paixaorpg | Heads.... or rather, eyes roll. [Complete]

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Heads.... or rather, eyes roll. [Complete]

Character(s): Hinamori Momo, Ulquiorra, Okita Souji, and Aizen Sousuke
Content: A meeting at the gate.
Setting: Niflheim Gate [G10]
Time: Sunday night
Warnings: The angst meter might break. Maybe.

Trash. The entire city was trash. As the blonde haired, blue eyed citizens walked by, Ulquiorra snorted, disgusted. They were all the same. Weak, powerless, mindless.

Pawns, if anything.

Aizen-sama would appreciate the mindlessness of the people. They'd be useful, at least to the brown haired shinigami turncoat. Ulquiorra, on the other hand, shuddered to think that they'd be around him if they somehow worked into the plans. Eugh. These ingrates were worse than Yami and Wyce.

But enough about the people. It was the city itself that was bothersome. Domes covered it, but somehow, there was a moon. The buildings looked like something right out of the Victorian age, but somehow, the black haired Arrankar didn't think that particular era existed in this place. He looked down at the silver compact he had been given at that stupid gate. Reminded him of the laptops they used in the human world. It was smaller and thinner, though. The annoying man had told him it was a journal. Hn. Ulquiorra had no use for such things. It was just more trash.

A frustrated sigh escaped the normally composed Arrankar. He needed to find Aizen-sama, as he was sure the man was here. The other had disappeared somewhere, and the green-eyed Hollow turned Shinigami felt a presence that matched Aizen's. Powerful, invigorating, god-like. Yet, that would have to wait. He didn't particularly want to go searching for the other man at night, even if his eyesight was better than normal. The Arrankar still had a big chance of getting lost, and that was the last thing he wanted. May as well settle down.

So, he settled gracefully under a nearby tree (which didn't really feel like a normal tree at all), waiting for dawn.

If it came in this filthy place.

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What happened?

That was the strongest question rushing through Hinamori Momo's overwise chaos-ridden mind. A million other questions, thoughts, and fears treaded on her already frayed nerves. She followed mutely along with the line as she was ushered along, wide brown eyes betraying her shock. Just a minute ago, she'd been sitting on a bed in the Fourth Division. She was sure of it. Now she was... where?

There was the line. It was for a lack of knowing what else to do that she'd followed it, hustled along by the people behind her. But where did it lead? How had she gotten here in the first place? She'd wanted to ask. But her voice had failed her along with her wits. If she'd been in her proper mind, she probably would have realized asking wouldn't have done a whole lot of good anyway. Most of the people looked about as lost as she was.

Whether it was a fortunate turn of fate or not, her wait wasn't a terribly long one. She found herself standing before the booth before long, a blond-haired, blue-eyed man shunting a pamphlet in her direction. He looked rather bored. "Hello there Miss, welcome to Paixao, may I get your name please?, " he said quickly, tone airy and light.

Hinamori stared at the man for a moment before she finally managed to find her voice again. "Hi-Hinamori Momo. Um... where -- "

"Great. Fantastic. Enthralled. Now, here's your electric journal, you write in it, enjoy, have a good day." He didn't hesistate to shunt some sort of thin black object in her direction before turning his attention (or lack thereof) to the person behind her, "Next!"

Gathering the objects up in her quivering hands, Hinamori frowned faintly. "Excuse me, sir? But you didn't answer my -- "

"I said, next."

"But, I really need to -- !"

"Just READ the stupid pamphlet, would you? You're holding up the line!"

Okita Souji was lost.

He knew he had probably taken a wrong turn down an alley, or something, but what he had expected to find were more winding alleyways, not some enormous, strange looking gate that he had never seen before in his entire life.

Was this even Kyoto? Or Japan, for one thing? The style was too different, and it didn't look like there were any streets to head towards, save for the large gate and the line of people before him.

Which could only mean one thing. Was he dead? Had an enemy come up behind him and had gotten in a lucky shot?

That was impossible. Not that he was boasting, but Okita did not have a reputation of being one of the best swordsmen in Japan by being careless and unwary of his srroundings.

The disoriented Miburo rubbed his eyes again - yes, the streets of Kyoto were gone, and he was not dreaming - and he had the strange, disturbing feeling that he had somehow stepped into another place entirely.

He was not one who believed crap like this, but considering the last time some strange magician had lured them into some kind of cursed realm, he was pretty much inclined to go down this particular line of thought.

Well, at least he could not sense any sort of danger from the people who stood in line. Judging that particular action was the best one to take for the moment, since there seemed to be no other civilisation outside the gates, he got in line quietly, his thoughts racing. Did his men know he was here? How would he return? Was there even a chance to return?

The men at the gate was the best person to ask, Okita decided as one of the curiously pale-haired men addressed a pretty young woman who had stood in front of him. Besides, he looked pretty fri--

Well. That was rude.

A light frown crossed his feminine features as the man snapped at the woman in front of him. As far as he knew, the young woman had only sought to have her questions answered, surely there was no need for rudeness, was there?

He blinked as said man turned to him and shoved something into his hands as well, mumbling something about a welcome to pie-sao or pie-show and something about an electronic journal that everyone had.

His boldness was something new to Okita; traditionally, whenever the Shinsengumi patrolled, the civilians preferred to give them a wide berth, and apprehensive whispers had often followed. Not once had any of them approached him while he was in uniform, much less practically throwing curious objects into his arms.

Nevertheless, Okita kept up his pleasant air. There was no reason to take his bad mood out on anyone, no matter how much he thought the person deserved it. That, and he supposed the man would be alot more pleasant if he was relatively nicely spoken to.

"I say, that isn't the proper way to treat a lady, is it?" The edge in his voice was carefully hidden as the lavender-haired man flashed a smile at the him. "She merely wanted to ask a few questions."

Hinamori looked to Okita as he spoke up, her strained expression softening a ways. It came as somewhat of a relief that not everyone in this place acted as the man in the booth did. (Though she supposed it was a bit silly to have thought otherwise at all.) He was just flat-out more pleasant than the man before her in tone, attitude... just about every sense, actually.

That, and while he clearly wasn't a shinigami, his style of clothing was more what she was used to seeing back in Soul Society. A minor detail, but enough to ease some of the shock away at least. She didn't exactly smile at him, but she still managed to look grateful for the back up.

The blond man, meanwhile, just scowled in response to Okita's smile. "Merely wanted to ask a few questions before she even bothered to look at the pamphlet. I'm not here to play mommy and answer everybody's silly questions; the line'd never go anywhere. Lady, dude, kid, whatever, I'm just here to welcome you people and hand out this junk until my shift's over. Okay? Okay. NEXT."

Frowning again, she asked quietly, "Um, will... it really answer all my questions? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just go already."

Not exactly the response she'd been hoping for, and the displeasure was pretty evident on her face. But as long as it did have the answers in there somewhere, there wasn't a whole lot of point to keep badgering him about it. (Besides, when it came to a choice between asking him and reading up on it herself, the read-it-herself option was looking better all the time...)

A small commotion at the gate brought Ulquiorra out of his brooding. His green eyes spotted a nervous looking girl with what looked like Shinigami robes on. Another person came up behind the girl, saying something that the Arrankar couldn't quite make out. He snorted, disinterested.

Or, at least he tried to be. What was going on at the gate kept drawing his already fleeting attention away from the flat item in his hands. It was certainly more interesting than staring at the buildings. Or at the strange domes. The skinny Arrankar leaned, trying to hear what was going on. He caught bits and pieces, and kept leaning, straining to hear more clearly.

Unfortunately, Ulquiorra leaned a little too much and fell to the side. As he tried catching himself, his eye came out with a small pop! and began to roll off somewhere.

Wonderful.

He hated this place.

((OOC: Ahahaha. Sorry. I had to.))

Deciding that the man wouldn't be much help, whether pleasant or not, Okita gently led her away, keeping his annoyance in check. The Shinsengumi Captain was hardly used to such brusque treatment, and it was both irritating and refreshing at the same time.

Ah well, at least that was over and done with. His expression changed to one of dazed surprise as he looked up at what he had stepped into. The buildings, the domes, the trees...they were beyond foreign. It was like nothing he had ever seen in his entire life, and...

And there was that dimension-hopping thought again. Looking around cautiously, taking in his surroundings as lavender eyes narrowed, he was almost relieved to note that aside from the occasional odd stare from the hordes of pale, ridiculously dressed people, no one seemed particularly enthusiastic to kill him.

Looking over at the young woman, Okita was about to say something when a particularly round...object rolled to a stop at his feet.

It was an eyeball. Kami-sama it was a fucking eyeball.

Okita stared for a long, long moment. The miburo had seen many, many strange things in his career in the Shinsengumi, but this...

Wondering if it was some kind of sick joke, he glanced around, unwilling to pick the...thing up, especially if he didn't know whose it was. Or if it even belong to someone.

The Captain's gaze was caught on a particularly skinny individual near a tree. His dark hair had already set him apart from the rest of the people here, and Okita studied him for a moment. Was this the one who had...uh, misplaced the eyeball?

This was just too strange.

(OOC: LOL it's cool! My poor Souji is all, "O_O" XDDDDDDDD)

A lone figure sat in the depths of the Matteus Museum of Art. A journal was shut and left to the side of the desk. It was quiet and empty. No one around. And still…

Still nothing. Was this forsaken network good for nothing? Aizen had attempted to pull in anyone he could from the message board the night before. His attempt was fruitless. A few people responded either to refuse or forget to respond again. People were such…

It was faint and far… but suddenly it was there. A reitsu. One very familiar reitsu. No… now there were two. Two golden eyes glided to the south and then the west. The hand that was once sliding through slicked back hair slipped to his side. A smile. A long, sly smile crawled onto his face.

It seemed that Aizen didn’t need the fools from the network after all.

The traitor of the Soul Society casually made his way through the museum and out the front door. And then… he was gone. Shunpo tended to seem that way. One flash step and you were already in another place. And Aizen had no problems in locating such familiar spirits.

There they stood. How he had been blessed with such a gift. Before him was Ulquiorra and Momo Hinamori. His senses proved to be correct… but of course when weren’t they? Another man stood with Hinamori but Aizen would not waste such time with him. Already he had a plan.

“What a coincidence to see you both here…” Aizen smiled, slowly approaching the group.

Hinamori had been about to thank Okita for at least attempting to help... when she heard his voice. The voice she was ashamed to admit she'd almost been dreading, the voice she'd longed to hear. And suddenly, no one else mattered; not the man who had helped her, not Ulquiorra, not anyone. Her body went rigid, ringed brown eyes wide and round as she turned to face him.

She couldn't help drawing a sharp breath when she saw him. If she hadn't known any better, she might not have even recognized him. That warm, inviting look in his eyes, only enhanced by the thick lenses of his familiar glasses. The shaggy locks of hair she'd come to adore over the years she'd served under him. Gone.

It felt like a punch to the stomach. Worse than that... it was almost comparable to the moment her dear captain had run her through with his blade. What has Captain Ichimaru done to him?, she thought to herself, the beginnings of outrage boiling up in the pit of her stomach. Hinamori only realized when she heard the faint crumpling of paper that her hands had balled into fists. The pamphlet was a crumpled mess in her grip.

When he smiled, however, the anger began ebbing away almost as quickly as it had surged up in the first place. He'd changed... but his smile hadn't. That soothing, kind smile. Aizen's smile.

Truthfully, even if it had been the cruelest of callous grins, that's what she would have seen before her. The memory had been ingrained so firmly in her mind that she simply couldn't comprehend anything else -- no, she refused to believe there could be anything else. That was one thing that could never change, even under Ichimaru's influence.

"Captain Aizen..." Hinamori's voice scarcely louder than a whisper, quivering faintly.

Was he the one that had bought her there? Did that mean he really was the reason everyone had begun vanishing?

((OOC: 'Hinamori's voice was scarcely louder than a whisper,' silly words poofing on me. XD))

Now. This was an awkward state of affairs. Ulquiorra stared at the man for a moment. It was like time had paused. In another place, and with different people, this may have actually been funny. Except from the shocked expression that was written on the violet-haired man's face, it wasn't that funny. Ulquiorra hoped it wasn't, at least. Now, how to retrieve his eyeball.

He stood, brushing his already pristine white robes off and adjusting them. The black haired Arrankar raised a non-existant eyebrow before walking over and picking the eyeball up. A long finger picked off a piece of fake grass, his expression going from stoic to slightly disgusted in a matter of seconds. More awkward silence. Two fingers framed the glassy eye and he turned his head away while he popped it back in. Another small pop! was heard and he made a gesture to take a step forward.

A voice cut in that paused his gesture halfway through. Ulquiorra lifted both green eyes (one newly recovered) to the familiar countenance before him. The black-haired Arrankar resumed his walking and went towards the man before pausing again and making a small bow.

"Aizen-sama."

Okita's attention was thankfully diverted from the strange man by the appearance of another man in glasses. The latest arrival seemed to be acquainted with the other two, considering the way he had just glossed over him.

Ah, no matter. If the three of them knew each other, then Souji had no business sticking around, had he?

With a swift nod and a warm smile to the young lady, the miburo spoke warmly before going on his way - where, he wasn't too sure, but he knew he'd find out something before long. A look upwards told him that there was so much more to this place, and the important thing was to find someone who knew what was going on, and how he could get out of this place. "Well, I'll see you around then, Miss."

When one knew a person’s personality very well, it was easy to predict their reactions. Aizen did just that. Ulquiorra bowed in his usual fashion, something Aizen was even a bit thankful for. The wandering interests of Ichimaru could be very trying at times… per say this one. And Hinamori? That was something anyone could predict. Her love for him was astounding and far from fickle. He was sure that in her mind she excused him for the events at Central 46 which left him with no work to do at all. He just needed to work off of her own imaginary beliefs.

“Ulquiorra,” Aizen nodded in response to the arrankar. “I’m glad you have made it here.”

Then he turned to Hinamori. He made his way to where she stood and bent down so their faces were on the same level. “Hinamori…” he smiled. Every word was stitched with the sound of kindness. “I am glad to see that you are getting better.”

"Well, I'll see you around then, Miss."

Aizen stood and quickly examined this unknown man. His dress was that similar to a shinigami but that was something he obviously was not. The ex-taicho sensed no reitsu from him and he highly doubted that the sword at his side was anything more than that, a sword.

“Now where are you going?” Aizen asked the stranger, still smiling. “Obviously you have helped Hinamori here.” A hand found its way onto the girl’s shoulder. “Is there anyway I could repay you?”

As Aizen spoke to him, Hinamori peered at Ulquiorra almost as though she was truly seeing him for the first time. Her eyes widened, surprised. She had been at least debriefed on the current situation when she'd woken up; once she'd taken the time to really look, it didn't take long to piece the facts together. A companion of Aizen, with the remnants of a mask -

She'd barely had the chance to absorb this knowledge when she found herself face-to-face with Aizen. Any nerves she may have had were put to rest as she gazed into his eyes, finding peace within her heart the like of which she couldn't imagine herself feeling with anyone else.

At his words, still so gentle and warm even now, she felt some of the weight she'd been carrying wash away without a trace. A faint smile crept onto the vice-captain's pale face, the closest to a true smile she'd shown since she'd awoken.

That's right. There had to have been a good reason. She'd been right all along, hadn't she? He hadn't really wanted to hurt her. How could he have? He was Aizen after all; kind, loving Aizen. He wouldn't have done something like that if he hadn't had to.

Hinamori couldn't help feel the slightest pang of dissapointment as her captain stood back to his full height (no matter to her if he wasn't a part of Gotei 13 any longer - she couldn't think of him any other way; he would always be her captain). It took his words, however, to make her realize that the man who'd helped her was leaving. She'd gotten so wrapped up in Aizen that she hadn't even realized.

Her smile grew as Aizen's hand came to rest on her shoulder, some traces of her former vibrance leaking into it. "Yes, please -- I never got to thank you for earlier... I still don't even know your name, " she said quietly. Though her voice was still wavering with a fair deal of raw emotion laying just beneath the surface, there was a certain level of strength that hadn't been there a moment before.

She was surprised when she suddenly felt a trail of warm trickling down her cheek. Hinamori wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, and sure enough, it came back damp. When had she started tearing up?

[[ooc: Oh dear! I am so sorry! ^^;; I haven't really read Bleach, and so I took the description from the icon...^^; ]

Okita was about to respond to the taller man's words when the young woman - Hinamori, from what he deduced from the other man's words to her- was...crying?

Had he offended her in some way?

Quite unused to dealing with crying girls, his eyes widened in alarm as he hurriedly tried to console her, racking his brain to try to figure out just what he'd done to make her cry. There were very few things that could faze a miburo, and a weeping woman was right at the top of his list.

"Miss, uh, have I hurt you? My apologies if I had; and of course, you can call me Souji! Please don't cry...!"

Hinamori felt a faint, embarassed blush creep across her pale cheeks, her own eyes widening slightly as her tears were called to attention. "Oh, no no, " she said quickly, wiping more furiously to try and rid herself of the tears that had begun brimming there. "You didn't do anything at all, Souji-san! I just, um... "

She chewed her lip thoughtfully, scrounging for the proper words. "I'm just... really grateful to see Captain Aizen again, " was what she settled on, her lips curling upwards again in that same faint smile. It was more complex than that, but that summed it up well enough.

The hand of Aizen found it's way to the small head of Hinamori and patted it gently. Same trust... same resolve... same Hinamori.

"Well Souji-kun, are you quite sure there is nothing I could do? It is very late and I doubt you have a place to stay. I work at a museum to the north, not but a train ride away, that has lodging. I'm sure that Hinamori here and Ulquiorra," he indicated to the dark haired arrankar, "Will be joining me. I'd be more than happy to have you accompany us."

A smile again before Aizen shot a glance to Ulquiorra. The message in his eyes was clear but only to the once-Hollow. Aizen would have quite of bit of explaining to do with him. He was quite sure that the arrankar was lost in some way or another purely from the lack of information. He hadn't spoken much of the events of the Soul Society before he had obtained the Hougyoku. It was a sure fact that Ulquiorra would more than understand the situation. Out of all the members of the Espada, Ulquiorra was one of (if not the) best.

[ooc: Hee~~ 's okay, thanks for telling me, anyway :D Really appreciated it ^_^]

The name Souji had been more to offset the slim chance that someone would have recognized him than as a formal way of addressing someone - the name Okita Souji was particularly well-known and feared in Kyoto, after all - but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Besides, he actually pretty much liked the shy young woman, timid as she was, and it would not do to scare her any further.

The young swordsman flashed Hinamori a warm smile as he silently wondered what the bond was between the one named Captain Aizen and the young woman. But then again, perhaps it wasn't his place to know.

He perked up slightly when he heard of a museum and lodging; having never been to a museum in his life - it wasn't like Mibu was full of them - and perhaps the need for a day's rest was imperative. In addition, perhaps he could find out something more from the other man, who looked like he'd been here awhile.

Weighing his options, Okita simply bowed faintly. "Thank you for your generosity, Aizen-san. If it does not impede your activities in any way, I would be thankful for a night's lodging. I will repay you, of course." He hadn't needed any repayment for standing up for Hinamori, and had seen Aizen's offer as more of a favor to be paid back than anything.

“Oh no,” Aizen smiled. “It is no problem at all. Your company is welcomed, Souji-kun.”

The shinigami was sure to remember what the young man had told him and most certainly would keep the idea of ‘repayment’ in mind. Plans kept getting revised and amended but it all seemed to be for the better. Three new occupants for Matteus’ hmm?

“Well, I don’t even believe everyone is acquainted, are they?” Aizen asked, lightening the mood anymore. “I am Aizen Sousuke as I’m sure all but Souji-kun knows. This lovely girl here is my fukutaicho from our original world. She is Hinamori Momo. And the last man you see before you is known as Ulquiorra.”

“Now, the easiest thing to do would be to take the train over to the Museum. It is but an hour’s ride really… When we reach our destination I will show you all your rooms.”

One last time the once-taicho of the Soul Society smiled before turning with a sweep and headed straight for the station.

What a wonderful evening this was turning out to be.

[OOC: Sure thing! And yep, I'm familiar with those terms, but thanks alot for the information, anyway! :D I should probably have a chat with you over AIM to plan things out? ]

Between the pat on the head and the words of praise, Hinamori may as well have been glowing. It was amazing how the simplest of affectionate gestures from her captain could send her heart racing, could make her feel as though all was right with the world... even if it wasn't their world. So long as Aizen was there, so long as they could go on like this, did it truly matter where they were?

She paused to smile at Okita. "Thank you again, Souji-san." Hinamori was glad he was coming along too -- he definately seemed kind enough from what she'd seen so far. She was looking forward to the chance to get to know him later on.

With that, she turned and moved after her captain. That particular contentment that had come to be associated with Aizen and Aizen alone seeped into her heart again as she watched him, her smile broadening. There were still many questions to be asked. But just for a little longer, Hinamori was perfectly content to let sleeping dogs lie and enjoy the moment. If not for the company they were keeping and the strange landscape spreading out in every direction... it would have felt like they'd gone back in time. Back to the beginning. The lies, the manipulations, the betrayals: it was almost like they'd never happened. Almost like it was a bad dream, just another night terror to be forgotten when the sun rose again.

Her gaze trailed to his slicked-back hair, a faint shadow passing over her face. Almost...

((ooc: *scooches off to new thread* n_n))

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Heads.... or rather, eyes roll. [Complete]

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