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

二十

The illusion cast by Randepra began to subside, and the room returned to its normal, concrete walls and floor instead of the greenery that surrounded them at the beginning. The stakes that were on the ground glowed as bright as the daggers did during the battle, before shattering into a million fine particles that were invisible to the eyes.

Asa may have won the battle, but she knew the consequences of unleashing Kage Odoriko's Bankai. She began to feel faint and fell to the ground like a ragged doll. Mist appeared out of nowhere and shrouded the Shinigami, and once it disappeared, Asa returned to her normal, bloodied and shredded outfit, and her Zanpakutou that fell to her side transformed back to its unleashed state as well. She had cold sweat all over her body, and was panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Of course, she used up a lot of reiatsu, though didn't deplete as much as she thought it would. But what affect her the most was the ache all over her body, from the wounds she'd received during the battle to the shortness of breath to her head throbbing with agonizing pain.

'Someone... help me.' she cried out in her mind when words failed her. 'Anybody.' She felt weak and fatigue; and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt so useless that she was overwhelmed with a lot of emotions. 'Please...!' Knowing that no one was there would hear her, a tear rolled from her eyes and she closed them, crying in silence.

Just then, she heard the faint sounds of a pair of footsteps entering the room, and it began to approach her. She didn't care who was there, let them be friend or foe. Either way, she was too weak to even sit up, or even turn her head to look at the person. But she managed to roll her eyes to at least have glance of the person's shoes, which could possibly give her clues on who the person was. Her gaze caught hold of a pair of sandals worn and tabi, which meant that the person standing next to her was a Shini- no, they're not a Shinigami, or at least one among the group she came in. That reiatsu manipulation was awfully familiar, and the only person who was able to suppressed that incredible amount of reiatsu she could think of, was the man she had worked for many years in the past.

She noticed the person knelt down and had both his hands on her sides, gently flipping her around to let her face up. "It has been a while, Asa." he greeted with a smile; and it wasn't menacing like usual, surprisingly.

"A-Aizen..." was the word that weakly escaped through her lips.

He softly hushed her, discouraging her from speaking in case it would worsen the pain. Placing both hands on her cheeks, he used a thumb to wipe away the tear stain on the corner of her eye. "I'm here, Asa." he cooed reassuringly. "You don't have to worry." Aizen removed his white cloak and folded it until it was thick enough to be a pillow. One hand went to lift the back of her neck, while the other placed the pillow to let her head rest on it. He looked at the wounds all over Asa's torso and frowned. "Asa, I'm afraid I have to open the top of your Shihakushou to heal your wounds. They're pretty deep, and your clothes will only get in the way. So may I?"

The said woman would've been embarrassed to have a male, even if he was a healer, to even see her with a lot of exposed skin. But at this moment, there was no point in arguing with him, and she gave him a weak nod. Aizen loosed the top and carefully peeled them away from the bloody wounds. He didn't pay much attention to her bare breasts, though Asa blushed with embarrassment at the thought of him looking at it, because his main focus was to heal her wounds before it got infected. With one of his hands placed above her torso, he began using healing Kidou to stop the bleeding.

"How did you know I'm here?" she suddenly questioned.

"I felt your reiatsu." he explained. "I didn't bother at first, until you activated your Bankai. I knew that you what would happen to you when you use it, so I came here at my own accord."