AN: Yay for update! And thank you all SO much for reviewing, and adding this story to your favorites and alerts! I'm so very glad that all of you like it!

This chapter is kind of a little filler, no real fighting or anything. But it was a needed chapter, so here you go! Enjoy, review, and keep me motivated!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach! All of the characters, and the setting and all that belongs to Tite Kubo.


Chapter 2

Gin opened his eyes, finally managing to pull his consciousness away from the memory. He frowned suddenly and sat up, looking down at his chest. All his wounds were healed, faint pink lines the only sign that they had ever existed. He lifted his left hand to stare incredulously at it. After wiggling his fingers around and rolling his shoulder he let his arm drop to the side. He didn't have the energy to properly marvel at the fact that his wounds were healed, or even move around, because he was not only dead tired, but he was also starving. His throat was dry and his vision was a bit blurry. He slowly lowed himself back onto the bed, staring up at the dark ceiling.

'Kurosaki Ichigo's room, Karakura town, night time,' his brain told him. He sarcastically thanked his brain as a shiver rolled through his body. 'Ya're cold 'cause ya're not wearin' a top,' his brain informed him once more.

'Captain Obvious strikes again,' he thought, rolling his eyes. The door to the bedroom opened and a second later a light was turned on, temporarily blinding the ex-captain.

"So you're awake," Ichigo's voice said, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Yea, unless o' course I'm dead," Gin responded, squinting against the bright light. The smell of food hit his nose and he turned his head in Ichigo's direction, opening his eyes again. "Do ya have food?" he asked as his stomach rumbled loudly.

Ichigo had to hold back a chuckle at how obnoxiously loud Gin's stomach was. "Yea, I have food. But I want to ask you some questions first," he said.

Gin sighed and nodded, having expected something like this. "Ask away," he said, fixing his blue eyes on Ichigo, deciding to have them open for the time being.

"Who attacked you?" Ichigo asked, his eyes never leaving the silver haired man's face.

So he saw the flash of anger and regret in those piercing eyes as he answered, "Aizen did."

Ichigo frowned at that. 'Aizen did? What?' he thought. "Why the hell would Aizen attack a comrade?"

Gin laughed harshly at the question, which started a mini coughing fit. When he could talk he said, "Any number o' reasons. They weren't strong enough, they displeased him, or he had no more use for 'em. In my case, he found out that I wasn't loyal ta him."

The frown on Ichigo's face turned into an angry scowl. "You expect me to believe that crap? You're telling me that you gave up your life to follow that man, only to decide he was full of shit a few years later?"

"No. I'm tellin' ya I gave up my life an' followed Aizen so I could find out as much as possible 'bout him before killin' him," Gin corrected coldly, looking away from the teen at the ceiling. This was quite the sore subject for him. Some part of him realized it had been stupid to give up his life, and who he REALLY was just to get a shot at killing one person. And he was ashamed of what he had to do to gain that one person's trust. But he also knew that if he hadn't been an ally of Aizen, then the orange haired teen sitting next to him, along with all of his friends, would be dead, and so would Rangiku and Toshiro and Momo. He did the right thing. He would've hated himself even more if he had allowed Ichigo to be killed, although he wasn't exactly planning on admitting that to anyone any time soon. All the emotions were building up inside him, all the hate, self-loathing, regret, and general pain, were trying to rise to his eyes as he said in a thick, but insistent voice, "I was never loyal ta him."

Ichigo blinked in shock at how incredibly lonely the man's voice sounded, and how sad his eyes looked. It was the first time he had heard such strong emotion in the ex-captains voice, or any emotion other than some twisted sort of joy or amusement. And Ichigo realized something then; that this Ichimaru Gin, the one lying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling, was one that was never allowed to show himself. For god knows how many years Gin had to hide all of his emotions, and all of his true thoughts and feelings, from everyone he knew. If he hadn't done that, then that bastard Aizen would've found him out a long time ago. This was the Gin that no one was allowed to see. And Ichigo wished he could take the Gin that was the snake, the one that killed people and smiled and was so very nonchalant about everything, and lock him away, leaving only the man that was so lonely and sad, and then find a way to make said man happy once more. Surely there was a moment in his life when he was happy and had no worries.

Still, there was one question that was bothering Ichigo. "Why did you throw away your life?" he asked in a softer voice.

"… I swore I'd change things, an' get back wha' Aizen took from Rangiku," he said reluctantly, knowing that he would have to be honest to gain the teens trust.

"You never told anyone, did you?"

"No."

After a pause Ichigo asked, "Why did you come to me?"

"If I had gone ta anyone else, I woulda been killed on the spot. The whole o' the Soul Society knows my face an' wants me dead. All the Arrancar hate me, so they would tattle ta Aizen if they saw me alive. The Visoreds hate me 'cuz I helped Aizen. So that left ya as my only option," he explained. And it wasn't an outright lie. That was the logical side of his brain that had explained it, but there was a less logical side of his brain that had a different reason for going to Ichigo first. Gin's thoughts were interrupted by another loud growl from his stomach.

"Sit up so you can eat," Ichigo said, grabbing the plate of food. He watched as Gin sat up and pushed himself back to lean against the wall. The teen handed the food over and watched silently as the tired man ate. His eyes traveled down the man's chest, examining the muscles without really realizing it. The muscles in his arms and shoulders were more defined than the rest of his torso. His skin was pale, but not as pale as Toshiro's was. His silver hair was messy and dull, due to the dust and sand clinging to it. Despite that, Gin was still good looking.

Ichigo didn't even really realize that he had spaced out until Gin sighed and sat the empty plate on the desk. Ichigo stood, grabbing the plate. "I'll let you rest," he said, turning to leave.

Gin frowned for a moment. 'Where does he plan on sleepin' if I have his bed?' he wondered. He didn't really want to steal the bed from the teen. And he planned on saying as much, after some fun of course. "Where ya goin' Ichigo?" he asked, grinning.

Ichigo didn't turn, but he did pause. "Downstairs, why?"

"Ya ain't plannin' on leavin' me up here all alone, are ya?" Gin asked, closing his eyes to slits.

Ichigo turned at that, frowning suspiciously. "What are you saying Gin?"

"Well I'd feel so bad takin' yer bed. There's plenty o' room fer the both of us," he responded, grin widening, the only indicator that he was kidding. He watched, amused as the teens eyes widened and his face grew red. Gin remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

'What the hell is he saying? Is he trying to seduce me? Why? And do I… NO! What am I thinking?' Ichigo ranted silently, not even thinking about responding to the man. Sadly his mouth stuttered out one simple word. "W-What…?"

The sound of Gin's laughter, Gin's genuine laughter, pulled Ichigo back to reality. "I lie. I'll sleep on the floor. That way ya can have yer bed," the silver haired ex-captain said, standing up carefully.

Ichigo stepped forward instantly, worried that he might fall. "No, you're wounded. You have to take the bed," he said, setting the plate down.

Gin shrugged. "All a matter o' opinion, my dear Ichigo. Ya will be sleepin' in yer own bed, an' unless ya really wanna share it wit' me, I'm takin' the floor," he said, raising a silver eyebrow.

"Don't argue with me about this Gin. Take the damn bed."

"I'm not arguin'. I never argue. I make statements. Ya don't wanna share a bed wit' me. I ain't lettin' the person that saved my life sleep on a couch or floor. So, I'm takin' the floor."

Ichigo let out a hefty sigh. He could tell this man was going to annoy the poor 17 year old to death. It didn't help that when he finished high school (less than a month away), he was going to move out, and from the way things were looking, he would have a new roommate. "Fine," he growled, realizing that continuing to argue with Gin was pointless, and that he needed to get to sleep because he had a test tomorrow. An idea blossomed in his brain, and Ichigo grinned. "You can sleep in the closet."

"The closet?" Gin asked, looking at the closet door across the tiny room.

"It's where Rukia used to sleep before she moved in with Inoue. That's your new bed for the next month."

Gin walked over and pulled the door open. "Will ya be angry if I accidentally break this shelf?" he asked, jumping up onto said shelf which had served as Rukia's bed. 'It's so tiny…' he thought. But he shrugged and closed the closet door, lying down and working on getting as comfortable as he could before letting his eyes fully close. Seconds' later sleep dragged his mind off to a world where everything was perfect, and he was truly happy once more.


AN: Okay, there was that. I hope you all liked it, and are not disappointed! There will be more GinIchi adorableness in the next chapter if you REALLY want to keep reading it! Please review and tell me what you think! (And again, don't mind the little update. Nothing new other than this little note and the disclaimer. ^^ll)