Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
A/N: Due to being busy with other things and the like, this chapter is a bit shorter than most of the previous ones, although it gets together the main setting for the rest of this little arc in the plotline.
Directly after what had happened in the previous chapter...
"Ugh..." Aizen grumbled under his breath as he stormed across the room.
"Is something the matter, brother?" Aizen's twin brother called out from behind him, following just a few steps behind.
"Don't 'brother' me! You know how annoying I find you! Go away!"
"Oh come on," Aizen's twin sighed, "There's no reason for you to be like that. As twins, we should be able to share a deep mental and emotional connection, but it takes a combined effort to do so...stop being so pessimistic all the time!"
"I think YOU should stop being so optimistic all the time!" Aizen snapped back over his shoulder, "You're always looking at the bright side of things, no matter how bad the situation is!"
"Well, if I don't, then who will? Anyway, I have no intention of spending the whole reunion having to argue with you, Sosuke. However, there is one thing I want to know..."
Aizen had a good idea of what was coming next. "...What is it?"
"Eh...d-did you give Hinamori my c-c-cellphone number like I asked the last time we saw each other?" Aizen's twin looked incredibly nervous as he asked about the girl he not-so-secretly had a crush on. As usual, Aizen failed to notice the incredible irony of the situation. The mullet-haired man stared thoughtfully at his brother for a brief moment before replying.
"I did..."
"A-And?" Aizen-brother's eyes lit up with excitement. For some reason, he was the only person Aizen ever felt a bit of guilt about ruining the hopes and dreams of.
"Well, you never got a call from her, did you?"
Aizen's brother drew back, as if his heart was physically breaking apart. "N-N-No...I didn't...never..."
"She doesn't seem to be interested in you at all, even though I told her we were twins and I showed her a picture of you. She thought you looked like a rapist. I wish she fell in love with you, because that would mean she could leave me the hell alone!"
"I...I see..."
"Besides, she's not a lesbian; she isn't attracted to pussies like you!"
"That was...that was an awful joke..."
"J-Just go away! I'm not in the mood right now for this!" Aizen really wanted a drink right now, but it had to be something with alcohol in it. For some reason, his head was pounding like crazy, and he could hear a faint ringing in the distance. There was a voice too, a familiar one, but he just couldn't quite tell who it was. It was yelling.
All of the sudden, the bespectacled Aizen look-alike pulled his brother into a tight embrace. "There's no need to push yourself away from the people who care about you! We...we can help!" He was still crying on the inside over finding out Hinamori had rejected him. It was not a very pleasant experience for either of the brothers. It didn't help that Aizen's twin brother had the gripping strength of a pro-wrestler.
"Let go of me, you imbecile!" Aizen screamed, waving his arms and legs about like some kind of madman. 'Doesn't anyone in my whole family understand the concept of keeping one's hands to themselves?'
"It's so tragic! So, so tragic...!"
"Y-You're crushing...my r-ribs...gaah..."
Suddenly, the voice that Aizen had heard, the one screaming out in the distance, drew steadily closer. He recognized it immediately; it was Strawberry's. Aizen felt something deep inside his chest begin to ache. His head was pounding, his breathing became labored, and his eyes were losing focus. He wanted to scream, he wanted to run, but he couldn't move at all. In the distance, standing there with a wry smirk on his lips, was Ginjou Kuugo. Two other men were standing beside him, but Aizen had never seen either of them before. Then there were flashes of red and white. He felt like he was drowning and he couldn't keep his head up above the waves for much longer. Just what was going on?
"Huh? Uh, Sosuke, are you okay?" Aizen's brother inquired; his previous depressed state was now replaced with concern for his brother's strange and sudden silence. A low, growling moan escaped Aizen's lips. No one else seemed to be acting strangely the same way that Aizen was, nor could any of them see Ginjou and his cohorts. The ground started to vibrate violently, and the floorboards under his feet burst apart.
Then...there was nothing at all but the darkness. This only lasted for a second or two.
Aizen's eyes snapped wide open immediately. He was still standing, but instead of inside the farmhouse, he was now in what appeared to be a vast, lonely desert in the middle of the night. There were a few dead trees and lopsided stone pillars that riddled the scenery. Far off into the distance stood a rounded structure, like a castle or a mansion. The eerie silence was broken by the rumbling howl of some foreign beast, hidden from view. Aizen cursed under his breath.
"This is a little better than being stuck at the family reunion," he murmured under his breath, "But not by much..."
Then, Aizen slowly peered over his shoulder, and he saw his twin brother, Chrisalis, Gin, Tousen, Kira and Matsumoto standing there all together.
"Damn it all!"
Gin smirked proudly. 'I'm glad I'm annoying him...'
