tampered | (no subject)

When; Monday, May 7th, night
Rating; PG?
Characters; Rangiku

good_and_proper
Summary; Rangiku gets a visitor during her nightly walk. Words and other things are exchanged.
Log;

Evenings around the manor house were quiet affairs, if you don't take into account the odd household. This evening had found Rangiku in the possession of a weeping girl and it'd taken a good long time to calm her enough to stop making the windows spiderweb or the lights flicker ominously. Once she’d calmed down enough to doze off, Rangiku had carried her to her often unused private room and laid her on the neatly made bed, then climbed to her usual perch on the roof.

Peace didn’t find her in her usual meditations, so she carefully dropped from the rooftop into the soft grass surrounding the manor. The evening was a little cool, as spring evenings were want to be, and the sky above was cloudy. Not an ideal night for her, but it would do. She needed some physical activity to help clear her mind before she returned to her home and her slightly grumpy Consort.

Her footsteps were quiet in the slightly damp grass as her mind wandered. She’d begun to explore the intricacies of the Mark she now bore and could feel the presence of a different power not quite her own just under her own reiatsu. It was an odd feeling, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to explore it further until after the baby was born and she was back to her full strength.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

There was no sound when Aizen alighted on the ground behind her. Not sense of reiatsu. Not even the rustling of the grass beneath his feet.

"Hello, Matsumoto-san," he said from behind her, "A pleasant eveing, yes?"

The voice startled her, and she spun to face him, a slim knife glittering in her hand. The blade didn't waver as she straightened from her defensive posture, but the look of shock was covered by a calm expression.

"Aizen. What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to straighten out that head of yours. Come with me."

He reached out for her daggered hand.

"I don't think so." Her blade flashed as it sliced across his palm before she shunpyo'd away. Rationally, she knew she couldn't get away if he had it in his mind to go after her, but she wouldn't just allow herself to be taken.

The knife glanced across his reiatsu, doing him no harm.

"Not even a zanpakutou. How sad," he said, quickly passing her and appearing direcly in front of her path of transit.

"You will come with me," he sternly stated, releasing a wave of his reiatsu to try and knock her out without harming her.

The Mark given to her by her Consort flared to life, the extra power blocking the majority of the reiatsu. Ran didn't try and shunpyo away again, know he'd just follow her.

"Leave me along, Sousuke."

He began to incrementally increase his output, trying to hold it back just enough.

"I think not. You have no choice. I will make you know remember the truth about Gin," he said, drawing his sword, "Now look."

The world around her began to shift and dissolve into darkness.

The added power from the Mark wasn't enough to keep the extra reiatsu from dropping her to her knees. The weight of the power pushing at her mind made her vision grow dim as she fought to stay conscious.

"NO."

"YES," he said, pushing a bit more power against her, "Now sleep."

He began to move toward her, reaching out once more.

"Don't fight it."

With a low moan, she taps into the power she has, drawing on the bond with her Consort to try and push away the darkness encroaching on her.

"... nO."

"I...said...YES!" he said, grinding his teeth and letting out a much larger burst than he meant to.

Without a sound, she crumpled to the ground in a heap of robes and golden hair.

Aizen quickly picker up her form, spiriting her away to his main base. They had kept the moving process fairly quiet, except of his post, and managed to have a new secret location. Carefully made wards kept power from leaking out and tipping off his enemies. He entered through a secret passage and took her to a cell, then laid her out.

"Awaken," he said, nudging her gently with his energy, "Awaken, Rangiku Matsumoto, and see what you have lost."

He called on Kyouka Suigetsu to set the scene. The area where she and Gin grew up.

Blue eyes cracked open as she felt the tug of his power. Carefully, she sat up and peered around, eyes growing wide. "What the.... Rukongai...."

Ran's body would seem smaller in her eyes. If she checked her visage in pool of dirty water off to the side, she would have shorter hair and a childish reflection.

"Oi, Rangiku," a voice called out behind her, "I brought you some more rice cakes."

Gin, also a child, stepped out from behind a wall.

"I had to steal these from someone, so eat fast."

Hearing her name, she turned to see a silver haired boy coming to her. Without though, she reached up for the food, because she was so hungry. Around a mouthful of rice, she mumbled, "wait a minute.... who're you?"

"Eh? Gin. You know, Gin. How can you forget that? I haven't been gone THAT long, have I?" he laughed, sitting down with her.

He ate quietly with her, then let a hand stray up to her hair, he leaned over and sniffed lightly.

"You have such nice hair, Ran-chan. It always smells nice too."

The touch felt familiar to her, so she leaned into it with a tiny smile. "No... I guess I just forget things sometimes. Sorry." For some reason, his company made her feel secure.

Finished with the stolen food, she licked her sticky fingers and peered around, completely lost in Aizen's illusion.

"Ran...Do you ever wonder what it's like there?" he said, staring off into the distance. The Seireitei rose up in the distance, towering over all.

"I think...I want to go there someday. I want to be strong. So strong I never want to have to think about this place again."

Her gaze followed his to the white towers. She knew the longing he felt. She hated the filth they lived in day and night...

"It's gotta be beautiful... baths everyday, and all the food you could eat... and clean clothes." Left unsaid was the screams they heard at night, the sounds of souls trying to earn their keep by wicked methods, the hands that tried to grab at pretty children...

".... you think you'd be able to? Could I... go with you, too?"

"...Yeah. One day, we'll both be there. We'll make our own way. I know we will."

He jumped up and balanced on a strewn beam on the earth.

"Hey," he said, jumping off as the rain started again, "I want you to meet someone. Sousuke-kun! Come here!"

With a grumble, she pulled herself to her feet and padded off to him. She hated the rain as much as she hated the rest of the place they lived.

"Who's that?"

"Me," the tall figure said. Aizen was slightly younger looking than in Soul Society, but still with glasses and simple haircut, "Aizen Sousuke. I've heard a lot about you."

Aizen knelt and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.

"Oi, Aniki," Gin said to him, "I told Ran-chan we're going to Soul Society, where you're from."

The changing light revealed that Aizen was wearing the garb of a shinigami.

"Oh?" he said, "How nice."

"Someone's been tellin' you stories, then."

Wide eyes peeked at the man. "You're... really a shinigami?" In the area, shinigami were either worshipped, or hated. Rangiku thought they were something just above wonderful.

"Yes. I want to be a captain one day. I have big plans," he said, his eyes seemingly kind, their soft golden hue almost like the sun, "I've taken Gin under my wing, too. That's why he always disappears."

He turned to Gin at his side, "Oi, Gin. She's so pretty! You shouldn't leave pretty girls alone so long!"

Page 1 of 3