Toshiro had his sandals on, but Rangiku was still crawling around trying to find Kinta's. "How can you lose your shoes? You always take them off in the entry. Every single time we come home you take your shoes off. How can you lose them?" she was muttering as she looked under a cabinet to see if they'd somehow slid beneath it.

Miyako appeared abruptly in the open doorway and immediately demanded, "What did you do?"

Rangiku sat up, knocking her head into the drawer Kinta had helpfully opened to look in. "What? Ow! Damn-I mean darn it! What do you mean-Kinta! Knock it off!"

The boy was happily repeating, "Damn, damn, damn, damn," as he pulled his sandals from the drawer.

"You must have said something," Miyako accused. "Only you could inspire this level of insanity! What did you say to my captain?"

Gin appeared from the hall. "Hello, Miyako. What insanity has Rangiku inspired today?"

"They've eloped!" Miyako exclaimed. "Nobody knows when they left! There was just a note saying not to worry, and they'll be back in a few months! How can we not worry? What did you say? Why would you do this to us?"

Rangiku sat down on the tile floor and Kinta plopped down on her lap. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. "Honestly, I don't. I don't even know who you're talking about."

"I assume from the volume it must be Captain Ukitake and Nemu," Gin said. "Who else would inspire such panic? What did you say to them, Ran?"

"Nothing! I barely saw either of them!" Rangiku protested. "It's not my fault!"

Then her expression abruptly changed, and she was grinning hugely. "Did they really elope, Miya-chan? Are you sure?"

"The note was in Captain Ukitake's handwriting, and he and Nemu are nowhere to be found. No one knows anything; we've checked with his family and Captain Kurotsuchi, but they didn't speak to anyone, not even Captain Kyoraku, and no one saw them leave the division.

"Kaien tried to locate the captain's reiatsu, but he couldn't find anything. He's sent people to the gates to find out if they've gone to Rukongai. How could he think that we wouldn't worry?" Miyako said. Then her eyes widened. "He's never been so inconsiderate; leaving a little note like that, it's not like him at all. Do you think it could be some sort of trick? Maybe he was taken and someone is trying to make us think he left of his own will!"

"There is no one alive who could have stolen Captain Ukitake and Lieutenant Kurotsuchi from the party last night without causing some sort of disturbance someone would have noticed," Gin said, lying as he was honestly fairly certain Aizen could manage it if he had really wanted to, but that was beside the point because he hadn't. "Your captain has run off to have some fun with his very sexy girlfriend, possibly wife. I think you should be happy for him."

Miyako glared at him. "That's because you don't know the captain. He would never do something so reckless, and, if he did, he must have a very good reason for it-or Rangiku said something-are you sure you didn't say anything? You've inspired people to do some pretty stupid things."

Toshiro considered telling them about Nemu and the captain's talk the night before about stories with happy endings and sad endings and death, but he decided it really wasn't anyone's business. He couldn't begin to understand why anyone would want to run off and get married, but it seemed like Captain Ukitake should be able to if he wanted to, and it was stupid for the Thirteenth to get so worked up over it.

"I have not," Rangiku said in her own defense, "And I didn't even get a chance to talk to either of them, but I, at least, am very happy for them. If they're in love why shouldn't they get married if they want to? And I'm not at all surprised they'd want to avoid all the fuss people would make if they had a proper wedding. A wedding would be torture for both of them, being the center of attention like that."

Miyako shook her head. "It's still not right. The captain doesn't do these things. He's always very careful to let us know where he is, and he always takes someone with him who can care for him in case he has a bad spell if he has to leave Seireitei. He would never do anything to make us worry. He's much too considerate."

"Does he have a bedtime too?" Gin asked. "Shiro doesn't, but he's a pretty responsible kid. He can go just about anywhere in Seireitei theses days without bothering to ask permission."

Miyako turned her angry gaze on Gin. "It's not like that. He's very sick. He could collapse at any moment. Do you have any idea how many times Unohana has told us there was nothing more she could do, and we'd just have to wait and see if he pulled through? He needs someone with him who can care for him no matter what happens."

"I think Nemu just volunteered," Gin said, smiling broadly. "They may have a different idea of what sort of care he needs is all." He stepped down into his sandals and walked right past Miyako, not bothering to wait for an answer. "Come on, boys, breakfast awaits."

"He needs to be careful," Miyako said after the three Ichimaru men had left, closing the door behind them. She sounded worried, but her earlier panic was gone and in its place was resigned helplessness.

"He's not going to have a heart attack if they have sex, is he?" Rangiku asked as she pulled her own sandals over her tabi.

Miyako's eyes widened, and for a moment she just stared at Rangiku like she'd said the most offensive possible thing, but she eventually managed to shake her head. "His heart's fine. It's just his lungs, but still-" she put her hands over her face. "I don't want to think about it-it's worse than my parents! Eugh!" Her hands dropped and she glared down at Rangiku. "I cannot believe I helped you get them together!"

"It was your idea," Rangiku had to point out.

"I know!" Miyako said. "But it wasn't supposed to work!" She sighed and sat down beside Rangiku. "I am glad he's happy, and I am, and I love Nemu, I do. I'm glad everything's worked out so well for them. But it's impossible not to worry. I don't think there's a day I haven't worried about the captain since I joined the Thirteenth.

"I know most of the Gotei thinks he's a useless captain because he's out sick so often, and Kaien does most of the day to day work of running the division, but Captain Ukitake has a very important role in the Gotei. He spends a lot of time with the General and even Central 46 working on policy and advising on complicated issues. He keeps them all just a little more humane. None of the other captains could or would even try because it takes so much time and patience. There's so much that is so frustrating about dealing with them and their constant political games. If-when he dies things are going to be harder for all of us, unless we somehow miraculously find another person strong enough to make captain who also has the patience to deal with all of those people, the intelligence to find a reasonable compromise everyone will agree to in the most impossible situations and, most importantly of all, loves the individual people of Soul Society enough to dedicate his life to protecting them from any injustice."

Rangiku sighed. "I have to admit that the type of person that seeks captain isn't usually high on patience or particularly interested in thankless jobs, even on the rare occasion when their egos are small enough that they even notice the existence of other people. I've always kind of wondered how Ukitake made captain in the first place. He just doesn't seem like the type."

"I think it was mostly because Kyoraku wanted to, and they really do do almost everything together, and it made the general happy to see his handpicked students succeed, but in the end he is like any other man. If you tell him there's something he can't do he'll do it just to prove you wrong."

Rangiku laughed at that. "You know he's going to be alright, don't you? Nemu may have no common sense, but she knows what to do if he gets sick, and she's not going to panic or do anything to make things worse. In the end it'll probably be a good thing for your division. You won't have to have someone checking in on the captain all the time. You can leave that to Nemu."

Miyako grinned. "Kaien checked in at the Twelfth first thing in the morning, and he said Captain Kurotsuchi was already complaining about Nemu abandoning him and threatening to demote her in favor of someone less susceptible to pretty boys."

"Well," Rangiku said slowly. "I have always thought Captain Ukitake was pretty, but I'm a bit partial to white hair. I didn't think anyone else had noticed."

Miyako shook her head. "I guess I should get to work. I'm going to have to spend the day calming the division down. Kiyone and Sentaro are going to be impossible."

Rangiku hopped to her feet. "Good luck with that. If they were in my division I'd have sent them both on permanent assignment to the World of the Living, as far away from each other as possible."

"They're not half as aggravating to deal with as your husband," Miyako said, defending her division members.

Rangiku smiled proudly. "No one is."