change; [Bleach Fanfic]

change; before/after

basically i wanted to write from aizen's pov but im not good at characterization so instead lets go with a traumatized!aizen, who would be all over th fucking place

change; before

Sousuke spends eighteen thousand years locked up and it changes his perspective on several things. He's stuck in the lowest level of Muken without any interaction long enough that he's gone past insane. He doesn't talk to himself, doesn't mutter replies to hallucinations, just sits there, his eyes closed. All he does is think. He thinks for so long that at one point, he's not sure what it was like to not think. To not have only his own thoughts be his constant company. Soul Society moves on, forgets him, and he's withering away when he finally cracks his eye open to take in the figure before him.

They have incredibly bright hair, and for a second, Sousuke sees Kurosaki Ichigo in front of him, hair that ridiculous orange. But soon the image fades, the orange turns more auburn, and the figure slims down to a frowning woman. Sousuke hasn't had a visitor in over twelve thousand years, so he can't deny the burning curiosity he feels at her appearance.

"It's curious," the woman says, her voice a soft lilt. The volume of the voice doesn't stop it from ringing in Sousuke's ears. He grunts, grimacing at the breach of silence. His ears are unadjusted to noises that aren't the brief crinkle of clothing when he adjusts his sitting position. "That you are the one that lives forever. Tell me, Aizen Sousuke, would you die if you were given the chance?"

Souske closes his eyes then, trying to control his breathing. Thousands of years ago he would've scoffed at the question. Of course he wouldn't want to die. He became immortal for a reason; he was a god amongst men! Now though, now that he's finally within sight of the end of his sentence, all he feels is tired. He holds no more dreams, looks forward to no new goals. Maybe at one point he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, calculating glee that he would be the only one to remember how dangerous he was, but that Sousuke was a fool. That Sousuke had not only had himself for company for over ten thousand years.

"I would die here if you were that merciful," Sousuke confesses, his throat immediately raw. He hacks out a cough, his violent wretches wracking havoc on his vocal cords. He hasn't spoken out loud, even to himself, in so long that it now hurts to utter even a single word. He lets his eyes crack open though, desperate to see the woman's face at his response.

The woman's frown turns into a tranquil smile, her eyes a warm gold. That gold is like liquid fire, Sousuke can't help but notice. There is only white and black in his prison, no saturated color to break the trying monotony. This woman, with her auburn locks and golden eyes, is like a rainbow to his deprived sight.

"Then, Aizen Sousuke, let's see if you will once more seek to live," is the reply he receives.

Sousuke doesn't understand her answer, just stares warily as she approaches his chair. He wonders, suddenly, if his time is up. If his sentence in served and that this unknown woman is here to release him from his binds. His heartbeat picks up and he starts to panic, his senses going haywire as he tries to lash out with his reiatsu. It's been so long, he's not ready to be released, not ready to have to face making decisions, calculating other people into his routine again. He's choking on air when her fingertips graze his forehead.

He holds his breath, panicked gaze meeting her calm one. Reiatsu swirls slowly around them, his binds flickering and then floating away into dust. She gives him a gentle smile, a quirk of the lips tinged with hope, before he's whisked away with a flash of white.

He wakes up because there is sun burning across his closed eyelids. He doesn't register it at first, doesn't understand what the warmth and sharp lighting mean, but when he gets his mind to focus, he gasps, sitting up abruptly and opening his eyes to a burning light. He has to force them closed immediately after, spots floating in his vision and a ringing in his head. His entire body feels weightless and sensitive to the touch. He spent so long under restrictive reiatsu bindings that now that its free from him, he feels like he weighs a hundred pounds lighter. He can feel it swirling around him chaotically, sharp and course against his skin as it spins. He has to focus on his breathing though, trying to get it regulated and away from the panic it is inching towards.