A big thank you so much to everyone who participated in the BLEACH Anime Celebration 2024!
I can't run events like these without your enthusiasm, support, and participation - which was at it's highest this year :D If you haven't see then entries for this year yet:
Day 1: Fave Character / Division / Save the One Save the All
Fave character by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi]
Fave character by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi]
Fav Character by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya and the artist's AU time traveler version of him]
Fave Character part 1, 2, and 3 by @my0vershareworld [analysis posts about Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Fave character by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki]
Fave character by @bleached-socks [fanart featuring Uryu Ishida]
No Going Back by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the themes 'Fave character' and 'Division' featuring Momo Hinamori and Gin Ichimaru]
Day 2: Hunter / A Missing Scene / Unlikely Pairs
Unlikely Pairs by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi x Soi Fon]
Hunter by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
A Missing Scene & Unlikely Pairs by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar and PePe Waccabrada]
Unlikely Pairs by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]
Day 3: Shikai / Fave Friendship / Black Hole Disco
Shikai by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi]
Fav Friendship by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya, Sojun Kuchiki, and an oc]
The Path Taken by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the theme 'Fave Friendship' featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto]
Shikai by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Minazuki]
Black Hole Disco by @srtruth [fanart featuring Nemu Kurotsuchi]
Black Hole Disco by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar and an oc]
Day 4: Halloween/ Volume Cover / Comforts
Halloween by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
Halloween by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kenpachi Zaraki, Ashisogi Jizo and Yachiru Kusajishi]
Halloween by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi]
Halloween by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring a Menos Grande]
Volume Cover by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Halloween by @srtruth [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Tite Kubo]
Day 5: Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full / Recognizing Reiatsu / Black and Blue
Recognizing Reiatsu by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
Black and Blue by @recurring-polynya [fanfiction featuring Renji Abarai Byakuya Kuchiki, and Momo Hinamori]
Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Recognizing Reiatsu and Black and Blue by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]
Day 6: Six moments or characters / Defeated / In Another Life
In Another Life by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]
At the Turn of Change by @rays-of-fire-and-ice [fanfiction based on the themes 'Six characters or moments' featuring Momo Hinamori, Toushiro Hitsugaya, Shinji Hirako, Rangiku Matsumoto, Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, and Hitsuhina]
In Another Life by @recurring-polynya [fanart featuring Renruki]
In Another Life by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
Defeated by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Day 7: Crossover / War Cry / Aftermath
Aftermath by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Crossover and Crossover by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu Kurostuchi]
Crossover
Aftermath by @my0vershareworld [fanart featuring Askin Nakk le Vaar]
Crossover and Crossover by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu Kurostuchi]
Aftermath by @recurring-polynya [fanfiction featuring Tetsuzaemon Iba Momo Hinamori, Rukia Kuchiki, and Sajin Komamura]
Crossover by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
Day 8: A New Look/ Opposites / A Relationship thatâs Stayed the Same
A New Look by @toxictaicho [fanart featuring Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Kenpachi Zaraki]
A New Look by @timetravelbleach [fanart featuring Toushiro Hitsugaya]
If I have missed any submissions, please tell me ASAP so I can add them here.
Given the next cour is set to be the last for the new anime series, I'll likely be doing this event again once the new cour is announced. We might do a bigger celebration, perhaps a two week event or a month-long celebration. Let me know what you all think!
In the meantime, thank you again everyone and take care!
If youâre running behind or have only just discovered this event (read more about it here), itâs not too late to make something for any of the themes before October 31st! The themes are:
Day 1: Fave Character / Division / Save the One Save the All
Day 2: Hunter / A Missing Scene / Unlikely Pairs
Day 3: Shikai / Fave Friendship / Black Hole Disco
Day 4: Halloween/ Volume Cover / Comforts
Day 5: Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full / Recognizing Reiatsu / Black and Blue
Day 6: Six moments or characters* / Defeated / In Another Life
Day 7: Crossover / War Cry / Aftermath
Day 8: A New Look / Opposites / A Relationship thatâs Stayed the Same**
*Full title of the theme is âSix moments that a character holds dear (Or a moment six characters hold dear)â
**Full title for the theme is âHow a characterâs relationship with another has stayed the sameâ
Check out the prompts page for ideas and definitions of these themes. Tag any submissions with â#Bleach Returns 2024â so they can be reblogged here!
The BLEACH Anime Celebration 2024 is accepting late submission until Thursday October 31st.
So if you've running behind or have only just discovered this event (read more about it here), it's not too late to make something for any of the themes! The themes are:
Day 1: Fave Character / Division / Save the One Save the All
Day 2: Hunter / A Missing Scene / Unlikely Pairs
Day 3: Shikai / Fave Friendship / Black Hole Disco
Day 4: Halloween/ Volume Cover / Comforts
Day 5: Cup Half Empty, Cup Half Full / Recognizing Reiatsu / Black and Blue
Day 6: Six moments or characters* / Defeated / In Another Life
Day 7: Crossover / War Cry / Aftermath
Day 8: A New Look / Opposites / A Relationship thatâs Stayed the Same**
*Full title of the theme is âSix moments that a character holds dear (Or a moment six characters hold dear)â
**Full title for the theme is âHow a characterâs relationship with another has stayed the sameâ
Check out the prompts page for ideas and definitions of these themes. Tag any submissions with â#Bleach Returns 2024â so they can be reblogged here!
Thank you so much to everyone who have made submissions, this event isn't possible without you!
This was the first thing I started for Bleach Returns 2024, and the last thing I finished. For theme weeks like this, it's always nice to have ideas that can fit under more than one of the prompts, in case you have to switch it around. This one could just as well have ended up under "Unlikely Pairs" -- they day I turned out to have skipped, but I needed the extra time, and I think it fits better as an "Aftermath" story anyway.
In any case, I have held the belief in my heart for ages that a truly underrated part of the Blood War was the fact that out of everyone in the Gotei, the only two people that got to see Komamura's wolf-man form were Iba and Hinamori, and I wanted to know if they ever talked about it later. I accidentally wrote it in the present tense, so it came out about a thousand times more melancholy than I intended it to be, but I'm actually pretty happy with how it came out. Consider this my Komamura Tribute Fic: you were a real one, sir, and for, like, 30 seconds you were a total smokeshow. Somehow I doubt you truly gave up your heart for good.
Rated T for one mild curse and endorsing lying to your boss
| read on ao3 |
---
"Why are you asking me?" Rukia frowns. "Renji is a perfectly adequate liar." And your friend, she doesn't add.
Hinamori has an answer for this. She would have preferred to ask Renji, too. "He's too nice," she explains. "I know that I'm really bad at this, and he'll tell me I'm fine when I'm not. This is important. I need to do it right."
Rukia screws up her face and for a moment, Hinamori worries that she feels insulted, either on her own or on Renji's behalf. It's usually pretty rude to come up to a person and ask for their help in crafting a convincing fib. Hinamori knows Renji well enough-- she knows Rukia well enough now-- to expect that it would be taken as a compliment. But maybe not.
Rukia huffs. "You're right," she grumbles. "He's always been like that." She sighs expansively. "But if he were capable of running a team grift on his own, we never would have met, so I suppose I can't complain." And without any further preamble, she launces into a dissertation on the theory and practice of lying.
Hinamori blinks as she tries to take it in. There are fundamental precepts. There are classic techniques. There is ontology. There are hand-movements and eyebrow wagging. Hinamori should have brought a notebook, not that she could manage to get it all down. A lot of what Rukia says sounds like something Renji would say, but with far more conviction. He always used to say that he learned most of his chicanery from Rukia, and for the first time, Hinamori starts to believe it.
Rukia stops abruptly in the middle of an illustrative anecdote that has something to do with Kurosaki Ichigo's gym teacher. "What, exactly is the falsehood you need to fabricate?"
Hinamori tells her.
Rukia squirms for a moment. Momo realizes that she doesn't know if Rukia was asked to testify at any inquiries regarding her own captain. She wonders if she should have asked Renji after all.
"Look," says Rukia, in a way that is somehow simultaneously gruff and delicate, "Hinamori." She clears her throat. "I know it's extra weird because he's the Captain-Commander now, but you can just lie to Captain Kyouraku. It doesn't have to be convincing. He will ask you the question and you can say what you need to say and he'll write it in the official report. Whether or not he believes you is unimportant. He wants you to lie."
"I know," says Hinamori. "But I don't want it to just be a nod and a wink. Captain Komamura wouldn't have liked that. He was a good captain and a kind soul. Iba told me that he often tried to help people save face. I want to do a good job on my lie, for him. For Iba, too."
Rukia's brows furrow. She sets her jaw. "Your heart is very big, Hinamori," she says. "There are special techniques for lying with your entire heart. I will teach them to you."
"Thank you, Kuchiki-san," says Hinamori.
---
"Shortly after I became his lieutenant," Iba says, facing forward, standing at his fullest height, "my captain informed me that, in the case of his death, he had arranged a special exemption from the standard funeral rites for Gotei captains. He said that, if it was within my power, I should make sure his body was returned to his people."
"That is correct," the Head-Captain agrees. "Werewolves have a different path through the resurrection cycle than we do."
It takes Iba a moment before he is able to continue, but when he does, his voice is steady. He speaks in the cadence of a Lieutenant Delivering a Report. They can all do it. They all do do it. Momo does not remember anyone ever teaching her how. It just comes with the job. Iba's voice is naturally a little froggy, which Momo has noticed before, but it's even more evident when he is forgoing his usual tough guy turns of phrase.
Iba describes the damage sustained by his captain's bankai during the battle with Sternritter E. He makes a remark for the record about the unique relationship between Captain Komamura and his bankai. In this case, Iba says, the damage was more than Komamura could heal, would ever be able to heal. Iba states that by dismissing his bankai, Captain Komamura was able to eke out a few more hours of his life, but that his end was inevitable. This is why Iba and his captain did not regroup with everyone else, and why they declined medical assistance. Iba fought Soldat with his captain until the bitter, bloody end. At that time, zombies had begun to appear on the battlefield, and Iba felt it vital to deliver the body of his captain to the werewolf clan as soon as possible, so that it did not fall into enemy hands. That is why there is no corpse. "But my captain died honorably, in battle," Iba concludes. "I was there when he fell."
It takes some time for Head-Captain Kyouraku to finish up his note-taking. Lieutenant Ise is faster at transcription, Momo thinks, but she is not here. There is so much to do these days. She must be busy with something else.
Kyouraku's eyes scan quickly over his notes. "Thank you, Lieutenant Iba," he says. "Very complete. I don't think I have any further questions."
"If you think of anything later, please don't hesitate to ask, sir," Iba replies.
Kyouraku turns his gaze to Momo. "I understand you are able to corroborate portions of this, Lieutenant Hinamori?"
Momo straightens her spine and clears her throat.
You are telling a story, Rukia reminds her. Parts of that story are true and parts of it are not. Start with the parts that are true.
Hinamori tells the story of fighting her way through the Soldat-flooded city, trying to rejoin her captain. It is their practice to maintain distance when he is using his zanpakutou, but she likes to be within shouting distance. In case he needs her. She talks about seeing the columns of light and feeling the burst of strange, acidic reiatsu as the Quincy unleashed their Voll Stern Dich. She does not mention the way her feet were already moving even before she felt her captain's reiatsu plummet.
One of the things that makes you a bad storyteller, Hinamori, is that you always needs to add in extra detail, even when it doesn't add to the story, even when it makes you not look great. Especially when it makes you not look great. It's like you're always afraid of people thinking you are lying, so you want to lay everything out there up front.
This is still the part that is true, and Rukia said it was important to build up some momentum, so Himamori allows herself the indulgence of being a bad storyteller. If I tell the true parts poorly, she reasons, the lies will be less obvious.
"When Captain Hirako was injured, I made a poor decision. I wanted to save my captain. I thought I could get the drop on Sternritter E. I thought I could fight her fire with mine." Hinamori swallows. "Captain Komamura saved me. I know he wanted to go on and fight Yhwach, but he stayed back to protect me and my captain. I know it's not really relevant to this inquiry, but I would like it added to record anyway, if possible."
"Captain Komamura was always looking out for others on the battlefield," Head-Captain Kyouraku murmurs as his brush makes soft swishing noises over the paper. "I've made a note. Please continue, Lieutenant."
It's not a lie to not say something. It's just editing. Hinamori had wanted to tell Kuchiki the thing, the thing she had to edit out, but Kuchiki didn't want to hear it. Kuchiki had, in fact, put her hands over her ears and sang "LA LA LA LAAAA" until Hinamori gave up. It had been a little bit rude, in Hinamori's opinion. You want to tell me because it feels like a secret, Kuchiki had scolded. It's not a secret. It's extraneous information. Throw it in the trash. Burn it to a crisp. Forget about it forever.
It sure feels like a secret, the thing she had seen. She tries not to think about it, afraid that if she does, it will leave a hole in her story the size of a werewolf and the shape of a man. Instead, Hinamori continues. "Captain Komamura ordered me to take Captain Hirako and leave. I wanted to stay. I wanted to help. But I had seen her explosions, and I knew he needed the space. He went to bankai as I left."
"You didn't actually see them fight, then," Head-Captain Kyouraku surmises.
"Captain Komamura's bankai is--was--very large," Hinamori states the obvious. "As I left, I could see it taking explosion after explosion. I could hear and feel the bombs. They were deafening. I shouldn't have, but when they stopped, I⊠I looked back. I saw Captain Komamura's bankai crumble to pieces. It did not seem like a thing that would be possible to survive."
"Indeed," agrees the Head-Captain. "A great loss for the Gotei."
"Agreed, sir."
Iba draws in a long breath, but says nothing.
"Anything else, Lieutenant Hinamori?"
"No, sir. That is all."
"Captain Hirako has declined to give testimony. He said he didn't think he had anything to add."
"Probably not, sir. He was unconscious for most of it."
Kyouraku nods as he finishes writing. He puts his brush in the holder, and folds his hands. "Thank you both. I'm sorry we had to go through all this procedure for something so simple as a death in battle, but he was a captain, after all. Usually, the Central 46 would hold a hearing, but I think this--" he pats his stack of paper-- "should suffice."
She has done it. It's over. Kuchiki was right. It was barely a lie. It was a careful arrangement of true things. Hinamori feels like she has run a thousand miles and bench-pressed the Soukyoku. She wants to throw up. She wants to go to sleep for a million years.
"It was an honor to serve under him," Iba says.
Hinamori has no regrets.
---
Okay, it turns out that Hinamori does have regrets. Not about the statement. She receives a short note from the Captain Commander several days later informing her that the ruling of "Killed in Action" has been accepted, and thanking her again.
She wishes she had said more to Iba.
Hinamori is very busy these days. There have been three wartime actions in the last two years, and for once, Hinamori has come through relatively unscathed. She wants to make the most of this by helping everyone she can. She and Captain Hirako take on paperwork from the Tenth while its leadership needs extra treatment to purge out the last after-effects of the zombification. It's only fair. Hitsugaya has done enough of the Fifth's paperwork. She goes to PT with her Third Seat, who ended the war with a pair of prosthetic legs. She volunteers once a week at the Pop-Up Mess Hall the Ninth has been running to help out the squads whose facilities were destroyed, or who simply can't spare the manpower (also, the Ninth has a lot of talented cooks, and it's as good an opportunity to socialize as you can get these days). She tries to make time for all her friends, but especially the ones who are injured or grieving or overworked.
Hinamori is friendly with Iba, but she's not sure they are friends. He's not quite part of the close-knit core of the lieutenants that she hangs out with. He has his own friends, she's sure. He's pals with Abarai (who isn't?) and Madarame, who finally showed up to a lieutenant's meeting this week, even if he did so with a facial expression like he'd just drank a glass of slugs. Hinamori just isn't sureâŠwell, it's not that those guys aren't sensitive to each other's feelings--scratch that, Madarame is definitely not sensitive to people's feelings--but Hinamori can't help but wondering if anyone has extended Iba any sympathy that didn't come the form of a moment of manly, stoic shared silence or possibly a punch on the shoulder.
Hinamori intends to swing by the Seventh shortly before the end of the work day. She isn't sure how this is going to go, and she wants to leave her options open. Her plans are derailed slightly when, on her way out of the door, she runs into Ise with a pile of new forms and feeling chatty to boot. By the time Hinamori walks into the Seventh's administrative building, it is half an hour past quitting time. The hallways are already pretty empty, and even as she knocks on Iba's door, Hinamori resigns herself to trying again tomorrow. "Lieutenant Iba?" she calls tentatively. "It's Lieutenant Hinamori. Are you in?"
"Ah, yes! Come in!" Iba's gravelly voice calls back.
Hinamori slides the door open and steps through. Iba is hunched over some paperwork. "Sorry!" he says. "Just a moment! I'm trying to finish up--there!" He looks up. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant Hinamori?"
For a long, long moment, Hinamori stares at him.
Iba has brown eyes. He blinks them once, then suddenly scrabbles around on his desk, shoves over a pile of forms that looks suspiciously like the one Ise just foisted on her, grabs his sunglasses, and crams them on his face. "Sorry!" he croaks. "Sorry!"
"No, no!" Hinamori waves a hand frantically. "It was my fault! I didn't-- I didn't see anything!" Her stomach clenches. Why is she always seeing things she isn't supposed to see? She looks away, frantically, and her eyes land on the floor next to Iba's desk. There is a pillow there, and on the pillow, a handsome dog regards her judgmentally. "Oh!" she says. "Hello, Goro!"
Iba clears his throat. "He's, uh. I don't keep him in here all day. He just had his dinner, and I'm going to take him for his walk as soon as IâŠ" He looks at his stack of papers and then looks at Hinamori. "I'm sorry, what did you need? Are those more new forms?"
Goro puts his chin on his paws and sighs.
Hinamori looks down at the pile of paper nestled in the crook of her arm. "This?" she says, trying to get her thoughts together. "Oh! Right! No, no new forms! I got some flyers printed up for my weekly meditation circle! Do you remember, I mentioned it at the last lieutenants' meeting?"
"OhâŠoh, yeah," Iba manages. "Yeah, that's not really myâŠ"
"For your squad," Hinamori emphasizes. "I was hoping you might be able to post them in a common area. Or you could hand them out to anyone in particular you thought might benefit. Everyone's working so hard and dealing with so much right now. It can be, well, sort of a subtle way to suggest that someone takes a little break. I got a little stipend from the Fourth, so we have snacks afterward, now!"
Iba nods. He obviously does not need even one more thing to think about. "Ah, okay! Yeah, great idea! Thanks, Lieutenant Hinamori."
Hinamori slides the stack of flyers onto an extra table that Iba has pulled up next to his desk, apparently for increasing its paperwork-holding capacity. "You can have someone deal with these tomorrow," she says gently. She kneels down to scratch Goro's head. "Are you doing all right, Iba-san?"
Iba misinterprets her and immediately begins to bluster. "All of this looks much worse than it is! I'm getting the important stuff done! Ask anyone in Squad Seven--who have been champs, by the way! You see how empty this place is? It's because I make everyone go home on time, that's why! They'd be working night and day if I didn't make them take a rest. Maybe I'll send the whole lot over to your meditation whatsit!"
"That's not what I meant," Hinamori cuts him off. Unlike the Head-Captain's office, this is a place where she doesn't need to be parsimonious with the truth, so she goes on to say, "I only brought those flyers over as an excuse to come see how you were doing. You must miss him so much, and you can't even talk to anyone about the way it really happened."
Iba's mouth opens as he starts to say something, but then he closes it again. "I do," he says finally. He jerks his head towards an extra chair sitting along one wall. "You wanna pull up a seat?"
Hinamori does so. "Have youâŠheard anything?" She knows that Captain Komamura is still alive because Iba told her when he came to ask her to testify at the hearing. When he came to ask her if she would help him tell the story the way Captain Komamura would prefer it to be told. All the same, she is wants to let Iba be the one to say it out loud first.
"Ah, one of his relatives is a regular at the weekly market outside the eastern gate. There was a letter." Iba is silent for a moment. "He's healed up from his war wounds. He says there are some faces he's glad to see again." Iba reaches down to scratch Goro around the ears. "The cousin, he sells mushrooms, actually, really good mushrooms, I guess they sniff them out of the woods or something. Anyway, he says that, ah, well⊠they're happy to have him home."
Hinamori feels sadness settle on her chest like a stone. She barely knew Captain Komamura at all, but she knows he must have overcome so much in order to join the Gotei, in order to live in the city. She loves Junrinan, and yet she remembers feeling the cold terror that she might be sent back there afterâŠwhen it seemed unclear whether she could still be a shinigami. "I'm sure it will be an adjustment," she says slowly. She wishes she could think of something else to say.
Iba regards her for a long time. "You get it," he says. "I can tell." He groans and leans back in his chair. "Aaah, Hinamori, you're right! It's been agonizing not bein' about to say anything! Everyone thinks I'm sad 'cause he's dead, and I gotta pretend that's true, but I'm actually sad 'cause all I can think about is his wolf-mom given' him a bunch of grief about wastin' his time on shinigami shit!"
"Does he have a wolf-mom?" HInamori asks, suddenly curious.
"Hell if I know! He never talked about werewolf stuff, so I've just been coming up with stuff in my head. I'm sure it's all wrong."
"I feel like if he has a wolf-mother, he would love her very much," Hinamori said. "He seemed like that type."
"You're right, Lieutenant Hinamori," Iba said, wagging a finger at her. "You're absolutely right." He cleared his throat. "While you're here. Listenin'. Well--there's something I been wanting to say so bad I feel like I'm gonna explode sometimes. You, ah, don't mind, do you?
"Of course not," Hinamori agrees. "Go ahead."
Iba leans forward, crumpling some of his paperwork. One side of his mouth curls up into a boyish grin. Goro looks up, curious. "He was awesome, there at the end, wasn't he?"
"Oh," says Hinamori, "oh, my, yes."
"For the length of that fight, he was immortal. Untouchable."
"I will never forget how I felt when I saw his bankai," Hinamori blurts out. "It gave me shivers."
"I know! It was absolutely incredible. I've--I've been working on my own bankai and I justâŠit's never going to be that."
Hinamori tilts her head to one side. "It might be," she says.
Iba frowns thoughtfully. "He gave me something to shoot for, for sure. What a captain he was!"
"Mm," Hinamori nods, thinking about captains she has loved.
Iba looks away for a moment, then looks back. "Hinamori, I gotta ask. You saw my captain. In his human form."
Hinamori is momentarily shocked to hear the secret thing, said out loud and in such a casual way. "Yes," she says eagerly.
"He wasâŠhe was, like, better than average on the looks scale, right? I'm notâŠI'm into ladies, you know, I'm not much of a judge of that kind stuff. But, like. Wow."
"Oh, yes," Hinamori, who is generally very circumspect when offering opinions on other people's look. "He was--well, that's not really my type either but--" She clears her throat primly. "Whew!"
"Whew!" Iba agrees.
Goro whines and puts his paws over his nose. Iba laughs, the kind of big hearty one that comes from getting something off your chest. "I know I've already taken up too much of your time, Hinamori, but, uhâŠI don't spose you'd like to help me take this guy on his walk?"
Prompt/s: Six moments or characters / Defeated / In Another Life
Rating: K+/General with mild themes
Setting: Across various points in the timelines before and during BLEACH.
Synopsis: Momo reflects on six memories in the aftermath of Yhwach's defeat.
AN: this fic is less about plot and more about being a reflection. There's scenes here I've wanted to write for a while but didn't find the chance to.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it!
________________________________
She only vaguely remembers their hand, and how her own tiny, quivering one had clung to it like a life raft. Sheâs certain that the Shinigami was smiling at her and trying to reassure her that everything would be all right, that there was a new life her beyond this one. There was a time where that was the most vivid part of her recollection, but itâs like a whisper now, quiet and easily mistaken for what it actually was.
There was also a time she could remember her life as a Human. Sheâd even tried to draw those memories in her sketchbooks in those first few years in the Junrinan. Sheâd hoped, as her memories turned from clear images to fleeting scraps, that by looking at it the memory would come back to her, that sheâd know who these people were.
She canât blame her lack of skill on not being able to recognise the figures or the environments. Sheâd simply forgotten over time, and no amount of staring at her old drawings or visiting the World of the living would bring those memories back.
She chooses to remember the hand of the Shinigami who performed the konso on her. As vague as they are to her now, they were the one to bring her to the Soul Society and ensure she could live another life.
_______________________
When she thinks about her life in the Jurinan, the day she first met any of her friends isnât what first comes to mind. Thereâs the crowded streets on festival days, the stalls that either moved on or are still there to this day, the forest that she ventured in when not many young Souls would.
It was a memory from the latter that comes to mind. The forests had been alive with fresh leaves on the trees and blooms that were vibrant and swaying in the wind. Birds chirp and call from all parts of the area, a few even flew above her head.
She'd been on her way to a stall, taking the path that been trodden on by many before her, when she spotted a thistle of white behind the leaves of a tree.
Coming closer, she realised it wasn't a strange plant. "Hitsugaya-kun?"
He hadn't heard her. He sat on a branch, staring out on to the Junrinan. It didn't surprise her to see him there; in the six months she'd known him, she soon discovered he had a strange penchant for climbing trees without an ounce of fear.
What did cause her to frown was the somber expression on his face. Setting her basket down at the base of the trunk, she cupped her hands over mouth and called out, "Hey, Hitsugaya-kun!"
He blinked, then looked down at her. "What's you doing here?!" he called back.
"I was on my way to a stall!" She reached for the lowest branch. "I'm coming up!"
"Why?!"
"Because" -- she grunts as hoists herself up to the branch, then reaches for the next -- "you're up there!"
It's a few minutes later when she's just below him. She reached to him and he helped her to sit next to him. Even as he did this, however, there was a furrow in his brow. "I don't get it."
"What?" she asked, out of breath. She whipped a sleeve over her forehead,
He shook his head. "Nevermind."
A silenced settled over them while she caught her breath. The view was amazing, allowing her to see most of the Junrinan and the Souls going about their days in the streets. The Seireitei was off to the right, mostly obscured by the walls around it, and off to left was the Second District. Bordering all of this were mountains, where the sun was about to set.
"Is this why you come up here?" she asked.
"Huh?"
"To get a view like this?"
He shrugged, not looking at her. "Sometimes."
"What about the other times?"
He bowed his head. That somber look flickered across his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's nothing."
"But you're..." She shuffled closer. "We're friends, so you can tell me anything."
That only made him frown and glare at his lap. "Why would you want to know?"
Seeing that reaction made something click in her mind. It was as if a part of her had finally come to accept something she hadn't wanted to think about.
It was the first she'd seen that this place wasn't as idyllic as she'd thought. There was still cruelty here, and if she were being honest, she knew the other children didn't excluded him their games just because they didn't know him.
She didn't understand what they disliked about him. He could be bratty, but if they knew how he took care of his Granny, or saw the small acts of kindness he does -- giving up a slice of watermelon for her to eat, running out to her in a storm because he knew she was afraid, freeing a rabbit from a trap in the forest -- they'd know who he truly was.
And if he's been alone with whole time, she thought, maybe he doesn't know what a friend really is.
She swore she would fight for Souls like him once she became a Shinigami, to protect them from Hollows, but also to help them deal with Souls who don't understand them.
She smiled at him, and he didn't hide his surprise when she said, "Because I want to."
_______________________
Itâs a memory Momo wishes she could forget sometimes. On good days, it serves as a sad musing for times gone by and for what she thought Aizen was like. In her worst moments, itâs like a jagged piece of glass she canât get out.
It was in her third year at the Academy. Renji and Izuru were carrying on behind her, Renji complaining about something one of the teachers said about his kido, and Izuru trying and failing to tell him a way to improve. She could offer her insights, she knew, but she would wait until Renji cooled off.
She happened to turn her head at moment. She came to a sudden stop, one that almost made her friends stumble into her.
âOi, Hinamori, whatâs up?â Renji asked.
She didnât hear him, nor notice the confused gaze of Izuru trying to determine what she was staring wide-eyed at. Two doors down hallway to their left, he stood there halfway out of a classroom. He spoke with someone she couldnât see, and he carried a wooden box. A calligraphy kit, she guessed.
Sheâs taken out of her stupor when he steps out into the courtyard, waving to whoever heâd spoken with as the door closed. He stepped into the light streaming through one of the windows, and it haloed his hair in gold and made the frames of his glasses shine. She wished she had her sketchbook to capture this moment.
âCaptain, Aizen,â Izuru said, sounding half as an awe as Momo was.
âWhatâs he doing here?â Renji asked. She thought at the time he sounded grumpy because of the lesson before, but in hindsight she realises he knew better then either her of Izuru.
Aizen had heard Izuru, turning his head in their direction. He blinked, then a slow, warm smile shaped his lips. âAh, itâs good to see you three.â
He remembers me, Momo had thought. Sheâd only seen him a few times since he and Ichimaru had saved them from the Huge Hollows, and all of them had been from afar.
Sheâs quick to bow, and Izuru follows suit almost immediately; Renji is slower.
âForgive me, Captain Aizen,â she blurted out. âI â we didnât mean to stare. We just didnât expect to see you here.â
He gave a huff of a chuckle. âTheres no need for that. Please.â When they straighten, he asked. âHow have you been? Are you studies going well?â
Sheâd been too flustered to say anything, but Izuru spoke on behalf of the group. Renji kept to himself, arms folded and looking off to the side.
After several heartbeats, she finally spoke up. âDo you teach a class here, Captain Aizen?â
His smile widened and turned his attention to her. âNot often, but Iâve started giving calligraphy lessons when I can.â He gestured to the classroom heâd left. âI hold them in here. The class is full for this term, but if youâre interested, you can speak with your teachers about enrolling in it.â
Momo nodded, and judging from the raised brow he gives her, it must have been too enthusiastically. âI will!â
âYour only requirement is calligraphy tools.â He jostles the box he carries. âYou can buy on of these in the North Second district for a reasonable price.â
Izuru took over again, and Momo didnât remember the rest of the interaction between him and Aizen. She could only stare at him, already planning to enrol in his classes. Sheâd always been in awe of how he protected them for the Huge Hollows, and she couldnât help but watch him as he walked across a courtyard whenever he visited the Academy.
In that moment, even as he bid them goodbye and left in the opposite direction, and they resumed their stroll to their next class, her desire to fight alongside him solidified. She wanted to be a part of his division, perhaps even become a seated officer in it.
How blinded Iâd been, she thinks in her worst moments. How young I was, she thinks in her better ones.
It's thanks to Shinji sheâs learned to accept these kinds of memories. It may not have been Aizenâs truthful self, but these memories exist for her, and thereâs no taking them away. She can only keep moving forward, and as time goes on, they can fade that little bit more each year.
_______________________
It's tempting to recall a moment from what happened over two years ago. It's like how it's easier to fall into despair than it is to take the steps needed to be content. Considering where she is now, she can't bring herself to surface a memory from that time.
Instead, she recalls a day that had been a day like any other. Shinji walked in wit a box of new vinyl records Urahara had converted for him. He hefted the collection up with a wink. "I've got some new music for you to listen to!"
She glanced at the bookcase behind his desk, stacked with nothign but his music collection and magazines. "But the shelf is already full."
"Nonsense! There's room..." He searched, looking high and low, then grunting when he couldn't see a space. "Fine, guess I'm going to have to make some room." He put the box down and pried his hand in between two records. He then reached down, took out a record and squeezes it into the gap he made. He tried for another, but no luck. He tried to do the same on another shelf, and it was this attempt that turned Momo's worry -- for the integrity of the vinyl covers' condition and for the shelf space -- into a bewildered laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked with a huff.
"Captain, what are you doing? Can't you just stack the vinyls over on the next shelf or get rid of some of your old magazines?"
He stopped so suddenly that the humor drained out of her. "Uh, sir, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." He looked over his shoulder at her, grinning. It was was different from his usually toothy ones; there was something sincere about it. "You're smart, ya know that? Why didn't I think of the magazines idea?" He takes a stack of them from the highest shelf. "Well, I might not throw them out, but move over to another bookcase."
Momo shook her head at her captain's odd behavior and returned to her work. "Honestly, sir."
It had occurred to her not too long after that she'd called him 'captain', and it hadn't felt forced or brought up memories of Aizen. She smiled to herself, keeping this small victory quiet.
_______________________
The haircut had been a snap decision. At least, thatâs how she saw it at the time. In hindsight, sheâd been contemplating it without realising. Sheâd found her gaze drifting to a short hairstyle that she thought look good or interesting. Sheâd been avoid her ribbon and haircloth ever since she returned to her division. Sheâd mused several times a week how she needed to get a haircut.
She stared straight ahead into the mirror when the stylist began. Unlike others she had been to in the past, she was quiet, only speaking when she instructed Momo tilt her head one way and then the other.
Momoâs gaze would go to her a few times, but it mainly cut between Rangiku -- who stood behind them, smiling warmly â and the scissors that sheered off her hair. Long strands fell to the floor with with each âsnipâ. Do I really have this much hair? Sheâd thought nervously. Sheâd wondered if sheâd made the right decision, that she shouldâve put more thought into this, but it was as Rangiku said: âEven if itâs a bad hairdo, you can always grow I out.â
Sheâd been so nervous that when she came out of her revere, she blinked at her reflection. The stylist is almost done, but Momo could see the difference already. Itâs shorter than she truly realised, but not unpleasant. In a strange way, she could see potential in it. What hair accessories could she put in it? A clip on the side of her head, perhaps?
When sheâd walked away from the stylist, Rangiku laughed.
âYou canât stop touching it,â she said.
Momo frowned, then realised that sheâd been fingering a strand. âIâŠI didnât --â
âItâs fine,â Rangiku interrupts. âYouâre just getting used to a new style. I will say though, this one makes you look really cute!â
âOh, you think so?â she said, suddenly self-conscious.
âYeah, totally!â
It hadnât been her intention to get it cut for that reason, but she decided to take it as a bonus. âWell, then, thank youâŠand thank you for coming with me to this, I donât think I couldâve braved it on my own.â
Rangiku had been her confidant for months, one of the few who came to visit her frequently when she was in Fourth Division and who was spending time with her on her breaks. She knew in time that the others hadn't forgotten her, they'd all been trying to find ways to move on, and she suspected that for Rangiku, part of that had been helping her get back on her feet. She's grateful, but unsure how she'll ever repay her for it.
_______________________
It still makes her heart ache to remember her reconciliation with Toshiro. It had been almost a full year since Aizenâs imprisonment on that sunny day. The small courtyard theyâd agreed to meet at was quiet except for the breeze that rustle the leaves in the trees and swayed the flowers too and fro. Itâs was all ignored by her, a part of the memory she only recalls as background details.
She only saw Toshiro, head hung low, shoulders slumped, and heard his quiet, raspy words of apology. Just before, heâd asked her about how she is and was for all this time they hadnât spoken. She told him about why she had been avoiding him, about her time in Fourth Division, and how she was coping with a new captain, and somehow, sheâd avoided tears. She couldnât repress them anymore when she saw this a side of him sheâd rarely seen, a vulnerability that renders her speechless and only able to act with a gentle touch.
Itâs why when heâd finished, his voice quivering with the threat of tears, she said nothing. She reached a hand out to him, an offering. If he didnât take it, sheâd know it was because of his aversion to touch. If he did, she hoped he knew what she did next meant.
He didnât veil his shocked at her gesture, but he did take her hand. She found her words by then. âIt wasnât your fault, none of it. Iâm sorry youâve been putting yourself through all of that, I shouldâveâŠâ
She wept then, and his eyes became glassy. And then, because it felt like the only natural thing to do they fell into a hug. It last for a long time, until fatigue had set into their muscles and they needed to break apart.
She likely wouldnât have thought about it at a time like if it werenât for the event that came several hours earlier.
Sheâd been trying to get Shinji, barely conscious and his arm slung across her shoulders, away from the battle while avoiding the attention of the giant Quincy. Sheâd frozen as if caught up in the icy reiatsu that suddenly washed over her senses.
Wide-eyed, sheâd searches the area, stopping once she spots the small figure in white perched atop a tower of ice. Her gasp got caught in her throat when she realised he was conversing with the giant Quincy.
Heâs here.
Toshiro had launched himself into the sky, his bankaiâs wings allowing him to soar past the Quincy as he strikes the tower. Sheâd watched, unable to move, and time feels as though itâs slowing. As the shock and confusion are wear of, a lump had formed in her throat.
There was a short time she avoided sensing his reiatsu, itâs cold reminding her too much of what happened in the Fake Karakura Town. That avoidance went on and on, until nearly a year later, she had no choice but to face him. In that moment, seeing him as vulnerable as he was and realising he wasnât what she was most afraid of, she wished sheâd done it sooner. In that moment, that same sentiment came rushing back to her like a high tide wave.
âShiro-chanâŠâ
Sheâd wanted to do something to help him, but Shinji and the other injured Shinigami need her. She needed to believe in him, she realised.
Her steps were stilted and heavy when she turned her back on the fight and carried her captain away.
_______________________
She doesnât know what made her contemplative. Perhaps the death and destruction has gotten to her, made her want to retreat somewhere far away. Combined with the exhaustion that has gradually settled in, it wouldn't surprise her if that was the reason.
However, maybe she feared she would lose herself in all of this, that her memories would keep her sense of self anchored in the here and now.
Maybe itâs because she knows nothing will be the same after this, that even though theyâve won, things will be different. There will be Souls that were once there that are now gone. Buildings would need to be reconstructed or rebuilt completed, but they wonât look or feel the same as before. The Academy will have no choice but to teach about this time period in Shinigami history, but how will they depict it?
âOiâŠâ
She startles, and looks to her side. Shinji, sitting against debris and covered in bandages beneath his uniform, tilts his head at her. âYou doing okay there?â
She lets out a sigh. âI think so. I was justâŠreflecting.â
Before he can pry further, movement in the corner of her draws her attention to Toshiro. He walks over them, and judging by the deepened furrow in his brow, he too saw her spacing out. âWeâre heading back. Do you need a hand?â
Shinji grins. âDonât act like Iâm not here,â he snarks. However, as he tries to stand, he winces and nearly buckles. Momo is quick to slip an arm around his back and hold him up. âCaptain, you shouldnât do that! You might reopen your wounds.â
âNah, you too care of most them,â he says. âIâm just a little dizzy is all. Got up too quickly.â
Toshiro eyes Momo warily. You going to be okay with him?
She nods. "Lead the way."
With Byakuya leading the way, they stride through and over the ruins to an evacuation point. She remains near the back, and no longer need support, Shinji walks alongside her. Toshiro and Rangiku are in front, as are Nanao, who support Kyoraku, and Ikkaku and Yumichika, carrying Kenpachi together.
No one looked right. They are all battered and weary, uniforms torn with some wounds bandaged and other not, tired and walking slower than they should be. The sight in isolation is a hard one to stomach, especially given that they're meant to be the victors.
Still, they press on. Even when this exhausted and injured. Even when they know they will have memories that can't forget from this time. Even when they don't know what the future holds, or the memories that will come from it -- the good and the bad -- they keep going; and, with a stronger step forward, and another, and another, so will she.
