Compared to the Ninth Division's rebirth from the ashes and the Third Division's gentle healing, the Fifth Division that Shinji Hirako took over was an ultimate nightmare that drove him absolutely crazy...
If Gin Ichimaru's betrayal was a heavy blow to the Third Division...
then Sosuke Aizen's betrayal was nothing short of a psychological massacre for the Fifth Division, especially for Lieutenant Momo Hinamori.
Fifth Division, Captain's Office.
This room, once meticulously maintained by Aizen and exuding elegance and tidiness, was now as messy as a garbage dump freshly ransacked by thugs.
Various documents and files were scattered across the floor, along with a knocked-over ink bottle that had seeped into a large, ugly stain.
Shinji Hirako couldn't even be bothered to change into his Shihakusho. Wearing his captain's haori over a shirt from the World of the Living, he slumped like a puddle of mud in the spacious captain's chair.
He rested his feet on the desk, twirling a calligraphy brush in his hand.
Looking at the scene before him, he let out a long, despair-filled sigh.
"I say... little Momo..."
Shinji tapped the desk with the brush, trying to catch the attention of the girl standing in a daze in front of the bookcase.
"This is the fourth time today you've mixed up the expeditionary force's supply list with the Fourth Division's medical supply requisition form..."
"And just now, when you were stamping, you stamped the Fifth Division's official seal on the back..."
"If you keep being this absent-minded, our Fifth Division is going to be dragged before the Central 46 courts tomorrow."
After saying that, he curled his lips. "Haha, I forgot. There is no Central 46 right now."
However, his joke in poor taste didn't have any positive effect.
Standing before the bookcase, Momo Hinamori still swayed like a soulless marionette.
Hearing Shinji's words, Momo merely turned her head mechanically. Her once bright and expressive eyes were now hollow and lifeless, surrounded by terrifyingly dark circles.
"I'm sorry... Captain Hirako... I will reorganize them right away..."
Momo's voice was faint and airy, devoid of any vitality.
She walked over to the desk and crouched down to pick up the scattered documents, but the files she gathered kept slipping from her grasp time and time again.
Shinji covered his face in agony.
In the few days since he had taken over as the captain of the Fifth Division, he had tried every method imaginable to cheer this girl up.
He had tried telling jokes in his Kansai dialect to make her laugh, tried asserting his captain's authority to scold her, and tried using work to numb her nerves...
He had even gone to Captain Unohana of the Fourth Division for some soothing herbal medicine, secretly mixing it into her tea.
But nothing worked.
Although Momo's body was still in the Fifth Division, her mind had long since drifted away the moment Aizen left.
Shinji knew that subconsciously, this little girl was probably still expecting Captain Aizen, who always wore a gentle smile, to suddenly push the door open, walk in, and say to her:
"Good morning, Hinamori. I'll leave today's paperwork to you."
"Argh! So annoying! What kind of magic potion did that damn bastard Aizen feed this girl!"
"Captain Hirako... please... please do not speak ill of Captain Aizen..." Hearing Shinji's complaint, Momo actually reacted, responding faintly.
This made Shinji even more frustrated. He ruffled his blonde hair in annoyance and jumped up from his chair...
Later that evening, after having dinner, Shinji noticed Momo sitting alone on the corridor, staring blankly into space.
Tear stains still lingered on her cheeks.
After thinking for a long time... he turned and went into his room, brought out a bottle of sake and two cups, and sat down beside her.
"Have you eaten, little Momo?"
Shinji poured two cups of sake and pushed one in front of Momo.
Momo didn't speak, nor did she touch the cup.
She merely looked at Shinji with a vacant gaze, as if the man before her was just like everyone else—a bad person trying to destroy the last shred of faith in her heart.
"I know you don't like me, and you resent me for taking Aizen's place," Shinji said, completely ignoring her stare as he picked up his cup and took a sip.
The spicy liquid flowed down his throat, making him narrow his eyes in comfort.
"But little Momo... there is one thing you might have gotten wrong."
Shinji set down his cup. His gaze grew deep and distant, as if piercing through the fog of time and returning to that night a century ago.
"A hundred years ago, when I was the captain of the Fifth Division, that man named Sosuke Aizen was my lieutenant."
"Did you think that gentle, perfect man who always smiled at you was all there was to him?"
These words made Momo stop sobbing.
She lifted her head, looking at Shinji in belated disbelief.
'Right... it was recorded in the division's history...'
'The previous captain was Shinji Hirako... How could I have forgotten about that...'
"Looks like you remembered?" Shinji noted her expression and revealed a wicked smirk. "Back then, he was exactly the same as the man you've seen all these years."
"He was gentle and polite to everyone, handled his work flawlessly, and even old man Yamamoto praised him highly..."
"In everyone's eyes, he was an impeccable, perfect lieutenant."
Shinji looked at the clouds drifting in the sky outside, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "It's just that I was different from the rest of you. From the very first moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he wasn't normal."
"His perfection was too deliberate, like a mannequin wearing a mask... Although his eyes carried a smile, beneath them lay a cold, empty void."
"You could never guess what he was thinking, and you could never touch his true heart."
Shinji turned around, looking straight into Momo's eyes. "To guard against him, I deliberately chose him as my lieutenant."
"I thought that as long as I kept him right under my nose and watched his every move, I would be able to see through his true colors and stop any destruction he might cause."
"But I was wrong. Horribly wrong."
Shinji's hand unconsciously clenched into a fist. The pain brought about by the Hollowfication incident a century ago surged in his heart once more.
"He took advantage of my guard, exploiting the deliberate distance I kept between us... Without me noticing a thing, he completed his heinous experiments."
He walked up to Momo, leaning down to look at the girl who was trembling all over because of his words.
"So, little Momo, do you know what I'm trying to tell you?"
"Even though I hate Aizen, you and I are in the same boat."
"We never understood him at all."
These words struck Momo's heart like a heavy sledgehammer.
"You always idolized him, and I always guarded against him... Because of that, there was always a layer of fog between the two of us and Aizen. From beginning to end, neither of us figured out what that man was actually trying to do..."
"You agonize over why Aizen betrayed us, but I think the root cause is that you didn't understand him."
"Admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding."
Shinji straightened up, looking at the stunned Momo. "What you fell in love with was merely a perfect reflection conjured up by your own imagination."
"Try to understand him."
"Try to understand the real Sosuke Aizen—the one who stripped away his hypocritical mask, the cold and ruthless man attempting to destroy the Three Realms."
"Figure out what he truly wants to do, and figure out why he became the way he is today."
"Only when you truly understand this person will you know where you should swing your blade."
"If, when that time comes, you still want to follow him without hesitation... sigh, I'll turn a blind eye and let you escape the Seireitei. I won't go back on my word."
After saying this, Shinji paid no more attention to Momo's reaction.
He walked over to the desk, picked up the stained file, rolled it up casually, and strode out of the office.
"I'm going to go bicker with the Fourth Division. You clean up this mess yourself..."
Shinji walked away, leaving behind only the half-finished cup of sake.
Momo stood frozen in place, Shinji's words echoing endlessly in her mind.
'That's right, did I ever truly understand him?'
'Even today... I still don't know what kind of world Captain Aizen actually desires.'
The sun gradually set, and lights flickered on in the various division barracks.
When Shinji stumbled back from outside, reeking of alcohol, he was surprised to find that the Fifth Division's office had been restored to its former tidiness.
All the documents were neatly stacked on the desk, and even the ink stain on the carpet had been completely cleaned up.
At the desk, Momo sat perfectly straight, earnestly reviewing the final official document.
"Captain Hirako, you've returned."
Her face was still pale, and her eyes were still red and swollen.
But in those once-hollow eyes, there was now a trace of comforting resilience.
"Today's paperwork has been completely processed. There isn't a single mistake."
"Thank you for your guidance... I will try to find my own answer."
Looking at the girl before him—who was still a bit gloomy but had somewhat stepped out of her despair—Shinji paused for a moment.
Then, a genuinely warm smile appeared on his face, which usually carried a hint of wickedness.
He stepped forward and unceremoniously ruffled Momo's hair.
"Heh, now that's more like it, little Momo."
"Let's go. To celebrate the official return of the Fifth Division's lieutenant, this captain is treating you to takoyaki in the Rukongai today!"