The Undiscovered Betrayer
by Nathan J Xaxson
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters.
"You have lost, Yamamoto," Aizen spat, his former commander standing over him. Kurosaki had somehow defeated him, but even if he couldn't win, he would take satisfaction knowing that his enemies wouldn't, either.
The ancient shinigami stared at him. "And why is that, Aizen?"
Aizen smiled. "Did you think that there were only three defectors?"
Yamamoto's eyes widened in shock.
"There seems to be one vice captain unaccounted for, isn't there? After all, did you think we could make the King's Key without a kido master?"
***
Opening it once more, she turned the page to the incantation for the King's Key. Aizen had correctly calculated the Gotei 13's switcharoo, that Karakura would actually be in Soul Society. How convenient that she had been asked to remain behind, the poor bookish vice captain who was too fragile to fight. Idiots, she thought. And to think that stupid captain appointed her to lieutenant just so he could continue his flirtatious advances.
Actually, she had to thank him - he was always too lazy to do the paperwork. He never saw the incriminating invoices, requests, and other evidence that she and Aizen knew would be too hard to hide from the beauracy without an insider. With access to the Shinigami Women's Association, it was easy to launder the rest. It also helped that Kyoraku Taicho was far too lazy to ever ask her about her reading. If he had, he would have known that the giant book she carried around was the same one she had planted in the library when those damn ryoka uncovered everything.
No matter. It wasn't like any of them understood her anyway. The shinigami could rot in hell as far as she was concerned, even Aizen. She didn't care if he survived or not; they both knew they were using each other. Whether he lived or died was not her concern. She only had to worry about herself. Hikifune Kirio would be waiting on the other side.
After all these years of ruses - cast into another division as a young child, her name changed to hide the dishonor - Ise Nanao would finally get to see her mother.
Without remorse, she seized the key that had materialized in her hand. Serves those bastards right, she thought, and opened the royal gate.
***
THE END
This idea popped into my mind after being inspired from two stories. One was "Skeletons in the Closet" from Fading into the background, a wonderful work about Ise Nanao. In my curiousity, I stumbled across the fact that as per Bleach canon, she is the only lieutenant whose whereabouts are currently unaccounted for in the Winter War. The inspiration thus came from Lady Azar de Tameran's "Mastermind", which portrayed Nanao as a potential villain. I liked this idea and thought I would write a one-shot about the feasibility of such a thing.
I hope you like it! Reviews are appreciated, even if you hated it. C'mon, clicking the green link only takes a minute. :)