Prompt: "Evidence"

Rating: K

Character(s): Aizen

Warnings: None

If they had known what to look for, they could have easily noticed things amiss in the fifth division and known about the betrayal before it ever happened. They couldn't have stopped it, but they could have tried. Aizen intentionally left paper trails – a map of Hueco Mundo tucked deep within the division files, a book on the types of Hollows conspicuously left on a table in the library. He kept up the ruse of the kind captain almost perfectly, but at times he would let his darker nature shine through just slightly – a too tight smile toward someone who opposed a proposition, a dark flash of his eyes, a bow that seemed slightly too mocking.

He liked the idea that if anyone had really looked, had bothered to take the time to investigate him, they would have figured out that something was going on. It amused him to play these little games. He left small clues all the time, more and more noticeably as it got closer to time for his defection. He almost hoped someone would notice, just for the fun of it, but he knew that they wouldn't. They were all just too trusting, the fools.

The game came to a head with the 'missing shinigami' case as the sou-taicho dubbed it. He really did need high reiatsu research subjects for his early experiments with hollowification, but making their disappearances obvious was all a part of his fun. He truly could have gotten caught in that one, and he almost did. He had planned too well, though, and Kisuke Urahara had taken the fall for him, just like he had always planned. The man even gave Aizen's name in front of the Central 46, but they hadn't listened in the slightest, and he was yet again unnoticed.

He had lain out all the evidence for them, but none of them ever took notice. Well, that was their own fault. This was how the game was played, and they had all lost beautifully.