Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series, as chosen by a poll of my readers. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. (As you can tell from the very first chapter. If you're read No Warm Memories, some of this chap will be a little familiar. Bear with me, as NWM was my inspiration for the series several fics will start from that point.) For anyone not familiar with my style, I watch fansubbed, so I think in terms of Shinigami and Taicho, not Soul Reapers and Captains, and my writing style reflects that. There is a glossary at the end, but as I've noticed many writers write this way it shouldn't really be necessary if you read enough Bleach fanfic. Oh, and as the anime episode that says all Noble Houses have a family Senkaimon to the real world is a filler episode, I'm not sure if they have them in the manga or not, but we're going to say that they do.

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 1: A Wonderful Awful Idea

OoOoOoOoOoO

Because thou has the power and own'st the grace

To look through and behind this mask of me…

And behold my soul's true face.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browing, Sonnets from the Portuguese

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Ah, Rukia-san, I'm so glad I found you." Rangiku cried out as she approached the younger girl at a run.

"What is it, Matsumoto-fukutaicho?" Rukia asked as she stopped walking.

"Have you seen Hitsugaya-taicho? Cause he'd said he was going over to your squad's barracks, but now I can't find him anywhere. And I need his help with some of the paperwork…"

"I know he came to see our taicho, but he left after they talked and I've not seen him since then." Rukia replied.

"Hey, you looking for your taicho?" Kira Izuru called out as he walked by.

"Yeah, where is he?" Rangiku turned to ask her friend.

"I heard they opened a Senkaimon for him." Izuru replied. "Apparently he had some business with Kurosaki."

Rangiku blinked. "Uh, thanks."

Izuru nodded as he continued on whatever business he'd been on.

"Uh, Kuchiki-sama, I have a favor to ask."

Rukia's eyes widened as Rangiku addressed her formally. "Um, what is it?"

"Can I use your family's gate?"

Rukia's eyes grew even wider. "But if he just went to see Ichigo…"

Rangiku sighed, remembering back a few nights past when she'd sat on the roof of Histugaya's office with him and he'd told her about Kurosaki Karin. "I'm not sure that's what he did. Um, I really can't say much, as I'd rather not be turned into a pillar of ice for talking about it, but he told me about some business he had in the real world that kinda concerns me, but I don't want to use an official gate and have him know I'm there." If they'd even let her go. Knowing Hitsugaya, he'd left orders for her not to follow him.

"Um, Matsumoto, wouldn't he have asked you to come with him if his business concerns you?"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it involved me, I meant I'm worried about it." Rangiku replied quickly.

"Ah." Rukia frowned. "I'm sure Nii-sama would object, but he should be training with his squad right about now, so what he doesn't know…" Rukia pulled a small note card from the collar of her uniform and handed it to Rangiku. "Give this to the guards on the gate, and they'll let you through."

"Oi, thank you so much." Rangiku replied as she gave the girl a quick hug, ignoring the protest as she always did. "I'll tell you what this is about someday if I can." And a shunpo later she was gone.

Rangiku ran as quickly as she could to the Kuchiki Estate, stopping only when she reached the gate in the wall around the estate grounds. A guard there called out to her to state her business.

"Matsumoto Rangiku, Juubantai fukutaicho, with permission from Kuchiki Rukia-sama to use the Kuchiki Senkaimon." Rangiku said, just a hint of pride in her voice. She'd come a long way from the streets of Rukongai, she thought dryly as she waited for permission to enter the estate of one of the four most powerful Noble Houses in Seireitei.

The guard opened the gate and held out his hand to her. Rangiku placed Rukia's card in his hand, and he looked at it briefly before nodding and sliding the card into his belt. "Oi!" He turned his head enough to call back, and a moment later another guard came out. "Please escort Matsumoto-fukutaicho to the Senkaimon. Instruct the guards that she has the use of it to leave and return."

The guard nodded, and gestured for Rangiku to come with him. He walked slower than she would have liked, but she knew better than to say so. Plus, even with the urgency she felt for getting to her taicho and finding out what he was up to, this was her first time walking the grounds of any of the nobility's estates. She'd been in the Kuchiki mansion a few times, but had never been able to just look around. She looked around her, awed by all the splendor and beauty.

Yet when she tried to speak with the guard about things, she either got yes or no responses, or only silence. There were servants attending to various duties around the grounds, and each stopped and bowed their heads slightly as she passed. An honored guest, she scoffed to herself. If this was how everyone acted she could understand why the stick up Kuchiki-taicho's ass had a stick up it's own ass.

Ah, speak of the taicho and he shall appear.

The guard escorting her froze as they entered a small rock garden obviously used for meditation. Rangiku could see the Senkaimon standing on the other side of the garden, but between it and her stood Kuchiki Byakuya, minus his taicho's haori, and balanced on one foot in a tai chi pose.

Rangiku paused beside the guard, but in her case it was in sheer regard for the spectacular male form in front of her. Byakuya was one of the men in Seireitei she'd always enjoyed looking at, and she didn't think any of the female Shinigami would disagree with her.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho, what are you doing here?" He said without moving.

Of course, once he opened his mouth it was a different story.

"Kuchiki-taicho, good evening." Rangiku said, only slightly cheekily. "Your sister has given me permission to use your Senkaimon."

One eyebrow raised, and he slid out of his pose to stand there facing her. "Why?"

"Well, I just have some unfinished business from when I was living in the real world, but I didn't want to bother anyone with opening a gate, and then I ran into Rukia-san, so…" Rangiku lied through her teeth, annoyed that she couldn't read his face. Why did every guy she knew have to wear a damn mask?

Byakuya's eyes shifted slightly to the guard at her side. "She has permission?"

The guard bowed low. "Yes, Kuchiki-sama. She had one of your sister's cards."

His face showing nothing, Byakuya nodded and turned away from them to resume his tai chi.

Rangiku took one last look at the graceful figure as she followed the guard in a wide circle around him and stepped into the Senkaimon.

Once in the real world, she quickly sent her reiatsu out, looking for her taicho. She located Karakura Town's beacons of light one after another. Ichigo was wandering the town, the speed with which he was moving telling her he was patrolling. Ishida and Chad were both stationary, likely in their homes. Urahara and all his people were in his store. Orihime was outside, apparently walking somewhere. But of her taicho she could find no trace. He had to be hiding his reiatsu. Either so that Ichigo and the others wouldn't know he was here, or because he'd sensed her enter the real world.

She cursed again the masks men hid behind. He'd been completely normal for the past several days, acting as if their rooftop conversation hadn't happened. He hadn't mentioned Karin again, or seemed like he was even thinking about her. But she knew that had to be what he'd come here for.

Deciding the quickest way to find him would probably be to see if any of the others had seen him, Rangiku started for Orihime, who was the closest to her.

She landed silently next to a large open field, surprised to find the girl standing behind a tree and peaking out around it at something out of Rangiku's field of vision. "What are you doing out here, Orihime-chan?"

"Shh…" The girl in question hushed her, motioning her closer to the tree. "Karin-chan, ah, Kurosaki-kun's little sister came to my house to talk, and I just wanted to make sure she got home okay, so I kinda followed her. Oh, but…What are you doing here? I thought you all went back to…"

"We did." Rangiku replied, her mind going a mile a minute as soon as Orihime mentioned Karin's name. Maybe that would be the easiest way to find her taicho. Just watch the girl. "But Hitsugaya decided to come back for…a…something, and now he's hiding his reiatsu so I can't find him, and I need to…"

Orihime giggled unexpectedly, her face turning slightly pink. "Um, look behind you."

Rangiku spun around, not sure what she was expecting to find. It certainly wasn't her taicho in jeans and a polo shirt playing soccer with Kurosaki Karin. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she saw him, almost, smile at Karin as he kicked her the ball.

Orihime giggled again. "I really should go home now, I'm sure he'll get her home safe, but they just look so cute. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before this."

It doesn't happen often, Rangiku thought with a sigh as she slung an arm around Orihime's shoulders. "I guess I can wait on what I wanted to tell him. Wanna go have some tea?"

Orihime smiled. "Sure."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Ichigo had interrupted them just as they were about to leave, and it had taken her a little while to talk him out of killing her taicho. Then she'd started talking with Orihime about how the girl liked Ichigo, and how her taicho and Ichigo both wore similar masks, and as a result she was very deep in thought as her and Orihime finally approached the younger girl's apartment.

She'd just finished telling Orihime about her strange relationship with Gin, well, not all of it, the girl was only 15 after all, and was desperately thinking of how to lighten the conversation. She remembered Byakuya's own mask earlier and smirked as an idea came to her.

"I was talking with some of my friends the other night, and I joked that no man in Seireitei would say no to me if I wanted to date him. But I know of at least one who would. He's even colder and gruffer than my taicho, or than Kurosaki, and he's not even my friend." Rangiku was trying hard to lighten the mood, and to move the conversation along. She really did think Orihime should tell Ichigo how she felt about him, and decided a little push was necessary. "I'm thinking of going after him just because it's a challenge. If I can do that, surely you can tell your friend, the one who basically followed you into hell just to rescue you, that you like him."

"Do you like this guy?" Orihime asked as she unlocked the door to her apartment. "Or is it just that it's a challenge?"

"Well, he's certainly handsome enough." Rangiku replied as she removed her sandals and followed Orihime into the kitchen. She hadn't expected a question like that, and to be honest she'd just come up with the idea a moment ago, and didn't really know what to say. She did know one thing though. "I'd have to see under his mask first though. And I think it'll be much harder to crack that my taicho's was."

"How did you crack Toshiro-kun's?" Orihime asked as she put the kettle on the stove.

"A little bit at a time, sister. A little bit at a time." Rangiku replied, hoping her advice would push the girl into going after Kurosaki. Even if he said he didn't like her as more than a friend, at least she would know. She wandered out into the living room after making sure Orihime didn't need help making the tea, her thoughts turning rapidly.

She'd only joked about going after Byakuya to lighten the mood, and to show Orihime that her situation could be worse. But now the idea had wormed itself into her mind and refused to let go.

It certainly would be a challenge. Toshiro had only had half the time to build his mask as Byakuya had, and she'd had the advantage of working with him every day. Of being alone with him where they had time to talk.

Plus Toshiro's mask had been put on, at least mostly, by choice. As a prodigy, many of the other kids had made fun of him, and the more upset he got the more they'd mocked him, so he'd learned not to show them his feelings. And once he joined the Gotei Juusantai, he still looked like a child, so he had to act more grown-up than everyone else in order to be treated as an equal.

Byakuya had hidden behind his mask for over a hundred years, and she didn't know enough about him to know if he wanted it there or if it had to be there because he was a noble. From what she'd heard pretty much all the nobles acted like he did, and she didn't know him well enough, well, at all really, to know if there was another side to him or not. A side that wasn't just the Kuchiki prince.

And for some reason she was curious to find out.

Rangiku smiled at Orihime as she came out and handed her a cup of tea. It was the smile that Renji had once said belonged to 'Man-Eater Matsumoto.' It really would be a challenge. But Rangiku was always up for a challenge. If nothing else it would keep her from being bored now that the war was over.

TBC…

Glossary:

Fukutaicho: Vice Captain, or Assistant Captain, or Lieutenant

Gotei Juusantai: 13 Imperial Court Divisions, or 13 Court Guard Squads

Juubantai: 10th Division

Rukongai: "Wandering Soul City," Rukon District in the dub. Where all those in Soul Society live who aren't part of Seireitei.

Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls, where the Shinigami and Nobles live in Soul Society

Senkaimon: "World Penetration Gate," the gate between Seireitei and the real world.

Shunpo: Flash Step

Taicho: Captain