September
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
10th of September
It was the same every year. Sometime during the night of the 9th of September, his captain would disappear. Now while Ichimaru Gin disappeared quite often, the only one of his disappearances that was predictable was his disappearance on the 9th. It was also the only time Kira knew where he was going. According to Hinamori, exactly at midnight Ichimaru would show up at Aizen's room. The men never exchanged any words beyond Aizen wishing Ichimaru happy birthday on the few occasions that Hinamori also happen to be there, helping her captain complete some report or simply wanting to be near the captain she so adored. Aizen would then give Ichimaru his present. Usually some sort of complex mechanical puzzle that Ichimaru would promptly solve before leaving with an amused grin, with Aizen smiling after him. The joke the two men had shared was always lost on Hinamori, which made her jealous to no end and probably went a long way towards explaining why she disliked Ichimaru so much.
Ichimaru's next destination was squad 10 and the room of Matsumoto Rangiku. Kira could never know for sure what they got upto behind closed doors, but he could guess. The 10th and 29th of September were two days that Matsumoto never turned up for work, whether she had managed to get a day off or not. Hitsugaya gave up trying to force her to be at work on those two days within a few years of assuming his captaincy. Hitsugaya was aware that the 29th was Matsumoto's birthday, but boy genius though he was, he had no idea why Rangiku took the 10th off as well. He was also unaware of the exact nature of Ichimaru and Matsumoto's relationship. Indeed as were most people beyond Matsumoto's immediate group of friends. But than, Kira suppose, you did have to really look to see the subtle signs that were so obvious to him and Hitsugaya didn't care one way or the other what Matsumoto did behind closed doors as long as it wasn't effecting her work or her general well-being. Besides, he really was too young to notice romantic entanglements.
Kira smiled to himself as he left his own carefully wrapped present for his captain on his desk. It was a book that Ichimaru had mentioned wanting to read in passing. Kira hoped this captain was still interested in reading it, he hoped his captain would like it whenever his captain got around to looking at it. Probably not before the 11th. But Kira also hoped that Ichimaru didn't like his present so much that he decided to take the 11th off as well, just to read it. Knowing Ichimaru, that was a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, they had a mountain of paperwork to do and some of them could only be done by Ichimaru.
He growled in contentment as he nuzzled her big, soft breasts. They were so warm and nice. He would be so content to spend the rest of his life just like this. She let out a soft moan, as he stuck out a pink tongue and licked her, just a little. But then his fun was brought to an abrupt end when long, pale, bony fingers wrapped themselves around his neck and he was unceremoniously hurled against the wall, "Get away from 'er Shinsou! Ya perverted kitsune!" Gin forced out between clenched teeth. Trying very hard not to wake Rangiku.
"Kiss my nine silver tails, Gin!" countered Shinsou, "I was having such a great morning till you woke up!"
Gin instinctively pulled Rangiku closer to him and pulled up the sheets to cover her up, "Go aw'y, Shinsou! Or I swear I'll take ya to captain twelve and get 'em ta neuter ya."
Shinsou growled but left the material world nonetheless. Like all Zanpakuto, Shinsou was terribly afraid of Captain Kurotsuchi, who was known for doing horrible things to Zanpakutos, all in the name of "improving them" or "repairing them". Shinsou had no intention of ending up in the hands of Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
After Shinsou left, Gin lay back down and buried his head in her hair. She smelt so nice, like chrysanthemums in full bloom. He kissed her gently behind the ears. "Hmmm... Gin...." she whispered. Good, she was waking up, "Happy Birthday," she said as she turned in his arms to face him.
Gin grinned, "Do I ge' more of my present now..." wondered Gin as he softly kissed her.
"I am not your present, Gin. I have booked a day for us at the Shinigami's Health Land in their new 'couple's area'. We get to have a hot spring all to ourselves and we get to have messages, pedicures, manicures and facials! And we are staying over tonight! You'll feel like a whole new person tomorrow!"
"Bu' tha' would mean we have ta get out of bed now, Rangiku!" complained Gin.
"Gin!" cried Rangiku half amused, half exasperated, "I promise, you won't regret getting out of bed today or getting into bed tonight..." she added as a wicked grin played on her lips. That decided the matter. Gin was out of bed in record time and very soon the two of them were on their way to Shinigami's Health Land. Matsumoto, however, was more than a little surprised when she noticed Gin had left Shinsou in her room, "Gin, aren't you going to bring Shinsou?"
"Ya think we have ta fight hollows or someth'n in the Health Land, Rangiku," asked Gin, his voice laced with amusement.
"No, I mean, it's pretty rare for you to be without your zanpakuto," Rangiku pointed out.
"Yeah, well, that perverted kitsune need's ta learn not ta lick things that it ain't suppose ta lick," murmured Gin.
"What was that?"
"Noth'n, I'll send a message ta Izuru ta pick-up Shinsou later today and drop him of ta captain twelve. I want 'em ta give Shinsou a through check-up," said Gin with a grin more mischievous than before.
"Something wrong with Shinsou?" wondered Rangiku. The zanpakuto of a shinigami is his spirit. If it is damaged in someway or not working as it should, than it is a serious problem for the shinigami. The usual remedy is for the shinigami to commune with the zanpakuto and wait for it to fix itself. Unless of course the Shinigami was in a hurry. In the latter case Captain Kurotsuchi was the person to go to. Who, among his many zanpakuto related services, also offered sex change operations.
"Nay, just want 'em poked and prodded fer awhile," replied Gin with a decidedly nasty smirk. Rangiku decided to drop the subject.
Matsumoto Rangiku was not someone who was normally hounded by the black dog of depression. But lately, lately she had started exhibiting all the signs of serious depression. For one, she found herself in tears for no apparent reason. Had lost all interest in anything and everything and increasingly found herself unable to muster a happy thought, let alone a smile. Only time she really felt happy was when she was with Gin. When he was holding her like he was now, nuzzling his face into her ample bosoms. Just cuddling her. Gin liked to cuddle and she liked him to cuddle. It was in their first winter together, when they found themselves huddling together for warmth, that they realized how much they liked just holding each other close. Rangiku was more than a little distressed when her breasts first started growing past the bounds of rationality. She didn't like how the men leered at her or how the women assumed things about her because of them. What had really reconciled her to her breasts and gotten her so comfortable in her own skin was how delighted Gin was at the increased cuddle potential of her body. He didn't leer, he didn't assume things, he was just happy to have, "The softest pillows in the whol' world all ta myself." She loved him. She loved him so much that it hurt.
Indeed, it was hurting her. She couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't be with him knowing that they didn't have a future. All they had was the past and the present. It was one day at a time, always one day at a time and she couldn't deal with it anymore. She wanted some sort of stability. Some glimmer that he was going to be in her future. She wanted a commitment. Only fools believed marriage somehow symbolized love. Within the confines of Seireitei nobles where always marrying each other to increase their power, to improve their rank and many other reasons that had nothing to do with love. However, marriage did symbolize a desire to face the future together and that is what she wanted from Gin now. She wanted him to give her some sign that the future he had planned for himself included her. But deep down inside she knew it did not. She just knew and that alone depressed her to no end.
"What's wrong," wondered Gin, as he planted a soft kiss on her cheeks, "Why ya cry'n Rangiku?"
"Nothing," she lied, "Nothing at all! I have just been so tired and worn out lately. It just feels great to finally get a chance to relax," she grinned, "I know this is your birthday present but I think I needed this day more than you!"
"Don' be so sure," replied Gin, feeling too lazy to do anything but accept her answer at face value, "Ya not the only one who has ta do mountains and mountains of tedious paperwork."
Matsumoto grinned, "As if you do paperwork!"
"Ya would be surprised at how dutiful a cap'n I am."
"O I would be," agreed Rangiku, "I really would be," she said as she kissed him. Today was not the day to think about herself or put into action the desperate plan for some semblance of peace she had been thinking up. Today was his day and she wasn't going to ruin it for him.
Author's note: For those who don't know. Gin's birthday is on 10th of September and Rangiku's birthday is on the 29th, which isn't really the date of her "birth" more the date she and Gin met. So I figured September is probably an important month for the two of them.
Also, I know Shinsou is probably a sadistic zanpakuto spirit like Blissful-Web portrayed him in Escape the Storm but I really wanted to use the line "Kiss my nine silver tails". Hey at least I didn't use the line "I don't care if you die Gin. All I care about is being within cuddle distance of Haineko! In fact, you dying would probably help me with that one. Because than Ran-chan will be all upset and keep me with her as a momento of your worthless ass! Hmm...." And yes, it should be possible for a zanpakuto spirits to persist after the death of the original shinigami. Because Tosen's zanpakuto isn't "his" but the zanpakuto of the girl he loved and that he took from her coffin before she was buried. Reviews provide encouragement and inspirations!
