Chapter 2: Revival
"What's wrong?" Kisuke asked as he led his prisoner into the underground training room and nodded in the direction of the nearby hot spring, "You looked surprised for a moment, there."
"I was," Aizen confessed, "I would have thought that your first concern would not be my comfort, but attendance to your mission. You do, after all, concur with the council that I should be deprived of the hogyoku as soon as possible."
"Of course I do," Kisuke said evenly, "I just don't want to have to smell the stench of your unwashed body while I work on you."
"Hmmm, that makes sense," Aizen said, slipping out of his yukata and watching as Kisuke disrobed, then led him down into the bubbling water.
He sighed contentedly and slid down beneath the surface, eager to rid himself of the dust and filth, and the sticky leavings of his more recent attackers. He could feel Kisuke's grey eyes watching him as he surfaced and slowly washed away the grime, then stood and walked to one of the gentle waterfalls, where he washed his hair repeatedly until the stiffness and dullness gave way to its original softness and shine. When he was completely clean, he returned to the soaking area and sank down next to Kisuke, smirking slightly as he noticed an aggressiveness in his eyes and that he had shifted slightly to hide what the former taicho suspected was an impressive arousal.
"You have my gratitude," he said quietly, "Cleanliness might not seem important sometimes, but when one is deprived of it for a long time, he very much appreciates its return."
"No worries. Like I said, I didn't want to smell your stink. Feel free to spruce up when we're done here. I put your usual fragrance over there with some fresh clothes."
"To what do I owe the exceptional kindness?" the former taicho asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, "One might think that you had an ulterior motive. Perhaps you just wanted to see me naked?"
"Oh, I'll have plenty of that while we're figuring out how to get that thing out of your chest. And any kindness I show you is only on your brother's account, seeing how I owe him a lot I can't repay."
"I see."
Kisuke sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the edge of the hot spring.
"He was a good kid...a much better person than you and me. He was a great scientist too."
"Hmmm, it didn't escape me that you followed up on a great deal of his work. I have to say that it speaks to what you must have felt for him."
"Does that bother you?"
"No. Not at all. Daisuke was certainly of age to make his own decisions. And while I didn't agree with all of them, his connection with you was a promising one, if only for the scientific advances that you made together. That your interest in him became sexual didn't matter much to me, as I knew you would not mistreat him."
"Is that why you think I won't 'mistreat' you?" Kisuke asked, looking at him out of the corner of one grey eye.
"It doesn't matter whether you do or not. You couldn't possibly be any worse than those animals that guarded me in the prison."
"And you think that you deserve better than that, after what you did?" Kisuke asked, a tension coming into his voice, "You can make all of the excuses in the world, Sosuke, but that doesn't take away what you did to those councilors, slaughtering them, one by one, without any warning and no explanation. You enjoyed killing them, too."
"Yes. They deserved it. You know they did."
"Yeah, well, no one else understood that, and you know why."
"They erased everything," Aizen mused, his voice softening slightly, "His creation of the hogyoku, the death they sent him to, their own memory, because they thought the hogyoku too dangerous to exist."
"It was a power they weren't ready to understand. And after they started to see how powerful it was, they decided that it just couldn't be."
"They should have killed you too," Aizen said suddenly, "We should have been with him. If not for you, we would have been."
"You mean, if Daisuke hadn't covered up our connections..."
"And you hadn't gotten in my way."
"I did what he wanted. He didn't want you to die because of what he created! I just respected that. I couldn't save him, at that point, and you know that."
"That is the only reason I didn't end up hating you enough to kill you then."
"No, you settled for bastardizing what your brother created for peaceful uses and setting me up to be banished."
"Well, at least they didn't execute you," Aizen reminded him, frowning, "You seem comfortable enough here, not bothered by what those corrupted old men do. You shouldn't have gone back. This is better."
"Well, I'm not exactly leaving this behind," Kisuke said, sitting up slowly, then climbing out of the hot spring.
Aizen followed, his dark eyes trailing down the shopkeeper's bare back and watching the dribbles of water roll down over his rounded bottom. Kisuke stopped and picked up a towel, then handed a second one to Aizen. Aizen caught a fleeting glimpse of Kisuke's pale chest, slightly erect nipples, slim abdomen and somewhat aroused genitals, then frowned more deeply as he spotted what looked to be an old injury on the shopkeeper's abdomen. He moved closer, ignoring the way the other man stiffened and quickly covered himself.
"Kisuke?"
"Don't ask about it."
Aizen went quiet, considering.
"You...tried to save him anyway? You too?"
"I said not to ask about it!" the shopkeeper snapped, flash stepping away, "Just dry off, dress and meet me in the lab."
"Hmmm," the former taicho mused to himself, "…interesting..."
He took his time dressing, then climbed the ladder that led out of the training room and emerged into the house portion of Kisuke's shop. He paused as a tall, mustached man with dark hair and glasses stepped into the hallway and stopped in front of him.
"Urahara taicho has asked me to see that you eat before you go to join him."
"No, thank you. I have very little reiatsu flow, so I don't need much food."
"You will come with me," Tessai insisted, laying a hand on his arm.
Aizen flinched as he felt a small shock in his arm and his feet moved to obey the directive. His lips stiffened, but he followed calmly to the kitchen and sat down at the table near a wary looking Tetsuya.
"You've hardly eaten," Tessai chided the healer, "You've been pushing yourself doing so much healing."
"I will finish," Tetsuya promised, giving the older man an affectionate smile, "I'm just more tired than hungry so it's hard to stay awake."
"Very well. After you finish eating, you are welcome to use the guest room I've prepared for sleeping."
"Thank you, Tessai."
But as much as Tetsuya had promised to eat, he seemed more compelled to observe the wicked traitor of Soul Society as Tessai laid out a large meal for him then indicated he should begin.
"The tests and experiments Urahara taicho will be running will require you to have sufficient stamina to endure them. Eat."
Aizen complied without comment, stealing glances at Tessai as he turned away and began to make a pot of tea.
"Tetsuya," he said between bites of the savory food, "I want to thank you again for the healing before. It must not have been easy to comfort one who has hurt your loved ones."
Tetsuya shook his head, sighing.
"A healer concerns himself only with the preservation of life and the abatement of suffering. It is not my job to judge how deserving you are of those things."
"But you must have some feelings about it. Surely, you…"
"Does it bother me that you used Rukia-chan in your plans? Yes. She never did anything to you, though your choice to use her that way was probably prompted by her association with Byakuya-sama."
Aizen nodded.
"That much is true."
"I find it equally upsetting that you took advantage of Momo-chan's kindness and affection for you and you tried to kill her so coldly. I find your apathy towards other people frightening."
"You think that my behavior suggests that I don't care if I hurt them?" Aizen mused, "To the contrary, I valued each person who was useful in paving the way to the royal realm for me, and I chose to honor Momo's part in that by sparing her the needless suffering it would have caused when she learned the truth."
"This was kindness to you?" Tetsuya mused, shaking his head in confusion.
"Tetsuya-san, please do not trouble yourself over him," Tessai advised the reeling half-noble, "The boss has him well in hand and he won't be troubling anyone while he is here. Go on now and rest."
"Yes, I suppose I should," Tetsuya sighed wearily, "Thank you for the meal, Tessai-san."
"It's no trouble."
Aizen watched as the half-noble left the kitchen, then he turned his attention to his former comrade while attacking the delicious food in front of him enthusiastically.
"How have you been, Tessai?" he asked cordially.
"You mean, since being reinstated from the banishment I earned because of you?" the other man asked shortly, "I am fine, if a bit annoyed at having you show up here and have to treat you much like a guest."
"I can see how that would be troubling, but if Kisuke puts his mind to things, then I should be out of your way quickly."
The other man glanced over his shoulder and scowled.
"Not soon enough for me. Enough talking, now eat."
Aizen sighed and focused again on the meal in front of him, abandoning all restraint. A soft sigh of contentment went through him at the deep, savory flavors he had missed, the variety of textures and the sweetness of the delectable pastry served with his tea at the end. His eyes were blinking sleepily as he rose and started to follow Tessai down the hallway.
He came to a stop, halfway down the hall, feeling a strange burning in his abdomen, and reaching down to rub the area as he continued on to the lab.
"Tetsuya-san!" Tessai gasped suddenly, spotting the collapsed healer in the hallway, just short of his guest room.
The traitor felt a swirl of dizziness as he started to turn back, then he heard Kisuke shout something he couldn't understand. He felt himself falling and heard himself loose an agonized gasp. Urgent hands swiftly opened his yukata and healing power blazed all around his collapsed form. He caught a glimpse of Kisuke's infuriated face and heard him make a sound of disgust.
"I was stupid thinking that they wouldn't have had people ready here. This guy has a ton of enemies. Tessai, how's Tetsuya?"
"He's in some distress, but his ability is holding back the poison well enough that I can get ahead of it and heal it quickly."
"Aizen doesn't have an ability like that, so it's taking more effort to counteract the poison they used."
"But, poisoning him, Boss? They must have known it wouldn't kill him," Tessai objected, "Even though the poison burned away much of his stomach, he just regenerates."
"This wasn't meant to kill him," Kisuke explained, "Someone wanted him in pain. They wanted him to suffer agony. If not for that pain block I gave him, he would be out of his mind with hurt. Tetsuya's not in any pain, is he?"
"I..it doesn't hurt too much now," Tetsuya managed, giving Tessai a grateful smile, "Thank you, Tessai-san."
"You are welcome, Tetsu-chan," Tessai said more gently, helping the healer to his feet, "But even though your ability slowed the poison and I counteracted it quickly, you were already drained from healing that man before. You will need to sleep."
He paused, looking up as Ichigo entered the hallway from the candy shop at the front of the house. The substitute skidded to a stop, his eyes widening as he spotted Tetsuya leaning heavily against Tessai and reeling slightly.
"Tetsuya, what happened?"
He caught sight of Aizen lying on the floor at the end of the hallway, near the entrance to Kisuke's lab.
"Did that son of a bitch attack you?" he shouted.
"No," Kisuke answered in a low, rough voice, "Someone poisoned the food they knew was ordered for us here…probably someone who knew Aizen was gonna be placed in my care and wasn't concerned about who else got poisoned. Bastards!"
"May I ask you a sort of indelicate question, Boss? Why do you care about his pain? After everything he did...?"
Ichigo moved closer to the still distressed healer, slipping an arm around Tetsuya's waist and turning him towards the guest room.
"I'm with Tessai," Ichigo said scathingly, "I don't know why you seem so concerned about him when Tetsuya didn't do anything to anyone and he got hurt too."
"I get it," Kisuke answered, continuing to send healing energy into Aizen's body, "But just because he's a total bastard and he screwed us all over real bad doesn't make him any less a living soul. If it was wrong to do what he did, it's also wrong for someone to do this to him. He's serving his time. The assholes at that prison put him through a living nightmare way worse than what those councilors suffered when he killed them."
"I know a lot of people who would think he deserves worse," Tessai growled, moving down the hall to help the shopkeeper.
"Yeah, well, they're not responsible for him. That's my job."
"It will be a relief when you finish separating him from the hogyoku and he is sent back, ne?"
Kisuke was silent for a moment as he watched Ichigo help Tetsuya into the guest room and the door closed behind the two.
"Yeah. I think he'll be all right now. His stomach and intestines seem to have finished regenerating. But there was some internal bleeding and contamination that seems to have caused an infection. I'm going to give him an antibiotic. Give him another pain block before you go, okay? And be sure you check in with Tetsuya every so often to make sure he's all right now. Tell Ichigo not to leave him alone."
"Sure, Boss."
Aizen felt the touch of the bigger man's palms on his abdomen, then began to fade into unconsciousness.
"You know, sometimes you remind me of him," Kisuke's voice said quietly, as though he didn't expect to be heard, "Maybe that's why I can't completely hate you. Maybe that's why..."
The words faded out and the room went still and dark. His only awareness was of a pair of grey eyes that watched closely as he slept and occasional touches of a cool, wet cloth on his face and throat.
Urahara Kisuke, you are a complex man.
Fascinating...
XXXXXXXXXX
"So, what's going on, Tessai?" Ichigo asked, frowning as the two watched Tetsuya sleeping in the guest bed, "What does Kisuke need me and Tetsuya for? Is this about Aizen being here? I thought it was some kind of illusion or something at first when I saw him there in the hallway."
"Well," the bespectacled man said solemnly, "you are about the only people with any amount of power that would not take any chance to attack Aizen Sosuke. You see, Central 46 ordered Aizen turned over to Kisuke so that he could try to find a way to remove the hogyoku from his body.
"So, Aizen's just loose here?" Ichigo mused, looking spooked, "I noticed he wasn't tied up. What's up with that? Isn't he going to escape?"
"No, the boss is using another means to control him," Tessai explained, "Don't worry. He can't harm anyone as he is right now. But, unfortunately, someone harmed him and Tetsuya-san was hurt too. They poisoned some of the food we'd ordered, brazenly and while we were all on our guard. I still have not figured out how it was done."
"Didn't the hogyoku just make him regenerate?"
"Yes, but that does not take away the agony of the poison that attacked and destroyed his stomach and intestines. Regeneration of them was slow and exceedingly painful. Luckily, Tetsuya-san's ability held off the effects so that I was able to banish the toxin before it caused him too much pain. Aizen, however, will definitely be feeling the damage."
"And even though we might not like Aizen or what he did, it's not right for someone to attack him like that."
"That is how Urahara taicho feels," Tessai affirmed, "So, he wants you to remain with us for a few days. We have cleared Tetsuya-san's stay with Kuchiki taicho, and once he is well enough, he and Renji-san will be here to rotate with you to guard the shop while we conduct the necessary experiments."
"Yeah, sure we'll help out watching over things. Is Tetsuya's horse gonna be here too? He can help out with watching, from what I've seen. He's pretty strong."
"Arashi-chan is with Tetsuya-san's cousin, but he will join us here and assist with the watch once Kuchiki taicho and Moocher-san arrive."
He paused, the hint of a smile touching his lips.
"How was their wedding, by the way?"
"Oh, you know, it was a clan leader's wedding, so the ceremony was boring as hell," Ichigo chuckled, "but the party after was good."
"Tetsuya-san said he enjoyed the festivities as well," the mustached man said, giving him an amused look, "Just be sure that when you and Tetsuya-san are on watch that you attend to watching the grounds and not so much each other."
"We will," Ichigo promised, sobering, "Damn, I hate that someone hurt Tetsuya. What are you gonna do about the food supplies? Did Jinta and Ururu eat any of it?"
"No, I made sure to note the danger and all food products will now be checked carefully for signs of tampering, reiatsu or otherwise. We will not allow anyone else here to be hurt."
"Good," Ichigo sighed, reaching over to squeeze Tetsuya's hand gently as the half-noble slept, "Tetsuya's been through enough shit in his life. He's a good person and I'm gonna take good care of him from now on."
"Is that how it is then?" Tessai teased affectionately, "Tetsuya-san is a lucky young man."
"Nah," Ichigo laughed, "I'm the one who's lucky."
XXXXXXXXXX
Aizen felt a throbbing ache in his head and belly and groaned uncomfortably, trying to turn onto his side, but finding that his body had been set in soft restraints. He opened his eyes and found himself strapped to an examination table, his yukata opened and his naked body bared to a strong light. Electrodes had been carefully placed here and there on his slender, muscular torso and the hogyoku removed.
He turned his head slightly and found Kisuke sitting in a lab chair, holding and examining the hogyoku, then taking notes into his computer.
"Hang on a sec," he said absently, "I'll be over there in a minute and turn off that light. It's probably blinding you."
"I am fine," the former taicho answered calmly, "though I would have preferred if you had done me the decency of covering me while you were not examining me."
"Since when did you become shy?" Kisuke said, smirking.
"I am not shy in the slightest. It is uncomfortable because of my recent experiences with the guards in the prison."
"Oh."
Kisuke rose and set the hogyoku down, then walked back to Aizen's side and turned off the bright overhead light. He leaned over the restrained man, carefully removing the electrodes, his grey eyes politely averted, but still observing his naked charge. He released the restraints, then turned away as Aizen wrapped his yukata around his body and tied it closed again.
"You look perplexed," he observed, watching as Kisuke picked up the hogyoku again.
"I am...a little," the shopkeeper sighed, "This is going to take some real work. It's tedious thing, having to do all of it myself, but there aren't many people who know enough not to screw up the experiments."
"You could allow me to assist you," Aizen offered.
"And have you mess with the results?" Kisuke mused wearily, "I'm not that stupid."
"It may surprise you to know that I do not wish to have this device inside me any longer," Aizen said quietly, "As a matter of fact, as it no longer speaks to me, I find its presence annoying."
"But it does make you immortal."
"Hmmm," Aizen said thoughtfully, "that has turned out to be a rather dubious gift."
Kisuke considered the other man's words for several long minutes.
"That's interesting coming from you."
"I have had many long hours to consider it while those beasts tortured me. Before I am returned to that, I would rather have the possibility of living through that removed. If it doesn't deter them from attacking me, then at least the torment will not be allowed to go on indefinitely. That is a cruelty that even I had trouble tolerating. The men I killed in the council chambers all died nearly instantly, the only thing they heard as they died the soft utterance of my brother's name to make them remember."
"So, you may not mind killing, as long as it's fast and not cruel? Such a humanitarian," Kisuke sighed.
"I don't believe in causing unnecessary suffering."
"Yeah, well sometimes suffering is unavoidable."
"And sometimes it could be avoided if only one made the proper effort. But you know that he doesn't concern himself overly much with what happens to us down here. I know you disagree with what I did, but I felt there was no choice. If the heavens wouldn't listen and act to help us, then they needed to be soundly shaken. That was all I meant to do."
"That, and kill the king and steal his power," Kisuke added dryly.
"That too," Aizen confessed, "but it wouldn't have been necessary if..."
"Yeah, I know the story and the excuses. Now, why don't we..."
"Kisuke," Aizen said suddenly, touching a palm to the other man's clothed abdomen, "Will you tell me what happened to you?"
"No," Kisuke answered in a clipped tone, "You could have asked one of the counselors in the chambers that day you went there, but, oh no...you killed them all. Now, I guess you just have to wonder."
He sucked in a surprised breath as Aizen's hand wrapped lightly around his wrist and the traitor's dark eyes captured his.
"You know, I studied that technique you used on Rukia to place the hogyoku within her, and I realized it was based on a technique that you and Daisuke were using to try to..."
"Shut up!" Kisuke snapped, stepping back and pulling his hand free, "That's none of your business."
Aizen watched him closely as he sat down and picked up the hogyoku again.
"You used what you learned from my study of Tetsuya's breeder ability in the mixed-blood's prison and attempted to have his child?" he said, fulling expecting the icy silence he received in reply.
"What happened to the baby?" he asked softly.
"It died. I got stupid, I got hurt, the baby died. Now, shut up and leave me alone, will you?"
"I am sorry."
Kisuke froze for a moment, then shook his head and went on with his work. Aizen moved closer and sat down in a chair at his side, watching as the shopkeeper's mind considered the puzzle of the orb he held.
"Daisuke would have been a good father."
"Yeah."
Kisuke sat quietly, staring at the hogyoku and remembering.
"Why don't you look at what's in that opened file on my computer?" he instructed Aizen, "Maybe if the two of us put our minds to it, we can figure this out."
Moments later, the two were seated side-by-side, reading through the file together. It was late at night when Kisuke yawned and halted the examination, leading Aizen out of the lab and down the hallway to his bedroom.
"I was going to give you your own room," Kisuke explained, opening the door and motioning for the other man to enter, "but given the reception you got when you arrived, I think I'd better keep you a little closer. Just remember what I said about not attacking me. You can't."
"Very well, I will content myself with just sleeping. Lying down will be far more comfortable than being always in that chair."
"Yeah," Kisuke yawned, lying down and turning his back, "Enjoy it while it lasts."
"I will," Aizen breathed in his ear, surprising a small gasp from between the shopkeeper's parted lips as his body wrapped warmly around Kisuke's, "Thank you."