The Alphabet Series

Warnings: Mind fuckage, general Ichimaru-esque behaviour, possible spoilers for those watching the English dub and those who haven't seen the entirety of the Soul Society arc.

Pairing(s): Mild GinKira

Notes: Ok, so we've reached the letter D! Hopefully I've still got people interested in this series and they're still madly drooling as they wait for my updates. -laughs- Yeah, right. Easy Touda...no letting your head get too big...

“D is for Deceit”

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Between friends, one could only assume that small secrets and devious little lies were passed. Between captains and their vice captains, it was a generalization that secrets were kept from the higher ranking officer simply out of shame and self preservation. In Kira Izuru's case, his secrets were based upon his captain and they were told to his friends with the knowledge that they would become rumours and would circulate throughout Seireitei.

In the third division barracks, Wabisuke's master groaned as he rolled onto his side, his back scratched all over from his captain's sharp nails and his backside sore from the previous night's adventures. He furrowed his brow and turned his head to peer at the sun streaming in through his half-curtained window, scowling at it and its obvious cheerfulness.

“How come you can wake so early and be so happy without wanting to crawl back into bed?” He asked the unanswering sun sourly. “Why am I talking to sunshine?”

He sighed out loud and got up for the day, donning his uniform and carefully brushing his hair back into its usual style, slicking his bangs with a bit of the gel hair product Rangiku always brought back for him. His zanpakutou safely tucked into his obi, the young fukutaichou ventured out into the glaringly bright morning, keeping his head down slightly as he walked to the squad house's main office. He heard his captain humming within and smiled to himself for a brief second before wiping it off of his face and announcing his presence with a light knock, entering only after Ichimaru stopped humming and gave him the okay.

Inside, the silver-haired shinigami looked up from his comfortable spot, lounging on the office's wide divan, one arm tossed over his head while the other toyed with the loops in his obi.

“You're late, Izuru, Ya got anythin' to say for yourself?” His voice was teasing but Kira still worried suddenly.

“I don't, Ichimaru-taichou. I slept in, is all.”

The slim swordsman got to his feet and wafted over to his subordinate's side, staring him down with his creepy smile, carefully winding an arm around the boy's waist and tugging him against himself. The smaller form shivered but remained as calm as he possibly could, stealing a glance into Gin's eyes as the man cracked them open a sliver.

“Did I cause it?” He asked innocently. “Did ya wake up sore today, Izuru?”

“Hai.”

The fox-like captain chuckled and leaned down to peck a light kiss against Kira's forehead, letting go of him afterwards and walking away to the broad, curtainless window.

“Sousuke was askin' about ya this mornin'.” He said nonchalantly, as if the bespectacled captain did it all the time. “He was wonderin' why ya weren't in yet to make my tea and get the paperwork sorted.”

The blond admitted defeat by bowing politely and accepted the wording as a suggestion for him to get his backside in gear, shifting himself to his desk and beginning to sort the division's massive amount of basic paperwork. He kept an ear open for anything the elder man might say or ask, aware of just how angry the man could get if he was ignored. The tea situation, organized by Ichimaru when he had come in that morning, was something Kira had noticed upon his arrival. The room smelled of jasmine and honey. Two scents he never associated with his feral taichou.

“Good boy.” Came the third captain's soft voice, sounding lilted, as if he were daydreaming.

Izuru lifted his head and acknowledged his suspicion, watching with a saddened and partly relieved gaze as the silver haired shinigami peered out into the courtyard, sighing softly into the humid morning air. The days of his absolute loyalty had passed ages ago and to Kira, it seemed as if his captain's mask of a demanding, perfected leader was peeling away, ready to crumble to the ground with a ceramic clatter. He couldn't help but think it had to do with the brunet taichou that was so often mentioned in passing during their conversations. Even the overheard words from past chats haunted him, like dreams he never woke from.

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“He's not good enough to be an ally, Gin.” Aizen spoke with barely concealed malice, though his voice remained calm and collected.

Before him stood the third division captain, all smiles and cheerful nature, though his own demeanor suggested anger and slight loathing. He was mad at the fifth leader for suggesting that his trained pet, one Kira Izuru, wasn't good enough to include in their plans for betrayal and dominance of Soul Society. The younger man snorted softly as they ducked into his private office, closing the door behind him and immediately feeling a strong sense of reiatsu crush against his slim form.

“He's a good boy, Sousuke. He's not gonna cause any problem, long as we include him. Izuru's lost without me.”

The press grew stronger until Ichimaru was forced to cower slightly, gritting his teeth against the headache the elder man's spirit energy caused. Once seeing the smaller body bow even the slightest bit, Aizen backed off and smiled, happy to see the effect he had on his former subordinate.

“He's a liability. Leave him here when we go. I won't have you causing a scene when I finally execute the final stage.”

The younger captain hesitated for a brief second and then nodded, ashamed of himself for being so beaten down by the other and yet happy to be of such importance that Aizen didn't simply ask him to stay behind as well.

“Can I go now? Izuru's gonna be finished soon and I wanna make sure he doesn't come sneakin' around to listen to us.”

The blond gasped as he heard the direct reference to what he was currently doing and in a split second, had shifted from the shoji door and returned to his desk, pretending to write on a blank sheet when the two men finally emerged. His heart was pounding hard enough that he was sure his taichou would hear it.

“Hona sainara.” Gin spoke softly, ushering the elder man to the main office door. Aizen leaned in and whispered something into the normally cheery shinigami's ear, causing Ichimaru to open his eyes in shock, the spike in his reiatsu felt by the boy but not mentioned out of respect. The shoji door was quietly slid back into place after the fifth captain left and Gin turned suddenly to look upon the 'working' boy, a smile creeping back onto his face until it nearly reached his ears.

“Naa, Izuru. Did ya finish all the work for the day?”

The boy nodded and tapped the top of a rather large pile with the clean end of his brush. “It all requires your signature, Ichimaru-taichou. The most important documents are on the top, while the daily routine reports are at the bottom.”

The speech seemed scripted to him as he said it, swallowing firmly once finishing and looking up into the other man's eyes. He thought he saw a flicker of something in them but it was gone when he tried to catch it again, only seeing Gin's mask sliding neatly back into place for the umpteenth time that day. Mentally, he cursed the bastard fifth captain again, no doubt earning himself a shallow place in Hell for his insubordinance on such a daily basis.

According to Aizen, who had a stronger sense of power than Ichimaru, and who could sense spirit energy as far away as twelve miles in any direction, the blond had been listening in on their conversation and he had heard everything. His changing reiatsu was obvious to the glasses-toting shinigami and despite his anger with Gin for not noticing, he had told his former fukutaichou the truth, hoping that it would change his mind on where he kept Kira on his personal totem pole.

Ichimaru walked away from the door, making an outward show of being convinced that the boy wasn't lying, despite the fact that Kira most certainly was. He occupied the sun-warmed tatami mat behind his desk for more than four hours that day, watching the blond carefully.

Kira made not one mistake or slip-up that would suggest he had done anything wrong. His ignorance of the entire situation humoured the third division captain and after having enough of his little charade, he put his head down and snoozed for a little while, happy in his little nest of deceit.

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As always, he cleared the thought out of his mind and went on working, sniffing the honeyed air and shaking his hand as the constant writing cramped his fingers. He knew of the betrayal hanging over Seireitei and yet he did nothing to warn others, so afraid as he was to lose what little connection he had with his beloved captain.

Be a good boy, he once told himself. Work hard and do your best so things like that never happen to you again. If you can be strong, no one will ever take you down. Your loyalty does not equal your dignity.