When she first joined Squad 5, she found an area in the training ground that others rarely used. Beyond the forest in division 5, at the end of the clearing, was a wide plain of nothing but grass that reached up to her thighs. During the spring it becomes a sea of beautiful, colorful flowers. In the middle of the plain the land beneath her feet escalated to a small hill. Sitting atop the little hill was a lone peach tree. It became her favorite spot to be alone and train. Hinamori stood in the barren plain near the solitary tree with her eyes closed and Tobiume unsheathed in her hands. She quietly listened to the wind gently howling in her ears.
Focus, Hinamori. Tobiume began to talk to her. Feel the reiatsu around you. Concentrate on the tree. Everything in Soul Society is composed of pure reiatsu so you should be able to see the reiatsu of the tree in your mind, now focus on the leaves. A gust of wind swirled by and a leaf of the peach tree broke off and whirled by Hinamori's face. One smooth swing of her zanpakuto she sliced the air. Hinamori opened her eyes and looked to the ground to find a leaf split perfectly in half.
Good. This will help you dodge attacks as it will be easy for you to read your opponents movements. It makes up for your lack of strength. Hinamori sighed. She wasn't weak, she just didn't have brute strength like some of her shinigami friends had. Still, it was a weakness none the less. Hinamori switched to a different training exercise. She began thrusting her zanpakuto in a slashing motion downwards.
What are you doing?
"I am training, Tobiume."
Yes, but why that exercise?
"Because, I don't want to have any weaknesses. I want, no, I will be stronger!" Hinamori continued to thrust Tobiume up and down. You need to focus on the reiatsu training I just showed you!
"No, I won't ignore my weak points and strengthen what I am already good at." she retaliated.
But Hinamori!
"I said no, Tobiume!" She began to strike Tobiume against the trunk of the peach tree in aggravation. She finally stopped when a hell butterfly flew in front of her. Hinamori held out her hand, letting the black butterfly land itself on the tip of her index finger. It sent it's message and flew off into the sky. Hinamori sheathed Tobiume and used shunpo to leave.
Hinamori arrived at Division 1. She was escorted to an empty meeting room to await for Yamamoto. She knelt down on her knees and sat on her feet. She fidgeted with her fingers, nervous of why Yamamoto summoned her. Just then, the door slide open and Yamamoto entered through. Hinamori stood up to bow.
It was noon when Hitsugaya returned to his office. He sat down at his desk and stared at the stack of paperwork that didn't move an inch since he left. He looked at Matsumoto on the couch. "You didn't do any of the paperwork did you?"
"Of course I did! My pile is off to the corner on your desk." Hitsugaya glanced at the one sheet of paper in the right corner that she called a pile. He sighed, it took her two hours that he was gone to finish one report. It took a moment to clear his mind about the meeting he had with Yamamoto earlier and just as he was about to start his work, a knock came from the door. "Come in." he answered.
"Hitsugaya-kun!" Hinamori cheerly walked up to his desk. "I came to return your kimono haori I borrowed when I spent the night." Hitsugaya choked on air when Hinamori nonchalantly said 'spent the night'. She placed his neatly folded and cleaned haori on his desk and Matsumoto shot up from the couch with a mischievous look on her face. "What was that, Hinamori? You spent the night with Taicho?"
"Nothing, Matsumoto." he growled at her, she pouted and sat back down.
"Oh, and Hitsugaya-kun, guess what? Yamamoto just assigned me to an important mission to the living world. I am to leave immediately. I will be in charge of a small team and we will be staying for a week, maybe longer."
"Really? Well, be careful." It was big news but Hitsugaya didn't seem at all excited for her. Hinamori continued talking, telling him how excited she was that finally they started to take her seriously as a fukutaicho. Ever since the incident of the recording in the meeting room of Division 1, she felt as if she didn't deserve the 2nd seat, that it was all Aizen's doing that she had gotten where she was. But if Yamamoto had faith in her abilities, then she would let go of all doubts she had in herself and complete the mission successfully. During the whole conversation Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel guilty. He was glad to hear she was looking forward to the big mission, but something he was hiding was nudging at his conscience.
"I'd better get going. See you when I get back!" she waved bye to him and Matsumoto with a smile and left.
"I'm surprised."
Hitsugaya glared at her.
"A big mission like that, and you didn't try to stop her?" Matsumoto flipped her hair back over her shoulders.
"She can take care of herself." He said coldly, not liking where she was going so he decided to end it by leaving. Hitsugaya left Matsumoto on the couch wondering what was wrong with her taicho.
It had been nearly three weeks since she and four shinigami from her division left on the mission to the living world. They ran into numerous hollows and occasionally a menos grande. But today, they came upon an arrancar, a rarity to all of them, except her. The team formed around the arrancer in the sky, waiting for their leader to give orders. A few of the men were shaking from fear. They had heard arrancars were furiously strong. Hinamori stood in front of the arrancar, unflinching.
"Damn you shinigami's." It spoke. "Wasn't enough that you killed Aizen-sama? But you have to hunt us down to extinction as well?"
Hinamori's lost her breath for a second as the thing spoke. "A-Aizen...is dead?"
"Yes, you stupid girl. You shinigami's killed him." it hissed.
"When? When did this happen?" Hinamori questioned the ugly hutched-back arrancar.
"Doesn't matter. Because you will die here!" it lunged forward towards Hinamori, aiming his blade at her.
Hinamori didn't move an inch. Her subordinates yelled for her to get out of the way, but still she did not move. She grabbed for her zanpakuto, "Snap, Tobiume!" The blade burned with pink flames as it was released to shikai. Anger built up from the arrancar's refusal to answer her and the flames grew bigger with every second. The arrancar swung his sword down at her but she easily blocked and pushed him back. Hinamori started to counter attack, concentrating her reiatsu to build up in her blade. With both hands she swung her sword horizontally. The arrancar tried to block with his own blade but the power of her strike broke his zanpakuto and instantly she sliced through his neck, decapitating him. It's body dissipated into the wind.
Her four subordinates silently stood in awe, she had defeated an arrancar within a few minutes as if it was nothing but a mere hollow. "You're amazing, Hinamori-fukutaicho!" one of them shouted to her.
"We were lucky. It was a weak one." she responded, still breathing heavily from the last attack that took a lot of her physical strength to do. Compared to the first arrancar Hinamori fought, this one was nothing. She didn't use the black flame technique that she had to do with the first arrancar. "Let's go. We're going back to Soul Society." she commanded.
"But we were ordered to stay until we were called back." one of them said as she motioned her hand and the gate to Soul Society appeared.
"I said, we are going back." she firmly told him, glancing over her shoulder. He shuddered at the mean stare she gave him. She was pissed off at the arrancar and look how he turned out. It was an unusual thing to see on the sweet girl. He noted to himself to never anger his fukutaicho. The four men followed behind Hinamori through the gate.
After arriving back in Soul Society for the first time in three weeks, she ordered her men to return to their division to relax as they had worked hard and deserved a break. She, however, headed towards Yamamoto's office. Hinamori ran, and kept running through the shinigami's that caught a glance at her and tried to congratulate her on her return. She ran pass through gate of Division 1 and through halls until she reached his office.
Hinamori didn't bother to knock as she abruptly entered without an invitation. Yamamoto sat at his desk staring at the girl. "Is it true?" she asked him. "Is Aizen dead?"
Yamamoto closed his eyes, it seemed he had anticipated her to come. "Yes. While you were gone, we invaded Hueco Mundo and eliminated the traitors. The war is over."
She was paralyzed, never to expect the rumor she heard to be true. More accurately, she did not want to believe it was true. But here it was, from the mouth of the head of Seireitei himself. "Why..." was all that she could manage to say.
"Why were you not informed?" he finished for her. She shook her head.
"No. Why was my mission conveniently at the same time as the invasion of Hueco Mundo?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice.
A door slid open and Ukitake walked through, "Hinamori, any questions you have, please go see Hitsugaya-kun."
"What? Why?"
"It was his request for you to go on the mission." After hearing what he had just said she ran out the room.
"Why did you tell her?" Yamamoto questioned, stroking his whtie beard.
"If by chance she found out and came here first, he asked me direct her to him." his expression turn gloomy, seeing what was to come for Hitsugaya won't be pleasant.
Hitsugaya was in his office, looking out the window. It's over. He thought to himself, recalling the events of the war. Suddenly her reiatsu knocked him out of his day dreaming. He felt it grow stronger as she neared. The dreadful day had come, although he was glad to know she was alright. A loud slam of the door as it was rammed open caused the sleeping Matsumoto to wake and Hitsugaya turned to the door.
"Hitsugaya-kun." She heaved in between breaths. "Did you tell Yamamoto to send me off to a mission so I wouldn't be around to go to Hueco Mundo?" she cut to the point, wanting answers.
"Yes." That was all he could say as he looked in her confused eyes.
"I don't understand. Why? Why did you? You know how important this was to me."
"I didn't want you to go." he said calmly, he trained himself for this moment.
She glanced at his bandaged arm. "Because I'm weak? I would just get myself killed?" Hitsugaya didn't respond.
"Or did you think seeing Aizen would make me turn and want to be at his side?" She wildly guessed thinking that it was far to absurd that would be why. But her eyes widened in shock when Hitsugaya darted his eyes away from hers, looking elsewhere.
"You have that much faith in me?" silent tears fell from her eyes.
"Did you ever think that maybe I needed to see him?" He gazed up on her anguished face. "That maybe after seeing him one last time I could finally tell my heart to stop longing for his return?" she grabbed her kimono in front of her chest. "I know in my mind that I meant nothing to him and that I need to forget about him. But my heart...my heart won't give up. It refuses to believe that I dedicated decades of my life to such a man. It refuses to believe it was all a lie!"
Hitsugaya clenched his fists, her words stabbing at his heart. "I waited, for a long time I waited so I can face him one last time. To put an end to the tempest in my heart."
They stood silent for what felt like eons until Hinamori calmed down, wiping away her tears. "Who...who killed him?" she broke the silence.
"Kurosaki Ichigo. The ryoka that invaded Soul Society to save Kuchiki Rukia." he gazed in her eyes for some type of response.
She turned her back to him. "I'm glad it wasn't you." Hinamori glanced over her shoulder to look him in the eyes one last time before leaving his office.
If she had been angry with him, it would have been much easier for him to handle. But that last look of betrayal in her eyes carved into his mind, never will he be able to forget. Matsumoto sat up from the couch, he had forgotten she was still in the room.
"She went easy on you." she crossed her arms. Hitsugaya sighed, she was right, he deserved a slap in the face for what he did.
"Why didn't you tell her the truth?"
"I did what I had to do to protect her. That is enough." he walked out his office to his room.
Hinamori sat on the rooftop of her office, hugging her knees. She stared at the moonlit sky. Matsumoto landed beside her and sat down. Quietly they looked up at the stars, basking in the comfort of each others presence. "Is it wrong..." Hinamori softly spoke, "for me to hold on to all the good memories he gave me?"
Matsumoto smiled down to the girl. "No, its not. I believe no matter how bad someone's intentions are, the happy moments they shared were true." Matsumoto's mind lingered to her own childhood friend that left her alone. She was able to save him from being captured back to Soul Society and executed. He had let her save him by dying by her hands. There was no other way would he have let himself go.
Hinamori let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long night as her mind was restless. Sleep will not come peacefully tonight.
On top of a distant rooftop someone else was star gazing too. Hitsugaya put his hands behind his head and laid down on the shingles. A million thoughts ran through his head. Was there another way around it? If he had told her not to go in the first place, would she have listened? Most likely not. Maybe if he had confessed to her, would she have stayed?
He closed his eyes. All that doesn't matter anymore, what was done is done. She is safe. That was the bottom line. She could hate him for an eternity and it wouldn't matter. As long as he is able to protect her, he would bare the consequences. And continue he will.
