A/N: Ah, crap. I'm late! Very, very late! Off by a week, probably. -.-' I dunno, I haven't been keeping track, which makes it all the more criminal. -shakes head- There aren't enough words to express my deep apologies to all of you for making you wait so long. But, hopefully, all that will be in the past! Here it be, another update! Though I'm afraid this isn't your request yet, St. Kitsune, and once again I'm terribly sorry. I'm still trying to dig up a good beginning for the character in mind, but until then I'll be improvising. Hopefully I'll be able to do him soon, though! :)
Disclaimer: Once again, Bleach is not mine to claim for my own. But by gosh, I'd love to. Who wouldn't?
"…Um…Hinamroi-san…Hinamori-san? Are you all right? Please, Hinamori-san, wake up…"
Rocking, bobbing. Up, down. Swish swish. Splash splash.
The semi-mantra drifted lazily through her mind for awhile, and she embraced it absently, reveling in its simplicity and strangeness. It was a lullaby, a childhood rhyme, leading her away to a place of nonsensical dreams and laughter. However, instead of falling deeper into the darkness she was shrouded in, it seemed to grow brighter, like a lure, leading her out, up, higher and higher. Rocking, bobbing. Up, down. Swish swish. Splash splash. And, indeed, it felt like she was rocking and bobbing, gently, over and over, going up and down and up and down. She could almost hear it, too, the swishes and splashes.
"Oh, Hinamori-san…oh, what have I done?! I have hurt Hinamori-san! I am a disgrace, a failure! Oh, what am I going to do now? What if she never wakes up? Wh…What if I killed her?! Oh, no! No no no! That would be terrible! Hinamori-san! Hinamori-san!"
Killed…? No, she wasn't dead, not at all. Of course not. Silly dream. She was only sleeping. Smiling faintly, she spoke to the darkness, reassuring it.
"Oh, I'm not dead," she murmured softly, and she raised an arm that she couldn't see, and yet knew she had. "I'm alive, see? Nothing to worry about! I'm fine…"
"Oh!"
There was a sharp intake of breath, somewhere nearby, and she felt her smile fade slightly, replaced by a perplexed frown. The dream did not sound reassured at all. It sounded alarmed now, alarmed and anxious. That wouldn't do. Not at all. But suddenly the rocking and bobbing seemed to be growing realer, stronger, and…wait a minute. There was something hard, beneath her back. And that sound…the swishing and splashing…it was getting louder, clearer.
Was this really a dream?
"Mmmm…"
The sound crept reluctantly out of her throat, ringing in her own ears, drowsy and disoriented. Had that really been her? Oh, but the darkness was thinning now, growing lighter by the second, and suddenly all of her senses were wide awake, alert. She could feel it as she rose up and down, as though she were in a boat bobbing in water, and the hard thing against her back felt rough and chafed against her robes. The unmistakable hiss and splash of water soon met her ears, and she also felt a pressure against her shoulder…a small hand, grasping it tightly.
Momo Hinamori's eyes snapped open.
She still had one arm raised skyward, though it was growing quite numb now.
With a very sudden movement, more out of instinct than anything, she let it drop immediately, and it thumped rather hard against the solid substance she was lying on top of, making her flinch slightly. At the same time, however, the pressure immediately vanished from her shoulder, followed by a small yelp as whatever had been holding it swiftly backed away several paces.
Still trying to clear her rather fuzzy vision, Momo blinked several times, feeling bemused. She felt…strangely sore, but it was a detached sensation, as if her entire body was extremely numb and couldn't register all of the aches properly. However, this did not seem to hinder her motor abilities, as she found herself able to pull up into a sitting position quite easily.
Looking around, she rubbed her head.
"…Where am I…?"
"Um…you are inside of your inner world, Hinamori-san."
The voice grabbed her attention immediately - it was very small, timid, and for some reason very meek. Once again she found herself having to look around for the source, and for awhile it seemed she would never be able to find it. Her surroundings were strangely dark, almost twilit - there was solid blackness to her left and right - the walls of a building, perhaps - but straight ahead she found herself looking at a stone floor that stretched forward for some time, and then abruptly crumbled away to reveal a vast expanse of dark water, dotted with other floating, fragmented stone buildings - and it was all overlaid by the vast sky beyond, shrouded in clouds lit from behind by…a red and orange sunset.
And the whole structure was bobbing rhythmically with the waves. Up and down. Up and down.
Most certainly this was one of the most bizarre and…strangely beautiful surroundings that she had ever found herself within. If anything, she would have stared for quite awhile with her mouth slightly open, just letting it all sink in, but there was that voice to consider…and the small silhouette that now stood directly ahead mere feet away, shifting slightly, as though exceedingly uncertain. From this angle most of it was thrown into shadow, but Hinamori thought she could vaguely make out two wide, dark eyes staring at her, eyes that reflected the dying sun's rays in tiny little orange stars - possibly the only reason they were visible at all. Even as Momo watched, the said silhouette shifted slightly, and a ripple of dark red fabric could be seen at last as the person cautiously took a small step forward, anxiety perhaps getting the better of it.
"…Are you feeling okay, Hinamori-san?"
Momo stared a little longer, and then her brain finally began to shift back into gear. She resumed rubbing her head, where her palm had previously come to a standstill in her awe.
"Ah…um…" She blinked a few more times, for good measure. And then she finally managed to snag her tongue, winning back her ability to speak coherent sentences at last. "Well…I'm all right…I guess…" She paused. "…But…where am I, again?"
What with the new position the silhouette had taken up, she could now almost get a proper look at it, half of its form now lit with the fading sunlight behind. It held the guise of naught more than a small child, possibly about a foot shorter than herself, shrouded completely in a dark red cloak with a hood thrown up to conceal its face in shadow. But its voice was young and female when it spoke again, the tones still extremely timid, and any intimidation factor that it might have harbored was almost instantly thrown out the window.
"You are in our inner world. Or - or your inner world. …Yes, that's right."
"My…inner world…?" Momo decided to stare some more, letting this information sink in, as she was currently feeling slightly heady for some reason or another. She could have almost compared it to that one time when she had accidentally downed a couple of dishes of sake left lying around by Kira after a training session one time, having mistaken them for water in her haste and thirst. However, her thoughts left this reminiscence as quickly as they had come, the information having finally found a lockhold. And her eyes slowly grew wider and wider. "…Come again?"
The child shifted uncomfortably. She now seemed more anxious than ever.
"Um…are you quite all right, Hinamori-san? You are not…injured in any way, are you?"
"…No. No, I feel fine. Just…sore." Though Momo still felt as though something were slowing down her senses, it did seem that reality was taking a firmer and firmer hold on her. Wincing slightly, she decided to try standing on her own two feet - and she managed to succeed, with a slight wince. Now completely upright, she took a moment to get accustomed to the swaying of this…structure…and tried taking a couple of steps forward, towards the child. Several times her balance nearly gave way, but soon she found herself able to navigate without too much hazard. She stopped short a small distance from the cloaked individual, curiosity and concern beginning to revive as her personality reached its overall recovery. "But I think we should be more concerned about you. What's your name? You're not hurt, are you?"
There, now she had a better view of this person. At this angle, a single shaft of sunlight could just barely penetrate the shadow beneath the red hood, and Hinamori found herself looking into those wide, dark eyes - eyes so dark, she could detect no visible pupil. That, and the dark curls bordering either side of her face, tucked away neatly into the hood so they wouldn't spill out freely into the open.
The girl stared back at her, her gaze solemn.
"No, I am not injured at all, Hinamori-san. It is my fault that you were injured - I do not deserve such attention. I should be punished for my terrible crime."
Momo stared at her in surprise. "Punish you? Oh, but why in the world would I do something like that? You're only a child! And besides, what would you possibly mean by that? I don't remember…" And then Momo paused, bemused expression arising once more. "I…don't…" She looked around once more - at the shifting ocean and the clouded sunset, the ruined building they stood upon.
If possible, the girl bowed her head even more.
"If you would pardon me for my insolence, Hinamori-san…I brought you here myself, when you were knocked out. I - I did not know what else to do. I felt so terrible for my awful deed…"
"Knocked out?" Momo frowned at her. "And…you brought me here? But…that doesn't make any sense at all." She paused, considering. "…Is this a dream?"
The girl stared back, just as blankly.
"I…I don't know. Is it?"
"I don't know either." Rather mystified, Hinamori took a moment to consider the situation. She couldn't really remember how she had gotten here at all…combing through her rather hazy memory, all she could really remember was…shouting…yes, Kira and Renji! A mission…patrol in the living world…and a Hollow! A Hollow…and…fear? Joy? An…explosion?
Combined, the brief images still made no sense whatsoever, and even then they seemed to have no connection whatsoever to this place, or this little girl.
The child. The child had told her that she had…brought her here. But how?
Momo gazed at the girl, perplexed. The girl gazed back, the detectable expression in her eyes rather neutral. This girl…perhaps she held the answers. She seemed to know what had happened - and blamed herself for it, for some reason or another. And…she even knew her name! The realization struck quite suddenly, bringing a new wave of surprise. Momo could not recall having ever met this child before.
Something in the back of her head nagged insistently, telling her she was missing something important in this equation, that she was overlooking what might have otherwise been a blatant fact. However, her rather scrambled bearings could not fully grasp on those implications quite yet, and didn't seem about to anytime soon.
Oh, well. Perhaps she should settle on the basics for now. To follow along with the situation, and see how everything turned out. For starters.
"Um…well, if this is a dream, than I guess there's not much we can do about it, right?" she began, settling on a bright outlook. "So, in the meantime, maybe we could…get to know each other! Yes, that's what we'll do!" She smiled brightly. "So…you already know me, I'm sure. But what's your name?"
The girl gazed at her for a short while - rather strangely, actually - and then there was a slight movement as she slightly bowed her head.
"My name is Tobiume."
"Tobiume?"
The nag in the back of her head intensified, practically shouting something, but once again she could not identify its words. Though the name did sound strangely familiar, almost thrilling, as she spoke it. Tobiume.
"Oh…what a…strange name." She couldn't help but make a puzzled face at the sound of it. She just couldn't. "I mean…I hope you don't mind, but…I don't much like plums." Oh, now why had she gone and said that? It sounded so rude now!
But the girl - Tobiume - merely bowed her head some more. "Yes, I know," she replied, in her small voice. "I am not quite sure why my name would be…that…but I believe I might have status as the manifestation of your anger. Then it would make sense."
How this girl might have possibly known that was an even greater mystery - coupled with the strangeness of that most recent statement - but then, if this really was a dream, that would be normal…right? Pushing those thoughts aside, Momo instead decided tried to carry on this…strange conversation to the best of her ability. At least until she woke up. She'd have to tell Shiro-chan about this dream sometime - it was so odd! One of the oddest she'd ever had.
"Oh, I don't like plums, but I don't…get angry at them. If that's what you meant."
"No, I guess you don't. You're too kind to get angry at a fruit." Tobiume coupled this with a shake of her head, as though this were an obvious fact that anyone ought to know. "You get angry at things that are unjust, or cruel. Like Hollows." Her voice took up a strange tone. "And that is why I am named Tobiume, I think. To help you release that anger. …Right?"
And here she looked up, genuine inquiry in her dark eyes.
Momo looked back blankly.
"Well…I…I wouldn't know. Is it?"
"…Are you really alright, Hinamori-san?"
"I think you already asked me that before, Tobiume! I'm perfectly all right, so you don't need to worry anymore." Though this response from Tobiume was certainly not what she had bargained for, Hinamori decided to opt for another bright smile. Little children always seemed to like those, even Shiro-chan, though he'd never admit to it, of course. "Besides, if this is a dream, I'm sure I'll be fine! Unless it's a nightmare, but you don't seem like a nightmare, so I think we're safe! Right?"
Tobiume stared at her expressionlessly for the longest of times. And then, quite suddenly, she turned around, as if suddenly opting to face the sunset.
"…Yes, Hinamori-san. You're…right. I guess."
Tobiume knew it had been a terrible crime, blasting her own Master like that. She knew she deserved these consequences.
Hinamori-san had called her name, yes. Hinamori-san had indeed been in danger. That Hollow had been so close…and Tobiume had never felt so anxious to rise to her Master's aid…she had wanted to badly to do something…and when her Master had somehow summoned her identity at last, the eagerness had gotten he better of her.
Shameful, shameful.
The Hollow had been quite literally obliterated, yes. But the blast - the combined force of her Master's strength and Tobiume's own rage - had also possibly taken out several buildings, and other nearby shinigami as well - including Hinamori-san herself.
And now Hinamori-san was unconscious, and here she was, in their inner world, and…and she didn't even realize it.
For it was quite obvious that Hinamori-san really had no idea that Tobiume was her zanpakuto - that this was really her inner world.
And Tobiume knew it was all her fault.
Thus, she supposed, that real legendary first conversation between zanpakuto and wielder would have to wait for another day.
And, until then, this current one could be considered as…obsolete.
Or something like that.
A/N: Tobiume means something akin to flying plum tree. Flying plum tree.
o.O''
As you might have guessed, this definition threw me off for quite some time. And, in the end, I just couldn't do anything with it, so instead I decided to make do without and see what happened. I really don't know how the results came out, though…this is probably one of the longest chapters I've posted for this fic yet (approximately five pages overall), and I'm not sure if I have the right…feel to it or not. After rewriting it several times, this was the best outcome. Meh. :\
Sooo, anyhow…it's occurred to me that there may be times when first conversations may not always pull off properly - and this is one of those cases, made considerably easier due to the fact that Tobiume apparently specializes in explosions - lots of them. Like, blasts capable of cratering stone floors and whatnot. And hey, it might not have come off perfect the first time, right? Wouldn't that kind of power be hard to control at first, if not at least somewhat? Thus, voila, this chapter was created.
I don't know why, but for some reason I found Hinamori's character rather hard to pin down properly, so I must apologize if it seems a bit off. Apart from that…well, everything seems okay overall, if not a bit confusing. -.-'
And now, on to Thank You's!
wisdom-jewel, D R A G O N L I L I E S, Cymru na Alethaira, hu3long2 (two in a row! 8D), Moonrise31, St. Kitsune, rldragon (twice over as well - you guys are awesome!), and zackubernerdcondon are now added to this list of extreme and utter gratitude. I mean, seriously, 92 reviews! I can't thank you all enough! :D