tampered | log, ongoing

She wasn’t alone, leaning against the wall behind her with his arms crossed was the grumpy, white haired captain.

Hitsugaya hadn’t forgotten it was White Day. Or, to be more precise, he had stressed internally over the date for the past week. He knew there were customs to be observed no matter how much disdain he usually had for social traditions, and he also knew that Hinamori liked to follow them if her interest in the whole Christmas cheer was any indication. He still wondered if she ever found his note.

Exactly how does one interrupt a fellow shinigami in the middle of what looked to be meditation?

She was oblivious to his worry, of course. And to the fact that he was grumpy. Then again, she always seemed to ignore that small quirk of his personality. It was how he was, or some similar worded excuse.

That didn't mean she didn't notice his reiatsu, however. Hinamori was always keeping track of it no matter where the shorter shinigami went. Even if he was right beside her, even then, she would close her eyes to just feel it. To a lesser extent she did the same for Abarai, for the other vice captains. But Hitsugaya was the one she turned to when she needed to calm herself, and his icy reiatsu had always been perfect for that.

Tobiume pointed out that the captain in question of the small tangent she'd seem to run off on was standing near them. Most likely watching. And that her little shinigami (not that Tobiume was that much larger, honestly) should probably see what he wanted.

So she blinked her eyes open, a little confused that Hitsugaya wasn't in front of her like she'd assumed.

Apparently, he didn’t need to worry about interrupting if his presence was intrusive enough as it was.

"Was that my fault?" he asked straight out, there was no point in playing around and Hinamori almost always understood what he meant. Usually anyways, when the clueless mood didn’t strike her.

He relaxed his stance and moved into her vision range, as much as he enjoyed watching her concentrated form from behind, he liked her expressions even more. Perhaps it had been a bad time to disrupt her, he knew she had not been allowed much alone time when she was cuffed and Hitsugaya knew how valuable those moments could be.

She wouldn't have used the word intrusive... It was a comforting and reassuring presence. A part of her past that had never left her, in more ways than one. They were close, after all.

"Not at all, Tobiume wanted a break anyway." She smiled, somewhat sleepily but mostly just smiling for the sake of smiling. "Did you want something?" she pressed, moving to replace the blade at her side and straighten herself up. Sitting rumpled the clothes, or something. Mostly, it was an excuse to keep her hands busy.

For some reason, not being attached to him made her nervous about sitting still.

If he knew that he would hope that fact never changed, no matter whose eloquent and charming presence may come between them. He clung and followed, but if she ever wanted to leave he wouldn’t hold her back.

"Hm, doesn’t really seem that way. Nevertheless, since I have your attention now anyways…" Now he had to wonder how to say it properly. He hadn’t planned for her to notice him right away and therefore hadn’t practiced any words, not that there was a real need to but it would have made him more sure of himself.

He stratched the side of his head, feeling a little less confident now, "On second thought, I’ll interrupt you later." When I figure out what to say, of course, went unsaid.

It took all of three seconds for the smile to fall into a pout. Honestly, she was distracted now, why couldn't he just say it? Tobiume's passing comment about dragons having no concept of timing nor understanding of women in general was heard, though Hinamori tried to ignore it. It had been Tobiume that had told her to pay attention in the first place, what did Hyourinmaru have to do with it?

She shifted again, further confused by Hitsugaya's reluctance to talk, but, "If you're sure, then whenever you want to talk is fine."

He was not going to let that pout break his determination, oh no. He was going to not look at it and his iron will to leave, practice and come back was going to hold true. Yes, his will was strong and he was going to not look, turn away and—

"There’s something on your pillow."

That wasn’t quite how Hitsugaya had planned his little presentation, he had planned to be much more eloquent and maybe even use some of the phrases that Matsumoto had taught him. Heavily revised first. The blunt statement he delivered just now sounded more like someone had dropped a bug on her pillow and he was merely passing on the details and that was certainly not the case. It wasn’t a bug that had been dropped there but a fluffy animal stuffed and tied with a ribbon just waiting to be picked up and hugged.

He really sucked at gift-giving. What was said couldn’t be taken back though, so he shifted himself (her movements were contagious) and cleared his throat, "so you might want to look into that later. When you’re done here."

Something? It couldn't have been more vague if the captain had tried, of that she was fairly sure. But something in the way he said later made her want to check now.

...Now meaning now, and Tobiume could stop laughing, thank you very much, least the sword find herself left alone in a cupboard for the rest of the day. Rising, Hinamori just smiled, nothing more than, "I suppose I'll go check, then," before she padded off to the shared bedroom. (Exactly why it was labled her pillow she didn't know, nine times out of ten she fell asleep on Hitsugaya as opposied to anything else, after all.)

But as he'd said, there was something. A very cute and adorable something. A very cute and adorable something that did indeed need to be picked up and hugged, and thus she did, toying with it in her hands. It took five seconds this time for her brain to remind her it was White Day, but it didn't really matter what day it was if she was honest.

Checking right away was much sooner than he had expected, but he supposed his too forward approach wasn’t too bad if it got the desired result anyways.

He followed a few silent steps behind her to catch her reaction, something he had always enjoyed watching. Just like how he liked watching her slowly fall asleep and snuggle closer unconsciously, he didn’t do it because he was a pervert no matter what rumours Nel might spread.

"Happy White Day." He said simply, a faint smile begged to be revealed when he caught sight of her holding his gift. Desired result indeed.

No matter how faint it might have been, she saw his smile and returned one all her own. It didn't matter what others said about how much of a grouch he could be, or how many people complained that he was a slave driver, or any of it. Hitsugaya cared in his own way.

And she loved that.

"Thank you, Shirou-chan," the smile still present as she moved to hug him in return.

He returned the hug, leaning in to nudge his nose against her collar for a few seconds before pulling back to give her a more obvious smile. A grin even.

"I take it you like the gift?"

That had been one of his major worries, he had received suggestions that ranged from a bag of marshmallows – which one of them had vehemently claimed to be the origin of White Day – to other gift ideas that covered pots and pans to lingerie. For the latter idea he was never going to consult its giver for suggestions ever again.

"The gift and the giver," she murmured back, utterly comforted by his reaction. Honestly, he was just like a teddy bear himself sometimes.

Echoing his grin in her own way, Hinamori freed her hands to play with the toy a little more, wondering where to put it. Naruto may have left, but she still had the dragon he'd given her; one of the few possessions she'd allowed herself to accumulate in her nearly two years within the City. It resided next to the bed, and that seemed like a good place for this one too, but first... "Does it have a name?"

Her response left a warm feeling bubbling inside him, something that would never translate to his face though it was there. A teddy bear perhaps, but he would still scowl if he ever discovered that thought.

A name, he had never thought to give it one first. Was he supposed to have, was that what they were supposed to do for White Day gifts? There were quite a few names he could easily pull from the recesses of his mind but Hitsugaya was pretty sure Hinamori wasn’t looking for those, and he definitely didn’t think they were appropriate for the situation.

"No, it doesn’t. Will you give it one?"

Had he mentioned that he had a few ideas, she would have been curious, but she knew better than to push when he gave such a flat answer. Naming it herself didn't seem fair though... Then again, she had simply named the dragon Hyourinmaru, since that was why Naruto had picked it for her. But it was something Hitsugaya had chosen and had put a lot of thought into, the name she could manage herself.

Biting her lower lip in concentration, she examined the plush again, trying to decide between two equally worthy names. It still didn't seem right that it was her decision, but the way he'd asked had made it seem like Hitsugaya would be happier if she did choose. So-- "I think he should be named Pyon."

To which she couldn't help laughing.

He blinked.

"Pyon?" He repeated, blinking yet again and maybe a few more times in confusion. Was Pyon some foreign name like Pierre or Pedro or was it Pyon as in… pyon?

"Pyon, like-" he did a little forwards hop, "pyon?" It was certainly an interesting and quite mystifying name; Hitsugaya would have never been able to come up with a name like that. The mysteries of the fairer gender was astounding!

"Pyon! Like pyon. It's cute, so it suits," she chuckled, at the name now as much as the move forward he'd made. "Unless you've got something else in mind?"

She shot him another smile as she moved to place the newly aquired Pyon beside the dragon, arranging them just so to suit her likes as much as it was to keep busy. "Really, thank you though. You didn't have to."

The rhymed too. He shook his head, "Nope, I think Pyon suits it perfectly. Short and easy to remember."

He shrugged, more to himself as she wasn’t looking at him with her arrangements. "It’s a thank you gift for the cake." Really, he would have tried to find her a proper response gift during that Valentine’s week instead of waiting for exactly a month later. That was one thing he never understood about White Day, though he supposed it meant men were indecisive if it took them a month to find a gift to return, he was a prime example of that.

"Good!" Satisfied that Pyon and (the cuddly) Hyourinmaru were arranged as she liked, she returned to the captains side, slipping her hand into his with a shy echo of her earlier smile.

"There's another cake in the kitchen, if you're hungry."

He squeezed the hand he was holding but elbowed her side lightly as well. He had done good today, right? The gift was delivered – he would work on his direct approaches with time – and she liked it enough to name it Pyon.

"I’m always hungry for your cakes. No more meditation? I know I interrupted you earlier, I wouldn’t want Tobiume to bear a grudge."

She glanced (down, alas) at him, a somewhat confused expression flitting over her features for a moment before she resumed smiling. What, he couldn't eat alone? She poked back, a giggle escaping as she did so.

The companion in question was quiet at her side, and to her knowledge, had never been particularly angry at anyone. Least of all a captain. "She won't mind, as long as Hyourinmaru doesn't. There's always time for each other later," she replied, giving his hand a quick tug to lead him to the kitchen. "But you'll have to make the tea."

He scrunched his nose at her, they were nearly the same height, he was growing! And of course he could eat alone, but if he were to eat alone it would have been a very quick and boring meal, even if the meal was going to be cake.

His Hyourinmaru was constantly there, the unmistakable rumble was always at the back of his mind even with company. They were alike in the fact that it wasn’t necessary for words to be exchanged for a conversation, "No, he won’t mind."

Hinamori simply continued to smile, unable to find any other response to his actions. Sometimes, she felt it was all she could do for him, but that was fine. As long as she could do something.

"I'm glad," short and sweet, comforted by his reassurance that the dragon was content. Honestly, if she could, she would have the dragon as a pet. Everything she knew about him from Hitsugaya made her glad the two had found each other, just as she was glad she had Tobiume.

She moved about the kitchen slowly, gathering up the needed items to serve the cake. "How much did you want?

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