Rangiku breathed slowly, trying to calm herself down. Glaring at the Espada before her, she could hardly believe the situation. She had only just been reunited with her captain before he took off. And Gin as well. Why? She asked herself. Why would they just disappear like that? Why would they go, without saying a word....
She shook her head. That was only her own selfishness talking. Gin and Toshiro both had a score to settle with Aizen, it should be of no surprise that they would run off.
They wanted revenge. Both of them. And Rangiku knew they would go to any lengths to achieve that.
But that didn't stop her from worrying. She knew Gin well enough to understand that he could handle himself, but as for her captain...
Toshiro could be reckless. He tended to go overboard when he gets angry. He had never spoken to her about it, but Rangiku could tell that if is level of rage got too high, he can't control his powers anymore. Even though he is a captain, Toshiro is still in youth, and it was no surprise he would have difficulty controlling himself.
And then there was Aizen. Toshiro wasn't just angry with Aizen, he hated him. Beyond hatred. Rangiku knew there was no chance of him being able to control his spiritual pressure if he was faced with an opportunity to attack the Lord of Hueco Mundo. But then, if Toshiro were able to kill Aizen, would even that satisfy his hatred?
If Toshiro completely caved into his hatred, what would become of him? Would he return to normal? Or would the overwhelming flow of hatred continue to consume him, until he could no longer recognize friend from foe, and only left destruction in his wake?
Rangiku shivered, but sighed inwardly. She was scared, and being over-dramatic. Toshiro was Toshiro. He would never hurt his friends, even if he was consumed by his own hatred. He would fight for control, and he would win. She had to believe in that.
"Matsumoto!"
Somebody yelled her name. Spinning on her heel, Rangiku turned to see Orihime's eyes wide, telling her to snap out of it. Caught by surprise, Rangiku's hand found Haineko. Drawing out her zanpaktou, she had been lost in her thoughts so much so that she did not notice the Espada had begun to attack.
If any words had been exchanged between the enemy and the group of soul reapers and allies, Rangiku had not heard them. Nor did she care. At the moment, she threw away her fear of what would happen to the two boys she cared for most, and decided to focus on defeating the enemy.
Stepping forward quietly, Uryu scanned the area before him Seeing that the coast was clear, he beckoned Ichigo onward. Understanding, the teenage substitute soul reaper ran in front of him, the small pats of his feet making barely a sound.
Uryu had hidden his spiritual pressure flawlessly, though not the same could be said for Ichigo. To enforce their need for stealth, Uryu had managed to form a barrier around Ichigo, a specialized one that his grandfather had taught him. It was very simple, and all it did was protect that person from having others sensing their reiatsu.
Speed and precision were everything. If they screwed up, it was all over.
Toshiro did all he could to keep his mind blank. While his head pounded thunderously with anticipation, he could almost taste the blood-lust in his mouth. He could hardly wait to get his hands on Aizen.
He cast a sidelong glance at Ichimaru. The man was running alongside him, his face unreadable. But Toshiro knew the thoughts that must be going through Gin's head couldn't be that different from his own. Toshiro was fairly sure he knew all the motives behind Gin's actions, but he wanted to be sure. He wanted to hear it for himself.
"Aizen doesn't have much imagination, does he?"
Toshiro's words, shattering the silence, brought Ichimaru to a stop. He knew where this was going.
"No. He really doesn't." The older soul reaper agreed.
The boy stared at him intently. "How long ago? When did he... to you..."
"..." Ichimaru hesitated, but after a moment decided Toshiro had a right to know. "The moment I became a soul reaper. Right when I joined the Academy."
"And Rangiku-?"
Gin avoided any eye contact. "I had already met her, and we were close. Aizen took that to his advantage."
"So he did the same thing to you as he's doing to me?"
"Yes."
Gin almost flinched at the memories. In truth, it wasn't quite the same. Aizen was a little bit different back then. He was more harsh, and didn't have legions of followers.
"You will obey me, one way or another."
Aizen's voice back then was a subject of terror to Gin. Its smoothness, how every evil word came so calmly.
"No! No, I don't want to! Leave me ALONE!"
Screams. The small body of a white haired child arced back in pain, and the agonized cry ceaselessly escaped his lips Aizen held a black weapon to the boy's shoulder.
"STOP!!!" A single word formed out of Gin's mouth as he crumpled to the floor in horror. He shook, clutching his robes as he trembled violently. Tears rolled from his eyes and splattered onto the ground where he lay, curling into a tighter and tighter ball, until finally Aizen pulled away.
"It's not just you I will hurt. That little friend of yours might want to feel a taste of this too."
"NO!! PLEASE!" Gin's eyes went wide as he sat up sharply. "DON'T!! Don't hurt her... Rangiku"
An arrogant smile found its way across Aizen's face. "Then you'll have no choice but to do as I say. And don't think for a second that I can't kill her or hurt her anytime, anywhere."
Gin's small hands curled into fists, and tears continued to fall. His body hurt, and his head ached like something horrible. He didn't understand. What had he done? What in the world had he done to deserve this?
There was no choice, no will that could get involved. Aizen was in control. Everything... was in Aizen's hands.
Only a few months later, Gin found himself sitting by the edge of a creek, staring into the running water silently. Aizen had just been merciless in punishment, only Gin had no idea what he had done wrong. Slowly, he scooped the cool water into his hands, and poured it carefully over the spot that Aizen had dug in the detestable weapon.
Gin's eyes were narrowed with animosity, and he found himself wondering what it would be like to kill Aizen.
Wonderful. He thought, It would feel... Absolutely wonderful.
A small whine brought the child out of his thoughts. He turned quickly, and saw a small dog, limping out of the bushes. Its leg was misshapen, broken. Gin stared at the creature curiously as it made a few more steps until, at last, it collapsed, breathing heavily.
"Come on... don't tell me you think that hurts?"
He stood, glaring at the dog distastefully. His foul mood increased as the dog whimpered quietly.
"You think that hurts?!"
He glared at the animal. Pathetic. Pitifl. Stupid, stupid dog. What right did it have to lay there, whimpering in "pain" when there are things so much worse out there?
His chest burned, his heart felt heavy. Clenching his hands into fists, he started to run towards the animal, losing control of his sensibility as his anger took over.
"YOU THINK THAT'S PAIN?!"
He picked up a large rock as he reached the dog.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!"
The rock came down. It struck the dog in the chest, and Gin relished the sound of the cracking ribs.
"YOU-"
The dog yelped in shock, its dark eyes growing wide with fear.
"-HAVE NO CLUE-"
The rock in Gin's hand came down again and again as he spoke the words.
"-WHAT-"
Again, again, again.
"-REAL PAIN-"
Again, again, again, again, again.
"-IS!!!"
Again. Blood splattered across Gin's face and arms. He stared wide-eyed at the dog, who had long since stopped breathing.
"Why do you get to die??" The boy whispered, still staring at the motionless animal. "Who gave you a right to die?! THAT WAS BARELY EVEN PAIN AND YOU GET TO DIE?! WHY DON'T I GET TO DIE!! WHY?! Why can't I..."
There was a moment, two moments before anything happened. All was still, as Gin only stood there gazing at what he had done.
Rock fell to the ground. A single sob broke through Gin's throat and he fell to his knees unsteadily. He stared at the blood. All the blood.
So far, Aizen hadn't once asked Gin to take a life yet. In a stupor of horror Gin realized he had brutally taken a life of his own accord.
Tears fell upon the ground as the white-haired boy fell into his grief. He leaned forward, burying his face in his knees as he wept helplessly, disbelieving of what had occurred. He trembled in shame and disgust of himself, feeling the blood of the innocent animal dripping from his hands.
But why not? Some voice inside of him asked. That dog was ignorant, he deserved to die. From some part of Gin, hidden in a place deep inside where everyone kept their evil thoughts, the voice echoed.
We were angry, so it's okay. Plenty of people do bad things when they're angry. Why can't we do bad things too?
Maybe, if we're bad enough sometimes, HE won't hurt us so much.
Suddenly Gin's eyes slanted back to their normal squint, and a smile spread across his mouth.
It's actually kind of funny. A broken leg? And that stupid dog thought it was pain? How foolish! Yes, YES! We didn't do anything wrong. That dog was ignorant, and we gave him a slight taste of what real pain feels like! There's nothing wrong with that!!
A laugh escaped Gin's mouth.
NOTHING!! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!!!
Toshiro gazed at Ichimaru in shock.
Gin hadn't told Toshiro about that dog, but the boy had asked why he had always smiled as he did. He explained slowly that everything just seemed so funny. People who thought they were hurting had no clue just seemed so pathetically funny to him. Gin had never killed anyone out of anger the same way he had killed that dog, but he still found their suffering funny. They had no idea just what suffering is.
But after Aizen had taken in Toshiro, that changed. That brought someone else into Gin's world that new what kinds of pain he had felt. Someone who had felt it himself.
At that point, it wasn't funny anymore.
"I don't expect anyone to understand it though." Gin said quietly, still speaking of the expression he so commonly wore across his face.
Toshiro shook his head. "No, I think I can understand. If Aizen had been using that.... thing on me as long as he has on you, I might find myself in the same state of mind. That, or I'd go insane."
"I was able to create a sort of potion that decreases the effects of his torture, or at least, it keeps you from reaching the level of insanity."
"Thank you, Ichimaru."
The man looked down at the younger boy in vague surprise.
"You really have nothing to thank me for."
I FREAKING LOVED THIS CHAPTER!!! I mean, the fact that Ichimaru killed a doggy isn't very nice, esecially since my dog happens to be sitting on my lap sleeping very contently right now. I LUV MY DOG.
I just luv this chapter too though... ahhhhhh...demented Ichimaru... hooray...
I finished that pic that I mentioned last chapter, and that kid looks satisfyingly sadistic. Actually he just killed his parents. The title is I Hate You Too, Mommy. I'll post it on deviant art eventually.
My friend Ryan sneaked up on me during lunch today, but he failed at scaring me. His head was right next to my shoulder, so I just turned around and looked at him calmly... then he bent over in pain, clutching his head. He said something in his skull just snapped. My twin turned to me and just yells WHAT DID YOU DO!? It wasn't actually anything, I guess he just leaned forwars too quickly and gotten a sudden but quick headache for like two seconds, nothing serious. But I'm pretty sure he's scared of me now because the timing was just perfect. BWAHAAHAHA I AM MAGICALLY EVIL!!
I'm going to go now... I HAVE TONS AND TONS AND TONS of homework, so I gotta go do it. Plz review me and make my homework filled day a little less stressful!!
