Characters: Rangiku, Gin, and baby Nemu, with mentions of Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
Pairings: GinRan.
Timeline: Set over fifty years before the start of the series. Nemu is an infant, Rangiku hasn't yet risen to the rank of lieutenant and Gin is still Aizen's lieutenant.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

"You're much better-looking than your father," Rangiku commented as she held the bottle of warm milk up to the infant's greedy lips, who cooed appreciatively at the sweet taste. "I wonder who he stole the DNA from to come up with you."*

Kurotsuchi Nemu's round, un-shaped green eyes stared up at her as her little hand curled around one of Rangiku's callused fingers. Rangiku hated to admit it, but the kid was cute; it was almost impossible to believe Nemu was in any way related to that patchwork man known as Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

"Then again," the blonde, buxom Shinigami mused, "he may have just stolen you. I've got a hard time believing Kurotsuchi was actually able to clone himself, and there's no way in hell any woman here would be willing to give him any."

Rangiku had volunteered to take care of Nemu because Kurotsuchi was at his wit's end and none of the other members of the Twelfth Division were in the position or willing to take care of the baby girl. At the same time, Rangiku didn't have anything to do that day, so she saw no reason to refuse when the highly frazzled Kurotsuchi-taicho practically begged Rangiku, the first person he had come across, to look after her so he would have some peace and quiet for a while.

A small giggle emitted from the mouth of the older of the two women as Rangiku thought with great amusement of a creepy man like Kurotsuchi trying to take of a fussy baby, probably juggling three things at once and failing miserably. "Give him hell from me, kid," she giggled. "Give him hell from me."

Rangiku sighed, and stared out the window at the early summer sunlight spilling over Seireitei, blue eyes gazing longingly at the temperate weather outside. She smiled down at Nemu. "You know what? It's a wonderful day, and we are going outside."

.

There was indeed a rash of brilliant weather outside, bright sunlight and fairly cloudless skies. Rangiku roamed the smooth stone streets of Seireitei, never once noticing the strange looks she was getting from fellow Shinigami; Rangiku didn't seem the sort who'd enjoy small children, especially babies.

"Hello, Rangiku."

Rangiku turned around and smiled as Gin turned the corner and walked towards her, the long-lipped, Cheshire Cat's smile (not a grin, as it was toothless as always) affixed firmly on his face. The long hem of his robes swayed in the slight breeze.

"Hey," she greeted, shifting the baby closer in her arms so she could talk to Gin more comfortably. "You get off work recently?"

"Yes," Gin nodded, stepping closer. "Aizen-taicho did not have a great deal of paperwork for me today, so I decided I would come and find you. If you don't mind, that is."

She waved him off. "Course not."

"Good." His hand briefly touched the crown of Nemu's skull. "You know, Rangiku, I heard from a colleague that you were babysitting for Kurotsuchi-taicho today, but I didn't dare believe it. I have to admit, this is the last thing I would have expected out of you."

Rangiku shot a knowing smirk at him. "You don't know everything about me, Gin. I didn't have anything better to do, so I decided, 'What the heck could it harm'?"

Gin's smile twitched slightly as a small suggestion of laughter lived and died in a moment. "Of course, Rangiku." They began to walk on, Rangiku gently rubbing Nemu's back. "So, this is Kurotsuchi-taicho's latest "creation"?"

Rangiku laughed sardonically, shaking her hair out of her face as the sun beat down on her black robes and made her sweat. "Yes, and surprisingly Nemu's a little angel. A bit surprising considering who "fathered" her."

For the first time in a very long time, almost as long as Rangiku had known him, Gin looked a little unsettled. "Yes," he murmured, tipping his chin down. "Very surprising indeed."

That set off a question out of Rangiku's mouth as a tiny little hand caught a tendril of her golden hair. "Okay, please tell me the idea of Kurotsuchi having a child at all is as disturbing to you as it is to me. Because I don't even want to know why he even thinks he needs a child."

Gin's smile widened. "Of course I don't think it's disturbing, Rangiku. That would just be rude." His tone became overly sweet and teasing. Rangiku prepared herself for hearing something exceptionally silly. "If Kurotsuchi-taicho believes that he can extend his scope of knowledge with fatherhood, then we should congratulate him on his success."

Rangiku rolled her eyes and laughed out loud. "You're lying!"

"Now, Rangiku, I would never insinuate that Kurotsuchi-taicho has whipped himself up a child for any reason other than his desire for a more meaningful existence."

"Sure."

As they walked on, they were stopped in the street by a shopkeeper, who was eyeing Nemu with intense interest. "Pretty baby girl you two have got. How old is she?"

Rangiku stared at him, thunderstruck. "She's not—" Before she could say anything, Gin put a hand under the crook of her elbow, leading her off in another direction.

When they stopped, Rangiku frowned, staring at Nemu. "But she doesn't even look anything like either of us," she murmured.

"It was a natural thing for the man to suppose, Rangiku," Gin stated reasonably, though the smile had faded just a tiny bit. "Usually a pair of adults with an infant in hand tend to be said infant's parents." The smile came back in full force and evolved into a toothy grin. "And you certainly look as though you could be the girl's mother."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Just that you seem far more comfortable around small children than I had previously suspected."

"Don't go getting any ideas, Gin."

He perked up in interest as the sun began to beat down especially hard on all three of them. "And what sort of ideas do you think I'm getting, Rangiku?"

She smiled with an overt amount of sweetness. "Don't play dumb, Gin. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Would you care elaborating, Rangiku?"

Rangiku rolled her eyes, shifted Nemu's position in her arms, leaned up and kissed him. A moment passed before Rangiku's eyes shone unusually bright. "That is what I'm talking about, idiot!"

Gin didn't miss a beat (completely unperturbed) as a long-fingered hand reached up and lightly brushed her cheek. "You know, Rangiku, you're not doing anything to dispel that man's opinion that we're this child's parents." A slightly triumphant tone entered his voice.

"So what?"

* It's physically impossible to clone yourself and come out with a clone of the opposite sex. Besides, Nemu looks nothing like Mayuri. So I figure that, rather than Nemu being a clone, she is actually genetically engineered, Mayuri having used his own DNA and the DNA of a woman who either volunteered or had a DNA sample stolen to create her. Heck, the DNA might have even been taken from a female Quincy Mayuri was experimenting on, which would explain why Nemu and Ishida have similar colorings (blue eyes and green eyes exist on the same "gene", so to speak), and look vaguely alike.