A/N: Once again, I apologize for my long absence. I've been rather unsatisfied with my own writing lately, so I didn't want to release anything that I felt wasn't quite up to the standard (though whether or not said standard is high is very much debatable). Having said that, I hope you'd still enjoy the chapter. Comments and criticisms are appreciated as usual.

XIV

After he had left the meeting room, Lord Aizen returned to his private quarters where he continued watching the invaders movements with a rather uninterested expression on his face. Standing right behind Aizen's seat was his right-hand man, Ichimaru Gin, who tilted his head as if he was curious about something.

"If it's so boring to watch, then why don't you switch to something else?" the silver-haired man wondered aloud. "Weren't you the one who said that we shouldn't be worried and just let them through?"

"I was," Aizen confirmed. His brown eyes had never left the screen that displayed the group of invaders heading straight towards Las Noches after they had brought down the first fort they encountered. "And I'm not worried. However, I am slightly curious as to why they haven't tried to break in until now. Soul Society might not want to rush things until they are truly ready, but I don't think Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends would abide by their order."

Gin's smile couldn't get any wider when the man turned his attention back to the screen.

"Ah, yes, that's a surprise indeed. I thought they'd rush here right after Orihime-chan disappeared from the face of the earth, but they sure took their sweet time to get here," Gin agreed. "Hueco Mundo can't really be that impenetrable, can it?"

It was unclear even to Aizen if the silver-haired Shinigami thought Hueco Mundo's defense was bad or he thought the Gotei 13 was incompetent, but the brown-haired lord didn't seem to mind either case.

"Which is why I'm curious," Aizen remarked.

The smile on Gin's face became slightly more wicked when he asked, "Are you saying that there are things that don't go according to your plan, Aizen-taichō?"

Aizen responded with a smile.

"Why, Gin? Do you really believe that I am that perfect?"

Ichimaru laughed and replied with a noncommittal, "Well, aren't you?"

Aizen couldn't help feeling as if Gin was trying to provoke him somewhat with that kind of reply, yet his calm facade was still far from dropping.

"Nothing in this world is ever perfect," Aizen stated. "The reason my plan is perceived as perfect is due to the power of suggestion and the fact that it is more convenient for the Shinigami to believe they were outsmarted by a very well thought out than to accept that I was lucky and they were stupid."

Ichimaru responded with another laughed.

"I'm hardly perfect, Gin. There are limits to my abilities," Aizen admitted. "While powerful, my Kyōka Suigetsu isn't perfect either. If you are strong enough, you can sense that something is not right, even though you won't be able to tell exactly what is wrong, and also its power can be nullified if you touch its blade before the complete hypnosis is fully activated."

An expression on Gin's ever so smiling face shifted slightly after he heard such a comment from his leader, but whether Aizen noticed such change or not remained a mystery as the man simply continued:

"If I were perfect, there would be no need to invent something like the Hōgyoku, much less fuse myself with it."

At that point, the smile that always presented itself on Ichimaru's face completely faded.

"With the Hōgyoku fused with me, I can finally break all boundaries and become a perfect being," said Aizen. "Now all I have to do is waiting for the Hōgyoku to be fully awakened."

Although Aizen made it sounded as though it was an everyday occurrence that he shouldn't have concerned himself about, Gin was still astounded by the full disclosure.

"So this is why you tell the Espadas not to make any move yet?" he asked after a long moment. Although he had followed Aizen for long enough to know that the man would do anything to stand above all else, he never thought the man would go so far as to use the Hōgyoku on himself. "Because the power of the Hōgyoku that you fused with yourself has yet to reach its peak?"

"That and because we don't have as many spy cameras in the desert as we do here in Las Noches, so it would be troublesome should I want to observe any fight more closely."

A smile returned to Ichimaru's face although he was still unsure what he should feel about the unexpected development.

"At least now I know there are more points for those hidden cameras than just to watch the Arrancars' daily routines," he commented.

"And there is also a point to making the hallway movable other than to have fun watching some Arrancars getting lost in the middle of the palace," Aizen added casually.

Gin's smile turned slightly more wicked as he stated, "I don't know what you're talking about, taichō. There's no need to manipulate the hallways just for the sake of watching someone getting lost when Las Noches is already built like a maze to begin with."

"I see," Aizen nodded. "So you only manipulated those hallways because you want to do some redecoration."

Ichimaru chuckled but said nothing to either confirm or deny Aizen's statement.

"By the way, taichō, what do you think took them so long to come here?"

Aizen rubbed his chin with his long finger while kept his eyes focused on the screen.

"It might have something to do with Urahara Kisuke," Aizen presumed. "After all, no matter what Soul Society's strategies are, if that man chose not to open the Garganta, they wouldn't be able to do anything but wait until we march into Karakura Town. Why that man chose not to act until now, however, is still unclear to me."

"Ah...he is quite a mysterious case, isn't he?" Gin observed.

"However, it doesn't matter what their reason really is. The fact that they make their way here now means that they believe they are ready to face us, and it makes things more exciting."

Ichimaru nodded in agreement.

"Yes. I can't wait to see how much they've improved over these last couple of months," said the silver-haired Shinigami, "especially that Substitute Shinigami."

"That makes the two of us, Gin," Aizen stated. "In fact, I've got a rather high expectation of him since I found out about his existence, so I hope he won't turn out to be a disappointment."

"So do I, taichō," Ichimaru stated in a slightly more serious tone than usual, "so do I."

As they mentioned him, the face of one Kurosaki Ichigo appeared to be in the focus of the screen yet again, and that time the spy camera remained on the boy rather than to capture the image of the whole group of invaders.

While Aizen and Ichimaru were having their little discussion, the invaders were making their way towards Las Noches. Running in front of the group was an orange-haired Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. Running half a step behind him were the last Quincy, Ishida Uryū; a quiet Mestizo, Sado "Chad" Yasutora; and a red-haired lieutenant of the Sixth Division, Abarai Renji. Falling slightly behind them were the Kuchiki siblings, who were in matching brown mantles, and a grinning Zaraki Kenpachi whose right shoulder was occupied by a certain pink-haired girl, Kusajishi Yachiru.

"Ne Ken-chan, we've been running toward it for hours already, but we still haven't got any closer to it," Yachiru commented from her spot on Kenpachi's shoulder. "Are you sure it's really Ai-chan's hideout and not just his fantasy thingy?"

It was inevitable for Ichigo, Ishida and Chad to put on a stupid expression when they heard Yachiru referred to Aizen as "Ai-chan" and dubbed the man's complete hypnosis "fantasy thingy".

The captain of the Eleventh Division, however, didn't share that surprise when he replied with a flat, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. These kids haven't seen Aizen's shikai, so they would've been able to tell us if we were just tilting at windmills. And what's with that nickname?"

"Huh? But I always called Ai-chan Ai-chan," Yachiru protested. "And why would anyone build a windmill in a place like this?"

Zaraki rolled his eyes. "It's an idiom, brat."

Yachiru huffed. "This isn't fun at all. Why didn't Ura-Ura just send us inside that building, or at least closer to it?"

"Don't complain, brat. It's not like you did any running," Zaraki commented even though deep down he was already sick of running and wanted to get into a real fight already.

"Actually, for once, I believe your lieutenant made a good point."

Much to everyone's surprise the comment came from a certain stoic black-haired captain, Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Urahara Kisuke has taken months to prepare that portal, yet he still sent us to the middle of nowhere. It is almost as if he is deliberately trying to waste more of our time."

Even though he agreed with Byakuya to some degree and thought about going back to slash that sly shop owner for prolonging him from a fun fight, Kenpachi couldn't help himself from saying, "Eh? Don't tell me you can't handle some running, obocchama*?"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes, knowing all too well how Zaraki was meaning to mock him.

"Don't start with me, Zaraki," he warned.

"Or else what?" Kenpachi returned, unfazed. In fact, he sounded rather pleased by the fact that he managed to rile the noble up, and would be more than happy to fight Byakuya even though they were supposed to be on the same team.

Sensing what was going on, everyone opened their mouth slightly as if to try to say something to break the tension between the two captains, but it was Ichigo who managed to act the fastest.

"Man, seriously," Ichigo began. "Why the hell are you guys here again?"

That appeared to be a good question, since Byakuya's eyes left Kenpachi to glare at Ichigo with disdain.

"We should be the one who ask you that question, Kurosaki Ichigo. This war is between Soul Society and Aizen Sōsuke; therefore, it is our duty to defeat him, while you and your friends have no business in being here."

Ichigo gritted his teeth. Somehow, he felt that at that rate they would have to fight amongst themselves before they could fight their enemies.

"Look, I can't care less about Soul Society's feud with Aizen, but the moment he got my friends and my hometown involved, I can't just sit back and say it's none of my business."

Although they didn't say anything, Chad and Ishida both nodded as if to say they agreed with Ichigo's point.

"Heck, I would've been here sooner if Urahara-san hadn't kept insisting that he needed more time to study about a Garganta, though personally, I think he's known how to open the portal all along and just been trolling us."

"Oh, well, the bottom line is we're finally in Hueco Mundo," Rukia finally decided to intercept, "so let's not be too concerned about Urahara and his scheme and just concentrate on getting that fortress."

Renji nodded in agreement.

"You know what, Kuchiki? Your little sister has a point," Zaraki stated. "So let's keep moving, and hope we'll reach to Aizen's headquarters soon so we can finally get some actions started. I'm bored with this endless running already."

With that said, Zaraki sprinted off and led the group for the first time. Since all Shinigami knew that Zaraki was never good with direction, Renji turned to his current captain and asked, "Err... taichō, are you sure it's a good idea to allow Zaraki-taichō to lead?"

Byakuya put on an indifferent look when he replied, "In any other circumstance, I wouldn't have trusted his judgment in direction, but with the destination being seen so clearly, I doubt even a retard could get himself—"

The captain of the Sixth Division didn't manage to finish his sentence when the barbaric captain of the Eleventh Division collided into a big hollow whose whole body was made of sand.

"—a sand Hollow?"

Zaraki's maniacal laugh resounded in the empty cold desert as the Shinigami unsheathed his sword and attacked the new enemies, while the rest of his companions braced themselves for the battle.

"That looks like they won't reach here until another while."

Nnoitra commented after he stopped for a few seconds to look at one of many random TV screens in the hallways that were broadcasting some live updates of the intruders fighting with the Guardian of the White Sands.

Also in that hallway watching the TV with his arm crossed above his chest while leaning slightly against one wall was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, although it seemed the Sexta Espada had made a point to ignore Nnoitra's presence entirely.

"Personally, I don't like the suspense, but you probably don't want them to get here soon, eh, Grimmjow?"

Since it was impossible to continue ignoring the man after he was being directly addressed, Grimmjow replied, "What the fuck are you getting at, Nnoitra? Are you implying that I'm afraid of them?"

"Nah. Don't get me wrong. I kinda 'overheard' that you and Ulquiorra are now dating, so I thought you might wanna spend more lovey-dovey time with the guy than to fight off some stupid invaders."

It was unknown what kind of reaction Nnoitra had expected to see from Grimmjow from saying that sentence, but whatever that was, it was definitely not that the blue-haired Espada would just sigh in resignation and said, "Looks like it's impossible to keep any fucking secret in Las Noches."

Nnoitra blinked and knitted his brows, not quite pleased with Grimmjow's calm response.

"So you're really dating him?"

Grimmjow glared at the higher rank Espada.

"Why? Do you have any fucking problem with that?" he asked. "Weren't you the one who commented that I was in love with him?"

Nnoitra pulled a disbelieved face before he burst out laughing.

"Oh, man, seriously?" the Quinta Espada continued laughing. "Oh, well, does this mean you're gonna swear abstinence from now on?"

"What are you babbling on about?"

"Well, you know, as hard as I try, I can't really imagine Ulquiorra having sex. I mean, it doesn't go well with his holier-than-thou attitude. And haven't you once mentioned something like sex is only good when both parties enjoyed themselves?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes once again.

"I only have three things to say, Nnoitra. One, keep Ulquiorra out of your perverted imagination. Two, don't stick your ugly nose into my love life. And three, if you're just gonna keep spouting nonsense, get the fuck outta my face before I beat your sorry ass."

Nnoitra didn't seem to be scared by Grimmjow's threat. In fact, he seemed to get a kick out of irritating Grimmjow, since he continued laughing.

"Oh, it's good to know that you haven't gone all soft yet," Nnoitra commented. "We have more than enough of weaklings around here already."

A sound of a door being open averted Nnoitra's attention from Grimmjow for a moment before he turned back.

"Anyway, it looks like your new boyfriend is finally out of Pet-sama's room, so I'd better not interrupt you two. Later then, Grimmjow."

With that, Nnoitra walked off while continued laughing on his way.

Ulquiorra had a curious expression when he watched after a certain spoon-like Espada walking down the hallway, laughing hysterically. He then closed the door behind him and turned his head to another direction and saw a moody Grimmjow standing there, muttering a string of curses under his breath.

"Did something happen between you and Nnoitra?"

"Never mind that. He's just being his usual perverted self," Grimmjow stated as he stood up straight. "Anyway, why do you always have to spend a long time in that woman's room? I thought your duty is just to make sure she stays alive until Aizen no longer needs her."

Any other person would have already accused the Sexta Espada of being jealous, which would be correct, but Ulquiorra had probably got no clue about such emotion, since he only replied in his apathetic tone:

"I was letting her know that her friends have finally come to her rescue, and that it is likely that they're not going to make it through to Las Noches alive."

The Sexta Espada raised an eyebrow before he shook his head.

"You know, you can really be such a heartless son of a bitch sometimes, Ulquiorra, and I really can't decide whether I should love or hate that side of yours."

Ulquiorra considered Grimmjow's comment for a moment before he simply ignored the first part of the commented and just replied with, "If it'd be any consolation, there are many things that I can't decide whether I should like or dislike about you as well."

Grimmjow chuckled slightly. The moodiness he had earlier seemed to have disappeared with that comment.

"So what's that woman's reaction? I bet she'd be pretty upset, since you sorta jinxed her friends."

"I didn't jinx anyone. All I did was merely stating my opinion," Ulquiorra pointed. "Oddly enough, I believe I can understand why she would be upset to hear my thought, and I can also see why her friends would come for her even though they didn't know for sure if she is still alive or if she has betrayed them when before I would have said it was purely due to their stupidity."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

"Yes," Ulquiorra nodded. "However, let's not discuss that now."

Ulquiorra then motioned his head to one direction as if to tell Grimmjow that was where he wished to go, so Grimmjow gave him a shrug before he shoved his hands into his hakama pockets and headed towards that direction.

"Anyway, what now?"

Grimmjow blinked twice as the question came without any preamble.

"And by asking me 'what now', you're talking about...?"

"The stage of our relationship," Ulquiorra supplied in a business-like manner. "As you have already known I do not know much about relationship. Normally, I would try to get some information out of the woman, but from the way things are now, I doubt she would be of any help."

"Yeah, well, you can't completely trust her anyway," Grimmjow commented, feeling slightly relieved to know that Ulquiorra wouldn't discuss their relationship with Inoue at least for the time being.

"So?" Ulquiorra asked, bringing the conversation back to the previous subject. "What now?"

"So I guess you can say we're dating," the Sexta Espada replied. "Though, it makes me feel kinda weird. I mean, to be completely honest with you, Ulquiorra, I never really dated anyone."

The Cuarta Espada quirked an eyebrow.

"I thought you're an expert in this kind of matter."

Grimmjow couldn't help smiling at the comment since it almost sounded like a compliment from Ulquiorra's part.

"Ah, well, how can I say this? I may have had my fair share of affairs, but they were never really lasted long enough for me to count anyone as a lover, or at least not according to human's definition," the Sexta Espada explained in all honesty. "I mean, most of time we hit it off: we went to bed together: and then we went our separate ways. And that's that. Of course, there were a few times when the sex was exceptionally great and we decided to stay together afterward, but eventually either of us would get bored of being with the same person for a long time, and when that happened, we just broke it off and started looking for someone new again. I'd say they were all just physical – no lingering attachment."

"Why did you say you wanted me as a lover, then?" Ulquiorra wondered. "It's not because of the sex, I'm sure. I'm not saying that it wasn't good, but I'm sure you've had better."

Grimmjow took a moment to consider Ulquiorra's words. From the man's expression, he believed Ulquiorra only asked that question because he was being his realistic and rational self rather than feeling inferior to Grimmjow's previous flings, and it made it harder for Grimmjow to find a good explanation. If Ulquiorra was feeling inferior to his other sexual partners, Grimmjow could just lie and say that their sex was the greatest even though it wasn't, but since the man was just being rational, he had to find an answer to the question that he couldn't quite answer himself yet.

"It's... kinda complicated," Grimmjow replied. "You see, I can't tell you exactly why. It's just this... thing – this... tingling feeling that I have. Maybe it's because you're different. Or maybe Nnoitra was right for once, and I'm really in love with you."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow as if to tell Grimmjow to explain further.

"Don't ask me to go into detail, Ulquiorra, because I don't really understand either," said the Sexta Espada. "I mean, I always believed that love was nothing more than just a sweet word Human and Shinigami created as an excuse for having sex and a heart was a fancy concept they made up so that they could feel superior to us Hollow and justify their reasons for trying to end our kind. But maybe there's more to it that, and maybe that's why I still want you as my lover when I'd normally lost interest after I slept with that person."

Ulquiorra nodded, and much to Grimmjow's surprise, he remarked, "I suppose in a way that makes sense."

"It does? Coz I don't think I made any sense about it."

"Yes, it does," Ulquiorra confirmed with a nod. "I mean, you said it yourself that it was a concept thought up by human or Shinigami, but when I asked the woman what love was, she couldn't explain it to me properly. So if somehow you ended up having such a feeling, it wouldn't be surprising at all for you not to understand it."

Grimmjow blinked twice. If what he said earlier could be defined as a confession, then Ulquiorra's unruffled reply would have been recorded as the strangest response to a love confession yet. However, since Ulquiorra was Ulquiorra, Grimmjow decided not to dwell on it too much, except for the part where Ulquiorra would talk openly about love and relationship with the human girl.

"Say, Ulquiorra, what exactly is your relationship with the woman?"

"There is no relationship between she and I."

That reply was expected, but Grimmjow still found himself feeling irritated by it regardless.

"But haven't you asked her for advice and opinion from time to time?"

"Only when I view her as a reliable source of information."

"So you're saying that she's just a prisoner and a convenient source of information."

"Yes. Why?"

"Nothing," Grimmjow shrugged. "It's just that sometimes you seem to be awfully close to her."

"It's only because Aizen-sama has placed her in my watch, or I wouldn't have associated with her to begin with," Ulquiorra stated. "Besides, you're the only person I have a personal relationship with."

Grimmjow could feel some heat rising up his face.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Grimmjow said, feeling somewhat stupid. If he were to think about it more carefully, up until recently, Ulquiorra was too socially inept to have any sort of relationship with anyone, and the only reason they had changed from being colleagues who hated each other to the way they were then was due to a little push from that woman. "And I guess I owe it to that woman. Though that doesn't mean that I won't get jealous of her from time to time."

Ulquiorra knitted his brows and turned to study Grimmjow's expression before he asked, "Why would you be jealous of her?"

Grimmjow face-palmed.

"Seriously, Ulquiorra, do I have to spell everything out for you?" Knowing the man, perhaps that was what he had to do. "Let me say this then: when you're in relationship with someone, you kinda expect to be the most important person in that person's eyes, so it's kinda natural for you to get a little jealous when you think that the person was closer to someone else."

Ulquiorra thought about it for a moment before he asked, "Then I'm supposed to feel 'a little jealous' when you're close to someone else; for example, like when earlier when you're discussing something with Nnoitra?"

"You don't need to feel jealous just because I exchanged some death threats with him," Grimmjow said, sighing.

Ulquiorra tilted his head, and his next question made Grimmjow wanted to just bite his tongue and die. "Then when should I be jealous?"

"These things come naturally. If you do, you do. If you don't, then you don't. It's not a requirement or an obligation," was all Grimmjow could say, "so don't force yourself."

"Oh. I see."

The Sexta Espada sighed, and said nothing as he kept walking beside Ulquiorra down the corridor.

"Then what about other things?" Ulquiorra asked. "Like physical contacts. Are there any rules about that or is it something that you do when you feel like?"

Grimmjow turned sharply to look at Ulquiorra. His cyan eyes were a shade darker than normal when he asked, "And if I said there are rules, would you blindly follow them?"

"Probably."

Grimmjow closed his eyes and let out a huge sigh of despair.

"Jeez, Ulquiorra, stop testing my limit already," he said. "I've tricked you into sleeping with me once already, so what makes you think I won't do the same again?"

"Because I trust you, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra stated. "And as for the matter of having sex, you might have seduced me first, but in the end, I was the one who consented it."

"But you might not have if you weren't under an impression that it was a normal thing for friends to do."

Grimmjow's word made Ulquiorra realized that the man still felt more or less guilty about what happened between them and probably thought that Ulquiorra held some grudge over it, when in fact, he didn't.

"Perhaps or perhaps not," Ulquiorra replied noncommittally. "But I suppose this means a physical contact is also something you decide to do by your own free will?"

"Yeah, but your partner has to agree to it, too."

"I see," Ulquiorra nodded before he stopped walking and turned around to look directly into Grimmjow's eyes. "So if I should feel like, for example, kissing you, then I should ask for your permission first?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes and glared darkly at Ulquiorra, "You really are testing my limit, aren't you?"

Ulquiorra furrowed his brows and looked at Grimmjow as if he couldn't understand what the blue-haired Espada was accusing him of.

"Well, I suppose that's a yes, but what if your partner doesn't permit it?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. Even then he wasn't sure if it was tiring or amusing to be in a relationship with someone who was as clueless as Ulquiorra.

"I guess you have to hold yourself back and act like a gentleman or you can always try to seduce the person."

"And how would you seduce them, say if you want to kiss them?"

Grimmjow gave Ulquiorra a peculiar look before he sighed and remarked, "Well, in our case, should you ever want to kiss me, you can go ahead and do it, coz I'm always more than willing, but if you're just asking out of curiosity—"

The rest of Grimmjow's sentence was silenced when Ulquiorra tactlessly pulled his face down for a kiss. The kiss wasn't forceful per se, yet it was enough to make Grimmjow's eyes go wide with surprise for a second before he closed them and returned to kiss with a lot more enthusiasm.

He couldn't quite recall the time when he would get that much excited by a simple kiss, but his heart was beating quite wildly that he feared it could explode at any second. And that kiss from Ulquiorra was no more than a gentle brush of lips.

When they broke the kiss, Ulquiorra was looking at him with half-lidded emerald eyes, and it was then that he remembered that despite how innocent he might have appeared to be Ulquiorra was also a guy, and one who wasn't afraid to express himself at that. The only reason Ulquiorra never actually engaged in any sexual activities in the past was merely because the man wasn't interested in the subject at first, believing it was something pointless and a total waste of time, and not because he was some blushing virgin who saved himself for a special someone. Why Ulquiorra changed his mind about it then was beyond Grimmjow's understanding, but he would thank whatever it was that inspired Ulquiorra to choose him as a partner.

"Ulquiorra?"

"Well, then Grimmjow, I suppose this is where we say good night."

Once again, Ulquiorra's word made him blink with confusion, but to the Sexta Espada's credit, it didn't take him long to realize that they were actually standing in front of Ulquiorra's private quarters and that Ulquiorra had already turned around to open his door.

"Unless, of course, you'd like to come in."

And with that Ulquiorra walked into his room without actually closing the door behind. Though, unexpected, Grimmjow was not going to complain. The task of changing Ulquiorra's perspective on things could take forever, and he was at his limit already. For the time being, he didn't mind being thought of as a very cooperative test subject in Ulquiorra's affectional experiment. Everything else could wait for later.

Somehow he felt he might end up being wrapped around Ulquiorra's little fingers rather than the other way around, but that still didn't stop him from replying:

"Don't mind if I do then."

With that, he followed Ulquiorra in and closed the door behind.

End of Chapter XIV

*Obocchama – young master.