[INCOMPLETE]

[submissi0n]

Who: Hinamori and Kira
When: After this post in Hinamori's journal
Where: Lower Level, the Clocktower
Rating: PG?
Warnings: Uhh...emo times? Captain lamenting?
Summary: Kira goes to find Hinamori after her arrival

Comments

[plums_are_best]

(( OOC: Sorry, the school internet connection and my lap top like to have issues ))

Momo hesitated and looked around. She was in a strange place that she had never been in before. It was cold, and dark, not a friendly looking place at all. Strange smells caught her nostrils when the wind moved, and she could not help but to dart her eyes around. It seemed like a weird dream that she kept expecting to wake up from. Unfortunately, it was real.

She gave a squeak as Izuru suddenly dropped beside her, jumping a little back and holding her hands up against her chest. She had not heard him and she had not felt him coming toward her. It was very disturbing not having her powers. Realizing she looked foolish, she dropped her hands. She watched him rise up from his crouch, a sigh of relief heard.

"Kira-kun!" She could not keep the happiness out of her voice. It was nice to see a friendly face, especially Izuru's. If Renji were here too, then the whole gang from that time would be. From the sounds of it, he wasn't. Rangiku had not said anything about Toushirou, so Momo assumed he wasn't here either.

A soft smile rose and she pushed back her fears. It wouldn’t do to let him know how troubled she was. It was pretty obvious that she was. She had not expected to find him here, but he was. She dropped her eyes to her hands, fiddling with them. His voice brought her head back up. “I’m glad you did too.”

[submissi0n]

It made him so happy and sad to see her again. He had been worried beyond belief when she disappeared the first time, even though he knew such things were common occurrences there. But what if she had not been? What if something had happened? Gin had left not long after, leaving Rangiku as the only pillar he could lean on and hide behind, as sad as that was to admit. It was something he was trying to change, yes, but also something very easy to fall back into when you felt you had someone to rely on, or even better, to tell you what to do.

Momo looked just as nervous as he was, probably more so. He was not too comfortable with the role he knew he had to assume for a while, at least, but he wanted to be able to protect and help her too. He had to make it up to her in repentance for how he had acted against her months ago, and because he had to try and ebb his own guilt.

"You haven't been here too long, have you?" Izuru asked as a way of conversation, letting his hands drop to hang at his sides, the eye that wasn't hidden by his hair watching her movements carefully. His own fingers twitched, flexing against his hakama. "You haven't run into...anyone else...yet?" Izuru was sure Momo would get the implication...

...but as much as she may want to see him, Izuru knew he could not let her go near Aizen. Or the other way around.

(( No worries, sweetie! <3 Take your time X3 ))

[plums_are_best]

It was frightening to know she had been here before. She did not recall it, though Rangiku and Izuru had both said it was so. At the same time, Momo would have sworn that Rangiku and Izuru had not been gone. Rangiku had been avoiding her captain yesterday and she had waved at Izuru as he ran off somewhere to deliver papers. Six months. Momo still could not wrap her mind around in. In six months, a lot of things happened. She wondered if they knew what was happening in Soul Society. Were they from her past?

"What? Oh, no, I just got here," Momo stated. Maybe she could ask her questions later. Right now she should really stay focused on things happening now. What was it they had said? Upper and Lower levels? She frowned a bit at that, looking around. It was clear which level this was. It didn't seem to fair to her. She was cast here without her powers and made to repent her sins. She could understand repenting, but it wasn't nice how they went about it.

Momo froze, her eyes catching Izuru's. A small crestfallen look moved onto her face. She shook her head side to side dropping her eyes. "No, there was nothing but some little fuzzy thing out... I guess any normal person would be inside or something?"

She couldn't believe that people lived here. First glance it had looked barren and bare. As she had made her way toward the clock tower, life had started to grow. Putting on that brave face, even if it was a bit pointless around Izuru who could probably see right through it. She could usually see through his too. "No, just you, Kira-kun."

(( thank you! :D ))

[submissi0n]

Izuru sighed in relief. That was good, though he would be surprised if Aizen, at the least, did not seek her out later. What a time for her to come back as well, after everyone had just gotten back into their own bodies. How horrible would it have been to find Momo while was inhabiting Aizen's body, and Aizen in his? Shocking would be an understatement, and he wasn't sure how her psyche was doing. The last he knew, she was still delusional and going in and out of long periods of sleep. It was heartbreaking, and he still felt as if he was partly responsible, despite how everyone told him he wasn't.

"Inside...?" he suddenly echoed as if processing all her words. "Ah, um, well it would be safer, yes. There are...strange creatures roaming about down here." He watched her small frame and tried to force a smile for her sake. "I could show you where Ma-...Rangiku-san and I used to live, if it's still uninhabited, and it was last time I checked. No running water, but...it was relatively stable and I kept it pretty clean."

It would have been uncharacteristic if he hadn't kept it clean, and he was more than willing to clean it over again and make it more suitable for Momo. The entire place often received a complete top-to-bottom tiding up on a daily basis, and he only did not when Rangiku challenged him to leave it be. But it was therapeutic for him, and a good distraction from things he would rather not think about.

Yet as he watched her, all he could think of was how it was to throw himself against the walls, breaking whatever he could find until he collapsed to the floor, repeating over and over how horrible he was for attacking her. And when they finally broke out, each in their own way, he was only later to hear of her being stabbed through the gut, on the verge of death if she was not there already.

Izuru gulped down those memories, trying to bring that smile back, though it failed.

"The front door locks as well, which is important..." the blond-haired man added as an after-thought, looking almost rushed as he spoke. Feeling a little awkward, he looked away for a moment.

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She nibbled at her lip. Something was eating him. The time that had passed since Aizen's betrayal had actually been longer than Izuru remembered. Izuru didn't know that. In some ways, a lot had changed. In other ways, not much. There was still that dogged belief that it wasn't real, though deep down Momo knew it was. She still wavered time to time, and hurt inside. She knew she was fooling herself though. Had she not spoken with Toushirou when he went to the human world?

Momo was naive enough that if Aizen did find her and say he was sorry, she'd honestly think about forgiving him. She'd forget that he had betrayed them, that he had betrayed her. Forget that he had stabbed her and left her for dead. Like Izuru, that one thing that she had relied upon had been ripped away. She only wanted to regain that even if it was futile. She was being silly though.

"Strange creatures," she echoed, her eyes darting around into the lurking shadows. In a way, what did it matter? They both already knew the worst monsters. If that was any indication, Momo knew that the outcome would not be good. She nodded, for even if it would be hard, she knew she should be strong. She was a shinigami, though she was not too sure what it meant these days. It had been easier once, but not quite so much.

Her smile felt stiff and Momo watched Izuru. He seemed different somehow, but still the same 'Kira-kun' she knew. "All right..."

She reached out, her two small hands holding his for a moment. It was then that Momo gave a real smile. She knew that look on his face. Her own often wore the same one. Both of them had suffered a lot doing what they did. She let it go and looked off. A silly nod was given. “If you and Rangiku-san lived there, then it can’t be too bad. … You live with her and Kuchiki-san in the Upper Level?”

In a way, that seemed almost comical.

[submissi0n]

It seemed they were both trying to hold up false pretenses of happiness and confidence, perhaps each for different reasons. Izuru could only guess what was going through her mind, perhaps something akin to his when Gin had replied to his first journal entry. He remembered feeling cold and afraid, yet somehow sickly complete. Izuru could only hope that she would find the strength in herself to not let Aizen take the place in her life he once had.

But he also knew what it was to have a gaping hole in your life. Perhaps they were more similar than different, for without that one person he could devote his loyalty to, he felt lost. He knew that he had only been able to survive by switching that role to someone else, but admitting that to Momo would be too soon.

Her agreement caused him to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "All right." But when she held his hand, he froze. It should not be so shocking, after all they had known each other for a long time, yet it felt like he had not seen her in much a longer interval. There had been a time, many years ago, when he would have blushed and stammered like an idiot at the contact, but that was another thing would not admit to Momo, now or ever.

When she let go he caught himself from letting out another breath, flexing his hand as if it needed to be sure it still moved. "I...I do," he said, looking serious for a moment. "Matsumoto-san and I moved up no too long ago, and when Kuchiki-san was able to, we had an extra room..." Frowned for just a second, remembering Rangiku had asked him to call her by her given name, but that would take some time to get used to.

Keeping is more sombre expression, he felt he should tell her. "...Aizen and Ichimaru-tai...they are on the Upper Level." So they would not be her neighbors, but what it meant was worse - they had their powers back.

A moment passed, before he suddenly rushed, "Ah, um...well, we should probably get going before it gets too dark, heh heh." He reached a hand out to guide her by her shoulder, but it stopped before he made contact. Hesitating, he instead motioned for her to follow.

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She had wanted to meet Aizen more than anything. She never thought she would get the chance. There were a million things she would have asked him. Did he mean it? Even though she had been stabbed and put in the hospital, she still needed him. It was strange. A bad feeling, but she couldn't help it. She had been broken for a long time after. In some ways she still was. Even if he said he would stab her again, Momo wanted to see him. Knew she shouldn't.

Momo didn't really know what to do with anything. Ignore her captain. How to live here. It was still a shock. No way home, needing to work here, be good, no powers. She felt bare and useless suddenly. She remembered freezing with the hollows attacked all those years ago. Back then, she had found a purpose. She had stood up for what she believed in. She remembered Izuru and Renji too. In some ways, Renji had not changed at all. Izuru had. Like her, that spark had been altered. He had once been somewhat cocky, assured and in charge. Funny how someone could change that.

Momo swallowed, nodding. It was a bit strange to hear those living arrangement. She guessed you made do with what you got. Offering a sad smile, she listened some more. She tried to keep that smile present as he talked about Gin and Aizen. It faltered though. Both of them here. In a place for sinning. It was a bit ironic.

"Oh. Yes." She had almost forgotten why he had come. Lost eyes looked at him before looking away as his hand stopped. Instead, as he moved, Momo fell into line beside him, yet slightly behind. Naked was how she felt. Naked without her powers. Somehow, it seemed almost like a nightmare was just starting.