Chapter Thirty-One
Shinji's POV
Six months two weeks and five days. We all had been hollowfied for that long. Kisuke had been working night and day to help us out. So far, nothing. The hollow inside of me runs rampant when the others get too close and we end up fighting each other. I would kill to stop the sudden transformations and foul tempers. Preferably Aizen, but we all can't get what we want. I told Kisuke to stop working on a cure and asked to find a method for us to tame these inner beasts.
I could not help but to notice that Rose was always to himself lately. Poor guy, he lost more than rest of us did. Did his girlfriend know about Aizen's plot? He did mention that her memory was starting to slip. Cannot even remember her own life before all of this according to him. Kisuke had an explanation for that as well. Something about her human life no longer being a part of her, her mind is losing the reason to keep that kind of information. So that would also count for the events that she would have read up on. I never thought that Hiyori would smile again but when the news that Heather's memories were being erased, both her and Rose were beaming. She didn't betray us, she simply did not remember that it was taking place. Albeit, when it actually happened the information hit her like an anvil.
I noticed Ōtoribashi pass me with his usual composure now-a-days, a slump. I decided to follow him and see what was wrong now. "Hey." I called after him. "Go away, Shinji." was his reply. Now I was at the brink of being sick and tired of his depressing behavior. I wrapped an arm over his shoulders and forced a smile. "Now is that any way to greet a buddy?" I asked trying to remain playful. "Look, I don't want to talk right now." Rose tried to brush me off. "I take it you were thinking of her again?" I prodded, he needed someone to talk to and he is too stubborn to do it. "I found it." he admitted miserably. With that tone it could have meant one thing. The ring he showed off the night of our…I daresay 'rebirth'. He thought he had lost it in the constant movement that we have been going through to hide from the Soul Reapers. "Oh, wow. I thought that was gone for good."
"So did I." Rose replied with a soft nod. "Hey, cheer up. At least you still have your memories of her." I tried to reason, "And who knows; you two might meet again." "Yeah, and what kind of life would we have?" my friend asked dejectedly. "Don't say that! You can't possibly know what the future's gonna be like." I was getting sick of this, but I had to get him back into perspective. "What kind of life would you two have if you just gave up?" His posture straightened up a little and his face perked up as he replied, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you actually have a point." "I'm just smarter than you give me credit for." I remarked, smiling widely, "Now let's go see if Kisuke came up with something."
We had made our way to Urahara's hideaway. Kisuke was actually onto a breakthrough on how to get us to be more in control over our hollow forms. Apparently we have to build our stamina up to overpower the hollow. Boy, was this going to take a while. Rose looked more determined than anyone else in our group. I cannot help but to feel some sense of accomplishment in his newfound spirit. We might just make it through this drastic change. We might be able to be cured yet.