A challenge fic from Mad Mage Jack, who challenged Bleach authors to write a fic involving any character and cannibalism. Since I'm writing this off the top of my head… Well, I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Beware of major spoilers (if you have read the manga up to Turn Back the Pendulum, you are safe from spoilers) and cannibalism (I didn't get that much into it, but if you're squeamish, hit backspace, unless you feel you can brave it)!
Setting: About 110 years before the main storyline.
Disclaimer: The only Bleach I own is the washing detergent.
Upsurge of Power
"Captain? Why did you summon me?" A kind-faced, bespectacled man addressed the back of another man in a long, white robe.
The Captain in question turned around, the long hair that framed his face swinging. "We have a mission in the real world, Lieutenant Sousuke." Hirako Shinji, Captain of the Fifth Squad, drawled.
His Lieutenant, Aizen Sousuke, raised his eyebrows. "Both of us?" "Yep. We better get goin' now, else they might decide not to let us through after all."
Aizen was curious, but knew better than to ask. His Captain would tell him everything when the time was right. He followed his Captain across the rooftops, enjoying the feeling of slicing through the air, as though he were a blade. However, their journey ended. They had reached the gate.
Almost immediately, two Hell butterflies fluttered down and led the way towards the gate. Aizen was surprised again. Usually, the Captain-General would brief them before they left, and there would be several people there to see them off. But this time…
The two men followed the black butterflies through a dark purplish, slimy tunnel and emerged at the other end about ten minutes later. Aizen blinked in the sudden brightness and looked around. They were standing in an empty clearing, surrounded by a thick forest of trees. Aizen could not tell what time it was as the sky was a sea of dark grey clouds that completely blocked out sunlight. His Captain was already studding away on his long legs, and Aizen jogged over to him.
"So, Captain, what's our mission?" His Captain either did not hear him, or pretended not to. Either way, Aizen knew better than to pursue the matter. The problem, whatever it was, would make itself known soon enough. It nearly always did.
Aizen followed his Captain into the cover of the trees, and waited beside him. Obviously, his Captain had been informed, probably by none other than the Captain-General himself, that something big was going to happen around here. His hand moved to the hilt of his sword, and he strained all his senses, expecting something to jump out at them at any moment.
He was not, however, expecting to hear several voices belonging to humans, and sensed a strong spiritual presence. Were they here to protect the humans? If so, from what?
"Watisuko, quit being such a girl, will you? At least help us to carry some stuff or something…"
Watisuko declined, "No, thanks... I might injure myself from all that heavy lifting." Exasperated groans were heard all around from girls and guys alike.
Aizen's eyebrows shot past his hairline. What if this was not a mission, but just another one of Captain Shinji's odd excursions he had been warned about before he had been promoted? "Captain? Exactly why are we here?" This time, the Captain definitely ignored him. There was no way he couldn't have heard him, not while they were so close.
"Watisuko, if you weren't going to be useful in the slightest bit, why did you bother signing up for this camping trip at all?" A girl muttered in his direction.
"I heard from a senior that a fairy lived in these woods, and if we find her, we can make any wish we want to." Watisuko twittered. Aizen had to keep from rolling his eyes, hoping that they weren't going to protect a pansy like him. In fact, if something decided to go after him, he might actually pass out on the spot, or wet his pants.
Aizen suddenly realised that the strong spiritual pressure was oozing from this boy. He shook his head. What a waste of power. Aizen then glanced over at his Captain. His Captain was staring at Watisuko greedily, and seemed as though he could not tear his eyes away from him.
Oh, thought Aizen dejectedly, it is one of his pointless excursions after all. But why did he have to come all the way down to the human world? And why did he bring me along?
Almost as though he had read his mind, Captain Shinji spoke. "Now, Lieutenant, I bet your wonderin' why we're here. D'you sense that?" He gestured at Watisuko and Aizen nodded, curious as to where this was headed. "Ya see… Well, you'll really see after they go to bed. Then, we can talk without bein' overheard." He pointed at Watisuko again, who was facing them, as though straining his ears to hear them.
The campers, after several long hours, finally threw a bucket of water over their fire and retreated to their separate tents. Watisuko apparently had a tent all to himself because all the other guys were too disgusted to share one with him.
"Hey Watisuko, go to sleep. If you stay up, the Tooth Fairy might get you." A couple of boys sniggered before entering their own tents, leaving Watisuko alone in the clearing.
"Aizen. Follow me." The Captain of the Fifth Division muttered to his lieutenant before stepping out of the cover of the trees, Aizen right behind him.
Watisuko swung around at their footsteps. "I knew it. I heard voices just now. It was you two, whispering behind the trees." It was more of a statement than a question.
Captain Shinji nodded, "Very good, boy. Now, come with us. We have something to show you." He turned and walked back into the woods, beckoning to both Aizen and Watisuko. Aizen looked at the boy for a moment before turning to go after his Captain, but Watisuko stood there for s few seconds before he finally reacted.
"Wait! Are you going to bring me to the fairy that grants wishes?"
Aizen looked over his shoulder at the boy again. Watisuko looked more feminine than when he had arrived because he was bathed in moonlight, and his conditioned hair didn't help him. However, even the moonlight couldn't conceal the momentary flash of greed that appeared in his eyes.
Neither the Captain nor the Lieutenant said anything, so Watisuko was forced to follow, out of his own natural curiosity.
The Captain led them to another clearing, which was completely empty. Moonlight flooded the scene, making the field look like it was made of the purest crystals.
He stood directly in the middle of the field, waiting for the two of them to catch up. When they got there, Captain Shinji addressed Aizen directly, choosing to ignore Watisuko for the time being.
"I'm sure you must be diein' to know why I brought you here tonight?" Aizen nodded, waiting for his superior to continue. "I have a…feelin'…that soon, I'll hafta leave the Gotei 13, and I want to pass my knowledge on to someone. Aizen," Shinji's voice lowered and became dead serious, "what you're gonna witness here tonight, it's best that you never tell anyone. It would be pointless to tell you never to forget it, because I got a feelin' that you won't. However, if the Gotei 13 are ever in trouble, you are to use this knowledge to help them. Do you understand?"
Aizen nodded, and waited patiently for him to continue. Watisuko, however, simply felt he had to say something, and Aizen could have killed him for interrupting his Captain as this crucial point in time.
"Gotei 13? What's that? Is it some sort of secret club? Oooh, it is, isn't it? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it… As long as you make me the leader, that is. That way, your little club will never be in trouble." Watisuko fell silent, imagining being pampered even more than he already was and boasting about it to everyone at school when the camping trip was over.
Shinji extended his arm sideways, towards Watisuko, and the boy crumpled to the ground, bound by a Kidou spell. "H-hey! What's g-going on here?! Is this a tr-trick of some sort? You'll pay for this!"
The Captain ignored him, speaking to Aizen again. "Let me warn you first. I don't know if this damages the soul, but doin' this'll give the user a huge boost in their spiritual power, as well as a new weapon in our Shinigami arsenal. Of course, you will have to do it more than once, but it is still very effective."
"But Captain, exactly what are you going to do?" Aizen, finally losing his patience, blurted out.
His Captain looked graver than ever. "I... I am about to eat this boy's body and soul." He looked away from Aizen, almost as if he were scared of his reaction.
Aizen was horrified. Eat the boy's body and soul? What good would that do? Of course, he ought to stop his Captain from doing it at once, but to do so would mean he would have to go against his Captain, something he really did not wish to do.
During Aizen's mental debate, Shinji had decided to act before the boy could say anything. In one fluid movement, the boy's life essence flowed through the grass, mixing with the moonlight.
Aizen could not move. What was the Gotei 13 for if not to protect humans? And here was his Captain, beheading them and devouring them. Almost like a… But no! It couldn't be possible!
"Captain!" Aizen cried out. "How could you? Isn't the sole purpose of the Gotei 13 to protect souls?" He stood there, aghast, while his Captain unsheathed his sword and began to cut apart the body, eating the smaller pieces as he did so.
"Lieutenant! Don't you understand? I'm doin' this for the Gotei 13! By doin' this, I can get more power to protect them!"
"But..But.." "No, Lieutenant, I won't stop just 'cuz you say so. Think of it this way: The sacrifice of a few souls to save the world!"
Now Aizen's curiosity got the better of him. "You mentioned that Shinigami would get a new power… Exactly what power do Shinigami get by.." Aizen surpressed a shiver, "by cannibalism?"
His Captain popped what appeared to be the whole of Watisuko's small nose into his mouth and chewed before standing up. "Lemme show you."
Aizen watched as his Captain curved his hand into a claw-like shape and place it over his head. He then proceeded to drag it down, and as he did so, a white material followed his hand and took form around hid face, forming a…
Aizen's heart skipped two beats and his brain shut down momentarily. His Captain, the Captain of the Fifth Squad of the Gotei 13, was wearing a Hollow's mask. How was this possible?
"C-Captain S-S-Shinji! Wha-What's going o-on? H-h-how?" Aizen's knees buckled and he collapsed on the ground.
"When we do somethin' like eat a human, the feelin' it makes is exactly like a Hollow's. If we do it too often, we become more and more Hollow-like. The mask comes from all our excess spiritual power, and all the regret, sadness and hatred within us. When Shinigami learn to control their inner Hollow, they can become ten times stronger. D'you understand now, Sousuke?" Shinji rasped through his mask.
"Y-yessir, I..I understand, sir." "Good. Now, would ya' like a finger?"
Later that night…
'More and more Hollow-like..' 'Control their inner Hollow..' 'Ten times stronger..' As Aizen lay on his bed, these thoughts ran amok in his head, as well as the image of his Captain feasting on the poor boy's body, making it impossible for him to sleep. His Captain had inspired him. Idea after idea sprung up in his head, another reason as to why he was not asleep.
His Captain had just proved something very important that night. He had proved that it was possible for Shinigami to improve their skills after they had reached their limit. However, he did not have the patience to track and capture souls with high spiritual energy. If only there was a way for him to break the barrier between him and the Hollows without having to consume souls, a way to have an unequalled upsurge of power…
Aizen fell asleep with the thought in his head, and ever since that night, it never left him.
:..:0-o-0:..:
Phew. Challenge fics can be tough. Especially when you live with people who don't approve of your given topic.
All right, people. If you think I did this challenge fic well, tell me. If you disliked it immensely, please tell me what you dislike about it, and I will look into the matter immediately. If you want to test me and challenge me even more, well, just challenge me in a review, and I'll get back to you on that one.
Well, hope you enjoyed it. Sorry if I didn't really get into the whole cannibalism thing very much, but at least it was mentioned. And if you have reached this line, thank you for going all the way.