Chapter 3: Home again.

101 years ago…

"Can't I be excited that you're here? I mean, Lieutenant Ichimaru is here, in my house! To what do I owe this honour?" Rangiku's voice was dripping with sarcasm as she carried out her linens to the clothesline. Gin was seated on the chair at the far corner of the room.

"If we want to be politically correct, Ran-chan, it's my house. I pay for it." Gin's legs were crossed and his head was bent down. He didn't want Rangiku to see that he was hungover.

Also, to be politically correct, he wasn't officially the lieutenant. The Gotei 13 was still reeling over the disappearance and betrayal of two of its most respected members. He was not sure when the ceremony would take place, but until then, Aizen and himself had rizen up in rank to fill the void Captain Hirako had left behind.

"Ouch, Lieutenant. You're not being very nice today." Rangiku was in a very playful, flirtatious mood. Gin didn't like it. In fact, that was part of the reason he dreaded coming today. That… and since becoming a Lieutenant (through which means disgusted him) he'd had a lot to do.

At least that's what he'd told himself. Since the incident with Captain Hirako and the other "experiments", his new captain, the former Lieutenant Aizen, gave him a bit of a break. He'd been too afraid to come to this place, his house, and see his childhood friend. He drowned out his disgust with sake and women – lots of women.

"Besides, you're lucky I'm not cross with you! You've no right to leave a pretty little girl like me alone in this big house of yours for so long!" again with the flirtatiousness. It made Gin sick.

"You ain't a little girl Ran-chan. You're almost 20. Start acting like it," he could feel her gaze on him as he said it. She was right about one thing though, she was pretty. Gin never failed to notice how her chest was ogled as they walked through the market, her large bust noticeable beneath anything she wore. "Besides, we aren't in that little shit box in Rukongai anymore. You have nothing to worry about."

"That little 'shit-box' is my home, Gin. It's our home. No matter what you do or buy me it doesn't change the fact that I was most comfortable there." Rangiku began to angrily fold her clothes.

Nothing had ever felt right to her since leaving that place. Gin had gone to the Seireitei to become Shinigami. He had completed the Academy within a year and moved up to Lieutenant a short time afterward. Even though he'd bought her clothes and paid for her food and bought a house in the countryside so they could get out of their awful neighbourhood, she missed everything about that little hut.

"Hmm," Gin sighed into his hands and got up. "It's getting late, Ran. Mind if I go to bed?"

"It's your house, Lieutenant. You may do as you wish." She said, not even looking up as she folded the clothes.

He opened the shoji to his room – His own room, separate from the rest of the living space and separate from Rangiku's room. It was plain: nothing but a cot to sleep on since he wasn't ever home often or long. He'd be gone by tomorrow afternoon. He'd just felt badly for being away so long; for all the drinking and parties and sex….

The sound of glass breaking awoke Gin from his sleep.

"What's goin' on Ran?" he said, a bit disgruntled.

"Gin, someone's watching me. As a matter of fact, I've had this feeling of being watched for a long time."

"Really, Rangiku? Is that what you broke a perfectly good tea cup for?"

"I'm serious, Gin! I've seen them, Shinigami, I mean. They showed up in the village a few weeks ago. I heard from the baker's wife that their mission ended a couple of days ago. But they're still here and no one knows why. When I go into town, a couple of them look at me funny. Could they maybe sense my spiritual pressure?"

"I think they sense something much larger that, Ran-chan," his signature smirk crept its way on his face for the first time since he'd been with Rangiku. "Don't overreact, though. They're prob'ly just enjoying themselves before they have to go fill out paperwork."

"Gin I'm serious," Rangiku whined.

"Rangiku, they don't want you. Believe me."

"Oh!" she huffed and Gin noticed as her breasts moved with each one. "Is it so impossible to believe that I'd attract Shinigami?"

"Yes, it is, actually. They'd use you and throw you away like a tissue, Ran-chan. Plus, they've just finished a mission. They got no time for silly girls like you."

Rangiku turned red in the face, then retreated to her room, sliding the shoji firmly shut. Gin stood there, not entirely amused by her theatrics, and waited an appropriate amount of time before tapping on the thin frame.

"Ran-chan it ain't personal…"

The shoji slid open and Gin's eyes shot open, his grin turning into a scowl. Rangiku was dressed in an impossibly tight kimono that he bought for her that was barely able to restrain her bosom, waist cinched tight and short, golden locks styled delicately with a comb to pin it up. Her full, pink-painted lips pouted daringly at Gin, and she had put make up on to exaggerate her beauty mark.

"I don't remember that kimono being that tight."

"I altered it."

"Ran, what are ya doin'!?"

"I'm going to town. I'm not tired yet. Go back to sleep." Rangiku made for the front door but Gin flashstepped in front of her, blocking her exit.

"Fuck no…" He couldn't let her do this. He didn't realize how spiteful she could be.

"Gin, come on. Let me have a little fun! Don't you have fun while you're at work?" Her playful voice was meant to mock him. He gritted his teeth and thought of something nasty to say.

"Rangiku. I will not let you come into my house with some stupid hillbilly and have you acting like a whore. I don't want a whore in my house."

"How do you know I haven't done it before? I could've have set up a business. I might be taking men into your room and…."

"Stop it, Ran." Gin's voice warned her not to go any further.

Her voice became frustrated, "Well, damn it, Gin! You haven't been here in weeks! Am I not supposed to be upset! You know it just feels like an empty house when you're gone. This is supposed to be our home-"

"This is NOT my home!" He yelled. Rangiku jolted and looked up into his eyes. Their blue irises were darker than she'd remembered them being.

"Gin-"

"It's Lieutenant Ichimaru to you. This is my house that I let you live in. I belong in the Seireitei, where I can drink and dance and fuck as much as I want to, Ran. That is my home."

Rangiku stared down at her feet, shaking violently. Gin stepped away from the door, retreating in the direction of his room.

"Get out." Her voice was a low growl.

"Ran not now-"

"Get the fuck out Gin." Her calmness caught him by surprise. He was not used to her being this serious. He disliked it.

Gin set his jaw, trying to regain his composure. As soon as he found it, he put on his deceitful grin.

"Ran-chan doesn't know how to take a joke anymore now that she's all grown up, huh? Guess I'll be on my way, if I'm not too busy next week I'll spend a few days here and do some of the housework."

"Don't you dare come back, Gin."

"Rangi-"

"Don't ever come back."

She looked him straight on. Even through the slits of his eyelids she could sense his glare was as intense as hers. He was the first to break his gaze, and disappeared in a moment using flashstep.

Rangiku ran to her room and sobbed, staining the kimono he'd bought for her last birthday with makeup and salty tears. She left her grief wrack her body until her back and stomach were sore. She only went to sleep because she found she had no more tears to cry.

Gin. When will you realize, damn it? When will you realize that you're my home?

She'd sped up the pace the closer she got to the hum of celebration. She'd promised Jidanbo she wouldn't get caught in the Seireitei, even though every movement she took made her want to cry out in pain.

"There," she said, turning the corner to see the source of the music and loud voices. It was the only bar still open at 4am. And she hoped Gin would be there.

She glanced at her reflection in a puddle of water beside the entrance. She looked disheveled. For the first time since that night he left she could see how she truly looked. Her cheeks were sullen. She had shrunk to skin and bones, and even though her hair was longer, it was brittle and dull, just like her.

"Ex- excuse me?" Rangiku walked in and approached a server at the bar. "I'm looking for Gi- uh, Lieutenant Ichimaru?"

The server looked her up and down, surprised that she would know someone of that rank.

"Please, sir. I'm his – housekeeper."

"Back hall; Room 8."

"Thank you!" She almost tripped over her dress heading to the back of the bar, where she could tell that Room 8 was having the best time.

She knocked on the door before a cute, crimson-haired woman slid it open, revealing Gin, 6 bottles of sake and his harem of women.

"You really weren't kidding, huh?"

Gin turned in Rangiku's direction when he registered her voice. He showed no emotion toward her.

"Ran-chan!" he gulped down the dregs of sake left in his cup. "How long has it been, little housekeeper?"

"It's been 8 months, Gin."

"Shit! Really? I'm guessing I missed your birthday then?" Rangiku noticed the dark purple spots on the frail skin of his neck. It took her everything not to walk away.

"Gin, I need to talk to you. Why haven't you come back?"

"I think you made it-"hiccup "made it preeeeeety clear I couldn't come back. To my own damn house!" The bottle of sake he had in his hand slipped and landed in one of the girl's laps. She giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Gin, please. I know what I said, but I was hoping you would have come to check on me. I really need to talk to you-"

"I think we've said all we need to stay, I mean say, to each other. Unless. Hiccup. You're goin to be a good little pet like these here wonnerful ladies, I suggest you leave. Besides you aren't old enough to be in a bar." Gin's right hand rested on the small of the crimson-haired woman.

"But, Gin!"

"Come on, girl! You heard him, didn't you? Or do you have dirt in your pretty little ears, Rukongai brat?" a tall woman, just about as busty as Rangiku pulled on her dress, revealing a huge black and blue mark that covered her whole left shoulder. Rangiku lost her footing and fell backward, revealing that she was covered in these bruises from head to toe.

"Gin…" she pleaded.

"Go." he said simply.

Embarrassed, she got up and walked out of the room. She was the image of despair as she struggled not to cry as she left. He could tell that she was limping. He could tell everything, damn it! The moment he'd heard her voice he pretended to be drunk. In truth, he wasn't having a good time. He hadn't had a good time in 8 months. And that look she gave him, and those bruises! In the pit of his stomach he knew that night when they'd parted 8 months ago she was right; those greedy bastards were after her. Even her reiatsu was different, broken and battered. Gin retched in the garbage can at the corner of the room. Not because he was drunk, but because he was disgusted with himself. He ran after Rangiku, hoping that she wouldn't have gotten too far.

He knew where she'd gone as soon as he'd spoken to Jidanbo.

"Do you know which way she went?"

"South, Lieutenant Ichimaru, to the Rukongai."

To the old little hovel which they'd shared for 4 years. It had always been their home. He silently disappeared into the night, hoping flash step would get him there faster.

It was closer than he believed it to be – his old home. He could see a dim light from inside, probably embers from a fire Rangiku had lit to keep warm. He approached slowly, hesitant about whether he was doing the right thing.

She lay on their old cot, torn and moth-eaten after so many years, and he could see her heaving, her sobs silent.

"Ran?"

She was on her left side, so he waited patiently, and eventually she managed to calm down and lifted her bony arm up, his signal to lay down next to her. He thought he could smell the scent of sweet grass in her hair.

He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"You were right, weren't ya, Ran? Those Shinigami were watching you."

Rangiku lay still and said nothing.

"How long has it been like this?"

"Since the night you left." Gin froze. His grip unintentionally tighted on Rangiku's midriff and he heard the stifled cry of pain. There was no more fat to pinch.

"Ran, I'm so- "

"I told you to leave. I know I did." She turned over and looked him straight in the eye.

"Remember when we used to sleep like this?"

Her inner thigh rested on top of his legs and her now full chest completely covered his own. The only difference was that instead of her hands going into his face, they were placed across his chest, with the other one playing in his soft silver hair.

"They burned your house down, Gin. They thought I was in it but I escaped. I'm sorry-"

"It doesn't matter, Ran-chan. You're safe," even as he said the words he knew they weren't true. She looked emaciated, but she still managed to smile as she stroked his hair.

"I was always planning to come back, you know. Look what I found," There was a creak and a shuffle before she turned over back to reveal the wooden box hidden underneath the loose floorboard all this time.

"It's our good luck charm, Gin" she managed to produce the kind of laugh that made him feel warm.

"So it is, huh?" In return for the laugh, he tried his best to show Ran his characteristic grin, forcing it so hard his jaw cramped up.

"You don't have to pretend to be strong for me Gin. You're here and that's what makes me happy. That's all that matters. I'm home again."

She nestled into his neck and he bit his lip down hard so as not to cry for her. He was a selfish man. He always had been. But something about Rangiku made him want to change that.

"Ran-chan?"

"Hmm?" she was already half asleep.

"Ya still love me don'tchya?"

It surprised him that she wasn't surprised by his question. Like she'd never meant to hide it. He had tried to say it coyly, to make her feel like he wasn't in pain to see her broken all over again.

"I do, Gin. Now, can I get some sleep?"

It must have felt so natural to her to love him. He'd known it for a long time, but it finally sunk in, that she loved him. He just needed to know if it was unconditional

He waited till she slipped into a deep and peaceful sleep before leaving. For once he was truly thankful to Aizen. Without him, he wouldn't have had the training or the zanpakuto necessary to do what he was about to.

I guess I'll just draft and file the paperwork myself.

And what will it say, Master?

Gin grasped the hilt of Shinso firmly, as if to balance himself. After all, he hadn't felt so clear-headed in 8 months.

"That they all died in the fire."