Perfidiōsus: A Soul King Aizen fanfic

♚ Part 4 :: ( Audiences & Audacity )

All who stepped into God's hall were known to Him long before they knew they would be stood in His presence. Such meetings were ordained because He had foreseen them, and the multitude of other possibilities that might frustrate their happening had not come to be.

And how they came in their droves, attendants and superiors alike, to see their new King. To gawp and gaze like visitors to a zoo. They were all, to varying degrees, reverent toward their sealed God. Though a few were awe-struck, and others were patronising or disparaging...

None of their opinions mattered.

Of those who visited, the members of Zero Division were the most condescending. And they had cause to be smug –– their ruse had worked perfectly, they'd achieved the outcome they sought. A new, more empowered Soul King who still lacked autonomy but yet burned with a vigor that his predecessor had long since spent on keeping the worlds together.

"Gotta hand it to ya, Sōsuke," Kirinji said, causing the stick in his mouth to flick, "Ya really did manage to cause an almighty upheaval down there. Still, you're back where you belong now –– ain't no place like home, right?"

"..." the God did little more than peer down at the 'demon' of the hot springs and sneer.

"Aww, are you blanking me? That's not very nice, after I came here to clean your crystal and make sure your overall condition is up to snuff –– see? I'm only here to help you out," a big grin accompanied his somewhat sardonic statement.

"Here to help me..." Aizen rolled the words off his tongue, then set his teeth in a sneer, "I find that a rather disingenuous statement, Kirinji Tenjirō," their names came so easily, they didn't need to bother introducing themselves for he knew them all implicitly, "What you are here to do is help yourself by making sure I'm not damaging this crystal or my own body in a bid to escape my fate, correct?"

"Well shit," the man ran a hand along his impress coiffure and then shrugged dramatically, "Ya really do see through everythin', don't ya? Doesn't it get boring being a know it all? I mean, there has to be some fun in being surprised from time to time ri––"

Suddenly the stocky, grinning man was slapped harshly over the head by one of his fellow squad members, her plump features set into a frown, "That's no way to talk to your king, even if he threatened everything we stand for!"

"D-Damn it Hikifune!!" the ebony haired man clutched his head and scowled, "That hurt!!"

"My, my Kirinji-kun," a big smile brightened up her rounded face, "To think that such a small blow from my dainty hands would cause you such pain... Ho ho, are you growing soft?"

"... Dainty ain't a word I'd use about ya!" he replied with a gruff, before looking back up at the crystalline structure, "Well, yer majesty, it's as you say: I'm here to make sure you're not up to any of your usual tricks."

A smirk spread over Aizen's lips, "My 'usual tricks'...? It seems I frighten you lot more than you're trying to let on –– don't you have faith in Ichibei's little prison? Or, am I so much more difficult for your ilk to handle because I am not some comatose, rotting corpse?"

"Damn, ya really do look down on th' Soul King don't ya..." Kirinji frowned, clasped the back of his neck and tilted it from side to side until it cracked, "Can't be helped, and I guess it don't matter. He's gone and you're what we're left with, I don't like it but so long as ya manage ta behave yourself we'll get along fine."

"Hmph," an arrogant snort echoed across the throne room.

"Well how about that," Kirinji exclaimed as he ran a hand over the smooth translucent surface of the God's prison, "That Ichibei truly is amazing ––– ya haven't been able ta put a dent in this stuff... and after all that raging ya did the other day," there was a small, relieved smile on the shinigami's lips.