Gin sat on a tiled roof well above the decorated parade of nobility making their way to the Shihoin estate where Yoruichi was hosting today's meeting of the Four Great Families. He'd never so much as bothered to watch before. Of all the people of Seireitei, the nobility interested him the least. It was, he had to admit, at least partially because they thought so little of him. What they might call good taste or judgement and others considered snobbery, seemed, to Gin, at least, to be nothing but willful stupidity. A person might not want to be friendly with a deadly snake, but most were careful not to purposefully tread on one. He'd met plenty of nobles over the years who had gone out of their way to, in one way or another, 'tread' on him. They had all paid for it.
The ones like Kuchiki, who were bright enough to leave him alone, he left alone as well--for the most part; living in a place where you could be one of the thirteen strongest people in the entire world and still being looked down on did grate on his nerves occasionally. At times like that he tended to make any and all nobles within his reach suffer a bit. He'd always thought it a great shame that Kuchiki Byakuya was not within his reach.
But Rangiku was rather brilliant when it came to Kuchiki, Gin thought, as he watched the Kuchiki entourage pass beside his perch. What a grand procession it was, with palanquins and even the servants in formal attire. The Kuchiki pride and wealth required a grand display; today the Head of House and most highly ranked members would be traveling to the Shihoin Estate. No one would doubt their family was of at least equal worth in power, wealth, and history.
Gin wondered for a moment if Kuchiki had brought his little sister with him, but the absence of Abarai's reiatsu made it unlikely. The lieutenant had probably stayed behind to watch over the poor, broken girl.
And her beautiful brother was on his own, forced to attend a meeting he did not care about, all the while pretending not to worry about Hisana's sister, who was probably the only person alive Kuchiki did care about.
That day Rangiku had told him off for abandoning his sister to her fate was probably one of Gin's very favorite days. It was the one and only time he had ever seen Kuchiki in pain; he'd seen less of a reaction from the man when a hollow managed to tear a hunk of flesh out of his shoulder. Rangiku's words had reached through that icy wall and forced Kuchiki to see exactly what he was with no excuses of honor or family pride, and made him face the reality of what he was doing, made him realize the cost of his arrogance. In that one moment he had not quite managed to escape from the pain that losing Rukia would be.
Gin smiled and leaned forward, wishing he could see into the palanquin. He smiled and waved just in case Kuchiki could see him despite his carefully chosen perch and the shielding cloak of reiatsu within which Gin had hidden himself. He had not forgotten Soifon had forbidden him from entering any Shihoin property uninvited. She couldn't possibly expect he would follow that command, but he figured that he should not, at least, draw attention to himself. It seemed only polite.
The next company was less interesting, and those that followed after were of so little interest that Gin debated between going back to the division and taking a nap. The nobility were so boring. They were painfully predictable. Everyone wore the nicest things they could afford, and used the most expensive means of transportation they could manage. Every moment of their approach yelled, 'Look at me! I'm important!" Like they were afraid people might forget if they weren't reminded constantly.
Gin perked up slightly when the Shiba family finally entered. Miyako had brought Ukitake with her, in a palanquin, no less. Gin doubted people would like that, a low ranking noble traveling with Lady Shiba in such honor, but it was probably the only practical way to get him here. After his little fight earlier he should probably be on his way to the Fourth.
Shiba Kaien was absent, but Gin was confident, after what his Thirteenth Division informant had told him, that Kyoraku would manage to get Shiba here before the meeting ended. Gin hoped his entrance would be last minute and dramatic, and really felt it was highly unfair that he was going to miss it. If Shiba timed everything just right, he could make what was looking like the usual dull meeting the talk of Soul Society for a decade.
There were huge issues at stake. It was why Gin was here. What was decided here could lead Seireitei into chaos if the more sensibly-minded did not triumph. Gin wouldn't be even a little bit surprised if some idiots were actually pushing for civil war, because that's what going after Yamamoto really was, in the end. Until Aizen was defeated and peace was regained, Yamamoto was the Gotei and Soul Society. Turning against him was turning against the rule of law in Soul Society. It was rebellion.
So that was why Gin was here, because if these idiots really were going to start a rebellion he was going to have his family out of this city and beyond their reach before they'd had time to make their first move. He didn't care how much Rangiku or Toshiro believed they needed to stand with the Gotei or how many innocent people he'd have to slaughter to get them out, there was no way his family was going to be threatened by an aristocracy pushed to violence by Aizen's lies and their own ancient prejudices and fears.
So no matter how boring their processions had been or how much more boring it was to watch the empty street after the meeting had begun Gin did not leave his perch. He stared at the closed gate and waited, only barely able to breathe through the tension that seemed to have permeated the entire city.
"Looks like they've got you scared, at least."