Rating: T, but will change later on as we move further into the story.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except the plot idea. All credit goes to the great Kubo-sensei.

Spoilers: Soul Society Arc, kind off. The story itself is somewhat AU...

Pairing: Hitsugaya x Hinamori, onesided Kira x Hinamori & Hitsugaya x Matsumoto

Warning: Hinamori Momo is extremely OOC in this fic. If you would like for her to stay as a sweet innocent girl, then turn back now. While the main pairing for this fic is HitsuHina, development for these two's relationship will be slow. Momo has demons she needs to kill and so does Toushiro. Aka, they both have problems in this fic. Big bad problems that need to be resolved before we can actually see some form of romantic intimacy. And angst, lots and lots of it.

Author’s Notes: For those waiting for an update for Crimson Ice…that story for now is on-hold. That doesn’t mean I dropped it altogether, but, for now, I would like to solely concentrate on Opposite Ends. Indefinitely, CI will probably be going through a re-write. I would also like to apologize for my lack of updates. I won’t let it happen again, I promise. I was on a huge writer’s block for CI and I’m still on a writer’s block for that story (well…kind off. The story is starting to form in my head), but no worries for this one. OE has a ready made outline, and I’ve already planned everything, so…it’s all good. While on the subject, by the way, is anyone here willing to beta this story for me...? I would really appreciate it. If you're interested, please don't hesitate to pm me.

Edit 8/21/09: Sorry for the re-upload people. That's what happens when I leave my computer (unattended while still logged on to this site, by the way) to an eight- year old cousin of mine, who deleted the story by accident. ^^;

The course of true love never did run smooth.

-William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 1, Scene 1)

She had never really seen his rage directed towards her; had never seen him snarl as if he were a wild animal, his silver hair and black robes clinging against his slightly tanned skin as the rain beat down mercilessly on Soul Society that night, his pale green eyes shining brightly with anger, a stark contrast against the darkness of the evening.

Sure, she'd seen him irritated with her; annoyed, disappointed, even a little bit weary of her naive actions in the past, but never like this. He had snapped, the final chains reigning in his slowly igniting temper, everything that he had ever held inside himself for the sake of protecting her, shattering in the blink of an eye as he kicked down the main door of her quarters seconds ago when she refused to let him in, his form trembling from being pent up for so long.

How childish.

Directed towards him or herself, she didn't know.

'It serves him right though,' she thought grumpily, crossing her arms in a righteous huff. 'Banging on the door like some sort of lunatic!'

It's been four months since she'd last seen him. His visit tonight was certainly unexpected and not to mention, unwelcome.

Maybe six...seven years ago, she didn't really remember anymore, she would have let him come to her rooms quietly, soothingly, to let him offer his cool presence and chase away the dark dreams that plagued her nights each and every time the memory of that traitor would come to the surface. To...to let him hold her and wipe away her desperate tears, as a lover would.

But...that time has passed now.

They had grown apart, had let the mutual trust that they had both so cherished for each other disintegrate away to fake smiles and cold glances; they had let their relationship--no, no, it was never that, their friendship melt away into mere acquaintances. And although it irked her, frustrated her, killed her to push him away, she wouldn't...couldn't let the only person who had dared to believe in her...persuade her to get her hopes up to actually believe...that she deserved his compassion.

No... No. She didn't deserve any of it. None at all. It was she who pointed her sword to him, she who chose to believe in a letter, rather than believing his defense...she who loved the traitor, rather than choosing to notice the not-so-subtle hints her once best friend gave her. A sorry excuse for a best friend, that...is who she is.

Many (mainly Rangiku and Yachiru who often liked to play as matchmakers between them at one point) believed that after the incident with Aizen, it would be Hitsugaya who would become her knight in shining armor, her icy prince, and all the other mushy nicknames that she was once so fond of when she used to believe in fairy tales. Many believed that now that Aizen was out of the way, there would be no obstacles left for the calm 10th Division captain to woo her into switching her affections and adoration to him.

It was, after all, the perfect scenario for the white-haired boy to come to the rescue, to aid his damsel in distress in her time of need. Why, the road to a happy romance was basically paved for the both of them.

But, like so many of the lessons she'd learned in this life, things aren't always as simple as they seem. No one anticipated that the girl he was trying to woo would actually become an obstacle herself. Or rather, her feelings.

It came to her one night, a sleepless night years ago in which she woke up in a dreadful state, wild eyes, messy hair, and all, after dreaming of her former captain again, and she had yelled Hitsugaya's name over and over, only to be informed by her weary and tired subordinates that he had gone on a mission near the 47th District with his vice-captain, nearly twenty to thirty miles away from Seireitei.

In other words, that one time that he was not able to come to her, a realization that had been right in front of her all this time came crashing down around her like massive tidal waves. It was like a sudden and unexpected blow to the gut, cruel and unkind.

She...she didn't deserve him: his comfort, his concern, not even his acknowledgment. She didn't deserve it; not when he's a respected and powerful captain of the Gotei 13, whom everybody relies on. Not when he had another world, his 10th division, of his own to protect. Not when she wasn't the only person anymore in his life who was...important. They had grown apart, not just by their feelings, but by the people who entered their lives. The minute she chose to got to the Academy, she grew farther and farther apart from him, and she expanded her world.

The minute he decided to follow...it was not for the purpose of following her, but for his reason of wanting to control his own power in order to protect the people who are dear to him. It was his reason for living and perhaps, the reason for being gifted with a genius mind and an abnormal amount of spiritual pressure she can never even hope to outmatch.

And so...she pushed him away and is still trying to push him away. She will not be a burden to him, not when there are others who were more deserving of his protection and his...attention. She will survive on her own and pick up the pieces of her life, by her own determination and strength. She will not allow herself to fall in love with him, not when her life has been tainted by her former captain.

It was hard at first, not being able to rely on Hitsugaya like she used to, or even relying on her friends. No, not even her friends. She didn't deserve them, didn't want them anymore in her life, for she was afraid...afraid to dirty them with her memories of Aizen, whatever they may have shown.

She chose to keep Aizen's memory alive, after all. No, it wasn't because of the gentle feelings she once harbored for the man. No. It was so to keep her hate and anger alive and burning. She will use her resentment, both for that traitor and herself, to keep on living. She will wallow in her guilt and self-pity, and punish herself for daring to love that man. For…allowing herself to fall into the depths of adoration, until he cornered her right under her nose.

She won't let go of him, for to let go of him would mean her life as a shinigami had been a lie. And she would not, even to herself, admit that that was indeed the truth.

She will defy Aizen, by living her life the opposite way. During the time she adored him, she lived in a carefree world surrounded by friends and allies. He destroyed all of that the day he betrayed Soul Society. He thought her to be dead and broken, for he believed her to be an innocent and gullible girl who cannot live without being surrounded by the good, but he was wrong. She will defy him, and live her life in solitude and darkness, to prove to herself and to his memory that she could live without the innocence she once had as a person and that she can survive, without her shining, perfect world.

She can survive without the innocence and illusion Aizen had taken from her.

And with this...she can repent for the fact that she was the weakest person to go against Aizen, because it was she who had loved and adored him and had refused to believe him to be the enemy.

Thus, with her new resolution, she started to push the people who cared for her the most, away.

It started out with Hitsugaya and stammering rejections and gentle refusals of going to visit their granny together or even going to a simple lunch in Rukongai just because it was a nice day outside. Her logic was to push Hitsugaya away first because they had a history together. Thus, pushing him away would be the hardest task of all because...it wasn't exactly easy trying to push away the person you've started to fall in love with, added with the fact that that said person has known you for quite a long time. However, at the same time, if she can successfully remove him from her life, the others would be easy small-fry. It was cruel to think this way, but...

She certainly didn't call him ‘Hitsugaya-kun’anymore, starting that time at least. ‘Shirou-chan’was long forgotten. While he was pleased at first to hear her call him by his "official" title (long ago, he once said 'Hitsugaya-taichou' had a nice ring to it; she laughed it off and he snorted), he began to notice the cold ring in her voice when she said it.

But it didn't stop there. Serious conversations were all that ever went between them now. She wouldn't even let him escort her back to her division, even when it was already dark out. Jokes and name-calling were certainly things of the past for them.

And then...she stopped telling him things, even the most simple, insignificant events in her daily routine. She didn't stop by his office anymore just to say hi and have a nice short chat with him or even Rangiku. Months, even as long as half a year or so, can go on at a time without them seeing each other. The only time they'd ever see each other now was when it was he who would deliver a report to her captain and even then, she would find some excuse to leave the room. During meetings with both vice-captains and captains present, she would avoid him like the plague and refuse to meet his eye, even if she felt his gaze towards her the whole time.

It had worked for a while too. But, as always, Hitsugaya always found one way or another to surprise her and knock her off her feet.

As much as she wanted him out of her life, it was easier said than done.

She was dismantling and sealing off every opening he can find in her, and he had begun to notice. She shouldn't have been surprised. For as long as she's known him, he'd always been a perceptive boy.

She cut him off in her life, for his own sake. And for his own pride, for his own sanity, she knew, he held it in: the questions, the doubts, the confusion that swirled around his mind, baffled by her sudden cold attitude, wanting to give her space and time to reconsider whatever path she was now willing to take after what her former captain had done to her.

She did the same to her friends and fellow vice-captains too: start out gently, then plunge the knife in slowly all the way. Rinse and repeat.

One by one, the bonds that she'd made over the years snapped in two as she worked her way from fellow vice-captains to her subordinates. And each and every time she lost a friend or companion, it smothered away just a little bit more of her soul. While she still held the trust of each ally of Soul Society, it was nothing more but mere professionalism for her part and theirs.

Nothing lasts forever, after all.

It was kind of...refreshing, in its own way. For a girl like herself who had once adored the company of others, solitary existence wasn't that bad. Of course, at the same time, she'd be lying to herself if she didn't say she missed their presence most of the time, but she wouldn't let such petty, childish, human feelings get in the way of her determination to oppose Aizen and for her repentance.

And for all the effort she put in in trying to push them all away, they were...expectantly willing to comply (with the exception of Hitsugaya, who seemed determined to stay in her life, whether she liked it or not). Perhaps half of them anticipated it. She wasn't stupid. They weren’t either. They'd all seen first-hand what Aizen had meant to her. His betrayal...probably broke her, and in some form or another, she agreed. But, at the same time, it didn't kill her. It thrashed her innocence, but she's still alive and kicking, her determination still intact as it was decades ago when she first decided to become a shinigami.

In the end, it was only...it's still her former best friend who's willing to stay with her, even after all that she did to get away from him.

And so...they danced this dance until tonight apparently, when he's finally lost all his composure. In some ways, perhaps she should have been expecting this visit after all. She probably pushed him to his own limits. If there was one thing Hitsugaya hated, it was confusion. He didn't like it if he didn't understand something, hated the fact that sometimes, his logic won't work in certain situations.

To him, her resolution didn’t make any sense. He was suppose to comfort her…he wanted to be there for her, but…she doesn’t want his attentions at all.

He walked towards her in a few strides, his captain's haori whooshing behind him as he kicked the fallen door out of his way, coming face to face with her passive stance, her eyes devoid of any emotion, her lips set in a thin line as she tried to keep herself from trembling too much, the cold wind a powerful force against her attenuate sleeping yukata.

"What brings you here in an ungodly hour?" she asked indifferently, trying to avoid his unruly gaze. Her voice held a tone of uneasiness and whether or not he noticed, she didn't see, didn't care whether or not he was here out of pity or concern or whatever. She didn't want it, and in the back of her mind, she knew, wasn't worthy of it.

"You went back to that place again...didn't you...?" he growled, his voice barely audible against the wind and the rain, but she heard it still: that deep menacing voice that shook her to the core, for the sole reason that, although she'd heard him use that tone towards enemies before, it was the first time he ever spoke to her that way.

Oh, yes.

That place: the bar that was near a more...unvirtuous district of Rukongai, about ten to fifteen minutes away from Seireitei, if she used flash step. It's a popular place for a lot of veterans from the war to cool their heads, and she personally liked the quiet and dark atmosphere of the location. Much to her dismay and comfort, drinking was actually a very neat hobby when one lives alone in solitude. The sake that she drinks numbs the pain...and her dwellings on the past then...doesn't seem to ache as much. It's really only on those times that she loses herself in a state of drunkenness, that she can allow herself to recall memories of happy times, without having to lose her self-control. How he had found out of her weekly rendezvous again, she didn't know either.

She sighed loudly, immensely annoyed that he'd checked up on her again. She ran a hand through her long loosely braided tresses, and let her hair unravel out of its knot. He probably ordered some of his own subordinates to follow her and she'd been too stressed out and too tired to notice.

Whatever.

She didn't need this, didn't even want to hear any of it. Where she goes and what she does is entirely her own damn business. She looked away from him and turned around to walk towards the kitchen, intending on leaving him there in the living room (she was surprisingly, western in her ways in terms of furniture and basic household necessities).

And then, everything else became a blur in her line of vision.

She didn't feel him grab her forearms and slam her against the wall until he was looming over her (he'd gone through a nice growth spurt during these years), his breathing haggard and uneven, as he tried to keep his reiatsu from going out of control. His eyes had darkened into a more animalistic glint, and she was slightly frightened to see him gritting his teeth, his temper about to erupt any minute now.

His patience was wearing thin, and he was in no mood whatsoever to fucking deal with her childishness.

"Don't you dare walk away when I'm talking to you..." he snarled quietly, his hand tightening harshly as he pinned both her wrists above her head, his other hand pressed against the wall in a barely constrained fist, several inches away from her face. "Look at me, and tell me why... Why is it that you do something like this every single fucking time when no one is around to see you...?!"

"It's not any of your business to butt in, Hitsugaya-taichou!" she sneered, trying to pry her hands away from his unyielding grip, but to no avail. His grip was too strong, and she was weak against the display of his raw strength. From her position, she can see his face contorted in desperate rage, and for a moment, she wondered if it would be alright to stop struggling altogether and see what other strong emotions can be reflected in his deep gaze, before shaking her head mentally in denial. "Let go of me...!"

"No," he replied curtly, his voice cold and impatient. "I won't let you go, not until you tell me how long has this been going on again."

"I have nothing to tell you, so get out...get out of here...!" she whispered urgently, thrashing about wildly in his arms, her voice low and unwilling to give in to his tone.

“Why do you insist on behaving like this?! Drinking out everyday like an old fool to swim in your misery, avoiding people to the point that you’re afraid to even as much as glance at them…this wasn’t you…this is not you…!” he said, his reiatsu flickering with desperation.

“The ways I do things to handle my problems are not any of your concern…! How many times do I have to say it to you for you to get it through your freaking head?!”

They’ve fought like this before, even if his temper then wasn’t as intense as it was now. She’ll push him away again like any other day. This night makes no difference whatsoever in any shape, way, or form.

"How long do you plan to go on this way...?" he asked quietly, calmly, his eyes now obscured from her view, but his voice still angered and menacing, but in no danger now of harming her any longer. "Aren't you tired of it yet...?"

"No...not yet...not ever..."

She'd made her decision years ago. To go back to the way things were between them, before Aizen, before the ryoka came...was simply unthinkable for her. For all that she had ever done to keep them separated now, it was simply something...she no longer has the courage to do. Her loneliness and guilt are all she has left. The terrible ache of trying to earn his forgiveness is something she'd let go of a long time ago. It's just...no longer within her reach.

In the blink of an eye, she was roughly pushed to the side, and she tumbled over the floor, knocking her head slightly on the wooden flooring. She grunted at the impact and looked up to see a portion of her wall destroyed, the plaster, wood, and dried white paint collapsing to the floor against Hitsugaya’s brute strength.

He had punched the wall in a frightening amount of spiritual power all concentrated on his fist and had pounded his temper on the poor piece of construction. He looked at her surprised form and gave a small bitter smile. He broke out into a low, humorless chuckle and looked at her straight in the eyes, his own still livid and mad. He shook his head and walked towards the door, his knuckles bleeding from the impact of his punch and the blood trailing against the pristine polished floor.

She could say nothing. Nothing at all as she looked at him, her eyes once again blank and empty.

“You’re no different from before, Momo…”

Her eyes widened. He had called her…

“You’re still as blind as ever, especially when it comes to that bastard…”

And with that, he walked out of the room and disappeared again in the storm, leaving her alone and sitting on the floor as she watched him leave.

For a second, she thought she saw a pained look on his face as he went out, but thought nothing of it. The darkness of the night must be playing tricks on her eyes.

Hitsugaya Toushiro was ice.

He was an ice dragon, his power dangerous and lethal. His facade was impenetrable as his power, and not even she, his former best friend, can break away the mask.

And finally, until what seemed like an eternity, she let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding back.