Expecting the Unexpected

It was pretty rowdy at the Hueco Mundo bar tonight, which was nothing new. Although the club was exclusive, there were still many people admitted in. Unfortunately, it included those who were not supposed to be there, those who were causing trouble enough that both Nnoitra and Grimmjow had to get rid of even without his orders. They were that bothersome.

However, Aizen Sousuke didn't care (much) about it right now, even though he knew full well that the reason for the weak security was because Szayel was on bouncer duty that evening.

Yammi had gotten food poisoning the night before and he still couldn't make it—Damn the greedy behemoth. The only one left without a lif—ahem—without an assignment was Szayel, and Aizen could only concede to the pink-haired substitute.

But he wasn't going to let something as trivial as that disturb him tonight. No. Not even the sight of a man puking in the corner was going to ruin his night.

But then again…

Aizen snuck a furtive glance back at the man, a slightly disapproving frown marring his face, but it was gone as quick as it came. He would make a mental note to take care of him later.

Back to the situation at hand. Aizen reached for a cup of tea, carefully sipped it, and placed it back down on a well placed coaster. He checked the time.

It would be any minute now.

Aizen smiled a genuine smile, one that not many had seen, and one that he only shared with those who he actually considered as dear. Gin was one of them. A true friend, someone who was there with him from the beginning.

Aizen's smile broadened slightly at the memory. He looked at the clock again, and then, at the sound of a loud, boisterous voice, he let out a chuckle and got up to greet another one of his precious friend.

"Sousuke!"

Aizen cheerfully nodded in acknowledgement, his tone ever still formal. "Isshin."

The man beamed at the greeting and went to give Aizen a hug, with arms opened wide, but paused when his friend stepped back. Aizen gave him a look, his expression clearly that of discomfort, especially without his glasses and locks of brown hair covering his face.

"I do not think so, Kurosaki," Aizen declined the gesture, smile still on his lips despite his slight anxiety. Isshin had a penchant for doing whatever he wanted without any concern for other's personal space, and Aizen always kept that fact in mind.

Isshin seemed displeased, pouting, though he put his arms down anyway and extended a hand out for a shake instead. Aizen gladly took it. "It is nice to see you again."

"Yeah, how long has it been. 10? 20 years?" Isshin asked in incredulity, rubbing his chin in thought. "I'm really not all that surprised that you became so successful, Sousuke."

"Please, Isshin, I am just getting by," Aizen denied. "I am proud of my business, of course, but seeing you with a family already makes me a bit jealous." He urged his friend to sit down at the table and signaled the waiter to get something for his guest to drink. "My life is simply still not complete like yours, Isshin."

"Don't say that, you old pessimist! One day, you're going to find "the one," and I better be the first one to know about it," exclaimed Isshin, then, along with a loud "Ah!" the look on his face suddenly brightened ten fold. "That reminds me, my son is coming to your bar tonight."

Aizen saw the excitement on his friend's face gradually turning into a bashful one, and an eyebrow rose up in curiosity.

"It's good that we're finally going to meet," Aizen commented.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right. But, uh, he's also one of the reason why I came here today," said Isshin, a bit worried. "Sorry to call you up so suddenly, but my son is seeing someone here, and since I haven't seen you in a long time too, I decided to drop by to say 'hello' and, well…"

"Are you stalking your own son?" The corner of Aizen's lips quirked up in amusement.

"It's not like that! Shush!" Isshin flailed about with a red face, only entertaining his friend more. He glared a bit at Aizen and then stilled in his seat with a serious face.

Aizen could only wonder how long it would be before the man go hysteric again.

"He just came out, you know," said Isshin, leaning in close, "out of the 'closet.' I wasn't worried before—though I would have still wanted to know the girls he dates, but anyway—now I need to know if he's going to be alright! He's my only son, you know! What if some guy takes advantage of him! No, my dear boy!"

It was fun seeing Isshin changed moods as quickly as Szayel changed clothes. But a thought occurred to him, and Aizen had to comment on the little fact, even more amused.

"This is your son we are talking about right?" asked Aizen in a matter-of-fact tone. "I assure you that he can take care of himself just fine."

"But he's only 18!" Isshin whined.

Aizen rolled his eyes and found himself surprised by the small action. He mentally sighed. 'Rolling eyes,' he thought, 'how childish.'

Only Isshin could bring the unexpected out of him.

"More than grown enough, I think." Aizen cleared his throat and brought the cup of tea up, holding up in thought. "You're acting like an overprotective parent."

"It's different, it's entirely different! This is his first date with a man, and I don't want him to get hurt," Isshin sniffed, as histrionic as ever. "I don't want the man he is meeting to turn out to be such a player!"

Aizen chuckled. "Like us?"

"Not 'us.' You," claimed Isshin.

"What does that supposed to mean? I'm hurt." Aizen brought a hand up to his chest, seemingly offended. "And why not you?"

"It was college, Sousuke, I was stupid. I'm settled down now. No more playing around." Isshin frowned. "I intend to keep it that way. You're still the same though."

"How do you know? I'm a changed man, Isshin." Aizen let out a smile, the lone strand of brown hair covering his eyes for a second as he cocked his head to the side. Aizen brushed it away, but it was adamant, and there in the middle of his forehead it hung, as if to prove a point. It was just like its master, stubborn, unwilling to change.

He lifted the cup to his lips, smiling, and heard Isshin snorted.

"Whatever you say, Sousuke. I'm just saying that, I don't want Ichigo to be taken advantage of by a guy like that. Not necessarily you, but there are many guys like that out there."

The name made Aizen perked up immediately and the cup of tea stilled at his lips, as if frozen there.

Huh…A coincidence.

"Ichigo, you say," Aizen mused. "Interesting name for a boy."

"I named him that, so don't make fun of it," said Isshin, chest puffed up with pride. "It means—."

"Hey, sorry about the wait. Szayel was being an ass and wouldn't let me in," a new voice shot in, though it was far from being unfamiliar.

"Ichigo! MY SON!"

"DAD?"

Isshin practically flung his arms out to grab hold of his son, but was dodged and violently kicked in the face when he made another attempt to come close.

He clutched at his bleeding nose. "Thought I was going to surprise you and your new boyfriend! I didn't know you know I was here."

"I didn't…" Ichigo muttered under his breath, and then turned around to look at the real person he was expecting.

Aizen still had the cup against his lips, the smirk that was triggered by the arrival of the orange-haired teen suddenly dying away. Had he been any average man, the tea he'd just drunk would have been spilling out from his mouth just about now from sheer shock. But he was no average man.

And Aizen kept calm.

Gently, and very carefully, he brought the cup of tea down to rest on the table.

"This is your son, Isshin…" It wasn't a question, but a claim that Aizen hoped his friend would reject.

"Yep! Ichigo, say 'hi' to Uncle Aizen!"

At that, Aizen nearly choked.

"Um…Hi," Ichigo mumbled, extremely hesitant, but Aizen still caught a glint of amusement in those brown eyes. "Uncle Aizen." The emphasis was disregarded by Isshin.

"Hello, Ichigo," Aizen said. "This is the first time we met, isn't it?"

"Yes."

No.

Just…

No.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Hello."

"Hey." A clink of ice against glass.

Aizen smiled. "You know we have rules here," he casually commented. "No one under 18?"

"And?" The boy talked back. "I'm 21, how does that concern me?"

"No, you are not." Aizen flashed another bright smile. "You, my dear boy, are definitely 18, if not younger."

The teen stared at Aizen's amused face as if to glare him down, but the older man only returned the look right back with an unflappable gaze. With a scoff, the teen drank the last drops of the shot and slammed the glass down onto the bar counter. "I'll leave then."

He made a move to get up, but Aizen lightly held him down by the shoulder. The teen turned to look at the man, frowning, but confused all the same.

"I'm looking for someone to drink with anyway," said Aizen, casually ordering two more drinks with a lift of his fingers. He glanced back at the teen. "So stay."

"You sure about that? I mean, you just asked me to leave a moment ago."

"I only informed you of the law…nothing more," said Aizen.

The teen lifted an eyebrow in suspicion. "Not gonna get in trouble with you boss."

Aizen chuckled at that. "No, do not worry about that. I can do as I pleased."

"You boss sure is lenient around here," the teen commented with an indifferent attitude.

"Well." Aizen smiled. "Thank you for the compliment."

The teen's eyes widened and his mouth hung opened. He coughed in mortification. "Sorry, didn't know—."

"It is fine." Aizen brushed the apologies off with a simple hand wave, eyes staring at the teen with interest. "Give me your name and I'll call it even," he offered.

"Ichigo."

The teen was scowling, but Aizen didn't care. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ichigo. My name is Aizen Sousuke, and thank you…for keeping me company this evening."

"No problem—wait, Aizen Sousuke. THE Aizen Sousuke? Geez why didn't you tell me before?" The teen looked around wildly. 'Endearing,' thought Aizen. "This is your bar?"

"You came in here without knowing?" Aizen asked, actually a bit surprised. He tossed a glance towards the door where Nnoitra was checking people's IDs—or rather, doing whatever he wanted. "It would seem that someone's not doing their job properly…"

"If you're talking about that tall guy with long hair, yeah, he actually invited me in—cut the line and everything. I wasn't even heading here in the first place," said Ichigo, lifting up the glass to drink. "I think he was coming on to me…but I couldn't tell…he was too blunt I didn't know if he was making fun of me or actually want to have a go at me."

"That is Nnoitra…trust me, he is not very good when it comes to flirting." Aizen mentally shook his head at his employee, and then, shifting his eyes to Ichigo, he continued. "He is not making fun of you, I can tell you that much."

To his surprise, the teen blushed.

"Ichigo?"

"Shut up." He buried his face into his arms

"Okay, but will you care to join me another time if I promise you that?"

Ichigo peaked up to face the man. He paused for a moment in consideration and then muttered something into his arms.

Aizen's smile never left his face. "Pardon?"

"Yes, sure, whatever."

It was going to be a fun night indeed.

A/N: New story! So instead of updating Mistaken, I decided to write a new story. Plz don't kill me...Anyway, there's this idea that's been stuck in my mind for awhile and I can't ignore it. It's a writer's block on its own and it won't go away until I write it! *sigh* I hope you enjoy it. Though I was initially going to finish it tonight and make this into a one-shot, in the end I couldn't. So you'll just have to wait for the next chapter cus I think it's good to end it here.

I know I promised some people in the poll that I was going to write a GrimmIchi trilogy, but you're just gonna have to deal with an AizenIchi for now, cus that's what I have to offer after that idea stuck to me like a leech.