Chapter 2: Dealing with the Devil
"Why Kurosaki Ichigo, what a pleasant surprise." the ex-captain silkily exclaimed with an empty chuckle. "Now tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by the savior of Soul Society?"
An eerie silhouette of a grin made its way onto the prisoner's lips, but it shook neither the daiko nor the 13th division vice-captain's resolve. Taking a step forward, Ichigo gave the man a stern look.
"Aizen, the Gotei 13 has a proposition for you."
Ichigo never took his eyes off of the convict. Something about him unnerved the shinigami-human hybrid. He seemed too calm, too aloof, for someone who was sentenced to 20,000 years of imprisonment. It was as if he was simply biding his time, plotting something, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Whether that was true or not didn't matter. All Ichigo knew was that he didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Oh, I don't suppose it has something to do with the Vandenreich, now does it?" Aizen chuckled with an amused glint in his eye.
"And if it does?" Ichigo asked cautiously,
"Then Soul Society will get the same response I gave the Quincies: I do not offer my services to maggots." With that said, Aizen's only uncovered eye briefly flickered over to Rukia who was standing silently next to Ichigo with a stoic expression on her face.
"However...it seems that some maggots are more intriguing than others." He chuckled, eyeing her up and down. "Tell me, Kurosaki Ichigo, what is it about Kuchiki that captures your fancy?"
Being in no mood to indulge the traitor in his mind games, Ichigo merely pressed on.
"If you comply, the Captain Commander is willing to reduce your sentence by a quarter in exchange for your assistance." He stated as his mahogany brown eyes scanned the criminal's countenance for any signs of trickery. He was only rewarded with a smirk and an unrelated response.
"Is it her small stature? Her pretty face?" Aizen baited. Slowly but surely he was riling up the young man. He could tell by the way the shinigami daiko shot him a dirty look.
"You will only do what you are commanded to do." Ichigo growled, as he bared his teeth at him in suppressed anger, but it did nothing to intimidate the inmate, who simply continued to cajole him.
"Is the mere fantasy of having her squirm beneath you enough to string you along, Kurosaki-kun?"
Ichigo's hands tightened into fists as he struggled to dismiss the lewd comment.
"Or maybe you have already had a taste of the forbidden fruit? How naughty..."Aizen drawled as he suggestively licked his upper lip in a slow and deliberate manner.
At that, the strawberry-blonde's knuckles turned painfully white. It took all of his willpower and self-control to not punch the man right then and there!
"As I was saying, your sentence will be reduced by 5000 years if you cooperate. If you betray the agreement at any point, you will be immediately executed. Is that understood, Aizen?" He almost snarled at the end but keeping his objective in mind, Ichigo managed to remain somewhat composed...somewhat.
For a moment, an unnerving silence settled between the prisoner and the young man, but then a malicious grin made its way onto the prisoner's face before his gaze turned back towards the shinigami-daiko.
"A measly quarter? If that's the case, my time would be better spent down here." The ex-captain scoffed.
In the blink of an eye, Ichigo was suddenly in front of Aizen, gripping him by the neck of his bindings.
"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted, fearing that he would put both himself and their mission in jeopardy by antagonizing the criminal. She placed her hands over his and attempted to pry his fingers off of Aizen, but he wouldn't let go.
"I don't understand! How can you just sit by and watch someone destroy your home? Don't you feel some sympathy for this world from which you came?!" Ichigo vented, as he angrily shook the prisoner.
Aizen clicked his tongue and gave him a look of pity.
"You misunderstand me. It's because I sympathize for it that it must be destroyed and recreated." He stated nonchalantly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Disgust and disappointment made their way onto both of Ichigo and Rukia's faces.
"That's madness!"
"Only to those who are close-minded." A pensive expression crossed the ex-captain's face. "Think about it, Kurosaki Ichigo. This world has been tainted by sin for over thousands of years. Doesn't it deserve a chance to be cleansed of it?"
"A new world order founded on mass murder is not any better." Rukia finally interjected, finding it impossible to hold her tongue when this man was spouting blasphemy.
For a moment, Aizen looked like he wasn't going to acknowledge her outburst, but then his eye turned towards her and in a most neutral tone, he responded. "I like to think of it as a necessary sacrifice to have all of these worms eliminate one another."
Not liking the way the ex-captain was looking at her, Ichigo gripped the prisoner's bindings a little tighter, capturing the criminal's attention once again.
"How can you say that? Everyone in Soul Society is going to suffer at the hands of the Vandenreich and you think that they should just die like lamb to the slaughter in order to achieve an ideal!"
"I can think of no greater purpose for their menial lives."
Revolted, the shinigami daiko released the man and pushed himself away from him.
"Come on, Rukia. Let's leave. There is no point in talking to this man any further." He wrapped his hand around her wrist and motioned for her to leave with him, but just as they were about to knock on the door, they were halted by the sound of Aizen's voice.
"Ichigo-kun." he drawled, as if beckoning the younger man to face him.
Without turning around, the daiko grumpily replied with a disgruntled "what?"
Had either the citrus-haired teen or the thirteenth division vice-captain looked, they would have seen the sudden glint of amusement glimmering in Aizen's single unveiled eye.
"You know...you and I are not too different."
A sour expression suddenly flickered across the daiko's face.
"I find that hard to believe." Ichigo grimaced. It simply did not feel good to be compared to the likes of him.
"No, really." Aizen continued serenely, "I believe that we were both destined to change the world. Isn't that your reason for achieving power?"
"Unlike you, I wanted the power to protect others, not just myself!"
"Yet, there will come a time when you will think otherwise. And when you do, please feel free to join me."
For a moment, Ichigo said nothing. Instead he rapped his knuckles against the metal door. Once. Twice.
"Why isn't the guard letting us out?" Rukia wondered aloud as she too pounded her fist against the door.
"Oi! Old man! We're leaving. Open up!" Ichigo rammed both of his hands against the door, but still no one answered.
Only the sound of a low chuckle resonated within the room.
"So eager to leave...why? Afraid that you may be tempted by my offer?"
Ichigo rounded on Aizen, and found the damn bastard smirking triumphantly. And then he realized...
That cunning snake...
"What did you do?" he demanded, taking a step towards the bound man.
In response, Aizen simply closed his eyes and began to mumble something incoherent.
"Kan-zen...Saimin."
Upon recognizing these words as part of a spell, Rukia instinctively threw herself in between Aizen and Ichigo.
"Ichigo!" Her desperate cry barely made it past her lips when Ichigo was suddenly blasted across the room by a strong force from…behind?
Surprised, Rukia's gaze darted away from the mocking expression on Aizen's face, that seemed to taunt that he had successfully fooled them, to cock her head back to look at the person who attacked Ichigo from the shadows.
"You?" She gasped, as the hunch-backed guard simply sneered at her, then made his way across the room to check his handiwork on the unconscious young man.
Alarmed, Rukia mustered what was left of her reiatsu to shunpo to Ichigo's side before the man could reach him.
"I won't let you touch him." She hissed, glowering at both the guard and ex-captain with unabated loathing before her narrowed eyes settled on the bound ex-captain.
"This was a trap, wasn't it?" The petite vice-captain uttered out bitterly.
"Indeed. A successful one at that too." Aizen answered smugly, peaking her curiosity.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at him."
Although distrustful of the prisoner and his minion, Rukia's eyes fell on Ichigo's unconscious form for a brief moment. At first glance, it could be seen that little physical harm was done to him, but his half-lidded lifeless eyes seemed to suggest otherwise for his mental state.
"Aizen! What did you do to him?" She cried out angrily, as she gently cradled the young man's head in her lap and began to pat his cheeks in a futile attempt to stir him from his coma.
"I'm merely enlightening him, tempting him to join me by my side. Whether he chooses to do so solely depends on him, but I'm sure he'll make the right decision," he replied. "Now be a good girl and just sit quietly while we wait for him to awake."
"As if we will stay here a minute longer." Rukia scoffed. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was already at the exit with Ichigo's body thrown over her back.
"Oh no you don't!" The guard made a motion towards blocking their escape, but was stopped by Aizen's order to halt before he could even pursue the vice-captain and the strawberry blonde ryoka who were already gone.
"Why are you letting them go?" The gaunt-faced man queried.
"The seed to corrupt Kurosaki has been planted. Nothing more needs to be done. For now, we just wait for him to come to us."
"Aizen-sama, how are you so sure that he will join you?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo may hate to admit it, but we are more alike than he thinks. It is only natural for beings to have an affinity for things that remind them of themselves" Aizen chuckled with amusement. "Now I dare say, you should probably escape now. The Kuchiki girl has most likely alerted the other guards of your betrayal."
"But what about you, Aizen-sama?"
"Have you discovered how to break this seal placed upon me by Urahara Kisuke?"
"...No, my lord."
"Then, be gone."
With that said, his hunch-backed minion disappeared into the shadows, leaving the criminal mastermind to bask in his small triumph.
Soon, Kurosaki Ichigo, soon.
A/N: Lol. The more I review this chapter, the more I think I made Aizen sound like one of those cliched cartoon villains. Anyways, thank you sticking around long enough to read this story. The next chapter will be up in two to three weeks hopefully. Until then, much love 3
~ Silentwater