Foreword: Zero score and ten years ago, after I finished watching the "Bleach" anime for the first time, I was inspired to write an AU with the premise that Ichimaru Gin never joined Aizen, and so remained by Rangiku's side and loyal to the Gotei 13.
If there are readers who have read the original version of this story, then they know I've been trying to get the Thousand-Year Blood War arc done for several years now, and probably started to get the impression that it wouldn't be coming at all. But more recently, after looking over my old work and seeing what was done wrong, I felt inspired to revise "A Grudge Not Held." With how much my thought processes have changed over the years, I thought the revised parts of the original version would better fit what I was currently working on for the TYBW arc.
And finally, today on September 29, the date Gin and Rangiku met and the date Rangiku takes as her birthday, after years of more casual outlining and months of more dedicated writing… here it is: the story of Gin's life by Rangiku's side from his origins, through the war against Aizen, and beyond to the end of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.
So, without further ado, please enjoy the new and (hopefully) improved "A Grudge Not Held!"
"OW!"
Gin started awake at the cry of pain from his best friend's cry of pain. He turned to her to see her lying on the ground, grabbing her foot with her eyes squeezed tight.
"Rangiku? What happened?" he asked as he scrambled to her side.
"I stepped on a nail!" she hissed.
Gin grimaced. The rugged shack they called home provided them shelter from the elements, but it was a ramshackle old thing suited for little else. And now it seemed that the hut's poor maintenance had made itself known through a nail that was now sticking out of the floorboard.
"Here, lemme see how bad it is." Gin gently pushed Rangiku's hands away from her injury. He winced as he saw that the nail had definitely punctured her sole and blood was now dripping out. With the cause of injury determined, he tore a strip of cloth from one of his sleeves and pressed the bundle on the wound, and instructed her, "Here, hold that in place."
"'Kay," she agreed, a slight whimper of pain in her voice but little more.
"Now, stay here, an' I'll be back shortly," Gin told her.
"Huh? Wait, Gin, where are you going?"
But it was too late; much to Rangiku consternation, he had slipped out on her. Again. And he neglected to tell her where he was going. Again.
She sighed and surmised that his errand likely revolved around treating her injury.
It did not take long for Rangiku to get bored, and she spared a glare at the offending piece of iron that had assaulted her. With nothing better to do, she picked up a suitably-sized rock and gave the hazardous hardware a few good whacks. After she was satisfied that the nail was no longer a threat, she tossed the stone aside and settled back down, maintaining pressure on her wound.
The river was not that far away, so it did not take long for Gin to reach it. The real difficulty was finding a way to transport it back to Rangiku so he could clean the puncture wound. As old as that nail likely was, there was no telling if it would get infected. So, Gin decided he would take the liberty of… acquiring some bowls or a pitcher or some other container.
After he had procured the needed materials and filled them with water, he returned to the shack.
But on his way back, the boy heard a commotion and slid into a nearby bush for cover. He peeked out between the branches and saw a group of men walking not too far away. Thankfully, they had not noticed him.
He knew from their uniforms who they were: shinigami. He had seen all types of shinigami pass through these forests. There were the good ones that slew Hollows and were kind to the residents of the Rukongai, but those were few and far between especially this far out into the districts. The usual shinigami were decent at best; they did their job and little more, hunting Hollows but otherwise paying little attention to the poorer classes of Soul Society.
And then there were guys like the group Gin saw now: nothing more than thugs who bullied the weaker souls just because they felt like it. With these ruffians roaming so close to their neck of the woods, Gin was very glad that Rangiku was staying home today.
He gave idle thought to seeing if he could find a way to kill one or more of the hunters. Gin doubted that anyone would miss them, and it would mean fewer nasty people to worry about in the future.
He dismissed the idea after a moment's thought. It would not be wise to leave Rangiku alone any longer than he had to, since she was injured right now.
However, the idea that Gin could kill one of those shinigami gave rise to another brainstorm. If he, a random peasant of the Rukongai, could kill them, fully trained shinigami, then why did Gin and Rangiku have to hide every time those men and others like them showed up?
Out here in the Rukongai, it was survival of the fittest. What made him fit enough to survive was his cunning, and Gin knew that both he and his sole friend had enough spiritual power to require food to survive. Didn't that mean that they had enough power not to be afraid of thugs like the ones roaming the forests of the Rukongai? The only problem was that they lacked the knowledge as to how to make use of that power. And everyone knew that the only place you could learn stuff about spiritual power was the Seireitei.
Tucking that thought to the side, Gin resumed his journey back home.
"How's the foot?" he asked as he entered the small shelter with a pitcher of water and a couple of bowls in hand. Idly, he took note of how the nail that had been sticking up was now hammered down.
"Where'd you go?" Rangiku glared at him.
"Jus' to get some water so I can clean yer lil' stab wound," he answered as he tore a few more strips of cloth from his sleeves. "Speakin' o' which, lemme see how it's doin'."
Reluctantly pulling the bloodstained rags away, Rangiku still questioned, "Why didn't you say so before you left?"
He resolutely kept his gaze on the bottom of her foot as he took a wet cloth and washed away the grime and filth. "Does it matter?"
"Yes! What if something had happened to you?"
"Don't worry, Rangiku. I can take care o' myself," Gin assured her as finished his task of cleaning her sole. As he took the next step of wrapping a makeshift bandage around her foot, he continued, "By the way, some nasty folk have been wanderin' a bit close to here, so we'll need to lay low."
"I'm already stuck inside because of that stupid nail!" she protested. "If you want me to lay any lower, you'll have to get a shovel and bury me underground!"
"If ya keep complainin' like that, I jus' might take ya up on that," he retorted as he finished binding her foot and tied the end into a knot.
"But I hate staying in here! It's so boring and dull!"
"Better borin' than dead."
Rangiku's only rebuttal was to immaturely stick out her tongue at him, which merely served to elicit an amused chuckle out of him.
Satisfied that his friend was in better spirits, he stood up to leave in search of something for them to eat when he felt a hand grasp his wrist. He looked down to see Rangiku glaring up at him, and she demanded, "And where do you think you're going?"
"Uh, out to get some food an' wood," he answered a little nervously at her serious tone and firm grip.
"And were you about to leave without telling me?"
Gin's lack of reply answered her question well enough. Rangiku narrowed her eyes and yanked down, forcing the silver-haired boy to take a seat next to her.
"Gin, do you know how much I hate it when you just run off somewhere without telling me?" she growled at him.
"…a lil' bit?" he guessed optimistically.
"I hate it a lot!" she corrected vehemently. "It's what I hate the most about you! Every time you leave and don't say anything, I worry that you won't come back!"
"Rangiku, like I said, I can take care o' myself," he smiled at her to assuage her concerns. But this time, the attempt failed.
"What if… I'm scared that you won't come back… by choice?"
Gin's smile disappeared as he stared at Rangiku in shock. The look on her face was vulnerable and searching, and he honestly did not know how to answer her.
Despite her reservations, his companion confided, "As much as I'm glad that you saved me and stuck around… I just can't help but wonder why you did… and if you plan on leaving for good someday."
Gin sighed, and answered quietly, "I saved ya 'cause ya were starvin', an' I happened to be there with food; it jus' seemed like the thin' to do. I stuck 'round 'cause I enjoyed yer company, that simple. An' I got no plans fer us to part ways."
"So… why is you never tell me where you go?"
"'Cause I never had someone I needed to tell 'fore I met ya," he shrugged. "Since it seems to bother ya so much, I'll try to change that."
"That would be great," she nodded appreciatively. "Just something to let me know you'll come back would mean a lot to me."
"'Kay."
There were a few moments of awkward silence, as both children were unsure of what to say next. Finally, Gin started the next line of conversation with, "Rangiku, I was thinkin' earlier…"
"What is it?" she asked.
"Why do we gotta run an' hide every time someone nasty comes along? I betcha we both got more reiatsu than most people 'round here, since we need to eat an' all."
"But we don't know how to use it."
"So we learn."
"How?"
"Easy; we become shinigami."
Rangiku paused as she thought over his words, and asked, "Why?"
"Why not? They got a good place to live, so at least we don't have to worry 'bout starvin'."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Wouldn't be fun unless there was a lil' risk."
The golden-haired child pondered the thought for a minute longer, and then shrugged, "Sure, let's give it a try."
"After yer foot's all healed up, 'course."
"That would be preferable, yes."
Gin smirked at her dry remark, and then said, "Now, I really should be gettin' some food now."
"Okay," Rangiku nodded.
"…which means ya need to let go o' me."
She glanced down, and realized that she never had released his wrist from when she had prevented his earlier departure.
"Oh! Sorry!" Rangiku apologized sheepishly as she let him go.
"S'all right," Gin chuckled at her reaction as he stood up. Before he exited, he turned back to her and said, "Be back later."
"You better," she smiled at him.
"I can't believe we actually made it in!" Rangiku giggled excitedly as they walked through the hallways of the Shin'ō Academy.
"Fortunately, there don't seem to be no age requirement," Gin commented, having noted how he and Rangiku seemed to be quite a bit younger than most of the other students… physically at least. No telling how many years everyone had seen pass by. "Actually, don't ya think that test was… easy?"
"They did say we were First Class material!" she replied with a grin. "Maybe it's because we're just that good!"
"Or they got low standards."
"Gin, why do you have to be like that?" Rangiku elbowed him in the side. "This was your idea in the first place!"
"Yeah, not sayin' I regret it, jus' takin' notes is all."
"Well, stop it and try to have some fun!"
"I can multitask," Gin retorted cheerfully. "Fer example, while we were talkin', I can see that our classroom is right here."
Rangiku started, and looked to the side to realize her friend was right.
"Show off," she muttered.
"Rangiku, why d'ya have to be like that?" he mimicked her earlier rhetorical question with a playful grin.
"Ha, ha."
"Well, let's see what the shinigami can teach us today."
As it turned out their first class turned out to be incredibly underwhelming. It started out fine with a praise on their high scores on the entrance exam, then a lecture on what exactly shinigami were and what duties they were expected to undertake, which provided Gin with useful insights on his future career.
Where it started to go downhill was when the topic shifted into an overview of the history of Soul Society, which was composed of a list of dates and people that Gin had no interest in, and he failed to see how such knowledge was even relevant to their jobs as shinigami.
Yeah, he supposed the Soul King deserved credit for creating and maintaining Soul Society, and Yamamoto should be afforded his due for founding the Gotei and the Academy. But all that could be summed up in two minutes, not lectured over two hours. And he was even more skeptical of the relevance (and validity) of how the lesson was espousing the importance of nobles.
Making it worse was the teacher's tendency to be monotonous in his lecture, which made paying attention a great effort.
Then he happened to notice that Rangiku had lost the battle against boredom entirely, and had fallen asleep beside him.
Before he could think of a way to discreetly nudge her awake, her state was noticed by the instructor, Ōnabara Gengorō.
"Matsumoto!"
"Yes!" Rangiku responded as she jolted upright in her seat, instantly wide awake. As this was the first time the teacher's tone had shifted since the beginning of the lesson, it also resulted in many other students coming into a state of alertness as well.
"Who are the Five Great Noble Houses of the Seireitei?" Ōnabara demanded.
"Uh… Shiba?" Rangiku guessed nervously.
"And?"
"…K-Kuchiki?" she struggled to recall.
"That's two."
"S…Shohōin?"
"Shihōin," he corrected tersely. "And the other two?"
"…uh…I'm sorry, but I don't remember," Rangiku mumbled.
"The Five Great Noble Houses form the bedrock of Seireitei, and are the most influential families in the Soul Society," Ōnabara stated. "Do you think you can make it as a shinigami knowing only three of them?"
"Probably not?" the girl guessed meekly.
Even if that was the answer the instructor wanted, Gin was not convinced of its accuracy.
"Absolutely not! Perhaps if you paid attention instead of napping, you would have realized this," he chastised her derisively, and no few students snickered at her plight. "Stay after class for a word on your work ethic."
"…Yes, sir."
"I dunno, I thought she was doin' rather well," Gin piped up, earning incredulous stares from Rangiku and the other students, and an annoyed one from the instructor.
"What was that, Ichimaru?" Ōnabara demanded.
"Ain't that the lesson o' this class, on how to fall 'sleep as soon as possible?" the young fox asked in mock innocence, eliciting stifled chuckles from his other classmates.
"…Ichimaru, you can also stay after class," the instructor growled, red-faced at the implied insult. "For a lesson on how to respect your superiors."
"Got it, sensei," Gin nodded, looking utterly unrepentant.
"Now, is there someone who would like to remind Matsumoto who the other two Great Houses are?"
"Gin, you deliberately got yourself in trouble that made you stay after class with me," Rangiku said immediately after they left the classroom following their "extra lectures." "Why?"
He cocked his head back to her and answered, "Ya jus' answered yer own question."
She blinked, and took a moment to process his statement. "You… deliberately got yourself in trouble… to stay after class… with me," she slowly got out.
"Ya got it!"
"But why? You didn't need to do that!"
"'Cause yer my friend, Rangiku, an' I'm pretty sure friends stick together," Gin replied.
"I…, well…, yes…, but…," she stammered with pinked cheeks. "But… don't you think that was a bit much? You ended in worse trouble than I did because of that comment."
"Eh, it was worth it," he shrugged. "Got to stay by yer side, and as a bonus, he made a real funny face."
Rangiku did not bother to conceal her giggle as she admitted, "Yeah, it was funny… but next time I get in trouble, it would be enough if you just waited outside for me."
"I'll think 'bout it," he replied ambiguously.
"I'm serious, Gin, as much as I really appreciate the thought, I don't want you risking expulsion because you did too much backtalk."
"All right, I suppose ya got a point," he relented. "I'll tone it back… a little."
Gin strolled through the woods, navigating so he stuck close to the shadows and trees. Such an erratic trail made it easier to keep his presence concealed from potential predators, both animal and human in nature.
As if to prove him right, the boy paused in the shadow of one particularly thick trunk and peered around. He could feel someone watching him.
The only question was why…
If it were a bandit seeking money, then it would be a simple affair to show his own lack of funds, and trouble would pass him by. If he had simply stumbled onto someone's turf, he could likewise withdraw and avoid a confrontation.
But if they were a predator… then Gin needed to think of a way to escape them. Or with a little luck and cunning, maybe kill them, if it came to it.
First, he had to determine where his stalker was. He leaned back against the tree to minimize his profile, and kept still. While his eyes glanced around, what he truly paid attention to were his ears. At night, vision was an unreliable sense, but hearing was not hindered by the darkness.
Gin waited patiently as he leaned against his hiding place, attuning his ears to the slightest sound that might reveal the location of the hunter.
But minutes passed, and the forest was silent… unnaturally so. No birds calling, no frogs singing, no crickets chirping, not even leaves rustling.
If anything, this utter lack of noise made Gin even more on guard, as if the entire forest also wanted to evade detection by the hidden predator, and he continued to wait for some sign of the eyes he still could feel on him.
While he could not track his time, it must have been an hour, maybe two, and his sole "companion" in the lonely woods had yet to reveal themselves. And still, he continued to wait; some instinct warned him that failing to do so could be catastrophic for him.
"Gin."
He jumped at the mention of his name, as anyone would have done if they had been waiting in dead silence for at least an hour and then heard an unknown person speak right above their heads. He quickly recovered from the surprise to leap back away from his shelter and looked up at the branches over him.
The treetops were still occluded in darkness, but he could just make out the silhouette of someone relaxing on their side on a tree branch, looking down at him with casual interest.
Calming down from his startlement, Gin replied casually to his shadowed stalker, "Well, ya know my name, how 'bout gracin' me with yers?"
The stranger veiled by darkness did not answer, but he had the feeling it was because they were deliberating over whether they should indulge his question or not. Fortunately, Gin's patience was rewarded after only a minute or so.
"Very well," the answer finally came, and the tone and pitch of the voice confirmed Gin's suspicion that this person was female. She said, "Since you were so polite to ask, my name is…"
The speaker paused.
Gin's eyebrows furrowed. It did not sound like she was deliberately keeping him hanging; rather, it sounded more like her name had been drowned out by a noise, and yet there was no feasible source of a noise that could muffle her speech.
"Sorry, I'm 'fraid I didn't catch that," he apologized. "Mind sayin' it again?"
Only a few seconds' pause, before the woman replied, "My name is…"
And again, at the most crucial part, her sentence was censored.
"I know this must be annoyin', but I really can't hear yer name."
"…A pity," the predator in the tree lamented. "Perhaps you are not yet ready to learn it."
"Sorry?" Gin shrugged helplessly, not quite getting it.
"No need, I have full confidence you will be able to hear it soon," she replied indifferently. "But I am curious: why did you choose to stop by this tree?"
"I dunno," he shrugged again. "It just felt like the right one to stick by; jus' bad luck it happened to be the one ya were in."
"Was it?"
Gin cocked his head in confusion. "Is it what?"
"Was it really mere luck that brought you here?"
"What, ya mean there's something special 'bout this tree?"
"Hardly," Gin could hear the roll of her eyes. "Think for a moment: what prompted you to stop at the base of this tree?"
"…My instincts, I guess," the boy recalled after a moment. "It… jus' seemed right to try to hide there. Maybe they were wrong."
"Or… maybe they were right," the stranger corrected.
"Then I got lousy instincts fer hidin'."
"Were they telling you to hide?"
Gin blinked and searched his memory. Now that it was brought up, she had a point: the attempt to conceal his presence was a conscious effort born out of habit, not an action born of impulse. But if it was not to hide, then what were his instincts telling him to do?
After a few more moments' thought, he arrived at the conclusion: "I needed to stop… an' listen."
"Exactly," the arboreal shadow sounded pleased at his answer.
"Ya got somethin' I need to listen to?"
"Much."
Despite the implications of the single word, she did not elaborate further. At first, Gin simply thought she was making him wait again, but after several minutes of silence, he realized this was not the case.
"Anythin' I need to listen to tonight?" he asked dryly.
"Hm, I don't think so," the enigmatic woman answered lazily. "Don't worry, Gin, we'll have plenty of time to become acquainted with each other."
"Leavin' now?" the boy asked, finding himself disappointed by the prospect now that the conversation was getting interesting.
"No, you are," she corrected, and then crooned menacingly, "Bye-bye."
"…and that's when I woke up," Gin finished his tale to Rangiku over breakfast. "So, yeah, weird."
"…Gin, if I had that dream, I think I would have woken up screaming, not shrugging."
"'Kay, I can see why ya might think that," he chuckled. "But really, it was a bit tense an' all, but not scary. An' the woman… found her threatenin', yeah, but not scary. An' the real weird part is… she felt familiar."
"Familiar? Like you had met her before?" Rangiku asked.
"Not sure," Gin frowned in contemplation.
"Do you think maybe she's someone you met in the Rukongai?"
"Don't think so."
"What about someone from when you were a living human?"
"Might be, but that don't sound right, either."
"Huh, you're right, that is weird," Rangiku agreed. "Still, it's just a dream, so it's nothing to worry about."
"I suppose so," Gin assented, but not sounding entirely convinced. "Well, at least today, we're finally gonna try Kidō fer real."
"I know!" his friend grinned in excitement. "Enough with all the boring books and writing! We're finally going to get a taste of doing what real shinigami do!"
The practice took place at an outdoor range with several targets set up for the students to try their hand at lobbing magic fireballs. They were lined up on the other side of the range from the targets, with three per row.
Rangiku was in the front row, and so counted among the first students in their class who would demonstrate their capabilities with Kidō. They would be setting the standard for their peers, providing the benchmark at which the next two sets of students would measure themselves against.
No pressure.
Gin's smile widened in amusement at his peers' pitiful results of their first attempt at Shakkahō. No one in the first group managed to even reach their target, although he was now sure that the grass in between would never be a threat again, judging by the numerous craters. Not for the first time, Gin wondered if the Academy really did accept anyone who showed even the faintest signs of reiatsu.
Ah, he was mistaken, there was one exception in the crowd of failures, and he was most gratified to see who it was. Rangiku's fireball had managed to graze the corner of her target, which was far more of an accomplishment than the other first-time students.
"Well done," the instructor called. "Next!"
Gin managed to catch Rangiku's eye as she passed, and he gave her a congratulatory nod. She smiled back and returned to the end of her line with more of a spring in her step.
"Group two, forward!"
"Yes, sir!" Gin and the other students acknowledged as they rose from their seated position and strode forward to the designated position.
"Hadō practice, begin!" the instructor called.
"Yes, sir!" the students chorused back again, Gin more lazily than the others.
He held out his hand in front of him, palm facing his target, and braced it with his other hand. He heard the other students chanting the incantation spell for Hadō Thirty-One, but he ignored it in favor of concentrating on his own reiatsu. He summoned the power from his body and commanded it into his hand, and it slithered into a small sphere of red energy. Once an adequate amount of power had been summoned, the kit calmly fired off the destructive spell with, "Hadō Number Thirty-One: Shakkahō."
The thirty-first way of destruction had an arc in its trajectory, so Gin had made sure to compensate for that by applying more force in launching the spell and adjusted his aim appropriately.
The result was most satisfactory: it hit dead center of the target, incinerating it completely.
Since he fired earlier than everyone else, his accomplishment stood out. More than a few students up at the firing line were actually shocked enough to lose concentration on performing the Kidō spell that it dissipated, forcing them to start over. The amateurs were lucky that the result had not exploded on them. The rest either managed to focus on their objective, or had not noticed yet.
Gin ignored the stares and gasps of awe. He turned around and prepared to walk to the end of his line.
"Ichimaru!"
The boy stopped and turned to face the instructor who had called him.
"Did you just cast that spell without speaking the incantation?" he demanded.
"Yeah," Gin answered.
"And why did you choose to ignore this crucial step?" the instructor continued to rant. "Are you aware of how much of a risk that is for beginners?"
"It was easy 'nough," the silver-haired child shrugged. "Don't know why everyone else seems to be havin' a hard time with it."
More than a few of the students glared at him, but Gin ignored them.
The instructor carefully regarded his pupil before finally commanding, "Tomorrow you will have Kidō class with the second-year students. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Ichimaru saluted mockingly.
"Next," the teacher called, and the young student made his way to the end of the line, and sought out Rangiku's face again. Though she graced him with a congratulatory smile, it was more unsure than it was before.
"Show off," Rangiku muttered to him as they left their class.
"What? Ya did good, too," Gin protested. "Ya an' I were the only ones to actually hit their target on the firs' try."
"Yeah, but you impressed the teacher enough that you'll be taking lessons with the Second Years," she complained.
"Ah, sorry, it weren't my plan," he chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "We got other classes together, though."
"I suppose you're right," Rangiku relented. "Just don't go making a habit of it."
"Eh, if the lessons actually start bein' hard, then maybe I'll think 'bout it," he returned.
Today was the first day of sparring in zanjutsu class.
"For this match, we have Ichimaru and Morimoto," the instructor announced. "Students, choose your weapons and face each other in the middle."
Gin looked over the various bokken leaning against the wall with a neutral smile on his face. While each of these wooden "blades" was about the same size as an average katana, they would be ludicrously oversized for his childlike frame. Fortunately for him, at the end of the row were a few smaller sparring weapons that were closer in size to a wakizashi.
His smile turned into a grin as he gingerly picked one of the smaller bokken in his hand and gave it a few test swings. Yes, it certainly felt right.
He took his place facing Morimoto; Gin vaguely recognized him as one of the students who glared at him during the Kidō class. Probably mad that he had been outshone by a Rukongai kid. Normally, Gin would not care, but in this sparring match, that hurt pride could be used to his advantage. Pride made one make stupid mistakes, after all, and stupid mistakes were fun to exploit.
"Begin!" called the instructor.
Morimoto charged forward with a yell, and brought his weapon down with a heavy, strong, and slow attack. Gin felt like he could have strolled out for a drink of water and returned before the blow would connect.
Instead, he just stepped aside and let the brute's overextended attack do the work for him.
Just as expected, his sparring partner went right past time, complete with astonished face at the sudden lack of target in front of him. A moment later, the icing was added to the cake as the idiot introduced his face to the floorboards.
The room erupted in unrestrained guffaws at the display before the instructor barked, "Silence! Morimoto, get up and remember that Ichimaru is your opponent, not the floor!"
Red-faced with humiliation, the other student growled as he leapt from the ground and lunged again, an attack Gin deftly avoided again. But, to Morimoto's credit, he kept his balance this time.
"Great job, ya managed to not fall!" Gin congratulated mockingly.
Morimoto growled again, louder, and made a sloppier swing. Dodged.
The pattern repeated itself several more times, with Morimoto growing increasingly frustrated with his nimble opponent.
"Stand still and fight like a real warrior!" he sneered after Gin had evaded yet another attack.
"Ichimaru, we're here to test your skills with a sword!" the instructor called out. "We all see Morimoto's level, now let's see how you fare!"
"If ya insist, sensei," Gin replied with an eerie grin.
On the next clumsy swing, the snake darted past his opponent's nonexistent defense and jabbed his solar plexus. Morimoto doubled over, gasping for breath, which created another opening. Gin brought his weapon down on his wrist, and the sudden pain forced Morimoto to drop his bokken.
He delivered his coup de grace by rapping his weapon across Morimoto's throat. Still reeling from the snake's first strike, this third and final hit sent the older student to the ground, desperately gasping for breath.
"I just stabbed ya, cut off yer hand, an' sliced yer head off," Gin counted off cheerfully. He added unnecessarily, "Yer dead."
"Match, Ichimaru," the instructor called. He kneeled down next to Morimoto to inspect the damage, and after ascertaining that there were no major injuries inflicted, he ordered two other students to help the defeated warrior stagger off to the side of the training arena. He then addressed the class, "Ichimaru Gin has given one of the fastest victories of a first-year student; which of you would like to test to see if this accomplishment is truly due to his skill, or merely beginner's luck?"
Most of the students seemed hesitant to accept the challenge, but a few seemed to be either stupid enough or egotistical enough (or both) to assume that Ichimaru's victory was merely "beginner's luck."
"I'll take him, sir," one student proudly strode forward.
"Kuromori, select your bokken and face Ichimaru," the zanjutsu teacher instructed.
Shortly thereafter, Gin was against his second opponent. A quick glance over his demeanor showed that though Kuromori was certainly arrogant and expected a victory, his posture and stance showed he was nowhere near as dumb as his first adversary.
Kuromori struck first with an inexperienced swing of his bokken. Though not as clumsy as Morimoto's attempts, it was still all too easy for Gin to sidestep the attack.
The silver-haired boy allowed his opponent a couple more tries to hit him, but both were just as close as the first. Remembering how the instructor did not want him to dawdle, Gin saw his opening for a counterattack. He knocked the bokken aside and mercilessly thrust the point of his own weapon into Kuromori's torso three times.
"An' there goes yer heart an' lungs," the victor diagnosed.
"Match, Ichimaru," the instructor called again. After making sure the worst Kuromori would have to worry about were bruises, the instructor dismissed his student. He called to the rest of the class, "Anyone else up for the challenge?"
Whether they were intimidated by Gin's skill or his nonchalant description of hypothetical brutal killing, no one dared to speak up this time. Until…
"Eh, I guess I'll have a go at him," Rangiku volunteered nonchalantly as she got to her feet, prompting to the rest of the students to stare at her like she was nuts.
The instructor simply told her, "Matsumoto, choose a bokken and face Ichimaru."
After his previous two victories, Gin was confident of scoring another win. However, since his opponent was Rangiku, he would at least give her the respect of treating their match more seriously.
An attitude he quickly realized was a wise one, as Rangiku had charged forward with a determined glint in her eye and brought her bokken down on him. If he had treated her like he had previous two opponents, he would have been punished with an embarrassingly quick loss and a bump on his head.
As it was, he managed to evade her first strike, though not without a brief look of surprise on his face, and the sight of competitive satisfaction on hers.
Quickly recovering with an eager smile on his face, he parried her next strike and attempted a riposte of his own with a stab forward, only to have it knocked aside.
They traded several more blows over the next few seconds, proving to Gin that his best friend certainly had the forms they had practiced down pat. He was proud of her for doing so well, for actually making this little sparring match fun.
But, as good as Rangiku was, Gin was still better. He managed to knock his opponent's weapon out of her hand, and followed up by pointing it within inches of her throat.
"I win," he declared simply.
"Match, Ichimaru," the instructor called. "Well done on your victory, Ichimaru; tomorrow, you can join the Second-Years in their zanjutsu class. And my thanks to you as well, Matsumoto, for providing us with a change of pace and giving him an actual challenge."
"Thank you, sensei," Rangiku bowed as the two previous sparring partners fumed from the sidelines.
"Both of you, take a seat, and we'll bring up new participants."
Both friends obeyed the directive and returned to the sidelines, and Rangiku murmured questioningly to him, "Bumped up to the Second-Year zanjutsu classes, too, huh?"
"Seems like," he acknowledged quietly, not quite sure what else to say.
On the one hand, he did love how good he seemed to be at these lessons… but he had wanted to go through the Academy and become a shinigami with Rangiku at his side.
Rounding out the combat lessons was their first day sparring against an opponent in the dojo.
Much like with zanjutsu and Kidō, Gin found himself easily grasping the lessons, though he found hakuda to be less to his liking than zanjutsu. It just did not feel right to not have a weapon in his hand in a fight.
But much like in the class covering how to wield a sword, Gin easily trounced his first opponent in the bare-handed "contest," making it a fight not even worth mentioning.
This time Rangiku elected to be his second, which definitely was worth mentioning.
As they faced each other on the sparring mats, he noted how firm her stance was, favoring a more grounded approach. Perhaps confident from her good showing in their last bout, Rangiku moved first, and found himself just barely managing to knock her fist away in time before it could connect with his face.
Strike after strike came at him, and Gin kept just ahead of each attempt to land a blow on him. All the while, he carefully analyzed Rangiku's form, and waited for the moment to counterattack.
There!
Gin slipped by Rangiku's defense and snapped out his fist… only to hit air.
His eyebrows raised in surprise, and he only had a moment to glance down and see Rangiku had dropped to the floor and swung out a leg. Caught off-guard, he plopped ungracefully on his back. Just as he was rolling himself back up in an effort to continue the bout, Rangiku had already pounced and shoved him back to floor and pinned his arms down.
"I win," she smirked playfully down at him.
"Match, Matsumoto," the instructor announced. "Well done, both of you."
Rangiku grinned triumphantly as she got to her feet and offered a hand down to her friend. Gin smiled back and accepted, and allowed her to pull him to his feet, and he returned to his seat amongst the other students while a new opponent was selected for the victor.
He ignored how his neighbors in the audience scooted away from him as he sat down, and instead focused on enjoying the show Rangiku would be providing against her next victim.
She did not disappoint, pulling off an easy victory against not just one but two bigger students in quick order before the instructor dismissed her in favor of letting someone else have a turn.
She plopped down beside him and gave him a proud, confident smile in her victories, and he nodded back with one of his own.
As exhilarating as was to excel in zanjutsu and Kidō, Gin realized he had learned something very important in hakuda: there would always be someone better. That meant he could not allow himself to grow too overconfident in his skills in some areas; that would no doubt lead to an embarrassing death like the ones he play-inflicted on his opponents in zanjutsu practice.
"Finally I beat you in something!" Rangiku cheered in a whisper.
"So, ya did, an' we both got bumped up to Second-Years," Gin chuckled, pleased at her triumph. "Maybe that's a sign that if ya work at zanjutsu and Kidō, ya can catch up with me."
"You bet your behind I'll catch up to you!" she retorted.
"Hey, Rangiku."
"Hm, what is it, Gin?" she looked up at her friend.
"How d'ya feel 'bout goin' to the library?"
"Ha, ha, very funny," the bibliophobe scowled at him.
"No, really," her friend insisted. "Ya see, I was thinkin'…"
"Uh-oh," she deadpanned.
He ignored her comment. "We've gotten high marks on zanjutsu, hakuda, an' Kidō, but it occurred to me that there's a fourth we haven't learned yet."
"Shunpo," Rangiku nodded. "Yeah, I was wondering about that myself."
"So, I asked one o' the teachers 'bout when we'd start learnin' how to flash-step, an' they tol' me that they don't teach Academy students that," Gin revealed. "Somethin' about the power an' skill needed to do it. Even Sixth-Years are only taught the theory on it, an' not expect to actually do it 'til long after graduation."
"Oh," she frowned in disappointment, and then blinked when she remembered his original question. "You plan on trying to learn on your own, don't you?"
"I plan on seein' if we can, but yeah," he corrected her. "I figure the way we've been breezin' through the other arts, we got a chance to blow everyone's minds with our talents again."
"Well, when you put it that way," Rangiku grinned, and only to heave a desultory sigh afterwards. "Oh, very well, let's go to the library and see what we can find out."
Several minutes later found them sitting at a table reviewing texts on the art of hohō.
"So, it looks like the key point is control," Gin summarized what he read from the book in front of him. "It's like Kidō in that ya gotta focus yer reiatsu to a specific point in yer body, but with shunpo it's to the feet instead o' the hand."
"I wonder if that means we could cast Kidō spells from our feet," Rangiku wondered. "You know, kick someone with a Shakkahō?"
"That'd be a sight to see," he snickered. "But, back on topic, I think what we gotta do is imagine giving ourselves a lil' push with our power as we're runnin'."
"Seems simple enough," Rangiku noted.
"Yeah, but simple as liftin' a big rock," Gin cautioned. "Even though I think we can do it, it'll likely be hard to do 'cause o' the reiatsu requirements."
"Well then, I guess we better get started," she smiled at him.
Over the next few weeks, Gin and Rangiku spent their spare time going off to the Rukongai and doing their best to perform shunpo. For a while it did not seem like they were making much progress, other than making marked improvements in their cardio as they ran laps around the woods trying to go faster.
Then it happened.
Rangiku's form became a blur as her location instantly changed from right in front of him to several meters away.
"Whoa!" she yelped as she stumbled forward a few steps after her visage returned to clarity. She looked around at her sudden shift in surroundings. "I… did it?" Upon confirmation of her accomplishment, she jumped up and cheered, "I did it!"
And then collapsed.
"Rangiku!" Gin's eyes widened in worry as he rushed to her side.
"'M 'kay," she slurred as he knelt next to her. "Jus' woozy."
"Guess they weren't kiddin' when they said shunpo took a lotta energy," the kit remarked, relieved that it was merely exhaustion and nothing more. "Ya need anythin'?"
"…Water."
Gin got up and went over to their packs and retrieved a jar of water. He returned to her and pulled her head into his lap, tilting her so that he could pour the liquid into her mouth more easily.
"Thanks," Rangiku said after she had taken a few gulps.
"No problem," he assured her as he stroked her head. "Though I gotta say, this kinda reminds me o' how we met."
"Then where are the persimmons?"
"'Fraid I didn't bring any along this time."
"Hmpf," Rangiku pouted in disappointment.
"I'll get ya some when we get back to the Academy," Gin assured her. "As congrats fer managing to do shunpo."
"Mm, sounds like a plan," she smiled, but then asked, "Don't you want to give it a try?"
"After seein' ya get wiped out jus' now?" he snorted. "Naw, better wait 'til 'nother day, when ya can be the one to hold my head in yer lap."
"Aw, I can't wait to see how cute you'll be when all tuckered out," Rangiku cooed.
"Ya oughta be careful 'bout teasin' people who've got yer head in their hands," Gin smirked down at her.
"Don't dish it out if you can't take it~," she riposted as she brought up a finger and poked him on the nose.
"Since ya seem to be feelin' better already, maybe we should head on back," he made a move to gently encourage her to get up.
"No! I'm comfy right here!" Rangiku resisted as she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled closer to him.
Gin raised an eyebrow at her insistence, but since he could not find a good argument against it, he relented with, "All right, we can stay put fer a while."
"Thanks, Gin," his friend smiled fondly as she settled down and closed her eyes. "And… can you start petting my head again? That felt nice."
"Yer so demandin'," he gave a faux-exasperated sigh as he resumed his gentle strokes of her hair. "This mean yer gonna return the favor after I manage to do shunpo?"
"Maybe," Rangiku murmured with a light smile on her resting features. "If you ask nicely."
"Hm, that's a high price, but I'll take it."
"Good," she replied softly, her exhaustion clearly catching up to her again under Gin's soft administrations to her scalp. "Because that's the best deal I'm going to offer."
As if determined to have the last word in the matter, that was when Rangiku nodded off.
Gin shook his head in amusement, but truly felt only happiness in his best friend's accomplishment of achieving shunpo, even more so with how she managed to do it before he did. With him leading with zanjutsu and Kidō, this combined with her hakuda meant that things even between the two of them. Though he would never complain about looking after Rangiku, it was comforting that she was growing stronger, enough that she could look after herself. Not to mention that he rather liked the idea of them working side-by-side as shinigami after they graduate.
To be continued…
Author's Note: After working on this story for so long, it feels awesome to finally be uploading it.
In the original version, my goal was to be rather strict in changes made to the timeline, treating it as an experiment with few variables. Therefore, I did my best to see about only making changes if I really thought they would be affected by Gin not joining Aizen, so one could see what was changed in the timeline, and what remained the same. The downside to this was that it made me inflexible in some areas, and prevented me from exploring alternate scenarios.
So, in this version, not only was I more open to creating new and different scenes, I also aimed to do some worldbuilding and flesh out aspects and concepts from canon.
In the original, the first chapter was a collection of vignettes of Gin and Rangiku's life up until the Soul Society arc, just some brief snapshots to show what they've been up to. But in this revision, I ended doing a lot more with this as a means to show their character development prior to the Soul Society arc, and how they came to be the people they were come the present day, meaning the "prologue" turned into a couple story arcs of their own as I explored how they grew and developed over the course of a century.
It was also interesting trying to explore how Gin and Rangiku interacted during their early friendship. I think it telling that despite how sadistic and sociopathic Gin would later become, his earliest confirmed act (chronologically) is one of kindness: saving Rangiku.
And heads up, I decided to diverge from my previous practice of not uploading stories until they're complete on the grounds that I don't want to leave readers hanging. This change of pace is based on the hope that posting this story early and seeing reviews from readers will help inspire me to press on and truly complete this story, whereas holding off until it is 100% complete has the risk of my procrastinating on it more. So far I have only completed this story as far as the end of the this prologue arc, and I plan on releasing chapters once a week.
The original "A Grudge Not Held" got on the Recommended Fanfics page for "Bleach" on TVTropes, and has also been listed as an example as a Fan Work in "For Want of a Nail" trope.
Last but not least, I would like to give my thanks to Tomas the Betrayer for being the Beta to this story again.
And finally, a big shout out to all the people who left reviews on the final chapter of the original version I uploaded: MollyPollyRolly, ElnaKernor, X59, Sage of Wind Dragons, ChunkyFunkyMunky, Black Victor Cachat, Dat-Boi-Waddup, ginran, wolf, ThatOneGuyUpstairs, and StandupSitdown.
Omake: Arrancar Encyclopedia
Gin faced his audience with his lips in their usual position. He was not clothed in a shinigami uniform, but instead in the standard attire of those who inhabited Las Noches. He held a pointer in one hand, which he tapped twice in his palm as he started speaking.
"Hello, and welcome to the first episode of 'Arrancar Encyclopedia!'" he greeted cheerfully. "Today, we'll be talkin' 'bout alternate timelines."
He stepped to the side and readied his pointer for when the slideshow would begin, but blinked in confusion as nothing appeared on the screen.
"No, no, no, NO!"
Gin's confusion compounded when he heard the irked tone in Rangiku's voice as she stormed onto the set.
"What is it, Rangiku?"
"There will be NO Arrancar Encyclopedia in this fanfic!"
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because when you did these segments, you were a traitor to Soul Society! And more importantly, away from me! And since Gin will NOT be leaving the Gotei 13 this time, he will NOT be doing these silly Arrancar Encyclopedia bits!"
"Oh c'mon, it's just fer fun!"
"I mean it, Gin! This omake series is OVER!"
With that declaration, Rangiku reached to the top of the screen and pulled down a backdrop with "THE END" printed in white.
Gin popped up from the bottom of the screen and announced, "Don't worry, we'll still be doin' an omake at the end o' each chapter. 'Til next time!"
