Chapter 4: The King's Protectors

(Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! And thanks to all of the lovely Aizenfans PMing their requests. There is much more to come! Have a wonderful day! Love to you, Spunky)

Shima Kurushimi sat quietly at Tetsuya's side, holding the young man's hand and gazing off into the distance, his mind going back to another very beautiful young man he had once loved.

"Kuri kuri!" Hideaki said enthusiastically, his pretty emerald colored eyes shining, "We are going to have a child!"

The next breath he took felt icy and painful.

It's still hard to breathe whenever I think of my lovely Hideaki, and Tetsu-hana is another precious flower like him. The two could share souls, even though they don't look so much alike. It is their delicate build and even more delicate manner that makes them similar. Hideaki was a commoner I met by accident and now Tetsu-hana and I have encountered each other in another unexpected way.

I don't know what to think about that.

"Shima-sama?" Tetsuya mumbled sleepily, "Where am I?"

Kuri smiled down at his confused expression.

"Byakurai brought you to Karakura Town so that you could be healed. You were lucky our Princesa could heal you. The poison you were given was a powerful one. But you are going to be fine now. You just need to rest."

"Do you know if they were able to draw the blood and reiatsu already for Aizen Sousuke's procedure?" Tetsuya asked anxiously.

"Yes, Tetsu-hana," Kuri said, patting his hand, "That is all done. You have nothing left to do now but to rest. Oh, and I suppose we could make our wedding plans."

Tetsuya gave him an uncertain look.

"What is wrong?" Kuri asked, smirking, "I thought that you liked the idea of marrying a clan leader. Have you changed your mind about me already? Did I do something to offend you?"

"No," Tetsuya assured him, "and I am flattered that you came to sit with me. You are very kind."

"I confess I am also finding you attractive," Kuri admitted.

"You had a strange look on your face when I first opened my eyes," Tetsuya remembered, "It looked almost like you were in pain. Did something happen while I was asleep?"

"Well, something happened, but not while you were asleep. I was just remembering my husband, Hideaki. It is beautiful to think of him, but it is also painful. You must know what I mean. You also lost someone."

"My Naoki," Tetsuya agreed, "He was killed protecting me and the child I carried, while we were trying to escape Itamigiri."

"Ah…and my Hideaki passed from complications while having our child. Sadly, our child died with him."

"I am sorry," Tetsuya said softly.

"I am sorry for your loss as well."

Kuri studied Tetsuya's curious expression for a moment.

"Tetsu-hana," he went on, "I know that my proposal was very sudden, and it was something I did so that you would not have to help Aizen have a child, but the truth is, the more time I spend with you, the more time I want to spend with you. You are lovely and spirited, even though you are also often quiet. You have beautiful eyes I could look into every day. And I think seeing you would make my mother and sister faint with excitement. They adored Hideaki."

Tetsuya blushed.

"W-well, at very least, I should meet them because it's going to get around that you and I are engaged."

Kuri blinked and gave him a shocked look.

"Dios mìo, you are right!" he exclaimed, "Mamà and Deripie must have heard by now. They will be on the warpath for me not telling them anything. They are probably on their way here n…"

He trailed off as the door to the bedroom opened and two comely women with Kuri's same caramel skin entered, wearing stern looks.

"Mijo, what is this I hear about you being engaged to Byakuya's bodyguard?" the elder woman asked, frowning.

She paused as her eyes collided forcefully with Tetsuya's and her lips curved upward instantly.

"Oh! Angelito! He is enchanting. How did you meet?"

"It was sort of by accident," Kuri explained, "You see, Tetsu-hana is a breeder male and those burros in Central 46 were trying to force him to make a child with Aizen."

"What? Oh, this is because he is a Daishima heir?" Kuri's sister asked.

"Yes," Kuri confirmed, "The council was required to release him and to keep his powers under some control, they wanted someone to use their breeder abilty to make his child. They started to order this joven hermosa to do this with him, so I stepped forward and said that we were engaged. That is all that happened."

Aderia put her hands on her hips and exchanged skeptical glances with her mother.

"But now that means that you are going to have to go through with a marriage, doesn't it?" she asked.

"I have spoken to Tetsu-hana about that, and he seems agreeable about it."

Kuri's mother moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mijo," she said kindly, "I will not object, but are you sure you are ready? You still have very strong feelings about what happened to Hideaki. What happens when you must impregnate Tetsuya? Are you going to be all right about that?"

Kuri paused and let out a soft, sighing breath.

"I don't know exactly," he confessed, "Maybe it will need to be a long engagement."

"You don't have to marry me if you don't want to," Tetsuya assured him.

"Angelito, Kuri's mother said kindly, "I can see that my son is fond of you. There is no question you could be a good match. It is just that Kuri may need time to work through his feelings about it."

"I understand," Tetsuya said, smiling sadly, "We have had similar losses. He shouldn't rush into anything. I am happy to have a long engagement with Shima-sama. At very least, we will part friends."

"Then, as my friend," said Kuri, "you are never to call me Shima-sama, only Kuri. And I hope you don't mind if I continue to call you Tetsu-hana."

"It's fine," Tetsuya chuckled, "I'm getting used to it."

XXXXXXXXXX

Byakuya removed an old leatherbound book from his pack and set it on the table in front of him. He opened the book to the inside cover, where there was a portrait of a tall, brown eyed man with looks similar to Aizen's above an image of the Daishima family crest.

"As you are aware," Byakuya explained, "there were five noble clans who had their beginnings in the king's gardens. Each of these houses came from a natural source. The Kuchiki progenitor, Kuchiki Hajime, was made from an ancient sakura. The Shihoin progenitor was fashioned from one of the feral big cats. Another was made from a giant silkworm. Each family that was created bears a specific item or task that the king has given them, and in return, they are given the highest ranking and most privileges among the noble clans. My family is responsible for keeping safe the histories of Soul Society, as well as storing artifacts and powerful items that are not safe elsewhere. The Shihoin clan possesses the royal armor. The Aomori clan creates the king's clothing. But in addition to the great clans, the soul king's first incarnation created a secret sixth clan whose duty it was to protect the king carefully. For thousands of years, the Daishima clan saw to that duty. But some time back, the members of the Daishima family began to fall ill and die off, until there were no more. It was around this time that the soul king became ill and eventually died without being revived. This gave rise to the placement of a regent who ruled in the place of the rightful king, and would do so until the new king's incarnation emerged from the king's prism."

"Was the prism lost?" Aizen asked.

"No," Byakuya explained, "The prism is in the regent's possession, but it has not identified a new king, and no one really understands why. But it is my suspicion now that the prism has been waiting. The Daishima heir who protects the king was also one whose task was to ensure the passage of power from one king to the next. If you were listening carefully, you will be questioning the death of the last true king, which occurred hundreds of years ago. Even the king just seated is a regent and not a true king. We cannot have a true king until the prism reveals him. I am convinced that your appearance and identification is an opportunity for that to happen. But I must warn you that it also means that if the former king died in a treacherous way, you may be targeted while you are vulnerable. That Tetsuya has already been attacked is a worrisome sign. Ichigo, I would warn you to remain close to Aizen and to trust no one but each other. Be exceedingly careful about who you allow close to him during his gestation."

"Why can't we just put off making him powerless until we have some kind of information on who could be planning something?" Ichigo asked, "We have leads on who hurt Tetsuya, don't we?"

"Actually, not really," Byakuya confessed, "It is still being investigated. Remember that this one or group may also have connections to the death of the last king. There is no way, at this point, to know. We just have to proceed with extreme caution."

"I don't think I like the sound of that," Ichigo complained.

He studied Aizen's contemplative expression.

"What're you thinking?" he asked, "You don't really think you being powerless right now is a good idea, do you?"

"I don't prefer it," Aizen agreed, "but it does work as a way to lure whomever tried to kill Kuchiki Tetsuya into also attacking me."

"Do you think this is funny?" Ichigo snapped angrily, "We're talking about your life and the life of our kid, here!"

Aizen paused, frowning and looking at Ichigo more closely.

"What?" the Shiba heir asked confrontationally, "I just don't think dangling you and this baby in front of a murderous enemy is a good thing to do."

"Neither do I," Aizen agreed, "but whatever we feel, it is most crucial to remake the Daishima line."

"I don't get it," Ichigo insisted, "Why do you, Aizen Sousuke, the guy who betrayed Soul Society and wanted to kill the king, suddenly feel all parental and want to start a family with me? You don't care about the king anymore than you ever did."

Aizen gave Ichigo an odd, amused smile that made his scowl deepen.

"Think, Ichigo," he said calmly, "I wanted to kill the regent, not the king."

"You didn't have any idea that the guy sitting on the throne was even a regent!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Now, you're trying to convince me you wanted to kill him because you knew he wasn't the rightful king. You're not even keeping your own story straight!"

"But I am," Aizen insisted, "Ichigo, my objection to the king wasn't an emotional one, not ever. I wanted to kill the king because he was a sham and a disappointment. I wanted to kill him because I couldn't believe in him. It's in my nature to kill that which masquerades but isn't real. And I am beginning to become convinced that the feeling, the urge to do that may have come from my connection to the true king."

"Aizen Sousuke being loyal to someone he doesn't even know? Following blindly? I don't think so!" Ichigo snapped, "I don't know what you're up to, but…"

"But if you stop and think logically for a moment, there is nowhere for me to go but forward. Whatever happens, the next step is to make the Daishima heir. Are you saying that you no longer wish to do that?"

"No, I'm not saying that," Ichigo explained, "I just don't understand why you want so much to do this. Seriously, why?"

Aizen gave him a wry smile.

"Come now, Ichigo, you of all people should already know the answer to that. I have told you this before. People have a natural instinct when they're afraid, so look for a higher power…to hope, to pray, to depend. That is the instinct built into all of us. I am powerful, so I didn't need to have that instinct activated in me for a long time. For most of my life, I searched like everyone else for that higher power, someone on whom I could depend. Because that is also in our nature."

"But you looked down on everyone for listening to that instinct," Ichigo remembered, "Are you saying that you've changed your mind now?"

"Not at all," Aizen explained, "I still think that if one is so inclined, he or she can consciously reject that urge to follow, and can force himself or herself to lead. Because I was powerful, I could convince the most powerful hollows to follow me. I could gather a force strong enough to knock down the lie that was in the heavens and shatter the foundation that he was built on. Maybe if he wasn't meant to lead, I reasoned, I was. But even then, I think I knew that I would also have been an imposter. But if I took that place, if there was a stronger person alive, that person would be stirred by my rise…to topple me."

Ichigo gave him an incredulous look.

"You wanted someone to kill you?" he asked, shaking his head, "That's crazy! Why would you want that?"

"Why do you think?" Aizen asked, "All along, I acted as I did because I wanted to shatter the idea that I, like everyone else, needed to find a higher power to love, to respect, to depend on, to have faith in. I made my version of the hougyoku and directed it at that idea."

"You built a whole war on the idea that the true king didn't exist and that there would always be someone on the throne and someone threatening it?" Ichigo asked, "So, the hougyoku…failed?"

"No," Aizen said more softly, "the hougyoku did exactly what it was made to do. It was made to bring about the desires of the ones around it."

"But it didn't shatter that illusion of collisions of power that you believed in," Ichigo objected, "You tried to kill the king, and you failed!"

"Exactly," Aizen said pointedly, "And it was in failing that I realized that the prism had done, not what I said I wanted and couldn't do…but what I really wanted and couldn't say."

"You're saying that you wanted to be beaten?"

Aizen's smile warmed.

"I wanted secretly to be stopped by a power stronger than my own, to be pushed back and thwarted by that power…so…I created the power that could defeat mine."

"Y-you…"

"I didn't know I was doing it, but I made you from start to finish, Ichigo. If you will think back, the hougyoku was behind the making of White, who inadvertently made you when he infected your mother. When I had Rukia sent to Karakura Town, I changed the course of your life, igniting your powers and setting you on the path. I guided your steps, challenging you along the way, all along the way and bringing you to each new battle with more power and wisdom than you had in the one before. You grew with every challenge and eventually, you even grew to the point that you overcame me. I was, I admit, surprised. All of my other experiments to create that higher power failed, but you not only met my expectations, you exceeded them. I wouldn't have expected you would go on to destroy the quincy king also. But you did that also, furthering my belief that you were, in fact, the very wish I never whispered to the hougyoku. I tried to explain this to you during our battle, but you were distracted."

"Maybe because you were trying to murder my family and friends," Ichigo said in a low, angry voice.

"You grow most quickly when your loved ones are threatened," Aizen said matter-of-factly, "I was provoking you so that you would evolve…just as I used Gin to stimulate my own evolution. I imagine I wanted to bring both of us to the peak of our powers to see where it led."

Ichigo scowled.

"You know how much of a bastard you are, don't you?" he asked angrily.

"You wanted the power to protect everyone," Aizen accused him, "You've said it many times, Ichigo. The hougyoku understood and it helped me to give you that power."

"What? It wanted to sabotage you?" Ichigo asked, looking confused.

"No, I wanted to be overcome by you. My life's work, all of my accumulated failures stacked up to build you, Ichigo. Why do you think that you are the only one I will allow to lay a hand on me. You know that I am not in love with you and that it isn't in my nature at all to submit to anyone. Why you?"

Ichigo stared back at Aizen in quiet fascination.

"You are the hougyoku's answer to my deepest unspoken wishes, Ichigo," Aizen said calmly, "You have power that can undo me. You have a desire to protect…and…like all other creatures, I want that feeling of safety. I am curious about why it took all that it did to find you, and it fascinates me that I was forced to create you, myself. And now, I am extremely curious about how my connection to the Daishima clan might have factored into this. So, there is only one pathway from here. If I want to know the answer to that question, I need to regrow the Daishima line and explore it. That, Ichigo, begins with you."

Ichigo was quiet for several long minutes, his brown eyes thoughtful. Finally, he nodded in acceptance and looked back at Byakuya.

"Is there any more you can tell us about the Daishima clan?" he asked.

Byakuya shook his head.

"I have told you all that our records indicate," the noble answered, "But now that you are here, as you explore the property together, you may find more answers than I could give you."

The three looked up as a group of men led by Byakuya's clan healer were led into the room by Ichigo's attendant.

"Our apologies for disturbing you, sirs," Kuchiki Michio apologized, "But we have gathered Kuchiki Tetsuya's reiatsu and blood, and we are ready to begin the procedure."