Illusion – Chap. 21

A/N: Wow, thank you for all the reviews. I love you all. I hope you enjoy this next chapter too.

(Originally posted 4/28/12.)

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Ichigo walked beside Aizen down a long, carpeted corridor in the heart of the castle, his heart pounding. Several of the nobles had wanted to continue to speak to Ichigo in the dining hall, but Aizen had merely done something subtle with his reiatsu and they had all suddenly remembered appointments elsewhere. The two of them had been able to slip out unremarked.

Ichigo snuck a glance at the exquisite profile of the man beside him. Aizen's expression was serene as usual, but Ichigo's heart had been racing with excitement ever since hearing Aizen's words in the dining room below. The man had kept mental silence since then, appearing lost in his own thoughts, and Ichigo had felt anything he had to say would spoil the mood. The thought that Aizen was finally here as himself, and that they were about to be alone together, was thrilling and a little terrifying at the same time. He took a deep breath and quickened his pace.

This part of the castle was furnished more elegantly than the floor where Ichigo had his room. He noticed the elaborately carved wooden doors were spaced more widely apart than in his corridor. Aizen led the way to the very end of the corridor, where a beautiful pair of teak doors were set by themselves, flanked by two tall brass vases, each bearing a long stem of greenery as tall as Ichigo himself. The shinigami unlocked the door with kidou and politely motioned Ichigo to enter ahead of him.

Walking into the room, Ichigo felt thick carpet under his feet, and he was astonished to find himself in a grand suite with many windows and sweeping views of the countryside.

"I thought the castle was full. Shouldn't a room this size hold a few families, rather than a single man?" He turned and frowned at the other man standing framed within the teak doorway.

Aizen shut the door behind him and locked it. Ichigo felt a powerful guard spell slip into the lock and snap into place all around the room. "This room was actually only occupied by two people: one of Byakuya's cousins, minor nobility, and his wife. I arranged for him… to be displaced. After all, it is important for me to keep up appearances." As Ichigo scowled at him, a slight smile appeared on his face. "It's in your service after all; the royal tutor should not be crowded into the room of a peasant."

Ichigo growled, "My service has nothing to do with it. You just wanted more comfort for yourself, and the rest of the world can go hang, as far as you're concerned," he accused.

Aizen shrugged as he settled himself on the huge canopied bed. The sight made Ichigo's heart pound faster even as his scowl deepened. Aizen's eyes flicked to Ichigo's as he relaxed against the stack of embroidered pillows and gave a sigh of satisfaction. "Didn't I already admit to you I was selfish?" His lips curled and there was a dark mischief in his eyes.

Ichigo's brows lowered, but before he could make a retort, Aizen rolled over to one side and directed a glance at him under half-closed lids. "Nevertheless, why don't we take advantage of this comfort and private time?" He patted the bed beside him.

Ichigo took a deep breath. Although his hormones were yapping at him to forge ahead, another part of him was holding him back. Was he really ready for this? But Aizen wouldn't pressure him into doing anything he might feel uncomfortable with, would he? Without really thinking it through, he found himself placing one foot in front of the other, as though drawn on a string toward the man lounging on the bed, who watched him through amused, quizzical eyes, waiting to see what he would do.

He moved inexorably toward the large and elegant bed. Then his knees bent and he lowered himself onto the cushioned surface, feeling the silken fabric of the bedspread whisper against his thighs. The mattress was unbelievably soft; he had never felt such smooth silk on his skin. He found himself rubbing his forearm over the bedspread, savoring the sensation as all the tiny hairs on his arm were gently brushed back and forth. He watched the movement of his arm for a moment, then felt Aizen's eyes burning holes in him. He glanced up to see something unspeakable in the older man's eyes, and he swallowed.

Ichigo licked his lips, still hesitant. Then, his eyes not deviating from the other's, he succumbed to the electric current that had sprung up between them. He leaned in to the man lounging on the bed, feeling the banked heat of Aizen's powerful reiatsu beginning to entwine with his.

"Aizen-taichou." A cultured voice with overtones of urgency called from the corridor. Ichigo recognized Byakuya's distinctive accent and drew back from Aizen, panic and sudden guilt filling him. An expression of annoyance flashed across Aizen's features, followed almost instantly by a contemplative one with a hint of mischief. Then, so fast that Ichigo wasn't sure if he'd imagined the emotions, Aizen's face smoothed out into his customary amused calmness.

"I apologize for disturbing your rest, Aizen-taichou," continued Byakuya from outside the door, "but an urgent matter has arisen that requires your assistance."

Gracefully swinging his legs off the bed and straightening his attire, Aizen murmured to Ichigo, "The price of command."

He raised his voice slightly. "In a moment, Kuchiki-taichou." He glanced back at Ichigo, who had climbed out of bed, his usual scowl back on his face. Then he strode to the door and flung it open.

Byakuya bowed respectfully to Aizen. "Again, my apologies." His eyes flicked to Ichigo, standing in the middle of a richly-woven jewel-toned rug at the foot of the bed, and his brows raised almost imperceptibly. Then he turned back to Aizen. "Please come this way."

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Ichigo tried to hide a yawn behind his hand as one of the nobles droned on in front of a large diagram of circles and arrows that depicted a planned attack. The meeting—the third one in two days—had already gone on for nearly six hours and his head was almost bursting with boredom. It didn't help that he had been running himself ragged all around the castle on various issues and errands, and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

At least in the battles he had fought earlier he had never been subjected to endless planning meetings. It seemed there were some advantages to just charging in without a plan and improvising as you went along, he thought to himself as his jaw cracked with another yawn.

But of course, it had worked before because he was stronger than everyone else, being the royal heir. It was all different now that they were going up against the spirit king. The usurper was equally as powerful as Ichigo, and was operating from a position of strength: the spirit castle that was the wellspring of power of the three worlds.

In the two days since he had stabilized the fortress, there had been no further attacks from the usurper. It had seemed like an oasis of peace. Indeed, Ichigo wanted to grab onto this brief interlude with both hands and never let go. He had been spending every available free moment at Aizen's side, through long meetings and hurriedly snatched meals, hoping for another chance to get him alone.

It was odd. For the first time in a long while, indeed, ever since he had lost his mother, Ichigo felt… happy. He wasn't quite sure why he should feel this way; after all, he was about to risk his life, and the lives of many of his friends, in the next day or two. And now that Aizen Sousuke, of all people, should suddenly come to mean so much to him, after being his mortal enemy for so long… it was strange. He still wasn't exactly sure what he truly felt about the man, nor was he certain of Aizen's feelings. There continued to be that niggling doubt in his mind about the other's motivations.

And yet… each sight of Aizen, when he encountered him in the corridors, when his eyes crossed the older man's in a meeting, when he felt the touch of his mind, when he found excuses to visit his room… brought him incredible thrills and twists of ecstasy. It was intense and overwhelming and utterly wonderful. Every moment of every day was filled with thoughts of the other; he felt lit from within. Rukia, despite frequent sidelong, suspicious glances at Aizen, had finally commented that Ichigo seemed to have temporarily misplaced his scowl.

His mood appeared to be contagious as well; indeed, many in the castle seemed to be in a forgiving state of mind. All the petty bickering had ceased and everyone seemed to have agreed to follow Ichigo with Byakuya as his general. The shinigami were even accepting advice from Aizen. The formal alliances between the Vizards, Las Noches, and Byakuya's rebel group had been cemented only a few hours after Ichigo's demonstration of his fitness to hold the spirit throne. Gin had returned to Hueco Mundo to prepare, and Toshiro and Rangiku had departed in a different direction to spearhead a planned flanking action against Seireitei.

It was the calm before the storm, Ichigo knew. The battle would be joined the next morning, if they could only hammer out a suitable strategy for their invasion of Soul Society today.

However, it still didn't keep the meetings from being insanely boring. Ichigo pinched the back of his hand to keep his eyes from falling shut. Byakuya was now arguing a subtle point with the speaker, one of his many cousins. Ichigo couldn't even remember the man's name. All the Kuchiki relatives looked alike anyway, and with Ichigo's poor talent for names and faces it was just hopeless.

His eyes drifted over to where Aizen sat at one end of the table, his deep brown eyes alert and intelligent as he made a quick gesture and spoke a few words that had Byakuya and several others around the table nodding. The noble at the diagram quickly erased a few of the arrows and replaced them with several other differently shaped marks.

Ichigo wondered how Aizen was able to keep his attention so focused after six hours of sitting still. How could he still make intelligent comments? His gaze rested on Aizen's face as the man leaned back, raising one of his elegant, slanted brows. That expressive mouth curved in a smile and Ichigo let the voice like dark chocolate wash over him, even though he could no longer understand the words…

He jerked abruptly and heads all around the table turned in his direction. Embarrassed, Ichigo realized he had nodded off at the meeting, his head falling forward, and it was that had caused him to jerk awake. Across the table, Rukia was frowning. He took refuge in a scowl. He was still tired from the battle of two nights before, dammit. Renji was trying to suppress a grin.

Aizen said smoothly, "My lord Kuchiki, I believe it's time for a break. We've all been at this far too long."

Byakuya had also noticed Ichigo's sudden loss of muscle tension, for he nodded crisply. "This meeting is adjourned for one hour," he announced. "Reconvene at 1500 hours."

The sound of chairs being pushed back as they scraped across the wooden floor filled the room, and several people began filing out of the room. Aizen approached Ichigo, his eyes concerned. "Ichigo, you need to get some rest. It's no good if you're completely exhausted."

Ichigo yawned until his jaw cracked, and stretched before getting up from the chair. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I think you're right. Do you think anyone would mind if I went up to my room and took a nap for a few minutes?"

Aizen gave him a private, affectionate smile. "That sounds like an excellent idea." He added, —I'll call you when it's time to return. Get some sleep.

Yawning some more, Ichigo pushed open the large double doors and headed up to his room.

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Ichigo climbed the stairs to his room, slowly, feeling a bone-deadening exhaustion that threatened to break through his control. He opened the narrow door, only to be surprised to find another person already inside, sitting on the bed waiting for him. It was a youth, slender, with shoulder-length dark hair and green eyes sharp behind wire-rimmed glasses, wearing a Quincy cape.

"Hi, Kurosaki," the boy greeted him as though they were old friends. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I headed back to the world of the living."

Ichigo stared at him, completely bewildered. "Who are you?" he asked, his brain too tired to comprehend this new puzzle.

The boy gave a quick grin. "Oh, he told me it might not work on you." He stood up and proffered a hand to shake. Disconcerted, Ichigo took it. "I'm Ishida, Ishida Uryuu," he said with a mischievous smirk.

The truth began to dawn on Ichigo. This youth was another one of Aizen's body doubles, someone he could cloak in his illusions. "Aizen sent you?" he asked, probing the stranger with his reiatsu. "But—you're human!" he exclaimed. The boy was a human with non-negligible spirit energy, and alive.

The youth rolled his eyes. "Of course I am. Otherwise, the illusion would be detected, since I'll have to travel all the way from here to Japan."

"But—" continued Ichigo, warily eying the other, "you know about Aizen's illusions? Who are you?" He felt completely baffled, his exhausted brain too slow to keep up with all the implications of a human boy being here.

The boy's face had gone blank at the mention of Aizen's powers. "It doesn't matter who I am. I work for Aizen-sama, and I know you're with him too." He stood up. "Come. We're supposed to be seen saying goodbye to each other in the central courtyard."

Ichigo frowned. "How are you getting back to Karakura Town? You know you're in the middle of a war zone, right?"

The boy shot Ichigo a curious glance out of the corner of one eye. "It's a mission," he said, looking mildly startled and nervous. "I know what I'm supposed to know, and I know not to ask questions." He walked to the door. "Let's go. Aizen-sama won't be pleased if we delay."

Ichigo trailed after him, now intensely curious. "How did you get here? And how long have you been working for Aizen? I didn't know he knew anyone in the human world."

"Shush!" the boy hissed, turning so Ichigo could see his green eyes flashing beneath the glasses. "You know we're not supposed to talk this way! Now shut up and let me get in character."

Ichigo fell silent, still nonplussed, as they walked side-by-side down several flights of stairs to the open courtyard. He couldn't help from sneaking glances at the youth beside him as they walked. The boy looked extraordinarily young to be going on dangerous missions for Aizen. Who was he, really? And why was he risking his life for something this inconsequential?

When they reached the foot of the stairs, and the great wooden door that led to the courtyard, Ichigo paused. "Can you just tell me one thing? How old are you?"

The boy stared at him for a moment out of those brilliant green eyes. Then he shrugged. "Fifteen." With that he pushed the heavy door open and emerged into the pale sunlight of the courtyard.

As Ichigo trailed the boy across the cobblestones, a tiny, black-haired woman came running toward them.

"Hey Ichigo," Rukia called out, "Nii-sama has a question for you before you go upstairs." Her eyes turned to the boy beside him. "Uryuu! Are you going to be joining the strategy meeting?"

The boy pushed his glasses up his nose. "I need to return to the world of the living immediately. I have urgent business to take care of before we go to battle."

Rukia nodded as Ichigo watched her carefully. She seemed completely unsuspicious. Was she truly feeling Ishida's reiatsu at this moment? To Ichigo, it was blatantly obvious that the boy beside him was not their nakama. He felt a touch of awe at Aizen's power, that the illusion was so complete even when the man himself was not even present.

"In that case, have a safe journey home. Did Nii-sama send anyone to guide you to the clan senkaimon?"

'Ishida' nodded. "Yes, thank you very much." He raised an eyebrow in a cool salute. "We'll meet again soon, I'm certain, and hopefully Kurosaki will finally be able to bring justice to all of us—including my people."

Rukia nodded fiercely. "Yes. I'm certain Ichigo will bring us all what we need."

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Climbing back up the stairs, Ichigo felt disturbed by the encounter in a way he couldn't put his finger on.

—Aizen?

—Yes, Ichigo? The mental voice sounded distracted.

—How can Kyouka Suigetsu work even when you're not around to direct the illusion consciously?

—Human senses are remarkably porous, Aizen explained. The brain fills in the blanks in sensory perception all the time. Do you remember that the human eye has a 'blind spot'?

Ichigo acquiesced.

—You are not aware of it because your brain fills in the unperceived area to make it appear to be a smooth, complete tapestry. This is the basis for many so-called optical illusions in the real world. My illusions are not so different. They touch the part of the sensory cortex that creates the shorthand in your consciousness that spells, say, 'butterfly' or 'swamp', and from then on, the brain does not perceive anything different. They would only notice something if it were jarringly dissimilar.

Ichigo frowned, not sure if he completely understood. He asked what he really wanted to know.

—What's with this body double of yours playing Ishida?

—Ah. Just tying up a loose end.

Ichigo felt a surge of anger at Aizen's cavalier attitude. —Isn't this unnecessarily complicated? Why didn't you just tell everyone the truth?

—I didn't want to deal with repeated explanations at this critical time, Aizen explained. There really isn't time for it, as all of our energy needs to be focused on the upcoming battles. It could be a dangerous distraction.

Ichigo half-snarled. —What's going to happen to the real Ishida?

— My agent will return to Karakura Town, and then I will release the real Ishida from my spell, along with a suitable memory modification. Don't worry. He will be unharmed.

—I didn't know you had agents in the human world.

—Of course I do. You know I command covert organizations in Soul Society and the human world, as well as overtly in Hueco Mundo.

Ichigo frowned. He hadn't really thought about it before, and had assumed all of Aizen's subordinates were in Las Noches.

—But… a fifteen-year-old? Isn't that illegal in Japan?

There was amusement in the mental voice. —Ichigo, surely you don't believe that I trouble myself with bothersome details such as the current laws in every single country in the world of the living?

Ichigo still felt distressed. —He's risking his life, he pointed out.

There was a sigh over the mental link. —Ichigo, how old were you when Urahara and Soul Society asked you to risk your life for them?

—That's not it and you know it! Ichigo retorted.

—I'm afraid that's exactly "it." Why do you persist on holding me to a higher standard than everybody else?

Ichigo frowned, abruptly chagrined. Was he really doing that? —Sorry.

Aizen sent him a calming, affectionate thought. —Don't worry about it. Now, I apologize, but I am in the middle of a highly demanding conversation here…

—No problem. Bye.

Ichigo stared blankly ahead as he climbed the long flight up stairs back up to his small attic room. He still felt frustrated. As usual, Aizen had gotten him to back down while cleverly evading any of his questions. And Aizen had basically admitted he was running a criminal organization in the world of the living and probably in Soul Society as well.

He frowned. Despite his feelings for the man, it was his duty to maintain his conscience, given that Aizen apparently didn't have one. As the future king, he should make it his business to know everything Aizen had been doing, especially since the man would no doubt claim it was all in Ichigo's service.

But right now, he thought as he trudged up the stairs, he was too tired. All he wanted to do was catch a few more minutes of sleep before the next meeting began. He pushed open his bedroom door and collapsed on the bed. His eyes closed of their own accord.

The room shook, once, as though from a heavy impact. There was a rumbling in the corridor outside his room, and then a frantic pounding on his door. "Ichigo! Ichigo, wake up!"

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A/N: Special thanks to anonymous reviewers AizensTrueLove and cocoLily, who have reviewed so many of my chapters lately. *hugs*