A pair of wide, brown eyes opened to take in a nearly all white room. The only colors were from the various medical machines surrounding the bed the owner of the eyes was laying upon. The machines also provided the only sounds in the room, other than the sole occupant's rhythmic breathing. "Why am I in the Fourth division?" Momo Hinamori asked herself in her head. After staring at the blank, emotionless walls for a few moments, her memories returned fully. "I'm here… because of that bastard." Her hands began to shake, remembering her intense hatred for the man she was regarded as her father, her hatred overwhelming her senses. "No… I cannot allow him to have such a profound effect on me… I must stay calm." Her hands now clenched into tight fists, Momo released a shaky breathe, a calm expression settling on her face. "Maybe… I should start actually using some of my power… maybe even ten percent!" she then laughed at her thoughts. Never in her life had Momo even explored such a small percentage of her power. The most she had used was five percent, and that was only to keep herself alive when Aizen left her for dead.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she had resided in for way to long, the lieutenant of the Fifth division cast an illusion Kido she had developed, making it appear she was still in her coma, before placing a Kido on herself to mask her spiritual pressure and make herself completely unnoticeable. Donning her uniform and fifth Division lieutenant armband, while habit, was completely pointless seeing as no one would be seeing her. Momo then grabbed her zanpakuto, Tobiume, and slipped out the window of her room.
Navigating through the bustling streets of the Seireitei, Momo found herself comforted by the familiarity of it all. In her coma, she had so missed her fellow Soul Reapers and their daily routines and jobs. She had even come to miss doing her paperwork, simply because she no longer could. She didn't even know if she was still a lieutenant. Slowly but surely, savoring the maze-like layout of the Seireitei, Momo made her way to a clearing in the woods she had found years prior, and began training.
Over and over she ran through the basic sword movements, some hand-to-hand combat techniques, and then proceeded onto Kido. Over the years, after mastering all of the general Kido, Momo had begun to develop extremely high level and complex kido over her own. She ran through all such spells, and then decided to try going a step further. She was going to attempt shunko.
For days she relentlessly practiced and perfected the technique, stopping at nothing to ensure her win against Aizen without having to use hardly any of her true power. If she could keep one secret throughout her life, Momo swore it would be her true powers. Finally, she mastered the technique only known by two people, and only mastered by one other. "I should probably head back to the Fourth Division and wait for a good time to fake waking up…" she thought as she made her way through the busy streets of the Seireitei. She stopped moving for the first time in days, however, when she heard a conversation.
"Yeah, Captain Hitsugaya and the others in the human world are going to be communicating with Head Captain Yamamoto tomorrow, so all of us in the Twelfth Division are working overtime to ensure the equipment works properly," a random member of the Twelfth Division griped to his companion.
"Perfect… "Momo thought, smirking. She then flash-stepped to the Fourth Division to set her plan in motion. When she reached her destination, she quickly lay down on the well worn bed and removed all of the kido she had placed upon herself in the room. She then sat, waiting for what seemed like eternity in the nearly empty yet claustrophobic room. Finally, her relief came in the form of one seventh seat, Hanataro.
"Lieutenant Hinamori!" the young Soul Reaper exclaimed, jumping as he noticed the girl laying there, after being asleep for so long had finally opened her eyes, "I'll go fetch Captain Unahana!" He scurried away, returning only moments later, accompanied by the Seireitei's mother-like captain.
"Lieutenant Hinamori," she began, speaking with her typical soft tone, "I'm so happy to see you awake. Would you like me to explain what happened?"
"What should I do? If I tell her I know everything, she might suspect me when I kill Aizen… I'll have to pretend I still admire him… It's the best way. The only way." Momo thought carefully before replying, "Yes, please Captain Unahana. What has happened to my captain?"
"Sosuke Aizen has betrayed the Soul Society along with Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tousen. Aizen left you for dead in the Central 46 headquarters, but, thankfully, I arrived in time to save you along with Captain Hitsugaya. He then proceeded to attempt in the murder of Rukia Kuchki to obtain the Hyokuyaku. Captain Kuchki was able to save her, but the traitors got away with the Hyokuyaku."
"No… that can't be right! Captain Aizen must have a good reason for doing this!" Momo exclaimed, sickened with herself and her hatred of Aizen that was welling up, "Please, can I talk to Captain Hitsugaya?"
"He is going to be talking with the Head Captain tomorrow, so I'm sure it'll be fine… I'll leave you to your thoughts." Captain Unahana replied as she exited the room.
For Momo, the next day couldn't come quickly enough. It passed in a blur of faces of various members of the Fourth Division, only going at a regular speed when Hanataro arrived to take her to the First Division.
"There's somewhere here who has been waiting to talk to you for a long time, Captain Hitsugaya," Head Captain Yamamoto concluded at the end of his speech.
Momo stepped out of the shadows, a feeling of immense relief coming over her when she saw Toshiro was indeed alright. "If I'm going to pretend… I have to pretend in front of everyone. Toshiro included." She thought, her face falling at her own words inside her head. She really didn't want to hurt Toshiro like this, but she had to. They engaged in light conversation until Momo felt she had to begin her act. "Please, save Captain Aizen! Captain Ichimaru must be forcing him to do this! Yes, that's it!" she exclaimed, before the Head Captain took measures to knock her out. His plan didn't exactly work, however, because his spell had no affect on Momo. Realizing what he was trying to do, she pretended to pass out to keep up her act while listening to them talk.
"Be prepared for the war in the winter," Yamamoto said gravely.
"This winter? Already? I have to act now if I want to do this myself…" Momo decided, various thoughts and plans swimming through her mind. "So many options, but I think I'll just choose the easiest. Even if it is the least fun." She finally decided. Now, she only had to wait to be taken back to the Fourth Division, and then she could set her plan in motion.