It is a sunny day, the kind Hinamori Momo used to enjoy. Hitsugaya Toshiro stands by her bed, watching her.
"It's sunny out, Momo-chan," he tells her. "Remember how much you used to love sitting in the sun?"
She hears the words, but doesn't understand them. They arent coming from the one she wants to hear.
--
Inoue Orihime sits alone in her room at Las Noches, gazing out into the eternal night. I wonder if Kurosaki-kun will come for me?, she wonders fleetingly, then shoots down the thought. No, she realizes, He only has eyes for Rukia-san. Like he'd ever come to a place like this for someone like me.
She doesn't turn around as she hears her door creak open. She doesn't even greet the person entering. It's not like it matters to her that the Arrancar seem to have taken a liking to her.
"You seem so sad, Orihime-chan. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
Her back stiffens and her fists automatically clench at the sound of his voice. She does not hate Aizen Sousuke; no, it's not in her nature to hate anyone.
She just wishes he would leave her alone for once.
--
Hinamori Momo's eyes snapped open.
"AIZEN-TAICHOU!" she cries, her scream heard thoughout seiretei.
Hitsugaya-taichou and Unohana-taichou come running.
"Momo-chan!" Hitsugaya calls, grabbing her by the shoulders, attempting to shake her in to the real world. "Momo-chan, no! It's okay, I wont let him hurt you anymore!"
"What?" Hinamori's eyes widen. "Shiro-chan…? What… What happened to-?!" her breath catches in her throat as a sudden pain in her stomach renders her unable to even sit up. Her eyes fill with tears; from the pain of her wound or the fact that the person she loves most in the world did it to her, she's not entirely sure.
"Hitsugaya-taichou." A voice says.
"What is it, Kuchiki-taichou?" Hitsugaya asks coldly, not taking his eyes off Hinamori as Unohana-taichou checks her vital signs.
"I am not entirely sure of the details," Kuchiki-taichou answers stiffly, "but Yamamoto-taichou requests your presence. He wishes to speak to you about a mission to Hueco Mundo, to save Inoue Orihime."
"Inoue-chan? Why is she there?" Hitsugaya asks. But already know the answer, as does Byakuya.
Neither man dares say it aloud for the sake of the fragile girl in the bed before Hitsugaya.
--
Orihime takes a seat. Aizen has already made himself comfortable on the sofa in her room, and gestured to her to join him. She seats on the very edge, with her left leg tucked underneath her and her arms wrapped around herself.
"Now, then," he says, "why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"
"Uhm… I'd rather not say. It's kind of silly." She says shyly.
"If it makes you sad, Orihime-chan, it cant possibly be silly."
She stares at her lap, blushing. "I… I've sort of been hanging on to this hope… that Kurosaki-kun will come here after me. I mean, he came after Rukia-san…" his eyes do not leave her face as her voice breaks and her eyes tear up. "I… I know how important Rukia-san is to him… but… and I know it's selfish, but… it'd be kind of nice… to know that someone cared that much for me…!" Tears fall from her face, but before she can wipe them away, he already has.
"You mean a lot to me," he whispers, she can barely hear the words. I must be hallucinating, she tells herself as he moves his face closer to hers. Yeah, that's it.
As he presses his lips to hers, she realises that this cant be a dream. It wasn't like there were fireworks or anything; however, a strange heat she'd never felt before spread up her spine, through her limbs. She hadnt felt warm in any sense of the word since she'd arrived in Hueco Mundo; but now, in his arms, she felt… safe. It was ironic. Here she was, potentially in very grave danger, but she felt safe!
"Wait," she whispers as she pulls away.
He raises an eyebrow.
She stares at her lap again. She cant look into his eyes. "I… I'm not sure if I can-"
He cuts her off and pulls her close to him again. "I understand, Orihime-chan. Really, I do."
He holds her tightly as she begins to sob against his chest.
--
Hinamori Momo sits upright on an exam table in the Fourth Squad office, with her fists clenched at her sides. Her big brown eyes have no light in them, and there are dark circles under her eyes.
"Hinamori-chan," Unohana-taichou says gently, "perhaps I could prescribe some anti-depressants? It might help with your mood swings and-"
"I'm not depressed!" Hinamori says loudly. "I'm just…"
"Hinamori-chan," Unohana-taichou begins again, "yours is a very serious condition. You don't eat, you don't sleep… I hate to have to tell you this, but as much as you may wish it, Aizen-taichou will not be coming back here. He tried to kill you. So stop waiting around for him to return to-"
"That's enough!" Hinamori yells, rising. "I'm not going to sit here and take this! You're wrong about Aizen-taichou! He'd never hurt me, or any of his comrades!" she leaves the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Unohana-sama's right." She turns to where Hitsugaya's voice is coming from. "He tried to kill you, he betrayed all of us, and if he could harm you so easily, Momo-chan, he was never in it for you from the beginning, only the-"
Hinamori's fist slams into the wall. "I'm not going to take that from you either, Shiro-chan! That's a lie and you know it!" she begins to cry, but tries to hide it. "You've… you've always been jealous of Aizen-taichou! You've always wished you meant as much to me as he did! So why don't you stop taking it out on me! It's not my fault! It…!" she drops to her knees, barely able to breathe.
"You shouldn't agrivate yourself so much. You'll end up killing yourself." Hitsugaya says, not bothering to look at her. "I've got some business to attend to. Don't kill anyone while I'm gone." He says as he walks away.
No, Hinamori Momo does not want to kill. She merely wants to sob in the arms of the one she loves.
--
She reminds me of Momo-chan, he realizes as he walks away from her room. It's certainly not physical appearance- her and Hinamori are as different as night and day- and it's not blind adoration, either. It's her eyes. The innocence in her eyes practically begging to be shattered- just like Momo the first time she saw him. He smiles to himself. Someday- someday soon- he'll break Orihime the way he broke Momo.
--
"So then. Captains of Squads 8, 10, 11 and 13 will all go to Hueco Mundo, along with Kurosaki Ichigo, Ishida Uryuu and Yasutora Sado. You will leave at dawn tomorrow morning. That is all." Head Captain Yamamoto looked rather distressed.
"WAIT!" Three voices called out loudly, and three figures burst in to the room. When they became clear, no one was surprised; after all, Abarai Renji, Kuchiki Rukia and Matsumoto Rangiku had all grown very fond of Inoue Orihime, especially Matsumoto.
"Sir," Kuchiki Rukia began slowly, "If you are allowing a group to go after Inoue Orihime, please allow us to come!" Matsumoto and Abarai nodded in agreement.
Head Captain Yamamoto thinks for a moment. "Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji… I grant the two of you permission to join the rescue party!"
Renji and Rukia's faces lit up with joy.
"However!" the old man says, "Matsumoto Rangiku, you are denied permission to enter Hueco Mundo. I'm afraid I must ask you to remain in Seiretei."
I shouldn't be surprised, Matsumoto thinks to herself, after all, it's no secret that Gin and I have a history together.
"Now then! Be ready at dawn, and good luck to each of you! You are dismissed."
--
Inoue Orihime lays sprawled out on her bed, thinking. My cheeks are still burning, she notes to herself as she presses a cold hand to her face. She cant get the afternoon's events out of her head. What was with that, anyway? What brought all that on? She wonders.
Someone knocks softly on her door. "Come on in," she calls, not moving a muscle.
Ulquiorra enters her room and stands in the doorway. "Aizen-sama has requested your company for dinner," he says monotonously. "Please be ready in about five minutes." He turns his back to her, and closes her door.
Orihime walked to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on her face, wishing it would cool off. Just what is going on here? She ponders as she buries her face in a soft towel. She stares at her reflection in the mirror; she is not an average teenage girl by any means, and she knows it, but is still baffled by the idea of anyone- let alone Aizen- loving her. She heaves a sigh, put down the towel, and leaves her room, wondering what will happen next.
--
Hitsugaya Toshiro paces in front of the Squad Ten entrance gate. He can not sleep, and the light of the full moon on the cherry blossoms and subtly lighting the streets soothes him. He does not want his last words to Hinamori before he leaves to be bitter- after all, there's a possibility that he wont return. But Hinamori might be asleep; if she is, he shouldn't be so selfish as to wake her.
No, he thinks, Hinamori being asleep is very slim possibility. He sets off for the Squad Five entrance.
Meanwhile, Hinamori Momo is sleeping rather fitfully. She is having a dream in which she stands alone in a moonlit desert; it's cold there, and she wraps her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm.
"Are you lost, Momo-chan? Just what is it that you're searching for?" she spins around to face the man she thought she lost, and runs to him, his smile, his comforting arms…. But right as she reaches him, he disappears, and she is alone in the cold, dark desert with no one around to comfort her…
From where he is standing, about twenty feet from Momo's room, he hears her screaming. He runs to her bedroom and flings open the door in worry. "MOMO!" he yells, sprinting towards the bed in the corner of the room. She is sitting bolt upright, screaming at the top of her lungs; he drops onto her bed and throws his arms around her.
"Geez, Momo-chan," he says, "don't scare me like that! I thought someone was hurting you."
She begins sobbing uncontrollably into his chest.
"Did you have a nightmare, Momo-chan?" he asks soothingly. He feels her nod, and he tightens his hold on her. "Okay, then. I'll stay here with you until you fall asleep, alright?" He feels her nod again. Soon, her sobs turn into whimpers; finally, she is silent and sleeping. The sound of his heart is comforting to her, and she is no longer angry with him as she drifts back to sleep.
--
Orihime cautiously cracks open the huge door of the dining room and sticks her head in. "Hullo?" she calls softly.
"Come and sit down, Orihime-chan. I hope you're hungry." Aizen addresses her.
She enters the room quietly, shuts the heavy door behind her and sits down, barely making a sound. "You wanted to see me?" she asks the gorgeous tabletop.
"Yes, actually, I did." For some reason, he cant take his eyes off her. She is stunning, he realizes, in her own special way.
"Orihime," he takes her small hand in his. The second he touches her, she feels her face heat up and her heart beat faster. She tries to think, but coherent thoughts will not form in her head. "Orihime, since the first time I saw you, I have felt this… longing… to be near you."
All she can do is stare wide-eyed at him. No words will come. She blurts out the first thing that comes in to her mind.
"Are… are you… are you asking me to date you?" Her words don't even sound, to her, like she's saying them.
"Dating, eh? Well, in a sense… yes." She finally looks in to his dark eyes; if she was incapable of thought before, she does not know what state she's in now. He puts his free had on her cheek; it's blisteringly hot beneath his hand. "That is of course, if you don't mind." He smiles at her; how can she refuse him?
"Well, uhm… I guess it's okay with me?" It sounds more like a question than an answer.
"That makes me happy, Orihime." He leans in closer to her. "You have no idea… how long I've waited for you…" He moves in even closer and presses his lips to hers. Neither thought she could blush any deeper, but she can feel the blood rising to her face as he moves one hand into her hair, the other on her waist. She cant stop herself; she kisses him back this time. Skillfully, he sweeps her up and carries her to his room, not breaking the kiss.
Ichimaru Gin watches them enter Aizen's room from the shadows, his usual grin on his face.