"Yes, this'll work very nicely," said Agito studying the cloth in between her finger tips. She was down in Arachnid's Loom, the Arrancar with the specific job as Hueco Mundo's tailor. Admittingly, the Arrancar had raged about such a demeaning title but with a few strongly worded threats, the spider took the job. Now he was The Tailor, because as weak of an Arrancar he is, no one wanted to walk into his nest for a fight.

Arachnid took 'home field' to a whole new level. Thin gossamer webs spun beautifully up in the air, dancing in a breeze no one but fairies could feel. Huge rolls of different clothes were line up against one wall towering to the ceiling, the other side of the room held a lone loom where a creepy number of baby spiders were putting together a piece of cloth that was so well made it was nearly transparent. But Agito wasn't here for that.

She was here for a new uniform commission. Arachnid had displayed his best fabrics for the occasion and she ran a delicate finger along the grain of each fabric where only a few caught her interest. Because of Aizen's color scheme, all of the fabrics were white on white, with, no doubt, a black trim that she wouldn't have to mind.

"Excellent choice, Reina," said Arachnid. The Arrancar had eight arms, no legs and though it was vaguely terrifying to see him walk with as much ease with only palms, he was quite the dexterity hollow. "The thickness of the fabric will be stress free and would avoid wrinkle."

"Yes," Agito agreed, "I would very much like to avoid that."

"Do you wish for me to complete this request before a certain deadline? I must warn you that this sort of design will take time and multiple fittings for the perfect fit, especially with your description of exactly how it should fall on you."

"I have no deadline as I would like quality over quantity. But I should hope I would be wearing this new uniform before the War ends," she said while dropping the fabric down onto the table before her.

"Have faith in my abilities, Reina. Your first uniform shall be delivered to your rooms within two days."

"Thank you for your service," Agito said before turning to leave. The spider Arrancar bowed his head as she left the Loom. Awaiting outside was Tousen.

"Is there a reason why you're here, Tousen-san?" She had never been openly hostile to the blind Shinigami traitor. In fact, they never had a full conversation together beyond that of necessary orders and captain duties. The reason behind this was because Tousen's complete loyalty to Aizen was the direct antithesis to Agito's barely caged discontent with the whole situation. Only the Shinigami's here in Hueco Mundo knew that if given the chance, Agito would not only kill Aizen but would probably find a way to make sure that his soul would never reincarnate.

"The Espada Ulquiorra has left for Karakura Town and will soon return with information. You are expected at the meeting," he said before walking off. Agito made to follow him.

The walk there was swift and their entrance was noticeable. Agito made it a point to hide her presence in the shadows of the many thrones around the room, a very secretive show of discontent with her station. None of the Espada knew that she actually had a seat of power among them.

The entrance opened once again and a few more Espada filed through, obviously finding this meeting just as pointless as all the others. What was so important with the information Ulquiorra retrieved?

"Reina," an Espada greeted. Agito had been thinking private thoughts that have been stewing in her head for a while now and only just noticed that Coyote Starrk, the primera Espada had sidling alongside her. He yawned and lazily relaxed his stance to emulate carelessness but Agito could catch those carefully cold eyes taking quick glances around, an apex predator in no fear of his position at the top of the food chain.

"Starrk," she acknowledged.

"Why does la Reina hide in the shadows?" he questioned. Agito had no animosity towards the bored Espada but had she ever actively sought him out for companionship, conversation? No.

"This is Las Noches," Agito said waving a hand towards the long and dark shadows that clung to white stone, "Why wouldn't la Reina hide in the shadows?"

"Wouldn't la Reina's Caballero want to see su amante before anyone else?"

"You have much to learn," she said, "This delicate dance of power plays can't have something as crude as gifting a subordinate in front of an audience stepping on anyone's toes. Besides, he is not my Knight as you vaguely suggested. He is Aizen's."

The doors to the throne room were pushed open and entered Ulquiorra and Yami. Though it was originally Ulquiorra's mission to retrieve observational information, Yami joined him out on his walk in the human world. Whatever information Ulquiorra retrieved it must have been good because Yami was missing an arm.

"We have returned," Ulquiorra said, "Aizen-sama." Yami dropped down into a kneel, head bowed out of respect. Honestly, to Agito, it was unsightly. To see such an example of Espada in their presence with such obvious weakness, failure was worth that of extermination. What means is a war hammer with no true direction?

"Welcome back, Ulquiorra, Yami. Now then, share your findings with your twenty brothers in this room," said Aizen, sitting upon his throne with such causal power it was nauseating to witness.

"As you desire. Please look carefully." Ulquiorra deftly plucked his eye out of his socket. No blood splattered across the white tile. Agito did not flinch when he crushed the eye in the palm of his hand. This was a specialized skill of his. When the dust of his eye drifted up and around the room, all Agito had to do was focus on the fragments before seeing a picture of what he saw in his point of view.

First there was nothing of worth to note except the vast amount of lacking skill on Yami's part. Agito was already making plans to make his life very difficult after this. Then there was Sado, and Inoue.

Ichigo Kurosaki's human friends.

That got her attention. She didn't believe that Ichigo was someone Aizen would want to keep an eye on, especially after her fifteen years of undercover work. But obviously something was in work here. Something Aizen never told her about. Why else would he be stalking after the fifteen year old boy? He would only do so, and collect all the Espada to share his findings if he thought the information was relevant. Important. Something for the Espada to worry about.

She watched as Ichigo's friends were attacked, harmed, and as he came to the rescue. Ulquiorra had inputted information that he had noticed in the resulting fight including the feel of his reiatsu which was a bit different than what she remembered of him. Like molasses, or tar was coating it.

When Agito saw Ichigo's eyes color black, something in her heart jolted. Was it truly what she thought it was? She had thought there would be more time but no, the evidence was clear.

"I see," Aizen said, the faintest trace of disappointment twisting through his words, "So that's why you decided he wasn't worth killing."

"Yes sir, as our orders were to 'kill him if he can become a rinderance to us.' Also-"

"That's weak!" Ulquiorra was interrupted by Grimmjow calling from his seat on high. Agito's eyes narrowed, knowing that he was going to act idiotic. The man was a connoisseur of disaster. "If it were me, I would have killed them all in one attack."

Ever since Grimmjow gained his Resurrection, he has been getting cocky. He said, "If your orders have the phrase 'kill him' then that means you kill him! Right?!"

"I agree," said a voice, one of Grimmjow's fraccion, Agito didn't care about them too much to remember their names, "He is an enemy. If there is no value in killing him, then there is no value in letting him live."

"And Yami, look at how badly you got beaten up! You might be saying, 'there's no value in his death' but all I'm hearing is, 'We couldn't kill him!'"

"Hey Grimmjow, didn't you watch that? I was beaten by the sandal guy and the dark lady, not by the kid," Yami defended himself but honestly it was a weak rhetoric. If he wanted to save face, he shouldn't have walked into the throne room with failure hanging off his coat sleeve.

"You really don't get it," Grimmjow shot back, "I said I would kill all of them in a single attack."

Yami rose off of his knees to rise to Grimmjow's apparent challenge but with a single hand, Ulquiorra cut through their posturing bullshit.

"Grimmjow," he said, "The child is not the problem. What Aizen-sama is observing is his rate of growth. It is true that his potential is quite high but right now it is disproportionally unstable due to its immensity. He is more likely to self destruct than to be a disturbance to Aizen's plan. That is why I didn't kill him."

"That's why I keep saying weak. What if your calculations are wrong and he proves to be a problem? Then what will you do?" Grimmjow questioned.

"If that happens, I'll simply finish him," Ulquiorra said. Agito looked down at her palm where there was a few particle residues of his eye, reminding her of her last vision of Ichigo. Ichigo her godson. She was in a room full of people craving to kill her godson.

"Apart from what your comrades may say, I'm impressed with your work, Ulquiorra," Aizen said, a pleased smile tugging at his lip.

"I am grateful." Ulquiorra didn't have enough heart to feel grateful. He bowed his head in an empty gesture and the meeting was dismissed. Everyone was informed and there was no other reason to be around. Agito silently watched from her corner the goings of her Espada, noting that Yami was leaving and definitely going to medical, Grimmjow was acting more agitated than usual, and Ulquiorra was gazing around the room.

"Ah," Coyote Starrk said at her side, "Truly, he is Aizen's man." Ulquiorra's remaining eye landed on her and he made a beeline over, pace casual and knowing where they lead.

"Starrk," she said, "Shut up."

She met Ulquiorra halfway and made her way out of the meeting room with him following. Outside she walked to a rather lonely part of the castle, a favored spot where Agito dwelled when she was bored with her personal library. The rooms were large with spruce furniture, open windows to let in the light of the moon. Unlike any other room in Hueco Mundo, Agito tried her very best to get as much black as she could. Black floor pillows, black rugs, black tables. It there were any other color she would have grabbed it but there was none, so black it was.

"Tell me," she asked, "Ichigo is ... half hollow. What did you sense in the reiatsu. I want to know emotions."

Ulquiorra was silent as he watched her pace. There was some scheme being pulled together in Agito's head but he knew better than to question it.

"Blood lust," he said, "Nothing significant with the amount."

"Goddamn it," she cursed.

"Reina-." Agito held up a hand for silence. Her thoughts were too delicate to be broken by an inquiring voice.

"Forgive me, Ulquiorra," she said, "I must request some time in reflection. I will summon for you immediately after my isolation is broken."

"Yes, Reina," he said with a gracious bow. He could never fully understand the inner thoughts of his Diosa, but he knew something was at work here and that he was not needed. He left her alone in silence. He had other things to attend to.

Agito was in deep thought over what had transpired. Aizen had the belief that Ichigo, her godson, would prove to be a hindrance to his plan for world domination. What is a boy compared to a god? Why would Aizen even worry after him?

It is true that Ichigo can act as a catalyst, in fact it was by the Substitute-Shinigami's actions in Soul Society that forced Aizen's plan much further in time than expected. By the rate of growth Ichigo had experienced, his movements on the board game that is power can prove detrimental to Aizen's schemes. That must be why Aizen is wary of him.

But she couldn't get her head around the fact that it was a fifteen year old boy that put Aizen on edge, not anyone else. Ichigo was still young, much too young to be playing war games. She was sure that he would be a player in the war but would he play a part of great significance? No, this cannot be. Her godson should not have to clean up the mess the adults made.

She was an adult. She will be the one to clean up the mess. All she would have to do is plan it.

"What's got you stressed?" Agito broke out of her planning to look at the intruder.

"I could ask the same about you," she told Grimmjow, "Getting bored?"

"Ah," he agreed, "Not enough blood. Besides, this whole thing is stupid."

"Oh really," she said with an indulgent grin, "Pray tell your thoughts."

"You're a piece of shit when you do that," he pointed out and she laughed. "It's that human-Shinigami."

"What about him?"

"It's common sense to kill renegades," Grimmjow said, "before they have power. Why didn't Aizen give a death sentence? If it were me on the throne-"

"If you were King of Hueco Mundo, I would rather be put in a cell in Soul Society," she teased. He scoffed at the thought before strolling in to sit beside her. She twisted her body to face him completely, hiding the fact that she was deliberately changing the focus from her inner thoughts to whatever Grimmjow wanted to rant about.

"If it were me," he said, "I would wipe away any potential threat to my rein. I would kill them all before they have any power to start anything."

"He's just a boy," Agito said and he looked at her funny. Probably because she said it with such a strange tone of voice. Almost fond. Almost paternal.

"What the fuck?" he asked, "What is that?"

"What is what?"

"That," he pointed at her, "You're protecting him."

"Pointing out that a child is just a child is not protecting him," she tried to refute.

"Aizen sees that 'child' as a potential threat. The excuse of age won't work," he growled.

"The boy is nothing," Agito snapped, "Why should we care for nothing? A single mosquito can make anyone sick, why should we care about that singular insect when we have more important Shinigami's to worry about?"

"He might be nothing to everyone else," he said, "But he means something to you."

That, she couldn't deny. She spent fifteen years undercover watching Ichigo grow from a baby to the young man he was today. Sentiment was always her weakness.

"Fuck," he cursed, "Fuck!"

"Is there a problem?" she asked with clear warning in her voice.

"Yes, fuck!" he said while standing and pacing around, damn near close to kicking over her tables and chair in frustration, "The brat is nothing. Nothing! But you favor him. You favor him. That's a threat. That's a threat against everyone. How could Aizen not know?"

He looked at her finally an the look in his eyes was one of clear suspicion, doubt, and above all the will to murder. "Are you gonna betray Aizen-sama?"

Agito wasn't angry at Grimmjow. In fact, she was rather proud of him. But there were eyes and ears everywhere and she could not even for a second let an idea such as a traitorous Reina spread across the sands of Hueco Mundo.

"Oh?" She slowly unfurled her reiatsu, letting it blanket the walls and floors before layering on top more of her burning power. The expression on her face changed, like someone who hated bugs looking down at a pitiful insect displayed in a case. She rose out of her seat and her reiatsu vibrated like a rolling earthquake, threatening lava flow.

Grimmjow dropped to one knee and wheezed out a breath of air but all he felt with his lungs burning. He was burning. On fire! It doesn't stop. The fire was swallowing him whole it was-

"What does the small, pathetic Espada think about me?" Agito questioned, uncaring for his suffocation. He could barely hear her words beyond the deafening roar of power rushing against his ears. "What good is any of your opinion, little hollow? You think you know me? You think you're smarter than me?"

This time, her anger did lash out, burning away the top layer of Grimmjow's steel hard epidermis. He didn't even have enough strength to scream.

"You think," she growled, enraged that someone who she never fully trusted, would dare try to suspect her of such grievous crimes. Yes, she was never loyal to Aizen and did plan on betraying him in one way or the other, but for him to try to expose it to the rest of the world was a mistake she would rectify immediately. "You think I compare to you? You filthy hollows in your grotesque world ... "

Abruptly, she drew in all of her reiatsu back into herself. Grimmjow could barely catch himself before face planting onto the floor. Agito strode out of the room but before she left she turned around to look back at him fallen form, "You ever imply that I would be as idiotic as you ... well, I'm sure you already know."

With that she left.

She stormed through the halls with barely leashed reiatsu. Arrancars that sensed her approach either were smart enough to run and hide or squeezed into whatever crevice they could find to avoid her rage.

Agito retreated back into her rooms and paced about, not helping herself in falling into a habit of hers where she bites her thumbnail in frustration.

Grimmjow. Grimmjow! He might respect her orders more favorably than anyone else's but he was no friend. No close ally for her to reveal her secrets to. In fact, beyond the traitorous Shinigami, there was no other who knew exactly why she joined Aizen's side in the war. And she would have had it stay that way because her backstory can only lead to one thing: she is not loyal to Aizen.

In a castle full of very powerful hollows who have all sworn their lives to his cause just for his strength, if they knew their Reina had such blood of Judas running through her veins well she wouldn't even be able to sleep with one eye open. A single eye shut would be a weakness for the Espada to use against her. She would be assassinated without mercy.

So she kept her homicidal, blasphemous thoughts under wraps, never exposing it to light. Sure, the Espada knew that she was discomforted with Aizen's role for her and how he wished to mold her but that was a given, something understandable to all hollows. Even they would hate to be changed on the whims of another.

But Grimmjow ... truthfully she liked Grimmjow. He reminds her of herself if she didn't take on so much responsibility in so little time. She liked his spirit no matter how bloodthirsty it was. What she could not forgive was that neanderthal blundering about this very delicate dance of politics and power plays. If this were a poker game, he would have came up behind her and read all of her cards out loud. No doubt, someone heard his suspicions and took note of the entire conversation. That's why she had made a such a interesting display of disregard towards Grimmjow's intelligence, status, and character.