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By: M&M's
Summary: Matsumoto reminisces about her good times with Ichimaru and how it felt when he left. During the Kurakara Town fight w/ Aizen arc. Someone may not be as loyal to Aizen as he appears.
Pairings: GinRan
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Maybe someday…J.
How long had it been now?
Ever since he'd left her, the days seemed to blend together. Work (a.k.a. run around the Seireitei), try to get bankai (Pfft…Haineko, ya lazy little…), hang with Izuru and Hisagi, drink sake. Speaking of which, she had a killer hangover right now. Ugh.
"Three months, four days."
She sat up, holding her head gingerly, as if fearing it might explode. She stepped over the sleeping bodies of Izuru, Hisagi, and even her captain (Who was using Hisagi as a pillow), 'cause the white-haired boy had passed out from all the soda he'd had last night, making her way to the kitchen.
She grabbed a cup, filled it, and drank the water. Her head felt a little better at least. Thank God. Now she could think clearly.
Things seem so different now that you're gone.
She thought of to the moment when the first met. She had been a little girl, lying in the middle of the road, beaten and starved out of her mind so much that she could barely move, much less walk. Then a pale hand offering a moldy chunk of bread. A voice gently saying, "Eat this. You'll feel better."
She did as she was told, stuffing the bread into her mouth, not even bothering to chew it. The slender, silver-haired boy sat down next to her, smiling, and told her his name. Matsumoto blinked.
"Gin Ichimaru? That's a weird name."
"Oh yeah? What's yours?"
Matsumoto thought for a moment, then shaking her head, she stated that she didn't have one.
Gin frowned, "You don't have a name?" Matsumoto shook her head, "If so, I don't remember it." Gin thought about this for a moment, "I kind of like the way Matsumoto Rangiku sounds!" he stated after several silent moments.
From that day forward, that had been her name.
She didn't even have a freaking birthday before she met him.
"So when's yer birthday, Ran-chan?" Gin asked. The two children had taken refuge in a dilapidated barn from the blizzard. "Mine's on September tenth."
"Don't have one of those either. Never have really counted the days before I met you." the orange-haired girl replied. If there was ever a moment had the silver-haired boy looked floored, it was then. "You don't have a birthday either?"
Rangiku watched Gin think for a few minutes before he asked, "How long has it been since we met, Ran-chan?"
"Three-hundred, sixty-four days."
Gin grinned at her, "Then tomorrow, it's a year since we met. How about the day we met is yer birthday, Ran-chan?"
"Okay."
The next day she had woken up in the barn, alone. She sat up, then felt something drop onto her lap. She looked down. A box? She stared at it for a moment, not knowing what to do.
"Ain't ya gonna open it?"
Gin stood by the entrance of the barn, holding two loaves of bread. He walked over and sat down next to her. "Does that mean ya don't like it?" He put on a fake sad face, "After I got it fer ya all nice an' special."
She laughed, "I haven't opened it yet. How am I supposed to hate it if I don't know what it is?" She opened it. Inside lay a silver necklace. It was a simple necklace, just a ring on a chain, but it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She hugged her friend tight.
"Thanks Gin. I love it."
But then you would disappear sometimes and you wouldn't tell me where you had gone. I'd feel as if I had a hole in my chest. It's how I feel now. But, back then, you'd always come back. Now, I knew you would probably never come back.
She'd just woken up, feeling the lack of warmth that generally meant Gin had cuddled up next to her, trying to get warm. She sat up, and groggily stared around the room. Gin was nowhere in sight.
"Gin?"
No answer. She sighed. He'd gone off again, not even bothering to leave her a note. He did it sometimes. She would run around the Rukongai at first, asking if anyone had seen him at first, but nobody ever did.
So she'd wait until he got back.
A few hours later, she felt someone stroke her long, messy hair. Gin stood above her, grinning down at her, singing, "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
He'd always come back.
A few months later…
Matsumoto laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. Tomorrow, she and her captain would be fighting above Kurakara Town against Aizen so Toshiro had ordered everyone in his squad to get some rest and prepare for the fight to come.
But as usual since he'd left, sleep just wouldn't come.
She'd barely slept at all since he'd left. Even Hisagi and Izuru were noticing, and had even asked her if she wanted to go to Kurakara. She told them she would, Aizen was evil, and that she was okay, but that wasn't the reason why she was going.
She really just wanted to see him again.
Above Kurakara Town
She was falling, shot out of the sky by Aizen, when a skinny, pale arm wrapped around her waist. The first thing that went through her mind was pain. Blood dripped from her wound, dripping onto his hakama.
The second: total, utter disbelief. The silver hair, the slitted eyes. The ever present grin. Gin. "Kira! Get over here!" She saw Kira racing over. He set her down gently.
She blacked out.
When she came too, Kira was leaning over her, healing her with his kido. A ringing of steel from above her made her look away from Kira, seeing Gin fighting Aizen, who looks both surprised and murderous. Gin looks down at her and smiles.
"Hey, Ran-chan, ya ain't lookin' so hot. Why don't ya get some rest?" He turns to Aizen, and she could here him whisper, "Bankai."
Her vision fades just as Gin slices Aizen in half.
The first thing she was aware of was the sounds of birds chirping and someone stroking her hair. She sat up, "Wha?" she mumbles, seeing Gin sitting on the bed next to her, grinning his typical trademark grin.
"We're in the Fourth Division Infirmary." Gin stated, grasping her hand, "Why don't ya rest up? Ya got banged up pretty badly."
Bleary from painkillers, Rangiku closed her eyes. She hears Gin humming a lullaby, one that he used to sing to her when they were in the Rukongai.
"See, I was actually workin' for Old man Yama the whole time. Aizen trusted me." Gin told her, wheeling her around the Seireitei, seeing as how she couldn't walk due to her broken leg. "But…seein how everyone still thinks I betrayed the Soul Society, it'll take me a while to earn everybody's trust back. I ain't really gonna leave ya, Ran-chan. I'd miss ya too much. You know that."
"I know."
Gin's smile gets bigger. "Hey! I know! Once ya are feelin' better, why don't we throw a party?" Matsumoto's so shocked she smiles back at him, "I'd like that."
He places a kiss on her lips as she drifts back to sleep. This time, she knows, he isn't going to leave her.
Ending an' title subject to change!