Flower In the Flames: Revised

Chapter 3: Awaken

-X-

The wooden doors were pushed aside quickly as Hitsugaya made his way down the hallways of squad four. He made no attempt to conceal his presence as he made brisk and quick steps that resounded on the wood, fullheartedly irritated at the fact that the use of shunpo was forbidden in these barracks.

Unohana had made it perfectly clear that such behavior would likely prove hazardous to the general duties of the fourth, as was proven when a rambunctious group of squad eleven soldiers toppled over Hanatorou, who was holding a tray of very expensive, very fragile, medicinal viles. Thenceforth, Unohana has had a no exceptions policy on the technique.

It did not take him long to reach his destination, his eyes already glancing at the doorway which was, not surprisingly, being guarded by a nurse. Such was the typical precaution taken when an occurrence like this happens. But he didn't quite expect her to immediately confront him upon his approach, blocking his path abruptly as she looked upon him with meek, concerned eyes. He gave her credit for her courage.

Being of the typical build that most female squad four members have, this girl had brown hair and dark blue eyes, and her stance told him that despite her anxiety, this girl took her profession seriously "I'm sorry Captain Hitsugaya, but lieutenant Hinamori is not allowed to have any visitors…normally I would make an exception and let you through but…this case in particular is…not normal…"

He stared at her, not bothering to make his gaze any less intimidating "In what way?"

She made a small squeak, as well as shuffled in her spot a bit "Um w-well….there a b-bite mark on her arm-"

His spiritual pressure spiked instantly, much too shocked and unprepared for the statement. His breath hitched for a moment, but he quickly forced himself to calm down; much too aware that he may cause a disturbance. As of yet, they had not made any public announcements on their decisions. To openly express concern and worry now may incite unease amongst the populace of soldiers who loitered around Seireitei.

But still, he now had possession of unceasing worry. There had been no word on any amount of hollow or enemy activity within all of the Soul Society, but apparently, that proved worthless. Somehow and somewhere, Hinamori has gotten bitten by an enemy that has so far been undetected. Even now, as they scrounge the place of her retrieval, they found no evidence of anything other than Hinamori herself being present at all. Indeed, had it not been for the wound itself, people would've thought that it was only Hinamori that was found in that clearing.

He closed his eyes as he took this in, before redirecting his attention to the unseated nurse before him, prompting her without spoken words to continue.

"S-she…has a small but deep bite mark on her arm…" She gestured toward her own shoulder, her wandering eyes telling him that she was looking for words, or perhaps inwardly debating at whether she should be telling him this information "—it's really deep and we can't find any animal that matches the bite mark…I'm not even sure if it was an animal…the marks were all randomly curved and the lengths were unpredictable-deformed even…"

His blood boiled, now already pinning blame on Kenryu. There was little logic that dictated he didn't have anything to do with it. So far, this "creature" seemed otherworldly, and the fact that it happened at this time of all times seems to indicate that hell was somehow involved. So it stood to reason also, that the criminal who specialized in hell, may have a connection.

He exhaled "Well that aside…how is she?" He eagerly waited for a response.

"She's in a stable condition and is now resting."

At this, he let himself be at ease. It was a far cry from her being healthy, but at least she wasn't in a critical position. A small sigh escaped his lips, only to be wryly reminded that Hinamori's situation as a whole was anything but "stable".

Giving one last glance at her door, and the nurse who guarded it, he turned away. He could sense her spiritual pressure, and for now, at least, that was enough for him. He made a mental note to check back in on her, however; somehow even her being in the middle of the medical division served little to calm his fear that she may come in harm's way. Obviously it had already been demonstrated that nowhere is safe.

'First things first…' he decided 'I should have a little talk with this…Yukio Kenryu'.

With these last thoughts in mind, he saw fit to Shunpo over to the First Division the moment his feet were out of the healing department.

-X-

What she felt was the softness of the comfortable, fluffed mattress of the finest quality. What she smelled was the scent of lavender, always being given by a lit stick incense that never failed to grace her room. The same room that held blue wall paper of a relatively plain design, and was adorned with pink flowers in every porcelain vase, which only accentuated the purple linen drapes that bellowed slightly over the fake window. Her large bed, with more than enough space to change position at any time she pleased, was covered in sheets of white and gold; a rather constant mockery to her often tired and disheveled state at the end of the day even though it offered nothing but comfort in its embrace.

She was lying on that bed, her eyes just staring at the ceiling blankly, her thoughts were long held amiss as she tried, however diligently, to try and rearrange her tumultuous memories and sensations—each of which refused to leave her psyche the majority of the time, and she found that she could not simply ignore either.

The lines that formed the creases of the bed's comforter only accentuated her exceedingly small frame, barely being three feet in length. The hair that was splayed all over the pillows were as soft as silk from constant washing and deep conditioning. He eyes, often wide with unfathomable horror, were chocolate brown.

Momo Hinamori was a child in this memory.

The large doors, thick and imposing in her point of view, gave way to a resounding knock on its surface. It was mere gesture of courtesy before Yukio Kenryu just walked right on in, not even waiting for any sort of response. With a serving tray in hand, he advanced toward her with her usual breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes and a glass of water. He seemed mindful of not teetering in his eager steps, taking mind of how easily his white robe may get stained; which was speckled with dashes of blue designs of some sort of flower. He gathered that she felt better if he was out of his usual working garments "Hello young flower. I trust you slept well."

His seemingly kinds words seemed nullified by his actions; putting the tray on the nightstand as he eagerly waited for her to get up no matter her tiredness—a rather enforced expectation upon his entering of the room. He simply watched as she hobbled to sit up first, her arms limply hanging as her back arched its way up. Then he seemed to gaze harder as she drolly forced her numb legs to the edge of the bed before forcing them to set their tired feet to the ground. Finally, she robotically commanded herself to stand, her swaying and unsteady body only paying testament to its exhaustion; but in the end, she felt little. Her eyes were going about its usual, lifeless scans, only to revert to looking at the ground when she couldn't bear to hold her own head.

Pleased with her progress, the man gingerly took grasp of the glass on the tray, using his lithe finger to turn her sunken head back up towards him, who was towering over her. The smile was genuine in its own way, but not in the way that a father or even a friend smiles to their lower counterpart. He was happy, that much she knew, yet as he directed his smile toward her, she always felt like he was only smiling to himself, and she should be thrilled to have the pleasure of this smile being shown to her. It was a rather shallow smile of pure indulgence. "Now open up wide."

He steadily brought the glass up to her lips, which obligingly opened to partake in the tasteless nourishment of hydration; the only pauses that were took were when she was gulping as much liquid as she could intake. Almost immediately after that he wordlessly began stabbing the eggs, his whole hand smoothly taking hold of her entire jaw, as if ready to jerk it open if she dared close her mouth that he insisted be gaping at the promise of food. She didn't bother to taste anything, not really. From the crispy bacon to the sickeningly sweet flapjacks, she only mutely opened her mouth, chewed and swallowed.

Her being spoon fed, it seemed, was a rather simple pleasure of his. The entire time he went about his usual practice, he watched her with subtle fascination; he didn't even care that she was acting more like a lifeless rag doll than an actual human soul. On the contrary, he was quite pleased with her current demeanor, he had such an obedient little flower—and he saw to it that she is well taken care of.

After all was said and done, there was only a brief pause as her slowly lead her out of the room, grasping her tiny, little hand as he goaded the constant movement of her tired limbs. His arm was like a leash, he was always prepared to drag her away forcefully, but figured himself nigh above just doing it without so much as a mutter.

In truth, she felt like she wanted to sleep forever, but she found that she should always heed this man's pull on her; and seldom ever did she ask herself 'why'. It just was, and her mind was far too weary to think on it. Her logic was more along the lines of getting the whole thing over with so that she may return to those sheets. Sometimes she wished that those same sheets would one day gain a heart and smother her in its soft embrace when she slept.

For the tiniest of a second, her walk faltered, adding a slight bit of pressure on Yukio to hoist her up to regain balance "Oh how careless of me! No—how utterly rude of me! Making such a fragile thing walk on these putrid floors!"

The said floors were always spotless, constantly being cleaned and swept at least twice a day by his staff. In these dismal hallways of dull grey and white, cleanliness was an enforced attribute. But it didn't particularly matter when he simply grabbed her position to be cradled in his arms, looking down upon her as if she was in the most secure place in the world. His smile, still plastered on his face, seemed to deepen a bit he made his way down the hallway more quickly, no longer being fettered by the girl's own lack of speed.

Along the way, guards that were typically positioned at various intervals of the hallway followed the two of them in a practiced formation upon their approach; their uniform gear of black garb bearing an imposing presence on anyone who happened to cross their path.

More than a few doors were opened by them, allowing her and Kenryu to pass through undeterred, but he slowed down considerably after a few twists and turns in the numerous unlit hallways. Hence they came to a door just like all of the others, stainless grey and featureless. Upon its opening however, it held an attribute that few other doorways had—it lead downward. It lead to a foreboding sight of pitch black nothing; the endless shadows hungrily scarfing down anything that it went across. Including light and the features of the ground, making the entire idea of making one's way down there seem incredibly dangerous—or at least not advisable.

She had long since tried to make herself feel nothing, but as she looked into the gapping maw of the abyss, a distinct grip of fear cloaked and wrapped itself onto her now constricting heart. Her blood now beginning to race, the only visible sign of her encroaching distress was how tightly she clutched the cloth of Kenryu's clothing. He didn't acknowledge it as he walked down, whispering a few words of incantation to create a ball of kido to light his way.

Only a mere minuet elapsed before she was carried into a room; lit and left illuminated by the numerous candles that laid on the desk and walls. It was a prison that they called a "detainment hold"; with numerous cells of wrought iron lining the walls in an organized line of structure. On the other wall laid numerous cabinets and drawers, each of which were stocked with chemicals, syringes, and other materials of the sort. But the most defining feature of that wall was large case that was hidden behind two of the upper cabinets, being protected a by barrier and a few technological sensors. In its safe encasement was a long sword, tangled in its long tail of white cloth that was attached to its hilt as it wrapped long the length of the blade.

She had the urge to cry, but her tears had been shed so many times that there was simply nothing left to release. So her body settled for shivering as Kenryu swung open the nearest cell, placing her on the specially made mattress that he arranged to be placed there. He almost instinctively plied her grasping fingers from his person, still holding a small smile as if he was about to release her into a wonderful playground of some sort.

Lacking her former clutch, her fingers practically dug into the mattress, leaving little imprints on the small sinews of its lining. One of the guarding men from before drifted toward her, with Kenryu hardly registering his presence as he took a rigid stance right by her lowered form, dwarfing her in comparison. Hearing the rusty twist and cragged click of the cell's audible lock made her feel even more wretched; being able to neither scream out with lungs nor shed audible sobs. All the while Kenryu looked like he was taking a leisurely stroll with the way he sauntered over to his meager desk, pulling out his usual instruments of study: a pen and a notepad.

Taking a glance down at the notes from the previous day, he slumped into the chair before straightening his posture "The activities for today will be a little different, dear flower." He scribbled down some words on the small paper he held "Instead of going to the third level, we shall try level five…or perhaps six. But we shall be cautious when you're in the fiery place, right?"

It was more like a hidden order when he said that, always expecting her to perform to the upmost of her ability. He always figured himself cautious, always taking precautions and extra steps to ensure the validity of his experiments. But her? She often times suspected that he viewed her as the only potential flaw in his design—a flaw that was simultaneously the most vital part of his procedures. With all of his gushing and small caresses on her face, she had to remind herself that he valued for her for one reason, and one reason only. But he always insisted on her bettering herself in some manner.

This terrified her. She felt like she was crumbling on the inside despite the fact that she had to be more durable now than ever. But the submerging, slithering tendrils of fear dug deep into her; and Kenryu was either completely oblivious or simply didn't care. No, he merely walked over the cabinet as her muttered a few words to himself, picking up the bound sword as if it was a quaint little blossom as brandished it around for a few seconds, unwind the cloth to reveal the pitch black blade as he approached the cage that he called a detainment cell "We will use this more effectively today. There will be a little bit more gushing blood and maybe a bigger cut to heal but otherwise it's the same."

His grin, already small as it exuded its unheard taunting, widened a little bit farther as an idea caught his passing fancy "But…I really want to test the effects if the cut is made to flower who isn't in a calm state before departure. Tell you what, if you're a good girl then I'll let you keep the blade. Until I need it of course. Further, I will restrain its usage so that I'll only use it on you. I think it works better if it hones in on one person."

The idea only came to him a few moments ago, yet he sounded like he planned it from the beginning.

The guard, who had been deathly silent up till this point with his ever watchful position within her room of iron bars, wordlessly snatched her arms right then and there. His weight and his strength were obviously superior, and he seemed to waste little effort as he easily restrained her and pinned her down on the white, slightly stained mattress. It all occurred so suddenly, she ended up instinctively thrashing and squirming with his intentionally rough and crushing grasp.

But it was futile, she was like a cat at the mercy of a giant in comparison. He even had the ability to use one of his larger hands to grasp her tiny wrists together, and use the other to extend his hand toward Kenryu, who gave him the black instrument of her torment.

She would've screamed, but Kenryu would make it worse if she did.

The man that was practically on top of her raised the blade high and higher, his eyes wandering every now and against to pinpoint where he should strike. He was not supposed to inflict a fatal wound or anything, but he was supposed to cause a sufficient amount of pain. He brought the blade down in a flash, the cold black steel only slightly gouging itself right through the skin and a little toward the heart. Barely even a few millimeters in, she guessed. But it still held the effect of giving her some amount of pain. Most of it came from shock that this little girl could hardly learn to handle.

But that pain meant nothing in the face of the pain that she felt now. Well, not necessarily the searing pain of blade, but it was the prickling pain of imminent injury. The heat practically licked at her tender skin, as if it was only waiting to swallow her whole in its immense, raging heat as the flames before her danced more furiously that ever. The leapt toward the sky, and to her vision, seemed to be climbing its heights like an unstoppable hoard. They swarmed over the ground and jumped into the world through the earth's tiniest crevices, slithering every which way as they whipped around and gnawed at anything it could burn, reducing anything it could into incomprehensible ash that it consumed. It seemed to encompass everything, but even though it went about its impassioned rampage, tearing and burning asunder virtually everything that it could burn, Momo saw the typical sight of ash that it merely had little interest in. But it still had remnants of ember, and the entre look of it still held the same despicable sight of nasty hues of grey, brown and other sludge-like colors that never quite seemed to be purged from the substances. Some was arranged on the ground like dirt, but there was still some form of structure sticking out of it every now and again, almost as if the flames got to them so quickly that were cremated on the spot and left a hallow standing shell of hot, dry rubbish. Some of it looked like black ash-covered bones, others like standing needles.

But all of it sizzled and crackled under the intense heat, each pile giving off a certain amount of black huffs and even darker smoke trails as they remained, the light of their continually burning ember travelling carelessly and without aim as they continued ravishing whatever they could muster.

In it all she found that her heart was beating incessantly, and her sizzling hairs were on end as she felt her skin starting to blister. The heat itself seemed to absorb her sweat, and he heaving provided little but a more starched throat, the hot air practically sucking up all the moisture it could from her throat.

She could hear nothing beyond the splintering, ear-shattering chaos, and yet she was aware of the increased shuffling that was causing the undisturbed ashes to crumble away and collapse under its own weight, giving faint huffs and poofs as the impoverished air started to escape its hollow prison. The sound itself was like they were sifting through glass, or grinding through rusted metal or treading in the woods and snapping branches, but it was fast moving.

And it was starting to become louder and even more incomprehensible as the sounds seemed to mesh together in disharmony—meaning that there was more than 'one thing' moving. They made their presence quite clear, or rather, they simply didn't bother to hide it.

It was a lot for her to take in. Too much. Too sudden. She was already shivering by the time she began to distinguish the growls and grunts from the crackles of the flames.

It was at that time that she first saw and experienced what she eventually called a "Burning Ash Corpse".

They can be described as their given name sounds:

Burning. The flames that are within them makes their eyes glow with a dreadful fire as their breath is boiling hot on the skin as they breathe out horrid, burnt fumes of charred blood and purged filth.

Ash. Their whole body seems to be made of it, it hangs on their twisted limbs and it comes out of their mouths, and when they touch you the ash burns your very skin as it marks you with incoherent smudges of waste and cinder.

Corpse. They seemed to create themselves from whatever dead thing they can get their ash on. They take whatever they can; whether it be cracked, crippled, twisted and it can be from any animal; anything that can die; they can make a part of themselves. Making them deformed and come in an almost unpredictable appearance. They all gaped at anything that had anything that wasn't burnt beyond recognition.

Momo first saw those horribly deformed creatures as one of them lunges at her arm. The sensation of fire soared through her blood. Another at her leg and made her think that she was being burnt alive. Another was at her stomach, as if it wanted to partake in ripping up her tender internal organs as if heaved its foul breath into her system. The entire mass of them surrounded her as she screamed in unbearable pain and her eyes, long deprived of tears, merely began to falter in vision in compensation for her cracking mind as her limbs were practically being ripped apart.

That is, until Yukio woke her, the terrible wounds manifesting itself on her real body. Bleeding profusely as it gurgled and spouted forth the metallic liquid as its vessel was marring punctured. Yukio and his assistants healed them after many hours of hard work-always redoing the bandages and trying healing kido at every available opportunity, all the while injecting her small form with every manner of drug and antithetic. Wounds received from these beasts cannot be healed easily, he discovered. And Momo….she was more mentally scared than ever, and because of that, she rendered herself more like a lifeless doll than she had previously, and acted more lifeless than ever as she laid in a coma for two long agonizing months.

-x-

The head captain was sitting, but not in the usual grand and ceremonial chair that he was used to, being far from the squad one meeting hall. Rather, he was situated in a plain chair built for common people, being meager in structure and not having the luxury of being decorated in any way. But it was normal seeing how the chair belonged to squad four and was only meant to allow for passing rests and visiting hours, which was, oddly enough, what he and the rest of the captains were doing. It was unusual for all for the captains of the Gotei thirteen to be stuffed into such a small room, but he was inwardly glad that Unohana arranged for the now sleeping Hinamori to be moved to the largest healing quarters available.

But still, they had been waiting for more than forty minutes, and the healer assured them that the girl would wake up at some point today "When is she going to awaken?" He was pretty sure the so far peaceful silence of co-existing captains would not last much longer, as a great variety of captains already were irritated enough as it is, waiting for a mere lieutenant to wake up from her rather untimely injury.

The issue of time demanded that they meet and speak with her as soon as possible, but unfortunately, it would seem that she was unfit to walk and present herself before them. Indeed, Unohana made it clear that she would prefer, for the better quality of their mission she claimed, that Momo not be forced out of her hospital bed with her given condition. But in truth, she just wanted to be cautious, even she was unsure of the various intervals that could complicate the young girl's state of health. So therefore, the captains ended up sauntering over the healing division to forcefully wait for a person who may not even wake up today, despite Unohana's prediction.

Most of them had been patient thus far, if you exclude Kurotsuchi, but some were not so much patient as much as they were undisturbed by their location; Kenpachi was taking a nap on the large sofa provided, and Shunsui was leaning on the windowsill as he leisurely drank a cup of sake. Other captains like Komamora, Hitsugaya and Byakuya were merely standing in silence.

During their continued wait however, certain captains like Soi Fon took it upon themselves to not sit so idly; already she had sent word for Onmitsukido guards to take positions outside of Hinamori's door and window. Unohana had prepared specialized teams for any occurrence that may happen to the patient.

Hitsugaya was only standing in silent vigil, displeased at the very idea that Momo was to be burdened with their presence upon awakening, their existence in this room marking imminent decisional action that would be laid upon her already burdened person. He was surprised when he heard about this special meeting, being interrupted in his goal to visit Kenryu in his cells, but wasted no time in being among the first to arrive.

It took about three hours for everyone else to turn up—a rather surprising time, considering that it usually takes at least six for all of them to gather. But then, they had be explicitly ordered to wait for further instruction form the head captain, and that put everyone on high alert.

His original inquiry with the head captain was put to rest almost instantly on his reasoning that they were in a time pressing situation so they had to act as quickly as possible, despite how shaken up Momo most likely is.

'Not even the leisure of a day of well-deserved reprieve?' He inwardly snorted 'Ridiculous'

It also didn't help that Yukio was also present, being closely watched by both Soi Fon and Kurotsuchi (he had nothing better to do) as he was restrained in the corner. His silence was marked by his smaller smile, trying to be discrete amongst these shinigami, his eyes never leaving Momo's form. He recognized that blank expression and the way her hands were clinched into small fist. He knew.

Being forever clam, Unohana replied to Yamamoto's question "It was only an estimated guess that she would wake up today, we can't expect her to wake up before she is ready to. If we must, we shall leave her to her rest until tomorrow. Please be patient."

More waiting? The head captain would rather send the captains back to take command of their respective squads, but he knew that every captain had executed their precautions to near perfection; even squad eleven was properly situated for any threat that may pop up. Quite frankly, they had nothing better to do than wait.

The head captain did a slight nod "I see…" He then peered toward the ever-silent Kenryu and raised his voice slightly "I noticed that you seem to be in a happier mood. What is it that's so interesting to you?"

He had long noticed his rather lofty spiritual pressure for a while now, as have others, but they remained silent.

He spared him a look, but replied cheerily all the same "Oh it's just the newfound freedom of the world. Barely anything you should concern yourself with." He smirked.

Once again, Hitsugaya casted him a side glance, not trusting him in the slightest. To be blunt, his mere existence infuriated him. His sins were already many in addition to what he had (likely) done to Momo, and he considered that the gravest sin of all. "Is Momo the only 'flower' you has possession of? Your special notice of her is quite noticeable."

It was meant to be not-so-direct way of signaling a warning to the condemned prisoner, but instead Yukio talked back as if it was a regular question like how the weather was "She was actually the third I found at that time. So if you count the other times when they surface…that would make her the eighth in total. She was also the last to remain as well." He met Hitsugaya's hard, dagger-throwing stare "—and as to why I treat her with more attention is because she's special. More special than the others. Is it not natural then to give her preferential treatment? Or would you rather I leave her out in a gutter or something? Like a miserable mutt, perhaps?"

At that last statement Hitsugaya squinted his eyes slightly, and further, made him shift his weight off the wall he was leaning on.

'Truly…what a despicable wretch…' he was sure that the others wouldn't mind if he ruffed him up a bit, even in here. The man was quite in the position to be taught manners by this point, intentionally riling his superiors intentionally like that.

But such intentions were dissipated when he was aware of something stirring, the ruffling of soft sheets alerting him to movement on the hospital bed.

His eyes instantly shifted toward Hinamori, seeing her arms move groggily as her eyes, still closed, darted every which way. It was quite obvious that she was in a nightmare of some sort, incomprehensible murmurs coming out of her mouth with a few impoverished heaves of breath.

The unconscious squirming only got worse the more he let her be, with her legs now starting to become just as groggily restless as her arms, not being able to identify dream from reality.

He strode over to her side, his hand gently being placed on her forehead "Do you think we should wake her up?"

The healer captain was not far behind, her eyes peering at her patient. "Yes, I think we should."

He lightly nudged her shoulder, only increasing its force when it proved ineffective. For what seemed like the longest time to him, she was stuck in that tumultuous stupor—stuck in her unconscious turmoil.

He gave one more nudge, a bit harder this time, only to be met with a body that suddenly sprang into life; her mouth wide open as she gasped for air, her pupils dilated into saucers, her form slightly trembling from what was her unconscious endeavors.

He was instantly there, taking a firm hold on her shoulders as he met her gaze, which was laden with a haze that could not particularly see what was in front of her for a moment. "Momo, what's wrong?"

A few seconds more and she began to see, steadily studying her surroundings; all of the stares that were on her and the blank whiteness of the hospital walls. A few seconds after that did her body start to steadily shake less and less, her past fears starting to ebb away from immediate attention, being instead replaced with her current position and the implications of them. The captains' presences, her bed in the hospital, the monitors that lined the wall to her left…and the lone figure who stood in the corner with golden, gleaming eyes.

-X-

A/N: The ending was changed to reflect less on everyone else's worry on Hinamori and more onto how much worry Hinamori herself was feeling, which, I hope, was a good enough decision considering the contents of the next chapter.

I also hope I still made Kenryu seem arrogant, but more 'classy' about it as well. Seemed better than his near oblivious character in the original.