Healing His Solitude - Aizen Sousuke Love Story

Chapter 31 - Broken Façade

Shiori pov:

My mind wouldn't stop replaying everything that Ichimaru san and I had spoken about as I headed to see Aizen san again.

Both Ichimaru san and Aizen san had had a rough past. No one would look so worn down without having a genuine reason. Ichimaru san had told me that he had spent almost his entire life following Aizen san, trying to figure out his strengths and weaknesses in order to defeat him.

Rangiku wasn't the only reason for him to want revenge. He knew that Aizen san was doing something wrong from the very beginning. Ever since Ichimaru san lived in Rukongai as a child, he had seen Aizen san looking for power. He tried to create another Hougyoku by himself and even experimented with it on many other people in both Rukongai and Seireitei. Many lives were lost and he felt guilty that he too had been a part of it just because he needed to figure out what to so in order to stop Aizen san for good.

Both these people needed freedom. They were being controlled by the scars of their past and I could see that they were starting to get tired of it all. Aizen san and Ichimaru san hadn't looked this way when I first came here. They were confident, power and authority radiating off them. Because I had been pushing them to express themselves to me, their true emotions had begun to surface.

When I made it to Aizen san's room, he wasn't sitting in his chair like usual. He was standing in the balcony, one hand resting on the railings. He was probably looking at the distance in thought but I couldn't be sure of what expression he had because he wasn't facing me.

It had just been a few hours since he had walked off on me. He was most likely still not very happy about having to be around me but I just walked to him without saying a word. He too knew that I had walked into his room without his permission like last time so he raised his reiatsu in a warning.

I wasn't the same person I was when I first came here though. I was stronger; with a reiatsu enough to rival his own. With Kaijin on my side, I no longer felt hesitant around Aizen san.

When I reached him, I didn't say a word. I just walked up to him, wrapped my arms around him from behind and buried my face in his back with my eyes closed. He tensed not expecting me to actually hug him. But he relaxed moments later and everything fell to silence.

"I love you.....Aizen san." My voice was muffled in his back. He tensed once again and shifted. I could feel his gaze on me but I didn't move my face from his back.

"Love? Do you know what that word even means?" He sounded amused but his voice was somewhat strained. As if he were hurting when he asked me that question.

"I don't believe in such fake emotions. Love doesn't exist.....it is merely surfacial infatuation that everyone feels." He said, turning back in front. He didn't try to pry me off though.

I opened my eyes just a little to look at the wrinkled clothes on his back. "Surfacial infatuation? Why would you say that? When someone is summoning so much courage to say those words, to say that they care for you and want you to be happy....how can you dismiss it as if it were nothing?" I asked softly.

"Perhaps these eyes of mine have seen too much of the world's cruelty." His voice was barely above a whisper. It was so soft that I had to strain my ears to hear those words.

I was actually surprised at what I heard. I pulled my face away from his back and gazed up at him, at those brown locks that ruffled gently in the soothing breeze.

"Aizen san...." I pulled my arms away and walked to his side so I could see his face. He was looking ahead, his face solemn.

I tugged at his arm to get him to face me. He met my eyes but it was devoid of any sort of calmness. I reached up and cupped his face tenderly in my hands. I smiled sadly rubbing his cheeks with my thumbs. "Aizen san, are you going to tell me what's wrong at least now? I'm right here and I promise not to run away no matter what you say. I will accept your past and present and we'll walk together to look for a happy future. We can do that, right?"