Disclaimer: As you can tell, I don't own these characters or anything linked to Bleach, please worship Tite Kubo for his brilliant gift, if you don't already do so. And of course, no one would pay me to write this shit!
A Better Sense of Feeling
Chapter Seven: Fear for the Soul
"Enter," the Shinigami's voice summoned Orihime just as she reached his quarters, evidently sensing her approaching spiritual pressure. Inside, a table and two chairs had been arranged near the double doors to the balcony, and Aizen waited on the other side of the door for Inoue's entrance. The Soul Reaper noticed she was nervous, but knew her worries were not connected to himself. "Please, sit."
Orihime walked towards the quaint coffee table and stools, sitting obediently and waited for Aizen to sit opposite her. Before he did, the man raised a hand to the door to the hallway and Orihime heard the distinct sound of the lock clicking shut. He did the same to the French doors to the veranda and the girl became vaguely aware of being caged.
"Do not be alarmed, I would simply rather not be disturbed." He smiled kindly as he neared the table, pouring two cups of tea from the set that rested on the table before placing himself opposite his prisoner. He lifted his cup and when she did the same, Aizen drank slowly while eyeing Orihime carefully over the rim.
She didn't want to seem impatient and prompt the man, but Orihime was already uncomfortable as it was and she was eager to leave Aizen's chambers as soon as possible. Inoue tried to word her thoughts carefully, but her anxiety stalled her. "Umm, Aizen-sama, what –"
Before she could finish her question, Aizen waved a palm offhandedly, as though brushing away the matter. "I am merely intending to ask of the wellbeing of my guest."
Orihime stared at the base of her tea cup, as though looking for answers in the damp dregs but finding none. "But you summoned me yesterday, Aizen-sama. It's not as if anything is likely to have changed since then." She eventually replied lightly.
"Well, I didn't expect anything to have differed but you barely told me anything then," although his chocolate eyes appeared open and welcoming, Orihime couldn't miss their accusation. She dropped her eyes back to her empty cup, surprised when the Shinigami refilled it, hiding the tea leaves. "You still don't feel like talking?" He asked as he filled his own cup. "Well then, perhaps I shall do all the talking."
Grey eyes suddenly lifted, detecting the slightly threatening tone that laced his voice. Orihime didn't understand what she had done wrong but she suspected that Aizen had not simply called her to his rooms to talk. She felt herself begin to shake as she waited to discover what he wanted with her.
"I've noticed you've been finding yourself getting caught up in some predicaments recently," Aizen commented, watching as her features frowned with confusion. "And yet, here you are, unharmed."
"I don't understand what you're getting at, Aizen-sama," Orihime admitted, unable to hide her fear.
"Well, let me enlighten you," the defective Soul Reaper stood and placed himself directly before Orihime, his intimidating glare trapping her bewildered eyes. "Someone has been paying close attention to you, preventing harm from coming to you. Does that stir your memory?"
The girl shook her head timidly, still not understanding where this was leading. Deciding to approach the subject from a different angle, Aizen paced towards the centre of the room, keeping his back to her as he continued. "Do you have any idea what it takes to control the beings in this fortress?"
"Umm, no, Aizen-sama, I don't," Orihime replied after shaking head even though he couldn't see it. His conversation change didn't help her perplexity and it seemed that his new topic had nothing to do with her. It was as if the Soul Reaper wanted her to admit to a crime but Orihime had no clue as to what offence she'd committed; no amount of pressure could make her confess.
"Barely anything," he answered as he turned his head over his shoulder, smiling kindly. "Especially when you're as persuasive as me." A devious smile told Orihime what he really meant but she didn't think his hypnosis counted as persuasion; however, she decided to keep her opinion to herself.
He returned his stare to the wall, constantly moderating the girl's spiritual pressure for any emotional changes. "Naturally, there are those that require further reinforcement." Feeling her mystification grow, Aizen ploughed on. "I of course speak of those that need to be broken. However, overpowering Arrancars as such is not a trying feat either."
The man turned and closed the distance between him and the human, ignoring the trepidation her silver eyes held. "But, occasionally, one may still resist. May I ask you of your opinion, Orihime?" He watched as she gulped absentmindedly but the girl nodded nonetheless. "How would you go about ruling those who still resisted?"
"Umm, I don't know. I guess some people will always defy authority." Orihime offered, uncertain of the outcome. What did her view point mean to him? Orihime despised not knowing what the Shinigami was thinking behind those deceptively cool eyes.
"An interesting theory," Aizen remarked, bringing his right hand to cup Inoue's cheek carefully. "But this is mine: if the Arrancar can't be controlled, it must be forced. That is ... if it is worth keeping alive." Fear burned in the girl's steel stare and the Shinigami lowered his grip to her chin. "Because, as far as efficiency is concerned, lost causes should be discarded as soon as possible."
Orihime swallowed her freight. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how this involves me."
"Allow me to make it clear to you," he withdrew his hand and Orihime's presence visibly relaxed somewhat. "The Sexta Espada is a valuable asset to my force and has repeatedly proved his worth." Aizen turned his head to the side thoughtfully while the human suddenly realised what he might be getting at. "But his defiance against my control and his disloyalty has created some difficulties."
Orihime looked up as his gaze returned to her and the anger behind his brown eyes terrified her. "Now, your suggestion would have me ignore this and work around it, accepting that he won't change. But my theory, however, will force him to submit. His reiatsu is nothing in comparison to mine, and one way or another, he obeys, eventually." Aizen moved again, this time returning to his seat to pour another cup of tea for both himself and his guest. Neither drank, however, and his russet eyes met her grey pair while she waited. "'Eventually' being the operative word."
Orihime focused her gaze on the white china, refusing to become lost in the pools of chocolate that held such a talent for mesmerizing her. "But –"
"Now, this is the interesting part," Aizen ignored her annunciation, and the Soul Reaper began as he lifted his beverage, smiling as the now silent girl mirrored him. "Without even trying, you seem to have gained control over the very Espada I could never completely command."
Orihime practically choked on her tea in shock and the auburn-haired girl took a minute to recompose herself. "What?" She eventually gasped, flabbergasted beyond reason.
"The Arrancar in question now would do anything to please you and you seem to be at the top of his priorities," Aizen explained levelly but was unable to keep the distaste out of his voice.
"You've made a mistake, Aizen-sama," Orihime spluttered desperately, her shocked eyes widening further as he stood before her again, this time his ominous stance obvious.
"Have I? I don't think so," he retorted calmly before placing the sickeningly sweet smile on his features again. "Once more, I must request your counsel." He paused, allowing Orihime to absorb the strained tension in the atmosphere. "How did you do it?"
She stood in alarm at his demand, her complete confusion clouding her fear. "I didn't do anything."
"You must have done something. How else would you been able to achieve something I never could?" His anger was no longer hidden by a false exterior and the fact he showed Orihime his true colours was warning enough. She needed to get away, but her fearful body wouldn't move.
"I hold nothing over him. I don't know what you're talking about!" Orihime tried to leave, enraged at his accusations while scared of his intentions but one strong hand upon her shoulder stopped her.
"No more lies, Inoue," Aizen ordered evenly but she could not relax at all under his calming tone. She didn't notice any changes in the air until she suddenly felt the enormous weight of his spiritual pressure attack her, forcing the girl to her knees before him. She gasped under the pressure and the more she tried to breathe, the harder it seemed to become and the panic in her heart just increased her need for oxygen by the second. The Shinigami raised his hand slightly, bringing it down to strike her cheek sharply as he turned away from her body in disgust.
"Here, my will is the law." It seemed that the full force of his great power surrounded him and his victim, a presence that Orihime immediately related to that of a God's. The girl then realised why so many followed the man before her without complaints: they didn't have the power to resist this.
Another blow to her head left Orihime supporting herself by her hands, coughing blood onto the white marble floor. She tried to stand, but his reiatsu overpowered her every time, crushing her soul relentlessly. It felt like every bone was breaking beneath the force of his presence and when she raised her head to see him slightly flick his hand, she knew that countless really had been crushed.
"Tsubaki," she whispered desperately, sobbing as she did so, uttering her command before he could stop her. "Koten Zanshun, I reject." Because he was fuelled only by Orihime's fear, Tsubaki couldn't utilise the entirety of her offensive powers and when he met the Soul Reaper's dense spiritual pressure, he was easily defeated by Aizen's palm.
"Pathetic," he muttered as he allowed her to stand on damaged legs, only to clutch her neck and lift her from the ground. He pressed his thumb against her throat slowly, gradually squeezing the life out of her. "It would be so easy to drain your very existence from this body. I could snap your neck like nothing more than a twig; or I could simply suffocate you."
She clawed at his hand frantically in a vain attempt to free herself, but Orihime only felt her lungs struggle to draw breath beneath her broken ribs and restricted airways; as her sight dimmed, she knew her blood vessels were giving up on her.
"I will control him, no matter how much he resists," he promised her, his anger tightening his grip. "He will become obedient, but right now, you are the only obstacle preventing me from controlling him."
Orihime couldn't hear his voice, her brain needed more oxygen and her senses were shutting down; she could barely see him talking. But even if his words had been able to register with her conscience, nothing he could have said would have distracted her from her fretful fight to hold onto her life.
By restraining her voice this way, Aizen knew that she couldn't summon any of her Shun Shun Rikka; she was absolutely defenceless and nothing would be able to stop the Shinigami now. He had carefully left some of her bones unbroken, allowing himself to now slowly and manually shatter each fragile one like glass.
He gripped her undamaged arm, easily ceasing her pitiful efforts of escape and simply held her wrist tightly in his grasp, feeling the bones give under his strength as they crumbled against each other. Aizen was unnaturally considerate with the bone in her neck; he didn't want her to die quickly.
The man watched her eyes constantly, waiting for the pleading look that would tell him that she'd given up, but it never came. His palm moved to Orihime's upper arm, abandoning her now limp wrist and hand in search of something else to break. Her silver eyes, tinged red as she asphyxiated slowly in his grasp, still didn't beg for his mercy but only showed her panicked hope as she held onto life.
The girl tried to scream when he dislocated her shoulder, but she still didn't give up, despite how hopeless her situation seemed. If she could just remain conscious long enough, if he discarded her and left her for dead, she'd be able to reverse everything. As long as she kept drawing breath, as long as she forced her heart to keep trying, she still had a chance, no matter how small.
She tried to ignore the overwhelming feelings of pain and the girl searched for anything to focus on. Orihime had no clue why the first and only thing she thought of was the Sexta Espada, but she didn't question it. Now that it crossed her mind, she knew that she would have screamed his name if she could have.
She didn't understand what the Soul Reaper had said earlier, what he'd meant about the connection between Grimmjow and herself, but her desperate mind didn't focus on those misunderstandings as she tried to cling onto life. As Orihime attempted to inhale another breath, she hoped beyond reason that there had been at least some truth in Aizen's words and she felt her soul silently scream for help, a blood curdling cry only one could answer.
The Sixth Espada had lost track of time hours ago, having become completely distracted by the thrill of the kill. He'd also lost count of how many rebellious forces he'd extinguished and Grimmjow was about to move onto the next before he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a powerful scream, an ear splitting cry of pain destroying every other thought in his mind.
There was a ringing in his head as the fading echo of the pained shriek reverberated in his ears even though nothing around him reacted to such a noise. What the fuck was that? As far as Grimmjow could tell, there had been no sound, but he'd bloody well heard something. It suddenly dawned on him that he'd heard the scream inside his mind and he realised with wide eyes what that meant.
The fire that burnt within him froze and the Sexta believed he'd never felt true fear in comparison to what Pantera now howled with. His chest wanted to rip open and Grimmjow forced himself to turn in the direction of the fortress, before he tore off towards Las Noches so quickly that it surprised him.
The Espada knew that there was only one thing that would bother his Resurrecćion this much which meant that the girl was in serious danger. His Sonido became even faster as he realised just how much that affected him as well and the Sixth found himself in the immediate area of the palace sooner than he thought possible.
He didn't know what part of the fortress that her fading reiatsu had led him to until he recognised the exterior of the Soul Reaper's quarters. He paid no mind to Aizen's flaring spiritual pressure and Grimmjow ignored the balcony and wasted no time as he obliterated the French doors into the chambers.
Grimmjow was practically shaking with anger as he stood in the doorway, having arrived just in time to watch Aizen carelessly drop the human's form from his hold. The Soul Reaper turned to face the intruder, his unaffected smile frustrating the Arrancar further. This was too perfect, he'd offer the Sixth a final chance to obey, but if the blue-haired Espada still defied him, he'd kill him too.
The girl's body lay limp on the floor at the feet of the defective Shinigami and Grimmjow stared, immobilised, when he couldn't pick out her breathing; when he couldn't hear her heart beating; when he couldn't feel that spiritual pressure which had become so important to him.
Without commanding it, Pantera took control and Grimmjow let the anger within encompass him, wanting to cause the man just as much damage as his instincts did. He was going to butcher the Soul Reaper, and he knew that he could.
Maybe it was just his presence, or perhaps her incredible thirst for life, but for one reason or another, Orihime drew breath and opened her eyes in time to see the first of many blows from the Espada against Aizen. It knocked the brown-haired man to the opposing wall but the Sexta flash-stepped before him before he could stand again.
Somehow, the Shinigami was overwhelmed by Grimmjow's Released state but her eyes flew wide in shock as Orihime recognised the only slightly familiar spiritual pressure that used to only belong in a vision. She realised he was so much stronger than he'd ever been, much stronger than any creature she had ever felt before. There was no way Aizen could respond to this amount of force, but his instantly heightened energy tried to nonetheless.
Orihime didn't understand what had caused the Arrancar's reiatsu to increase just as she'd predicted but she didn't have an opportunity to dwell on it. Her weakened soul couldn't withstand the powerful auras around her as they continuously attacked each other, oblivious to their audience, and their combined strengths rendered her unconscious again.