Bitter Sweet

He starred at her. His scarlet eyes open wide starring at the young girl.
She starred back. She was scared. This was Ichimaru’s room.
At last, very slowly the mask slipped on. His eyes closed and his smile spread to his face. “What are ya doin’ in my room?”
She kept her eyes on him. “I was brought here,”
“Brought here?”
She nodded.
It looked as if something clicked in his head. The smile was gone again and a scowl was on his face. “Follow me,” he ordered. It was a tone she had never heard from him before and she didn’t need to think twice about doing what he said.
He followed him out of the room threw the white halls of the palace. She was impressed he knew his way around here. It was a big maze to her.
Gin pushed open a set of doors and she followed him inside.
A big smile reached her face. “Captain Aizen!” she cried happily. One look from Ichimaru told her not to take a step towards the man.
Brown eyes quickly swept over the two. “Ichimaru, I’m getting ready to leave. I thought we already talked just moments ago, I have no time for your shenanigans. Besides you know how I feel about you just barging in here.”
Yachiru peeked out from behind Aizen. Her eyes were puffy and red.
“I found this in my room,” he nodded towards Hinamori.
Aizen smirked. “Yes. She is for you.”
“Why would ya do that?” Gin stepped a little closer to the lord. “Why? Why not give me Izuru?”
“You had Izuru. I gave him to you as your lieutenant. Now I may want him, occasionally.”
Ichimaru looked for a moment at a loss for wards. Finally he spoke. “After all the times I hid ya from her. After all the times ya came runnin’ to me. All I eva did was listen and comfort ya. And now ya do this to me? When I know I can’t come to ya the way ya used to come to me,”
Aizen still smirked. “You should be thankful that I gave you anything at all,”
“Ya may not want meh anymore. I understand that betta then ya think. But I at least thought-”
“Ichimaru,” Aizen spoke loudly, cutting him off. “I have important things to attend to. I no longer have time for your babbling.”
Hinamori watched at first upset that they were talking about her like some disease. And then hurt that Aizen had been constantly avoiding her in Soul Society. And then she saw the two for who they were. She saw that she may have been wrong the whole time.
Aizen ran a hand threw pink locks. “Are you ready to go little one?” Yachiru looked up at him. She was alone. She didn’t know where Kenny was and her second favorite captain, ByaBya was also missing. All she had was him. He had worn glasses once right? He looked nicer without them. She held on tightly onto his white robes and nodded.
Ichimaru turned and left. Not another word to Aizen was spoken. She followed him. She didn’t know why. She could’ve stayed with Aizen. Not sure what the consequences of doing that would be, though. No she didn’t do that. She followed Ichimaru. She followed him down a long set of stairs. She recognized this place. This was the prison cells! Was he bringing her back here?
“Izuru,” he said his hands gripping the bars to the blonde’s cell.
Hinamori watched from a distance. The two had always been close. Always been friends. Kira had at times been a bit wary of his captain, and always had a lot to do, but never a bad word against the man. With the occasional lazy, being mentioned from time to time.
“Captain,” Kira walked up to the bars. He noted immediately that not all was right. He placed his hand over his Ichimaru’s bony one. “Are you okay?”
“Izuru,” Gin whispered again. He couldn’t look at the blonde. At the young man that had done nothing but serve him faithfully. But then again that’s all he had done for Aizen.
Kira and Gin stood in silence. Well almost silence. They could hear the laughter of a crazed man and the sound of a whip hitting flesh.
On more then one occasion during their time in Soul Society, his Captain would become like this. He never knew the reason, nor did he ask. He just stayed by his Captain’s side holding his hand until morning when he would be back to normal. He had always sort of known that he and Aizen had a relationship of some sort. Though the two hid it very well.
They exchanged nasty words many times. He had always assumed that those words had hurt his Captain in some way.
And here they were again. His Captain hurting again. Hurting because of something Aizen had said to him.
“Izuru,” the man spoke softly. “He’ll come after you because of me.”
Kira’s blue eyes narrowed. “That’s fine.”
“You won’t hate me?”
Kira shook his head. “Never,”
Hinamori watched, fascinated by the two.
“Ichimaru,” the voice was strict.
Tousen appeared a whip dripping with the blood of the flesh it had been tearing apart.
“You are no longer permitted to be down here,”
“That’s news to me, I have never been bared from anythin. I can go wherever I please.”
“That was true. Until you stopped being Aizen-sama’s whore.”
Ichimaru held his head high. “Ya act as if you hadn’t been one yourself. How long has it been for ya, since ya had any kind of pleasure of that kind, surly Hisagi-kun had more sense then that? Or perhaps Sajin was your fuck buddy? Or maybe. That wasn’t the whip cracks we were hearin’ that was Kenpachi slamming in-”
Tousen was fast but so was Ichimaru. There swords at each others neck. There blades biting into each others flesh. They stood that way for few moments. Then Tousen backed up. “I don’t have time for this. Unlike you Aizen-sama needs me.”
Tousen having gotten the last word smiled. He was waiting for Ichimaru to leave, though, seeing as how the smiling man wasn’t allowed to be there anymore.
Gin wiped the blood that was forming from the cut on his neck that Tousen’s blade had inflicted with his sleeve. He turned on his heal and left. Hinamori quickly following him.
As she followed him her mind possessed all the new information. It was slowly sinking in, her captain was not the man she thought he was. He was not being controlled by anyone. He in fact was doing the controlling and manipulating.
They were back in his room now. And it seemed that he may have forgotten her. She stood by the door not quite sure what to do. She watched him carefully. He still had his back to her.
He slipped out of the white coat. Leaving him in a garment that was very much like Tousen’s. It was sleeveless and she could see the teal sash wrapped several times around his thin waist.
She wondered if he had always been this thin? She couldn’t remember.
He left the coat on the floor and made his way to the bathroom shutting it closed behind him. She felt nervous. She picked up the white coat. She should hang it up, or something.
She held it close picking up traces of his scent. The faint sent of persimmon fruit as well. She smiled at the faint memories of how much Kira hated the stuff. He complained time and time again that, that was all his captain ever wanted to eat. And it was always everywhere. In fact if Momo recalled correctly. Ichimaru had planted a whole garden of the things. And on more then one occasion dropped of a whole basket full of the stuff. A basket for every squad.
She wondered for a moment how his jacket smelled of it. After all there sure wasn’t any persimmon fruit here.
Hinamori held the jacket pondering these things. Unimportant things. Because it was that or think of the reality of her situation. The reality that her captain was never the man she believed him to be. And that she was the last horse to cross the finish line, because everyone already knew that and had been trying to tell her these things. And the man whom she had put a lot of time and effort in hating was not a man that deserved these feelings. Because at the end of the day they were both former lieutenants of the fifth squad who were both hurting because of Aizen.
It was then that she realized that Ichimaru had been gone for a while. Nervously she stepped towards the door. She didn’t hear anything. But he had been in there for such a long time.
She nervously grabbed the handle to the door and opened it carefully. There he was leaning over the sink. His arms were shaky. His one hand was wiping his mouth, had he just been sick? She wasn’t sure. She stepped towards him pushing all fears and thoughts from her mind. She dropped his coat to the floor and wrapped her arms around him.
She was much smaller then him. So her arms were around his midsection. She could feel his body shake under his touch. And after a moment he fell to his knees, making it easier for her. Now with him like this she could hold him better. She rested her head against his back. Her arms on wrapped around him tightly.
He was hurting. She was hurting. They had nobody but each other now. She felt tears falling from her face.
She was crying. Not so much for herself but for both of them. For she knew he wouldn’t cry for himself.
“I’m sorry your hurting,” she sobbed.
His eyes open slightly, a fate smile on his face. This girl was all he had? This girl who had loathed his existence just hours before was crying for him. He placed his hand on one of the arms that embraced him.
No tears should be shed on his account. Not after all that had been done. What he had done. Rangiku’s blood was on his hands. Mixed in with countless others he had slain.
And this girls still held onto him. Even after the friends that had been taken away before her eyes. Even after the betrayal that she had witnessed before her very eyes. Of the grave wound she had suffered at the hands of her captain, while he stood there smiling.
She held him and cried for them both.
She was an idiot for doing so. For feeling anything but hate for him. For showing remorse for a killer like him.
She was so stupid.
So forgiving.
So caring.
And he was grateful that she was all of these things.

A/N
It took some work but I think I did it. This was a tough pairing to work let me say. And I hope its believable that she now feels the way she does. I felt that another chapter of “This is all Ichimaru’s fault,” and “I love Aizen” was just to much. I just hope I didn’t push her to fast into this.
After this I promise Aizen’s going after the king. I know he’s been about to go for like two chapters. I’m probably not going to write about any of that. There are other things to address. Like the wrapping up of some characters, here’s looking at you Ichigo.
Well I hope you enjoyed. I know some cahraters seem a little ooc. But I hope only a little.