"What do you mean; we're not going to attack…?" Momo's eyes were wide. It was "night" in Las noches so she was in her black, silk, long sleeved kimono robe, her hair tied back so that it easily showed her face.
"I mean what I said; we're not going to attack any time soon." Grimmjow's voice was strict as he told Momo his order again; making it clear that he wasn't going to willingly take Momo's complaints if she had any. He was still in his usual uniform, only needing to change when they got ripped or matted.
"But sir, I believe we need to attack while they're still unknowing of our abilities…." Momo was silenced when Grimmjow shot her a look.
Momo then stuttered for a second before speaking clearly "I apologize…."
Grimmjow then started walking, motioning her to follow "It's been a full month since the invasion; I highly doubt they will be unprepared for us, despite how long it's been. So it's best for us to lie low until they eventually stop being on their guard."
Momo sighed, seeing how any type of comeback was useless. She then undid her hair tie, to redo it since it was about to come undone. Many have noticed that her hair has grown longer since her stay here; it was now long enough to reach a certain part of her back. "How much longer do we have to wait then…? So far, all we've been doing is training, and doing not much else around here." She then gently rubbed her wrist that was now in a bandage due to the latest practice round. The more Hinamori was improving, the less Grimmjow held back. What was once cuts and bruises were now substantial injuries some included broken bones and internal bleeding. She currently had bandages covering most of her torso and some of her arms, and one leg in particular was being constantly strained. They were practicing every day so she barely had time to recover.
"Tomorrow I want you to meet me at the practice ground around 6 o' clock. We'll get rid of our mourning practice early and see how you do afterward." Grimmjow was eyeing Momo's injured wrist as he said it.
"Sir, my injuries are not going to slow me down in any way. They'll heal soon enough."
Grimmjow, after a "hm" sound, gave Momo a dismissal wave, signaling he wanted to be alone.
She used sonido to head toward her own quarters that weren't too far away from Grimmjow's. In fact, Grimmjow's sleeping quarters were just around the corner and down a hallway. Like his, the door was silver hinged and it had the same design on it, and the inside was similar too. Smooth, stone benches were carved on the left and right sides of the walls, a single source of light from above the door way, no windows and a wardrobe in one corner of the room. The wardrobe in particular was small, in only had her usual uniforms and her night attire. She also had a single bed in the other corner. Unlike Grimmjow however, she slept on hers. It had a full set of neat, white sheets and only one large pillow on one end of it. Her zanpoktou resting on one side of it, wrapped in a black cloth. Though she'd never admit it, she knew that her injuries were in fact, probably going to get in the way tomorrow, and to top it off, she was tired enough as it is. Bags were already starting to develop under her eyes. She yawned as she made her way to the bed. Going head first into the pillow, her body following afterward, plopping itself onto the comfortable bed. It wasn't long before sleep overcame her, drawing her to the dark abyss of peaceful slumber.
It took a while, but she finally began to dream. It was a happy, yet familiar dream she had, or rather a memory. She was watching a sunset, the sky filled with warm hues of red and orange, the gentle breeze blowing on past. There was a young girl sitting on a patio, beside her; a young boy with white hair, devouring one watermelon after another.
"I wish you could have seen him Lil shiro!..." It was Momo's voice, only as a little girl living in Rukongai, her figure looking small and fragile, and her eyes were that of innocence with not even a trace of hate or anguish.
"The spiritual pressure surrounding him was different than anything I've ever felt…." The girl was referring to Aizen, whom was still a captain at the time. The girl noticed that the young boy was eating watermelon with no care of what she had to say. "Hey, it feels like you're not listening to me…."
The boy answered in response to this, his mouth still full "I told you, quit calling me "Lil shiro"!" he then spat watermelon seeds at her head, the girl flinching as they bounced off.
"Why on earth do you have to come off on your days off anyway? If that's school is so great, than you should just stay there." The rude boy was Hitsugaya in his most early years, a time in which he was a rude little brat that was somewhat selfish.
The girl looked hurt by his harsh words "I come home to visit you Lil shiro…"
"Well, I don't remember asking you too." The boy was quick to respond as he was just about to take another bite of watermelon. The girl took a bite alongside him, time going by as they ate their fill.
The girl's eyes gleamed as she said "I know one thing for sure, someday I'll be in squad 5 with captain Aizen!"
The boy rolled his eyes after she said it.
"Hey, come on. I'm really serious!"
The boy spat out more seeds as if in response, it looked as if the girl was going to say something but the current Hinamori didn't get the chance to hear as the dream seemed to shatter, the words being drowned out. She then found her eyes opening, seeing the familiar white room. Hinamori then remembered that it was all a dream. She looked around the room for a while, not even lifting her head. Her eyelids felt heavy, threatening to close, weather she wanted them to or not. She's not sure how, but she somehow knew that it was around 5:50, only 10 minutes before her meeting with Grimmjow on the training field! Once she realized it she was up and out of bed in an instant. She took off her robe and almost just as fast, put her uniform on. Complete with Singaporean themed shirt with hakkuma trousers and black socks with white sandals. The zanpoktou still lay untouched on the bed; she quickly grabbed hold of the smooth sheath and attached it to her slanted belt. The whole time her injuries were becoming sore and some stiches threatened to become undone. Her muscles were practically screaming for her to stop. She quickly put her gloves on and brushed out her hair, and then proceeded to run out of her room toward the training ground, using sonido to go even faster. She was surprised to feel someone roughly grab her by the arm when she was just about to turn a corner. The bandages on her arms were now coming undone and the grip was making her sore muscles ache, and the stiches were now coming undone, allowing a trail of blood to trickle down her arm to her hand. She couldn't understand how it is that she didn't feel any spiritual pressure, even now, she couldn't feel a thing. She then attempted to knee her opponent in the gut, but stopped when she saw his face. Grimmjow was sternly staring at Momo, his eyes observing the blood that was trickling on the ground.
The only thing that was different about him was that he was wearing what looked like a silver bracelets or wristbands of some sort on both of his wrists. The next words he said sounded cruel and kind of irritated "I thought you said "my injuries are not going to slow me down in any way". But it looks like you're unfit to even fight a lowly servant!"
The servants in Las noches had almost no fighting abilities at all; even a low ranking shinigami could handle them. Saying that an espada level arrancar couldn't fight a servant was like saying a human could no longer walk.
Momo then shook off Grimmjow's grip, unable to look him in the eye. "My injuries are….substantial. But like all other injuries that exist, they can heal…"
"Injuries can't heal, if they don't have the time to do so. Training extensively like this will make them heal slowly and by the end of practice you will have at least double the amount of injuries than you did that mourning. An injured bird can't fly with a broken wing; you can't be a worthy opponent if you're in this injured state." There was a whole lot of sense in what Grimmjow said; as a result Momo was forced to forfeit any hope of going another day with training while she was in that state.
Grimmjow spoke again in a slightly higher tone that caught Hinamori's attention "Take the day off. Knowing an arrancar's habit to heal quickly, I assume it'll take only one…maybe two days for you to heal up. Your followers, Loly and Luppi are still in their own beds, I suggest that you do the same and go back to sleep." He then muttered as he turned around "You serve little use to me like that…"
As he walked away, Momo clinched her fist. She was angry at herself. She then remembered her memory, the one with her as a little girl. Then, at that time, she was small, frail, innocent and above all…..weak; emotionally and physically. Those times when she lived in soul society, she was always weak, weak enough that she was easily manipulated by Aizen because he easily saw her weakness…She hated that, she hated being that way.
No…
I have improved a great deal over the rime I've spent here…I am no longer weak….
But still…..I hate it when Grimmjow-sama thinks of me as weak! I know I can never be as strong as him but he thinks I'm so weak I serve almost no use to him… Momo then closed her eyes, and then took a breath in, clearing her head.
I am not weak….but I am acting foolish…I have acted better when I was in soul society!
I just…..need to be patient….I will get what I desire soon enough, until then I need to serve Grimmjow-sama to the best of my abilities….
With that in mind, she uses sonido to return to her sleeping quarters, her mind now free of that air of her own foolishness. Her mind now had the same clarity as that, when she was in battle: Clever, observant, tactical and ruthless to her all that stands in her way…..
In soul society the air around there was a fusion of grief, anguish and confusion. As of right now, only captains and lieutenants are aware of Momo's "survival". The meeting debriefed them on all the events that have transpired, including captain Hitsugaya's decision. There were many outbursts and questions during the entire session; Renji in particular was the most loud and rowdy. Right now, late at night, they were all kept awake at the mere thought of having to see their once beloved comrade as an enemy. Few have found the resolve to fight her; some just can't raise their blade against her. Apart from those who know that Momo is still alive the other shinigami are clueless and are undeniably confused. All that they have been told is that a "new" formidable arrancar has appeared. Because of this there were many questions being shot at their superiors, which made it even harder for many not to tell them the truth. Weather it was because of the mixed feelings of the information they learned or the stress their subordinates were giving them, Renji, Matsumoto, Hisagi and Izuru were having a drinking party. All of them were drunk….or close to too it.
Izuru was leaning on his chair, his voice an octave higher than normal "I still can't believe it…..she's still alive, but….as one of those arrancar…."
"Does it matter? We still have to fight her!" Renji was close to toppling over in his seat on the couch.
"There's not much we can do…..I'm more concerned about captain…." Matsumoto was lying down on the other couch, running her hand through her hair.
Hisagi was sprawled out on the floor, not even attempting to get up "I suppose I can see where he's coming from…I mean, from what I heard it makes sense that she would want to…you know….kill him…."
There was silence with the sound of sake being drunk before another word was spoken. Izuru, who was more attached to his squad than ever spoke after recovering from his hiccups "I don't think I can keep it up much longer, the more they question me the more I'm dying on the inside! I swear I hear my heart cracking every time I'm asked about her!"
Renji now had a slight grin creeping on his face "That's because you always had a slight crush on her…I know, because of how you act around her and how you acted at the academy when you first see her kind of gave me the hint too." Renji fell on the ground after he said it, nearly crushing Hisagi who was below him, his face was slightly red from the drinking he was continuously doing. They merely crawled like worms lazily until they were off each other, Hisagi too knocked out to even complain.
Renji then turned his head to lighten the pain that his head was receiving after the small drop, but his eyes then widened as he saw a small broad shouldered figure in the doorway. The figure was looking down at them coldly, but made no attempt to make his presence known, Renji almost couldn't believe that he wasn't yelling or making an outburst, "C-Captain Hitsugaya!"
Everyone in the room that was still conscious was either sitting as upright as they could or were trying to make themselves representable the moment they realized who was standing in the door way.
Rangiku had a nervous/sick face on her as she asked "H-How long were you standing there?"
Hitsugaya looked coolly at Matumoto, which she noticed seemed empty…almost lifeless, the spark of fire that was once there was missing. The fact made her frown. However, Hitsugaya spoke the same way he always had in this situation; irritated "If you guys had even bothered to pay attention, you would know that I was here listening the entire time! I can't believe all of you! We are in a state of emergency and you guys are having a drinking party!" he waited for any type of response before he continued "Squads 3 and 9 should always have an acting superior within their squad confines and instead their lieutenants are sitting around and having sake!"
Izuru still had enough motor control of his body to stand, but he was a little wobbly "….I'll…..go back right away sir….c'mon Hisagi-san…" he didn't take one step forward before Hitsugaya spoke again "Actually I think it's best if you stay here….or at least until a squad 4 member arrives. You're currently unfit to even walk. Hisagi is unfit to even to possibly sit up straight!" Hitsugaya then sighed. At least some things don't change.
A few hours passed….nothing out of the ordinary happened: the squad 4 member arrived early, did some acupuncture mostly to the foot, left, Hitsugaya reprimanded his lazy subordinate, ordered her to go to the 5th squad, Hitsugaya went back to his office and began working, finished working, slept and not much else. Lately, his sleep has been disturbing; memories of "her" were haunting him, she was smiling, laughing and talking in her sweet way, making him remember of what he did to her, making him remember her distraught face full of disbelief, eyes desperate to understand what happened, her porcelain face chalk white and her soft voice shrilly asking…"Why…?". Hitsugaya opened his eyes once again, his pupils largely dilated, his breath slowing down from its quickened pace. He then looked up at the ceiling, his breath still coming in pants. His mind was starting to calm down now, but the memories were still fresh in his mind. He then sat up, the bed making a creaking noise as he did so. He then started to look at the floor, his mind wandering places….he wasn't sure of what to do now. It was late; there was no work to be done and no squad to manage, so he was basically just sitting there. He then breathed in, allowing the scent of blooming flowers, fresh grass and clean air infiltrate.
He then wondered "when is she going to come back?"
He then solemnly decided as he walked to his window, "I just have to go through life normally until she arrives I suppose…."
He didn't expect to wait such a long time though, days became weeks, and those weeks became months.
By now, the invasion of arrancar was simply memory. The mental effects of the invasion had worn off, the seireitei now has the same atmosphere as it was when it was at peace. The state of emergency was called off weeks ago. Only captains and lieutenants still had a weary and ominous air around them, for they, have not forgotten…the memory was burned into their mind.