a/n 1st Jan 2018: Made some minor edits for silly spelling/grammar things Timewaster brought to my attention. note to past self: learn to proofread, you plonk. On a sidenote, reading this over it isn't actually as terrible as I was imagining, which is nice. I was expecting awfulness but it's actually not that bad and I still enjoy the chessboards, even if this whole fic is darker than i remember it :)

Chapter 35: Please forgive my sins

Ulquiorra choked as the blade passed to him, pain tearing through his gut as the blood trickled from the wound in his body, his expression showing nothing but horror for the man in front of him, who was staring at him with cold dead eyes.

"Ah, Aizen... sama. I..." he choked again, coughing and spluttering on his own blood as it trickled down his body and the drops splattered on his face started to cascade down his cheeks and down his neck. All the while the pain tearing its way through his stomach as Aizen shoved the blade further into him, making him whimper in pain, as he had always done in his previous experiences with this man. This man is now causing even more pain than before, now threatening to end his life for something that was apparently wrong, something that was wrong. Something that was evil, and something so beautiful that it should not have been done, because it was Aizen's woman. Because it was stealing, because it was theft.

And Aizen did not like the theft.

"So, you dared to defy me? You dared to take what is not yours?"

"I ... I'm sorry Aizen-sama, I did not know."

"You know I don't like people touching my things, Ulquiorra. I thought you knew that. I guess I will have to be teaching you again."

He pushed the blade further into his body, enjoying the little squirms the pain and torture, and misery of his own creation, playing God as it were. Doing as he wanted. Doing anything he wanted. Doing anything he could, because he had the power to.

The blood continued to trickle down Ulquiorra, staining his white clothes, staining his pale skin, dying every part of him in crimson red colouring until the life began to drain out of him and onto the immaculate white floors of the building that had once been untouched by the dark red colour of blood by its inhabitants.

Aizen let him hang there for a moment, staring directly into his eyes, as the espada tried to breathe oxygen into his lungs, trying to stay alive even though it was futile and pointless. He coughed and spluttered on the blood in his mouth, unable to breathe. His life fading away in front of him, as he looked into the eyes of his master, his father, his creator, the one now looking at him with pure contempt and disgust.

"You, Ulquiorra," Aizen spat, "Are nothing but a dirty, rotten thief."

He listened to Ulquiorra gasp and choke again, before quickly withdrawing the blade, allowing the blood to spray all over him and the floor, dying everything in red.

Ulquiorra looked up at his master, feeling all of the energy drain from him as he looked up at Aizen with heavily lidded eyes, unable to even stay awake for much longer, for he was losing so much blood already. So much so that it was pooling underneath him, but Aizen just looked at him, uncaring. For Ulquiorra had disobeyed him and for that, he would have to pay, that was all there is to it. Because of that, there was a chance that his carefully laid out plan would fail. There was a chance that the child Orihime would bear him would not be his.

"You had better pray that the child she gives birth to is my own, Ulquiorra." he said, stepping over the bleeding body of Ulquiorra before storming off outside still clutching his sword. He did not notice however as he walked down the hall that a pair of eyes were watching him, and following him down the hallway from the shadows. The eyes that were watching his every move only just then noticing the large amount of blood slowly pooling out from under the door. The figure that the eyes belonged to holding its hand over the mouth of another to maintain silence, and to avoid getting caught.

...

Ulquiorra felt his body get weaker and weaker, unable to even move his limbs or even twitch his fingers. He knew that he was dying, he knew that he probably deserved it too. After all he had sinned against the master, and that, to Ulquiorra is the greatest sin of all. To him, it was to betray his God. It was to go against everything he ever knew. Even after all the pain and abuse, Aizen was still like a father to him. And he remembered how he had wanted nothing else than to serve him.

"Pl- please forgive me..."

He did not know how he had strayed so far away, or what had happened to make him so attached to Orihime in the first place, but he did know, now, that it was a sin against his master. Even though he had only wanted to protect her from him, and to stop him abusing her in the same way as he had been abused himself.

"It's all my fault. I... Have disobeyed you, master. Ah, Aizen-sama..."

Ulquiorra then thought that how everything he has ever done in his life had been a sin, and how he had always lived in hiding those things. All of those things that he had suffered, and all of the pain he had received as the remainder of his life emptied from him, and he could no longer keep his eyes open.

"I'm sorry..."

His body went cold, and he could no longer feel anything. The steadily decreasing beating of his heart slowing down more and more blood left his body and his veins. He clenched his teeth as more pain shot through him making him wince in pain before he relaxed completely, letting the darkness claim him as he closed his eyes for one last time, hearing what he thought were voices in his last moments.

...

Footsteps were all that he could hear now as he drifted away into sleep. footsteps and voices. Two people had just come into the room they were talking but he could not hear what they were saying.

"My God... is that Ulquiorra? Oh my goodness, what happened here? Who could have done this?"

This voice... this voice seemed very distressed. It was a soft voice, a quiet voice. It was a voice that he was familiar with, not unlike the other voice in the room.

"Just heal him okay. Just fix him up and you can worry about who did this to him later."

"Yes, okay."

The owner of the first voice got to work quickly, the one whom the voice belonged to do whatever was necessary to fix this current problem. And after a short time, Ulquiorra could feel his arms and legs again. His body was starting to warm, and energy was returned to him through some other force beyond his control and comprehension in his current state. And before long, the espada was able to feel even the very tips of his fingers and could move them again, even though he had no recollection of where he was or what had just happened to him. He opened his eyes slowly, his head still pounding away with a terrible headache as he tried to drag his heavy body up again, still in pain.

"Ugh, where am I?"

"That's good, you're awake!"

This voice ... this voice was familiar to him, he had heard it before many times.

"Ugh... woman?"

Orihime smiled as he opened his eyes to look at her, his vision slowly returned to him and the blurred shapes in front of him began to materialise. Yes, it was Orihime. It was heard that rescued him from the clutches of death, even though she did not have to.

"I'm glad you're alright."

She continued to smile down at him warmly, tenderly almost.

"Oh, thank God!"

The second shape started to appear in the background, and from what Ulquiorra could gather it was a male, with a very distinguishable voice.

"Ichimaru-sama?"

Gin leaned backwards against the wall and sighed deeply. Good, he was alive. This meant that no innocent lives woud be lost tonight, and everything would play out in a way that it was intended. No unecessary casualties. He took a deep breath and let his head rest against the wall. Covering his eyes with his hand for a moment before he spoke again.

"A'ight. I have to go. You two gonna be okay?"

Orihime nodded. "Yes. We'll be fine."

Gin nodded and rose to his feet, a little unsteady. They watched him as he left the room, not even trying to step over the pool of blood on the floor, so that when he walked away he left bloody footprints all over the white floor. He walked quickly, his heart resounding in his chest in worry, fear. In everything else he felt right now. It was quiet, too quiet. Far too quiet for things to be well. Because when things were quiet, they were bad. And he knew that something was definitely wrong. Aizen would never recklessly murder his own followers. Punish yes, but never kill. And now Gin had to find him before Aizen did anything stupid, which he was prone to doing in his current state. It did not take long to find him, his spiritual pressure was leaking out everywhere, so it was relatively easy to find him. He was in the kitchen, rifling through the drawers of cutlery, and looking for a knife.

Gin watched him pull out a relatively small butcher knife and position it above his exposed wrist. His heart lurching.

"No," Gin gasped, then started to scream as he flash stepped over to Aizen's side.

"Don't you dare!" he yelled, grabbing Aizen by the wrists and shoving him up against the wall.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!"

Gin was panting heavily tightly gripping onto his wrists and looking into others confused face, keeping him pinned up against the wall, not wanting him to let him hurt himself with him to keep him from plunging the blade into his veins.

"Drop it." he ordered, not once looking away from Aizen's chocolate coloured eyes as the metal clattered onto the floor. His hands were shaking as he held him, at the thought of what he could do to himself. And the thought of him self harming was more than he could stand, and it and he did not want it to happen again. Not him, not Aizen. Not the man he loved.

Gin swallowed. "I... I love you, can't you see? And I can't watch you do that to yourself, this is just too much for me to..."

Tears were starting to well up in Gin's eyes now, and his lips were quivering. He was almost at breaking point now, but then again it does hurt you inside when someone you love threatens to hurt themselves. It tears you apart.

"Pl- please don't..." Gin sobbed, unable to physically control his own floodgates any more, or his body.

"Pl- please... please..." he begged, silencing any and all forms of protest from his lover by smothering his tongue with his own. Pleading between kisses as he fell into a rather awkward embrace with Aizen against the wall, resting his arms around his neck and leaning against him, not at all willing to leave him on his own again, or even out of his sight. Nor even out of his arms.

"Please don't..."

Aizen let his hands wander onto his lover's waist and took him into his arms, looking into his tear stained face before he returned his kiss. Overcome with the numbness from before from the personality shift.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, hardly able to stand any more as he stumbled forward into Gin, who was trying to hold him up as he collapsed into him, with Gin guiding him onto the floor as he passed out.

"It's okay." Gin soothed quietly, stroking his hair as he sat with Aizen who was lying on the floor, with his head comfortably on Gin's lap as he sat there cross legged with an unconscious Aizen lying next to him, with Gin quietly talking to him and waiting for him to regain consciousness again.

"Everythin's gonna be okay. Jus' get some rest, 'kay?"