"Auntie Miya-chan!" Kinta shouted, throwing down his shovel and splashing through the moat to greet their visitor.
Rangiku cringed even as Yukiko started wailing; thus ended another nap. She rolled off the couch, where she had just laid down after folding what seemed like half a million diapers, and crawled the two feet to the baby's small futon.
"Why?" she asked miserably. "Why can't you ever sleep?"
"Mommy! Auntie Miya-chan's here!" Kinta announced at the top of his voice as he drug Miyako across the yard.
"Right," Rangiku sighed. "That's why."
She picked up the baby and sat back, actually looking at Miyako for the first time. Miyako was carrying a pot wrapped in cloth, bringing a meal like she always did when she visited, but her longtime friend was also wearing a shihakusho and had her zanpakuto tied at her waist.
Rangiku blinked and opened and shut her mouth a few times. It seemed like she should make a joke or some sort of clever comment, but in the end she gave up. She could think of absolutely no reason for Miyako to be wearing a shinigami's uniform again after so many years. "I've got nothing," she admitted.
Miyako smiled, but her smile was strained. "I wanted to go unnoticed. Things have been a little strange with the family."
Rangiku frowned. "What do you mean?"
Miyako looked down at the mud-coated boy clinging to her clothes and explaining his construction project at high speed. "Tell you what, Kin-chan. I brought curry for lunch so why don't you go wash up and change?" she suggested.
"Ok!" Kinta agreed, cheerfully, and took off. He left a trail of muddy footprints on the way to the bathroom, but Rangiku couldn't make herself care. He was getting cleaned up on his own, and that was more than enough for her.
She tied on the baby sling for Yuki and followed Miyako into the kitchen.
"So, are you going to tell me what's up?" Rangiku asked as she watched her friend bustle around her kitchen. Honestly, Miyako probably knew the contents better than she did.
She watched Miyako light the stove and measure out water for rice and start it cooking before she answered.
"It's complicated. Everything always is with the family. There are always some people who are on our side and others who spend all their time being difficult, and even the ones who are on our side are always telling us what to do," Miyako said as she set out some vegetables Rangiku hadn't realized she owned. "And Kaien lets them. He's always let them have too much say. It's why we haven't had children; I know I've been making excuses for years, but the truth is I'm not going to give birth to a child so someone else can raise it--but Kaien, he--he's really not meant for a position like this. He doesn't know how to handle them and all the pushing and pulling--he's not a politician, and he's no Byakuya. He can't intimidate them into leaving us alone. But he has been trying to figure out how to handle things, and it has been getting better."
She started cutting green onions, slicing fine circles at high speed. "Or it was, but now they're after Gin. Kaien told them he wouldn't have anything to do with it, absolutely and completely refused, and told them if they tried anything he'd stop them. We owe Gin so much--you've been told, haven't you, how he saved me?"
She suddenly raised her head to look Rangiku in the eye. "They did tell you, didn't they?"
Rangiku nodded. "Shiro-chan did. He thought it was important that I know."
"Did he tell you Gin warned Kaien about Aizen? When he asked what had happened, Gin told him; he told him everything, even about the illusions. Kaien feels so guilty for not trusting him then. He feels like everything might have been better if he hadn't wasted so much time doubting and trying to verify everything. But even so it did help; it made all the difference, and Kaien feels he owes Gin a great deal, and he can't do what the family wants. He can't call Gin a traitor and a murderer and demand his blood; even though he knows it wouldn't make a difference because Yamamoto's already made up his mind, he won't do it."
Rangiku could feel her eyes filling with tears. She hated the baby hormones so much. All she seemed to be doing these days was crying. "Kaien is defending Gin," she said. Gin had someone standing up for him, and not just because they wanted to use him. Kaien actually felt like he owed Gin because he had helped them. There were a few people in the world besides her who did not think he was a monster.
"He is," Miyako agreed as she went back to her chopping. "And he's going to no matter what, but last night there was a family meeting again--they keep meeting and meeting. Something's really wrong. Kaien thinks someone's being fed information by one of Aizen's men. They knew Isshin's alive in the World of the Living, and one of the men, he wants Kaien's position, and he accused Kaien of working with Gin to get rid of Isshin, like some sort of evil conspiracy, and people listened." She shoved the vegetables into a pot of water and tossed in a scoop of miso distractedly.
"There've always been some unpleasant people in the family who made me nervous, but before now it's always felt like most of the family were with us, and we could depend on them, but I don't know. I don't feel safe." She let out a hollow laugh, and her hand went to the zanpakuto at her waist. "How stupid is that? I was a third seat, and Kaien's a lieutenant. He fought a captain and survived. They can't hurt us, but I still--I don't like it. Kaien wanted to take a few elders to see Isshin, to prove he hadn't had anything to do with him disappearing, but General Yamamoto's forbidden all trips through the Senkaimon since Urahara was able to come and go so easily. Only Gotei traffic with prior permission is now permitted to cross--so we can't prove anything."
"But there can't be many people who really believe Kaien got rid of Captain Isshin," Rangiku said. "He never wanted to be Head of the House; everyone know that."
"You would not believe the rumors that are spreading in the Four Houses. It's not only the Shiba family. Kaien's Great-aunt Etsuko came to me this morning; she's worried about us. She's horribly pushy but she's always been mostly on our side, and she told me she has been speaking to members of the Kuchiki family. They told her the same thing she's hearing in our family. People think everything in the past century may be a power play by General Yamamoto. They think he's reordering the Gotei, to reduce the power of the nobility and increase his control over all of Soul Society."
"That's insane!" Rangiku burst out.
"What is, Mommy?" Kinta asked, curiously, from the doorway, where he stood naked and dripping on the floor.
"Clothes, Kin-chan," Rangiku said with a sigh.
"Yes, Mommy," he agreed.
"But dry off first!" she called after him. Then she turned back to Miyako. "How can anyone think anything that's happened had anything to do with Yamamoto?"
"The first thing they like to point to is that he replaced two strong and independent Heads of House, Isshin and Yoruichi, with Soifon and Kaien, both of whom are willing to follow his lead in pretty much everything, and then when Yoruichi reappeared she was attacked, and if the Arrancar hadn't broken Tosen out of prison Yoruichi would still be his prisoner--they're pretty sure he had ordered her capture and torture--possibly for information on Urahara or for Shihoin family secrets, maybe both, they're not really in agreement on that. But there's a lot more. They'll go through everyone who's vanished or died and who they've been replaced with and show how it strengthened Yamamoto. It's like any other conspiracy theory, completely convoluted and impossible to really prove or disprove because it's really mostly about what people want to believe. I wish we could just ignore it, but there are a few powerful people who may try to use it to get rid of Kaien."
"But what can they really do? Miyako, you're right. You're both so strong. They can't possibly threaten you, not really," Rangiku said. "They'll just make a fuss for a while, but when everything's been worked out and we've captured Aizen and everything becomes public, everyone'll see they were wrong and it'll be over, won't it?"
"They could tear the entire family apart in the meantime, and if the noble families stop supporting Yamamoto it could tear the Gotei apart. How well will we be able to fight Aizen if the nobility leaves the Gotei? That's seventy percent of our forces. Whoever's behind the rumors has to be stopped, not just for Kaien or the Shiba family, but for all of Soul Society."
"Is the curry ready?" Kinta demanded, appearing suddenly beside Miyako.
"Absolutely," she agreed. "Are you going to help me serve it?"
"Yep!" he agreed. "I'll get the dishes for you, Auntie Miya-chan."
"Thank you, Kin-chan," Miyako answered, managing not to flinch when he climbed on the counter to reach the bowls. Children on counters was a normal part of the Ichimaru household. She did her best not to judge.
"Do you think, Rangiku," she asked as Kinta was counting out dishes. "That you could speak to Gin about looking into it? He's done so much for us already, but I can't think who else to ask. And he has a talent for this sort of thing."
"Not a problem," Rangiku said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to help."
"Do you want miso soup, Mommy?" Kinta asked.
Miyako spun around just in time to stop him from leaning over the stove from the counter to serve bowls of hot soup. Coordinated he might be, but hot soup on the stove was strictly a grown-up job.