The swirling ash put Gin on the defensive for the moment. He was forced to move back quickly, out of its path. But the instant he was free of the swirling, he struck out with Shinso, a glancing blow that left a line of blood on her cheek.

His attack distracted her and slowed the gray cloud. He hit her again twice, once across the back of the hand, then her left calf, but at that instant he stumbled and a blow from the ash that might have hit his arm, slammed into his back.

"No!" Rangiku shouted, and threw her zanpakuto to the ground, running to Gin as the blade reformed.

Gin was on his hands and knees, glaring back at his right foot, still coated with a thick layer of ice pinning it to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Rangiku demanded, dropping to her knees and pulling off his black kosode and white shitagi. "What happened?"

Blood was oozing from a shallow gouge to his upper back. Fortunately she had stopped Haineko almost instantly. It wasn't a dangerous injury, but from the look on Gin's face, it had to hurt like hell.

Gin yanked his foot off the ground, shattering the ice, and turned toward the house, where Toshiro was standing on the back step, watching him with very wide eyes. "Your son happened," he said.

Rangiku turned in surprise. "Shiro-chan?"

"I won't let him hurt you," the boy declared, thrusting his chin forward in defiance.

"Hurt me?" Rangiku repeated, looking completely confused. "Daddy would never hurt me."

Gin raised a hand to her cheek, wiping the blood away with one finger. She looked at his finger in surprise. "Guess you got me, too," she told him. Then she hopped to her feet. "Wait here. I'll get you a bandage."

She grabbed Toshiro's hand as she went inside. "You are in trouble," she told him as she rushed about, finding antiseptic, bandages, and cotton rags. "You are in so much trouble. How could you think your daddy would hurt me? He would never do that. He's helping me train my shikai. Everyone in my squad refuses to take me seriously, so he's the only one who is really helping me train. He can't go easy on me or I'll never get any stronger."

She drug Toshiro back outside as she continued to speak. "These scratches that you're so worried about will be gone by tomorrow, but the lesson I learned about leaving myself open is something I'll never forget. Do you understand?"

She dropped down next to Gin. "How bad is it?" she asked as she started to wash away the blood.

"Not bad enough," he answered. "If it had been Senbonzakura I would be on my way to Division Four. You've got to get more power into your attack or it's useless. It's just a distraction, and you might as well use your breasts for that. At least you'd still be armed."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Rangiku answered, placing the cotton against his back and unrolling a long strip of fabric to hold it in place.

Toshiro kept his head bowed as he sat beside her. He knew he'd made a mistake. It was obvious in retrospect, but seeing Shinso slash at his mother over and over at such insane speed had made him panic. It was the first time while watching his parents spar that he had really been aware of the difference between them, and he'd realized that with a simple flick of his wrist his father could end his mother's life. So he'd panicked. He'd only wanted to protect his mother. That wasn't really that bad, was it?

"Now," Rangiku said, sitting back and turning her eyes on her son. "You are going to apologize to your father, and I don't mean just for tripping him and getting him hurt, although that was also very wrong and very dangerous, and if you ever get involved in one of our matches again I will beat you till you can't sit down for a week. Don't think I won't. You could get yourself or someone else killed. You can never ever do that, but what you are going to apologize to your father for is something even more serious. You need to tell him you are sorry for ever, ever thinking he might hurt me, and you will never try to protect me from him again. We are a family. We love and trust each other. We don't hurt each other, and we never have to be afraid of each other. Do you understand?"

Toshiro nodded solemnly. "Yes, Mom," he said softly.

"Now apologize to your father."

Toshiro's eyes shifted from his mother's worried face to his father. Gin was watching him thoughtfully, for once not smiling, but still, his expression gave nothing away. "I'm sorry," he said, almost wishing he could have taken a spanking instead.

"What are you sorry for?" Rangiku demanded.

"I'm sorry I thought you might kill Mom, and I'm sorry I hurt you. I was wrong," he said.

"Now, go inside and get ready for bed," Rangiku directed.

He raised his head, trying to judge his chances for mercy. It was at least an hour and a half till his usual bedtime. Nope, his mother looked really upset, more upset than she ever looked. "I'm sorry, Mom," he said, and then he got up and headed inside.

Rangiku threw her arms around her husband's neck, wailing, "Gin!" Tears she'd been holding back spilled onto his shoulder. "Oh, Gin! Did you hear him? How could he think you could try to kill me?"

"It doesn't mean anything. Just means he was scared by Shinso. He hadn't ever seen my shikai before. He had no idea what it would be like. It would scare anyone who wasn't expecting it. But I like that his instinct was to protect you. As long as he's trying to keep you safe, I don't think I can really be angry with him."

"But he shouldn't-" Rangiku broke off. She knew that her husband and her son were not close. They never had been. Gin had been watching Toshiro warily since his birth. Rangiku wasn't sure what to make of it. He kept a constant eye on the boy, but rarely interacted with him unless she forced him to, but even then he kept Toshiro at arms length, hiding every real thought and feeling from his own child as thoroughly as he did from everyone else.

She knew Toshiro felt it. He wasn't old enough to understand what Gin was doing or why, but he instinctively felt shut out. He felt unwanted and unloved, and he didn't trust the one person he should be able to trust more than anyone else in the universe. "You need to tell him what he means to you," she said softly.

"Ran-"

"He doesn't know. You're his daddy, but he doesn't know you'd fight and kill and die for him. He doesn't even think you like him, and he doesn't trust you. He knows you lie to him, and he knows you disappear for days with no explanation. He doesn't even know who you are."

"Toshiro doesn't or you don't, Ran?"

Rangiku's eyes dropped. "You're my two favorite people in the whole world. Please try. For me, please."

Gin pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed as she leaned against him. It wasn't the first time she wanted to demand the truth from Gin, to insist that he tell her everything he was hiding, but she knew there was no point. He would never tell her. Whatever it was was something terrible. She almost wished he was having an affair because the things she imagined were so much worse. Who knew what sorts of crimes or conspiracies he could be involved in? It had started so long ago. They'd just been children. He'd always kept her out, kept her safe, even tried to distance himself from her after the Academy. If it weren't for Toshiro, would he have pulled even further away?