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In Aizen’s opinion, the phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ was a fat pile of idiocy with a light smattering of complacency.
Though perhaps that was because Aizen never had the chance to be ignorant. Ever since he was a child, his expertise was in knowing things that he shouldn’t. Words meant to stay behind closed doors, he heard them. The shadows of those who were supposed to be asleep, he saw them.
Most of the time, his punishment for gaining such knowledge was a self-inflicted one. He became privy to secrets, never exposing them except when necessary. Yes, it was hard keeping all those secrets bottled up, but Aizen learned how to fake ignorance. Oh, that mask of ignorance; what a pretty thing it was. The soft smile carved into it hid any ill intent or feelings of superiority.
There were days it was hard to peel the mask from his skin, but he managed it.
When he found the time, he’d slip into a mask that while colder and crueler, was easier to take on and off.
But there was one time, one foolish mistake made by little Sousuke that made his punishment for knowing what he ought not to be taken out of his hands.
He still remembers the horrid feeling of that viscous black substance drowning his soul.
It was the first time he put on a mask, but not by choice. This one was uncomfortable and even painful at times, but he broke it in and made it his own. It barely resembled the mask he was given at the start, made to fit the name ‘Sousuke Aizen’ to a T.
When he met Urahara, listened to how the man spoke of his previous institution, something in Aizen twisted and churned.
The fact he could discuss secrets such as those without punishment baffled him at first. But looking at how friendly he was with the Shihoin heiress, it was pretty clear that Kisuke had friends in some of the highest places.
But he suspected not even a bit of nepotism could help him get Kurotsuchi Mayuri out of the Maggot’s Nest. He looked at that man’s file, even down to the bits a regular person wouldn’t want to look at but Aizen did . He had to.
Curiosity was a feeling just as intense as loneliness in the right circumstances. And that curiosity demanded he not only look into Mayuri, but into Urahara.
And what he found… It almost made him break character. Urahara used to be an officer at the Maggot’s Nest, locking up people not for what they are but for what they might be. He didn’t crumple the pages of Urahara’s file.
When he learned of Urahara creating the Research and Development Department, he got hopeful for a second. Someone else who yearned for knowledge, another curious mind that perhaps could match his own.
Maybe… Someone he could share that secret with.
Oh, but Aizen’s hopes were dashed on a rock and cast to the wayside. He’d been foolish to hope.
Especially when he heard how Urahara spoke of it .
Reiō.
He didn’t critique it, didn’t call out the fact that a literal corpse was what Soul Society was worshipping.
No, he called it necessary! That it was beyond their scope to interfere! That such things should be left to Squad Zero! What did they know?! They were the ones who kept the damned thing around!
But corpses, even those of gods, decay. What would be done then, hmm?
What would be done if the Soul King went from comatose to dead?
What use is a dead god?
Oh right, a lynchpin.
He remembered that night, the night he Hollowfied several captains and lieutenants. The night he ripped everything from Urahara’s hands.
For once, there was someone Aizen shared a secret with. Even if it wasn’t the secret they both had before this, it was the first time he had shared a secret with someone other than his zanpakuto.
It was after the failed trial that he pinned down Urahara. He didn’t sense Yoruichi, nor did he feel a tingle of electricity in the ambient reishi. He was sitting by some hot springs, hot springs Aizen knew of.
“This design is straight from the Soul King’s palace. I’m impressed, Kisuke.” Aizen was in his captain robes, nothing changed from the standard haori. Urahara spared him a glance.
“So you’ve been there too? Small world.” Urahara’s voice was small, tired, a little bit of spite as well.
“Yes, and I suspect we’ve seen the same things.” Aizen stepped closer, fully aware of what Benihime could do from the reports. Though Aizen wouldn’t be surprised if he had his Shihoin friend fudge a few details.
“Your point being?” Urahara danced around the subject, instead focused on the water of the springs.
“You’re a man of curiosity and innovation, Kisuke Urahara. Why be content with the way things are?”
“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
“If that’s your way of thinking, then why create the Research and Development department? Feigning innovation while to maintain the status of things?”
Urahara paused for a moment, his mask sliding off.
“What do you want, Sousuke?”
Aizen let his shoulders drop, tried prying off the mask as best he could.
“What I want is to make a deal with you, Kisuke. I can let you study something without a single record to its name other than myth. We’ve both seen that thing , after all.”
He saw the gears in Kisuke’s head turn, a conflicted expression on his face. He bit his lip, brows knit together as he thought it over.
“Fine. You have a deal, Aizen.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Kisuke Urahara.”