Chapter Four:

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he'd struggled with his own thoughts so much. It had been six weeks since his chat with Kuchiki in the bathhouse, six weeks since he'd woken in Aizen's bed with no recollection of how he had gotten there.

Since the incident in the bathhouse, he and Kuchiki had spoken very little about Aizen, or whatever plans he had. However, they had continued to meet every evening to spar for a few hours at a time, almost always with the same result as their first fight. As soon as Byakuya released his Shikai Ichigo would only last a short time longer before being defeated by the blade like petals of blossom.

It was an incredible defence. One he had yet to work out how to overcome. The only benefit he truly gained, was experience. It was good to fight someone with a different style to Aizen, it gave him new knowledge and fresh ideas to hone his own skills.

Uncertain what to make of his Taichou's sudden silence on anything relating to Aizen, he wondered if the man was making it deliberately impossible for him to gather information to report back. Which was a smart move, but also a very frustrating one.

With the dip in information he gathered, was the result of fewer trips back to Division Five. It had been almost three weeks since he'd seen Aizen, or spoken to him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gone such an extended period of time without sex, without having that momentary boost to allow him to feel something real. It was becoming tortuously painful, and his own hand never did the job.

But visiting without a good reason would only result in punishment, rather than what he wanted or needed.

Sighing deeply at the thought, Ichigo snapped to attention as he walked into a firm body and bounced back, hitting the wooden floor of the courtyard outside of Division Three. He winced and looked up, momentarily blinded by the mid-day sun directly overhead, raising a hand to shield his gaze he scowled at the person he saw.

Startling blue hair and wide, feral eyes to match.

"Grimmjow... What are you doing here?" He glared.

"Yo, Kurosaki." The Fourth Seat of Division Three wave a lazy hand, "Eh, don't go givin' me such a scary look, you walked into me remember?"

Tutting, Ichigo picked himself up, dusting his robes down, "I guess. Sorry, my mind was elsewhere."

Grimmjow had always made him... Unsettled. There was something in those eyes, something wild, something untameable. Something he didn't entirely trust. Gin spoke highly of his skills and various talents, but it did nothing to settle that sensation in the pit of his stomach. While he couldn't deny Grimmjow was... A very attractive man with muscles on muscles, he couldn't shake the feeling that the blue haired Shinigami didn't quite belong there.

"How's Division Six treatin' you?"

He blinked and shook off that feeling again, "Yeah it's fine, I guess."

"Just fine? Man, I envy you. That Kuchiki Taichou looks like he would be excellent in a fight." Grimmjow folded his arms, "To think you get to train one on one with him."

"If you want your ass handed to you, he's the perfect opponent." The orange haired man chided, turning his back indignantly.

"Still havin' issues with your Bankai then?"

"Huh?" Ichigo looked over his shoulder at the other man, "How do you know that I'm working towards that?"

Wafting a hand with a sheepish grin the other replied, "Eh, Ichimaru Taichou has a big mouth."

'Gin?' Ichigo frowned deeply, 'Why would Gin be talking to his Fourth Seat about that?'


It was strange.

Byakuya didn't like the feeling he was getting as he sifted through the Seireitei Archives for the fourth time in six weeks. He was certain he had checked every file, every scrap of paper, every hidden detail no matter how small. It had taken hours of time, concentration and effort. And yet...

"Nothing..." He whispered to himself, not for the first time.

To his confusion, and to his frustration, he had found nothing at all to help him understand. There were no records, no links... Nothing to suggest what sort of traumatic event had lead to Ichigo's loss of memories, and emotions. But more than that...

He closed his eyes as he ran a hand down his face, tiredness growing in the wake of the long hours he'd spent in the musty smelling room. He glanced down at the file in his hands. It was the Shinigami intake records, the records listed whenever a new Soul was brought to Soul Society. There were thousands, hundreds of thousands, and he had searched them all.

He couldn't couldn't find Ichigo anywhere. There was no mention of an Ichigo Kurosaki ever having been brought to Soul Society by a Shinigami. But there was, in comparison, no record of him having been born there either.

So, where the hell had he come from, and how did he have such immense talent as a Shinigami?

If there were no answers here, could it be that his answers would lie in the World of the Living? It was unlikely, but if he was to succeed in his mission it was imperative that he at least check.

"I did wonder if you'd take an interest in his past."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the voice, turning slowly to meet the object of his ire, "Aizen Taichou."

"So polite." The brunet chuckled, eyes flashing behind his spectacles, "Did you find anything interesting? Kuchiki Taichou?"

"I have not." He replied bluntly, sliding the file back into place before turning to face the man properly, "Why are you here? Making sure I don't find anything?"

"On the contrary, I thought this would provide us the opportunity to talk. Something we have not done, outside of captain meetings." Aizen chuckled, leaning against one of the shelving units, clearly relaxed, "You are aware, of course, that Ichigo told me everything about the conversation you had the other week?"

"Naturally."

"Doesn't that worry you?"

Byakuya's lips thinned, "Why would it? Even you couldn't get away with murdering a Taichou."

Aizen raised an eyebrow in amusement, "You seem to believe I am capable of getting away with far worse than that... How are your investigations going?"

"Such arrogance." He muttered, "If you were able to get away with it, surely you would have done so already. Considering we are both aware that I am onto your ploy."

Rather than reply straight away, Aizen took a few measured steps towards the noble, only stopping when they were less than a hair's breadth apart, his eyes moved over the raven haired man, seemingly calculating his response very carefully.

"I require your help, believe it or not." He said after a long, tense moment.

"My help?" Byakuya hissed sceptically.

"Ichigo... Is incredibly special. He is powerful, gifted, loyal and more than anything else... He is an incredibly useful tool. But I believe even he would disobey me if I ordered him to kill you, in his current state at least. No matter what he says to the contrary."

"You talk about him like he's a thing. Not a person. It's disgusting." The noble's teeth clenched painfully with the effort to maintain his stoicism, then he paused, "Order him to kill me? He's no assassin."

Aizen simply smiled, "My, my... You forget too quickly how coincidental it was for Ichigo to become your Third Seat."

Byakuya's face dropped and his eyes widened at the implication. It couldn't be... Surely not, "You lie." He breathed.

"Your face tells me you know otherwise." Aizen smirked widely, "Did he feign innocence with you? Side step your questions? Give you just enough information to keep you happy before shutting down again?"

His mouth went dry. Had Ichigo played him?

"My goodness... Byakuya Kuchiki tricked by a mere scrap of a soul. How does your precious pride feel, knowing that?"

The noble felt a rush of fury at the other's mockery of him, hand snapping up sharply against the other man's face, expression barely masking his rage, "One such as yourself, who lacks all honour, would never understand my pride. Do not act like you do."

Aizen had barely flinched from the slap, head only slightly turned, he glanced down at the other man, smile gone. His hand wrapped around the noble's wrist tightly and he turned him, forcing him against one of the nearby desks as he allowed a ripple of his reiatsu to flow, crushing the raven haired male with its weight.

Byakuya's eyes were wide as he gasped for breath, his chest feeling tight. When had Aizen become so strong? He'd never felt his aura be quite so... Oppressive. Was it another ruse, something he had been hiding... All this time?

"Ichigo could be so much more than he already is. He has so much potential yet to unlock." The brunet breathed against his ear, "Whether willingly or not, you are going to help me, and we will ensure he reaches his peak."

"I... Will not!" He growled, struggling to speak under that terrible pressure.

"You will." He chuckled humourlessly, "If you want real answers to who he is, where he comes from and what happened to him... I suggest you take a visit to the World of the Living. There is a town, called Karakura."

Lowering his reiatsu again, Aizen released the noble and brushed his hands clean, as if somehow tainted by the other man's pride.

"Why would you give me such information?" Byakuya hissed, turning to face him slowly as he rubbed his wrist.

"Because, you want to know who he is. And I want him to grow." The brunet tilted his head, "And it is all connected."

The Division Six Taichou tutted, clenching a fist at his side, "I will save Ichigo from your clutches, on my pride as the head of the Kuchiki household, I will do it." The words tumbled from his lips before his mind processed them, and yet he knew they were true. He couldn't allow this man, this filth to continue abusing his subordinates.

His words seemed to entertain Aizen, who allowed a smug chuckle to escape his lips, turning slowly towards the exit, "Eventually, no matter how long it takes, you will do something that will make him turn on you. You will hurt him, and it will scar."

"You..." Byakuya's hand came to rest on the hilt of his Zanpakutō, the urge to attack the man hard to resist, but the choice was taken out of his hands as his fellow Taichou disappeared in a flash of Shunpo.


Ichigo sighed and finishing off his remaining paperwork, rocking on the back legs of his chair as he stared out of the window, being a Third Seat was far less exciting than he'd first imagined. Nothing really happened that required his involvement, save for if things go too heated in the training ring between some of Division Six's Shinigami. He'd waded in more than once to break up a training session gone wrong.

Working with Aizen, he'd always been doing something. It was besides the point, that half of that had been extra curricular to his actual duties, it had kept him active; interested and it had kept his senses sharp.

His eyebrows raised slightly as a Hell Butterfly fluttered through the open window, and he held out his finger for it to perch on, listening to its message curiously. Kuchiki Taichou was summoning him to his office. It sounded serious, had the man finally decided to try and question him further about his involvement with Aizen?

Mind momentarily drifting back to his earlier conversation with Grimmjow, Ichigo frowned slightly and got to his feet, slinging his Zanpakutō over his back. He locked the door on his way out and walked the short distance to his Taichou's office, he could already sense his reiatsu coming from inside. It was surprising how quickly he had familiarised himself with the nobleman's reiatsu, had he not it would still be almost impossible to sense him without concentrating.

He knocked curtly, entering when he was called, Ichigo found Byakuya stood in front of two empty Gigai, he slid the door shut behind himself and padded further into the room, "Taichou, you requested my presence?"

"Yes..." The noble refused to turn around and face him, inhaling softly as he considered how to deal with the implications Aizen had made about Ichigo.

"Is there a problem?"

Turning sharply, Byakuya shook his head, "No. However, I have a mission in the World of the Living and I request you join me for it. We will be using these Gigai. Prepare yourself, we leave in five minutes."

"The World of the Living?" Ichigo repeated, bemused by the turn of events.

"That is correct."

The strawberry haired male swallowed hard, five minutes wasn't enough time for him to inform Aizen of this development, and he was sure his Taichou knew that. Clenching his teeth, Ichigo walked forwards and examined the Gigai he would be using, he'd never been in one before. Rukia and Renji both described a feeling of overwhelming tightness and reduced flexibility, which lessened with time, but was never truly gone.

He looked sideways, "Why me, and not Renji?"

"Because that is my order." The man replied coldly, refusing to even return his glance.

Ichigo hesitated at the man's behaviour towards him, and truly began to wonder what had happened to create such a shift. Even after their talk in the bathhouse, the suggestion that he was a traitor working for Aizen, they'd talked normally everyday, without tension and without aggravation. But now... He was dealing with the renown cold shoulder of Byakuya Kuchiki.

He had a bad feeling about this mission.