"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen."
With a snap of his fingers, Aizen conjured a circular barrier of light, shielding himself from the residual blast of the golden laser.
Then he turned his gaze in the direction the shot had come from.
Though surrounded earlier, his spiritual awareness had never wavered.
The moment Lan Yan's spiritual pressure reappeared nearby, he'd sensed it.
So when his brother finally stepped in and ended the battle with a single laser shot, Aizen wasn't surprised—just mildly amused.
"You're telling me it took you this long to clean up that mess?" Lan Yan teased casually as he approached, lowering his finger from where he'd fired the blast.
Aizen replied with a smile, completely unfazed. "They brought me a fine gift."
"As thanks," he said calmly, "I gave them a few extra seconds to admire this world before they left it."
Still holding his zanpakutō loosely, Aizen radiated effortless elegance—even while standing among corpses.
"…You've learned your zanpakutō's name," Lan Yan noted, eyes dropping to the blade in his brother's hand.
Aizen gently pointed the tip to the ground and said softly,
"Kyōka Suigetsu."
"Its ability: Complete Hypnosis. See it once, and your senses—sight, sound, touch, even spiritual pressure—are no longer your own."
He paused, letting the weight of those words settle.
"Oh, and by the way," he added casually, "It just happens to be the strongest illusion-type zanpakutō in existence."
His voice was musical, calm, almost laced with pride.
It was a rare glimpse behind the Aizen mask—
One he only ever showed to his brother.
"Kyōka Suigetsu, huh…" Lan Yan smiled knowingly.
A rare thing, this much transparency from his ever-composed little brother.
But in that moment, he wasn't speaking to "Aizen the tactician."
He was simply speaking to his younger brother.
Aizen, in turn, looked back up.
"And you?"
"When you arrived earlier, I couldn't sense your spiritual pressure at all. And that light-speed strike… don't tell me—"
Lan Yan chuckled.
"As you guessed—my zanpakutō allows me to generate and manipulate light."
"Speed of light. Power of light. Precision of light."
He paused, then added with a grin:
"Zhuoyin."
"Oh, and by the way—it just so happens to be the strongest light-type zanpakutō."
A beat of silence.
"..."
Aizen's expression froze for just a moment.
Same tone.
Same line.
Lan Yan had completely stolen his thunder.
Even though Kyōka Suigetsu was, without a doubt, the strongest illusion-type zanpakutō, for some reason, hearing about Zhuoyin took all the joy out of it.
"Pfft… hahahaha."
They both looked at each other, and then—
Laughed.
Real laughter.
The kind they only shared when it was just the two of them. No masks, no pretense. Just two brothers—equals.
FWOOSH.
But the moment didn't last.
Two new spiritual pressures entered their perception range.
Though their faces remained calm—even warmer and more polite than before—
That earlier, pure joy had vanished, hidden behind courteous masks.
"Lan Yan. Aizen."
"What happened here?!"
Captain Ukitake appeared first, flash-stepping into view.
He surveyed the carnage around them—bodies pierced by blades, incinerated by Kidō.
And right behind him—
General Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, silent, watchful, leaning on his flame-forged cane-sword.
"Looks like an assassination attempt," Lan Yan explained nonchalantly, hands behind his back. "After classes, we returned to our dorms."
"The moment I opened the door, the scenery changed. A moment later, both of us had been forcibly transferred to separate spaces."
"The rest… well, you're looking at it."
His tone was light, even relaxed—completely at odds with the chilling implication of what he was describing.
"Kidō barrier."
"Forbidden Spell: Dimensional Transfer."
"A well-prepared, coordinated ambush."
Yamamoto's deep voice cut through the air like thunder.
Even with only fragments of the story, he already understood the full scene as though he'd stood there himself.
"Oh! I nearly forgot."
Ukitake straightened and gestured toward the elder.
"This is the Head Captain of the Gotei 13, and founder of Shinō Academy—Yamamoto Genryūsai-dono."
Lan Yan nodded, smiling faintly.
"Principal."
Aizen followed with a small bow of his own.
"Commander, sir."
Two completely different titles.
Both were perfectly respectful.
But each revealed a very different temperament.
Principal.
Commander.
Yamamoto blinked once. He hadn't expected that.
But as someone who'd lived over two thousand years, he instantly understood the nuance.
"Lan Yan—direct, unrestrained."
"Aizen—refined, deliberate."
"A fine pair of brothers indeed," Yamamoto thought silently.
On the surface, both were flawless students.
But he knew—there was far more under those still waters.
"…Pity none of them survived," Ukitake muttered, crouching by a corpse. He tore off the hood to reveal an unfamiliar face.
"If we'd captured one alive, we could've handed them over to the Execution Division or Kidō Corps for interrogation."
"But no matter. We'll uncover the truth."
Normally, if a Shinō Academy student were attacked, not even a lieutenant would care, let alone a captain or the Commander-General himself.
Asking for justice?
In the Soul Society?
Not a chance.
But this?
This was different.
Lan Yan and Aizen weren't ordinary students.
They weren't even ordinary geniuses.
They were monsters.
Once-in-a-millennium monsters.
And perhaps—
Soon-to-be, his disciples.
Author's Note:
Kyōka Suigetsu?
Zhuoyin?
One controls the senses. The other controls light.
One family.
Two ultimate Zanpakutō.
God help anyone who makes them enemies.
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