Kinta appeared at Gin's office window just like his brother had a thousand times before, but unlike Toshiro he did not wait patiently for his father to acknowledge his presence. "Daddy!" he yelled quite loudly, interrupting a report Kira was giving and Gin was ignoring.
Both Gin and Kira turned abruptly to the window, and Gin, at least, was very surprised to find Kinta had a small, well-dressed girl with him. She seemed vaguely familiar, but it wasn't like Kinta to collect toddlers, familiar or otherwise. He usually stuck to reptiles and amphibians.
"Who is this?" Gin asked. He couldn't imagine any parent had actually allowed Kinta to borrow their child, and he expected he would be receiving a visit from an angry parent at any moment.
"It's Ai-chan! Don't you know Ai-chan, Daddy?" the boy demanded.
Gin's eyes widened. Make that a very angry parent. Nanao rarely even brought the girl over, liking, in Rangiku's words, 'to keep complete control over everything her daughter touches'. He couldn't imagine Nanao would be pleased to find Kinta had run off with the girl.
"Don't you think you should take her back to her mommy?" he suggested, hoping to avoid being around for that particular show.
"The white man said to bring her with me," Kinta answered. "He told me to tell you he brought you a present, and Ai-chan had to come too, and her mommy wouldn't get angry or anything."
The white man? Had Captain Ukitake come to visit Rangiku? That didn't make any sense. Ukitake wasn't likely to be in a state to make social visits if he wasn't up to attending a captains meeting. "Who's 'the white man'?" Gin finally had to ask.
"He had a really hard name; do you remember it, Ai-chan?" The boy asked the little girl who was currently sucking her thumb. "It was Ul-ul-something. He's Captain Aizen's friend."
"Stay with them," was all Gin said, before he vanished through the open window, racing toward his home with the speed of shunpo.
Kira just managed to grab hold of Kinta before he took off after his father. He, too, wanted to chase after his captain, but he knew his captain needed him here, guarding his son, so he could pursue the enemy without worrying about one of his children, at least.
Gin didn't stop until his arms were around Rangiku. Shinso lay naked on the floor beside him, forgotten the instant he'd seen her. She was on her knees in the living room with Yuki crying in her arms, and she was shaking like a leaf. "I'm here, Ran," he said. "I'm here."
"Ai-chan?" Nanao asked, her soft voice was filled with an emotion so alien to anything he'd ever heard her express it didn't even sound like her; she was terrified.
"They're both fine," Gin answered, raising his head to meet Nanao's gaze. "Aiko and Kin-chan are with Kira. They're safe." They weren't. They would never be safe again, but Gin wasn't going to tell their mothers that, not with Rangiku still trembling in his arms. "What happened?"
Rangiku raised her head, and that was when he saw the blood. Four narrow lines had been drawn across her throat, and blood oozed slowly from each one.
He froze when he saw that. That was Rangiku's life ended four times over, and he knew which Arrancar Aizen had sent because there was only one who could have put his hand around Rangiku's throat and still resisted the urge to kill her. Ulquiorra had been in their home.
Rangiku seemed to realize what he was staring at because she grabbed one of Yuki's burp rags and pressed it against her neck, hiding the blood from his gaze. "I'm fine," she said softly. She sat back and forced a smile. "Nothing happened. It's okay."
Gin nodded slowly, but he couldn't seem to respond. He couldn't stop thinking about Ulquiorra with his hand around Rangiku's throat.
Behind him, he heard Nanao begin to speak. Even after what had happened she was still first and foremost Lieutenant Ise, and Lieutenant Ise always did what needed to be done. Her voice barely trembled as she called in a report. "The Gotei must be put on full alert. Seireitei has been infiltrated. An Arrancar was seen within the Third Division. It is believed to be leaving the city-"
"No one beneath captain class," Gin managed to force the words out with an effort. "They can't touch it."
"Do not engage the Arrancar," Nanao said into her phone. "No one beneath captain class is to engage or attempt to detain the Arrancar."
Around them they could hear the wail of distant sirens. The city was on alert, but they all knew there was little hope the Arrancar would not easily escape if he was still in the city at all.
"Captain Ichimaru, the Arrancar said it brought you a gift from Aizen. It left it in the boys' room. I think it best you determine what it is immediately."
Gin released Rangiku reluctantly and took hold of Shinso before he stood. His eyes were still on Rangiku, holding tightly onto their crying daughter. Ulquiorra had not harmed either of them, nor had he hurt Kin-chan or Nanao's daughter; Gin had never imagined he would come out of an encounter with an Espada so fortunate. "Lieutenant Ise," he said, realizing there was one member of his family still unaccounted for. "Could you please contact Toshiro? Let him know the Arrancar has a particular interest in our family."
He did his best to ignore Rangiku's shocked gasp at his mention of Toshiro. He needed to see what Aizen had thought worth sending Ulquiorra all this way to deliver, and he needed to do it before he lost his nerve entirely. The urge to grab Rangiku and run had never been so strong.
It seemed like far too many steps across the wooden porch to the boys' room. The time it took felt infinite. Only Nanao's voice in the background kept time from ceasing entirely.
Gin wasn't sure what he expected as he drew open the rice paper door to the boys' room. A warning, perhaps, to keep his mouth shut, but Ulquiorra's visit to his home was enough to do that all on its own. He could not imagine what more Aizen thought he needed to do to hammer his point home.
He saw immediately that there was someone on the lower bunk, a small person wrapped in a heavy black cloth. For one horrible second he thought it was Shiro, dead, and it took everything he had to take the step into the room to see the person's face.
It was Rukia, her mouth was gagged or he would have been sure she was dead. Her hair was caked with dried blood and stuck to her bruised and battered face. Eyes that had always been so animated stared vacantly, empty. Gin had seen that expression before in Aizen's victims, in the ones he tortured until their minds shattered.
Gin staggered back, and Shinso fell from his grip. He'd gotten the message loud and clear. Aizen could reach into the Gotei anytime he wanted and take whoever he wanted, and he wouldn't just kill them, he would destroy them.
"Ise, call Unohana," he managed to call out as he sank back against the doorframe, no longer even trying to stay on his feet.
He vaguely heard Rangiku demand to know what was wrong, but he couldn't answer her. He couldn't take his eyes off Rukia's still form. As he looked more closely he could see the blanket wasn't completely black. There were dull, stiff areas where the cloth had been stained with blood, many, many places, and a few, he realized were shiny with new blood. She was still bleeding. They hadn't even bandaged her before sending her back.
Rangiku appeared beside him. "Gin, what-"
He watched her expression change from worried to sick almost instantly. "Rukia," she breathed. "It can't-Nanao, call the Sixth!"
She vanished from the room with the baby still crying on her shoulder.