MP: Grrr…school…I'm so mad I'm going to make everyone in this chapter swear their asses off.

Cee: The lady does not own Bleach, its characters, plot, affiliates, and or anything remotely associated with Bleach. That's all Kubo.

MP: The lucky bastard. Story starts now.

XXX

"We're so pretty, oh so pretty. We're vacant!"

The room really did need a window.

But of course that thought had been resurfacing every 10 minutes Izuru ran out of things to think about.

Seriously, what would it hurt just to add a window in here? It would make the room look bigger…maybe give it a little depth, change the lighting, and break up the monotony of simple blank walls.

There's nothing wrong with windows…or paint.

Oh, how he wanted to splatter paint all over these walls. And he usually hated making a huge mess, but anything to make the room a bit more interesting.

From what he'd seen the only thing even remotely colorful about Los Noches was its inhabitants. Not that he'd had much interaction with them besides his meeting with Szayel, and the emotional scars acquired in that session were bad enough as is.

Sighing, Izuru tried to find something else in the room to focus on, as the ceiling was giving him a headache.

Okay really, paint was desperately needed.

How was he expected to live in a place like this?

He was coming from the Sereitei, which was almost annoyingly colorful compared to this palace. Everything looked like it had been drowned in bleach, including him.

Izuru was almost certain that one of these days he was going to look at himself in the mirror and find that his eyes had no color.

He'd already awoken several times in the past nights and thought he had been having a black and white nightmare.

So far the majority of his time had either been spent in bed with Gin or visualizing all the possible ways this room could be colored, and he was slowly losing touch with reality.

Presently Gin was in one of Aizen's 'crucial' meetings, whose contents were 'not to be discussed to anyone'.

Because he really has the power to overthrow Aizen's damn empire on a little scrap of information, because he, Kira Izuru, is just that devious.

Maybe it wasn't just him. Maybe Los Noches touched Aizen's brain too and made him paranoid.

Unconsciously, Izuru ran his index finger back and forth along the now nicely round five months old bump.

At least there were places to go and work to do in Sereitei, all he had to do here was think.

He missed-

No. No, he wasn't going down that road again because it didn't make things any easier.

…but it was so awfully quiet.

If he wanted anything interesting to happen around here, going out and meeting people seemed imperative, but there were no people here.

Just arrancars, and Izuru wasn't sure he was ready to meet them yet.

XXX

The meetings that consisted of just the three of them usually took place in Aizen's private quarters and lasted a ridiculous amount of time.

The current meeting had been going on for at least three and a half hours, and Gin was slowly but surely losing his already fragile grip on his mind.

Aizen on the other hand looked like the coolest cucumber you were ever likely to find, taking his time drawing out every excruciatingly minimal detail.

Tousen was just as composed as ever, if not more so today. He looked as though the stick up his ass had just been pushed up three inches further.

"I believe this was all we had to discuss today" Aizen said, his silky voice doing nothing to alleviate the already dull atmosphere. "Both of you may go."

Gin held in his sigh of relief and prepared to shoot out of his seat and run back to Izuru.

"If I may, Aizen-sama" Tousen said, remaining stationary. "I would like to address one more thing."

A slight prick of surprise shone in Aizen's eyes for a moment. "Of course, Kaname."

Gin's smile flickered. Tousen was not usually one to complain about anything, much less run to Aizen about it.

It must be serious.

"Aizen-sama, I wonder about having Kira Izuru here."

For a moment the smile was completely gone from Gin's face.

"What about Kira-kun being here does not sit right with you?" Aizen questioned, peering at Tousen with calculating eyes.

"A number of things. The first being my personal wondering of what purpose the boy serves by being here."

"'Sides the fact that he's carryin' my baby?" Gin asked; a subtle but very dangerous tilt to his voice.

"From my knowledge the boy has no place here. He should have stayed in the Sereitei where he belonged." Tousen said, paying the warning in Gin's tone no mind.

Gin's fists clenched.

"My other worry is his loyalty."

"What do you mean?" Aizen asked, his expression slowly turning to one of serious contemplation.

"What if he is working for the Sereitei? What if he is a spy?"

"I-" Aizen began.

"Izuru is NOT a spy" Gin cut him off, smile dripping off his face. "He can't be. How could he have known I would come back for him at all?"

"How much time passed between the time you went to him and the time he left with you?" Tousen asked, keeping his tone level.

Gin thought. "About two days, but-"

"Plenty of time for him to go the Sotaicho and form a plan" Tousen nodded.

"And I suppose he's lyin' about being pregnant too?" Gin asked, his voice now very strained.

"I wouldn't put it past him. Has he been examined?"

"Yes" Aizen answered, happy to finally jump back into the conversation. "Szayel examined him upon arrival."

"And what has he found?"

"He hasn't shared his findings with us yet" Aizen said, looking as though Tousen's words were ringing several bells in his mind.

"There you are. He's presumably in his fifth month, so he should have started to feel movement by now" Tousen said. "I don't trust him, and rest assured I won't be the only one."

Gin's hand twitched towards Shinsou, only to have his wrist caught in Aizen's tight grasp. The look the brunette shot him doubled with the firm grip on his wrist made Gin's anger wither away.

"Gin" Aizen warned, an unnoticeably dangerous edge to his words. "Calm."

Slowly, the grip on Gin's wrist left.

"Your doubts are understandable, Kaname" Aizen said, his usual lukewarm tone back in position. "And if anything incriminating comes from Kira-kun, it will be taken care of."

Gin tried futilely to reign in the emotions raging in his reiatsu.

"Yes, Aizen-sama" Tousen nodded.

"Well then" Aizen rose from his seat. "Dismissed."

Gin's smile returned, and he bowed shortly to Aizen before practically running out the door, and for a moment the other two men simply looked at the door he had just rushed out of.

"Aizen-sama?"

"What is it?"

"If it is found that the boy is not living up to your expectations what will you do?"

Aizen smiled coolly. "I'll take care of it."
"He cannot be sent back to the Sereitei, he's seen and heard too much already" Tousen said.

"There is always the…unfortunate alternative" Aizen said, his tone leveled and unfeeling.

Tousen paused. "Gin would not let you do it."

"Gin is not in charge here, I am." Aizen said, frowning slightly. "And if I were to condemn Kira, then he would be condemned. Gin has no say in the matter."

XXX

Izuru cracked his eyes open.

There was something on his stomach.

Looking down tiredly, he once again became aware that he was not in his own room. The sheets were whiter, the blankets thinner, and, the dead giveaway, the man beside him.

Gin already looked wide awake, or, as wake as you can be without actually opening your eyes.

"Hey" he greeted.

"Hey" Izuru echoed, smiling softly.

"How ya feeling?"

A light nausea had settled in his stomach. "A little sick, but I'll be alright."

"Good" Gin leaned over to kiss him softly. "Hate to have the kid botherin' ya."

Izuru smiled. "The kid…"

"Well that's what it is" Gin said, his invisible gaze trailing down to look at the bump, rubbing it softly. "Awful quiet…must be a girl."

Biting his lip, Izuru put his own hand on top of Gin's. "Do you think it's normal?"

"What?"

"For it to be like this. Five months is the normal time for the baby to…" Izuru sighed, and gave his head a small shake. "I guess I'm just a little worried."

Gin put a hand on his cheek. "Ya got no reason to be. So the kids a late bloomer, we can deal with that."

"I suppose" Izuru said absentmindedly.

Grinning, Gin pulled Izuru to rest on his chest, tracing small patterns onto the creamy flesh of his lovers back.

They lay in silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

"Gin?"

"Hm?"

"I have a question."

"Lay it on me."

Izuru looked up at him. "I was thinking about everything you've been telling me. You said there were an original espada, and then the one there is right now, and then all of the other arrancars that have been created. How have you been able to do this in only 4 months?"

Gin thought. "Well we didn't really wait until we left the Sereitei to start getting things set. We started at least years in advance."

"It still seems like it all came together fast. All the stories about the espada you've told me seem like they would take longer than just a few months."

A moment passed as Gin thought again. "Time in Hueco Mundo is funny that way; it makes up its own mind."

Izuru's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Take this talk we're having. To us it's only lasted a few minutes, right?"

"Right."

"See, that's just to us." Gin smiled. "Who's to say it hasn't taken hours in Hueco Mundo time?"

Izuru sighed. "Everything is so slow here…"

"It's hard ta get used to." Gin nodded in understanding. "But you'll be alright."

"I know that."

Gin looked down at him. "Ya think you're ready to meet everyone tonight?"

A small groan escaped the blond.

"Aw, come on! Ya gotta meet 'em at some point, why not now?"

Izuru his face in the silver haired mans chest, mumbling incoherently.

"Huh?"

More unrecognizable noises.

"Izuruuuuu…"

"I'm scared of them, okay?" Izuru burst out, his face pinking.

Gin looked at him for a moment before promptly bursting out in uncontrollable laughter.

"It's not funny! Stop laughing!" Izuru said, his face growing steadily darker.

"Did meeting Szayel scare ya that much?" Gin asked through his laughing fit. "Aw, 'Zuru this is why I love ya!"

"Gin" Izuru whined. "Stop…"

"Yeah, yeah" Gin said, still chuckling slightly. "Sorry."

The blonde sighed. "This baby had better act like me."
"Are you insinuating something?" Gin asked teasingly.

"Not a thing. I'm merely saying that things will be much more peaceful around here if the baby took after me." Izuru smiled.

"Oh yeah?" Gin challenged. "Well then, if the kid acts like you, then it has ta look like me!"

"Serious?" Izuru asked.

"What?"

"You shed" Izuru said bluntly. "Like a large hyper silver dog."

Gin pouted. "Ya so mean…"

"It can have your smile, if it won't scare everything that it comes in contact with."

Gin's face brightened. "I didn' know ya liked my smile so much."

Izuru rolled his eyes. "I like it when you don't hide behind it."

"I don't hide."

"You do." Izuru insisted. "When you're angry, you smile, when you're sad, you smile. No matter what emotion you have, it always going to come out looking like a smile."

"This is coming from Johnny Raincloud."

"…touché."

Gin laughed. "We go well together with the balancing and whatnot."

"Hopefully the baby's balance of sanity will finally be correct, better than its parents at least." Izuru said thoughtfully.

XXX

Aizen himself came to bring them down to dinner. Apparently the anticipation of seeing Izuru sit and eat with his men could not wait a single second longer.

The sound of three sets of footsteps snapping smartly and slowly down the hall sent an ominous shiver down Izuru's spine. There was a large white door at the end of the hallway, glaring at him with two large silver handles.

Behind that door was; Izuru thought, certain death.

Gin stood on Aizen's right, smiling forward, and Aizen stood at the helm, his cool confident stride pitching him just ahead of the two men beside him.

All of the names that Gin had told him were flashing through Izuru's mind, taunting him and pushing on his last millimeter of calm.

Names, ranks, what they've done, who they've killed, things they've said, vague descriptions of faces. They ran around in his mind in circles as they stopped in front of the door, which almost seemed to recognize Aizen, and swing open immediately.

The sound of chairs scooting back from the table was the first thing that Izuru became aware of. There was a split second where his mind seemed to refuse any images his eyes attempted to send him in an involuntary reaction of pure terror.

After a quick calming blink, Izuru made out a long, narrow table with 11 people standing at it, their eyes glued not on Aizen, not on Gin, but on him.

He had the urge to wet his lips but pushed it forcefully back.

"Good evening everyone" Aizen greeted fondly, taking his seat at the head of the table.

Gin nudged him out of his trance and guided him on numb legs to Aizen's right side.

Letting Gin steer him into his seat, Izuru glanced at the dark haired arrancar next to him. The man had his head resolutely bowed towards his bowl, letting only a few ebony strands of hair and a horned helmet obscure his face.

Across from Gin sat Tousen, to his left sat a busty woman with blond hair and a large white collar obscuring most of her face. Beside her was the slumped form of a brown haired man, his face firmly planted in his dish.

Next to this man sat a spoon. Well, it looked like a spoon at first glance, but apparently it was just a tall man with a large spoony hood and an eye patch.

"Everybody," Aizen said, his voice penetrating the silence that filled the room. "I'm sure that many of you have not met our new arrival."

Several pairs of eyes were suddenly locked onto him.

"This is Kira Izuru" Aizen introduced. "He will be staying here with Gin from now on, so I hope you'll come to know each other in time."

Izuru sincerely wished for Aizen to shut his damn mouth.

Aizen passed his cool smile all around the table. "You may introduce yourselves as you will."

Tousen sat silent, clearly needing no introduction. Izuru's interest was shifted to the blonde woman beside him, who regarded him with electric eyes.

"I am the Tercera espada, Tia Harribel" she introduced, in a slightly throaty voice that put Izuru slightly at ease.

There was an awkward moment where everyone just stared at the sleeping man beside her, before a soft nudge issued to him from her. Shooting up, the man looked around the room groggily, his gaze halting on Izuru for a moment before falling back into his bowl, snoring loudly.

An indulgent smile hung on Aizen's face. "That is Coyote Starrk, the Primero espada."

Izuru blinked. This sleeping buffoon was the strongest espada? Well, he'd probably be seeing much stranger things tonight, such as the walking talking spoon that he turned to face.

The spoon-like man leered at him, a sharp, almost dangerous gaze searching all over Izuru's face, much to the dissatisfaction of the blonde.

"Nnoitra Gilga" he introduced, his tone both pompous and threatening. "Quinto espada."

Izuru decided he was now going to avoid this man at all costs.

Next came a blue-haired man with a seemingly bored out of his skull expression on his face, the mask fragment on his jaw opening to growl out; "Names Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Sexto espada. You better remember that, kid."

He decided this man was also going on the 'avoid-at-all-costs' list.

The next man was old…like, really old. Probably not as old as Yamamoto, though.

"Segundo espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn" he said in an old gravelly voice.

Izuru was frankly surprised that this man could remember his own name.

The next man… was impressively large.

"Yammy Llargo, I'm the Diez espada" he said, but Izuru was too busy staring at the mans ginormous jaws to listen. This man was so huge he could probably kill Izuru with a hangnail.

Izuru wasn't sure that the next thing was even an arrancar, much less something that could introduce itself. A long white head stuck from between its shoulders, eight holes punched through the surface, not allowing a glimpse to the inside.

"Noveno espada" the thing said in what sounded like two voices speaking in tandem. "Aaroniero Arruruerie."

Which part of this man was supposed to be the interesting part? The huge head or the voice? Izuru wasn't sure he wanted to know.

A familiar head of bubblegum pink hair stuck out to look at him. "You already know me" Szayel said, his gloved hand offering a small wave.

The next man was huge and dark, almost Frankenstein-esque, with large silent lips.

Silence carried on for a moment.

"That is Zommari Rureaux, he is the Septimo espada" Aizen introduced for him. "You'll find that he doesn't speak much."

Izuru turned his eyes to the arrancar seated next to him, and immediately wished that he hadn't.

Green eyes pierced him from every angle, large and cold and dead, shooting past the ebony locks that fell in front of them. Looking into those eyes, all Izuru could see was a hollow.

A hollow that could very easily, and very emotionlessly, kill him.

"Cuatro espada" he said, his icy monotone voice wrapping around his throat. "Ulquiorra Schiffer."

Izuru wondered why he had tears traced down his face. He didn't look sad, just mind numbingly terrifying.

Every pair of eyes in the room looked at him, and Izuru's mouth went dry.

What was he supposed to say?

"The kid talks, right?" Grimmjow asked.

"I do talk. And I hope that I'll be seeing you all in the future."

…did those words really just come out of his mouth? Oh dear God.

There were a few muffled snickers and rolled eyes passed around the table, but were pulled back with quick glances to make sure that Gin had not seen them. There was a small beat of silence as they turned to their bowls.

"So, Nnoitra," Szayel began, a smirk already forming on his lips. "Make anyone cry today?"

"Go fuck your own anal cavity, Granz" Nnoitra growled.

"Don't fucking curse at the table, its fuckin' rude" Grimmjow scowled, holding up a spoonful of black liquid.

"Aw, shit" Nnoitra said, rolling his eyes.

"Stop your damn cursing!" Baraggan yelled. "I swear, you kids have no respect."

"You can't remember five minutes ago, asshole" Grimmjow said irritably.

"One of these days, sonny" Baraggan warned, his face dark with rage. "One of these days-"

"Quiet" Harribel said, making no attempt to touch her food. "Honestly…"

"Why are you always such a goddamn stick in the mud?" Nnoitra asked, sneering at her.

Harribel turned her furious eyes to him, but remained silent.

"Seriously, you all need to chill" Yammy said, his deep voice resonating off the walls.

"What are you going to do if I don't?" Nnoitra challenged. "Sit on me?"

Yammys frown turned into a snarl. "You just wait; I could beat your ass!"

"Yeah, you only outweigh him by 500 pounds fatass" Grimmjow scowled.

The spoon that had previously been clenched between Yammy's fingers suddenly snapped in half, landing sadly into the bowl set below it. Yammy growled; "Damn you! Now I have no spoon!"

Szayel smirked deeper. "Use Nnoitra."

Banging the table and making it shake violently, Nnoitra leapt up, his chair hitting Starrk and sending him to the floor, still sleeping.

"Nnoitra, Szayel." Aizen said, his coolly disappointed words halting them. "I've had to ask you to leave the table before; I don't want to do it again."

Szayel bowed his head in apology, and Nnoitra awkwardly pulled his chair back in, leaving Starrk to sleep it out on the floor.

Suddenly, a deep voice shot out of Aaroniero's strange white head. "Must you two always start something?"

"Yeah." Grimmjow agreed, "Then it gets all tense in here and Schiffer gets even more depressed."

The man beside Izuru spoke up. "I am not always depressed."

"Well, you're always crying!"

"I am not always crying."

"…well I don't see fuckin' smiley faces drawn all over your face!"

"You two," a high pitched voice said from Aaroniero's head.

"Are impossible" the deeper voice finished.

"How about you zip your yaps before I zip them for you?" Baraggan said gruffly.

"I think you should all remember your place and act respectfully" Harribel, her tone offering no resistance. "Honestly, in front of a guest."

Izuru's cheeks darkened the slightest bit at the woman's words.

"I agree with Harribel wholeheartedly" Aizen said, acting as though he was an indulgent father at another family dinner. "You must all remember yourselves."

"You want us all to act like Starrk" Grimmjow accused as a large snore was emitted from the area where Starrk had landed.

"As peaceful as that would be, I'm afraid it is not possible" Aizen said, frowning. "So you must all act mature-"

Szayel snorted.

"And act your age, not your rank."

"But if Baraggan acted his age he would be dead" Yammy said, raising an overlarge eyebrow.

Baraggan growled. "BOY!"

"Do I need to ask all of you to leave the table 10 minutes into the meal?" Aizen asked. "Again?"

"No Aizen-sama" they all responded in unison.

"Good. Then you may all stay and eat your meal respectfully."

"Thank you Aizen-sama" the chorus of voices responded again.

The rest of the meal passed in an awkward silence.

XXX

Much later that night, Gin lay in bed with Izuru curled up against him.

It had never ceased to amuse him how the blonde could be so shy and self conscious about physical contact during the day but want to be as close to him as possible at night. That was one of Gin's favorite things about him.

When they had gotten back, he had wanted Izuru to tell him about what had been happening in the Sereitei. At first the blonde had seemed reluctant to talk about it, having only just left, but slowly he outlined how things had changed in the time he had been gone.

It had sent a pang of guilt through him when Izuru described the brief period where he and Rangiku had simultaneously fallen to pieces. He told this with a slight shamed blush on his face.

"It wasn't my most mature, or my smartest moment," he had admitted. "But I was upset."

The most important bit of information he had gotten was that Izuru did in fact have knowledge of the Sereitei's battle plans. When he had initially told Aizen that Izuru knew these plans he had been putting all the cards on the table.

Thank God hat Izuru delivered.

Smiling wider in the dark of the room, Gin let one hand travel down to spread over the bump.

How could Tousen think that he would lie about this? It just didn't seem possible that Izuru could ever lie about something as important as this.

But…

It was so quiet. Five months is normal for the kid to start moving, and nothing has happened yet, or so Izuru said.

And the bump could be easily explained as well if he thought about it hard enough. Unohana could do anything that she put her mind to, and that included fabricating a pregnancy.

Wait, no! That wasn't true; he was just letting his mind get away from him.

Damn that Tousen, he probably intended this when he started shooting his mouth off to Aizen.
Well, it wasn't going to work on him. He and Izuru loved each other and they were going to have a baby together, and nothing anybody could say was going to stop it.

However, he thought, maybe it was a good idea just to find someone to be with Izuru during the day.

Just in case.

XXX

There you have it! There are several things I could say, but I'll say the important ones.

1: Sorry for the delay on this, I've been at school and at rehearsal, so it's been pretty busy.

2: I tried to get all of the espada's names as close to their original spelling as possible, so that's why they look that way.

3: I never added in the sources for the quotes on the other chapters, so they are: The Sex Pistols ("Pretty Vacant"), Echo and the Bunnymen ("The Killing Moon"), and Raymond Lindquist.

…I'm spacing on the others, but that's about it! Hope you enjoyed the chapter; hope to have the next one up soon!