((Disclaimer: I do not own 'Bleach'. 'Bleach' belongs to 'Tite' Noriaki Kubo.))
(Author's notes: Hello everyone! I don't usually write Gin and Rangiku fan fics but I was in the mood to write for these two because of the ending result of book 四十八 – I write it in kanji so that the chances of spoiling are very low… And no one likes to be spoiled. Please review on this story; it would be very helpful to have some criticism concerning the way I have written about these two. Thank you.)
"Are ya' sure?" The young silver-haired boy queries, head cocking to the side – a question begged. He places a small spindly hand upon his clothes hip – a rough and jagged material against pasty, chapped skin.
He looks up to his accomplice, meets large eyes of powder blue for an instant, and then continues on to nod in acknowledgement. She nods back, a brief swoon of her little head, hair bobbing with the movement. He knows that she is serious; she is always sure after all, but he still repeats the question once again, another time, just to make sure that she is certain of her answer.
"I'm sure," comes her voice, pleasant against the sounds of raging winter outside – a delicate contrast to the shattered hut to which they mingle in. The shack in which they live and reside in. They stand in the 'kitchen' area – place of rotting wood, doused in the smell of extinct fires. "I don't want to just sit around and be useless anymore."
Upon hearing these words leave her pale chapped lips, the boy raises his brow in a brief moment of questioning surprise, squinted eyes studying her expression observantly. He thinks for a moment, wondering what he can say to ease her discomfort. He doesn't want her to feel in such ways.
After a moment or two of thought, he feels her eyes upon him and says the first thing tumbling around in the endless abyss of his mind:
"Come now Rangiku!" He says, shifting his weight to his opposite side of his small body. "Yer' not useless or nothin'!" He steps closer to her and leans forward on stick-thin legs. "'Sides, it's yer Birthday today."
Rangiku merely shrugs and rolls her eyes.
He doesn't get it, that that is indeed her point to which she is trying to get at.
"I know Gin." She answers back, reaching up a tiny hand and grabbing a small fistful of dry, strawberry-blonde curls. "It's been a full year since you gave me today as my birthday."
'Indeed', she thought. 'Today I was born because of you.'
She straightens her posture, fingers tangling further into her hair as she fiddles and fusses with it. "I want to start helping you around the shack." She proposes, squaring her shoulders – as if to emphasis her point. "I refuse to lay around while you do all the chores by yourself." She concludes voice bold as she puffs her chest out and draws to her full height.
Gin blinks. Once. Twice. His mouth is agape open, albeit, thin lips parted in the slightest manner. A few moments of silence pass between them before Gin digs his hands into the folds of his oversized yukata. The rustling noise breaks the silence of snow falling outside, of sparrows mournfully chirping just outside the door cavity.
"I didn't know that you felt that way." He says slowly, still wondering up appropriate words with hesitant tongue. "But if yer' really wanna, then I'm not gonna stop ya'." Rangiku's gaze warms upon hearing her friend's verdict.
"Really?" She asks just to make sure she is really hearing is truthful. She had expected him to refuse in all honesty.
Ichimaru nods, a slight bow of his head.
"Thank you Gin!" She praises, reaching out a hand to clasp one of his own – after removing it from the folds of his yukata of course. She admits silently that she considered hugging him before, but she decided to settle for a grabbing his hand so that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
She gave it a delicate squeeze, gently before letting it go. It drops to his side, limp by his thin calf as it dangles naturally. His eyes fall upon his hand briefly, with a quick downcast of his head. Rangiku stiffens for a moment, wondering if she upset him somehow – but the moment is brushed off just as quickly as he looks back up to her.
"Tomorrow."
Rangiku's worry fades.
"What?"
Gin meets her stare steadily, features set.
"You can start workin' tomorrow." The wind whistles outside the shack. "It's yer' Birthday today after all." He concludes with a brief bow of his head. "Enjoy today." He adds in a gentler tone, hoping he does not sound too strict or bossy towards her.
As much as he hates acting in such ways, he knows that if he sometimes doesn't put on such façades and masks, knowing her , that she won't listen to his reason when she believes in something strongly enough.
Sometimes he just had to forfeit to get his own point across.
"But you worked on your Birthday!" She exclaims, throwing her hands in the air with an exasperated look upon her face. "All day!" She added, to further strengthen her point.
Gin slips his mask back on.
"That's different." He tells her, reaching up and hand and rubbing the back of his silver hair. "Besides, consider a free day off as an apology for me not getting' ya a Birthday present."
Rangiku's brow furrows, a crease upon her smooth forehead, as she continues to argue further:
"I didn't get you a present either." She answers back, irritated. Gin's expression drops.
"Tomorrow." He repeats, in a serious tone. He steps past her and heads to the shack's open door cavity. He stands between it, filling the empty space as he leans back to glance over his shoulder at Rangiku. "Do whatever ya' want today." He says. "It'll be done with the wood-chopping at lunch time." He utters before stepping out in the harsh winter of the Rukongai, leaving the entire shack to Rangiku.
She stands there for a moment, hands clasped together at her lap, eyes wide. She stands alone for a matter of moments, allowing Gin's words to sink in before charging to the main 'room' of the shack.
She has an idea.
Today is her day after all.
((Hello again! Please review if you enjoyed, found a mistake or want to give me some criticism concerning this story. I have already planned some extra chapters for this fan fiction but decided to not upload them in one go. The story would be way to long otherwise. Thanks everyone!))