A/N: Because I can't put down a challenge when I see it, I decided to do a bunch of oneshots based on the 1000 theme challenge. The prompt for this one is 'a bridge too far'. This one will be based on Ichimaru Gin and how he felt while he was siding with Aizen (or, rather, pretending to side with Aizen).
A Bridge Too Far
Third Person POV
As the Menos Grande's lifted them out of the Seiritei, and towards Hueco Mundo, Ichimaru Gin found himself not contemplating Aizen's greatness (as Aizen surely thought he was) but instead thinking about something much simpler.
Bridges. The well known metaphor for choices in life.
If Ichimaru Gin had to name the time when he burned his first bridge- figuratively, of course- he would have to say it was when he made the decision to become a Shinigami. He knew that that meant he was going to have to commit himself to defeating Aizen, commit himself to following through with pretending to be Aizen's friends (or rather, his snake-like almost-ally) in order to be able to stab the bastard between the shoulder blades. As soon as he entered the Shinigami academy, he tossed a match onto the bridge that lead back to his peaceful life in Rukongai.
But not before Ran-chan made it over with him.
The next bridge, becoming a Shinigami, he crossed easily- practically barrelling across it. The art of killing hollows and purifying souls (and knowing how to lie and bullshit all that fake honour that the instructors talked about) came easy to him, and he crossed easily, the youngest child prodigy to ever do so.
Well, until Shiro came along, but that relationship- or rather, lack thereof- comes later on in the story.
That wasn't a bridge he had needed to burn behind him, all of the instructors had told him he was welcome to come back any time.
Not that he was ever going to do that. One year in that hell hole was enough for him, thank you very much.
And eventually, Ran came stumbling across the bridge too.
They both had a few years of working as the average Shinigami, Gin trying to slowly push Ran away and get steadily closer to Aizen, eventually Ran was sent to Squad Ten where she became the Lieutenant, and he became Lieutenant of the fifth and eventually Captain of the third. He supposed that moving up in the ranks could also qualify as burning bridges, but he really didn't think of it as that big of a problem, since one had to be able to build their own bridge to reach Captaincy. He had thought for sure Ran wouldn't be able to follow him here, but then she became a Lieutenant, and he knew that in a couple of centuries she could very well make Captain.
Which would be great for her.
He probably wouldn't be around to meet her on the other side of that bridge though.
He had always believed he had ruined it for her when he had attacked her, Shiro and Hinamori-chan. Burnt that bridge to the ground so that she would never trust him again.
But then he had met her eyes when she said, "I will be your opponent instead."
She hadn't flinched away. She still trusted him. He should break that trust, run her and Hinamori through right now. And then kill little Shiro while he was at it. But he couldn't do that. One look at her eyes and he knew that there was still a little bit of that bridge left standing.
He turned and walked away, went to join Aizen.
Worst choice he had ever made. He should have just dropped his sword right there, gotten on his knees and told Shiro to arrest him, and that everything would come into light later.
Because he knew now, as he crossed the bridge from Seiritei to Hueco Mundo, and watched Aizen burn it down behind him with a smirk on his face, that he was beyond the point where Ran-chan was ever going to be able to follow him.
He had gone a bridge too far.