Author's Note: There you go! The last chapter. It's been fun writing this little story. :)

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, not me.

Chapter 4

A small sigh escaped her mouth. Hinamori drummed her fingers on the cover of the book while trying to figure out what kind of relationship she shared with the white-haired male. They've been together for so many years, they know everything about each other. So why was it so hard for her to determine whether they were more than just close friends? Ever since they began living together people commented how perfect they were as a couple. Were they perfect though? Well, they were both very organized and knew each other's schedule by heart so deciding who has to do certain chores around the house or buy the groceries that day never gave them any problems. And sure sometimes they hold hands when they take a stroll around the park, have a picnic together and fool around from time to time, but does that mean they were in love? ...The more she thought about it the more she believed that they really did look like a couple. When did they start living together though?

A few years back she, Hitsugaya, Kiyone, Kuchiki, Abarai and Kira enrolled the same university as Matsumoto, Ichimaru, Hisagi, Isane and Nanao. She was sitting on a bench next to him, swinging her legs up end down. He stared ahead, stonily watching two childeren running around the park playing tag. They weren't doing much, just sitting here on a peaceful afternoon. Kuchiki invited them over to her house where they were holding a graduation party. Hitsugaya refused and that made Hinamori refuse too. Something's been bugging her and he waited for the moment she couldn't hold it anymore and tell him.

"University's three hours away from here." It wasn't such a big problem for her. Her family secretly began saving money when she entered junior high until they collected enough of it to buy her a small, but cosy house near the university. It's just that Hitsugaya wasn't as lucky as she was. When there was a lack of response from the other she took a deep breath and then looked up to the sky. "There's enough room for another person at the house my parents bought. So you know... we can share the house."

"Hinamori." He finally looked at her with a small smile, but shook his head. "I appreciate your help, but I can't. My gr-"

"Your grandma will be all alone. I already suspected you would say that." She softened her eyes at the boy and intertwined her fingers with his, causing him to turn his head away from some reason. "But remember this, you're always welcome in case you change your mind."

She moved away soon after that. Sometimes the raven-haired girl would see her other friends while walking around the campus and have a little chat with them. Sadly enough, the one person she wanted to see the most was the one she had the most difficulty to find. She would search for Hitsugaya everyday, wondering how he was holding up. They didn't speak much to each other ever since university started and everytime when she called his grandmother to speak with him she was told he was either asleep or busy studying. She didn't give up though and her persistence to see him again eventually paid off when she spotted his white hair near a tree. At least she hoped it was his white hair. Matsumoto told her a lot of people started to bleach their hair ever since they saw Ichimaru's silver one. They probably assumed the pretty blonde was into guys with light coloured hair. Fortunately, the boy who've been sleeping against the tree wasn't one of those guys, but the person she's been looking for all along.

"Toushiroooo. Wake up.", she cooed, gently shaking him by his shoulders. Though she was more used to call him Hitsugaya, he always seemed to pay more attention when she called him by his first name.

His eyes slowly opened and met her own brown ones. He felt his blood rushing to his head when she brushed some of his bangs away from his eyes. He hasn't been this close to her for what felt like an eternity. He blamed his busy schedule for that, but deep inside he knew he also avoided her. It's not that he didn't like her presence or other nonsense like that. It's just that whenever he's near her, his face heats up. A lot.

Hitsugaya placed his hand on the one she's been using to fix his hair."Hinamori?"

She nodded, moving her other hand to caress his cheek and then angle his head a bit to hers. Noticing the bags underneath his eyes, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Let me guess... You didn't get enough sleep?"

She doesn't point out that's he's looking rather flushed and he mentally thanked her for that. He muttered a 'yes' and closed his eyes once again, wishing his blush would just disappear.

Hinamori took this chance to watch him up close without him scowling at her. A friend of hers showed a lot of interest in Hitsugaya lately, pestering the raven-haired girl with all sorts of questions about him. The slender girl with honey coloured hair and sparkling green eyes was obviously crushing pretty hard on him.

"I guess that's understandable.", she murmured. He did grow into quite an attractive young man. "I just don't know how to help her..."

"Help her with what?" He stunned the girl when he suddenly woke up again, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

"There's someone I know who really likes you.", Hinamori replied rather embarrased that he heard her talking to herself. "She wants to know what kind of girl you like."

He saw her eyes flickering away from him. "...And?"

"And I don't think I can help her. It's strange, isn't it? I know everything about you, but I have no clue what kind of girls you're interested in.", she said with a laugh. Her laughing didn't last long when she felt his forehead touching hers. She doesn't know why, but him making intense eye-contact with her and feeling his warm breath made her gulp and want to look away.

"You're wrong.", he breathed before pulling away. He stood up and smirked when he saw Hinamori looking at him with a nice pink blush. He extended his hand which she accepted and pulled her up. The confused raven-haired girl watched him walking away and followed him, wondering what that strange sensation was she just experienced.

Hinamori asked him once why he always looked so dead tired, but he told her not to fret about it. He didn't want her to worry so he didn't tell her he has to wake up incredibly early every single day and skip breakfast to get to university on time. He also didn't tell her he had to do all the chores in the house, because his grandmother became a lot weaker lately leaving very little time for him to do his homework and sleep. He managed though, but while he succeeded in not worrying his best friend he failed miserably at not worrying his grandmother.

The elder lady felt guilty. He was so busy with taking care of her he forgot about his own health. He tried everything to make it look like he was fine, but that made her even more worried about him. The stress eventually took a toll on the frail woman as he found her she passed out in the living room one day. Hitsugaya was about to call the ambulance, but she regained conciousness just in time to stop him. That's when they both knew this lifestyle wasn't going to work out for the both of them. He didn't want her to get lonely so he stayed to take care of her, but at the same time his grandmother got stressed out seeing him so tired and lifeless everyday. And so a painful decision was made.

Hinamori drank some milk after taking a nice long bath. It was late and she should head to bed soon, she dropped her glass in the sink and walked out of the living room when she heard the doorbell. Not sure who in their right mind would visit her at this hour, with a storm raging outside no less, she cautiously proceeded to the front door. With a click the door opened and she gasped. A soaked white-haired boy wearing a backpack was standing there with his famous impassive face.

"What are you doing here when it's pouring outside?! Get in here before you catch a cold!" He was about to say something, but she wouldn't let him, forcing him inside her house. "Where's your umbrella?! Why didn't you call to inform me you were going to visit?! I could ha-"

"I want to take up on your offer."

"Huh?" She blinked a few times, comprehending what he just said. "...I see." She smiled soflty, then it switched to a frown a second later. She pushed him through the hallway to her bathroom. "You're soaking! Hurry and take a bath before you really catch a cold!"

He made some incoherent sounds when she slammed the door shut and locked it. She made a mental note to call his grandmother, telling her he made it safely to her place. However, that could wait. Her priority right now was taking care of her dear friend. He could sleep in her bed and she could take the cou- She doesn't have a couch. Why? Well she rarely gets any visitors, so she thought a couch would take up to much space... No matter! She'll just sleep on the futon- She doesn't have a futon, because no one ever sleeps over at her house. She's so not prepared for situations like this.

"My armchair!" Ahah! That should do it! Oh, how she loved her armchair.

"Your what?"

Hinamori spun around and saw Hitsugaya with his arm crossed looking at her. The dry clothes he was wearing right now came from his backpack which made her relieved. At least he was more prepared than she was.

"You're not going to sleep in a chair." Did he just read her mind?

"Neither are you." She'll make sure of that.

He sighed. It was late and he didn't feel like arguing with her stubborn self. "Where's the bedroom?"

She smiled triumphantly when she led him the way. He looked around, it was a clean and organized room as expected. In the corner her queen-sized bed could be found... Queen-sized. Wait what? Why did she want to sleep in a chair when there's enough space for two people to sleep on the bed. Who does she think he was? A pervert?

"We're going to share it."

He lifted her up with ease, ignoring her protests. What's her problem anyway? When they were kids she always slept in his bed with him when she came over in the vacations. So what if they're older now? Their relationship hasn't changed at all. Or... did it? He felt her shifting, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. Would she stop doing that? The truth is, Hinamori didn't mind sharing her bed with him. She did mind the fact she's a bit of a messy sleeper. The reason she has a queen-sized bed was because she rolls around too much, causing her to fall of a single person-sized bed. He forgot about that apparently, thinking she was just trying to annoy him.

So he kicked her. Not too hard of course, he's too much of a gentleman to hurt a young lady. Yeah, right.

She looked at him with a glare and rolled him over so she was facing his back. He rolled back to his previous position and with a playful glint in his eyes rolled her over to the other side. Soon they were frolicking around, rolling each other over, kicking the other's legs as soft laughter filled the room. Hitsugaya was stronger then Hinamori though and when she was about to push him, he rolled on top of her with his legs on each side, holding her hands above her head. He basically pinned her down. She stopped laughing and simply stared at him. He still had his pokerface on and lowered his head until it was comfortably next to hers. She blinked when she felt his grip loosening, hearing his breathing so close to her ears. He fell asleep. Great.

Her hands escaped his and moved to his back, rubbing it up and down. Soon after that day, Hitsugaya started to call Hinamori by her first name. Perhaps their relationship did change. Perhaps.

Hinamori broke out of her thoughts once again when she heard Hitsugaya cough. She sighed, they've been living together for a bit over five years now and every time someone asked them whether they were romantically involved or not she couldn't answer them, she didn't even know the answer herself and Hitsugaya being Hitsugaya never said anything either. She offered to buy him his own bed multiple times, but he always declined for... unknown reasons. She shrugged it off and closed her book when a little card fell down on her lap. She picked it up, inspecting it. It was an invitation to Ichimaru's and Matsumoto's wedding she put between some pages.

"Just three months until Rangiku-san's wedding. Lots of men are going to be dissapointed when she won't be available anymore.", she whispered.

He groaned and encircled his arm around her waist, dragging her down and forcing her to lie down on the bed. She was a little shocked from the sudden act and was about to chide him for it when he spoke again, ''As if they had a chance to begin with. Still, who would fall for a lazy bum like her? She hasn't even tried on a dress."

She shifted a little away from him, but was still in his hold. "True, but don't forget she has Nanao-san as her weddingplanner. I'm sure that with her everything would turn out fine... Speaking of the wedding, she asked me to bake the weddingcake." Mmmm... cake.

"She did? What flavour are you going to use?"

She rolled her eyes at him with a slight smile. "Isn't that obvious? Dried persimmon, of course. It is their favourite fruit, after all."

He scowled at the idea of such a weird cake for a wedding. ''Gross. Can't you just go for a traditional cake with vanilla or something?"

"Toushiro, I don't care if you don't like it. It's their wedding, not yours. If they want a dried persimmon flavoured cake, I shall bake a dried persimmon flavoured cake." She wasn't a fan of the persimmon cake either, but hey, watcha gonna do about it? As long as the bride and groom are happy.

''Fine, if that's how it's going to be, then we will have a watermelon flavoured cake for our wedding.''

Watermelons, eh? Sure, why not- Wait a second. ''...Our wedding?"

He nodded. ''Yes, our wedding. It's going to take place when it's autumn, so I'm thinking sometime mid-October. I thought that would be the perfect time and it compromises, because you're a summer type of person and I'm the winter type. I suppose spring could work too, but cherry blossoms are so overused, it's not even funny.''

She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued to talk.

"It's going to take place near the mountains, you know, the ones near where grandma lives, we went there on vacation last year. The ceremony will be short, there's no need to drag out it too long and the guests will only consist of close friends and family members. After the rece-"

"Waaaaait a second! ...How come I'm only hearing this now? When is this of wedding of ours going to happen?", she asked with an astonished expression.

He casually shrugged his shoulders as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "Somewhere in the near future, I assume."

She continued being astonished and raised her eyebrow at him. "And you didn't tell me this before because?"

"Because you never asked."

Seriously? Seriously, is that how it works here? "How am I supposed to ask you anything about our wedding when neither of us even proposed yet?"

He smirked. "Then go and ask me, stupid."

Hinamori stared at him in shock yet again for a minute and then glowered her eyes. 'I can't believe it. I fell right into his trap. Don't think I can't play this game too, Shiro-chan.'

She huffed and turned her head away from him. "No, I don't feel like getting rejected by you."

He sighed. "Are you seriously going to think I'm going to say no when I've already explained some of the details of our wedding, which I've by the way, already got completely planned?" What can I say? Hitsugaya really likes to plan things ahead.

This time she's the one shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know, Toushiro. You may just have made that all up."

"Momo, stop being difficult.", he replied with a groan. Honestly, she's so troublesome sometimes.

"I'm not difficult, I'm just pondering if I really want to share my life with you." She faced him again. "What if it won't work out between us? Divorces are such a pain, that's all."

So very troublesome. "But you won't know if it will work out or not if you don't give it a try."

"Meaning?", she asked in all (fake) innocence.

"We should get married.", he answered.

She smiled mischieviously. "Why, Toushiro. Are you proposing we should get married?"

His eyes widened. He was the one who fell into her trap now. He sighed, oh well, he'll get back at her another time. "Yes, I am. How about it? Will you accept my proposal?"

She tapped her chin. "Hmmmmm... Sure, I can't see why not."

"Now that's out of the way. Will you finally turn the darn light off and go to sleep?", he asked grumpily, though relieved she accepted.

"Yes, yes. No need to be so grouchy." She flicked the switch of the lamp.

"Good night, Momo."

"Sweet dreams, Toushiro."

She fell asleep with a feeling they forgot something... Weren't they supposed to confess their love to each other or something? Ah, well it's probably not that important, their little proposal wasn't exactly, uh, romantic to begin with. Their whole relationship wasn't very romantic to begin with, but they did love each other deeply and that's all that matters.

My Thanks To:

AznVKai: Thank you once again for your kind reviews! It's nice to know you liked the story. :D

Hylla: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D

hitsuhinafan: Ah, don't feel terrible for wanting me to update soon! I'm just happy that people actually like reading this story. And yes, I already made a little start for my next hitsuhina fanfiction, but I only publish my stories until I've finished it. I'm doing my best to write it as fast as I can though! :D

And my grattitude to everyone else who followed or favorited or simply liked reading this story!

Have a wonderful day and I wish you an awesome and healthy New Year!