Chapter 6

I should have known...it was you.

You mean you were on to me? That was very good.

Of course. That's why I'm a captain.

When did you suspect?

From the beginning. From the time you were in your mother's womb, and maybe even before then.

How witty of you.

To be perfectly honest, I've always felt you were someone dangerous. Someone who could never really be trusted.

And as long as we're telling the truth here, that's the real reason I chose you to be my lieutenant. I only did it to keep an eye on you, Aizen.

Yes, I must thank you for that, Captain Hirako. I depended on your deep distrust of me to make sure you kept watching. That's what made misleading you so simple.

You were never out of my sight. What are you saying?

You were keeping an eye on the wrong person. During this past month when you were so aware of my presence, it wasn't me who was following you.

What?

I have a very useful ability. I can make anyone mistake any phenomenon for something else at will.

That is the true power of my Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu. I refer to it by the common term, complete and utter hypnosis.

You're saying...you hypnotized me?

You are a sharp intellect, Captain Hirako.

But you're suspicious, and that gave me an opening. You never received me as your second-in-command the way the other captains did. If you had, perhaps you might have been able to see through me.

However, you did not. And because you didn't trust me, you always kept me at arm's length...

...never opening up to me or giving me information, and, of course, you never tried to get closer to me.

That's why I was able to take advantage of you so easily. The fact is, you never realized that, at a certain point, I switched places with a completely different person.

I made sure the man who took my place memorized everything about my normal behavior patterns and especially my patterns of interaction when dealing with you and the other squad members.

If you had really been paying attention to me, even slight differences in habits or behaviors would have seemed out of place to you.

You were too arrogant to believe that I was smart enough to be one step ahead of you. Because you never really knew who I was, you now lie there completely helpless. Do you understand the depths of your situation now, my dear Captain Hirako?

Aizen.

Oh, and one more thing. Let me enlighten you about your assertion that you chose me as your lieutenant to keep an eye on me. Actually, you're mistaken.

Just as captains have the right to select their lieutenants, squad members have the right to refuse an assignment.

And while that right is very rarely exercised, particularly when you're starting out, it still exists. I had the choice of not becoming your lieutenant.

So why didn't I do that? Because it was the ideal situation.

You didn't realize it at the time, but your excessive suspicion and wariness of me was just what I needed. It played perfectly into the successful completion of my plans.

Now, do you understand what I've been talking about? You did not choose me. I chose you, Captain Hirako.

I suppose, when it comes right down to it, that you owe your friends here an apology.

Because you were chosen by me, they ended up on the ground as casualties through no fault of their own.

Aizen! Ugh!

I wasn't actually sure it would work, but thank you, Captain, for going for my cheap taunt.

What's happening to me?!

Aizen! What's going on?!

As we thought, it appears that an agitated state helps to accelerate the Hollowfication process.

Hollowfication? What have you done to us?

I see no reason to explain, Captain.

I believe it's time to finish you off, dear Captain Hirako.

You kept me at arm's length, for you were wary of me. And I kept my distance, for I was wary of you.

You believed that your vigilance was enough to stop me. In the end, I hope you'll remember just one thing.

Any betrayal you can see is trivial. What is truly frightening, and much more lethal, is the betrayal you cannot see.

Goodbye. I must commend you. You people have provided wonderful research material.