Aizen leaned back in his chair attempting to keep his calm demeanor he was known for. He couldn't ignore the small sense of anxiety building up in the back of his mind, it was pre-programmed to function this way in these types of situations; it didn't mean he had to like it, though.

For all the centuries of meticulously crafting out his plans down to the smallest detail, he still had surprises along his way that were highly unwelcomed; he never have thought that a medic would ever be needed in Hueco Mundo. He was building a disposable army, not babysitting.

However, now he truly felt like a fool, for the only person he cares for was bleeding out over the stone floor a few feet from his throne. So many centuries being alive, and he couldn't even provide basic first aid to his adopted daughter.

Aizen gritted his teeth as he stood up from his throne, feeling his chest tighten as the bloody puddle beneath her petite form only seemed to grow by the second. He ignored the fact that the arrancar all sat at the elongated table a few yards away, watching him with prying eyes.

He really couldn't bring himself to a fault for being at a complete loss on how he should even go about the situation; after all, his little girl was constantly by his side and he never gave her the chance to experience the pain of a fight or injury, not when he could prevent it. The small adventures she took without his presence never resulted in any type of injury, she was a strong girl and he trusted her enough to leave his side for little periods of time. However, as he pulled her limp body into his arms, he came to the conclusion that his little girl was going to be a bubble child.

"Gin..." His voice came out stern and demanding causing most of the occupants of the room to tense. Aizen didn't know what he was going to say, the words stuck in his throat as he pressed his pale hands over the deepest wound he could spot. Blood had never bothered him, but something about the situation before him, made him lightheaded.

Gin could apparently understand whatever it was Aizen couldn't get out, as he quickly flash-stepped away.

Aizen never took his eyes off the young girl within his lap, noticing how his hakama was turning a dark crimson. "Return to your chambers, immediately."

It was either the fluxation of his spirit pressure or the out of character act of him on his knees, but the room was quicker to clear out than any other day.

He was torn between applying pressure to the hole in her abdomen and pulling way the hair that covered her face to check her level of consciousness. He didn't trust reading her spiritual pressure, as she has always held a abnormally high one that rivaled a Captains; he could make out that she was alive, but he knew from experience that the situation was willing to change at any given moment.

"Joji."

His dark brown eyes scanned her form for any response, but he recieved nothing in return. How did this happen? He has kept her guarded within his chambers for the time he had resided in Hueco Mundo, no one aside from Gin knew of her existence; even then, the creepy smiling man found out by a mishap a few days before he staged his death in Soul Society.

She had been quite upset at being 'locked away' so Aizen allowed her to visit the human world once a week; he wasn't going to risk anymore time than that.

He often had Gin follow her in the shadows, a little too proud to admit to his paranoia every time his little girl left the protection of his palace.

He didn't particularly trust the white-haired man with his daughter, but he was certain enough the man knew better than to let any harm come to the girl.

Imagine his surprise when his right-hand man waltz in to his meeting carrying his bloodied daughter with a grim frown.

The only thing keeping Aizens sanity intact was the fact if he allowed his emotions to go rampant, his spiritual pressure would rise and only snuff out his childs by the sheer weight.

She is gonna be ok. She's too stubborn to be anything else.

Oddly, it was his only half-assed way of convincing himself that this situation was going to end with him scolding the young teen and not burying her in the sand dunes that surrounded the palace.

"Joji." He called once more as the deafening silence started to creep slowly into his bones. Seventeen years of listening to the girl constantly ramble on about the strangest things and how her voice tended to get louder the more excited she got, he hasn't had a moment of silence in Kami know how long. He was suddenly realizing why he never told the girl to quieten down, to not have her bright smile constantly beaming back say him.. and how she couldn't sit still...

Her body was too sickly pale and her lack of movemment more than just unnerving to the man.

"I have sent Ulquiorra to retrieve Orihime-san."

Aizen didn't acknowledge the man's return in any form, he was too busy attempting to figure out what he should do next. Ulquiorra was a good servant and completed his given tasks perfectly, but there was no telling how long it would take the depressing arrancar to find the girl that seemed to constantly be glued to the Kurosaki boy.

"...Who?" It was the only thing he could think of now. Who had the nerve to lay a hand on his daughter? To cause injury to a girl for what seemed to be no reason at all? He knew she wasn't attacked due to her relation to himself, it was impossible for anyone to find out.

Gin's typical grin faded ever so slightly at the question. He wasn't so sure on how he should answer the ex-captain. Just like Aizen, he was aware of the slightest increase of spiritual pressure could be detrimental to the blonde within his arms. He may be undercover to take Aizen out before his plans could be completed, but the girl was utterly innocent in the matter; she deserves so much more than what her 'fatherly' figure could ever give her.

"He appeared to be a substitute soul reaper like Kurosaki-kun." Gin started off as he watch the man tenderly scoop up teen within his arms, standing up painfully slow. He couldn't wait to destroy that man so he couldn't bring harm to any other innocent people, including the blonde. "I'm afraid I arrived a little too late to understand the reason for him attacking our little Sunshine here. She was a little too... headstrong when standing up to the man."

Aizen's eyebrow twitched at the thought of his daughters inert ability in self preservation while in ...battle; The mere word being mentioned in the same sentence as his Joji brought a horrid taste to his mouth and caused his teeth to clench involuntarily.

"The man's name is Ginjo Kudo. He was quite the slippery fellow in battle." Gin off-handedly added as he followed his leader down the hallways, wanting to fill the silence that was slowly falling across them. Aizen was careful as he walked at a safe pace so he would jolst her body too much. After the long period of time staying here, the hallways were suddenly a burden as it took too long for the man to reach his destination.

"Send Ulquiorra and the girl as soon as they return." Aizen finally spoke as he carefully laid down his daughter on his bed, not caring how her blood stained the sheets and mattress within a minutes notice. Soul Society could wait... Only until this 'Ginjo' was properly handled.

Orihime held her breath as the pale man walked behind her, his spiritual pressure a little too dense for her liking. She was confused to the point that her fear of the situation was next to non-existent. This would be the second time she had went to Hueco Mundo; although, the approach that Ulquiorra went about to bring her was vastly different than the first time around. The emotionless arrancar didn't kidnap her or demand she come with him, but simply asked for a favor that Aizen-sama needed and only Orihime could apparently help. The only logical reason she could possibly come up with was someone needed to be healed. She remembered how she was the unofficial healer at Hueco Mundo when she was held captive there. There wasn't many people that needed healed due to the Arrancars tough hierro, but she made sure to help anyone she possibly could.

She agreed to come along with Ulquiorra just because she knew that someone was in need of help, and if she turned down the chance, it could mean someone's life. She didn't want to hold that in mind for the rest of her life. But that didn't mean that she wasn't nervous. She would most likely have to see that man again; his presence was troubling and made her skin crawl.

She glanced around the halls that looked as if someone only knew one color: white. She found it ironic at how the enemies of Soul Society wore such a pure color, flaunting it around almost tauntingly in their white uniforms and residence.

A heavy hand landing on her shoulder caused her nearly swallow her tongue at the sheer suddeness of it all. She quickly looked beside her to see Ulquorria staring intently ahead; apparently, they had reached their destination cause they had stopped in front of a door vastly different from any of the others she had seen within the mansion. It was a dark brown with traces of gold and purple designs that looked rather odd in the girls opinion. It looked a little too feminine to be anywhere in Hueco Mundo.

Ulquiorra raised his hand and gave a unenthusiastic knock that slowly formed a knot within Orihimes stomach. She opened her mouth, intent on asking why she was here but she didn't get the chance as the door was harshly yanked open. The overwhelming spiritual pressure was suffocating but as Orhime broke out into a cold sweat, she noticed Aizen's typical spiritual release was a bare minimum as if he was suppressing himself. The unatural deep lines formed around his mouth and eyes was unsettling and when she took notice of the blood covering the man's clothes, she immediately thought he was in need of medical attention. His usually clean swept back had fallen around his face and the intensity of his dark brown orbs has her cowering back.

No words were traded as Aizen grabbed her back the upper arm and dragged her carelessly within the strange room. She felt her heart jump into her throat as the shinigami yanked her forward; in the past, he has never bothered to touch her, so she had assumed that she was safe in that small sense.

"Heal her."

The words were spoken so forceably that she didn't have to ask twice on what was just asked of her. But she did blink at the last part: 'her'. Her eyes roamed around the room taking in the bland walls and tile floor before they landed on a ridiculously large bed. Just looking at the bed reminded Orihime that it was midnight back in Karkarua town and her tired eyes only wanted to shut at this point, but the bright red drain on the pristine colorless sheets had her on high alert.

Her legs moved before she was aware of what she was doing, her focus completely on the small figure resting just beneath the covers. Pulling back the covers , she felt her eyes sting as she took in the body that had a fist sized hole in the right side of the girls chest just beneath her breast. She didn't think twice as she activate the amber shield over the bloody mess that was leaking out such large volumes of blood that Orihime was uncertain if it had all came from the golden haired girl that couldn't have been no older than herself.

While her attention was focused on the girls wounds, she still couldn't shake off the intense brown orbs that burned holes into her very being. Aizen was watching every twitch of the Orange-haired teens fingers and the process she was completing. The tension he was causing was ungodly and Orihime found herself trying to speed up the process of healing the girl as fast as possible.

"Do you know of a Ginjo Kudo?"

The question was so random and it had serves to intterruptted the silence that had felt suffocating. Orihime didn't trust her vocal cords to work with her so she just shook her head, not bothering to turn her face in his direction.

Now that she thought about it, Aizen was never present for anyone to be healed. Taking into account Aizen's haggard appearance, his mere presence at the moment, and the bloodied girl in the bed, Orihime came to the conclusion that Aizen must care for the young girl quite a lot. And the man he had asked about must have been the one to injury the blonde.

"...-What's her name?" She winced at how loud her voice projected itself, not liking the volume of took on. Aizen didn't seem to have a issue with the volume of her question, but rather the question itself. His eyes narrowed, but it didn't appear that it was towards Orihime herself... It seemed to be aimed more on the thoughtful side. With a blink and quick squaring off of his shoulders, he had seemed to come to a decision: "Her name holds no importance to a n- girl like you. The faster she is healed, the sooner you return to Kurosaki."

His words were sharp and it only fueled the theory that the blonde teen in front of her was held in high regard to the ex-captain.

The silence that dragged on afterwards almost mad Orihime believe that Aizen had left the room, but when she looked back... He was sitting on the opposite end of the bed hovering over the nameless young woman's body. She felt her stomach churn ugliy as the amber shield faded from the girls body and Aizen's hawk like stare was quick to pin her down.

"W-while her body looks human, there is something d-different about her and I-I ...can only assume that it's this abnormality that is stopping me from healing her anymore." Orihime stumbled over her words but the way Aizen's its tended and his glare turned sharper, she was quick to explain further. "Her condition is stable, though. The wound is healed and what remains is just scarring. She will probably be asleep for the rest of the night giving the amount of stress on her body..."

Aizen's body was like a statue for several moments, his gaze piercing her own like he was attempting to read her mind.

"Ulquiorra."

Orihime flinched as the tone of the brunette man's voice. She wrapped her arms around herself as the dark haired espada appeared just inside the doorway of the room.

"Take her back to Kurosaki."

Orihime didn't think twice as she allowed the dark haired espada to carry her out of the room further away from Aizen's oppressive presnce that made it hard to get to breathe, let alone calm her frazzled nerves.

It seemed it took less time for Ulquiorra to make a gartana, as he formed it within a few yards of the room that held the wounded girl and the horrifying brunette.

"Restrain yourself from making your presence necessary here, woman..."

Orihime furrowed her eyebrows. The man made it sound like she was the reason why she kept getting dragged back here... Before she could properly allow her annoyance build up at the accusion of being the cause of having to visit Hueco Mundo, the green eyed man gently shoved her into the dark opening without another word.

Her face tightened as she huffed, How could he say that like she was the one that kept demanding to return to that dreadful place? She was too busy silently ranting inside her mind that she didn't notice how her fall from Ulquiorras push landed her straight down into her soft bed.

Why did he think that she was trying to keep returning? He was the one that kept taking her to there to the sandy dunes to the palace.

The man has a lot of nerve and Orihime found herself slightly surprised at how much that one sentence peeved her off. She never bared any grudge against someone. She tried her best to give everyone a equal amount of compassion; but something about the emotionless espada ticked away at her self control. She didn't know what it was about the man, but she utterly couldn't stand being near the ravenette without finding something to silently fume over. Either he was too silent, too obedient, so unattatched... He should show something in his body language or expressions. Not be a robot.

Emptiness.

Hunger.

Agony.

The three categories that has been tossed around to describe what Hollows felt in the beginning of their existence. The hunger was painful, more agonizing as time passes. The emptiness so mind consuming that it had to be the only salvation from the hunger and yet... it was a agnoy in its own right. Not knowing where you came from, what you even were, or the point of existence was complete hell.

Grimmjow remembered how he couldn't even recall his name when he first woke up as a hollow. Just like every other hollow, he felt that overbearing emptiness that filled the void of his being, the hunger paired along side just as strongly like some type of pest as it presses down on him. Instinct was a big part of him surviving the hollows during his 'newborn' years.

But he wouldn't have been able to even listen to his instincts if he drowned in the hunger and empty void that filled his chest. He didn't know his name nor what his purpose was, but there was one thing that he could remember vividly... If it even was a memory; He wanted to hope it was, a link to hold him down to reality.

Orange.

It was such a common word that Grimmjow found it almost comical at how his mind could only repeat the color over and over like a mantra. That damn color was his life line. He didn't know why it held such a significance to him, it seemed utterly ridiculous. The strangeness only increased when Grimmjow discovered slowly that the other espada didn't share any type of life line that helped them rise up from the depths of the sand dunes... Other than sheer willpower. Unless, no one bothered to mention their attatchment to single word that seemed to fill their body with strength when they felt like no longer continuing on. Whatever the case was, Grimmjow refused to share his color that haunted him every waking minute at the back of his mind.

All he knew was that orange was important.

Until a few years passed, He wasn't certain of the amount, Two more words joined his mantra that repeatedly bounced around in his head, forcing themselves to be recognized just as much as the first:

Find.

Protect.

His annoyance grew to unimaginable heights as he tried to piece together the three words so something made sense. What the hell was orange that he had to find and protect?! His agitation only expanded over time as a sense of urgency slammed down on him for what seemed like an eternity... Then it was gone. Grimmjow didn't know what any of it meant. He felt pissed cause no one else seemed to be having his dilemma.

Orange.

Find .

Protect.

The words had repeated themselves so much within is mind that it nearly drove him to insanity. He wanted it to stop. He cursed, he ranted, and destroyed anything he could get his hands on... But it only insisted more forcefully.

Orange.

Find.

Protect.

MINE!

The word had been shouted at him as if he was a mere incompetent child that couldn't understand... And he didn't. The emptiness and hunger grew as did the pain, the four words stabbing at his head as if trying to force him to understand just what the hell they meant.

It wasn't until Grimmjow joined Aizen, did he find out that the words that had been at a hairs length of causing him to lose his sanity, was none other than his zanpakuto. The relevlation didn't help much on solving the issue any further, but the small clue helped Grimmjow figure out he wasn't completely insane; his zanpakuto was just trying to contact him with the barest amount of words. Once again, to his knowledge, no one else in the espada has experience with what Grimmjow was forced to go through. He had tried contacting his spirit, but the damn thing would only repeat itself louder and louder.

Orange!

Mine!

Find!

Protect!

After several failed attempts of trying to understand and communicate further with his zanpakuto, he gave up. Whatever the hell the words related to must have been that important if the damn spirit couldn't give him some kind of fucking insight on what the hell it kept rambling on about. How the hell was he suppose to do anything when all he could think was those four words thumping around his head?!

Find. Orange. Protect. Mine! NOW!

Grimmjow scrunched his nose as he leaned back into his obnoxiously white chair. His zanpakuto spirit was more antsy than he has ever felt it, and it bothered him. It seemed the words that haunted him wasn't enough to convey what his spirit wanted, for once.

'What the hell is your problem?'

It was ridiculous to even question the spirit, he wouldn't get a proper reply... He knew this much by now. But it didn't lessen his annoyance in any amount as he felt the dam spirit pacing within the recesses of his mind. He supposed it didn't help the situation that Aizen had called a meeting... three hours ago. His unusual tardiness was chalked up to the rumors of some wounded human being brought in. Grimmjow hadn't been present for the last four meetings held, for one of two reasons; either he was sent on a mission by Aizen himself, or he left to vent out his stress on the pillars out in the dunes.

If Aizen took negatively to his disappearances, he didn't speak or show any sign of it. Although, Grimmjow didn't give shit if the overpowering shinigami had a problem. If destroying a few pillars was the only way he could release his frustrations, Aizen couldn't say anything about it; especially considering he was breaking any of the brunettes 'laws' that had been placed down.

"Where the hell is Aizen?" His grumbling didn't go unnoticed by the rest. Halibel watched as her fellow Espada Nnoitra leaned across his section of the table with a grin, his eyes locked into the blue haired man watching as he shifted about in his seat.

Nnoitra laughed as if he heard the most hilarious joke ever, "What's wrong, kitty litter? Ants in your pants?"

Grimmjow gave the equivalency of a snarl that ripped from his chest before he could open his mouth to respond. In all his years, such a sound had never left his mouth before and it surprised him. But as he bared his teeth as the lanky black haired arrancar, he found the sound fitting as he soaked in the expressions of the fellow arrancars. He decided he loved those looks: weariness, fear, and surprise; fitted so well in Nnoitra's face as well.

"Tread carefully, ningen."

Nnoitra shrunk back into his seat behind the table. Despite how right the words sounded to Grimmjows ears, he had no fucking clue what a ningen was. Where had that word came from?

"That's enough." The two words was spoke so sternly that Grimmjow only scowled.

"It seems our esteemed leader has decided to join us. Have a fun vacation?" The words were slipping off his tongue in sheer annoyance as he took in the sight of a disheveled Aizen settling himself within his throne with hard eyes.

Grimmjow scrunched his nose as the blood, that covered Aizen's clothes, burned at his nostrils. The sight unsettled him for some reason and he wasn't positive as to why.

"Enough."

The word wasn't yelled nor enforced with a heavy dose of spiritual pressure, but it held a power in its own right. Grimmjow pinned his tongue down with his teeth to keep any unecessary words from slipping, but it didn't stop the low growl that vibrated through his chest. The look Aizen gave him made the hairs on Grimmjow neck stand on end as he placed his hands within his lap, allowing his right hand to brush across his zanpakuto.

Find Orange.

He ignored his spirits words, only reponding to grip the hilt unnecessarily hard as if the mere action would cause the spirit to be silent.

"Two days."

Grimmjow brought his attention back to Aizen with a scowl. What the hell was he going on about now?

"I'm giving you all two days access to the human world. Your mission is to bring me a substitute soul reaper by the name of Ginjo Kudo, I want him alive."