A/N: So this is an idea I had and lost and liked so much I had to rewrite it. It's not exactly the same and I want it to be a kind of two- or three-part short as opposed to the long story it was going to be before.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.
"AU"
Aoi was gone. Rangiku opened her eyes and sat up with the certainty that her son was no longer in the building. When Captain Urahara had stashed them in this safe house, which was really his unused quarters at the Twelfth Division, he had explained that it was dangerous for them to wander out into a world to which they were alien. Rangiku was no fool. She understood that the moment she nearly killed that quincy officer who spied her falling out of the inter-dimensional portal. Thankfully he was also on his way to the Twelfth. But Aoi was three and his father was his whole world.
The boy had forgotten his reiatsu-suppressing cloak, but that was understandable as he was a child and all children hated anything that made them feel constricted. If Rangiku was going to find her son she was going to have to trust her instincts. Throwing on her own cloak, Rangiku did a quick search of the room and the captain's office to confirm that the boy was really gone and then slipped out into the Division.
The Twelfth Division compound was terrifying no matter which world it was in. Most of the giant laboratory facility was underground, with a maze-like network of corridors connecting rooms and confusing the hapless. Access to certain areas required walking into containment chambers and all doors required pass-codes. How Aoi had managed to find his way out of the building, for Rangiku was certain that he had gotten out, without being detected was nothing short of a miracle. The reiatsu-suppressing cloaks also did not provide one with invisibility, just lowered one's reiatsu to levels that were negligible to anyone who was not looking for it. Of course, Aoi might have had a bit of luck by simply sticking close to a group heading to the noisier parts of the Division, where human voices replaced the constant beeping, humming and whirring of machines.
Knowing that nothing was more suspicious than someone trying to avoid notice, Rangiku straightened her shoulders and joined a group discussing lunch. There were a few glances backward, one man smiled, but no one's gaze lingered. Urahara had told her the day before that she existed in this world as the very recognisable Tenth Division lieutenant, but this deep in the Twelfth it was unlikely that these folks got out much to know her on sight. It was secretly kind of thrilling to be anonymous again, but Rangiku would never admit that to anyone.
It took twenty minutes to get out of the Division, and another two for Rangiku to orient herself, stamp down on the desire to gape at the intermingling of shinigami barracks with quincy ones, and set off in the general direction that she thought would lead her to the Sixth. In Seireitei proper, Aoi had only been to the Tenth and the Sixth, with only occasional trips to the First to see Nanao. He had very good recall for such a young child.
At midday the streets of the Seireitei were always busy. Restaurants threw open their doors so that the smell of stewing meat would flow out to potential customers. The fastest street vendors usually had the longest lines, the steam from their portable kitchens barely noticeable in the ambient heat. If Rangiku was back in her Seireitei she would have been at the Sixth already, even if it made Byakuya set his mouth into a thin line, the barest trace of displeasure even as his eyes smiled at her. Yet, if a week went by without her stopping in to see him he would make a point of finding her in the Tenth.
The wave of homesickness that rushed over her then was so intense, Rangiku actually ducked into an alley to lean against the wall of a building and gather her bearings. It had only been 72 hours but she missed her husband terribly, more than she thought she possibly ever would. The last few nights had been fitful affairs, where she alternated between waking to check on Aoi and searching for Byakuya's warmth. The disappointment she felt each time her hands found only the cold futon was a physical ache. Was this how life for him had been after Hisana's death? Was he going through it again? Was it worse now that there was a child?
"Hey kid! Where do you thin—"
Rangiku's eyes snapped open and she raced to the mouth of the alley, just as Aoi broke free of the nobleman's guard holding him and ran to the procession that had stopped in the middle of the street. She did not have to look to know who it was.
"Tou-san!" cried Aoi.
"Aoi-chan, wait!" Rangiku called, running after him.
She never made it. Six glowing rods of pure reiatsu slammed into her body and forced her to her knees. Then she heard Aoi cry out. The men surrounding the Kuchiki procession had all been wearing swords. Rangiku had a flash of one those swords impaling her little boy and pushed as much of her reiatsu into her arms until the kido broke away. Then she was running to the procession again before she was fully on her feet, scraping the flesh from her knees and shins on the cobblestone.
It was a Kuchiki family procession, the clan crest and colours decorating the servants' livery and the guard uniforms. Byakuya, or at least the man he was in this world, Lord Kuchiki—not a shinigami at all, or so Urahara had told her—was at the head of the procession. He wore no uniform indeed, but a dark blue kimono with light blue haori and the full kenseikan in his long, black hair. He turned to her as she approached, but it was his steward who held Aoi while the boy bawled for his father.
"Aoi-chan!" she cried, forcing her gaze away from Byakuya.
The boy, pulled his arms free of the steward and reached for Byakuya again, still crying, "Tou-san! Tou-san!"
And then Rangiku ran into a black cloud.
It was not a cloud; not really, she realised when it grew arms, wrapped them around her waist and pulled her against a lightly-muscled chest. No, it was something worse.
"Ran-chan, there you are. I was wondering if my pretty little wife had run off with another man," said Gin.
Rangiku froze.
"Captain Ichimaru," said Byakuya.
"Byakuya-sama," said a small feminine voice. "I think this child is trying to get your attention."
No way. Rangiku began to shake. Gin released her at once, surprised, and then bent his head a little to look at her. Yes, it was him. The same silver hair, the same smiling eyes open now to reveal turquoise blues so much like Captain Hitsugaya's that sometimes it hurt to look at him. "Ran-chan?" he asked.
Rangiku turned her head away to look at her son, whose cries had quieted though his face was red and wet with his tears and snot. She shrugged off Gin with more violence than she intended and set off towards the guard.
"Let him go," she said, her voice shaking slightly but the command clear. The guard complied at once, though not without a glance at Byakuya to confirm it. Byakuya nodded once and Aoi immediately ran to him, wrapping his arms around the legs of the man who was not his father, not in this world anyway. Byakuya's eyes widened but he made no other move.
The woman, as yet out of sight, cried out, "Byakuya-sama!" Rangiku had a feeling she knew who the woman was though they had never really met, the late Lady Hisana.
Rangiku stopped walking, less a deliberate act than her legs simply refusing to carry her further, and said, "Aoi, stop it. Come to me."
"Who's the kid, Ran-chan? Have you been picking up strays in the Rukongai?" asked Gin.
He sounded closer. He had followed after Rangiku shook him off. She squeezed her hands into fists and barked, "Aoi, come here right now!"
Her son started but released Byakuya. He turned to look at her, confusion and frustration warring on his wet, reddened face. She willed her expression to remain solemn, serious. The boy's confusion deepened and he looked up at Byakuya for help. Byakuya glanced over at her for only an instant before saying to Aoi, "Go to her."
Aoi immediately released a terrible wail but did as commanded, dragging his feet and taking small steps. Rangiku met him halfway, swinging him up into her arms into a tight hug, squeezing her eyes shut and breathing deeply the smell of the boy. Aoi protested this by flailing, kicking his legs and screaming as loudly as his lungs would let him but she ignored it. The instant she held him she felt her heartbeat slow. Their secret was on the verge of discovery but as long as she had Aoi the world could go to hell in a hand-basket. And then Gin said, "Ran-chan…what's going on?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Ichimaru, what is the meaning of this?" asked Byakuya.
It took Rangiku a moment to realise that Byakuya had been speaking to her. She snapped her eyes open and then wished she had not. Hisana stood beside him with brow furrowed in confusion. She did not look pale or sickly. She looked a lot like Rukia, though taller and her hair was messier, longer, her face narrower. Rangiku squeezed Aoi a little tighter for a moment and then set the boy on his feet, though she kept a firm hold on his hand. Then she said, "Captain Ichimaru…I want you to take me to the Captain Commander."
"'Captain Ichimaru'? The Captain Commander? What are ya playing at, Ran-chan?" asked Gin, stepping around her now.
Rangiku glanced at him, found that it was still painful and so looked at Byakuya instead as she replied, "I am not the person you think I am. You should probably find Captain Urahara too so that he can explain."
Byakuya had shifted his gaze to Aoi, who stared back at him with such a deep longing in his eyes that Rangiku picked the boy up again and turned his back to them. To Gin she said, "I am so sorry for the confusion, but we really need to get to the Captain Commander."
"No," said Gin, stepping into her line of sight. Rangiku closed her eyes. She could not look at him. Her Gin was dead. She could not look at this one, alive and well when she had to go back to a world in which he was not.
"Please," she pleaded. "Please take us to the Captain Commander. I am so sorry, Kuchiki-dono, for the boy. He mistook you for someone he knows. I promise that he will not trouble you again."
"Rangiku…look at me," said Gin.
She could not help it. She opened her eyes to find Gin staring at her, brow slightly furrowed in an expression she could not ever remember seeing on his face, fear. "What is going on, Rangiku? What do ya mean that you are not the person I know? Where's my wife then? And who's this little boy?"
"Kaa-san…" said Aoi, pushing at her shoulders. She had tightened her grip so much he was probably having trouble breathing.
Gin's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something but then Captain Urahara said, "Oh my, it looks like the cat is out of the bag…"
Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryuusai had died in her world many years before Aoi was born, murdered on the battlefield by the head of the quincy invading army of Juha Bach. In this world he was still alive, unharmed, and at his side stood the quincy general, Haschwald. Rangiku could not help her staring, even when it carried on for moments longer than was prudent. Then the Captain Commander grunted and said, "You say that they have come from another dimension…?"
He had addressed Captain Urahara, who stood with the other twelve captains in a semicircle behind her and Aoi, or rather, between her, Aoi and the door. The Second Division captain, Shihouin Yoruichi had stripped her of her reiatsu-suppression cloak and shihakusho and provided her and Aoi with prisoners' white yukata. The Fourth, under Unohana Retsu again had also insisted on having her and Aoi bathed in various disinfecting baths, despite Captain Urahara's insistence that it was not necessary. Rangiku, scrubbed pink and still slightly damp, not feeling at all charitable, snapped, "You might want to interview the quincy who saw me fall through the portal if you find it so unbelievable. How many times does he have to repeat it? How many times do I have to tell you?"
The Captain Commander gave the slightest lift of his eyebrow. Rangiku tightened her hold on Aoi who protested, "Kaa-san…."
Rangiku lifted him into her arms again. Byakuya had come along for the meeting. It was an unusual move but he had insisted since Aoi had gone running to him, and had brought along Hisana. They both now stood with the captain of the Sixth, Kuchiki Kouga, who in this world had gone on to head both the squad and the clan after the family barred Byakuya for marrying Hisana. It still hurt that Urahara had not told her that the late lady was very much alive. Not as much as to look at her standing beside Byakuya, but Rangiku pretended that it did not bother her as much for the sake of peace.
"Who are you then?" asked Haschwald.
The quincy stared directly at Rangiku. She dropped her gaze and said, "I would prefer not to say. Captain Urahara has told me that he is working on a method to get us out of here as soon as possible so I would prefer to remain anonymous."
"Not looking exactly like Captain Ichimaru's wife, you won't," said Captain Zaraki. "And who's the brat?"
"My son," said Rangiku, turning to look at him. "He had gotten away from his aunt in our Seireitei and I found him in the Twelfth just as there was an accident. It threw us both into your world."
"Yea, yea, but what's the big deal about us knowing your name if you're not going to be here long? How would we know that you're not a threat? Or maybe they should let me and you fight it out? You feel pretty strong," said Zaraki. There was a gleam in his eyes that made Rangiku distinctly uncomfortable.
She gave him her cheeriest smile and said, "Sorry, big boy, but I'm a mommy. I can't fight you when I have a kid to think about."
A door to the side of the room opened and Lieutenant Kotetsu appeared. No one said a word as she walked to her captain and said in a low voice, "The results of that test you ordered."
Rangiku's eyes widened a moment before Unohana said, "Yes, thank you…oh my."
"Wait!" cried Rangiku.
"What for?" asked Unohana, smiling at her. Then she turned the Captain Commander and said, "She is telling the truth as far as the child is concerned. He is not Captain Ichimaru's son. He is Lord Kuchiki's."
Hisana gasped as Kouga exclaimed, "W-what?"
Rangiku decided to speak out before Gin did and said, "Kuchiki Rangiku, in my world that is my name. This is my son Aoi. He is not that man's son."
The Captain Commander waved away her reply and said, "I believe you. Our Ichimaru Rangiku has no children. But if you are Kuchiki Rangiku as you call yourself, where is our Lieutenant Ichimaru?"
"I don't know," said Rangiku, shaking her head. "I only know what happened to me. By now she may be in the First in my world being interrogated as well. They must be confused as you are. My husband must be so worried about his son."
"Not for long," said Captain Urahara. "I'm doing everything that I can to get Lieutenant Kuchiki back to her world and Lieutenant Ichimaru to ours. There are some logistical matters that I still need to work out, but we should be ready to go in a month."
Rangiku swung round to him, eyes wide. "A month!" she cried.
"It is the best I can do under the circumstances, you understand. We do not have an exact copy of the device but I have been working on something similar for quite some time. Parallel world science is something that we have studied for many years given the separation of worlds that we already experience. In fact, a number of my predecessors posit that in addition to the worlds as we know them, there may be whole para—"
"Not now, Kisuke," said Captain Shihouin, cutting him off. Then she turned to the Captain Commander and said, "She has a zanpakuto and a lieutenant's badge, in her world as in ours she is Lieutenant of the Tenth. She's going to need a place to stay and I don't want her in the Second, too distracting."
Before Rangiku could react to that, a very familiar voice said, "Oh, Ran-chan is with me?"
Rangiku turned to find Captain Shiba Isshin, who had been recently discovered in her world as Kurosaki Isshin of all people. He grinned at her and said, "Our Third Seat is finally going to get a playmate."
Rangiku's heart skipped a beat. He had said the exact thing in her world when she told him that she was pregnant. Then Captain Kuchiki Kouga said, "She is not a lieutenant here and the barracks are no place for a child. In her world though she is a lady of the Kuchiki so she and the child must come with us."
That was the last place Rangiku wanted to go, and especially since Aoi would never understand that the man who looked, sounded and moved exactly like his father was not him. She said, "No. Aoi…it will be too confusing. I cannot do that to my son." She glanced at Byakuya, swallowed, and looked at Kouga instead. She licked her lips and said, "In my world, Kuchiki Byakuya is my husband, 28th generational Head of the Kuchiki and Captain of the Sixth Division, a position he has held for nearly seventy years. He has a younger sister, Rukia, who is Lieutenant of the Thirteenth. There is no Kuchiki Kouga, and Kuchiki Hisana died a very long time ago. And before you say anything, Ichimaru Gin, in my world you are also dead. At the very least, Aoi knows Captain Ku-Shiba. We will not go with you to Kuchiki Manor because in this world that is not our place…I—and I can't believe I'm saying this—would much prefer that we remain at the Twelfth."
"Absolutely not!" declared Kouga. "Lady Rangiku, if your husband is head of the clan then that boy is his successor. You cannot expect us to allow a Kuchiki to—"
Rangiku cut him off with a glare and snapped, "I don't expect you to allow anything! This is not your decision to make."
Kouga narrowed his gaze at her and asked, "Tell me, Lady Rangiku, are you Ichimaru Rangiku playing an elaborate ruse on us with the help of an innocent boy for the sake of your or Captain Ichimaru's amusement?"
The question was so random, Rangiku sputtered, "What?"
Kouga was unmoved. He asked, "Well, are you?"
Still confused, Rangiku said, "I just told you who I am; your test just confirmed that Aoi is—"
Kouga did not smile. He said, "Then in this world you are not an officer of the Gotei Thirteen and therefore cannot take up residence in the barracks of the Tenth—am I wrong, Captain Commander?"
Rangiku realised what had just happened. She turned to the Captain Commander just as the old man grunted and said, "No…it is not allowed unless you are an immediate relative of an officer, and even then only with the special permission of the captain of that division within set times. Captain Kuchiki is right, Lady Kuchiki, you cannot go to the Tenth."
Rangiku noted with horror that she had been stripped of her rank in the space of a few minutes. And without that rank she was simply—
"Lady Kuchiki, the Twelfth Division is also no place for a child, no matter that it would keep you close to Captain Urahara as he works. That would hardly be necessary as he would have access to you and the young master at any time at Kuchiki Manor. Furthermore, I think you would agree that it would hardly be appropriate for you to go to the home of a man who in this realm is not your husband for the duration?" said Kouga.
Rangiku knew defeat when she saw it. She nodded. Then Kouga smiled and said, "And besides, my nephew and his wife do not live at the main house. The Kuchiki have many estates at their disposal. I would suggest we let you stay at one but you would appreciate the difficulties in arranging such a thing on short notice for such a short period of time? The boy should be much more comfortable in an environment in which he is familiar and despite the differences you have mentioned, you will be happy to know that there is a Kuchiki Rukia in this realm. Byakuya will of course send the girl along to the main house from time to time to see the boy."
Byakuya himself said nothing to this. Rangiku turned back to the Captain Commander in one last appeal. He looked at her for a time in silence, then glanced at the quincy general and said, "The matter is decided. Captain Urahara Kisuke will work to send the lady and her son back to her realm and Lady Kuchiki and her son will stay with the Kuchiki family in the interim. I mean no offense when I say this, Lady Kuchiki, I do hope that our time together is short."
Rangiku inhaled, closed her eyes, held it for a five-count and then exhaled. Then she opened her eyes again and said, "As do I."
To be continued…
