One more, please!
That guy from the sixth division, she had lost his name somewhere between the last two refilling, was nowhere to be seen anymore. It was past an hour past closing time and it was just her and Shunsui in the bar now. Being high-ranked officers had its benefits, at least nobody had thrown them out yet.
"Care for another one?" the man asked.
Rangiku looked at her cup. Was it still filled? Not entirely sure, she turned it around. About two sips of sake splashed on the wood of their little table. It was empty now.
"Yes, please."
He put up his hand, the owner immediately hastening himself towards them with another flask. The old man poured some for both of them. Then with a bow, he walked off, back to cleaning the other tables.
"You're not going to tell Nanao-chan about this, are you?" her companion asked.
"Hmm?" She looked up from her cup. "No, I would get in trouble as well if I did."
He grinned. "You're a good… good person."
She leaned with one elbow on the table and downed the sake. "So are you, just…"
"Just?" he asked.
"You shouldn't drink so much."
Shunsui pointed his finger at her. "You are worse."
Shrugging his shoulders, she filled both their cups again. The sake had long lost the pleasant warmed it had filled her with earlier in the evening, but it just felt good to drink something.
"I wonder eh…" he started. "Of all the sips you took, during how many of them did you think about Ichimaru?"
She sent him a dark look. Though it was somewhat of a written rule he shouldn't be mentioned, somehow he was always brought up when they really got drunk. Usually by her.
"He sucks."
"Didn't get the impression he was the type who preferred guys," he said cheekily.
Rolling her eyes, she decided to elaborate a bit. "He betrayed us all… me too. Stupid that I always kept on trusting him, right?"
"I thought you and your captain were among the first to get suspicious," Shunsui said, considering her.
"He was, I kept on thinking up other possible explanations," Rangiku replied. "I was fooled as badly as Hinamori, thinking he cared about me… how dumb."
"Rangiku, Rangiku," Shunsui said, shifting to sit next to her instead of opposite. He laid his arm around her and patted her shoulder. "You will get new loves, you are still so young."
She smiled at him, but there was still the sad air hanging around her. "You would say that."
"Because it's true," he said, using his free arm to put his drink closer to where he sat now.
"Shunsui…" she whispered.
"Yes?"
He looked at her and immediately saw what she wanted of him. If it had been something like love or commitment, he definitely wouldn't have kissed her, even if he was drunk. But it was a bit of comfort and reassurance for a few moments. So when she slowly edged towards him, he leaned in.
It was a nice kiss, filled with the taste of sake and a bit of excitement. She was too drunk to be annoyed by the roughness of his beard, just enjoyed the pleasant feeling and his hands in her hair.
When they broke away, they ordered another flask.
The end
