Replacement

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach characters. I just like to drive them insane!

Aizen sighed and looked around the room. Most of his espada were looking back at him, but his gaze stopped when he found the empty seat. Said seat normally belonged to Grimmjow, who tended to mysteriously vanish whenever he decided to hold a meeting. He placed his chin onto his hand and exchanged a glance with Gin, who just shrugged.

"Where is he?" he asked, looking at all of them in turn. They all shook their heads, and he sighed. Why am I not surprised? The sixth espada was known for his lack of manners and his bad attitude, even if it was directed at Aizen. He was brash, and Aizen was sure that he liked to piss him off just for fun. Sometimes, he wished that more of his espada could follow him as faithfully as Ulquiorra.

They went through the meeting without Grimmjow, and Aizen was surprised that it was over so quickly without Grimmjow's snide comments. When they were done, he called Ulquiorra up to his chair. Aizen waited for them to leave before he looked at his faithful follower, a lazy smile spreading across his lips. During the meeting, he had been hatching a plan to pay Grimmjow back for his disappearing act. Ulquiorra was his ticket to a priceless revenge, though he probably didn't know it.

"You wanted to speak with me, Aizen-sama?"

"Yes, Ulquiorra; there is something that I would like for you to retrieve."

Grimmjow yawned and stretched, looking at the catnip that was littered on his bed. He had opened the gift warily, and had gone insane as soon as he smelled the magical substance. He knew that he had probably missed the meeting, but he skipped more than half of them. Hell, he was pretty sure that Aizen didn't miss him, anyway. Careful not to sniff said magical stuff, Grimmjow cleaned it off of his bed and put it back into the container.

He showered and pulled on fresh clothes before heading off to the kitchen. Catnip always gave him the munchies after he slept it off, and with the amount that was scattered on his bed, he was sure that he could eat more than Yammy. Growling, he raided the kitchen, ignoring Szayel's sniggering in the background. He grabbed the food, holding the roll in his mouth, and walked back to his room.

Ulquiorra was confused- completely and utterly confused. Why did Aizen want a cat? He sighed and pushed into the store, walking directly to the cat section. When he got there, a bubbly girl bounced up to him and smiled, "How can I help you?"

He looked through her and stated, "I would like to look at the cats."

"Okay!" she opened the door for him and watched as he passed, "Please feel free to pick up whichever one you think you like. Oh, and please use hand sanitizer before you pick any of them up. We don't want them to get sick." She closed the door behind him, and Ulquiorra looked around at the cages. Furry little faces peered out at him, curiosity lighting in their eyes.

Of all of the espada, why did he have to choose me for this? Ulquiorra slowly walked down past cages lined with watchful kittens. He passed most of them without interest, but stopped before he reached the end of the line. Two teal eyes looked back at him, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward for a split second. He would never call it a smile, especially since he never smiled. Oh this is just too perfect!

He picked up the white ball of fur and surveyed it. The kitten was a girl, but her eyes were piercing and she slowly lifted a paw. He blinked as it landed softly on his nose, and walked up to the front of the store. The girl was there, her smile plastered to her lips.

"So you found one?"

"Yes." He was tired of that annoying smile, and he wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. The kitten had jumped up onto his shoulders and curled around them. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, and Ulquiorra sighed. At least he was done with this and could return to the relative normalcy in his life.

Aizen smiled as he sat in the meeting room. Most of the espada were already assembled, and the kitten was sitting in Grimmjow's seat. Gin was trying to suppress his giggle fit that had started once Ulquiorra had returned, but he was failing miserably. Aizen gave him a stern glance, but the corners of his lips were tilted upwards.

The door slammed open, and the familiar mumblings of the sixth floated through the room. Many of his fellows were looking at him with humor in their eyes. Nnoitra finally lost it and began to laugh hysterically.

Grimmjow glared at him, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he growled. When he got to his seat and looked down, his eyes widened as he met the teal gaze looking up at him. "What the…" His eyes shifted to Aizen and Gin, narrowing dangerously, "Just what kind of shit are you trying to pull here?" The kitten jumped up onto his shoulder and rubbed against his cheek. Purring, she began to lick his cheek briskly, getting a growl as a reaction.

"Grimmjow," Aizen stated, "I'd like for you to meet your replacement."