Author: Sinian
Title: Playing tag
Rating: T
Pairing: Rangiku/Nel
Warnings: a bit fluffy, first attempt at yuri (and English is not my first language)
Summary: Rangiku goes for a run and Nel decides to tag along.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.
I wrote this for nikita_cheri111's birthday over at livejournal. She agreed to share it with you.
Have fun!
Playing tag
With a final tug Rangiku tied her shoes and straightened up. It was Saturday morning and she was just about to go for her weekly run. While she stretched and loosened up her muscles she remembered the day her Taichou found out about her routine and grinned; she had never seen his jaw drop at anything.. except for that day. But even he had to admit that it is a good way to burn off the alcohol.
Rangiku took off at a moderate speed to get warmed up and when she passed by that ancient tree just outside of the 4th division her gaze was automatically drawn there, expecting to see a certain Arrancar. Her steps faltered for a moment when Nel was nowhere to be seen but she kept on running anyway.
It has been two months now since the war had ended and Nel was granted asylum in Soul Society, mostly because of Kurosaki Ichigo who had spoken in her favor. At first the Arrancar had been recovering from several grave injuries at the 4th division and that is where Rangiku had seen her for the first time when she had run past her open window and cheerfully waved at her just to be nice.
From the following Saturday on Nel had sat under the tree every time and watched her pass by. Rangiku always waved and smiled at her and Nel always greeted her back. Somehow she was looking forward to that little routine every week and when there was no one waiting for her today she was worried and a little sad. The morning seemed to be a little less bright without Nel's smile.
When Rangiku left the houses of Rukongai behind her and reached the open fields a green flash appeared right before her and made her come to a skidding halt. There was Nel standing in front of her and looking excited and a little nervous at the same time. "Hello," she greeted.
"Have you been waiting for me?" Rangiku asked.
Nel nodded. "I'm all better now and Unohana-Taichou said that I really need a little exercise." She cocked her head. "You wanna play tag with me?"
Rangiku blinked. She wanted to play tag? But before she could respond anything Nel leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "You're it!" she announced and blushed in a very cute way. Then the Arrancar zoomed off while Rangiku just stood there and raised a hand to her lips. That was... unexpected.
Nel stopped a little farther away and turned around, apparently to see what took her so long. Rangiku watched her wave mockingly and when she even stuck out her tongue at her she snapped out of it. "You will wish you'd never have challenged me," she muttered with a mischievous glint in the eyes and chased after Nel.
oOoOo
Some time later the two women lay side by side in the grass, sweaty but grinning and looked up into the clear sky. It hadn't been Rangiku's usual training, definitely not, but she had enjoyed it a great deal. She turned her head and watched the Arrancar beside her. Yes, especially the particular way they had tagged each other had been a lot of fun.
"Why did you follow me?" she asked suddenly.
Nel glanced at her. "Because..." she sighed, "because I feel lonely. We had been playing tag all the time back in Hueco Mundo and I miss it, a lot."
"Why me?" Rangiku had been wondering for a long time now why the Arrancar was always there to wave at her when she was running by.
"You're interesting and..."
"And?"
Nel plucked at the grass and mumbled something that Rangiku didn't quite catch.
"Come again?"
"... and beautiful," Nel repeated blushing.
Rangiku's eyes widened and she propped herself up on her elbow to watch Nel glancing nervously at her.
"Don't look at me like that," she pleaded.
"Why not?"
"I'm a hollow," she answered. "I'm disgusting."
When she tried to turn away from her, Rangiku reached out and stopped her. "No," she said. "I think you're interesting, too, and quite cute." With that she brushed Nel's hair behind her ear.
"Really?"
"Yes," she confirmed and gently caressed Nel's cheek. There was a hopeful twinkling in the Arrancar's eyes that made her stop thinking and instead follow her instincts. Rangiku closed the distance between them and softly captured Nel's lips who sighed and kissed her back. Tongues danced around each other and explored the new territory. It was a sensual kiss that made her pulse quicken and promised so much more. Rangiku's hand wandered down, stroking up and down Nel's side, searching for more contact while she felt fingers shyly touching her hair. When they broke apart again and she looked into her eyes, she couldn't help but smile.
Nel blinked a few times before she threw her arms around Rangiku's neck and tackled her to the ground, giggling like mad. The air was knocked out of her and she tried her best to calm the excited Arrancar on top of her. When Nel was finally snuggled against her and lazily drawing some doodles on her stomach, Rangiku sighed contently.
"Soo... do you want to go for a run next Saturday, too?"
She smiled when Nel nodded eagerly. Maybe they could get to some other 'working out' in the future. Her smile turned into a mischievous grin. Oh yes, she would really like that.
Thanks for reading!