Ichigo was annoyed.

He was somewhat okay with the team of shinigami showing up at his school. He was even fine with Rukia kidnapping him from his body, because at least she got him out of the blue funk he was in. However, he was not okay with Rangiku, Renji, Yumichika, and Ikkaku invading his room by coming in through the ceiling light. Could they not have used the window like Rukia normally did?

Ichigo belatedly realized that his life was far too weird if he considered his window to be an acceptable entrance to his bedroom.

"What'd you do to my light?" he demanded of his intruders.

"We tried installing a new light bulb," Rangiku joked.

"With what?" the follicle-lacking fighter asked as he hung down from the ceiling.

Rangiku frowned at his obliviousness, and pushed him in the head, sending him on a premature journey to the floor.

"Don't be so uptight," she scolded Ichigo.

"I'm surprised that your joker of a husband didn't come down with you," the teenager scowled.

"Nah, I did somethin' different."

Ichigo jumped at the fox's voice. Hoping against hope, he looked at the window in the very remote possibility that Gin had actually decided on the sane and rational course of action. Of course, since that would have been the sane and rational course of action, he was not there.

"Gin? Where are you?"

"Right here."

As the reluctant host to the team of shinigami turned around, his jaw dropped below his knees. The closet door had opened, revealing the smiling captain sitting there with his legs now dangling out casually. Like the others, he was still in his gigai and school uniform, his shirt untucked and the top button undone.

The substitute shinigami sputtered for a few seconds, before finally deciding on a lucid question.

"How did you get in there?"

He at least took pleasure in the fact that the rest of the shinigami seemed to be as confused as he was at how Gin got into the closet.

"Don't be nosy, Ichigo," Gin chided. "Didn't ya want to know 'bout Arrancar?"

Ichigo stuttered for a few more moments before coming to the realization that he was better off not knowing.

"Fine. What are they?"

Renji and Rukia volunteered to explain (the latter being much less helpful in Ichigo's opinion). After learning about the Arrancar, he asked about why these particular shinigami were chosen to come to the living world.

"Rukia was picked because she knew you the best," Renji started explaining.

"Not true!" Rukia protested indignantly, "I was selected because of my abilities!"

Her interjection was ignored.

"I'm the closest to Rukia out of the available fighters, so I was chosen," Renji continued.

Ichigo could understand that. The lieutenant was a good fighter, and it was more practical to have shinigami assigned here who were already familiar with some of the people they needed to work with.

"And then I was told to pick out some fighters that I could trust who were below captain class. So I asked Ikkaku."

Again, Ichigo could follow the logic there. He knew from personal experience that the Third Seat was a good guy to have on your side in a fight.

"And then Yumichika-san insisted on going."

The substitute shinigami suddenly had a feeling that logic was about to have a decreasing factor in choosing the fighters from here on.

"When Rangiku-san heard the commotion he was making, she said that she wanted to come since it seemed interesting."

Yes, it seemed that logic and reasoning only had a vote in three of the fighters, and left the rest to absurdity and frivolity.

"Rangiku-san wouldn't hear of being left behind, and so Ichimaru-taichō came along as the leader."

Beat.

"Or something like that."

"What is this, a picnic?" Ichigo asked in exasperation.

"Okay, now fer part two of yer lesson, Ichigo," Gin interjected.

The silver haired captain went on to explain the three classes of Menos: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde. After he finished the lecture, Ichigo had one last thing he wanted to ask.

"So when are you going back?"

"We're not," Renji answered. "Until this battle with the Arrancar is over, we'll be staying in the world of the living."

"Well, where will you guys be sleeping then?"

Six people looked at him expectantly.

"And don't even think about staying here, there's too many of you, and my family would definitely notice," Ichigo preemptively denied.

"That's okay, we'll ask Orihime-chan if we can stay at her place," Rangiku said pleasantly. "Coming, Gin?"

"Right behind ya, Rangiku," he said as he followed his wife out the window.

After Ikkaku and Yumichika followed suit, Ichigo turned towards the other two team members.

"I'll be staying at Urahara's," Renji assured the substitute, and exited the room via the window.

"So, where are you staying?" Ichigo asked Rukia. Last time she lived in town, she had stayed in his room, so he didn't know who she was going to ask for a place to live.

Rukia just smirked at him.

"No!" Ichigo denied.

Her smirk stayed.

"I said 'no!'"

Smirk.

"Rukia!"

This was his room and his house, so why was Rukia the one in charge?


Gin sat on the roof of Orihime's place, looking up into the sky.

After easily obtaining the "okay" to stay, Gin had gotten a quick bite to eat before quietly vacating the room. He could see that there was something on the human girl's mind, and he figured she wanted to let it out to somebody. He knew that his wife was far better at comforting people than he was; Rangiku had certainly tried to teach him the finer points of compassion and empathy, but even after a hundred years, such skills were still elusive to him. So, he decided to let the girls have a private talk.

That was okay with him. It was a beautiful evening, and the view of the night sky in the world of the living was a treat he was not able to indulge in often. Gin let his eyes open more fully to allow him a better view of the stars.

They were arranged differently here than they were in Soul Society. He could tell because he and Rangiku had spent nights every now and then just lying together and looking up into the wonder of the night sky. Gin wondered why the stars looked off here, and whether or not the reason for that difference lay solely in the fact that this was the living world, or if there were other factors involved.

Gin had once visited the Twelfth to ask if they had done any research in astronomy.


"Astronomy?" Mayuri looked up from his computer with nine parts annoyance and one part curiosity at the trespasser. There was a list of individuals he had long given up trying to keep out of his laboratory. Top of that list were Kusajishi Yachiru and Ichimaru Gin, and the latter was the one that was now present. While the fox was intruding on precious time for experimentation, at least it was made up by the fact that he was seeking scientific knowledge.

"Astronomy," his erstwhile ally confirmed. "Ya know, study o' the stars an' all that."

"We haven't much interest in such a branch of research," the scientist answered. "Astronomy is primarily calculation of planetary trajectories and aiding timekeeping. Prediction for eclipses, for example. Since we have computers, we have little need to further explore astronomy."

"Ain't ya even curious?" Gin asked.

"Of course," Mayuri replied. "But I have other, far more interesting projects on my mind right now. Perhaps some other day, I'll take another look. Now, is there anything else you wish to know, or are you here just to annoy me?"


His thoughts were interrupted by Rangiku coming up to the roof in her night clothes.

"Orihime-chan and I are about to have dinner," she said. "Do you want to join us?"

"Nah, I already snacked," he answered. He wondered idly how the human girl was going to react to his wife's… odd tastes. "How'd the girl talk go?"

"I don't confide and tell, Gin, you know that," she scolded him with good humor.

"I didn't ask what ya talked 'bout, I asked how it went," he riposted.

She smirked at his counter. "She's feeling better now."

"Good. Ya better get back down; ya don't wanna keep our hostess waitin'."

"Enjoy the view," she said, referring to his watching of the night sky.

"I will," he promised.

Rangiku pecked him on the cheek and went back down into Orihime's apartment.

Gin sighed as he settled back down on the roof. While he could not hear the specifics, he could definitely tell that both the girls were enjoying their meal. That either meant that Rangiku had come across normal food that she liked, or Orihime's tastes were just as abnormal as his wife's.

Very early on, Gin and Rangiku made a simple deal about her cooking: he would try every single one of her creations once, and he would be honest about the taste. It was actually a better arrangement than either had expected; there was a one in three chance that Gin would find her meals weird-good, weird-neutral, or weird-bad. It was only every now and then that she made something he truly couldn't force past his gag reflex.

Sometime later, as he pondered the culinary habits of his spouse, he felt it; the appearance of a hostile incursion. The reiatsu had the familiar vile aura of a Hollow, but was somehow tempered by the presence of something akin to a shinigami. These had to be Arrancar.

Gin popped the small green pill in his mouth and told the gikongan to find a safe spot to hide. Rangiku was up only a second later, in her natural spiritual form and with her zanpakutō drawn.

"Orihime-chan safe?" he asked.

"Yes, I had her watch over my gigai so that she wouldn't try to join the fight."

"Get ready, Rangiku; they're here."

A moment after he had spoken, two figures appeared in front of them in the air in a manner similar yet different to shunpo.

"Nice to meet you," greeted the taller, slimmer figure on the left, and then vanished.

Gin knew there was only one place an attacking enemy would go after he had disappeared from in front of you.

He quickly drew Shinsō and pivoted on his feet to block the strike from behind.

"Gin!"

Rangiku was forced to jump away as the other enemy attacked her.

A moment of silence followed as the combatants measured their opponents.

"I am Arrancar Eleven, Shawlong," Gin's opponent finally said.

"Ichimaru Gin," he replied cordially. "Captain of the Third Division. Nice to meet ya, too."

Introductions finished, Gin pushed against his enemy, and they separated. He made sure to catch up to the Hollow, and they faced each other once more on the roof of a nearby building.

"Captain of the Third Division," Shawlong said, and then a small, satisfied smile lit his features. "My, my, how wonderful. It looks like I hit the jackpot."

Gin elected not to reply, and simply changed the setting on his smile from "Standard" to "Intimidating." He was quite pleased when Shawlong's smug smile straightened into a cautious frown.

With no further warning, the vulpine captain leapt forward and struck with Shinsō.


"Growl, Haineko," Rangiku called out in between swings of the enemy's fists, and the ash storm rose to her command. It was quite evident that with her reiatsu limiter activated, the rotund enemy assaulting her was clearly her match in strength and speed.

With her blade now a cloud of ash, the lieutenant could now focus on dodging each punch sent at her, and did not have to worry about trying to find an opening; Haineko would drift through any gap in the enemy's defense. Rangiku swung her hilt, and the Ash Cat pounced.

Sparks flew off the Arrancar's hide as the millions of particles of Rangiku's zanpakutō scratched at his skin, but there was no significant damage.

"My hierro is too strong for you to break through," the giant informed her arrogantly.

"Even the toughest armor has its weak spot," Rangiku rejoined. "And my zanpakutō is good at finding them."

On that note, she swung her hilt again, and the cloud swirled across her enemy's body and dove towards his throat. The thinner skin at the neck was more vulnerable, and Haineko succeeded in drawing blood with her claws.

The Arrancar's eyes widened at the unexpected piercing of his iron flesh, and disappeared from the clutches of the incorporeal zanpakutō.

Just like her husband, Rangiku knew what would happen next. So in response, she swung the hilt of her sword as she pivoted one hundred eighty degrees.

As expected, the corpulent man was behind her with his fist raised above his head and ready to bring it down on her head. Before the blow landed, Haineko blocked the fist as she blew in between her wielder and the Arrancar.

"That was pretty fast," Rangiku admitted to her opponent as she held back his fist. "It's a lot like our shunpo; what do you call yours?"

"Sonido," the Arrancar replied haughtily.


A minute into the fight, Shawlong took a moment to pause and briefly looked off into the distance.

"One of yer guys got killed, didn't they?" Gin asked, also feeling the sudden drop of reiatsu. And if he was not mistaken, it was Rukia who had dealt that blow. He made a mental note to give the girl a congratulatory pat on the head next time he saw her.

"One of our weaker brethren," Shawlong replied calmly. "Do not make the mistake of believing that Di-Roy's death makes your victory certain."

"It sure don't help yer side," Gin replied, and attacked again.

The two duelists clashed three times, and the captain pulled away first. Shawlong managed to get a scratch in, and a small amount of blood began to trickle from the wound on the left side of his face just below the eye.

"Not bad," Gin admitted as he gingerly touched the nick on his cheek. "Ya got me that time."

"It will not be the last injury I will inflict on you," Shawlong promised.

"Don't make promises yer not sure ya can keep," the fox taunted back.

He subtly checked Rangiku's condition. She had already released her sword, and was still having trouble fighting her opponent. Still, she was holding her own for now, and since Gin could not do anything to help her at the moment, the status quo would have to remain.

However, that did not mean that he would not do something to end the fight quicker.

"Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"

Shawlong's eye widened in surprise at the sudden release of Shikai, and just managed to block it before Gin scored a hit.

Quickly recovering, the Arrancar disappeared and reappeared behind Ichimaru with his blade ready to fall.

Not exactly a fast learner, this one.

Gin had easily predicted the move and leveled Shinsō back beneath his armpit. The fang of his sword pierced through his haori and scored a hit on the astonished Hollow. It was not a very deep one, just a cut in the oblique muscle, but it was a hit, and forced Shawlong to retreat by leaping away. Gin retracted his blade and faced him, and from his relatively safer position, the Arrancar considered his foe.

"I'm surprised you managed to hit me," he said. "Even though you are only at Shikai, you managed to catch me by surprise. But that is the extent of your power in this state, is it not? Your sword relies more on keeping your opponent at a distance rather than overpowering them with raw strength. You hope to kill me by staying away and not allowing me to close in for a counterattack."

"Ya figured it out," Gin admitted. While his enemy's deductions were not incorrect, they were far from the whole, accurate story. But the wary warrior saw no reason to change the Arrancar's mind, so he kept mum about his own abilities. Instead, he asked, "So whatcha gonna do now?"

"How prepared are you for the eventuality that your opponent would be fast enough to close that gap?" was all Shawlong inquired before he raised his blade vertically and declared, "Slice, Tijereta!"

A smile painted the Arrancar's lips as an explosion of reiatsu rushed past Gin. When the smoke cleared, Shawlong appeared in his Resurreccion form. He studied his skeletal hands for a moment before attacking.

Gin saw it coming, but just barely. He only managed to step back enough to let the tip of Shawlong's claw run across his torso. While the wound was shallow, the sheer length did mean that blood was pouring out of his body fast. On instinct, Gin focused his reiatsu into the wound to stop the bleeding. He did not do anything more, because he still needed enough spiritual power to kill his opponent.

"Huh," the captain remarked looking down at his injury. "Ya got me that time."

"I told you that I would inflict another wound on you," Shawlong commented lightly. "However, I'm surprised you managed to step back in time to prevent that cut from completely bisecting you. Even so, if this is your maximum speed, you will not stand a chance. Why don't you try your Bankai? You will need it if you wish to have any chance at beating me."

Truth be told, Gin had been contemplating that course of action, but he did not like the idea of revealing his full power to someone who was probably just a henchman. True, with the restriction on, the release of Bankai would be about the equivalent of releasing Shikai, but it was still the principle of the matter. Besides, this provided Gin with a chance to test his wits.

"What, jus' 'cause ya grew yer nails out?" Gin shrugged. "I don't need no Bankai fer that, jus' nail clippers."

The Arrancar narrowed his eyes in annoyance, and leapt forward to attack again.

This time, the fox was prepared, and blocked the long, bony fingers which threatened to shred him to bits.

"I'm serious, ya should be more careful," Gin smirked. "Next time ya feel the need to scratch yer nuts, ya mind end up a eunuch."

Shawlong appeared only mildly annoyed at his opponent's taunts.

"You will reap the fruits of your arrogance soon enough," the Arrancar calmly swore.


Rangiku was reaching the edge of her limit; while the assault on her enemy's eye and throat served well to force him to relocate, his sonido allowed him to escape Haineko's claws before too much damage could be inflicted.

"Ichimaru Rangiku-sama! You are hereby authorized to use full force!"

The news from the radio made the woman grin triumphantly.

"Gin! Renji!" she called out to her allies, "We've got permission to break the restriction!"


The division's leader let his smile become a predatory grin as he heard Rangiku's announcement.

"Better late than never I guess," he said rhetorically, savoring the feel of the invisible collar lifting.

"What's this?" Shawlong asked in return, a small amount of concern beginning to show on his face for the first time, but it was quickly suppressed.

"Limit, release," was Gin's only response, and he could feel the other two combatants also letting their full power out. Reiatsu from three shinigami flared blue, and sent beams of light into the sky.

"Did you say, 'limit, release'?" the would-be raider asked, now not bothering to conceal his surprise.

The smoke cleared, and Gin appeared before the Arrancar refreshed with his wounds partly closed.

"Yeah, sorry, Shawlong, but yer gonna die now," the captain said to his opponent playfully. "Ya see, whenever someone lieutenant or higher goes to the livin' world, their power is sealed to 'bout one fifth. In certain situations, we can get permission to remove the seals… situations like these, fer example."

Shawlong's attention was diverted when he saw one of his fellow Fraccion destroyed by Renji.

Upon the realization that he was now outclassed, the insectoid Arrancar called to his remaining comrade for a retreat, just in time to see Rangiku use Haineko simply shred the large Arrancar into dust.

Seeing that he was the only one left, Shawlong ran.

"Uh, uh, uh, uh," Gin scolded as he observed his opponent's flight, before letting Shinsō strike with her full strength. The serpentine blade hissed in joy as she pierced the Arrancar's chest.

Shawlong screamed in pain, but was quickly silenced as the blade moved upward and neatly cut his skull in half.

The image of shock and fear was split in two before Shawlong's body dissipated.

Gin let out a sigh, and resealed his Shikai.

"Gin!"

The addressed captain looked down to see his wife standing next to Orihime and her gikongai on the rooftop.

"Are you all right?" she called.

"I'm good," he answered as he descended to their position. "Though if ya don't mind, Orihime-chan, I wouldn't object to ya healing these scratches."

"No problem," the human girl acquiesced, and mentally called out two of her Shun Shun Rikka.

"You only sustained two injuries, Ichimaru-taichō?" the gikongan asked as the subtle hum of Orihime's powers did their work, its English accent sounding weird from the voice box of his gigai.

When Gin went to get a gikongan for his mission to the living world, he wanted one that had a Kansai accent like his. They didn't have any, so he decided to pick the one with a fox's head on it. The result was a gikongan with a British accent that sounded almost as creepy as the man he impersonated. Gin took a liking to it immediately.

"Yep," the captain answered as he felt his battle's injuries disappear, and the Soten Kisshun returned to their owner's hair. As soon as he was released from her healing sphere, Rangiku rushed forward and tightly wrapped her arms around his torso. In reply, Gin put an arm around her and whispered to her, "I'm okay, Rangiku."

"I was worried about you," she said softly.

"Oh, c'mon, that guy was barely worth mentionin'," he assured her, and then turned his attention to Orihime, who was quietly trying not to look at the scene before her. He placed his free hand on her head, and said, "Thanks, Orihime-chan, I owe ya one."

"Oh, no, you don't," the girl rushed to reply. "It wasn't a problem!"

"You know, we should check on the others," Rangiku reluctantly spoke up. "They might need Orihime-chan's healing abilities."

"Aw, but I wanna stay here an' snuggle," Gin pouted.

"Yes, it's very comfortable, but we need to make sure no one else is dead or dying."

"All right, fine," the captain relented as he let go of his wife.

"Stay in the apartment until we come back," Rangiku instructed the gikongan.

They both nodded and left.

Gin picked up Orihime in his arms with a squeak of protest from the girl before flash-stepping towards the nearest reiatsu source, Rangiku following right behind him.

A few minutes later, they found a bruised Ichigo and an unconscious Rukia on the roof of a building. Gin quickly set down both himself and the flustered human girl and announced their presence with, "Someone need a healer?"

"Inoue! Gin! Rangiku-san!"

Orihime's sight first went to the large number of Ichigo's bruises, but then she saw Rukia lying unconscious with a stab wound to her abdomen and her gikongan weeping over her.

She immediately ran to the petite shinigami and with a call to her Shun Shun Rikka began her work.

"So, how'd yer fight go?" Gin asked Ichigo.

The substitute did not answer, instead looking off to the side unhappily.

"Eh, well, ya win some, ya lose some," the captain shrugged.

"You fought an Espada, didn't you?" Rangiku asked.

Ichigo looked at her in surprise, and Gin also sent an inquiring smile to her.

"The guy I fought was bragging about it," she explained. "The Espada are Aizen's top ten Arrancar, some of his strongest fighters."

"Yeah, my guy said the same thing," the captain confirmed. "Grimmjow was his name, right?"

"Yeah," the human teen nodded.

"Is Rukia-san going to be okay?" Rangiku asked.

"I think so," Orihime replied. "I'll take care of your wounds next, Kurosaki-kun."

"'Kay," he said dully.

"Now, now," the captain chided. "If ya go back to bein' all depressed, I'll have to tell Rukia-chan on ya. An' when I tell her, she's gonna kick yer behind to Hueco Mundo an' back."

"By the way, Gin," Ichigo said, a small bit of life returning to his voice. "I've been meaning to ask you something that's been on my mind: why is Rukia scared of you?"

"A lotta people are scared o' me," he shrugged.

"Rangiku-san isn't," Ichigo pointed out.

"She's known me since we were kids."

"And I'm not."

"Yeah, but yer weird like that, so ya don't count."

Ichigo gave him a look that very plainly said, "I'm weird?" Before the orange-haired youth could continue his interrogation, he heard a groan under the subtle hum of Orihime's Soten Kisshun.

"Rukia!"

"Ichigo…"

"Rukia-sama!"

Seeing her work was done, Orihime removed her Shun Shun Rikka from Rukia's body and returned them to her hair clips.

Rukia sat up and gently placed a hand to where the hole once was.

"Thank you, Orihime," Rukia said. "Your healing powers have really improved."

"Oh, that's not true!" the other girl stammered modestly.

"Welcome back to the world of the livin', Rukia-chan," Gin said.

Rukia froze.

"Thank you, Ichimaru-taichō," she replied warily.

"See what I mean?" Ichigo said. "She's scared of you."

"I am not!" Rukia protested vehemently.

"All he had to do was say 'hi' and you were like a deer in headlights," Ichigo retorted.

"I was just surprised that the captain had taken the time to check on my condition!"

"You're a member of the team he's leading! Of course he should check to make sure you're all right! I bet even Chappy here saw how scared you are of him!"

"Rukia-sama's not afwaid of anyone!"

"Shut up, who asked you?"

"You just did."

"Judging by that smirk on your face, I'm betting you're definitely feeling better."

"I am, thank you for asking," she replied in that all-too-sweet voice of hers.

"Just answer the stupid question."

"I am not afraid of Ichimaru-taichō!"

As the two bickered on, Gin leaned over to Orihime and asked in a quiet but impish voice, "Ya ain't scared o' me, are ya, Orihime-chan?"

"Uh, actually, I'm not."

Gin paused, his eyebrows raised in surprise by the honesty of the answer.

"Yeah, you do look kind of creepy," she explained nervously. "But you helped try to save Kuchiki-san while in Soul Society, and you're here helping us now, and Rangiku-san married you, so that must mean that you're not as bad as you look."

The silver-haired captain considered the human girl for a moment.

"Ya know what, Orihime-chan?" he finally said, his smile returning in full force. "Ya can call me 'Gin'."

"What?" she started suddenly. "But I couldn't!"

"Just like Rukia-chan," Gin sighed with feigned despondency. "So stuck on formality. Well, if ya change yer mind, jus' know that I don't mind what ya call me."

"Okay… Gin-san," Orihime allowed.

"That's a bit better," he said.

"Gin, we should check on Ikkaku and Yumichika, see if they need any help," Rangiku said.

"All right, we'll let those two have their fun," Gin replied. "C'mon, Orihime-chan."

"But, Kurosaki-kun is still hurt…" Orihime protested.

"He'll be fine," the fox assured her. "Besides, he's a bit busy at the moment. Let the lovers have their lil' quarrel."

As he picked up Orihime to check on the other shinigami, Gin did not understand why his wife was shooting him a glare for that last comment. After all, surely she knew by now that there were other, far worse remarks he could have made. Who said he didn't know restraint?


Orihime nervously knocked on the apartment door. Gin and Rangiku were still in their shinigami forms on either side of her, and despite them stating that they could feel their comrades inside, the human girl was skeptical. How could shinigami ask to stay in a strange apartment? This wasn't Sado's place, she knew that, nor was it Ishida's home.

"Yes, who is- Inoue-san!"

"Asano-kun?" Orihime blinked in surprise at the familiar face of Asano Keigo.

"What are you doing here?" the other student asked excitedly.

"Uh, would you perhaps happen to have a shaved man and his beautiful friend in your room?" Orihime asked hesitantly.

"FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT RIGHT!"

"Ikkaku-san!" Orihime gasped, and rushed past the brown-haired student to where she had heard his voice.

"Hello, Orihime-chan," Yumichika greeted her as she dashed into the room.

"Hey," Ikkaku grunted with less enthusiasm. Understandable, considering the layer of bruises and burns which seemed to cover his skin.

"And who are you?" an unfamiliar brunette narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the new girl.

"Uh, Nee-san, this Inoue Orihime, a friend from school," Keigo nervously interjected. "Inoue-san, this is my sister Mizuho."

"Pleased to meet you!" Orihime chirped and bowed.

"What is your relationship with Ikkaku?" Mizuho demanded in a low voice.

"Uh, he's a friend," the other girl answered nervously.

Keigo's glaring sister did not seem convinced.

"Don't worry," Yumichika put in smoothly. "Orihime-chan's heart does not go out to anyone in this room."

"Unfortunately," Keigo muttered despondently under his breath.

"Great!" Mizuho suddenly grinned and hugged Orihime, who yelped at the sudden change of mood and contact. "Then make yourself at home!"

"Uh, t-thank you!" Orihime stuttered.

"Uh, Orihime-chan, who are these two?" Keigo asked curiously.

"Oh, I met Ikkaku-san and Yumichika-san over the summer," she explained.

"Actually, I was talking about them," the boy gestured to the two Ichimarus who had thus far observed the drama in silence.

"Oh, sorry, this is Ichimaru Gin and Rangiku!" Orihime introduced, and then blinked. "You can see them?"

"See who?" Mizuho asked.

"Those two over there," Keigo pointed at Gin and Rangiku, still in their shinigami forms.

"You idiot, there isn't anyone standing there," his sister scolded.

"Well, this is awkward," Gin commented. "Orihime-chan, jus' heal their injuries an' leave."

"Don't bother, not with the ordinary humans here," Yumichika said to the kind-hearted girl quietly.

"Ikkaku-san is hurt!" Orihime protested.

"We'll come find you tomorrow, and you can heal me then," Ikkaku assured her. "I can hold out that long."

"Are you sure?" she asked in concern.

Both warriors nodded.

"Okay," Orihime agreed with some reservation, and then turned to the two Asanos still bickering and said, "Thank you for taking care of them!"

"No problem!" Mizuho broke off with her arguing to give an energetic grin at the orange-haired girl.


Rangiku found Gin in a lonelier part of a park, sitting comfortably under a tree. She walked up quietly behind him, careful not to make any sound as she approached him.

"Guess who!" she squealed as she pounced and placed her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who!"

She shrieked when someone else suddenly came up behind her and mimicked her action. Rangiku jumped away from the new hands and looked to see what had happened: Gin had left his gigai leaning against the tree, and had been hiding up in the branches for her to show up. At the moment she had pounced on him, he had struck. She was just about to tell him off for tricking her when he cut off any retort by pressing his lips against hers.

The strawberry-blonde only had a moment to curse her husband's kissing skills before she sank into bliss.

One wonderful make-out session later, Gin pulled away and whispered, "Gotcha."

"Shut up," was the only retort she could summon up in her post-kiss haze.

"So, whatcha doin' out here?"

What was she doing? Yes, there had been a reason she had been looking for him, but she couldn't quite remember…

"I think…," Rangiku slowly replied, and then her cognitive abilities gradually returned to her. "Have you filed the report about last night yet?"

"Finished it just as I felt ya comin'," Gin answered her. "Which reminds me…"

His relatively serious tone sobered her up quick, and she paid attention.

"We knew that we would need to be trainin' to get stronger fer the war with Aizen," he said. "Well, last night, I would've needed to use Bankai to kill a Gillian-class Arrancar; if we hadn't gotten word that we could fight without our limiters on, that is."

Rangiku nodded in comprehension, but then stiffened as she noticed the look on her husband's face. No one else would have picked up on it, but she knew Gin well enough to know all his tells. Right now, he was about to say something she was not going to like.

"If those were jus' the foot soldiers," Gin continued, "then the stakes have gone up."

"What are you saying, Gin?" Rangiku asked nervously.

He turned to face her, a determined and very excited smile on his face.

"It means, Rangiku-chan," he replied, and she paled; she was one of the few girls Gin did not refer to with the "-chan" honorific. There had only been one time in their lives when he had called her "Rangiku-chan," and those had not been happy times (arguably necessary, but still hard). "Yer goin' back to school."

Rangiku whimpered.

"An' we're startin' right now," Gin informed her generously as he casually drew Shinsō from her scabbard.

Well, what else could a woman do in this situation?

Just as Shinsō was laid bare, Rangiku socked him in the face, pulled her zanpakutō out of her sheath, and declared "Growl, Haineko!" All this was in the space of one second.

Before the ash cloud could reach him, Gin had already disappeared in a buzz of shunpo.

Rangiku knew that Gin would not necessarily attack from the rear. He could appear to her right or to her left, or even pop up right back in front of her. So she called Haineko back and surrounded herself with the cloud.

And she froze when she felt the point of a blade touching the top of her head.

"Yer dead," Gin's voice informed her from his position overhead. "Good work on that sucker punch, but ya should've checked above ya, not jus' to yer sides."

Rangiku expelled a very crude word from her mouth.

"We'll do that later," he promised cheekily. "If ya still got the energy after we're done trainin', that is."


Author's Note: Yes, Gin did have a much easier time with Shawlong than Hitsugaya did in canon. I know I'm going to tick off Hitsugaya fans by saying this, but Gin is the better fighter of the two. Gin has been shown to fight smarter and harder than Hitsugaya, and in this timeline, Gin was taught how to fight by Kyōraku. However, I will say that AGNH-Gin does not have as much raw power as canon Gin does, because the latter was spending his entire life training himself to be strong enough to be able to kill Aizen. Since the Gin I've been writing here did not have that drive, he will not have the same power level. With that said, I still think that his levels of sneakiness will always remain the same, no matter the timeline.

Rangiku was also able to hold out better than in canon because she has higher reiatsu levels. As I mentioned the previous chapter, the effects of having a piece of her soul stolen for the Hogyoku have never been clarified, but it's been generally assumed that it had a long-term effect on Rangiku's overall spiritual power.

The voice of Gin's gikongan is based on his voice in the English dub of the anime. While I prefer his Japanese voice better (and I think a southern accent is a better fit), I do think the English voice actor did a good job of conveying Gin's creepiness.

Interesting bit of trivia: Phil Collins was offered the role of being the voice actor for Gin in the English dub of the anime. Collins turned them down, but later regretted the decision.

My thanks to the following reviewers: TykkiMikk, Juliedoo, The Lord of War, TakaSasuke, AKissAndAGunshot, Nnix Ame, skymaster23 and anonymous guests.


Omake: Arrancar Encyclopedia

A spotlight shone down on Hitsugaya Tōshirō, who was standing there with a flat expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Today we'll be talking about alternate timelines," he began with a monotone and the enthusiasm of an acting opossum.

"Cut!"

Hitsugaya glared at Gin, who appeared in his normal shinigami outfit, but with a director's megaphone in hand.

"C'mon, Shiro-chan, put more life into this!"

"First of all, you will refer to me as Hitsugaya-san," the short prodigy started. "Second, I didn't even want to perform them. Why do you even believe these to be necessary?"

"Since Rangiku won't let me do 'em, someone else has to make sure the readers know all the jargon an' terms that come up."

"But you already went over them in the other timeline; there's no point in going over these twice."

"I don't know if ya noticed, but some o' those fans are kinda dumb. Can't really trust 'em to remember all the stuff that comes up."