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Middle Grounds	By : Sena Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Grimmjow/Ichigo Views: 4055 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All characters associated with the series are the property of Tite Kubo and no money/profit is made with this story. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
Soul Society. The afternoon after Karakura’s war.

Matsumoto worked hard for several hours, filling form after form, classifying the huge pile of papers scattered all over her desk. It wasn’t supposed to take much time, but her mind kept slipping away, trying to find a plausible excuse to sent Kurosaki to the Living World. She felt highly relieved when Inoue arrived with the news that spared her the trouble of finding a reason to send him there.

Both girls went to meet Urahara with a huge grin and cheerful spirits, and the shop owner helped them, willingly enough, with all the settings. In almost no time, the door was settled in a rather permanent way in Urahara’s basement ground.

All the doubts Matsumoto and Inoue had about the meeting between the arrancars and the shinigami quickly vanished when Urahara and Szayel started to speak about all sort of fancy devices, queer developments and some other enigmatic topics that the girls didn’t even attempt to understand.

While Inoue was arranging a schedule with Ulquiorra for some sort of training, Matsumoto exchanged a few words with Urahara regarding his possible help after the trials. The former captain was sincere with her and agreed to help them before and after the trials, whatever the result might be, but he also made clear that he wouldn’t fight. Neither against Ichigo nor against Shinji, regardless of the sentence result.

Matsumoto knew that this answer was the best she was going to obtain and didn’t press the former captain.

The girls left the details to Urahara and Szayel and returned to Soul Society, appearing directly into Matsumoto’s dorm. Inoue departed quickly to find Ichigo, who was waiting for the news, while the vice-captain remained still in the same spot until the young girl left the room.

As soon as she disappeared, Matsumoto’s smile faded as she acknowledged Hitsugaya’s presence in the far corner of her chamber.

“Hey captain.” She spoke without looking at him, her gaze still fixed in the recently closed door.

“What are you doing, Matsumoto?” Hitsugaya’s voice was soft. Too soft to be fine.

“She wanted to see her friends.” Her voice was slightly shaken, but she struggled to keep the restraint as the lie didn’t fool his captain for a moment.

“And she couldn’t wait for a legal senkaimon?” He pointed out with mild irony.

Sighing, she turned around to finally face him. “She was in a hurry?”

“It’s the third time I’ve completely lost your presence in the last two days. Have you been going unnoticed to the living world all these times?” His gaze was unreadable. He was leaning against the wooden wall, with both arms crossed over his chest. His icy blue eyes were analyzing with practiced precision every gesture from his slightly nervous friend.

“Well, obviously not. It seems that you do have noticed me.” She approached him slowly and dropped down to the floor next to his young captain.

“What for?” His voice softened with her proximity, but his eyes kept the glittering edge.

“I have always despised bureaucracy…” She desperately tried to avoid the topic, although she knew she should just accept the fact that she had been caught.

“Have you been working with Gin this last month?” Hitsugaya’s voice sounded more hurt than angry, something that disturbed her even more.

“No.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She was tired of faking, pretending and lying. Gin was going to reveal everything tomorrow, so she could come clean with her captain tonight. She raised her head to look at him tiredly “Not this last month.”

“How long have you been working for Aizen?” Hitsugaya’s gaze hardened, as he saw his fears partially confirmed.

“I’ve never worked for Aizen. I’ve been working with Gin for the last decades, but neither Aizen nor Tousen ever knew. That’s why Gin didn’t let me follow him there. He thought he was protecting me from them.” She looked at the young captain and smiled sadly. “You should take a seat, if you really want to know the whole story, we will be here for a while.”

Hitsugaya looked at her with weary eyes and sat down by her side.

He didn’t move for a long time, watching carefully his vice-captain as she spoke.

She told him how she met Gin when they were kids, how they grow up apart in the academy and how they got closer after their graduation. Her voice lowered as she continued, confessing how long it took for Gin to talk to her about a bad experience that marked his past and about his distrust for all the shinigami in general.

She closed her eyes and relaxed into the wall, while she told her captain about their secret trainings far away from the Seireitei, about a sealing kido developed by Gin to suppress their reiatsu, about their countless runaways to the Living World.

After a long pause to gather her thoughts, she continued.

“One day, while we were in the Living World with the reiatsu suppressed, we found an unconventional hollow. It had a wild pink hair and his appearance suggested that he was at least an adjuctas class. I have never expected to find one lying on the grass, taking carelessly a sunbath with his reiatsu also suppressed. I immediately started to panic as I realized he was far stronger than any hollow I had seen so far, and we had no chance to fight him without Soul Society realizing we were there. Before I could do anything, Gin approached the hollow and started to tease him, making no move to unsheathe his zampakuto or to remove his seal.” She smiled softly at the memory and open her eyes, letting her gaze drift to the ceiling to continue. “I was rooted in place and could only look incredulous as the strange creature didn’t make the slightest move to attack him and just teased him back laughing.”

“Szayel was the first high level hollow I ever met. The initial panic I had felt quickly turned into burning curiosity as they started to chat cheerfully as if it was the most natural thing to do. In almost no time, the three of us started to train together, first in the Living World and not much later, in Hueco Mundo, where we didn’t need to hide our reiatsu from the shinigami.”

After a brief pause, she kept talking, explaining how they met some powerful creatures even before knowing that they were fighting and laughing with Vasto Lordes. How decades later Aizen came up with the idea of merging shinigami souls with hollow’s and how he planned to move towards Hueco Mundo.

Her voice started to fail her as she told him how she and Gin warned the Vasto Lordes against Aizen’s plans and how they worked together for years, taking advantage of the new powers Aizen gave to them and keeping his objectives hidden from the dangerous shinigami. Her voice was slightly shaken when she told him how Gin removed her completely from Aizen’s reach, pretending she was nothing to him and how miserable she felt when she agreed to remain in the backstage.

Tears finally started to wet her face when her memories reached the last month, when she was forced to keep silence for Gin’s sake and she confessed him how hard it had been to fight in the fake Karakura against the same arrancars that she had come to see as friends. How she saw some dying, unable to do anything, and how much she felt in debt with Kurosaki Ichigo, who risked his life and soul to fight Aizen, armed only with what sounded like a crazy advice from an outcast captain.

She was weeping softly when she told him how hard it had been to lie to him and the rest of his friends all this time, and how frightened she was now about Gin’s future.

Long after she fell silent, the young captain said nothing, his eyes completely unreadable.

When she ran out of tears, she sighed and stood up. She moved slowly to reach a paper from a drawer of her desk and handed it to him. Her voice sounded strangely calmed and somehow relieved.

“I’m going to do everything I can to support Gin’s declaration tomorrow. I’m the only witness of all these previous years but I don’t want to drag the tenth division with me. Tell everybody… Just tell them I’m sorry.”

Without another word, she turned and moved away to the bathroom, leaving Hitsugaya frowning at his vice-captain resignation form.

The Living World. The night after Karakura’s war.

Under the dim moon light, Urahara was sitting alone in the shop’s roof when Isshin found him. A half empty bottle of sake was the only visible proof of his unease. Isshin approached him and dropped down by his side, taking the glass from Urahara’s hands and swallowing deeply.

“It’s been a long time since I saw you drinking, Kisuke.” He looked at the small cup rolling between his fingers, not sure about his friend’s mood at the moment.

“After the last events, I concluded that the best thing I could do is drink myself to sleep.” His voice sounded tired, although his easy tone suggested he was still far from drunk.

“It can’t be that bad. Surely this time Ichigo has teamed up with unexpected partners, but he has never been wrong when choosing his friends. And you know that once he has made a choice, it’s useless to argue with him. His resolve is damn unbreakable.”

Urahara chuckled faintly. He took the cup and drink again, talking softly without looking at his friend. “I know. That’s why I’ve agreed to help him with the communications with Hueco Mundo.”

“With the communications? Which communications?” Isshin surprise was plainly visible. He moved to pick up the cup from the other man’s hand and fill it up again while Urahara exposed the situation.

“There’s a portal in my basement connecting directly with the Vasto Lorde refugee in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo and Inoue are going to train with the former espadas.” Urahara’s voice sounded somehow tired, an edge not often revealed by the blond shinigami. Isshin had known him for so long that he easily recognized the source of his unsettledness.

“And the Vizards know?” He asked quietly, moving slowly to the slippery subject.

“Not yet. Shinji has also asked me help. He wants me to declare against him in the trial.”

Urahara took the untouched glass from Isshin’s hands and stared idly it’s content.

“Against Gin or against Ichigo?” Isshin asked carefully.

He smiled sadly and drained the glass. “Actually, both.”

When Urahara didn’t elaborate further, Isshin pressed the matter. “And what have you said?”

“That I needed to think about it.”

The question was more difficult that what it seemed. Urahara had always felt guilty for the vizard’s fate, and it was really hard for him to deny them anything.

“C’mon Kisuke. You can’t declare against Ichigo. He’d trained damn hard to get here.” He had been with Ichigo during his final training, stuck in the Precipice World while the young shinigami tried to control the resurrection form of his inner hollow. He had finally succeeded, but at a bloody cost.

They drank in silence for a while, before Isshin suggested a half deception. “And what about Gin? You could just declare against him. Maybe it would be enough for Hirako.”

Urahara chuckled sadly. “Gin was the first to ask me help. He told me his plans yesterday, and I have already agreed to help him.” He looked miserably at his refilled cup before drinking again. “I did believe him, Isshin.”

Isshin wondered briefly how they could have talked yesterday if Gin was in prison. For a moment he was about to ask, but he quickly realized he was not the most justified person to criticize other people’s secrets. Instead, his thoughts came back to Hirako and his outlawed group.

“There’s no way you could explain them this, Kisuke. You know what they’ve gone through. And Gin was an active part of their doom fate.”

Urahara raised his head to meet Isshin’s eyes. “Fuck, Isshin, you think I don’t know? I was there. It’d been my fate as well.”

“Well, it’s not exactly the same. And you seem to have brought to terms with Soul Society lately, haven’t you?”

Urahara snorted tiredly. “They’re using me for their needs. They overlook my activities as long as I’m useful to them and don’t cause any trouble. I’m not as naïve as to think they’re going to readmit me. It’s been a century, and nothing has really changed so far.” His gaze drifted to the moon, half covered by some passing clouds.

Isshin watched with mild curiosity his friend. “You’re awfully melancholic today. Do you really think that Gin is gonna be the catalyst for a real change?”

This time, Urahara did smile, although it was too enigmatic for Isshin’s taste. “Who knows? Your son has the same ability to make loyal friends than Gin to create deathly enemies. If these two teaming up is not enough to shake Soul Society, nothing will ever do.”

Seireitei. The night after Karakura’s war.

That night Ichigo couldn’t sleep. Their friends had caught him kissing Inoue in the sunset and they had no choice but confess that they had a ‘relationship’ before the kidnapping. Once their curiosity was half settled, both accepted the private room Rukia offered them and moved there for a quiet evening talk. This was the first time they could be alone after coming back from Hueco Mundo, and both had a lot of things to explain.

When she asked if everything was really ok with Shiro, he confessed their discussion after she moved to Hueco Mundo. Inoue was surprised to know that the hollow had explained everything to Ichigo, knowing the consequences. Ichigo confessed that this was the reason Shiro wasn’t fighting in there, but he admitted it had been a terrible mistake. That decision had almost cost their lives by Ulquiorra’s hands, and he had painfully learned the lesson. He also explained her how he finally decided to trust him with his whole body and soul, and spent some days training together in the Precipice World, much to his father's distress.

They talked for hours until exhaustion settled over them and she started to fall asleep in Ichigo’s arms. After a long while, Inoue was snoring softly but Ichigo couldn’t sleep. Finally, he decided to get out before he awakened Inoue with his restless movements.

He sat on the building roof for a while, lost in thoughts and too worried for the trial to sleep. He wandered again what would happen if Gin was found guilty. The first time he rushed to rescue Rukia, everything had seemed so easy… everybody was an enemy, and it wasn’t difficult to fight enemies. But fighting friends was another thing. He had learned it painfully in Hueco Mundo, when he almost saw Grimmjow dying at Nnoitra’s hands. And this time, everything would be much worst. He knew half of the vice-captains well enough to consider them friends, as well as some captains too. He was not sure at all if he would be able to fight against Renji or Ikaku this time.

The tiny flicker of an oncoming reiatsu broke him back from the gloomy thoughts. Hiyori appeared a few feet behind him and walked slowly closer. Almost too slowly for Ichigo’s comfort. She sat down by his side and sighted deeply, her gaze drifting to the sparkling stars as she finally spoke.

“I'd've never imagine we would end up like this, Kurosaki.” Her voice was so calmed, so unlike her, that Ichigo felt his body tense.

“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Ichigo’s voice was almost a plea. “Not with you, Hiyori. You must believe me. Fuck, you know me.” From all the vizards, she was the one closest to him. They had been training for the last month, fighting to exhaustion every day. And he had learned from her as much as from Grimmjow. She teached him the ability to properly use the mask, and Grimmjow’s defeat at his hands had been the final proof of her training. Lying to her had been the most difficult thing he had done so far.

“Shinji’s not going to forget Gin’s betrayal. And as long as you insist in defending him…” She left the sentence unconcluded and turned to face him. “Why? Why you are so stubbornly determined to stand up for him? What has he done for you?” Her voice was shaking and she unconsciously raised her hand to brush the bandages of her torso, a plain sight of Gin’s actions during the fight.

Ichigo couldn’t hold her gaze. He wanted to make her understand but had no comforting words to make it easier. He knew their dark story with Soul Society, and he realized they feel now betrayed again. And this time he was the traitor. And he was with Gin.

Sighing, he tried desperately to explain his decision. “You gave me the tools to fight my inner demon. I’m deeply thankful for that. But he’s given me peace. I’m really fine with my hollow now, and that’s something I’ll never forget.”

“How can you trust him? He is a hollow! If he truly can, why isn’t he trying to take your body?”

“Maybe you should be asking him.” Ichigo suggested tentatively.

She looked at him unsure. He could notice that she was slightly scared and nervous, but somehow also tempted.

Ichigo pressed the matter. “It’s going to be fine, he’ll behave.”

The last part sounded slightly teasing, and he saw the ghost of a smirk in her face. Taking this sight as a confirmation, he quickly moved to his inner world and allowed Shiro to take the control. The hollow smirked at her, carefully keeping his distance in a feeble attempt to avoid scaring her more than necessary.

“Hi bitch. You wanted to know me?”

“Why are you doing this?” Hiyori’s body had tensed visibly at his appearance, but she stubbornly kept her place and held Shiro’s golden stare without flinching, despite the shiver that had run through her body at the sound of his inhuman and eerie voice.

“Because I can. Nobody likes to be caged, not even inside a powerful soul.” Shiro’s voice was soft, temperate, his words carefully chosen.

“You mean that you can do this because you’re stronger than him, don’t you?”

“Not exactly. Ichigo’s will is pretty damn strong. I can do this because he trusts me.”

“That’s crazy. Why would he trust a hollow?”

His eyes searched in her soul for an understanding. But their souls were nothing alike, and she could neither comprehend nor accept Ichigo’s decision. Shiro realized then, under that unbelievable gaze, that for the vizards, it was even harder to assimilate than for the shinigami.

“I’ve given him no reason to distrust me. I know him better than anybody. I’m a part of his soul. He can’t hide anything from me, nor can’t I hide anything from him.” That last part wasn’t exactly true, but she didn’t have to know, and it was a small lie anyway.

Hiyori sighed and let her gaze drift to the stars again. Her voice was softer, strangely sad and somehow melancholic. “It seems that we’re not so alike after all. My own hollow never crossed a word with me when we fought. And I really doubt he could…”

“Your hollow was forced into your soul; I was born with Ichigo’s shinigami powers. Some differences can be expected.”

“I guess so.”

They sat there in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Finally, the vizard turned to face him, smiling tiredly.

“In a way, I’m glad to know Ichigo is fine. However, we won’t be in the same side this time.”

The hollow didn’t try to convince her. He understood her position better than Ichigo, who would be arguing with her against all the odds.

“I know. I keep telling him that, but he’s so fucking naive sometimes.”

“We cannot forgive Gin. He and Aizen send us through hell and forced us to a century of exile.”

“I know”. He repeated softly.

Shiro stretched his legs in front of him and leaned back on his hands. Without looking at her, he made his only attempt to approach the hurt vizard. “Ichigo thinks that it’s time to forgive and forget.”

Hiyori relaxed visibly at Shiro’s stance. She didn’t spoke for a while, and when she finally did, her voice was almost a whisper.

“That’s not how it works. He is too young… tell him that the years only embitter your soul. Time doesn’t make things easier, and some memories leave scars too deep to heal.” She finally turned to face him. “Tell him it’s too late for us.”

Sighing tiredly, she rose to go away but just before leaving, she turned her face one last time to the pale creature still seated on the roof, her voice suddenly sharp.

“Remember him that, I would die for Shinji. But before coming to that, I’ll kill for him.”

Shiro recognized the darkness in her eyes. Her hollow might be crushed into her soul, but his influence was clearly visible. His survival instinct hardened any chance to convince her to leave Shinji’s side.

The hollow didn’t try to stop her when she disappeared into the alleys. Instead, he turned his attention to his inner world, where the shinigami had been watching apprehensively the whole time.

“I told you, Ichigo. They’re not going to forget.”

Shiro’s voice reached easily their inner world, his tone contained in a vain effort to ease Ichigo’s raging mind.

“And what am I supposed to do now? If the vizards don’t believe me, we’ve no chance to convince any fucking body during the trial. What am I going to tell them tomorrow? What the fuck is Gin expecting?”

“Maybe it’s just about time you ask him.”

Ichigo’s voice sounded tired, slightly hopeless. He was close to despair again. “I can’t meet him. If I go anywhere near the prison they will feel my reiatsu.”

“They’re not going to feel mine. Once inside, Gin can seal the cell as the last time.”

“Could you reach him?”

Shirosaki snorted at the easily recognizable hope in the shinigami’s voice. This was probably one of the best qualities of Ichigo. Whatever the odds, he stubbornly held his hopes in the tiniest chance available. And he used to succeed even in the worst situations.

Smiling widely, he teased the younger boy a little.

“Please. As long as you don’t run around wasting reiatsu, I can perfectly mask myself. Maybe you should learn a little control.”

“Don’t you dare speak me about control.”

“C’mon, Ulquiorra was pretty damn strong… I needed to mentally crush him. And I managed the situation far better than you.”

Ichigo knew it was true, and he felt too tired to argue any further.

“Fine, let’s do this before I regret it.”

Shiro laughed and jumped from roof to roof, his reiatsu completely suppressed. Once he reached the prison, he used sonido to get through the guards and stopped in front of Gin’s cell, a wide grin shining in his face as the caged shinigami approached.

“I think it’s about time we talked, shinigami.” Shiro’s eyes didn’t miss a detail as the imprisoned captain smiled tiredly and dropped down to the floor, leaning against the cell bars. Since the older man didn’t say a word, the hollow pressed. “What do you expect from me exactly?”

When Gin turned his head and those blue eyes met Shiro’s, the hollow saw the old man hesitate for a moment. But Gin’s trend smirk quickly came back in place, and the expressive pale eyes closed again. Gin’s voice was soft but determined.

“I only need your words. I need you to show yourself in the trial and speak in front of all the captains.” He snorted softly to add. “I need them to see you calmed and talkative. Do you think you can do that?”

Shiro laughed. “I’m not that talkative, and I can promise you that I’m not the calmest guy around. But I’ll be quiet and polite in front of that old man.”

Gin frowned at him playfully. “They just need to know that you can speak by yourself without harming Ichigo. I don’t need you to be polite.”

“Oh, but I’ll do it just for the pleasure to watch their faces.”

Shiro stretched lazily and looked around, realizing that Gin had made no move to set the barrier. “Ichigo also wanted to talk to you.”

“Well, I can’t talk to him.”

Shiro looked at him, wondering for a moment which was the meaning of his cryptic words, but Gin continued before the hollow could decide what to do. So, he kept listening.

Gin was smirking softly. “I swore an oath. I can’t tell this story to any shinigami.”

Shiro nodded in understanding and relaxed again, waiting for the other man to start. Gin took a deep breath and when he spoke, his voice didn’t hide the sorrow at the painful memories.

“The day the shinigami found her and took her prisoner, I ran to Yamamoto. I was young and naive. I told him everything. I thought it was important, that it could change the view that the shinigami had about the hollows. I though he didn’t know and that he was doing what he thought it was correct. I was convinced that I was doing a crucial revelation. I was wrong. He listened to me and just told me to never repeat this story again. He said that a hollow can’t be trusted, no matter what.”

“I tried everything. I begged, yelled, cursed, cried… all for nothing. I was allowed to go there to say her farewell if I swore that I will never tell this story to any shinigami. I finally accepted the truth. She was going to die. And I could only stand there and watch her dying. And it will be painful, as the trial will try to show that she had been possessed by a hollow that only appeared when the life of the host is threatened. So they were going to attack her until the hollow surfaced. This let me only one choice. I accepted the opportunity to say her farewell and went there. I spent the night in her cell, and when the morning came, she changed. I could have never hurt her body, but the hollow was stronger. I awakened my zampakuto that dawn, at the command of kill Shinso. She was the first hollow I've ever killed.”

Gin paused for a moment and Shiro made a move to speak, but the hollow refrained its impulse and relaxed again, waiting for the Shinigami to end.

“I started to work for Aizen after that. I knew that he wanted to destroy Soul Society, and by that time, I just wanted revenge. So, I became his vice-captain and gained his trust, while I slowly learned to know him. The only soul that ever got close to me was Rangiku, but even thought I told her most of the story when the years brought up closer, I kept my promise. Not a single shinigam beside Yamamoto ever knew who really killed her that night.”

Gin opened his eyes to look at Shiro with the shadow of a smirk on his face. “But as you are not a shinigami, I’m not technically breaking my oath.” Gin’s sarcastic smile disappeared, however, as he continued.

“But the Vasto Lordes knew why the captain commander did what he did. I learn it much later, when I finally met an arrancar old enough to remember the young days of Yamamoto.”

“Once, there had been an alliance between the Vasto Lordes and the shinigami, but something broke it. The shinigami assaulted Hueco Mundo and the war took many lives in both sides. Yamamoto is the only living shinigami who's a survivor of these days. I never really knew the reason, but after 3000 years, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“I already knew most of the Vasto Lordes when Aizen decided to start his plan, and I had joined him in a futile attempt to avenge her death, not to conquer anybody, least of all, Hueco Mundo. Unfortunately, Aizen’s plans were as stupid as Yamamoto’s idea about the Hollow’s nature, so I had to change my strategy. Ironically, I remained stuck with Aizen while trying to save Soul Society, the very same organization I’d sworn to destroy.”

“However, after going through a hell for over a century, I’m not going to resign myself to watch as everything continues like it was before Aizen revealed his plans. I’m not that young boy that wanted to destroy every shinigami he found, but I’ll never follow an order from Yamamoto either.”

“I’m telling you this because you are probably the only one who can understand it. And I feel that I own you an explanation. These are my motivations. This is my fight, and remember that I don’t expect you to fight in it. I only need your words. It’s probably the only way to make them understand…” Gin let his gaze drift to the ceiling and he didn’t speak for a while.

After a long pause, he opened his eyes and turned his head to look directly to the golden ones, with an unusually tired expression.

“But maybe it will be effortless after all. If it comes down to it, I won’t go quiet.”

Finally, Shiro made the question that Ichigo feared the most. “Do you still plan to kill him?”

Gin sighed. He knew that the question came from the shinigami, and this was not something that he could answer with a single word. Slowly, he stood up, holding his hands on the cell bars and looking directly into the hollow’s bright eyes.

“There are no middle grounds this time, Ichigo. When I decided to play this game, I knew that I must either win or die.”

Both paused for a moment, looking intensely in each other eyes, until finally, the captain broke the visual contact and turned around. He walked back to his bed, waving Shiro as he ended the conversation as cryptic as always.

“Killing him or convincing him, aren’t the only choices available. There is always a third way out if you know where to look for it.”
- 10
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Middle Grounds