24 - Momo's House

When Rumi got back to her dorm room, she saw that Momo was packing her things. 

"Why're you packing your things?" Rumi asked.

"Oh, Fujiwara," Momo looked up from stuffing her bag with her belongings, "I'm going back to my house for the holidays." 

"Your house? You mean Rukongai, district one?" Rumi asked.

"Yes, that's where my family is." Momo replied with a smile. "I have someone like my younger brother there and his grandma." 

"Oh, that must be nice going home on holidays." Rumi said.

"What about you, Fujiwara? Aren't you going home?" Momo asked before remembering that she came from 78th district which was even farther away from Seireitei and the academy.

Rumi shook her head with a smile, "I can't go back all the way to 78th district. Also, I have no family or friends to visit there, seeing how Renji and Rukia are here."

"Right," Momo said, "How about you come with me to my house?"

Rumi was caught off guard by the invitation because while Momo was her friend, she wasn't as close to her as Rukia or Renji, so it was a bit awkward to invite her to her house for holidays all of a sudden. "Your house?" 

Momo nodded, before starting slowly, "The truth is I've been wanting to persuade someone to join the academy but he kept saying he's not interested. I'm thinking if he sees how amazing you are, he might change his mind about becoming a Shinigami." 

"So, I'm for convincing someone?" Rumi asked with a chuckle. "Here I thought you invited me out of your good will..I'm hurt."

"I...I didn't mean to offend.."

"Nah, you're good." Rumi replied with a laugh, "I was just joking."

"Oh.."

"So, when do we leave?"

"You're coming?" Momo asked.

"Sure, that sounds fun." Rumi replied. "I've never visited someone's house in district one. I'm curious on what you guys eat everyday." 

"That's what you're curious about?" Momo muttered.

"Huh, why?" 

"Nothing, we're leaving tomorrow morning." Momo said.

"Okay, I'll pack my favorite blankets and pillows." Rumi said with an excited voice.

"That's what you're bringing?" Momo couldn't help but ask. 

"Yeah, sleeping's my hobby." Rumi replied, then she added after a while of thinking"Although I also like drawing...you have extra papers and uhh..pens or color pencils?"

"Pens? Color pencils? What're they?" Momo asked.

"Wait, you don't know what pens or color pencils are?" Rumi exclaimed, as if the idea was simply outrageous.

Momo nodded slowly, "I've never heard of them."

"Then..what do you guys use to write or draw?" Rumi asked. Even though she saw most wrote with those paint brushes and black ink on a paper, Rumi had always thought they were being extra into calligraphy. 

"Brushes?" Momo replied, "Fujiwara,..could it be that you haven't written anything before?"

"Uhh, yeah. I haven't." Rumi replied, "I didn't like taking notes so I never bothered to do it." 

"Then, when you filled out your information at the entrance exam..."

"Someone filled it out for me when I said I was too nervous to hold a brush!" Rumi said with a grin, "You won't believe how much work you can skip by bullshitting your way through." 

"...uhh, really?" Momo asked, a little reluctant. She wasn't sure if she wanted to learn that aspect from Rumi. She suspected only geniuses would get away with things like that and ordinary people like her had no choice but to work as hard as she could. 

"Anyways, I'm excited to visit your house and maybe even give your family a gift of their portrait." Rumi said with a clap.

"Portrait?"

"Yep, I'm gonna draw a nice picture of them and give it to them as a gift." Rumi said with a proud look like she was proud for coming up with such an authentic idea. 

"...Oh..that's..a good idea?" Momo was unsure. Could it be that Rumi's drawing skills were that good? 

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The next morning, after telling Renji and Rukia that she would be going with Momo, Rumi left the academy. Rukia and Renji looked surprised that Momo had invited Rumi to her house and at the same time, they silently prayed for the safety of Momo's house. 

Last time Rumi stayed at their house for two days, Rukia could still remember that Rumi had destroyed the house with her reiatsu alone. Now that Rumi was staying at Momo's house for a week, Rukia couldn't help but pray for the house and Momo's family, as well as Momo's sanity. Honestly, Rukia thought Momo was a champion to stay in the same room as Rumi for two months in the academy already and now that the holidays were here, she expected Momo to be eager to get away from Rumi but she didn't expect this turn of events. 

But, Rukia and Renji were happy with the development. Rumi wasn't their responsibility anymore for the holidays and it made their life a bit easier. Renji didn't have to worry about Rumi's so called sparring sections and Rukia didn't have to witness Renji and Rumi's stupid fights or get involved in them. 

Rumi was a little suspicious of her two close friends' "sad" faces when she told them that she would be going with Momo instead of hanging out with them, but since Momo said they needed to leave early, Rumi didn't dwell on it much. 

'Some people show emotions in a different way. That must be it.' Rumi thought. 'They might look like that but they must be feeling real sad about this.' 

With a sigh for her tsundere friends, Rumi shook her head. She then put her arm around Momo's neck and said, "So, your family is your brother and his grandma?"

"Well, he's not exactly my brother but we grew up together and our houses were right next to each other." Momo replied. 

"Oh," Rumi said, "So childhood family."

"I guess you could say that." Momo said with a smile. "When you meet Shiro chan, he might be a bit cold to you but don't take it to your heart." 

"Shiro chan? That's his name? It's kinda cute." Rumi said with a laugh.

"His real name is Hitsugaya Toshiro. He kinda hates it when I call him Shiro chan or treat him like a child." Momo said, "Please don't call him Shiro chan when you meet him." 

"No promises." Rumi said playfully. "I gotta see him first and if he's amusing, I obviously have to call him Shiro chan." 

"..." Momo sighed. There goes her hope of Shiro chan getting along with Fujiwara and him deciding to come to the academy. 

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"We're here." Momo stopped in front of a house and said. 

Rumi nodded and followed Momo as she went inside the courtyard. 

"Shiro chan! Grandma! I'm back!" Momo said. 

"What're you yelling at the house for? And, I told you to stop calling me Shiro chan!" A little boy with tanned skin and short, spiky white hair came out of the house with a frown and said. He then saw Rumi behind Momo and continued, "Huh, you bring your friend from Shinigami school?"

"Un, this is my friend and also my roommate at the dorms, name's Fujiwara Rumi." Momo replied with a nod.

"Hi, Shiro chan. How old are you turning this year? Seven? Eight?" Rumi asked, before hopping over to in front of Toshiro and patting his head. 

Toshiro was taken aback by her speed and how she suddenly appeared in front of him with a rush of wind. By the time he noticed her in front of him, he was already being patted in the head. 

"You! Don't pat my head and also stop calling me Shiro chan." Toshiro said angrily. 

"Come on, don't get too angry. Or your temper might weigh you down and prevent you from growing." Rumi said, ruffling Toshiro's hair. 

"Heh, what kind of bullshit is that?" Toshiro said, before ducking and pulling his head away from Rumi's grasp. 

Rumi chuckled but didn't attempt to mess with Toshiro's hair more, at least not for now. 

"So, how old are you turning this year, kiddo? Seven?" 

"I'm much older than that!" Toshiro said angrily with a frown. Maybe he wanted to look scary, but his child-like features weren't exactly helping his case. He looked more like a little brat pouting in this case. 

Seeing that, Rumi laughed uncontrollably, which made Toshiro angrier and Momo question her life choices and decisions she made. 

"Alright, Shiro chan, don't be too mad. Fujiwara's just teasing you." Momo said.

"Ask her to stop it then, bedwetter Momo!" Toshiro said, crossing his arms.

Momo's face turned red at the nickname, she didn't expect Toshiro to call her by that name in front of her friend and it was too embarrassing.

"Bedwetter Momo?" Rumi said and turned to look at Momo with a teasing voice. 

"Uhm...I.."

"She used to wet the bed everynight." Toshiro said, hoping to distract Rumi and make her attention focused on Momo. It was Momo's fault that this annoying person was here in their house anyway. 

"Oh, she did?" Rumi had a playful smile on her face as she asked. Momo was red as as a tomato at this point. 

"Don't listen to him, Fujiwara. I..I uh..I will take you to put away your stuff." Momo said, quickly grabbing Rumi's hands before Toshiro could say embarrassing stories about her. 

"Okay," Rumi replied with a giggle, knowing what Momo was doing, she waved towards Toshiro as Momo dragged her away, "See you later, Shiro chan!" 

"Stop calling me Shiro chan!" Toshiro yelled. 

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Meanwhile, as Rumi was being dragged away, she couldn't help but recall her first impression of the little boy, Shiro chan. Rumi initially thought he was a normal boy with a bit of reiatsu when Momo said back in the dorms that she wanted Rumi to persuade him to join the academy, Rumi assumed that Momo just wanted to stay closer to her family. 

But when she saw this Shiro chan the first time, she couldn't help but notice the reiatsu the boy had. It wasn't as powerful as her own yet but it was almost as powerful as Momo's. Now, Momo was a student at the academy who was training her reiatsu in addition to Zankensoki everyday. So, how come a little boy who hadn't even made it to the academy yet have this much reiatsu? 

It was very intriguing for Rumi.

On the other hand, Toshiro was kind of scared of this new friend of Momo's. When she appeared, Toshiro couldn't help but feel a pressure from her. It made him uneasy, and more snappy. To make it worse, she appeared in front of him so fast that it caught him totally off guard and she even patted his head after calling him Shiro chan. 

Toshiro was annoyed, but at the same time, he was scared because he couldn't even see how she got in front of him so quickly. There was this strange gush of wind and then she was already in front of him. Toshiro didn't know Shinigamis could do that but he hoped it was a Shinigami thing rather than that person's thing. Or he would be more scared of her. 

Toshiro even wondered a little if that was what other people in the neighborhood feel about him,  because he heard a few snippets about how he was unapproachable and had this air cold as ice around him. Although he couldn't understand why they would think that or why he seemed unapproachable. 

When Toshiro told Momo later that her friend was scary, Momo said that it was because he didn't understand her well enough yet. That made Toshiro wonder if the neighborhood people understood him, would they be less afraid of him? 

But, Toshiro had little hope. He reminded himself that at least Momo's friend look approachable enough and social, despite the odd pressure coming from her that made him more on edge. She was scary to him, but maybe she wouldn't be to the neighborhood people. 

Maybe there just was something wrong with him, Toshiro thought sadly. 

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A/N : Toshiro is here!

I like to think Toshiro was a little brat who had Tsundere tendencies especially before he became a Shinigami so yeah.