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

三十五

It was night, and everyone had retired to their quarters; with the exception of Asa. With a dark grey cloak around her, she sneaked out of the Sasaki Manor and made her way towards the Central 46 Compound. She couldn't take another step closer because of the guards on duty, and she had no choice but to use Flash Step to sneak up from behind and knock them out. Asa would've left them there but that would only alarm everyone if someone were to see them laying on the ground unconscious. Leaving her with no choice, she unsheathed her Zanpakutou and let her reiatsu flow into it, causing it to illuminate in a soft, dark purple glow. At that moment, an invisible wall was conjured to hide the unconscious Shinigami, followed by an illusion of them guarding the entrance. Once the glow died, she sheathed the weapon back before entering the Central 46 Compound.

She may have went through the first challenge. Now, there were few more awaiting for her. It was a huge place, and the quarters were right in the center; which meant that although Asa was able to get through one of the entrances, there were still three more with guards on duty. In a situation where she had to get to the center without being spotted by them, she had to conjure another illusion to make her invisible; and even though she was a bit reluctant to do so, it was her only choice. She would have to turn invisible and make full use of the five minutes to try sneaking into the building.

Unsheathing her Zanpakutou once more, the blade glowed once more, and her body glowed in the same colour before she used Flash Step to get to the center, where she had to be as quiet as possible in opening the doors. Time was racing against her, for she had to stay invisible while quietly opening the doors at the same time, and by the time she had few seconds left before the invisibility wore off, she finally opened the doors wide enough and quickly entered, gently closing the doors behind her as well.

Asa was finally inside the building, but that also meant she had to go to the lowest level of the enter building, where Aizen was locked up. And like before, there were Shinigami guarding the place so she had to use her Flash Step and her Zanpakutou's abilities to get past them unnoticed. It was tiring to do both at the same time, but in the end she was able to arrive at the eighth and lowest level of prison - Muken. Though she had made it, another question strike her: where could Aizen be? He might be the only Soul to be locked up here, but there were several cells in one level, and she didn't want to waste time searching each of them. There's even a risk of getting herself caught if she were to do this, as there were also guards walking up and down the corridors. What was she going to do?

"Asa-nee, let me out!" came a voice inside her mind.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the said woman glanced at her Zanpakutou and realised who was calling out to her. 'Tamako-kun...' she thought. Without wasting time, Asa quickly hid in a corner where no one would spot her, and held the hilt of the Zanpakutou before it glowed, and out came the purple miasma that soon manifested into the toddler.

"Has desperately searching for Aizen made you forget about me?" he asked playfully.

"I guess so." she said with a chuckle.

The toddler peeped from behind the wall to look at the situation, carefully planning a way for Asa to reach to Aizen without having her getting caught. Once he was able to figure out the best solution, he turned around with a grin and saluted her. "Leave it to me!" he whispered proudly. With that, he ran into the shadows and disappeared from her sight, but his reiatsu lingered in the air, which enabled her to track him and go to where he was if he happened to stop. While waiting for him, she continued hiding behind the wall and closed her eyes, thinking about how her encounter with Aizen would go.

Meanwhile, Aizen was bound inside his prison cell. He had his entire body sealed, including his eyes and mouth, leaving him in complete darkness. Behind the seal, he had his eyes closed, letting himself rest until his ears picked up a sound coming from the left side of his cell, as well as the familiar reiatsu. He opened his eyes and could only tilt his head towards the source, despite not being able to see, paying close attention to the sound of footsteps; footsteps of a child. Aizen's eyes widened with surprise, and his heart began to race. He could easily tell what was going on after putting the pieces together. The familiar reiatsu, the sudden appearance of a child in his room; Asa was here. It had to be her. Because deep down, he knew that she would be the only person to visit him in prison. To actually risk herself to see him in person.