Taking the First Steps

Chapter 2 of Bleach: Hitsugaya Tales; Part I: Facing Her Demons. It details the beginning of Momo Hinamori's recory shortly after the rebellion of Aizen.

Taking the First Steps
Tōshirō Hitsugaya stepped into the small room that belonged to a patient, currently within the custody of the Fourth Division. The room itself was barley the size of a shoe closet, with a small cot situated into the farthest side of the room, with a light brown, scratchy looking blanket that was tucked into the sides, with a a single pillow. A brown side-table was placed on the left side of the cot, with a white vase that was full of white gardenias. A glass of half-drank water was resting on it as well.

Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes were narrowed as he surveyed the room, looking for the occupant of the room, who was supposedly missing. He entered the room, and silently strode towards the bed, a darkening expression on his face. He fingered the flowers, and allowed some of his icy reiatsu to seep through, freezing the flowers into an eternity of perfection.

"Captain Hitsugaya?" a soft and motherly voice suddenly drew Hitsugaya out of his mind, and he spun around. "Is everything alright?" asked Captain Retsu Unohana of the Fourth Division, her violet eyes were tinged with worry.

"Where is Momo, Captain Unohana?" Hitsugaya questioned, his emotionless mask snapping back into place.

"I believe she is training within the fields of the Fifth Division." she answered, her frown being replaced with a small smile. Hitsugaya, however, tensed when he heard the word training.

What was wrong with her?! Momo was supposed to be resting, not training, especially not in her current state of mental and physical being. He didn't know if she could handle the strain of using her Shikai, when her body was still physically weak from the crippling blow Aizen had dealt on her, just months prior.

"The Fifth Division?" Hitsugaya asked, and Unohana confirmed with a nod of his head, and he took off down the hall of the Fourth Division barracks, and towards the Fifth Division.

Momo Hinamori's Pov
Momo stared into the crystal water of the koi pond that laid in the middle of the captains' quarters that belonged to the captain of the Fifth Division. However, because their was no leader, aside from Momo, at the moment, the garden was not being tended to daily. Fair to say, Momo had ordered for Seats 14-15 to tend to it; they had been against it originally but Momo was so firm and scary that they squeaked in fear.

She stared at her reflection and amber colored eyes stared back her, with a hollowed out expression, purple bags were evident on her pale skin; lacking the natural peach colored she normally held. Her black hair was hanging in limps around her heart-shaped face, and part of it had been pulled back into a horribly done bun. She wore a light blue yukata with white butterfly patterns, and was held closed by a white obi sash. A purple haori was draped over her shivering shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" came the voice of Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Momo twisted in one fluid movement and swung her left leg into a round kick. Her foot came in contact with a hard muscled chest, and she heard a soft pained groan. Before she could think about what she was doing, Momo's hand formed into a fist and she lunged a punch at the face of Hitsugaya, her speed insane.

Tōshirō caught her fist and spun her around, twisting her arm into her lower back, and pulling her against his chest, effectively pinned her to him. He leaned down (Tōshirō is taller in this story), and pressed his lips to the shell of her ear, and whispered softly.

"Calm down, Anata," he then trailed butterfly kisses from the outside of her ear and up to her temple, where he placed a passionate kiss to her temple. He loosened his hold on her wrist, and allowed it to fall to her waist, and wrapped his hands around her hips, and placed another kiss on her neck.

"Now I will ask you again, Anata, what are you doing here?"