HAH? Did she seriously think SHE had the biggest Zanpakuto? What a fucking joke. Nnoitra arched his brow, before his expression turned smug, big teeth peeking out. He was one of the only Arrancar who walked around with his Zanpakuto drawn at all times. He couldn't exactly put Santa Teresa away. Back when he'd been the Octavo, he'd been able to wear his Zanpakuto on his back, but after he became the Quinto, and Santa Teresa doubled in size? That was no longer possible. His only option was to always carry his weapon, dragging it along and creating a trade-mark trail behind him, be it in the sand or in the stone of Las Noches.

She'd requested to see his weapon, and so he'd show her. He was briefly tempted to whip his dick out, just for fun - it was a good opportunity for that, but in the end he was too proud of Santa Teresa to make a joke right now. He swung the giant ax-like weapon around, placing it in front of the TINY chick. Santa Teresa was ENORMOUS. Taller than even Nnoitra himself, and oh so heavy. When Nnoitra thrust it into the ground to make it stand on display, a cloud of dust was kicked up. He grinned.

❝ Yeah, it's pretty big. ❞ Bigger than hers, for sure - even though she DID have a big one.

-x-

Nnoitra’s smile should be eerie. All straight, even teeth. It looks more like a frown than a smile… and yet… it was so familiar. Hiyori could just about make it out as she stared at the former Espada. Former… current? Did it even matter? These rankings were given by Aizen and may be a sincere reflection of their power at that time… but things have changed.

She has also been frequenting Hueco Mundo as of late. Not for picnics, but to find different energy signatures, to collect data for Kisuke on attacks, cero patterns – there was so much to learn. So many things that were not open to them before. In a way, it seems Kisuke was delighted by the way Aizen had shook things up over there. Arrancar, Vaste Lord… so many things…

And… their weapons. Santa Teresa was big and beautiful. The way its metal curved and bent into conjoined twins. She covered her nose and mouth just in time, squinting through the cloud of dust it raised… and finally settles at her sandalled feet. It was much bigger than even she had anticipated. Bigger than Tiburon, bigger than most bankai. Judging by sight alone, it was coated in dense black metal, like osmium but part hollow. A soul fused through it… similar to an asauchi…

“Geez - yer not the type ‘ta tone shit down huh?” But she did look impressed. It was not just the unique shape, but it was the linked chains as well. He could use any part of his weapon. It didn’t really have a proper hilt and it didn't seem to bother him.

“Yer blade is good… gaps are big though. Ya gotta swing it across rather than through… ”she notes the large concave curve and grins. “Yer arms are so skinny but ya can move it around like its light."

She slides her own out of its sheathe, the little heart shaped tsuba looking ridiculous against the massive Santa Teresa.

"Let's see - Chop Cleanly, Kubikiri Orochi."

With the command, it was released. A Large, serrated knife twice as tall and about as wide as its petite owner.

Kubikiri Orochi was bigger than most Zanpakuto, but obviously did not match Santa Teresa.

Hiyori has lived a long life. There have been a few occasions that she has miraculously felt beautiful/pretty. She can distinctly remember each occasion.

The first time was when her wild, mane-like hair was combed out, parted and then wrapped into ribbons with pigtails on either side of her head. She looked like a girl. She had felt very special then. Like a princess, as Kirio poked her cheek and said she looked very cute. Hiyori had never actually been able to tie her hair before that time.

The second time she felt beautiful was for a festival. She had thought she was really hot shit when she applied Kirio’s powder and lipstick and wore a summer yukata. Of course, Hiyori isn’t subtle. More is more. So she had too much powder on her face and way too much lipstick smeared around her lips. Everyone had burst into laughter when they had seen her, but before that moment- she had felt really beautiful in pretty make up and all dolled up.

She enjoys festivals and dressing in traditional clothes. She even knows when to stop applying lipstick.

The third time she felt extremely pretty is the first Christmas/New Year she spent on a romantic date with Shinji. He sent her to get ready by a professional make-up artist that brought out all her naturally cute features, got dressed in a pretty winter dress and boots and she felt amazing.

At New year, Shinji actually helped her into a stunning white kimono as well. She believed she looked like a beautiful bride. She spent a long time admiring the fabric, the white embroidery, the delicate sleeves, the way it made her walk in smaller steps. She remembers Shinji helping her into her shoes. She must have looked beautiful then.

There is one other occasion that she felt beautiful. Heated up, dressed in nothing but an anklet and her trust for Shinji… she had caught sight of herself in a mirror, her back arched, cheeks flushed and eyes large and luminous in the semi-darkness…

“What d'ya think I did? I fucked up like the way I knew I would. It ain't like... I can stop kicking my own sandcastles down. I had one good thing happen in my life and I know... I just manifested my own worst fear. That I would ruin this. That this thing would end. That he would become tired of forgiving me every time I mess up.”

She has stopped crying at the mere mention of what has happened between them, but her eyes are still glassy when she recalls the things he had said. The hurt and anguish in his voice as he tried to explain it to her. His words were not a revelation to her, yet the knowledge that she hasn’t been as good to him as he has been to her, devastated her all the same.

The real question wasn’t what she did. It’s about all the things she didn’t do.

“Imagine that you love someone. The only person you've ever loved that way. And you are so fuckin' delighted when they love you back. And then... ya keep hurting them. With yer words. Yer constant way of saying ya support them, but ya don't ever let them open up. I hate shinigami... I still do. But if I wanted him 'ta bare his soul 'ta me, I had 'ta love his work too. Really take an interest in it, instead of closing the door in his face when he wanted ‘ta speak. I was thoughtlessly calling him the same nicknames I always used. I didn’t know… that these jokes would lead ‘ta disrespect and hurt him so much. They really did. And… it isn’t that I said these things ‘ta him. It’s the stuff I didn’t say. I didn’t often say how grateful I was ‘ta be with him. The things he did for me, not because he was just nice… but out of love. I certainly… didn’t even do half as much. It’s why, he did not feel loved by me. Not just unloved… but in pain ‘cuz of me. And it’s just ‘ta figure out why this keeps happening. It ain’t like this happened once or twice. It’s constant for him. ‘Ta feel unsupported and unloved by the person who he’s meant ‘ta love the most...

I am an ugly person inside and out.”

She shakes her head. “If I am ‘ta fix this... I gotta figure out how ‘ta change how I react ‘ta things. Why I sabotage myself. And then... I gotta take advantage of his kindness again and ask him for one more chance.”

The guys grin literally took up the entirety of his thin face. She does not know why, but it was nice to see him smile like that. He looked so familiar. Even though he was an arrancar. He was not at all supposed to be familiar, but he was. That one, violet eye and that pale face with the inky black hair… just who does he resemble? She can’t really tell. Either way, the familiarity was slightly charming in its own way. She had once seen him look utterly delighted by a plain, glazed doughnut, so she supposes this chocolate covered one must be blowing his mind right now.

It’s amusing. Or maybe, she just likes the way his one eye is lit up. She pushes a small box in his direction. It only has five (sold as a set of six) and manages a shrug. Like she hasn’t gone out of her way to purchase them specifically for him. She hasn’t, she insists to herself. He just happens to be here. And she doesn’t feel like eating doughnuts right now.

“Knock yerself out- - these are bought from Mister Donut. They make cute shapes and serve ‘em with hot drinks. If ya got a friend, ya should take ‘em there.” But she does not think Nnoitra would just choose to rock up at a chain of doughnut stores for some tea and doughnuts. The thought amuses her all the same, though. His lanky frame hunkering into a cutesie cafe like that.

Hiyori whipped around with her billowing robes that were a bit too big for her and a wand jabbed at the person who'd made the comment. She relaxed when she saw it was her slouchy friend with the toothy grin. Though she did still jab her wand into the squishy part of his tummy- hard.

"What the fuck? It's trolls like you that make it hard 'ta see anything around here!" She grumbled, but still craned her neck to try and get a good look towards the window display that everyone was going gaga over.

It was a racing broomstick, but one of the newer models and she had also been curious enough to look. Even though people like her and Nnoitra would never get to touch such a fine broom.

"Oi, where'd ya run off to earlier? And since yer here, may as well give me a leg up."

These days, all she seems to be doing is attempting to severely not-miss all her friends. If she had just known it then, that some of her family members would return to the gotei, she would have asked them to leave her to die on the asphalt in the fake Karakura. Hopefully she’d go in a blaze of glory or something… But no. Here she was. Alive. And walking again without the help of the wall. Kisuke and Hachi have decided to experiment with different dimensions. Hueco Mundo was full of reishi that the hollow part of her needed to recover and they had deemed it safe enough for her to go there alone for brief periods of time.

This was her fourth time in this depressing and dreary landscape with nothing but menos, shrieking underneath the trembling, sandy floor. It didn’t matter. Her heart was as heavy as that lonely moon in the sky and she wonders briefly if the shifting sands would fix the gaping hole inside her one day.

She misses them all and is too proud to pick up the phone or answer during this time. So instead, she attempts to find some intelligent life. Sadly, it’s only Nnoitra that she finds. A rakishly thin man with a nostalgic grin.

Hiyori hates it, but in a way, it’s almost cathartic. He looks nothing like Shinji- - but there are enough glimpses in this Espada to make her still converse with him in a familiar manner. As if he was her best friend… the buddy she couldn’t wait to see. Those days were long behind her.

The current magical academy established by the Japanese wizards was at the heart of what most muggle wizards assumed was an uninhabited, volcanic island. However, even before wizards had set foot on this soil, there was a thriving Tengu population. A humanoid-bird like entity that are quite protective of the island and the students that arrived within it. However, apart from the mischievous tanuki that generally  popped up to prank a student, the majority of the school looked pretty normal. It must still be a far cry from the western establishment that the new Beater of her team was sorted into. Nnoitra.

He was tall and thin and  perhaps she was a little soft on him because his smile resembled someone who had graduated not too long ago. Whose notes she still kept in her cloak if she needed to…

But right now, the thing that amused her was the fact that Nnoitra still had a family owl. Still wanted nothing to do with the school mascot, the cute little shiba inu that would hop around and beg him for treats which most students which indulge in. Except Grimmjow - but he would pick a fight with anyone.

“Dumbass, it’s a stool so ya can carry it around!” Hiyori flicked her wand at it so that now, it rested on the palm of Nnoitra’s hand and looked almost like a piece of furniture from a doll’s house. “Took me aaages ‘ta get this reducio spell right and I had ‘ta ask Kisuke for it and I swear he was givin’ me the weirdest look since– well anyway, it’s yer present. Ya can increase it back ‘ta normal size with engorgio or even cancel out the small reducio spell. It’s meant ‘ta help anyone ‘ta look at ya and make eye contact.”

Wait. Did he not like it? He didn’t look very happy about getting this amazing piece of magically-imbibed furniture, but she couldn’t spend her gold on things like chains and cool amulets. She had no money for any of that. She sighed, then shoved her hand into her robes for the next part.

“Of course I am!” Hiyori stood up to match the other beater’s energy -- but standing up wasn’t exactly an impressive move when you considered how tall Nnoitra was. Freaking kid looked like he’d accidentally swallowed some skele-gro or just got hit with the wrong end of a taffy-legs jinx. 

However, his deceptively skinny arms packed a lot of power. Power they needed to beat the other quidditch teams. Hiyori was sick of her team getting pelted with bludgers and was glad that they had a decent offence this time.

She hoisted her broomstick in one arm and finished the rest of her green tea, watching a tanuki disappear with the plate. 

“Oi, Gilga, don’t fuckin’ fall off yer broom. I ain’t the kind ‘ta catch people- got it?”