Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.
Nobody Knows
A/N: Pre-series; follow up to "The Empty Set."
With Urahara's disappearance, he had gone from lieutenant to captain almost overnight, the same status which had been passed on to Mayuri himself.
There was one less idiot for him to deal with, certainly, but the more sinister of the two was still present, his eye ever gleaming behind those flat panes of glass. Aizen wasn't quite so clever as he believed himself to be, his misdeeds having been seen through with a perception unclouded.
The man thought the rest of them to be fools, thought that no one would ever be the wiser in his schemes until it was far too late. But that smile with pursed lips had spoken far more than his silver tongue ever could. No man glowed the way Sosuke Aizen did unless he had accomplished a great feat.
It had been a stroke of luck that Aizen's temporary victory had served them both, each being propelled into a seat of overwhelming power and authority.
Gilded wings he had now, radiant to those who had no idea of his cunning, to the blind who looked to him as a protector, a savior, perhaps a lower class of deity. It was complete rubbish.
From a boy to a man he'd gone, still with the same damned ambition. His gaze was ever set upon the heavens that would never bow and become his. It was unfortunate that not a thing had changed since the academy days, and Mayuri knew that Aizen wasn't doing it solely for his own glory. He was also out to prove his adversary wrong.
Time would be stolen away, and Aizen's pride would continue to fill him up. But, as went the law of gravity, everything that went up, would eventually have to come down.
For Mayuri, that moment was worth waiting for.