Poison Pink Chapter 10: It never rains, but pours, a bleach fanfic

It never rains, but pours.

Szayel sighed forlornly to himself and put his head in his hands. Next to him, Gin patted him on the back consolingly.

"I mean, before we even figured out what was going on, that I can understand. But this? After all my hard work and planning, this has to happen now?"

"I know how ya feel, Pinky." Gin's permanent smile was belied by a heavy sigh. "And it was such a good idea, too."

Szayel leaned his head against Gin's shoulder and let out a small sob. "Stupid Grimmjow. Stupid Ulquiorra. I hate them. I hate them both." Nodding, Gin slung an arm around his partner-in-sorrow consolingly. "Ya did the best ya could, Pinky. It was only a matter of time before Ulquiorra gave out. It was bound ta happen sooner or later."

Szayel sniffled. "I think my heart stopped, when I saw them." Gin shuddered in sympathy, remembering his own horror when, upon turning a seemingly innocent corner, they had chanced upon the prone form of Ulquiorra, lying in a pool of blood and shredded clothes. That, though, was nothing compared to the feeling of pure, unadulterated terror he had felt when he heard the growl behind him.

"Did you see the look on Grimmjow's face?" Szayel whispered, mind apparently working along the same track as Gin's. The fox shook his head slowly. "I didn't even turn. I just ran."

Szayel shivered next to him. "He looked so…self-satisfied. Like the cat that had got the cream…" his voice shuddered to a halt at the mental image.

Gin tilted his head back, remembering the look of pure bliss on Ulquiorra's unconcscious face.

"Musta been a glorious way to die."

Barragan jogged through the hallway, tripping slightly over his heels. His hair was coming undone from its braid, but he wasn't particularly concerned. Right now, he was preoccupied with looking for Szayel.

"Dammit!" he hissed, stopping to scan his surroundings for any sign of the Arrancar, Gin or even his Fraccion. "They said they'd be waiting here for me! Where in the hell are they?"

Barragan whipped his head back and forth, searching frantically. At this rate, it would be too late!

Not seeing much of a choice, he extracted the tube of lipstick he had pocketed and glanced around conspiratorially. Making sure there was nobody in the secluded hallway, he approached a wall and started to write.

"Octavia. Hold this for me."

"Yes, Goddess-sama."

Hallibel handed Octavia the end of the rope she was holding and signalled to the waiting Arrancar to raise the lever. Somewhere overhead, there was a satisfying snap.

"Are the preparations complete?" she asked, gaze shifting to the right.

Beside her, Arrancar 69.5 saluted from where she knelt on the ground. For the past hour or so, she had been working on a complicated system of levers and pulleys, and now it was close to completion. She held up a fine, almost invisible length of wire. "All we need is the bait, Hallibel-sama."

Hallibel nodded curtly, turning instead to Apache. "Have you done what I asked?"

Apache nodded, holding up a small bottle. "I went into Bastard-sama's room and took something precious, just like you told me to, Hallibel-sama!" she smirked. Hallibel muttered a "well done" and handed the bottle to 69.5. A few minutes of carefully tying the wire around it, and she set it on the ground. "The trap is set."

Hallibel called the rest of the army to her with a wave of her hand. "Our task is complete. Now, let s wait in the shadows for the target to arrive. A few more moments of patience, my comrades, and we shall reach our goal."

Aizen whistled to himself as he strolled down the hallway, privately admiring how nice and clean-looking everything was. It had been a good idea, choosing white as the colour scheme.

He stopped suddenly, eye attracted by a strange irregularity in the pristine corridor.

It was a small pink bottle, sitting innocently in the middle of the path.

Aizen approached it out of curiosity, wondering to whom the bottle belonged. On closer inspection, he let out a gasp. "Dammit, that's MINE! Who left it lying out here?"

He hurried over, intending to pick it up. "Stupid Gin! He's always borrowing my things and forgetting to give them back! The last time he borrowed my eyeliner, I never saw it again. And now, he takes my favourite nailpolish. Does he know how difficult it is to find this exact shade of Ultra-Baby-Cherry Blossom-Hot-Flamingo-Brink-Pink?"

Frowning, he knelt down next to the bottle, reaching out a hand. He scooped it up.

And heard the snapping of wire.

"OH, SHI--"

Barragan stepped out of the shadows, warily looking around and straightening his clothes nervously. He stashed the stolen lipstick back into his pocket and continued skulking back the way he came.

"BARANITA!"

Barragan jumped about ten feet in the air, narrowly missing a window. He whipped around, nearly losing his balance.

Loli was running up to him, waving cheerfully. "Baranita! What are you doing here? Everyone's busy having fun trying to capture Aizen!"

Barragan averted his eyes guiltily. "I was…looking for a toilet," he murmered, trying surreptitiously to back away. Loli was having none of that however, and promptly seized him by the shoulders. "Why, you silly girl, there was a girl's room right there! Come on, let's go back and join the party!" she started to forcefully drag Barragan away by the shirt.

"No, wait! Stop!" the rock god struggled to hold his clothes in place, for one false move would have his -decidedly unfeminine- assets in public view.

"Oh, don't be silly," laughed Loli, tugging Barragan along by the sleeve. "Why so serio--"

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiip.

Fwump.

"…"

There was a moment of silence, as Loli stared in disbelieve at the two pairs of rolled-up socks on the ground. Barragan backed away, hands moving instinctively to cover his now flat chest. "I can explain."

But Loli was already reaching for her Zanpakutou, expression murderous.

"Oh, sh-"

"And you know what's the worst part?" Szayel sniffed, peeking around a corner to check that the coast was clear, "I bet that was the SAME broom closet we've kept hiding in today."

Gin rolled his eyes behind closed eyelids, beginning to grow weary of Szayel's constant whining. "Geez, Pinky, stop yer bitchin'. We're here." He was, of course, referring to their designated meeting point with Barragan. "Hopefully the old bag didn't get tired and leave," he said airily, enjoying Szayel's sullen silence at being accused of 'bitching'.

He rounded the corner and stopped abruptly, causing Szayel to bump into him from behind.

"What, what is it?" the scientist asked, rubbing his nose from where it had connected with Gin's shoulder. Wordlessly, Gin pointed at the blood –red message scrawled on the wall.

"SAVE AIZEN."

Well, I'm sorry I haven't updated in over two weeks! Didn't I say I was busy (doing nothing at all)! *cero'd* Ahaha, I'm sorry. Truth is, my aunt just got married and I've been helping out with the preparations and such. But now it's finally over, I'm free to write again :D And I shall update as often as I am able! (There go my hopes of finishing off this infernal fic before 2010. I mean, really, this thing just took on a mind of its own and now I've no idea when I'll be rid of it. *bala'd*)

Eh, well, anyway, if you're wondering why Aizen owns Ultra-Baby-Cherry Blossom-Hot-Flamingo-Brink -Pink Nailpolish…I don't know either. I guess it's just one of those things that keeps him looking FABULOUS. And yes, Brink is a shade of Pink. And yes, Gin does use it too.

And the eyeliner, you ask? Well come on, Crimson Cupcake and I agreed that Gin can't possibly have such freaky slanting eyes naturally, can he? It's all in the eyeliner, man, admit it.

And yeah, I stuck Loli in there because I couldn't think of anyone else.

Oh, and in case you're wondering where Charlotte Coullhourn is, he tried to join Hallibel but she locked him in a cellar because she doesn't like him. I didn't forget him. Honest.