Glaring with an animosity that would scare most men, Nanao pulled at the cuffs half heartedly, not bothering to grimace at the chafing of the silver. Aizen was not most men. His hands were toying with his sword, creating random illusions with a bored expression on his face. "Would you stop glaring at me?" He asked with an arched eyebrow though his mockingly disapproving look was soon replaced with a slow smile. Voice slow and steady, his face smooth as he turned the sword to reflect his face, Aizen cast an analyzing look, his eyes cold and bright,
"You know, I've always wondered about the human mind," Aizen mused. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, they flashed back open as he smiled,
"And here's my perfect chance." Aizen said just as the door swung open to collide with the wall with a slam. Standing there was Shunsui Kyouraku, eyes fervent and his body heaving with each breath that he took.
Hope and despair fought for dominance in her unfocused eyes as a quiet, familiar voice reached her ears,
"Nanao-Chan?" Fighting tears as she opened her mouth to reply, a much too loud splatter was heard as the red registered in Nanao's blurry sight. Her heart shattered as she lunged forward, the silver cuffs yanking at her hands again as her sight blurred even further with tears. Incomprehensible words spilled from her mouth as she screamed, her rage and sadness .
"Well this WILL be interesting." Aizen's voice commented with a hint of amusement in his brittle, cold voice. The pink blur disappeared as Nanao's eyes widened, tears spilling over astonished eyes that slowly turned to the man who lounged on his throne, a sword reflecting a contemplating look when the door slammed open again, revealing an identical Shunsui Kyouraku. Her eyes widened as tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks as the scene was replayed. Soon, pain had been replaced by a vacant stare that absorbed it without any realization.
"Now we can't have this now can we?" Aizen muttered, exerting his will to continue the illusions as he left the room, the definite click of the lock doing nothing to shake her from her own mind.
Stealing…err, "borrowing" a small boat from the harbor, Kyouraku convinced himself that he would return it by morning…if he was still alive. Shaking his head, he admonished himself, what was wrong with him? Usually he was the optimist, a thought came to him as he gave a hard bark of laughter. Maybe it was the situation. Glancing upwards at the small flag that snapped and waved in the night breeze, he cursed out, uncaring about the people he could be waking. It seemed even the gods were against him, it would take a lot longer with the wind blowing like this, it was slanting the wrong direction for maximum speed.
"Damn it!" He muttered under his breath, his hands going through the familiar actions of unfurling the sail. Pulling the rope taut, he raised his wakizashi, mentally apologizing for sending it through the menial task as he sliced through the salt hardened rope. Directing the sail of the sailboat, he looked at the larger boat that was beginning to disappear in the distance, the moon illuminating the ocean.
"Just wait a bit longer." He said just as the boat began to move, pushed on by the wind, letting them drift just a little closer.
Tending to Ukitake with his ill timed sickness, along with her two other patients, all of them on the edge of critical and her own tools being her own two hands, the bare necessities that came from a first aid kid and whatever could be found in the room, her outlook was bleak. Further problems were added as guards began to wake, the sound of groaning filling the hallways. Looking up with what seemed like a flash of brief fear, Unohana drew her rarely used katana as she waited for the guards to enter the room.
"Ah, hello gentleman." Spoke a somewhat familiar voice as the twin thuds of bodies hitting the floor replaced the groans. Clacking in on his sandals, she found the two familiar figures once more.
"Yoruichi-San, Urahara-san."
Anchoring the small boat he borrowed to the much larger boat, Kyouraku climbed up the edge, finding the smooth sides of the ship close to impossible to climb up. Gritting his teeth, his fingers clenching the tiny cracks that he had purchase in and continued to climb. Unable to hold on for long, he slung an arm over the railing, past caring about any guards that could have seen him and clambered onto the deck…and he was immediately greeted by a hulking guard.
Dressed in what seemed expensive armor that would protect him from nearly everything short of a cannon, his weapon of choice was a broadsword that could possibly cleave Kyouraku's head from his shoulders. Ducking, the sword slicing the air inches above his head, he aimed low, the hilt of his sword driving into a literal chink in the armor. Gasping for breath, the hired man crouched over, hand releasing the sword and wrapping around his stomach as Kyouraku hit the exposed base of his neck and effectively knocked him out cold. The stomp of metal boots hitting the wooden deck approached as Kyouraku practically growled,
"I don't have time for this!" He muttered under his breath, drawing his wakizashi while waiting for the steady stomp of boots to reach him. Aizen looked up from his dinner, hand gripping a wine glass raised lazily to his lips. Languidly swallowing, he arched a skeptical eyebrow,
"My, my I wonder what mouse has come to play?" He asked, setting down the glass lightly, red wine gleaming dully in the candlelight as he began to eat, unconcerned by the thuds of bodies and the stomp of armored feet. Panting with exertion from the seemingly endless numbers of men that attacked him from all sides, Kyouraku looked around desperately to find an escape from the army of faceless men, his eyes haunted at the amount of red which leaked onto the floor. Seeing a staircase that led to the upper decks, Kyouraku fought his way over, eyes lost in the masses of bloodshed as his feet climbed up the stairs mechanically. Taking in the new surroundings, his eye was caught by one of the only areas of interest,
"That could work." He muttered his eyes gaining a spark before sheathing both swords and leaping past the swarms of guards to grab the wheel which guided the ship. Smiling happily in a bright moment of absolute mirth as one of the guards looked at him uncertainly,
"What are you doing?" Blocking an attempt at slicing him in two, Kyouraku took a tight grip on the railing before spinning the wheel with a flick of his hand. Giving a panicked expression as the boat first slowly and then quickly began to tilt. Several of the guards slipping over the rail, Kyouraku darted through the panicking throngs to slip in through the door left ajar. Sighing in relief, the young man that had called out earlier stared woefully at his stinging fingers before looking around. Where did the intruder go?!
Looking up dully, the newly dead Kyouraku laying in the pool of blood which had begun in the room, Nanao showed a flash of alarm as the room tipped to the side. Flying off to slam into a wall, Nanao flinched, her eyes flickered and registered the pain before dissolving once more into numbness.
Room flipping to the side and drops of wine flying from his glass, Aizen stared at the dots of red on the tablecloth with an odd, detached interest before carefully setting down the glass after draining it. Soundlessly standing up and pressing his thumb to the gem which lay imbedded in the hilt of his sword, Aizen gave a slight, nearly imperceptible nod to the clone that suddenly appeared next to him. Disappearing from sight as the door slammed open to splinters of wood as it broke in revealing a pissed off Kyouraku Shunsui, swords already drawn and not at all sorry about the broken door.
"You. You're the one that took Nanao." A smile sprouted across the cloned Aizen as he spoke, his chin tilting up to look down upon the tall man.
"And what are you planning to do about it?"
Lifting her head to stare at the confusedly at the red stain that was being bleached from the gray ground, Nanao's eyes flickered with a form of light as she looked around the bare room, the red stains slowly disappearing. Struggling to sit up, hands still constrained behind her back, Nanao looked around the empty room, her eyes turning to stare at the closed door. Eyes falling shut and head falling back to rest on the wall behind her, she waited for the door to slam open once more, revealing something, anything to end the fragile silence which remained in the room.
"I'm going to beat you and take Nanao with me." A raised eyebrow greeted the whispered statement, as the fake Aizen twirled his sword around errantly, handling it with a blatant ease and disregard as he replied, smile stretching out on his face.
"Simple plan isn't it?" Aizen asked mockingly, darting forward to appear right behind Kyouraku, eyes containing a glint of an unknown something.
"How could it go wrong?" He whispered quietly, laughing when Kyouraku lashed back, his katana driving through the space that Aizen once stood in. Sweat beginning to bead on his forehead, Kyouraku's body began to tense, eyes falling shut while he waited for the whisper of clothing that would speak of Aizen moving in the small room. Lashing out at the slightest sound, he shattered the empty glass which stood on the table, sending shards of glass throughout the room. "Damn you!" Kyouraku snarled in a lost moment of anger, his eyes boring into Aizen's as he perched in his seat, pouring himself some more wine into a new glass. Taking a sip from the glass, he dodged the sword that came flying at his head, letting it crash into the glass, throwing it to the ground, allowing shattered glass and splattered wine to litter the floor. Looking at the stain which spread across the ground with utter disdain, Aizen turned an identical look to Kyouraku that clearly said for him to clean up the mess he made. Fists tightening around the hilt of his sword, he forced his eyes closed, and trained his ears once more, hoping that it'd work.
He lashed out. An arch of blood splattered on the wall. A body hit the ground.
Kyouraku slumped against the wall, his breaths coming out heavier, clothes soaked in blood, and sweat running down in rivulets.
"So he managed to get a hit in?" He murmured in a strained whisper that belied the pain he felt from the knife that was embedded in his shoulder. His eyes sharpened and then dulled in an attempt to shake off the pain that emanated from the wound before he turned to the door, feet stumbling a few times, leaving a single body lying in the room behind him.
Nanao's ears picked up the gentle clicking of the door that would mean another vision to torture her with. Head tucking into her chest where she couldn't see the Kyouraku which would walk in, her voice came out in a monotone, all fight disappearing from her eyes,
"Don't bother. You're just going to die aren't you?" She asked, her voice broken and eyes refusing to look up in a final, minuscule act of defiance. She didn't hear any footsteps, did Aizen hear her? Was it a final act of mercy? A weak laugh broke from her lips, Aizen? Mercy? Those words certainly didn't belong in the same sentence. Kyouraku froze at the words which came from the slumped body in the center of the room. What did she mean? He approached cautiously, his pain momentarily forgotten as he stopped once more at the half deranged laugh that came from the body.
"Nanao?" He called out quietly, the barest trace of fear running beneath the single emotionally charged name. Nanao just smiled a smile that showed her tired and broken body and mind and managed a quiet 'Yes?' before falling unconscious.
Days passed after Kyouraku and Nanao made it off the ship, Nanao carefully held in Kyouarku's arms and his body slumping under the relief which threatened to show itself in the tears that would eventually start flowing. He almost made it to the shoreline before falling unconscious from the pain from pulling at the ropes, the knife now thrown to the floor of the boat, blood running freely from the wound in his shoulder. The two were found be Unohana and a slightly weakened Ukitake in the morning, just as the boat entered the harbor.
It took a week for both to heal enough to wake up. Soon though it had to happen.
Gin woke slowly, his head a haze of painkillers and dulled pain. He hated when this happened, the feeling that he couldn't do anything and could see everything. Trying to move one of his fingers became a chore, a frown tugged at his lips, especially with that weight on his hand, what was it? Changing his attention to try and move his head, he couldn't do much other than roll his eyes down to try and catch a glimpse of the weight on his fingers. A glimpse of strawberry blonde hair let the frown disappear from his face to be replaced with a smile as he drifted back to sleep.
Both sat at a table, sipping at hot tea, the steam comforting after the stress. Ukitake enjoyed the way it soothed his throat even if it was only momentary, Unohana enjoyed the taste of her favorite tea, imported from Japan. Both were aware of the brushes with death that surrounded them, but both were also aware of how they were all alive right now and that was enough for now. Of course their happiness had something to do with the way their hands were intertwined beneath the table.
Eyes opening slowly, Nanao looked around her surroundings, expecting hard floors and blood coating said floors. Instead she found herself in a soft bed, warm light streaming in from the windows, curtains drawn back to let the sunlight through. Running her fingers across the bedspread, she couldn't help but think, was it all an illusion? Could Aizen be at work once more? It all felt so…so real though, how could it be fake? The door softly swung open just as she was reaching for her glasses which sat on the bedside table. Kyouraku stood there, bandage hidden under his loose clothing. Her fingers froze an inch away from the lenses, her eyes catching the now familiar figure. They stared at each other, each unable to say a word after seeing each other for the first time in weeks. Nanao's fingers closed around empty air, already preparing for the carnage she expected to happen. It was a good illusion. Nothing happened, time had remained frozen with Kyouraku in the center of it. Staring at him with a childishly confused expression on her face, Nanao reached out with a hand,
"Are you real?" Time returned to normal. Kyouraku moved forward to hug her, tears springing to both their eyes. She tried to wipe at them, but he wasn't letting her, just squeezing tighter, ignoring the protest that came from half healed injuries. They were both fine now.
"Well all's well that ends well?" Yoruichi asked, her tired eyes probing Urahara's hidden expression. Urahara looked up, removing his hat for once to lay it carefully on the table, his eyes averted from Yoruichi's. She stood, her arms crossing impatiently as a flare of irritation erupted in her eyes.
"What is it Kisuke? Everyone survived, we kept Gin and Rangiku alive with that prototype you had and Ukitake managed to stop coughing for a while with that experimental medicine that you had we're lucky that everyone's gotten through this alive!" She demanded, beginning to prowl around the room as if she were a cat. Finally looking up, Urahara smiled his customary grin before shaking his head, grabbing his hat and grabbing Yoruichi's arm to pull her closer,
"It's nothing."