Just trying out a new style of writing as always...this is the first chapter of a multi-part series.
Warnings: Some violence, character death, a little angst, a little dark. Massive spoilers for Hueco Mundo arc, Diamondust Rebellion movie.
Characters/pairings: Mostly Gin and Tousen, but also many others. Gin/Matsumoto for now, no others planned at the moment. No yaoi.
Disclaimer: Sometimes I don't know if Tite Kubo owns Bleach, or if its the other way around. I prefer to think that he's become a victim of fanservice such as this.
"Wonderwice, its time to go."
The arrancar looked up at Tousen in the dim confines of his room. In one corner, the shadowy shapes of a food dish and a bowl of water could be made out in the gloom. A clawed hand picked some grime off the sole of one foot as he murmured quietly in assent.
"Ahhh. Urhhh…?" He turned his head from side to side questioningly, scanning the room for something.
"I don't know where Gin is, but we'll meet him soon enough. Come. Please." Though Tousen's tone would have sounded neutral if anyone else listened, Wonderwice's keen hearing could detect a note of urgency, even worry, in the voice of his friend. He felt torn between his primal horror of Gin and his desire to stay by Tousen's side. Spindly limbs moved downward as Wonderwice pushed himself off the cold floor, but he did not move forward from where he was previously sitting and facing Tousen's back. Tousen had not turned to face him at all during the conversation; but this was not due to any disrespect on his part – a blind man could not be expected to make eye contact and even Wonderwice's intellect grasped the fact on a subconscious level.
"…hnnn…" came his nervous reply.
"I will protect you." Tousen's quiet, whispered promise was enough to draw the arrancar to him; so great was Wonderwice's trust. "Thank you, Wonderwice. I cannot leave without you." He didn't have time to explain that Gin's constant company was something Wonderwice would have to put up with for a while, if they survived the next few hours. They shuffled out of the door and entered one of the many corridors of Las Noches that were indistinguishable to all except its inhabitants. Raw reiatsu clashed and thundered overhead as powerful combatants raged in the floors above them. At least three espada were already down since Ichigo's arrival and chaos still prevailed. Below the espada's living quarters however, the fortress was eerily silent.
Sliding into a pocket in his robes, Tousen's fingers closed around a small, object that despite his delicate tactile senses, seemed to be as hard as a diamond, soft as a baby's hand; while being neither and both a cube and a sphere at once. The Hougyokyu throbbed with raw power, and Tousen could not help but hold back a shudder himself. It was too late to turn back now. Somewhere up ahead, Ichimaru Gin awaited them.
In the equally deserted main kitchen of Las Noches, Gin's pale hands drifted spider-like amidst jars and containers, deftly palming choice morsels to complement the iron rations in his bag. Although this was nothing compared to stealing the Hougyokyu, he still had to be subtle. Would the loss of another two dried persimmons be too noticeable? The hand hovered indecisively over the open jar before plunging within and emerging with three of the preserved fruits; before reluctantly releasing the smallest.
But persimmons are not particularly small fruit, even when dried. Subtracting the two largest ones remaining in the jar left a space that looked uncomfortably obvious to Gin. So he retrieved the one he just dropped, and left behind the one that was medium-sized in relation to the other two. He tore his gaze away from the jar and slipped the two chosen persimmons into his bag, joining the other twenty-six already there. Satisfied, Gin walked a few steps away from the shelf with…only to dart back and snatch the whole jar, smiling as he always did but also relieved that Tousen was not witness to the silly act. Once again, bony digits closed over the lid, and stopped.
Something was wrong. The cool glass of the jar carried a slight tremor to his fingertips, and Gin double-checked to make sure his reiatsu was so heavily suppressed that he and Tousen had to agree to meet at a specific place and time rather than rely on probing for each other's presence. Up in the surveillance room, Yami sat comfortably ensconced away from the violence and watched looped footage of peacefully empty corridors, gladly provided by Gin. The jar, indeed the very air itself, now hummed and throbbed with raw energy. The escape was well-planned…so who was approaching him now?
Gin's eyes nearly opened wide with horror as Captain Zaraki Kenpachi roared past the kitchen door like a tsunami tinged with bloodlust and given humanoid form. He ducked behind the door at the same time, probably too slowly; but Kenpachi cared only for foes he could see and Gin fortunately was not in that category. Instead he heard the bloodcurdling screams of arrancar futilely running before Kenpachi's manic laughter, and recognized the voices of each of Zomari LeRoux's fraccion as they were cut down in rapid succession. The pale-haired former captain hardly bothered to shrug at their demise; if anything, Kenpachi's whirlwind attack probably prevented them from arriving at the kitchen and possibly discovering him in the pantry. Not that it would have mattered, Gin thought to himself; as his free hand, the one not wrapped around the persimmon jar, stroked the handle of Shinsou. Unlike you, Tousen, I've no compunctions against bloodshed in the name of saving my ass…
"KEN-CHAN!!! Look…!"
"What the fuck is it now?" Kenpachi's voiced boomed.
"Kitchen…! SWEETS!!!"
Without waiting for her captain's reply, Lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru bounced into the room.
Wonderwice bounced too, not with the carefree steps Yachiru took, but with the gangly, uneven shuffle of an oversized grasshopper. Just a couple of steps ahead of him, Tousen strode confidently towards the intersection where Gin had arranged to meet them. Almost predictably, he wasn't there. To Tousen, this meant one of two things. The first possibility was that Gin was either dead or delayed for some reason; and the second was that he'd backed out of the plan like the coward that he was. Either way, Tousen could not hope leave him behind to spill the beans to Aizen, and Wonderwice could not hide himself from the intruders, let alone Aizen. They were on their own. He pulled the arrancar into a nearby alcove and drew Suzumushi in readiness to defend them both. Above him, Tousen could hear a loud but distant scraping, groaning sound. The great marble doors of Szayel's laboratory were being opened, signaling his defeat through the invasion of his most personal space. Steadily, Tousen began counting down. Gin had exactly five minutes.
Yachiru rummaged through the cabinets, happily devouring anything sugary she could find. Outside, Kenpachi had stormed off to torment more arrancar. From his precarious perch in the vaulted ceiling, Gin watched with growing disgust as she consumed a whole jar of honey in one gulp after absentmindedly shoving the cupboard it was in to the floor and scattering unwanted, non-sweet items everywhere on the tiles. Without pause she proceeded to attack Halibel's stash of candied plums, before tearing open the industrial refrigerator with brute force and throwing out all of its contents except for the marshmallow-like rice cakes; which vanished the same way the plums and honey went. Next, Gin could actually hear the crunching as she discovered a bag of boiled sweets. At least he saved the persimmons.
His grin diminished slightly when he realized how ridiculous his situation must have looked. He was a captain, a lord of Las Noches, and had no reason to glue himself to the ceiling to hide from the brat below. Oh, yes…it was actually Kenpachi he was more wary of, but the barbarian was entertaining himself elsewhere, wasn't he? Gin released one hand to grasp Shinsou again, this time drawing it silently from its sheath. With a single word, he could eliminate Yachiru where she stood; or rather, squatted, amidst scattered toffee caramels. Gin gauged that he had just one shot to kill Yachiru instantly, before she screamed her beloved Ken-chan down onto his head.
Carefully, he braced himself in position and aimed Shinsou where it would impale her instantly once it extended. On a stable surface, it would have been easy to simply point and shoot, but the need to cling to the ceiling in an awkward, upside-down position made things more difficult. Just as he had Yachiru lined up at the tip of the weapon, she suddenly looked up.
"KEN-CHAN!!! Don't leave me behind…I want to play too!!!"
With a speed that surprised even Gin, she scooped all the caramels into her robes and flash-stepped like a sugar-fuelled pink rocket out of the door. Gin waited to make sure the little terror was well and truly gone before he sheathed Shinsou and descended to the ground. At almost exactly the same time, Tousen sauntered in with Wonderwice. Five minutes were up.
Though he was certain that Tousen could not actually see the wreckage, Gin knew that the smells of smashed eggs, thawing fish, broken timber and other kitchen mishaps were readily detected. The other man scanned the room before addressing Gin in his usual, deep but toneless voice.
"I trust you've had enough time to gather rations, including your precious persimmons. Let's go."
"This mess ain't mine. Eh, ya stopped to bring yer halfwit pet too. We're even."
Immediately, Gin ducked aside, fully expecting Tousen to level Suzumushi at his throat for the comment. To his surprise, the shorter man did no such thing, and Gin had to remind himself that Tousen's policy of least bloodshed meant least bloodshed, as far as the rigidly self-righteous twit was concerned.
"Gin, I'll let it be known that I prefer Wonderwice's intelligent company over yours. I could leave you here to die, if you wish." The latter statement was white lie, Tousen knew, but one he judged to be harmless enough. The trio trotted briskly now, to the exit; and freedom.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Besides, yer can't leave me cos yer touching sense of justice won't let ya leave behind the one who helped ya escape, ne?" Gin's smile twisted into a smirk, and then froze. In the junction up ahead, a very familiar orange-haired teenager and his oversized sword bolted past, followed closely by a sleek feline shape with a blue mane. On the latter's back sat Aizen's female prisoner. Amazingly, neither Grimmjow , Ichigo nor Orihime seemed to notice them as they charged towards the same exit. Wonderwice ehhed and oohed quietly to himself in surprise.
"How interesting, Kaname-san. It seems we're not the only ones deserting Aizen…" murmured Gin. "Aizen-sama's got ta choices ta keep 'im occupied now, the girl or us."
Though he wouldn't admit it, Tousen's heart was thumping wildly in his chest. If multiple captains had followed Ichigo to Las Noches, he was far more prepared than Gin for being ambushed around every corner. Which was exactly what happened…
"KUCHIKI-SAMA…!!! IT'S THEM!!!" A shrill voice suddenly piped up behind them. Tousen and Wonderwice broke into a run without turning back, but Gin risked a backward glance, expecting to see Rukia. Instead his eyes opened a crack in surprise as he spied Kotetsu Isane actually raising her pathetic zanpakutou in pursuit. More importantly though, was the fact that Byakuya was right behind her.
"Bankai," uttered Tousen, at the same moment that the cloud of deadly pink petals flew towards them. Blackness rapidly expanded outward from the man in front as the Kuchiki noble's onslaught rushed towards him from behind; but Suzumushi's sphere of sensory deprivation reached Gin first. For a few unnerving seconds, he just kept running straight ahead in darkness and silence so total that he could not sense his own heartbeat. Thankfully, Gin realized that Senbonzakura's petals could not be guided if Byakuya could not see them. Then with a sensation akin to emerging from a tunnel he never saw the light at the end of, Gin sailed out of the opening created by Tousen's garganta and onto the sands of Hueco Mundo.
Before him, Tousen and Wonderwice had stopped running. But Gin didn't need to see either of their expressions to realize that while they remained alive, their escape was a failure. For one thing, Tousen was supposed to have taken them directly to the human world where a Japan Airlines flight to New Zealand awaited them. For another, judging from the way the dark-skinned man was digging frantically through his pockets, the Hougyokyu was missing too.
A/N: As you can see, Aizen's got his ways of preventing the theft of the orb...to be explained next chapter.