WTL Deleted Scene
The bar had been closed for an hour and Mitsuo was in the process of cleaning up when he noticed the woman standing by the door. It was raining hard outside but she didnât seem to notice or care, looking completely lost in thought.
Mitsuo hesitated for a moment before making his way towards the front.
âCan I help you?â He asked politely. The woman jolted slightly, before staring up at him with wide, startled eyes.
âNo,â she said after a brief pause. âNo, itâs okay. I shouldnât have come. Sorry for disturbing you.â
She turned to walk away and before he could think better of it, Mitsuo reached out one hand to grab her shoulder. She went alarmingly stiff under his touch and he hastily let her go.
âI apologize, I didnât mean to startle you. Itâs just that, well.â He took in her drenched clothes, the lack of umbrella, the water droplets running down her face. âYou look like you could use a place to warm up.â
She glanced at the very blatant âClosedâ sign on the door before looking back at him.
âI think we have time for one more customer,â he said, answering her unspoken question, and stepped aside to allow her in.
~~
âSo that bad, huh?â The woman, who had introduced herself as âHana,â asked casually. Mitsuo raised an eyebrow at her.
âWhat do you mean?â He asked, sliding a cup of tea over to her.
âThe way I look.â Her lips quirked up slightly, a touch of humor entering her eyes. âI figure it has to be bad if strangers are taking pity on me and allowing me to take shelter for free after hours. Be honest, on a scale of drowned rat to drenched owl, how bad are we talking?â
He took in her shoulder length sopping-wet brown hair, brown eyes, brown coat. She did look a bit like a bedraggled animal, actually.
âHmm, more along the lines of wet cat, to be frank,â Mitsuo said, smiling. âHowâs the tea?â
She took a sip, then drew back, surprised. âThis-- â
âNot bad, right?â Mitsuo chuckled.
âWell. The standards of tea have certainly improved since the last time Iâve been in Inuzuri,â Hana remarked. âMust mean this place is doing pretty well, right?â
âYou could say that.â They certainly werenât lacking money anyway. âI think we have some food leftover in the back. Let me see if I can scrounge up something.â
âYou donât have to,â Hana protested. âSeriously, youâve done more than enough.â
âItâs no trouble.â Mitsuo smiled briefly. âBesides, itâd hardly be polite to let a lady go hungry. Why donât you take a look at a menu and see if anything catches your eye?â
âAbsolutely not, Iâm not going toâwait, who came up with the names of these drinks?â She asked incredulously.
âAh yes, Iâm afraid my brother had quite a bit of fun coming up with them.â Mitsuo grinned, suppressing a chuckle. âMy sister, she was of the belief that we should be trying to attract a more diverse clientele and suggested that creating cocktails designed to cater to both men and women might be a good idea. Kazukiâmy brotherâthought it was ridiculous and was deeply upset at the idea of serving âgirlyâ drinks in his bar. Unfortunately for him, he was unanimously outvoted. The compromise was that he would be allowed to name the drinks.â
âAnd Kâand they approved these?â Hanaâs lips twitched as she scanned the list. âThe Red-Hot Pineapple Monkey? Oh dear, the person who inspired that one must be aâŠcharacter.â
Mitsuo hummed his agreement, hiding his surprise. It wasnât often that newcomers guessed the cocktail names were inspired by actual people, and that one was a comparatively less obvious one.
âMaybe Iâll try something after all. This one sounds promisingâthe Flower Power Glower.â She laughed. âIâm sorry, itâs just that oneâŠI mean, I would have loved toââ Her voice trailed off, shoulders slumping slightly. âBut I guess thatâs not possible anymore.â
Hana glanced up at Mitsuo, a wry twist to her mouth.
âMaybe alcohol isnât such a good idea tonight.â
âMaybe not,â Mitsuo agreed gently. âAnd for what itâs worth, I understand. Iâve lost people too. If thereâs anything I can do to help, Iâd be glad to give it a try.â
âThank you, thatâs very kind of you.â She hesitated. âThere is one thing. I justâyour family.â Hana looked down at her hands, fiddling with her mug. âThey sound likeâŠlike an amazing group of people. Would you tell me about them?â There was an odd urgency to her voice now, words coming out just a touch too fast. âPlease?â
Mitsuo paused. By all means, he should decline her request. It wasnât exactly a secret that two highly-ranked Shinigami came from their household and although neither Rukia nor Renji visited frequently these days, it wasnât unfeasible that someone could come seeking information to use against them. And yet, he couldnât help but instinctively trust that this woman meant him and his family no harm.
He hadnât lived this long by ignoring his instincts.
âWhat do you want to know?â He asked.
~~
They ended up talking for hours. Honestly, they probably could have ended up talking for longer had Kazuki not stormed in, shaking droplets of rain out of his hair.
âThere you are! The bar closed hours ago, where the hell have youâwho the hell is she?â Kazuki drew up short at the sight of Hana and Mitsuo sitting across from each other at the bar, halfway through their second pot of tea. Hana looked at him with the same wide-eyed look sheâd greeted Mitsuo with.
âManners, Kazuki,â Mitsuo said dryly.
âShut up, this ainât the goddamned Seireitei,â Kazuki retorted without taking his eyes off Hana. âSo who is she?â
âShe is able to hear you,â Hana said, a touch sardonically. âYou can call me Hana.â
âJust Hana, huh? No last name?â Kazuki asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
âYouâre hardly one to talk, given that you havenât provided either of yours,â she retorted without missing a beat. He blinked, then grinned.
âFair enough. You can call me Kazuki then.â His eyes fell onto the mostly-empty plate of gyoza on the table. âAw man, I was hoping to eat those later.â
âDonât worry, we saved the smallest one for you,â she replied, tongue-in-cheek. Mitsuo blinked. That had almost sounded likeâ
âI mean, thank you for the drinks and the food,â Hana said hastily, interrupting his thoughts. âHow much do I owe you? And donât tell me itâs on the house again, I mean the real cost.â
âHow much do you want to pay?â At her uncomprehending look, Kazuki smirked. âWe operate on a donation-only system here. You pay what you want, and if you donât want to pay anything, thatâs perfectly fine too.â He looked her over. âActually on second thought, I second what Mitsuo said. Itâs on the houseâplease use any money you have to buy an umbrella.â
âThat doesnât seem like a viable way to run a business,â Hana pointed out.
âDonât worry about that. Anything that isnât covered by donations just gets added to Hisanaâs tab,â Kazuki shrugged.
There was a pause.
âHisanaâs tab?â Hana questioned. Her voice was very small.
âItâs a system we set up in honor of our late sister,â Mitsuo explained quietly. âWell, us and her fiancĂ© at the time. Anyone who comes to this bar only needs to ask in order to be fed.â
It had been Kuchiki Byakuyaâs idea. The amount of money he donated on a yearly basis could feed more hungry orphans than existed in all of Inuzuri.
âOh.â Hana swallowed. âThatâsâthatâs a really nice thing to do. Iâm sure your sister would have loved that.â She stood up and bowed. âIâve taken up enough of your time. Thank you for your kindnessâI canât tell you how much it means to me.âÂ
âYou have a place to stay?â Mitsuo asked, concerned.
âOf course. You donât have to worry about me,â she smiled. âIâll be fine.â
Mitsuo pursed his lips, studying her closely. There was something oddly familiar about her, something that had been bothering him all evening. Not her featuresâno, Mitsuo was quite certain heâd never seen this woman before in his lifeâbut in her tone of voice, the way she tilted her chin upâ
He shook off the sense of déjà vu and smiled at her.
âIn that case, please feel free to come back at any time. Youâre always welcome,â he said sincerely. âI hope to see you again.âÂ
Her smile softened into something a little more genuine.
âAs do I,â she murmured. âTake care, Mitsuo, Kazuki.â
âSo. Hana, huh?â Kazuki commented as soon as the door shut behind her. âSomeone you know?â
âNot at all. Iâve never seen her before tonight,â Mitsuo replied honestly. âWhy?â
He shrugged, staring off into the same direction Hana had left.
âNothing. Just feel like Iâve met her before.â
~~
Hisana: âYou donât have to worry about me, Iâll be fineâ while very much the opposite of fine
Mitsuo and Kazuki, immediately: wait why does this girl seem so familiar
Deleted this scene because I decided Hisana wouldn't risk going back to her family until Aizen was no longer a threat, no matter how much she missed them. But I figured I'd share this snippet anyway, hope you guys enjoy!
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ohh i canât see them in an actual relationship, but i canât totally imagine the weird situationship they have
Itâs a very weird relationship, no one else really gets it either. Like, on the surface, theyâre very close. When Aizen Sousuke gets âkilledâ, everyone expects Momo to absolutely lose it but instead, sheâs weirdly unconcerned. As in, so unconcerned that itâs become a bit concerning, like is she going into shock or something??
You ask her about it and sheâs like, eh Iâm sure the proper authorities will figure it out. Do I think Ichimaru Gin was involved in his death? Who knows? Certainly not me.
Hitsugaya comes over to check in on how sheâs doing. Her response when he tentatively broaches the subject of her captainâs passing is, âOh yes, that. Very tragic. So who do you think my new captainâs going to be?â
Nah, sheâs doing her own thing and asking absolutely ZERO questions, to an internal monologue of ânot getting stabbed, not getting stabbed, nope, nuh-uh.â
Aizen, watching from the sidelines, feels strangely offended. Yes, heâd always been planning on leaving her behind and betraying herâŠbut come on, didnât he warrant a few more tears than that?? Heâd seen her cry more when her pet turtle died, for gods sake.
Of course, she still ends up getting stabbed in the end.
(Momo is incandescently furious about it because what the fuck, Aizen-taicho. Youâve got to be kidding meâ what did I ever do to you?! And donât think I didnât notice you decided to injure me in a way that would be painful but not fatal. This wasnât about your stupid plans, you absolute bastard, this was about you being a petty, vindictiveâ )
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