Chapter one
-200 Years Ago...
Short, chin-length,dark hair caressed beautiful ,fine features as the teenager stood in the balcony enjoying the cool,night air. Beautiful wide,grey eyes gazed at the moon softly as it shone, glowing up the beautiful, perfect pale skin. The boy stood barefooted in this mansion of a house wearing comfortable dark baggy pants, a matching baggy,short sleeved shirt on top as he let out a content,relaxed sigh.
"Comfortable?"
"Hm?"
The boy turned back to see a man still wearing his medical uniform, walking over him with a warm smile. He pecked the teenager on the soft cheek and rubbed it.
"How was college, Aoi-kun?"
The teenager gave a beautiful smile and stared at his lover with a look that the older man loved so much. That look that told him that he was everything to the boy.
"Busy as always but I made sure to finish everything before you came back home. I know how you get when you find me busy. Anyway,how were things in the hospital?"
The man sighed and shrugged, stepping away from the boy and into the house without glancing back to make sure the boy was following him which he was.
"Ah, I lost a patient today."
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be."
"What?"
"He was old and he had an honorable,painless death...it was about time."
"Oh? So why did you tell me about it then?"
The teenager watched curiously as the older started exchanging his uniform for a more comfortable one.
"I don't know...it made me think of you. I mean...life is such a fragile thing,it can be ripped out of anyone at anytime..."
The older stared off into space seeming lost in thought for a long time before he turned, passionately looking at the younger.
"How much do you love me?"
The teenager,Aoi,frowned looking at the man in uncertainty...
"What is this all about?"
"I have this feeling...that you're going to die and leave me here all alone. In this cruel world...Aoi-kun,I...I don't want you to die before I put a ring on that finger...and yet... you're not in an appropriate age to marry yet. What if..."
"Don't be silly, I'm not going to die you idiot. And even if I do, there's an afterlife isn't there? I'm sure we'll meet again."
Aoi said stubbornly and the older gave him a warm look...
" How much do you love me then?"
"Idiot,do you even have to ask? I love you to the depths of hell and back. I love you very much,Ai-kun."
"Then,you won't ever leave me?"
"Never,you and I are stuck together like glue on paper."
"So...you won't mind marrying me when you turn 21?"
Aoi broke into a beautiful smile...
"Ofcourse I will you idiot. Four years is a short time you know?, it'll pass by very quickly. Besides,you're not in an appropriate age to marry too!"
" But I'm turning 21 next year you 17 year old baby."
"Meh,same thing."
The older man chuckled and shook his head before fishing for something in his pocket until he came out with a small, beautiful box. He handed it to the youth...
"I thought I told you not to buy me expensive gifts anymore, I have plenty already!"
"You deserve only the best,my love. And besides,this one is different."
"So it's not expensive?"
"Well..."
"It's not pure gold?"
"How are guessing these things?"
The boy gave him a serious stared and the older raised his hands in surrender.
"Ok,ok but... open it."
The boy didn't take his eyes off him immediately before staring at the box and opening it carefully only to gasp and stare at the man in disbelief.
"Ai-kun...this is... it's -"
A gold ring shone through the light,Ai took the box from Aoi and presented it to him.
"I wanted to ask you to marry me but...we can name it as a promise ring. I'll buy you another one when you're 21."
"Yes. Oh God,yes!"
The boy said and hugged the man happily,Ai laughed and hugged him back before sliding the ring onto the boy's pale figure. The boy raised it up to the light where it glinted beautifully as both of them admired it with wide smiles.
"Man,now I want to be 21. We'll get married and adopt a bunch of kids! Live a long happy life!"
"I can't wait for that as well,my love."
"What did I do to deserve you? You're the kindest,sweetest and most loving man in this whole planet. I'm glad I met you when I did."
"No,Aoi... I'm the lucky one here. You're God's gift to this world."
Grey eyes stared at the other radiating so much love,the older pulled the other to him and nibbled on his bottom lip softly before sighing and letting go. Aoi frowned...
"What is it? You've been acting like this for three days straight now. What? Don't you like touching me anymore?"
"No,never. Ofcourse not, Aoi-kun. It's just... something unsettles me. I mean you're here but it feels like I've already lost you. I don't know...my heart aches when I look at you. Aoi..."
Aoi frowned seriously at the man and sighed,anger rushing over him
"I already told you, I'm not going anywhere! Get past your insecurities and just-"
"It's okay, it's okay my love. Don't get angry at me okay?"
" But you just-"
"I'm sorry, I'll do better. I promise."
Aoi stared at the man more before sighing and nodding,eyes turning back to the ring oblivious to the man who suddenly tensed up and began sweating...
"A-Aoi... they're here."
The teenager stopped and stared at the man in confusion before looking around in the house.
"Who are "they"? Where?"
Ai's eyes widened in pure horror, staring at something behind Aoi...
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? AOI...DODGE!"
"Wha-?"
The man said and pulled the teenager to him,both tumbling down to the floor.
"What is going on,Ai-kun?"
"Aoi...run."
Grey eyes were wide as he stared at the man with disbelief and fear...
"Ai, there's no one in the house. Please-"
"No, you don't understand. The are these men in the house wearing black shihakunshō and carrying swords. You can't see them,but I can."
"You're crazy!"
"AOI!!!"
The teenage boy's eyes went wide as he felt something on his shoulder and then a warm liquid poured out...
"Blood... I'm... bleeding. Why?"
"AOI,NO PLEASE-!"
Grey eyes travelled back to the man under him who thrashed violantly, trying to grab him but the teenager felt something tearing into his body. Eyes wide,the boy dropped on top his lover-blood pouring out everywhere as everything went black.
"AOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Present Time(Soul Society)
"I remember. I remember everything."
The man breathed out softly,hand running through his short, brown hair before wiping off the sweat running down his face. He sat up from his futon,a frown etched on his face as he put on his glasses before he gritted his teeth and grabbed at the blankets harshly...
"They killed him. He had nothing to do with anything and yet...Aoi... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It was me they were after, I'm sorry you got caught up in all of this...you didn't deserve to die."
He looked down tears filling his eyes as he whispered...
"You didn't deserve to die...not you. You were God's gift to this world."
The young man quickly lay back down and covered his face when the door slid open and Shinji walked in with a sly smirk.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!"
"Ugh..."
"Aizen Soūsuke,wake up! It's a new day you know?"
Tears now wiped off,the lieutenant sat up and averted his eyes. Shinji frowned and walked over to his lieutenant and sat down.
"Is something the matter, Soūsuke?"
"No, I'm fine taicho."
Shinji frowned at him...
"You don't look fine. Your eyes... it's as if you're ready to cry at any given moment. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong. Just yawning, that's all."
"Look, I don't know what's bothering you but...I want you to know that if you need someone to talk, I'm here."
"Thanks but I assure you, Captain Hirako... there's nothing to worry about. I'm fine."
"Okay then,get ready. We have a lot of paperwork to go through today."
"Ofcourse."
Aizen watched carefully as the man exited his quarters before sighing. After so long,he finally remembered...
Later that evening,the young lieutenant walked to Division 12 hands loaded with paperwork they had completed for the day, turning another corner he paused and watched sheepishly as the Division 12 Captain, Urahara Kisuke was being yelled at by his lieutenant Hiyori. Aizen knew Hiyori's had an aggressive nature from his encounter with her and his own Captain who also received the girl's wrath time and time again. Aizen didn't understand the girl and didn't associate himself with her because he didn't like her aggressive nature. Sweat dropping, Aizen stood there watching dumbly until the two finally paid attention to him.
Hiyori: Oi,why are you just standing there you idiot...what do you want?
Aizen closed his eyes and smiled before bowing respectfully...
Aizen: Ah, forgive me. I saw that you were busy and didn't want to bother you,how are you this fine evening?
A vein popped in Hiyori's forehead and she looked just about ready to punch Aizen but decided against it and stomped off saying she was going to see Shinji whom she was probably going to beat up anyway. Kisuke and Aizen watched until the girl disappeared before facing each other at the same time...
Aizen: Hiyori-fukutaicho is always angry about something...
He voiced out thoughtfully and Kisuke laughed out, scratching the back of his head casually.
Kisuke: Heh, that's Hiyori-fukutaicho for ya. So, Hirako-taicho sent you to give me that paperwork didn't he? Come inside.
The two men walked into the Captain's office where the younger man settled all the paperwork down and watched as Kisuke brought tea.
Kisuke: So, how's your Captain?
Aizen: Hirako-taicho is fine if he's not being annoying but yeah... nothing unusual.
Kisuke:(laughs) You're too hard on him, Aizen-fukutaicho.
Aizen: I just wish he'd stop bothering me, he's really annoying you know?
Kisuke: Is that how you speak of your own taicho?
Aizen rolled his eyes and looked into the side, Ofcourse Kisuke would defend him. The two Captains were cut from the same profession of cloth afterall,the only difference was that Kisuke was smarter... speaking of intelligence,a question Aizen's been meaning to ask popped into his head and it was the perfect time since they were alone.
Aizen: Urahara-taicho,tell me...is it possible for someone to remember their past life?
Kisuke immediately furrowed his brows and stared at the young man carefully.
Aizen: I mean... there's this friend of mine...he said that he remembers what his life was like before he passed over to the Soul Society.
Kisuke frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment, seeming to ponder this question and Aizen didn't take his eyes off of him the whole time.
Kisuke: There is a possibility... approximately one in a million chances can something like that occur. Infact, I've read of it but never really heard of such.
Aizen looked interested and Kisuke took it as a sign to continue...
Kisuke: See,we call someone like that "A special case." First of all,a person like that either had high level reiatsu before he died or...he was a powerful advisory before like a Soul king or something like that.
Aizen: No,my friend is pretty sure he was human so I suppose we could say he had high reiatsu.
Kisuke: Hm... tell me about your friend's story maybe I can draw up a suitable conclusion.
Aizen: Ok,er...so...
Kisuke: It's okay I already know this "friend" is you.
Aizen froze for a moment before he sighed realizing that he had no choice...
Aizen: I remember that I was a 20 year old doctor working on one of the famous hospitals in Japan. I was an only child born into a filthy rich family. I had everything and was good at everything too,sports...academics,art... everything,I was considered a prodigy but...I had no friends, people seemed to be scared of me for some reason so I was all alone...
The room fell silent, Kisuke listening intently to the other...
Aizen: My parents died from an unspecified thing when I was 10 but I didn't go to an orphanage, instead a guardian was hired for me and my parents money was used to pay her off...she wasn't the nicest person on the planet. She was very mean and aggressive towards me so much that I learned to hate her and desert home for an orphanage instead but it didn't get better,it got worse...
Kisuke: How so?
Aizen:I...I started seeing things...things other people couldn't see...
Kisuke:(shocked) You mean...spirits?
Aizen: Yes. I was alive and yet I could clearly see hollows and other things like... shinigami. I could see everything. People thought I was crazy and they locked me up in an asylum, treating me like a mad person but I couldn't hate them...I couldn't...I know they didn't understand. And so,I started playing along... pretending I didn't see anything anymore. They said I was better and released me when I was 14. I went back to school and graduated at age 16,I already knew everything they taught there,I studied...I knew a lot of things I shouldn't have at that age and they made me skip classes and go to college early. I studied Medicine and Surgery and became a professional doctor at age 18.
Kisuke: You really were a prodigy.
Kisuke voiced out in a cool voice and Aizen nodded.
Aizen: That's when I met him, Aoi Zen'nin. He turned my whole world upside down. He became my everything. See,I was in my first year as a doctor when a 14 year old walked in. He was beautiful. He had pale beautiful skin,the most beautiful grey eyes I've ever seen and a wild attitude too. He had my full attention that same time, I would do anything for him. Aoi wasn't like the others,he wasn't scared of me and treated me like a normal person,hell it was the first time I was scared of someone. Apparently,he was a son to one of the nurses working in the hospital and he wanted to know what the hype about me was all about,the brat even went as far as to tell me in the face that I was "nothing special." It was the first time I yelled at someone too,it felt... amazing,to argue I mean.
Aizen smiled softly, bathing in the memory and Kisuke smiled with him.
Aizen: We fought and for once I got scolded like a brat too by my boss. It's kind of fun being scolded isn't? Aoi made me experience things I've never experienced before and soon,we started spending a lot of time together. He became the closest person to me,and made me so happy. He was my everything. He understood me,he knew how to push me...I fell in love with him and surprisingly he was already in love with me as well. When his mother died,I asked him to move in with me and it was one of the best moments of my life. Aoi,I loved him too much...too much...
Kisuke: Hm,we all know how those end. No matter what or how you love someone...you shouldn't love that person too much. Once you love someone that much...that love becomes dangerous, especially to the one it's directed at.
Kisuke finished sadly...
Aizen: You're right. My love ended up killing Aoi.
Kisuke: What?
Aizen: One day I came back from work, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen to Aoi...I knew something was wrong but he kept insisting that everything was fine. I didn't want to see him mad,so I listened to him. I shouldn't have... masked men entered the house, dressed like shinigami and they,they...they murdered him. Aoi was murdered that night because of me...I killed him.
The young man sounded broken hearted and that saddened the Captain so...
Kisuke: Don't say that,it wasn't your fault...
Aizen: It was! Urahara-taicho...those men,they told me that Aoi was dead because of me. They said their initial goal was to eliminate my existence but spending time with Aoi has made him become like me...what did they call it..."A special case"...they said I was too strong and that my existence was causing an imbalance in the world. They said I had to go so the world would be in the right space again and that Aoi was...that I was rubbing off on him. That's why they had killed him too.
Kisuke: I... I'm so sorry.
Aizen: They should've killed me, I'm the one they were after. Aoi had nothing to do with it...he was innocent. He deserved to live,he deserved a long life. I'm the one who should've died that day.,damn it...
Aizen began trembling, doing all in his power not to cry. Kisuke felt sorry for him,he felt very sorry...
Kisuke: If it's like that...then I'm glad I don't remember my past life...
Aizen gulped softly and looked back at Kisuke looking much better...
Aizen: So...what do you think?
Kisuke: Your reiatsu was too powerful that it was causing harm to the human in the Living World so,the Soul king put an order to have you executed and brought here in the Soul Society instead. But... considering the fact that you had extremely high levels of reiatsu they must have killed you with a soul blade which should've insured you don't come in the Soul Society because of case like this...first being that you remember your past life and second being that you might want revenge.
Aizen: You mean...I wasn't supposed to come to the Soul Society?
Kisuke: Yes,the aim was to terminate your existance once and for all. I'd bet that's why Aoi isn't with you right now,the same thing happened to him...he was... eliminated completely.
Aizen gasped...
Aizen: So then...how am I here?
Kisuke: I don't know... maybe you were sent to the reincarnation cycle by mistake where you were reborn as a shinigami, not a human this time.
Aizen: Aoi...?
Kisuke: It is possible that he's here as well but he must go under a different name just like you. Aizen-fukutaicho,I advise you to stay quiet about this because people like you are hunted down...and killed all over again, it's the king's order. You're considered dangerous.
Aizen: But why? I'm merely just a lieutenant who barely even knows his zanpakuto's name. I'm not even that strong!
Kisuke:(frowns) I really have no idea,Aiz-
His eyes travelled to the door when it burst open and a dark skinned beautiful woman walked in with a cheshire grin.
Yoruichi: Aren't the two of you so serious here,huh?
...