Gin took another sip of his martini as he enjoyed the cool summer breeze atop the Sereitei Tower, Tokyo. It was not a dark night out, but you could see the stars and the moon from where he was. The bustling sounds of the city fifty-three storeys below him marked out the busy metropolitan of his world. He quickly glanced at his wristwatch and then over to the person sitting opposite him.
"Ten-thirty, and your last night as an unmarried woman is almost over, how does it feel?"
The redhead smiled wryly.
"Come on, you're making it sound like I haven't grown up. I'm not the same girl you used to know, coming home at six in the morning, every morning, you know?" Rangiku grinned, dabbing in another bite of Victoria sponge cake, the fork making a delicate 'chink' sound against the expensive porcelain.
Laughing a little, Gin replied "You're right; I guess your boat has been harboured to some kind of port. Not that I saw it coming, sailor."
At this, Rangiku half-scoffed and half-gasped at, surprised that the figurative language was coming from her long-time best friend of very little, and very usually incomprehensible (towards everyone but her) words. But of course, there was a first for everything. Honestly, she was too overcome by excitement about her wedding to really dwell on Gin's imagery. "That's right... I'm happy that you can see that, so for me at least," she shot him an upwards glance, "no regrets" she said, and smiled.
Brushing the look aside, the silver-haired man extended his view towards the distant skyline of an island unbeknownst to him. The silvery orange blobs of light far away looked like a dream, it made his eyes feel out of focus, as if he'd fall off the top of this tower he was on at any minute, and that all the people around him would just disintegrate into nothingness, all but the elegant woman before him, who'd he never seen as more than a dear friend, until now, when it was too late to realise.
Matsumoto Rangiku was beautiful, exciting, and engaged to a handsome man named Hisagi Shuuhei, who was also no doubt exciting and passionate. Otherwise, how could he have possibly landed a girl like Rangiku? No, to be with her was not something that you took for granted or brushed off. Gin stared at her staring at the same island as he did before. No, to be with Rangiku would have been a massive reward for something you did well in a past life, like saving a person or building the Great Wall of China. She was intelligent, funny, and mesmerising in a way that you only thought existed in novels and old-fashioned black and white movies.
And somehow he had forgotten all of this.
Somehow it had taken him the best part of two years to make time to spend with her. This was the first time that they'd even seen each other in the flesh in more than half a year, and it was only one month before that that he'd received the wedding invitation.
It was so ironic, the fact that he was seeing her before her wedding day, in that beautiful green dress across the table, with these feelings stirring inside of him. It was also as scary as hell to him that he felt he'd lose her, forever, after this night.
"Are you okay there?"
Gin broke from his reverie, rattled that Rangiku could recognise that he was even in one. Most people didn't seem to notice, but she picked up on most things. "Yeah," he answered, "You know how it is, October Blues, your best friend's getting married, you tend to think a lot. Plus, Becky and Daisy won't feed themselves."
Rangiku laughed suddenly and raucously. "Becky and Daisy? Oh my god, I'd forgotten about them completely. How are they?"
Becky and Daisy were Gin's budgies. And they were fine, thanks for asking. They miss you feeding them in the mornings, though.
"They're alright. Getting big though. And I found out that Daisy's actually a guy."
"So... Davey?"
"Yeah, that's... that's a good one." he mocked, to which Rangiku stuck out her tongue.
He glanced briefly at his watch again, which become more of a habit than anything. It wasn't that he had any prior arrangements nor that he wanted to get an early night, but truthfully, he felt secure after glancing at his watch, just as some people like to fidget with their hair, or fiddle with their hands, or as Matsumoto was doing at that exact moment, playing with the gold necklace around her slender, womanly neck. He remembered the day he got it, that they got it. As his glance trickled downwards towards her cleavage- something that also couldn't be helped- he recalled the day five years ago; September the 29th, Matsumoto's eighteenth birthday. It had been like something out of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', minus the ten dollar engraving part due to Holly and Fred being too poor to afford something more from the jeweller's.
"Yeah, I think it's getting pretty late, too." Rangiku interjected, having mistaken his gesture as an implication of the time. "Plus, it's totally, like, my wedding tomorrow." she slurred childishly, but Gin could sense the nervousness in her voice.
"I didn't actually mean to look at my watch, it just happens." he paused, thinking it not the best time to justify his embarrassing quirks. Besides, Matsumoto just gave them both a reason to finish up early. "But you're right, let's make a move. There's a wedding waiting for ya. Come on, I'll give you a lift home."
They both rose from the table in sync after paying the bill and Gin took her coat, helping her into it. The scent of her hair was still the same, and he smirked, being possibly the only guy to know what shampoo she uses, he thought. But in actuality, considering where they were in their lives, that probably wasn't true. He'd had a string of girlfriends- or rather just arm candy- since he began working, earning him quite a reputation, when in fact he couldn't be more conservative with his affections. His mind started to wander, and the question of how many lovers Rangiku'd had since they left each other's company crossed his mind. The thought of Rangiku being intimate with another man suddenly made him feel very uneasy, and his hand swayed away from her coat and defensively to his side; a retreat of the silently scorned.
He followed her out of the restaurant, and stopped beside her at the glass elevator. It took a while, it was at current on the 23rd floor, and they on the 53rd.
It seemed that everywhere he went in this place he could not escape the little island from before- the one with the dreamlike blurs of light. In his current view it looked no bigger than a stick of chewing gum, but the luminosity of it called out to him.
"I've noticed- you keep staring at the seal conservation port."
"The what?" They walked into the empty carriage, and the doors closed on them. Matsumoto rolled her eyes.
"That little island over there, it's the conservative port for seals. Don't you remember? The conservation port? 4th of July? Hel-lo?" she laughed.
"No. I think you're mistaken; I've never been to a conservation port before in my life. I mean, come on, look at me. Seals?" This was ludicrous; he didn't know where she got these things from sometimes.
"I am so hurt you don't remember i--t! Whoa!"
The carriage jerked and Matsumoto, balanced on a pair of razorblade heels, tripped and fell, reaching towards Gin for support, successfully grabbing his awaiting hands.
"My god, what was... that?"
She looked into his eyes, and something passed between them. At first there was only silence, where neither were sure what was happening. But, it was not subtle enough to ignore, as it never was with these two. Often other people noticed it too. Locked hand in hand and standing a little closer than was approved of, the situation suddenly became something quite awful. And she was getting married tomorrow.
"Heh... you alright?" Gin coughed, relieving their thoughts from each other somewhat. "What was that? Has this thing stopped?"
Rangiku felt the heat radiating from her face, and the prospect of her hands sweating scared her a little, because this was a nervous moment for her, holding him like this, she never imagined it to be like this. The elevator had stopped, yes, and it couldn't have chosen a worse moment. She silently exhaled, and tried to regain her balance. Hair swaying in front of her face made it difficult for her to look downwards at her feet. Why did she decide to wear these shoes today? Why couldn't she brush this feeling aside like she'd always done? Why did he contact her after waiting all this time, when a year ago she would have done anything to get his attention?
"Yeah, fine."
She let go, getting a grip of herself. These pointless thoughts and pointless hopes were nothing but depressing, and in case she hadn't noticed, they were stuck in a lift. Gin pressed some numbers into the panel. She removed her shoes. Gin had managed to reach somebody by speakerphone and that person was now telling them that nothing was wrong and that they had to stop all the elevators because a child was playing along the rooftop, dangerously close to the hydraulics control station.
"That's a relief," Gin sighed. "We wouldn't want you coming home at six in the morning now, would we?" he teased, coaxing a menacing look out of Rangiku. "Hey, don't ya give me that look!" he laughed. "God, just when I thought I'd never see your beautiful scowl again."
Matsumoto forgot her previous inhibition and nudged him with her elbow.
"Why do I feel as though you're mocking me, hmm, Mr. Ichimaru?" she remarked playfully, forgetting herself. "Oh, and by the way... Thanks for taking me out tonight. I really like this place." Gin smirked smugly. Ran continued, "I guess this is just another of your daily haunts, but for me, it was really something else."
"You're welcome, darling. But I'm not really as much of a multibillionaire playboy as you like to think I am." he rectified. If anything, it was the contrary. He was always stowed under with CEO responsibilities and business trips abroad which would have been brilliant, considering the destinations, if there, he hadn't been stowed under with even more work and meetings. In his spare time, he slept, and ate, and slept some more. "Last time I came here was a couple of months ago with a client from Hiroshima."
"Ise Nanao?"
"Yes, her. Did I tell you?" he asked incredulously, wondering why she remembered so clearly. He'd in all honesty had been on the verge of forgetting Nanao's name.
"Yeah, you did." Matsumoto recalled the phone call of that day in her head, and how later she'd received another from the same person, drunk out of his mind and asking her for help opening his front door, no doubt after a wild night on the town with said client. A pang of jealousy arose amidst this exchange of words. She didn't think Gin realised how much it hurt her when he nonchalantly told her about all his work excavations. Especially the ones involving females.
But she was getting married tomorrow.
"There we go, back on track." Gin commented as the lift began moving once again. When they reached the ground floor he let her out first. And when they reached outdoors he moved in time with her, taking in her every step and her every look.
Matsumoto didn't know whether it was her minute glass of champagne (she quit drinking a little, it led to too many indiscretions) that did it or if it was something else, but she didn't want to leave. A saddening darkness fell over her and she bit her lip.
"Please try to come tomorrow?"
Gin avoided her eyes, hoping to catch that little island once again but it was nowhere to be found.
"I'm so sorry. I can't."
It had been his decision from the start. His heart couldn't handle her marrying someone else. He had never been one to make a big deal out of marriage, but he never saw her with anyone else apart from him, as selfish as that sounded. Now not only had someone snatched her from underneath his nose, but they were sealing the deal with a wedding ring. The situation had become so distorted that for Gin to attend their matrimonial celebrations would have been one big contrite lie. The bottom line was 'no'.
Matsumoto scoffed, "It was stupid of me to expect anything else."
Gin inwardly gasped. That was unexpected, he thought to himself, surprised yet remaining externally calm. He was silent, not allowing a retort for the situation.
"Not going to defend your honour?" she added, with malice so befitting that he felt wrong to argue back.
"No, I'm not. Because you shouldn't be making a big deal out of this for me. Because, you're getting married tomorrow, and I want you to be happy."
"But you being there would make me happy."
He took hold of her and kissed her forehead on the entrance steps of the Sereitei Tower. Stroking her back felt reassuring, probably more for him than for her. He realised that all these little motions of his must have amounted to some serious insecurity somewhere.
Rangiku softened and reached for his hand, tangled somewhere amongst their feelings. Would 'I love you' mean anything now?
They stayed together like that for a long time, the air becoming increasingly stifling around them, that if they pulled away they would have drowned in its depths. He wanted to reach down and kiss her on the lips, she wanted to reach up and take it, but this wasn't good enough. It wouldn't do. Their love was carved out of wet oak and the fire would never burn. He would never belong to her, she thought. She could never love a guy like me, he thought, and so, it was the end of their story as they knew it.
Matsumoto Rangiku was getting married tomorrow, at the same time that Ichimaru Gin, not that he knew it now, would board the second flight of noon back to Tokyo.