The Fallen Series: Part II - Dignity Falls

by Seth's Kiss

AU: The Other War was won by Aizen, with the Seireitei conquered, the losing side powerless and all enslaved. Taken away to the Human World, Ichigo, Grimmjow and Byakuya are subjected to the most demeaning of indignities. Will they put aside their differences and stand together as one? Or will they lose themselves and drift apart? DARK fic. Rated M. Same warnings as in Part I.

2. Part Two: Chapter 1

The Fallen Series (a Bleach Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:

A/N: Happy New Year, everyone, as well as a rather late Merry Christmas! So I was really looking forward to posting monthly for this part, however, time honestly doesn't agree with me. Hence, it'll either be an update per month (hopefully), or one month yes, one month nada. Sighs... See, the dialogues are quite easy. The inspiration comes very quickly and it's actually the very first thing I get to type down. But the rest...Ugh, takes ages, especially with nagging nonsense dragging me away from writing. So complaining aside, I hope you'll like this update. Feel free to share your thoughts! Enjoy!

P.S: I've put up a poll on my profile and it would be nice really if you could take a look at it.

Poll: What will you be willing to read in the upcoming chapters?

Rating for this chapter: Language, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and many insinuations. If you no like, well, I'm sorry about that...Not that much, no... Also, starting next chapter, the insinuations will no longer be insinuations, the majority of the characters getting a little more physical. Felt safe to warn.

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Responding to your reviews:

To Guest 1: Thank you very much for your review! I'm very glad that you like it so far and I wish you'll enjoy the rest just as much! Hope to hear from you soon! Bye for now!

To Peace and Glory: Hello and thank you so very much for your review! I saw your review for Part 1 and I was feeling bad about not being able to respond, so when you reviewed here, I was genuinely thrilled. And I'm really glad that you chose to read this fic and that it is to your liking. I too prefer dark stories and not finding enough to my fancy is actually what pushed me to write. And if you're happy, then so am I! So Grimmjow is your favourite, huh? Of course he is, what's not to like? I'd like to believe that he has a lot more depth than what a good average of us Bleach fans think, and I push my belief as far as I can. Some disagree, but my thoughts and will are my own (shrugs). I'm glad that you enjoyed the interrogation scene between Gin and Aizen: some found Gin to be out of character. As for the four horsemen, Soifon actually was a last minute choice: I was really going to pick Gin at first, but I wanted to do the unexpected, and after toying with that thought for a while, I went for Soifon. I am overjoyed that you deem Ichigo to be well portrayed: you cannot imagine how hard it is for me. I even delayed his appearance in the fic because I was so worried that I'd get him wrong at some point. He is the hero of the series, so it's only fair to do him justice, but it comes with such heavy risks. So your thoughts on him make me feel loads better, thank you (currently a very happy person). I'm honestly surprised about Rukia. I mean, she isn't my favourite person either but most of the people I know prefer her to Orihime. Good to know that I'm not the only one that isn't really fond of her. Byakuya Kuchiki is an immense challenge because he's one of those characters who hide behind a wall of apathy, features and emotions revealed at a minimum, so you're left wondering what the heck is going on that pretty little head of his. I'm still not convinced that I understand him that well. Him and Aizen. Oh my God, Sosuke Aizen is the most difficult of all, especially since I've made even more complicated than what he already was. I wonder what overcame me. When bringing in the seven deadly sins into this, I instantly associated Aizen with Lust (given his thirst for knowledge and power), and then this led to that, leaving me with the Aizen featured in this fic. I truly adore him as a villain (which is odd as I don't really like characters with a god complex, aka Light Yagami) so I really don't want to ruin him. Writing isn't as easy as we think, huh? But if you like his portrayal, that's good enough for me (broad smile). But since you're mentioning it: so far, it has been clarified that Aizen only forced Grimmjow and a few unmentioned Espada. He might use physical proximity to intimidate as well as make threats of carrying rape out on someone, but so far, hasn't gone any further than that...For now, every hint has been purposely left as a blur. As for Nel, how you wish to see her is entirely up to you. See, as you've pointed out, I didn't mention anything and I actually did that on purpose. Some like her as a kid, others as an adult, and a few like the idea of her being able to sporadically shift between the two (I'm part of this group), so seriously feel free. The MxMxM scene was my very first time writing such a thing. So glad you liked it, though my friend's dream really does deserve more credit. And you figured out who Doll is? I'm not really hiding it to be honest, only what she is, is definitely not what you think, and I'll leave it at that (suspense!). B.T.W, given that I had complained about it, I'm rather grateful that you read the Author's Notes. That means a lot. Thank you for giving this fic and me a chance (I love that you love this story!), and I sincerely hope to keep up to your expectations with future updates. Looking forward to hearing further from you!

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Part Two: Dignity Falls:

Chapter 1: A Horrifying Reality:

A blistering glacial ire ruled over the dead silent dim-lit room and was so powerful, that any other sentiments that may be have also been there, were entirely stifled and utterly shattered.

After a moment that seemed to last forever, she half-turned, ever so slowly, taking all her time, looking from over her shoulder to face him. Setting but a single eye upon him, and, like long before, although outwardly he didn't give anything away, Aizen's breath was taken from him all over again.

It had been far longer than over a hundred years, and despite that, she had not changed at all. And though it was to be expected, it was still rather unbelievably far-fetched to set eyes upon.

The same lithe, supple frame, not too tall and not too short, not too skinny either but still rather slender and thin. Curves all in the right places but not too much to be vulgar or showy. The same porcelain doll face, with overall childlike facial characteristics, despite the beauty of maturity that came with a faint touch of make-up to her features. Dark pink-dyed lips - which were set in a thin, tight line - and thick black mascara to her large, pretty eyes - which were critically narrowed - was all that was needed to give her the appearance of a young girl caught between the critical crisis changes from childhood to adulthood.

Pale cream skin captured within a basic majorly black Lolita outfit, with an elaborate criss-crossed back outline and a ruby buttoned front. The bottom of the dress hitched midway upon her thighs, revealing dark stockings that began an inch lower and ending with high-heeled dark burgundy boots, with an uncovered front showing off vibrant pink-coloured toe nails. The dress's long red Victorian-like sleeves brushed over her knuckles, revealing long, fairy-like fingers with bright pink nails, several rings of dissimilar calibre and shape on her hands.

Vivid long hair caught in twin pigtails ran down her back, a few stray strands spread over her small shoulders, whilst her face was framed by neat bangs on her forehead and a single, thick fringe to the right, with three simple onyx studded gems piercing her left ear.

They stared at each other in still silence, neither looking away. Like always, her expression was for the most part unreadable to him. She looked angry, very angry. Her fists clenched, tight and white, while shaking hard at her at her side, as if she wanted to punch something - or rather someone - but was containing herself, despite seemingly to put a lot of desperate effort in doing so. But then again she had gradually developed a nasty knack of using a burning, belligerent ferocity to keep undercover most of her emotions, so he couldn't really tell.

The immortal's dark brown eyes softened as he gazed at her gently before he began to address her. His voice was of a silky, serene tone never heard prior to now: "Long time no see, my l-"

"What the fuck are you doing here, you FUCKIN'-?!"

Here, the child of chaos could only sigh rather deeply as he let her rant out, flaunting her ire. Although he should have known that she wouldn't cave into pleasantries, as always preferring the direct and blunt approach. To her, such 'small talk' was an utter waste of time, as well as a show of unwarranted pretence.

Also, he should have known better than to believe that it was just her appearance that hadn't changed. Her rage was still there and still directed at him, quite understandably so, her tongue lethal poison filled to the brim with harsh loutishness. He had hoped however that, in time, she'd come to forget, that she'd come to, somehow, forgive. But time clearly wasn't enough to quell a grudge, in addition to forgiveness not at all being in her nature. She wasn't born to forgive or to ever forget, just like he could not lie.

"You're the one standing in my quarters" he pointed out smoothly upon sobering and letting himself in, heading for the large desk on the other side of the room, eyes never leaving hers.

"Not what I fuckin' meant," sneered Doll viciously, cooling down a little and throwing her head back with a curt gesture before tapping her foot impatiently, repeatedly as an emphasis to her following words "You know very well that this is the only place where no one will ever enter with you absent and I, sometimes, need the fuckin' privacy this fuckin' room offers!"

What she said was true. No one dared step over this office's threshold with Aizen absent, with her being an exception. Point in fact, she was an actual exception to many things, not just that.

Seating himself comfortably upon the desk itself and fiddling with a few stray papers on it, the immortal glanced at her with raised eyebrows, tone slightly patronizing, teasing: "You do notice that you appear to be justifying yourself?"

Only she did not seem to be in a joking mood as she seethed out slowly, an eyebrow arching irritably: "Fuck you. Answer me, Sosuke. Why. Are. You. Here?"

"I'm here on business" replied the immortal evenly, facing her this time in all seriousness whilst folding his arms "Fret not, I won't be staying long."

Narrowing her eyes, she uttered through tightly clenched teeth: "That's not the fuckin' point."

"I assure you that I won't be here forever" he placated gently as he left his makeshift seat and made his way over to her, stopping a fair yet not that far distance from her and giving her a small and atypically sincere smile "You don't even have to see me if you wish."

"Promises, promises" she muttered mockingly while rolling her eyes before swiftly stopping them to lock dead on with his, as she huffed with derisive incredulity "You know as well as I that you can't fuckin' keep away from me."

"I never lie, love."

"No, but you deviously deny, and can't bring yourself to fuckin' admit that you. Can't. Stay. Away," punctuated Doll heatedly, prodding a finger pointedly at his taut chest and digging in hard for emphasis, which made him tense even further as her touch caused him to shiver.

Both were in forms that kept them connected to the physical plane, giving them more access than the little offered by an astral - soul - form. So any touch felt authentically real, more so than usual given the enhancement of the artificial bodies they wore. A sole touch, warm or cold, pleasant or painful, flesh to flesh or not, was like a sharp and sudden electrifying burn.

"Neither can you," stated the immortal knowingly, while swiftly capturing her hand in his and caressing it gently with his thumb, his features holding a certain level of seriousness.

Vividly snatching her hand away from his hold, as if she had been burnt, she briefly stared at him in deadpan silence, before she scoffed, which then quickly shifted to her throwing her head back as she let out a harsh, mocking laugh.

The child of chaos merely stared at her with a flat expression, waiting until she calmed down and spoke up again, her eyes narrowed with disdain, her clenched smile forced: "I don't love you, Sosuke."

Keenly expecting to have upset or even hurt him, her face fell when he smirked broadly, eyes twinkling impishly as he took a single, slow step towards her: "No? You don't? Not even a little?"

Breath hitching faintly, her eyes widened, hand hastily held out to keep him where he was: "Back the fuck off. I mean it."

Acting as if he didn't hear her, the child of chaos pressed further, voice lower as he took yet another step towards her, closing the distance. Now the two were face to face, too close, her hand still upon his chest, but no longer pushing him: "Not even a tiny bit?"

"I fuckin' hate you," she spat venomously, eyes flashing, threateningly baring her pearly white teeth as she stood tall, defiant, hoping to convey to the other that she meant every word.

Only - when he did manage to discern it accurately - Aizen was rather used to this part of her, for Doll always attempted to the worst to set him off. Trying to rile him up, expressing anger and loathing, throwing taunts and hurtful words, playing with and on his feelings, pushing him over the edge, driving him mad. All these were her way to get back at him. Sometimes it worked, spectacularly so when she hit the right buttons, but other times, he was aware enough of her intentions and forced himself to remain level-headed.

Had it been anyone else, they would have easily, effortlessly been fooled by her. But not him.

Aizen couldn't read every single aspect of her demeanour most of the time, but right now, he could see the slightest chink through her incredibly convincing act. She didn't pull away, she didn't evade him. Even out of rebelliousness, repulsion would be stronger and at some point it would have made her turn away from him. But she didn't. She stayed, and she stayed close.

"And you say I deny," he smirked loftily, tilting his head slightly to the side as he yet again took a hold of her hand, entwining their fingers together, his lips stretching wider when she didn't pull free this time, choosing to merely narrow her eyes and sneer up at him instead.

"You know well that's what fuckin' you do," she maintained, reflexively mirroring his head movement yet in the opposite direction "Not admitting something makes it fuckin' denial."

"Or simply silence. Maybe I don't have a way to respond to the query at hand," he murmured with faint uncertainty which was gone fast before it could be registered, previous expression back in place as he smoothly neared his face to hers "At least, as I've said before, I never lie."

"No real fuckin' need to when your bloody blade and so many other people can do it for you," she pointed out inflexibly, once again mimicking the other's movement "But we both know that you fuckin' would if you could."

"Though I'll admit to that, I do remain far fonder of the ugly truth than of beautiful lies. The former hurts so much more."

Though her eyes remained hardened, her features lost a little bitterness and her tone lost half of its aggression, her softened voice still reproachful, but not that resentful, whilst her words seemed to hold a certain double entendre: "Fuckin' sadistic bastard."

"Not changing there," he whispered complacently with a soft smile as he leaned in just a little further, gazing at her through half-lidded eyes while once more inwardly putting in question what it was he'd always feel around her, any sensible thoughts of his dissolving into thin air.

As he had uttered his words, Doll's eyes were suddenly drawn downwards to fixate on his lips barely a breath from hers, with only one, single inane yet unrelenting impulse on her mind. She wanted, desperately needed, to taste them.

A magnetic pull, an unreasonable allure, an unbearable desire, an indecipherable sensation...

And this wasn't in any way the immortal's subtle persuasive ability talking.

It had been so long. Yet still, like long before, hate mingled quite dangerously with passion, making a horrible mess of her emotions, and leading her use anger as an escape, as salvation.

Raging resentment at him aside, no matter what was tried, Doll still had them, still felt them.

And like him, she did not fully understand her feelings, these feelings. But compared to him, she had once been far more acceptant of their existence, embracing the fact that she could feel affection for someone, although she wasn't supposed to, wasn't meant to, wasn't born to...

Odd that out of the two of them, it was the one that had dreaded their first meeting to be the one to have been far more open to the entire concept, rather than the one to have initiated it.

Even so, Doll didn't see herself easily getting over what he had done to her just yet. She despised him for his deeds. And she hated, more than anything, that she still fell for him. But as Aizen drew even closer, she had yet to pull away, her eyes closing, lucidity running away...

"I'm not interrupting, am I?"

The spell was brutally broken and the magic of the moment fully dissipated, as the impeding interruption caused them both to abruptly come back to their senses, with Doll indignantly realizing what she had almost let happen and Aizen harshly bitter at the missed occasion.

A set of two narrowed eyes, one of riled magenta and the other irritated dark brown, swiftly darted simultaneously towards the source of interference.

At the entrance, not stepping a foot over the threshold but still comfortably leaning upon the doorframe as if it belonged to him, stood a young man with crossed arms, a smirk smugly situated upon his luscious lips and a malign glint in his sinisterly arrogant, dark green emerald eyes, framed by long blonde eyelashes.

Tall and lean, dressed in skin-tight, black leather trousers, a sleeveless black leather jacket with a low V-neck opening, studded black gloves and a studded collar, a male version of a dominatrix with long pale blonde hair pulled in an elaborate ponytail, long locks framing handsomely plain but deadly features while the rest of the locks trailed past his shoulders. His thin blonde eyebrows rose expectantly as he waited for one of the other two to answer him.

"Go to hell and fuckin' rot there," deadpanned Doll, responding to the intruder's query, as she placed some distance between herself and Aizen before she flipped the blonde off without any hesitation, leading the latter to merely snort scathingly at her, not at all affected.

"Dear, oh dear. Where did all the cute an' coy run off to, doll face?" taunted the blonde slyly with a smirk, to which she was quick respond to with a low hiss, fist clenching in warning.

"You came here for a reason, hm?" inquired the irked immortal impassively, attempting to keep calm and, at the same time, step in before the banal banter escalated too far, too fast.

"Yes, Suzuki-sama," replied the blonde reverently, instantly putting his stand-off with Doll on halt in favour of deferentially according his full attention to the child of chaos "A message from Manter-sama: 'Those three have arrived'."

Given the flagrant renewed tension weaved between him and Doll, Aizen would have gladly accepted such an occasion to take his leave, but, on afterthought, it would appear as though he was fleeing. A single glance in her direction told him, as she watched him vigilantly from out of the corner of her eye, that she was expecting him to do exactly that. Again.

Unacceptable.

Eyes going wide, Doll was totally taken aback as the immortal ordered calmly once he had turned his focus back onto the other male: "Leave it to Manter for the time being. I'll see to this matter afterwards... Oh, and before I forget, Jugo, come back in a moment, with the other two. I need to inform you on something important."

"By your command, Suzuki-sama," bowed said young man, before he then left straight after that, the stiletto heels of his leather boots clicking away on the immaculate checker tiled-floor.

Another thick silence fell over the room, heavier than before, until the child of chaos broke it, his tone stiff, his voice deep, his words curt: "We'll deal with this later, Doll."

"Rather never," she uttered under her breath as she directed herself straight towards the door.

Dark eyes flashed in her direction with an indecipherable emotion: "Must you be this way?"

"Must you?" threw back Doll vividly, pointedly looking down where he was the one with a steadfast grip upon her wrist, halting her from departing, as if afraid that she'd forever 'leave'.

His apprehension on the subject was as ever so apparent to her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to feel affected by that part of the immortal anymore. She felt incarcerated, jailed, and she wanted out. And she wasn't insinuating that being kept here was what was bothering her.

"Why, why can't you just let me fuckin' go, Sosuke?" she whispered quietly, voice cracking a little as she openly showed the other how horrible, how pained she felt deep down inside, her wide doll eyes briefly conveying all of that to him, not currently hiding anything at all.

She then looked away and lowered her eyes, blocking him out and biting her lower lip hard: "Please. Just let me go."

Though she wasn't quite talking about the present moment, Aizen, far more disconcerted than he thought he'd be by the display of her distress, immediately withdrew his hold on her, even taking a step back to give her space, which she took advantage of by turning her back to him, hiding whatever expression had flitted upon her features, but, again, she did not leave. Only that went unnoticed by the immortal who had closed his eyes, his thoughts in disarray.

They both stood apart in silence, immobile and rigid, his body tense and her mind poisonous.

He betrayed her, when she had explicitly warned him against it. He had betrayed her, when he had picked her safety before her feelings. Now, here they were. And she refused to aimlessly forgive. Unless, under the guise of some sort of miracle, he made the first step. And he won't.

"I wish I never met you," choked out Doll lowly, her tone infuriated and thick with emotion.

"What a wonderful way to continue our conversation," sighed Aizen sarcastically, wearily, her words stabbing at his usually apathetic heart, before he opened his eyes again and walked to her, hand reaching into one of his trousers' pockets "And me who had brought you a gift."

Not even bothering to move, her response was immediate, juvenile: "Don't fuckin' want it."

Retrieving a small rectangular velvet box from his person, the child of chaos spoke evenly as he held it out to her: "At least take a look at it."

She stood her ground for a moment, before she eventually consented, turning halfway towards him and delicately seizing, between slender fingers, the box handed over to her.

Despite her hidden lethalness, her every movement unintentionally held a certain given level of grace and delicacy. It was set within her since a very young age to derail others, to let them foolishly underestimate what she was truly capable of.

Opening the lid carefully, Doll's heart stopped as her eyes shone in synch with the gorgeous necklace staring straight back at her. A silver chain with floral designs cut in diamonds, each flower centred with a glittering dark pink gem (1).

Dropping in shock both the box and what was in it to the floor with a thud, her hammering heart ended being the only sound to her ears as she gazed at the jewellery on and on, unable to look away or even blink.

Though it shimmered in the light with speck clean spotlessness, this necklace was decades old. And she would know. Of the rare people she had come to cherish, this had once belonged to one of them, the best and the one who raised her. A woman beyond dear to her. Deceased.

After a certain accident that had occurred, she had thought it lost, out of reach, forever gone. Yet here it was, right within her grasp. And Doll was over the moon with bliss.

She wanted to melt, to flash the child of chaos a million watt smile, but resisted the impulse.

Tightly clutching her hands to her chest under the other's silent watchful gaze, she refused to reveal how much this had moved her so she kept her expression blank, before it sharply twisted into a nasty sneer, while her tone was sharp, cutting, a blade as she locked eyes gone hard, frozen, on the man she hated to love: "Hmpf. A fuckin' collar? It isn't enough that you fuckin' caged me in this body - in this existence - now you want to fuckin' chain me?"

Not that he was expecting her to jump with joy, but the immortal's face fell entirely at her choice of words, as they had never once crossed his mind, leaving room first to shock and dismay, before his expression then shifted to vexation, oddly laced with faint traces of hurt: "It sincerely amazes me how very little it takes for you to make me profoundly aggravated."

"I'm the one who should fuckin' complain about how you get me to...fuckin' feel the way I do by just being around and I-" had begun to rage Doll vividly before abruptly cutting herself off, a blush touching her features as she realized, with true horror, what she had almost said 'And I hate that I love you more than I should.'

"And how do I make you feel exactly?" he questioned with an arched eyebrow, genuinely intrigued by the other's near slip-up, wondering what she had been about to say.

Glaring at him, she declared staunchly, her words resounding like childish denial: "You're the last fuckin' person I'd tell in this life. Or in the next as a matter of fact. And even if there were other lives beyond that, I'd still not fuckin' tell you."

Smoothly chasing off the former emotional reaction she had drawn from him, the immortal chose to chuckle and shake his head at her: "Well, well, you're certainly being overdramatic."

"You fuckin' get off on drama, no?" deadpanned Doll knowingly with raised eyebrows before she sauntered off towards the desk, comfortably adopting Aizen's former position there.

"True," he smirked smugly while she rolled her eyes, before he tilted his head as he regarded her with a mischievous look "Tell me, what else are you to expect from a Child of Lust?"

"And that's why I want you fuckin' gone," she stressed out with a low hiss, a frown marring her doll features "We had a fuckin' deal, remember?"

Sighing, the child of chaos crossed his arms and looked out the large window with a distant expression: "I know."

Ticked off by his clear-cut response, she narrowed her eyes with her teeth clenched into an irked smirk: "Do you? Why are you still fuckin' here then?"

"I told you that, for the moment, I have matters to attend to," he placated gently, locking eyes with her again as he promised with sincerity, despite seeming to still be mentally somewhere else "With them done, I will leave again. I promise."

Considering his contemplative air and knowing that it hid deep, darker waters, Doll asked: "How long?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On a lot of things, dear."

Irritated by his unelaborated replies, a couple of veins throbbed viciously upon her forehead as she grinned angrily: "Like what, Sosuke? Stop with the fuckin' riddles, would you?"

Hesitant, the child of chaos gazed at her with inscrutable features before looking back out the window as he spoke: "I'm working on a project that may or may not work."

With an expectant expression, she waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, Doll stated impatiently: "You're still not being fuckin' clear, idiot Sosuke."

"According to Manter, I'm going to die."

"You?" she echoed with a startled expression, honestly not expecting that, an abrupt stabbing sensation hitting her hard, without her permission, at the mere thought of it, before she let out an incredulous laugh, derision and disbelief upon her features "Fuckin' impossible."

"My thoughts exactly," he nodded before pausing briefly "Only after a little reflexion, there is only one thing that can destroy me, destroy all of us."

"Ah," uttered Doll with faintly wide, uneasy eyes, quick to follow his train of thought "That. It's the only real thing that can fuckin' wipe us out, true. But I thought that that Family were the only ones able to wield it. They were wiped out long ago. Except if..."

"The few that remained and went into hiding are still out there," completed Aizen logically "If there are any alive today, then it truly means that the Box of Bedlam will open again."

A sole thin magenta eyebrow arched with curiosity, picking up on something the other had yet to say: "Why do I fuckin' feel like there's a very small 'unless' at the end of your sentence?"

Moving away from the window in order to face her again, the child of chaos stated slowly, slightly in doubt but definitely adamant about him succeeding whatever this was: "My project involves playing on a very slim variable that could be bent to our advantage...if done right."

"And what is it that you intend to do?" she pressed on insistently as she leaned forwards from where she was seated, interested in what the other had in mind. This really had to be good...

As the immortal meticulously exposed to her the full details of what he had planned, a part of Doll's mind disconnected temporarily as she took advantage of the moment to gaze at Aizen.

She wasn't one to sneak glances and she preferred to be incensed when facing him head on, so on the rare occasions they were just talking like this, she'd let herself really look at him.

Even in a form that wasn't his, the child of chaos - with his short dark brown hair slicken back and fully revealing his eyes - seemed to endlessly exude his cruel and constant charisma, no matter what he wore. Here, despite being clad in a casual attire which consisted of white dress shoes, black trousers and a navy dark half-way buttoned shirt, and with nothing else to flaunt in a lurid manner, the immortal still managed to look like the ruler of every single world within the entire universe. However, his laidback attire did not match the blasé attitude he repeatedly tried to preserve when in front of her. Though composed more often than not, only she had the full capacity to derail him. Completely.

"So, what do you think?" inquired Aizen all of a sudden with a raised eyebrow, wondering, given Doll's vacant air, if she was even listening to him.

But though her mind had wandered, she was still fully on track, as she voiced her firm opinion in all straight seriousness: "That you're a fuckin' control freak, in every sense of the notion."

"A little of that, but this also what tedium leads me to," confessed the child of chaos openly with an amused chuckle, before he sighed vividly "I'm in constant need of entertainment."

"Even at the cost of your own life?" pried Doll lightly, expression impassive and seemingly uncaring, despite the fact that she was actually quite concerned by the lack of apprehension he accorded when it came to his own existence.

Not grasping her words as pronounced worry given that she had purposely made it invisible, the immortal appeared to be genuinely puzzled by her question: "And where would the fun be if I didn't risk it?"

"Oh, yes. I get it now," she nodded, snapping her fingers with an apparent spark of insight, before immediately after that pointing at the other with a highly exasperated expression upon her features "You're just fuckin' bonkers. You need help."

Scoffing haughtily, Aizen smirked patronizingly: "I'm a deity of chaos. I don't need help."

"No. Of course you don't. Why the fuck would you?" inquired Doll rhetorically, cynically, before casting the immortal a mocking look "You should have been born a Child of Pride."

Grimacing with loathing at the mere thought, the other muttered via tightly clenched teeth: "Never for the life of me."

Doll quietly stared at the other with a faint frown, lips pursed thoughtfully. Although his plan was well-structured and definitely well-thought, the immortal's reasons for carrying all this out seemed...too mundane, too simple. There was unquestionably something else at play here.

Though she knew that if he didn't mention it that he would not talk about it, she took a chance anyway: "Why go so far? I mean, you're not doing all this just for fun. Not even fuckin' vengeance would cut it, despite what you've said now. What are you really up to, Sosuke?"

Rather than answering, the child of chaos yet again moved to where she was and, kneeling in front of her and taking a gentle hold of one of her hands, he raised it to his lips, letting them brush her knuckles, while locking his eyes with hers and speaking in a soft, solemn voice as he asked: "Can I ask for your help, just one more time, my lovely Doll?"

Large magenta eyes blinking repetitively, she parted her lips faintly, slightly disorientated and flustered by the other's actions, while also being overall surprised by his words as she slowly freed her hand, using it to gesture to herself, fingers spread out elegantly as she did so: "My help?"

Overlooking her stunned expression, he promptly pushed on before she could voice any refusal: "All I'm asking, is for you, using any means necessary, to push them in wrong direction - the one concerned especially - from where you stand on the side-lines as you usually do. The major work, I'll leave to the Twilights - I actually have to lay things down to them as soon as possible, right after this, even. With all that done, I'll deal with the rest."

"Oh, so simple," commented Doll sweetly with a pretty smile, before it was swiftly gone the next second, leaving room to a hardened expression as she looked down on him conceitedly "But tell me, dear, what's fuckin' in it for me?"

"When it's all over, you're free to leave and, if you wish it, never return," he declared solidly, causing her jaw to drop on its own accord as absolute astonishment overtook her features.

Recovering just barely and still in utter disbelief, she bit her lip in a manner that conveyed her glee, wide glittering eyes alit with a million lights: "Oooh, now that is tempting."

There was a fair level of sincerity amidst the agony in his gaze - which never once left hers - that couldn't be mistaken for deceit. However, though his ever-present pain did not quite move her, because of it, she couldn't actually trust that his offer was something authentic. Not because that she in any way doubted his words - he did not lie - but rather she doubted he would actually be able of upholding them in the end. Not with her being carefully locked up under his watchful eye after so long. 'Protected', according to him. Silly man.

So it really seemed too good to be true to her, and yet, pure freedom but a breath away, Doll was willing to do anything to obtain it, no matter the cost: "This better fuckin' be the last time I help you then."

Slow to get to his feet, the immortal gently leaned his face into hers, their foreheads touching: "I swear to you, if this does work, it will be. I'll never ask anything of you ever again."

As he closed his eyes and pulled away, ready to give her space in spite of him being quite comfortable where he was, she quickly followed, hopping off the desk and swiftly catching his sleeve, which instantly halted him. Turning towards her, the child of chaos met Doll's wide eyes, swirling with such a vast array of emotions that he found it hard to label them all: Anticipation. Apprehension. Annoyance. Aggravation... Anguish? Agony? He wasn't sure, nor could he discern more for she was fast to hide it all behind her shields again, as quick as they had fallen.

"And you'll really let me go?" she whispered softly, eyebrows raised but expression no longer giving anything away "Let me leave?"

When he nodded at her without a single hint of hesitation, her eyes widened even further as the hand holding him fell to her side, before she spoke up again, her tone a little playful: "No matter how much it pains you? You can't fuckin' possibly love me that much, can you?"

Regardless of the faint angst anchored within his features, his next words were so cutting that she felt as though her air supply had been brutally cut off, and what was left of her already wrecked heart shattered, any dark humour gone with the wind: "You're certainly correct on that, my dear. I cannot love."

Ah. There it was. What pained her to hear, what she couldn't accept, what she refused to excuse, what she hated the most. The persistent, near stubborn denial that he would constantly enshroud himself in, rejecting all acknowledgment of what was flagrantly real, only unless it benefited him or involved him in some way. Why he truly did so was a mystery to her, but it enraged and offended her beyond compare. And though she wasn't supposed to care, she did.

Bangs shading her eyes, teeth clenched, deeply vexed, Doll wordlessly turned her back on him, a faint, unseen quiver to her rigid frame. She had to do something, had to say something. He wouldn't be alone to close their conversation with such an excruciating stab to the soul.

'Hurt him like he hurts you, and, if you can, more,' a faint voice echoed all of a sudden from somewhere deep within her head. Without a second thought, she freely gave into that impulse.

"Sosuke", she uttered softly, her quiet tone just a whisper, but a dark and near deadly one.

Sensing that something was amiss, Aizen chose to tread prudently, voice gentle: "Yes, Doll?"

"Did you think of me? When you were...wherever you were, did you think of me?" she asked calmly, tone sounding nearly hopeful, features hidden from him as she kept the same position.

Dark brown eyes softened genuinely at that, holding an atypical warmth to them: "Always."

"Not me," she lied aloud without regret, cold-heartedly pouring every single ounce of her hurt tightly mingled with hatred into her words filled with make-believe, with every intent to burn "I had forgotten all about you, hadn't you decided to show up and fuckin' ruin my day."

Though Aizen did indeed feel the stab she was attempting to administer, she didn't turn to check, swiftly walking off instead, with her high heels clicking loudly as she went, her long hair swaying as she moved. Reaching the door, she pried it open before then pausing in her movements. Another vicious idea had sprung into her out of control mind. And it was perfect.

"Oh, and one more thing," she uttered with sickening sugariness as she turned sideways slow, baring her face but still not looking at him, revealing to the other a rather cruel look, a thin mean smile to her lips "Tsukiyomi-sama came over once or twice - maybe more, not that sure - during your long absence. Just let nasty thoughts imagine the worst, ok, love?"

Aware that riling him was a strategy amidst many she had at her disposal as she carried out her personal vendetta on him, Aizen knew that she'd try and anger him in some way, in any way, and, knowing what would surely follow should he fall into her ploy, he had attempted to restrain himself as much as possible during their entire faceoff, despite all she had made him endure. But it all came crashing down with the deliberate mention of that name.

Dark brown eyes narrowing with a sudden violent anger, his jaw tightened menacingly but Aizen didn't utter a word, nor did he move, as she marched straight out the room, slamming the door behind her without a single glance back.

After a rather long moment of dead silence, the immortal then exhaled long and deep through his nose as he closed his eyes and placed a shaking hand over them, desperately attempting to repress the raising sense of rage she had now loaded up within him, to no avail. Too much exposure to her left him infected, contaminated by her anger. Doll always, always, eventually in time, managed to ruin him, entirely, and yet, he could not pull away no matter what he did. And neither could she.

But their problem was that neither of the two were honest about this chaotic relationship they had: after a certain incident which befell long ago, quite some time after the two had come to terms with their many differences and had actually gotten closer, she had ended up closing herself to him and began fiercely denying that she harboured anything for him given that she could lie, and as he couldn't lie, he never, never, worded what he genuinely felt towards her. He himself not grasping it, given its contradiction with his origins. He was a being incapable of love, and despite that, he was painfully aware that he could not exist without her. With that reality, he assumed that whatever that he felt was perhaps akin to love, albeit very close to it.

But all that aside, the undisputable truth was this: It was a curse to desire the one and only person, you know you should not have. Particularly when you know that they will do anything in their capacity to never surrender their heart. And here, he wasn't implying it coming solely from her end (2).

Letting out a deep erratic breath, Aizen moved sharply, attempting to quell his thoughts as he'd have company soon, and being angry wouldn't be a good thing. For them mostly that is.

Walking to centre of the room, he bent down to pick up the velvet box from before that Doll had tactlessly left behind her, when he abruptly halted in his movements, lips parting slightly.

Before he had any real time to ponder further, his attention all of a sudden shifted when a soft knock touched the door, leading him to make his way back to his desk, voice composed, swiftly coercing himself back into character: "Come in, boys."

The door promptly opened upon his permission, revealing the dominatrix blonde from before, accompanied by two other young men, mainly similar in build, one with smooth toffee skin, short slightly unkempt black hair with pointed bangs here and there, pale blue eyes, features poised, and the other with slightly pale skin, several piercings upon his ears, bright red hair styled into an outrageous Mohawk, bright amber eyes, features painted with waywardness.

While they all mainly exuded apathy, smugness, vanity, mercilessness and depravity - within different levels according to each one of their personalities - the three young men made their way in, eyeing Aizen deferentially, the only one they were entirely ready to heed to his every command, his every whim, willing to let him completely lord over them. With no one else having the right to.

Bowing their heads towards him with graceful gestures, pretty wicked smiles to their lips, eyes dancing with malevolent mirth and malice, they respectfully enquired in chorus: "You called, Suzuki-sama?"

"Indeed I did. Well then, my precious Twilights, there's something I'd like you to do for me," smirked the child of chaos, darkly reflecting the danger the others were willing to embrace, all while setting upon the desk the once full box empty and bare, the necklace nowhere near it...

000000000000000000000000000000000000

A faintly warm breeze brushed against Ichigo's cheeks, but it didn't do anything to dispel the cold sensation that had gripped at him, a sweat breaking upon his brow, his brown eyes wide.

After fully leaving Karakura and entering the mostly bleak, boding evil place with a post-apocalyptic air known as Karigura, Ulquiorra had dutifully lugged the Shinigami Substitute, the former Arrancar and the Kuchiki noble over to the place he had been assigned to bring them to. And they were now standing right in front of it, silent and contemplative, brown and silver grey eyes tense, both scanning the reached location.

Overall, it was a nice-ish sort of place upon first glance, a cosmic contrast to what surrounded it, but the longer they looked at it, the more they found themselves utterly unable to look away. Except that it was not out of awe, but rather out of dread instead, for there seemed to be a subtle and soft caveat of a whisper uttering: 'Turn around and back away. Get in, and you'll never leave.'

Beyond the black railings majestically guarding the vast green grounds within it, stood a large white manor of imposing stature, with black terracotta roofs and big dark opaque windows. Aside from the main road within that led right to the manor itself, multiple rock-strewn paths cut through the green spaces, heading beyond a fair number of tall trees and evenly cut hedges of white, red and artificial blue rosebushes, hiding whatever was in these eerie, thinly fog-veiled grounds.

It was all immaculate and exuded pristine perfection, and the noble really didn't know why but it felt as if the whole place was practically screaming out the name Aizen. Pretty loudly.

Point in fact, the dead give-away to that notion was that this manor held a certain resemblance to the fortress the immortal owned in Las Noches, only more modernized yet still as eccentric.

But, that wasn't what unsettled the teen the most. What bothered him, apart from the intense feel of a sinister atmosphere seeping throughout the grounds, was the name written in bold black letters upon the golden plate fastened onto one of the pillars adjoined to the entry gates.

Roughly around two to three years ago, back when young Ichigo was out grudgingly fighting in the streets, Karigura was a neighbouring town well known amongst thugs and street rats, the haven of sin, according to those who'd whisper about it, where only a few went - whether willingly or not - and even fewer returned, unless one unfortunately lived there to begin with.

And of all the places within it, there was one in particular which some would cower upon the mere the mention of it. Whereas others would use it as a threat, the latter fuelled with all the ominous rumours revolving around that given location.

'Heh. I'd watch out if I were you,' they would say, sneering, eyes sinister, aiming this warning at those who were either too spirited, too good-looking or simply too shifty 'One day, if you're not careful, you might just get swallowed whole by...'

"Débauche," he whispered inaudibly, the chill still within him growing even colder, obdurate.

Discretely staring until now at Grimmjow whose expression was completely indecipherable, Byakuya's focus shifted towards the young orange-haired beside him, having caught his quiet voice but not on to his words: "What did you say, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Not expected to be heard and not knowing how to elaborate on what he knew and really hoped to be mistaken about, the teen shook his head, eyes lowered: "I didn't say anything."

Both the noble and the feline eyed Ichigo in silence, sensing his tension, but understandingly not pushing the subject further. Not that they could have if they wanted to, for the dark-haired Espada moved again, clearly aiming to get this over with.

The four slid in, not bothering to make use of the entrance since they were capable of phasing through - besides, the place was creepy enough hence no need to add ghostly-like activities to the nearby human eye - and progressively made their way to the manor erected proudly in the middle of the grounds, before halting at the entryway.

No sooner had they set foot upon the last stair of the doorstep, the entrance opened promptly, as if reacting in response to their presence, and Ichigo and the other two instantly stiffened upon seeing who it was that came to greet them upon the front porch, unable to confuse her with someone else despite the fact that her attire was very unlike what they have already seen.

Clothed in a sparkling blue tight-fitted and revealing gown, blood lips, her long hair loose, with her mismatched eyes, of the same colour but of a dissimilar shade, there was no mistake.

"So you have made it," stated Manter smoothly, her entire demeanour gleaming with conceit and contempt as she looked down on them, her long black nails clicking against each other "I would welcome you, but given that you are not here as guests, I hardly deem that necessary."

Dismissing the instant agitation and loathing flashing in their eyes, unnaturally mismatched blue eyes flew to meet dark emerald ones: "Thank you for your assistance, Schiffer-sama."

Bowing his head to her, the Cuatro Espada spoke reverently: "My greetings to Aizen-sama."

As the witch nodded with a smile and Ulquiorra began walking away, Ichigo frowned, brown eyes following the other as he went: "You're leaving?"

"I have nothing to do here."

His impassively said words, though simple and straight, stung further than they should have.

They brought back to mind what was assuredly in store for the three of them from now on, and it only served to bring down Ichigo more, recoiling as though he had been hit before he lowered his eyes, expression dimming: "O-Oh yeah. I guess not."

Seeing the other in such a state affected his atypical apathy further than it should have, for the dark-haired Espada found himself reaching out to the Shinigami Substitute, features softening as he gently touched his shoulder: "Though it may not be easy, take care, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Effortlessly disregarding the bewildered look the teenager was giving him, Ulquiorra then locked his eyes with Grimmjow who steadily held the former's gaze, an ambiguous message being wordlessly exchanged between them.

Whatever it was, the feline, seconds later, simply looked away and shrugged nonchalantly, but not without - as Manter sharply observed - nodding his head once in a subtle manner.

"Shall we?" intervened the witch with a smile, choosing to ignore for the moment whatever she had just been a witness to, her head tilted towards whatever it was that lay awaiting them.

As they trio reluctantly followed Manter inside the manor, none of them saw that, rather than opening a Garganta to go back to the Hueco Mundo, Ulquiorra sonido-ed away, heading for Karakura instead...

Inside, it was easy to point out that the interior was just as spick and span as the exterior was.

Appearing even grander and larger than from the outside, entering the manor left one standing straight within a vast hall of cream coloured walls, the windows framed by silver silk curtains.

The decorations weren't much or many, but they were quite noteworthy: a couple of sinister paintings upon the walls, utterly uncanny for they held no meaning, black uneven stains upon a vivid, white background, each image of the same theme but of a different fashion; a few porcelain vases, holding roses from the outside gardens, were upon Greek-styled tables, each on the sides of two of the great hall's other openings, one on the very left and the other on the very right, which both led to long, candlelit corridors, and after that, up the facing wall, a set of two staircases - with black banisters and column-like railings - leading up to yet another opening with never-ending corridor.

From the grey patterned ceiling hung down a large crystal chandelier, shining bright, and the squeaky clean floor was marked out by polished black and white checkerboard tiles, with a slight glass-like effect to it, allowing one to distinguish their reflection quite clearly enough.

To Ichigo, as he looked around tensely, agitatedly, restlessly, the manor's whole atmosphere was unsettling, for it felt very unfriendly, giving off rather uninviting and unwelcoming vibes.

It was that feeling one gets when setting foot in a place for the very first time and they just know that there's something off, something very wrong with the place, only they have no idea what it is nor can they explain it? That was precisely what he was going through, and it was even worse than the one he had experienced upon realizing the name held by this manor.

While Grimmjow looked pretty bored, near uninterested, and Byakuya seemed disconcerted as he stared around in muted silence, the witch was looking left and right as if searching for someone, frowning when she didn't locate that person, the foyer predominantly vacant.

"Where is Aizen-sama?" she voiced aloud to herself, an eyebrow raised questioningly "He should be here already. I sent for him awhile ago."

"I wouldn't quite count on it, unfortunately," a soft voice uttered, drawing their attention to a young girl with blue hair and gentle amber eyes cast downwards, clearly afraid of the witch as she cowered where she was, in her corner at the receptionist's desk, on the far left of the hall.

"I heard he was with Doll, my lady," she carried on, voice even quieter now that she had their focus all upon her "If that's really the case, he wouldn't want to see anyone for a while, as per usual. She tends to leave him a little out of it."

She paused as her amber eyes flitted behind the group, to corridor on the right: "That and he should be seeing the Twilights soon, my lady."

True to the girl's word, Manter looked behind just in time to glimpse the Twilights walk down that very corridor, while sensing Aizen's presence in his quarters, Doll still there with him...

"Yes, I see. Let's give him a little time to cool down then," she conceded quietly, before she then smirked knowingly "The Twilights should be more than able to accomplish that," her mismatched eyes then flitted over to the amber-eyed receptionist "Well, since you are here, would you be a good girl and take care of them instead?"

The girl instantly nodded, standing up, rounding the desk and then bowing formally: "I will, my lady."

"Excellent. I'll leave it to you then," the witch smiled widely before she glanced at the trio, her cruel eyes locking specifically with Byakuya's and Grimmjow's as she stated ominously "I know what is upon your minds. You plan on finding a way out as soon as you can. Make no mistake. Not only are you wagering upon the safety of your loved ones, but initially you utterly ceased to be the day you lost the war to Aizen-sama on the battlefield, and you are now but bodies at his disposal. And you will be nothing else. There is no getaway for you. Be grateful that you have been given a purpose worthy of your pathetic, insignificant existence."

Dark grey eyes narrowed at her words, translating a resentment they were hesitant to utter. Grimmjow, however, had no such problem conveying it, using embittered sarcasm rather than exploding out in a fit of darkened rage: "Really trying to feel the fuckin' gratitude here..." he paused for effect with a pondering look before sneering "Nah, I've got nothing."

"Uproarious," Manter grinned, not at all offended, before she sauntered off, flicking the three males off with a graceful gesture of her hand "Walk on with Leona-sama. I entrust you to her care, but I should warn you against trying anything. It will not be to your benefit."

As the witch went down the corridor on the right, the young girl gestured for the three males to follow her up one of the staircases, which they did, not really seeing another alternative.

After a moment of silence, she looked at them curiously from over her shoulder, addressing them tentatively: "You...seem friendly enough."

"Do we?" sneered the former Arrancar mockingly with a feral expression, bringing his fierce side out blatantly as he leaned into her space, but the girl didn't even flinch, not deterred a bit.

"Better than most," she admitted genuinely taking the feline aback by her lack of trepidation, before she bit her lip apologetically "I'd welcome you, but..."

"Please, don't," breathed out Byakuya in a strained whisper as he closed his eyes, shuddering subtly while the others stayed quiet as they walked on within the seemingly endless corridor.

Given what had been planned for the three of them, despite the child of chaos not yet stating it explicitly, with all the hints that had been spoken. No need to be constantly reminded...

"I'm Leona," she said softly with a small smile, introducing herself in an attempt to change the subject as she clearly saw their depression and distress "And you?"

"Kurosaki I-" began the teenager automatically, but didn't finish when he saw the girl panic.

"No, no," she voiced quickly, swiftly reaching out to set her fingers hovering over the orange-haired teen's lips, not touching but with the intent on halting "Don't give me your real name."

"Why not?" asked the Shinigami Substitute in confusion and slight curiosity - which was equally shared with the Kuchiki noble - while Leona let her hand drop back to her side.

"We don't- We don't get to use our actual names here," said the amber-eyed girl, eyes wide, head tilted for she was surprised by their unawareness "Didn't Suzuki-sama...tag you yet?"

"Suzuki-sama?" echoed the noble incredulously, the name odd to him whereas Grimmjow just rolled his eyes, and no one noticed Ichigo paling in complete horror as Byakuya asked on "Tag us?"

"Getting an appellation," she replied, distractedly touching the bracelet upon her wrist, oddly similar to theirs, only hers had her 'name' engraved into it, spelling 'Le-o-na' in Romanji.

Byakuya immediately frowned with distaste: "Wouldn't that appellation be more suitable for animals instead? Or maybe even objects?"

Blinking with a blank expression, she then glanced elsewhere as she answered heavily: "Let's just say, given the fact that we've been...reduced to less than human beings... Well..."

She didn't dare continue, and she quite frankly didn't need to: what was left unsaid, was clear.

"Ah," uttered the noble slowly, frankly not knowing what else to say, or think for that matter.

"Yeah," she smiled uneasily, before peaking at them beneath her long eyelashes "So...No way to call you then?"

For a beat, she was met with silence, until the former Arrancar spoke up, tone of voice distant: "Last time I was here, I was given one, and I'm guessing that it won't fuckin' change."

"You've been here before?" she asked with a tilt of her head, seeming genuinely surprised as she stared intently at the feline's face, as if trying to recognize him "We've never met, no?"

"I wasn't fuckin' flaunted," revealed Grimmjow stiffly, speaking charades that went beyond the noble and the teen's grasp, yet neither inquired on the feline's words, not quite having the strength to be that curious anyway.

Amber eyes widened, as first in surprise then in understanding, before she was quick to lower them considerately: "I see."

Leona was about to add something else but she abruptly cut herself off when an unannounced figure, a blur of black and red, came of absolutely nowhere and collided straight with Ichigo's back, which sent the unidentified person crashing to the floor in a messy, graceless heap.

"I'm sorry!" gasped out the teenager apologetically as he glanced over his shoulder and then rushed to help, holding out his hand "Are you alright?"

The person, a young girl, hardly older than Leona, with bright magenta hair in pigtails, barely registered the outstretched hand, eyes scrunched closed. Getting up to her feet on her own, she rubbed the back of head, wincing a little, before she spoke up calmly, her tone childlike, but also chillingly void: "Why are you apologizing? That should be my line. I'm the one who bumped into y-"

As she slowly opened her eyes to apologize head on, the magenta-haired girl suddenly froze, locking wide eyes on the Shinigami Substitute, her jaw dropping, disbelief all over her face: "K-Koshiba?!"

"Huh?" was all the confounded teen could utter, honestly having no idea what this girl was saying, everyone else just as confused.

Rendered mute by shock, she could only stare, half-amazed, half-aghast. And then, on sudden impulse, she slowly, carefully reached out, fingers splayed, as though she wished to make sure that the boy in front of her was real, and not a mere illusion.

The former Arrancar watched the girl with extreme awareness. Though appearing harmless, there was something about her that was rather...deadly, undeniably dangerous.

Even Ichigo apparently shared a similar opinion, for he pulled back a step as her hand drew closer, strongly wary of her, but not knowing why.

Witnessing the teenager's distress seemed to wake her up, for she quickly retrieved her hand, holding it to her chest, lowering her eyes as she started to walk away, muttering: "S-Sorry, I... I confused you with someone else," her magenta eyes briefly met amber ones "Leona."

"Doll-dana(3)," replied the amber-eyed girl instantly, swiftly assuming the same deference she had demonstrated for Manter, bowing low as the other hastily passed her by, speed-walking down the hallway.

Sharing the same vigilance as his two companions, Byakuya stared on at the retreating figure vanishing out of sight as if she had never been there: "Who was that?"

The blue-haired girl bit her lip, while shaking her head in apology: "It isn't my place to tell. But it's best that you know this. She's very, very important here. I really can't say more."

Frowning with curiosity and slight confusion while the former Arrancar trudged after Leona who began moving again, the Kuchiki noble sighed at the many secrets that appeared adamant on prevailing around him. He too was about the follow, when he noticed that the young orange-haired hadn't moved at all, and one look at him was enough to make him worried.

"Jeagerjaques," called out the noble softly, urgently, gaining the feline's immediate attention, and he was quick to furrow his eyebrows in equal concern.

Ichigo was pale as a sheet, rigid where he stood, a deep frown marring his brow, eyes vacant.

"Are you ok, kid?" asked Leona worriedly, coming back on her steps and gently touching the teen's shoulder, which only served to startle him badly right out of whatever trance he was in.

"What?" he uttered, colours gradually merging back with his features though he still stayed visibly shaken "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't fuckin' look it," stressed out Grimmjow as he eyed the teen with full scepticism.

"I'm fine, guys," insisted the Shinigami Substitute with clenched teeth while scowling deep, quick to wave off the others' concern.

Though the noble and feline were being spot on, as Ichigo was everything but. Ever since he had set foot Karigura, he had felt on edge, but now, he was downright unwell, as if he was sick. And this was something on a very different wavelength than the one his predicament as Aizen's captive constantly drew from him. It had somehow grown further intense and even worse barely seconds ago. And his tense and overwrought mind couldn't determine the cause.

Wordlessly considering the orange-haired boy for a moment, Leona then pointed to one of the many doors in the corridor, speaking up gently: "We'll stop here first. You'll find me waiting for you when you've finished."

They absentmindedly nodded to her, before mechanically going over to make their way in, before instantly halting in their steps right after crossing the entrance, their eyes going wide.

"Why are you here?" exclaimed Ichigo, his tone near accusing as he pointed a finger at the man - creature? - waiting casually inside with crossed arms, folded over his white-clad frame.

In a sparkling clean, yet dim-lit place, that looked very much like a hospital room straight out from a horror movie, Szayel Apporo Grantz stood in the centre, golden eyes glittering.

"I'm here because Aizen-sama wanted me here," he informed lightly, a wide amused smile to his lips "Don't worry. Once I'm done, I'll be out of your hair."

The Shinigami Substitute scowled even deeper, even less at ease than before. So much for things eventually getting better at some point.

Not only had he had to deal with him when he held captive back in the Soul Society(4), Ichigo had also heard of this guy from Renji - no other Espada had pink hair - and according to him, he was bad news, a fact solidly supported by the Quincy. Even Grimmjow currently seemed to be eying the Octavo with a lethal level of animosity. So that was really saying something.

Smirking at their faces, Szayel then began to speak animatedly, overflowing with eccentric enthusiasm: "Anyways, I was given an incredibly ingenious and insidious invention lately, which I'm to try out on you. And I'm quite eager about it I might add."

Finishing his words with a dramatic flourish had the three males sweat dropping, with Ichigo commenting under his breath: "That's not very reassuring to hear."

Giddily making his way to a corner whilst making sure that he was being watched, the mad Espada scientist took hold of a single large white sheet covering multiple masses of something set upon examination stands, and then pulled it off with a single tug: "Take a look at these."

Expecting the worst, Ichigo and the other two were stock still, until they set eyes on what was hidden beneath, not sure what they were looking at, and yet, they did have a slim hunch.

"Are those...Gigai?" asked Byakuya uncertainly as he stared at the bodies just lying there, inert, faceless, formless, lifeless.

"Not exactly, but good eye," remarked the Octavo with a nod, languidly tracing one of the bodies' empty face "Inspired by them, these are more advanced versions, more... Let's say 'precise', shall we? Given that, the transferral method is something that Aizen-sama masters, absolute accuracy can be the only result."

"Of course," snorted Grimmjow derisively, rolling of his eyes, which Szayel chose to ignore.

"Now then, if you don't mind, I'll have to examine the state of your souls," stated the Octavo excitedly, a sick, broad smile to his lips as he reached out for the three before him, fingers wriggling around eagerly like two white spiders heading for their prey, leading both Ichigo and Byakuya to take a cautionary step back at the disturbing sight.

"I mind," gritted out the feline dangerously, whilst swiftly smacking away the other's hands, blue eyes narrowing in warning "Don't fuckin' touch me, Szayel."

"Grimmjow, Grimmjow, don't be like that," cooed the pink-haired Espada with a sickly sweet tone, which made the other occupants in the room cringe "The sooner I finish, the quicker it'll be over. It's not like you're unconscious and all by yourself, alone with me, aren't you?"

As he giggled scathingly, the feline stayed silent as he turned an unhealthy shade, somewhere between pale green and blue, likely out of some kind of revulsion, leading the Shinigami Substitute to inquire gently, concerned and somewhat curious: "What is he talking about?"

"Fuckin' psycho over here had a bad habit of experimenting on everyone back when I was an Espada. When we were out cold and in his lab - normally there for HEALING - he'd fuckin' take full advantage of that. We'd fuckin' wake up and find ourselves with missing or replaced organs, filled with microscopic bombs, bloody cameras and I-don't-know-what-the-shit-else," ranted the feline heatedly, before he then pointed accusingly at his own face, aiming for the beautiful panther-like markings underneath his eyes "I forgot to add fuckin' insane physical alterations. These were never my fuckin' doing."

"Really?" uttered Ichigo, taken aback as he stared at them, before he complimented candidly "They suit you. Can't imagine you without them actually."

Not expecting for what he deemed scars to be appreciated, it took a moment for the former Arrancar to answer, fairly stunned and barely able to cover it: "Tch. Whatever."

"Oh, yes! It's all coming back to me," exclaimed Szayel after feigning to have forgotten until now, before he sighed dreamily "Good times."

Blue eyes narrowed severely, filled with undisguised loathing: "Fuckin' sick son of a bitch."

"That's...invasive," uttered the orange-haired teen with a shudder, before he hurriedly recoiled when the pink-haired Espada leaned into his personal space, grinning.

"I'm all about invasion. You should see my Gabriel Renaissance technique (5)."

Somehow, the teenager had a strong inkling that accepting was most likely the worst option: "Uh, no, thank you."

"Your loss," shrugged Szayel easily, before he rubbed his hands together, eyes glinting "So, boys...shall we get this over with?"

Reluctantly, they allowed the Espada to look them over one by one, getting in close to check their vitals and reiatsu fluctuations, the latter still restricted by the bracelets on their wrists(6).

The mad scientist prodded on invasively with attentiveness, brow furrowed in concentration as he considered them thoroughly, critically in detail. He then nodded - apparently to himself - before he then eagerly orientated them towards the corpses with the semblance of a gigai.

Again, they found themselves following his directives along with extreme disinclination, but they did not refuse, not really having an actual choice in the matter anyway, with the scary witch's earlier words of warning keeping them mostly in check.

However, when Szayel happily announced that he was going to merge them with these things, Grimmjow remained put where he stood while Byakuya and Ichigo pulled away with disgust.

No way.

"Come on!" urged the Espada insistently, before sighing when none of the three would budge "And here we were getting on so nicely. Look, it's not that bad - not like I would really know, never had to do it. Don't you rather get this over with, hm? Besides, you wouldn't want any inane defiance to have repercussions, do you?"

Though he spoke with false gentleness, the last sentence was quite clearly a laden threat: 'let's do this now, or else I'll go see Aizen-sama about your disobedience'.

The teenager scowled in silent fury but surrendered swiftly, moving over along with the feline, whereas the noble, infuriated, hesitated a little longer, only to eventually follow suit.

"Not a fuckin' word," warned the former Arrancar viciously, cutting off whatever it was that the pink-haired Octavo had been about to snidely say, a sinister smirk to his lips.

Pouting faintly, Szayel quickly brushed it off in favour of clearing up what they were to do next. And it was quite simple in fact, if not absolutely repulsive in Byakuya's opinion and downright disturbing from Ichigo's point of view. All the three captives had to do, was to lie down on top of the 'bodies', and given their own presently intangible forms, they'd phase straight through. The corpses would then do all the rest, confining them inside after fusion...

The process was, fortunately enough, not painful, yet it stayed quite unpleasant and was not something they'd ever want to do again.

Being in a momentary state of inertia and darkness right after they phased into the 'bodies', the latter, during the merge, shifted and efficiently adapted to the soul they now contained, the features slowly marking themselves along the faceless craniums, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair all flowing out, appropriate colours and shapes forming at a steady pace. Even the accessories and clothes they wore as souls had manifested - an extreme relief to two out of the three.

Grimmjow and Byakuya both gradually, cautiously sat up, testing out their new shells with minor movements, flexing their fingers and steadily raising to their feet, before frowning. Overall, they felt fine, no different than when they were souls. But, there was something odd.

In awe before what had just transpired, the Octavo stared at them in wonder and parted his lips to speak vivaciously when a sudden clatter of metal and a crash of glass resounded aloud.

They all turned to see Ichigo standing but doubled over, a hand gripping tightly for support at a nearby emptied table - its contents now broken on the floor - the other hand clutching at his head, his breathing ragged, his features holding only pain.

Grimmjow anxiously called out to him, but he was not acknowledged, nor heard, as a loud strident, shrill noise was rendering the teen deaf to his surroundings, his eyes clenched closed.

However vague the unnerving sensations the Shinigami Substitute had been overcome with ever since setting foot here, they were nothing compared to how severe they felt now. He was completely overwhelmed by them.

Vivid yet unclear images brutally flared up all of a sudden straight within the teenager's mind, words echoing eerily in a constant loop the whole while, but Ichigo couldn't make them out, too in pain for the next following seconds to focus.

A person letting out chilling screams of fear as their whole body was up in flames, ablaze.

Wild golden eyes encircled by black accompanied by a slasher grin, screeching high hazard.

A man without a face under a thick curtain of darkness, his long claw-like fingers reaching out, bent on drawing out the most dreadful and painful of terrors from those he would touch.

Grey eyes holding nothing but suffering slowly fading to dark and apathetic, cruel, dangerous.

Lips parting slow to let out a silent scream of blistering agony, terrifyingly uncontrolled - with everything shattering to pieces and burning to ashes - as it all swirled around, like a violent, unforgiving sandstorm of fire and crimson lightning and so, so much red.

It was so intense, so vivid that it drew a rather loud gasp from him as he swayed and almost toppled over, had it not been for the feline reacting quickly and catching him before he fell.

Sweating and shivering with an unhealthy pale glow to his skin, Ichigo stuttered out softly, teeth clattering: "I-I d-don't feel...well."

Without hesitation, the former Arrancar swiftly shifted his focus onto the Octavo, promising the latter, under the guise of his deadliest glare, sheer agony if Szayel was somehow liable.

Slightly shaken at first by the look in Grimmjow's eyes, the pink-haired Espada then casually made his way over to the Shinigami Substitute, daintily checking the latter over with an air of deep puzzlement to his features: "Odd. The transfer has no side effects. I wonder... Maybe it's because, originally, you aren't yet dead and you still have a body to call your own. Or not... Perhaps there's another reason. Either way, this is very interesting."

Not yet quite recovered but still aware enough to register the other's elated expression, the teen sent the Octavo a menacing scowl: "Like hell I'm letting you turn me into a guinea pig."

"Oh?" uttered the pink-haired Espada, feigning astonishment whilst the feline smirked, before Szayel sighed in dramatic disappointment "Shame."

Chasing the mad scientist off a low snarl and watching him retreat with a roll of his golden eyes, the blue-haired feline then focused fully on the orange-haired: "You ok?"

"A little," nodded the Shinigami Substitute slightly as he leaned comfortably in Grimmjow's hold, grimacing at the strange sensation that had yet to subside "That was so weird though."

"So? How do you all feel?" asked the Espada expectantly, excitement gnawing at him as he studied them closely, while the feline helped the teenager to his feet, the noble staying put but regarding the youngest amidst them with mild concern.

Flexing his arms and cracking his neck a little, Grimmjow then shrugged: "Nothing at all."

It was true. Apart from Ichigo's temporary wave of unease, the three felt totally normal, as if they were still spirits and not wearing a second skin. In fact, they felt exactly the same, except for one little thing, which they were incapable of distinguishing, but it was definitely there.

"For now you do," declared the Espada mysteriously, eyes glowing with devious malice "I'd tell you of the special traits these darlings have, but I wouldn't want to spoil anything. I'll leave all the fun to Aizen-sama."

As the teen shuddered and the noble glared, the feline narrowed his eyes as he hissed irately: "How fuckin' considerate of you."

"As I always am," smiled Szayel eccentrically as he swayed over to the door, about to gesture for them to take their leave before abruptly pausing, a rather nasty sneer appearing "One thing I can tell you though. You - your souls - are now trapped in these new bodies of yours. And there's no getting out of them. Even if you are to die."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Ichigo, Grimmjow and Byakuya were on the move once more, but very different than before, at least in a physical sense. Not only were they currently clad in getups they would have never worn under normal circumstances, but their new 'bodies' were also a very drastic change, the factor that had sensed to be different now one they were finally able to put their finger on.

Against their will, they found themselves more aware, more in tune with their surroundings, theirs senses sharper, far too sharp. They felt as though they were now fully hypersensitive and overly responsive to everything that passed them by, especially via their sense of touch.

Speaking of which, after leaving the Octavo Espada, they'd been taken to yet another room, where they had been undressed, washed, redressed, groomed and prepped prior to now. And they had come to notice their current predicament exactly at the start of that very moment.

Though the two who had taken care of them - a pretty sweet mute girl called Millie and a rather aloof yet moody guy named Tora - had been rather swift and brief with their gestures, the trio had felt all too aware of their touch, the presence of it still lingering long after its absence. Even trying to let their minds wander was to no avail, the contact too ever-present to disconnect from.

The passable part about the whole process was that they had been quick and efficient. They hadn't let their hands or eyes wander, sticking to whatever procedure they were edified with.

Though Grimmjow didn't seem too troubled, Ichigo and Byakuya had been quite reluctant to let the two touch them liberally, the noble shying away every once in awhile in discomfort, while the teenager remained rather stiff with a stifling blush of embarrassment.

The touch of another. A feat they were forcefully attempting to get used to. Depending on the person, it wasn't that oppressive, but it was definitely invasive, this imposing intimacy raiding their privacy...

"It's just around the corner now," notified Leona softly as she pointed ahead, mostly startling Ichigo from his thoughts, and leading him to notice that, after tracing their way back down the staircase, they were now walking along the corridor located on the right, the one witch Manter had taken earlier.

"What is?" inquired Byakuya, as he subtly mapped out his surroundings for future reference.

"Suzuki-sama's quarters, which is best not to enter without permis-" she halted midsentence, her breath hitching as her eyes widened in unreserved dread, having taken the corner before the trio and instantly freezing as she stared at whatever stood ahead of her "Oh dear..."

"What's wrong, Leona?" asked the teenager with a frown, sharing a similar expression with the feline and the noble, the young girl's reaction warranting enough reason to be concerned.

It took a moment for her to realize that she had been addressed, and, when she did, she turned to them with a tense expression, her teeth worrying her lower lip: "Ah. Uh...I don't know if you'll be willing to take advice, but, if I were you, I'd really try not getting on their bad side."

Reaching where she was and glancing over to where she had discreetly gestured with a gentle tilt of her head, Ichigo and the other two saw, at the far end after the corner, standing in front of a half-closed door, was their dear captor - owner - dressed in the most human way possible, a broad, sly smirk to lips as he softly chatted away with three young men, their backs to them.

Although the child of chaos appeared to be too engaged within the conversation to allow his attention to wander elsewhere, he had actually picked up on the troupe's presence for awhile now, briefly locking eyes with the girl guiding the trio and nodding at her curtly, a permissive gesture which set her, Ichigo, Grimmjow and Byakuya in motion once more.

"As in?" inquired the Kuchiki, seeking clarification to the amber-eyed girl's previous advice.

"Not all of us are...'welcoming', for lack of a better term," she whispered cautiously, quietly, as though afraid her words might be overheard as they steadily drew closer "Especially them. They're known here as the Twilights. Avoid confronting them if you can... Point in fact, if possible, just avoid them all together."

"They don't look that much of a fuckin' threat," remarked the feline as he regarded them idly.

"Never let looks fool you," warned Leona with a weary sigh, expression slightly dimmer as she said those words, her words of caution managing to make the trio faintly more wary.

Just who the hell were these three guys? Certainly no one more threatening than Aizen...right?

"So you're finally here," voiced Aizen, finally locking his dark, ruthless eyes on his captives with a dangerously smooth smile as they stiffly made their way towards him "Welcome."

On cue and in tandem, the three young males beside the child of chaos turned slowly, with grandeur and grace, before staring down at them with supercilious haughtiness.

As soon as their eyes crossed paths, Ichigo, Grimmmjow and Byakuya were set on immediate edge, not because they were in intimidated about these three given individuals dubbed as the Twilights, but because there was something fairly intimidating about them, something near inhuman. Correction. Rather inhumane.

That, and with the contempt and conceit, the malice and malign intent, both the menacing lust and loathing, all etched within their otherwise pretty faces, it was safe to say that the trio of captives were entitled to feel uneasy under the Twilights' intense stares.

Ichigo and the other two barely had the time to consider the immortal further as the three males clad in black robbed all their attention, scoffing aloud, in unrestrained derision, while smirking unkindly and narrowing their eyes spitefully at their master's captives. And then, taking slow measured, cat-like steps, they circled them, like predators would do to a prey, while Leona hastily took a step back, moving out of their way, not wanting to get involved.

Gauging them thoroughly, critically, from head to toe, from front to back, the three continued to move wordlessly, silently, around them, between them, causing a very tense and stifling atmosphere in the air, heightening both the teenager's and the noble's already agitated nerves, whereas the feline glared steadily, all three of them solidly holding their ground, while Aizen merely watched on in sheer and utter amusement.

Byakuya was quick to frown in displeasure as one of them - the one with short black hair - delicately wrapped a lock of the shinigami's hair around his gloved fingers before giving it a light tug, which prompted the noble to break from the other's touch, by shaking his hair free with a curt gesture.

And then, right after that, Byakuya found himself jumping out of his skin when another one - this time the one with a Mohawk - brushed the back of his gloved hand down the captain's exposed back, before he pulled away with a snicker when the noble sent him a deadly glare.

It was rather noteworthy to point out that none of Twilights however dared to touch either Grimmjow or Ichigo, getting really, really close but staying clear from coming in any contact with them, a fact barely paid mind to, the trio too under pressure to notice.

Circling back to the Kuchiki with cat-like grace, the young male with long, pale blonde hair - held up in ponytail - leaned into Byakuya's personal space, towering over him a little, staring down at him with scorn and an edge of spite, studying the shinigami captain's stoic features in detail, before tilting his head slightly and biting his lower lip, voice velvety: "Such a lovely face. It makes me wanna-" the blonde paused with purpose, expression conveying an air of desire, of want, before it shifted to vicious vehemence, violence "-bruise it black and blue."

Given all the lust the Twilights emanated and obviously represented, Byakuya had been under the distinct impression that he was about to be thrown a lewd comment. Not a violent threat.

Trying hard not to react but thrown off just the same, the Kuchiki noble quickly schooled his stunned features to an aloof expression, but the blonde had seen clearly the chink, which brought a smile to his lips, as he taunted viciously with a charming whisper, eyebrows arching challengingly as his slender, gloved fingers twitched at his side, as if itching to hit: "Should I give it a try?"

Byakuya had to resist a strong urge to take a step back from this young but taller man who simply seemed to yell blaringly danger. But the dark-haired shinigami controlled himself. He had somehow managed to stand his ground when confronting the immortal, and this human will be no different. Frowning faintly to himself, his thoughts paused for a second, a fleeting notion coming to mind. Were the Twilights even human to begin with?

"You'll have your fun later, dear," promised Aizen as he intervened, morbidly amused, and, once he had got the Twilights' undivided attention, he tilted his head "Now, off you three go."

Pouting slightly but in no way resisting, the blonde nodded compliantly, before then leaning in and placing a kiss on the immortal's mouth, gobsmacking the trio with the boldness of the act, not to mention that Aizen totally allowed it, wrapping his arm loosely around the blonde's waist.

Lingering there for a few seconds, the blonde then slowly pulled away with a flirtatious smile, which the child of chaos reacted to with a fleeting wink, before the latter's attention focused on Leona while the Twilights walked away, sneering as they passed by Ichigo and the others.

The amber-eyed girl's stance facing the immortal held in no way the same amount of fear as she had shown when addressing witch Manter or the magenta-haired girl. She was petrified where she stood, paler, meeker, her voice barely audible, a hint of whisper laced with fearful reverence: "Suzuki-sama."

"Thank you for your hard work. You may leave, Leona."

She didn't need to be told twice. Bowing mutely, the amber-eyed girl hastily complied, briefly eyeing the trio apologetically, before then walking off at a quick pace, not once looking back, even overtaking by far the Twilights' steady, unhurried steps.

Pulling his cold gaze from the two retreating parties, the child of chaos stepped aside and wordlessly gestured for the trio to get in, which they did only after a few seconds of hesitance.

Following as they edgily took in their surroundings, the child of chaos had yet to utter a word as he moved, gliding over to a large couch with assured steps, on which he then comfortably seated himself, leaning back and crossing his legs, head tilted in silent contemplation.

Nervously, Ichigo and the other two remained standing - having not been invited to sit - in the centre of the room, one which, quite sincerely, the immortal did not fit in. It was too...human.

Also, there was something different about Aizen, and it wasn't simply his humanized attire.

"Well, well, aren't you all pretty?" taunted the immortal suddenly, making a show of eyeing them from head to toe, studying each detail critically, purposely making them uncomfortable.

The child of chaos wasn't lying, for they had been dressed to look alluring, enticing, inviting, their attires rather revealing and quite tight against their skin, leaving little to imagination.

While the three of them wore the same tight-fitted navy jeans with matching knee-high leather dark grey boots, along with silver laces, they each had different tops.

Grimmjow had a black jacket with shiny silver studs around the cuffs - which halted over the forearms - on the lapels and on the shoulder pads. With no zip, it hung open, exposing his well-built, tanned chest. As for Ichigo, he wore a dark tank top with a grey fishnet-like ensemble underneath, all long sleeves and collar, the borders rimmed with thick black bands. And in Byakuya's case, he was wearing a sleeveless and backless silver glittered top, thinly attached by two threads - one around his neck, the other round his waist - a peek of his midriff and his hipbones entirely out in the open, to his upmost discomfort.

They were all wearing black gloves, and, other than that, they had no particular accessories, save for the silver bracelets still fastened securely to their - left - wrists, making their way also through the preceding phasing process.

Their hairstyles were kept the same as they had been. The former Arrancar's vivid blue hair was still wild, the Shinigami Substitute's orange spikes still unruly, and the Kuchiki's glossy black locks - of course, completely free of Kenseikan - cascaded loosely down his shoulders.

Delicate but daring make-up touched their features, particularly aloft, the teen, the feline and the noble respectively sporting rich golden, vibrant blue and silver grey eye shadow, which framed their narrowed, dimmed, angry eyes.

And if looks could kill, the captives would have definitely had the ground littered with dead bodies at their feet by now: they were utterly outraged, glaring in resilient silence, Grimmjow and Byakuya more so than Ichigo though, as the latter was far more distraught than angry.

And Aizen sharply picked up on it, looking towards the teenager with cold eyes which in no instance reflected the concern he voiced as he spoke: "Is something wrong, Ichigo?"

In all honesty, Ichigo was fairly naive, at times a little slow, but he was not stupid, far from it.

One: The Twilights' true nature was not lost on him. Their scanty, suggestive clothes were a dead giveaway, as well as their blatant and unabashed mischievous behaviour, despite it being unusually aggressive, violent.

Two: Given what the Twilights were, this place was not lost on him either. If individuals like those were in a place like this, merely an educated guess could pin it down, even though the appellation of the place said it all.

Three: If the Twilights were what they were and this place was what it was, then Aizen was...

It was a question of pure, basic mathematical logic, as simple as an easy 1 + 2 = 3 equation.

The Shinigami Substitute had hoped, was still hoping that he was wrong, dead wrong, despite everything around him proving to be the opposite. Now, with the truth screeching straight in his face, he was beyond himself with unconditional horror.

"You- You're Z-Zaine Suzuki," whispered the teenager tensely, his mouth dry as he managed to get the name out despite stumbling over his words, brown eyes wide with shock and dread, with the noble eyeing him in confusion whereas the feline stared at him, taken aback.

"Ho? So you've heard me," stated the child of chaos with honest surprise, before he raised an eyebrow inquisitively, his smirk now even wider "I'm rather curious as to know how."

"On the streets, a couple of years ago," replied Ichigo stiffly, mechanically, before shuddering with a deep, uneasy frown "And not in a good way."

"That I don't doubt," chuckled Aizen ominously before he tilted his head slightly "I suppose that there is even less for me to explain then, hm?"

Despite the increasing apprehension, soft brown narrowed a little further: "Unfortunately."

Dark brown eyes gleaming with predatory malevolence, the immortal's smile was terrifying: "Good."

Though his trepidation had a firm grip upon him, the Shinigami Substitute felt a sudden surge of incensed resentment invade him, Aizen's complacency entirely misplaced in his opinion.

Completely out of context, Byakuya furrowed his brow, shifting his attention to the teen as he whispered: "What are you on about?"

"Oh yes, how inconsiderate of me," stated the immortal with raised eyebrows, amusement all over his features as he glanced at the noble before gesturing towards the teen and the feline "You and Grimmjow might know, but Byakuya doesn't. Care to clarify for him?"

All colours drained from Ichigo's face just as promptly as the anger and anxiety evaporated, as he locked wide eyes upon Byakuya's perplexed expression.

At loss for what to say, for where to start, for how to speak of it, the orange-haired teenager glanced pleadingly in the feline's direction for help, who was swift to give it to him, although it came out curt, blunt and taut, his narrowed, hate-filled eyes fixed upon the child of chaos: "This place, called Débauche, hosts fuckin' patrons that come over to fuck the pro- the people working here called 'dolls', with Aizen as the owner of this fuckin' hellhole."

"How rude," smirked Aizen darkly, while the Kuchiki paled at the former Arrancar's words "This is a pleasure house of reasonable income, with adequate entertainment, as long as you provide it diligently."

Beyond himself with horror, the noble could clearly see where this was going and never in his life had he felt so humiliated, so horrified, and he had yet to be fully initiated to what was going to follow soon enough. Nothing he went through prior to now could ever compare to what he was feeling currently.

By now, Byakuya had figured that the immortal had readied for them something to diminish them in addition to their utter surrender and helplessness, but this, this... This was beyond cruel, beyond evil.

Putting their bodies to the entire disposal of others - of many, surely - merely to satisfy their whims and every desire? And to be paid for it? No amount of money in the world could wash away how this was unconditionally immoral, demeaning, unbecoming. And never had he ever thought Aizen capable of inflicting such tormenting affliction and suffering upon someone.

Then again, it wasn't if he knew the other well enough to know what he would or would not do. Still. How much more humiliated did he need them to be for him to be truly satisfied?

"What's Aizen's deal anyway? He's won, right?! What more must he do - must he take - for him to be satisfied?! If he ever is!" had exclaimed Ichigo vividly at some point(7), and though the noble had certain differences with the Shinigami Substitute, here, he could only agree.

"Sick, twisted, godless beast," seethed the shinigami captain, his tone clipped, fuming "It is not enough that you conquered and defeated us, took us away from our cherished ones, caged us in these bodies, now you want to exploit us?! In this wretched place you have the audacity to call a 'pleasure house'?! Haven't you done enough, Aizen Sosuke?!"

As the Kuchiki raged, the child of chaos had meanwhile reached for a glass of water set on the coffee table in front of him, but the faint but striking similarity a part of the noble's sentence had to Doll's, startled Aizen, the glass slipping straight out from his fingers.

'It isn't enough that you fuckin' caged me in this body - in this existence - now you want to fuckin' chain me?'

CRASH!

After some thought, Aizen had previously thought it best to be composed before interacting with his captives, and that's why he had called upon the Twilights' presence, in addition to having to speak to them. After a stressful ordeal with Doll, they had always been good at soothing his raging nerves down, not getting rid of them entirely but succeeding in bringing them down a fair notch.

And as the anger wasn't yet quite gone, it only came back forth tenfold, setting the immortal off dangerously, his dark eyes narrowing to a threatening degree, voice ice, all decorum gone: "In order for us to be on the same page, Byakuya, our roles are no longer and will no longer ever be what they once were. I am to be called Aizen-sama - or Suzuki-sama, take your pick - and addressed to with reverence. Forget yourself one more time, and I'll have Rukia's tongue cut off and shredded to pieces that you will swallow, should you not desire worse to befall her. Are we clear?"

The threat was brutal, so lacking of the refinement and manipulative stealth usually associated with the immortal, that it left the three of them stunned silent.

The teen was visibly intimidated and shocked into silence, and the noble was far too horrified and deeply perturbed by the contents of the threat to even convey a response. Though both had seen the child of chaos angry on two separate occasions - Byakuya upon interrogating Aizen in Muken, despite the ire being very brief, whereas Ichigo witnessed it upon defeating him with Urahara's aid, despite it merely being an act - they found themselves before a whole other level of rage.

Even to Grimmjow, the brown-haired man somehow appeared to be even deadlier than usual, and the former Arrancar, truth to be told, had immediately picked up on it as the three of them entered the room. The burning emotion emanating from the immortal in scorching waves was a stronger, more primal aspect of anger, an anger that was of the deceased Yammy's calibre, if not more.

Aizen was livid, seething, hopping mad, wrathful and seemingly ready to take it all out one anyone who so much annoyed or displeased him. It wasn't even fully hidden, just barely, very thinly, veiled, as if a mere error on their part would be valid enough to send the child of chaos exploding. And the most bizarre in all this, was that the child of chaos didn't even appear to be perturbed by the fact that the clean concealment around his emotions, usually kept at bay, had slipped, and that he was openly exposing this new side of him utterly unknown to them.

However, it was quite clear that none of them were the source, leading the feline to honestly wonder who had the guts and gall to put Aizen of all people in such a messed-up, hectic state.

"I have yet to hear you reply, Byakuya," said the child of chaos frigidly, his voice as always terribly calm, despite the deadly danger lurking beneath his cruel, cruel eyes.

Mind still reeling, the Kuchiki, quite aghast, lowered his eyes submissively, hurriedly putting Rukia's safety before anything: "Y-Yes, Aizen-sama. I- I set forth my deepest apologies."

"With that now cleared, I'll explain to you how your new corporal shells work," uttered the immortal, after a moment of staring down on the overwrought noble before then completely disregarding him in favour of focusing on the feline "Grimmjow. Bite Ichigo."

There was a rather heavily significant, lengthy pause as Aizen's given order slowly hit home.

At the former Arrancar's hesitance given the Shinigami Substitute's sudden stiffness, the child of chaos slowly arched an elegant brown eyebrow: "Would you rather I did it?"

Clenching his jaw as to grind down any uprising insults, Grimmjow cast a fleeting glance to the teen's wide, apprehensive eyes before slowly, carefully touching Ichigo's arm and, taking hold of the tense limb but meeting no resistance, he then raised it to his mouth, lips parted, teeth bared.

"His wrist? Really? What kind of bite would that be?" scoffed Aizen deridingly, his smirk twisting into a nasty sneer, tone imposing "His neck, Grimmjow. Now. I don't have all day."

As the former Arrancar growled low in his throat, the immortal steadily held the other's gaze, returning the incensed glare with a levelled look, as though daring the feline to defy his order.

Mentally committing a vivid and gruesome murder, the former Arrancar did as he was told, aiming for the teenager's neck, breathing against the other's shivering skin, before then biting carefully, lightly...and Ichigo screamed.

Agony. Sheer agony was what he felt, rather than the feline's teeth, as though something sharp and vivid had been hammered into him, like a set of sharp, long pins tearing, destroying his flesh, right till the bone.

Taken by absolute panic upon hearing the teen's cry of pain, Grimmjow hastily pulled away, alarmed and worried, his hands up in surrender, whereas Ichigo, wide blown eyes hastily checked his neck in a nearby hung mirror in order to see the extent of the damage, awaiting in horror to witness the worst.

Only, to his upmost astonishment, it was no more than an ordinary bite. No blood, not even any bruising, merely a faint trace of its existence marking his skin and in no way translating the throbbing pain he was still feeling, gradually receding at an excruciatingly slow pace.

As Byakuya watched on, unable to comprehend and totally staggered for he had seen the feline act with extreme gentleness, and Grimmjow stayed stock still, Ichigo turned to face the immortal with wide flabbergasted eyes, knowing that only Aizen had the answer: "Wha-?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" smiled the child of chaos wickedly, darkly amused, before he gracefully gestured towards their bodies for emphasis "Within these shells, your sensory system is hugely heightened, notably when it comes to pain and/or pleasure."

Three faces blanched at the same time.

Oh horror.

"All the time-?"

"No, not at all the time," corrected Aizen, focusing on the horrified teen, before the immortal considered the perspective "Well, your sense of touch will be sharper - and that in general -however when or how one or the other will be amplified shall happen upon demand. And any change whatsoever can only be established with one of these."

Producing for them to see an object none amidst the three had noticed him holding until now, the trio found themselves staring at a rectangular object, with various buttons on it. And it looked very much like-

Jaw dropping in absolute horror, Ichigo felt as though he has heart had stopped, wilted, before falling straight down to the very bottom of the pit within his stomach. And he wasn't the only one to feel like that, given what they were looking at, quickly grasping that their predicament had yet again worsened.

A remote control. They... They were going to be controlled by remotes, which could increase - or decrease - the level of both pain and pleasure, and this, just with the touch of a button.

Sadistic amusement didn't even begin to define the dreadful glint within the immortal's dark, ruthless eyes, as he carried on speaking, smoothly as ever: "Besides, rest majorly reassured that not everyone has access to them."

As Grimmjow merely grit his teeth angrily for this particular 'option' didn't exist the last time he was here, both Byakuya and Ichigo were wondering how they were going to survive what was to follow, and the fact of simply thinking about it, made them want to collapse in despair.

And the immortal instantly picked up on that delectable sense of hopelessness, leading him to laugh darkly, all set to twist the knife even deeper: "Oh please. Acting like it's the end of the world, when you've seen nothing as of yet. Speaking of which, I've taken away your names from you. Here, no one goes by their real name. Not even me."

Surprise, surprise. Yet another harsh and nasty kick to the gut.

"Taken away our...names?"

"Yes, your names. It's called tagging," elaborated the child of chaos evenly as he stood up slow, using a word which brought to the trio's mind a prior conversation they had with Leona.

"I will not abide by this," seethed out the Kuchiki vehemently through clenched teeth, beyond horrified and humiliated "My name is and will be nothing else than-!"

An unpleasant burning - yet majorly painless - sensation abruptly erupted within the noble's throat, robbing him of his voice and rendering him unable to speak, causing Byakuya's hands to immediately fly up to his neck, wondering what on earth was happening now.

"I told you, didn't I? I've taken away. Your names," said the child of chaos as he drew even closer, pausing for delicious dramatic effect, loving every bit of the Kuchiki's expression "They're no longer yours to use. Anyone else can call you by them, expect yourselves. But to be honest, I'd rather no one - whether it comes to the patrons or the dolls - know of them. Everyone's true identities here are personal. Better keep it that way."

Currently standing right in front of his horror-struck captives with a sly smirk to his lips, the immortal slowly held out his hand, his fingers splayed gracefully: "Your left hand, Byakuya."

Frowning warily, the noble initially wanted to refuse, but recalling the other's previous threat to his sister had him complying reluctantly, extending his hand to the child of chaos who in turn seized it firmly, carelessly tugging the shinigami captain flush against him.

Repulsed and unsettled, Byakuya heatedly attempted to pull away, but Aizen didn't let him, amusement to his features as he tightened his hold painfully, his other hand flying up to tangle in the noble's dark locks, keeping the latter in place within a painful grip: "Stay still, dear."

The lethal edge still lingering inside the immortal's tone had the dark-haired shinigami obey out of caution, but he still conveyed his displeasure, by clenching his teeth and looking away.

As Ichigo and Grimmjow watched on rigid and unsure if they should interfere, the Kuchiki inwardly felt a strong sense of panic, dreading what the other had in mind for him, what he would do to him, do to him right before the of other two. He was praying to any god willing to hear that he would not be mistreated now in front of them, or anyone else for that matter...

Acutely aware of the shinigami captain's distress, the child of chaos played on it sadistically, drawing closer still and breathing straight down the noble's vulnerable, arched neck, before he then languidly ran his tongue up the other's throat, causing Byakuya to let out a strangled sound caught somewhere between a gasp and a yelp.

Upon hearing the browbeaten sound escape from the Kuchiki's lips coupled with the air of complete subjection to his features, Ichigo's instincts kicked in, his voice harsh and imposing before he could rein any of it in: "Leave him alone."

Halting completely in his movements, the immortal slowly shifted his focus onto the teenager, a terrible, threatening glint gleaming within ruthless dark brown eyes, his deadly frozen tone not even bothering to articulate a question: "Did. You. Just. Dare. Order. Me."

Once more, they found themselves facing this side of their captor none knew how to confront.

Gulping quietly, the trembling Substitute Shinigami tried to ignore his trepidation and press on further, testing rather brittle boundaries, but rendering his voice far more compliant: "J-Just do what you have to do and stop tormenting him. Please."

Whilst both the feline and the noble were tensely glancing between the teen and the immortal, worriedly awaiting the worst, the latter two were staring firmly at each other, neither willing to back down, with the child of chaos regarding Ichigo with deadly silence, as he gauged him critically, before he then broke into a broad, deriding smirk.

"Stop? Why should I? I've barely begun," uttered Aizen smoothly with dark amusement, yet relinquishing all the same his oppressive hold upon the shinigami captain, allowing the latter some space, but still kept a firm grip on the noble's wrist.

Breathing hard, Byakuya trembled a little at the thought of what could have happened just now, thankful that the teenager had actually, somehow, managed to talk the immortal out of it. His silver grey eyes met soft brown ones, wordlessly conveying his gratitude to the other, who merely offered a small, sore smile and shook his head slightly.

Ichigo didn't really believe that he did much, their captor more likely giving up afflicting the noble on a whim, repercussions on the matter bound to come round when they least expected it.

"What to call you? Let's see..." pondered the child of chaos aloud as he carefully eyed the Kuchiki, raising the latter's hand to his mouth - as though to kiss it - except that his lips were a breadth away from the silver bracelet instead "I think 'Zakura' will fit quite nicely."

Relishing at the look of utter aversion flitting upon the Kuchiki's horrified face, the immortal smiled smugly as his words took effect, the Romanji name 'Za-ku-ra' slowly engraving itself within the bracelet in a neat and elegant flourish, before Aizen let go and pulled away.

Without touching them, he then repeated the process for Grimmjow and Ichigo, whispering the latter two's new names into the bracelets, which in turn, abidingly carved 'Panthera' and 'Shujinkou' (8) respectively onto themselves.

"Shujinkou?" echoed the young teenager with a baffled expression thinly etched with dismay.

"Don't you like it?" inquired the immortal with false surprise "I think it suits you perfectly."

"It's a mouthful," protested Ichigo under his breath, before quickly looking away when Aizen chuckled at the young one's comment.

Again, the only two that seemed really bothered by this new development were Byakuya and Ichigo. Along with everything they were experiencing, the former considered it dehumanizing and degrading to find himself stripped of the grandeur of his name, and the latter never liked it when others authorized themselves to rename him, though he would make an exception for kids any day.

Tracing the former Arrancar's bracelet lightly, the child of chaos then leisurely moved away, pacing a little: "As such, you three, with these tags, will be working here, until further notice."

"Just so we're clear, if your name here isn't Aizen...sama, I am not calling you 'daddy'," blurted out Ichigo vehemently, before his features dyed themselves a dark crimson, realizing that he actually said that out loud and everything. He could tell that Grimmjow and Byakuya staring at him hard, but he didn't dare meet their eyes, wondering himself what had possessed him to say such a thing whilst awaiting the immortal's reaction with dread.

The teenager had been expecting the child of chaos to mock him. Or perhaps even, just out of simple spite, endorse the idea, but instead Aizen visibly cringed with an appalled expression, to the profound surprise of the three: "Absolutely not. Personally, I would never ask you to do such a thing. Besides, this establishment isn't that vulgar."

"Nah, of course not," shrugged Grimmjow indifferently, his aloof eyes then shifting to narrow angrily, his teeth bared into a vicious snarl "It's just a fuckin' brothel. Nothing vulgar here."

"A pleasure house, as I have said before and will not repeat again," uttered Aizen, his voice calm, though his dark, implacable eyes were narrowed in lethal warning "Careful, Grimmjow. I am in no mood for games."

Glaring, the blue-haired feline held his ground for a moment, before relenting reluctantly and looking away, knowing better than to push when he really shouldn't: "Tch."

"Besides, you're being far too general with that appellation of yours," remarked the immortal coolly, lithely retaining composure once more "True, this establishment satisfies the pleasure of flesh, but it also gives value to other kinds of pleasure, as you'll soon see for yourselves."

There was a distinctive hint of macabre humour and subtle trace of a sadistic threat to the immortal's tone as he said that and it only served to unnerve further Ichigo, Byakuya and even Grimmjow this time, whereas the child of chaos continued to speak: "Here, notably in front of others, address me as solely 'Suzuki-sama. Not that I mind 'Aizen-sama', but you're amidst the only ones to me by name here."

The immortal paused to let the information sink in before turning his attention to his former warrior: "Grimmjow. I've already informed you before of the rules that are to be applied here. I don't see the need in repeating myself."

As the former Arrancar stiffened slightly, Ichigo was fairly startled, his babyish brown eyes wide: "So you really have been here before?"

"Yeah," answered the blue-haired feline simply, cagily, not elaborating further on that, whilst nodding at the child of chaos to convey his acknowledgment and understanding as to what the other was truly hinting to.

Aizen wasn't simply addressing the regulations meant for Débauche. He was also referring to a certain deal made not too long ago involving Ichigo.

"I - only I - will not lay a finger on him, sparing him of any of my turpitude, but that will not go for anyone else, given where we are heading," had said the child of chaos in all his wickedness "And anything that he does, not in compliance with his orders, you will pay for it. In full. And dearly."

Of course, Aizen being Aizen, the feline wasn't sure how he'd pay for any noncompliance the teen would show, but he steadfastly maintained that he wouldn't let Ichigo know about this deal. And the child of chaos agreed to it. For now.

"As for you two, let me be brief and very clear," declared the child of chaos as he addressed the teen and the noble, towering over them and locking cruel, dark eyes with their distressed, dismayed ones "The Twilights - those three lovely dears which you have encountered earlier - will be your mentors until further notice. They will teach you what you are to know and train you in how you are to perform. In addition, keep in mind that they are my ears and eyes, so should you be any trouble, I'll be the first to know. You'd best be careful when in their hands. Their devotion to me is quite...pronounced."

As Ichigo shuddered and Byakuya inwardly did the same, dark amusement never seemed to leave the immortal's features whilst he carried on with ease: "Byakuya, given that your dear grandfather values your blood more than your soul (9), you will be steered clear from any female dolls and patrons. That won't be the case for any of the male gender however."

"As if I'd let the likes of them touch me," stated the shinigami captain icily, eyes narrowed, an absolutely harmless action that only led the child of chaos to chuckle scathingly.

"No need to be so hostile. Besides, there's not much you can do to prevent that, my dear. You can only do as I say. Remember that you sold yourself to me in order to keep your precious family safe."

The raging fierceness that shone within the noble's ever-so expressive eyes was quick to fade to weary helplessness: "You made me...Forced me."

"I'll admit to that, fine. But know that going back on your word now is not happening, right?" cautioned Aizen lightly as he drew closer to Byakuya again, locking eyes intently with him "Besides, think about it. Doesn't it feel like an honour to shoulder a burden that could have been globally inflicted upon your loved ones?"

"There's no honour in this," the Kuchiki whispered, eyes clenched closed, aghast but unable to feel anger anymore. By all means he should be, but the onslaught of emotional warfare he had been going through for the past days was becoming too heavy to bear, and he was now left far too exhausted to rage.

"No. Just humiliation. Yours," drawled out the child of chaos lengthily a broad smirk to his lips, an eyebrow slowly arching as he held the Kuchiki's chin in a firm, unremitting grip "The Twilights' word is absolute for they are simply carrying out what I told them to. Disobeying them, is directly disobeying me. Heed what they say, no matter how degrading or dreadful it may seem or sound to you. Am I clear?"

Although he coerced himself to stay put, Aizen's hold on him had prompted the noble to open his eyes again, extremely wary under the other's touch he deemed ambiguous, inappropriate, sinister. Keeping in mind that he was supposed to reply the other, the shinigami captain forced words out of his mouth, refusing neither to pay mind to their significance nor to register how heavy they felt upon his tongue: "It is as you command, Ai- Suzuki-sama."

"Good boy," praised the immortal with a patronizing expression, adding further to Byakuya's humiliation, the latter who lowered his eyes as to escape the other's rapacious stare "See? It's not that hard. The quicker you are to accept the reality of your situation, the easier it'll be."

Silver grey eyes flashed back to the immortal in fair anger: "There's nothing easy about this."

A wicked Machiavellian smile touched Aizen's lips: "Admitting the opposite would be a lie."

To be continued...

Next Update: Under the Twilights (Chapter 2)

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(1) The necklace Aizen bestows to Doll is like the one Nicky (Will Smith) gives to Jessie (Margot Robbie) in the movie Focus (2015), after she had expressed a fascination in said jewellery. This was done for a reason, in addition to the movie in question having played a part in the conception of this section of the 'Fallen series' (in fact, this fic has references from several other movies (Vice (2015); Sucker Punch; Sin City; Boyka Undisputed; The Purge, Anarchy...) as they all have a rather heavy influence on the plot).

(2) I thought it'd be interesting to let you know what I was listening to as I wrote down the face-off that went down between Aizen and Doll. Let's see if the songs give you an insight on their 'relationship': Not in Love by Natalia Kills and Cake by Melanie Martinez (for Doll); Love Me to Death by No Resolve and Not Strong Enough by Apocalyptica (for Aizen).

(3) The honorific '-dana' is similar to '-sama' or '-dono', as in 'master', 'mistress' and so on.

(4) See Part 1 of the Fallen Series, Chapter 8: Fate for Spoils, Scene 2 (scenes are separated by: In the Sereitei/Karakura Town, Back to...etc; or by this: 0000000000).

(5) I don't think that's how it's actually called, but in the French version of the series (the only version I got to see), that's the name of the thing Szayel uses to come back to life, after leeching energy off from Nemu.

(6) See Part 1 of the Fallen Series, Chapter 9: Taking It In, Scene 5.

(7) See Part 1 of the Fallen Series, Chapter 10: One Last Time, Scene 3.

(8) So? What do you think of Ichigo, Grimmjow and Byakuya's names? Not too weird I hope. To be quite honest, I was inspired by Pantera and Senbonzakura for Grimmjow and Byakuya respectively, whereas Shujinkou means 'hero'/'Main character' which fits Ichigo, despite the word being too long for me. I would have used the equivalent of the word 'moon' if I didn't have another future character with that name (I'm not giving anything else away on this one).

(9) See Part 1 of the Fallen Series, Chapter 8: Fate for Spoils, Scene 5.

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A/N: Before you ask, given that this entire fic started right after the Winter War, the Fullbringers and Quincy as you know them do not exist in this fic. I really didn't want to create more than those I had in mind (which is the case for Tora, Millie and Leona: ), so I merely used the characters that showed up in later arcs within the Bleach series. Apart from Doll, their names don't differ that much than their original ones, so I'm guessing you'll be able to tell who's who. If not, no worries, I can clarify. Just let me know. See you!