CHAPTER 17: SOUL TO SOUL

Did the Soul King plan the color of Aizen's reiatsu to resemble Akiho's eyes?

Despite the rugged ground filled with fallen buildings and corpses of shinigami, Akiho and Aizen's world was only upon each other. Of course, not romantically,but  rather in a way that they needed to execute the other for the different objectives they were fighting for.

Akiho fought for Soul Society and Aizen fought for a new Soul Society he wanted to rule.

The strength of Aizen's reiatsu wasn't even at its maximum. But even if that's the case, Akiho was pushed further than she had wanted. Just like how he had often tried to push her the moment he showed a sign of his vulnerability back in the day.

Akiho retaliated by swinging her zanpakuto still in its shikai form. Unlike when she was in Las Noches, the sheer weight of Aizen's reiatsu didn't bother Akiho as much. This is because of her recovered spiritual pressure conducted by Kisuke Urahara.

As she blocked the streaks of violet reiatsu approaching her, her eyes searched around Aizen. Akiho landed on her feet and swatted her sword to the side. She panted heavily, and sweat engulfed her body. But looking at Aizen, the man didn't even break a single drop of effort from how he looked.

"Where's Kyoka Suigetsu?" Akiho muttered, intently looking at Aizen. She's buying her time to breathe before planning another move.

"I had no need of a zanpakuto against you," Aizen answered, his chin high as his posture never wavered. "My spiritual pressure alone could crush anyone."

Akiho doesn't want to ponder if she'll be offended by the statement or just let it slip. Of course, she chose the first one. She would never let anyone underestimate Ketsuei's power. If her shikai could only grant her immunity to other shikai and Aizen Sosuke is clearly not releasing Kyoka Suigetsu, then she had no other choice.

"Let's see how far your spiritual pressure could crush me," Akiho said.

Aizen never said anything back but his eyes watched her carefully.

"Don't do it!" the voice of the head captain Yamamoto Genryusai commanded.

Akiho raised her head. The captains resumed fending off the Espada the moment her fight with Aizen began. Meanwhile, Yamamoto Genryusai, ever reserving his strength for the traitor, stood watching the battlefield with intense eyes beneath his thick silver brows.

"I'm sorry to break your rule," Akiho said to her grandfather.

The head captain moved towards her and immediately, Kyoraku and Ukitake were flanking Genryusai.

"Let her, she could increase our chances of winning," Ukitake said to the old man.

"Akiho-chan is not a child anymore. If she's able to survive at Hueco Mundo for weeks, for sure, she will also be able to do it here." Kyoraku followed.

Yamamoto Genryusai is still skeptical. However, his shoulders eased. His eyes lingered over Akiho. He didn't say another word and turned his back towards her.

When Akiho was about to face Aizen again, a force of his purplish spiritual pressure came rushing over her. From the strength of it, Akiho is certain that it is an attack fused with the Hogyoku's immense power.

Akiho grunted as her body was slammed into the jarring debris on the ground. She coughed and blood spurted from her mouth.

"Akiho-san!" It was Ichigo Kurosaki's voice. The young man clad in black robes.

"Don't go any closer. Focus on your enemy!" Akiho shouted from a distance.

With hesitation, the Gotei 13 above Akiho once again clashed with the Espada. That was enough confirmation to Akiho that despite her wrongs in Las Noches, they still trusted her to stop Aizen.

This is her last shot. If she failed, Akiho doesn't know if she could forgive herself.

Her heart thundered inside her. She stood from the rubble and wiped the blood that dripped from her mouth.

Akiho was about to say the words to release her bankai, but she felt Aizen's presence behind her. Her eyes widened as tension took over her senses.

"I will not let you use your bankai," Aizen said and in that moment, she felt her chest down to her torso cleaving apart.

A slash punctured her body. Even with the excruciating pain engulfing her, Akiho managed to move her sword towards Aizen. But the blade had only reached Aizen's sleeves. His arm bled a little. And because of the immense reiatsu he has, the wound immediately closed.

Hope washed away from Akiho when she saw clumps of purplish reiatsu gathering closely to Aizen. She knew that move. Aizen is about to release a Hado spell to kill her.

"You shouldn't have interfered," Aizen said in a tone only Akiho could hear.

"Sosuke..." Akiho struggled. Blood pooled down her body and in a minute or so she would be dead by the loss of it. Even standing made a strain on her.

Aizen and Akiho's eyes clashed at one another again. The screams of the shinigami above them were muffled. No one could come near Akiho as they were intercepted by the Espada. Even Genryusai Yamamoto had been blocked by a higher-ranking arrancar.

No one is saving Akiho.

Everything shunned around them. The only thing Akiho was seeing at that moment was the rugged crisps of cocoa terrains that were previously accompanied by glasses. Now, naked, all-seeing and uncaring. They stared only at Akiho. As if it's their favorite place to mock.

Those eyes are the epitome of treachery. They held contact with Akiho as if to say that it would be the last time she'd see that stare. They shivered for a short minute similar to how a person would usher hesitance whenever they wanted to say something important to someone.

But, Akiho, on the verge of dying, never heard anything from Aizen Sosuke.

She had not desired for him to say he loved her too. She only wanted something — something to hold onto before her heart stopped pulsing.

Aizen averted his gaze from Akiho. His face changed, a slight shift that only Akiho could notice. Then, his fingers grazed her bloodied hand for a fraction of a second before Aizen took his hand back to his side again.

The people around them were only a distant sound. No one saw any of those. It happened fast in their eyes. But between Aizen and Akiho, time slowed. As if Aizen is giving her the chance to savor her last moments in life.

A tear streaked down Akiho's cheek. She tried to have his name slip past her mouth as a plea for her life. But, even that simple action made her body tremble from the pain.

"You don't have to forgive me," Aizen said, then he mouthed Kurohitsugi.

Akiho had always wondered who would be the person she'd give her heart to. She never expected it to be the same person to crush her bones and flesh until she was nothing but a corpse.