Bleach: The Forgotten Captain - The Memoirs of Akari Miyazaki

Chapter 3: The Thing About Gin

The year was brimming with surprises. My brother Yamachi and my best friend Byakuya were the stars of the school. They not only belonged to two of the most powerful noble families in Seireitei, destined to become family heads someday, but they also shone with exceptional achievements and, not least, their good looks.

Yamachi, in particular, always had a throng of girls trailing behind him, gathering the courage to approach him. Byakuya emulated his grandfather's stern demeanor and managed to keep his admirers at bay.

Kisuke and I, on the other hand, were also well-known because we were regularly taken for exercises and sometimes even smaller missions by Ichimaru and Aizen. With Gin, we had grown so close that the title "Officer Ichimaru" was rarely heard from our lips. Besides, Kisuke had been given a science lab where he had all the tools and materials he needed to conduct further experiments. I visited him occasionally in his small laboratory, but the chaos in there made me nervous.

Aizen seemed extremely interested in Kisuke's inventions and wanted to see every single one of them. All of this seemed somewhat suspicious to me. Sometimes, I felt like I could discern something inscrutable in Aizen's gaze, as if he were hiding something. However, I convinced myself that it was just my imagination. Should have listened to my gut feeling, shouldn't I?

But I trusted Gin. He spent so much time at the academy and with us that I occasionally forgot he was already a fully trained officer.

A few months into the school year, he introduced us to his best friend. I must admit, at that moment, I felt a twinge of jealousy in my stomach because in my eyes, she was an absolute beauty. Her full hair gleamed golden around her flawless face, her full lips curved into a mischievous grin, and I couldn't help but admire her incredibly long eyelashes as she winked at us.

It turned out she was an incredibly entertaining person, and we quickly became friends. That's how I met Rangiku Matsumoto.

She was my first real girl-friend. As far as I could remember, not because I got along better with men, but it just hadn't clicked before. I had spent my entire childhood with Byakuya and Yamachi, and I had never felt like I was missing anything. It was only when I met Rangiku that I noticed things I had always dealt with on my own and finally had a confidant.

With Rangiku by our side, we grew into a close-knit group that spent a lot of time together. We met almost daily on a meadow at the academy during lunch break. We had a worn-out blanket as our base and shared food among ourselves that we brought with us. Even in the evenings after classes, we often gathered at our favorite spot to exchange stories. We were like a little family that had found each other.

Rangiku, Kisuke, Byakuya, Yamachi, Gin, and I.

I still remember an autumn afternoon when Rangiku brought baked plums for us to try. Just then, a voice startled me.

"Akari," I jumped up, and there she was: my mother in her beautiful blue kimono with her hair elegantly pinned up. I had inherited my hair from her, the same deep black, just like Yamachi's.

"Mother," I called out and rushed to her, embracing her gently. Her health condition usually didn't allow for unrestrained hugs, but she looked much better than when I had visited a few days ago.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, delighted but also puzzled.

"I had some matters to discuss with Ginrei, and I thought I'd take a look around here. I've never been here before."

My mother had not attended the academy. Her older brother had been trained as a Shinigami at the time. However, he went on a mission and never returned. Fearing that the same fate might befall my mother, my grandmother forbade her from attending the academy.