Chapter 55 Could It Be That We Like the Same Person?

The moonlight was cold and clear, casting a sheet of silvery white.

Hinamori pressed her back tightly against the wall, taking heavy, ragged breaths. The suffocating sensation from just moments ago was slowly receding, making her feel as though she had been brought back to life.

Two people emerged from a nearby izakaya, seemingly glancing in this direction.

A fiery blush instantly rushed to Hinamori's face, and she quickly averted her gaze.

Fortunately, the two individuals did not walk over, heading instead toward another part of the street.

She straightened her clothes and hair, glancing around blindly and nervously with her head bowed, completely at a loss.

The President was standing right in front of her, yet Hinamori had no idea what to say.

"I... I should get going..."

In the end, she managed to squeak out those words before fleeing the scene as if escaping for her life.

Aizen watched her panicked, retreating figure with a soft chuckle, raising a hand to wipe away a trace from the corner of his mouth.

[Affection: 83]

#

The next day.

Class A, First-Year Students, Shinigami Academy.

"Morning, Hinamori."

"Morning."

Hinamori responded absentmindedly to the greeting from her classmate.

She sat alone at her desk, staring blankly out the window with empty eyes.

"Momo?"

Rukia gently tapped her on the shoulder.

Hinamori finally turned her head, blinking. "Rukia? You're here."

"What's wrong with you? I greeted you, but you didn't even respond."

"I... It's nothing. Just lost in thought."

Rukia sat down beside her, looking at Hinamori with a puzzled expression.

Even after the lecture began, Hinamori remained completely spaced out. This aroused Rukia's suspicion; she felt that Hinamori's current state was strangely familiar, as if she had witnessed it somewhere before.

"Momo, why have you been distracted the entire class? What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, really nothing," Hinamori insisted.

Rukia: "..."

Another class passed, and Hinamori remained in the exact same state, as if completely immersed in her own world, blushing from time to time.

"Let's go, Momo. Time for lunch."

"Huh? Oh!"

As if just realizing that the class had ended, Hinamori hurriedly gathered her textbooks and stood up from her seat.

In the academy cafeteria, Rukia, Hinamori, Renji, and Kira were seated together.

"What is wrong with her?" Kira asked, looking at Hinamori, who was completely detached from their conversation and staring off into space by herself.

"Feels like something's wrong with her brain," Renji remarked.

Hinamori actually caught that comment, shooting Renji a sharp glare. "Your brain is the one that's messed up!"

"Ah, she's back to normal," Renji said.

Hinamori shook her fist at Renji in a threatening gesture.

However, after taking only two bites of her food, she quickly drifted off into her own world once again.

"Are you training after the lunch break?"

"No, I'm heading to the Student Council," Kira declined.

"What about Rukia?"

Rukia gently shook her head as well.

Renji groaned. "Well, what am I supposed to do? If none of you are going, I can't use the kendo hall."

He was not a member of the Student Council.

Kira pondered for a moment. "I'll go with you to the kendo hall first, and then head over."

Renji immediately shoveled a few large mouthfuls of rice into his mouth. "Alright, then eat fast!"

Kira sighed helplessly. "It's not like a few minutes are going to make that big of a difference."

Seeing that Renji didn't seem to hear him and continued stuffing his face, Kira muttered under his breath, "Such a maniac!"

Renji finished eating in no time and immediately urged Kira to hurry up.

The two boys thus left the cafeteria ahead of the others.

"We're leaving first!"

"Okay."

Rukia looked thoughtfully at Hinamori's practically untouched meal.

After lunch, Rukia skipped the Student Council and instead accompanied Hinamori to take a break and cool off under the cherry blossom tree beside the main academic building.

Rukia had brought a book along—not a textbook from the academy, but a manual on advanced binding spells she had brought from the Kuchiki estate.

Kira had once asked to borrow it, and she had promised to let him have it as soon as she finished reading it.

There were quite a few other students gathered nearby, chatting and laughing amongst themselves.

Though Rukia was looking at the book, her mind was elsewhere. She softly called out to the girl beside her, "Momo?"

"..."

Rukia suddenly shook Hinamori's shoulder. "Momo!"

"Ah?"

"Are you sick?"

"...I'm fine."

Faced with Rukia's scrutinizing gaze, Hinamori felt a twinge of guilt. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"About what? You've been thinking about it all morning."

Hinamori's face flushed red. "It's nothing."

Rukia: "..."

Coming back to her senses, Hinamori looked at Rukia reading her book and hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Rukia, there's something I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

"It's... about the President," Hinamori said cautiously.

Rukia's expression froze, and she abruptly slammed the book shut.

"Momo, I actually wanted to talk to you about something as well."

Hinamori looked surprised, noticing Rukia staring straight at her, and said, "You go first then."

Rukia took a deep breath. "I've thought about this for a long time, and I feel like some things just need to be said. Momo, I know what you're thinking, but Renji and I are just childhood friends who grew up together; there's no romantic relationship between us. So please... stop trying to play matchmaker for the two of us from now on. I really don't like it. It makes things terribly awkward between Renji and me."

Hinamori stared blankly at Rukia. A realization struck her, making her pupils tremble slightly. She asked, "Why... why are you suddenly saying this?"

Rukia turned her head away, looking down at the closed copy of *Detailed Analysis of Hadō* resting on her lap.

"Because I have someone I like."

"..."

Hinamori sat in a daze for a long time before slowly turning her head as well. The two of them sat side by side in silence for a long, quiet stretch.

"The person the two of us like... it couldn't possibly be the same person, could it?"

"..."

Rukia's eyelashes trembled, and her hands suddenly clenched tightly into fists.

"Momo, even though you brought it up first, I had already... by the time you told me, I already had... Momo, you must have figured it out a long time ago, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked me that way back then. That's why I don't want to hide it from you. Aside from Renji, you are my best friend."

The midday sunlight was no longer scorching. The breeze rustled the branches and leaves, and cherry blossoms fell in a soft, whispering shower.

Hinamori murmured, "So when you told me just now not to try and set you and Renji up anymore... does that mean you want to pursue the President, too?"

"..."

Hinamori silently twitched the corners of her lips, unsure whether she wanted to smile or not.

In the end, she said, "I'm sorry, Rukia. I won't try to pair you and Renji up anymore."

The girl gently stood up, leaving Rukia with nothing but her departing back.

Rukia felt a sharp, aching tug in her chest as she sat there in a daze.

Did she do something wrong?

She wondered to herself. Hinamori was her closest female friend and had always been wonderful to her.

Yet, Rukia quickly dismissed the thought. She hadn't done anything wrong, nor had she betrayed her friendship with Hinamori.

Hadn't Momo figured out long ago that she liked the President?

And yet, Momo had still deliberately tried to push her and Renji together. How was that behavior supposed to be justified?

Despite thinking this, Rukia still felt an overwhelming urge to cry.