Chapter One
The room was shrouded in shadows. The lamp holders were empty, and no form of light was lit. The whole place was filled with silence. Not even the usual nightly cricket sounds were heard, the little creatures knowing well to stay away from this place. This lent to an aura of mystery to the room, and for which purpose it served.
The room was a two-way room, with two screen doors facing opposite each other running across the length of the room and finishing off with solid concrete walls that sealed off the room. The room itself was large and spacious, its whitewashed walls gleaming eerily in the dark.
Despite the amount of space in the room, the whole place was empty of furniture except for a polished wooden chair that stood before one door and a tatami mat placed opposite to the wooden chair across the room.
The silence was broken when the door near to the tatami mat slid open almost soundlessly, creating only the barest of swishes of air. A figure stepped in and looked around. He saw that the room was empty and he proceeded to settle himself on the tatami mat.
"Looks like I'm here first," the figure muttered to himself.
After settling down and adjusting his robes, the figure looked around and noted the bare walls and the sparsely decorated room dispassionately.
'Plain and simple, but with many hidden secrets,' the figure thought, thinking of how much trouble he had gone through to get here, dodging the night patrols and traveling through a hidden passage.
"This room is so like its owner," The figure smirked. "Clever and concealed, none will be able ta guess what he's going ta do next."
The door on the opposite slid open. The figure sitting on the mat straightened himself, the smirk replaced by his usual mocking smile, his playful mood gone. It was time for business.
The moon, previously hidden by passing clouds, now shone brightly, causing a tiny stream of moonlight to filter through the gap between the screen doors. It shone directly on the man on the mat, illuminating the silver of his hair, making it seem to glow in the darkness of the room.
A figure wearing a white haori appeared in the gaping hole between the open doors, his outfit a stark contrast against the dark. The shadows hid his face from view and he walked solemnly into the room, shutting the doors before seating himself on the chair.
"Forgive my tardiness," the speaker said in a baritone, revealing himself as a male. "There was something urgent that I had to attend to personally."
"Not at all," the silver-haired man said, still smiling. "As long as no one else knows anything…" he said cryptically. "Shall I begin then?"
"Please do," came the reply.
The man on the mat shifted and found a comfortable position. 'This is going to be a long one, better not get my legs numb, that wouldn't be very nice,' He thought, and then he began his report.
"All in all, everything is going according to our plan," the seated man commented as the silver-haired man finished his report.
"Yes. There are only a few days now before we take action…" The silver-haired man abruptly switched topics. "It's strange, isn't it?" They somehow think that I'm trustworthy, even though I have the face of a trickster." The man scoffed, referring to his fox-like features, together with his squinted eyes and mocking grin.
"But still," The man in the chair said, "Be careful. I don't wasn't to see one of my best men get cut down."
"Aww, that's sooooo nice!" the smiling man drawled. "I'm truly touched!" His smile grew wider. However, his tone grew serious, a direct contrast with his smiling features.
"Don't worry, I won't ever let them catch me." He gazed across the room, looking directly into the other man's eyes. "I'm not that stupid. There's nothing worse than a traitor gettin' caught."
The figure on the chair sighed. 'He has always been this impertinent… Still, what he lacks in manners, he makes up for in power and intelligence…'
"Very well," the man on the chair gave in to him, sitting still in thought. "Are you sure that you can do this alone?"
"Sure!" the silver-haired man replied enthusiastically, his grin growing even wider. "I'll instigate Hitsugaya to suspect meh of bein' a traitor so that at least someone will be on ta something. Even if it's the wrong thing." He smirked again at that thought.
"Fer someone who has an ice-based zanpakuto, he sure is hot-headed." The man continued. "And I know just the thing ta make him go all 'avenger' mode!" The man laughed to himself.
He raised his eyes to meet the clear gaze of the figure in the chair.
"It'll be fun ta see that lil' squirt go around actin' so righteous, but he won't be able ta prevent anything from happening!" The silver-haired man said with glee. "Let me do it! It'll mess everything up!" He urged.
"…Very well," the figure gave his consent. "You can do whatever you want. Besides, this will cause many distractions and no one will have the time to guess, let alone know, what we are planning."
The silver-haired man smiled. He could already see the whole situation in his mind's eye. Oh yes, he was so going to have a lot of fun.
"Don't get too caught up in having fun and blow your cover." The seated man warned, his voice breaking into the silver–haired man's thoughts. "You know what happens to people like you."
"Don't worry," the silver-haired waved a hand dismissively. "I don't plan on getting' myself killed anytime soon."
At length, conversation lagged and the two of them stayed silent, each lost in his own thoughts of the possible future. The man in the chair sighed. There was something he had to know…
"Gin."
The silver-haired man looked up. "Yer called?"
"… Is there…" The seated man began hesitantly, trying to phrase his question so that the other man would not suspect anything. "Is there any thing that you can't bear to leave behind?"
Gin's thoughts immediately flashed to a certain strawberry blonde, and he caught onto the seated man's trap immediately. Gin was extremely grateful that he could lie with a straight, well, smiling actually, face without betraying his inner thoughts.
"Nope." He beamed. "None at all. Any such thing would only be a liability and a distraction." He chanted, as though he had been memorizing this line and repeating it over and over for a long time.
The man in the chair seemed satisfied with his answer. "Good. With nothing to hold you back, you can progress even faster." He laughed.
Gin laughed along with the man outwardly. However, inwardly, he was desperately hoping that no one would ever know the truth, about what he felt. It gave those who knew an advantage over him and he would do anything and everything, to keep that one person safe.
"Well then, you-" The man was interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps running towards the room. The both of them looked at each other in surprise, the silver-haired man half-rising from the mat in alarm.
"Could we have been-" Gin said, feeling a little nervous. After all, this was supposed to be a top secret meeting.
"Wait." The seated man raised a hand, cutting Gin off and stopping him. "Don't be so hasty. Wait for a while and see what happens first."
The two of them glanced uneasily around, ready to defend themselves and run if necessary. Gin's hand drifted towards the hilt of his zanpakuto that he kept at his side, ready to move into action.
The screen door slid open.
Hahas, it's pretty obvious that one of the people in the room is Gin, but can you guess who the other person is?