Not Alone
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I fled down an alley, past dark, curtained shops and merchants washing their grime off the windows. I sped into the sunlight, into a large street crowded with tourists examining trinkets and souvenirs. I ducked into another dark alley, down another street, up another alley. I ran until it hurt, and I realized I had nowhere to go.
"Tag, you're it." I turned my head to see my friend tag me, her youthful face lit up with triumph. She told me I ran like a girl, and I retorted that she was the girl. I scowled at her, and then as mischief alighted in my eyes, I turned suddenly to chase her. I tucked my silver hair behind my ear, so it would stay out of my small face.
My friend squealed in mock-terror and ran. I pumped my six-year-old legs as fast as I could. I was still tired out from her being it, so I wasn't as fast. I chased her back through the alley I had cornered myself in, keeping sight of her lithe figure.
In the street, I ran into a portly merchant, dressed lavishly in splendid clothes. He cried out his annoyance as I called out an apology. I resumed the chase, and my friend turned into an extremely murky alley. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a silver fox's tail disappear, but I ignored it. I didn't like the ominous feeling the dark alley was giving me so I stopped chasing her and called quietly for her to stop running.
She didn't hear and was disappearing from sight, so I went after her. I followed her until she stopped. She turned in confusion to look at me, and I put one finger from my small, pale hand up to my lips. I watched as comprehension dawned on her soft features.
I listened closely to the eerie sounds of the sinister alley. I heard voices coming from farther down so I grabbed my friend and dove behind a large pile of unusable rags. I heard three voices, two angry, and one pleading. I looked at my friend who was cowering behind me.
I looked back at the alley as three figures came into focus. I placed the pleading voice with the tourist who was talking quickly. I watched, undiscovered as the trembling tourist handed the men items from his person. The tourist then put his hands up.
I cried out in fear as a shot rang out, and the tourist dropped. I quickly covered my mouth with my hands. The two men were looking my direction, and as they came nearer, I grabbed my friend and started to run. I heard the two men cry out in astonishment and anger, and I heard my friend cry out with pain as two shots sounded consecutively.
I dropped along with my friend, feeling a sharp pain in my back. I tumbled to the ground in immense pain. I turned to see my friend had already done the same.
Somehow, I managed to push myself back up and I dragged my friend along with me. We stumbled our way to a populated area. I looked back and saw that the men had stopped their pursuit of us and were staring at something on the ground. I didn't bother to look at what.
I managed to get my friend on her feet and the two of us made our way as quickly as we could away from that horrific alley. We ran through the busiest market amazingly, without making contact with anyone. We ran until we couldn't run any longer. I dropped to my knees, chest heaving. My friend collapsed beside me.
A small russet cat with a white star on her chest stared at us. I watched as she curled her tail around her small body and made a noise that burst from her mouth in what could only be described as a questioning manner. She twitched one ear back and then twitched it back up. Then, out of the shadows, a silver fox walked to my side and looked at me with its red eyes.
I wondered at this strange phenomenon and then started as footsteps sounded, the person walked right past me, looking right past my friend and I. The cat meowed pitifully at me and I once again stared at her. I felt confused as she closed her bright green eyes slowly, and my friend pulled on my shirt and begged me to get moving. I rose and walked away from the strange cat to the hot street.
I walked up to a vendor and asked him where we were. I waited for an answer that didn't come. I grabbed the man's bright, striped sleeve, and he turned and looked past my friend and I. I watched as he looked around suspiciously as he would if he expected street rats were picking his pockets. I finally gave up on being polite at the frightened look on my friend's face. I yelled loudly to the man. He didn't make any signs of noticing.
My friend looked at me with horror on her face. My face mirrored hers as everything clicked into place. Tears came out of my eyes and I remembered the two men huddled over two small shapes that I hadn't thought about until now. Stunned, my friend realized it too and she sat in a corner of the market and cried. I joined her, calmer than she was.
I comforted her and looked at her with tears in my light blue eyes. A small, warm body squeezed her way between us. I heard a loud purring and I saw the russet cat watching my friend and the fox watching me. I realized that it wasn't so bad because I wasn't alone. I had friends.
"Shinso." The cat acknowledged the fox.
"Hineko." The fox replied. Then they went to lay next to the two children.
In the forlorn corner of the market, a stray russet cat with a white star on her chest, her tail curled around her, and her paws tucked under her neatly, laying next to a silver fox that had its eyes closed. Suddenly, a stray ray of light highlighted the shapes of a young girl, hunched over as if in great pain, and a young boy sitting valiantly by her side.
That was the beginning of Ichimaru Gin and Rangiku Matsumoto. Who would find each other after death and live to make their mark on history and ultimately, love each other until death did they part.
Sorry to ruin the story with an A/N but I hope you liked it. It is my tribute to GinRan, though I'm still hoping for gin to make a reappearance. And on a completely unrelated note, it is 1 :30 am and I am seriously freaked out because my bathroom door is barely moving back and forth and there isn't a breeze. O.O