My sword waited as Latrodecta took a few paces back. "Now, Aizen-dono, you know he didn't mean anything by it-"

"I don't know. Let me tell you what I do know." I stalked forward. "I know you owe me Las Noches. I know you allowed this man-whore to enslave you, blind you to my purpose, a purpose to which you had sworn yourself. I was going to make you great, Latrodecta, have you any idea what you threw away?"

She beat the air before her with her first four legs as I advanced, my fury cascading over the two of them. Hesperus stumbled, then recovered. He hissed and then fled in a burst of foul air.

"That," I mocked, "that was your great lover, the one you abandoned me for!"

"Aizen Sousuke!"

I half-turned. Tousen had been swept into the wall, and cracks spiderwebbed from his point of impact against the thick surface.

"Back off, Aizen, or I'll tear out the smooth white throat of your little ass-bitch." Hesperus held Gin in a choke grip, but Gin was calm. He still wore a smile.

I imitated the expression. "Go ahead, Hesperus. I can always find another lover."

"Hesperus?" Latrodecta called out, terrified now as I advanced inexorably. She was quaking. "Hesperus, save me!"

"Ikorose, Shinso." The words were soft but I caught it. With a snarl of pain Hesperus returned to Latrodecta's side. I saw that his collarbone was pierced.

"Bad aim, Gin."

"Sorry 'bout that. His hide's thicker than I thought."

"Not a problem," I said. I incanted again, and out of nowhere a web of red reishi lines, each thicker than my forearm, wrapped about the immense bulk of Latrodecta. She screamed, her voice drawn thin and piteous.

Hesperus tore at the web but cried out in pain as well. His hands smoked. "Let her go!"

"Let me think... no." I said, more polite than ever. "Not until Las Noches is mine. You will clear the others out before you get her back."

He hesitated. Clearly he knew there was no way Latrodecta would be freed in one piece; there was no way I would allow her to roam around in Las Noches once I received it. He wasn't stupid, and he certainly didn't love Latrodecta. I paused, waiting for his decision.

Then Hesperus opened his jaw impossibly wide and tore off Latrodecta's head. Ichor sprayed everywhere and I ducked behind a pillar.

I was impressed. "Very decisive."

He crunched and swallowed, black blood dripping down his front. "At least now she'll always be a part of me."

"And I can now trust you to claim all of Las Noches?" I asked.

"I will. But not for you," he hissed. He was growing in size. I felt the sudden rise in his reiatsu levels. He growled deep in his throat. "Never for you."

"We will see. For now, we will go." I turned on my heel, leaving my back exposed to him. Tousen struggled weakly to his feet. Gin frowned a little, concerned that no one was guarding against the adjuchas. I waited for both of them to precede me out of the gate. At the door I turned around again. He was still beside Latodecta's corpse, and was tearing off chunks of his ex-lover.

I said, "Hesperus, I'll see you in a few months. You have work to do."

"I'll be waiting for you," he replied.

I shut the gate.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Why didn't we kill him?" Tousen asked immediately as we located a small hollow to open a gateway. "He will not be loyal to you."

"No, he will not be loyal to me," I agreed, "but Hesperus harbors delusions of grandeur. He thinks that with his rise in reiatsu he can take Las Noches from all the other adjuchas... and hold it from me."

"He can't?"

"He can win it from the others. That's why he's still alive." I rolled my shoulders, felt them creak from stiffness. "Since I can't wage the war myself, he can fight it for me, and then I'll just kill him."

Gin remained quiet all through Tousen's questions. Finally he spoke. "He'll be even more powerful a few months later, Aizen-sama. I'd say he'll be near vasto lorde standard. It'll be very difficult to defeat him."

"I know," I said quietly. I was prepared the moment I saw him with Latrodecta. His reiatsu had grown more intense since the last time I met him, when he was still a very young adjuchas.

Gin paused as I placed the illusion over both of us again. "Why did you keep the spider around anyway? She was weak."

"She was, but Latrodecta alone out of all the hollows in Hueco Mundo could reproduce. And each of her spawn was the spiritual equivalent of a normal human – and she spawned hundreds at a time."

Slowly, Gin nodded. He understood.

Smart boy.

Tousen left us the moment we emerged in Seireitei. He was meeting Komamura. I often wondered what was beneath Komamura's helmet – what did he have to hide?

I patted Gin on the shoulder before we split up for our own homes. "It was good of you to speak up for me in there, Gin."

"It was nothing, Aizen-sama" He flushed a little, but nonetheless flashed a grin at my praise.

I chuckled. "Now focus on your wedding, Ichimaru."

"Yes taichou."