Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge. This is slightly AU. Theme 21: Violence.

The One Thing

Gin didn't really care about much of anything. It was something that had served him well in the past years. Aizen thought he had control over Gin. The truth of the matter was that Gin could walk out of here at any time if he wanted to. There was only one thing that Aizen could really use to control him now, and Aizen didn't really have much control of Rangiku these days. And Gin had done his level best to keep the man from realizing that Rangiku was so important to Gin. It seemed to have worked.

And this was part of why Gin wasn't paying too much attention to the meeting that Aizen was conducting. Part of it was simply because this meeting was rather boring right now. But his ears perked up when he heard Rangiku's name mentioned. Gin sat stock still as he listened to Aizen lay out plan to target the Gotei Thirteen by removing two of the most stable fukutaichos in the divisions: Nanao Ise and Rangiku Matsumoto. Gin could care less about what happened to Lieutenant Ise, though he didn't want to be the one facing her captain afterwards, but no one was touching his Rangiku.

But he knew better than to vocally oppose Aizen on this. That would be useless, and it would tip Aizen off to the fact that Gin might do something about it. Still, he didn't like this at all. It would be hard for him to keep a discreet eye on things, and quite honestly, Gin didn't trust anyone in the Seireitei to keep Ran safe. Tactically speaking, Ise and Rangiku were good choices. They weren't what people would normally consider high risk targets, but if they were some how taken out, it could cause all sorts of problems. The Eighth would probably fall completely apart without Ise to keep the day to day things organized. And Rangiku herself was far stronger than most people realized.

Gin's face lost its customary smile as he made his way back to his quarters in Hecto Mundo. He needed to find away to keep Ran safe. All of the Arrancar were going to be gunning for her, and no matter how good Ran was, there was no way that she could be on guard every second of the day.

Rangiku let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. There was something in the air lately that was making her edgy. It wasn't something that she could pin point exactly. Part of it was probably the fact that there seemed to have been quite a few more Arrancar attacks in the real world than they had been getting before. Rangiku didn't know the reason for the sudden increase in attacks, and it was bothering her. Still, she tried to put the feeling aside as she waited for Nanao to show up. The Eighth Division's fukutaicho had been analyzing all the data collected from the previous attacks, and Rangiku was hoping that she had found something useful. The Eighth was known for its grasp of tactics and strategy, so it wouldn't be too surprising if Nanao had found something other people had missed.

"Rangiku?"

She looked up to find Nanao standing in front of her. It didn't take the two of them long to settle down at a café to go over the information Nanao had brought with her. Nanao was blunt about what she had found.

"You were on location for eighty-five percent of the recent attacks. With the other fifteen percent of the attacks, I was able to find some underlying reason for them. For the attacks that you were involved with, only about five percent of them had some sort of underlying reason. I can't say this for sure, but it looks like you're being targeted for some reason."

Rangiku blinked and then frowned. That was…odd. She couldn't think of any real reason that she would be a target. Nanao sighed.

"It's an odd move, but truthfully, it could cause a blow to the Seireitei's moral. You're a fairly well liked and popular person, and you a fairly strong lieutenant. Not to mention it would highly affect the Tenth," Nanao sipped at her tea. "I don't like it though."

Rangiku knew why she didn't like it, but Nanao tended to see a slightly larger picture. "Why not?"

Nanao sighed. "Several things really. One, you're the only female lieutenant on duty in the real world, so it's hard to tell if that is a factor in the decision to target you. Two, it is a very good distraction tactic which makes me wonder what Aizen might want us distracted from. And three, if you are being targeted, how long will it be before you make a mistake? I know you're a good shinigami, but eventually, it's going to take a toll on you."

Nanao was right about that, and knowing now that she was a target was definitely going to make a difference when it came to a number of things. Rangiku typically played her carefree personality to the hilt, but while she did want her enemies to underestimate her right now, Rangiku also wanted to get out of this alive, and that might mean dropping some of the act. Of course, it wasn't all an act, but really, Rangiku was no where as scatterbrained as she seemed.

"What do you think--"

Both women looked up sharply, sensing the presence of a hollow. Nanao and Rangiku traded looks. They were both well aware that this could be a trap, but it wasn't like they had any choice about it. They were the closest shinigami. It didn't take long for the two women to shed their gigai and start searching for the hollow. And it didn't take them long to decide that they might be in over their heads. There was not one hollow but three: two menos grande and an espada. Nanao and Rangiku traded looks. There really was nothing to do except hope they could hold out until reinforcements arrived. There's was no way the other shinigami in the city would be able to miss this battle, but how long it would take them to arrive and help with this battle was another story.

Gin knew that he had run out of time. He had been doing his best to discreetly foil Aizen's plans for eliminating Rangiku, but it had gotten to the point where he was going to either have to act or leave Rangiku on her own to face her fate. He kept a close eye on the battle going on. So far, Rangiku and Ise were holding their own, but that was only because so far Grimmjow had simply sat back and let them fight the two menos, letting them wear the women down. When Grimmjow actually got into the fight, things would change drastically. Though it was clear that he hadn't expected to level of skill the two women were showing.

He himself was waiting for the most opportune moment to interfere. Gin wasn't actually sure what would happen once he interfered with Aizen's plans. He wouldn't be able to go back to Hecto Mundo, but Gin rather doubted that the Seireitei was going to welcome him back with open arms. Probably his best bet would be to go find some out of the way spot and lay low for a century or two. He could probably find a nice beach somewhere and set himself up comfortably. It might be boring, but it was probably better than being dead.

Gin's distraction cost him. He had missed actually seeing the move that caught Rangiku by surprise. Instead, he just heard her cry of pain. One of the menos had been destroyed, and Rangiku clearly had been finishing off the other when Grimmjow struck. Gin could see hesitation in Ise's form. She couldn't heal Rangiku and defend the two of them at the same time, but the longer she waited, the less chance she would have to save Rangiku. Even at this distance, Gin could tell it as a bad wound.

And within the space of that moment and the next, Gin's decision had been made. He interposed himself into the fight between Ise and Grimmjow. Ise was quick to turn her attention to taking care of Rangiku's injuries, and Gin let his natural inclination to do violence to anyone who hurt Rangiku out to play. He was going to enjoy this.

Rangiku bit back a curse as Nanao dealt with the wound in her side. It healed quickly, but it hurt like hell during the process. Apparently, Nanao didn't think they had time for a painless healing. Not that Rangiku really blamed her. She might be a little woozy from blood loss, but Rangiku knew they were in a rather odd predicament. Gin appeared to be protecting them from the espada. Rangiku didn't know why. She didn't really care why at this moment either, as long as the idiot kept doing it and didn't get himself hurt. How Rangiku was going to explain this in the mission report was another story, but she'd worry about that after they got out of this alive.

Rangiku heard Nanao utter a small sigh of relief moments before she sensed Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake's reaitsu. It figured it would be those two. At least they weren't too likely to overreact when they found out who had been helping the two women. Rangiku couldn't really see what was going on, and she hurt too much to really try and keep track of the battle by following the reaitsu patterns.

"Can you move if I help you, Rangiku?" Nanao asked. "I'd like to get us a little farther away from the fight."

"I think so."

She had lean pretty heavily on Nanao, but the two of them managed to get a safe distance from the fight. Not that there was much more to it. It seemed that the espada decided that dealing with Gin and the two captains was more than he wanted to deal with. But he didn't leave without a parting shot. Rangiku couldn't make out the comment, but Nanao had frowned at whatever he said. But before she could interrogate her friend about that, Gin was kneeling beside them. He reached on a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Rangiku's ear.

"She'll be fine with rest. It's mostly blood loss," Nanao spoke quietly.

"The question is how to keep her fine." Shunsui had joined them. "Nanao-chan rarely away from me or the Seireitei, but Rangiku is another story."

Nanao spoke up. "How likely is Aizen to spend time searching for you?"

The question was addressed towards Gin. Rangiku could tell he was slightly startled.

"I doubt he really needs me for his plans at this point, but he might feel the need to send someone after me in order to send a message."

"What are you thinking, Nanao-chan?"

Nanao's voice was carefully innocent when she spoke. "It would not harm the Seireitei any to have Aizen distracted by internal conflict, and truthfully speaking, as long as she remains a target, Rangiku is not a very effective shinigami in anything save for an administrative role, and we all know how well that would work."

"Nanao-chan, you're not suggesting that Ichimaru and Rangiku run off to Tahiti together?" Shunsui wore a smirk.

"I said nothing of the sort, though the two of them laying low for the next few months is probably the most strategically sound plan."

Captain Ukitake was also grinning. "It is a tactically sound solution. We should be able to convince the Commander-General as long as Shunsui doesn't describe as 'running off to Tahiti'."

"Would you prefer 'slipping off to Argentina'?"

Rangiku let out a weak laugh. She had the feeling that her life was about to get rather more complicated. Still, it wasn't all bad. Gin sat beside her, playing with the end of her scarf as Shunsui and Ukitake came to a final decision. Rangiku didn't mind. She was really too tired to do anything except lean against him. Gin pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Ne, Ran-chan, what do you think? Tahiti, Fiji, or Samoa?"

She just laughed. "Tahiti sounds good to me."

Whatever the future brought them, it was bound to interesting to say the least.