1000 Years: One Shots (Part 1)

52. I'm Sorry

Title: I'm Sorry

Genre: Angst

Characters: Gin, Yamamotto and Chojiro

Summary: Ties in with "Creepy Kid".

Notes: A lot of people have surmised that Gin saying he could put things into Ichigo's hands means that he can pretty much go ahead and die in peace. Rangiku's saying Gin left her nothing is a confirmation as well that he is dead. However, people should know by now that you've got to dig into what Tite Kubo means. I've never thought either thing was a confirmation of him being dead. This is pretty much what Gin would say to Yamamotto and Chojiro before he takes off.

Rating: T

I'm Sorry

"I'm sorry." Yamamotto watched as a silver haired man prostrated himself in front of him. He still remembered the day he found out the man had existed, that time being when said man was still a mere child.

The first division fukutaicho Chojiro shook his head. "Apologizing won't stop you from being labeled as a traitor."

The silver haired man remained borrowed to the ground. "I'm not sorry for that. I would do that again in a heart beat if I felt that it would give Soul Society an advantage against an enemy."

"I'm confused as to what else you could possibly be sorry for." The fukutaicho looked between the prostrate man and the captain.

"I'm sorry I didn't have the strength or understanding to rely on others let alone trust others. I tried doing everything on my own and if I had managed to stop Aizen... which I doubt now that I would have been able too... I would have likely have placed Soul Society and everything and everyone I care about it in serious danger. Actually, if it weren't for that kid Ichigo I would have really made a mess of things this time around."

"Those you care about?" Chojiro shook his head at the youngest of the silver haired men in the room. "The only one..."

"Let him speak."

The silver haired man kept his head bowed to the ground as he continued speaking. "I'm also sorry for lying to you head captain about what my real name is."

"I already know you never told me your real name." Yamamooto remained calm as the silver haired man raised his head, an utter look of surprise on the young ones face. "What is your real given name child of Haschwalth."

Chojiro's eyes widened in horror. "Haschwalth... as in Juhabach Haschwalth?"

The silver haired man sat up, frowning as he did so. "The name that man gave me is Jugin Haschwalth."

The fukutaicho of the forth turned to Yamamotto, his horror growing. "Can we trust Ichimaru?"

Instead the old man asked Gin a question. "Why are you so willing to turn on your own father?"

"That man..." Gin looked away. "He's not the same man he once was."

"You do realize that his monstrous acts started a thousand years ago, not a hundred?"

"There is a shinigami with the ability to freeze someone for a thousand years, is there not?"

"Yes... but Hitsugaya Taicho wasn't around a thousand years ago."

"But his grandmother, my mother was." Gin's hands turned into fists on the ground. "I was frozen as well because I made the decision to try and pull out some of my siblings before everything froze over. Ka-chan made the choice she did though because the man she married is not the same person he was when the war started."

"Why are you choosing to tell us, let alone help us?" Chojiro's confusion continued.

"Why I'm siding with Soul Society? I know that the Quincy are a side faction of Shinigami that choose a different path. You probably think of it simply as a path to completely annihilate all Hollows, but its more complex then that. That man wants to have a totalitarian society that survives on those who are strong in both Soul Society in the living world."

"This isn't just limited to those outside of the Quincy... he has no problems with throwing away a child who comes across as weak or different. I survived child hood only because I am his first born son and also born to his favorite wife. I have a baby brother who never cried when he was born. The only reason he's still alive is because I latched onto him as soon as he was born."

"As for the reason why I'm deciding to tell you this instead of trying to do this all on my own is because of Kurosaki Ichigo. I crossed blades with him and knew when I did so that he's the one who needs to take out that man. I can't do it because I realized as soon as I crossed blades with that kid that I couldn't slay the man. As much as I hate him, he is still my father and killing family is beyond anything even I can do."

"I'm not understanding how you could tell that by fighting Kurosaki. He had nothing to do with the Quincies."

Gin opened his eyes. "Neither one of you know Ichigo's background or who his parents are. As Aizen said, he's to blame for the kid being born, but I'm the one who messed with one of Aizen's experiments to specifically target anything that used Quincy abilities. That was back when I actually thought I could attack my own family to stop that mad man and his plans."

"As you figured out, Ichigo's father is a Shinigami. The name of his father is Kurosaki Isshin, known..."

"Wait! Shiba Isshin is dead! There is no way he would ever abandon his duty."

"The girl saved his life, so he owned her. In the long run the Hollow she took out began to turn her into a Hollow just like it would a Shinigami. Of course, Aizen... I doubt he was ever aware that the Quincy were once Shinigami or anything else. Shiba-san went into a gigai and attached himself to the girl in order to save her life as he was honor bound to do so."

"Eventually they had Ichigo. When I crossed blades with the kid... well, lets just say he didn't just inherit the zampaktuo that passes down the Shiba-clan blood line. I'm quite sure his zampaktuo has taken on the form of that man as he was when I could still call him my father. On top of having inherited that mans abilities, he's tapped into his Shinigami blood and has a Hollow. He should have had a duel zampaktuo."

"He should have..."

"That thing is holding him back." Gin blinked a couple of times, surprise spreading across his face.

Yamamotto looked at the man. "You know that we're going to be listing Ichimaru Gin as dead?"

"It wasn't my real name in the first place."