"He loves me." Rangiku plucked the petals one by one off a wild flower to pass the time until sunset brought darkness and hopefully her companion.
The day had been long and uneventful. She'd been alone for roughly three days now and worst of all; her birthday was almost at its end.
"He loves me not. He loves me..." She plucked the last petal with a small smile. "He loves me. Heh, what a joke." She chucked the remnants of the flower onto the ground and laid back on her futon.
"That jerk, of all the days he could have been away..." Rangiku almost felt like crying. She was used to Gin's leaving her for untold amounts of time, but he had yet to miss the very birth date he had given her.
At that moment, she heard the door creak open and a figure step into the one room home. "Tadaima."
"Welcome home..." Rangiku said weakly, not even bothering to turn and look at him.
The silver haired young man kicked off his sandals and hopped onto the futon that lay next to hers. "Whatcha doin'?"
"I arranged flowers all day." She snapped.
Gin picked up a petal and raised an eyebrow at her. "I think you're doin' it wrong."
The strawberry blonde kept quiet.
"But now you're fresh out of flowers... too bad. Now what can we do about that?"
"Shut up Gin. Since you left me alone all day today I'd like to finish this birthday without your company."
"Now that ain't fair."
Rangiku gave the 'hmph' noise and pulled the covers up over her head.
"You do know that today is the 28th of September, right?"
"Wha?!" She rolled over and looked at him in disbelief. "No, it's the 29th! I'm sure I counted right this time... I think..."
"Your birthday is tomorrow baka. You know I'd never miss it fer the world."
Rangiku felt a deep embarrassed blush spreading over her entire body. Her anger and rudeness had been caused by her own miscalculations and here she was blaming her only friend in the world of committing some terrible sin.
"I'm so sorry Gin--"
"Naa, it's alright." He lay down and sighed happily. "Tomorrow's going to be extra special for you, okay? I promise."
"Really?"
He nodded, rolling onto his side so they would face each other as they slept. "I guarantee it."
The blue eyed young woman reached her hand out to him and lightly grasped his own hand, lacing her fingers around the boney palm. Gin smirked and held her hand just as tenderly, both waiting in silence until one fell asleep and snoring began.
Dawn came late by this time of year, but that didn't stop Gin from venturing out while Rangiku slept. He need only be gone for an hour or so, but when he returned, Rangiku was sitting outside the door with a worried expression on her face.
"You know I hate it when I wake up and you're gone..."
"Gomen'na... but I needed to run an errand."
"An errand?"
"Yep, an errand. I gotcha somethin'." Gin plopped a bouquet of wildflowers on the strawberry blonde's lap. "Happy birthday Rangiku."
Rangiku's mouth slowly curved into a smile as she brushed back her lengthening bangs. "Aw Gin, they're beautiful."
"Picked 'em myself soon as the sun opened 'em up. An' tonight, I'm doing all the cookin' for your birthday feast!"
"You really don't need to go that far." She chuckled as he whisked her into the tiny hut they shared, plopping her down on the thin futon they shared.
Gin opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at her. "Just for that, I'm gonna go swipe some fireworks too."
"Gin... I'm gonna look like a blossoming teen for decades, not every birthday has to be extravagant. You guilt trip me then when you make my birthday more festive than your own." She looked down at the flowers, still smiling, and still opposing the fox-faced boy's plans. "You know I'd rather just have you here with me..."
"I know." He said in a more cool tone as he sat down beside her. "I just never had a reason to celebrate any birthday until I met you. Celebrating yours, celebrates mine too. Neither of us will be alone on your birthday; wasn't that our promise?"
Rangiku slowly nodded and turned her head towards his. She was only slightly surprised to see him looking right back at her. "Gin...?"
The silver haired young man crossed the inches of distance between them and pressed his lips over hers. He'd been waiting for the right occasion to exchange their first lip-to-lip kiss.
The strawberry blonde was a bit startled at first, but then welcomed his affection with open arms. The gap between the two vanished as she wrapped her arms around Gin's scrawny body, while they deepened the kissing every time they took a breath.
"Ah... Gin..." Rangiku managed to breathe out.
"Rangiku..." His eyes opened as he regrettably put some distance between their faces. "I love ya..."
Rangiku felt her heart leap and clutched the scrawny boy as close as she could. "I love you too Gin..."
Gin buried his nose in her neck, his hands trying to remove the clothing that prevented him from touching her healthy peach skin while he trailed kisses along her collarbone. "Ya aren't ever gonna forget yer birth date again Rangiku..."
A deep sensual feeling had been roused in her body by just his speech alone. Sure Gin had teased her about liking him, made a sex joke every now and then, but she had never heard him sound so lustful. It was a welcomed birthday surprise.