A/N: My apologies for taking so long to update this time but I will do better from now on. I hope you had a great V day and I have a present for you. I finished my drawing of Gin and Leila so you can see the way I picture her in my mind when I write. I hope you will like her too. Just go to nimfah . deviantart # / d4olb5q (just delete the spaces in the link) OR you can just go to deviantart website and browse for Nimfah and one of the paintings that is called "Desert Rose" will be the one you are looking for. Have fun reading new chapter!
Chapter 11: New arrangements
The morning smelled like flowers. Well, it did smell like flowers for Gin. He didn't hate mornings but the shinigami wasn't a morning person either. Gin lazily creaked one of his eyes open and tried to focus his vision but it was all blurry at first. He closed his eye and after a few slow breaths he repeated the action, this time with both eyes. In front of him a female figure was lying down. Who was it? Then the events of previous night started slowly coming back to the not yet fully awakened man.
Leila.
Leila was sleeping right in front of him. Gin gave out a genuine smile and started stretching when he noticed something unusual behind the girl's back. Curious, he lifted his body and looked around: the whole room was filled with various flowers. Gin chuckled softly. It seemed that the girl didn't waste time while he was sleeping. He slid his feet down feeling his favorite carpet. He stretched his feet once again, repeating his morning routine. He quietly got ready and left the room.
Gin had many things to do that morning: talk to Aizen about last night's encounter, talk to him about Leila and her abilities, find some shoes and new clothes for her, delete the data off the surveillance cameras. Last night was an emergency situation and the shinigami got carried away with overflowing emotions, but he didn't want to leave such discrediting evidence against himself. That was actually on top of his list. Gin was putting in order his 'to do list' in his mind when he reached the surveillance room. The door was open and the shinigami marched right in.
In front of many computer screens sat Tousen with his arms crossed. Gin never understood why the blind man was assigned to watch the monitors. He couldn't even see what was going on them, could he? Well, some questions were better left unanswered. With those thoughts he tiptoed to the main computer control, not wanting to wake Kaname up if he was asleep as Gin suspected. After that he quickly searched for surveillance camera's data, looking at Tousen from time to time. He couldn't tell if the man was truly asleep or not: the light from the screens reflected on the blind man's goggles, making it impossible to see his eyes. It made the silver shinigami feel unsettled, as if someone was constantly watching him, so he tried to finish his task as fast as he could. But it turned out to be harder than he thought. Not because he didn't know how to do it, but because he saw for the first time the events of last night from the very beginning.
In reality, Gin wasn't a bad natured person. Yes, he did enjoy pranks very much; he liked mentally toying with people's minds and their personal belongings from time to time. But it didn't bring him any joy to inflict physical pain, especially someone weaker. Sure, he couldn't hide the thrill of a nice battle, he could be fierce and merciless to his opponents, but what those scum were going to do to Leila was too low. It brought back memories of the past. A new wave of anger washed over him but was soon suppressed. Smiling, Gin took out his USB with the saved video on it, and left the room. You could never have too much discrediting evidence, right?
Gin stood in front of the door and was ready to knock, when no other than Aizen himself opened the door, making Gin's hand stop mid air. The man smiled at him softly.
"Good morning, Gin," said Sousuke looking straight at Gin who was smiling back. The silver shinigami was about to make one of his comments about the bright red silk robe Aizen was wearing, when he noticed something unusual behind the taller man's back. Curious, he leaned to the left to take a better look, but the picture in front of him made him gasp. There, on the huge bed with tall bed posts was laying Grimmjow half naked and, as it seemed, was staring at the ceiling. Grimmjow's clothes, or the clothes that remained on him, were ripped to shreds, as if he was in a cage with a lion, a very mad lion, but somehow managed to survive. Gin's face lit up, as the face of a kid whose parent gave him the most delicious ice-cream cone. The shinigami thought he would explode if he didn't say anything right that second. But when he was about to open his mouth and say the most caustic remark he could come up with, Aizen stopped him.
"Before you say anything, would you like to come in? I believe we have things we need to discuss".
Gin looked like a kid, whose parent just took his favorite ice-cream from his hands and ate it himself! But the smiling shinigami was determined. He couldn't allow himself to be stopped by Aizen that easily.
"Did you sleep well?" asked Gin as if nothing happened and continued following Aizen to the chairs than stood on the right side of the bed in front of a tall and narrow window. It seemed like the remark didn't affect the taller man as he calmly sat down. Gin couldn't help but want to get some reaction out of the brown eyed man and so he continued.
"Oh, I apologize, Aizen-sama, how rude of me to ask those kinds of questions", he said, and after looking in the direction of unmovable body of Grimmjow continued, "considering the circumstances…"
"Oh, save it, Gin. I already have headache and I don't need you to make it worse," said Aizen rubbing his temples. "Why did you send him here while I was sleeping. I think you should know better than this by now."
And Gin knew. In the past he had to wake Aizen up a number of times on different occasions and only after a couple of near death experiences he had managed to get into the way of doing the said act without any losses on his part. Usually, in case of an emergency there were three best candidates to go into Aizen's chamber: Tousen, Ulquiorra and Gin. Other than those three no one was willing to disturb the sleeping king. It was an unspoken rule. But Grimmjow, as a man who despised gossip and rules in general, had no idea why it was forbidden to do. Unfortunately for him, he learned it the hard way.
"Oh, it must have slipped my mind," said Gin in a fake apologetic voice. But he couldn't help but chuckle softly when he saw how Aizen's stern look mixed with pain.
"Gin," started Aizen but was interrupted by the other man.
"I'm sorry, I must have forgotten at the moment. The situation made us act quickly and I wasn't thinking about trivial things like that," finished Gin looking genuinely sincere.
"Trivial things?...In any case do report the situation," ordered Aizen getting more comfortable in his chair. Gin took it as a good sign and relaxed his posture slightly as well.
"Didn't Grimmy tell ya all about it? Or did ya knock him off before he could open his mouth?" Aizen was quiet for a moment and then he said looking at the expecting face of the smiling man.
"I would like to hear your perspective."
"Well, there is not much to tell. Grimmy came to my room telling me that the girl was missing. Then we headed looking for Leila. After that I, as a knight in a shining armor, beat up the bad guys and saved the princess. But I'm assuming ya already know this much," said Gin crossing his legs. Aizen leaned on his right hand lightly.
"Yes, I know that much. I want you to tell me what I don't know yet. Isn't it the reason you came here? For example, tell me more about Leila's newly awakened powers. That promises to be a very interesting topic."
"Interesting indeed," Gin smiled with the smile of a Cheshire cat. He wasn't sure what the source of the information was but at that point it wasn't so important. The important thing was what to do with it.
"Ya, it looks like our little fairy isn't as useless as you thought. She showed me some really nice tricks and my guess is that if she keeps developing her skills she could become an extremely powerful arrancar. She might even suppress all our espada members," finished the silver shinigami.
"Oh, even so? Are you sure your judgment is purely objective in this matter?" asked Aizen with a doubt.
"Well, fair enough. But let me tell ya this. You know how Harribel can create and manipulate water in her Resurrección state? So Leila can manipulate plants without any Resurrección. She doesn't even have zanpakuto for that matter. True, that we already knew that she can grow plants, but have one of those plants ever tried to attack you? Can ya imagine what she could do… "
"…if she had a zunpakuto. I understand where you are going with this and I need time to think about it," said Aizen looking deep in thought.
"Great. Then I'll be on by way. I need to find some new clothes and shoes for the fairy to train in," said Gin standing up.
"Aren't you getting a little bit ahead of yourself?" asked Aizen but he remained seated.
"Nah, she needs new clothes and shoes anyway," said Gin. He came to the bed and took a closer look at Grimmjow who was still lying on the same spot. Poor guy looked very pale with dull open eyes which weren't looking at anything in particular. Many cuts on the torso and a missing arm finished the picture of "Poor little Grimmy" and "The sadist Aizen."
"I think you overdid Kyouka Suigetsu this time. Ne, Captain?" asked Gin poking Grimmjow's cheek.
"He will live."
"Ne-e, that is so mean," said Gin and kept harassing the blue haired man's cheek. One man could take that much poking. Grimmjow's eyes focused and after blinking a few times, he slowly came to his senses.
"Oh, look, the sleeping beauty is awake and I didn't even get to the kiss part yet," joked Gin. Grimmjow was very dizzy and disoriented so he didn't fully understand what was going on.
"What…kiss…please, no, Aizen-sama. No more," mumbled the ex-espada. Gin burst out laughing which made Grimmjow return to his senses completely. He quickly sat up but it turned out to be not the best of his ideas. His head hurt mercifully and Gin's loud laughter hit him as hundreds of hammers. He brought both hands to his head in hope of lessening the throbbing pain.
"Will you shut up!" roared Grimmjow in a husky voice. Ulquiorra chose that moment to come into the room.
"Here is your aspirin, Aizen-sama," said the forth espada with a tray in his hands. Three pairs of eyes looked in his direction and after a second of silence Gin started laughing with a new force. This time Grimmjow started trying to kick the shinigami with his foot but failed because he wasn't able to stand yet. After watching all the madness for a moment, Ulquiorra moved in the direction of Aizen who beckoned him with a hand sign. The raven haired man put the glass of water and medicine on the table in front of his master.
"Thank you, Ulquiorra."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" asked Ulquiorra well mannered.
"No, you have done plenty already. You can take a couple of hours to catch up on your sleep if you like."
"Thank you for your generous offer but I will be fine," said Ulquiorra. It flattered him that Aizen was concerned about him but he could never accept such an offer. For him it was the same as to admit a weakness. He couldn't allow it. They both knew that.
Meantime, Grimmjow was already chasing after Gin in circles around the room.
"Look, Captain, our patient is feeling much better. Aren't I a genius?" shouted Gin dodging from the mad arrancar who started hand-to-hand combat.
"Actually Ulquiorra, if it is not too much trouble, could you escort those two out of my chamber," said Aizen without gracing Gin with a glance.
"Yes, Aizen-sama," said the fourth and pulled out his weapon.
"Ok, ok, we are leaving," said Gin, dragging Grimmjow after him.
"See you at the meeting, Gin, Grimmjow," said Aizen looking at the men.
"Yeah, feel better, Captain."
"What was that all about?" shouted Grimmjow angrily.
"It's all about knowing when to stop, Grimmy. How many times did I tell you to control yourself?"
"You…" started Grimmjow but was interrupted by Gin.
"Come down. Look what I've got for ya. It should make up a bit far last night," said Gin and pulled out a small photo from his sleeve like some sort of magician. Grimmjow took the picture in his hands and his face lit up instantly as if he just received a present from Santa. On the picture was Grimmjow punching Szayel in the jaw.
"I know the quality isn't the best because it was taken by a surveillance camera but I think it will do."
"Are you kidding! That's awesome!" exclaimed the blue haired man.
"I'm glad to see ya so enthusiastic. Now shall we go and get you some new clothes before anyone sees you, or do you prefer walking half naked?" asked the shinigami.
"Yeah. Damn, you are right," said Grimmjow remembering where he was.
"Ok then. I was going to the storage room anyway so you can accompany me," suggested the shinigami and the duo started walking down the long dim-lit hall of the palace.
"By the way, what exactly did you see under Kyouka Suigetsu?"
Grimmjow's face turned a shade of green. And only the faint echoing sound of the smiling shinigami's chuckle was heard as the two figures turned the corner and disappeared from the view.
"Rise and shine, dear fairy, rise and shine!" exclaimed Gin opening the door of his room and coming in. The shinigami had his hands full with the things he collected during the day. It was already after 5 o'clock but Leila was still sleeping on his bed. Slowly, awoken by the loud entrance, the girl opened her eyes and sat up.
"Good morning," whispered Leila.
"Good morning, dear fairy. Did you sleep well?" asked Gin and put the box that he had been holding on the bed in front of her.
"Yes, I did. Thank you..What is this?" asked the girl pointing at the box filled with various items.
"Oh, this is for you," said Gin and started pulling things out, item by item from the box.
"Here is your new schedule, your new uniform for training, I chose it especially for you, new shoes, some hair stuff, a few books for you to read, and… let's see, oh yeah, and strawberry ice-cream, your favorite, or the only one you had, so it's the same thing," finished Gin and handed the ice-cream to the confused girl. Leila took it automatically but her brain couldn't catch up with what was going on. Unfortunately for her, the shinigami didn't give her a chance to do so.
"Oh, I see they are all healed," said Gin examining Leila's feet. Then he went for the box and after a few moments of searching, pulled out two pair of over the knee socks: black and white.
"Which one would ya prefer?" asked Gin holding the items in his hands. Leila subconsciously reached for the white pair and grabbed it. It seemed like she made the right choice because Gin smiled brighter. He reached for her head and messed up her hair even more than they had been after waking up.
"Nice choice, fairy-chan. I never had a doubt!" said Gin laughing. The look on Leila's face was too adorable: she sat there sleepy, with messy hair, confused with a pair of socks in her hand.
"Come on. Put those on and we'll see if the shoes that I brought are the right size," hurried Gin with white sandals in his hand, waiting for Leila to finish.
"Gin, can you explain what are you up to? What training were you talking about?" said the girl finishing pulling up the second sock.
"Your training. It's all on the schedule right there," said the man and put on a sandal on Leila's feet.
"Perfect!" sang Gin happily, "Now, can you stand up and tell me it you feel comfortable". Leila complied and stood up. She was a little bit uncomfortable not being used to wearing shoes, so she didn't know the difference. Despite that discomfort she tried not to show it too much.
"Yeah, I guess" answered the girl testing her new attire.
"You'll get used to it. I also got you some boots for more intense spar training, and two outfits. You can choose which one you want to wear. I would go with shorts if I were you but you decide. Now, go to the bathroom and change. You have your first training coming up. You don't want to make your instructor wait, do ya?"
"My instructor? Just wait a second. Could you clearly tell me what's going on? I'm really confused right now," begged Leila feeling completely lost.
"Don't worry. It's just Sousuke decided that you need to develop your powers and I agree with him," said Gin standing up, "You will have two trainings a day: physical strength which will include a lot of exercises as well as sparring in the end, and mental training where you will learn to control your powers better. In addition to that there are some books you will have to read. They are about different types of plants and their characteristics. That's about it. Now choose the outfit and go change," ordered Gin.
Leila listened carefully and for the most part understood the situation. Now, before her stood a choice, no less important for a girl, of which to wear: skirt or shorts. After a short mental battle Leila crabbed the chosen outfit and closed the door of Gin's bathroom behind.
