Chapter: 1 The man in the hole, known as Gin (Open to 2 others)

The slightly damp wooden cell was becoming a everyday thing for Gin these days, he was only waiting for Soul society to pass judgement on him ever since "that" day when he had attempted to abduct the Hyogyoku from Aizen, His attempt had failed and he had been sure he would have died, Matsumoto had been visiting him regulary, she could not keep herself from leaving his side for too long it seemed, he sighed while his smile ever brightening the day despite being imprisioned in a cell for more than... actually Ichimaru had lost count.... he was lying there in his rubber hard bed, very undelightful if you asked him... He had actually been kinda suprised not to see his ex liutenant kira visiting him, either he was too busy, did not know where he was placed, or simply did not care about him he who had betrayed them all, he had actually anticipated to meet his child too but it seemed that they where all too busy... man he would need to take a bath soon, he was stinking outright... his hair felt dirty too... there was nothing he hated more than dirty hair... it just messed up his mood, well he was expecting to at least get a decent bath in a hot spring or something...

He sat up as his lunch came, the shinigami that was there to guard him brought his lunch, it was sad that these everyday things would become so bothersome dragging, like as if every minute felt like forever, he wished that at least a bath could change that, it was the only time he had been allowed outside of the cell, whenever he was not moved from one cell to another that is, he wondered also what the heck took so long for the central 46 to figure out his sentence? or maybe they too had forgotten about him? or maybe they decided they would let him rot here for the rest of his shinigami life... Ichimaru stepped up and picked up his lunch from the floor, he looked at it in disbelife, yet still appearing to smile, beans and rice? well it could have been worse he figured and started to dig in...

She knew that this was a bad idea. She didn't know him well, and yet she knew that she should visit him. Gin Ichimaru. Hana's father. Mina's basket she usually carried to heal people with was filled with something slightly more appetizing then what she knew they would be serving to the man, as well as some water, soap and a couple towels. The water would be cold, but really the man couldn't be choosy now could he? She hated the condition of all the people here in the 6th Division prision cells, but those in solitary confinement were the worst of the lot. She couldn't do anything for the others because she didn't know them. But Gin....She knew him. Didn't know him well, but she did know him.

And while the guards were good, they would not stop her from taking this to the man she was going to see. And since it was near lunch time, she'd be able to slip in with the rest of them. Her eyes looked at the guard in front of her, with a smile on her face, as she stated that she wished to see Gin. He looked at her quizzically, but you didn't question a captain. Ever. The only one who could question a Captain was another Captain or their Vice Captain. So he let her through, escorting her down the hallway to the cell where Gin was being kept. Knocking on the door as the shinigami delivering the food moved down the hallway, the guard stuck his head into Gin's cell, and spoke in an even and monotone voice, "Some one's here to see you Ichimaru. You must be important to be seen by a Captain." He said, stepping aside to allow Mina to enter the room with her basket.

Mina walked in, wearing her Shinigami uniform, and her Captain's Haori. Today was the first day she was wearing it, and she knew it was going to be an interesting day as people got used to seeing her wear it. "Hello Gin-ojisan. I don't know if you remember me at all, but my name is Mina Akiyama, I'm one of your daughter's good friends." Here she paused and smiled at the man, the kind smile that was always prevalent on her face. "I've brought some things to make your....stay here....a little bit more comfortable..." She said as she stepped towards the man, and laid the basket down next to the man where he sat, removing the lid to reveal the rice balls, and the other small snack foods that were good warm or cold, as well as the cold jar of water, the small basin for wash water, the soap and the towels. She wasn't doing this to get anything out him, she was doing this out of kindness for her best friend's father.

"Someone`s already here to see him? I thought Kira was to busy with paperwork to make visits?", "its not Kira taicho, the one visiting is akiyama taicho", "Mina eh?". Rangiku raised her eyebrow a little, looking down at the basket of permissions she had brought with her. She had gotten so used to visiting him that the thought of others, besides Kira, had complety left her mind. She figured the matter was something about work, since from what she knew, Mina didn`t have any social ties with the fox faced man..but you never knew who he had talked to over the years. "Anyways...can i get inside?". The guard stepped aside, not even questionning it. Rangiku had become such a regulear visitor, that she practically spend more time in the sixth division than in her own. The guard had grown used to see her large bosom and attracting strawberry blond hair, something most of the tenth division also had.

"Akiyama taicho, i hope you don`t mind anthoder visitor joinning in..", he said, briefly sticking his head inside the door, allowing Rangiku to enter, closing the door behind her. Rangiku`s eyes laid themselfs onto the basket, had the captain merely been a gift bringer? The list of people who would give gifts, or even cared for Gin, was short. There was herself, Izuru...and his kids. With a light sigh, she walked up next to the things Mina had brought, holding the basket with permissions just out of reach for Gin. "Eh whats this? You have a secret admire? With all these nice things, you wont be needing theese i guess..and here i went through the trouble of picking them directly from the bush..guess i i will have to enjoy these all alone now...its sad through, its depressing eating alone..". Her voice had a teasing touch to it.

She turned towards Mina, making a small bow. "Goodmorning, Mina taicho". Rangiku haden`t really had time to form a strong friendship with the new fourth division captain, but they had talked a few times before briefly, and Rangiku saw her as a friendly woman.

Ichimaru had just eaten about 1/3 of the plate of food that had been given him when the door whinced and turn open the door brought some lamplight into the dark cell, this was a 3rd level cell which meant it was slightly underground, which made it moist and slightly damp, not to meantion dark and very unfriendly, Ichimaru could have sworn that he would have gone insane if not for Matsumoto`s constant visits which he held in high regard...

Ichimaru had not expected any visitors today at the very least of the captain level, so when Mina walzed in with something in his hand he could hardly belive it, but raised slightly his eye brown well well... what brings you down here, ya sure ya ain`t gotten lost? Ichimaru tilted his head slightly, he had lost some weight down here, which made him look slightly more slim than usual, but just slightly, he was suprisingly well built something that could have been seen pretty well if not for the inscriminating darkness that shrouded the room, His silver hair seemed to brighten the room slightly especially when he wore that white cell outfit, much like the one Rukia wore when she was going to be executed... his hair and the white clothes fitted him well... his eyes caught a glimpse of a basket? what in the world would make this woman come down here let alone bring with her something? was it even for him... well there certainly where no one else down here so... what`s the catch? he asked as if expecting her to have something in return, off course he had nothing else than these chains that also supressed his reitsu, along both his wrists and ankles, and yet there he was smiling, she took a seat next to him, he put the plate of food on the floor that he had been eating on... one could see a few cocroaches running past the floor when it touched the floor, he had been stripped from both his rank and Zanpakto, for a good reason too, well actually he had been stripped from his Rank far before, Ichimaru started to speak sarcastically welcome to my kingdom! he smiled as the good smell of the loveley food reached his nostrils... it was far better than the food he had gotten so far... but why was she here? he had betrayed everyone...

Another voice could be heard coming from the corridor, Ichimaru recogniced that voice, it made him smirk slightly, how come she was here today when she visited him for the last time, yesterday, off course he did not mind his rather busty good friend to visit him, in fact he would have given anything to see her face again...

In fact Ichimaru saw much more than just a busty woman in her, Matsumoto was his first good old friend that he had met, she was one of the few people who truly understood him, she even kept the pink scarf that he had given her since early days... since before he had met Aizen... he looked at Mina If the other captains would find out about this they might think ill of you... he turned to matsumoto who stood at the door now, he smirked slightly sure i have plenty... or so it seems... forgive me for the smell i haven`t had the time to clean myself up... he giggled slightly while smiling the entire time...

Mina gave a small smile to the man who had sired her best friend, and shook her head. "I'm not lost at all Gin-ojisan. Merely visiting a man that I had adopted as an uncle because he was my friend's father." She said to him, her kind smile still on her face. "After all, there's nothing you could really offer to me that would benefit me. I'm just here as an unknown favour to your daughter Hanako." her voice was soft as she spoke, and heard the door open.

Her eyes turned to look at the guard and nodded. After all, it's not like she had any authority to stop the person from entering, but she had a pretty good guess as to who it was that was coming to visit the former Captain, and she knew it wasn't to be his former Vice-Captain. Another kind of smile crossed her features as she watched Matsumoto enter the room. Listening to the woman talk, one might have thought that she was jealous, but Mina didn't even think about that. She just saw it as good natured teasing. "Good morning Rangiku-san. It is good to know that people visit Gin-ojisan, especially since Hana-chan, and Gin-kun don't have time with trying to sort out the mess that Mayrui-taichou left them. I've been meaning to come down myself, but this is the only time I've managed so far." Mina's face was all smiles again, as she pulled out what was in her basket.

"Besides, I'm sure that Persimmions would go quite interestingly with the Pork buns, and rice balls that I've brought him." She said, with a small laugh as his comment about his smell, which all things considered, wasn't that bad. She had smelt worse working in the 4th Division. "Well then, allow me to loan you these so that you can wash up after we leave." Personally, she had absolutely no problem seeing Gin naked. After all, it was all party of her duty when she had to do the Captain's checkups, and some of the men were more enthusiastic then others, but she was more saying this for Matsumoto's sake then her own.

"Also any Captain who thinks to give me a hard time will find out just how close you are to me, and then we'll see if they wish to continue to think ill of me for it." Her voice was confident, but she knew that there was only one person that she worried would think ill of her, and that was the love of her life, Kenji Mamoru, Captain of the 13th Division. He was the only one that mattered, and once he found out just how close Gin was to her, because of Hana, Mina doubted he would care. Her whole reason was to be able to show her kindness to a man who had, when Hana and her had been studying, had actually helped them out with the studies, and helped to train them both. Yuki not so much, but Hana and her for sure. Mina only wondered if he remembered that....

Rangiku remained silent, letting them both finish their words. As she waited, she began to take notice of Gin`s legs and arms, had they grown thinner over his time down here, and his silver hair had grown an inch or two. When Mina mentioned his two kids, Rangiku let out a little sigh, looking down at Gin who was still sitting. "Those two are wonderful....even through your son is just as troublesome as you are...his name fits him". Rangiku haden`t really got to talk with Gin about his kids, she had only briefly informed him of how they were during when he asked, which was once every day or so. Rangiku reached down and ran her fingers over his messy silver hair, raising her eyebrow a little. "Your gotten thinner haven`t you? Your hair has grown a little...i`m gonna bring down a scriccor tommorow so we can get it cut...". As the words was spoken, in a caring and almost concerned voice, she ran her fingers over his thinning shoulders also. Sitting down onto her knees, she placed the basket of permissions next to the basket Mina had brought, turning her head towards the female captain.

"Kurotsuchi taicho might return...Hitsugaya taicho returned yesterday, so anything is possibol..". The news of the short captain`s return haden`t been spread out, in fact only the tenth division, and a few outside, had heard of it. The return of her captain, could exsplain why Rangiku seemed to be smiling a little more than usual, her shoulders also hung down more relaxed than usual. Rangiku removed some of the strawberry blond hair away from her face, pushing it behind her shoulder. She then reached inside the basket of permissions, picking up one of the large onces. "Open up...", she said as she held the permission close to Gin`s mouth, her fingers holding at the bottom of the dry fruit so he could take it with his mouth. The soft tone of her voice, and how calmly she looked at the fox faced captain, made it clear she cared for him...if it was love or not, was hard to tell. Rangiku pushed the basket towards Mina a little, giving her a brief smile.

"Take some back to Hanako and Gin Jr..im sure they will be pleased over it". Even through Rangiku haden`t spend much time with the two twins, she had formed the start of a friendship with the two.

Ichimaru tilted his head at the captain, she seemed to tell the truth, well he was certainly delighted Uncle? i see... then you are my second visitor... his smile widened slightly as Matsumoto meantioned about his kids Indeed, he reminds me of someone i know Ichimaru chukled slightly, altrough his kids where like night and day, he was still proud to be called their father, sadly their mother was not there for them when he had been gone... he was unsure if he had seen this captain before, if so it had been a long time... ... Mina that name reminded him of someone he could not quite put his thought into... ah so it was Hanako that she talked about Ichimaru was sure that his daughter would keep to improve like wise his son, he listened to the both of them to his hearts content until they where done speaking...


Hai hai i belive ya... he stared at the persimmons for a minute, they where his favorite food if they where dried, then again fruits as they where it would be a waist to let them rot, let alone eat with anything else, at least with his terms I must ask Mina, have we met before? he was certain he had now, his memory must have escaped him, maybe partially because he had been in the 4th division for at least 3 month`s after that "event" when he had almost died... rangiku`s question Ichimaru answered nonchalantly with a smile so it seems he glanced at himself as he had lost a pound or two, mostly from his arms and legs and perhaps his face, as his cheek bones could be seen slightly which added to the effect...he allowed her freely to touch his hair there where no secrets between them anymore which felt good, actually there where no secrets to anyone in SS anymore which felt kinda empty... he nodded about kurosuchi like as if he cared about the freak captain which he didn`t at least not very much, the creep captain had in several occasions been able to creep even him out when his private bubble had been popped, that was his job... not kurosuchi`s good thing to hear that Hitsugaya returned i was starting to miss him... when matsumoto offered to give him a bite of the food that Mina had brought him Ichimaru sweat dropped slightly ahahh are you going to feed me now is that it? his normal smile changed into an amused smile, he opened his mouth either way... as his teeth digged into the soft sweet fruit, some water glistered from the fruit and dropped down below, Ichimaru had picked out the towel and soap, it would come to use later... Ichimaru swallowed a piece of the fruit and looked back at Mina If you see Hanako or Gin say hello from me... k`ay? he turned to face rangiku again slightly awaiting both of their replies...

Mina's eyes immediately flew to Matsumoto, her face pulled into a small frown. "He returned yesterday did he? Hmm...Interesting, I've heard nothing of this..." She said, her voice soft. To be honest, she hated to be out of the loop, almost as much as she was hoping that Mayuri never came back, because that man scared the crap out of her. But she couldn't say something like that to Matsumoto. Plus Gin distracted her with his question. She felt a little bit hurt that he didn't remember her, but at the same time, she kind of figured it would happen this way. "We have Gin-ojisan. When I would have looked more like this." She said as she pulled her long hair back and twisted back from her face. When she had been younger, she had worn her hair in a bun for ease for studying.

"You used to give Hana and I additional training when we were studying at the 3rd Division, during our academy years. Do you remember me now, Gin-ojisan?" Here her face split into another smile, letting her hair drop down again. "I don't think that there were any more surprised then we were when you left." She said softly, because she had always believed that Gin was an innocent man, who had only tried to play on a mastermind, and had actually succeeded. Now because everyone thought him evil he was stuck here in this cell.

"They are actually my next stop. Hana said she had some medicine for me, so I'm going over to collect it, I'll take them with me when I go." Mina offered to Matsumoto, her smile still on her face. "And I will tell them that you tell them hi when I go to see them."

"I`m sure it will be said at the next captains meeting...he wants as little attention as poissibole..needs time to accept the fact that he isen`t a captain anymore i guess, he has always been hard to read when he is annoyed". The foxy faced`s man little comment about missing the short former captain, caused her to smirk amused. "I`m sure he has missed you to", she spoke in a sarcastic tone while whiping some of the fruit jutice off his chin, letting out a light sigh. "Its no wonder you are so dirty when you eat so clumsy..sometimes its hard to believe we are the same age". Even through they probably weren`t the same age, she had always thought it since they shared birthday, which was the day they first meet over a 100 years ago.He has grown in body, but he`s still the same kid from back then... With those thoughts in mind, rangiku turned her attention back to Mina, who was holding her long hair back in order to help Gin remeber her.

"You can`t blame him for not remembering, he has been through a lot. Being in this cell for so long can make you forget things", the strawberry blond woman spoke, catching herself in defending the silver haired ex-captain. Mina began to speak again, saying that the twins was her next stop for some medicene. "Ah, that would be great". Rangiku turned her gaze onto Gin again, taking a hold of his thinning wrist, bringing his hands up to eye level. "With such heavy chains, and lack of sunlight..im surprised you haven`t gone mad yet".

ah how could i have forgotten little Mina! Gin laughed lightly while staring at Mina You have grown so much since i saw you last time... he paused and listened to both Mina and Matsumoto, with his usual smile imprinted on his face I see, sorry that i left unnoticed Mina but i really had no choice...

Ichimaru simply nodded at the latter, he turned to look at Matsumoto and laughed a bit Im not so sure Hitsugaya would be exited to see me as you say, but if you insist then i belive ya! He finally listened to Matsumoto`s reply and srhugged Its all thanks to you Matsumoto... the cell door opened once more and two guards stepped in, they where clothed in white, two more guards stood outside both clothed in white as well, Ichimaru knew what this was about as he stood up, one of the guards spoke Its time Gin I know... gomen Mina he gazed at Mina for a few seconds before turning to Matsumoto, he took a step closer to her and kissed her lips almost as if it was meant as a goodbye at least for now, the kiss was sweet and yet short as he was forced away by the guards gomen matsumoto ill see you later...Ichimaru`s voice sounded almost desperate, yet his smile never vained entireley the guards attached a collar around his neck and attached four chains to the collar, then removed the chains around his legs allowing more free movement... withouth a second word the guards left with Ichimaru, his trials at the central 64 where about to start...