Spell Bound

Ichigo looked over his shoulder in shock as Kein stood above him in a proud and unmovable stature. Her body was resonating a very light, but dark glow as her eyes were piercing with a heavy determination. She was up to date with everything that had currently happened and she had heard everything that Aizen had babbled about in his usual arrogant intellectualism. However, the minute she took her eyes off Aizen, her expression changed to a very soft and gentle gaze as she looked down upon Ichigo with an almost angelic smile. She knelt down beside him and gently placed a warm hand upon his back. Seeing Ichigo still alive and for the most part well was deeply comforting to her.

"You sure have taken quite a beating haven't you Ichigo?"

Ichigo let out a light hearted, but exasperated chuckled as he reply, "Heh, and you l-look as if nothing has t-t-touched you."

"Shh, don't talk. Just save your strength okay? I can take it from here. I promised you I would come back and I promise that I will save Rukia. So don't you worry about a thing."

She leaned over and gently kissed him upon the head as he gasped slightly, not used to being given such gesture. The last time he was given a gesture like that was when his mother was still alive, but that was many years ago. Kein then stood up and withdrew her sword as she looked upon the battle field studying her distance to Aizen and how Rukia was being held. Renji wasn't too far from where Ichigo was and took that into consideration.

"Well it has been a while since our last greeting has it not, Kein Marasuna?"

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Despite the shocking news of Aizen's betrayal and him ultimately being alive once more, somehow in this moment it did not surprise Kein. She always had a strange sense about Aizen, never truly knowing if she could ever trust him even though she knew him as well as the other captains for many years. Like Gin, Aizen was one of those captains she just couldn't put her finger on and even now, she knew only so little about his intentions and what he truly wanted to do with the Hougyoku.

A small silence fell between the two before Aizen finally stated, "I never knew you to be so silent Marasuna."

She stared at him coldy as she replied, "What is there to say? I can neither convince you to let Rukia go, nor can I convince you to be what you obviously claim that you are not. So that leaves me with but one choice."

Raising her sword to eye level and placing a hand upon her forearm she called out "Ban…KAI!"

Her clothing transformed to dark tattered robes with tips of colors from her original clothing as her body took on similarities of her Zanpakutou spirit, Bankaguna. Even though Ichigo had seen Kein's Bankai before when they first met, it was still curiously strange to see in front of him. Her sword was now a beautiful scythe, but it was like he was watching death itself. Her aura was blackish red and her reiatsu changed the atmosphere around them as it felt heavy and thick.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, but this might be a little uncomfortable for you to bear so try to relax your mind and body while I take care of this."

She looked over her shoulder momentarily as she said "Just don't die on me," casting a smile his way as she turned her gaze back at Aizen.

"The Grim Reaper was it?"

Aizen asked in an almost mocking type of tone. "That is the nickname that the others have given you am I correct?"

Kein refused to answer as she wasn't in the least bit amused by him.

"The techniques of your Bankai are unique and is the only Zanpakutou known to be able to summon corrupted spirits. I know your techniques, but have never seen them face to face. How rare of an occasion such as this."

Kein let out an irritated exhale through her nostrils as she retorted, "Spare me your patronizing compliments. You may have seen my Bankai on rare occasions, but you have no idea what I can do. So let's get this over with."

"Are you so anxious to end your life?" Aizen asked with a jeering attitude.

"My life has already ended once. It can end again, but it won't be by your hands."

Kein was not a fool however, knowing that it would be unwise to try to attack Aizen head on, but she needed to close some distance between herself and Aizen. Using a flash step, she rushed towards Aizen until he was but ten feet away as she stopped abruptly in her path and called out her attack chant, however Aizen did not have time to deal with the unblockable attacks of her summoned spirits. Using the hypnosis of his Shikai form, he appeared suddenly in front of Kein, surprising her as she was interrupted in mid attack chant.

She watched as his body double that was holding Rukia had disappeared, not knowing if that was the real Aizen or if the Aizen before her was the real one. She did not have time to react as he merely held up a hand to cast a kido.

"Destructive Art 90: Black Coffin."

Kein gasped for she knew exactly what he was casting, but not only that, but he was casting it without stating its incantation. She knew he was highly advanced in the arts of kido, but had no idea how just how far his abilities reached.

Within seconds dark blackish purple strokes flashed from Aizen's finger tips, her body as well as a large area around her was encased in pitch blackness. Satisfied In the comfort of knowing that he had gained the upper hand on Kein and would soon see her fall, he merely turned his back and awaited for the sound of her body weight hitting the ground as the kidou flashed sideways, from its rectangular prison, deadly black spikes that would pierce and entrap its enemy with a similar effect of Byakuya's Shikai attack. However, just as Kein had warned; Aizen may have on rare occasion seen her Bankai, he was far from understanding the depth of what it could do despite her own kidou powers being rendered useless. What seemed like dimensional tearing, rips appeared forth into the atmosphere from outside of the black coffin that had encased Kein as the side that was facing Aizen had been shredded open.

"Hm?"

He looked slightly over his shoulder as he saw Kein appear from this strange tear in the atmosphere as she merely walked out of the kidou that surrounded her as it collapsed upon sight and entered through this tear. A shit eating grin was creased over Kein's as she walked out of the tear, it slowly sealing back up as the kidou behind her disappeared completely. Her eyes were devilish almost in appearance as she chuckled at Aizen's ignorance. However, it also appeared that she had not completely escaped the affects of the entrapping kidou as cuts could be seen all over her body and clothes as small areas of trickling blood could be seen as stains in her robes and smears around her eyes and mouth and yet she appeared to be unharmed by these injuries.

"You underestimated my Bankai's techniques out of shear arrogance. How pathetic."

This was indeed a surprise to say the least, but Aizen did not appear to be deterred by this minor setback.

"You are incapable of pulling off that technique in your Shikai form, but in your Bankai it seems you have the ability to not only rip open small dimensional tears into your opponent's soul for entry, but also into high ranking kidous such as the one I used just now. However, it seems you did not escape it completely."

She chuckled again as she looked over the cuts on her body while licking some blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, that may be, but I didn't take nearly the amount of damage that I could have taken had I countered a second later, but who's strings are you trying to pull here? You may have been able to cast that kidou without using its incantation, but you didn't even release a third of its destructive power. It's difficult even for a captain such as yourself to control Watcher's Seat 90. Regardless, you should not make it a habit to underestimate me. I may not have taken up a seat in a captain's position, but I have been given a chance to become a captain nearly 10 times over and each time I refused. My rank could be anywhere from rank 3 or higher, maybe even above Yamamoto's. Who knows? But enough about me," she stopped as she laid her eyes upon Aizen's Shikai.

"Kyoukasuigetsu's complete hypnotism is flawless and rather aggravating if you ask me. The second someone sees your Shikai, they are stuck within its hypnosis until the day they die. Even if you realize you're under its affects, it's impossible to escape…or so it would seem."

Another small silence fell between the two as Kein continued, "Ever since you showed me that damn Shikai of yours, I've been trying for years to figure out how one would escape it despite you constantly chanting to me how it's impossible, but you know what I think? I think that nothing is impossible. Everything has a flaw no matter how flawless it may seem. I'm not going to pretend to completely understand your powers or your intentions for that matter, but there is one thing I do know…"

She stopped in mid sentence as placed her scythe in front of her and dug the end of it into the ground.

"…everything here is made up of a spiritual signal be it physical or mental. We are death gods and we may be able to bleed and even become stricken with illness, but it still doesn't change the barriers that hold us together."

Aizen held out his blade looking as if he was going to make another move.

"Your sword and your soul are connected. It is because of that flaw that I will break free. Now…Bankaguna…Rei de…KARITORU!"

Within seconds a ghost like translucent clone seeped from Kein's body as it quickly entered inside of Aizen, stopping him from attacking as a spiritual connection was made between Kein's mind and Aizen's. However, the second the connection was made was then that Kein immediately knew something was wrong. Instead of her opponent's thoughts being clear cut and lucid, she was instead receiving fragmented waves of emotions mixed with subconscious wavelengths. For the 5 seconds the connection lasted, she wasn't able nor had time to try to make sense of what she had mentally just received, but it was because of this that it had saved her life. Although it seemed her soul double had entered into Aizen's fake body double, it was from this attack that she had broken Kyoukasuigetsu's hypnosis as she was immediately able to see the true Aizen as the fake body double disappeared and would never be seen again.

At the last second she was able to catch sight of Aizen coming at her. She angled her blade in such a way that it would deflect Aizen's sword attack from piercing straight into her heart, but it was not enough to keep her from going completely untouched as he countered the angle of her blade and used it as leverage to angle his blade into a different direction and pierced it downward through her abdomen and out through her back just inches above the hollow indentation mark on her back. Only she and her Inner Hollow and a select few others were aware of the crippling affects of being attacked or cut in her hollow indentation so for the moment being, she was relieved that Aizen had missed that area, however the area around the indentation was still more sensitive than other areas of her body.

"Well, this is troublesome. It seems you did find a way to see through the hypnosis. Your Zanpakutou truly is a rare weapon. You are the first to have broken through Kyoukasuigetsu's hypnosis. However, you could have made it easier on yourself and broken through on the natural way."

Kein spat out a glob of blood as she struggled to deal with the pain shooting up her sides and abdomen area.

"W-What? There's a…a-another way?"

"You are a fool for showing me your technique of soul reading. It may have worked this once, but it will not work on me ever again."

"Kein!" Ichigo yelled in a concerned voice, but no matter how many fights she had been injured in, she could never get used to being pierced all the through her body with a sword or object of some kind.

"Normally a troublesome fly would be swatted away and killed, but sometimes even insects have a purpose."

Suddenly pattering of feet and a voice could be heard in the distance, "Kurosaki!" Ishida and the others were running towards their general direction as they laid eyes upon the situation at hand.

"Don't come!" Ichigo commanded from afar.

Orihime looked on in horror as Rukia was sitting helplessly upon the ground, not able to move from being paralyzed by Aizen's sheer power. Aizen refused to remove his blade from Kein as he looked over his shoulder to see the other ryouka in the distance.

"Ms. Kuchiki!" Orihime yelled in desire concern.

"Hey, hey, you shouldn't move," Gin warned as he stepped in front of Rukia, facing Ishida and the others and released his reiatsu to overwhelm them and stop them from approaching. With Gin taking care of the other pests, Aizen looked back upon Kein as he quickly twisted his blade and shoved it further downward as Kein screamed out in pain. Aizen used his other hand to hold onto Kein's scythe to keep her from using it as he was now face to face with her.

"Things should not be as they are; that's what you said to me a month ago was it not?"

Kein did her best to try to keep her composure was she wanted to cast her gaze away from Aizen's eyes, but she could not.

"When you first became a Shinigami, from the beginning you were opposed to how things were run in Soul Society. You stated to me that you wish there was something you could do to improve things, but was unsure of your true role in taking part with this society. When you stated these things to me, it was then that I decided that for now I would not kill you, that your role has yet to be played a part in my plans."

Kein gasped as she wasn't understanding what Aizen was getting at.

"Soul Society is only the tip of the iceberg, just the beginning chapter to what can truly be reached, what has yet to be reached. Things do not have to be what they are. I plan to change everything you have come to know and all you have to do is but choose to come with me."

Ichigo was listening intently to the conversation between the two intellectuals as Aizen shared just a little taste to Kein to his true intentions that had yet to be revealed, but most of all he was waiting for Kein's reaction.

"However, I know you won't decide this here and now so I will give you from here until next time we meet for you to choose between what side you believe yourself to be on, and what side you desire to be on. There is plenty of time to make your choice, however I must impress to you that I do not take no for an answer."

Kein couldn't say a word as Aizen stood upright and withdrew his sword from her body as her back arched inward from the yanking of his blade as he then merely flicked his finger upon her stomach as a burst of his power shot forth and pushed her violently into the ground as blood spat out from her mouth.

"Kein!" Ichigo yelled her name once more as the force from Aizen's power had damaged her heavily.

Having finished his business with Kein, Aizen then turned his attention back onto Rukia as he picked her up by her collar once more.

"Now, where were we? I was rudely interrupted with our conversation. Ah yes, now I remember. Once you were found in the real world, I immediately massacred Room 46."

He began to drag her along once more as he was nearly finished with his conversation that he had started with Ichigo. Kein panted in and out upon the ground as she rolled on her side, clutching her stomach with one arm and grasping firmly upon her scythe with her right hand as she watched Aizen in the distance.

"You probably heard this from Isane. Aizen Sousuke feigned death in order to hide his whereabouts. Shortly afterwards, he killed Room 46, but that is incorrect. As soon as you were found, I immediately killed room 46 and cast Kyoukasuigetsu on all of the Central Underground's Senate. I made it look like room 46 was still alive and continuing its meetings. And then one of the three of us was always in the Underground Senate. From then until now, we have continued to act as Room 46 and control all of the orders. In order to assure your capture, I changed who was supposed to capture you to those two from the 6th Squad. To keep you away from the humans, I put out the order for the immediate return of your gigai. In order to completely vaporize your soul and remove Hougyoku from inside of you, I decided to use Soukyouku to execute you. We completely vacated the senate for only a few hours, including during the second Captain's Meeting. Directly after that, I faked my death and hid in the Underground Conference Hall, because I figured that there was a possibility that the execution would fail due to your efforts."

Kein slowly started to lift herself to her knees as she kept herself knelt down and upright, trying to regain her composure to make another attack, but she wasn't sure what would be affective against Aizen. The 5 second length of time she had gained entry to his thoughts through her soul double in his fake body double she was only able to make out fragmented emotions and thoughts from Aizen that confirmed what he had told her a moment ago. The thoughts she had received from him had something to do with an object called the Hougyoku, Hueco Mundo, and somehow creating Espadas. She already knew what Hougyoku was meant for and what he planned to do with it, but she had no idea where he planned to get 100,000 souls to create the Oken.

She figured he was going to Hueco Mundo to escape Soul Society, but what did that have to do with trying to create Espadas let alone how he would do so. She was highly confused and lost in thought as she continued to listen to him babel on.

"There are only two ways to pull out something which has been intertwined and buried within a soul. Have the outer layer and the soul be vaporized by something like the extremely hot destructive powers of Soukyoku and then remove it. Or, forcefully separate it by some method that directly interferes with the soul's composition. If in the one-in-a-million chance that the execution by Soukyoku failed, I had to find that other method."

Aizen pulled out from his robes what appeared to be a simple purple colored tube.

"In order to do that, I needed the information in the Underground Conference Room's Repository of Great Spiritual Books. I carefully went over Urahara Kisuke's past research. Since he was the one who devised the technique to combine and bury matter within a soul."

He clicked upon the top of the tube as small waves of vapors surrounded it.

"I figured that the technique to remove it would definitely be hidden within his research. So…" he stopped as sudden green spikes appeared from the ground around the two "…this is that technique."

Kein gasped as she struggled to her feet. She wasn't quite sure what to do since she above anyone else was one of the rare few that could even comprehend Aizen's abilities having been around him for so many years. Ichigo looked as if he was ready to attack as well despite his condition as Aizen's arm suddenly turned green and he stabbed Rukia through the chest with that hand. Pink colored lightning flashed forth from the tip of the ground spikes that surrounded him and Rukia.

"RUKIA!" Kein yelled in an angered panic as it was too late to do anything now. The entire area flashed forth a bright light momentarily as it just as quickly faded. Rukia fell to her knees as she was released from Aizen's hand as he pulled out a very small gem like crystal ball and sat between his finger tips as his hand quickly colored back to normal and the spikes around them disappeared.

"This is a surprise. It is such a small thing. This is Hougyoku."

The hole within Rukia's chest quickly closed up.

"Hm? The soul itself is uninjured? Such a wonderful technique! But this is unfortunate. I no longer need you. Kill her Gin."

Ichigo and Kein gasped once more as Kein was ready to attack just as Gin pulled out his sword.

"There's no helping it. Shoot her down, Shinsou."

The tip of Gin's blade extended as quick as the eye could see. Kein flash stepped to Rukia, but was beat to it as she stopped ¾'s of the way, skidding along the ground as she laid eyes upon another being that took Rukia from Aizen's hand and cradled her within his arms. "B-Brother…" Rukia spoke softly as it was revealed that Byakuya had saved her from death. The tip of Gin's sword was pierced into Byakuya's chest, but it was then withdrawn as blood splattered upon the ground and he fell to his knees, held up by Rukia.

"Brother! Brother, why? Why did you…"

"…Byakuya?" Kein interrupted in shock, having a previous strong distain for the man and then to suddenly see him save Rukia. Aizen approached them and was ready to attack, but Kein quickly jumped in front of the two as a voice from above in the sky cried out

"Let's go, Jidanbou! Scattered beat bones! Spire, Crimson Crystal, Steel Wheels! The wind if it moves, the sky if it stops, the tone of the spear striking fills the lone castle."

An incantation could be heard as a woman with black hair was upon the shoulders of Jidanbou as they were freefalling from the sky.

"Destructive Art 63. Lightning's Burning Howling!"

Suddenly a burst of yellow lightning pierced down from the sky upon Aizen. "Sister!" Ganju yelled as Orihime joined in "Mr. Jidanbou!" Aizen easily dodged, however a sudden blade was met to his neck. "This is another rather nostalgic face."

"Don't move," Yoruichi commanded. If you move a single muscle…" "…I'll immediately cut off your head," Soi Fon finished.

"I see," Aizen replied nonchalantly. Yoruichi turned her head towards a large stomping in the distance as she happily chanted, "Kuukaku!"

"Hey, Yoruichi!" I had too much free time, but Kein was kind enough to give me something fun to do. So here I am."

"Damn it, took you long enough!" Kein responded in irritation from behind.

"My, they're flashy!" Gin replied with his usual smile. "What should I do?" He lifted his hand to make a move, but it was quickly reprimanded by Matsumoto. "Don't move!"

"I'm sorry, Captain Aizen. I got caught."

"This is as far as you go," Yoruichi warned. "What did you say?" Aizen asked.

"Can't you tell, Aizen? You no longer have a place to run away to." It wasn't long before more Shinigami's and captains appeared upon the execution grounds.

"Aizen…"

"…Captain Aizen…"

"…it's over, Aizen." But the traitorous captain could only smile as a strange silence fell amongst the air.