Summary: Rangiku convinces Gin to let her babysit Cherry-chan.

Dedication: for Gleish26 [my darling G] for reading absolutely everything Heir related and keeping me going and all her advice to help me build and expand this series :)

A/n: Set in my Heirverse, shortly before events in Can we Survive This? (before all the angst and betrayal and lies come out and explodes in our faces and everybody just freaking cries), and a scene referenced in CWST ch3. But can be read as a standalone story in which the only issue is Aizen overworking himself and neglecting his Gin, and by proxy, Cherry-chan. (I like this scenario better to be fair. It's cute and fun and just less sad/angst/upsetting)

Notes: AiGin hints. Blatant Cherry cuteness. Ran being Ran as seen in Game; fun and happy and excitable. Story cross references everywhere.

I might continue this oneshot in it's own little story, possibly a oneshot or just a very short, silly multi chapter story. Will have to see if I can work things out :)

I wrote this mainly as Heir is an angst-ridden series and it needs some happy, hence this cute little number. I'm also writing this because I am super-aware the sheer length of Heir itself is very offputting/daunting for potential readers and this is me trying to get some shorter stories out there. But the full heirverse story list is on my profile with links to stories for ease of access. You know. If you're curious.

Anyway enjoy the story :)

Negotiations

Gin was just about to take a large bite out of his sandwich when he heard her call his name sweetly as she sat on the grass beside him in the summer sunshine. Cherry sat on his lap, looking up rather intently at his sandwich. Weighing her chances of nabbing it.

"Gin," Rangiku cooed, making him lower his freshly-made, freshly-toasted sandwich from the deli down the road.

"Yes," he answered, knowing she only used that sugary sweet tone when she wanted something. Like, to copy his homework when they were in the academy. When she wanted him to cover her shifts at the tenth division. When she wanted a drinking buddy for the evening, or the daytime, or the wee hours of the morning. When she'd wanted to set him up on a date with someone... a certain someone with dark hair and glasses.

"Whaddya want, Ran?"

Cherry reached her face up and sniffed the corner of the warm sandwich. Testing the waters. She could almost taste the tasty chicken and melted cheese inside it. Her pink tongue was slowly, stealthily, poking out of her mouth, her jaws opening to reach up and grab a piece of the delicious chicken...

But Gin pulled it out of her reach just as she was about to take a bite. The fox looked up at Gin, gutted, and threw herself down on the grass in a sulky huff. Enviously eyeing the tasty toastie in Gin's hands. Gin just smiled at her and ruffled the fur on top of her head.

"No' this time, ya rascal." he told her.

Meanwhile, Rangiku pretended to be offended. "How rude!" she folded her arms across her chest, "I come and join you for lunch and you just assume I want something."

"Cuz ya do," Gin told her, smirking. "I know ya, Ran, I know what yer like." His smile softened towards her, then, "What do you need?"

She smiled softly at him. Reminding herself that yes, this is why they are friends. They can count on each other like this. "Well, you know that Shuuhei's going away on a mission to the human world tonight, right? For a few days..."

Gin studied her, curious about where she was going with this. What her request might be. "Yeah?"

"Well, I was thinking..."

Gin snickered, "Uh-oh, that aint good..." he teased. His tone playful. As it had always been with her in moments like this.

"Oh, shut up!" she answered him, her tone playful too, gently swatting him on the shoulder. "Be serious for a moment, will you?"

Gin chuckled, grinning wildly. "Aw c'mon Ran, it's only fair I get ya back fer all the times you teased me. Particularly when ya set me up with-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." she waved her hand, dismissing his argument. "Though I didn't hear you complaining at the time."

"I did nothing but complain!" Gin protested, "You jus' weren't listenin'!"

"Well, it doesn't matter," she continued, casually pushing his protests aside. "You're happily married now."

Gin frowned. "Well, I dunno about happily..." he began, but he thought better of it and shook his head free of the thought. That was not a conversation he wanted to have just now. "Jus' ask what ya wanna ask."

She looked at him, concerned, for a moment, but she nodded and continued.

"Right. Well," she began again, "So Shuuhei will be away for a while, and I was thinking of babysitting little Cherry-chan while he's away. So the house won't be as empty..." she paused, sighed, looked wistfully at the young fox in Gin's lap staring back at her with those big, beautiful blue eyes. Bushy tail wagging slowly from side to side. "And I miss her."

Gin thought about it for a moment, weighing the idea. Because his house was usually empty these days, too. And his bed. And his partner was living with him...

"Well..."

"Please, Gin!" Rangiku begged, hands clasped together, on her knees before him. "I'll take really good care of her! And I'll give her all the fuss and cuddles she could want! I'll feed her and take her for a walk every day, and give her treats and biscuits when she's good, and-"

She had to pause there, midway through her ramble, to suck in a lungful of air. Because somewhere along the way she'd forgotten to breathe in.

"I'll owe you for this forever! Anything you want, I'll do it. Pleeeease, Gin, can I babysit little Cherry-chan?"

Gin hesitated. He trusted Ran, but... lately he'd been sleeping and waking alone, and his so-called partner was being inattentive and distant, often working late hours at the office to keep on top of the workload. Which, to be fair, was ridiculously high. But still, Gin missed him. And Cherry-chan helped alleviate some of the isolation he felt.

"I... I dunno... it's just..."

She must have seen his reluctance written all over his face, because she slowly unclasped her hands and crawled over to sit herself next to him again, and settle her hand on his.

"Gin? What's wrong? You've never had any issues with me babysitting Cherry-chan before. Did I do something wrong?"

Gin shook his head, "No, no," he told her adamantly. "No, ya haven't. It's just... I'm having some relationship problems, an' Cherry-chan bein' there helps me."

"Oh." Rangiku sat stunned into silence for a quiet moment. She didn't know what to expect, but she certainly hadn't been expecting this.

"I'm sorry, Gin. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Gin just shrugged. "Nothin', 'less ya can get him ta talk to me. I know he's busy an' all, but it would be nice to have him to myself for a bit."

Rangiku thought hard for a moment. "Hmm... I'd lock the two of you in a broom cupboard together, but I don't think that would go down too well."

She smirked. Gin laughed. Honestly, Ran did come out with the funniest things sometimes. Because really, could you imagine the two of them crammed in a tiny little broom cupboard? There wasn't enough room to swing a mouse in those things. The logistics of doing anything even remotely naughty would be insane.

"I've got it!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "How about this? I'll arrange a night out for the two of you, or a dirty weekend getaway. Or maybe I'll even just grab that fool after quitting time and force him to a romantic, candlelit dinner you've made for him if that's what you want. Whatever you like. And in exchange, I'll babysit Cherry-chan, so you two can have some quality time together. How's that sound?"

She let Gin digest this for a moment, quietly.

"What do you think, Cherry-chan?" Rangiku addressed the fox, and Cherry gave a happy bark, tail wagging. She stood up on her hind legs, nudging Gin under his chin with her cold nose. Because she, too, wanted things to get better for him. For Gin to stop feeling so sad.

"See? Cherry-chan thinks it's a good idea," Rangiku said proudly. "Don't you, Cherry-chan?"

Cherry barked again, and Gin finally voiced his thoughts. It was what he'd wanted, after all.

"I guess it could work..." he mused.

But Cherry wasn't happy with this, because it wasn't an outright, enthusiastic 'yes'.She nudged him again, paws up on his chest. He just picked her up and sat her down again. She tried this again, only to be met with the same response; being picked up and put on the grass again.

So, she kept on nudging him with more and more urgency and insistence, pushing and, when that failed, licking his face until he collapsed into a fit of laughter, climbing all over him until he gave the answer she wanted.

"Yes! Yes! Alright! Alright! Ya can go an' stay with Ran, now jus' get off me!"

And finally, finally, after having won the argument, Cherry-chan sat down on his lap with what could only be described at a very smug, satisfied look on her face. As if to say, ha! I win.

Rangiku clapped her hands together. "Yaaay!" she squealed, launching herself at Gin and pulling him into a tight, almost lung-crushing hug that he automatically returned because he indeed felt better having reached a solution. "Thankyou so much, Gin!"

And then she released him, and suddenly Cherry was in her arms being cuddled and squished and fussed. And Cherry-chan was loving every minute of it.

"Aren't you excited, Cherry-chan? We get to spend the whole week together!" she cooed to Cherry-chan, "Oh, we'll have the best time. We'll stay up late, eat snacks, watch movies, and gush about what boys we like! We'll have a girly week!"

She only paused in her gushing and Cherry cuddling and squishing when she caught Gin's frown.

"Erm, I mean, we'll eat healthy foods, and er- go to bed at reasonable times, and we won't talk about boys at all because you're not old enough to have a fox boyfriend yet."

She turned to look at Gin, who was still frowning. She smiled nervously.

"Right?"

Gin's frown vanished into a fit of laughter.

"Man, yer too easy, Ran." he chuckled, "Dun' worry, ya can have yer fun, girly week. Jus' no scary movies otherwise she won' sleep. And at least some reasonable bedtimes."

Rangiku nodded. Though at this point, she'd have agreed to anything because she was so relieved. Damn, she thought, he really got me good with that one.

"An' no alcohol fer the baby." he added. Referring of course to his baby Cherry-chan.

Rangiku smiled and nodded. "I promise," she said, "We'll be good."

They smiled at each other, her holding Cherry, him watching them. Thinking that things might just get better for the both of them. She set Cherry down on the grass again and looked at the fox.

"And we'll hold up our end of the bargain, won't we, Cherry-chan?" Rangiku said, a smirk playing on her lips as she thought up various plans to get Gin's romantic life back on track again. Cherry's answer to that was a series of enthusiastic yips as she stood, gaze firm and resolute, tail I the air wagging quickly. As if to say, We'll get him there to you by force if necessary.