Free Talk- In this chapter we reach the climax of the story, which I hope is suitably exciting. Those of you who actually read this pointless column surely have noticed that I have an annoying lack of self-confidence, particularly when it comes to creating the desired mood for a particular chapter, be it excitement or sorrow. In any case, I hope I am at least learning a bit and getting a bit better every time I write something. And I really hope this newest chapter is enjoyed. Most of it was written in a post-deja vu trance. Oh, and I have an important question I want to ask regarding epilogues, but I will save it for next time around. Thank you for the support. Please tell me what you think.
Sympathy
For the Devil
By Miss
Angel Maxwell
sixteenth chapter
TRUST VISIONS THAT DON'T FEATURE BUCKETS OF BLOOD
The glow of the moon, large but not totally full, cast an ominous luster around Aizen Sousuke's silhouette, making his appearance even more portentous. As the villain eyed them severely, Izuru and Toushirou stood rooted in place, silently contemplating his strange request. In a rare case of synchrony, the two young shinigami were reaching the exact same conclusion at the exact same time.
If Aizen came for Momo's body, he must think that she's dead. He doesn't realize that she survived Gin's attack.
Hitsugaya opened his mouth first, but it was Kira who managed to speak the first actual words. "We don't have the body here," he said blatantly. "Miss Hinamori's body is at Urahara's shop awaiting cremation."
The white haired boy stared incredulously at the blonde for a moment. For such a bold lie to come from him of all shinigami was a definite cause of surprise. The younger boy knew what the elder was planning right away. He was setting their archenemy up to fall right into the trap that they had set up weeks ago. But could a mind as brilliantly twisted as Aizen's fall for such an obvious trick? He'd have to be out of his mind. I know Kira has good intentions, but this plan is incredibly dangerous.
"Very well," Aizen replied. "You two will take me there without any questions or objections and you will deliver the body to me. If you behave yourselves nicely, I will wait and not kill either of you until I come back and murder every soul in this wretched little slice of human suburbia."
"Wait," Izuru said, causing to Toushirou to cringe at his reckless impudence. "You really don't need two escorts, Sir. Why don't you just pick one of us to go with you?"
After the briefest pause for consideration, a small, sardonic chuckle arouse from Aizen's throat. "You know I can't do that," he said silkily. "I can't leave one of you here to round up all your buddies to come and gang up on me. Ah, Mr. Kira… You used to be so much better behaved. It seems that just a couple of months hanging out with shorty here has undone all of Ichimaru's training."
"Take Hitsugaya," Izuru insisted. "But I'm staying right here."
"As you wish," the would-be dictator replied. Then with one fluid motion, he raised his left hand behind Kira's back and brought it down full force on his neck, collapsing the young man flat on his face like a sack of stones. "So then Mr. Hitsugaya, shall we be going?"
Toushirou didn't answer right away as his eyes were fixed in horror at the crumpled form of his companion. Izuru had to have known that such insolence would have consequences. So why would he say it? The younger boy scanned his friend's body without blinking, desperate for any sign of life. Then he saw what Aizen hopefully did not. Izuru's watery blue eyes opened and shot the young captain a look of steely resolve. Tonight the trap would be sprung.
"Let's go," Hitsugaya replied once he was secretly assured of Kira's consciousness. He knew that the assault must have been very painful for the other boy and, although he was not likely to admit it, he was moved that the blonde let himself be hurt so badly for the sake of the larger plan. I won't let you down, friend.
So Hitsugaya led Aizen to Urahara's store, knowing that the fate of this town's souls, and perhaps of all souls in every world, was now in the hands of Kira Izuru. Strangely, though, this thought did not perturb Hitsugaya. Despite how angry he had been at the vice captain earlier that evening, he realized that he truly did trust Kira, especially after seeing how devastated he was by Momo's tragic loss. The captain had an odd feeling of excitement as he and the overlord arrived outside the store. Aizen was finally going to get what he deserved.
"Well now, you've done a fine job," Aizen said. "You've brought me right to that trash's store with no tricks or extraneous stops. And I thought you were the shinigami most likely to object to my demand, being so protective of that woman as you are. Of course, this little operation is not over yet," he added, roughly grabbing the back of the young boy's jacket collar. "If anyone does anything to prevent me from retrieving my Hinamori's body, they will meet a fate far worse than that idiot on the rooftop."
Aizen still had a fierce grip on Hitsugaya's clothing when the boy took a deep, anticipatory breath and rapped his knuckles against Urahara's door. "Mr. Urahara," he called out loud. "This is Captain Hitsugaya of 10th Division. I need access to Hinamori Momo." Under the watchful eyes of Aizen Sousuke, Toushirou couldn't help but lose some confidence in his lying ability. But Aizen had already missed the fact that Kira was not really unconscious when he left him, so maybe he was not using his keenest sense tonight. There was a strange undercurrent of desperation in his behavior, something like a meticulously concealed psychosis that was just beginning to show symptoms.
There was a protracted silence as the two men waited for a response and soon Aizen began displaying his impatience. "Am I going to have to break down this door?" he asked gruffly. "And just so you know, half-pint, I won't be letting you out of my clutches until Hinamori is in my possession."
"She never will be!" a voice called out from somewhere nearby. "I don't know why your guard is down tonight, Mr. Aizen. But the mistake will be your downfall. Tonight your reign of terror comes to an end."
A triumphant smirk arose on Hitsugaya's face when he heard the speech. Izuru had returned, which could only mean that all the elements were in place. The blonde stood confidently several meters away, Wabisuke clutched in his hands.
As self-assured as the young vice captain seemed, however, it didn't impress Aizen in the least and he chuckled disdainfully. "My reign is coming to an end because you managed to maintain consciousness. You are indeed just as stupid as Ichimaru always told me. You're even weaker than shorty here. You couldn't put a scratch on me."
Izuru maintained nearly perfect composure, though his chest was rising and falling rather dramatically. "Your reign is coming to an end, because you let Captain Hitsugaya lead you into a trap," he said boldly. Then he turned his head and addressed the darkness. "Everyone to your places!"
Stepping out from the shadows all around the store, a half-dozen shinigami joined Kira, each one holding his or her zanpakutou. Hitsugaya watched with satisfaction as Aizen's cold eyes widened in terror. As soon as the hand that held the boy's collar unconsciously released, he stepped back and pulled a piece of Soul Candy from his pocket. Then, in full shinigami regalia, he joined the others. Now Aizen Sousuke had the business ends of nine zanpakutou pointing right at him, and behind them Orihime, Chad, and Uryu were standing by in a gesture of solidarity.
Aizen's shock wore off quickly and he laughed cynically at the bevy of freedom fighters who surrounded him. "Even if the lot of you all work together, your combined strength is no match for me," he sneered. "I have powers the likes of which you have only imagined. And because you've all gathered here to keep me from what is rightfully mine, I will have to kill each and every one of you tonight."
"No you won't," Hitsugaya growled defiantly. "And you will never see Momo again."
Nine shinigami closed in around Aizen. Then nine zanpakutou turned so their blades pointed towards the ground, and each wielder called out the name of the blade in hand.
"Wabisuke!"
"Haineko!"
"Fujikujaku!"
"Houzukimaru!"
"Zabimaru!"
"Sodenoshirayuki!"
"Zangetsu!"
"Benihime!"
"Hyourinmaru!"
As each zanpakutou was called by name, a glowing thread of golden light shot downward out of its blade and into the ground. Then, as each beam of light hit the earth, it continued to move on a glowing path along the surface of the concrete, radiating inward towards the feet of Aizen Sousuke.
"What the Hell is this?" he snarled. "Why are you wasting my time like this?"
Nobody answered him, or even made eye contact. Instead, the ring of shinigami all closed their eyes and began to recite in unison.
"Zanpakutou of our allies, combine strength to bind and seal enemy of all. Demon Arts Technique 919: Blade Binding Unity."
After the spell had been spoken, nine pairs of eyes opened to watch as the ground beneath them started shining brightly in the elaborate patterns they had laid out weeks ago. It was as if the strands of light from the zanpakutou were incandescent liquid and were flowing into the grooves of a design carved into the street. All of the delicate lines and written characters filled up and spread all the way to Aizen's feet. Then the original beams of light rose up from the pavement and wrapped around his ankles.
"There's no escape now," Izuru intoned. "The binding technique has already taken hold of you. I stumbled upon this bit of Demon Arts while I was inadvertently helping Hinamori research how to get to Hueco Mundo."
"It's quite a remarkable technique," Toushirou took over. "You see, it binds the target so that they cannot use any of their shinigami powers, cannot even draw their own zanpakutou. Now that you've been bound by it, Aizen Sousuke, you're as weak and powerless as an ordinary, ungifted human."
"Don't bother trying to break through the barrier we've created," added Izuru. "The amount of energy it would take for an ordinary human to break through is more than you have to expend. The effort alone would likely kill you."
The light exuding from the ground beneath Aizen turned his skin a dazzling bright gold and highlighted the contorted features of his face. Nobody who was assembled had ever seen such an expression of distress on him.
"How long do you think you can maintain this binding technique?" he hissed, his voice quickly losing its sense of calm control and becoming erratic. "Ten, fifteen minutes? And once that time is up…"
"Twenty minutes, actually," Toushirou interrupted roughly. "Which is more than enough time to kill you." He turned his head and looked over at Izuru who nodded.
"Go ahead," the blonde said. "You wanted to be the one to finish him."
One of the threads of light receded as Hitsugaya lifted Hyourinmaru and pointed it at Aizen, who fell down to his knees. Is he going to try to beg for mercy? Because he's not going to get any from me!
But Hitsugaya's presumption was completely wrong. The man in front of him was on his knees, jaw clenched, hands grasping the hem of the young captain's jacket in desperation. But what he asked for was not mercy, was not for his life to be spared.
"Give me Hinamori! Give me her body!" the man snarled through his teeth. "She is mine! Even in death she is mine!"
Aizen in a state of abject madness was a difficult sight, even for the strongest constitutions, and some of those gathered had to look away. Hitsugaya didn't. He kicked the villain away in disgust and readjusted the position of his blade to suit the man's new position. "This is for Momo," he growled as he pulled back in advance of the killing strike. "Nobody can save you now."
"Stoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!"
A frantic voice wailed loudly and a white blur streak across Hitsugaya's vision, right in front of where he was about to stab. There, standing between him and Aizen, in a white bathrobe with her arms extended protectively, was Momo. "Don't kill him, Shiro!" she pleaded. "Not yet…"
"Momo, what are you doing here?" Toushirou barked. "Get out of the way!"
"No," she stated adamantly. Her heart was pounding as she looked around at all of her friends' stunned faces. "I can't believe that you all would do this, would execute him, without even telling me! I have more reason than any of you to want to confront this man. So at least let me speak to him before you kill him!"
"There's not enough time," the young captain informed, though his voice was losing confidence. "You should be back at Kurosaki's house resting."
"I won't take long," she said, somewhat softer. Then she turned around to face her former lover. On bended knees he was on equal eye level to the young lady and he starred transfixed at her. Momo knew he wasn't the only one. Everyone there was starring at her, waiting with bated breath to see what she would say to this monster in front of her. His expression of shock, however, was far more severe and lasted far longer than she could have anticipated.
"Miss Hinamori…" he breathed through his slackened jaw. "You're… alive…"
"I am alive," she calmly confirmed. "Somehow I survived the assault that killed both of our children." She paused to watch Aizen's face and monitor if there was any sign of an emotional reaction. His expression remained the same, blank. "They're dead," she repeated sadly. "Ichimaru's attack killed the twins. I don't expect the news to grieve you, Sousuke. After all, you were going to turn them into Arrancar. If I had stayed, would you really have gone through with it?"
She watched him steadily, watched his face. It still remained the same, like a mask. Momo wasn't sure which answer she wanted to hear. If Aizen said 'no' it would mean that her flight from Hueco Mundo was completely unnecessary, and that her children's deaths were meaningless. If he said 'yes,' however, it would mean that he really never did love her or them. Either answer would be devastating.
"Yes," he finally said, unapologetically. "I would have turned them into Arrancar."
"So you never did love them?" she asked, her eyes starting to glaze with tears. "I can accept that you never loved me. I… I'm easy to not love… And I can accept that you were lying when you told me you loved me. But when you kissed my belly and spoke such loving words to our baby growing inside… was that all just lies too?"
Aizen said nothing, gave no reply whatsoever, no sign of remorse or affection.
"I see," Momo said softly. "I guess I'm just naïve, then… I really did believe that you loved me and Taka and Suzume… we picked out those names together… But it was all just an illusion." She closed her eyes and turned away from him, unable to bear his vacant, emotionless stare. "For the record," she added. "What I felt for you was never an illusion. I truly did love you, Sousuke. Do whatever you want with him, Shiro. I'm sorry I took up so much of your time."
Before he could resume his attack stance, Hitsugaya watched with undisguised awe as Momo walked away, her shoulders held steady even though he knew she must have been crying. She stepped just outside the circle and the boy captain finally took his eyes off of her and poised his zanpakutou once again. Aizen seemed even more pitiful now, slumped on the ground, his hollow eyes blankly staring after Hinamori's vanished form.
"That is why you have to die," Hitsugaya muttered through his teeth. "You left Momo alive, wishing she was dead. So you have to die wishing you were alive."
Hitsugaya pulled back his sword, but in the split second before he thrust it through Aizen's heart, the man's eyes turned on him with revived intensity. There was no time for the young captain to even flinch as the man seized his arm with one hand and twisted it back until the bone snapped and the boy let out a howl of pain. Aizen wrenched Hyourinmaru out of the boy's grasp with his other hand and leapt off in the direction Momo had taken. His actions were so quick and unpredictable that nobody's reflexes were fast enough to stop him.
"Get him!" Hitsugaya roared, holding his broken arm. "Stop him!"
The binding technique was broken and the light was extinguished as the shinigami hoisted their zanpakutou to striking positions and dashed on winged feet after their enemy. With Hitsugaya and Kira in the lead, the allies arrived on the scene just in time to hear Momo's bloodcurdling scream and feel the hot spray of fresh blood on their horrified faces.
To be continued…
