Author's Note: andIJDC guessed the right characters.
I don't own Bleach or Aladdin
Chapter Four
The Love Interest and Evil Plots
Hueco Mundo's royalty is not in fact, that. Shinigami assigned to work in the world of hollows are considered part of a fourteenth squad. The captain of the squad rules over Las Noches. In joke, someone said that the captain was like a sultan, since his word was law, and the title stuck.
.
The palace was quite peaceful. There were soft sounds of water coming in from the garden, a pleasant smell of cooking, and above it all, the sky dome shined a brilliant blue.
Sitting comfortably in his chair the Sultan was blissfully ignoring his duties. Yes, it was a wonderful day.
A door slamming open shattered the peace.
"I've had it!" A red-haired shinigami raged, storming through the throne room, he passed the Sultan.
"Ah, Renji, how did it go?" He asked casually.
"Despicable! Not only did that dragon bite me, but no way am I going to marry a girl that's barely 17!"
The Sultan raised an eyebrow, he saw no bite mark on the shinigami, but as Renji stomped away he suppressed a toothy grin at the color of the enraged man's underwear.
Once the shinigami was gone the Sultan placed his hands in his sleeves and headed towards the garden.
"Orihime, Oh Orihime!" The Sultan called as he reached the garden. But instead of finding Orihime he encountered a very angry looking young dragon.
"Hello Tatsuki." The Sultan said, patting the dragon on the head, "I see that you shooed off another suitor."
Tatsuki snorted in satisfaction.
A girl's voice come from the fountain in the dragon's defense, "Tatsuki was just playing with him." She then wrapped her arms around the dragon's head, her long red hair falling down to cover them, "You were just playing with that grumpy old shinigami." She said in a childish voice.
"Ahem," The Sultan interrupted the cuddly moment, and sat down on the edge of the fountain. He leaned back on his hands, making sure his long blond hair didn't get into the water.
The garden wasn't fancy by anyone's standards except Hueco Mundo's. It contained several imported flowers contained in pots and a single tree. But what made it fantastic to the people of Hueco Mundo was the fountain. It was one of the two sources of drinkable water in Hueco Mundo. An underground lake was the other
"Do I really have to marry someone just so they can become Sultan, Shinji-papa?" Orihime asked.
"It's the only way I can make sure you've taken care of when I am officially promoted." Shinji said, and then started to clean his ear with his pinky before continuing, "And anyone who manages to capture my sweet Orihime's heart is obviously worthy to become Sultan. So why not kill two birds with one stone?" He flicked the gunk of his finger.
Orihime got up and walked over to the only tree in the garden and stared up at its green foliage.
"I just don't like being forced into this." She explained, "Wouldn't having your vice-captain take over be the most logical idea?"
"Aizen?" Shinji seemed startled by this idea, "He has his hands full with the Arrancar Guard," then quieter he mentioned, "I don't trust him."
"Couldn't you find someone that can be Sultan and take care of me, without having to marry him?" Orihime said wistfully then turned around and walked towards the fountain. "It's just that I've never done anything on my own. I don't really have any friends besides Tatsuki and I've never even been outside the palace walls!" she exclaimed.
Shinji stood up and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to consol her. "You have to understand, it's dangerous outside of the palace. Not all the souls out there are friendly, not to mention a higher risk of getting attacked by a hollow."
"It has to be better than being locked up in here!" she protested, "Besides, you've told me that there is very little chance of breaking through the shield that protects Las Noches from hollows."
"You'll just have to trust that it's better in here than out there." He squeezed her shoulder once more and then left.
Orihime watched him go, and as she did, a plan began to form in her mind.
The Sultan was draped over his chair again. In one hand he held a white skull-like mask, while the other was propped under his chin. He seemed to be studying the mask intently.
"Orihime," he sighed, "What am I going to do with you?" Shinji looked up, "What do you think I should do Aizen?"
"You're asking me for family advice?" Aizen asked sardonically.
Neither seemed surprised at the sudden appearance of Aizen and his right hand man, or that Shinji had noticed them.
"Sure, why not." Shinji said apathetically.
"Well," Aizen paused as he seemed to consider something, "I know a certain type of kido that could help you find a person suitable for marrying your daughter."
"Then you should hop to it, I'm going to need all the help I can get on this."
"It's not so simple." Aizen continued, "I would require a powerful object to cast the spell, such as the hogyoku you bear."
"This old thing?" Shinji pulled on a chain around his neck, revealing a small black blob trapped in a thick crystal, "Are you sure you need it?"
"Most definitely." He assured.
"I don't know. it was given to me by a close friend."
The protest was true but was said to stall for time, Shinji was wondering what Aizen was really up to. He knew his vice-captain was planning something, but what? Why did he want the hogyoku? He was positive that helping him find a man for Orihime wasn't what Aizen really intended.
Shinji threw out some more protests, giving Aizen what he expected, while he thought. Eventually, his gaze slide past Aizen to the Arrancar Guard's second in command, Gin Ichimaru, leading his thoughts towards an often used train about the Arrancar. About how he always got a weird feeling about them, they looked like normal shinigami, but something just seemed off about them.
Tugging on the hogyoku's chain, Shinji dragged out his next words, "I guess you can use it, but I expect a man that's perfect for Orihime."
"I'll try my best." Aizen replied, but both of them knew that no such thing would happen.
The Sultan pulled the hougyoku off the necklace and handed it to Aizen. It was connected by a small contraption that his friend had also made.
A broad smile appeared on Aizen's face as he took the hougyoku out of Shinji's hands. "I thank you captain, for entrusting this task to me." He said then left, Gin gave a patronizing bow to the Sultan before following Aizen out.
What was that? Shinji frowned, for just a second he had gotten the same odd feeling from Aizen, like he wasn't seeing something correctly. Going over his memories of the conversation Shinji could find no reason why the odd feeling had appeared. The vice-captain looked like he always had, with his glasses and black shinigami uniform. Unconsciously, Shinji put the mask he was holding in front of his face. Why was he getting this odd feeling?
Outside of the royal chamber far from where anyone could hear, Aizen and Gin discussed what had just happened.
"Shinji sure is a suspicious person ain't he?" Gin stated.
"Of course, he would not be captain if he could not sense subterfuge going on under his nose" Aizen's voice sounded like he was lecturing a small child.
"If he doesn't trust you why give you the hougyoku?" Gin questioned.
"Because he does not know for sure what we are up to and if he refused to give to us it would plainly show his distrust. But it is unimportant." Aizen raised the hogyoku to eye level before continuing, "With this I am one step closer to taking over Hueco Mundo." Stuffing the hogyouku into his white robes the man walked away swiftly, "Come Gin, we have much work to do."
A few hours later, when everyone was resting, a hooded figure approached the wall that surrounded the palace.
Interestingly, the hooded figure appeared to be trying to leave the palace instead of entering it, and was pulling up a trapdoor hidden in the white sands when a dragon bit the end of their cloak, stopping them.
Turning abruptly the figure put their arms around the dragon in a hug. "I'm sorry Tatsuki!" the girl cried, "I just can't stay here, living like a doll!"
With a last farewell, dragon and princess parted.
