The Seretei was bustling with a cheerful energy as the soul society was experiencing an extreme heatwave.
All over you could hear the clinking of clay cups, droplets of sake spilling over the edge on impact.
Most, if not all squads had been given the day off, as it wasn't often they experienced weather as pleasant as this.
This meant that the normally bustling squad 10 barracks were empty, apart from a certain busty young redhead.
Rangiku stood in the kitchen of the barracks, surrounded by electric fans plugged into every free plug socket. She had a mixing bowl, full of what looked to be cake batter, and she wore a pained expression as she struggled to stir the thick mixture in the bowl. She sighed exasperatedly, dropping the mixing bowl onto the counter and grabbed the plug for the electric mixer. As she fumbled about, trying to unplug a fan while still holding a spoon and the plug, a skinnier, pale arm snaked under hers and unplugged the fan for her. Turning around, was was confronted with a familiar, silver haired man.
"How ya doin Ran chan? What ya-" Gin paused as he beheld the mess before him.
Her hair was covered in white patches of what was probably flour, she had egg down her uniform and mixture on her cheek and nose, probably from 'testing' the recipe. "God bless ya, yer sure you're not the one goin the the oven?"Rangiku shook her head, trying to conceal a smirk creeping onto her face.
"Don't you have a squad to take care of, Gin?"
Gin shrugged. "I gave 'em the day off, looks like yer captain did the same."
Rangiku nodded, turning around and plugging in the electric mixer. Gin frowned as Rangiku turned her back on him. guess I'm still in her bad books then, he thought. Gin slid his way put of the kitchen just as Rangiku turned on the electric mixer and put it in the bowl, just for the contents to go flying all over the kitchen. Gin chuckled to himself and continued on his way.
Rangiku sighed, defeated and placed the bowl, spoon and mixer into the sink. She strode over to the corner of the room and slumped down against the wall, hugging her knees. She sighed. Still, Gin didn't deserve any attention from her. Missing her birthday was something she would not take lightly. You would think that after so many years it would be an easy date to remember. A frown spread across her face. It wasn't so much that he missed it, but the fact that she barely even saw him anymore. She shook her head and stood up, moving towards the door leading to her sleeping quarters
When Gin crept back into the barracks it was completely silent. Almost. He could her faint voices and music coming from Rangiku's quarters/ He quietly slid open the door to find Rangiku sat curled up on her futon watching Love Actually. She looked up to the figure in the doorway and let out a small hasp when she saw what he was holdig. His pale, stick like arms contained a small, pastel pink cake with a single candle in the middle.
"Happy belated birthday Ran chan~"
She shook her head, her face pained with a smile and patted th space on the futon next to her. He obliged, sitting down beside her. She lent over and blew out the candle.
"What did ya wish fer?"
Rangiku shook her head, doing a locking motion in front of her mouth and throwing away the pretend key. He laughed at her childishness and cut her a slice of cake. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled into him, letting out a content sigh as they watched Love Actually. This is what she had wanted. She didn't care about her birthday or the cake, she just wanted him.