Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Tempests of the Heart ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Title: Tempests of the Heart (9/10)
Author: blue_crystal_9
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Eventual Hitsugaya/Hinamori, Kira/Hinamori
Spoilers: Anything up to episode 62 at this point.
Warnings: Innuendo, swearing.
Summary: It is years after the betrayal of Soul Society. Hinamori's finally beginning to move on with her life, and with that comes much change. Can Hitsugaya handle these changes?
Disclaimer: I do not own Beach; Tite Kubo does. I am not making any profit from this; it is for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Notes: As promised, this chapter is long, and rather intense around the end. Sorry, it took me a little longer than I thought to get this out because I am getting stuff ready to take to university.

 

 

Tempests of the Heart

Chapter Nine

 

_____________________________

 

Hinamori spun around, making the shimmering skirt of her dress billow around her. She stopped and looked at Matsumoto, “So, what do you think?”

 

Matsumoto grinned, “It's so pretty.”

 

She fingered the orangey-pink material and sighed, “I don't know. It was a lot of money, and I think it might be a little over the top. Maybe I should just wear a kimono like usual.”

 

“No! Wear the dress.” Matsumoto protested. “It looks great, and a lot of the other girls are wearing vintage dresses to match with the theme. You know you want to.” She said in a sing song voice. “It's beautiful and it'll knock Kira off of his feet.”

 

“Because that was exactly my intention.” Hinamori said sarcastically and then giggled at the mental picture of Kira falling over.

 

She inspected the dress in the mirror again. It was short-sleeved and went to just below her knees. At the waist the skirt flared out in a poofy sort of style. She took another look in the mirror and nodded, “I think I will keep it.”

 

“Good. Don't do that thing that you always do where you buy something then decide you don't want it and then you return it.”

 

“I don't do that all the time.” Hinamori argued.

 

“Yes, you do, Hinamori. It's becoming ridiculously redundant. Not to mention irritating.”

 

“I can't help it if I'm indecisive!”

 

“You're way more than indecisive. Don't buy it if you're not sure you want it. It's common sense.”

 

Hinamori decided it was time to change the subject. “So, what's your dress like? I'm assuming you bought a dress too, for all the fuss you're kicking up about it.”

 

“I'm not telling. It's a secret.” Matsumoto said slyly.

 

“Oh, come on.”

 

“Nope. You'll have to wait until tonight to see it.”

 

“That is so not fair.” Hinamori pouted. “At least tell me what color it is.”

 

Matsumoto paused, apparently thinking about it. Hinamori sighed in aggravation before Matsumoto said, “It's green.”

 

“What shade of green?”

 

“Not telling.” She stuck out her tongue.

 

“You are four years old. Now get out, because I need to get cleaned up and stuff.”

 

“Okie-dokie!” Matsumoto trilled and spun away toward the door.

 

“Wait a moment.” Hinamori said and Matsumoto stopped. “Who are you going with anyway?”

 

“Maybe I'm going alone.” Her voice was too innocent.

 

Hinamori's eyes narrowed. “Right. When pigs fly. There's no way you don't have a date. Tell me who it is.”

 

“That is also a secret.” Matsumoto winked.

 

“It's Hisagi, isn't it?” She probed. “Isn't it?”

 

The strawberry blond just shrugged and floated out of Hinamori's quarters.

 

“Wench.” Hinamori muttered under her breath.

 

_____________________________

 

A few hours later, Hinamori was putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup.

 

She looked down at the dress again, pursing her lips. She still wasn't too sure about it. Perhaps it was because she was a little uneasy wearing it; she certainly wasn't used to dresses, for no one really wore them in soul society. The swishy-ness of the dress was weirding her out a little too. And the neckline was way lower than what she was used to…

 

Shaking her head, she poked another bobby pin in her hair and blinked at her reflection. She had curled her hair, which was something she never, ever did. It was mostly pinned up, with a few stray curls hanging down.

 

There was a knock on the door and Hinamori called out, “Come in!” She stuck another pin in her hair, and winced when she ended up stabbing herself in the head. “Ow!”

 

“Hello and what happened?” Kira called from the front part of her quarters.

 

“Nothing. An unfortunate incident between me and a stubborn hairpin.” She said as she left her bathroom.

 

“Ah.” His eyes finally focused on her and he blinked several times before uttering, “You look lovely.”

 

“Thank you.” She smiled at him, noticing his old fashioned suit. “You look nice too. I see you went with the 1940's thing as well.”

 

“Yep. Although it was a bitch to rent this, because there isn't a ton of this type of clothes around here.”

 

“I know. I'm glad I got my dress early because a lot of the dresses were already gone when I went to look.”

 

“That reminds me.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket, and opened it, taking out a white rose corsage. “This is for you.”

 

“Aw, thank you.” She beamed as he tied it around her wrist.

 

“Well, it goes with the theme, I suppose. I wasn't sure what color your dress was but the woman at the flower shop suggested I get white, and it seemed sensible enough.”

 

“It's perfect.” She kissed him lightly, and then tucked her arm in the crook of his elbow. “Let's go, shall we?”

 

“We shall.” He gave her a crooked grin and then led her out the door.

 

_____________________________

 

“Here.” Kira handed her a drink.

 

She blinked down at it. “What is it?”

 

“Champagne.”

 

“Oooh, good. I can totally handle champagne.” Hinamori took a sip. Kira snorted and she raised an eyebrow at him, “What?”

 

“Your alcohol intolerance amuses me.”

 

“Oh shut up.” She grumbled, taking another sip. She cranked her neck, looking around the room.

 

“Who are you looking for?” He asked.

 

“Rangiku-san. She was being all secretive about her dress, and I'm ridiculously curious.”

 

“Huh. Right.”

 

She patted his shoulder, “Don't worry, you don't have to understand the girly nonsense.”

 

“Thank the gods.” He took a sip of his drink.

 

“Hey.” Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around to see Hitsugaya.

 

“Oh, hi Hitsugaya-kun. How are…” She then took in the dark charcoal grey suit he was wearing and trailed off in surprise. He looked really, really good in it. Really good.

 

She needed to stop ogling, what the hell was she doing? She inwardly smacked herself and forced herself to keep talking, “You look good.”

 

Ugh, that was lame.

 

She smiled at the emerald tie he had on, “The tie was a nice touch.”

 

Hitsugaya shrugged, “I saw it and figured hey, at least it'll match my eyes.” His lip quirked up into a half smile at that.

 

The tie did just that actually. It made the usual bright green of his eyes show more brilliantly than usual, and…

 

“You look really beautiful by the way.” He said quietly, glancing at her dress.

 

“Thank you.” She murmured, and she felt her face heat up in what she was sure was a full-on blush.

 

Her heart was thumping ridiculously loudly against her ribs; she hoped he couldn't hear it. Why was she so flustered? He'd just paid her a compliment; Kira had done the same thing and hadn't generated this kind of reaction. Maybe she was overheated or something. Perhaps the champagne was getting to her.

 

Kira's voice broke through her thoughts, “I'm going to go talk with Renji over there, okay?”

 

Hinamori winced guiltily, realizing that she'd forgotten that Kira was there the entire time she'd been talking to Hitsugaya. “Sure, I'll meet up with you in a little while.” Kira nodded and then headed toward Renji, weaving his way through the slowly thickening crowd of nicely dressed shinigami.

 

“So, have you seen Matsumoto yet?” Hitsugaya asked.

 

She shook her head, “No, and it's killing me because I really want to see her dress. She wouldn't tell me who she was going with either.” Hinamori added.

 

“Oh, she's going with Hisagi.”

 

“HA! I knew it!” Hinamori said triumphantly and Hitsugaya gave her a surprised look at her outburst. “I asked if that was who she was going with but she wouldn't confirm it.”

 

“Ah, avoidance. Definitely sounds like Matsumoto.”

 

Hinamori saw a flash of familiar strawberry blond hair through the crowd and stood on her tiptoes to see if she could spot her, but unfortunetly her height prevented her from seeing over the crowd. “Stupid shortness.” She muttered and heard Hitsugaya chuckle quietly behind her.

 

The crowd suddenly parted and Hinamori finally saw her. Matsumoto was wearing a long, flowing green dress. It was short sleeved like her own, and the top layer was a light, sheer fabric while underneath was a dark green silk. Her hair was pinned up in a twist, and silver chandelier earring shone at her ears. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Hisagi was at her arm, looking ridiculously cute and slightly boyish with his face glowing with pride.

 

Matsumoto walked over to them, splitting off from Hisagi so he could go talk to Renji and Kira. As soon as she got close to them, Hinamori grinned slyly at her.

 

“Oh don't even, Hinamori.” Matsumoto warned.

 

“I haven't said anything. Right, Hitsugaya-kun?”

 

“That is correct.” The corner of his mouth tilted up in what she was sure was a small smirk.

 

“Your dress is really pretty. It suits you.”

 

“Thanks.” Matsumoto eyed her suspiciously; certain she wasn't finished with the topic yet. She was right.

 

“So you finally threw him a bone, huh?” Hinamori finally said, her smile widening.

 

“Shut up. We're just here as friends.” She said defensively. “Not even friends, more like acquaintances… coworkers.”

 

“Maybe to you…” Hinamori trailed off.

 

“But to him, it's a completely different matter.” Hitsugaya finished for her.

 

“Arghh. Be quiet. This is what I get for doing a good deed.” Matsumoto grumbled.

 

“Riiiight. That's exactly why you came with him.” Hinamori rolled her eyes.

 

“I'm not going to talk to you two anymore. I'm just gonna go over there, and… ignore you.”

 

“That's a blissful threat.” Hitsugaya said and Hinamori actually laughed out loud.

 

Matsumoto exhaled in a huff and stalked off.

 

“Aw, I think we made her mad.” Hinamori said.

 

“She'll be over it in like two seconds.” He said, unconcerned.

 

“Mmmh, true.” They both smiled at each other.

 

Afterward, when Hinamori passed by Hitsugaya to meet Kira, her hand brushed against his by accident.

 

The spot burned for a long time after.

 

_____________________________

 

Hitsugaya watched as Hinamori spun around with Kira, her dress swirling around her. She was the brightest person in the room, bright like a star; smiling and laughing and spinning.

 

He couldn't ignore the pinpricks of jealousy he felt as he watched them dance to the jazzy, upbeat music. Kira had the one person he had always sought after, the only person he had ever loved. And watching them together like this was making it harder and harder to keep his emotions in check.

 

He was vaguely considering getting another drink so that he could concentrate on something else when Hinamori appeared in his line of vision. She was flushed and some of her hair had come loose from the pins, curling down her back and around her face. The thing he noticed most was her eyes; they were brown and warm and sparkling with excitement.

 

“So,” She said as she plopped down in the chair beside him, “I think you need to get up for a while. You need to walk around, talk to people or something. Your anti-social behaviour is becoming a little depressing.”

 

“Well, I was considering leaving anyway, so perhaps I'll just go-”

 

“What?” Her back straightened. “You're not serious. The party's been going on for only like, an hour.”

 

“Two and a half hours, Hinamori.” He said dryly.

 

“Whatever. The point is, everyone else is still here. You should stay.”

 

“And do what, exactly? You know I'm not a party person, and I'm beginning to get a little bored just sitting here.”

 

“Well, you could… dance.”

 

He snorted. “Right. With who?”

 

“Ah, well -er…”

 

“That would be my point.” Hitsugaya said.

 

“But you should still stick around for a while longer.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because.”

 

“Because why?” He sounded a little annoyed now.

 

“Because I want you to.” She said softly.

 

He stared her for a moment before saying, “Okay.”

 

`Well, that was easy,' Hinamori thought inwardly.

 

They were quiet for a few moments before Hitsugaya murmured, “So… do you want to dance with me?”

 

Hinamori's head snapped up to look at him, and she noticed his ears with rather red and there was a definite flush to his cheeks. She stammered out in somewhat of a shocked tone, “But, you don't dance… ever.”

 

She could hear the eye roll in his voice. “Then why'd you even suggest it earlier?”

 

“Because it's something fun to do.”

 

He sighed. “Do you want to dance with me or not?”

 

“I'd love to.”

 

His green eyes fixed on her brown ones for a moment and then he stood up, allowing her to take his arm and lead her out onto the dance floor as the music changed to something slower.

 

It was a little convenient, Hitsugaya thought suspiciously. But he'd rather a slow dance than a fast dance; slow dancing had no flailing of any sort and required minimal effort.

 

There was a little fumbling awkwardness at first and a lot of stiffness because she had been right; he really didn't dance at all.

 

This time was an exception however.

 

For once he wasn't going to pass up the chance to be that close to her, however fleeting.

 

The stiffness melted away after a while, and it was hard to ignore how perfectly she fit against him and how warm she was in his arms.

 

She suddenly rested her head against his shoulder and his breath hitched.

 

It was hard to ignore how right it felt.

 

The moment was over all too soon, and once the music had stopped she stepped slowly away from him and smiled gently, “See? Fun, and not boring.”

 

“Yes.”

 

It was the honest truth.

 

_____________________________

 

Matsumoto had ended up pulling her and Nanao and several other shinigami women out on the dance floor with her just before the night began to wind down. Apparently Matsumoto had forgiven her.

 

But after several dances with them Hinamori was getting tired. “I'm going to take a break.” She said to Nanao, who nodded. “By the way, I really like your dress.” It was black, with a fairly simple design. It had buttons down the front and long sleeves, and the skirt flowed out at the waist. With someone else, it might have looked a little plain, but with Nanao it looked quite classy. She had her hair different too; instead of being pulled up tight it was loose and wavy.

 

“Thank you.” She replied and Hinamori smiled at her before she headed away from the dance floor.

 

The fresh air was cool against her skin as she stepped out on the porch. She breathed it in, feeling her temperature began to cool and her heart rate slow down.

 

She felt his spiritual pressure behind her before he had even spoken. She smiled to herself and said, “We seem to end up on the porch a lot together, huh?”

 

Hitsugaya came to stand behind her, “I've noticed that too, actually.”

 

“So, are you heading back to your division?” Hinamori asked.

 

“Yes. I've had just about enough partying for tonight.”

 

“You stayed longer than I thought you would.” She commented.

 

“Well, you asked me to stay, so I did.” He ran a hand through his unruly hair.

 

“I just didn't want you to be all loner guy again tonight.”

 

“Hmm. I suppose I should thank you.” There was something in his voice, a fond amusement that made her flush.

 

“I suppose you should.” Was that really her voice, all teasing and light? In reality her heart was thumping nervously in her chest.

 

“Thank you.” Hitsugaya murmured, his voice low and like silk. He was very close to her, and she hazily wondered what the hell he was doing when he suddenly leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

 

This was the second time he'd kissed her; the first time had been on her forehead so many weeks ago. It shouldn't have meant much of anything, just like the last time, but Hinamori knew somehow that it did. He lingered there for a moment and with that brief physical touch he had conveyed something to her; a feeling that was warm and overpowering but yet gentle, a feeling she didn't quite recognize or understand.

 

She felt him pull away and distantly heard him say goodnight. She wasn't able to say it back though; she was too busy being frozen in surprise.

 

_____________________________

 

It wasn't until a while later, after the party had died down and Kira had walked her home that she realized that she needed to talk to Hitsugaya. She wasn't sure about what exactly or even why, but she knew that for some strange reason she really needed to. Perhaps then all the confusion that had been lingering in the corners of her mind lately would be cleared up.

 

He's probably already gone to bed, a voice argued in her mind but she ignored it and headed to the tenth division anyway, hurrying through the darkness. She reached his quarters, and was about to knock when she heard voices coming from Matsumoto and Hitsugaya's office. She walked down the hall until she stood in front of the door. They seemed to be in some sort of argument and she was about to turn back until she heard her name mentioned.

 

“Hitsugaya-taicho, how can Hinamori not realize it?” Matsumoto's voice filtered through the wood. “I mean, the way you were looking at her tonight, and the dancing, and… and everything! She has to know now.”

 

“No, she doesn't.” Hitsugaya's voice was quiet, strained and Hinamori frowned. What did she not know?

 

“But-”

 

Hitsugaya cut her off, “Leave well enough alone, Matsumoto. We've been through this a million times before. She doesn't know, it's better this way, end of discussion.”

 

“But this was so obvious, more obvious than anything else you've ever done. Okay, well maybe not the whole Aizen thing, but this was close. I saw the absolute emotion that you put behind that kiss, even if it was only on her cheek. If that doesn't scream that you love her, I don't know what else does.”

 

“It doesn't matter. It's not the time for it, and she clearly doesn't know my… my feelings for her. Now go to bed.”

 

The tenth vice captain continued to persist in her argument, “Well maybe if you actually told her-”

 

“Matsumoto, will you just shut up for once in your life!”

 

Hinamori didn't hear the rest of their bickering, a haze blocking her from concentrating on her surroundings.

 

She slid numbly to the floor, shock permeating through every nerve.

 

Oh God.

 

He loved her.

 

_____________________________

 

End of chapter nine.

 

 

Author's notes: Well, now there's only one more chapter to go beside the epilogue. Wow. O_o And the next chapter/epilogue will be out in a day or two definitely, because I am leaving for university in four days. *spazzes a little*

 

I enjoyed writing this chapter; parties are so much fun to write. Although I may have went a bit to much in detail with their dresses and stuff… but anyway. *lol*