Prologue
"These tears that are shed, I swear they're not for you..."
He had grown tired of it.
The sterile entirety of her room, the pristine cleanness of a room not meant to replace the haven of a home, the smell of complete sterility taunting him to shatter the carefully mustered perfection reflected in every aspect of her room in the fourth division. He longed to break it, to cry out in frustration and demand why the world hadn't stopped when she was no longer a part of it, and to snatch away the curtains of the charade that ensued during her slumber, as if nothing was wrong. How could that be? How could the outside world remain so flawless and unmarred, when inside havoc was being wreaked within his entire being?
He had wanted her out.
Beneath his calm demeanor so carefully placed, the tenth division captain was a wreck. He'd grown bitter coming to this ward only to see the same picture of lidded eyes that seemed to refuse life to shine, and to put him at ease. He was done with being rational. His systematically habitual analysis of deducing through logic and reason… was all rendered useless when it came to matters regarding her.
It was childish, which infuriated him further. How something so seemingly trivial could completely rupture his fine-tuned professional face as a Seiretei captain, and yet, he could not go for twenty- four hours without seeing her.
It was almost a relief to be sent on the mission to Karakura Town, at least, something to distract him self from the haunting image of her frozen as she was would cease to plague him.
It seemed avoiding her had worked. He had immersed himself again into his work, and felt productive at working to capture the man that had betrayed her. At least that's what he tried to persuade himself of. Deep inside, his need to take action towards her healing was not being quelled. But he had long come to realize that he would be useless otherwise. In her state, he could do nothing.
Which never failed to frustrate him deeply; when they were younger, he could defend her at any time she needed him, but what could he do when the only enemy she had right now was her self?
So it surprised him even further seeing her face on the screen. A complete ghost of the young innocent girl she used to be. It tore at his heart.
He did not know what to expect. A sudden change, something he certainly was waiting for, but there was no word to describe what he felt. Complete blank. Relieved? Surprised? Worried? He found his entire being freeze, unable to grasp what he should do next.
They carried out casual conversation, throughout he sensed her hesitance. Despite his efforts to try teasing her as he normally did, he was mentioned.
With every word of his defense that left her lips, it felt as if she was stripping him of all defenses, of the carefully polished way of being her flawless hero, and knight in shining armor. How could he rival the man that had been in her heart always?
Here he stood, the acclaimed genius of his age, the praised endowed ice god and yet he couldn't feel any more useless.
The main aim of this chapter was just to set the setting for what is to come, it correlates to the recent manga chapters. But a separate storyline is sure to be developed, so rest assured.