Rangiku sighed as she looked around the nearly deserted room. "There are a few things that make a person feel utterly worthless, if you know what I mean," she said with a sigh.

Nemu frowned back at her. "I understand that the time allowed by maternal leave is of prime importance to allow the mother's body to recover from the trauma of labor as well as to recover the strength and endurance lost over the long months of pregnancy. As such maternal leave is clearly of great importance, and in fact shows the value of mothers to the Gotei, as they are willing to pay every mother during an extended absence to ensure her health and fitness when she resumes her work. If you were worthless, as you say, I doubt they would be concerned with your recovery to full battle readiness before your return. However, I do understand your frustration in being unable to assist the Gotei. I also feel a certain frustration; only knowing that I am still considered acceptable to guard you and your family while the Captains are away helps to mitigate that feeling."

"Yeah, I don't feel sorry for either of you," Ikkaku said, pushing away his drink and getting to his feet. "So you're missing a meeting, some of us never know what's going on."

Rangiku rolled her eyes. "You could have been a lieutenant any time you wanted. Yu-chan made it without even trying, and everyone knows you're stronger. It's nobody's fault but your own that you're stuck here with us."

Ikkaku frowned at the truth of her words. "And who's fault is it that you keep getting knocked up?" he demanded. "If you actually wanted to be a lieutenant Instead of the best protected woman in all of Soul Society--"

"I've never asked to be treated like this!" Rangiku snapped back. "First I'm not allowed to leave Soul Society, and then I'm not even allowed to leave the Third, and I'm under guard by the stealth squad and now two captain class shinigami! Gin's out of his mind, but it wasn't my idea to indulge all his paranoias! I'm a lieutenant, and I should be allowed to do something. I'm not even allowed to protect my family! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? I am just supposed to sit here and trust everyone else to keep us safe. How would you feel if they treated you like this? I want to do something!"

Ikkaku grinned. "Like to see them try."

Rangiku sighed again. "But Gin needs--and the kids--I have to--damn, damn, damn, damn! I hate not doing anything!"

"You know," Miyako said, smiling suddenly. "Maybe there is something we could do."

"Like what?" Rangiku said, perking up immediately.

"I've been thinking about how to keep the children safe, if an Arrancar were to come here again, and I remember seeing something in one of those Top Secret books Gin borrowed from RD back when we put a limiter on Toshiro, and I do think it could work, and look at who we have here tonight; surely we have enough reiatsu to pull it off together."

"What limiter you put on Shiro-chan?" Rangiku demanded.

Nemu added, "I do not recall Captain Ichimaru ever borrowing Top Secret books from our department."

"Well, borrow may not be the right word, but he did promise me he gave them back, and, Rangiku, the only reason we didn't tell you anything was because it was completely illegal, but you can see how necessary it was, can't you? He was so strong from the moment he was born. It must be because of all the reiatsu he was exposed to before he was born, but how long do you think it would have been before someone decided he had to be trained?"

Rangiku blinked slowly at her long-time friend. "You helped Gin break the law?" she said slowly.

"To protect Toshiro," Miyako added. "But that was a long time ago. What I'm talking about now is a permanent and invisible barrier like the one Toshiro was hidden in when we couldn't find him, for the children to hide in if any sort of danger comes to Seireitei."

Should I still be here?" Ikkaku asked. "If you women want I can go outside and you can talk about all this illegal stuff on your own."

"Like you care if we break the law," Rangiku said.

Ikkaku sat back down. "Doesn't matter to me, but you might want to sober up first."

"We're plenty sober, and we're not breaking the law this time, just stretching it a bit. And we're going to need your help. We need your reiatsu," Miyako said. "The barrier I want to try uses the reiatsu of multiple people to increase its strength. The more the better."

"Such barriers are difficult, and require authorization to install," Nemu argued. "Toshiro's disappearance is a clear example of why. Someone could be injured within, and we would have no way to help them or even to know help was needed."

"Well, obviously it couldn't be used for anything but a real emergency, and it would have to be stronger than Gin's was, because he broke that with a single blow from a zanpakuto. We need one that can stand up to anything less than a determined attack from a captain."

"It can be done. The strength of two captain-class shinigami combined with our skill should be adequate," Nemu said to Miyako. "I suggest a blood barrier; it is the simplest way to make a barrier Rangiku-san's children can cross and only their parents can retrieve them from."

Miyako nodded. "Then it wouldn't need to lock and couldn't be unlocked. That would make them safer, but I wanted to include Aiko, in case Nanao wanted to hide her as well."

Nemu turned toward the seat where Nanao had been sitting. "Then we must find something with Nanao-san's or Lieutenant Hisagi's DNA."

Rangiku watched as both women hurried to the empty seats. She didn't have the skills they did to help with the construction of the barrier they were discussing, and currently lacked the balance to go running about looking for a loose hair Nanao might have lost. Just like before, she was useless.

She turned to look at Ikkaku. "Looks like this is going to take all night, doesn't it?"

He picked up a half-full bottle from the table. "Another drink?"

"Please."