We got a whole foot of snow last night! Compared to what's happening back east, that's hardly any, but compared to what we've gotten so far this winter, it's a bunch! Then it rained a little today. Now all I have to do is pray that the roads are too slick for my bus to come get me tomorrow, so that I can have a snow day and celebrate it by writing more! Yay! Fingers crossed everyone! :3
We finally got our Christmas tree all set up today, actually just the lights. Then we watched 'A Christmas Story', which, in my opinion, is one of the best Christmas movies ever.
Disclaimer: If I owned InuYasha or Bleach, would I really be writing this disclaimer?
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter X: Creeping Shadows
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Spinning her into
Their thoughts of betrayal and
They have plans for her
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It was well after midnight when Ichimaru Gin made his way to the rendezvous point, an obscure location within the Gotei 13. Every time there was a new meeting, there was a new meeting place, in order to avoid being caught wandering around late at night. Granted, he was a captain, but even captains were capable of treachery.
Stopping in one of the more narrow streets of the Gotei 13, Gin listened in order to pick up any indication that he was being followed. When he heard or sensed nothing, he turned and slipped through a wooden door to his right.
Gin found himself in an old storeroom, which was probably a thousand years old; the coating of dust covering almost every surface was probably just as old, an accumulation of dirt and skin cells of shinigami long dead. Casting a cautious glance around, he made his way towards the back of the storeroom, where he was sure that he would find the others. His suspicions were confirmed when he rounded a corner and dodged a well-aimed slice from his leader's zanpakutou.
"Easy now!" chided Gin, frowning. "Ya know it's just me."
"Can't be too careful, even if no one has been in here for hundreds of years," stated his leader, sheathing his zanpakutou with a metallic scrape.
Gin allowed his face to form into his usual smirk, eyeing his would-be attacker.
As leader of the Gin's group, Aizen Sousuke didn't look like the type to harbor ill-will towards the Soul Society, or to lust for power. Wearing glasses with square, black frames, and with wavy brown hair, Aizen looked like the type of man that you would find in a library, researching ways to make life less arduous. His friendly eyes, the color of chocolate, betrayed nothing of his inner-self; he seemed like the type of man that you could go to with your greatest secret, knowing that you could trust him with your life. Middle-aged and handsome in a scholarly way, not to mention captain of the Fifth Division, Aizen had the perfect disguise.
Gin, however, preferred to show that he was a snake through-and-through, while Aizen hid his serpentine nature away with good looks and a seemingly-kind nature.
Looking around and seeing that Aizen was the only one present, Gin grunted with surprise.
"Where's Tousen-taichou?" he asked suavely, his smirk deepening. "Ya didn't kick him out of our li'l club, did ya?"
Aizen returned his smirk and said, playfulness in his voice, "You know I can't do that, Gin. Since he is blind, I can't very well let him run around without some kind of leash. He's the only one out of the other captains that is not affected by my charade, with the exception of you."
"Hai, hai," said Gin casually, walking over to an ancient but sturdy wooden box and sitting down on top of it.
He glanced over at the only source of lighting, a single paper lamp. The fragile rice paper was not the usual white, but a dark red, which dimmed the light output considerably. It also cast strange shadows on the faces of the two captains.
"Unfortunately, Kaname couldn't make it tonight. He had other duties to attend to," continued Aizen, preferring to lean up against a heavy stack of crates.
"So it's just us, ne? Just like old times, Aizen-taichou," said Gin slyly, referring to his time as Aizen's lieutenant.
Aizen's closed his eyes and gave a short chuckle. When he opened them again, they had taken on a serious sheen.
"So, how was your encounter with Higurashi?" he asked. "She should have managed to get into the Daireishokairou; those old fools can't very well say 'no' when three captains are requesting her entry."
"She got in," said Gin, smirking eagerly at the thought of the little fukutaichou. "We had an interestin' conversation."
"Sou (really)?" asked Aizen, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards minutely. "Did you have any luck persuading her to our cause?"
Gin's smirk lessened, causing Aizen to narrow his eyes suspiciously.
"She did as we planned; she went into the Daireishokairou and looked up herself in the database," said the silver-haired captain, his smirk recovering. "Good news is that she got angry when she found out that the Gotei 13 did li'l to help her when she was fightin' monsters way back when. Bad news is that she's unwillin' to believe anythin' I say."
"Hm," said Aizen, cupping his chin in thought. "It seems that she is as stubborn and naïve as the legends say. But you can't really blame her; you are a hard person to trust, Gin. If it weren't for your…hobby, shall we say, I wouldn't have chosen you to recruit her."
In response, Gin let out a short, quiet laugh, his face distorted by his wide smirk. However, underneath his façade of cockiness, he was quite serious at the thought of not being able to interact with a certain person of interest.
"You didn't tell her about us, now did you?" Aizen continued in a playful tone, though his eyes took on the appearance of a thousand year-old glacier.
Gin gave a gasp of mock-surprise and said, "Ya kiddin' me? I would never do that!"
Aizen chuckled, the hardness in his eyes melting, and said, "I didn't think so. That's why you'll always be my trusted fukutaichou, Gin."
"Aw, yer words warm my heart," said Gin mockingly, placing his hand against his chest.
Aizen shook his head with exasperation, knowing Gin too well to be offended by the other's tone.
"Tell me, Gin, has a seed of doubt been planted into the little miko's heart?" he asked, his lips curling into a cruel smirk. "I know that's what you're best at."
"Ya have my word, Aizen-taichou," said Gin confidently, the shadows on his face becoming sinister. "Her pretty li'l face told me everythin' I needed to know. She'll be comin' to me for answers in no time."
Aizen's eyes lit up with praise, and he nodded at Gin to acknowledge the accomplishment.
"Good. But perhaps we should send her a message, no? Just to remind her whose side she should really be on," he added after a moment, as if to himself.
"What kind of message? I hope yer not plannin' on hurtin' her," said Gin, frowning genuinely at his superior.
"Now, now, Gin," said Aizen, waving reassuringly at his ex-lieutenant. "Don't get defensive. I was thinking more along the line of you setting loose one of my Hollow experiments into the Thirteenth Division's barracks. She won't get hurt…if she stays on her toes. I suppose you trust in her fighting capabilities enough for her to remain unharmed?"
Gin stiffened slightly under Aizen's gaze, the other's eyes cruelly mocking him. However, Gin wasn't one to back off of such a challenge.
"If ya say so, Aizen-taichou," he replied, smirking in a carefree way and shrugging his shoulders. "What type of Hollow do ya want?"
"The strongest we've got," said Aizen simply. "You know where I keep them, I presume?"
He had never actually shown Gin around his 'lab', but he suspected that the silver-haired man had gone snooping and found it at some point.
"Why, Aizen-taichou, I'm wounded!" stated Gin, smirking widely and confirming Aizen's suspicions. "Of course I know where they are!"
"Release the Hollow two days from now," said Aizen authoritatively. "And stick around, just so Higurashi understands who the message is from."
"Ya got it," confirmed Gin, saluting Aizen with his fore and middle finger. "I should be headin' back now, ne?"
Aizen closed his eyes and nodded in acknowledgement.
Gin slid off of the crate he was sitting on, a cloud of dust rising when his sandaled feet hit the floor. He noticed offhandedly that his white captain's haori was streaked with gray-brown; a little-known fact among the shinigami was how easy it was to stain a captain's coat and how hard it was to get it clean again.
He began to make his way away from the light of the lamp, heading into the shadows and leaving Aizen behind.
"And, Gin?"
Gin stopped and turned around, his smirk seeming to have taken on a questioning tilt.
"Hai, Aizen-taichou?" he asked, sounding as if he could listen attentively to what Aizen had to say all night.
"After you've sent our little message, feel free to pursue Higurashi to your heart's desire; perhaps that will justify our cause to her. Just don't let your little obsession with the girl get in the way of our plans," said Aizen, smirking at his favorite fellow shinigami.
Gin said nothing, noticing the mocking look that Aizen sent him. It slightly irritated him, since it made him seem inferior in the Fifth Division captain's eyes. The look appeared to say, You've changed, Gin, you've gone soft.
Being practically told that he was weak from this man, whom he absolutely despised at times, made Gin grit his teeth.
Unreadable as always, he chuckled and said, "Yer quite a mind-reader, Aizen-taichou. How did ya know that I wanted li'l Kagome-chan all to myself?"
A shadow flitted across Aizen's face, and Gin was satisfied to see that the mocking expression had disappeared. Aizen was probably not happy that his silver-haired ex-lieutenant had not even given his warning a second thought, and it filled Gin with glee.
"'Night, Aizen-taichou!" said Gin cheerfully, sending his ex-captain a wave as he walked into the shadows.
Once he was out of sight of the other captain, the smirk on his face widened sinisterly. Since when did anyone tell him what he, when it came to his personal life, could or could not do?
To put it simply, what Ichimaru Gin wanted, he got, and didn't give a damn what anyone said to persuade him otherwise.
'And what I want,' thought Gin optimistically, 'is Ukitake's pretty li'l fukutaichou.'
Owari
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Did you enjoy it? I hope you did! As always, I would appreciate it if you reviewed, 'cause I love reading what you have to say!
Until next time, ja ne! ^.^