When Care Is Given: Warning: mild sexual situation, description of wound cleaning (vague-ish)

Aizen stared ahead, watching intently as the two hollows turned to dust. They had gotten in the first few blows, leaving him bloodied and barely able to stand. To say that negotiations had gone awry would be an understatement. But he had been unwilling to budge as to how much control he would be willing to allow them. And the hollows reacted in the only way they knew how.

To their own detriment, they had forgotten whom they had attacked. At the first available moment, he released Kyouka Suigetsu. The hollows, who knew the extent of his shikai, did not bother to turn away. The rest was dealt with easily. As they chased after the imaginary Aizen, he hacked away from behind, taking only moments to strike the killing blows. Although he considers himself far removed from the title of "shinigami," the sword can still perform its purifying task. He couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. The hollows that had fought so hard to be in on the revolution would now be crushed under its heel with the rest of Soul Society.

Tentatively, Aizen stepped forward. His knees gave way, however, and he soon found himself lying flat on the ground. Cringing, he reached inside his robes to retrieve the phone. He gave the operator his coordinates, insisting that she hurry lest more hollows come to his location. He, of course, knew that no one else would show up. Some messages reach their targets faster than others and the hollows once again learned not to underestimate Aizen Sousuke. "Maybe things did go as planned," he murmured before drifting out of consciousness.

The light phased in and out, occasionally revealing color and depth to his surroundings. Generally, though, it just confused him. Aizen tried to rise up but was quickly restrained by a small hand. "Not yet, Captain," she said softly. As soon as she had spoken, pain began to shoot throughout his chest, forcing him back down. His eyes fluttered open to see Hinamori standing beside him, a bottle and cloth carefully gripped in her hand. "I was just about to dress your wounds, so please bear with me for a moment." Her hands began to shake, and, as if she couldn't stand it anymore, she blurted out, "I'm so happy that you're awake, Captain! I was so worried."

Aizen nodded, cringing as he felt his neck pop. "Where am I, Hinamori?"

"You're in your room." She soaked the cloth in the balm. Before dipping it into the wound along his side, she warned, "This will sting."

"That's fine. But why am I in my RAH—my room instead of the infirmary?" He could hardly look at Hinamori, much less speak to her, as she dragged the cloth inside the wound. The balm burned down in the exposed flesh, exciting every nerve until the point of anguished frenzy. The pressure of the cloth felt as if it were moving deeper than needed into his body. Had he not known better, he would assume that little Momo had suddenly grown a sadistic streak. As it stood, he watched her cringe each time he gasped and she murmured sad sounding apologies in an attempt to ease his troubles. Her intentions were as pure as ever; her mothering, however, left much to be desired.

"Today was the first day of the Eleventh Division's annual War Games," she explained, "so…"

"So Fourth Division has its hands full with belligerent shinigami who just want to be healed so that they might injure themselves again. But that still doesn't explain why…?"

"Captain Unohana would have healed you personally but you were found around the same time that she was embroiled in an argument between herself, Captain Zaraki, and a new boy to his division who had been particularly mean to her." Hinamori tossed the bloody cloth into a nearby wastebasket. She left his side for a moment and returned with a pile of cloth that he could only assume would be used to dress the wound. Gently, she packed it with cloth that sent a tingling sensation throughout his body. Once done, she rose up and, with hands extended, asked, "Would you please sit up, Captain?"

Aizen accepted her hand but quickly found that he would be using his own dwindled strength to move. Once in place, Hinamori sat down beside him and began winding the cloth around his waist. He was struck by how at ease she seemed at this task. A few months ago, she had been so skittish around him in anything other than full dress. Now, with only a thin sheet sitting between them and supposed impropriety, she seemed at home. "Have you been doing this all day?"

"Sort of."

"By yourself?"

"For most of the day, yes. Captain Unohana sent a middle ranked man with us back to your room to do all the major work. He didn't seem to want to work though. He'd gawk and flirt with our newest recruits while blood would spurt all over the floor. So I sent him back," she explained as she tied off the cloth. "You deserved better service than he was willing to give you. Besides, he had been sent here with Captain Unohana's hand written directions. I could follow them as well a he could, plus I would actually pay attention to my patient."

"And I assure you that your work has been splendid." He allowed Hinamori to lay him back down, making sure to caress her arm lightly as she rose above him. Her cheeks flushed the pale pink that they always do when he touches her. Despite the recent spike in their play, Aizen still enjoyed bringing out those little moments of infatuation in her. If she ever stopped showing them, he would know that something was wrong. It was best to keep her happy. "Has anyone visited today?"

"Captain Tousen stopped by earlier. He said that he would come back later, but, if you'd like, I could send someone to tell him that you've awakened."

"Don't bother for now. How has the division handled the attack?"

"At first, everyone reacted badly because you had been injured, but everyone seemed to lighten up once we realized that you would be fine, much less after hearing that you had still managed to defeat those hollows in your condition."

"Good. And our daily paperwork?"

"I've slowly been working on it. At this point, you'll just be signing off on a lot of things."

Aizen sighed. She had only been his Vice Captain for less than a year, but Hinamori had all ready managed to carve out her niche in the position. "Where would I be without you?" he asked.

Hinamori smiled, attempting to downplay the red that had returned to her cheeks. "I…I sometimes ask myself the same thing." Something unsaid seemed to sit between them. Aizen could tell that she was struggling with her words. As before, she shrugged off the struggle and asked, "Do you need anything else, Captain?"

"Come here. Please." Hinamori hesitated but soon decided to lie down beside him. Cautiously, she wrapped her arm around him and slipped in closer. He could feel her heartbeat resound throughout his body. He knew that she was afraid that she would hurt him. He would have to make the first move. And though his body wanted to deny him movement, he slipped onto his uninjured side and pulled her against his chest. Quietly, he kissed her forehead and nose before dwelling on her mouth. Hinamori did not protest. She allowed his hands to wander while her won seemed frozen to his body. As his hands fumbled with her sash, knocks began to pummel the door. Her eyes shot immediately to his face, failing to hide from him her fear. He didn't want to deal with whoever was at the door, but after this day's event, he realized that he probably needed to do so. "Answer it," he said softly.

Hinamori begrudgingly rose up. She stopped a moment to straighten out her clothes and answered the door. "It's Captain Ichimaru," she said, a touch of sadness infecting her voice. "What should I do?"

"Let him in."

Hinamori retreated and when she returned, she brought Ichimaru with her. Aizen was mildly amused by situation, watching as his Vice Captains glanced uncomfortably around the room. Their distaste for each other took over the room to the point where he was the only one not effected by it. "Hinamori," he asked, "why will you need to change the bandages?"

"An hour of so from now."

"Good. Would you please leave me with Captain Ichimaru for a while? We have a few things to discuss."

"Will you be okay?" she asked frantically.

"I'll be fine. But would you please come back by later. We'll have much to discuss."

Hinamori complied with a sigh. She gathered up the rest of the paperwork, pointed out to Ichimaru where Unohana's instructions were, and left them with a kinder bow than she would have given Ichimaru under any other circumstance. Once she was far away from the room, Ichimaru turned to Aizen and asked, smiling, "You've just been cock-blocked?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Aizen attempted to right himself, but the pain once again surged into his chest, forcing him to remain on his side. He watched Ichimaru watch him, seeming both amused and interested in his unofficial superior's condition. "But then again, you know how these things go between Captains and their underlings. Vice Captains are always young, inexperienced, and ready to be plundered. And it takes quite a while for them to outgrow that stage. I've seen them advance on to Captain and still be trampled by former superiors, all because they never outgrew that stage. You wouldn't know about that, would you Gin?"

"You never know." For a moment, the smile had disappeared from Ichimaru's face. But just as quickly, he recovered. "But we're not here to talk about that, are we?" He moved closer to Aizen and took Hinamori's place by his side. "Where do we stand with our allies?"

"Where we've always stood—on top." Aizen related to Ichimaru the true events of the day. He watched his reactions carefully, attempting to gauge his scant reactions. He was a bit surprised when Ichimaru winced at the descriptions of his injuries. Ichimaru so rarely showed any emotion beyond amusement. Aizen nearly laughed as the younger man cringed at each growing slight. He had moved Ichimaru, had Hinamori to look forward to later, and had solidified his stance with the hollows. Maybe things had gone well.