Save Me Sorrow
Sequel to All We Know Is Falling
Disclaimer: Does Not Own Bleach
All was well in the other dimension, known only to souls and a few humans, the Soul Society. After the apocalyptic war with the former captain and self-proclaimed 'God', Aizen Sōsuke, the much needed time of peace was short lived for the shinigami's of the Gotei 13. Seireitei was thrown into chaos, almost losing a fourth captain. But with the last seconds ticking away, the twisted hands of fate unwound and all was well.
For one shinigami, the end of their own peace came all too soon.
Blinking images of the shinigami flashed through the streets of Seireitei as she used shunpō to reach the fuku-taichō meeting, trying to not be late more than 10 minutes. It would be a new personal record for Hinamori Momo. Sleeping in was always her vice.
"Hinamori! You're late!" Nanao scolded her the instant she walked through the doors. She wrote a few notes on the clipboard she had in hand.
"Sumemasen." she softly bowed.
"Hinamori-chan, didn't Taichō wake you up?" Matsumoto smirked. "After all, you two are sharing a bedroom now." She winked and nudged her with an elbow.
"It's not like that, Matsumoto!" She waved her hand side to side.
Hinamori blushed, the room was quite small and the wooden walls echoed even if Matsumoto tried to whisper everyone was sure to hear.
Kira's jaw dropped in awe and Renji slapped his back for comfort while Hisagi chuckled.
"EHM. Back to business." Nanao's glasses glistened with seriousness, diverting attention away from her own flushed cheeks at indecent subjects.
Hinamori was the last one to leave the meeting room. She strolled her way back to her division, taking her time, only more paperwork was waiting on her desk.
She passed by a group of unranked shinigami's from her division loitering around a tree. "So this squad still doesn't have a new taichō?"
Hinamori listened intently as she slowly walked. A few of them took a quick glance at her but continued their conversation. They were obviously new to the squad as they still hadn't remembered who their fuku-taichō was. Even so, the armband she wore said it all if they bothered to look. But they didn't give it a moments thought after a split second peek only for a taichō haori. She needed to have squad meetings more often.
"And the fuku-taichō, I heard she is weak and the only reason she got the seat was because of the taichō chose her."
"Are you talking about the pink-haired kid from Squad 11?"
"Squad 5, stupid."
"I've been here for only a year but she doesn't seem all that powerful to be a fuku-taichō. Did you hear? She and Squad 10 taichō are an item."
"Keh. No wonder she only does paperwork, she has a taichō to do everything else."
"Hell, I can be fuku-taichō! Maybe even taichō!" They all laughed at the ridiculous thought.
"EHM."
The men turned around to see a petite girl with her arms folded across her chest with a stern look on her face.
One of them gawked in awe when they noticed the armband and quickly nudged his buddies to shut up.
"You should be more careful at what you say." She pivoted her body to a half turn, "Not all your superiors are nice as me." She shot them the most malicious look she could make and raised her reiatsu, shoving the men to take a few steps back.
After lowering her reiatsu back to normal, she innocently smiled and left.
Their voices trailed off as she continued walking back to her office. She closed the door and leaned her back up against it's surface.
She disliked being mean, but they were new recruits and she learned a long time ago they had to be put in their place. The subtly-scare-the-hairs-off-their-ass technique she learned from observing Unohana-taichō worked really well. She could avoid yelling and what not.
Hinamori walked to the end of the room to the window right behind her desk. Between two book shelves and beneath the window was a counter. She stared at her zanpakputō, laying on the stand undisturbed. She glided her fingers across the hilt, pass the guard and down the smooth, shiny surface of the sheath.
Her hand pulled the desk chair around and she sat herself down. A few more moments looking at her zanpakuto and she sighed. Hinamori circled the chair around and started her work.
The sun was well gone by the time Hinamori finished her paperwork. She was well outside the office, heading to the training ground with her zanpakutō strapped to her waist.
Standing alone in the grassy plain of the training field lit by the moonlight, she held her zanpakutō in her hands.
"Hajike, Tobiume."
Silence.
"Hajike, Tobiume!"
Hinamori began to panic, her zanpakutō wasn't responding to her command. Her knees collided with the ground and she pierced her zanpakutō into the dirt, holding herself up.
Right when she thought her fears had come true, Tobiume emitted a pink glow swirling around the blade and it transformed into its shikai state.
What took you so long?
What took you so long to call me.
Hinamori gulped. She wanted to avoid where the conversation was going, but sooner or later it would come up. Ever since the time she was on the verge of dying and called Tobiume to manifest herself to finish the job, she was scared she lost the connection between them. If she lost Tobiume, she would certainly be kicked out of Seireitei. After all, what is a shinigami without a zanpakutō? A useless one.
The two continued their conversation in silence, communicating through her soul until Hinamori stood up and sheathed Tobiume.
Hinamori remembered the conversation she overheard earlier that day. There was no way she is going to sit back and let those men surpass her and take the seat she strove so hard to get on her own. Not only that, but she looked back on all the times she had to be saved by her friends, especially by Hitsugaya. That's it. She will not play the role of damsel in distress any more. She decided to achieve bankai.
With Tobiume securely placed at her waist, she use shunpō to head out of the training ground.
A light knock came off the door. The door slid open for Hinamori to greet them.
"Good evening, Abarai-kun!"
"Hey, Hinamori! Come in!" Renji invited her in and sat on the floor in front of the small table in the middle of the room while Renji brought two hot cups full of tea.
"So, what can The Great Renji do for you?" he asked as he placed the tea down and sat.
"The Great Renji is looking very nice in his pink flowery yukata." she chuckled with a hand over her mouth.
Renji dusted off his shoulder, "Oi. Great men can wear anything."
After a few more minutes of laughing, Hinamori straightened up to tell him why she came to see him.
"I was wondering, how did you get bankai?"
Renji chocked on some tea, "Ack- What? You want to get bankai? Why?"
"As a shinigami, it's natural to want bankai isn't it?"
"Well...yes. But you? You've never wanted more after you got your seat as fuku-taichō." he wiped the table where his spit landed.
"Now I do." He looked into her eyes and understood something about her changed and she was serious.
"Well, it's been a long time since I got it." Renji placed a hand on his chin to help him think. "I concentrated my reiatsu (which was very hard to do) into Zabimaru and yelled, 'COME FORTH ZABIMARU!'" He shot his arm up in the arm as he shouted.
Hinamori sweat dropped. Maybe she should have consulted someone else. Probably Hitsugaya, she thought but then..why must she always be dependent on him? No, she's going to do this on her own. Renji's voice snapped her out of her deep thought.
"I kept doing that until he finally came out." He leaned back on one arm and rubbed his stomach with the other. "Then you just fight."
Hinamori nodded. The first time she called Tobiume was a fluke, she didn't think it would work again. It's going to take a lot more.
"Hey, if you have bankai, why haven't they made you taichō?" she asked.
"Eh? I'm not interested. My only goal is to surpass Kuchiki-taichō."
"Or...you didn't get enough approvals!" Hinamori teased.
Renji sat up abruptly, "No way!"
Just then, Byakuya strode by the open doors of the room. Renji got up and ran after him.
"Taichō!" Byakuya stopped and turned his head to Renji, signaling him to go ahead and speak. "Y-You voted for me right? To be captain, right?"
Byakuya didn't respond, not even a hint on his expressionless face for a yes or no. He looked forward and continued his walk.
Renji followed after. "TAICHŌ!!"
Hinamori laughed and excused herself from the table. "Ja ne, Abarai-kun!" She yelled to him but he was already gone around the corner.
It was late in the night, just about everyone except for the patrol units where already in their beds sleeping. Hinamori quietly tip-toed her way into his room. She walked over to his futon and took a moment to watch him sleep. She smiled at how peaceful and not grumpy he looked without his eyebrows furred constantly. Doesn't that get tiring?
Hinamori slid in the bed and laid beside him, careful not to wake him up. She turned her back and closed her eyes to sleep. Suddenly, she was hugged from behind and a groggy voice spoke.
"What kept you."
"I had a lot of paperwork. And I was caught up with a friend. Sorry I woke you."
"Who."
"Abarai-kun."
"Mm. Remind me to punish him."
"Huh? Why?" She giggled softly, she wasn't sure if he was fully awake or just sleep talking with her.
"For keeping you from me." Hitsugaya nuzzled his face into her neck.
She couldn't help but blush at the comment. She hadn't yet gotten used to this side of Hitsugaya since he rarely showed it.
This might come out shorter than the first story.
It's all lovely-dovey now, but those who read All We Know Is Falling should know better.
This is a very challenging sequel because I do not know if I can even top AWISF, especially the last chapter.
And did everyone see the official Bleach popularity polls?!?!
Hitsugaya is #1, no surprise but hooray!
And who is #6 and probably shouldn't be on the top 10 at all but made it anyway because she is awesome and her fandom is not dead? Yes! HINAMORI!
I was holding off this story but in celebration of her making #6, I decided to go ahead and post it up.
I hope this will entice Kubo to resurrect her back in the story line. After all, she has connections to the most popular character in Bleach, Hitsugaya. And they say the polls do matter.
Enough rambling. Thank you very much for reading!