It has been six months now. Six months since her heart was broken. Six months since her captain had stabbed her and left her for dead. Six months since the man she loved left. And six months since she almost died. In those six months, she fought death and her own mind.
But she was lucky. All of her friends and comrades had helped her take those many steps to recovery. It took six months, but she was finally healthy. She felt strong again. She felt normal again.
Today was the day that Momo Hinamori was able to finally return to her little home. Today, she was able to return to her duties as a lieutenant. Today, she was able to smile again.
She took a deep breath and let herself enjoy the fresh air. "Ah! I haven't felt this good in ages! It feels nice to finally be out of the hospital!"
"It's nice to have you back, Momo," Kira said.
The two were walking along a small path. Kira had taken the day off to help his friend settle back into her home and her division.
"Thanks, Kira-kun! I wonder what I should do? No one really expects me to be back at work just yet. Maybe I should go visit Shiro-chan!"
"Yes, you could do that. But maybe you should go check up on your division. With no captain, and you being gone for some time, I'm pretty sure they need you."
She couldn't help but flinch at the reminder of her former captain. "I guess you're right. I bet things are super different now. I'm kinda scared to go back." She began to panic. "What if the Fifth Division doesn't believe in me anymore? What if they want Captain Aizen back?"
The young girl began hyperventilating. She was terrified to see how her division had changed since he left. She didn't feel ready to go back and have all that responsibility piled onto her. Would she be able to run the division by herself? Would she be able to lead the Fifth Division as well as Aizen had? After taking six months to recover and to cope with the loss of her captain, surely some of her subordinates were beginning to doubt her.
Kira placed a hand on Momo's shoulder. He felt bad for his friend. However, hearing her address that man as one of them struck a nerve. He kept that to himself though. Getting angry wasn't going to help anyone. "Momo, I know this has all been very hard on you and I'm sorry about that. I'm here to help in any way I can. But you have to stop referring to him as a captain. He gave up that privilege six months ago. And if it had been anyone else besides me who heard you say that, they would have reported you."
"Sorry, Kira-kun. It's just so scary..." She took deep breaths and tried to calm down. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
Kira signed. "Don't worry, Momo. You went through something terrible, and it's going to be difficult coming back from that. But you've already made it this far. I know that you can do it!"
"Rukia-chan," Rangiku sang. "Rukia-chan!"
"Rangiku, what are you doing? Get your hair out of her nose!" Renji yelled.
"Geez, Renji, I'm just tickling her! You're no fun!"
"I don't get how you're suddenly so cheery, considering what's going on. Did you have some sake? You know alcohol isn't allowed in here."
"How I wish that was the case. But, sadly, no. I'm just trying to make the best of things. Rukia-chan hates it when I tickle her. Might as well get it out of my system before she wakes up."
"Rangiku! We don't even know if she will wake up! Stop saying stupid things like that! It only makes it harder!"
"What's stupid, Renji?" she yelled. "The fact that I don't want to sob all day and all night over someone?" An image of a once close friend popped into her head. "The fact that I believe in Rukia-chan? The fact that I'm just trying to be happy? Call me a fool for having false hope, but you know what? If I don't have hope, then what do I have? Huh, Renji? I have nothing! Rukia-chan isn't here to bring the sun out! But I'm not gonna sit by and cry so she has more work to do when she wakes up! I'd rather put up a little candle and wait for her with a huge smile on my face than to sit around and cry in the dark! It'll make things easier on me and especially on her! So don't you dare call me stupid for wanting to help her! You're the one being stupid! Sitting in the corner like a wounded puppy! What'll Rukia-chan think once she wakes up! She'll feel awful 'cuz she'll think it's her fault!"
Renji looked down, ashamed of himself. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Rangiku glared at him a second longer before she grinned. "Don't worry about it! That hospital smell really gets to you! Go get some fresh air! And while you're at it, get me some sake!"
"Rangiku!" he shouted in disbelief.
"Oh, I'm just kidding! Lighten up, Renji! Although, sake does sound kinda nice right now..."
Before Renji could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Renji told them to come in. They couldn't believe their eyes.
"Momo?!" they said simultaneously.
She smiled. "Hey, you two! Isane said you'd be here. Guess who got discharged from the hospital today? Huh, that's weird. I didn't think I'd be back so soon." She laughed.
"Momo, not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?" Renji asked.
She tapped her chin. "Well, when I was discharged, I decided to go check on my division. But the third seat insisted that I relax and take a while longer to recover. I was gonna say no, but everything seemed to be going well." They didn't miss how her eyes darkened. "I guess Captain Aizen trained our subordinates well..." She looked down.
"Momo," Renji whispered harshly. "If it were anyone else who had heard you address that traitor as one of us, they'd have you reported and thrown back in the hospital! I know you were close to him, but there comes a time where you have to let it go." His eyes unknowingly drifted to Rukia, and he felt his heart clench at the painfully familiar lesson.
She smiled. "Sorry. It's just a habit! I'll get rid of it though! Anyway, I went to visit Shiro-chan after. But that meanie told me to leave! He was too busy to talk!" she pouted. "Gosh, he never changes. Always too busy to talk even after not seeing each other for six months!"
Rangiku got up and patted the girl on the back. "Don't take it personally, Momo. He's always like that with everyone. And you gotta cut him some slack. Poor guy's been doing triple the regular amount of paperwork, plus mine." Rangiku shivered. "No wonder he's been yelling more than usual."
Momo couldn't help but laugh.
"Man, Rangiku, you're lucky Captain Hitsugaya is your captain! If I slacked off, even for one minute, Captain Kuchiki would slaughter me, then bring me back to life just so I could finish my work. I bet he'd even give me the boot afterwards."
They all laughed at the shockingly accurate comment. Momo stopped once she saw the sleeping girl.
"Say, Renji, isn't that that one girl you always used to talk about? What was her name? Ru...Ri...?"
"Her name is Rukia Kuchiki," he said.
Momo gulped. "You never mentioned she was a Kuchiki." She said the honorable name with pure disgust. She frowned when she remembered all of the cocky, spoiled nobles from the Academy. They always looked down on people like her. She didn't know why Renji cared so much for one of them.
Renji shook his head. "She's different, Momo. She would never let the Kuchiki name go to her head. I bet the midget even forgets she's a noble sometimes."
"How could anyone forget that? I mean, getting to go home every night to a mansion! With a giant garden and huge rooms and silk sheets on amazingly soft beds! What I would give to have that."
Renji and Rangiku frowned. They knew that Rukia's life as a noble was nothing like that.
"So what's wrong with her?" Momo asked after a long, awkward silence. "Did she hurt her neck from looking down on everyone? Did she hear the word 'no'? Or wait, even better," she continued through her uncontrollable laughter. "Did she shop 'til she dropped?"
She frowned when she noticed she was the only one laughing. The other two looked so serious.
She was confused. She would have thought that at least Renji would have had a good laugh out of her joke. Back in their Academy days, her and Renji would hide in the trees and make fun of the snobby nobles. They could have spent all day doing it without getting tired. For them, it was a way to get back at all those jerks who looked down on them.
"Hey, Renji, I just spotted some great nobles who are begging to be our next victims! Let's go!"
"Sorry, Momo, I'm not really feeling it today. Maybe some other time?"
He had lied. There was never "some other time" after that. After that day, it was always "class this" and "class that" with Renji. He always had somewhere to be.
What Momo didn't know was that that had been the day Rukia became a noble. That had been the day that his love took the name of the people he hated. That had been the day he finally admitted defeat to the spoiled aristocrats. They had taken the one thing he truly cared about. All he could do was work until he caught up to her and the man that had taken her away.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn't even do that. Even after unlocking his bankai, Renji was still inferior to Byakuya Kuchiki.
Rangiku sighed. "Well, it's nice to have you back, Momo. We should make plans to go out one of these days. It's been so long since the last time we had a good laugh. Anyway, I gotta go. Orders are orders, and I think I owe Captain an apology." She turned to Rukia. "Bye-bye, Rukia-chan. I'll be back as soon as I can. And don't worry about a thing. Just focus on opening those pretty eyes of yours...Come on, Momo. I'll walk you home. Later, Renji."
"Hey, Captain!" Rangiku said as she walked into the office. "Sorry, I know you wanted me here earlier, bu-"
"Just hurry up and get to work!" he snapped.
She blinked. Not only did he sound infuriated, but she finally noticed the mess. There were documents all over the floor, a huge ink stain on the carpet, and there was a shattered tea set on the coffee table. Rangiku finally noticed the frost on the windows and just how cold the room was. It didn't take her long to figure out why.
Momo.
"Captain, what happened with M-"
He shot up from his seat. "Don't you dare say her name! I don't care if she's your friend; I never want her to step foot in this office ever again!"
Her eyes were wide. "Captain, I know what happened between you guys was rough, but aren't you-"
The room temperature dropped even more. "No, Matsumoto! You don't know anything! How could you possibly know what it's like! She walks in here after six months and she has the audacity to call him 'Captain'! She had the nerve to defend his crimes and downplay everything that happened six months ago?" he growled.
Rangiku looked at her captain in disbelief. Of course she knew what he was going through! Not only had they been partners for decades, but Toshiro was not the only person who had lost a friend six months ago. However, she remained silent. Rangiku decided to ignore his insults. Yes, she was mad at what he had said. But she knew not saying anything would have a better result than trying to talk to him while he was this angry.
Rangiku went to her desk and started filling out her paperwork.
Rangiku put her brush down and signed. She stood up to stretch. As she did, she looked down at the piles and piles of work she had completed.
To say she was exhausted was an understatement. She didn't know how her captain managed to do this day after day without fail.
"It's getting late," stated her Captain.
Rangiku nodded. "I want to at least get this last stack done before leaving."
"It's alright. You should go. Get some rest," he ordered.
"I'll just finish these last couple of pages," she insisted.
"That'll all be here tomorrow. Besides, we have a long couple of days ahead of us. We have to finish as much as we can so we can finally focus all of our efforts towards the preparations for the Evaluations."
She groaned. "I forgot those were coming up! We already have so much work to do as it is!" she exclaimed dramatically.
"Which is why you need to get some rest. Go ahead. I'll lock up."
"You're telling me to get some rest, but you're going to stay?"
"Just for a while longer. I have a meeting in the morning so I want to get as much done as I can now." A frown. "And I have a mess to clean up," he said, referring to the mess he had made earlier in the day. He shook his head. He had really lost his temper.
Rangiku smiled. "At least let me help you."
As they cleaned, Rangiku asked, "So what kind of meeting do you have tomorrow?"
"I'm going to meet with Unohana. It's more of a chat than a meeting really."
"Why are you going to see her?" She started getting a little worried. "Everything ok?"
He nodded. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. It's Momo I'm worried about. I just wanted to go see Unohana to ask what exactly normal looks like for Momo now that...you know."
"Yeah, now that she's out of the looney bin."
"Essentially, yes. I just want to know if what Momo was saying today was...normal."
"Normal" was definitely not the word he was looking for.
"What do you mean? What did Momo say?" Rangiku didn't miss how her Captain's shoulders tensed up.
"When she stopped by today, she kept bringing up Aizen. At first, I thought she wanted to talk about what had happened. But the way she spoke about him wasn't...healthy. I made the mistake of getting angry though. I should have paid closer attention to what she was saying instead of shutting her down. It's just not very easy."
Rangiku could see how much her captain was struggling with his situation. Toshiro was a no-nonsense type of guy. For him, everything was balck or white, right or wrong. Most things came easily for him because he knew - or at least he thought he knew - that there was only ever one right answer to any situation. He made up for his strict principles with his loyalty though. It was insane how devoted Toshiro was to the Captain-Commander, to his fellow captains, and most importantly, to all of his subordinates. There was nothing that rivaled his devotion to the Gotei 13.
Nothing, except for his devotion to fulfill the promise he had made to Momo Hinamori.
Rangiku knew all about his promise to protect the young Lieutenant. And she knew just how much Toshiro cared for Momo. She never thought that his loyalty to their friend would ever conflict with his loyalty to the Gotei 13. To see Momo still be so devoted to a man that betrayed the people Toshiro cared so much about…
Rangiku frowned. She was starting to understand just how confusing the genius' situation was, and she didn't like it. This is one situation where there was no true right or wrong answer.
The Lieutenant turned to look at her Captain. He was scowling profoundly as he was picking up the shattered glass from the floor. He was probably trying to figure out what the "right answer" was in this situation. Rangiku hoped he understood that, in this situation, there was no such thing. How could there be?
She put a hand on Toshiro's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Captain. This isn't your fault. It's a tough situation. You can't blame yourself for being upset."
He offered his lieutenant a smile. "Thank you, Matsumoto." He got up. "I should get going."
"Yeah, me too."
"You're going to go see your friend?"
A smile. "How did you know?"
"Because in a lot of ways, you're like me. Going to sleep would be the last thing on my mind right now, even after working all day long on paperwork."
Rangiku playfully rolled her eyes. "You're getting more mushy-gushy everyday. Careful, Captain, or I'll start to think you actually like me."
Now Toshiro was the one rolling his eyes. "Shut up!" he said jokingly.
After they locked the door to the office, Rangiku quickly made her way to the Fourth Division's hospital. Rukia had been the only thing on her mind the entire day. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember what any of the paperwork had been about. She wondered if she had even filled a single page out correctly.
Once she saw the hospital though, she didn't care. If she had filled out the paperwork completely wrong, she'd deal with that tomorrow. Right now, the only thing that mattered was her friend.
She burst through the door of the hospital. A member of the fourth division was at the front desk. He had been dozing off until he heard the crash of the door slamming open.
When he saw Rangiku running, he tried to stop her. "Um, excuse me! Visiting hours are over. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yes, there is! I need the room number for Rukia Kuchiki."
"Like I said, visiting hours are over. I'm-"
"I am Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant of the Tenth Division! This is very important business and I'm in a hurry! So if you could please give me the room number so I can continue with my duties, that would be great!"
The young shinigami was terrified.
"Don't just stand there! I need the room number now!"
He yelped and ran to his desk. He looked into a huge binder and skimmed through the pages. He finally blurted out, "Her room number is 314!"
Rangiku's scowl disappeared and was replaced with a huge smile. She said "Thank you!" and continued running.
She had been running around the hallways for a while now. She hated to admit it, but she was lost.
"Hmm, I should have asked that guy for directions," she mumbled to herself. She scratched her head. "I was here earlier today. You'd think I'd at least remember the general direction of the room."
She looked around. All the hallways looked the same.
"Well standing here won't help me find the room."
Rangiku continued running.
She looked at the room numbers in hopes of magically stumbling upon the correct one. The number 307 caught her eyes. It wasn't what she was looking for, but it had to be close to Rukia. She went in the direction that would lead her to Room 314. 313 was the last one on the hallway she was in. She turned the sharp corner only to stop dead in her tracks. Her blood went cold and her mind started racing.
"C-Captain Kuchiki?" she muttered.
The tall man seems to glide past her like a ghost. To her, it felt like they had been in the hallway together for a lot longer than just a few seconds. His eyes didn't even glance upon her stunned face.
Right before Byakuya turned the corner, Rangiku jerked her head around to reassure her racing mind. Her mind was going so fast that she could barely keep up. She turned around just in time to see the evidence she needed. There he was: Byakuya Kuchiki, who, up until now, was a heartless man in Rangiku's eyes.
I wonder...
Before she entered the room, Rangiku told herself not to get her hopes up. Despite this, she was still disappointed to see that Rukia was still asleep.
Rangiku liked that term. It was a lot better than "in a coma." People don't always wake up from those, you know?
Rangiku went to move Rukia's signature bangs out of her face, but found that they had already been pushed aside. The strands of hair had been pinned back with a hair pin decorated with three cherry blossoms.
She couldn't resist; Rangiku took the pin out of Rukia's hair and looked at it closely. She couldn't believe how shiny it was. Two of the cherry blossoms had a thin, silver frame outlining the petals, and the petals were made out of some sort of crystal. Tiny gold specks decorated the tips of the crystalline petals. The third blossom was just a silver frame, with no crystals to fill in the petals. There were three short, delicate chains dangling from behind the cherry blossoms. At the end of each chain was a sparkling pearl.
Despite her common sense, Rangiku knew that something this elegant and expensive could only be from one person.
"I guess he's not as heartless as I thought." She smiled as she placed the pin back in Rukia's hair, this time though, leaving her bangs loose. "I wonder if you've always known this, Rukia-chan?"
