ICE HEART | ❝some people say that he has an ice heart.❞
DEFINITION: a chance occurence.
SYNONYMS: chance, accident, fluke, serendipity, providence, coincidence.
BLEACH | THE ARRANCAR - THE ARRANCAR PART 6
ICE HEART xxxviii. completely ❝AYAME WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO BE LIKE THIS.❞
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A humongous screech burst from the small mouth of the white-haired Captain and rang throughout the large cave that Rangiku Matsumoto was leant against. Her hands were placed on top of one another and were resting at her hip as her eyes were closed, allowing the female to escape the harsh reality that she was trapped in - allowing her to escape a world without 'him'. Rangiku's grey orbs slowly fluttered open and almost immediately, a picture of 'him' entered my mind. His eyes that were constantly narrowed to slits. His light purple-coloured hair. It was a cruel world indeed.
"You disappear, and you don't leave me a single thing to remember you by. I've always hated that about you." Rangiku grumbled slightly, before seeing Gin a distance away from her and reaching her arm out towards him as he continued to walk away.
The orange-haired female pushed herself off the cave that she was leant against and began to run towards the sly man, before halting in her actions, realising he had disappeared once again, but this time he was never coming back. Rangiku rested her back against the cave once again and opened the palm of her hand, seeing a small ball of snow resting in it, before closing her hands into fists and raising them to her chest as another strong gust of icy wind escaped from the cave.
"We're moving on. Shuhei and Renji aren't in their quarters anymore. I'm assuming that they're already off somewhere working to get stronger. I should too..." Rangiku mumbled to herself, before her thoughts returned to Gin. "Yeah... If you really had left me something to remember you by, I know I'd never be able to move from that spot. I bet you saw through this weakness of mine. Thank you, Gin. I've always..." A tear managed to escape Rangiku's eye, slowly trickling down her cheek as she gazed up towards the sky, "...Loved that about you."
The female growled slightly to herself before slamming her hand against a wall with anger, tears rapidly flowing out of her eyes. "Why, Gin?! You did this because you wanted to protect me - so that I didn't have to cry anymore - well, look at me now!" Rangiku sobbed to herself, before sliding down the cave wall in despair.
After a few minutes of constant weeping, the orange-haired female shook her head slightly, chuckling to how pathetic she was being, before wiping away the tear that managed to escape her eye with the back of her hand before speaking angrily to herself. "Look at me, I'm a mess. I need to get my act together, and quickly."
Rangiku gathered herself up, pushing herself off the cave wall, before flash stepping towards the Fourth Division barracks. The orange-haired female slowed her pace once she had arrived and smiled sheepishly at the racing members who were tending to many of the injured members of other different squads. The busty female made her way down the long corridor before she reached the door which led to the room that she wanted to visit. Hesitantly, Rangiku pushed open the door and was greeted to a room crammed with six other people who were crowded around Ayame's unconscious body. Their heads all swung to look at who had entered the room and smiled slightly when they saw Rangiku.
"Good morning, Lieutenant Matsumoto." Chojiro briefly smiled at her, before his gaze returned to Ayame.
"Good morning to you too, Lieutenant Sasikibe. I didn't expect that you would be here." Rangiku commented, before turning her head towards the two Eleventh Division members that were resting in the corner of the room. "I wouldn't have thought that you two would be here as well, Ikkaku, Yumichika."
"Captain Zaraki wanted to see if Captain Kireina was awake yet. After all, he's been itching to fight her ever since she arrived here." Ikkaku replied.
"Rangiku, how's Shiro?" Momo asked the orange-haired woman hesitantly, her eyes filled with worry for her childhood friend.
"I don't think that he's taking this so well. He's working way too hard, not sleeping and simply becoming less and less healthy." Rangiku raised a hand to her head, sighing slightly. "I can tell that he blames himself for Captain Kireina's state, and he's punishing himself for it. He's training non-stop and over-exhausting himself."
A quiet sob escaped Momo's mouth and her body began to shake as she thought about her childhood friend breaking down and not taking care of himself as he should be.
"Don't worry about it, you two. Captain Hitsugaya is probably stressed right now, and needs some time to think after the war." Jushiro assured the two of them as he gently patted Momo's head, attempting to calm her down and stop the tears that continously ran down her cheeks.
"Yeah. Most of us need some time to accept what has happened right now. We've all been through a lot and we still don't have anybody to fill in the Captain positions for Squad Three and Nine. The Head Captain has lost his arm and the Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki, is losing his powers." Shunsui added, bringing his straw hat further down his head.
Ikkaku sighed and crossed his arms as he leant against the wall, "Well, I think Toshiro will break out of it when Captain Kireina awakens." He smirked slightly before raising his voice and pointing to Ayame's unconscious body that lay on the hospital bed before yelling playfully. "Ya' hear me?! You better wake up soon or that little lover boy of yours is going to keep being miserable!"
"Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kireina's friendship is extremely beautiful, but how Captain Hitsugaya is treating himself is quite ugly." Yumichika sighed dramatically, flipping his so-called 'beautiful' hair.
"I'm going to report back to the Head Captain." Chojiro spoke up, before standing up and making his way towards the door and leaving the room.
"We should make our leave as well, Ikkaku. Captain Zaraki will most likely be getting frustrated that we haven't come back yet." Yumichika advised his friend, before pushing himself off the wall he was leant on.
"That sounds like a good idea. Catch you all later." He sighed, giving a nonchalant wave as he and Yumichika left the room.
"It's been a few days already. Why hasn't she woke up?" Momo questioned, her hand gripping Ayame's hand tightly.
Momo had also been worried about her Captain's condition and spent most of her time in the Fourth Division barracks. However, she managed to complete most of her work and made sure that she was treating herself correctly, unlike Toshiro.
"Ayame received a life-threatening wound to her chest and if you didn't manage to get to her in time, she would have been dead. It will most likely be a few more days before she wakes up." Jushiro told the weeping female, reassuring her slightly.
"Ayame is a strong, little fighter. She always has been. She won't let something like this get in her way." Shunsui smiled slightly.
Suddenly, the door unexpectedly swung open, revealing a worn-out and exhausted Toshiro. He gazed towards Ayame's unconscious body and almost immediately anybody could see the worry that clouded his icy blue eyes. He sat down on a chair that was located in the corner of the room, his gaze fixed on the unconscious body. Rangiku's eyes widened with shock as she noticed that he didn't scold the orange-haired woman for not completing her work, like he would usually do.
Jushiro let out a rather large sigh, before crouching down next to Toshiro and patting his back ever-so-slightly. "Ayame wouldn't want you to be like this, Captain Hitsugaya. It wasn't your fault. Ayame knew what she was getting into."
There was no reply and silence filled the room, causing Shunsui to glance at all of them worriedly as they realised that Toshiro was slowly killing himself with guilt and there was nothing that they could do about it.
