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rays-of-fire-and-ice · 2 years

Note

Happy anniversary and 1000+ followers!!! I would love to hear more about what it was like for Shinji and Hinamori settling into/creating a new version of the 5th Division together, after over a year of post-Aizen interim. (Maybe bonus Genji reference??) **Also, if you would like to do a trade I would be happy to see what I can do with a prompt, too! :D

As Months Go By, As Seasons Change - Part I

Rating: K+/Teen

Setting: the 17 months between the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc and the beginning of the Lost Agent arc.

Synopsis: Momo resumes her duties as lieutenant, Shinji returns to a role he was forced out of long ago. Both of them are not who they used to be, and neither is the division they must work together to rebuild.

AN: I finally get to write a fic for this brotp, and it shows! I didn't realise I had a lot to write about them until I started and just kept going and going and going, and now I have one of the longest fics I've ever written. Because of this, I decided this needed to be split in two, so here's part one with part two hopefully coming soon.

I decided to skip retelling their first meeting and other parts involving them from Death Save the Strawberry, but for context’s sake you can go read about it over at BLEACH’s wiki if you’re not familiar with it. Also, a some notes before we begin:

Genji, the Fifth Division’s third seat, only appears in ‘We do KNOT Always Love You’, so there isn’t much to go off about his character in terms of personality and how long he’s been with Fifth Division. We do know he graduated the same year as Izuru and was not in the same class as he, Renji, and Hinamori. In this fic, I’ll be writing him as someone who has served in Fifth for about five decades and he and Hinamori are good work-friends.

While Shinji kept his distance from Aizen 110 years ago, I don’t think this was the case for the rest of the division. He wasn’t friends with everyone or anything, but he got on well with his subordinates and had a genuine care for them and wanted the division to be a friendly place.

If you’re curious, the vinyl Genji pulls out is here (middle bottom row) and you can take a listen to it here. I imagine Shinji would be into a wide range of jazz music (from blues to fusion to soul) across the decades and not just from Japanese musicians and artists.

The plants talked about are Japanese maple trees (momiji), lily of the valley (suzuran), Japanese buttercups (Umanoahigata) and irises (Ayame). The meaning Aizen spouts for the latter I got from my [limited] research into Hanakotoba, the Japanese flower language.

This ended up feeling like three one-shots and a bunch of random moments all rolled into one, so sorry if the pacing is off.

With all of that out of the way, @whipplefilter, I hope this was worth the wait, that I did these two justice, and that you enjoy this!

Edit: you can read part 2 here.

________________________

Hinamori looks at the folded shihakusho on her bedside table. After a pause, she runs her hand over the obi that lay on top. She remembers how to tie it around her waist, like a reflex and without a second thought. It's irrational, but she's relieved she can still recall how to put on her uniform.

However, looking at her reflection in the window, dressed in the hospital robes with her hair tied over one shoulder, doubt creeps in again. She can put on a uniform just fine, but that didn’t mean she could do everything else. How can she wonder around the barracks and act as if nothing happened? What if she’s only reminded of Captain Aizen?

She cringes at the thought of him. Maybe this really was a mistake after all.

She shakes her head. No, everyone’s waiting for me. I can’t let them down.

It’s this thought that motivates her to dress out of her hospital robes and into her uniform. She thinks about Genji and the rest of the Fifth Division, about the other lieutenants and her friends in other divisions, about the Junrinan, and, with some hesitation, Hitsugaya. Finally, after she has completely changed into the shihakusho, she thinks about the new captain.

The chat they had a few days ago, it sparked something in her. Even if she had tried to, nothing she or anyone else could have said or done would have put the flames out. Shinji Hirako spoke of those waiting for her – correcting her in saying they hadn’t left or abandoned her, that they were waiting – and of how highly regarded she is among every Fifth Division members and other lieutenants.

She tries to imagine the reaction his appointment to captain must have gotten amongst the division. The older members probably knew him from over a hundred years ago. What must have they thought when they realised he hadn’t died or abandoned the Gotei Thirteen? The newer ones must have been irked or worried, some probably not even having heard of this man. As far as they’re concerned he’s new, someone who hadn’t been in touch with the Fifth Division let alone the Soul Society for decades. He’d come from the World of Living and didn’t have to do much to become a captain again.

And he was becoming their captain in a time when they’re all reeling from the lies they’ve been living under. Regardless of whether they were old or new, she imagined almost everyone in his division wouldn’t be too trusting of him right away. He would’ve had to earn just the most basic trust in the last week, who knew how long it would take before they could all trust him completely.

But then, did she trust him?

She is not her old self and never would be. She is not so far gone that she distrusts every new person she meets, and she was never so naïve as to believe everyone was good to their core; but now she knew just how cruel people could be, especially those who never showed their true weaknesses. Her life before Aizen’s betrayal had felt like a fantasy, carefully crafted for her to always be content and not question a thing about the world she lived in. She’d been blinded by him, and even now she criticizes herself, tries to understand how she never once thought to look for a fault in him.

Even so, with a longing that made her want to get back into her hospital bed and pretend she never recovered, she wanted to go back to that life. To live under an illusion she was familiar with, where life seemed so idyllic.

She bites the inside of her mouth, hard. Again she needs to remind herself: that life is gone now, and she’ll try to face whatever life she lives in now.

“Hinamori-san, are you ready?”

The question from behind the door startles her. “Oh, um…”

She quickly resumes folding up her hospital robes and then gathering the few things she has on the bedside table. “Yes, Kotetsu-san!” she says without stopping.

The door slides open, and when she looks over her shoulder, there stands Isane, her smile now not one of pity or sympathy. The lieutenant steps in and then to the side of the door. “If you’re ready to go, Captain Hirako is here.”

Before Hinamori can say anything and as if on cue, the new captain walks in. His smile is toothy and wide, and she gets the distinct impression it’s how he naturally smiles despite how strange it seems.

But that isn’t what gives her pause. Up until now she’d only seen him in two outfits: the World of the Living clothing when they first met, and then a few days later in a shihakusho before he went to his captain ceremony. She stares at his haori for longer than the necessary; it’s almost alien to her, as if it were one of the articles of clothing from the World of the Living he wore.

“Why do you look so surprised?” he asks, then gestures to the doorway. “You ready to go?”

Hinamori straightens and tilts her head to one side. She’d thought she would pack her things and make her own way back, getting a send-off from Isane at the Fourth Division’s entrance at most, but otherwise just slowly making her way back to the division.

But here Shinji is, ready to walk her back, to accompany her on what felt like a long road back. Of course he is, all the captains generally do so when their lieutenants are about to be discharged from Fourth Division.

Somehow though, she gets the sense this isn’t just out of obligation either. He seems genuinely happy to see her, and now it’s infectious because she’s a little happy to see him too. He's a little rough around the edges, but he’d been kind to her.

“Yes,” she says when she realises he’s waiting for a response. “I’m ready to go, Captain.”

It takes her far too much effort to get the title out, and if the way his smile falls is any indication, he can tell. She’s told herself repeatedly that this man will be her new captain, but somehow the title still hasn’t stuck to him in her mind yet.

However, his smile hadn’t gone entirely; it’s close-lipped and smaller, but no less genuine. As he closes the gap between them, he reaches into his left sleeve. “Well, actually, you’re almost ready to go.”

She frowns at that. “What do you mean?” She looks to Isane, who still stands at the door. “Did I forget something?”

Isane shakes her head with a knowing look. “You’ve signed all the paperwork you needed to.”

When she turns back to the captain, he pulls out something from his sleeve and holds it out to her. “Here.”

Hinamori blinks down at the lieutenant’s badge, as it’s the first time she’s ever been presented with it. Swallowing against the tightness building in her throat, she slowly takes it in both hands. She can’t look up, her head suddenly too heavy to lift. She presses her lips together and blinks against the threat of tears.

She’s really going back to the Fifth Division. Not just as a subordinate, but as it’s lieutenant.

It’s been months since she last walked in the hallways she knew like the back of her hand or slept in her quarters or tended the gardens in the courtyards or ate with her subordinates in the mess hall or sat on one of the verandas and did her paperwork on sunny days. None of it would be the same. She wasn’t the same.

She thinks to ask Shinji if he’s truly certain about this, that he really wanted her back on as lieutenant of the Fifth Division, but what she holds in her hands is answer enough. “Thank you.”

______________________________

Shinji watches her from the other side of the rambunctious hall. She gives everyone around her a startled smile, trying to talk to all of them at once while colour rushes up into her cheeks. She’d been stunned when he slid the door open for her and a chorus of cheers erupted from within. For a moment he thought she’d faint – it was probably too much considering she’d only just recovered – but she surprised him when tears welled up again and she smiled widely and bowed, thanking everyone.

Everyone wanted to see her, to quickly speak with her before she went to her quarters, but they also knew to give her space and wait for her to come to them.

He hates how it reminds him of Aizen. Was it the way his subordinates just gravitated to her? He got the impression that even if this wasn’t a welcome back celebration they’d still go to her, smile at her and greet her as she walked by.

No, it wasn’t just that. Maybe he still can’t get over what the other lieutenants and his division members had said about her. She was a hard worker, punctual, kind, compassionate, and she’d eventually gotten the moniker of ‘Tiger of Paperwork’. The latter brought the slightest smile back, but the other things, they hit a bit too close to home. She isn’t Aizen, he knows that, but he knows just how influential he was one her. Had he changed her from how she used to be? Was it a result of that blinding admiration she and others spoke about, or was she always like this?

“Sir?”

Shinji turns to Genji Isawa, his third seat. “Ah, sorry, spaced out there. You need something, Isawa?”

Genji shakes his head. “Nothing major. Just letting you know I’ve got everything ready for tomorrow.”

Shinji steps away from the wall he'd been leaning back on. “Good. My meeting shouldn’t take too long, but if you finish early, don't feel the need to wait for me. You should get to the training afterwards.”

“Of course.” Genji watches his lieutenant talk with everyone, his smile widening. “It’s good to see her in high spirits. While I visited her in the Fourth Division, I could tell she was trying to save face. There was a time when…” His smile falters. He looks back to Shinji, who’s a little caught off guard by how candid his third seat was being. “Sir, I’ve never thanked you for helping Lieutenant Hinamori.”

Shinji tries to wave it off. “Nah, it was nothing. She’s a strong one, you know?”

“She is, but it was because of you she got out of Fourth Division and is still our lieutenant. Whatever you said to her, it’s brought her back here.” As if realizing how impassioned he sounds, Genji pauses and bows his head. “Forgive me, Captain. I’ve known the Lieutenant for decades, and I and everyone else have been concerned for her. As you’re aware, when Captain Ai…When Aizen betrayed us, she took it the hardest out of all of us.” He raises his head. “We didn’t want to lose her, so thank you for choosing to reappoint her as our lieutenant.”

Shinji watches her again. Yes, in small aspects she reminds him of Aizen, but…

“I understand. Fifth Division’s always been a pretty chummy place, hasn’t it?” His smile gets a little wider. “At least she kept that going while I was gone.”

______________________________

Stepping back into her old room had been one thing, but stepping back into the office is something else entirely. At least in her room, Hinamori knew nothing was likely to be moved or touched, and if she cried no one would see her get emotional. Even though she returned to it far different than who she was before, she could call it her own space and knew what to expect. She knew to avoid looking at the upper shelves of her bookcase where she kept her sketchbooks and the few novels Aizen had gifted her, and she knew that she wouldn’t sleep well on her first night back, even surrounded by the things that had no memories attached to him.

This office, changed or no, it will surely make her remember the times before. She’ll either long for the way the office used to be, or wish the new captain had changed the setup, or maybe she’ll react in a way that even she can’t predict. She wishes she had Renji’s resilience, that attitude he used to exude at the Academy: sometimes you’ve got to do it, even if it’s painful. But isn't that what she's trying to do now?

With a trembling hand, she reaches out and clutches the handle.

“Lieutenant.”

Hinamori twists to her right. Genji approaches, his strides purposeful and wide as his smile. Despite the nerves thrumming through her, she can’t help but smile back. “Good morning, Isawa-kun.”

“I thought you’d still be in the mess hall,” he says, coming to a stop in front of the office doors. “I was going to set everything up before you came.”

“Ah, well, I didn’t think I should stay too long.” She gestures to the stack of documents he carries under his arm. “You must have a lot to update me on.”

His smile falls and a concerned frown takes its place. “It would have been fine if you wanted to talk with everyone for a little while longer.”

Hinamori raises her hands defensively. “Oh, don’t get me wrong! It was great to eat breakfast with everyone, I really enjoyed talking with them and finding out what’s been happening around here.” She sighs, lowering her hands. “But while talking with everyone, it just made me want to get back to my duties all the more. Our division…it’s going to be different from now on, whether we like it or not, and I need to know where things stand for us.”

Genji nods. “It’s true. Must admit, it’s taken some getting used to with Captain Hirako.”

Hinamori chews on the inside of her lip. Then, after some hesitation. “How do you find him?”

“The Captain?” Genji raises a brow and his gaze in thought. “I think he’s a good man. He’s not like Capt – Aizen.” The effect the name has passes between for a moment before the third seat continues. “He’s got some interesting…interests. I think that’s mainly a result of his time in the World of the Living. This morning he was wearing something called a 'tie' around his neck, you’ll probably see him wearing it when he comes back.

“I’m sure you’ve seen while speaking him that he gets to the point. It might come across as blunt, but he means well. It also helps he already knows what the role entails, so he doesn’t have to brought up to speed.” He chuckles weakly. “Must admit, I thought because of how long he had been in the World of the Living, he’d have forgotten. He showed me, that's for sure.”

Hinamori only nods in response, unsure how to react to Genji’s observations. So far, it matched with her own experiences with him, right down to his strange choice in clothes from the World of the Living.

He grins. “I knew for sure he was a good person when he reinstated you as lieutenant. There’s no one else who can do this job better than you.”

That tugs at her heart. “A-And you thought I could? Even when I was bedridden?”

“We all did. We just knew you had to take your time, but whenever you came around, we’d all be there to help you and each other. It’s the Fifth Division way, right?”

She looks at her third seat, really looks at him for the first time in a while. She’s worked with him for decades; no one is as fast as he is in combat and he’s a diligent worker when it comes to the desk job side of things. She knew only bits and pieces of his personal life: he came from one of the higher districts in the south, has two adoptive parents and a younger brother he looks after and visits on days off, and he likes spicy foods. She knows he took over her duties – writing reports, going to lieutenant meetings, overseeing training – but he would have had to take over some captain duties too. A lot had been put on his shoulders, and despite the faintest bags under his eyes and his shoulders not being as pushed back as they normally are, he still manages to smile and carry on like his usual optimistic self.

Hinamori fixes him with a solemn gaze. “You’ve done a lot for the division, Isawa-kun. More than a third seat should ever do.” She bows her head. “I’ll never forget it, and I will make it up to you and everyone else. I promise I will work hard to show your belief in me wasn’t wasted.”

“Ah, that’s not necessary!”

She straightens. “Things are going to be different from now on, but you’ve kept the division’s spirit going through this time. You made sure that didn’t change.” She thinks to apologies, but somehow, despite the guilt welled up in her, it doesn’t feel right. No, instead she finds herself saying, “Thank you, Isawa-kun.”

Genji stands a little taller; then after a beat, he bows. “Welcome back, Lieutenant. It is truly good to have you back with us.”

She smiles in return, and somehow manages to stop yet another barrage of emotions from surfacing as tears. “And it’s good to be back.” She glances back at the office door. “We should get started with the updates you need to give me.”

“Yes, of course. It won’t take too long I hope. I need to oversee the flash-step training.”

Her smile widens at that. “Still the fastest in the division, then?”

“I have a reputation to keep!” he says with a laugh, and Hinamori join ins. If there was anyone who could keep the division buoyant during these troubling times without leadership, it’s Genji with his infectious smiles and laughs.

But the laughter dies down and there’s a pause. Hinamori realises he’s waiting for her to open the door. She takes in a breath, holds it for a second longer, and as she breathes out as quietly and naturally as she can, slides the door aside.

Genji walks past her while she is stunned, unable to move.

“I probably should have warned you,” he says ruefully, back still turned to her as he goes to the captain’s desk. “Captain Hirako rearranging the office a little. I made your desk stay where it was, I wasn’t sure if you wanted it changed or not.”

Hinamori stares into the office not with anxiety or dread or guilt, but in bewilderment.

As Genji had said, her desk remained - save for the fresh flowers in the small vase she kept in the right-hand corner – but the captain’s desk was no longer opposite hers on the left side of the room. It’s now close to the back wall with all sorts of strange accoutrements and objects along the front, and next it is a strange box on a stand with a wheel at the end of each leg. Behind the desk are the two bookcases which are mostly stocked with tomes of Soul Society laws and division records.

She points to the glossy, colourful assortment of whatever lines the middle shelf of one bookcase. “What…are those?” But before Genji could provide an answer, she also points at the box next to the captain’s desk. “And what’s that?”

“Those are Captain Hirako’s.” Genji sets the documents aside on the captain’s desk, goes to the closest bookcase, and pulls out one of the things from a shelf. “He calls them 'vinyls', or 'records' sometimes. They have music on them.” From what Hinamori realises is a cover, Genji pulls out a large disc. “Apparently the older members remember these from when he was captain a century years ago. I don’t really know how to set it up, but he plays it using the record player over there. You’ll see him do it at some point. He brought all of these with him from the World of the Living.”

Hinamori looks between the vinyl record and its cover. The latter had a strange red and blue visual, it almost reminds her of the inside of the Twelfth Division’s labs. On the left side it reads ‘Made Up City - Casiopea’. She purses her lips. “He plays music while he works?”

Genji slips the vinyl record back into its cover and puts it back on the shelf. “Not all the time, but he does seem to like it every now then.” Genji chuckles. “It’s strange music if you ask me, I don’t really understand it. You can talk to him if you don’t want to have music playing, he seems to be relaxed about it.” He throws an arm around the room. “I think he’d even be open to changing anything here if you wanted.”

Hinamori nods slowly. He didn’t sound like he was strict or wanted things a certain way without argument. Even when she talked with him for the first time, she got that sense about him. Even so, perhaps this was going to be harder than she thought. She prefers quiet while working, but it seems the new captain liked background noise – or music, in his case.

“I’ll talk with him when he’s done with his meeting.” She conjures up what she hopes is a convincing smile. “In the meantime, we should get to your updates and notes.”

They sit at her desk and Genji shows her everything he wrote at the lieutenants meetings he attended, the updates from the districts they oversaw in the Rukongai and the regions in the World of the Living under their protection, and the finances and admin of the division.

At some point, Hinamori’s mind, and eventually her gaze drift to the bookcases. Aizen never kept many things in the office, but he did have three things on the shelf the vinyls currently occupy: a small stack of the latest books he was planning to read, a digital clock from the Twelfth Division, and a vase, identical to the one she has. The latter had been a gift from her back in the early days of being appointed a lieutenant. She’d had some girlish hope that he’d put on his desk, just as she was going to do with hers. She pushed down and denied her disappointment when she saw him put it on the shelf instead. After that, he only ever looked at it when she was putting new flowers in it.

Who had removed his things? When had they removed them? Were they in storage? Thrown away? Broken to pieces or burned to ashes?

Maybe serving under Aizen all these decade has given her enough practice on how to bury things that would harm her gilded image of him, or maybe she was sick and a tired of receiving pity when she was emotional. Regardless, when she focuses back on Genji, she doesn’t know how she manages to keep the smile in place when the familiar ache in her chest flares to life and the backs of her eyes burn with the threat of tears, but she does.

______________________________

After Genji had left to oversee flash-step training, Hinamori decides to wait for Shinj in the courtyard outside the office. It’s one of the smaller courtyards on their premises, meant for division members to come and rest for a little while amongst the trees and flowers, or for them to wait in before they’re called into the office.

Hinamori comes down the steps and slows to a stop on the path that winds through most of the garden. She can’t quite put her finger on what had changed at first. The shrubs are just as she remembered, rounded and trimmed, as are the momiji, one taller than the other and casting shade over a corner of the veranda that surrounded the courtyard. The patches of suzuran that are scattered on either side of the path sway to and fro in the spring breeze. The other flowers do too, and that’s when it hits her.

There had only been small lines of them dotted along one side of the path, but the ayame is gone.

Footsteps stop her train of thought, and she looks up in time to see Shinji walking around the corner on the second-floor balcony of the smaller barracks. He was studying something she couldn’t see, and he wore something white - perhaps the 'tie' Genji mentioned - around his neck.

Taking a breath to settle herself, she waves at him and forces out, “Captain!”

Shinji raises his head and tucks whatever he holds into his sleeve. “Hey!" he shouts with a wave. "Stay there.”

He gives the balcony railing a look that Hinamori knows all too well, but then steps away and heads to the stairs in the corridor between the two barracks. It doesn’t surprise her that Shinji is someone who would contemplate whether he should take the long way down or just jump over the railing and get to the ground floor quicker. She’d seen Renji, Hisagi, and many others have the same expression, and many of them jumped if there wasn’t a captain or lieutenant around to catch them.

She keeps to the unspoken rule: unless it’s an emergency, while in combat, or it’s wartime, all Shinigami must refrain from jumping from balconies, on to or from rooftops, and from the walls that surrounded the Seireitei when the gates were brought down. It didn’t mean she hadn’t done it herself though – a small memory of her rushing to meeting, jumping from balcony to balcony, just to make it a few minutes early. The fact such a rule had been created and is quietly enforced was a little funny to her now that she thought about it.

“What’re you smiling about?”

Hinamori blinks at the approaching captain, not realising he’d already made it down. “Nothing, Captain.”

Shinji steps down into the garden and crosses over to her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I was chatting with the new captains. How did it go with Isawa? He bring you up to date with everything?”

He doesn’t stop, instead going past her and up the steps. Was she to follow him? “Yes, I think I’, across everything ,” she says, taking a few tentative steps after him.

“Good.” He stops on the veranda and turns to her, causing her to stop in her tracks. “Anything you want to go over right now or can it wait until later?”

Hinamori cocks her head to one side. “Was there something else you needed to do?”

“Nah, just wondering if you wanted to talk about it after lunch.”

He’s quite causal, she realises, not just in how he speaks but his approach to work too. He's not strict, but he doesn't seem to have a structured approach either. She tries to breathe out the unease that jitters through her. How can she make this work? “Not everything, but…could we go over the finances and concerning district reports after a short break?”

He nods. “Yeah, they’re good places to start.” She thinks he's about to turn back into the office, but instead he looks out into the courtyard. Something she can’t name passes through his eyes, and after a beat he sits on the veranda’s edge. “Must admit, it’s different from how I remember. Used to be a lot less plants and those trees were a lot shorter. It’s not bad though.”

She too turns back to the garden. “When I started, there were a few plants, like the suzuran. Over time we just kept adding more plants.” Then before she can stop herself. “There used to be ayame too.”

She heard the melancholy in her own voice, and she knows Shinji did too when he turns to her with a frown. “Yeah? What happened to them?”

She shrugs stiffly. “I’m not sure. I think someone dug them up because… they were Captain Aizen’s favourite.”

She expects a silence to hang over the garden, and for her and Shinji to quietly contemplate, but the captain sniffs as his frown deepens. “That bastard had a favourite flower?”

Hinamori whips around, her mouth agape, but Shinji isn’t facing her to see it.

“If that even was his favourite,” he continues with a snort. “Thought he’d go for something more regal or something with a double meaning, knowing the way he worked.” He finally sees her reaction and chuckles nervously. “Hey, what’s with the look?”

“I-I, uh…” How is able to talk about him like that? Without an ounce of sorrow or anger. He’s nonchalant, calm, even able to insult him without an ounce of misery or vitriol. She turns away from him and sits on the steps. “I guess I just didn’t expect you to say that.”

The awkward silence she’d expected before now passes between them. Was he able to speak about Aizen like this because it’d been over a hundred years ago? He had time to think about it, to let it pass. But then she remembers what she was told about the battle, about how the captain almost lost one of his friends – Hiyori, she remembers - to Aizen. Although Hiyori is still alive, she wouldn’t blame him for holding some anger towards Aizen, but the way he spoke just now, it's as if he feels only slightly annoyed.

She tries to look at the captain, but struggles to even lift her gaze from the ground. She can’t just keep sitting here like this, she needs to go over those updates with him and to make this new partnership work. How can she make the latter work though? It feels like they’re from different worlds.

“Hey, listen, if you’re not a fan of the office the way it is, we can discuss it, you know?”

Hinamori’s eyes widen. “Huh?”

“Isawa came to me before. He left training for a bit and told me you were shocked when you saw it.” Shinji sighs. “Look, I probably shouldn’t have just changed it all on you like that before you came back. I got carried away with it. It’s your workspace too, so you obviously get a say in how it should be.”

“It’s not that,” she's too quick to answer. She sighs through her nose. “More than that, I was just surprised. I thought everything would be the same as before.” She looks out into the gardens. “That was a silly of me. Time passed while I was in Fourth Division, but I think it’s only hitting me now just how much. Besides, it’s…It’s your desk. Why would I have say over where it goes?”

Shinji shrugs. “Maybe you have a point, it’s the captain’s desk. I arranged it that way because it’s what I’m used to, back when I was doing my first stint at this job.” He grins. “Maybe I could use a change too, you know? Like I said, you’re working in there too, so if you wanted your desk where mine is or somewhere else, do it. We’ll arrange it whatever way works.”

Why is he going out of his way to be accommodating? Is he always this relaxed? Did he pity her?

No, he doesn’t. From the moment she met him, he never pitied her. Somehow, he believes in her.

He didn’t choose one of his friends from the World of the Living to be his lieutenant or one of the other seated officer in Fifth Division; after just one conversation, he wanted her to come back as his lieutenant.

It’s then a few memories surface, of times when Aizen gave her choices, more smaller ones with no consequence to the division. It was while recovering she thought back on such memories, on how he presented her with choices. He always had a way with words:

“What do you think we should plant, Hinamori-kun?”

“Oh, um…maybe umanoahigata? I’ve seen them in the Junrinan forests and they’re a really sweet. They’d look nice next to the suzuran”

“Ah, I think I know which flower you’re talking about. They are beautiful…I was thinking ayame would be a good choice too. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they can convey ‘good tidings’ and ‘loyalty’, can they not? I think it’s something we’d want for the division, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course. If that’s the case, then…let’s plant those!”

No, she realises, Shinji isn’t going out of his way at all.

She swallows against the tightness in her throat and manages a tepid smile. “I don’t mind the layout of the office, really. I-I must admit, I like to work in silence, but…The music you listen to, what’s it like?”

The captain grins widely and stands. “Come on, I’ll show ya!”

_______________________________

Her new haircut caught Shinji off guard at first. They’d only known each other for nearly two weeks now, but he was used to seeing her with her hair in a ponytail and resting on her shoulder.

His surprise must have shown because Hinamori had brought a hand up tentatively touches the ends of her much shorter hair, explaining, “My hair was getting too long, and I thought it would be a nice change to have something shorter.”

He couldn’t help himself; he’d turned his head up and to the side and flicked his hair. “Did I provide you with some inspiration?” he’d teased.

She gave a nervous laugh and dismissed his question. He could see the indignation that wanted to bubble up from her, but she kept it in. She’s polite and someone who doesn’t want to offend others. However, he got the feeling she wasn’t always like this, that she had a more expressive side to her. He’d already seen some of it, if her reaction to him asking if Aizen really had a favourite flower was any indication.

His only concern was whether this politeness was something she’d always had or was something Aizen fostered in her. He shakes his head, leaving that train of thought for later.

Now they walk from the mess hall to the main office. It’d become a small routine for them. He’s a late riser, always waking up after hitting the snooze button several times. It meant he had to rush breakfast – if he even remembered to have it in the first place - and then saunter his way down to the mess hall, where Hinamori – an early riser he understood very quickly – would eat with their subordinates. He’d stroll in, usually when she was done, and then they’d head to the office.

“So today I’m thinking we could do a bit of cleaning,” he says when he slides the office door open. “Think we need a bit more space and not as much old stuff.”

“What do you mean?” she asks.

He gestures to the bookcases. “I’m thinking we don’t need records dating back to a hundred years ago. I thought stuff from forty years ago onwards should suffice. Besides, most things have basically been the same for the last hundred years.”

“Oh.”

“What? Surprised that I actually read through these?” he teases with a grin. “They’re dry as wallpaper but a captain’s gotta get up to date with everything.”

Hinamori shakes her head vigorously. “No, that’s not it.” She lightly steps into the room, as if afraid she will make the floorboard creak. “What exactly are you referring to when you say ‘most things’?”

He walks around his desk to the tomes. “Standard lower rank orientation and schedules, procedures for dealing with Hollows attacks in the different districts, rotations for seated officers patrolling the districts and World of the Living, basically everything. Must admit, I didn’t read every volume, but that’s only because it was all pretty standard and the same for several decades.” He scoffs. “Hardly surprising it’s barely changed through, Seireitei is always slow to change things…unless Twelfth Division comes up with some new gizmo that gets the higher ups all huffed up, or someone really crosses Central Forty-Six. Every division has the same protocols with some variation or flair of their own, right? Well, except for Fourth and Twelfth…maybe Eleventh, if those guys even know what the word ‘protocol’ means.”

“Is there something wrong with what’s been set in place?”

The question practically burst out of her, as if she’d been struggling to keep it in as he spoke. He can’t tell if she’s nervous about either him critiquing something she came up with or if he wants to dramatically change something that’s set in place.

He takes out a tome, one dated from twenty years ago and opens it, skimming through. “I ain’t saying there is or that we need to upend everything. What you did wasn’t bad. In fact, it’s been effective, especially when it comes to subordinates’ morale and our relations with Souls in the Rukongai.” He stops when a heading catches his eye. “However, sometimes things need a bit of shake up. You strike me as someone who’s a stickler for the rules and the established, but doing the same thing for a while can become stale, yeah?”

He turns to her, watches as a frown catches in her brow and she considers his words. She hooks her hair on the left side of her face behind her ear. “I agree change is needed, but only when something is not being as effective as it used to be.” She goes over to him. “You’ll see we’ve made smaller changes along the way, particularly in the rotations of officers on duty and how barracks duties are designated. Captain Aizen thought…”

Not for the first time, Shinji has to resist the urge to apologise to her - for not seeing through Aizen and stopping him when he could, for using Sakanade on her at the battle, and for being partly responsible for how the division is now. Her eyes and shoulders are downcast, and the tone of her voice when she says his name and former title, with melancholy and a longing for what was, it reminds him of why he hates that bastard as much as he does. He shirks the emotions to deal with later.

“Yeah, I did notice, and those were good changes too.” He lays the tome on his desk and points to a section. “Like I said, I’m not looking to undo your good work or change everything. A change in certain protocols and routines is something subordinates expect when a new captain takes charge. While I was a seated officer, I went through two different captains. They each changed things up when they started, and then when I became captain for the first time, I changed things too. Now granted, you’ve only worked for the same captain this whole time, so not much was gonna change and it shows in the records.

"Then there was your concerns from the other day about reorientating yourself and realising time had passed while you were recovering. I can understand being apprehensive to change what you’ve known for that long of a time.” He doesn’t say it aloud, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Aizen having more or less the same routines in place the whole time he was captain was somehow part of his plan too. It made everyone comfortable, make them think nothing needed to be changed and that Aizen knew best. He’d done well in picking Hinamori as lieutenant; she’d work hard to maintain things as he wanted and keep the harmony in the division.

Hinamori looks down at the tome. “I think I understand.”

Shinji waits as different emotions war across her face: uncertainty, longing, regret, acceptance. She keeps her head bowed as she speaks. “When Captain Shiiba went missing and Hitsu – I mean, Captain Hitsugaya was appointed, Rangiku-san told me about changes that were going to be made in their division. It was based on things they both saw needed to be changed, things that Captain Shiiba didn’t see or didn’t work on changing at the time. They were small things mostly, tweaks I guess you could say. There were a few big changes though too, like the conversion of a courtyard into a training ground.”

She looks at him, and he’s almost taken aback by the determination set in her eyes. “We’re not the same division we used to be, and you think we need to show this through changing things in certain areas. If that’s the case and you’re not looking to rewrite every protocol and I can have a say in it, then…I agree. We can’t do it all at once though, it might not sit well with the others.”

He’d only known for less than two weeks, had met her when she was at her most vulnerable, and she’d only been back at the job for just over a week. He doesn’t know where this sense of pride in her comes from, but he allows it make him grin. “You got it. Glad we’re on the same page.” Then, half-jokingly. “And what’d take me for? I wasn’t going to make all the changes at once, of course. With the way things are, it’d be a bad move.”

Her knowing gaze tells him the way their subordinates regard and treat him hasn’t escaped her either. Like this morning when they were on their way to the office, he didn’t miss the way others greet them, some smiling and bowing as they pass by, other only focusing on Hinamori and barely casting their eyes to meet his.

Trust is always the hardest part, especially after what Aizen did. He knows the distrust doesn’t come from a fear of betrayal or deceit, but from suddenly showing up again, the rumors that had spread about his Hollow powers, and the cynicism of some who think things can’t go back to how they were.

“So, I’m thinking big speeches and good sentiments can only get me so far. I’m going to have to do this the old-fashioned way and do a bit of showing off. It’ll be the same with Captain Otoribashi. You reckon you could write up a training proposal to Third Division?”

It takes a moment, but it dawns on Hinamori what he means. “Yes, I can do that.”

_______________________________

Hinamori knows people have different ways of expressing themselves. The first to come to mind are Rangiku with her scarf and necklace, then Renji with the bandanas and goggles. She did it herself, with the new clip keeping the hair off the left side of her face.

However, when it comes to her captain’s new fringe, she can’t tell.

Had he tried to cut it himself and failed? Had he gone to the barber and suddenly moved, resulting in the scissors chopping off his hair at an awkward angle? If that were the case, she can understand why he wouldn't want to correct it; one side was so short cutting the rest to match that length would make his hair look even stranger.

Hinamori leaves the office and heads over to Fifth Division’s main entrance, where Shinji is waiting for her. Just like before, she tries not to stare at his hair - what if it had been an accident? She knows she wouldn’t want everyone staring at her. “I have the proposal, sir.”

Shinji nods and brushes his forehead, his asymmetrical fringe slowly falling over hand. “It’s starting to get hot out here. Let’s head over.”

Hinamori almost lets her mouth fall open as the realisation hits her. It’s been three weeks since they first started working together, she knows his sense of style can be eccentric, but this haircut was by choice…

What she can’t tell if he wants her to comment on it or tease her because he knows she thinks it was an accident. Instead, she spins on her heel and starts to walk away. “Yes, let’s go!”

She says nothing, and Shinji continues to grin all the way to Third Division.

________________________________

Shinji doesn’t let go of Genji until he’s sitting on the ground. “It really does a whammy on you, huh?”

“You did warn me,” the third seat chuckles. “I think it went well though.”

Judging from the stunned looks of some of the subordinates from the Third and Fifth Divisions, he’d have to agree. He’d used the majority of Sakanade’s abilities on Genji, but he’d also used his zanpakuto on everyone to invert his words – that one really made all their eyes widen and he couldn’t help but grin in response. However, the officers he knew from his first stint as captain must have seen it coming, because most of them laughed when it happened.

Several look at Sakanade, still in released state, half in wonder and the other in confusion. Above all though, some look him in the eye for the first time. As usual, when one shows their ability, it’s like baring a part of themselves for all to see, and from there trust starts to develop.

“Look after our third seat,” he calls out to Hinamori, who he knows without looking is already rushing to them. Then, to Genji, “Thanks for agreeing to this.”

“It’s not a problem, sir.”

Shinji straightens as Hinamori kneels at Genji’s side. She offers him a smile, but there’s a nervous edge to it.

Without having to watch him use Sakanade’s shikai on Genji, she already knows what it’s like to be under his zanapukto’s influence. She knows that attack wasn’t meant for her, but even so, he can understand her unease; it's still too fresh in her mind.

He walks back to the training square, where he’s joined by Rose. “You ready?” he asks, voice only loud enough him to hear.

The fellow captain smiles as he unsheathes his zanpakuto. “I’ll try to not correct your fringe.”

Shinji smirks. “It’s called having style, idiot.”

Rose turns to the Third and Fifth’s subordinates, raises Kinshara, and begins explaining his zanpakuto’s abilities. Shinji backs away a few steps and puts Sakanade into the sealed state.

Eyeing the onlookers, he wonders how many of them want to see their Hollow abilities. He knows if he were them he’d be curious, suspicious even. So long as desperate times didn't called for desperate measures, they’d never see them. One of the conditions for he, Rose, and Kensei to all get reappointed was they could never, under any circumstances, use their Hollow abilities. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, considering all they had to do to harness and control those abilities, but he understands.

When Rose turns to him, Shinji raises his zanpakuto. As discussed, they engage in a fight, swords clashing or dodging each other. Now the officers will know how the other fights in combat, from their footwork to the weight they put behind attacks. They’ll see their weaknesses and strengths, what they avoid and what they take head on.

After a few minutes of sparring, Rose calls out Kinshara’s release command, and the zanpakuto transforms into the golden whip. Shinji almost snorts when Rose pauses to allow the onlookers to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at his zanpakuto’s shikai. He gives Shinji a knowing smile.

Show off. Though he likely thought the same when Shinji showed off Sakanade’s released state before using his powers.

Shinji uses this as a chance to flash step to the edge of the training square. Done with everyone admiring his zanpakuto, Rose whips Kinshara towards Shinji, who dodges the attack with ease. Rose speaks while attacking Shinji, explaining the extension capability of his zanpakuto and then, without warning, the whip wraps around Sakanade and is forced out of Shinji’s hands with a forceful tug.

Shinji allows a few seconds to pass after his sword clattered on the ground before going to his zanpakuto and unwrapping the whip from the blade, internally apologising when he senses the seething coming from Sakanade. Rose turns his attention to the log set up in the middle of the training square.

Knowing what is coming next, Shinji flash-steps back to Hinamori and Genji on the sidelines. Rose demonstrates Kinshara Sokyoku Dai Juichiban - Izayoi Bara, obliterating the log and sending a shockwave through the area. The nearby trees bend slightly and their leaves rustle or break off, and the onlookers all make a commotion as their sleeves and hair is forced back.

In the wake of the dying shockwave, the upturned dirt, and the lack of a demonstration log, claps and cheers erupted from everyone.

Rose nods to Shinji, who nods back. It worked.

_________________________

Rain pelts over the Fifth Division, thrumming on the rooftop and windows. Hinamori takes cover under the awning of the veranda as she walks speedily to the training halls. The humid air reminds her that spring is well and truly coming to an end. Some things had changed in a month and a half, but there were still things that needed to be done.

Such as the documents tucked under her arm, which Shinji needs sign off on. That had been one of several new things she had noticed about her captain's work ethic in the past month: he hated paperwork. He was slow to complete it, reluctant to get to work on it, and when he could, he’d do it at the last minute. She huffs, speeding up her walk even more.

Once at the training hall, she looks in to see her captain and a large group of their subordinates gathered around a blackboard. Shinji points to the diagram - which she had drawn up earlier this morning - explaining how they were going to patrol a section of the forty-third west district. Hinamori forgets her exasperation after a few of the officers nod to what their captain says.

Ever since he demonstrated his abilities, things had been slowly changing on the trust front. There was still a ways to go, but at least subordinates who previously didn’t even look their captain in the eye now greeted him on his way to the office or when he ate with them in the mess hall.

That was another thing she noticed about her new captain while working with him: he made an effort to engage with everyone. In one of the several times she had to go looking for him for seemingly skipping on his duties, she found him putting out laundry with some of the officers, talking with them and finding out about their lives. It got to a point where they were joking about and laughing. He gave the impression he always had time for them, that he wanted them to know who he was, with a roughened honesty that she was starting to find refreshing.

Even now, when one of the officers, seventeenth seat Tomoko Suzuki, speaks up and ask why they aren’t patrolling another area nearby in case Hollows attack there, she can see he’s listening.

“Suppose it’s a fair point,” Shinji replies to Suzuki. “Hollows could decide to try out the surrounding area once they get bored here or realize Shinigami are there.” He gestures back to the board. “However, why do you think they’re attacking this area rather than the others?”

Suzuki thinks for a moment before she answers. “There’s less infrastructure compared to surrounding areas, and maybe because of the concentration of Souls in the area? It’s the most densely populated part of that district.”

He grins. “It’s what I’m thinking too.”

“So, you think the higher concentration is distracting them from other areas? And that even with us there, they would continue to lurk there?”

“Mostly, but also…”He taps a finger on where Hinamori had drawn the forest that surrounded half of the area. “I think they’re using this to conceal themselves. It’s a classic Hollow tactic, especially for Hollows who don’t have much power or who hunt in groups.”

Suzuki nods, and Hinamori sees something shift in her subordinate. Her shoulders lower a few centimeters, and there’s the faintest hint of a smile. It’s something she’d seen most of the officer do at some point or another while speaking with their new captain. Others she could see the corners of their eyes loosen, the posture get straighter, and their voice became stronger when speaking to him.

An unseated officer, Kobe Abiko, raises his hand. “Sir?”

Shinji’s response is half a tease and half an order. “Geez, what’ve I told you? No need to raise your hand, just speak up. I’m not the formal type.”

“Uh, right, apologises, Captain!”

“No need to. What’d want to say?”

“Just, um… when will this new deployment take place?”

“Well, I was thinking tonight.” Shinji looks to Suzuki. “Reckon you can manage that?”

“Yes, Captain.”

They go on to discuss another topic related to the case of the Hollow activity in the area, but Hinamori finds herself stuck on Abiko. He’d had always been a nervous officer, ever since he came to the division almost a year ago. She suspects his nerves stemmed from a lack of confidence, and compared to the peers he’d come to the Fifth Division with, he was among the youngest of the then-new recruits. He reminded Hinamori of herself when she first started, particularly with how she acted around Aizen. All the nervous energy she had pent up while speaking to him, and wondering how, with all her fumbling and stumbling, she managed to make him smile.

It’d been an act, all of it.

The only one who felt anything in those encounters was herself, and she’d worked hard to become the lieutenant to a façade. He felt nothing towards her rise in the ranks. There was only ever that smile, almost always present on his face, and she’d thought she had provoked it out of him. It was a prepared response, one to make her feel one way or another about whatever they spoke about. At least for Abiko she can see his nerves were from a lack of confidence, but herself, it was because of something that never existed. She was still getting to know her new captain, but she already knew Abiko would not go through what she did, not with an honest captain like Shinji.

“All right. Suzuki, stay behind for a moment. Rest of you, I suggest you all get ready. You’ll meet Suzuki at the main gates at five this evening.” Shinji jerks his chin towards the exit without looking away from the group. “You’re free to go.”

All the officers stand and bow before turning the exit. Hinamori throws back the darker thoughts threatening to cloud her mind and smiles at her officers, who greet her as they pass by. “Good luck tonight,” she says to them in response. “I know you’ll do well.”

By the time she comes over, Shinji hands Suzuki a document. “Here’s my suggestions for who does which patrol rotations, but feel free to alter them how you like. You know your team better than I do.”

Suzuki raises a brow. However, after reading the first few lines of the document, she nods with a determined frown. “Thank you, Captain.”

Shinji looks to Hinamori, acting as if she had been there the whole time. “It was Hinamori’s idea in the first place.”

Suzuki blinks at Hinamori, who is just as surprised. “Oh, Lieutenant.”

Hinamori comes to stand next to Shinji. “Good luck with the patrol tonight, Suzuki-san. I know you’ll do well.”

She bows to both of them. “Thank you both. I’ll report back tomorrow morning.”

Shinji doesn’t speak until their seventeenth seat has left the hall. “Sensed your reiatsu all the way from the main entrance, you need to work on concealing if you wanna surprise me.”

Hinamori ignores the comment, instead saying, “Letting Suzuki-san decide was mainly your idea, sir.”

He smiles. “You’re the one who said ‘Suzuki-san knows her team, she can arrange them however she sees fit.’ So, it was basically your idea. All I did was change the routes, which’ll hopefully either get those Hollows to come out because they’re feeling daring or for our officers to find them.” He turns to the board. “It’s shame I gotta get rid of this. Don’t usually care about art or drawing, but this is good.”

She waves her hand, dismissive. “It’s just a diagram.” She shuffles the papers to hold in both arms, hoping he will notice. “It sounds like that went well.”

“I thought so too.” He takes the eraser and starts wiping away the chalk. “Next order of business though, we gotta talk about the training scheduled for next week.”

Hinamori blinks. She presses her lips together and has to force herself to not thrust the papers at him. “You mean the kido training?”

“Yeah. How do you wanna run it?”

“I…What do you mean?”

“I haven’t seen you in action yet, but I know you’re good at kido, and I need a refresher. I figured I ain’t in a position to organise training I don’t have a good skillset in. So, if you’re up for it, do want to organise what should be taught? Or do you have any suggestions?” Diagram now gone, he twists to her. “Only if you want to, though. I’m not gonna pressure you.”

She’s never been given the lead for a training schedule, or at least, not to the degree he is suggesting. Aizen would say she can schedule it, but he always had to be over her shoulder to change certain things, and by the end only a few of her suggestions made it to the final draft.

“I’d have to think about it,” she says demurely. “But if I had to make a suggestion…I think the officers need to be taught about binding kido.”

He raises a brow. “Why’s that? Academy usually covers that pretty well.”

“Yes, but there’s more to learn.” An old frustration builds up in her, one she hadn’t felt for many decades. If she could, she’d show just exactly why more needed to be taught about binding spells by casting a few right here and now. Instead, she takes up a piece of chalk and write the names of a few kido: Bakudo 4: Hainawa, Bakudo 9: Horin, and Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden. Then, as she speaks, she write her keys points under each spell name.

“In the Academy, we’re taught to use binding kido as a way of detaining an opponent or stopping them from attacking. There’s more to it though. Hainawa is used opponents that are strong or have multiple limbs, but because it’s one of the first recruits learn, they often use it at the cost of their energy. It also has a slight weakness, in that most Shinigami require both hands to activate it, leaving them defenseless while casting it.

“Horin can be a good substitute depending on how good a Shinigami is at kido. It’s better for opponents who are far away, but also who aren’t too heavy so they can be pull towards you if need be. However, that can be dangerous, especially for unseated officers. Horin can be more effective when combining it with certain spells.” She draws a line from Horin to Tsuzuri Raiden. “I’ve been working on it for a while now, but I found a way to combine these two. While using one hand for Horin, and with Tobiume in my other hand, I can use my zanpakuto as a conductor while casting Tsuzuri Raiden. When you strike Horin while using Tsuzuri Raiden on the zanpakuto, it can electrocute the opponent, thus hopefully weakening them enough to neutralise them.

“I wished I’d know about this as an unseated officer when I first joined. It took me years to figure out how to properly use binding spells on opponents effectively, and also to discover it’s other uses. If I can impart some knowledge about kido to new recruits and all of the officers, this would be a part of it.”

It’s not until she stops that she takes in her captain’s surprised expression, or the thumping of her heart. The eagerness drains from her; she’d let her emotions get the better of her. How could she have been so rude? Embarrassment flushes through her, and she almost apologises, but stops at her captain’s grin and then his chuckle.

“Look at you lecturing me and writing on the board. You should’ve been an instructor at the Academy!”

Her cheeks flush when she glances over at her writing. “I-I meant no -”

“Nothing to be embarrassed about! Sounds like this has been a point of contention for you for a while.” He gives a firm nod to the board. “All right, done. We’ll set the lesson to be on binding kido.” His grin widens. “Heck, why don’t you lead it? You sound like you’ve got a lot to teach. I’ll even join in at the back!”

Hinamori is caught between gaping and laughing, and in the end, she makes a strange sound that’s like a strangled laugh. “What?”

“You’ve taught training lessons before, right?”

“Yes, of course, I’ve taught several. It’s just…you’d join in?”

There’s a small ‘crack’ when he rolls his wrists for emphasis. “Like I said, I’m rusty. I need a refresher. Although, I suspect not many will be able to get the Horin combined with Tsuzuri Raiden on their first try. Might take them a few times, but everything else should be accessible for them.” Then, teasingly. “How lucky am I to have a lieutenant who’s one of the best at kido to teach me? It’s only time you get to order me around, it’ll be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

She laughs, out of confusion and mirth. He didn’t think it rude of her to assert how she thought the lesson should be ran? No, he’d asked for her opinion, and now to lead the training. She hadn't been rude, she realises.

Now she notices something else about her new captain: she didn’t hold back with him. It was as if she were with Renji or Kira, both of whom she rarely hid her annoyance or exasperation from when they brought it up in her. His lacking punctuality is a slight annoyance, and his honesty is still taking some getting used to, but he never expected her to be anyone she wasn’t. He allows her to express herself freely, perhaps with some argument, but never for the way she felt or thought.

And it’s not just her. Perhaps it’s his casual demeanour or his relaxed work ethic, but their subordinates were friendly with him in a way that they weren’t with Aizen. Like her, the they held their previous captain as something above reproach, as something to aspire to. With Shinji, they’re more relaxed. She recalls the jokes he made and how he deliberately hung the washing in an obscure manner, with most of them unsure if they were allowed until he encouraged them to. And just now, he didn’t already have a prepared answer or will immediately dismiss their subordinates insight. None of them feel the need to be hesitant with something they’ve observed or think that whatever they have to say is childish or naïve. They’re encouraged to speak their mind, and any debate doesn’t get gently swept away with carefully laden words.

Using the burst of confidence in her, Hinamori raises her chin slightly. “All right, I will lead the lesson.” But before Shinji can say anything, she holds up the papers with a smile. “But speaking of pressing matters. Sir, if you would approve these, please.”

_________________________________

Continues in part 2

#momo hinamori #shinji hirako #sousuke aizen #genji isawa #genji #fifth division #brotp: the fifth divsion #bleach #fanfiction #blog anniversary requests #asks #whipplefilter

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frostfires-blog · 7 months

Text

Bleach Hanakotoba Analysis Part 3 ~ OP16: Scar & ED31: Saihate

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-> Division 01: Chrysanthemum

The flower insignia of the 1st division is the chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) which is known as kiku (菊) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies truth and innocence. Its meanings in hanakotoba include nobility, virtuousness, perfection, rejuvenation, longevity and good luck. A sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum is not only one of Japan’s two unofficial national flowers but is also used on Japan’s imperial seal. In Western floriography, Chrysanthemums symbolise cheerfulness, devoted love, loyalty, happiness longevity, joy, trust, optimism, fidelity and friendship. In some cultures, Chrysanthemums—particularly white ones—are only associated with mourning, sympathy and death.

-> Division 02: Pasque flower

The flower insignia of the 2nd division is the Pasque flower (Pulsatilla) which is also known as the nodding anemone and wind flower. It is called the okinagusa (翁草) in Japan. According to the official Bleach lore, this insignia means “seeking nothing”. Its additional meanings in hanakotoba include “untold love”, “pure heart”, and “love of betrayal”. The downward flower of the Pasque flower is said to have given rise to it symbolising "untold love" and "pure heart" as this is thought to mirror the feelings of a pure girl who is ashamed of her sentiments and finds it difficult to express them. The Pasque flower's symbolic meaning of a "love of betrayal" stems from the fact that after reaching their peak, the flowers that initially bloom face downwards turn upward. In Western floriography, the Pasque flower represents rebirth, renewal, hope, dignity, nobility, grace and the phrase “forsaken in love”.

-> Division 03: Marigold

The flower insignia of the 3rd division is the marigold (Tagetes) which is known as the marīgōrudo (マリーゴールド) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies despair. Its meanings in hanakotoba include jealousy, despair and sadness. In Western floriography, they symbolise grief, despair, and jealousy as well as the expression of deep feelings and passion.

-> Division 04: Bellflower

The flower insignia of the 4th division is the bellflower (Campanula) which is known as the berufurawā (ベルフラワー ) and otome kikyo (乙女桔梗 ) in Japan. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies that “those who grieve are loved”. Its meanings in hanakotoba include gratitude, sincerity and pleasant chatter. Bellflowers are a symbol of gratitude, constancy, romance, and support in Western floriography. Additionally, bellflowers can stand for affection, delicacy, humility, and everlasting love. In particular, blue bellflowers are symbolic of peace, healing, openness, tranquility, and friendship—on the other hand, cream bellflowers are symbolic of thoughtfulness, grace, elegance, peace, and hope. Given that a bellflower's shape resembles a church bell, it is believed that the flower's symbolic meanings of gratitude and sincerity originate from church teachings. It is thought that the bellflower's symbolic meaning of pleasant chatter originates from the observation that its flowers which point diagonally upward bloom together giving the impression that the small flowers are merrily conversing with one another.

-> Division 05: Lily of the Valley

The flower insignia of the 5th division is the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) which is known as suzuran (鈴蘭) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower represents sacrifice, danger, pure love, humility and sweetness. Its meanings in hanakotoba include purity, humility, sweetness, chastity and finding happiness again. These flowers are symbolic of purity, humility, sweetness, rebirth, good fortune, joy, youth, discretion and a return of happiness in Western floriography. With its lovely, sweet aroma, it's difficult to believe that such a demure-looking flower could be dangerous. It is crucial to highlight, however, that this flower is an extremely toxic plant that, if consumed, can cause severe disease or death. The Lily of the Valley plant contains around 38 distinct cardiac glycosides (cardenolides)—which are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions—that are exceedingly poisonous to both humans and animals. Given its toxicity, it's ironic, that the plant is associated with good fortune, purity, joy, and sweetness.

-> Division 06: Camellia

The flower insignia of the 6th division is the Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica) which is known as tsubaki (椿) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower represents “noble reason”. Its meanings in hanakotoba include modest kindness and pride. In Western floriography, camellias have a long-standing symbolic association with romance and devotion. They symbolize strong desire and passion as well as unfaltering love, devotion, affection, refinement, perfection, faithfulness, and admiration. Normally, the petals and calyx separate as a flower dies, but in the case of camellias, the petals and calyx fall together, preserving the entire flower. In recognition of this, camellias are used to represent longevity, perfection, and pure, unreserved, love that never fades. Red camellias are thought to represent romantic love, passion, or desire. Pink camellias convey feelings of longing and gratitude. White camellias are associated with purity, faithfulness, admiration, perfection, and good fortune. On the other hand, white camellias are regarded to bring bad luck in Japan since they are associated with death and mourning.

-> Division 07: Iris

The flower insignia of the 7th division is the iris (Iris japonica) which is known as ayame (菖蒲) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies courage. Its meanings in hanakotoba include glad tidings, loyalty, messages, hope, graciousness as well and kindness of the heart. In Western floriography, they symbolise hope, faith, friendship, wisdom, royalty, valour and messages.

-> Division 08: Crane flower

The flower insignia of the 8th division is the Crane flower (Strelitzia) which is also called the Bird of Paradise flower. In Japan, it is known as the Gokurakuchouka (ゴクラクチョウカ ). Its Japanese and English names are derived from the flower’s resemblance to a family of tropical birds native to New Guinea called Paradisaeidae. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower represents “everything that is obtained”. The phrases "date in love" and "pretentious in love" are its hanakotoba meanings. The exotic appearance of the flower, which is compared to a person in love, is considered to be the basis of these connotations. In Western floriography, the crane flower symbolizes magnificence, faithfulness, excellence, success and well as having joy in the face of both challenges and successes alike. Additionally, they also symbolize freedom due to the flower’s resemblance to a bird in flight. The Crane flower is native to South Africa where it holds the meanings of freedom, success, loyalty, thoughtfulness, immortality, love and optimism.

-> Division 09: White poppy

The flower insignia of the 9th division is the white poppy (Arctomecon merriamii) which is known as shiroi popī (白いポピー) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower symbolizes oblivion. Its meanings in hanakotoba are sleep and oblivion. In Western floriography. White poppies represent sleep and peaceful rest. They are associated with faith and the concept of the soul's eternal life, and they also serve as a symbol of remembrance for deceased loved ones. Given that white flowers are symbolic of purity; white poppies are a symbol of restful sleep, pleasant dreams and renewal.

-> Division 10: Daffodil

The flower insignia of the 10th division is the daffodil (Narcissus) which is known as suisen (水仙) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies mystery and egoism. Its meanings in hanakotoba include self-love and self-esteem. Yellow daffodils in particular are linked to the phrases "come back to me" and "I want you to love me again." In English floriography, daffodils represent self-love, respect, egoism, and unrequited love. In contrast with the aforementioned negative connotations, daffodils also represent strength, overcoming hardships, and the arrival of success and wealth. White flowers typically symbolize purity—however white daffodils signify a desire for transformation.

-> Division 11: Yarrow

The flower insignia of the 11th division is the yarrow (Achillea alpina) which is known as nokogiri (鋸草) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies fighting. Its additional meanings in hanakotoba include bravery and healing. The yarrow is a symbol of bravery in Western floriography, particularly in times of war, and wearing it is said to bestow courage and protection. The yarrow is also said to represent everlasting love, healing and good health because of its medicinal properties. Its Japanese name, “nokogiri”, translates to “saw grass” and is presumably derived from how the tooth-like shape of a saw’s teeth resembles the plant’s bipinnate/tripinnate leaves.

-> Division 12: Thistle

The flower insignia of the 12th division is the thistle (Cirsium spp.) which is known as azami (アザミ) in Japanese. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower signifies vengeance, strictness and independence. Its meanings in hanakotoba are independence, retaliation, sternness and “do not touch”. In western floriography, thistles symbolise austerity, nobility of character, independence and misanthropy. In the Victorian era, the gift of thistle flowers served as a warning against unwanted meddling. These flowers are incorporated in the expression “as prickly as a thistle” which describes someone who is easily enraged, particularly in the face of criticism. As Scotland’s national flower, thistles represent bravery, luck and strength. Thistles are referred to as the "flower of the sun" and the "herb of the witches" in the Basque area of France. It is said that thistles provide protection from evildoers and witchcraft because witches are said to be unable to look directly at the sun.

-> Division 13: Snowdrop

The flower insignia of the 13th division is the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) which is known as the sunōdoroppu (スノードロップ) and the matsuyukisou (待雪草) in Japan. According to the official Bleach lore, this flower represents hope. Its meanings in hanakotoba are hope and consolation. In Western floriography, the snowdrop represents purity, rebirth, sympathy and hope. A single snowdrop was seen by the Victorians as a symbol of death and was unlucky to bring into a home. On the other hand, the snowdrop is also associated with rebirth, springtime, and the ability to overcome life's challenges. The snowdrop blooms from mid to late January as winter slowly begins to end thereby reminding us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It reminds us all that if we put our minds to it, we can achieve great things in life. It also serves as a reminder of change and represents a willingness to grow. Snowdrops are thus often gifted to those trying to move forward from sadness and negativity.

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[If you liked this post, check out part 1 (here) and part 2 (here)... Also, here's the link to my directory of other hanakotoba analysis posts (here)]

[P.S. Here is the final part of my hanakotoba analysis on Bleach. I kept things brief and didn't go into how each flower suits each squad, captain and vice-captain primarily because of time constraints... Also, I doubt anyone wanted to do that much reading lol... I'll happily elaborate and answer any questions in the comments though...]

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