A/N: This is for celtic7irish, as a Secret Aarin Santa gift on AarinFantasy. I'd entered this as a flash fiction in her round of a contest, and she chose it as a winner. So, I took her critiques to heart and expanded it, since I no longer had the word limitation. It's obviously not canon. But I did try to keep the characters true to how I imagined them to be at this age.

I hope you enjoy this, celtic. :)

The Chase

There was dew on the ground, the kind that he hadn't seen since he was a kid in Rukongai, glistenin' in the sun, each individual drop of water on the grass reflectin' the deceptively blue sky, as if all was right an' peaceful in the world. As he moved, he noticed how fluffy the clouds were, like marshmallows, like the waves in Rangiku's hair. He noticed the trees, swayin' in the breeze like fallen hollow. He noticed the bleakness, the tired walls of the different houses on the compound, filled with desperation they didn't even know they felt because they'd always only paid attention to their obligation. He passed by dull colors and boringly ornate sculptures – all things traditional and stiflin'.

It was beautiful ta anyone else, but ta him it wasn't even somethin' to be lookin' at. It just was – a procedural aspect of growin' up with a duty, a cold place to learn to feign empathy and culture apathy, somethin' to look at but not see, because there wasn't nothin' ta be seen.

At least there wasn't before. Now, there was one ray of light that actually penetrated the viscous fog of despair that bathed the grounds and killed color, even if that ray didn't know he was a ray. And that ray was exactly where he was headin'.

He knew he wasn't s'posed ta be there, but then again, he'd done a lot of things he wasn't s'posed ta be doin'. He'd done the whole killin' thing – innocents, guilties, and the like. He'd broken just about all the rules he'd been given when he'd entered his schoolin'. Hell, he prolly broke a rule or somethin' when he became a shinigami after barely havin' started school to begin with.

He didn't value most rules, but he still had his own set of rules and ethics that he followed, an' that was all that was important. There was never nothin' that he hadn't eventually accomplished when he'd set his mind to it, and all the bad stuff – the killin', the lyin', the cheatin' – yeah, it was fun, but he really did have a purpose for it. He'd be the one to kill Aizen one day. He'd promised Rangiku, after all, and she was ninety percent of what mattered in the world. So Aizen had ta be taken care of, and he had a feelin' that it wouldn't be as easy as sayin' it was. It'd be somethin' that involved a lot more killin' of the innocents and the guilties and a lot of the in-betweens, too.

There'd be a lot of torture and sacrifice, and in the end, he prolly figured that he'd be gone, too. There wasn't nobody else who saw past Aizen's ploy or the facade his zanpakuto created. Course, there was always those hollowfied captains (if they were still alive) and that Urahara guy, but they couldn't do nothin' about it. They'd tried and failed. So it was up ta him to take 'im out. He was the only one alive who could do it, and even then, he had a feelin' it wouldn't end too well for him.

Then Rangiku would be left alone, and she'd be sad, but at least she'd be safe.

But that day was still a long ways away, and a guy just had to have a simple bit o' fun from time-to-time in order ta distract him from that other, more serious thing.

And there wasn't nothin' funner than messin' with that spoiled kid, Byakuya.

A newly seated Ichimaru Gin had no trouble using his shunpo to get past the royal guards at the entrance of the Kuchiki Manor grounds. He knew the borin' lands like the back of his hand, prolly even better, as Gin wasn't the vain type ta be lookin' at his own hands all day. With each step he took, blades of grass rustled in the wind he created, the actual manor just a blurry mass in the distance that he sidestepped so he could make his way to his destination.

He knew that Byakuya was sure ta be practicing with his sword. He was like clockwork, that kid. His schedule and rotation for practicin' was fixed, with kido, martial arts, swordsmanship, and hand-to-hand combat rotatin' around his school work. For the most part, Gin thought it must be a borin' way to live, doin' the same pointless stuff all the time, but he didn't mind it when others lived that way. It made planning easier. It made hunting easier.

The thing about Byakuya, though, was that he wasn't practicin' what he needed to work on. He was sure he'd find him intensely focusin' on the swings with his little wooden practice sword, but that's all he'd be doin'. He lacked vigiliance and had next-ta-no awareness of his surroundings. It was a shame, really. He was Gin's age, at least twice as earnest, but only half as talented.

Of course, half as talented as a prodigy was still pretty damn good.

When Gin came to a halt near the familiar dummy in the middle of a hedge maze that Byakuya practiced with, he was interested to see that he wasn't alone. His grandfather was there, yellin' at him, harpin' something about pride or honor or whatever else normal people wasted their time thinkin' about.

It wasn't important ta him what was bein' said. He could fill in the blanks of their predictable exchange without the least bit of effort. These nobles were all the same amount of rich as they were tight-assed. And so shallow. Vanity ruled their lives, in all aspects, and pride was only introduced so that they could have an excuse for lookin' in the mirror so often. They wanted to be flawless for the benefit of lookin' good and impressin' others. And every positive impression they left on someone else fed their egos and made the cycle repeat.

But who was he ta get mixed up in their way o' livin'? He was just as selfish as they were, but he expressed it in a different way. Everybody was the same amount of selfish. Just some were smarter and stronger than others so they could get more of what they wanted to get.

He didn't really care about any of that, though. It wasn't somethin' ta be ponderin' about. It was more of somethin' that just was. What piqued his interest was Byakuya. Although he strived to assimilate, he stuck out like a sore thumb. He was brash, he was unrefined, and he was angry.

Like now, he was flushed as the old man walked away, embarrassed at bein' scolded like he was. His cheeks glowed real bright red, like apples, and that made Gin smile.

He hoped that Byakuya never lost that integrity. If no one else in this world had integrity, he knew Byakuya possessed it. It oozed out of him the same way that selflessness oozed out of Rangiku. It was funny that a snake like him was so attracted to this sort of purity, but he let himself indulge so long as he promised not ta take it away.

He watched the boy bash his sword angrily against the oxygen in the air a few times before he decided ta pop out

"Heard ya got told off by the old man," Gin said, using his shunpo to appear behind Byakuya.

Byakuya, even more distracted than normal, jumped, turning around and swinging his wooden sword at Gin.

"Whoa there, Kuchiki-san," Gin sang in a sing-song voice, drawing out the formal address. "Don't go forgettin' that I have a real one."

He pointed at his zanpakuto, but this didn't seem to deter the angered man in front of him. Byakuya swung his sword again. This time, Gin snatched the sword away from him in one fluid motion, his laughter echoing through the emptiness of the vast practice area until it was caught in the hedges.

"Go away," Byakuya said, stomping his foot like a petulant child.

There it was. There was that honest, raw anger that he loved to see. It was innocent and pure, his negativity.

"Nah. I'm bored. And it looks like you could prolly use the company of someone who ain't on your back about your family stuff," Gin said.

Byakuya couldn't contain his own frustration and opened his mouth to vent, somethin' that he'd prolly kick himself for later.

"He's right. If I can't even surpass someone of your social standing in rank, then what good am I? I'm supposed to be a seated officer by now, but instead I'm still at the academy. We're supposed to be oceans apart by now," Byakuya said.

Gin looked at him meaningfully and cocked his head to the side. "Instead of being pissed that we ain't an ocean apart, how 'bout we look at it in a better way? How 'bout I help you out with your trainin' so you can finish up quicker an' please the old man?"

Byakuya opened his mouth to scold Gin for calling someone of a higher rank an "old man," but Gin cut him off before he even began. "I'll be like the Sun, and you be like the Moon. I'll give you light so you can shine, but then eventually, you hafta get a new source of light. Eventually, you can be your own sun, but until then, I'm here, okay?"

Byakuya furrowed his eyebrows, considering this prospect. However, the pride that'd been knocked into him since birth just caused him to get pissed off at the offer of outside help. He was a man who valued independence above all else.

"Your main problem is how hot-headed ya are. If you could just calm down a bit an' stop gettin' so pissed at everythin', you'd already be where ya need to be. You can't be gettin' all flustered at everythin', Kuchiki-san."

"I hardly think that my problem involves a lack of composure," Byakuya formally replied, tossing away the idea.

Gin saw a nerve in his forehead twitch, and he couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh.

"Oh yeah? Well, I can already tell that comment pissed ya off, and if I can tell that somethin' pissed you off, it's already affectin' ya too much."

Byakuya visibly stiffened, trying to mask his emotions, but that only proved Gin's point further.

Gin sighed dramatically, fully aware that the stubborn, angry man in front of him wouldn't believe a negative word about himself unless it came from an elder member of his clan. He was cocky and didn't play well with others. He wasn't likely ta take a critique from someone like him seriously, and normally somethin' like that wouldn'ta bothered him, 'cept that Byakuya was the other ten percent of things that mattered in the world.

It used to be only Rangiku, and that this pissed off kiddy in front of him knocked her down to ninety was a big deal. So he'd watch over him until he didn't need it anymore, because Gin was confident in the fact that one day, he wouldn't.

"I'll show ya," Gin said, and just as the words had finished leaving his lips, he planted a big, wet kiss on Byakuya's lips.

Byakuya stumbled backward immediately, outraged, his face turning even redder, his entire body shaking.

"WHAT JUST-"

"See. I told ya. There ya go gettin' all pissed off, Kuchiki-san. Your job is to calm down enough so you can focus on your shunpo an' catch me. And when you're focused enough and fast enough ta catch me, your lesson is complete," Gin said, the smile on his face growing when he saw the angry expression on the face of the ray of light that illuminated this otherwise bleak garden.

One day, Byakuya would figure all this out. He'd be able ta control his emotions. He'd be able to push down and hide everythin' that he was in order to conform to everythin' he thought he was s'posed ta be, everything Gin hated. This red-faced boy in front of him who he adored would turn into a man with immense power who would longer intrigue Gin, because in order to become that, he'd sacrifice all the purity that no one else appreciated. Everyone else would respect him more, but Gin would respect him less.

And one day, he'd be able ta catch him.

And then when his transformation was complete, he'd leave Gin's heart forever. It was an inevitability, but like dealin' with Aizen, that was a long ways away. So he wasn't gonna worry about it for now.

For now, he would just enjoy the chase.