DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH
Gin sat at his desk yawning while looking at the stacks of papers on his desk. "One thing I can say about Kira, he will keep up with paperwork," he thought to himself. He took a stack of papers and started to leaf through it. He began signing papers when his mind started to wonder.
He didn't leave his parent's home until late at night. He had to wait until Byakuya was asleep. He traveled all night and arrived one hour before he had to report in to work. As he walked to third division, he sent word to Ukitake that he returned without Byakuya. He went straight to the shower room, he freshen and dressed for his day.
"Taichou, Taichou?" Gin was snapped out of his daydreaming by Kira.
"Yes. What is it, Kira?"
"Good morning sir. Aizen Taichou is here to see you." Kira said.
"Send him in," Gin said as he picked another stack of papers to go over. Aizen walked in Gin's office and sat in the chair in the in front of his desk.
"Hello Gin," Aizen said with a slight smile, "how are you doing? Did you enjoy your trip home?"
"Yes, I did. My family is doing well." Gin looked at Aizen. He tried to keep his expression the same so that Aizen would not be able to pick up on his body language.
"So Gin, have you seen Byakuya?" Aizen stared at Gin. Gin continued to stare at Aizen. The silence seemed to go on for an eternity.
"No, I have not seen Byakuya. In fact, I," Gin pointed to himself, "have not seen him since," Gin seemed to be searching his mind to give a believable answer, "hmm . . . last captains meetings before I left for my vacation." Gin sat back in chair but he continued to stare at Aizen. Gin knew that he had to change the subject.
"What is that you want?"
Aizen looked at Gin with a puzzled look. Gin leaned forward in his chair.
"What are you asking, Gin?"
"No one comes to me unless they want me to 'do' something or 'fill in' for them," Gin said as he did the 'air quotes' with his fingers. He watched as Aizen began to relax. "Tell me Aizen, do you want me to fill in for you this weekend?" Aizen sat there with a puzzled look still on his face. Gin continued. "Is this your weekend for patrol?"
"No, No. My weekend is next weekend." Aizen started to chuckle. Gin sat back in his chair and smiled. "Why would you think that I would ask you that, Gin?"
"I have filled in for Ukitake, Kyoraku, Tosen and Byakuya. I feel as though I have done everyone's weekend except Zaraki. When it came to do mine, I thought I doing Ukitake's. He said well since you asked, he would allow me to do his also." Gin laughed, and then Aizen laughed.
Gin picked up his pen and started to sign his paperwork. Aizen was starting to leave. Gin wanted to let Aizen think he did not know anything.
"I didn't mention you in my report."
Aizen stopped and looked back at Gin. "What did you say?"
"I didn't mention you in my report. You know, the night I was on patrol for 'Byakuya' and I saw you with that lady." Gin started to smile. His face looked as though he came up with an idea. "Wait a minute, the reason you were looking for Byakuya was," Gin looked and he started laughing again. But this time he laughed harder. "Were you looking for him for a . . . . Threesome?" Gin laughed so hard that he almost fell out of his chair. He caught his breath and started stacking papers. He got out of his chair and walked pass Aizen to Kira's desk. As he stood in front of Kira's desk, a hell butterfly flew in towards Gin. Gin held his hand out and it landed on his finger. Gin smile turned to a frown.
"I got to go to a meeting. Kira, don't make any plans for the weekend. I have a feeling we are on patrol again." Gin dropped off the papers on Kira's desk and walked out of the office with Aizen.
"Aizen, I am sorry about the statement with you and Byakuya," Gin smiled, "and your lady friend."
Aizen nodded and smiled. "You do not have to apologize, Gin. Your sense of humor is unique. I knew you were just joking."
"Aizen, I have one last question but I did not want to ask you in front of Kira. What is your connection to Byakuya? Why are you looking for him?"
"Gin, it's personal for me. I have been chasing Byakuya for years. I was always afraid to approach him. Now that he is slowly becoming approachable. I want a shot at him. That's all."
"Well, if I find him, I will let you know. Okay, 'Don Juan'?" Gin said with his most sarcastic smile. Gin turned and walked towards his meeting. Gin thought to himself. 'Although I know that Aizen wanted Byakuya, It will be a cold day in Hueco Mundo before I would allow Byakuya to even talk to him.'
Gin arrived at the Ukitake's home. He was greeted by Kyoraku and Unohana. Ukitake was seated at the head of the table.
"Gin, how is Byakuya?" Unohana asked as Gin sat at the table.
"He has been resting. He was asleep when I left. My mom said that she will make sure that he gets plenty of rest. When he feels up to it, he will be working at the restaurant. Overall, he is safe where he is for now."
"I know Aimi will make sure Byakuya will follow instruction." Unohana smiled.
"Gin, were you able to find out anything else about this situation," Ukitake asked.
Gin explained the story for Unohana and Kyoraku from the night of seeing the woman and man in the woods. How they disappeared behind an area in another dimension. He also told about how he found out the name of the woman and how she was connected to Byakuya. Gin also told them about how he followed Mira Kuchiki outside of a gate and how she killed a woman. The last thing he mentioned was the night of the patrol. How both Aizen and Mira were in the woods looking for Byakuya.
"Gin, is this when you decided that Byakuya needed to be removed from this situation?" Kyoraku asked.
"Yes," Gin answered. "You know that Byakuya and I have been together eight years. After the miscarriage, Byakuya has not been the same. I know because I see it in his eyes. It hurt him like his heart had been ripped out. After a while, I was ready to try again, he wasn't. But when he decided to try, I had to make sure that he would be safe. I know that he was ready because he was ready to give all of this up to have a baby."
"Gin, your case is compelling but you are the only one who has seen these events. We would need more to go on. Do you have more information for us?" Unohana asked as she put his hand to her cheek. Gin produced a book.
"This is a book that Ginrei Kuchiki wrote for Byakuya. He wrote it for Byakuya to read to his children. Note that this is a first edition. When Byakuya read it, he noticed mistakes and he pointed it out to his grandfather. He wrote another book and gave them both to Byakuya. Ginrei Kuchiki wrote a third book which I hope is still in the library." Gin opened the book to show them that it was a first edition. He next brought the paper with the numbers on it. They all recognized the writing.
"That is Ginrei's writing." Ukitake said in a low voice.
"This sheet, here, was found in this book. Byakuya recognized his grandfather's writing and kept it with the book. He knew it must have been a puzzle because of the numbers. Now, one thing that Byakuya does when he goes over my reports is he marks the mistakes on a piece of paper with page, line and word count. This started me on the solution for this puzzle. After I completed the puzzle I came up with this message." Gin produced a paper with the solution.
'Mira Kuchiki is Keiko Toshiko from the town of North Rukongai. A killer is among us.'
"Now, this is where I am. This is why I am glad I had removed Byakuya from here. I don't know where to go from here. I have two weeks before I go and bring Byakuya back."
"Gin, with this going on, I have to let you know this also," Unohana spoke in a low tone. "Keiji Kuchiki, Byakuya's cousin was killed, in his tub a few days ago. His wife, Rie, is suspected of killing him. Now she is missing. Mira Kuchiki claimed the body and stated that they would cremate his body. I think this has already taken place. If what you say is true, this would leave Mira Kuchiki one step closer to becoming head of the Kuchiki Family." They have sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Gin, one thing that I suggest is going to the archives. If there is any information on this Keiko Toshiko or Mira Kuchiki, it will be there." Kyoraku said.
"I will go there when I leave here. It will be a starting point," Gin said.
"Also, thinking of the way Ginrei Kuchiki left the clue in that book for Byakuya, I wonder did he leave any other clues in his writings. Does Byakuya have any of Ginrei's journals?" Ukitake asked.
"Yeah, we did move some boxes to my house after we got married. There are about four boxes in my study of Ginrei's journals," Gin said as he closed his eyes to visually see the boxes in his study.
"Well Gin, I hope you are as good at speed reading as you told me. It looks like a long night for you," Kyoraku smiled at him.
"Yep, it does. I can do this," Gin said with his smile.
"Gin, do what you can in two days and report back to us. We can cover for you with the commander. And do not worry about Byakuya. We can go get him if you can't," Ukitake said as he got up and placed a hand on Gin's shoulder.
"Well, let me go to the Information Center and start researching. I will come by with an update in two days. Thanks for helping me." Gin bowed to his elders and left.
#-----#
Gin was sitting in front a computer. His mind was racing with all the info he wanted to get. He was started his search with Mira Kuchiki. He got the usual information that he knew already. The next name he typed in was 'Keiko Toshiko'. A report came up. It said:
'The parents buried their daughter, Keiko Toshiko, who was burned in a house fire. The surviving daughter, Mira Toshiko, who was the twin to Keiko, survived with third degree burns.'
Gin tried to understand what he was reading. 'Keiko died in a fire? Mira survived?' Gin sat back and stared at the screen. He searched for other reports about the incident, when a different report caught his eye.
'Eri Makoto has been missing for two weeks.'
Gin read the rest of the report. He made notes from the article.
'She had been seen since it was reported by her friend, Rie Masako'. Gin made more notes and had a column for the names. 'Keiji's wife was named Rie', Gin noted on his pad. His curiosity made him do this search on recent murders. Gin search and found a report of a body found in a house outside of the gate. A woman found stabbed several times. "I know about this. Please give me a name," Gin said as he continued to read the report. A name appeared at the end of the report. Sora Makoto. Gin made more notes on his pad.
He started the search using a census for locations. He found a location for Mira Toshiko.
"She is alive. She is in North Rukongai. District 48." Gin whispered to himself. "I will need to make a trip in the morning."
He finished his notes and sat back in his chair. He looked out the window and noticed it was dark and he was the only one in the computer area. He packed up his notes and left the building. He headed straight home. He entered his home for the first time since he took Byakuya away. That was when it hit him. He missed Byakuya. He placed his notes on his desk in the study. He went to the kitchen to fix himself something light to eat. Byakuya is the heavy cook in the house.
After he finished eating, he went to his study to locate the journals. Gin's brain was on overload. He found the boxes in the corner. He grabbed a journal and looked inside for the date. He found one dated about the time Keiji and Byakuya were in school together. Gin began to read. As his finger went down each page, his speed increased and as his speed increased, he gained more insight about Byakuya and Keiji. He stopped at an entry about Keiji. Gin stopped.
'Byakuya told me that he did not like going with Keiji to Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research lab. Byakuya said that Keiji always asked about chemicals that kill things like people. Byakuya is so emotional.'
Gin smiled as he thought how emotional Byakuya can get. He continued to read until he completed the journal. After that journal, Gin started to leaf through the others. He came across the journal that was started not long after Hisana died.
'Ginrei wrote that he saw Byakuya's heart close. He saw how the life went out of his eyes. He let his pride takeover in front of him. Ginrei wrote how at night he would hear Byakuya cry for Hisana. Her death came so sudden after we thought she was pregnant.'
Gin thought about Ginrei's description of Byakuya after Hisana's death. He remembered the same look in his eyes after the miscarriage. The breakdowns at night. . . .The crying. Gin snapped his attention back to why he was doing this. He decided to look into the last journal. Gin started to read and was blown away of how Ginrei was becoming suspicious of Mira. Gin took his time with this journal. He read about the confrontation he had with Mira in the death of Hisana.
'Mira was surprised that I had figured out who she really was. How she had orchestrated the murder of Hisana. I know she told had something to do. She may not have touched her but she had someone to do it. She is not alone'.
That was his last entry. Ginrei died the next day.
Gin took a deep breath. He was tired and had a lot of information to process. He got off the floor and walked to his bed. He fell across the bed and closed his eyes. His mind was racing with all the information he gathered today. He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes again. He began to slow his brain down. As he began to place the information he had in place, he began to smile to himself.
"Now, I understand." Gin knew what he had to do to bring all this to an end.
Sorry for so long. Football playoff season. I had another bet and I won. Vikings are not going to the SuperbowlThe next chapter will be better because I will tie all things together. Thanks for emails. Enjoy!!!!!
