GIRL ON FIRE
(The Eternal Flame Series)
SUMMARY: Missing for almost ten years, Hinamori Momo returns to Soul Society with no memory of who she was.
Warning: Minor swearings. OOCness because I'm going to need it in the story. Some spelling and grammar mistakes so naahhh~~
Chapter 1:
Aizen (2nd person) POV
Nine years.
Ten months.
Eleven days and three hours.
Or is it?
You think you already lost count of how many day - no, years has it been since you've last seen her. How many years has past since you were greeted with the sweetest of her smiles in your office. And now after all this time, she'll be coming back home once again. To you.
You know it's wrong to feel this kind of anticipation. She was your lieutenant - and still is. The fact is that you refuse to fill up the vacated position she left in her absence despite Yamamoto's opposition to your stubborn plead. She was your favorite puppet afterall, and still is.
"She'll come back... I'll find her no matter what." you told them during a joint meeting of the squad officials even though that statement of yours brought false hope to her friends, still you believed it yourself - she'll come back and now she'll be. It was the unholiest time of the evening (or mornight, should you say?) when a messenger from the Twelfth requested your immediate presence in your squad's headquarters. They gave you the location and immediately, like a good captain, you left to save your damsel.
The first time you saw your sweet lieutenant back in Soul Society, she was found in an abandoned area in Rokungai in the process of being munched by a Hollow. Her reiatsu was faint but that did not stop the Twelfth from detecting her.
Her friends particularly Abarai, Ichimaru's lieutenant, Hitsugaya-taicho and his second-in-command - wherein Gin join in by default; reasoning out that Kira will be there, so shall he (of course you know better) - immediately shunpo-ed their way towards your barracks to volunteer for the retrieval mission.
The mission went well and fast. Your company encountered an army of Hollows - nothing you could not manage, as expected from a team of three captains and four lieutenants. Your missing lieutenant finally within your arm's reach - unconscious and was carried all the way to the Fourth.
You stayed at her side - like a good captain would do - so when she wakes up, it will be you whom she'll see first. Not Abarai. Not Gin's lieutenant. Not Hitsugaya or even Retsu. You and only you. The only one she should trust, depend on and live for. You'll be there right beside her as she wakes up, as she cries "Aizen-taicho..." and queitly sob as you carefully cradle her fragile body in your arms and whisper comforting words to calm her.
And it seemed like the other occupants of the room (even Hitsugaya would begrudgingly admit) are expecting the same scenario to unfold. Never mind the drama, never mind them. So long as their Hinamori awakens, everything will be fine again. All of you waited patiently for your sweet little peach to wake up, to come back after almost a decade of absence.
She could have been branded traitor the moment her existence was known; could have been in chained and manacled for mysteriously missing in action. But no, this is their Momo - their sweet, innocent Hinamori and she could not cause much of a threat to Soul Society. She is, afterall, a product of your flawless manipulation for the past century.
Tension filled the room as all of you waited for her to be conscious. You inched towards her as you run your fingers through her raven locks, slipping through your fingertips like fine silk and wondered if her hair had been that smooth before. No one stopped you from doing so. Not even Hitsugaya-taicho. They knew you mean well - that simple act of touch, whether of innocence or of malice - you still are, her beloved captain and that alone gave you every right to do so.
She stirred in her sleep because of your action and the other occupants of the room (except for Gin) flash-stepped their way towards her hospital bed, completely surrounding her as if knowing she'll awake. And she did.
But the last thing you did not expect as she opened her eyes is the scalpel in her hand and the question that had you all taken aback...
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"Who the hell are you, people?"
Hinamori (2nd person) POV
First it was warmth. But it's that kind of warmth that chilled the bone sending shivers through your system. That was the first thing you felt as that touch brought you into consciousness. Sore muscles and bandaged bruised legs greeted you as you bat your eyelids adjusting yourself to the bright white light. You could feel that there were other people in the room around you and your first instinct was to grab the nearest thing to you - a scalpel.
"Who the hell are you, people?" you asked them the moment you manage to lift your upper body. The occupant of the room seemed to be more surprised by your question than your action.
Silence filled the room as if not knowing the answer your question - but the look on their faces: guilt, shocked, confused - says that they knew you, perhaps more than you know yourself. Still you don't know who the hell these people are (maybe another one of Shinji's pranks, though you can tell yourself this one's not his doing) and you are not putting down the knife without any answers.
You are not frightened, though you are not calm either. You observed your surroundings - your eyes roaming every direction of the room and the people inside it. Your eyes widened as you noticed each of them carried a zanpakuto. Shit. You instantly searched for the nearest possible exit and you found the door on the right corner and the window on the left wing of the room.
You thought of an escape plan though you easily aborted the idea as you were surrounded by seven people on your wake. It's hopeless. You may escape the room but not the place you are in. There may be guards waiting outside this room and the worst case scenario is you do not know where in the name of seven freaking hells you are.
You lower your scalpel, but not your guard. You notice each of them do not seem to know what to do.
"Hinamori...it's us" the blonde guy with a peculiar haircut said as if pleading. He looked hurt as if you already stab the scalpel to this throat. The truth is you already are freaking out. How the fuck did they know your name?!
"Hinamori-kun..." the guy wearing glasses said as he attempted to get a hold of your arm and almost steal the weapon from your hand.
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There.
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You lost it.
You fucking lost patience and the last thing you remembered is that you threw the knife at the man with eyeglasses and someone knocked you out cold from the back. Damn it.
-end of chap1-
Author's Notes: Heyyaa! I'm baaack! This is my first Bleach fanfic so I'm kinda new with the characterization stuffs...so yeah bear with me.
In this fic, I want to show everyone how a change in the course of events can affect the characters, especially the heroine. Personally, I want to see Hinamori's character in a new light. I want my readers to see her as someone who can actually fight, someone who has something to fight for, not only for her captain but also (READ: especially) for herself.
I want her to be strong and at the same time, caring; cruel when time asks it, but loving. That's the Hinamori I want to portray, not the one in canon where we just wait and see who the fck is gonna come to save her, because admit it, she had potential. It's just that Tite Kubo did not give much character evolution on her part wherein she can't move on from Aizen for so many arcs (and that's just utterly, annoyingly, stupid for me.)
Now that I've ranted my part, you tell me what changes would you like to see from Hinamori and also tell me if you want me to tone down or completely remove her cursing tendencies. Sigh.
So you know what to do with the button theree~~~
Reviews does motivate me. No flames pleassee.