Author's notes:

Thanks to all the reviewer! I'd be seriously doubting the sense behind writing this if it weren't for you!

-()-()- signals beginning and end of flashback

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

His brows furrowed together into a deep, contemplative frown. His lips protruded into a grimace somewhat resembling a pout and his index finger pressed so vigorously against his chin, that the skin turned red from the pressure.

"The worst…" He mumbled again and the light from the lantern made his bald head shine brightly.

"Come now, Ikkaku! Can't be too hard fer yer mud brain too figure out the worst thing ya've ever found the guts to swallow!"

"Shuddup, ya kitten-loving pseudo-mustache wearing brickhead!" A slightly drunk Madarame Ikkaku yelled across the table at an equally sloshed 3rd seat of the 11th division. Before the 'brickhead' had left his mouth, a tear rolled down Iba's cheek.

"I was friggin' starving! And that cat had been run over by a carriage! Right in front of my eyes!"

"Alright, alright… a weasel."

There was silence for a few seconds until Iba quirked an eyebrow in question. "A weasel?"

"Too hairy and skinny as hell, but it did the deal…" Ikkaku mumbled, scratching his bare stomach with clumsy fingers. With his free hand he downed the last remains of warm sake, gaining a dark glare from his opponent in return.

"So we got weasels, kittens, -"

"Cat."

"- and slugs." At that they all stared at Hisagi. "What 'bout ya, Matsumoto? Ya came from Rukongai as well, ne?"

Slightly drowsy eyes looked up from where they had been resting on her sake cup, the liquid smiling invitingly up at her as she stared at her rippling reflection. "Me?... I'm a woman. I don't eat gross stuff like you sweating, dirty men. Or do you think my two friends grew that beautiful from eating hairy snails?"

A round of nodding heads mulled over that specific piece of information, Hisagi's cheeks having turned a subtle shade of pink.

"And for staring at my boobs you'll take care of my bill."

All present jaws dropped open at that, but no-one dared to contradict. Instead they dove back into their conversation, Ikkaku slurring something about Yumichika only eating stuff he himself had claimed beautiful.

Looking away from the laughing men, Matsumoto stared at the flickering light of the lantern, her gaze seemingly miles away.

-()-()-

"Look what I found!"

Gin looked across his shoulder at his friend, his hands continuing to polish the blade of his katana. "What'd'cha find, Rangiku?"

With the broadest smile the boy had ever seen in his entire life, the young girl produced a small bundle consisting of four furry legs and an even furrier head out from behind her back, holding the unmoving creature up for everyone inside the shack to see.

Gin –being the only one present- turned around fully, his sword still lying on his crossed legs.

"A puppy!" She announced the most obvious thing Gin could think of. "It was walking around outside and its mother was nowhere to be seen!" Matsumoto's eyes were shining with absolute happiness as she walked past the small fireplace towards her silent companion. "I named it 'Tabi'."

Gin's mouth formed an 'Oh', one eyebrow rising in bewilderment. "Tabi?"

"Look at its paws. It's completely brown, but the paws are white, as if he's wearing socks."

"Ah… but it doesn't look too happy, Ran. Maybe the name…"

Giving him a glare, she sat the small ball down on the floor right in front of Gin and then knelt down herself. "Come here, Tabi. Come here."

A light whimper could be heard as the puppy got up on shaky legs and trotted straight towards a slightly bemused Gin. The whimpering got louder then and with one free hand, the silver-haired boy picked up the dog by its neck and held it high in the air, turning it from side to side as he eyed it carefully.

"At least it looks healthy, but I guess it's hungry… another mouth ta fill, ne."

Looking away from the now silent puppy, Gin found Matsumoto glaring openly at the strange pair. "When I picked him up, he peed on my arm… " Oh… "It's a present. Keep him. He likes you more than me."

Befuddled, Gin watched her get up and walk outside, mumbling something about washing her yukata.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The fish had already been bad.

Lying on his back, Gin stared up at the bright blue sky, some small birds flying past his field of vision. It was mocking him. The sky had always been there, looking down upon his pathetic existence, mocking him, laughing.

Somewhere behind the shack, Matsumoto was retching violently. It must be painful, he thought, for there was nothing left in her stomach to be thrown up.

The pair hadn't found anything edible for over five days, the chicken he had killed the other day having been stolen by another starving kid. He guessed that it had been that black-haired girl carrying around her baby sister and had refrained from going after her.

Even with his stomach having given up on rumbling days ago, he couldn't bring himself to sink that low.

The sound of paws walking softly towards him across the sandy ground caught his attention, his mind trying to zone out the noises of the heaving girl somewhere to his right.

"Got nothin' fer ya, Tabi. Sorry."

As if knowing full well that his master couldn't provide him with anything that wasn't already half rotten, the dog's jaw clapped open and a bone fell onto the ground. There was a moment of absolute silence as Gin stared at the offering.

"You're a good boy… " Picking up the white bone, he held it up above his face, saliva making it slimy. A fly sat down on a small piece of dark brown muscle tissue and Gin's mouth went dry as another cramp made him almost vomit again.

"Here." He mumbled, throwing the bone some meter away to a line of dry bushes. "Ya take the rest."

Tail hanging low, Tabi walked away to where his meal had fallen.

These days, something some people would call 'manhunt' was raging in Rukongai like a wildfire. Groups of adults were roaming the streets, hunting down anyone who dared to have a weird face, have more food, water, money or luck or was literally caught with the hand in the cookie jar.

A few days ago, they had almost gotten their hands on him while he had been rummaging through trash. Especially children and old people were on their list of potential prey.

To his right, Matsumoto walked out from behind a bush, her arms hanging limply by her sides, not enough strength left in her body for them to hold onto her hurting belly. Dark rings under her eyes stood at stark contrast to her pale skin. The only color left in her face, was the light pink hue of her cheeks and forehead.

She was probably close to running a fever, the rotten fish having added the last drop to her crumbling health.

Watching her disappear inside their home, Gin averted his glassy eyes from the entrance and stared again at the cloudless sky.

An eerie voice somewhere in the back of his mind kept telling him how pathetic he was and Gin found himself agreeing at last.

"Unable to keep one friggin' life safe."

His gaze drifted to where Tabi was gnawing on the blank bone.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Matsumoto woke from the noise of boiling water.

As her eyes cracked open slowly, she got aware of her surroundings, especially a very familiar scent that evoke a warm feeling of hope to spread out in her stomach.

Food.

Finding strength that hadn't been there some hours ago when she had practically fallen into their shack, her mind immediately having shut down, she sat up clumsily, finding a white sheet draped across her.

It smelled like something really good.

Turning around fully, she watched her companion as he silently stirred the content of the small pot he had set up on the gleaming coals. The scent made her mouth water in joyful anticipation and with the sound of creaking wood, she moved into a crouch.

Gin didn't pay her any attention, totally oblivious to the fact that she had finally gotten up and was actually still able to move about. He seemed totally engrossed in the task at hand, looking down into the pot as if nothing else existed besides the gloriously smelling food.

"Hey." She finally announced her presence with a voice raspy from throwing up but that sounded slightly over-cheerful in the oppressive silence that had surrounded them until then.

"That smells wonderful." Matsumoto tried again more tentatively, crawling across the small space towards her plate. "Where'd you get it?"

She didn't particularly care what it was right now. It could be rats and she'd be happy to swallow it all tails included. What mattered to her was how he had suddenly gotten his hands on the meat.

They didn't have any money, a fact that had made it virtually impossible for the pair to buy anything fresh (meat or fruits) and had forced them to live from partly rotten vegetables and mice.

But this stuff smelled wonderful.

"Hey, Gin! Still with me?" Her chin rested on her knees, thighs drawn up close to her chest as she encircled her legs tightly with her skinny arms to hug herself.

Finally, the silent boy made a move that he had noticed her, looking up from the peacefully cooking soup into her eyes, her brows having furrowed into a deep frown. She immediately realized that something was wrong with him.

His face was void of any emotion.

Matsumoto couldn't remember having ever seen his features so blank. No creased brows, no half smile, not even the slightest sign that he was there.

Without a word, he took a wooden spoon and filled their plates with the stew.

Cocking her head slightly to the side, she couldn't suppress the growing feeling of suspicion that made her alarm bells go wild. Slowly, she picked up the proffered plate and stared at the small pieces of meat.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw his beloved katana standing against the wall. She couldn't recall one moment when he had let go of the sword since he had first appeared with it.

"Ran."

Her eyes shot up. Gin rarely called her by the nickname, he himself had given her.

"Ya have ta get better… " His voice suddenly faltered and he looked down at the soup, a faint line of sadness etching itself into his brows. "Sorry."

Frowning, Rangiku moved the spoon to her lips, her gaze never averting from where Gin was silently eating the stew. Her stomach started to grumble again for the first time in three days, her body having caught up with the knowledge of finally getting something again.

Then she noticed what had bugged her right from the start and the realization made her dizzy as if she had been hit in the face.

"Where's Tabi?"

Another spoon filled with soup disappeared in Gin's mouth, but he looked like he had to force his throat to swallow with every bite.

Without her having noticed it, her eyes had already started to brim with unshed tears as they moved around the small interior of their refuge in search of their furry companion. Normally he would be sitting close by, waiting for some pieces of meat to 'accidently' find their way towards his already empty bowl.

"Where is he?" She pressed out between dry lips, the spoon in her hand trembling so hard, that the content fell back into the plate.

"I watched him this morning going away with a female dog." He started in a flat tone of voice, the spoon hanging half filled in mid-air. "Fell in love at first sight I guess. … Now eat up, it's gonna turn cold in a sec."

Nodding silently, Matsumoto put the spoon into her mouth. It tasted just as it smelled. Wonderful. Gin was the best cook she had ever met. He could turn mice and rice into the most delicious food she had ever been allowed to taste and trash into stomach-filling goodies.

"I-it's great." She hiccupped, her vision too blurred to see Gin nod his consent.

"They'll have lotsa lil puppies real soon, ne, Ran?"

Matsumoto couldn't answer. In her mind, she saw little dogs with paws as white as snow playing tag in the dirt.

-()-()-

Holding the sake cup in her hand, Matsumoto stared into the distance, neither hearing nor seeing her drunken companions blabbering on about gross stuff they had eaten so far. Her mind was still focused on that day, remembering the taste of slightly salty soup.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Madarame suddenly yelled, holding his hands up into the air so silence his buddies. "You can't tell me, your fuckin' kitten tasted worse than my sandal! Don't make me laugh, ya wimpy lil son of a-"

A hand on his shoulder made Ikkaku stop mid-sentence, his head shooting around to see who had dared to interrupt him in his glorious onslaught of assaults.

"Ichimaru-fukutaichou!" Hisage spluttered, getting up from where he had been sitting to greet the higher ranked officer accordingly.

"Oh, just leave it be, Hisagi-kun." Gin told the other man with an exaggerated sigh. His hand was still resting softly on Ikkaku's shoulder when his lips turned upwards into a broad smile.

"Don't'cha think that conversation of yers has turned a lil bit unlady-ish?"

Matsumoto could only stare at the tall man, his silver hair having grown a bit longer since the last time she had met him. But his demeanor hadn't. Gin was still not Gin.

It felt like a little boy was standing in front of her, wearing a sneering mask to hide himself from a Hollow.

"Thank you very much, Ichimaru-fukutaichou. But I am a big girl." Matsumoto announced, lifting her arm to show everyone her biceps. "I can handle a bunch of drunkards myself."

"Is that so?" There was genuine surprise on his face as he let go of Madarame's shoulder, arms hanging limply by his sides as he regarded her with creased eyebrows. "Than I'll leave 'em in yer capable hands, Rangiku-chan. Ja!"

Gin turned around without another word, his hand lifted 'Bye' as he ducked under the curtain bearing the name of the sake bar and disappeared in the darkness outside.

"Now that's a freak, I tell ya." Ikkaku mumbled, waving his empty sake cup towards the waitress for seconds. The topic changed abruptly as soon as the men felt safe, Ichimaru was out of ear range from kittens to "fox-faced creeps".

Listening to her companion commenting about Gin and his captain, who was said to be the absolute opposite of his 2IC, she sighed deeply.

"Thank you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

FINIS?!

Sooo… comments, anyone?