Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU and set in the same universe as Tales of the Kingdom.

Morning

Gin was going to miss this place. It had been a good home base. However, he and Ran really did need to move on. It was as safe as it used to be here, and Gin wasn't going to risk Rangiku. He also wanted a chance to improve his own skills. He had been lucky that day those thugs had stumbled across Rangiku. He had surprise on his side then and he had been armed where they hadn't been. If things had been a little different, he wouldn't have been able to protect Rangiku. Which meant that he needed to find a way to become stronger and more skillful.

He actually had some ideas about that. But first things first. They needed a new safe place to live. Keeping Ran safe was important. Thankfully, he had been giving thought to this problem for a while now. Gin had some short term contingency plans in case something had ever happened, and they had lost the shelter of the shack. He would be using them to keep the two of them sheltered while he figured out where to go from here. As much as he disliked the idea, Gin was pretty certain that they would need to move into a more populated area. He had some ideas about that as well.

The capitol wasn't all that far from here, and it was probably the biggest city in the country. The bigger the city the easier it would be for the two of them to blend in and not be noticed. There was another reason to go to the capitol though. That was where the Shinigami Knights had their headquarters. The Shinigami Knights were the only order of knighthood that you didn't have to be born a noble to join. They would take anyone provided that they had talent. And Gin had talent. The only question was how to keep Rangiku safe in the meantime.

That was one of the dangers in moving to the city. There would be more people who might try and take advantage of Ran. Gin was not blind. Rangiku was a fairly pretty girl right now. In a few more years though, she was probably going to be stunning. Moreover, Rangiku was curious as a cat. Gin had no doubts that left on her own with nothing to do in the city, Rangiku could probably find trouble quite easily. She was also good at getting herself out of situations at times, but Gin did not want to rely on that. All it took was one mistake, and he would lose her.

He really hadn't intended to become so attached to Rangiku. She had somehow wormed her way into his heart though, and Gin wasn't sure now what he would do without her. Rangiku was the one thing that he didn't seem to be able to give up. He had some spent time with other people before he'd lived on his own, but there had never been a bond like the one between him and Rangiku. When he had saved her life that day, it had been a spur the moment decision. When he had taken her home, Gin had assumed she'd leave eventually. Except she hadn't, and from the looks of things, Rangiku wasn't going to leave him.

It was nice to know that he had something that would stay the same no matter what happened. Rangiku was a constant, and he had never really had one before. With a sigh, Gin shook his head. That was neither here nor there right now. If they were going to leave, they needed supplies for the journey, and they were going to need to figure out what to take with them. Between the two of them, they didn't have much in the way of belongings, but having to carry any amount of things would slow them down some. They would need to bring the bedding with them, and that was the heaviest of their belongings.

A pair of hands landed on his shoulders, and Rangiku peered over them to see if he was looking at anything.

"Ne, Gin, what are you doing?"

There was that curiosity again. He covered one of her hands with his own. "Just thinking, Ran-chan. What do you think about going on a trip?"