Rangiku stared at Gin in disbelief. Toshiro's expression was impassive. What he thought of the Four Great Houses making demands of Yamamoto was impossible to tell, but Rangiku was close to horrified.

"But he-he gave them what they wanted?" She said slowly. SHe simply couldn't believe it. She hadn't thought anyone could tell the General what to do. It had never occurred to her until Rukia's trial that he wasn't the ultimate power in Soul Society. The Gotei was her life. It had felt all powerful. She had accepted that Central 46 could command him, but that the Four Great Houses might have something like equal power, it was a disturbing thought.

Gin was helping Yuki get a grip on a slice of pear that kept sliding across the table out of her reach. She'd started fussing at it in annoyance, and, unless everyone wanted to hear her scream, assistance was necessary.

"Gin?" Rangiku said. She was beginning to agree with Toshiro, watching Gin actually take care of children was weird. He actually had Kin-chan sitting next to him writing kanji, working on stroke order and properly forming the characters. At least he didn't look like he was actually enjoying himself, that would have been too much, but even seeing him trying to help out was hard to adjust to.

"More or less, once they'd worked it down to something reasonable. He's given them guarantees for the security of Seireitei. If at any time fewer than half the captains are here in the city he will be here to ensure their safety. There will also be at least three full divisions, the first, second, and at least one more, stationed here in the city, no matter how many hollows hit Rukongai. It's probably not much different than he had intended, anyway.

"They wanted to demand that the Heads of the Great Houses remained stationed in Seireitei, but the Heads, themselves, wouldn't hear of it. Shiba will be returning to Karakura tomorrow. He's missed Kyoraku's trip to all the best ramen shops in town, but he thought tomorrow might be the best Western style restaurants-I've heard French food is very good. We should go sometime."

"French food? In the World of the Living?" Rangiku said, momentarily distracted. "They make the best desserts! Unohana brings a new one every Chocolate Day!"

Toshiro made a face at the idea of Chocolate Day and the Women's Association invading his home and ate a slice of pear that had not been handled by the infant. "Are you and Kuchiki still going with Kurotsuchi to collect a hollow?" He asked.

"First thing tomorrow," Gin answered, flinching slightly when Yuki missed her mouth with the pear and stuck herself in the eye, but she didn't start crying; she just tried again. "He's decided to bring the equipment to Hueco Mundo, rather than try to transport an Arrancar back. A bunch of poor little R&D scientists are going to have come along to try to run the equipment. Going to be a bit of a pain, trying to keep them all alive. Kurotsuchi claimed he has some sort of barrier he can set up to keep them hidden, and Unohana's going to lend us Isana and Hana-do you know who that is? I thought it would be rude to ask. I'll probably bring my Third and Fourth seats to help with security. They're not too wretched. Need Kira here to keep an eye on you and Hinamori, and Abarai'll be looking out for Rukia-which reminds me, Ran, you won't mind having a few house guests while I'm gone, will you?"

"House guests?" Rangiku repeated in confusion. "Who would want to stay here?"

Toshiro raised his head. Now he looked seriously annoyed. "House guests?"

"You noticed we're beginning to be spread a little thin? You've got Shiro to keep you safe at night, but even if I can convince Nemu to spend her days here with you you're still a lieutenant short on protection. Kira's got to run the division at least part of the time, and there's not really anyone else available-except that I realized Kuchiki might be having the same problem, and he won't even have a captain to look after little Rukia-chan at night. So I suggested we might pull our resources. We could have Rukia stay here, and Abarai and Kira can take turns keeping an eye on the pair of you."

"Why wouldn't we go to the Kuchiki Estate? I can't believe Byakuya would even consider letting Rukia stay here, and there's no real reason-"

Toshiro cut her off before she noticed the distress that was starting to appear in his father's eyes. "I'm sure the Stealth Squad objected. They've been really embarrassed that that Arrancar was about to get past them. They've been working on more barriers to shield you. I doubt they want to move it all to the Kuchiki Estate and their guards would probably not like it anyway."

Rangiku sighed. She'd really been hoping she could finally get out of the Third. At least the Kuchiki Estate would be a larger prison. "Then Rukia will be staying here? Are you sure we aren't a little energetic for her at the moment?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine, and we'll let Abarai have one of the upstairs rooms in case you need help with her at night. It'll be fun having guests for a few days. I know you've been a bit lonely."

Rangiku grinned. "And you don't mind me having a young, attractive man staying with me here with you gone?"

Gin cocked his head to one side and gave her his very best confused face. "Why?"

Rangiku's smile fell. "You know, you could at least pretend a little jealousy every once in a while, just for the fun of it."

"If I ever had any reason to be jealous it wouldn't last very long," Gin answered.

Rangiku's smile returned. "You know that sort of thing is illegal, even for captains," she said.

"So I've heard," Gin agreed. "Awfully hard to prove without a body though."

Rangiku's smile only grew. "See, I knew you could manage a little jealousy."

"Could you two knock it off?" Toshiro groaned. "You're married. You really don't have to flirt anymore. And discussing hypothetical murders has got to be the most messed up flirting ever."

"Wouldn't real murders be worse?" Gin asked. "I've never tried that. Ran, would you be impressed by a murder or two, if they were people you really didn't like?"

"Oh, definitely," Rangiku managed to get out before she burst out laughing.

Kinta turned to his brother and asked, "What's flirting?"

"Grown-up stupidity," Toshiro answered.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Byakuya never looked happy, and Rangiku was used to that, but she thought he ought to try to pull together some sort of vaguely positive expression when he was bringing his sister to stay in her home. Instead, he was being quite insulting, looking around like he wasn't sure the conditions were quite sanitary or something.

He'd had servants bring Rukia's own bedding. Apparently her futons and blankets weren't good enough for a Kuchiki. Then they'd moved the stuff in her closet to make space for Rukia's, and they'd just sort of dumped it into an empty closet upstairs, which was fine for Gin's bedding and clothing, but when they started moving her clothes that was going a bit too far. She wasn't about to climb the stairs every day to get dressed. She wasn't thrilled to be sharing her room in the first place, although she did understand Rukia being unable to sleep without someone to watch over her, and obviously Byakuya wasn't going to let Renji do it. It still seemed like they could at least be considerate of her things.

While the moving in was taking place, Rukia was sitting in the front room watching Yuki nap in her swing. She seemed to be enjoying the calm, repetitive motion almost as much as the baby did, and her own eyes were drooping as she rested her head on the arm of the couch.

At least Kin-chan was out of the way. There was no way they would have been able to keep the whole ordeal calm otherwise. Toshiro had actually offered to take the boy with him to work. He said he guessed he could dump him with a free division member just as easily as his dad had done with him. Any of the top officers should be able to keep up with Kin-chan if they really tried. He just really needed to get some work done.

Rangiku sighed again as she watched Byakuya's servants dump her clothing into an old wooden box they'd found upstairs and shove it into a corner of her room. She supposed it worked. The boxes they'd brought Rukia's own clothing in were nicer though, and empty now, why couldn't they just have-never mind, it didn't matter. This was just for two or three days anyway.

Rangiku looked up at Byakuya, frowning his perpetual frown. "We will keep her safe," she said, abruptly. "You know that, right? Whatever happens, Rukia will be safe with us."

Byakuya's eyes shifted to her face. For a moment that was the only indication he gave that he'd heard her. "I would not leave her if she was in any danger," he said finally.

Rangiku smiled. "So you do trust us? Good. You should. Toshiro would-he would do anything to protect her while she is here with us, and so will I. Like I told you before. Rukia's all that's left of Hisana. I will use all of my strength to protect her."

"She's her sister," Byakuya said, abruptly.

"I thought so," Rangiku answered, looking back down the hall toward the open doors of the front room. "She looks just like her."

Byakuya nodded.

"I need you to do something for me." Rangiku said, forcing the words out before she lost her nerve. Asking Kuchiki Byakuya for something was a lot harder than telling him off. "Please. I'm keeping Rukia safe; I risked the judgement of Central 46 for her before, and I'm letting Toshiro protect her now, and I know he would-he would stand between her and death without a second thought, so please, I need-I need you to bring Gin back to us."

Byakuya continued to look at her with his unchanging expression.

"Please," she said, fighting to control her voice. "They must hate him there even more than everyone does here. Aizen must-he may need help, and I know Kurotsuchi won't care. All he'll be thinking about is his Arrancar, and Gin-he-I know you hate him. You thought he was worthless even before, and now-but he matters to us. The children need him. Even you know that children need their father-maybe you think they're worthless too because they're ours, more Rukongai filth, more-"

"They're not worthless," Byakuya interrupted. "Their father's strength and their mother's courage has already made Toshiro valuable to the Gotei. I do not doubt the other two will be as well, but I will not bring their father back for them."

"Please-"

"I will bring him back for you. I owe you for the kindness you always showed Hisana, and for all that you have already risked for Rukia. I will keep Ichimaru alive and see that he returns to you."