Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. Oh, and I stopped watching Bleach soon after the fillers eps started up again, so I have not watched the thing with all the zanpakutos going crazy. I have no idea if Rangiku's is shown or not, and am glad I don't know cause I wanted to create her zanpakuto the way I wanted it without being influenced by anything else.

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 4: Prisoner

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"They always say tomorrow is another day, but when will I forget the memories of yesterday?" -???

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Byakuya awoke the next morning after once again having slept poorly. It was barely sunrise, yet just like when he'd tried to nap the previous day his dreams had been strange and disturbing. Every dream had been a happy memory, one memory or another of him and Hisana. Although that might be redundant, because for the most part the only truly happy memories he had of his long life were ones with her.

Yet he couldn't take the comfort he normally did from the dreams, for Hisana had not stayed herself in any of them. In each and every one, by the time he leaned in to kiss her, she had changed into Matsumoto Rangiku.

It was growing ridiculous.

Although he admitted in the privacy of his own thoughts that he found her attractive physically, he would have had to be blind or stupid to not think that. As he was neither, he found her attractive.

Yet he was not deaf either, and every time she opened her mouth her unrefined and often rude words made her less attractive to him. He knew she associated herself with some of the most rude and uncouth Shinigami as well, and that she and her friends drank to excess with disturbing frequency.

And although she was undoubtedly a talented Shinigami, as he could tell from her training with Abarai, he also knew she lacked discipline and drive. Every day he expected her to skip a training session with one excuse or another. Every day he expected her to announce that she had simply given up.

He'd always made certain to keep himself informed about the training and abilities of other Shinigami, especially the taicho and fukutaicho, and he knew she'd tried to achieve bankai several times in the past, but had always given up. He expected this time to be no different.

Byakuya allowed himself a slight smile as he got out of bed and began his morning kata, beginning with a relaxation to calm the last vestiges of his body's reaction to his dreams.

He would soon have a chance to aid Matsumoto in her decision to give up yet again, and hopefully removing her from his daily sight would remove her from his dreams as well. After all, the woman was completely unsuitable for him.

Completely unsuitable.

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Rangiku stalked unto the Rokubantai's practice field nearly twenty minutes before her and Renji normally met. She'd awakened before dawn yet again, haunted by dreams of Ichimaru Gin. She'd had a leisurely shower and breakfast as she tried to get her emotions back under control, yet nothing had worked. As a result, she was tired and cranky and in the mood to take her frustrations out on someone. She couldn't wait till Renji showed up.

Rangiku stalked unto the field, then stopped short and stared. Renji was not there, but as she was early that didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was that Kuchiki Byakuya stood in the middle of the field, his bankai released and his eyes directly on her.

"You are early, Matsumoto-fukutaicho." He stated in way of greeting.

"Kuchiki-taicho." She stuttered for a moment in surprise, then recovered. "I didn't mean to interrupt your practice. I'll just wait outside the field until Ren…Abarai-fukutaicho shows up."

"My fukutaicho will be unable to attend today, he was needed elsewhere." Kuchiki-taicho replied, still facing her from between the two lines of swords created by Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

"I see." Rangiku replied as she stood facing him, unable to keep her hand from going to Haineko's hilt as she faced a taicho with his bankai released. "I didn't know, or I would have slept in."

"I asked him not to cancel the practice." Kuchiki-taicho replied as he nodded towards her zanpakuto. "Draw. You did say you wished to spar with me."

Rangiku's eyes grew huge, and for a moment she could do nothing but stare at him. She'd never known him to spar with anyone but his fukutaicho, or occasionally with the higher seats in his division. And it was never because they asked him, it was because he wanted to analyze their abilities.

Her moment of speechlessness lasted for only a moment though, and then her normal personality took over. "I thought you didn't have the time, Kuchiki-taicho." She smirked as she drew Haineko, not yet releasing her.

He raised an eyebrow. "Neither will Abarai-fukutaicho anymore. I merely want to take this opportunity to show you that the practicing you are doing is pointless. You are no closer to bankai than you were a decade ago, and will get no closer if you spar with Abarai every day for the next decade. Just give up, as you always have."

"Growl, Haineko." Rangiku hissed as she stared into his eyes. "I will not give up. I never had a reason to grow stronger before, but now that I do nothing will stop me. I don't care how many decades it takes, this time I will succeed."

For an instant, Rangiku thought she saw the tiniest bit of respect come into his eyes, but it was gone before she could be certain.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

"Haineko!" Rangiku yelled as she took a shunpo away from where she'd been, using her mind to pull Haineko's ash into a shield around her. Despite her speed, she felt several of his thousand blades hit the shield, and one even managed to cut through it and nick her arm. She just wasn't fast enough to evade him.

Switching immediately to the offensive, knowing it was the only chance she had, she sent Haineko directly at him. And watched in shock as the thousand blades, despite having been further away from him than her ash was, swirled around him in a shield that deflected her attack.

"You cannot stand up to my bankai. Just admit defeat. Admit that you are not good enough." Even as he spoke, his blades swirled towards her again, a graceful and surprisingly beautiful portrait of death.

She'd always thought his bankai was the most beautiful in Seireitei, but knew better than to call anything of a man's beautiful. Also, she'd never been on the receiving end of it. It was hard to find anything beautiful when it was trying to kill her.

Rangiku had never been one to admit defeat though. Especially as she knew he wouldn't actually kill her. She shunpoed away again, and again was not fast enough. Haineko's shield took hits again, and this time it was not one but three blades that cut though enough to draw blood. With a muttered curse, she tried to pull Haineko to her enough to reform her into a more effective shield, but she was not fast enough.

Before the shield could reform, more of his blades slid in against her skin. But these did not cut her. With his exquisite control, he stopped dozens of them just short of her skin. She could feel the sharpness of several of them against her neck, and froze.

"Abarai-fukutaicho was being nice, holding himself back so that he only seemed a step ahead of you. He was trying to push you into doing better." Kuchiki-taicho said as he calmly walked towards her, the rest of his blades swirling around him. "But as you can see, you are more than a step behind. Were you fighting me for real, you would be dead. Instead, you are my prisoner, and will remain so as long as I wish it."

"I wish I could have been your prisoner awhile longer. I'm sorry, Rangiku. Goodbye."

Time seemed to freeze for Rangiku as Gin's words from immediately after she'd learned of his betrayal echoed through her head. If only she could have kept him prisoner. If only she'd been stronger.

From the moment she'd begun training with Renji, and on occasion with Hitsugaya, she'd told herself it was because of the three Arrancar that had beaten her so badly.

Now, as she stood in the middle of the jungle where she'd first met Haineko over a hundred years ago, her eyes closed in shame. She couldn't hide her real reason, either from herself or from Haineko.

You wanted to keep him. You want to be strong enough that you never lose another person you love.

Rangiku's eyes slid open and she faced the grey cat that stood nearly as tall as she was. "Maybe if I hadn't been so lazy, if I'd put as much work into training as I did into partying, maybe I could have stopped him."

There were many people with bankai on that hill that day. If none of them could stop him, how could you have? Even if you had bankai? You can't ask me to help you for selfish reasons. I find no reason to give you my strength because you're crying over spilled milk.

"It's not that, at least not entirely." Rangiku insisted. "I know I couldn't have stopped him. I know it, deep down. But what if I'm ever in a situation that's just a little bit different? What if I'm in a situation where I lose because I wasn't quite strong enough? Because I didn't train quite hard enough? I'm not saying I want to completely change. I don't want to stop drinking, or partying. I don't want to become like Hitsugaya, or Kuchiki, where I'm nothing but my job. I don't even care if people keep thinking of me the way they do. But I want to know they're wrong. I don't care if everyone continues to think that I'm lazy, and a party girl. But I want to know I'm more than that."

I've always known you were more than that. That is your mask, and it is as complete as the masks of others. The masks you claim annoy you. You want to always be smiling and happy, because that is better than anyone seeing your pain. You've guarded your heart for so long, because you always sensed that one day he would break it if he could. You've used humor and boisterousness to hide the aloofness and pride of a cat. And that partitioning of your mind allowed you to keep him from breaking you. You're still standing. But you've never had to stand without him, and aren't sure how to. You feel alone. But you're not. Even if no one else is there for you, I always will be.

Tears streamed down Rangiku's face as the great cat leaned in and licked her face. She understood now what Renji had meant when he'd told her she had to listen to Haineko. To be honest, she'd understood it the moment he said it, but had been unwilling to listen. Throughout her life Haineko had displayed time and again a brutal honesty that Rangiku hadn't been willing to face over the Gin issue.

"Help me now, please." Rangiku whispered through her tears. "Show me that you're there for me. Lend me your strength. Manifest!"

You will have to prove worthy of me soon. For now I will show you that I believe in you.

Rangiku reached out a hand to touch the great cat, and suddenly found herself back on the Rokubantai practice field. Although the blades of Senbonzakura were still at her throat, they suddenly seemed unimportant. As did the tears still streaming down her face.

"HAINEKO!"

The ash whirled up around her body like a tornado, sweeping away all of the blades. For the first time since she'd learned shikai, Rangiku found she was not at all in control of the ash. It swirled up around her and outwards, making a beeline for Kuchiki-taicho.

She had a moment to marvel at the startled look on his face before Haineko stopped moving, the ash condensing into the form of the giant cat she had never seen outside of her own mind. It roared at Kuchiki-taicho, whose thousand blades immediately placed themselves between the cat and him. Then the cat turned to face her, lowered it's head in an almost-bow, then turned back into ash and flew at her, reshaping itself into a normal katana blade.

Tears still streaming down her face, Rangiku felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her and she fell to her knees, Haineko's hilt now clutched in both hands. "Haineko." She managed to whisper as her vision started to go gray at the edges.

The last thing she saw before the gray took over was Kuchiki-taicho looking down at her, a look in his eyes she couldn't place. If it had been anyone else, she would have said they were proud of her.

TBC…