"So, you sent Soul Society into turmoil?" Katsue asked Sosuke.
Over 100 years had passed since she last saw the man. During that time she enhanced her skills with Yoruichi and became a woman. She now had noticeable curves and grew a little taller. The ex captains bangs had gone but not the headband and pigtails had grown to mid back. Instead of Shinigami robes she wore: a simple black long sleeve undershirt with a high neckline, a grey vest and black stretch pants with a large silver sash to hang her Zanpaktou from and red light shoes with black and grey knee socks . From her neck, the necklace hung.
When Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends ventured into Seireitei to save Kuchiki Rukia, she'd tagged along, knowing she would have to be there. That orange headed kid was something Katsue had never seen before. Not only did he defeat several seated officers, he'd managed to beat Kenpachi as well. From the stories Kisuke told her, that man was insane and carried a pink haired girl around. At this rate, Ichigo would have rescued Rukia, but then she realized it was all part of his plan.
"That's exactly what I did," Sosuke answered the woman who'd left him so long ago. They were at the river. Katsue was looking into the water, sitting in the grass. Aizen stood a couple steps behind her, staring at the sky.
"All these years and you haven't stopped!" This was one of the times he came to her. The group had been in Soul Society for awhile now, but she could never find him without being detected or she saw that he was in the middle of securing his plans. The woman couldn't bring herself to reveal herself to him yet, what if he tried turning her in? Eventually, Katsue was resting in a tree and when she woke, the bluenette found herself laying in that futon she remembered so well.
"How long did you know I was here?" She had asked him. She sat up and saw him writing over his desk.
Without turning to look at her, he'd said "From the day you arrived"
Now whenever he found time, he would come to the river to find her there. They didn't talk about what Sosuke was doing right now, instead they spoke of what had happened in 100 years. The man told of all the newcomers and who'd become captains of the Gotei 13, including himself. Katsue said how fast she'd became playing tag with Yoruichi, the fighting skills she now possessed and of Ichigo, helping him train.
But they never came too close to each other, always waiting for the other to make a move, to see if it really was the same between them.
Eventually, current situations caught up to them. So here they were, trying to talk about what was really on their minds.
"I cant stop, with it so close. I've gone too far" Sosuke told her. He sat down in the grass, a little away from her. Katsue couldn't help but notice how good the years had been to him. Sosuke was taller and more manly, she still got lost in his eyes. He was just out of reach...
"You could turn yourself in" Katsue tried.
"I will, when you do" Sosuke gave her a small smile.
Katsue giggled at that. "Nope" She glanced at him and saw that he was staring intently at her.
"Are you going to try and stop me?" Sosuke asked her quietly, suddenly serious. Katsue nodded her head. "How? Are you going to try to kill me?"
"No! W-Why would you even ask that? I dont know exactly what I'm gonna do but-!" She cut herself off, when her throat closed up. How else would she stop him? But she couldn't, she would never.
Sosuke made a move to embrace her, like he always had, but then stopped mid motion.
Their eyes met... and they could both feel that all the emotion was still there. The current captain finished wrapping his arms around the woman's shoulders. "Am I still allowed to do this?" His voice was just a whisper.
Katsue nodded into his robes, putting her arms around his back. That was a stupid question. She'd wanted him to do that, ever since the day she left Soul Society. When she spoke, she knew he could hear the tears in her voice, "I missed you, Sosuke. A whole lot" Why did she always have to act like such a baby?
"I missed you too, Sue-chan" His arms tightened when he used the name, he hadn't said in awhile. To prove his point, he pulled her close enough so that he could feel her heart beating. "Do you want me to say it first?"
Katsue was puzzled for a second. Did he mean about what was going on? Or if she had decided what to do? "Yes" She answered and hoped it wouldnt cause any confusion.
She felt him take a big breath. He let go of her just enough to make her look him in the eyes. "I'm still in love with you, Katsue Hara. After all these years, I never stopped thinking about you"
Katsue could hear herself gasp. He was giving her one of his rare, big smiles. How long had it been since she'd seen that? She granted him one of her best, too. "I still love you too, Sosuke Aizen. I promise I always will" Though she never usually called him by his full name, she felt it suited this situation.
"I'm glad" He titled her head back more and, keeping his hand on her face, kissed her. They both took their time re-exploring the mouth that had been absent for 100 years. Katsue moved to put her arms around his neck, and he put his around her waist. Still, their lips were melted together. This was the best kiss he'd ever given her!
Maybe it was because they were older now, and didn't have to be so nonchalant about being physical with one another, but Katsue thought Sosuke broke the kiss too soon. When she caught her breath she asked, "Hows that for a reunion?" She laid back on the grass with a smile.
"Perfect" Sosuke propped up on his elbow next to her and leaned over to kiss her lips once. Twice. Three times. Until Katsue started to laugh. Then she looked up at the mans face and got quiet.
"Whats wrong now?"
"All these years we've been apart and you haven't found someone else?" He asked her.
She knew instinctively that he meant Kisuke. There was no one else he would worry about. Did she love Kisuke? Spending 100 years without Sosuke and with Kisuke, watching him invent and solve problems... Had she fallen for him? She did feel much closer to him, but love... was not the case.
Of course, there were those times when she might have used him, the way she would have Sosuke, but Kisuke knew it was just out of heartache. The woman never kissed him, never spent endless hours thinking of him. There was a night the blonde man had slept in her room with her; Katsue had a nightmare about Sosuke and couldn't sleep. But that didn't change anything.
"Nope. No one else but you. I dont care where I've been or who I've been around, all I want is you" Katsue made another promise to him. "What about you though? Theres plenty of women-"
"Dont talk like that. You believe any of them could replace you?" Sosuke looked her in the eyes. "You are truly blind to think any of them measure close to you" He ran his free hand over her face, memorizing each and every detail. When he finished, she reach up to do the same.
"I have to go" Sosuke told her quietly. He saw confusion, anger, and shock mix on his woman's face.
"Your still leaving? What about this?" She motioned to the two of them.
"What does this change?" Sosuke asked. Katsue's anger flared and she pushed at his chest, trying to get away from him. When she broke away, she started to crawl away from him."Wait-wait. I said the wrong thing!" Sosuke told her. "I meant, why does this have to change?"
That made more sense. She turned to look at him."It changes because your leaving! I cant love you from a distance anymore, I tried and here I am. Back where I started! I rather just-"
"Please dont say that" Sosuke cut her off quickly. He didn't want to know what she was going to say. He didn't want to hear that she couldn't live without him, never. Katsue was nothing like Hinamori to him, she was far from disposable. "Katsue. Tell me you can live without me and we'll be fine"
"No. Why would I lie to you?" Katsue crossed her arms.
"You need to make it the truth"
"I dont need anything but you" She was just being stubborn. If Sosuke's plans were to fail, she would most likely be alive. Broken and empty inside, but alive nonetheless.
"Sue-chan..." He reached out to hold her hand. Then he looked up at the sky. "We'll talk about this later. I must go. Come on"
"Right now?" She asked when he stood. This cant be it already! They'd just made up. Sosuke looked back at her and offered his hand to help her up. She took it, was pulled into his arms and met with a soft kiss.
"Retsu Unohana has already figured out my corpse was a fake. She has alerted all of Seireitei of my betrayal. Gin Ichimaru was that child you saw 100 years ago and he's waiting for me right over there" Aizen motioned to the man, who just became visible to Katsue. He looked just as he did when he was younger, just taller. "Gin, take us all to Sokyoku Hill, wont you?"
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Katsue tried to pull away from the brunette but the fox faced man had already begun transporting them.
On arrival, Katsue saw Rukia being held by Renji. Sosuke gently let go of the woman and started walking over to the two youngsters. "Renji-fukutachiou, put Miss Kuchiki down"
Renji shook his head and held tighter to the short girl in his arms. With that, Sosuke drew his sword and attacked him, and Renji took damage to his right arm. Still not putting down Rukia, Sosuke told Renji, as Renji's former superior officer, that he finds it unbearable for a subordinate to die.
Hearing that come out of Sosuke's mouth, Katsue started to flash step to protect Renji, but Gin appeared in front of her. "Aizen-sama wouldnt like ya ta get involved, Hara-san" He cast, Bakudo #63 Sajo Sabaku and she fell to her knees, her arms bound. "Sorry!" He grinned down at her.
Katsue glared at him and looked up in time to see Aizen destroy Renji's Shikai. Before Sosuke could make the final blow, Ichigo showed up and stopped him. Ichigo and Renji then teamed up, but that still wasnt even enough to put a scratch on the traitor.
Sosuke blocked all attacks bare handed and cut Ichigo nearly in half. He started to drag Rukia off, all the while telling Ichigo how he'd fail.
"Sosuke!" Katsue yelled. The man turned to smile at her. But she couldn't find any words to explain to him how twisted he was. So the man kept walking. On his way to steal the Hogyoku from Rukia's body, he critically injured the 7th division captain Sajin Komamura with a level 90 Kido spell. What could anyone do now? Sosuke really was powerful on a whole other level.
After taking the Hogyoku, he told Gin to finish Rukia. Then the lead traitor took the Bakudo Spell off of Katsue. She scrambled away from him and yelled for Gin to leave Rukia alone. But Byakuya ended up taking the blow instead of his younger sister.
Sosuke was suddenly behind Katsue. She sensed him and flinched, holding her arms up to block him from her. His eyes looked torn instantly. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that" He told her quietly.
She just kept looking at him. Suddenly she took a quick step back, as Yoruichi and Soifon captured Aizen with bindings and Soifon's Shikai. "Good work, Katsue-chan. Got him right where we want him" Yoruichi praised her.
Katsue looked around as the rest of the available Gotei 13 members arrived and Gin was restrained by his childhood friend Matsumoto Rangiku. That was the girl she'd seen him with before! Tousen was held back by his own lieutenant, Hisagi Shuhei.
Sosuke was still staring at her. "Its time" He said. Yoruichi suddenly yelled for Soifon to get away from the man, and Sosuke quickly grabbed Katsue and roughly pulled her in right up against him.
"What?" Katsue screamed when she and Sosuke were bathed in light. She reached out to touch it but the man told her not too. "What the hell are you doing!" Katsue shook free of the man and started to yell down to the Gotei 13 to get her out of there.
She heard Captain Commander say that they became untouchable when they were covered in this light. No! She looked around starting to panic. Tousen and Gin were in the light too. Up above them Menos Grande swarmed about from a hole in the sky. She and Sosuke were moving toward them. Katsue spun in a circle, trying to find some kind of way out of the Negacion.
"Katsue-chan!" Someone yelled.
She looked down to see Kisuke staring wide-eyed up at her. "Kisuke! Whats going on?"
"Its a way for Menos to rescue on of their own!" He yelled to her. "Your going to Hueco Mundo!"
Isn't that where all Hollows reside? How was she going to survive on their territory? Katsue looked at Sosuke with disgust in her eyes. He was sending her to her death.
"I will explain everything to you once we get there, my Sue-chan" He promised her. Katsue sighed loudly with anger, he just kidnapped her! "You'll understand why I couldn't let you stay here, away from me"
Aizen turned from her. He removed his glasses and changed his hair style by combing a hand through it, making him look sinister. Sosuke's glasses turned into dust. He then announced his goal to stand atop of the world in the heavens and take the place of the absent Gods. He said goodbye to all of the Shinigami present and then told Ichigo that he was very interesting for a human. Sosuke put his arms around Katsue, and let her punch and thrash into his robes angrily, as they vanished into the portal.