Two Sides Of The Same Coin

//It was all over the news. There had been an accident near the office building I worked in. It was late in the afternoon and after a long day of paperwork and answering calls for my boss, I could check out and head home. Very little exciting things happened in my life. There were the few moments of drama between friends and co-workers, average gossip but I had never expected what was about to happen in front of my eyes.

My hair whipped around as it was quite windy and gloomy outside. There seemed to be some party going on at the top of an apartment balcony. It was noisy, it was hard to tell what was going on but two men starting fighting it seemed from my squinted view. But there was another man behind the two brawling, leaning against the balcony edge.

Suddenly, one of the two fighters had ended up pushing the third man off the balcony. The whole balcony broke! I saw the man fall and my heart dropped to my feet, pure fear had consumed me. There was an immediate feeling of horror as pieces of the balcony fell along with him and he landed right on top of a parked car with a loud crash. There was so much glass. So much blood..//

How odd it was that my neighbor in the apartment nearby would want to invite me to one of her human gatherings. One of her 'parties'. I briefly thought back to my days of service in Hueco Mundo and wondered if we ever had similar festivities. Unless you would count the occasional round table meetings with Aizen-sama, it was unlikely.

This human girl seemed to take a liking to me, though. Which confused me since I had never expressed any sort of interest or attraction towards her. The welcoming gifts I received from her were unnecessary. I never thanked her for them but I was not rude enough to reject the small offers of baked goods and strange things such as coupons to nearby salons or grocery stores. She was always trying to get my better attention. I had nothing else planned that day so I decided to attend her party in her living quarters, perhaps socialize with other humans if I desired.

After exchanging few words with the guests that poured in and out of her home, I grew bored again and grabbed a book that had been resting within a small shelf in her home. While others were laughing and dancing in erratic manors, effected by the alcohol they consumed and possible narcotics, I decided to go about the balcony where there were less people around. It was a nuisance being pushed and touched by sweaty, repulsive humans who were most likely mentally impaired.

Leaning against the farthest end where the gate-esc part was, I rested my back to it while reading an interesting collection of poems. Why would she even possess such a book? Was she more cultured than I had originally pondered? I had barely gotten a glimpse of her since I walked in.

Out of the crowd of men and females, two slightly drunk males had started to confront each other, hollering about something. Another female I believe. I wasn't really paying much attention to what they were arguing about since I didn't care, keeping my nose in the book.

Then I heard it. A familiar voice calling out to me. It was the girl, the host of the party. "What's going on over here?! You guys better not bust anything! We need to quiet down!" As far as I knew, the police around this area didn't care for the disrupt-ment of the peace and loud music. People in my building threw parties all the time. She flailed out one of her hands, trying to shove past the crowd as a fight broke out just a few feet in front of me. I think.. she was trying to warn me.

They came closer and as one of them went to push and ram the other. He quickly dodged and only I was left in the other's path. It was then that I realized something. I could have easily dodged as well or retaliated in some way. I could have used my strength to block him, not even. That human was no where near strong enough to throw me off balance as I could strengthen my weight quite a lot. No, perhaps.. I was simply distracted by the human girl. By the loud, vibrating sounds of pounding music and laughing voices. I don't know what it had been but I let my guard down willingly. I didn't care what happened next.

-cue music link youtu.be/2bosouX_d8Y -

Before I knew it, I had been shoved off the balcony, breaking right through. It was as if the world had turned into a slow motion film, my eyes looking ironically calm as I began to see the balcony shrink further away, small ebony locks trailing in front of my face, my hands setting the book free and chunks of rubble all around.

//Tons of police cars and an ambulance surrounded the car where the man had fell against, sectioning off the area with yellow tape. It was such a strangely large dent in the car but the man actually looked quite small from my view. It was hard to tell from all the other concerned and panicked people around. How horrible though, to see it all happen. I couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't moved when he had the chance?//

As much as I wished to be captured by the beauty of the world, I realized that there was no reason for me to stop the incident. I had no one to revel and share with me, these moments of appreciation and love, admiration. I was wasting my time, wasn't I? Trying to prove myself. Trying to make a better person of myself. This was the right moment to simply leave it all behind. My efforts would only leave me in failure again.

As soon as I had hit the vehicle below, an wave of glass had exploded around me, shards of it glimmering and glinting in the sunlight. It almost looked like beads of water. A warmth spurted from my mouth and nose, the disfigured metal piercing through my torso, my limbs sprawled out.

This pain.. it was the only thing I could feel. The only thing that made me feel I was human. Maybe I had been long ago. Police lights flashed and the sound of booming music still continued in the distance above, small pebbles and dust still falling over me.

My eyes flickered open for a while, ironically serene as if I were falling asleep.

//The man was pronounced dead before the ambulance even began to act. I only heard one women sobbing from above, maybe a friend of his? Whoever he was, that image would forever haunt my dreams.. The day started out so ordinary, too. Even if he had no friends or family, it was always sad to see someone die. A waste of a life, never to return..//

My gigai was far from damaged, as I expected. I left the limp body as it were, pulling from it and watching if only for a moment to see the mortified expressions of the foolish people who mourned over a nobody, carefully moving it off the vehicle and onto a gurney.

It was not until I flew up higher to the previous balcony that I caught sight of the neighboring human girl who sobbed and trembled over the sight below, being held back from the broken edge so not to fall as well. We barely knew each other, yet she looked heart broken. I will never understand..

I flew off, accepting this death as my defeat and retreating back to the sand covered waste land. I would remain there where I was born and raised, to waste alone, where monsters belonged.

//I ended up walking home afterwards when the crowd died down. A man even came to me to ask a few questions. My legs had become numb, shaking with disbelief and clutching the strap of my bag.

It would make sense to just move on and forget this nobody.. Yes, I would do just that.//