Monsters We Became { Bleach Aizen Sousuke Fanfiction }

18 - Mercy

"Kaisett asked me to take her life," Words that should be difficult to say were uttered without hesitation and no hint of emotion. Whether Aizen's true feelings towards the situation were so cold or more compassionate would never be known. The same could not be said of the Hollow beside him, who's pale lips shifted into a frown. Koukou took a drink of tea from the cup on the table, brewed from leaves brought to Bosque Santuario by the Hollows' Shinigami companion, as the words sank into her being. The vessel's contents swirled as it dropped back down. Wood struck wood as the cup was returned to its resting place upon the table – a crisp sound the only one that dared shatter the quiet void left by the words.

"And what did you decide?" Koukou eventually asked in a tone that was uncharacteristically soft, although her voice never wavered. There was no doubt that she already knew the answer to the question – time and time again he'd witnessed her ability to sense reiryoku.

"I considered it." Aizen said, his eyes transfixed at the semi-transparent liquid within the wooden cup he held; a gaze that turned to the Hollow as she spoke.

"She has refused to eat anything for a very long time. If this continues, she will regress." Thereafter she sat still. Regression for a Hollow means reverting to the previous Menos stage without the ability to evolve again. For an Adjuchas like Kaisett, that would mean reverting back to the form of a Gillian, where the weight of the ambient reiatsu in Bosque Santuario would crush her and destroy her soul completely. That much was certain.

There was a way to stop regression, or so goes an unverified claim. If a Menos eats of another Menos the regression process is halted for the one consumed. A Gillian that has a piece of themself eaten by another Hollow would find that they are no longer weakening without the frequent consumption of reiatsu. The same is said to be true for Adjuchas. However, prospects of future growth for that Hollow are stopped as well. Once consumed, a Gillian would never progress into an Adjuchas and an Adjuchas would lose any hope of becoming a Vasto Lorde.
One look at the slight downturn of the eyeless woman's lips and the recollection of the tortured bird's words and it was clear that such a solution would never do. It would have been a pointless suggestion anyway, the thought had already crossed Koukou's mind and met rejection. So he sat and waited for her to continue.

"It would be best to decide soon."

"She asked me to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"She wanted me to tell you that her debt has been paid."

"I... understand."

It was not much later that Bylosse entered the room, with Madorean and Mizuki behind. Bylosse crossed his arms as his gaze passed over Aizen and to Koukou before offering a slight bow, Mizuki and Madorean followed in turn.

Mizuki now stood almost as tall as the Arrancar to his right and a head shorter than his father to his left. Where a child had once stood instead stood a young man with a Zanpakuto hanging from the right side of his blue-gray hakama. The emerald green kosode draped over his shoulders was worn loose, exposing his chest and abdomen. Despite his appearance, however, he wavered as he rose back to his full height from the bow. In a motion reminiscent of a deer standing before a pack of wolves Mizuki wiped sweat from his brow, brushing a curled bang aside.

Madorean stood straight-backed and resolute with his long black hair tied in a loose ponytail. When he bowed it was smooth and eloquent. Of the three, he was the first to speak.
"Lady Koukou, there is unfortunate news to report," He began, "During your time spent training in the Forest of Menos an unknown Shinigami's spiritual pressure was detected within the walls of Bosque Santuario. We were unable to capture him."

"Why did the stationed guards fail to capture the intruder?" Koukou asked. As soon as the words left her lips Mizuki bowed low with his hands held together in a gesture of apology.