Shiba," Gin called after the lieutenant of the 13th as they left the lieutenants meeting.
Kaien turned and did his best not to frown at Gin. Lieutenant Ichimaru was not one of his favorite people, and if it weren't for the fact that Ichimaru was married to one of Miyako's very best friends he wouldn't even bother to be polite.
"Do you need something, Lieutenant Ichimaru?" he asked stiffly.
"Yes, well, no, well, not me, but Rangiku which makes it my problem. Remember that, Shiba, after you marry them all of their problems become yours whether you want them or not."
"I see," Kaien answered, not sure if he could sound any more like he didn't care what Gin thought about anything.
Gin's smile only grew. "The problem is my Rangiku has set her heart on something I cannot possibly get for her, but she refuses to believe it is impossible no matter how many reasons I give her. She's quite sure I can manage it and has every intention of making me pay if I fail."
Kaien was beginning to be curious. "And somehow you think I can make it possible?"
"I know you can. It is only a question of whether you are willing to. If I were you I would refuse. It's a bit risky, and I can't imagine the risk of getting on Kuchiki's bad side would be worth it. As he already hates me it can't really get much worse for me. But I've no doubt he could make your life much more unpleasant if he took a notion to."
"What is it you want?" Kaien demanded, wondering what insanity Gin could possibly have in mind.
"Rangiku wants to go to Kuchiki's wedding. I thought we might use your invitation as I heard from Isshin that you're not going."
Kaien stared at Gin in horror. "You want to crash Captain Kuchiki's wedding, and you want me to help you?"
"You and Miyako aren't known to the staff of his estate. Rangiku and I dress up and go with Isshin. With your invitation there won't be any reason for anyone to question us."
"Only half the other guests at the wedding will know exactly who you are and that Kuchiki would rather drink sake from Rukongai than let you anywhere near his home."
"But they won't make a fuss. No one would dare risk upsetting Kuchiki's wedding."
"No one but you," Kaien corrected.
"Only because Rangiku is insisting. I haven't got the slightest idea why, but it's important to her to attend. I am simply doing my best to give her what she wants."
"You know there is a fair chance that if Kuchiki actually sees you there he will kill you. Maybe not at the wedding, but sometime down the line, when there are no wives around to get upset about it."
"I know," Gin agreed, and for a moment the smile faded. "These are the sacrifices I'm told a husband must make if he doesn't want to spend the next century sleeping alone."
Kaien smiled, suddenly realizing how desperate Gin was. "What are you offering?"
"Whatever you want," Gin said, his smile returning. "I'm pretty good at procuring just about anything you can imagine. If there's any information you'd like or I can rearrange mission schedules for the divisions if you'd like more time in the World of the Living or more time at home. I could have your fourth seats reassigned if they are annoying you as much as they would me, or-"
"Basically," Kaien interrupted. "You can do anything except get invited to Kuchiki's wedding."
"It's the nobility. They're prejudiced against me. I'm just a poor nobody from Rukongai and-"
"Alright, Ichimaru, it's a deal. I'm going to let you take my place at the wedding and in exchange I will take one favor."
"A favor?"
"You'll owe me. I have a feeling you're the sort of man it is very useful to have in one's debt. You're risking getting me into trouble not only with a captain but also with my family and my house. You could conceivably cause a rift between the Shiba and Kuchiki families. You owe me, and this is not a small debt. Someday I will collect."
Gin nodded. "It's a deal."
Toshiro was sitting in the corner of the room all ready for bed in a brilliant orange sleeping kimono that he loved but even Rangiku couldn't argue actually suited him. His hair was damp from his bath and neatly combed down instead of its usual gravity defying fluff. He held a large, pale blue stuffed elephant in his arms, and glared at his parents as they prepared for the evening. As was usually the case, his mother was laughing a great deal, and his father's smile seemed more real than usual.
Toshiro didn't like it at all. They looked very strange with their hair dyed black, especially his father, whose pale skin looked almost hollow-like in contrast. His mother had added enough makeup that the black almost looked natural, but she didn't look like herself, and Toshiro didn't like that. It was even worse when she put on the borrowed kimonos. They were stiff and formal silk, beautiful but lifeless, and Rangiku was forced to take tiny steps and sit very properly. It was like the clothes had changed her into a completely different person, a gentle, delicate young lady, who would never laugh and play and would certainly never steal sweet beans from the division kitchens to eat up on the roof with him as an afternoon snack.
But then his father held up a mirror to show her her reflection, and Rangiku burst out laughing. Toshiro almost smiled. His mother was still there, hiding under all that finery.
Rangiku gasped for breath. Her obi was so tight she could barely breathe. "I look like a princess! Don't I?" She turned to her son. "Doesn't Mommy look pretty, Shiro-chan?"
He glared back at her. "No," he said stubbornly. "Ugly Mommy."
"Oh!" Rangiku's expression fell. "Is it really that bad?"
Gin pulled her back into her arms and pressed his lips to her neck. "That's what you get for asking the opinion of a baby, Ohime-sama."
Toshiro's expression darkened further. In his opinion, his father took up far too much of his mother's time and attention. He really couldn't see why she put up with his father at all. He wasn't fun. He never played games, and even when he said they were playing a game he was always trying to get Toshiro to do difficult things with reiatsu, like making it so nobody could sense him when he was hiding. Yep, his father might smile all the time, but Toshiro wasn't fooled. He knew his father was the serious one, the one he had to work hard for and remember all the rules for, and must never, ever disappoint.
He often wished his mother would make his father go away. After all, everyone, even he, did what she told them to, but for some reason she seemed to like his father and want him around. She even laughed and smiled when his father made her practice kido with him, even when her shikai wouldn't work right and she had to try again and again. She never got upset no matter how much he pushed her, which was even stranger considering she had no problem telling off Captain Isshin when he complained she was being lazy.
It really wasn't fair that his father got a pass on everything.
There was a knock on the door and Aunt Miyako and Uncle Kaien came in. They laughed almost as much as his mother did when they saw his parents, and Aunt Miyako came and sat down next to him and asked him what he thought of their transformation.
"He called me ugly, the little monster," Rangiku said, but she smiled at him, so he knew she didn't mean it.
"It probably scares him," Miyako said. "You don't look right to him. He's not sure if you're still you."
She picked the boy up and brought him over to Rangiku. "See sweetie, she's still your Mommy," she told him.
Rangiku ran her hand over the boy's head. "It's alright, Shiro-chan. I'm still Mommy."
"I know," the boy answered, scowling at her.
"Of course he does," Gin agreed, pulling a coat over the short-bladed zanpakuto that he had strapped to his back for the evening. "He's a bright boy. He just doesn't like you changing how you look, makes him worry you might change how you act too. He's got the perfect mama. He doesn't want her spoiled by fancy clothes and aristocratic airs."
"It's only for tonight, Shiro-chan," Rangiku promised, kissing his forehead. "I promise to be back to normal first thing tomorrow."
Captain Isshin almost couldn't stop laughing. Every time a servant called Gin 'Shiba-dono' he choked on his sake. He couldn't believe they were so easily tricked. He could have named a dozen things wrong with Gin and Rangiku in the first five minutes of seeing them, any one of which proved they were not in any way, shape, or form nobility.
Rangiku had been a fairly poor lady from the beginning, but after a couple glasses of sake and locating Captain Kyoraku, she was back to her old, drunken habits. The tight kimono could not restrain her. She and Kyoraku leaned on each other, telling absurd stories loudly as they drank, while Gin and Captain Ukitake shared half-amused, half-annoyed glances at the pair.
When Shiba Kukaku joined the table, Gin gave up and left to get a breath of non-alcohol-filled air. He could not figure out why Rangiku had insisted on coming to the wedding if all she intended to do was get falling-down drunk; she could do that at the local sakeya for a hundredth the price-if he had actually bought their clothing and not 'borrowed' them-and without risking the well-known wrath of Kuchiki Byakuya.
"Gin-kun!" He heard Ukitake's voice call him from inside the hall.
Gin spun around and spotted the danger immediately. His insane, drunk wife was kneeling down next to the bride herself.
Gin shunpoed right behind her, thinking only to grab Rangiku and run, but Rangiku had already taken the bride's hand and was speaking to her in a surprisingly serious voice.
"I know there are some people who are going to say all sorts of mean things about you because they are jealous when they see someone who has been given everything, but I know that's not why you are here. You don't care about his money or his titles or even his beautiful face. I can see in your eyes how much you love him. People won't believe it. They'll say he's cold and heartless, and they won't believe you could love him or that he could love you, but we know, you and me, that those who hide their hearts best, they also love deepest. They hide their hearts away, so they cannot be hurt, but we can see through them, and we know that they deserve all the love we can possibly give them."
Gin couldn't do anything but stare at his wife. She had planned this. She had intended to meet Byakuya's bride from the very beginning. He could not believe she had actually managed to play him. He was almost proud of her—if it weren't for the fact that she might have just killed them both.
His eyes went to Kuchiki. The man was completely still, watching Hisana with an intensity that was very near terrifying. The girl's reaction to Rangiku was going to decide their fate.
She smiled and she set her free hand on Rangiku's. "Thank you," she said softly.
"I'm sorry I crashed your wedding, but I didn't think I'd have any other chance to meet you, and I think we ought to be friends. We have so much in common. We're even from the same part of Rukongai."
"Really?" Hisana said. "Then maybe you can help me to get used to living here."
"Maybe," Rangiku laughed. "I'm just a shinigami. I don't know much of anything about this world, but I'll be happy to help. Just send me a note if you'd like me to come see you; your husband knows how to get ahold of me."
Then Rangiku looked straight at Byakuya and bowed low. "Congratulations, Captain, on your marriage. I wish you many long years of happiness."
Byakuya nodded his head, acknowledging her words. Then his eyes rose to Gin, and he said, "I hope we are not going to be subjected to this change of appearance long term, Lieutenant? If this is your attempt to fit in I must say you have failed miserably."
"Scared my kid too, kept looking at me like I'd gone hollow on him. It's too bad. I'd always thought I might look good if my hair was a bit more normal," Gin said, smiling the entire time.
"I doubt it is possible for you to look good," Byakuya answered coolly. "But I'm sure we would all appreciate if you would not attempt to compete with Zaraki for most horror inducing shinigami."
Gin's smile grew even wider. "I would never dream of it, Captain."
Then he pulled Rangiku to her feet. "Come, Ran-chan, we've taken up enough of our generous host's time."
Gin was relieved when she didn't protest or even insist on returning to her drink. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there before his lovely drunk wife really managed to do something that got them both killed.
"Did you plan that?" he asked her as they crossed the garden on the most direct path to the gate.
"I had to meet her, and you know Kuchiki, he's never going to let her out except under armed guard. He's paranoid and controlling, and he'd never understand that she needs some friends like her, who came from nothing just like her and have to find a way to fit in here. I think I've done a pretty good job making a place for myself in Seireitei. People genuinely like me. Why shouldn't I help her out?"
"And that bit about unlovable men?"
Rangiku stopped and turned to look Gin in the eye. "You are exactly like Captain Kuchiki. You're gifted and arrogant, and you tell yourself you don't need anyone. You do everything you can to keep anyone from seeing the real you. You do it with that smile and teasing so, maybe, you really don't think you're like him. You may even tell yourself you're friendly but you're not. You don't let anyone in, not me, not even your own son."
The smile faded from Gin's face, and his head tilted to one side in that way he did when he was trying to understand something that puzzled him. "Are you unhappy with me, Ran?" he asked finally.
"No, you idiot! I love you madly! Just ask anyone; they'll tell you I'm absolutely out of my mind to love you. But I know you. I know the real you that's hiding behind that stupid, silly grin. I just—sometimes I just wish you wouldn't make it so hard."
Gin looked at her helplessly. She couldn't remember the last time he'd looked so lost. "I'm sorry?" he offered after a moment or two.
Rangiku sighed. She took a step closer to him and raised her hand to his cheek. "I love you, Ichimaru Gin. I always have and I always will. I love you absolutely and unconditionally. I know you're afraid that if you tell me some of the things you've done I won't, but you're wrong. I know you always do everything for a reason, and I trust your reasons—that's me sharing with you, Gin, me being honest and straightforward, and completely vulnerable. You could crush me if you wanted to. You could completely destroy me. I've given you that power, just by loving you and telling you I love you I've given you the power to hurt me."
"Rangiku," Gin breathed.
"I know," Rangiku said, and she smiled. "You don't have to say it."
Her hand dropped to his, and she gave it a tug. "Let's go home."