Right Here Waiting

Right Here Waiting -Toushirou Hitsugaya Story #10-

Sacred Angel

"Uhh... what?" Her greeting made me forget who's chocolate she was eating.

The woman turned away from me and gave Toshiro a grin."Why didn't you tell me your little girlfriend was so cute?"

I turned to Toshiro with a bewildered expression on my face. Cute? No one has ever called me cute. Well, maybe except Ayame. It was so out there that I completely overlooked the girlfriend part. She was probably just teasing him, so it didn't mean anything.

Toshiro misread my expression, and turned to the woman. "Matsumoto!"

She waved her arms in the air, "Sorry! Sorry!"

Toshiro seemed to know the woman, but still... this woman was a bit... strange?

"Oh, I'm Matsumoto Rangiku by the way." The orange haired woman told me proudly.

"Err... right. I'm Hikaru. It's nice to meet you." I told her, with a bit of a smile.

"Matsumoto is my fukutaicho. I brought her along to help with the search for the Grand Fisher." Toshiro told me, as if trying to reassure me of something.

I nodded slowly, taking in the information. "Then you're planning to stay here with us right?" I asked, and Rangiku gave me a big smile. I let out a slow sigh, and ran my hand through my hair. "Alright then. There's an extra room upstairs on the other side of the hall. You can use that one."

"Yay! Thank you very much Hika-chan!" She jumped up from the couch and wrapped her arms around me, in a attempt to hug me. However, due to my short stature, it was more like she was trying to suffocate me. And this was because my face was in her breasts. Embarrassing, really.

The fact that she called me Hika-chan made me freeze. It was what Ayame used to call me.

"Matsumoto! I think you're suffocating her..." Toshiro said sternly, and I felt him pulling me away. I felt that my face was red, and I took in a few breaths of precious air.

"Are you always that friendly... ?" I asked sarcastically.

Rangiku laughed and waved her hand, "Oppsie~ Sorry."

"It's okay. Really." I gave her an uneasy smile, and Toshiro gave me an apologetic look. "Anyway," I leaned on my left leg, and nodded toward the stairs. "Why don't you go check out the room? Tell me if there's anything you would like me to take out, I don't really mind since the room is kind of small to begin with."

"Oh really?" The sky blue eyed woman clapped her hands together, and got up, skipping to the stairs. "I'll be back in a few then!" Rangiku went up the stairs happily, and I heard Toshiro chuckling. Quite a surprise, really, since he's always so serious.

I leaned against the kitchen table, and shook my head in disbelief. "She's a simple one isn't she?" I commented, as Toshiro walked over to the television, switching it to the news.

"And a lazy one." He shook his head as well, "She's always skipping out on paperwork, and makes my job harder most of the time." Toshiro walked back to me, with a bit of a smirk on his face. "But she's really not the bad. If you over look those things."

It occurred to me that these two must be very close, despite their sharp contrast in personalities. I know better than anyone that time spent together greatly affects how you view a person. Rangiku's voice shook me away from my thoughts.

"Hika-chan~! You haven't cleaned this place in ages, have you? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone~!" Her voice rang out from upstairs, and I could hear the noises of things being moved around a bit. A bit of a giggle escaped my lips, but then they were cut short.

I've kept all the rooms clean except for the one Ayame used.... It was because I partially feared being in there. It reminded me too much of her, and I know that it's cowardly of me to avoid it. But I was scared of moving things in there, of changing what was once hers.

"Are you alright? You look pale." Toshiro glanced over at me, with a worried expression painted on his face. He moved closer to me, pulling my hand off of the edge of the table. I had been gripping onto it tightly.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize that something had gone completely wrong... I suddenly knew that the room Rangiku had entered was not the one I had intended to lend to her. I pushed Toshiro away from me, and yelled out to his vice-captain. "Get out of there now!"

My vision blurred, as I ran up the stairs. I heard Toshiro following close behind. My legs felt clumsy underneath me, and I almost tripped over my own feet a couple of times. I made it to the door that held so many memories behind it. My hands yanked it open, and everything suddenly went still.

Rangiku stood there, by Ayame's old desk, with a photo frame in her hands. She noticed my presence, and there was a sympathetic look on her face. The woman was suddenly much more serious than she was before downstairs. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to..." She began.

It took me a bit to figure out that the photo she held in her hands was the one that Ayame had always kept close to her heart. She said that it was a really cute photo of the both of us, it was taken on a summer day that we had spent having fun in the city. Ayame looked so happy, her smile unfading. She always looked perfect, and I on the other hand, felt that I looked a bit awkward in the photo.

But it was one of the few we had of the both of us, and I felt the sudden urge to take it away from Rangiku.

"Don't touch that!" I yelled out, my voice full of an unknown emotion. My legs forced me to run over to her, and violently take the frame away from her hands. I skidded on the carpet, surely getting rug burn in the process. My breaths were irregular, and I held the frame close to me. "Get out... Get out.... Get out... " I shook my head feeling that my sanity was leaving me.

This woman invaded what was Ayame's. A sacred place that I didn't even dare set foot in.

I glanced down at the photograph, at Ayame's smiling face. All at once, the room seemed to disappear from sight.

It was raining, and I kneeling on the grass. There was something in my hands, and when I glanced down, a scream died within my throat. I was holding onto Ayame's body. She was still hanging onto what little life she had within her. "Hikaru.... promise me you'll go to Eris... She has something for you..." I couldn't find any words to respond with. My hands were trembling, and there were sounds of an ambulance coming towards us.

When they did, they ripped her away from my grip and put her on a stretcher. A man picked me up and seated me next to her, opening my eye, he shined a blinding bright light into it. "Don't worry. This one just has minor bruising. The blood on her isn't hers." He said to another, and I felt Ayame's hand grip onto mine.

"Hikaru..."

"Hikaru..." Another voice said that didn't belong to my best friend, a voice that sounded farther away.

"Hikaru..."

"Hikaru...!" The other voice said forcefully.

Ayame's hand suddenly felt cold, and the man who shined the light in my eyes reached over to me, pulling my hand apart from Ayame's.

"NO! Stop it!" I cried. I didn't want to let go of her just yet.

"Hikaru snap out of it!" Yelled the other voice, and Ayame's room came into view again. The ambulance was gone. "Hikaru..." It was Toshiro, and I looked down at his hands. They were over mine, the frame cracked. My bloody hands suddenly went limp, and the white haired shinigami gently pulled my hands off of the frame. I swallowed, and glanced over to Rangiku.

"I'm sorry..." I said, my voice cracking half way through 'sorry'.

She gave me an apologetic smile, and shook her head. "No, it's my fault." Her eyes trailed down to my hands and she began to walk out. "I'll go get some bandages. I asume they're in the restroom?" I nodded slowly, and Toshiro still held onto my hands, checking if there were any pieces of glass embedded in them.

I watched him carefully, and noticed his eyes drifting away to the picture of Ayame. "So, that's her?" He asked, and Rangiku returned with the bandages, a towel, and antiseptic. She set them down next to her taicho, then turned away and left. I guess she must have felt a bit guilty about the whole thing.

I nodded, as he poured some antiseptic on the towel, and began cleaning up the cuts. "Yeah.." It stung a bit, and he quickly began to wrap my hands up.

"Tell me if I'm wrapping the bandages too tight," He said, and I nodded. He was carefully taking care of my hands, and a small smile came to my face. "Do you have any other photo's?" Toshiro asked, and it surprised me.

"Yes... but why do you want one?" I asked, curious.

"I could use it in order to search for her. In the Soul Society I mean." Toshiro finished wrapping the bandages, and I kept my hands on my lap.

My eyes found their way to his, the moonlight surrounding us. "You would do that?" I asked in a whisper, sincerely touched.

The shinigami gave me a serious look that was often seen on his face. "It might be a bit difficult thought." He paused, not breaking eye contact. "Her appearance might have changed a bit or significantly. She also might not go by the same name anymore."

I swallowed, taking the severity of the situation in. "If it means possibly meeting with her again, then I'll give you a photo." I paused a bit, debating weather or not to tell him of the revisited memory from before.

Toshiro searched my face, and I broke the silence.

"Ayame. . . I remember a few of her last words. She said something about a person named Eris."

Toshiro's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Eris?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Do you know anyone by that name? Aya-chan said that they had something for me."

He thought for a bit breaking eye contact. "No. I'm sorry. I dont' know anyone." Toshiro turned back to me, "But if she mentioned this Eris person to you, then maybe you know them?"

I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek. "No that's why I asked you." My eyes wandered around Ayame's room, some things had accumulated dust over time. Why would she want me to go to someone who I didn't even know? How did she expect me to find this Eris person anyway? And most importantly, what was she supposed to give to me?

My eyes found Toshiro's again, and there was a sudden stillness in the air. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked silently, in a gentle tone.

I nodded slightly. "Yes. I was just startled... it wasn't a pleasant sight... what I saw, I mean."

He sighed, "Alright, I believe you."

Toshiro messed with my hair, and then he hand remained there for a few seconds. His cool hand slid down to my cheek, and I looked up into his icy colored eyes. I really loved them... and now they were staring at me with such intensity that I dared not move. No one said anything, as his face began to close the gap between us. I froze, uncertain of what to do. What was he doing? A boy has never been this close to me, even if it was just Toshiro.

I guessed sort of panicked. Was I just going to let him kiss me? I could feel his breath on my lips, with his own centimeters away, teasing.

"Heyyy~ Hika-chan~! Do you have anymore chocolate?"

I jumped up at the sound of Rangiku's voce, and Toshiro did as well.

"Umm... I'm not sure... let me check." I responded, shakily.

I felt the sudden urge to leave, and I did. I didn't notice Toshiro following far behind. His lips were... But... Why would Toshiro want to kiss me? Oh my god.... he almost kissed me.