A/N: Hi, long time no see. This little number is set in the Good Wife universe, yes, another, but I can't resist.

Disclaimer: Characters and stuff belongs to Tite Kubo and co.

"The Mistress"

"Tokugawa Noriko-sama," says the maid at Byakuya's back and he turns just as the tiny, dark-haired woman appears, looking every bit the doll he remembers from his childhood. Her face is painted perfectly, hair intricately arranged in an elegant knot, not a crease in her elaborate heirloom kimono. There was once a time when he would feel a stirring in his heart at the sight of her, but that time is long gone, before Hisana, before Rangiku.

He inclines his head a little and says, "Tokugawa-san."

She looks up at him with a tiny smile and then inclines her head in a polite but shallow bow, "Byakuya-sama…why so formal?"

There is a delighted scream and both turn to look at the garden where Amagaki and Tomoe are rounding up the younger children with their bokken like shepherds on the field. The two oldest girls are supposed to be practicing their kendo but their instructor stands to the side looking helpless. Amagaki and Tomoe together are a force of nature. Then Byakuya notices Noriko beside him counting silently, her eyes growing wider as the number climbs and says, "Tomoe and Kenichi are Rukia's."

He indicates the smaller of the two tallest girls in the group of eight children, with a head of jet black hair and her father's light brown eyes, and a quiet little boy sitting on the wall above his sibling and cousins also black-haired but with his mother's violet eyes. Byakuya is eternally grateful to the Powers-That-Be for sparing the children from their father's wild orange hair. Noriko's eyes are still wide as she says, "But the other six…"

Byakuya does not reply and after a moment she asks, "Which one is to be the Twenty-Ninth?"

Byakuya turns to a steward standing at the foot of the porch who nods at his master's silent command and barks, "Children, assemble to greet our guest!"

Play ends immediately, and moments later eight children are lined before the porch by age. Amagaki, the eldest, stares directly at Noriko, her scrutinizing gaze the mirror of her mother's though the eyes are grey, then Hisaki, Tsubaki, Yuuko and the happily babbling toddlers, Tsukiko and Haruki. The Kurosaki siblings stand apart from their cousins holding hands. Byakuya says, "Hisaki."

The seven-year-old boy hesitates for half a second before stepping away from his siblings, just in time to avoid Amagaki's bokken meeting his backside, his blue-eyed gaze trained only on his father's face. Byakuya suppresses the urge to snap at the child. He has long given up on hoping that Hisaki will grow into his position, in the end it will be Amagaki, there is no doubt. Then the boy's gaze slides over to Noriko and he gives a slight bow and says, "Otou-sama, Ojou-sama."

Byakuya's expression tightens, irritation growing. It is not the correct term of address, but the boy is forgiven for the misstep when Noriko giggles. She looks over the little boy who has Ginrei's face but Rangiku's eyes and says, "He is a beautiful boy." She looks up at the other children and says, "They are all beautiful children…perhaps I can arrange a meeting with my son? He is about the age of your eldest."

Byakuya, still glaring at his son, says, "I am sure that the children will be delighted."

Amagaki looks anything but and Byakuya is sure that her mother would not be either. Especially after Rangiku finds out. But the Tokugawa clan is wealthy and from all reports Daiki is an intelligent, disciplined boy. With six children it would not hurt to make good matches early.

Then Noriko looks over to Tomoe and Kenichi and says, "I never imagined this house being so full." She turns her head to look back at Byakuya, "I never imagined you having this many children."

Byakuya shrugs and says, "My wife wanted a large family. She does not like the quiet and the house is big enough." Not to mention that she had a problem keeping her hands to herself, but he was not going to say that. It was not as if he had not enjoyed every moment of making the children.

"And she is lieutenant of the Tenth?" asks Noriko.

It is more of a statement than a question but Byakuya replies anyway, "Still."

"Where is she today?" asks Noriko, looking around as if to find Rangiku hiding somewhere nearby. Amagaki's disapproving look spreads over her face, a frown forming as her brow furrows.

"Out with her captain, on a training mission with the Shino Academy Advanced Class," says Byakuya. "Fortunately for the children I have decided to take the day off."

Noriko gives him a small smile and says, "I doubt the children really think it is 'fortunate'."

"Perhaps not," Byayuka concedes. "But I consider it that way."

Noriko looks back at the children once more and then walks back to Byakuya on the porch. "Let them play," she says as she rejoins him, "they look so happy."

Byakuya nods and a few moments later the running and screaming begins again. The instructor gives up with a sigh and folds his arms to watch Tomoe and Amagaki chase their siblings again. Then at Byakuya's side, Noriko says, "I had just been introduced to Masaryuu when your engagement was announced. I…I would be lying if I said that I was not disappointed. I had been hoping that I could have come under consideration."

Byakuya looks down at her and replies, "And I would be lying if I said that I was aware of your situation at the time."

Noriko drops her gaze from his face and says, "Yours was a whirlwind courtship I heard…there was much talk of you having been bewitched."

A flash of Rangiku's smiling face when he noticed her, truly noticed her for the first time. All those evenings of having tea, listening to her banter with Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku and then one night he looked up and had a revelation. The haiku that formed in his mind in that instant had later been embroidered into her wedding kimono. How prettily she had blushed, like a shy maiden when he first recited it to her. "I was," he says, with a smile.

Noriko looks up at him again and then away to the children and says, "It created quite the stir…of course it was nothing compared to the one that broke out after everyone found out about your sister and Kurosaki Ichigo."

Byakuya says nothing, jaw clenching. While a few of the Elders were more than a little thrilled about having a match between the former Shinigami Substitute and the adopted sister, Byakuya was personally displeased with how it happened. Kurosaki Ichigo was supposed to be with Inoue Orihime, even though the girl still lived in the human world there was much talk about them being together. Granted it was perhaps foolish to try to maintain a relationship given that they now lived in different worlds, it appeared to work. And then Ichigo and Rukia went on a mission and when they returned, a mere week later, the boy asked for Byakuya's permission to marry his sister. They never explained what had happened, not even Rukia though she coloured crimson under the force of her brother's stare.

It helped considerably that Tomoe, born some seven months after the wedding, looked small enough to pass for a premature birth.

To Noriko, Byakuya says, "An unexpected but not unwelcome result. My sister is happy…were you, Tokugawa-san?"

She blinks at his address and then replies, "My husband was a good man, and our son is just like him. You will see."

Byakuya grunts and then says, "If he is anything like you, I expect that he and Amagaki will be fast friends."

"Perhaps as you and I once were," says Noriko, looking Byakuya in the eye.

He looks away to his daughter and says, "We shall see."

On the periphery of his reach, Byakuya senses a familiar reiatsu approaching. It is ash, warm and perfumed like the remnants of an offering, or when she is angry, sharp and bitter like a battlefield, the mix of gunpowder and cremation that is Haineko. Rangiku is coming home. The three older children pause in the middle of their game and then turn back to look at him. Noriko's brow furrows in confusion and Byakuya explains, "My wife returns." Then to the children, "You may go greet your mother. Be obedient, she has had a long day."

They do not have to be told twice. The six Kuchiki children scamper past him and Noriko, barely stopping a moment to bid her farewell and dragging the Kurosaki siblings behind them. Amagaki is the last to leave and she gives her father and Noriko a long look that is not quite suspicious or disapproving but somehow conveys both. Perhaps she remembers the scandal before the birth of her second brother, the claims of infidelity by her father and the woman the Elders had dared to parade before her mother, still determined to unseat her even while she nursed their infant heir.

When they have left, Noriko turns to Byakuya and says, "I imagine that Lady Kuchiki would wish to greet her lord first on her return."

Byakuya turns to lead them back into the house and replies, "No, not since the children were born. I am not bothered; our careers often keep us away from them."

"How does she manage? I can barely stand being parted from Daiki for too long and I am a housewife...well, widow now," says Noriko, her expression downcast. "And I cannot imagine that your family is too thrilled about her continued career."

"They are not," Byakuya admits. Inside the house, Rangiku's reiatsu is stronger, invasive, reaching back to Byakuya's as he allows his to flow to her. She must be aware of Noriko's presence by now, even though she is not yet on the grounds but there is no change in the feel of her reiastu. "But she does not care."

"Nor do you?" asks Noriko, giving him a sidelong glance.

He replies, "I care, but I met and married her as a shinigami and in the interest of our continued happiness, a shinigami she shall remain."

Rangiku enters the grounds just as they arrive in the front hall. The children are assembled in one line with Amagaki at the head holding Tsukiko's and Haruki's hands while Tomoe beside her leans on her brother, an elbow propped on his head. Byakuya stops at the other end with Noriko just behind him. A maid waits beside them.

Byakuya wonders for a moment what Rangiku will think when she sees Noriko. Despite the scandal before Tsubaki's birth, the two women have never actually formally met. To Rangiku, Tokugawa Noriko is nothing more than a name, the alleged mistress who conspired with dissenting family to oust her and the children. Of course, they have attended many of the same events, impossible that they should not given who they both are but even then they may have been faces and names supplied at a distance. Then the front door is opened and Rangiku steps into the house.

She is not allowed a moment to catch her bearings before she is swamped by the children. Tsubaki hurries to hug her about her waist, with Haruki on the other side, Amagaki to the front. She spreads her arms and bends to accommodate them, squealing, "Oh my children! Haha is back! What have you all been up to? Have you been good to your Chiechie?"

Rangiku is not one for formal titles with her own children.

There are hasty nods and then Amagaki steps back to nudge the three younger children towards their mother. Rangiku sinks to her knees and kisses each of the younger ones on the forehead and nose before scooping up Haruki and straightening. Tsukiko grabs hold of her hakama and Yuuko reaches for the sheath of her zanpakuto. She nuzzles Haruki until he giggles and says, "I've missed you all. You are all so much better behaved!"

Tomoe and Kenichi step forward, bow and the girl greets, "Welcome home, my lady."

Rangiku gives the girl a lingering look, not quite a warning glare and says, "Tomoe-chan, Ichi-kun, what did I say?"

In reply they give her broad grins and she steps over to ruffle their hair. Then she kisses Haruki again, pats the still clinging Tsubaki on the head and turns to her husband and guest.

Noriko has stepped to stand beside Byakuya now but Rangiku only looks at him as she asks, "Byakuya-sama, are you not going to greet your wife?"

She is angry. He does not have to feel the sudden sharpness to her reiastu to tell him what her eyes so clearly convey. They have become cold, the cornflower blue appearing to darken slightly like the sky before a summer storm. Also, she never calls him "Byakuya-sama".

He obliges her, walking forward and taking her in his arms, mindful of the toddler between them, and kisses her, once, gently on the mouth, then again on her cheek and finally at the base of her ear where he whispers, "Would it appease you if I promised that I had no idea that she was coming to visit?"

There is no change to her reiatsu and her tone is even as she replies, "Lady Tokugawa, my condolences on your husband's passing. I was not informed of your visit beforehand so I have nothing prepared. Has Byakuya-sama treated you well?"

Byakuya turns a little, still holding on his wife, to look at Noriko who replies, "Very well, though I am afraid I only just arrived."

Rangiku has a hand on Byakuya's shoulder and keeps it there as she replies, "Nonsense. Let us get you some tea and snacks. Goodness knows I need something, I'm starving!"

"Thank you," says Noriko.

"Wonderful! Kids, go with her, Haha needs a moment with your Chiechie," says Rangiku.

Amagaki immediately steps forward to retrieve Haruki and lead their guest away into the house. As soon as they are out of sight, Byakuya steps away from her and asks, "Are you going to throw her out?"

Rangiku glares down the corridor where Noriko and the children have gone and replies, "How could I? And then have the society pages filled with gossip? And since when do I have that power? I certainly could do nothing about Sakamoto Midori." She starts to walk away from him, still speaking, "Or Hidetaka Satsuki. Or even Shihouin goddamn Yoruichi who was just as surprised as I to find out about your supposed affair. And they thought I was the one with the reputation to worry about?"

Ire rising, Byakuya grabs her arm, forcing her to stop and says, "There was no affair. There was never an affair. For how long am I going to be punished for this?"

She turns to look back at him and replies, "I forgave you three children ago. You think I would have stayed with you if I had not?"

She had actually left him once. He had returned from a mission and not found his wife or their two children and then learned from his relatives that she had taken off, eight months and three weeks pregnant for the home of Ise Nanao. He had found her there, but in the company of Hisagi Shuuhei who had come to swear his undying devotion and promising to care for the children as his own. Byakuya's fury had been barely containable for months after. It was not that she had allowed others to gossip about the possibility of her taking up with another man. It was not that she had allowed this man near their children. It was not even that she had left at all but that she had not trusted Byakuya to be true to her. Certainly there are times when she frustrates him, irritates him and makes him wish he has never met her, but with her and their children now his heart is full. There is no room for any other, not now, not ever. He asks, "Then why are you upset?"

Rangiku frees her hand from his grasp, folds her arms and replies with considerable calm, "Her husband was still alive when they brought her here and tried to put her in your way. She was still married to the father of her child and she wanted to deprive my children of theirs. Why would I ever want to be around someone like that?"

Oh, Byakuya thinks, surprised to discover that he has not thought of that. Aloud he says, "Are you going to throw her out?"

Rangiku waves away the question, her usual blitheness returning, and says, "Oh, no, no, we couldn't do that. That would give them ammunition." Then she smiles and adds, "If she ever sets foot in this manor again though I'll have her head."

She punctuates this statement with a surge of reiatsu that while nothing at all compared to his, is considerable enough to set off startled shouts elsewhere in the house. He does not doubt for a second that she means it either. His relatives had no idea what they were in for when they first approached Matsumoto Rangiku all those years ago. When she finally pulls back on her reiatsu, he takes her hand again, though this time to draw her in for a kiss. She lets him without protest and he takes advantage of it to dip her backwards so that she giggles girlishly and has to grasp his shoulders for support.

She is still laughing when they are interrupted by someone clearing their throat. It is Amagaki, her arms folded and scowling. She says, "Our guest was worried."

Rangiku steps free of Byakuya's grasp, though he keeps hold of her hand, to go to the girl, "We were making up. (Amagaki wrinkles her nose in disgust, Rangiku laughs.) Lead the way, Little Plum."

Their daughter turns and heads back down the corridor without a word. Byakuya lets Rangiku pull her behind him, humming a happy tune. She is still upset, he can feel it, but she will play nice. At least for a little while.