~ Light Of Hope ~ (A Toushiro Hitsugaya Fanfic)

2." Into the Abyss "

Both Toushirou and Momo observe the little girl for a while.

Then as if she remembered something, Yuuki looks at Toushirou and rose to her feet. She pulled a chair, approaches him, tugs on his haori and points at the chair hinting him to sit.

Toushirou obliges and looks at her with a serious expression on his face. "Who are you?", he questioned.

Yuuki simply brushes him off and walks in front of a closet and opens it. Inside there were clean towels and clothes in different sizes. She tried to open a drawer inside but couldn't reach it so Momo opens it for her. Inside it were clean bandages and various types of medicines.

"Hinamori, I'm fine, you should take care of her first before she catches a cold. She's been out in the rain for so long. Also, check on her if she has any wounds.", Toushirou said.

Momo nods at him in response and grabs a towel. She proceeds to the bathroom to clean Yuuki before changing her bloodstained clothes. Afterwards, she puts on a small yellow kimono roughly about her size. It was the smallest clothing she found in the closet. Lastly, she dries her hair using a towel.

Satisfied, Momo smiles and exits the bathroom. "I guess this will do for now.", she returns to where Toushirou sat and holds the young girl up to have a closer look at her. "She doesn't seem to have any wounds..... but now that you look at her closely she's really, really cute don't you think so Shiro? Shiro?", she called but there was no response. She turns to face him and saw the young captain deep in thought. Momo puts Yuuki down and makes her way behind Toushirou to treat his injuries using a healing Kido.

Toushirou grabbed her wrist startling Momo. "There's no need to use Kido. Just save your strength in case we have to fight our way through."

Momo nods in understanding.

Yuuki pulls another chair and set it beside Toushirou so she can sit beside him. The young Shinigami captain doesn't seem to mind as he ponders over what to do next. Once Momo returned with clean bandages, Toushirou lowers his kosode to reveal his bare back so she can tend to his wounds.

Yuuki looks down with a sad expression on her face upon remembering Haru. ('That person' didn't come back.....), she thought.

Noticing this, Toushirou places his hand over her small shoulder as a comforting gesture. "Everything is going to be okay so don't worry. I'll always be here to protect you, I promise.", he said in a firm voice.

Yuuki meets his gaze and saw genuineness in them. She sticks her small finger out towards the young Shinigami captain and looks at him with pleading eyes. This gesture prompted Toushirou to do the same and interlock their fingers thus sealing the promise with a pinky swear. He was oblivious that a smile formed his lips making the young girl smile brightly at him in return.

"So can you tell me what happened? Anything will do, why was that thing aft- oww!", Toushirou winced and looks at Momo. "Hinamori, take it easy even if it's just a scratch it's still a wound!"

(These obviously aren't 'just a scratch' though...), Momo thought with a sigh as she looks at the claw marks on his back. Luckily, they weren't deep enough to cause for major concern. "Sorry, I'll be more careful."