Prompt: Purgatory.
Behind Your Smile
He had taught her to smile again.
She had almost forgotten what it felt like to be happy enough to smile, the first time she did it again her cheeks ached for hours afterwards but the warmth she felt was more than reward enough.
He was always smiling, even when they had been trudging down the dusty roads with no food a permanent grin was etched on his face; she quickly learned that a smile and a polite tone of voice was often the difference between a meal to eat or a starving stomach.
By the time they reached the academy she had learned to smile properly and, even when she was hurting, she kept a smile on her face and a sunny tone in her voice. The other children warmed to her as she always seemed happy, she quickly gained friends and a reputation for being fun. For some reason his smile frightened them, they teased him and made fun of the soft polite tones he used.
But his smile never wavered, and for that she was grateful.
No matter what anyone else may say about him she knows his smile is Heaven, it delivered her from death and never let her down.
Now years later she has almost forgotten what it is like to not show a happy face to the world no matter what you are feeling; she only has to look at him to be reminded that a smile can hide anything.
So when he stands at Aizen's shoulder and looks right in her eyes, his smile disappearing, she knows he is truly leaving her. Her own smile drops from her face as he ascends upwards towards 'heaven' leaving her alone in Hell to suffer in her own private purgatory.
With Ichimaru Gin gone, who will teach her to smile again?