Kira walked just behind his captain as they both approached to where the Sōkyoku perched in his sealed form.
The blond lieutenant honestly did not like that Kuchiki Rukia was going to be executed. It was bad enough that the Central Forty-Six had ordered her death, but wasn't the Sōkyoku a bit of an overkill? The massive blade was intended for villains so evil or criminals so strong that they required the power of the Sōkyoku to be executed, and thus remove the risk of reincarnation. How could giving powers to a human qualify this unseated officer of noble blood for oblivion?
But there was nothing he could do about it; orders were orders. They may not always be fair, Kira would be the first to admit, but that was the harsh reality they lived in.
The lieutenant was shaken from his brooding as he and Hitsugaya joined the line of captains who were present for the execution ceremony. Idly, Kira noted that there were not that many attendees. The absence of representatives from the Twelfth and Eleventh was no surprise, and he suspected that Hinamori could not come due to the extra workload forced upon her by Aizen's death. Captains and their adjutants from the First, Second, and Eighth Divisions were here, as was Isane from the Fourth, but Unohana had yet to arrive. More surprising was the absence of representatives from the Seventh and Ninth Divisions; perhaps they deemed the ryoka hunt dire enough that they excused themselves from the ceremony. He wondered why no one from the Thirteenth was present yet; perhaps Ukitake did not have the heart to witness the death of his subordinate, or maybe his sickness had reared its ugly head again. It was anyone's guess as to whether Kuchiki would bother showing up for his sister's execution.
Speaking of which, it was almost noon, so the condemned girl should be arriving shortly.
Rukia desperately attempted to identify where Renji's reiatsu was emanating from, wishing and hoping that her senses might be wrong, and that her oldest friend was not on the precipice of death. She barely registered her escort turning towards her, obviously about to encourage her to start walking again, when they seemed to pause.
While she was reluctant to cease her search, the approaching footsteps ensnared Rukia's curiosity, and she turned towards the source.
"Mornin'."
She recognized the speaker and gave a quiet gulp.
"How are ya, Rukia-chan?"
Her vision locked with apprehension onto the approaching figure wearing a captain's haori and a serpentine smile.
"Ichimaru… Gin," she uttered.
And he wasn't alone. Standing directly to his right was his lieutenant, Ichimaru Rangiku. Rukia relaxed slightly; while the snake's visits were always nerve-wracking, they were more bearable whenever his wife was also present.
Upon hearing her nervous response to his casual greeting, the man's grin widened in amusement.
"My, my, such familiarity," he noted. "Do ya really think that we're close 'nough to use my name like that, Rukia-chan?"
Rukia did not know what game the captain was playing, so she decided to stick to formality. She was still a Kuchiki, even if she was going to be executed, and so she would maintain her dignity even in the face of this menace.
"I apologize for my rudeness, Ichimaru-taichō," she said, and then turned to the other woman and greeted her, "Hello, Ichimaru-fukutaichō."
"Rukia-san," she replied, and smiled amiably at her. "You can call me Rangiku-san, you know."
"Yeah, we don't care 'bout formalities here," Ichimaru gave a brief chuckle. "I was jus' teasin' ya."
"If I may ask, why are you here?" the condemned noble asked politely for Rangiku's sake. While Rukia was not particularly close to her, the warm woman was a buffer zone between her and Ichimaru.
"I just wanted to ask ya a question," he replied. "Ya know, before ya get annihilated by the Sōkyoku."
Rukia ignored the remark and inquired, "What is it that you wish to ask?"
"Do ya wanna live?"
The prisoner blinked at the unexpected question, and noticed on her peripheral vision that her guards were shifting uneasily. No doubt unfortunate implications were going through their minds, but they obviously did not know the captain well enough that he would never do something foolish like rescue her. However, that still left the intention behind the question a mystery, so all she could say was, "What?"
"Do ya wanna live?" he repeated patiently.
Rukia paused to choose her next words carefully. "I have accepted my fate."
"That ain't an answer, Rukia-chan. Ya got all these people tryin' to save ya, and here ya are walkin' all nice an' quiet to yer death. What do ya think will happen to yer ryoka friends if ya die?"
"They'll leave. They won't have any more reason to stay."
He actually bared more teeth at her response, and any friendliness that might have been in those upturned lips disappeared. "Do ya really think that after all that hard work they put into tryin' to rescue ya, they'd jus' throw up their hands an' go home?"
"What else could they do?"
"Did ya know, Rukia-chan," Ichimaru informed her casually, "that Aizen-taichō's the only person who's been killed since the invasion started?"
The prisoner shook her head. She had not heard much news from within her cell. She had garnered that a captain had been killed in action, but she did not know he was the only fatality of this futile mission to rescue her. Until Renji, she reminded herself despondently.
"If ya die, it's quite likely that yer friends may decide to exact an eye fer an eye," the silver snake continued on, and his grin seemed to widen at the sight of Rukia's paling face as she realized his train of thought. "I wonder how many shinigami the ryoka would kill before the captains would go in an' put an end to 'em?"
"They wouldn't," Rukia protested quietly, but fear still crept into her voice. "They're not killers."
"Are ya sure 'bout that?"
Rukia paused, and for the first time, thought about how her friends would react to her death. She knew that Ichigo was too thick-skulled to realize that she was not worth saving, and so he had placed her under his protection. If she were to die… well, Rukia vividly remembered that look of raw, primal hatred Ichigo had for his mother's murderer. If he felt even a fraction that rage upon learning of his friend's execution, then nothing but his death would stop him from taking revenge on those responsible.
"Uh-huh," Ichimaru nodded at her silence. "An' ya know that no matter how many shinigami they kill, yer friends will face a captain they won't be able to beat. Right now, our orders are to capture instead o' kill, 'cause of investigatin' Aizen-taichō's death, but that might change if yer friends decide to go on a vengeance spree. So really, this 'noble' self-sacrifice attitude ya got goin' is quite useless. If you die, then they'll die."
"I'll ask Yamamoto for a pardon," Rukia said quickly. "He'll have to honor the last request of a Kuchiki."
"After all yer friends have done to his precious Gotei 13, do ya really think that he'll jus' let 'em go?" Ichimaru asked.
Horror strangled Rukia's body. Several seconds of clear, uninterrupted thought no longer hindered by remorse crept by. And when it was over, to her abiding disbelief, she realized that he was right; any effort to save her friends by sacrificing her life would be in vain.
"What else can I do?" she whispered out loud.
"Ya can live."
"What?"
"Like I said, ya got all these people wantin' to save ya. An' from what I've heard, a lotta people in Soul Society have been helpin' 'em. The gate guardian, the Shiba, that twitchy lil' officer from the Fourth, Abarai-kun, an' now even Kenpachi an' his gang are joinin' in."
Rukia was still reeling from the fact that the Shiba clan had aided in the rescue mission. True, she had seen Ganju, but he obviously had not known that he was helping to save the killer of his older brother. But at least one of the Shiba had to have known the identity of the person they were helping to rescue. Why would the entire clan help the person who had murdered Kaien? Wouldn't they be the first in line to see her executed?
But those thoughts immediately flew out the window in the shock at the revelation that Zaraki Kenpachi had joined the rescue mission. And she reacted like any other person would: with a drop of her jaw and an exclamation of, "What?"
"Don't ya feel it?"
She closed her mouth and concentrated senses on her surroundings. Then she did feel the formidable power of Zaraki facing off with not just one but two other captains. What in the name of all spirits in existence had convinced the battle-hungry warrior to help rescue her?
"Kenpachi told me that one of the ryoka beat him in a fight," Ichimaru explained, detecting her unspoken question. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I think his name was."
Rukia gasped and her eyes widened. Did Ichigo really defeat Captain Zaraki? When did he get so strong?
"Knowin' Kenpachi, that makes Kurosaki his new favorite person, so he'll be helpin' to save ya as his way o' sayin' thanks," he continued, looking as if he was thoroughly enjoying Rukia's flabbergasted expression. "An' as everyone knows, where Kenpachi goes, Yachiru, Ikkaku, an' Yumichika follow.
"A full-fledged revolt has been started fer the sake o' yer life, Rukia-chan."
The petite girl was speechless for several moments. Then she finally whispered, "Why?"
"If ya wanna know that, you'll need to ask Kurosaki. My guess is that it was his idea in the first place to rescue ya."
Of course it was, the stupid fool.
"Must be a really great guy to come here an' save ya. Might be why everyone's up an' joinin' him."
Rukia did not trust herself to speak her agreement with Ichimaru's assessment of her friend.
"So, now that ya know all that, do ya wanna live?" he returned to his earlier question.
"Why is so important for you to know?" Rukia asked with more irritation in her voice than she probably should have included.
"Why don'tcha answer the question an' find out fer yerself?"
"Oh, Gin, stop playing around," Rangiku finally burst out in exasperation, and then looked at the prisoner and demanded, "Do you want us to save you or not?"
"What?!" This time the question came not only from Rukia, but her guards as well. Their prior uneasiness was now outright alarm.
"Why'd ya have to rush?" Ichimaru asked petulantly.
"Because the other captains are bound to notice that their little prisoner is late for her execution, and so we need to be out of here before they realize what we're up to!"
"Rukia-chan hasn't said 'yes' yet."
"Oh, for the love of…!"
Four quick executions of shunpo later, Rukia's escort was on the ground unconscious.
"There, we've made the decision for her," Rangiku declared. "We're saving her whether she likes it or not!"
"What?!" the girl in question squawked incredulously at the way the woman's line echoed Ichigo's from a couple days prior. That and "why" were all she seemed capable of saying at this point.
Ichimaru shrugged, and stalked forward. Rukia flinched, and whatever protests she had vanished from her mind. The serpentine powerhouse now sported a particularly vicious smile on his face, and the girl wondered if she had been taken out of the frying pan and placed into the fire.
"Gin, no," Rangiku said sternly.
"Oh?" he replied playfully, but notably he stopped. "Are ya sure ya should be talkin' like that to yer captain?"
"First of all, I'm your wife, and I'll talk to you however I want to," Rangiku started, her serious tone contrasting with his jovial one. "Second, now that we're rescuing Rukia, we're not part of the Gotei 13 anymore, so you're not a captain. And third, I know what you're thinking, and I still say 'no': we are letting them live."
Rukia glanced at the men on the ground and realized with a start that he had intended to silence them permanently.
"When they wake up, the other captains'll know that we were the ones who rescued Rukia-chan," Ichimaru argued. "We kill 'em now, all they'll know is that someone rescued her, an' they'll probably blame the ryoka. It'll keep 'em guessin', make it easier fer us to sneak Rukia-chan out."
"Perhaps," Rangiku admitted, apparently agreeing with the logic, but not the ethics, of his plan of action. "But I don't think it's worth killing them over."
He looked at his wife with a neutral smile on his face.
"Please, Ichimaru-taichō," Rukia interjected cautiously. "I don't want anyone else to die because of me."
While his head did not move, and she could not see his eyes, Rukia felt Ichimaru's gaze turn to her. She gulped, but held her ground.
Finally, the man let out a single laugh. "How can I argue with my two favorite women? 'Kay, we'll do it yer way this time," he said as he gave a relenting shrug. "Next, let's get that collar off Rukia-chan and pick up Abarai-kun."
"What? But he's dead! I felt his reiatsu disappear!" Rukia protested, afraid to hope.
"He's not dead yet," Rangiku assured her as she knelt down to work on removing the reiatsu-sealing collar.
"Yeah, he's just restin'; look," the fox affirmed with an odd accent, which earned a very dirty look from his wife. As if to deliberately earn her ire further, he continued, "Remarkable bird, the Rukongai Red, eh? Beautiful plumage!"
While Rangiku scolded her husband about inappropriately timed references to popular mortal culture, Rukia focused her senses to where she had last felt Renji's reiatsu. She realized with surprised joy that while her old friend's reiatsu was weak, it was still present. Relieved that Renji was still alive, she turned back to her unexpected rescuers and asked the question that was on the forefront of her thoughts. "Why?"
What did they have to gain by helping her? They had no motive for saving her or her friends. Then again, two minutes ago she would have said the same of Zaraki.
"Last I checked, no one with Bankai was ever easy to kill," Ichimaru answered.
"Not that," Rukia shook her head with slight annoyance. "I mean, why are you helping me?"
Rangiku glanced up at her husband, and decided to let him explain. He looked thoughtful, as if pondering how to put his reasons into words.
"Hey, Rangiku."
The lieutenant of the Third Division looked up from her paperwork to see that her captain had returned to the office. Normally, she would be out on patrol looking for the ryoka, but there were some forms that demanded her immediate attention. She planned to finish only the few most necessary ones before going back out on field duty.
"How goes the hunt for the ryoka?" she asked as she returned to her forms and continued to fill out the appropriate spaces.
"Haven't found 'em," he replied easily, and then veered off onto another topic. "I've been thinkin' 'bout somethin', an' I wanna ask ya 'bout it."
"What?"
"Do ya really think Rukia-chan deserves to die?"
Rangiku froze, her pen hovering over the line that had yet to gain her signature. While she hated paperwork, the implication of Gin's question was not her preferred way out of it.
"You're thinking about helping the ryoka rescue her, aren't you?"
"Since it looks like ya already know the answer to yer question, how 'bout answerin' mine?"
She sighed, deciding to humor him for the moment. It was not as if he were suggesting anything illegal… yet.
"No, I don't think Kuchiki Rukia deserves to die."
"Was that so hard to say?"
Okay, she was done with the humoring; it was time to get straight to the point.
"Gin, this is not the kind of mischief that'll get you a spanking from Yamamoto," she scolded, "If you do anything to save Rukia, he'll kill you."
"He'll have to find us first."
"Us?" she asked flatly with a raised eyebrow.
"What, did ya really think I'd do this adventure without ya? If I rescued Rukia-chan all by myself, then I'd have to leave ya… ferever. An' while I do wanna save Rukia-chan, nothing's worth bein' separated from ya ferever. I promised that I would never leave ya, Rangiku. I'd really love yer help, but if yer dead set against it, we'll stay."
She sighed.
"Why are you so interested in saving her, anyway?"
"Besides the fact that I like teasin' her, an' I don't like sad endings? I actually think this rescue can work."
"What makes you think that?"
"This ain't the first time Soul Society has been attacked, we all know that. This ain't even the first time someone's broken into the Sereitei to save a prisoner. What's different about this invasion is the fact that outsiders are comin' in to save a shinigami, an' some o' the higher officers are joinin' as well. An' that's only after a few days of bargin' in here.
"An' I don't know 'bout ya, but I kinda like the idea of bein' one o' the few people to successfully rescue a prisoner from the Gotei 13."
Rangiku contemplated her husband's words silently.
"Gin, do you really believe that saving Rukia-san is the right thing to do?" she finally asked softly.
"Well, ya know that I've always had a hard time with right an' wrong, but I think I've got it this time."
She looked at him critically.
"There's another reason, isn't there?" Rangiku guessed.
"Ya got me," Gin admitted. "There is. But I can't tell ya what."
Rangiku blinked in surprise. It was not often that her husband kept information from her. Most of the time, it was classified information that was deemed "captains' eyes only." Another instance that stuck more solidly in her mind was the fact that he had never told about his past before he had saved her from starvation. Whenever she had asked, his answer had always been the same: "As far as I'm concerned, I didn't exist before the day I met ya." Whether the answer was flattery or covering up his past or both, there were still parts of Gin's life that remained a mystery to her. And most of the time, she respected his privacy enough that she let him keep his secrets.
"Trust me, it's a good reason," he continued. "An' maybe I'll tell ya what it is someday, but not now."
She knew that Gin would not suggest something on this scale lightly; they both had a good life here in the Gotei 13. If they rescued Rukia, then they would be forced to leave the Third Division, all the friends they had in the Seireitei, and perhaps even have to run to the world of the living in order to survive. If he had a good enough reason that he was willing to ask her to go through all that, then it was indeed very important to him.
Rangiku sighed again. She looked at the forms in front of her, and the pen in her hand, before tossing the latter over her shoulder in resignation.
"All right, if it matters that much to you, let's go save Rukia-san; I don't want to do this paperwork anyway."
"'Cause yer my second favorite woman in Soul Society," Ichimaru finally answered simply.
"That's not an answer!" Rukia protested.
"Yes it is."
"Gin, stop agitating her and help me get this off," Rangiku scolded as she fiddled with the clasp to Rukia's collar.
The recently rogue captain calmly walked in front of them. Rukia held her breath and stiffened as she saw his hand rose up to her neck. She only exhaled and relaxed after Ichimaru had smoothly unlocked the collar, and let it fall to the ground.
Rangiku glared at him. "Show-off," she muttered as she stood back up. He responded by turning the knob on his smile to Cheeky.
"Okay, next on the list is pickin' up Abarai-kun," Ichimaru said out loud, and then grabbed Rukia by the back of her obi. The former prisoner yelped in surprise as she was lifted off the ground and tucked under his arm. "Let's go!"
Sentaro stood watch at the window in his captain's office, and kept a nervous eye on the iconic hill at the geographic center of the Seireitei. He knew that any minute now, Rukia's execution would begin. He also knew Ukitake had a plan to save the girl, but if he wanted it to succeed, he had better hurry up.
"Ready!"
Both Third Seats snapped towards their captain's voice, who had finally emerged from his chamber with his tools in hand.
"Has the execution started yet?" Ukitake asked.
"No, sir!" Sentaro answered.
"Good," the captain exhaled in relief. "Then we may not be too late."
Hanatarō smiled reassuringly at Abarai Renji as he entered the last stages of the healing session. The latter's battle with Kuchiki Byakuya had really done a number on him; the fact that Abarai was still alive spoke volumes of his resilience and Unohana's skills.
"I need to get moving," the patient groaned out.
Hanatarō's smile disappeared, and he used every bit of pitiful arm strength he had to keep the larger man on the ground. Fortunately, the patient was still wounded, so he did not have as much energy to resist his healer's insistence. Another factor in the Seventh Seat's favor was Rikichi's rush forward to help in making sure Abarai recovered correctly.
"Abarai-san!" the mousy man from the Fourth protested. "You can't move just yet! Please let me finish up first!"
"Even if Ichigo rescues Rukia, he's going to need help breaking her out of the Seireitei," the now ex-lieutenant argued back. "I'm healed enough to help him with that!"
"I have to disagree with that!" Hanatarō corrected hurriedly.
"Ya shouldn't argue with yer healer, ya know."
The three men jerked their heads towards the new voice that had spoken. Their surprise at identifying the speaker as Captain Ichimaru was only augmented by what he was carrying under his arm. Or, perhaps it was more accurate to say who.
"Rukia!"
"Rukia-san!"
"Kuchiki-sama!"
"Renji! Are you all right?" the girl in question cried from her rather undignified position.
"I'm fine," Abarai assured her. The difficulty he displayed in just raising his head to look at her was dwarfed only by his inability to understand what he was seeing.
"Gin, put her down," the Rangiku instructed, and Hanatarō realized that this was the first time he had ever noticed the gorgeous woman last in a scene. It was indeed a strange day.
Her other half obeyed without another word, and the tiny shinigami immediately rushed to her old friend's side.
"Are you all right? Hanatarō, is he going to recover?" Rukia continued to ask.
"Definitely. I'm almost finished," he answered.
"Hey, you said I wasn't healed enough to fight," Renji protested.
"And that's still true," Hanatarō riposted. "Even though your wounds have been healed, you've still lost a lot of spiritual energy."
"Is he well enough for me to hit him for being an idiot?" Rukia asked.
"Go right ahead," the healer permitted.
"Now, wait a min- OW!"
"YOU IDIOT!"
"An' the score is now Rukia-chan's Fist: One, Abarai-kun's Face: Zero," Ichimaru quipped.
"What were you thinking, almost getting yourself killed like that!" Rukia hollered.
"Rukia, you can beat him up later," Rangiku interrupted, preventing the smaller girl from continuing her scolding, and ignoring Renji's protest at the prospect of further injury. "Right now, we need to focus on escaping."
"That's right. But 'fore we do anythin' else," Ichimaru agreed, and then turned to the Sixth Division unseated officer, "Who might ya be?"
"Rikichi, sir, of the Sixth Division," the young man answered promptly as he stood at attention.
"Anyone know yer here?" Ichimaru asked.
"No, sir."
"Then run along. If ya get back to yer squad soon, they'll never know ya helped the enemies of the Gotei 13."
"But I want to help!" Rikichi protested. "I've come this far, haven't I?"
"If ya stay with us, ya might get killed. An' even if ya don't, all you'll get is a life o' exile an' always lookin' over yer shoulder, makin' sure that we don't get caught. Are ya ready to deal with that?"
The unseated officer hesitated for the briefest moment before declaring, "For Renji-san, I am!"
"Rikichi," the red-haired man groaned, "Don't. You've done enough for us. For that, I'll always be grateful. But please don't throw away your future for my sake. We won't think ill of you if you go back now."
"Renji-san, I insist!" Rikichi persisted.
"Jus' as long as ya know what yer gettin' into, an' don't get in our way, ya can come with us," Ichimaru agreed, and then attained a thoughtful look on his face. "Ya know, if we keep attractin' helpers like this, it'll be more convenient fer the rebels to stay in Soul Society an' to have everyone else be exiled."
"Somehow, I doubt that idea would go over well with Yamamoto," Rangiku deadpanned.
The captain-commander let a subtle sneeze escape him. Either there was a beautiful woman talking about him, or he was coming down with a cold. Conscious of his age and appearance, Yamamoto made a note to have some health-boosting tea later, before focusing his thoughts on a more pressing matter.
Kuchiki Rukia and her escort were late. With the ryoka invasion occurring, and with the goal of the intruders reportedly being to rescue Kuchiki Rukia, the tardiness of the prisoner was a legitimate cause for concern. Perhaps it would have been prudent to assign a captain to oversee the prisoner's transfer from her cell to the execution site.
He looked over to his lieutenant. Chōjirō caught his meaning immediately. He acknowledged the silent order with a nod and set off to investigate what was delaying their arrival.
"Well, Gin, this was your idea, what should we do now?" Rangiku asked. "We'll need to find the rest of the ryoka and let them know Rukia's been rescued."
"Findin' 'em's gonna be bit o' a problem," Gin said. "Any y'all know where they might be?"
"Kurosaki's under Sōkyoku Hill," Abarai answered as he stood up, now that Hanatarō had finally finished healing him to his satisfaction. "There's an underground training complex. I don't know about the rest of them, though."
"I think they're in the Fourth Division's holding cells," Hanatarō offered.
"It'll be easy to find Zaraki and his crew, just follow the big yellow reiatsu," Rangiku commented.
"We find Kurosaki first," Abarai declared.
Gin sent an inquisitive smile to the wounded warrior.
"He's the only one of the ryoka still free," he explained. "And he's the strongest and the most reckless of them."
"You're not the one to criticize people about being reckless," Rukia scolded.
"Shut up," Abarai snapped back before continuing. "If he doesn't get the message that we've already got Rukia, he'll charge out to the Sōkyoku and get himself killed trying to take on all the captains at once."
"Definitely," Rukia agreed.
"'Kay then, next stop is Secret Underground Training Center," Gin decided. "Let's go!"
"But how?" Hanatarō asked. "Only you and Rangiku-san can flash-step right now."
"Rangiku, carry Rukia-chan and Hanatarō-kun," the now ex-captain declared brightly. "I'll take care of Abarai-kun an' Rikichi-kun."
Four cries of protests went ignored as both Ichimaru lifted their unwilling passengers. Gin simply picked up Abarai and tossed him over one shoulder like a sack of persimmons, and held Rikichi likewise. Rangiku lifted Rukia bridal style in her arms, and allowed the bashful Hanatarō to climb on her back and ride piggy-back style (albeit only after she had given him a direct order to do so).
Chōjirō arrived at the bridge that connected Sōkyoku Hill and the Tower of Penitence, and that was where he discovered the bodies of the guards. After he scanned their reiatsu levels and confirmed that they were thankfully still alive, he applied some healing kidō to one of them. After a moment, a groan announced his return to the world of the waking.
"What happened?" Chōjirō inquired as soon as the man was coherent.
"It was Ichimaru-taichō and Ichimaru-fukutaichō! They attacked us and took Kuchiki Rukia with them!"
The lieutenant's eyes narrowed.
"See to your fellow guards," he instructed, and after his order was acknowledged, Chōjirō cast a Tentei Kūra to grant him direct communication with Yamamoto.
"I found the guards unconscious. After waking them, they said that Ichimaru-taichō and Ichimaru-fukutaichō had taken Kuchiki Rukia."
Silence was the only reply at first, but the lieutenant could feel the anger burning off his captain's mind.
"Find them. Subdue them. If necessary, kill them. Bring Kuchiki Rukia back."
"Yes, sir."
The Tentei Kūra cut off, and Chōjirō set forth to carry out his orders.
"We're at the bottom of Sōkyoku Hill now," Ichimaru announced as he stood still. "Where's this secret underground training center of yers?"
"It's right over there," Renji gestured over his shoulder, still facing the wrong way thanks to being slung across the captain's.
"I can't see where yer pointin'," the silver ex-captain complained.
"Then maybe you should put me down!"
The foxlike fighter complied. After satisfied that he was on his feet, Renji pointed out definitively and clearly which way their destination was, with more attitude than perhaps was necessary.
"Thanks."
And then he was promptly yanked off his feet again by Ichimaru, and both of them flash-stepped to the entrance. It was only after all six of them reached the inside of the training room that Gin allowed the two former Sixth Division members to stand by themselves again.
"Hello!" Ichimaru called. "Anyone home?"
"No, come by later," a familiar feminine voice called back, caution laden in every word.
"Yoruichi-san? It's Abarai Renji," the red-haired man announced. "And I've brought some friends home."
"I think the friends brought you," Rangiku teased.
"Shut it," Renji growled.
"Ya should be grateful we decided to let ya tag along," Ichimaru said. "If it weren't fer the fact that Rukia-chan would cry if I left ya an' Rikichi behind, I would've."
"What? Why would you want him and not me?" Renji protested, gesturing to Hanatarō.
"'Cause he's the best healer here," Gin explained, "That makes him more useful than ya right now."
"But I have Bankai!"
"Can ya use it right now?"
"…"
"I thought not."
"Well, this is a surprise," Yoruichi spoke up again as she emerged from behind a promontory. "Ichimaru Gin, come to help us. What's your angle?"
Right around then Renji's brain ceased to function, because while he remembered that the aforementioned woman was quite gorgeous, she was now stark naked. A moment later, his lungs ceased to function for a moment as well, due to one temperamental midget punching him in the solar plexus.
"Avert your eyes, you fool!"
Even though he knew it would be easier to simply obey her than to argue, he couldn't help but protest with a wheezing, "Why… aren't you… mad at the… other guys?"
"Because Rikichi's passed out, Ichimaru-san is married…"
"Yeah, no offense, but I think Rangiku's prettier."
"Good answer, buster," the wife smirked.
"No offense taken," the au naturel woman brushed off casually.
"…and Hanatarō is being a gentleman," Rukia finished.
Renji stared at the other conscious man, surprised that the mild-manner healer wasn't simply resorting to fainting like Rikichi had. Instead, Hanatarō was politely averting his eyes, as if he were considered Yoruichi's modesty more important than his own bashful inclinations.
"Why aren't you bothered by this?" he demanded.
"Well, I am a healer, so I've examined shinigami of both genders before," Hanatarō explained matter-of-factly. "When you've been physically examining people for that long, skin exposure doesn't really bother you."
Renji gaped at the meek officer.
"Oh?" the catlike exhibitionist grinned mischievously, and started to walk towards Hanatarō in a sultry manner. "So this doesn't bother you at all?"
Since his gaze was averted, Hanatarō did not see what "this" referred to, but the seductive tone in her voice was enough to superheat his face and make him back up a few steps while trying to stammer out some sort of coherent response.
"So it's the voice that gets you going, not the looks," she smirked.
"YORUICHI!" A new and clearly irritated voice hollered. "WILL YOU JUST PUT ON SOME CLOTHES?!"
"Okay, fine," she rolled her eyes and walked back the way she came. "Some people are so uptight."
From the same direction Yoruichi had come, Ichigo appeared (fully clothed) with a hand beside his face, obviously meant to shield his view from any and all feminine nudity.
"So, did you do it?" Renji asked.
"Yeah," Ichigo confirmed as he let his hand fall down to his side.
"Did what?" Rukia questioned.
"Bankai," the human said, and then faced her, ignoring the shocked look on her face at his achievement. "And I see you got yourself rescued; good job, I'm glad you finally decided to see reason."
"It's not like they gave me a choice!" she protested, quickly getting over her surprise and stomping up to him. "They were as tyrannical as you were! 'We're going to save you whether you like it or not!' What kind of way is that to rescue someone?!"
"It's the way you save someone when that someone is too dumb to let herself be rescued willingly!"
"Pass the popcorn, will ya, Rangiku?" Ichimaru said.
The bickering duo froze as they remembered their audience.
"Oh, yeah, who're you?" Ichigo asked as he turned to the unfamiliar faces.
"This is Ichimaru Gin-san, and his wife Rangiku-san, the now former captain and lieutenant of the Third Division," Renji introduced. "They're the ones who rescued Rukia. I think you already know Hanatarō, and the guy on the ground over there is Rikichi."
"Thanks, Gin, Rangiku," Ichigo said, though he gave the pair a cautious look.
"Just tryin' to do the right thin'," the former captain shrugged.
"Oh, really," Yoruichi said skeptically as she returned properly clothed. "I admit that I didn't know you that well when I was here, and I admit that things can change in a hundred years, but I would have never have pegged you as the type of guy who would do something for something as noble as 'the right thing.'"
"Maybe I learned one thin' too many from Shunsui, an' now I have this irresistible urge to save damsels in distress," Ichimaru suggested. Rangiku snorted as she rolled her eyes.
The golden-eyed noblewoman gave a skeptical "Hmm," but did not question him further. For now, she seemed willing to accept any help offered to the cause. Addressing motives could be saved until later.
"So, what's next?" Hanatarō asked hesitantly.
"Good question," Rangiku assented. "We saved Rukia, but how are we going to get her out of Soul Society?"
"We'll also have to find my friends," Ichigo put in.
"Yer first priority should be gettin' Rukia-chan out," Ichimaru said. "If she don't make it, then all our work is fer nothin'."
"I'm not leaving them behind," the teenager growled firmly.
"We're not going to," Yoruichi assured him. "But you're not going to be the one to rescue them this time. Ichigo, you take Rukia. I suggest going for the West Gate; you're strong enough that you can lift the gate and let yourself out. I have a cape that will let you fly and get there faster. After you get out, go hide at Kūkaku's place until the rest of us show up."
"What about us?" Renji asked.
"You take Hanatarō and Rikichi out the same direction, but since Ichigo will be moving faster than the rest of you, you'll have to go the slow route," Yoruichi instructed. "Just do your best not to get caught."
"How do we find this Kūkaku person?" Hanatarō asked.
"Just find a place to hide in the First Western District," Yoruichi instructed. "I'll come find you."
Renji and Hanatarō nodded. Rikichi only groaned as he returned to consciousness.
"What?" he asked groggily.
"Just follow me," Renji told him, since he figured it would be easier to explain the whole situation later as opposed to repeating it all now.
"Okay," Rikichi accepted as he managed to stand on his own two feet.
"And you two," Yoruichi finished, pointing at the Ichimaru family, "will go with me to find the rest of the ryoka and help them get out as well. We'll all meet up at the Shiba house."
"Got it," Rangiku said.
"Wait," Rukia interjected nervously, "We're taking refuge with the Shiba clan?"
"Is that going to be a problem?" Yoruichi asked. Her tone was deceptively casual, but there was an undercurrent of challenge within it.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, and looked to see if he could find any answers from the other shinigami. Hanatarō, Renji, and Rangiku all wore serious looks, and Rikichi seemed to be clueless about this topic, but Ichimaru still wore that same smile.
"No," Rukia finally answered.
After he had finished his mental conversation with his lieutenant, Yamamoto turned to his immediate subordinates. "Ichimaru Gin and Ichimaru Rangiku have defected to the ryoka's side by seizing Kuchiki Rukia. As of this moment, they are now our primary targets."
"Yamamoto-sōtaichō," Unohana spoke up. "What is the status of the men who were escorting Rukia-san?"
"Sasakibe said they were injured, but not dead."
"May I inspect their condition personally?"
The captain-commander nodded.
"Come, Isane," the chief healer commanded, and the two top seats of the Fourth Division departed.
"For the rest of you, find Ichimaru Gin, Ichimaru Rangiku, and Kuchiki Rukia!" Yamamoto ordered. "If the former two resist, you are authorized to use deadly force. Dismissed!"
"Yes, sir!" came the general acknowledgment.
As they departed, the old man kept a covert eye on his oldest student, Shunsui. He had noticed that the captain of the Eighth Division looked pleasantly surprised by the news of Kuchiki Rukia's rescue. While Yamamoto did not want to think that the man he considered to be a son would betray him, his suspicious mind kept the idea there. Chōjirō had told him a proverb from a western man, one of the few pieces of advice from that culture Yamamoto considered worthy: "Trust, but verify."
Author's Note: Sorry, but while Ichigo's canon rescue of Rukia was awesome, it could not happen in this timeline.
Of all the plot elements in this fic, one of the most difficult to write was how Gin went about rescuing Rukia. In the first couple of drafts, he meets her on the bridge alone, as in canon, and still offers to save her, only to turn her down because he needs to ask Rangiku first. However, he still leaves her with the hope that Ichigo will rescue her. Then I realized that if Gin really did want to save Rukia, he would have asked Rangiku before going to that bridge. And then that opened the can of worms of how that would affect the story line.
I also wanted to find reasons for Gin to risk both his life and Rangiku's for Rukia. In this timeline, since Gin stays close to Rangiku, he also forms closer bonds with his fellow shinigami, and allowed himself to get attached to some of them. He knows that he would do anything for Rangiku, but now he is finding out for himself how far he would go for someone he considers a friend.
And yes, Gin did make a Monty Python joke. No dead parrots were harmed in the making of this fanfic.
"Trust, but verify" is a quote by President Ronald Reagan.
And FYI: for dialogue taken from the series, my primary source was the subtitles from the Japanese version of the anime, but I also borrowed from the manga and English dub if I thought that they offered a better translation of a particular sentence.
My thanks to haeye, ImSeriousBro, darkling59, Raven's Shadow, and anonymous guests for reviewing my story.
Omake: Shinigami Illustrated Guide
"Why would you want to rescue me?" Rukia asked.
"'Cause I wanna adopt ya," Gin answered.
"WHAT?!"
"Well, if we're gonna save ya, the Kuchikis ain't gonna have ya in their family no more," he explained. "So I'll be more than glad to take ya in. Rangiku always wanted a daughter."
Rukia continued to just stare at the fox, allowing her jaw plenty of time to become acquainted with the floor.
"'Sides, don't ya like the ring of Ichimaru Rukia?"
That did it. She turned around and started running off across the bridge as fast as her kimono would allow her.
"Where ya goin', Rukia-chan?" Gin called.
"I'm late for my execution, remember?" she yelled back.