Doubled Soul ( Bleach )

Down Without Mercy

Shiba Kaien awoke suddenly, noticing something different about the air around him. It was still and silent, not even any form of slicing through the silence. It was too quiet, and that fact unnerved him greatly.

He removed the covers, placing her feet on the cold wooden floor and walking to the shoji doors of Matsumoto's quarters. With a quick extension of his reiatsu, he made sure that Hitsugaya taichou was still sleeping, along with the other members of sqaud ten, before stepping into the hell and making a break for the entrance of the squad ten barracks on silent feet.

The sun was barely rising above the horizon, sending a pinkish yellow glow over everything outside. The cold air nipped at his skin and his multicolored eyes scanned the area around him, making aure no one was near before exiting the division and beginning to race towards the difference in reiatsu with quick steps.

Kaien was careful to mask his reiatsu, knowing that even if it was slightly different and mixed with Ichigo's, it could still be identified by the captain of the stealth force or the head captain. If he was found, he would not only be in trouble, Hitsugaya taichou would be in trouble as well.

As if instinctively, Ichigo and their inner spirits were completely silent as Kaien made his way through the Seireitei. They watched through his eyes as he ran quickly up the many steps that led to the repentance cell. When he was about half way, he stopped in his track, turning to see a passage way cut into the rock. He shunpoed through, noticing that the off feeling grew as he continued.

He heard voices up ahead, causing him to stop using his shunpo and to creep up against the side of a building. He peered over the corner, catching sight of two captains of the Gotei 13. They seemed to be adjusting something high upon the outer wall of one of the buildings, but he couldn't see what it was. In fact, there was nothing there.

"How does it look, Gin?" Asked the brown hair taichou as he adjusted his glasses and glanced towards his companion.

"I can't find anything wrong if I tried Aizen taichou," the sly man replied, his smirk never leaving his face as he tilted his head, his silver hair gently moving to the side. His electric blue eyes shone slightly through the slits of his eyelids. "Your staged death is going to be interesting to play out myself. People are going to think it was me, but others will think it's Hitsugaya taichou. I love a little drama, don't you Aizen taichou?"

"This isn't about drama, Gin," Aizen replied, falling to the ground with Gin next to him. "I've been using the illusions of my zanpakuto so that way my plans to kill the spirit king are successful. Everyone in the Seireitei has seen the release form of my shikai at least once, so no one will question that there's an empty wall while everyone sees my undeniable murder before them."

"Actually, I can point out one person who hasn't seen your shikai," Gin replied, his head turning slightly to look directly into Kaien's eyes.

"He also seems to know a little more than he should," Aizen stated directly after, his head turning to the side, to look at Kaien as well.

Kaien's eyes widened and he quickly turned, sprinting back down the long path and quickly bursting into a flash of shunpo. His heart pounded loudly in his chest and reverberated in his ears, a sudden fear overtaking his senses.

The once deceased noble could hear the shouts of Ichigo and his inner spirits, telling him to go faster and that they could sense that the two taichou he saw were coming in quickly, nearly upon him.

Kaien forcefully slid to a stop as Aizen flashed suddenly in front of him. He turned to go back the way that he came, but found it to be blocked by none other than Gin, who stared back at him with the smirk similar to that of a snake. Kaien knew that he was in danger, but he didn't know how to get away. One thing he knew for certain, though, was that these two taichou were traitors to the Gotei 13 and trying to kill the spirit king.

"Well, hello there Kaien," Aizen started, gaining the attention of the noble quickly, making him turn around and stare wide eyed at him. Aizen just smiled on him with a smile that would have melted the hearts of any woman, but Kaien saw the malice in the older man's eyes. There was no mistaking it. "Or is it Kurosaki in there?"

Aizen took slow deliberate steps towards the frightened male, closing in on him. "Maybe i should call you by a different name entirely? I heard you call yourself Nicho to a member of the tenth division. Is that what you prefer to be called at the moment, Kaien?"

Kaien just gulped loudly, not trusting his voice to answer Aizen's question. His hand reached slowly towards Nejibana, his body shaking at the pressure that Aizen was emitting. Aizen's spiritual pressure threatened suffocate the Shiba, but Kaien managed through it as the brown haired taichou slicked forwards. Behind him, he could feel Gin making his way towards him and knew immediately that he was in a pickle.

In a really deep pickle.

"Cat got your tongue, Shiba-dono?" Gin asked from behind him, causing him to turn his head slightly to look at the sly taichou. "No, let me correct my statement, it was completely wrong."

His eyes opened slightly, staring directly into Kaien's as he finished his statement. "It's Metastacia, am I correct?"

Kaien didn't question the statement, knowing that his death was mostly known all throughout the Seireitei. He didn't understand that there was a hidden meaning behind the words spoken to him, and just stood there.

"Well, Kaien," Aizen began, drawing the Shiba's attention towards him once again. "There is something that I need you to do for me."

"Yeah," Kaien started, finally finding his voice again. "If your going to ask me to help you kill the Reiou, your wrong. I'll stop you before you can harm any innocent souls!"

"Oh?" Aizen questioned, feigning ignorance. "It was nothing of the sort. You will be helping me anyway."

Kaien growled, his hand gripping the handle of his zanpakuto tightly as he clenched his teeth.

" I just wished for you to listen to me. I believe there is something that you should know." Aizen walked up next the noble, leaning down to whisper into the boy's ear. "Metastacia was my creation, making me the reason you and your wife had died."

Sudden rage flew up inside of Kaien as he shouted, drawing his zanpakuto and slicing directly at the unprotected taichou without remorse. Nejibana sliced through Aizen's skin easily, allowing a deep gash to form in the side of the older shinigami.

Aizen jumped back, holding his hand to his bleeding side and giving Kaien a look of hate. The noble was seething as he raised his sword high, readying himself to release his shikai.

"You bastard!" Kaien shouted, tears of anger and hurt beginning to form in the corners of his eyes, one rolling down from his blue eye as he shook. "You killed Miyako! For that, I'm going to kill you myself! Not only for the sake of the three worlds, but so i can avenge her you sick bastard!"

Before Kaien was able to release his zanpakuto, a piercing pain erupted in his abdomen. He sank to his knees, the sword of Gin's zanpakuto still embedded inside of his body. Shouts from his shared inner world reached his ears and he suddenly found that he couldn't hear at all. A loud ringing came to his ears as he looked up at Aizen.

Said man was smirking at him as if everything was falling into place for himself. Aizen said something, but Kaien couldn't hear it and only saw the man's lips move. Blood dripped down the side of his mouth and he groaned as Gin removed his sword from his body.

Kaien fell forwards, darkness begining to overtake his senses. Before all seemed lost, he felt his body being lifted into the air. He felt a hand on his head sending a pulse of reiatsu through his system before he lost awareness completely.