Chapter 1: Back Home
As Ichigo had finally saved her friend Rukia, Aizen made his intentions known to everyone as he and the two other traitors were leaving. He was going to change the soul society by getting rid of them. Ichigo watched from the ground as he looked straight at her and for a very brief moment, flashed her a genuine smile that she couldn't figure out.
"I will see you again, Ichigo Kurosaki." He said in that arrogant tone again, almost as if to put on a mask of some sorts.
Ichigo looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. The others noticed her sudden look and were starting to get a collective worried look. They focused their attention back on Aizen and his two cohorts as they went inside the tear in the sky. The tear disappeared and everyone was left to be healed and regroup for an impending war in the future.
A few days later, Ichigo was still in the squad four barracks resting yet again. After what happened on the Sokyoku hill with Aizen, Ichigo had been immediately put into care by the soul society. When Unohana checked her wound that Aizen had delivered to her, she found that Aizen had intentionally missed every vital area in her body. When Unohana found that, she gave a look to Isane to report this in while she stayed to heal Ichigo.
Ichigo was looking out the window to the bright skies of the Seireitei, wondering when she could leave and get back to her family. She stretched herself out while on the bed and turned back to the window only to see a familiar, pineapple headed friend appear there.
"Hey Ichigo." Renji said nearly causing her to jump off the bed and potentially reopen her wounds.
"Dammit Renji! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Ichigo yelled at him.
Renji waved his hands to her comically. "Sorry bout that, didn't mean to startle you. Just checking on you."
Ichigo huffed at him. "I was doin fine until you showed up."
Renji watched her lay back down on the bed, her long orange hair sprawled out across the bed. He blushed when she stretched again and some of her chest had been exposed. He looked away when her gaze came back to him.
"What's up? Why's the red pineapple turning red?" Ichigo said in a joking manner, unaware that she was nearly exposed to him.
"Nothing." Renji said, quickly remembering exactly why he was here. "So other than that, do you know when you're gonna be released and able to head back to your home?"
Ichigo sighed at the question. "In about another day or so. I so can't wait to head home and rest in my own bed again."
"So, are you gonna be training to get stronger then?" He asked her.
Ichigo scoffed at him and laid down again. "Gonna have to. That Aizen beat me so easily. No way am I gonna let that happen again."
"That's good to know." Renji started. "I can tell ya this, we're all gonna need to be stronger when this war starts."
Ichigo looked back over to Renji with a slight confused look as to why he just told her the obvious. Before she could say anything though, a hell butterfly came down and landed on Renji's finger. He listened to the message and sighed in annoyance.
"Sorry Ichigo, duty calls.'' He started before sending the butterfly away. "You get better now. See ya around." And before she could ask anything, he was gone.
"Just when I had someone to finally talk to." She said in frustration as she laid down on the bed again.
After several hours of just lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, Ichigo was dozing off as the sun was going down. As she was starting to fall asleep, a pair of yellow eyes was watching her from atop a tree. Yoruichi was in her cat form watching Ichigo. When the orange haired girl finally fell asleep, Yoruichi sighed and hopped off the tree and onto one of the roofs of a low building. She started to walk away from the building before stopping and turning back to the opened window.
"Good to know nothing happened today." She started in her male voice. "Lets just hope that it stays that way when we head back in the morning." And with that, Yoruichi left and walked along the rooftops to get back to her room at squad two.
The Next Morning, Senkaimon Gate
It was finally time for the group to head back home now. After almost a month in the Seireitei, and seeing that the real was more powerful than any of them, they were eager to get back and start training for the upcoming war.
"Alright, finally time to go home." Ichigo started as she stretched herself out. "Can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. Those squad two beds are very uncomfortable." The group was heading through then Senkaimon when a familiar voice stopped Ichigo.
"Actually Ichigo." Ukitake started as he went to her holding something wrapped in cloth towards her.
"Captain Ukitake." Ichigo started. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to give you this before you left." He undid the cloth to show a badge with a skull symbol on the front of it.
Ichigo looked at it intently before asking the obvious question. "What is it?"
"This is the substitute soul reaper combat pass." Ukitake started with a smile. "It recognizes the wielder as an asset to the soul society and an official substitute soul reaper. You can now operate within the world of the living with this and enter your soul form with it as well."
"Wow." Ichigo said as she took the pass from Ukitake and held it for a moment. "Thanks. This'll help out a lot when I don't have Kon or Rukia to help me out."
With that, Ichigo bowed to the captain and went through. When the Senkaimon closed, Ukitake sighed in relief before coughing.
After Ichigo got the pass and went through the Senkaimon, she rejoined her friends as they went through the Dangai. They went back to Karakura town only to find themselves falling from the sky. Just as fast as they were falling, something snagged them and stopped their violent descent.
"Well, glad to see you all just drop in again." Kisuke started with a laugh and his fan drawn. "So, how was the trip?"
He was caught by a fist to the face by Ichigo. "Do you have any idea how stupid that is!?" She yelled at him.
"Shoulda seen that coming." Jinta said with a grin.
The rest of the flight back to the shop was done in a pretty entertaining way as Ichigo just kept punching Kisuke in the face. By the time they actually got to the shop, Kisuke's face was covered in bruises.
After everyone left the shop to head on home, Kisuke and Yoruichi started having a talk about Aizen and his potential plans.
"What do you mean he spoke to Ichigo specifically?" Kisuke asked his oldest friend as she changed to her normal form.
"I mean just what I meant Kisuke." Yoruichi started as she started getting her clothes from a close drawer. "Aizen singled everybody else out and focused solely on Ichigo. I don't like this, Kisuke." She said as she stopped sifting through the clothes to think for a second.
"Aizen is a very calculative man. If he has some kind of plan centered around Ichigo, then we need to take extra precautions with her." Kisuke said in a serious tone, remembering just what Aizen did to get him and Tessai exiled from the soul society.
"Alright, I'll inform Ichigo tomorrow of what we have for her." Yoruichi said as she put on a shirt.
"No." Kisuke started in his serious tone again. This got her attention and she looked at her friend with a dumbfounded look. "From what you told me, Ichigo has no idea that Aizen might use her for his plans. She's already on edge from her recent encounter with him and the fact that she was told that he intentionally missed all her vital organs. If we tell her that he wants to use her for some sort of plan, then she might push herself to the point that she breaks from the pressure completely. And that hollow inside her takes over, permanently."
Yoruichi opened her mouth to argue, but found that she couldn't argue with Kisuke's logic. Ichigo pushed herself heard when fighting Byakuya and even strained herself to fight Aizen, if she was told about his plans, then she probably would do something dangerous to herself. Yoruichi sighed in defeat, knowing her friend had a point about her student.
"Then what should we do?" She asked him.
"We need to keep an eye on her." Kisuke started while looking her in her golden eyes. "Aizen will come at her in some sort of way in the coming weeks, so we need to set things up tomorrow. We'll have to keep Ichigo safe from him until she's ready."
Yoruichi nodded and dreaded just what Kisuke had in mind to keep Ichigo 'safe'.
An Hour Later, Ichigo's Room
"Man, it feels too damn good to be back in my own bed." Ichigo said as she laid down on her bed and pulled the sheets over herself. Just like that, she was fast asleep.
As Ichigo was sleeping, a tear in the sky outside her window opened up a few hours later. Inside it was Aizen with his old soul reaper clothes still on and wearing some kind of glowing band around his right wrist. He looked inside the window at a sleeping Ichigo and smiled softly st her. He slowly opened the window and went inside, making sure he didn't wake her just yet. When he was situated in her room, he looked around and sighed.
"Same room as before." Aizen whispered.
He saw the combat pass on her desk and immediately scowled. He held his left hand to it and it was now encased in a dark purple box.
"The nerve of them." He whispered again, this time with a hint of rage in his voice.
He turned back to Ichigo and the rage changed to calm. He waved his hand around the room and it was now in the same purple box. With them both inside it, Aizen took a deep breath and hoped that she would listen to him and accept hearing the truth. He went over to Ichigo and shook her gently.
"Ichigo. Ichigo, wake up." Aizen said in a soft voice.
Ichigo began to stir and lazily opened up her eyes. Everything was too fuzzy for her to see the figure standing over her. Noticing the dark hair, Ichigo assumed that it was Karin, waking her up for some important reason, but when her eyes adjusted, she saw to her own horror, the man that defeated her almost effortlessly.
"YOU!" Ichigo shouted out as she rose out of the bed only to stumble down to the floor. When she was down on the ground, Aizen grabbed her gently by the arm only for her to react and jerk away from him. She reached for her combat pass only to see it in some kind of purple box.
"My combat pass." Ichigo said as she started to panic at the possibility of what Aizen might do to her or her family.
Aizen moved closer to her slowly and his response was Ichigo moving away from him and backing herself into her closet door by accident. "Ichigo." He started as he reached toward her with his hand.
"Stay back!" Ichigo yelled at him. "Don't touch me!"
Ichigo was full panic mode. Her enemy that nearly cut her in half was in her room not even a day after she came back home. And he made sure she couldn't use her combat pass to at least attempt to defend herself. As she started panicking, she could feel that steady creeping feeling just like when she fought Byakuya on the hill. Her hollow was trying to take over from her increased panic and growing dread. Aizen noticed this and saw that she closed her eyes to accept her inevitable fate.
After several seconds of nothing, Ichigo opened her eyes and looked at Aizen. She was shocked to see a genuine smile across his face and was even more confused when he brought her into a warm hug. She stood there and didn't react, but she did calm down now from how warm and soft he was. This couldn't be the same guy that she attacked only a few days ago. Was this some kind of ploy or some kind of trick? She was told that his zanpakuto can control someone's entire senses, but the man in front of her didn't feel like an illusion. He was real, and he was really hugging her. She felt comfortable in his arms and at peace as she wrapped her own arms around him as well.
"Ichigo." Aizen started, breaking her out of her trance. "I've waited so long to see you for who you really are. Not a soul reaper, just a normal girl not tied down to any laws or endless rules. Free."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked as former captain let her go. His warmth left her but he was still very close to her. She got a very good look at his face without the glasses and noticed that he looked very handsome up close. The closeness was enough to make her blush.
"I see the name really suits you." Aizen said with a chuckle.
"Ichigo shook her head and pushed him away, remembering that this man was her enemy. "What are you doing here? And what did you do to my room and combat pass?"
"You mean their tracker and suppressor?" Aizen said, earning a confused looked from the orangette. "I take it by now they told you that the pass makes you an asset to them and the soul society, correct?" He received a nod. "That's a lie Ichigo. They're using it to track your every move and suppress your spirit energy when you're in soul form."
"That can't be right." Ichigo said with wide eyes as she looked back at the pass then back to Aizen as he got closer to her again. "They wouldn't do that. Would they?"
"Ichigo.'' Aizen started while caressing her cheek. This caused her to look back into his eyes and feel that same comfort from before. "I'm going to tell you something important about the soul society, and I need you to trust and believe what I'm saying to you. Can you do that?"
"You tried to kill me." Ichigo started as she tried her hardest not to fall for whatever he was trying to do. "You're my enemy. Why should I trust you?"
"I may be a lot of things Ichigo, but I am not your enemy." Aizen started with another warm smile that eased her down. "I had no intention of hurting you that day. You were the one who attack me and I had to keep up my facade to them. I tried at least, but they most likely saw through that and gave you that pass to monitor you at all times. Keeping you on leash and denying you your freedom."
"No!" Ichigo yelled at his face. "You're lying just to get inside my head and get me on your side are you?"
"Have you ever wondered why you hadn't seen or had any interaction with a hollow until Masaki died?" Aizen said, knowing that he struck a nerve by mentioning Ichigo's mother. "I made a promise to her when she lost her powers, to protect you from anything that would cause you harm. I made sure that no one knew of me doing this back in the soul society, and for a long time, I was protecting you from the shadows. Until that night."
Aizen hung his head in shame from her. He glimpsed back up to Ichigo to see her looking at him with a concerned look on her face. She couldn't believe just what she had heard come from the rouges mouth, and she had to know if it was true.
"Did you know that Grand Fisher would-" She was cut off by his finger on her lips.
"I knew, but my greatest failure was informing the head captain. I assume that knowing that it was Grand Fisher would make him assemble some kind of force to finally end that hollow. But when I told him he was attacking Masaki, a Quincy, he stopped and forced me not to get involved. I'm so sorry Ichigo." Aizen finished.
Ichigo couldn't believe it. Her mother was a Quincy? Aizen knew about Grand Fisher and tried to stop it? The head captain knew this whole time and did nothing? Why was this all happening to her now after all these years?
"Tell me Ichigo." Aizen got her attention and continued. "Did the soul society look like anything Rukia Kuchiki told you about?"
"What?" Ichigo asked, still shocked at hearing everything.
"She told you that the soul society is the epitome of peace and prosperity did she not?" Aizen got a nod from her. "Did you ever see that while you were fighting a battle crazed maniac of a captain? Or seeing a man who would love nothing more than to dissect a person, live or dead? Or the man who would kill his own sister that he knows is innocent based on what he's been ordered to do? Or the old man that has more blood on his hands than everyone in the soul society? Even captain Unohana, the peaceful healer, used to be just like Zaraki back then. So tell me Ichigo, is that place truly as peaceful as you were told?"
Ichigo couldn't answer and simply stammered at the man.
"The only reason they even stopped attacking you is because they found someone else to fight. Me." Aizen started again. "They want me stopped not because of what they told you which I'm assuming is destruction. I wish to bring about change to the soul society. For centuries the status quo has been the same and absolutely nothing has changed. Soul reapers and hollows still battle each other in a never ending struggle for the illusion of control and dominance. Why? Because they're afraid of change. They're afraid of freedom. They're afraid of they're way being obsolete."
"But, you killed people. Why?" Ichigo asked as she started to understand.
"I only killed the men who would order that status quo to stay the same. That doesn't mean that thirteen court guard squad won't just replace them and do everything they can to cling on to their old way and continue the cycle." Aizen smiled at her once more and raised her head with his hand so he could look in her brown eyes once more. "I wish to break that cycle, forever."
"Why tell me all of this?" Ichigo asked as she blushed again at the closeness of his face to hers.
"Because I don't want you to get hurt and lied to by them again." Aizen whispered to her right before he kissed her on the lips.
Ichigo was shocked by this sudden move, but quickly got lost tin his passionate and warm kiss. It was her first kiss and it was done by her supposed enemy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her in response. They continued this for several seconds before breaking for air. Ichigo looked deep into Aizen's eyes and could tell that he just cares about her.
"By now, Kisuke is probably thinking of ways to monitor you without your knowing." Aizen started, earning a sigh from Ichigo. "I know you have every reason not to trust me Ichigo. I'm sorry I couldn't save Masaki and I'm sorry I hurt you, but I don't want you to suffer with them. I know you love your family and I would never take you away from them, but." He broke away from her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a purple bracelet with a blue center in it and placed it on her right wrist. "When you get all the answers from their reactions and mannerisms toward you, the choice to leave is completely in your hands. I'll always be waiting for you, Ichigo."
With that, Aizen let her go and opened another tear in the room. He stepped in but before it closed, he whispered to her.
"Always."
Ichigo was left in her room, confused, cold, and alone now. She looked at te bracelet on her wrist now and wondered just how she was going to get answers from everyone else. The box around her room and pass broke apart and she looked at the pass for a moment before deciding to get her answers in the morning.
"Is he really right about them?" Ichigo thought as she curled up in her sheets. "Were they really just going to control me to stop him from changing everything?"
That's It For The Actual First Chapter. Hope You Guys Like It And Are Gonna Be Okay With A FemIchigoXAizen Pairing, Cause That's What I'm Gonna Be Writing.
This Story Concept Comes From A Combination Of Others Works:
Dream Invader By Whackybiscuit
Betrayal And Unexpected Allies By NekoPantera
Those Are Really Great Stories Ya'll Should Check Out.
Anyway, If You Like This Chapter Then Favorite And Follow To Keep Up With The Story. I Have Gotten An OC Character From Someone For This Story And I'm Accepting OC Characters, Arrancar And Soul Reaper Alike, From You Guys.
I'm Also Doing Request Bleach Stories As Long As It Doesn't Involve The Last Arc From The Manga, I Didn't Nor Will I Read It.
You Guys Are Awesome, And As Always,
Stay Sexy Out There, PEACE!