"Just for the day," Grimmjow stressed as they drove through the city.

"Just for the day," Aizen confirmed. "The doctor needs to take a look."

"Okay."

It was the next morning. Grimmjow's eyes felt swollen. He hadn't cried, but he'd been awake almost all night and he'd been unable to calm down for most of it. Aizen had lain next to him, but that was all. He didn't touch him while he was in crisis, save to steady him, or try to calm him.

"Here we are."

They parked at a private entrance. They rode the elevator in silence. They entered the apartment. Aizen prompted him to lay down while he waited. He left him alone, in the quiet of the room. Grimmjow lay staring out at the day beyond the balcony. He could have gotten up to close the blinds but he already knew he'd never sleep so he just stared out at arcing gulls and sunlit pollution.

"Grimmjow." There was a knock. The door pushed in. Aizen accompanied the doctor inside.

Both hands were examined. He was given stitches on the left. On his right, the doctor squeezed each finger in turn, making him hiss in pain, which was apparently a good sign. He was reassured that eventually, he should regain all function in the appendage. Grimmjow was incredulous. He had thought it would never work properly again.

This news lifted his spirits, but he still felt exhausted and worn down from the previous night.

"What happened, yesterday?" Aizen asked when they were once again alone.

"Nothing."

"That wasn't nothing."

"I just…can't do restraints."

"I see." The way Aizen said it suggested he knew there was more but was choosing to let it drop. Grimmjow was half grateful and half pissed.

"I think you should stay here tonight."

"You said I could go." Grimmjow rose at once.

"Not for the deal. For your health."

"My health is fine, the doc just said."

Aizen reached out, ran a hand down his arm, grasping his fingers for just a moment before letting him go.

"Stay."

"…Aizen." He took a breath. Then he raised his eyes—no more cowering. No more fear. "I don't know what I want."

He held that gaze. It took several seconds but he received a nod. "I understand."

"So what happens now?"

"Your choice."

"I want to go. I want to be alone."

"If that's what you want," Aizen stepped back. "I'll take you."

It was different this time. Aizen drove. Grimmjow sat in silence the whole way. He tried to keep his eyes fixed on the city but they kept darting back to Aizen. When they arrived, Aizen parked and turned off the engine. He followed him up the stairs.

"When will you come back?" Grimmjow asked at the threshold. He wasn't much shorter than Aizen but he felt like he was staring straight up to see in his eyes.

"Not right away."

"Okay…"

"Grimmjow."

"Yeah?"

Aizen lifted a hand. It hovered a second before sliding behind his head and into his hair, steadying him as he bent in and kissed him deep. Grimmjow didn't have time enough to process and respond before Aizen withdrew again.

"Your honesty is appreciated."

He stepped away completely and turned for the stairs. Grimmjow took a few steps forward before he caught himself and retreated back inside his apartment.

He let out a very long sigh. It felt like one of relief.

It couldn't be.

Aizen didn't come again for two weeks. And when he did, he called. Grimmjow answered in surprise about ten pm on a Friday night. He hadn't been doing anything. Lately, he'd done little of anything since he couldn't work until his hand was better. He'd been exercising obsessively, trying to regain some of the strength he'd lost since the whole ordeal. He felt good. He'd needed the time alone, and untouched but now Aizen was on the other end asking him if now was a good time.

"Yeah." He found himself saying without thinking. He hung up. He waited to be hit by the dread and nervousness but it didn't come. Instead he showered and changed. He put away the dishes in the sink. Only when he sat down and watched the door did he start to feel a coil in his stomach.

He answered the door when the knock came. Aizen was shimmering with moisture. The fog from the harbour must have settled in already.

Grimmjow stepped aside for him and shut the door. Aizen hung his coat and removed his shoes before turning back to Grimmjow.

"You look well," he said.

"I feel better."

Aizen's eyes trailed down to his hand. He gently took his wrist and drew the appendage up so he could inspect it. "And you hand?"

Grimmjow opened and closed his fingers to display the progress he'd made. It still hurt and felt stiff but it was miles ahead of where he'd been a couple weeks ago.

"I'm glad." Aizen's hand slid up, lightly holding his hand over the bandage that still covered ugly stitches. Then he let him go.

"Drink?" Grimmjow spat out nervously. Aizen nodded so he hurried over to the counter and pulled out the liquor he had to offer. Normally he would have chosen a beer but now he felt the need for something a little stronger. He poured pure vodka over several ice cubes. Aizen mixed something of his own. They drank in the quiet. Now Grimmjow did feel his nerves.

"What brought you to Tokyo, Grimmjow?"

He looked up at the question. Aizen hadn't asked him anything about his life since that first night.

"How do you know I'm not from Tokyo?"

"You have a regional accent. From the North, right?"

Grimmjow nodded but supplied no more detail. "Better money down here."

"For your chosen skill set."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I get the feeling this isn't a long term plan—I mean, your freelance business can't last too long. Eventually you'll burn too many bridges and there won't be any more business—or you'll end up dead."

"I needed cash when I got here. Now I just need one more thing and I can quit. Though honestly, I don't know what else I would do."

"What do you need?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does if it's the only thing you're risking your life for."

He set down his drink. "A new identity."

"Ah. I see." Identities were expensive—more than the money he had on him now. It also required the right connections. He knew Aizen could arrange it easily, but he wouldn't ask—not until he had real money to pay with, and not this game they were playing. Aizen seemed to understand this, because he let it go.

"Well how about you, then? Were you always set on being a mob boss?"

"It's not the mob, Grimmjow, it's simply an organization."

"Of criminals."

"Of men who seek freedom, much like you," he corrected smoothly. "And no, it was not always in my plans, but it did seem to happen rather…naturally." He finished his drink too and stared Grimmjow straight on. "As did something else."

Grimmjow stilled as Aizen leaned in. He slid around the edge of the counter that separated them and his hands slipped along Grimmjow's waist as he brought their mouths together.

It was slow, it was passionate. There was patience in each kiss and touch. Aizen's hands crept under his shirt, gliding over his skin and up his back. He felt a shiver, but not from the cold. Aizen pulled back and worked his shirt up and over his head. Aizen took a moment, his hands trailing back down Grimmjow's bared body. Grimmjow watched him back. Aizen wasn't looking at him with hunger like before, but appreciation.

Then he delved back in and now there was a little hint of urgency. His hand moved faster over bare flesh. His tongue devoured Grimmjow until he left his mouth for his chin, his throat.

"Sit down." He heard the whisper when his hips were gripped and he groaned when a tongue darted in his navel. He half fell back on the bar stood at the counter, his pants yanked down on the way. He gripped Aizen's shoulder for balance and felt breathless when those lips found his need.

"Ah, dammit." He couldn't believe how erect he'd become. He jerked at the first contact and his hand became a claw in Aizen's shoulder. He shook where he sat and swore again when Aizen took his tip in his mouth. His tongue darted over the slit. He jerked again and let out a needy groan. Worse, Aizen's finger nails lightly scraped the underneath of his sac. His head arched back. He just tried to breathe.

"M-more…" he whispered out desperately when Aizen continued just to tease and not give him satisfaction. Aizen withdrew and stood up again.

"Not yet." He bent in, again capturing his lips, but grabbing his hips and hoisting him up. Grimmjow wasn't light, but Aizen held him up with ease, leaning him back into the counter while he kissed him deep and rubbed their erections together. Grimmjow groaned again and Aizen took them away from the counter, over to the bed.

He sat backward, so that Grimmjow remained straddling him on top. Grimmjow broke apart for a second, then understood and drew his hands up to Aizen's collar undoing the buttons. It was painful, slow work because of the damage to his hand, but he succeeded in getting the shirt undone and pushing it down Aizen's shoulders. Then he ran his hands over muscled flesh. It was the first time he'd done this—he'd really felt Aizen instead of being felt by him. When had this become what he wanted? Had he given into Aizen, or had he just discovered something he'd never known about himself?

His hands worked their way back up to Aizen's chin, his face. He tried to seem firm, confident, but really he was just trying not to look like an idiot as he grasped Aizen's head and drew their mouths together, initiating the kiss.

Aizen's hands squeezed him tight around the back. Their hips were so close together they could feel one another's hardness. Grimmjow kissed harder as he rocked himself in Aizen's lap. He heard a groan. He smiled.

"Back," Aizen whispered, and Grimmjow moved with him, staying on top as they moved up the bed and Aizen lay back on the pillows. This was different. For the first time Grimmjow was looking down on Aizen. He could only steady himself with his left hand. Aizen shifted a pillow so he could rest his right forearm down. Then he felt the hands at his back grip his ass. He was toyed with for a moment before Aizen drew out a bottle from his pocket. He skillfully wet his fingers and then he entered.

He took his time. Grimmjow shuddered above him, feeling every movement inside of him. First with one, then two, then three fingers. Wriggling, thrusting, twisting and stretching. He bit his lip and bent his head to keep the discomfort from Aizen but the other leaned up and kissed his forehead. He was well aware that Grimmjow was still getting used to all of this. It was a long time before he removed his fingers. Grimmjow was getting tired of holding himself still, but he knew all of this would make the next bit easier. Then Aizen undid his pants and kicked them away. He met Grimmjow's eyes and nodded.

He was going to let Grimmjow do it. He felt the pressure and knew Aizen had lined them up but now it was up to him to sit back, force it in himself.

He shifted his arm and pushed back. He grit his teeth, feeling the head push in. He paused there for a moment. Aizen held his hips, guiding him. He took a breath and pushed back more. He groaned in pain but kept going. When he was half filled he stopped, stomach heaving for breath. Going slow wasn't helping. He needed it to be over with. He moved his hand up to Aizen's chest and shoved himself backward.

"AH!" He spasmed where he sat, now melded to Aizen's body. His muscles shuddered from the strain, his whole body was tense.

"Relax." Aizen sat, the movement making Grimmjow jolt again but his hands wrapped around him, he drew Grimmjow against his chest.

Grimmjow breathed in slowly, his forehead resting on Aizen's collar bone. One hand played through his hair, the other rubbed down his back.

"I'll wait. Try to let the tension go."

He did wait. Grimmjow tried. He tried to let his body accept the feeling, grow slack, but it wasn't working. Not until lips brush his temple, then his face was gently cupped and Aizen kissed him while he reached between them and lightly stroked Grimmjow's length.

"Ahh…" he breathed between kisses, his heart rate increasing, his need skyrocketing. Aizen too became more frantic. His kisses became harder, faster, hungrier. He stroked quicker but not enough to give satisfaction. His hand clenched over Grimmjow's hip, and he knew he needed him to move.

He rocked forward. They both groaned. He tried again, until it didn't hurt. Then he looped his right arm around Aizen's neck and braced his other against his thigh and pushed up.

It still hurt, but not like before. He was more relaxed. He had more control. He winced and hissed but kept going, until he found a position that made him scream out loud and curl his toes and shake.

"Good," Aizen whispered in his ear. His voice was thick, he wanted more, Grimmjow could tell but he wasn't taking it. Grimmjow pushed himself to keep going. Aizen helped, holding his hips, but it wasn't fast enough. He lay back, taking Grimmjow with him. At this angle he could thrust up as Grimmjow pushed back. With the increased force, Grimmjow saw stars. Aizen was hitting him dead on and it was driving him over the edge. He gasped and panted. He cursed and moaned. And when he came he collapsed against Aizen's chest in utter bliss, never having experienced satisfaction like this.

They lay together for a long time. He didn't want to move. He felt exhausted but at peace. Aizen's heart beat against his ear. His chest rose and fell beneath Grimmjow's cheek. His hands folded over his back and held him as he too recovered from his exertions.

"Do you know what you want now?" Aizen asked finally.

Grimmjow nodded into his flesh. "Yeah, I do."

"Good." Aizen demanded nothing more of him this night. He rolled and kept Grimmjow in his arms as they lay on their side. It took no time for Grimmjow to fall asleep.