Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. I wanted to write a fan-fiction centring around the psychological aspects of something. Any similarities to real world situations are coincidental. This is just a fanfiction and a figure of my imagination. It sucks, but I'm working on it.
The dark stretched on from the balcony. It was like black ink spilled across the sky. Endless, empty and silent. Fireflies glowed faintly in the background and the light from the candles lit the surfaces on the sturdy, concrete walls. With every step he took, the outline of his lithe figure trailed behind him and shadows smothered the bright contours of his navy blue hakama and white kimono. He slid the door behind him and entered a room. The room itself was where lesser nobles could have quiet conversations. There was no one here except for him, and he liked it that way, it made him feel at ease after what had happened today. Earlier, he, Hinamori and Renji could've died and it was because he had been stupid and overconfident enough to try and take on hollows without backup and didn't just run. If it hadn't been for Aizen-taicho and Ichimaru-fukutaicho, they would've been overwhelmed and they would've gotten killed. Shoulders sat against the wall and his arms limp, he closed his eyes and slept.
Ichimaru Gin walked with a purpose, he was to meet with Aizen-taicho at a secluded place to discuss an important matter. The ever perpetual smile on his face said nothing of what he really thought. His vice-captain robes flowed behind him, it had only been a year since he was promoted and he felt he already knew the real Aizen. Not a lot of people trusted him, because he had killed the third seat for this position and he didn't have Aizen's kind face, but he didn't see how people could trust Aizen so easily with someone like him as fukutaicho. Perhaps the kind smile and attitude fooled everyone else, but being so close to the older man made him aware of the subtle condescending jabs he sent. There was only one person more unsettling than himself and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and it was the man in front of him. "Come in fukutaicho." the man smiled, but only dead eyes stared back at him through thick, unassuming lenses. Gin faced his taicho with a nod, and a narrow look. "It's scary how ya' play them and how kind ya pretend to be."
"You noticed? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised coming from you." he scoffed and then turned serious.
Kira dosed off in the room next to them, but being a light sleeper he woke up at the faintest of sounds coming from the other side. Snapping awake, he then weakened his reiatsu to make it look like he was sleeping, the voices were familiar. It's not like he'd wanted to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help it when he was already there. He leaned in closer to hear what they were saying.
"I'm taking the kids we saved earlier into our squad. They're impressionable."
"Now that's mean of ya' taicho."
"I took you in from nothing. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
He was as controllin' as ever.
Gin felt an odd spike in the next room, a reiatsu that felt faintly familiar but immediately faded just as it floated into the wind. 'Let's see how high and mighty ya are when ya lyin and bleeding on da floor' he thought to himself.
"Did you feel that?"
He nodded, and then motioned into the next room. It looked like they had an eavesdropper, one that had enough control to mask themselves and act like they weren't awake, but he wasn't too sure. Any other person would've dismissed it, but not him, not Aizen. They were both far too experienced to let it slip from their senses.
Kira listened in on the conversation, and at the mention of them feeling his reiatsu, he knew he had probably been discovered, but was hoping that they would pass it off as nothing. Lightly wiping the sweat from his brow, he remained as still and as quiet as possible.
"Ah it's nothin' it's probably somebody sleepin' in tha next room that's havin' a dream."
"It's not like you to be careless."
The blond breathed a mental sigh of relief.
Aizen shrugged, he didn't care if there was someone on the other side listening, because he could simply twist their perceptions to accept his illusions or kill them and nobody would be asking around, but he didn't want to take a chance. He silently asked Gin to check on the intruder and released a verbal incantation to temporarily phase out the wall. What came next was a surprise to him. The blond, that they had 'rescued' earlier phased out of the wall and fell into their room. By his estimation most academy trainees could not mask their presence.
"My my what' do we have here Aizen-taicho?"
"An academy trainee."
"He musta heard our conversation."
He unsheathed Kyoka Suigetsu, and darkness folded over the blond's eyes. He was thinking about what to make the younger man see, perhaps he'd just cut out Gin's responses and say that he was planning to induct the trainees into his squad. Blue eyes looked up at him untranced. Now that was a first.
"He ain't bitin'" Gin said, slightly amused. Now this piqued Aizen's interest, what exactly made him immune to his Kyoka Suigetsu? He sheathed his sword back in and looked at the blond lying on the floor with his hands on the ground. Too bad he might have to kill him.
Izuru was bewildered now, frantically looking anywhere but the two people above him who were watching his every move like some sort specimen to dissect. "He's either too dumb to get ya images or already doesn't trust us." At the aforementioned insult about his intelligence, he must've snapped out of his stupor and gave the silver haired shinigami an annoyed look, because when the other man responded back, he felt like he was being pushed down without having to say anything. He didn't know what they were talking about, what did they mean, pictures? In any case, all he wanted to do was get out of the room and quick. He slowly stood back up and started heading for the door.
"Ain't it rude to go without sayin' bye?" the one with the silver hair said, hand on his shoulder. He felt the other man firmly apply pressure. The threat didn't need to be said to be understood. Outwardly he did not show any feelings of nervousness being in close proximity to the two, but he cleared his throat and fixed the collar of his white kimono, clearly uncomfortable.
"Stay, we insist." There was something oddly sinister about the well-known Captain that he did not notice before and it was bothering him. No, it must been his imagination. Aizen-taicho is known to be a very kind man and the two of them even saved him and his friends. He couldn't help feeling that he merely wanted to leave.
"Aizen-taicho and Ichimaru-fukutaicho. Thank you for the offer. Sorry, but I'm afraid I have to get home. Thank you for saving us." he curtly said, then went out the door before the two could even say anything. He, like many other people, found Ichimaru-fukutaicho unnerving.
"Now that's somethin' ya don't see everyday. Most people be bowin at ya feet." The silver haired shinigami was smiling with his eyes shut, facing his frowning boss with scepticism. "What are we gon' do?"
"We could use him later on. Either way, I don't care if he dies. We can make him entirely loyal to one of us."
"What makes ya think it'll be that easy?"
"He looks weak and he doesn't have much of a presence. People who idolize you are easiest to manipulate." Aizen said, he went over to the table and then picked up a flower from a vase. In his hand, he crushed it.
"He ain't lookin' like he idolizes either of us taicho."
"Make him fear you then and isolate him. That's the only way we can get his loyalty when the time comes. I won't do it... I have a reputation to uphold after all."
"I'll handle his two other friends."
All of them were pulled into the fifth squad for a time, but their friendship began straining when they were all pulled into different squads with Renji in the twelfth squad and him getting into the fourth squad. He looked on as Momo not-so-subtly worshipped the ground Aizen walked on, following behind his every step and looking happy. She was just promoted to fukutaicho recently and he was happy for her, but they barely talked anymore. He wanted to talk with her, to connect with her like old times, but he hadn't been able to find the voice to do so. Many times, it was Momo that was there, when his parents died, when he was upset, she was the good friend that he cherished, but she looked happy and he didn't want to get in the way of that or her success.
He didn't mind being in the fourth squad unlike many of the other shinigami assigned there. Although they tended to be bossed around and looked down upon by the other squads, they were all nice people and he had nothing to complain about. It's just – there was no one he could really connect with on a deeper level like in their academy days. Everyone else he used to know was busy with their own squads now.
Ichimaru-taicho came in with his leg sporting a bad wound and limping towards him. The older man sat down next to him. Silently, he moved quickly and performed healing kido to patch the wound. "Stay still, let me heal you." The kido reversed the damage and regenerated the pale skin. The blood was still there, but no longer was it dripping excessively.
"That's it."
"Not much of a talker are ya."
He didn't reply, he had no energy to deal with or talk to the other man. After cleaning the halls and patching up the other patients, he was ready to turn in for the day. The bandages, he cleaned and then left on the table. Izuru did not know the time, but before he could head off to find his room number, a slender, pale strong arm shot out and curved around his wrist.
He looked at the man confused.
"Why don't you join my squad? Izuru-kun. It's way more funner than the fourth squad!"
"I'm content here."
"But do ya feel like ya fit in?"
"I -" He heard rumours about the third squad and their taicho, not all of them were particularly flattering. He had heard that the man was was ruthless when it came to the battlefield and cared even less if his own men died and was particularly passive aggressive towards people that displeased him. Even back then, he had felt like a text-book sociopath. The fourth squad may've been looked down upon but the third squad, they were a different story altogether. There were a few people wanting to transfer out of the third squad already during the course of the year.
"I'm fine here, Ichimaru-taicho." The man let go of his hand and all the other man could do was watch as he retreated further into the night. He didn't say anything else.
The next week, rumours spread around that Izuru had slept with many people, that he was a whore. That he had cheated with multiple people. That he had a bad attitude and no squad wanted him. The rumours even spread to the fourth squad where everyone was polite when facing him, but he'd hear whispers about him in the back corner. It was getting to the point he felt uncomfortable being in the same room as other people.
It was just before the end of the month when he met the silver haired man again. "What's wrong? Izuru-kun? Ya look more depressed than usual."
"It's – nothing." He tried to wave it off like there wasn't anything wrong, but he didn't want to make it look like he was desperate for someone to talk to.
"Common, ya can trust me and ya can talk ta me." The man grinned.
"I kept getting letters from my ex."
"Yer ex?"
"Yeah, it was from someone who was my ex, but the letters were about the rumours that were floating around about me and other people. I can't even remember having an ex. If I did, I'm sure I was drunk."
"If you don't feel like ya fit in there, yer always welcome in my squad, Izuru-kun." he said smiling, but it somehow managed to sound extremely facetious even to him. He was taking a chance, and it was hard for him to trust people. It took him years to get a large amount of trust for people and he didn't know if it would be a good idea to trust Ichimaru Gin. It's not like he didn't want to trust other people, he did and he earnestly tried to, but trusting everyone on sight isn't exactly the wise. He can't be all that bad, can he? He and Aizen did save them back when they were in the academy and outside of the shinigami, he did have a known reputation for being a hero.
After this encounter, it was then that he slowly started trusting the other man more. At the very least, he was someone that he could respect a lot. He put up a front of not knowing a lot about many of the ongoings of Seireitei, but he knew that things had been happening in the background and they involved many of the people around him; he was just the person on the edges of the loop looking from the outside, a person wanting to defend what was important to him and that wanted to do what he thought was right. He'd have to make tough decisions in the future that he didn't want to make because they were at war, after all, with the hollows. He didn't want to make those decisions when the time came.