A/N: Hello again! Hope you all are having a lovely week! A few days late, but, meh.

Oh and btw, the review states that this story has 69 review. 69. Hehe. I'm immature *ashamed. Still! I want to take the time to thank every one of you who reviewed! The more review it has teh more people are more inclined to read my story, so thank you! *bows

(oh, someone asked me to put on chapter summary for every new chapters. Here it is!)

Chapter 17 summary: After rejecting Grimmjow's offer to escape, Ichigo sat alone in a party that Aizen threw for him. He realizes that without Stark or Grimmjow, he is really alone. On the way back to his room, he mentioned this to Kenpachi, but were distracted by Barragan's Coup de tat.

Chapter 18

All the captain of the Gotei 13 all sat entranced by the lovely being sitting next to the captain commander. Their eyes search hungrily across his small body, all trying desperately to take a mental picture. Who would blame them? The boy was beautiful. His skin glowed with an ethereal shimmer, his blue translucent eyes twinkled like a scale from a mystical beast, his small. Everything about the boy inspired worship, and worshipped he was. After all, he was the King.

They were all assembled to watch Barragan's rebellion through the enchanted pool in the middle of the room. Instead all eyes were trained on the King, each one of them worshiping his precious beauty in humble silence. Only Yamamoto and the King paid any attention to the battle going inside, in fact only one of the cared about the outcome of the battle. For the other, it was merely another game of chess to him.

Of course the King noticed the adoring looks, but choose to ignore it in lieu of putting his attention to Barragan's losing battle. It had seemed that he choose to wrong pawn to move. The moldy old bastard was as useful as a sack of flour.

Not one dared to move from their seat, all afraid of distracting the beautiful creature's concentration. Byakuya even made the extra effort of glowering at everyone else who dared to rustle their robes or even breathe too loud. Despite Byakuya's death glare, Kyoraku Shunshui still sighed every time the King made move. The captain was smitten, and everybody in the room knows it.

"Disappointing." The King said, turning away from the battle. "Turn it off. I know a losing battle when I see one." He said, snapping open his fan in irritation.

Kuchiki Byakuya boldly stepped into the pool and shattered the image displayed, happy to stop his King's distress. "Let me be your champion my King." He said, kneeling and bowing his head in utter submission. "I will bring the head of the rebels back before the sun is down."

"No, I'll be your champion." Kyoraku shot up in excitement. He won't be bested by that noble scum.

"No, let me!

"Choose me your highness!"

The King sat back, and smiled. Of course he had better things than to worry about some measly uprising, but he's still happy to see his men clamoring to sacrifice their lives for his honor. He stood up and walk over to Byakuya, smiling down benevolently to the captain.

"You're from the noble house of Byakuya." He stated, his translucent blue eyes appraising Byakuya like one would judge the value of a vase.

"Yes, my Lord." Byakuya replied, his eyes downcast and his body rigid with submission. Such an unlikely posture for a Kuchiki to adopt.

"As expected from you noblemen. Always the first to volunteer." The King giggled, touching Byakuya kensaikan lovingly. Shunshui glowered in jealously and turned his head away, a gesture that the King did not miss. He loved being adored, but the King adored it when conflict arises for his attention.

"It would do me the most pleasure to send you all to Hueco Mundo and crush those rebels down," The King turned and addressed the room. "But I know a certain old man that would be angry if I did, so I won't."

"My Lord," Yamamoto sighed is too damn old to be babysitting royalties.

The King giggled and run towards the old man, settling himself on his lap "I'm just teasing Yama-jisaan." The King said cutely, his legs dangling from the man's lap. When he realized that most of the captains had been reduced into a gaggle of drooling zombies, the King began to grew disinterested. "Sou-taichou, I'm tired." He whined, leaning back against his chest.

Yamamoto caught the hint and quickly dismissed his men. When the captains began to trickle out of the room, Shunshui looked back to catch a glimpse of the beautiful King. "Bye-bye captain-san." The King waved, hiding his face behind his sleeve like a shy little courtesan. Shunshui swallowed hard and quickly strode out of the hall, trying to hide the bulge in his pants with his robes.

When the last of the captain disappeared from the corner, the smile that was playing on the King's lips curled up into a hideous sneer. "Pathetic." He hissed. "An army and still no head on my plate." He said.

Yamamoto Sou-taichou swallowed hard. From experience he knows that it's better to keep silent than to defend himself. He saw what happened to Hisagi Shuhei.

"I hate losing, Sou-taichou." The King said, his fist tightening in anger.

"Your victory will come in due time sire." The old man said, unfurling the small finger before they hurt themselves.

The King tilted his nose up in disgust and slapped his hand away. "I don't want in 'due time.' I want it now!" he demanded like a little child.

And like a little child he stomped away from the man, his robes shimmering for a moment before dissolving in a flash of bright light. Yamamoto stared at the figured, his jaw slack and his eyes opened in fear. His each steps bringing tremors and sends chills down the old man's spine. Real fear comes with the realization that despite your rank, your experience, or your strength, your life still hangs on the hand of another child.

Ichigo sat on a mound of hollow corpses, bare chested with his leg propped on Barragan face. The man has been dead for several minutes now and instead of dissolving into ash, his body had began to putrefied. Looking down at the pathetic feature of his dead face, Ichigo recalled the fierce battle that he just fought and shuddered.

Even with his mask on, the battle against Barragan was still a fight against his life. He could feel his hollow mask almost cracking under the pressure of Barragan's power. For a moment, Ichigo was not sure whether he could contain his hollow self. The amount of blood lust and violent urges fighting inside of him was astoundingly frightening. Hichigo was dying to come out and, as much as he hate to admit it, it scares him.

Though his internal battle with himself left him staggering, his physical injuries was not one to be taken lightly either. He had endured a number of serious injuries. A large gash ran down his left arm, and he was sure that one or two of his ribs are broken. Ichigo gasped and laughed quietly. Why is it victory has always have to be so painful? In every battle that he ever faced, he always had his chest painted red and his skin flowering with bruises. It was tiring. Bones can only be broken so much times.

Ichigo sat motionless as a small green haired fraccion approached him, bandages overflowing her arms."Ichi, I found some bandages." She said, holding the pieces of cloth out to him.

Ichigo smiled and moved his left arm, making it known that he wanted her to fix his wound. Lin quickly scampered to his side and began dressing his wound, taking the time to dab the surrounding area with her spit.

"Sorry, I couldn't find any alcohol." She mumbled, hiding her face from Ichigo. He thought he could see a pink tinge on her cheeks.

"Heh, figures. They must've drunk it all at the party." He chuckled.

They both fell silence as they fell into their respective roles as doctor and patient. But after a while, even Lin's curiosity got the better of her .

"Did you really kill him by yourself?" She asked, he lime green eyes looking up at him, wide as saucers.

A wave of recognition hit Ichigo as the arrancar asked him innocently. "Yeah." He sighed, trying to not remember his sisters. "I did."

"Whoa." Lin replied. "You're strong." She said, admiration evident in her voice.

"I guess." Ichigo responded reluctantly. "But there are plenty of other strong people here. Like Aizen. Or Stark."

"Aizen is stupid." Lin rumbled childishly. "He always wanted to have meetings, meetings, meetings. And Stark only sleeps."

Ichigo laughed at the truth, groaning as his ribs slid against one another as he breathe. He pulled away from the girls and cradled his sides. "Ow... dammit." He said , trying to not breathe in so deeply. When he move, he could feel the brittle bones grind against each other, threathening to smash themselves into splinters. The little girls came over to his side worriedly

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong? Ichi?" She pulled his hand up and tried to inspect his wound, succeeding only to move Ichigo and making his wound worse.

"Ow! Fuckfuckfuck!" Ichigo cursed.

"Lilynette!" Ichigo ears perked up at a sound of a familiar voice, but when he see that it was Stark, he began to shrunk back in embarrassment. Stark arrived right next to him, gasping for breath as he made sense of a hurting Ichigo and a guilty looking Lin.

"What did you do?" Stark growled, his voice taking on a seriousness that Ichigo never heard before.

"No- I didn't do anything!" She protested back. Stark ignored her shrill protest and kneeled next to Ichigo, trying to coax the boy to show him his wound.

"But.. But I'm not wearing any clothes..." the boy protested weakly, his face blushing as he remembered their kiss. He curled himself away from Strarrk, shielding his chest and face from him.

"This is not the time to be modest." Stark reprimanded him sharply, his voice become harsh with urgency. Ichigo flinched but still maintained his armadillo pose, clutching his side and whimpering in pain. With an exparated sigh Stark leaned in and tousled Ichigo's matted hair. It won't do him much good to scare the boy. "Then could you tell me where it hurt?" he asked patiently.

"My ribs.. I think." He moaned out.

"I can fix it, if you want." Stark said gently, pulling on the boy's shoulder. Ichigo bit his lips and contemplated it for a bit, but the pain in his chest was just too much. "O..okay." He agreed reluctantly, lifting his arm to give Stark some access.

Stark stared at Lilynette silently and nodded at her. It was time. The girls nodded in understanding and closed her eyes, her body suddenly glowing with a warm blue reiatsu. With a grateful nod, Stark put his hand through Lilynette's body and pulled it out, his fingers clutching a small flickering light.

"This is going to hurt, okay?" Stark said kindly.

Before Ichigo said anything, a blinding pain came over his body and shook his entire body in white hot fire. The last thing that he saw before he pass out was Stark's kind smile and the dissolving figure behind him. In that small second he suddenly felt very lonely, then the world was dark.

Aizen grimaced as he sat up on his bed, reaching up for a glass of water. "Aizen-taichou," Kira protested and pushed Aizen back to the bed. "You're bleeding again." He sighed and put some pressure on the man's wound. Away from the battle, Gin assigned Kira to be on medical. At first, the blond thought that his taichou underestimated his power, but when Gin took a cero cannon to protect him, Kira quickly don on his apron and ran to his taichou side. Without protest.

Now, he is working on Aizen Sousuke, a man that he vowed to kill. On Aizen's chest lay a large scar that ran from his left shoulder to his navel, his organs almost exposed. He never sustained such an injury before. Aizen only took his eyes off his opponent for a while, distracted by Ichigo's battle cry, and Zommari and Halibel's managed to land a critical hit on him. Of course he managed to fend them off, but without the Hogyoku, his injuries proved to more serious that he had initially thought.

He was not the only one bearing battle scars. Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Stark, Gin, and even Telsa all were injured critically. Tousen lost his sword, Yumichika's eyes is all torn up, and the only building left standing was Apporo's lab, which no one wanted to even come near to. Who knows what crazy shit that mad scientist had over there. They may won over the coup, but the price they paid was crippling the whole group. Aizen does not only lost half of his manpower, but his men are mostly damaged and weak.

It was not a good day for Aizen Sousuke.

"Yo! Old men! Move over for the conquering hero!" a loud scuffle and a heavy 'thud' was heard from outside the tent. Aizen groaned and opened his eyes, looking straight into Barragan's dead glossy eyes. He weakly raised his eyes and met was met with Ichigo's, raising his eyes arrogantly.

"Told ya I would be good for you." He said smugly.

Aizen ignored the head of the deserter and stood up, taking Ichigo's hand and guiding him down. "Tend to my wounds" he demanded, tiredly leaning back and dismissing Kira. The shinigami scurried out to call on the others.

"No." Ichigo said defiantly, adrenalin still coursing through his veins. But a sharp look from Aizen was enough to bring the conquering hero to his knees, wiping white cotton balls around Aizen's large wound. Of course he did it so with enough grumbling, just enough to make Aizen believe his fake irritation.

"You have no idea how worried I was." Aizen whispered under his raspy breath, his eyes never leaving Ichigo's. The boy swore he could see something flickered behind Aizen's eyes. When Ichigo ignored his words, Aizen lifted his finger and brushed a stand of hair away from his eyes. "The thought of you dead..." he trailed, his jaw tightening as Ichigo pushed a little harder than he intended.

"Oh please." Ichigo scoffed. "Like that old rhino can kill me that easily." He turned the conversation away, uncomfortable at this vulnerable and sensitive Aizen he had in front of him.

Aizen frowned. He doesn't like this. Ichigo should be trembling at the proximity of their skin. His eyes should be aflame with desire, his touch needy and urgent. The boy should be fawning over him and he is simply isn't.

"Sousuke. Call me Sousuke." Aizen commanded, turning Ichigo's jaw towards him. Ichigo defiant eyes met his. "You're too important for me to lose." He said quietly.

"Glad to know that I'm a useful piece on your chess game, Sousuke" Ichigo spat out his name, trying to force the anger into his words. Aizen gave his trademark smirk, which Ichigo respond by pushing a cotton of ball really hard onto the man's cut.

Aizen winced, grabbing Ichigo's wrist to make him look him in the eye, but mostly to make him stop hurting him. "You're not just a simple pawn. You're my queen." He said seriously, hissing from the pain. Ichigo simply rolled his eyes. He discarded the bloody cotton ball, grabbed a clean bandage, and began dabbing at Aizen's lips.

"Did you hear me Ichigo? The queen is the most important piece in the board." Aizen reasoned, leaning closer into Ichigo's face.

"It's not. The king is the most important pi-"

"Fine. The king then." Aizen said. "Mine." He whispered against Ichigo's fingers, his eyes fluttering to a close.

For a moment, he thought he saw a flicker of emotion behind Ichigo's brown eyes. But before the boy could face him, Tousen entered the tent and threw some golden plates onto the floor with a flourish, making Ichigo jump away from him.

"It's the King." He said, his deep voice promising hell and vengeance. "These gold were stamped with the royal seal. It's him."

"But now we have his money!" Grimmjow shouted out victoriously, pumping his fist up into the air and wincing in pain. Ulquiorra came in, purposely jabbing Grimmjow with his crutches to make room. Ukitake followed suit, chastising the man like someone would tell off a child. Ulquiorra nodded obediently at his every word.

"We can finally buy that electron transmorphograph that we needed." Apporo followed suit, not even skipping a beat. "You know, for research." He shrugged. The man looked clean and uninjured.

Ichigo looked at Apporo, disgust clearly written on his face. "No!" He protested. "It's dity money. It brings bad luck." He said, turning to Aizen to plead withy his eyes.

"How superstitious." Apporo scoffed, huffing angrily.

"It's not." said Ichigo. "It's a matter of principles. We can survive a rebellion and we'll survive it without the King's money." He shot back. " We should melt it and send it back to the old fucker, like a piece of scrap metal. That'll teach him." He said, mischievousness filling his eyes with glee.

Slowly the tent began to filled with the surviving espada, all broken up badly and all looked at Aizen expectantly. Aizen felt the weight of their dependence hanging on his shoulder, but amongst the tired, uncertain looks, Ichigo's gaze was steady and true. Aizen smirked at Ichigo fondly, happy that the boy was here with him.

"Ichigo is right." He said tiredly, lifting his finger to his espada's general direction. "Don't complain Apporo. I'm not in the mood to argue. Just do it." Pink haired espada narrowed his eyes but nodded obediently.

"Fine. Then the retaliation attack..."

"We can't." Aizen said, groaning as he sat back up on his bed. "We are all too damaged to try anything. I won't risk it. It's time to re-group and rebuild."

The camp fell silent, the gathered espada looking disappointed at the news. All their tactics before this was to attack, attack, and attack. To hear Aizen back down and told him to regroup was humiliating. Grimmjow especially looked like he wanted to kill someone

Aizen could felt the tension in the room and sighed. "...unless we get the Hogyoku back."

"What?"

"With the Hogyoku, I could raise up another army of espada," he said looking at everyone pointedly. "One that is devoid of personality. One that won't not rebel. Of course a flat, two dimensional killing machine has it's drawback, taking the recent activity into account, it seems like the best way to defend ourselves." Aizen sighed and rubbed his forehead. "What?"

Everyone had their jaw slack open, but only one dared to slap Aizen on the thigh and screamed at him. "Why did you took it back then!" Ichigo bellowed at the man " Sousuke!" he grabbed his hair in exasperation.

"My plan was flawless." Aizen said curtly, chuckling when he saw how irritated the boy is. Ichigo did care, he thought.

"Yeah, until someone exposed a flaw in it!" Ichigo pointed, huffing in irritation.

Tousen had already went into analysis mode, thinking up and drafting up a plan. "All of our shinigami is badly injured, so the only choice that we have is our espada. Sending more than one espada will trigger's Sereitei's newly tightened radar... but only sending a lone agent would be a suicide..." Tousen said, retelling the things that Aizen had already know.

"Then trigger their motherfucking radar! We need an army, now! Before they attack us!"

"I will not risk my men when they are injured."

"But Sousuke..." Ichigo protested.

"Aizen-sama I will be-" Ulquiorra was cut off, coughing blood into his hand.

"I will NOT," Aizen said looking straight into Ulquiorra eyes. "send you just to die. No one here will be ordered to end their lives for a meaningless farce."

The room fell into silence, all marveling at the authority the injured man has. Gin shuffled forward, his arms heavily bandaged, blood trickling from the band on his head."I should've stayed back, ne taichou?" Gin said weakly, kneeling next to his lord while laughing morosely. Everyone in the room looked away from the intimate gesture. On the back, someone cursed and sniffled in frustration. To see such a powerful man brought to his knees like that broke the warrior spirit in them.

Aizen smiled in gratitude and held Gin's shoulder warmly. "It was my own miscalculation." He said quietly.

"It was. You insisted that that I was your only Lieutenant." Gin smiled, teasing him and drawing out an amused chuckle.

"That you are."

"Um, sorry to barge in on your bro-fest but," Ichigo quipped up "with no defense, we're sitting ducks here!" Ichigo threw his hand up in frustration. Was he the only one listening there. Aizen gave his boy a reassuring smile and laughed.

"We'll make do Kurosaki." Aizen said. "We always do." He said, looking over his men proudly. Ulquiorra tilted his head in submission, Apporo rolled his eyes, Grimmjow scoffed like he always did, Tousen nodded, and Gin's cunning smile spread across his face. Yes, they will survive. They may have be beaten, but they're not broken. Until the throne is bathed in the blood of the tyrant, they will not stop. And by God, they will succeed or they will all die trying.

"Why the hell are you so damn happy?" Grimmjow scowled at Ichigo, groaning as the boy moved a little fast for his liking.

"Oh you're just mad cuz I beat Barragan's ass after he kicked yours." Ichigo laughed out loud, holding Grimmjow's arm tighter so he wouldn't slip. He had the espada's hand around his shoulder, half carrying Grimmjow out of the tent. That damn Ulquiorra wouldnt stop stabbing his leg with the crutches.

Grimmjow remembered the battle. He was fighting against Barragan, his head almost smahed into the concrete, and his reiatsu was drained by the monster's power. Out of nowhere Ichigo appeared and managed to stave off the attacks. His last memory was Ichigo putting on his hollow mask, a horrific technique that managed to knock him out just from sheer power. "Pfft." Grimmjow scoffed. "I just weaken his ass for you." He scowled, trying to save some of his pride left.

"Whatever."

They chuckled and settled onto a small lovely hill overlooking the makeshift camp, Ichigo leaning back on his elbows and Grimmjow with his head on Ichigo's lap. After the battle their previous spat seemed so trivial, so immature. They both still haven't abandoned their position on the issue of course, but now, they merely wanted to savor the silence in the middle of this turbulent storm.

The broken ceiling of Las Noches gave the world a partial sky, half filled with the night sky and half filled with Aizen's artificial sun. It was eerily haunting, like the sky each took sides as the forces inside them struggled and battled for power.

"Where's Stark?" Ichigo suddenly said, rubbing his chest and remembering that warm blue glow that he had when he woke up.

"Digging graves." Grimmjow answered sourly. Here he is, laying on Ichigo's lap, and what they wanted to talk about what that stupid mutt.

"Graves? For who?"

"The espada."

"But..." Ichigo protested. "They just stabbed us in the back!"

"Yeah well, Stark loved his friends."

Those word caught Ichigo straight on the heart, smarting it painfully with guilt. Ichigo knew that unlike most espada, Stark cared about hiss comrades. while Szayel was preoccupied with his experiments, and Nnoitra with his fighting, Stark was just floating around looking for a companion. Amongst the cowering and shivering arrancar, stood him, a boy that could stand proudly with an equal power. He was Stark's friend, the cure to his ever present loneliness. His presence gave him what the man want, what the man needed. And yet, because of one stupid kiss he has deprived Stark of his most basic need.

The man must be broken.

"I need to thank him." Ichigo said quickly, nudging Grimmjow off his lap. "He saved my life."

"Thank him latter." Grimmjow said, rolling his eyes in jealousy. "Stay." He said, puling Ichigo down with him. "For me?"

Ichigo looked down and found that he could never say no to Grimmjow, someone who has touched him more than his friend ever could. "... Okay. For you."

They both settled into the sand, letting the wind lul them into a peaceful slumber. When Grimmjow's breathing becomes steady and the lines on his face soften, Ichigo crept slowly from underneath him, tip toeing away from the man. But Grimmjow was no ordinary espada, for when he felt sand underneath his head, his eyes snapped open in irritation.

"Hey! You said you'll stay!" he shouted out to Ichigo.

"Oh stop being so clingy! I'll be back soon." Ichigo chuckled and avoided Grimmjow's groping hand, running away from him with a victorious laughter.

Ichigo found Stark on the edge of the wall, kneeling on his hand and knees as he dig a fresh hole next to a row of graveyard. Five of them looked new. Ichigo knew that underneath those tombstones, Stark had buried the remains of his comrades. Beside him lay a bundle of sheets, stained with blood. Must be the body of an espada. Or what's left of them anyway.

Putting the gruesome image from his mind, Ichigo shook his head and decided to take the first step."Hey." He called, his usual confident voice tentative and timid.

Stark eyes widened, recognizing the voice instantly."Oh, hey." He replied, continuing his work, unable to turn himself to face the boy.

After a minute or so of uncomfortable silence, Stark relented and turned to Ichigo. "How's your rib?" he sighed, scratching his head and looking off to the side.

"Better. Thanks." Ichigo replied, casting his eyes to the ground. It seems that neither of them wont even look at each other. The boy sighed, kicking a dust of sand into the air. Looks like this would be harder than he thought.

"I heard you're the hero."

"Please spare me the elation."

"but you're strong."

"So are you."

"No." Stark shook his head. "Different. You're strength is built into your bones. Ours, we have to kill and eat our strength." He looked away and began digging again. "We always ended up alone." He said, staring longingly to the rows of gravestones. The sand he held on his hand began to escaped in soft steady wisp.

Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and sighed, jumping down to the hole and began digging the hole. The man stared at Ichigo, surprised to see that after weeks od avoiding him, Ichigo is willing to stand next to him and dig. He smiled gratefully to Ichigo, to which the boy responded with a grouchy, 'Keep digging.'

"Hey, you're not going to treat me differently right?

"Of course not. I love-"

"I know."

"But you don't-"

"I don't…" Ichigo sighed. "I don't know."

Silence.

"But what I do know is that when you die, I will be very sad."

Stark smiled.

"That's good enough for me."

When the last of the sand covered the hole, the two collapse against each other, back to back, shivering from the cold Hueco Mundo Air.

"Hey, I'm sorry about-" Stark started

"Yeah, me too." Ichigo finished, drawing in a sharp intake of breath. The two sat together, their bond strengthening. Tomorrow they would wake up, go about their day and forget about all the awkward memory of the kiss. Ichigo smiled at that possibility, happy to know that as he stepped into the future, no more ill wills shall be involved. However, his smile disappeared when he surveyed the line of the newly dug graves. "Stark?"

"Yes?"

"There were only 5 espada... why do you have 6 stones- shit." Ichigo covered his mouth, horrified. "Nnoitra?"

Stark chuckled and shook his head. "He's alive. Still fighting with Kenpachi."

Visibly sighed and slumped back against Stark's strong hard shoulder."Oh... figures.. those crazy fuckers.." he laughed. "So whose grave is that?"

Stark shook his head. "No one you know well."

"Not an espada?"

"No. Just an arrancar." He brushed it off.

"Wow. You must respect him a lot."

"Her. It's a her." Stark corrected him, his voice coming off sharper than he wanted. "I respect everyone of them. They're my first comrade."

"If you hold them in such high regards... why didn't you joined them? In the coup I mean." he asked.

Stark gave a hearty laugh. "How can I willingly join them, only to kill you?" he said, leaning his head back against Ichigo's, his brown curls falling like a curtain around Ichigo's face.

Ichigo blushed. "Silly puppy." He growled, hiding his face behind his knees.

Stark leaned down and rest his head against Ichigo's."I am." He said, a large dopey smile playing on his lips, chuckling as Ichigo growled in embarrassment.

Stark couldn't wait. He sat up and turned Ichigo to face him. "I'm really sorry for the kiss." He said in a serious tone, looking at Ichigo guiltily.

"We went over this, its fine!" Ichigo insisted, punching the man on the shoulder lightly. He much rather forget the awkward conversation already.

"Yeah. Sorry." Stark said nervously. With a determined look, he leaned down to kiss the Ichigo's soft pouty lips.

Before he could capture the tempting lips of his, Ichigo pushed him back, his eyes a storm of anger. "Just this once." He said, guilt tingling his voice.

Stark nodded eagerly, taking Ichigo's face into his hand and touched their lips softly. This time, his lips were not forceful or harsh. The tenderness almost overwhelmed him. Stark's searching tongue met Ichigo's, touching and dancing against each other in tentative passion.

"Mmh..." Ichigo moaned into the kiss, enjoying it more than he wanted. He pulled Stark down and rolled him to his back, taking over the kiss. "Only this once?" Stark asked, half teasing the boy, his cheek streaked with dirt. Ichigo ignored the playful remark and force his lips upon him, taking control of the kiss. They both held each other tightly, hand running against each other frantically. Ichigo moaned his name, making Stark's hardening member twitch and drool inside his pants.

Unbeknownst to the two, the number six espada watched the them with cold dead eyes. His hand forming a tight fist, his teeth gritted in anger.

Then he ran.

He ran despite the wound on his stomach. He ran past the bewildered on looker, knocking over boxes and chairs, probably hurting himself in the process. He ran and ran and didn't stop until he was in front of Aizen, gasping for breath, and pleading him with desperate voice.

"Choose me!" Grimmjow heaved. "I'll bring back your Hogyoku!" He said, hitting his chest with his fist. "Please!" he wheezed out.

Aizen arched his eyebrow is surprise. He had always disliked Grimmjow, and since Ichigo's arrival, his distaste for the arrancar skyrocketed. Now he is given the opportunity to both eliminate his competition and to recover his Hogyoku. For once he didn't scheme and God everything into his lap. Life was good.

Aizen sighed, titled his head up, and smiled.

"Excellent."

Please feed the plot bunnies with your review carrots. They need it to survive. Nom nom nom.

ps: did you know that if you eat a large amount of carrot your poop would have a tinge of orange? Food for tought.

Or should I say digested food?

*ba dum tsss

Yeah I know. I'm not funny. *sulks