I can't even begin to comprehend this. I can't. I always dreamed about this. Now that I'm finally in the Seretei... It's overwhelming. As much as I tried hide my amazement and excitement, I could still feel my lips turn upwards at the corners every so often.
The captain walked in front of Kasuti and I, with his lieutenant a step behind him. He emitted an air of authority. He must take pride in being a captain, so young too... It's really impressive.
Many soul reapers stared as we walked by, curious as to why two girls, whom no one recognised were going somewhere with a captain. I bit my lip, feeling nervous and fidgety under their heavy and obvious stares.
The captain must have noticed too for he stopped walking making his lieutenant nearly collide with him. His piercing orbs glanced side to side twice before people got the message and began walking away.
He cleared his throat and watched the last few leave with a frown etched into his face. He then looked at us. His lieutenant looked at him for a moment before her light-coloured eyes flickered to Kasuti and I.
I tried swallowing the nervous lump in my throat. What now? Was he going to suddenly say he knew the whole time and was leading us into a trap? Or-
"Hey! Hinari!" a voice shouted angrily. I blinked.
"Huh?" I said questioningly. I was met with an annoyed glare. Oh... Did I zone out?
"'Huh'?! Are you sure you're in my squad!? Because I'm sure people in my squad know how to at least listen when their superior officer is talking to them!" he said to me in annoyance, a vein popping in his forehead.
"S- sorry... C- captain," I stammered. I am not getting off on the right foot with him. He surely hates me already. How many times have I screwed up in front of him? I was caught hiding behind a fridge in the world of the living and have the worst excuse in existence for it.
He doesn't trust me in the slightest and probably suspects me greatly. I'm not going to last here until the end of the day at the rate I'm going! He sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I have paperwork to deal with. I'll deal with you tomorrow," he said, venom lacing his words. Was he really that annoyed over finding me in the world of the living? He glanced at Kasuti.
"Hisagi can decide about you," he said waving his hand dismissively before he flashstepped out of sight.
"Jeesh, he's in an even worse mood than usual," Matsumoto commented. Her eyes narrowed at us then. But it disappeared as she smiled.
"Matsumoto Rangiku," she introduced herself, "why don't we go somewhere we can talk, neh?"
"Wow... So you're like an actual noble, I feel pretty important, knowing," she said with a grin. I nodded.
"Yes..." I said quietly shifting my weight. The lieutenant's expression took on a thoughtful look.
"It's a bit ridiculous... An arranged marriage when there is so much going on for soul reapers..." she murmured.
"Going on?" Kasuti questioned. The strawberry-blonde sighed and ran a hand through the silky waves.
"Ever since those three captains' betrayal, tensions have been running high. No one knows who to trust anymore. Surely you heard about it at least," she said to Kasuti. Kasuti nodded.
"Yes, but I didn't realise how big it truly was," the blonde replied.
"Oh it's big..." the lieutenant said, her tone melancholic as she frowned.
"Matsumoto-san... Which captains betrayed the Soul Society?" I asked her. She looked at me for a moment before answering.
"Kaname Tousen, squad nine, Gin Ichimaru, squad three, and... Sosuke Aizen, squad five," she answered. I frowned. Why would they betray the Soul Society? Why?
"What about their lieutenants? They must be crushed..." I said sadly.
"Well, yeah... Hisagi and Kira are still pretty shaken up after it. Squad five didn't have a lieutenant though," she told me. I nodded slowly trying to process everything.
"Who's taking care of five then?" Kasuti questioned.
"A couple of captains are co-running it at the moment. They really need someone that can be there all the time though, someone that can help squad five through this. They suffered the worst loss really," she said. I exchanged a look with Kasuti.
"Anyways," Matsumoto said giving us a small smile, "don't worry I won't tell anyone your secret. We should go do something now though. Explain the situation to Hisagi at least."
"I can do that myself, but thanks Matsumoto-san," Kasuti said standing up.
"Neh, are you sure Kasuti-san?" I asked the girl. She smiled and nodded.
"It's okay. Though he might be a bit angry at me," she trailed off.
"Why? Do you know him?" Matsumoto asked. She bit her lip.
"Maybe... He might have forgotten me which may complicate things," she said sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.
"Aren-san?" Matsumoto said questioningly.
"Maybe you should come just in case..." she said quietly.
"Kasuti-san?" I said to her. She smiled.
"Sorry Hina-san. I'll explain later, if it doesn't get explained when we see Hisagi-kun," she said apologetically. I shook my head at her. She rarely messed up, she used the name we agreed on and all.
"It's no problem Kasuti-san. I'm just wondering why he'd be angry at you," I told her smiling. She laughed nervously.
"This is the ninth division," Matsumoto announced walking into the small yard. Kasuti nervously followed her. I wonder why she's so nervous about seeing this friend of hers...
"The offices are just over here..." the strawberry-blonde murmured walking in the direction of one of the buildings.
"C- can I change my mind?" Kasuti stammered. Matsumoto raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know why you're so worried Aren-san," she muttered. Kasuti opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. Matsumoto slid open the screen door before any more conversation passed between us.
I looked around curiously. There was two desks a couch and other things spread around the room. At one of the desks was a man. He had short spiky black hair and grey eyes which flickered upwards as Matsumoto stepped inside, Kasuti and I in tow.
There was no sleeves on his robes, revealing his arm muscles. He had a piece of tape across his left cheekbone and nose. Under the tape was a small tattoo consisting of the number '69'. He stood up.
"Why're you here Matsumoto?" he asked her in a gruff voice.
"This is serious Hisagi," Matsumoto gave him a serious look before grabbing the slightly shorter girl by the shoulders and pushing her in front of her.
Kasuti was frozen for a moment before lifting her eyes up towards him. Hisagi looked at her before his eyes widened slightly.
"You- you're... You're alive?" he asked, his tone containing astonishment. My own eyes went wide. This- he thought she was dead!? What? This is all very confusing...
"Great. So you're acquainted already! Lets go Hina-Chan!" Matsumoto said before dragging me out the door. Wh- what?!
"Eto... Matsumoto-san, maybe we should stay?" I said questioningly.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," she replied brushing it off.
"B- but..." I trailed off.
"I think it would easier for her to explain without us there to judge her reasons," Matsumoto told me. I couldn't find fault with that. It was true. I was silent as we walked.
"We should get back anyways. You can room with me," she said with a smile. I nodded silently. I hope Kasuti is okay... I'm really curious as to what happened there, but... It's not my business to pry.
"Hinamori-san? Hinamori-san!" a voice exclaimed. I froze. How do they know my real name! Oh no, Kami-sama help me! I could feel myself sweat nervously as I stiffly turned to face the person whoever had called me.
A man or boy...? Lets say man ran up to me with wide eyes. He had blonde hair which covered the right side of his face and sky-blue eyes.
"Hinamori-san, it really is you!" he exclaimed. I stared.
"D- do I know you?" I said nervously. The smile which had occupied his face before slowly fell.
"Don't you remember me, Hinamori-san?" he asked. I frowned. Who was this? Who...
"We were friends! We went to soul reaper academy together," he told me. What? What? What?! WHAT?! Soul reaper academy?
"I'm sorry you must have me confused with someone else," I said in disbelief.
"Tobiume. That's your zan pakuto," he stated. I paused and looked at him with astonished eyes. How could he have known? How?
"H- how did you..." I trailed off.
"I'm going to get Abarai-kun," he said hurriedly before rushing away quickly. I stared after him in bewilderment.
"Hina-Chan..." Matsumoto said quietly, "He knew your real name. Kira, he acted like he really knew you." I stared before looking at Matsumoto seriously.
"I know."
"A hell butterfly," Matsumoto murmured looking past me. I turned just as the creature fluttered past me towards Matsumoto.
"The- the head captain wants to see you..." she said quietly, her eyebrows furrowed. I felt my eyes widen as my brain tried to comprehend the current situation.
"Hey Hina-Chan... Come on. We have to go," the strawberry-blonde said seriously as she nudged my sleeve with her elbow.
"R- r- right," I muttered feeling disheartened. The head captain wants to see me... I'll be sent home. I could get punished for impersonating a soul reaper. I- I... If I go back... The arranged marriage... I want to cry. The situation feels so hopeless.
I don't know why I even thought I could've possibly stayed here in the first place anyways. I was bound to be caught. I can only hope my parents won't be too angry. And the punishment for impersonating a soul reaper won't be too harsh. I followed Matsumoto, my mind wandering. I can't let anything happen to her. She helped me out of the goodness of her heart, I can't let her get punished for doing such a selfless thing.
And Kasuti. Even if the Seretei don't punish her and she comes back with me... My family... They'll banish her, which is the highest disgrace an employee of a noble family can receive. It's my fault... I dragged her into my mess. I asked her to come with me, and now she could lose everything because of it. If I could convince her to stay here though... Then, it would be okay. Going back would end her being a soul reaper though. Being banished, no one would employ someone deemed untrustworthy. Nor would the Seretei accept her into their ranks. And it would be my fault. My fault. All my fault.
"Hina-Chan," Matsumoto said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at the lieutenant with anxious brown eyes. She frowned.
"We're here..." she said trailing off at the end. I swallowed and nodded. She lead me to a set of double doors on which she knocked. They were opened by a man with silvery hair and a small moustache. He had the regular shinigami robes with a white coat and a lieutenant's badge on his left arm. He stood back to let us enter. My sweaty hands were laced together in front of me as I tried swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Hinamori Momo, daughter and heir to the Hinamori clan. Tell me why, I should let you stay," a voice boomed. I looked up at the man who was the head captain. His long white beard was as white as that captain of the tenth division. He was letting me, convince him? I can't mess this up! I'll do the most I possibly can with this opportunity! I won't go back!
I made my choice and there isn't any turning back from it now!
Ahhhh, this update took so long! Gomen gomen minna! I hope you liked though :) I'm hoping that the net update will be much quicker! I just hit a bit of writer's block near the end so... yep ^_^ Tell what you thought! You guys are amzing for reviewing and following imma be like OOO YOU GUYS OHMERGOSSSSSSH XD LOL RANDOM MOOOD WHOOP!
Review replies-
OMG YOU GUYS WERE AWESOME FOR THE LAST CHAPTER! LOVE YOU ALL IN A TOTALLY NON-PERVERTED WAAAAAAAY XD
Hylla- Yesssssh, what a coincidence :3 Mwhahahahah, hope you liked this chappy ^_^ Ah, you've been awesome for reviewing! Arigato! *gives hug and truckload of anime merchandise*
Reader-Favs- Lol yep! There's gonna be quite a bit happening with those two around XD Thank you for reviewing!
Saxophone- I'm so sorry the update took ages ^_^ Hope you liked it still though! Glad you thought it was funny, I was laughing writing it :D I loooked so weird but yep... anyways! Arigato! *you have received hugs and anime merchandise this chapter!*
squirtlepokemon215- Lol. That just summed up a lot of that last chapter :D
yuki- Ah! Gomen gomen for the update taking ages! I'll try harder with the next one ^_^ Hahahaha, thanks for the reviews, or reviews? XD *anime merchandise is given to kind reviewer*
Vegetable lov3r- Hahaha, sorry if I do change it! I don't want you getting your hopes up just in case :3 Yeah! Momo in Toshiro's squad! this will totally goo down well... ^_~ Phahaha, Kasuti! Hmm, well now you know! I can elaborate more on that next chappy ^_^ Ah, you're welcome! Aime merchandise this time for the lovely reviewer XD
I have nothing else to say.
Peace!
Ja!
FrozenC^^