Swing me once: the first visitors post.

[fuckyobancouch]

[Video]

"-To Aizen. Let's go."

[And so, in a single movement- the exact moment where his head snapped up as he rose from his very personal concrete slab (he had etched his name in and everything)- Shinji Hirako found himself away from the moldy old warehouse and in the middle of a ruined city-street that looked like Hell warmed up, then forgotten

Comments

[divine_dork]

Hirako-taicho!

[Aw, Shinji, just look at the smile of excitement and relief on that dorky old face. Your lieutenant is so happy to see you! So happy, in fact, that he's shunpo'ing your way as he speaks. And holy shit is he unarmed?]

[fuckyobancouch]

[Fuck. Him. There is no mistaking that voice, for he has replayed it a million times over and over and OVER in his head, remembering the way he smiled that false, heartless smile, the way his eyes never quite shone like regular people did... remembering every goddamn word of the speech this rat made that night, when he turned his captain into just another stepping stone on the path to godhood.

And now, here he was. Looking not a day older, still wearing those dumb glasses, still in that uniform and still sporting that exact goddamn smile on his face. Shinji could do nothing but stare at the bizarre sight before him... well, stare and hold out his sword against Aizen, of course. You are so not breaking personal space here, buster. Not in a million years.]

[divine_dork]

[Well, that wiped the smile right off - swords in your face do tend to do that, even if you are a young shinigami lieutenant positively brimming with goodwill, coming in to welcome his long-absent captain and report to his side, as is only appropriate. If Aizen knew what kind of precarious position he was cheerfully throwing himself into, he didn't show it one whit - but that was to be expected. It all was to be expected. Aizen Sousuke did not do things by halves, especially not lie.

He did not have Kyouka Suigetsu at his side; conversely, he was also not wearing his lieutenant's badge. Under the unruly mop of hair that had grown longer over the months spent in the city, his eyes went very wide, and he took half a step back, hands held out. That shocked look was not without understanding, especially seeing his captain definitely not looking like a captain anymore. But the hint of desperation there, as though he'd hoped so much that Shinji would have better news for him than all the others...]

S-sir...?

[fuckyobancouch]

[Unarmed? No. No it was highly possible that it was just an illusion- he could be hiding it anywhere and Shinji would not know, not unless he struck first... but that look.

That damn look.

Playing the innocent angle? Trying to pretend... trying to look like that when Shinji knew, knew what the fucker had done and what he deserved, what the fuck was he even thinking-

What was he thinking.

What was he planning? Aizen Sousuke was always planning, no? Always one step ahead. This was part of something, part of some kind of plan- it was now just a matter of figuring out what that plan was.]

... Been a long... long time since last. Aizen.

Now with less HTML fail...

[divine_dork]

Y-yes, sir...

[But oh, the perfect, lost, painful innocence of that look. No idea what you're talking about, taicho, please don't stab me, I'm here to help. That open yearning for trust, as ever, as though nothing had ever changed.

And then - a hint of suspicion in the warm brown eyes, an anxious sort rather than a calculating one. Aizen looked his captain over. The clothes, the hair, the sword. The almost palatable air of fury.]

You are Hirako-taicho... aren't you? This is not some trick of the Animus...

That's okay, I had internet fail over here so all my replies are superlate...

[fuckyobancouch]

[Some trick? Oh... oh but that was just precious. He was playing as if he was the one surprised, as if he had been taken captured?]

... Whassa matter, Aizen? Can't trust yer own eyes, anymo'? Yer own ears?

Yer own... taicho?

The internet hates us all DX

[divine_dork]

[These words looked to have hurt. Aizen-fukutaicho, Aizen the mask, he was as loyal as loyal can be. Loyal enough to bear his captain's alienation in silence and still fiercely admire him. To hold up his own part of what was supposed to be a partnership, at least. Aizen-fukutaicho cringed, then straightened, perfectly poised and at alert. The model officer.]

No, sir. My apologies, sir. You know that I have full faith in you.

[And not another word. Since he had full faith, it was not his place to ask questions or voice doubts. Let Shinji do that.]

It certainly does to poor little me. Also, Hiyori- reply to this comment!

[fuckyobancouch]

... Heh... so, yer capable a' that, huh? 'Cause I was startin' to wonder...

How much faith's a backstabber really capable of?

[He looks on edge now, as if anything could make him explode, make him use that sword and strike out aany second now. All he needed was a reason. One, single, little slip-up...]

/falls from hiding place

[thesnaggletooth]

[Honestly, whale-teeth, that's behavior she'd expect from herself.]

Tch. Startin' without me as always, dumb idiots.

[Hiyori was naturally a loud person. However, she didn't actually shout. Instead, it more ended up as coming out from shunpo at a funny angle and having to walk around a annoyingly large block of rubble. Distance, for once, came before volume.

Besides, it felt kinda cool to be the one awkwardly standing off to the side. :|b]

Re: /falls from hiding place

[divine_dork]

[He cringed at Shinji's words, not pretending to ignorance. Backstabber. Traitor. So Shinji was here from a time in which he knew - and knew, by implication, that Aizen had played him right from the start. It didn't matter much. He'd made contingencies for this, and contingencies for those contingencies, and if all else failed, well, Shinji could always have an unfortunate accident. Such a dangerous city, Adstringendum.

Hiyori's arrival complicated things - giving a bit of a start at her appearance, he moved his gaze between the two Vizards, looking distressed, lost, crestfallen really. Resigned to his fate. He could afford to be. He thrived when things got complicated.]

So you are from the future, as well, sir... I was hoping...

Ah, my apologies, Sarugaki-fukutaicho. We didn't precisely start anything yet...

[fuckyobancouch]

[And there it was. His reason to react... but not in the explosive, violent way.

No, Shinji knew what he was doing when he didn't refuse Hiyori's wish to be there with him. Because with her around it wasn't just about him anymore, no longer just about his revenge and his allconsuming hatred for the lying slimeball in front of him.

With her around... hell, with any of them around, he was a leader. And leaders didn't do stupid, poorly thought out shit like fly off the handle and attack someone just because they wanted to.]

... Hopin' I still didn't know the angle a' yer game? Aaah... well. Sorry ta dissapoint ya then-

[And in one quick burst he shunpos to Hiyoris side, confident that this is not just an illusion, knowing that this is the girl he spoke to... as real as the four-eyes behind him.]

-Looks like yer gon' hafta find another sucker for yer schemes.

[thesnaggletooth]

[There's a grumbled "not a damn shinigami" from Hiyori that's quickly becoming standard issue when she deals with Aizen, and she's reflexively waiting to kick some ass, but she hadn't because it wouldn't be as satisfying without the others. That, and the whole 'death isn't permanent' thing.

Her visible response is a sarcastic roll of her eyes.]

Yeah yeah, big speeches an' lotsa wordplay crap. Can we move on, now?

[Hiyori Sarugaki: not participating in banter with the enemy since forever.]

[divine_dork]

[Their hesitation was not unexpected if a little disappointing. Hiyori was fond of reminding him that she was not a shinigami, and then neither was Shinji, and before everything - before even the need to keep up the mask - Aizen longed to know just what they were. Hollowfied - but what did that mean? He had never been, and will perhaps never be, in a better position to test to Hougyoku's power than through seeing what they were capable of.

He hadn't a doubt that he could cut them down. And that they knew it, probably. It was only a question of who would make the first move.]

I was hoping... that you'd have better news for me from the future, Hirako-taicho.

[His voice was even, soft. Every moment that he kept to the mask was a moment in which the ground under the two Vizards was less than even.]

Do you... wish to destroy me? [And he glanced momentarily to his side, at the sword that, at least to all appearances, wasn't there.]

[fuckyobancouch]

... More than anythin' in the world, Sousuke.

[And Shinji turns and simply smiles. It is the only kind of smile he ever sends Sousukes way, and the young traitor most likely knows what it means.]

But if we do it... we do it right. An' this place right here... ain't the right one.

[The smile he gives him when he does something Shinji thinks will annoy Aizen.]

Hiyori. We out.

[And just like that, he starts walking away. He has all the confirmation that he requires: he knows what this place is and the insane rules it runs by... by insane or not, rules are rules and can be adapted to. From the moment Hiyori appeared, Shinji had no thought of fighting Aizen in his mind- all there is now, is to continue their little game of hide and bide.]

wtf, lj. delete my notifs why don't'cha

[thesnaggletooth]

[Hiyori being Hiyori, she follows. No questions, no 'he's right here fuckwit!' (though the idea occurred to her) just... followed after sending a good glare Aizen's way. She wasn't the thinker of the group.

And more-or-less, she was willing to actually listen for once since the one giving the orders had been missing.

Didn't stop her from making a snipe once they were out of earshot, though.]

...D'ya actually know where yer goin'?