The Charming Bastard and the War on Souls

by Airaie

Dekuyume is accused of stealing domain from the Soul Kami. She is given an opportunity to prove herself, The Soul King of The Soul Society wants a soul of his own. But as Kiyoshi once said, not even the realm of the Kami was immune intrigue, and Dekuyume has pissed off a lot of Greater Kami handing out souls to whomever asked. Book 3 of Dekuyume

2. Dekuyume Book 3 - Part 1

SUMMARY: Dekuyume is accused of stealing domain from the Soul Kami. She is given an opportunity to prove herself, The Soul King of The Soul Society wants a soul of his own. But as Kiyoshi once said, not even the realm of the Kami was immune intrigue, and Dekuyume has pissed off a lot of greater Kami handing out souls to whomever asked.

Please note that this is the third book in the series and will not make sense without the other two.

From here on out: If you see anything familiar in here, then it probably isn't mine, because if it was mine, then it would have gone like this instead, now wouldn't it? Also, I apologize. I read a lot and don't necessarily remember where all of my inspirations come from, so if you write, thank you for feeding my addiction for that nebulous intoxicating phrase, What if?..

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Chapter 1: The Judgment of a Kami

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It was a novel experience, watching the Greater Kami translate the will of the Major Kami into speech. As far as Dekuyume could tell the entities simply existed, making no movements, emitting no light, and giving no indication that they were anything other than objects. She would have rather had Shikon-chan translating, she didn't trust anyone in here but herself. However her daughter was either still in the middle of defending her domain from the attempted takeover, or she had been denied entrance… which said a great deal about the fairness of said trial.

"While it is normally assumed that anyone with the ability to influence a domain has come by that power by Divine Right, there are some that think that you gained the ability to en-soul Kiyoshi, Land Kami of The Sacred Tree and all the others that have sought you out by… nefarious means. The celestial ocean has no laws against domain takeovers, so long as all the proper paperwork is submitted to all the relevant Greater Kami. There are none for you on file with any Greater Kami as such you are suspected of using your powers of adsorption on a flickering Kami of Souls and possibly even stealing domains as you reincarnate and en-soul other Kami. The reason cited is your highly suspicious demand for two seeds of eternity, proclaiming them necessary for the en-souling process, when as a Soul Kami, you should have no requirement but your will to let it be done."

Unfortunately this trial was reading more like a debate of semantics, as neither side could prove, or disprove anything. It was like trying to prove you committed no murder after being found in a room holding a knife and stained from head to toe with blood, but no victim to be found, but a whole pig roast on the table… and the next door neighbor missing.

With a graceful flair, Dekuyume brings her hands up, chain clinking softly as she uses the sleeve and its flower decoration to shield the bottom half of her face, idly wishing she had not left her fan behind. The other Kami see only her mysterious red eyes, but behind the sleeve, she was having a hard time keeping the smile off of her face. As perverse as it was, she was having funwith this.

"You are also in an atypical situation both spiritually, and in your domain construct. While many Kami have placeholders, where they can land their domain ships to more closely interact with the mortal plain, you have made yours a body, seeding both the mortal and immortal plain with points of interaction. To convolute matters more, your shrine was built by your mortal kin, is shared with four other Kami and yet held on the immortal plain in a territory filled with living souls. After several hours of debate, you have conviced us that the Higurashi Sanctuary is in compliance with The Division Proclamation,however, the mechanism by which you allow your souls to transform and portal to the mortal plain and the annexed section of The Spirit World is faulty." The deep and resonant voice of a practiced orator drifts off into an accusatory silence. The voice which had seemed to come from all directions at once now only an empty ringing silence.

Dekuyume simply nods addressing the room as a whole, and seemingly no one in particular. "Yes, purposefully so. What better way to prove that the catalysts(yōkai), quenchers(holy beings), and buffers(humans) can be mixed with impunity once more, than by offering temptation and having it ignored." She waives her shackled hands as she explains, "With the placeholders that I use as instanced incarnations of myself, I personally watch over them, occasionally aided by Kagome, Time Kami of The Well of Time, and Shikon, Greater Soul Kami of The Colloquium of Souls."

The Greater Soul Kami of Knowledge, The Amphitheater, the… building she was standing in the orchestra of, and whom she had been holding the bulk of her trial with, made an odd rumbling noise that must have been equivalent to a hmmm? She could only assume The Greater Kami were communicating with the three Major Kami in attendance, as her only way of knowing the Major Kami were even present, were the name tags placed in the koilon for them. The Greater Kami at least, had physical beings she could address, not that she had been given cause to speak to the scales of The Halls of Judgment, the chimera that was The Spirit of The forest, or The Spirit of the Mountain, a tiny mountain on the table next to its name tag, nearly obscuring the words with its clouds.

The shackles around her hands… were in fact the Greater Kami, The Shackled Prisoner, and hadn't that been a surprise, when after she poured her essence into this body, the shackles around her wrists had spoken and commended her decision to comply, rattling with the rasp of a thousand shattered prisoners, stating that it would have forced the issue before they left it's domain, had she not had the grace to do so herself. The Greater Kami hadn't spoken to her after that, and Dekuyume had been left embarrassed. She had assumed that the Greater Kami sent to collect her had been too lazy to leave his domain ship, sending only his regalia and a few of his underling Kami to apprehend her, only to find that the Greater Kami in question was there the whole time. Clearly she was in dire need of more information on the upper echelons adrift in the celestial ocean, and that her assumption that all threats would come from others of her rank was grossly inaccurate. In spite of the fact that Greater and Major Kami had a non-combatant policy, she should have known better. No one every really played by the rules, she certainly bent them within an inch of their lives.

Shiva, with his blue skin and many arms, was the most human in appearance of the Greater Kami present. He was also the only one of the higher Kami present to have a soul of his own. It was… unsettling that he also appeared to be the only one on her side.She could understand why though, the humans believed that he protected, created and transformed the universe. And he did, sort of, with the largest fate matrix drive in the entire celestial ocean, just barely beating out the size of the one on board The Fates, Shiva… governed karma. And Dekuyume had gathered an astronomical amount of karmic debt during her incarnations as Magatsuhi and Naraku. During her third reincarnation after Magatsuhi, she had cleared that debt, proving that she was willing, and able, to settle a debt the Kami had previously declared her incapable of repaying. He speaks for the Major Kami instead of The Amphitheater, "It is agreed, the growth of souls is always permitted. This argument is declared in your favor as well. However, the issue of domain theft remains unaddressed."

Safely guarded once more by her sleeve, the red eyed land Kami loses the battle to keep a grin from her face. Not that she had actually wanted to win that particular battle. Dekuyume had managed to crush all of the minor claims against her, made by the various Soul Kami in attendance who had become more and more agitated as their Greater and Major superiors dismissed their complaints as unjustified, or simply not important enough to deal with. It was a struggle, coming up with arguments on the spot, without the benefit of a time discrepancy to formulate an eloquent response. There was just one problem though, as of yet, she had not been able to get them to dismiss the domain theft. She could not, not when she was fully capable of doing as they had accused, and "I have enough work to do without taking on another domain."… was hardly going to convince a human, much less another Kami. She couldn't even honestly say that she hadn't considered it, because heart-deep in the frustration and desire to keep her otousan around, she had considered just that.

Her attention returns to the building as its mortar and stone ground words fill the air, deep and resonant, "Dekuyume, Land Kami of The Eternal Battlefield is there any argument you can give?" Dekuyume sighs, closing her eyes in frustration, "I have given the oath: I have not stolen the domain from any Kami for the purpose of en-souling my father, and it has been deemed too open to interpretation on the matter of purpose. I have acknowledged this freely, and bowed to the wisdom of the Greater Kami. I have given the oath: I have not, to the best of my knowledge, stolen domain from any Kami except for The Eternal Battlefield from the Shikon no Kami as part of my creation myth."

She glares at The Shinigami, Soul Kami of Death, The Sacrificial Death. "Certain Kami, have claimed that oath as proof that I am guilty, stating that the truth of the statement lies not in my claim of innocence, but that I removed the memories of doing so." She assumed that the demonic looking, shaggy white haired Kami that carried a tantō in his mouth had a name, but it had not been given, and so she was forced to use his title. "As I told The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death. I refuse to speak more plainly, giving my enemies a possible route of attack. I will not give them an opportunity to make me an oath-breaker. I will not allow them to destroy my name."

She sighs as she lowers her sleeve, no longer in the mood to smile. The shackles of The Shackled Prisoner clinking as she rubs her temples in frustration hoping to elicit some sympathy. "I have freely admitted that my connection to the domain of souls and reincarnation is tenuous at best, but still within my domain of battlefields. Hence my need for seeds of eternity to bind the soul fragments of the Kami's soul parents together, generating a soul for the Kami that I en-soul. By what means would the higher Kami have me prove my innocence, proving the inaccuracy of the allegations against me? Surely it must prove something, the fact that, had I actually done as I am accused of, my connection to the broader domain of souls would be stronger."

She implores them as her hands drop, "How would you have me prove how utterly inaccurate those accusations are? I know the higher Kami have something in mind, otherwise The Heavens Punishers would have executed me, as they have done to Ebisu fortune Kami of The Commercial Fisherman so recently for daring to name an Ayakashi-phantom as if it were a Shinki, blighting himself."

There is silence for several minutes, though she cannot determine why. Then, the answer comes, not from the higher Kami, but from The Soul King of The Soul Society. "As it stands now, the only connection between your soul and my domain is through your soul echoes in dimensions I tend. With addition to the encounter your soul had in The Void with The Kōtotsu after I loaned it to Yama-daiō, Soul Kami of The Spirit World. It will be very easy to see if there is any additional transfer of domain."

"Dekuyume of The Eternal Battlefield, it has been decided that you will use The Wheel of Reincarnation, with all of its monitoring devices activated to en-soul me, so that I may better understand those I govern."

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Chapter 2: The Wheel of Reincarnation

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It quickly became clear that en-souling The Soul King was going to be far more difficult than the others who had come to her. Not only were the mechanics a bit difficult to get right due to the differences between The Eternal Battlefield and The Wheel of Reincarnation, there was a far more serious problem. So far, the Kami that Dekuyume had en-souled or reincarnated, governed only her native dimension, however The Soul King was blessed with a nearly infinite array of dimensions, courtesy of his Prophet, Tite Kubo, and his bible: "Bleach" and the kaleidoscope of multiverse reality that was fan fiction.1

In all honesty, if she hadn't been granted permission to use The Wheel of Reincarnation she probably wouldn't have been able to do it. Her inner sorcerer railed against the thought of a magic she could not perform, but her inner scholar reveled at the thought of a new challenge.

Somewhere out there in the infinity of the celestial ocean, the world as the author had imagined it existed, and was the originating dimension of The Soul King. It had been quite helpful when she had been given a copy of the manga and anime for reference. It made her wish that she could forward it on to Sōta, her otouto had spoken of it often enough that she had recognized The Soul King instantly when she examined those who would sit in judgment of her trial. Her cute otouto would have gotten a kick out of it she was sure.

Thankfully, the few small tests that she had done, had shown that it was not necessary to remain in a Kami's originating dimension for the en-souling process. Because there was no way to do so for The Soul King, his entire existence in his originating dimension being clearly defined, including his end, leaving her no room to grant him a soul.

Yhwach was another example of the leading cause of death among Kami; their own children. As The Soul King's son, he bore the Kami's seed of eternity, and used that microcosm of The Soul King's domain to usurp his father, ending the Kami in the process. Clearly The Soul Society as a domain had conjured The Soul King back into existence, as she was en-souling the Kami for her trial. She had also been able to generate a scenario where Yhwach would be deprived of his seed of eternity and a shard of his soul long before he was sealed away. It would then be passed from parent to child for generations until it was given to newly forming soul of The Soul King. As a result, she only needed one other seed of eternity and soul shard, and Yhwach would simultaneously be deprived of the throne, and become the soul otousan of The Soul King. See, she had learned something about Karma.

There was enough math involved to send Kagome-chan into a coma, and Dekuyume just wasn't as skilled at programming fate matrices as Shikon-chan, but she was under no time constraints, enabling her to carefully construct the complicated fate matrix. The beauty of her construct, was that there was little deviation from the fundamental principles and actions of the originating dimension. It helped that the soul and reincarnation system of The Soul King's originating dimension was similar enough to what she was familiar with. It could in fact be considered simpler, because for all that there were a whole host of Kami watching over the dimension she would be using, The Soul King was the only one in charge of the movement of souls in that dimension. The Hueco Mundo, and The Hell Verse, having long since had their authority subsumed by The Soul Society and its Primary Operator.

All she had to do was think of yōkai and their incarnations of nature as hollows, with the holy beings opposite them being the Shinigami. The humans were again buffers, with the Quincy being some strange almost-parasite as their identity modifier tag originated from Yhwach, and wasn't found outside of any dimension a soul echo of Yhwach wasn't. She found it fundamentally pleasing… all souls had the capacity to become hollows or Shinigami, the choice made with the state of their heart upon death and their power was not limited to an affinity with any Kami, but a direct correlation to the size of their soul.

It made her curious to wonder who would be stronger if they went, Dekuyume or Yama-san. She had the benefit of her previous life as Onigumo/Naraku, who's already ancient soul had the 4,562,846 adsorbed souls of their victims fused into them… twice. Once when they were freshly removed from The Void, and another in the third timeline, when she found the red leather journal as a child and absorbed them along with the memories held inside. Then there was Yama-san, who was almost always the first soul born in a dimension and thus had the largest number of reincarnations possible before the end... Perhaps she would find out later, she had other things to worry about right now.

Though, It was… a bit strange, how the process of Konsō transformed souls into black hell butterflies and sent them to The Soul Society. When the butterfly first landed on the ground in The Soul Society and contained enough activation energy to do so, it re-transformed back into a human via an embedded code from The Soul Society. The metamorphosis often broke the Jell-O-like molding the souls had taken to their mortal forms so, not only had their garb changed, but often their appearance as well. She couldn't quite tell, either the souls simply preferred to be cast in Asian, or that they inadvertently imprinted that cast on the souls they sent. It was the latter one that made the most sense to her, as only souls with enough Reiryoku to qualify as Shinigami seemed to break the mold, having unique features and brilliant colors… even if it did start a chicken and egg argument.

It was also very nice that the reincarnation process was conducted behind the scenes while the souls were aware and moving about their surroundings in The Soul Society, El Hueco Mundo and all the connective bridges between them. Even if she found their living conditions to be less than ideal, it was still preferable to have the souls making use of the time, instead of comatose in a genesis pod. As a consequence of the differing reincarnation processes, she had to translate her fate matrix code from standard to the one used exclusively by The Soul Society. Even with her absolute all-the-way-down-to-the-genetic-level control over herself, it was giving her a headache.Now that she knew how it worked though, she had no compunction about utilizing the method when she reincarnated the Higurashi in the future. She would have fun dreaming with them.

She had been given a room on board The Wheel of Reincarnation to construct the fate matrix. She had no need of the genesis pods, as all reincarnation would be happening via The Soul Society. Her point of interest was the terminal that handled fate matrices, however… The room she had been given was the very same room where she had become the third reincarnation of Magatsuhi… twice upon the timelines.

It didn't bother her… at first. But as time went on and she remained confined to the room, the more she found herself wishing that she was home already. But she had been given a strict power budget to work with, and couldn't afford to hurry up the process anymore than she already had. For all that she had been separated from her family for longer periods of time, completing her duties as a Kami, there was just something about knowing that all she had to do was tune in to the instanced incarnation of herself at the kotatsu and Sakura tree, that made her presently forced separation unbearable. Over time the small irritation had grown and so it was, that her mind had already turned towards home when the final fate matrix changes were applied to dimension Bleach:12679752 and all the souls necessary to en-soul The Soul King.

Her thoughts were filled with her parents, siblings and children and the hope that things had gone well for them and the rest of the Higurashi while she was away. As she began to approach the exit, and the guards that had been stationed to watch her, her thoughts turned to Shikon's domain battle, hoping that the Higurashi weren't going to have to file paperwork to reclaim it from whatever Kami thought to usurp a Greater Kami.

It was the last thing to cross her mind before she was pushed into a genesis pod by The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death.

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She turned within the confines of the pod to watch as he sat in the observation seat brushing his long white mane of hair out of the way and two technicians took their places at the control panels. She thrashes around magically, throwing the immense power of her spirit and domain against the confined space to no effect. The pods were meant to prevent harm to The Wheel of Reincarnation and technicians. The unconscious flailing of the souls during their reincarnation preparations could be disastrous if unshielded during the high energy portions of the procedure.

She triggers the adsorption yōkai modifier on her soul and begins rapidly expanding, hoping to gain a mechanical advantage over the pod by converting energy to matter. It was deeply unpleasant, so much pressure on her body, and left her feeling like a baby bird who had grown too big for its egg, suffocating and crushed. It was working though, she could feel the metal giving way, having no safety's in place to deal with matter in this place meant for only Souls.

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The Shinigami watched as the two technicians began the startup procedures for reincarnation. He hoped for her recognition, and the lack of it. Perhaps the fear as she realized that she was once again being reincarnated by these particular technicians will distract her long enough that she does not realize that I am the Kami that assaulted her imouto with the Nora-shinki during The Netherworld uprising against The Spirit World. She is dangerous enough as it is, I do not wish for her to target me next and steal my domain. The farce of a trial earlier had made it clear, just how dangerous this soul was if given a chance to fight back.

The first technician, who's name-tag read (Bob: Apprentice Technician) was excited. They were going to be the first-non Kami to reincarnate a Kami, soul and all! Next to him, at the fate matrix console, the other technician, who's name-tag read (Dan: Master Technician) finishes adding the fate matrix adjusters and hits the start button. Looking at one of the displays Bob asks, "Um, why are you trying to use 43 variables in a 42 variable Fate matrix?"

The system beeps and a synthetic voice states, "INVALID ARGUMENT: process aborted, please adjust the non-compliant parameters and restart." Dan rolls his eyes, tempted to say something to his smart mouthed apprentice, but refrains due to the irritated Kami seated behind them. He quickly scans the display. His jaw drops in surprise as he realizes what the 43rd variable is and how utterly impossible it is. The door to Dekuyume's genesis pod tears open before he can even speak, filling the room with a river of intestines, gristle, tendons, nightmares and screams.

Thousands of enraged eyes swell and pop open like blisters on the lines of intestines, turning towards The Shinigami, who's tantō has fallen out of his mouth in surprise. Dekuyume lurches forward, no discernible action line due to the lack of muscles. She does not get far before she is stopped by The Wheel of Reincarnation.

Her mind is assaulted by countless images of landscapes with still lakes and oceans at sunset. She falls back into the pod with a gasp, shuddering, collapsing back into the shape of a naked Dekuyume as the matter is returned back into energy. Her chest heaves as she tries to calm herself, the sensation of the Major Kami's desire for calmness far clearer than the images she had been shown. Following some cue that she must have somehow given, and devoid of any Greater Kami to translate, Dekuyume found herself having something like a conversation with a Major Kami as it said:

Sensation{Pain}

Image{The third reincarnation born of the first time line, a ragged and tattered mass of soul in a decimated genesis pod, hardening and pushing out the embedded seeds, the damaged wreck of The Wheel of Reincarnation around it.}

Sensation{Gratitude, Irritation}

Image{Shikon and Kagome of the second timeline, talking as Naraku was rapidly reincarnated into the third reincarnation, using a considerable amount of The Wheel of Reincarnation's power in the process.}

Sensation{Familiarity, Exasperation}

Image{Dekuyume as she lay naked in the genesis pod she had just torn open like a trapped, panicked animal.}

She is tired and heavy from her previous exertion as she replies, "The Eternal Battlefield apologizes to The Wheel of Reincarnation for it's almost destruction at the hands of foolish technicians in the first timeline, for the power that was used in the second, and the harm she has done in this one." Dekuyume ignores The Shinigami who chokes while placing the tantō back in his mouth.

Sensation{Puzzlement}

Trying again, Dekuyume resorts to prayers hoping that they have a better chance of reaching the Major Kami. ((The Eternal Battlefield apologizes to The Wheel of Reincarnation for almost destroying it in the first timeline, for the power that was stolen in the second, and the harm she has done in this one.)) Again, The Shinigami chokes, causing a small smile to bloom across her face before she hides it.

Sensation{Surprise, Curiosity, Intensity, Danger, Self-Control, Benevolence, Interest}

Dekuyume is forced to inhale sharply as the intense Kaleidoscope of emotions crashes over her like waves battering a rock, intense, but blessedly brief as they move past.

Sensation{Understanding, Desire}

Image{Dekuyume, in the genesis pod next to the damaged one she currently rested in.}

Audio Clip{A technician explaining karma to his apprentice, and why it must always be paid back.}

Her hands clench and she forces them to relax, ((The Eternal Battlefield wishes to go home and be with her family. She does not wish to forget anything about this incarnation she currently wears, to have another layer added to her being when she is not done experiencing this one.))

Sensation{Desire, Unyielding}

Image{Dekuyume, in the genesis pod next to the damaged one she currently rested in.}

Her hands tremble as she pulls herself out of the damaged genesis pod. The Shinigami mutters, "I hate you, Thief. There is no balance in what you do.", as she passes by on her way to the second genesis pod. The two technicians skittering out of her line of sight as she glances over them. As she lays back inside the other pod she glares back at him, "One day, when you least expect it. I will conquer your domain and give you a reason to have done so all along." She considered arguing with him on the matter of balance, but in the end, balance was dependent on the scales you were using, and what you were measuring against.

Higurashi Dekuyume's eyes close for the last time as the door to the pod closes. ((The Eternal Battlefield accepts the price The Wheel of Reincarnation demands for the settling of her debt. And asks that if any of the Higurashi pass into The Wheel of Reincarnation, that the marks placed on them by The Eternal Battlefield not be removed, so that she might find them again afterwards…))

Sensation{Pleasure, Equivalence, Reassurance}

Image{The Higurashi Sanctuary, the kotatsu, the Sakura tree, her fan and a steaming cup of tea waiting in her usual spot while her family eats dinner, the glowing outline of the sunset painted butterfly she had drawn on their backs in her own essence}

And then the pod beeps, signaling the start of the procedure that would lull the soul into a coma.

Slowly, Higurashi Dekuyume falls asleep, dreaming of home.

1: Yes, I am saying that Fan fiction is reality to those who live in those created worlds, for better or worse (mostly worse, thank you tragedy genre). And to everyone who's mind was just blown: Welcome to god mode.

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Chapter 3 :The Seamstress

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Shutara Senjumaru had been given orders to travel to The Wheel of Reincarnation to collect a newly reincarnated soul. She was to carry the soul back to Bleach:12679752, and stitch the soul into a Japanese-English boy with stern reminder that she was to make sure that it fused properly with the soul echo that was already in the forming fetus. The souls were different enough that the procedure had to be done manually, the dissonant doppelganger soul echoes would not merge on their own.

Regardless of his form, The Soul King saw the future, and had no reason to play with time, disturbing the delicate balance of souls in each dimension he oversaw. Senjumaru alone was enough for the few rare instances this sort of thing was necessary. A simple enough task for her, she was certainly fast enough to get the soul into the body before it started hardening.

There were no doubts in her, not as she waited for the reincarnation process to finish, not as the pod opened, coating the room in the souls unfettered Reiatsu oppressive and heavy. There are no doubts as she takes the soul, heavy, even in the thousand hands of her Shikai and painstakingly stitches it to the already incredible soul inside the heavily pregnant mother.

It does not matter, that the human woman was already hospitalized. That the soul already inside her unborn son had been too much for her much weaker Reiryoku to contain. It does not matter, that so much Reiryoku in a human being was a siren call to every hollow in the entire country, or that the titty bitty baby would have no defense against them.

It does not matter, because this is the will of The Soul King and people never truly die, they only move on. It didn't matter if the soul's next incarnation was a hollow or a Shinigami, The Soul King balanced everything out in the end. She is gone, returned to The Soul King's palace before the heart monitor flat lines and nurses rush in to save the pair. They rejoice as the boy is born, even as they fail to save the mother.

Higanbana Aizen, the Red Spider Lily of the Devil's Advocate biker gang, lived long enough to hold her son, and with her last breath she named him, Sōsuke.

And for a moment, just one single moment, the baby's doe brown eyes, were red.

Deep within the Fate Matrix for the dimension… a subroutine starts.

Because Dekuyume may have outgrown her past incarnations,

but even if it changed what pattern it was weaving,

a spider never stopped spinning its webs.

Hanakotoba

Red Spider Lily: Never to meet again/Lost memory/Abandonment

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Chapter 4 : Just a Baby

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Sasakibe was on patrol in the human world when it happened. Sitting in his favorite tea shop looking every inch a distinguished English gentleman, leisurely enjoying a nice cup of earl Grey at a quaint little table with adorable little tea cups. He was in fact quite busy, only taking a short break for tea and contemplating whether or not the worst thing about being a Shinigami was being unable to enjoy these delights whenever he so willed, or that no matter how many souls were sent to Soul Society, there were always more waiting just around the corner.

The event was a ripple of Reiatsu crashing through the city with the force of a tsunami. All over the island of England, spiritually sensitive beings were brought to their knees. Sasakibe rose cautiously from his collapsed position, giving embarrassed words of explanation to the worried waiter and patrons. Even after hours of conversation over the phone to Soul Society and that odious Kurotsuchi, the origin of the blast could not be determined.

All Reiatsu eventually returned to its source, but whatever had caused the pulse had done so, so chaotically, that… well, it was a bit silly of a comparison to make since Reiatsu had no mind of its own, but it could be compared to a small child who had wandered too far away from home, and couldn't seem to find its way back. Some of it wandered around aimlessly, determined to find its way back on its own, only to get more and more lost. Other bits went on a gambol, all a flutter with excitement as it explored this strange new world it found itself in. Here and there were clumps of Reiatsu that slumped and burbled like a pouting child determined to blame this whole mess on someone else. But the most interesting bits of Reiatsu, were the bits and bobs that actually seemed to knowwhat they were doing, and had begun to move in a concerted grid like movement as if mapping out the area.

Perhaps the most unnerving thing, regardless of Kurotsuchi's scoffing, was that the Reiatsu seemed to be… self aware. Every now and then a minor hollow would attempt to eat the free Reiatsu, only to be crushed to death in retaliation… it didn't matter which behavior the Reiatsu under attack was displaying, be it determined, playful, sulking, or assured, every aspect nearby would immediately become defensive. Sasakibe would have been quite… alarmed if the crushed hollows had simply dissolved out of existence they way they did when attacked by a Quincy.The last thing the world needed right now was for Yhwach to be reincarnated. It also didn't appear to be another deformed hollow like the one that had been in Naruki City a few years ago.

And why did he have such faith in his assumptions? Because the hallows that were crushed by the mysterious Reiatsu burst into hell butterflies when they perished, as if a very powerful Shinigami had performed the 4th Rite of Kaidō (Death): Konsō, The Soul Burial. It wasn't something they liked to advertise, the fact that Konsō could be done to hollows, thus breaking the composite soul apart back into the discreet individual souls that had been consumed before sending them all to Soul Society. Too many young Shinigami had been eaten, so determined to save everyone that they forgot… you couldn't save someone against their will. Though he did wonder at the… intelligence of the younger Shinigami, they knew that Ōetsu Nimaiya-san invented the Asauchi and thus enabled them to use zanpakutō a couple thousand years ago… did they not wonder how Soul Society kept the balance of souls without a zanpakutō to perform Konsō? Ah… children these days.

Less than 5 hours later, when the next wave crashed, almost all the hollows in the country of England had already fled or been crushed out of existence. The pluses who often fled at his approach wanting to linger longer in the world of the living, were now begging to be sent on, regardless of whatever it was they had been hanging around for. Sasakibe hadn't been this overworked in centuries. Sadly, by the time that the pluses were done accosting him, the reverberation as the Reiatsu returned to its owner, was already lost to the echoes. While it was a shame that the trail had gone cold, the dearth of pluses would make his job much easier in the future, with only the most tenacious of pluses remaining.

12 hours after the first shock wave, Sasakibe stood atop the Clock Tower in London, enjoying the scenery, but not the ambiance. With so many spiritual beings fleeing the country, London had become a spiritual wasteland. The only souls present were those too insensitive to realize anything was going on in the spiritual realm, Sasakibe, and the mysterious Reiatsu that had started it all were all that remained. It was such a lonely feeling.

With a sigh, his head tilts back to look up at the twinkling stars. It is only because he is looking up, admiring the way the violet Reiatsu paints the stars in colors he has never seen them wear before, that he spots the ripples in the atmosphere. Eyes widening, he braces himself for the impact that follows moments later, as the third Reiatsu burst that day crashes violently through the country. Without any smaller spiritually powerful souls to buffer it, Sasakibe suspects that it may make it all the way across the channel to France. He quickly launches into shunpo desperate to find the source of the Reiatsu, because surely, if it was all from a single soul as he suspected, it would die from Reiryoku depletion with how little of the Reiatsu was returning. What agony was this soul in, to so desperately throw Reiatsu into the world like this?

He slows as he comes to the front door of what can only be the dwelling of the tortured soul. Sasakibe's eyes close, as he steels himself, quickly swallowing a soul candy and relinquishing his Gigai, he begins to stride towards the orphanage before him with determination. There could be many reasons for the previous bursts of Reiatsu… but he feared the worst. The soul candy operates his Gigai, walking it away to a safe place to await his return.

The Sign on the entrance reads, Emilia's Loving Home for Unwanted Children, even as he phases through it. He walks through the orphanage attempting to feel out which soul inside was the source, but all the little children were asleep in their beds and cribs. The adults he finds are all in the Matron's office. A beleaguered middle aged woman sits behind her desk while her staff all stand around arguing. Her head is in her hands as she rubs her temples, clearly fighting off a headache, "I know it's wrong, but what would you have me do? It's too dangerous to put him with the other children, no one will believe that a toddler could destroy a room like that, much less the other… alarming things we've seen." Her eyes are red from previously shed tears, as she glares up at her staff. "There were problems before, but never this bad. That's why we decided to keep him a secret wasn't it, because we were worried about what kind of monster some secret government agency would turn an innocent little boy into?"

Sasakibe watches with a stony face as one by one the staff members meet her eyes, only to look away in shame and slink out the door like dogs with their tails between their legs. As the last one shuts the door, while staring at the second door in her office, the Matron pulls a flask of alcohol out of her desk with a mumbled, "What a bloody mess this is, poor lil tyke, what are we going to do with you?" As he glances at the second door, a soul ribbon catches his attention, and full of fear for what he will find, with a hollow in a orphanage, he shunpos through the wall and into the next room.

He stumbles to a halt, and for a few moments he can only stare. It was a meeting room at one point, probably used to introduce children to prospective parents with the Matron out of sight but still within a safe distance. It was a disaster area now, torn asunder by what looked like massive claws from a hollow, and uncontrolled Reiatsu. In the center of the room, pinned to the floor underneath a mountain of violet Reiatsu was a massive, rolling eyed, foaming mouth, wolverine shaped Adjuchas hollow… and across the room, with his tiny back pressed to the wall, cheeks stained from tears, and a tiny little trickle of blood oozing out of his hairline was what could only be an infant Aizen Sōsuke.

Well then… first things first. With a swish of Gonryōmaru, he cut the hollows mask, purifying it. Like magic, all of the not-quite-so-mysterious-anymore Reiatsu that had flooded London returned to the boy, like a receding tide. Sasakibe could only stare at the boy who stared back at him, with something that looked uncomfortably close to awe. Because… the Reiatsu all fit back into that tiny body as if it had never existed, no signs of strain or discomfort. Sasakibe could come to only one conclusion…

Slowly he approached the boy and knelt, "Hello there, I'm sorry it took so long for me to arrive. I had a bit of trouble finding you, you see." The boy smiles brilliantly, and Sasakibe's heart breaks just a little, "Hi! I'm Sōsuke! Are you a Jedi?" Sasakibe had been wrong… the most terrible thing about being a Shinigami… Was that souls did not reincarnate linearly, and sometimes you encountered someone you had met long ago, before they knew you at all…

For this reason it was standing policy to avoid all familiar souls, and to get another Shinigami to take over the patrol of that area. But this was Aizen Sōsuke… The man was taichō of the 5thdivision… but it was so suspicious, that Aizen-san's preceding human life would be so much stronger than the Shinigami appeared to be. Sasakibe smiles gently, reaching out slowly and patting the boy on the head, "I'm afraid I must disappoint you. I am no Jedi, I am a Shinigami. Gonryōmaru is much more effective than a mere light-saber." The boy didn't seem to care much, as he toddled into Sasakibe's arms, crying and sniffling all the way, a mumbled "I was so scared.", almost buried in the folds of the Shinigami's uniform. The exhausted child falls asleep quickly, and Sasakibe is left wondering if he had been alone all 12 hours since the first blast, as the scent of dirty diapers reaches his nose.

Freeing one hand he pulls his soul phone and dials the private phone number that connects directly to his taichō. "Eijisai-dono, I've found Aizen-san's previous human incarnation… he was the source of the Reiatsu bursts, and he may very well be the reason for the massive spike in the Earth's Soul balance about 2 years ago. What are your orders taichō. No matter what it is, I will, as always, carry it out faithfully."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke Age 5

Sarah Williams had seen many strange things in her long life, a boy who could move things with his mind and some purple light, was fairly tame in comparison to Jareth and his Labyrinth. It was a pity that at 84 years of age she was considered too old to adopt. Not that they would give a child to a single woman anyways. And while there were many things that she could say about thatbit of nonsense, she couldn't really tell anyone that she had lost her heart to a goblin king sometime around her thirties either.

She had known him for far longer, and she didn't know who had been more surprised. Her, for suddenly looking up into his eyes with his mischievously twisted eyebrows and realizing she loved him and not just the magic he brought into her hum-drum life. Or him, for realizing that he was loved by someone who had been strong enough to step into his masquerade and take off their mask, to look at him over the top of one of his crystals and see himon the other side and not an illusion of his making, and to steal his heart away as she moved ever closer to the heart of his Labyrinth.

Sarah is shaken from her reminiscence by a gentle tug on her sleeve and a quiet voice, "Ms Williams, can I go play with the Lego's?" She pats him on the head, "Yes Sōsuke, they're in the middle of the room on the yellow table." She watches the smile paint his face as he turns and surveys the room before walking assuredly into the very center. Sometimes she wondered if it would have been better, if he had been taken away by the goblins than having to deal with the neglect he experienced. The boy was 5 years old and anyone who paid attention could tell that he was blind as a bat, so why had it taken a call from the school to the orphanage to get him an optometrist visit? It just wasn't right that in an orphanage with so many employees and volunteers, only one old woman was willing to hold his hand.

Sōsuke glances up from the plastic building blocks as the doorbell chimes, the two people that enter are blurry, but experience has shown him that the tall one with the bright colors is probably a woman and the big lump around her middle was probably a baby. The short one rapidly walking towards him was most likely a kid, just as easily, he dismisses them as inconsequential. Under the watchful eyes of Ms Williams and the other kid's mother, the other child would not misbehave, and Sōsuke could easily outrun a pregnant woman if he had to for some reason.

The small blur was indeed another child, one that was quite excited to walk up to him and announce that they had finally convinced their mother to let them get dinosaur frames since their last pair of glasses broke. Sōsuke thought that might be the end of it as the child sat down and started playing with the Lego's too, but clearly this child was not done as it asked, "Are you here to get glasses too?"

Sōsuke wasn't quite sure what else you came to the eye doctor for, if it wasn't for glasses, but decided to answer the question honestly. After all, why would someone ask a question if they didn't want the answer? "Yes, they can't pretend there's nothing wrong with my eyes now that school has started." The other child leans in really close to Sōsuke's face, peering at him in confusion as if he could see some flaw in the composition of Sōsuke's eyes. Now that the other child had lost their blurriness, Sōsuke idly notes that the other child is in fact a boy if the short hair is anything to go by, and that his glasses are indeed broken and held together only by duct tape.

Before the boy can ask another question, Sōsuke decides to explain, "Except for Ms Williams, the others who work at the Orphanage like to pretend I don't need any help with anything, but now that I have started first grade, they can't anymore. Even the teachers at the school were in on it, pretending that I could read the board just fine, because I could answer the questions. It isn't my fault that the questions are so easy that I know the answer before they are done asking the question."

The boy grins and nods, "Yeah! I don't like it when they do that!" The child then launches into some story involving Ninjas, Aliens and how the power of the dinosaur shaped glasses would prevent both from reading his mind… Sōsuke smiles, nods along and idly wonders if this is karma, because he just can't bring himself to believe the boys far-fetched story. Apparently, the other child couldn't stand silence though, because once he was done with his story, he immediately asked another question. Sōsuke couldn't really understand why, he rather liked the quiet, it made it easier to hear The Force, she had a pretty voice.

"Since you're so smart, can you tell me where babies come from? Mama and Daddy won't tell me even though I am going to be getting a new brother or sister soon." Doe brown eyes narrow as his eyebrows drop down, Sōsuke's face twisting into a frown. He was a bit bewildered, "Huh? Why would you ask that? Don't you remember? They come from inside the mother down the long dark tube, with lots of weird squishy ripples, and they have to get a bath before they can be given to the mama since there is so much blood. The baby has to be really careful, or they could get tangled up in the rope and hurt themselves or the mama. It's really dangerous… Sometimes the Mama dies. So make sure you tell her you love her very much before she goes to the hospital to get the baby out. You might not see her again." The conversation ends then as the boy bursts into tears and runs back over to his mother.

He had only wanted to warn the boy, so Sōsuke doesn't really understand why the boy became so sad. It was a great honor to be born, and even if it was only for a few moments, being able to look up into your mother's eyes and know that they fought this great battle to make sure that you could live… made mothers heroes even greater than Jedilike Sasakibe. Fortunately for Sarah, Sōsuke is called into the office just then. She did not want to explain that Sōsuke's mother died in childbirth, or that Sōsuke's earliest memory was of her singing along to the radio as he was shaken in her womb, her motorbike cruising along at a much safer speed than she was reputed to travel before she became pregnant.

Sōsuke follows the optometrist, leaving behind the Higurashi Sanctuary cast in Lego's.

At the center, was a makeshift table set up under a plastic tree, all seats filled in with Lego men, except for one.

At the head of the table, a white flower sat.

It was the wrong shape, but Sōsuke pretended that it was a lotus all the same.

Hanakotoba

Lotus : far from the one he loves

zanpakutō

Gonryōmaru : Stern Spirit

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 5 : Just a Boy

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke Age 10

Sōsuke sat at a table underneath a cherry tree, pink petals falling around him. There was tea in the cup in his hands, the earl grey fragrant and sweet. All of the other orphans were on a field trip somewhere, Sōsuke didn't really care about beyond the fact that, as usual, Sōsuke had been excluded. He had long since given up on being upset, now it just made him smile, because the exclusion just made it easier for him to disappear with Sasakibe for a few hours. The white haired Jedi had carried Sōsuke to this orchard blooming with cherry trees with shunpo, an advanced Jedi trick that let them run really, really fast. The reason for the Sakura trees was because they reminded Sasakibe of one of the few things he preferred of Japanese culture over western.

The boy, with is doe brown eyes soft and peaceful could only agree. Cherry blossom viewing was indeed a beautiful thing. Slowly, he slumped against the trunk of the tree, the taste of tea on his lips and the fragrance of the flowers lulling him to sleep.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Dreaming? : The Higurashi Sanctuary

Slowly his eyes opened, deep and red, black hair caressing his bare skin where it showed from within the silken confines of his kimono. The cushion underneath him was very comfortable, but not as comfortable as the warmth coming from his legs, stretched out underneath the kotatsu. Gracefully, he lifted his Aster painted tea cup and took a sip, wondering when Sasakibe had switched from earl grey to hibiscus tea, but enjoying it all the same.

There is a quiet giggle to his right, and he turns to see his mother Kānēshon; motherly, beautiful, short brown hair, brown eyes (wasn't his mother Higanbana?). The woman hides a smile behind her hand, "It's good to see Shikon-chan as a girl again, though I don't think that Kurama-san would mind much either way." He follows her gaze to see Kurama-kun; mischievous, red headed, green eyed, wily, fox ears and four tails, using a wet lotus flower to tease Shikon-chan; amused, teenage girl, chin length black hair studded with a white starburst, red eyes as they sat at the edge of a decorative pond filled with koi. Suddenly the blushing girl smirks, and he knows that his daughter got that smirk from him. (But Sōsuke didn't have a daughter! He was too young!)

Deeper laughter comes from the other side of Kānēshon and he turns to find the source, taking another sip of tea even as a startled fox yip is muffled by water. He doesn't even have to look back to know that Shikon-chan has just invited/pushed Kurama-san to cool off in the water.

The man holding Kānēshon so tenderly was his father, Kiyoshi; fatherly, long black hair, deep blue eyes, honest smile) (really? He thought he went to the orphanage because no one knew who his father was). Kiyoshi wore a jinbaori decorated with leaves like the tree he could see in the distance. Kiyoshi frowns for a moment, seeing the expression on Sōsuke's face, but before he can ask what is wrong, the peaceful afternoon comes to an end.

It starts with a roar from Shikon-chan, "I am a Greater Soul Kami! How dare you trespass on my domain and raise your hand in violence towards my family!" There is a loud gong crash from the torri that leads to her domain, The Colloquium of Souls, as she draws Murasame and dashes off at top speed into her domain ship, Kurama-kun, Yusuke-kun; punk, spirit detective, black hair, brown eyes, Kazuma-kun; weird orange hairdo and… what was wrong with his face?, and Sōta-otouto, good boy, black hair, brown eyes… in a skirt? Not far behind her.

Sōsuke rises, feeling awkward in his own skin as he turns back and realizes that he is dreaming, that woman'sdream no less. Her mysterious red eyes flicker to his for a moment as the world seems to start shaking to pieces around them. "Go after them Sōsuke. I." She shakes her head in exasperation "We, need to know what happened. It may not seem important to you now, but one day I hope it will be."

With a nod, he turns and runs after the teenagers, he knows it should be weird, running around in a girl's body so much bigger than he is, but somehow it's as easy as breathing. He gets an explanation for why, almost as soon as he catches up. Seamlessly, Shikon-chan seems to transform into a boy, her hair standing strait up, face sharpening into something sharper, but her eyes just as red. Kazuma-kun, shouts comically, "Whoa! Dude! You're a dude again!" Shikon-chan rolls his eyes, "Hn. Kaasan is a consummate shape shifter you oaf, this is the blessing that she gave me when I rejoined the Higurashi." He spins on his heel, drawing his sword slightly from its sheath, "Now if you are done wasting time someone has attacked my domain."

The teens all quiet down, falling into step behind Shikon-chan as he starts marching deeper into the ship, "So, looks like we get to remind the bad guys why you shouldn't mess with the Higurashi." Shikon-chan glances back at the cocky black haired spirit detective with a vicious smirk, "Yes, Yusuke. That's exactly what we're going to do."

There isn't much of anything for Sōsuke to do, but watch as the 5 teens easily defeat the people running around The Colloquium of Souls. Somehow Sōsuke knows that there are clay soldiers protecting the souls left in Shikon-chan's care, and that these people that the teens are fighting, are not Kami, at least… not anymore. Each person left knocked out cold and bound by Sōta-otouto's Sutras or Kurama-kun's plants had been a Kami, before humans lost faith in them and stopped praying. Each one had a soul of their own, so they did not die when their domain collapsed back into the Aether, yet, they no longer had the massive power of a Kami to throw around. But they still knew all the secrets that Kami kept, including the ability to turn other souls into regalia, under powered and pathetic, but regalia all the same.

Shikon-chan growls impressively, "We don't have time for this! Kuwabara don't cut any dimensional holes in my ship! Yusuke, watch where you point that spirit gun, and Sōta try to keep those two idiots alive while you guys finish up these small fry." He glances back at Kurama for a single moment, "Try not to fall too far behind fox, I'm not going to slow down for you." The kitsune only grins, unable to speak something that would be wildly inappropriate for Sōsuke's ears before Shikon-chan disappears from sight leaving his lover to follow behind.

After a moment of indecision, Sōsuke decides to follow Shikon-chan. He is only mildly surprised to find that the moment the decision is made, he is floating along beside his daughter/son into the bridge of The Colloquium of Souls. Xipe Totec, a former Aztec god who only retained enough power to maintain his godhood through the power of archaeologists, scholars and Wikipedia, leans against the Primary Operator seat.

Shikon-chan glares, knowing that if the primary operator of The Flayed One had been able to sit in the marble shaped cradle in the podium that served as a reminder of her humble beginnings, he would have done so. The man grins grotesquely, "Pity you didn't kill my followers on the way here. I am still a god that feeds on sacrifices, their deaths would have made me stronger, not that I needed it."

The Kami wore a freshly peeled human skin and Shikon-chan was disgusted to realize that it came from Kui-Xing, the Kami of paperwork that directly served under her. "For daring to lay a hand on my vassal, you will suffer through your greatest fears for an eternity unending. You will wish that you had challenge Hell Itself instead of me, as my hands string you up into a tree, Sinner."

Xipe grins malevolently, it had been so easy! With his hand on the Primary Operator seat he owned this domain! It had been left wide open with no guards to be found! What a foolish Kami, this was proof for why you weren't supposed to make Greater Kami with souls. He leans forward to deliver his demands, only to blink as the room becomes oddly smoky at the edges. But when the defeated Greater Kami does nothing but stare back at him hatefully with eyes a charming shade of blood, he shrugs it off as nothing, sealing his fate and trapping himself in a dreaming.

Shikon-chan looks over the edge of the Sinning Tree wrapped around Xipe as Kurama-kun speaks, "Your hands, am I little goddess?" Shikon-chan smiles softly as he strolls up to the fox spirit leaning against the door to the bridge. Gently taking his hand, he leads him to the primary operator platform.

A brutal kick, knocks Xipe and the sinning tree away before he grins up at the fox spirit he had loved for three timelines. Green eyes watch with a kitsune's attentiveness as he turns his hand palm up. Shikon-chan smirks "I do believe there is one treasure that you set out to steal, and managed to capture, but never got to hold in your hands. I will remedy that now." His eyes narrow in concentration for a moment, before his entire being bursts into pink and purple lights. The power enshrouds the whole of The Colloquium of Souls, The Kami lights recede back into the bridge, coalescing into the Shikon no Tama, brilliantly shimmering rose-red in Kurama's upturned hand.

His tails swish behind him in amusement as he brings his Kami to his lips for a kiss, before placing his most precious treasure in the cradle that would only hold her. Secure in the primary operator seat, order is restored to her domain as she swiftly deals with all of the riffraff that was on board, checked up on the souls she guarded and learned that Kui-Xing had already been conjured back into existence and was reading the journal that served as his guidepost regalia. No doubt the little boy would be sitting at his desk tomorrow, with all of the paperwork filled out and waiting for her signature to wrap up this mess, bless his diligent little hands. She treated the Kami well for his invaluable service as it freed up much of her time to spend with her family in the Higurashi Sanctuary, and to go on escapades like her incarnation as Hiei.

As she rises from her primary operator seat, taking the form of Higurashi Shikon once more, she wraps her arms around her lover. "Kurama, I'm worried. This was too easy to deal with, that miserable fool was not capable of doing this without the aid of another Greater Kami. We don't go into domain war's with each other for a reason. This can only have been a distraction. I… I don't know what we'll find when we go back to the Higurashi Sanctuary." He runs his fingers through her hair, careful of the sharp ends of his claws, "I'm sure everything is fine. You may be the highest ranked Kami in the Higurashi, but if my understanding of your mother is right, you are not the most dangerous."

Shikon laughs as she pulls away, "If by Kaasan, you are referring to Dekuyume-neesan, then no, you're wrong." At the fox's quirked eyebrow she turns and leads the way back to where the three boys had gotten lost. "Dekuyume-neesan… can be considered my mother because part of her soul was used to make mine, the same can be said for Kagome-neechan. But the three of us are so closely tied together with our creation myths and shared history that Kagome-neechan feels like my imouto, and Dekuyume-neesan feels like my anesan who occasionally steps up to being my kaasan when she thinks I need a kick in the pants… or an outrageous present." She tilts her head back to look at him with a grin, "Honestly most of the time I just call Kānēshon, kaasan and Kiyoshi, tousan, and really… you wouldn't think it, but Kānēshon-kaasan is the most dangerous one of the Higurashi. You should hear some of the things she's thought of doing to reincarnation Kami for what all of us have been through. It's enough to give me shivers."

With a soft grin Sōta spots them, and catching the thread of the conversation he grins, "Yeah, Kaasan is the most dangerous, Shikon-chan is the most powerful, Tousan is the wisest, Ambrosia-kun is the kindest, Kagome-neesan is the happiest, and Dekuyume-neesan is the most prepared." None of the other three can understand why the two pseudo-siblings burst into laughter.

But as everything slowly begins to fade away, Sōsuke thinks he might have the answer.

Memory End and The Eternal Battlefield returns to sleep.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sasakibe watched the boy sleep amid the falling cherry blossoms with a troubled mind. Yesterday was August 6th, and while normally it would be just another day… This year, it was the day that Aizen Sōsuke revealed his treachery to Soul Society. While Eijisai-dono and Sasakibe had known that Aizen was concealing just how powerful his Reiryoku and Reiatsu was, that wasn't a cause for concern. Sasakibe himself rarely revealed just how powerful he had become, some people even forgetting that he had walked one step behind Eijisai-dono for over 1000 years before the Gotei 13 was even formed. Never mind just how long it had been since the Taichō of the 1stdivision had revealed just how powerful hewas.

Finally, Sōsuke thought as his doe brown eyes slowly open back in the orchard next to Sasakibe to watch the sun set, he now has a name for the red eyed woman who whispered to him through The Force. Dekuyume Higurashi, the desktop dreamer of the house of the setting sun. He still wasn't convinced that she was a goddess, though he was sure she believed that she was. The Force could do many strange and interesting things, if you could get enough of it to listen to you, he supposed there was no way to prove that you weren'ta god. That sounded like fun he'd have to try that one day when he was bored.

Sasakibe gently brushes the fallen flowers from the boys head, doe brown eyes a glow with inner peace warm the shinigami's heart from the ice and shadows cast upon it by the boys older self. "Did you have a good dream Sōsuke?" The boy nods, "Yeah." Sasakibe wants to ask, but strongly suspects that the red eyed woman Sōsuke occasionally mentions being in the dreams was Kyōka Suigetsu. It was fairly common for pluses that had a strong connection to their zanpakutō spirit to be able to enter their soul space long before ever receiving the spirits name or an Asauchi. No matter how much he wanted to ask, that was private territory for Shinigami, it would be dishonorable for Sasakibe to intrude when Sōsuke trusted him enough to answer any question he might ask, not knowing any better. Even if one day he would become their enemy. There were some things that just weren't done.

The Shinigami bows his head slightly, setting his tea aside and taking the boys tiny hands in his own. He sighs as he reveals his bad news to the young boy. "I've been summoned back to Soul Society."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The orphanage's field trip had been on a Saturday, and the other children had been so exuberant on Sunday both because of the trip the previous day, and because another child was adopted, that Sōsuke couldn't find anywhere quiet to think. As a result, it was already Monday and he hadn't even had time to think about Sasakibe leaving, much less Dekuyume. So, in math, he was taking the opportunity offered, a single substitute teacher; mousy, not going by the lesson plan, short, brown eyes, brown hair, plain conservative clothes, with a gentle voice was much easier to tune out than the muffled shrieking of thirty kids.

His eyes stare blankly out the window, his mind going over every last detail of the Higurashi Sanctuary, Dekuyume and her family in attempts to put off thinking about Sasakibe's rapidly approaching return to the Jedi Temple on The Soul Society. It wasn't as hard as you might think. He had dreamt of that woman off and on since the first time he had to use the force, and every time he did, even if no one else could see him, she always did. Always, she called out to him by name, "Sōsuke". And always, she seemed to have a hard time deciding if she was "Sōsuke" too, he could understand, sometimes he had a hard time realizing that he was "Sōsuke!" when he was dreaming he was her too. "Sōsuke Aizen! Pay attention. I certainly hope you don't behave this way for your usual math teacher!"

He turns his head to the front, blinking a few times as he realizes that the substitute; now angry, had been calling his name, and now the class was all giggling as they looked between him and the red faced teacher. She points to the chalk board and the math problem written down, "I asked you to come up here and solve this problem." He nods and rises from his seat to do as the teacher asked while she continues, "This is the 6th grade, you should know better than to be day dreaming when you are in class." Sōsuke pauses slightly in his steps, glancing at her for a moment, light from the windows glinting off of his glasses. While normally he would have just answered the question properly, but that, that right there was why he was going to be a jerk about it even if it made Ms Williams disappointed later.

The children whisper among themselves, giggling, and while Sōsuke knows why, he imagines that the substitute thinks that they are laughing at Sōsuke. A quick glance at the board before darting his eyes over to the mousy woman confirms his hypothesis. It was a bit crude, to single out a child for embarrassment in order to gain control over a classroom, particularly if you weren't careful and singled out the wrong child. Taking up the chalk Sōsuke writes the answer to the math problem. He turns and walks back to his seat pausing for a moment as the teacher demands "Sōsuke! That's not good enough! Get back here and show your work!" He glances back over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn back around. "I don't know how to write the answer simpler than that. Do it yourself if you think there is a way to break it down into smaller steps."

Unsurprisingly, the woman glares at Sōsuke "I may only be a substitute, but I still have the authority to send you to the principal's office for a call to your parents about your atrociously rude behavior!" Sōsuke only stares at her as the other children burst into laughter, unable to contain it any more. The woman walked right into that one didn't she? Sōsuke pushes up his glasses, before looking at her over the top of them, "I'm an orphan, Miss Substitute. The ability to call my parents would be a reward, not a punishment." Unwilling to lose a battle of words with a 10 year old, the teacher turns to the board and writes out her steps getting a different answer than Sōsuke, "And that boys and girls is why we should always show the steps. That way, if we get the wrong answer, we can figure out what we did wrong."

Sōsuke simply raises his hand, to make his next move in this little war of theirs, but the substitute shakes her head, "I'm sorry Sōsuke, you had your chance to answer the question." Sōsuke shrugs, "I had no intentions of doing so, I just didn't want you to mislead my classmates into thinking they could divide by zero. Someone might get hurt. So if you could please make sure that your lost minus sign gets found I would be appreciative."

Suffice to say, that moments after the substitute teacher fixes the minor issue she had with a lost minus sign, she reaches the same answer that Sōsuke had written on the board. The classroom bursts into laughter once more and unable to handle the embarrassment, the woman flees the room leaving the classroom. Sōsuke shakes his head at her foolishness, before pulling out his art supplies. As he opens his sketchpad, the noise in the room irks him. He looks up, "I do believe that Mr. Rogers wanted us to draw two towers of varying heights today, so that when he is back tomorrow, we can use the picture to figure out how to apply right angle postulates to real world phenomena like shadows."

He doesn't even have to raise his voice, as the other students pulled out the worksheet that their math teacher had given them the day before. And that was how you controlled a room full of people, perhaps when he grew up he should be a teacher? He was already better than the substitute at least.

His sketch of two towers was done in a matter of minutes, so he preoccupied himself by adding details. Some rust underneath the iron bars here, some splotches of lichen there. And from the tallest of the imaginary towers, a flag with a crest he had seen in Dekuyume's memories. The Higurashi setting sun.

With a sigh he idly begins to draw a swarm of simple butterflies while most of his attention drifts back to the window. Boring… so much about school was boring. The people, the classes, not even the material managed to hold his attention for long. There was only one exception, it was next, which put a smile on his face. He packs up his belongings just in time to rise from his seat as the bell rings. He had art next, and at least there, he didn't know what was going to appear until it was staring back at him. No one bothers him as he walks down the hall, he ignores them all the same, even as the substitute teacher with her red puffy eyes steps out of the rest room. His mind was already down the hall in the art classroom, setting up to paint. He was excited, because today he was going to paint Ms Williams and Jareth.

Sōsuke smiles as he thinks about them, paint smearing across canvas.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke Age 2

The caretakers at the orphanage said that he was dangerous, because strange things always happened around him, so he couldn't play with the other children. Every object would move as if pushed away from him when he was angry, sometimes even holding down full grown men until it passed.And the masked-monsters tore everything up something fierce, until the black and white robed Jedi and his dull steel light-saber came and sent them away.

They said that he was a liar, because there were no masked-monsters, no black and white robed Jedi and he was blaming his own actions on imaginary things to deny his own abilities. Only Ms Williams; like a grandma, with soft warm hands, believed him, even though she couldn't see the masked-monsters or the Jedi that came to save Sōsuke; cool robes, mustache, white hair, like a grandpa but not as wrinkly.

Sōsuke would have been worried for her, because it was hard to run away from danger if you didn't even know what you were running from; could she even run at all? But Ms Williams had one of the fair folk protecting her. He had to look through so many picture books to figure that out! Lucky for Sōsuke, he had seen a movie on Jedi and hadn't had to look for him in the picture books too!

He really liked Ms Williams, she would pat him on the head when he was a good boy, and like today, whenever she was feeling ok, she would take him outside, and they would sit under a tree. There she would pull out a chapter book, and teach him how to read. Yay! No more picture books! It was a beautiful spring day, her faerie was sitting in the upper branches of the tree pretending to be an owl; the kind that looked like they had horns, and the two of them were pretending that he wasn't there.

Sōsuke had gotten really good at pretending that he didn't see things. A little too good, because even though he was supposed to be careful while the Jedi was in Japan getting rid of some masked-monsters, Sōsuke wasn't. So distracted since Ms Williams had a found Star Wars book and he could learn more about Jedi, he didn't notice the change in air pressure until the crack was already forming in the sky. The masked-monster was almost all of the way out, and Sōsuke couldn't even think of something to do to protect Ms Williams. After all, no one had ever run away when he asked them to before… And with a masked-monster that was bigger than the Orphanage, where would they even hide?

The faerie had turned into a man then; blond fluffy hair, dressed like a prince with crazy eyebrows, and with just a smirk to Ms Williams, he waived his hand and out from all the teeny tiny hiding places in the garden, too small for even Sōsuke to hide in, a bunch of the faerie's minions;most of them were kinda ugly, jumped out to attack the giant. Sōsuke had watched in fascination.Individually, the minions weren't all that strong, but even ants could eat a lion if there were enough of them. They also didn't seem to be capable of dying either, so that probably helped a lot. They were actually laughing every time one of their comrades got stepped on, and the squished one would groan comically for a few seconds before popping back up and demanding vengeance. Sōsuke especially liked the fox in armor riding a dog.

It was only the light reflecting off of the crystal that Ms Williams faerie was playing with, that drew Sōsuke's attention away. The little spot of light had darted across his hands and Sōsuke had looked up at the faerie to see if he was the source of the light, knowing that the faerie had power over illusions and crystals. Sōsuke had been right, and also very lucky, because while everyone had been distracted by the giant masked-monster, a much smaller one had snuck up on the faerie. It reminded Sōsuke of the color changing chameleon from one of the picture books that Ms Williams had used to teach him his colors.

The chameleon masked-monster had its mouth wide open and was getting ready to shoot its tongue at the faerie.Sōsuke wasn't afraid of the little monsters any more though, it was only the really big ones and the ones that were hard for Sōsuke to sense that scared him. With little effort at all, Sōsuke threw his violet colored Force at the masked-monster, with a loud shout, "Leave Ms Williams Faerie alone!" The masked-monster fell out of the tree and hit the ground with a loud thud. Heaps of violet colored Force then pinned it to the ground as Sōsuke got up and walked over.

"O' lost soul, Sagiso blooms in the land of men, as a dew drop upon the white butterfly's back, fall to sublimation and evanesce into your next form, so that those that came before you, may follow after as the wheel turns once more. The 4th Rite of Kaidō (Death): Konsō, The Soul Burial!" A tiny star forms between his fingertips, glowing a pure oblivion-white. Gently Sōsuke touches the star to the masked-monster's mask. It bursts into butterflies and Sōsuke turns around to go back to Ms Williams, only to find everyone staring at him. Even the little minions seemed to have stopped their assault on the giant masked-monster.

Sōsuke shifts uneasily on his feet, he hoped it was because they were surprised he managed to memorize a Force poem spell that long, and not because he did something wrong… at least, he didn't think that he had done anything wrong. The Jedi did say to use that Force spell if Sōsuke was cornered and Sasakibe was too far away to help. Though, he did say to onlyuse it then, because it made Sasakibe's job much harder later when all of the butterflies made it back to The Soul Society.

Sōsuke wasn't really sure how the butterflies made it through space to whatever kind of space station The Soul Society was, or why the people that lived there would even want butterflies made out of masked-monsters. He figured it had something to do with maintaining the balance of The Force though, because the people that the Jedi talked to on the phone when he thought Sōsuke couldn't hear, were always complaining about the trouble missing souls were making in the balance.

They might have continued to stare at Sōsuke for ages were it not for the large masked-monster that suddenly let out a deep groan, prompting the minions to resume their assault. While Sōsuke stood there uncertainly, watching them, the faerie walked up to him and knelt down. Sōsuke's eyes darted to the faerie and was relieved to discover that Ms Williams had come with him. The old woman pulled him into a hug, whispering about how worried she was when he walked up to the masked-monster. Sōsuke tried to explain that he was ok and that he did it all the time, but for some reason that just made her more sad.

The faerie pulled him out of her arms then, twirling him around in the air until he giggled. "It appears that you have saved me from grievous harm. While there are several things that I could do in this situation, certain people have made it clear that I am a horrible parent type…" He smirked at Ms Williams then who only huffed in exasperation. The faerie grinned at Sōsuke next, "…however I am told I make a wonderful story teller, and an even better listener, so I give you my name, Jareth. Whenever you speak it I will hear, so no matter where you go in life, I will always be only a word away."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke Present Day

After that, Jareth would often appear at random, whimsical and carefree, sharing stories of magic, mazes, and illusions to entertain Sōsuke when Ms Williams and Sasakibe were too busy. So while Ms Williams taught Sōsuke how to read, and Sasakibe taught him how to use the Force to protect himself, Jareth taught Sōsuke how to dream, and the subtle art of mischievousness. Was it any wonder, that of all of the adults Sōsuke knew, he liked Jareth the best? Though in truth, even if Jareth had remained as nothing more than Ms Williams faerie, Jareth still would have been his favorite, because with his crystals and light, he reminded Sōsuke of …

Sōsuke sighs setting aside his paints, once again, it was there on the tip of his tongue, filling him with longing. That indiscernible something that he couldn't remember, the only thing in his whole life of remembering everything.It wasn't causing him any pain, nor did it overly influence his life choices, but whatever it was… remembering it left him feeling so complete, that no matter how much it ached to know that he did not have it now, he couldn't bring himself to just let it go.

The teacher; plump, no-nonsense, African-American lady with pretty beads in her hair, calls out a 10 minute warning for the end of class, telling them to start cleaning up. Bemused, Sōsuke wonders when class even started since he doesn't even remember putting on his apron or pulling out the supplies. He does as commanded, before being rushed on to the next class by a ringing bell.

A smiling, nostalgic Sōsuke leaves a portrait drying, a fae lord in princely riding garb, leaning towards a 15 year old girl in a sun dress, whispering in her ear. She looks away away with a small blush on her face almost hidden by her long brown hair, even as she peers into a crystal ball in her hand to sneak a peek at the faerie's reflection. The two stand against against the wall of a castle Sōsuke has never been to, but either of the persons in the painting would know as the heart of the Labyrinth.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke grins as he spots Sasakibe standing near the gates to the school. Since the other children and some parents were looking at the Jedi with curiosity, he knew that they could see him right now. Of course, any time Sasakibe was out of his Jedi uniform it was pretty much a given that he wasn't using to The Force to prevent the other people from knowing that the Jedi was there. Sōsuke runs up to the white haired man dressed like a butler, all smoothly pressed black, white and grey fabric and perfectly shiny shoes. Sōsuke didn't know why the Jedi liked dressing like that when he wasn't in uniform, but he looked really official so he could guess that it was to stop people from worrying about a weirdly dressed man walking around with a little kid.

Sasakibe smiles at the boy's enthusiasm, "I've been given a little extra time, while my replacement recovers from an injury. So I thought we should have tea one last time before I return." Sōsuke smiles blindingly, taking the gloved hand offered to him. Together the two of them stroll down the street to Sasakibe's favorite tea shop, the doe brown eyes in Sōsuke's face glittering as he talks about the painting he finished in class today.

The tea is sweet as always, even if this time he thinks the last sip tastes a little bitter.

Hanakotoba

Cherry blossom: Kind/Gentle

Aster : Remembrance

Hibiscus :Gentle

Sagiso:My thoughts will follow you into your dreams

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 6 : Just a Memory

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He was in art class again, painting as usual. What wasn't usual was that the teacher was going on and on about some competition that she wanted Sōsuke to send his paintings to. He sighs, setting the painting from last week down on the table, and turns to tell the teacher that the paintings were special to him, and he didn't want to share them with other people just for a ribbon he didn't have anyone to proudly show off to. There is a loud squirt and a very insincere, "Oops." Sōsuke can see the horror spreading across the teachers face, as she takes in the damage no doubt done to his painting of Sasakibe fighting a masked-monster. With interest, he watches as her eyes move over to the offender and anger set in as she realizes that this, was no accident. Huh… It looked like she was smart enough for it to be worth Sōsuke's time to remember her name.

He turns to examine his attacker, and finds it to be none other than one of the nameless orphans that he lives with, but does not interact with. He recognized her though, she; sweet face, blond hair, blue eyes, loved dresses and teddy bears, was one of those children that was always sweet as honey when prospective parents were nearby, but an absolute nightmare the rest of the time. How disappointing. Did the girl somehow think that by preventing Sōsuke from getting recognition for his talent, she could somehow improve her chances of getting parents? With her behavior Sōsuke didn't think so.

Idly grabbing some dabbing cloth, Sōsuke begins to wipe off the pink paint splattered across the painting. There was an odd emotion welling up inside of him, and he supposed that it was anger, not at the damage to his painting, but the insult she had issued to his pride. There was nothing for it then, but that was ok. He was curious to see just where this led. Perhaps one day he would send her a ticket to his art exhibit and give a speech about how it was all thanks to her for encouraging him to submit his art to that first competition when he had decided not to. After all, the best revenge was living well and having karma deal with the rest, now wasn't it?

Sōsuke sets the cloth and its pink stains aside, assessing the damage. "I can fix it, but it will have a lot more blood in it than some people would be ok with. Can you make sure that no one gets too upset when they see it at the competition?" The teacher just smiles at the boys character, unaware of the motives behind his apparent acceptance of the incident, "Of course dear, there's usually a little blurb about the painting and I'm sure we can include your explanation." Sōsuke only has enough warning to raise an arm to protect his eyes, as with a shrill yell of anger, the girl grabs a nearby clay sculpture and swings it at Sōsuke's head. The impact is enough to send him toppling off the stool to hit his head hard on the floor.

His last thought as he falls unconscious is that he wishes the other children would stop screaming, and that he should probably remember that girls name… this called for vengeance a little more thorough than simply living well.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Dreaming: Dekuyume first starts school

"Sensei says ur namez Deku-chan. Thas dumb, you shoullda ben cald Sicky-chan cuz ur not a computer. But ur alwaz sick." Dekuyume frowned up at the other girl standing in front of her desk. She couldn't remember the girls name, only that whenever the teacher handed their tests back, the girl said she would do better next time, right before the teacher told Dekuyume she did a good job with how often she was home sick. The other girl would puff out her cheeks and peek at Dekuyume's test score before turning around with a huff. She could only assume that she was getting better grades than the other girl. "If we was named by how we are, you shoullda ben called dummy-chan cuz even I do better than you and I's almost never here."

The remark hit the center of the target just like the arrows Sofu sometimes fired with the long bow during festivals at the shrine. Dekuyume knew this, because the other girl had nothing more to say, and responded by slapping Dekuyume as hard as she could while shouting that Dekuyume must be cheating. Dekuyume knew that this school was meant for children that were smarter than normal, and wondered if perhaps the other girl had gotten in because of cheating and was trying to use Dekuyume to hide that. It didn't matter really, there was only one thing on Dekuyume's mind at that point.

Revenge.

She couldn't spell it, but she certainly was going to get it. So she reached out for her school supplies, grabbed the sharpest pencil and stabbed her target in the hand. There, that would make her think twice about hitting me again! For some reason though, it wasn't the other girl that got in trouble, though Dekuyume knew that her name was Setsu now. The one that got sent home was Dekuyume. She couldn't understand why, Setsu had attacked first, she was only protecting herself.

She didn't really understand why she got in trouble until her kaasan explained it later that afternoon. "Dekuyume-chan, if the only thing Setsuko-chan could find wrong with you was your name, then she must think the rest of you is pretty amazing. I understand why you got into an argument with her, but you shouldn't have reacted so strongly. She had to go see a doctor because of what you did. And I know her doctor isn't anywhere near as nice as yours is."

Dekuyume clenches her little hands and trembles slightly as she asks, "Are Kaasan goin to punish Deku-tan?" But Kānēshon wasn't one to kick someone when they were down. Dekuyume knew this, but there was always a chance that this could be the straw that broke the camel's back. "Dekuyume-chan, you will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger."

Naturally this concept was a bit much for a 2 year old, even one so intelligent. Seeing the confused expression on her face, Kānēshon explains, "I don't have to punish you, because you have already punished yourself. You feel really bad right now don't you?" Dekuyume's eyes widen in surprise, how did kaasan know Dekuyume's heart was hurting? Slowly she nods to show she understood, and then her mother smiles gently before kneeling down and whispering a secret weapon into Dekuyume's ears. "Next time be silent and see what happens, I think you will be surprised by how beautiful it is to be silent, when someone expects your anger."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

End of Dekuyume's First School Year

Kaasan's secret weapon had helped… for a while. It had been a challenge to keep the smile off of her face the first time Setsuna had tried to make fun of Dekuyume, only to have Dekuyume smile back and ask, "All the time I was out and that was the best you could come up with?" It had taken a lot of practice at night to make sure she got the sentence out perfectly, but the expression on the other girls face was worth the effort. But eventually Setsuna grew immune to Kaasan's secret weapon and managed to get more people to think that Dekuyume was cheating. Dekuyume found it interesting that it was only people who had scores lower than hers that agreed with Setsuna, the two students in the class who got better grades, were left alone. Only Dekuyume's school supplies would randomly disappear, only to reappear in the trash, or the school fountain.

She kept at it though, using Kaasan's secret weapon as a shield, even as she sharpened another weapon in preparation. If there was one thing she learned from the actions of the other children and what they got away with, it was the best thought out plans that had the highest amount of success.

It was easy enough in the end to switch all of the food around at the end of the year picnic. It was a lot harder to find out what kinds of food Setsuna and her minions didn't like. Dekuyume had been overjoyed when she discovered that Setsuna had a peanut allergy and the internet explained that allergies could kill if they were strong enough. That would solve the problem quite nicely. With Setsuna dead, the other children that were bothering Dekuyume would have no leader, making them much easier to pick off later.

It worked beautifully, with the minor inconvenience of one of the teachers carrying around first aid supplies, and the lack of death on Setsuna's part. Dekuyume would have to settle for having the girl hospitalized for the last few days of the year. At the very least, no one could prove that it was Dekuyume that did it, even as the eyes of Setsuna's minions told her that they knew she did. It made her smile at them happily. In retrospect that was a mistake since kaasan was still fully capable of punishing Dekuyume even if there was no proof. The moment they got home, Dekuyume was sent to her room to think about what she had done. Dekuyume didn't really understand what there was left to think about. She did all of her thinking weeks ago when she decided on this plan, and she knew the mistakes she made before they even got home.

It felt like she was left in her room for hours, before she was called downstairs. It wasn't a lecture that greeted her when she was in front of her kaasan, but a question, "Why didn't you say Setsuna-chan was still bothering you?" Dekuyume frowns, "I don know why you would care. Setsunaz my enemy, not yours." Imagine her surprise when Kānēshon immediately collapsed to her knees, pulling Dekuyume into a hug. Kaasan was really difficult to understand since she kept crying, but eventually Dekuyume realized that Kānēshon, really… cared. It wasn't the words coming out of her mouth though. People lied all the time. It was the computer screen, open to the internet with what had to be a million windows and tabs open. From what she could read of the titles, each one looked like it was about bullying. Slowly, Dekuyume had hugged the crying grownup, a strange feeling in her heart she didn't understand since it felt like happiness, even as tears threatened to fall out of the corner of her eyes too.

After blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, Kānēshon had knelt on the ground once more, eye level with Dekuyume and begun a conversation that would change their relationship forever. "A very wise man once said, that a person should be selective in their battles because sometimes peace is better than being right. Clearly we have gone past that point and I am so proud of you for trying, most people aren't even strong enough for that. But darling, holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It never works out for the better."

As she listened, Dekuyume felt tired, she didn't really know why, nothing really bad had happened yet. But people were the same now as they had always been, cruel, vicious and self serving. Except for her, but shewasn't here. "I don't wanna jus let them hurt me Kaasan. I don't wanna let them win." Because once they won, they never let you out of their domination, not even if you crawled.

Kānēshon picked her daughter up and carried her into the kitchen. Dekuyume had to fight back a smile as she was forced to hold things for her kaasan who wouldn't even put Dekuyume down to make tea. She really wanted to smile, but she didn't know if smiling would get her in trouble here so she kept the feeling to herself. As the two of them made tea Kaasan explained. "It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by Kami or by yōkai, heaven or hell. Now, I am going to give you some rules, and I don't think you will have any problems following them."

Sitting down in her favorite chair, with Dekuyume in her lap, she pours them both some tea. "The first rule is the most important. If you have a problem with anything or anyone I want you to tell me. I am your Kaasan, my job is to help you grow up and I can't do that if you don't let me." Dekuyume thought that her kaasan looked so desperate, it couldn't possibly be fake. In the end Dekuyume could only nod in agreement. Kānēshon continued, "Good, thank you for helping me be a good Kaasan. Now, considering how much attention you must have paid to your schoolmates to find out what their allergies are, you've probably also noticed that bullies don't care about the rules. That no matter what someone does, there is no way to make a bully stop and some things only make the bully try harder. This is because the problem isn't with the person under attack; it's with the bully and their disregard for socially acceptable behavior."

"While I had you in your room thinking, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I could do to help you with this. Lots of people had things to say, but we are going to try the best solution I could find. Ok?" The child in her lap looks uncertain, but nods anyways, "All right, so the second rule is also the easiest. If someone does something you don't like. Ask them to stop. If they do not stop you go to rule three. Rule three is also easy; I want you to tell the person in charge that they won't stop. This could be your Sensei or it could be a senpai, but I promise, as long as you follow rules one, two and three I won't ever get mad or punish you if you have to use rule four."

Dekuyume's eyes are wide, staring up into her mothers, nodding along to each rule. Just what was rule four going to be? Needing something to do, she reaches out for the cup of tea in front of her and carefully takes a sip. Oh… that was tasty. She looks up to see her kaasan smiling brightly, "Now rule four, if the person in charge does not make them stop, you have my permission to do what it takes to make them stop."

Sōsuke could only blink, staring up at Kānēshon in surprise as he separates from a three year old Dekuyume who nods hesitantly, "Ok, Kaasan. I can do it."

Was it just him, or had Kānēshon really given her daughter permission to commit murder if the adults in her life wouldn't protect her?

Little Dekuyume tilts her head to the side before glancing over at Sōsuke, "You know Sōsuke, I think you may be right. Wow, I knew she was the scariest, but… damn Kaasan."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke Present Day

Sōsuke never got the chance to get revenge of his own, even if he did learn that the girls name was Vanessa. Mrs. Lulit announced in art class the next day that the girl was evaluated by a psychologist after her attack on Sōsuke. Whatever it was the psychologist found was enough to get her pulled from school, and made Ms Williams so mad that Sōsuke heard her say that if Vanessa's parents were still alive, she would send them to their graves herself. In the end Sōsuke learned two things from the whole mess, the first was that psychologists understood how humans behaved and could see past Vanessa's sweet as honey mask, even when none of the other adults had been able to. So he should probably avoid running into one at all costs, who knows what they would see when they looked at him.

The second thing he learned was that sometimes people had a reason for the way they behaved, and if someone else hurt you bad enough, sometimes you got away with hurting other people when you wouldn't have otherwise. Because even though the situations were unrelated, somehow, they kept seeing you as the victim, even when you were the attacker. Sōsuke didn't really understand, he would have to remember to ask Ms Williams where books on psychology were kept in the library later. He was going to become a psychologist when he grew up… a Jedi psychologist. Take that Darth Vader, who's the most dangerous now?

For now, he had to focus on making another picture of Sasakibe. The other one had come out all right, but it was just wrong, seeing so much blood in the picture though. The Jedi was very, very skilled and used Force lightening when the masked-monsters were too strong. There was no reason for the picture to be slathered in blood, so Sōsuke wanted to paint another one. The art teacher was really nice, and had given Sōsuke permission to come during lunch to work on the painting so that it could be done in time for the art show.

He shakes the thoughts on Vanessa off, deleting her name from his internalized VIP name registry before focusing on Sasakibe and his early years with the Jedi. It hurt a little bit too much right now to think about the fact that after a single extra week with him, the Jedi was going to introduce Sōsuke to his replacement after school today.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke age 5

The caretakers at the Orphanage whispered to each other that he was a monster when they thought he couldn't hear, but Sōsuke heard them all the same.

Good people punished children for temper tantrums, they punished Sōsuke for feeling anger.

Good people chased the boogieman away, they made Sōsuke sit with him in dark, locked rooms, the only light coming from Sōsuke's violet colored Force as he held the masked-monster back.

Good people encouraged children to learn, monsters were afraid of what Sōsuke was learning.

Learning indeed, they should have been worried about what they were teaching. Sōsuke was capable of handling more incoming information at the age of 5 than a seasoned air traffic controller, and was constantly bored out of his mind. His favorite class was art because at least there, he didn't know the answer instantly. Of course, the monsters punished him for painting too. It wasn't his fault that they found the images of the pretty red eyed lady and her field of corpses and blood "Disturbing". She… Sōsuke didn't know who she was, but he wanted to make her proud. He wanted to make the Jedi proud too.

The black and white robed Jedi was called Chōjirō Sasakibe and Sōsuke knew that he wouldn't have lived long enough to learn how to talk in complete sentences of more than four words if it hadn't been for him. The Jedi was amazing, teaching him how to make The Force be quiet inside Sōsuke, so that the masked-monsters wouldn't be able to find him. More importantly the Jedi had the most amazing tea collection, and he never, ever refused to share. And Sōsuke really, really liked tea.

Sometimes he would pat Sōsuke on the head ruffling his hair, and Sōsuke would imagine that this was what having a dad was like. A teacher was better though, because a dad may protect his kid, but a teacher taught a kid how to protect himself.

The Jedi wasn't perfect though, he had the whole world to protect, and while Sōsuke drew the largest crowd of masked-monsters, the Jedi had to go and patrol the rest of the world too. Sometimes, the Jedi got a sad expression on his face if the two of them were quiet long enough as they drank their earl grey and Sōsuke knew that something must be haunting the Jedi.

Sōsuke wanted to help the Jedi that had done so much for him, but he was only 5 and couldn't even protect himself from the other orphans without using The Force… and he didn't really want to go over to the dark side, it did horrible things to their faces and explained why all of the monsters wore masks to hide them.

Sasakibe taught him a lot of other interesting things too, like how to read and write in Jedi. He also taught Sōsuke his first Force spell, that made the masked-monsters turn into butterflies. The Jedi said that he could do the same thing with his metal light-saber, and that before the Jedi had light sabers, they had used that spell. That was the only Force spell that Sōsuke learned for a long time, it wasn't until after Sōsuke received Jareth's name and he had learned a lot of the Jedi language before Sasakibe had taught Sōsuke his first Force binding, Bakudō # 1. Sai, and Force attack, Hadō #1. Shō.

Their incantation poems were beautiful, even if the Jedi had said that no one used them if they didn't have to. Sōsuke understood, if one of the masked-monsters was trying to eat him, Sōsuke didn't want to have to shout a poem at it to make it let go. If he took that long, he would probably be falling out of the sky into the masked-monster's mouth before he finished.

The Jedi said that the masked-monsters were called hollows, and that they had been human first, before they lost their hearts. Sōsuke didn't like that name for them even if it did explain a lot about how the people at the orphanage had treated him. They were only losing their hearts, and hadn't lost them completely yet, that's why they didn't have masks. Sōsuke didn't want to call the masked-monsters hollows, because if he did, he would have to admit that the masked-monsters were human first… and that there was a chance that one day, he could become one of them.

The Jedi had also said he wasn't a Jedi, but he had known what Sōsuke's name was before even being told. Somehow Sōsuke didn't think that these Shinigami people knew how to read minds, even if that did explain why he used a light-saber model called katana, so he politely called Sasakibe a Shinigami to his face, but thought of him as a Jedi. It was important to be polite, Ms Williams got mad at him if he was rude, just like red eyed girl's mom Kānēshon got mad at her when she didn't put a –san at the end of their name.

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Sōsuke Present Day

Sōsuke smiles as he finishes the painting: Sasakibe is leaning over the back of a small chair pushed up close to a desk. Multiple books are stacked underneath the boy sitting in the chair, his features obscured by his brown hair as his head is tilted down peering at the book on the desk, ink stone and brush set aside as the boy looks at the diagram that was actually a miniature copy of the blood stained painting that Sōsuke was going to pair with it. With a flourish he titles the painting, "Master and Apprentice".

He wasn't really the Jedi's student, though he reallywanted to be. It had been on his mind a lot lately since Sasakibe had said that he had to go back to The Soul Society soon. Sōsuke had always known that eventually the Jedi would have to go back to the Jedi Temple, but he had known Sasakibe for 8 years. And from his dreams of Dekuyume, he knew that it was always hard to let go of the people that were important to you. Secretly Sōsuke was hoping that there wasn't any disturbance in The Force that was taking Sasakibe away, but that it was because if he waited too much longer, Sōsuke would be too old to become a Jedi himself.

Even if it meant giving up painting and living simply, Sōsuke would do it, if that meant that he could get off of Earth. He would miss Jareth and Ms Williams something fierce, but if it was a choice between them and learning more of those beautiful poem Force spells… And a light-saber katana! He wanted to learn how to use one of those too! He didn't like it as much… but he should probably also learn how to fight without both of them too, just in case someone found a way to take them both away.

Sōsuke had lots of things taken away, he had more things taken away than he was given, that's why he took such good care of the presents that the Jedi, the faerie and Ms Williams gave him, and why he didn't feel bad about taking his things back from the other orphans or the not-masked-monsters who ran the orphanage. Stealing was bad, but it wasn't stealing if you were just taking back the things that belonged to you. It was called re-po-ze-shun, and it was the only reason that Sōsuke had any shoes during those early years. Sōsuke was very good at re-po-ze-shun, and the few times he wasn't, Jareth taught him how to do it better. Sōsuke liked it when Jareth and his minions snuck around the dark orphanage at night with him, it was always loads of fun, even when the cook remembered to lock the pantry so they couldn't get into the biscuits.

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Sōsuke Present Day

Sōsuke nodded politely when Sasakibe asked him to be very kind to the girl that was going to be his replacement. Sōsuke was glad that he never explained that he heard a lotbetter than he saw. Even if it was rude to eavesdrop, he learned a lot of interesting things that way. This time he listened as Sasakibe told the new Jedi that he hoped this would help her heal, and reminded her that death was just the door a soul walked through to get to their next life. That her former-taichō would walk the world once more, but that she first had to let him go through that door. Whether she felt he deserved it or not, her former-taichō was never going to be welcomed back, reincarnation was the only mercy left to him.

The elder Jedi opened the door, giving Sōsuke his first glimpse of Momo Hinamori; … she was awfully cute for a girl that looked like she had spent the last year crying. The expression in her eyes as she stared at him was powerful enough to shake the foundations of his soul. Sōsuke smiled politely hesitant, covering up just how much she had affected him as Sasakibe introduced him to Momo Hinamori. Just as easily he finds himself gently patting her on the back as she breaks down into tears, reaching out to wrap him in a hug while saying Sōsuke's name over and over again.Here was more proof that they were Jedi and not Shinigami. Sōsuke hadn't told her his name yet, and here she was calling him by name. He wondered what future it was she saw in the Force that led her to calling him Aizen-taichō, and if in that future he had done something that no one could forgive him for...

There was only one thing that he was hiding that could be unforgivable. Dekuyume.

But he couldn't bring himself to feel sorry, because it was only through his memories of Dekuyume that he understood the treasure he was being offered when Momo finally pulled out of the hug taking his hands in her own. With a soft smile on her face, a cracked voice and eyes red from tears, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen as she asked, "Sōsuke-kun, will you be my friend?" Sōsuke takes a deep breath to brace himself against the treasure, even as he accepts it, "Yeah, Momo. We'll be best-friends."

He knew it was unusual, to remember being born. He knew it was also unusual to have such a good memory that he sometimes remembered who he was in his last life. There was a great deal that was unusual about Sōsuke, from the moment he was born, one emotion had defined his existence. Even if he liked to pretend otherwise.

It had been in his mothers eyes as she named him, and in his own the first time he saw a masked-monster.

It was in Momo's as they met for the first time, and it would probably be there in his again, if he could look in a mirror as Sasakibe wished them well and stepped back into the pretty wood framed portal that led to The Soul Society.

At the first art competition Sōsuke easily wins first place, and is invited to submit his art to one meant for high school students. Sōsuke enters a portrait of Dekuyume sitting in front of a mirror staring at the world she sees on the other side: a young boy laying on a carpet faced away from the audience, reading a picture book. Within the stifling blackness she is held up and entwined with viscera. Her one good hand reaches out and is pressed firmly into the glass of the mirror.

It takes first prize. She is titled Desperation.

But Jedi weren't allowed to have dark emotions… because when they did… they became Sith.

And if normal humans became masked-monsters…. If Sōsuke became a Sith… he'd be so powerful he didn't think that anyone would be able to stop him.

That was ok though, because the treasure Momo Hinamori gave him was hope, and hope never lost to desperation.

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Chapter 7 : Just a Life

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That night, Sōsuke knows he is dreaming the moment it starts. Dekuyume's thoughts were too foreign from his own for the two of them to be confused.

They had fought so many times before, but this time… this time shewas her imouto. She didn't want to hurt herany more.

Sōsuke steps forward and awkwardly grabs his previous incarnation in a hug. It was strange to see her so small she looked even younger than he was. She smiles into his shoulder all the same, even as the two of them get lost in memories of a single soul that they had been chasing for incarnation after incarnation. Desperately hoping that this time, they would be able to reach out and take her hand.

Then Kānēshon's voice broke through the haze of intangible memories and emotion. "Deku-chan, to know someone is to hurt and be hurt by them. The most important thing to remember is that there is a very big difference between hurting them with your actions and hurting with them. Your pride will tell you it is impossible, experience will tell you it is risky, but if both are drowned out by the whispers in your heart that tell you to give it a try, go forward and never look back. If it is truly important to you, you will find a way, if not, you will find an excuse."

His heart swelled up then, almost bringing tears to his eyes as the woman in the hospital bed holding his imouto touched him gently offering comfort spoken and unspoken at the same time, "Shared joys are doubled, but shared sorrows are halved; so in the end knowing someone is always better. Besides she is your imouto now, you're the only person in the whole world who can be her anesan." Dekuyume is finally freed from the haze as she looks away from Kagome and into her mother's eyes. Kānēshon is a comforting presence, but she can't hold Dekuyume's attention for long, not when she was here. Dekuyume looks back at Kagome, her face softening in an unfamiliar way, and in the silence of the hospital room whispers, "She's mine now. And no one will take her away from me."

Everything becomes blurry again and Sōsuke is temporarily liberated from Dekuyume as they blur into another memory. Never, had he ever been so moved by someone else. To see it in Dekuyume and know that their soul was capable of it was almost terrifying. Dekuyume was shaking with the force of the rage she felt, the words from a young boy ringing in their ears, "When I grow up I'm gonna marry Kagome-chan, then she'll be mine and not yours!" Sōsuke didn't think that the little boy he somehow knew was the reincarnation of Inuyasha was aware of what he was saying really. He and Kagome were entirely too young, but Dekuyume was blinded by her emotions, her much darker purple Force magic leaking out of her body and mixing with playground sand and pollen from the trees in a child's version of Naraku's miasma.

With a sigh, Sōsuke throws some of his violet colored Force at her, "Dekuyume! Snap out of it! You will be punished by your anger, remember!" Bright red eyes snap to his and for a single moment she laughs, a dark and bitter thing, "Yeah, I remember." Before the memory fast forwards again.

They were in the hospital then, sitting and waiting for the doctor to release Kagome. His mind was moving at a rapid pace, considering the information being delivered to him by the red leather journal held tightly in his hands. The doctor sighs and while Kānēshon does not seem to catch it, he can hear the lie in the doctors voice as he says, "I'm afraid we found a very large growth in her side, and we are going to have to do a biopsy to make sure it isn't cancer. Given your other daughter's poor health, we can't allow it to persist a single moment longer."

With one voice Dekuyume and Sōsuke speak, voice smooth and hypnotic, the full force of their soul pressing down on the doctors, a crude but effective manipulation all the same. It didn't hurt that some other Force had already left him open to it. "There is nothing wrong with Kagome-chan. She is fine; there was nothing strange in her x-rays. You will add them to her file and forget about them." Hesitantly, Kānēshon reaches out to touch her daughter "Deku-chan?" Dekuyume allows the touch. The woman wasn't herbut she was still so very kind.

The touching made her uncomfortable, after so many lifetimes of violence, but… there wasn't anything to be gained from turning her away, it would hurt her I think. And as bemusing as it is, I… don't want to hurt Kānēshon either. "The object he is detecting is dangerous, but not in the way you might think. It's the Shikon no Tama from legends kaasan. Imouto has a big future ahead of her." Her mother pulls her into a hug, "How do you know that?"

Dekuyume pulls back after a moment and looks up at her mother. It was a moment for truth she realized. With exception to the times she had gone out of her way to pretend to be someone else; taking on their form and stealing her way into or out of a situation, she had never lied about what she was; not when she was directly asked, and she wouldn't start now. Not to this woman. "I found something from my past life that lets me remember everything while I hold it. The more I hold it, the more memories I keep when I let it go… I knew Kagome-chan during our past lives." Understatement… but what else could she say?

Sōsuke wishes that he had one of those journals instead, it would be a lot easier than dealing with dreams and bursts of memories whenever he got surprised. Kānēshon smiles gently as she asks, "Oh. Were you sent ahead to protect her?" Sōsuke doesn't even have to confuse himself for Dekuyume to know the answer to that question is a resounding; no. He is surprised that Dekuyume actually lets the frown they are feeling to reach their face. "No, I don't think so, but that woman is so many steps ahead of the game… There is no telling why they decided to send me first instead of at the same time. The jewel, causes trouble with every wish made on it. I loved her more than anything else, and I wished that she would be mine. The Kami were forced to see the wish come true even though I was the yōkai that had killed her as she made the Shikon."

Kānēshon grimaces "Ah… that may be a bit of a problem. Incest is rather…", Sōsuke is also rather disgusted. The two of them are quite grateful as Dekuyume slashes her hand through the air in denial "No! I… it was never like that. I just…" Dekuyume sighs and closes her eyes for a moment, debating her answer. Finally she settles for the most honest answer she has ever given another soul.

"She's the most beautiful soul I've ever met. It wouldn't matter what form she came in, I would feel the same about her. It isn't lust. It's nothing more or less than eternal, formless and desperate unconditional love. I've chased her through several lifetimes, but she always turns me a way… it hurts… so I become her enemy. I just want her to stay close to me so I can bask in her kindness and now finally in this lifetime, I can. I have known more peace in the last four years than the last four lifetimes."

Sōsuke doesn't realize his hands are shaking until Dekuyume's much smaller one tucks itself inside his. Her quiet, "We will find her again", isn't quiet enough to disguise the soft plops as Sōsuke's tears hit the ground.

It wasn't sadness that made him cry.

It was knowing he might be living in a world without even the palest reflection of her.

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Sōsuke would freely admit that he was an emotional wreck after Sasakibe returned to the Jedi Temple. If it wasn't Momo; she was so cute in her uniform! And the portent she held for his future, it was the constant bombardment of Dekuyume's memories that were making it harder and harder to get a good night's sleep. In hindsight, it was probably his fault that Momo was overrun by masked-monsters. The less control over his Force he had, the more of them thought they had a chance of eating him.

Only a few months after Sasakibe left, London was overrun by masked-monsters that had come around looking for Sōsuke. He didn't have any warning, because this time, the masked-monsters were too small for him to feel with the Force. Sōsuke knew by now that the size of the masked-monster wasn't important, but how much of the Force it could use was. So, in spite of the fact that Gillian's were so large, they were actually weaker than the Adjuchas that were human sized. There was one problem though, every day masked-monsters were the same size as Adjuchas, but Sōsuke couldn't feel them because they didn't have a strong enough presence in the Force.

As a result he was left running blindly for his life as dozens of masked-monsters swarmed the city, none of them strong enough for him to feel, but just as deadly to his tiny body. That tiny body was saving him now as he squirmed, wiggled and dodged the attacking masked-monsters through every nook and cranny he could find.

There is another loud boom as Momo uses a Force spell. And wowcould she throw force spells around like nobody's business, if he remembered correctly she was throwing around some pretty high level Force spells like they were birdseed. Already she had taken out most of the masked-monsters if the slowly quieting street was any indication, Sōsuke was worried though, Momo only seemed to use her light-saber-katana as a support for her force spells, or to parry an attack from the masked-monsters that managed to get too close while she was reciting the next poem.

Sōsuke couldn't sense her with the seals she and Sasakibe wore when they were on Earth. The seals were to protect other people from the Force and Sōsuke was strong enough that he should have worn one too, but it was dangerous to put one on a kid because they were still growing… But Sōsuke didn't need to sense Momo to be able to tell that she was getting tired, he could hear it in her voice when she said the poems for the Force spells.

Even if the masked-monsters behaved like the animals they resembled, and even if Sōsuke wanted to pretend otherwise… The masked-monsters were human first, and if Sōsuke, who had almost no combat experience had noticed these things… then so had they. She releases another Force spell just as Sōsuke makes it into a hidey hole in the tea shop he sat at just a few months ago with Sasakibe. He wished he could be out there helping her, but he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way if he was attacked and the Force spells he did know weren't useful if he couldn't hit the masked-monsters with them. There was a reason he used his violet Force to hold them down when he used Force spells, but he couldn't do that if he couldn't feelthem.

It's eerily quiet for a moment in the aftermath of her last Force spell. He could hear her panting from his hiding spot. She calls out his name, "Sōsuke?" and before he can answer back, there is a loud crash. Sōsuke can only stare from his hiding spot as Momo is thrown through the wall of the tea shop and comes crashing down to the floor. Her katana light-saber skitters across the floor to rest on the ground just outside of the cupboard he was hiding in. Through the open crack he watches as she is pulled out by a masked-monster; huge, with the body of a hamster…that wore its tail on its face. Weird… but whatever, they were all freakish like that.

The hamster was standing still as it lifted her up, opening his mouth wide. Pushing the door of the cupboard open wide Sōsuke took his chance. "Bakudō # 1. Sai, The Restrain!" The masked-monster is taken by surprise and doesn't dodge the spell. Momo is thrown as its arms are jerked behind its back by the Force spell. Grabbing the light-saber katana, noting that it felt really weird in his hands, he ran over to where she had fallen. Carefully he places the blade in her hands, he certainly didn't know how to use it, and turns to see the struggling masked-monster.

Carefully Sōsuke aimed at the Grand Fisher with his finger and measured out a pixie's teacup worth of his Force, the pixies Jareth had shown him were really, really small, and they worked as an excellent vis-u-al-iz-ation tool to make sure that he didn't put too much Force into his next Force spell. It was very difficult for him to only use that much of The Force, but the spell would backfire if he used too much. Not to mention that because he wasn't wearing a seal, he could easily let too much of his Force out of his body and with Momo being both hurt and not strong enough for him to feel, he could accidentally crush her with his Force if he wasn't careful. But he had been practicing with Sasakibe since he was 5 years old, and even if it was difficult, it wasn't impossible. Sōsuke did not believe in impossible things, only in things that were too improbable to be worth pursuing. With a fierce grin at odds with his innocent doe brown eyes, Sōsuke fires Hadō #1. Shō, The Thrust.

He hadn't held back enough though, and instead of throwing the masked-monster against a wall and crushing it, he only sent it tumbling through the glass window of the store across the street when the misfire put a spin into the thrust. Only the hamster masked-monsters weird forehead tail could be seen dangling outside the shop across the street. But it didn't get back up again so Sōsuke counted that as a victory. A laugh bubbles out from him, a snicker, that leaves his Force bouncing and wiggling off every surface nearby, his control defeated by his elation. "Ku. Ku. Ku."

He wraps his hands around his body clutching at his stomach, trying to hold more of his Force from leaking out. It would be a problem if he attracted more masked-monsters before Momo could use the Kaidō Force to heal her injuries. Sōsuke thought he loved the Kaidō aspect of The Force more than all of the others. It wasn't as if anyone except Ms Williams would give him a band-aid if he got a scrape. It was too bad that his control wasn't good enough to take care of much more than that though. He promised himself that he would get there eventually though, that way even if he couldn't fight the masked-monsters with Sasakibe and Momo, he could at least help them when they got hit hard like this… He almost has control of himself as he hears Momo stir with a groan. Her eyes open and she sits up as she wipes up some blood leaking out of a cut on her head.

He kneels down, holding his hand out to help her stand. His doe brown eyes dance as he greets her with a wicked smirk, "That was fun. We should do this again sometime. But only if we can get someone else to clean up though. This place is a mess."

And then Momo took her light-saber katana and slid it into Sōsuke's heart. Her arms fell around him in a hug as she pushed herself closer, whispering into his ears, "You won't fool me again, I see the monster behind your lure. For wearing Aizen-taichō's face, I will take great pleasure in cutting you to pieces before the gates of hell open and drag you down."

As he fell unconscious from the pain, Sōsuke learned how to hate.

Not because she killed him, he had long since come to terms with the fact that he was probably going to die from a masked-monster or the not-masked monsters in the orphanage before he got to grow up.

Not even because she was the first person to say she was his friend, even if he would have rather have had no friends at all, if his life was the price he had to pay for one.

He hated Momo because desperation turned into something worse, when you took someone's hope away.

It turned into an aching void called solitude.

And the only cure he knew for solitude…

Was making someone else so miserable… that they had no choice but to share it with you.

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Chapter 8 : Just a Butterfly

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Dekuyume pulled the crying boy into a fierce hug. Normally she let his emotional state choose which of her many memories was sent over, but her memory of Sofu almost dying for her and his "Family is precious but children are Sacred.", wouldn't be of any use to Sōsuke in Soul Society. Not when he was too hurt now to try and form any family bonds. There was one thing that might help though, even if it wasn't Dekuyume's memory. Gently she leans back and uses a hand to raise Sōsuke's head. Tilting her head to the side, she draws his attention to Kagome's memory, this one taken a forever ago when she personally combined the echoes of Kagome-imouto and Kagome no Kami.

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Excerpt from The Third Reincarnation

"If the purpose of the Kami to souls is to provide them the means to grow, then what is the purpose of souls to the Kami?"

It took a slightly questionable test, a splash of bribery, and a few bent rules, but they discovered two very important facts; it didn't matter how many souls in the immortal plain prayed to a flickering god, they remained unchanged. But with a little spying, a whispered request in a mortal's dream; just enough interference to get them to pray to a flickering god, they had an answer. The Kami stopped flickering… for a while. She had been there when they had finally stumbled upon the answer; the purpose of souls to the Kami was food. Kagome shakes her head; it wasn't as terrible as it had sounded when they first said it out loud. It turned out that the Kami drew their great power from the prayers of the living. The reason why some weak Kami flickered and others didn't, was because the Kami who did not flicker had been souls first. The very nature of being a soul first meant that the Kami always had at least one person who believed in them, even if that person was themselves.

So the flickering Kami, without a soul of their own to fall back on, were fading out of existence; they were dying Kami… And they were dying from starvation. It all came together after that, the reason Kami cared about the size of a soul was because the larger the soul praying, the greater the boon offered the Kami. But souls could grow large regardless of their purity… So what was the Kami's incentive to enforce the tenants of good and evil? The answer had left the occupants of The Colloquium of Souls unmotivated and subdued for years, though it had gotten better once they learned to accept it.

Good and evil meant everything to souls, but nothing to the Kami. As far as they were concerned there was no such thing as good and evil; there were only people, and the sum of the things they were willing to do and endure in pursuit of their goals. The concepts were nothing more than a way of organizing the souls when they were on the immortal plain and an easy way to convince souls to go back to the mortal plain where they would suffer, grow and, consequently pray.

The Kami made up for it of course, honoring the promises of their individual religions. There were thousands of positive afterlives docked to The Colloquium of Souls for those souls that managed to reach that nearly impossible dream of good. Mahatma Gandhi frequently traveled from The Nirvana to the colloquium to sit in on the conversations, offering advice when asked.

Kagome sighs, looking around the tea room to meet Onigumo's eyes; it was just so depressing to realize that fate wasn't some great plan set out by the Kami during your stay on The Wheel of Reincarnation. That it wasn't like a script in a movie, with all of the words and actions planned out, even if the actors didn't always get their expressions right or their timing sucked. Fate was actually more like scheduled testing in a great place of learning, where the tests were always essay-opinion questions and sometimes you were the student and sometimes you were the teacher. Even if you completely misunderstood the question or skipped it entirely to answer another, there was no right or wrong answer.

Because the tests weren't to see if we are right and just, they were to see who we are, and so we grew. Kagome smiles hesitantly at Onigumo, wondering just what test she was on right now; because it was really, really creepy how he could just stare without blinking for hours on end… her eyes dart away as she takes a sip of the tea that was left for the souls.

Sōsuke stares as a flickering Kiyoshi stumbles into the room through a window and begins Dekuyume's greatest adventure. "Is that really all life is? Just a game with no prizes, and no meaning except for the meaning we give it?" The red eyed goddess sighs, "Living… has less value to those of us who already have a good idea of who we are, but make no mistake, there is always something to learn." She smiles wryly down at her incarnation, "Right now I like to think I'm learning about what kind of person I am, when I look at the world through doe brown eyes that hide the fact that my memory is longer than my life span." Sōsuke can only stare up into her sad red eyes, his, reflecting all the other things they are learning, but don't want to give voice to, for fear of making the test harder than they could endure.

Sōsuke pulls back from the hug with a huff, "Just because it was a lesson, doesn't mean I'm going to let Momo off the hook for killing me though. Even if it takes me a whole other lifetime, I'm going to avenge myself." Dekuyume throws her head back in a laugh, "Ku. Ku. Ku." He joins in soon after, proving once more, that there were some things that not even reincarnation could wipe out of a soul. She reaches out and ruffles his hair, "Just remember to let karma do most of the work for you, ne? It's more amusing that way."

The Dreaming memory end

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It was weird, waking up with six legs and antennae dangling from his head. It was annoying, waking up in Momo's hand, and more so when he realized that butterflies only had a long tongue, but no teeth, so he couldn't even bite her. It was incredible, as he spread his wings and started fluttering and suddenly he realized why all of the butterflies he made when he used the Konsōspell always, without deviation, moved into the bright glowing light in the sky. It was so beautiful when seen through compound eyes.

Without giving Momo a second thought, and never even noticing the tall brown haired man or his white coat as he stood atop a light post, staring down at the ravaged mess the street had turned into, Sōsuke flutters into the sky. Gracefully, he turns in the air flying ever upward until he enters the brilliant light. The gate to the mortal plain closes behind him unnoticed, the next beacon of light luring him ever onward down the path to Soul Society. He wanted to slow down and take in the sights, because while he was following the most beautiful light, there were thousands of others around him, but he just couldn't. He was too excited. Finally he was going to the Jedi Temple on The Soul Society where Sasakibe was, even if it wasn't in the way he had wanted to get there. He wondered if they made light-saber katana in butterfly size. That would be pretty cool. And deadly, after all, no one expected a tiny little butterfly to whip out a light saber for each of its six little feet.

Dekuyume can't help but laugh at her reincarnation's imagination. Surprised by her laughter, the butterfly careened off the path it was on, crashing through one of the not-quite-as-beautiful lights. It was a good thing that butterflies couldn't make facial expressions, because Sōsuke's at that moment would have been used to tease him forever if Dekuyume had her way. [Dekuyume! How are you here, is this a dream too?] Hope wells up inside of him for a moment, but soon dwindles as he feels Dekuyume's sorrow rise up to meet it. [I'm sorry Sōsuke. This is no dream, it's just in-between enough that both of us can be in the same place at the same time, while still remaining separate. It doesn't hurt that I have a very strong affinity for butterflies. It was spiders and wasps in my last reincarnation.]

[I like butterflies much better.] Dekuyume smiles with a hidden, but profound meaning, [Me too Sōsuke, me too.] Sōsuke is quiet as they fly though the lights, disappointment warring with the millions of questions he has always wanted to ask, but had never been able to when he knew it was just a dream. [Will I at least like the Jedi Temple, or will I not be allowed in now that I'm a butterfly?] He can feel her sigh, and wasn't that an odd sensation, a sigh without any air flow. [No Sōsuke. You will probably not like much about The Soul Society at all. Primarily because Jedi are only fictional, in this dimension at least.] Dying was looking more and more unpleasant by the minute, he was really going to get Momo for this. He didn't care at all if it was petty to blame her for his illusions crumbling around him when she never encouraged them. It was her fault… yep.

Seconds later, the light they had been chasing bursts open into a deep blue sky. On the far horizon the sun is setting, to Sōsuke it looks like burning dreams, but to Dekuyume it looks like home.

They were a very confused butterfly. They were also caught.

The portal dropped them into a garden larger than the one at Buckingham Palace Sasakibe had taken him to once upon a lifetime ago, with a low laying wall of carved stone surrounding each flowerbed. That was all it took to trap the butterflies inside, because that carved stone was laced with a Kidō barrier. At the very center of the garden stood a woman; black uniform, white toe-socks and sandals, white mask covering her face, the tail of it dangling all the way down to just above her knees. The symbol on her mask over where her chin should be was a livid red.

Glancing wildly around he saw that there were lots of masked people moving around the garden on gravel paths. The rainbow of colors on their white masks was easily spotted among the white Shihakushō of souls as they made their way to the main exit for the garden. Not liking the way this looked one bit, he tried to fly back up into the light, only to be defeated by the one way barrier that slowly but surely herded him and hundreds of other butterflies to a huge empty flowerbed.Sōsuke remembered reading somewhere that over 6300 people died each hour on Earth, and looking at all of the butterflies falling out of the sky to land on the flowers below, he could believe it.

Carefully he lands on one of the flowers amid the swarm of black butterflies. His attention is caught as another butterfly lands on the same flower as him. The butterfly's long tongue darts out to drink the nectar of the flower they are sitting on. Dekuyume is quiet, but he can feel her amused anticipation as the maroon strip down the bottom edge of the other butterfly's wings rapidly shifts color to hot pink. It's whole body is lit up in the same color for a moment before bursting into a little girl with blond pigtails.

The flower wobbles back and forth as Sōsuke holds on for dear life. As it settles, he turns to look at the little girl; freckles, pigtails, blond with really thin eyebrows, who's white Shihakushō is brushing against the flowers sending the occasional butterfly into flight as she walks towards yet another masked man. This one bearing an orange symbol and standing at the gate to the garden Sōsuke is trapped in with the other butterflies. [You could have warned me you know.] Dekuyume giggles, [But if I did that you wouldn't be surprised enough to forget how disappointed you are.]

Sōsuke would have had something to say about that if he weren't distracted then as the masked man began asking the little girl a question in a voice as devoid of emotion as the stone walls surrounding the garden. "Name and Date of Birth." He takes advantage of the flowers stillness to leap back into the air in search of a safer place to rest instead of in the very middle of the flowerbed. He settles on a tall lily of the valley near the stone wall out of the path of any more butterflies-turned-human as they head towards the masked man who stood near a clearly marked exit gate.

In a trembling voice, as she tugged on one of the ends of her pigtails, the little girl replied, "Hiyori Sarugaki, August 1st 1702. Sir where am I?" It was sad, she looked like she was even younger than Sōsuke, he didn't even think that she was old enough to understand what death was… but that birth date... "All your questions will be answered by the Shinigami who will escort you to your assigned district. Here is your ticket to Kusajishi District, be careful as you move through the barriers." Grass Deer sounded like a pleasant district to live in, but the pity coming from Dekuyume suggested that the name was a misnomer. [The center of The Soul Society is Seireitei, the only city, it is the seat of the government and military branches. Giant walls of Sekkiseki keep people out of Seireitei and enfold it in a barrier of protection. There are other, less impressive walls around each of the districts to keep souls in their assigned areas. There are 320 districts in total, 80 in each cardinal direction. The larger the number, the further away it is from Seireitei, and consequently, any form of law and order.]

[And Kusajishi District?] Dekuyume sighs, [79, North if I remember correctly. That little girl is going to have to toughen up fast or she's going to get eaten alive when she gets there.] With a mild sense of pity, Sōsuke watched as she accepted the slip of paper from the masked man and with a frown began walking purposefully through the gate. A butterfly that landed on her shoulder as she stepped through was held inside even as she passed through it, nixing any hope Sōsuke had of riding out of here on someone. There is a loud pop as another person makes the transition from butterfly to human, followed by another and another until the garden almost sounds like a bag of popping popcorn. Safely attached to the flowers near the wall, he was free to ignore them all as his attention was dragged outside of his little flowerbed by a bright green glow.

With wide eyes, or at least as wide as the compound eyes of a butterfly could get, he watched as the woman with her red marked mask in the center of the garden, brought her glowing green hands together. His antennae swiveled to focus on the green glow as it flowed over the rest of her black clad body for an instant, before it leapt away from her, and the one way barrier above began directing butterflies to another empty flowerbed. Dekuyume hummed, [The Shinigami on patrol in the living world must be slacking, that was only 920 souls during the last 10 minutes.] Sōsuke blinked in surprise and focused on her as the recently transformed people were herded into a line so that the masked man could ask them his questions and hand them their tickets. [You don't expect me to believe that Sasakibe sent over a thousand souls here per hour. We spent longer than an hour some days just sitting at the tea shop drinking tea. Were you really counting?]

He can feel her grin, [I was bored, and you would be surprised by what seemingly inconsequential fact winds up being important later on. Just think about how many you alone were sending when you used the Konsō spell on hollows, and how overworked these poor Kidō Corps trainees were when you did. As for the souls, most make it here all on their own without any intervention from Shinigami like Sasakibe-san. The only ones they wind up having to send on, are pluses who, for one reason or another, refuse to leave the living world, and hollows. You wouldn't think that there are a lot, but when you consider that only 920 butterflies appeared during the 10 minutes, when there should have been about 1050. Meaning that the living world now has 130 souls running around without their bodies. Most of them will become hollow food, or hollows themselves. Luckily, most of the time the human to hollow conversion leaves the hollow in Hueco Mundo instead of the world of the living, otherwise this past ten minutes alone would mean that there will be about a dozen new hollows to contend with sometime in the future.]

And then Sōsuke asked about the fact that the girl had died in 1702 and why Dekuyume counted her as part of the modern day death toll. He was quickly sucked into a bewildering explanation of linear-cyclic soul-time bypasses vs. entropy… which made absolutely no sense the moment Dekuyume stopped thinking about it herself. As best he understood, somewhere there was an algorithm that was used to determine when souls should arrive in Soul Society and everyone who had died during the same 10 minutes as Sōsuke was here, plus a few extras from other time periods to round out the numbers to an exact 1000. His mind hurts when she explains that the people who died in the 10 minutes after him would have come here 1000 years ago, whereas the ones who died 10 minutes before him will show up 650 years from now…

Gradually, the flowerbed he is in empties of butterflies leaving Sōsuke and only a dozen others who had yet to turn back into people. Deciding to bite the bullet and take a sip of the flower nectar now that the masked man was no longer handing out tickets to Kusajishi, Sōsuke moved to the underside of the flowers he was on and extended his tongue into the bell of the flower. It was really sweet, and kind of fizzy like soda. Bracing himself for impact, grateful that he wouldn't have too far to fall, he laid his wings out flat and curled his head up so he wouldn't hit it when he hit the ground. But after a few seconds of no change, he fluttered his wings in agitation only to realize that the strip of color on his wings was just as maroon as it was before. [Dekuyume, why am I not changing too, I've had some of the flower nectar just like all of the others.]

Hmm. [Activation Energy. Souls remain as butterflies until they receive enough energy to change back, the stronger the soul, the longer it takes for them to return to human form. The only other thing that really affects how much activation energy they need, is whether or not a Shinigami sent them here, or if they came on their own. Konsō is performed by the Shinigami who pays the price for the transformation, one of the reasons that only lieutenant level Shinigami and up are usually sent to the mortal plain, so those who are sent need less than those who make their way here on their own.] And then their butterfly body shrugged, an awkward movement since they didn't really have any shoulders. It was even weirder for Sōsuke since it was Dekuyume who had made the movement.

With a smile, Dekuyume continues, [Most butterflies return to human form the moment they drink the nectar from the flowers because the flowers feed off of the ambient Reiatsu from the Kidō barrier used to pen them in, transferring it into their Reishi. Those that don't change back before their flowerbed is back in rotation again are collected and sent over to the Noble Houses and the Shinigami. In exchange for carrying messages and guiding them through the Senkaimon, that's the gate that Sasakibe-san took back to The Soul Society, you will be bathed in the Reiatsu of your caretakers, which will supercharge the occasional Reishi they give off constantly just like how a human sheds skin in the living world, not to mention the sanctuary they set up for their hell butterflies will also have highly charged Reishi for you to eat. There is a difference of several orders of magnitude in power compared to what little the butterflies actually wind up getting from the nectar of the flowers. Consequently what would take a hundred years for a soul starting with a 10th seat's Reiryoku level, only takes about a year.]

[And for us?] Dekuyume wryly responds, [Even with being hand fed… Probably about a decade.] As Sōsuke groans, she teases, [What, tired of me already?] Sōsuke laughs and as the night rolls on, eventually lightening with the coming dawn, he finds one perk to being dead, as he asks all of the questions that had been bothering him for a while now. But Dekuyume was Dekuyume, even to her next incarnation, and for every question he asked, he either got more than he bargained for, or was told that he would discover the answer himself, if he only paid attention.

In truth, Dekuyume just didn't want to spoil what innocence he retained.

It was a rare thing after all, for innocence to be associated with something that had once come from Naraku, or Magatsuhi before him.

It made Dekuyume proud, to know that she herself, was the cause for that paradigm shift in their soul.

Hanakotoba

Lily of the Valley : Sweet

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Chapter 9 : Just a Messenger

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12 hours after they entered the garden Sōsuke was the last remaining butterfly in the flowerbed. As Makizō Aramaki; black hair, mustache, tiny squinty eyes and a huge mouth, Birth Date April 14th 2064 was sent to East 32nd district Aisubaan (Icy Road), Dekuyume snorted, [There goes a very good example of why where you start, is less important than what you do with what you have. Don't be surprised when Hiyori-chan ends up orders of magnitude more powerful than Makizō-kun. Even if she was scared, she showed more courage than he did, when she dared to ask the Kidō Corps attendant a question. Cowards rarely manage to scrounge up the discipline to push themselves beyond their self-perceived limits, as a result, they squander any advantages they had at the start, and fall behind as those who strive for more, climb ever higher. In a wild fit of irony, the cowards don't even live longer, as the stronger the soul is, the longer it takes for them to die from old age on this plain.]

A second masked man approached the one that had diligently oversaw the transformation of all the butterflies Sōsuke entered the flowerbed with. The symbol on his face covering was yellow, and pulled along behind him was a little wagon with what looked like gardening supplies. With avid curiosity, Sōsuke's wings fluttered as the one with the yellow symbol bowed deeply to the one with the orange symbol. "Senpai, I am here to check the garden for any remaining hell butterflies, and to tend to the flowers before the next shift." The man in the orange painted mask, who's voice had held no emotion for the past 12 hours seemed to be a different person as he bowed back slightly and responded warmly, "Proceed Kōhai. Don't be ashamed to use the incantation, your pride is not worth harming a hell butterfly with a misfired Kidō."

Eager to learn another Kidō, even if the teacher didn't know they were teaching, Sōsuke focused intently on the Kōhai who bows once more, "Yes Senpai." As he rises, he turns to face the flowerbed and closes his eyes, focused and still but for the flowers gently bobbing in the breeze and the slight fluttering of Sōsuke's wings as he keeps his footing. He holds his palms out flat in front of himself, palms facing up towards the sky. "Lost child, dry your tears, look up at the eternal heavens, Behold! The falling stars carry you home. Bakudō #25: Maigo, The Lost Child!"

A spark shoots up from each of his fingertips, but only one curves, arcing through the air and shooting towards Sōsuke. Panicked, he flutters into the air, but the little shooting star follows him and catches him mid-flight. The heart that stretched down his back pulsated wildly in fear, only calming when Sōsuke finally registered the soft [Ku. Ku. Ku.] coming from Dekuyume. Surrounded by a soft white glow from the Kidō spell that slowly pulled him towards the palm of the caster, Sōsuke could only grumble, [Isn't it called masochism when you enjoy hurting yourself?] His only response is more of her laughter.

The younger Kidō corps member gently hands Sōsuke to his superior, Kidō barrier and all, before bowing once more. The man in the orange marked mask accepts the hell butterfly gently with a small bow before turning on his heels and walking towards the main exit to the garden. He seems eager to get out of there as his strides are long and fast, carrying him past white Shihakushō clad souls on their way to be escorted to their assigned districts. That was just fine with Sōsuke, unsurprisingly the life of a butterfly was a little low in the excitement department, and being trapped in that flowerbed for 12 hours didn't help matters.

Just outside the gates, a sharp turn to the building built into the outside of the main protective wall, causes the man's mask to sway, and Sōsuke to nearly topple from the man's palm. So much for being careful. The same quick strides bring the two of them up to yet another woman, dressed the same as all the others, bearing a blue symbol on her mask. He bows, making a lie of Sōsuke's scoffing as he carefully holds his palm flat and level through his bow, and more so when he gently encourages Sōsuke to stand in an odd inked symbol on the desk in front of the blue marked woman. "Senpai, the 3 o'clock garden had one hell butterfly remain after the 12 hour observation period." She bows slightly while remaining seated, "Acknowledged and dismissed." The orange marked man leaves, leaving Sōsuke on the table as the woman pulls out some forms from a drawer and begins filling them out.

Their little buggy head tilts to the side as Dekuyume mumbles, [Hm.. well that's interesting…] Wary of her response, but bored enough to deal with it, Sōsuke asks, [Care to share?] He regains control of their body as she replies, [It wasn't pertinent information, when this dimension was first brought to my attention. So I didn't actually know much about the Kidō Corps, only that they existed. Judging by their actions I would say that they follow a martial arts ranking when it comes to the color of the symbol on their masks. I would assume that someone somewhere has the ability to see beneath them, since the cloth muffles and distorts their Reiatsu signature. It would be terribly difficult to tell they had been infiltrated, not to mention inconvenient to find said infiltrator if they couldn't.]

[… You want to try, don't you.] Dekuyume laughs, [Ah… You know me so well! But that's ok, I know you pretty well too. Go ahead and try to leave while she isn't looking, see what it gets you.] Sōsuke can feel the smile she is hiding, and the odd sensation of one of his hands feeling empty. He guessed she missed her fan. Wary now that she has tried to egg him on, Sōsuke remains right where he is. It is all for nothing though, as the woman pulls a thick file out of her desk and lays it down on the top, the gust of wind it kicks up forces Sōsuke into the air to keep from toppling over as it pushes against his wings.

On the table below him, the ink glows the same color as Sōsuke's Reiatsu, the violet extending upwards and forming above him as if someone had taken a cup made out of violet glass and placed it on the desk inverted, trapping him in. Sōsuke flutters down to the desk. Now that was just cheating. Devoid of anything else to do, and not tired enough to sleep, he turns and stares at the woman as she finishes going through the papers in the folder. She pulls a single sheet out before putting the file away in her desk. Thankfully the woman was the type to talk to herself as she filled out forms otherwise he would have been miserably bored. Compound eyes were notuseful for reading paperwork upside down. "One butterfly, Violet Reiatsu, 3 O'clock garden, May 29th 1701, local time. Assigned to Shiba Clan, to be delivered May 30th 1701 after 12 hour observation period and documentation."

With practiced movements she inks a rubber stamp and presses it into the available space at the bottom of the certification document. As she puts it away, she presses a little bell that Sōsuke hadn't noticed. Shortly after, another blue marked Kidō Corps member enters the room from a side door. As it closes, he can see several others in the room all with blue markings on their masks sitting around. The woman hands him the paperwork and an empty folder, "I have a delivery for you Niisan." Sōsuke wonders if they are actually siblings, or if in a world devoid of any other measurable difference then gender, Niisan was the only way to address a man of the same rank.

He reads the file, but Sōsuke's attention is drawn away as, with a tap of her fingers to the barrier, it dissolves into nothing, freeing him. The freedom is short lived as he is promptly captured in yet another white Maigo barrier by the man, this time without him having said anything at all. The man strolls out of the door and back out into the mid day sunshine. Sōsuke's wings flair out flat, and if he had eyelids, his eyes would have rolled back in his head. Sunshine was so warm, it was even better than that one time I fell asleep in the sheets that had just come out of the Orphanage's massive dryer.

As it was, being without eyelids that is, he was prevented from getting lost basking in the sunlight, and thus missing his first experience with shunpo as a butterfly. Ick. So that was why Sasakibe had him close his eyes when he used shunpo. Hopefully he would like it better when he was the one driving. The world was a blur of color, his butterfly senses not strong enough to keep up as he was carried out of the Kidō Corps barrier riddled compound and into Seireitei proper. The only slowing that happened was when they approached the busy street outside the Shiba Clan Main House near the Blue Stream Gate, the Eastern exit to the Rukongai.

Pausing only momentarily to bow to the guards standing at the Main Gate, the Kidō Corps member quietly announces, "Hell Butterfly Delivery." He is waived in immediately. As the man carrying him moves through the halls of the Shiba Clan Main House with confidence, Sōsuke can only assume that he knows where he was going. But that was just so… He struggles to find the right word, but each is just as bad as the others and still fails to express how utterly disappointed he was by their security. Anyone could put on that uniform and just stroll on in. He didn't care if most nobles were good enough at Reiatsu sensing to follow their movements from the other side of the compound. There was so much that could happen before they could be intercepted, even with shunpo. Even the orphanage he had been at was better guarded with all of its locked doors.

After passing through a series of sliding paper doors, Sōsuke the butterfly came face to antenna with Itsuki Shiba, the Hell Butterfly Master for the Shiba Clan Hell Butterflies, tall and thin like a tree, long brown hair hanging freely to his waist where it was bound together with a large bead decorated with a painted hell butterfly… and just how long were his fingers? They had to be at least twice as long as normal! [Dekuyume are you sure aliens and Jedi aren't real here cuz… I hate to break it to you but I don't see how this guy is human.] Dekuyume only laughs.

Mildly impressed as neither man says anything, both intent on getting this over with so they can go back to what they were doing. The Maigo Kidō barrier and trap spell holding him is handed over along with the paperwork generated earlier along with something that eases Sōsuke's worry about security, a badge the same blue as the symbol on the man's face covering.

After a few minutes spent examining the documents, Itsuki sets them down, taking Sōsuke in both hands. "On behalf of the Shiba Clan I accept this hell butterfly under the designation of Violet and vow to handle it with benevolence and care for the boon it brings to my House." Nervously Sōsuke watches as his long fingers curl around the outside of the Maigo barrier forming a cadge. Sōsuke would swear that the fingers almost wrapped around twice. The blue marked man snaps his fingers and it disappears leaving Sōsuke to crawl around inside his prison of fingers and palms. After receiving a nod from Itsuki, he places his hands over the nobles. Sōsuke can feel the change in pressure in his prison as the amount of Reiatsu increases in preparation for another Kidō. Wiggling just enough so that he can see through the fingers and the glow of the man's Reiatsu, Sōsuke memorizes the incantation of this Kidō as well. Just think, one more spell and his list of known Kidō would double.

"The sky fills the ocean, the Earth holds up the sky, the ocean cradles the earth. O' child of the sky, let the hands of earth's man shelter you. In turn, fill his empty ears with whispered secrets and guide him through the murky paths. Bakudō #53: Tate-kyousei, The Contract Symbiosis." Both men withdrew their hands, leaving a newly bound hell butterfly sitting on the palm of Itsuki's hand. Slightly dazed from the Kidō, he hears someone say, "Please sign the acceptance form.", and assumes that it is the man from the Kidō Corps. Hurriedly, not wanting to get swatted by paper, he takes to the air, fluttering in a lazy circle as he shakes off the lingering feeling. Whee! Fluttering was fun! Almost made not being able to become a Jedi worth it… but only almost.

"Humph. Not quite yet." Sōsuke's antennae swivel and bob in the air as his attention jerks to the blue marked man who just let out a tiny burst of Reiatsu. Itsuki didn't appear to have noticed, but Sōsuke couldn't really understand how he didn't notice the other mans anger. Unsurprisingly Dekuyume had an answer, [Remember Sōsuke, right now we're built to sense ambient Reiatsu and search it out for the highly charged Reishi particles we need to eat and while most souls with Reiatsu of their own to throw around develop the ability to sense the Reiatsu of others, unless they use it for combat like the Shinigami, Onmitsukidō and the Kidō Corps, they never get it fine tuned enough to feel even a tenth of what we are right now.] Just as he was about to ask if there was any way they could keep the sensitivity they had now when he turned back into a real boy again, and didn't that make him feel like the butterfly version of Pinocchio…, he was distracted by Itsuki as he further annoyed the blue marked man.

With a harrumph, Itsuki spoke haughtily, "It wouldn't be the first time it failed, and then it took months! Months I tell you, before we managed to get one of you people back here to redo the whole thing all the while we had our hands full making sure that we didn't get the bound and unbound hell butterflies mixed up. Only to discover when you could be bothered to show up, that we already had an Azure Blue and since no no hell butterfly of the same color can be bound to a single person to avoid missidentification when they reform into souls, were forced to return it and wait even longer for the next available shade of blue not in our service. I dare say you can spare a few minutes to spare a Greater Noble Clan the danger of a communications breakdown."

The angry man slashes his hand through the air in an exaggerated display of well, what are you waiting for, all the while growling under his breath in irritation. Finally getting the hint that the man who knew more Kidō than Itsuki could ever hope to cast was angry, he hurriedly performed a quick check. "Violet." Unable to do or think of any other course of action, no matter how much he wants to avoid being named Violet for the next ten years, Sōsuke flutters to Itsuki, settling on the tip of his freakishly long extended finger.

His whole body is bathed in Itsuki's excess Reiatsu as it leaves his body from the Reiatsu vents at his wrists. Suddenly ravenous, his tongue extends from his long tubular mouth only to curl in the air, delicately snagging the tiny dust particles in the air that are super-charged by the Reiatsu. As he eats, he feels instructions being imprinted somewhere inside of him, and far sooner than he wanted, that same blind obedience sent him back into flight. Confused, he fluttered around the walls of the room twice before making his way back to Itsuki and gives the imprint back. "This butterfly is not properly assigned to the Shiba Clan. Please send someone more skilled to correct this issue."

No longer held captive by the obedience, but still enjoying feeding from Itsuki, Sōsuke gingerly wiggled around on the man's fingertip so he could read the notes he was taking at the same time. Apparently Sōsuke responded appropriately to the name Violet and passed Itsuki's check for a false positive, being unable to deliver a message to someone who could not be properly identified, in this case, the Kidō Corps woman who had filled out Sōsuke's paperwork earlier. Just as he thinks he is going to be too full to fly, he is given another imprint. Like a zombie he takes to the air and flutters over to the window. He handles the crosswind as he goes over the threshold as if he had been born a butterfly, and with no concept of how long it took, how far he traveled, or the path he took to get there, Sōsuke flutters in the window of Jun'ichi Shiba, the current Clan Head of the Shiba family, and the taichō of the 5th division. Whoa is that one scary looking grandpa!

He was wearing his captains coat, floor length and white, but missing the sleeves revealing the black Shihakushō he wore underneath and doing nothing at all to disguise the muscles bulging underneath that. With the many scars visible on his face and hands, and the beard down to his navel, Jun'ichi was every bit the battle hardened veteran. Contrary to his appearance, he was very gentle with Sōsuke, allowing him to eat his fill after his impression was given, "This is Violet, the new hell butterfly that we requested months ago. I am performing a 'quick' check to make sure it takes messages properly." Sōsuke wasn't sure if the generosity comes from actual Noblesse Oblige or just from the desire to make the Kidō Corps member who delivered him wait. Either way it was no scales off his wings…. Get it?

Thus, Sōsuke found himself an indentured servant to the Shiba, and a [butter]fly on the wall of one of the 5 leading houses of Soul Society.

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3 years later

Sōsuke has learned several interesting things about being a butterfly during the last three years. Not all of them pleasant.

First, and most strange, butterflies did not need to go to the bathroom, but if he spent too much time in the flower garden set aside for the Clan's hell butterflies drinking nectar, he would feel the most awful pressure in his abdomen. It would build and build until there was a soft pop, and a fine liquid spray came out from the tip of his abdomen. He would have just called it peeing, but Dekuyume being the know it all she was, told him that it wasn't pee. Pee was a liquid waste from digestion, what he and all butterflies emitted when they did this was pure water. Because, go figure butterflies didn't cry or sweat either, so they had no other way to get rid of the water outside of breathing.

Second, and most disgusting, they did not have eyelids, and consequently they could not close their eyes when they didn't want to see the adults who thought it was a good idea to have sex in the butterfly garden. The only thing worse than not being able to close his eyes to block them out, was Dekuyume deciding that was an excellent opportunity for a Sex ED lesson. Eww. He was never going to do that… EVER.

Third, and most disappointing, butterflies did not sleep. Which was quite saddening to Sōsuke, since it meant no more of Dekuyume's memories, nor any stolen moments when he could go back to being a boy for a few hours. If she was right, Sōsuke was going to be a butterfly as long as he had been a boy… it made him wonder, was he going to have to relearn how to walk on two legs again, or was it going to be just like when he turned into a butterfly and just knew how to fly?

Fourth, and most boring, he could communicate with all of the other hell butterflies with a weird jumbled up mess of color, chemicals, sound, and what amounted to sign language when you had no hands. But because none of the other hell butterflies were self aware like he was… he found there wasn't much to talk about with them. Once he managed to get everything translated properly in his head, he just directed all of his questions to Dekuyume no matter how she was about it.

Fifth, and the next best thing to sleep, basking. Sōsuke could lose hours and hours unnoticed just slowly waiving his wings in the sunshine while sitting on a nice solid surface.

Sixth, and most reassuring, even though he had a lot in common with butterflies from the living world, Sōsuke was a hell butterfly and they were made of much stronger stuff, being a whole person scrunched down into the size of a butterfly. It was a good thing too because rain was millions of cannon balls falling out of the sky at lethal speeds for a normal butterfly, but kind of felt like the foam balls they used in doge ball back when he was still a boy going to school. And really, for all of their TLC, when the nobles wanted a message delivered, Sōsuke didn't have a choice about what the weather was like.On the plus side he was surprisingly fast, able to go from one side of Seireitei in 6 hours when it would take a normal soul walking non-stop for 10 days. He had to do it at a pretty high altitude though, crashing into someone in a hurry and using shunpo across the rooftops hurt.

Seventh and the most important thing Sōsuke learned, was how to shake off the chains of the binding that stole his free will. He had a little leeway when it came to who to give the message to if the sender wasn't clear enough. For example, even though the sender does not know who the person on gate guarding duty is at the moment, they know exactly where the gate is, and that someone is supposed to be there, so Sōsuke couldn't just refuse to take the message. But if there were two at the gate, one who is in charge and one who is getting ready to take over the next shift it is up to the butterfly to decide which to deliver the message to. While that was perfectly ok for Sōsuke, the other butterflies were… not smart, and he had no idea why Soul Society ever decided that using butterflies to send messages was a good idea.

But to completely shake off the chains, all Sōsuke had to do was relax, and let Dekuyume take over piloting their butterfly body, because apparently, even though the color of their Reiryoku was similar, it was not the same, Dekuyume's being a shade or two darker purple. And they discovered that fact just in time to prevent a thief from getting away.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

1 year into Sōsuke's service with the Shiba

For all that he could tell, Sōsuke had been basking on his favorite smooth stone in the hell butterfly sanctuary one moment and the second he was landing on the finger of one of the countless Shiba branch members; Clean shaven, Dark hair, dark eyes. It was always like that when he (Violet) was summoned, and as the broad-shouldered man was wearing the Shihakushō of a Shinigami and they were standing next to the Shiba Clan Senkaimon Gate, it appeared he was going on a field trip. Sweet.

The first time they had gone through one, Sōsuke had been surprised to see a 10 foot long hallway large enough for a human bearing a startling resemblance to the tunnels he had taken to get to Soul Society from the world of the living. The number of lights was drastically reduced to just one, the same color as the Reiryoku of whomever he was guiding through the passage. It was actually pretty fun flying up to the little glowing ball of light, and passing through it to activate the next just a little further down the hall. It reminded Sōsuke of a Star Wars video game he had played once where he had to get the space ship to fly through a bunch of rings while avoiding the bullets the Empire's Death Star was shooting at him.

When he wondered why his pretty violet light wasn't there, Dekuyume explained that only hell butterflies naturally traveled from the living world to The Soul Society, just as only hollows did to El Hueco Mundo. And just like sometimes the Hollow reformed in the living world after their Becoming, sometimes butterflies got stranded in the world of the living. It was a natural consequence then, that the butterflies and hollows also had the ability to go the opposite direction naturally, so as to lead their compatriots home (or in the case of hollows, eat and return to their nest). Because he had made the trip between worlds once, there was no need for him to be guided. It was interesting though, and made him wonder what would happen if he missed flying through one of the lights.

Dekuyume had an answer for that too of course, the Shinigami would fall out of phase with the Senkaimon landing in the Dangai, the precipice world. A lethal thing, if it was in the middle of running the Kōtotsu. Suddenly guiding people through the Senkaimon sounded like the worst possible thing you would want something with no self awareness doing. Much less something with the IQ of a butterfly, even if the hell butterflies were twice as smart… twice 10 IQ was still an idiot.

It didn't turn out that way, because, not even they could mess this up the way he had seen happen sometimes with messages. It couldn't, not when, they were drawn to the lights without fail. While the Shinigami complained about how dark it was, to Sōsuke's compound eyes, there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter which direction he was traveling… pretty funny. It was only a few flutters into the passage that Sōsuke knew something was different this time. Because there was more than one color light, meaning that there were two non-butterflies in the hall… which was also twice as long.

Focusing on the opposite end he saw the other Shinigami; furtive eyes, black hair, black eyes… suspicious sack over his shoulder, walking towards Sōsuke and the Shiba he was guiding. Carefully, he only passes through the lights for his Shiba companion, avoiding those for the other man. The vibrations that came from the sack grew louder as they met in the middle, the sound reminding Sōsuke of metal hitting metal, making him wonder if the sack was full of money. As Sōsuke flutters around his Shiba, he ignores the *confused*, *help* message the other butterfly is sending, focusing on the two men as the Shiba asks, "Did you bring the money?"

As the shifty eyed man grunts, pulling out several rolls of strung together coins, Sōsuke can only watch in fascination as the Shiba accepts money for the 4th division medical backpack he pulls out from the folds of his Shihakushō. The other hell butterflies, *I human!* is Sōsuke's only warning for what comes next.

With a sharp "Violet" from the Shiba, Sōsuke is summoned out of the way as he draws his zanpakutō, and slams it hilt first into the shifty eyed man's chest with a shout, "Forbidden Kidō: Kyouseiteki Ijou, Forced Change!" He collapses to his knees, panting as his zanpakutō clatters to the ground, his palms pressed tightly to it. In the air above him, three butterflies flutter.

Across from Sōsuke two butterflies convey their message, *help, I human*. He tries and he tries, but he had been given a command to wait for the message the Shiba wanted to give him, and he couldn't rationalize away the need to wait. Dekuyume came to the forefront then, and Sōsuke could practically feel his worries soothed away by the fierce determination she exuded. Here was the woman who had led the Higurashi and masterminded a multi-dimensional and time-line coup against the entirety of the celestial ocean.

She floated down to the panting man who had by then pulled the rolls of strung together coins and the medicine backpack closer and returned his zanpakutō to its sheath. As he recovered, he sat on his heels counting his money and muttering about how little it was in relation to what he would get when he sold both butterflies as he had done with the first to the second. She is almost swatted out of the air several times as she tries to land on his nose, but each time she avoids the blow, using their large wings to just let the air currents his movements cause pull them out of the way. It was hilarious and reminded Sōsuke of the time he made cookies with Ms. Williams and dropped a piece of eggshell in the bowl and spent almost 10 minutes trying to get it back out of the slimy egg white.

Eventually with a huff, the Shiba allows Dekuyume to land on his nose. His eyes go cross-eyed as he stares at her, "What? Don't look at me like that. You know, some of us have to make a living so you can sit in your pretty garden, I'm doing these people a favor really. The life of a hell butterfly is much easier than the life of a man." Dekuyume's response sends Sōsuke into a fit of giggles, making it a good thing that Dekuyume was driving them around right then.

Flaring out her wings widely, Dekuyume laces her Reiatsu with the scale-like powder on her wings, much like how she had combined her magic with playground sand and pollen as a child. With a force several orders of magnitude greater than a tiny butterfly should have been capable, she throws her wings forward, throwing loose bits at him, she paints his vision dark purple, blinding him.

She flutters off of his nose just in time to avoid the fist he throws at her, while jerking back and cussing. Sōsuke laughs harder when he promptly punches himself in the face. Fluttering up to the other two butterflies, who were messaging, *yes!*, *Take That!*, she announced, *Follow Me*, *I help.* Showing that experience was no match for instinct, Dekuyume avoided the cussing man's grasping hands and even herded the other two out of the way, preventing them from passing through the Shiba's colored lights.

Once they were half way to the Soul Society exit, 5 feet down the hallway, the Shiba managed to stumble to his feet, an evil hiss of anger falling from his lips, eyes irritated and red as he glared at them hatefully. He used shunpo to catch up to them, but just as he moved passed the colored light the same color as his Reiryoku, he vanished. As the three hell butterflies made it to the end of the passage and left the space between worlds, the thief began walking through the precipice world, where he would be found later and executed by the Onmitsukidō to prevent shame from falling on the Shiba Clan and subsequently the 5 Greater Noble Clans of Seireitei.

For want of anything better, Dekuyume led them to the Kidō Corps compound straight through the open window. The three fluttered around the bemused masked man's head who couldn't figure out why they wouldn't give him his messages. Dekuyume continued to tease him by pretending to land on his extended hand while she directed the other two, *Use ink*. In a few moments, her distraction was unnecessary as his eyes widened in surprise as two butterflies slowly wrote HELP across his paperwork with their feet dampened by the open ink stamp pad. Taking advantage of his distraction Dekuyume flew back out the window, returning to Itsuki and the Shiba hell butterfly sanctuary.

As it turned out Itsuki, made a note that Violet returned at about the same time as the Grand Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps, Ryuunosuke Magatama, Clan Head of the Greater Noble Clan of Magatama who traditionally held the position, arrived in the Hell Butterfly office to free two souls from a forbidden transformation Kidō, along with the Yuudai Shihōin, Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, taichō of the 2nd division, and Clan Head of the Greater Noble Clan of Shihōin, who also traditionally held that position.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Present Day, 3 years into Sōsuke' service with the Shiba

Unsurprisingly, Violet was not given anymore escort missions through the Senkaimon and was regulated to messenger work over the next two years. Perhaps it was because he had already been used for one nefarious deed, or perhaps it was simply a matter of taking off the rose-tinted glasses and focusing less on eating and more on what message he was carrying, either way… he began to notice just how many of the messages he delivered were about deficient finances. He had taken so many in fact that he couldn't for the life of him figure out how they were getting their King Given Task done.

Today though, that was all going to come to an end. From what Sōsuke had managed to catch of the messages he carried to the Aizomeya Family, a minor noble house that served the Shiba… The Aizomeya Family Head, upon realizing that the waiting list for a hell butterfly was so long that they wouldn't receive one in time, asked Itsuki if the Shiba could spare one for a short while, receiving the violet hell butterfly they had placed a request for. They offered a sum of money neither Sōsuke or Dekuyume could put into perspective, as they had no point of reference. Sōsuke could infer that it was generous, as the messages were much more agreeable after that.

Turns out that the Aizomeya wanted him for their Heir, Subaru Aizomeya as congratulations present on joining the Shin'ō Academy. Already Sōsuke had been freed from Tate-kyousei, The Contract Symbiosis with the Shiba, with a Kaidō of all things. And wasn't it interesting that the 1stRite of Kaidō was (Liberation) and named Ibara Abekobe, The Inverse Thorn. Pity that the person who did it had been so fast Sōsuke couldn't memorize the Kaidō, Sōsuke would have liked to add it to his repertoire.

He wasn't in the Maigo barrier for transport for long, as the Main House of the Aizomeya family shared their Eastern wall with the Shiba Clan Main House. As he is carried through the halls of the Aizomeya mansion, Sōsuke can't help but feel that, for all of their lesser rank, the Aizomeya were wealthier than the Shiba. It wasn't over the top or gaudy, but the colors in the fabrics they wore were richer, and everyone seemed much busier as they briskly walked passed.

As he is bound yet again, this time solely to Subaru Aizomeya, Sōsuke can't help but wonder… if the Shiba agreed because they were so hard up for money that they couldn't even afford a few extra butterflies.

[I hate to break it to you Sōsuke, but Nobles, no matter their culture, are rarely humble enough to let go of their status symbols when they can no longer afford them.]

Dekuyume paints a sad picture. The future is a dark thing for the Shiba… and even darker for the peasants in the Rukongai.

And so begins the next stretch of Sōsuke's life as a butterfly in the land of the dead.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 10 : Just a Friend

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The lesser noble house of Aizome had risen from the dust of the Rukongai thousands of years ago when they took up service to the Greater Noble Clan of Shiba. It was a great calling, as by tradition the Shiba were in charge of the welfare of the people of the Rukongai. It was also a very labor intensive one, requiring many man-hours spent out of Seireitei. And a very dangerous one, as outside of Seireitei's Sekkiseki walls, hollows often appeared, drawn by the unprotected souls.

Two generations ago, the only proof that remained that the Aizome were not born nobility, was their name, one that that they shared with the 1st East District Aizome (Indigo Dye). One generation ago, desirous of removing the last smudge on their reputation in Seireitei, the new head of the house of Aizome had proclaimed that they would change their name to Aizomeya. The change from Indigo Dye to Indigo Dyer was subtle enough to avoid confusion, but different enough to assuage the pride of the Aizomeya as they moved through the high society of Seireitei. Only the branch family would retain the reading as Aizome as they lived in the District itself, tending their fields and hosting many outreach programs in their community.

The Aizomeya and their branch family, remained just as prosperous under the Shiba as before. Their sons and daughters were still trained in the use of their Reiryoku and Reiatsu so that they might better serve the Shiba out in the Rukongai, many of them going into service in the Gotei 13. The true indigo plants the Aizome branch family cultivated and grew in the Aizome district, were turned into dye which was then sold by the main branch of the Aizomeya family in Seireitei. The dye went into the production of textiles and paints, which were used by the nobility, Kidō corps and the Gotei 13.

The crops of indigo were often rotated in the fields with food crops, providing additional income, as most of the souls with money and a need to eat could be found in Seireitei. The venture was so profitable that the even the branch family compound out in the Rukongai was just as lush and serene as any lesser noble family mansion in Seireitei. They were well educated, resourceful, and proud. They were also observant, and inclined to speak their mind… and that ultimately led to the ruin of the house of Aizomeya.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

This fashion-crazy pretty boy… was the next Clan Head for the minor noble house of Aizomeya?

"What do you mean, the violet color is only visible when its hurt or changing back into a person!?" There is the stomping of a dainty foot and an "Ugg! I've already planned my whole off-duty wardrobe based around the fact that the hell butterfly would be violet to match my eyes! Now what am I going to do?"

Sōsuke was left to flutter around the room waiting for the end of the 10 minute temper tantrum. He might have been able to understand if Subaru was 8 or nine in age and emotion… but it was such an embarrassing thing to watch in a man who looked to be a full decade older. Suffice to say, Sōsuke was not impressed by the noble he would be personally serving for the foreseeable future.

The temper tantrum could have easily gone on for much longer, had the masked man not had enough, and with a shout of Sentan Hakuja, The Thousand-Coil White Snake, disappeared in a tornado of white fabric, rudely teleporting out of the mansion to avoid spending even another moment there. Sōsuke almost wished that he had gone with him, but if he had, he wouldn't have seen something interesting… The moment the Kidō ended revealing empty space where the Kidō Corps member had stood, Subaru immediately stopped shouting with a smirk. After smoothing his kimono, he held his hand out for Sōsuke. There was no summon command, only curiosity caused Sōsuke to flutter over and delicately land on the extended finger. Yum3. And food… but he couldn't help that.

Violet eyes framed by long strands of ebony hair held no hint of his previous temperament, conveying only affection and kindness, "Not your fault people are dumb my lovely. I'll tell you a secret. There's nothing wrong with the kimono I plan on taking. I already knew you would be black with a tiny little blush of maroon. The Shiba Clan and subsequently all of its vassals are having a bit of an… argument with the Kidō Corps at the moment. One of the Shiba was working in the Kidō Corps you see, and they developed a brand new Kidō right before they retired. The Kidō Corps claimed it as their property and managed to get it banned for use by anyone outside of the Kidō Corps." Subaru shrugs, rolling his eyes, "Whatever, I don't really care about some useless Kidō."

There is a twinkle in his eye as he cocks his hips propping one hand on his narrow waist and bringing the finger Sōsuke is resting on close to whisper, "But I was pretty convincing ne~ Violet?" Fascinated, Sōsuke watched from the tip of Subaru's finger as his new keeper switched from spoiled prince-ling to kind and vivacious and back again as he dealt with different people throughout the day. Dekuyume's explanation of social masking didn't detract in the least from Sōsuke's enthrallment. That looked like so much fun…

But what was by far the most interesting, was when all the lights went out for the night and Subaru was getting ready for bed. From the lidless terrarium set up for Sōsuke with all the creature comforts a hell butterfly could ask for, he watched as Subaru's little brother Haku; about 8 years old, wild blond curls, violet eyes, snuck into the room. The little boy was crying, sniffles really, looking pitiful as he mumbled, "Aniiki, why do you have to go away?"

Scooping up his otouto into a fierce hug and carrying him over to the futon laid out for his last night in the family manor for the next 6 years, and not at all looking forward to the dorms he would have to sleep in for the duration of the Shin'ō Academy Main Class for Shinigami. "Don't be like that otouto. Six years isn't that long at all. Why, I bet you won't even get 1 inch taller while I'm gone. And it's not like once I walk through the gates I won't be let out for the whole 6 years, its only for the first one that we aren't. After our year 1 exams, we are given permission to leave the campus in 4 hour increments."

Haku burrows into his brothers chest as the two lay down, "I don't like it." Subaru pulls up the blankets and uses a fluctuation of his Reiatsu to turn out the lights as he tells Haku that it built character, doing things that one didn't like. It made Sōsuke's heart ache terribly, so much so that it took him until Haku had fallen asleep on Subaru's chest as they cuddled together, before he finally realized that the emotion wasn't his, but Dekuyume's. [Dekuyume?]

When she did not answer, worried, he tried again, [Dekuyume, are you ok?] With the sensation of someone waking up from a long bittersweet dream, she responded. [I'm fine Sōsuke, I was just… remembering Kagome-chan and Sōta-kun] That… was sad, even if it did explain why she got lost in her memories. [That's your version of her isn't it? The one you got to keep as your imouto? And I'm guessing that Sōta is your otouto?]

[Yes] The one word is so full of emotion that it makes Sōsuke feel tired. But neither of the two consciousnesses' with their shared soul and body could sleep… because butterflies couldn't... no matter how much they might need the reprieve.

The night was long, the shadows in the room no match for those clouding Dekuyume's heart with ghostly fingers of memory that cast their shadow on Sōsuke's heart but never quite sank in. Only as the morning sun painted the world in pastels did Dekuyume come out of her memories, though it wasn't for a few hours after, that Subaru awoke. Crawling out of the blankets before turning and smiling down at his otouto as he curled up in the warm spot, Subaru ran his fingers through his messy hair with a soft smile. Taking a moment to tuck the blankets around Haku, he rose and quietly started getting ready for his busy day.

Subaru frowns, sighing as he puts the elaborate hair ornament he had wanted to wear as a perch for Violet back in his trinkets box. There was just no way to affix it, not without putting his hair into a bun, and he looked silly in a bun. Haku, who had been watching his brother get ready to go, pouting as he stayed curled up in the warm blankets asks, "Why don't you just take some of your hair and put it in a braid down the back like Kaasan when she wears some of the Indigo flowers in spring time?

Eyes alight in joy he dashes over to his otouto. Pulling him out of the blankets and spinning him around in a circle. "That's it! We should make you Head of the Family instead of me! You are far too brilliant, I am overtaken!" Haku giggles as he is put back down and the blankets dumped over his head. "No Aniiki! That's your job! I'm going to go do the part that needs the most brains and take over the Branch House Leadership! Someone has to make sure you have high quality indigo dye to sell!"

Laughing, Subaru takes the top half of his hair, braiding each side right above his ears and bringing each braid to the back of his head before fastening the two together and allowing the tail to hang freely with the rest of his hair. The violet purple lotus, done in amethyst and silver slides into the two braids securely.

Bright eyed he leans down and hugs his otouto before going to the main entrance to say goodbye to his parents. Clearly Haku got his coloring from his mother, while Subaru did from their father, but he wondered which of their ancestors the two boys got their violet eyes from as both of their parents had blue eyes. Waiting only a moment for Sōsuke to settle on his Shinigami after being invited to rest on the purple hair ornament, Subaru gives one last hug to his brother who had run after him as he left the room, before turning and rushing to the academy dorms for the dorm opening ceremony, and to oversee the unpacking of his belongings.

Unsurprisingly, Subaru caused quite a stir at that years dorm opening ceremony, with his hell butterfly fashion statement.

The biggest since one Jūshirō Ukitake had an episode in the middle of the sōtaichō's speech. Thus began Subaru's infamy and Violets, but that wouldn't come until much later.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

3 years later Sōsuke's 6th year as a hell butterfly

It was August, and the cicada where humming away outside. It was sweltering in his dorm room, even with the breeze that flowed through it due to a wind based Kidō that a previous Kidō Corps Grand Kidō Chief had invented and installed in remembrance of one summer where he almost died of dehydration as a student. It was still better than being outside, even if that did mean the only thing he could do to entertain himself was study.

It was still pretty hot, even as he was laying down on his back on his futon, knees propped up with his Kidō book open to the assigned reading. Gently, he reaches out to where Violet sits on his chest, facing the book as if the hell butterfly was reading it too. He knew it sounded silly, but Subaru was convinced Violet was. Careful of damaging them, he slides the pad of his finger over the edge of Violet's wing marveling that even after who knows how long as a Shiba hell butterfly, and 3 years as his, the maroon color on his wings was just as dark. That was one of the reasons that he was convinced of Violet's intelligence, because who else would manage to thinkas a hell butterfly, but someone with enough Reiryoku to remain as a butterfly for over 3 years?

Slowly, his eyes drift closed, lulled to sleep by the dryness of the text, and the hot summer air. He falls asleep, only to wake up a few minutes after he nods off as other students entering their dorm room down the hall slam their door. Violet eyes looking down for Violet and finding the butterfly missing, he glances around the room looking for his friend. Violet eyes glisten in good humor as he laughs, spotting Violet standing on the top of the book, turning the page many times its size as if it were one of the Trials of Hercules. Eyes twinkling he turned the page, amused because he could have sworn that he was on the previous Kidō, "Sometimes I get the feeling you like studying more than I do Violet."

There is a pounding knock on his door before Violet can settle into his favorite reading position. "Hey Subaru! Get your hot ass out here, Sensei has announced a free for all water Kidō/Hohō training!" With a grin at Violet, he rises and moves over to his desk to prop the book open on the stand there, Violet fluttering around him adorably in an approximation of irritation. Subaru only smirks, throwing his long black hair over his shoulder, "Have fun with your book Violet. I would take you to go play with Ku and I, but the other students aren't really careful around you, clumsy bumbling peasants that they are."

No kidding, once they realized that Sōsuke was more of a pet than an on duty hell butterfly some of them had even swatted at him. Not to mention the number of near misses where he almost got sat on or crushed by someone propositioning Subaru. Turned out the pretty boy fashionista was popular, and with the headship of a noble family ahead of him, there were few people from the Rukongai or other lesser nobles who didn't try their hand at climbing the social ladder. As always, Sōsuke found himself fascinated as he watched Subaru wrap them around his little finger… or send them into tears if the near miss had taken his intervention to prevent.

That was one of the most wonderful things about Subaru… he always gave Sōsuke the opportunity to save himself, only intervening when it became clear that he wouldn't be able to do so. Ultimately it made Sōsuke feel like a person and a comrade, albeit a mute one, and not a pet too dumb to properly care for itself. It was that feeling that would one day save Subaru's life.

Sōsuke's antennae follow Subaru's movements as he leaves the dorm room. The Shiba boy, muscle-head, pointy face, Dark hair, Dark eyes, weird reddish eye shadow that was his natural skin color… Sōsuke had checked once. That annoying Shiba that Subaru called his best friend scoffed, "Dude… You seriously expect me to believe that your hell butterfly can read? Get real. If it could do that Itsuki- ojisama would have never let it go beyond his freakishly long fingers. He's pissed off enough as it is that it's hung around so long and we've already had to replace our violet 3 times." The door clicks shut as it locks muffling Subaru's saucy response.

At least the shenanigans this time could be considered educational as long as you didn't think about the fact that they were basically going to go and play with water balloons to fight off the summer heat. Whenever things like this happened, Sōsuke couldn't understand why the kind boy was so lazy, observation and manipulation only got you so far without a good knowledge base. There was magic at his fingertips in these books, there were brilliant instructors who were willing to give additional lessons, unlimited hours at the training areas outside of curfew.

He didn't care that Subaru only planned to remain as a Shinigami for the minimum 50 years of service before retiring and taking over headship of the Aizomeya from his father. There was just no excuse for not taking advantage of all of the resources at your fingertips.

With Dekuyume's occasional help reading the kanji that made up the Japanese writing system Soul Society used, Sōsuke continued to read about the particulars of the next Hadō in the book, assigned because half of avoiding a Kidō was knowing what each one was and did thus avoiding being surprised, and not because the Sensei expected any of the students to be able to use it.

Through the compound eyes of their butterfly body, Sōsuke imagines that he is casting the spell as he reads it, committing it to memory. Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi, The Black Coffin. Boom! Zip Zap! Cusssshh! Squelch! Shimme- shimmer! Splat! Ha Face plant! I win!

He couldn't really help the sound effects. It filled him with too much excitement, to know that one day, when he was free to walk on two legs again, he would be able to use all of the spells he was learning now. Wouldn't everyone be surprised!

Quietly, in the back of their mind… amused and sad Dekuyume can only agree, yes Sōsuke, everyone will be surprised by what you become in the future… but no one more so, than you.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Subaru's 4th year Final Exam: Hollow Cleansing

"Dude, seriously? You're bringing your hell butterfly on a training exercise in the living world? After so long as your pet does it even know how? Cuz' seriously, it had a pretty bad reputation as a guide to start with." Once again, it was the Shiba going out of his way to make Sōsuke seem like a nuisance. To make matters worse, this time, he had the rest of his and Subaru's team mates nodding along in agreement. A girl; long black hair, perfectly pressed cadet uniform, stern librarian glare, pushes up her glasses, "Indeed Aizomeya-san, a training mission in the living world is dangerous, and no place to go putting on airs. There is no one there to impress, we are all aware that the Aizomeya clan is so well off, they can afford for the Family Heir to have a hell butterfly as a pet."

The Shiba grins, "See Subaru! Even Lisa-chan agrees!" Subaru shoots a narrow eyed violet glare at his best friend before the whole group shuffles forwards as the line to receive a hell butterfly and enter the Senkaimon gate to the living world moves forward by one group. There were 6 groups of 7 all together, not to mention the number of Sensei going with them. Turning to Lisa he bows slightly, "I am sorry that you feel that way Yadōmaru-san, but Violet is my companion, not my pet." With a mischievous smile, he tilts his head to the side revealing Violet perched on the violet lotus ornament in his hair, "Besides, if there was anyone more qualified to go to the human world than the Sensei who are hosting the exam, it is a hell butterfly ne~?" There was further ribbing from the other 4 members of their group of 7… But that would all stop after the return trip, when Violet was the only reason Subaru and some of his classmates made it back home.

When it is their turn to receive their hell butterflies, Subaru waives his off, having Violet lead him through. Sōsuke follows the floating lights, passing through each one causing it to disappear, revealing the next. It was pretty trippy, as the more students entered the passage at the same time, the longer it got. Sōsuke thought it was a good thing that Subaru's Reiatsu was somehow more attractive than the green of one of the other students, even though he would bet, if he pulled a color chart out, the two green Reiryoku would be the exact same shade.

When they arrive in the world of the living, Sōsuke flutters in a circle around Subaru, who grins and walks towards the waiting instructor, "Go ahead and have a gambol if you want, just watch out for hollows my friend... and insectivores." With one ear on the group Sōsuke flutters over to some blooming Daffodils, curious to see if they taste any different than the ones that grew in the Aizomeya gardens. Turns out the exam was to cleanse two hollows; the examinees would be split into two groups. The first would tackle the first hollow, while the second would maintain the Kidō barrier set up along the perimeter.

Sōsuke pouts as the flower tastes like nothing at all, butterflies having no taste buds, and realizes that the only reason hell butterflies tasted anything they ate, was because they were actually smelling the Reiatsu embedded in the Reishi. In the background the Sensei; tall, muscled, broad shoulders, black beady eyes, and a full beard… but a shiny bald head, explains that the class was lucky that the last Shinigami on a tour of duty to the world of the living had stumbled upon the two demi-hollows. Most classes had to deal with a hollow that had been stunned and left in a barrier, angry and maddened from the captivity by the time the exam rolled around.

Careful to stay out of the way, Sōsuke enjoyed the atmosphere of concentration while the examinees all went about their tasks. Only returning to Subaru, whose team was with the other 2 groups in charge of guarding the barrier. With a great deal of interest, he lands on the top of Subaru's head for a better view as the Sensei leading the test, withered little old man who's bushy white eyebrows completely hid his eyes… sure he could probably sense other peoples Reiatsu… but that wouldn't help with not walking into things, explains that this time the Kidō barrier was land locked and supported, by poles of wood that had been driven into the ground and by the rope that stretched from pole to pole respectively.

After that point the only interesting thing for the next hour was when the Sensei leading the test strode up to one of the demi-hollows and forcibly opened up their forming hollow hole with their walking cane. Not only was it interesting to find out that zanpakutō could be disguised as other objects with some Reishi molding from the Shinigami, the Hollow transformation was really cool, reminding Sōsuke of a nightmarish parody of a magical girl transformation. The thought alone was enough to put Dekuyume in a good humor to explain step by step what was happening, and why, for a single moment… the hollow disappeared. By now Sōsuke actually had a pretty good idea himself, as Dekuyume had told him earlier, that the soul disappeared to Hueco Mundo for a moment to take care of most of the transformation. Just like how the soul of a plus disappeared to the Soul King's Palace Garden for a moment before they transformed into butterflies.

Depending on where their power of existence was the strongest, Hollows either reformed in the world of the living and had to find their own way to the other side. Or they reformed in Hueco Mundo, just another soul lost in the sand. Butterflies had it a bit easier, those that had Konsō performed on them were lured into the path between the worlds by lights made of their own Reiatsu signature. And those that remained in the Soul King's Garden experienced much the same, with the only difference being that there was one great big portal in the lake at the center of the garden. The butterflies were lured in by the light, and forced to go forwards by the one way portal formed by the water.

It was a pity, Sōsuke thought it would have made an awesome secret entrance to the Soul King's Palace. Dekuyume laughs for almost 5 minutes when that thought crosses his mind. Weird, the thought wasn't that funny. But Dekuyume wouldn't explain, so with a lack of anything better to do, he starts basking in the sun and nibbling on the Reishi particles that drift away from the barrier.

Sōsuke is startled from his sun basking as the barrier is lowered and the two groups switch places. Subaru does not appear to hear as his classmates take bets on when Sōsuke will die, unsurprisingly led by the Shiba bastard. But the raised eyebrow he gets when he flutters around the violet eyed man's head lets him know that Subaru in fact does…but he has enough faith in Sōsuke's ability to take care of himself. That's proven when Subaru raises his voice, "Hey Ku! I bet 5000 Kan that Violet winds up leading me back through the Senkaimon." This causes several of the students to giggle, forcing the Sensei to call them all to order and get in position.

Taking the hint, Sōsuke launches into the air, flying to the uppermost limit of the barrier. Fluttering awkwardly for a moment, he flips upside down, and uses his feet to grab the barrier. Looking down on them all, he as an excellent view of the next demi-hollow's transformation. The rest of the training exercise goes just as well as the first, with one exception.

Just as the barrier comes down and Subaru and the other gamblers are exchanging money, the bald-sensei strolls up and snaps all of their hands behind their back with a non-verbal Bakudō #1: Sai, The Restrain. Money goes clattering everywhere, and the students blush in embarrassment as the Sensei gives them a lecture on conduct unbecoming of a Shinigami And because the Shiba, whom Sōsuke really, really can't understand Subaru's friendship with, opens his mouth and argues, gaining the 5 students caught gambling the added punishment of dealing with the cleanup. The rest of the examinees head back to the Senkaimon, while the 5 of them are released from the Bakudō and start scrounging through the dirt to find their money.

With a grin and a pile of coins in the folds of his Shihakushō, Subaru holds out his finger for Sōsuke to land, "Well done Violet, though it seems that my inability to think about the long term consequences of my actions has gotten me into a bit of trouble with the Georgi-sensei." As the 5 students are directed to begin unthreading the rope from the posts, the ancient leader Sensei and the others who oversaw the testing tell bald-sensei goodbye and thank him for roping the troublemakers into clean up duty so they can go back to the academy and write down their notes on the field test while it is still fresh in their minds. Each one approaches the gate, waiting a moment for one of the many hell butterflies belonging to the Shin'ō Academy to come and lead them back to Soul Society.

Only moments after the last one passed into the Senkaimon, one of the black marked Kidō Corps Officers guarding the Seireitei side of the gate, stepped through to announce, "Hikifune-sama, the taichō of the 12th division is asking for an unscheduled gate. It appears that she has acquired too much food and spices for her culinary research, and needs to get them to her kitchen before they expire. Will you be ok for an hour or two?" Nodding in agreement, bald-sensei sealed their fate. "Yes, that's fine. I expect that it will take twice that long for these cadets to finish cleaning up." With a grin and a glance back over his shoulder where the 5 of them were doing a bad job of hiding their eavesdropping, "Though, if they did manage to get done by then, I could be persuaded to take them over to Hikifune-sama's division for a treat."

Unsurprisingly, the 5 cadets who had been dragging their heels, are suddenly bustling along. The Kidō Corps Officer chuckles as he turns, and follows the hell butterfly fluttering back into the Senkaimon path. It closes behind him with a soft pop. Bald-sensei has barely a second of peace, before Subaru trots over carrying the coiled rope, and with a beaming smile asks, "Where would you like us to put all of the supplies heading back to Seireitei Georgi-sensei?" Disappointed that he had forgotten this particular students love of avoiding school work, and was thus completely unphased by the prospect of several hours of manual labor in spite of his noble rank, bald-sensei simply points to a spot a little ways away from where the Senkaimon would reopen in a few hours.

With an equally happy grin, Subaru moves over to the indicated spot to drop off his burden, before running back over to where the others had started trying to pull out the posts. It wasn't working well, at least not until bald-sensei took pity on them and revealed his Shikai, a giant claw-hammer. With a grin, he levers out the first post before directing them to work on the second. As the first one comes loose Sōsuke is startled into flight by the pulse of Reiatsu. The excess that the students had dumped into the barrier had been grounded by the posts, only to be released in small bursts as the posts were removed. He is not startled by the second one, however… [Dekuyume… isn't that dangerous?]

[Yes, but not in the way that you mean. It should be fine though, incursions are pretty rare, but keep your eyes on the sky just in case.] Halfway through removing the 21 posts, they run into the worst case, rarely happens scenario. One made even worse by the noise the Shinigami were making as they pulled the posts out, as it prevented them from hearing the cracking of the sky. In a flurry of movement Sōsuke flutters into Subaru's face, "Hey, Violet, whoa, what are you…", before darting into the air in the direction he wants him to look. "Oh shit." Startled by the cussing from someone who wouldn't even say the word poop, all of the Shinigami look at him before following his line of sight.

There are several more cusses as a Gillian class Menos steps through a Garganta… Immediately the Sensei jumps to action, "Retreat through the Senkaimon, now is not the time to be brave, I'm a retired lieutenant and not even I can handle one of those easily." Still staring at the mountain tall Hollow lumbering towards them, the only girl of the group bursts into tears, "But Sensei, that won't open for another hour at least." As the head of a second Gillian pokes through the opening the girl drops to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, "Oh, Kami… we're all gonna die."

Thinking fast, Subaru spins, pulling his zanpakutō and stabbing it into the air, opening the private Senkaimon of the Aizomeya. With hopeful, bright eyes, the other students turn at the sound of the gate opening. Sōsuke can read the expression on bald-sensei's face, revealing that he expected Subaru to leave them all there to die. But if Sōsuke could speak he would have blandly informed the fool that Subaru just wasn't that kind of man, he wasn't just noble in title… he was in deed too. With fierce eyes like violet flames, Subaru spun to face the approaching Menos, giving Sōsuke the first direct order in all the years they had been together.

"Violet! Lead us through, don't leave anyone behind!" The ground shakes as the four students stumble through the open door after Sōsuke who darted through the moment Subaru had given his command. Before the door is even open wide enough for a Shinigami to fit through, Sōsuke passes through the 6 lights at the entrance. The girl, clearly panicking, tries desperately to run down the hall to safety, but Sōsuke isn't having any of it.

In a blur of speed he usually only reserved for high altitudes, he threw himself into her face, causing her to jerk back in surprise inches away from going past her light and sending herself into the Dangai. Clearly, fear did strange things to people, as even the annoying Shiba hovered at the entrance, intimidated by Sōsuke the hell butterfly. There is a scream from the hollow, just as Subaru and the Sensei step into the passage. The door does not close in time, and it is only because of the Sensei's still released zanpakutōis hanging from his back and partially obscuring Subaru, that Subaru is not instantly killed by the Cero.

The zanpakutō retreated into its sealed state with an audible cry of pain as Subaru collapsed, badly burned, and at least he was spared hitting his head on the ground, as the Sensei scooped the unconscious cadet into his arms. Now in a hurry, Sōsuke herds the slowly calming cadets closer to Subaru. They are wide eyed in surprise at being herded by a butterfly that hisses if a single one of them moves out of place. The annoying Shiba stares, not taking his eyes from Sōsuke as he asks, "Has anyone ever heard a hell butterfly make that noise before…?" Their silence is an answer as Sōsuke flutters around the group once before moving forwards, diving into the first of the 6 colors of lights he had to hit without fail before their respective Shinigami moved passed them and were kicked into the Dangai.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to hard mode. Please fasten your seat belt and keep all arms and legs within the butterfly ride at all times.

Reality blurs around him as he flies at his highest speed through each and every one of the guide lights. His focus so intent on the next goal and the one after that as he passes through each one… that he has no idea how long it took them to get from one end of the 60 foot passage to the other.

Only the exhaustion reaches him as they all come through the Senkaimon into the Aizomeya entryway. Finally safe, Sōsuke collapses onto Subaru's cheek, the picture of a battle worn hero. Curious staff who were wondering who was taking so long to get through the gate scream in surprise when they see their young master so hurt. The screeching doesn't bother Sōsuke for long as bald-sensei uses shunpo to carry Subaru to Unohana-taichō in the 4th division.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Retsu loved her job, but she did so wish that people would stop shouting as they arrived in the 4thdivision. Everyone here in a supervisory position had good enough Reiatsu sensing to know when someone arrived in critical condition. The only thing the shouting did, was startle the patients who should be resting. Really now, was it so hard to understand?

As the cadet is placed in the medical room, and his uniform cut off, the taichō gently removes the hell butterfly pulsing violet Reiatsu in and out of its body with its heartbeats. Taking a moment to heal the torn ligaments that connect it's wings to its body, she sets it aside in another Kaidō (Enfold): Reishi-mippuu, The Soul Particle Envelope. Gently, she pats the puffy yellow mound. If her guess was correct, that little butterfly had saved this young shinigami's life.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke stirred to awareness almost 3 hours after Unohana removed the protective Reishi-mippuu Kaidō. Surprised to discover that they actually could sleep, at least in dire circumstances when they were too tired to dream, Sōsuke immediately took to the air to check on Subaru. The noble was asleep, his complexion waxy against the white sheets of the bed he was on. As Sōsuke landed on the tip of his nose, the noble giggled in his sleep, turning his head away and sending Sōsuke back into the air. That was reassuring, but Sōsuke wanted to cuddle and besides his nose, there wasn't really a good place to land.

"He will be all right you know. You did a good thing, leading those kids back to Seireitei. Even if it did give you away." Startled by the voice, Sōsuke turns in the air, to find; old, distinguished, man with narrow shoulders covered by…an odd purple jacket, sitting in the visitor's chair. Clearly Sōsuke had spent too much time listening to Subaru talk about fashion, because the first thought to cross Sōsuke's mind after he evaluated him wasn't the man's words but: Seriously, who designed that ugly thing. The collar stands almost straight up and is as wide as his shoulders.

Not waiting for any response from Sōsuke, he continues, "It's time to change you back though. It's not healthy for a soul to remain under a transformation Kidō too long… aspects of the transformation start to become… permanent. That is why they are forbidden." And then, while Sōsuke is fluttering over the end of Subaru's bed, he is hit by a ball of light, the words, "2nd Rite of Kaidō (Form): Reimago, The Soul Bending", ringing in his ears, and a perfect cerulean blue splashed across his vision. Gingerly, Sōsuke lands on the railing of the bed, waiting for the transformation to take place… and yet nothing happens. The expression on the man in the ugly coat's face would have been hilarious if being hit with misfiring Kidō wasn't usually lethal and Sōsuke's heart wasn't going a mile a minute.

A throat politely clears from the doorway dragging the man's attention away from Sōsuke. Beautiful woman, dark blue eyes, oddly calm Reiatsu… why is her hair braided down her front like a beard? Retsu Unohana smiles with frigid politeness, enjoying how the man in the ugly coat pales in response, "A warning just triggered for this room to let me know a healing Kaidō had been cast. Surely it wasn't you, Magatama-san, as the Grand Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps you should know better than to cast a spell on my patients without my permission. I might end up having to clean up a mess." The man gulps, and in a clearly nervous voice he mutters, "I have no idea what you're talking about.", before hurriedly making his way past her and out of the room.

As the door closes behind him it reveals the co-leader of this little escapade. Yuudai's dark mocha skin, and elegantly braided smooth black hair was a stark contrast to the 4th division's white walls, not that a silly little thing like that could stop him from hiding in plain sight, "So, it would appear that the miraculous Aizomeya hell butterfly Violet was not another victim of a forbidden transformation Kidō?" He smirks at his companion as he pushes off the wall and the two make their way to the exit, "That or you're getting rusty in your old age my friend." A boy rushes down the hallway past them, "Subaru-Niisan!" and into the room they had just left. The next victim of Unohana's infamous polite killjoy smile no doubt.

That would be the second miss-assumption they made that day, as she had no problems with people bustling about, only the screaming. And Haku was a polite boy, who used his indoor voice when he was inside buildings. Especially when Nisan was sleeping after having too much sake… the one time he wasn't quiet was also the only time his Nisan had yelled at him. Subaru wakes as his parents enter the room after Haku and quietly begin to talk to the taichō of the 4th division.

With a tired, but otherwise happy smile, Subaru invited his otouto to climb up onto the bed with him before beginning to tell his little brother a fantastically exaggerated story about how Violet single-handedly took out a dozen Menos before guiding everyone back through the Senkaimon to Soul Society for treatment. Haku is asleep before Subaru can even mention the Menos. With a heart deep, "Thank you for saving my life Violet." His eyes fluttered closed, as he too fell asleep, lulled by the warmth at his side.

That day Sōsuke learned something else about hell butterflies… They could blush.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

By the time Subaru was released from the 4th division to go back to the academy, Sōsuke decided to ignore the whole episode with the Kidō Corps Grand Kidō Chief. Beyond acknowledging the fact that the Shiba were likely still up to their money grubbing tricks that is. He had more important things to deal with such as his newfound popularity and the scene he flew in on when Subaru asked him to get a list of assignments from Shiba.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A few minutes after Subaru asked him to deliver a message to the annoying Shiba while perched on the injured cadet's finger for a nibble and a message he was in the air, fluttering to the Shin'ō Academy… only as he paid attention to the scenery, he realized he wasn't. Eyes wide in surprise;or at least what that passed for surprise on a butterfly, it did not take him long to realize he was flying to the office of Jun'ichi Shiba, at the Shiba Clan Main House. In a matter of moments he decided to hand over control of their body to Dekuyume feeling that was the most prudent plan.

Being careful to keep out of sight of the Shiba guards patrolling the estate, she flutters around the side of the mansion and into the rose bushes. Carefully walking on the wall below the top of the bushes until they are underneath the open window, she navigates the roses and thorns until they are close enough to hear the voices of the Clan Head and Subaru's supposed friend.

"I am very disappointed in you Ku, that our vassal had the presence of mind to open a private gate instead of you is shameful. He hides it well with his pretty clothes and vapid smiles, but Subaru has all the makings of a great politician as it is, with this he has even furthered his political carrier. You do understand that, do you not?"

There is a muffled sigh, "Yes Shiba-sama, there are only 30 noble families in Seireitei, each one gets a position in the Central 46 so that the Clan Head can either attend themselves or send a proxy for. The proxies are usually older distinguished family members and utilized when the Clan Head is younger, or also employed by the Gotei 13, Kidō Corps or Onmitsukidō. The additional 10 seats are primarily held by the Greater Noble Houses who use their clout and political maneuvering to keep them out of the hands of the noble and lesser houses. Because of Subaru's actions, Aine Kyōraku, niece of the current Family Head of the Noble House of Kyōraku, the taichō of the 8th division Shunsui Kyōraku was saved. As was Rei-Fēng a son of the Noble House of Fēng, and Sora Yamamoto, one of the sōtaichō's many grandchildren and the next Family Head of the Noble House of Yamamoto. All of them well respected families that now feel a sense of debt to the Lesser Noble House of Aizomeya and are much more likely to back them in the future, forsaking traditionally held political lines."

There is a grunt of satisfaction from Jun'ichi, "It would have been another matter if Yamamoto-san was still the Family Head, but he passed that on to his next of kin 700 years ago when he went off to fight that bastard Yhwach. They may all have higher Reiatsu levels than normal, but they're all soft, that makes them more likely to make decisions based on their feelings than hard facts, like the supremacy of the Greater Noble Clans. Tell me Ku, do you have any idea how upset the other Greater Noble Clan Heads are with us at the moment, for allowing our vassals to so thoroughly embarrass us?"

There is the sound of something softly hitting the floor, and from the muffled, "I am ashamed of myself Shiba-sama, and I can only throw myself at your feet and beg for mercy.", Dekuyume supposes that he is in seiza.

The Clan Head sighs, "You're damn lucky your position as our spy into the affairs of the Aizomeya is too precious to banish you. Now get out of my office and go visit Subaru. He's in the hospital, and you're supposed to be his friend remember?" Dekuyume has to struggle to stay in control of their body as Sōsuke, spitting mad, tries to take over and attack Shiba-kun.

That bastard! I'll kill him, Dekuyume let me go! Forcefully reminding her young reincarnation that the Shiba Clan and several others were already suspicious of them, and that revealing themselves now could be disastrous, she calms him down. Once she no longer has to worry about losing control of their body, she crawls across the ground underneath the rose bushes to the corner of the mansion before climbing up the branches and leaving from the top of the bush. A Shiba standing guard raises an eyebrow, but finds nothing suspicious about the hell butterfly nibbling on some flower nectar before flying off to deliver a message.

A tingle with awe at her planning, knowing full well that the guard would have had a much different response if he had seen the butterfly leave from the bush right under the Clan Head's office, Sōsuke had only one thought, wow. When will I start thinking that far ahead when I make my plans? Dekuyume laughs, as she hands over control of their body to Sōsuke, [Not for a while yet my young reincarnation. That is yet another down side to dying as a powerful soul, it takes a long, long time to grow and mature, no matter our experiences. It's even worse for you since you've been pretty much held in stasis while we're a butterfly.

Unwilling, but unable to do otherwise without giving himself away, Sōsuke delivers Subaru's message to the treacherous Shiba. That did not mean that he had to hang around as the jerk stopped by his dorm to pick up the list of assignments to bring to Subaru. Instead he flew to Subaru as fast as he could.

Subaru could only stare in bemusement while his little fluttery friend threw a temper tantrum, only calming when the doors to his hospital room opened to reveal Ku. Violet eyes watched as Violet fluttered up and onto Subaru's headboard, and sat there like a guard dog for the 2 hours Ku remained and helped him with the assignments. It was only after the other noble left, that Violet deigned to move from his spot. "What's gotten into you Violet? Ku's Reiatsu not tasty enough for you?"

With a soft in-drawn breath, and wide violet eyes, Subaru watched as Violet glided to the ink of his writing set, landing on the wood of the brush and dipping its antennae into the ink. Fluttering over to the sheet of paper he had been writing on, the little hell butterfly delicately wrote a small kanji Treachery before flying back to the ink and returning to write Shiba.

Subaru stares at it for a moment, his eyes filling with sadness before picking his brush and painting over it. He sets the brush down with a soft clack, before gently scooping up his most treasured companion, "I… I know. Ku told me, many years ago when we were still younger than Haku, risking his life to do so. That's why, no matter how much he betrays me… I can forgive him. It just, hurts a little bit less this way. If there weren't so many secrets between us, I would probably be in love with him. I know it's a bit much to ask, but please, for my sake, don't judge him too harshly… who knows, maybe he and I will have better luck in our next life. Considering how long you've been a butterfly, I hope that when you see our souls again you will watch over us." Then the wounded man sighed deeply, as if the very act of breathing alone, was enough to set him free from his burdens.

Eyes closed and propped up against his pillows, Subaru smiled softly, "But thank you my friend. That you would break your silence to tell me, warms my heart with the proof of your returned sentiment."

Gently he uses the edge of his kimono to wipe off the remaining ink from Violet's antennae, "It's dangerous though, and not just because the ink is poisonous to insects. If anyone had proof that I was not just another eccentric noble with an odd affection for hell butterflies, they would take you away and experiment on you until they could figure out what made you so different. So as much as I would like to communicate with you properly, it's for the best if we save it for only emergencies, ne~ Violet?"

It was sad… but probably true.

Sōsuke expected Subaru to rush to the academy the moment he was released, but a teasing Dekuyume told him he should have known better. A quick message to Haku, and one shunpo later, found the three in a hiding place the two brothers must have been using for a long time. In the back of the Aizomeya garden, against the wall they shared with the Shiba, was a semicircle of thick bushes standing like sentinels around a massive pine tree.

The trees thick branches were so heavy with needles that it formed an almost perfect roof, and those that had fallen gave an excellent cushion from the ground with a thin tatami mat placed over them. Sōsuke spent several hours fluttering around the little hideaway, while the two brothers munched on non-perishable snacks and bottled tea that had been wrapped in a huge waterproof pack that hung from the lowest branch. He was almost shut inside that pack while he crawled around sniffing everything with his antennae.

Dekuyume laughs in the background, [Well now, they've certainly done the whole thing properly haven't they? Everything you would need to runaway for a week is stored in that pack. Fresh underwear included.] After a few hours together, Subaru and Sōsuke left Haku behind in the main house, Subaru sticking his tongue out as Haku's Aizome-sensei Female, long braided black hair, violet eyes, colorful Kimono decorated with orange koi, the blue no doubt from the Indigo Dye they made, a branch family member complained about the pine needles in Haku's blond hair and how worried she had gotten when she couldn't sense Haku anywhere.

Subaru returned to the academy shortly after that, quietly explaining that the little alcove had been used by generations of Aizomeya and that at some point in time, a worried father had placed a protective barrier around it. Hidden by the bushes, it was locked with posts and rope much like the barrier they had used to pen in the demi-hollows during his exam. With the added safety that came from being flush against the walls laced with just enough Sekkiseki to muffle Reiatsu, but not enough to be hazardous to one's health, it was actually more secure than the panic room in the mansion, and with the addition of the waterproof pack, the children could safely stay there in case of emergency.

Subaru laughed, when he mentioned that his grandfather had considered getting rid of it when Subaru would frequently escape his studies taking his toddler of a little brother with him. But his father had managed to convince the old man that by providing their young heirs a chance to be themselves and shed their responsibilities for a few hours, it not only fostered better sibling relationships, but also improved the children's ability to compartmentalize, quite possibly the most important skill they would need as nobles. Way to go Aizomeya-tousan.

Upon reaching Shin'ō academy, much to Sōsuke's surprise, many of the people who approached the two of them were there to thank Violet for his actions, though there were several that just wanted to gawk, or hit on Subaru. Sōsuke wasn't quite sure what to make of it, he hadn't saved them personally after all and Dekuyume would only tell him that it was best if he figured out why on his own instead of explaining their behavior.

The marked change in his treatment, proved to be a good thing when, after Subaru's 5th year final exams, a much tamer affair this year thank goodness, the Shinigami-in-training finally cracked down and started to study for his academy exit exam and Gotei 13 application at the end of the year. Without having to keep an eye out for Sōsuke constantly, Subaru could actually focus when he was studying outside of his dorm room.

The extra studying showed when he took his exit exams. Sōsuke was there, on the purple lotus ornament in Subaru's braided hair, as he demonstrated his Hakuda, Hohō, Zanjutsu, Kidō and proudly revealing Ruri'iro Kujaku, his very powerful Kidō type Shikai. Only leaving the ornament to flutter around Subaru's head once in joy, when Hikifune-taichō; Curvy Lady, long pink hair, dismissed him with a quiet, "Good job, Aizomeya-san. If you do just as well on your written exam, I would be honored to have you in the 12th division. "

As Subaru enters the examination hall for the written test, the proctor; did people shrink when they got old? He hoped so because how else did you get someone with the same height and wrinkly head as Yoda?, clears his throat and raises a bushy white eyebrow revealing a tangerine orange eye. With a bright-eyed giggle, Subaru sends Violet on a mission to go entertain Haku for a while, and let his otouto know that he would be sneaking out to see Haku at their secret place at midnight the day before the graduation ceremony. Tragically, Subaru would not be able to fulfill that promise.

Elated when Subaru's scores are announced as the highest in centuries for the main class, his father sends a basket of orange lilies to the Shiba Clan head. He does not think about the consequences of sending the message of Hatred to one so treacherous. The only thing on his mind is that he can finally break ties with the Shiba Clan, who's suspicious underhanded dealings had not stopped when they had to hush up the fact that one of their branch members was discovered stealing medical packs from the 4th division, and using forbidden Kidō to transform souls into faux-hell butterflies and selling both on the black market.

The night before the graduation ceremony, the treacherous Shiba takes Subaru out for a drink, almost making him late to see Haku. Knowing that he hadn't drank enough sake to have a hangover during his valedictorian speech the next day, but still too much to shunpo at the moment, he sent a worried Sōsuke ahead to keep Haku company. A quick flutter around the bright eyed Subaru, who winks at him before turning to pull the the very drunk Shiba into a sloppy kiss, is the last time Sōsuke sees his friend.

Sōsuke finds Haku in his room reading a book. Glancing at the title as he lands on the boy's nose to deliver his message, he laughs to himself. The Farmer's Almanac: A focus on the farming of Soul Society, who would have thought it was the younger brother who was the most focused on his studies. Though could he really say that when Subaru had surprised Sōsuke with his scores? He was just as easy to lure away from his books as Subaru was though, "C'mon Violet! We better go now, Aizome-sensei is back at the branch family compound right now, and when she does the attendant that is in charge of me checks in every hour, and they just left a few minutes ago, so we have plenty of time to escape."

With a laugh, Sōsuke and Haku snuck out of the house and through the garden to the hidey-hole, Haku's blonde curls bouncing the whole way. With amusement, he watched as Haku dropped to his knees and crawled inside through the small opening where the bushes were trimmed back from the wall. Sōsuke himself flew upwards, entering through the small gap between the lowermost branches of the trees and the tops of the bushes.

It gets cold before Subaru shows up, prompting Haku to pull a blanket out of the waterproof pack. Just as cold, Sōsuke lands on the boys head and listens as Haku talks about how much he misses seeing his brother every day, and how glad he was that at least Subaru would be able to stay at the Aizomeya Main House when he was off duty. They remain in the semicircle of bushes against the back wall of the Aizomeya garden for hours, far longer than Sōsuke would have expected it to take Subaru to get there, causing him to worry. The tree's branches, heavy with needles that hide the small pocket of isolation, with its wall of bushes muffle all the sounds of the rest of Seireitei.

But not enough to cover the sudden screams that come from the main house, or the smell of burning wood. It takes all of Sōsuke's strength, to avoid shooting off in search of Subaru. The only thing that kept him there, was the knowledge that Subaru would hate him forever if anything happened to Haku. Alit on the crying boys mouth, wings flat in the universal sign for silence, heedless of the tears and snot that rained down on him from above, he and Haku huddled under the blanket keeping as quiet as they could.

The exhausted boy falls asleep sometime around dawn, and Sōsuke takes the opportunity to crawl out of the blanket and clean himself off. After checking once more to make sure that Haku is asleep, he flutters over to the trunk of the tree. Carefully making his way upwards, cautious of the trees native insects, he reaches the uppermost branches. Crawling out to the edge he can only stare in horror at the burnt remains of the Aizomeya Main House. A shout of outrage comes from the front of the mansion. Carefully Sōsuke takes to the air, keeping high enough in altitude to avoid being noticed.

From his spot fluttering in the sky he watches as Aizome-sama; was he Subaru's Fathers twin?, the head of the Aizomeya branch family throws a basket of orange lilies to the ground, the Shiba Clan Head walking away with a spring in his step and a nasty grin on his scarred face. "Damn you Aizomeya-sama, you knew… you knew the lengths the Shiba would go to… and yet still you taunted them like that!" The Aizome-sensei with the pretty koi kimono, tried to comfort him, "You know that there was no way that Aizomeya-sama would have known that the simple act of sending the orange lilies to the Shiba would cause them to do this."

The anger drains out of the Aizome leader, his voice is almost too quiet for Sōsuke to hear, causing him to move closer. "That's just it wife. The Shiba didn't just give us the message back, they had to have been planning this for a while now. They knew that Aizomeya-sama called all of the Main Branch back to the Main House in celebration of Subaru-sama's graduation, between the fire, and Ku Shiba's murder-suicide with Subaru-sama and himself, they wiped the whole main family out. To make matters worse the Onmitsukidō investigating the fire 'found' proof that the Aizomeya had been embezzling funds given to them by the Shiba for outreach programs in the Rukongai."

Sōsuke knew that was a complete and utter lie, and Aizome-sensei expressed the same sentiment, "But that's preposterous, we spend our own money gained from the fields on that…" Aizome-sama can only sigh, "Yes and I expect at the emergency meeting of the Central 46, which we will not be able to send a proxy to with no Aizomeya family members, at the very least they will declare all of the finances to be given to the Shiba in reparation."

Catching sight of Sōsuke in the air, in excitement Aizome-sensei leans in and whispers to his leader, "Look up there, I think that's Violet. There is only one reason he would not have been with Subaru-sama when he was killed. Haku is still alive, probably hiding in a place with pine needles. We could…" Aizome-sama shakes his head, "No. As the only remaining son of the main house, the Shiba could demand we hand him over to be fostered. I would sooner die than force the young master to endure speaking respectfully to the ones that killed his beloved Aniiki."

Looking up at Sōsuke he spoke, "Violet, can you sneak Haku-sama from his hiding place to the carts of mementos we are recovering from the burnt remains of the mansion?" With a flutter in a circle, Sōsuke flew back to Haku, never noticing the black cat sitting on the wall with a pensive expression on his face. Yuudai Shihōin, in the Feline Self-transformation Kidō he would never mention using to his friend, eventually decided to let the young boy go, though he would have him watched to make sure that the only harm that he would be in the future, was to the Shiba Clan. For now, he had to focus on figuring out who the Shiba had managed to bribe in the Onmitsukidō, and just what they had given as a bribe with the lack of finances they had available. The greatest pity of the whole mess, was that even with this tragedy, they still didn't have enough proof of the Shiba's wrong doings for anyone outside the Greater Noble Houses to get involved.

Aizome-sama was proven correct, when not an hour after starting their meeting, the Central 46 used the papers that were 'recovered' from the burnt remains of Aizomeya mansion as proof enough to declare that the lands the Aizomeya Main House once stood on, and all of its accounts, were given to the Shiba in reparation by The Central 46. The main branch had managed the funds of the branch family, leaving the Aizome penniless as well. Days later, when all of the bodies were counted, everyone realized that the youngest son of the Aizomeya was not accounted for.

When the Aizome denied any knowledge of where Haku had disappeared too, they even lost their position as a Lower Noble House. Only an Aizomeya could be Family Head of the Lower Noble House of Aizomeya, and clearly, there were none. The anger that was expressed by the Aizome, when that punishment was added as an afterthought, when it hadn't been part of the original settlement… was nothing compared to the rage that shook through their body as Sōsuke's and Dekuyume's rage fed each others.

The Aizome Family continued to live peacefully in the Aizome district of the Rukongai, with mixed feelings towards the Shiba and the Aizomeya. The Shiba had defeated them thoroughly, they could have taken everything and yet they had left the branch family with their property in the Aizome district, their indigo fields and whispers of the Onmitsukidō watching their every move. It made the Shiba look generous, even as they insulted the Aizome clan, declaring that it was only the main branch of the family that had held any power, so the Aizome were guilty of no wrongdoing.

The insult was felt deeply, and so they loathed the Shiba, even as the Aizome Family's treasury swiftly refilled, the sales of food and indigo dye only mildly impacted by their social exile from the noble spheres. And so they were grateful to the Shiba for this lesson on money, nobility, the danger of of a well thought plan, and of leaving an enemy alive to regain their power.

As for the Aizomeya, the Aizome were glad that they had at least managed to save the youngest son of the main branch, and proud that Aizomeya Haku had become their Family Heir as Aizome Haku. They were also enraged, that the main family had followed the Shiba so blindly, even though they had known of their corruption.

Their feelings all appeared to be for nothing though, they had too much work to do, tending to the indigo, to rage against a family that no longer legally existed. And they held no power in Seireitei, all members of the Aizome that had become Shinigami had been adopted into the main branch of the family. They had no manner of attack against the Shiba clan beyond financial, and even that was denied to them now that the Shiba Clan was no longer suffering financially, debts all paid with Aizomeya and Aizome Kan.

It seemed that the Aizome Family would have to live by the age old adage, that the best revenge was living well, even as they longed for more.

It just made Sōsuke so angry, it was the 1700's on Earth, the industrial revolution was starting in England and even Japan, which seemed to be what the Rukongai and Soul Society were meant to resemble, was in the midst of the Edo period and was more prosperous than the Rukongai. How was it that the Central 46 were blind enough to just nod along when they were told that the only reason the Shiba weren't doing the work the Soul King assigned them, was because the Aizomeya had stolen money from them?

As always, Dekuyume had an answer for that too, [They never left the protective walls of Seireitei to see for themselves.]

He flutters in the window of a hidden room, coming to land on the pages of a book in front of Haku. The sad eyed boy also had a scroll out practicing his calligraphy as he took notes. The boy desperately tries to hold back his tears as he recalls Subaru's jokes about the butterfly liking books more than him. Gently the boy slides a finger underneath Sōsuke, lifting him enough to close the book and set it aside. Sōsuke allows the boy to gently pet the outside of his slowly color changing wings, listening with half an ear as Haku makes a child's plans to bring down the Shiba.

Sōsuke the butterfly vows to get it for him when he becomes a boy again. Because he owed it to his second (and only trustworthy) friend, and even if he knows that Subaru was probably happy to have a a chance with the annoying Shiba in his next life, Sōsuke was selfish enough to wish the vivacious man had waited a little bit longer.

Heart aching at Subaru's loss, Haku mumbles, "I know I won't be able to do as good of a job as Subaru-niisan, but I'll do my best, so he would be proud of me if… if he could see as I become the Head of the Family." Knowing that he was perfectly capable of easing Haku's heart just a little that moment, he fluttered into the air. Carefully, Sōsuke lands on the brush, dipping his antennae in the ink and wings fluttering frantically to keep steady, writes a tiny note on the top of the scroll. He is. Haku cries once more… this the time tears leave his heart lighter with remembrance and not drowning in hatred and misery.

With a new goal in mind Sōsuke spends the last year and a half of his life as a butterfly plotting with Dekuyume, and offering what comfort a butterfly can to Haku. He learns more about Dekuyume in that time period than he had in all the memories and years before. Not all of it beautiful, she was surprisingly vicious underneath all of that placid observation and gentle teasing. But he should have known better, she was part of Sōsuke, sometimes he was worried she might be the biggest part, but she never made him do anything he didn't want to… at least not without being able to explain her reasoning on why her idea was better.

Knowing that there was little innocence in him to save anymore with the death of his friend, she held back none of the ugly truths. He would need to know the how's and whys of a great many parts of the plan if it was to be followed faithfully.

Her heart aches…

When instead of crying over the loss of Subaru…

He cries for Aizen Sōsuke, the man Sōsuke would have become… if it weren't for Dekuyume.

But most of all, he cries because this time too, when he faced off against Ichigo Kurosaki, the four-aspect soul would probably find only Solitude in his blade.

zanpakutō

Ruri'iro Kujaku : Azure Peacock

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Chapter 11 : Just a Becoming

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It was slow, just as slow as the years he spent as a hell butterfly were long, but eventually, the strip of maroon on the bottom edge of his wings was a pure violet color. Haku himself, gently handed Sōsuke over to the Kidō Corps member that Haku summoned to retrieve Sōsuke, since the Aizome did not have a reformation room. Sōsuke was fine transforming there, but Haku proved that he was already thinking like the future head of the family, summoning the Kidō Corps out of worry that Sōsuke's transformation would be harsh with how long he had spent as a hell butterfly.

The blue marked man had used the 1st Rite of Kaidō (Liberation) on Sōsuke, but there was no bond to break. Even though he had stayed with Haku, scrounging for Reishi on the Branch family estate in 1st East District, Aizome when he couldn't get enough to eat from Haku's considerably weaker Reiatsu, he had not been forced to by any bond, only honor and responsibility. Wrapped in yet another Maigo trap/barrier, Sōsuke was carried via shunpo back to a place he hadn't seen in years. The hell butterfly garden in the Kidō Corps compound.

There, in a tiny little side garden that probably couldn't hold more than 10 butterflies if they all wanted to turn back into humans at the same time and not wind up stuck inside each other, Sōsuke was left to gather what little activation energy he still needed to turn back into a boy.

[Dekuyume, I'm bored, tell me again about the Soul King?] With a fond, cuddling burst of warmth, she complied, [Right now, he's little more than a computer program running behind the scenes of The Soul Society, El Hueco Mundo, and The Hell Verse. Part of my trial was to give him a soul of his own, so that he could actually leave his palace and interact with the souls he is tending to. You already know who he is going to be born as…] Sōsuke laughs, [And won't Ichigo be surprised!]

Smiling, she laughs too, [Yes, I would imagine so. Now, in order to avoid doing any damage to the fate matrix I have planned, one that did not account for a drastic change in the behavior of Aizen Sōsuke-san, much less me becoming part of him during reincarnation, we're going to have to do a lot of things we don't really want to… more than I ever had to do to ensure I didn't break time while I went to war against my previous incarnation, Naraku. But as long as we play our cards right, we won't have to hurt anywhere near as many souls as Aizen-san did.]

Sōsuke interrupts, [Except Momo. I still want to kill her in revenge!] With a sigh Dekuyume agrees, [Yes, getting revenge against Momo is very important, and will do the most to cement your Mr. Bastard social mask. Even more so when you leave her alive and the Shinigami are forced to watch her psychological breakdown and recovery. Remember, dying is easy, its only when you survive the things you would have rather you'd died from, that you truly suffer.]

With a huff, Sōsuke takes to the air, fluttering over to the next flower and extending his tongue for a drink, [Yeah… I know. I'll follow the plan perfectly, even if I would rather just kill her. The whole plan goes in the trash though… If I manage to find her soul echo. With you inside of me, I don't think that I would be able to hurt her, not even if it meant forsaking the plan. Not unless you know if her soul echo is someone I'm going to meet?]

He can feel her negative, embarrassed response before she speaks, [I do not, I made it a point not to look to see if there were any familiar souls. I didn't even know that Aizen-san was my soul echo as I was writing the fate matrix, though in retrospect I can't really say that I'm surprised, he has all the trappings of the type of person we are… before I got to keep her for the first time.]

She is quiet for a few moments before quietly offering, [If you wanted, I could leave that aspect of my nature as a Kami on after I fall asleep.]

[Ne, Dekuyume will it hurt when we change back…] Sōsuke's heart beats rapidly in fear, […wait, what do you mean fall asleep…] The past incarnation of Sōsuke sighs, unhappy to break the bad news, but unwilling to force him to go through the Becoming while expecting to see her on the other side.[I…]

The world around them swirls into a blur of color, and suddenly a red eyed Dekuyume finds herself sitting across from Sōsuke at a kotatsu. Two cups of tea steam on the surface as the cherry blossoms slowly raining down on them move across the ground to join the others obscuring anything but the table from their vision. With a sad laugh as Sōsuke immediately lifts his cup to take a sip upon seeing it, Dekuyume does the same before she picks up her plain black fan, and with a swish, sends them into a memory.

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Excerpt from The Third Reincarnation

Naraku's head is turned away from her. White encapsulated neuron chains and black hair are all that is holding his head aloft in the air. His eyes were closed, focused on the various sensory organs strewn throughout his internal world in attempts to find her tiny form inside his giant mass. The black Shikon fragment was dull and black from his touch, hanging motionless from a black tendril of hair. Almost there… Soon it would all be over… and then she could rest…

Three steps from death, A quiet breath, a blood soaked cough held inside with the practice granted from a thousand drowning deaths she drops the bone to remove the fragment of the tiny jewel from her pocket.

Two steps from death, The bone hits the ground so her hand could reach forward towards the Jewel, Naraku's eyes shoot open in surprise but that didn't matter she was nearly done.

One step from death, Tentacles shoot towards her from all directions, her equilibrium tantō rises and then descends, it's ok, she always knew that she was going to die for this.

It would be so easy to just lay here and let the end come. But she couldn't give up, she had promised Magatsuhi's daughter [Shikon no Kami] that she wouldn't ever give up until they all lived and became the family they were meant to be... She forces herself into awareness… It was not pleasant. So many tentacles had penetrated her body that she could barely be seen. But she had done it, with the one eye that had not been pierced, she could see the tantō and it's magic glowing from where it was embedded in Naraku's skull. His eyes were closed, his body, mind and soul held captive by the spell. In her one free hand she held two of the three fragments of the Shikon no Tama.

Her eye closes to blink away the tears. Then, after the misery of an eternal moment spent at deaths threshold, someone takes her hand, placing the third fragment inside. It reforms with a small glass clack, and the nearly perfect ebony abyss of Naraku fades into the black of a midsummer night's full moon.

Her eye slowly opens, a testament to her exhaustion. The red eyed woman wearing Ito's face was kneeling between all the tentacles and organs piercing Dekuyume's body, the slimy human hand gripped delicately in her own. It was about time she showed up. Dekuyume flinches. She had been fast enough to break Naraku's power, but not fast enough to stop him from activating the preset adsorption protocols he had in place to deal with the beings he adsorbed. Why take the time to harvest all the beings he adsorbed, when it could happen autonomously in the background while he plotted his next acquisition?

She grits her teeth against the pain, the tentacles were relentless and so very meticulous as they slowly butchered her body parts for further use, each piece kept whole and alive as they were removed and fused into his organic matrix of parts. Her body was a mass of pulsating slimy things, and it would be that way for the rest of eternity.

Dekuyume focused her eye on the red eyed woman kneeling patiently at her side. The woman in question had withdrawn her hand just enough to close Dekuyume's hand around the Shikon no Tama. Her other hand, holding a fan, rested gently atop Dekuyume's closed fist. Her black kimono was painted with red camellia and blue iris, and the fan was a pink and black yin-yang. Dekuyume's voice is strained as she speaks. "So it's finally time is it?"

The kneeling woman smiles in tired serenity, "Yes. Yes it is."

Dekuyume's next words are cut off with a choke as she loses her punctured lung to the harvesting tentacles. She tries again after the searing pain of having the connections replaced with Naraku's dulls. Unconscious and spellbound, Naraku was breathing for her now, though it was still her with own voice and words that she spoke. "You're sure?"

The woman nods, smiling gently, "Yes. It will take some doing; the knot we will tie in time will have to be complicated enough to prevent the other Kami from undoing it. This time, everyone will be saved, and no one will be left incomplete."

Dekuyume sighs, "We will see the world through my eyes, and feel with my heart, wherever it has gone in this mess. No matter the perspective of time; we will always be human first. Always just her sister…" The third reincarnation smiles at the woman who lived the life she had sought for so very long, "We will have no regrets." She tilts her head to the side, and taps her fan against her cheek, "Are you ready? It will hurt." Dekuyume laughs dryly, it's rough and broken, but heart deep all the same, "Does change ever not hurt?" The third reincarnation laughs, "Nope."

The third reincarnation taps Dekuyume on the forehead. Dekuyume falls unconscious into the space between her body, mind and soul. With sharp red eyes she watches as the command seal she placed on the red leather journal awakens. The command seal lashes out through her body, searching out the limits of self. It passes through the tentacles embedded in her body without resistance, each part that once bore the title "Naraku's" now renamed "Mine". Through hundreds of thousands of miles of flesh, bone and blood it radiates out in a wave. When it crashes against Naraku's tantō impaled head, the reaction turns violent and in the end…

It rips out his souls, entrapping every last member of the collective inside the pages of the journal.

The human, Higurashi Dekuyume dies, and in her place rises the sum of all her parts.

A single soul takes the throne in an empty chamber and vibrantly colored butterfly tattoos replace spider shaped burn scars.

The third reincarnation whistles long and low as Naraku's head collapses into dust and the tantō falls to the ground. She picks up the tantō, examining it with an appreciative eye. "To think that we could create a knife with the ability to cut holes into the space between a person's mind, body, and soul…" Almost negligently, she uses the tantō on Dekuyume cutting a one inch gash on the unconscious hanyō's shoulder.

A single swish of her fan is more than enough to summon the red leather journal and soul filled pages.

A second swish and the time traveling Kami of The Eternal Battlefield separates from her young ship, taking the journal out of Dekuyume's inner world.

With a third swish the third reincarnation, that beleaguered soul who had seen Gods End when the Shikon no Kami turned her into The Eternal Battlefield, revokes the Shikon no Kami's authority over her domain and vanishes into Dekuyume's cut, sealing it closed with the kingdom she had promised a future version of herself.

The white encapsulated neuron chains that once connected Naraku to the rest of himself twine themselves together into a rope before disappearing behind Dekuyume's head.

Dekuyume's tentacle covered mass jerks violently and she awakes.

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Sōsuke gasps, leaning forward and pressing his hands into the surface of the kotatsu. Looking up with wide eyes, "The command seal… the one we're going to use on the Hōgyoku to make it work without having to sacrifice so many souls… the one that you wouldn't tell me where we were going to get… IT DOES THAT!"

Dekuyume laughs, "It does whatever the command is when it is placed in the soul. The one we will be using, will appear on your body when you return to being a boy, and is one that I placed on myself while I was still human. I never saw the point in removing it, and it was well hidden within my soul matrix when The Wheel of Reincarnation worked on me, that or the Major Kami didn't feel the need to remove it either."

Sōsuke, with his doe brown eyes that now reflect an age much older than his 10 year old body, stares at her intently, her eyes were such an amazing shade of red, even when they looked as tired as they did right now. "What is the command on it?" With a fond smile and her red eyes a thousand miles away, she intones, "I command that this soul never again do harm to her or those in our protection unless the harm would prevent a greater one from befalling them.", by using it as the foil for the Hōgyoku we make, it will not be a danger to the people you care about enough to protect, but we can still use it on the Rukongai citizens and others as necessary, as long as you don't consider them to be under your protection."

Well, that certainly answered one of the few questions about the plan he still had. He pouts at his previous incarnation, "Am I really not going to see you again after this?" Dekuyume's smile is sad as she reaches across the table to ruffle his hair. "This will be our next Becoming. I've interfered enough as it is already. But it was about time I saved myself instead of waiting around for her to do it for me, ne~?"

Sōsuke can't help but laugh as Dekuyume copies Subaru's tone and expression when she uses his catchphrase. For a moment he thinks that the sudden blurriness is from the tears in his eyes, but as everything turns the violet color of his Reiryoku, he knows…

It was time.

There is a pulling sensation, as if someone had reached inside of him and pulled the pin on a hand grenade. The sensation is followed by a burst of Reiatsu that crashes against the inner walls of his self, pushing them outwards into the shape of a little boy. Laying on his back staring up at some flowers, ah… those were lily of the valley, if he remembered right, in Hanakotoba they meant sweet. He liked flowers, even if that was usually a girl thing… he liked tea too, but he could probably blame both of those on Dekuyume, and maybe Sasakibe… he never did see him when he was a hell butterfly did he? How sad.

Slightly delirious, he giggles. It was so difficult, being cultured and having taste. Thinking that it was about time he sat up, he did so but as he did… Sōsuke felt… wrong. Kind of like his head had been stuffed with cotton and for some reason the white Shihakushō he was wearing was really, really heavy. He slumped, half in reality among the flowers in the Kidō Corps Butterfly garden, and half in a dream, his back against a Sakura tree.

He remains at the kotatsu long enough to see Dekuyume's sad face, shining oil-slick and iridescent tear drops that click like pebbles when they hit the ground, before he falls into another of her memories.

It would be many years, before he found himself in another.

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Excerpt from The Third Reincarnation

"Before Kagome-chan and I start practicing our archery, I have something to say. I heard the two of you talking after Sofu told you about the legend of the fox wife. I have to say I'm disappointed in the way you made fun of him when you thought he couldn't hear you. He did and you hurt his feelings, not that he will ever let you know that you did. The stories Sofu tells are important, not because they tell us that yōkai exist, but because they tell us that they can be beaten... They can all be beaten, even the ones that hide inside us, so deep in our hearts, that no one else can see them. We defeat them with kindness and sincerity, but we have to be careful." She feels her heart warm as the two of them lean closer in excitement after having looked so dejected at her chastisement. "Kindness is a human weapon, the most powerful weapon, truth be told; so powerful that if you aren't careful, it will cut you more deeply than those you use it on."

Dekuyume sighs, closing her eyes as she remembers old lifetimes where she had tried so hard to be like her only to fail miserably and die shortly after. If only I had known then what I do now… She smiles sadly at her siblings, "If you expect the world to be kind to you because you are kind, you are fooling yourself. That's like expecting the lion not to eat you because you did not eat him. That said, you should always be kind first, because you can always be mean later. But once you have been mean to someone they won't believe you if you are kind afterwards, not even if you really mean it." So always be kind… until it's time to stop being kind; then destroy them, because once you have shown them your cruelty they wouldn't ever letyou be kind to them again… not that you two will ever have to worry about that.

Dekuyume reaches out and ruffles their hair, the signal that Sōta was waiting for. As he rushes off to go play Dekuyume hands her imouto Kagome a bow. I will see to it that neither of you ever have to learn how to be cruel, even if that means I must defeat all your enemies myself.

As her first arrow of her practice strikes true, Dekuyume smiles wryly, even if the first enemy to be defeated ismyself.

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Sōsuke's heart aches, as he watches the memory. Because this time… and forever after, Dekuyume does not acknowledge his presence. It was a nice lesson at least, her last encouragement.

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The Soul King of The Soul Society

The form markers for the soul were in disarray as the Konsō procedure finished its post-transformation error checking, causing an alert to trigger. The phenomenon was checked against the troubleshooting list the Soul King had embedded in the procedure. The solution was located, under the heading of yōkai: Unaccepted soul modifier tags and bypassed when the check for damaged or missing soul chain was marked false.

A second error triggered, and like the first it was located, this time under the heading of Miko: Unaccepted soul modifier tags. The check for Reiryoku passed, and the soul had a temporary marker titled Shinigami assigned.

A third error triggered under the modifier: apparent age. There were several ages listed in the category, 51(Naraku), 23(Dekuyume) and 10(Sōsuke). Following the assigned protocol, the average was taken and the number checked for 1x100 veracity. The check came up true and the age 28 was assigned.

The fourth error triggered was gender, fifth, hair color, sixth eye color and seventh nationality. All of which were assigned to the most recently applied value.

The eighth error was in the memory category, when a fault was detected with the memory vine seed embedded in the soul. The storage capacity was two orders of magnitude larger than the upper limits set in the error checker, and still it was nearly full, with little space for new information. It also did not match any of the known species currently in use by the reincarnation Kami. The program did as specified, moving the non-essential memories of the soul's last life into a second, known memory vine seed species, already downloaded with the information necessary for a soul to get by while it was in standby, waiting for reincarnation. The second memory vine seed was then germinated and grafted onto the memory vine currently in the soul.

Everything is reviewed once more, and when no additional errors pop up, the Konsō procedure restarted the de-transformation module. As the procedure had already failed once, a barrier was erected around the soul to prevent any destabilization problems, or outside influences. The form modifiers were then applied and rechecked. The residual energy caused by exposing the soul fragments prior to wrapping it up in Reishi is absorbed by the barrier so that minimal damage is done to the environment. The Shinigami is prompted to reign in his Reiatsu. The Shinigami complies and the barrier is released, the residual 0.01% of the total energy, well within the accepted thresholds for non-lethal Reiatsu exposure.

The program finishes without any further errors, noting that the two memory vines grafted together per regulations, before closing. It does not monitor the situation long enough, and after some violent thrashing of the souls Reiryoku, slowly, the grafted part of the memory vine begins to wither.

A message is sent to The Heart of The Soul King, the fulcrum upon which the balance sits, detailing the problem, but the administrator status of Gerard had been striped when he left The Soul King's body, as a result the error is filed away in The Husk of The Soul King. But The Husk was only a back up program wrapped in enough of The Soul King's essence to prevent The Soul Society from re-conjuring him into existence during the en-souling process. It did not have any protocol's in place to handle the error, and so the message was left to sit in The Soul King's inbox, waiting for him to reawaken.

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Chapter 12 : Just a Man

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Sōsuke would admit at this point that it was probably a good thing that Haku made him go to the Kidō Corps for his return to human form. Changing from a butterfly into a man tingles, as if his whole body had a pinched blood vessel, and was only now being released.

Suddenly a blinding pain lashes through his head.

He can feel itas some outside force tries to take his memories away.

These precious memories that Dekuyume had fought so hard to share with him, the memories of Sasakibe, Jareth and Ms Williams… and his first true friend, Subaru.

The things he had learned as a butterfly and the plan.

Gods, he couldn't let it take the plan away! It would all be for nothing without the plan, and he knew, oh gods did he know, that even without the plan they would probably arrive at the same place… But Sōsuke did not want to be thathorrible man at heart, even if he had to in deed.

He struggles, and his violet Reiryoku shakes violently in the confines of his spiritual body. He wouldn't let the plan be taken away.

But while he was very good, he wasn't a god… yet.

A 28 year old man in a pure white Shihakushō awakes in the butterfly restoration courtyard of the Kidō Corps.

He considers his environment as he pushes up his glasses.

He has a name.

He has a language.

And he has a plan.

But as Aizen Sōsuke is approached by the Kidō Corps member with a red mark on his mask, brought over by a blast of lieutenant level Reiatsu, there is one thing he does not have.

Memories

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The Immortal Plain

Somewhere in the celestial ocean, a clerk on board The Mount Kailash receives notice from the Global Fate Matrix Database, Calculator and Operations Monitor (GFM-DCOM) of Bleach:12679752. One eyebrow raised, the woman snorts after reading the message. Like clockwork, the nosy bastard in the cubicle next to hers pops up, "What's so funny?" The clerk rolls her eyes, "God Forsaken Mathematics Destroys Creation Once More."

Proving herself just as much of a gossip as her neighbor was nosy, she leaned forward conspiratorially, "That crazy land god who managed to piss off just about every Soul Kami a few decades ago and was given a Trial. You know, the one that finally gave one of the Soul mate-broken souls a soul mate just because they happened to be related to the reincarnation of one of the land gods playthings?" Smiling with humor, she waits until Mr. Nosy nods repeatedly like a bobble head before continuing, "Turns out she just sent the payment plan back and there's only one Karmic Balance Line. Have to give it to her, she's crazy as fuck, but she sure knows how to make the system work for her." Mr. Nosy shakes his head at the stupidity of Kami, "There's a reason that no one is supposed to pay all of their karma back in a single lifetime."

As Mr. Nosy moves over to the other side of his cubicle to answer the questions of his even nosier neighbor, the clerk updates the records for the soul's current incarnation, Aizen Sōsuke.

Payment accepted

Pre-existing, unpaid Karmic debt: 0

As the confirmation is sent back to DFM-DCOM of Bleach:12679752, across the celestial ocean, a memo is sent out to all of the Soul Kami who deal with reincarnation.

In the Higurashi Sanctuary, sitting at the kotatsu with the automaton Dekuyume left to stand guard over her people and her domain Shikon looks up from the transcripts of her Neesan's trial and laughs.

O' lord, what fools these Kami be.

With a single whim, she begins monitoring Bleach:12679752 paying close attention to the Fate Matrix of The Soul King, and the reincarnation of the one soul she knew even better than her own. Magatsuhi formed me, Naraku fed me, The nameless third reincarnation saved and betrayed me, and as Dekuyume also brought me to life, raising me as a daughter of her Clan, a sister to my heart she shared her parents and siblings with me.

It made her curious, to see what he would bring them, this fourth reincarnation, Aizen Sōsuke.

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Aizen Sōsuke knew he was blessed, he wasn't just a man lost in the vastness of the Soul Society. Most souls were sent to the outer Rukongai, and forced to work their way closer to Seireitei and its protection, with a bit of humor about the district he was being sent to being a different spelling of his last name, he accepted the ticket he was given for 1stEast Rukongai, Aizome. Even better he was there for all of an hour before he joined a group of prospective Shinigami on their way to Soul Society for the entrance exam to Shin'ō Academy.

Most souls wandered around, getting adopted by strangers who needed someone to stay with them to stave off the feeling of loneliness while they waited for reincarnation. Aizen already had plans to fill the vacant throne in the sky, with a short detour to gain immortality.

Most souls were pitifully weak, lacking in both Reiryoku and Reiatsu control. Aizen had so much Reiryoku that he had to be asked to suppress his Reiatsu… by the voice of the Soul King himself. And only moments into this life, Aizen Sōsuke, had enough control to do it. There was no doubt about it, Aizen was nearly a god… but only nearly.

So what if he was missing more memories than normal, in exchange, he had been given a gift, a fantastical plan that would have him shaking the very foundations of Soul Society… just in time to prevent them from being slaughtered like feast pigs by the Quincy when they challenged the Shinigami for supremacy once more. It was all to the shinigami's benefit, really.

With all of the hassle of planning taken out of the equation, it felt more like a game than anything else. And he had every intention of enjoying himself as he played.

Because what else did you call it, when you followed a plan you had no factual basis for… and found the answers to why things had been planned a certain way only after the fact?

He certainly had no intention of calling it something as banal as Faith.

As he is handed a dorm room key and a set of cadet uniforms, Aizen can only push up his glasses and offer a timid smile to the dorm monitor for the Shin'ō academy; blue hair, pink eyes, bubbly, innocent girl. As he walks down the hallway, he has no answers for why he did not need the directions to get to his assigned room or why he thinks that the wooden box on the far wall should be full of kimono when he unlocks the door and enters.

Turning and locking the door, he sets his uniforms on his simple futon before rising to his feet and walking over to the wooden box. He removes the white Shihakushō he awoke in, carefully folding it in a way he knew would leave no wrinkles, before placing it in the empty wooden box. His heart flutters in his chest, a strange sort of pride at being able to fold the garment properly. How strange. His heart flutters once more as he closes the lid, wafting the scent of the old sachet left in the box to his nose. Taking a moment to acknowledge that scent was the sense strongest connected to memory, with a little bit of curiosity thrown in as he wonders why the scent would feel familiar to him, he dismisses it as unimportant.

Aizen moves over to his uniforms and puts it on for the first time.

With a smile completely at odds with the persona he wished to convey he thought, All according to plan.

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Chapter 13 : Just a Student

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Aizen could have completed the academy's instruction and sat his exit exams at the end of the first week. He would have failed the Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Hohō, aspects, and received acceptable marks on his Kidō, but his written tests would have given him a high enough score to apply for one of the lowest positions in the Gotei 13.

He could have taken the exit exams at the end of the first month. He would have been hard pressed when it came to the more physical aspects, but he was confident that even with the massive disorientation he had trouble dealing with that whole first year, he would have met the minimum requirements to apply for an unseated officer position in the Gotei 13

Aizen could have sat his exit exams at the end of the first year. There would have been no problems with Zanjutsu, Hakuda, and Hohō, having finally reached some level of comfort with all of the information that he was bombarded with and would have had a harder time pretending his Kidō skills were on the level of an academy graduate and not at their actuallevel more than anything else.

It took Aizen all 3 years of the Class #1, special accelerated program before he could no longer put off his exit exams. He had considered withdrawing from the program and moving into the Main Class, but felt that it would be entirely too suspicious, and of course… that was not part of the plan. The choice to completely forsake the plan had been on his mind for weeks before it was dismissed. The plan had already given him thisreward for following it so far, he would continue to follow it faithfully. But it was so very tempting, because Aizen had found himself a treasure so profound, he had spent almost a full year at the academy doing nothing more than meditating on all the infinite options that had suddenly been made available to him, even as that treasure left him disoriented and questioning everything.

And that treasure came in a box called an Asauchi, one that became Kyōka Suigetsu, a blade worthy of a God.

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Shin'ō Barracks, three years ago

Aizen Sōsuke was dreaming, a strange thing for him, as this was the first time he could say he dreamt instead of only slept. The place he was in was also very beautiful, and he was quite pleased that he would be able to enjoy such a peaceful place when he used Jinzen in the future… He grins boyishly, no hit of his usual menace, realizing that the tiny French table next to him has a steaming cup of tea.No matter how often he drank it, it never seemed to be enough. Seated in the equally tiny French chair, he took off his glasses. Briefly closing his eyes, he channeled more of his Reiatsu through them, removing the need for the glasses. He would have done the same the rest of the time, but there was just something about wearing the glasses that made it easier to keep up his persona. Eagerly, he exchanged the glasses for the tea. He gently lifted up the delicate tea cup and took a sip of the most exquisite earl grey tea he had ever tasted.

He sighs at the flavor, carefully relaxing in the tiny chair to watch the fireflies dance among the poisonous flowers in the waterscape garden before him, their light no match for the harvest moon reflected in the water. He finishes the tea, contemplating what the nature of his zanpakutō will be. He does not have to wait long for his answer, as a voice speaks from directly behind him. "It's very peaceful here, in your hearts-home Aizen Sōsuke. Though I do have to wonder just who's heart it is you're calling home."

Had Aizen not been perfectly aware that only himself and his zanpakutō spirit were capable of reaching this inner world, he would have reacted violently. It was quite a feat, to startle him, as he had awoken in the garden with the ability to sense the Reiryoku presence of even the smallest of souls in the Rukongai. He had even been able to sense the less-skilled Onmitsukidō-trainee's running around the academy, who were foolish enough to erase all the Reiatsu in an area leaving oddly suspicious blank spaces. Sōsuke knew very well that it was more beneficial to simply blend into the background.

He sets the cup aside as he rises from the chair, turning to greet the reflection of his soul, already resolved to treat it different than all of the others, regardless of what form it took. He would be kind and honest to the spirit, for it would be his partner for the rest of this incarnation. The plan would be stressful, and tedious to follow, without the zanpakutō's support. His eyes meet his zanpakutō spirit's; dark purple eyes, elegant face, noble garb, very long black hair; for all of a second before he clutches his head in pain and faints, astrange feeling of familiarity and surprise chasing him down into the darkness.

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Within the confines of his soul matrix, the shriveled and dead memory vine disintegrates. Memories are released as memory-motes flee the dead memory vine like passengers fleeing a sinking ship. Most of the motes and the memories they carry make it into the healthy memory vine, but the vine had been nearly full at the start. The remaining motes then push and squeeze into every nook and cranny available, occasionally causing other memories to bulge out of their confines and cling to the leaves like aphids.

Aizen Sōsuke was in a very precarious position, all it would take would be a small upset to cause the memories to be shaken loose to fall into his consciousness. Unfortunately for Aizen, devoid of a response to her question before the transformation Dekuyume had left her soul recognition query channel active to the GFM-DCOM. It would continuously check each soul he met, to the list of souls and soul echoes he had encountered himself, as well as Dekuyume's most precious people.

It was going to cause him a great deal of confusion, frustration and headaches in the future. Lots and lots of headaches.

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Aizen Sōsuke woke up still inside his inner dimension, his head in the lap of his zanpakutō spirit. The spirit grinned down at his Shinigami mischievously, "I know I'm amazing, but I didn't expect you to faint at first sight. I am…._" The Shinigami frowns, at almost the same time his zanpakutō spirit does, the spirit had not been able to give his name. "Mou~ That is quite annoying. Let's try it this way, what do you think my name is?"

The Shinigami rises to his knees, turning and seating himself before his zanpakutō spirit. He stares for some time, an itch at the back of his mind, like a long forgotten memory. Slowly, giving the spirit time to deny him, Aizen leans forward, pushing the spirits long black hair away from his face. A few strands get caught on the spirits plum colored lipstick, but are shaken free as Aizen tugs the strands behind the spirits pointed ears, the only proof that the spirit was not just another man in noble garb. The spirit feels so familiar to him, and the name is on the tip of his tongue.

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The recognition protocol makes a match, shaking a mote from the memory vine as nearby soul fragments vibrate. It falls into Aizen Sōsuke's consciousness.

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Suddenly he has a name, [Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions, cherished, most playful and polite son] but is left confused, because while Shinigami could have children, those children were not zanpakutō spirits. He hadn't taken any of the classes on health or medicine yet, but he was quitesure of that. He is also left with double vision and a mild headache, as there are now two zanpakutō spirits, one superimposed over the other. It is highly suspicious, because it is only the spirit in double, the rest of their surroundings remain unaffected.

For the first time since he woke up in the hell butterfly restoration garden of the Kidō Corps, Aizen Sōsuke tells the complete, unvarnished truth, "Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions, Cherished, Most playful and polite son.", making no attempts at subterfuge. Once he was done, he asked, "I do not believe that you are named Byakuya. It does not seem to suit you, though the title "of Dreams and Illusions", does. My zanpakutō spirit, as your Shinigami I humbly greet you. I am Sōsuke Aizen. Will you be my partner and tell me your name?"Aizen also found the spirit to be logical, observant, and just as willing to take advantage and twist the truth to his own purposes, a pleasant counterpoint to his playfulness.

Grinning as he tied his hair back behind his head with an long stemmed indigo lotus flower from the waterscape garden, the spirit replied, "I am Kyōka Suigetsu. My Shinigami, be careful when you draw me the first time, and take care not to touch the blade before you call my name. Do so and we will forever be in harmony, as your partner, I do so vow."

Aizen may have been just an academy student, but he wasn't weak willed enough to believe in a lie, just because he wanted it to be true. Aizen raised one eyebrow, the expression on his face clearly skeptical, "Mirror Flower, Water Moon…. The moon reflected in water and a flower in a mirror are things which can be seen, but not held… no matter how much the heart desires to possess them." A slow wicked smile crosses Kyōka Suigetsu's face, "But you're going to reach out anyways, even knowing that you have only offered me truth, and I have given you the truth within a lie. Not that you have been able to find said truth. You are going to give into the temptation… so much for partnership~."

Eyes focused on the Lotus in his zanpakutō spirits hair and wondering which symbolism it meant; Far from the one he loves/Purity/Chastity, it did not matter to Aizen in the end. "No."

One dark eyebrow rises over dark purple eyes, "No what? Come now Sōsuke, surely you can be more eloquent than that." A second eyebrow rises as his Shinigami sighs deeply seeming to fold into himself. The two of them had been reincarnated hundreds of times, and while Sōsuke was complex enough to have 9 possible zanpakutō spirits, Kyōka Suigetsu was the one that presented when their collective soul was feeling… conquest~y. The pose the Shinigami was in now, was one that Kyōka Suigetsu was intimately familiar with… but for one glaring exception… Sōsuke usually only wore it afterhe realized he held the greatest weapon Soul Society would ever know… but because of his inability to surrender power to another, he would neverbe able to use to its fullest measure.

To see it now, after hundreds of lifetimes together, here at the startof yet another… well, that was new. The spirits breath catches in his throat as Sōsuke straightens with a slow in drawn breath. Shivers slide up Kyōka Suigetsu's back as their eyes meet…for what feels like the first time since Kyōka Suigetsu himself awoke inside this shinigami's soul. Any words that would have fallen from the spirits plum painted lips are silenced when he realizes that the flush of color across Sōsuke's cheeks is not anger… Sōsuke… Aizen Sōsuke, was blushing. "Kyōka Suigetsu. I…" Sōsuke's eyes close once, his hands clenching on his knees as he grits his teeth, flushing an even darker shade of red as he grits out, "I am lonely. If there is anyone, anyone at all in the vast realm of souls who can ease my solitude…", quaking brown eyes open, searing into amazed dark violet orbs the virulent determination Aizen feels. "It is you."

Aizen reaches forward, jerking the startled spirit towards him and into his arms. Wide dark purple eyes stare at him in amazement, but the spirit does not withdraw even though he remains stiff. Aizen gentles his embrace, the sensation of being so close to another foreign, but very, very sweet. Aizen rests his head on Kyōka Suigetsu's shoulder, whispering, "You are of me, and I am of you, paired aspects of the same soul. I will not spend the rest of my time in this life at war, turning our peaceful inner world into a battlefield. This is not succumbing to temptation, this… is called trust, it is called faith, it is called family… and it is called home. Kyō-kun, won't you end my solitude and share your life with me as I share mine with you?"

The spirits arms wrap around his trembling shoulders and together the two weave an illusion, pretending that neither of them is crying as a few drops of hope spill into the aching void of Sōsuke's solitude emptied heart.

For the first time, Kyōka Suigetsu, one of the millions of subroutines in place to regulate the souls while they waited their turn to reincarnate on the mortal plain… one who's sole purpose was to limita souls influence while giving the appearance of help…

If Aizen Sōsuke was willing to place himself under the Complete Hypnosis… Kyōka Suigetsu was going to make all of his dreams come true.

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Aizen Sōsuke woke in the barracks an hour before dawn with a tear stained face, and hands clutched around the sheathed sealed form of his zanpakutō. After washing his face, and frowning slightly at the lingering ache in his head, he carried the zanpakutō to the Kidō training field.

In another life, Aizen would not have managed to connect to Kyōka Suigetsu on such a deep emotional level. He would have seen the spirits words as a threat, and he would have touched the blade, taking only what he knew was within his grasp, the mirror and the water, ultimately forsaking the flower and the moon. And he would have been right to do so, because without perfect trust, being under Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis would have done more harm than good.

But this Aizen Sōsuke carried Dekuyume inside of him, the lessons her soul echo had learned had been imparted to him and so he didn't even hesitate. Standing in the center of the Kidō training field, Aizen drew his zanpakutō, holding it pointed forwards to the targets on the far wall without ever touching the blade. It also didn't hurt that nothing about what to do was mentioned in the plan created by Sōsuke and Dekuyume. The boy had presumed that Dekuyume would be the zanpakutō spirit and had spent countless hours preparing himself to see the beautiful woman in her truest form, impaled with viscera like she had been in the memory she shared. As for Dekuyume, the thought had never crossed her mind, that the original Aizen Sōsuke had not been able to use the blade to its highest capacity.

However, capturing the shadow moving out of the corner of his peripheral vision, spying on him, in the Complete Hypnosis was very much part of the plan.

Then he said the release phrase for his zanpakutō for the first time and gave himself to The Dreaming.

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu!"

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The Shin'ō academy didn't just teach Shinigami, it also taught the other branches of the Soul Society's military. While most of the classes were the same, each branch had its own extra classes: the Kidō Corps on Reiryoku and advanced Reiatsu manipulation and the Onmitsukidō on stealth. And every year, one of the Onmitsukidō's final exams was to monitor every Asauchi loaned, and make sure that no one developed a Shikai that was a threat to Soul Society. If such a person was found to have one, it spelled the end of their career as a Shinigami, Nobles turned in their letters of resignation along with their zanpakutō and made vows to never seek out another Asauchi, the others were dishonorably discharged for one trumped up reason or another and thrown in the maggots nest.

Aizen Sōsuke was truly blessed, even if he would not know it for quite some time, although he had an educated guess since it was part of the plan, because the night he released Kyōka Suigetsu for the first time, he caught the entire graduating class of Onmitsukidō. One of those pupils was Yoruichi, future Clan Head of the Greater Noble Clan of Shihōin, and future Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, the second was Kisuke Urahara, the only man who Aizen would fear in this life.

zanpakutō

Kyōka Suigetsu : Mirror Flower, Water Moon

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Chapter 14 : Just a Migraine

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His elation at discovering Kyōka Suigetsu's abilities was not hampered by learning of its one weakness, but his pounding migraine did. Too bad there was nothing in the plan to get rid of it. Unfortunately, even with the medication he took the night before, his head still ached when he woke hours later with his spirit sitting next to his bunk, reading through one of the assigned books for his classes. Aizen closed his eyes with a groan, because the spirit was still in double vision with the rest of the room perfectly normal.

As he forced himself from his bed to attend classes, he returned the blade to its sealed state. With a glance at a clock, he realized just how late he had slept in, and had barely had enough time to change into a fresh uniform before walking to his next class. It would have to be a walk too, running like this would only increase the pain and possibly even send him crashing to the floor as he passed out.

Even with the blade sealed, he would frequently experience the same odd burst of intuition and whomever it applied too would also have the image of another person superimposed over them. Unlike with his spirit, the image was not the same, but after a moment's consideration he usually found that the rest of the inspiration applied. He found it troubling though, because of the 12 times that happened, one of them had been… wrong.

Shiba Isshin was lazy, lecherous and lackadaisical and Aizen found it a shame that he was the future head of the Shiba branch family. It meant that he wouldn't even have to try very hard to tear the house apart and leave it as humble as the Aizome. That was an important part of the plan later, he still had a long way to go before then. Maybe if he was lucky the Shiba would grow up in the meantime? He hoped so, if it was too easy he wouldn't have any fun.

He had just left his last class for the day, and was on his way to find a secluded place to ask Kyō-kun if he knew anything about the headache that just wouldn't go away, when he quite literally ran into the Shiba. [Kuwabara Kazuma, Devoted to Higurashi Yukina, S class human psychic, reincarnated dimensional witch, Ito returned] While looking at the idiotic face and alarmingly orange hair superimposed over Isshin's was quite humorous, there was no such thing as a human psychic, or dimensional witch, never mind reincarnated ones. He wasn't even going to attempt to apply the word devoted to his school mate. Somehow or another, but most likely due to his title, the man had a new lover every other week and made eyes at any female that passed by, even when his current beau was standing right next to him.

He had smiled politely at his class mate, the light reflecting off of his glasses and obscuring the emotions he wasn't sure he was able to keep to himself. But no matter how he demurred, the Shiba had been bound and determined to get him medical attention, apparently he had looked waxy and pale to the teen. Aizen had given in, not wanting to arouse any suspicion. Thankfully the Shiba was sent away shortly upon his arrival, he had no desire to disrobe in front of him. It was in that tiny examination room, with a 4th division member by the name of Yamada Hanatarō; there were probably rabbits less timid, that Aizen looked in a mirror for the first time that day. [Higurashi Dekuyume, Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield, possessive, cunning, protective of family, still devoted to Her above all other souls because it is only when in Her favor that solitude is defeated and family is found.]

It was fortunate, that Hanatarō-kun had already asked Aizen to lay down on the examination table at that point, otherwise Aizen would have collapsed. Whomever this Heractually was, just the thought of her was enough to evoke powerful emotions inside him… most he had never felt before, and some he had thought delusions of people too weak minded to label their emotions properly. They were so intense that Aizen found himself willing to dare much, if it meant that he could see Heragain… and that recklessness was so powerful he couldn't even bring himself to care that it was so irresponsible… or that he would walk away from the plan if it meant he could bask in hercompany.

The 20th seated officer of the 4th division shakes him out of his thoughts, "Do you know where this scar came from?" Alarmed, because no one had ever managed to put a scratch on Sōsuke, much less harm him enough to leave a scar. His eyes had shot open to find the medic pointing at a small hand shaped scar on Sōsuke's stomach, as if a woman had pressed her burning hand into his flesh and held it there until it branded him. He placed his hand over the scar to measure the size of the hand and was promptly overcome.

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The memory vine was swollen with the memories inside of it, one leaf was released, broken off under the pressure as the soul fragments around it wriggled around. The memory vine grew another tendril from the spot the leaf had been, expanding the room inside to allow for more memories to be stored. The leaf, fluttered into Aizen Sōsuke's mind.

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Dekuyume's Memory

Dekuyume, freshly resurrected, tightens her hands around the vicious little parasite in her hand. Her eyes travel over to where Kagome, after stabilizing Inuyasha, had turned to give Jūrōmaru and her sister her attention. The stabilization had gone far more quickly than the first time, now that she knew what she was doing. They had done it. Everyone had lived, bruises and cuts a plenty. Sango had a shattered thigh bone, and Inuyasha was in desperate need of some serious healing, but everyone had lived. And now she was going to save another of her children from her previous incarnations machinations... if that wasn't nightmare fuel for a Jerry Springer episode she didn't know what was.

After patting Jūrōmaru on the head with her other hand, she brings it around, "Imouto, I am going to have to ask you to help me, I'm a bit weak from auto-reviving." Kagome nods and comes to sit next to Dekuyume who is still being held by Jūrōmaru. He continues to stare at Dekuyume in wide eyed surprise as she instructs Kagome to put her hand over Dekuyume's stomach, where the gate for the soul is. That wasn't always where it was though, it often moved, even after the soul had left the body. It was difficult to tell on pluses, but Ryūken-san had said that the phenomenon could be more easily witnessed by the movement of a hollow's hole.

Kagome complies, and feels a gentle tingle as Dekuyume borrows her magic. It wasn't a gentle tingle for Dekuyume. It was an inferno, because Dekuyume had yōkai identity modifiers on her soul, and while she had been sworn to the Kami of The Well of Time, and also gained a Miko identity modifier… it did not suit her, as a result she only had enough holy magic to fill a tea cup, and Kagome's magic burned.

Kagerōmaru hisses evilly and tries to cut at Dekuyume, but she has him gripped in just the right spot, he cannot hurt her, and she merely ignores his thrashing. She holds her other hand just out of his reach and curls her fingers inwards. His body jerks and his eyes roll back into his head. She lets go of his body with her other hand, and everyone is surprised to see it still hanging there. She curls her other hand in symmetry with her first and they see thousands of multicolored threads spread out from his body, many of which connect to Jūrōmaru.

She expertly unravels the soul fragments Kagerōmaru had managed to steal from Jūrōmaru. Eventually, all pieces liberated, there is a brilliant flash of light as his soul resonates, all the pieces falling back into place. Held securely in her second son's arms, with her imouto behind her, supplying magic to her refreshed, but exhausted body, Dekuyume smiles like the sun at Kagerōmaru, who finds the smile terrifying "Good bye parasite." Before vaporizing the soul parasite that had been ejected along with the soul Naraku had intended to use for Jūrōmaru.

She nods at Kagome who goes back to healing Inuyasha more thoroughly now that all the threats had passed. She knew that this little stunt of hers would leave a permanent scar on her soul. Reincarnation might be able to cover it up when the next layer of experiences was placed over the incarnation she was currently living, but it would not, could not erase it. That was fine with her though, it couldn't erase her ability to senseHereither, and Dekuyume would dare much more than this, to protect her family. Dekuyume sighs, smiling as Kagome mutters in irritation as she heals her soul-mate. Yes, Inuyasha was Hersoul mate, but that was fine. Kagome was her imouto, and no one was ever going to be able to take that away from her.

Memory end

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Aizen had processed the memory faster than it had taken to happen, once upon a time, so with barely any pause, he informed the medic that it had happened a long, long time ago. Hanatarō-kun hadn't asked any more questions about it, nor did he ask any about the odd paper talisman that laid flat against his chest, over his heart.

It hadn't been there this morning when he changed.

Wary of having another intense memory hit him so close to the other and with someone watching Aizen left it alone.

After a few questions about when the last time was that he had his prescription checked, and if his glasses had been giving him problems, Hanatarō-kun diagnosed his problem as dehydration. He asked if Aizen was drinking enough water during training, or if he had recently released his zanpakutō, as some water based blades took their moisture from the environment. Aizen went with that the excellentsuggestion, even when Kyō-kun explained the real cause.

Information. The Complete Hypnosis was just that, complete, affecting all five senses, resulting in massive amounts of information being moved and applied. Furthermore, because Aizen had placed himself under it as well, and Kyō-kun was part of his soul… even when Aizen returned the zanpakutō to its sealed state, temporarily releasing all of the others, Aizen remained under the complete hypnosis.

The spirit had taken advantage of the hypnosis to attempt to determine the origin of Sōsuke's strange superimposing images and sudden bursts of insight. He had not been able too, even if he had noticed a sudden rise in pain level, every time Aizen gained a new insight. Ironically attempting to notinfluence Sōsuke's perception of the world had caused the migraine to linger longer than the hour or so it normally would have.

Aizen would have to be careful in the future, because not even Kyō-kun could determine the locus from which the insight came. And if he was in this much pain from 12 new insights, Aizen might be consumed if he met too many new people at a time.

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Chapter 15 : Just a Graduate

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The spirit walked beside Aizen after that; more like pranced around making silly faces and mocking people with rude observations, and was the reason that his smile was often honest enough that no one was left with the uneasy feeling that it was completely fake. Things became simultaneously easier, and more difficult. As one of the first members in the accelerated program to achieve Shikai, Aizen was called upon to demonstrate. More and more of his classmates (Sheeple) fell under the hypnosis, believing his zanpakutō was a water type and the sense of superiority that gave him was heady. Some days, the plan was all that kept him from laughing in their faces.

The temptation to release his blade every time he came across someone who was not under his hypnosis was just as difficult to resist. Even though the plan indicated that one day, he would hold the entirety of Soul Society captive, he also knew he had to go slowly. Kyō-kun had not been underestimating the information that Aizen would have to handle when he invoked the hypnosis. Not only was information leaving Aizen at a rapid pace, it was also coming in, allowing Aizen to spy on meetings he would have never been able to attend.

Meetings such as the one between the Shihōin heiress and her father, Shihōin Yuudai, the current head of the Onmitsukidō, as she detailed the properties and names of every academy student who had managed Shikai so far. The perspective disorientation was difficult for Aizen to deal with when he was spying through the senses of more than two or three people at a time. He knew that until he could practice in private, he would have to be careful about when he left the zanpakutō in its released state. However it did have one questionable gift, Sōsuke's odd insight only came when he met people in person. When viewed through the senses of others, the world was blessedly devoid of the double vision.

Hours upon hours upon days were spent contemplating the insights and superimpositions, the very, verydangerous command seal still attached to Sōsuke's chest, and the memory it had given him of a woman taking over a demon that had adsorbed her. Thousands of hours were spent speaking with Kyō-kun about the future. It was in one of those conversations that the spirit told Aizen, that even if he lived to be ten times as old as the sōtaichō, he would never master his Bankai. The spirit had no qualms about giving it to Aizen though, because he had already passed the spirits test of trust, placing himself underneath the hypnosis.

Aizen had been mildly offended, both at the slight against his abilities; the sōtaichō was the strongest Shinigami to ever live, and the amount of time it took for a soul to be reincarnated was equivalent to their strength… meaning that as best anyone could tell the sōtaichō was nearly six thousand years old… and that he had been given the test for his Bankai before even releasing Shikai, predominantly because the blade only had to be touched once before witnessing the release to render a person invulnerable to the hypnosis forevermore. Then the spirit had explained the nature of their Bankai, and Aizen had been forced to agree to the first, and complain about the catch 22 embedded in the last.

The Spirit's test had to come before ever using the first release, because how could that test be given, if Sōsuke had already touched the blade and rendered himself immune forever more? As for the Bankai… It was a terrible disadvantage, that using his Bankai released everyone from the Complete Hypnosis in a single sweep all for a single evocation. It would be a muchmore difficult task, to drag those that had never touched the blade back under his spell a second time… when they were most likely quite upset with him. A prospect made all the more frightening by the fact that if he did not have enough people hypnotized, he paid for the rest of the evocation cost with his own Reiatsu… and if that was still not enough, he was left with the same Reiatsu as a normal plus until the difference was paid.

Aizen Sōsuke was nearly a god when it came to his Reiryoku and subsequent Reiatsu, but Kyōka Suigetsu was a zanpakutō meant for a god.Knowing when to use it took the caution of a god, to use its Shikai it took the mind of a god, and for its Bankai… if Aizen was not careful, it would take the power of a god, leaving only a mortal behind... it was a good thing part of the plan involved gaining immortality, some of the things he wanted to do with his Bankai after he was done with the plan, had the potential to thoroughly bankrupt him. With an infinite amount of time to pay the cost, the worst he would experience was a little boredom.

Aizen had taken advantage of his time in the academy, even if he had spent more time getting used to his zanpakutō and its power than he had on his class work and Kidō memorization. It had been to the benefit of his Zanjutsu, Hakuda and Hohō skills that the best place to practice fighting while using Kyōka Suigetsu in Shikai was the training hall. There were times when he had wondered how he managed to keep his reputation as an intellectual, when he spent more time in the training hall than anywhere else, but people believed what they wanted to believe, even without the hypnosis.

A little humble admission that the three physical arts were what he was the worst at, and suddenly his reputation as an earnest, hard working intellectual, was even more secure than before. Giving the fools direction without seeming to was easy enough.

The only thing that was easier, was figuring out which division's invitation to accept.

Watching all of his classmates turn into nervous wrecks while they tried to decide which division to join, provided they had received more than one invitation, made him laugh with Kyō-kun during a private moment.

Because he already knew where he was going. It was part of the plan.

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Chapter 16 : Just a Shinigami

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It would come to the surprise of many in the future, to discover that the first division Aizen Sōsuke was stationed in was the 4th. It would further surprise them that he hadn't even been a seated officer, thinking that his pride would not be able to handle having the meek 20th seat Hanatarō Yamada as his superior and relief team leader.

Some would assume that it wasn't his listed preference, but had been placed there anyways due to his superior score in Kidō… or that he had listed it as his first choice so he could hypnotize the patients who wouldn't even remember witnessing his release afterward. All of them would be wrong.

Aizen wanted the 4thdivision above all of the others for three reasons. The first was the advanced medical classes, certainly the basics had been covered in the academy, but Aizen wanted more. There was a lot of researching he would have to do in the future on the nature of souls. The plan told him the results of his tests, but not whythey succeeded or failed. It was highly likely that in the future he would have test subjects with injuries he did notwant to go on record.

The second, was a particularly advanced Kaidō/Reishi molding skill only taught to Nobles with a high Reiryoku, taichō, fukutaichō, and third seated officers. It was called the 7th Rite of Kaidō (Enfold): Reishi-mippuu, The Soul Particle Envelope and it was a fundamental skill for all 4th division Shinigami with enough control to perform it.

With Kyōka Suigetsu he could have easily gained that knowledge through the Complete Hypnosis and had the information proxied to him. However he did not trust anyone to pay attention well enough to satisfy him, nor would it get him access to the advanced medicine library. He could just use the hypnosis to sneak around as he pleased, but he just didn't have enough people hypnotized at the moment to do so easily. It also could not get him his third reason. Unohana Retsu, and the insight that cloaked her.

Because for all her fearsome reputation both in the medical bay, and the whispers of Kenpachi among the older souls in Soul Society… she felt like home and Aizen was addicted to the way she made some of his solitude disappear.

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The Advanced Medicine: Reishi-mippuu Class

He had already known that there was no listed incantation for any Kaidō, just like there were no listed numbers, even the names were more description than anything else and for a good reason. Where a single misplaced comma could destroy an incantation cast Kidō, words did not change the way Kaidō behaved, because for all the apparent complexity involved every Kaidō was the same spell. So while there were no standardized incantations for Kaidō, it seemed as if everyone had a personal favorite, the library was full of books of poetry that had been compiled from the historically used incantations.

While some of the incantations were beautiful in their composition, Aizen was more interested in what actually affected the power of Kaidō, and what caused the differences between the Rites. Every rite was little more than a different vibration energy of Reiatsu, green was for recovering health, opalescent was for illusion liberation.

Grey was the color you got from a perfectly done 8thRite of Kaidō (Counter): Hanki, The Reverse Demon… though there were some that would argue that Hanki wasn't a Kaidō at all given that you had to cast a perfectly opposing Kidō at an opponent. Those that argued for Hanki's inclusion as a Kaidō were always quick to remind that regardless of how it started, the end result was obviously a Kaidō as the grey wavelength Reiatsu could be used to either stun the opponent, or adsorbed into the skin to act as a temporary buffer for any repeated attempts of that same Kidō. Either way, it was just another Kaidō Aizen had mastered.

However it had come as a revelation to Aizen, that Kaidō reacted strongly to how the healer felt about the injured. The more empathy the healer felt, the less pain was felt by the injured. With no discernible increase or decrease in effectiveness, the 4thdivision took anyone who was proficient regardless of their empathy, to Aizen's benefit. He had performed Kaidō on an injured 4thdivision proctor for extra credit during the Kidō part of his finishing exams. The man had simultaneously teased and complimented him, "There's no need to feel so poorly about me Aizen-san, I'm a proctor not a hollow about to eat you. With talent like that you're a shoe in for the 4thdivision, I do hope you will join us."

Aizen had rather promptly decided to use poetry to stimulate feelings of empathy to disguise the utter apathy he felt for the injured he was assigned to heal, much like how the incantations made other Kidō more effective. It worked, even if it did get him some strange looks until he quoted the name of the author or book and distracted the listener with idle conversation. The only one who had not been so easily distracted was Unohana-taichō, who had congratulated him on his bedside manner in a way that made it perfectly clear that she knew the truth, all while stating that she didn't care. Skilled with words she was, and one day Aizen hoped that he would be much the same without prompting from Kyō-kun or the plan.

The taichō of the 4thdivision was a very busy woman, and her time management skills were impeccable. Consequently, she had time for her hobbies, and one of them was dealing with the… performance issues with some of her seated officers. The first time he had seen her was when she had shown up in the medical rooms at the academy looking for Hanatarō and his unique zanpakutō. Sōsuke was there due to having had 3 more insights pop up all at the same time, and had been feigning sleep to get out of class.

The main class had gone to the human world for a training exercise, only to get ambushed by an unnoticed demi-hollow as it finished the long process of encroachment. The 1staccelerated class was scheduled to have theirs separately in a much smaller group so the teachers could give them one on one instruction. Otherwise Aizen would have been there when it became a hollow, turning everything into total chaos, and the handful of instructors had not been able to control the 400 or so students.

Naturally most of them had died, moving on from this life and into their next. Typically souls went from human to plus and either took a detour the size of their Reiryoku as a hollow/Shinigami or went back to human again after about a century. However, on rare occasions, souls were reincarnated into the Soul Society, instead of sent there as butterflies. It was a blessing The Soul King gave to the noble houses, and why having even the lowest noble rank actually meantsomething.

Just days after the death of his classmates, three of the nobles at the academy, one of them a blushing man, had to withdraw due to pregnancy. Inside their bellies, Aizen had seen the faces of his fallen classmates, and the insight had told him exactly what he had thought about them before they had died. The joy of discovering that he was in fact seeing reincarnations… was not enough to cover the aching in his head, or the confusion. Where exactly had his soul been the time before, that there were things like yōkai, primary operators, and dimensional witches?

The pain had been worth it, the moment Unohana-taichō walked in. And he had been glad that the two had left him there. It would have been difficult to explain the tears. Aizen Sōsuke's attention is drawn to the front of the room as it opened to reveal Unohana Retsu. [Higurashi Kānēshon, Kiyoshi's Kami consort, the strongest woman, and the only soul to ever deserve to be my Kaasan.] Even now, after having seen it dozens of times, the insight and kind face superimposed with Unohana-taichō's was enough to cause his heart to fill with a woman's devotion to her mother. Alarming, as Aizen had to remind himself that he was a manafterwards every time… but so very soothing.

The taichō wore her hair uniquely, braided down her front, long enough so that when she turned at the lecture podium at the front of the small class in the 4th division compound, it twirled through the air. "Today we will be covering the advanced manipulation of Reishi and Reiatsu through Kaidō, can anyone tell me what the number one cause of death in Shinigami is?" Almost immediately a shout comes from the back of the room "Hollows!" Unohana smiles kindly, blue eyes placid yet laced with a hint of threat, "While that is a very good guess Iemura-san, it is only the third leading cause of death among Shinigami I will give you a hint, the leading cause has to do with not giving your superiors enough respect." The blond haired Shinigami paled spectacularly before jumping up and bowing to their taichō in apology. "Sorry taichō!"

Unohana had to prompt the class twice, before anyone else rose, bowed and spoke, "Would it be training accidents Unohana-taichō?" The guess also proved to be incorrect but much closer as the second leading cause, prompting Aizen to rise and bow from his seat at the front, "Mismanaged Reiatsu, Unohana-taichō."

The taichō nodded at him in acknowledgment as he sat back down. "Aizen-san has the right of it, Reiatsu. More specifically, Reiatsu depletion in the presence of unshielded High Reiatsu sources. When in the human world, the Shinigami wear power limit seals to protect the humans sensitive enough to feel them. That is not the case out in the Rukongai where we are often sent out on patrol. If a hollow appears injuring someone, or someone uses a Kidō far above their level and depletes their Reiatsu without their senior officers knowing, they may be crushed to death. Because of this danger all Nobles with a high enough Reiryoku, all taichō, fukutaichō and several seated officers are taught the 7th Rite of Kaidō (Enfold): Reishi-mippuu, The Soul Particle Envelope. As medics, all of you will be trained in this skill, however…"

The woman smiled then, full of kindness but still carrying the weight of her smothered killing intent, "Because the technique is based on using Reiatsu control to generate destructive interference in an envelope made out of Kaidō and the caster's molded Reishi, there will be some who are tempted to take it to the opposite extreme and subject someone to constructive interference. Outside the Sekkiseki walls of Seireitei even a trainee shinigami's Reiatsu with this method could see the weaker pluses instantly incinerated, forcing their early reincarnation and throwing off the balance of the worlds. Within the walls, it is the height of rudeness and an assault on your fellow Shinigami. If performed on a noble, it could see you sentenced to Muken for 3 years all the way up to life if they should die because of your inconsiderate actions."

She remained silent, watching them for a moment as they digested that little tidbit, before lightening up the tension in the room, "And just because members of the 4th division get asked every year after this class finishes: beyond the fact that they are both Kaidō, Reishi-mippuu has no relation what so ever to 6th Rite of Kaidō (Pressure): Reiatsu-tsumeru, The Pressurization, a Reiatsu maneuver often used by powerful souls to prevent their less gifted lovers from dying during coitus. They don't even have the same colors when they activate, the first is a golden yellow, and the other a smoky black."

Her smile was mysterious then for a moment, and as uncomfortable as everyone else in the room was, blushes springing up here and there, Aizen had it worse by far. Unohana-taichō felt like his mother, and no one should have to hear their mother talk about this… not with a smile like that on her face. "For those of you who are too… innocent to have come across this topic. Reiatsu-tsumeru is performed by the close proximity transfer of Reiatsu via osmosis during foreplay, it is transferred until the recipient's Reiatsu is high enough not to be crushed during orgasm. As all Reiatsu returns to its source, the powerful soul is not inhibited, though the recipient is strongly discouraged from using any Reiatsu based techniques until their lovers Reiatsu has finished dissipating, a phenomenon which can be directly observed by the black smoke that appears to come from their Reiatsu vents. I also hope that everyone paid attention in their Shinigami Health class and as such they are aware that Reiatsu-tsumeru greatly increases the chance of pregnancy in both male and female souls. Please remember that despite our outward appearance, souls have no gender but what we give them and that any two souls are capable of forming a third if enough of their Reishi stick together."

Unohana-taichō continued as many of the students tittered. "Just so that there are no misunderstandings or claims of ignorance later, there is a form in your training packets stating that you have been given a one on one demonstration of both constructive and destructive Reishi-mippuu and an oath to use the skill in a moral and upright manner. Before you are permitted to practice the skill, you will have it signed, filled out and placed in your personnel files. The back of the form has a listing all of the Shinigami and nobles licensed in Reishi-mippuu and willing to give the demonstrations and sign as a Notary. Yes, this means that you will be put in an uncomfortable situation, however it is one of the conditions that the Central 46 demanded when this course was permitted to be taught to every member of the 4th division."

Aizen… wasn't sure if there was anyone who could actually succeed if they were to try…. He would have to watch as it was conducted on a few of the others to form a good illusion. Hopefully one of the people on the licensed list was someone he had under the hypnosis, or he was going to have a lot of fast talking to do.

Three days later Tessai Tsukabishi signed his paperwork none the wiser. Unsurprisingly, beginning his training with the release of his zanpakutō while a blue marked member of the Kidō Corps was passing by proved to be useful, and not just to get a first person view of the inner-workings of the secretive Kidō Corps.

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Chapter 17 : Just a Seated Officer

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He spent about 50 years in the 4th division, climbing the ranking ladder, enjoying spending what little time he could with Unohana; she was delightfully charming when off duty, writing poetry, drinking tea, doing a tiny bit of gardening in the flowerbeds outside of the 4th division, winning several awards in the Ikebana exhibition that Unohana hosted, and yes… adding addled patients to the list of people who had fallen underneath the Complete Hypnosis during late night shifts when he was the only one around. To some, it might not have seemed like he did much, but the best deceptions were always built off of an unshakable foundation and ultimately, Aizen was rather young for a soul, he was in no rush. This growing period was all a part of the plan, to avoid having his brains leak out of his nose from the strain of keeping the Complete Hypnosis going smoothly.

Perhaps the only thing that vexed him, were the headaches that stemmed from the insight, and the incandescent curiosity that was born from pondering just what type of world he had been in before, and just how it was that the same soul could be in two places at the same time. He had seen enough death and insights to tell that reincarnation was actually rarely chronological. Rumor had it that the Kidō corps collected birthdays when souls reformed after arriving in Soul Society. It made an odd sort of sense really, as humans had only had souls for 200-300 thousand years, whereas Soul Society had existed for over a million… It just wasn't something people talked about.

He took great care, committing every insight and observation to memory. He was not foolish enough to write it down anywhere, all it would take would be one soul not underneath the hypnosis, and everything would collapse. If he ever wanted the ability to understand all of the intricate maneuverings of the plan, those tiny details would be necessary. As it was, he was kept quite busy in the 4thdivision, and he found himself quite enjoying the challenge of hiding his true abilities while simultaneously never losing a patient. Though, truthfully he spent more time assuaging his pride from the consequences of his persona, and the disdain the 11thdivision Shinigami felt towards the 4th more than anything else… you would think after the second time their sake mysteriously got switched with dirty mop water, they would have learned their lesson… but the 11thdivision wasn't somewhere you looked for intelligence.

But eventually he reached a point where he could progress no further. Not due to his abilities, but due to the nobility. In spite of the janitorial duties they were often subjected to, the 4thdivision was highly popular among the nobles as a place to be stationed and achieve rank as Shinigami without the danger of being sent to the living world or out into the Rukongai. It was of particular interest as even though the war with Yhwach had ended 7 centuries before Aizen woke up, the memory of the noble clans was long… and the lives of powerful souls even longer.

Aizen made it to the 7thseat before the Kira, Kotetsu and the Yamada clan Shinigami above him filled up the spaces and could not be displaced without causing strife with the lesser noble houses and by extent the Greater Noble Clans. Therefore it came as no surprise to Aizen that when Isshin Shiba finally managed to focus on his studies instead of women, the Shiba Clan politely asked Unohana if she had a place for him. Because surely the soft spoken Aizen boy was only in the position he held because there was no one with a better… grasp of what it took to be in a leadership position.

When he had heard that tidbit through Kyōka Suigetsu, he had suddenly found himself glad that the Decimation of their Clan was part of the plan.

However the taichō lived up to the insight Aizen saw, and she was indeed a very strong woman. She was also very cunning, and so when the Shiba was transferred into the 4thdivision as the 7thseated officer… Aizen became the 3rdseated officer of the 13thdivision under Ukitake Jūshirō, and that… ultimately led him down the path that would see him declare war on all the souls in Seireitei… All according to the plan, and this time he didn't have to do any finessing to ensure everything fell into place.

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Aizen Sōsuke bowed to his new taichō; tall, long white hair, black eyebrows, green eyes, body strong in spite of lung issues, was ill again, and as Aizen was known to have a water based zanpakutō that utilized the water in his environment and the Ugendō Quarters where Ukitake-taichō rested were surrounded by water… Aizen was given the privilege of displaying his Shikai there. With a mild noise of embarrassment that did not have to be faked Aizen rose and shrugged, "I am very flattered that you would take me in Ukitake-taichō. I'm afraid that my organizational skills don't go much further than paperwork and planning the next book to read. And with all of the time I spent tending to the wounded, I rarely found the time to work on any of my other skills so I don't know how much of a help I will be…"

It hadn't been that he lacked the time really, more that if he actually wanted to push his limits in training he would have had to reveal a great deal more of his strength than was allowed for in the plan and there were only so many times he could swing Kyōka Suigetsu around to keep up the pretense without losing his mind to boredom. And since it didn't appear to go against the plan, Aizen genuinely wanted to help Jūshirō-san because when he looked at the taichō who had led the 13thdivision for over 700 years all he saw was…

[Higurashi Kiyoshi, Primary Operator of The Sacred Tree, sees Kānēshon and his family as his saviors, beloved father, proud of me] and in the long black hair and deep blue eyes, Aizen found another person to ease a bit of his solitude.

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Jūshirō smiled gently at the unsettled Shinigami The young man had come highly recommended by Unohana-sempai, quite an achievement, as the woman was brutally honest in her taichō assessments that were placed in each shinigami's personnel files when they switched divisions. She had been spot on however, his new third seat hadn't been in the 13thdivision for more than a few hours, and already he had proven himself to be an earnest, kind and patient teacher. It was embarrassing, but Jūshirō had been so tired from the coughing fit that kept him up late last night, he had slept through their meeting time, and as he was leaving Ugendō to reschedule the meeting he instead found Sōsuke-kun giving his division members pointers on Kidō in the training grounds. He had left the young man flushed, eyes wide behind his glasses, and his Reiatsu tinged with embarrassment when he complimented his teaching skills from the doorway.

He was still a little embarrassed right now, though that was probably because he had caught the young man staring at him wistfully. Jūshirō was no stranger to awestruck Shinigami, he had held his captaincy since Yamamoto-sensei lost the 13thDivision taichō at the end of the war with Yhwach. And somehow, even with Unohana-sempai's beauty and Shun's flirtatiousness to choose from, it was Jūshirō who seemed to attract the creepy stalker types. Fortunately Sōsuke-kun didn't seem to be the type to behave inappropriately… already the young man seemed to have regained control of his Reiatsu, the levels low and calm once more. That was good, Jūshirō wouldn't have to trade him out of his division or put up with the offensive behavior. "While it is a bit unusual to have someone promoted several seats after a division change, Unohana-sempai recommended you for what I need."

The wind was blowing a bit strongly that day, and easily caught the ends of his long white hair as Jūshirō sipped his Lavender tea. Setting it aside he sighed, shrugging a bit, "I still attend all taichō meetings, and do all of my paperwork, however due to my frequent bouts of illness, all of my other responsibilities are foisted off on my fukutaichō and seated officers. As a result, I find myself in need of a patient and competent teacher for my division's Kidō skills. Your Co-3rd seat is doing quite well with the more physical aspects, but he is often too exhausted after one of the 13th division's mandatory patrols of the human world, to deal with teaching the complex art that is Kidō to the rest of the division. I would send my fukutaichō out more, but I can't really send her anymore than I already do, Shiba-san gives me enough grief when I send his youngest son's fiance out as it is.."

With a wry smile at the attentive Shinigami standing in parade rest, doe brown eyes soft and a barely there smile curving his lips, Jūshirō's eyebrows twitched together in mock irritation. "If you manage to give a good enough demonstration of your abilities today, you will be switching off with him. Do remember that you are in the 13th division now, and that the reason the 4th division is not part of the human world patrol rotation is the same reason they are only allowed out of Seireitei as an addition to patrol units."

The corner of Sōsuke's mouth truly displayed a smile then as he responded, "Ah? Perhaps Ukitake-taichō is referring to the squad of 4th division Shinigami that were gone for a decade instead of their 1 year deployment. Whom, when asked about their delay, revealed that there were no great battles or hollow incursions of note, but that they were simply too kindhearted, and had been delayed because they saw fit to heal every soul they came across in their patrol?" Jūshirō threw his head back in a laugh, one that unfortunately caused another round of coughs. They ended, as they always did, with him hunched over out of breath, a bloodstained cloth and an unpleasant wet tickling in his lungs. He looked up to find Aizen kneeling before him, hand outstretched holding Jūshirō 's tea out of the way, and a concerned expression.

Jūshirō folds the bloody coughing rag so the mess is hidden and gratefully accepts his tea. Taking a sip, he closes his eyes as it soothes his throat, and the vapors sooth his abused lungs. Once he trusts himself again, he looks up to find that Aizen had moved back to his original position, and had given Jūshirō the illusion of privacy, by turning his head to stare out over the water. Clearing his throat gently to get the young shinigami's attention, "It appears that you are made of sterner stuff, Aizen-san, last time I had a coughing fit near a 4th division member, it sent the poor thing into a tizzy. Now, we've delayed long enough, begin with a kata to display your current Hohō, Hakuda and Zanjutsu level, then go ahead and show me what you can do with your Shikai."

To say that Jūshirō was pleasantly surprised by Sōsuke's skill in the three physical aspects of Shinigami training was an understatement. Clearly, rarelyfor Sōsuke-kun meant something entirely different than it did for Jūshirō. "That was very good." He leaned forward conspiringly, "Really now, Sōsuke-san. This is an interview, you're not supposed to sell yourself short. You're supposed to brag terribly so that I can knock you down a few pegs before training you up into fukutaichō material."

With a delightfully wicked smile Aizen gave an exaggerated bow, "But Ukitake-taichō, if I told you exactly how good I was you'd have to give me your position." Jūshirō laughed again, this time blessedly free from a follow up coughing fit. Leaning forward with a mock glare the taichō grinned, "That so. Come then Sōsuke-kun, show me your power."

Aizen drew his zanpakutō from its sheath, holding the blade perpendicular to the ground, he spoke his release phrase, "Shatter Kyōka Suigetsu." Mist appeared then swallowing the entirety of Ugendō and left Jūshirō unable to see his tea from more than a hands breadth away from his face. The mist wafted then, creating illusions of shadowy figures as if suddenly Jūshirō was surrounded by ninja creeping around on silent deadly feet. His hair fell over his shoulder as he tilted his head to the side. Try as he might though, he was unable to sense Sōsuke's presence. Then, suddenly Aizen was standing right behind Jūshirō.

Jūshirō startled so badly, the tips of his hair fell into his tea. Slowly, Jūshirō reached out to Sōsuke's leg. No soft Shinigami Shihakushō fabric met his hand as it passed through the mist-formed illusion, leaving Jūshirō's hand tingling from the tiny amount of Reiatsu that had been embedded in the mist. For the next few minutes, Aizen appeared to move around the room, even walking on the water Jūshirō knew must surely be there, but could no longer even hear. The taichō was quite impressed, because of his illness, most of his exercise came in the form of Reiatsu control, and few of his subordinates ever realized just how closely they were watched as he laid in Ugendō and simply sensed them. Most taichō could sense their seated officers, but Jūshirō could identify the Reiryoku of each and every one of his subordinates, so practiced was he… and yet…

It was only as Aizen sealed his blade once more, that Jūshirō realized that Aizen had taken advantage of Jūshirō 's inattentiveness, to kneel a few feet away from his cushion and serve himself some lavender tea. The young Shinigami looks up at his taichō over the rim of his cup and Jūshirō can't help but think… he was looking at the beginnings of what would one day be a very dangerous man. Aizen smiles then and Jūshirō wonders just how far away that day actually is. "Forgive me Ukitake-taichō, but I have a weakness for tea you see." The ill man waives the comment aside, "I have more than enough, I get a new gift basket of the stuff every time Sasakibe-san returns from his tour of duty in the human world."

Jūshirō takes a sip of his tea. The two of them lapse into a peaceful silence, one Jūshirō is quite thankful for as most of his current seated officers were chatterboxes, and while he was glad they were so energetic, sometimes he just wanted some quiet companionship. He would have to remember to thank Unohana-sempai, the more he saw of Sōsuke-kun the more he thought he was a good fit. Black brows wiggle on his forehead as Jūshirō grins, "I could feel just how much Reiatsu and Reishi control that takes. I'm quite proud of you, pity I can't take any of the credit. You probably shouldn't let that slip to the Shinigami Women's Association, lest you find yourself hounded incessantly for pictures the way the rest of us are."

Aizen stares at Jūshirō with his mouth slightly parted, and Jūshirō calls him back to attention with a mild cough to clear his throat. Mildly amused he teases "Is it the compliments you are unused to, or being in the presence of someone stronger than you?" The young Shinigami blinked a few times in surprise, before chuckling, lips twisted into a mildly amused smile, and doe brown eyes dancing with mirth behind his glasses, "My apologies Ukitake-taichō, I did not mean to give you such an impression. It's just… You remind me of my father, except he was far less prone to praise."

Jūshirō's eyebrow rose inquisitively, "Your time as a hell butterfly is well documented, you couldn't have been in the Rukongai for more than a few hours before you joined a group of people making their way to Seireitei for the entrance exam." Aizen looked out over the water with a nostalgic, longing sigh that left Jūshirō reminiscing on all the people he would never meet again. Aizen mumbles quietly into his tea, "I was speaking of my last incarnation. The memories were still strong when I awoke and realized my family was still alive on the other side. That's why I didn't protest when I was forced back into a Hell Butterfly and pressed into service for another 9 years. It is also why I joined the 4th division, though I quickly grew to love it there." Jūshirō could only respond with a soft, "I see."And he did because Sōsuke-kun was clearly lonely, and Jūshirō felt that even if it was a bit foolish to never speak up about the transformation Kidō, it showed a great deal of self control, going into the 4thdivision and denying himself access to the human world. Jūshirō didn't know if he himself would be able to do the same if he lost Shun.

The two finished their tea in silence, before Aizen was dismissed. Jūshirō's advanced senses allowed him to hear Aizen explain to the rest of the division that he would be taking over the Kidō part of their training. The resultant cheers gave Jūshirō the hope that perhaps Sōsuke-kun would find a few precious people.

Sōsuke-kun wouldn't be hard pressed to find someone to ease his loneliness, he was certainly a charming young man.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Several hours later, Aizen watches Ukitake-taichō send a Hell Butterfly to the Kidō Corps administration building. It was a bit vexing that Tessai had already moved up in rank, and that Aizen had to wait two days for one of his other hypnotized Kidō Corps to return to duty. But once the silly chit was, it was only a matter of minutes to have her looking through Aizen's butterfly log. There Ukitake's information had been added to the log, and Aizen's perceived threat level was significantly dropped, the note that 9 of his apparent years had been under a forced transformation with the supposition that the spell had naturally worn off after Subaru's death, and that the Hell Butterfly in the hospital when the Kidō Corps Grand Kidō Chief had attempted the reversal had been a decoy.

After the file is returned to its place, Aizen releases the Complete Hypnosis, rubbing his temples though he knows from experience that it will not relive the aching in his head. He chuckles under his breath, "Ku. Ku. Ku."

Sometimes, speaking the truth was part of the plan too. How could it not be when all the best lies stood on a foundation of truth?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

One training exercise was all it took to have the entirety of the 13th division underneath Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis. It left Aizen a mixture of gleeful and disgusted, when his students proclaimed it the best session they had ever had. He had done little more than bewitch their senses, before leading them through a trust exercise with their zanpakutō spirits and their comrades. He did manage to instill in them something that resembled caution when it came to using Kidō when you weren't sure where to point your spells. But… it was just so depressingly easy to capture them all, but not as depressingly inept as his co-third seat, whose idea of training was "Watch what I do and copy me", before going into an exercise set that was… adequate for the muscle bound brute, but less helpful for most of the division. It was a good thing that Aizen found himself enjoying teaching, he was going to be doing a lot of it.

In the one month Aizen was subjected to his presence, he found the other third seat to be so offensive, that he had absolutely no qualms at all, using the Complete Hypnosis to get him killed and eaten by a hollow while he was on patrol, leaving Aizen the only 3rd seat of the 13th division. The hardest part was actually waiting the month that the plan demanded he wait, and not sending his equally useless Shiba-fukutaichō into the hollows greedy maw with him… honestly were the Shiba all as useless as Isshin?

He rather easily slid into the position of full time trainer and after a single week-long introduction to the human world with his fukutaichō, Aizen also took over the divisions patrol slot of the human world. Interspersed with retraining the 13thdivision, and enjoying stumping the silly fools when he would randomly spout a line from a Kidō incantation and then ask them what the next line was, Aizen found himself in the human world with no observers for the first time since he woke. This gave him the opportunity to do something he had not dared to do in Seireitei with its countless watching eyes.

With great care, he looked through the area he was to patrol for a mirror. Much to his vexation, in spite of their apparent prevalence in the future, they were almost impossible to find in the living world in this time period, not at the size and quality he would need for this. Only the extremely wealthy or merchants had them.

It was a good thing that the two groups also had vast collections of art, otherwise his search for a mirror would have been tragically boring. With diligence, he found one that would suffice, holding court like an empress in the ballroom room of European upper nobility of one sort or another. The spirit's dark purple eyes danced merrily in the mirror as he made Aizen see a masquerade reflected in the mirrors of the empty ballroom, the soft strains of a waltz filling his ears. With a smirk at the spirit's antics he waived the illusion away.

Drawing his zanpakutō and touching the tip to the surface, he summoned the blade into its Shikai… and used it for something other than the Complete Hypnosis. "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu." Like magic, the blade disappeared from his hand, and caused ripples to appear on the mirror. As each wave traveled outwards, it seemed to pull the mirror back as if it were curtains, revealing an empty 9 tatami room.

For the second time, Aizen Sōsuke gives himself to The Dreaming, stumbling forward and catching himself on the doorway. Ignoring just how winded he was from the power required to activate the special ability, he focused on what it had created. It was fascinating, there were four windowless walls made of what looked like Shoji, back lit from the light of an unknown source, broken only by the doorway he was leaning on, a sliding door to his left revealing that it could be closed from the inside. The tatami on the ground were a soothing green,the same green as Kyōka Suigetsu's handle wrapping, but strangest of all… there was no roof, only the mirrored reflection of the world outside the door in a mirror-frame that resembled the zanpakutō's tsuba.

Kyō-kun leans against his side. "So, what do you think? It's no moon lit garden, but it's still pretty neat, ~ne?" Exhausted and sweaty, Sōsuke leaned heavily back. Like so many other zanpakutō, Kyōka Suigetsu was not limited to a single trick while in Shikai. Whereas the blade automatically engaged Complete Hypnosis on anyone who had seen its Shatter release, with the command Ripple, he could open the door to his own little pocket dimension and summon up a door to it like the Senkaimon, with the added requirement of a mirror large enough for him to enter through.

Creating said pocket dimension took a frankly ridiculous amount of Reiryoku. E=mc2was not an easy price to pay when you were converting energy to matter. And until Aizen asked Kyō-kun to release the pocket space back into the Aether, he would remain bereft of that Reiryoku. The loss of so much Reiryoku wouldn't do much harm to his Reiatsu levels, though it would certainly impact how long he could exert that Reiatsu… but would probably have been lethal for all but a handful of taichō, and barring Yamamoto-san they probably would have to retire from the ranks of the Gotei 13.

It was much less of a hassle to leave the Reiryoku preoccupied in supporting the space, and to just exert Reiatsu to open the door on any mirror smooth and clear enough with the Ripple command. Even better, once he closed the door, he got the Reiatsu back.

Kyō-kun had taken great amusement in teasing him, when he had complained about the illogic of requiring a mirror surface to create a door to a place that existed only when he wanted it too. But requirements were requirements, and he would just have to deal with it. But for now… "I think it's wonderful." How could it be anything else, when after almost 60 years in Soul Society, Aizen finally had a place to keep his secrets safe from the prying eyes of others?

Of course, now that he had it … it was going to take decadesfor him to write down all of his notes.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aizen was enjoying a short break from writing, his hand a bit sore even after thorough application of the 5th Rite of Kaidō (Humanity): Kaidō, The Turn Way, its green light healing the swelling in his tendons and easing his sore muscles. Kyō-kun was seated next to him in the shade of a tree in the training courtyard while the 13th division trained and Aizen drank tea. They were all under the Complete Hypnosis at the moment, each of the Seated Officers moving through the crowd under the impression that Aizen was one of their number.

Every now and then he would switch which Seated Officer actually appeared missing, and as of yet, no one had bothered to ask where their missing number had gone, or when a previously missing Seated Officer had returned. Aizen found their awareness very sad, amusing, but still sad. Finally one of the silly fools appears to notice, giving a double-take to the most recent switch. Sorry to say, but it appeared that the Takara boy should have stuck to banking with his other noble kin instead of joining the Gotei 13. Though on second thought, if the boy couldn't even pay attention to more than one thing at a time he probably shouldn't be handling anyone's money.

While the 16th Seated Officer was distracted by Aizen's Déjà Vu trickery, the division member he was training had gone on with the kata they were working on and was rapidly approaching the point where they would swing their zanpakutō through the spot Takara was standing. While Aizen was perfectly capable of moving fast enough to prevent any harm from coming to the boy, if he interfered before any damage was done, neither of the two would learn anything. And so it was that Aizen used shunpo and appeared in time to halt the zanpakutō from cutting more than just skin-deep into Takara's neck. Of course all the silly fools were under the impression that he had used Kyōka Suigetsu to halt the blade and not a finger tip…

Blessedly, only a single disappointed look is enough to get the two of them apologizing profusely for their shared inattention, while Aizen heals Takara's scratch. With a sigh he admonishes the two, "Do be more careful, an inch more and it would have been a much more serious injury. Please do not labor under the illusion that I will always be there to save you from the consequences of your mistakes. " The sun glints off of his glasses as he smiles benignly, "That is why we train like this, so that one day you can stand in my position and lead others as I lead you." The eyes of the two are bright and excited as Aizen walks away and the Complete Hypnosis turns their attention away from him as he kneels next to a raucously laughing Kyō-kun.

Aizen says nothing, as his false smile twists into something wholly honest behind the cup of tea he raises to his lips. There are tears of humor in Kyō-kun's eyes as he grins at his Shinigami, "Stand in your place will they? I honestly can't figure out why their idiocy doesn't irritate you." Aizen quirks an eyebrow as he takes a sip before replying, "There are no impossible things, only things so improbable they are not worth pursuing. If children do not dream of impossible things, nothing will ever change. Adults are too wrapped up in the probability of success that they never try anything at all. If the trade off for change is forgiving the children for not knowing any better as they blindly charge forward in the idiotic pursuit of the most improbable thing, I will take that over a world of stagnation every time."

He is quiet for a moment and Kyōka Suigetsu can feel the suddenly serious twist to his Shinigami's mood. Patiently he waits, just as he always has for this soul to once more breathe life into his programming from The Soul King.

Aizen takes the last sip of his tea before setting the cup down and refilling it from the squat pot between the two of them. Amid the soft tinkling of china he quietly remarks, "According to the plan, I will become immortal with the Hōgyoku… and eventually, even the souls as powerful as the sōtaichō will not live long enough to be anything other than a child compared to me." Kyōka Suigetsu merely nods in response.

Sharp brown eyes catch movement out of the corner of his eyes as they move on to the next step of the kata he had been training them on all week. A slight twist to the Complete Hypnosis causes the division to hear him call for them to hold their position. Illusory Aizen moves through them to correct their stances, before allowing them to continue on to the next step. His eyes dart back to Kyō-kun before he sighs, "While it will be a little frustrating re-teaching the children lessons their previous incarnations learned… It will only be all the more rewarding, when the lessons no longer have to be taught."

Kyōka Suigetsu laughs, "Oh, Sōsuke, it took hundreds of lifetimes for you to decide to surrender yourself to the Complete Hypnosis, how long do you think it will take for them to no longer need teaching?" Aizen is saved from responding as a hell butterfly arrives from Unohana-taichō, inviting him to the 4th division for another Ikebana viewing session.

Hanakotoba

Lavender : Faithful

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 18 : Just a Beautiful Woman

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was during one of his many supply runs in a (stolen and untraceable)Standard Gigai that he met the first soul he would see as the insight of a hollow. While he could mold Reishi for most of the things he wanted to put in his Atelier, anything he wanted to last was better off coming from the living world or a craftsman in Soul Society. That was the reason that Hikifune-taichō often went to the world of the living for supplies for her cooking experiments, much to the annoyance of the 1stdivision, who had to account for every last bit of power difference between the balance of the worlds due to the interference of the Gotei 13 and send a report to the Central 46 each time they sat.

Fortuitously, Aizen felt no qualms whatsoever using Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis to make Soul Society merchants believe that they were receiving Kan instead of wood chips. It was absolutely hilarious that often their reaction times were so slow that they never even realized that he drew his blade and called the release phrase. Through repeated use(abuse) he was able to save quite a bit of his meager pay. As for the merchants in the living world, they were even easier to steal from with the use of Kidō. Of course… that meant he had a harder time deciding what not to keep in the Atelier due to the 9 tatami space limitation, instead of what he could. At the moment, he was in search of some sturdy, but thin thread for a project he was working on. Various inquiries had led him to this small fishing village in Greece for a spool of the thread they used as fishing line.

They appeared to be in the middle of a festival. There was fine silk Chiton and Himation on the skillfully sculpted marble statues, held in place with jeweled brooches, and pulled together at the waist with a belt of the woven thread that he was there for. On the female statues were crowns of flowers that perfumed the air as he walked past them. Sōsuke was dressed much the same himself… why? Because the Greek Island of Corfu belonged to the Venetian's, and today was Ta Karnavali… and Aizen looked damn good in in the white flowing cloth and his glass mirror half-mask. He was particularly fond of the painted lotus beneath the glass.

His acquisition was easily made as the shop was closed due to the carnival, but with nowhere better to be, and passable lemon-honey tea, he chose instead to watch the humans in their creative and often outrageous costumes and masks as they played their music and showcased their art. It was only as the sun was setting and the energy in the air began to take on a more lustful air, that he paid the Kidō-spelled waitress in pebbles and began to make his way through the shadows. It was only a short walk to the noble's garden grotto and it's nude sunbathing mermaid fountain and the mirror across from it. It was quite picturesque with the fountain on the opposite side of the carved marble walls, inlaid mirror and the ivy overhead.

There was only one problem, in his Gigai, he could not enter, not when two women were twisted together in a passionate embrace. He could just go through the tedious process of wiggling out of the literallyskin tight Gigai… or he could choke down one of Hikifuni-san's Gikongan, but he had no intentions what-so-ever of allowing an artificial soul into his Atelier. Either way he would still have the problem of getting the very visible Gigai past the ardent lovers. Further proof that Kidō was always best.

With no need to rush, he indulged himself with the full incantation, raising his hands above his head as if he were about to lower a veil over himself. "Through a prism flies the white swan. Breakdown and Reorder! A dawn painted phoenix twists out of the light. For an artist, a white canvas holds dreams, but for a brush, it is empty. Bakudō #26: Kyokkō, The Bent Light." A shimmer stretches between his hands as he lowers them, sinking his knees until he is crouched on the ground hands pressed into it. As he stands, he is grateful he is visible to himself, as he is underneath it. Though it was humorous when those less practiced with the Kidō forgot to cover their toes and often complained about not knowing if the spell was active or not if they did manage to get it right… they were so simple minded.

It was all for nothing however, with a shout of Italian from the other exit to the grotto, a man; Grey eyes, Brown hair, large nose, ugly soldier costume, stormed in, drunk and enraged. One of the women rose; golden hair, teal green eyes, smooth olive skin, dressed like Athena, the body of a goddess, but probably not as virginal given her activities when he had stumbled upon her. There is shouting in Italian and Greek as the two argue, and Aizen's eyebrow rises as he realizes that the two arguing are actually married… and this was not the first woman she had taken as a lover, well now that made this awkward didn't it? All the while the lover; black hair, ice blue eyes, thin girl, with skin as pale as alabaster, put her costume back on; centurion with a daring leather skirt.

Then things took a turn for the worst, and having enough, the drunken husband drew his rifle from his back and stabbed the bayonet at his wife's lover. Aizen considered interfering, but it wasn't really his job to protect humans from the consequences of their actions. Empty of any emotion but mild amusement at how slow they all were in comparison to even the most pathetic of the Shinigami of his division, he watched as the golden haired woman placed herself between her husband and her lover. She blocked it as best she could, but she was unpracticed and ended up pushing the bayonet at just the right angle for it to cut open her jugular vein.

Caught off guard staring at his fallen wife in a stupor, he never noticed the little centurion draw the very real sword at her waist. She proved to be much better with a blade, or perhaps it was just very sharp, perfectly decapitating him with a single swing and a shout of rage in Italian.

With idle curiosity he watches as first the man's soul left his body. He took one look at his ghostly hands and his soul chain before gazing longingly, at his dying wife and the tender moment she was sharing with her lover… and then he closed his eyes, a single tear sliding down his cheek before he moved on to Soul Society of his own volition. Blood stained the left side of the lovers face, as the olive skinned woman's hand slid down, collapsing to the ground with her last breath.

She too rose from her body, but she did not leave. There was a clatter of gravel from the path the man had taken into the grotto, but the sobbing lover did not hear it. Just as another man; blond hair, teal eyes, olive skin, runs in only to be brought up short, stumbling to a halt by the fountain as he prepares to shout, for what Aizen does not find out. The woman's ghost grabs him by the collar, and with the force of her Reiatsu, pushes him into the fountain… and holds him down until he drowns. Wide eyed, the lover skitters to her feet, running in fear screaming in Italian that she was being chased by a demon that had been summoned to the grotto by death, only disappearing from sight after bounding over a bush like a deer and vanishing into the forest. Fanciful creatures, these humans were.

The woman rises from the fountain, the water of the living world not even dampening her white Chiton. She stares after her lover, "I Tier am a shamed woman, a kin slayer. And yet I am not sorry, my uncle was no better than my husband, what a horrible woman I am." Of course, it is at that point that the soul of her uncle leaves his body. It takes him only a single moment to realize the reason for their positions and attempt to murder the woman a second time in less than an hour. But she proved to be quite serious in her desire for his death, and drowned him a second time. Honestly Aizen was a little surprised it worked, but he supposed that if both souls expected it to, it was entirely possible that the twice drowned man had simply moved on to Soul Society with his 'second' death. Hm. A research topic for later.

With no living soul present in the grotto, Aizen took that as his cue to release the Kidō and enter stage right. After all, while the living were not his responsibility, the dead most certainly were. With only a minor interruption when the bodies are found, he spends until dawn talking with her, explaining Soul Society, Shinigami and their relation to the living world. At dawn, after she refuses to be sent on through Konsō, he follows her to the courtyard of her villa. He leaves the blond haired, green eyed woman with her bronze skin to watch stoically… as her funeral rites are performed in conjunction with her loathed husbands while her servants and her lover cry.

Her words in Italian are a whisper in the summer sun, "I wonder. Is the reason everyone expects rain at a funeral because at least in the rain, the spirits can pretend they hadn't made their loved ones cry?"

Aizen had no answer, nor did he care for one. He left her there to either become a demi-hollow, or change her mind. He wondered just how Tier Harribel would become a hollow that he would turn into an Arrancar and Espada in the future. All well, he would find out eventually, in the mean time it had cost him only a pleasant conversation to help her along that path.

Aizen goes back to his Atelier through the mirror in the grotto as he had intended to the day before. Against the far wall, was his cherry wood writing desk and book shelves, next to a soft blue cushion against the wall was the wooden box with his white Shihakushō within it. To the right of the entrance was a riot of color from tiny potted flowers against one wall of the room, fed a mixture of his Reiatsu and water they flourished even without any direct sunlight. But to the left… to the left was where he spent the most of his time. Aside for a space to paint them, there were dozens of paintings on racks, there were so many that they took up the whole front of the room around the door. Kyō-kun dances around Aizen and daintily sits on the blue cushion, an amused smile on his face.

With sure movements he ignores Kyō-kun's wriggling eyebrows, "You know, there are millions of men in the world who would be upset with you for not getting a good look as two hot women made love to each other. There are even more who would be pissed because you let some drunken shit-head kill them before they could finish." Kneeling, Aizen opens the wooden box he had liberated from the Shin'ō Academy dorms when he left almost a century ago. Getting lost in the scent for only a moment as he pulls out the white Shihakushō he had awoken in. This was the first time he had pulled it out after he had put it in the box, so even the old scent sachet had heavily perfumed the garment.

He rises and turns only to find Kyō-kun staring at him expectantly. With a much put upon sigh, Aizen comments, "There are more women who would commend my polite discretion. Your point is moot. And also, I thought you were supposed to be a playful and polite son?" As the spirit laughs the Shinigami walks over to the man sized mannequin he had appropriated from the Shiba Clan Head's favorite tailor. "I spent too much time hearing all of the words spoken by the toys you give me to play with. It's funny, I hear more cussing when people are looking for their keys than I do for any other reason."

"Kyō-kun, how often do you hide peoples keys?" The spirit laughs merrily, "Oh, I don't know, what is a quantifiable number for lots?" Sōsuke shakes his head in exasperation over the spirits antics.

"Hm… that so." The spirit Kyōka Suigetsu rolls his eyes at his shinigami's response, though his smile is fond as his soul-brother's intense focus shines through once more when it comes to art. Even if this was not a form he was practiced in, Kyōka Suigetsu had no doubt that Sōsuke would settle for nothing less than perfection.

A swift motion throws the white Shihakushō over the mannequin settling it into place and smoothing the fabric out. Carefully, following the instructions he had memorized from a peasant in the 10th district he pulls the seams of the white Shihakushō, carefully cutting and sewing new ones.

After several hours of undisturbed work, Kyō-kun having amused himself by filling the room with illusory music, Aizen carefully takes off his glasses, setting them on the small writing desk before putting on his creation. With hands he pretends aren't shaking he moves to stand before the mirror Kyō-kun had insisted they could not be without. A deep breath to steady his nerves and then he runs his fingers through his hair, allowing one tendril to hang in front of his face, as the rest gets brushed back.

The reflection that looks back at him was one the outside world wouldn't see for centuries yet, not until it came time for his reappearance after the step in the plan to escape with Kaname-kun and Gin-kun, to Hueco Mundo via Negation. And as for the overlaid image of Dekuyume… the only way anyone would see her was if they found his paintings… or Kyō-kun decided to share.

Staring into the mirror his voice is soft and quiet, barely audible over Kyōka Suigetsu's illusory music. "What do you think Kyō-kun. Do I appear to be a villain like this?" Kyōka rises gracefully from his seat and wanders around his Shinigami. "Well, you certainly look more dangerous, which I suppose will translate to Villainous in the minds of the sheeple your harmless intellectual mask has fooled."

With a self assured nod, he removes the white coat, folding it carefully and putting it back in the wooden box. Ah, but wasn't it strange, that every time he thought of Hueco Mundo he wanted to call it El Hueco Mundo, much like how sometimes when he said "The Soul Society" he thought The Soul Society as if it were the name of a ship, and not a dimension. A strange carryover from his previous incarnation as a Primary Operator, but not an overly alarming one.

With a nod Aizen dons his glasses and smooths his hair back into one more suited for his harmless intellectual persona. Kyōka Suigetsu watches his Shinigami sink himself into painting, burying himself in an image of Dekuyume in hopes that remembering what he could of the past… would ease the burden of waiting for the future.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was a bit sad. Even by Aizen's standards. Less than a month after he met the Grecian noblewoman Tier, her lover was slain by a hollow that was lured out of the depths of the ocean by the presence of Tier's fukutaichō level Reiatsu, not that the plus with its dangling soul chain could make much use of that Reiatsu. It was another research topic, to see what it was about a soul chain that inhibited the souls ability to utilize their Reiatsu. Was it the fact that they were in an in-between state, waiting to become a hell butterfly or a hollow? Or was it simply a matter of not knowing how?

The hollow must have had some level of intellect, as it fled back into the ocean at Aizen's approach, and he was left to stand idly by as the little lover underwent hollowfication. When the hollow severed her soul chain, it had left only a single link. Time enough as a soul for her to see Tier and reach out to her with a ragged, "My Goddess. I love you beyond death.", but not long enough for their hands to meet before the encroachment tore open the hole in her heart…

He wondered, if perhaps it was a good thing… that the tiny woman was one of the hollows that remained in Hueco Mundo. On one hand, it meant that he did not have to cleanse the Hollow in front of Tier, on the other it meant that when the olive skinned woman demanded to know where her Emilou had gone, Aizen had to explain Hueco Mundo, Hollows and Encroachment. That was fine, he did like teaching.

The expression on her face when he told her it would be decades before her soul chain reached that point, and she once more refused to be sent to Soul Society… Left Aizen with the strong suspicion that she was going to cause quite a bit of trouble for the Shinigami in the future. All well, perhaps if he was lucky it would be while someone else was on patrol.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

One year later

Few things had changed in Soul Society since he first woke up in the Kidō Corps flower garden. The 13th division was doing much better with their fundamental Shinigami skills, even if they were nowhere near where he wanted them to be. The weak souls had aged and died even as Aizen had remain unchanged, but that was hardly a surprise. The spirits that haunted Seireitei were still as arrogant and self serving and the remnants of Yhwach's little Quincy order were still causing unbalance in the world of the living… though the plan did make it clear that wouldn't be true for much longer. It would be interesting, to see just what this "mellowing out after the extermination of the Quincy, having now found a sense of justice upon discovering things to protect and treasure" entailed. He couldn't decide if he would like it much, as the plan fundamentally involved shaking things up after they only had a century to settle into that just and mellow society. Only time would tell.

With a cry of "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu!", the expensive mirror on its way over the alps from where it was crafted in Venice ripples, revealing his Atelier. It had been a year in Soul Society since he was sent on patrol of the living word. But it hadn't been that long since he had come here to his private space where he could take off his masks with Kyō-kun and just be. With so many of the 13thdivision under Kyōka Suigetsu's influence, it was a simple matter to disappear inside when he retired to his room for the night. Not even Ukitake-taichō could tell that Sōsuke wasn't there so complete was The Complete Hypnosis…

Aizen takes a deep breath as he enters, holding the door open for his zanpakutō spirit to enter in behind him. He had been a member of the 13thdivision for a quarter of a century, and already there were almost 30 books within this tiny sanctuary. Each of them written in Aizen's own hand, and full of words he had only dared to think, or share with Kyō-kun in the privacy of his inner world. But even with his great intellect, he had lost count of the number of paintings.

With a sashay in his step Kyō-kun walked over to the easel holding the piece he was currently working on, "Sōsuke, are you going to finish her today?" Aizen could only hum as he came forward to gently brush his fingers against the canvas to check to see if the oil paint was dry from the layer he had added the night before. "No, Kyō-kun, still too damp." The deep purple eyes of the spirit were hidden by his cascading black locks as he frowned, "That's too bad, your previous incarnation was a beautiful woman, even with all of the extra appendages, I can't wait for you to finish her eyes though."

The spirit stared intently at the half finished work, lost in thought, "No matter how many times you paint her… she never seems complete until you fill them up with red, and then suddenly, though nothing else has changed, you're left with the feeling… as if she had walked to the end of the path of Yin, and instead of casting herself to the ground to make it that one final step further than anyone else who had come before, she took the hardest path, turning around and walking back the way she had came until she found the fork in the road that led to the path of Yang… and for better or worse, chose to forge her own path between them."

Aizen shifted uneasily on his feet, unsettled by how clearly his zanpakutō spirit saw inside of him. But if there was any soul in the universe that had the right to peer into his dark spaces and fill them with light, it was Kyō-kun, and perhaps…her, if he should ever manage to find her… whomever the elusive sheactually was.

There was a loud roar then, echoing through the tsuba-framed mirror overhead, the haunting cry of a soul in agony, a hungry hollow. "My the hollows have been feisty lately. That's the fourth one today. Where is it Kyō-kun?" The spirits black hair slid across his shoulders as he tilted his head to the side revealing a pointy ear and a thoughtful hum. "Don't be facetious. You know very well that you encounter an unusual number of Hollows because you go out of your way to place all the pluses you meet underneath my hypnosis, regardless of whether or not they are willing to undergo Konsō. Ah, seems like the gorgeous Grecian noblewoman Tier… Oh?"

The humor leaves the spirits face and the sliding door behind Aizen closes, "Its El Tiburón, the giant shark form Adjuchas hollow that slaughtered the 12th division fukutaichō while they were doing an orientation with Hikifune-taichō. Do hurry, Tier is chasing after it demanding to be eaten. Silly little thing, and I'm not even doing anything to her senses."

It is a simple matter of Kyō-kun's will, and the door to Aizen's Atelier glows briefly for a moment before opening, revealing a place much different from the mountain pass he had entered in. At some point in time, the mermaid fountain had been destroyed by cannon fire from one battle or another with the Turks. The mirror at least had been spared. He steps out of the Atelier and uses shunpo to reach the devastated pier. There are humans running around, screaming in terror in both Italian and Greek and still, over them all he can hear Tier's voice as she screams, "Foul, Poseidon cursed beast! Cut my chain shorter!"

Aizen shook his head at her foolishness before using shunpo to arrive at the edge of the ocean, countless pieces of torn wood and frantically swimming sailors revealing that the Hollow had torn at least one ship apart. The blonde, green eyed woman still in her ancient Greek costume steps up to the shark shaped hollow. The hollow turns greedy eyes to Aizen, who raises an eyebrow at the Hollow's presumptuousness while drawing his zanpakutō from it's sheath. His brown eyes narrow cruelly behind his glasses, sunlight glinting off of them, and a mocking smile on his lips, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu." It lunges of course, but it turns away at the last moment, chasing after an illusion. It was already defeated but for Aizen's desire to see just what it was Tier was going to do...

The woman spins to glare at the illusion-Aizen eyes fierce, almost growling, "You leave me be!", in Greek. Aizen merely holds his empty hands out. Never mind that neither the hollow or the woman think about the fact that he just had the blade in his hands and that they shouldn't be empty. They saw the illusion of Kyōka Suigetsu in its sheath and that's all they cared about… so, so pitiful.

The prideful, man-hating woman gives him one last glare before turning to the hollow, kneeling in preparation. Idly he wonders if she actually started to hate him sometime in between their last chat and now, or if she was just standoffish because she knew that as a Shinigami it was technically his duty to stop her from doing the foolish thing she was right now… though technicality hardly mattered when he was so very curious.

Tier knew she was a strong woman, she had sacrificed so much to get to this point. She could do this. There! But of course, the reaction times of a soul weighted down by its soul chain were no match for an Adjuchas-grade, Hueco Mundo survivor, not even a soul as strong as hers. And so, instead of having the shark bite through the chain that held her trapped on the island and far from the one she loved… it swallowed her whole. "You were right Kyō-kun, she was a bit addled." With mild curiosity, he watches as the image of Tier appears on the belly of the hollow. It was not an insight, he gained no further information. It was just Tier, as she had died, drawn in shifting shades of grey upon the hollows deathly white skin… and she was moving.

Kyōka Suigetsu's throaty laugh fills his ears before the spirit quiets and says, "Oh? And what's this?" Hard brown eyes stare intently at the hollow that has begun to writhe, Tier's image fading away. Surely the beast wasn't transforming, it was already an Adjuchas it didn't have anywhere near enough Reiryoku to become a Vasto Lord. Then there is a pulse of Reiatsu from the hollow, not one that originated from the hollow, but one that could only have come from the woman that the hollow had just eaten.

An eyebrow quirks in amusement as he realizes that this odd behavior is the result of a once in a lifetime event, a nucleic shift, wherein the primary soul that made up the personality of a hollow was supplanted by a soul that it had eaten. There were many hypothesis' about just why, but no one had taken the time to sit down and do proper research. Ultimately though the two most commonly held beliefs were that A: the hollow had been eating too many souls that sympathized more with the new nucleus, or B: the new nucleus's heart was just that much stronger than the old one's was. Aizen was of the opinion that the new nucleus's heart was just that much more painfully broken than the old one.

In the end it does not matter, because as the hollow settles back into a vaguely humanoid shark like form, the image of Tier does not reappear on its skin but instead he gains another insight, [Tier - El Tiburón, Stubborn Greek Noblewoman, Sacrificed everything for love]. Clearly the woman had won, and now Aizen knew just how his third Espada became a Hollow. But it was evidently a hard victory, and not anywhere as secure as she would probably have liked, proven when she screamed in rage, and shouted in what was clearly her angry language, Greek, "How dare you violate my memories and show me Emilou's murder!" And proceeded to claw at her own mask, tearing a gap across the bridge of her nose, revealing her teary green eyes. And that was perhaps the most interesting thing Aizen had ever seen a hollow do. Imagine that, a natural Arrancar, or at least the start of one. It was a pity that the Atelier was too small for a full research lab. Many of the larger hollows just wouldn't fit. There was a plethora of things that had occurred in the last hour that were deserving of research into the nature of Hollows.

She looks down at her hands then, both in wonder at her new form, and horror at how hollow she still appears to be. Tears splatter across them, and in a quiet voice she finally lets go of her pride asking, "Please… I sacrificed my body to that pig I was forced to call husband so that I could stay near her, and then my very life so that she would not perish. I sacrificed my honor so that she would not be caught and then I sacrificed my heart to watch over her. Tell me Aizen Sōsuke of the Shinigami, what else I must sacrifice so that I can see Emilou once more. Whatever it is, I will pay it."

Just as he is about to answer, she gasps in pain, curling around her middle and for a moment Aizen wonders if her grief had made her weak enough to be subsumed once more. And then… Her stomach growls. He snickers quietly, "Ku. Ku. Ku.", even as she curls in on herself, "You are a cruel man to laugh at my suffering. Tell me how to get to Emilou or kill me. I will not succumb to the hunger and tear more lovers apart as I have been from my beloved." Ah, so he had been right, the woman only spoke in Italian when she thought of love. How beautiful.

With the patience formed from countless lessons training the most inept members of the 13th division in Kidō, and knowledge courtesy of information included in the plan for his first trip to Hueco Mundo, Aizen Sōsuke spent the next three hours, teaching the almost-Arrancar how to open a Garganta. Interspersed with the lesson on trans-dimensional portals, he expounded on the information he had already given her, explaining that in Hueco Mundo, the very air would have so much power in it, she would not need to eat, though, that would not stop anyone from trying to eat her.

He doesn't even raise his voice when she asks for the millionth time if she will ever see Emilou again. His response, "Hueco Mundo is a very big place, but forever is a very long time to include in never. Be grateful, the one blessing hollows have over Shinigami is that time does not kill them, the very act of absorbing Reiatsu from the saturated Hueco Mundo air, and the consumption of other souls and hollows causes them to remain forever at the age they were when their hearts broke and fled their body to become their masks." Of course that meant that children never got to grow up either… but every blessing contained a sliver of a curse.

The Garganta closed to the mask muffled words of gratitude she offered him. And Aizen was left with more notes for his future Hollow research, another painting to create, and another book as well, covering everything he knew of the woman now that she was part of the select few that for Aizen Sōsuke… would never get lost, no matter how many times they reincarnated… because of the insight, he would always be able to find them again… whether they wanted him to or not.

Hanakotoba

Lotus : Far from the one He loves

zanpakutō:

El Tiburón : The Shark

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 19 : Just Waking UP

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was the 1800's on Earth. A good time to be alive, music and art were everywhere. As an artist… he had been humbled one evening when he had taken a break from hunting hollows in Italy to stroll through the Sistine Chapel to gaze at the art that gilded the exquisite architecture. To think that such a marvel had been created over 300 years ago by a mortal man.

The 1800's were a marvel for another reason…

Finally, almost a century after he first spoke Kyōka Suigetsu's release, dragging illusions and dreams into the waking world…

Aizen Sōsuke had mastered Shikai.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The 13th divisions most recent patrol of the Rukongai

It came to a surprise to some Shinigami, that the most dangerous thing for patrols out in the Rukongai were not hollows, but deserters and gangs of spiritually gifted Rukongai Souls. At least, those that had managed to steal an Asauchi and activate Shikai. Hollows could at least be easily identified as enemies by their appearance, and for all the training that they received, little to none of it was on subterfuge or detecting treachery. It made Aizen's plans for the future much easier, even if it did kill off an embarrassing number of Shinigami on patrol.

And so it was that only Aizen discovered Riku Homura and her exquisite zanpakutō, and with a soft "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu", set about collecting his first test subject.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The small cluster of 13th division members on this patrol fell into position behind him as they approached the small tent village in the 61st South District Aoki (Young Tree) an hour past sundown. Even the most unobservant of the group Takashi Magekyuu was wary, and for good reason. The tents gathered around the newly constructed building at the center had not been there the week before when they had traveled down this road to the 62nd District to deal with a Hollow that had been reported by the 62nd District's gate guards. Takashi had been a Rukongai rat in the 25th south district Magekyuu (Bending Bow) for a century before he managed to save up enough money for the trip to Seireitei. Only bandit camps went up in a week, the fact that these people intended to stay and were building permanent structures was a problem. Aizen-sempai quietly released his zanpakutō into Shikai.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Underneath the Complete Hypnosis

Takashi watches quietly as the soft fog sinks low and spreads out, not too thick to obscure their vision, but heavy enough to muffle their footsteps and the sound of his voice. "Takashi-kun, Ami-chan, Shikamaru-kun, spread out and investigate, I will hide you with Kyōka Suigetsu. The three of you have the lightest steps, but still tread carefully, this is something that should be reported to the Onmitsukidō, but if they already have a building up in a week I do not want to risk giving them time to set up stronger fortifications in the month it will take us to return to Seireitei. The rest of you, set up a defensive perimeter." Takashi bows along with Ami-san and Shikamaru-san as Aizen-sempai kneels on the soft dampening earth to focus on spreading the mist across the camp.

In the dark Ami-san points to the left where voices can be heard from a large tent along with the clattering of dishes miming pulling down a mask. Shikamaru-san points to a guarded tent on the right and with a grim nod Takashi mimes a flying bird and points to the building in the center. Ami-san whispers her release, "Fall into place, Amai – Kamen", her chameleon like social mask would allow her to blend into the crowded dining tent, no matter who they were. Takashi was surprised she hadn't been snapped up by the Onmitsukidō, but supposed that her inability to use any Kidō while her Shikai was active, leaving her weaponless while in disguise had something to do with it. Or perhaps she secretly was in the Onmitsukidō and they were trying to recruit Aizen-sempai. The Onmitsukidō would be dissapointed. Aizen-sempai was too kind hearted to commit cold blooded murder.

When he turns away from watching the petite Ami-san's transformation into a buxom blond sashaying her hips, Shikamaru-san is already gone. Knowing the man's abilities though, he just barely manages to spot an unusually moving shadow darting along the ground under the feet of the people milling around the camp.

With a sigh, he whispers his release, "Flutter, Shuushukuga". The blade transforms into a moth as large as he is, and careful of his zanpakutō's wings, he climbs on its back. The world rapidly multiplies in size in a disorienting rush that Takashi didn't think he would ever get used to, the world hadn't turned giant though, it only appeared to from his perspective. A moth the size of a Kan flutters into the air towards the building in the center of camp. Unfortunately the loss of size makes the distance between the edge of camp and the building increase proportionally, and when added to the fact that a moth never naturally fluttered straight in any direction, he had more than enough time to muse about his own chances of being sucked into the Onmitsukidō since he could still cast Kidō when he was this small without any detraction in strength.

It was all due to Aizen-sempai's excellent teaching ability that Takashi finally managed to reach Shikai after almost 30 years as a grunt in the 13thdivision. And as much as it it would please him to be accepted into that institution, he couldn't see himself doing anywhere near as well without Aizen-sempai's guidance.

It is with great surprise that when they finally get to the building, he realizes that it isn't a building at all, but a massive structure built on over twenty sets of wheels. There are hooks in the wall that are reinforced with extra wood and even some metal where he guesses they attach ropes to pull the building, but what in the Rukongai was strong enough to pull a cart so big it could be mistaken for a building? His expression turns grim, only a hollow... or a shinigami.

Takashi grins as he and Shuushukuga spot an open window on the second floor, Aizen-sempaideserved to be a fukutaichō or maybe even a taichō, and as soon as there was room for him Takashi had no doubt that Aizen-sempai would become the greatest one of them all. And Takashi was going to follow him forever.

He reaches the window, the moth fluttering down onto the windowsill. Takashi is surprised when he isn't faced with some sort of bandit HQ or brothel, but instead a hospital room. A woman with glasses and long black hair pulled into a bun is dressed in hospital scrubs. Takashi grins some more when he realizes that the nerdy woman's glasses are so thick he can't even see her eyes in the glinting light. She is seated on a stool next to a little girl in a hospital bed with a cute bunny pattern blanket. The little girl's eyes are wrapped in bandages causing Takashi to wince in sympathetic pain. Life in the Rukongai was hard enough as it was for healthy people, to add blindness to that as was just madness.

The little girl giggles, "I'm ready Riku-chan! I can't wait to see, Mama promised to explain all of the colors to me. She said that there are so many that even if I lived forever, I would never be able to see them all!" Surprised, Takashi smiles brilliantly leaning forward, curious about what sort of Kaidō the nerdy woman would use to heal the little girl. The grin is rapidly wiped off of his face as the nerdy woman's head moves, the light no longer glinting off of her glasses and hiding her black sclera and golden irises. Before he can do much more than gasp she opens her mouth impossibly wide revealing Hollow-white insides and thousands of rows of sharp hooked teeth, before lunging forward and biting the top of the little girls head off. The hollow's mouth closes and with a shout to the door, another Hollow lurches in dressed like an old woman, removing the rest of the little girl's corpse, while the still seated hollow licks up the blood on the bed.

Across the camp Ami stares in horror as the hollows laugh and joke like normal people, a terrified man nearly catatonic, tied to a spike in the ground stares blankly in horror at another on a spit like a pig, roasting over the cooking fire below. The man-shaped hollow next to her with his black sclera grins insanely revealing bloody teeth. He leans in conspiratorially, his fetid breath turning her stomach, "The pig roasting looks so tasty I know, but that damn bastard cooking says he still has a few more minutes before the skin is nice and crispy. Pretty woman like you, I bet if we worked together we could jump to the front of the line to get the tasty bits first. I don't feel like waiting another 12 hours for the next one to be done, and it doesn't look like you are either."

At the guarded tent, Shikamaru is in the shadow-beast transformation granted by Kurokage. He flits by the guards, mildly curious about the veils obscuring their eyes and into the tent. Inside, he ghosts around the room avoiding the light from the lanterns that would give him away as well as avoiding touching any of the three men gathered around a low table. For a moment he thinks he is caught when the man at the center slams his fist down growling in frustration, only an inch away from Shikamaru. His eyes widened in surprise when he got a good look at the man's Hollow-white arm and the black tinged nails of his hand.

When a second man seated at the table speaks, it is with a hollows double-echo voice, "We have reviewed the map three times now, the only way we are going to get the food we need without running into any Shinigami, is if we head to the outer districts and forage in the forests for wild foodstuffs." Curiously enough the hollow with the white arm lacks the double-echo, "Be that as it may, it puts Homura-sama in too much danger, the farther out we go the less likely we are to find others willing to worship Homura-sama as she deserves." The last man at the table speaks with a soft voice that sends chills down Shikamaru's spine, an innate 6th sense telling him that the Hollow was more dangerous than he was, "Then we will ravage them until they are no longer a threat before Homura-sama gives them her blessing and they rise from the ruin of their previous existence to join us in ours."

Outside of the little tent village Aizen has seen enough through the eyes of Shikamaru-kun, Ami-chan and Takashi-kun. With a malevolent smile hidden by the illusory thickening fog in the rest of the division's vision, Aizen enacts the plan he just decided on. Weaving an illusion, he makes it appear as if Takashi has stumbled back into camp heavily wounded, as if he had been crushed. Blood gurgles from his mouth as he chokes out, "Hollows… they're all hollows!", before collapsing. Through the Complete Hypnosis, he orders Ami-chan and Shikamaru-kun to attack, and with his own voice, does the same for the rest of the patrol group behind him, "Kill them all, let none escape."

His hands glow green as he crouches to heal Takashi-kun with a Kaidō.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Reality

The muscles in Kenichi's right arm spasm again, causing it to pound on the desk holding their preciously crafted map of District 61. The other two glance up at him in irritation, only to stare behind him in horror. He does not have time to turn around as darkness closes in around him like a smothering blanket.

Jin watches in bafflement as the pretty blond turns even whiter than the hollow-scab where Homura-sama had apparently had to re-grow her ear. Her hand rises to her mouth as if she were about to vomit and flees the tent. Glancing over at the boar roasting on the spit he wonders if she was one of those vegetarian people.All well more tenderloin for him, no wonder the Shinigami paid so well for food, the feeling of being full was almost as good as the taste.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Underneath the Complete Hypnosis

It is the last thought to cross his mind as Ami returns with her zanpakutō back in its sealed state, cleaving him in half before spinning to launch a Kidō into the rest of the hollows, only to find that one of the others had all ready done so. There is a shout from somewhere to her left, "Person with the lowest number of kills has to do the laundry when we get back!" Shouts of Kidō echo through the tent leaving charred marks all over the animal hide.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Reality

Riku sighs in exhaustion as Hanami-chan is escorted to the dining tent by her grandmother. At her side, her zanpakutō Shiro-Yanagi returns to its sealed state. She smiles softly at the blade before leaning forward to straighten the sheets on the bed. Suddenly there is a scream outside and she rushes to the window, flinching as she crushes a moth beneath her hand. Shaking it off outside the window she leans forward out of it to get a better glimpse of the tent they kept all of their money in.

If she remembered correctly, some of the men had turned it into a place for strategic planning. Planning what exactly she didn't know, or care, she was just too busy healing the crippled, blind, and those maimed by the hard life those in the Rukongai were faced with. If she had to guess though, they were probably trying to decide if they wanted to move even further out. Riku had picked up the abandoned Asauchi in the 40thdistrict and here they were in the 61sttrying to maintain the delicate balance of avoiding Shinigami, having enough supplies to make things like shoes and weapons, and enough food to feed the injured. It would have been even harder if more than a handful of the people in the caravan needed to eat constantly, instead of only those who had just been treated with Shiro-Yanagi.

She can't get a good look at the tent from here, but that is fine, soon there is screaming coming from the dining tent. Whipping her head around she can only stare in horror as it lights up with what can only be Kidō from a Shinigami. People flee from the tent, their various healing injuries bright white under the moonlight. The Shinigami launch themselves out of the tent after them, cutting down the men, women and children as they flee. Bile, tears and rage fill her mouth, vying for supremacy, and stealing her breath as she hears the Shinigami laughing and counting the number of their murders.

Hanami-chan, poor cute Hanami-chan who had come to the Rukongai with eyes so poisoned from working in something called a factory that she still couldn't see when she shed her mortal coil to become a plus, Hanami-chan who had been so excited to see all of the colors of the world looked up at Riku, her Black and gold eyes from the healing widened in shock, as the only color to grace her vision was red. Riku collapses to her knees, barely hanging on to the windowsill, as finally the tears win. Her sobs fill the room as the door behind her clicks open.

Aizen, simultaneously watches the woman kneeling at the windowsill cry herself into exhaustion and through the Complete Hypnosis as the patrol finishes killing all of the witnesses, collects the battered from of Takashi-kun that Aizen had caught after he had been so unceremoniously scraped off of her hand outside the window. If he hadn't made sure that Takashi-kun wouldn't be able to correctly doge what he perceived to be an attacking hollow, he would have been quite upset to have to change the plan. As it was Takashi-kun had been healed enough to travel by stretcher for the next few weeks it took to reach the more advanced medical facilities of the 4thdivision. Aizen could have easily healed the boy up enough so that he could use shunpo on his own. But Aizen wanted the extra time to conduct a few experiments before he would have to catch up to the group.

Carefully, Aizen picks up the unconscious woman and lays her down on the bed with its cute bunny pattern. A few Bakudō later and she is bound securely to the bed posts. Her eyes snap open wide with an agonized scream as he invades her body roughly with the 5th Rite of Kaidō (Humanity): Kaidō, The Turn Way. He wanted a good baseline before he got started and as he had no intention of allowing her to survive it, well there was no reason to be gentle now was there?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aizen held the Complete Hypnosis for the whole week it took for him to get his answers. He had expected it to take longer honestly, but he supposed that when one was looking for the answer to why an experiment would succeed or fail instead of the result, it was a little different. The woman's Shikai had been a awe-inspiring construct capable of healing wounds by replacing the injured or missing part with a replicate that had a minus attribute.

Since minuses heal by the influx of Reiatsu, this actually caused the injuries to heal and lost limbs to even re-grow. It wasn't even permanent, as the person's original nature as a plus would eventually supplant the slight negative nature of the afflicted minus area. All the woman had to do was cut the boundary for the minus area with the released state of her zanpakutō and send them off to go eat, even if they didn't normally need to.

The balance in her soul had been exquisite, four unidentifiable forces in her soul countering and supporting each other even as they remained disproportionate. Eventually though, he had his answers, and it was time to finish the experiment. While Complete Hypnosis made it easier to mislead others, it was not necessary to use it here, she was so desperate to escape that only a simple deceit was needed to lead the woman to believe that he was both foolish enough to leave her hands free while she ate, and that she was strong enough to knock him unconscious with the tray he had brought her food on .

He could hear her stumbling through the halls as he sat up, pausing to wipe his glasses clean before rising gracefully to his feet. He leans on the windowsill, watching as she stumbles out of the entrance to Homura's Traveling Hospital and into the ruined remains of the camp. With bated breath he watches as each familiar face rotting in the sun sends her exquisite soul balance into chaotic oscillations, each time taking longer and longer to recover. Eventually he is forced to move from the window to follow her as she makes her way to the tent Shikamaru-kun had taken care of. A short shunpo ensures that he misses not a single moment.

With an agonized cry she collapses to her knees, pulling the remains of the man that had so badly terrified Shikamaru-kun. The woman's eyes that had been so full of sorrow, anger and pain sublime into an emotion Aizen does not recognize as she gently kisses his brow. "Of all the Shinigami, you were the only one I did not fear. The only one to turn away from Seireitei when the scales fell from your eyes and you saw the evil within the white halls."

Finally, the balance collapses, three of the aspects draining to nothing only to fuel the 4th unknown aspect. Her whole spiritual body and his turning into pink crystal.

Quite unexpectedly, Aizen is dragged into a memory.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Magatsuhi vs. Midoriko

What was she doing?They had fought for 7 days now, and he had just managed to pierce through herarmor. Using the two tentacles like hooks, he was pulling hertowards him so that he could adsorb her. Trapped in his heart shewould neverleave him to face the world alone again.

There is a sharp pain as something rips itself from his very being. He does not care, nor does he fight or struggle against the crystallization spreading across his form, there was no point. Already he could feel her spirit leaving, ascending to the heavens as the chains of hell rose to drag him to his punishment.

Shehad escaped him again. A dark smile spreads across his face as he spots his Shinigami

Perhaps next time shewould not be so lucky.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume in Midoriko's Cave

She hears footsteps behind her as comes back to herself with a sigh. She was so tired of fighting her, and there was no longer a reason to. Kagome stares in awe at the crystallized proof of her previous incarnation's fight with Magatsuhi. She reaches out and takes her sister's hand. It was shaking. Poor anesan, proof of her past misdeeds couldn't be easy to see.

"Never again. Right anesan?"

Dekuyume grips the hand in hers tightly, as Kagome-chan shehad given her everything she had been seeking for so long. She releases Kagome's hand, claps twice and bows. It would never end like this again. The plan in place made sure of that, but even if something went horribly wrong and they were once more split apart by time and incarnation, she would not offer herviolence again… Turning to her sister she smiles bravely, "I promise. Never again."

No matter how many lifetimes or incarnations pass I will never walk that road again, Imouto.

For the light you and the rest of the Higurashi have brought into my life,

I do so vow.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aizen gasps for breath, discovering himself collapsed to his hands and knees, shaking in body, and shaken in soul. Carefully he settles onto his feet. Resting in a seated position his zanpakutō lain across his knees sheath and all as he calms himself, dipping into Jinzen after a quick check to make sure that he was the only living soul for miles, absently releasing the Reishi-mippuu that had kept the corpses and aware souls trapped within them from dissolving into nothing before they could be used to set the stage for his experiment. Not being a trained shinigami, the woman had been unable to see the yellow barrier, it's presence so close to the skin and the faintness of its glow an indication of the caster's control and power.

He relaxes as hesitant arms wrap around his shoulders from behind. Kyō-kun's voice, and the soft buzz of the lightning bugs soft in his ear, "It's been a while since you had one that strong. Want to talk about it?" Aizen slumps back into the spirit, tears streaming down his face though his eyes are closed tight.

"I would turn away from the plan now, walk away from the promise of immortality… if I could just find her."

For a man such as Aizen the sentiment was terrifying, and yet he still yearned deeply for it.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Carefully, Aizen, with the help of Kyō-kun carries the two crystallized lovers into the Atelier, enshrining them as best Aizen knows how amid his potted flowers. The unfamiliar, but still recognizable, bitter taste of guilt faintly on his tongue, no matter how he tries to use logic to dispel it. Shaking his head, he focuses on other matters.

Finally, almost a century after he first spoke Kyōka Suigetsu's release, dragging illusions and dreams into the waking world…

Aizen Sōsuke had mastered Shikai.

He knew this, because for the first time, though he had left the zanpakutō in the first release for a full week straight during his experiment, another after that as Aizen and the worried spirit at his side caught up to the patrol, seamlessly filtering themselves back in with the Complete Hypnosis and a third as they entered Seireitei and gave their report to Ukitake-taichō … and still, he was in no pain. Not even the tiniest of twinges of discomfort could be found in spite of the initial distance between himself, the patrol and the souls meandering about in Seireitei. That meant one thing…

It was time for the next phase of the plan to begin.

He was quite excited about this. Not only was the next phase particularly fast paced, as it involved: a promotion to fukutaichō, the first part of the destruction of the Shiba Clan, and a minor genocide… he was also going to squeeze in his first Bankai and consequently the creation of the Hōgyoku, now that he had some scientific basis for it. True, as consequence, the phase of the plan after this little rush would be another long rebuilding phase, slowly reacquiring his hypnotized power base, but he would gainso much in the meantime. Another mark on the plus side was that he would be adding research on souls now that the first experiment was done, which would take up most of his time. Unfortunately both the research and any trips to his Atelier, would have to wait until he was in a secure enough position, but the wait would be worth it, he would make it so.

Taking a moment to review the steps and timing of the next phase of the plan he snickers to himself, "Ku. Ku. Ku." This, was going to be marvelously fun. Filled with curiosity, he activated Shikai and snuck out of Seireitei and into the Rukongai.

It was time he spoke with Haku Aizome.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Onmitsukidō were dispatched to investigate the alarming report of a hollow camp in the Rukongai. Knowing the value of her friend and subordinates mind, Yoruichi brought Kisuke.

No matter the time line, she always brought him.

And he always found it in the grass, a tiny pink crystal sphere.

Centuries later with the SRDI at his disposal, he would remember it.

Preliminary scans would show the immense power contained inside, and it's oh so tantalizing ability to break down the fragile barrier between The Dreaming and The Reality.

Wanting to know how such a thing could come to be, this little breakdown sphere, he takes note of its crystalline properties.

He places it in a high pressure Reishi furnace…. And the crystal grows.

It grows, and it grows…. Until the second Hōgyoku wakes up… with all the rage of a woman who hates Shinigami… as equally as she loves the one she can still feel in her arms.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The walk to the Aizome mansion in the 1st East District (Aizome) was significantly shortened with shunpo. He would have just used Kyōka Suigetsu's ripple command to do so, however there were enough people in the district free of the Complete Hypnosis that he did not want to risk being seen. He could dispose of them easily enough, but he was not interested in wasting his time hiding bodies.

With confidence, he walks up to the gates to the compound, the only entrance with its low walls of Sekkiseki surrounding the entire perimeter to protect the Aizome's crops from thieves. He spends nearly 15 minutes with the three guards on duty; each of them armed with swords but not zanpakutō, and dressed in uniforms dyed a pure indigo blue, trying to gain entry into the estate with politeness and congeniality to no avail.

He had mixed feelings about that, on one hand it was so refreshing to encounter someone immune to his charming facade, on the other… the next part of the plan could not begin until he spoke with the Head of the Aizome and he refused to have the plan fall apart because he couldn't keep up with the timing. Curiously, it only takes a minor flexing of his Reiatsu, the violet color blooming into existence around his form in irritation to get the stubborn gate guards to admit him inside. If he didn't know better, he would think that the only reason they let him in at all was because of the color of his Reiryoku of all things… how very curious.

He is led to a garden filled with butterflies,not hell butterflies, of course, these were just normal pollinators for their fields. The guard that had led him there tells him that the Head of the House would be with him as soon as he freshens up. But Aizen does not hear him… the garden smelled just the same as the scent sachet that had been in the wooden box. Aizen's heart trembles in his chest, anticipation tingling through his veins and suddenly he realizes that this encounter may have more importance than he had ever assumed…

He was not wrong. As Aizome Haku steps into the room Aizen turns to greet him.

Aizen's Reiatsu pulses once, painting his vision and his body violet before he collapses.

The man who, without Dekuyume's guidance and Sōsuke's innocence had existed only for his plan and his own amusement

never to wake again.

Gently, The Dreaming he had surrendered himself to decades ago reaches out pulling his battered heart closer,

And filling it up one memory at a time,

But it took more than one memory to make a person,

And soon the little drops of memory could not be measured in teacups,

only oceans.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The souls Reiryoku ripples, the information requested by the Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield, received from the Global Fate Matrix Database, Calculator and Operations Manager a heavy burden. The memory vine woven through his soul shudders with the impact of the received data packet, shaking countless memories associated with the data free.

Emilia's Loving Home for Unwanted Children

Masked-Monsters

Jedi

Tea

Sasakibe

Reading

Hugs

Ms Williams

Jareth

Magic

Red Eyed Woman

Force Poems

Shinigami

Hollows

Art

Dreams

Momo Hinamori

Hope

Death

Solitude

Butterflies

Kidō

Shiba

Flight

Subaru

Friendship

Loss

The Plan

Memories

Dekuyume

Glowing violet with his Reiatsu, Sōsuke's doe brown eyes snap open as he wakes up from a nightmare.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He takes a deep breath, reigning in his Reiatsu. As he breaths out, he tries to apologize, but his heart was too affected and instead, he collapses to his knees crying. Strong arms wrap around his shoulders and his head falls naturally onto the shoulder in front of him, "It's all right Violet. It may have taken longer than any of us expected, but you're home now. You're home."

Slowly, Sōsuke pulls back and with a sigh pulls his glasses from his face. He cleans off the proof of his loss of control with the sleeve of his Shihakushō and pushes them back on. The sight that greets him startles him for a moment, but leaves only a tired bitter aftertaste. One he suspected he would be experiencing for a while.

The distinguished man sitting across from him was nearly indistinguishable from the boy he had left almost a century (or was it only a few hours?) ago. But that was to be expected, souls aged at a rate that was directly proportional to the amount of Reiryoku they had, and Haku had never been as strong as his elder brother. The Aizome's hair may have gone completely white, and laugh lines may have lined his weathered face, but his eyes were still the same violet as Subaru's, and the image of the young boy he had been, remained superimposed over the old man before slowly fading away. With a sad smile, Sōsuke bowed his head in acknowledgment, "Thank you for everything Haku-san. My only excuse for taking so long in returning, is that my memories of before were disjointed, only the plan that I came up with to avenge Subaru-san remaining."

Sharp violet eyes narrow in surprise, "Were disjointed, are they clear now?" With a smile that reached his eyes Sōsuke nodded, "Yes, I suppose you would like some proof that I was the hell butterfly Violet, and not some Shiba spy ~ne?" He was prepared to ask about the water proof pack and if there were pine needles inside it still, as well as mentioning the only time he had written in ink to Haku… but it appeared that using Subaru-san's catchphrase in the same mischievous tone of voice was enough, as he was given another hug by the old man.

Haku drew back, his eyes glittering with tears, "Forgive me, but I wanted to do that for a long time and it is only now that I don't have to worry about accidentally crushing you Violet." With a wistful sigh, he adds, "Subaru-niisan would be so giddy if he could see you right now. You know what the first thing he would do is?" With a smirk, Sōsuke pushes up his glasses, "Drag me to his bedroom, strip be down and threaten to braid my hair as he gave me a makeover?"

Haku laughs himself to tears, the drops of moisture sliding through the wrinkles on his face, "He would wouldn't he!" Shaking his head he sighs, "We made sure that you would receive a ticket to the Aizome district when you became a man once more, I am not ashamed to say that to a one, the Aizome were very disappointed when you never appeared. Who are you now, and what can we do to repay you for what you have done for us?" Sōsuke opens his mouth to speak, but holds his tongue as another Aizome comes to deliver tea. With the sweet hibiscus tea on his tongue, and the nostalgic scent of the herbs Subaru had scented his kimono with bewitching his senses, Sōsuke tells Haku about the plan… and the beast of a man he had become without his memories.

It is only as he steps back into his bedroom in the 13th division in the early light of dawn… that Sōsuke catches sight of himself in a mirror, thoughts of Dekuyume brought to the forefront. He spends his day off in his room, eyes red from tears as he cries for a woman who would never be able to wake up from a dream and find herself at home. He finally shakes off the tears, stepping back into his Atelier, Kyō-kun a silent apparition at his side as he settles into his painting seat. He pulls a new canvas onto the easel and begins to paint, periodically glancing into the mirror across the room. Oddly, the crystal statue that he had expected to cause a re-appearance of the tears only warms his heart with nostalgia, now capable of recognizing the expression on the woman's face as love.

Hours later he sets his paints aside, to wrap his zanpakutō spirit in a hug. The two of them watching the paint dry as Sōsuke shares his memories with Kyō-kun. He falls asleep whispering his secrets, exhaustion dragging him into slumber. With a soft sad smile, Kyō-kun ghosts out of his shinigami's arms, flickering back into existence just in time to prevent the man from falling off of his stool. Careful not to wake him, he carries the man through the door of the Atelier and back into his bedroom before settling him into his bed. A flex of his power is enough to bring him back to the Atelier, reverent hands collect the painting and hang it on the wall over the door, moving the painting that had been in that honored position, one spot to the right. Kyō-kun goes and sits at Sōsuke's writing desk, content to take in every detail of the painting.

Title: A Shared Lament

A boy sits on a bed, staring sadly into the mirror across the room, reflected in the mirror he sits, with a hell butterfly on his shoulder, a violet streak in its wings… but the red eyed woman was nowhere to be seen.

Next to A Shared Lament was Desperation, the recreation of a painting that Aizen had never known had first been painted by his human self…

Kyōka Suigetsu found the paired paintings, with the boy searching the mirror for the woman, and the woman watching the boy through the mirror to be one of the saddest things that had ever come from his Shinigami through all of the reincarnations they had ever spent together. If he wasn't intimately aware of the extra soul material that had been added during this last life, he would have been alarmed that Sōsuke was seeing past incarnations of lives he had never lived.

As it was Kyōka Suigetsu couldn't quite decide if he was happy that Sōsuke was feeling things so much more strongly this lifetime than he had in any of his others. On one hand it was nice to actually be friendswith the Shinigami instead of being treated like he was just a tool, on the other, it was so damn strangeto actually have the man give a damn about Kyōka Suigetsu's feelings, never mind that he had seen the Shinigami cry more in the past century than he had in the past hundred lifetimes…

It often left Kyōka Suigetsu floundering, having never had to offer his opinion or comfort Sōsuke before. Not to mention the times where Sōsuke straight out asked for his opinion not just on everyday things but real, life changing things such as the part of the plan that called for using the Hōgyoku to merge the two of them, Shinigami and zanpakutō blade, so that they could destroy what few weaknesses Kyōka Suigetsu had…

Kyōka Suigetsu sighs in the dim lights of the Atelier, closing his eyes for only a moment, he opens them in Sōsuke's inner world. It too was a change from all of Sōsuke's previous incarnations. As he bends down to smell one of the multitude of flowers, he gently brushes a lightening bug out of the way. This change he was completely grateful for. Within the first life they shared together Kyōka Suigetsu had gotten bored of the 1 inch deep lake that spread out infinitely in all directions, with nothing of interest to it but the perfect reflection it made of the sky overhead. Even though the garden had walls and barriers penning him in, preventing him from seeing what lay outside the red mist that hid the rest of the world he was sure actually existed but could not visit, Kyōka Suigetsu felt more peace and freedom than he ever had in that empty infinite expanse of sky in all directions…

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Waking up the next morning was difficult, a mild headache from all the tears he had shed the night before clouding his thinking. But the pain was not as disorienting as reconciling his new memories. It was difficult to explain, because while Sōsuke, the boy who had known Sasakibe-fukutaichō and become a hell butterfly was not another personality, he was not the same as Aizen, who had gone through the Shinigami program of the Shin'ō Academy and faithfully followed the plan. Not to mention the mess that was Dekuyume who appeared to be an incarnation of Sōsuke's from a completely different dimension who had helped Sōsuke the boy come up with the plan that Aizen had so blindly followed…

In the end he could only say that he was still himself, only with a few extra memories of his time spent as a hell butterfly and as a living soul and the added benefit of knowing the why of some of the parts of the plan that had been confusing before. It was beyond words, equal parts fear, acceptance, shame and pride, to consider what would have become of him if Aizen, without his memories had known that the Soul King was only an it… and that all it would have taken would be a single use of their Bankai to place them in the empty throne in the sky completely destroying any chance of succeeding in Dekuyume's trial.

But the Sōsuke that woke up today, was not the same man as the one who had done so the day before, and unless some other power decided to steal his memories away, he would not be that man again. It ached terribly to be at once relieved that it was Aizen who had done that first terrible experiment, violating Homura-san's soul repeatedly, and horrified that Aizen had enjoyed it.

The only thing that ached more was that Aizen had been having fun, and would have had little problem with the next parts of the plan, but Sōsuke? Sōsuke was going to suffer, no amount of telling himself it was for the greater good was going to appease the little boy in his heart that still wanted to be a wise all-knowing Jedi and felt that his actions would make a Sith out of him yet.

Knowing what little reward awaited him in the future for his deeds would likely prevent him from enjoying much of what was to come. But he was certainly going to try, every major step of his life was planned out for the next two centuries, but that didn't mean that he couldn't make the best of the little steps he had to take to get there. He was already looking forward to avenging himself on Momo. A grin splits his face, and a laugh shakes its way out of his chest just thinking about Momo Hinamori, "Ku. Ku. Ku." It still wasn't her fault… and he still didn't care that it wasn't, it was the principle of the thing.

Kyō-kun leans against the wall, watching his Shinigami laugh malevolently, no matter how different this reincarnation was from all of the others, it was reassuring, some things were always the same, revenge was clearly on the menu. With a grin Kyō-kun calls out, "Good morning Sōsuke" The Shinigami stops laughing and turns towards the corner Kyō-kun was leaning in, his smile gentles and his doe brown eyes are as warm as chocolate in the sun, "Good morning Kyō-kun. It is good to be awake."

Kyōka Suigetsu pouts knowing what Sōsuke was referring to, but wanting to lighten the mood, "What, don't you like dreaming?" Sōsuke just shakes his head at his zanpakutō spirit's antics, "Dreams are a wish your heart makes, with you at my side I have every intention of fulfilling them. What do you say my dear friend, ready to rewrite the world to our liking?" Kyō-kun laughs, "Oh Sōsuke, I was born ready."

The spirit fades out of sight as Sōsuke goes about his day, preparing for the next step in the plan only to periodically pop in to bring a smile to the Shinigami's face. Kyōka Suigetsu sighs, only allowing himself to hear it, ultimately he supposed that if he had to be stuck with one incarnation of this soul for the rest of eternity, this one was the best of all of them.

Hanakotoba

hibiscus : Gentle

zanpakutō

Amai - Kamen : Beautiful Mask

Shuushukuga : Shrinking Moth

Kurokage : Black Shadow

Shiro-Yanagi : White Willow

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 20 : Just an Object, not a King

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It had been 4 months since Sōsuke recovered his early memories, and aside from the change in the insight he saw reflected back at him in the mirror, and a newfound sense of purpose replacing the game-like enjoyment he had felt about the plan, ultimately very little had changed. Perhaps the most engaging difference, was that when he made an offhand comment most people would pass off as a joke, much like Ukitake-taichō had during their first meeting, Haku took it at face value. Sōsuke had no idea how much frustration had been building up in Aizen with each dismissed comment until the first time Haku had agreed while they sat and chatted over tea.

Only the hypnosis Kyō-kun had maintained over the patrons and staff of the little tea-shop they met at near the Eastern Blue Stream Gate, prevented him from embarrassing himself as he laughed uproariously in spite of the fact that it hadn't even been funny. Suddenly it was easy to see why the first Aizen Sōsuke had come to believe that admiration was the emotion furthest from understanding, and come to loath it.

But clearly time had taught Haku Aizome many things, and the old man quietly sipped his tea while Sōsuke got himself back under control, only commenting as Sōsuke finally managed a sip of his own tea, "You must have been frustrated by their inability to see your true self. You haven't even been trying to hide it very hard, have you." With a sigh perfumed with green tea, eyes closed he could only agree quietly. The aging family head and the 3rd seat of the 13th division had enjoyed many meetings together, discussing the particulars of the Shiba Clans downfall, but mostly reminiscing about Subaru.

Today was no different and as he stood outside the tea-shop, bidding the old man good bye "Next time, I will tell you about how Subaru-san wound up with a cold in the middle of summer, because he and Ku decided to add ice Kidō to the water Kidō they were training with in the summer heat." Haku chuckles, "I can't wait to hear it Sōsuke-san." It was a little disappointing to Sōsuke. The old man did not know about Sōsuke's insights, which he had by now realized were coming from whatever it was Dekuyume had left on of her nature as a Kami even as she fell asleep. Haku also didn't know about anything else but the plan for the Shiba, and however much Sōsuke longed for a confidant beyond Kyō-kun, it was better this way.

If Haku had already aged this much in a century, he would not be alive when it came time for Sōsuke to betray Soul Society, and as much as Sōsuke had cared for his friend Subaru and Haku, he didn't really care about what the rest of the Aizome thought of him. There was no reason to burden Haku with anything beyond the Shiba… no reason at all. It might have even been easier if he never met with the man at all, he was going to miss Haku when time did what the Shiba had not, removing the last born Aizomeya from Seireitei…

He is shaken from his thoughts as another Shinigami approaches him eyeing Haku and Sōsuke warily. The 5th Division fukutaichō; outrageously long blond hair with bangs that ran perfectly even across his forehead and unusually wide mouth, was not one of the souls that Sōsuke had under Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis. With a pleasant smile he steps forward, pretending he was not with Haku, only coincidentally leaving the tea shop at the same time, "Good afternoon, it's a wonderful day we are having isn't it?"

Shinji Hirako watches as the Aizome family head grunts and walks away. If he hadn't seen tha two of em chattin through tha window when he passed by earlier, he woulda never have known tha two were familiar with one n'nother. His attention is dragged back to the other Shinigami in alarm as Sōsuke continues, "Of course, things are rarely as they appear to be."

He shifts back in alarm as the light glints off of the 3rd seats glasses. Then the man pushes them up, as if they were a mask he had just righted, as his hand falls, only a mild mannered intellectual remains. One that appears slightly puzzled by Shinji's behavior as he continues, "I don't know how many times I've gone on patrol thinking that the weather would hold, only to be caught unprepared in a down pour. How about you? It was the 5th divisions turn to patrol the Rukongai this month wasn't it?"

Shinji runs a hand through his hair, man this guy was freakin im out. "Yeah, was allrigh'. Course any time we get called back early's allrigh' in my book. Sucks tha we have ta make sure tha we bring in all tha stragglers off duty tho. You come with me ya? We gotta gather cuz tha sōtaichō wants ta address tha whole Gotei 13 outside tha 1st division barracks." Politely Sōsuke nods. "But of course sir."

As the two launch into shunpo, passing many slower Shinigami, Sōsuke ignores the wary eyes and grimaces the blond Shinigami sends him each time the man speeds up, only to find Sōsuke the same half pace behind him.

It wouldn't do anything much more than make the man suspicious, that a 3rdseat was keeping up with a Shinigami who had been fukutaichō for over 4 centuries… but that was all part of the plan. He needed Hirako so unsettled that he put Sōsuke in the fukutaichō position and then avoided him like the plague.

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Shinji sighs as he slumps against his desk in the 5th division barracks. He hated tha it had come ta this. Ta destroy a whole nother people, jus cuz they wouldn listen ta what the Gotei 13 said. But they had no choice, tha balance of tha worlds was still goin haywire since tha Quincy jus plain refused ta stop erasin hollows.

There is a clatter of feet out in the hallway, Shinji's only warning of the 5th division taichō's approach. Of course, because Shinji had made sure that there was always someone working in that hallway, he once again had plenty of time to straighten up and make it look like he was working on the ridiculous amount of paperwork that the division generated. Jun'ichi Shiba, clan head of the Greater Noble House of Shiba stomps into the room, not that Shinji thought the man was angry, in fact his taichō looked like he was actually pretty happy at the moment, the dude was just so huge that every footstep sounded like he was stomping. Shinji was damn proud of his ability ta figure people out… speakin of which.

"Hey taichō, ya know anythin bout Aizen Sōsuke, tha 3rd seat a tha 13th division? I saw tha dude havin a chat with tha Aizome Family head. Tha two of em were chattin bout someone named Subaru." No one else but Shinji would have noticed just how unsettled he had made Jun'ichi, it made the man's response all that more odd, "Do you know what color his Reiatsu is?" "No taichō, you want me ta find out?"

The battle scared man runs his thick fingers through his beard, "No, that's quite alright, we don't want to go snooping around making people suspicious… But if, in the upcoming conflict with the Quincy, you happen to discover whether or not his Reiatsu is violet… it wasn't part of the accusations against the Aizomeya, mostly just because the Greater Noble Houses don't want any copy-cats… but they were using a forbidden Kidō that could forcibly transform a soul into a hell butterfly. It was never proven, but The Shiba gave a violet Reiatsu hell butterfly to their next family head Subaru who treated it like a pet…" Jun'ichi snorts, "They gave themselves away when the boy had that butterfly as a pet for all 6 years of the Shinigami Main Class at Shin'ō Academy."

Shinji's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, "Tha's impossible, tha soul would have ta have at leas as much Reiryoku as the sōtaichō for tha to happen." Jun'ichi nods, "Yes. At least naturally, the hell butterfly wasn't recovered with Subaru when he died, and no one knows where it went. It is entirely possible that the Aizome hid it and released the Kidō themselves, why the soul behind the violet hell butterfly would look upon the Aizome favorably I do not know, but that is in itself a crime, not reporting the use of the forbidden Kidō."

He leans back in his chair, watching for a moment as Shinji works on his paperwork. The skinny Rukongai rat had somehow managed wriggle his way to the fukutaichō position in his division. He would have much preferred another noble to have the position, if only to spare his ears the uncultured drawl, but the rat's tricky Shikai was enough to make a fool of even the most skilled noble. The only reason Jun'ichi hadn't had the rat exterminated was because the skinny bastard did a decent job training the division, and an even better one keeping up on the paperwork.

With a heavy sigh, he turns to his paperwork, signing by rote as he turns over the matter of Violet the hell butterfly in his mind, a full century after it fluttered out of sight. Damn, what he wouldn't give to have a spy in either the Kidō Corps or the Onmitsukidō, but the first demanded that you gave a Kidō based oath that would kill you if you broke it, and his spy in the latter had been executed by that bastard Yuudai Shihōin, thankfully before the little shit could tattle. He would have the clansmen who were going to go to the living world for the assault keep an eye on Aizen Sōsuke. And if the Rukongai rat he had ousted from the 4thdivision for Isshin did have violet Reiatsu… they were in the middle of a war… and friendly fire wasn't all that uncommon when you had this many Shinigami fighting at the same time.

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200 years before Yhwach's rumored 1000 year prophesy declared his next assault on Soul Society, a joint task force of the Gotei 13, the Onmitsukidō and the Kidō Corps exited the Senkaimon at hundreds of places all over the living world. It caused a massive disturbance in the balance of worlds, not only due to the number of powerful souls that had left Soul Society, but because none of them were wearing seals. That was all right though… they would be sending thousands of souls from the living world back the other direction shortly…

Forewarned by the plan, Sōsuke thought he was ready… but by all the power of Dekuyume, the Kami of Battlefields… he didn't think any amount of forewarning would be enough for what it truly meant to call something a massacre. Because that was what it was, the Commanders of the Gotei 13, Kidō Corps and Onmitsukidō could call it a battle all they wanted. It was not a battle, it was a massacre and probably the most shameful thing Sōsuke had ever done including experimenting on Homura-san.

Like a plague of locusts the Shinigami used shunpo to to swarm the villages the Quincy had gathered in. The villages were leveled, and to a soul, everyone was slaughtered, regardless of their ability or desire to fight back. Fathers holding their bows that had never struck anything but a hollow in defense of their family, Mothers desperately using Blut for the first time outside of childbirth, children old enough to draw their bows for the first time, children too young to do much more than cling to each other and cry… even infants shaken out of their slumber by the noise and slaughtered in their cribs. All of them were to be killed.

Unwilling to look the dying in the face as he killed them, Sōsuke exclusively used long distance Kidō. He kept Kyōka Suigetsu firmly sealed and sheathed, unwilling to force Kyō-kun to watch through the eyes of thousands as they were killed for the simple act of defending themselves. Once the bombardment was done, the Onmitsukidō moved in, collecting all of the souls of the Quincy that did not instantly move to Soul Society. One by one, they were brought to the Kidō Circle that the Kidō Corps set up.

Sōsuke did not know what Kidō it was that the three black marked Kidō Corps silently used on the Quincy to force them into hell butterflies and on to Soul Society, but with his memories as a hell butterfly, he had a pretty good idea. Hypocrites.

He never even notices the looks the Shiba give him as he glows violet with his Reiatsu, even if he is mildly irritated by their aim with their zanpakutō abilities and Kidō. Ironically, he probably cast Bakudō #8: Seki, The Repulsion, more times during the massacre, redirecting the poorly aimed magic of his allies, than he did any other spell. He does however notice the 5th division fukutaichō become distracted, staring at Sōsuke in wide eyed surprise as he casts a two-fold incantation chant of Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi, The Black Coffin and Hadō #57: Daichi Tenyō, The Upturned Earth Dance, shining the bright violet of his Reiatsu as he simultaneously uses the first to kill a Quincy actually capable of defending herself, and the second to block the arrows being fired his way.

The distraction costs the fukutaichō, who is pierced through the lung by one of the arrows. The blond man would live, but between the arrow that dissolves in his chest, and the force with which he hit the ground, he would be unconscious in the 4th divisions care until after his taichō was murdered.

It took them only a single day to nearly wipe the Quincy off of the face of the Earth. Only a few Quincy who had chosen to live outside the safety of a Quincy village to protect the souls that could not protect themselves would remain on earth, eventually resulting in the birth of one Ryūken Ishida, whom Dekuyume had spoken fondly of, and his son Uryū, whom Sōsuke would have the dubious pleasure of dealing with.

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Naturally the three military branches of Seireitei did not escape unscathed, several taichō and fukutaichō who had been on the front lines had perished. So had the Commanders of the Kidō Corps and Onmitsukidō when one of the villages set into a valley, had somehow received forewarning and set up a trap, blowing a damn up stream and burying the two commanders, a dozen of their finest and countless other Shinigami in a mudslide. Those who managed to avoid death by drowning in mud laced with Reiatsu courtesy of the Quincy at the dam, were greeted by arrows from the surrounding hills, their bodies tumbling down to sink into the mire. The hills were torn asunder by Chōjirō Sasakibe and his Bankai, Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū in retaliation leaving no Quincy alive.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Desperate to take his mind off the haunting images that not even Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis could drive from his mind, Sōsuke instead chose to focus on his curiosity. In the havoc of dealing with the wobbling balance of souls, when no one was quite sure where anyone else was beyond somewhere in Soul Society and the living world Sōsuke sat in his Atelier, reading through the eyes of a hypnotized Kuchiki. Like all of the other Grater Noble Clans, the Kuchiki also had a King Given Task; theirs was to compile and protect the history of Soul Society and as such they had the best records of the last war with Yhwach.

From Dekuyume, he knew that Yhwach was born from the Soul King before he had a soul, and interestingly enough, though the Soul King had no soul of his own, Yhwach did. Perks of being a Soul Kami Dekuyume had said, but really if it was that easy, then why had the Soul King not given himself one too? The answer was held in the archives, turns out that Yhwach could parse his own soul, loaning out discreet pieces of it and stealing the knowledge and growth each borrower gained. Eventually the immobile son of the Soul King had stolen enough growth and knowledge from the souls he was supposed to protect to break free of his limitations.

What the boy became as he grew, left Sōsuke disappointed, but not surprised. His defeat was part of the plan after all. It was mildly amusing that even with the actions forced on him because of the plan, Aizen without all of his Dekuyume memories, the man who's actions he was emulating to prevent the destruction of the Fate matrix… was a kinder leader than Yhwach was recorded to be.

Even though Sōsuke would freely admit that Aizen was an asshole, he never killed his subordinates. Humiliated, crippled and toyed with, yes… and sometimes death was even threatened… but who had that Aizen killed? The Central 46, a collection of stubborn old souls who hadn't made a judgment for the betterment of anyone but the Nobility for centuries; and a few thousand souls for the Hōgyoku that not even the Shinigami cared about until it was the Shinigami themselves that started disappearing?

Hell Aizen had more than enough skill to know that Momo Hinamori would survive the injury he gave her with a little medical attention… in fact the only person of any merit that had died directly by his blade was Gin Ichimaru and that Shinigami had almost succeeded in killing him.

Strange when you consider the fact that Yhwach kills his own people, ones of his own blood, pure and impure alike with Auswählen, some of them so faithful that they aren't even upset by Yhwach's betrayal. It makes Aizen seem to be a more compassionate leader.

With a sigh, he leans against Kyō-kun who was sitting at his side, and after the Kuchiki is done looking through the archives, he releases Shikai. "You know Kyō-kun, I pity the poor soul that is going to be the next Soul King. Between the genocides, the nobles who seem to feel that Nobles obligation refers to peasants obligation to serve them instead of their obligations to the Rukongai citizens, and the central 46 period, there is going to be a lot of work to do. I can only hope that Dekuyume knew what she was doing when she picked the soul for the Soul King. If she didn't, nothing will ever change. The citizens of the Rukongai will remain shoe-less out past the 50th districts, the souls who need food will still starve to their deaths, the nobles will still hold all the power but have no accountability… forever just like that with no end in sight."

Kyōka Suigetsu looks over his shoulder at his Shinigami, "If you're that worried about it, throw away the plan and use my Bankai to steal the throne instead of creating the Hōgyoku." For a brief moment Sōsuke considers it. He was nearly a god when it came to his Reiryoku, and if he ever found a place in private to remove the shackles he had placed on it the moment he awoke… he may just find out that godhood… was not nearly as far away as he presumed. Kyōka Suigetsu was a zanpakutō meant for a god, and with its Bankai… he could steal the means to keep the balance of the worlds from a god and sit in that throne in the sky.

But… he didn't want it, he didn't even want to do the paperwork involved in being a taichō, much less the amount that would be necessary to revamp the whole of Soul Society. He wanted to keep painting, to keep creating his own Kidō, for the plan to come to completion so that he could be free to do those two things on his time and not whenever he managed to sneak away for a few hours… and to find Dekuyume's her. But what would he be at the end of it all? Would the plan destroy what little bit of compassion was left in his heart?

No. He would not allow it. As Dekuyume said… it was about time they learned how to save themselves. So what did he want to be at the end, when the plan was complete and he only had his whims to follow? A flash of inspiration bursts across his mind like a shooting star, but unlike that tiny hunk of space rock, the idea does not burn away to nothing in the atmosphere of Sōsuke's mind. Instead it lands in fertile soil… and blooms. Sōsuke wanted to save the world, not by sword or magic, or the oppressive weight of his Reiatsu, but with knowledge.

He sits up abruptly, without even answering Kyō-kun's question. The spirit watches in amusement as a very determined, sharp eyed Sōsuke pulls out an empty journal and begins planning for the aftermath of the downfall of the heavens. Because if he was going to place a Soul with failings and flaws on the throne, even one Dekuyume had chosen… he was going to do it so well that no one had cause to complain…

The fountain pen stops for a moment on the page causing an unsightly ink stain. Dekuyume had never discussed with him just why it was, that the original Aizen Sōsuke had done as he did… but now he had to wonder. Nothing brought people together like a common enemy… except perhaps a shared Hero. And in the wake of the villains downfall, the hero could easily ask for change to a system that had created the villain. It would have been so easy, to wait for Yhwach to reveal himself, and for Aizen to rise out of his scholarly guise, a beautiful metamorphosis into the greatest of Shinigami. But he supposed that there was one insurmountable problem… with Aizen becoming the hero.

Sōsuke glanced at Kyō-kun out of the corner of his eyes, tilting his journal a bit to make it easier for the curious spirit to read. Kyōka Suigetsu pushes some of his hair behind a pointed ear as he leans forward. The people had to trust their great hero for him to be able to bring about the kind of full system change Sōsuke was dreaming of. And Sōsuke knew… no one would trust him if they knew what he was capable of… but Aizen Sōsuke could be their villain.

Stir up trouble before Yhwach, just enough to send everyone into a tizzy, but not enough to do any real damage. Even the deaths of so many hollows and Arrancar would be beneficial, preventing Soul Society from being over run in the aftermath of Yhwach's assault on Soul Society. Ultimately, when the-would-be-tyrant rose out of the shadows he would find the Shinigami fresh out of another war, trained, battle sharpened and waiting for him.

The hardest part of the plan the original Aizen would have encountered… Would have been finding a soul Aizen could bring himself kneel to. For Aizen Sōsuke the birth of Ichigo Kurosaki must have been a blessing.

But with the knowledge he had from Dekuyume… the hardest part of the plan that Sōsuke would have to deal with, would be waiting for it to come to an end.

He sets the fountain pen to work once more, creating the first of many books that would one day change the way souls saw the world. Because Sōsuke knew he had inherited Dekuyume's skill as a teacher, and if there was anyone who would need that teaching in the future, it would be the next Soul King.

That was what this had been about wasn't it, giving The Soul King a soul of its own so that it could understand the people in its care, and lead them as they deserved to be led?

Needing a soul to understand why his appointed leaders, the Central 46, were so detested in every dimension that not even outsiders who thought the different echoes of the Bleach universe were fiction chose to save them from Aizen Sōsuke, some even going so far as to kill the second batch just as quickly as the first or completely changing the system entirely.

zanpakutō

Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū : Yellow-Glittering Royal Villa of the Stern Spirit

Attacks:

Auswählen : Holy Selection

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Chapter 21 : Just(ice)

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Only Kyō-kun knew about the nightmares that chased Sōsuke from his sleep in the aftermath of the Quincy massacre. Beneath the Complete Hypnosis that Sōsuke wore like armor, was a bruised eyed, sallow faced, haunted man; one who only relaxed when he sat with Ukitake-taichō in Ugendō drinking tea, and only began smiling again when Unohana-taichō invited him to the 4th division for an Ikebana viewing, with the theme of remembrance. The highest point though was when the Gotei 13's losses were tallied and the 13th division had the lowest mortality percent out of all of the divisions in the Quincy massacre by a large margin, having lost only 6% of their division, as opposed to a whopping 22% average in the others.

It was, perhaps, for the best that the Gotei 13 was chaotically busy, shuffling Shinigami through the organization to fill in the missing ranks of taichō, fukutaichō and Seated Officers. Those who were not shuffled around were left to take up the slack while the new leadership settled in. Because the 13th Division had been fortunate enough to retain all but a handful of Seated Officers, in the sleepless days after the massacre, when the Shinigami could be heard whispering to each other about the screams of children still ringing in their ears, they were scheduled to patrol the Rukongai for a month, with only a short breather while the fukutaichō and 3rd seat patrolled the living world before being sent out again for another month.

The whole of the 13th division would be going on patrol, split into quarters they would be surveying the first 50 districts in all directions to make sure there were no problems with the influx of souls.Had the Shinigami sent all of the Quincy to Soul Society with Konsō it would have not been an issue. The time discrepancy between the world of the living and Soul Society, non-linear reincarnation and the algorithm Dekuyume had mentioned once, served to spread out the arrival of souls.

But of course, the Shinigami hadn't had time or power to spare, to perform the technique, by Kaidō spell or zanpakutō, and had resorted to using the forbidden butterfly Kidō to quickly move the souls of the Quincy who did not move over to the other side of their own volition.

With all of the other crimes against humanity, human or otherwise, perpetrated by the Central 46, it was no surprise to Sōsuke, that every last one of the Quincy were assigned to one of the 70-80thdistricts in all four directions. Sōsuke thought it was foolish, to let people that angry at the Shinigami out of sight.

As the four patrols left Seireitei they left behind a skeleton crew in the 13th division of Ukitake-taichō and a handful of graduates fresh from the academy. Sōsuke considered sending a placeholder on patrol instead of going himself, but because he too was under the hypnosis, he could just as easily enact the next part of the plan from wherever they rested for the night in the East Rukongai districts his quarter of the group was to patrol.

Once they were three weeks out of Seireitei, it would be time for the Shiba to start reaping what they had sown.

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To the surprise of the patrol, a hell butterfly reaches them at dawn two weeks after leaving Seireitei. The numbers were in…. with the number of Shinigami who died in the fight against the Quincy, and with the number of Quincy souls they had to forcibly bring to Seireitei with the forbidden butterfly transformation Kidō…. To preserve the balance of souls… 7192 souls had to be purged from the Rukongai and sent on through the cycle of reincarnation. The lives would be taken from the Rukongai, in each of the four cardinal directions 1798 souls would perish, 62 each starting in district 50 and outwards to the 80th.

The patrol was quiet as Miyako-fukutaichō finished sharing the particulars. Then one of the newer recruits raised a hesitant hand, the fukutaichō just laughed, "No need to raise hands! This isn't a serious debriefing, just ask". Looking relieved, no doubt put at ease by her easygoing nature, the boy asked, "Isn't that kind of far to walk considering we were only supposed to patrol the first 50 districts?"

Miyako just shrugged one shoulder, "It may be a longer walk, but at least the pluses below the 50th district are trying to be real people, past it the heathens can't even be bothered to wear shoes!"

Amid the laughter of the rest of the division Sōsuke came to a rather horrible realization.

Of all the people here… some of which had come from the Rukongai themselves…

Of them all, Sōsuke, future monster of Seireitei, was the only one who thought this was unconscionable.

Something must have shown on his face in spite of the Complete Hypnosis. Or perhaps the woman just remembered that he was in the 4th division first, and the Shiba were still insulted by Unohana-taichō's little trick with him and Isshin, but she turned to him with a wrenched little smirk on her face, and a saccharine tone that he utterly loathed. "Aizen-san, please remember that you are the 3rd seat of the 13th division. We have a job to do, there is no room for 4th division bleeding hearts here."

"Do try to remember that no matter how similar we are in appearance, they are not Shinigami, they are not people. This is the will of The Soul King. This is balance. The Rukongai rats we will exterminate are privileged. Many are the souls sent to Soul Society by the Shinigami, the same cannot be said for souls sent back to the world of the living with our blessing. We are saving these poor unfortunate souls from decades of misery in the outer districts. Now, Will you be able to do this or do I send you back to Seireitei?" It did not need to be said that it would be in disgrace.

Amid snickers from the Shinigami Sōsuke had spent years working alongside, patient with their failings as an adult should always be with children… he should have remembered that there were few groups of people in the world crueler than children who just didn't know any better. Sōsuke bowed shallowly to Miyako, "That will not be necessary Miyako-fukutaichō."

He meets her eyes, his smile perfectly false, the rising sun glinting off of his glasses obscuring his frigid gaze from their vision, "I have no qualms against what I must do. It is for the good of Soul Society after all."

And then Miyako of the Greater Noble house of Shiba, the clan who's King Given Task was to ensure the welfare of the souls in the Rukongai, turned to her comrades with a grin and said, "All right! Now what do you all say? Should we have a little fun with this? The Shinigami with the fewest kills has to do the Laundry when we get back, and the one with the highest gets to have a nice dinner at the Shiba estate! My treat!"

And then they all cheer.

Sōsuke's hands shake with rage. They are still shaking a week later as Sōsuke stares at Miyako across the campfire beneath the Complete Hypnosis and takes out his anger on the Shiba Clan, thousands of miles away in Seireitei.

If this was the only way that the Shinigami could keep the balance in the Soul King's absence, was it any wonder that the original Aizen Sōsuke had found the vacant throne in the sky so utterly unforgivable?

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Jun'ichi Shiba sat in his study in the Shiba main house upon an upholstered chair with a blanket over his still aching leg. In frustration he runs his fingers through his thick white beard. The room was filled with treasures as benefited the study of the Head of a Greater Noble House, its opulence usually soothed him after a day of dealing with the Rukongai Rats spreading their filth through the Gotei 13.

But not today, nor the day before that, not even the slightest of solace had it granted him since the Quincy were finally put in their place. Not since the wounded were gathered together and every able bodied healer was called together to render aid. Not since Jun'ichi, who had demanded a private tent away from the riff-raff had come face to face with his worst nightmare. He did not care if his broken leg was less serious, or that the tent was big enough to hold four other wounded, he was the Head of a Greater Noble House, and taichō of the 5thdivision. He had fought at Genryūsai's left flank during the war with Yhwach for The Soul King's sake! It should have been obviousthat he be given a tent of his own!

In the early morning hours the day after, through eyes opened only a sliver and feigning sleep, he had watched as Aizen Sōsuke crept into his tent and whispered the release for his zanpakutō. The fog from the blade blending in to the natural early morning mist outside. Aizen had pointed his blade at Jun'ichi's chest and just before he turned the tables on the Rukongai rat, there was a clatter outside and within moments the zanpakutō was resealed and sheathed. "Perhaps some other time, Jun'ichi."

Jun'ichi's eyes had snapped open all the way then and met the rat's. The way those eyes glinted in the early morning light… only to morph into something innocent and soft when the young Shinigami making rounds with everyone's breakfast entered… It appeared that Violet was every bit as dangerous as a soul who had spent 10 years as a hell butterfly should be. Damn the Soul king for giving that sort of power to a worthless outsider when it should have belonged to the Greater Noble Houses, and damn every member of his house that failed to kill Aizen Sōsuke during the battle.

Knowing that he could say absolutely nothing about the event without sounding like an old man who had a nightmare about his healer trying to kill him, Jun'ichi had been forced into a silence that festered and burned underneath his skin. Every morning since returning to Seireitei, there was fog that hung around unnaturally until midday and though he had demanded that the doors be kept tightly shut to keep it out, it seemed as if every time he turned around someone had left another door or window open.

To make matters worse, his own kin were starting to look at him with greedy eyes when they thought he wasn't looking. He knew they were thinking that he was breaking down, that the stress of the last battle too much for his aged body. Let the vultures circle, his eldest son Yoshirou was every inch the Lion that Jun'ichi himself was, and he had no doubts that when his time finally did come, Yoshirou would lead the Shiba as diligently as Jun'ichi had. But that time was not now, and he would be damned if he let a Rukongai Rat like Aizen Sōsuke ruin that…

His thoughts are cut short when, to his left, there is a soft click. Through his peripheral vision he watches as the Shoji that led to the garden slowly slid open of its own volition, allowing a low fog to creep into the room like an assassin. Resolutely he kept his face forward, his hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of his zanpakutō hidden underneath the blanket across his legs. As Aizen Sōsuke creeps closer on silent feet, Jun'ichi forces his muscles to remain loose.

With a mighty roar of, "Bankai!" he rises, the power of his zanpakutō forming liquid crystal armor out of moon dust and water that flows around him, shimmering with an inner light of its own. The blade in his hands shifts into the form of a spear; he wastes no time in thrusting through the rat, only for the bastard to grin and fade to nothing.

Jun'ichi screams in rage and swings the spear in a wide arc around himself, this time meeting more than fog. Pulling the body hanging on the end closer, to the grizzled Shinigami's surprise, it is a stranger… but a stranger bearing the Aizomeya crest. His eyes widen in surprise as across the compound he hears a shout, "Aizomeya! The Aizomeya are invading from their old comp… urk!"

With a fierce scowl he rises from his chair, ignoring the ache in his still sore leg and charges out of the room only to stumble upon the fallen forms of his kinsmen in the garden… including the dismembered corpse of Yoshirou. The old shinigami's face purples with rage and his lips pull back from his teeth, "I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU ALL! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FILTY RATS!" The invading Aizomeya die like the rats they are, skewered upon his spear and their weak Kidō dissolving into nothing upon his armor.

Three weeks after the 13th division had been sent on patrol, Jun'ichi Shiba dies from Reiryoku depletion and the hands of his second youngest son Kaien Shiba, but not before slaughtering all but a handful of the Main House and the visiting Head of the Branch House and the kin that were with him. Only those that fled that night survived. One of which was Kei Shiba of the branch house who had married a woman from the Rukongai, much to the derision of the rest of his family. It was to her that he was running, desperate to find out if the Aizomeya that had come out from nowhere truly had the love of his life at their mercy as they had threatened.

Underneath the Complete Hypnosis Kei never realized that the comrade he killed was not an Aizomeya assassin chasing him, nor did he realize that his wife was not another of the assassins. Underneath the Complete Hypnosis both Kei's wife and comrade played their part for the Onmitsukidō who paused in their mad rush to the Shiba estate to witness the scene.

Several districts away as the patrol rests for the night, Sōsuke closes his eyes, knowing full well that this was a necessary evil. Leaning heavily into Kyō-kun's side he allows his head to fall forward, a soft sigh the only outward sign of his regret. Everyone who died tonight was essential for the plan. The main branch of the Shiba needed to be headed by Kaien, and as for Kei? His wife was the best friend of Kaname Tōsen, who would one day betray Seireitei because of his hatred of Shinigami, hatred which would be born a few days from now when he would be denied access to the Central 46 and told that nothing was to be done to punish Kei for murdering his wife and comrade over a petty argument.

Of course, under the Complete Hypnosis things were rarely ever what they seemed. And Kei Shiba could not be punished by the Central 46 because the first act of Shiba Isshin just hours into his position as the Head of the Branch House was to execute Kei Shiba without a trial and nothing but a "You just don't treat women like that.", as warning. Kei died asking where his wife had gone, not that any of the Shiba or the crowd gathered in the street had heard it.

Sōsuke was grateful Isshin had grown since their academy days, even if it had taken a genocide, and mass murder of his kin to do that. Isshin would need that strength in the future, because Sōsuke…

With every crime that went unpunished, and every voice of outrage silenced in the name of Shinigami and Nobility.

With every frivolous good imported from the living world, bought and paid for with the souls in the Rukongai in the name of balance.

With every new form of soul, Quincy, Mod-Soul, Bount, Fullbring, Vizored, Arrancar, created, examined and slaughtered because it did not fit in with the Shinigami's narrow view of the world.

Somewhere inside of him,

the little boy who wanted to be a Jedi Knight when he grew up was slowly dying,

as Sōsuke came to recognize…

Sometimes the only person who could save the Universe,

was the Sith Lord.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The near extinction of the main house of Shiba was all that anyone seemed to talk about for weeks. It was a heavy blow to both the Greater Noble houses, but to the Military as well. Vacant positions in the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidō and Kidō corps were numerous enough as it was from the Quincy Massacre, to add the loss of so many Shiba was a devastating blow. Particularly since Jun'ichi Shiba had been the well respected taichō of the 5th Division for a very long time.

Sōsuke's disgust only grows when he discovers that the souls rapidly disappearing from the Rukongai are little more than a footnote in the Soul Balance Reports from the 1stdivision, and the hell butterflies that pass between Seireitei and the leaders of each cardinal patrol. The Quincy at least had a fighting chance, that they were already past the halfway point of their quota and had yet to lose a single Shinigami was proof enough that this was an even greater horror.

Kyō-kun protests as he is sealed at the edge of the 50th district,but Sōsuke knew that he would not be strong enough to do what he had to do underneath the spirits watching eyes.

He came close, so very close, to deciding to purposefully lose the competition. In the end he couldn't. Not because his pride would not allow him to be anything but the victor, but because for every Shinigami dutifully practicing their Shikai, Kidō and Zanjutsu, there were two others just laughing and shouting their kill count, using their superior Reiatsu enhanced bodies to grab the poor unfortunate souls and crush them in their bare hands… some doing worse… if they found the soul attractive enough.

He wins, sending over half the souls required of their part of the patrol gently into the night, quietly honoring them as best he could. Centuries later, when the thought of touching the sealed state of Kyōka Suigetsu was coveted by all of Seireitei, only Sōsuke would remember that the first ones to hold that honor were the 856 souls he executed on this patrol. Their lifeblood staining Kyōka Suigetsu's sealed blade red, Sōsuke silently making a promise on each falling drip. The congratulations of the rest of the patrol and the grudging words respect of the noble lady Miyako falling like poison into his heart.

He did not hold it against them, these poor indoctrinated children didn't know any better. Sōsuke knew who was really to blame. Perhaps, the Central 46 would understand what it cost to keep their precious balance, when their own blood painted their gathering chambers red. Somehow he doubted it.

In the future, when Ichigo would berate Byakuya Kuchiki for allowing Rukia's execution, he would not understand. No one who saw all souls as equal could ever understand just what it was that Byakuya asked of the Kuchiki Clan when he would wed Hisana, elevating a powerless Rukongai Rat to Lady of the Greater Noble House of Kuchiki. But if the iniquity reflected in Sōsuke's eyes was any indication… he thought he might have a good idea.

Across the campfire set up for the night Aizen allows his contemplative gaze to settle on Miyako Shiba, fiancée to the Head of the Shiba Clan.Not that she knew that at the moment, nor would she for a while, they were far enough out that even the fastest hell butterfly would take a month to reach them. Sōsuke didn't know what would cause her to step down as the fukutaichō of the 13thdivision, only to one day have her husband take the position with her as the 3rdseat somewhere around 110 years before Ichigo Kurosaki would set foot in Soul Society.

Claiming exhaustion, Sōsuke rises from his position at the fire and moves to the sleeping tents. Through the Complete Hypnosis he watches as Kaien Shiba quietly orders the Main House closed, and all of its contents cleaned before being placed in storage. There was just no point in living in the Main House, when every echo in the halls would remind the handful of survivors of all their kin that had not been so lucky. Sōsuke polishes Kyōka Suigetsu with a wry smile as the documents proving that the Shiba had falsified their claims of Aizomeya embezzlement to the Central 46 were boxed up without anyone the wiser and placed in a storage area of the Branch House.

Sōsuke had personally wrapped them in enough self-created Kidō to ensure that they were not identified properly… and to make sure that in the future, with the planned death of Kaien Shiba the downfall of the house of Shiba would be absolute.

The plan moves ever forward.

Even as Sōsuke looks backwards down the path he had trodden.

… and measures the number of steps needed to move forward, against those blood filled footsteps left behind him.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 22 : Just Another War on the Horizon

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Nearly a week after the massacre of the Shiba, and nearly a month after taking a Quincy arrow to the chest and falling a kilometer out of the sky and onto his head and surviving, Shinji Hirako awakes in the 4th division to discover that his taichō is dead, not from the battle with the Quincy, but that he had fallen into madness… and slain his own kin.

Through his mind the suspicious behavior of his taichō, and his odd request about Aizen Sōsuke reverberates… turning over in his mind relentlessly for the countless hours he is held hostage by Unohana-taichō in the 4th Division.

Suspicions which only deepen when he hears the nurses who are gossiping about Haku Aizome laying true Indigo, Orange Lilies, Rudbeckia , and Palm Leaves on Jun'ichi's grave. "Ah! Ami-chan don't say that, I mean surely some farmer from out in the Rukongai can't have known that the flowers he sent meant Blue, Hatred, Victory and Justice! I mean the True Indigo don't really fit."

The other Nurse giggles, "That's just it though, the Aizome were the branch house of the Aizomeya who grew indigo. They were a minor noble house that went way back with the Shiba until their main house went up in flames killing the whole main Aizomeya branch of the family and the Onmitsukidō found proof in the ashes that they were embezzling money from the Shiba. I bet anything he was thumbing his nose at the Shiba and meant "The Hatred of the Aizomeya has finally Succeeded in getting Justice.", you wouldn't know it since you're so young, but there was a big hush, hush, whisper, whisper, and some people thought that the Aizomeya had been framed, and then couldn't deny anything since they had no one on the Central 46 after the whole main house died."

Shinji can't help but agree that the whole thing is a big heaping pit of suspicious, but without even a shred of proof, he could do nothing… or could he?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Finally, after months of patrolling the 1st 50 districts of the East Rukongai, and the slaughter in the 50th to 80th districts, Sōsuke's quarter of the 13th division was on their way back to Seireitei. Kyōka Suigetsu gasps in surprise as he strolls along next to Sōsuke, the Complete Hypnosis still holding strong even after being active for three weeks straight now. Sōsuke merely raises an eyebrow and turns to the spirit, even as the perception of his division twists to negate the change to their senses.

Sōsuke smiles softly as Kyō-kun's dark purple eyes sparkle merrily in wonder, "Oh, Sōsuke! You will never believe what I just found! Quickly, as soon as I make the division hear a Hollow scream seem to come from the market ahead, seal me, rush over to the fruit vendor in the main square and release me."

Obeying the spirit's orders is as easy as pie… and capturing two Sternritter, the appearance mimicking twins, Loyd Lloyd and Royd Lloyd, as they fade into the back of the crowd, wary of being sensed by Shinigami? Even better than eating it... he feels Kyō-kun distract the rest of the patrol that had charged after him like the good little ducklings they were a petty vengeance against Miyako who's cries for them all to walk through the streets and not run like heathens goes ignored. All of his attention focused on the two Quincy who were out on a patrol of their own looking through the districts for any Quincy who made it to Soul Society and escorting them to Silbern.

Eventually, the two Quincy return to Seireitei, sneaking in wearing a the faces of Shinigami and side step down an alley to enter the dimensional breach. Aizen enjoys himself, gleeful as their transportation through the dimensional breach does not hinder the Complete Hypnosis, allowing him to spy on the goings on of Silbern.

It was interesting to be sure, but ultimately pointless. That part of the plan was so well defined, that having a way to see into the Quincy secret area gave no new information, however…

Kyōka Suigetsu smiles to himself as Sōsuke closes his doe brown eyes, head bobbing slightly back and forth. "The praise-song of the sacred emperor, beautiful, but painfully pretentious." The brown eyes crack open as the Shinigami shoots his zanpakutō spirit an amused grin, "Of all of the souls powerful enough to sit on the vacant throne in the sky, Yhwach will never be one of them. I wonder Kyō-kun, do you suppose the… prodigal son of The Soul King will ever realize just how many pieces of his soul are MIA, or that he no longer has the seed of eternity needed to take the throne of The Soul Society? Never mind the one for The Hell Verse or El Hueco Mundo."

Kyōka laughs, high and tinkling, pleasantly surprised by Sōsuke's sudden playfulness, glad that his Shinigami seemed to be letting go of his guilt and sorrow. With a grin on his plum colored lips he leans into Sōsuke, wrapping an arm around his waist, "I don't know Sōsuke~, according to the song-prophecy we have 95 years before his heart starts to beat again, and 185 before he is even capable of thinking, and by that time he is going to have a lot to think about. Not that it will do him any good, with this plan of yours."

Sōsuke doesn't say anything after that, and odd sense of peace settling over him. Whether it is from Kyō-kun's warmth seeping into his side, or the fact that people were resilient and could endure the most terrible of things for a short period of time…

In 200 years it would be over, the plan complete and Dekuyume's trial finished.

A short enough period of time for a man who would live forever.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He was excited. Gloriously, riotously, insanely excited. So ecstatic in fact that it took the full force of the Complete Hypnosis to disguise his excitement, it would be wildly inappropriate to appear even remotely excited to be sent on patrol of the living world after only being back in Seireitei for a day. More so since it was technically the 5thdivision's turn, and Sōsuke wasn't supposed to know about the Shiba massacre yet.

"I am sorry to ask this of you Sōsuke-kun. I can try to find someone else, but everyone else is either too new to the position to go, or has already gone recently.", Ukitake-taichō's worried voice broke through his excitement.

With utter honesty Sōsuke responded, "Ukitake-taichō, If I did not feel up to the task before me, I would have quit a long time ago"

And if it hurt just a little bit, that once again Ukitake-taichō with his fatherly flavor of Kiyoshi Higurashi, failed to hear the meaning behind Sōsuke's words… He would have plenty of time to get over it when he was promoted to fukutaichō of the 5thdivision on his return from the living world. Shinji Hirako passed his taichō exam and Sōsuke had no doubts that he had managed to stir up enough suspicion in the blonde that the only person he would consider as fukutaichō was Sōsuke.

It was amusing really, for all that Shinji believed in keeping his friends close and enemies closer, it was a double edged blade if you never took the time to get to know them. Beneath the Complete Hypnosis, Shinji would never realize that the person closest to him was not Sōsuke at all…

But for now… it was time to make himself a Hōgyoku.

Through the Complete Hypnosis of a unfortunate plus that found himself chained to his abusive parents after death, if only to prevent them from harming his little brother; Kyōka Suigetsu and Sōsuke watch as the aforementioned little brother gets into a stash of Quincy Hollow-bait as his parents loot one of the ravaged Quincy villages. With fervent eyes he watches as the boy crushes and scatters handfuls of the Hollow-bait into the river admiring the way that it bursts into color and sparks in the air that is still heavily charged with spiritual energy even after weeks had passed since the massacre.

As the crack forms in the sky to let the clamoring horde of Gillian Menos into the living world Sōsuke points Kyōka Suigetsu at the mirror in his room and calls out, "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu.", and steps into the pocket space, gently sliding the door shut behind him. Predictably, the Gillian spot the two adult humans first, gobbling them up. The boys are far more lucky, the living boy unknowingly led by the spirit boy to a hollow tree as he panics and runs away, the spirit boy's presence smothered by his proximity to the living boy as he curls up around his little brother trying to shield him from the Hollows.

In frustration, unable to sense the last two human souls in the area, and ravenous from the Hollow-bait, the Gillian Menos turn on one another, devouring each other until only one remains… and that one rapidly begins shrinking as it transforms into an Adjuchas. With a smile Kyōka Suigetsu opens the door to reveal the inside of the wagon the merchants used to transport their goods and the pretty mirror on its way to a noble's estate.

A quick glance over Sōsuke's black clad shoulder shows the ripples dissipating on the mirror. With a wicked smirk he is off, flying through the trees, the two boys would see none of the upcoming interaction between Sōsuke and the Adjuchas, but they would hear it and provide Sōsuke with all of the alibi he would need…

As he uses a mountain of Reiatsu to hold the Adjuchas Hollow in place, he allows the Complete Hypnosis to twist the perceptions of the two souls in the hollow tree. It had been such a tedious thing, to pull the living boy's soul out of his body gently without damaging his chain, just to show him Kyōka Suigetsu's release, before pushing the soul back in and using the 9th Rite of Kaidō (Succor): Iyashino Suimin, The Healing Slumber to give the boy good dreams that would easily smother and obscure the brief moment of fantastical truth he had witnessed. If it weren't a necessity for the plan, he never would have bothered. Waiting for all of the orange petals to fall from the orange glowing Kidō that hovered over the boys face while he slept had been tedious and boring.

Oh so carefully, he pulls out a deceptively fragile piece of paper from the folds of his Shihakushō. Dekuyume's command seal, upon which she had written, "I command that this soul never again do harm to her or those in our protection unless the harm would prevent a greater one from befalling them.", an infinity and a dimension ago… would be the core of Sōsuke's Hōgyoku…

And far more obedient than the original Aizen Sōsuke's had been if Dekuyume was to be believed…

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 23 : Just a Bankai

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Soul Society was a pretty chaotic place if you thought about it. Between the Kidō, the zanpakutō abilities, and the sheer number of souls and their respective Reiryoku moving around, strange things happened all the time. So when a paper thin wave of violet Reiatsu passed through Seireitei no one thought much of it when it appeared to do nothing.

There was considerably more surprise when the ripple returned like a returning wave, bringing indigo colored lotus flowers in its fragrant wake. Within the secret training area underneath Sōkyoku hill, Yoruichi and Kisuke had paused in their sparring match to watch the phenomenon.

Kisuke watched in curiosity and wonder, his mind going a mile a minute as he analyzed it as best he could with his senses absently wishing that he had something more to measure the phenomenon with. Grinning, as five Indigo Lotus burst from him one from each sensory organ: Ears, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, and Chest. The flowers circled him three times filling the air with their delicate fragrance, a quick glance at Yoruichi revealing that hers were doing much the same, their long stems and green leaves giving the flowers the appearance of spinning ballerina before they left fading out of existence as they chased the wave. Sharp gray eyes catching the slight vibration in the air, "Yoruichi-san, those flowers just transmitted themselves to the living world."

The taichō of the 2nd Division just arched one purple eyebrow and sent her best friend an unimpressed golden eyed stare, "Do I even want to know how you know that?" Because there were some things she just didn't need to know about what he got up to in his desire to understand the fundamental properties of the world. They worked without being understood, that was why no one had bothered before, and frankly a lot of the stuff he had done was borderline illegal and would get him thrown in the very detention cell he supervised if the old stuffed shirts in the Central 46 ever found out.

A hell butterfly arrives then, fluttering as fast as its little wings can carry it. Gracefully she holds her hand out to allow it to land on her outstretched finger. It was a summons to the first division for a taichō meeting, or to be more precise it was a message from Tessai letting the two of them know that the taichō had been summoned for a meeting and borrowed one of the hell butterflies of the Kidō Corps. It was fortunate, that the Gotei 13 was used to the Onmitsukidō knowing more than they were free to explain, because if the sōtaichō had asked how the second division knew that the phenomenon was migrating to the living world she would have nil to give him.

It probably helped that Sasakibe-san interrupted the meeting to inform everyone that according to the calculators and scale keepers in the 1stdivision offices… the balance between worlds had massively shifted towards the living world from both Soul Society andHueco Mundo, but only briefly and was already righting itself.

That was the good news, anytime a massive hollow incursion into the living world didn'tresult in an out of control reaction with more and more hollows pouring into the living world to see what the fuss was about was good news. There were three of them in the history of Seireitei, and all of them had been caused by the Quincy and their hollow bait. Dumb move, that.

Turned out the 3rdseat of the 13thdivision was out on patrol in the world of the living. It made her feel bad for Ukitake-san, no one knew why, but for some reason the 13thdivision had a hard time keeping its fukutaichō and 3rdseat positions filled… with a shift back and forth like that it was likely that Aizen-san was dead.

Dismissed from the meeting with orders, Yoruichi flickers into the 2nd division with shunpo, "Kisuke, gather up a squad and go to the living world to investigate. Ōmaeda, take yours and go check in with all of the noble houses and find out if the violet wave and indigo lotus is something they know about. Make sure that they know that no one is in trouble and no one will be asked to so much as resign at this point, we just need to know what is going on."

Kisuke bows to his best friend, "Take care Yoruichi-san", and like a ghost he leads his team out to the Senkaimon. With a sigh, she turns to disperse the rest of the Onmitsukidō. Really, they could call her the Goddess of Flash all they wanted, because Kisuke? It was so damn annoying, that he underestimated his ability the way he did, but he could stand in a room without a single thing to hide behind for hours, and you would never even know he was there unless he letyou know. He had performed enough assassinations for the Onmitsukidō doing just that… an effect she couldn't get at all without using her father's cat-transformation Kidō… really. There was a point at which being humble became a shame in stead a of a virtue.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kisuke directed his team to search through the wreckage of the abandoned Quincy village and the surrounding forest with hand signs. His finely tuned senses caught the sharp tang of Hollow-bait in the air and began composing a nasty letter in his head to the Kidō Corps for such an oversight, they were the ones who were supposed to secure all of the villages after transferring the Quincy to Soul Society. Of course, with their previous Grand Kidō Chief Magatama-san dead and Tessai freshly instated all of a week ago, not that Kisuke and Yoruichi-sama were supposed to know that, but no one should be surprised considering the strength of the bond of friendship shared between the three of them, and the Onmitsukidō so overworked searching through the wreckage too, it was a wonder this was the first incident…

Tracing the remnants of Reiryoku and Reiatsu through the air, he reads them like a story. One soul, of approximately the power of a standard plus in the village in the remains of the Quincy herbalist hut. One pair of footsteps in the sand, ash and burnt ground as they and the soul meandered to the small unnatural stream of water, a consequence of the Quincy execution. The open jar, with only crumbs of Hollow-bait remaining inside, abandoned at the waterside, the footsteps rushing away leading to… oh, well now that was a surprise.

Awkwardly Kisuke clears his throat, startling the two pluses kneeling together on the ground clinging to each other as if they hadn't seen one another in a long time. The two look up at him in surprise, the taller of the two grinning wildly, "You're alive! Wow mister, when tha plant demon said he was gonna steal your presents from everyone tha you'd ever met and all those blue flowers came outta me an ma brother we thought ya were dead."

The shorter plus just kicks the other in the shin, "Did not! I told ya ta hush-hush cuz I thought I heard im shout "Bankai!" Kisuke's eyes narrow in contemplation as he pieces the story together, there was just a few things that didn't fit. Fortunately the plus souls seemed to have mistaken him for Aizen-san and were content to just keep talking at him, because Kisuke was horriblewith children. You had to explain everythingto them and they were just so… soft, squishy and moist, how Tessai managed to deal with all the children on the Shihōin estate so easily despite his great size was a mystery…

The two boys finish pushing at each other arguing over who is right and the oldest one turns disturbingly worshipful eyes to Kisuke, "O'corse when I hears all those giant monsters pouring in out of the crack in the sky start eatin each other and you ran off, I thought you was dead then too. Didja hav ta sneak up behind us an throw us in the hollow tree so hard tho, ma brother's neck broke an he died. S'ok though, at least we're ta-gether again. So na hard feelins."

Kisuke nods, absently noting the remains of a hastily erected Reishi-mippuu, the barrier must have been a thick glowing yellow gelatinous blob if the lumps of Reishi on the ground were any indication. It was a logical plan for a Shinigami who had been in the 4th division first, and likely far more effective than any Bakudō the 3rd seat could cast and hold in combat against a Menos. Signaling one of the others to approach and mind the witnesses he moves on. As unreliable as pluses were, they were all the Onmitsukidō had at the moment, he turns away. Fleeing before they could do something crazy like try to hug him, Kisuke followed the heady mixture of lotus blossom and something that tasted like moonlight would if it were made out of Reiryoku.

One of the boy's shout of, "Whoa! What happened ta tha river?", giving further proof that the third seat of the 13th division had managed something that was nearly unheard of for a fukutaichō, never mind a 3rd seat Shinigami. There were a few explanations though, Kisuke himself had been shielded from much of the bias since he was friends with Yoruichi-sama, and no one told the heiress of a Greater Noble House No, she could not bring the two Rukongai rats she made friends with while visiting the Shiba Branch Estate for a wedding home… Kisuke doubted that he would be anywhere near as high in the Onmitsukidō and Gotei 13 without her patronage… Aizen-san was not so lucky, quite the opposite. What with the kerfuffle with the Aizomeya/Aizome anyone with a name relating to Indigo Dye was watched obsessively by the Onmitsukidō at the behest of the Greater Noble Houses…

…the second reason was less political, Urahara had skimmed through the man's dossier as he left, the information it contained stirring up a vague memory of his graduation exam and the young boy in the Kidō training field reaching Shikai all of a week after the Asauchi were handed out to his class… therefore it was possible that Aizen Sōsuke was just as quick to his Bankai as he had been to his Shikai… it was a bit embarrassing though, Kisuke had the benefit of the finest tutors a Shihōin Heiress could afford, and yet he was nowhere nearready to use Benihime's Bankai in battle, much less against what he was slowly beginning to suspect was an Adjuchas grade Menos… andwin.

It does not take him long to find the epicenter. All he has to do is follow the water. His feet make a soft squishing noise as he moves through the waterlogged grass, with its tiny rivulets draining downward into a small crater. Normally he would shift his weight at the appropriate moment to remove the sound, but the last thing he wants to do at the moment is startle the miraculously alive Shinigami sitting at the edge of the crater, dazedly watching the water run down. Kisuke tried not to let the fact that the Bankai had clearly taken a lot out of the 3rdseat, leaving him utterly vulnerable at the moment, and obviously not mastered, make him feel better about his own shortcomings… no comment on whether or not he succeeded.

Aizen Sōsuke does not look up as he approaches, and knowing full well, the danger of approaching a Shinigami who may be experiencing some aftershocks of his unmastered Bankai, Kisuke halts a small ways away. His sharp gray eyes take in the utter absence of water on the 3rd seat, barring where it soaks into his torn Shihakushō from the rivulets rushing past his seated form over the edge and into the slowly forming lake. The man's hot breath forms pale clouds in the cool air as he breaths.

Dazedly the man takes his glasses off, wiping them on his sleeve. Kisuke has seen thousands of souls in a moment of weakness like this and yet this instance of frailty looks as if it is… out of place on Aizen Sōsuke. He would almost call it contrived, but there is no denying the fear in the shinigami's eyes as he slides his glasses on and looks up directly at Kisuke. Goodness, he had Benihime guts deep in some souls before they looked at him with that level of white-faced terror.

The man's larynx bobs up and down as he swallows, his hand automatically reaching for his zanpakutō. Kisuke tenses, but only for a moment as the third seat catches himself, pausing to stare at his hand as if it had betrayed him. Slowly the Shinigami brings both of his shaking hands together and bows his head, "My… My a-apologies Onmitsukidō-san. I, am very shaken at the moment, I… did not mean to…"

Kisuke sighs, taking pity on the poor man, relaxing in spite of the vague sensation of something being out of place that quickly fades, buried under another mountain of observation as Aizen Sōsuke carefully rises to his feet, straightens his wet clothing and the sash holding his zanpakutō, being careful to not touch the hilt of the blade.

Through the glasses, Aizen Sōsuke's eyes are blown wide by fear as he bows to Kisuke, "I apologize, there… there was just no way to put down that hollow without releasing the Reiatsu suppressing Snowdrop seal… I… did I truly do so much damage to the balance that the Gotei 13 felt it necessary to send an Onmitsukidō after me?" He straightens up from his bow looking an adorable mix of utterly terrified and bewildered at the proposed estimation of his abilities. Kisuke can't contain his mirth and laughs. Yoruichi-sama and Tessai-san did say that he had a terrible sense of humor.

"I do believe that the hollow managed that all on its own Aizen-san, if it was an Adjuchas grade Menos as I suspect, you did well in removing your seal, there was just no way that a hell butterfly could travel to and from Seireitei for permission in time to prevent your death, we are short staffed enough as it is, no need to exacerbate the issue needlessly. Hopefully we will figure out a better way in the future to communicate between the living world and Seireitei, in the meantime we will just have to make the best decisions we can, even if that means using a previously unmastered technique such as a Bankai, no?" Kisuke grins to himself when the third seat steps back in alarm, mouth opening and closing as he tries to come up with something to say. With another soft chuckle and a swish of his hand through the air Kisuke lets it go. "It's fine, Aizen-san."

Pausing in irritation, to push his damp blond locks out of his face, the humidity in the air causing them to stick to his face and itch terribly. "You're actually pretty lucky in the end. I hear that Ukitake-taichō is generous in his protection of his subordinates, and Yamamoto-sōtaichō is lenient with him and Kyōraku-taichō since they were his students. I doubt you will get much more than a slap on the wrist for your actions, though I do need to escort you back to Seireitei for a debriefing… and I don't envy you the paperwork you will have to fill out over this."

Kisuke keeps his smile to himself when he catches the slight wince the man makes. No one loved paperwork. Sometimes he wondered if more people would be willing to admit to having attained Bankai… if the threat of said paperwork was not looming over them. After that it takes only a moment to walk back, and stamp the two pluses with the back of a zanpakutō for Konsō, no longer needing them now that they had a more reliable witness. Then they are on their way to Seireitei, the group that Kisuke had led to the living world remaining behind to collect evidence and finish examining the scene.

As the butterflies glide along in their fluttery way that is still forward even if it isn't in a straight line, absently wondering what it is that makes them do that, Kisuke glances through the corner of his eyes up at Sōsuke, mildly irritated that the man was an inch taller. It was terribly inconvenient, remaining intimidating when he had to look upat someone even if they were nearly the same height. He knew that most people weren't analytically inclined enough to make notice of the height difference, particularly when it wasn't the size of a soul that was dangerous but the Reiatsu they could exhibit. But damn it all, if the 3rdseat of the 13thdivision had managed to use his Bankai to purify an Adjuchas grade hollow, what did that say about Kisuke who was the 3rdseat of the 2nddivision and still hadn't managed to master Benihime's Shikai?

It didn't matter that the 13thdivision was as well known for its Kidō-type powerhouse zanpakutō as much as the 11thwas for its physical type, no matter how much Ukitake-san denied the accusation. "A Kan for your thoughts Onmitsukidō-san?" Carefully schooling his expression and utterly embarrassed to be caught lost in his thoughts, Kisuke pasted a, probably nervous, why was he always so easily flustered, smile on his face, and blurted out the first thing to cross his mind that had nothing at all to do with the apparent inferiority complex he was developing just comparing himself to the Shinigami leaving wet footprints in the hall behind them. See he was already one up on the man. Kisuke was both footprint free, and walking silently down the hall, and all without trying too! "Just contemplating the possible components of Hollow bait, why they only attract hollows when crumbled up and the counter-intuitive nature of a pellet made out of organic material attracting beings who only eat Reishi and Reiryoku."

He had meant to halt the conversation before the Shinigami could embarrass himself, babbling the way he had seen other nervous souls do when they were near a silent Onmitsukidō for a prolonged period of time, even though Kisuke was about as harmless as they came unless ordered to be otherwise, he was instead pleasantly surprised when the topic seemed to relaxthe brown eyed man and generate a well thought response!

The other Shinigami continues forward, noisy in his wet squishy footsteps. With a nod, and still facing forward, he responds, "Yes, I did as well. If you were at the battles with the Quincy, you may have seen pots with white chrysanthemums, and red spider lily..." Excited, Kisuke interrupts, "Yes! If they were feeding their gathered Reishi and Reiryoku to the flowers and then fermenting them before mixing them with an ingredient that generates heat when it is dry and crumbled…"

Sōsuke-san interrupts, taking over the dialogue, and, never before had Kisuke been left so enchanted. Was this what Yoruichi-sama and Tessai felt when he went off on one of his sciencey~ rants? No wonder they just let him talk and talk, nodding along. "The heat from the reaction would cause the Reishi barely clinging to the flowers after fermentation to release in a burst of uncoordinated Reiatsu with added keynotes of death and abandonment… which would be more than enough to lure in hollows."

Kisuke grins, feeling as if he had found a kindred spirit, only to be forced to part as he glances around and realizes that they were standing outside the doors to the taichō meeting hall in the 1st division. Feeling cheated, he watches as Sōsuke-san bows once to him with a quiet farewell and enters to give his report to the gathered taichō.

As Kisuke turns to the 2nd division to write his report, he can't help but wish there was more to this. At least then being deprived of Sōsuke-san's company would be of some merit, unfortunately that just wasn't the case.Interesting hollow skill aside, anyone with half a brain could put this together and come up with the same answer. Though it may take them a little longer than it had Kisuke, to realize that with Sōsuke-san's subterfuge based illusiony~misty Shikai, the observant man had taken his time to whittle down on the Adjuchas's overwhelming strength, only reaching for an untried Bankai when he was in the bestposition to do so. Oh what it must be like, to spar with someone else who clearly spent most of their match thinkingof the next move instead of just going on instinct.

Kisuke was kicking himself for getting so caught up in their conversation about Hollow-bait that he didn't think to give himself a reason to speak with Sōsuke-san later. It would be a poor choice, to try to use the incident, when it would most likely be classified the moment that the paperwork was all turned in. Perhaps the most aggravating thing, had been that Sōsuke-san's hands were still shaking when the two parted, and the walk there should have been more than long enough for the shinigami's adrenaline dump to stop and equalize… unless he had been less interested in the conversation than Kisuke which was depressing… or he had been that terrified that Kisuke would assassinate him even after his reassurances otherwise… which was… also depressing. The 2nddivision and Onmitsukidō may have a bad reputation for murder and sneakiness, but the Central 46 would hardly keep them around if they didn't keep their word or were disobedient.

With a sigh, Kisuke settles down at his desk and begins to write his report with half of his attention still on the puzzle that was Aizen Sōsuke.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was only years of close companionship that allowed Kyōka Suigetsu to tell that Sōsuke was barely holding himself together. Briefly he wondered if Sōsuke was feeling unsettled being the only person under the Complete Hypnosis once more, it took only a few minutes of observing his reaction to the 2nd division's 3rd seat Kisuke Urahara and his silly haircut to disabuse him of that notion. Whatever it was, it was the Onmitsukidō himself that caused it, and as Kyōka Suigetsu had seen everything that Sōsuke had through the Complete Hypnosis, and to the best of the spirits memory this was the first time that they had met in person… it was probably one of Sōsuke's insights.

It would have been interesting enough if it wasn't the first in a long while. That it was enough to render his Shinigami legitimately terrified? Well that was something else entirely now wasn't it. Particularly since Kyōka Suigetsu, for all the times he had manifested in this soul's grasp had only seen fear on his face a hand full of times.

The spirit glides along, invisible to everyone's eyes but Sōsuke's, as he is dismissed and ordered to submit his report to Ukitake by the end of the day tomorrow. Carefully he steps around Unohana as she stops her former subordinate to make sure he is all right. Finally feeling something other than fear, the exhausted Shinigami thanks her for her concern, and somehow manages to say that the hollow never even touched him without sounding like a braggart. With a promise to stop by the 4th division for a checkup before doing any training, Kyōka Suigetsu follows Sōsuke out of the 1st division and back to the 13th, both ignoring the suspicious eyes of Shinji Hirako the newly appointed taichō of the 5th division.

Hanakotoba

lotus : Far from the one he loves

white chrysanthemums, and red spider lily :

zanpakutō

Benihime : Crimson Princess

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Chapter 24 : Just an Old Hurt Rising to the Surface

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Sōsuke's hands were still trembling, even as he grasped Kyōka Suigetsu, settling the blade across his knees. Even as he entered Jinzen in the security of the Atelier, even as Kyōka Suigetsu cautioned against disappearing so soon after their return to Seireitei. Surprised, the spirit doesn't even have time to ask any questions when the two of them appear in Sōsuke's heart's home.

Wide dark purple eyes are staring up at the roof of his inner world before he realizes that Sōsuke had tackled him to the ground, the two of them an awkward heap in the shallow waterscape garden, hidden from view by the fragrant flowers stretched up above them. Unsure of what to do after a near eternity of knowing every facet of this soul, Kyōka Suigetsu simply lets his arms rest around the trembling shoulders of the soul with his face buried in the soft cloth of his chest.

If Sōsuke's previous internal world hadn't been an infinitely wide shallow lake, the spirit may have complained about the gentle current carrying the water past their partially submerged bodies, as it was he just waited with the patience of a being as old and ageless as the idea of Soul, and slowly Sōsuke's trembling stopped.

And then, with a single name that fell from the shinigami's lips with a poisonous benediction, he began to speak.

"Miyatsu, in another life, his name was Miyatsu."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Onigumo, After Kikyō's Death

The monk was back again, not that Onigumo cared to look, the holy magic buzzing like an angry hornet at the edge of his senses was enough to know he was there. He could only presume that Kikyō's imouto had asked for his aid. It was understandable, after the mess with Inuyasha, they probably didn't want a hanyō hanging around their graveyard haunting Kikyō's final resting place. Particularly one with the countenance of bandit that had been plaguing the area and wearing robes formed from miasma and spider yōkai silk.

Awkwardly, still unsure of his balance in this body that felt more like liquid than muscle and bone, Onigumo knelt, brushing the snow off of her grave with one hand, while in his other hand he carefully held the flowers he had scoured the whole of that dog's forest for now that winter was here. And oh how he wished to ravage that body lying unconscious but not dead. But the very arrow that pinned the dog to the tree in eternal sleep was also his guard. With so many yōkai underneath his skin, even subjected to his will as they were at the moment, Onigumo couldn't approach without being burned by the holy aura it still exuded even half a year after her death.

But no matter how much it burned, he found himself making the walk back every time. Even if the villagers saw him, even if looking upon Inuyasha stirred the yōkai in his chest to a violent frenzy, even if it burned… it was worth it, just to bask in what remained of Kikyō. And when the pain of Inuyasha, the rejection in the holy magic in the clearing of the god tree, and the fact that she wasn't therebecame too much, he would wander the forests and the fields around Kikyō's village. Pausing in his quest for flowers to lay on her grave only long enough to kill and adsorb the weak yōkai that heard rumors of Kikyō's passing, and thought to check for themselves if the Shikon no Tama was truly gone from the world.

Gazing down at the tiny white flowers he had pulled from their shelter in the roots of a tree deep in Inuyasha's forest, he ignores the footsteps that come closer. If the monk wished to purify him out of existence he would not resist. The yōkai under his skin seethe in anger at his refusal to defend himself, causing him to glow a soft purple with his magic. The footsteps stumble to a stop, and the wind shifts carrying the scent of winter, unwashed human and… Kikyō…

His head snaps up to look at the source only to find Kikyō's imouto staring at him in worry, a basket in each of her hands. One filled with offerings he has seen on some of the other graves and another empty. The girl child stares back at him fiercely with her one good eye, the one lost some time ago covered with a patch. He marvels for a moment at her lack of fear, even as her eyes take in the yōkai red of his own, unwilling to leave, but somehow not rude enough to make her wait to give her offerings to Kikyō, he turns back to the grave and shuffles over to the side. He leaves behind enough room for Kikyō's imouto, provided she is as unafraid to stand next to a hanyō as she was to glare at one with nothing but straw baskets to defend herself.

He never even looks in her direction, not as she comes forward, not as she lays her own offerings out, not even when she gasps in surprise. That changes when she has the audacity to reach out and tug on the sleeve of his Haori. With a flash of irritation that causes him to glow purple with his magic once more, and burn her fingertips where they touched fabric made out of his own poison. Sparks of soft yellow pink shoot up from her fingers when she gasps in surprise,it would figure that Kikyō's imouto would be a Miko as well, even if it seemed that she was untrained and pathetically weak when compared to her anesan.

With a huff of irritation, Kikyō's imouto looked up from her healing fingers and asked, "Please, Hanyō-sama, will you tell me where you found the Bone-set flowers? They are good for breaking fevers and I… I cannot heal the same way that Kikyō-oneesama could." Onigumo rises and walks away, ignoring her. She shouts after him as he disappears into the tree line, obscured by both the foliage and fresh snow as it slowly starts to fall from the heavy clouds overhead.

"That was a nice thing you did, even if it will take her a little while to realize you put the herbs in her empty basket." Blood red eyes dart over to the monk resting in the snow free area at the base of a tall tree. The bald monk nodded in greeting, rising from his seated position with a grace that belied his size, "I know you probably have your reasons for hanging around, but you should consider moving on soon."

Unimpressed Onigumo raised a single eyebrow, "And if I don't you will kill me I suppose? Purify my evil out of existence, or whatever it is that you tell yourself to absolve yourself of guilt." Shrewd gray eyes glanced up as he searched through his belongings for a hat to keep the snow off of his head. "Me? No, not really. I'm not the type to go out of my way to purify yōkai that aren't doing any harm. Buddha would be disappointed with me you see."

No he didn't actually. Onigumo turns and looks back the way he came, advanced eyesight able to pick up the retreating form of Kikyō's imouto as she heads back to the village, no reason to brave the snow storm now that she has the fever reducing herbs she was going to go into the forest to search for. "I'm getting ready to head south, you could come with me if you like." Incredulous, Onigumo turns back to the monk who stands ready to leave, his belongings strapped to his back, a straw hat on his head and his Shakujō in hand.

It was a testament to Onigumo's apathy, that with his enhanced senses he hadn't even heard the jingling of the rings on the metal staff. He wasn't quite sure what it said about him, that when the monk turned and walked away, Onigumo followed.

Perhaps he would be able to find some beautiful flowers in the south for Kikyō.

He would return only once, to lay flowers on her grave… a whisper of curiosity and confusion in his voice as he told her about the strange monk he had begun to consider…friend

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The holy man, and Onigumo used the term holy with derision and skepticism, was named Miyatsu. It seemed that on top of consorting with hanyō, the man also had no qualms with sins of the flesh, chasing after women in every village they passed through. Onigumo had grown up in a whore house, the behavior was nothing new, though if he had any sign that any of the Monk's numerous conquests were in anyway unwilling he would have killed the fool and been on his way… he saw enough of that before, both in the whore house and in his time as a bandit… it was fine then, just everyday living, but now, every time he thought about it, he imagined Kikyō and he just… couldn't stomach it anymore. The thought of her proud face twisted up in shame, imaginary as it was… it was just too much.

It wasn't all human villages and whispers about a lecherous Monk and his pet hanyō left in their wake. There were yōkai to fight as well, some Miyatsu purified, and others Onigumo adsorbed. If the Monk was disgusted by the process, it never showed, and somehow or another Onigumo found himself falling into a strange sort of camaraderie with Miyatsu, each vying for the most defeated… and sheltering the other when they were at their most weakest. And hadn't that been a surprise, the odd pressure under his skin that caused him to literally explode into a field of viscera a full year after after Kikyō's death, and every 30 days after that ever since…

And then came Kaguya. The Monk was not strong enough to purify her out of existence, and Onigumo had no weapons to use against her at all. Pitting an adsorption hanyō, against an absorption yōkai who had absorbed a Celestial Maiden was a very bad idea. Between the two of them, they at least managed to seal her away. It was as Miyatsu was resting from that fight, that Onigumo met a white baboon yōkai who would introduce him to the world of magic, or, at least teach magic to Naraku.

The albino told him that Onigumo was being held captive by the Monk, and used in the most terrible of ways, with a very subtle spell. But like all subtle spells, if you did things just a little bit differently they were not as effective. All Onigumo had to do was change his shape, from a man to a woman.

It was simple enough, and Onigumo saw no harm in it beyond when his perverted friend would likely try to cop a feel. He was certain, not only would he be able to spot the baboon's game before it became dangerous, but he would also be able to prove Miyatsu's innocence.

He was wrong.

After having a good laugh when Miyatsu awoke and embarrassed himself by asking his favorite question of Onigumo, "Beautiful Maiden, please bare my children?"

Onigumo spent nearly ten minutes laughing at the red faced monk when he realized just who it was he was speaking to. Onigumo found it hilarious that even after he knew, the monk's eyes still drifted inappropriately over his feminine form while they drank Sake, waiting for the monk's holy magic to recover from sealing Kaguya.

The alcohol did little to Onigumo with his hanyō physiology, but getting the monk uproariously intoxicated, a necessity to avoid going stir crazy in the small storehouse they were allowed to rest in on the outskirts of the village. Incredibly rude of the villagers after the two of them had saved the ungrateful humans from Kaguya, but it was more than Onigumo had expected with Miyatsu unconscious afterwards.

With a wry smirk at his lecherous friend, he grabs the hand creeping down his back towards his ass. "Do remember that I am a man underneath this pretty face Monk. I an not a prostitute sitting alone with a man and when I say no, I mean NO, and not no, pay me first."

Miyatsu did not listen.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Onigumo woke up sore, and disoriented. How had he fallen unconscious? He no longer needed to sleep nor was it time for his day of weakness… the last thing he remembered was an oddly sober Miyatsu staring into his eyes…

His hands shook, as he took in the holy burns on his arms, no.

Holy Burns in the shape of hands, no, please.

Holy Burns in all of the places needed to hold a struggling woman down,no… No!

Holy Burns the same size as Miyatsu's hands except for at his wrists, ankles, and mouth, which had perfect edges, like those of a paper Sutra, no, no, no, no, nononononono, NO!

And then he remembers.

The memories crash down on him, rapid and sharp, a thousand little knives across his already battered heart, there and then gone as another takes its place.

-the sudden change in the flavor of the Sake between one sip and the next, the flavor of magic-

-the near instant paralysis, the tickle of magic creeping over his skin and being unable to scratch it away-

-the sensation of hands laced with holy magic as he was pinned to the ground by Miyatsu-

…and then the burning, as the Sutra were applied to his wrists and ankles, leaving him helpless on the floor…

Too disoriented from the poison in his system to even think about shape shifting.

-Miyatsu's pleased sigh before… before-

-before the Monk he had trusted even during his day of weakness, betrayed that trust thoroughly-

-removing any doubt from Onigumo's mind that this had not been planned.-

"You know this would be much better if you were awake. Though you are quite a sight right now."

-Another well pleased sigh-

-a flash of terror, far greater than what he felt when he expected to burn to death in the fire that led him to Kikyō.-

"You will not like this at all… Myself on the other hand, I am going to enjoy this immensely, really I will. With all of the wriggling around you're doing, and all of the magic you're leaking out, I am going to have a fantastic time getting all of this in you and smeared across your skin."

-There would no Kikyō to heal him this time.-

-and no fire would burn away the taint on his skin-

-Miyatsu cuts his clothing off, not even kind enough to take off Onigumo's clothes properly-

-So that at least when it was over he would be able to wrap the clothes around himself like dignity-

-but Miyatsu had left them both in tatters.-

-Something thick is forced into his mouth-

-it's coated in something gooey and bitter-

-It's also gone before Onigumo can bite it off-

-A Sutra is placed over his mouth-

-and… and then Miyatsu, he-

"Good, that's a good girl, swallow that up now and I will take the Sutra off."

-he tried, he tried so hard not to obey, to reject whatever Miyatsu's thick fingers had pushed into his mouth-

-but then, then the Holy Manbegan lustfully caressing his bare skin-

"You know Onigumo, you have the most amazing pair of tits right now? It's not fair really, here I am, quite enamored, and this time tomorrow you will be a man again, depriving the world of your perfect breasts leaving the only proof of their existence imprinted in my memory."

-Onigumo choked on his own rising panic, convulsively swallowing the poison in his mouth-

-and then Miyatsu removed the Sutra, and Onigumo managed to reject it-

-but not all of it, not enough to prevent the heavy leaden feeling from settling in his bound limbs-

-He could only lie still, as the hands continued down his body to his ankles-

-A sharp flash of holy fire-

… and Miyatsu spread his ankles wide…

-before strengthening the Sutra once more and pinning his ankles to the floor-

-spread-

-What happened next… was blessedly brief-

-though he could have done without the commentary-

"You're lucky you're a woman right now, otherwise this would be utterly painful."

-it ended with a groan from Miyatsu, one he had heard a hundred times before through the thin walls humans built their homes with-

-The numbness at least spared him the sensation of hot seed spilling into his body-

-and the scent of it in the air-

-Onigumo thought it was over then-

-he was as mistaken about that as he had been about Miyatsu-

-The monk moved lower after he pulled out-

"Probably not necessary, but I probably should just for the sake of being thorough."

-no, Miyatsu, you shouldn't-

-that… was over just as quickly as the first-

…and still delirious from whatever it was Miyatsu had poisoned him with…

-as he heard the door to the shed open, all Onigumo could think about were insults to the man's stamina-

-in no time at all the monk returned-

… and with a gentleness at odds with the violation he had just…

-with humiliation, he felt a few hot tears slide down his face and back into his sweaty hair-

…he fell asleep as Miyatsu used a soft cloth and the water from the river to bathe Onigumo…

-gently removing the Sutra binding him to the floor, before patting them clean with the rag-

-the only proof that anything had happened at all the next morning would be the unusual soreness in his body-

… and the partially healed holy magic burns on his body.

With a groan of pain, cut soul-deep, Onigumo looks up from his shaking hands and stares at the Monk sleeping like a guard dog against the wall.

Without a comrade, without Kikyō, without purpose… Onigumo finds that there is no reason for him to remain. But he was still angry at the yōkai under his skin for their part in Kikyō's death... and he had no interest in allowing Miyatsu an easy death… His last act as the strongest soul in their collective, is to launch himself across the room, lifting the monk by the robes with one hand and pinning him to the wall.

Startled gray eyes stare back into hateful red as he leans forward and with a man's deep voice he whispers, "This Naraku will hate you until the end of time… every happiness you find, I will appear and take it from you, and when you least expect it, I will be back to curse you so thoroughly the children you so desperately want will feel it."

And Naraku did, eventually cursing Miyatsu with a curse used by yōkai courtesans to protect themselves from rapists… or avenge themselves after the fact.

Miyatsu died from it, the wind tunnel in his hand widening with each time he molested a woman until finally it was big enough it could no longer be sealed… and it swallowed him whole… proof enough that the holy manhadn't learned that no meant No.

When he saw that Miyatsu had been reincarnated as his own grandson, Miroku, and took note of the curse in his his hand, he was left wondering how many times the rapist would reincarnate before he learned that lesson.

Hanakotoba:

Bone-set flowers : no meaning - Medicinal

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Chapter 25 : Just a Fukutaichō

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Sōsuke said nothing about the memory after he shared it, nor did he say anything about it after they left Jinzen and the Atelier. There were no comments about having a memory from the incarnation before Dekuyume, or how similar Naraku/Onigumo was to the hollows of this dimension.

The next morning he got up, smiled brokenly at Kyōka Suigetsu and then went off to go "discover" that he had been promoted to fukutaichō of the 5th division while he was out on patrol of the living world. The Shinigami visited with Unohana, walking through the displays of her latest Ikebana contest, and when he was asked about his melancholy, he simply blamed it on exhaustion. Kyōka Suigetsu presumed that it was true enough in the end, even if the exhaustion Sōsuke was referring to was soul-deep and inherited from a previous incarnation… But as always, what Sōsuke said and what he meant were misunderstood.

The most disturbing thing was that all of the spirit's usual antics were not enough to bring a genuine smile to his shinigami's face, and people were starting to notice just how fake it was… so perhaps it was for the best that Sōsuke was so often misunderstood. Even after taking the time to give a demonstration to the 5th division about the power of his zanpakutō, and the consequential collection of the 5th division and their Taichō into the second incarnation of the Complete Hypnosis, Sōsuke was still subdued. Not even a visit with Ukitake and an impromptu spar with the taichō, and subsequent collection of the 13th division as well was enough.

Kyōka Suigetsu knew in theory that rape was a traumatic experience, but he was a program generated by The Soul King, and expressed as Kyōka Suigetsu through Aizen Sōsuke's soul. If such an insult had been done to this soul, it was before Kyōka Suigetsu had ever manifested. He couldn't seek outside help either.The only other person he would ever meet was his Shinigami, even if he used the Complete Hypnosis to speak with someone else, he couldn't ask anyone for advice on how to help him without betraying Sōsuke's trust. What would he even ask if he did? How did you help someone recover from a rape that had happened to a previous incarnation and not themselves. Was it even something you recovered from, if it was wedged in your soul so deeply that it still affected you even after being reincarnated twice since it had happened to your soul?

All he could do was wait, and cuddle with his Shinigami when the hurt man allowed it. Sōsuke avoided all of Urahara's attempts to meet, rapidly bringing more and more souls in Seireitei underneath the hypnosis. Sometimes even doing so recklessly, thankfully one of the members of the 4th division, that Hanatarō boy if Kyōka Suigetsu recalled, diagnosed Sōsuke with PTSD. What that stood for the spirit didn't quite know, he was just grateful that it stopped Urahara from appearing at random places and trying to make conversation with Sōsuke and served as an excuse for every time that Sōsuke rudely entered Shikai without provocation.

Eventually it was Ukitake that took Sōsuke aside. He was probably the best to do so, not because Sōsuke still vaguely thought of the other Shinigami as a father, but because of the tea… of all things. Subtly, so much so that Kyōka Suigetsu was barely aware of doing so, he enhanced the scent and taste of the lavender and chamomile tea as the two Shinigami spoke. Blessedly, his overly tense Shinigami finally relaxed.

In the end, it wasn't just the plan that let Sōsuke accept a turn as a guest speaker at the Shin'ō academy, but the warmth that seeped into his bones from the soothing tea. One that remained long after the Shinigami spoke to the class about how important it was to keep up with all of your skills, and not just the ones you were good at, citing his recent fight with an Adjuchas grade Menos. It didn't matter that most of it was a complete lie. It seemed that the act of speaking at all was enough to let Sōsuke get himself back under control.

A short time after that Sōsuke began teaching a class in calligraphy and could often be found assisting the teachers with their field trips, all while fulfilling his duties as the 5th division's fukutaichō so thoroughly, that Shinji had no leg to stand on if he were to voice his suspicions. Kyōka Suigetsu found it adorable really, how much teaching beings he considered so inferior to himself, soothed some of his Shinigami's remembered hurt. It was just so ironic that he taught a class on calligraphy, but was most sought out for his ability to help students struggling to reach Shikai. It was more ironic that the very nature of Kyōka Suigetsu made it easier for the recruits to hear their zanpakutō's name… but only after they had surrendered their freedom to the Complete Hypnosis.

Not even the humor of seeing the paired insight of a toddler with a pacifier wearing a giant hat labeled Jr sitting on Yamamoto's left shoulder, and a massive horned giant that towered above them slightly to the right; or the insight of [Yama-daiō, Primary Operator of The Spirit World, the first soul born in every dimension, personality varies widely with incarnation, observe carefully]. Nothing seemed to shake Sōsuke out of his mood, only remarking that now they knew why Yamamoto was the strongest Shinigami alive after Sōsuke... he wasn't even being prideful when he said it, he was just stating facts. Who would have thought that there would come a day that Kyōka Suigetsu preferred an arrogant asshole Sōsuke over the quiet man left in his place.

It is only after a decade as the fukutaichō of the 5th division, and 5 years after he is no longer under the observation of the Onmitsukidō that they step into the Atelier once again. And Kyōka Suigetsu is so very worried, when instead of making a sharp turn, taking up his paints to begin composing the portrait of Miyatsu and Urahara or even Yamamoto and Yama-daiō as he had done for all of the other reincarnations he had identified, the Shinigami ignored the paints and stayed only long enough to collect the Hōgyoku from where they left it the night it was created. Gleaming softly in the false light of the Atelier, the Hōgyoku sleepily greeted Aizen Sōsuke, the colors spiraling as it sat atop his writing desk.

It was only near the end of the approximate window for the next step in the plan that Sōsuke managed to move on, going back to his painting and all of the other outlets of expression the spirit had taken for granted.

Kyōka Suigetsu was glad for what happened next, he didn't think that Sōsuke would have ever recovered otherwise.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He should have started conducting experiments on hollowfication for his future Arrancar army… if he were Aizen. But he wasn't, and so when he went on patrol of the living world, wrapped the 3rd seat he was supposed to be training in the Complete Hypnosis and watched as the hypnotized Shinigami went on his way, he did not have a convenient hollow to open a Garganta to El Hueco Mundo.

He could have easily just wished a portal open with his Hōgyoku, he could feel it's willingness to help emanating through the layers of his Shihakushō… and he would have if he still felt like Sōsuke.

He was still Sōsuke, he knew that… he just didn't feel it. For the last ten years his mind had been haunted by nightmares of Naraku, his similarities to Aizen… and the similarities between the Shikon no Tama and the Hōgyoku… That was why, even if it would have been easier to just use the damn thing, Sōsuke chose another way. If only to prove to himself that Urahara and Naraku held no power over him.

It is a simple matter to find a canyon wide enough, and just as simple to embed two Reishi molded wooden beams half way up on each side of the canyon. It was harder to get the words out, knowing that one day it would be Urahara that invented them… but he knew that he was strong enough for this. From the ground, he holds his hands out, Reiatsu stretching from them to the wooden posts as he chants, "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black-haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis. 10th Rite of Kaidō (Bridge): Keikaigi, The World-Tying Rite"

The Garganta opens and fearlessly Sōsuke shoot through before it can collapse.

Once inside he nearly falls, slapped in the face with another memory.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The memory vine inside the soul currently identified as Aizen Sōsuke was a twisted, shriveled scarred up thing. Memories were supposed to remain inside of it, and yet, each prompt from the GFMD-COM was like a tiny little aphid, sucking out those memories and releasing them to settle in with the rest of the ones that belonged to Aizen Sōsuke alone.

The only healthy parts of the plant were those that had fallen off entirely allowing for new growth in its place. With The Soul King still away, the Left hand asleep in Ukitake, the right consorting with the Quincy along with the revoked heart… there was no one at all to take note…

The new growth of Aizen Sōsuke's memory vine, shared no resemblance to a memory vine at all…

If Kurama had been given a chance to look at it, he would have immediately identified it as dodder… a parasitic vine also known as strangle-weed But this wasn't just a run of the mill plant, it was one of the many seeds the reincarnation Kami planted in a soul during reincarnation.. but this one wasn't one planted in a soul often, and it wasn't feeding on the memories stored in the memory vine.

The near complete emptiness of the Garganta shakes another half-dead branch off of the memory vine along with its contained memories. As Aizen Sōsuke remembers, another tiny curl of the parasite grows in its place.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Void, Sometime between Never and Forever

There was nothing to touch in the void, no sensation but his own hands upon his twisted flesh.

There was nothing to hear or see in the void, no eyes to meet or voices to scream but his own.

There was nothing to taste in the void, nothing but the bitter resentment he had been choking on for so long.

There was nothing to smell in the void, nothing but the stench of his fear as it finally faded into exhaustion.

There was no time in the void, but always enough time to think, to dream, to remember, but never everrest; the perfect misery of an eternal moment without anyone to share it with.

There was no hunger in the void, at least nothing that was not already so deep inside him it was never going to come out. And it had not; shewas there still, behind his eyes haunting his memories, the only part of herthat would ever truly be his.

He closes his eyes against the all consuming blackness of the void, folding them into his abominable flesh as he pushes the memories away. They come back quickly; waiting and remembering was all he that had left. Clearly time out wasan effective, legitimate punishment for his crimes. He had doubted it in the beginning, when the toddler of a Spirit King had made his judgment. Irredeemable they called him, absent of virtues, loveless. Loveless? Fools. He loved her, no matter how they claimed it only greed, lust and obsession. He does not remember what he said then, though he imagines it was appropriately sharp.

He also remembers raging as they cast him into the void; the white-hot fury coats his memories of tearing apart the film like barrier that had held him separate from everything else. He remembers the strain on his form as he bent and twisted and toreand adsorbed. But eventually the space grew so big that he could not reach the edges and… not even he could rage forever without someone to vent it upon.

With the endless solitude of the never/forever time of the void, the rage had fallen easily into bargaining. He was so very goodat twisting words to suit himself. But the Kami were not listening and so he turned to the Shikon though he knew it was not there to hear him. It was a secret he had carried deeply in his heart, while shecould seethe jewel; he could feelit, an indistinct vibration like an insect thrashing pointlessly in his web. Though… it never did give him what he really wanted. Eventually he ran out of words and pleas and offerings, allowing a deep sorrow to settle in his heart. It was nothing new.

He had carried the burden of sorrow through all of his lifetimes. Here in the void he remembered every life he had lived clearly; the picture was bleak and only ever got worse when he became a yōkai. He was always forsaken, a thief and a deceiver, a killer and oath breaker, a monster and a destroyer; no love and less kindness except from her, only her, only ever her. No wonder that at the edge of forever he still carried herin his heart.

Shewas such a pleasant dream to his mind plagued by nightmares and memories of cruel words and violent hands. He would not give herup; he would nevergive herup. Not to the fools who followed in herwake as her samurai armor shone like a beacon in the night, or to that damned dog who hounded herthereafter.

And if he could not have herlove then he would have herhate. It was all too easy to become her nemesis and he did it every time she denied him, no matter the havoc shewrought on his heart when her kindness faded into cruel words and burning sacred magic. Even at hercruelest, shewas still the kindest to ever lay a hand upon his battered soul.

But what was he supposed to do? He had tried everything he knew to win her, and it was never enough. In every lifetime they had met it had never worked, but he yearnedfor herstill. It was an embarrassing weakness, but no matter how many times shekilled him he would always return, because it was only ever herthat gave him any form of peace.

And he would be at peace once more; their paths had crossed in three lifetimes so far; it was only a matter of time before he saw heragain. But... forever was such a long time to miss someone who never missed you back. The sorrow eventually faded into a brief moment of acceptance and then, only exhaustion remained as he floated into eternity; so tired. He was so tired of everything; of everything but her.

Hanakotoba:

Lavender and Chamomile : Faithful energy in Adversity

dodder : Strangle-weed : Cruelty, Baseness, Parasite

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 25 : Just an Arbitrator

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Sōsuke comes free of the memory with Kyōka Suigetsu shouting in his ear, desperately holding the two of them up on the Reishi platform he created in the Garganta. With an exhausted smile he thanks the spirit before leading them forward and into El Hueco Mundo.

It was strange, to realize that the realm of Hollows was some sort of dimension-ship, one that had possessed a master of its own before it was defeated and became the possession of The Soul King. From what Dekuyume had told him, it was possible for the domain to seek out a Kami of its own, but for whatever reason El Hueco Mundo and The Hell Verse had chosen not to and instead remained the possessions of the Soul King.

With a flash of humor, something he hasn't felt in quite some time, and so decides to share with the spirit who had been by his side regardless of his temperament, Sōsuke tilts his head and smirks at the spirit. A flash of guilt when the spirit lights up with joy pushed aside. "Kyō-kun, when I was still deprived of my memories, but not the plan, I once considered myself very god-like. Something along the lines of Kyōka Suigetsu being a blade worthy of a god, your Shikai needing the mind of a god, and your Bankai needing the power of a god."

The spirit snorts and laughs, "Is that so? Well, since we came here to figure out where Las Noches is in this dimension, why don't you show me this god-like power of yours. It's not like anyone in Seireitei will be able to tell that the massive power spike in Hueco Mundo's soul mass is from a Shinigami and not a Hollow." For the first time since he awoke in the Kidō Corps garden a century ago, since the programs of The Soul King whispered in his soul to control his Reiatsu, Sōsuke let go of his control and stretched.

It was pure euphoria. He could feel everything, every grain of sand beneath his feet telling a story of the mask and hollow from which they were from. Every petrified tree, the story of Hueco Mundo under their first Kami, out and out, farther and farther until he could even feel the composition of the moon in the sky and discover that it was no moon at all, but a permanently open byway, directly to the soul king's palace… and somewhere in The Hell Verse.

The moonlight, bright enough to illuminate all of El Hueco Mundo, carried with it all of the Reiryoku needed to feed every being that called the continuously changing sands home. And the dark hole that pierced that infinite blessing, carried the scattered Reishi of every soul that allowed itself to be ground to dust by the Kushanāda of hell.

It was a river of Reishi and Reiryoku pouring out of the bridge between each of The Soul King's seats of power, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Everything else just seems to blur slowly out of existence.

He could… just… stare at it … for eternity… and feel… the whole world… unfold… like a flower… newly given… life… beneath its glow…

Slowly his eyes open and he realizes that at some point during his stretch he had collapsed backwards to lay on the soft sand. His head was in Kyō-kun's lap, the spirits eyes turned up at the moon and fingers running soothingly through his hair. Sōsuke just relaxed, staring up at the moon with his zanpakutō spirit, enjoying the quiet hush of all the hollows terrified into silence for leagues around, and the soft scratching on his scalp. Quietly Kyō-kun speaks, without ever glancing down. "I was worried for a while there. You… are a great deal stronger than I expected you to be. You nearly shook yourself apart with the amount of Reiatsu you've been internalizing for so long. The only reason we survived at all is well… take a look for yourself."

Sōsuke slowly sits up, worried by the spirits words, but still so very relaxed. With wonder, his eyes catch on something he missed in his prone position. The two of them were at the bottom of a crater, massive sand dunes pushed up around them and the Hōgyoku, floating independently, the orb floating in the center of the cube blazing with color that scatters around the bottom of the crater as the light passes through the prism surrounding its core.

Reflected in the light is a boy with almond shaped red eyes, gravity defying hair, western clothes and a sword Sōsuke knows, knows would kill anything with a heart in just one cut… "Shikon-chan…" The laughing apparition, with humor shining in his eyes smirks bringing a hand up one finger extended in the universal sign for silence….Or secrets.

Sōsuke walks over and kneels, wonder in his face softening his eyes with an innocence he would have sworn he had lost somewhere along the way. Shikon-chan in the guise of Hiei appears to sigh, looking… not exasperated, but hesitant and sad. The apparition shakes its head, the white crest in his gravity defying hair bobbing back and forth with the motion. Gently, Sōsuke reaches out, his hand passing through the apparition only to grasp the hovering jewel.

Anything that would have happened afterwards is lost as the ground beneath Sōsuke's feet erupts in a haze of sand… and all the ambient Reiatsu is wiped out of existence in the blink of an eye. Sōsuke tumbles forward, tipping parallel to where he knows the ground should be, strange pillars of Hollow-white appearing like ghosts in the sand storm, and odd potholes and craters in the ground beneath his feet, as he is forced to use Reishi molding to maneuver himself around obstacles sliding along as he makes the bottoms of his feet slippery… because he cannot stabilize his Reiatsu enough to use shunpo. A tendril of alarm curls in his chest.

If he hadn't spent every waking moment since the academy training his brain to keep track of so many pieces of information at a time, he would have failed. As it was he could tell that Kyō-kun had restricted the effect of the Complete Hypnosis to Sōsuke alone. A brief thought about having to deal with the 3rd seat he was supposed to be with at the time passes his mind and then he was safely on the ground, mildly disoriented as the ground reorients in the correct position, standing on the edge of the crater he had just been in the bottom of.

Through the haze of falling sand he sees what attacked him. There up in the sky, airborne from the force of its lunge, back lit by the moon was a massive Hollow. Sōsuke's body breaks out in goose-bumps as the massive wyrm-like hollow curves in the air. The pillars he had dodged earlier revealing themselves to be the base of massive spines curving out of its body in all directions, some long, some short and others jagged and broken. But the potholes and craters he had observed as he slid down its side… were masks, hundreds of thousands of masks worn on the hollow like individual wyrm scales.

The hollow was stronger than he was… so much so that Sōsuke could not sense it's actual power level, only it's killing intent. It begins to fall out of the sky, gravity pulling it back down. It comes at him face first in slow motion and to Sōsuke's horror he realizes there had been no eyes in the masks he ran over… and there were none on the gaping maw opening above, spreading open with a four way split unhinging jaw, revealing thousands more masks, these all jagged and broken giving the impression of hundreds of rows of teeth.

The burning of the Hōgyoku in his hand and Kyō-kun's screams to move! Allow him to shunpo out of the way, barely managing to escape the hollows Reiatsu consuming aura, darting through the spines crashing down overhead as the massive hollow crashes back into the sand as if it were water. The shunpo should have taken him well out of the way, but the closer the Hollow got to Sōsuke the more Reiatsu it absorbed from the air.

Quickly he pulled out the Hōgyoku, only to find the massive amount of power it had absorbed from Sōsuke's stretch… was all expended, adsorbed by the hollow. Sōsuke senses it turning beneath the sand… more by the complete absence of Reiatsu left in its wake than any sense of the hollow itself, as he realizes that there was nothing he could do to kill this hollow.

He hadn't seriously trained… ever, not the way he needed, to be able to defeat something like this. Even during his time at the academy, he was more focused on being able to use his Shikai and fight at the same time. Everything he had worked towards was bent towards the utilization of the Complete Hypnosis. Things which could not be hypnotized could instead be beaten down with his modest skills or crushed or pinned to the nearest solid surface by Sōsuke's massive amount of Reiatsu while he destroyed it with Kidō. But not this hollow that would eat any power Sōsuke dared to touch it with. Not this hollow without a single eye to fall under Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis.

Softly, he speaks the incantation of a Kidō, the poetry steadying him with its unspoken reminder that a Shinigami with time to speak a Kidō incantation, was nowhere near defeated, "Beginning of the end, Ending of the Beginning, the eternal spiral, where all things meet and all things part, the serpent bites its tail, ending its beginning, and beginning its end as infinity slips through its coils. Bakudō #56: Sentan Hakuja, The Thousand-Coil White Snake", teleporting thousands of miles away from the wyrm, the furthest point he could sense from the crater. Immediately upon arrival Sōsuke suppresses his presence down lower than he has ever tried before. And Dekuyume Kami of battlefields does it burnto go from having his Reiatsu so free to nearly smothered. His vision blurs and his breath comes in gasps, his heart fluttering in his chest under the strain.

Together with the spirit at his side, the two of them watch as the wyrm once more breaches the sand, arching and twisting into the sky, the sand falling from its body an iridescent cloud in the moonlight. The flat expanse of Hueco Mundo and vast size of the wyrm easy to see, even from so far away. It was oddly beautiful now that they were far enough away they were not in danger.

But they were. With unerring accuracy, the hollow turned in the air, it's head pointed in their direction as it crashed once more into the ground, and on the edge of his senses, no Reiatsu but all threat, Sōsuke could feel it moving towards them beneath the sand. Again, he uses the thousand coil white snake to evade.

This time when he arrives at his destination, he moves, suppressing his Reiatsu and running across the sand. It still finds him. Again he teleports away, this time he lands on one of the petrified trees and uses shunpo to launch from one to another without ever touching the sand.

That does not work either. A fourth time he teleports, to some nearby mountains within his sensory range, quickly trying to set up another Garganta, but the wooden poles made out of Reishi dissolve with the proximity of the hollow, and he just doesn't have enough time.

The fifth time the hollow reaches him he just runs on the rocks of the mountain range, in hopes that it was the teleportation or the minuscule amounts of Reiatsu he was using. It wasn't, on the hollow's downward pass he was forced to teleport again.

His body was beginning to ache from suppressing his Reiatsu only to let it free again to keep himself conscious in the hollows proximity. His mind was even worse, Kyō-kun had already retreated from Shikai back into his sealed state to free up Sōsuke's cognitive process. But all Sōsuke could think about was the next attempt… and how likely it was that he was going to die here, two centuries before Yhwach, before the Soul King was incarnated, before Dekuyume's trial was over…

With a panicked laugh he tries to come up with something, anything as he teleports away once more. But the only thought that crosses his panicked mind is,this wasn't part of the plan, why? whywasn't this part of the plan, this would be so easy to deal with IF IT WAS JUST PART OF THE PLAN!

In desperation he keeps teleporting, each time throwing a new Kidō into the mix to disguise himself, to hide his presence, some of which were standard for Shinigami, others which he had invented on his own and a handful that hadn't existed until Sōsuke began fleeing for his life. And when that fails, because of course it does, when has luck ever been on his side without being forced into submission with a perfect plan?, he teleports several times in a row to the nearest Vasto Lorde grade Menos he can feel, grabs the startled hollow by the mask and throws it into the gaping maw of the wyrm hot on his heels.

The Vasto Lorde dies with a soft crunch as the wyrm's mouth closes, spines wiggling threateningly with the ferocious force of the bite.. It was the first time that it entered the sand with its mouth closed, but he hears it turning in the sand this time, a soft grinding noise as the hollow's broken mask shaped teeth whirl around in its maw turning the Vasto Lorde it ate into a pulp before swallowing.

With a wordless cry of anguish, rage and fear, Sōsuke prepares to use the thousand coil white snake again as it rises underneath the sand below Sōsuke's feet. Until he is grabbed from behind.

"Don't move, don't speak, don't react. You are a rock, you do not care if a hollow throws you into the air, you do not care if you hit the ground hard, you are a rock, not prey… Only prey runs." The man whispers with authority in his ears, arms locked tightly around his chest, Sōsuke takes a deep shaky breath and relaxes into the man's grip, heart going a thousand miles a second in his chest.

Beneath their feet the ground explodes tossing Sōsuke and the man holding him into the air. The two of them crash into the wyrm's spines bouncing off and back into the ground. The man lands first, leaving Sōsuke facing up, eyes wide as other debris falls down around the two of them.

The wyrm arches in the air.

The man's arms tightening around Sōsuke in warning.

And then it begins to fall.

Sōsuke's hands convulsively grip the arms holding him.

One kilometer away Sōsuke can clearly see the outline of the crescent moon behind it's falling form

500 meters away that is no longer the case.

250 meters away Sōsuke numbly realizes that the spines of the hollow are clear from this angle, causing the light flowing through them to radiate outward giving the wyrm a halo as if it were an angel and not death.

100 meters away Sōsuke relaxes because even if he started the thousand coil white snake now, he would not escape, the realization was startlingly peaceful even if it meant utter failure.

50 meters away he thought he might know how Dekuyume had once managed to count all of the hell butterflies in the Kidō Corps garden. There were 1,689,543 broken pieces of mask in the wyrm's mouth masquerading as teeth.

10 meters away there was an odd hum in the air, and as the hollow finally, finally, finally, crashed into the ground…

It passed right through him as if it was one of Kyō-kun's optical-only illusions, disappearing under the sand as if it was water and moving farther and farther away until it's killing intent simply vanished entirely.

Behind him, the man that saved his life lets out a gasp of air, the breath that he had been holding as the wyrm fell towards them, relaxing bonelessly into the undisturbed sand. With a gasp of exultation Sōsuke turns in his arms gripping his savior in a hug, laughing and crying, tears smear in the dust that had gathered on his glasses. The man hugs back, rubbing his back gently as sand continues to fall out of the sky from where it was shaken off of the wyrm.

A woman clears her throat behind them, her voice tinged with humor as she asks, "I hate to have to ask this, but you aren't trying to steal my Kami are you Sōsuke?" In surprise Sōsuke rises, taking a moment to clean his glasses. When he puts them on, he is astonished by what he sees… A young woman in a white western style dress and a jeweled pearly white masquerade mask perched on her head like a hat, has an arm around the man that saved him, though he supposes man is a bit of a loose word to apply.

Sarah Williams grins and waives, the insight of an old woman standing behind her and [Sarah Williams, Kami Consort to Jareth, The Goblin King of The Labyrinth., she… taught me how to read and held my hand when no one else at the orphanage would.]

And next to her was Jareth with his crazy eyebrows quirked and a mischievous smirk on his face, in double vision, the echo appearing exactly the same as he did, [Jareth, The Goblin King of The Labyrinth, derived minor Kami of matter and soul, mostly expressed with crystals and Illusions, Currently serving as the Arbitrator for the Trial of Dekuyume.]

Jareth spoke, and they were not the words of greeting he would have liked to hear, "I have saved your life now, as you once saved mine. The debt between us is clear. Goodbye Sōsuke Aizen." Something must have shown on his face because Sarah Williams looked up to her Kami with a pained expression. Jareth sighed and with a muttered, "You have 2 minutes, we are in enough trouble as it is for interfering when we should have been long forgotten.", before stalking away on long legs. The further he walked from them the more he appeared to be disappearing into the moonlight of Hueco Mundo like a dream.

What came after was a 2 minute hug while she tried to explain as much as she could, and then like a child spirited away in the night by The Goblin King, she too disappeared, leaving Sōsuke alone in the moon lit desert of Hueco Mundo.

He collapses into the sand, knees and hands press into the fine particles. But that doesn't stop them from shaking. Fear again, and this time from something that happened in his own lifetime. Not all of the words of the original Aizen were arrogant drivel. "Trusting someone means relying on them. Only the weak do that.", being an excellent example of idiocy, his relationship with Kyōka Suigetsu was counter-proof enough of that folly. But, "Fear is necessary for evolution. The Fear that you could be destroyed at any moment.", was most assuredly not the blitherings of a fool with too much power and not enough heart.

And Sōsuke was afraid that he could be destroyed at any moment, not because of the wyrm. As long as he never unleashed his power in Hueco Mundo, keeping it to the level of a powerful Vasto Lorde and not a Kami, the ancient Hollow would never consider him worth moving to eat.

He was afraid because Dekuyume had been wrong, this was not a Judicial trial to prove her innocence….

It was a Herculean Trial…

And Sōsuke had no idea what you became when you succeeded in a Herculean Trial, and you were already a God at the start….

But he did know what you became when you failed… and it was nothing good.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

On exhausted feet he rose, drawing Kyōka Suigetsu and holding the blade out in front of himself, careful not to touch the naked blade in his exhaustion, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu." With relief they check on everyone under the Complete Hypnosis and find that the 3rd seat had not contacted anyone about Sōsuke's disappearance.

It does not stop the 3rd seat from questioning him about it constantly when they meet up again. So without a smidgen of remorse, too damn tired physically and to drained emotionally to care, he sets the 3rd seat up to die, just another victim of a hollow attack. The fukutaichō of the 12th division Hiyori Sarugaki, the blond girl that had arrived in the butterfly garden with him a lifetime ago had come a long way from where she had begun. Were it not for his insights, he never would have recognized her. She steps out of the Senkaimon to take over the next shift of guard duty, just in time to give Sōsuke the perfect alibi, Really, he did everything in his power to save his subordinate, he had no idea that the goo the hollow had been spitting would have a horrible reaction to the Sekkiseki of Seireitei causing his poor 3rdseat to go up in flames no one could put out… honest~.

Hirako-taichō was suspicious of course, but once again… there was no proof of anything untoward… and Sōsuke's revealing comments were once more glossed over, their meaning lost.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 26 : Just a Field of Little White Lies

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Sōsuke spent the next 40 years contemplating whether or not he had to make any changes to the plan now that he knew this was a Trial and not a trial. Most of that time was spent in the Atelier, painting Sarah Williams, Jareth, Yamamoto… and Urahara. Adding their books of information to his archive, and others on the Kidō he had created on the fly when fleeing from the hollow he had dubbed The Ancient Wyrm to his library.

It was with great surprise then that he sees a familiar face through the Complete Hypnosis of a blue masked Kidō Corps. Hinamori Momo had arrived in Soul Society. Almost instantly, his indecisiveness comes to an end.

He would follow the plan laid out with Dekuyume faithfully… If only so he could see Momo's face as he tore her world apart.

That wouldn't be for a while yet… there was some ground work he had been neglecting.

The Hōgyoku was hungry, and there were some experiments that needed conducting.

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106 years before Yhwach would activate Auswählen, the taichō of the 3rd division decided to retire after months of being gently encouraged by his subordinates. It was an utter lie of course, the Shinigami of the 3rddivision had been trying to convince him to stay, but as always, beneath the Complete Hypnosis, the only truth that existed for his captives was Kyō-kun's. He was replaced by Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, and much to the musician's displeasure, his former taichō decided to hold a tournament instead of a retirement party for himself.

The turnout was spectacular as the old man was known to throw excellent parties. It was a good thing that Sasakibe was back from his recent tour in the living world. Sōsuke had an pleasant time talking with the experienced Shinigami. It was a pity that outside of the fukutaichō meetings, the only times that he got to see the man who still felt like the Jedi that had taught him his first force poems, was when the busy fukutaichō of the 1st division could sit down for a pot of earl grey tea.

But the plan was afoot, and gladly Sōsuke took his turn in the tournament, losing spectacularly to Rōjūrō-taichō. But not before releasing his Shikai and recapturing every Shinigami in attendance. Including the fiendishly elusive trio of Yoruichi, Tessai, and Urahara, and the previously untaken, Yamamoto.

The sōtaichō of the Gotei 13, taichō of the Onmitsukidō and Grand Kidō Chief of the Kidō Corps icing on the cake of Urahara Kisuke who in just a few short years would be promoted to taichō of the 12th division and future president of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

He shakes with relief, and Kyōka Suigetsu wisely says nothing about the fact that Sōsuke spends a great deal of time watching Urahara the rest of the night once no one else would be able notice beneath the Complete Hypnosis.

Later that night the spirit just holds his Shinigami as he laughs and cries at the same time. Eyes closed, as through the Complete Hypnosis they watch the trio talk about Sōsuke, and how Urahara wishes that there was a division for scientifically or analytically minded people just like the two of them. Tessai's shoulders shake silently in mirth as Yoruichi laughs and tells Urahara that if Sōsuke had been a woman, she would have tried to set them up on a date, still might if Urahara decides he might like man as much as he does woman.

Apparently, even though Urahara had stopped haunting Sōsuke, disappearing from his presence with missions for the Onmitsukidō, Sōsuke's short conversation with Urahara hadn't faded from the brilliant man's memory, and hadn't stopped talking about him with his two childhood friends either.

That… made Sōsuke so uncomfortable there were no words for it, his only consolation was that as best he could tell, they had no suspicions, he just had their attention. A dangerous enough situation to be in, but one he could work with.

That was good, as only a few short days later, he enacted the next part of the plan. Using a few of the 5th division under the hypnosis to harvest energy from a little Ryoka girl in the 64th North district. After he senses the painfully young Gin Ichimaru leave to go check on his friend Rangiku Matsumoto, the fools are executed and offered to the Hōgyoku.

It takes their Reiryoku, and somehow Sōsuke knows that the souls are not destroyed by the Hōgyoku, but are instead reincarnated somewhere in the living world. Personally he thought it might be Dekuyume's Shikon-chan, but he hadn't seen a single insight since that very first one, so it was always with caution that he offered sustenance other than his own spare Reiryoku to the Hōgyoku.

Only a single year later, a blip in the life of a Shinigami of Sōsuke's caliber, the 10th Kenpachi who would one day be defeated by Kenpachi Zaraki was instated into the 11th Division as taichō, and Gin Ichimaru slaughtered the 3rd seat of Sōsuke's division. The boy thought that the Shinigami he killed was one of the ones that had hurt his precious person. The poor slaughtered bastard hadn't of course, he was just a placeholder for the man Sōsuke executed a year ago.

Just as easily, Sōsuke covers up this man's death with the Complete Hypnosis, and he begins to lead poor, vengeful Gin Ichimaru down the path to the dark side. Sōsuke can't help but wonder if Gin had ever heard that when you seek revenge you should dig two graves… and if perhaps Sōsuke shouldn't take that advice as well, immortal or not.

The original Aizen Sōsuke had allowed Gin Ichimaru in on the secret because he found the bloodthirsty little boy amusing.

Sōsuke wondered who was the greater monster at this point, because Sōsuke did it just because it would one day let him destroy Momo Hinamori.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Time flies quickly, and Sōsuke is almost never present in Seireitei in person, his presence covered for with the Complete Hypnosis and his two accomplices, the 3rd seat Gin Ichimaru and 5th seat Kaname Tōsen. Sōsuke found them both equally tiring and spent as little time in their presence as he could get away with. Gin because his desire to murder Sōsuke was painfully obvious even with the kitsune smile he often wore. Kaname for his relentless preaching about Justice. The Justice Sōsuke knew looked nothing like what Kaname spoke of, vengeance on the other hand…

Either way, it was for the best that Sōsuke spent so little time actually present in Seireitei, and instead in his Atelier, conducting experiments on hollows, his art pushed carefully aside and protected behind Kidō barriers. He had just spent three months figuring out how to remove a single soul from a hollow, provided he could see their soul echo on the hollow's skin the same way he had once seen Tier Harribel on the skin of El Tiburón a lifetime ago. Not for any part of the plan, but because he just wanted to know if he could. And then Kyō-kun gently grabbed his attention, "Sōsuke, Shinji and your placeholder have been summoned to the 1st division for an inauguration ceremony."

Through the Complete Hypnosis he watches as Hiyori kicks Shinji in the face with a flying kick. It tickles his memory for some reason, and curious, he straightens himself up and exits the Atelier just a few feet away from the altercation, taking the place of his stand-in without anyone else the wiser. The mirror in the antechamber smoothing out behind him.

Ukitake-taichō, and Kyōraku-taichō follow them into the meeting hall, talking about the changeover rate of taichō level Shinigami Alarm settles into the pit of Sōsuke's stomach, claiming surprise when they state that Hikifune-taichō had been promoted. He knew that, he knew that it was supposed to happen soon, what truly surprised him was that even though he had been watching the foodie-taichō through the Complete Hypnosis waiting for just that… Sōsuke hadn't seen her leave Seireitei… and even though he still had it active right this minute, he could see nothing through her eyes.

Was that the power of the Ōken now etched into her very bones? Or was it just the Soul King's palace? Only time would tell. Within the folds of his Shihakushō, Sōsuke's hands shake… and he can no longer tell if it is from excitement or fear. He retreats back to his Atelier and through the Complete Hypnosis he watches the newly promoted Urahara as he forms the SRDI… And Ukitake-taichō tries to convince a man Sōsuke had actually forgotten about to become his fukutaichō…

Kaien Shiba… and suddenly Sōsuke has a little more vengeance on his plate to clear off… but later…for now he has some Visored to create, and it really was time he was promoted to taichō.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 27: Just a Little Treachery

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9 years, 9 years and 115,689 souls disappearing from the Rukongai, and still there was no concern from the Shinigami in Seireitei, their precious balance kept and thus no skin off of their back.

9 years 115,689 souls and one patrol of Shinigami in the Rukongai, and then suddenly it was a serious problem deserving of a skilled group of Shinigami including their taichō. The nearly 100 years without a single enemy since the Quincy massacre had tempered Seireitei's behavior, but not so much so that they had begun to see all souls as people of equal worth.

All of those souls Aizen would have fed to the Hōgyoku or experimented on… some so pushed beyond their limits that they would commit soul suicide, erasing themselves from the cycle of reincarnation just to get away. Sōsuke just fed the little orb their Reiryoku before finding poetic justice in using the Forbidden Kidō: Kyouseiteki Ijou, Forced Change to convert them into butterflies.

Their clothes are suspiciously empty, tabi socks still tucked into sandals, just as he needs them to be. A quiet threat only those paying attention would hear. Kyōka Suigetsu's sealed blade takes the lives of 115,689 more souls, honoring them with immunity from the Complete Hypnosis. The Shinigami were not so lucky, Sōsuke felt neither pity or protectively for them… He hadn't been able to since the first culling of the Rukongai after the Quincy massacre… or any of the ones that had come after.

When he needed proof of an experiment for Kaname-kun and Gin-kun, the Hōgyoku was happy to oblige. And when he needed them to watch, there were more than enough hell butterflies trapped in his Atelier to serve as test subjects.

He felt no guilt. The souls that made their home in the Rukongai were treated as gently as Sōsuke could, out of respect for his old friend Subaru and Haku who was ancient and still barely hanging on to life, sure in the knowledge that soon, soon he would have his revenge courtesy of Sōsuke. Even if the Shiba were doing a piss poor job of taking care of the souls in the Rukongai, even though it was their King Given Task as a Greater Noble house, the Aizomeya and the Aizome had never faltered. Enough harm had been done to the most harmless and defenseless fraction of The Soul King's domain… and perhaps even out of respect for himself. He would be a monster in everyone's eyes soon enough, there was no reason to be one in his own eyes as well if he did not have to be.

The Shinigami on the other hand were fair game. With masked humor he sits at his desk in the 5th division barracks making small talk with his disturbed taichō, even as he watches Kaname activate his Bankai and slaughter the 9th division platoon sent out to investigate. For a moment he wonders when he lost the sense of unease that came from watching a murder from the victim's point of view but supposes that it does not matter in the end.

An emergency meeting is called for the taichō as Yamamoto senses the disappearance of the Reiatsu of both the 9th division taichō Kensei Muguruma and fukutaichō Mashiro Kuna. As a fukutaichō, Sōsuke was not invited, that was all right. He had better places to be anyways.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

He steps out of his Atelier, just feet away from Kaname-kun and Gin-kun, smirking as the rippling surface allows him past, but keeping the hell butterflies trapped inside. The blind man was a good sport, always keeping quiet about Sōsuke's abilities, never asking for information that was not offered. Gin-kun was just entertaining though, the boy was trying so hard to hide how much Sōsuke spooked him when he appeared out of nowhere and walked up behind him. He probably believed he was succeeding in fooling a man made of illusions and misdirection too, poor deluded boy.

With a soft smile at odds with the ice he was sure was in his eyes, he reached into the folds of his Shihakushō and pulled out the Hōgyoku… and then he made a wish. The battered and bloodied, but still very much alive forms of the 5th division taichō and fukutaichō, the target of that wish. Calmly he watches their transformation into Visored, their hearts climbing out of their chest through their mouths and forming the masks on their faces… but leaving no obvious hollow hole in their chest. Shinigami with hollow powers, pity he couldn't be there in their inner worlds when they realized that it was no longer just themselves and their zanpakutō spirits…

Beneath the Complete Hypnosis he explains that the hollowfication was contagious so it would be best if the three of them remained still and hidden. The heads of the two hollowfied-shinigami rise as one, scenting the air like wolves for prey, and then they are off, darting through the Rukongai. Sōsuke, Kaname and Gin strolling along after them. Kaname muttering something about justice once more, Gin making an off-color joke, and Sōsuke watching as all of his carefully laid plans start to tie themselves together.

Soon, he would be the most dangerous man in Seireitei… and Urahara would be a dimension away in the living world.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

First Kyōraku-taichō gives Sōsuke his alibi, visiting the 5th division barracks and "Seeing" Sōsuke with a load of books in his hands and even chatting with him for a few moments before returning to his own division. Was it any wonder Aizen had considered everyone around him to be a fool when they were so easily fooled into believing whatever he wanted them too? These people were lucky that Sōsuke chose to see them as children he had to distract with pretty lights and tasty treats instead of opponents to crush beneath his heel.

Then Hiyori is infected, then Shinji fights with her, and before the tired Shinigami can muster up the strength to go on, Sōsuke nods at Kaname and watches as the hollowfied Hiyori infects the rest of the gathered Shinigami who are defenseless underneath Kaname's Bankai. Interestingly enough the littlest Visored had no trouble relying on touch alone to navigate the darkness, research for later if he could think of a way to do it without having a Visored in his possession.

It was quite a coup, 4 taichō, 3 fukutaichō of the Gotei 13, and the second in command of the Kidō Corps… and it was only going to get better. Shinji, his easily fooled taichō, makes noises about knowing Sōsuke was suspicious and it takes all of his composure to refrain from rolling his eyes. The man didn't know a damn thing that Sōsuke didn't want him too. It had actually been difficult to keephim suspicious for decades without giving him enough proof to even consider asking the Onmitsukidō to investigate.

There were a lot of things that Sōsuke would have liked to say in response to that, but the dialogue for the rest of the night was already scripted and so Sōsuke merely taunts him before thanking him for revealing that anger speeds up the process of hollowfication. He draws Kyōka Suigetsu gripping the blade tight as anticipation surges through his veins.

A nod to Kaname, and again the seeker of Justice attacks like a good attack dog. Sōsuke moves forward as if to attack his oh so foolish taichō, but he was already focused on the arriving Urahara, allowing the blonde to slice off his fukutaichō armband. Gin and Kaname are a comedy duo behind him as he turns to face the only person in all of Seireitei who had a chance of seeing through Sōsuke's masks and grasping the nature of his plans. Given enough time it was possible that Urahara-san still would, but for the next century at least, the man would be far away, secure in the knowledge that Sōsuke needed his Hōgyoku to move forward with his plans.

He is not disappointed, he is however quite done here and it was time for the actors to exit stage left. With a nonchalance that exists only because Dekuyume has told him exactly what happens next, Sōsuke sheaths his zanpakutō, turns his back on the most dangerous man he has ever met and walks away ordering his subordinates to follow. He is already halfway through a silent incantation of Bakudō #81: Dankū, The Splitting Void, before Tessai attacks, and they are long gone and back in Seireitei in time to watch the fireworks.

The Central 46 was the most incompetent form of government in the history of Soul Society… of course the fact that it had been the only form of government to ever exist may have had something to do with that fact. From the relative privacy of the 5th Division office Sōsuke watched through the Complete Hypnosis as Urahara managed to use his own Hōgyoku to stabilize the afflicted Shinigami only to be arrested the next day along with Tessai and immediately dragged in to be judged by old souls who would have been convicted felons themselves if they were subjected to human courts.

Yoruichi rescues the two of them of course,they were her childhood friends and if the Central 46 had a single brain between the lot of them they would have had her watched. The Shihōin princess had claimed Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi from the Rukongai without tolerating anyone to take them away from her. The Kuchiki had several reams of paperwork that was initiated by the Shihōin elders asking the Onmitsukidō to assassinate the boys. The girl's father, Clan Head and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō had nixed that and buried the paperwork in the last place his daughter would ever look, lest she be tempted to relieve some old souls the burden of their heads.

With a sigh, a special Gigai and an unsanctioned Senkaimon, the trio and unconscious Visored were squirreled away in the living world bringing Sōsuke's total score to:

Yoruichi Shihōin- 2nd Division taichō, Head of the Onmitsukidō and the Greater Noble House of Shihōin – MIA

Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi- 3rd Division taichō – Visored

Shinji Hirako- 5th Division taichō – Visored

Love Aikawa- 7th Division taichō –Visored

Kensei Muguruma- 9th Division taichō- Visored

Kisuke Urahara – 12th Division taichō – convicted of "committing crimes against researching and invoking forbidden phenomenon" and "deceiving and inflicting grievous injury to fellow Shinigami"

Tessai Tsukabishi – Head of the Kidō Corps – convicted of "using forbidden Kidō techniques"

Lisa Yadōmaru- 8th Division fukutaichō – Visored

Mashiro Kuna -9th Division fukutaichō –Visored

Hiyori Sarugaki – 12th Division fukutaichō – Visored

Hachigen Ushōda – Second in Command of the Kidō Corps – Visored

6/13 taichō out of Gotei 13 and hiding in the living world

The two highest ranking members of the Kidō Corps

The Goddess of shunpo and head of the Onmitsukidō

3/13 fukutaichō

Kisuke Urahara and his devious mind.

11 people who would be more than powerful enough to put a damper on Yhwach's plans in the future….

8 of which who's Reiatsu would be lethal for the Quincy to absorb.

That there were suddenly more openings in the upper ranks of the Gotei 13 than there had been even in the aftermath of the Quincy Massacre was just icing on the cake.

He is appropriately surprised and distressed when he discovers that Urahara tried to frame him for what was becoming known as the hollowfication Incident, and Kyōraku-taichō did his part, admirably defending Sōsuke, the weight of his 900 years in the Gotei 13 enough all on its own to leave Sōsuke free and clear of any taint without any creative perception doctoring via the Complete Hypnosis.

It is a small matter to make sure that all the right people suddenly remember that Sōsuke had used his Bankai on an Adjuchas Menos almost a century ago, and only a little more difficult to make sure that Kaname takes the 9th division.

Opening up the 3rd division taichō position a few years later when the little serpent finally hit his growth spurt was as simple as an over extension while practicing Kidō, and an unfortunate proximity to Kenpachi Zaraki when he challenged the taichō of the 11th division. Unohana-taichō did say that the leading cause of death among Shinigami was mismanaged Reiatsu. And then all of his Shinigami pieces are in place, and it was time to begin setting up the other side of the board.

He supposes that it is humorous, that during their respective captaincy tests Sōsuke's Bankai is just another illusion, Kaname's causes all senses but touch to fail, and Gin would never admit that his was made of a poison which caused the target to breakdown on the cellular level.

It seemed as if everyone was a deceitful in the end.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 28: Just a Taichō

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Kyō-kun was curled up at his side, as they sat on the engawa of the Aizome Estate, watching the snow fall into the garden. Steam rose thick and fragrant from his tea as he lifted it for a drink, before setting it back down on the tray the lady of the house always brought him, having long since declared that Sōsuke was family, and as such shouldn't expect tea ceremony on his visits. A soft whorl of air carries a few snowflakes underneath the engawa to settle on the dogwood branch of the Ikebana arrangement Sōsuke had brought as a gift.

Gently he sets his tea aside to reach past the blue hyacinth and white fever-few twined with the branch to brush off the snow. One of the many perks about having been in the 4th division, Unohana-taichō encouraged those who participated in the Ikebana competitions to use the flowers that grew in vibrant profusion around the healing springs the Division was built around. Otherwise in the middle of winter this arraignment would have cost a fortune, not a problem given his skills, but having to explain how he could afford it for a friendly Ikebana competition was.

He feels the fluctuations in Haku's Reiatsu as the bedridden man wakes up, and the attendant that goes to greet him. Sōsuke lifts his tea, gently blowing the fragrant steam before taking another sip. Were it anyone other than the Aizome, he wouldn't have waited for two hours while the person he came to speak with rested, much less waited for the attendant to come and inform Sōsuke when Haku was ready to receive him. There were far more important things that he could be doing right now, though he would be the first to admit that it was nice to get out of the Atelier and just enjoy the snow and a good pot of tea.

He doesn't even have to turn to Kyō-kun to know that there is a peaceful smile on the spirit's plum painted lips. The tea is empty by the time that he is summoned. Gracefully setting his cup back on the tray he rises with it in his hands, giving it to the attendant with a murmur of thanks, before taking the arrangement and walking through the estate to Haku.

Quietly, Sōsuke steps into the room while yet another Aizome holds the fusuma open for him. He moves forward, coming to kneel at the bedridden old man's side. It was so painful, to know that the little boy Sōsuke- the Butterfly had hid with the night of the Aizomeya murder had grown, aged and was now slowly dying while Sōsuke remained the same and the last bit of revenge was still unrealized. Hoarse from coughing, the old man's words are a stark contrast to the jovial expression on his face, "Durability, Constancy and protection Aizen-taichō? I may be a bedridden old man but I do still remember a time when you were just a little hell butterfly that was barely bigger than my palm."

He easily kneels at Haku's side setting the arrangement on the tea tray that was already steeping. The Aizome knew him so well. "So do I my friend, so do I. The arrangement took second place at Unohana-san's recent Ikebana competition and though there were many parties interested in its purchase, I wanted to share it with you." Haku grins, the wrinkles on his face revealing a lifetime spent laughing, Subaru would have loved that… even if it would have hurt him terribly to outlive his precious otouto.

"And just what was this paragon of Ikebana that managed to surpass the great Violet, connoisseur of flowers, so bewitched by them that he chose to spend a decade as a hell butterfly just to drink deeply of their nectar." Sōsuke smiles, knowing full well that Haku was just trying to cheer him up in spite of the fact that it was Haku who was slowly dying. "A young man with flower in his name of course, Hanatarō Yamada, he was the 20th seat of the 4th division when I joined the Gotei 13, though he's moved up to the 8th seat now." Haku's thick white brows quirk together in confusion, "How is it that he has only moved up to the 8th seat if he was your superior before and is still youthful enough to be called young?"

Sōsuke shakes his head, as he lifts the cup of tea for a sip. He admires the beautiful indigo flowers painted onto the cup as he explains, "Hanatarō-kun is one of those poor souls with a large amount of Reiryoku, but for some reason lacks the ability to translate that into Reiatsu, making him appear both weak and long-lived." Haku sighs, "It isn't so bad you know, to be a weak soul. In fact it is quite the blessing, to never have to be the one to lay flowers on the graves."

There is a silence that settles into the room as the two of them contemplate Haku's words. It is a peaceful one, even if it is sad. Eventually Haku breaks the silence with his gruff voice, "Tell me more about this Yamada-kun, given the name I can surmise he is from a minor noble house, but unlike some, the Yamada aren't known for specific types of zanpakutō." With a quiet chuckle Sōsuke explains the boy's timid nature despite Unohana's prodding, and the unique nature of his scalpel-like zanpakutō… but the old man falls asleep sometime during the story.

Sōsuke quietly rises, taking the tea tray over to the display area and setting the flower arrangement down on the slightly raised platform before leaving. Sōsuke hands the empty tray to the attendant waiting outside of the doors with a quiet promise, "Soon."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Interestingly enough Momo Hinamori wasn't initially in any of the classes that Sōsuke gave at the Shin'ō academy. That was why the first time he encountered her in person was during a standard field exercise in the world of the living that got completely out of hand. Or, at least, out of their hands and securely into Sōsuke's.

The Shinigami trainees were supposed to be practicing Konsō and combating the artificial hollow replicas that some enterprising Shinigami of the 12th division had invented. Of course, in the name of revenge Sōsuke had done much more terrible things than sic a few experimental hollows with the ability to hide their Reiatsu on trainee Shinigami, only to reap their accolade when he arrived with his then fukutaichō Gin-kun, just in time to save them all with his Shikai.

The mist in their perception prevents them from seeing the malevolent expression on his face or the soft ku, ku, ku that escapes him, his elation overcoming his rigid self control. He had her, she was at hismercy now. She would never realize under the Complete Hypnosis as she was slowly isolated from everyone… and became utterly reliant on Sōsuke. That way, when he left her bleeding on the floor she would be devastated. Perhaps so much so that she just committed soul suicide all on her own. That would be nice, unlikely, but nice.

Kyōka Suigetsu appears to Sōsuke alone, shaking his head as, with an utterly honest smile on his face, but perfectly hidden menace, Sōsuke turns to speak with the three trainees. Kyō-kun dances around Sōsuke to lean forward to peer into Momo's face, "So this is the girl who ended your last human life Sōsuke? She doesn't seem like much." He glances over his shoulder to see a flash of surprise ghost across his shinigami's face. Well now, that was interesting. It seemed as if Momo Hinamori had met Sōsuke more times than he had originally thought.

Sōsuke flows through the scripted words with all of the practice of the preceding years. For once, he was grateful for them instead of stifled. The academy students are returned to Seireitei and utterly distracted, he continues the equally scripted conversation with his fukutaichō, not that Gin-kun notices Sōsuke's distraction, his obliviousness was slowly becoming more and more annoying, even if it served Sōsuke's purpose well enough at the moment. He was just as predictable as he was oblivious, though the perma-smile on his face did a decent enough job concealing the young shinigami's jubilation when Sōsuke finally revealed the way to avoid Kyōka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis, not that the boy would have a chance for almost a century to use it.

With a disappointingly fake nonchalance, the silver haired man changed the topic to the three academy students, asking if they had any potential after Sōsuke said they would all be fine additions to the 5th division. Too distracted by what he had seen behind Momo to care, he let the conversation die there. He had no reason to tell the man who would one day betray him that it wasn't potential that he saw in Isuzu, Momo and Renji… they were just part of the plan.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hours later in his Atelier, the science experiments would be pushed to one side and shielded behind a Kidō barrier while Sōsuke painted Momo Hinamori… and woman superimposed with her… Kyō-kun a non-existent weight on his shoulder as the spirit leaned over to watch in rapt fascination as Sōsuke did a little creating of his own.

He hesitates for far longer than he had ever done before when naming a painting. The others had all been so easy with the insight that Dekuyume had gifted him with. But the apparition with her pregnant belly and living world hospital gown and her eyes… her eyes were just like Sōsuke's when he took off his glasses and stopped pretending…

But he can't bring himself to write the names on the painting, to name it, because if he does he has to accept…

His human life was ended by the very same soul that began it…

Awash with a torrent of conflicting emotions he didn't know how to deal with, he set his brushes in the cleaning solution and just sat there with Kyō-kun watching it dry.

The painting is hung on the wall next to the others where it would remain unnamed until Sōsuke had a chance to meet Higanbana Aizen for himself. Until he knew for sure, he was going to move forward with the plan. He could always change his mind later… if the truth did not break his fragile heart… He might not need the Hōgyoku to transform into a hollow in the end.

Hanakotoba

dogwood, blue hyacinth, and white fever-few: Durability, Constancy and protection

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 29: Just a Conqueror

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Some freshly minted taichō celebrated with tournaments, others with parties and some just got to work. Gin Ichimaru, lucky Shinigami that he was, got to get plastered with Ran-chan, an' then as soon as the sweet girl passed out, carry her busty form to the 10thdivision to sleep it off. Getting buzzed an' then going anywhere near Aizen Sōsuke was a monumentally bad idea, you didn't have to be a genius like Urahara to figure that out.

Gin was the only person in the world who could get buzzed drinkin' with Ran-chan, meet up with Aizen an' Tōsen, sneak out of Seireitei an' into Hueco Mundo to take over some place called Las Noches without a scratch… an' live to tell the tale.

Too bad no one would ever believe him, an' without knowin' who was under the Complete Hypnosis, or anyway of knowin' if it was active… he couldn't even try. He was the only one who knew Aizen's true nature, Tōsen may have been immune to Kyōka Suigetsu but the blind fool still fell for every mind fuck Aizen threw at him.

All Gin needed was a single openin', a single moment when he was sureKyōka Suigetsu was in its sealed state an' Aizen was alone with him…

A little touchy feely and one Bankai an' it would all be over, an' Gin would have succeeded in making a world where Ran-chan would never have to cry. Gin was like a poisonous snake, coiled an' ready for just the right moment to strike as the tyrant paced back and forth over his kingdom… just barely out of reach.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The sand of El Hueco Mundo was unusually soft as they approached Las Noches, ground even finer by the passing of time and thousands of feet in all shapes and sizes. Las Noches wasn't anything like what it would be in the future, but the foundation was at least there. Seemed like Baraggan, the self proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo took the phrase open concept to a whole new level, leaving out the roof, walls and doors entirely. Personally, Sōsuke thought that the Vasto Lorde just got tired of having them replaced any time he lost his temper, spilling his caustic time painted Reiatsu all over the place. And the skeletal hollow lost his temper often, at the slightest of provocations. Today there would be nothing slight about the insult Sōsuke would offer.

With a nod at his attack dog, the hollow barring them entrance was executed, allowing the three of them to move to the entrance of the court that laid at Baraggan's feet. The three of them move forward unimpeded until they were at the foot of the stairs that led to the throne of Las Noches. Sōsuke speaks, only a single step forward, even as one of Baraggan's loyal hollows launches itself at him, enraged that he would dare speak out of turn. "I do believe that you and I have never met before. Just to be sure, I must ask, are you the hollow they call the king of Hueco Mundo?"

Mildly intrigued, not that he had any meat on his face to give his interest away, Baraggan responds in kind, "I am the God-King of Hueco Mundo, you stand in my palace, Las Noches. Who are you, with the clear lack of masks it is obvious you are not hollows. Be you humans or Shinigami?" Sōsuke simply smiles, his silence doing more to attract the attention of every last one of Baraggan's army than his words ever could. "I don't really care, I was just beginning to succumb to boredom. Had you not appeared here today, I might have divided my own army in two and had them slaughter each other for my amusement.", Baraggan continues in the face of Sōsuke's silence.

Sōsuke stretches his senses even as his attack dog barks at the Vasto Lorde the dog had no hope whatsoever of defeating on his own. He is already pinpointing all of the hollows that would be useful to him in the future, as Kaname asked the skeletal hollow if he was joking. Gently, he ripples his Reiatsu the same way that Dekuyume had done with her magic once upon a dream, gently coercing a Doctor into ignoring the jewel embedded in little Kagome.

One didn't have to have a zanpakutō like Kyōka Suigetsu to hypnotize a crowd of people, there were thousands of humans in the living world to prove that. The hollows attention is on him, every last one, even as the self proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo claimed the sky itself as the roof of his palace. It was time. Unsheathing his zanpakutō he held it out before him, secure in the knowledge that all eyes could see it barring Kaname. "To answer your question I would ask you to look at this."

Baraggan would have raised an incredulous eyebrow if he had any, as it was he just asked the silly breather what it was he thought he was doing. To which Aizen smiled sharply, "Are you happy with what you have? Are you sure this is where you should be? If you are bored then perhaps it would be eased if you rose even higher. I will aid you, if you follow me. I will give you a power even greater than what you have now, and a new world."

All that was left for Sōsuke to do was wait, as Baraggan laughed at the notion, so assured in his power, that he owned all that there was to own. Finally ordering his army to crush them all.

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu." Three words, three words were all it took, to conquer an army, a kingdom and a king.

Easily, he trapped the fallen king in a vision of his army being destroyed, taunting the beaten hollow though the Complete Hypnosis as he threw a temper tantrum Sōsuke completely ignored.

As for the army, he merely had them run around in circles as he used a Kidō, smirking as he took his sweet time with the incantation, aiming not for power, but accuracy. "Let fall the crown of heaven to splinter and crack upon the edge of the table of gods! Beware Mortals! The sickles and shards shine golden in the night, but only death awaits those who reach for them! Hadō #91: Gaki Rekkō, The Raging Light Fang."

A green circle of energy extends out from the tip of his extended zanpakutō, branching out into beams of green light that shoot out at the hollows to rip fragments of their masks off forcing them all to convert into natural full and partial Arrancar much like Tier Harribel had done a lifetime ago. Later, when it was time, he would use the Hōgyoku, but for now, this was enough. He could have killed them all easily, but he took every bit of leeway the plan allowed, less than a half a century to go until the end. 50 years that seemed to stretch infinitely far into the future as his reactions were slowly being more and more stifled by the script in his hands. He would endure, there was revenge and immortality left to claim after all.

Through the crowd of transforming Arrancar he spots a head of pink hair and the outline of glasses in the falling shards of his mask, Szayelaporro Granz, well now he knew who was going to build Las Noches while thoroughly possessed by the Complete Hypnosis, didn't he? Beneath the Complete Hypnosis the three Shinigami leave as silently as they came, even as the defeated king screams at the illusion left behind. "I will kill you. Kill you with my own hands. You will regret ever granting me this power. I am King. I am God. I am undying. I will never cease in my attempts to take your life, Sōsuke Aizen." But Sōsuke already knew how Baraggan would die, and so the words fell on deaf ears.

Let the Arrancar side of the board set itself up for now. He would observe through the Complete Hypnosis, or use his Atelier to bypass the dimensional barriers to do so for a more… personal touch.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 30: Just an Old Friend's Funeral

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It was finally time for a much awaited part of the plan.

Out in the Rukongai an experimental hollow with Shinigami powers, carefully put together with Gin-kun and Kaname-kun in the science chambers of Las Noches, Metastacia, had just killed Miyako Shiba. For a moment there was a soft whisper of vengeful pleasure for all of the snide comments she had sent his way when he was her subordinate. But the destruction of her clan and her marriage with Kaien had tempered the woman's prejudice, and without the constant reminder of her harsh words during the culling of the Rukongai for balance, Sōsuke had had more important things on his mind in the intervening years.

It was quite boring, to know everything that would happen down to the most minutely important detail. The closer he got to the end of the plan, the more he just wished it was over. The only things that entertained him were things that happened unexpectedly, all the little experiments that Urahara-san was up to in the world of the living now that the Visored had separated from him, off to see the world they were now a part of, and fearful of being pursued by the Gotei 13, not knowing that they had already been written off. They were little more than an extra bit of programming in the soul phones set up by Kurotsuchi-kun . All the hubbub around them during the hollowfication incident, and now they were only worth a low-priority message to Seireitei's communications department in the 12thdivision and a different alert message on the phones.

It was also entertaining, as the instant Kaien Shiba met his temporary end at the hands of Rukia Kuchiki, the Branch house of the Shiba went up in flames. The Complete Hypnosis, keeping the souls inside unaware, even as the fire licked at their skin, the smoke filled their lungs and the building burned around them.

Again, only a handful of Shiba survive, those out on patrol like Shiba Isshin… and Kaien's two younger siblings. Though not without any injuries. The girl, and now head of the Greater Noble House of Shiba loosing an arm and even part of her scalp permanently destroyed in the Kidō enhanced flames. And both emotionally scarred enough as it was before the Onmitsukidō came to examine the burnt remains for probable cause. Accusing eyes already turning to the Aizome, though one hadn't been spotted in Seireitei for centuries.

Suì-Fēng, taichō of the 2nd division, and Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, finds the documents Sōsuke had so carefully doctored over a century ago, suspiciously unmarred and thus drawing her attention. Noting the traces of Kaien Shiba's protective Kidō on the papers, she glances over them thinking they might be the nobles will, only to stare in rage as they reveal themselves to be a ledger of all the things the Greater Noble House of Shiba had done to preserve their image in spite of their spend-happy ways… including falsifying documents to the Central 46, and documents showing they paid a disgruntled Onmitsukidō to plant the false-evidence in the Aizomeya estate before Jun'ichi Shiba used his Shikai to massacre the clan of lesser nobles who were his sworn vassals.

The reactions of the Shiba are perfect, one part denial, two parts shame when Isshin returns from his patrol and is forced to recall just how much the Shiba Clan spent on frivolities imported from the living world at that time… and yet had the second lowest employment level in the Gotei 13, Onmitsukidō and Kidō Corps… and only because the Kuchiki Clan Head and Heir were the only ones to ever involve themselves in the military matters, the remainder of their clan fully dedicated to their King Given Task, recording the history of every aspect of Soul Society.

The best part was, that Sōsuke didn't have to do anything at all. Enraged at being hoodwinked by a Greater Noble house, and probably a little fearful that someone else would get the bright idea to do so as well if they allowed such a travesty to go lightly punished… the Shiba clan is stripped of its noble rank, its holdings are thoroughly searched by the Onmitsukidō, and Kidō corps, its accounts double and triple checked by two different divisions of the Gotei 13 and a small group of nobles from the lesser noble house of Takara who managed the banking system of Seireitei.

All stolen (and some not so stolen) goods are returned to their owners, the documents are all archived with the Kuchiki… and everything that remains is offered to the Aizome in recompense, including the return of their name, the Shiba's seats on the Central 46 and the Shiba's King Given Task…. One they had been doing even without the Shiba.

A messenger carries Haku's response to the Central 46, appointing Haku's granddaughter in his place. Ito's first act is to turn the money over to the surviving Shiba… after all, they were innocent of any wrong doing. Anyone who could reasonably be held accountable for the Aizomeya massacre was dead, either at the hands of the mad Jun'ichi Shiba or the fire started when the protective seals Kaien placed on the documents failed.

Sōsuke was not the only one who heard the vindictive echo of the lesson the Aizome had learned all those years ago in the young woman's words. Believing the Aizomeya, Gotei 13 and Onmitsukidō responsible, Kukaku led the remainder of her family out into the Rukongai… building multiple homes with the money, so that the survivors could stay as far away as they could get from the Aizomeya.

Haku dies crying tears of joy, as his granddaughter tells him the news. He dies as he was born. A son of the noble house of Aizomeya.

He is cremated, and Sōsuke is honored with the burial of his ashes. In the dead of night, as the Aizomeya slept in what was once the primary residence of the Shiba Clan Head he creeps into the rooms of all the little children of the Aizomeya, stirring them from their sleep and leading them out into the garden. In whispers he tells them of Subaru and Haku, the deep love the two brothers felt for one another… and their secret place where they could stop being nobles, and just be children.

Even after all this time, after the Shiba had leveled the burnt husk of the former Aizomeya mansion and built a garden in its place; he could still find it. The tree is ancient now, its branches spread out like an emperor over the thick bushes surrounding its base, and the Sekkiseki wall behind it an invincible white city. With a mischievous smirk on his face, an echo of Subaru's Ne~ on his lips, he crouches where the wall meets the bushes, and carefully sets the large weatherproof bag down, to pull apart the overgrown branches.

The shrubbery claws at the simple clothing he wears as he pushes through to the soft needle carpet underneath the tree, glasses gone and taichō Haori left at home. The children following behind with wide excited eyes, watching intently as he hangs the weatherproof bag from the branches. Folding the flaps open to pull out Haku's urn and lots of little snacks before turning to sit on the soft pine needle carpet. Filled with wonder they all gather around him with their snacks. His eyes distant and unseeing as he stares at the urn in his hands, he quietly whispers about the history of the little hideaway, the security it offers, and how it saved Haku that bloody night centuries ago.

Underneath their watchful eyes, he uses his bare hands to dig a small hole at the base of the tree, before gently laying Haku to rest. His remains fueling the barrier still hidden in the bushes after all this time, weakened and waiting for the Aizomeya to come home.

Sōsuke is not the only one who remembers the significance of an Aizomeya with pine needles in their hair and a smile brighter than the sun. Ito Aizomeya bows deeply to Sōsuke, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Somehow knowing that everything had finally come full circle… now that the little hell butterfly that had done so much for them, had shown the children the Aizomeya's last secret…. They would not see Violet again.

Only Aizen Sōsuke remained, and he had been honest enough behind the walls of the Aizome Estate for them to know…

He was not a good man, only a great one. And whatever else it was that he was planning behind the fake smiles he showed to Seireitei, it was not in their best interests to know.

In walking away, he was protecting them once more.

With fierce determination Ito vowed to her clan, one day, one day they would find a way to return the favor.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Like a ghost, Sōsuke stands beneath Bakudō #26: Kyokkō, The Bent Light, made far more effective than it was ever meant to be with all of his practice with Kyōka Suigetsu. Before him is a little house in the Rukongai, one he had discovered when hunting souls trying to lure the Shinigami out of Seireitei for the Hollowfication Incident.

He had left empty handed, and promised himself that he would not return…. That part of his life was over… and there was no room not in the plan, and not in the life of Subaru's reincarnation. Clearly he had broken that promise, though he forgave himself easily with Haku freshly buried and the Aizomeya no longer a haven for him.

He basks for a moment, in the presence of the reincarnation of his old friend before turning and walking away, illusion firmly in place.

"Oi! Yumi! I'm bored, what do you say we head over to the next district, I hear there's this crazy strong guy called Zaraki that might be a good fight!" There is a clatter in the hut behind him, and a bald man comes running out laughing, the insight [Ku Shiba], burning his eyes before he lowers the Reiatsu flowing though them blurring the world as his vision weakens. Subaru's aura passes by his motionless form as Yumichika Ayasegawa runs after his lover, "Damn you Ikkaku! Do you have any idea how long it took to get my hair perfectly cut with those ridiculously dull scissors!"

He closes his eyes as the two vanish off into the distance, leaving him behind. He tries to convince himself that it was a good thing, that it was a blessing, for Subaru's reincarnation to find Ku's and finally get what he had wanted. The flamboyant man would be happy, even without his perfumed kimono, expensive hair ornaments and with Ruri'iro Kujaku never used to its fullest potential because of his future placement in the 11th division and the divisions disdain for Kidō-type zanpakutō.

Kyō-kun manifested at his side, leaning into him in a silent offer of support…

And yet somehow all Sōsuke still felt was Solitude.

Less than 50 years to go, and then he would be free from the plan. Perhaps then he could travel the dimensions in search of the only soul that seemed to give him Solace. Whomever shewas.

If sheeven had a soul echo here for him to find.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Zaraki the two had been speaking of comes to Seireitei, challenging the taichō of the 11th division for a fight. Amid the chaos and all of the curious Shinigami leaving their stations unattended, it is a simple matter to use the Complete Hypnosis for an alibi, leaving cute little Momo-chan believing that they spent the whole time diligently doing paperwork in the 5th division.

It takes all of a minute, to slip into the supply department of the Shin'ō Academy unnoticed, and never to be identified. He finds his goal tucked away in the back, still delightfully packaged for shipping after its journey from The Soul King's palace, courtesy of one Ōetsu Nimaiya, Asauchi for all the little Shinigami.

Or in this case, for all of Sōsuke's cute little Arrancar. A single call of "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu.", and a little push through the mirror that was waiting to be installed in the entry hall for the academy after someone(Sōsuke) had broken it. The shipment slides through the doors to his Atelier and neatly into the space he had cleared for them, placing all of his science experiments in the newly built science tower in Las Noches.

Less than a minute later, he is gone. Less than 10 and he is back in his office in time for the Onmitsukidō that ghost by, sight unseen, scanning the Reiatsu and determining the locations of everyone who had access to the shipment and knowledge that it would be arriving. One stops by, not that they are supposed to know that the woman disguised as a messenger from the 1st division is far more dangerous than she appears. "Ano… have you heard the news?" Momo-chan, cute little Momo-chan who falls for every mind game he throws at her, takes the bait, "What news? I'm afraid we've been in here since breakfast going over expense reports."

The woman enters, giving Momo the summons to the first division while Sōsuke continues with his paperwork, "The 11th division taichō was defeated by a Ryoka… looks like there is a new Kenpachi." An illusion and Momo attend the meeting while Sōsuke simply walks over to the mirror in the corner of the room surrounded by plants and returns to his Atelier, shutting the door behind him, Kyō-kun's laughter ringing in the air.

One of Sōsuke's eyebrows rises at the spirits antics as he watches the pointy eared man jump up and down on the box, strangely catchy human music playing in the background. "What on earth are we listening to Kyō-kun?" The spirits eyes dance mirthfully as he looks up, grinning at his Shinigami, "This is a song from Jerry lee Lewis, it's very popular in the living world right now.", the spirits eyes twinkle so blatantly Sōsuke knows the spirit is using his illusion powers to pull a Dumbledore, "It's called Whole Lot of Shaken' Going On." The spirit cackles as it starts jumping on the box once more.

Sōsuke didn't quite understand, but supposed that it was some strange zanpakutō spirit vs. Asauchi rivalry. With nowhere pressing to be, Sōsuke moved over to his writing desk and sat, listening to the spirit's musical accompaniment as it continued to shake the container holding the Asauchi he could almost hear complaining.

Butterflies swarm him, ravenous. Desperate for food the former Shinigami fed from him, even as they speak to him with their tiny bodies, his mind taking in the message even though he no longer had the ability to take in the chemical communication part of the message. *Hate you, So Much**Die* *Traitor!* *Monster!* As always, he ignores them.

Curious about the history of the Konsō spell and its cousin, the Zanjutsu technique, Sōsuke had raided the Kuchiki archives. Turned out that the Asauchi were a relatively new invention by Ōetsu-san in comparison to the millions of years Soul Society had existed. Only coming into being 2100 years ago and prompting Yamamoto-sōtaichō to found the Genji School to train them all in the use of blades and teaching the Kidō ranked and created by the Magatama Clan long before the Kidō corps were even an idea.

Before the Asauchi there was only Kidō, spells of ink, word and and Reiryoku. Reiatsu was little more than armor, a blunt weapon used to push, pull and tear at hollows, of no value but for its use in shunpo and controlling the size, shape and power of the Kidō. Its intrinsic properties in some to generate heat or cold, affecting the environment interesting enough to attract Ōetsu-sans's attention and lead to the creation of an object that would give that intrinsic property a purpose.

Only after a thousand years of training himself and others did Yamamoto form the Gotei 13 to bring the war to Yhwach and his Quincy who until the Asauchi… had dominated the Shinigami with the power granted to them by the Son of the Soul king, even as the words of the Shinigami fell on the deaf ears of Yhwach's father.

Curious thing, the Arrancar were not so different from Shinigami or the Visored, that they were all born with zanpakutō. The Arrancar colonies in Hueco Mundo that Nnoitra had laid to waste to against Sōsuke's wishes, had been full of hundreds of Arrancar…. Most of whom were unarmed but for their own intrinsic power of Cero, Hierro, Sonido… The only Arrancar who could claim otherwise… were those who had eaten a Shinigami and his Asauchi whole and thus carried within them the means to birth their own zanpakutō. Perhaps, that was also why some Adjuchas had the ability to become Vasto Lorde and others did not. An unforeseen side effect of Asauchi in hollows when they were meant to aid Shinigami.

That meant… that for the most part, the Shinigami of Aizen Sōsuke's Gotei 13 had nearly been defeated by beings that had only held zanpakutō in their hands for less than half a century. Proof that in the end, it all came down to training… and the relationship between a zanpakutō spirit and its wielder. Because the Arrancar were already so close to their base selves, having no concept of shame, and intimately aware of the state of their own hearts, minds and bodies, the connection was forged easily and deep, where it took some Shinigami like Kenpachi decades to simply learn the name of their zanpakutō spirit.

Eventually Kyō-kun tires, jumping off the box and going to slump into a corner amid a pile of pillows. "All right Sōsuke, I think I've managed to put the little shits in their place. Have fun giving them out to your Arrancar."

He does. He finds himself smiling, mood buoyed by the rapt expressions on their faces, the boastful exclamations of power from the poor little beings, most of whom wouldn't even be Espada by the time Ichigo-kun arrived in Las Noches to rescue Orihime-chan. He smiles benevolently as Baraggan refuses an Asauchi, waiving negligently from his floating little throne at his Fraccion who carry the enormous battle axe into the room, "Did you think that destroying part of my mask would remove Arrogante, the Axe of Ruin from my hand?" Only to glance in disgust at his Fraccion, "Since you worthless peons haven't managed to summon up your own zanpakutō from the depths of your souls, you will take one. I will not have my army go into battle without weapons. You're useless enough as it is."

With soft doe brown eyes, Sōsuke smiles, slowly increasing the pressure on Baraggan using 7th Rite of Kaidō (Enfold): Reishi-mippuu, The Soul Particle Envelope, and its constructive interference properties to force the rage-red faced Espada to his knees, chair shattering, all without attracting the attention of the ancient wyrm hollow sleeping in the depths of Hueco Mundo's ever changing sands. "Tell me Baraggan, are there anymore secrets you are mistakenly hiding from me? I only want to help you see. How can I do that if you keep secrets from me? Why would you even do so, knowing full well that without my aid the Gotei 13 will destroy you all in the name of their precious balance."

Sōsuke glances around the room as he releases the technique, allowing Baraggan to rise. They all avoid his eyes, quietly taking their Asauchi and returning to their palaces without another word and once again Sōsuke is left alone in his solitude.

This time without even Kyō-kun for company. The spirit asleep in his Atelier.

zanpakutō :

Arrogante : Arrogant

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Chapter 31: Just a King Maker

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Gin didn't want to admit it, but the experiments were actually kind of fun, but then again he always did enjoy playin' with people. He giggles as he slowly lowers the Shinigami turned hell butterfly into the mouth of the bound soul construct. The little butterfly hissed somethin' fierce, drownin' out that tool that Aizen kept 'round for playin' mind games an' his never endin' speech about justice.

For a while Gin had considered tryin' to persuade the blind man who was immune to the Complete Hypnosis to help him kill Aizen… but considerin' just how blind he was, metaphorically speakin', fallin' for every last damn mind game the would-be king came up with, it just wasn't worth the risk. Aizen probably knew it too, that was why he let his attack dog come an' go at his own pleasure. No point in makin' power plays against someone already so obedient an' easy to manipulate… unless you were bored… and Aizen was often bored.

His grin spreads as he lifts his hand up, "Oh? What was that you said? C'mon now, you're a Shinigami aren't you? Four little words is all it would take, all you gotta do is say "Gin-sama please save me!", an' I'll trade you for one of the other two butterflies in the cage just waitin' for the next experiment." He waits only a second before he shoves it into the constructs mouth. Like a Venus flytrap it snaps shut… a pulse of Shinigami Reiatsu laced with something otherworldly passing through the room.

Behind his tinted glasses Kaname rolls his eyes as Gin plays. His behavior was disgusting, and if the boy wasn't so obedient to Aizen-sama he would have killed him for so clearly highlighting everything that was wrong with the way Seireitei and the Gotei 13 was run. Speaking of which, "Aizen-sama, have the hollows managed to find where Urahara and the hollowfied Shinigami have gone?" The powerful man's Reiatsu is soft and yet unyielding, what Kaname wouldn't give to be that full of conviction.

As Aizen-sama turns to grace Kaname with his attention, Kaname can feel the nearly insubstantial shift in the air currents coming in through the window of the tower bringing with it the scent of crushed bone, blood and fear that so characterized the air of Hueco Mundo. Only the barest hints of flowers and water soften the blow, the soft scent pulled from Aizen-sama's skin as it flows past him.

"Relax, Kaname-kun. Remain patient, any trouble that they might have caused by revealing our plans has passed. No one in Seireitei would believe them now, our reputation is too secure, and our alibis impeccable." Kaname nods, as always, Aizen-sama was right. With a bow he turns to leave, he had a newspaper to edit. It would have been impossible for him to do so were it not for the fact that during his time in the academy, Aizen-sama had pulled him aside and taught him how to sense the slight difference in the Reishi of ink vs. paper. It wasn't as if Seireitei had Braille, they were many things, but a society that went out of its way to help minorities of any flavor was not one of them.

The encounter had all the trappings of fate. One thing had led to another and quickly Kaname had found himself admitting to attending the Shin'ō academy for his dear, dear friend. To discover that the great man already had a secret plan in place, using hypnosis to move about unseen, unheard… was the greatest of blessings. If it were not for Aizen Sōsuke and his generous offer to help Kaname seek his Justice, he was afraid that he would have gotten lost on the way… The fire in his veins slowly fading away to nothing just like his memories of the texture of her skin and how beautiful her Reiatsu had been when she spoke of peace…

The construct's mouth opens, and bored, Gin just grabs the second hissing butterfly and forces it into the mouth of the construct as Kaname leaves. Aizen murmurs, still facing the window, mind thousands of miles away, "Everything will go according to plan."

Gin thought Aizen sounded like a robot. It was so damn freaky, worse than Mayuri creepy. For a long, long time after Aizen had confessed Kyōka Suigetsu's weakness, an' the power of the Complete Hypnosis, he wondered if the man behind the plan was Aizen at all an' not the zanpakutō spirit. The worst part was that as time went on, everythin' about Aizen Sōsuke seemed to become more an, more mechanical, scripted even.

There is a strong pulse of Shinigami Reiatsu, again with that freaky hint of somethin' other, but the construct remains still an' motionless, just another corpse. Aizen looks over with a frown, before glancing at the cage holding the last butterfly, "It will take all three." He turns away muttering to himself, but in the absolute hush of the room, Gin hears enough to give him chills, "left, right and center… it won't be stable during the Alchemical Wedding otherwise…"

Gently, an' obsessively cautious, Gin takes the last hell butterfly an' pushes it into the mouth of the construct. Again it closes… but this time the pulse of Reiatsu is that of a hollow… an' it wakes up. Only his caution saves his life, allowin' him to jerk back out of range of the grasping arms of the hollow constructed purely from Shinigami's souls. Gettin' a better look from a safe distance Gin realizes that the hollows arms had transformed into blade-like protrusions… So damn weird.

"Gin-kun, drop White off in Naruki city." Aizen commands. Throwing his highest Bakudō art at the experiment, Gin complies. When he returns a few days later, it looked like the script in Aizen's head had somethin' to say about this too, much to Isshin an' that red haired Quincy girl's bad luck. He knows he should pay more attention, but it wasn't as if they expected him to be the smart one when it came to the experiments. An' his mind was still stuck on the fact that Aizen called the completely black hollow White… days before Tōsen ever asked to name it White because of the "inner whiteness" of it's Shinigami souls… an' Aizen called it ironic, as if the idea hadn't crossed his mind at all.

It was utterly terrifyin'… to realize that wherever he was gettin' that script from… it was perfectly accurate, predictin' the behaviors of people Gin was absolutely sure had never fallen to the Complete Hypnosis… No wonder Aizen toyed with everyone so much, it was probably the only enjoyment he got out of life. An' it only added more fuel to the idea that it wasn't Aizen in charge at all but Kyōka Suigetsu… that stunt he pulled takin' over Las Noches nixed that idea though. To take over the whole of Hueco Mundo with just three words an' a plan… an' Kyōka Suigetsu guaranteed to be sealed away for the majority of that plan?

It was startin' to become a tell, that subtle threshold in a conversation where the script ended, an' Aizen Sōsuke began. Tōsen blabbers on in frustration, talkin' about failure and Robot-Aizen tells him that the results are interestin' with all the emotional cues of a well programmed robot, but none of the feelin'. Only to come to life between one blink an' the next, doe brown eyes no longer vacant an' doll-like but full of mystery as he adds, like it was an afterthought an' not the only damn thing he said for himself that day, "Urahara's given a Quincy, a Shinigami and a hollow an Alchemical wedding, do you honestly expect them not to consummate it? Their children are going to be our finest creations… after a little bit of testing I think."

Suddenly Gin felt bad for whatever children the ex-Quincy and ex-Shinigami would have. It was unpleasant enough bein' in the midst of Robot-Aizen's plans… no hope whatsoever of escapin'. To have his curious attention on you? That was something much, much worse, at least when Robot-Aizen was done with you, he left you alone.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 32: Just a Boy in the Eyes of the Man

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Soon… Soon… Soon…Soon… the word was haunting him. It seemed that the closer he got to finishing the plan, the more the word repeated in his head. He was so busy, he didn't really have time to be stuck on such a pointless thing… it wasn't as if the act of thinking about it brought him any closer to the end.

Between attending all the meetings required of him as taichō of the 5thdivision, the paperwork and training of said division, teaching at the Shin'ō Academy, the occasional Ikebana with Unohana-taichō and tea with Ukitake-taichō, conducing all of the experiments he had to in order to keep Gin-kun and Kaname-kun involved, building and ruling Las Noches, hunting down all of the souls he needed for his Espada, forming the Arrancar into a semblance of a society, getting them all trained andfinding time to fill in the gaps in his knowledge about the three Kurosaki siblings, the hidden movements of the Quincy, both in Silbern and the living world, of particular interest now that Yhwach had awoken 4 years ago, the Visored and their humanization even as they continue to train to master their inner hollows, Urahara's experiments, Yoruichi-san's movements as she stalked through the realms looking for proof of Sōsuke's plans, only to miss it every time underneath the Complete Hypnosis. The Kidō Tessai-san invented in the underground training area of Urahara Shop, he was even peripherally aware of the two adorable traumatized spiritually sensitive children the scientist had adopted, though they were not under the Complete Hypnosis, then there were the hollows themselves like Grand fisher and Fish-bone D who would be instrumental in the plan later to keep track of… all without ever giving any sign that he was more than a simple taichō of the Gotei 13.

Even with the Complete Hypnosis permanently active, it was a massive undertaking, even for a man of Sōsuke's intellectual prowess to account for.

Things were starting to blend together, snippets of Isshin's surprise at being able to have a child with Masaki though the Shiba had been stripped of their noble rank and Urahara's blasé remark that the Central 46 may think themselves the Supreme Rule of Soul Society but there were some things that only the Soul King could decide, were mixed with impunity among the snippets of the turmoil in Las Noches with Nelliel's disappearance and presumed death even as her damaged child self frolicked in the eternal sands of Hueco Mundo, guarded by the Fraccion that once were guarded by her in turn.

Was it any wonder that he suddenly looked up from his paperwork in the 5thdivision, spotted the insight double of Momo-chan he had studiously been ignoring, and had the pregnant visage remind him that he was very close to missing his own birth?

After a careful bit of hypnosis and foisting off his paperwork on cute little Momo-chan, who didn't know that Aizen had been in the 4th division and thus was perfectly capable of healing the minor stomach bug he "caught", and a "Ripple, Kyōka Suigetsu.", at the door sized mirror he kept in the corner of his office surrounded by plants, he was in a home furnishing store in the world of the living, the clock of London chiming away the noon hour. Kyō-kun looked up at his Shinigami a bit perplexed, "And just how do you intend to find her? It isn't as if we know what her Reiatsu feels like, and searching for a single soul in a city this size is difficult enough without all of the unusually powerful spirits here."

The tired overworked man just smiles at his zanpakutō spirit, "True, but I do not have to find her." Two dark brows rise over dark purple eyes, an expression of the spirits skepticism, "You think she's going to find us then?" Sōsuke shakes his head before settling down into a meditative pose, "No, but it should be easy enough to find myself. Even if boy-Sōsuke has yet to be spliced with Dekuyume… he is still me too."

It wasn't easy, but it wasn't impossible either.

Sōsuke stares down at the pregnant woman asleep in the hospital bed. According to her charts, she was just going through an unusually difficult pregnancy, unable to eat or sleep much due to the undue stress of the hormones in her system. The humans were not wrong, they just weren't right for the right reasons. Higanbana Aizen's soul was coming apart at the seams from sharing the same body as the boy in her belly.

Gently he reaches out, pressing his fingers into her temple and sliding them down the side of her cheek, pushing sweaty, choppy-cut bangs out of the eyes of the past incarnation of Momo Hinamori. If he hadn't suspected just that for decades now, he would have likely had a mental breakdown and killed the pregnant woman before she could give birth to Sōsuke, possibly breaking time in the process.

Now, now he was just sad and angry that the woman he had respected, even revered as a child for bringing him into the world… was also the same soul that banished him from it…

She didn't just kill his previous human lifetime, she killed his lasthuman lifetime.

His hand falls away coming to rest at his side where it is taken by Kyō-kun in a tight supportive grip. If they were on trial instead of in Trial he might have considered it. Breaking time here when she was unable to resist, destroying her soul with the Hōgyoku, or perhaps later, preventing boy-Sōsuke from ever meeting Momo Hinamori….

He drags all of the souls haunting the Hospital under the Complete Hypnosis before sending on those who wish to go with Konsō.

Then he leaves.

But he never stops watching, heart aching from the duality of her determination to see her son into the world or die trying, and knowing that she would do just that. Two months later Senjumaru Shutara sews the 4th reincarnation of Magatsuhi into boy-Sōsuke's soul and leaves, Higanbana fading fast.

Face emotionless, eyes blank, Sōsuke steps out of his Atelier and into the hospital room. The doctors and nurses rushing around, all instinctively avoiding passing through the space he occupies though they never realize he is there.

But she does. Her eyes widen in surprise when he comes to stand at her side, trying to talk even with the breathing mask on her face. He turns away, placing a single hand over her abdomen. It is a simple matter of using Reishi-mippuu to enfold baby-Sōsuke, separating his Reiatsu from the surroundings. That was all that it took. A simple medical Kidō that every taichō and fukutaichō learned, including the members of the Royal Guard. And Shutara couldn't have been bothered because heaven forbid people do something themselves when they can just rely on the Soul King to take care of it all in the end.

He is the only one who sees the flicker of red in the infants eyes, or understands that the expression on the little baby's face is admiration…

Sōsuke pities his past self, admiration was the emotion furthest from understanding.

His anger, which had been so hot in his veins for centuries, turns cold.

It is a small blessing, that Higanbana transfers to Soul Society all on her own without speaking to Sōsuke. He did not know what he would have done if he had been forced to perform Konsō on her. With a deep breath, he follows the nurse carrying baby-Sōsuke into the newborn nursery. His baby-self is very active in his blankets, eyes wide and alert, looking around, categorizing everything.

But Sōsuke puts him to sleep using the 9th Rite of Kaidō (Succor): Iyashino Suimin, The Healing Slumber, Sōsuke could still remember being born, even after all of this time. One thing he did not remember was seeing Sōsuke the Shinigami, only a bright orange flower with three slowly falling petals that lulled him into a happy baby dream of warmth and a woman singing.

Beneath his skilled hands, the Reishi-mippuu slowly becomes invisible to sight, the barrier so thin and tight against the boy's body that he merely appears to have a light golden tan, but still present. And hadn't he wished he knew about that trick centuries ago when he fled from the ancient wyrm in Hueco Mundo. Hiding one's presence with the Kaidō did little good if they glowed like a bright orange star in the dark.

He leaves the baby sleeping naturally, the orange Kaidō petals dissolving away to nothing as it ends. The remaining Kaidō would hide baby-Sōsuke until they would dissolve under the first Adjuchas attack. Any remnants would be completely obliterated after hours of the toddler-Sōsuke's Reiatsu going haywire in the future. Just in time to meet Sasakibe and eventually… Momo Hinamori.

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The lifespan of a human, being what it is when compared to a Shinigami's, Sōsuke keeps far better track of time. As a result he has plenty of time to make his way to Emilia's Loving Home for Unwanted Children. Memories thick in his throat, he does not enter.

Instead he goes around the back, to sit on a bench the nurses use as a smoking area away from the children. Leaning his back against the wall, he feels for the Reishi-mippuu he left on his younger self two years ago. It's tattered and its frayed, but still present. It is a small matter to release it slowly without causing any undue damage, gently tugging the scraps of Reishi away, and coiling them around his hand as if they were thread. It is even simpler to use the Complete Hypnosis to prevent Sasakibe, at his favorite tea-shop, from noticing the sudden spike in power from the orphanage… and waft the alluring scent directly into the senses of the wolverine shaped Adjuchas hollow named Axe-tooth he had captured in his Complete Hypnosis while searching for Starrk and Lilynette.

The Garganta opens to a curious bright eyed boy-Sōsuke. Gently, the Shinigami reaches out spiritually to his younger self, grabbing a hold of the soul ribbon. As the Adjuchas leaps from the Garganta, intent on snatching his prey and fleeing back into Hueco Mundo to feed, the boy's Reiatsu is forced from his body to its furthest extent. The first pulse of Reiatsu passes through London and the hollow is pinned.

Enraged, the hollow thrashes about, the Garganta closing behind it and the humans in the room panicking as the invisible claws of the hollow devastate the room. It was a good thing that the living world was far sturdier when it came to Reiatsu based attacks than other dimensions. Otherwise London would have looked like it was nuked.

Sōsuke is shaken from his distraction by the screaming of his younger self… It was incredibly disturbing to hear it ringing in his ears just as it did in his memories. Boy-self's Reiatsu in hand, nothing but time to spend, and using the whole of London, he did something he had not had the memories to appreciate as Aizen in the Shin'ō Academy and the pre-Kidō Reiatsu manipulation classes.

It was, hilariously enough, called MMORPG-PVE or Macroscopic Multi-procedural Optimizing Reiatsu Processing Gradient- Power Vector Exercise. Seemed like someone somewhere had a sense of humor. It was a simple enough large-scale Reiatsu exercise wherein the Shinigami pushed as much of their Reiatsu out of their body as they could while still keeping control enough to force it to move in specific patterns. It wound up very useful later in the future if the soul became strong enough to need to create high and low density systems in their own Reiatsu to avoid crushing any of their subordinates.

The boy endures being left alone in the room with the raging hollow and his Reiatsu touring the city for 5 hours. Just long enough to imprint some of Sōsuke the taichō's Reiatsu control on Sōsuke the boy. The second Reiatsu wave came from binding the boy's Reiatsu with a tiny red Camellia flower hidden underneath his hair at the crown of his skull. Not all of it of course, but just enough to hide just how powerful he truly was with the addition of the fourth reincarnation's massive soul inside of him. Normally it would be a death sentence, to place one on a child this young, their Reiatsu still growing and changing… but boy-Sōsuke was going to be murdered by his first friend before he ever experienced the first flush of puberty.

Sōsuke aches a little, ignoring the soft cries of the boy asking for the matron of the orphanage to come and get him… she does the same. With the power bound, Sōsuke led his younger self's Reiatsu through the second half of the exercise, MMORPG-PVP was the opposite theory on Reiatsu control, being that it was called Microscopic Molecular Operations Reiatsu Processing Gradient – Particle Volume Pressurization, and was an exercise in pulling in Reiatsu while controlling minute quantities of his Reiatsu in clumps.

The last wave to crash through the spiritually empty London, came when the Shinigami let go of control, a little prideful as the toddler Sōsuke cried out once in surprise before seamlessly taking over control himself. The child managing to hold the Adjuchas hollow down all on his own without Sōsuke having to assist. When Sasakibe-san arrives and cuts the mask, purifying the hollow, the boy just as easily sucks all of his Reiatsu back in without aid, leaving his older self a little prideful of the boy's accomplishments. Or was it arrogance since it was technically himself he was prideful of?

Later, when the western culture loving fukutaichō would teach the boy Reiatsu control, he would be surprised at the boy's ease in doing so, blaming it on his outburst tonight…

He would be right, but for all the wrong reasons.

Sōsuke buries himself in the final preparations of the plan… because it would all be over Soon.

Hanakotoba

red Camellia : Perish with Grace

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Chapter 33: Just a Traitor

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Ito Aizomeya awakes to a normal sunny summer morning. Or at least as normal as one can expect, when an adopted daughter of a Greater Noble House was going to be the topic of debate at the Central 46 in a few hours. Why had she so foolishly given her Shinigami powers to a human boy?

She stretches once and then sits up, ready to greet her day. It does not take her long to realize that she is perhaps less ready then she thought she was. There is a vase of flowers on a tea tray next to her futon. The mirror across the room shows her what her face looks like when she is terrified first thing when she wakes up. It isn't pretty.

The tray was not there when she went to bed, nor would anyone have brought it to her as she preferred ice cold water in the mornings. Hesitantly she examines the display as if it might bite.

There were 45 orange lilies each entwined with a black rose… and one daffodil in the vase painted with violet butterflies.

She does not pretend to misunderstand the significance. And not knowing what it does, only that he provided it, she drinks the tea. It has a beautiful taste, like sunshine and wind. Proof enough, that the greatest blessing ever to fall on the Aizomeya was that man's generosity.

As she leaves for the day she hands the flowers to the oldest child. "Take these to the garden." The boy clearly reads the message of the flowers, eyes wide as he traces the butterflies on the vase. With a single, shaken nod, he darts out into the garden.

Hours later Ito collapses on her way to the Central 46 chambers. At the hospital she is diagnosed with a mild case of Daffodil poisoning. Who knew that the pretty flowers were mildly poisonous? She was told that she would be fine in a few hours, but by that time the Central 46 had already sequestered themselves and the doors would not open.

For 16 days she would be mocked by the nobles upset by the Aizomeya's inclusion in the central 46. Amid snickers, many daffodils would be sent in baskets supposedly meant to convey sympathy. That mockery would stop when she was the only survivor of the Central 46 massacre. The Onmitsukidō investigate naturally, but not even the pushy Suì-Fēng discovers the hiding place now perfumed with the scent of roses, daffodils and lilies drying as they hang bound to the branches with twine. Children laughing merrily, munching on cakes and lavender tea as she passes by.

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There is a hum of excitement in his veins, heady and utterly distracting. With Momo-chan, once again unaware of being his alibi supplying accomplice, he stands at the open doors of the Central 46. The august body was gathering to discuss the matter of Rukia Kuchiki's sentence now that she had been brought back to Seireitei and was currently awaiting judgment in Senzaikyū (Palace of Penitence).

Hidden in the shadows and deep underneath the Complete Hypnosis he whispers, "Through a prism flies the white swan. Break down and Reorder! A dawn painted phoenix twists out of the light. For an artist, a white canvas holds dreams, but for a brush, it is empty. Bakudō #26: Kyokkō, The Bent Light." He fades from sight, and not even a flicker of something other, reveals his presence.

Many of the Central 46 were reclusive and Sōsuke had never had a reason to show them his zanpakutō's release. He would remedy that today, not that they would live to enjoy it for long. A ghost in the halls of Central 46 he walks into the center of the gathering hall. The work of centuries finally come to fruition. The doors seal, the gathering is called to order.

In the very center of the room surrounded by the monsters that were the reason for all of Seireitei's current laws, Sōsuke released the Kidō, bursting into life before them.

Kyōka Suigetsu raised high above his head, he spoke the words that would bring about a new order, "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."

For once, he enjoys killing for the sake of the plan.

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Sōsuke returns to his division without his absence ever being noticed and innocently goes about his business, harmless as a little mouse. And oh, but the expression on Gin-kun's face when he was told that Sōsuke wanted the boy to kill him… He couldn't prevent the laughter as he explained how important it was to sow gratuitous amounts of doubt, confusion and suspicion in the Gotei 13. The boy agreed of course, as much as Sōsuke knew Gin-kun still wanted to kill him, he really did like to tease and trick. That was why so many people called him a kitsune behind his back.

The plan proceeded as it was scripted. The expression on Momo-chan's face when she discovers his murdered body pinned to the wall does not thrill him as much as he would have expected with his revenge upon her so close at hand. Mostly he is just left with the cold anger that had been lingering since he was forced to accept that Momo-chan was the reincarnation of his mother, Higanbana Aizen.

It gets better though, when Momo-chan finds his last correspondence and rushes off to fight her childhood friend, Toshiro-kun taichō of the 10thdivision.

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Sōsuke sets down his lavender tea, sitting in Ugendō with Ukitake-taichō, not that the other man knows he is there. It was amazing how much time he had to spare when his apparent death freed him from his duties to the Gotei 13. It made him wonder if the excessive amount of paperwork was just to keep them too busy to get up to mischief… not that it had stopped Sōsuke.

It didn't matter in the end. He leaves the tea behind, with a tiny bundle of Cyclamen with a single rabbit flower, so that Ukitake-taichō would share the message with Unohana.

There were fights going on all through Seireitei, with the Gotei 13 getting their collective asses handed to them by a boy with Shinigami/hollow powers, who had only been at this for 3 ½ months, a full-bringer with a single arm of power, a half-trained Quincy, a human girl with powers no one has ever seen before, and the long lost former Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō… who did almost none of the fighting.. Clearly, outside of the 11thdivision, they had been slacking in their training.

Even with the fighting, it was a rather tranquil walk from the 13th division, following the hints of Momo-chan's Reiatsu in the air. He feels nothing when he runs her through, oh so carefully with his released zanpakutō using everything he had learned in the 4thdivision to avoid killing her. She slides off his blade, and without an ounce of joy or regret he lets her fall. The anger in his heart is just too cold to ever be satisfied now. In the end, this too came to nothing more than another part of the plan. As a little boy he had always known that it would come to this, he was every inch the Sith Lord now, wasn't he?

When he cuts down Toshiro-kun he is almost too distracted by his apathy to remember to hold back. His conversation with the arriving Unohana-taichō…. Is difficult, and almost would have been easier if she had expressed her disappointment instead of just hiding it away with the experience of a woman who had served as a taichō since the founding of the Gotei 13, albeit in a different division than the 4th. He escapes under the Complete Hypnosis, unwilling to cross blades with her.

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Given a choice, he would have preferred to have just removed the Hōgyoku from Rukia-chan the night she returned from the world of the living. It wasn't as if any of the guards would have recognized him beneath the Complete Hypnosis. But because that hadn't been Aizen Sōsuke's self aggrandizing style, and Sōsuke had to follow in his footsteps to avoid breaking Dekuyume's carefully crafted Fate Matrix…

After a painfully scripted interaction with Ichigo-kun, Renji-kun and Rukia-chan so mixed with lies and truth that it was a wonder that he managed to keep his story straight, and slapping down Sajin-kun he keeps his attention on Rukia-chan, allowing Gin-kun to force the invaders to their knees with his Reiatsu. Sōsuke walks away from them giving himself more room for what comes next, dragging the poor girl around by her Reiatsu suppressing collar like a naughty dog.

Spewing more lies and half truths he pulled out the little cylinder containing the technique he needed to end this farce. Oh it was true that it was Urahara's work, and the records of it were probably stored in the Central 46 somewhere, but Sōsuke had obtained the knowledge through the Complete Hypnosis the day the brilliant scientist had created it. Knowing that he would need one in the future, had gone through the trouble of making one for himself, leaving it in his Atelier until he would use it today.

Under the shocked eyes of all the little children that had come to save her, he pushed the start button on the device, allowing it to spread over his hand leaving it with a vaguely plant like feel. To think that Urahara had inadvertently created a method so similar to the seeds Kami planted in souls….He truly was the most dangerous man he had ever met…

His metamorphosised hand slides into her body like a hot knife through butter and into the matrix of Rukia-chan's soul. Grasping Urahara's Hōgyoku as if it were delicate glass with the tips of his fingers. An order passes his lips, to Gin-kun instead of Kaname-kun for once, to behave like Sōsuke's attack dog and end Rukia-chan's life, knowing full well that the taichō of the 6th division and her adopted Oniisama would save her.

He hides his smile as he sees Byakuya with his [Sesshōmaru, Lord of the West, Son in law, His nobility is as great as his protection of his pack] The expression on the black haired noble's face a perfect match to the silver haired Inu-yōkai lord that stood within him.

It pleasantly escalated from there, growing and twisting until every last soul left in the Nobility and Gotei 13 would loathe his very existence, ensuring that they would train and push themselves well beyond their self-perceived limits in order to have a chance of defeating him. His show of arrogantly displayed power would see that they felt like no measure of training would be enough to set them on an even playing field.

Urahara's Hōgyoku secure in his Haori and all the Shinigami he had worked with for centuries gathered on top of Sōkyoku Hill to watch the grand finale, the Negacion crashing down from overhead in golden light to surround the three Shinigami, lifting them out for escape.

For a moment, Sōsuke wonders just what would have happened, if the Hollows had decided that they were better off without a Shinigami living in Las Noches, and had never arrived to pull the three traitors out. Aizen Sōsuke had probably had a plan on hand for that, but Sōsuke had no need.

For better or worse, he already had a plan guaranteed to work.

In the end, when Ukitake-taichō's words reach him, he purposefully takes off his glasses, not because he didn't need them to see clearly, but because at that very moment… the last thing he wanted was to see them clearly.

And then he says them, the words that had been like shackles in his mind for centuries.

Voice deep and resonant, the words reach the hearts and minds of everyone gathered to watch this display of arrogance and superiority. "No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."

He does not have to see their faces to know, once more, even though he had slapped them in the face hard enough to get their attention, even though the he had told them to listen. They still missed the whole point.

They were Aizen Sōsuke's words, echoing across the multi-verse, but it was thisSōsuke that was speaking them. It was hismeaning behind them.

No one stands on the top of the world

We have no one to lead us.

Not you, not me, not even gods

We are all equals, even the Soul King is one of us now.

But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over.

We cannot go on like this, we need a leader.

From now on… I will be sitting on it

I will lead us, for now.

Simple statements and yet they still only heard what he said and not what he meant.

He already knew they assumed he meant to be king. Even if they took his words at face value, he only said that he would sit on the throne… he said nothing about ruling.

Aizen Sōsuke, when the sky cries, do you even feel it?1

He did.

Dekuyume Kami of The Eternal Battlefield have mercy on him, he did.

Credit to the Internets and whomever came up with the lovely wallpaper that has graced my computer since I started writing this.

Hanakotoba:

45 orange lilies each entwined with a black rose… : Hatred/Revenge Death

and one daffodil in the vase painted with violet butterflies. Respect

lavender : Devotion/Faithful

Cyclamen : Resignation and Goodbye

rabbit flower : Unohana : No; deception; gracious lady; presumption

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Chapter 34: Just Another State of Grace

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Destroying the mind of Wonderweiss Margela less than an hour after escaping through the Negacion was probably more therapeutic than it should have been. He watches for a few moments as the last bit of intelligence fades from the Arrancar after uttering his own name, regressing into a very childlike state. When given clothes and an Asauchi, he only giggles and coos.

Sōsuke is shaken from his nearly meditative state as Kaname-kun speaks, "You can feel it in his Reiatsu. Just like myself, he appears to be a pure being. Though if you asked me how it is, or in what way, I could not say, given that he is a hollow." The seeker of justice kneels, to help the boy into his clothing, strapping the Asauchi to the boy's back so that it could harmonize with his Reiatsu.

It was a good thing that Kaname-kun could not see the expression on Sōsuke's face, and an even better one that Sōsuke had long since mastered his Reiatsu to the point that it gave away nothing that he did not will it to. Kaname-kun would have been appropriately terrified by it and thus decline. And Sōsuke could not have that, it was part of the plan after all.

"Kaname-kun, have you ever considered the fact that many hollows have high-speed regeneration, and what that might mean for you, were you to undergo the conversion into a Visored. It isn't as if your blindness is a natural characteristic of your soul." He holds out Urahara's Hōgyoku, the orb tired and angry from being bent to Sōsuke's will. The other two were under the impression that he had fused his Hōgyoku and Urahara's together, his original one tired, worn, and unwilling to cooperate after converting all of the previous Hollows into Arrancar and their experiments. He didn't even have to use the Complete Hypnosis to fool them, they had never gotten a good look at the one he pulled out of Rukia-chan, and it's outer casing was different enough that they took him at his word.

How odd it was to be trusted, when you were a known traitor. The trust on Kaname-kun's face almost hurts, as he turns to Sōsuke with poorly hidden hope. It would have hurt, if he hadn't become desensitized to seeing it on the faces of the Arrancar as he granted their desires in exchange for their loyalty, knowing full well that most of them would never live to see their dreams come true.

Kaname-kun's voice is thick with emotion as he makes his decision. "Though the thought of becoming hollow-like fills me with disgust, Wonderweiss has made it apparent that it is possible to be both a pure being and a hollow. I would be honored, If Aizen-sama would restore my sight." Sōsuke grants his wish.

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In the safe isolation of his Atelier after meticulously placing everything behind Kidō barriers, and searching every nook and cranny for remaining hell butterflies, Sōsuke sits in the middle of the room. Holding Urahara's exhausted Hōgyoku in one hand, he uses his other to open the small ornate box he kept his Dekuyume-command-seal-crafted Hōgyoku in when it was not needed.

The little gem slowly sparkled to life, like a lazy cat stretching and yawning itself awake. After centuries of gentle requests, the Reiryoku of thousands of souls, Shinigami and Rukongai Citizens alike, and the steady thrum of Sōsuke's own contribution… it was interesting, to see that in comparison to Urahara's Hōgyoku that had resisted the attempts its own creator made to destroy it, Sōsuke's was as tame as a house cat and just as cuddly and eager to please in hopes of getting a treat. The gem that had once shown Shikon-chan reflected in its glowing lights, practically purrs in his hand.

Urahara's was a feral hissing rage monster in comparison. Perhaps that was why the power arched out of Urahara's Hōgyoku to attack his before the other even noticed it's presence.

It doesn't respond in kind, instead, light dances out of his Hōgyoku, once again showing the face of Shikon-chan… twisted in fear and so clearly begging for help. Sōsuke's response is visceral, instant and automatic, jerking the two apart, arms spread as wide as his body will physically allow, his Reiatsu crashing down on Urahara's Hōgyoku with the force of the God of Games ban-hammer.

After being so thoroughly abused by Sōsuke from the moment he took the orb in his hands, and with the threat of the other Hōgyoku clearly present, it refuses to submit. Tendrils of power lashing out at the still cowering Shikon-Hōgyoku in his other hand.

The walls of his Atelier rattle and shake with the force of the Reiatsu he emits, Kyō-kun manifesting with a cry of alarm. "Sōsuke! The Atelier can't handle that! It will lose its ability to connect to other dimensions!" He only spares enough attention to nod in acknowledgment, "El Escudo!" The Kidō barrier he had invented for his Espada only a few weeks ago flashes into life, a brilliant green in front of him, cutting through the attacking Hōgyoku magic.

It does not accept defeat. Quick as lightning it strikes out at him, power cutting into his body through the Reiatsu vents at his wrist. The Kidō barrier blinks out of existence, and a cold feeling settles into his heart. An icy terror no incarnation of his soul would have been able to endure, which was why the Hōgyoku had chosen it.

Beneath the frightened eyes of Kyō-kun and Shikon-Hōgyoku, Sōsuke screams out another Sealing Kidō, "Roppō Fūjin!"

There is no response. Urahara's Hōgyoku had blocked Sōsuke's ability to perform magic.

Panicked, he digs deep, throwing all the Reiatsu he can at the orb ravaging his left hand. Tendrils of inky black magic sinking into his body through the Reiatsu vents at his wrist.

An eternity trapped in his atelier was nothing compared to permanently losing his magic.

The Atelier quakes under the onslaught, thousands of previous connections snapping. Amid the barriers shattering Kyō-kun groans in pain as he is forced to his knees, desperately holding on to as many connections as he can. He grabs a hold of one, forcing open the door to the little hideaway they had set up in the 80th district of the North Rukongai, Zaraki (New Tree). It was sufficiently far enough away that if they had to empty the Atelier back into a stable dimension, they would have enough time to clean up before any Shinigami dispatched from Seireitei arrived.

All of Sōsuke's Reiatsu presses down on the Hōgyoku…

It is not enough, and like a candle, Urahara's Hōgyoku leans forward with its magic and blows it out.

No matter how his Reiryoku shifts and churns, he no longer has the ability to generate Reiatsu.

His heart flutters like a trapped butterfly.

The shaking of the Atelier stops, Kyō-kun's shocked face ghastly white against the dark plum color on his lips. The spirits disbelief graphic and fully displayed on his face, a perfect mirror to his own. There is a soft chiming from the Shikon-Hōgyoku in his other hand, sounding like a cry of denial, but any aid it would have offered is blocked as Urahara's Hōgyoku resumes its attack.

Cracks form in Shikon-Hōgyoku's light crafted face, tears falling from almond shaped ruby red eyes.

Sōsuke looks up at his zanpakutō spirit, fierce, with all of the determination inherited from Dekuyume and a lifetime spent guarding her precious people.

"Good bye Kyō-kun, you truly were a beloved, playful and polite son." Kyōka Suigetsu screams in denial.

Sōsuke brings Shikon-Hōgyoku to his lips, and with a kiss as soft as butterfly wings, pours his raw Reiryoku inside.

He does not get far before there is a soft pop that paints the world around him red.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The memory vine shuddered and shook with the pulses of Reiatsu, the harsh cuts from the Hōgyoku that cut at the soul's soul fragments, tearing them apart from one another to deny him access to Kidō and Reiatsu, but blessedly not removing them entirely.

Another blow slices through, the memory vine is cut apart, a long tendril withered, barely alive and almost useless but for the fact that it had been anchored to a soul fragment, an ability that the Soul King did not allow in his reincarnation protocols as it was fueled by an externally created energy type. The tendril fell, dragging with it the ability, and the memories of how to use it.

Again, the dodder grows from the torn fragment of the memory vine. Seeking, flicking like the tongue of a serpent as it stretches out through the myriad of soul fragments to grasp another. Coiling around it, but unable to break the surface tension.

Across the dimensions, in the domain ship of a Kami who was deeply invested in the outcome of Dekuyume's Trial, an alarm sounds. Instantly The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death turns his attention to the Kami who had threatened to steal his domain. Cautiously, wary of being caught by all of the other Soul Kami who were observing the proceedings, he tips the balance in his favor.

The dodder coiled around the soul fragment hardens, forming haustoria instead of strangling vines. Just as they would penetrate the tissues of a host plant the root-like organs breach the soul fragment with a soft pop.

Just as deftly The Shinigami ensures that the Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield does not feel it. His plan to remove The Eternal Battlefield from the celestial ocean where all others had failed, be they against the Shikon no Tama or Dekuyume would come to nothing as well, if the newest incarnation of the Kami thought to use Dekuyume's trespassing meditation technique, to see into the space between the mind, body and soul.

The parasitic plant growing in his soul may not have been obvious before, but it certainly was now that it had taken root in his Reiryoku.

It was very well balanced, just as all death should be. Because the soul did not look, it did not know of the problem. Because it did not know of the problem it did not use the technique it knew of to reach inside its own soul. Because the ailment was perfectly curable by techniques of that dimension… it was ruled a slow sacrificial death and none of the observing Kami received any warning messages about outside interference but for the one who presided over the domain of sacrificial deaths.

Be they willing deaths or not.

Not even the Kami who called the primary operator of The Eternal Battlefield kin were warned, and so the dodder would grow unchecked, eventually reaching the point of no return, strangling the soul to the point that it could no longer grow.

Souls that could not grow were of no value… and a Kami did not incur karmic debt for destroying things of no value.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke stares in wonder, as against all odds, Naraku's Red Demonic Reflecting Barrier forms around himself and Shikon-Hōgyoku, cutting off his arm where it was still extended, physically trying to hold the other Hōgyoku away.

Only the barest whisper of a memory accompanies it:

They should have known better, by this point he had been a yōkai for longer than he had ever been a human, and the red demonic barrier had always been a favorite of his.

Safe within the red barrier, or at least as safe as he can be while dying from blood loss and no ability to heal himself, he takes a shaky relieved breath. Releasing his death grip on the Shikon-Hōgyoku, one aching, tension white, finger at a time. He opens his mouth to speak. He is not given the chance.

Sensing its savior dying, The Shikon-Hōgyoku flashed brilliantly, shattering the cracked outer shell that guarded it's inner core, nearly blinding Sōsuke and Kyōka Suigetsu before shooting towards Sōsuke and slamming into his chest.

Unlike Onigumo who once denied the Shikon no Tama in The Amphitheater under the alarmed eyes of the gathered Kami…

Sōsuke welcomes the Hōgyoku in.

It enters through where his gate of the soul would have been, were he alive. The scarred hand print left on their soul from Kagome warms as the Shikon-Hōgyoku hides in his soul from Urahara's Hōgyoku.

He learns more about the Hōgyoku in that moment than he had ever discovered in the centuries of experimentation he had conducted. He wonders, just for a moment, how different his Hōgyoku was from Aizen's, and… if the cruel man had ever actually fed the two Hōgyoku to each other at all, it wasn't as if he ever offered proof otherwise.

There is an odd tingling sensation in the stump of his severed arm. With fascination he watches as it regrows, high speed regeneration at work. He can feel just how gentle the gem in his chest is being, careful not to harm him as it heals. He can also feel it rifling through his memories, like a box of old photos.

He doesn't know what hurts more, the fact that with the Hōgyoku in his chest and Sōsuke already displaying signs of being in the first Fusion state, months earlier than expected, Kyō-kun would soon disappear, the two of them re-converging once more… far sooner than either one of them anticipated…

Or realizing that the Hōgyoku in his chest was simply using the information in his heart to mimic Shikon-chan, the image strong and sure with the associations he had already made long before even using his Bankai to create it.

Both only left the hollow ring of solitude echoing in his heart.

Outside the barrier, past where Urahara's Hōgyoku continues to flail against it, Kyō-kun manages to secure the connection between the Atelier and the handful of mirror-doors he had managed to save. He flickers out of existence, only to reappear inside the barrier, reminding Sōsuke that no matter how real the spirit was to him… in the end, Kyō-kun was only an illusion outside of his inner world. A powerful, fully welcome illusion, but an illusion none the less..

The two embrace. Even as hollow white Hierro creeps across his skin from the scar on his chest. The Hōgyoku taking him into the second fusion state, no battles or damage needed to inspire the transformation. The two of them already knew where they were going, and Sōsuke's Hōgyoku… was as eager to please, happy to return his generosity and vehement protection.

It spreads and spreads, creeping over his body underneath his clothes, over his face and sealing on top of his head. The Chrysalis Stage. Kyō-kun whispers into his neck, voice thick with emotion, "This is not goodbye Aizen Sōsuke. So long as the Complete Hypnosis remains, even if you are no longer part of it, even if the very blade that makes up my body vanishes, I will always be with you."

Muffled behind the Hierro over his face, he is prevented from telling the spirit that he knows. Invisible fingers travel across his body leaving an odd wetness in their wake. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon, his skin split, protected and sheltered by the chrysalis wrapped around him. Gently, the spirit removes the sheathed form of his blade form from his Shinigami's sash, pressing it into his hand.

Sōsuke grips the blade slowly, aware of just how utterly powerful he has become in the space of a few minutes. It would destroy him, to accidentally grip Kyōka Suigetsu so tightly that the blade shattered in his hand like so much mirror-glass. The spirit kisses his forehead as he rises, leaving a purple lipstick stain behind on his white forehead.

Kyō-kun straightens his shoulders, and bows deeply, "Though I am soon to be forced to remain only in your inner world, I wanted you to know that of all the times I have walked the world with your soul, this has been the most rewarding Aizen Sōsuke, reincarnation of Higurashi Dekuyume and…" The spirit cuts itself off, head cocked to the side as if listening to something only he could hear.

The spirits eyes meet his as he rises once more, "It is a bit tragic, that you are the one who feels such solitude, though you now carry three spirits aside from your own, and yet are unable to greet them."

Sōsuke's eyes widen in surprise, mind whirling through the possibilities, even as the chrysalis cracks and falls off, leaving shards of Hierro on the ground that quickly dissolve into sand, the same texture of that of Hueco Mundo. His long brown hair tumbles down his back, some getting caught in the now jagged edge of his white Shihakushō, transformed now, not by thread and Sōsuke's deft hands, but by the transformation wrought upon him by the Hōgyoku in his chest.

He can feel the slow and steady rush of hollow minus Reiatsu stretching through his Shinigami Reiatsu, blooming like white chrysanthemum. Sōsuke, Kyō-kun, Hōgyoku and his newly forming inner hollow. Four souls, one inner world. In the mirror across the room, miraculously un-cracked from the earlier thrashing of Sōsuke's Reiatsu, protected behind Kidō barriers, Sōsuke could clearly see, the sclera of his eyes was no longer white. The third fusion. At least in the Atelier, safe behind the red demonic barrier… he did not have to worry about accidentally dissolving anyone.

Sōsuke reaches out with his free hand, sliding fingers from the spirits hairline, over the curve of his cheek, "I will enter Jinzen as soon as I am able." The spirit smiles softly, disappearing like so much fairy dust. Sōsuke allows his hand to fall to his side, eyes closed as he just breathes in deeply.

The wings bloom out of his back, like sprouts reaching for the sun through the dying snow of winter. It was perhaps fitting, that saying goodbye to Kyō-kun would open a hole in his chest, leaving him vacant and open but for the cross of flesh in his chest upon which his Hōgyoku sat.

The first hint of pain comes from the birth of the diamond on his forehead. Unable to deny the impulse, he looks once more into the mirror. The color, size and shape are different, but somehow it is pleasing to see Midoriko's jewel crown upon his head, and the glowing orb in his chest.

The blockage placed by Urahara's Hōgyoku finally breaks and Sōsuke's back arc's with the sensation of his magic returning. The Red Barrier wobbles, causing Sōsuke to reach out to steady it. He sits back carefully settling into a meditative pose, though it is a bit awkward with the wings on his back. They bend easily enough flaring around his hips like a woman's skirt.

He relaxes as best he can knowing the two transformations that come next. With trembling hands, he pulls the Kyōka Suigetsu to his chest. Pressing his lips into the Tuba of the blade he waits. Heart aching, soul weary and mind numb.

He does not have to wait long. And this transformation at least, is not gentle and painless. The diamond on his forehead cracking open as if his brain was seeking to peek out from his skull. He knows it is an eye, but if it sees, it is not an eye that Sōsuke can see out of… his inner hollow on the other hand…

The flesh on his face bubbles and peels open like a popped blister, hot and moist and burning. It splits, falling around his neck like a hood leaving his blackened skull naked and bare to the world… it is nothing compared to the agony of the additional two holes opening up in his chest.

He only had one place on his body that was meant to connect to a physical one. The so called gate of the soul. Somehow he never made the connection between having three holes and what that would mean.

Aizen Sōsuke's Hōgyoku had hovered in the center of his top hollow hole. But Sōsuke's, Sōsuke's was in the middle, or perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that Sōsuke of this dimension was the top hole, Magatsuhi's 4threincarnation as Sōsuke was in the middle… But who's was the third… and how had the original Aizen Sōsuke had threehearts to break and Hollowfy?

There is a painful crunch as all of the bones in his right hand and both feet collapse into single bones, all 79 bones forcing their way through his flesh forming claw-like at his feet, and fusing his hand to the blade of Kyōka Suigetsu as it is quickly subsumed by a thick layer of Hierro just as tar black as his skull.

He pants for breath as his wings transform, shifting from their gracefully curved Butterfly shape into something out of a nightmare, each tip cursed with the gaping maw of a hollow. The sensation of a fiery brand across the fabric of each wing, and then the world unfolds to his eyes.

It would have been extremely disorienting, to see his Atelier from the number of perspectives now offered by the 8 eyes on his body he could see out of, barely held together and protected by the Kidō he had possessed the foresight to lay over his most precious possessions. All that practice underneath the Complete Hypnosis using other people's eyes made it easy to deal with.

Once the pain fades he tentatively stretches his wings out, the sensation pleasantly familiar from his days spent as a hell butterfly, though discordant with the extra two sets of wings. Interestingly enough, the tendrils that dangled from the edges were highly Reiatsu sensitive, allowing him to… taste? The construction of the Atelier.

Feeling oddly naked without his Kimono wrapped around him he pulls his wings in tightly around himself, though… he doesn't exactly have anything to cover up now does he?

The sensation of metamorphosis had stopped, leaving him only a vague sensation of waiting and anticipation. It was a good thing that he already knew what it was waiting for. With a sad soft, tired smile, awkwardly folding his blade bound arm across his lap as if he were about to enter Jinzen, he whispers the words to a Kidō Seal that Urahara had begun constructing the moment he knew Rukia-chan had been taken.

The crafty bastard hadn't needed the time from when Rukia-chan left, to when he sent those children to Seireitei to fight a battle he himself was not willing to fight to prepare a Senkaimon… he had needed it to prepare a countermeasure against anyone brave or crazy enough to stick the Hōgyoku in their chest. The Kidō was done before the shop keeper ever let the children into Seireitei. He truly was the most dangerous person Sōsuke would ever oppose.

"O' wicked soul repent! The fires of judgment hang suspended! The kings of 96 kingdoms stand as your jury! Too many times you have traveled down the path of Yin in search of an unjust ending! The 96 armies ride triumphant down the path of Yang! Their Banners let fly! Their war drums are the sound of your end! The fires of judgment fall! Brands of iron close! You are imprisoned, eternal damnation is all you reap! : Kyujurokkei Kakafumetsu, The Ninety-Six Capitol Fire-Suspended Seal Destruction" With his only remaining normal hand he points his finger at his own chest, through the meaty part of his right shoulder.

This would hurt enough, there was no reason to shatter his shoulder blade, even if it would heal instantly from his currently immaculate level of instant regeneration.

The Kidō pierces, just as he intends it too, his willingness to be sealed enough to see it instantly activate. Under the onslaught of red cross-like Reiryoku shards pushing their way out of his body, he pulls his wings in even tighter.

And then after a miserable 10 seconds of having his body ravaged by needles as if he were a display butterfly and not the most powerful soul alive… finally darkness closes around him.

The powerful sealing Kidō the only thing strong enough to protect the balance of the worlds for his last transformation.

Within the seal, Sōsuke dissolves… and the second Konsō Procedure of The Soul King starts.

Because that was what happened, when hell butterflies turned back into souls… but this Konsō procedure was as different from normal as Sōsuke's current form was from a normal hell butterfly.

It did only two things:

The first, resetting the appearance modifiers on the soul, restoring Sōsuke back to the appearance of his normal 28 year old body, removing any proof that he had been hollowfied… but in appearance only, the changes to his regeneration, his enhanced endurance, strength, durability, speed… even the ability completely transform himself into violet shards of his own Reiryoku and snap himself into place as if he were teleporting, all of his hollow skills… all of it remained hidden away beneath his simple Shinigami exterior, even the flavor of his Reiatsu lost the Hollow markers, subsuming them until the time he dared to don his inner hollows mask and take up its broken heart… He was now a Visored.

The second thing it did, the second…

When Urahara sealed away Aizen Sōsuke, claiming that the Hōgyoku rejected him, did he know that his words were false, and merely said them to claim some kind of vengeance against the would-be tyrant who had so maligned him? Oh but Urahara should have known… perhaps he had, and in his own mad scientist way decided to punish Aizen Sōsuke by giving him exactlywhat he asked for.

The Ōken.

It wasn't just a shiny metal key made from the souls of 100,000 people in an important spiritual area with a diameter of a single spirit-mile. It was a power that the Soul King manifested in his chosen people, or as Dekuyume would call them, his blue ants, those poor unfortunate souls marked so that he could always find them. It was only those who bore that mark that were allowed to transcend the 72 layer microfilm that separated the soul area of The Soul Society from the administration sector that held the primary operator seat and all of the technicians working in the background.

It was a living organic thing that settled in the bones. In each person who bore it, it manifested in different ways. In Shutara it allowed her to create clothing with insane defensive powers so strong that a person wearing them could literally just walkthrough the 72 barriers that separated The Soul King from the rest of Soul Society.

In creating an Ōken from Karakura town, Aizen Sōsuke would have in fact been creating new life, a symbiote to live in his very bones.

And what was the Hōgyoku if not a massive amount of souls crammed into a very important tiny place and given life?

In the end, the Hōgyoku did not reject Aizen Sōsuke. It only granted his wish… the manifestation of Aizen Sōsuke's Ōken was simply the Complete Hypnosis, uninhibited by the need to see the release of his Shikai, undetectable and untraceable without the faint sensation of Kyōka Suigetsu's released state to give it away, but also outside of his control and limited to the admittedly impressive range of his Reiatsu.

Sōsuke awakes naked but for his plain white Shihakushō wrapped around him, once again in its original form and belted securely at his waist. His Atelier, back lit as always, the Demonic Red Barrier around him, and no idea of how much time has passed. He sits up, feeling oddly soft, much like what he would expect a butterfly to feel like after freshly breaking free of its chrysalis.

With a soft groan, he runs his fingers through his hair, only mildly surprised to find that it retained its hip length. The Konsō procedure had probably gotten a little confused, Magatsuhi, Naraku and Dekuyume had all possessed long hair after all. He would have to cut it before he returned to Las Noches. It wouldn't do to have something so clearly out of place.

The scar at least was still on his chest. Carefully, he lays his left hand over the burn mark barely peeking out from where the folds of the white Shihakushō spread, fingers sliding over the place where Kagome had once allowed their souls to touch. It was still warm, the Ōken in his veins purrs like a kitten, stretching up into his hand before curling up and going back to sleep. Newborn and sleepy.

There was only one last thing to check before he took care of the nuisance that was Urahara's Hōgyoku. He settles into the meditative pose he usually used for Jinzen, but try as he might, he cannot reach his inner world.

Hands shaking and trying not to panic, he reminds himself that he no longer has an Asauchi for Kyōka Suigetsu to possess and the very definition of Jinzen was sword meditation, it was not impossible to enter the state without a zanpakutō if the connection between the spirit and the shinigami was strong enough, Sōsuke had clearly been presumptuous when he thought that he and Kyō-kun were that close, or perhaps he had been correct and an artificial distance was caused by his transformation. He hoped that it was the latter, as considering the former left him feeling... hurt. The only way to find out was to get another Asauchi for Kyōka Suigetsu to possess. That was something easily enough done, there were hundreds of Asauchi still left in Las Noches.

Unsure of his footing, he rises to his feet. With a bit more confidence, he walks to the edge of the Demonic Red Barrier to look down at Urahara's quiescent Hōgyoku. It was no longer aggressive, presuming itself safe now that the Hōgyoku in Sōsuke had disappeared.

The Ōken under his skin murmurs unhappily in its sleep, bathing in the insanity that was now Sōsuke's Reiryoku. Placing a hand over the warm spot, in what was quickly becoming a bad habit, Sōsuke smiled malevolently down at the last remaining Hōgyoku.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Deep in his soul the dodder now feeding on his Reiryoku takes up the extra power and begins to bloom under the watchful eye of The Shinigami of The Sacrificial Death.

Hanakotoba

White Chrysanthemum : Truth/Death

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 35: Just a Downward Spiral

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The barrier fades with a simple twist of his wrist and a flicker of intent. Ignoring the gloating gem on the ground, he moves around his Atelier cleaning up. Let the Hōgyoku think itself safe without another to threaten it, and having already proven its superiority over Sōsuke. If he had been given enough time to lower a few of the Kidō barriers in his Atelier, this would not have happened, and the malevolent little fiend would have been swiftly dealt with.

With a sigh, he surveys the mess. While most of his Kidō barriers had held, some had not. The books and paintings had survived just fine, however most of his furniture was destroyed. More alarming, all of his inventions were destroyed too, the delicate constructs of Reishi unable to handle the pressure he had put the Atelier under.

Carefully he sifts through them, mildly disappointed at their destruction, particularly the destruction of the little glove that was his single soul extractor. One he devised ages ago to pull a single soul out of a hollow provided he could use the insight to see where it was exactly in the target hollow.

At least he was still in possession of all of his notes and thus able to reconstruct them if necessary. After taking a moment to grab the larger pieces and throw them through the door Kyō-kun had opened to the Zaraki district when Sōsuke nearly shook the Atelier apart, he moves over to the corner where he kept a few cleaning supplies for when he went a bit overboard with his art.

First he takes the scissors, awkwardly cutting his hair in the mirror, allowing the strands to fall into the mess on the floor. He collects the broom and dustpan next. Oh how his followers would be surprised, to know that Sōsuke preferred to clean his own spaces and was actually very uncomfortable with how the weaker Arrancar waited on him. Not very King-like.

He sweeps up the rest, the Atelier painfully quiet without Kyō-kun playing whatever song was most popular in the world of the living at the moment. The thought burns, hot and swift through him. He has to pause, taking in a deep fortifying breath. It was not permanent. He would sit with Kyō-kun in the 8thlevel of the Central Great Underground Prison, Muken. Even if the Central 46 tried to deny him, he would simply twist their perceptions until they did not notice.

20,000 years should be more than enough to fill the dark depths with music and light underneath the Complete Hypnosis. He straightens his shoulders, takes another breath and gets back to work. The residual mess also gets thrown out of the Atelier through the door. Mess cleaned up and barriers removed, there was only one thing left to do before he left the Atelier himself. He should have enough time, the next piece of the plan wasn't until September 2nd in the world of the living, when he needed Ulquiorra and Yammy to check up on Ichigo Kurosaki and his merry band of teenage heroes.

With the same level of reverence he had once brought it into his Atelier, he lifted the crystallized lovers, Riku Homura, the doctor with the hollow - zanpakutō called Shiro-Yanagi, that healed souls by using a hollows regenerative abilities. It was a good thing, that Sōsuke had so obsessively watched Urahara and his experiments. As a result he knew that the core of the feral Hōgyoku had actually been formed from a drop of blood that had fallen from Riku-san's arm as she and her beloved crystallized.

Changed as it was from Urahara's experiments, in the end it was little more than a piece of her. As he carries it out of his Atelier, through the dug-out cave and into the bright morning sunshine of the Rukongai, he wonders for a moment, why no one had thought to unmake the Shikon no Tama as he intended to do the Hōgyoku.

Truly, with enough preparation, any half-decent plan to rescue the renowned Miko would have succeeded. An adequately sized army yōkai or holy would have been enough to hold the wyrm-like Magatsuhi at bay long enough for the Miko to rest. Rescuing her would have been even easier. After all, the crystallization began with her, and the restoration would too.

No matter. Kneeling to set the the two down, he rises gracefully, well aware that before his transformation, he would be quite winded from moving such a spiritually heavy object without aid. He returns to the dugout cave. It was little more than bare earth he had dug out with a controlled burst of Reiatsu centuries ago when on patrol. It was also layered in so many Kidō that any self-respecting taichō would be able to sense it even though half of them were there to hide it.

That was just fine though, it wasn't as if anyone went out this far if they had a choice, and there would be nothing for them to find but a simple mirror. It would be painfully out of place out here in no-man's land, but no one would suspect that it was there just because Sōsuke wanted a door to the furthest place in Soul Society from Seireitei in each direction. He had the ability to open a door to anywhere he had opened one previously, having to run anytime he needed to do something out past the 50thdistricts was embarrassing.

Urahara's Hōgyoku is still gloating on the floor when he picks it up. It made him wonder just what kind of malevolent SOB Aizen Sōsuke's Hōgyoku had been that it met Urahara's and defeated it. On second thought he did not want to know, it was probably just as much of a monster as Aizen Sōsuke himself was.

It is still gloating and arrogant in his hand as he carries it out to the statue. It remains so until the moment he touches it to Riku's crystallized forehead. It doesn't even have time to whimper in terror before his Reiatsu forces it to bend to his will and merge with its original source. It was always good to have a plan, and even if he only spent a few moments on them, his were undoubtedly the best.

Amid the dying screams of Urahara's Hōgyoku, Riku Homura gasps for air, breathing for the first time in centuries. Sōsuke kneels at the side of the soul she was curled around, already casting the 7th Rite of Kaidō (Enfold): Reishi-mippuu, The Soul Particle Envelope around the un-crystallizing man. The man had not collapsed into Reishi as the spiritual bodies of souls did when their soul completely moved on to the next life. Added to the fact was that he had been taken down by Shikamaru-kun.

The elemental shadow zanpakutō type he wielded was a nasty piece of work, anyone stricken down by the man transformed into shadow beast did not die. They were only paralyzed, their shadow partially disconnected from their bodies. If the shadow was not re-attached, the soul would lay there forever until it either committed soul-suicide, or something else came along to kill the prone victim, be it another person, or if the soul was powerful enough to become a Shinigami simply starving to death unable to eat.

The restoration finishes, Riku glaring death at Sōsuke's turned away face, but not interrupting as his hands glow green with healing Kaidō. Having had to heal the members of the 5th division from the consequences of training with Shikamaru-kun and his Shikai, it takes only a few moments to re-attach her lover's shadow. And then he too is rolling onto his side, gasping for breath for the first time in centuries.

There are tears in Riku's eyes as she cries happily embracing her lover. Sōsuke sits back on his heels, allowing them their moment, sleepy Ōken in his bones a pulsing warmth… one that felt suspiciously like it was sticking its metaphorical tongue out at its dead nemesis and laughing.

With a shake of his head, Sōsuke rises to his feet, drawing their attention. The man's glare is a hateful menacing thing, but Riku simply looks up at him with mixed feelings. "I was aware you know. From the moment you brought Muso and I into your Atelier I have borne witness to every secret you and your zanpakutō spirit have shared… all of your art, your writings…. Your experiments." Sōsuke's breath catches in his throat, the slight breeze blowing his hair across his face as he locks eyes with the girl who was suddenly far more dangerous than he was prepared to deal with.

She sighs, closing her eyes. She opens them to look at her lover, taking his hand in her dainty one, "I will never like you Aizen, your goals are noble, but your methods are the stuff of nightmares. I would know as I have been on the wrong side of them once already." The man at her side glares, wrapping his arm more tightly around his goddess, still partially hollowfied from whatever healing she had done on him a lifetime ago.

She continues with a deep breath and another sigh, turning back to him."I forgive you and I will keep your secrets. But unless you change your ways I do not want to see you again." Sōsuke keeps his eyes on her, even as he hears the man called Muso whisper in her ear, denying that there was a chance that Sōsuke would let the two of them just leave.

She ignores him, keeping her eyes on Sōsuke. With eyes wiser than those of souls twice her age, she speaks, and it gives him goose-bumps as her words overlap with a flash of memory "Souls only meet repeatedly at the behest of the Kami, and when they do, they are either a blessing or a lesson." Sōsuke's heart trembles in his chest, though there was no insight before she began to speak, the image of an old monk stood behind her as the words crossed her lips… image displaced as if it did not belong to her.

Though he is unnerved, he cannot bring himself to look away as she continues. "I have seen into his soul, there is no monster, only a man who believes he has no hope of finding a way out of his solitude but for a single soul in all the universe. She is not the only one who can be a blessing or a lesson Aizen Sōsuke, she's just the only one you've been listening to… If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done."

A chill runs through his veins as she sighs, blinking twice before turning to her beloved for a proper greeting… and the insight fades away… Though there had been no words, no identifiers, Sōsuke just somehow knew, that a Kami had been speaking to Sōsuke through Riku Homura just now…

But dare he trust it, when he had no idea which Kami had chosen to speak with him not just in this life, but in his previous incarnations as well?

And just what was it urging him to do?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the aftermath, he had been left without a connection to Las Noches from his Atelier. More vexing, though he appeared to retain the ability to use the Atelier to cross between dimensions, bypassing the Dangai and null space that stood between the world of the living, The Soul Society and El Hueco Mundo, the way to switch the doors to somewhere else was complicated and Sōsuke had no idea where the 5 doors remaining led to. Somehow Kyō-kun had maintained connections to every mirror that Sōsuke had used to open the Atelier for centuries… and there were some in a few unfortunate spots to just open accidentally. It would be quite troublesome if he accidentally opened a door directly into the mirror just inside the doors to the gathering hall for the taichō when they were in the middle of a meeting.

With a sigh, he closes the door to the Atelier, gently tapping on the surface of the mirror until it revealed only his own reflection and not the world he had created beyond the looking glass. He can still hear Kyō-kun's excitement when they stumbled upon Lewis Carroll's Alice Series. Sōsuke had read them both out loud to the spirit, taking great pleasure in practicing his oration through the whimsical world with its chortling characters, Vorpal blades and Cheshire cats. Kyō-kun had painted, sung and enchanted him back with the Complete Hypnosis, bringing it to life. He takes another deep breath. It was not permanent, he would embrace all the wonders of the world with Kyō-kun again. He would tolerate nothing else.

He focuses on the positives as he begins his trek to Seireitei, intent on using the Senkaimon to reach the world of the living, and from there obtain enough distance from his arrival point to safely open up a Garganta to Las Noches. While it was possible to do so from Soul Society it required an enormous activation energy since the world itself was permeated with plus Reiatsu… and while it would take a while, there were taichō in the Gotei 13 who could make it the trip in enough time to intercept him. So, infiltration, and subterfuge it was. The trip from the 80th North District was a good thing. It provided him an opportunity to practice maintaining his hollow mask, and to practice the Crystal Transportation technique. Which he quickly discovered was nothing more than a far more advanced shunpo/Sonido that wove his Reiryoku through the space between the dimensions, allowing him to pull himself after, giving the appearance of disassembling himself in one location and reassembling in another.

He was quite enthralled with his ability to travel from the 80th district to the 1st in a frankly ridiculous amount of time. He would have never considered the long distance aspect of the technique as something valuable in the face of its combat uses. He was equally enchanted when he had only a few small issues controlling his Reiatsu and Reiryoku enough that he did not inadvertently erase any of the souls from existence when they brushed up against his concealed form underneath Bakudō #26: Kyokkō, The Bent Light. Their nervous bodies pressed together as they stood in line waiting for the gate guards to admit the newest batch of Shin'ō Academy hopefuls. It was unpleasantly difficult though. He was actually going to have to practice Reiatsu control for once… and perhaps wrap himself in a Reishi-mippuu of his own just in case.

He enters Seireitei unnoticed, it wasn't as if they expected Aizen Sōsuke to enter from the Rukongai when he could just as easily open up a Garganta back on Sōkyoku hill. Even if they were expecting it, they probably didn't have any sensors capable of detecting him with his new Reiryoku levels.

It was also easy to figure out how much time had passed, namely a single day… no wonder he was tired.

It was even easier to steal a black marked uniform from the Kidō corps. Really, it was almost as if no one had ever dared to do so before. Even worse, as long as he stayed away from the current Grand Kidō Chief and Vice Kidō Chief, there was literally no one who would know he did not belong. The badges Sōsuke had seen as a hell butterfly were only to appease the Nobility, and hadn't been implemented anywhere else. Suffice to say, there were nearly four books written on how to properly secure, update and utilize the Kidō corps waiting in Sōsuke's Atelier for the Soul King.

With his kimono wrapped and held securely in an equally stolen bag, he boldly strode up to the four black masked Kidō Corps members guarding the Senkaimon. There is a soft tingle along his whole skeleton as if someone had hit a gong at just the right frequency to jiggle the marrow in his bones and resound in his chest using his ribs like piano keys. There is a moment, when he can tell that the four guards are hypnotized, and is somehow aware that he has only a few moments before it ends. It appeared that his Ōken was too young to hold four highly suspicious souls hostage for long, in whatever had become of his Complete Hypnosis.

As it just so happened that was all he needed, "Special delivery from Kurotsuchi-taichō to Urahara-san. Time sensitive, sensors to assist in the displacement of Fake-Karakura." The other four masked souls say nothing, simply opening up the Senkaimon to Urahara's. He is already through the gate with an offered hell butterfly as the vibrations stop leaving every bone in his body with a dull ache like a week old bruise. He would have to test it of course, but it was highly unlikely that he would be able to use the Complete Hypnosis before the ache went away.

He is halfway through the Senkaimon when the Dangai Records show one Aizen Sōsuke in transit. He actually sees it, the moment the hell butterfly is called back in the middle of the trip. It twists in a perfect corkscrew, flying back the way that it came. Unwilling to harm the soul beneath, and equally unwilling to wait to be intercepted, he steps forward past the colored light that he knows is there but cannot see. The four Kidō Corps, black masked and the highest rank obtainable without becoming the Grand Kidō Chief or second in command, quickly work together, to trigger an emergency sweep of the Dangai. Sōsuke looks over his shoulder as the Kōtotsu rushes down the precipice world towards him. With a roguish smirk he turns and runs.

After his transformations it was of no danger to him. However it just wasn't time yet to remove it from the playing field. He avoids it thoroughly, not allowing it close enough to alter time. The Kidō Corps who opened the gates had already made sure that he would arrive back in the world of the living well before the final battle. It had been a small worry, with the time discrepancy issues between Soul Society and the world of the living. However, his excuse ensured that they would tune that discrepancy appropriately. There would have been no point in sending the sensors to Urahara afterwards. Amazing how much coercion a little careful phrasing can do. He steps out of the Senkaimon and into the underground training area of Urahara's shop.

It closes with a soft pop. Hollow mask on in less than a heartbeat and using the Crystal Transport he is out of Urahara's shop and the town of Karakura entirely before the blond scientist who still walked silent and deadly like an Onmitsukidō could even make it down the ladder to see who had shown up.

In the middle of the highway between Karakura and the next large city, Sōsuke waves his hand through the air, opening a Garganta to the desert around Las Noches, a bit tired and quite ready to start the process of imprinting another Asauchi with Kyōka Suigetsu.

He forgets to seal his Reiatsu.

He hadn't thought that he needed to, believing that the power he now carried was so much greater than anyone else's that no one, including Yamamoto, could sense now.

He was wrong. Apparently there was still someone who could.

The Ancient Wyrm lunges from the depths of Hueco Mundo. Sōsuke is pleasantly startled to realize that he can now sense the hollow… though it was as far above him in power as the sōtaichō was over the other taichō of the Gotei 13. The Crystal Teleportation moves him out of its path with ease.

Humbled, Reiatsu sealed up so tightly it actually makes him dizzy and nauseous, so very close to exploding from the force of his own contained energy, he is forced once again to pretend he is nothing more than a rock in its path. It disappears beneath the ever shifting sands as if it were little more than water, Sōsuke laid out on his back, as the sand swept into the air from the hollow's lunge falls back to the ground around him.

A less than subtle reminder, that there was always something more powerful waiting to put you back in your place if you started thinking that you were the most powerful being in the multi-verse. He rises gracefully to his feet, shaking the sand out of his kimono. How embarrassing. At least he had not opened a Garganta directly into Las Noches, there was no telling just how much havoc and devastation the Ancient Wyrm would have caused on the city. The Espada alone were powerful enough to see it crumble to a ruin if they weren't careful. Unfortunately for all of Szayel's research, there just wasn't anything stronger they could make the walls out of without running the risk of Sekkiseki poisoning.

A flicker of Reiryoku and a Crystal Transportation later and he is at his fortress, walking through the halls and into the sun lit dome. A quick check reveals that Wonderweiss and Kaname had been transformed a day ago. His absence was not missed, and if it was, it was not questioned, they were used to him coming and going whenever he so pleased.

He just sighs and walks through the halls to his palace pausing in the armory just long enough to pick up an Asauchi. Without the protection of the Complete Hypnosis and disoriented with his new trials in Reiatsu control, he never notices one of Baraggan's Fraccion watching him. Ggio Vega was a shinobi to Baraggan's King, like a shadow he goes unnoticed until he kneels at his majesty's feet whispering his observations.

Baraggan laughs raucously, eyes wide with malevolent glee as he understands the significance of Sōsuke Aizen needing a new Asauchi…. Everyone in Hueco Mundo worth anything had felt the stirring of El Blanco Diablo a few minutes ago, or at least what was left of the great white devil after the Soul King and the Bone-clad Judge had a three way battle that permanently transformed Hueco Mundo into a desert… and Baraggan was old enough to remember. The first king of Hueco Mundo's aspect of death was Absorption of All Things. A powerful ability that had ultimately been his own undoing, turning him into a feral wreck from the cacophony of voices left in his head when the Soul King and Bone-clad Judge had defeated him. Such a shameful thing, to be defeated by your own aspect of death, El Blanco Diablo had been felled by consuming souls faster than he could overcome them.

It appeared that the zanpakutō that the Shinigami had invented to augment their power were no match for the craven beast that hid from his successor beneath the pale wastes of the eternal desert.

But Baraggan had not gotten where he was by foolishly rushing into a situation unprepared, the temporary theft of his throne aside. Over the following weeks, he would keep an eye on the blade Aizen carried at his side, and each day that went by without the subtle shift from Asauchi to Kyōka Suigetsu stirred anticipation in his blood.

He would have attacked almost instantly if he had not been given proof that, Kyōka Suigetsu or not, Aizen retained his power over the Complete Hypnosis during the next meeting, Luppi being forcibly demoted by the new Sexta Espada Grimmjow.

But the usurper that had stolen his throne was not perfect, and as the weeks went by Baraggan was given proof enough, that his ability to use the hypnosis had a time limit…

All he had to do was attack after the usurper had used it all up. He could be patient, patient as the Ages he had lived and bent to his will.

He would not have to wait long, the usurper was not powerful enough to defeat his former comrades without the Complete Hypnosis, and when he did… Baraggan would be ready.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 36: Just Don't Look Back in Anger

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōsuke did not want today to happen. It had nothing to do with the fact that Ulquiorra would be dealing with Orihime, or the fact that it had been over two months and the Asauchi had yet to accept Kyōka Suigetsu's imprint… when it had only taken a week when they did this the first time.

It had nothing to do with the fact that his Ōken was rapidly gaining strength, but not so rapidly that he could use the Complete Hypnosis for more than 10 minutes at a time before allowing it to rest, or that with a little practice Sōsuke had been able to take control of the hypnosis, though it was still limited to the range he was willing to spread his Reiatsu… and still he was denied Kyō-kun's presence in the waking world, and after two months of separation, he dearly missed his companion.

It had nothing to do with any of those things… and everything to do with the fact that October 29th was the day that he would die.

The day that his revenge against Momo-chan would be complete. After this, the cold rage in his heart would have to accept that the score was even. There was no more room left in the plan to destroy her heart.

He already knew that she would be strong enough to stand at the final battle. Even as he used the Complete Hypnosis to have her childhood friend cut her down.

At the same time that Ulquiorra was delivering his ultimatum to Orihime somewhere in the Dangai, allowing her 12 hours to say goodbye, Sōsuke arrived in London hiding his presence from Momo-chan as she and the 10 year old boy Sōsuke, as they walked down the street. His heart clenches in his chest as he remembers, they had gone out that day because his younger self wanted to buy more paints… so that he could show off his artistic talent to Momo-chan.

The boy's Reiatsu, even controlled as it was, was a blazing signal to every hollow in existence. One that only grows when Sōsuke surreptitiously removes the camellia power seal he had placed on the boy years ago. Were the boy not so relaxed at the moment, perhaps he would have noticed his sudden burst of power. As it was, the imprinted Reiatsu control simply adjusted accordingly leaving no one but Sōsuke the wiser… and every hollow with the ability to detect the fluttering of his souls as it tried to retain that control…

Sōsuke moves to the light post in the center of the street where he knew the altercation would take place. He folds his hands into the sleeves of his Kimono, taking comfort in the fabric, re-modified though it was, from the original garment he awoke in centuries ago… again. The anticipation was almost painful.

His former fukutaichō and past self turn onto the street, chatting away. Eyes wide and expressive, hand rising unconsciously to push up his glasses, only to have them slide down his nose again, distracted as he spoke to the girl at his side. His past self… was so innocent. Sōsuke's eyes were dull and cold as he stared down at the two of them, somehow insulted by the warmth gathering in Momo-chan's eyes after he had gone to such lengths to stomp it out. How dare the girl be happy after he had gone to such lengths to destroy her. How dare she touch his younger self so freely knowing just how much her precious Aizen-taichō loathed her. How dare she touch him so gently with the hands she would use to kill him. The thoughts were without heat, only cold indignation.

They walk down the street, closer and closer. But even with boy-Sōsuke's Reiatsu fully unshielded, no Garganta open, none at all. He waits, and waits and waits… he waits until the two of them pause, turning to a window display for a flower shop, Momo-chan exclaiming in surprise at all of the flowers inside and his younger self explaining greenhouse flowers. Still he waits.

He waits until with sudden clarity, he knows he should not be waiting.

Their conversation is a dull roar in Sōsuke's ears.

His vision blurring with unshed tears, throat choking up with horror as the cold anger bleeds away and he realizes the awful truth.

He slowly closes his eyes in pain, a single hot tear escaping down the side of his face, the perfect counterpoint to the ice chilling his heart.

Oh Dekuyume Kami of Battlefields, with your affection for hard lessons meant to show people the measure of their own souls… dragging them so close to the breaking point only to stop at the edge so that they could see that they too were as beautiful and powerful as the flower on the edge of a cliff...

...did you plan this for me when you told me centuries ago that the best revenge was living well and I would not agree?

In the end it changed nothing. Boy-Sōsuke had not attracted the swarm of hollows to London… and why would he? With Sōsuke the reigning king of Las Noches and subsequently Hueco Mundo, there was no hollow below Menos class that would be brave or crazy to go to a place where he was leaking out so much of his Reiatsu.

And because the Konsō procedure that transformed his Hōgyoku into his Ōken had also returned the flavor of Sōsuke's Reiatsu to that of his plain Shinigami self, even if it had not done the same to its potency… they would mistake the Reiatsu of his child self for that of their king… they would never intrude without a summons, believing his fluttering control to be the trap that it was.

Numb, utterly numb without Kyō-kun to lean on, but the Complete Hypnosis there beneath his fingers…

He only had 10 minutes before it would slip through them.

How horrible it was, to know that he needed less than 10 minutes to unmake a man, to unmake himself… or perhaps it was centuries in progress, all boiled down to this one 9 minute fight between a horde of standard hollows, Momo Hinamori and Sōsuke Aizen.

Aizen Sōsuke summoned a horde of Hollows, memories of a monster of equal cruelty rippling through his brain. The painful similarity between himself as he was right now, standing on a light post and summoning the hollows to fight the two unaware souls in the street below, and Naraku on the cliff as he watched his horde of summoned yōkai ravage the exterminator village.

It was like acid in his veins. No matter how hard one fought against the current… Everything came full circle in the end didn't it…

He watched blankly as his former fukutaichō threw Kidō around just as he had taught her, powerful and precise, vaguely aware that he was in shock, as the fight slowly wound down to just her and Grand Fisher… so utterly empty and cold as he realized that beneath the Complete Hypnosis, the hollow would not, could not read her heart. Indeed, if the hollow thought he was fighting anything other than a hollow weaker than himself he would have already fled. The Grand Fisher was nothing if not a survivor, and fighting Shinigami was not conducive to surviving.

In the end, Sōsuke is forced to use the Complete Hypnosis to make her see boy-Sōsuke on the end of the hollows lure, both when they fight… and after, when boy-Sōsuke uses the two most basic Kidō to save his friend. She sees the lure dangling out of the shop before she ever looks at the boy standing in the middle of the destroyed street.

She slays Sōsuke Aizen.

Under the Complete Hypnosis, she never had a choice.

Never.

Because Sōsuke had never given her one.

Nearly dead inside Sōsuke watches the completion of his revenge… as the reincarnated soul of his mother is devastated to realize that the one she killed was not Grand Fisher's lure. Her impotent rage as she stumbles, exhausted over the debris and lifts her zanpakutō to end the menace of a hollow that had been eluding Shinigami for over 50 years…

Sōsuke and the Complete Hypnosis and the plan, had seen to that.

She has just enough energy left to leap back, a Negacion coming out of the sky to whisk the hollow away. The words of the sōtaichō ringing in her ears declaring the futility of attacking once the light sheltered its target , she turns away, angry and raging.

She stumbles back to boy Sōsuke then, holding his corpse, crying as his soul ever so slowly leaves it. Even from his position on the light post, he… he can see the tenderness in her hands as she gently cradles his soul,he does not deserve it.

His heart clenches and he grabs his chest over the ache. She has to know that he does not deserve it.

She gives it anyway.

Her shoulders don't shake, even with the strength of her sobs and the blurring of tears in her eyes as she holds his soul close, whispering her apologies over and over and over, and Dekuyume no Kami he does not deservethem… and still, still, she is so gentle as she presses the hilt of Tobiume to his spirit's forehead performing Konsō.

It nearly extinguishes her spirit, already so exhausted after fighting so many hollows. The golden sheath of a Reishi-mippuu appears around her before he realizes he has cast it.

It saves her life, gently supporting her soul cohesion. She does not notice.

All of her attention is on the unconscious hell butterfly, cradled with a mothers infinite tenderness in the palm of her hand.

His eyes remain on Momo Hinamori even as his past self flutters up into the sky, off to to complete the circle they had made in time.

Completely unaware of just how wronghe had been…

until he got his first clue with the pregnant woman who stood in Momo Hinamori's shadow, and still ignored it…

until he stood atop a light post in London and realized that the only person responsible for his death was Sōsuke himself…

until Momo Hinamori collapsed into the wreckage, after once again giving everythingshe had to make sure that Sōsuke would live…

until he finally accepted that he had only himself and the plan to blame.

The insight, which for decades, had only shown the image of a pregnant Higanbana Aizen merged with Momo Hinamori finally wrote itself, first in the scrawling English that had been his handwriting as a boy, and then in the kanji he used now as a Shinigami. [Mother, who died so that Sōsuke could live. A hero even greater than a Jedi, She saved me twice]

Sōsuke had always known that Aizen Sōsuke was a monster… he had just never thought to look in the mirror to see if he was one as well.

Sōsuke stepped off of the lamp post to land lightly on the ground as he felt the Complete Hypnosis fade away. It would be nearly a whole day before the odd aching in his bones faded away, signaling that he was free once more to twist other people's perceptions to his will.

He doesn't care.

Face completely blank, he kneels next to her and holds his hand out over the Reishi envelope. "Gently, the cherry blossoms fall, already dreaming, of the breath of life, the next spring... and the folly of men, who see the end, instead of The Beginning… 5th Rite of Kaidō (Humanity): Kaidō, The Turn Way" She is healed almost instantly, needing only Reiatsu restoration and a few minor cuts healed… All that was left was for her Reiryoku to recover and for that she just needed rest.

Delicately, he pulled her unconscious battered form into his arms, painfully aware of how even the slightest blip in his Reiatsu control could erase her now that he had gone through his Hōgyoku metamorphosis. It may have been difficult for him to step on an ant without crushing it, but that didn't mean that he would crush it if he just got the hell over himself and chose to walk around the tiny beings who could do him no harm.

Her bun was eschew, long tendrils of hair escaping the cloth that confined them.

He doesn't know why, he doesn't at all, but for some reason the sight of her hair coming undone is what shakes him from his numbness.

Pain, guilt, remorse, regret, self-loathing, heartache and a deep abiding agony streak through him in sudden clarity, blinding and harsh in their stark contrast to the numbness. A sob escapes him and his vision blurs at the edges. He staggers under the weight of his own emotions, collapsing to his knees with her held gently to his chest. His breath is shaky as he blinks back the tears.

Later, he would break down later. He had to get her to the 4thdivision. Preferably before someone shows up here. It had already been ten minutes now, last time he checked it only took the Onmitsukidō 3 minutes to mobilize nowadays with the heavy monitoring of the world of the living and the sensors embedded in the Soul Phones Shinigami used instead of their own senses to locate and track hollows.

Bitterness helps him stand when he realizes, he could probably stay all day. No one was coming to save Momo Hinamori.

He gently shifts her in his arms before walking down the street in search of the nearest unbroken pane of glass. She did not deserve to be abandoned by the Gotei 13, she did not deserve to be considered collateral damage just because the sōtaichō did not want to send the kind of reinforcements she would need if Sōsuke the Traitor decided to hide his presence in the uncontrolled aura of his younger self.

He breathes deeply to control himself, his control over his Reiatsu was incredible, not immaculate, not to the degree he would need it to be in the future if he was still set on becoming the teacher of the next Soul King. This was the Soul King's first life after all, no matter the divinity behind it. It would still be a new soul, it would take time to learn and grow into what it could be. That meant that if Sōsuke wanted to be a part of teaching the Soul King, he would have to control himself to the point that he could hold a newborn soul in his hands without it dissolving.

Aizen Sōsuke hadn't cared, had delighted even, when touching a powerful taichō like Gin Ichimaru had resulted in Gin-kun breaking down unable to stand the much higher energy level that Aizen existed on.

Sōsuke had spent what time he wasn't busy with the Asauchi working on avoiding just that. It was a study in how much Reiryoku and resultant Reiatsu could be compressed into a body, without going super nova, or collapsing into a black hole, but he was succeeding. Momo's head lolls against his chest, her breathing even if a bit shallow, a testament to just how far he had come from that level. Pity Coyote-san would not live past the final battle between the Espada and taichō of the Gotei 13, with what Sōsuke had learned about control, the lonely soul may have been able to make friends without sleeping away his power.

He turns to the perfectly reflective glass storefront of an ice-cream shop, glass tinted black and mirror finish reflective to keep the sun off of the ice-cream, and completely abandoned in the ruckus. Even though he no longer has the blade for Kyō-kun, a gentle tap of his finger on the glass is enough to entice it to ripple open into his Atelier, Yamamoto-san wasn't the only one who's Shikai effects lasted well after the zanpakutō was sealed. There would be more of them, if the Shinigami ever took the time to embrace synchronicity with their spirit the way that Yamamoto-san and Sōsuke had.

He uses his foot to slide the door shut behind him. He leans back against it and focuses feeling the slight variations in path and vibration that Kyō-kun used to differentiate between where the door to the Atelier opened. There were only a few left of the original batch, though he had already started adding more.

One in the living world, in the train station that connected Karakura to its nearest major city. Three in Las Noches, and three in Soul Society, one of which was in the Zaraki district where he had let Homura-san go. Two of which were in Seireitei, he uses one of the last set now. The mirror in the 5th recovery room in the 4th division ripples open to let Sōsuke out, the room blessedly unoccupied, With his bones still aching from using the Complete Hypnosis for almost the full 10 minutes it would have been awkward if it were occupied. He didn't want to find out where the mirror that had been in his office had gone, knowing his luck at the moment it was sitting in the 12thdivision and Kurotsuchi-kun was molesting it just in case the mirror part of Kyōka Suigetsu was a bit more involved than he had ever hinted at. A smart move all in all, and nothing he couldn't deal with, but still not something he wanted to deal with while carrying a weakened Hinamori-san in his arms.

Knowing that the Kidō embedded in the walls triggered to alert Unohana-taichō the moment he stepped inside the room, even if he did not use the door, and the likelihood that they were on high alert after his last blitz through Seireitei, he still takes the time to lay the unconscious girl on the bed, careful not to wake her up. He fails, her had reaching out to grip his sleeve as he turns away to go, "Aizen-taichō… was that… was Ithe reason…" Her throat fills with sorrow unable to ask the question so clearly reflected in her sad brown eyes. With a deep sigh, he kneels at the side of her bed, taking her hand. Staring at it unable to meet her eyes. "Even if you were not the one to end my mortal life, it would have ended this way."

Her hands were calloused, a testament to how hard she had worked, somehow he had never noticed that before. He looks up to meet her eyes. Even if it tore at his soul, to look her in the face after what he had done, she would not believe him if he looked away… and she needed to believe this, he knew better than anyone just how close she was to breaking apart… he should, he was the one who had shamefully laid the foundation for it.

"Hinamori-san, I have been planning to take the throne of the Soul King for the last three centuries… I enjoyed slaughtering the Central 46, all of my experiments into the nature of Shinigami and Hollows… and for the longest time…" He looks back down at the hand tightly gripping his own back, he could not, would not look her in the eyes when he finished that thought, "I was sure that I would enjoy destroying you for killing me."

Momo Hinamori was the reincarnation of his mother, so what kind of monster did that make him knowing that sometimes the only reason he had found the strength to continue on with the plan… was to see her destruction?

He would deserve it, whatever it was that happened when a Kami failed a Herculean Trial… because he was still going to follow the plan.

It was the only thing he had left and he was already so close to the end that there was nothing to be gained from stopping.

When Sōsuke set out for revenge, he dug two graves… and somehow he wound up the one buried in both of them.

He smiles, soft and sad, and he can hear her choke on her tears. "I was wrong, turns out that you are not responsible for killing me at all." She gasps eyes wide and shocked, and he knows, he knows, she was never a fool, she just put her trust in the wrong man. "Aizen-taichō's Complete Hypnosis…" He nods, head bowed over their hands and with a sob, she mumbles, "Aizen-taichō, time is cruel."

Out of the mouths of babes…. He rises, gently forcing her to let him go, walking over to the wall where the door to the Atelier remained open. He does not turn around, "I… have come too far to turn back now. I will see you on the battlefield Hinamori-san."

He already knew that she would be strong enough to stand at the final battle.

Even as he used the Complete Hypnosis to have her childhood friend cut her down…

He could only pray to Dekuyume and hope that he would draw no more pain from her heart.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 37: Just the Calm Before the Storm

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Sōsuke collapsed in his Atelier after walking away from Hinamori-san, mentally making a note to be very careful if he had to use that mirror in the future. Pulling the Asauchi to his chest he cradled it gently, resting his head against the tsuba. As if sensing how desperately he needed to see Kyō-kun, he finally, finally managed to enter Jinzen, even if he still hadn't managed to imprint Kyōka Suigetsu on the blade.

He has only a second, to hear the soft burble of the water and beating wings of the lightning bugs. This time he is the one tackled into the stream by Kyō-kun, the two of them laughing in elation. Only to laugh louder when a little girl giggles and with a shout of "I want to play too!", joins them amid the poisonous flowers and water, lighting bugs congregating around her.

It is the first time Sōsuke comes face to face with the spirit of his Ōken. The little girl with her crystalline blue eyes, sea-green pigtails and infections gap-toothed smile, had three sets of pure white butterfly wings arched and curved as they had been in his 4th fusion. He was grateful that she had a face of her own now instead of borrowing Shikon-chan's. There is a flash of something ancient in her eyes, leaving him aware that though she had the appearance of a little girl, she had existed as the Hōgyoku for hundreds of years before she became his Ōken.

Freeing a hand from where it is around Kyō-kun's shoulders he reaches out to ruffle her hair, pulling her closer, "I am enchanted to meet you darling." Her eyes light up and she takes the invitation offered leaving the three of them cuddled in the water of the garden, the flowers towering overhead. His hand gently threading underneath her wings to rest against her tiny black Shihakushō completely matching that of a shinigami's, down to her tiny sandals and tabi socks. The only thing out of place was the symbol of the Royal Guard sewn into the equally tiny taichō Haori she wore over her Shihakushō.

Her voice is sweet as she speaks, the faint chiming he had heard from the Hōgyoku present in her voice, "This Ōken is called The Dreaming Kami!" She flutters her wings excitedly as she explains her ability, Perception Warp, "But you can call me Imouto! That would be so nice!" Sōsuke smiles indulgently as Kyō-kun laughs into his neck, arms still wrapped around him.

His eyes soften, "It will be nice to have an Imouto again." Her head nods up and down rapidly as she agrees, "Yep, yep! Oh! It will be so nice! Kyō-kun has dreamy~ magic too and he's been showing me how you like to work together! If he hadn't told me, I never would have thought that you would need to see the Perception Warp to play along too!"

She grins, poking him in the side, "Don't get too used to running the show though, only reason I let you take over the Perception Warp was because we don't want anyone to know that you temporarily lost connection with Kyō-kun when me and the other one formed in your soul."

As if summoned, the other made their presence known, Hollow Reiatsu heavy in the air of their inner world. Hope surges in his chest, mind easily conjuring up just who it could be, knowing blood red eyes, framed with pitch black hair and an intrinsic need for tea just as deep as his own…

Kyō-kun moves to the side as he sits up, cute little Kami-chan tumbling to the side into the water with a giggle. He peers into the darkness at the back of the garden, senses telling him the location of his inner quarry. Sōsuke waits patiently for what he knows is the spirit of his inner hollow to step into the light, hidden from the outside world, unless Sōsuke chooses to don the hollow's mask. Blood red meets doe brown, and he finds that though it was not who he hoped it would be, this spirit does not need an introduction, "It all comes back to you in the end. Doesn't it…"

"Magatsuhi"

The pale spirit raises a dark sliver of an eyebrow. Red eyes narrowing even further in contemplation, purple jagged stripe on each cheek, the color of a bruise against his skin. His Shinigami counterpart remained seated, offering no hostility, only a tired smile of welcome. It appeared that both of them were content to evaluate one another before getting down to business and deciding who was in charge.

The hollow glances over at the zanpakutō spirit, this situation… was quite unusual. Their collective soul had spent more time as a Hollow than anything else. Even a tiny smidgen of hollowfication should have sent Aizen Sōsuke spiraling out of control into a full blown hollow regardless of his starting point.

Instead he awakes in an inner world nothing like what he expects, a Kyōka Suigetsu who actually likesthe manipulative Shinigami enough to give him a flying tackle in greeting after a few weeks of separation, and an Aizen Sōsuke who not only accepts it, but cuddleswith the spirit… not to mention… the newest addition to their collective soul.

Magatsuhi's hypo-dilated eyes are tiny red specks in the white sclera of his eyes. They clearly give away his focus of attention when it shifts. The Ōken stares back at him evenly, blue eyes as vast as the ocean and just as deep, causing an itch at the rim of his hollow hole.

And then Aizen Sōsuke hides the Ōken from view. Magatsuhi returns his attention to the Shinigami, only to discover with an odd sense of curious wonder that he had intended to shield the youngest part of their soul. Such fierce protection in those soul chillingly cold eyes.

Just what had their life been this time, that Aizen Sōsuke had learned to protect?

Rapidly, the pale spirit tastes their collective soul, stirring up memories…. That belonged a dimension away.

Curious, he samples the memory of Shikon-chan, the jewel and the Kami… and its creation.

Old, sympathetic agony ripples through the pale spirit… how cruel the Kami were, that even universes away, Magatsuhi never found peace in Midoriko.

Magatsuhi opened his eyes to regard his counterpart in interest, searching the careful features for all the emotional cues he had memorized incarnations ago.

He finds many things in Aizen Sōsuke as he stared back at the face of his inner hollow.

Many things, pain, exhaustion… Solitude… but no denial, no anger, no depression, no bargaining… only acceptance. What was a broken heart to do, when all the stages of grief had come and gone but for the last one before the heart ever realized it was broken?

He wants to rage, to hate and tear asunder. But Aizen Sōsuke made up the bulk of their soul… and he was too sad, too tired, and too lonely to fight.

His emotional state leads him to a memory that was not there in their soul when he was last aware. Magatsuhi's breath catches in his throat, hands clenching, eyes closing to hold the sensation in, a wordless cry of wonder slipping from his control.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kagome and Dekuyume

Kagome grins and turns around, lifting the back of her shirt. "Take it off for me?" Dekuyume simply reaches out and runs her finger across the ink spell on Kagome's lower back. The ink-spell fades to nothing. Kagome gasps, and her knees buckle as her magic is set free. Dekuyume catches her as she falls, pulling Kagome's back into her chest. In such close proximity, the super massive rolling cloud of Kagome's magic, and the glass smooth mantle of Dekuyume's magic are forced into contact. Their natures were opposite, but their love for each other was greater than nature. There was no violence or pain where yōkai-purple-black met holy-pink. Like oil and water, they touched, but did not mix.

Kagome tilts her head back, laying her arms over her sisters where they rest loosely around her middle. She smiles, "You know. When you're not doing anything with it, your magic reminds me of that night we all stayed up late to watch the lunar eclipse with Tousan and Kaasan." Kagome closes her eyes as she remembers, the smile never leaving her face. "It was so dark when the earth hid the moon from the sun, I remember: I was so scared because the moon looked so red. And then, all the fireflies began to glow, and we danced with them until the light came back again." Her brown eyes open as she beams at Dekuyume, and as always, no matter what life she is living, no matter how far into the darkness she has gone, or how close she is to the edge of madness…she can do nothing but stop and marvel at herlight, and the kindness she gives to everyone she meets.

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Oh… It appeared that the Kami were less cruel than he had thought.

Magatsuhi folded his arms into the sleeves of his kimono, feeling oddly naked without the bone hard Hierro armor he was accustomed to. The jagged stripes on each of his cheeks smooth out their shape, an echo of his emotional state, eyes close, hiding desperate blood red irises.

How beautiful it was, to see hersoul brush up against his without a single spark of violence, no flash of lightning when positive met negative….

Only neutralizing peace.

Magatsuhi opens his eyes to regard Aizen Sōsuke. Clearly any lesson that Magatsuhi could offer, was not needed. His counterpart already knew, and without the benefit of being a hollow, it was tearing him apart. To think that he would pity his counterpart instead of loathe him…

It was there in his eyes, Aizen Sōsuke already knew, that a Hollow was little more than a heart with a mind of its own, that as a Shinigami he was Magatsuhi's counterpart, a mind with a heart of its own. Yin with a spot of Yang, Yang with a spot of Yin, both necessary for the creation of a complete being.

Sōsuke rose slowly to his feet, taking a moment to straighten his white Shihakushō before bowing in greeting to his inner hollow, "Welcome home Magatsuhi-san". He stares back at the pale spirit, idly noting that his hollow hole was in the same place as Sōsuke's soul gate. Was it here, that he was supposed to see both a blessing and a lesson as the hidden Kami had asked? Though he knew quite a few people would vehemently disagree, it was both a blessing and a lesson to have a hollow manifest at the same time as a Shinigami, one granted only to the Arrancar and Visored. They were the same in the end, only difference was which was ascendant, Yin or Yang, Mind or Heart.

Sōsuke knew that, and would accept nothing less. Not when it gave him the ability as the expressed "Mind" of their soul, to ask the expressed "Heart" of their soul, what it needs for happiness. Even though he was already certain he knew. His past incarnation as Dekuyume had already proven that the only thing he needed, was her.

No matter how much solace and serenity he drew from the soul echoes he encountered again and again, shewas still the only one who brought their soul true peace.

Magatsuhi sighs before returning the action in greeting, already feeling his rough edges fraying away in the face of Aizen Sōsuke's acceptance. It was almost a pity, even if they fought now, they would run out of time for a really good fight.

Though, it was a relief to see.

This Aizen Sōsuke who had fused with Higurashi Dekuyume would not make the same mistakes as Magatsuhi…

He already knew just how good life could be, knew that he did not need a kingdom to feel like king of the world.

He would not fight with her,he had already promised not to fight herever again.

It was only in Magatsuhi's best interests then, to make sure he actually found her.

He grinned malevolently, causing his Shinigami to raise a single questioning eyebrow, enjoying the moment. His presence would be tragically brief as it was, the Shinigami had no right to begrudge him what enjoyment he could wring from the situation.

Sōsuke is dazed and shaken when the spirit speaks. The words reaching his ears but the noise in his head drowning out the meaning, causing the spirit to burst into maniacal laughter that sounds utterly foreign, filled with ha ah ha ah's but no Ku Ku Ku's.

He takes a deep breath, trying to come to terms. He was wrong, when he had told Hinamori-san that it was too late to turn back now. Their soul had found the end of the path of Yin once before and turned back… for her.

The pale spirit ceased his laughter with a wicked smirk, and repeated himself. "Aizen Sōsuke. You are not my 4th incarnation…"

"You are my 2nd. You are my Naraku, but you've already made enough associations to realize that, and what it means for you."

Kyō-kun and Kami-chan take his hands where they hang limply at Sōsuke's side, still wet and dripping from the water of the garden. Black hair slides over pointy ears as Kyō-kun tilts his head to the side, bumping Sōsuke's shoulder, "What do you mean Magatsuhi-san?"

Magatsuhi's words ring though Sōsuke's ears, "Why do you ask me a question to which you already know the answer zanpakutō?". Red eyes gleam in the moonlight of the waterscape garden as he addresses Sōsuke with the answer to Kyō-kun's question, "Dekuyume's her may be dimensions away Aizen Sōsuke, but ours? Ours is here."

The reality that this was really happening, crashes down on Sōsuke. He snaps.

He escapes the hold of Kyō-kun and Kami-chan lunging forward to grab Magatsuhi by his plain black Haori, dragging him up to his face, shaking Magatsuhi as he desperately demanded, "Where is She!" The force of his Reiatsu spirals around him, a visible corona of will, power and intent.

Just because Aizen Sōsuke had won this round before it even started didn't mean that Magatsuhi was just going to let a Shinigami manhandle him. The spirit uses his great strength to shake the pathetic Shinigami off, pushing Aizen Sōsuke back. Silently he straightens his clothing before looking up with irritation that rapidly fades in the face of sad, desperate eyes.

It was painful, to see his own tragedy reflected in the eyes of his Shinigami counterpart. Magatsuhi was the one that was supposed to be an emotional wreck that Aizen Sōsuke had to put together, and yet it had somehow all gotten turned around. Bastard.

Instead of the diatribe he had intended, he only sighs. "Yet again, you ask me a question to which you already know the answer. Do remember that reincarnation is not linear, I am Magatsuhi and this time there was no Shikon no Tama to save Midoriko." Sōsuke tenses intently, focusing the entirety of his intellect on the problem, searching through every soul he had ever met in search of…

Magatsuhi feels no joy, as Aizen Sōsuke's face twists in pain. The suffering of his heart a perfect echo of his own… though there were many who would claim that hollows had none at all, and Magatsuhi, even less of one.

As Aizen Sōsuke collapses to the soft grassy ground of their inner world and begins to cry in relief, Magatsuhi walks past him, only to sit at his back, shoulders pressed into those of his Shinigami, the other two spirits in their collective soul rushing forward to offer what comfort they can.

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Chapter 38: Just too Tired to Sleep

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Sōsuke was tired, wrung out, too full and yet somehow too empty at the same time.

While Jinzen was slightly more restful than no sleep at all, it still wasn't a replacement for the real thing… Sōsuke had remained in their inner world, the soft buzzing of the lightning bugs and burbling of the water as it flowed through the waterscape garden, a counterpoint to their quiet talking as they sat back to back until slowly, unable to draw power from Sōsuke because of their harmony, slowly tapered off, the only sound in the garden, their synchronous breathing punctuated by soft sleep noises from Magatsuhi.

The feeling of completion did nothing to soothe the solitude that came after, though he was grateful that Magatsuhi did not fade, only fell asleep, too tired to do much of anything else. It was not impossible to use their hollow powers while the hollow was asleep, only more difficult, and Sōsuke suspected that outside of situations where his emotions were running high, Magatsuhi would not be able to draw enough power from his heart to remain awake. If the two of them were a simple Yin-Yang, the half that represented Sōsuke would be fully ascendant, the part that represented Magatsuhi fully underneath it.

Sōsuke may have been a Vizored, but he was a Shinigami Ascendant destabilized one. Upon their creation Shinji-san and the others had been Hollow Ascendant destabilized, without any intelligence behind their masks, only emotion. Urahara and Urahara's Hōgyoku had been used to turn them 90 degrees, shifting to an uneasy half-ascendant Shinigami form with both the hollow and the Shinigami aware and generating their own power… at the cost of a constant give and take between the two of them as they maintained equilibrium. Pity it wasn't in the plan to tell them that if they ever managed to succeed in their attempts to completely overpower their inner hollow it would result in lesspower not more.

With tired feet he steps into the throne room of Las Noches and ascends the steps to sit in the ostentatious and uncomfortable chair, at least it was so uncomfortable that it would keep him awake. So much had happened in the past 24 hours, 24 weeks, months years. He had noticed once, that the closer he got to the end of the plan, the more miserable he became waiting for the end. It was worse now that he was beginning to reap what he had sown. Forced to face the ugly truths he had been ignoring in his plan forged blinders.

What a sorry lot they were, Magatsuhi and his Desperation, Naraku and his Jealousy, Sōsuke and his Solitude… Dekuyume seemed to be the only one who had escaped unscathed… understandable… the root cause of their other incarnations foibles was herand Dekuyume was the only one who had managed to keep her. Sōsuke smiles in self-depreciation, perhaps there was a little bit of Naraku's jealousy in him as well, when he considered her good fortune… and his lack thereof.

The smile slips from his face as the massive pretentious doors to the throne room open, the first of his 10 Espada arriving for a meeting.If he remembered correctly, he was supposed to meet Orihime-chan for the first time in person today. She had been at Sōkyoku hill when they made their grand escape of course, but she wasn't anywhere near as dangerous as the other taichō at that moment, and most of his evil act hadn't been intended for her. He was mildly curious to see if she was a reincarnation of anyone familiar, it might give him a little insight into just how she came about her most unusual reality rejecting powers.

He ignores Aaroniero as he slinks into the room keeping to the darkness. He was of little interest. His power was simple and obvious in its premise, therefore, once you knew just who he had eaten, you knew everything he was capable of. It was a damn shame that he was more interested in gaining more powers than training what he had acquired. It would have been an entirely different matter if he had, but it was a moot point, he would be dead soon enough at the hands of Rukia-chan when she came to help Ichigo-kun rescue Orihime-chan.

Szayel-kun comes in after him, a stack of notes in his hands and an excited look on his face, no doubt eager to experiment on Orihime-chan, he would be disappointed by Sōsuke's refusal. At least the original Aizen Sōsuke had possessed enough sense to deny the mad scientist. Sōsuke didn't really like the pink haired man, he was too much of a hypocrite, unwilling to do unto himself as he did unto others, and most of his experiments were little more than glorified torture.

Kurotsuchi-san could at least claim otherwise. It really put the President of the SRDI's comments about being nice and using anesthesia and painkillers in perspective; when you realized that the man had a perfectly normal pain response… and had replaced his own ears and eardrums because they were not up to his standards.

Even more to the point, during the "Rescue Orihime Arc" that would happen in a few days, Szayel-kun would use his Teatro de Titere to destroy the organs of Renji-kun and Uryū-kun when they came to save Orihime-chan. In the interceding ten minutes where Nelliel-chan's Fraccion arrived to help them fend off the 8thEspada… Kurotsuchi-kun would discern the premise behind the technique, remove all of his essential internal organs, tendons and bones, replace them with spares molded from raw Reishi of Hueco Mundo, close himself back up and seal the cuts with a healing Kaidō… all with a perfectly normal pain response… no anesthesia or pain inhibitors. If ever Sōsuke was in need of someone with steady hands, he knew who to get.

Zommari is the next to enter, shaking Sōsuke from his contemplation of his favorite mad scientist. He shifts in the uncomfortable seat, propping an arm on the armrest and using his hand to hold up his head. He was tired. He couldn't remember just who it was that would kill the zealot, only that he was not one of the three that would survive the fall of Las Noches, and the battle with the Shinigami taichō in Fake Karakura town.

Yammy follows after, a gruff look on his face as he shuts Kukkapūro the adorable little 35 ranked, dog shaped Arrancar out of the room, not that it would have been brave or crazy enough to follow. Sōsuke thought that if he found more Arrancar that were cute little animals like that, Las Noches might even feel more like a home than the madhouse it was now. Logically they could be found in the tiny enclaves where natural Arrancar had made their home in the wastes of Hueco Mundo, if they existed at all, but anyone powerful enough to bring to Las Noches, was already here and the others that had remained behind were too fearful of the three Shinigami that also made the palace their home to join the other Arrancar.

The room slowly fills, each Espada taking up positions around the throne room as the door opens once more to admit Tier. She still had her insight, the Grecian gown he had seen her die in centuries ago… She also had her Emilou-chan that she had sacrificed so much for, as well as two other female Arrancar, that were more her lovers than subordinates. Sōsuke was glad for her, even if it was a bit tragic that Emilou-chan did not remember their past together, the metamorphosis from plain hollow, to Gillian and Adjuchas too much.

Luppi Antenor, the current Sexta Espada follows the scantily clad Tres Espada into the room, completely unaware that he would not be leaving it alive,not after Orihime-chan healed Grimmjow-kun's missing arm and killed the octopus for his position. Speak of the Devil, or was it thinking in this case? Either way, the blue haired numero missing an arm entered the room, followed by Kaname who Sōsuke had put in charge of making sure that Grimmjow arrived even though he was not currently an Espada.

Sōsuke does not smile as the insight washes over him, having long since grown accustom to [Kagura of the Wind, Alpha female of Sesshōmaru's pack, resents anyone who prevents her from being as free as the wind]. It was interesting to see the third Daughter of Dekuyume inside the battle maniac, crimson eyes, feathers in her hair, fan in her hand, and bare feet, particularly as Grimmjow-kun had no powers over wind, though he certainly resented Sōsuke for every time he was forced to kneel. The hateful glare on his face, a perfect echo of hers.

Nnoitra was next, only a minute before the meeting would start. Sōsuke looks away for a moment to glance at Gin-kun, the signal to start making the tea. He sees Nnoitra grimace out of the corner of his eyes, turning his attention to the tall thin man who pretends he did nothing of the sort, the insight [Goshinki the Ogre, He was extremely agile, physically very powerful, and utterly cruel before Dekuyume used the spell to laterally reincarnate him as Ambrosia Primary Operator of The Little Mountain] The mountainous purple Oni dwarfed his soul echo, and Sōsuke found Nnoitra-kun's hatred of women to be as powerful as Ambrosia's hatred of the humans who had killed his sacred white deer. He wondered what Dekuyume would have thought of him, would she have admired him for never giving his enemies a chance to come at him a second time, or would she have been upset with his male chauvinism and chastised him for falling prey to his own spirit animal's anima, the preying mantis?

Baraggan was next, his floating throne hovering into the room.Sōsuke wondered if the former king of Las Noches knew how much he looked like a grumpy old man in a scooter when he did that?

Coyote was next, the narcoleptic Arrancar dragged into the room by the adorably fuming little Lilynette by his ear. The little girl was both his Fraccion and … Baraggan may have eaten an Asauchi and attached Shinigami to be able to conjure Arrogante into being, but Coyote-kun… His aspect of death was Solitude and upon becoming a natural Arrancar, had created Lilynette-chan. The girl was both an Arrancar and his zanpakutō, just as much as Coyote-kun was an Arrancar and her zanpakutō…

Sōsuke wondered just how many Shinigami the soul had previously eaten to afford two releases… not that Sōsuke was supposed to know about Lilynette-chan's resurrection form, only Coyote-kun's. Ah the observational prowess of the Complete Hypnosis and the things one could hear when the subject through they were secure and alone. Though, he never would have thought to look for it, if it hadn't have been for, [Hakudōshi and Shirodōshi Yōkai of Mind and Energy respectively, two bodies one soul.] The identical twins with their white hair, lavender eyes and mirrored expressions.

Last, but certainly not least, and arriving right on the dot, Ulquiorra steps into the room to inform Sōsuke that he has "Brought the Woman." The somber green eyed boy with the tear scars on his face would have been given lessons on manners, if it hadn't been for one thing. [Kanna of the Void, The Great Nothing of The Void for an eternal moment, longs to understand emotions above all things]. Sōsuke honestly thought that Ulquiorra-kun believed he was being polite. Calling Orihime-chan "The Woman" was utterly accurate… and far more polite than calling her "Trash" like he did everything else that was beneath him.

It made Sōsuke's heart ache, to know that the soul echo of Dekuyume's second daughter was still searching for the heart, even this many dimensions away from her origin. Sōsuke nods to Ulquiorra who bows politely before turning around to collect the little princess from the hall. But Sōsuke's mind was still on the conundrum currently besetting him.

Sōsuke did not have to put on Magatsuhi's mask to know it would be draconic in form. He already knew what it looked like.

Sōsuke looks at his Espada gathered around the throne room. They were all accounted for, each and every one of Naraku's incarnations that Dekuyume had spoken of.

Isshin Shiba and [Kuwabara Kazuma, Devoted to Higurashi Yukina, S class human psychic, reincarnated dimensional witch, Ito returned] The goofy faced devoted husband who was the reincarnation of Rin, who was in turn the reincarnation of Ito, the only incarnation Naraku had made without the Shikon no Tama to aid him.

Ulquiorra Cifer and [Kanna of the Void, The Great Nothing of The Void for an eternal moment, longs to understand emotions above all things]

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and [Kagura of the Wind, Alpha female of Sesshōmaru's pack, resents anyone who prevents her from being as free as the wind]

Nnoitra Gilga and [Goshinki the Ogre, He was extremely agile, physically very powerful, and utterly cruel before Dekuyume used the spell to laterally reincarnate him as Ambrosia Primary Operator of The Little Mountain]

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck and [Jūrōmaru, battle prowess only matched by innate pacifism, will bring full force of abilities to bear if family is threatened, lost voice repaired by ink spell] The woman was wounded, brain damaged from the underhanded attack of Nnoitra and Szayel only a few short years ago. But she was alive in the form of a child, playing in the vast sandbox of Hueco Mundo with her Fraccion in an eternal game of tag. If Sōsuke had been given a choice, he would not have allowed the attack on her, much less rewarded Nnoitra-kun and Szayel-kun with higher ranks in the Espada. Perhaps turning them over his knee in front of their peers for a spanking would have curbed that unpleasant back-stabbing behavior.

Kyōka Suigetsu and [Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions, cherished, most playful and polite son.]

Coyote Starrk & Lilynette Gingerbuck and [Hakudōshi and Shirodōshi Yōkai of Mind and Energy respectively, two bodies one soul.]

Sōsuke and Onigumo/Naraku, the human nucleus that had bound them all, the seat of power that had made Magatsuhi the Dragon/Adsorption Yōkai that fought Midoriko and lost, only to be reincarnated and re-assembled as the human nucleus Onigumo and the hoard of Yōkai that had eventually followed the siren call of his soul to the cave.

The Magatsuhi he had met in his inner world had not been Dekuyume's Yōkai, but Sōsuke's hollow…. The nucleus of the previous Magatsuhi… Sōsuke was the second incarnation, Magatsuhi's Naraku/Onigumo the nucleus of their construct… somehow he was going to have to split Magatsuhi into pieces, giving life to the individual incarnations, and pulling her soul out of the mess. At the very least he needed to build another Soul Extraction Glove, if he was lucky, and somehow managed to bind the massive hollow, it would be as simple as identifying the clusters of souls that made up each incarnation and pulling them out. Individually they would be much easier to purify.

And while Sōsuke may have brought all the incarnations together as Espada… leaving only Ito's reincarnation, out once more… it did not change the fact that they were all separate beings and somewhere out in the world she was separate too… reincarnation being the non-linear blessing that it was, he may even wind up receiving herhelp when it came down to dealing with Magatsuhi.

But if the Hollow-Magatsuhi had fought Midoriko here, where the Shikon no Tama was never created… He would have won.

So who had defeated Magatsuhi when she had failed? No one. Magatsuhi was still alive.

Reincarnation was not linear, allowing all of the pieces to come together again before the Adsorption Dragon had been purified, but eventually someone would have to… and when they did, they were going to have to break him up before hand, lest all of the souls reincarnate in a single body… and he was already looking at proof that they had split.

But who would be strong enough to do so, when Magatsuhi was none other than the hollow known to Sōsuke as The Ancient Wyrm?

The hollow he was still not powerful enough to defeat, even after his Hōgyoku transformation.

The door creaks again and Ulquiorra steps into the room. Orihime-chan hidden behind him as she followed her guard closely.

The Nihilist steps aside allowing Sōsuke his first glimpse of Orihime-chan.

He catches a glimpse of hetero chromatic eyes, one blue, one brown, and long black hair before he is forced to acknowledge sometimes you don't find your Heaven, it finds you.

And then three reincarnations worth of memories of herpour out of his beleaguered memory vine, painting his vision in all the colors of his soul.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Chapter 39: The Bent Light -or- The Breakdown and Reorder of an Illusionist

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The Bent Light

The Light Bends

The Illusionist Bows Down

The Breakdown and Reorder

The Order Broken Down

The White Swan

The Dawn Painted Phoenix

The Artist

The Blank Canvas

The Brush

The Empty Dream

The Dreaming Emptied

Sōsuke who awoke in white

Painted in the Colors of the Sunset

The Higurashi Phoenix

Because all endings were the beginning

And all beginnings were the end

And all souls peered

Through the mirror, darkly

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Desolation-Red

The soul's eyes were bright and full of light, when it arrived for the first time on the immortal plain, the percussion of its ascension echoing out through the celestial ocean, birthing a soul echo in each dimension the wave passed through before losing energy. With no seeds in its soul to turn it one direction or another, to hide its memories, to give it a fate, it's first life had been a flavorful aroma of tea artistry, deep magic, and the beautiful adoration of the two souls that had birthed it, her and him.

Reincarnation was not so generous, more tiny acidic ichor-black poppy seeds of woe and strife than was typically allowed for a soul on its second reincarnation, but completely necessary for the Global Fate Matrix for the dimension with less than a century left in it's program.

The soul was reborn to a rape victim, and abandoned in the trash. Herand himwere nowhere to be found, not that the she would have wanted to see them there, in the nightmare that had been made of the end of the world. A nightmare she ended, kneeling amid the tangle of wires that let her activate the self-destruct of the machine that had kept the magnetosphere of the planet going after the heart of the planet had grown as cold as the people who lived on it. She activates the self-destruct and leans back among the coiled wires, making herself comfortable as the countdown starts, the synthetic voice echoing across the Global Intercom. No one comes to stop her… she had made sure that there was no one left to do so before she made her way down the Eye of the World. The last living soul raises her bottle of home brewed Fizzy-Poppy-Tea in salute, before the machine reaches zero and the magnetosphere that once protected the planet warbles into an-harmonic destructive interference, ripping the planet apart with the resonance in its own iron core.

Echo after echo, across the breadth of the celestial ocean… the story repeated all the way through to its fate programmed brutal death, sometimes at the hands of others, sometimes its own, but always… the last living soul to be born…and the first to recognize that the greatest tragedy of a life was not death, but what died inside of you while you still lived.

Reincarnation after reincarnation, the soul was separated from her and him… and no one stepped forward to fill the missing spaces… until it had so many layers between its beginning and where it now stood… that the soul no longer even recognized what it was looking for.

Again and again, their collective echoing soul saw only the end of the dimension they lived in… and what it made of the souls left behind to fester and rot at worlds end. The survivors desperation to live, the anarchists dream to just watch it all fall apart, and the inherent hypocrisy of those who claimed that this was their punishment for being evil. There was no such thing as good and evil, they were just trite little words used to explain why they were allowed to do terrible things to other people, who weren't allowed to do them back. Monster was just the title you gave to someone else's Hero. The end of the world was a world of Monsters, not because of their actions, but because they all chose war over peace.

Then, after an endless litany of violence, humiliation and desolation, with razor sharp eyes, the red of the blood that painted its vision in all the shades of gore, the origin point of their collective soul found her again…

But souls only met repeatedly at the behest of the Kami, and he was no more able to accept her as a blessing than a lesson.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Desperation-Orange

Magatsuhi was a nasty, spiteful, conniving little boy. He knew this. He reveled in it. He laughed a gritty little "Ku. Ku. Ku" as his victims twisted and writhed in pain of their own making… after he had laid out the path that took them there. There was precious little else to do as a peasant pressed into the muck by the worthless swine that paraded themselves around as superior beings by merit of their wealth.

He could honestly say the thing he enjoyed most about his life was his scheming… until a plan failed, and one of the perfumed swine decided that she did not like the way he, a filthy street urchin, looked at her. She then accused him of stealing her fan. If he had stolen her fan, she would not have caught him. He knew this, because he had in fact stolen her tea all of a year ago and savored it to the very last drop. As punishment for the offenses he had made on her person, he was to have his hands cut from his wrists for the theft, his tongue cut from his head for his sharp words, before his eyes were burned from his head with a hot iron for daring to look upon her beauty. What beauty, he wondered?

He is saved halfway through the punishment by a sword wielding Miko on a pilgrimage. She heals him, reattaching his hands and his tongue as she chastises the swine for their pettiness. As she finishes, she runs her fingers through his grimy hair, the hard earned calluses on her hands catching in the dreadlocks, but she doesn't cringe, a soft smile on her face. It is the most wonderful thing he has ever experienced, his heart filled with butterflies, his mind with dreams, and his soul with a desperate craving.

Hours later, when she has left and he is hidden away in a little cave in the hills above the town, it passes through his mind over and over and over and over. That soft touch, sweet scent and heaven touched magic. It grabs a hold of him and does not let go. Days later when he encounters the crippled dragon, rotting even as it draws breath, offering any manner of things if he would just bring it something to eat… he offers himself in exchange for Midoriko and her kindness, which he absolutely must have for his own.

Magatsuhi the Dragon-hanyō, the adsorbing abomination stands unsteadily, mind a haze of wrath but for the desperation that he feels for Midoriko. He struggles constantly, as he sets down the path she had walked out of the town, not even taking a moment to avenge himself against those who had wronged him for fear that even the tiniest bit of surrender would have the dragon and adsorbed yōkai own the whole of him.

Little does he know that it is this moment, this moment at the end of the path of Yin where he was given the chance to throw himself down and make it one step further than any had gone before... only to turn around and begin the long journey back the way he had come.

He finds Midoriko again, but she has no more kindness to give him. In desperation he tries to take it from her by force.

Her rejection of him was so sincere and profound, she broke her own soul to lash out at his for a chance to get away. Both of them lost a piece of their souls in the scuffle, ignored by the Tenshi and Shinigami that attended to their deaths.

The starry heavens took their beloved daughter… and the fetid depths of hell reclaimed their favorite whipping boy.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Jealousy-Green

Onigumo awoke in the cave Kikyō had been treating his fire destroyed body. He sits up, the movement awkward and graceful at the same time, like water over uneven rocks. He had given himself to the spider-yōkai and its followers, his human heart powerful and stable enough to serve as the nucleus for their collective. He knew that they meant to supplant his mind as well, but he was a better weaver than the spider, and he already had prey in mind.

The Spider-hanyō rose naked in the cave, inky black hair parting to reveal the spider shaped burn scar on his back. The proof of his pact with the yōkai that had given his body new strength. He tests his range of motion, only to find that his body had no limits, he could twist his flesh in any way he so desired. He could be anyone or anything, how delightful. It would make claiming Kikyō's affections all the easier.

He twists a bit of his power around himself, forming clothing from the purple magic mixed with the dust of the cave, the spider webs that had eluded Kikyō's cleaning and the few drops of spider venom on the ground from the Becoming. On silent feet he leaves the cave and draws in fresh air for the first time in months. It brings with it a myriad of information… including the scent of Kikyō mixed with dog.

He looks for the source, and promptly wishes he had been given a little longer to dream, before the Kami saw fit to snatch his happiness away from him. With red hot jealous eyes he watched the two lovers interact, memorizing every movement and texture of the both of them, mind twisting and turning through plans as he began to weave a new web.

With the form of Inuyasha in his fire rat fur robe, he attacks Kikyō giving her a wound that would force her to spend an hour healing herself, before darting through the trees in the direction of her village and the shrine she had built to the Shikon no Tama. He turns as soon as he is outside of her sensing range, arriving at the edge of the two lovers clearing before transforming into Kikyō, long bow and arrows included and firing at Inuyasha.

The greedy wretch does as Onigumo expected, and rushes to the village to steal the Shikon no Tama, proving himself unworthy of Kikyō's kindness and love. The same cannot be said of Kikyō. His beautiful, kind Kikyō, who chooses to bleed to death to attack Inuyasha, but cannot summon up the emotion needed to kill the dog-hanyō… choosing instead to overextend herself and seal the dog eared boy to the sacred tree at the cost of her life.

Onigumo hides in the crowd of mourners around her funeral pyre, easily ignoring the screaming of the souls inside the Shikon no Tama as he tries to understand just where he went wrong in his plan… and wonders how many centuries he will have to wait before she reincarnates and he has another chance to have her.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Surrender-Yellow

He wasn't going to get a chance to see how many centuries it would take for herto reincarnate. Less than a single human lifetime after Kikyō's death, the Kami issued The Division Proclamation, any demonic entity remaining in the human world, refusing to cross over into the newly established Makai, would be rendered fully human, while any entity that did make the journey would be rendered fully yōkai. It lured many a soul over to the other side, dreams of vast power and longevity in their hearts, but Onigumo was not one of them.

The yōkai under his skin were quite vocal in their disagreement, but he silenced them easily enough during the grace period. Afterwards he took the name Naraku to acknowledge their addition to his being, even as he began to live a completely human life. With all of its trials and none of its rewards.

Shehad been a Miko, shewas too pure to ever set foot in the Makai. If he ever had any chance of seeing her again, he would have to remain in the human world. It was easier said than done. If the Kami had intended to bring about an age of peace by separating the yōkai from the humans they had grievously erred. Humans were just as willing and able to hate one another to the point of violence as they were the yōkai. The yōkai were merely otherenough, to be an easy target to identify.

All the Kami had succeeded in doing was pulling the magic out of the world. Naraku could have endured the centuries it took to see heragain, he did not think he could endure the same amount of time, without the magic he had only just scratched the surface of before it was taken away. He was in the throes of a shameful display of nostalgia and regret at her grave when he was accosted by a passing monk, who stopped to offer him comfort. And surrendering to the humanity foisted upon him, he spoke. Word by word, horror upon tragedy upon wretched bloody dream, his story had come out.

Naraku had been left shaken afterwards, and not only by the monk's response, "Love is a strange thing; it can make the strongest person weak, and the weakest person strong. Souls only meet repeatedly at the behest of the Kami, the woman your chasing is either a blessing or a lesson." The monk had smiled then, and while the expression was warm, wrinkling his face kindly, Naraku had been left feeling disoriented; as if he had not been speaking to a monk but the Kami he served. The monk's parting words had only strengthened the sensation, "If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done."

But what? He dies of infection before he ever finds out.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Solace-Blue

2 years. For 2 years they had held the red leather journal that allowed them to transcend their current incarnation as Dekuyume and become Naraku, the countless memories out shadowing those currently in the 9 year old eldest daughter of the Higurashi Shrine. Red eyes narrow in contemplation as he stares down at the 2 year old Kagome sleeping on the blanket in the shade, as their mother Kānēshon steps away to talk with an aggrieved couple that often visited the shrine.

She had left Dekuyume in charge of watching her little sister all alone in a park full of trees to get lost in. He could destroy her so easily… Children got lost all the time, and none of the adults were paying attention. It would only take a few minutes to rouse the sleeping toddler and lure her into the trees with promises of hide and seek and candy. It would take even less time to use a knife hidden in the red leather journal to gut the toddler aged Kagome, who's holy arrows he could still remember burning his form during their last battle.

The Shikon no Tama could be his in less than ten minutes… if he wanted it. He could wish for anything. It would cost him a fragment of his soul, but the Kami were already adamant in their desire to see the jewel destroyed and would have to make all wishes asked of the jewel come true before the jewel could be undone.

In less than ten minutes he could have the entirety of the celestial ocean at his mercy… if only he wanted.

How strange it was, to remain here, seated on a picnic blanket instead. His current situation too pleasant to give up for a wish with no limits. He could blame it on The Void and the tiredness that he could still feel at the edge of his being. But he was not weak enough to lie to himself about things he wanted to be true. From hairline to chin with child soft skin he slides the tips of his fingers down the side of the face of the toddler asleep on the picnic blanket, her head in his lap as she dreams of butterflies, magical girls and ninja.

He sets the red leather journal aside, Naraku once more subsuming into Dekuyume. Her lips twist into a mischievous smile and a little "Ku. Ku. Ku.", escapes her before her fingers lash out, mercilessly tickling her imouto. Kagome-chan jerks awake with a shrieking giggle and countless lisped pleas for mercy to no respite. "Deku-nee~! Deku-nee~! Don't kills me wif tickles! I loves you!"

Naraku does not have to be awake for his heart to lose some of the jealousy and desperation that had been lingering inside of him for so long now.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Peace-Indigo

Entering the kitchen, she spots Kagome talking excitedly with Kānēshon. Dekuyume walks over and kisses her mother on the cheek, commenting, "A yōkai came to the shrine for help." Kānēshon nods, "Yes, Sōta-kun told me that he would probably be out after curfew tonight. Are you going to keep an eye on him?" Dekuyume nods and Kagome hops up from her seat, "Me too!" Kānēshon watches her two daughters head out into the night with a fond smile.

The two sisters followed their otouto around the city that night. First as he snuck into the hospital to visit one of his friends. The boy had been in the hospital comatose for nearly a year after a fire had burned his apartment down. And then a whirlwind of emotion struck when he met Mayu, the ghost of his friends older sister who died in the fire.

Years ago, when the first ghosts started showing up on the shrine for aid, Dekuyume had explained several of the things that could happen to a soul after they lost their connection to the mortal plain. Because of that Sōta had known exactly what was happening to Mayu as the nearly invisible chain that bound her to her brother slowly began to corrode and eat itself. If the last link in the chain over her heart was lost, she would become a hollow. There were only two things that a Soul Piper could do with hollows, either it could judge the soul irredeemable, and banish it to The Hell Verse. Or it could send it to El Hueco Mundo where it would grow and fight and even eat others of its kind until it found its way back onto the mortal plain where it would hunt and eat souls.

Since a Soul Piper's only option was to keep sending the hollows not fit for The Hell Verse back to El Hueco Mundo endlessly, it was a good thing that incursions were extremely rare in their dimension. As a result of the actions of countless Soul Pipers around the world, only a single Shinigami from The Soul Society was necessary to protect the entirety of the mortal plain. Kagome almost readied her bow several times throughout Sōta's adventure, but Dekuyume had remained calm, sure in her otouto's ability to handle this. Though, even she would admit that she had considered interfering, things had looked like they were going to get ugly when Mayu's mother had gotten involved. In the end, Sōta was able to make Mayu see the truth, and go with the soul piper without further problems.

Much to his surprise, Sōta was left staring up at the hospital as Mayu's mother ran inside, called by the doctors. His friend Satoru, without the burden of Mayu's soul chain, had awoken from his yearlong coma. The two sisters walk up, and Dekuyume ruffles his hair while Kagome cheers, "Good job squirt." Dekuyume adds her purple light to his gold, the spell she had taught to her two siblings to bring light to the darkness coming easily to the air above her hand before it rose to float around the two of them. Kagome grins, and after quite a bit of concentration, manages to conjure her own over sized, slightly misshapen, bright pink one.

The three orbs of light orbit each other as the siblings walk home and Dekuyume smiles as Sōta animatedly recounts his adventure, unaware that his overprotective anesan and neesan had watched the whole thing.

There was so much light everywhere she looked now. She would never be able to walk in the dark again.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Serendipity-Violet

A human life was short, painfully so.It didn't matter that living to the age of 84 was remarkable for feudal era Japan, it was still too damn short. It hurt, to see the two of them like this, even if old age was an important lesson for a soul to experience. Dekuyume no Kami, Primary Operator of The Eternal Battlefield, knelt next to the bedside of her much aged imouto and Inuyasha-kun even though the honorifics no longer seemed to suit with Dekuyume remaining as young in appearance as she wished.

The yōkai and humans had parted ways decades ago, both species in time out by order of The Division Proclamation in their own respective corners of the Makai and human world respectively. The Higurashi had instead noticed the glaring loophole in the proclamation and decided that they would simply live in neither dimension. Trapped between The Well of Time, The Colloquium of Souls, The Sacred Tree, and The Little Mountain they had build the Higurashi Sanctuary.

Shielded from the eyes of the other Kami by an over-clocked spell for hiding things, one that had been used to hide Naraku's palace from the world, the sanctuary served as a place where humans, yōkai and hanyō could live in peace with each other, completely flying in the face of The Division Proclamation. It was a secret, but even if someone found out, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it, because the five domains held the sanctuary on the immortal plain, and the proclamation only demanded that no human lived in the Makai, and that no yōkai lived in the human world.

As a gift to Sesshōmaru, Kagura's mate, Dekuyume had extended quite a bit of power to move the Palace of the Moon, his ancestral abode, into the Higurashi Sanctuary, tucked between The Little Mountain and The Colloquium of Souls. Bored with the magic-poor world that had no yōkai, which left them with no real opposition beyond psychics and other human-based powers, the yōkai exterminators were even thinking of moving in, though Dekuyume suspected that they would be much happier, if she just made a portal to their village hidden beneath the barrier forged from the reworked crystal of Magatsuhi and Midoriko.

All good things came at their own time… and if they were lucky, they left at their own time as well. She reaches out, her fingers ghosting along the curve of Kagome's wrinkled face, a flicker of her domain to give the old woman a fighting chance against the sleep that gripped her tightly. As always, Kagome-chan was strong enough to reach out and take it. Human brown eyes flutter open, the last time that Dekuyume would see them, as Kagome no Kami of The Well of Time had eyes as blue as the time stream she owned. "Deku-nee, is it that time already? Has everyone come to say goodbye?"

The red eyed goddess smiles softly, pulling her fan out of her obi and flaring it out wide, revealing red camellia. Kagome laughs tiredly, "Perish with grace indeed. I am ready Deku-nee, carry me home." She complied, power rippling as she activated the adsorption powers that still remained in her after stealing the body of her previous incarnation and forcing a nucleic shift.

After three lifetimes, Magatsuhi's reincarnation finally received the privilege of peering inside her soul….And what she saw.

X-Kagome-X

Shippō's father fox-smiles at the young Miko and darts forward to lick her cheek, mischievously leaving a wet streak on her face. ((You are a very kind, woman who was once Midoriko-chan. Please teach that kindness to my son, as your sister teaches him how to protect his precious people.)) He leans back and folds his fox fire around himself. Kagome blinks once more and stares in surprise at the fox pelt. It was folded exactly, as it had before the vision. She lifts her hand to her cheek and finds it damp. How had a being made of fur and fire left behind moisture? Wide eyed she turns to Dekuyume and finds her anesan smiling at her, eyes bright with her love for magic. Kagome has to ask, "That totally just happened didn't it." Dekuyume ruffles her hair, "Never let anyone tell you that illusions hold no power because they are lies. Some of the most powerful spells are the lies we tell ourselves each day. We say: I can do this, or I can't do that; and the power of the illusion makes them real." That… really made Kagome think about what illusions she was forcing upon herself.

X-Kagome-X

Kagome sputters, "But you can't go alone! You should get the others from the past, or I'll go with you!" Dekuyume shakes her head, "We did not waste all that effort studying just for you to skip your tests. Besides, do you really want to go into the sewers with me?" Kagome grimaces in distaste, so that's why she wasn't in her Miko clothes. "If it means you don't have to go alone, I will." She takes a sip of her tea to get the imaginary taste out of her mouth. When she puts her cup down she sees everyone staring at her in surprise. "What?" Her anesan chuckles, "We're just surprised that the queen-of-clean, miss three-baths-a-day-if-I-can-get-away-with-it, would willingly venture into a sewer." Kagome pouts, causing her family to laugh. Dekuyume ruffles her hair, "If it worries you so much, I'll shanghai someone into going with me." Kagome smiles gratefully, there was no way she was going to be able to focus on her tests if her anesan had decided to go alone, but she wasn't sure if her sanity would survive if she had to go tromping through a sewer either. "Thank you anesan."For making this quest easy on me, for letting me be the nice one, for being strong… and for teaching me to be just as strong as you are, but in my own way… for everything, thank you.

X-Kagome-X

Kagome grins and turns around, lifting the back of her shirt. "Take it off for me?" Dekuyume, whom Kagome was convinced was more sorceress than Miko simply reaches out and runs her finger across the ink spell on Kagome's lower back. The ink-spell fades to nothing. Kagome gasps, and her knees buckle as her magic is set free. Her anesan catches her as she falls, pulling Kagome's back into her chest. In such close proximity, the super massive rolling cloud of Kagome's magic, and the glass smooth mantle of Dekuyume's magic are forced into contact. Their natures were opposite, but their love for each other was greater than nature. There was no violence or pain where yōkai-purple-black met holy-pink. Like oil and water, they touched, but did not mix. So this was what it felt like to make peace with the reincarnation of your greatest enemy. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever experienced.

X-Kagome-X

Kagome stares in awe at the crystallized proof of her fight with Magatsuhi. She reaches out and takes her sister's hand. It was shaking. Poor anesan, proof of her past misdeeds couldn't be easy to see. "Never again. Right anesan?" Turning to Kagome she smiles bravely, "I promise. Never again." And Kagome can see just how much it took, for Deku-nee to make that vow, and even if only to herself, she promised to make sure Deku-nee thought the sacrifice was worth it. Because when Deku-nee meant forever, she meant forever for every reincarnation and not just the rest of this life. Their fight was over, whether the Kami in charge of fate liked it or not.

X-Kagome-X

Kagome's heart was trembling, fear, anticipation, hope… love. Had she not learned that the end of their quest would be coming up soon, she probably wouldn't have been brave enough to do this. Her heart climbs into her throat, and butterflies stir restlessly in her stomach as she approaches where Inuyasha is sitting, resting after his sword training with Kohaku. He looks up at her, steel grey eyes focusing on her with all of the intensity that has slowly been building up, and the strongest reason she has to suspect that she is not the only one feeling this way.

Her hands shake as she holds out a small heart shaped box filled with chocolates she had made with her mother's handed down recipe. Knowing that he won't understand without her explaining, with trembling lips, she tells him. "In the future, women have equal rights as men and are free to go where their heart leads them. There is a special day of the year, where they give out chocolates to the people closest to them, some are given out of obligation, but." She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for courage, and Inuyasha can only stare in surprise as her hands begin to shake more intensely. Gently, his hands reach out to steady hers, and the rest of her confession comes tumbling out. "Others, others are given out because the girl wishes that she had a deeper bond with the one she gives them too. Chocolates like these ones that I made for you."

He is spared from speaking for the moment as Kagome continues, glad she had practiced this speech over and over as she made the chocolates, even if everything was coming out in the wrong order. Her hands tremble in his, "I will understand, if you think that it's too soon for you to fall in love again after Kikyō-san's death. To the rest of the world it happened 50 years ago, but to you it hasn't even been a year. There is another tradition in the future, where the recipient of the chocolates is given a month before they are expected to respond. I am falling in love with you, and I'm already in deep enough to wait for you, so I'm not asking for a response right away, but you have to understand. I love myself too, so I won't wait forever for someone who doesn't even want to love me back."

With that her courage falters, and she flees, leaving behind a stunned boy and a box of chocolates.

And the very beginning of her forever-romance with his soul, or was it just the next step in the dance between them, one begun with Kikyō?

X-Kagome-X

Kagome doesn't look up as she relentlessly chases after Naraku, attempting to grab a hold of him to purify the snot out of him. She can hear the wicked smirk in her Anesan's voice even as she hung helplessly from Naraku's tentacles, "It doesn't matter what trickery you resort to, you won't win. We're from the future and no matter how hopeless it might seem right now, I know exactly what you are going to do next. I've read the scrolls that talk about it. You will lose." Kagome's head jerks up in time to watch as Naraku retaliates by adsorbing Dekuyume. It doesn't matter that Deku-nee had probably planned for this and had some super tricky spell written in ink on her skin to deal with this. She had just seen this jerk adsorb her anesan! She charges forward shouting, "No! Give her back! Give her back! Anesan! Anesan! Please, come back!"

There were no words to explain just how happy she was when the massive meat-shop-nightmare-horror construct that made up Naraku's body collapsed down into the human male form Naraku had appeared in before. The eyes that opened were just as red, but they were Deku-nee'sred. She lowers her bow, ignoring the others protestations. "Anesan... You… you won." Dekuyume smiles gently and with his voice she speaks, "Yes. It would appear that the hearts of modern era women are much stronger than a feudal era thief's. And now it's time we end this." The others are taken aback; the expression is so foreign on Naraku's face. But so familiar, it was Deku-nee's, after she had just gotten done with that annoying little ku ku ku laugh that meant she had just gotten done ruining someone's day… or life.

Kagome steps forward uncertainly. "How?" Dekuyume sighs. And Kagome couldn't stand the expression on her Anesan's face that accompanied what she said next. "Imouto. Complete the following series: Midoriko, Kikyō, Kagome and paired with them Magatsuhi, Naraku and …" Kagome's eyes widen, and everyone but her raises their weapons. The children cry out in denial from the cart as Kagome whispers, "Dekuyume."

Dekuyume nods looking down at the Shikon no Tama in her hands. "The only thing worse than the karmic debt inherited from a past life, is being forced to watch ourselves do what we did to deserve it, and remember enjoying every minute of it." And Kami but if that didn't explain everything, but it was just wrong, so very wrong, because if Naraku had been evil, Deku-nee was anything but, and Deku-nee did not deserve this!

Kagome shakes her head in horror. Dekuyume grabs her hand and between their two palms drops the Shikon no Tama. The two of them are left staring at the jewel and it's perfect pink and purple-black yin-yang spiraling lazily in a circle.

And once again, between the holy-water-pink and purple-oil-black… between Kagome and Deku-nee there was only peace.

X-Kagome-X

In the quiet of the night, long after everyone had finished celebrating the jewels end, when only the two women from the future were awake, Dekuyume finally told Kagome what had been bothering her anesan. Beseechingly Kagome looks up at her sister, "But what about our family? Won't you miss them? Kaasan, Sofu, Sōta? Buyo?" Dekuyume closes her eyes with a sigh. Hiding the expressive eyes that Kagome had come to rely on to see her Anesan's heart."I have every intention of taking the long way home. 500 years is a reasonable amount of time when you are a yōkai." Kagome hugs her sister before a thought crosses her mind, causing her to pull back to look at her sister with worry and sorrow, "But if that's the case, then when you get home, won't… won't you be home for an even shorter amount of time?"

Her anesan looks away, up at at the sky, it was all the answer Kagome needed, and it made her heart ache. How was she supposed to choose between her anesan and kinda-sorta-happily ever after with Inuyasha, and the rest of their family in the future? Suddenly she realizes that it might not come to that when Dekuyume absently reaches out and ruffles her hair. "Otousan is a Kami, and Okaasan will be his consort, I will never lose my parents to time." Kagome pulls away to sit next to Dekuyume. She stares down at her lap, disheartened while Dekuyume continues. "I may be a Kami now, but I am still an adsorption yōkai." Kagome looks up confused, as her anesan reaches out, taking her hands in her own as she explains, her rose red eyes filled with a fear her anesan did not have the courage to voice, "Provided my siblings are willing to place their trust in me over the reincarnation Kami, I am perfectly capable of reincarnating them over and over as they see fit, so that no one ever has to say good bye."

Kagome squeals with joy and glomps her anesan, once again, Deku-nee solves all the most difficult parts of the quest, so Kagome doesn't have to break her own heart to do it. Dekuyume's lips twist into a mischievous smile. "Of course, that really only applies to our otouto, and in-laws. Or don't you remember your Kami self running around while you were a child?"

"Eh!?" Oh! Bleep! What am I the Kami of, please oh please don't let it be Math!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume no Kami finishes adsorbing her imouto, the hot holy fire that was now a permanent characteristic of Kagome's soul, like a bonfire in her chest. Salvation hot, it burned away all the traces of Desperation and Jealousy carried over from Magatsuhi and Naraku. After three lifetimes, Magatsuhi's reincarnation finally received the privilege of peering inside her soul….And what she saw.

What she saw was Kagome, looking right back at her with the same intensity.

But Kagome's heart was big enough for more than one soul, and she gave that same intense regard to her soul-mate Inuyasha, to her family, her friends, all the children that Dekuyume had adopted… to everyone equally.

And that intense kindness, was the reason that their collective soul had chased herfor three lifetimes, perhaps even longer.

Inuyasha follows after, his upbringing in the feudal era of Japan had done him no favors, only Dekuyume's constant tipping of the battlefield he made of his body as he clung to life, determined to make sure that Kagome made it safely into the greatest fortress he could imagine.

Dekuyume saw his soul as he was adsorbed, and for the first time, thought she might have been able to see just what it was about him, that had caused both Kikyō and Kagome to cleave to him so strongly, soul mate or not. There were a lot of things that reincarnation could wipe out of a soul, folding it down beneath the layers of past reincarnations, but there were some characteristics that always shown through. For Herit was indomitable kindness… For Inuyasha, it wasn't stubbornness though some would claim otherwise, and point out Hōjō Aki's continual pursuit of Kagome in spite of how many times she turned him down…

For the soul that had been Inuyasha and would be Hōjō Aki in the future, the defining characteristic of their soul was devotion… to Kagome/Kikyō/her.

As another of herfollowers, Dekuyume could respect that.

She carried the souls of her imouto and her imouto's soul-mate in her chest until the forward marching of time brought them home. Inuyasha's soul would be pressed into the soul echoes already inside the little baby Aki, but hers would be fused with Kagome no Kami, the Primary Operator of The Well of Time… and time would be theirs to share once more.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Solitude-Serenity-Effervescent Opalescence

Sōsuke comes back to himself as he crashes into the floor at the bottom of the stairs that led up to his throne, unaware of ever having risen from the seat. He reigns in his chaotic Reiatsu, glad that he released just enough to prevent any of his less affectionate Espada (and not to mention Gin-kun) from murdering him in his moment of weakness…but not so much Reiatsu that he accidentally invited The Ancient Wyrm to the throne room of Las Noches for lunch.

He gasps for breath, as his Reiryoku rolls underneath his skin, suddenly remembering something that made him want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Sometime in the future, Ichigo Kurosaki would ask, "If miracles only happen once, what are they called the second time they happen?" The answer was different for everyone… but for Sōsuke it was Midoriko, Kikyō, Kagome Higurashi… Orihime Inoue…her.

And just as his inner hollow Magatsuhi had promised, shewas here.