Kira rarely had trouble sleeping, mostly because the short naps he did catch were from pure exhaustion rather than his internal clock telling him it was time to sleep. However, for some reason or another, this night was the ever-reliable exception to the rule. He wasn't sure what had caused the bought of insomnia (if that's even what it could be considered), but as heavy as his eyelids felt, they wouldn't shut for more than a few, brief moments.
Sighing in soft submission, Kira unwrapped himself from his covers and let his feet hit the cold floor. He knew it was rather dangerous to roam the hallways alone, especially at night, as most of the Arrancar refused to accept his presence. Naturally, those that rejected him were also the ones most willing to pick a fight with him and the ones least concerned with the consequences of such an action. Even more didn't mind his actual being there, but despised him for being Aizen's apparent object of interest. Whatever the reason, Kira had most of Las Noches ready and willing (not to mention very able) to take him , walking around the hallways alone really wasn't a wise decision.
Disregarding the danger in the interest of seeking out a cup of warm tea, Kira left the safety of his room behind and started his way down the maze of halls that wove throughout the footsteps echoed lightly in the large, empty halls, surely giving away his presence to any curious passerby. His eyes trained steadily ahead, Kira had to do a double-take when he saw a familiar figure present itself at the opposite end of the hall. Where had he come from? Kira couldn't quite recall.
"Aizen-sama," the blonde greeted with a bow.
A soft chuckle filled the corridor. "There is no need for such formalities upon every meeting," Aizen informed Kira as the latter bent back into a standing position. "I thought you were resting?"
"I tried," Kira assured him, "but I can't seem to fall asleep." If anything, Aizen's sudden appearance jolted him more awake. He started slightly when the older shinigami simply gave him a warm smile and moved around him to continue down the hall.
"Be sure not to exhaust yourself, Kira-kun."
"Y-yes, sir," Kira said, stumbling over his words slightly. Not that Aizen drug him off to the nearest room every time they ran into each other, but the sudden distance left him a little uneasy. Not to mention wanting. Sighing softly, Kira shook his head and made his way toward the kitchen. However, around the next corner met him with another familiar face.
"Maa, Izuru, I didn't think ya'd be up." Gin had been frowning in thought, but quickly covered it with his usual grin. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Just getting a cup of tea," Kira responded, "sir," he added on, nearly as an afterthought.
The silver-haired man slipped to Kira's side and snaked an arm around the thin waist. "Well, let me keep ya company."
"Thank you." A faint blush colored Kira's cheeks as he nodded, letting his superior guide him through the endless halls to his destination.
"I'll get it fer ya," Gin offered, pushing Kira lightly into a chair. "Ya hungry?"
Confused, Kira remained silent as he watched the grinning man maneuver around the kitchen."No, thank you." Both Ichimaru's and Aizen's behavior was odd this night. Perhaps he was dreaming? That wasn't possible, though-- he had never fallen asleep, even for a moment. His thoughts were interrupted with the clink of a cup being set in front of him, the scent of spiced tea drifting through the air. He murmured a soft 'thank you' before taking the warm cup in his hands and lifting it to his lips.
"Why didn't ya fight us before?" Gin didn't wait for Kira to settle himself before asking the question, his growing impatience getting the best of him. He waited as Kira froze in mid-sip, body tensed by the sudden question, a slight frown touching on his lips. "Well?"
Before. Before everything happened; before this increasingly-aggressive game of tug-of-war began; before Kira's loyalties and motivations were thrown into complete question; before things somehow managed to become even more complicated than they were.
Kira's mind flashed back to the night he was forced into Hueco Mundo. He recalled every detail so clearly. How Ichimaru had defended Aizen when Kira so blindly and foolishly attacked him (to keep him from visiting the recovering Hinamori, of course), how Aizen had so easily granted permission for Kira to join them in Las Noches, how desperate he had felt when Wabisuke was forced from his hands and left back in a land he could no longer call home (though, Gin had presented him with the zanpakutou a short time later, giving a dishonest and general apology).
Honestly, he wasn't even certain why. Yes, obviously it would have been foolish to do so, and if he had sincerely tried, he would probably be dead, but was that enough of a reason? Moreover, was it a true reason, at all? Kira decided against using it, and instead opted for silence and another sip of tea.
"Ain't gonna answer?" Ichimaru pressed, lips twitching only momentarily into a frown before recovering. "That ain't much like ya, Izuru. Ya growin' a backbone or somethin'?"
Again, Kira wasn't quite sure how to answer. The small sliver of pride he did have wasn't ready to willingly admit he had no will to fight the older one, but at the same time, his logical side was insisting that, no, he didn't have a backbone. He lightly shook his head in response and kept his gaze glued to the table in front of him.
Moving behind the seated blonde, Ichimaru placed his hands on Kira's shoulder, his grin a little more sincere at the light jump the action elicited. He leaned down, pressing the side of his face against Kira's, to whisper in his ear. "Ya shouldn't get so hung up over 'im, ya know. It'll only end up with ya gettin' hurt, an' as much as I like t' see ya in pain, sometimes, ya don' usually recover too well from the kinda hurtin' he does."
Kira felt the last bit of fight he had left in him drain from his body at the warning. He barely acknowledged the affectionate nip Ichimaru gave his ear before pulling away, and his hands tightened around the teacup in his grasp. He was probably right, Kira knew, and Ichimaru would know better than anyone just how Aizen was. Even if he didn't, though, Kira could look back on Aizen's history and tell that he was neither a devoted nor loyal man. The passing interest he showed in Kira was just that, and the blonde was getting caught up in the little moments they shared.
The only problem was, even though Kira identified the problem, he was clueless as to the solution.
Glancing up from his reverie, the former lieutenant noticed that he was alone; Ichimaru had snuck out while he was lost in his thoughts. Sighing lightly, he finished off the small cup of tea in a timely manner and abandoned the kitchen in search of his room again. Whether it was the brief meetings with Aizen and Ichimaru, or the calm of the warm tea, Kira finally felt satisfied that he could rest now. The halls were winding, but easy to maneuver through once they were explored well enough.
"The fuck you think you're doin'?" Unfortunately, that was true for all of Las Noches' inhabitants.
Trying his best to keep calm, Kira turned to face a single figure behind him. White clothes signified that the other male belonged right where he was, and the immense spiritual pressure he carried with him denoted that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. An Espada, Kira immediately deduced, and a very angry one at that.
Grimmjow stalked toward the shinigami with a scowl, his teeth gritting at the mere smell of the kid. His lips curled up in a light snarl and his hands, shoved into his pockets, balled into fists. "I asked ya a question, or are ya too stupid to understand me?"
"N-no," so much for collected, "I was just-"
"Shut yer mouth," the blue-haired male snapped. "I don't give a fuck what you were doin'." He finally came to stop mere feet away from Kira, peering hard at the blonde. "Ya piss me off."
Kira gave the other a rather blank expression, unsure of how to react to the statement. "I..."
"Ya. Piss. Me. The. Fuck. Off," Grimmjow repeated. "I don't think I can dumb it down for ya anymore."
At a loss for words on how to respond to the rather unprovoked insult, Kira simply replied with a meek, "I'm sorry?"
"Sorry? The fuck are ya apologizin' for now?" Grimmjow's nose crinkled a little bit in the blonde's direction. There was something wrong with this one.
"I'm...not sure," Kira admitted. He was confused, a bit scared, and not at all sure of how to go about ending this conversation, if it could be called that.
"Fuckin' idiot." In the blink of an eye, Grimmjow's hand abandoned its place in his pocket and snapped out to grab Kira up by his collar. "I'm sick've lookin' at ya. Die." His other hand withdrew, at a slightly slower pace, a small, red light forming in the center of his palm.
Eyes widening at his first experience with a cero in such close proximity, Kira's instincts were to immediately reach for Wabisuke. His fingertips, however, had only just grazed the sword's sheath when another presence made itself known.
"Grimmjow." That was all it took for the deadly red light to cease and the Espada's attention to be focused elsewhere. Aizen gave his subordinate a pleasant smile, clearly meaning not-so-pleasant things would result if he continued with his current plan, and turned his attention to Kira as the younger one squirmed his way from Grimmjow's grip and joined Aizen's side.
"Tch," the Espada muttered, shoving his hands back in his pockets and turning from the pair."Just keep 'im outta my sight."
Not giving Grimmjow the satisfaction of his attention, the brunette looked down at the shaken blonde next to him. "You seem to be causing quite a disruption already."
"I'm sorry," Kira said quickly, bowing his head, "but...I'm still not sure what I did." In reality, he had done absolutely nothing but cross paths with the Espada. Apparently, that was enough to set him off.
"Don't let it worry you," Aizen chided, placing a hand lightly atop the other's head, "I expected him to react that way." What other way was there for Grimmjow to react? He was likely a danger to keep around, but he served his purposes. Besides, he wasn't powerful enough to take out anyone of any importance.
Kira nodded lightly and chanced a glance away from Aizen and down the hallway. "If you'll excuse me, sir..." As awake as he had been during his near-death meeting with the Espada, he was once again becoming drained. If this volley kept up much longer, he may just pass out on the spot from mental and emotional, not to mention physical, exhaustion.
"Why the rush?" Aizen wondered, guiding Kira's face back to his with a light press of his fingers. "If you're tired, perhaps you could accompany me to my room?"
The implications were enough to guarantee that Kira wouldn't be getting any rest if he agreed. On the other hand, was he really foolish enough to disagree with Aizen? He lightly declined with a shake of his head-- if Aizen really wanted him that badly, he knew the elder would have no problem resorting to force or intimidation. It quickly became a question of how much Aizen respected him. Or, at the very least, how much he wanted him.
"I see." A look of mild dissatisfaction complimented his tone, and Aizen allowed his hand to drop from Kira's cheek. "I would be careful, if I were you, Kira-kun. You are no longer in a world of forgiving superiors and non-fatal punishments."
Kira's body remained rigid and frozen to the spot long after Aizen's presence faded. Had he just been basically told that if he denied his superior, that he would be killed? He shook his head lightly; he had known Aizen wouldn't be the same, benevolent character he was back in Seireitei, but was he that cruel? Firmly reminding himself to never again tell that man 'no', Kira made his way in a daze back to his room, thoroughly exhausted.
Keep that pimp hand strong, Aizen, keep it strong. Hah, Grimmjow and Kira's 'conversation' amused the hell out of me; definitely my favorite part. I hope you enjoyed it, too~