Chapter Twenty: I Hate This, This Feeling of Becoming Comatose.
The wind howled, kicking up large clouds of dust that swept throughout this particular district of Rukongai. This district was slightly better off than the others, so the houses here rattled with less frequency than those in the poorer districts.
Momo lay in a small yet quite comfortable bed, her eyes scrunched tight as she unconsciously tried to keep herself from waking. Unfortunately for her, sleep managed to slip from her grasp, and as she looked around the room with tired little eyes, she noticed that several kind looking old people were staring at her.
Gripping her sheets tightly in her hands, she looked up at the old people and asked where she was. Where was her momma? Why is there no big red booboo in the middle of her chest anymore? Who were the old people and why were they here? Could she have some food? She's hungry.
The old people smiled kindly at her. They told her that she was in the afterworld, and that she had died and had been sent up into a kind of heaven called Soul Society. They said that they did not know where her momma was, and that any injury she had received that had been a cause of her death. They told her that they were called the Grandparents, a small group of 'old people', as she had called them, who took care of those children who were really little when they died.
They laughed a little bit more as one of the more bulky old men came over to the bed and gently lifted her out of it. They were going to get some food now, if that is alright with her, they said. And so they made their way down the hallway and into the kitchen, where she was set down on a very tall stool and given a small bowl of porridge.
Smiling very slightly, she tentatively reached out with her spoon and dipped some of the sludge onto it. She brought it to her lips, steeled herself, and quickly removed the porridge from the spoon. She almost gasped aloud when she tasted it. It wasn't porridge at all; it was some sort of magical sugary oatmeal.
Smiling even brighter still, she began to devour the oatmeal. In the end, she had been hungry enough to eat almost eight bowls of the stuff. Getting down off her stool, little Momo ran to the old people and gave them all one hug each. After saying thank you a ka-trillion times, she went over to the couch, sat down, and less than second later was passes out and sleeping the day away.
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The next few years of her life were very, interesting, to say the least.
After being with the old people for almost an entire year, she found a little baby boy wrapped up in a ragged blanket. She grew found of him and named him Toshiro because of his white hair. When she brought him to the old people, she said,
"Take care of Shiro-chan for a little bit while I take a nap."
For the next several years, little Momo had a wonderful time living with the old people, and playing with Toshiro. They both would often spend the entire day playing catch, tag, or some other exciting game, some of which were invented by the mischievous youngsters.
One day however, while the two now more grown up children were playing, they accidentally splashed a patrolling Shinigami with a bucketful of water. The children immediately hid behind the tree, fearing the Shinigami would hurt them with his sword because he had been hit by their bucket. To their surprise, the Shinigami just laughed and used his reiatsu to dry himself off in an instant. Momo was fascinated by this, and asked the Shinigami if he could teach her how to do that thing with his inner…whatever.
The Shinigami had snickered before replying that he had used his reiatsu, or spirit energy, not his inner…whatever. And he also told her that if she wanted to learn how to do cool stuff like he just did, all she had to do was enroll in the Shinigami Academy.
He left, and so several months later, Momo Hinamori departed he quiet life and started a whole new one. And although the future here seemed uncertain, she was sure her life would be the better because of it.
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"Momo Hinamori, due to your surprising talent and exemplary regard for duty, I am humble yet proud to bestow upon you your shihakusho and zanpakutoh, as well as the rank of Eighteenth Seat in the Fifth Division. Congratulations. A member of your division will show you to your division. Good day, Hinamori-san."
Momo clutched the garments tightly to her chest, trying and failing to stop the happy tears running down her cheeks. She had finally made it into the 13 Court Guard Companies; she had finally become an official Shinigami! She was so excited her body could barely take it.
As the man from the Fifth started leading her towards their division, Momo used her clothing to hide her blush. Not only had she made it as a Shinigami, but she was in Aizen-Taichou's Division as well.
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"Hinamori-san, how are you holding up today?"
Momo gave a little squeak of surprise and turned around to face her Captain. "Aizen-Taichou! I didn't realize you were there. Please except my apology for getting in your way."
Aizen waved a hand in order calm her fears, "There is no need, Hinamori-san, no need at all. I just wanted to ask you if you will accompany me to a special banquet being held between several of the divisions of the Gotei 13. Would you be interested?"
Momo smiled at her Captain so much, she looked as if she were beaming. "I would love to, Aizen-Taichou."
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Two years after their first formal dinner together, Momo Hinamori and Sosuke Aizen were married. A kindly old man that Sosuke knew in Rukongai secretly married the two. Momo couldn't have been happier. Now the man that she loved was hers, and she knew the next several hundred years were going to be simply amazing.
The Momo who was reliving these events frowned a little bit. This wasn't right. This wasn't how she had remembered the events of her marriage at all.
"Momo Hinamori, do you take Sosuke Kurosaki to be your lawfully wedded husband…"
This wasn't right at all! Her Sosuke's name was Aizen! It wasn't Kurosaki!
"I now declare you both Mr. and Mrs. Sosuke Kurosaki." The old man then put an arm around Sosuke's shoulders, "Now then, my son and daughter in law, go out and make me some grandchildren!"
Sosuke then punched the old man squarely in the jaw, "Shut up father!" He sighed and turned to his wife and smiled, "I'm sorry about Fuji, Momo."
She just giggled in response and said, "Don't worry about it Sosuke." She gave him a look, "You know as well as I do that I was going to ravish you tonight anyways."
Sosuke sweatdropped and chuckled nervously, "Momo, sometimes you scare me."
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Present
Momo clutched her shihakusho and gasped heavily, trying to regain her balance. She barely was paying attention as Sosuke and the hooded man argued.
Sosuke turned towards the man in black and said, "Ichigo, how dare you!"
The one called Ichigo replied nonchalantly, "How dare I what?"
Sosuke's face turned terrifying as he scowled at his nephew, "How dare you shove that blasted Falcis Victus (Sickle Nourishment) into my wife!"
The other man replied in a voice as cold as death, "It will help bring things in perspective for her. We will not argue the point any more, collect your wife and put on your façade; it seems our little excursion in Seiretei has caused us to have some unwelcome guests in this little play of ours. Now then, it's time to call the others home."
He closed his eyes and sent a telepathic message to two of his nobles, "Quintus, Quartus, are you two finished?"
He received an immediate reply, "Hai, Leader-sama, it is done."
"Good," he replied, "you have five seconds to make it back here to the top of the Sokyouku hill. Hurry."
Counting to five, he opened his eyes to see the disguised form of Antonio Bortecelli appeared in front of him. His uncle had knocked his wife unconscious and was carrying her over one shoulder. Ichigo then picked up Kiyone by the waist and carried her to one side near his own.
Just then, the rest of the loyal captains and vice captains shun-po'd on top of the Sokyouku hill. Shunsui immediately headed towards his friend, trying to make sure that he was all right. He glared at Aizen and said, "What did you do to him, you bastard?"
Sosuke smiled kindly and replied, "Whatever do you mean, Kyoraku-kun? It wasn't I who did that to poor, poor, Jyuushirou-kun."
"Don't lie to me, you son of a-"
He was interrupted by Ichigo, "He's not lying, Kyoraku-san. It was in fact me."
Yamamoto harrumphed, "And who are you supposed to be?"
A thunder clap resounded throughout Soul Society, and the sky was filled with ominous storm clouds within 45 seconds. The stranger laughed darkly, and replied in an insidious bass, "I am the true ruler of night. I am the one who will ascend to the throne of the Spirit King. For I am The Darkest, the true heir to the throne of Death." He then snapped his fingers, "Oh, I almost forgot something."
He disappeared and reappeared before anyone could stop him. When he reappeared, he was holding the squirming body of the Second Division Captain. He then threw Kiyone at Antonio, who knocked her unconscious and threw her over his shoulder.
Ichigo then turned his attention to the assembled Shinigami, "I wouldn't want to forget this little beauty of a prize, now would I?" He licked her throat provocatively, the upper portion of a mask hiding his face from view. "Well, well, well, you're quite tasty, my dear little Taichou."
Isane noticed her sister and screamed, "Kiyone!"
Ichigo laughed again, "That's quite sad, you only now just noticed her? Oh well, nothing for it I suppose."
The Sokyouku hill suddenly shuddered with a tremendous force, making the various Non-Captain class Shinigami brace themselves. The man in the black hood and facemask snapped his finger again, and a pitch black portal appeared. It was a pitch black mirror roughly two meters tall and three meters wide. It had an intricate golden border, and four flat yet thin obsidian blocks of stone levitated in the air, serving as steps leading into the mirror.
Antonio traced several kanji in midair, activating a temporary force field that blocked the Shinigami from following them.
All of sudden, Yoroichi flashed in between the Vaizard and the Mirror. "Soi!" she screamed. She then launched herself at the hooded Vaizard, using her fastest form of shun-po.
Before she even arrived at her destination, the man had used an even faster form of shun-po to intercept her in mid-air. He first kneed her in the stomach with his left leg, then spun and used his right to kick her head which made her bounce into the rocky ground. When she had bounced back up, he used a side kick to eject her from the inner part of the barrier.
"Yoroichi-sama!" screamed Soi.
Ichigo the shun-po'd in front of her and tapped her forehead. She was momentarily startled, and he used the opportunity to pick her up semi-bridal style, but with her legs held underneath his arm.
He nodded at his two compatriots and said to the assembled Shinigami, "Buenas Noches, Shinigami. Have a pleasant evening."
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TBC
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AN: Sorry for the delay. This chapter just for some reason would not agree with me, so I had to ultimately clip it short. Sorry.
Feedback is welcomed.