sirenspull_logs | It's what I want that's easy

Entry tags:

It's what I want that's easy

Who: Hinamori Momo (

ibreakrules), and Hitsugaya Toushirou (

icy_heavens)
When: Saturday, March 31st, Morning
Where: 22 Keene Lane, Sector 4, at a garage sale
Summary: Hinamori goes thrift-hunting and meets a bishop.
Warnings: None!

The garage sale was much bigger than Hinamori had anticipated. Furniture, clothing, toys, electronics and what seemed like an endless amount of bizarre unidentifiable knick-knacks were scattered in an incredibly haphazard fashion across a sprawling yard. Hinamori hardly knew where to start. She could teach these people a thing or two about planning.

Some of the other shoppers were like her, looking for a few things in particular but in no hurry to find them. Others seemed desperately competitive, hunting for bargains like their lives depended on them. Hinamori tried to avoid these ones, as they seemed likely to glare or start a fight if she encroached too closely on their space.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small dresser that looked like exactly what she was looking for. Hinamori started towards it, but before she could get there, she felt herself being shoved aside. "A-ah!" she cried, stumbling and starting to fall. She threw her hands out wildly for something, anything to grab onto. (Given the precarious piling of some of the items near her, this could end quite badly.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't pretend to think that I do listen to people. Why would I?"

And he didn't. Frau did his own thing all the time. It was why he ended up in so much trouble with the people at the church. As for Hitsugaya being concerned about showing he was mature, he shouldn't have worried. Frau was the last person to care about something like that. In fact, he still acted very much like a kid himself most of the time. It didn't bother him in the least either. Other people could think what they wanted.

He released Hinamori when he was sure she was stable enough on her own two feet and answered her question.

"Yeah."

He just shrugged at the question after Frau answered it. The man was annoying as hell, but Hitsugaya didn't hate him or anything. Why put Hinamori on edge more than he had to?

"It's fine." But they were getting off subject. He wasn't deliberately trying to avoid conversation, but hey. He'd showed up for a reason -- even if part of that reason was just to spend more time with Hinamori. "As I was saying: find anything yet? If so, I might as well be the one to bring it back for you; hell knows you'd probably be clumsy with it and break something on your own."

There was no anger or irritation in his tone; particularly percptive people would recognize that he was teasing. His overall posture was more relaxed than what Frau would have become accustomed to seeing. Hitsugaya was just unconsciously more at ease in mundane situations when Hinamori was around.

She started to nod happily, then paused. Actually, no. The dresser had disappeared, hadn't it? And then Hitsugaya had to go and point out her clumsiness- in front of a new friend, no less. "I would not! I brought a cart to carry things on and rope and everything! I came prepared!" Nevermind that she had "come prepared" intending to compensate for any clumsiness on her part.

Frau wasn't overly perceptive, but he was good enough to pick up on the fact that there was something between Hitsugaya and Hinamori. They were, at least, good friends. In fact, they sort of reminded Frau of Teito and Hakuren. It was kind of fun to watch actually. This was just too perfect to let go by.

"You'd probably get flattened by it."

Whether he was talking about Hinamori or Hitsugaya wasn't clear, but it could have gone for either one of them.

He just let her shout at him. Why interrupt?

"Eh. You'd have still found a way to be a klutz about it. You're creative that way."

In a battle, Hinamori could keep her feet under her just fine. But for some reason, that skill didn't seem to transfer into everyday life. Sometimes, he was amazed she could climb stairs.

That comment about being flattened? His answer would be just as ambiguous. "Tch. As if I'd let it."

It was only intense, intense focus and concentration that allowed Hinamori to keep proper form in battle. Although even with that, she still preferred keeping her distance in a fight. Hand-to-hand combat, with or without a sword, was not her forte. And just as in this case, she could always compensate for any lack of grace on her part with enough planning.

Hinamori's clumsiness came from her general lack of self-awareness. She always put others first, before even the urgings and sensations of her own body. The world around her was far more important than the management of her limbs. She would have forgotten them entirely at times, had they not been attached.

"That's not very nice, Frau," she said sternly. "No one's getting flattened by anything."

"And for your information"—speaking now to Hitsugaya—"no, I haven't found anything yet. There was a cute dresser over there, but it's gone now. And no one around here seems to know what a kotatsu is, or even have a properly sized table." Although the garage sale owners' sense of taste was impressively eclectic, they were apparently not huge fans of traditional Japanese culture.

"Who said I was trying to be nice?"

Frau? Nice? Really? That just wasn't his style. He was nice to women all the time, but in front of Hitsugaya he wasn't going to be showing too much of that kindness. Plus, Hinamori wasn't the type of girl he would flirt with. Contrary to popular belief, Frau didn't just go after anyone with boobs, though it was a near thing.

It wasn't as if Hinamori had a figure anyway, which Hitsugaya was not above pointing out to her when he was feeling bratty. But he was the only one allowed to nag at her about that.

More frowning at Frau. "Well if you're not going to be nice to her, you can shut up."

Now. Moving on to the person he could stand. "You'll have to look into that elsewhere, then. I wouldn't know where specifically, seeing as I've no use for one." He also couldn't remember the name of any stores. But why bring that up?

His eyes critically scanned the nearby items, and he couldn't help but stop and furrow his brow in an utterly puzzled fashion at something that just didn't look like anything recognizable. He couldn't help the question: "What the hell is that even supposed to be?"

Egads. Conflict. Do not want. "P-please stop it. Both of you. You're right, we should just go somewhere else and do something nice. It's finally a nice day. We should enjoy it." She didn't know if either one of them would pay any attention to her, but she had to at least try to help everyone get along.

"Aww, so cute. You're trying to be all protective."

It really was rather adorable. Frau reached out and ruffled Hitsugaya's hair simply because he could and it would be hysterical. Plus, he was sure to get a pretty good reaction from it.

What the hell? Why did Hinamori always do this when he stuck up for her? It had been this way forever. He wasn't the one who should be told to stop.

And his case was given more validity when Frau called his defense cute and ruffled his hair. Because like hell that wasn't to deliberately piss him off. Idiot. She'd told them to stop.

He smacked the hand down, much harder than he would have Hinamori's. "Knock it off."

A huffy sigh escaped him before he could stop it. Well. If Frau were going to act like a jackass, he certainly wasn't going to leave him alone with Hinamori. "Fine."

Hinamori wasn't sure whether to be exasperated or amused at the hair ruffle. A little of both, she supposed. She had expected Histugaya's reaction to it, though, and she suspected Frau had as well. It was such a silly gesture anyway. Why did tall people always feel the need to put their hands on the heads of shorter people? Her captain, too, although she didn't mind it from him—and he did it to comfort, not to patronize.

"It's almost noon. Let's find someplace to eat. You said you knew a lot of good restaurants, right, Frau? And you can tell me more about yourself on the way there. What do you do? And what did you do back home? Is your home world very different from here?" Distract. This was a good plan. After all, it always worked against her.

Frau had been expecting the smack, and it only made him laugh when it came. Even before he'd arrived here he was used to that type of reaction. It felt like slipping into a well known role. A role he didn't mind at all.

"Sure. I've been to most of them in the middle sectors once. There are a few good ones nearby."

He wouldn't mind taking them either. As for her attempt at distracting him, he'd willingly answer some questions. However, there was a limit, and once he hit that she wouldn't get a word out of him on the matter. Frau had quite a few secrets.

"I work as a bouncer here. At home I'm a bishop. Gotta say, I haven't found much here that's the same as in my world."

The smack was an involuntary reaction. Hinamori had patted his head a lot when they were children, and the motion was a reflex -- though the worst she ever got was a light swat. More often, he just shoved away the hand. No such leniency was granted to anyone else. Besides, she didn't do that anymore.

Having Frau with them wasn't exactly Hitsugaya's idea of a good time, but he could deal with it. It wasn't like he had a lot of choice in the matter. "Whatever. Let's just go, then."

Hinamori led them over to where she had left her cart. She started pulling it along with both hands behind her, skipping just a little as she went. "A bishop? Like, a church bishop? How did you get into that?" Because how does one even become a bishop. (The same question could probably be asked of being a shinigami, of course.)

Frau nudged Hitsugaya lightly as they started off and dropped his voice to a low whisper so Hinamori wouldn't hear.

"She's like your exact opposite, yet you're so at ease around here. It's cute."

Yup, Frau had just called him cute. He turned away from Hitsugaya before he could get a reply and answered Hinamori's question.

"Yeah. I spent most of my life at the church. I'm a bishop thanks to a stupid old fart that forced me into it."

Despite what it sounded like, that stupid old fart had meant a lot to Frau.

Hitsugaya would never know how Hinamori managed to act so damned happy all the time. Not that he was against it -- she deserved to be happy -- but he just didn't understand being able to smile that much. Especially when just a moment ago, she'd been so uncomfortable and trying to avoid him and Frau continuing to argue.

Oh, that comment got a growl out of him. He didn't even have a reply for it beyond that. He hated that stupid word.

But he let Frau lead, since he was the one evidently choosing the place, and he walked beside Hinamori himself to make sure she didn't trip over a crack in the sidewalk or something while she was skipping. Clumsy girl that she was.

Hinamori didn't know what had caused it, and she wasn't even paying attention enough to hear Hitsugaya's growl, but she felt the faintest flicker of his reiatsu at his irritation, and she tensed in reaction. Her face dropped in worry. Were they still fighting?

But then Frau just answered her question like nothing had happened. Was... she just imagining things? She hesitated a bit, then looked up wide-eyed at Frau and tried to remember what he said. "A... stup—" She laughed. "Tell me about him." Hopefully, if she could get a conversation going, they would all relax and maybe even have a good time.

Sure they were still fighting, but they were almost always fighting. It was they way it worked with them, and it was never anything more than general teasing anyway. She had nothing to worry about.

Frau continued to lead them through the streets as he answered.

"What's to tell? He was an annoying pain in the ass. Bastien was the assistant arch bishop. Worked with the orphans at the church awhile ago."

Frau paused a moment and rubbed his head uneasily, not sure if he wanted to continue. For some reason though, he actually did.

"Was there for me when I needed someone, I guess."

Hitsugaya would have probably picked up on two things. The one both he and Hinamori wouldn't have missed was the past tense. She didn't know Frau enough to pick up on the other, but Hitsugaya probably did. He barely said anyone's name with respect; in fact, he barely said anyone's real name at all. Bastien's though was obviously respected. It was the only one Frau would ever add the suffix "sama" onto.

No, it wasn't serious fighting or anything. Just his usual annoyance. This really wasn't any worse than how he reacted to people in general when they were acting like pains in the ass.

But he did pick up on what seemed to be the more respectful attitude that Frau seemed to have had for this assistant arch-bishop. And it was such an anomaly that he had to bring it up.

"You're actually referring to someone by their name? That's a first."

Hinamori knew that people were the most important thing in a life, even to most who would argue otherwise. Whether it was hate or love, asking someone about a person who meant something to them would shine more light on their personality than talking about their favorite things to do. So she listened as Frau talked about his arch-bishop, happy when he decided to add the more personal note onto the end.

She glanced at Hitsugaya as he responded, just the slightest touch wary. She was picking up on the fact that this was just how they talked to one another, but the disdain between these two still made her nervous.

For once, Frau didn't rise to the bait and spout off something annoying. He just accepted what Hitsugaya had said and answered honestly.

"Yeah. He deserves it."

He turned his attention away from the other two as he continued leading them to a small diner up the way. While he walked he allowed himself a bit of time to just think about Bastein. The good parts and not the end.

What bait? He was just talking. Deliberately baiting people wasn't something he did often. He did it when he teased Hinamori, and he'd done it to Yukio to keep him blabbering and distracted while he'd engineered the battle to his benefit. It wasn't a habitual thing.

He could have said something vaguely antagonistic about people deserving to be called by their actual names, but he didn't. He wasn't that much of an ass. Clearly, whoever the man was, he'd meant something important to Frau and he wasn't going to go deriding someone else's important people.

So he just let the conversation carry. Hinamori was always better at keeping one of those going than he was. There just didn't seem to be anything for him to say at the moment.

"He sounds like he was a good person." Someone who worked with orphans, and had somehow been a help to Frau. She carried over his use of was, wondering silently if that meant he had passed away, or merely that he was left behind in Frau's world. Either way, it wasn't the kind of thing to ask; too solemn.

"Did you like being a bishop then?" She wondered what it was like, to work in a church. Even though she had never been a member of any particular faith, Hinamori approved of the work they did, caring for the poor, and giving people something to believe in. Hope was important, and offering that to those who needed it most was an admirable thing to do.

"Yeah, he was."

Until he'd fallen so far that he'd started working as a warsfiel and tried to kill Teito. Yet even then there was goodness left in him. Bastein may have fallen from the path, but he had wanted Frau to be the one to end it for him. Frau had freed him from the corruption and pain. Killed him.

Thankfully Hinamori asked another question that dragged Frau's thoughts out of that direction.

"Hell no. At least not all the time. Though I make the most of it."

By breaking almost all of the rules among the clergy and not even caring if the other bishops thought badly of him.

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