About a dozen or so alarms went off in the surveillance room, howling loudly and emitting all sorts of red lights, awakening a few sleeping members of the Research Institute.
"Red alert – Aizen and an unidentified person have breached the Chamber of the Central 46! Komuro, find out who's freed Aizen! Now!" the superintent's voice was almost panicked, it was rare to hear him speak like this.
Komuro, the newbie in the Institute, started checking all databases for the unknown reiatsu signature. An image formed before his eyes, something that shouldn't be remotely possible.
"I-impossible…" he stuttered, eyes still glued to the screen.
"Who is it, Komuro? Come on, we don't have time to play around!"
"It's… K-Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"What!" the superintendent's face turned an ugly beet red. This was not a good sign, ever. "Don't fool around with me, boy!" the man grabbed the front of his robes, keeping him too close for comfort to his face. Komuro was about to piss his pants. "Are you sure the information is correct?"
"Y-yes, sir.". He nodded to enforce his certainty.
"Very well.". the man's complexion paled quickly and he let go of the poor boy's robes. "Announce an A-level emergency to the whole Seireitei".
Ichigo felt alive. It didn't matter if he was siding with the enemy, all he wanted to do was to avenge his friends: nothing else mattered. He didn't care if he didn't know Aizen's terms to the deal ("I'll inform you of my plans later on"), and that he was certain the traitor would probably ask some near-impossible thing.
It didn't matter.
The important thing was the rush of their reiatsu as they destroyed every barrier between them and the goal, whether it was shinigami or ward. Except training, it was probably the only thing that had made him feel real.
They had almost reached the Seijoto Kyorin when an Onimitsukidou force task had barred their path.
Soi Fon was there.
Ichigo's heart rate went up. Here, now, was one of the people he'd fantasized to kill for months. One of his prime targets.
He took a step forward.
"I'll take care of Soi Fon."
Aizen nodded, trademark smirk still in place.
"Kurosaki Ichigo and Aizen Sousuke, you are both guilty of treason. I have permission to take you into custody or kill you.". Soi Fon was, as always, blunt and to the point.
"If you can." Ichigo had shunpoed behind her, the captain not even noticing till Zangetsu's blade was a bit too close for her liking.
"Sting your enemies to death, Suzumebachi.". The tiny sword had appeared on the woman's finger. "I do not tolerate insolence from children. Die!" she shunpoed forward, but Ichigo was quick to stop her, moving away from the captain's shikai with ease.
"If you can catch me! Don't you remember who taught me shunpo, Soi Fon?"
Tensa Zangetsu pierced her lung before she could even attempt to defend herself.
They exchanged several blows in rapid succesion, neither willing to give up, but Soi Fon was starting to decelerate, and her blows were losing their strenght.
Dammit. How can he be so strong when only a year ago he was at our complete mercy?
…
Wait, did I just admit that trash was strong? What the hell am I thinking? I'll win, whatever it takes. He'll be dead at my feet shortly.
The air whizzed behind her.
"Come on, Soi Fon. Activate your bankai. This fight's getting boring.". Ichigo distanced himself again from the panting captain, who was trying to compose herself and regain her breath despite the pierced lung.
"Fine. Don't complain when I defeat you.".
Her reiatsu started escalating rapidly, swirling in the air between them, and then it finally started condensing. Ichigo couldn't wait. He was tired of playing around; he needed revenge, and now.
" Bankai. Jakuho Raikoben ". The protective armour of her Bankai formed around her right arm, covering part of her face as well. "You're dead now, boy."
Reiatsu started accumulating around her, the air filled with static electricity. The energy started grouping around her armour, making it sizzle with golden sparks.
An enourmous blast of energy came from her zanpakutou. The Seijoto Kyorin's antechamber was filled with light, and nothing more was visible.
Aizen was bored. Killing the Onmitsukidou task force had been far too easy, as they were dead before they could even stand a chance (not that they ever did), but the boy's – Ichigo's – fight against Soi Fon had proved to be entertaing enough. Watching the boy fighting had always been interesting: the way his muscles would tense and flex, the orange hair getting messy, his reaction to enemy attacks, whether from petty bullies or against opponents much stronger than the ones he could encounter in Karakura (excluding the time he'd been there).
Ichigo was truly interesting. He'd always be there to surprise him before the game got dull and to thwart his plans whenever he needed a livening-up. He'd thought of turning the boy to his side before, but the teenager had seemed so indisposed it would have probably been a waste of time.
Maybe it would of turned out, who knew. But still, they were allies now. He truly mourned the loss of Gin, and had been mentally debating over who should have to be his lieutenant while he was still inprisoned, and Ichigo seemed be a good choice. Plus, he'd been promised to have anything he wanted, and Ichigo had never specified a quantity limit.
He could ask him to do anything, and it would still be perfectly honest. He'd have to teach him how to make a proper deal later on.
Ichigo had just managed to pierce Soi Fon's lung. He was surprised he hadn't simply killed her then and there, but he supposed he wanted the woman to suffer as much as he had – the specific amount of pain still unknown to him. He could make easy presumptions on people's thoughts, but Ichigo's logic sometimes didn't have too much sense.
Aizen knew Ichigo wanted revenge, but he wasn't planning on playing tag with the Central 46. It'd be too boring. He'd have put an end to the fight under any other circumstance, but he knew that he'd have to let the boy get his revenge. He just wished he would put a bit more effort into the fight, as he was only toying with the Onmitsukidou captain, and it was getting vaguely disappointing.
But then, Soi Fon used her bankai. He'd already seen it, and it wasn't too impressive, at least in his opinion. Sure, it might work against weaker enemies, but it was useless against Ichigo: as the light began fading, he could begin to see the boy's reiatsu, curled protectively around him like some sort of cocoon made of black and red flames.
And then, he struck. Soi Fon never actually had a chance of winning, and after her attack in bankai, which used up much of her reiatsu and stamina, coupled with a pierced lung and a few other gashes, made her pathetic trash. As her lifeless body collapsed to the ground, he could almost make out a triumphant smirk on Ichigo's lips before he kicked her head against the wall, bits of brain and a torrent of blood splattering on the wall.
He hoped the rush of revenge hadn't completely ruined Ichigo. He was interesting enough even without it.
Revenge was great. It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he felt freer, more in control. Whoever had said it was an empty thing was wrong: Soi Fon's murder made his heart beat faster, he could feel adrenaline and morphine rushing through his veins, the blood pounding in his head.
He left Soi Fon's corpse there, pushed against the wall. It could rot for all he cared.
Aizen shunpoed from his chair, barely moving the air. The man was still better than him in many ways, and he knew he was probably second to him in strenght and anything else (maybe not intelligence though), but he couldn't help but admire him. In the end, he'd been right to rebel against Soul Society, though he couldn't justify him for wanting to create the O-ken in Karakura, or for some of his methods. The man had always stirred something up in him: he was intelligent, strong, and was probably considered attractive by the female popoulation both of Seireitei and Las Noches, but those weren't what interested him the most: it was the man's air of mystique, which could always conceal about any emotion, and the man's unpredictability.
A light tap to the shoulder brought him crashing back to reality.
"We still need to eliminate the Central 46. No second thoughts, I hope?"
Ichigo smirked. "Why should I have second thoughts? I did what was right, that's it."
"Very well. Let us proceed then."
The gigantic doors of the Seijoto Kyorin opened, the hinges creaking from disuse.
The Central 46's guards were poised, ready to attack. Aizen and Ichigo nodded together once, and a fraction of a second later they were moving on.
The members of the Central 46 were all huddled in a small room to the side, hardly noticeable. A few of them were holding weapons, trying to defend themselves. Most of their faces were outwardly terrorized, others were trying to put on an arrogant façade, as if trying to make the intruders believe they were stronger.
Of course, it couldn't fool the master of lies and deceit. And Ichigo wasn't very impressed as well. He could almost smell the fear emanating from the bodies.
As with the guards, it was matter of instants before forty-six lives were ended. Ichigo felt no remorse: he was positive that they'd had a hand in his friend's massacre, most likely directly.
"Ichigo.". His head snapped towards Las Noches' former overlord. He was spacing out a bit too much today. "I wish to inform you of my plans. It would be counterproductive if you later disagreed. To put it simply, I plan on creating the O-ken and taking the Spirit King's place. Regrouping to Hueco Mundo would be the best option for now, as we can deal with the rest of the Gotei 13 any other time we want."
"Are you going to use Karakura to create it?". Ichigo almost feared the answer. If it was affirmative, their deal was off, no excuses, and he'd have to do the Shinigami's dirty work again.
"I think an area in Soul Society would be more appropriate. We could even use some of our enemies to create it, it wouldn't be too hard. And if this fails, though it's improbable, I can alwayas find out from Yamamoto. Your hometown and friends will not be harmed.".
Just the mention of the word friends made Ichigo frown and look down, even if he was relieved by Aizen's promise not to harm his town, though he was aware he probably shouldn't be too trusting with the man. But it was suddenly clear to Aizen: to the boy, his friends were the most important. And Soul Society always knew which buttons to press. It was the same thing he'd have done in a similar situation.
"Just remember, Ichigo, I can have whatever I want as my side of the deal. Let's go."
A shiver went through Ichigo's spine, and as the Garganta opened, he knew this was the point of no return.
It was as if he's sealed a pact with the Devil.