I dismissed the shinigami on guard duty. They hesitated at the door, all of them aware of my relationship with Gin. I smiled. "I won't break him out. Trust me."

They relaxed and left. I pulled a chair and sat down, facing the cell, three feet away from the kido-reinforced bars. Gin was lying down on the narrow bed, facing the wall. I leaned back against the hard wooden back of the chair, waiting patiently for him to stop pretending.

"I can go on all night, y'know," he drawled lazily.

I chuckled. "I know."

He shifted to look at the ceiling. "So why aren't you telling me to stop acting?"

"You'll stop when you know it's too much," I answered. "Except on the few occasions where I need to shake you out of the character you play."

I studied the curve of his smile. "S'ry it took so long this time."

"You're back to being yourself. That's what matters."

The smile curved wider. "He said he didn't know me, that I wasn't the sweet, compassionate Gin he knew."

I said nothing. He turned his head to grin at me.

"So there are two possibilities here," he said slowly. One knee bent, the white robe falling open to show a lean, smooth leg. "Either he knew an Ichimaru Gin that was entirely fake, or you, Aizen Sousuke, are a bad influence."

"Me?" I raised my brows, totally innocent. "How can I possibly be a bad influence?"

His gaze remained fixed on me, as was the smile on his face. Very slowly he sat up, his silver hair beautifully disheveled. The robe opened a little wider to show more of his thigh and a hint of... then he drew the robe closed. "Shall we count the ways?"

"You'll be stuck at zero," I said as I rubbed my wrists.

He scrunched up his shoulders and the loose robe slid down his arms. He shook out of the sleeves. "Humid night. Sweaty," he explained aloud. "Hotter than usual. We really should get some proper ventilation working down here."

"I agree. It's rather stifling, although I suppose having a strong wind blowing down the hallway isn't a great idea either." My lower lip felt dry and I licked it. Then I folded my arms. "I came for business purposes though."

"Mm?" He slipped off the bed on the far side and made his way to the window. His long fingers traced his path from the bed to the aperture, and then ran over the iron bars. "Get down to it then."

Tnk. Tnk. Tnk. Tnk.

"Tomorrow you'll be released. You'll take over the running of the division while I handle the second search force for the vizards. The search teams will fan out while I wait for information."

He hummed to himself as his fingers fluttered up and down the thick iron bars. "So they're all under me? And who else would you be doing?"

"I'll continue my visit to Urahara's which your return disrupted."

"You were with him?" He half-turned, revealing white, even teeth. "Did you find out?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. It's no longer an educated guess, but a fact." I unfolded my arms, and clasped my fingers instead. "Now to find out where and how."

Gin turned around and leaned on the far wall. We faced each other. His hands stretched up to grasp the bars, and I admired the lithe muscles rippling over his torso. He bore a hungry look. "Are you gonna screw him into the ground?"

"Maybe," I replied diffidently. "We may also end up killing each other. It happens; we rub each other the wrong way half the time."

"Rubbing the wrong way, huh." He flicked his tongue over his lips; I knew I mimicked the action. "I guess your shared history is both a help and a hindrance."

I leaned back in the chair, my legs opening a little wider. His smile became a little secretive, and he angled his torso slightly so the sheen of sweat on his body caught the pale yellow light of the cells. His hands gripped the iron bars and then slid down the wall. He pushed off from the hard surface with a gentle arching of his body.

"Too warm?" I asked politely.

"Mm-hmm. I'm all sticky now." Running his left hand through his hair and mussing it up further, he drew in a long breath through his mouth. I pushed my glasses up; a glint of light flashed across his chest. He sighed. "I do wish he doesn't exist."

"Then what else can we do with our time, hmm?" I inquired.

His reply was to sit on the ground just before me, the thin bars separating us casting thin shadows over him. His robe was bunched at his waist; I sat forward, resting my elbows on my knees. He tilted forward, and now the robe fell open to show an indecent amount of inner thigh.

"We could examine how you can influence an otherwise innocent young man into committing horrible crimes," he whispered with a smile. His left hand wandered up from his knee and into the folds of the robe in his lap.

I let my reiatsu reach out and envelop him. "We could. But since the innocent young man isn't here..."

"I'm sure we can search thoroughly for him." His voice was huskier than before, and his thin, cold reiatsu wrapped about my legs. "I'll even take it off your hands."

"I guess it can be in your capable hands," I exhaled slowly. Not breaking eye contact, I moved my fingers over my lips as I considered. "Along every street, in every crevice... it'll take a very long time, Gin, if you're going with a hands-on approach."

"That's alright," he smirked. "Like I said earlier, I can go on all night."