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.
Night
Rangiku sighed and put down her pen. Her hand was cramping, and it was getting late. She could finish the reports in the morning. There were times when she regretted being put in charge of the Seireitei's spy networks; it was a great deal more work than she really liked. Still, she was quite good at it, and truthfully, Rangiku wasn't sure if her queen would trust anyone else with the job. So far, Nanao had done a very good job ruling the country. It hadn't been easy. There had been a reprieve after Aizen had left, but none of them were foolish enough to believe that he was done with them.
No, they all had spent that time preparing for the war that they knew was coming. Rangiku had been a little surprised when Gin's contacts started to come to her with information, but before long she was used to it. And then carefully coded messages from Gin himself began to arrive. Over the past two years, those messages had saved them lives and wasted time. Gin had been able to send them almost complete battle plans as well as alert them to Aizen's own spies in their midst. His help had been invaluable.
She missed him horribly though. Even only seeing Gin every few months had been better than this. At least Rangiku didn't have to worry about what would happen when he came back. Nanao had already assured her that she had a full pardon ready and waiting for Gin. That was at least one worry taken care of. And Rangiku did worry. As much as she knew that they needed the information that Gin was getting them, she worried about what could happen to him. If Aizen found out what he was doing or if he got capture by their side before they knew he was on their side, she could lose him forever. Rangiku didn't know what she would do if that happened.
It took only a few minutes for Rangiku to tuck away her work and blow out most of the lamps. She yawned and headed for her bed. The dim light of her lamp through shadows around the room, but even without it, Rangiku would have gone for her short sword. There was someone in her bed. Sword drawn and in hand, Rangiku crept closer. Her eyes caught sight of a few stains on the sheets. The person was injured whoever it was. The dim light of the lamp reflected off the person's hair. Rangiku took in a sudden breath and dropped to her knees. Setting the lamp aside, she reached out a trembling hand to touch the man's hair.
Her wrist was caught before her fingers had even made contact.
"Gin."
Dark red eyes met her own. "Ran."
Instead of releasing her, Gin pulled her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm.
"You're hurt."
Gin shrugged. "It's just a flesh wound. Aizen's the one with several holes in him. I didn't stick around to see how he was doing."
He tugged on her wrist, pulling her down onto the futon beside him. Rangiku snuggled against him, content to listen to his heartbeat. There were questions that needed to be answered and things that had to be discussed, but all that could wait until tomorrow.