This idea has been bugging me for a really long time after I read that special chapter Tite-sensei drew up for Shiro-chan's movie promotion, how he hadn't willingly become a shinigami and all, and intensified after watching Bleach the Rock Musical: Bankai Code 003. For those who has never seen the DVD or the uploads on Youtube, there is a corner where Ichimaru (Tsuchiya Yuuichi) hosts an "Uso Contest" in which the whole cast competes with each other, and the winner gets to sing "Catharsis no Eternity" in Aizen's place as Ichimaru and Tousen breakdance and sing with him/her. The official version is the show where Shiro-chan (Nagayama Takashi, who I hereby dub "The Miracle Baby-face", seeing as he is slightly older than Tsucchi by months but can still look as cute as Toushiro could be in real life! *gushgush*) wins, and after rewatching the video with the breakdance and the harmonized melody you can't get with any other winner (because Nagayan's voice is an alto, while almost every other actor there is a tenor or bass) I couldn't stand it anymore and just had to write this. *Okay, deep breath in, deep breath out*

As far as my memory goes, Nagayan is the only cast who sang and danced it perfectly, while almost everyone else forgot their lines or positions, resulting in lots of humor but not many fangirl screams from the audience. And in the backstage videos, he can be seen practicing it for fun behind Tsucchi and, um, guy who plays Tousen. The Uso Contests themselves are hilarious, I highly recommend anyone who hasn't watched them to go search it up NOW.

Let's pretend that Aizen never existed, and instead, it's Shiro-chan who's planning world domination. And that even though the timeline will most definitely get screwed up somewhere along the way, somehow the world in this story played itself out as closer to the same as the series it could get. Because the story writes itself, with no regard whatsoever to the fact that I have volunteer work in the morning tomorrow as well as cram school in the afternoon and evening and it's past midnight now.

Disclaimer: But you've got to admit, evil!Shiro-chan is an awesome idea in any fanfiction. And, well, servant!Gin too X)


Not Long Left

The moon in Hueco Mundo was empty and sorrowful, as it cast its light onto the barren landscape of sand and blackness below. Not a single wind blew, and not a single being dared to walk boldly out in the open space where anything could be watching them, waiting for them, so the sand dunes could stay unshifted for years, doomed to be frozen on the same place they were formed for an endless amount of time. It was a world with no walls, but one looming, white shadow created a background out of the utter darkness and served as the only way to find one's bearings in the vast, still realm. At first, looking upon it saved some of the still rational Hollows from losing their sanity, especially those who had visited the material world before and had experienced the glory of the sun and stars, the exalting rush in their bloodstreams when their prey tried to run and screamed in vain. But even the walls and towers of the great castle showed no change in the tens of years after it was built, and feeling their briefly offered solace being ripped away from them, bit by bit, like a peeling bandage that had stuck to flesh by crusted blood, many of the inhabitants of Hueco Mundo sought to lose themselves in the torrent of raging emotions and pure instinct, for it was their turn to fall prey to their own hearts and be devoured.

Inside Las Noches was the last and only refuge in this special hell, a mirage of an oasis that shone dimly in the eternal moonlight and the reflection of it on the white sand. With its massiveness, it would probably not be a lie to say that nobody had ever walked through all of its corridors, crossed the grounds, seen all of the rooms, save for one person. That someone had been powerful enough to raise the foundations of the castle from the very sand underneath his feet, as his followers watched in awe as a marble fortress, pure and white, much like its maker, was lifted with just the raise of the arms with an almighty rumble that echoed in the boundless space, as though it had been made beforehand and had simply been sleeping in the ground for centuries until then. They all knew, however, that that was not so.

The maker, the God himself, usually confined himself in what could be called the throne room, languishing for days on a chair twice his width and height. Although nobody dared to call him too small for it, he still emitted a quiet, humming aura that seemed to swim through the air around and in Las Noches, leaking through the cracks between the door and the floor (never mind that that was contradictory, seeing as they were made to be airtight), the barred but glassless windows, flowing permanently and constantly, never more than just a presence to remind them of who their master was. The high collar of his plain coat came up to his cheeks and brushed his ears, as the rest of it clasped his bodyline like a lover, its end fluttering around the ankles of his small black boots, where the legs of his trousers remained untucked. His pale, flawless skin flashed through the black-rimmed, v-neck shirt underneath, exposing the base of his neck and part of his chest, hugged to his torso by a thin black belt on his lower stomach. His hair was softer than it had been back when he was playing the part of the dedicated child genius back in Soul Society, and it fell about his face in a leisurely way. Hyourinmaru usually lay either on his lap or on the side, except for the rare occurrences when he was back in his rightful place, strapped to the back of his owner as he managed to dredge up enough energy to slide off the throne and move around, which he only did for a purpose, often never getting up even to stretch. If one didn't know any better, they would have thought he was too tired.

Toushiro cursed himself inwardly for the umpteenth time since his arrival in Hueco Mundo. He probably shouldn't have killed those girls – Loly and Menoly, he dimly recalled – on the very first day, when the three captains had escaped from Soul Society. The boy wished he could have called it a show of power or even used the fact that Loly, all doting smile and innocently childish eyes, had been fingering a hidden dagger dripping with poison as she sidled up to him – he wouldn't say where she was hiding it – as an excuse, but that wouldn't be the truth at all. The truth was that he wanted to see something die. Cruel, rather inhumane, but he hadn't cared at that time, even with his two usual companions flanking both sides of him. He hadn't thought their departure would affect him as much as it had, somewhere deep, deep within him, and in retrospect, seeking the thrill of violence and pleasure in causing the girl pain may have been his way of dealing with the turn of events. Menoly was probably supposed to have been back up, but by the time the ice dragon's claws had dug into her back and sliced her open, she had already been a good distance away from the fallen body of her "friend" and still running. There was no excuse for her.

Now, when he thought back to it, perhaps it would have been for his own good if he had let them keep their pathetic lives and entertain him in this room rather than keeping solely to himself, so intensely bored that he was starting to tire of the feeling itself. A little riling would have been all it would take for their masks to break, and at least he could be listening to empty death threats and the snarling of a weak, lost dog than the sound of the unmoving air he was surrounded with right now. Toushiro hadn't even given thought to what exactly about him as their king the girls were unsatisfied with, although he knew that plenty of old reasons from the time he was a captain would instantly spring to mind. It didn't bother him then, it wouldn't now.

There was nothing exceptionally special about today. Everything was so very peaceful up here; sure, he was hatching a plan that would put the worlds' balance in jeopardy and result in thousands, maybe millions of lives being lost, he had surrounded himself with beasts and mad men and turned himself into a traitor in the eyes of the Death Gods, but more than a month had gone by since he had started living his life as an outlaw (and a powerful outlaw, at that) and he had had enough time to have gotten used to it already. Toushiro didn't know if something was calling his subconscious, or if it had been pure impulse, but he found himself rising slowly from the high-backed chair and, leaving his zanpakutou behind for once, stepped carefully down the steps to a wide window overlooking the entirety of his fortress and the desert outside.

The moonlight on his face was cold and uncaring. He didn't know what he expected to find outside, but from the safety of his room he saw this world in quite a different light from the savages that crawled on the ground outside his barriers. The emptiness was replaced with sereneness, the quiet solitude giving him space to think things he could not, would dare not, back in Soul Society. Then again, he was feeling like he had too much of that these days, and maybe that was what drove those Hollows into eventual lunacy. Toushiro made a mental note to be aware of that. Still, it was a pity that Hueco Mundo didn't have any stars. The sky was as black as it would be in a city in the material world, and he found that notion slightly unpleasant as he strained to see if he could spot one light, one insignificant, tiny light desperately twinkling in the vast openness.

Maybe if he had time later he could find a way to make stars in that sky. He'd entertained the idea of a fake horizon and atmosphere before, but deemed it a waste of power, and he wasn't about to live what little remained of his life wrapped up in more lies than necessary. Besides, it would keep his Espada on their toes for their visit to the material world. Stars were made of gas, he knew, collected and compressed to the right degree to make a humungous ball of plasma, but he had to be careful, he didn't know yet how he was going to do it but he was sure it would need quite a number of deadly experiments, and the subjects for it.

He shook his head, clamping down on the thought instantaneously. Power madness was an unhealthy type of addiction. His grandmother would not be proud; then again, she had no reason to forgive him for whatever else he had done. He expected the news of the desertation of the three captains had gone around the whole of Rukongai now, to every nook and cranny, to the filthiest alleyway in the lowest district. And even if it had somehow missed her, or she refused to believe it of her youngest grandchild, Hinamori would have gone to visit her and to break it to her with her own accounts.

"Well, it's nice ta see ya up and about with being persuaded into it fer once," a voice purred beside his ear.

Toushiro's hand did not even twitch for his sword, aware of its absence on his back, but they both knew Ichimaru would be missing an arm right about now if he wasn't so damn lucky. He could feel the warmth at his back, as the taller bent over him to look out at the scenery as well, and slight annoyance ran up his body at the difference in their size.

"Just because I didn't agree to situating guards at the door doesn't mean you can walk in unannounced, Gin," he said without turning, eyes locked on the invisible horizon, his tone level.

"Aw, now don't be like that," the smirk was evident in the voice above him. "We're practically living in the same house now. Least ya can let me do is look out fer ya wellbeing."

"What a comforting thought. Are you going to keep talking in such an impudent manner to me?"

The presence behind him lessened immediately. "'Scuse me, Captain."

They lapsed into silence, the younger boy folding his arms before his chest in satisfaction as they searched the land below them for nothing in particular. It was never this quiet even at night in Soul Society, where they at least had crickets in the colder weather and cicadas in the summer to cut through the tranquil atmosphere in the dark. At first, the novelty of days without noise for hours on end, void of the business of battle and work, were pleasing as much as it had been almost daunting, but now that they were the norm Toushiro found very little meaning in trying to occupy himself with them. It was true that although he ate normally and slept regularly, the amount of time he spent actually doing things had lessened considerably – even his previous hobbies, like reading and writing, rarely made any appearance in his daily life these days.

"How is Wonderweiss doing?" he said out loud, still keeping his gaze trained outside the window.

A light chuckle. "He seems attached ta Kaname," Gin answered, amusedly. "Makes this moaning noise every time he's in the same room as me."

A small smile flickered on the boy's lips as well. "They do say animals make a good judge of character."

"That's been bothering me, in all honesty. Why did ya make something so mindless, literally? He serves a purpose, but he can't think fer himself. Ya wanted a weapon, but not a pet."

"Does it really make a difference?" Toushiro drawled. "Give him enough brain area to work out that he could do so much more than be used by us, and the consequences will be irreversible. Like it or not, he is a product of the Hougyoku, and we need that power to reach Soul Society. My ice can only counter the old man's Ryujin Jyakka for just a few seconds. He is destined to be discarded. Don't let yourself think otherwise."

A shuffling sound reached his ears, and he turned to see that Ichimaru had moved to lean against the wall beside him. "I couldn't if I tried. It's just…so unlike ya. Ta make a thing with only a single, sole purpose in living. Or rather, existing."

"Oh?" Toushiro said. "And what makes you think that?"

"I thought it'll remind ya of yerself."

Toushiro's gaze hardened, and for a moment they stood there, simply staring at each other, bright teal eyes to smiling shut ones, and a bystander may have felt sparks crackling softly in the air around them. The smaller of them looked away again, however, obviously deeming the fight not worth it. "I see. And you thought I wouldn't like a being like myself to be borne into the world."

"Maybe it's just because ya never seemed ta act on selfish motivations back when ya were acting the perfect captain," Ichimaru admitted, to be even. "But ya've been quite selfish lately. I hear yer planning ta send Ulquiorra ta snatch the Orihime girl? And consequently, bribe her friends into followin'."

It was like playing a game of cat-and-mouse. They were both evading each other with empty smiles and carefully chosen words. Toushiro knew Ichimaru was only being uncharacteristically blunt because he was trying to get his former captain to let slip of something, anything to shed some light on his ideas and schemes, but the boy was as much of a player as he was.

"Like you said, I'm taking liberty of my 'exiled' status now and am doing things my way," he smiled. "Those kids should be grateful. I'm rescuing them for a dangerous and horrible battle, and giving them entry to this small sanctuary I personally built."

"Sure, they should be grateful. They escape with their lives, if they survive the kind of freaks we keep in here, while ya destroy their home an' lives an' friends an' family." Ichimaru shook his head. "Yer generosity comes in fits and bursts."

"What can I say? God hands out small mercies."

"Ah, so yer a god now."

"I didn't say that. I'm going to be one."

A true laugh from both sides there, as they thought about the irony and the twisted meaning of the words. "So do I get ta be an angel?"

"You knew there would be benefits in joining me from the moment I first invited you," Toushiro replied, still grinning. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here. What would you like? Power, riches, women?" But he wasn't giving the man a chance to answer, as his voice slipped into a darker, huskier tone, despite the little mad smile still on his face. "No, right? Because that wasn't what I mentioned to you in my offer. You followed me because I made you afraid, wasn't it?"

There was no change in the frozen expression on the fox-face. "I don't know what ya mean."

"You don't have to pretend. Just say the word; you've done enough for me. Who would you like to be spared?" Toushiro stepped lightly away from the window, but not out of the moonlight as he faced Ichimaru fully. "Matsumoto? Kira? I won't promise that they'll be unharmed, but they won't die."

There was a pause, before Ichimaru asked, "What about ya, Captain? Hinamori-chan, perhaps?"

Toushiro's face fell instantly and he looked away, and there was a second where uneasy silence reigned. His face looked troubled, the first sign of hesitation Ichimaru had seen of their leader after coming to Hueco Mundo. "I am…still not sure what to do with her, myself. I can kill her. I've tried to before, but then she was still necessary to deliver the news to my grandmother. And she is my sister. I – I think I shall ask her. Momo is the type of person who will try to atone for my sins, even if it's impossible, and I doubt she can cope with that in the world I am going to make after this. Maybe she would rather die than face the destruction my actions will bring."

He realized too late that he had said too much, carried by genuine uncertainty and had fallen straight into the fox's trap. But Ichimaru didn't seem to be gloating about the matter, as his smile had suddenly vanished and an almost stunning look of seriousness descended upon him. They stood and remembered the girl they had left shocked into unconsciousness, bleeding her life out alone in the barren, residential system of Central 46.

The man was the first to break the stillness. "Ta exactly what measures," he asked, "Would you go ta fer my wishes ta be granted?"

Toushiro raised his head, eyes wide and round in surprise, before he burst out laughing. "Are you afraid that I might not go through with my promises?" he grinned. "You have nothing to worry about. I don't plan to get out of this alive, anyway. What do I have left to lose? The least I can do is thank you for your services for the past century."

But Ichimaru was oddly quiet, when Toushiro had expected some sort of comeback by now. He puzzled over the man's behavior, before noticing that this was the first time he had told Ichimaru – or anyone, really – that he wasn't hopeful of sticking around enough to even catch a glimpse of the world he was going to create.

"If I'm going ta gain something yer going ta sacrifice yerself fer," Ichimaru spoke up suddenly. "I don't want it. I would rather ya survive. Captain," he added.

Toushiro blinked.

He wasn't entirely sure where that had come from. Perhaps his ears were deceiving him, because the Ichimaru Gin he knew was indifferent to the plights of other people, including himself. Ichimaru Gin did not make comments like that to the likes of him.

"Why would you want that?" he wondered. "Have you forgotten? You probably wouldn't be here if I hadn't more or less blackmailed you. If I hadn't told you that night that if you didn't follow me, I would destroy all those you care about by my own hands. Of course, you'd probably be dead then, but you have your sharpness to thank for that. You hate me. At least, I thought you were supposed to." He gave a small, mocking smile, trying to hide the uncertainty behind it. "Or did your fear of me drive you into a corner until you couldn't take it anymore? Have you lost your mind, like the creatures of this place?"

"I didn't follow ya outta fear, Captain," Ichimaru stated calmly. "I came because I cared fer ya."

Something was not right.

"I'm not letting ya go through with this on yer own." Ichimaru's voice was silkily soft, soothing in a way that even Toushiro was having trouble tearing himself away from, because he needed to fix this, he could not have Ichimaru doing this right now. "I won't let ya take on the world alone. That's what I promised ya, remember? All those years ago?"

The floor of the hall was a vast, white sea between them, despite the fact they were only standing within a few feet of each other. Toushiro's eyes trailed down to it, softening in a sudden wave of nostalgia.

He did remember. It was during the time when this plot was just an ideal in his mind, and as he removed obstacle after obstacle, tentatively, carefully, he had come to a point when it was time to overthrow his own watchful, suspicious captain who had tasked himself with the job of keeping an eye on the "prodigy" who was his vice. It was also where he and Ichimaru had met inside Seireitei for the first time. They were both no more than children, and Toushiro's growth had always been slower than the older boy, but Ichimaru had shown fascination in both Toushiro and the long, elaborated conspiracy for utter destruction of the universe they were rotting in. Even after their success, as each step just seemed to get easier and easier, they stayed drunk on the prospect of victory; they were never careless, but at times when they were alone together, meeting to check on each other's situation in a secluded area–

He noticed one day that Ichimaru had grown, slim but strong, attractive even, his smile never wavering, skilled as a captain and intelligent. Perhaps too intelligent.

And he also realized what was exactly at risk if they were to accomplish their objective. That he will lose his life. That things could not continue this way, if they were not to have any doubts.

He ascertained with Ichimaru what exactly will become of the very few he thought of preciously if he was to backstab his captain. Kept him on a shorter leash. Fed more and more sweet and sympathetic words – not lies – to Tousen, fueling his anger at the injustice of the Death Gods, his grief for a woman he had never seen before, and forced him to believe that somehow, it would be Toushiro who would put everything right in the world.

He pushed Ichimaru away. Distanced them, before the other man could pull him back. Tried to convince himself that he did not care if either of them were to perish in the process, just that it would be a minor inconvenience.

Toushiro felt something heavy and dismaying laying at the pit of his stomach. The last one, apparently, hadn't worked.

"I was gratified of your loyalty then," he said. "But it doesn't mean that I want you to keep such promises anymore. I've already made my decision–"

"And ya won't even try putting mine into consideration? That's just cruel, Toushiro," Gin interrupted, a smile flitting past his stony features for once. "Ya said ya will do yer best ta spare who I ask ya ta. I only want–"

But the younger of them was slowly backing away, suppressed anger darkening his hooded eyes as he glared up at the silver-haired man. "I won't listen to that," he stated, desperately warding the tremble in his voice away. "That's not the way this is going to turn out – it's impossible, and you know that. And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you."

"I love ya," Ichimaru blurted out. Toushiro froze, legs rooted to the spot, almost at the edge of the light cast by the moon, pouring from the large window between them. "I've loved ya fer ages. If yer going to die, I'm going with ya."

His breath was coming up short. "Don't be ridiculous."

A harsh chuckle escaped Ichimaru's curled lips, as he took one cautious step closer, into the moonlight. "I don't see what else there is ta do in life without ya and yer plans ta dance with."

He kept coming nearer, as deliberately as a predator stalking its prey, closing the last of the distance Toushiro had put between them. He couldn't run, not when the slits were sliding open just as infuriatingly slowly as his walking, revealing a pair of orbs the same colour as of the colossal one in the sky and pinning him with their intensity. A hand with long fingers reached for him when they were close enough, and his lips parted in the faintest, the minutest of gasps.

"Don't touch me," he warned lowly, but there was already something warm and heavy resting on his face, to the right of his forehead, tangling in a few locks of white softness. Then Ichimaru's hand was sliding tantalizingly down, running slightly over his eyelids, his porcelain-pale cheeks and brushing against his mouth before he felt his chin being tilted gently up, stilled for a moment as the man above him, with shadows cast on his features in the silver light, admired the expression he must have been wearing; before he was bending, tilting his head slightly as he descended down towards Toushiro, and his own lips opening unconsciously to greet the velvety sensation–

A bang that shook the foundations of the building reverberated in the hall and Ichimaru was flying backwards in the air, hitting Toushiro's throne and slumping in it in a mocking imitation of his master. He groaned in discomfort, struggling to keep his swimming eyes focused. A slight pressure on his lap forced him to raise his head; Toushiro was so light that at first, with his double-vision, Ichimaru wasn't able to recognize the fact that he was crawling up the older man's body. Planting thin arms on either side of Ichimaru's hips, he brought his face closer to the other's, so close that for a moment Ichimaru thought that he was going to get that kiss anyway. But for a few seconds there was only the sound of Toushiro's slightly harsh breathing, loud next to his ear, before three words were whispered in a shaking, helpless voice.

"It's too late."

The near negligible weight of the boy was gone from his lap before Ichimaru really acknowledged it, and by the time he had looked up Toushiro was looping Hyourinmaru's sheath over his head and shoulder, and striding down the steps and the hall to the enormous doors, always the picture of perfect composure and without a hair out of place. Ichimaru didn't even have time to call out to him before the doors were creaking shut of their own accord, and could only watch the small, lone back disappear behind them.


I haven't written a chapter so quickly recently. Maybe that's how much I wanted to get this down.

But this is going to be a oneshot. Yup. Because every time I start writing something and it's supposed to be a oneshot, there has only been three time when it actually ended as one. And stories that were born to be mulit-chaptered have never been finished as of yet. So this is going to stay as a oneshot and GAAHH FUTURE CHAPTER IDEAS GET OUT OF MY HEAD *waves arms frantically to disperse thought clouds*.

Okay, you know. It might be a multi-chapter, if I think I can collect enough will in myself to write these admittedly really teasing ideas…So, um…

REVIEWS. PLEASE. CLICK THAT BUTTON DOWN THERE. AND LET'S SPREAD THE LOVE OF OUR FAVOURITE CAPTAIN COUPLE.

By the way, Nagayan also plays the first cast of the Prince of Tennis Musicals as Kikumaru Eiji, and Tsucchi plays Oishi with him! Golden Pair Forever!