Edit:
Uploaded edited version of chapter 7
Removed snarky A/N and replaced it with a more friendly one
A/N: Thank you Ilta Kimon for editing it in super fast! Everyone go and give Kimon an internet hug!
To those who just found out about this fic, hello!
To those who read this fic before and came back to read it, thank you for sticking fro still reading :p
To those who read this and went 'fuck this, where's the yaoi' I say this; chill, hang out, the yaoi is coming. Ish. :p
Have fun reading!
Chapter Seven
Ichigo stood and stared hard at Aizen, his brows knitted together. He couldn't understand the man. He's supposed to be the enemy. He's supposed to be the villain. He damaged his own vice captain and made her unfit for duty. He sacrificed thousands of human souls in order to activate the hogyoku. He hollowfied his own captain and took over the position for himself. He slaughtered everyone in the central 46 in cold blood. Those were the actions of an evil man.
Then why are the people in this village looking up to him with such admiration? Why would the self-proclaimed king lower himself to mingle with common souls? A part of him wanted to believe that the man did these things out of his own good will, but another part of him was determined that this was just some elaborate plan to trick him. Aizen's sword, Kyoka Suigetsu, was still sheathed on his waist, but Ichigo know well of the damage it could inflict.
He watched Aizen go around the village with crowds of people tailing behind his back, all clamoring to touch him. On his back he carried a burlap sack filled with sweets, which he opened for a group of kids playing on the outskirts of the village. A little girl came up crying to the man and Aizen leaned down and picked her up, offering her a colourful piece of candy. The girl stopped crying. "You're all crazy," he said out loud, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're touching a murder's hand."
"Stop staring and get back to work Kurosaki," Tousen said coldly. Ichigo frowned, shooting a dirty look to the blind man. Ever since he came to live in Las Noches Tousen had never been less than hostile with him. He racked his brains to remember what he could've done to upset the man and found none. Apparently the man just hates him for no reason.
Tousen could feel the prickling gaze of the substitute shinigami on the back of his neck. He may be blind, but he has other senses that helped him see. His blindness has allowed him to look beyond the mere appearance of a man, to understand the motivations behind their actions. He prided himself as an observant and patient man, but Kurosaki Ichigo has made him irrational and brash.
He hated the boy to the core of his being. Behind the hero image that everyone was so captivated by, the boy had the same underlying aura as Grimmjow and Kepachi. Animalistic, brutal, capricious, dangerous. To make matters worse, the boy had a limitless supply of power, all controlled by nothing but his primal instinct. Yes, he knew of men like them, men who followed nothing but their own lust for battle, men who left a trail of blood in their wake. To have someone like Kurosaki Ichigo as a part of their cause would only corrupt the purity of Aizen's goal.
He failed to see what Aizen saw in the boy. True, he might be strong, but Tousen was sure that even his former vice captain could defeat him. He had no respect for authority, calling everyone without the appropriate honorifics and titles. To make matter worse, Aizen had allowed him to call him by his given name, an honor that even he, Tousen, had not yet received. Foul tempered and hot headed, Tousen was sure that sooner or later the boy will definitely do something that would endanger Aizen-sama.
Ichigo could feel the hatred radiating from Tousen and stopped in his tracks. He wanted to turn around and confront the man, but he chose to turn his attention to the sacks he had to carry. Both he and Tousen had spent an hour or so moving bags of rice from the forest to the village, enduring the stench of the yellow tree fungus, which according to Aizen, was purposely placed to hide the village. Some of the lower espada had been transferring bags of rice and other foodstuff through the garganta, but none of them ever stepped into soul society.
When he asked about it from Gin the man replied in his usual casual manner. "Well ain'nit obvious Ichi-tan," Gin answered. "If Soul Society can detect a hollow reiatsu, they would definitely find out 'bout the espada. That where we come in. Now go carry more rice," h said and tapped Ichigo's head with his fan. The gesture reminded him of Urahara, and eventually, about Karakura.
To distract himself from melancholic thoughts, Ichigo heaved two bags of rice onto his shoulders, his muscles straining under the weight. Even with his revealing clothes Ichigo was still sweating like crazy. "Ya doin' okay Ichi-tan?" Gin smiled from behind a burnt fan, his kimono sleeves tied back to a working man's sleeve. "Yeah I'm fine. Don't bother getting up and help me," Ichigo replied sarcastically. Gin laughed and continued to fan at a blazing hearth. An old lady wearing a tattered pink kimono was stirring a pot of rice on top of the hearth, occasionally shouting out orders at the white haired shinigami. Gin merely smiled and replied with an energetic 'hai!', fanning more vigorously at the blazing hearth.
Ichigo heaved the last of the rice bags into the storage room, it's previously empty space now filled with an abundance of food. He wiped his brow and smiled in satisfaction. A good workout always improved his mood, and helping others always made him smile. The combination of the two was a perfect distraction to his own problems. If working with Aizen was this hard, then he was glad to trade himself for Orihime.
"C'mere Ichi-tan!" Gin waved from under a tree. Ichigo quickly jogged over, ignoring a sour faced Tousen. "Here ya go." Ichigo looked at the bowl of off coloured liquid suspiciously. He had expected Gin to give him more orders, not to invite him for a drink. He would rather not form ties with the fox faced bastard. "No thanks. I'm not that thirsty." He didn't trust the man.
"No? But Ichi-tan, I made it for ya," Gin pouted. "It's Shikye. It's good!"
"I'm still not drinking that. And stop calling me 'tan', it's embarrassing."
In an instant Tousen flash stepped near the boy and punched a tree trunk behind him. "Drink," He ordered menacingly. Ichigo could see the man's hand hovering above the hilt of his sword. "Geez, could you be more intense?" he laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Tousen stayed silent and pushed his zanpakutou up with his thumb. "Alright, fine." With a roll of his eyes he took the dubious looking liquid took a sip.
Ichigo expected a disgusting tasting liquid to hit his lips, a prank that he would easily associate with the fox faced bastard, but instead his dry lips were met with a refreshing cool liquid. "It's good," Ichigo admitted, sipping more of the liquid down his parched throat. "It's really good. You really made this Gin?" he asked suspiciously, a praise already forming at the tip of his tongue.
"Hahaha, no! I only fanned the fire. Obaa-san should get the credit." Gin nudged a little old lady who was giving out bowls of the delicious liquid. Ichigo could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. So that's why Tousen forced him to drink. "Im sorry Obaa-san, I didn't mean to be rude!" he referred back to his rejection of the drink. "It was very good!" he said, quickly emptying his bowl of shikye. "More please!" he held out the bowl, bowing waist deep to the old lady.
"You're a lively one aren't cha!" The old lady laughed in a kansai accent and turned to Gin. "Where did Aizen find such an energetic boy?" Ichigo stared dumfounded as Gin began chatting up the old lady with his full blown kansai accent. He couldn't understand a damn thing.
Ignored by the two, Ichigo leaned forward and slumped himself over one knee, watching Aizen lose at rock paper scissors to a group of kids. He let out a tiny laugh when the man was draw out another paper against two scissors. "What an unlucky guy," he said to no one in particular.
"Yes, that poor boy," the old lady replied, seating himself beside Ichigo. "When he was a child, Sousuke was the crybaby of our village. He always cried when he lost at Jankenpon. Look at him now, he's successful enough to send us food every month!" the little old lady beamed in pride.
"Aizen? Crying?" the image of a small Aizen made him laugh and slapped his knee in disbelief. "I can't imagine him as the type," he said. Ichigo was ready to hurl some insult at the self proclaimed king of Hueco Mundo until he remembered his own childhood. He himself was a crybaby, clinging only to his mother for support. It was not until her death that Ichigo learnt how to be strong.
"Ah, yes. Sousuke-kun has always been unlucky. When he arrived to soul society, he found his earth father, only to have him leave him to join the Gotei 13. When he was accepted into Shinso Academy his father deployed to Gensei. When he graduated, his father was killed on a mission. Some says he's been born under a cursed star. Thank goodness the boy grew up to be a good man." The old lady sighed and patted her stiff shoulders.
Ichogo stared at the man with a new light. Aizen, the kid that suck at Jankenpon. Aizen, the crybaby. Aizen, the lonely orphan. They were more alike than what he expected, and that fact disturbed him. "Poor kid," he said, unsure whether he's referring to himself or to Aizen. 'Whatever," he breathed out under his breath. "Thanks for the drink obaa-san!" He jumped to his feet and jogged over to the brunette man.
" Hey Aizen!"
Aizen turned to look at Ichigo with kids dangling from his arms "Ichigo," he sighed. "Your uniform is wrinkled everywhere. And didn't I told you to call me-"
"Right, right, Sousuke." He complied, closing the distance between himself and Aizen in seconds. Thrusting his fist forward, Ichigo grinned at the man. "Come on. Jankenpon."
The action caught Aizen off guard and his smile faltered into a great big laugh, confusing the children around him. "Fine, fine. But you'll probably win anyway." He chuckled, rolling his up his sleeve as the kids cheered him on. " Here I go. Jan. Ken."
"Pon!"
Ichigo pulled out rock.
Aizen pulled out scissors.
The two man stared at each other.
"Jan, Ken, Pon!"
Aizen pulled out paper.
Ichigo pulled out scissors.
"...You really do suck at this huh?" Ichigo grinned as the children around them exploded in laughter. Aizen only answered with an apologetic smile. From a distance Ichigo could feel Tousen's gaze burning into him but he couldn't care less. He was having too much fun to be bothered by the man.
Izuru Kira's eyes widened at the sight of the white uniforms. That silver hair... That distinctive laugh...It can't be. "Ichimaru-taichou?" he whispered in disbelief. He was ready to jump from his place and rush to the man. His captain had his back to him, lounging on the bright green grass with a bowl on one of his hand. Even the way he moved were still the same. Kira could feel his hand shook in... anger? Happiness? Fear? He wanted to call out to his captain, to come up to him and demand him the answers he had been denied for so long.
But instead Kira reached into his robe to push on an alert button. Gin was no longer his captain. He had hurt Hinamori, he made him point his sword at his friends. In a few moments Hisagi would come and check on him, but he couldn't wait. He must kill the man. Kira slowly unsheathed his sword and pointed it at his former captain. He is the enemy. Ichimaru Gin is not his captain. He is the enemy. He is-
"Sheath your sword and tell me your name shinigami." A voice broke him out of his reverie. He could feel the cold blade of a sword on his neck. "3rd division vice-captain, Kira Izuru." He answered, his voice barely a whisper.
Tousen eyebrow shoot up in surprise. "Kira Izuru." He repeated the name slowly. He remembered him, mostly from Gin's little anecdote. Tousen could already feel the guilt forming in the pit of his stomach. "Forgive me fukutaichou, I will have to kill you." Kira drew in a sharp breath, feeling the cold blade drawn back on his skin. "Tousen-taichou, I-"
"Goodbye Kira."
He was not ready to die. There was still reports on his desk that needed to be filed. He still needed to submit his article to Sereitei Communications. He hadn't visited Hinamori yet this week. The captains signature still needs to be collected for the yearly matsuri cards. So many things left unfinished. He had hoped he would die as an old man, maybe with a captain's haori on his back. But his greatest wish is to meet his captain again and spend a day with him, sharing a conversation about the good times that they had.
Kira prepared himself for the blade to break his skin. Tousen was not the type of man to torture his victims, so at least he'll have a clean death. He thought the last thing he saw would be the glint of the blade, but in a flurry of motion, silver filled his vision.
"Tousen-taichou," a silky voice interjected. "Please stop bullying my subordinate."
Kira heart sank in fear and trepidation. A fate worse than death may have just arrived. Yet he couldn't help but smile in relief, something that he always did when Gin swooped in and saved him from dangerous situation. "Ichimaru-taichou," He breathed out his name slowly.
"Long time no see, Izuru." Gin cocked his head to the side. "Maa… you're still shaking under that hakama..." The man tsked in disapproval. "That just won't do." Kira looked down to his shaking legs, grabbing his knees to stop it's shaking. Gin chuckled at the sight. "You never change do you, Izuru?" he said fondly. Kira shot him an accusing glare, only to tear his gaze away moments later.
"Gin. What are you doing?" Tousen pushed his sword against Gin's Shinsho.
"I told you, I don't like you bullying my fukutaichou. See, you made him tremble so." Gin pouted and pushed Tousen's sword away. "Now," He brought his small sword forward, knees bent, ready to release his zanpakutou. "If you don't step away, I will have to cut you down Tousen-taichou."
"How dare you," Tousen gritted his teeth in anger, swinging his zanpakutou to his side. "Suzumushi relea-"
"Lower your weapons."
Aizen stepped into the clearing, brushing a leaf from his shoulder. The two captains' eyed each other, expecting the other to lower their sword first. Gin sighed and sheathed his sword with a flourish. "As you wish Aizen-taichou." Tousen nodded and followed suit. Aizen gave the two man a look that screamed 'You will explain this to me latter.'
Aizen looked at the trembling vice captain like he's the dirt under his shoes. "Fukutaichou," Kira jumped at the man's voice, his hands balled into a tight fist. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go back to seireitei." Aizen frown at Izuru, unsheathing his sword from it's seath. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Gin eyes opening in shock.
"Mou, Taichou, is it necessary?" Gin stepped forward, only to have Tousen's sword pointed at his throat.
"Step aside Ichimaru." Tousen smirked victoriously. Gin narrowed his blue eyes into it's usual slit.
Aizen glanced at his former fukutaichou with a raised eyebrow. "Is this boy important enough that you'll open your eyes for him, Gin?" Gin hid his hands under his sleeves and looked away. Aizen smirked and brought his sword up. "Is he?" Gin's lips twitched, his fingers digging into his forearm painfully. Aizen averted his gave back to the lowlife he had in front of him. "I guess that means he's not important enough." Aizen chuckled and brought his sword down
"Izuru!" Gin pushed Tousen's sword aside and hid Izuru behind his back, his arms raised in defense. He didn't think he would meet his end this way. 'Its all your fault Izuru,' he thought to himself. 'I let you go and you still wind up in my web.' And with that last thought he readied himself for death.
Aizen eyebrows shot up in surprise. "My, my Ichigo-kun. Nice of you to join us," Aizen said, regaining his composure in an instant.
"What the hell is this? I thought we agreed not to kill my friends!" Ichigo shouted, turning Zangetsu's sharp blade towards the man. Aizen quickly parried Ichigo's sword with a thrust of his own sword. "Oh? Izuru-kun is your friend? Ah, forgive me," Aizen seathed his sword and bowed his head slightly.
Ichigo fumed and turned to the trembling blond. "You okay Kira?" The vice captain looked up to him with eyes as wide as saucers. "Kuro...Kurosaki? What are yo-" Before he can finished his sentence, Gin slammed the butt of his zanpakutou down, knocking him out completely.
"Nice assistance Ichi-tan." Gin said cheerfully, holding up a thumbs up to show his gratitude. Ichigo watched in disbelief at the change. Just a few moments ago the man was facing death right on the face and now he's making jokes. The man threw his vice captain over his shoulder and while whistling to a cheery tune, sauntered over to Aizen's side as if nothing happened.
"Should we go now taichou?" Aizen brought a finger up to his lips and unsheathed his sword. At that very moment, a blur of black shadow came out of the bushes and attacked him head on.
"My, my Hisagi-kun, what a surprise." Aizen said, sounding very bored at the situation. Hisagi Shuuhei darted his eyes around, stopping at his former captain. "Tousen-taichou?" Using Shuuhei's surprise to his advantage Aizen knocked him out with his sword guard, sending his crashing to the ground. "I presume you will be displeased if I kill this one too?" he glanced back at Ichigo.
"You better fucking believe it," Ichigo growled. "I told you. I won't let you hurt my friends." From the corner of his eyes he could see the tension melted away from Tousen's shoulders. Now that he saved his vice-caption, maybe blind man would be a little nicer to him.
Aizen sighed and turned away from the hot headed teenager. "You should have less friends Ichigo." The apperance of the two shinigami was unexpected, and it will probably change his plan. He ran his finger through the air, opening the garganta with a loud screeching noise. "Let's head back. We have a lot to discuss."
Gin replied with a cheery 'hai' and stepped into the garganta. Ichigo stared at an unconscious Shuuhei, and decided to carry him like Izuru. However, as he approached the man he was bloked by the hulking mass of body that is Tousen. "Move," Tousen said, leaning down and carried the vice captain with him. 'So much for being nicer..." Ichigo shoved his hands into the pocket of his hakama and followed suit.
Shikye: A cold sweet korean drink made from barley water and rice. It's fucking delicious
Jankenpon: rock, paper, scissors
A/N: hahaha hoped you enjoyed the new chapter!
Oh, quick question; is the chapters long enough? I aim to write about 2,000-ish words/chap, and I want to knwo if it's too much or too little for one update. (Story will be updated once a week)
Comments, suggestion, and flames goes to the review pile. Yes, this author likes reviews. So review! :D
See you next chapter !