Hello everyone~ Long time no see. I'm back to writing! This is the first chapter and I hope all of you will enjoy it. I'm hoping my skills aren't rusty.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 1

First Kiss

Words: 2628

"Man, I hope Taichou doesn't freeze me for coming in so late...darn that Shuuhei..." Matsumoto thought while making her way to the 10th division office. She stopped right in front of the doors and slowly slid them open, in case the Captain were to freeze her just by glaring. The busty vice-captain peeked into the office and saw no one. Opening the doors fully, she realized that her Captain was no where in sight. "Strange..."

Matsumoto walked towards the desk, where a note was left.

"I've gone out, won't be back till late afternoon. Finish ALL the paperwork when I get back.

- Hitsugaya-taichou

P.S I've thrown out all your sake, so don't bother."

Matsumoto's eyes widened at the last sentence. "WHAT?! Taichou threw out all my sake?!" Immediately, she opened the cupboards where she secretly kept her bottles of alcohol. Indeed, her treasure was gone. "There were over ten bottles of sake in here! Now there's none! How could Taichou do something like this to me?!" The woman sighed dejectedly.

"Looks like I've got no choice..."

After regaining her composure, Matsumoto unfolded the crumpled piece of paper in her hand. (Too caught up in the moment, she unintentionally crushed the note.) "Taichou went out? Oh, that's right; this week is the second week of the month. He always goes back to Rukongai to visit his grandmother at this time," Matsumoto thought.

"Hmm...since Taichou's not here, I should really take this chance to hang out with some of my buddies..."

Leaving the paperwork as it is, Matsumoto set off to find Hinamori and try to get back her sake along the way. Little did she know, in the ninth division office, Hisagi Shuuhei was contemplating on whether or not he should drink some of Matsumoto's sake that Hitsugaya had told him to keep for the time being.

-x-X-x-

"This cannot be happening to me. This cannot be happening to me!" the petite shinigami thought angrily. She walked briskly along the streets of Rukongai, a troubled expression resting upon her delicate features. She was dressed in a simple light blue kimono and sandals with her hair tied up in its usual bun.

"It's not supposed to be this way..." she half-whimpered in her mind. Carrying a fresh watermelon with her, Hinamori made her way to oba-san's house, all the while vexing over a certain white-haired captain.

"I'm not supposed to like him. He's my best friend! I've been avoiding him too; it's jus that every time I'm around him, I feel so weird..."

"Oh! Hinamori-chan! Long time no see!" a familiar voice called out to her. Hinamori turned around, meeting face to face with the vegetable seller, Fujiwara.

"Fujiwara-san, it's good to see you again," Hinamori greeted him politely.

"Yeah. Going to visit oba-san again?" Fujiwara asked.

"That's right."

"Okay then, you better be on your way. See you around Hinamori-chan!"

"Hai. Ja ne!"

Continuing on her journey, Hinamori was glad someone distracted her from those thoughts. She reckoned that if she continued to think about him, she would just lose her mind. "Maybe I can talk to oba-san about this...she always helps me with my problems." With that, the young woman decided to tell her oba-san about her little problem.

-x-X-x-

"Oh? Nattou?" the frail old lady asked.

"Yeah. I thought it would be good if I came here and eat nattou while visiting you," Hitsugaya answered. He was not in his shihakuso and haori. He never was when visiting oba-san.

"My, my, you've always had a great liking towards this," oba-san said feebly.

"That's 'cause it's delicious. Come on, sit down and eat." There was an awkward silence between the two when the old woman decided to speak.

"Toushirou."

"Hn?" Hitsugaya looked up from his food.

"Have you told her yet?" she asked.

"Told who what?"

"Have you told Momo about how you feel?" she said patiently.

At that, color rose to Hitsugaya's cheeks and tinted them pink. He looked down at his food again and paused before replying, "No. Not yet." He wondered how even his grandmother knew of his feelings towards Hinamori. He never told anyone, and only Hyourinmaru knew of his hidden feelings. When he asked her how she knew, she simply replied, "News in Seireitei travel fast like a wildfire to Rukongai. Besides, I watched you two grow up, I know." This shocked him a little, since he didn't know that people actually knew about his unrequited love.

"When will you stop waiting?" the old lady asked, her voice a little stern, as if demanding him to take the first step, startling Hitsugaya a little. "I think you've waited long enough."

"Now's not really the time, she's just recovered...and I don't want to spoil our relationship," Hitsugaya defended himself (for his cowardice). "It is exactly because she is recovering that you have to tell her. Trust me; you won't be spoiling your relationship with her," she replied wisely.

"I like the relationship I share with her now. It's fine. Besides, she's been avoiding me recently. Even when she meets me, she pretends everything's okay, but I know she doesn't feel comfortable with me," Hitsugaya replied curtly.

"Toushirou, many people regret the things they've done, but you are going to regret the things you've never done."

"Oba-san, I-"

"Oba-san! Konnichiwa!" Hinamori's cheerful voice rang in their ears. It took Hitsugaya by surprise and his blue-green orbs widened. He turned around to see Hinamori carrying a watermelon in her arms. "Hinamori?"

"Eh? Hitsugaya-kun? You're here too?!" Hinamori said, walking into the room.

Before Hitsugaya can say anything, his grandmother beat him to it. "Momo. What a pleasant surprise."

"Ah, sorry I didn't inform you earlier," Hinamori apologized.

"That doesn't matter. I'm glad you came, I'm sure Toushirou would love your company too."

"Oh really Shirou-chan?" Hinamori said.

"Tch. Don't call me Shirou-chan." There she goes, acting as if everything's alright when she's clearly trying to avoid me.

"Hai, hai. I brought a watermelon, we can all share it. Though, I really didn't know that you would be here, Hitsugaya-kun."

"I will go cut this watermelon, you two just stay here," oba-san said.

"Eh? Oh, it's alright, I can go cut it," Hinamori offered, not wanting to be alone with her problem.

"No; besides, Toushirou has something to tell you."

"He does?" Hinamori asked, turning her head to look at Hitsugaya. The latter was taken by surprise and stuttered out, "Wha-?" But before he could speak, the old lady had already made her way to cut the watermelon. Hitsugaya and Hinamori sat alone, an overwhelming silence engulfing them. "Ne, Hitsugaya-kun. What do you want to tell me?" Hinamori asked curiously. Inside, she thought and sighed inwardly

"Hitsugaya-kun is here...I can't tell oba-san about my problem anymore..."

"Its nothing," Hitsugaya answered, keeping his stoic expression. "By the way, are you sure you're well enough to be coming here?"

"Of course. I've recovered already; you don't have to keep worrying about me all the time Hitsugaya-kun," Hinamori said.

"How can I not be worried about you when you're always getting yourself hurt?" Hitsugaya retorted.

The vice-captain huffed and said, "I do not get myself hurt all the time!"

"Yeah, yeah. Bad things just happen to you," Hitsugaya continued their playful banter. Is it better this way? The way we are now.

Hinamori was about to say something back to Hitsugaya but he interrupted her, "Hinamori, I-"

Just then, the old lady walked slowly towards them, placing the plate of watermelons on the table. "Here you go."

"Ah, thank you," Hinamori said, smiling.

"Hinamori, do you want to go to the porch to eat instead?" Hitsugaya asked, depending on his new found courage. Hinamori immediately agreed and took a slice of watermelon with her. Hitsugaya followed suit and after casting a glance at his grandmother, who in turn, smiled, he walked out to the porch.

The old lady continued smiling and thought: It's all up to you now, Toushirou.

-x-X-x-

"Where are we going, Matsumoto-san?" Kira asked the vice-captain who was running towards the exit of Seireitei, dragging along Kira and Renji.

"We're going to Rukongai!" Matsumoto answered excitedly.

"What? Why?" Renji asked. He didn't really like the idea of running to Rukongai from Seireitei.

"What do you mean 'why'? Taichou has gone to Rukongai and Hinamori is not here too. I suspect she's gone to Rukongai to visit his grandmother too! As you know, both of them like to go back there during their free time," Matsumoto said.

"So what does that have anything to do with us?" Renji asked, still not getting the point. He was getting kind of annoyed right now. Matsumoto stopped short, causing Kira to bump into her.

"Renji, are you stupid? They've gone to Rukongai together; I've got a really good feeling about this. Besides, don't you think its fun to spy on those two?"

"Ano...Matsumoto-san, I don't think it's a very good idea to spy..." Kira started.

"Oh shush Kira. You two have nothing to do anyway, so why don't you just follow me?"

"Who says I've got nothing to do? I have to train," Renji objected.

"Just shut up and follow me."

Renji and Kira couldn't argue with Matsumoto any longer, they sighed and quietly followed her. 'Sides, they weren't complaining about seeing something good happening to Hitsugaya and Hinamori right?

-x-X-x-

Hinamori bit into her slice of watermelon and chewed slowly. Just when I wanted to avoid Hitsugaya-kun...guess I can't run away this time.

Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was, (surprisingly) not gobbling down the whole slice of watermelon. Instead, he sat on the porch beside Hinamori, chewing off the watermelon bit by bit. Hitsugaya seem perplexed, thinking of how he should ask Hinamori about the matter.

Hinamori, unable to take the silence anymore, spoke up, "Hitsugaya-kun."

"Hn?" He turned his head to her direction, snapped out his train of thoughts.

"Ahh...I was just wondering...if...the watermelon taste nice." "That was the most pathetic attempt to start a conversation!!" Hinamori thought and bowed her head in humiliation.

Hitsugaya blinked at her and after a moment, he sighed. "Hinamori." At the mention of her name, Hinamori's head snapped up to face him. "Why have you been avoiding me?" Hitsugaya said without preamble. Screw this. I'm just going to get this done and over with. No matter what, I have to tell her.

Hitsugaya's blue-green eyes pierced into Hinamori's chocolate brown ones. When Hinamori finally found her voice, she said, "A-Avoiding you? I haven't been avoiding you at all..."

"Don't lie to me. You always try your hardest not to bump into me and whenever you see me, you start acting strange. You're obviously avoiding me. Why is that, Hinamori?" His voice was demanding and that made her squirm.

"I-" Hinamori found it difficult to say any other thing, she looked down at the porch, reluctant to meet Hitsugaya's eyes.

"Did I do something to make you feel so uncomfortable around me? Is it my fault Hinamori?" Hitsugaya questioned, his voice a little gentler.

"No!" she blurted out. "It's not your fault at all. It's mine."

"What is it then?" Hinamori looked up and stared at him. She wanted to tell him so desperately but it seemed that it was easier said than done. "Hinamori..."

"Ah! Hitsugaya-kun, you've got some watermelon juice on your face, let me help you wipe it off okay?" she said, trying to change the topic. Just as her hand was about to clean the juice off of his face, Hitsugaya's hand clasped over hers tightly. He looked into Hinamori's brown orbs intently and so did she. "Don't evade the question, Momo."

His hand still gripped hers tightly, making her unable to move out of her current position. They sat like that, on the porch, each gazing into the other's eyes, as if in a trance. Their faces were at such a close proximity that both could feel the other's breath fanning across. Hitsugaya leaned forward, unable to stand the little distance between them. He lifted his free hand and held Hinamori's neck gently, bringing her closer. She made no objection, her mouth slightly agape and thinking that this couldn't be real.

Their lips were mere inches apart and they both closed their eyes, anticipating what was to come.

They leaned forward.

And the next few moments felt like a dream.

He captured her lips in a chaste kiss and brought her hand to his chest so that she could feel his heart thumping in excitement. It was their first kiss, but it felt like they were meant to be kissing so naturally like that. His other hand held her neck firmly, gently rubbing his thumb over her skin, sending shivers down her spine. She held up her free hand and started to blindly play at his soft white locks.

The kiss was passionate, as if bringing two entities to a whole. They simply melted into each other. When air became a necessity, they slowly parted and stared into each other's eyes, panting and holding on to the other.

"Hitsugaya-kun..." Hinamori breathed out.

Without giving her a chance to recover her breath, Hitsugaya kissed her again, this time with more force. Hinamori was taken by surprise but kissed him just as passionately, pressing her lips onto his harder.

He nibbled on her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She parted her lips slowly, allowing Hitsugaya to slide his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues clashed together, fighting for dominance and Hitsugaya came out as the victor. He explored the caverns of her mouth, tasting her. Unable to hold it in any longer, she let out a moan.

He continued kissing her and proceeded to untie her bun, letting her silky black hair cascade down her back. When they finally broke the kiss, they pressed their foreheads together, both panting for air. For a moment, they sat there in silence, digesting what had just happened.

"Hinamori, was there really watermelon juice on my face?" Hitsugaya asked, finally letting go of her hand.

"Yes. But it's gone now," Hinamori answered, smiling. She tore herself away from him and rested her head on his shoulder. Hitsugaya smirked and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Hitsugaya-kun, do you still want to know why I've been avoiding you?"

"I think I know already," he answered and gently pressed his lips into hers. Hinamori broke the kiss and whispered, just loud enough for Hitsugaya to hear, "Hitsugaya-kun, I love you."

"I love you too."

They sat there on the porch; it was already in the late afternoon and the sun was setting.

Where they had spent their childhood was also where the beginning of a new relationship started. Not one as friends, but as lovers.

Back in the house, the old lady who watched them grow up, chuckled softly.

Within the bushes just opposite the house, a rustle could be heard. Matsumoto stopped peeking at the couple through the leaves and said, "My taichou has finally become a man."

"See, Renji, Kira. I told you I got a good feeling about this, she said happily.

"Yeah, yeah. Too bad we didn't manage to catch it on camera. Otherwise, I would have made Hisagi publish them in the magazine and I'll earn big bucks..." Renji answered.

"Ano...Matsumoto-san, it's already this late, shouldn't you be hurrying off to finish your paperwork?" Kira spoke up.

Matsumoto's eyes widened, letting Kira's words sink in. "Oh shit!" And with that, she shunpo-ed away.

-x-X-x-

"Did you feel that?" Hinamori asked.

"Yeah, Matusmoto was spying on us," Hitsugaya answered, aimlessly running his fingers along her hand.

"Is it okay?"

"Yeah, I'll deal with her later. I'm still in a good mood now," he said and proceeded to kiss her under the setting sun.

-Owari-

Hope you enjoyed that! Please don't rush me to update quickly as I'm a very irregular updater (and writer). But I'll write whenever I have the time. Also, send me any requests and ideas if you want! See you again.