Raw.

...

"...Well, judging by your laughter, I take it you won't heed any advice I have to offer you?" Mayuri questioned me passively.

"Probably not." I snorted, letting out a slight sigh before I turned towards the somewhat bemused Kisuke. "Look, Clogs-" His bemused expression turned into slight exasperation. "-If you don't wanna come with, you don't gotta." I shrugged. "It's just my opinion that it'd work out a lot better to take an extra set of eyes with me."

He mulled over my words for a moment before he let out a sigh and started scratching at the back of his head. "I'll be straight up with you..." Urahara paused for a brief moment to close and reopen his eyes.

Words I never thought I'd hear out of him.

No kidding.

Huh, guess me and you can agree on something.

It's you and I.

Hm?

You and I, not me and you. Aizen clarified with a slight feeling of exasperation. I think that was it.

I... Do... Are you really trying to correct my grammar?

A helpless endeavor, I know.

Now you just sound like my old teachers-

"I'll admit, I am-" Urahara's voice quickly brought me out of my musing, my gaze taking in the troubled expression on his face. "-very much curious to see this plan of yours through and..." He took in a deep breath and let it out. "And while every part of me thinks it's a bad idea," He snorted. "My instincts are telling me to go through with it." A serious look quickly filled his face. "And they've gotten me this far so," He shrugged, an easy-going smile filling his face. "Screw it, I am on board."

"Huh." I deadpanned in response. "Not gonna lie, listening to your instincts has thrown you into some deep shit, are you sure?"

He twitched at me. "Do you want my help or not?"

I locked eyes with him. "I need Urahara Kisuke's help," I remarked pointedly. "I need the Kisuke who does what's best for Kisuke." Something flashed across his face at that, a wary look quickly following it. "The one that was willing to throw a young girl under an execution block for his own needs." The wary look was replaced by a passive, albeit pained, one- Though that might've been because Byakuya's aura seemed to fill the room the slightest bit, though Yamamoto's presence meant he didn't do anything stupid with said aura. "If I wanted a tag-along who agreed with everything I said, I'd take someone else." I snorted.

The look on his face turned bemused again at that- Said bemusement filling almost every captain around me, barring Mayuri at any rate.

Mayuri for some reason looked the slightest bit, worried.

It wasn't long before another voice cut into the silence that had filled the room.

"Former Captain Urahara, I can understand." Unohana Retsu started speaking. "His... ill-defined expertise can certainly be put to use in unknown territory. His history, at least the trial he'd set against you in the past, allows him an unbiased view, which for any shinigami in over their head, can certainly be helpful." The woman shrugged easily. "However, Captain Ichimaru Gin is another matter." Confusion filled the woman's face as she said those words, her gaze searching my own for something. "Urahara can be explained." She remarked carefully. "But Ichimaru is... The man's... hatred for you is visible for anyone to see, Captain Aizen. His inclusion is... Surprising." She tilted her head at me, a slight smile building up on her face. "If this were truly the path to success, one can't help but wonder at the kind of success you're looking for."

"Is there a question there?" I snorted, shrugging at her.

Her smile disappeared, as slight confusion seemed to fill her for some reason. For a brief moment, the woman had elected to appraise the other captains in the room before focusing back on me. "I've seen many things, Captain Aizen," The smile returned to her face. "But nothing quite like you." She paused for a moment. "A man who could so easily forgive those who wished death or worse upon him..." Her eyes widened the slightest bit. "Such a being would be considered merciful... Yet, in my eyes, such a man could be called nothing but crazy... Insanity hidden under the pretext of innocence..."

I let a smile grow on my face.

She has no fucking idea!

...Arguably. Innocent is a rather strong word to describe you.

Did you just admit to being insane?

...Aizen?

"And I can't help but wonder if such insanity doesn't merely wish to send his known enemies to a never before seen land, for a chance to get rid of them." She pushed a strand of her hair behind her head. "It would certainly, given the evidence you've so far collected, be a grand twist..." She snorted- It was only then I noticed the annoyed look on Yamamoto's face as she stared at her, before giving me an... Apologetic one?

Weird.

"-Why, none here would even question it." She scoffed. "I've seen many, many eyes. I have witnessed every facet of what a person can be, and you confuse me more than any other."

I didn't let the smile on my face dim and instead held them on hers. "Is there a question there, Captain Unohana?"

She let out a sigh at that. "Yes, will you allow me to join your expedition?"

"Nope." I instantly remarked.

Hell no. Bitch was cray-cray with a capital scale.

"Why?" She immediately rebutted. "A medic is often found necessary amongst danger, and Hell by any possible definition is dangerous, is it not?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "Perhaps you may live to tell the tale, but I very much doubt Urahara and Ichimaru could find themselves so lucky-"

"Please," I scoffed, interrupting her. "You're as likely to kill them yourself."

"Not untrue," The woman had the audacity to say. "If not me, then perhaps a shinigami from my-"

I let out a groan. "Look," I cut her off. "I get what you're trying to say- But I don't think anyone really understands why I want Dumb and Dumber with me."

Urahara's wary face turned into a twitch at that.

I idly pointed a thumb at him. "Dumb over here, no matter what will always do what's best for himself. While Dumber's only motivation seems to be to kill me, regardless of the fact the world will end." I sighed. "I don't need a medic with me, because they won't require one as long as they can keep their goals aligned with their own." I idly started tapping at the table. "I don't need someone willing to die for me, or for my sake." I shrugged. "I need people who will do anything to prioritize themselves first." I idly looked back toward Mayuri's face and held in the urge to smile at the sheer look of irritation on his face.

Sure, everyone else looked irritated too- Well, it was between bemusement, wariness, and in Shunsui's case slight dread, but Mayuri definitely was ruffled for a different reason.

"Captain Aizen," Unohana remarked thinly. "That has to be the worst requirement to look for." The woman added on, annoyed. "You are making this far more difficult for yourself, than need be- Urahara might, might, be willing to help you, but Ichimaru Gin will likely go out of his way to try-"

"That's exactly what I need."

"Why!?" The woman questioned, barely keeping her voice level as she stood up, her hands on the table. "Captain Ukitake. Shunsui. Hitsugaya. Kuchiki. Kanami." She listed the names off in tandem. "All would be better placed to help you succeed. All would be willing to do what is absolutely necessary-"

"And all of them would find themselves rejected by Hell." I cut her off, earning a surprised look. "Hell doesn't deal in loyalty, Unohana." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Hell deals in identity. Any cooperation will be fought against with impunity."

I didn't need to look at Mayuri to notice the slight dread on his face.

"...Captain Aizen." Yamamoto eventually elected to break the silence as he turned a wary look at me. "...This is sounding more and more like a fools-"

"It is." I shrugged. "But it's the only one that'll work." He took in a breath at that, and for a moment just set on appraising me, rather thinly at that.

"What do you mean?" I found the question coming from one of the aforementioned captains- Shunsui at that. When I opened my mouth to answer, Urahara surprisingly beat me to it.

"Compromised." The man seemed about to shake his head for a moment. "It means you're all compromised." At the sudden focus on himself, the man quickly elaborated. "The Soul King can change the future." He sighed, slacking into his chair at one of the ends of the table. "...None of us have been to Hell yet... Hell isn't set in stone, yet." He swept a hand through his hair. "Hell can literally be anything for all we know... And throwing in Captains willing to die for one another will probably find themselves making that choice quickly."

"Ditto," I muttered. "The more variables there are, the better." I shrugged.

"Aizen," Ukitake quickly turned his attention towards me at that. "Even knowing that... A few variables aren't going to help you beat infinity."

"Whatchu talking about?" I deadpanned, earning a frown from him.

"The Soul King can see every future. To the point he..." He bit his lips. "To the point, even a memory of him managed to... Do what it did." His gaze swiveled around the room. "We were all there..." He paused and took in a deep breath before an uncomfortable look swept through him. "...Captain Kurotsuchi might be right in that we are rushing this- There's no need to-"

"I meant about the infinity part." I pointed out, cutting him off. "So what if he can see every reality?" I rolled my eyes. "I don't gotta beat all of them. I don't gotta beat infinity, I just gotta beat zero."

Confusion filled the white-haired man at that.

"Zero?"

"Yeah," I idly remarked, waving a hand. "Thing is, the Soul King can see everything- He can see every which way the timeline goes..." I chuckled, slowly turning my gaze toward the utterly uncomfortable clown captain in the room. "Do you know what scares a being capable of setting in stone the perfect reality?" I chuckled. "The idea that he can be wrong... The idea that he can lose. And if he can lose in one timeline, he can lose in all of them." I turned away from the calming captain who was slowly reaching into his pocket for a device he'd definitely not had with him beforehand.

The past version of him had evidently changed again.

"...Would he not simply change the future?" Ukitake questioned at that, still worried for some reason as he idly scratched at his chest. "If he were to-"

Urahara, thankfully, seemed to get my hint however as his eyes widened.

"Of course..." A smile rapidly filled his face. "Of course!" The man remarked standing up from his seat. "He can't!" He exclaimed. "He can't change the future! The moment he does... He admits to losing!" His gaze zeroed in on me, a strange look on his face. "That's your plan! You're not trying to beat the Soul King, you're just trying to make him miserable enough to give up!"

I idly watched as Mayuri's passive face twitched again as he slowly put whatever device he'd been about to bring out, back into his pocket.

"Two for two, Kisuke, I am starting to think you might actually make it out alive!" I grinned, which after a brief moment of staring at me for my words, the man just let out a sigh.

At the confirmation of that... Well.

"Huh." Shunsui finally broke his own silence as an amused expression slowly filled his face. "If that's actually your plan..." He snorted. "Yeah, we might actually have a shot." The man deadpanned. "You're very good at that."

"I know right? I deserve a fuckin' medal."

"But where does your plan for Hell play into this?" Unohana elected to question, her face impassive. "That... Still-" She sighed, closed her eyes, and reopened them. "That doesn't explain what you actually intend to do there. You say the danger of the Balance itself is Hell correct?"

I nodded.

"Then the Soul King needs not to change anything." She remarked pointedly. "Should you push him, then there's nothing stopping him from simply releasing Hell as intended." She blinked once. "Taking Urahara and Ichimaru with that in mind makes even less sense. You need power, not brains."

"If I wanted power, I'd take Zaraki." I deadpanned, earning the fucker's attention as I watched him slowly open his eyes from his nap. "Or well, the Captain Commander." I shrugged. "Both of them technically apply as variables- Yama' certainly wouldn't think twice about the greater good of all, even if it meant sacrificing me for it."

The old man had the audacity to nod at me for that one.

"Then?" Unohana raised an eyebrow at me.

"Well, if I took them with me, they'd just start swinging on the sight of the first resident there."

He nodded at that one too, though he at least decided to say something this time. "And I take it that's bad?"

"Well, it's certainly not fair." My answer seemed to surprise him and really annoy Mayuri again, given the twitch on his face. "Most of 'em are innocent."

"...Come again?" Urahara deadpanned at that one. "Did you just call Hell's residents innocent?"

"Most of the first ones were." At the confusion around me, I elected to clarify what I meant. "You know? The ones that were dug under the rug before the Soul King split the world into three?"

The confusion around me... Didn't really change at that- Though Urahara took in a deep breath and closed his eyes before muttering 'not again' to himself for some reason.

"Okay, yall clearly need a history lesson." I sighed. "Alright, first of all, does anyone here really know why the shinigami and quincy don't get along? And literally never have?" I questioned.

"They threat-" Hitsugaya chose to speak up when no one else seemed willing to.

"Nope." I immediately cut off Hitsugaya's words, earning an affronted look out of the brave little shit. "Back when there was only one world, the whole reincarnation shtick didn't really exist." I pointed out which quickly led the younger-looking captain to realize why no one else had said anything- I think? I mean besides Zaraki who'd immediately started spacing out when he realized it wasn't a trip for murder, death, and avoiding taxes.

...

Urahara at that frowned. "Really? What do you mean really exist?" He asked warily. "There was no reincarnation back then at all, that's what..." He paused, locking eyes with me as he did before he crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. "...That Bankai of yours really is something, huh?" He feigned a chuckle. "How much do you know about history exactly?"

I smiled at that. "Enough to know that, back then, when a human died, they almost always became a hollow." No one seemed to be surprised by that- Even if some were at least unnerved. "...I also know that given quincies are human themselves... Someone eventually figured out how to stop a Hollow... The odds inevitably mean that eventually, a human that turned into a hollow would find themselves before a Quincy who just didn't have it in them to kill their loved one... Or maybe their friend? Maybe they were siblings? It doesn't really matter. " I chuckled. "What does matter is that they were very surprised to watch that Hollow they just filled with merciful shots, turn into a Shinigami."

After a brief moment of processing my words, I watched as dread and shock filled Urahara, Unohana, and Shunsui's faces.

I raised a finger and made a rolling motion with it. "Human. Hollow. Shinigami." I raised an eyebrow at the end. "Of course, shinigami didn't need a lucky to purify a soul..." I sighed and shook my head. "No, they just needed to find hollows to purify... And well, if life expectancy is short, to begin with..? Did it really matter if a human happened to die a little earlier? Surely, a single death for a potential weapon against hollow kind, a potential shinigami was worth it?" My gaze settled on the once again passive look of the clown scientist in the room.

"...They let the humans die?"

I wasn't sure who asked that question, I just nodded at them.

"Quincies- Well, humans, on the other hand, didn't really like that all that much when they realized it so they decided to take that option away. The fewer shinigami in the world, the less callous fools who would endanger them for their own needs." I sighed again. "It's easy to deal with an enemy of pure instinct... It's a lot harder if that enemy has a brain, so they made it a tradition to destroy a hollow entirely should they come across it." I paused for a moment, idly tilting my head as I stared at the utterly mundane ceiling.

For a room designated for a captain's meeting, it was oddly simplistic in design now that I thought about it.

"A shadow war, on two fronts... With hollows in the middle." I sighed. "It was inevitable that a shinigami and a quincy would find themselves on the same field." I paused for a moment as I slowly looked back down towards the crowd of captains staring at me in a strange light, disgust barely hidden from their faces yet... Unable to turn their heads away- Even Zaraki was paying attention.

"It was inevitable that a shinigami would find themselves killed." I took in a deep breath. "Only thing was... Unlike the hollows, their souls weren't destroyed." I clicked my teeth. "Maybe it was a mercy, or maybe the Quincy just couldn't destroy a shinigami like a hollow... Either way, their souls weren't destroyed. Even if their bodies were."

I slowly turned a look towards a resigned Kisuke- The man clearly having already realized where I was going with this. "What do you think happened to them?" I questioned him. "Without a reincarnation system in place... What do you think happened to their souls?"

"...Nothing," Urahara answered with a heavy frown on his face.

"Nothing. They didn't transform into something else... No. Once a shinigami died back then, the only thing that you could was bury them." I paused for a brief moment again, my voice turning slightly raspy for some reason. "One corpse makes a grave... A thousand makes a cemetery... Hundreds of thousands make a pit..." I slowly scoured my gaze across the rest of the captains, taking in the seriousness in their eyes. The shock they tried to hide from their faces. The disgust and dread they couldn't keep in. "And millions make a realm."

I took in a breather, and idly leaned my head on a hand I pulled up against the chair's armrest.

"The Soul King was originally human, he grew up amongst them. Amongst their fear." I remarked idly. "Do you really think he bothered to check any of those graves? Do you really think he would've cared to know if all of them deserved their fate? Or do you think he lumped every shinigami together, along with the same fools that betrayed him? That enacted his rules without a thought? And all because it was seen as some twisted form of tradition." I scoffed.

I turned to lock eyes with Mayuri's unbothered face. The clown has changed once again, ever so slightly, with no one else the wiser.

"When I said I came back to save everyone... I meant it." I turned from Mayuri's indifferent face, towards Unohana's... utterly unhinged look of... I dunno what that was supposed to be, but it was making me hella uncomfortable. "...Now do me a favor and get me the fuckin' moron that wants to kill me here so we can go on a fucking adventure down to hell."

...

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