that had been haunting her in her dreams. She closed her eyes and took careful breaths. She was going to ignore the rest of it. She crawled into her shower and scrubbed down very carefully using her human soap. The razor worked like it was supposed to and when she got soap in her eyes it burned like soap was supposed to. 

The towels were her rough cheap towels and the liberal use of the blow-dryer got her hair dried. The texture was a little off and the color looked like it had deepened, but she ignored that entirely. Human, she was a human Momo and that was how she was going to stay. She pulled on her entirely human clothes and walked into her living room and found a fae sitting at her kitchen table, watching the door. She froze. He wasn’t wearing his human facade but at least he had his shirt on this time. 

“What are you doing here?” He had told her to stay put until he came and got her, but she was fairly certain that she hadn’t actually expected him to come find her. 

“We need to talk.” 

She shook her head. “Do we?”

He sighed and motioned to the chair across from him. “Sit down, Momo.”

She frowned at him. He was entirely too used to getting his own way. She sat in the chair, mostly because if they were going to argue or fight about her being entirely human she wasn’t going to waste her energy arguing about whether or not she needed to sit in the chair. She watched him and he watched her and she sighed. 

“So you are Fae then,” it wasn’t much of a question but it broke the ice. 

“Yes,” his mouth curled up at the edges. The smirk that had felled Mary Deleat from five-hundred yards was a lot more potent five feet in distance and directed solely at you. This face wore it better as well, as if… her brain wasn’t sure it wanted to supply that information to her. She swallowed. 

She scowled when that was all he said and moved to stand up. “Well it's been a good chat why don’t you -” His hand reached out and caught her wrist, and her words caught in her throat. His skin was cool against hers and calloused.

“Can I look at the runes on your back.” 

She froze, and turned to stare at him. “What?” 

“The runes on your back. I would like to look at them.”

“There aren’t any runes on my back.” She refused to sit again, even holding onto her like this was better than letting him have the advantage of being taller than her even when they were sitting. 

“Momo,” his voice gentled. “When we bandaged you up after the nightmare attacked, we were able to make out bits and pieces of things.”

She jutted out her chin. “I have lots of runes inked into my skin, Toushirou. You do too, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

His eyes shifted from the almost human eyes to the glowing eyes thing and his power wrapped around him. Her pulse was pounding in her ears. “You can see the runes on my skin?” She tried to tug her hand away from him, but his grip was like iron. “Momo,” he pushed to his feet, using his greater height to stare down at her. “Answer the question.”

She huffed at him. “Don’t threaten me,” she told him. His words weren’t threatening, but his body language was. Everything about him screamed ‘threat’. Something shifted between them and he let go of her wrist while she put some space between them. She watched him carefully, while he watched her in return. He wasn’t following her across the room and it gave her a little bit of courage. He was wearing his stone face again and she wasn’t entirely certain she could make it out of the apartment without him letting her go. That meant that they were going to have to figure out something. She could transfer or ask for a new partner, but first she had to survive the next fifteen minutes. She was not stupid, she knew who would win a contest of strength or power and it wasn't her. “You know I am a seer.”

He nodded, slowly. “Yes, a human seer. Such things have existed beyond the veil of time since humanity started to walk the earth. Your captain would not elaborate on the exact nature of your seer gifts and you are tight lipped about them.” The ‘surprisingly’ hung between them and she scowled. 

“Did she know your a fae?”

His mouth quirked up at the edges again. “She knows my nature, yes. This is her territory, there is no hiding that sort of a thing from her.”

“Her territory?” 

He shook his head. “You're changing the subject.”

“You're evasive.”

“Momo, tell me about your gifts.” He was using his ‘coax momo into doing things’ voice. He didn't use it often and never in the office. Probably because it made her distinctively uncomfortable with him being a man and her being a woman. She narrowed her eyes at him again in warning. 

“Seers… we can see through the veils or through your glamour mostly.” She shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. He was watching her so closely and she was to aware of it. “How do you not know this?” Best to point out his problems to get him not to look at her so closely. 

She felt rather certain the expression that flitted across his face wasn't exactly a comfortable one. “I have not left my court to explore the realms on this side of the divide in some time, Momo.”

“Your court?” Her ears were starting to ring again, but she wasn’t entirely certain it was from fear. The feral bite of his magic nipped gently at her skin and goosebumps slid down her spine. 

He shook his head. “Let's save some secrets for later, Momo.”

She shook her head and scowled at him. “If you're going to ask for mine, then you're going to have to return the favor.” 

He sighed. “Momo…”

“Are you my partner or not?”

He watched her closely before shrugging. “As you like. I am the Winter King of the Fae court, Momo. I have taken a sejorn from my people to come and find those who are hunting our children for blood and magic.” His magic curled through the room like a sleeping cat and the dragon on her back burned. “This city is the hub for it and the dark magic here on this side of the veil. I am duty bout to find and destroy it.”

She blinked at him, her mind blank. Yep… she definitely had not been expecting that. 

-- Her tatoo had stopped growing, the runes seemingly settled into the form they wanted to take down her back and with them the dreams. She wasn't sure if she missed the dragon or not but with him curled down her spine, she wasn't sure if he was gone for good. 

She had escaped a meeting with, more like a grilling, from The Captain and now she needed cake. Actually, what she needed was to not have the entire realms diplomacy levels with the Winter King shoved down her throat, but that wasn’t going to happen. If he was lucky, she wouldn't throw salt at his head and scream Ghoul. It would provide endless hours of entertainment but it would definitely get her in trouble with both the captain and his royal pain in the ass. 

She stared at the protein shake sitting on her desk. Her partner wasn't there and everyone else seemed to be minding their own business.

“Is he feeding you now?”

She scowled at the shake. “I hope not.”

Renji moved to stand next to her. “In a lot of supernatural communities feeding someone is an act of courting.”

“So is punching you in the face.” She said sweetly. 

He laughed. “So you're not going to drink that?”

She snorted. “Powdered water is gross. I will hit the vending machine -” she paused. “Who is that?”

Renji sighed. “That is a very high and mighty elf.”

Momo snorted. “What is he doing here?” 

Renji patted her shoulder. “He is looking for a seer to help locate some rare far artifact that he thinks is causing all our missing children issues at the moment.”

She froze. “No.”

The captain hadn't said anything to her about it so it couldn't be something that she expected her to do. The elf turned and saw her and headed her way. “You're on your own kid. Elves and I don't get along.”

Momo hissed. The elf didn't look very nice, he looked fairly terrifying. She wanted to take a step back but if she had learned anything from being a cop it wasn't to take a step back from the terrifying people. 

“Momo Hinamori?”

She arched a brow at him. “Who is asking?”

“Lord Alvract Schale, the elven government would like to hire you for a job.”

Where was the captain when you needed her? “I am a cop, I don't do private jobs. If you would like for the police to help you with an investigation you can talk to the Captain about that.”

His head tilted. “I don't think you quite understand the circumstances.”

“Is there a problem?” The cool voice of her partner clipped through the room. Momo wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that he was there. Fae and Elves did not particularly like each other. That particular elf looked all elf and he was all Fae.

Lord Whatever his name was turned and frowned. “Who are you?”

“Her partner.”

“Ah,” he dismissed him. “I don't believe this involves you.”

Momo settled her hand on Toushirou's lower back to keep him from replying. She wasn't sure what he was going to say, but it couldn't be good. “I told you that all investigations go through the captain. I am not for hire outside of my work with the department.”

He glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “This isn't a refusable job offer.”

She jutted out her chin. “Talk to the captain.”

He stared at her for another moment before turning on his heel and moving back towards the front door. She dropped her hand from Toushirou’s back and made a beeline for the captain's office.

That was a giant pile of nope. Clearly, the captain needed to be in full agreement on that. The last thing they needed was for Toushirou to do was get in a fight with lord what's his what. Because she knew which one of them would do the fighting and it wasn't her. Iron only worked on the Fae.

--

Momo stumbled into her apartment carefully. The door was easy to open since she had had Rangiku come by and upgrade her wards again. She had taken the elf’s visit seriously and she was hopeful it would keep Toushirou out of her apartment as well. The ability to pop in and out like that was very uncool.  Still, she wasn't entirely certain that mugging had been a human one. The knife wound on her side had been aimed in a completely different direction. The fact that it has missed all the important bits and has resulted in a rather impressive 'flesh wound’ may or may not have been due to the extra hand to hand Toushirou made her do lately. She eased her top off and sighed. That was going to be fun to explain on Monday. At least she got two days of rest before the captain or her partner would yell at her for this one. 

Her pants and bra followed. She eased out of both of them and stared at the rune in the mirror. The dragon seemed more glowy than normal. She sighed and turned and tripped over her pants. She put her hands out to stop her fall, eyes closing. This was going to hurt, a lot. 

She landed on something soft and half not. She managed a pained groan when all the air was knocked out of her, but the pain she was expecting when all of her stitches popped didn't come. 

“Momo?”

Her head jerked up and she realized the reason it was dark wasn't because she was close to passing out, it was because she...what the fuck.

“Don't turn on the light.” She couldn't scramble but she could make out just enough to grab blankets and yank them around her person. Soft, soft, blankets that caught on the tape holding her stitches together, but they covered her. Nevermind the fact that if she could see that much he could see… she was going to die of embarrassment. 

“Are lights acceptable now?” 

She couldn't read that tone, but she absolutely didn't want to deal with this. She swallowed. “What are the chances of you sending me home and pretending this didn't happen.”

“Nonexistent.” His voice was flat. She knew that voice. That was the voice he got when he was displeased.

“Okay.” She swallowed. 

A low light kicked on in along the walls and slowly eased up until you could see, but weren't blinded by the lights. Well, she had known she had landed on his bed, but she wasn't prepared for rumpled, shirtless, Toushirou. No one could prepare for that. She was turning red again, probably going to die of embarrassment twice.

Fingers brushed her bruised cheek. “What happened.”

“I don’t know.”

He sighed. “To your face, Momo.”

She forced herself to look at him. This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her in her life. “I got mugged.”

He sat up a little straighter. She ignored the tummy flex. That wasn't fair. “The elves?”

“Maybe,” she said cautiously. “They had masks, but they moved better than a human would.”

He nodded. This face was so much harder for her to read, but it was not a happy face. He looked at her sheets. They were hers now anyway. “How did you end up here?”

She shook her head. “I don't know.” 

“You don't know?”

She shook her head again. “No.”

He sighed. “I think you're going to need to let me look at those runes on your back, Momo.”

She pressed her lips together. The damn dragon and those damn runes. “What makes you think a set of runes has anything to do with this.”

He gave her a look, such a look. “No human hand made those runes. Which means there magic; magic that apparently can teleport you without your conscious consent. There are only a few types of magic on either side of the veil that can do that.”

“What kind of magic.”

“Let me see your runes and I will tell you.”

She shook her head. “Explanation first and then I will decide.”

He looked at her through his lashes. “I don't have to be nice about it.” 

His pitch lowered and warning skittered down her spine. No. Just no. She scowled to give herself something to do. “I don't care. You're not the one who got teleported naked. Explanation first.” His eyes gleamed at her for a long moment and this time the flush that slid up her chest wasn't from embarrassment. She didn't think it was. It might have been. She made herself stare back at him. 

“Most magic runes are court based. In the winter court as you grow, runes tend to appear on your skin based on what you will become or how your magic is developing. For instance, there are runes on my back that indicate that I am the Winter King. These tie me to the court and the court magic.” He was watching her closely and she nodded. All right, that made sense. Magic runes that gave him his authority. Right. 

“You are human and not tied to a court but you do have magic, your seers blood. Somewhere you have done something that tied you to this court since you were teleported here.”

She frowned. “How?”

He shook his head. “Magic is a strange thing. We have theories on how it works and we can adapt it to our uses; it's still a wild thing with it's own will.”

“I am not Fae. I definitely am not part of your court.”

His mouth curled up at the edges. “I am a benevolent king. Who knows, you might like it.”

She huffed. “No.” 

Her motioned for her to turn. “Let me see your back, Momo. Then we can talk about how we're going to deal with you popping into my bed at night.” 

She stared at him, fingers curling into the blanket. Yes, okay, that...she had not imagined that innuendo. It wasn't the words, it was the tone and that tone had been full of things. She scowled at him. 

“You're not going to make some random shit up are you?”

“No.” 

Okay, okay, that was his 'insulted my honor’ voice. She carefully eased around. At least she had underwear on. Her side pulled but she ignored that. He would see the stitches no matter what if she was giving him her back. She snuck a hand out from under the blanket and grabbed a pillow to cover her chest. She wasn't going to give up modesty just because he wanted to see her back. She eased the blanket down and pulled her hair to the side, pillow clutched to the front of her chest. She felt him move behind her and jumped a little when his fingers touched the skin of her back.

“Hey,” he said look, not touch. 

“When did these first start coming in?” 

His voice was weird. She didn't know that voice. It was full of… she didn't know. Alarm was trying to work it's way down her body. She was a cop, she ignored it. “The first one appeared after I got hurt helping that Fae child.”

“The dragon?”

“Bits and pieces here and there.” She hesitated. In for a penny, in for a pound. “The dreams were the annoying part.” She admitted. “I don't really know what they meant.”

“The dragon is the protector of the Winter Court,” he had that same strange tone in his voice, “he is also the embodiment of our magic.” His fingers traced part of what felt like a dragon and goosebumps slid up her back. “These are protection runes, very strong ones.”

“How did I end up here?”

His fingers touched the rune at the top of the set. The one she hand not been able to figure out on her own. “This rune here, it is keyed to the King of the Winter court.”

She tightened her grip on her pillow, eyes wide. “Why? That makes no sense.” She turned her head to stare at the wide eyed man behind her. “I am not Fae nor should I be tied to your court at all. Humans don't get mixed up in your business. Most of you don't even like us.” She felt like she was standing on a cliff and her words were a vain attempt to get them back on solid ground. 

His hand moved away from her back. He took a deep breath and it was the first time she had seen him look wide-eyed and rattled. She didn't like that, at all. That meant something was really wrong.

“The runes name you guardian of the winter court.” He hesitated before his eyes met hers. “Guardian and Queen.”

--

Momo let the little healer unstitch her side as she worked on healing the knife wound. The cut on her face was already back to smooth Momo skin. She glanced at the mirror in front of her. After Toushirou’s declaration he had done something to summon the healer, more importantly clothes. The clothes basically covered her front and left her back free. She had decided that it was because the healer needed access to her side, although she had caught Toushirou glancing at her back when he thought she wasn't paying attention. 

She did not know what to do with this situation. What she wanted to do was go home and sleep and pretend this conversation had not happened. Queen? Queen? There was some sort or cosmic joke going on here. She was human. Humans did not do this; they did not become supernatural anything. She glanced at her hair again. Darker, thicker hair, framed a pale face. She was pretty sure the pale was because she wanted to throw up. She had no trouble seeing in the lower light and that bothered her a lot. Everything about this bothered her. 

“You need to eat some food to replace the energy I used to heal your wound.”

Momo nodded. “Thank you.”

The healer nodded and moved out of the bathroom. She had gotten a quick wash to get the blood and smell of hospital off and now she had to go back there and face Toushirou. She gritted her teeth, she did not want to do this. 

“Come eat, Momo.” The order was in his tone again. She didn’t like it. She sighed and pushed to her feet. There was no point in not eating whatever he had rounded up. She wasn't a fan of the skirt that had come with the top but at this point she wasn't going to argue about clothes that mostly covered her body. 

The food at least turned out to be the same soup and fruit he had given her last time. “I take it this is the standard food after someone heals you?”

His mouth eased up at the corner. “To a degree, it's the easiest of the options for you to eat.” She sat down and accepted the bowl he handed her. Food was good. It kept him from talking to her and that was what she wanted. 

“I have a compromise for you.”

Momo glanced up. “I didn't realize that we needed one.”

“Did you plan to permanently move here?” She shook her head. “Then we need a compromise.” He glanced at her healing side. “The elves are targeting you as well.”

“We don't know it's elves, also, we don't know if this is permanent. You barely know me. This...whatever it is -”

“Momo, stop panicking.”

“I am not panicking.”

He grinned. It made her want to punch him. “I did not expect this either. The court has absorbed humans with magic before. All courts would do so if given the chance. Humans aren’t just caught for food, Momo.”

She stared at him. “You seem...not upset.”

That damn eyebrow arch. “I have ruled alone for a long time.”

She waved her hands. “I am human, not Fae. I can't be queen.”

He caught her hands. “You’re changing; in a few months you will have to wear your own glamour to appear human.”

She scowled. “I don't want this.”

“I know.”

She stared at their hands. His we're long fingered, strong. Hers were short human hands. Would that change too? “What changes?”

He shook his hand, shifting his hands so her hands were cradled by the palms of his. “We will discover that as we go. Some of them won't appear until we formalize our relationship.”

Formalize? “I am not sleeping with you.”

That grin popped back up. “Yet,” he corrected. “You're not sleeping with me, yet.”

She shook her head “You cannot -”

“I knew I would not pick my Queen.” He told her. “Fat, tall, ugly, pretty, it would not matter once magic choose her. I am old, Momo. Much older than you can imagine.” His gaze slid down her body and she felt herself start to flush again. “I am not disappointed in the choice that has been made.”

She pulled her arms back and crossed them over her chest. She was going red again. “I am still not sleeping with you.” She glared at his amused expression . “I am still a cop.”

“And that is our compromise.”

“Compromise.” She repeated. 

“The elves may know who you are. They have a different sort of seer in their bloodlines. It is the winter courts job to ensure that you are safe.”

“Okay, and that means what?”

“During the day, you may reside on your side of the veil. We still need to find the source of the black magic and remove it so that the children are safe. Since you have been named guardian you are going to find your need to hunt this creature is going to increase more as your instincts settle.”

“Okay, what's the catch.” She didn't like the 'you may reside’. He was not her king, this was not her court. 

“You sleep here with me at night.”

She clenched her fists. “I like my bed.”

“You are also vulnerable on that side of the veil. Here, you are protected.”

She rubbed her face. “I don't even know how I got here the first time!”

“I will come and get you until you master the magic required to travel between realms.” 

She glared. “And how do you decide when it's bedtime? I am not getting a curfew.”

He held up a cellphone. “Magic. You can text me when you're ready for bed and I will come get you.” He shrugged. “If you don't text me, I will assume something is wrong and react appropriately.”

She rubbed her nose and frowned. “I don't have a choice do I.”

“No, but other than changing your place of sleep, your life won't change much.”

She pressed her lips together and stared at him. This….was not what she had in mind when she told Granny she might like a little adventure sometimes.

God, this was not what she had imagined.

--

Momo was too tired for this nonsense. She had not slept well in the unfamiliar room, even if Toushirou had not been there half the time she was actually there. Apparently, he did not need as much sleep as she did being immortal, long lived, whatever the hell be was. He might have been giving her space as well since she was twitchy as hell around him now. 

Hell, work today had been spent mostly in silence. Even the captain had been giving them weird looks. They had agreed that they weren't going to discuss their new status just yet, but he did go to talk to the captain shortly before shift end. She had been prepared to leave, go home, and shower and maybe nap before she bad to change residences for the evening but what she had gotten was Rangiku Matsumoto instead. 

So now she was in a bar with a drink, eating cheese fries, and staring at the human woman in front of her who was showing her own (small) dragon tattoo.

“So you’re not human?” 

Rangiku grinned and dunked a poor innocent fry into some unholy concoction she had created earlier. Momo shuddered and pulled her plate a little closer to her side of the table. Clearly not human if she was eating that. 

“Technically, no. I was human, then the elves got ahold of me and I escaped and Toushirou rescued me. Now I am part of the winter court.”

Momo sighed. “Is everyone who is part of this damn court going to figure it out before I want them too?”

Rangiku shook her head. “I don't think so. It's obvious to me, I mean.” She took a bite of another fry. “I went through all this while under the tender mercies of the elves, bastards. So it was obvious to me what you were going through when it started. Toushirou should have noticed if he hadn't been so distracted.”

“Distracted?”

Rangiku grinned. “The man fed you food! Or tried to, he would only have done that if he was interested. You just bulldozing past it was the greatest thing I have seen in five-hundred years.”

She opened her mouth to argue and closed it. Then covered her face and sighed. “I don’t know what to say right now.”

“Drink more of that alcohol. It will help.”

“Ha, ha.” She ate a fry instead. “Why dinner, or fries, then?”

“The next few months are going to get weird for you.” Rangiku sighed. “I owe Toushirou my life, but there are some things that you might not want to talk to him about. If you need to talk, my ear is always available.”

Momo nodded. She would probably need to double check with Toushirou before she actually talked to her about anything, but being able to have someone not connected to the court to talk to...well that sounded nice. 

Rangiku looked serious for a moment. “We all know a queen has been chosen. It… Toushirou should have known too or maybe we knew as soon as he did. I am not as well versed in how court magic functions since I don't leave this side of the veil.”

Momo decided to just ignore that part. She was not sleeping with him. “Why can't you leave this side of the veil

“Elves are assholes. If I try to leave the veil they will find me again.” She shrugged. “It's fine, I like it here. Alcohol, people, I almost feel normal most of the time.”

Momo sighed. “I think I am going to need more fries for this.”

“You know that sounds fantastic.”

--

The smell of blood was nauseating. Momo covered her mouth and pulled her knife out of its sheath. The room smelled like magic and magic made guns very unpredictable. If she has to use one, she would. 

She turned her face into the microphone stitched into the collar of her jacket. “It's definitely this way.” 

Renjis voice clicked back. “We are coming down, don't engage anything.”

Blah, blah, don't get stabbed. Got it. If she got stabbed then Toushirou would probably make her go to the healers first and then feed her and then she would spend two days sleeping that off. No thank you. Just walking into the room with him anymore was enough to get stomach twisted together.  She wasn't sure if it was magic or just plain ole hormones, either way she wasn't  entirely comfortable with it. Most nights he was nice enough to leave the room to let her fall asleep and then she woke up in her bed at home with her alarm going off. It was some sort of routine anyway. 

She focused on the blood trail and tried not to jump when Toushirou and Renji dropped down next to her. Renji looked extra fangy and Toushirou's ears were starting to look very Fae like. 

She arched a brow at both of them. “There is enough magic down here to choke a horse. Reign it in you two.” She turned and eased down the walkway. It was too narrow for either of them to pass her and that would probably annoy Toushirou. She didn't care overly much. Right now...she was fairly annoyed with him and she didn't have a reason for why. Rangiku had give her that amused look when she had asked her about it and told her that sex would probably fix it.

Ha, ha, no.

She pulled her attention back to herself and paused when they got close to a corridor. “Let me go first.” Renji’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I smell sulphur.”

Momo nodded and eased to the side. She ended up having to squash against Toushirou but that was better than the wall. She was not touching the wall. He grimaced when he had to lean into the brick, but he could take it like a man or far, or whatever. Magic curled down her spine and along her runes. It almost felt like it missed her, she glanced at Toushirou from under her lashes and was a little startled to see him watching her and not the walkway.

“Don't let them touch you here, your magic is going to be unpredictable.” 

She nodded, her head jerking before moving down the hallway. She paused. “My magic?”

His fingers settled on the small of her back. “Forward, Momo.”

She gritted her teeth and ignored how warm his fingers were when he should clearly be cold, king of winter and all. She scowled at Renji’s red hair and avoided a hole in the wall and kept walking. Damn evasive bastard. She had decided he only gave her information when it was convenient for him. She wasn't sure how to deal with that but right now wasn't exactly the time. 

Fine. Fine. Fine.

She would deal with it later. 

--

He should have been more specific. Momo stared at the carnage that was the room she had been trapped in and refused to actually acknowledge the fact that it was snowing. If she ignored it, maybe it would go away. She wasn't cold, but of course it was apparently her magic that had caused it.

Possibly because she was trying to cover a lot of dead people that she didn't remember killing. Her clothes were ripped in a few places but most of the blood wasn't hers. Hell the blood dripping down her knife wasn't hers. There were also runes, elegant, beautiful, runes along her forearms that she was to shell shocked to translate. 

She also didn't know where she was. She had been with Toushirou and Renji and then the floor had dropped out from under her while she was escorting a victim to the main road. The victim bad attacked her as surely as all these people had. Probably, probably the woman was in the middle of all this. She swallowed her bike and flipped on her flashlight. It burned her eyes but it helped her see a little better.

Right, okay, her watch said she had been missing for two hours. Toushirou was probably going to kill her for this one, but in her defence there had been cops everywhere. She hadn't expected to fall through a whole and wake up exhausted and bodies...everywhere. Was the snow from her or Toushirou? Did it matter? She needed to find a way out of this place or she needed to see if she could teleport to Toushirou somehow. 

She started walking. Well, she used the gross wall as a prop while she meandered down the hallway. Unpredictable, she wanted to know what predictable meant to him. Killing, no, she wasn't going to think about it. She was going to hold onto this knife for all she was worth and she was going to walk. 

Some weird instinct warned her to turn off her flashlight so she did. There was a small alcove and she gritted her teeth and walked through it. She could hear her heartbeat in the quiet of the room, but that was all. 

“Who pissed off the Winter King.”

“Why is he here?” 

Momo eased a little further back and froze. They were talking about Toushirou. 

“The Queen is missing.”

“How did he lose the queen?”

“The elves have a bounty on her head.”

“Why would - do you smell that?”

Momo wanted to ask them what they smelled, but the dragon on her back burned and she was suddenly in the dimly lit room that she had come to recognize as belonging to Toushirou. The tiny healer looked up and smiled. 

“Glad to see I haven't lost my touch. Come on dear, let's get you cleaned up before Toushirou descends on us. If he sees all this blood it might go really bad for the elven diplomats.”

Momo let her lead her to the bathroom. “Diplomats?” 

White teeth flashed. “Apparently, Toushirou beheaded two elven Lord's this afternoon after you went missing. It was very messy, I am told. The elves have a fine sense of diplomacy. As soon as the first head started to fall they dispatched people to make sure no other heads rolled.”

“How kind of them.”

“Yes, well, since you smell like you bathed in elven blood I can imagine how you're feeling about them just now. Now, let strip and wash. I will take care of the clothes. You get clean and then crawl into the tub to finish the recovery.”

Momo didn't argue, the need to be clean was pretty intense and since she didn't really know whose blood she was bathed in it wouldn't be good to argue. She hesitated. “He beheaded them?”

The little healer whose name she might be able to pronounce one day grinned. “Very messily I am told. It serves them right. You're the Queen.”

Momo nodded slowly; all right what was she supposed to say to that. “All right then, I am going to go shower now.”

“Use the green soap. It will get the smell of blood out of your hair.”

Right. Shouldn't let Toushirou smell the blood. He had already beheaded two people. Who just… why would he even… you didn’t behead people. She looked at the runes on her arms. He wasn't not going to miss those. He was going to freak out and apparently he had already freaked out and beheaded two people.

“Is someone going to tell him you found me?” That was probably an important question. 

“Of course. Clean up quickly. You probably have ten minutes at the most.” There was a pause. “Unless you want him to find you naked in the shower.

She was hot and cold at the same time. He did not need to find her in the shower. She swallowed. “Very funny.” 

--

Momo pulled a pillow over her head when the lights flared on. She was not particularly fond of the lights. She sat up and immediately closed her eyes. Oh god, that was bright; too bright. She slapped a hand over her face. The light was wa

o bright. Way, way, to bright. 

“What the hell.” 

Hands jerked her forward. She snarled and slapped out at the hands. God her body hurt. “Be still, Momo.”

“I am so done with the orders.” She blinked at the walls in eye watering fascination. Toushirou never turned on the lights like this. She wasn’t sure if that was for consideration for her light sensitive eyes or his. She wasn’t sure if it was the light that gave it away or the hands roughly shoving her into the bed, but her runes flared and magic snapped the person on the bed across the room. 

She sat up and shoved her nightgown back over her shoulder. This was why she always brought clothes when she came over here. So she didn’t have to wear these flimsy things that the women here thought were nightclothes. She scowled. Her knives, she had knives somewhere didn’t she? Who the fuck was in this room? She crawled across the bed and landed on her feet. At least this stupid outfit had shorts. She scowled and grabbed a chair to pull in front of her when he was running at her again. She swung her chair around and connected with it. It flew into the table and sent everything flying across the room. 

Right, okay. Power slid down her hands and it started to snow again. Why was it snowing exactly? God only knew why it was snowing. She scowled and dove behind the chair when something crashed into it. That was something with a sharp edge attached to it. Someone was attacking her with a sword. There was a flash of power in the corner of the room, and Momo decided that it was probably not going to kill her in the next sixty seconds. 

She grabbed another chair and attacked whoever it was that had turned on the damn lights. This was not fun. Something twisted her body around and she hoped over the sword that was coming at her from behind. A knife landed in her hand and she dove at the man who was coming at her. He dodged backwards and she took that opportunity to do so as well. Great, just great, now there were two of them. She caught the corner of the table and flipped it up to hide behind to catch the knives that she had barely noticed. Right, okay, well she was a good fighter but this was a little ridiculous. 

The snow exploded into the room. So much ice and snow. Momo used the distraction to dive behind the couch. There was a crash and a scream; another scream. Momo wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her knife a little tighter. 

“It's all right, Momo.”

She almost snorted.  Right, she had heard that one before. Get up, Momo. Eat the food, Momo. Let this person who wears Toushirou’s face crawl into bed and shake you and probably try to stab you in the face, Momo. No, she was not going to deal with this. She crawled to the end of the couch and peeked out from behind it when the snow and ice disappeared. The room was still shambles, but there were no bodies. Toushirou was standing in the middle of it. A long ass sword in his hand while he looked around the room. Her tiny knife, in comparison, wouldn't do much of anything to stop that sword. 

“You know, I have heard that before in the last ten minutes.”

He turned, mouth quirked up. “Nice outfit.”

She scowled at him. “Put up the sword.” It disappeared from his hand and her little knife followed. Well that was a rather interesting type of betrayal. She had liked that knife. Having a weapon was a lot better than not having a weapon. “I thought you said I was safe here?”

His eyes narrowed and she forced herself to leave the relative safety of the couch and ignore the way his eyes followed the line of her legs. “You were sleeping fine when I left.”

Right, okay, it wasn’t creepy when you shared a room with someone. She rubbed her face. “Well, they got in somehow.” She dropped her hands and yelped. He was right there. She threw up her hands and he barely caught her before she tripped over the couch. She swallowed. Okay, they were supposed to not do this level of touching, right? She glanced up at him through her lashes, he was watching her with that particularly lethal for Momo expression on his face. 

Her super ninja fighting skills had not reared their head, so clearly he was Toushirou? 

“Be careful,” he loosened his grip on her hips and she took a step back, nodding. 

“They had your face,” she told him a little wearily, his jaw ticked. 

“How did you figure it out?”

She waved her hand at the still very bright lights. “They turned the lights on all the way. You never turn on the lights when I am asleep.” She glanced at him. “I haven’t decided if you keep them off for me, if you keep them off in general or if you can see that well in the dark.” He didn’t need to know about those few seconds of confusion. She had not been awake. 

His mouth curled at the edge. “I see.” She glanced at the room that she had thoroughly trashed. Huh, that had been an effective if fast fight. “You weren’t alone for more than ten minutes.”

She frowned and went to ask him if some of his people had decided to get rid of her when he reached down and caught her hand so that he could look at the runes on her arms. She almost jerked her hand out of his, but she was fairly certain that it would get her another one of those looks and she had had enough of those today. He had that half amused expression on his face, that wasn’t much better. 

“What happened when you feel through the floor?”

She ducked her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He tapped her nose with his free hand and she scowled. 

“These runes are very rare and hard to come by.”

“Great.”

He sighed. “You have protection runes on your back and battle runes on your arms.” His thumb brushed against her wrist. “What am I going to do with you?”

She shrugged, “Take me home so I can get actual clothes to sleep in?”

He reached up and ran his fingers down her throat and to her collarbone. “I like this outfit.” 

She felt the flush starting to work its way up her chest. She cleared her throat. “That's nice, I still want pants.”

“I can keep you warm, Momo.” 

She blinked. Blinked again. He did the voice thing. The unfair voice thing. She felt her face flush a bright red and scowled at him. “No.”

She wasn't sure what to do with that dimple. Probably ignore it, that was for the best. “Come,” he told her. There was a faint whisper of magic and they were standing in a new much bigger room. It wasn’t as dark as the previous room. Windows lined the walls giving her a view of the mountains covered in ice and snow.

“What in the world…” her voice trailed off while she blinked at the room. It was a nice room, but still.

“This room opened up once you were recognized as the Queen. It is in the heart of our court, anyone who wishes you ill will here will face a different sort of death than the one I can offer them.”

“What do you mean?”

He motioned her towards the window. She glanced at him. He was wearing his stone face again; the one that told her she was going to have to figure this out on her own. She sighed and walked to the edge of the room and stared out the window. Mountains, ice, snow, more mountains. She wasn’t sure what she was… wait. Wait one damn second. The mountain that she had been admiring shifted and red eyes flashed against the horizon as the whole damn thing…. it moved. That whole mountain over there moved.

“Is that a dragon?” 

--

Momo stared at her coffee cup and the cookie she had ordered herself and tried to be practical. There was no practical left in here. There was a lot of devastation, anger, and hurt. She had been fired from being a cop. She forced herself to keep her hands from clenching. Oh sure she has reasons.

‘The Winter Queen can't be a detective on this force without political repercussions. It is one thing to use cover to find a murderer, it's another to be a paid member of this institution and we are a neutral force. No one will think this territory is neutral if you're being paid and you are too good to let you volunteer.’

Too good to let her volunteer. It was a nice way of saying she wasn't wanted. She took a bite of her cookie and contemplated what, exactly, she was going to do now. She was still inching her way through the transformation from human to Fae. Toushirou had spent a lot of time staring at her that morning so she had avoided the mirrors for all she was worth. Her ears didn't feel pointy, but she had left her hair down just in case. Maybe that was the problem. She used to have fine hair and now it was a thick curtain to just past her shoulders. At least it was still straight. If her hair curled she might have lost her mind. It also wasn't white; a small favor she kept thanking the universe for. 

Still, she had been fired from the job she had spent her whole life working towards. She wished Granny was still alive. Then she could call her and tell her about this madness and hear her laugh. She would want to meet Toushirou and probably demand daily visits once she knew he could pop in and out of reality at will. 

She wasn't going to cry in a coffee shop over a cookie. She could at least wait until she had liquor in front of her. God, what was she going to do with her stuff? She was going to be forced to live with Toushirou full time now and that would just lead to extreme boredom. She closed her eyes and jumped with someone dropped into the seat in front of her. 

“Renji?”

“I heard.” He had a cup of coffee in his hands. She wasn't quite ready to look up at him yet. “Shit thing for her to do

“What reason did she give?”

“That's you’re the newly appointed Winter Queen.” He paused. “Toushirou is going to be pissed.”

Momo nodded. He was probably going to have words with her. “Why would she do that?”

He shook his head. “I don't know. The captain doesn't play political anything, but that was a pretty shit move. It's going to paint a target on your back with the more extreme cops in the division. Her grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave right now.”

Momo hesitated before shrugging. “What's her story? As a human I didn't rank enough to know, but Toushirou said he had to tell her who he was when he came into town. Is she a see?”

Renji grinned. “No, she probably hates you for that one, actually. Her great-great-grandmother had real power, but she was a human yanked out of this world by a court. She made it back and settled here, declared this place neutral territory and started the supernatural police force to monitor and deal with things that went bump in the night. It's a long convoluted story but that's the basis. Each generation has carried it on, though the current captain is all human. She uses charms and various things to maintain her authority and most of the courts respect her stance because of the previous generations.”

Momo nodded. “If it's just based on respect then who knows how Toushirou is going to react.”

“Quickly and angrily if I am to judge his response to the elves attacking you. It's why I quit too. I want no part of that when he decides on how he is going to retaliate.”

Momo blinked. “You quit? Too? I thought everyone liked the captain.”

Renni nodded. “We did, until she obviously set you up against those elves. Then she throws you under the bus? Fae aren't stupid and Toushirou has been the king for a long time. Going after you is suicide.”

Momo took a drink of her coffee and watched the people walk by outside. Some were supernatural hiding in plain site, some were just plain humans moving on to live their new lives. “That doesn't make sense to me. Why? All I wanted was to be a cop and help people.”

Renji shrugged. “The type of person who goes from human to Fae Queen in a matter of days is the type of person the captain would see as a rival. As long as you were a good little cog in the wheel she could ignore you. The rules of this place state you should be safe here, but that won't stop her from trying.”

Momo pursed her lips together. “What do you think Toushirou will do?”

He looked at her and she sighed. “That's what I thought. What brings you here, Renji? You didn't come all this way to give me the political speech.”

“I have a job offer for you.”

She glanced at him surprised. “You quit your job.”

He nodded. “Yes, but Kira, I don't know if you have met him, and I have had a contingency plan in place for a while. We both like to find the missing pieces but we don't like all the bureaucracy, so we have our private investigator licenses. We would like for you to join us.”

Momo wondered if she looked as startled as she felt.

“We have offices on the corner not too far from here and three apartments above. We bought the place outright a few years ago so if you wouldn't have to pay rent or anything.”

“That's… Generous of you guys.”

Renji looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Look, I mean, I know Toushirou would probably buy you anything you wanted, but we wanted to make the offer. You're a damn good investigator and we would love to have you as part of the team.”

Momo smiled at Renji. “I would love to meet Kira and look over the apartment and space, but I probably do have to talk to Toushirou and see if there is some political thing I don't know about.” Having an apartment that she didn't have to pay rent on would let her continue to transition in peace and give her a place to hide from things. Having a job would be better. 

Doing private investigations would give her something outside of being queen. She wasn't ready for the queen gig, wasn't even going to pretend she was ready for the queen gig. Hell, Toushirou and her weren't even at the point where they were kissing. She eyed Renji and wondered if he would still like her if she asked him if Fae kissed each other. 

Kissing Toushirou would probably wreck her world, she had better not. 

“Wanna go look now?”

Momo scooped up her cookie. “Let's!”

--

“You’re not sleeping.”

Momo glanced up from where she was settled in front of the large window that looked out over the mountains. She hadn't seen the dragon again since the first day she had been here, but she figured it was out there somewhere. Toushirou had picked her up at her apartment and then apparently headed off to meetings. She rather thought the time difference here was strange, but probably it wouldn't matter as much anymore.

“My brain isn't tired.” 

She was a little startled when he sat on the rug in front of the window with her. She...well, okay. Nevermind now she could feel the heat of his leg against hers, really was it necessary to do that? She glanced over at him and realized she had his full attention. Well, crap. 

She glanced back out the window. She was pretty sure the dragon was hiding from her. 

“What's bothering you.”

She looked back at him. “Your many minions haven't reported in?”

“Not today,” he stretched his legs out in front of him. “I will wait to see if you will tell me before summoning the minions. It is easier on their knees.”

Momo snorted and watched the snow fall. “The Captain fired me today. Said I was too much if a political hot potato to work under her office.” It stung, having to tell him. He was the whole reason this has happened and she didn't particularly like it. He had not returned to the precinct since the whole 'behead they enemy thing.’ Probably due to his cover being blown. 

“Did she now.”

“You didn't know?” 

He shook his head. “No, I would have dissuaded her from it, if I had.”

“Why?”

“Politically, she has very little power. The rules that have been put in place are maintained by the courts through treaties. Initially, following the rules was forced by her family but that changed as people settled into that side of the veil. They have very little power of their own now, they have only ever produced children with humans.”

“The why did you look for the murderers as a cop?” 

“Convenient cover. Also, it is her people's job to hunt for those who would attack our children. I was curious as well, how someone like the creature we caught was killing uninhibited in the city.”

“What did you decide?”

“Other than you and a few others it's a farce of a police force now.” She shifted so she could look at the line of his jaw. It told her more than that flat, flat, voice. He looked at her with those eyes. “What else did she do?”

She closed her eyes with a sigh. He brushed her hair back away from her face and she tried not to look startled, she rather thought she failed. 

“You wouldn't look so pensive if there hadn't been something else. What is it?” 

“Renji met me for coffee. He said she named me Winter Queen.”

“Did she now.” His words were soft and quiet and that was more terrifying than anything else she had seen from him. 

Momo nodded. “I can't confirm -”

“I can.”

“Renji offered me a job as a private investigator.” She told him to change the subject. She got the satisfaction of seeing him freeze, eyes a little wide. Ha, she had surprised him with that one. “It comes with an apartment. I am going to accept it.”

He cocked his head at her. “You could always move here.” 

“And do what? You and I both agreed I wasn't ready for court functions until I finished my new power upgrade.” Amusement curled at the corner of his mouth and eyes. “I have never sat still in my life, I am not starting now.”

“They offered you an apartment?”

She shrugged. “I can't afford my own place without my job.”

“You can afford whatever you want.”

“That is your money, not mine.” Her hands were fists on her knees and she forced them to relax. She hated talking about money. He had so much and she had so little. Working at least let her feel independent, well, maintain her independence. 

“Everything that I have is yours.”

She looked outside in an attempt to cover her blush. Right, yes, well they had to have this conversation at some point. “It doesn't feel like mine.”

“I see.”

“Do you?” Arching her brow at him probably wasn't winning her any points. “I have been alone a long time. Not long in Fae terms, granted, but it feels like winning the lottery or something. Not mine.”

He kept watching her for a few minutes and she made herself stare back. This was one of his tactics, stare at the Momo until she broke and told you what was actually bothering her. Not this time. 

“I am going to have to insist that you eat dinner with me several times a week, if you're going to want to spend your days on that side of the veil.” He gave her one of his looks that she hadn't quite figured out. “We will also need to work out arrangements on how to handle the more dangerous investigations you're going to find.”

“I am not -”

“Protection spells and battle runes do not equate a peaceful life, Momo.”

“Because I created those runes myself!” Sarcasm would win her any points, but it helped. He pushed to his feet and held out a hand for her to take. “Come to bed, it's late for you. You're going to feel it tomorrow.”

She took his hand grudgingly. She moved to drop it once she was standing and his fingers tightened around hers. He led her towards the bed and glanced back at her. She wasn't sure what he got from her face but his mouth tilted up in that smirk that always did weird things to her stomach. 

“I can't seduce you if you don't let me touch you, Momo.”

She almost tripped over her own feet. Seduce? “What?” Her voice was raspy, but she was...he…

He paused and turned and used his free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, fingers brushing over her jawline before he let his hands drop. “I told you before, I am not disappointed that you are my queen.”

“I told you I wasn't sleeping with you.”

That thrice damns smirk had her curling her toes into the floor to keep from reacting. “Yet,” he reminded her. “You're not sleeping with me, yet. I never said I wasn't going to change your mind.” He brought her wrist up to his mouth, lips soft against her skin. “It's a war of attrition and I am playing to win.”

Momo could feel her ears turning red. She cleared her throat. “No.”

He nodded and tugged her towards their room. “For today.”

...that was both the most thrilling and terrifying thing she had ever heard in her life. 

 --

Momo wasn't sure where she was. She was floating somewhere and her body felt weird. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in a weird Misty place, just floating. She turned her head and frowned. Her body wasn't particularly under her control, just her head. She closed her eyes and counted to three and opened them again. Same place, same story, what was going on here? Was she dead? What had happened and why couldn't she remember it? She closed her eyes again and decided to not panic. Panicking didn't seem to be a plausible thought process. 

There was a rumble in the distance and her head tilted in it's direction. The rumble increased. She closed her eyes and the mist growled at her, she opened them in time to see a red eyes dragon curl around her body. She took a deep breath and felt the dragon curl around her. 

'I found you, you are safe.’

She wanted to ask him where he found her, but her eyes were closing again. This time, at least, she was safe.

At least, she thought she was safe. 

--

Momo stood in front of Rangiku’s door, hood pulled over her face. The door opened and she stared at her friend, wide eyed and probably pale. Rangiku stared at her.

“Can I come in?” Even her voice felt funny in her mouth. It was enough to startle the blond out of her stupor.

“Momo?”

“Please?”

The door opened wide and she moved into the room before she could change her mind. The door shut behind her and she shivered. It was cold, but it wasn't the cold bothering her. She turned to her friend and wondered if she saw the same thing she had when she looked in the mirror.

“Momo, what happened? Does Toushirou know you are here?”

She swallowed the tears that wanted to erupt. She wasn't going to cry. She shook her head. “I am not even sure how I got here to be honest.”

Fingers pushed her hood back and Rangiku sucked in a breath. Momo didn't quite flinch, her body freezing. “You finished -”

“Yes,” she interrupted quietly. Rangiku was looking at the same defined cheekbones, sharp ears, and dark eyes of the fae lady she had seen in the mirror that morning. She swallowed. “Something bad happened. I don't know what yet, but I dreamed… Well, it doesn't matter what I dreamed. When I woke,” she waved to graceful, not human, hands at herself. “This.”

Rangiku hesitated. “You’re beautiful.”

She surprised both of them when she burst into tears, her entire body crumbling into the chair she had sat in a hundred times. Rangiku dropped with her, wrapping warm, human, arms around her while she cried. 

She cried too much and not enough but as soon as the waterworks started, they stopped. “I didn't want to be Fae.” She told the woman next to her. 

“I know.” The hand patting her shoulder paused. “Toushirou is going to have kittens when you're not there.”

Momo snorted. “He will live.”

Rangiku leaned back on her heels cautiously. “Momo, he is the King of the court.”

She shrugged. “According to the dragon I am his equal not his subject. He will live.” 

“The… dragon?”

Momo looked at her friend and wondered if the empty hole in her gut was because her humanity had been so thoroughly stripped from her so quickly or not. She was numb and tired and god, she was right.

He was going to kill her. 

She managed a slight smile. “It might be better not to ask that one. It's complicated.”

Rangiku nodded, wide eyed. “What can I do?

She sighed and closed her eyes. “How do I get back?”

“Oh boy.”

--

Momo sat in her bed and listened to the rain fall. Rangiku hadn’t a clue how to get her home but she had known how to sneak her back to her apartment. The room Renji and Kira had given her had the most privacy being on the top floor, it also had the biggest window and was the hardest to get from the front door. Right now she couldn't see much outside, but the lights were off and it was peaceful. Her new ears had caught too much sound outside until the thunderstorm shut everything else out.

She refrained from touching her ears again, not sure how she felt about them. Toushirou had told her it might take decades for things like that to change, but clearly he had been wrong. She tucked her arms around her legs a little tighter and rested her chin on her knees. Everything was too big, too loud and… magic whispered against her skin and she tilted her head to look at the blond man who had appeared in the corner of her room.

Her inhuman eyes took him in without the veil of humanity shielding her. Power thrummed against her spine in warning, even as the part of her that she hadn’t realized was on alert settled and relaxed. He was safe. Toushirou, Winter King, her...whatever. She had expected him to be furious but he was watching her as cautiously as she was watching him. 

“I guess you got Rangiku's message.” She had not taken anything as modern as a cell phone with her when her panic had plunked her in down in front of the blond woman's door. 

“Yes.” 

Even his voice sounded different. Her stomach fluttered and she ignored that too. “What happened?”

He tilted his head just a little. “You don't remember?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“A few elves decided to kidnap the Winter Queen and torture her.” His voice was low and quiet but she could feel the rage he wasn't showing her, now that he was talking. 

“How did you find me?”

His mouth edged up at the corner. She wasn't sure how she knew he had found her, that he would look, but she did. It wasn't that he had been her partner or that he was...a friend. She was missing so he had found her. 

These new instincts were going to get her in trouble.

“Kira.” 

She nodded and looked back out the window. She didn't want details. She wasn't sure how being tortured equated pointy ears and weird blood but it had. Maybe later, when she was feeling brave, she would ask. 

“Why Rangiku?”

Momo glanced back at him. “What?”

“Why did you go to Rangiku when you woke up?”

And not him, he didn't say it but it hummed between them. It was the question of the hour apparently.

She sighed. “It wasn't a conscious thing.” She had the time to think about it. Rangiku had explained why she needed to know the answer to that question. “I saw my reflection on the mirror… and I guess I wanted to be human again so badly I ported myself to the only safe human I knew.”

He settled on the bed next to her, long legs tucked close. She shifted so she could mostly face him. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers carefully not touching her ears. 

“You’re beautiful.”

She managed a slight smile. “So Rangiku said.”

“Being Fae doesn't change who you are.”

“It feels like it does,” she looked at her hands. Long delicate fingers, strong wrists, even her chipped nails had been replaced. She wondered, briefly, if they  could grow into claws.

Long fingers curled around hers. “Who you are is not predicated upon how you look. It's what you do.”

She looked up and was a little surprised to find his face so close to hers.

“You are the guardian of the winter court. It's Queen, a protector. The fact that you are also now Fae in body does not change that.”

She huffed. “You make it sound so easy.”

That damn mouth quirked up at the corner. “Come back with me.”

There it was, the elephant in the room. The reason Rangiku couldn't just magic her home. Consequences to all of her choices, even unknowing ones.

“Why? I panic at the sight of my own face and somehow port myself to the other side of the veil and can't get myself back home. That does not scream stable.” She couldn't get home this time, but he could come and get her. She could choose to go or to stay. 

Magic...well, magic rules were so strange.

His mouth brushed against the palm of the hand he was holding. “Next time, don't panic.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like that is going to happen.”

Another brush of his mouth; this time against the pulse point on her wrist. “You will learn.”

She scowled. “That isn't helping your case.”

That smile that made her heart stop and her face flush, flashed lightning quick against his mouth.“If you leave me to deal with the elves, I will just kill them all.”

“You can't just kill an entire race because they attacked me.”

“Tortured you, and I assure you, I can.” His eyes had shifted until she wasn't sure she wasn't looking at the Dragon.

“No.” She swallowed. “Toushirou…” She didn't know what to say. What to do. She didn't know enough about anything to do anything and yet here they were. 

“Being alone leaves little to be desired.”

She scowled at his mouth. She wasn't even sure why she was looking at his mouth. “Can't you just say you would miss me?”

“I would miss you.” Another kiss to her palm. “You haven't slept with me yet.” 

She could feel the heat sliding over her cheeks. “That should not be a predilection on which I base a decision.”

Eyes gleamed at her from behind thick eyelashes. “Sure it can.”

She huffed and laughed at the same time. “I will cause you endless problems.”

“No one will be bored.”

She looked at him again and tried to set aside her worries and just...look. He was beautiful and so old. His age and power an endless well against her skin and yet, here he was trying to convince her to come back with him. To try again. 

She didn't remember what had happened to change the rules but clearly something in her did. The wary, uncertain side. He watched her with those unblinking eyes of his and she wondered until she didn't. She surprised herself when she leaned forward and kissed him. His mouth was soft and warm against hers. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but the new side of her with all its instincts approved. 

His hands curled into the thick mass of her hair while hers eased into the front of his shirt. She kissed him until she was flushed with it, until her lungs burned for air, until she memorized the taste of his mouth. She broke the kiss and ignored how hard she was breathing. “I am still not sleeping with you.”

He leaned forward and nipped softly at her bottom lip with his inhuman teeth. Shivers and goosebumps slid down her spine. “Yet.”

--

[canariie]

Canariie! I don't entirely remember how (erm, or when) we first met (though I'm sure it was mutual participation in HitsuHina events) but I wanted to let you know I've had such a good time getting to know you better over 2022. I value having Writing Friends so much, and I love the way you talk about your stories--what you were going for, what inspired you, how the process went. Thank you so much for all of your support as well. <3

You mentioned in an AO3 comment that you loved the way HitsuHina fandom was building off one another and creating this hivelike fannish ecosystem together and I am 100% with you on that; it is my favorite, favorite thing. Looking forward to more/better/wackier in 2023! You are awesome! :)

Aww thank you Whipple for this kind message! It truly had made my day! Such a lovely surprise but something that I have gone back to reread again and again!

I have immensely appreciated getting to know you over 2022 in writing and interacting with other writers in the Bleach fandom but especially in our Hitsuhina corner :) Your writing has honestly inspired me in my own ideas and prompts that I have so many little plot snippets in my phone that excites me to explore and expand on the universe that you so eloquently write of! I think the way you capture the Bleach universe is so fresh and nuanced and adds a whole level of depth to what we already know :)

It has been extremely gratifying to see how we riff off each other from @rays-of-fire-and-ice coordinating events and her detailed headcanons of key moments missing from manga; to @alexiethymia's ability to analyze even the briefest of manga panels and create headcanons that just add so much more depth to canon material; @rainfestive's impeccable skill to convey gentleness and intimacy in her lovely drawings. And like you said, we are truly carving our own corner in the Kubo world and I absolutely love how the ideas we individually write to just even the smallest comment finds itself in other people's work--which just makes participating in the fandom so much more enjoyable! It's really become a special place <3

To be completely honest, I've taken a slight break from tumblr (not completely!) just because the end of last year with all my writing slightly burnt myself out! I didn't get to rest as much as I needed so it feels a little difficult to start writing again. But I assure you, that I will be back with some fics and I promise I'll open requests to celebrate my 100th reblog milestone!

Thank you again!

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

Rays! Not sure if you’ve talked about this already, but it’s always a great time to talk about HitsuHina. This time HitsuHina and music! I love how in the Bleach Musicals, there’s so much HitsuHina (and GinRan) content! Especially in the last of the original musicals/cast Bleach Code:003. I mean Bengara Koushi is a given (an actual love duet between HitsuHina and GinRan) and is almost always sung in all the versions, but I also love how in Code 003 Hitsugaya and Renji sing about their childhood friends in Hajimari no Hi (Those Beginning Days). When Hitsugaya sings about how his heart was enclosed in ice, and how Hinamori gave her days and was like a spring breeze, it’s just so sweet (especially with how he goes back to calling her Bedwetter Momo since he was miffed she didn’t like his glasses, li’l bit of KiraHina there too when Kira was jealous of Hanatarou with Hinamori). “This Light I See” is also obviously a HH song, but I was intrigued with some interpretations that “Momoiro no Hana” could be one too! See in the beginning, Momo sings about being in front of someone she wants to protect (so I’m assuming she’s talking about Aizen), but later on she sings about how she “dimly watches over someone’s valiant back” and how “the scattered flower petals fall on that person’s courageous back” which makes me think she’s singing about Hitsugaya now. My personal interpretation was always how the strong rainstorm referred to Aizen while the frozen winds referred to Hitsugaya, but while the scattered flower petals could refer to her (being that her name and zanpakuto’s name refer to flowers), it could also refer to Hitsugaya’s bankai. I personally think that the line “dimly watching your valiant back” refers to when she nearly died after being stabbed by Aizen and Hitsugaya was in front of her raging against the former. What do you think?

It's outrageous that this has been in my inbox for as long as it has and I have yet to answer it. For that, I deeply apologize! >_<

All of what you said is top-notch! As it's been a long time since I last saw the musicals, I'll just give my thoughts on the character songs. This will probably end up becoming more an appreciation post for the songs rather than an analysis, as you've pretty much covered that part, but here we go!

There's something I want acknowledge upfront: like any piece of media in a language that's foreign to the listen/viewer, it can hard to know about the nuances in said language. The translator for Momoiro no Hana even acknowledges that some of the lyrics may not be as literal as they were translated. Because of this, I'm giving my interpretation as an English speaker looking at the translated lyrics. If anyone can tell me any nuances they see in the Japanese lyrics that might be key to understanding the songs, please feel free to share.

With that said, let's get to it!

This Light I See

Ah, this one takes me back. I come back and listen to it every now and then, particularly for writing fics. I wholeheartedly agree that This Light I See is a hitsuhina song, but I can also understand some saying it's actually about Hyourinmaru too.

Throughout the song, Toshiro is reflecting on a figure who 'believes in everyone' but is also lonely. He also brings up an 'unwavering light', and how it both inspires him to be stronger while also expressing, pleading, for it comfort him in his confusion. He also refers to this light as being 'lonely', calling it a 'lonely light' in the second chorus. He also asks for different things based on the quality he gives the light:

1st Chorus:

I'm believing this light I see Unwavering light, Please guide me as I call out to you

2nd Chorus:

I'm believing this light I see Lonely light, Please embrace me in my confusion

For the first chorus is retty straight forward: the unwavering light is strong and steady, and is thus able to act as a guide to Toshiro when he calls out to it.

In the second chorus, has asks the lonely like to 'embrace [him] in his ] confusion'. First off, loneliness needs company, so hence wanting to embrace the light. But what is this confusion? Is it about what to do with his powers (we'll get more into that below) or about the situation he's in right now (Momo heartbroken by Aizen's betrayal, Toshiro going through his own turmoil and angry at the effect Aizen had on Momo)? I'd love to know your and anyone else's thoughts on this.

There's also lyrics pertaining to his inner workings, with verses such as:

The cold night breeze gets caught in my eyes As meaningless memories flow over me Shouting harsh words to the sky I still have the taste of blood on my tongue

Gradually believing in a daily life founded only on strength I know that this time the only thing I win is emptiness From my tiny heart I laugh aloud Please let me get a little stronger

I'll go over these verses first before diving into whether he is speaking about Hyourinmaru or Momo. The first verse expresses Toshiro being ponderous, but also frustrated, shouting 'harsh words to the sky' while having 'the taste of blood on [his] tongue'. For me, it suggests a battle he recently engaged in and his anger (rage, even) at having lost.

'Meaningless memories' is a hard one honestly, because I remember I had this out-there interpretation once that it was him recalling memories of Aizen (ie remember memories of the Aizen he once knew, before he revealed his entire persona to have been fake, hence any memories of him become 'meaningless') and combined with the fresh loss to the traitor, it enrages him. I'd love to know your thoughts or anyone else's thoughts on what it could mean.

The second speaks to his view on himself, at how he believes himself to be weak and wants desperately to get stronger. Him winning emptiness could again express his loss to Aizen, but I'm think it's that he's saying he isn't strong enough, that the strength he wants and needs just isn't here, or maybe it's both. Him laughing aloud is his way of trying to show external this [perceived] lack of strength doesn't affect him, but the next lyric betrays this by showing on the inside he pleads to get stronger. It could also be a reference to chapter 224, where Toshiro teases Momo and tries to take her mind off Aizen, deflecting away from how he truly feels upon seeing her.

Now, Momo is undoubtedly mentioned in this song (we'll get to the lyrics pertaining to her in a minute), but I've seen a few people say the song is actually about Toshiro and relationship with Hyourinmaru. For the Hyourinmaru argument, we have the fact that he came to Toshiro as a piercing like in his dreams. He is often seen as a guide for Toshiro, as the being who tried to guide him towards his potential and powers. With Toshiro asking the 'unwavering light' to 'guide [Toshiro] as [he calls] out to [the unwavering light]', it's easy to see this as Hyourinmaru. There's aslo the fact that this song is about Toshiro himself, and Hyourinmaru is a manifestation of Toshiro's soul, intrinsically connected to him and who he is.

Now on to the Momo argument. Without a doubt, Toshiro states again and again throughout the song that he wants to protect her; but what do the lyrics have to say about Momo (or at least, how Toshiro views Momo here)?:

'The one who had a habit of saying "Believe in everyone" Is saddened from the depths of her heart Having power that should protect her can hurt her What should I do with these hands?

When I had a habit of saying "I'll live alone" She smiled at me with a lonely looking smile Having power to understand her can forsake her What should I do with these hands?

For the first verse, Toshiro reflects on who Momo is as a person, and how her once happy-go-lucky attitude towards others has been replaced by sadness, to the point that it's to heart now. He laments that having the power to protect her also has the potential to harm her, speaking of the enormity of Hyourinmaru's powers (and acting as foreshadowing maybe?? Or a self fulfilling prophecy??). Here his intention is clear: he wants to protect her, but he fear harming her further with that same power.

Then there's the second verse, and oh boy! Again Toshiro tries to hide how he truly feels, saying 'I'll live alone' to hide his loneliness and the low self esteem he's harboured sine the children and residents in the Junrinan treated him differently. Momo's lonely looking smile could be a show of her own loneliness, or of mayeb feeling rejected by Toshiro when says he'll 'live alone'. However, I personally think Toshiro doesn't realise it, but Momo can see through his bravado; she can see he is a lonely boy who is trying to appear tougher than he actually is, and her lonely smile is a reflection of sympathy or empathy for him.

Now what about having the power to understand her? I admit, I don't really know for this one and I'd love to know anyone's thoughts on it. If I had to take a guess, it's his worry that if he understood her, he might somehow harm her further.

Then there's the lyric that gets repeated in both verses: What do I do with these hands? Toshiro has always been a practical person. He has a lot of emotions running through him, and his emotional immaturity makes it that his temper flies off the handle and he has a hard time expressing himself for most of the series. Because of this, I wouldn't feel surprised if he struggles to comfort or show his others through words (though he definitely has his moments, thank you for pointing this out @troius). As a result, he likely shows his care for Momo by vowing to protect her, using the powers he has and through more practical means. When Toshiro is wondering what to do with his hands, I think he's unsure about how be can protect her, how he can show he cares with harming her somehow.

To him, her physical protection guarantees her mental and emotional protection. He knows how to fight, and he lacks the confidence to console her through words, so he will use these powers, as deadly as they may be and with the potential to harm her, to protect her and understand her.

Another thing to note is, the song is structured as such:

Verse about Toshiro's internal workings and how he's feeling Verse about Momo Unwavering light chorus Verse about Toshiro's internal workings and how he's feeling Verse about Momo (where he mentions her lonely looking smile) Lonely light chorus Chant about releasing his powers and believing in the light Final chorus featuring the unwavering and lonely lights

It's with this structure in we could make the argument that the song is about both Hyourinmaru and Momo. In various materials they are connected in certain ways. On track 8 of the drama CD, Toshiro learns the name of his zanpakuto because of his wish to protect Momo. He strengthened Hyourinmaru to better protect Momo. Heck, we even have this lyric which basically says Momo is the key to unleashing his powers:

The weakest part of me releases the most powerful prayer Up to the place where the heavens end

The weakest part of me releases the most powerful emotions To the place before the darkness

I mean, there aren't many character that release Toshiro's 'most powerful emotions', and the instants we have seen of this are with Momo, soooo...

There's also the fact Toshiro frets that Hyourinmaru's power, his power, can harm her. In the end, without him knowing, it does. But what does he do in response to harming her with Hyourinmaru's power? He reaffirms his will to protect her, trains to have better control of his bankai and strengthen it, and the Completed form is now a thing. The weakest part of him ended up releasing the most powerful prayer indeed.

Momoiro no Hana

I must admit, I rarely go back and listen to Momoiro no Hana. It almost feels sacrilegious as a Momo fan, but I don't know, I don't think the song is my cup of tea. But we're not here to discuss tastes in music!

I very much agree with your interpretation of the song, but I'll elaborate on why.

Momo's song is her incarnate; it can be a heartbreaker to read, but there's hope there and a will to overcome things that harm her. We see moments of her self sacrificing nature and caring for other before herself:

[I'll] Tenderly and graciously bloom with pride With a smile as high as the sky Even if I get all the power And lose it while I protect

Here she is likely referring to Aizen, as [if I'm not mistaken] at the time this song came out, she was still in deep denial about her ex-captain's truly self, so she would still want to protect him, or at least the image she has of him. However, there's also just enough evidence in the manga to show that when push comes to shove, Momo would've protected Aizen from danger.

But there's also this vow to herself that she will get stronger:

Tenderly and graciously blooming with pride With a smile as high as the sky I will always be one step in front of you Because I want to protect you

I want to bloom without fail Even in those overly rainy days Even in those frozen windy days The pink flower petals sway

Throughout the song, Momo goes from saying that the petals 'fall' or 'scatter' to saying they 'sway' indicating that aren't getting caught in the wind of being forced away from the flower. It shows strength and resilience, that she's learning to stand on her own and not get caught up in the turmoil she is going through.

Then there's her use of rain and frozen winds. I definitely see her has being the flower (related to her zanpakuto name and also because she says she wants to 'bloom without fail'), the rain is Aizen (also based on his zanpakuto name Kyoka Suigetsu, 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon'), and the frozen winds is Toshiro (because, you know, ice-type zanpakuto and just him in general). The petals are where it gets interesting, because as you said, we can interpret this as being either Momo and her getting caught up in the turmoil around her, or Toshiro because of his bankai. I peronally think it's used for both at different.

The lyrics I always come back to are these ones:

Inside the strong rainstorm Inside the frozen winds I dimly watch your valiant back The scattered flower petals pass forth

Amidst the strong rainstorm Amidst the frozen winds The scattered flower petals fall on Your courageous back

Since I first read these lyrics, chapter 170 always comes to mind. In this moment, Momo is dying, and all she can do is 'dimly watch' as Toshiro confronts Aizen, his back facing her. Toshiro's bankai has also been translated as 'Crimson Lotus' (so, ya know, petals), and his transformation involved frozen winds. What I find interesting is the petals at first 'pass forth', but in the second verse, they 'fall on' someone. I remember another my out-there takes on this being Momo is giving Toshiro her support, seeing that he too is going hard times and believes in him.

Some commonalities?

What I find fascinating is that both songs start with Toshiro and Momo reflecting on memories, and they aren't really happy ones:

This Light I See: The cold night breeze gets caught in my eyes / As meaningless memories flow over me

Momoiro no Hana: In that quiet moment I remember the times / Wonderful times, regretful times

It shows both of them are reflective, thinking about the past and and as we see the songs go on, trying to come to terms with the present. Both of their songs reveal their weaknesses, and their determination to get stronger.

These songs are about what it means to be stronger and what it takes from them to overcome their trials. Throughout, Toshiro talks about an 'unwavering light', while Momo talks about wanting to 'bloom without fail'. However, Toshiro also brings up a 'lonely light' while Momo mentions 'looking at the sky all alone' and 'scattered petals', showing the moments of turmoil in their journeys to become stronger.

We've also got them both having similar moments involving the sky:

This Light I See: Shouting harsh words to the sky / I still have the taste of blood on my tongue

Momoiro no Hana: Looking up at the sky all alone / Feeling my heart break It shows their reactions to the trauma that's happened to them: Toshiro got angry, Momo was heartbroken.

And that's all I have to say on the songs. I'd love to know other people's interpretations of either song, or just your thoughts in general about the songs.

Thanks for sending this in!

[neko-bri]

Drabble~ Scars [HitsuHina]

Hi hi!!! It's Bri Bri here! I worked on this but, it is rusty due to me not writing for a while. I do hope you like it and I know it may be bad. I hope you enjoy the drabble! I love these two so much!! Momo and Toshiro have been my ship for a long time since first starting Bleach. I loved their interaction and also, I wanted to write more on my ship! < 3

Each night it was scary. To sleep alone, feel the blankets laying on top of her. The warmth of the soft fabric against one's skin. Fingertips squeezed against the blanket in comfort. Twisting and turning on the bed. Feeling tears creating in her eyes. The fear of being alone. Terrified of that dream she had over and over. Her love her admiration taken away. By the one she trusted, the one who gave her hope. He...ripped it with that blade through her chest. Stabbed. Blood leaking out in pain, that blade struck in her chest. How could he do this...? Why did he do it? Her heart is broken over the fact he lied to her. Lied to everyone and used her. The tears fell even more. In the darken room, where she slept after being let free to go. Those nightmares don't go away. They don't! 

"Was it my fault...? Could I have not noticed due to my love and admiration?" Hinamori whispered those words. Not understanding she still questioned why he did it. Knowing in her heart he never loved her. She was nothing but a doll to him. To be used like a doll on string like a puppet. It was then---she heard a noise due to her screaming. Someone came inside it was Toshiro her childhood friend who came.

"Oi, Hinamori wake up!" His hand lightly touched her shoulder trying to wake her. He came to see her like they were planned to do. To watch the stars together just like they always use to do as children in the rukon district. The brunette would quickly sit up with full on tears down her face. "No!!" She panicked sitting up on the bed. "Don't hurt them!! Don't do it!" She yelled out when two hands gripped her shoulders tightly. "HINAMORI!!" Momo eyes widen in shock, her eyes blurred with a vision of watery tears. "S...Shiro-chan..?" Her whisper had a cracked tone in her voice. 

"Hinamori..." The white haired male spoke full concern for her. Knowing full well what she gone through even suffered from him due to Aizen's trick. He left a scar on her that could not be erased. Nor could he ever forgive himself for it. Quickly wiping her tears away, both of her hands would wipe the watery tears. "W...What are you doing here, Shiro-chan?" She asked in a more calm tone. Toshiro let out a sigh, soft yet a little frustrated that she forgot. 

"Didn't you want to see the stars? You came earlier to ask and I came here to get you." His tone was gentle yet calm. He knew she missed going even if it was a little before bed. It brightened her mood. 

"Oh! That's right...I after finishing my paperwork I.." Recalling her earlier tracks with coming in her room to nap after her Taichou Hirako had ordered her to finish up the work which she knew he wanted to listen to his jazz music. Of course she scolded him. Still---she was looking forward to watching stars with Shiro-chan. Staring at Hinamori Toshiro had his teal eyes look into her eyes full of worry. "Hinamori...are you sure you are alright? You were having another nightmare weren't you?" He didn't let his voice show any panic but, truthfully he felt she was dreaming of the past again. Hinamori couldn't deny it. She knew Shiro-chan would always worry. He always did look out for her. Never would she want to worry her best friend. "Ah...no Shiro-chan I was just having a dream about Hirako-Taichou. He was...giving me all his work again. It was no---" 

Just then Toshiro raised his voice to stop Momo. "Hinamori, I know you were having one because I heard you screaming!" He spoke loudly but full of worry. Seeing her kimono it did show the scar she gotten from him. His teal eyes looked full of sorrow, of agony for what he did. Tears fell down her face, looking at Toshiro with sadness. "Shiro-chan.." Not wanting to worry him. No! She never wanted that...never in her mind did she wish for his sadness. "I...didn't want to worry you. I...just..." she suddenly felt arms wrapped wound her tightly. Pulling her into a embrace, feeling her body just lay against his chest. His arms wrapped around her back, not too tightly as he knew she was fully recovered. However, her nightmares still came back. Some nights they were gone some nights they weren't. He often tried to come check on her. 

Grabbing onto his Haori, tightly her fingers trembling against him. Her breathing rapidly going faster. Feeling her body slowly relax, smelling the scent on Toshiro. It was relaxing, calming, even putting her heart and mind at ease. "Hinamori, don't deal with this all on your own! You know...I will be here." His words spoke in a soft whisper. 

How can I have her feel less alone? Why does she always do this? He has to protect her from any pain. Knowing full well she was scared to trust. He knew that and yet...

Tears fell down her face, sobbing onto his black shihakusho. Taking a deep breath, her lips stopped quivering. "Shiro-chan...I...I..." she stopped when Toshiro just kept her in his arms. "Hinamori... You don't have to tell me now. Cry out your tears." He would hear Momo cry again knowing she bad a bad nightmare and he didn't want her to stress more. He didn't want to see her in pain. 

Minutes had passed after Momo lifted her head off of Toshiro's chest. Her chocolate eyes staring into his teal eyes. Seeing he was relaxed and only worried about her. "Shiro-chan, thank you for letting me cry. I...just didn't want to worry you. I always wanted to keep this to myself." She would speak knowing he would always tell her it was alright to speak with him.

Just then a flicker lightly flicked her head. "Hinamori... you bed wetter! I will always be willing to listen no matter what is going on! You always did forget." He would sigh slowly before continuing, "I know it isn't easy...just know I will never leave your side no matter what happened in the past. I will always forgive you." He spoke softly, his words full of gentleness. Momo would rub her head, feeling the slight pain but she would smile hearing his words. She knew he never would even after all that happened, he was always there and never would abandon her. Her eyes widen in a slight anger. "Shiro-chan!! I am not a bed wetter!! I don't do that anymore. What am I to do with you?" Her eyes soften before she smiled at Toshiro.

"Thank you...Shiro-chan." Momo said when Toshiro would glare. "What did I say Hinamori! You are to call me by Hitsugaya-Taichou!" He said when she looked at him in surprise. "Ah, yes...I forget but, Shiro-chan." She said in a soft tone to stand up where she would fix her robes. Walking to go towards her door. Hearing footsteps behind her it was Toshiro who walked with her to go outside on the roof where they often watch the stars. "I did ask you to come view the stars with me didn't I? Thank you, Shiro-chan."

Once they both used flash step, sitting on the roof with carrying soft pillows for their bottoms. Just for extra support, a warm smile appeared on the brunette face. Her chocolate eyes stared up at the many lights in the darkness sky. They glimmer with a light that calmed her worried heart. The scars will not fade however they will always remain there. A reminder of what transpired. The pain and yet growth. The growth in maturity of learning to heal slowly and forgive. Momo would never hate Toshiro for what has happened. That day when he stabbed her due to Aizen's trickery. She often touched the scar with one hand. A smile appeared on her face, taking a deep breath when she let her head lay on his shoulder. She did not blame him nor hate. The scar reminds her of their bond remaining strong even now. 

Toshiro did not move---he stayed still to feel the warmth from Momo. Her warmth of being alive, being here with him was all he needed. Watching the stars together since childhood. That was enough for him. It was more than enough...he will always make sure she was safe and here with him. He would see Momo eyes closed to relax against him. His head would rest on top of hers as his smile was shown. The starry skies, the cool night air, mixed with the quiet of the crickets chirping. The light wind breeze as Momo fallen asleep comfortably on Toshiro. He remained there watching the stars where he will remain to be near her. 

       Always protecting her...always here. 

[recurring-polynya]

Commisserations on life being hard work at the mo but mega congrats on the tale o' Rukia getting to look so cool in so many different fights that she gets a glamorous new job. I just read the last chapter and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you'd enjoy answering questions, what were the bits of Call Me Back you had most fun with? :D

Thank you so much! I am working hard, but at the end of the day, I am done, not lying in bed stressing out about things I can’t control, so I am very slowly starting to feel better.

I always love questions about my fanfic, and this is a great one! It’s very funny, actually, how much I agonize over certain scenes and then afterwards, I’m like, “ah, yes, I loved writing that” and it is a lie. But here are some of my actual favs! (there are so many)

Sometimes I feel like this is a symptom of mania, or something, but I never get tired of writing Rukia/Renji scenes. I love them. I love them bantering. I love them flirting with each other without noticing they’re doing it, especially in front of some poor soul who Does Not Want This. I love them dragging each other. I cannot help it. To this end, my favorite RenRuki scenes in this fic were:

3) The dinner scene. My goal was to capture the energy of that scene in Thor: Ragnorak where Loki and Thor and the Grandmaster are all staring at each other and someone dubbed Kill Bill sirens over it, and in my opinion, I nailed it. It had everything. It had reaction faces. It had flirting. It had secret hand signals. It had Byakuya complaining about people wearing shorts. It had Renji telling a story about a time he set Kyouraku on fire. It was truly peak Polynya.

2) The part where Ohno tries to... what was he even hoping to accomplish? and Rukia trolls the shit out of him, and then Renji shows up looking like a huge himbo with his sleeves rolled up and his guns out and asks him if he knows how to read, I love that part so much.

1) The part at the end where they are eating pickles and talking about their nice life. The theme I wanted to convey with this story is that love isn’t always about grand gestures and being willing to die for someone or taking huge risks, sometimes, it’s about knowing that it’s not a good time to start a relationship and being willing to wait. That sometimes career goals or family drama or getting your own emotional state in good order needs to come first. That you can love someone and support them and make them pickles, because life is long (especially when you’re already a ghost) and kissing is nice, but it’s not the only thing. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ve every actually read a story like this, but it’s the one I wanted to tell, and I felt like this scene really encompassed what I was trying to say.

Other scenes I loved:

Renji forces Byakuya to listen to an Inuzuri story and Byakuya and they both treat this as an act of aggression. I am pretty sure this was the most fun I had writing this thing. I love writing Renji telling shaggy dog stories. I love torturing Byakuya. I loved Byakuya constantly interrupting and ruining Renji’s vibe. I loved writing this part so much, I don’t even care if anyone else liked it.

Byakuya writes a letter to Hisana about Renji. So, as an aside, I wrote nearly all the Hisana flashbacks in, like, an hour, in some sort of fugue state. If they feel a little shoehorned in, that’s why, but I am in love with all of them, and I have no regrets. I have to use a lot of tricks when I am writing Byakuya, because he does not come naturally to me, and one of them is that he has done exactly (1) good thing in his life, and that was falling in love with (1) dying dirtbag, and any other good things he does stem from that. He’s a terrible communicator, even his letters are bad (as is his etiquette column), but he’s trying, and that is so precious to me. A long-running headcanon I have is that Hisana and Renji would have gotten on like a house on fire and I think Byakuya is the only one who knows this, and this information is torturous to him. Hisana was very, very good at figuring out what he meant, and this letter would be absolutely hilarious to her, especially because Hisana would have been able to write a PhD thesis on how Rukia and Renji feel about each other after a single second in their presence.

Some other fun writing memories:

I wrote most of the Rukia - Ikkaku fight while we were coming home from a family trip, so it was composed on the Jersey turnpike, and at some point, “Thunderstruck” came on the radio. This was a Blues Brothers style message from God.

It took me, like two weeks to come up with all those poems, and I very distinctly remember watching my kids play on the playground at the library while I was counting syllables. It was summer and it was hot. I like writing tanka a lot more than haiku, I learned. Also, I use daikon as a metaphor constantly because of the Kenshin OVA Samurai X, which I am never not thinking about (this is also where I got the name for Rukia’s alter ego in Between Tides). Again, terrible at the time, but very happy with the way it came out.

I keep meaning to say this somewhere-- I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m not a HitsuHina shipper-- I like both characters very much and I don’t have anything against it, it just doesn’t do much for me, but the HitsuHina people on Tumblr, are just, like, the nicest? So I follow a few? Anyway, at some point, I saw someone On Here (it might have been @rays-of-fire-and-ice​ ?) doing an ask meme about Hinamori, and one of the questions was “what would you like to see more of in fanfic?” and they said, “swordfighting, because everyone forgets that she is a perfectly competent swordfighter” and my brain went that is A FACT, and that is why I had Rukia fight her in the all-around (and lose, no less), and that is definitely one of the better fight scenes I have ever written and I’m really proud of it.

Ha ha ha, I think I have written enough, thanks for asking and for all the kind words!

[funnybleachstuff]

Hello! Can you talk about your top ships?

Hi! What a nice question, I could write an essay about my ships but I'll keep this short, lmao.

1) HitsuHina. I love them and I was upset about TYBW and the lack of resolution for them. They were my favourite part of the SS arc, and when Azien got Toshiro to stab Momo it was 👌👌 But besides the angst, they have a lot of fluff potential. OTP. I just wished they had told us the reason behind their falling out in the last arc or have them become canon. Just you know something, so I could stop waiting for an answer.

2) GinRan. I know that they aren't really the most romantic ship out there but they have one of the best plots IMO. Gin gets me SO mad because he's an idiot and he could have just like talked to her, but the angst filling every panel of interaction between them is so good. They left me looking forward for the moment they would set down and explain everything to each other and be together after so long but that moment never came, and that's way this ship stayed with me, if it makes sense.

3) RenRuki. This is the first pair I shipped reading Bleach and when I checked out Rukia's relatives I was shocked to find that for once both people in a pair of mine would survive (usually they tend to get killed off like Gin lmao), so I immediately got very protective of this ship. "A star and a stray dog" was one of my favourite chapters like when Renji lets her go in the flashbacks? I cried. Again, so much angst (especially on Renji's side) that I loved.

4) Ikkaku x Yumichika. Maybe I've been deluding myself but I saw more canon interaction that could be seen as shippy between them than in some soap opera pairs. Actually there is one scene in the TWBW that I'm looking forward to see 👀 between them.

5) Unpopular opinion ahead. Like very unpopular. Tw basically lol. Ichigo x Tatsuki and IshiHime. The former isn't really an otp of mine but if I had to chose a canon love interest for Ichigo it would be her. I felt like she cared a lot about him, like everything she knows (especially about Ichigo's behaviour) about him, the little you know about them from when they were children together. The same goes for IchiHime, I was starting to ship it in the Soul Society arc but after that they just...stopped talking to each other, so it kinda died. But also OrihimexTatsuki was not to be underestimated, IMO they had potential.

6) Hanataro x Rukia. My boy did not face Byakuya like that just not to be brought up again. I know I had like zero chance to begin with but I kinda hoped for a while.

7) Byakuya x Hisana. I wish we'd seen more of them honestly. It was like two panels and it broke me down to tears, Imagine if we'd seen more of it. Absolute perfection.

8) Kira x Momo. Honestly I thought that Kira's story in the Soul Society arc was hinting to a crush on Momo in a couple of scenes (like when he gets arrested or when he is told that Aizen killed Momo despite the fact that he'd made sure to make them promise they wouldn't hurt her). But then again Momo, Kira and Renji's friendship is like SO GOOD, even better than a ship, so I wouldn't give that up. Besides, despite they being the same age, Kira looks so much older than the other two and it is slightly off putting?

Thank you for the ask! The only ships that I actually ship with all my heart are the first four, though. Besides I am not much of a shipper, I like way more platonic relationships that I do ships. Like the Visored's found family relationship, the Karakura "gang" friendship, Zaraki and Yachiru's somehow soft relationship, Renji Momo and Kira as a trio and so on. With the only exception of HitsuHina, these last platonic relationships were what I was looking forward in manga rather than romance.

[shi-daisy]

Fateful Encounter

Hello everyone! So I likely won’t be able to write anything for tomorrow and so i’ll leave my final day message here. It’s been fun to participate in this year’s Hitsuhina week. Everyone in the fandom is so sweet and talented im glad to be a part of it. I’ll see ya next year form more material on our cute ship.

Ok so onto the fic. This AU is currently in development for me as it will have many ships, but since Toshiro and Momo’s roles are already taken care of, I thought they could be used in this one-shot. In this AU, Toshiro is a barista and Momo is a secretary. They both work at a college. I hope you like!

@hitsuhina-week

Hitsuhina Week Day 6 - Fate/AU

Fateful Encounter

"Yes, Mrs. De La Rosa, I shall take a break but only after I get these reports done. The whole group is depending on them so we must be on time!" Momo had her phone in one hand, her ice coffee on the other and a variety of book bags. As the secretary of the Science department at her college, she needed to make sure everything was ready for the new semester

The coffee shop was full. Many students were struggling to catch up on their subjects, along with teachers making their lesson plans. Momo was careful to evade the tables and get out of there as fast as possible.

She headed for the elevator before it closed however someone was running towards it.

"Keep the door open!"

Momo obeyed, pressing the button until the person came in. He was a boy about two years younger than her, he had white hair and a barista uniform, she recognized him by the name tag.

"Toshiro-san?"

"You remember my name?"

"Of course, you're usually the one who makes my drink. I see you on the daily."

Despite being tired from the run, Toshiro looked happy. "You forgot your change back at the shop."

"Oh, that's right. Thanks for bringing it to me. I'm just really busy."

"I can tell. You look like I do during rush hour."

That made her laugh, but the happiness was short-lived. The elevator made a screeching sound and suddenly stopped, the emergency lights came on

"A blackout?! At this hour?! It can't be. I don't have much time."

She tried to hit the door but nothing happened. Momo began crying.

"Hey hey, no don't cry. People know we're here. My coworkers will call security." Toshiro tried to comfort her, softly patting her back.

Momo hugged him without thinking. "It's just, I have a report to make and- and I have to finish it tonight or-"

"You need to calm down Miss Momo. Look if you have spare paper I can help you. We can work on your report until we get out. Is that ok?"

With the anxiety subsiding Momo nodded. "Ok."

***

'This is why I don't like office work.' Toshiro thought as he finished another page.

He glanced at Momo, the secretary was immersed in her work, even though they were almost finished.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Why do you apologize?"

"Had it not been for me, you wouldn't be trapped in this hunk of metal, writing a report."

"I don't mind. I'm glad I can help you. Besides I needed a break from my boss, she's a chatterbox."

Momo laughed. "I know. Rangiku is very sweet but she's a handful. Can't be worse than working with the wife of your ex-crush."

"Wait, what? How did that happen?"

"I applied to this college because the man I had a crush on was the head of the law faculty. Unfortunately for me, the only job was secretary of the science faculty. I soon found out the head of the faculty was his wife."

"That's rough."

"Not anymore. I've gotten over him. His wife is really sweet and he's happy with her. That's all that matters to me, I'll find someone that wants me one day."

Toshiro bit his lip. He couldn't tell her he'd been secretly crushing on her for months. The secretary was smart, kind, and very cute. Sometimes he felt flustered just by looking at her smile.

"You'll find your prince charming one day. Amazing women like you, will always find a good person."

"Thanks, Toshiro. That's so sweet of you to say."

The lights came back up and the elevator was moving upwards.

"Yes! This is perfect. I'm sure I'll be done with this in half an hour now. Thanks for your help Toshiro-san!" she hugged him.

Toshiro returned the gesture. "No problem. When you're done with the report...can I invite you to lunch?"

"I'd love that."

When the elevator reached the 4th floor, Momo stepped out with her things, she waved goodbye at him.

Toshiro waved back, letting out a sigh once the elevator doors closed. 'Finally, I asked her.'

He felt something in his pocket.

"Dang it, she forgot her change again."

***

"I handed everything to Anna just in time. She was so happy, and then promptly told me to take the rest of the day off."

Rangiku rolled her eyes. "That's cuz you're becoming a workaholic Hinamori-san," Rangiku told her. "I'm happy Annie let you early. Toshiro-san is giddy as hell that you have more time for your 'lunch'"

"Maaaaaatsuuuumooootoooo!!!"

Momo jumped in her seat when she heard Toshiro yell at his boss.

"You better not be telling Hinamori any lies."

"What me? I haven't done anything Shiro~" Rangiku batted her eyelashes a few times and began walking away. "Enjoy yourselves kiddos!"

"Sorry about that. Shall we go?" Toshiro offered his arm. Momo wrapped her arms around his and smiled too.

"Sure! Let's head out."

What started as a stressful morning had become an eventful day thanks to her favorite barista. Maybe this could be the beginning of good things for both of them.

[nono6thebleachfan]

RULES & CONDITIONS

Q1: so what is this event?

 A Bleach x Disney crossover 🏰🤴💗👸💫⚔️📜 For a whole week you can participate by: drawing fan art, making comics, creating gifs, editing Bleach or Disney moments, writing fan fics, writing incorrect texts, sharing headcanons, sharing poems etc etc 

 It could be in-universe or alternate universe 

 Q2: what are the ships for this event? 

 This event is for the IchiHime and Renruki fandoms first and foremost 💕✨ 

Q3: Can I participate for my ship HitsuHina, HitsuKarin, GinRan, UraYori, IkkaYumi, ShunUki, KiraHina, KiraShuhui, IsshiMasa? 

 Are you kidding me??? OF COURSE 🤗🤗 OMG I would LOVE to see Toshiro as a Disney prince 💜⚔️ 

 Other bleach ships are fine 😍❤️ as long as they don't contraindicated IH and RR 

 Q4: what do you mean by that last sentence? Can GrimmIchi/KaiRuki etc etc participate? 

 Unfortunately no ☹️🤧 You can participate with other ships than ones similar to these 

 ~ The only acceptable Ichigo ship is IchiHime ~ 

 ~ The only acceptable Orihime ship is IchiHime ~ 

 ~ The only acceptable Rukia ship is RenRuki ~ 

 ~ The only acceptable Renji ship is RenRuki ~ 

 - this is an IH/RR event mainly 😉✨ 

 - it's not a disinvite to the fandom itself, you can participate for other ships as long as the ships don't invalidate IH or RR 

 Q5: ok so can I draw something for XY ship but show Rukia as a single lady? 

Sure!! you can show Ichigo/Renji/Rukia/Orihime not in a relationship, but you cannot place them with other people 🙅 

Again, this is an IH/RR event mainly 

 Q6: I am not a fan of IH but I want to do something for RR?

  You can participate for RR alone, IH alone, both RR and IH, or neither 

 Q7: when will this event start and end? 

 💫 March 10th 2019 - March 16th 2019 💫 

 I understand that there's a HitsuHina day on the 9th, so I'm making it the day after so the HH fandom can also participate 😍❤️ 

 Q8: I have made Bleach X Disney stuff in the past? 

 That's lovely, you can repost anything you did before with the proper tag 

 Q9: what's the tag for this event? 

 #Bleach x Disney 

 Q10: what are the Disney movies? 

Day 1: Snow White 

Day 2: Cinderella 

Day 3: Peter Pan 

Day 4: Sleeping Beauty 

Day 5: The Little Mermaid 

Day 6: Beauty and the Beast

Day 7: Aladdin 

#I'm Wishing For The One I Love 

#The Dreams That You Wish Will Come True

#A Smile In Your Heart

#Once Upon A Dream

#Part Of Your World

#Tale As Old As Time

#A Whole New World 

 A few extra notes ✨📜 

 - you can include/use the sequels/spinoffs of each of these films 🎥 

 - I chose these films because I believe they're the most known 😁 

 - you can switch the roles between the characters, for example you can make Renji the Merman and Rukia the beautiful dark haired human... You can make Ichigo as the Snow White and Orihime as his princess... You can make anything and everything 😼💪🏻 

 - I highly encourage the fans to make more than one thing, draw as much as you can, edit, write, create whatever you want, I hope everyone will be active, you don't have to be a professional, you can draw a sketch and share it, you can share your thoughts about how a certain scene reminds you of these ships, this event is all about positivity and sharing 😊💕✊🏻💫 

 - if you want to participate but have no idea what to do, I'd be more than happy to help you, I will be sharing some suggestions of my own for everyone 📝 

 - if someone wants to share this event on twitter/deviantart/instagram or any other social media you can do so, the more people know about it the better 

 - if this event turned out good and everyone enjoyed it there might be a part 2 for other Disney films like Hercules, Mulan, Frozen, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled etc 

 - I'm also thinking about other Bleach crossovers, I have so many ideas 💡 like Harry Potter, Studio Ghibli, Marvel etc etc 

 - please no negativity ❌ any hate mail will be blocked 🙅 

 - if you have any suggestions or further questions you can tell/ask me 😬