Training Montage 1

He was fucking with me.

"This is surprisingly good..." I remarked, quickly grabbing another out of the bag.

Aizen had a smug look on his face before he turned back towards Grimmjow's scene.

Particularly the one involving the fifth espada putting him on the bus.

I quietly gulped down the savoury treat, the heavenly taste almost unreal, before I picked up another popcorn kernel. I was currently relaxed against the sofa, Aizen settled for standing in front of the huge screen made of Reiatsu/Complete-Hypnosis. I stopped caring a while ago.

He was fucking with me.

"The ratio is perfect... How do you even know about this? How long have you known about this!?"

He had to be. He had stashes of Popcorn hidden in a pocket dimension.

"Since Kenpachi Zaraki's promotion," The man deadpanned. "I sent Nel to the Human world once," He added on passively, his attention taken up with the screen, before to my surprise, the man quickly settled down on a conjured chair, another bag appearing out of thin air and into his hands, as he watched Kenpachi interlude.

He didn't create this Popcorn by the way.

He. Had. Stashes. Of. It.

He had to be fucking with me!

There was a literal mountain of popcorn hidden inside Aizen's portable dimension.

"She found it along the way?" I questioned numbly as I savoured the taste.

Aizen blinked once, his expression somewhat amused.

"I specifically sent her on a task to find-"

"Prove it," I deadpanned, even as I took another handful of the damn things.

Aizen promptly brought up another memory and changed the tv channel. I watched on impassively, my expression dead to the world, my hands mechanically going through another bag, as Aizen Sosuke, sent Nel The First Third Espada on a mission to find the perfect batch of mixed popcorn.

What is my life right now..? The thought earned a snort from the man.

"Should've sent Ulquiorra," I reacted immediately.

Aizen, just as he has for the past who knows how long, twitched at the name. I still couldn't believe how salty the man was. "Get over it," I rolled my eyes. "So what if you didn't know he'd found another stage-"

"That changes everything!" Aizen promptly snapped, his bag of popcorn crushing in his hand. "That brings up an entirely different branch to consider! He should've told me!" Aizen's voice, to my surprise, took on a vehemence I'd never thought to see... The man promptly blinked once as he took in my expression.

I almost couldn't hold back the snort the moment I saw a vein appear on his forehead.

"I am a scientist... You know?" The man sniffed. "I would much rather have all the information I could get,"

I nodded, my mind quickly changing the scene towards what I knew Aizen was dying to see.

"Besides, he wasn't supposed to kill Kurosaki Ichigo," The man added on quietly, his attention quickly taken up, along with his interest, by the sight of the new pages on screen.

He'd been shocked the first time he'd seen Ulquiorra put a hole in Ichigo, stating that if it hadn't been for the lucky break of that Hollow manifesting, another thing Aizen hadn't known was possible, his plans could've very likely failed then and there.

Still, even now, one thing didn't add up.

"What was the big deal anyway? Wasn't it just a boost in power?" Ulquiorra's regeneration may have been boosted aswell I suppose.. But other than that and a boost in speed and what not... I really can't see why it mattered...

"His transformation has more meaning then that... What he called a second stage release was in fact his collective of souls evolving."

"I have no idea what that means..."

Aizen sighed, paused on his reading and turned towards me.

"You understand that certain hollows, the Espada for example, are made up of thousands of souls?"

I nodded. A serious look on my face while Aizen didn't skip beat as he continued.

"You understand how a Menos evolves yes?"

I nodded.

"Well, it's similar to that but rather than a single hollow reaping the benefits of power, all of them do. Ulquiorra, in as simple terms as I could manage." He gave me a pointed look. "His collective of souls, once long thought to be lost due to his own evolution, caught up with him."

My eyes widened the slightest at the words.

"He'd somehow managed to find and convince most if not all of the souls within him to... Cooperate, I don't even think he himself knew what he was doing... but, in essence, he was one step away from, not ascending, at least..." Aizen's face, for the first time since I've been here, had clear dread shown on his face. "Not like the kind I sought... No, perhaps its simpler to call it the Hollows way... But the fact it was possible..." The man remarked, a grim look on his face-

"But... I mean he got his ass kicked anyway... So?"I deadpanned.

Aizen blinked once before, an irritated look promptly replacing his expression, he turned back towards the screen in front of him and settled for ignoring me.

Wonder how long this ones gonna last?

I promptly took another handful of Aizen-grade popcorn.

I still think he's fucking with me.

...

Author Notes: This is set during Ch11's coma.

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