Aizen was beginning to get worried when Ichigo didn't come back to the room. "Ya the one who let the kid go in the first place" Gin commented.
"I know, and why are you staying in my room anyways?"
"Ya might be dating the kid, Captain Aizen, but I'm supposed to protect him. The only two people who aren't scared shitless to enter your room beside Ichigo is me and that Yuzuki girl. Thus why we are the guardians to protect the prince."
"Gin, I have been meaning to ask you. Well Ichigo showed me my past life, don't ask me how he did it, but somehow he did. What aren't you telling me?"
"Why would I hide anythin from your Captain Aizen?"
Aizen opened his mouth to reply when the door opened and Ichigo looked at both of men before sitting on the bed. "Was I interrupting something?" he got out.
"No, no my prince" Gin said.
Aizen looked at Ichigo, he seemed different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there has just been something different enough to set him off. He closed his mind off from Ichigo, he didn't need to let a thought get through to Ichigo. If he actually was Ichigo, well he didn't want to let the boy think that he didn't trust him. If it was actually Katsu, he wanted to see why Katsu was once again in control of Ichigo's body. If it was Katsu and he had done something to Ichigo, he couldn't do anything. He hated feeling helpless.
"So did you get whatever closure you needed" he got out looking over Ichigo with eyes that masked concern. He had to use a mask for Ichigo, why was he so tense all of a sudden about this. Then another thought hit him, what if it wasn't over. What if one of the Dark Veil members had escaped into Ichigo, what if this was the imposter. No one really knew how his powers works, or if that was actually his form.
After all Ichigo had mentioned something about the shadows. Shadows could change, they were unpredictable. They weren't easy to kill and get rid of forever, shadows always would exist. He would have to be on high alert with Ichigo, yet he couldn't allow him to know he was on high alert. At least he was extremely used to wearing a mask around people, he just would have to do the same with Ichigo. Ichigo whom he loved, Ichigo whom he had broken down to and his mask had fallen. He had to test Ichigo, though how to do that. Katsu had all of Ichigo's memories, but Ichigo was still Ichigo.
Ichigo looked at him with worried eyes. "Sōsuke, what's wrong, you have been silent?"
"A lot has gone on, so did you say you got closure?"
"Yes. There was lots of death and suffering, but you were right, that is true in any war. Suffering can't really be avoided, can it?"
"It can't." Aizen listened as Ichigo basically repeated his words back to him. Suffering couldn't be avoided, somehow someone would always suffer. Was this his punishment for all the bad he had committed? He thought about it, hadn't Katsu been the reason why he had done half the stuff he did? No, he was a reason, but not the reason. Isolation had been the real reason, and he knew he would have done most of the stuff he did due to that isolation. Katsu had just been there, had been a reason to do it. He would have done it regardless if Katsu had been in his life or not. He wasn't like everyone else and because of that he was isolated. He built a life using masks. His masks hide his true intent always, he had been using them since he had been small. He had to, in order to survive. Shin was okay, but even though the man claimed to be his father, he wasn't exactly the best father figure.
Well he never had a good father like figure. In his human life, Ichigo had showed him that his father was the reason he died in the first place. He wondered how he would have been if he would have been allowed to grow up as a human. Why would he think something like that, he couldn't imagine life as a human. Aizen made idle chit chat with Ichigo, none of it mattered. It wasn't his Ichigo, but he was still trapped somewhere in there.
How did he know that wasn't his Ichigo? He just knew it, he was off by just a little bit. He would have to live this out, he hoped Ichigo was strong enough to get himself out of this situation. He knew the boy was strong, but Katsu was strong too. They were two sides of the same coin, one was a mixture of everything and the other half was purely a Shinigami. A Shinigami that had died. Or had that been an illusion, a perfectly played out illusion. He of all people knew illusions, and he thought he could not be fooled by them.
He thought back to the reality he knew where he had been the villain. He had caused a war and everyone had tried to kill him, though even then no one was even close to him in power. Well Ichigo was, he would have gladly died by Ichigo's hand. The thought hit him, had he really thought he would gladly die by Ichigo's hand? No, he like everyone else didn't want to die. As faith would have it, the reality was twisted and now they were here. They were in a reality that Katsu had willed. Could he actually trust Katsu though? Before he may have loved him, before he may have done anything for him. Though was that really him? Was Katsu using masks with him?
He remembered what Katsu had said to him, a few key things stuck out to him.
'Sōsuke, you have an illusion based zanpakutō, and you are meant to be a genius. You should have figured it out by now.'
He was meant to be a genius, and perhaps Katsu knew he would see through this. Perhaps this was a trap. He would not fall for it, he would do what he could to protect Ichigo without putting himself into danger.
His downfall was that he wants to protect the people he cares about and if they die he feels that he has failed them. The imposters power lies in the ability to make someone questions what is real and what wasn't.
Was that really the imposter's power? To make someone question what was real and what wasn't. Shadows could provide illusions, yes, that was true. He thought back to the additional name of the group. The Dark Veil. A veil could provide illusions. Illusions, something he prided himself in. He kissed Ichigo before going to leave the room. He realized that Gin had at some point left the room already.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to go find Ulquiorra. You are free to come with me" he said. He hoped that Ichigo/ Katsu would say no to going with him on his fake task. He knew how much Ichigo hated Ulquiorra.
"I'll stay here. Sōsuke come back."
"I will, but I cannot promise you how soon I'll be back."
He watched Ichigo slowly nod and he left the room. He needed to think this out, and he couldn't do that very well with Ichigo watching him. Grimmjow found him as he walked down the corridor towards Ulquiorra's room.
"Lord Aizen" Grimmjow said, though he could tell that the sexta hated to use the term.
"Yes Grimmjow" he said rather bored like.
"Something is wrong with Ichigo."
"Why would you say that?" So he wasn't the only one who noticed.
"He isn't acting like himself."
"Come with me" he said and approached Ulquiorra's room.
"Lord Aizen, what brings you to my room" Ulquiorra asked in his monotone like voice. The Espada was a loyal one, but he had never liked the Espadas outlook on life. He never said anything, because that would be against how he was.
"I want you to watch over Ichigo, but not be too obvious about it. Report to me anything you see. Also, if he asks you any question, you may lie to him as you seem fit. "
"Yes, Lord Aizen" the Espada said, bowing its head and walking off.
Grimmjow gave him a look, even though he did not speak. Aizen did not speak to Grimmjow as he walked down a few different corridors until he came to a room that he knew Ichigo wouldn't know about. Grimmjow stepped in and he shut the door quickly.
"Have a seat Grimmjow."
"Do you not trust him? Do you believe me?"
"Yes, as I have come to the same conclusion. That is why I brought you here with me. What gave him away to you?"
Grimmjow seemed nervous, one simple glare and he broke. "I told him he could come talk to me at any point. I have always enjoyed fighting him, you know that. Somewhere along the way I guess I started to think of him as someone who could relate to me better. I found him in the halls after whatever happened a few nights ago. He told me what he needed to talk about and I told him he was always welcomed to come to stay and talk with me. He of course said thank you, but he refused to stay with me for long moments."
Grimmjow hesitated. "He loves you, he would never do anything to hurt you. Though just a little bit ago he came to my room again. Started to tell me about some things that had happened. Asking some of the oddest questions."
"Like what Grimmjow?"
"Well, he asked me questions about me, about hollows. Said he had a feeling something was going to happen. That was the start of something odd. Then he undid his sash to show me his chest. There is this wound on his chest, he didn't want you to know about it. Said he would think of something if you saw it. I have seen the boy enough, he isn't a good liar because of how he is. "
"What was this wound like?"
"He said he thought he would become a hollow because of it. When I touched it, his skin basically burnt me. The wound wasn't like anything I have ever seen. The wound wasn't given to him by a hollow, it was dark though. Then when I gave him the answers or lack thereof, he kissed me on the cheek before he left. "
Aizen listened to Grimmjow's story, he could see the male was nervous. "Good job seeing through it, but don't you think it sounds more like a trap."
"Or he thinks that he can actually trust me."
"Don't allow him to know you're on to him. You are to report to me if you come across anything else."
"You're not mad?"
"Not at you, the only way I would be mad is if you took advantage of him. Which seeing as you're telling me this, means you did not. Grimmjow, you have helped me greatly."
"Yeah, whatever, I'll do what I can, " he said and left the room.
Aizen knew that Grimmjow would actually do what he was meant to in this case. Although the Espada would never admit it out loud, he knew exactly how the Espada felt for his Ichigo. His Ichigo, whose marks were still all over his body? The boy had sharp teeth and a hard bite, and that had actually been Ichigo and not Katsu.
Aizen took his seat. What was he going to do? How could he get his Ichigo back? The Hōgyoku? No the boy would kill him if it had any negative effects. He also didn't truly want to use the Hōgyoku on Ichigo as that may make it worse. How long had Ichigo been under Katsu's control like this?
"Captain Aizen" he hadn't realized the door had open. He looked up at Gin who had entered the room. Could he trust his snake?
Gin took a seat in one of the many empty chairs at the table. "Gettin ready for an Espada meetin?"
"No, though it is probably a good idea to see which Espadas are still capable of serving me."
"Has Ichi got ya in a bad mood?" Aizen glared at Gin. "He has. Even I noticed how differently ya were actin round him. Do you suspect something?" Aizen didn't reply to Gin. "I thought ya would, why I came to find ya. I don't want Ichi gettin hurt. I have noticed the changes myself."
"Why do you say that?"
"Ichi is nice to everyone, especially those who he considers his friends. If you remember I asked him if he considered me his friend, and he said he guessed he did. I have seen the boy act, if he does it right he can be very cold. Though he hates being cold, he hates killin. That is just how the boy is. He protects everyone. Though Yuzuki has been tellin me stuff, she followed the boy when you did not. His exchange with his family tipped me off to something odd happening. I know ya know something is off with him Captain Aizen. I serve Ichi not Katsu, well, I should say I am loyal to Ichi."
"Tell me what you gathered Gin."
"Don't ya think if Ichi saw so much death and sufferin, that he would begin sufferin himself? The boy has that need to protect everyone. Well Katsu is the opposite of him, you at least have emotions."
"What was that, Gin?"
"Ya can feel, ya can express emotions. Ya may not, but ya can. Ichi has brought that out in ya, because ya care 'bout the boy. Katsu if ya haven't noticed can pull off fake emotions, but they are there only ta get what he wants. "
"How long have you been watching me and you knew Katsu?"
"I was educated in everything 'bout Katsu. So was Yuzuki. We were chosen because of our pasts."
"Were you a part of my human life, Gin?"
"Ichi showed ya that didn't he? He also guessed who the girl was."
"Yuzuki, the girl who was with us was Yuzuki. Ichigo got that before I did."
"I can't tell ya much 'bout that moment, Yuzuki remembers her past though. She most likely told Ichi that. I don't really. I member that memory in particular, because they used that ta tell me a little 'bout why I was chosen."
"Was Katsu there?"
"No, but ya were. Look, Captain Aizen, I'll do what you want of me. I got my revenge, this is ta save Ichi. I am giving ya this information ta save him. That boy is special."
"Yeah, he is. Wait, why am I important if Katsu is this prince?"
"Because he sought ya out, for what I don't know."
"Okay Gin ya said too much" Yuzuki said opening the door.
"Ichi is in danger, I had to."
"He is coming" Yuzuki got out.
Aizen looked at her. "What about Ulquiorra?"
"If I were ya I would give an order."
"Gin, round up the Espadas."
"Yes, Captain Aizen."
The door opened and Ichigo walked in.