I'm Not Her
a mushy little fanfic with Rangiku and Renji
Disclaimer – I make no claims to Bleach or its many delightful characters.
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Chapter 1
Rangiku was the most qualified lieutenant on this particular mission. The team: Matsumoto, Iba, and Abarai. The objective: to get Kira and Hisagi stinking drunk.
The cover story was that the five were celebrating Renji's birthday. They'd chosen to meet at an out-of-the-way dive bar that none of them had been to before. They insisted that each toast had a long tradition, and that they'd be dishonoring their friendships if anyone failed to keep up. The true purpose of the night, of course, was to give Kira and Hisagi a night away from the office and a chance to blow off some steam. Maybe they'd even open up about the recent betrayal of both of their captains.
But Hisagi had dozed off about an hour ago, and Kira had run off flash-stepping after what he claimed was a phantom that had been spying on him. As for Iba, Renji couldn't remember why he'd punched him in the head, but for their lieutenant to have crumbled to the floor after one punch didn't say much for Division Seven.
So Rangiku and Renji kept drinking. Gradually the crowd thinned out, and the two of them found themselves more or less alone. They really hadn't known each other long. They talked about the responsibilities of a lieutenant. Rangiku offered advice on how to avoid them. They discussed the fact that Kira's paranoia wasn't going away; working with Ichimaru had done some very unique damage to the man. But Renji sensed that the former captain of Division Three was a delicate subject.
They kept drinking, and at some point in the night Renji noticed how beautiful Rangjku's hair looked. He reached out and stroked it. She looked at him, considering whether he was going to lose that hand, but she decided that Byakuya would notice if his lieutenant showed up for work missing an appendage. His hand moved slowly down her hair, down her arm, until they were holding hands. He leaned in to kiss her.
"I'm not her."
"Huh?" he said.
"I'm not Rukia. You don't want to do this unless you mean it."
He hesitated, then pulled away from her.
"Aagh! She ruins my life, and now she even takes this away from me!"
Rangiku looked at her red-headed friend. This would probably be a good time to stop drinking, she thought. She flagged down the barkeep for two more bottles of sake.
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Chapter 2
A month later, Rangiku was window-shopping in Karakura Town. It was her first break from patrolling for Arrancar in two days. As she walked past a flower shop, she noticed something unexpected: inside the shop was Renji, talking to the clerk behind the counter. Rangiku smiled to herself. The poor guy never stood a chance on a mission with Rukia, she thought. She walked in.
"Hey."
Renji's surprise at seeing Rankigu quickly turned to embarrassment. "Oh, hi. I didn't expect to run into you here."
"I just gave my captain the slip. He thinks I'm – oh, you know what, he probably knows I'm shopping."
Renji didn't look any less uncomfortable as the two of them stood at the counter.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Rukia on this mission", Rangiku finally said.
"Yeah. Yeah, I, you know how I…um, it's been great. It's been weird. It's so long since we've spent any time together. I've just been trying for so long to, I don't know, prove myself to her or something, I forgot about our friendship."
The clerk brought a bouquet of yellow and white daisies from the display window and set them on the counter. Renji paid her.
"What do you think of them?" he asked Rankigu.
"They're…nice" she replied.
He stood there for a moment, then his blood began to boil. "Well?"
"Well what?" she raised her voice as he had done.
"Aren't you even going to pick them up? Aagh! You brat! I hate you!" he shouted at her.
"What are you talking about, you lunatic?"
"If you didn't want them, you should have told me before I paid for them!"
Rangiku looked down at the flowers, then back at Renji. "I thought…they were for Rukia", she said softly.
Renji's eyes were aflame. "Don't you listen? I just said that we're friends again. You're the one I'm interested in! You're funny, and sexy, and you speak your mind, and I'm crazy about you!"
She barely let him finish the sentence before she jumped into his arms, and they shared the kiss that both of them had been craving for the past month.
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Epilogue
Renji walked into Ichigo's room. The orange-haired boy was lying on his bed holding a cold compress below his left eye.
"So, did you go to that flower shop that Ishida suggested?" Ichigo mumbled.
"Yeah."
"Me too. How'd it go?"
"I told her I hated her and then she kissed me", Renji said. "You?"
"Rukia kissed me, then she kicked me in the head. The doctor says I broke a bone in my face. It might not heal right." Ichigo paused. "Best day of my life."
Renji said, "I know. Fantastic."