Waterfalls
By Spunky0ne
(An Aizen/Tetsuya romance with tasty sides of Urahara/Byakuya, Ichigo/Renji and others!...yaoi, mpreg)
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Chapter 1: Beneath the Surface
In the depths of Muken, one moment was like the one before, and was no better or worse than the one that followed. Wrapped firmly from head to toe in heavy reiatsu suppressing bonds, the prisoner could not see, hear, smell. taste or feel anything directly. His power restrained and held close around his imprisoned body, he was left in a sort of limbo. It was enough to have driven another mad, and in fact, the area around him was full of similar individuals, criminals that the Gotei 13 could not kill, so they bound and left them to rot in the lowest level of the infamous prison. But Aizen Sousuke was different. Possessed of power and intelligence that far exceeded that of even the brightest of the sages and judges of the council, Aizen had easily found ways to make the days of his twenty-thousand year sentence pass in an odd sort of contentment.
After all, his power being one of illusion, he could simply create whatever he wanted to feel.
It was this that comforted him and made the days that passed shorter. It gave him something to do, wrapping himself in illusions of what things would be like when the door to his cell opened and he was set free.
Those old men will be long gone, as will any who were present in the time my crimes were committed. Time has a way of making people less frightened of an old threat. The ones alive today will die, and the ones that come to replace them won't have any idea what I am capable of doing!
He spent long hours, even days on end, planning out all of the details and sighing happily as he imagined the chaos. But even though his illusions could take away the darkness and loneliness for long periods of time, there were times when he was jarred out of his thoughts, forced to contend with brief moments of lucidity, when prisoners were brought in, or when his shinigami captors came to carefully check his bonds. There were other visits he didn't remember well at all, ones in which the horrid twelfth division taichou came to 'test his powers and reflexes,' but he knew very well that the presence of pain in his bound body for some time after indicated something much more nefarious.
Although, there is one young man who I don't mind having my thoughts interrupted by. I feel his reiatsu every so often, when he comes to rove the area, acting as a guard. He is more than a guard. I feel that. There is quality in his reiatsu that tells me…and oddly, when he is nearby, I can sense large blue eyes and a sweet scent. He has a power he uses to slip beneath my bonds. I feel a coolness wrap around me and it stays with me for a time after he leaves.
Curious.
I wonder what he is doing…
He paused in his thoughts as he sensed the young man approaching.
Perhaps it's time to say something.
"Greetings," he said, using his reiatsu to make his voice sound, "May I ask who you are?"
He sensed that the young man had stopped in front of him, and the man's large blue eyes were watching his bound form closely.
"I know I have sensed you here before," he went on, "What is it that you are doing?"
"What makes you think I am doing something?" the young man answered, "I am on the guard staff here. If you know I have been here, then you know that as well."
"Yes," Aizen agreed, "I know that, but there is something about you that makes me think you are more than a guard. Tell me why you are here."
"I am here as a guard, to test the protections around you," the man answered.
He paused for a moment, then phrased his next words carefully.
"Both those that protect us, and those that protect you."
Aizen's lips smiled under his bonds.
"But, you don't have to protect me," he objected, "Even if I get damaged, the hougyoku will heal it."
"Yes," the young man agreed, "but if you are being abused, it defies the rules and will of the council."
Aizen chuckled softly.
"The council would love for me to be tortured and killed. But I cannot be permanently harmed and I cannot die, so why do I need protection?"
The young man paused, thinking.
"Perhaps you are right," he said finally, taking a few steps closer, "Maybe what I am protecting is the fair application of our laws."
"I don't need Central 46's laws," Aizen said sedately.
"Maybe not, but the rest of us do," the man said firmly, "And are you so sure that you do not care about our laws, Aizen Sousuke? After all, I heard a rumor, one that said an assessment of the hougyoku after Ywach's death showed a crack had formed in the stone."
"What?" Aizen asked, stiffening under his bonds, "You must be mistaken. There has never been a way to damage the hougyoku."
"There has never been a known way," the young man corrected him, "Urahara Kisuke eventually made the choice to place the hougyoku inside Kuchiki Rukia's soul because he could not find the way to destroy it. I don't blame you for having your doubts. But, you must ask yourself why Kurotsuchi Mayuri is conducting secret tests on you and the hougyoku. I assume that he sedates you for these?"
"I do not remember anything of the tests," Aizen explained, "so I suppose that means he uses sedation."
"Do you notice any changes after?"
Aizen considered the question carefully.
"I feel pain that I cannot place," he confessed, "Are you saying that he is…?"
"I do not know yet what is happening during these secret examinations," the young man told him, "But…if you will allow it, I can travel there with you the next time he conducts one of these examinations, so that I can see."
Aizen suffered a very unusual moment of genuine confusion.
"You are asking me if you can attend one of these examinations?" he asked, "You should be asking that monster that Kisuke loosed on us. Although, I don't think he'll be issuing invitations to such a thing any time soon."
"No," the young man agreed, "but I do not need an invitation, and only you and the one who sent me will know I am there."
Aizen felt a sly smile forming on his lips and he extended his senses as far as they could reach, just far enough that he was able to touch an invisible tendril of his reiatsu to the one who stood in front of him. His visitor made a little sound of surprise and dismay, then continued to look back at him in silence.
Aizen retreated deep into his inner world, pulling in the other man's soul, and isolating them where the eyes of the guards could not see. He watched as the darkness he usually suffered disappeared and lovely gardens formed around him, and through them, a small trail that led to the side of a mirrored lake. He walked to the lake and found the young man standing on the bank of the lake, looking lost and confused. Aizen's dark eyes swiftly took in the enchanting pale body of the young man, and the black hair and delicate lines that marked him as a member of the Seireitei's most powerful clan.
"You are a Kuchiki," Aizen announced, making the young man jump back as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
"This…isn't real!" the man gasped, looking down at his hands, "I haven't been hypnotized by you before. You shouldn't be able to do this, while in those bindings!"
"Well," Aizen said, calmly stepping forward and glaring down into the young man's large blue eyes, "people are forever underestimating me. And whoever sent you here just ended your life!"
"This is an illusion," the man managed in a shaky voice, "isn't it? It isn't real!"
Aizen moved suddenly, taking hold of his visitor by the front of his clothing and lifting him off his feet. The young man tried to struggle, but suddenly found that he could not move.
"What are you doing? How are you doing this?" he demanded, "Let me go!"
The young man stiffened as Aizen's brown eyes went deadly and his voice took on an icy edge.
"How very foolish to come into Muken unprepared," he chided the young man, "I should kill you right now. I could, you know. Illusion or not, if I drive my hand through your heart, you will either die of a wound or you will die of fright. Either way, you will die."
He found himself taken aback as the young man unexpectedly answered him.
"You may try to kill me if you wish, but you are only killing your only hope of surviving if you do."
"And why should I believe you?" Aizen demanded, "You haven't even told me your name. Why would I believe a stranger, who has come into my inner world like a sacrificial lamb?"
"You want that badly to murder me? You don't want to hear what I have to say?"
Aizen paused and let the young man down onto his feet as he considered.
"Perhaps I do," he answered finally, "First, tell me your name and that of the one who sent you. I assume you were sent here by Byakuya?"
"My name is Kuchiki Tetsuya," the young man replied with surprising calm, "And yes, my cousin, Byakuya-sama, sent me to investigate the situation here."
"Ah," Aizen said dismissively, "that story you told me about the hougyoku, what did you say? You said it was cracked? You don't think that I would feel such a thing?"
"It doesn't speak to you anymore, does it?" Tetsuya inquired.
"No," Aizen answered, "Not since my defeat. But I do feel its presence. That has not changed."
"Hasn't it?" Tetsuya challenged him, "Do you mean to tell me that you haven't sensed at all that the hougyoku is beginning to lose its power and die?"
"That's quite an accusation," Aizen said, glaring down into Tetsuya's determined blue eyes, "And you are brave to have come to Muken, to have gotten close enough to be drawn into my inner world and to have come face-to-face with me. This has me curious. I don't know if I should believe you. After all, you could just be trying to trick me into giving away ideas on how to actually accomplish the destruction of the hougyoku. If so, you have risked death for nothing. I don't know how to destroy it."
Tetsuya gave him a guarded look.
"You should be more worried about what Kurotsuchi Mayuri is sucking out of your mind," he said cryptically, "If you want to stop him, then all I need from you is that you allow me to set a waterform here, in your inner world...one that I can use to see exactly what is being done to you."
"Are you sure you want to know?" Aizen asked ominously, "You seem somewhat fragile."
"A lot of enemies have thought just that upon meeting me," Tetsuya said solemnly, "and then paid with their lives for underestimating me. There needs to be a witness to that man's crimes."
"And Byakuya chose you?" Aizen mused, studying the delicate looking young man more closely, "Hmm, you do seem to have a strength that lies deeper inside. Your eyes tell me that you have seen some shattering things and have experienced extremes of hatred. Indeed, I see much more to you now than I did before. You have me genuinely intrigued, Kuchiki Tetsuya. So, I will indulge you."
Aizen extended a hand, conjuring a small kido lamp.
"Fill this with your reiatsu," he instructed the young man.
Tetsuya hesitated, examining the lamp first, before following Aizen's direction. Aizen sealed the lamp with Tetsuya's reiatsu inside it, then looked back at the young man questioningly.
"What happens next?" he asked, "How will you watch what Mayuri does? What power will you use?"
"My apologies," Tetsuya said, his body beginning to shimmer oddly, "I can't discuss my methods with you just yet. I am afraid that you will have to trust me."
"I am not in the habit of…" Aizen began.
He broke off as Tetsuya's body shimmered more brightly, then unexpectedly broke apart and splashed down to the ground, making a watery puddle at Aizen's feet. Aizen sensed something happening in his cell, and let his presence return to his bound body. He heard Tetsuya give a soft, gasping sigh as his body collapsed in front of him.
"Tetsuya, what are you doing?" he asked, frowning under his bonds as the cell alarms began to ring and a guard flash stepped into the chamber with Byakuya on his heels.
"What happened?" Byakuya demanded angrily, "My cousin was supposed to be protected by you while he was with Aizen!"
"I'm…I'm sorry, Kuchiki taichou!" the cell guards apologized hastily, "They just seemed to be talking, then Tetsuya-san collapsed! We didn't see Aizen do anything!"
"Well, obviously, he did do something. Tetsuya didn't lose consciousness without someone doing something to him. Now, go call for some help and stay out of here until help arrives."
"But what about you?" one of the guards said fearfully, "Kuchiki taichou…?"
"I will suppress his reiatsu until you return. GO!" Byakuya snapped fiercely.
The guard ran out of the cell, yelling at the others to close the cell door as he headed to the communicator to summon help. Byakuya knelt at Tetsuya's side, glaring up at Aizen meaningfully.
"So, is what Tetsuya told me true?" Aizen asked, "The hougyoku is dying?"
"Not that you deserve any explanation," Byakuya said icily, "But yes, the hougyoku is dying."
"And you have so magnanimously decided to protect me?"
Byakuya gave him a stern look.
"There is much more at stake than just your life," he said in a clipped tone, "If it was just that, I wouldn't have lifted a finger."
Aizen smiled under his bindings.
"I see. You have me so curious, Byakuya. What are you up to? Using your precious cousin and such nefarious actions? It's more than just my life, you say? Then, what is it?"
"Be quiet," Byakuya said off-handedly, gathering Tetsuya into his arms, "If the wrong person suspects anything, then this is over before it begins. Just act as though you put my cousin in the state he is in. Let them believe that you attacked Tetsuya while he was here inspecting your bonds."
"Of course," Aizen chuckled, "I am so interested in learning what you have planned. This isn't your usual playing field, is it? I wonder what drove you to do this."
Byakuya shot the bound prisoner a warning glare as reinforcements arrived and a prison healer carefully examined Tetsuya's unmoving body.
"What is my cousin's condition?" Byakuya asked, looking down at Tetsuya, What did that monster do to him?"
"He only seems to have been knocked out, Kuchiki taichou," the healer reported, removing some smelling salts from within his clothing, "Let me…"
The healer stared in surprise as the salts did nothing to rouse the unconscious man. He tried a gentle shock of kido and swallowed hard as Tetsuya remained unresponsive.
"What is wrong?" Byakuya demanded, "What has Aizen done to my cousin?"
"He's…he's just unconscious," the healer insisted, "But, I can't get him to wake, sir!"
Byakuya turned a deadly glare on Aizen's kido wrapped body.
"You bastard!" he exclaimed furiously, "What did you do?"
Aizen considered his words carefully, then used his reiatsu to make his voice echo within the dark cell.
"I gave you a warning, Byakuya," he hissed, "When you play with me, you play with death!"
Byakuya laid Tetsuya gently on the ground, then surged to his feet and flash stepped towards Aizen, stopped only as the guards shot forward and impeded him.
"Kuchiki taichou! Don't get near him! He'll kill you!" they shouted frantically.
Byakuya stiffened against the guards for a moment, staring daggers at the prisoner and his reiatsu flaring hotly enough to singe the ones who held him. Then, he stepped back, still glaring and panting softly.
"Get Tetsuya to my estate," he ordered the healer, "My healers will take care of him. I am going to make a report to Soutaichou."
Aizen sensed Byakuya's exit from the cell, and he frowned curiously as he felt the continued presence of Tetsuya's reiatsu in his inner world.
So very odd, he mused inwardly, I wonder what is going on.