I'm sorry this was a day late, fanfiction wouldn't upload my document.... AGAIN
Monkeys are fun..
Momo, backing away from the door in shock, blinked in disbelief as she spoke.
"But... you... Toshiro....
… What?"
Rangiku stepped inside quietly, Gin closing the door behind her. Her blue eyes soft, she walked to Momo and sympathetically put a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she pulled the girl in closer, until she had wrapped her arms around her in a friendly hug.
"I'm still here, Hinamori."
Brown eyes where wide with astonishment, but Momo whispered a quiet question.
"How? Toshiro..."
Rangiku pulled away. "Is he asleep?" She asked, ignoring the girl's inquiry.
Stepping from the corner, Gin answered for Momo. "Yes, and he will be for about another half hour."
As she saw where the boy lay, Rangiku rushed forward and knelt by the side of the couch. Her hand shook slightly as she looked underneath the ripped cloth and saw the state of health Toshiro was in. His chest rose and fell unsteadily, the various injuries impairing his ability to breathe. His teal eyes were shut tight, his face contorted in distress.
"Gin..."
The man nodded and came to her side. She looked at him thankfully as a green glow surrounded his hands, slowly healing the worst of the wounds on the boy's chest.
"Wait... what's... Rangiku..." Momo could barely speak as the two sat by Toshiro's side, she was so taken aback by their appearance.
Still ignoring Momo for the moment, Rangiku spoke to the man beside her.
"He... He'll be okay, right?"
Nodding once again Gin confirmed it. "Yes, physically at least. Aizen wouldn't let him die, he only drags him as close as possible. Mentally, because of the elixir I gave him, he'll probably just return to the state he was in before that weapon was used on him."
Rangiku nodded slowly.
Still standing, alone and confused, Momo started to regain her ability to think clearly. "What's going on!? Rangiku... I thought you... That Toshiro had..."
"It was an illusion." Rangiku finally responded.
"Aizen used his power to deceive him," Her hand shook in anger. "and lead him to believe he really was killing me."
Momo shivered with happiness. "So... none of that was real?" She smiled as tears began to run down her cheeks. "I'm so relieved... I really thought that he had..." The girl trembled "We.. we have to tell Toshiro... He'll be so happy, and he won't have to be so broken, and-"
"No!"
The small girl gave a small gasp as Rangiku's harsh tone resounded through the room suddenly.
"You cannot tell him. Absolutely not. My captain... he cannot know that I am alive." The strawberry blonde's eyes where hidden behind her hair.
Momo couldn't understand what she had just heard. "But... Why?..."
Rangiku remained silent for a minute before she responded, "Because... If Aizen found out... He would kill me for real, and Gin..." She looked at the man with helplessness.
Ichimaru spoke for her as Rangiku stared sadly at the body of her captain, who had begun to breathe at an easier rhythm.
"We're no supposed to be here. Aizen would be able to tell if Hitsugaya had a little more spirit to him. He can' know."
Momo gazed at the floor in sorrow.
"Rangiku...
… you're alive...
All this time, I couldn't think of anyway to cling to hope. I watched as Toshiro fell apart... and I can't do anything about it. I... Grimmjow forced me to hurt him... There was nothing I could do... and now, I'm so confused... How can I keep this from Toshiro? How can I..."
Rangiku stood, silent as Momo continued.
"How can I live my life like this? Capt.... Aizen's gone... he's hurt me... and I... I can't..."
"Stop it, Hinamori."
Momo looked up at the lieutenant in surprise. "What?"
The woman's eyes narrowed as she glared down at the soul reaper standing before her. "Stop being so selfish. Every word I just heard out of your mouth was 'I' or 'me'"
"No.. I..."
"My captain would do anything for you. This whole situation proves it. He's gone beyond death, being tortured mentally and physically past anything anyone should have to endure." Rangiku's eyes glinted with rage.
"And how do you repay him? You're only thinking about yourself, and how distraught this has been making you. He's the one... he's the one whose suffering! Not you!"
Momo shrank in dismay. "I'm not..."
She had never seen Rangiku get so angry like this. It wasn't like her... She had always been so cheerful, why was she getting upset like this? Momo's mind raced. Was she that selfish? She had cared for Toshiro, but, inside, she was always been thinking about her own misfortune, even before Aizen had captured them.
When she had attacked him, believing that he was Aizen's murderer, she knew that it must've hurt him, but she never really stopped and thought about the torment he had really been put through. And now.. With Aizen... he was in such agony that he had almost been driven to insanity. And, yet, she still thought about herself?
Rangiku was right. She was self-centered.
Momo sank to the floor in shame, her soft hair falling in front of her face.
"We need to leave, he wake up soon." Gin said as he stood.
Rangiku nodded as she turned her gaze away from Momo. She stepped over to her captain and brushed her hand across his sleeping face, wiping away a loose strand of hair.
"I'm so sorry, captain."
She walked to Momo and placed her hand on the girl's head. "I have faith in you, take care of him, Hinamori."
She only nodded in response, sobs coming to often for her to speak. With once last glance at the unconscious soul reaper, she came to Gin and followed him out of the room.
Ichimaru's creepy smile had returned by the time they reached the corner. He guided her throughout eh empty halls, walking swiftly until they reached another door. Gin unlocked it and stepped inside, Rangiku behind him.
As the door shut, she spoke softly.
"Gin, you didn't have to do that."
The man only squinted at her, his expression falling again.
"I told you you shouldn't have. Aizen probably already knows, he has surveillance everywhere, you..."
Gin walked past her, deeper into the barely lit room he stayed in. "I could tell that's what you wanted. Aizen won't kill me."
Rangiku came back to his side, moving closer and closer forward until she was leaning against his chest.
"I'm so sorry there's nothing I can do, and I'm only making things worse..."
Gin moved his hands to her back and stroked her hair softly as she gripped his robe.
"You've always been terrified of him, haven't you? I had no idea... that Aizen had..." Her whisper broke off, feeling his warm body around her in his embrace. He was always so different around her. She never understood why, but his sly smile always faded when he looked at her. Recent events had changed that.
Ichimaru changed the subject, knowing what was really on his mind. "Somebody will save him."
Rangiku looked up in surprise.
"Hitsugaya. There are other people who care about him, and I don't think they'll give up on saving him." Gin remembered the face of the orange haired substitute, determined to protect his friends.
"He's not like I was. He will be rescued."
The man frowned deeper. "I'm sorry I'm too much of a coward to do it myself."
Was this chapter short? I think it was... i'm sorry, but I think it was kinda good. Sorta... what do you think?
MOMO IS SELFISH AND ALWAYS WILL BE SELFISH. I just had to have Rangiku yell at her. She needed it.
I'm gonna draw a pic of Gin and Rangiku hugging or something now... It's gonna be sweet...
And I need help with something. I drew a pic yesterday of this kid with white hair and red eyes and he's really small and holding a blanket and smiling. Now the problem is that he takes up only a TINY TINY , well not that tiny, but only a small portion of the center of the page. So my solution (excuse my sick and twisted mind) is to have the floor in front of him splattered with blood. Or I could just leave it the way it is... boring.
Anyway, please review me!
