Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Author: Kyatsuki Ora
Notes: Happy April's Fool Day everyone!! And may you have many many more!! One-shots for all the people I promised one. All of them are Bleach-related. Italics are dreams.
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
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Blood was splattered everywhere.
Standing among what once was Los Noches, Sosuke Aizen tried to catch his breath while mentally counting the injuries he sustained. The ones on his legs and arms are superficial, but one on his chest is causing him to have breathing problems. Well, it could have been worse. A lot worse. At least his opponents are not fairing so well either. Temporarily sheathing his zanpaktou, his eyes tried to see through the cloud of dust.
Soon, he was rewarded by a moving figure trying to stand up. He could see that the person wasn't succeeding in keeping upright because the blur fell back to the ground immediately. A smirk appeared when he heard coughing and a slight curse floated his way, which was replaced by a furrow on his brow when a string of words followed.
"By the East Gate's guard and the West Gate's sentry, the flowing of energy transfers, turns, and raises, Hado Level 76: Shattering Glass!"
Quickly flash-stepping to higher grounds, Aizen watched with no small amount of amusement as his trap was swept away as easily as a cobweb. If it wasn't a life and death situation, he would laugh and comment on his opponent's growing skills. But, seeing that it was not so, he frowned instead. One good thing from the spell's release of concentrated spiritual energy was that the dust all flew away, leaving with him a clear view of his enemies.
Currently one was busy with trying to get rid of all the dust that landed in her wounds, while the other was trying and not succeeding in catching her breath. The standing one was currently saying to the sitting one. "Yare, Tsuki-chan! Are you trying to kill me?! You know I can't breathe when surrounded by stuff, much less under a foot of dust!"
Gasping, Tsuki replied scathingly, "Next time, Ryuu, you can take care of his level 80+ hado and kido spells he's sending our way! I'm getting tired of get ridding Kuro Hitsugi anyway."
Trying to fix her brown hair back into position, Ryuu laughed. "Thanks for reminding me why I never challenged you to a spell fight." Not hearing a reply, Ryuu looked down only to see Tsuki having a coughing fit. Alarmed, she sent a tendril of spiritual energy to boost her lungs. A few seconds Ryuu heard a thank you whispered by an exhausted Tsuki. Grinning, Ryuu said. "No problem. Are you better? We need to finish this."
Smiling wryly, Tsuki extended her hand. "Glad to see my skills are finally being appreciated."
"Of course! No one can say I don't since I'm such a generous person and all." Smiling, Ryuu pulled her best friend up.
"Lies." Tsuki stuck her tongue out and picked up her book from the dust.
"No I'm not!" Ryuu, said, mock hurting. "To show you, I'll buy you a gift when we get back to Seirei-tei." Tossing her head toward Aizen's direction, she continued. "But, we need to finish the job at hand."
"Finally finished talking?" Smirking, Aizen said condescendingly to the two below. He was not disappointed for the two promptly glared at him and flash-stepped to the opposite of the ruins he's standing on. "Since either of us have the upper hand in this battle, would you reconsider of continuing this at another time?"
Ryuu glanced at her partner and was slightly worried. As much as she would hate to admit, Aizen's right. Between attacking him and protecting Ryuu, Tsuki's much more drained that her right now since her main fighting techniques are all spell-type. She's surprised that Tsuki lasted this long. Usually, she had to rest after only a few hours. But now they have been fighting for almost two days.
Seeing Ryuu staring at her, Tsuki said reassuringly. "Don't worry. I haven't been pestering Ukitake-taichou for nothing." To Ryuu's shock, Tsuki pulled out her arm-length katana and pointed it at Aizen, her smile wintry and cold. "I agree, Aizen-san. It's time we stop playing games -"
Buoyed by the sudden increase in her spiritual pressure, Ryuu's optimism returned. She pulled her twin blade zanpaktous from their resting placed and twirled in her hand. "- and finished you off!"
Not cowing from their show of strength, Aizen unsheathed his zanpaktou and declared. "So be it."
Abandoning every restraint, they unleashed their bankai and rushed toward each other at top speed. The clash of spiritual energy demolished everything that's standing within a mile's radius. When all the dirt finally fell, it was clear that, with two knives deeply buried in his heart, Aizen is -
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Tori sprang up from her bead, breathless from the horror of the nightmare. Too tense to go back to sleep, she got dressed and walked into the night to calm down. There's no way that it could happen! But the dream felt so real, maybe it's some sort of premonition….? She wandered around, agitating over Aizen's welfare when she noticed that another person is up at the same ungodly hour she's in.
"Tsuki-chaaan!" Sneaking up on her best friend, Tori jumped on her and hugged her tightly, "Thank the heavens you're here!!"
A tired smile appeared. "And why is that, Tori-san?'
Tori smiled brightly. "Because I've got soooo much to tell you! But, before that, how's the mission in the human world?" Noticing the bandages and the blood on her clothes, Tori exclaimed. "You're hurt! What about Ryuu? Is she okay?"
"The mission went well, and we're fine. Ryuu is being held by Unohana-taichou for the moment. I just got released when you found me." Sitting down, Tsuki suddenly changed the subject. "What did you want to tell me anyway?"
All her previous fears rushing back, Tori started to rant. "On, I had this dream about Aizen just a minute ago! And I'm afraid that something bad might happen to him no! And - "
"All right! I get it!" Laughing softly, Tsuki stopped her friend's voice from waking everyone else in their surrounding. "Would you at least tell me what the dream is so I could be the judge of that?"
Quickly, Tori reiterated the whole dream, noticing that Tsuki's face is getting paler and paler as she spoke. "…Are you okay, Tsuki?"
Not saying anything, Tsuki abruptly stood up and dragged Tori with her. In vain did Tori try to ask where they're going until they stopped in front of Mayuri's lab.
"What are you doing?!" Tori hissed. "You know we'll be dea- "
The rest of the thought was cut off as Tsuki suddenly jumped; bringing Tori face to face with one of the many doors in the compound. Pointing to it, she said softly, sorrow evident in her voice. "Go in there and look, Tori-san."
Suddenly afraid, Tori pulled on Tsuki's sleeve, refusing to let her go. "Tell me!! What's in there?"
Almost relenting, Tsuki replied. "You'll have to see for yourself. I'll warn you if anyone come near." With that, she leap on to the roof and raced away, leaving Tori there with her thoughts. Her hands shook as she went to grasp the door knob. Turning it, she involuntarily closed her eyes before pushing it wide open. Then, upon hearing the door hitting the wall, she opened her eyes.
A horrified gasp escaped her. Not knowing how, she moved into the room and closed the door behind her. It's unbearably cold, but she didn't seem to notice the discomfort. All her focus was on the table covered by a pristine white sheet. Trembling now, she reached toward the table. Even though her intention was to just lift a corner of the fabric, but her trembling lead her to pull it off entirely.
"No…" Tears slid down Tori's cheek, her worst nightmare confirmed. On the table was the body of Sosuke Aizen, posthumous. All the blood was drained to preserve the tissue, leaving him deathly pale. So her dream was true after all…..
"AIZEN!!" Tori howled, unable to contain her grief any longer. She collapsed by his side, weeping for the loss of his life. Several lifetimes seemed to pass away as Tori sobbed everything she ever felt about him. For a while she just lay there, not thinking or doing anything. She only moved when someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
"Oi! What in the world are you thinking?! Good thing this room is pretty deeply buried inside the lab too. You know what Mayuri does to the intruders he find. And what are you wailing your head off for anyway? You looked half dead though. What happened?" Ryuu, finally released by Unohana, immediately left to search for Tsuki. Instead, she heard someone screaming their head off in Mayuri's lab. Deciding to rescue what poor soul that's being tortured by his traps, she flashed toward the direction. All she found was Tori crying herself senseless. Does the world have to turn topsy-turvy every time she left for any amount of time? As she finished her self-rant, Ryuu found a pair of intensely furious eyes directed at her.
Without warning, Tori had Ryuu pinned against the wall by the throat. "WHY?! Why did you and Tsuki have to go and kill him?!"
Trying to use the remaining space in her esophagus to breath, Ryuu can only gasp. "Kill who?!"
The words only manage to infuriate Tori more. "You know who I'm talking about!! AIZEN!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL AIZEN?!"
Almost choking from the strangling hold Tori has on her, Ryuu said hoarsely. "Kill Aizen?! He's not dead!! Why would I kill him?!"
Releasing Ryuu, Tori stared at the figure collapsed on the ground. Tears started to fall again. "Don't lie to me!! If he's not dead, then why is he lying on a table here?!"
Making sure that nothing is damaged, Ryuu stood up again and said quickly and calmly. "That's not Aizen."
"THAT'S - " Tori was about to start shouting again, when Ryuu's words sank in. Blinking rapidly, Tori asked, puzzled. "What do you mean? 'That's not Aizen'?"
Sighing, Ryuu walked over to Tori. "That's his sword. We found it on on of the arrancars. We still don't know why Aizen would give it to someone else. Probably don't need it anymore. Anyway, it is still in its illusion. It'll turn back later. This room is designed to repress the spiritual pressure and effects of zanpaktous. That's the reason why I didn't believe this is the real Aizen." Shaking her head, Ryuu stared at the copy. "You've got duped, that's for sure. Although I wonder who…"
Narrowing her eyes, Tori suddenly left the room.
Several minutes later, she ended up on Tsuki's doorstep. An envelope taped to the door was addressed to Tori.
This is its content:
Hello Tori-san .
If I deduced correctly, you will be showing up on my porch after seeing what you saw. Unfortunately, I am required to go on an urgent trip at the moment. So I am immensely sorry at not being able to see you.
Sincerely,
Tsuki
P.S.: Look in the back.
Tori flipped the short note to the back.
"Happy April's Fool Day, Tori-san!! I hope Ryuu-san gets to see the result of my scheme and describe it to me one day. Oh yeah! If Ryuu-san hasn't told you yet, it's not really Aizen there, it's just his sword. Also, my trip wasn't all that urgent. I just thought that if I don't get away for a while, I mightin mortal danger.
Ja ne"
Tori and Ryuu stared at the note, utterly stunned at the content before Tori shouted. "I AM SO GOING TO MURDER THAT BAKA ONNA!!"
She proceeded to rant and rage until one of the neighbors finally couldn't stand it anymore and finally came out and knocked her out
Owari
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Three little cosplayers went to a funeral; one cried her heart out and then there were two…