Before I start this, I want to thank xtranew again for the amazing fan art.
I love it.
This one's for you; the latest installment of the "Camping with the Kurosakis" arc.
She sat on her bed, staring out the single window, about as coherent as she had been weeks before, lying on that same bed in a coma.
For all intents and purposes, Hinamori Momo was dead to the world...both worlds.
She watched the moon, but didn't see it. She heard the wind, but didn't listen. She knew a blanket covered her, but didn't feel it.
She was numb.
Enlighten me, Hinamori Momo, as to why you get a second chance after spitting in his face, trusting a man you barely knew over a friend you've had for years. Enlighten me as to why you can get away with trying to kill him without any repercussions at all!
The words of her fellow vice-captain rang in Hinamori's ears, echoing in her head no matter what she did, no matter where she went. Since that day, that fateful day, she hadn't been able to think of anything else.
She hadn't the strength to even think of talking to either of them about it.
She didn't dare.
She looked up at the single shelf in the room, at the thing Matsumoto had given to her as a gift, before she had even regained consciousness.
There had been a small note with it.
Taichou says this has no place in our headquarters, and that it distracts me too often from my work. I figured you would like it.
Looking at that note now, she could feel the lack of feeling, the lack of compassion, in it. Matsumoto hadn't given it to her because of any desire to make her happy; it had likely been because Hinamori's room was the first place where she had been able to drop the thing off.
Still, Hinamori had been touched and delighted with the gift, this thing from the living world apparently called a "CD player," as she'd been told by Unohana, who was quite knowledgeable about such things.
One learned a lot in a hospital.
Upon figuring out how to work the device, however, she had been assaulted by a cacophony of screeching sounds that she couldn't even begin to understand, that sounded to her like a hollow ravaging an entire village, and she couldn't for the life of her understand who could consider this music.
Thinking back, she thought Matsumoto had picked that music either because she did or, more likely, she had known Hinamori wouldn't.
What hurt so much about that realization was that she now, finally, realized just how much she deserved such treatment.
She shook her head, banishing such self-pitying thoughts.
She couldn't think like that. It would just cause more animosity, and for no good reason.
She had taken to turning the music on lately, even though it was terrible, just for something to take her mind off the silence, to try to take her mind away from what she had done, and what it had taken to make her understand it.
It made her want to cry.
...No.
She hardened her resolve, squinting her eyes, clenching her fists.
No more crying.
No more weakness.
She was a vice-captain! A vice-captain in a division with no captain! She couldn't afford to do this...not anymore.
Enough self-pity.
If I ever hope for Shiro-ch-Hitsugaya-taichou to look at me again, I can't do this. All I'm doing is hurting him. No more. I hurt him badly enough once...twice...I...stupid, stupid! Asking him to...!
She shot to her feet, shaking her head in frustration.
Idiot!
Everything she had been thinking, sulking over, everything she had been beating herself over the head with, finally came to the surface of her mind, and she realized it...just how stupid she was.
Hitsugaya had once brooded on the fact that, due to his pushing her away, Hinamori had replaced him with Aizen. He had once berated himself for letting her go, for letting someone else take his place.
But it had been she, not he, to push away. She, Hinamori Momo, had actually thrown away a friendship with the single greatest man ever to grace Soul Society...to become a slave to the single worst.
She had to admit that. First...that the Aizen Sousuke she had known, loved, and worshipped...was fake. Had used her.
Second...that she had committed an irrevocable betrayal to Hitsugaya by taking to that fake rather than him.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
She had to move on with this.
She had to do her duty.
She had to show Hitsugaya Toushirou that she wasn't going to hurt him anymore.
She stood up, straightened her uniform, and stepped out into the hallway, bound and determined to start over.
And nearly crashed into a panicked, hyperventilating Kira Izuru.
"Hinamori!" he cried. "Oh, thank the spirits you're awake! Hurry!"
"W-Wha...Kira-kun, what's going on? What is it?"
The look on the vice-captain's face was enough to drain her newfound courage and conviction.
"Y-Y-You know that...Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto-fukutaichou left for a vacation in the living world, right?"
"Yes. I heard."
"It's...it's..."
"What? What is it?" Hinamori asked, now nearly frightened out of her mind.
"I-It's Ichimaru-taichou! He...he's come back! And...and...!"
She understood.
Her heart nearly stopped.
"Oh, God..."
They both ran as quickly as possible.
"Aizen-sama."
Raising an eyebrow, the former captain of the Fifth Division regarded his subordinate with a mildly interested expression. "Have you something to report, Tousen?"
"Ichimaru has been found, Aizen-sama."
"Is that right...? And what is he doing?"
"It seems that he is currently doing battle with Hitsugaya Toushirou."
Aizen Sousuke rose slightly in his seat. "Is he, now?"
"Yes. Zaraki Kenpachi, Kusajishi Yachiru, Matsumoto Rangiku, and Kurosaki Ichigo are nearby as well."
"Nearby."
"They are watching, Aizen-sama."
Aizen frowned thoughtfully at this. "Hmmm...I wonder what it is that my adjutant is planning..."
"Aizen-sama!"
The two shinigami glanced at the arrancar that rushed into the room and hurriedly dropped to his knees.
"Hm?"
"We have just received word that Kira Izuru and Hinamori Momo have entered the living world, and are currently on a course for Ichimaru-sama!"
"...Quite the gathering," Aizen noted.
"So it seems," Tousen agreed.
He stood.
"Aizen-sama?" Tousen asked, clearly confused.
"I believe I'll have a closer look at this."
The blind shinigami seemed surprised at this.
"...It seems Hinamori-kun is well again. I should say hello."
Tousen let out a humorless chuckle and shook his head.
Aizen smiled serenely.
"It will be nice to see her again, I think."
Yes...quite nice.
(1) These lyrics are from the song, "The Game," by Disturbed, one of the greatest rock bands on the face of the earth.
I'm not entirely sure why I decided to attempt to redeem Hinamori, but I did. Maybe it's because I don't feel Kubo-sama is going to bother with it any time soon, so it's up to us. I'm not entirely certain where this will lead, although I've a bit of an idea.
And rest assured, ye faithful readers, that regardless of what may or may not happen in the future of this series regarding Hinamori, it will not change the developments between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto in the slightest. I'm not about to jump ship, so to speak.
Hope you enjoyed this despite the fact that I've ended on yet another cliffhanger.
I've a feeling this section of the story will end next chapter.
But that doesn't mean I'm done with this. No way. Far too much fun.
'Til next time, all.