"Ma-Matsumoto-san, please. I don't think that we should keep drinking like this, " the blond lieutenant pleaded but was ignored and another bottle of sake was pushed his way.
"Kira! Come on! No one will care if we drink for a little bit. Besides, it's Saturday. We're supposed to have a little break on Saturday! It's not like Soul Society is in any danger right now," she laughed and drank more sake. Any normal person would have thought she had died from alcohol poisoning while she was alive. Or maybe she was a drunk driver and had a car crash. But those little rumors weren't the truth.
The truth was, Rangiku was never drunk. Maybe buzzed at times, but she was never drunk.
"N-no more p-please. I-I'm good," Izuru swayed back and forth while he attempted to stand up from the table. The poor child was too drunk to see that he was heading straight into a wall.
The strawberry blond watched as her old friend's lieutenant smacked his head into said wall and successfully knocked himself unconscious. She did nothing to help him, only because it was probably best that he was unconscious for now. He didn't have that much of a tolerance to alcohol which meant that if he left, he probably wouldn't be able to remember the way back to his own division. It would also mean that he would be an easy target for the eleventh division, seeing how he also had no hand-eye coordination or even the ability to walk straight.
She poured herself another glass of sake and rose it up to her lips. Unlike Izuru, she had a high tolerance to alcohol. She secretly hid her sober self with a drunk personality that was more likeable. It was a trick she had learned from Gin Ichimaru, her old childhood friend. To hid your true self with a more likable self. It was handy, she had to admit. But it was sometimes hard keep it going.
Rangiku smiled when she remembered how stubborn he was to sharing this certained trick.
'A magician never reveals his secrets,' he would always say and go begging some rich Shinigami for money using the same trick she was asking about. Which only made her want to know it more. It was only after they entered the Academy that he finally gave up with keeping it a secret and told the instructions.
It wasn't like it was a hard technique to master. Just think about the person you want to be and pretend you were them. After a few years, it almost became as if that person you imagined was actually you. Back then, she wondered why he wouldn't share such a simple trick with her.
After a while, she had wished she had never even asked him.
While in the academy, she had adopted the title of being the best drinker of Soul Society, all thanks to her new personality she created to stop guys begging her to drink with them. It stopped them, but now all she would hear is "Do you want a drink after class?"
Not that she minded though. Gin had graduated early and left her alone to go through the harsh schoolwork by herself. Once she had the title of Best Drinker, she was everything but lonely.
A few weeks after she graduated, a party was supposed to be held for the newest members of the Gotei. Everyone knew that there were going to be drinks there. And of course Rangiku couldn't help herself but drink until her fake self couldn't drink anymore.
But once had Gin saw her there, enjoying the drinks as if they were stolen from the gods, he stole her away and hid from the others behind a few trees. He looked at her, trying to understand what was going on. He held her shoulders bud didn't say anything. This wasn't the Rangiku he expected to meet again after all these years.
"Gin? What are you doing?" she had asked in a drunk voice. In truth, she had only just felt her vision blur even after drinking the entire time the party went on.
"What are you doing? I thought that you hated drinking," the silver haired captain asked. His hands gripped her shoulders tighter as time went on. She didn't know what to say.
"What are you talking about? I love~ to drink! Didn't you know that I'm the best drinker in Soul Society?" she giggled, hoping that her friend would catch on the act, "Come on. Let's go for a round and we can catch up!"
"Don't like Rangiku. You know lying is bad for your health. Let's go and eat some cake or something. Just not drink," Her friend searched her face again, trying to find some kind of sign that she was lying. When he He sighed and released his grip on her.
"Are you okay Gin?" she asked.
"Sorry about that. Don't know what gotten over me. Guess I was just worried. See you around, Rangiku," he smiled. The strawberry blond didn't know what it was at the time, but for some reason, it had seemed something was wrong with her childhood friend.
Days passed and the incident was forgotten in Rangiku's mind. Gin's visits became more and more sparse and soon she hardly ever saw anything of him. Soon, she had to rely on other people from his division to know what he was up to.
A week later and she finally found him on a little stroll around the division's garden. She ran over him and lightly tapped his shoulder. He turned around and smiled.
"Hey Rangiku," he greeted. She smiled back, but it was quickly turned into a frown.
"Why do you keep smiling like that? You said that those kind of people creep you out,"
"What do you mean? Everyone else says that I'm quite friend now," he replied and suddenly the memory was pulled from her mind.
"This isn't ffunny Gin. Stop it, right now. Stop smiling and be your usual self," she ordered. She repeated what her friend did to her and searched his face for any signs of this only being a joke.
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just being myself," he said. Rangiku couldn't take his stubbornness and left, hoping that he got the reaction he was looking for. But even after a month, he didn't stop smiling. She felt guilty. Guilty because it was her that cursed him into smiling forever whenever someone was around. Her squad mates seemed to notice and asked if she wanted to drink to cheer her up.
At first, she rejected it. But then the other personality appeared and immediately accepted the offer. She finally understood why Gin never wanted to teach her the trick. Once you had committed to a personality, it was impossible to get back to your old one.
"Ma-Matsumoto-san? Is that you? I feel a little lightheaded,"
Izuru had finally awaken, and it seemed he was close to having a hangover.
"Hey Izuru, do you think that your captain is unhappy?" she asked out of the blue.
The blond didn't answer at first. It seemed that his hearing was being affected by the alcohol.
"Nope, that's why he smiles," he finally answered. Though after he answered he groaned and fell back to the floors. Cue the hangover.
"Izuru, do you think that I can ever get drunk?"
"Matsumoto-san is always drunk when she drinks sake,"
"Don't you ever think that it's an act?"
Izuru didn't answer and Rangiku sighed. She rested her head on the table and tried to looked as if she had been drinking for hours. In truth it was actually two hours that they were drinking.
She prayed that Gin would be able to be himself one day. But until then, she would pretend to enjoy drinking sake as long as he would continue smiling that fake smile. And then the two of them would both face the burden of being a fake.
I was bored and this happened. Hope you enjoyed it!