It took a lot of self control not to storm into the Eighth Division on a burst of righteous indignation and demand an explanation, but I managed to do it. My lieutenant relayed the entire conversation Kyoraku and Ise had in the office and I knew then that Kyoraku had been digging into his own history. He must have found some record of his own that he had gone to challenge Aizen-sama; it had been foolhardy of my captain to have used his bankai in Seireitei without checking if any of them kept other records. Inwardly I almost cringed for having the criticism that Aizen-sama was not perfect, yet he used to be quite impatient.

That would mean that Kyoraku was looking up information on Aizen-sama's bankai. If I had been a lesser man, I would have been insulted that he would assume that I would have put in all the data I received. Never give anyone all the facts, if you want to keep your job.

It was time to intervene. Mentally I gauged my strength against Kyoraku and knew that in a fair fight, I would not be able to walk away. But I had leverage, and too long I had put off the confrontation.

Leaving a blissfully asleep Kira to his dreams and recuperation from the new scars on his shoulder – a truly lovely pattern, if I said so myself, the feathers of the crane almost delicate and real, and my name visible from this particular angle – I put on plain black shinigami robes. Shinsou hung at my waist, thrumming with curiosity.

Kyoraku and Ise know about the gap in the captain's memory, Aizen-sama. Where are you?

'With Ukitake Jyuushiro. I expected him – Kyoraku – to barge in here then to demand my head on a platter.'

Unlikely, I replied. He'll probably bide his time, like he has been doing. He knows something isn't on the up and up, but he wants solid facts before he takes action.

Aizen-sama chuckled. 'I would usually counsel patience, but go for it.'

Is Kai Mizuki in Seireitei at the moment?

'No, she's somewhere in Europe. I can't remember which Society she's being posted at now.'

I smirked as I slipped from shadow to shadow, and made my way across the different regions. A quick peek at the Eighth division building showed Ise hard at work clearing overdue paperwork, and a scan of reiatsu indicated that she was alone. Unless the captain was deliberately hiding his trace, Kyoraku was most likely at home.

Aizen-sama. I'm asking one favor of you.

'I will watch over him, but I do hope you'll come back to me, lover.'

I will. Maybe not in one whole piece, that's all.

The trek to the Kyoraku estate was easy. Even without the haori, the shinigami on patrol recognized who I was easily and gave me no grief. Finding out exactly where Kyoraku was in the massive estate without arousing the suspicion of the guards would be impossible, however, but I knew how to work past the impossible.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Good evening," I said to the housekeeper who opened the door. "I wonder if Kyoraku-taichou is in tonight."

"Yes, Ichimaru-taichou, if you could wait a minute in the waiting room," said the housekeeper who led me to the small, elegantly-detailed room just off the side of the main entrance. I looked around and found an interesting book by Goethe, in its original language, and the inscription on the inside cover was the last stanza from the lovely Marienbad Elegy.

To me is all, I to myself am lost,

Who the immortals' fav'rite erst was thought;

They, tempting, sent Pandoras to my cost,

So rich in wealth, with danger far more fraught;

They urged me to those lips, with rapture crown'd,

Deserted me, and hurl'd me to the ground.

The script was almost certainly by Goethe's own hand, if I were any judge from my decade in Fegefeuer. Karl had loved Goethe – he even spent years in Venice stalking the German, who apparently had been quite handsome in his youth. I smiled tenderly at the recollection; our little mementos were still with me, placed in a secure box locked up in the Third Division's stores.

It was almost twenty-five minutes before Kyoraku Shunsui deigned to see me. By this time a number of servants had already served me tea and snacks, while a handful of house guards passing by to change shifts had eyed me with expressions ranging from curiosity to disdain to fear.

Good. There was no servant I knew of who did not gossip, even if to one person only, and should I fail to emerge from the Kyoraku estate the news would be all over Soul Society by the next evening.

Kyoraku was at a porch overlooking his extensive gardens. He greeted me quite cordially and I accepted his invitation to sit with him.

"So. What brings you here?" he asked once the servants had left us alone.

"You sneaked into my office, hacked into my servers and looked at classified information," I replied calmly, sipping the proffered cup of tea.

He paused, and then chuckled. "You had a camera in the room."

"That would be telling, wouldn't it?" I put the cup down and admired the pines in his courtyard. "Why were you there?"

"Your former captain isn't who he seems to be," he said. "I wanted to see if you are in cahoots with him."

Apparently honesty was the current trend. I could work with that. "That's a dangerous statement to make to someone who may or may not be colluding with a suspect."

"Dangerous? Foolish, perhaps. But not dangerous." He sounded amused and added, "I am, after all, your superior in many ways, not least in age."

"And you are here," I countered evenly. "While your lieutenant is in the office alone, your... daughter, I should say, is in Europe, and your best friend has just been fucked into complete stupor."

The silence between us was now rich and textured. I could feel him trying to use his reiatsu to cow me, but I merely stiffened my shields.

"I saw the lovely book you have in the waiting room," I remarked. "Lovely inscription. Did you get Goethe to write it after he died?"

"Before, actually. I liked his poetry. Very elegant and romantic."

"Karl – Karl Bauer, the guy I slept with when I was in Fegefeuer – had a fling with Goethe. I suppose after his death, I mean Karl's, the books must have gone to Maximilian." I smiled and picked up a roasted cashew that had been served earlier with the tea. "For a new captain-general, he's quite a softie at heart. But then again, he is quite young. He still writes now and then, keeps my German fresh."

Kyoraku was absolutely still.

"I think I ought to return to my quarters," I said as I got to my feet. "Kira might fret when he finds me missing."

I was about to step out of the room when Kyoraku said, "I could have killed you when you came in."

"But you didn't, and your people know I've been here. Aizen-taichou knows I'm here. And I hope you don't insult my intelligence further by suggesting that I would leave my most important lieutenant unguarded, or that there is no one else working with me." Now I turned around to face him. "I shall say it plain, Kyoraku-taichou, because you have been mostly honest with me."

He stood and his eyes were keen, completely unlike the usual demeanor he presented.

"I am always going to defend him," I stated. I didn't need to elaborate whom I was referring to. "Even if I knew what he is up to, I will defend him to my death, literally. I don't like that he is sleeping with your best friend. I don't like that he takes the whole moral superiority thing with me. I don't like his lieutenant who is an overly cute cheerful puppy who ought to be put down like the annoying bitch she is. But I love him, and I will do anything for him."

"Odd words for an ex-lover. What would little Kira say?"

"Sarcasm does not become you," I responded. Now my smile faded. "So, Kyoraku-taichou, if you stand in his way, you have to ask yourself: how fast can you take me down? I am the first trigger, and if I fall... it all blows up in your face. The secrets that you kept from the people that you care for? Boom."

He scoffed. "You lie, whelp."

I bared my teeth. It was not a smile I showed him. "Are you willing to test me?"

The second of hesitation told me all I needed to know. I said, very quietly, "You have plenty of people you care about. I only have two. One is very willing to die for me. The other I will protect to my death." I allowed my reiatsu to settle again, and bowed mock-amiably. "Have a good evening, Kyoraku-taichou. Sweet dreams."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Aizen-sama had been listening in and he applauded my performance, even as he began to plan how to best execute my threats should the need ever arise.

It had been a wild gambit, and I wondered what I would have done if he had tried to kill me.

Fight, perhaps, and I smiled warmly knowing that if I did fall in service to my captain he would avenge me.

Still, being able to intimidate a senior captain was quite a thrill. In a way I knew that we would be able to get away with anything now. If I had tried to bluff my way through with Aizen-sama, I would have been a red smear on the tatami.

'That indeed would have been the case if you weren't such a sexy little thing,' Aizen-sama interjected.

I grinned and flash-stepped back home. Aw, compliments now? You're getting soft in your old age.

'Still hard where it counts, lover.'

And your innuendos are losing their subtlety also. Tsk tsk. Dull now that I'm not around to sharpen your wit?

'I'm a fossil now, dear heart. You'll have to dig me up out of a hole in the ground.'

We still have to ensure that my lies aren't lies by tomorrow. You can go into the hole after that.

'Already set, lover.' Aizen-sama sounded smug. 'And which hole are we talking about again?'

I laughed and retorted, Which one do you have in mind, Aizen-sama? We can doing some exploring after the exhibition.

'Certainly.'

We were set. Now all we needed was the right opening.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The fake attack on Masaki went off without a hitch. The woman was barely scratched, but now she was tainted with hollow reiatsu. The child she bore would be powerful indeed.

In the back of my head, I wondered how soon before we encountered the child, and if it would be a boy or girl. If it looked any bit like Kurosawa, I might just mercy kill the kid. On the other hand, if it were cute, I might just have a bit of fun with the child.

As for Kurosawa... I smiled darkly. I had not forgotten his slight, so many decades ago, when I knocked on his door seeking help and receiving none. He would learn how it truly felt to be desperate.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The captains' bankai exhibitions had been exhilarating and well-received, even though Shinsou had complained about showing only half his abilities. Harutakanna had been cheered, on display as it had been with Byakuya's Senbonzakura, but the old man only released shikai – we knew it wouldn't be wise to have his bankai on show unless we really wanted to die – but it was enough to send most of the cannon fodder to their knees after half a minute's exposure to the reiatsu. I found it hard to breathe, myself, but I still extended protection over my boy. Aizen-sama was faking his strained expression; I was able to sense the ease with which he rode the pressure of Yamamoto's reiatsu.

I found it strange that they kept pairing me with Byakuya. We loathed each other in a cordial, icy and extremely polite manner, but our intense dislike of each other had to be obvious to everyone else.

Or maybe I was too good an actor?

I had to spend the whole afternoon talking to various divisions' lieutenants and top seated officers – I did not miss Ise Nanao carefully avoiding me – and the idle chatter bored me. I couldn't escape since all the captains were fielding questions, and it would seem indecorous.

By the time we could leave, Kira had already absented himself and Hinamori had apparently dragged her captain out of the session. I felt the irrational itch to scratch her face, and hated that I was so petty. Wondering where my blond pet had wandered to, I took a detour to the office and deposited some files, and something on my desk caught my eye. It was an invitation to go to the fifth division's meditation chamber.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Good evening."

My heart skipped a beat and I could not help the huge smile that blossomed on my face. "Aizen-sama?" I whispered, cognizant that Kira was there too. "What brings you here?"

"I was invited," said my captain with a tender smile, rising gracefully to his feet. He stepped nearer and tipped my chin up, pressing our lips together without deepening the kiss. "Kira was very persuasive."

I turned on my heel and beamed at my lieutenant, gesturing for him to come over to us. He obeyed shyly, his fringe covering his eye, and his cheeks were flushed.

"Izuru, darling, do you mean what I think you mean?" I murmured, my lips brushing the outer shell of his right ear. "Is this who you want?"

"I know you love him," Kira whispered in reply. "I-I want you happy, Gin. I want you to be happy and I know you trust him and I think I can... I think I can trust him too."

I stroked his cheek and tucked him into my neck. "You are a darling, my boy," I said quietly, my hands sliding down his back and pulling him into a tighter embrace. "You are amazing and sweet and I adore you."

Throughout the exchange, Aizen-sama was waiting patiently. I left my hands on Kira's shoulders as I peered at my captain. "Aizen-taichou?" I asked, a wealth of queries within the innocuous statement.

"Call me the way you always call me when we are alone, Gin," said my lover, and my heart warmed.

I reached a hand out to him and he took it, allowing me to pull him to both Kira and myself.

"Aizen-sama," I said reverently, "we are yours tonight."

"I would be honored," he replied, fingers trailing through my hair and dusting over my lips. "But is Kira comfortable with that?"

I looked at my darling boy and waited as his gaze flickered from me to Aizen-sama and back to me again. He nibbled on his lower lip, seemingly unaware that the motion was making his mouth sinfully pink, and it took him some time before he muttered, "I would prefer that... I'd rather Gin lead, please. I'm not saying that I don't like you, Aizen-taichou, I just-"

"-feel more comfortable with Gin. I understand." Aizen-sama petted my lieutenant on his blond head. "So. We are at your mercy tonight, Gin. How do you want us?"

I could barely answer, I was that giddy with happiness and lust. "Wild and often."

The shared look between Aizen-sama and Kira made me laugh out loud. Whatever Kira had said to Aizen-sama must have eased any lingering tension between them, but there was no closeness yet that would help make it an evening to remember.

As Kira helped me disrobe, I watched Aizen-sama's reactions. He was enjoying the show for certain, the way he leaned against the wall and the relaxed manner of his shoulder and arms. The reiatsu absorbing fabric that draped from the ceiling closed all of us in a quiet space, masking the external world, and the black cloth brought out the paleness of his skin. The overhead lighting would have been harsh, but Kira and Aizen-sama had lit up a few bronze lamps set over large bowls of water. The light dappled enticingly over gilded skin.

"Darling," I breathed into his ear, "I know you're nervous. I know you feel scared about what we are going to do tonight. But you have been such a wonderful, lovely boy, and I want so much to enjoy you tonight. All of tonight, lovely. And more than that, darling, I want you to enjoy tonight."

He swallowed, his shoulders shifting and then relaxing fractionally.

I slid my arms about his waist and pressed my lips to the side of his head. "I'm going to take your clothes off, darling, and I want you to look at Aizen-sama while I do it. Do you know why?"

"I think... I think you want me to see, um, to see if Aizen-taichou likes what you're doing?"

"That's right, lovely. But more than that," I whispered as I undid his belt, "more than that, I want you to see how much he wants us. Look at him, darling Izuru. That little smile – his teeth catching a little on his lower lip. Look at the way his eyes sweep down your body now. Your skin makes him hungry, lovely Izuru, hungry for you, and you are so beautiful right now, darling, the way you flush down your perfect, beautiful skin."

Kira was panting lightly and my hands had not been idle. He was naked now, and pressed back against my body. His hips shifted and when my fingers skated along his hip bones to his groin he whined softly, his arousal stirring to life.

"You are exquisite, Kira," agreed Aizen-sama, walking over and tipping his chin up. "May I call him Izuru, Gin?"

"You certainly may." I licked up the pale neck, and then moved behind Aizen-sama, undoing his plain belt and delicately removing his simple gray yukata. "Shall we?"

"Definitely." Aizen-sama placed a kiss on Kira's gently parted lips and took my lieutenant's hands. "Come on, Izuru."

When I turned Kira about to kiss him, I was surprised that he resisted. "What's wrong, darling?"

"My back, he'll see my back," he whispered urgently. He clutched at my arms. "He'll see my scars."

"My marks, lover," I answered. "You bear my marks, darling. Be proud of them."

"I am, but-"

Aizen-sama interrupted gently. "May I see?"

Kira gulped, stared at me with his wide blue eyes, and then turned around, hiding his face into my neck.

"Beautiful." Aizen-sama was touching him on the back, presumably tracing the lines I had drawn over white skin. My boy was shaking, either from nerves or sensation, and I rubbed his flanks soothingly. "Your body is a work of art, Izuru, and thank you for showing me this."

Wrapping our arms about him, we spent a long time just touching and kissing, Aizen-sama and I both focusing on Kira. He was relaxing into our caresses slowly, and soon he was responding with equal fervor to Aizen-sama as he was to my kisses.

Eventually we did make it to the bed and there we paused.

"Um, how..." Kira blushed and fidgeted nervously with his fingers. "What should I do?"

I regarded him fondly and settled him onto the futon. Some oil was next to the bed in small vials; I uncapped one and sniffed, pleased that it was not scented. They had the bed already laid out, and as he sat carefully on the sheets Aizen-sama and I took up places on either side of him. The blond peered at me and then turned to look at Aizen-sama, and I saw how his fingers curled into the fabric, but the shy half-smile hovering on his lips told me that the tension was due more to anticipation rather than fear.

"Lie back, darling," I ordered, my hands running over his back.

Aizen-sama kissed me on the cheek and then on the lips. I opened my mouth to him instantly and our tongues slid together wetly, hungrily. His hands skated over my hips and scratched lightly over my damp skin.

"Your boy is waiting, dearest," said Aizen-sama, his voice dropping into a lower, huskier register.

I breathed him in and smirked. "Waiting for me or you?"

My older lover smiled and then turned me to face Kira. My lieutenant was trembling slightly and his knees shifted, allowing me to slide in between. I murmured reassurances, even as my palms slid along the insides of his calves and thighs, kneading and massaging the lean muscles, until I got to the top of his legs and he moaned softly.

"You're ready for us, aren't you?" I asked in a whisper, mouthing the crease at the top of his thigh and then the base of his cock, breathing in his clean scent. "You want this."

"Yes, oh god. I want- Gin, how?"

"Do you trust us?" I whispered, flattening my tongue over the heated arousal and his eyelids fluttered, his breath shallow and short.

He wet his lips and his legs separated a bit more, bracketing me comfortably. I could feel Aizen-sama's reiatsu coiling about us slowly, and his thumbs kneaded my ankles in circles. I reached for the lubrication and slicked up two fingers. Kira pushed his fringe aside. "Yes."

"And then, darling Izuru, I will prepare you," I promised. "I'll prepare you for us."

"For...?" Kira gasped as my finger pushed into him. "Both?"

"Yes, love, both, I want you to feel so treasured by us both." I kissed his cock and sucked on the tip, tasting salty precome. My index finger circled and nudged his entrance and he trembled faintly with expectation. "I want you to feel so adored, to feel worshiped, to feel loved."

He whined, a high note in his throat, and his fingers dug into the sheets as I sucked his arousal hard, taking it all in, even as my fingers slipped into his entrance and began to prepare him roughly. He struggled briefly and suddenly went lax around my hand. I smiled; there was a warm body right behind me. Aizen-sama was kneeling behind me and I figured he was helping Kira to enjoy our attention.

"Kiss his belly, love," Aizen-sama commanded quietly, his breath hot behind my ear. "Lick up his abdomen, all the way up to his chest."

I followed his instructions, and then moved on to Kira's nipples, making my darling boy writhe and buck beneath us as I removed my fingers from his ass. Then a hand on the small of my back urged me to lie full-length over Kira. Just as my mouth reached his lips a firm, familiar hand wrapped about both Kira's cock and mine.

We gasped in unison and, as Aizen-sama's hand started the confident strokes, I locked my mouth on the meat of Kira's neck and bit down, my hips thrusting shallowly into Aizen-sama's grip. When the grip tightened fractionally, Kira wailed and I felt his legs spread further to accommodate our bodies. Then I moaned loudly when a finger breached my entrance, and my breaths mingled with Kira's harsh pants. When Aizen-sama sped up the strokes, both Kira and I keened shamelessly.

"That's right," crooned my older lover, "that's right, darlings, just ride the sensations."

My lips moved roughly over Kira's, drinking in his gasps. I dragged my hands up over his torso and rubbed over his chest, then pinched his nipples hard and rolled the hardened nubs between my fingers. He yowled and arched wildly up against me, crying out unintelligibly.

"Roll over, love," muttered Aizen-sama. "Let Izuru lie between us."

With some difficulty I managed to get Kira in between us and we kissed lustily over his shoulder as he tried to wiggle to a more snug position wedged between our bodies. I turned my attention to Kira's skin, licking up and down his neck, and sucked greedily on his earlobe. On an unspoken signal I hooked my hands under Kira's knees and pulled them up, spreading my darling boy for Aizen-sama,

Aizen-sama didn't waste any time, his mouth trailing over my blond's collarbones and down, down to his erection, and I felt Kira tense as Aizen-sama's lips pressed kisses nearer and nearer the jutting cock.

"Relax, darling," I ordered, tongue flicking over the salt of his skin, "let him take care of you. Let us take care of you. God, 'Zuru dearest, I want you so bad, can you feel it? Can you feel us?" My teeth nibbled on the shell of his ear, and I hooked my chin over his shoulder and murmured, "Breathe out, slow, and inhale, slow." He obeyed. "Lean back against me, darling, and look down. Do you see what I see, darling boy?"

He exhaled heavily. "Gods, Gin, I can't- too much-"

"Look at Aizen-sama," I said, "look at him. He wants you too, so much."

Kira gasped sharply, almost a sob, and he threw his head to the side with another choked wail when Aizen-sama took him in fully. I mouthed Kira's neck, enjoying the sight of my captain bobbing his head over Kira's cock, his dark eyes peering up at me. His hand was buried between Kira's legs and I grinned in a feral manner. Aizen-sama winked and then bent to his task. Abruptly Kira screamed and thrust into Aizen-sama's mouth.

When Aizen-sama drew back, a trail of Kira's come stuck to his lower lip and then his chin, which he swiped off with his finger and placed on my lips. I sucked on his digits, my tongue lingering over the taste of Kira over his skin.

"Gin?" my lieutenant pleaded. "Can we please...? I n-need, I need this, I can't-"

"Hush, love, we're going to prepare you, darling, we'll take it slow now." I nuzzled into his hair. "I don't wanna hurt you. I want you to enjoy this, to savor this present you're giving me. Gods, Kira Izuru, you are so sexy now, so perfect. You found the perfect man for us, darling, you are amazing and gods I want you right now. Aizen-sama, can we? Can we have Izuru now?"

Kira keened as Aizen-sama did something with his hand and then there was an obscene slippery noise. Aizen-sama licked his lips and there was a wicked glint in his eyes. "Not yet, lover."

He dipped his head and it was my time to cry out, because his tongue was flicking over the head of my arousal and from Kira's wiggling I figure that Aizen-sama was also lapping at his entrance.

"Aizen-sama, please," I panted out and he finally assented.

He sat back on his heels and grinned wolfishly. "Izuru, are you ready for us?"

Kira swallowed and licked his mouth, panting, and then finally nodded. I turned him around, wanting to be able to kiss both my lovers if I wanted to. Aizen-sama encouraged Kira in a low voice to rise to his knees over me, and then he took my cock and stroked it, slicking it up further, and then putting me slowly into Kira.

My lieutenant's fingers dug hard into my shoulders and his eyelids fluttered. His soft lips parted and I bit tenderly into the base of his neck, tongue lapping over his sweet-salty skin, my hands steadying his hips before he could sink down on me.

"Lean back a little, Gin," Aizen-sama instructed. "Izuru, I need you to breathe slowly and deeply, slow and deep, and tell us if it hurts, all right?"

He nodded again, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. I could feel the head of Aizen-sama's arousal sliding into Kira also and I sucked on his earlobe, my hands tightening on the blond as I tongued his ear.

He whimpered, very softly, but Aizen-sama heard him and paused. He asked, voice low and raw, "Too much, Izuru?"

"No, no," Kira gasped, "just... unexpected. Odd." He inhaled shakily again and added, "It's... it's more than I thought."

I nuzzled into his jaw and said, "Wait till we are both completely in you, darling. It'll be amazing."

Kira let himself be manipulated by Aizen-sama and I, little whines escaping from his throat at each motion we made to acclimatize him to our cocks. Finally, after what felt like an interminable wait, we were both buried in his hot and willing body, and there he chose to keep Kira still.

My captain was very pleased by Kira's obedience, and the feedback of his satisfaction urged my lust further. I was nearly on the edge myself, feeling the heated length of Aizen-sama against me.

"Aizen-sama, please," I begged, hearing how husky I was and unable to control my breathlessness, my arms looping around Kira's torso to touch my captain. His large hands were between me and Kira, one hand plucking absently at Kira's nipples and the other around his weeping cock. "Please, Aizen-sama, I need-"

"You're in control tonight, remember?" Aizen-sama reminded me with a teasing grin. But he knew I needed his word as well, and his hands reached around to pull me closer, helping me brace myself better.

Kira could only hang on to my shoulders for dear life as both Aizen-sama and I grabbed his hips, helping him to keep still as we thrust into him. I could barely restrain myself from biting too hard on Kira's flesh, locked in the terrible rhythm of thrust-slide-pull-more, and the young shinigami was wailing, voice cracking as he gave in to our desires and primal lust.

'He is so very exquisite, lover,' Aizen-sama thought, his mental voice a growl of desire.

Vaguely I agreed, barely able to keep a coherent train of thought. Aizen-sama's mind blended into my own consciousness and we were again in sync, much as the day when he first gave me the ring, and it was breathtakingly glorious to feel how Kira felt from Aizen-sama's perspective. I reached blindly to grip Kira by his hair, baring his neck, and both my captain and I locked on either side of it to suck deep bruises into pale skin. My darling blond screamed as we sank out teeth in at the same time. Aizen-sama's knuckles rubbed my abdomen as he sought Kira's cock and he pumped, hard and rough and firm, just the way I knew Kira loved it. Kira's scream heralded his ecstasy and his come spattered and smeared over our chests.

Aizen-sama kept dragging Kira's hips down as he thrust, while I valiantly tried to keep up with the pace even as my own control faltered. Before I could come I heard Aizen-sama's deep, guttural command to wait.

Kira went lax in our hold and Aizen-sama suddenly pulled out of my darling boy, and I slipped out as well. My boy whimpered and I lay him to the side. He shook with the aftershocks and his lashes fluttered weakly, his soft lips parted for breath.

"Elbows and knees," Aizen-sama ordered, the edge of his reiatsu was tinted with the fantastically dark bite of the true Aizen-sama that I worshiped. "I want you to come all over your masterpiece."

Kira' legs splayed and I slithered up between them and he whimpered when my cock brushed his flaccid and still-sensitive cock. He blinked blearily up at us. My elbows bracketed his head and I could rub my erection against his jutting hipbone.

Aizen-sama didn't allow me that, however, gripping me hard and pulling my hips higher as he shoved into me. I cried out and then he began fucking me, raw and painfully, the way he knew I would appreciate. A slight shift meant that every thrust hit my prostate with unerring accuracy and I yowled, and Kira maneuvered his own hips slightly higher so that I was able to rub against him as we moved.

"Come on him, dear heart," whispered Aizen-sama. "He's waiting now. Come for him, come for me."

I could sense the white-hot tension coiled deep in my gut and I bit on my lower lip. Kira was still wet and slick from what we did earlier, easing my sliding over his skin, and the coil of desire tensed further and further in my groin until I released all control, and Aizen-sama thrust again, again, again and the tension snapped. I arched and my muscles locked as I ejaculated, milky come splashing stickily over Kira's lovely body. My vision swam and I shut my eyes, tasting skin and love and sweat. Kira keened, arching his hips against my groin while I rode out the sensations; it soon grew too much for me, and my captain grabbed my hips and pressed me close to him as he neared his own climax. Aizen-sama thrust once, twice and then released into me, a flood of warmth and I whined as he left my body. Slowly I sank down, resting my head on Kira's breastbone. I could feel the wetness between my thighs, flowing stickily and uncomfortable towards the bed. Aizen-sama was on his knees, not resting on either of us, but I could feel his warmth on my back and I smiled with gladness.

We unfolded cautiously to lie on the makeshift bed, I between Kira and Aizen-sama. My lieutenant immediately snuggled into my embrace, heedless of the sticky mess on my belly and chest, while Aizen-sama draped a reassuring arm over my hip and his hand was on Kira's waist.

'You found yourself a very loving pet, dearest.'

Can I keep him then?

'After we've settled in, maybe. If he wants.' Aizen-sama's tone was gentle and he moved closer. 'Thank you, Gin. He is truly beautiful.'

You are pleased?

'Very.'

I smiled and shifted slightly to regard Aizen-sama's warm brown eyes and tender smile.

'Rest, darling.' Aizen-sama brushed some hair from my brow.

You'll wake us up early tomorrow?

'I will. Now go to sleep, lover. We have a lot to do from now on.'

Yes, Aizen-sama. In the arms of my captain and with my lieutenant in my own embrace, I had nothing to fear. If this was to be the shape of things to come, I would consider myself blessed.

With a smile still on my lips, I closed my eyes and obeyed.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Dear readers,

It has been an incredibly long, breathtaking and enriching ride. Much of it has been tumultuous and terrifying and fun and amazing – and a huge part of me is going to miss it. I still have some fics to finish up (give me a year, perhaps) and then it's going to be a new chapter of life for me, and I will no longer take on full-length epic fics again.

At least, not on purpose. I know better now.

I have learned so much through writing this and through the reviews sent me. I can never thank all of you enough for your encouragement and ideas. Though my RL at the moment is a hell of a bitch to suffer through, I know that I have your love for this set of fics that I can go back to as a long, happy period in my life, and I don't regret a single word I put up as peppermintquartz.

(Well, maybe the typos. And the early, crappy efforts. I won't take them down though.)

Thank you all again, so, so much for having followed and read and loved Gin and Aizen and Kira and all the characters as I have. You have been my inspiration and my encouragement, and I will treasure your reviews as I have done for the past few years.

Over on AO3, chapters will be loaded as they are edited.

With lots of love,

PQ