Guess who's decided to make a little summer-time fic? (If you guessed me, that would be 100% correct.) In celibration of actually having a moment to myself, I've decided to start another fic. It will update once a day and I will post until it's finished. (Unlike all my other half-done fics that I've just kind of left on their own... sorry about them.) So, I hope everyone enjoys the sudden attack of almost-AU UNEDITED ginran. Good luck to anyone who hasn't taken their finals yet!
Nine days, nine lives...
Rangiku is very deeply connected to cats. She adopted a cat when she was young. That cat had passed away- bless her white furry soul- and then she had taken in two other strays without Gin's knowledge. She's always loved the animal, and so she was understandably pleased to find her soul slayer manifested into a cat- an ash cat.
So one could say Rangiku was some-what connected to the number nine. Nine lives for the neko, as it went. Nine times she had sprained her right ankle, nine times had she gotten into a bar fight with another woman, nine times she'd failed a mission. Nine times she had woken up thinking Gin was alive after he died.
And so, nine months after Gin was good and gone, she found herself staring Unohana Retsu in the face, lips pressed into a thin line as she nodded.
"If you're completely sure," The captain said lightly, smiling. "Then you would make a very nice candidate, Matsumoto-san. It's a dangerous mission, but I am sure of your abilities."
She nodded lightly, sort of distracted. "Yeah. Give me the basic run-down one more time before I leave."
"Very well then." Unohana sat down in her chair, still smiling pleasantly. "You will go twenty seven years forward- hardly the blink on an eye for someone like us, but a bit of a strain on the body to take all at once. You should be fine, but then, you know all the risks." She laughed softly.
"Mm-hm. And then?"
"You will have thirteen days while you're there. Once you find the object, keep it on you. On the final day you will be taken back here. It will be similar to suddenly stepping into a sikimon… Is that all you need?"
She looked at the drawing of the object- it looked like a silver cat about the size of a watermelon. There was a gold symbol in the center of the object. "What is the thing again?"
"On of squad twelves' very important… things." She laughed softly again. She clearly didn't care for squad twelve. "It malfunctioned. Usually it keeps things in an isolated time barrier, but it somehow ended up in the human realm many years in the future."
"Okay."
"Remember, stay away from soul society- we don't need you messing up any affairs that may be according in that time window. Please stay in the human realm, and only perform shinigami activities if it's completely necessary."
Rangiku nodded. "I'm ready."
Unohana stood, taking a needle full of a clear serum from the counter, tapping it to free any trapped bubbles of air inside. "In that case, lay down and relax. Once you're asleep we'll put you through the sikimon. You'll return to this time tomorrow."
"I'm ready." She said.
As the needle slid into her arm, she closed her eyes. She thought she was ready for the future.
She was not.