"Hollowfication..." Hisagi gaped. "Is that Hollowfication, Captain Tousen?"
"Indeed."
"Why...?"
Tousen appeared in front of his former lieutenant and slashed him down the front.
"Hisagi!" Komamura roared. "Tenken!" He slashed down at Kaname, who effortlessly blocked the attack and kicked the large Captain in the side, sending him crashing down to the town below.
"It's strange..." Kaname mused. "That half-Shinigami boy you've allied with supposedly has the same Hollowfication ability. Is my obtaining that power something that must be scorned so?"
"He...Ichigo Kurosaki did not Hollowify because he wanted to, but you're different. You strayed onto that path of your own volition despite the fact you possessed sufficient powers as a Shinigami!" Komamura snarled. "That, Tousen, is corruption!"
"Corruption?"
"Why is moving away from Shinigami and closer to Hollow considered corruption? Those words come from a narrow-minded two-dimensional argument that recuperates Shinigami and Hollow into good and evil."
"NO! THE CORRUPTION I SPEAK OF IS BETREYING YOUR FRIENDS, ALLIES, AND EVEN SUBORDIATES IN AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN EXCESSIVE POWER!"
"Komamura..." Tousen started, but a black chain wrapped around is neck and sent him slamming into a nearby building. Hisagi appeared over him, holding Kaname's throat and his zanpakuto held over him.
"So I didn't step in far enough? It seems I am a bit too careless." He asked.
"No, I dodged half a step by reflex." Hisagi snarled. "Whenever I stand with my sword drawn, I always set up my stance so that I can dodge a half step. That's what you taught me, Captain Tousen. Back then, you said this to me, 'That is why you should be a seated officer'. The most important thing for a warrior is not power, but a heart that fears battle. It is because you fear that battle, that you can hold a sword and fight for those that fear battle the same as you do. Those who do not fear the very sword they hold are not worthy of holding a sword. Hisagi, if in your heart you truly do fear battle, then you possess something invaluable for a warrior!"
"I-i don't understand Captain Tousen. You said those words to me, so why would you cast all that aside just for power! Just what is it that you're afraid of now!"
Tousen shoved his sword through Hisagi's stomach, and he fell over the side of the building.
Sanura's eyes widened, and she lunged at the barrier, shoving it opened with her hands and letting it close behind her.
Kira stared.
"I've never seen that happen before..." He gaped.
"I am afraid," Tousen sneered. "For one hundred years, my fear has been assimilated by by you Shinigami and dying."
"Bankai!" Komamura roared. "Kokujou Tengen Myouou!"
"How foolish." Tousen snorted. "You have beheld my power, yet you still believe you can defeat me with a mere bankai?"
"Tousen..!"
Sanura glanced at the Shinigami she had caught, he was breathing heavily.
"Hisagi?" She muttered, prodding his shoulder.
His eyes squinted open.
"I'm gonna try to heal you, but I'm not great at it." She gave him an apologetic smile and he nodded.
Sanura placed her hands over the wound, and brought reitsu to her hands. It glowed green.
Hisagi's breathing evened out, and the wound stopped bleeding.
"Why did you catch me?" He asked.
"I told Komamura-taicho I would protect you, all of the injured. You were injured when you left, so you're part of that agreement."
"How did you get out of the barrier?"
"I...Opened it, and ran out." She helped him sit up. "I think you'll be alright now, I'm gonna go back and help Izuru-san." She stood and bolted back to the barrier.
Hisagi watched as her fingers ghosted over the reitsu and she shoved her fingers into part of it and pulled it open. The girl stepped through, and it snapped shut behind her.
-/-
"Finally drew your sword, huh?" Shinji sneered. "You're quite a slacker. Scared?"
Aizen was silent.
"Don't you ignore me. No matter how strong you say you've gotten, you must still have some misgivings. You said it yourself one hundred years ago, I didn't open my heart to you, I didn't give you any information, and I didn't try to get to know you. As a result, you know nothing of my zanpakuto's abilities. Just to let you know, Aizen, if you believe that you Kyouka Suigetsu is the only zanpakuto capable of completely controlling a person's senses, you're dead wrong."
"Collapse, Sakanade."
-/-
Tousen leapt at the giant's right arm, and sliced it, which in turn sliced Komamura himself. The former Ninth Division Taicho came in for another attack.
"Myouou!" Komamura yelled, back handing Tousen, and sending him flying to the city below for several blocks.
"Hmph." Tousen reappeared, his left arm mangled. "If I wound that giant, then you yourself get wounded as well...You have quite an inconvenient bankai, Komamura. It possesses such an immense destructive power, thus you've never most likely never though about not being able to defeat you enemy in one, much less them counter-attacking you."
His mangled arm, snapped back into place and healed.
"You truly have abandoned being a Shinigami, Tousen."
"In you current situation, those words make it sound as though you're making excuses for you defeat, Komamura. You called it corruption. You said that deceiving my friends and subordinates and pursuing power was 'corruption'. So I will ask you this, a person that enters an organization for revenge and in doing so, forgets his purpose amidst a life of peace and harmony isn't his pandering to that organization also corruption? To my blind eyes, it seems that it very much is."
"Tousen, your reason for becoming a Shinigami was..."
"Revenge." He confirmed. "You haven't been suspicious once, until now? Why were you not suspicious of an individual who joined the same organization as the individual who killed his most precious friend!"
"I...You said it was for justice. You said it was to fulfil the ideals of justice that your friend was unable to, and I believed you."
"That is correct, it was for justice." The mask on Tousen's face cracked where the mouth should be.
"So," Komamura roared. "So, just what is justice!"
"Forgiving the person who killed the person you love! That is truly virtuous! It's beautiful! So much so that I can't bear to look upon it! But does being virtuous imply justice! No! Living on in life of peaceful harmony without avenging your fallen friend, it's WICKEDNESS!"
"Very well..." Komamura sighed. "It seems that I misjudged your heart. If this is truly how you feel, then our fates are irreconcilable."
"Does this mean you'll cut me down then? Is that also justice? Don't make me laughed." Tousen scoffed.
"Yes, it is justice. If our beliefs are irreconcilable, then it is pointless to try and persuade you. For the sake of the Soul Society, I must cut you down. I do not want to, but I am content having been able to hear your true feelings. My heart has already forgiven you."
"Already forgiven me?" Tousen tilted his head. "Do not speak as if you are some kind of god, Komamura. When did I tell you to forgive me! If you want to kill me, then kill me! That is, if you're able to utter those same words after having witnessed my Resurrection!"
Sanura pouted.
'How come he gets a Resurrection before me?'
'You'll get the Resurrection sometime.' Szayel sent her a mental shrug. 'But for now, we have a guest.'
'There's a guest...In my inner world?' Sanura got feeling of disbelief.
'Yo!'
'AHH! WHAT THE HELL IS HICHIGO DOING IN MY HEAD!'
'None of us know that answer, Sanura.' Ulquiorra had come out of his state, and Sanura felt a rush of spiritual pressure.
'Well, Grimmjow's reaction will be worth having you all in my head.' She sighed.
"Suzumushi Mode One-Hundred: Grillar Grillo!" Tousen yelled. Darkness enveloped him.
When it cleared, Tousen looked like a fly with two long spiral horns, and a bushy tail.
The two bulbous eyes slid open.
"I can see..." The former Shinigami said. "I can see! I can see, Komamura! Heh..." The black-furred male bared sharp teeth. He began laughing and chanting 'I can see'.
"So that's the sky! And that's blood! And this is the world? And that's you? Komamura, you are more hideous than I imagined."
The wolf-like Shinigami's eyes narrowed into cold slits.
The two snarled, and Komamura swung the giant's sword, which Tousen caught. He drew a circle in the air with his other three hands.
"Los Nueve Aspectos." The technique impacted Komamura's Bankai directly in the chest with tremendous crushing power and sent it crashing to the ground.
Komamura fell to a similar injury.
"Shall I put an end to this, Komamura? Justice," Two lime green Ceros started charging in front of Tousen's eyes. "Is not something you can express in words."
A blade slammed into Tousen's head.
"Wha...?" The Cero dissolved.
"You really aren't Tousen-taicho anymore." Hisagi snarled. "If this was back when you were unable to see then you would've dodged a simple attack like this." He closed his eyes. "Reap, Kazeshini."
The shikai of the Ninth Division fukutaicho exploded in Tousen's head.
-/-
"What an interesting sword." Aizen commented as Shinji's shikai stopped spinning.
"Oh, stop. I'm not going to let you borrow it." The sword's pommel had become large ring, which allowed Sakanade to rotate around his hand without him having to touch it. In the blade were five holes.
"Although, I don't feel as though anything particular has changed. Perhaps I heard you wrong when you said it 'controls the senses'?"
"What are you talking about? It's changing already." Shinji grinned. "Hmmmmm? Whaaaaaat's this...?"
The blond looked around.
"Isn't that a lovely smell? Holding you breath won't do any good at this point. Welcome to the Inverted World."
From Aizen's view, Shinji was upside down.
"This is Sakanade's power. It reverses the opponent's senses of up and down and left and right. It's similar to one of those falling block puzzle traps. Neat, huh? Well, I don't suppose you play games or anything, right!" Shinji lunged.
"Interesting indeed..." Aizen smirked. "Everything is backwards, up and down, left and right and front and back as well."
Shinji's eyes widened.
"Did you think that I wouldn't notice!" A red blood stained Aizen's right sleeve.
"Apparently you didn't notice." Shinji snorted. "Left and right, up and down, front and back are all reversed...But at the same time, your vision as well as the direction you're cut from are also reversed. Can you fight when up and down, left and right, front and back and the direction you take damage from are all mixed up inside your head? No, you can't. Nobody can. The stronger you are the more used you are to combat, the more likely your body is to react to only what you see!"
Aizen managed to get beside Shinji.
"Oh? And here I was intrigued, but it's nothing more than an optical illusion." The man sliced Shinji's back. "It's vastly different than my power, which controls all five senses. Your power is nothing once your opponent grows accustomed to it. It's a children's game, Shinji Hirako."
-/-
"Komamura...Hisagi..." Kaname gasped.
"Don't speak." The wolf-like Captain demanded. "You may be able to draw breath due to your Hollow powers, but your throat is torn open. It's not necessary for you to speak now."
"Tousen, before we fought, you said that you 'knew we would eventually cross blades', truthfully, I felt the same way while we were fighting. Hisagi most likely did as well. Our relationship up until now was only temporary. That we would cross blades like this was a fate we both understood in our hearts. I won't tell you not to hate me, I won't tell you not to bear a grudge against me, all I ask is that you don't sacrifice yourself for the sake of revenge. If you were to do that, and I were to lose you, like you lost your friend, it would break my heart."
A tear slipped from Tousen's pale lavender eyes, trekking a path down the side of his face and glimmering in the faint sun.
"Thank you, Komamura." Tousen rasped. "Hisagi, let me have a good look at your face. I can still see right now due to the affects of my Hollowfication, I want to look upon your face while I still can. "
Sanura strode slowly over, wanting to finally greet him.
"Is...Is that Sanura-sama?" He rasped turning his eyes to the girl. She smiled and bolted forward.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Tousen Kaname." She placed a hand on his. "Rest well, bringer of justice." She stepped back beside Hisagi as he exploded in a spray of crimson blood, which rained onto the three.
Sanura returned to her post at the barrier.
"Aizen...! AIZEN!" Komamura whirled on Heuco Mundo's lord.
He looked over his shoulder.
The sky behind Aizen ruptured, like a thousand shards of a mirror, and Ichigo barrelled out.
The substitute fired off a Getsuga.
The blow was stopped by a barrier at Aizen's neck.
"It's been a long time, Ryoka boy." Aizen's cold copper eyes turned to look at him.
"The attack was good, but the location was poor." Aizen smirked at his shocked expression. "The back of the neck is a living creature's greatest blind spot. Did you think I would show up to a battle without preparing any kind of defence in such a place?"
"Shall I try to guess what you're thinking?" Aizen continued. "I made a mistake in judgement with the first attack. I should've Hollowfied before firing it. If I had done so, I could've finished this up in one attack. Give it a try. I will show you how presumptuous that idea is."
Ichigo brought a hand to his face, and pulled on his mask.
"That's right, come at me."
"Getsuga..." Ichigo swung his arm back. "Tenshou!" He let the attack rip.
"What's wrong?" Aizen asked from behind him. "You didn't hit me."
Ichigo jumped away and skidded backwards.
"Why are you putting so much distance between us?" Aizen raised an eyebrow. "If you want to make sure it hits me, then you should get close and fire. Or, is it that you're afraid of letting even a part of me out of your field of vision by getting close? If that's the case, then it's a foolish thought. Distance only has meaning in a fight between those who possess equal power. With you and I, distance holds no meaning at all. Watch, if I do this with my hand," He Shunpo-d forward and placed a hand on Ichigo's chest. "it's almost instantly at your heart."
Ichigo sliced at him, but Aizen appeared behind him again with is hands in his coat pockets.
"I'll ask you one thing, Ryoka boy. To what end do you fight me? Do you have some kind of hatred for me? You shouldn't. The fact that you're here means that Orihime Inoue has returned to safety, and by looking at your face, I can tell none of your friends are dead. Given those facts, are you able to hate me from the bottom of your heart? No, you're not. At this moment, you possess no hatred, and are swinging your sword only out of sense of duty. That will not work against me. A will to fight without hatred is like an eagle without any wings; you can't protect anything with it. Your helpless friends serve as nothing more than weights to hold you back."
Ichigo suddenly found Komamura beside him.
"Do not let him get the best of you, Ichigo Kurosaki." He warned.
"Komamura-san!"
"Provocation is his special ability, lose yourself and you will lose your life as well. Rest assured, we know the reason why the captains who went to Heuco Mundo sent you here first. We will not let you witness Aizen's shikai!"
"We will fight and protect you."
The Gotei Thirteen and the Visored were suddenly in front of him.
"You're gonna fight and protect me..!" Ichigo gaped. "What're you saying? That's crazy. You're all beat to hell!"
"What do you mean 'crazy'?" Shinji asked. "Letting you fight alone, now that's crazy!There'll be loads of people who won't be able to control their anger if you go at it alone and get killed. Don't bear this burden alone, and don't give me any cheek. This fight belongs to all of us."
Toshiro suddenly lunged forward, and Aizen's blade clashed against his own.
AN- Translations
Sakanade- Irritate, literally, rub the wrong way. [Japanese]
Suzumushi- Pure insect [Japanese]
Grillar Grillo- Chirping Cricket [Spanish]; Cricket of Maddening Shackles
Los Nueve Aspectos- The nine aspects [Spanish]; The nine phase rings of murder
Ryoka- Traveller who brings misfortune. [Japanese.]
Review (Yes, there is only one...)
Lime Toaster Cat: [Nice chapters! unfortunately i disappeared off the face of the internet for the past little while so i missed a few new chapters. thanks for the cake, and sorry 4 not reviewing recently... (phew!) now I'm now guilty :) ] Awe, don't be guilty! Thank you!
Grimmjow and Sanura: Happy Easter, everyone!
Rukia: -runs past carrying a basket and dressed in a rabbit suit-
Ichigo, Renji, Toshiro, Ukitake, Shunsui: BRING BACK THAT CHOCOLATE!