Chapter 5: Soul Bonding

Ichigo.

Hear me.

At first, he couldn't move at all. He was aware that he was still breathing and his heart pounded desperately in his ears. He felt someone's hands on his face, heard other garbled voices, then felt himself being lifted and carried somewhere as his senses scrambled and he lost consciousness entirely.

His mind wandered for a time, going back and remembering from the beginning, and this time seeing always, the hand of the shinigami traitor that caused his creation, then sought to destroy him, then instead, battle by battle, raised him and shaped him, allowing him space to decide his own path, but setting obstacles in his way...or removing them. Yes, Sousuke Aizen had always been there, first observing, then experimenting and manipulating, then finally, reaching out to pull him closer.

"I love you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

But it couldn't be true, could it? Even if he meant the words, Aizen was a treacherous man, someone who could be cold, cruel...wicked. But he had felt none of those in the man's kiss. Instead, what he sensed in that kiss was intense loneliness, deep longing, and only a breath of hope. And as the kiss had intensified, he had felt something else...a deep, heartfelt rage of relief at finding something welcome and unexpected, something desired, but thought to be beyond reach. And where Sousuke Aizen's lips touched his, they trembled with the force of sudden completion, perfection, resolution.

But what do I feel in return?

Aizen was a hardened soul, jaded by an early life that Ichigo realized suddenly, he knew nothing about. While having acted the part of a deranged psychopath, there was a person underneath. And until he understood that person, from beginning to end...until he had traced the path of Sousuke Aizen's life and uncovered the pieces that would make sense of it, he could never come to resolution, himself, but would remain in doubt.

That left him only one path.

"I have to know him."

"Ichigo."

The voice that reached him was different this time...deep and calm, reassuring, the voice of a friend. He tried again to open his eyes, and squinted as light came in again. He found himself lying in a soft, comfortable bed, dressed in a dark, silken yukata and looking up into Byakuya Kuchiki's concerned eyes.

"Ichigo," he said again, this time with an edge of relief in his voice, "I am glad that you have returned to us. We were worried."

Rather than his Gotei uniform, Byakuya was dressed in a dark red yukata and he was attended by a younger man Ichigo also recognized.

"B-byakuya? Torio?"

"You have finally regained your senses," Byakuya observed as Torio set a tea tray on the nightstand.

"How did I get here? This is Kuchiki Manor, isn't it? I was in the prison...in Muken."

"Yes," Byakuya acknowledged, "You were in Sousuke Aizen's cell and suddenly lost consciousness. Unfortunately, the monitors within the cell appear to have stopped working at the moment you were attacked."

"I was attacked?" Ichigo mused, frowning.

"You do not remember what he did to you?" Byakuya asked, gazing into his eyes intently.

Can I tell him?

Can I trust him?

He is devoted to keeping to and enforcing the laws, and this goes against all kinds of laws. But he is also a friend, and he has overlooked a lot. Still, this is Sousuke Aizen. But that it's Sousuke Aizen means it's too big to handle alone. I don't know what to do!

"You seem conflicted about something," the clan leader observed, "I will leave you to your thoughts. If you need anything, Torio will serve you."

Byakuya rose and started towards the door, but was stopped a few step later a Ichigo sat up and called his name.

"Byakuya, wait!"

The noble turned and looked back at him curiously.

"What is it? Did you remember something?" he asked.

"Ah," Ichigo managed unsteadily, "Look, can you stay for a minute? I just...I need to talk to you...to ask you something."

Byakuya returned to his bedside and sat down again, then accepted a hot cup of tea from Torio, who handed a second to Ichigo, then departed the room. Byakuya sipped at his tea, then set it down and watched Ichigo silently, his dark eyes blinking slowly as he waited.

"Look, I don't want to get you involved in anything that might go against the law, here, but...Aizen told me some things. He told me some things that I don't feel comfortable talking about, but I need to find out if they are true or not."

Byakuya nodded briefly in understanding.

"What is it that you want me to do, Ichigo?" he asked quietly.

"Aizen's past records, I need to see them. I need to know about...where he came from, who his family is...everything! It's really important."

"I can see that your need is great," Byakuya said, more softly, "And because of your service to Soul Society and to my family, I wish that I could help you, but..."

"I know," Ichigo sighed, looking down at his hands, "You can't go against the law, right? You can't give me that kind of information about him. Central 46 probably doesn't want anyone to have access to it."

Byakuya's solemn eyes darkened and he bit his lip gently, looking a though he was struggling inwardly with something.

"It is not as you say," he answered finally, "There is more to the situation than you realize."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, giving him a surprised look.

"I am stepping over a line by telling you this, so you must keep it to yourself," Byakuya said, his eyes darkening even more, "Central 46 would probably have restricted the information. And in fact, that is the impression they are giving out, although it is not what is really happening."

"What's really happening, then? What's going on, Byakuya?" Ichigo asked urgently.

"No one really knows when or how it happened, or who might have been involved, but...what we do know is that, at some point before Aizen's capture, all records of his past disappeared...from the general records, from Central 46 records and from my own family's records within the Kuchiki family archive."

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed, "But I thought that...!"

"The records of each birth in Soul Society are instantly recorded into the Central 46 archive. We do not know how it happens, but there is a central record that is activated by a birth, and it will appear there without anyone actually taking the information down. In this way, any soul can be traced to its origin. Souls in the living world come from those in Soul Society who pass over into mortal life, then they later die and return here. But...all souls are recorded when born or arriving here. After Aizen's defeat, the records were checked carefully. And to our disbelief, there was no record of his birth or passing over. According to Central 46, the man does not exist!"

"What? How is that possible?"

"We do not know. What we do know is that records of his past were also altered in the general record, which, as you would suspect, is easier to change, and might have been changed by Aizen, himself, to cover his actions."

"But it seems like you don't think that he was responsible for erasing his past from the Central 46 records."

"It is possible that he did," Byakuya sighed, looking troubled, "However...I do not know how he could have, even with his vast intellect. No one has ever done such a thing. And...if he did affect the records, he did not alter Gin or Tousen's. We were able to detect later that he had done so in the general records to hide some of their activities, but there was no sign of him having touched the records in Central 46. He conducted extensive research, but that was all capable of being traced back to him after the fact. He didn't seem to see a need to hide what he did...perhaps because he assumed he was going to be successful in becoming king."

"So, you would think he wouldn't have bothered to hide what he was doing if he also erased those records."

"He had a motive to erase them," Byakuya concluded, "but there is nothing at all to suggest that he did. And there is something else."

Ichigo gazed at the noble questioningly and waited silently.

"The records in the Kuchiki family archive have been altered. This was done after Aizen became a captain, because I was asked by the Captain Commander to check his background in our records before he was made a captain, and I found a record of him being born to an unknown peasant male and peasant female in West District fifty-three. I do not know if you are aware, but full records are not kept in the general record or my house records of births occurring in districts beyond District forty. The only place that record those births is Central 46. So, after my report, a request was sent to Central 46 to confirm his birth in the fifty-third district to two peasant parents. A reply came back confirming it, so he was promoted."

"So, what you're saying is that either whoever confirmed the report was lying about that information being there..."

"Or the information was erased from the Central 46 archive sometime after Aizen became a captain."

"But you know that he killed all of the councilors and had plenty of time to change the records," Ichigo mused, "But you don't think he changed the records? Why do you think that?"

"It is an instinct," Byakuya confessed, "I cannot prove it. But...once he killed the councilors in that place, he did not strive to conceal anything else. Why that? Why then? And we do not even know if it was done then...or before, or after. And there is no way to know. So, the truth is, whatever history that man has, it is lost."

Ichigo's eyes closed against the words.

"I am sorry," Byakuya went on, "I can see that your need for this information is great. But...I would caution you against asking such questions carelessly."

"What? Why?"

"We do not how those records were erased...if they were erased. But...there must be someone who does know, and who does not want that information to come to light. Ichigo, trust no one with this, except me, yourself and the one man whose intellect exceeds even his!"

"Kisuke?" Ichigo queried.

"Be careful where you are when you speak to even us about this. Because a soul that can do what this one has, can act against you even before you know he is there. The level of soul we are talking about...may be transcendent."

"Transcendent?" Ichigo whispered, his eyes widening, "You mean...like Aizen became?"

"Sousuke Aizen used the hougyoku to force his soul to evolve to that, but the transcendent souls I speak of live in the royal realm, because their power is too great to be loosed here. And even though there are souls there who are our allies, there are also malevolent beings...demons, if you will."

"So, you think one of them came here? I thought you said they were too powerful!"

"Their power is such that it could destroy much of Soul Society easily," the noble explained, "But...it is possible that one could have traveled here with his power sealed away and affected the records. That would make sense of the details we know. But what I cannot fathom is why one would do that. Aizen is imprisoned, but he will be released someday. And at that time, it would work against those making decisions about him to not be able to access his past. So, the truth lies in finding out who would benefit from his past being kept secret by all but Aizen, himself, and whoever erased that information."

"Damn," Ichigo sighed, shaking his head in disgust, "I really need that information."

"There is one last and very disturbing fact I will entrust to you," Byakuya went on, "The fact is that in Soul Society, only I and people I allow in are able to enter the Kuchiki archive. The only other entrance is from the royal realm. And of those in that place, only the royals and noble lords of highest stature living in the royal realm can enter the archive. Someone erased records there, and that they did only makes me more convinced it was not Aizen who did all of this. But the one who did is a very powerful person. Be careful, Ichigo. Be very careful."

Byakuya left him with that admonition and a reminder to rest, then Torio arrived and distracted him from his worries with a huge meal that made him warm inside and sleepy all over again. He laid back down and curled into the bedding, falling asleep quickly. His eyelids fluttered softly as he began to dream.

"I love you, Ichigo Kurosaki," Aizen breathed into his ear.

And this time, the other man was not bound to a chair in Central 46's Muken, but free of bindings and loosed within his inner world.

They sat beneath the tree by the lake where Kyouka Suigetsu had appeared, but the zanpakutou spirit was absent from the surface, leaving the two men alone. Ichigo sucked in a surprised breath as Aizen's warm arms wrapped around him, and the man's lips captured his as he was lowered onto his back.

"Be with me, my lover!"

He felt like screaming, looking up into those dark brown eyes and knowing how easily he could change from lover to killer. But Aizen's mouth possessed his, his hot tongue thrusting between his protesting lips and exploring him, tasting him thoroughly. Aizen's body trapped his, and his hips moved, rubbing their aroused lengths together through the thin barrier of their clothes.

"S-stop!" he gasped, trying to push Aizen away.

The other man's dark brown eyes found his, and Ichigo was stunned to see surprise at his behavior.

"Ichigo?" he asked, his face still reflecting desire and lust, "What is wrong?"

Ichigo backed away, then made a sound of dismay as the man in front of him disappeared and reappeared behind him. Aizen's arms embraced him again and the man's breath warmed his flushed earlobe.

"You must know that there is no escape," Aizen whispered, the words freezing the younger man's heart in his chest, "We are meant for each other. We balance each other. You can run from me, but you are only running away from a part of yourself, Ichigo. Close your eyes now. Feel the strength of our bond. Be one with me!"

Aizen's lips found his again and caressed them more gently. And Ichigo shivered at how the contact felt so right and so powerful, despite him knowing the kind of man Aizen was. He still wanted to pull free of the man, but his body refused to move as he wanted. His knees weakened and he was taken to the ground and undressed slowly.

He had expected Aizen's body to be cold, but he was devilishly hot, and his skin surprisingly soft and pleasantly scented. He wasn't sure when his clenched hands stopped resisting, when they clung instead, and his mouth began to explore Aizen's with surprising eagerness. His flesh quivered where Aizen's blazing member slid along an inner thigh, and he gasped as wetted fingers touched his flushed genitals, then moved on as they kissed harder, slowly beginning a wanton invasion.

"What are you doing? Stop!" Ichigo panted.

And to his surprise, Aizen paused, still caressing his privates, but not taking things any farther.

"Do you really want me to stop?" the elder man asked, closing his eyes and brushing his lips against Ichigo's again, teasingly, "Don't you want this too? Your body wants this. Your heart wants it. Why are you resisting?"

"I can't do this!" Ichigo exclaimed, pulling away and standing.

He pulled his clothes back into place and turned away.

"I can't be with someone like you."

"Ichigo..."

It was strange to him how the voice sounded farther away. He turned back and his eyes rounded as he saw something black and pointed pass suddenly through Aizen's naked body from behind. The traitor gasped in surprise and pain, then dropped to his knees, blood leaking from the wound and from his nose and mouth as something huge and out of focus stabbed him repeatedly.

"Ichigo!" he called, crawling towards the younger man, "Stop him!"

Ichigo flash stepped forward, only to have a huge hand wrap around his throat and lift him off his feet.

"Don't interfere! Stay out of the way and try not to get hurt!" the dark, beastly thing hissed.

"Ichigo!" Aizen howled, writhing as his body was pierced again.

"Stop! Stop it!" the shinigami substitute screamed, taking hold of the weapon that was killing the supposedly immortal Aizen, "I won't let you!"

The dark beast threw him down and kicked him away, and Ichigo screamed as pain erupted through his abdomen. He looked down and screamed again as he saw that his belly wasn't flat, but was larger and rounded.

Ichigo sat up in the bed, gasping for breath and his heart pounding furiously. A moment later, the door opened and Torio entered the darkened room.

"Are you all right, Master Ichigo?" the attendant asked, "Is there something you need?"

Ichigo looked down at his normal-sized belly and placed a hand on it, his heart still skipping painfully.

"No. No, I'm okay. I just...had a bad dream."

"Would you like some chamomile tea?" Torio offered, "I find it soothing when I've had a bad dream."

"S-sure, thanks," Ichigo sighed, closing his eyes and lying down again.

It was just a dream. All of that talk about Aizen just got to me. It's fine. I just need to rest. I'll learn more tomorrow.

The words and the tea Torio brought him, soothed him back into sleep and he rested through the night with no more nightmares. But even without dreams, he felt that constant other presence, that other heart that seemed to beat steadily in time with his.