CHAPTER 12: THE MELODY PLAYING MY HEARTSTRINGS

Tayomi stared out on the window, watching the birds chirping on a nearby tree branch. The dazzling sun shone down on her pink cheeks, as she was whisked away into the depths of her mind, occupied by memories of her and Hitsugaya. Sighing, her thoughts wandered off into the night when the tragedy took place. Who was the one behind the massacre? Tayomi had not the slightest idea who 'AS' was, but she was sure that the assassins from the Secret Mobile Corps were definitely not sent by anyone from the Gotei 13. Captain Soi Fon, Commander of the Executive Militia, had no reason to assassinate them. Captain-commander Yanamoto would not be after their lives as well, since he was the one who started the program to stretch their potential and train them to become outstanding Shinigami, who would serve Soul Society wholeheartedly and destroy evil.

Kiseida awoke and sat up, running her hair through her fingers. Tayomi ran over and sat beside her, as they discussed their plans. For now, they had to rest and do absolutely nothing but wait, until their reiatsu was restored. She had managed to find her communicator the day before, but it was broken and she had not the slightest idea on how to fix it. Jean had left the house to them and Tayomi had been poking around the communicator with tools, but had no idea how to fix it. She could not bring it those shops in the Human World and let the mechanics handle something so advanced, making them curious and arouse their suspicion. Somehow, she would just have to fix it herself. They decided to take their minds off things for a while and go shopping with the money they had, given to them by Soul Society before they left for the Human World.

They walked by all the stores, entering every single one of them. For the very first time, they entered a department store, filled with nothing but clothes. Tayomi and Kiseida tried on all sorts of clothes, before finally picking a few that they liked. Tayomi preened in front of the mirror in a black halter-neck shirt, a pink skirt, a black jacket, knee-high colourful socks and brown boots. She smiled at herself in the mirror and suddenly, an image of Hitsugaya appeared in the mirror. He hugged her from the back and smiled, but once she looked up, he was gone. Burying her face in her hands and dropping to her knees, she wondered what was going on. Her mind was so full of him that she was hallucinating, seeing illusions of him and her together again. Tayomi was so close to breaking down, but she decided to stay strong. Time would fix this mess. Time would restore her reiatsu and let her return to him. Even if it was because of time, that Hitsugaya no longer loved her the way he used to, seeing him again would be enough for her. Sighing, she walked out of the dressing room and bought the clothes, before linking arms with Kiseida and heading towards the neighbouring store.

Hitsugaya closed his eyes, with Hyorinmaru in front of him, going into a meditative state. Bankai was the only thing on his mind right now, besides Tayomi. He would achieve Bankai for her, for himself, for them. He was finally inside his inner world, as the ice dragon looked upon him, speaking.

"You are not focused today." Its voice echoed throughout the area, embedded with ice. Hitsugaya looked down, his eyes devoid of emotion.

"Do you want to progress on, or not?"

"Yes." Hitsugaya replied, full of determination, well-aware that he had to focus for now. He turned to his right and saw an illusion of Tayomi standing beside him, smiling. Her last words to him sounded throughout his mind incessantly. Taking a deep breath, he raised his Zanpakutou and screamed, charging towards Hyorinmaru.

Tayomi and Kiseida walked past a music store and rushed in. The whole place was magical, with music playing from the sound system. There were shelves filled with CDs and headphones, as well as walls lined with all sorts of instruments. Tayomi stared at the instruments and was marvelled by it. She took down a strange-looking instrument and strummed its strings, creating a nice sound. Amazed by what she did, she continued playing, plucking the strings and strumming it. Everyone in the store looked at her, as she tried to play the tune she heard in the store. When she finished playing it, the store erupted into applause and she was stunned. She had no idea what she just did, but she liked it. The store owner ran over to her, praising her skills on the guitar.

"Guitar? What's that?" She asked.

"The song you just played on that thing? It's called a guitar." The store owner pointed at the instrument she was holding.

Tayomi nodded her head, delighted at her newfound knowledge. So, humans played strange-looking things called guitars, which make nice sounds. She still seemed confused and questioned the store owner further. He was shocked, as Tayomi just played the tune perfectly and admitted that she had never touched a 'guitar' in her whole life. He explained that the 'guitar' created 'music' and was used to play 'songs'. Taking out a book, he thrust it into her hands, encouraging her to buy the guitar and learn it, since she showed promise at it. It cost fifty thousand and twenty yen in total, shocking Tayomi. She did not have that sort of money with her and apologised, telling the store owner that she could not afford it. He asked them how old they were, looking at Tayomi's miserable height. Kiseida replied, telling him that she was seventeen and that Tayomi was fifteen. The store owner smiled and offered them both a job at the store, telling them to work for him and he would deduct their pay accordingly, till they were able to pay off the guitar. Tayomi and Kiseida looked at each other, before nodding in agreement. The store owner explained to them everything about the job, including the pay and working hours. Tayomi and Kiseida nodded, shaking hands with him before leaving the store, with Tayomi's new guitar and book in hand.

Tayomi sat on the bed, holding her light brown guitar and strumming it softly. She looked down at the book and followed the instructions, pressing down the nylon strings and playing a sound, known as a 'note'. Kiseida was surfing the internet, searching for all sorts of songs and getting Tayomi to try playing them. She played them pitch-perfect, surprising herself as well. Perhaps besides Shinigami arts, she was 'musically gifted' as well. It helped her take her mind off the fact that she would be waiting a long time for her Shinigami powers to come back, but only for a brief moment. At night, the moonlight beamed down onto her face, as she lay in her bed, wearing a white spaghetti-strapped shirt and dark green shorts, the blankets covering her up till under her neck. Her purplish-blue eyes sparkled under the moonlight, shining with tears. Her teardrops fell one by one, when Hitsugaya's face surfaced in her mind. She shut her eyes tight and covered them with her arms, trying to force herself to fall asleep somehow. Although, somewhere inside, she knew that she would never sleep well until she returned to Soul Society.

Hinamori, Renji and Kira sat together outside the 5th Division's barracks. They had recently been separated, with Renji being transferred to the 11th Division and Kira being transferred to the 3rd Division. Lieutenant Ichimaru had been promoted to the post of Captain of the 3rd Division and Hinamori took over as Lieutenant of the 5th Division. Kira had become the Lieutenant of the 3rd Division and Renji was the 6th Seat of the 11th Division. They sat together, waiting for Hitsugaya to arrive. As his senpai and friends, they were very concerned about him and had asked him out for a chat, hoping to take his mind off Tayomi for a while and get him to speak.

"Hitsugaya –kun! How was Bankai training?" Hinamori asked excitedly as Hitsugaya walked over to them, sitting down, still gripping his Zanpakutou.

"Fine." He replied coldly.

Hinamori, Renji and Kira stared at him. Hitsugaya's face was stiff, frozen in a constant frown, his eyebrows pointing downwards all the time. It had been two weeks since Tayomi was gone and he seemed to be greatly affected by it still. For those past two weeks, he had only spoken fourteen words, which were made up of monosyllables. When he was questioned, he simply nodded or shook his head, after which he left, with his Zanpakutou in hand. He still performed exceedingly well during missions, his superiors often praised his capabilities and skills, sure that he would rise up the ranks quickly. Hitsugaya looked down, his mind still filled with thoughts of her.

"Hitsugaya-kun?" Kira waved his hand in front of Hitsugaya's face.

Hitsugaya was obviously distracted by his own thoughts. Renji sighed, before smacking him on the back, telling him to let it all out. Instead of telling them his problems, Hitsugaya ended up screaming, before bending his head down onto the ground and covering it with his hands. Tayomi was the only reason why he was trying to be strong, but also the only reason why he could crumble so easily. It's all my fault… I failed to protect her. I failed to hold her back. I practically sent her into the clutches of danger. He calmed down after a few seconds, with a new promise to himself.

When she comes back, I will protect her unconditionally. For now, I have to be strong… I have to stay strong for her, until she comes back.

Tayomi threw off her blanket and picked up her guitar. She walked into the living room, sat down beside the window and began strumming the instrument. Blinking back tears, she opened her mouth and sang softly.

"He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar… The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star…"

Author's note:
I decided to reveal one of Tayomi's talent outside the Shinigami field...MUSIC :D I was reading the Bleach wiki and realised that they listed some of the Shinigamis' talents, like Hinamori and drawing XD So I made Tayomi's one more unique, because no one has ever seen a Shinigami... well... SING or PLAY MUSIC. I actually play music myself, but not the guitar... T.T
Next chapter, we shall visit her inner world again! And watch her achieve her Bankai, as well as find out the name of her Bankai :D Please stay tuned and review! Thanks! ^.^
P.S. The next few chapters after that may be quite an Emo fest... But I can be a spoiler and tell you that the Emo fest ends at Chapter 16 :) Unless you want to see years of boredom and waiting around for their reiatsu to be restored XD