Free Talk- I've decided to change this section back to what I called it in my last story. A more appropriate name would probably be "the stuff that nobody reads." I must say that one of the most flattering things has to be when someone who hates Aizen or was put off by the concept of this story comments that he or she actually likes it. I won't lie, Aizen is one of my favorite characters… and I have an inexplicable fascination with Aizen x Hinamori. But I have never been a "one true pairing" sort of person. I like all kinds of characters and pairings. And I would love it if I could create a story that appeals to a broader spectrum than just one specific fandom. So thank you very much for the support. Each chapter I post, I worry will disappoint. Unfortunately, this new one does not answer the cliffhanger at the end of the last one. But I'm building to the climax now and all of the players need to be in place. Please tell me what you think.

Sympathy For the Devil
By Miss Angel Maxwell

fourteenth chapter

YOUR MODERN FACE SEEMS THE SURPRISE ENDING

Gin was well versed in the varied mythology that surrounded him in Soul Society, begun as rumors and perpetuated by his fellow shinigami. One of the most popular stories about the man with fox eyes was that he was impervious to any pain, a belief almost certainly inspired by his ever-present smile. It was, of course, completely untrue. Gin felt pain just as sharply as everyone else, he just had unrivaled skill at hiding it outwardly. He was even able to maintain his calm grin after being brutalized by that enormous fire beast, an experience so excruciating he could hardly believe he'd survived it. Now, as he dragged himself through the portal back to Hueco Mundo with his unhurt arm, he was beginning to doubt that he actually would live. And yet, his own impending death was not even his primary concern.

I couldn't even finish the job, he agonized. After waiting so long for an opportunity to kill that hussy, I couldn't even follow through. And why? Because of my old weakness. Because when I saw Hinamori cowering in pain, praying for mercy, all I could see was the face of another… All I could see was 'her'…

When he materialized in the dark realm, Gin could not lift any part of his body up off the floor. The pain had given way to a peaceful numbness, as if his limbs had begun to fill up with warm lead. He closed his one good eye, but the sound of shoes on marble assured him that he wasn't dead yet. Someone was approaching rapidly.

"Ichimaru!" the voice of Tousen Kaname gasped. "Captain!" he called in the other direction. "Ichimaru has returned! He's badly wounded!"

The events that followed were just a haze of noise and movement to Gin. He heard Aizen's slow and measured footsteps, along with those of several attending Arrancar. A few moments later, he felt himself being hoisted aloft and carried away.

"Bring him to my lab, post haste," Aizen said, not sounding too worried.

It was the last thing that Gin heard before he slipped into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he was lying on his back in a shallow tank of cool liquid and his boss' face was hovering over him.

"Master," he said weakly. "What ave you dun do me?" His facial deformity slurred his speech.

"Nothing yet," Aizen replied. "I've just submerged you in stabilizing gel to keep your body alive while I question you. Now tell me, why have you returned from the Living World without Miss Hinamori?"

"Ib you cudden dell from ooking, the girl adacked me," Gin hissed as best he could. "I ad no joice but do kill her. You zaid I gud."

"Ah, at least your sense of humor is unharmed," his master said smoothly. But the words he spoke next came out with a slightly impatient undertone. "Now where is the body? Where is my Hinamori?"

The effort of speaking through his charred features was exhausting, so Gin tried to answer the question with as few words as possible. This might also make it easier for him to lie to his master about the details of what happened. For all his deceptiveness, Aizen had a way of drawing out the truth from others, like poison from a wound. "…levt her body… in the street…"He managed to avoid mentioning that Hinamori was alive when he'd left her. After all, she might very well be dead by now.

Gin watched as Aizen paced around the perimeter of the tank, running his hand along the rim. "My dear Ichimaru," he said. "Did that small girl trounce you so badly that you were too weak to bring back her body? Or did it really not occur to you that I might want it, to cremate with my own hands and keep safe within these walls?"

"Zir I…" Gin began, but Aizen stopped his pacing and glowered at him so severely that it silenced him. The silver haired shinigami had never seen such discomposure on his master's face.

"Hinamori is mine!" he growled fiercely. "She is mine even in death! And I will not let that Hitsugaya boy or anyone else have her!"

"I'm zorry, Zir," Gin replied humbly. "I'd undo my mizdake ib I gud."

"But indeed you cannot," said Aizen, seeming oddly calmed. "If you were to leave this tank, you'd die within minutes. Miss Hinamori certainly did do a number on you." There was an odd note of amusement in his voice when he said this. "But I'm afraid there is only one option left for you, Ichimaru Gin. I could save your life using the power of the hougyoku. You could continue to live if you became Arrancar. What do you say?"

The only response Gin made was a curious grunt.

"Of course," Aizen continued. "The outcome of using the hougyoku on a shinigami such as yourself cannot be predicted with much certainty. If you become Arrancar, any traces of sympathy or kindness that may still be lingering in some far corner of your soul will likely be extinguished. And the process might take some time."

Gin fell silent as he contemplated the offer. Sympathy… the weakness that stayed my zanpakutou and wouldn't let me kill that girl… To die still carrying my weakness? Or to live and overcome it? The choice in front of me is as clear as water…

"I'll do it," he said, closing his eye.

"An honorable decision," Aizen intoned. "You're willing to sacrifice your personality in order to continue serving me. I always knew that you were my most loyal servant. Or maybe you're just afraid of dying?"

"I jooze do lib so I gan lib do zerve you," Gin answered. Then, before he could rethink his decision, the tank filled up completely with thick liquid and the young man was swallowed up by a dreamless sleep.


Tousen Kaname was waiting patiently outside the laboratory when Aizen emerged, striding purposefully and wearing his usual expression of composed ruthlessness. Of course, Tousen could not see his master's face, but he could sense every muscle and how they shaped his fine features. There was something off about Master Aizen this evening. He wasn't right somehow.

"Sir," Tousen addressed as he began to walk alongside his boss through the palace halls. "What is Ichimaru's condition at this point? Will he live?"

Aizen's voice answered low and enigmatically. "Ichimaru will be just fine."

"What is the status of his mission then?" the blind man continued. "I could sense when my colleague returned that he was badly injured… and alone. Did Miss Hinamori slip through his fingers?"

"My audacious Tousen," Aizen replied. "Do I detect a note of hopefulness in your voice? Would it please you if the girl found her way back to our enemies from Soul Society? I don't suppose I should be surprised. That is, if I choose to believe Gin's accusation that you were the one who helped Miss Hinamori to escape in the first place. And you know the only person whose word I would take over Ichimaru's is my own."

Knowing that it would be useless at this point to try to convince his master of his innocence, Tousen decided to seek forgiveness instead. "Sir, please do not interpret my actions as disloyalty to you," he said calmly. "My only intention was to provide the young woman with a means of protecting her children and to give you an opportunity to rethink your plans for them. I know it was not my place to question your decision, and for that I am deeply sorry."

"So you thought my plan for the children was an unwise one?" Aizen asked coyly. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Like you just said, Sir," Tousen explained. "You trust Ichimaru's opinions over my own, and this was his idea. It did not seem productive for me to object. But if you wish to know why I disagreed with his idea, I can tell you now. I thought there was a strong likelihood that you would come to regret your actions if you actually used your own offspring as test subjects."

The superior snorted. "You know that I had no emotional attachment to those babies," he said. "They were mine to sacrifice, just like Hinamori. Does it grieve you, Tousen, to hear that she was killed by Ichimaru?"

The blind man gasped only slightly then sighed knowingly. "I see," he said softly. "So that is why you are acting differently."

This comment seemed to upset Aizen to an unusual degree and Tousen flinched visibly when the boss stopped in place and snapped at him. "What the Hell is that supposed to mean? I'm the same as I always am."

"You are not," Kaname said boldly, regaining his poise. "Since the moment you stepped out of your lab, you have been trying to speak and act the way you always do. But you are not behaving naturally. You are quite upset. I can feel it. You are more distressed than I have ever seen you before, Sir."

"Interesting theory, Tousen," the man said. "Very interesting, but I'm afraid you've never seen me in your entire life, so you have no basis for comparison. Indeed, if I am upset, it is merely because Ichimaru failed to bring back Miss Hinamori's body. I believe quite strongly that it is my right to be the one who prepares her for passage into the next life, my right and nobody else's."

"I can see you more clearly than anyone else, and you know it, Master," the subordinate reminded. Aizen's silence was a strong indication that the words had not just been heard, but actually considered. Tousen waited for a reply, but instead of giving one, Aizen resumed walking.

"I will decide how to deal with you later," he finally said. "But I do not plan to punish you, Tousen, so you need not worry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare myself to go to the Living World."

"The Living World?" Tousen asked, surprised. "Are you planning to launch an attack? And you're going by yourself?"

"I wouldn't trust this mission to anybody else," he replied. "I'm going to the Living World to retrieve what is mine."

"You're going after Hinamori's body?" Tousen stammered. "Master, now this is a matter that I cannot stay silent about. Going to retrieve the body is a ridiculous and completely unnecessary risk! Besides, several hours have already gone by in the Living World. Somebody must have found her by now."

Aizen gave a low, agitated growl from deep in his chest. "I will decide which risks are necessary to take, my friend. Because Ichimaru is currently indisposed, you are to stay here and watch over things while I am gone. Please try to act as you think I would, and do keep your eyes… or rather, your other senses, out for Gin. He could very well wake up while I'm gone."

"Sir," said Tousen.

His master interrupted him. "Ah, we have reached my private quarters. Now be a good shinigami and run along." His hand was already on the scrolled handle of one of the massive bedroom doors. If Tousen wanted to say anything else, it would have to be now.

"It won't bring you any satisfaction," he said unflinchingly, causing the man at the door to freeze in his place. "Retrieving Miss Hinamori's body won't bring you any satisfaction. You will go to the Living World and search for her, kill anyone you have to get her back, and even if you succeed you will return feeling just as empty and frustrated as you do right now. It is not a body that you want, but a living, breathing woman. Even you cannot reanimate the dead. There is nothing you can do to reclaim Hinamori or the babies."

After a long pause, Aizen spoke again. "Your sentimentality annoys me, Tousen. You seem to be under the impression that I had tender feelings for the young woman." As he opened his bedroom door and stepped inside he chuckled and added one last comment. "Perhaps I should have turned you into Arrancar instead…" Then the door closed and the blind man was left in the corridor to ponder the cryptic statement on his own.

Tousen waited outside Aizen's bedroom doors for at least thirty minutes, even though he knew the man would not change his mind and decide to stay in Hueco Mundo. Aizen Sousuke was in a state of madness, one that only Tousen, and possibly Ichimaru, could detect. Besides the fact that they had all betrayed the authority of Soul Society, the three deserting captains had something else in common. Each of them had nearly perfect control over his outward appearance. Aizen's was a meticulously contained madness.

Nearly perfect, Tousen thought to himself, but not quite. I always did find that man's obsession with Hinamori Momo very odd.

Aizen's accusation had been wrong, though. Tousen was never under the impression that he loved the girl. And yet, he couldn't help but notice that his master seemed different after she came to stay here with him. There was something more than just sex and possessiveness in play here. Hinamori was unlike any other shinigami that Tousen had ever encountered. Despite being confined to a strange place, amongst men who were her enemies, Hinamori Momo was able to find happiness just because one of the men was the person she loved. Such pure devotion had to have had some effect on Aizen. It had an effect of Tousen.

Even if Master Aizen never loved Miss Hinamori, he must have understood that her love for him was true… more real than anything that he himself had ever felt in his life. She loved him and she loved their babies… such an innocent soul… I never once thought of her as an enemy. It doesn't seem just to me that she died because she wanted to protect her unborn children.

Ichimaru had told his fellow underling in confidentiality that he thought the girl was a dangerous distraction for their boss. Tousen didn't quite see it that way. For some reason, he found the young woman's presence to have a cathartic effect on Master Aizen, and on himself. It didn't cause him any real distress that their work was progressing a bit slower. Creating a glorious new regime would take time to do right anyways. With Hinamori's death, however, he finally felt Gin's fear. Even when he was walking coolly through the corridor minutes ago, Aizen's spiritual pressure was on fire. He was a powder keg just waiting to blow, and now he was loose in the Living World.

Mercy be to anyone who tries to keep him from Hinamori's body. If Master Aizen starts a fight with those resistance fighters in the Living World at this point it could cause incalculable damage and chaos, ruining the carefully laid plans we've worked so hard towards. I will not let Aizen be the undoing of his own life's work. My only option is to defy his orders and go after him.

It was very clear by now that Aizen was not coming out through this door. He had probably already left Hueco Mundo by some other passage. So Tousen decided to go back to the lab and check on whatever treatment had been administered to Ichimaru. The cavernous room was as silent as a graveyard, void of any signs of life. The blind shinigami was beginning to think that Gin had passed away in the time since Aizen left him. He couldn't sense any spiritual pressure. Still, he walked around the room cautiously, extending a bronze hand to guide him through the maze of glass tanks.

"Ichimaru?" he called out. But the only reply was his own echo.

Something scraped beneath his sandal and he stopped for a moment. Glass? The shards were spread throughout a large puddle of liquid. One of the tanks must've broken. Without warning, an immense surge of spiritual pressure filled the room. Tousen didn't have time to react before Shinsou pierced his body right above the navel and sliced all the way up to his neck. He died before his brain even processed the pain.

Gin's voice hissed from behind a white mask as he stepped over his peer's body. "Now then… to the Living World…"

To be continued…