I don't own Bleach. blah blah blah

Chapter V

"Damn, I'm really glad nobody lives in the room next to yours," Apache panted after the two of them had been going at it for nearly three hours, "we weren't exactly being quiet."

Zansatsu laughed, "Yeah, and you have some really sharp teeth," he said. His right shoulder was bleeding slightly, and there were several teeth marks on it.

"Oh shut up, you know you liked it," Apache said.

Zansatsu snaked his arm around her and pulled her closer to him, resting his chin on her head. "Just tell me one thing, why me?" she asked.

Zansatsu looked down at her, confused, "What do you mean 'why you'?"

"Oh, come on, there are plenty of other girls around here that are way better looking than I am, so why me?"

"Don't say that about yourself," Zansatsu said, "to me, you blow any other girl here away. Besides, looks aren't everything. I love every little thing about you, your horn, the way your eyes are different colors, your cocky attitude, your gorgeous blue hair, everything."

She raised her head up and locked lips with him. In that instant, the door to Zansatsu's room flew open, and two arrancar fell through the door. It was Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun, and they had obviously just had their ears pressed against the door. They looked up and both looked scarred, grinning sheepishly.

Zansatsu sighed, "Way to kill the mood."

Next to him, he saw Apache turn bright red, and she was fuming with rage. He felt her reiatsu spike as she yelled, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!!? EVER HEARD OF PRIVACY!?" She flew up from the bed and chased the two of them out of the room, still completely naked. "NEXT TIME I SEE YOU TWO, I'M GONNA KICK BOTH YOUR ASSES," she roared at them before slamming the door. She walked back to the bed, and saw Zansatsu staring at her.

"What?" she said

Zansatsu grinned at her, "You're really sexy when you're angry," he said with a laugh. She jumped on top of him, pushing him down as he went to get up, "I get to be on top this time."

Someone knocked on the door. "MILA-ROSE, SUN-SUN, IF THAT'S YOU TWO AGAIN, YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!" Apache yelled at the closed door.

"Oh my, here such a short time and you've already brought a girl back to your room," came Szayel Apporo's voice. Apache went red again. "Aizen-sama wants to see you, right now," Szayel said.

Zansatsu's heart leapt into his throat, "All right, I'll be right there," he called. He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, holding his head in his hands, what was Aizen going to do? Apache crawled over to him, and put her arms around him, "It's okay, I'm sure everything will be fine," she said, "most of the arrancars here hated Yammy anyway."

"Well, nothing can be done about it now, I just have to walk in there, and hope for the best," he said getting up and pulling on his shihakusho. "Well, see you later, I hope."

He bent down and kissed Apache for what he thought may have been the last time, picked up his Zanpakutou, and strode over to the door.

He opened the door to find Szayel leaning against the wall, waiting for him. "All right, let's go," Zansatsu said.

"So, you and Apache, eh?" he said as they walked through the deserted corridors of Las Noches, "I wonder what Halibel would say if she knew you were involved with one of her Fraccion."

Zansatsu didn't like the tone in his voice. "For your information, Halibel knows about the two of us, and is completely fine with it," Zansatsu replied with a hint of annoynce.

"Oh really now," he said in his sarcastic fake-friendly voice, "had I known that Halibel was so lenient about stuff like that, I would've had my way with Apache and the others a long time…" His sentence was cut short by Zansatsu shoving Szayel against the wall, drawing his zanpakutou and pointing it at his throat.

"Finish that sentence, and I'll lop your head off," Zansatsu said through gritted teeth, "you said that Aizen had business with me, so shut the fuck up and take me to him!"

He released Szayel and followed a few steps behind him. Szayel led him to the room where he had been interrogated by Aizen the night he'd arrived in Hueco Mundo. Everything looked exactly the way it did the night he'd arrived. Aizen sat at the end of the long table, Gin to the left, Kaname to the right, and the nine remaining Espada sitting in rows according to their rank. He knelt down on one knee and waited for Aizen to speak.

"So, I understand you have killed Yammy, the tenth Espada," Aizen said. Zansatsu couldn't tell if he was angry or not, his voice had no emotion at all.

"Yes sir," Zansatsu replied.

"May I inquire as to why?" Aizen said.

"He severely beat and nearly killed Apache," Zansatsu said, trying to keep his voice calm, "I couldn't let him get away with that."

Aizen looked over toward Halibel, "Apache is one of your Fraccion, correct?" Aizen asked.

"Yes sir," Halibel replied, "and she was beaten most severely. Without his care, she would have died."

Aizen turned back toward Zansatsu, "I see, the two of you are involved I take it?"

"Yes sir."

"These things don't concern me," Aizen said, "what does concern me however, is that you killed a member of the Espada, a highly useful soldier in my army that I will be in need of during the coming battles."

"That's it, he's gonna have me killed, right here and now," Zansatsu thought to himself, "oh well, I have no regrets. If I die here, that's fine by me."

Apache sat on Zansatsu's bed, worrying more and more as each minute went by. She was sure that Aizen would side with him, and she knew that Halibel would side with him, but if that was the case, what was taking so long? He'd been gone for nearly two hours already. She was about to get up and go to the meeting room herself, when the door opened, and Zansatsu walked in.

"You're okay," she said, running over to him and wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, stroking her blue hair gently. He'd never been so happy to see anyone in his life.

"So what happened, what did Aizen say?" she asked. Zansatsu sat down on the bed, and explained to her what happened. "Well, Halibel siding with me certainly helped. And Aizen said that things would actually work out for the better, because apparently, Yammy had been slacking in training, and was no longer fit to be an Espada. Hell, they've already replaced him."

"Really, with who?" Apache asked.

"That Zommari guy," he said.

"But he's already the seventh Espada," Apache said, "how'd that happen?"

"I guess Aizen wasn't happy with the way Zommari had been performing lately either, so he was demoted to the tenth Espada," Zansatsu replied.

"So have they found a new seventh?" Apache asked.

"Yep," Zansatsu stood up and pulled up the sleeve on his shihakusho, revealing a large number "7" tattooed on his forearm.

Apache stared at the tattoo. She was at a complete loss for words.

"I can't believe they made you an Espada," she said, "the only thing I don't understand, is why did they made you the seventh. Everyone here has seen you fight, and you could easily be the fourth or fifth."

"Aizen said that it would give us a psychological advantage during the coming battle," Zansatsu explained, "everyone in soul society is well aware of my strength, so if during the battle they see that I'm only the seventh Espada, it'll make the rest of them seem that much more formidable."

She considered this, "I suppose that makes sense, but still, that just seems disrespectful, not giving you the rank that you deserve."

"At this point, I'm just happy to still be alive," Zansatsu said. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, pinning her arms above her head and kissing her deeply. "Now what were you saying before we were so rudely interrupted?"

She grinned at him and flipped them over, "I said that I get to be on top."