"Very well Kurosaki Ichigo." Aizen's voiced echoed throughout his cell. "Please explain to me what sort of information you received from my Zanpakuto during our battle." He shuffled in his seat as much as his bonds would allow him and fixed the boy with an unwavering gaze. "I am most interested in hearing what you have to say." Ichigo didn't back down from those cold, emotionless eyes. Instead, he gave a small laugh and did his best to return the immortal Shinigami's stare with as confident a grin as possible. "I don't think I'm the right person to tell you what I saw." He shook his head. "To be honest, I'm still having trouble making sense of it myself. That's partly why I came down here." Without turning, Ichigo suddenly posed a question to Komamura, who was watching the two other men confusedly.
"Komamura-san." Ichigo asked, his back to the wolf. "When Yoruichi-san was training me to achieve Bankai, she said there was a way to pull your Zanpakuto spirit into the material world. How?" Behind him, Ichigo heard Komamura let out a small start from being addressed so suddenly and asked such an odd question. "Ah. Kurosaki-san... what you're referring to is the opposite of Jinzen. It's a simple enough technique to explain, but actually performing it is another matter entirely. You must have achieved perfect harmony with your Zanpakuto, as you're quite literally pulling them into a world where they are not meant to be. Only the most advanced Shiniga-"
Ichigo waved his hand and swiveled his neck to look at Komamura with one eye. "I just need to know how to do it Komamura-san. Trust me." The Captain blinked at the air of confidence the boy seemed to exude. "Very well then. As I said, this is the opposite of performing Jinzen. Instead of letting your mind relax and your spirit wander, allowing the Zanpakuto spirit to pull you into their world, you must instead do the opposite; focus your reiatsu and pour it into your very soul, then, when you have accumulated enough power, reach into your inner world and forcibly pull your Zanpakuto into this realm. What you'll have then is a manifestation of your blade's spirit comprised of your own reiatsu that can exist so long as you can afford to put forth that energy into it's body. But it's a trickly process Kurosaki-san, you're bringing something into this world that does not belong, it is likely the spirit will resist." Ichigo nodded. He hadn't needed to hear anything after Komamura's explanation on what he needed to do, nor had he needed the man's warning that the Zanpakuto would not likely wish to be pulled from the haven of Ichigo's soul that it called home, he had felt something, almost as though a hand was reaching out to him from inside of him, that had confirmed his beliefs that he could do it. Zangetsu wanted this as badly as he did.
Closing his eyes for a moment to find that one hand in the torrent of power that was his soul, he concentrated his power as best he could, and, for lack of a better word, pulled. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that it had worked, Komamura's gasp and Aizen's light chuckle were all the confirmation he needed. "K-Kurosaki-san...!" Komamura breathed. "Is... is this your...?" Across from the wolfman, a tall figure draped in a black cloak and sporting a transparent visor nodded, unsmiling, before turning to the Ex-Captain seated in the center of the room. "Yeah." Ichigo said, giving the stunned Shinigami a wide grin and a thumbsup. "That's Zangetsu-no-ossan. See Komamura-san, I told you I could do it." He turned from the still shocked Captain and joined his Zanpakuto in facing Aizen, who was admiring the spirit with an appraising eye. "This is a rather solid manifestation for a first attempt." Aizen observed. "I admit I am impressed Kurosaki Ichigo, though certaintly not surprised. You have always shown great potential."
Zangetsu's eyes locked with Aizen's for a moment, and then, adopting an almost sorrowful expression, the spirit spoke at last. "I have been hoping to get a chance to speak with you, Aizen Sousuke. It's been over a year since I last saw you in the heat of battle." His saddened look deepened. "I had not ever experienced a pain as raw as the kind your blade exuded, not even from Zaraki Kenpachi." Aizen continued to watch the spirit for a few seconds, his smirk still plastered on his face, before answering. "Pain? From Kyoka Suigetsu? I assure you I am not ignorant to my own Zanpakuto's power, quite unlike Zaraki Kenpachi. I have had centuries to develop the bond with my blade, and not until the Hogyoku deemed its existance unneccessary for the time being did I finally view it as disposable." Ichigo watched Zangetsu closely, he had replaced his look of sorrow for one of something Ichigo couldn't quite place his finger on. Was it pity?
"I know. I was not commenting on your lack of synchronization with it. In fact, I was speaking of how strong of a bond you had formed with Kyoka Suigetsu, for it to radiant such powerful emotion." Ichigo was now sure that that was pity in his Zanpakuto's eyes. "Isolation. Misery. Anger. This was what I felt when my world clashed with yours Aizen." Aizen had even stopped blinking now, all of his attention directed at the spirit. Zangetsu let out a sad sigh before continuing. "As I'm sure you know Aizen, a Zanpakuto's inner world is a reflection of the wielder's deepest and most powerful emotions. Just as my world rains when Ichigo feels only despair or remains dry when he is sure of himself, so too was Kyoka Suigetsu's world racked with loneliness, lust, sorrow and anger, for it's owner knew nothing but those very emotions for so long." Zangetsu shook his head sadly. "So strong were these feelings, that even Ichigo, who experienced them indirectly through me, was able to determine what they were."
After Zangetsu had said his piece, Aizen closed his eyes momentarily, seeming to gather his thoughts. Ichigo had noted that during all of his Zanpakuto's speech, Aizen's eyes had grown colder and colder, as though he withdrawing from the world itself. "An interesting assessment, blade of Kurosaki Ichigo. Alas, it is an incorrect one. I have not once felt anything resembling isolation or sorrow. All I have known is ambition. Ambition to change the world I saw around me, the world that was seemingly falling apart before my very eyes. Your words are unfounded." Aizen's eyes shone maliciously as they met Zangetu's. "I am afraid that, without proof, you cannot ever hope to stake any worth in these claims."
At this, to everyone's outward surprise except Aizen's, Zangetsu laughed. "I have proof Aizen." In response to the single eyebrow Aizen had raised at this statement, Zangetsu reached behind his empty back, and the bladed form of himself manifested in his hand, which he drew. "Ichigo." The spirit called, causing his owner to give a start and turn to him. "Y-yeah?" The orange-haired boy asked, eyeing his Spirit's weapon hesitantly, as the visored man turned to address him. "I want you to concentrate on me, the version of me that exists inside of you. Do not allow yourself to become distracted, as I will be the only thing keeping your soul tethered to your body, but I think this is important for you to see. You might not understand at first what is happening, but whatever you do, do not falter in your strength." Zangetsu smiled slightly as he repeated a phrase Ichigo had heard him utter before. "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate."
Ichigo gulped loudly and nodded. "A-alright Zangetsu-no-ossan. I'll do whatever you say." He watched as Zangetsu approached Aizen, pointing the cleaver that constituted Ichigo's Shikai at the center of the immortal man's chest, right at the Hogyoku. "Now Ichigo. Allow yourself to latch onto my very essence!" Ichigo had just enough time to see Zangetsu plunge the sword into Aizen's chest before he had closed his eyes and reached out for Zangetsu, who had grasped him immediately in return. He heard a sound as though he were being led through a waterfall, and when he opened his eyes he was greeted by a sight that nearly caused him to break the promise he had made to keep his concentration on Zangetsu.
Ichigo and Zangetsu were in Karakura Town, or rather what Karakura Town had looked like over a year ago on the day of Aizen and Ichigo's fated battle, watching the longer-haired, silent Ichigo do battle with the clearly outclassed Aizen, the Hogyoku shining in the demigod's chest and a massive pair of wings sprouting from his back. Unlike the scene Ichigo remembered in his head from that day, however, a constant wail was erupting from Aizen's blade, it's cry growing stronger by the second. "Watch carefully Ichigo. This was your battle as I saw it." As present-Ichigo watched past-Ichigo swing his sword, he noticed Aizen was rapidly falling back to defense, and at last instead of dodging, the Ex-Captain blocked Zangetsu with his own blade.
CLANG.
The scene immediately changed. They were in Soul Society, or at least what Ichigo assumed to be Soul Society. It was nighttime and raining outside of the filthy hovel he and Zangetsu found themselves in, but before he got a good chance to take a look at his surroundings, a repressed sob turned his attention to a nearby corner. There, in the darkness, Ichigo could just barely make out three figures, two lying on the ground and one bending overtop them. Approaching them to get a closer look, Ichigo gasped. The crouching figure was a tiny boy, not older than 3, clutching a bloodied blade. His mousy brown hair and frail-looking figure matched almost exactly the smaller of the two individuals lying on the ground, though it seemed to be a girl instead of a boy. "Sousuke..." The tiny child let out with a cry. "Why...?" The little boy shuddered and extended a quivering hand to the girl. "I-I'm... I c-couldn't c-control myself..." He said shakily, but the girl's eyes had gone blank before the boy's hand had reached her. The other figure, an adult woman, watched the boy with anger in her eyes. "Sousuke. Y-You're nothing more than a m-monster." The woman coughed, blood erupting from her mouth, before continuing with the last of her energy. "To h-have such... p-power... You s-shall... always... be... a... monster..." The woman's eyes, too, glazed over, death taking her. The little boy screamed, reiatsu seemed to suffocate the surrounding area, and the house began to crumble. Before Ichigo could watch anymore, however, the sound of two blades clashing rang out again.
CLANG.
The scene shifted once more. Now a bespectacled child, no older than Yuzu Ichigo gathered, wearing the white-and-red robes signifying a Shinigami-in-Training and their class, was sitting at a table in a library. "The Shinigami Academy." Zangetsu stated beside his owner. Seemingly right on queue, three more white-robed young men walked through the doorway, though Ichigo could see that despite apparently belonging to the same class as Aizen, these three were easily twice his age. At the sound of feet approaching, Aizen looked up, and the boys, who seemingly had not noticed the other boy in the room until now, assumed horrified expressions. Quickly scattering throughout the shelves, Aizen watched them with an almost bitter expression on his face before turning back to the scroll he had been reading. As he read, Ichigo saw Aizen's eyes light up and a gasp escape his lips before quickly shutting the scroll and rising from his seat. Walking over behind him to get a closer look, Ichigo was able to make out the words on the outside of the tattered scroll before, once again, that familiar sound erupted from nowhere. 'THE ROYAL REALM.' Ichigo assumed that the battle raging in Karakura Town had temporarily heightened, as the next few glimpses he caught of his surrounding quickly changed in rapid succession.
CLANG.
Aizen, now garbed in the full dress of a proper Shinigami Academy graduate and looking to be roughly Ichigo's age, was shivering madly, his face hidden by his hands. Scattered about him in his room were several other scrolls the same style as the one Ichigo had seen the child Aizen holding from before. Zangetsu pointed to a particularly old one before the scene evaporated before them. 'REPORT ON THE SOUL KING - CLASSIFIED'. There was blood on the edge. Aizen looked up, his shaking suddenly ceasing, his expression set, perhaps for the first time in his life, into that horrible smirk.
CLANG.
Aizen, wearing a badge emblazoned with the 5th Division's symbol, was scribbling calmly on a long sheet of paper, beside him sat the Hogyoku glowing, inactive, on the table. Watching it greedily, he picked it up and let out an almost insane bark of laughter before heading out into the night air. Ichigo knew Shinji wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.
CLANG.
They were watching the aftermath of Aizen's Captaincy ceremony. The slightly older-looking Aizen watched the large group of observing Shinigami clapping for him with feigned embarassment, waving at them all nervously. For a fraction of a second, Ichigo watched confusion flit across Aizen's features as he regarded the audience praising him and shouting kind words. No sooner had that look appeared on Aizen's face however before it was once again replaced by his act of sheepish gratitude.
CLANG.
Aizen was seated on a cushion in his home, the window outside displaying a view of Soul Society at night. Behind him, Momo was fast asleep in his bed. Aizen finished writing his farewell note to Momo and turned to look at a picture on the table. Picking it up, Ichigo saw it was in fact a photograph of Aizen and many of the various Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13, apparently celebrating what looked to be Aizen's birthday from a previous year. As he looked at it silently, Aizen's hand slowly began to tighten on the frame, his expression unreadable until, at last, the photo shattered in his hand and fell to the floor in pieces. Looking at it for a few more moments, Aizen let out a soft laugh, shaking his head, and rose to leave the building.
CLANG.
The last memory Ichigo caught a glimpse of showed Aizen in Hueco Mundo, his appearance changed to display the slicked-back hair and white uniform he had worn after his betrayal. Seated at a long table with him was a man Ichigo had recognized as the Espada who had retrieved Inoue from him when she had tried to heal Kenpachi after his battle with the 5th Espada, who seemed to be speaking to Aizen about a very personal matter. Aizen, wearing his usual expression of bored amusement, nodded once before gesturing to the door, which Starrk apparently took to mean that their conversation had come to an end and left immediately. As the Primera turned out of Aizen's sight, the Ex-Captain assumed a thoughtful expression, mouthing a single word. 'Loneliness...'.
Instead of another clang ringing out around them, Ichigo and Zangetsu experienced a loud shattering noise, as if a pane of glass had been broken nearby. Ichigo watched Tensa Zangetsu and a bright figure comprised of what looked to be shards of some kind of reflective material standing in an empty space. The figure spoke, an ambiguous voice sounding from it. "Help us...". The spirit of Ichigo's Bankai merely nodded and closed it's eyes. A high-pitched scream erupted from the heavens above them, and Ichigo knew that Aizen had finally begun to evolve into his final form. The shining figure exploded, it's shout joining Aizen's, and Zangetsu gripped Ichigo's shoulder and pulled.
Opening his eyes and panting heavily, Ichigo felt Komamura's hands grip his shoulders to steady him. "Kurosaki-san! Are you alright?" Ichigo groaned. "What happened?" He heard Komamura making a thoughtful noise. "When your Zanpakuto stabbed Aizen you two seemed to convulse for a moment before going limp, then after a minute or so you suddenly rose and shouted something so slurred I could not make it out. Are you sure you are fit to stand?" Ichigo turned, sweating, to look at the Captain. "I'm fine Komamura-san. Really." Komamura looked unsure about Ichigo's words, but nodded anyway and released his grip on the Substitute Shinigami. Ichigo nodded appreciatively, and noticing Zangetsu was no longer with him, turned to face Aizen. What Ichigo witnessed momentarily stunned him into silence.
Aizen was frowning, his eyes shone with raw anger, yet the way his face contorted made Ichigo think of a man in deep pain. "Aizen..." Ichigo began, but Aizen shook his head, cutting him off. "Fabrications." Almost instantly, the emotion Aizen had been displaying vanished, replaced by his usual smug smirk. "None of what you witnessed was the truth Kurosaki Ichigo, and what you did see was either taken entirely out of context or warped by your Zanpakuto's false impression of me." He fixed Ichigo with a firm stare. "I think that I have spoken with you enough this day Ryoka boy. You may leave." Ichigo glared at Aizen, fury welling up within him.
"You're just going to blow me off like that?! If anything, that just proves what I saw was the truth!" Ichigo stamped his foot and took a step closer to the imprisoned Shinigami. "Why can't you admit it Aizen?! Why?!" He shook his head furiously. "You weren't alone! When you were a Captain you had friends! Why did you leave them?! You were happy, even if you didn't want to admit it!" Aizen only stared expressionlessly at the boy in response, and Ichigo grunted in frustration, ready to begin shouting again before Komamura walked past him. "Kurosaki-san, as much as it pains me to admit it, I actually happen to agree with Aizen on this. I think you two have spoken enough." The wolf began to re-wrap Aizen's bonds around his head. "You have had your fun today Aizen. I hope you enjoyed it, for only 20,000 years of solitude await you." Aizen merely grinned one last time at the two of them before his mouth was covered.
Ichigo watched the Captain step back to admire his work, assuring himself that Aizen was completely bound before turning his attention to the boy. "You lost your temper it seems Kurosaki-san." He said simply, and Ichigo looked at the ground abashed. "I tried my best Komamura-san... I did. But... he just won't admit it, he can't be honest with himself, it's infuriating!" He punched the wall with his hand as he made his way to the exit, and, walking through the doorway into the hall, heard Komamura reseal the door. "I understand Kurosaki-san. But allowing yourself to become irritated by him is exactly what Aizen wants. It is best to put this whole experience behind you." Ichigo nodded, grateful Komamura did not pry into the meaning of his words. "Yeah. Okay. I guess I should get back home Komamura-san. Let's go." And with that, the two Shinigami made their way back up to the surface of Soul Society, content to journey on in simple silence.
Through his bindings Aizen heard the door to his cell shut, and let out a small, muffled laugh. The foolish boy had not changed a bit, he was as easy to manipulate as he had always been. Closing his eyes, he searched through his soul to find what he was looking for, ignoring the regular pulsing of the Hogyoku occupying a portion of his being. Finding the occupant of his crowded essence at long last, Aizen dove gracefully into his inner world for what he felt was the thousandth time.
Landing lightly atop the surface of an endless lake, the moon shining brightly in the sky, Aizen took in his surroundings. He seemed to be alone, but he had traveled to this place enough times to know to never trust his own eyes, which like his body, were not bound in this world. "That was an interesting experience." Aizen called into the night air. "Even I was unaware you could create illusions to fool a fellow Zanpakuto, and one that had never even seen my release at that." At his words, the water before him rippled, and several fragments of what seemed to be glass rose to the surface of the lake. The pieces began to coalesce into a body, and after a brief moment Aizen was standing before an exact replica of himself, except this Aizen seemed to be female; it displayed a distinct hourglass figure, softer features and longer hair.
Aizen chuckled delightedly before his Zanpakuto's spirit. "You always choose such amusing forms... Kyoka Suigetsu."