Rangiku felt good about setting the pace once again but understood perfectly that Renji had a slight advantage in a few key areas. Damn, she thought to herself, if Haineko weren't so lazy that wouldn't be an issue!

Somewhere in the depths of her mind her soul sword growled, don't you dare blame me, chickie.

Yeah, yeah. Wait, now I'm arguing with myself. Rangiku looked around at the buildings. They had passed the Squad 8 barracks, and were now flying past Squad 7. Hmm. A sly smile came to her full lips. She decided to see just how much her drinking buddy would dare for a sake cup.

She found her way to the Kuchiki house and dropped into the garden by the koi pond. Without stopping to look for Renji she doffed her sandals and ran into the house, fighting to suppress her reiatsu. Rangiku knew she had little to no time. It wasn't just Renji she had to worry about here; a certain persnickety Captain could be lurking about and he certainly didn't feel the need to hold back if he decided not to tolerate trespassers! Let's see, maybe through here.

Outside Renji skidded to a halt a dozen feet over the roof of the house. Damn, that woman had him in a fix. Go after her and more than likely incite the wrath of his Captain or give up the chase, face the humiliation and probably still get a dressing down from Captain Kuchiki. "AARRGH!" Renji threw himself at the garden. There he suppressed his reiatsu and tugged off his sandals. He spotted a hastily discarded pair next to a sliding door and grinned. A lucky break for him. Heh, you're getting sloppy, sweetheart. He tucked both pairs of sandals into his shihakusho, under the waist sash.

Let's see. She must have been suppressing her reiatsu as well. Not too far inside he could detect a couple – he grunted – it was Rukia and Ichigo. They weren't doing much so it was hard to say if they knew what was going on. He took a step and then froze. Deeper in the house he could feel it. A cold sweat started to pour down his back. Byakuya Kuchiki was home.

Rangiku had pulled open a shoji screen expecting…well she didn't really know what to expect. She just wanted a place to mount an ambush. She hadn't considered running into Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki playing cards. Oddly Ichigo had taken off his black outer kimono. She almost forgot her haste as a dozen salacious questions crowded her mind. But as much fun as the blush blossoming on the boy's face was looking, Rukia reminded her of the situation with a loud, "Uhhmm."

Rangiku leapt to the first thing that came to mind. "I think this cup belongs here." She held out the sake cup. "Where do you store the porcelain?"

Rukia stared at her. Then she decided that whatever the hell that blatant lie was supposed to mean she didn't care. She pointed at another pair of shoji screens leading deeper into the house. "Hallway's through there, make a left. Third door on the right is the formal dining room. Look for the lacquered cabinet with inlayed pearl like a cherry tree."

Rangiku bobbed a short bow and snapped open the shoji screens making a swift exit.

Ichigo had barely managed to pull his jaw off the floor when Renji stormed in with an odd bulge under his kimono. "Where's—" he mechanically followed the direction of Rukia's pointing finger with his eyes. "Thanks." He dove through the shoji doors, slapping them back in place so hard they bounced open again by a hair.

Ichigo and Rukia stared at each other as they listened to the footsteps down the hallway. "What the hell," began Ichigo.

"Don't look at me, you know everything I do." Rukia pushed forward a chit.

Ichigo made a face and saw her raise. "I had to jump through a dozen hoops just to get permission to spend the weekend here. Kind of gave me the feeling your brother doesn't like guests, especially unannounced."

"He doesn't. I have no idea what Rangiku-san and Renji are thinking." She frowned at her cards and pushed forward another chit, though more slowly this time.

Ichigo tried not to feel excited about her frown. He advanced a chit of his own. That's it, cautiously so she won't bolt. I've got you this time!

"Anyway he's a lot better with having you around than Renji. Even though he could keep an eye on me and Renji when we were together it.…" They both winced at the sounds of a small shriek and the sound of smashing glass. A muffled male grunt followed on the shriek. Rukia sighed. "It was something like that."

Ichigo turned in the direction of the sound, though he couldn't see anything through the wall. "Uh… sorry I'm not so exciting."

"Tsh, yeah right. I'm pretty sure I'll live longer without excitement like that. By the way, it looks like call. Got something that can beat my three aces?"

"Uh." Ichigo felt like he was punched in the stomach. He had a pair of fours and a pair of tens. He dropped the hand face down. "No." Dammit she's not supposed to shark me on a game I just taught her!

"Hah well it's good you decided to try to string me along instead of raising. This time you only lose your tabi." She pointed to his feet.

Down the hall from Rukia and Ichigo footsteps resumed, this time toward the room they were in. Quick little steps carried a giggling Rangiku into the room where she didn't pause but plowed forward into the doors leading outside.

Not even a second behind a flustered Renji ran in, hair unbound, sandals in his hands. Sandals in his hands? "Dude, what the hell," attempted Ichigo.

Renji tossed one pair toward the couple. "Put these away somewhere safe, please! I almost got her!"

"DUDE!" shouted Ichigo. "What the HELL is going on?"

"She kissed me!" Renji fairly screamed. He threw himself outside and pulled on his sandals as quickly as he could while extending his senses to locate her reiatsu.

"Renji." A cool voice off to his side made Renji's blood run cold.

Outside in the shadow of the eaves Renji's Captain regarded him coldly. He bowed deeply and managed to croak, "Sir?"

"What is the meaning of this? Why is my household being disturbed so late at night and why is your appearance so…disheveled?"

"I can only offer my most humble apologies, Captain. A…competition…between Lieutenant Matsumoto and me got a bit out of hand. I swear to you sir, you won't be troubled further by it tonight and I will see to any repairs or replacements first thing in the morning." For the first time Renji realized tonight was going to have a heck of a price tag. He started sweating profusely.

"And…your hair? Collateral damage as well?"

"Uh, actually I fell for an ambush, sir. Her objective was my hair tie, it seems."

Byakuya was silent for a long moment. "I see." The Squad 6 Captain looked out over the garden and beyond to something Renji couldn't fathom. "When a demon cat steals your hair tie you're already doomed." He caught sight of Renji's baffled face and cleared his throat. "Lieutenant Abarai, I hereby order you to capture Lt Matsumoto and retrieve your hair tie this night. The two of you will be held responsible for any damages. If you do not, you will bear the full responsibility of all damages resulting from this competition. Furthermore, if you fail in this mission you will present your resignation as my lieutenant in the morning. The pride of Squad 6 is at stake. Do I make myself clear?"

Renji's stomach felt like a great iron hand was gripping it tight. How the hell did it get this far? "I understand completely, sir! I'll take care of it!" Renji took another deep bow and flash stepped away before he'd finished standing up again.

Byakuya watched his lieutenant track for Rangiku's reiatsu and disappear over the buildings down the street. He told himself what he felt was anger. Not nostalgia or sorrow for what once was. No. Never that. Without glancing inside he closed the shoji doors that led to the room in which Rukia and Ichigo were playing strip poker. The head of the Kuchiki clan continued his walk around the perimeter of his house.