Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Je m'en fiche ❯ Waiting to be Called ( Chapter 1 )

Juban tai taicho, Hitsugaya Toushiro, nodded slightly; dismissing his 6th seat squad member as the man finished his report on the general status of tenth squad. After bowing politely, the man slid the door to the captain's office closed and hurried off down the hall to finish the rest of his daily duties and Hitsugaya returned to his previous task of completely some particularly tedious paper work.

Hitsugaya's advance guard of Karakura town had received a short reprieve earlier that week. Replacements from squad 7 were currently guarding Karakura as Hitsugaya and his special guard took a break. As far as Hitsugaya was concerned, this was a much needed return to Soul Society. He had many reports to file and he had begun to worry about his subordinates attachments to the real world. His guard was scheduled to return to the real world and continue their mission in less than a month, but in the mean time they had all been advised to train hard and prepare for the coming winter.

The late summer sun shone brightly through Hitsugaya's window, mirroring the seasonal changes of the real world. With the onset of autumn, Soul Society was really beginning to buzz with preparations. They knew that their only chance to stop Aizen would be to have fully prepared for the coming battle. These thoughts skimmed faintly through Hitsugaya's mind as he picked up a thick report and quickly scanned it for accuracy.

As his turquoise eyes slid over a sentence on the experimental implantation of Mod souls in plants for the third time, his mind began to drift from his pressing responsibilities and preparations; landing almost immediately on the small brunette who was currently fighting for her life and her sanity in the 4th squad relief station.

She had awakened several weeks ago and felt well enough to get up, felt well enough even to have a conversation with Hitsugaya after he had set up communications with Comander-General Yamamoto. Unfortunately she still did not seem to grasp the reality of their present situation, and as her pleas had turned to ramblings of traitorous thoughts, Yamamoto-sotaicho had been forced to overdose her on spirit force and return her, unconscious, to Unohana-taicho.

That was the last time Hitsugaya had seen Hinamori. She remained unconscious, even now, as her physically and mentally weakened body tried to recover. Hitsugaya had not even attempted to visit her in the week since he had been back in Soul Society. He was very busy and he knew that she was, at least for the time being, safe.

 

“Some words…”

“Couldn't you say some words to her? She is waiting to be called by someone who needs her.”

 

Unohana-taicho's words bubbled to the surface of Hitsugaya's thoughts. Hinamori was waiting. She was waiting for someone to need her, to help her put her mind and heart back together.

More than anything, Hitsugaya wanted to be able to go to Hinamori and tell her how he felt, how he had always felt.

 

“The way I am now…I have nothing I can say to her.”

 

His own words echoed loudly in his ears now, as the report he had been reading lay forgotten on his desk. He wanted to tell Hinamori that he loved her, but it felt like a betrayal when he harbored such a deep hatred of Aizen. Aizen had turned traitor on Soul Society and even attempted to murder Hinamori, his own lieutenant. Afterwards, Hitsugaya had retaliated and nearly been killed himself. Yet Hinamori was still fooled by the guise that had been Aizen's false identity and continued to adore him.

She had ranted about invented circumstances that might have driven Aizen to his evil actions on the last occasion she and Hitsugaya had spoken. She had also pleaded with Hitsugaya not to kill Aizen.

Hinamori's plea had felt like a stab through his heart as Hitsugaya knew that he must do exactly what his life-long friend was begging him not to do. Hitsugaya knew that he could not confess his feelings to Hinamori and, at the same time, vow to kill the man that she had hopelessly adored for so long. So, for the time being, Hitsugaya resolved to continue keeping watch over Hinamori from afar until Aizen was defeated. Hitsugaya could only hope that he would live through the coming battle; that he would be able to tell Hinamori everything.

 

Several hours later Hitsugaya had finished most of his paperwork and had decided to call it a day. The sun's rays were stretched across Soul Society, casting long shadows as they lay over the expanse of buildings. The young white-haired Captain could be found sitting on the roof of his private residence, watching the sun sink below the horizon, memories of simpler times washing over him.

Matsumoto Rangiku's swift steps fell nearly silently on the wooden walkway that wove together the buildings of the seireitei. Her breath was coming in little pants as she ran/flash stepped to the central office of 10th squad.

“Taicho! Taicho!” Matsumoto's clear, high-toned voice cut through the silence of her Captain's office. When there was no response, she murmured curses under her breath. She turned on the spot and disappeared, flash stepping out of the office. Once she was on the wooden walkway again, Matsumoto-fukataicho changed directions and hastened to her Captain's private residence. Hitsugaya was a very serious person and if he was not in his office then Matsumoto was sure he would be at home, he was never really one for going out at night; that was much more her thing.

As she approached Hitsugaya's home, Matsumoto caught sight of spikey white hair on his roof. Flash stepping once more, Matsumoto stood in front of Hitsugaya, panting slightly, her expression distraught.

“Taicho! It's Hinamori-fukataicho!”

Hitsugaya's heart beat painfully as his lieutenant appeared in front of him, clearly upset.

“Unohana-taicho says something's going wrong. There's no explanation for it, but Hinamori-fukataicho is…is…”

Hitsugaya did not even hear the end of Matsumoto's sentence. Without a seconds hesitation he raced toward 4th squad's relief station.