"Sosuke Aizen."
Aizen looked up, his expression mildly stunned. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."
Aizen just stared at the stranger before him, he knew something wasn't right.
"There's no need for introductions, you aren't able to physically speak anyway with all those seals in place. But you can communicate with your Reiatsu...can you not?" Aizen's unsealed eye showed his surprise by widening slightly and then he smiled, 'You must either be very sensitive to Reiatsu or either have a very high Reiatsu yourself to have been able to know that.'
"Hm ha haha...oh you will be a treat..." Then something just occurred to Aizen and his eyes narrowed, 'you are not a Shinigami.' His visitor just laughed and said "you only figured that out now huh, I'm disappointed in you Sosuke Aizen, I thought you were brighter than that "and then the stranger was suddenly mere inches away from his face and a palm was slammed over his mouth and gripping his jaw. Striking red slits caught his eye and Aizen suddenly felt as though his soul was being torn apart.
"Hmmm...mum...don't go..."whispered Ichigo. "Oh sweetie, I will always be with you...in here" Masaki said as placed gentle fingers across his heart. "I give you my heart Ichigo...I love you!" She smiled as a lone tear ran down her cheek. A nine year old Ichigo awoke to find his dear mother's lifeless body on top of him and he started to scream and cry for his mum to wake up.
"ICHIGO!" And suddenly Ichigos eyes snapped open and he sat up. "Ka..Karin?" Came Ichigo's hoarse voice. "I've been calling your name for the last 5 minutes...you were asleep longer than usual."said Karin with a hint of concern as she sat on the bed beside him. "Oh I didn't realize..."said Ichigo as he brought his hand to his head lamely. "What happened to your arm!?"
Ichigo had forgotten about that... "oh that... I accidentally broke one of the glasses yesterday...it's nothing serious really." Karin sighed, "well if you say so, Yuzu's making breakfast right now, we're planning to go shopping later today, she said they were having Saturday specials for discounts on all clothing today."
"Huh, sounds fun I never pegged you for the shopping type"smirked Ichigo. "Oh shut up, I'm only going because Yuzu asked, anyway let's go, breakfast is ready." "Right..."as Ichigo stood he realized he still had his school uniform on. "Ah...Ichigo...take a bath and then you may join us..." said Karin staring emphatically at his crinkled uniform and then she left the room.
Ichigo relished the hot water that took away the tension in his muscles he didn't even know he had. He vaguely remembered the dream of his mother as he ran his fingers over the spot she had touched him. 'That had to be a dream right? It didn't happen...like that..what was that anyway? It wasn't like any of the usual nightmares that I used to have over mums death.' He stepped out of the shower, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Ichi nii" said Yuzu with a small frown. "Huh...good morning..." replied Ichigo with a yawn. "Good morning Ichigo ...and you left the milk out for the whole night now it's bad." "Uh...oh...sorry I didn't...I forgot." Only now did Yuzu notice his bandaged arm, " Ichigo what happened...you didn't get into a fight did you?"Asked Yuzu with a bit of worry. "He got careless and bust a glass cutting himself in the process" said Karin in a monotone voice. "Oh is it ok? Did you disinfect it? Let me help you change The bandages they're wet..."Yuzu said. "Nah it's fine I'll do it, could you prepare my breakfast?" "Sure,"beamed Yuzu as she got to it.
Ichigo opened the cupboard and took out fresh bandages, he then unwrapped the old ones, blinked once then twice too see that there were just barely visible scars. 'I'm pretty sure wounds don't heal that fast...or maybe they weren't as bad as I thought' " Hey Karin, where are all the cookies or did we eat them all already?"Ichigo heard Yuzu ask. "No idea, I didn't touch them" Karin replied. Ichigo just sighed as he sat down to eat his breakfast. "Where's dad by the way?" he Inquired. "He's still at the hospital, he'll probably be back in the afternoon, something about dead bodies..." Ichigo looked up, "what?" "You haven't heard...about that serial killer...?" Asked Yuzu rather frightened.
Later that day... "Oi Mizuiro...how are you so good at this!? I thought you said you've never been bowling before!" Keigo yelled as all the pins were stuck down by the bowling ball...again. "I guess he's a natural, " said Chad as he proceeded to hit all the pins down in one go. "Gah! Am I the only one that sucks!?" yelled Keigo as as everyone laughed. "Oh don't worry Keigo, I'm not that good at this either ,"Orihime smiled shyly. "Aww Orhime is sooo sweeet," said Keigo as he proceeded to hug her. "Knock it off perv!" Said Tatsuki as she punched him in the face. "Aghhh mffgg...Tatsuki you're so mean aAh! Ichiiigoooo saveee meeee!" "Sorry I don't save pervs,"said Ichigo with a straight face. "Ahhh why do my friends treat me as such...you're so cold ichigoooo," and Keigo pretended to faint. Uryuu sighed, "He really is an idiot." " Huh Jeez, so how are things with the spirit world," asked Ichigo genuinely interested. "There's Nothing much going on really just some hollows here and there," replied Uryuu. "Oh...ok– "
"Did you guys hear whats been happening recently, the police say it has to be a serial killer on the loose..." said a girl from the seats next to them. "Yeah my friends next door neighbors were found dead...and police don't even know how it happened, there were no wounds or poison or anything found that could have killed them," said the boy next to her. "It's so scary and it's happening here..."said another girl in a frightened tone.
Orihime shifted uncomfortably and Chad stilled for a moment. "Yeah Karin was telling me about that...they couldn't find anything on the suspects right?" Said Ichigo. "I wonder how a serial killer just happened to appear in Karakura town..." mumbled Mizuiro thoughtfully. Just then Orihime's cellphone beeped and she nodded to Chad and Uryuu who nodded back. They looked at Ichigo who just sent them a knowing look. They stood and yelled goodbyes as they they headed out of the arcade. Ichigo sighed and Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo smiled unsure of what else to do. "I think I should get my sisters, they're probably done shopping by now," Ichigo said and they exchanged goodbyes then he left. "Did Ichigo seem ok, it's like he was a little let down."stated Keigo. "Of course he was feeling that way. It was only a year ago that he..."Tatsuki didn't finish her sentence. "Hmmm..."Mizuiro sighed as he stared at the doors which his friend had exited.
"That's the last one!" Yelled Uryuu to Chad who singlehandedly punched the hollow with his right arm and sent it flying of only to be met with an arrow and then it disappeared. " Hey you guys Mr Urahara just sent me a message saying to come to the store, he wants to discuss something important." Said Orihime in a concerned tone. Within the hour they were all seated on a futon around a table waiting for Kisuke to start speaking. "Where's Yoruichi?" Asked Orihime. "She helping out in the soul society...after the attack." Stated Kisuke. "Attack?"Chad and Orihime said at the same time.
"Yes...it seems that an unknown entity managed to get into the soul society undetected and caused quiet a bit of commotion by beating some of the strongest captains after breaking into Muken and taking Aizen with him."
"WHAT!?"they all shouted at once
"Aizen is free? This person managed to defeat captain level Shinigami ?" Uryuu raised his voice.
"Singlehandedly I might add, they would have all been killed had it not been for another's resistance, there was another being of unknown origin that tried to stop the intruder, of course they were both intruders but they seemed to be at odds with each other. The captains that were taken down by the attacker were Sajin Komamura, Kyōraku Shunsui, Byakuya Kuchiki, and...even Kenpachi Zaraki was fatally injured. They weren't even able to lay a finger on him," Kisuke finished expression unreadable
Now everyone's eyes were bulging out of they heads. Uryuu was the first to speak, " And this ...person you say took Aizen with him?" Kisuke had a serious expression not one that anyone usually saw, "Yes and we don't think Aizen went with him of his own free will either since the sighting reports stated Aizen looked terribly weakened and was unable to put up a fight, an unusual thing to hear but I assure you it's true because he seemed to be in the same state as those captains that were defeated...And we think...that this individual...is our serial killer, He had the same energy signatures as those left on the bodies at the hospital that Isshin is investigating and the samples Mayuri Kurotshuchi managed to attain."
"Do they have anything on the person that was fighting against him? Maybe we could work together to stop this person..." came Orihime's voice. "We tried to communicate and apprehend the individual who seemed to fight against the other but he just ignored us and left...through a portal that we think led to Hueco Mundo, He had that of a close resemblance to an Espada but we don't know."
"What did this person want with Aizen?" Chad said in a serious tone. "We don't know that either."
"Then what do you know,"Uryuu gritted out. "That whoever or whatever this being is, he is not a Shinigami, he has power, one stronger than four Captains combined and he seems to be able to absorb energy and do a great deal of damage to a soul. Nobody was prepared for this and I still don't think we are," Kisuke's hat shadowed his eyes.
"Then how are we supposed to beat an enemy who not even some of the strongest Shinigami could lay a finger on? And on top of that there Aizen to worry about." Said Uryuu tone aggravated. "Since when have you ever worried about how strong the enemy is, It's the same thing as when Aizen came into power."Said Urahara. "Yes but back then...we had Ichigo...he was always the one to protect us..." whispered Orihime. Then there was silence.
"Ichigo doesn't deserve to be brought back into this mess, he's only a human now so he's safer staying away from all this," said Uryuu in a serious tone. "I agree, we shouldn't involve him in this...it's to dangerous."Said Kisuke. "Are we going to tell him?" Asked Chad. "No, at least not right now," Said Urahara.
"Dammit! I almost had him." Came a frustrated cry as he punched the walls of Las Noches. Grimmjow actually winced with the amount of cracking and breaking he heard in the main hall. It had only been a few days ago that a strange being had appeared in the sands of Hueco Mundo and taken control of Las Noches. To say that he was shocked was a understatement, he had never been so fearful in his life at least not since Aizen's rule. The stranger stated that he would be living in Las Noches from here on and he displayed an enormous amount of power taking all those who tried to kill him down, he honestly didn't even put in much effort in getting rid of them and that was what scared him.
However after the first few days Grimmjow noticed he didn't seem to want to intentionally fight anyone as long as they didn't tempt him. The stranger even seemed to have befriended Nelliel or the other way around as Nelliel was always the forward one. He didn't seem to want to hurt her which encouraged her even more.
Grimmjow was freaked out at first but then yesterday the stranger asked if he wouldn't mind the place being redecorated and he honestly didn't mind. With the flick of a finger the white of the walls became an earthy brown with red and golden streaks and had a much more homely warm feel to it even the private rooms were redecorated and had a very welcoming atmosphere to it. Grimmjow decided to do it, He was going to challenge this person and win, he wasn't going to put up with anymore weirdness and he was going to get some answers besides he was kinda itching for a fight and it had been a while.
"Hey you! Give me a good fight!" Grimmjow shouted as he entered the main hall and spotted the guy in a relaxed uncaring pose. "No."came the simple reply. "You can't just show up here and do whatever the hell you want...whoever you are!" "I can and I Have." Blue eyes were pierced by Red ones as they seemed to narrow. "Kneel," and the simple word made Grimmjow fall to his knees and unable to move. 'What the hell...this ain't Reiatsu...'thought Grimmjow. "Your right it isn't."and he smiled as he saw Grimmjow's expression as he realized he hadn't said that out loud."
Somewhere in the human world Aizen realized his Reiatsu was being drained, he was unable to do anything with these metal bracelets on his arms. With a swish of his hand the man who had attacked the Seireitei destroyed all the seals placed on Aizen and immediately placed the bracelets on him which had sunk into his flesh and began stealing his energy and storing it.
" You managed to defeat some of the strongest Captains and effectively entered and exited the Muken and Seireitei undetected all while taking me with you and getting out completely unharmed, who are you?" "Who I am doesn't matter, all I want is power and knowledge and Sosuke Aizen you have exactly that, those Captains as well, they were just an appetizer."He, no, it grinned as he left Aizen in darkness of the room as the light of the moon seeped through the curtains.