A/N: Teensy tiny continuity error that had to be fixed here.
"Is that so?"
"Lord Aizen, he is a danger."
"I appreciate your concern, Tousen. I already keep a close watch on him."
Tousen was ready to disagree when Aizen raised a hand, stopping his arguments.
"You trust me, do you not, Tousen?"
Of course, Lord Aizen." Tousen didn't miss a beat.
"Then don't worry yourself over needless things."
"I understand. But Kurosaki…he is famous for his unpredictability."
Aizen chuckled, making Tousen wary of his words. He didn't say something stupid, did he?
"His actions are horribly predictable, Tousen. I've been using Ichigo from the very start."
"I…I'm sorry?" Tousen raised an eyebrow. He barely noted Wonderweiss's concerned grip on his hakama.
"Why else do you think I allowed him and his friends run around rampant in Soul Society?" Aizen leaned back in his throne. "Thanks to them and their antics, I was able to fake my death, kill the council, and have my fun with the classified documents."
Tousen agreed silently. It was true. Without the distraction that Kurosaki and his friends caused, Lord Aizen's plan would have been three times harder to accomplish.
"But this certainly is an interesting change." Aizen's voice held an amused tone.
"I don't understand." Tousen felt Aizen shunpo down from his throne to stand next to the blind man. Wonderweiss let out a surprised coo and watched the Arrancar lord with his usual childlike curiosity.
"Before you were so empathetic to Ichigo," Tousen didn't miss the first-name basis familiarity. "and now you see him as poison. It's interesting really. What happened to make you feel that way, Tousen?"
Tousen scowled in a way that befitted Ichigo. He really didn't have much to go on with his accusations. But that wasn't the cause of his frustration. He knew his Lord saw the conversation with him and the Shinigami. He sees everything. What frustrated him was the fact that he doubted Lord Aizen. Like that boy could ever harm Lord Aizen…
"It's alright, Tousen." Aizen chuckled. "No need to get serious. I enjoy your displays of loyalty."
Spending the day with Orihime was a good choice.
Ichigo awoke from a rare night of beatings. Although Aizen got lenient on Ichigo as the days passed. The man had begun to prefer Ichigo's company and conversation more than having his jaw broken in six places. Not that he didn't mind having both.
Ichimaru had been the one to bring him his food and extended the offer to visit Orihime. Ichigo gladly took it, eager to see his old friend.
When they entered her room, Orihime's reactions were comical. She was torn between the overflowing joy of seeing Ichigo again, the fear she held for Ichimaru and then a certain nervousness settled in; like she was unsure of how to talk to him. Ichigo should have been more concerned with her fear of Ichimaru, but he was too busy laughing.
Ichimaru dismissed himself, saying something like 'not gonna play with Ulqu's property', or something. Ichigo really wished he had paid attention.
As soon as Ichimaru was out of the room, Orihime pounced on Ichigo, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Ichigo! OhImissedyousomuchandwehavesomuchto-" Orihime stopped feeling a tap on her forearm. Ichigo was being suffocated by her breasts. And as much as he loved being suffocated by breasts, he didn't.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Orihime released Ichigo, who let out a big sigh of relief. He managed to catch his breath before Orihime spoke again.
"Ichigo! Your face!"
Ichigo looked up with concern. What was wrong with his face?"Where did you get those cuts and bruises?"
Oh. Those.
"It's not bad." Ichigo resisted the urge to laugh a little. He wondered what would her reaction be if she saw him before Aizen started letting up. This in turn made him wonder if she actually had seen him like that. The previous Ichigo. Or the one before that. By her reaction when she first saw him, Ichigo had to guess no.
"I'll heal you!" Orihime gave no room for argument, beginning the healing even as she spoke.
The two sat down on pillows, silent as Orihime healed him.
"Are you okay? I-Is it hard...here?" After Orihime finished healing him, Ichigo took it as a chance to get as much information as possible. If Orihime had any. Did she know the outcome of the war?
"I'm fine! Ulquiorra is very nice to me." Orihime beamed. Ichigo's mind toyed with the image of Ulquiorra and Orihime holding hands and skipping through a park.
"But…Ichigo, are you okay?" Orihime leaned forward, her voice hushed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…I heard from Grimmjow that you were captured…But that was so long ago." She nibbled at her lower lip, looking down to the floor. She took a long time before talking again and Ichigo wanted desperately to know what she was thinking about. Orihime, after all, was a terrible liar. "And I was just waiting, day after day to hear about you. But whenever I asked, no one gave me a straight answer."
Ichigo's fingers tapped impatiently on his knee. There was that question. That burning question, just waiting to be answered in his mind.
"Orihime…" Ichigo began. Orihime looked startled at the sudden seriousness. "I know that time is a pretty hard thing to keep track of in this place…But if you had to take a guess, how long would you say it's been since I've been captured?"
Orihime tilted her head, looking up at the ceiling.
"Hmmm…Well, I'd have to say, a year or so."
Ichigo wasn't sure how he left Orihime's room after that. He just knew that he didn't stay long after hearing that. The feeling of anger burning in his belly was making him sick.
Stumbling down the hallways, Ichigo stopped and took a breath. Keep this up and it'll be just like last time. Vomiting all over the goddamn place.
But this was what he wanted, wasn't it? More fuel for his revenge? Or was it just his morbid curiosity that made him ask that. That maybe, for one stupid naïve moment, he would of found out that his torture only went on for maybe a month or two. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
"Ichigo, care to join me for tea?"
A familiar voice pulled him out from his thoughts. From behind him, Ichigo could feel the stare of the Arrancar lord.
"Ichigo?"
Aizen stepped forward, putting a hand on his back. Ichigo leaned back into the man, wiping away the sweat that had formed on his forehead.
"Are you sick?"
Ichigo shook his head. "No…Just a dizzy spell, or something."
"I'll take you to the infirmary."
"That's alright. But I do think some Jasmine tea will fix me right up." Ichigo shot him a toothy grin and Aizen responded with a smile.
"Well, that's too bad, I made Earl Grey."
"Ah, no fair!"
Aizen supported Ichigo as the two walked side by side, off to enjoy their daily cup of tea.
