In the blink of an eye, Gin slipped past Hallibel, grabbing the chair Aizen was tied to and unceremoniously tossing it over a shoulder. He darted back out the door, pausing to watch something large and blue shoot out of the white bundle and latch itself onto the Arrancar goddess. Gin chuckled quietly, slithering out the door in time for Szayel to slam it shut and slice off the doorknob with Fornicaras.
He plopped Aizen on the floor, unsheathing his Zanpakuto and slicing the binds clean off. Aizen stood up immediately, throwing his arms around Gin with a muffled sob. Evidently, the toughness he'd put on in front of Hallibel had all been fake. Gin grinned, amicably patting his boss on the head.
"There, there, Sousuke," he said, grin belying his soothing tone of voice. Aizen said nothing, only sniffling and burying his head further into the cook of Gin's neck. The silver-haired man began to chuckle again, but was distracted by a quiet hiccup. He turned his head.
"Szayel? Ya feelin' okay?"
The pink-haired scientist drew and arm across his eyes, no doubt attempting to wipe away tears. "S-shut up!" he stammered, voice thick. "I'm not crying!" His shoulders heaved slightly with the effort of retaining his dignity. He honestly couldn't help himself. And how could he? After all that emotional trauma? The horror of finding his experiments missing, then the exasperation of having to find the victims, the fear of being brutally raped by Grimmjow, the horror at what Hallibel had become, the worry for Aizen's well-being…and above all, the complete and utter anguish of working with one creature so annoying as Ichimaru Gin.
Gin allowed his smile to widen slightly, seemingly understanding Szayel's thoughts in the peculiar Gin-ish way he had. He extended an arm to the man. "Somebody needs a hug."
Szayel wailed and launched himself at Gin, attaching himself to the man's side. "I hate you!" he sobbed, clutching fiercely at Gin's clothes. "I hate you, I hate you! But I'm glad Aizen-sama's okay! Aizen samaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The sound of two fully grown men sobbing filled the corridor, nearly drowning out the sound of Hallibel's screams and Grimmjow's delighted growls. It would appear that all was finished, the great threat had been vanquished, the damsel- uh, Aizen was rescued, and the day had been saved. And now was the time for dams to break and emotions to come spilling out. Thus, Aizen and Szayel cried.
Gin simply smiled.
00
Aizen sat in his throne room, legs crossed and chin resting on his hand, gazing peacefully at the people around him. Looking at him now, one would never have guessed that the man had had an emotional breakdown just a few days before. He listened half-heartedly to Szayel's private report as the rest of the Espada lounged around, waiting for their meeting to commence.
According to Szayel, errant victims of Hallibel's tirade were being rescued, and the womenfolk were slowly snapping out of their subjection to their goddess, as Szayel's carefully-crafted antidote took its effect. It had taken forever before anyone plucked up the courage to retrieve Hallibel, only entering the room once all the noise had completely died down. To everyone's surprise, Hallibel had been alive, trapped under Grimmjow's sleeping form. All was well.
Well, not all.
It did not excape Aizen's notice that the after-effects of the mayhem had yet to wear off. Grimmjow was still eyeing everyone hungrily, particularly Szayel. The Arrancar's attentions were beginning to alarm Aizen, to say the least, especially when said attentions were being focused on him. Barragan was still acting peculiar, although that was easily ignored, but Ulquiorra would suddenly burst into fits of giggles for no apparent reason, making everyone edge away from him ever-so-subtly. What was worse was that the lachrymose man's giggles intensified whenever Grimmjow looked at him.
The mental images disturbed Aizen.
Ah, yes, and that wasn't all that was amiss. Aizen allowed his gaze to wander to –Aizen fought down the sudden blush- a very feminine Nnoitora, deep in conversation with a decidedly cheerful Hallibel. If he strained his ears, he could hear snatches of their conversation.
"Since Aizen's agreed to let us go shopping in the human world, you should totally come with me and pick out some shoes! You should get yourself a pair of heels, Nnoitara!"
Ah, yes. Nnoitara.
"Oh, please, Hallibel! I'm already freakishly tall as it is, wearing heels will just make me look like a telephone pole!"
"Don't be silly, you've got a lovely figure! You're so tall and thin, like a model. I'm so jealous."
"How could you say that, Hally? I'm the one who should be jealous, you've got such nice curves in all the right places!"
"No, I'm fat, you wouldn't believe…"
Aizen tuned out of the conversation, the many references to body shape beginning to place odd thoughts in his mind. He turned to Szayel, interrupting mildly, "By the way, Szayel, when do you think you'll be able to get our dear Quinta back to normal?"
Szayel didn't miss a beat. "I'm working on Nnoitora- I mean, Nnoitara's antidote as we speak, Lord Aizen," he said smoothly. From a corner, Barragan could be heard talking to an exasperated Yammy.
"Why you be all up in mah grille, dawg? Yo!"
"For the last time, old man, that isn't how rockers talk!"
Aizen nodded and dismissed Szayel with a wave of his hand, allowing the smaller man to resume his seat. The academic made his way back to the end of the table, Aizen noticed, but not before being stopped by Gin.
"Tell meh the truth, Pinky," he whispered gleefully into Szayel's ear, just loudly enough so he knew Aizen could hear. "Are ya really planning to come up with Nnoitora's antidote at all?"
Szayel stiffend slightly, turning his nose up almost unnoticeably. "Not at all, Lord Gin. He's much better as a girl."
And oddly enough, Aizen had to agree.
Epilogue.
Kenpachi Zaraki flash-stepped across the desert, Zanpakuto in hand. Mercilessly, the man mowed down any Arrancar fool enough to get in his way. His goal was the girl Orihime, and nothing was going to stop him.
Kenpachi skidded to a halt, sensing a much larger reiatsu in front of him. True enough, a tall figure stood blocking his path, swinging a huge crescent-shaped blade. Behind it, a shorter blonde figure stood ready to assist.
Kenpachi extended his sword, pointing it threateningly at the obstruction. "Wanna die?" he asked tauntingly, face splitting into a feral grin. Yachiru hopped off his shoulder, settling herself safely on a nearby boulder. The figure merely sneered, introducing itself as the Quinta Espada and challenging him to a duel, to which Zaraki readily complied.
Orihime could wait. He wanted a fight.
The Quinta made the first move, aiming straight at Zaraki's heart. The shinigami parried, blocking the blow and retaliating with his own. To his surprise and chagrin, the Arrancar stood unharmed, laughing loudly about having "Hueco Mundo's hardest Hierro."
Inwardly, Zaraki chuckled. Yes, he knew about this one. Before they had split ways, that bastard Mayuri had insisted on giving him the profiles of every damned Espada in the place. Not that he needed it, of course. He suspected the scientist shinigami had just wanted to piss him off.
He was rather glad of the knowledge now, though he was loathe to admit it. The only reason being, of course, that he now knew he was fighting someone tough, violent, and completely batshit crazy.
Just like him.
Kenpachi's grin only widened as he received a large cut, and, instead of crying out in pain, lunged forward to attack. He swung his sword at his opponent's hand, attempting to knock the sword out of the vice-like grip.
And the Arrancar screamed.
Kenpachi stopped, rather taken aback, as the Arrancar dropped the sword and stared, horrified at Zaraki's inflicted blow. Didn't this person supposedly have steel-hard skin? As far as Zaraki could see, he hadn't even left a mark on the skin. No blood at all. If so, why was this nutjob yelling and flailing around and making its fraccion panic?
"YOU IDIOT!" the warrior screamed, pointing an accusing finger. "YOU BROKE IT! YOU TOTALLY BROKE MY NAIL!"
"…what?"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO DO MY NAILS? FRENCH MANICURES TAKE AGES!" the figure screeched in rage. Kenpachi blinked as the Espada stomped off, still fuming, and the little blonde fraccion ran to keep up.
The shinigami watched, dumbfounded, forgetting to shout after the Arrancar about their match. What the hell? What happened to being a ferocious lunatic? Had Kurotsuchi given him wrong information just to screw with him?
Expression darkening, Zaraki turned around, changing direction and seeking out his fellow captain's reiatsu. Zaraki'd teach him to mess around with his chances at a decent fight.
Fucken freakshow was gonna die.
A/N: Well…that's it, really! I really hope I haven't disappointed you with the ending, I think I went and spoiled it. PLUS, I completely forgot to warn y'all that the end was Coming Soon. I'm sorry.
So ends my first attempt at an epic fic, and a huuuuge thank-you and big squishy hug to everyone who read, reviewed, faved, and whatever!
I'm glad to be rid of this fic (who isn't) but I'll miss it in a strange, twisted way. PM or whatever if you have any questions (which you don't but I'm asking anyway because I'm an attention whore).
And lastly, I know the fic is technically over, but as a parting request, please review! I want to know what you think of the ending, and of the fic overall. Tell me what I need to improve on, tell me what you expect from now on, tell me anything! I want to hear it! I have no life!
Right, so that's it for my fic, Poison Pink. I hope you enjoyed it. See you again in my next work!
BananaNutCrunch- OUT.