Chapter 22: Just A Shell
Kirara spared Ichigo and Renji another glance, her heart pounding against her chest. It was her fault they were on the ground bleeding to death. Again. She had had enough.
"You want me, Sosuke? Come on then," Kirara goaded, raising her hand. She ignored Shinji's yell, as she glared at Aizen. Her fingers curled in front of her face, and white fragments formed together, forming a bone like feature as she pulled down. Reiatsu suddenly poured from her, dark and terrifying.
"How fascinating," Aizen commented softly as Kirara lowered her hand. Her eyes, now gold, shone from under a white Hollow Mask shaped like a leaf, in the style of a Venetian mask.
"What...?" Ichigo managed to look up at her, stunned to see the Hollow Mask she wore. Rukia stared at her with large eyes too, not sure what she was seeing.
"Fascinating?" Kirara repeated. Her voice was clear, but warped like a Hollow's would have been. "You did this to me, Sosuke. It's only fitting I use it on you," she declared. Aizen's smile grew wider as Kirara rushed him, dodging his sword with a massive burst of speed.
"Kirara?" Natsuki, who had reached the grounds, stared out in horror. While it still felt somewhat like her old friend, it was dark and heavy, and the air seemed to crackle with the power. It didn't feel completely like a Hollow, nor a Shinigami, but somewhere in the middle.
"Stop, you idiot!" Shinji turned to help her, and bit back a cry as Ichimaru's Shikai pierced his leg.
"You should be paying attention to our fight," the third division Captain scolded as his blade retracted. Blood followed, pouring down Shinji's leg, and he breathed heavily as he adjusted to the pain before pushing himself back up. He regripped his Zanpakuto, his attention divided. He knew Kirara was no match for Aizen, but Ichimaru continued to dance in the middle, stopping him from reaching her.
"Amusing, but you cannot possibly think you can win this, Kirara," Aizen commented. "Not only are you weakened from your time in the Shrine of Penitence, but that form..." Kirara was slammed to the ground, and part of her Mask broke off, vanishing. "It's simply a side-effect of a failed experiment. What hope do you have against your creator?" Aizen asked, standing over her.
"Fine...you win," she whispered, on her knees. Aizen smiled again.
"I'm glad you finally see it my way," Aizen reached down, only for his hand to be slapped away.
"She wasn't talking to you," Kirara's head lifted, and the heavy Reiatsu intensified, making it hard for Rukia and the injured to breathe. "I'm not just some failed experiment. I'm going to rip your head off!" she laughed loudly. She then vanished, and Ichimaru's small smile faded as she reappeared in front of him, spinning. He was slammed into a tree by a powerful kick.
"Dammit," Shinji flicked his hand, summoning his own Mask, and raced towards her as Kirara then punched Tosen in the gut, still laughing with glee.
"What...what is that?" Natsuki whispered, her hands over her mouth. The Reiatsu had terrified her. She couldn't move.
"She's like...me?" Ichigo wondered.
"Stop this, now," Shinji grabbed Kirara's wrist. She glanced at him lazily.
"Sorry, my knight, but no. I won't," Shinji let out a grunt as the Hollow in control of Kirara slammed her fist across his face and kicked him to the ground. "I'll destroy everyone in my way!" she declared. With a shriek, she rushed at Aizen, who sighed.
"Enough..." his voice was quiet, and the next thing she knew, he had her by the collar, and her Mask shattered.
"No...even she wasn't enough?" Kirara whispered, hanging by the collar in Aizen's grip. Hearing a screech, she looked around to see Natsuki racing towards them with her unsealed Zanpakuto.
Kirara barely felt the movement as Aizen cut through Natsuki's attack. Her massive Zanpakuto clattered to the ground with a dull thud, and Natsuki followed; a deep wound up her torso that gushed blood. Kirara couldn't even manage the energy to speak. The power she had siphoned from her Inner Hollow was drained, and the Hollow herself was silent. She couldn't stop herself from looking to Shinji, who was struggling to breathe after having his ribs cracked by Kirara's blows.
"He can't save you, Kirara," Aizen's soft words made her choke. She was reminded of the argument they had, right before she was captured. "He couldn't the last time, and he can't now. You follow a fool, who kept me close enough that I could do what I wanted, and he was none the wiser," Aizen mocked. Hearing him, Shinji's fists clenched, knowing he was right. It was his fault Kirara and the others had gone through so much. He'd let Aizen get away with everything, and still had the gall to call himself the leader of the Vizards.
"If you think I blame Shinji for any of this, you're mistaken," his eyes shot open at Kirara's soft words. "None of us do. The only one stupid enough to think he was responsible, is him," she glanced to Shinji again as he stared at her. "We know who's really responsible, Sosuke," Kirara returned her gaze to him.
"How sweet," Aizen smirked. Shinji pushed himself up, gripping his sword, before Ichimaru cut across his front with a swing.
"Stop!" Kirara struggled as Shinji ignored it, fighting Ichimaru again. She then heard Ichigo move behind them
"Poor thing, he's still conscious," Aizen laughed softly as Ichigo breathed heavily, looking up at them. "Your actual strength, and your strength to live not meeting up, has become your Achilles Heel. But you should stop," Aizen sheathed his blade. You have already been very helpful. Your part is over now," Aizen told him.
"My...part?" Ichigo managed to say.
"That's right. I knew that you would sneak into Western Rukongai. That's why there was already a guard when you got there. In the case that something should happen, Gin would go get you directly. He increased the chances of you falling into my hands. Seirei-Heki was brought down. If the Captains were hanging out on the inside of the walls, the only way to break in was through Kukaku Shiba's Flower Crane Cannon," Ichigo stared at the man, who detailed every bit of Ichigo's infiltration route. "It was a flashy break in. On top of that, those intruders were strong enough to make the Captains run about. And, the return of not one, but two former Captains," Aizen glanced to Shinji. "Kept the Shinigami's eyes focused on them. Actually, your movement inside of the grounds was wonderful. As a result, it wouldn't create a big stir, even if a Captain was killed. It was very easy to move about," he told them.
"How...could you...plan something so big?" Natsuki whispered, on the ground by his feet. She couldn't move. Blood loss was making it difficult to even focus.
"Wait, why did you know we would be coming from Western Rukongai?" Ichigo demanded.
"You ask a strange question," Aizen murmured. "It's obvious, isn't it? It's because Nishi Rukongai is Kisuke Urahara's base," Ichigo choked on his gasp. "The only place that you can break in using the Zenkaimon that he makes is Western Rukongai. What's with that expression?" Aizen asked, not seeming to understand Ichigo's shock. "You're his underlings, aren't you? Didn't you come back here under Kisuke Urahara's orders, to take back Kirara Yamada?" he asked, almost sounding innocent.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Ichigo demanded.
"I see," Aizen hummed. "It seems that you haven't heard anything about it. Very well," he laughed. Aizen lifted his arm enough to force Kirara to walk with him.
"This is the end. I shall tell you. Did you know that there are four essential ways for a Shinigami to fight? Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohou, Kido. However, all of those have a limit to their strength," Aizen explained as he approached Ichigo, leaving Natsuki to watch as he led Kirara along. "Whichever you master, your Shinigami soul's strength will hit a wall. That's where the growth stops. In other words, that is the Shinigami's limit. Then isn't there a way to break through it, and surpass all of the limits to your abilities?" he asked as Ichigo stared at him, not understanding where he was going.
"Stop it..." Kirara whispered.
"There is," Aizen ignored her. "There's just one way. That is...the transformation of a Shinigami into a Hollow," he announced. Ichigo's breath caught as Natsuki looked from Kirara, who Shinji, realising what their Masks meant. "A Shinigami's transformation into a Hollow. A Hollow's transformation into a Shinigami. By breaking down the wall that separates the two opposites, that being is able to climb to a higher level. You just witnessed it yourself, did you not?" Aizen lifted Kirara a little higher as she looked away, guilt and shame in her expression. "This theory began from that desire. That's why even I tried out various Shinigami-Hollow transformation experiments. Hollows that can hide their own Reiatsu. Hollows that can make a Zanpakuto disappear just by touching them. Hollows with the ability to fuse together with Shinigami," he listed.
"No!" Rukia cried as his words hit home with her, forcing her to remember something from long ago.
"Yes, I speak of Kaien Shiba," Aizen nodded. Natsuki's eyes widened as she remembered the Lieutenant of Squad 13, who had died on what should have been a simple mission. "There were also my experiments with souls, but no matter what I did, they vanished, unable to handle the transformation. No matter how much I expected from them, it never turned out right. In the end, neither myself, nor all the others, could find out how to do it. But Kisuke Urahara made a way. It could cross over the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami, within a moment. It was a product that surpassed Soul Society's common knowledge. That thing's name was Hougyoku. It was a dangerous creation. He probably felt that as well. He tried to destroy it, however, in the end, he could not find a way to destroy the Hogyoku. So he took the only method left to him. Isn't that right, Kirara?" he glanced to her.
"What?" Ichigo breathed.
"Dammit..." Kirara closed her eyes, lowering her head.
"You've always felt indebted to Kisuke Urahara, haven't you, Kirara? After all, he's the reason you and the others did not disappear after that experiment. Of course you'd agree to hide it within your soul," Aizen turned his full attention to her. Kirara didn't reply. "For a killer, you've always been very...protective," he taunted.
"Puppets on a string from the start, yet again," Kirara whispered. Aizen chuckled.
"I suppose you could say that," he agreed. "You and the other failed experiments, along with Kisuke Urahara, Yourichi Shihoin, and Tessai Tsukibishi, all vanished with no trace, no ability to track you. At first, I truly had believed you'd all died that night, or at least shortly after. But you managed to beat your Hollows into some form of submission. I have to admit, that was not something I had expected. Then one of my experimental Hollows was destroyed by a boy with a massive Zanpakuto and uncontrolled Reiatsu. But that Gigai he used for you, when hiding the Hogyoku, would continue to lose its Reiatsu, until in the end, you'd lose it all. You would deteriorate from being a Shinigami, and become a mere human soul. You comment on Abarai's debt not being worth his life, yet you would give up your powers to hide the Hogyoku?" he asked her, curious.
"What?" Ichigo stared at Kirara, who didn't look at them.
"Luckily, after a couple of months, you were found in the World of the Living," Aizen continued. "I immediately went to Room 46-" before he could finish, a shadow cast over them, and a massive being hit the ground with a powerful slam behind Aizen. Dust kicked up in the wind that followed, and Aizen looked around.
"Aizen!" the fox-like Captain of Squad 7 roared, swinging his Bankai. The impact cracked the ground around them, but as the dust cleared, Komamura found Aizen blocking his sword, completely unharmed. Kirara had sank to the ground, struggling to breath and the clashing Reiatsu. Both Shinji and Ichimaru had been floored by the sudden attack.
"It's been quite a while since I've seen your uncovered face, hasn't it?" Aizen smirked up at him. "I wonder what the change of heart is, Komamura?" he mocked.
"Why are you able to laugh like that, Aizen?! I will never forgive you for plotting against everyone and betraying us! You too, Tosen!" Komamura vowed, his golden eyes darting to the silent man. Komamura let out another angry roar, throwing a punch. Aizen leapt back, landing beside Tosen. Kirara landed in a heap nearby, whimpering at the pain. "Tosen! If you have an explanation, let me hear it!" he yelled, snarling. Tosen didn't respond. "You don't have one? Nothing? This is unfortunate, Tosen," his Reiatsu flared. "Bankai!" Aizen smiled, and reappeared in front of him. "Impossible!" he gasped, looking up to see Aizen still beside Tosen.
"You idiot, it's an illusion!" Shinji yelled from the ground, but it was too late.
"Hado #90. Black Coffin," Aizen raised a hand, and black lines appeared around Komamura. They filled black, and there was a pulse as what seemed like spikes appeared around the box. It disappeared, and Komamura collapsed, blood spurting from wounds all over his body. "Kyokasuitgestu's 'Complete Hypnotism' is completely flawless. Even if you realise you're under it, it's impossible to escape it," Aizen told Ichigo with a smirk.
"How scary," holding Kirara up by the collar, Ichimaru landed beside Shinji, kicking him and knocking the man back down as he tried to get up. His Mask crumbled even more. "When did you become able to do something like that?" he asked innocently.
"No, it was a failure," Aizen shook his head. "Not even a third of its destructive powers were released," he admitted. "Now then," he took Kirara back, smirking down at Shinji as the man gasped for breath. "Excuse me, I was in the middle of my conversation with you," Aizen glanced to Ichigo.
"Kurosaki!" they looked around to see Ichigo's friends arriving.
"Don't come any closer!" Ichigo managed to yell over. Their eyes widened when they saw the destruction left behind. Three Captains watched them, as Ichigo lay on the ground covered in blood, unable to move. The same went for Natsuki and Renji, and Rukia was frozen beside Byakuya; the massive Reiatsu paralysing her body.
"Kirara!" Orihime spotted her friend in Aizen's grasp.
"Hey, you shouldn't move," Ichimaru scolded. His Reiatsu rose, and they cried out, floored by his pressure as Aizen smirked.
"Kirara Yamada, once I realised what Kisuke Urahara had planned, I immediately did this. I massacred the Central 46. You probably heard this from Lieutenant Isane. 'Sosuke Aizen faked his death in order to hide his whereabouts. Shortly afterwards, he killed Central 46'," he repeated Isane's message. "But that is incorrect. As soon as you were found, I immediately killed Centra 46 and cast Kyokasuigetsu on all of the Central Underground's Senate. I made it look like Central 46 was still alive and continuing its meetings," Kirara tugged at the collar uselessly, forced to follow him away from Shinji. "And then one of the three of us was always in the Underground Senate. From then on, we had continued to act as Central 46 and control all of the orders. In order to assure your capture, I changed who was supposed to be dealing with the recon mission to investigate the sudden appearance of a Menos Grand, to the two from the 6th Division. To keep you away from the humans, I put out the order for the immediate return of your Gigai. In order to completely vaporise your soul and remove Hogyoku from inside of you, I decided to use Sogyoku to execute you," Kirara stared up at him, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"You planned everything..." she whispered.
"We completely vacated the senate for only a few hours, including during the second Captain's meeting. Directly after that, I faked my death and hid in the Underground Conference Hall, because I figured that there was a possibility that the execution would fail, due to their efforts," he glanced to Ichigo. "There are only two ways to pull out something which has been intertwined and buried within a soul. Have the outer layer, the soul, vaporised by something like the extremely hot destructive powers of Sougyoku, and then remove it. Or, forcefully separate it by some method that directly interferes with the soul's composition. If in the one-in-a-million chance that the execution failed, I had to find that other method," Aizen pulled a small tube from his robes. "In order to do that, I needed the information in the Underground Conference Room's Repository of Great Spiritual Books," Kirara began to struggle uselessly in his grip.
"No, I won't let you take it," she whispered. Aizen didn't seem to hear her as he continued talking.
"I studied Kisuke Urahara's past research. Since he was the one who devised the technique to combine and bury matter within a soul," Aizen activated the tube, and it began to smoke. "I figured that the technique to remove it would definitely be hidden within his research. Yes..." spikes burst from the ground in a circle around them. "This is that technique," Kirara looked at the spikes with wide eyes. "I called you a shell, once, when you returned here, remember? And shells are the perfect hiding places," Aizen whispered.
"Kirara!" Shinji managed to get to his feet, ignoring the pain, only to freeze as Aizen's hand slammed through Kirara's chest. She let out a choke as there was a blinding flash of light. A hole appeared where his hand had pierced, but instead of blood, it was darkness. Tosen then slashed across Shinji's back, making him fall to his knees, and kept him there, forcing him to watch.
"There..." Aizen smirked, but as he gripped his treasure, white light shone from it and repelled his hand. "Oh? It seemed it's grown quite...attached to you," he commented, and pushed against the light.
Intense pain burned through Kirara's entire body, and she couldn't stop the scream that escaped her lungs. She tugged at his hand uselessly as the pain grew worse and worse, filling her mind, before the light shattered and he grasped the Hogyoku. He dropped Kirara, and she landed on her knees, as Aizen looked at the small treasure in his hands.
"This is a surprise," Aizen commented as Kirara breathed heavily, tears running down her face. She'd failed in the worst way imaginable. "It's something so small. This is Hogyoku," he admired the tiny orb as the spikes vanished and his hand returned to normal. "Oh?" he glanced down as the hole in Kirara's chest vanished, leaving her unharmed. "The soul itself is uninjured? Such a wonderful technique!" he laughed, seeming delighted at the thought. "But this is unfortunate. I no longer need you," Aizen lifted her into the air again, and held her out at arms length. "You've survived many times, Kirara. But not this time. Kill her, Gin," he ordered. Ichimaru shrugged, and raised his sword.
"There's no helping it. Shoot to Kill, Shinsou," the blade shot at Kirara as she was forced to watch. She let out a soft whimper, before blood exploded out, splattering both her and Aizen. Aizen glanced around, looking mildly surprised as he lowered his now empty hand. Kirara looked up at Shinji as the last of his Mask shattered, showing his face as he glared defiantly at Ichimaru. The blade retracted, and more blood spilled to the ground.
"Shinji!" Kirara cried as Shinji staggered, falling as he struggled to breathe. "Shinji...why...you idiot," tears continued running down her face as he sank to the ground, bringing her with them.
"Told you before..." he mumbled, slumping into her.
"No...please...don't," Kirara whimpered, gripping his shirt and pulling him into her arms. He didn't respond, falling unconscious as Kirara stared at him helplessly. Her mind screamed at her to do something. Her Hollow remained silent still, leaving her completely quiet, and for the first time, she hated it.
Just one chapter left to go!
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