a/n: I don't own bleach. But everyone knows this already.

A new story and AiGin all the way. Smut and chessplay come as standard issue. Reviews are welcome and as always, Happy reading :)

Chapter 1: The man I have to kill

It was a cold night, colder than most, and the snow was gently falling from the sky above and covering the earth in a blanket of white. With a thick layer of the snow covering all of the Soul Society as more snow fell from the night time sky. All of the people in the Seireitei were nice and warm in their beds, and some were curled up by their fireplaces, and sleep soon befell all those who were warm and comfortable in their houses tonight.

Gin however, was still living with Rangiku in the Rukongai in the lower districts, and was currently waiting for her to come back with some more wood for the little fire they had made to keep themselves warm. It was beginning to get even colder now, and he could feel the cold wind creeping in and biting at his skin. She had been gone for a little while now, and Gin was beginning to grow worried. He kept watch out of the window of their little shack – their makeshift home – quickly glancing over to the fire beside him. It was slowly beginning to die out now, and its embers were clawing their way through the remnants of the wood they had gathered earlier in the day. It needed more wood to burn through soon otherwise they would catch their deaths, and they couldn't let it die since if it did they would have to get another fire started to replace it, which was quite difficult in this cold weather since the joints in their fingers ached with the cold.

Gin decided to wait a little while longer, hoping that she would come back soon. He assumed she probably got distracted and started playing in the snow, but then again that wasn't really like her. If she was going to play in the snow she would have dragged Gin out with her and insisted they play in it together underneath the full moon that she always thought to be so incredibly beautiful – especially when it snowed. So in the end he decided to go out and look for her, to at least find out she was okay and ease his troubled mind that was beginning to grow sick with worry. So in the end he got up, and clutching his dark blue yakuta close around himself, he gently stood and walked towards the door. And slowly pushing it open, he headed into the outside world to search for her.

"She couldn' have gone far…" he thought to himself as he walked, his breath hanging like a fog in the chillful air around him. He walked past houses and empty streets, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of her, but still nothing.

"Ran-chaaaan!" he called out into the empty street, looking all about him for any traces of her, but still he found neither hide nor hair of his dear friend. He took a deep breath, his hand instinctively raising itself to his chest as he tried to subdue the thoughts of something terrible happening to her.

"No…" he breathed, trying to calm himself "Calm down Gin, nothin's happened to 'er… she's a strong one, she can look after herself. Yer probably jus' worryin fer nothin'."

He mentally scolded himself for getting so worked up about her not coming back, but then again, Gin always had an instinct to protect those he cared about. And Rangiku was his family, his best friend. And telling himself not to worry about her when she didn't come back home at night was like telling a fish not to swim.

"Rangiku…" he called out again, his voice fading out into the darkness as the moon illuminated the snow covered world, standing still for a moment to think about where she could have gone.

It was then that he looked all around him, clutching his clothes tighter about him as the cold bit into his pale skin. His feral red eyes adjusting themselves to the darkness, as he walked further onwards towards the woods that lay just beyond the circle of houses and makeshift homes, eyeing every dark spot and every side street as he hurriedly walked to find her, still uncertain of her safety. It really wasn't like her to come home late at night… not at all. And Gin simply couldn't rest until he found her and knew she was safe.

When he reached the edge of the woods, he called out to her again, hoping for some kind of response, or for her to come running up to him and say that she was alright and to stop worrying. But there was only the night's silence there to answer him, which only further worried him.

"Oh gods where could she be…" Gin muttered to himself, hoping and praying that something awful hadn't happened. Looking everywhere and all around him as he ran into the woods, noticing a set of footprints in the snow, about the size of Rangiku's feet.

"Oh no, please be alright Ran-chan…" he muttered quietly as he ran, panting heavily as he followed the snowy footprints. Running along the winding path they took through the trees, only for Gin to find out his worst fears were realised when he saw Rangiku's seemingly lifeless body on the ground in a heap.

"Oh my god…" he gasped, quickly running over and kneeling beside her to see if she was still breathing.

She was still breathing, although unconscious, and Gin breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't dead, thank god; although she was in such a bad state it was unreal.

Gin knelt beside her in the snow, taking her ice cold hand in his, and trying to fight back his tears.

"Oh thank god thank god… Ran-chan…"

He didn't stay there for too long though, because he had to carry her back home so she didn't die out here because of the cold. He was just about to lift her up when he heard voices just a little distance away. He slowly wandered in the direction the voices were coming from, edging closer and closer until he could see the figures, crouching down a little by a nearby hedge and parting the leaves so he could get a better look at them.

There were five of them, all dressed in black shihakusho, and four of them were gathered around the older one – possibly their leader. And although Gin could only hear little snippets of their conversation, he got the gist of what was being said.

"Shinigami?" Gin whispered, eyeing the figures carefully, his red eyes drinking in every detail as his thoughts swam with theories. About corrupt death gods and how they abused the system. Thoughts about how they abused their power and hurt the innocent people they were meant to protect.

"So, you're the one that did this to her…" Gin growled quietly to himself, taking a good look at each of them. The four lowly ones didn't look that important, so Gin assumed them to just be underlings. But his eyes soon wandered onto the important one – the boss man. Now, this was a man who looked important. He was obviously the brains of the operation. He was tall, quite well built. He had hair the colour of dark mahogany, which sat in a mop on his head and fell over his chocolate coloured eyes. Eyes that were framed by the dark, thick, squared rims of glasses that did nothing for his features. His skin was fair, but not pale like his own light skin, and he seemed to stand haughtily, like he was superior in some way. Maybe it was because he had power, and the fact that the lowly ones looked up to him with the awe that they did, and Gin grew an instant dislike to him. Because he knew that he was the one responsible for hurting Rangiku… for hurting his family.

"So he's the one…" Gin whispered, being very careful not to make any sudden movements that could give him away.

"He's the man I have to kill."

And with that knowledge, Gin quietly watched them; picking out what looked like the weakest of the underlings and watching them disperse. His eyes following his newly acquired target as he quietly followed him from a distance, ready to set the wheels of his revenge in motion. Hoping the gods would smile on what he was about to do and let it go well, because he was going to kill a man tonight, a man that was armed and could potentially kill him.

And this one would be the first of many to die by Gin's hands before he killed the man responsible for hurting Rangiku. Gin followed this underling carefully, being sure to stay hidden from his sight as he followed him, creeping up steadily and silently behind him, getting ready to pounce and make his kill. Coiling up like a snake and getting ready to strike from the shadows. He was quite tall, but very lanky and thin, with a narrow face. With acid green eyes that were spaced just too far apart and messy brown hair that trailed past his shoulders.

"Good," Gin thought, "This guys gotta skinny neck… this should be easy. Easy prey for me…"

He grinned wildly, although his smile was wasted on unseeing eyes. Because he got closer, and closer, close enough to strike even… and now all he had to do was time it right. He looked for an opening as he crept through the trees, through the woods, following the shinigami, trying to stay out of sight as he stalked his prey just in case he turned around and saw him. He was taking no chances with this, for he was unarmed and the possibility of a struggle could exhaust his young body. But hopefully this shinigami was too stupid to notice his presence. He most certainly looked like he was…

Gin watched and waited, being very careful, waiting until the perfect moment to strike. He did not have to wait for long, or walk very far, because once the shinigami's head was turned, Gin pounced on him, jumping him and forcing him to the ground with his hands around his neck, squeezing hard. Hard enough so his windpipe was closed off and he couldn't breathe. Gin smirked, having cornered his prey, using all of his strength to keep him pinned to the floor. They grappled around on the floor for about a minute in the snow as the shinigami tried to struggle to get Gin off him, but Gin just squeezed harder until his lanky body stopped moving altogether, which was no mean feat considering the shinigami was much taller and stronger than he was.

Gin was breathless by the time the struggle was over and the man was dead. He was panting heavily, trying to calm his breathing. Gin had killed before, so it was nothing new to him. He had to kill for survival living here, and it was either kill or be killed. He was no stranger to blood or lifeless corpses either, given some of the things that went on in the streets every day and every night. So the sight of a dead body was nothing to him. After a few moments Gin stood up, gazing down at his handiwork. The shinigami lay there still and lifeless among the freshly disturbed snow, and Gin just stared coldly down at it, uncaring. He didn't know his name, nor did he even care. All he cared about was that he was dead, and that he was one step closer to getting revenge. And now that he had some shinigami clothes, this would be a lot easier.

Gin quickly stripped the body, and took the man's clothes and blade with him. The blade of which turned out to be a wakizashi, which, by a sheer coincidence, was just the right length for Gin to be able to use effectively in combat. And for killing of course, but that would come later. And after looking down once again at the face of the dead body before him, and taking one last look around to make sure he was not being followed or watched, he then bundled the clothes in his arms along with the blade, and ran straight back to Rangiku. And then, after checking that she was still alive, he covered her frozen body with the shinigami's robe, the little Gin lifted her up in his tired arms, and carried her all the way home - with the dead man's wakizashi still in his hand.

. . .

When the morning came, Rangiku found herself waking up beside their little burnt out fire, with Gin curled up next to her for warmth. She also found that they both had a shinigami robe as a blanket, even though it didn't quite cover their feet.

"Ugh… G-Gin…" she groaned, "What… what happened?"

"Ya don' remember?" Gin asked, slowly opening his eyes. "Ya collapsed outside in the snow, an' I 'ad to go out and get ya."

"Huh?" she sat up slowly and quietly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Trying to put the pieces back together in her mind and trying to remember what had happened last night.

"Oh, yes… it was right after those guys beat me up." She said, pausing for a moment to yawn and stretch her arms. "They just left me in the snow and then everything went black. All of my energy seemed to have left me."

She then paused, and Gin watched her cast her eyes downwards, and look as if she were replaying the night's events in her mind. She looked down at the wooden floor for a few moments, deep in thought. Her eyes widening as she thought of all the things that could have happened to her.

"Oh my god…" she gasped, covering her mouth with her pale hands and looking back at Gin again.

"Did they… did they rape me?"

"No." Gin answered, without even so much as a single hesitation. "No Ran, they didn' touch you. You weren't bleeding downstairs, so nobody touched you. If they did I'd have seen yer blood through yer clothes."

"Thank god…" she said quietly, relieved that her body had not been defiled. Although her voice was trembling, and her hands were still shaky as she pulled her knees up to her chest and sat there, slowly starting to cry.

"I was so scared though… and they could have, they could have…"

Gin quietly crawled over and knelt down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly. Quietly soothing her and stroking her hair as he held her.

"Shh, it's alright Ran… they didn't touch ya. If they did I'd have killed 'em you know that. Its okay, don't cry…"

He held her as she quietly sobbed into him, gently soothing her all the while. Holding her close to him and quieting her fears.

"You know I'd never let anybody hurt ya… I'm gonna protect ya. I'm gonna be a shinigami and get stronger an' then nobody's gonna hurt ya like that ever again."

"You… you're going to become a shinigami?" Rangiku asked, her tears having dried a little now that she had calmed down.

"Yeah…" Gin answered, his tone suddenly becoming gentler, yet still serious in nature.

"I'm gonna be a shinigami." he said, "…so that you won't have to cry like that again. Cuz I don't like seeing you cry."

"Oh Gin… won't that be dangerous?"

"Nah, nothin' I can't handle." He said, a resolve quietly forming in the pit of his soul that he was going to get even with the man responsible for making Rangiku cry.

. . .

Gin decided to wait until the night came before starting off on his journey to the Seireitei. He spent the entire day with Rangiku as normal, and when the sky had darkened he got himself ready and prepared to set off. He dressed himself in the clothes of the shinigami he had killed the other night and then armed himself with the wakizashi that had come into his possession. The black shihakusho was a little big on him though, which made his slender frame appear exaggerated, and made him look quite small. In order for the pants to fit him though, he did have to cut quite a lot off the legs so he was able to walk around without tripping over and falling flat on his face. So once that had been done then the clothes seemed to fit him quite well, despite them being the clothes for a much taller and lankier man who had died by Gin's own hands. Not that he would ever tell Rangiku that of course - it would traumatise her.

"Are you ready to go?" Rangiku asked him, smiling at him.

"Yep!" Gin answered her, smiling his usual smile and looking back at her. "Now are ya sure yer gonna be alrigh' on yer own?"

She giggled. "Yes Gin…" she said "You've already told me a thousand times where to get food and what places to stay away from, and who to look out for and what parts of the body I should aim for if I get attacked. I'll be fine. You go; I'll be able to look after myself."

"Ya know I'll come back and set yer up with a safe place to stay in the Seireitei when I get connections, so don' worry about that. An' ill come back an see if yer okay soon as I get the chance…"

"Gin, youre so overprotective…" She sighed, watching Gin worry over her like an old mother hen. "I'll be fine. Now you go and make something of yourself. Just don't forget about me when you're all famous and powerful."

Gin smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. With her squeezing him back.

"I won't Ran… I won't ever forget ya."

And so after that, they each said their goodbyes and Gin left, heading off into the world through the snow and towards the Seireitei. It was slowly beginning to grow colder as the moon rose up higher into the sky, and Gin could really feel the chill penetrating him right through to his very bones.

Getting into the Seireitei was quite easy – for these were the days when security was lax and often non-existent, so it meant that anyone, even Gin, could walk right into the place – and soon Gin found himself surrounded by various buildings. He assumed these to be the barracks of one division of another and so wandered further in, still trying to remain inconspicuous. After all, he could be caught out and someone could know that he was an outsider if nobody recognised him, and he was certain hat they kept records of all the shinigami currently in service. All they would have to do was look at the records and discover Gin didn't have any and then he would never be able to kill the one responsible for hurting Rangiku…

But then again, even if he didn't get found out and he managed to ingratiate himself into their ranks – finding that man again would still be like looking for a needle in a haystack. After all, how many shinigami were there? Hundreds? Thousands? It could take him years, maybe even decades to just find the man, let alone figure out a way to kill him. And besides that, Gin didn't even know the name of the brown haired man. But Gin couldn't think about that. Right now, all Gin had to worry about was just getting inside; he could figure out the rest later.

He took a deep breath and walked onwards, trying gain a sense of where he was, taking in everything around him. It was so different from the Rukongai from whence he came; It was like he had stepped into another world, and he mused to himself just how much it did seem like he had indeed crossed through a gate into another world when he had entered this place. And Gin never knew just how right he was, for he had indeed wandered into another world; a world that would exist entirely of lies, deceit, and a cat and mouse game that would probably last for centuries. And he never knew just how hungry he would be for that world – the world of the man he had sworn himself to kill in cold blood for hurting the only family he ever really had.

He walked on a little further, turning a corner to his right and finally spotting a glimpse of what looked to be someone standing guard. Again, it was a shinigami much taller than he was, but upon closer look he didn't look very strong and Gin was pretty sure he could take him down with ease if he needed to. After all, he had a weapon now. Okay, he had thieved it from a dead man, but nonetheless he still had it.

But Gin knew that he couldn't just kill every shinigami he encountered, for this would arouse suspicion, so he had to try being nonchalant first. He had to act natural, like he was a real shinigami and not an impostor.

Gin walked towards him casually, the unusually wide smile plastered across his pale face as he walked, giving the shinigami a quick glance and raised his hand in acknowledgement.

"Evenin'." He said with a smile, hoping that his clothes would fool them and that he wouldn't notice. But apparently this one did. Either that or he was very drunk. Gin took no chances though and immediately suspected the fomer.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here, ya little street rat!" he called out as Gin drew nearer, sending Gin's brain wracking for an excuse to why he was here impersonating a shinigami, yet finding none.

"You better get the hell out of here before I slice ya in two!" he growled, his hand reaching towards his blade, only to find out that Gin's reactions were quicker when he felt the cold metal of his wakizashi plunging into his stomach.

"Heh," Gin grinned, "not if I kill ya first."

Gin listened to the man choke, his smile widening as he took pleasure in listening to him choking on his own blood as he shoved the blade further into the shinigami before yanking it out and letting the body fall to the floor, letting the blood spray onto his face as he watched, grinning like the Cheshire cat from the Alice in Wonderland story.

He stood there for a moment, admiring his work. Completely unaware that a pair of dark chocolate eyes were watching the entire scene from not very far away until another voice broke the night's silence.

"My… how impressive."

Gin quickly wheeled around, snapping his head to look in the direction from where the voice had come from. Finding a solitary figure stepping out from the shadows before him, the same man he had laid eyes on before, and Gin silently mused how the goddess of revenge was surely smiling on him tonight. Remaining silent as he stared back at him, noting how the man's eyes seemed to be full of intrigue as he smiled at him before continuing.

"It seems you're quite a killer. How was our third seat, by the way?"

Gin just smiled. It really was him. He had that same build, those same chocolate coloured eyes that were masked only by those thick squared black glasses. He had that same mahogany hair that less-than-gracefully fell over his face, and that smile… he had the very same smile he's shown back when he was conversing with his underlings back in the snow covered woods only the night before.

It was him. This was the man he'd come here for, only mere footsteps away from him. And knowing that just made Gin's grin widen all the more. Indeed, the goddess of revenge had smiled upon him tonight.