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Vacations were quite the rare thing for Aizen, given that running Las Noches was a one-man show. However, there were a few times a year he allowed himself time off. Today was one of those days, currently relaxing in the Kurosaki living room with a book in hand. It was a piece of Western literature, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. He wasn’t sure what a book like this was doing in the Kurosaki household, but he took it without question. It was quite the fascinating read in his eyes, showing a world without books.
A world of ignorance; such an idea disturbed Aizen a tad, having struck out on his own due to his lack of ignorance.
“You’re that shinigami who teaches Ichigo, right?” Looking up from his read, he found Tatsuki Arisawa with a booksack and a duffel bag.
“Yes, though you can call me Aizen.”
“Weird name for a weird guy. Is Ichigo still on house arrest?” She sat on one of the chairs, putting her bags on the floor. He brushed the remark about his name aside, having heard it many times before. It wasn’t like he chose this name, but he chose to keep it.
“Yes, though the more apt term in his case would be medical leave.” Tatsuki pulled something from her bag, likely Ichigo’s schoolwork he hadn’t finished. Her brows furrowed and her lips were drawn in a frown as she set the materials on the coffee table.
“Something troubling you?”
He heard a sigh from her as she flopped onto the back of the chair.
“Understatement of the century right there. Ichigo was getting beaten to Hell and back, but he was smiling the whole time. Why would he want to smile during something like that?!” She sounded frustrated and upset, an understandable reaction when looking at this from a human or Shinigami perspective. He set his book down, sliding a bookmark to keep his place.
“What I am going to tell is a theory to explain this behavior, nothing more and nothing less. As this coming from me, not Ichigo, take this explanation with a grain of salt.”
“Alright, lay it on me.” There was a tad of energy in Tatsuki’s voice, eyes focused on Aizen. Good, he wouldn’t have to repeat any of this.
“While Ichigo’s body may be human and he has lived most of his life with humans, his soul is not human. For humans and Shinigami, a smile is used as a catch-all expression of positivity. You smile when you’re happy or with someone you like, such as friends or family.”
“So what would be a Hollow reading of a smile?” Tatsuki got right to the point, an admirable quality. Considering the bond between her and Ichigo, it was expected she wasn’t going to beat around the bush with this topic.
“What do predators use their teeth for?” Aizen asked, seeing a change in Tatsuki’s expression. Seemed like the gears clicked right into place upstairs.
“So Hollows see smiling as an intimidation tactic? Then it’d make sense at the start of a fight.” She still sounded a bit confused, an understandable reaction.
“Remember, Tatsuki: Ichigo is a mix of human and Hollow.” A good teacher didn’t just hand a student the answer. Instead, it was more beneficial to nudge Tatsuki toward the solution with a hint here and there.
“So he smiles for Hollow reasons at the start of a fight and smiles during it for human reasons. If he isn’t doing well, maybe he starts smiling for Hollow reasons. If the fight ends well for him, then he smiles for the reason a human would.” Tatsuki had hit the nail right on the head, a small smile - barely noticeable - was on Aizen’s face.
“Correct! And what can you learn from this, Tatsuki?” He couldn’t help the sliver of pride that crept into his voice. Even if it was just theory, there was something about discussing it that made him… excited wouldn’t quite describe it and happy was too broad of a term. It was a distribution of knowledge without fear of reprimanding or silence, not having to worry about his knowledge labeling him a madman or threat.
And the topic was someone both he and Tatsuki cared about.
He could help Tatsuki improve in a sense. He was a person who if he saw a problem, he couldn’t help but want to solve it. Ichigo’s soul being imbalanced? Hogyoku. It was the best solution in the sense that it got the job done. And the Soul King? Well, he’d been planning for at least a century to deal with that one. And while not the best in terms of ethics, his methods got the job done.
“If Ichigo has a behavior that seems odd to me, it might be a behavior caused by his Hollow side.” Tatsuki sounded confident in her answer, her eyes lighting up. Aizen felt a small bit of satisfaction in seeing her reaction.
“Exactly, Tatsuki Arisawa!”
She looked perplexed for a moment, likely not familiar with people referring to her by full name in a positive manner, neutral at best and negative at worst.
“Now don’t you have homework to deliver to Ichigo?” He heard a mutter of ‘rat bastard’ beneath Tatsuki’s breath before she left the living room. Aizen got back to his book, taking a glance at the box on the coffee table.
To: Aizen
From: Ichigo
Right, Ichigo cared about him enough to get him a birthday present. How long had it been since he had received one of these? It felt like a while.
He opened the box, finding two things in there. One was a manga titled ‘Uzumaki’ and the other a mug. He lifted the mug from the box, inspecting it.
On the front was “World’s Best Teacher” with the ‘Teacher’ part not matching the font of the other words. It was pretty clear Ichigo had written over what that word was supposed to be. He smiled a bit. Sure, it wasn’t perfect but it had heart in it.
He put the mug down, eyeing ‘Uzumaki’. Well, he supposed he could bounce between two books.