I originally had something completely different planned for this chapter. The events were actually going to happen over the span of two chapters, and both conversations were held in very different places. But one of my reviews mentioned wanting to see them drunk, and this scene began to enfold itself in my mind. Besides, I think it's about time they get moving again.

Chapter Nine

Stray With Me

Captain Rangiku Matsumoto was bordering on elated.

She had not been this self-satisfied for a very, very long time. In fact, she'd been having quite a large slump recently. There was no need to explain the reason why. So was it for anyone to question that, when finally she found something to keep her spirits up, she decided to cling to it like mad? Could anyone honestly tell her to stop when she had only just found something to distract her from all of the insanity she'd thrown herself into since her beloved Gin's capture?

Well, there was that, and the fact that she was dead drunk helped too.

The words were still running themselves through her mind. They were even. She knew what that really meant well enough. She'd been around men like him long enough to understand what was going through his head. How would she ever be able to command a pirate ship otherwise?

Those words meant, plainly and simply, that they were now equal. They were even in authority, even in strength and will, even in debt. He accepted her position of power, and he accepted his position as prisoner, which effectively promoted him right out of his hostage situation. With equality, her threats meant nothing, and their primary leverage, the Prince, meant as little as her threats. Before he had stated that the only thing keeping him from escaping was curiosity toward Isshin, but he didn't even have that as an excuse any more. They were even, and he now had nothing to keep him from trying to run.

But, oh no. She wasn't satisfied with leaving it at that. When Renji saw what the kid had done to his own men, he'd convinced himself Hitsugaya was even worse than the average cold blooded murderer, but Rangiku was convinced otherwise. And she knew that she was going to prove both those idiots wrong. Thus it was with great personal pleasure that she accepted her fourth glass of alcohol and downed half of it without stopping for air.

When Rangiku Matsumoto set her mind on something, nothing could change it.

"Ran," the aforementioned redhead seethed, not for the first time. "I can see how it would make sense to get him drunk, but it kind of ruins the whole point when you get yourself even more wasted."

"I'm not ruinin' my point, Renji. I'm makin' it," she replied with a small laugh.

This laugh seemed to be all it took to turn the man's world upside down. Renji stared at her, struck deaf and dumb at the sight of her drunken smile, until he heard another voice scoff.

He focused his gaze downward to face their hostage, who was sitting in between the two pirates and had therefore been able to hear every word Renji Abarai had said. Rangiku was fairly sure Renji had done that on purpose. "And what point would that be?" he grunted, glaring at his first and only drink, still sitting unfinished but not untouched on the bar before him. "That you're both irredeemable idiots?"

"Nope," Rangiku countered without missing a beat. "I'm gonna beat both'a you at yer own game. 'Cos I'm cap'n, and I'm smarter'n you."

"You're drunker than us too," Renji muttered. As surprising as it was, he was the only one of the three without any alcohol in his system. The first thing Rangiku had done when they had arrived in the tavern was order a drink for Hitsugaya, and when he refused to have any, she then ordered one for herself and proved that even arrogant snobs like that white-haired snot had a limit to how much they could stand before they needed something to wipe their memories clean.

"I don't play games," Hitsugaya asserted, sounding rather frustrated. His cheeks were only just taking on a flushed pink hue, and though he wasn't nearly as far gone as Rangiku, he was looking more relaxed than usual. His normally stiff, alert guard was fading, and he was starting to sound almost human, his voice heavy and his emotions sparked clearly across his features. "And the very fact we're here proves that you don't have room for a single sentient thought left in your brain."

Rangiku let out a stifled chuckle. "Yer not gonna get me to tell no matter what you say," she chimed. "I'm not gonna tell you 'til I beat you."

"C'mon, Ran. I know you're enjoying yourself and all, but I'm sure Isshin's gotten his supplies to the ship by now," he grunted irritably. It was never fun to be the responsible one, and Renji was already tired of it. "We need to get over there and help him get ready to move out before anyone realizes what happened to those Loyals."

The woman captain released a hiccup from behind her ever-present hood as she finally consented to Renji's insistence. "'Kay, 'kay…" she trailed of lightly, paying for the drinks before waving to their hostage. "I get it, I get it. Gotta go 'cos we've gotta warn Isshin 'bout the Loyals." She heard Hitsugaya snort and couldn't help but let out a childish giggle, the sort of playful, knowing laugh that a little kid wouldn't be able to hold back when someone passed over her hiding place. Renji gave her another look, but she expertly ignored it. "Le's go then."

As the three of them walked through the open marketplace, Rangiku was undoubtedly the most talkative, but she was surprised at how much the little liquor Hitsugaya had consumed had relaxed him as well. Thus, while Renji was still being annoyingly irate, her inebriated mind told her that Hitsugaya would make the best conversation buddy. Besides, a bit more teasing before she won the game could never be considered a bad thing … right?

"Oy, Hitsugaya," she whined, playfully pushing him away from Renji. The redhead's brows were furrowed in visible aggravation, but he didn't say anything, so she didn't stop. "You never tell us anythin' 'bout yerself, huh? I bet you have tons of funny stories, an' I wanna hear 'em. Like, like, have you always been with the Prince, huh? You two are really close, right?"

For once, it seemed her inebriated mind had chosen correctly. Yet another giggle escaped her lips when Hitsugaya did the unthinkable and actually responded, no insult included. Pulling away from her vice-like grip, the teenage hostage huffed a definite, "Of course. I've known him as long as I can remember. What's it to you?"

"Yer just so mismatched, ya know?" she pressed on, darting a glance toward Renji and playing at being secretive. "He's so cute an' cuddly an' klutzy, and yer just short an' angry an' mean."

"I am not," he grunted less-than-gracefully. "You people are just annoying."

So much for his "no insults" streak. "But ya didn't answer my question," she pressed on valiantly, a drunken knight sharing a joke with an angry dragon. "Did'ja meet when you were assigned to 'im? Were you playmates? Ah! Yeah, that must'a been it, right? All the little palace darlings playin' with each other! So cute!"

It was obvious that Hitsugaya found it anything but. The moment the words were out of her mouth, he froze, emerald eyes wide in shock … or perhaps even fear. Matsumoto blinked stupidly, her liquor-soaked mind taking more time than usual to process that something was wrong. "What did you just call me…?" he asked, a tone of menace revealing what his hidden eyes could not.

"What? Ya mean 'palace darling'? But it fits you two perfectly! Jus' like li'l, ole Byakuya."

Renji had stopped by now as well, much more aware than his drunken captain. Something dawned on him then, and having experienced the difference between the two cultures already, he quickly interrupted. "It's slang used around Seireitei. Kids who grew up in the royal court, all prissy and pampered and the like," he explained gruffly.

"Oh, I see," the younger finally managed, and the three plowed forward once more.

Rangiku hadn't realized just how tense his shoulders had become until he relaxed them. What was his problem? "Whaaat?" the woman drawled teasingly. "It means somethin' else in Hueco Mundo?"

"Yes, actually. It does." The reply was halting, almost choked, enough so that it even caught Rangiku's attention. "It refers to … royal harems … of children. Gifts to the king."

It took a while for Matsumoto to comprehend this, and when she did, she suddenly didn't feel so drunk anymore. "Oh. Oh. You're not…?"

"No," he replied firmly. "My parents had no need to sell me off to the palace."

"R-Right. O'course," the captain chuckled nervously, bonking herself on the side of her head. "Silly me."

"Hmph. And you scold us for chatting? I don't know how you got the kid rolling, but you two can sure go on forever," interrupted an unexpected, sarcastic voice. Renji snorted as Rangiku and Hitsugaya realized for the first time that they had already made it to the harbor. And who else would be there to greet them besides Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin? Renji wasn't about to stick around with them there, and Matsumoto was quick to note that he had abandoned them to deal with the Narcissus' infamous duo alone.

"I thought you two said you were busy," the busty woman pouted, just barely able to fold her arms across her ample chest.

"We were, and now we're not," Urahara returned easily, waving an Oriental-styled fan conspicuously in front of his chin.

"What he means is we went out to look for something, but we found it much quicker than we had expected," Yoruichi clarified. "Isshin showed up a short while ago. He coerced some of the townsmen to bring in the supplies. Kisuke and I had already seen the mess you made by then, so the message has been passed on. He'll be moving on as soon as night falls."

Rangiku let loose a sigh of relief. "I should'a known you guys'd be a step ahead of me," she laughed. "Gin always teased you two about that."

A single, blonde eyebrow rose at this statement before the eye below it slowly turned on the young man who Rangiku had been speaking to. "Well, I'm sure you have plenty of work ahead of you. Shuu needs some help with directing everyone. We can take care of Hitsugaya, right, Yoruichi-love? We've got something to ask him anyway."

"Go on, Captain. It's best to gain an early start so we'll be ready when the time comes," the dark skinned woman confirmed.

"Yeah, yeah. Work, work, work. Tha's all being a cap'n is good for. It's boooring," she whined pathetically as she struggled up the make-shift ramp. But just when they thought she was gone, she popped up at the railing, leaning over to get a good view of them down below. "Oy, Hitsugaya, I almost forgot. I win," she smirked.

It took Hitsugaya a moment to realize what she was talking about. That stupid game she mentioned when they were still in the tavern… "How do you figure?" he decided to humor her.

Her grin only widened. "You said yer only reason for not runnin' away was 'cos you wanted to see Isshin, right? But after that, I took ya to the center of town and even got myself drunk, but you didn' run away 'cos you couldn' go without Hanatarou," she pointed out triumphantly. "So I win. Yer not a cruel bastard."

And it was with that all-encompassing smirk that she walked away, leaving Hitsugaya utterly and completely dumbstruck.

"Aww, now that was charming, wasn't it, Kisuke?"

"Truly a performance to behold, my dear Yoruichi," returned the man in question, "but I can't be sure that it beats his performance up until now. I suppose he's just a better actor when he's actually acting, hm?"

Toushirou Hitsugaya slowly turned his head back to the man and woman before him. It looked as if today was just going to be one shock after another. "What are you talking about?" he asked coldly. "You said you had something to say to me? Get on with it."

"You know very well what we're talking about, Toushirou."

The royal servent's eyes widened in disbelief, staring into those omniscient golden orbs for any sign of weakness, of a bluff, of anything. "How did you kn-"

"How did we know your first name when you only gave us your surname? But that wasn't even the difficult part," Urahara whined into his fan. "Would you not rather ask something along the lines of, say, 'How did you figure out I was lying?' Is that one better?"

He had told Yamada that it was inevitable someone would figure it out. It wasn't as if they were in any position to prove themselves or hide the facts once they were learned. But even so… This was much earlier than Hitsugaya had anticipated. He didn't like this one bit. "It doesn't matter now, does it? Our situations haven't changed," he growled under his breath, his voice becoming more frigid with every word.

"If it doesn't matter, why are you still trying so hard to protect the lie?" Shihouin interrupted lightly, leaning up against a pile of crates as if to emphasize her victory.

"Personal reasons," he replied vaguely.

Yoruichi and Kisuke turned knowing glances toward each other before turning back on their target, and Hitsugaya bit his lip. Just how much did they know? How much could he reveal without giving himself away? Why wouldn't these idiots just stop beating around the bush and get to the point?

"Personal reasons like, hypothetically, an issue with the current ruler of Hueco Mundo?" Urahara asked quietly, even though all three present knew it wasn't really a question.

"How did you find out, then?"

Hitsugaya could see it clearly in their subtle movements and sparse eye contact. They knew he was avoiding the topic, and that fact was only confirming their doubts. But which doubts those were, he still couldn't comprehend, and if he didn't know at least that much, he couldn't proceed without potentially letting something loose.

"Well, I am an expert in my field," the blonde confirmed. "And so is Yoruichi. Some research and some snooping did nicely. I do believe that I can say I know everything there is to know about this troublesome situation."

"You don't know anything," returned the deadly response, all of the carefully practiced icy aloofness cracking in an instant.

"I know more than you think, that's for sure," he smirked. "Honestly. The more I learn, the more I have to wonder…. Are you the worst possible hostage we could have secured … or are you the best?"

"I'm not the real hostage here. Yamada is the Sixth Prince. He's the only one of us who's worth anything to the king."

Shihouin sighed. "You're lying again, Toushirou," she asserted in frustration. The pale-haired hostage held back a retort. "You know better than anyone that he's not the only one of you who's worth more than your weight in gold. For more reasons than one."

"Does he know about all of this?"

Hitsugaya glared down the blonde navigator with such hatred that he was sure the fan was about to spontaneously combust. "No matter what I tell you, you won't believe me," he seethed.

"That's true, that's true," Kisuke Urahara nodded in mock surrender. "So, how many times have you tried to do it?"

Well, crap. Now there was no question as to what they were talking about. So they really did know their stuff. This was looking to be very bad indeed, but at this point, he had little left to lose where this topic was concerned. "Six times in the last three years, but I only posed a real threat during two of those attempts."

"Oh, is that true? You really are a pest, aren't you?"

"If we don't board soon, the Captain might get suspicious," Yoruichi scolded both of them lightly, nodding her head toward the busy deck.

Two softly tanned hands balled themselves into fists, and Hitsugaya raised his head until he was looking Kisuke Urahara directly in the eye. Nothing was going to escape him. "What is it that you really want to ask? Spit it out already."

"Fair enough," the be-hatted man acquiesced. "All I want to know is why an all-powerful king like Sousuke Aizen would continue to let you into his domain again and again … when you've already tried to assassinate him six times in the past three years?"

And, without warning, Toushirou Hitsugaya collapsed.

Chapter Nine End