Wow. Here goes an update.
The door leading to the ornate chamber cracked open slightly and a lean silhouette slid inside without a word. Gin did not announce his presence right away, as he had a habit of keeping himself hidden for as long as he saw fit or until his captain had made it known that he has eyes all around his head and nothing can get past him undetected.
Out of sheer curiosity, as Gin again tended to do, he waltzed into Aizen's private area after he had noticed Ulquoirra hurrying away from the only place where no hollow was permitted to visit without their master's strict permission. Of course Ulquiorra's presence in such a place could mean only one thing; Orihime had been summoned by the highest power of Hueco Mundo, which meant that something interesting was probably about to stir and he wanted to gain some insight.
He took a few steps closer to the place where he felt his captain's reiatsu was most dense. Orihime's signature appeared to be so close to him that it was barely recognizable. Gin had a hard time fighting an urge to open his eyes and take a peek at what could possibly be transpiring between the two but as he slowly crept forward. His foot kicked something not very large in size, yet it was not small also. Aizen seemed not to pay attention to the sound which had resonated through the chamber; surely he must have been aware that his subordinate was here. The Lord could always tell when his chambers weren't completely deserted, no matter how well his visitors managed to hide.
Ichimaru bend down and picked up the object. While he was turning it around curiously he became quite perplexed by the realisation that he was holding a handle of his master's, now bladeless, sword. It was so odd. At once his guard went up and he prepared himself to fight if there came a need for it. He took another step forward hoping to catch his captain at doing something shameful but Aizen's voice had stalled his actions.
"It is rude to walk into people's homes without knocking, Gin."
A chill ran up his spine and for a moment he found himself unable to respond which made the situation even more abnormal.
Suddenly, he wished that he hadn't decided to visit.
He was aware of Aizen's incredible power and intelligence but he had never felt any irrational fear building up in him when they were interacting in any way. It was quite the opposite, whenever they met he had felt a small surge of excitement coming over him. Standing close to such monstrosity and even conspiring against it made his life a little more interesting, now however, none of such feelings had resurfaced. There was only cold anxiety and a nagging need to flee.
"I saw Ulquiorra scurryin' off. Thought I might drop by." Gin answered truthfully. He preferred not to lie until he really had to, one wrong move would give his master an excuse to cut him down. No matter how fond Aizen seemed to be of his lieutenant, it would be foolish of him to believe that his facade held any sincerity in it.
"Perhaps you did, but I don't remember you knocking."
"You know how I am. I didn't want to disturb your fun."
"Fun… " Aizen trailed off and looked down at Orihime slumped against him. Brown eyes momentarily clouded over while a rush of thought seemed to pass through his mind. Then they snapped back to the silver haired man and seized him. Their owner obviously considering something he would not say. "Why, yes. We are having a lot of fun these days. Aren't we?" A sinister smile appeared on the former captain's lips before continuing. "Perhaps you could take a part in it. Some day?"
At these words the treacherous lieutenant scowled. A game was being orchestrated behind these words and under any other circumstances he would let himself play along for the fun of satisfying his own curiosity and a gleeful feeling of overcoming one of his masters many psychological warfare sessions which he so loved to set up between the two of them. This time however, something was off. A nagging little voice in the back of his head screeched at him continuously in warning; constantly reminding him about some form of danger that had yet not revealed itself and was lurking somewhere in the corners of his vision. Yet he was unable to discern what it was and where the blow would come, if it would at all. A thinly veiled presence of an unknown terror haunted this place.
"Ah! So generous of ya to to invite me to… " Gin waved around a hand in which he still hed the empty hilt nonchalantly. "Whatever ya doin' but… I'm afraid my schedule won't allow it at the moment."
"But I just said that we could meet ' Some day ', did I not? I wasn't talking about this particular moment." Aizen leaned closer and Ichimaru's entire frame momentarily froze for his master's unrelenting gaze seemed to burn through the very flesh of his eyelids and press it's calculating weight upon his own so meticulously guarded eyes. It seared every nerve in his body and rendered it useless. In a wave of panic he tried to change the topic of their conversation and shift it towards the girl laying in his Lord's arms.
"Do excuse me captain. I had… how do ya say? A tiresome day, heh. I wouldn't want to interfere with any business of yours." The sneaky lieutenant extended his free hand slowly towards Orihime with intention of brushing his fingers through her copper hair but his attempt was interrupted by his master's swift grasp on his wrist.
"Lay your hands on any business of mine, and you will find your own in shreds. Again." Aizen said with calm but extremely sinister tone of voice and Gin had found it difficult to keep his eyes closed. The implication was very clear and he couldn't stop himself from gritting his teeth in unison.
He knew.
Aizen very clearly knew about Rangiku and that Gin was aware of the thievery of a fragment of her power, which he had ordered.
Cold sweat started dripping down Gin's temple but he reminded himself that he has to keep his ground. Something was askew with Aizen today, something that had never occurred before and he needed to get away from him. Gently, the lieutenant pulled his hand out of the iron grip of his Lord and took a step back. The smile on his face did not falter through the whole ordeal but he could feel his poise slipping with every heartbeat and he could not allow this unexpected turn of events to break his character and jeopardize his own agenda in wake of his captain's unpredictable mood swings.
The girl in Aizen's hold had shuddered and her expression had twisted into a pained frown. Seeing this the Lord of Las Noches slid his unoccupied arm under her knees and hoisted her up so she was now fully resting against his chest.
"This ain't the best moment to have a conversation about the past, is it? The confrontation with Gotei 13 is gettin' closer. I thought ya were preparin' somethin' special right now. " Ichimaru said in hopes of gaining a few minutes to gather his wits while the other man rambles on about the insignificance of the passage of time in the face of his grand plan which probably somehow involved Gin from the very beginning, as he tended to do. But this courtesy was not granted to him this time however, because Aizen had only turned his back to him and started walking towards the sofa which was situated near the one of his open balconies.
"I am preparing something special. You are just not involved with it." His master said simply and then sat down with Orihime, who was still unconscious, in his arms.
It threw Gin off his track and he felt his mouth suddenly getting dry. This was getting more, and more dangerous with every passing second and not in the fun way, he noted. Aizen liked to push and prod him whenever they held their conversations but his sudden shift in attitude caught his silver snake of a lieutenant completely off guard. The former captain was smiling and Gin didn't need to open his eyes to know this. He felt his own smirk falter.
"What is it Gin? Have you ran out of topics right after you walked through my doors uninvited? Don't you have any gossip for me?" Aizen's voice rang through the room bearing a note of self satisfaction.
It had dawned on Gin that he had been standing there without moving or talking with his back slightly bend and not fully facing the other party. With a pang of dread he'd noticed that he must have looked alarmed and ready to flee. Which was true but one could never cover from Aizen if they wished to survive and keep their position at his side. He wanted to straighten up and take a sit beside his leader but he had found that he'd been unable to step closer to him.
The very air around Aizen just seemed to get fouler. He could not say that the current highest Power of Hueco Mundo radiated joy and friendliness on daily basis but Aizen's presence had most definitely not been so… menacing. At least not to Gin who over time grew used to his master's casual creepiness, smug flaunting of his intellect and an inflated ego. Something had changed within that man and Ichimaru would bet that it had a lot to do with Orihime Inoue.
That's right. He's never been this weirdly possessive with anyone. Not even Hinamori. With this realization Gin seemed to relax. He still had no idea what was going on but at least he knew what was causing this anomaly and it opened up a possibility of further investigation. He seemed to be coming back to his senses thanks to a bundle of plans and schemes that was forming in his head while he tried to gather himself.
"I think… I don't feel well today." He confessed.
"So it seems." Yet another uncharacteristically simple answer came from the creature who was sitting on the sofa and eyeing him with some interest.
"But there is one rumor I'm quite curious about. Maybe ya gon' tell me how it went because no matter how many times I ask Tousen he just won't answer." Gin tried to regain his usual composure as he spoke.
"Try me." Aizen said while he relaxed against the pillows.
"People are talkin'... that ya got angry because," The lieutenant pointed his chin at Orihime. "Our… guest got attacked. Ya made one of the Arrancar girls who beat her to eat the heart of the other one."
He heard his Lord stifle a laugh and found the action was mildly concerning.
"I have done so." Aizen stated with something akin to pride. "They were ordered not to touch her and yet they had the audacity to disobeyed me."
"Dont'cha think it was a little over the top? Assignin' her as Yami's fracction would have brought more entertaining results." Now this was starting to feel normal, or at least as normal as it usually went between them.
"Oh my, you really are not feeling well today. I did say that if you touch something of mine, then I will touch something of yours?" The Lord chided which caused Gin to tense again. "Maybe you should go take a break?"
"You're right. I think I spent too much time in surveillance room. Got a little sleep deprived." He had recognized the chance that he was given and he decided to take it. It was apparent to Gin that trying to hold a normal conversation with Aizen today was pointless. The Lord seemed to somehow grow more vicious for some reason and his silver tongued lieutenant gladly accepted his offer to let him retreat for the… rest of the working hours. "Ah well, I'll take my leave then. I'll see ya around."
With that Gin gave a small bow towards his master and scurried out of the moonlit chamber while placing the empty sword hilt on the nearest dresser. He did not dare to turn around but if he had, he would see a gleaming pair of eyes with white irises encompassed entirely by blue 'whites', following him intently as he left.
"ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵖⵕⴰ * " Muttered the man who was currently sprawled on the sofa and who kept clutching sleeping Orihime to his chest.
* ⵜⵉⴼⵉⵖⵕⴰ (Berber - tifiɣṛa "snake")