Gin watched the hollow vanish into the woods. Behind him Aizen laughed. "I wonder what the Thirteenth Division will make of my latest experiment."
Gin tilted his head slightly. "I think Shiba will be watching the headquarters tonight. Ukitake's been down again," he said. "That will leave the Third Seat to lead the recon. Won't be much of a fight."
He turned his back on the hollow and the doomed recon team. "Ran's wanting me home to help with the kids, unless you need me for something?" He looked up at Aizen, waiting to be dismissed.
"It's disappointing the second is not as impressive as the first, but you never know what time may reveal. He could grow to be useful," Aizen said, watching Gin's face carefully.
Gin shrugged. "Ah, well, kids are just a roll of the dice, aren't they? I've never been particularly lucky."
"Isn't that why you cheat?"
"Haven't figured out how in this case-maybe you ought to start a shinigami breeding program, match all your favorite traits. Ran's always trying to set people up. Ukitake and Nemu aren't a bad match, and you could suggest a few more for her to work on. She'd love it, pairing off all her little friends, and give it one, two hundred years, and we'll have a nice new stock of graduates, better than Kira-kun and all his little friends."
Aizen smiled. "We no longer have centuries, a few more decades and everything will be complete. I may consider your suggestion afterwards. The combination of shinigami and arrancar, ah, well, we will see."
"Then I can be going?" Gin said, tilting his head in the direction of Seireitei.
"Of course," Aizen said, with a careless wave of his hand.
Gin vanished in a burst of shunpo. He stopped again two miles away. He could feel Aizen move past him, also on his way to the city.
He stood for a moment longer, undecided. Why did it have to be Thirteen tonight? And why couldn't Shiba have been leading the damned recon team? If he couldn't handle Aizen's hollow he deserved to die. But Miyako-if Ran lost another friend-and damn it, he still owed Shiba for Kuchiki's wedding.
He swore furiously, before he turned and ran back into the forest.
It wasn't long before he caught up with the hollow. He stayed back as far as he could while still following it. He couldn't be seen. If just one person realized he was here it would be over.
He heard the moment the team found the hollow. The sick bastard was playing with them, turning them on each other. He moved closer, quickly but carefully, trying to stay out of their sight while finding a place for one clear shot.
Eight had fallen before he found the perfect place, still hidden in the trees, over a hundred yards away. He watched another of the men fall, and the hollow turned to Miyako.
"Bankai," he said as he pulled the zanpakuto from its sheath. The blade extended across the distance instantly, splitting the hollow's mask in two and returning before anyone could have followed its path.
The hollow, too strong to kill with a single hit, began to melt as the poison Gin had planted within it activated. Within seconds it fell and turned to sparkling dust, yet another human soul freed from the darkness.
Gin turned and ran, pushing his shunpo to a speed he'd never achieved before. He could not be seen, could not be caught. He had to get home. He had to be home now, so no one could ever wonder if he had been the one to end the hollow.
"Gin, what happened?" Rangiku demanded as he appeared suddenly on the porch and dropped down onto his knees through the open doorway.
He brought his hands up to cover his face as he shook his head. It was over and done. There was nothing he could do. Aizen would discover his betrayal and they would all die or he wouldn't and they would live. That's all there was.
Rangiku ran to his side and dropped down beside him, running her hands over him, trying to see if he was hurt. "Gin, please," she whispered. "Please tell me." Her hands traveled over his back and up his sides and across his chest, finding no signs of injury. "Please, tell me what's wrong," she begged, taking hold of his hands and trying to pull them away from his face.
He moved suddenly, pulling her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Ran, so sorry," he whispered into her hair.
She reached her arms around his waist. "It's alright, Gin. Whatever it is, it's alright."
He shook his head, but he wouldn't say anything more.
Rangiku sighed. How long would he keep these secrets? It was approaching a hundred years. "Gin, it doesn't matter," she told him. "I don't care who you've killed or what you've done, just so long as you come home to me."
His grip tightened almost painfully. "Someday, if I don't come home-"
"You have to," she protested. "I'm not asking anything else. Just please, always-"
"If I don't," he interrupted. "You have to know I want to. If it's in my power, if I can make the choice, I will always come home to you."
"You'd better," Rangiku said, fighting back tears that were trying to choke her.
"If I can," he promised. "I will."