She really didn't know how to handle all of this. The last thing she remembered was her best friend stabbing her through the chest and when she awoke, she was told it was 'all over'. What was over? Soul Society? The war? Aizen? Aizen...

He hadn't been killed, she'd been told later on; he couldn't be killed. Something about her was happy, knowing that fact. She thought, deep down, that perhaps after his long sentence, he would re-emerge from the depths of his confinement, reformed. He would admit that he had been doing all he had for some noble cause that he couldn't quite explain in words, and had just hoped to show everyone. Everything takes sacrifice, especially paradise, and Aizen was just the one willing to make those necessary sacrifices. Yes, that would be it.

And Hinamori had hung onto that hope while she was checked on and still kept in the Fourth Division and told that her own squad was well-cared for. But how was that possible? They had neither a captain nor a lieutenant there to guide them. They would surely fall into chaos and disuse without a strong leader. Their Third Seat, if he had survived the battle, was not the type of person to take control of a situation.

But then again, as she thought about it, neither was she. Under Aizen's lead, she had been strong-willed and commanding, but without that support behind her, she was unsure and questioned herself. Is this what Captain Aizen would like for me to do? Is this how he would approach the situation? And sometimes, even when she knew the answer to those questions, it didn't feel quite right. And she just couldn't figure out why.

Sitting up in her bed, completely lost in her thoughts, Hinamori missed the first, light rap against her door. The second one brought her from her daze and the third finally begged her to reply. "Ah... come in," she said lightly, still a bit unused to hearing her own voice again after so long. In her comatose state, there had been only silence, and since she had woken, she had been struggling to regain control of her vocal chords again.

She had expected to see Renji or Hisagi, maybe Matsumoto or even Kira, slip through the door with a wide smile on their face just as seeing her alive and awake and not crying. She had cried a lot when she first woke up. But this man wasn't any of those people. In fact, he wasn't a friend of hers at all or even someone she had ever spoken to. Actually, she didn't recognize the face much and she knew she couldn't put a name with it.

"Um..." It felt a bit rude because she was sure this man knew who she was- why else would he be here?- but it would be even worse to carry on a conversation with him without knowing his name.

"Um?" the stranger repeated, much more loudly and aggressively than the hospitalized girl. He studied her for a moment before his mouth split into a wide grin, showing a dazzling display of teeth. "Ya don't know who I am, huh?" She made no response but to shake her head and he gave a sigh. "Well, I guess that ain't too much of a surprise. I ain't been by much an' ya've been asleep every time."

He'd been here before? Somehow, the thought put Hinamori on edge more than it did at ease. Why was this stranger visiting her? And then she noticed the long, white jacket overtop of his usual uniform. Was he a captain? Surely they had lost some in the battle, so he must have been a replacement. She wondered what division. Perhaps Third? Kira could use someone upbeat and friendly, and this guy did seem pretty open. "I'm sorry," was all she could manage.

"Ehh? Don't be sorry." He stepped forward and extended a hand, smiling again. "Hirako Shinji."

Perhaps the name should have rung bells, but with the cloud that still swirled in her head, Hinamori found it difficult to remember plenty of things about her life, the events nearest to the war the most difficult. She reached out a hand of her own and placed it lightly in the outstretched one, nodding lightly. "Hinamori Momo."

"Hm," Shinji grunted lightly, surveying the girl before him with a bit of suspicion. Not the kind that he had seen Aizen with, but the kind that said he was sure this girl was still under her old captain's influence. He wouldn't be surprised at all, and wasn't sure he was the best guy to break her out of it. "So, ya don't recognize my name? Never asked 'bout your division's history?" Even if she hadn't, surely she had asked Aizen about his past numerous times, and Shinji's name would have had to come up. Right?

She tilted her head, still a little confused at the implications, but ultimately shook it 'no'. "Were you... a captain here before?" She didn't really think captains just came and went like that. If they didn't die in action, then they didn't leave the Court Guards.

"Yeah," Shinji remarked, raising a hand to place it atop a hat that was no longer on his head. He still missed that hat, but every time he'd looked at it after the battle, he could only associate it with bad things. At one time, it had been a symbol of his rebellion against Aizen and Soul Society. Now that that time of their lives was over, just as he had cut his hair when he'd left the Soul Society the first time, his appearance had changed to suit his new life. "I was the captain before yours."

And he knew what those words would tell her. He could see it clicking in her head. The man before her was not just a captain- had not just been a captain- he was his captain. Aizen's captain. The man she respected and loved and cared for and defended; this was the man that Aizen had done all of that for. After all, what else could a lieutenant feel toward their captain but affection and dedication?

And she hated him.

She didn't mean to, and she was sure if he turned around that she'd see her division's symbol on the back of that jacket, but she did. She felt the bile rise up in her stomach and saw this man as not a friend; not a comrade; not a superior, but an enemy. He was the one that was with Aizen during his most vulnerable and learning days. He was the one who made Aizen into what he was. Maybe he was even the one that planted ideas of rebellion and bigger things into her captain's head. He was the reason for all of this. He was the reason Aizen was gone.

And then Shinji was hugging her, quickly and securely, and she denied herself the pleasure of noticing how warm his embrace was. She wanted it off. Aizen had deceived her, for whatever reasons they were, and he had been warm, too. This man would be no different. This was Aizen's mentor and leader; how could be any different? She wanted him away. But her body was still weak and her will even more fragile and his next words would have rendered her useless, anyway.

"I'm sorry," Shinji murmured into her ear. "Aizen hurt a lotta people." And it didn't matter in what way. It didn't matter that Shinji had kept his guard up and suspected Aizen from the start; he'd still been damaged by that man. His friends had been mutilated by the experiments and his home stolen away. Shinji wouldn't say that he'd had the worst of the betrayal; it would be someone like Hinamori, who placed every ounce of faith in the traitor, that would feel it the most.

"Captain Aizen..." she whispered in a broken voice, feeling the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes. And as much as she wanted to, she couldn't hold onto the burning hate she had felt for this man. He was no different than she, she realized. He had been through more than she had, most likely. She had heard stories of the vizards and how they came to be. Kisuke Urahara's name had been attached with the incident, but Aizen had also been involved. Was he the one that had really done all of those terrible experiments on people? On his own captain? Was that just another necessary sacrifice he had made for the bigger picture? Had it hurt him as much as it hurt them?

"He's been a lotta things to a lotta people," Shinji told her, pulling back from the hug to rest his hands lightly on her shoulders. He had to admit, when he'd first re-encountered the traitor, he'd almost shouted out the familiar name of 'Sousuke' rather than 'Aizen'. It was only the absolute hatred and distance from the other that he felt that propelled the proper name forth. After all, that man standing in the sky was not the nerdy, quiet Sousuke he'd known. And neither was the man that had ruined this poor girl's life. "Hey, Momo."

A light gasp left the girl's lips at the informal, almost affectionate way this man called her name, but she couldn't build up the urge to tell him not to. After all, she was his subordinate now, and she couldn't tell him 'no', even if she'd wanted to. "Yes? Ah... Cap...tain... Hirako?" It felt too foreign to her tongue, but she couldn't find a place in her that really detested saying it.

Shinji gave a crooked grin and raised one of his hands to lay atop the girl's head. "Ya don't gotta call me that so soon. I know it's a lot t' process. If ya want, jus' Shinji is fine, for now."

Just Shinji. Call her captain without a title? By his first name? There was no way she could, even if he told her to. She lightly shook her head and offered a small smile to the man. "It's okay," she assured him, "I don't mind it." And really, she didn't. Because this person didn't remind her of Aizen at all. He was almost the complete opposite. If anyone would be safe for her to trust, it would have to be this man.

"Good t' hear," Shinji commented, moving to tuck his arms into the sleeves of his uniform. "I'll make a deal with ya."

"A deal?" What sort of trade could she offer this person? She didn't have much of herself left to give, and a large part of it was still tucked away down with Aizen. What could he ask for so soon?

"A deal," Shinji confirmed, tilting his head to one side. "Share a bit of yourself with me, little by little, an' I'll do the same for you, 'kay?" He couldn't even imagine this girl pulling something like Aizen did, nor did he picture her as one for revenge, but he had never really gotten to know a subordinate very well. He had been a cautious person almost all his life, but when he saw his new lieutenant lying there, as much from her injuries as her lack of will to move forward, he knew that he had to get her to open up. There wouldn't be any way he could do that in good faith without opening up himself. And he had plenty to share.

He had a feeling, once Aizen's grip relinquished its hold, she would, too.

Kinda short and sweet, but I've seen a lot of these types of things popping up and I wanted to try my own stab at it. I doubt this'll be continued because I have enough on my plate right now, as it is, but maybe one day I'll take it a step further.