BRUISE ME PRETTY

Chapter I. Black and Blue Doesn't Suit You

In the place of his normally devious, ostentatious smile was a frown horrific enough to tear apart the minds of even the most composed Shinigami and Arrancar. While the silver-haired, traitorous Captain's grin was already enough to scramble even the most competent of composures, his frown was much, much worse.

Gin Ichimaru's eyes still remained closed in their usual position that accentuated his politefully distasteful smile, however now that they were matched up with his obvious grimace, his face took on a new sickly light, and even without the red gleam of his eyes showing, he still managed to look malicious and vile.

A breath escaped his thin lips as he stared down without actually staring at the unconscious girl before him. Her deep orange hair was splayed onto the shadowed sands, matted and tangled in her own blood. It was hard to tell whether her uniform could actually be considered clothing anymore. The black-and-white cloth was tattered and shredded, missing in places that needed to be covered, especially since Matsumoto Rangiku was as busty as she was. She was face down in the grains, and it was difficult to decipher if she was breathing or simply echoing the wind's breath, it playing tricks on Ichimaru's closed eyes.

Even in the eyes of dying, she still held a death grip on her zanpakuto, and this made Gin wonder if she was able to sense him towering over her. He wondered if she knew he was looking at her the way he did when he first met her. Funny, she had been in this same position hadn't she? Except this time was different. She hadn't collapsed from hunger, worse yet she had fallen by the monstrous blade of Nnoitra. A new resentment was held toward the 5th Espada by Gin, and it irked him that he was affected like this. He usually hated everyone equally.

Her body was a mess; he was barely able to make out flesh, as it was either covered in dirt or blood. Bruises and gashes and cuts marred her previously perfect shape. His closed eyes remained on her, and his frown reluctantly--this was new--turned into its usual smile. "My, my. Black and blue just doesn't suit 'cha Ran-chan." His voice was smooth and polite, but a note of acerbic tension was behind it, twisted in with his accented tone. As if his words dripped like venom into her wounds, she winced unconsciously, unmoving.

The fox-faced man knelt down before her and reached out his hand, swiping a lock of hair out of her face to see that her eyes were closed, her cheek pressed into the dark sand. He thought for a moment before mentally shrugging and slipping his arms under her curvaceous body and lifting it with ease.

A new warmth engulfed her feminine figure, and in her outlandish nightmare, the darkness was erased. She no longer saw shadowy figures wrapping its hands around her neck and squeezing until her windpipe reached the brink of breaking, almost snapping like a twig. No, instead of these murky figures, one single light replaced them. She felt like she was floating in a cloud of soft colors and no longer felt sorrow or pain. She wasn't aware of whose arms she was in, or even the fact she was in arms, but it felt nice nonetheless. She felt safe and comforted, like life had suddenly revealed its answers and her guardian angel whispered softly in her ear that she would be alright. It felt like she was dying and going to a better place where she was surrounded by nothing but hugs instead of chokeholds, and finally she felt peace. Her brain no longer tried to answer life's unanswerable questions, and she no longer tried to warm her arms from the imaginary frostbite of Gin's leaving her.

She no longer felt alone.

And while she could dream this comfort that was actually reality, it would be to her dismay when she found out it was only going to be short-lived. But even so, she reveled in her current warmth and smiled from the inside out. Her head lolled against Gin's chest as a sleepy smile crawled onto her soft lips.

Gin glanced down with mild curiosity, his smile still livid. The disloyal Shinigami almost never let his emotions leak out, and did well to keep everyone walking on eggshells, guessing what he would say or do next. It was only him right now that knew how he felt carrying his childhood friend in his arms. It had felt nice to shade her from life's harms, to heal her, to protect her and watch from the side as she had fun in life. Those feelings and experiences had left the day he did, him no longer able to watch over her, to laugh silently to himself as she stumbled home drunk toward her furiously awaiting Captain. But now she was back in his arms again, and perhaps he could experience those feelings once more. Of course, the circumstances would be different, and while he doubted she could ever truly hate him, he knew she would resist the moment she woke up.

And this would get her killed without vacillation by any member of Aizen's army. But a person of his standing and power, a second-in-command should be able to pull some strings, right? Stepping into Las Noches, he knew he was about to find out.

"Ah, Gin, you have returned," called a whimsical, almost snide voice from the meeting room as Ichimaru entered it. "I see you've brought something back with you." Aizen raised an eyebrow at this.

"What is the meaning of this, Ichimaru?" called Tousen, staring too with closed eyes at the silver-haired man. "You dare bring a Shinigami back without being told?"

"Ah, yes. Well seeing as she's only a mere fukutaicho, I knew she would be of no problems to us."

"I see. And what reason did you bring her here for?" Sosuke Aizen asked, his jaw resting on his knuckles.

"Personal amusement. It gets bored around here, don'tcha know?" Gin smiled as if uncaring at the blatant rule he had broken, knowing Tousen could do nothing about it and that Aizen wouldn't. "I hope ya don' mind. I jus' couldn't see my little Ran-chan dying like that."

"You know the severity of this, Ichimaru, don't play games. On top of Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends desperately trying to save Inoue Orihime, you'll have Matsumoto's friends clawing their way to her as well."

"It matters not. The Soul Society team will come regardless of who we have. Their pride is too strong to let them not be already trying their hardest to reach us. The only person I see whose will this would change is Captain Hitsugaya. He already has a personal vendetta against me for Momo, but now he'll be even more desperate to save his Lieutenant. Are you prepared for that, Gin?" The former 5th Squad Taicho stared with impartial eyes.

Gin only smiled, and knew he already won his right to keep his new 'pet.' He nodded slightly, his grin reaching ear to ear. "If ya don't mind, I'd hate for 'er to die from loss of blood."

Aizen nodded, and thought no further on the matter. As far as he was concerned, it was trivial and deserved no further argument. He had other things to worry about, such as outlining the next phase of this Winter War.

Gin knew that if Rangiku caused any trouble, Aizen would order her death, and so to prevent such a tragedy, he took her to his personal room, two nurses following him in. He set her down on the pale white sheet-covered bed, uncaring of the stains her blood would leave. He stared down at her as he gave his orders. "Wrap her up, will you? Wouldn't want her bleedin' ta death. Wash 'er up and all that nice stuff, mm? I'll be back later." As he turned, the Arrancar females nodded before bowing as he left the room to attend to whatever business needed attending to.

He smiled brilliantly as he traveled down the halls, stopping in front of one of the open doors in the long hallway. He stepped in with his constantly wide grin, closing the door behind him so as to speak to the occupant privately.

Matsumoto began to stir, her eyes fluttering open. She let out a soft groan of pain as she brought her arm to her face, shielding her eyes from the room's light. Her mind ran about in a frenzy, trying to recall the last of her memories. She had been somehow separated from her Captain and ran into Nnoitra Jiruga, and she shuddered at remembering his sickening smile. The words he had said to her were so condescending, and she remained in a state of lassitude as she continued thinking back. She hadn't fared well against him at all. In fact, she couldn't even remembering injuring him. He had taken her down with little effort, and the last thing she remembered was flying through the air, her blood falling from her body as she did so.

I must be back in Soul Society, in the 4th Division, she mused with a sigh. And what of her Captain? Had he been alright? Was he still in Hueco Mundo fighting Halibel? She had faith in her Taicho, but after all, she was the 3rd Espada, and would prove a difficult opponent for the icy young Shinigami. She then wondered about all of the others fighting, if they had met the same fate as her, or hadn't been so lucky as to get out alive… Hell, she'd probably be dead if someone hadn't found her when they did, and she was thankful to whomever saved her.

Removing her arm from her eyes, she stared up to the unfamiliar ceiling. Lines formed on her forehead as she tried to comprehend her surrounding. So many questions and confusing fears filled her mind. Her eyes widened in realization, and she shot up to a sit, letting out a harsh yelp as she did. Rangiku wrapped her arm around her abdomen, cradling it from the pain of her sword wound. She tried to ignore it and jerked her blue eyes from side to side, taking in the setting around her.

The 10th Division Fukutaicho shoved the throbbing ache of her injuries to the back of her mind as she threw the oddly comforting sheets off her body and looked down at her bandaged self. She was only in her black panties, the bandages wrapping around her entire torso and just barely covering her large breasts. Her arms were wrapped, too, and she could feel a bandage on her forehead. Cringing in pain, she stood up, and as she did her vision swirled and became hazy, her legs wobbled like jell-o beneath her and she fell, crashing painfully hard onto the floor.

The orange-headed beauty panted roughly as she crawled toward the door, tears streaming down her face. Normally, she would be able to compose herself well enough to hold in her teardrops, but the pain mixed in with the fear of being in a place inhabited by Arrancar--and also not knowing the status of her Captain and friends--made her unable to control the downpour of salty water from her eyes. Matsumoto grunted and huffed as she used her bruised and cut up arms to drag herself closer to the door. She froze upon seeing two feet in front of her eyes, and didn't have the strength to lift her head any higher to see who the owner of the feet were. She waited in heart-wrenching suspense as the figure bent down next to her, and she swallowed a hard lump in her throat at the sight of his smile. She wasn't sure what to think, or even if she should.

"Shouldn' be up and about like that," he admonished with slight humor in his voice. "Pretty nasty wounds y'got there. Be a shame if they opened again." He smiled at her, and she wasn't sure if it was out of sympathy, cynicism, or both.

"G-Gin…," she breathed, her arms buckling beneath her before giving out. She felt her head smack against the floor, and just as quick she was raised off of the ground and set on the bed she woke up on. It was soft…both his arms and the bed. She stared up at the ceiling with a blank face, trying to swallow the pain and fear whole.

He looked down at her pleasantly, eyes closed and watching. "Long time no see, Ran-chan. Guess ya weren' expectin' me, eh?"

"Why…did you bring me here?" Her voice shook with mixed emotions -- anger, fear, longing, happiness, sorrow.

"Woulda died out there in the middle of the desert, bleedin' like you were."

Rangiku closed her eyes, not wanting to process what was happening to her. "I'm tired."

"Sleep," he ordered casually, glancing away from her. "I'll be back later; I s'ppose you'll want to talk then." He waited a moment, listening as her breath evened out and she fell asleep. He looked back over to her and placed a hand on her forehead, feeling the abnormal heat of her skin. His smile didn't fade at this, and he looked forward to nursing her back to health so that he could see just what she would do when she could actually do something. Would she attack him? She had restrained him after revealing his betrayal to Soul Society, but would she actually do anything? He was curious to see if she would have enough desire and willpower to try and kill him.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya!" a yell erupted from the distance.

Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched in irritation as blood leaked down it. He kept his eyes locked on La Tercera Espada. "Not now; get back!" he yelled.

"But sir…!" Renji stopped a few meters from the fight, his face urgent and full of worry.

"I said not now, Renji! Stay back." He steadied his sword in front of him.

"It's about Lieutenant Matsumoto!"

Toushiro's eyes widened and he jerked his face to take in Renji's worried expression. "What is it, Abarai? Is she hurt?"

Renji hesitated, his eyes averting quickly to Halibel and then back. "No one knows where she is. The last she was sensed was when she was fighting one of the Espada…but…someone said…" He scratched his head nervously.

"What is it!" he yelled in frustration, not liking being distracted from Halibel. She could attack him while his guard was down, but apparently she was only standing, as if waiting.

"Someone said they saw…former Captain Ichimaru…next to her. And now we can't find her!"

Hitsugaya's eyes shook, his body trembling like a frozen statue in a small earthquake. The white-haired Shinigami's mouth hung open slightly in disbelief. Ichimaru! His fist clenched in anger, his eyes filling with an icy fire. If he took her…if he took Rangiku…! "That was where she was last spotted? Show me where."

Renji nodded, but before he could lead the Captain, Halibel jumped in front of Toushiro, clearly not about to let him run. This would be a problem.

A/N: Well, this is my first time writing a GinRan story. I've read maybe like…one, but I think it's an awesomely complex pairing that is fun to write. I hope I didn't make anyone too OOC, as this is kinda stepping out of my normal pairing zone.

It'd make my day if you reviewed! -Ami

P.S. as always, I'm looking for someone to beta this story. Really, I just need someone to be my personal SpellChecker and GrammarChecker, and correct minor issues and such ;p 'Cuz I'm lazy ;D Tell me if interested ^.^