"Captain Aizen!" Toshiro declared in surprise, the moment he pulled open the front door. He couldn't remember his father's former captain ever visiting his house before, not that he wasn't glad to see the captain. He really thought the worst thing about his father becoming captain of the Third was the fact that he no longer got to visit with Aizen a few times a month.
"Hello, Toshiro-kun," Aizen said, smiling down at the boy. "Is your father home?"
"Yeah, but Mom isn't. Dad probably did something again, and she's not going to come home till she's REALLY, REALLY DRUNK!" he shouted the last bit down the hall for his father's benefit.
Gin immediately appeared in the hall. "Home al-" he broke off, seeing Aizen in the entry, and the smile on his face faded.
He bowed politely. "Good evening, Captain Aizen," he said.
Aizen smiled. "No need to be so formal, Gin-kun. We are equals now, are we not?"
Gin's smile returned. "Of course, old habits-come in, sir. Shiro must have told you Rangiku isn't here, and I'm afraid Kinta isn't either. It's just the two of us, but you are welcome to join us. Shiro was just showing me how he can make better tea than I can-why don't you go finish up, Shiro?"
Toshiro rolled his eyes and stalked off to the kitchen in annoyance. He could tell when he was being gotten rid of. Sure, he'd been telling his father he made awful tea and even Toshiro could do better, but he hadn't been offering.
Gin led Aizen to his office which was the only room that remained neat on a daily basis. It was unfortunate that he had to lead Aizen past several open doors first, displaying rooms cluttered with toys, books, clothing, and food. Aizen would chose to visit the day before he intended to assign a few victims to clean the house-he really had to thank Miyako for that sometime.
"It looks like you all have adjusted to the new house very well," Aizen said, kindly. "It feels very comfortable here. It's become a happy family home, not simply a captain's residence."
Gin hid the flinch at that comment behind a smile. Aizen was guessing far too much simply by looking at the house. "Ran's a terrible housekeeper. I make my division members clean up from time to time-it's so much fun watching Kuchiki's second cousin scrub the bath, but I can't keep up with Ran and the kids. I'm thinking about setting up a rotation, just random enough that they're sure I'm picking certain people on purpose, and they all waste hours trying to figure out how to get out of it."
He opened the door to his office and ushered Aizen inside. The office was, as always, immaculate. There was no sign of anything personal, not a photo or even a book that you wouldn't have found in every other captain's office. In fact they had all been the property of the previous captain, and Gin had only removed books that might have held special interest to that captain. He had not added a thing. The office was just like his smile, completely unreadable.
"I was very concerned when you didn't show up this afternoon," Aizen said as he sat in a comfortable leather chair in front of the desk.
Gin's smile only grew and he said, "Oops," doing his best not to give away the fact that, until the moment he saw Aizen in his home, he had completely forgotten they were meeting today.
Entirely missing a meeting was a first, but under normal circumstances Aizen probably would have disregarded it. Gin had made an art of being undependable and irritating at all times. That included his interactions within their conspiracy. Aizen had never quite decided if it was simply a personality trait or if it was a part Gin had adopted for his benefit as well as for the rest of the Gotei. It was one of many things that made Gin more interesting than the average shinigami. But today he had slipped up. It was a little too obvious that Rangiku had distracted him from his duty.
Despite his really impressive performances, ignoring and disregarding his wife and family and any needs they might have, she had upset him. Stopping her had been reasonable, whatever his actual feelings were for the woman. He would be stuck with raising the boys on his own if something happened to her, and that would clearly be worth any amount of effort to avoid, but missing the meeting afterwards? Gin had very clearly been upset himself at having upset Rangiku. "It was wise of you to stop dear Rangiku," Aizen said. "There's no telling what kind of trouble she might have gotten herself into."
"I must say I am impressed, Gin-kun," he added. "I never expected you to take to married life as you have done. You've become quite the family man, looking after the wife and children. One might have to call you responsible."
"Now you're just picking on me, sir!" Gin protested. "I haven't done anything to deserve that!"
Aizen smiled thoughtfully at Gin's childish protest, and wondered as he often did what Gin's family actually meant to him. "You were the most ambitious child I have ever met," he said, softly. "It is quite the surprise to find that in the end you are content with the most ordinary of lives. I have always heard that having a family changes a man; I should not be surprised to find that it is true."
"Changed?" Gin said, still smiling. "I suppose I have gotten comfortable in this little life. Who would complain about taking Rangiku to bed every night? And I do enjoy watching all my little squad members scurry about trying to keep me happy. But I don't change. As long as there is greater power to be grasped, I will do anything to attain it-but that's our deal, isn't it, Captain Aizen? You will lead the way to the ultimate power."
Aizen smiled, trying to read behind Gin's smiling mask. The hunger was real; he was certain of that. Years of watching the boy grow into a man had confirmed that Gin was driven by a constant hunger, but whether it was really power he sought or something else Aizen was never sure. It was part of the fascinating puzzle that was Gin. From the day the boy had, smiling, admitted to killing a senior officer just to take his place, and Aizen had read Gin's intention to kill him too in those smiling, slitted eyes, he had known Gin would be the most entertaining of slaves. His only frustration was in how little he had learned of Gin in all the years that had passed. After all these years he could still not even say why Gin wanted him dead.
"Hey, Dad, open the door!" Toshiro shouted through the closed door, and Gin hopped up to let the boy in, carrying a tea tray and grumbling about how annoying the closed door had been.
"Toshiro-kun," Aizen said, as he took an offered cup. "It has been too long since you have visited the Fifth. I think you must have grown an inch since I last saw you." And with that one statement Aizen regained his status as one of Toshiro's favorite adults.