Hopelessly Devoted to You (Gin Ichimaru love story)

Chapter 26

Ichimaru Gin, one of the most mysterious and cunning of men you would ever know. As he walked the halls of Las Noches he represented his intimidating smirk and squinted eyes with pride. He had no shame and his morals were left forgotten. What was left was the desire to kill Aizen, but only when he got close enough. To put that man's malevolent desires to rest had been his true goal all along.

Change? What was change when he couldn't give so much as a smile to those kinds of things? He laughed at the faces of those he killed and opened his eyes only to see the blood that began to pour from the victim's broken body. He wouldn't change, not for himself, not for others. At least that's what he thought.

Then there was Tsuki Neko, another victim who he would trample with only his mere spiritual pressure. He left his tracks bare and mysterious. Still, the girl had managed to catch on to things that would have been best covered up. He knew what she saw would remain on her mind. Then why was it the deeper she went the harder it had been to keep his eyes off her? What was so special about her? Her curiosity? Her relationship with Aizen? What was it?

The love he held in his heart was there, but it was faint. As faint as the glimpse of a shooting star. Well, that's how it started off.

Gin wouldn't mind being distracted by someone out of the ordinary. That's when he felt everything beginning to change. Everything he thought he knew was changing right before his eyes. He needed to push her away but now he couldn't. Now she was trapped in the plans that weren't meant for her. What had become of him?

Gin proceeded to walk towards the balcony that overlooked the white sand of Hueco Mundo. The fake blue sky and harsh sunlight glowed across the desolate land. Once there he placed a hand on his beating heart. What had become of Ichimaru Gin? The man everyone feared and loathed. Why would this girl of all people try to understand him? He couldn't understand it himself.

Gin sighed with his smile now a frown. He propped his hand to his chin on the rim of the balcony. His mind was filled with thoughts that couldn't be dismissed with ease.

Whenever he felt her spiritual pressure nearby his heart would flutter of its own accord. What was this strange feeling?

Gin's mind trailed back to when he had asked her to dance with him back in soul society. Neko's small form against him made him want to envelop her in his arms. But why? He just couldn't understand it anymore. He couldn't understand himself anymore.

Was it true that he yearned for her to place her small hand in his again or lean against him as she had before under the persimmon tree?

Aizen wouldn't interfere any longer. Aizen's trust in Gin would begin to waver sooner or later. But still, if something were to happen to himself, whether it be Soul Society apprehending him or ultimately disappearing from the world he needed Neko to know the truth.

The truth.

*****

The next morning I began to stir in Ichigo's room. The crescent necklace was back around my neck and my notebook was thankfully secured in my messenger bag.

As the rays from the morning light seeped through the slivers in the curtains I turned myself towards the door.

I felt myself drifting back into calming sleep when something warm snuggled up against my chest.

"So soft~. So tender~."

My eyes snapped open to the strange male voice in my sleeping bag. I looked down to see a stuffed animal practically embedded within my chest area.

I raised a curious eyebrow. I sat up and carefully pulled the doll up to my face.

It was a cute yellow lion with a brown mane, tan paws, felt claws, and a little button on its belly. The lion had little black eyes that I poked at curiously.