I phail.
Ever since I wrote a Hanatarou/Hinamori drabble for my drabble collection Here, my muses have been poking me to write something rather longer for the two. I've postponed, wanting to wait until I finished Taichous before starting something else. Then, yesterday, bleach_news announced a Bleach Drabble challenge at bleach_het. I looked. My muse tricked me into writing something. And now it looks like I'm starting Hanatarou/Hinamori already.
Yes. I was manipulated by my own muse. I phail.
Title: One step at a time
Fandom: Bleach
Characters/Pairings: Hanatarou/Hinamori
Rating: G. Oh come on. This is Hanatarou we're talking about here...
Warnings: Spoilers for Soul Society arc.
Word Count: 374
Summary: Some wounds heal more slowly than others.
“And, um, there’s an extra roll on the plate, if you’re actually hungry today.” Hanatarou smiled shyly at the patient Unohana had given him charge of.
Hinamori didn’t return the smile. She rarely did. She stirred the soup with a spoon, staring into the liquid. “Thank you.”
Hanatarou knew he shouldn’t be disappointed by her response. Her heart was still hurting. But he was sad nonetheless, wanting more than anything to see her eyes light up again. Hisagi-san was healing through work and distractions and Kira-san allowed Matsumoto to cheer him up. But Hinamori didn’t want to heal yet. Hanatarou was prepared to be patient. He was the oldest in a squad looked down upon by everyone else, used to dealing with scorn and rudeness.
All the same… “The autumn garden is in bloom, if you want…” No, that wasn’t right. She wouldn’t want. “I mean, since you’ve been cooped up in here.”
“I’m okay.” Hinamori swallowed a spoonful of broth, as if trying to show him she really was okay.
“We should, um, you should walk. It will help you heal.”
Her eyes met his, a rare event. “When they bring Ichimaru-taichou to justice and rescue Aizen-taichou, I will be fine. Until then… Aizen-taichou probably doesn’t get to see any flowers.”
It always came to this. She wanted to be as badly off as she imagined Aizen to be. Hanatarou could not give him any honorifics, anymore. Not after what he’d done.
“But I bet he eats. Ichimaru wouldn’t want any of his people to starve.” All three of the traitors had fallen in Hanatarou’s eyes.
Hinamori blinked and looked at the soup before nodding. A little thrill of happiness ran through Hanatarou when she dunked one of the rolls in the soup and started actually eating. He’d reminded her that Aizen was eating so many times, but never before had she listened.
He wanted so much to offer her more food, try harder to get her to go outside. He knew, though, that every hard-won step had to be slowly encouraged and built upon. Today she was eating, and actually wanting to eat. With an outer smile, he left the room while his inner self was rejoicing. Tomorrow he’d offer her desert.
~*~
I also wrote a Shunsui/Nanao that thankfully will NOT grow more. At least, it better not. I find it harder to write them then Shunsui/Ukitake. But this was bleach_HET. So obviously...
Title: Princess
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing/Characters: Shunsui/Nanao
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 500
Summary: Shunsui just wants to play on the beach.
Nanao looked at the empty beach. “You said there was a Hollow we were ordered to take on here.”
“What, isn’t there?” Shunsui looked around innocently.
“Captain…”
“I brought your swimsuit and mine.”
Nanao sighed. “I had a feeling you would.”
“There’s a place to change, right over there!”
“No thanks.”
“But my lovely Nanao-chan hasn’t even tried on-“
“Look. Swim if you want. I’ve finished the paperwork for the day, so I’ll stay. But I’m not wearing the two strings you bought and insist on calling a swimsuit.”
Shunsui’s shoulders slumped, and Nanao almost felt sorry. Almost.
“Kyouraku-taichou…”
“What about sand castles?”
She glanced around, not seeing any. “What about them?”
“We could make one.”
“I’ve never made one. I don’t know how to make one. Furthermore, don’t you need shovels and buckets? I did not bring any.”
“Only a shovel, and I brought two.” He smiled triumphantly while brandishing two plastic shovels, one pink, one blue.
“My clothes would get dirty.” She knew what his answer would be even before the sentence was out of her mouth. “No. No, I’m not taking them off, no, I’m not wearing the swimsuit.”
“I can help my Nanao-chan brush the sand off afterwards.”
That was predictable too. She shook her head and took the blue shovel. “What do we do first?”
As Shunsui guided her through making a sand castle, Nanao’s irritation at yet another false-alarm excuse to spend time with her faded away. She lost herself in carving squares on the sides to represent stone blocks while he constructed an army of seaweed giant squids to inhabit the moat. A few moments later she noted that the moat was full and he was building something else. She decided not to ask, and added seashell trim to the turrets.
“Look!” Shunsui sounded rather pleased.
She looked. “A baby giant squid?”
“No…”
Great. This was going to be like guessing Yachiru’s drawings. If you guessed wrong, Yachiru moped for the rest of the day, but how on earth were you supposed to figure out that yellow and orange scribbles were Ikkaku doing a ‘luck-luck’ dance?
“Um.” She crawled over to look more closely. It really looked like the squids. There was dangly seaweed at the top, not just the bottom, though. Then she saw the pair of seashells placed together under what might be an arm, almost like a book… Nanao blinked. “Me?”
Shunsui smiled. “Every castle needs a princess.” He placed the seaweed Nanao on top of a tower and stood, dusting himself off. “It’s perfect.”
Nanao stood up as well, not sure of what to say. She nodded instead of speaking.
“Want me to help get the sand off?” And just like that, with his grin and words, he broke the mood.
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t consider hitting him with her book. Most of her was thankful he’d done that, had given her an out. Her smile was softer than normal as they headed back to Sereitei.
~*~
Yes. I was manipulated by my own muse. I phail.
Title: One step at a time
Fandom: Bleach
Characters/Pairings: Hanatarou/Hinamori
Rating: G. Oh come on. This is Hanatarou we're talking about here...
Warnings: Spoilers for Soul Society arc.
Word Count: 374
Summary: Some wounds heal more slowly than others.
“And, um, there’s an extra roll on the plate, if you’re actually hungry today.” Hanatarou smiled shyly at the patient Unohana had given him charge of.
Hinamori didn’t return the smile. She rarely did. She stirred the soup with a spoon, staring into the liquid. “Thank you.”
Hanatarou knew he shouldn’t be disappointed by her response. Her heart was still hurting. But he was sad nonetheless, wanting more than anything to see her eyes light up again. Hisagi-san was healing through work and distractions and Kira-san allowed Matsumoto to cheer him up. But Hinamori didn’t want to heal yet. Hanatarou was prepared to be patient. He was the oldest in a squad looked down upon by everyone else, used to dealing with scorn and rudeness.
All the same… “The autumn garden is in bloom, if you want…” No, that wasn’t right. She wouldn’t want. “I mean, since you’ve been cooped up in here.”
“I’m okay.” Hinamori swallowed a spoonful of broth, as if trying to show him she really was okay.
“We should, um, you should walk. It will help you heal.”
Her eyes met his, a rare event. “When they bring Ichimaru-taichou to justice and rescue Aizen-taichou, I will be fine. Until then… Aizen-taichou probably doesn’t get to see any flowers.”
It always came to this. She wanted to be as badly off as she imagined Aizen to be. Hanatarou could not give him any honorifics, anymore. Not after what he’d done.
“But I bet he eats. Ichimaru wouldn’t want any of his people to starve.” All three of the traitors had fallen in Hanatarou’s eyes.
Hinamori blinked and looked at the soup before nodding. A little thrill of happiness ran through Hanatarou when she dunked one of the rolls in the soup and started actually eating. He’d reminded her that Aizen was eating so many times, but never before had she listened.
He wanted so much to offer her more food, try harder to get her to go outside. He knew, though, that every hard-won step had to be slowly encouraged and built upon. Today she was eating, and actually wanting to eat. With an outer smile, he left the room while his inner self was rejoicing. Tomorrow he’d offer her desert.
~*~
I also wrote a Shunsui/Nanao that thankfully will NOT grow more. At least, it better not. I find it harder to write them then Shunsui/Ukitake. But this was bleach_HET. So obviously...
Title: Princess
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing/Characters: Shunsui/Nanao
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 500
Summary: Shunsui just wants to play on the beach.
Nanao looked at the empty beach. “You said there was a Hollow we were ordered to take on here.”
“What, isn’t there?” Shunsui looked around innocently.
“Captain…”
“I brought your swimsuit and mine.”
Nanao sighed. “I had a feeling you would.”
“There’s a place to change, right over there!”
“No thanks.”
“But my lovely Nanao-chan hasn’t even tried on-“
“Look. Swim if you want. I’ve finished the paperwork for the day, so I’ll stay. But I’m not wearing the two strings you bought and insist on calling a swimsuit.”
Shunsui’s shoulders slumped, and Nanao almost felt sorry. Almost.
“Kyouraku-taichou…”
“What about sand castles?”
She glanced around, not seeing any. “What about them?”
“We could make one.”
“I’ve never made one. I don’t know how to make one. Furthermore, don’t you need shovels and buckets? I did not bring any.”
“Only a shovel, and I brought two.” He smiled triumphantly while brandishing two plastic shovels, one pink, one blue.
“My clothes would get dirty.” She knew what his answer would be even before the sentence was out of her mouth. “No. No, I’m not taking them off, no, I’m not wearing the swimsuit.”
“I can help my Nanao-chan brush the sand off afterwards.”
That was predictable too. She shook her head and took the blue shovel. “What do we do first?”
As Shunsui guided her through making a sand castle, Nanao’s irritation at yet another false-alarm excuse to spend time with her faded away. She lost herself in carving squares on the sides to represent stone blocks while he constructed an army of seaweed giant squids to inhabit the moat. A few moments later she noted that the moat was full and he was building something else. She decided not to ask, and added seashell trim to the turrets.
“Look!” Shunsui sounded rather pleased.
She looked. “A baby giant squid?”
“No…”
Great. This was going to be like guessing Yachiru’s drawings. If you guessed wrong, Yachiru moped for the rest of the day, but how on earth were you supposed to figure out that yellow and orange scribbles were Ikkaku doing a ‘luck-luck’ dance?
“Um.” She crawled over to look more closely. It really looked like the squids. There was dangly seaweed at the top, not just the bottom, though. Then she saw the pair of seashells placed together under what might be an arm, almost like a book… Nanao blinked. “Me?”
Shunsui smiled. “Every castle needs a princess.” He placed the seaweed Nanao on top of a tower and stood, dusting himself off. “It’s perfect.”
Nanao stood up as well, not sure of what to say. She nodded instead of speaking.
“Want me to help get the sand off?” And just like that, with his grin and words, he broke the mood.
She rolled her eyes, but didn’t consider hitting him with her book. Most of her was thankful he’d done that, had given her an out. Her smile was softer than normal as they headed back to Sereitei.
~*~