AN: Hey my fantastic and lovely readers! Again, I have taken ten million years to update, and I apologize. I haven't been writing as much as I used too. BUT I have my own computer now and will be attempting to update more often!

This chapter is a little slow too, but this chapter IS crucial to the story, so, please read and enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach or any of its characters, all rights go to Tite Kubo.

Chapter 10

Hitsugaya Toshiro walked out of the café and leaned against the wall, staring at his phone for a long moment before he sighed and flipped it open. He clicked his way to the recent calls and pressed the send button. After another sigh he pressed the phone to his ear. He listened to the ring until it stopped and a voice answered on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Karin? It's Hitsugaya. Something came up, and I can't meet you at the rail today. Not for a while at least," he said.

"Is everything okay, Toshiro?" she asked, a frown in her voice.

"Yea, everything's fine. Your brothers' friend won't let me leave without eating something," he said, obviously unhappy about it.

"Are you at Ichigo-nii's apartment?" she asked, sounding curious.

"No. I'm at this café not far from the place you and Matsumoto dragged me to the other day," Toshiro said.

"Oh, that's Ichigo-nii's work! I'll come and meet you all there!" she said, accompanied by the sound of wind, which usually meant she was running. "I'll be there soon!" After those parting words she hung up, just as the white haired Shinigami was about to protest.

Toshiro pulled the phone away from his ear and scowled at the device in his hand before snapping it shut. He shoved it back into his pocket and leaned his head back against the wall, looking up at the clouds. "Perfect day," he muttered sarcastically. The 10th Division Taicho pushed off the wall and walked back into the café.

Gin leaned over the back of his seat, the one thing separating him from a much larger booth. He smiled a charming smile, speaking with one of the girls sitting in the bigger booth. She was average looking, not much of anything special about her, brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, not tall, but not short either. Very average looking, but that meant that casual flirting from the fox faced man would be three times as effective when he was trying to get something from her. He was attempting to get them to give the booth to him and his friends. "Ladies, you see, today is my friend's birthday, and our booth is too small for everyone to fit. Would you be a dear and switch booths with us?" he asked, turning the charm up a notch.

"O-Oh…" Gin's victim stammered, her face growing red. "W-Who's birthday is it?" she asked.

"It's…" he looked around, and when he saw Toshiro lean against the seat next to Chad, he grinned happily, managed to jump across the two and throw his arm around the teen's slender shoulders. "It's this guy right here! He's just turning 15, and he can't even sit at our table and celebrate. He's also a little bit temperamental, so don't mind the expression on his face," he said, throwing the girls a heart stopping smile.

Toshiro blinked in shock and confusion before his expression turned icy and he shifted his eyes to glare at the offending arm across his shoulders. Then his eyes slid around to look up at the man said arm belonged to. "Let go of me Ichimaru," he said, voice deepening in warning. The fox faced ex-captain took no notice, of course. After a taking a moment Hitsugaya decided that violence, while it sounded very nice at the moment, would not be good in such a public forum. So he simply raised his hand and grabbed the older man's palm, using his thumb and index finger to push down on the pressure point in that hand, digging his dull nails into the skin for good measure. There was a small hiss from somewhere above him, then a tisk sound.

"Shiro-chan, it's not nice ta go tryin' ta hurt people like that," Gin whispered in his ear, still keeping the expression on his face.

"Oh, are you two related?!" one of the girls asked, smiling at the two pale Shinigami. This girl was slightly less average looking. She had long blonde hair, which hung around her face in ringlets, and blue eyes which were nearly as light as Gin's own eyes.

"No!" Toshiro snapped.

"Yes," the silver haired man said in a silky smooth voice, using his free hand to ruffle the mane of white hair. He could hear Ichigo snickering from somewhere to his right, and his smile softened further. "He is my nephew. Isn't that right Shiro?" The taller of the two put his face next to the others ear and whispered. "Ya know, if ya don't play along an' help me get us a bigger table I could go an' let slip that ya've been seein' his lil' sis pretty often lately…"

Toshiro directed another glare at Gin. "Why the hell should I care you jackass? Karin is on her way here, so that orange haired idiot over there will know anyways!" the young Taicho hissed in response, finally freeing himself from the other man and going about 'fixing' his hair. To anyone else, the messy white locks looked perfect, and were very tempting to touch. But apparently, they looked awful now, according to the owner of that gravity defying hair.

"Sure, you guys can have our booth," one of the girls said, gathering her food and drink and standing up. This third girl had pretty auburn hair, which she obviously dyed, seeing as her eyebrows were a black brown color. Her eyes were a cat like green, and her complexion was pale, nearly as pale as Toshiro and himself.

"Thank you so much ladies," Gin said, very pleased that his manipulative abilities hadn't failed him. He also felt lucky that these girls were drawn to the predatory feeling he exuded instead of being wary of it. He gestured for the group of people at his old booth to stand, while also leaning across the table to grab his drink. Eventually all of them had managed to switch into the large booth, and they still had room to spare. Gin somehow got stuck in the middle of everyone, which wasn't the most comfortable experience. Ichigo was to his right and Orihime was to his left. Uryu sat on Ichigo's other side, and Rukia was on Orihime's left. Chad was next to Uryu and Renji was next to Rukia. Toshiro sat next to Renji, at one of the two exits from the half circle booth.

Not long after they all got settled, the waitress returned with an order of pancakes for everyone. "Umm, sorry ta be a bother, but can we get one more order. I believe that someone is gonna join us soon," Gin said, glancing at Toshiro, who sent him a murderous glare.

"Sure!" the waitress said, walking away.

"Who's coming Gin?" Ichigo asked, frowning in confusion.

Gin turned and met Ichigo's eyes. After a second he shrugged and said, "Just call it intuition, my dear Strawberry."

"I thought I told you not to call me that Fox Face," Ichigo said with a scowl.

"Not ta call ya what, Strawberry?"

Ichigo growled in annoyance and turned away from Gin to Uryu, striking up a conversation with the Quincy. "Umm… Ichimaru-san?"

The man turned and met Orihime's brown eyes curiously. "Hmm?"

"Would you and Ichigo like to come over for dinner this week? I was thinking about trying to make some Mexican food!" she said in a cheery voice. He was about to accept the offer when both Rukia and Toshiro paled and looked almost sick.

Just as he paused uncertainly, Ichigo's black haired sister, Kurosaki Karin stepped up to the table. Ichigo looked up at his sister confusedly. "Karin? What're you doing here?" he asked the black haired girl. Gin easily noticed that his boyfriends sister had to tear her eyes away from the young white haired captain.

"Toshiro was trying to ditch me today and I wasn't gonna let him," she said in a flat voice with a shrug.

Ichigo turned his attention to Toshiro. His eyes narrowed a little as he put the puzzle pieces together. "Toshiro…?" he said slowly, looking at the young captain with an unreadable expression.

Toshiro met Ichigo's gaze mutinously, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Kurosaki?"

"Are you dating my sister?" he asked.

Toshiro didn't answer right away. He shared a glance with Karin before turning back to Ichigo. Gin could see his neck reddening slightly under his scarf and guessed the captain was holding back a blush. "Yes."

Gin was mildly surprised that Toshiro hadn't been more difficult, maybe he had grown up some since the fox faced man had seen him after all. Ichigo, however, didn't seem to hear for a moment. He sat very still. Karin sent him a warning glare, but Ichigo had returned his brown eyes to the 10th division Taicho again. "You know that if you hurt her, I'll be much less than friendly towards you, right Toshiro?"

Toshiro stared at Ichigo, eyes narrowing, partially out of annoyance that Ichigo spoke so informally to him, and partly because of the threat laced through those words, and the insinuation that Toshiro might hurt Karin in the first place. But Toshiro didn't want to start what would be sure to be a loud and possibly violent argument with the orangette, so he simply scoffed and turned his head away.

"You should know that you don't need to worry, Ichigo," the Shinigami said, using Ichigo's first name in hopes that it would break though his thick skull and make him believe his words.

Karin glanced between the two boys and sighed, shaking her head. "Move over Toshiro," she said, squishing in next to him. After some shifting from everyone, they were all comfortably seated in the booth. The waitress returned with pancakes for Karin as well, and everyone dug in. Ichigo and Toshiro were both obviously reluctant to speak about Aizen in front of the youngest soul here, and Gin didn't blame them. He was sure that Karin could handle the truth, but there was no need to burden the young girl when she could do nothing to help. And so, the conversation turned light, and remained that way all through breakfast.

After a long time, the group slowly dispersed. Renji was the first to go, when a hollow appeared half way across town. He had raced out, telling them he would see them later. Then Chad and Uryu left, going to their respective jobs. Orihime nearly dragged Rukia out, saying that they had important things to get done today. And so it left the most awkward double date that Gin could ever remember participating in. Toshiro had fallen silent, simply looking at Gin and Ichigo. Gin didn't like how unreadable his expression had become. It was one thing for his own expression to be unreadable, that was fun, when people would become unnerved or frustrated, maybe even scared. But when someone else did it, then it just gets annoying. Toshiro seemed to sense his frustration, because Gin saw a glimmer of satisfaction, sharp as Hyorinmaru's teeth, in the younger Shinigami's eyes.

Karin rose from the booth and stretched. "I should get going. Soccer practice." She turned to look at Toshiro, eyes looking hopeful, even though she tried to hide it. "Would you like to come? There is still a lot you could show me and the guys to help us improve."

Toshiro looked up at the black haired girl, and he seemed to genuinely want to go with her, but then his turquoise eyes fixed on Gin suspiciously. He didn't want to let the fox out of his sight. There was still a part of him that screamed that the ex-captain couldn't be trusted, and Toshiro was rather inclined to trust that feeling. Gin sighed.

"Honestly, Shiro-chan. Why must ya look at me that way? It hurts my feelings."

Toshiro scoffed. "I don't care if it hurts your feelings, Ichimaru."

Gin wanted to sneer at the way he said his name like a curse, but he refused to let his mask fall so easily. "My my, how rude!"

Toshiro glanced away. "As far as I've seen, you don't have any feelings to hurt."

Ichigo flared up at that. "Shut up! How would you know-"

Gin placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, stopping him. "You don't need to protect me, Strawberry." He turned his ice blue eyes on the captain. "Don't worry. I won't escape. I've no where ta go. Ya don't have to watch me. Besides…" he glanced pointedly at Ichigo, grin returning full force. "I'm sure Ichigo can handle me better than ya can, 10th Division Taicho."

Ichigo's face was a brighter red than his hair, and Karin pulled a face. "WOAH! I do NOT need to hear that! I'm gone. Are you coming Toshiro?" The black haired girl was turning before she had finished speaking, making for the door. Toshiro hesitated a moment longer before he stood too. He met Gin's eyes unflinchingly.

"You try and run, Ichimaru, and I will personally track you down and kill you." With that said, he turned and headed after Karin.

Gin watched them go, smiling, and raised his hand. "Bye, bye, Shiro-chan~!" he called after them. He could feel the young captains distaste prickle through his senses, and sighed, turning to Ichigo. "How about we head home, Strawberry?"

Ichigo nodded, shooting him a glare for the name. After paying for the food, they rose together from the now empty booth and exited the café. On the way back, the two men were stopped by an excited Asano Kego. "IIIIIIICHIIIIIIIIIIGOOOOOOOOO!" he had cried, rushing forward at top speed. Ichigo, almost instinctively, raised his arm to clothesline the excited brunette. After an amazing amount of dramatics from the teen, he frowned disapprovingly at Ichigo. "You still haven't let me see your new apartment!" he said, looking ready for more dramatic waterworks.

"I just moved in," Ichigo stated. "You'll have to wait until I've unpacked."

Kego threw his arms up. "Oh, Ichigo, why do you hate me so?!" he cried.

Ichigo sighed. As he was about to reply, Kojima Mizuiro approached, phone in hand. "Hey, Ichigo. How's your new apartment?"

Ichigo turned, relieved at the calmness of the black haired teen. "It's pretty nice. Still all full of boxes."

This was when Gin spaced out. He turned to watch people pass them by on the street, sparing them little more than a glance. But even here, eyes still fixed on his unnerving grin, his slitted eyes, and his silver hair. Everywhere he had ever lived, he had been stared at. In the Soul Society, people had looked at him with admiration, fear, or even hate on their faces. But they had been wary of him. Then, when he went to Hueco Mundo, more than anything, he noticed the complete lack of friendship there. None of the Espada really liked him, except maybe Szayel, but that was pushing it, saying that the pink haired man liked anyone. It was more of a wry understanding that they both hated Aizen, though neither of them ever spoke that allowed. It was more something they both just sensed in each other. Because you could not talk about it, you never know when brown eyes, more void of compassion that Gin's could ever be, were on you in a place controlled by the ex-squad 5 Taicho and his Kyoka Suigetsu. Again his mind was drawn, involuntarily, into another memory so vivid it blocked out the present.

He stood, stooped over the body of the first person he had killed. He never did learn their name. If he had, it would have just made it too hard to live with. All he knew for sure about them is that they were a Shinigami, and they were one of the ones who had stolen the glowing energy from Rangiku. He couldn't pull his gaze from the dead eyes of the man he had butchered. His whole frame shook as he dropped to his knees and began removing the shihaksho with trembling fingers. By the time he had finished taking the clothes and donning them, he had stopped shaking. He felt completely numb. He didn't like the thought of what he was about to do, but he knew he could do it. He could make himself kill for Aizen, if it meant returning what was taken from his best friend in the whole world, the only person who meant anything to him. He could cut down meaningless people, he could become the snake, the liar. As long as he killed that bastard Aizen, and made sure Rangiku wouldn't cry anymore, he could do those things. His expression colder than the snow beginning to fall around him, he turned from the body and took his next step towards damnation. The snake was born.

"Gin? Gin! Hey, are you just going to stand there all day?"

Gin blinked his eyes, and he was back in Karakura town, with the sun shining bright on his face, and Ichigo's warm brown gaze looking at him worriedly. He took a deep breath to ground himself and a mental shake for good measure. "No, I wasn't plannin' on it. Come on, let's go," Gin said easily, his voice betraying none of the memories rushing through his mind.

Back at the apartment, Gin kept himself busy in what was now the spare bedroom (Ichigo had agreed to share one room together) drawing. He focused on the paper in front of him intently, trying not to let his memories engulf him again, as they had a habit of doing. He was attempting to design something for Ichigo, at the orangette's request of course. If it were up to Gin he would much rather have waited until he more was used to sewing again. In Hueco Mundo he had only designed the outfits, leaving the actual making for a more adept seamstress. But he knew how stubborn Ichigo was, and he knew that arguing his point was hopeless.

Ichigo was in the kitchen trying his hand at cooking. From the sound of it, Gin thought it was going humorously. There was a loud crash accompanied with, "Piece of crap!" Idly Gin wondered if he would emerge to find a frying pan embedded in a wall, and chuckled to himself at how much fun he would have never letting Ichigo live it down.

"Ichigo! I think that cookin' ware works better when it's not dented!" Gin called out cheerily.

"Shut up Gin!" Gin just smiled and continued his drawing. Just as he found the rhythm to get the drawing done masterfully, he felt a sharp tug on his senses. He straightened up instantly, eyes opening a little as he felt it again, more insistent than before. Someone was calling him. He was in the living room in an instant, blue eyes flashing. He wasn't sure exactly who was calling or why. They kept their spiritual pressure hidden for the most part; all Gin could tell was that it was someone he knew.

"Ichigo," Gin said softly. Ichigo turned, a large pot in hand, eyes still smoldering with frustration. The frustration melted away when he saw the look on Gin's face. His eyes were hard, and wary, and he stood rigid. "Someone is comin'."

Ichigo set the pot down and moved to his boyfriends side. "Friend or foe?"

Gin shook his head. "I don know." Gin ran through all the possibilities. Toshiro could've turned him in, or one of the others. It could be Harribel, or it could be Aizen, out to finish what he started, and kill Ichigo too, because he wouldn't know how much Gin told him. "Wait here," Gin said to Ichigo, taking a step towards the door.

"Like hell I will Gin!"

Gin turned back to face Ichigo, ready to argue, when the door flung open and in stepped Harribel. Gin let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. The Amazonian woman met his gaze evenly. She didn't speak at first, and Gin could see her fraccion grouped together behind her, looking confused and a little annoyed, probably with each other. "I believe you, Ichimaru-sama. What do you need us to do?" the Espada asked, eyes unwavering.

AN: HOORAY! Gin's plan is falling into place! So, what do you think? Is Harribel to be trusted? Will Gin be able to convince the others to join him too? Please rate, comment, favorite and follow if you still like the story and think I should keep going! :)