Once again, Gin found himself in a forest at nighttime. As he had before, the former urchin elected to go for a stroll in this dark environment, little bothered by the lack of luminosity as the shadows provided easy concealment if he ran into anyone.

But the realization that he was not alone in this forest did indeed send a thrill down his spine.

Gin knew that somewhere among the tree branches lurked a mysterious woman he instinctively recognized to be dangerous. His eyes would be of little use in the low light, and her lack of movement meant that hearing was likewise unhelpful in this scenario. So instead, he relied on his instincts, letting them guide his feet as he strolled through the dark forest.

He knew not where he was being led, or when he would arrive, but Gin was patient. Surely his stalker would reveal herself to him.

The minutes ticked by, and there was still no sign of the enigmatic female. But he pressed on.

More time passed, and still the silver-haired hiker continued his trek with no sign of his quarry.

But then… he stopped. There was no cue whether from sight or sound that provided him warning; only a visceral sensation that he was now being watched.

"Welcome back, Gin."

Even though it was expected, the boy still started at the greeting, and swiveled on his feet to look up at his nocturnal visitor. As before, she was lounging comfortably on a tree branch, only her silhouette visible in the darkness.

"Thanks, nice to run into ya 'gain," he recovered and returned the salutation. "Don't suppose I can hear yer name now?"

The shadowy caller opened her mouth to answer, but the word did not reach his ears.

"Darn," the boy frowned in disappointment.

"Patience, Gin," she assured him. "To even speak with me like this means you are already growing quickly."

"Waddaya mean by that?" he asked.

"…Patience… Gin…," the woman deliberately slowed her speech, a smirk audible in her voice.

"Glad to know the mystery lady in my dreams has a sense of humor," the boy drawled sardonically.

She chuckled, a low and menacing sound. "Teasing aside, it is important for you to learn the value of patience. You must remember not to strike too quickly, but instead to wait for the right moment."

"Well, hangin' out with ya is a sure way to learn that," Gin remarked.

"Then that makes my task all the easier," his shadow-clad teacher chortled. "Assuming, of course, you are a diligent pupil."

"Aw, more lessons? Don't I get 'nough o' those already in the Academy?"

There was a pause, and Gin could feel her mood shifting. Finally, in a more dire tone, she stated, "…The day you stop learning lessons… is the day you die, Gin. And I intend to make sure that you will be learning lessons… for a very… long… time."

Gin's eyes fluttered open, and he looked up to see Rangiku smirking down at him with his head in her lap, where he had started to nap after his first shunpo.

"I was right, you do look adorable," she snickered.

"Well, if that's the price I hafta pay to lay here, then I suppose I'll put up with it," he cracked a grin right back at her. "By the way, ya remember that dream I tolja 'bout, the one with the lady in the forest?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"Well, just had another one like it, while I was nappin'."

Gin then regaled her with the tale of what he had seen and discussed with the stranger in his sleep.

"Let me get this straight: you have a creepy shadow woman haunting your dreams, one that just made a long life sound like a threat…" Rangiku summarized with a deadpan expression. "And you want her as your mentor?"

"Hey, she's a lot easier to pay 'ttention to than any of our teachers here in the wakin' world," he riposted cheerfully.

"Having the living heebie-jeebies as an instructor will keep one alert, yes," she agreed sardonically.

"An' since we're enterin' a career fraught with peril, that makes her the perfect sensei," he countered.

She opened her mouth to respond, thought his statement over, and then pouted. "I can't really argue with that, but I feel like I should."

"Yer jus' jealous 'cause ya don't got a mentor in yer dreams helpin' ya out," Gin snickered.

"If I wanted that, I wouldn't go for an invisible boogeywoman," Rangiku scowled, and then dreamily envisioned, "It would be some kind of handsome, strong hunk…"

"An' what exactly d'ya think he'd be teachin' ya?" he raised an eyebrow at her fantasy.

She flushed and leapt to her feet, rudely displacing him in the process. "You know, it's getting late; I think we should be heading back now!"

"…There's no need to rush," Gin remarked dryly as he rubbed a sore spot from where his head had hit the ground.

The next day was a class both Gin and Rangiku had highly anticipated.

"Jinzen is the practice of meditation for the goal of connecting with your zanpakutō," their instructor explained. "In order to gain the power that will allow you to succeed as a shinigami, it is essential that you learn to communicate with each other.

"So, be still and close your eyes. Clear your minds, and listen."

Gin heeded the instructions, blocking out everything he could see in front of him in favor of focusing on hearing what was inside him.

For a few moments, nothing happened.

Then, he felt the wind rustling his uniform. Puzzled by a breeze passing through the classroom, he cracked his eyes a little. And blinked them fully open when he saw a very familiar forest.

It was still night, though quite a bit brighter than his past view visits, due to a nearly full moon shining down through the trees. Gin cautiously got to his feet and started to stroll forward through the woods. And all the while, he kept his ears open and listened.

"Hello, Gin."

The boy stopped, briefly startled by the address before he gazed up at the woman who had haunted his dreams the past few months. For the first time, he could see her clearly.

Like before, she was lying flat on a tree branch, languidly stretched at ease like some arboreal serpent, her head nestled comfortably on crossed arms as she gazed down at him through narrow eyes. The sight of her crimson irises took him aback. More striking was the absence of hair on her head, lacking even eyebrows, but this uncanny appearance was made more logical when put into context: from the waist down, she had the body of a snake with grey scales that shimmered silver in the moonlight.

"Quite the welcome surprise, to see you here while you're awake," the zanpakutō spirit remarked casually.

"So, those dreams I had… they weren't quite dreams, were they?" Gin asked rhetorically.

"Oh… they were," she corrected lazily. "I just was able to visit you in them."

"Well, at least now I can come an' talk with ya more often," he remarked.

"That would be nice," the Nagini hummed. "While watching you go about your life provides some entertainment, it can get rather boring in here by myself, with no one to play with."

"I'll keep that in mind," Gin promised, then asked, "So, does this mean ya can tell me yer name now?"

"I wonder," the unidentified lamia regarded him curiously. "My name is…"

Frustratingly, the answer, so tantalizingly close, still failed to reach his ears.

"Pity," the spirit lamented. "But don't worry, Gin. You are close to being ready to hear it. Simply continue on your path, and one day soon, you will know my name."

"I know… patience," Gin sighed.

"Yes," she smiled down at him. "And while you're here, you might as well talk about other matters."

"Like what?"

"What are your goals, Gin?"

The silver-haired student shrugged. "Don't really got any at the moment. Unless ya count tryin' to get stronger so I can graduate an' become a shinigami."

The disappointed expression on her face clearly showed she found his answer lacking. "If you truly wish to master my power, you need to take time and consider what you want," she advised. "Should strength be your desire, you need a goal to work towards, a signpost to mark your direction."

"Huh," Gin tilted his head thoughtfully. "All right, I'll give it some thought."

"Good," her smile turned sharp with satisfaction. "You have great potential as my wielder, Gin; I would hate to see it go to waste, simply because you failed to summon the motivation to move forward."

Before he could reply, the Jinzen instructor's voice ripped him from this world with, "And that's all for today."

Gin started as he found himself sitting on the floor in the classroom once again.

"Do not be discouraged if you did not experience any results," the instructor concluded. "No one has ever spoken with their zanpakutō on the first try. This lesson was an introduction, a means for you to practice and prepare yourself for the day when you do meet your zanpakutō spirit."

The young serpent held his tongue and continued to smile.

"All right, Gin, what is it?"

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Rangiku?" he responded "innocently" to the question Rangiku had posed after they had left the classroom and walked a good distance away from other students.

"You've got that 'I know something you don't' smile on," Rangiku explained suspiciously. "So, care to fill me in?"

Gin glanced around for potential eavesdroppers. Satisfied he and his friend had privacy, Gin lowered his voice and said, "Well, I found out that the woman in my dreams was actually my zanpakutō."

"Huh?" she blinked at him.

"That 'invisible bogeywoman' I keep runnin' into when I sleep? I jus' met her now when I went into Jinzen."

Rangiku stared in shock at him. "You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"Wow… I guess that explains why she felt familiar to you," she breathed in awe at her friend's revelation. "I thought the instructors said we weren't likely to meet them until after we graduated."

"They said the same thing about learnin' shunpo," Gin pointed out.

"Huh," his friend looked at her asauchi thoughtfully. "I think I'll try meditating more, then."

"Good luck," he grinned encouragingly at her. "No doubt in my mind ya can do it."

"Thanks," Rangiku smiled, and then asked curiously, "So, why didn't you say anything in class?"

"'Cause I don't think he'd believe me," Gin replied. "An' I don't got no way to prove it, so I think it better if I keep this under wraps fer now."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," she promised.

Over several months, Gin and Rangiku spend their free time going out into the forests in the Rukongai to practice their shunpo. It was still an energy-intensive exercise, so they agreed to alternate on who would practice and who would spot, and today was Rangiku's turn to flash-step.

They were both at the point where they could go a few steps without exhausting themselves, but neither of them could perform that many before resting. Gin himself, despite achieving shunpo second, could only manage eleven before he had to call it quits. As for Rangiku…

"Okay, that's enough," she panted after her seventh flash-step, already wobbly on her feet. "If I do any more, I'll pass out."

"All right, c'mon over an' relax," Gin beckoned as he sat down and invited her to rest her head in his lap. Such had become their tradition after these exercises, where the trainee would recuperate in the tender care of the other after completion.

"Mm, a girl could get used to this," Rangiku hummed as she settled into a comfortable position and enjoyed the way he stroked her scalp.

"As long as said girl keeps earning it," Gin teased.

"Well, look what we have here."

The silver-haired student leapt to his feet with his asauchi drawn and looked around. Surrounding him were four rough-looking men, obviously Rukongai residents, and from the way they were looking at him and Rangiku, men of ill repute.

"A couple dumb shinigami kids who think they can waltz right into our turf," the speaker sneered.

"Ah, my apologies, we missed the signposts," Gin smiled back as he eyed the other ruffians. Behind him, he could hear Rangiku grunt as she struggled to get back on her feet despite her exhaustion. "We'll go 'head an' get outta yer hair, then."

"You think you're going to get off that easily?" the brute snarled. "You both need to pay a little fine for your trespassing. Hand over all your money, and we'll let you go."

The young shinigami tilted his head. "All of it?"

"All, and don't hold anything back," the brigand warned, threat hanging over every word.

Gin shrugged. "…Okay, here's all the money we got." He then held out an empty palm.

"You think you're funny?" the bandit demanded.

"Well… he's not wrong," Rangiku chimed in as she staggered to her feet. "We're just students at the Academy; we don't get paid anything."

"That's actually better," the outlaw smirked eagerly. "That means we can do this the more fun way: making example out of you two."

"Does this fun involve hide an' seek?" Gin asked cheekily.

The ruffian raised his sword with an eager grin and charged forward.

Gin side-stepped the attack and swung his own blade low, only to find that his opponent had surprisingly quick reflexes by sliding back and out of the arc of his attack.

"Huh, so you're pretty good for a kid," the brute noted with a raised eyebrow. Then he smirked, "That means this'll be more fun."

With a burst of speed, the lout came at him again, this time more aggressively, and Gin could barely maintain a suitable defense to avoid being slashed. But even on his backfoot, the prodigy noticed something rather familiar about the way his enemy moved…

Rangiku suddenly interjected with a fist to the man's gut, only for him to drive his forearm into her torso and knock her back out of the fight. Spent from her earlier practice, it took all her strength to even attempt to push herself off the ground again. But before she could, the other brigands pounced on her, shoving her back down to the ground and pinning her there.

Meanwhile, Gin attempted to take advantage of the man's momentary distraction to get a hit in, but was pushed back with a kick himself.

Landing more nimbly on his feet with a grunt, Gin finally had the time to remark, "Yer a shinigami, aintcha? Or at least, ya used to be, I'm guessin'."

"You're a smart kid," the thug smirked. "Yeah, I used to be a shinigami, Tenth Seat Morishita Atsushi. But then I got tired of the way things were run, so I decided to bail out and strike on my own."

"An' how has that worked out fer ya?" the kit asked mockingly.

"As a matter of fact, it's worked out great!" the ex-shinigami grinned smugly. "In there, you're always going to have to answer to somebody, to kiss someone else's feet. Out here, I'm free. I don't answer to anyone but me."

"An' since most people with reiatsu stay in the Seireitei, it means ya get to enjoy bein' one o' the top dogs in the Rukongai," Gin surmised.

"You really do understand," Morishita smirked, and then thoughtfully said, "You know, I could use someone with your brains in my outfit. Let me make you a once-in-a-lifetime offer: change your punishment for trespassing to some years serving me. Then after you've done your time, you get to be an official member of my gang."

"A mighty generous offer," the Academy student remarked sardonically. "Why the change o' heart?"

"Like I said, you're smart, and you're good with that sword, so you'd do well," the renegade explained. "Good enough that I can easily see you becoming my second-in-command."

"An' why should I accept?" Gin questioned.

"Besides the fact it'll spare you and your friend a lot of bruises, blood, and a broken bone or two?" Morishita smirked sadistically. "I can tell by looking at you: you're Rukongai, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, most shinigami are nobles, and nobles will never look at you with respect," the vagabond explained, a modicum of sincerity entering his tone. "It don't matter to them what you do or what rank you hold; by the simple fact you weren't born into one of their families, you'd be dirt beneath their feet to them. Matter of fact, that attitude was one of the reasons I left the Gotei.

"Now, wouldn't you rather be among people who'd judge you by what you can do, and not what who your long-dead ancestors might be?"

Gin had to admit, as far as recruitment pitches go, this one wasn't too bad. He could even tell that Morishita wasn't even lying about the proposal, either. And forget second-in-command, if Gin was putting up this much of a fight against the brute now, then he could easily see himself taking over the whole operation someday.

Beneath his slitted eyelids, Gin glanced over at Rangiku to see her reaction to the offer. She was glaring defiantly at their accoster, refusal clear in her gaze.

So, that was a "no" on becoming ne'er-do-wells, then.

That was okay; the main draw Gin felt towards becoming a shinigami was gaining strength and power, and he could tell that enlisting in a bandit gang would be a dead end in that regard.

Still, that left the more immediate question as to how he and Rangiku could get themselves out of this mess, preferably without serious injury.

Gin had to admit, the odds were not in their favor. Morishita's status as a former shinigami was showing here, demonstrating superior speed and strength, even if he could tell the actual skill was far more mediocre. Assistance was unlikely to arrive, as the main reason he and Rangiku had chosen this area to practice was because it was far from the Academy's eyes.

If he continued the fight, Gin's best chance of victory would be to pull off a sneaky or cunning move, something that could bypass his opponent's greater speed and strength.

But before he could restart hostilities with his sneak attack...

"Gin!"

For the first time outside a dream or Jinzen, he heard the voice of his zanpakutō spirit. And unlike his prior conversations with her, she sounded uncharacteristically urgent.

"The time for waiting is over! Let your patience be rewarded! Strike quick and true, and hold nothing back! Hear my name, Gin!"

This time when she spoke it, there was no interruption. Her name burned through his soul like fiery poison, hot and exhilarating. With it came words of command, and so Gin raised his blade and ordered in a soft voice, "Shoot to kill, Shinsō!"

With that his asauchi changed shape, at first shrinking until it was the size of a wakizashi. Then suddenly the blade snapped out with the celerity of an asp's strike as it effortlessly bypassed the surprised brigand's defense and impaled him through the stomach.

Morishita gaped at the wound and then stared at his young adversary in shock.

The blade contracted back to its original length, and the bandit staggered back with a hand on his injury. He stared incredulously at his opponent and stated, "…You're no Academy student."

"Watcha mean about that?" Gin raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"No student has Shikai, and the force behind that strike was that of a seated officer," Morishita glared darkly at him. "You're Onmitsukidō, aren't you? Working some kind of cover?"

"A cover ya jus' made me break," the student played along with the assumption. "An' now… I gotta silence ya."

"Whoa, wait, let's not be too hasty!" the lout protested, and beckoned to his fellows. "Get off her!"

"Boss?" one of the henchmen questioned as they released their captive.

"Shinigami business isn't something we want tangled in," Morishita said as he started to stagger away. "If you want to tackle an Onmitsukidō agent, he's all yours."

The mook took one look at the boy sporting a creepy, cruel smile and blood still dripping from his blade. Wisely, he rushed after his boss the rest following close behind.

After Gin was sure the gang had departed, he let out a relieved sigh, "Well, that was a close one, huh?"

He looked over to his best friend to see her staring in horror at him. "Gin… You're Onmitsukidō?"

"What? No…" he attempted to reassure her.

"Am I targeted?" Rangiku ignored his words. "How long has the Second been watching me? Is anything we shared real?"

"Whoa, calm down, Rangiku!" Gin rushed and knelt in front of her. "I promise I jus' went alon' with that guy's assumption to scare 'em off. Yer my best friend, an' always gonna be the most important person in my life."

She stared at him for a moment, and then grinned. "Gotcha."

The kit blinked. "Huh?"

"Finally I managed to get one over you!" Rangiku giggled at his expression.

"…Ya tricked me," Gin pouted.

"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss after all the times you've messed with me," she returned with an unsympathetic punch to the arm.

"I suppose so," he sighed in defeat while rubbing his shoulder.

"Oh, and don't think I'll ever forget your heartfelt words to me," Rangiku grinned as she swung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close. "'Always gonna be the most important person in my life,' huh?"

"'Course," the boy replied as if it were obvious.

The casual sincerity of the affirmation caught Rangiku off-guard, and she pinked slightly. She then coughed and asked, "So, are you all right? Did you get too badly injured?"

"Just gonna have a nasty bruise is all," he assured her as he gestured to where Morishita had kicked him. But he admitted, "I am feelin' a bit tired, though."

Rangiku looked at him in concern, but her gaze turned wonderous as it noticed the new form his sword had taken. Curious himself, Gin lifted it up so they could both see the form his zanpakutō had taken. As an asauchi, the blade had been a standard katana, but now it had shrunk to the size of a wakizashi. The hilt was a light blue, and the tsuba had changed from a plain oval to a pair of slim swirls in an "S" configuration.

"Wow, so you've really gotten Shikai," Rangiku whispered. "What did you say her name was?"

"Shinsō," he answered as he looked at his new weapon fondly. "Now, I fer one am in favor of makin' our way back to the dorms."

"Yeah, same," she grinned in agreement. "We both could use some rest after today, Onmitsukidō-san."

Gin chuckled, and they slowly got to their feet with their arms still around each other's shoulders. Leaning on each other for support, they started on the walk back home.

"Ichimaru! Matsumoto! What happened?!"

In hindsight, both of them should have realized the spectacle they would be making of themselves leaning on each other as they staggered back to the Academy with Gin's blood-stained sword.

"We got attacked by a group of bandits in the Rukongai," Rangiku explained.

"Don't worry, we took care of 'em," Gin added helpfully as he held up his crimson-covered weapon.

One of their tutors came racing over to help, only to draw up short upon catching sight of the unleashed weapon. "Ichimaru, where did you get that zanpakutō? Where is the wielder?"

"Right here," the prodigy waved.

"Don't lie!" the elder shinigami snapped impatiently. "You expect me to believe a mere student could achieve-?!"

"Shoot to kill, Shinsō."

His blade extended long enough for it to impact against a nearby wall, and then retracted to its previous wakizashi length. The instructor gaped down at the boy, and the small crowd of students that had been curiously observing the pair gawked with even greater shock.

"…That is Shikai, right?" Gin inquired innocently.

The mocking question brought the elder out of his stupor, and he quietly but firmly ordered, "Ichimaru, you will come with me. Matsumoto, you are dismissed."

"Wait, I want to come, too!" Rangiku protested.

"Yeah, I don't see why she can't," Gin added.

"If you wish to speak with her later, that is your prerogative, but it is only you we will be having a discussion with," the instructor stated, and then reiterated, "Now, go, Matsumoto."

She turned back to her friend, but he waved her off with, "It'll be all right; I'll fill ya in later."

"…Okay, you better," Rangiku reluctantly accepted as she pulled away from her friend and slowly walked back to her room. Every few seconds, she glanced behind her to watch Gin be escorted away by the instructor. A terrible sense of foreboding had settled on her heart.

"Would you stop pacing?" Rangiku's roommate Sawada Megumi frowned at her.

"I can't help it!" the blonde retorted in irritation. "I have no idea what the teachers are saying to Gin right now, or what they want with him!"

"Well, what did he do?" Megumi asked.

"We got attacked by bandits in the Rukongai, but Gin managed to unlock his Shikai and drive them off," Rangiku summarized. "He should be getting a reward for that kind of thing, but the teacher didn't look like that was his plan!"

"He just… drove them off?" Sawada's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, why?" Something in her tone made Rangiku regard her with a frown.

Flinching slightly under her gaze, the other girl explained, "Well, I heard that he killed one and tortured another one while he cried for mercy."

"WHAT?!" Rangiku screeched. "Who did you hear that from?!"

"Lots of people," Sawada shrugged. "I mean, he showed up with a crazy smile and a blood-stained sword, so that got folks talking. To be honest, the part of the rumor I was most skeptical of was that he unlocked Shikai."

"First of all, yes, Gin has Shikai now, because he's awesome like that," the strawberry-blonde responded snippily. "Second, why would anyone believe such stupid things about him?"

"…Because it's obvious?" Sawada deadpanned. "I mean, just look at him! He's so creepy!"

"He is not!" Rangiku retorted. "I mean, yeah, he's a little weird at times, but overall he's a really great guy!"

"Oh, really?" her roommate deadpanned skeptically. "How?"

"He's kind, supportive, and fun," she started off. "He's always there for me and looks out for me. He helps me out when I need it, but lets me do things myself if I can. He's… my best friend. Why can't you see that? Why can't anyone else see that?!"

This last came out in a frustrated shout. Megumi's expression softened, and she replied, "Because he doesn't show those qualities to anyone else."

"What do you mean?"

"To everyone else, Ichimaru-san is calculating and menacing," Sawada explained. "He doesn't interact with others except to mock them, and the way he looks at people is like a snake eyeing up prey."

"Did it ever occur to you that the reason he does that is because of how everyone treats him with suspicion?" Rangiku challenged.

Before Megumi could respond, there was a knock at the door. Rangiku dashed to open it hopefully, and an elated grin spread across her face as she happily greeted their guest. "Gin!"

"Hey, Rangiku, mind if I come in?" he asked.

"Of course!" she answered, and glanced over at her roommate.

"I will let you two have some privacy," Megumi said as she speed-walked out of the room while keeping a wary eye on Gin.

Shaking her head, Rangiku put such rude behavior out of her mind and asked her friend, "So, what happened? Did you get in trouble?"

"Nope. Jus' came back from a meetin' with the headmaster, and he told me that since I learned my Shikai, I'd probably be good 'nough that I'd be able to graduate by the end o' the year," Gin explained.

Rangiku gaped at him. It really should not come as a surprise, since he had been taking most of his classes with the Fifth-Years (save for zanjutsu, where he was with the Sixth-Years), and he had just learned the release of his zanpakutō to boot. But even so, this meant he would be completing a six-year course in just one-third the time.

"Wow, Gin, that's… good," she breathed out, the shock of his imminent accomplishment still leaving her reeling. "Has that even been done before?"

"Jus' once, from what they tell me, an' only a few years ago, too."

"That's really great," Rangiku smiled. "A runt from the Rukongai making history like this."

"Yeah, but there is one big downside," Gin noted.

"What's that?" she frowned in confusion.

"It means we'd have to go our separate ways fer a while."

"Oh, yeah," Rangiku sighed sadly. But after a few moments of thoughtful silence, she said, "Well… don't let me hold you back."

"Really? I recall ya bein' rather put out when I started movin' up in classes without ya," Gin raised an eyebrow.

"I was, yeah," she admitted. "And while I'll miss having you around the Academy, I don't want you stuck here because of me. I know you would get so bored here, and the last time you got bored, you ended up somehow replacing all the bokken in zanjutsu class with paper replicas without anyone realizing it until the first match!"

"Ah, ya knew that was me, huh?" he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Of course I did, it had 'you' all over it," she confirmed with a smirk. More earnestly, she continued, "My point is, yes, I'm fine with you going ahead with an early graduation. We can still keep in touch, and this way you'll have some time to make a name for yourself, and reserve a spot for me in when I join you next year."

"Next year?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? I may not be a prodigy like you, but I'm not about to let you be the only one to graduate early."

"Hmm… make it two years."

"You don't think I can finish in one?" Rangiku glared at him.

"The written exam."

She whimpered. That section of the annual tests was always where she scored the lowest. She was considered near or at top of her class in zanjutsu, hakuda, Kidō and reiatsu levels. But on boring topics like "theory" and "history" and "rules"… well, even her best efforts only led her to obtaining barely passable grades. So as much as she loathed to admit it, Gin was right in that graduating two years ahead would be challenging enough on the bookwork side; three years early would be outside her capabilities.

"…Fine, expect me to become a shinigami in two more years," Rangiku conceded. Two years early would still look good on her resume.

"Count on it," Gin grinned at her, and then commented, "Ya know, I wish we coulda had this conversation a few months ago; I bet I coulda really turned some heads an' graduated in jus' one year."

"Uh-huh, sure you could," she rolled her eyes.

"I mean it, I really coulda done it, but I weren't too inclined to leave ya behind," he continued. "But now that I know I can go on ahead…"

"Even if you really could have finished in one year, it's best you didn't," Rangiku opined. "You're going to have a big enough head sharing a two-year record with only one other person. You'd be absolutely insufferable if you broke records in only one year."

"Ah, ya know me too well," Gin smirked.

"That I do," she nodded. "So, any ideas on which division you'll be joining?"

"I've been readin' up on them, an' I think I have a good idea," he replied. "I know it won't be the First, Sixth, or Ninth; they're a bunch a stiffs, no fun at all. I figure if we're gonna spend the rest of our lives here, we might as well be somewhere we can enjoy ourselves when we're not workin'."

"Good idea," Rangiku agreed.

"The other thin' I want in a division and its captain is makin' sure they know how to keep their people alive," Gin continued. "I want somewhere that's practical, none of that honor or one-on-one duels nonsense. That leaves out the Thirteenth and the Eleventh."

"A morbid thought, but makes sense."

"'Tween my two requirements, I narrowed it down to two divisions I'd like to join," Gin concluded. "Option Number One: the Second Division, under Shihōin-taichō."

"Really?" Rangiku's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I'm surprised, since I thought she was a stiff noble…"

"She's a noble, but from what I've heard 'bout her, she don't act like one," he grinned. "She's pretty laid-back, and knows how to have a good time. An' since she's head o' the Onmitsukidō, I think it safe to assume she got that position by bein' good at what she does… but that brings me to the downside of the Second."

"Which is?"

"It's basically a division full of assassins," Gin explained. "Now, fer me, it don't sound too bad; sneakin' an' killin' would be somethin' I'd be good at. But… it don't sound like yer kinda place."

"No, it doesn't," Rangiku agreed. She understood the practical need for covert agents, but she herself did not like the idea of becoming one of those ruthless killers… and was more than a little unsettled by how Gin casually mentioned such an occupation would be a good fit for him.

"Then, sorry, Shihōin-taichō, but I gotta turn ya down," Gin declared theatrically as if he were declining the head ninja to her face. "So, that leaves me with my second option, one I do think ya would like better. It's a division that knows how to have fun, but the captain knows how to teach his people how to fight to survive."

"And that would be?"

To be continued…

Author's Note: I had Gin graduate in two years instead of one because in canon, he became a shinigami for the purpose of killing Aizen, meaning he had serious motivation to get as strong as he could as fast as he could. In this timeline, while he is still a prodigy, he doesn't have the same drive, and so doesn't see the need to fast-track his graduation as much (comparatively speaking). For related reasons, I will have him as being weaker compared to his canon counterpart.

On the flip side, since Rangiku was never harvested for the Hōgyoku, she is stronger than she was in canon, and thus able to graduate early as well.

Thank you to yashdaga205, LoveGlutton, Black Victor Cachat for their reviews on the first chapter.

Omake: Shinigami Illustrated Guide

"Ya know, Rangiku, it's kinda a shame we didn't take Morishita up on his offer," Gin remarked.

"Why on earth would we even wanted to do that?" Rangiku asked, looking distasteful at the very thought.

"'Cause I got no doubt we'd have it made as bandits," he replied. "We'd be at the top of the heap in no time."

"A garbage heap, yes," the girl replied, unimpressed.

"All right, so it wouldn't be the height o' luxury," Gin admitted. "But c'mon, think o' the adventure! Think o' the tales they'd spin o' the Silver and Gold duo!"

"…Your name means 'silver,' so how is that an alias?"

"Don't go rainin' in on my fantasy," the argent boy pouted.

"A fantasy of still living in squalor?"

"…All right, ya made yer point. Bein' a leader would be too much work anyway…"