Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Summary: Momo Hinamori's point of view. Momo reflects on the man she saw as her father.
Author's Notes: I've become adept at writing these "reflections," angsty little pieces that feature a character thinking about another character. This was the first. I am aware that we don't know who killed Aizen for sure, but I think it was Gin.

Father

Before I became a soul reaper, I lived in East Rukongai, District Seventy-nine. I was lucky to escape District seventy-eight, but seventy-nine is bad enough. It's probably the second worst. I don't remember having any family, other than Snowy, and we were always more friends than family.

Then, I became a soul reaper. I hero-worshipped Fifth company's captain, Sosuke Aizen. He was kind to everyone and always calm, but that's not to say that he was weak. He was probably one of the most powerful captains. My dream was to join Fifth company so that I could work under my hero. Happily, that's where I was placed. Occasionally, Captain Aizen would speak to me personally. He could always spare a smile when someone was agitated or a kind assurance when one of the new soul reapers made a mistake. He really cared about us. I began to think of him as my father. I never told him, but I get the feeling that he knew anyway.

When Renji Abarai lost to the ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki, I went to Captain Aizen's quarters in hopes that he could assuage my fears. I knew that it was terribly rude of me and promised that I wouldn't fall asleep. Captain Aizen, smiling gently, gave me his coat off of his shoulders and invited me in. The instant he spoke, all of my fears vanished and I was left with just a small, nagging worry. He sat down at his desk and spoke to me while he wrote. Being so close to him soothed away all of my worries and made it seem like nothing could ever be wrong. I was truly happy whenever he was near.

When I woke up, I was still in Aizen's quarters. I had fallen asleep on him after I'd promised not to! And he had let me sleep on his futon, even laying a blanket over me. He was too kind. I would apologize to him when I saw him again, but for now I would have to rush if I didn't want to be late. I scrambled back to my room and changed into a fresh Shihakusho before sprinting towards my meeting, via a short cut.

Red. Red as blood. There was so much blood… Whose? My eyes followed the gory trail to its top and I screamed. Within seconds, everyone had gathered behind me. I was hardly aware of them. I was screaming Captain Aizen's name, pounding on the wall below him as if that would make him awaken and come down, laughing and saying that it was only a joke. My mind was filled with fuzzy panic and I could hardly see through the haze of my tears.

"Why all this noise so early in the morning?" I turned and saw Captain Ichimaru. And, somehow, I knew. He had killed Captain Aizen. Red hot rage replaced my panic. My hand flew to the hilt of my Zanpaku-to, but I wasn't even aware of it. My eyes were locked on Ichimaru's smirk and only one thought burned through my rage:

HE KILLED MY FATHER!