Pre-Note: The year is 1890, the year before Hikifune is promoted and Urahara becomes captain of Squad 12. Shinji is still captain of Squad 5, which means that Aizen is lieutenant. Ichimaru also becomes third seat of the fifth division. I am well aware that Kensei was the captain of the ninth division before Tousen, however I have exercised a little creative license here. No one cry too much.


But this had been a sin of passion, not of principle, nor even purpose. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter


The entire squad was dead tired, covered in dirt, and sweating bullets when they dragged in from the outer fields of Rukongai. Four days of hunting and flushing out the hollow infestation in the forests of outer Rukongai had left the team of ten Squad 9 members beyond their breaking point; they had in fact been unwillingly forced to return to the Seireitei to prevent them from all dropping dead. Behind them, they drug the corpses of six dead hollows - only a fraction of what they had killed. They kept the biggest corpses for experimentation.

Hollow blood stained the cobbled streets as the team stalked through the Seireitei dragging the bodies behind them. There were two squad members per body, except for one unburdened member.

Yubari Akane stalked en pointe of the formation. She limped as quickly as she could, filthy and wet with sweat. The gash on her thigh was throbbing and hot; her uniform was bonded to her skin by the flood dripping out of the wound. Her head pounded terribly, and it was quite likely that an infection was overtaking her wound, as fever raged through her uninhibited. As captain of Squad 9, it shamed her to be wounded by such insignificant hollows, no matter how powerful they might have been. Such, however, was the price of an inattentive lieutenant.

The Twelfth Division loomed ahead of the squad. A group of shinigami waited out front, no doubt anticipating the arrival of a fresh round of research subjects. Akane walked right on past them, leaving her team behind her.

She turned her head just enough to allow her to call back over her shoulder. "Tell Hikifune that she should be grateful! I almost got my leg cut off to bring you those beasts!"

Her lieutenant tagged closely behind her. He was a nearly worthless man by the name of Iwao. She had had no say in his appointment to the rank of lieutenant, mostly because he had been lieutenant of Squad 9 longer than she had been it's captain. Unfortunately, she had not found a single candidate that she considered up to the standards of replacing him. It was because of him that the hollow had landed a hit hard enough to split her leg open.

"Captain, please, slow down!" Iwao begged, attempting to rest his hand on her hip. "You're going to bleed out before we get you to the infirmary!"

She slapped his hand away. He noticed how hot her fever raged. "I am not interested in your concern. I will make it to the infirmary on my own, thank you. Go make sure those hollow corpses don't rot before the nerds from the twelfth manage to get them down into their torture basement."

"Captain, please-"

Akane released the tight bind she'd placed on her reiatsu and knocked her lieutenant back a full ten paces. "Do as you're told, lieutenant. We will speak later."

The hollow had done a great deal more damage than she had originally thought. She'd been bleeding off and on for two days, thus proving the squad's initial theory that the Moonraker hollow had some sort of venom in its tail blade that kept wounds from closing. Because the wound never closed, infection had set in; still, she had not allowed her squad to stop hunting hollows until the Hell butterfly came ordering her to return to the Seireitei before she died from the infection.

With every step she took, a spurt of blood leaked out from the jagged open edges of her wound. She desperately wished to lean on her zanpakuto for support, but wouldn't deign to show such weakness. Using her zanpakuto as a walking stick was almost as shameful as being wounded by new hollow like the Moonraker.

"It's not shameful, silly girl. It's self preservation. I am tool for you to flaunt, and I am more than capable of being your crutch," wavered the voice inside her head, the voice of Kurogestu

"You are not intended to be used as a crutch." Akane lumbered on, heading closer and closer to the infirmary and relief from her pain. "I will not die in the next half-mile to the fourth division."

"But you might, and I would die with you. Please, Akane, let me help you…" the spirit pleaded.

The edges of her vision blurred, and she was able to see the female zanpakuto's spirit form. The spirit looked not unlike it's shinigami companion. They had the same scarlet hair and golden eyes, the same slim jawline and wide hips. However, the most notable difference between the two was the zanpakuto's scaly, pitch-black skin; the texture and sheen was that of the sleekest snakeskin.

Kurogetsu's spirit was also far more pleasant in temperament than her shinigami was.

"I'm fine, I'm just bleeding," Akane replied, gingerly pressed down on her mutilated thigh. The stabbing pain that ensued caused her vision to blacken momentarily as she stumbled down the cobbled street.

"Your vision is blurry. Just call for Iwao to take you to the infirmary."

"No. Just make yourself useful and put some pressure on my thigh."

Iwao hadn't been any use around a dead hollow, much less an injured captain. He'd end up getting lost on the way to the infirmary and let her bleed to death in the street.

Iwao wasn't necessarily bad at his job. He was extremely organized and always punctual. He never failed to sort and fold his paperwork just how Akane preferred. The training regimen he'd devised for Squad Nine had been copied by nearly every division apart from the eleventh. But his problem was that he was inattentive on the battlefield, and his inability to concentrate had allowed the Moonraker to slash Akane's thigh with its tail blade.

Akane grunted as Kurogetsu's reiatsu squeezed the gash on her thigh. The pressure forced her to stand more fully upright, but she could barely walk. She saw stars as the pain began to overtake her, and the empty throbbing in her head began to press down on her. Sweat rolled down her body in waves.

"Don't pass out! The Fourth Division is just a few yards away!"

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. "I can make it. Just squeeze harder. Keep the blood circulating."

Tears of pain dripped down her face and standing, much less walking, was nearly unbearable. The infirmary was in sight, though, and she wouldn't stop until she barged through the door. Then, perhaps, she could collapse with a small shred of dignity.

Come to think of it, the Moonraker hadn't been a particularly smart Hollow, either. Akane would have to smack Iwao around once she got out of the hospital for letting a creature with intelligence comparable to a slug's outsmart him. Of course, she'd been standing on top of a pile of seemingly deceased Hollow corpses as well, and the abomination just so happened to have had the idea to fake its death long enough to outsmart an entire squadron of shinigami. She would have to smack the rest of the squad around, too.

"A few more steps, Akane!"

Akane slammed her palm against the front door of the infirmary and barged in. "I told you I'd make it."

She then promptly collapsed.


Aizen Sosuke had not been inside of the Division Four infirmary since he'd come back from the human world with the flu nearly a century earlier. Of course, Captain Unohana had cured him nearly instantly, but he was to believe that the particular bout of influenza that he'd contracted had killed nearly a quarter million people back in the material world. However, his purpose in being anywhere near the hospital was mostly his concern for his most recent long-term experiment (a cute little shinigami by the name of Ichimaru Gin). Ichimaru was stuck in bed with a broken leg and a nasty temper, despite his usual annoying grin.

Aizen, being the amazing and kind lieutenant that he was (on the outside, at least), was visiting his pet third-seat to find out how the boy was doing. He couldn't have the little brat out of commision for too long; he did a lot of paperwork that Aizen didn't want to do.

Suffice it to say he was fairly surprised when the captain of the Ninth Company barged into the infirmary and collapsed without warning, bleeding like a stuck pig all over the tile floor.

Aizen wasn't hesitant to attribute her behavior to the confidence stemming from her promotion. The legendary power gap between captain and lieutenant never failed to give newly promoted officers a sense of overpowered invulnerability. Yubari Akane had only recently achieved the rank of captain, so it was only natural that she was still overestimating her abilities. That being said, Aizen wasn't surprised that she'd gotten so badly injured (particularly by his experimental hollows). The combination of her infamously absent-minded lieutenant and her nearly equally infamous devotion to Hikifune's hollow dissection experiments made the pairing particularly volatile.

Still, perhaps it would prove beneficial to befriend her. A captain of Yubari's intellect and caliber, coupled with her connection to the famously research-oriented twelfth squad, would be an excellent pawn to add to his collection. And he'd always had a preference for redheads…

He scooped her warm, bleeding body off the tile floor and hugged her to his chest. "Go get Captain Unohana!"

The medics from the fourth scattered every which way. Several ran off screaming for Captain Unohana while several others grabbed crash carts. Two medics led Aizen to an empty room and instructed him to set Yubari on the hospital bed. He could feel the blood pouring from her wound seep into the sleeve of his uniform; it stained the sheets on the bed crimson when he settled her down.

He was fairly impressed at how well his experimental hollow's venom had kept her wound open. Still, she was a captain, and she was fighting the venom's effects exceptionally well. He watched at the medics peeled back the fabric of her uniform and marvelled at how sections of the wound were actually closing. Red lines spread out from the inflamed center, signaling blood poisoning as well as infection. However, compared to some injuries Aizen had seen (and caused), this was simple. Captain Unohana would be able to fix her up no problem; well, maybe the flesh wounds - the poison would be a little more difficult to get rid of.

But how to go about making friends with a woman like her… That was going to be tricky. Yubari was well-liked by both her former and current squad and had friends and acquaintances throughout the Seireitei. But even among her friends, she carried a solitary authority; she had an aura that set her above her peers. For this reason, she would be difficult to coerce. He would have to be entirely genuine in his affections - and of course he would be. He was Aizen Sosuke, one of the kindest and most genuine shinigami in the Soul Society. He could name several women off the top of his head who would be overjoyed to know that he had feelings for them. Perhaps she would make his job a little easier and fall into that category.

Still, he would have to play to her weaknesses. Yubari was stubborn and solitary in nature; he had heard countless tales from her subordinates about her disinclination to accept help from anyone. However, he could use Captain Hikifune as an example; Yubari was endlessly devoted to her former captain. And why? Because Hikifune showed a personal interest in her - which, in turn, helped her to become powerful enough to attain the rank of captain.

Yubari had such a hopeless desire for praise and attention. Aizen could most certainly lavish those things upon her.

She was attractive, physically and mentally; having her hanging off his arm (or even giving the impression that he was hanging off of hers) wouldn't burden him. She was pleasant to look at, meaning that when the time came to introduce physical passion into their relationship, he could thoroughly enjoy himself. Her intelligence meant that he could easily hold a conversation with her without becoming bored too quickly. She was generous, and would devote time to him. A perfect little flower to cultivate into a fantastic subordinate.

And of course, should he choose to experiment a little, she was powerful enough to withstand harsh testing.

She wouldn't fall in love with him overnight. His plan of coercion, and later, seduction, would take some time to come to fruition. It could take years, but he had time. He had as much time as he wanted.


Akane awoke to find herself confined to a dark, cramped room that smelled strongly of rubbing alcohol and tea cakes. She was groggy and still woozy from the blood loss, but the throbbing in her leg had been replaced by an ache that was annoying, but manageable. The tightness from the bandage had been offset by the raw burning of a strap wound tightly around her thigh; she assumed that she'd been tied down to prevent her from rolling over onto her wound.

Worse than the ache of her wound was the realization that she'd been knocked out cold for an undisclosed amount of time. There would be so much paperwork piled up on her desk, and the new recruits would be slacking, and, and, and…. a thousand other things that she had to do that wouldn't have been done over the days of her incapacitation. She had to get up, had to get going and get to work and do her duty…

"She's awake! Go get Captain Unohana!"

Akane struggled to sit up, ashamed that she could hardly lift herself into a sitting position. Too bad the hollow that fucked her up was already dead.

The voice that called out into the hall became a person as a member of Squad Four stuck his head into the doorway. "You shouldn't be sitting up, Captain!"

Akane swore as a fresh stroke of pain cut through her lower half. "Why don't you help me up, then?!"

The boy rolled his eyes and snapped the gum he'd been chewing. "And get fired for disobeying Captain Unohana's orders? Not on your life, Captain."

Perhaps, if Akane was lucky (which she wouldn't be), Unohana would let her out of the hospital early so she could get back to work. At the very least, the older woman had to let her do her paperwork while she lazed around in bed with a split leg. She had to do something, otherwise she would go out of her mind sitting there idle.

She didn't hear the Unohana's soft footsteps as the older woman stepped in the room. However, she did hear the footsteps of the man behind her.

Iwao charged into the room and immediately began fluffing her pillows and adjusting the straps currently inhibiting her from getting up to find something to do. On any other given day, she would have fought him off tooth and nail, but in her current state of bound immobility, she conceded to his annoying nit-picking without giving him an exorbitant amount of sass. Iwao bit his lip, "I'm so sorry, Captain~! I shouldn't have let you walk off by yourself!"

Akane waved him away from her. "I don't want to hear apologies. I got here without any problems."

"Not quite."

Unohana cleared her throat gently and stepped forward. "You were reported to have been actively verbally conversing with your zanpakuto." She smoothed down the cotton sheets of Akane's hospital bed. The action was almost comforting. "However, we did not feel a spike in your reiatsu that would indicate you were conversing with him. I believe you may have been hallucinating."

Akane was quite aware that she had not been hallucinating; she had been entirely lucid during her trek to the infirmary. Of course, it was easier to nod along. "I see. Have you identified the properties within the hollow's venom that prevented my wound from closing?"

Unohana shook her head, glancing back momentarily at Iwao. The lieutenant appeared uneasy. "Unfortunately not. Captain Hikifune and I have been working nonstop for two days to formulate an antidote. We haven't created one yet."

Akane sighed. If there was an antidote to be made, surely Captain Hikifune would be able to make it. If not… Akane refused to think of the consequences. Perhaps, if there was no antidote, the venom would just be purged from her system through normal means - sweat, internal filtering, excrement. She would have to stay cooped up in that infernal hospital room until some solution could be reached. If they would just let her leave and get to a Twelfth Division lab, then maybe she could speed up the process; she doubted that Captain Unohana would be that lenient.

"Then can I at least be productive and do some paperwork while I'm being held hostage here?"

Unohana paused, then nodded carefully. "Lieutenant Iwao will bring you whatever you desire."

"Excellent."

Without a moment's hesitation, Iwao took off, streaking from the room as if a giant flaming hollow were chasing him down. Akane stared after him; she could almost see the little puff of dust he left in his wake.

"How long had he been standing outside the door?" Akane asked, referring to the puff of dust that she was now sure wasn't just a trick of the light.

"Nearly a full day," Unohana replied, taking a seat in the chair in the corner. The two shinigami were polite acquaintances solely as a result of their shared title of captain, but Akane was just happy to have someone competent to talk to. "My officers have been fighting off your visitors for two days."

Akane coughed out a noise low in her throat, somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "Sorry about that. Who's been the most irritating?"

"I believe Captain Shihouin has attempted to visit you several times," Unohana stated gently. "Along with several members from Squads Two, Nine, and Twelve. Most of the lieutenants have come to cause trouble, as well as a handful of captains. Captain Hikifune refused to leave your door until I suggested that perhaps we collaborate on creating an effective antivenom."

"Sounds like I need to send your squad a gift basket or something. Or a formal apology."

"The gift basket is not necessary. The apology, perhaps." Unohana smiled. "Lieutenant Aizen has also come to check on you several times. He was the one who caught you when you collapsed."

Akane tried to stretch her stiff legs, but found the action impossible. "How sweet. I'm sure I looked lovely, all pale and drooling and bleeding."

Captain Unohana clucked her tongue. "Stop moving or you'll start bleeding again."

"Speaking of blood, I seem to remember that I wasn't exactly pristinely clean when I passed out on your doorstep." Akane's leg itched, but she ignored the annoying twitches. "Are you going to let me bathe by myself or do I have to have someone hold my hand?"

Unohana was a smart lady, and she held many long years of saying no to stubborn, pigheaded captains under her belt. In doing so, she had worked out the best course of action to tell them no without actually telling them "no."

"If you can walk without bleeding or falling, then you have my permission to bathe by yourself." It had been centuries since she last felt a twinge of guilt at ordering her officers to assist injured captains in bathing. "If you cannot, then one of my officers will assist you."

The chance of Akane bathing herself was slim to none, and Unohana had already warned the sweet female officer in charge of bathtime that Akane would most likely prove pigheaded and difficult. The officer had been accordingly prepared.

"Well, let's find out if I can walk then," Akane replied, struggling against the leather straps.

"You may wait until an officer comes to relieve you. Until then, you will stay in bed." Unohana stood up and walked to the door, preparing to leave and fend off the crowd of squad members ganging up on her officers. "For good measure, those straps will not come off unless a certain officer removes them because they are coded for one person's reiatsu."

Akane huffed and flopped down on the hospital bed. "Am I at least allowed visitors now?" she groaned.

Unohana nodded. "You may decide who is allowed to visit you, and I will relay the list of names to the guard on duty. So choose wisely, Akane."

Akane groaned again, and Unohana was rather violently reminded that the girl was still fairly young, despite her high position. "Hikifune. Yoruichi, of course. And I guess any captain that wants to come around. Do I have a limit?"

"Yes."

"Lieutenant Aizen too, then. I need to apologize for bleeding all over him."

Unohana smirked. "I don't think he minded."

"Such a sweetheart. I'll make it up to him when I can walk."

Unohana paused at the door. Though Akane could not hear what was being said, the brunette captain appeared to be conferring with the officer guarding the door. She poked her head back across the threshold. "Lieutenant Aizen is already here if you'd like to see him."

"Send him in, then. If only someone would help me into a sitting position so that I could more effectively converse with my esteemed guest."

The guard at the door came rushing in and pulled Akane up by the arm so that several pillows could be stacked behind her. She felt like cat that had been forced into an unfortunate outfit by it's owner and made to stay put in one position. She couldn't sit up on her own, not with the straps around her legs inhibiting her from using her thigh muscles, so she couldn't be too picky.

Aizen Sosuke entered the room looking sheepish and windswept. Akane had long considered the lieutenant an acquaintance, mostly due to the trauma of the academy days; they had forged their careers as shinigami together at first, then separately. They had been on training missions together in those days, as they had never been part of the same squad. All the same, their shared status as lieutenants served to give them a stronger kinship. And though they didn't necessarily travel the same circles, Akane almost always greeted him when they crossed paths.

He took a seat in the corner of the room when she gestured for him to sit. "How are you feeling, Captain?"

Akane had always thought he was attractive, though, and he was such a sweetie. She almost wanted to tell him. Must have been the fever talking.

She shrugged. "I've been worse, but I've been better, too."

The man smiled and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I seem to remember that you had it worse on that training mission back in the Academy."

Her memories of that training mission were vague, and with good reason. A Hollow had laid her back clean open and knocked her unconscious in the process. The scar on her back ran from her shoulder blade to her hipbone and was still knotted and pink in some places. She grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, my squad likes to tell me that I like to show off the scar after a few drinks."

Actually, she tended to take her top off in order to show off the enormous scar, which apparently her squad neglected to tell her. Aizen had subtly appreciated the view on one or two occasions.

He nodded sagely, though still internally appreciating the memory. "It's a rather impressive scar. Why not show it off?"

Akane scratched her leg absentmindedly. "My drunk persona would most likely agree with you wholeheartedly."

"And what does your sober persona say?"

"That I should probably stop drinking," she replied simply, though she winked at him. "I'm a captain now, so I should probably try to maintain a positive reputation."

Aizen scooted his chair closer to the edge of her hospital bed. In the two days since her collapse, he had determined the best way to win her to his side was to give the appearance that he was falling over himself for her. She thrived upon praise and respect, and he was an incredibly skilled actor; he was more than capable of seducing her. If he had to act like a lap-dog, he could handle that. Perhaps he would not be happy about it, but he could do it.

His skills at reading people were flawless, and his intuition was urging him to make her his subordinate. His instincts had yet to fail him; who was he to start questioning them now?

"Your reputation is already positive, Captain," Aizen replied, grinning slightly. He would have to be mindful about how much praise he doted upon her, though; too much and he would sound sucrose.

Akane rolled her eyes, but he caught the tail end of her tiny smirk. "Thanks, but they'll be calling me a weakling for collapsing from a Hollow wound."

"Head Commander Yamamoto had to send a hell butterfly to force you to come home days after you'd been attacked. That doesn't sound like someone who's a weakling."

"No, but when you put it that way, it does sounds like someone who's a moron."

Aizen winked. "A stubborn one."

Akane chuckled, laying her head back against her pillow. "If you were my lieutenant, I'd make you do push-ups for that."

He chuckled, "I apologize, Captain. Have I tired you out?"

Akane shrugged. "Of course not, it's just the blood loss bothering me a bit."

She was extremely pale, and her red hair was plastered to her forehead by a sticky film of sweat. Her cheeks were bright pink, which Aizen inferred was a symptom of the fever brought on by the lingering effects of the hollow's poison.

Perhaps now was the time to leave, before she passed out from exhaustion again. Aizen had made his appearance, had brought his interest in her well-being to her attention. The next step of his impending courtship would be simple: act on his supposed interest. He could do that once she was fully healed.

Aizen stood to leave, "I'll leave you to rest, Captain. Would you mind if I continue to check up on you?"

She smiled as she shimmied back down deep under the covers. "Come back anytime, lieutenant."


A/N: This spans pre-canon though canon. I will try to stick as close to canon as possible, minus my one creative license of temporarily debunking Kensei as Squad 9's Captain. I have not removed him from the story; he will still become a Vizard and will still play his canon role as captain in some capacity. It's all been planned.

This story already has a considerable amount written for it. As with all my stories, the rating starts out as teen and will go up to mature for such wonderful reasons such as sex and violence. I always put a warning in the pre-note section beforehand.

Anyway, lots of Aizen in the chapters to come! Enjoy!