"Everything seems peaceful…" the silver-haired girl thought as she filed her paperwork silently. The sky was an azure blue, no sign of rain anywhere. Yet….. it was a little too peaceful, perhaps. Aoi had never been one to enjoy peace; it was far too contrasting from her harsh life. Her life was full of secrets, secrets which she guarded fiercely, and which no one else knew of. "Well, maybe, except, him…"Aoi thought, trailing off. She felt a pang as the strict image of her father invaded her mind. His blazing eyes, filled with anger and hatred, blaming her for her mother's death. Tears stung Aoi's eyes but she shook her head determinedly and dried them up. After all, tears were a sign of weakness, and she, Aoi, disliked weakness.
"Aoi-chan, are you alright?" called out the concerned-looking Lieutenant of The Fifth Division. Aoi nodded cautiously, but her body had stiffened slightly at the sudden appearance of the Lieutenant. "I must have been too wrapped up n my thoughts," Aoi scolded herself. Usually, Aoi noticed everything around her. She was especially sensitive to other's spiritual energy, no matter how hard the entering Shinigami suppressed (or, for some cases, tried to) their spiritual energy (such as Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku from The Tenth Division, who was always trying to give Aoi a surprise by jumping out at her), Aoi could always sense them. It gave her enough time to lock up her emotions every time anyone came in, not that she needed it, though. She had such near perfect control over her emotions that even a short moments notification gave her enough time to seal all of them up. But still, sometimes, when nobody was around, Aoi would let her miserable past engulf her, and tears would fall from her piercing pale blue eyes, but she always did so silently, and when somebody was coming, she locked up all of her emotions again, so that anybody who passed-by her and saw her face would not have imagined that a while ago, she had been crying.
Still, Momo Hinamori pressed her small petite hand onto Aoi's forehead gently, feeling her temperature. Evidently, she was still worried about Aoi's condition. "I am fine, Hinamori-san." Aoi stated in a supposedly amused tone. The Lieutenant of The Fifth Division amused Aoi greatly. She was the typical 'innocent, sweet and kind young girl" which Aoi usually hated. Such girls were usually weak and, as Aoi had stated before, she disliked weakness of any sort. But Hinamori was strong, in a way. She had a determined personality, despite her sweet front, and could be very frightening when the people around her got hurt. "Well, new recruits find the work a bit overwhelming sometimes and fall sick. So make sure you take care of yourself and rest well." Hinamori chastised. Aoi nodded, a bemused look still upon her face. Then, almost instantly, Hinamori's furrowed brows cleared, "So, let's take a break from paperwork. Why not go on a walk with me through the gardens?" Hinamori requested cheerfully. Aoi hesitated, Hinamori would be sure to ask questions about her identity. And, as far as Aoi was concerned, her identity was better off being kept a secret. But Hinamori's smile was so genuine and warm that Aoi, who had always craved for affection of any kind due to her harsh childhood, could not help agreeing. "Great!" Hinamori clapped her hands together enthusiastically, "I'll just get a few things sorted out first. Don't worry, I won't be long." Hinamori left the room, leaving Aoi to wonder for a while what she had gotten herself into.
"Oy, Hinamori…" Captain Hitsugaya entered the room, Aoi had sensed his arrival vaguely, Captain Hitsugaya was one of the only few Shinigami whose spiritual energy was highly difficult to sense. Captain Hitsugaya trailed of awkwardly as he realised that Hinamoro was not in the room. "Lieutenant Hinamori has left to sort some things out. She will return soon." Aoi informed the snowy-haired captain in a neutral tone. Hitsugaya was pleased but slightly surprised at her cold attitude. Normally, the female recruits of Hinamori's Division would become starry-eyed upon meeting the child prodigy, Hitsugaya Toshiro and make utter fools of themselves, batting their eyelashes and flirting with him blatantly, trying to impress The Captain. "As if I would take any notice of them," Hitsugaya thought scornfully. An awkward silence filled the air and Hitsugaya eyed the new recruit silently. "So this was the Aoi everyone was talking about," he muttered. Even though Aoi had not given her name, Hitsugaya could recognize her from the Shinigami's descriptions of the new recruit, "Cold, startling blue eyes, shoulder-length hair a brilliant shade of silver, porcelain face with no expression, and a stare that could freeze fire". Aoi had been the source of constant gossipever since her arrival. Her cold personality and strange appearance drew attention, but it was her mysterious past that was the constant subject of the rather malicious chit-chat. Aoi did not take any test to enter the Gotei 13; she had been assigned to the Fifth Division straight away, which sparked many Shinigami's surprise. What was more, in her introductions, her last name was never given. Half of the many Shinigami had speculated that she was an orphan, whilst the other half claimed that she was from a noble family, which was the reason why she need not take a test to enter the Gotei 13 and that her last name was kept secret. Personally, Hitsugaya did not give it much of a thought, so long as Aoi was not another scheming mastermind like Aizen.
"Ne, Shiro-chan, what are you doing here?" exclaimed a surprised Hinamori upon catching sight of her childhood friend as she entered the room. Hitsugaya's face, normally devoid of emotion, softened and a small smile graced his lips. It was obvious that he nursed a soft spot for his young childhood companion. "I just thought I would pop in to see how you're doing," Hitsugaya voiced out casually, but Aoi saw through his casual remark at once. It amused her greatly to see the normally cold Captain of the Tenth Division loosen up for a while in the presence of his childhood sweetheart. "Ne, Hitsugaya-kun, I'm going out for a walk with Aoi-chan, do you want to join us?" Hinamori questioned. "Nah," he replied, Aoi noted, with a somewhat regretful tone. "Matsumoto left her paperwork under the couch again, I'm going to have to fill in for her," he grumbled. Hinamori laughed and wished him good luck, ruffling his hair as she did so. "O-oi!" Hitsugaya flushed, both at the closeness of the duo and the fact that Hinamori was treating him like a child, in front of a new recruit. If Aoi had not been so devoid of emotions herself, she would have been grinning like a Cheshire cat. Bidding goodbye to Captain Hitsugaya, Hinamori beckoned to Aoi and the two girls left.