Excerpt from "Perfect Counter"
Chapter 4 of Beyond God and Evil (Aizen Sōsuke/Female Reader)
Canon-divergence set months after TYBW. Reader is the new Soul King, so is Aizen if you squint hard enough.
Tags: Romantic comedy, fluff and angst, enemies-to-old married couple, banter as love language, mutual pining, immortality, slow burn, political intrigue
MAKING a beeline to Shutara Palace, you seek Senjumaru for assistance to return to your body. However, as expected, the General of the North receives you with cold indignation, given that you are currently inhabiting the body of whom she defined as evil incarnate.
Standing between the towering gates of her palace, Senjumaru looms over you, while you stand warily on the stairway to her domain—a picture that doesn’t quite fit the renowned war criminal.
“I do not recall extending an invitation to you, Aizen Sousuke.”
The way she enunciates his name makes your borrowed skin prickle. You open your mouth to explain, but her mechanical limbs twitch—the silken threads of her loom instantly tensing like drawn bowstrings.
A silent warning: One wrong move, and you'll find yourself embroidered into a wallpaper.
You curse internally but refuse to be intimidated. Although the urge to chastise her unprovoked hostility towards Aizen almost overwhelms you, you understand that aggravating the strongest Royal Guard is not the smartest move to make. Instead, you opt to address the main problem.
“Senjumaru, it’s me, Hana. I know you wo—”
Maybe starting off with her given name was a mistake because the next thing you knew, multiple golden needles have appeared around you, threatening to tear you to pieces.
“Watch your words. I remember telling you not to refer to me and, especially, the Soul King so casually,” she warns, her voice dripping with murderous intent. “Don’t test me.”
You study Senjumaru before releasing a frustrated sigh.
If you were in your body, those needles would be effortlessly absorbed the moment it touches your skin. And Aizen? That man can destroy a meteor with his eyes closed.
But your opponent is not some random Shinigami. This is Shutara Senjumaru, the new Captain of the Zero Division.
I guess, "To see is to believe," huh?
Unable to use your Absorption ability, you switch to your next signature move: Reishi Manipulation. With a subtle flick of his wrist, you seize the spiritual energy around Senjumaru, intending to gently restrain her. However—
A deafening blast echoes through the air when Senjumaru is sent flying backwards, crashing through tapestries of silk and satin, and into her own palace.
Oh.
Oh, no.
Sweat rolls down your temple at your delayed realization.
Aizen doesn’t simply wield spiritual energy—he dominates it. While you, having been accustomed to delicately weaving spiritual particles due to your lack of innate energy, lost control and punched a Royal Guard with the strength of a speeding train.
When Senjumaru walks out of the wreckage, her eyes glow with bone-chilling rage.
Perhaps locking yourself up in Muken would be safer than staying in the Palace.
