Chapter: 14

The rays of the moon entered through the open window, falling upon the grey room. There wasn't anything of notice; it was empty. No one will believe that someone lived within this room… not until they come to know that this room belonged to one of the highest personnel of Aizen's 'Army'.

"Let's try it then."

With the same smile and the same expression, Gin stood alone with his hand tucked within his coat. Not bothered by the emptiness of the room, he opened his mouth and uttered quite apathetically.

[Shadow Clone]

Surely there was no need to pronounce the technique out loud, but maybe due to the quietness and stillness of the world around him, Gin fancied such a method. At least it brought some colour to this world, no matter how chunni it may sound, it still gave some resemblance of life to the area around him.

A small part of his Reiatsu left Gin's body, congested in front of him. At first, it looked like a blob mass of Spiritual Energy which soon, as if guided, started to take a shape resembling Gin forming into an identical twin of his!

Both of them stared at each other, amusement clear within their gaze.

"Is this how it feels like having a twin? It is quite creepy indeed."

"You don't say. I feel like vomiting."

"..." Gin narrowed his already narrowed eyes. "I hope it is not because you saw me."

"Surely."

Gin snorted.

"Though I wonder… Will Essence work if you made a deal instead of me? If it did…"

A predator smirk formed over Gin's face, calculating the infinite possibilities that would be possible if such a situation really came to furniture. Thousands of Gin with Essence Merchant and every deal will be traced back to him.

Gin couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the absurdness of such a thought.

'I will become something even my future vision cannot see. How absurd.'

Though whether he will do such a thing or not wasn't decided yet; he had other pressing matters to deal with.

"You know what to do, right?"

It was just a form of expression as Gin fully knew that everything he knew was also known by his clone. That's how it worked. After separation what he knows he knows, and what Gin knows Gin knows. Only after they reunite together do both know everything.

"Is that a question? If yes, I must say, you, original, are quite stupid."

"Fuu." Gin left an audible sigh. Staring at the mocking expression of his clone, he finally realised how annoying others felt talking with him. Being on the wrong end didn't sit well with him. He wanted to punch himself. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"It seems that you know."

Gin turned around and walked closer to the window. With a smile, he stared down at Hueco Mundo and never-ending stretches of white dunes. After some time, he turned and said.

"Then I'll leave everything in your hand."

"Yeah. And you will go and enjoy your time with the French Saint. Definitely not jealous at all."

Gin frowned. Slight displeasure showed over his expression as his eyes glowed azure.

"Maybe I should also look into how to remove this individual trait of clones."

The clone snorted. He turned around and started to walk towards the exit, only his voice travelling behind.

"Forget it. I am you, and you are I. What I say is the same as what you say. No point in trying to act as if you don't know it."

"... Indeed. Very annoying indeed."

The rays of the silver moon were still there; the room on which they were falling was still there, yet the people who inhabited it a second ago were no longer present. One left the world while the other stayed as his double, completing what was left to complete in this world.

1

Las Noches was indeed a quiet place. It was dull, quite so. It wasn't a place for a normal person to live as all one could see were grey walls; it felt like they were trying to eat away whatever consciousness one possessed. Simple and still, yet something suffocating to look at all the time.

A piece was being hummed, Swan Lake. The sound reverberated around the empty hallways, colliding and filling the quietness with a smooth and soft voice. The sound of Gin's boots hitting the floor followed after, yet it didn't disturb the flow of the piece that was being hummed by the silver head.

A happy smile stretched over his face, his lips pursed, and he hummed; maybe a way to alleviate the boredom of this place or maybe because it was one of his favourite songs, Gin enjoyed himself as he made his way through the empty hallways; his destination being the meeting hall.

A meeting was called by Aizen, and everyone was called. Saying no wasn't an option, not like he was going to say no anyways. Gin already knew the purpose of this meeting, this being the reason for his happy mood.

'Kurosaki-san probably invaded Hueco Mundo.' He internally amused himself while humming the piece. 'Hot-blooded youth are easiest to deal with. How predictable. And here I thought that the next few days were going to be boring, Kurosaki-san came like a beacon.'

With such thoughts, Gin reached the meeting room.

"Hello everyone~" His voice instantly gained everyone's attention, yet he looked unperturbed when any person would have pissed himself feeling the pressure released by these beings present. "Aya. Did someone steal your guy's virginity or something? Why so serious? Don't you get tired? Must be hard to live so stiff all the time."

"Stop slithering your tongue, Ichimaru Gin, less you want me to melt it down your throat."

A deep ancient voice left Baraggan Louisenbairn the 2nd Espada. He eyed Gin, showing his displeasure with Gin's words.

"Oh my. Did I hit a sour spot? I do wonder though, Baraggan-san, have you ever had sex before? Must be hard no? With your body being a skeleton and all. Sigh… You do remind me of someone. At least he had girls pursuing his non-existent dick."

"Pfft!"

"Insolence!" Baraggan hit the table, shaking it. Yet, despite his show of anger, neither Gin nor Szayelaporro—who just laughed—had any change of expression. It was as if they didn't put Baraggan in their eyes, yet another insect buzzing and nothing else.

"I heard that you think you are immortal, Baraggan-san?"

Suddenly, a smirk formed over Gin's face as he looked down at Baraggan.

"What of it?"

"Hm? Nothing really. I just wanted to hear it from your own mouth. I thought people spreading rumours had something missing in their minds, but I guess the problem was with you after all." His voice mocked Baraggan, clearly heard by everyone. "Baraggan-san… Ever heard of Schizophrenia?"

Death rose from Baraggan's body, a muddy dark aura. It was as if it held a life of its own as it slithered its way to Gin, who smirked unbothered by the coming death.

In the next second, in front of the amazed and startled gaze of everyone, Gin sat on the table; in front of Baraggan, both of his legs were on the armrest of the chair Baraggan was sitting on. Lowering his back a little, his eyes glowed azure within the darkness of the room as he stared down at stunned Baraggan.

"Wow, be careful there." His voice deep, Gin slowly stated. "You wouldn't want that disgusting aura tainting me now, Baraggan-san."

"You—"

"How about we make a bet?" Cutting him midway, Gin continued despite the fact that Baraggan's Reiatsu got chaotic with every passing second. "If you ever lose to me, you will die and everything of yours shall belong to me."

"You dare?!"

"Oops!"

Once again, Gin magically appeared at the top of Tier's chairs, standing on the back of it. The chair's back was quite long, so Gin casually stood over it and looked down at Baraggan as his aura ragged out of his body.

"What? Oh! Could it be…" Gin smirked. "Baraggan-san… You are afraid?"

"Ichimaru Gin!" Baraggan's voice shook the whole room, evident of his strength as his skin seemed to peel, showing his skeleton below. His face was scrunched in anger, he glared towards the smirking Gin who tilted his head a little.

"Yes?"

"Hahaha! This is fun!" Szayelaporro laughed. Adjusting his glasses, he eyed Baraggan and added fuel to the already burning fire. "You shouldn't be afraid of a challenge, Old Man, right? It would be quite a disgrace to see 2nd Espada afraid of a challenge."

"How noisy…" At the side, Starrk mumbled to himself, showing his disinterest in everything. He looked like he would fall asleep at any moment.

"What noise? I don't see anything wrong with challenging an Espada! If another person can't even take a challenge, he shouldn't be arrogant to call himself the strongest. Don't you think so too, Old Man Baraggan?"

Nnoitra Gilga the 5th Espada added with a nihilistic smirk on his face. He looked like someone who would love to see the world burn to ashes and might even add a little fuel to it.

"How idiotic." With a frown, Tier added. Her brows frown and her eyes show her displeasure with the current flow of the event. She would rather spend her time with Nell and her Fracción. At least it brought some entertainment and peace to her.

"Nnoitra said it right." Gin added, standing behind the wide-eyed Nnoitra. "After all, he also 'challenged' the previous 3rd Espada and see? How happy he is these days. Almost like a child who got his favourite toy through some illegal means."

A silver line appeared in a circular arc, Nnoitra looking behind with displeasure at not finding two halves of Gin's body who now stood beside Tier.

"How is little Nell, Tier? After you got her from outside of Las Noches, it has been a while since I met her." Gin smirked as he saw Nnoitra's face crumble into madness. "What happened, Nnoitra-san? Is everything alright?"

"Did you—"

"Gin."

Suddenly, a calm voice resounded within the room, shutting everyone up as they all looked at the throne, seeing Aizen sitting there without them even knowing. It made them realise the gap between Aizen and themselves once again.

With his face resting on his fist, he looked down and stated.

"Stop playing with them. Look at the mess you have created."

"I'm sorry, Captain Aizen." Without any semblance of apology, Gin looked at the angry, displeased, furious, mad expressions of the people he poked before smirking. "I was just playing since it gets quite boring staying here. Who knew everyone here was so sensitive and held such a weak mindset."

"Gin."

Aizen called him once again, this time with pressure in his voice, making Gin bow once again and went silent. Walking and standing beside Aizen, he looked at everyone; seeing how pretty much everyone was glaring towards him, he only smirked.

'It is sad how Baraggan didn't take my offer. His aura of death is not bad.' He sighed disappointingly while apathetically staring at Aizen explaining Ryoka.

Pretty much like that of canon, Kurosaki Ichigo, Uruyu Ishida, and Chad invaded Hueco Mundo together. Grimmjow wanted to go and take care of them, but Aizen stopped him saying that there was no need for it and that everyone should do whatever they have been doing as Ichigo isn't strong enough to cause any major problems to his plan anyways.

Though reluctant, a little pressure from Aizen's Reiatsu was all needed to make Grimmjow listen as he could only leave the meeting room grumbly, not wanting to stay there any longer.

With the meeting ending, Gin also decided to leave and spend some time at Tier's place. While he was passing by Baraggan, his steps stopped as Baraggan's deep voice reverberated into his ears.

"I accept your challenge, Ichimaru Gin. I shall show you what Death feels like. As Death itself, I shall slew that mouth of yours into rotten flesh."

Suddenly, Gin's grin enlarged as he answered.

"Fool. Even Pharaoh was more intelligent than you." Ignoring another burst of Death Aura, Gin left to room while chuckling to himself. Maybe, it won't be too boring after all.

…

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AN: The clone came out 'slightly' more chaotic than I had imagined…