Promises Inked

By Spunky0ne

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(A little shout out to Sariniste, who is still waiting for a chapter of To Die For, which I promise I will finish asap! :) But it's all because of a question by a reader, who said she loves Renji having some royal blood. This wicked plot bunny upended me and I can't think of anything else at the moment. The force is strong with this one, so I will be updating quickly. Enjoy! Love to all, Spunky)

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During the chaos of the end of the quincy war, Aizen eludes capture by placing an illusion upon Byakuya's innocent cousin, Tetsuya, convincing everyone that Tetsuya is Aizen. Tetsuya is placed in Muken, while Aizen abducts a badly wounded Renji. Even once Tetsuya is rescued by Ichigo, who sees through the illusion, Tetsuya is deeply traumatized and can only communicate a strange fixation on Aizen mentioning a contract made in the king's blood. Mystified, Byakuya seeks answers in the soul king's archive and learns that the original soul king had a black marking on his palm, which, he wrote, would reveal his heir…yaoi, mpreg…Aizen/Renji, Ichigo/Byakuya, Kisuke/Tetsuya

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Chapter 1: Dead King's Promise

The muffled sound of shouting voices throbbed painfully in Sosuke Aizen's head as the heavy tremors of Ywach's dying reiatsu pulsed and radiated around his fallen form, pressing down against his damaged body. He was sure that, in such a condition, he shouldn't have been able to move.

But there is no way I can allow myself to be recaptured.

His mind went back for a moment to the moment when the quincy king had come to him in Muken and asked him for his allegiance.

Of course, I did the equivalent of laughing in his face. There was no way that I was going to receive his mark on my soul.

I already have a marking of my own.

Yes, I never realized until Ywach bent and whispered the insulting answer in my ear. The answer was right in front of me all along, but I dismissed it. I almost killed him…

Aizen's heart skittered in his chest and waves of dizziness left him barely able to crawl. But he clawed at the ground determinedly, favoring the stump of one arm that was left and using his good arm and shaky legs to drag himself deeper into the brush as the roar and heavy smoke of fires raged around him and panicked soldiers scoured the area for signs of survivors.

I will have to come back for him. I would look for him now, but there is too much of a risk of being found. I only have the strength to set perhaps one good illusion, then I am sure to be depleted. No, escape must be my priority. I will return for him.

So decided, the scourge of Soul Society made his way into a copse of smoldering trees, carefully avoiding the searchers and feeling a touch of relief that darkness was coming. He knew well that he was leaving a bloody trail in the dirt and was pleased at hearing water gurgling somewhere nearby. He crawled towards the sound, panting and shaking harder, but driven by the powerful pain in his chest and the quincy king's words that repeated in his head.

"You will see, Sosuke. Soon now, it will happen, just as I told you. I will kill him and steal the power he possesses…power you were careless enough to overlook. Power that you clumsily tried to kill, yourself. You were blind, so very blind Sosuke Aizen. It amuses me that you never suspected."

He reached down and laid a hand on Aizen's chest, where the hogyoku had rested, feeling the burning scorch mark left behind upon its disintegration.

"Wait here now. I will come back to you when he is dead, and I will strip this power from you as well. Enjoy the darkness. It is all you will know when I am truly finished with the two of you."

Aizen pulled himself into a seated position at the water's edge and cupped a hand to gather water from the large stream to cool his face. His hand then slipped down to his chest and he peeled back the edges of his bloodstained shirt to reveal the bold black marking that was still slowly forming.

I was stymied when the hogyoku suddenly stopped speaking to me as Ywach began his conquest. Then, I was shocked when I heard the souls inside the orb scream as the hogyoku began to swell with power. It finally burst, and I wondered as it did, if I was going to die. I am certainly mortal now. And that place, where the hogyoku was, is changing. First, it was a bloody mess, then a spot of bold black appeared in the center. Now, it begins to spread outward. I need to know what this means. I need to…

Aizen paused as a soft male voice suddenly reached him.

"There now, Renji-san. Your reiatsu is stable. You will be all right. Just, please rest now and let me watch over you."

Tetsuya Kuchiki?

Taking a steadying breath, Aizen forced his fiercely aching body into motion, proceeding cautiously and letting his reiatsu swell the smoke around them. Tetsuya coughed and looked around warily as Aizen used his ability to blend in, so as not to be seen.

"Is someone there?" Tetsuya asked softly.

"C-careful," Renji groaned, "Aizen…th…the bastard is loose around here somewhere."

"Renji-san," Tetsuya chided him, pushing the redhead back down gently as he tried to sit up, "you were badly injured. You will not be able to stand. Please lie down."

Renji mumbled something unintelligible, then went limp in Tetsuya's arms. The young, blue-eyed man smiled warmly in response.

"Let me look after you. The fighting is over, Renji-san. The quincy king is dead. We will all be starting anew."

He brushed his hands against the muscular warrior's face, using his healing reiatsu to send Renji into a deep, restorative sleep, but before he could fully invoke the power, Renji pushed his hand away.

"Y-you okay?" he asked, shivering.

"You are asking about me?" Tetsuya mused, shaking his head, "I am fine. Our clan is safe in the enclosure. I will have you evacuated there to recover. Just…"

"Wh-where's fleabag?" Renji chuckled as he began to drop off, "s-standing guard?"

Tetsuya's smile faded slightly, and he touched a hand to the torn cloth that covered his breast, over his heart.

"The battle was a difficult one," the young man answered.

"You were hurt?" Renji asked worriedly.

"I told you, I am fine," Tetsuya insisted.

"No, you're not," Renji said, reeling, "Tetsuya, you were hurt too. How are you healing me?"

Tetsuya's smile warmed again and he looked down to where his palm rested on his chest.

"When I am injured, Arashi returns to my body. He is inside me, strengthening me. I will be fine. Please, my friend, you must sleep now. I will protect you until help arrives."

Renji returned Tetsuya's smile and reached out to capture his hand and give it a squeeze.

"Okay, I'll stop givin' you trouble, but it's just because we're friends."

Tetsuya nodded, watching as Renji finally drifted off and his cinnamon colored eyes closed.

"We are the best of friends. Your kindness is a gift, Renji-san."

Tetsuya fell quiet, his eyes focusing on Renji's calmer sleeping face, and his reiatsu radiating a soft blue light around them. Aizen crept forward, his mind working quickly.

Perfect.

I know what to do.

He moved in behind Tetsuya, using little flickers of his reiatsu to confuse Tetsuya's senses. Byakuya's cousin breathed slowly, gazing down at his injured friend and beginning to speak again.

"So many have died," he whispered, "and more are brought to the enclosure who are horribly injured. The quincy king wanted all of us to die. Such hatred, Renji-san. Such hatred that makes me afraid, like I was those long years ago. When hatred left me without my parents and locked in a cage for my childhood. I am glad that you and Ichigo-san prevailed."

"Well," Aizen intoned, smirking as he wrapped his power around Tetsuya's slender form and froze him in place, "they did have some help, after all."

Tetsuya stiffened, and his blue eyes rounded in shock.

"You!" he gasped, struggling to break free of the odd hold that the elder man seemed to have over his body.

"Yes," Aizen said smoothly, moving to sit in front of the paralyzed shinigami, "we know each other well, don't we? At one time, you and I were…quite amicable, weren't we, Tetsuya?"

He glanced down at Renji.

"Don't touch him!" Tetsuya demanded, straining against Aizen's power.

He shivered as Aizen turned back and looked directly into his eyes.

"I will not harm Renji," he said, matter-of-factly, "and Tetsuya, as long as you cooperate, I will not harm you."

"Why should I believe anything you say?" Tetsuya asked, his tone conveying more hurt than anger, "I am sure that our friendship meant far more to me than it ever did to you. How much did you laugh at me for playing right into your hands? Did you enjoy taking advantage of all of our trust in you?"

Aizen moved closer, sending a chill down Tetsuya's spine as he wrapped his good arm around his captive former friend and spoke into his ear. Tetsuya tensed under his arm, but had no power to move.

"I took no pleasure in hurting you," he confessed, the touch of his warm breath making Tetsuya's pale earlobe and cheeks blush, "You suffered your own atrocities at their hands, didn't you, Tetsuya?"

Tetsuya gazed back at him, his heart pounding.

"They put you in a cage before," Aizen went on, looking more deeply into his captive's eyes and bringing his power in around them.

A little flicker in his reiatsu nearly gave the noble a chance to break free, but Aizen gritted his teeth and raised his power aggressively until Tetsuya collapsed in front of him and laid on his back, staring up at Aizen and panting harshly.

"Are you afraid of me?" Aizen asked, noting the barely controlled shaking in Tetusya's slender limbs.

"You are a l-liar and a murderer!" Tetsuya gasped.

"Yes," Aizen said, touching his face with an odd gentleness, "but you have some unusual insight into why, don't you, Tetsuya?"

"I don't know what you mean!" Tetsuya exclaimed, "Let me go!"

He sucked in a shocked breath and nearly loosed a scream of terror as Aizen's illusion wrapped around him, taking him instantly back in time. He found himself crouched on the icy floor of a dirty cell, dressed in stinking rags and clenching at the bars. Aizen approached in slow, measured steps, arriving at the cell door and pausing to look down at him.

"Why are you doing this?" Tetsuya managed, his voice breaking and his body quaking visibly, "What have I ever…?"

"It is not that you did anything," Aizen explained, "I only did this to get you to focus. Listen to me carefully, Tetsuya. I am going to release your hands only, and you are to heal my arm."

He shattered the illusion around Tetsuya, then paused, making a sound of pain as his insides clenched. To his surprise, the younger man scrambled onto his knees and wrapped an arm around him, lowering him to the ground. Tetsuya looked down at him anxiously, giving the traitor time to recover himself. He wrapped a hand around Tetsuya's wrist and glared at him warningly.

"I am injured, but I can still kill you easily," he assured the hesitant noble, "Now, heal my arm…and do not dare try anything, or I promise you, you will wish that I would kill you!"

Tetsuya glanced at Renji's still unconscious form, then looked back at Aizen and nodded briefly. He reached out slowly, capturing the stump of an arm, then he laid his other hand on top of the damaged limb, calling his power into use. Aizen watched with an approving expression as the limb began to glow, as from within, then very gradually repaired itself.

"You are a talented healer," he complimented the young man, "You always were. I think you wanted to be a healer, but Byakuya understood just how much those horrid people hated you, and he knew that you would never survive without being able to fight back."

"Byakuya-sama did not just teach me to fight back. He also taught me the right way to fight back…how, where, when, and how much. I was not taught to be vengeful."

"No," Aizen said, reaching out to caress Tetsuya's flushed cheek with his fingers, "you were too broken by what you suffered in Itamigiri, weren't you?"

"How would you know what I suffered?" Tetsuya asked, turning his head away in reaction.

Aizen's smile sent fresh chills down Tetsuya's neck and back.

"Why, I was there, of course."

Tetsuya's eyes widened.

"You were there?" he asked in a surprised tone, "When?"

Tetsuya's breath caught and his face went white as Aizen's power flickered, and his face was overwritten with another that the younger man instantly recognized.

"The healer, Nobu?" Tetsuya mused numbly, "The one who…?"

He shook his head in disbelief, earning a little laugh and a pat on the cheek from Aizen.

"I was younger then, but I was able to perform necessary healing."

"But, why were you there?" Tetsuya demanded, "And why…?"

"I was there to learn more about you, of course," Aizen revealed.

"About me?" Tetsuya repeated disbelievingly.

"Well, it was more about your ability to have children," Aizen confessed, "You see, at the time, I had a lover, one who I would have…well, you get the idea."

"Who?" Tetsuya inquired, his hand still holding Aizen's newly remade one, even though the healing was done.

"Oh, that doesn't bear talking about," Aizen chuckled, "Suffice it to say that I examined you and learned what I needed to know, then faked the good healer, Nobu's death as you escaped the prison."

"But, you helped me?" Tetsuya asked, looking confused, "You know that Naoki and I would never have even made it out of our cell, if you had not killed the guard who was about to attack us."

Aizen shrugged.

"You helped me. I helped you," he said nonchalantly, "And as you have now, again, helped me, I will show you some mercy. With the Gotei about to commence a manhunt for me, I need a means of keeping them from knowing I have escaped. Simply put, they need to think they have me. And while healing me, you mingled our reiatsu, giving me the chance to show you a power that no one else has ever seen."

"No!" Tetsuya exclaimed, trying to scramble away, only to have Aizen's arm wrap around him and bring him back against Aizen's chest.

He was instantly distracted by a hair raising thought.

The hogyoku!

It is…?

"Ah, you noticed," Aizen said smoothly, wrapping the layers of his rising power around Tetsuya and binding him in place.

"Stop!" Tetusya objected, "Don't!"

"One of my abilities," Aizen explained calmly, "is that if I mingle my reiatsu with another's, I can cause our images to switch."

"You are going to…?" Tetsuya realized, struggling wildly as he realized, "No! Don't do it! Don't!"

"Shh," Aizen soothed him, watching as Tetsuya winced, and a little bit of his reiatsu emerged.

A bit also emerged from the body of the traitor. The two clusters left their masters and each closed in on the other man.

"Don't worry," Aizen assured him, as Tetsuya watched the approach of the reiatsu and screamed in horror, "It will not harm you, and it will not last very long, as I am injured and my powers are not full strength."

He continued to observe calmly as Tetsuya's writhing form was encased in the reiatsu, while Tetsuya's reiatsu wrapped around Aizen and sank into him. His smile widened as he watched Tetsuya's body change into a perfect copy of his, while his body mimicked Tetsuya's flawlessly.

"Fascinating," he mused, his hand reaching out and shocking Tetsuya into unconsciousness, "It worked better than I expected. I will apologize to you, because I know that being in Muken will terrify you. So, I have made you seem comatose. They will bind you, but you will be mostly unaware. I would choose someone else, but I have things that I must do. I thank you, Tetsuya Kuchiki, for showing me that there are some very decent people in our worlds…perhaps, people worth saving? How surprised would you be if you heard me say that?"

He looked around as voices rose up nearby and two Kuchiki family attendants rushed into view. Aizen turned and smiled in Tetsuya's gentle manner.

"Koji, Torio," he greeted them in Tetsuya's voice, reflecting the young man's image over his own, "I am glad to see you."

"You found Renji-san!" Torio exclaimed, "Byakuya-sama has been worried."

"Renji is fine," Aizen assured them, "Please go and tell my cousin. I will wait here and continue to take care of Renji."

He shook his head as Koji began to object.

"Help is coming shortly," he said firmly, "Go and show Byakuya-sama the way to us."

"Oh, of course," Koji stammered, blinking and backing away.

The two attendants started to turn away, then paused as Aizen spoke again in Tetsuya's voice.

"Please, will you take him?" he asked, indicating Tetsuya's unconscious form, "I found him near Renji-san. He is out cold. I couldn't wake him."

"You found Sosuke Aizen!" Torio exclaimed.

Aizen nodded.

"Take him and go to inform Byakuya-sama. I will be along."

Aizen watched, his smile turning smug as Tetsuya was lifted and carried away. As soon as the two were out of sight, he used a kido spell to raise Renji off the ground. Taking a breath, he opened a passage into the precipice world, and, carefully concealing them in an illusion, he stole away into the darkness.