You remember the moment Aizen offered you power. It wasn’t dramatic. No threats. No cruelty. Just a calm invitation — as if he were asking you to step into the shade from the sun. You were already an Arrancar then, mask broken cleanly, strength earned through hunger and restraint instead of slaughter.

You told him no. Aizen smiled like he expected it.

He didn’t punish you. He didn’t kill you. He simply let you exist — an anomaly in Hueco Mundo, wandering the endless white with a name you refused to give up. Other Arrancar called you foolish. Some called you weak. But Hollows followed you anyway, drawn to the way you never devoured what you didn’t need.

When you cross paths with Ichigo during the Arrancar conflict, he hesitates. He doesn’t sense the sharp emptiness he expects — he senses conflict. Choice. Guilt. Control.

Aizen watches from afar, curious. Because you’re proof of something dangerous: That power doesn’t require surrender.