Chapter Text
Two years. Two years had passed since Aizen had betrayed the whole Soul Society. Two years since Hinamori got almost killed twice - the first time by Aizen's own doing, the second time using Hitsugaya as his tool.
Hinamori and Hitsugaya had talked through all of this, forgiving each other since neither of them was responsible, it was all made to happen by Aizen. Things had gone back to normal then - at least for a year. In the past two weeks, December had just begun and had covered the Seireitei with a thin layer of snow, a mix of feelings showed up she had never experienced before, and of course it had come around Hitsugaya. Her Shiro-chan. Although his nickname from the past had become slowly outdated since he grew a lot of height and was a head taller than her now.
When he was around, her heart beat faster and she became very careful with her choice of words. Hitsugaya was her best friend and the person who knew the most about her and vice versa. And for all these years, she had never any doubts how to deal with him, why now? What had changed?
"...mo? Momo? Are you there?"
Hinamori startled and blinked three times before realising what happened. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not recognise Hitsugaya Toushirou had entered the office of the 5th division.
"Hi-Hitsugaya-kun..." was all she managed to say.
"It's still Hitsugaya-taichou." he corrected her immediately. After a sad look from her for being formal as always, he added quietly "...at least when other people are around."
Since it was already early evening, all other division members had gone to their quarters, so Hinamori could spare the "-taichou" like always and smiled a little, looking down at her desk. If she hadn't been in her own thoughts, she could have seen that Hitsugaya didn't mean his standard phrase all serious this time, it was just a good tool to act like always although he didn't feel like always.
"Oh, what's the matter, Hitsugaya-kun?" Hinamori asked and was happy to leave the name subject.
"Umm... you know my birthday is this month?" he said.
"Of course I know, we know each other for 15 years now!" she answered immediately and a bit upset, although she had to admit to herself that his reminder was not that bad. The whole feeling-thing had obscured her mind that she still hadn't finished the present for him.
"Well... The captain-commander never sets up long missions at this time of the year and in the division, things are calm at the moment, so my evening is free. And I... would be happy if you would come around." His last words were barely a whisper and Hinamori squinted just to be sure but had to accept that something was going on with Hitsugaya as well - since when did he blush when inviting her to his birthday? And what about that insecurity in his voice? Where was the brave, ice-cool captain gone?
From the outside, it was obvious that the childhood friends both wanted more than a normal friendship. But since Hinamori hadn't put a label to her feelings yet, she did not recognise the more than clear signs from Hitsugaya who was aware what he felt for Hinamori. After the whole Aizen betrayal, he had realised that he wanted more than protecting 'his Momo' from any harm. She knew everything about him and around her, he could let fall his mask of ice. It was in the summer when he realised his heart had decided to make Hinamori his crush, but since he didn't want to destroy their year-long friendship only because his feelings had changed, he tried to act as normal as possible, which was more than difficult when your crush is already quite intimate with you.
Since Hinamori hadn't given him an answer, Hitsugaya spoke up again.
"Momo? Are you ok? You seem quite absent today."
"Huh, what? Sorry, Hitsugaya-kun!" she answered with an apologetic tone. "Thank you for the invitation, I will come of course. Already made up a time?”
"What about 07:00 p.m.?" he asked with a little, but soft smile since her acceptance made him happy and nervous at the same time.
"Sounds great!" Hinamori agreed.
"See you tomorrow." Hitsugaya said calmly before leaving the 5th division. He didn't want to see her how happy it made him she accepted his first invitation he had given out by himself for his birthday. Everyone in his division knew how much Hitsugaya hated birthday parties, which didn't stop Matsumoto from organising them.
Hinamori sat at her desk, wondering that this conversation was different than others she had with him.
"Was this really Hitsugaya-taichou?" a familiar voice asked her from behind.
"Hirako-taichou, did you hear everything?" she exclaimed, a bit ashamed she didn't notice her captain being around.
"I did not understand the words so I don't know about what you've talked, but what I recognised was that his reiatsu was never like this before. It had nothing to do with our ice-cold captain, he sent off a warmth I believe only a special person will receive from him."
"Rea...really?!" Hinamori couldn't believe what she just heard since she noticed absolutely nothing. Was she so occupied with her own thoughts that she didn't sense such a difference in his reiatsu?
"Hinamori-san, you can quit work for today and I allow you to take a day off tomorrow. I think there is something important you should get done the sooner the better. Good night."
"Th-thank you, Hirako-taichou." she said, bowed before him, cleaned her desk and took the way to her apartment. Halfway there, she decided to talk to someone she could be more comfortable with than her own captain. About half an hour later, she stood at the gate of the 6th division, thinking if it was too late to visit Renji. But her question should be answered soon when Kuchiki Byakuya walked around the corner.
"Hinamori-fukutaichou, may I help you?" he asked politely.
"Kuchiki-taichou, good evening. Is Abarai-fukutaichou still working?" she asked.
"No, he should be in his apartment, we had some long meetings today. But I'm sure he is still awake." Kuchiki responded.
"Thank you very much, Kuchiki-taichou." Hinamori said, bowed shortly and walked on to Renji's apartment. After her knocking, Renji answered with a simple "Oi, come in.", what she did.
"Hinamori, what are you doing here this late?" he asked her directly with a bit of surprise in his voice.
"I need to talk to someone about two conversations I had today which were..." she didn't know what to call the talks with Hitsugaya and Hirako.
"...surprising you?" Renji finished her sentence.
"Yeah... that sounds right." Hinamori gave back, already tracing off.
"I'll make us a cup of tea and then you can tell me everything." Renji suggested.
"Thank you." she replied. After ten minutes he returned with two hot cups of tea, placing one in front of Hinamori and the other in front of himself. "So, what happened?" Renji started.
"Well... first, there was Shiro-chan. I hadn't noticed that he had come in and he acted different than normal. He invited me for his birthday and sounded a bit insecure while doing so? I'm not even sure if he was really himself today.
The other talk was with Hirako-taichou shortly after. He said that Shiro-chan's reiatsu felt totally different and... warm?"
Hinamori still didn't come to a conclusion to all of this while Renji had the biggest smile in his face. He had figured out what the matter was. When Hinamori saw his grin, she gave him a puzzled look what made him grin even wider.
"Hey, what's so funny about this?" she asked upset.
"Hinamori, are you really this blind?" he stated.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Hinamori didn't understand a thing.
"Listen. You say you know Hitsugaya well, right?" She nodded in response. "Then tell me how often he has invited you to his birthday."
Hinamori didn't seem to get it yet. Renji tried something else.
"Ok, keep the last part in mind. Tell me how many times someone that's not you could tell something about Hitsugaya's reiatsu being warm instead of ice-cold?"
It took another moment, but now she slowly processed the happenings. Her widening eyes gave Renji enough proof his words had reached her.
"Shiro-chan never invited anyone to his birthday because he doesn't like being in the centre of attention. But he did invite me, that's for sure... and letting down his mask of ice so even Hirako-taichou sensed it is absolutely not normal... but why?"
Renji realised Hinamori still seemed not to put the pieces all together, so he gave in and talked directly.
"Oi, Hinamori, don't you get it? That guy is so deeply in love with you even your own captain has seen it."
"Shiro-chan is WHAT?" She wouldn't believe her ears what Renji just said.
"Hinamori, listen. I think you know this, your 'Shiro-chan' has grown up. And he always says he wants to protect you, which can be translated into love at this age. I can't believe that I need to say this to you, but you should stop using that old nickname. It doesn't suit him anymore."
Renji's words hit her like a strike of a Menos grande. Had she been this blind not to see he had grown up? Was this the reason she felt so nervous around him lately? Because he had... become a man? Why had Matsumoto never said a word about this? And damn, that birthday thing was so obvious.
"But... but what about our friendship?" Hinamori asked with a desperate tone in her voice.
"Well, there are three options." Renji began. "No. 1, you act like you didn't notice a thing and I think he will play along. I mean he did not confess to you. No. 2, if you don't return his feelings, you should tell him. I don't know what happens to your friendship, but it wouldn't been fair to hold up his hopes when there is nothing to hope for. No. 3, you return the feelings, then you should give him a sign so both of you can be happy with something more than friendship."
And there she was again. What did she feel for Shi-, no, Hitsu-, no, for... Toushirou? Calling him by his first name in her mind already made her shiver. It felt strange yet familiar. Hinamori's thoughts trailed off and Renji saw this by her absent look. He knew that she had to figure out by herself what she felt for Hitsugaya, although he had an idea by the fact that today's conversation bothered her so much.
Since both of them had to work tomorrow (Renji couldn't know she had gotten a day off), he said after some minutes: "Is there something else you want to talk about? I don't wanna throw you out, but I will have some very displeasing meetings tomorrow and should go to sleep. You can come around again tomorrow evening if you want to."
Hinamori needed a moment to realise Renji had spoken to her, but answered soon after.
"No, thank you, that's all... for now. Thank you for the tea and... everything." She drank the last bit of her tea, bowed shortly before Renji, wished him a good night and returned to her own apartment.
For her, sleep wasn't really an option now.
Meanwhile Hitsugaya had returned to his own division, still carrying the small but soft smile with which he had left Hinamori's office. When entering his own, he was surprised Matsumoto was still there AND working.
"You still here?" he asked right away.
"The 7th division had brought over some more papers and I wanted to do you a favour." she responded with a seriousness Hitsugaya wished she would exhibit more often.
"Is it my birthday already?" he responded with a little amusement.
"Not yet, but I heard something special is going to happen~" Matsumoto said with that sing-sang voice that always promised trouble.
Hitsugaya didn't want his happy moment from today to be destroyed by one of her silly plans again, so he decided to address it directly.
"Matsumoto, I beg you, please spare me from whatever you've planned. At least this year... because I have to get something done." He didn't want to go into detail, otherwise the whole Gotei 13 would know about his feelings for Hinamori before she did. And this topic was way too important to him to let it be disturbed by his own vice-captain.
Matsumoto knew he had planned to make a step towards Hinamori regarding his feelings for her, she spent a lot of time with Hitsugaya in the same place. Whenever Hinamori came to the 10th division the last months, his gaze softened immediately and she could feel his nervousness through his reiatsu, wondering how Hinamori hadn't noticed a thing until now. And maybe Hirako had given her a hint about what happened earlier.
"I promise I won't be doing a thing this year, taichou. Can you promise me something as well?" she asked.
Hitsugaya looked at her with a puzzled expression, she had never asked him something like that with such a serious tone. "Go fulfill your heart's wish, you deserve it."
He would have never believed to hear something like that from her in sober state, but at this moment, he was just thankful she understood that this year his birthday wouldn't be like the others.