Everything's not as it seems...
"Ichigo, I have something to ask you." Rukia says. She has been pondering this for a while now, but didn't get a good opportunity to ask him until now.
"Yea, what is it?" he asks while reading King Leer. He really didn't appreciate being interrupted.
"How did you manage to defeat Aizen?" she asks. Ichigo sighs.
"Well, after Aizen left for Soul Society to perform the ritual, me and my dad went after him in the precipice world. Dad realized that training in the precipice world might grant me the strength needed to win. While I trained for three months in the precipice world, I gained the ability to merge my hollow and shinigami powers to become a 'true transcendal', as Aizen stated. What was three months in there was one hour in the Soul Society." he explained. Rukia's eyes widen in surprise when she learned he not only suppressed his hollow, but fully merged it with his own.
"Ichigo...you're the only one I know who could pull off such a feat with such a method. Merging shinigami and hollow powers? Honestly, if you had told me this 17 months ago, I would've probably laughed you off." she said, with a small smile playing off her lips. "I never did thank you." she added, then she walks over to him, and he's shocked when she places a small kiss on his forehead. He blushes madly, and watches her as she enters the closet to go to sleep. He grins.
"You didn't have to, you idiot." he says, then decides to go to bed himself. He can finish the book tomorrow.
Ichigo wakes up the next morning, and realizes that Rukia isn't in the closet. He figures she left early to go on a walk or to Urahara's. It's a saturday, so he decides to sleep in some more.
This turns out to be a bad mistake, because shortly after, he feels a very strong pulse of reiatsu outside, and immediately hops out of bed and emerges in his shinigami form. As he arrives to where the reiatsu is currently at, he's in shock at what he sees. He sees Rukia...on the ground, and covered in blood.
"Rukia!" he screams, and he immediately flies down to see if she's still conscious. She's barely conscious, but the wounds don't seem too severe, and he breaths a small sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo...the hollow radar said it was a regular hollow, so I didn't feel a need to wake you...then I got attacked. I don't even know where he is, but he's nearby." she struggles out, but Ichigo puts a finger to her lips to prevent her from talking further.
"Just stay here, Rukia. I'll take care of this guy. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you or the people nearby." he says with certainty. She relaxes a bit, since she can feel the resolve in his words.
Ichigo looks around for a while, and he's getting both frustrated and confused when he can't seem to find the guy on the outskirts of the town. The voice he hears next makes his skin crawl.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Kurosaki Ichigo?" a man behind him says with a calming voice. He whips around, and is shocked at the being in front of him.
"Aizen..." he says, in a state of shock. "What are you doing here? How did you get out of prison?" he asks, amazed that Aizen was able of obtaining such a feat while in a powerless state.
"You honestly believed that I wouldn't have a back-up plan in case you were to somehow defeat me? How naive." he says in a very calm manner.
"Why did you hurt Rukia? Even if she was your enemy, with your power, there was no reason to injure her so badly!" Ichigo screams furiously.
"All in good time, Kurosaki Ichigo. If you are able to defeat me, I'll tell you. If you fail, remember that your life will not be taken, but instead I'll take away the woman you cherish the most." Aizen states, pointing his blade at Rukia. Ichigo's eyes harden in anger.
"I'll never let you take Rukia. I'll die before that happens!" he screams as he charges towards Aizen.
"You are so predictable, it's saddening. Shatter, Kyoga Suigetsu!" he says with his eyes fixed on Ichigo. Ichigo is confused when Aizen suddenly disappears in front of him. He looks around quickly to see which direction will come from, but he can't sense a damn thing. He mentally curses himself for witnessing his release.
Ichigo closes his eyes and tries to come up with a strategy quickly, and what he comes up with won't win the fight, it'll buy him some time.
"Ban-kai!" he screams, and he immediately takes off at top flight speed and starts moving around.
"Even if I'm under an illusion, if I keep moving, you won't be able to land a hit on me!" Ichigo screams out, regaining some resolve knowing that his plan has worked.
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Even in your current state of bankai, your speed does not match mine. Don't you already realize this? After you regained your shinigami powers, you did not fuse your hollow powers along with it. You are not the transcendal being you once were. You rely too much on your bankai." he calmly says from seemingly nowhere, and Ichigo narrows his eyes as Aizen pegged him dead on.
"I've always found a way to defeat my opponents. I'll crush you and prevent you from destroying Soul Society!" he yells.
"Destroy Soul Society?" Aizen asks, then starts laughing softly, and grins. "Kurosaki Ichigo...did I ever once say that I planned on destroying Soul Society, or the world of the living? I did not. You are so naive, it's laughable. There's no need to defeat you, Ichigo." he finishes, and Ichigo suddenly can sense Aizen...who swiftly smacked him in the back of his head.
"Because I already have." he says with a grin.
"D-damn..it..." he yells, then collapses on the ground.
Ichigo wakes up, and is surprised that he isn't dead. He looks around and is confused when he isn't sure where he is. He seems to be in some sort of mansion. A moment later, Aizen walks in, with a servant carrying a small tray of tea.
"It seems you are finally awake, Kurosaki Ichigo." he says. Ichigo is both shocked and angered by his mere presence, and tries to get up, but finds that he is restrained. Aizen sighs.
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Please, calm down. There's a lot you don't know." he says, but Ichigo isn't calmed down at all.
"What about Rukia? She's still bleeding on the outskirts, if I don't help now-"
"I've already healed her injuries, and wiped her memory so she has no recollection of the incidents of yesterday afternoon, then took her back to your room." Aizen said. Ichigo looks dumbfounded.
"Wait...why did you heal her wounds? We're your enemies, aren't we?" he asks.
"Like I said...there's a lot you don't know." he calmly says. "Tea?" Aizen asks as he offers one of the cups on the tray the servant left them.
"Y..yea...thanks." Ichigo says, and Aizen releases the bonds off of him Ichigo takes a sip of the tea, and it doesn't taste poisoned.
"Let's see...where should I start? Well, you already know that everything I've done to you so far was, without a doubt, to raise your battle capabilities." he says, and Ichigo raises an eyebrow.
"Yea, because I was a little experiment of yours right before you decided to try and take over Soul Society." Ichigo says, a little angered by the words Aizen once said.
"That was a lie. The main reason I conducted such an extreme series of events was because you are the only one who is capable enough from saving the world from this boundless prison." he says. Ichigo gives him a look of confusion.
"...What do you mean, exactly?" Ichigo says, pondering his words.
"Exactly as I said. There was a reason I wanted to enter the royal realm. You presumed that I wanted to eliminate the spirit king, correct? In such case, you were and are correct, I do wish him dead. However, did you not once think that, perhaps, I had a good reason for going through all this effort in obtaining such a goal?" Aizen asks inquisitively, and Ichigo nods slightly.
"You just wanted to take the seat for your own and fulfill your own wishes, didn't you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Aizen scoffs.
"You're half-right. I did want to take the seat from the spirit king, but not for the intentions of taking over the Soul Society or the world of the living." he says, and Ichigo thinks back on what Aizen just previously said.
"So, judging by what you said, the current king is more along the lines of a tyrant?" Ichigo asks.
"Precisely." Aizen says. Ichigo shakes his head.
"Impossible, if that were the case, then people in Soul Society would be a lot more harsh on the people of towns such as Rukongai. If that were the case-"
"The plan he wishes to implement has not yet been set into effect. If it were, then Soul Society would be a lot more worse off than it currently is. You know the stubborn old-fashioned people that reside in Central 46, do you not?" Aizen asks, and Ichigo nods again.
"Yea, and you murdered every single one of them." he says maliciously.
"What you didn't know was that these people were all in direct contact with the king no less than a week before. The king informed them of his plan. His current plan is to slaugher millions of people, possibly billions, in the world of the living, starting with everyone in Karakura Town." Aizen informs Ichigo, who looks shocked at the news. He doesn't respond for a few moments.
"Im..possible..the spirit king...wants all humans...all of my friends...dead?" he asks disbelievingly. "But why, there's no purpose-"
"Ah, but there is. In doing so, the Soul Society will have a much larger population. After that, he plans on dramatically increasing recruitment levels in Soul Society, making much more shinigami, which would, therefore, produce a very large number of captains to increase the division numbers, and the ones above captain level would be sent to the royal guard." Ichigo again discards what Aizen said.
"Why? To increase the military power of Soul Society and the Royal Guard? Why would he do such a thing? The threats can be taken care of by the military they already have!" he screams, and Aizen nods.
"That is precisely my point, Kurosaki Ichigo. I confronted you to see where your power currently resides, and I harmed miss Kuchiki in order to temper your resolve and increase your desire to fight. I apologize for what I done, but it was necessary to try and push you to a level at which you can help me." Aizen states. Ichigo pauses for a moment, and still doesn't quite believe him.
"Then why did you stab Rukia on the Soukyoku Hill? The captains, the events you took part in in Karakura Town? You didn't need to cut them down so violently!" he screamed.
Aizen closed his eyes. "I regretted deeply doing such events to Kuchiki-san, however, that was to obtain the hougyoku, which the spirit king was also trying to obtain. I couldn't let him have it. I also did not want to cut down my fellow captains in the manner I chosen. However, I knew that none of them would be willing to aid me in this dark goal, and thus, were my enemies. I planned on informing you of my goal the moment you were able to fight on par with me. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to do so, thanks to Urahara Kisuke." he finishes with a sour look on his face.
"And you were willing to kill over a hundred thousand people to obtain this goal?" Ichigo asks, and Aizen hesitantly nods.
"I did not wish to harm any innocents, however, the captain commander has no intention of giving up the location to that key, and the only way to enter the royal realm is with a key. As much as it pains me, I have to do it. I'm choosing the lesser of two evils here, Ichigo. You of all people should understand what it's like to try to do the right thing with no one to help you." he states. Ichigo rubs his temples and tries to digest the information that has just been admitted to him in the past ten minutes.
"What if I were to obtain the key from the captain commander?" Ichigo asks.
"Then I would be pleased to say I wouldn't have to kill the people of Karakura Town to protect the world from such evil." Aizen says. Ichigo starts to think.
"You know I have no reason to believe you about any of this, right?" Ichigo says, and Aizen leers at him.
"Understandable, however, think back on everything I just said. All of it seems to make sense, doesn't it? How all of the captains I fought conviently survived, how not one innocent person wound up dead, the 'experiment' I held on you? I don't expect you to trust me, Kurosaki Ichigo. I expect you to at least consider the possibility." Aizen says to Ichigo, who pauses for a moment.
"How long do we have until the king makes his move?" Ichigo asks.
"From what my sources tell me, it takes anything the spirit king puts through the legal system about 2 years to become authorized and finalized. Just as you have a system of checks and balances in the real world, there is one in the royal realm as well." Aizen explains, and Ichigo breaths a sigh of relief.
"Alright. As you can tell, I'm not near as powerful as I once was. If I come with you to the royal realm to defeat the spirit king, I'll only be a burden to you." Ichigo says, and Aizen's face remains unchanged.
"There's a way you can get around such things as power loss, Ichigo. You possessed the power before, and managed to regain part of it already. You will gain the rest of it back in due time." Aizen says confidently.
"Yea, and how do you propose I do that?" Ichigo says with a pessimistic tone.
"Simple, I'll train you." Aizen says.