This was a tough one to write because holy hell, Aizen really does not shut up.

Hope you like it!

Chapter 48: Helpless

"Natsuki!" Kirara shouted as the Fourth Seat crumpled in a heap to the ground, her blood pooled around her. It didn't even look like Aizen had moved when he'd cut her down, but the woman lay there, not moving, and Aizen was returning his Zanpakuto to its sheath once more.

"A pitiful attempt, but I can't say I expected much," Aizen admitted, not taking his eyes off Kirara. Darkness glittered behind them, and Kirara's rage only grew. "Would you care to try next, Kirara?" his words were a challenge, but Kirara could tell that he was goading her. She didn't move.

"I'm surprised you'd offer, rather than just cut me down where I stand," she replied. Aizen smiled, and walked past her. He dragged Rukia with him, and the woman couldn't do anything to fight it.

"I have no intention of killing you today, Kirara," Aizen then looked back at her with that same friendly smile. "Not until my former Captain can watch," he said, sounding so casual he may as well have been commenting on the weather. Kirara's entire body went cold, and her heart hammered so hard she could hear her blood pounding in her ears.

"Bastard!" she roared, launching herself at Aizen once again. He smiled, and Kirara felt the blow to her face before she hit the ground hard. This time she pushed herself up immediately, only for an arm to go around her neck and hold her in place.

"Uh uh," the voice of Gin Ichimaru sang in her ear as he easily restrained the thrashing woman. "He already told you that you're not going to die today," the silver-haired Captain of Squad 3 teased as Kirara didn't stop fighting him.

"It truly is amusing, how ready you are to kill for those you care for," Aizen mused, having walked over to where Ichigo lay. "A moment ago, you had no blood lust in your heart. You hate me, but you were ready to wait until the opportune moment to strike. Then I mention my former Captain, and instantly you abandon those notions and charge in recklessly," he commented, watching as Kirara stopped struggling and glared hatefully at him.

"What of it?" she spat, her voice shaking.

"You have that killer instinct. Most hesitate to kill, but you do not. It's in your blood," Aizen told her. Kirara stared, not understanding. "I told you before. You have the soul of a killer. While that was intentional to crush your will to fight, it was also the truth. You inherited quite the gift, manifested in your desire to protect those you care for," Aizen smiled at her.

"What are you talking about?" Kirara strained in Ichimaru's grip, but his arm was wrapped around her neck and his Zanpakuto was against her stomach.

"You should ask the Captain-Commander. He knows all about it," Aizen replied simply. Kirara snarled. "That night had been a test in two ways. One, you know all about. The second…well. When I goaded my dear former Captain, it wasn't just a cheap taunt for him. And you reacted just as I expected," Kirara's eyes widened. "You fought the process, and came at me with your blade, ready to kill to protect him. It was truly touching," he taunted.

"Son of a bitch…" Kirara hissed, trying to process it. Now that she thought about it, it did tie into everything else she'd noticed about herself. All the times she'd snapped and gone to extreme lengths to protect people. Fighting Natsuki, almost putting the Konpaku in Ichigo's body through a wall, and just as he'd said, tried to kill him when he was mocking Shinji.

"In the end though, your attempts were as useless as I expected. Disappointing, really," Aizen admitted, looking down. "However, you've all been useful enough. You've served your purpose," he looked down at Ichigo.

"Purpose?" Ichigo grunted, gasping for breath at the blinding pain. It took everything he had to stay conscious.

"That's right," Aizen nodded. "I knew that you would enter through the West Rukon District, that's why I had Squads stationed around the area so that Gin could be there if something happened. The Seireitei Walls were lowered, and there were Captains within the gates, so the only way to get in would be with Kukaku Shiba's Flower-Crane Cannon."

Kirara stared at him as he explained their plan in excruciating detail. "And those intruders were skilled enough to get past a Captain. As a result, the eyes of all the Shinigami within the Seireitei focused on them," Aizen told them.

Kirara felt like she was going to be sick, realising that he'd been playing them all from the very beginning. Even their invasion had been calculated by the man. Ichigo looked stunned, unable to believe that the Captain had known everything.

Aizen continued, not losing that smile. "Your actions after entering were quite impressive indeed. And thanks to you, the news of a murdered Captain did not create too much fuss," he chuckled. "Even if Kirara did ask if they were sure I was truly dead, that comment was breezed over," he glanced at Kirara, who glared back at him. "And for it to come from the words of a dead woman, well. They would never carry much weight," he chuckled mockingly. "It really made it easy to make my move."

"Hold on…" Ichigo groaned. "How did you know that we would come in through the West Rukon District?!" he demanded, staring up at the man. Aizen smiled, as if he'd been hoping to be asked this question.

"What a strange thing to ask. Where else would it be? The West Rukon District is Kisuke Urahara's base of operations. West Rukon is the only place you could have entered through with his Senkaimon," Aizen answered simply.

Kirara lowered her head, her eyes burning. It felt wrong that he knew even that. "What's with that face?" Aizen asked when he saw the alarm in Ichigo's expression. "You work for him, don't you? Didn't you come to retrieve Rukia Kuchiki under Kisuke Urahara's orders?" he asked simply. "There's only one person that Kirara Yamada would have returned here for," Aizen commented.

"Shut your mouth," Kirara snarled at him.

"He is the only Shinigami that you still trust, is he not?" Aizen asked her innocently.

"How do you…"

"I see…it seems you weren't told anything," Aizen sighed as if disappointed. "I suppose if Kirara is here, then he would keep it secret from anyone else. Oh well," he shook his head as Kirara spat a curse at him.

"This is the end anyway, so I'll tell you," Aizen decided as he closed the distance between him and Ichigo. "Did you know that Shinigami have four basic fighting methods? Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho and Kido. Those are the four," he listed as he walked.

Kirara struggled again, but the blade bit into her stomach. "But there is a limit to how strong you can get in any one of them. There's a limit to how much a soul can take, and that's where the growth stops," he began his explanation.

Ichigo only stared up at the man who had cut him down in one strike, fighting to stay conscious as Rukia was forced to walk behind the man holding her by the collar. "In other words, that's a Shinigami's limit. Is there any way to get past that and surpass the limits of those four abilities to get stronger?" Aizen asked, and when his eyes briefly met with Kirara's nearby, her breath caught.

"No…" she breathed, knowing exactly where he was going with his explanation. She struggled again, flinching as Ichimaru's blade sliced into her stomach and drew blood. The man restraining her huffed an exasperated breath in her ear.

"So fidgety. Stay still," Kirara heard the whisper of his Kido chant before her body locked into place.

"There's one way," Aizen continued to speak, ignoring the two as Kirara fought the Kido that had completely paralysed her. Unlike the Onmitsukido who'd tried it, Ichimaru was far stronger, and she couldn't break free. "A Shinigami has to become a Hollow," Ichigo's breath caught, and Kirara screamed inwardly. She knew he was connecting it to himself and the Hollow who had taken over his mind briefly on multiple occasions.

What Kirara hated more was that he was right. Since becoming a Vizard, she'd become faster and stronger. Still not great with Zanjutsu, but her other abilities had improved significantly. "A Shinigami into a Hollow, or a Hollow into a Shinigami. Only by removing the border between those opposing existences can one become an even greater existence. In theory, it was thought to be plausible. So I secretly tried to turn various Hollows into Shinigami. Hollows that could hide their Reiatsu. Hollows that could use their Reiatsu to lure in others," Aizen listed his experiments.

'The Hollows in the mountain, and the one in the Rukon. They were his,' Kirara realised with dread. She'd never made the connection before, and now she berated herself for it. 'I was so blind. How could I not have seen that they were his experiments?' she wondered.

"Or a Hollow that could destroy Zanpakuto with a touch and fuse with Shinigami," Rukia's breath caught as the terrified woman reacted to his words. Everything before then, she'd been listening with silent, paralysing fear. But now, something seemed to have risen to the surface of her mind. "But none of them worked out as well as I had hoped."

Aizen shook his head as if disappointed. "In the end, nobody could find a way. But Kisuke Urahara made a way," again, his eyes darted to the paralysed form of Kirara, who could only stare at him as Ichimaru kept her up to force her to watch.

'He knew the whole time. That rat bastard,' she continued to fight the paralysing Kido that held her in place. She refused to let him take it without a fight.

"It was something that could instantly remove the border dividing Hollow and Shinigami. Something that defied all logic within the Soul Society. It's called Hogyoku, and it's very dangerous," Aizen told Ichigo. "He probably felt the same way. He tried to destroy the Hogyoku, but he was unable to find a way to destroy his own creation. So he reluctantly resorted to another method. That was to create a shield around the Hogyoku, and hide it somewhere deep within a soul," he then looked around at Rukia. "Now do you understand? The place he chose to hide it was within you, Rukia Kuchiki," he told her. Rukia inhaled sharply.

"What…did you say?" Ichigo breathed.

"You knew, didn't you, Kirara?" Aizen addressed the woman. "That's the reason you're here. You hate Shinigami, but you risked your life to save one. Because you knew the truth," Ichigo looked at Kirara. She fought the paralysis, but couldn't speak.

"Kirara…" Ichigo stared at her.

"When I found that out, you had already gone missing in the World of the Living. I instinctively knew Kisuke Urahara had something to do with it. He was banished from the Soul Society for creating an untraceable Gigai that contained no Reishi," Aizen told them.

"No…" Kirara managed to say, though it was strained. Aizen ignored her.

"There's no other way a Shinigami in a Gigai can go missing. There was another reason why he was exiled. That Reiatsu of a Shinigami inside such a Gigai would continue to diminish. Because of that, the Shinigami never recovers his power. The communications with the Gigai slows down, to the point that all of their Reiatsu is lost. Their Konpaku is reduced to that of a mere human."

Aizen explained everything to Rukia in that calm voice. "Do you understand now? He didn't help you. He was just trying to hide the location of the Hogyoku by turning you into a human," he told her as Rukia thought back to when Kisuke had found her, weak from giving Ichigo her powers.

"Stop!" Kirara's shout was louder this time, but she still couldn't move. Ichimaru chuckled, and Aizen didn't look away from Rukia.

A flicker caught Kirara's attention, and dread flooded her. Behind Aizen, Haruki had appeared with a furious look in his eyes as he aimed a kick at the Captain in a surprise attack. Haruki hadn't thought it through - he'd seen Kirara immobilised while Ichigo, Renji and Natsuki bled out, and Rukia hung limply in Aizen's grasp - and his body moved instinctively. This was why he had trained the way he had; to protect people.

Haruki's kick was stopped dead by the hand that caught his leg with ease, as if stopping a child. Aizen smiled, not looking up from Rukia as he held Haruki easily.

"It would seem that Kirara's dear student has the same tricks, but none of the talent to back them up," he mused idly. Haruki inhaled sharply at the darkness behind Aizen's gaze. No trace of true emotion lingered.

"Haruki!" Kirara screamed, but it was too late. His blood exploded from cuts all over his body, and he was thrown to the ground a small distance away. Aizen didn't so much as blink as Haruki shuddered from the immense pain that threatened to swallow him up.

A cold fury sharpened Kirara's senses, and she let out a gut-wrenching scream. The paralysing Kido holding her in place shattered, and she didn't wait for Ichimaru to react to it. She slammed her elbow back, aiming for the spot between his ribs to wind him enough that he was forced to release her.

The moment Ichimaru's grip slackened on Kirara, she was moving, but not towards Aizen. She threw herself away from the Captain, and towards the fallen Shinigami discarded on the ground.

"Sorry, Captain Aizen," Ichimaru spoke cheerfully, as if Kirara hadn't just driven her elbow into his chest hard enough to do damage. "She got out of my grip," he said as Kirara knelt beside Haruki's bloody body and hauled him into her arms. The cold sharpness was fading quickly, allowing Kirara's mind to catch up with her body once again.

"Haru, I'm so sorry," she whispered as she desperately began to heal the man. "You can't die, please, Haru," Kirara begged Haruki, who only smiled up at her before the pain caused him to black out.

"It's quite alright. It seems she's still indisposed," Aizen was unaffected by the interruption. He watched her for a beat, not missing her reaction to him cutting Haruki down. Tears streamed down Kirara's face as she poured as much power into Kaido as she could, trying to heal the vicious wounds that had covered his body.

With Kirara's will to fight overwritten by her need to save Haruki, Aizen continued what he'd been saying. "For a while, I was truly concerned that Kisuke Urahara's plan would succeed, and both you and the Hogyoku would vanish for good. Luckily, however, you were found in the World of the Living a few months later. I immediately went back to Central 46 and…"

Aizen trailed off, interrupted once more as a massive force came crashing down behind him. The Captain of Squad 8 towered over him with his fury and betrayal rolling off him in waves. The sheer power behind him made Kirara look up, and she stared through tear-filled eyes at Captain Komamura. His helmet had been destroyed in his fight with Kenpachi, revealing a wolf's head underneath.

"Aizen!" Komamura roared with such force they could feel it reverberate. He swung his Zanpakuto down without warning, and the force kicked up a massive dust cloud and swirling wind that battered Kirara, who hugged Haruki close to keep him safe.

For a moment, the Captain was sure that he'd managed to cut down Aizen, and his breathing came out in ragged, angry pants. But then the dust cleared, and he found the man still standing there, holding Komamura's blade between his thumb and finger.

"It's been quite some time since I last saw your face," Aizen commented as he smirked up at the anthropomorphic wolf. "What's with the change of heart, Komamura?" he asked, only angering the Captain more.

"How can you still smile like that, Aizen?!" he snarled at him. "You betrayed all of us! I will not forgive you! You too, Tosen!" he declared to the third traitor standing nearby. With a furious roar of betrayal and heartbreak, Komamura threw a powerful punch that was accompanied by the power of his Bankai, partially summoned, to smash through the ground where Aizen stood.

The Captain easily dodged, carrying Rukia under his arm. "Tosen! Explain yourself, if you can!" he demanded, but Tosen remained silent. "Can you not? How regrettable, Tosen!" his power began to rise. "Bankai!" he shouted, only for Aizen to laugh. Then, Komamura was seeing double - one Aizen back beside Tosen and holding Rukia, while another stood directly in front of him.

"It's an illusion, don't fall for it!" Kirara yelled nearby, knowing what Aizen's Zanpakuto was capable of. She saw it too, and no matter how hard she looked, there was no difference between the two. Her every sense screamed that what she was seeing was right. Then the one beside Tosen started to fade, and Komamura looked back down at the man in front of him.

"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi," Aizen raised a hand and pointed with two fingers at Komamura. In the blink of an eye, a massive black box surrounded the Captain, with spear-like spiritual energy that stabbed inwards. Aizen turned his back, and the box vanished to reveal Komamura collapsing from bloody injuries across his body.

"A level 90 unspoken Kido that did that much damage?" Kirara whispered as she continued to heal Haruki. His level of power was terrifying, and Kirara couldn't help but compare it to Hachi and Tessai, who were both Kido masters.

"Kyokasuigetsu's perfect hypnosis is flawless," Aizen said as he looked over at Kirara, who glared at him. "There's no way to escape it, even if you know it's coming," he taunted her. He hadn't missed her warning.

"A level 90 without the chant. How scary!" Ichimaru exclaimed, but his words and his tone didn't match. "When did you learn how to do that?" he asked innocently.

"No, it was a failure," Aizen admitted as he walked over to the 3rd Division Captain, who had Rukia in his grasp. "I didn't even get a third of its true destructive force. A level 90 is really hard to control," he confessed, and reached out to hook his fingers around the collar Rukia wore. "Now then," he then turned to where Ichigo still lay. "Sorry, I hadn't finished explaining, had I?" he asked.

"Kurosaki!" Ichigo gasped, and Kirara's eyes widened as they heard the familiar voices of Ichigo's friends, who were racing towards them. Haruki had left them a short while ago, racing ahead when he felt Kirara's Reiatsu.

"Stay back!" Ichigo shouted from the ground, and they stopped in horror at the sight in front of them.

"Rukia!" Orihime shouted as she saw her friend in Aizen's grasp.

"Oh, no no," Ichimaru smiled as he moved to block their path. "You shouldn't be moving," he scolded, and his Reiatsu suddenly grew so strong that it floored the group before they could even think to move.

"Rukia Kuchiki. When I found out you were in the World of the Living, the first thing I did was to eliminate Central 46," Aizen's words made Kirara's breath catch. She'd heard he'd killed them, but to think he'd done it that far back was terrifying.

"What…"

"Isane probably told you, 'Sosuke Aizen faked his death and hid his whereabouts. Afterwards, he slaughtered Central 46'. His words were very similar to the warning that the Lieutenant of Squad 4 had given. But that's not true. As soon as I discovered you, I immediately killed Central 46 and used my Kyokasuigetsu on the entire central underground assembly hall, so that it looked as if Central 46 was still alive and having meetings."

Aizen pulled Rukia along, away from where the wounded were lying. "We always had one of us three in the underground assembly hall since then, acting as Central 46, and have been issuing all of their orders," he said, acting as if he was only telling Rukia this.

"Kirara?" Haruki murmured as his eyes slowly opened, heavy as everything hurt more than anything. He'd never experienced injuries like it, and darkness kept threatening to pull him back under. Kirara didn't reply, her gaze over at Aizen even as she healed him.

"To make sure of your arrest, I sent the two from Squad 6 to apprehend you. In order to separate you from the humans, I ordered the immediate return and destruction of your Gigai. In order to completely evaporate your soul and take the Hogyoku from within you, I decided to have you executed with the Sokyoku."

The tense air only grew as Aizen continued to tell them everything. "The only time we weren't in the underground assembly hall were the few hours surrounding the two Captains' Meetings. I faked my death soon after that and hid underground, because I knew there was a possibility that the execution might fail because of all of you," Aizen revelled in how much he'd managed to outsmart everyone.

Kirara felt sick as she watched him trail Rukia along as he walked. She knew that she too had been complicit in the games being played between Aizen and Kisuke, only trying to save Rukia because of the Hogyoku.

Aizen continued to speak, enjoying hearing himself talk as much as he had done a hundred years ago. "There are only two ways to remove a foreign object planted directly into a soul. You can use an intense thermal disruption like the Sokyoku, which will evaporate the soul that envelopes it, or by some other method that will interfere with the soul's composition and forcibly separate them."

Aizen fished in his shihakusho as he spoke. "In the unlikely event that the execution by Sokyoku failed, I had to find that other method," he produced a long purple device. "For that, I needed the information kept within the underground assembly hall's Daireisho Archive," he smirked.

With the rest of Ichigo's friends unable to move under the weight of Ichimaru's powerful presence, Ichigo barely conscious and Kirara trying to keep Haruki alive, all they could do was listen to his words. "I studied Kisuke Urahara's past research. He was the one who developed the technology to plant a foreign object into a soul, so I figured that…" Aizen trailed off as he activated the purple device. "The technology needed to remove it must be hidden somewhere in his research."

The ground rumbled, and six spikes burst up in a circle around Aizen and Rukia. "This is that answer," Aizen's hand began to take on a similar appearance to the spikes, and Ichigo cried out as he tried desperately to move.

Rukia let out a choke, the air escaping from her in one burst as Aizen's hand stabbed straight through her chest, impaling her in the air as everyone could only watch.

He really loves the sound of his own voice.

Anyways, let me know what you think!

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