Mindless

Scatter

He watches the body being pulled out of the room, a wide streak of blood following the lifeless shell as Grimm, the blue haired devil of a cat, grins viciously at Ichigo while performing his duty of ridding the room of the humans that no longer… exist.

That's how Ichigo likes to think of them. Just…ceasing to exist. That is easier to swallow. That is tolerable.

He is standing in a corner, like a skittish animal, his tired eyes watching the door as He appears. He nearly sighs in relief. At least when He is there, there is no taunting words from Gin, no leering grins from Grimm. He can feel his shoulders relaxing, his muscles coming slightly unwound.

And He is smiling at Ichigo, a small curve of his lips that mirrors the gentle, somewhat kind flicker in his eyes. Ichigo shifts from one bare foot to another, unconsciously rubbing his hands together, the blood soaked appendages slicking together absently.

Aizen moves forward, drawing close enough to where when he holds out his open hand towards Ichigo, there is still a foot between his hand and Ichigo's blood soaked form.

Ichigo stares at the pale, clean hand, confused. When his eyes flicker back up to Aizen the man widens his smile, just a fraction of a movement, but Ichigo catches it. Ichigo catches everything about Aizen.

"You did well. Now, come."

The baritone voice vibrates around the room, prickling Ichigo's skin, coaxing his blood soaked mind. He runs his tongue out over his lips, tasting Iron, his hair sticking to his face as he looks down at his own bloody, dirty hands, quietly.

"I don't mind. You did well."

Ichigo looks up again, warring in his mind with the strange things that have begun to surface every time he watches Aizen. He blinks once, twice, and then brings up his right hand, placing it against the cool, clean hand offered to him.

When Aizen wraps his hand around Ichigo's own, a stark contrast between white and red that Ichigo can't quite keep his eyes off of, he follows the man as he tugs lightly, leading him away from the blood soaked room, away from the lifeless eyes.

Away from the no-longer-existing young body being drug down the opposite hallway by a grinning blue haired animal.

Out of the fire…..

Into a volcano of disaster.

Youroichi and Urahara are, for the first time in a very long time, completely baffled.

Deep in the bowels of Urahara's shop, the training room that so much resembles a desert with random mountains and rocks cresting the 'horizon,' they stare. Goading words has not worked, physical pain has not worked, even trying to separate Ichigo's soul from his human body has not worked.

And along the line, they noticed something increasingly disturbing.

They couldn't feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure.

Even in human form, Ichigo always used to emit a rather large spiritual pressure, which is what had Hollows constantly popping up around the boy even in the most random places. But now, there is nothing, and no clue as to what or why this has happened.

And through it all, Ichigo has stood there, taking the hours of poking and prodding and mental twisting with that blank face, eyes devoid of any reaction. He has a few cuts and scrapes, but the larger injuries have already been healed up by Youroichi, and now they are at a loss as to what to do.

"I was almost certain he would respond to a released Zanpakuto." Urahara states, curious expression turned towards Ichigo as he stands off to the side, staring blankly at a large rock. Beside him Youroichi swifts from foot to foot, in her feline form, tail curling into a question mark behind her.

"Perhaps if we call for Rukia, or Renji?"

There is a stretch of considering silence, and then the fan flicks shut, lowering from Urahara's face as his lips press into an uncharacteristic tight thin line. "No, once they know he has returned, it will be near impossible to keep them from breaking every rule in the Soul Society to come and see him, and we can't risk them finding him like…," he trails off, motioning with his closed fan at the boy still standing, staring at the same rock, "Like that."

"Then what do we do?"

Urahara sighs, moving towards the boy… Man… he corrects himself, drawing up to him and wrapping his hand around a toned bicep, steering him towards the ladder.

"We wait."

The clothing held out to him makes him stare blankly, his questioning gaze moving to the smiling Aizen who is holding the white fabric out to him, waiting.

"You are clean now. You might as well wear clean clothes."

He looks down at himself, running an absent hand over his abdomen, where blood no longer is crusted against his flesh, and dirt no longer caked under his nails. He looks up again, from behind lengthening bangs of sunny orange hair, pressing his tongue to the back of his teeth.

Then slowly, achingly, tiredly, he takes the smooth white fabric in his own hands, watching Aizen as he slowly gets dressed into the outfit that nearly mirrors Aizen's own.

"We are going to be sparring today."

Ichigo tips his head in surprise, though no other expression is written on his face as he watches Aizen move around the room, that which Ichigo can only assume is the other man's bedroom, the whiteness of everything nearly too bright, nearly blinding.

"We can't let you waste away, after all."

Aizen draws closer to him, with that smile curling his lips. Ichigo notes, in a detached fashion, that it is not like the feral one offered by Grimm, nor is it like the sly one offered by Gin. No, Ichigo believes this one to be sincere.

Aizen lifts his hand up, absently brushing a lock of hair away from Ichigo's eyes, speaking fondly. "It's been a year. One very long year, but now it's time."

Ichigo blinks slowly. Has it been a year? He had stopped counting long ago, when he had realized that he slept odd hours, and there were no windows in his little red room. In fact, that doesn't matter, because there is no day and night here. It's a constant, steady flow.

Like the flow of blood of the young one.

He blinks, watching as Aizen opens the door, looking over his shoulder in a beckoning manner.

Ichigo will always watch Aizen.

..

If you haven't picked up on what Aizen has been doing in front of Ichigo, and what he has made Ichigo do, then you need to seriously go back and read the first few chapters. It's rather easy to deduce, when you are looking for it.

Don't like the plot? That's fine.

Just stop reading it.

Siiiimple.