I just wanted to take the time to tell all my current and future readers that I appreciate your support and I'm thrilled you like my story. Another thing I wanted to point out just so you're all aware is that this will not be a romantic work. This is merely about a close friendship between two individuals whose lives were destroyed by the same person. In the same vein of thought, I won't be including any form of Hitsugaya/Hinamori or Shinji/Hiyori as I am not a fan of shipping. And with that I give you Chapter 4.
It was well into the evening before Momo finally awoke. She kept her eyes closed for a few moments, trying to lessen the pounding in her head and take in the various voices resounding through the room she was lying in. "You must be pissed Shinji. Looks like she's going to be a handful, I'm lucky my Vice-Captain already had Komamura talk to him." said a rough voice she did not recognize. A much smoother voice followed the first. "Don't be foolish Kensei. Shinji's likely reveling in this opportunity. She and Hiyori are both petite and retain a youthful sort of beauty, but this one isn't trying to kick him through a wall." She heard Shinji scoff.
"Don't be an idiot Rose, the last thing I've got on my mind is wooin' her. Kensei's right, the only thing this means is more work fer me." Two of the figures walked past her. "So you say Shinji, but I've known you for a long time, and I don't think your actions always completely match up with your words," Rose responded. "Come on Kensei. Let's leave him to tend to his little angel." This elicited a laugh from Kensei and a THUMP and subsequent "Ouch!" from Rose. Momo heard the door slide open, and took that as a queue to open her eyes marginally.
She saw that she was lying in Shinji's quarters, and it suddenly dawned on her that this was the second time she had woken up in this room, though this time it seemed her Captain hadn't left her while she slept. She wasn't sure why this information caused her to blush lightly instead of shiver. Getting up, the sudden ruffling sounds from her sheets made Shinji look at her, but before he could open his mouth the door flew open again and several people ran in, one of which took one look at her before falling on top of her sobbing loudly.
"Momo!" Rangiku whined, almost suffocating the smaller girl with a tight hug. "Oh thank God you're okay! I went and got the Captain to tell him what happened, and on the way I met Izuru and Renji, we were all so worried about you!" Momo pushed Rangiku off her with some effort and made a small smile. "I'm fine Rangiku." She looked past the woman and saw Toshiro, Renji and Izuru all looking at her wearing worried expressions. "Really. I'm fine you guys. I just..." she trailed off and broke eye contact with her friends. Toshiro growled and turned towards Shinji.
"This is all your fault Hirako!" he shouted. "Matsumoto told me none of this would have happened if you hadn't been so damn lazy and forced her to wait on you!" Shinji stared at the younger Captain for a moment before frowning. "Yeah." he stated simply. Toshiro's lip twitched and he reached for his sword. "'Yeah'? All you have to say is 'Yeah'? You caused her to have a mental breakdown and that's all you can say for yourself?" Shinji did not react to Toshiro threatening to draw his weapon, and opened his mouth to say something before Momo cut him off.
"Shiro-chan I said I'm fine! This isn't Hirako-taichou's fault!" she shouted louder than she meant to, causing everyone in the room to take a step back. Correcting her volume she continued. "I was the one that looked at him, I was the one that broke down, and I'm the one that needs to take responsibility for my own problems." She looked at her childhood friend, who seemed rather taken aback. "I'm glad you came Shiro-chan, but I think I just need some rest right now." Toshiro looked like he was about to argue, but to Momo's surprise Rangiku stood up and grabbed her Captain's arm, a rare serious expression on her face. Looking at his own Vice-Captain, Toshiro simply nodded, and after saying their goodbyes and wishing her a quick recovery, Renji and Izuru followed suite.
Shinji grunted as he slid the door closed behind them. "I hate it when people barge into my house uninvited," he mumbled then turned towards Momo. "Ya should stay here tonight. No clue what ya might end up doin' if I left ya alone." He began to walk into another room, which Momo could only assume were his sleeping quarters, but Momo suddenly felt the need to speak with her Captain. "Hirako-taichou." He stopped and turned to her, she continued. "You were A-... his Captain a hundred years ago right?"
To her mild surprise, Shinji winced. She assumed that he had hoped that she would never have brought this up. "Yeah. He was the one that got me kicked outta Soul Society, me and Rose and Kensei." He seemed to have resigned himself to the topic, so instead moved to go make some tea for them. "And he was just as smooth back then as he was when he was yer Captain I hear. Me though? I always thought there was somethin' off about him."
Momo accepted her tea with thanks and took a long drink before asking her next question. "Do you sometimes regret not doing anything about your suspicions?" Shinji set down his tea and assumed a thoughtful expression for a moment. "Well I guess if I had I probably woulda been able to save the other Vizards from exile, but if I had called him out before his plan was ready he probably woulda just killed me. So I guess not." This answer seemed remarkably shallow to Momo, but then again, it was one thing to say you'd sacrifice yourself for the greater good and another to actually do it. She took an even longer drink before asking the question that she had avoided asking ever since his betrayel. "Hirako-taichou... what's wrong with me?"
This didn't have the effect Momo expected at all. Shinji seemed to convulse briefly and almost dropped his tea in his rush to crouch beside her. She felt his hand pat her head and he scowled. "The hell are you on about girl? There ain't nothin' wrong with ya that can't be fixed. Ya respected him, and nobody blames ya, don't be an idiot." His scowl turned to a toothy grin. "If ya let a man get in the way of yer happiness then yer a bigger fool than I thought ya were." He stood up and motioned for her to drink her tea. Walking towards the door to his room, he stopped short and spoke to her without turning. "Don't worry Momo. I dunno if ya got the chance to read up on my Shikai yet, but reversing things happens to be a specialty of mine."
As Shinji walked into his bedroom, Momo sipped her tea thoughtfully. She had heard a lot about Shinji from the older Captains, and they had told her he had a tendency to be a lot of rather unpleasant things; cold, rude, blunt, insulting and lazy. But the one thing none of them had told her, not even Unohana, was that he could also be a lot more pleasant than that, though he seemed to have trouble expressing it sometimes. She wondered why as she finished the last of her tea. Shrugging, she laid back down in her bed and closed her eyes. In some ways he really was much more different from her last Captain.
Shinji yawned and stretched out his arms as he left the Captain's meeting. That Yamamoto could make a house fire seem boring. Looking around for Rose and Kensei, he spotted his two fellow former-Vizards already making their way down the hall. Before he could catch up with them however, he saw a man he had been waiting to speak to for a few days walk past him muttering madly. "Kurotsuchi!" he called after the muttering man. The Captain of the 12th Division seemed to quickly decide whether he should ignore him or not, but turned to face him with a plainly annoyed expression. "What is it Hirako? I'm incredibly busy." he stated coldly, and Shinji felt a nerve twitch in his lip. He really had hated Mayuri when he was only Urahara's third seat all those years ago, and gaining captaincy had only served to make him even more unpleasant.
"Yer not too busy ta tell me why ya felt the need ta display Muken's security footage in the room that my Vice-Captain was in, yer third seat said ya knew she was there the moment she walked through the door. Somethin' about security sensors." Shinji glared at the scientist, who stared unabashedly back at him before assuming a rather wicked grin. "Oh my Hirako. I hope you aren't too cross with me, I simply thought it would be a rather interesting experience to see her reaction to various stimuli." Shinji felt hot anger rise inside of him, felt himself move to draw his sword but then felt a large, strong hand grab his sword arm.
Komamura Sajin fixed Mayuri with an unblinking stare, which the other Captain returned, though his held a rather noticable amount of annoyance. "Kurotsuchi-taichou, I'm afraid many of us do not share your philosophies on research. I'm sure if we did the world would be a far more interesting place, but sadly we simply cannot seem to wrap our heads around your ideals. If you'll excuse us." Komamura led Shinji past Mayuri, who seemed rather pleased to have his ego stroked, and once they turned into an empty room he let Shinji go. "Hirako-taichou, I understand your frustration with Kurotsuchi-taichou, but you cannot allow him to get to you. He is a very cold, calculating man and knows nothing of emotions. It is best to simply let him be unless absolutely neccessary. As much as I hate to admit it, we need the Research and Development Bureau operating at maximum efficiency, as without them our capabilities would be severely limited."
Staring up at the feral-looking Captain with the kind eyes, Shinji grunted. He had been back in Soul Society for a couple weeks now, and, after getting over the surprise of seeing a wolf-man going about his daily business as if it was completely normal, got an even greater surprise when he discovered that Komamura was an incredibly honorable and polite individual. "I'm not exactly sure what I expected from confrontin' him anyways. I knew Mayuri from back when he first joined the division, and he hasn't changed a damn bit. If anything, he's gotten even worse." He made a small bow. "Thanks fer stoppin' me back there Komamura-san." Komamura smiled and clapped him on the shoulder before leading him out of the room.
"Think nothing of it Hirako-taichou. I hope Hinamori Momo is feeling better, I have noticed a rather steep decline in your work since you allowed her to take the week off. Have you been gone for so long that you have forgotten how to fill out forms?" Shinji could tell Komamura was trying to lighten the mood, and he did his best to crack a smile as the two walked downstairs on the way to their respective barracks. "Yeah. Havin' two Vice-Captains willin' ta pick up my slack has really spoiled me." He glanced at Komamura and wondered if he could entrust him with some personal information. He doubted the bestial Captain was the type to spread gossip, but he didn't want Rose or Kensei to catch wind of this or he'd never hear the end of it.
"I went ta see Unohana the night I met Momo actually." He decided to confide in the other Captain. "She told me what Aizen did ta her. Said it messed her up real bad. She told me ta try and be friends with her and teach her ta rely on herself instead of others." Komamura regarded Shinji for a moment before nodding. "That is sound advice. Unohana-san is second only to Yamamoto-dono in age, and some might argue equal to him in wisdom. Do you plan on taking her advice?"
Shinji glanced around to make sure they were alone before responding. "I guess. I dunno how ta be friends with someone like her though. I mean I don't got anythin' in common with her do I?" Shinji began to fiddle with his tie and found himself avoiding Komamura's gaze. He heard the other Captain chuckle. "I would not worry too much about that Hirako-taichou. Do what you think is right and I think you will be pleased with the results. That is what you have been doing so far correct? And I've heard from Hisagi that she speaks very highly of you." He looked down kindly at Shinji and patted him on the back once again before going down the street towards his own barracks. Shinji watched him for a few moments before realizing he was smiling. He quickly made sure nobody had seen him and slinked back to his own barracks rather embarrassed. He wondered what having a normal Vice-Captain was like.