Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and those who put my story on their alerts. I hope you all continue to read, even with my sporadic updating. This chapter is much shorter than the last one. It was a story flow choice, mostly, since for a few chapters, we'll be alternating between main storyline and flashback. I have most of the plot of this story worked out in my head, it's just getting it out that's such a hassle sometimes.
Also, anyone who read the first chapter when it was initially put up, it would be good to go back and read the last few paragraphs. I did a revision about a week after it was posted to add a little bit more onto the end, so we go right into a flashback this chapter, instead of having an awkward bit at the start in the present.
Thanks to codegal for her beta on this one.
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, Shueisha, etc.
Always One Foot on the Ground
chapter 2
They were the only ones left of the initial group in the bar. The bar itself was still quite lively, but they were the only ones left still drowning their sorrows and drunkenly cursing those who'd gotten them to that point. Kira would probably still have been there had he not stumbled after a weeping Momo; Rukia had drunk dialed Renji, and he had come down to get her before she did the same to her brother, who didn't appreciate such calls.
"You know, Shuu-chan," she said, trying to steadily pour a drink for the man next to her. "I think," she said in a drawn out manner, "that you should stop being so sad about this."
"So I should be happy? I didn't know being betrayed by a mentor could make anyone happy."
They'd all arrived at work for another Thursday morning to see that their building had been besieged by police officers and what looked to be federal agents. The workers and many other onlookers gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the action. Shuuhei had arrived early, as usual, and was standing near Kira when he caught a glimpse of some people coming out of the building. There were three men, each handcuffed and being lead outside by two police officers. They weren't random workers, either. The trio was Sousuke Aizen, the magazine's publisher, Gin Ichimaru, associate publisher, and Kaname Tousen, Shuuhei's direct boss and editor in chief.
What had originally been another ordinary day at work had turned into nothing short of an ordeal. With the magazine's management arrested for charges that had yet to be revealed to anyone, much to the ire of the media, the office was in virtual chaos. By lunch, it was announced that the month's issue was going to be cancelled, though that, however, hadn't put Shuuhei or any of his friends at ease. Momo had been a secretary who worked under Aizen, Kira had been Gin's executive assistant and while Rukia had been an executive in the advertising department, she'd worked closely with all three men and had greatly enjoyed working with them. Rangiku had simply been an office lady who'd only been hired a few months prior, though her relationship with Gin had been the talk of the office ever since her arrival. Their connections to the three men had definitely affected them.
For Shuuhei, Tousen was the reason he'd stayed at the magazine. He'd graduated top of his class at his prestigious college, winning literary awards before he'd even graduated. He had been the buzz of the literary community during those years, and his decision to work at a magazine had come as quite a shock to both fans of his short stories and himself. While in college, Shuuhei had imagined graduating and writing his first novel, but the opportunity to work under Kaname Tousen, whose previous short works and articles he'd enjoyed since he was a teen, was too good to pass up. Maybe it was detrimental to his career, but he'd willingly accept it to work with one of his adolescent idols. After a year, he grew to love the magazine as if it were his as well. As the fiction editor, he enjoying searching out new talent to publish. Now that that had all gone up in smoke, he was left with so many questions, and very few answers.
"Of course being betrayed shouldn't make you happy, but you gotta stop dwelling so much in what's happening right now. It's a shitty thing to have happened, but so what? Moping about it is not going to get you anywhere."
"But that's a hell of a lot easier said than done," he replied, finishing his statement by downing the sake that she had just poured him. She didn't say anything back, just simply looked at him with a grim expression, one that he wasn't quite sure how to interpret. That was the first time that he'd suspected that there was something in Rangiku that she kept locked away.
Realizing the downhearted turn in the conversation, Rangiku quickly smiled and cheerfully poured him another glass of sake. "I thought you said that I should stop being so sad. Sake isn't going to help me be happier; did you miss Momo running out of here in drunken tears?"
"The sake is for a release, not to make you sad. We're going to keep drinking tonight, so you can get it out of your system. Plus, I happened to notice that you were pacing yourself earlier, so you need to catch up so I don't feel like such a lush."
He could feel the slightest bit of a smile creep up on his lips for the first time in almost a week. It was moments like this that had caused him to develop an intense crush on the woman. She probably knew he was hopelessly in love with her, but he didn't care. He'd never met a woman like her and was quite inexperienced at handling his feelings when it came to being in a one-sided situation.
They went through another two bottles of sake apiece, and by that time, they were both hopelessly drunk. Thankfully, as they finished the last bottle, the bartender had made the last call.
"Shuuuuu~~chan," Rangiku said rather loudly. "Time to leave."
He couldn't say that he was exactly fond of the fact that she called him Shuu-chan when she got a little tipsy. Hearing her say it so loudly in a public place certainly felt a little emasculating. It made him feel as if he was just another one of the girls to her, but there wasn't much time to dwell on that. Now the two had to get out of the bar and into a cab, making sure they didn't seem too drunk since most cabbies didn't really like vomit in their car and usually hesitated with picking up drunks.
Shuuhei had stumbled to the door first, holding it open for Rangiku. She walked through quite gracefully, which amazed him, since he figured her being drunk and wearing stilettos would be a disastrous combination. Letting the door go behind him, he felt a pull at his arm as he began to walk on ahead of her, turning to look only to see that she'd linked her arm with his.
"You look like you need help walking straight," she said as she observed his confusion at her gesture. They continued on to the corner, where he tried to hail a cab. Naturally, as a drunken man, he didn't really fare well. It wasn't until she took over, holding her arm out while leaning over with her low cut top that they were successful.
They sat at a stoplight only a few blocks from her place in total silence. In fact, most of the cab ride had been silent. The long night and the silence combined with the soothing movement of the car had caused Rangiku to nod off just slightly. She sighed and let her head rest on Shuuhei's shoulder, which took him by surprise and caused him to tense. To relax, he took a deep breath, only to get a very keen whiff of her perfume. He didn't remember smelling it earlier though the small confines of the cab must have made it easier to pick up.
Being in close proximity to her, he couldn't help but think that she smelled amazing. He gave a wry grin. Way to get yourself even more infatuated.
Rangiku woke when the cab jerked to a stop at a light.
"You'll be okay, Shuu-chan. If I could pick myself up from having to do delivery health, then you'll be okay too," she said, the cadence of her voice quite obvious that she was far from sober, despite her display of good balance walking to and from the cab. Being drunk himself, he didn't quite pick up on what she'd just told him. It wasn't until he was walking back to the waiting cab, trying not to stumble over his feet now that he was on his own, did he grasp the meaning of her words.
Delivery health? Delivery health as in being paid to go to a man's house or a love hotel and pretty much have sex with him? Sure, she was a very well endowed woman and wasn't very shy about it, but that didn't make her that type of woman. At least, she didn't come off as that type to him.
Thankfully, he was drunk enough when he got home that falling asleep wasn't going to be a problem, not to mention, the added fact of being away from Rangiku's somewhat boisterous personality also helped. However, it did somewhat register with him that Monday at work was bound to be awkward. Despite the situation, they'd asked everyone to take the rest of the week off and come back in the new week.
Hopefully she wouldn't remember telling him that.
He usually saw Rangiku around the office quite often as his office was in the path of her usual route from her main office, which she shared with the brigade of other office ladies, to the copy machine. Once they'd gotten to know each other, she often used trips to the copier as an excuse to slip away from her job and all the other women she worked with to talk to him. After awhile, it had become less about her talking, and more about him venting about his job while she listened and sporadically gave advice. Naturally, these trips of hers soon became the highlight if his day.
However, he hadn't seen her pass his office all morning and it was almost lunch time. It was pretty obvious to him that she was avoiding him, which meant that she definitely remembered what she'd told him. The thought of her avoiding him for who knows how long didn't sit well with him, especially now that he had so many questions he wanted to ask. Though he figured he probably wouldn't have the nerve to ask even if he did have the chance to talk to her again. He wasn't even sure of what to say if she confronted him about it.
Lunch passed, (he ate in his office on the off chance that she'd come by), and he went to his afternoon features meeting still without having seen her. After an exhausting meeting, he returned to his office, heaving a sigh of frustration, and hoping that the day would just end so he could go home for a brief respite before starting the cycle over again. As he opened the door, he was shocked to see Rangiku sitting behind his desk.
"Have those old hags been keeping you busy?" he asked, knowing very well that many of the senior office ladies did not like Rangiku and often sent her on silly errands.
"Do you remember what I told you last night when you were walking me to my door?"
Her directness caught him off guard. He debated for a few moments in his head whether or not he should tell her the truth. Maybe it would be better for her to think that he didn't remember than having to talk about something that she was obviously not very proud of.
"Yeah," he replied, his voice cracking ever so slightly. He figured he should be honest with her, even if it could hurt her. "I remember."
"Of course," she said with a dry laugh. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"
"Do you think I'd do that?"
"No," she replied letting out a long breath. "I've never really told anyone, so I think I've been preparing myself for the worst when I did actually tell someone."
"You don't need to worry. I won't tell anyone," he replied plainly.
He never was the best when it came to reading people's expressions, especially when they were clearly trying to mask their emotions, but as he looked at Rangiku, he could have sworn that he saw a bit of relief in her sky blue eyes.
She got up from his chair and went to leave his office, but stopped just short of the door. She turned to him, hesitating to speak.
"And just so you know, I never really wanted to do any of that. When I was younger, I naively got myself into a situation I thought would be a dream. It was just too good to be true, and that's where that got me."
Please, don't let this change your opinion of me.
She couldn't bring herself to say it, nor did she really know why his opinion of her mattered so much to her. It never seemed like it did before, but she found herself walking out of that office, hoping that their friendship wouldn't be hurt or strained.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
