"What's taking him so long?" Renji complained.
"Shut up. I'm sure he's on his way," Ichigo responded as he kept looking off to the corner of the mansion. And sure enough Hitsugaya appeared before them, keeping himself low on the ground and out of sight. "Did you do it?"
Hitsuagay nodded. "The flare went up. There is no way Kenpachi could have missed it."
Ichigo nodded. "Okay then, let's get going."
Renji turned towards the bush they were next to and started to pull on it from the stem that was above the ground. With all his strength, and his two friends digging some dirt away to make the task easier, Renji grunted as he pulled the bush out. He looked at the hole on the ground and smirked. "Am I the man or what?"
His two friends rolled their eyes as they dug around the hole to create a bigger opening. Hitsugaya reached an arm down. "This hole is deeper than I thought—I feel wind against my fingertips. No doubt this is it." He pulled his arm out and nodded.
Ichigo nodded back before he sat back and used the heel of his foot to stomp hard on the weak ground several times. The dirt gave way and a huge opening appeared before them. It was wide enough for them to slide through easily, but small enough to not be detected from afar.
Renji decided to go first. He wiggled his way down a good few feet until his feet landed on something hard and hollow. "There's a trap door here," he announced. He stomped on it a few times before it loosened. "Hey, I think I got it—AH!"
"Renji!" Ichigo looked down but it was too dark to see anything. He looked at Hitsugaya and said, "I'm going in." Ichigo carefully climbed down, using rocks to help support him from falling. His legs soon reached nothing but air. Taking in a deep breath, Ichigo climbed down until his body were dangling in midair while his hands hung onto a small crack in the ceiling of the room just below him. He peered down to see nothing. "Renji?" he grunted with a strained voice.
"Yeah," he responded, "Just jump down. I'm out of the way already."
Ichigo released hold and landed on the ground. "I can't see anything."
"I know," Renji said in dark, "How are we going to figure out where to go?"
Ichigo was about to say something back when something hit him on the head, hard. "OW! What the fuck—" He looked over to see a lit flashlight on the ground.
"You two are idiots." Hitsugaya jumped down and landed next to Ichigo. He grabbed the flashlight before standing straight. "Let's go."
Ichigo silently cursed at the shorter man while Renji snickered at the side. The trio walked straight as instructed on the map. Hitsugaya shined the light at several boxes that surrounded them.
Renji whistled. "There's hella stuff down here." He went off to the side and blew away some dust to read the label on the box. "These are fucking expensive wines he got here."
"Wines are not the only thing down here," Hitsugaya added as he flashed the light against other boxes. "There's stuff from food to illegal drugs in here."
"Looks like Aizen's been doing more shit then we predicted," Renji said.
Ichigo grunted. "Stop sight-seeing. I want to finish this quickly."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Renji returned to the other two as they walked down several more meters. It wasn't until they reached an old, wooden door that they stopped. They could hear noises coming from the other side but it was too muffled to understand anything.
Hitsugaya turned off the flashlight before crouching on the ground. "There's light just beyond this door," he whispered. He squinted his eye to get a better look.
"See anything?" Ichigo asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, several pairs of expensive Italian shoes walking around."
Renji smirked. "Looks like we hit the jackpot." The three suddenly stiffened when a loud voice quickly silenced everyone.
"I apologize for the wait, gentlemen," Aizen's voice came from the other side, "Now, without delay, shall we start this?"
Men of different age, race and size sat down on chairs situated in an arch. Aizen stepped into the middle of the room. When everyone calmed down, Aizen nodded to the side and a group of men came carrying in huge boxes.
"Here are the latest prototypes of the newest designs created by my men." He walked over and lifted the lid, grabbing one of the weapons and pulled it out.
A machine gun of two feet in length and with double handles appeared before the anxious crowd. Aizen hung the strap off his shoulder and held the gun by one of its handles. "This weighs roughly around 8 pounds unloaded and can fire off a thousand rounds a minute." He reached into the box again and pulled out an extra case of bullets. "And today, being a special day since I'm getting married tomorrow, I have decided to sell this gun and extra bullets for a good price."
"What's so different about this machine gun compared to others?" someone asked.
Aizen chuckled. "Good question. As you can see, this is quite lighter than the others. Also it doesn't overheat as fast as other types." He pulled out the case of bullets on the gun and showed it to the crowd almost like he was performing a magic show. "And it is very easy to unload and reload."
"Would you mind giving us a performance?" Another man asked.
"Gladly."
Ichigo and the other two leaned even lower to the ground to see what was happening but Aizen's feet suddenly disappeared.
"Do you see him?" Renji whispered.
"No," Ichigo replied, "The bastard suddenly—AAAHHH!" Before he could finish his sentence the three ducked lower when bullets suddenly started flying through the door, light streaming through the small holes that were being created.
Seconds passed and the three covered their heads with their arms as the bullets kept firing through.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" Renji yelled.
"LIKE I WOULD KNOW!" Ichigo shouted back.
"WELL WHY—" Renji stopped in mid-sentence when the bullets suddenly stopped. The three looked at each other with pale expressions. "Shit."
"Allow me to introduce to you our three special guests," they heard Aizen call out from the other side of the barely-standing wooden door. Ichigo, Renji and Hitsugaya slowly lifted up their heads when the door was yanked off by Aizen's men, leaving the three open before the enemy and his "business-partners."
"…Fuck," Renji cursed before three of Aizen's bodyguards walked over and yanked their arms behind their backs before pulling them off the ground.
When they were stable on their feet, Aizen walked over and stood between Ichigo and Hitsugaya. "These three men have arrived to 'watch' our important business meeting. And are my special guest for the day," he announced while patting Ichigo on the shoulder and then giving him a tight squeeze.
Ichigo rolled his shoulder back, pushing Aizen's hand off of him but the man didn't even flinch. Instead, Aizen just continued with his conversation.
"Kurosaki Ichigo here is our very important guest, who can help connect us to the 'Benihime,'" Aizen chuckled when gasps were heard throughout the cellar. He turned to Ichigo and smirked, "Isn't that right, Ichigo-kun?"
Ichigo was quiet for a second as he stared at his enemy. "I have no idea what you're saying," he sneered when something struck his mind. "Wait…how do you know my name?"
Aizen looked straight into his eyes while keeping on his smile. "Why, I believe only one person can answer that question. And that person is 'Benihime.'"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Ichigo glared, "Who is that?"
"Don't worry about that now. Let us just wait until the remainder of the guests arrives," Aizen replied.
Before Ichigo could snap back, one of the fat men wearing a clean Italian suit cut in. "Excuse me, Aizen-sama, but how much longer are we going to have to wait?" he asked, adjusting the tight suit around his large stomach.
Aizen looked over with a frown and walked over. "I'm sorry but are you rushing me when I'm trying to do business?"
The fat man glared as Aizen came in front of him. "Actually, I am. You've been pushing back this sale for months when I told you I'm in a hurry for new weapons. If this continues I'm afraid you won't be making any sell with me—"
BAM!
Ichigo looked away when Aizen suddenly pulled out a gun and fired a shot.
When the shot quieted, Aizen spoke up. "You were saying?"
Ichigo slowly looked up and in front of him the fat man was still standing, shivering in his Italian shoes… but why was there blood on the ground?
He carefully looked over to the side to find the source of the blood: on the ground lied the dead body of one of Aizen's men.
That crazy bastard just shot one of his own bodyguards!
"I really don't appreciate your tone. When I asked you to be patient it wasn't a request. I wouldn't want something to happen to you," Aizen glared, though keeping his sinister smile. He placed a hand on the other man's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "Afterall, you are my special customer."
"Y—yes, I mean, I—I understand," the old man stuttered.
"Excellent," Aizen nodded before turning around and facing Ichigo and his friends again. "I apologize for that. Now where was I…" he tilted his head to the side as if in deep thought. "Ah, that's right. We are waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive."
Ichigo's frown deepened but kept his mouth shut. Guests? Things were getting more suspicious by the second.
As soon as he finished that thought, he heard footsteps coming down the stairway.
"Ah, here comes one."
Ichigo watched as Aizen walked towards the stairs and held out his hand with a smile. "I've been waiting for you," he said as a delicate hand reached out and landed on his own.
Ichigo's eyes widened as a feminine figure came down and into the light. "Rukia!"
Rukia turned around and upon seeing the owner of the voice, her eyes also widened. "Ichigo? What are you dong here?"
"What am I—what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia shrugged her shoulders. "I was suddenly led down here by Gin-san."
Ichigo could feel anger slowly bubbling upwards. He glared at Aizen and sneered, "What the fuck is this about, Aizen? Why is she here?"
"Why, she's one of my special guests, Ichigo-kun," Aizen said as he led Rukia towards the center of the basement.
Rukia looked between Aizen and Ichigo several times before asking, "Do you two know each other?"
Ichigo shook his head. "I don't but I think this bastard knows a lot more about me," he said glaring at Aizen, "Isn't that right?"
Aizen looked down at Rukia and nodded his head. "And a lot about you, too."
Rukia quickly pulled her hand out of Aizen's grasp and took a step back. "Just how much do you know?"
He bent forward and grabbed her wrist. "A lot more than you think." Before Rukia could do anything Aizen pulled her in front of him and wrapped an arm around her neck while holding back both of her arms behind her back with the other.
"RUKIA!" Ichigo shouted. He tried to charge forward but Aizen's men held onto his arms even tighter. "You bastard, let her go!"
Aizen looked over and smirked. "I could let her go since she really doesn't have anything to do with this. But," he paused for a second to stroke Rukia's cheek, "If she's here then you wouldn't be able to do anything foolish until everyone arrives."
"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," Ichigo snarled, "Just let her go!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Aizen shook his head, "I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you."
Ichigo could feel cold sweat falling down his brow with each passing second. "Who else is coming? Just let her go and I'll do anything," Ichigo growled.
Aizen stopped stroking Rukia's cheek and looked over to Ichigo with an eerie smile. "'Anything'?"
"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya suddenly called out, "Don't say anything irrational! You don't know what might happen!"
"Shut up!" yelled one of the men who were holding onto Hitsugaya, before throwing a punch at the young captain.
After dealing with the blow, Hitsugaya spat out some blood before looking back at Ichigo with knitted eyebrows. "Don't lose your head now, Kurosaki."
Ichigo only looked back for a second before looking at Aizen again, but this time keeping his mouth shut.
"My oh my, are you going to listen to that young captain when your love—" he tightened his hold on Rukia, "—is in such a state, Kurosaki-kun?"
Rukia watched carefully as Ichigo's frown deepened in deep thought. "You dumbass! Don't even think about doing anything rash or else I'll kill you myself—"
"Shhhhhh," Aizen whispered into Rukia's ear after clamping her mouth shut with his hand, "I wouldn't say anything if I were you…you might end up regretting it." Rukia could only respond with a glare and stood still as Aizen looked back at Ichigo. "Now, where were we?"
"Doesn't matter now," Ichigo said.
Aizen raised a brow. "What?"
This time Ichigo smirked. "Whatever you've been saying until now doesn't matter anymore."
"So why don't you let that pretty lady go and put your hands up?"
Aizen stiffened before turning around to see Kenpachi standing at the entrance of the wine cellar, holding two shot guns in each arm, while cops filed down behind him, surrounding the enemies in the room.
Kenpachi's malicious smirk grew even wider. "How've you been Aizen? I've been trying to get you for years…looks like your luck has finally run out!"
As more cops filled the cellar, Aizen's men and their 'customers' were forced on to their knees. They dropped their weapons and held up their arms.
After getting released, Renji looked around and released a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he said before walking over and tapping someone on the shoulder. "Glad to see you're okay."
Ikkaku smirked before rolling his shoulders, knocking Renji's hand off of him. "Please, I can't be brought down that easily. They needed ten times more men than that to even lay a scratch on me."
Hitsugaya walked over to Kenpachi who handed him his badge and guns. "Took you guys long enough."
"Psch," Kenpachi snorted, "It took a while to get those idiots out of the mess back at the cabin." He pointed to Matsumoto and the others. Few of them were injured, some bandaged heavily even, but overall alive.
During the entire time Renji met up with his fellow cops and Hitsugaya was chatting with Kenpachi, but Ichigo and Aizen just stood at their spots. What was bothering Ichigo the most was the fact that even under the current circumstances, Aizen wasn't dropping his smile.
A/N: OMG? What the fuck is going on?
Well, I hope to update the last few chapters all at once so it might be more than a week before you find out. But I might be lucky and be able to upload them quickly (if my professors just loosen up a bit with the HW T.T)
See you guys soon!
And thanks again for all the love!
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