DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH
Here is another short chapter. Hope to have more. Enjoy
Gin sat in a chair across from the elder members of the Kuchiki family. Gin noticed that they all had a tired look on their faces; not from lack of sleep but from the lack of hope.
They told Gin that they very seldom saw Byakuya. Most of them saw him at their last family meeting which was five days before he disappeared. They said that he was his usual self and that he did not seem to be under distress. He conducted the meeting like always; in control.
As Gin wrote notes in his pad, he felt that all of the Kuchiki family said the same thing over and over again and he kept writing the same thing over and over again. As he closed his pad, he looked up and saw an old woman still sitting in her chair with her stoic posture. She stared at Gin with her steel gray eyes. Because of her eye color, Gin guessed that she must be a very close relative of Byakuya. Gin thought that she had something to tell him because she stayed after everyone left. He leaned forward as she spoke.
"My grandson would not leave without telling me," the old woman said. Her voice was steady. "He always stayed in touch with me. If he was going somewhere, he would have told me."
Gin noticed that her eyes were tearing as she spoke. He could tell that her heart was breaking as she spoke.
"When was the last time you spoke to Byakuya?" Gin asked.
The tears started to fall as she spoke. "That evening," she choked out, "That night he disappeared. He told me he was working on a 'special project' for the commander and he had a meeting. He kissed me on my cheek and walked through that door." She pointed to the door to the room they were in.
Gin felt a pain in his heart for Byakuya's grandmother. Her silent sobs really got to Gin. He could not come to grip to tell her that her grandson may be dead. She reached out to him and placed her hand on his hand.
"Byakuya spoke highly of you, Gin," she said as she patted Gin's hand.
Gin was shocked that Byakuya talked about him to his grandmother. He smiled at her and placed his hand on top of hers.
"He said that you were leaving the Gotei 13. Is that true?"
"Yes. I am going to leave after this assignment is complete." He cleared his throat so that he could change the subject. "I have to search Byakuya's room and study. Are there any keys that I would need?" Gin tried to hide his emotions.
Gin realized how close Byakuya was to his Grandmother. If anything was going on with Byakuya, he would tell her. Gin made a mental note of that. He may need to talk with her again. She then reached in her pocket and produced a key. It was the key to his desk. She held it out for Gin. As he reached for it, she would not release it without her final statement.
"Promise me that you will bring him back to me." Her gazed was locked on to Gin.
"I promise you that I will bring him back to you," Gin said as she released the key into his hand. "Even if," Gin stopped.
She placed her over Gin's mouth. Her eyes became angry. "Bring him back to me," she said in a stern voice.
Gin nodded and stood. He bowed to Byakuya's Grandmother. "I would like to search Byakuya's room and study now. I will come back to see you before I leave."
Gin went through the study. He found notes and file locked in desk from his investigation. He had completed audit of the Fourth Division and the Thirteenth Division. He placed those notes in his file for him to read later. He looked at the journals that were on the shelves. He pulled the last journal off the shelf. He opened it to the last entry. It was dated the day Byakuya disappeared. He saw cabinet which when he opened it, he saw the shrine for Hisana Kuchiki. Gin stared at the picture and now knew why Byakuya loved his sister-in-law, Rukia. After a few minutes, he closed the door and went to his bedroom.
Gin stood in Byakuya's bedroom. He was told that no one has been in the study or the bedroom since Byakuya disappeared that evening.
'Where would he hide his private journal?' Gin thought as he slowly moved through his bedroom. He was jarred out of his thoughts as a floor board creaked under his feet. As he moved through the room, he looked and touched Byakuya's possessions. He found the satin pajamas he last wore. He placed his hand them and imagined how it would have felt to have touched him. He moved around the room and continued to look for something, anything that would help him find Byakuya. Gin walked around the room several times looking; and each time the floor board make that noise, Gin concentration was broken. He noticed that it was only one place that the floor board was loose. The noise drove him crazy.
He left the room and returned to the room Byakuya's grandmother was sitting. He informed Byakuya's grandmother that he was finished with his search and that he may need to come back again. He also assured her that if he heard anything about Byakuya, he would notify her and her alone. She smiled and hugged Gin. Although, again, he was shocked, he knew that he have formed a bond with her.
He was walking to his living quarters as he thought about Byakuya's grandmother. How she too had the 'pride thing' like Byakuya.
'Byakuya spoke highly of you, Gin,' Gin thought as he went into his home. He spoke of him. Gin thought of that time he and Byakuya spent together.
They just sat and talked. It was one of the few times he agreed to have a drink at the captain's bar. They didn't talk about work; they talked about each other.
Gin let go of the thought as he sent word to the commander that he wanted to see him in the morning.
He fixed him some lunch as he read the files that he took from Byakuya's desk. Before he started to read the files, he looked at the picture of Byakuya again. He smiled and began to read the files.
The first folder was of inventory listing from the Fourth Division. It was a list for the last two years. Gin compared orders and supplies. Then he looked at the inventory list. They were not matching.
"Byakuya was on to something. Supplies were disappearing at an alarming rate," Gin whispered to himself. He continued to read. He picked up another file. It said that he has spoken with Unohana and convinced her to do an inventory herself. He looked at the date; two days before he disappeared. Gin started to make a time line of Byakuya's movement.
From the notes, Byakuya met with Unohana two days before he vanished, insisting on an inventory of her supplies. He was to pick it up the list the day after he disappeared.
Gin pulled another file. It read Ninth Division. He spoke with Tosen the same day he spoke with Unohana. He pulled another file and it read Fifth Division. He spoke with Aizen the same day he spoke with Tosen. He pulled another file. He spoke with Sui-Feng the same day. He pulled another file. He spoke with Jushiro Ukitake the same day.
Gin went through all the files. 'He spoke with all the captains except for the commander and me,' Gin thought as he looked at the table. All the files were on the spread out over the table. Gin got up because he had to stop himself. He got up and went to his bedroom.
He fell across his bed and closed his eyes. His thoughts went to Byakuya.
"Could one of the captains be responsible for your disappearance?"
Gin did not like where this was going. He pulled the covers over himself and got in the fetal position. He tried to sleep but couldn't. He missed his friend. He missed Byakuya.