Kuchiki Rukia was all Gin could think about as he returned to Seireitei. The poor girl was the key. She would have to die for Aizen's ambition. He reminded himself she wasn't the first and she wouldn't be the last. He could not afford to care. He'd already made that mistake once, and he still wasn't sure how that was going to pan out.

He was barely through the West Gate when Kaien appeared before him looking furious, and was he worried? Gin stopped abruptly. "Bit late for you, isn't it, Shiba-kun?" he asked, pleasantly,

"Where have you been?" Kaien demanded.

"Not sure how that's any of your business," Gin answered.

The look of fury on Kaien's face doubled. "Toshiro's missing! We hoped he was with you."

"What?" Now that didn't make any sense. It was three in the morning. Toshiro wasn't the sort to stay out all night-and how hard could he have been to find, even if he had? He had no reason to hide his reiatsu. Even Rangiku should have been able to locate him anywhere in Seireitei- "Oh."

"Oh? Your son is gone! His reiatsu has completely been erased from the city. We've only been waiting to find out if he was with you before we start a grid-search for his body-"

"Well, that's not necessary," Gin interrupted. "Go tell Ran I know where he is, because I'm sure she's panicking, and I'll bring him home in a few minutes."

"Rangiku's not at home," Kaien said. The fear had vanished from his face, but the fury seemed to have doubled. "She's at Division Four. The stress of searching for her missing child set off early labor. I have not heard if she or the baby are alright."

Gin vanished before Kaien had finished speaking. He had exactly one thought. He would bring Shiro to Ran, and that would fix everything.

He raced across the rooftops, barely seeing the city around him in his hurry to reach the Third. He didn't even notice Kaien chasing after him. Nothing mattered but getting Rangiku's child to her.

He didn't slow when he reached his division. He passed guards who never noticed him and raced to the disused rear gardens with their overgrown bamboo groves, and a barrier that was designed never to be noticed.

He drew Shinso as he ran and slammed it into the barrier, shattering it in his hurry to reach the boy. A rush of freezing air hit him and before him a forest of frozen bamboo coated in ice like lace spread out, half buried in drifts of snow that reached as high as four feet.

Gin didn't even pause. He raced across the snow to the source of the storm. Toshiro lay still in the center of the circle of ice and snow. His eyes were closed and in his outstretched hand lay Hyorinmaru.

Toshiro's reiatsu had faded to a whisper. It was obvious the moment the barrier came down that he had pushed too hard and spent too much. It was nothing but exhaustion that had taken him down. A couple days of rest and he would be as good as new.

Gin knelt beside him and gently pulled his hand away from the zanpakuto's hilt.

"What the hell?" Kaien's voice broke the silence of the frozen world, shock had beaten anger for the strongest emotion as he surveyed the Power of the storm the boy had wrought. "Rukia couldn't do anything like this," he added, and Kuchiki Rukia was the strongest known ice-wielder in the Gotei.

"He overdid it," Gin said as he picked up the blade and slid it into its sheath before shoving it into the oversized bag Toshiro always carried. "This is a move he hasn't shown me, and it looks like he tried to use it in bankai. He should have known better."

He slung the bag over his shoulder and slid his arms under Toshiro's limp form, lifting him gently. "Do you think you could put up a temporary barrier until the snow melts, nothing fancy, but it would be better if no one else found out about this."

"You think you can hide this?" Kaien said, unable to move past the shock of finding Toshiro, not only with a Zanpakutō, but with one of inarguable power, easily comparable to a captain's, and Gin had mentioned bankai as though it was not of any significance at all.

"Done a pretty good job so far, but I'd better get him to Ran now, if she's already panicking."

"Rangiku doesn't know?" Kaien said slowly, as he realized this was yet another secret Gin was keeping from his wife. "You son of a bitch! You taught him this and you hid it from her! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Pretty much everything, but I've really got to go just now so—" and he vanished.

—-

It was only Unohana's hand on her shoulder that kept Rangiku from jumping to her feet the moment Gin appeared in the doorway with Shiro in his arms. She reached out, choking back a sob. Relief flowed through her, followed by almost giddy joy. Gin, smiling just like he always should, had brought back her baby.

"He exhausted himself attempting a high level kido," Gin told her as he brought the boy to her.

Unohana stood and made a quick examination of Toshiro as Rangiku touched her son's sleeping face. "He's correct," Unohana agreed. "Nothing but exhaustion. All he needs is a little sleep and he will be as good as new."

Rangiku nodded, but she found she couldn't stop the tears pouring down her face, and she was fighting hard against the urge to sob. She was shaking with emotion. The joy of finding him alive and well was as overwhelming as her fear had been.

"But why couldn't we find him?" Rangiku asked. She wondered how she'd ever forgotten how beautiful Toshiro was. He was so exquisitely, unbearably perfect. She knew now that she'd die if anything ever happened to him. She'd never experienced anything so horrible in her life as these last few hours had been.

"That's my fault," Gin said. "I made him a shielded practice area so he could practice uninterrupted. I'm sorry. I never thought about what would happen if he was stuck inside, and I wasn't around. I should have thought that through—are you alright?"

Rangiku looked to Unohana who answered for her. "Rangiku almost lost her baby tonight, Captain Ichimaru," the healer said in her too calm voice. "It will be a few days before I can be sure the danger of miscarriage has passed. Until then Rangiku will need to remain here, and I expect her to be able to rest. I am sure I can depend upon you to see that there is no more excitement to trouble her while she recovers?"

"Of course," Gin agreed quickly. Anything else would clearly have been bad for his health.

"And now you should take your son home and put him to bed," Unohana told him. "You have another very frightened son waiting there for you, and in the morning there are quite a few people you will need to make apologies to who spent many difficult hours searching for your son in your absence. I hope you can be properly grateful."

"Yes, ma'am," Gin agreed, but his attention was very obviously on Rangiku rather than what Unohana was saying. Even his fox-mask couldn't hide the intensity with which he was watching the tears flow down his wife's face.

"Good night, Captain Ichimaru," Unohana said firmly. "I will let you know when Rangiku is ready for visitors tomorrow. I do not expect to see you before then."

For an instant Gin's ever-present smile shifted to a frown. Then it was gone. "I have to take him home now, Ran," he said, with out of character gentleness. "He's going to be fine so don't worry. Just let Unohana take care of you and get better."

Rangiku pulled her eyes away from Toshiro, and raised a smiling face to Gin. "I knew you'd bring him home safe," she said.

"Just for you," he answered.

Her smile grew. "I love you," she said.

"Good night, Ran-chan," Gin answered. He shifted Toshiro in his arms so the boy's head was rested against his shoulder. "I'll be back to see you in the morning."

"I'll be waiting," Rangiku answered, laying back against the pillow.

Kira had been watching Kinta for hours when Gin finally brought Toshiro home. He was tired enough that he left without even asking for an explanation, and Gin was stuck with a toddler who'd found an impressive second wind and was shunpoing from one room to another asking questions about his mother and brother at high speed.

Gin didn't even try to answer as he carried Toshiro to his room and tucked him in bed. He just ignored him, figuring his steam would run out eventually, and went to the kitchen to make a pot of tea.

"Pour me a cup if you would Gin-kun," a too familiar voice said, and Gin raised his head to see Aizen sitting in the corner of the kitchen, calmly waiting for him.

At that moment Kinta appeared in front of Aizen, grinning hugely. "Did you see me?" The boy demanded. "I can shunpo!" And with that he vanished again, reappearing in the doorway and then beside his father, but before he could disappear again, Gin caught hold of him.

"I'm showing Captain Aizen!" Kinta protested loudly.

"And now you're done," Gin answered, picking up the struggling child. "It's bedtime." He looked back at Aizen as he carried Kinta out of the room. "I won't be a moment, sir," he said, quickly.

His mind raced furiously as he calmly settled the boy into bed and tucked him in. The game was up. Aizen knew he'd been training Toshiro secretly. He'd likely seen everything Toshiro had done even if Shiba had bothered to replace the barrier. It had taken a lot of effort to create one Aizen would not notice in the first place, and now he had to come up with some sort of explanation. He'd had one at first, when he'd still expected to be discovered, but it had been years and that excuse was no longer any good.

Oh, well, he thought as he left Kinta with threats of dire consequences if he got up, Aizen had always known he was playing his own games. Maybe this one would be enough to hide the others. He pulled Hyorinmaru from Toshiro's bag and carried the zanpakuto with him to the kitchen.

He knelt down on the far side of the table from Aizen and carefully laid the sheathed weapon before his master. It had been a long time since he'd played such a subservient roll, but it was nothing, surrendering his pride was a small price to pay to remain in Aizen's good graces.

"It's name is Hyorinmaru," he said softly. "It's stronger than Shinso. Someday it may rival Ryujin Jakka."

Aizen ran his fingertips along the black sheath. "Did you think you would protect him from me, Gin-kun?"

Gin shrugged. Apologies did not work on Aizen; neither would begging for mercy, and any attempt at sincerity after all this time would immediately put Aizen on alert. But if he could play it just right, he might be able to turn the whole thing into a compliment of Aizen's greatness. Even Aizen was not completely immune to flattery, and if he added to that an accidental revelation of his own weakness, maybe it would be enough. If Aizen gained even more power over him, maybe he would be willing to let this go. "I was only trying to make him into someone who could be useful to you. He's always been too much like his mother, stubborn and sentimental, just the type to become another perfect shinigami to live and die for the Gotei," Gin said, wondering if Aizen believed anything he was saying. "But I thought if I were the only one to train him, before he'd been indoctrinated in the Academy and its false ideals, then I could make him one of us. I intended to bring him to you when I knew he was ready to serve you."

Aizen smiled. "And when was he going to be ready?"

Gin flinched. "His bankai is nearly perfect. He could pass the captain's test tomorrow," he said.

"But still not ready to serve me?"

"He's nothing but a child. He may possess a captain's strength, but he has the mind of a child. He's an idealist, and he despises me as a liar and a cheat. I'm afraid I've failed," Gin said, forcing the same lightness to his voice it always held, "On the plus side he adores you. I suppose I should have left it to you in the first place, but he is mine. I really thought I might make something of him."

"It means something to you, that he is your son, doesn't it, Gin-kun?" Aizen asked. "I think maybe you love him."

Gin cocked his head to one side, frowning, as though the idea had never occurred to him before. "I am proud of him," he said finally. "My son has achieved more than anyone would ever have believed a child could. He is extraordinary. I've never been one for showing off, but I would like Seireitei to know his strength; I would like to see them all acknowledge his power. And most of all I would want them all to know he is mine."

"And is that what you want from me as well?" Aizen asked. "Are you looking for approval or perhaps praise?"

Gin smiled suddenly. "But don't you think he is impressive?" He asked in a light and joking tone, hoping Aizen would see a neediness beneath it. Aizen had always taken something like the role of a father with him. Maybe he would see Gin's attempt to train Toshiro secretly, not as defiance of him at all, but as an attempt to impress him. He'd done insane things before just to impress Aizen-they had mostly involved murder, but the idea was the same-a fatherless child who wanted the attention and approval of a respected superior. "He could be the youngest person to master bankai in the history of Soul Society. That's something, isn't it?"

"And if he does not ever come to our way of thinking, what then?" Aizen asked, "If he draws Hyorinmaru against you?"

Gin's grin grew huge. "Kin-chan's turning out to be a quick learner, and this next one-surely I can get it right at least once."

That's what I like best about you, Gin-kun. You're always optimistic."