Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

三十五

To prove that made the right guess, he heard the child, or rather, Tamako opening the door from inside. Right after the door opened, he heard her entering the cell before the Ghost Child gently shut the door from behind, wanting to alert the guards patrolling outside. How she managed to get here without being caught, he couldn't be bothered. What was going to happen next intrigued him. Because if he was prohibited from talking or seeing, what was she going to do? His question was heard when he heard a soft incantation, and the next thing he knew, she had easily removed the bind from his mouth and eye.

"Asa, is that you?" he asked. The last time he saw her was back in Hueco Mundo, where she infiltrated the building and had a tough fight with Randepra, who managed to get her wounded, and went to heal her. Though they hadn't seen each for a short while, he thought she was becoming more beautiful.

The said woman smiled at him. "Yes." she replied. "It's me, Aizen."

A genuine smile flickered across his face. "It has been a while, Asa." he said. "I'd wish our reunion happen in a more... appropriate place."

She merely chuckled at this. "So do I." she agreed.

Aizen's smile remained on his face before a frown followed. "Why are you here?" he asked. "Surely there must be a valid reason for you to visit me here."

"Is it wrong to visit my former Captain?" she asked back playfully.

But that wasn't the response he wanted to hear. "Asa." he said seriously. "I know that's not the reason why you're visiting me." His gaze suddenly turned cold, so did his tone. "You shouldn't be here. You must leave now." It wasn't that he didn't want her to visit. In fact, he was glad that she came to visit him in prison, of all places. But he wasn't sure why she would visit him when he had been branded as a traitor to Soul Society and was locked here for the next 20,000 years. He knew Asa was a very kind Soul, but if she was that kind to risk herself of getting caught just to see him, he would prefer that she stay away from him. He could pretend to hate her and make her feel bad so that she wouldn't return, but after being with her for so long, he knew that it would be futile, for she could see through his act so easily. Probably that was the reason why he loved her - she wasn't easily manipulated by him and could confront him the moment she saw his intentions.

Just like he had predicted, Asa stayed put, but he didn't expect her to look hesitant about telling him why she was visiting him. "Actually, Ichigo told me something." she began, which immediately caught his attention.

As soon as she looked at him in the eyes, she told him about what Ichigo understood about the Hogyoku, and its ability was to take in the "hearts" around it and materialise them. If that was the case, and that the Hogyoku had actually rejected Aizen, then the latter might have wished to lose that power. When Ichigo was clashing with Aizen's blade, he only found solitude, which led him to think that Aizen, searching for a person with the same viewpoint of the world, just kept wishing he was a mere Shinigami.

Now that she was retelling the whole thing to him, she realised one thing. It wasn't that Aizen couldn't find the person who had the same opinion as him. He had already found that person - Asa. He saw her as a great friend at first, but as they became closer, he wanted the two of them to be more than friends, and he wanted her as his lover. But her marriage was the biggest obstacle in this, and she didn't love him like how she loved Michiro; this became the trigger to his jealousy, one that was so ugly that he went all out to kill him just so he could have her. He thought he had won, but he actually lost because he had hurt Asa so much that he regretted it so much. Had he not let that Arrancar kill Michiro, he would've been much happier seeing her in a better state. What was done had been done, and he was going to live the rest of his life with that guilt.