Wake Up, Little Monster Chapter 19: Beginning of a New Nightmare, II, a bleach fanfic

Guys, this is the next chapter to this fic. After this week, it's gonna be very hard for me to update, but I'm trying my best, so thanks for sticking with this. Anway, I hope you like this one.

XIX. Beginning of a New Nightmare, II

What is the difference between a boy and a man? That was one thing that recently had always been popping in the snow-haired boy's mind. Though by most terms, most of Soul Society – the tenth division, Abarai, Ikkaku, Kuchiki, and some other people who know him quite well – treated him much like a leader figure, being the captain that he was, and handling a burden of responsibilities that most would find quite irritating. However, when it came to Aizen and his ranks, he was treated much like a boy. Although he was quite young to boot, there was no way in hell they'd treat him like a damn kid with the way he handled things, he thought. After all, he was even more responsible than his fukutaichou, to begin with. Damn arrancar army, treating me like a brat.

He went inside Hinamori's cell after presumably sending shivers down Rodrigo Damian's spine with his wise warning, which, of course, the rest of Soul Society, those at least are weaker than him, heeded. With his brows still furrowed, he went towards the girl, and though at most he was quite pissed - to be theorizing with his mood, he had quite a calm demeanor than what he'd usually do to those who 'hurt' Hinamori.

And with that quite blazing mood, she smiled at him.

"Shiro-chan…"

And then his quite hell-bound anger died down. After all, as Matsumoto pointed out, all it took to calm him down was her. But well, he had to keep up with his usual façade so as not to appear, well, like it wasn't him.

"Had a visitor?"

"You mean Rodrigo-san? He came in when he heard me scream – well, he didn't really mean any harm. He was just curious, and at least he helped me calm down."

"Uh-uh…" he nodded, though his brows are still furrowed really deep. "Don't tell me you trust the likes of him after that bastard Grimmjow Jaggerjack tried to hit on you."

She just smiled at him. "Aahh… now you're putting everyone in that league, huh?"

He just scoffed at her last statement.

"It's not really that, Hinamori. It's just that after what happened, you could never really trust anyone that easily, right? Besides – "

"Yes, I know that, Shiro-chan. You should really lighten up once in a while, because you'll get wrinkles early" she pointed at his furrowed brows and giggled.

He sighed, and stretched his forehead so that Hinamori would stop pointing it out.

"That's better, Shiro-chan. Besides, you should also smile a bit too, you know. It wouldn't hurt to smile once in a while," she said, revealing her white teeth in her radiant smile.

And his lips just stretched a bit. Sure, that was one genuine moment when he really felt like smiling.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it, Shiro-chan?"

And then, something clicked into his mind. He stared at her eyes, those same black-brown orbs have grown quite dull, with a deep black region under them. It was evident, she was lacking sleep. And so his smile faded.

"I just remembered him telling me you had a nightmare, he heard you scream when you woke up. So you've been lacking sleep?"

She became quite fidgety for a while there. "N-not really. It's just now that I had a really bad dream. Don't worry about it…" she tried to assure him with those words. But her baggy eyes revealed more to him. He just sighed.

"You're not a good liar, Hinamori. Your baggy eyes are just a sign that you haven't been able to sleep well lately. It's time to go to bed for you. I'll be here, just in case anything happens. And don't wet the bed, baka bed-wetter Momo," he made his comeback at that last statement.

"You're so mean, Shiro-chan! As if I'm going to wet the bed like a kid!" she pouted.

"Well, you did wet the bed when we slept together as kids – "

"Shiro-chan!" she glared at him.

"Okay, okay. I get it now," his lips stretched just a bit. That was considerably a smile, in his case. He sat down beside her, and she looked at him in the eyes.

"Go to sleep, Hinamori. I'll be here, don't worry."

"I feel kind of hard to sleep, Hitsugaya-kun. Maybe I'll stay up for a while…"

"Well, what would make you go to sleep? Singing a song?" he was quite sarcastic at that last statement.

"Well, sometimes I lull myself to sleep by singing a song."

He stared at her with what she said. She really wasn't joking. And he never thought that thing would be such a nice suggestion.

"Well, I just feel kind of tired, though," she yawned, and rested her head on the ex-captain's lap. She slowly closed her eyes, and Hitsugaya thought she was already in slumber land. She proved him wrong when she started singing in a soft tune, almost whisper-like in volume.

"And so she woke up from a dream
that was beautiful and starry and oh so wild
it was all still clear in her eyes
and though her mind was foggy and blank
she wondered why
her life couldn't be as lovely it was time…"

He looked down on the figure on her lap. He recognized that tune. With her head still on his lap, she spoke to him.

"Do you know that song, Shiro-chan?"

"Well, I guess I may have heard that somewhere before…"

"Kuchiki-san told me about this song that Kurosaki Ichigo supposedly made her hear when they were in the real world. He even gave her some sort of device that plays this song. She played it on that, uhmm, mp3 player thing, and made me listen to it. It was very nice."

Now he remembered. He also heard it when the substitute shinigami played it over those devices in his home. He was there in the boy's home, with the music playing along the background.

"Why don't you sing it for a change, Shiro-chan?"

"I'm not really fond of singing…"

"Come on, don't be such a bore."

He started humming the tune really quick, and it was out of pace. He rolled his eyes, making it evident that he was quite impatient. He finished humming the out-of-pace tune, and breathed heavily at that last note.

"There."

"Shiro-chan…" she pouted. She stared at him with her dull baggy eyes and spoke. "Will you sing it… for me?"

He gave a deep breath and looked through her dull black-brown orbs with his deep bluish green ones. "Alright..."

She closed her eyes as he placed his hand on her head, and brushed a stray strand of hair on her face. And with the same pace as Hinamori had before, and started singing with his own soft yet manly voice, at the same low whisper-like volume.

"There was this king he had a castle or throne
but his horse was great and white
he rode alone and liked it that way
but when he met her he swore
he would never leave her side
they rode across the land, two lovers hand in hand
and no danger would come near
and when something made her cry
she'd look at him teary eyed
and he would make her feel better
so much better so much better than before.

And now this forest was his home
it was a night time and the right time for love in the dark
she placed her hand upon his chest
and all the rest just flowed
makin' love down under an ancient far away night
it was so grand just holding someone's hand
and now safety came naturally
it was so clear that she would never have to fear…"

He continued humming the soft tone until he noticed that she was already breathing slowly, peacefully, in her own place of dreams. He stroked her hair, looking at her sleeping figure tenderly. He did so until his eyes slowly closed, and he also went to his own slumber land.

"Sleep, my little princess, sleep… Everything shall be accomplished in their due time."

Rodrigo grinned, his eyes hidden in the darkness. He snapped his fingers, and a breeze blew past him.

He opened his eyes when he felt her tense up a little bit. She was still sleeping on his lap, his hand still on her head. She was perspiring heavily, and her face looked contorted in pain and horror. She was hanging on to his white hakama tightly, as if struggling with something.

Aizen's face was etched in the burning sky. He was staring down at Hinamori, with his cold, blank eyes painted in a large palette of flames. His cold, sarcastic smile sent shivers down her spine. It was just like when he left Soul Society – and she knew something bad was bound to happen.

"You're special to me, Hinamori-kun. As a token of gratitude for everything you've done, I shall spare no one of my godly wrath save for you. Everyone – Soul Society, the human world, your friends, and Hitsugaya Toushiro – all except you, Hinamori-kun."

The wide burning field disappeared before her, and it was changed into a terrain of spiked earth, sharp as a zanpakutou's tip, and there everybody was impaled – Matsumoto, Rukia, Renji, Izuru, everybody – with Hitsugaya tied to a pole sticking out at the middle, with numerous blades stabbed at him. She knew there was nothing – virtually nothing – she could do. Tears were already running down her cheeks.

Tears were already running down Hinamori's cheeks. He was still stroking her hair, with his other hand nudging her, trying to wake her up from the really bad nightmare she was having, but to no avail. His hand that was just stroking her hair a moment ago moved to her face, and wiped away the tears in her eyes. He was already concerned. He sensed it was no ordinary nightmare. Just as she was already breaking down into deep sobs, an idea hit him. He continued the soft tune just a while ago, his mellow voice a whisper in the wind.

"Oh tell me a story of magic and spiraling ships
and the stars in the night
just whisper in my ears, make it soft make, it clear
I want to hear every breath you say
she placed her hand upon her breast
but she woke up from the land, tears falling in her hands
as she looked up asking why
she laid back in her bed, thoughts rising in her head
"why can't my life be beautiful," she said
as she closed her eyes again
just prayin' he'd return
but only darkness fell upon her…"

He continued humming its tune, out of hope that it would comfort her in this nightmare he can't wake her up from, and held her hand with one of his hands and stroked her hair with the other.

She was already on her knees, crying. Everything, everyone, was gone.

"There shall be no one else but you, Hinamori. You are now the only remnant of the once-thriving Soul Society," Aizen's voice struck her to her bones.

But then, maybe out of desperation, or just sheer imagination, she heard something. At first it was just a humming tune, and if there had been words, she couldn't understand them. It grew louder, and then it became audible.

And the tune continued to hum its way to her. She recognized that voice. It was too familiar to miss. With those teary eyes, she looked around, quite puzzled.

"…S-Shiro-chan?"

Soon, the terrain of countless bodies crumbled into blobs of water, sparkling with the light of the surroundings, and it returned to the fiery field it was before. She grew confused, as the tune continued to ring in her ears. She was still kneeling when she felt two hands come from behind her and embrace her. With that, she could not turn around and see who it was, but she was reassured when she heard that it was the same voice humming the tune.

"Don't worry, Hinamori. I'm here to protect you…"

She felt a cool blast of wind coming from behind her, and soon the flames in the sky died out and the original sky was restored, even erasing Aizen's face. The fiery field disappeared, restoring the calm, grassy terrain and the cool breeze. She smiled, and closed her eyes in peace and security. Those arms were still locked in their embrace around her neck.

"Shiro-chan… Arigatou."

Apparently, it worked. Hitsugaya's soft cooing melody combined with his hair-stroking and hand-holding proved to be quite just fine. Her sobs died down, and she went back to her peaceful, rhythmic breathing. He gave out a deep sigh, with the notion of everything to be just alright. He wiped the remaining teardrop in her eye, and continued his soft comforting method. He was quite glad that it was done with.

If he was to rate things, for instance, in a scale of one to ten, saving a child from a hollow attack would be an eight, accomplishing a hard mission would be a seven, and finishing all the paperwork that his lazy fukutaichou left for him to finish would also fall under an eight. He was pondering on these things that he would have quite not minded if it meant going back to Soul Society with her.

And then, in her sleep, she smiled.

He made a mental note to himself. That moment was definitely a ten.

The howling wind died down. Rodrigo still stood there, his eyes still hidden in the darkness. His lips recollected to a neutral look, no emotional play whatsoever evident.

"Your connection with reality is by far greater than expected. It's always quite troublesome to have a knight save the damsel in distress."

He flipped out his long white coat and continued walking down the long, dark aisle of Las Noches. A small smile crossed his face.

Kudos to anyone who could guess what song I used in this one. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review. Thanks again.