Darkness
by: Kalow of FanFiction.net
Prologue
She looks like a walking corpse, Toushiro Hitsugaya thought as he watched her walking towards his prison cell, Like something from a horrible nightmare.
Of course it wasn’t a nightmare. This was all very real. Momo Hinamori- no, not Momo Hinamori, that person had died a long time ago-that thing walked slowly through the halls observing the ranked officers-turned-prisoners of the Gotei 13. She showed little interest in the prisoners, giving them apathetic glances before walking on.
As she approached, Toushiro saw just how much she had changed in the month since he had last seen her. She was horrible to look at then but now… now she was unrecognizable as who she once was. Her face was pallid and sick looking, with the exception of the burn that dominated one side of her face, only partially covered up by her long, matted hair. The hair was dry and streaked with grey hairs. Her eyes were the worst; an evil, sulfurous yellow that held not even an ounce of kindness. Dark shadows hung beneath those evil looking eyes.
She was approaching his cell, and Toushiro did not know whether to hope that she would recognize him as her old friend and stop or whether he would rather not talk to the hideous being. As she approached, he saw the zanpakuto at her side. There were four in all, each a trophy from her strongest victims. Tobiume was absent; killed by its owner if the rumors were true.
Toushiro braced himself for what might happen when she recognized him. Would she show him mercy, or would she taunt and torment her childhood friend? He was leaning towards the latter, given what he’d seen of her new self.
The footsteps echoed through the dank prison, mixing with the sound of an occasional drip of water. Each step closer that she came, Toushiro flinched. She was nearly upon him. In moments, he would have to face her and look directly into those horrible eyes.
Finally she was upon him. He braced himself for the worst, but as she passed him, she merely gave an apathetic glance at him, slowing down for a second before walking off. She showed no hint of recognition for her childhood friend. Toushiro was both relieved that he did not have to confront her and crushed that his former friend did not even think him to be worth any more attention than a tiny glance.
Despite his reputation as the icy captain who didn’t show his emotions and his resolve not to be weak in this situation, a tear forced itself from his eye. This wasn’t supposed to have happened. How had Momo been so utterly and completely changed? How did the sweet, kind girl who used to call him Shiro-chan become this despicable monster?
