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Chapter 3
=DA=
Part 1
=DA=
Meeting Hall
Division One barracks
Soul Society
Nearly half of the Captains were present, keenly observing Aizen's actions through a direct video feed provided by Captain Soi-Fon a the Stealth Force Squad she had with her while shadowing the Captain of the Fifth Division. What they saw was both reassuring and concerning. There were more than a few moments when the man they observed acted as the Aizen most of them knew – a nice, kind man, who was concerned about everyone around him. Yet, and there most certainly was a yet, as the night progressed, he showed more and more traits no one had seen him display before. While not exactly unthinkable, the idea that he had somehow recalled the previous existence of his soul in full made sense. It was logical. Someone messing up with the man's memories and Reiatsu could prompt such an awakening, especially combined with the gradually appearing signs he had been displaying for some time.
That was just it, for Captain-General Yamamoto, such a turn of events was very convenient and reassuring. Too convenient. For all they knew, Aizen was compromised at best, either by the infiltrator, whose body destroyed itself leaving no trace or by his regained memories. The short interrogation in Fourth Division's barracks was somewhat reassuring, yet the way Aizen acted now… If he was a thousand years younger, Yamamoto would have huffed. It was logical that a man like Sosuke Aizen would be unsettled against verdict leveled against Rukia Kuchiki. Along with Jushiro and Shunshui, he would be the most sympathetic. Next came the infant Toshiro Hitsugaya, followed by a number of Captains who could decide to support or oppose the government's decision on what lesser men would call a whim.
Naturally, there were those who would back Central 46's decisions no matter what, if for different reasons. Soi-Fon, who was now busy engaging a former friend, Byakua, who would do what he had to even if it would tear him from within, Komamura and Kaname. Ichimaru might do it because it was in his nature, and the Captain of the Twelfth, who was currently up to no good outside, well he simply didn't care.
Retsu Unohana, the former Kenpachi, the only one to live to retire into a more sedate division, well she had been officially neutral so far. In her case it depended if her bloodthirsty nature would rear its ugly head, in which case she would support the execution for obvious and wrong reasons, or if she would let the part of her that made her a great healer sway her into mercy, against for the wrong reasons.
In her case, it was more concerning the interest she showed Aizen, something like that hadn't happened in centuries, perhaps even longer. On that account, compromised or not, Yamamoto honestly pitied the young man. On the other hand, unleashing Unohana on him and standing aside might be for the best, one way or another doing so was likely to solve the Sosuke Aizen problem.
However, that was a medium to long term solution, which was an issue. Unless they heard from Central 46, the execution was to happen today at noon, in about ten hours or so in other words. In theory there was just enough time for a petition to make Central 46 reconsider their decision, which honestly might be for the best. All things considered, Yamamoto currently had bigger issues to deal with and it was always a waste to lose a promising Shinigami over politics.
It was just too bad that all the alternatives attempted in the past eventually became corrupted worse than any iteration of Central 46 has ever been…
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes at the projected skirmish happening not so far away. He was getting too old for this, he was missing things; things like the large cavern below the Executioner's hill, Yoruichi Shinoin's presence in Soul Society, which in turn meant that the Exile Urahara had his fingers all over this mess. Was this merely to stir up trouble or did he finally lose what little sense he had and decided to use infants as distraction so he could take vengeance against Gotei 13 and the government that exiled him? That answer made sense as well, Urahara was one of the few people capable of creating an infiltrator with the capabilities described by Captain Aizen. Either that or the intruder had a Zanpakuto with abilities the Second Division in general and the Stealth Force in particular would commit mass murder for.
Yet again, such a conclusion would be too neat, too convenient and real life was rarely so obliging. Coincidences did happen after all, they could be very useful.
Yamamoto learned nearly two thousand years ago to never trust them. That's why he remained silent, kept an ear to the quiet conversation of the gathered Captains and simply continued to observe. He needed more information before he could allow himself to act. Doing something rashly would likely cause more harm that good at this point, when he didn't know in whose hands he would play by doing so.
Then there was the matter of the young apparent leader of the human invaders, apparently the son of Isshin Shiba of all people and wasn't that another massive headache waiting to happen?
=DA=
Soul Society
As a rule of thumb, when Kurotsuchi of all Shinigami was up to no good, you either had to run away screaming without looking back and hope for the best, or run in the direction of the trouble in case you had the power and skill to do something about it. Leaving the Captain of the Twelfth Division without adult supervision for any meaningful amount of time was never a good idea. He was somehow worse than Zash on a bad day and that was saying something.
The moment we arrived above the ravaged stairway leading towards the buildings below the Executioner's hill, it immediately became obvious that an intervention was a very good idea. I didn't particularly care about the Quincy boy trying to murder the clown for good, I actually wished the lad luck. However, those two fools putting a precious asset like Orihime in danger, that was unacceptable.
"Momo, retrieve and protect the girl." I nodded at the red-haired teenager wearing standard Shinigami outfit cowering on the edge of the battlefield. "I'll deal with those two." I pointed an index finger at each bloody idiot and sent a Byakurai apiece at them. Two bolts of condensed lighting struck from my finger tips and slammed into the ground, making the Quincy and Kurotsuchi jump back and glare at me.
A moment later I landed in between them and offered them a smile that held no trace of Aizen's usual kindness.
"Kurotsuchi, Quincy boy, explain yourselves." I demanded harshly.
My tone alone was enough to give a pause to our resident mad scientist. The teenager on the other hand glared balefully at me and had the sheet temerity to point his bow at me. I shook my head and Flash Stepped at more or less normal combat speed, which when in Bankai was just below Yoruichi. Facing her or Soi-Fon with their mastery of the art would force me to push my body to its current limits, even if it should be doable even without mind-fuckery courtesy of Kyoka Suigetsu.
The boy did shoot a stream of arrows my way, which conveniently forced Kurotsuchi back. The Quincy, Ishida, did jump back as fast as he could in order to keep the distance between us open, however he simply wasn't fast enough. A Geki saw him paralyzed, which allowed me to pluck away his bow and gauntlet with ease, leaving him more or less harmless.
"Carriage of thunder, bridge of spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six." I sub-vocalized.
In the next moment, I was in front of a glowering Kurotsuchi who was muttering something about finally getting to vivisect another Quincy, thus giving me another Zash vibe. Nope, not going there. I slammed the spell into him, freezing him in place for a few moments.
"I'll be dealing with the invaders personally, Captain Kurotsuchi. Don't you have some cute fluffy animals to torture or something? Or perhaps you should find a way to improve the barrier protecting the heart of Soul Society against further intrusions?" I sneered at the bastard and moved away, picking up the paralyzed Quincy, before grabbing the girls and heading for my barracks. The intruders should be more or less safe in my detention cells for the time being.
=DA=
Part 2
=DA=
Detention center
Fifth Division Barracks
Soul Society
Surprisingly enough, my brand new Quincy prisoner didn't know all the vital information about the equipment he was using. Like that niffy gauntlet of his – those artifacts were old, dating to the Shinigami-Quincy war a thousand years ago, which while before my time was extensively documented. After all, at my rank it was no secret that we didn't actually wipe out all the Quincies worldwide, just the great majority of them. There were a few smaller groups scattered here and there left, who had two notable distinctions – they didn't go out of their way to destroy Hollows and more importantly, they were well, small and thus didn't attract enough Hollows to become a problem. Some of them scattered, other died for various reasons, couple had to be exterminated when they either went all vengeance hungry, like Ishida over there, behind the bars, and a few simply lived their lives and died peacefully eventually becoming nothing more than myth and legend.
And my mind was again going off on tangents, I had to do something about that before it distracted me in the wrong moment and I got myself skewered or worse. Where was I? That gauntlet, yeah. I rolled it over in my hand and shook my head chidingly at the Quincy.
"You know, lad, your ancestors weren't fools. While this was their trump card, a way to even the odds even against Bankai, the damn thing could be removed without activating, obviously. Otherwise if damaged or yanked off during combat not of your own volition, it could have unpleasant repercussions.
Ishida said nothing and just kept glowering murderously at me. Orihime on the other hand? She wasn't in the cell with him, instead, she was upstairs with Momo having a snack. Subverting and utterly confusing kids, it was too easy really, not that I was going to complain…
"So what were you thinking, coming here? While rescuing your friend is a commendable, given your nature and the hatred that you reek of, I somehow doubt that was the real reason. You just wanted an excuse to kill some Shinigami, perhaps the opportunity to go out in a blaze of glory, hm?" I studied him carefully.
Really, it could be either way with him. I didn't really know much about the boy. As far as Aizen was concerned, he was merely a regular Quincy, while very rare, perhaps the last of his kind, really nothing of interest or so my still chumming memories suggested.
What and how Ishida was supposed to be, my old memories were decidedly unhelpful on that front, an all too common event.
All the answer I got was more glowering. "Fine, be like that, you can cool off over there." I shrugged and went to stash the Quincy weapons in a secure locker in my office before meeting with Orihime. I had plans for the girl, both in Soul Society and Hueko Mundo. One of the possible outcome of my current gambit was only partially deflecting the blame for Aizen's past actions, in which case there was still the option of presenting myself as a misguided fanatic who did everything for the sake of Soul Society. That might buy me some lenience and most importantly time, especially if turned up to help during certain potential fuck ups. I could vaguely remember two events in the future that would put Soul Society over the barrel – a major fuck up of Kurotsuchi that would bury a large chunk of the place with something resembling Reiatsu infused clay, the other was a Zanpakuto rebellion.
If nothing else, being helpful when those happened would help shake the confidence and resolve of a lot of people.
I found that I've acted on auto-pilot as I sealed the container with Kido and shook my head. Those episodes weren't a good sign. It was too bad that I won't be getting any rest for the time being. I sighed and went to the mess hall, which was mostly empty. There were only ten of my people drinking tea or having a late night snack, Momo and Orihime included. I found my Lieutenant in the far corner, talking animatedly with the young human and both were giggling over something. I got myself a snack as well as a cup of boiling tea and went to join the girls.
"You two are all right, I take it?" I asked as I made myself comfortable.
"I'm fine Captain!" Hinamori chirped. "Orihime here is as well as one could expect."
"Good. Now Ms Orihime, I understand that you have a very curious power, that you can reject?" I cut straight to the chase. "I'm afraid that the way things are going, your friend Rukia might need your specific talents as well as one dear friend of mine. If my suspicious are correct, you can help heal Captain Ukitake. He has been suffering of a rather unpleasant disease for the longest time."
Orihime's eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "I'll do my best!" She declared.
It was very rare to meet someone this innocent.
"That's great. I'll appreciate it and I'm sure that Gotei 13 will as well. I'm sure you'll do it with no strings attached…" I paused as she nodded again, not only that but she seemed offended that we might require to reward, or even pay her for her talents, "however, doing so would help a lot when the time comes for you and your friends to answer for your… shenanigans. I won't lie to you. While your intentions are noble, you did attack Gotei 13 in what was practically an act of war. There are dozens of wounded Shinigami being treated at Fourth Division, and the material damage…" I offered a pained expression. "It's significant. As if that wasn't enough, someone is using, perhaps even engineered your invasion to use it as a distraction."
Momo blanched at that and I nodded at her, prompting her to explain.
"It's true." Hinamori muttered in a small voice. "Someone used the chaos to sneak all the way here tonight and attack Captain Aizen." She said with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "It was an infiltrator who looked just like him, and while Captain Aizen managed to dispatch him," Momo growled, "we all saw the body and thought the worst."
"What we're telling you," I spoke gently, "Is that there are going to be consequences for what your group did." Especially if I managed to avoid taking responsibility for my past self's crimes. In that case, in predictable fashion people will need someone else to blame… Tosen might fit the bill by himself, but that was the best case scenario – something I didn't dare hope would actually happen.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Orihime whispered. "Why did you have to sentence Rukia to death?" She asked accusingly.
"An excellent question. I wish to know the answer as well and if I manage to put and end of this invasion of yours fast enough, I might just have enough time to do something about this mess through the proper channels." I grimaced. "Even if my past efforts were less than successful. Just think about it. I'll speak with Jushiro and Captain Unohana, our best medic so we can schedule something as soon as practical." I finished and dug into my snack, merely observing the girls speaking.
My primary objectives for tonight were complete. I met the most important humans who came to visit, planted seeds which if nurtured properly might turn them to my side, caused a lot of chaos and uncertainty, and most importantly, bought time for Aria to do her magic.
=DA=
Meeting Hall
Division One barracks
Soul Society
"I can't say that I expected this…" Shunsui murmured with a smile, while his eyes glanced speculatively between the little human girl and Jushiro.
"Speak with Captain Unohana." Yamamoto spoke for the first time since they began observing Aizen's shenanigans.
"What about Aizen attacking Captain Kurotsuchi?" Komamura growled from below his helmet.
"He did stop the fighting and prevented further collateral damage, took the invaders into custody…" Shunsui pointed out. "I wonder if he's interested in the girl or if he's playing matchmaker between her and his lovely Lieutenant…" He stated in his inimitable fashion.
"Most people aren't you, my friend." Ukitake pointed out. "Besides, as you said, Ms Orihime is a little girl, both by ours and even human standards." His friend chided gently.
"Fine, be that way. Neither of you has even a drop of romance in your souls." Shunsui bemoaned. "Neither appreciation for the finer things in life, generally speaking." He pouted.
"You're laying it a bit thick tonight. Did your Lieutenant violently refuse your advances again?" Ukitake smirked.
"I'm getting closer, I know it!"
"Keep dreaming."
A loud sigh that came from Yamamoto put an end to the friendly bickering.