Note: Chapter 2 up! I'm a Swedish girl so English is my second language which means my spellings and grammar maybe are incorrect. But I'm going to do the best I can! This chapter takes place before Rangiku met Gin, but don't worry he will show up soon.
Chapter 2
The first days of the autumn were unusually cold in the north Rukongai. A young Rangiku Matsumoto was running down the streets of the 69th district. It was so early in the morning that even the birds were still asleep. The streets were empty and quite, the only thing she could hear for the moment was her own breathing.
Please say that I'm not late, the girl thought. If she was late the boss would kill her. Rangiku worked for a man who was the owner of a popular inn in the middle of the town. Every morning she had to get up before sunrise and running to the job if she wanted to make it in time. But it was another reason why she did run to the work because after sunrise people was starting to wake up and if they did it would soon be very crowded. But getting to the work was just the easy part; the thing was to get home again. Finally she was there and entered through the doors with a smile on her face. It looked like she was in time after all.
"What are you smiling at? Get to work!" The boss howled at her.
The smile quickly vanished from her face.
"Yes boss", she said and snuck into the kitchen.
"Rangiku, just in time!" the chef said and glanced down at her. "Today you and the other girl, what's her name again? Anyway you two are going to do the dishing. And try to not stand in my way because I have to prepare a whole lot of stuff before the important customers arrives." The female chef was about thirty years and she didn't look bad either, in fact she was kind of pretty.
"When do they arrive?" Rangiku asked curiously.
"About two days from now, now get to work!" The chef could be harsh sometimes but she was actually one of the kindest persons Rangiku had met.
Rangiku and the other girl stood outside the pub side to side. They were dishing yesterday's dish because someone hadn't finished it. Rangiku cursed that person. The girl next to her stopped dishing.
"Oh my, I almost forgot!" The girl said as she took out something from her pocket. "I want you to have this back." She reached out a pink scarf to a very shocked Rangiku. She didn't know what to say. The girl continued. "You forgot this yesterday and I thought I could guard it for you so no one could steal it."
Rangiku merely stared. How could she possible forget that scarf?! It was the most precious thing she had. It was a memory of someone that took cared for her a short period when she was very young. Rangiku barely remembered her but she did remember that the mysterious woman always wore a pink scarf, in fact that scarf Rangiku was wearing was that one. One day the woman didn't come back but before she went she did leave her pink scarf at home. Since that day Rangiku always wore that scarf around her neck until now when she accidentally forget it?! Rangiku gratefully took her scarf and put in on.
"Thank you so much! By the way, what's your name?" She could have fainted of relief. In the 69th Rukongai district you have to hold on to what you have because if you lose it, it won't come back. Somehow, Rangiku was blessed for the moment, she had been given a second chance. She swore that she never would let the scarf out of her sight. Rangiku looked at the brown-haired girl next to her. She must really have a good heart…
"You're welcome and my name is Akiko"
Dishing was one of the most boring works of all. Rangiku hated it and it was almost as cold outside as dishing was boring. Akiko also thought dishing was boring so she decided to start a conversation just to kill time.
"Have you heard about that new criminal gang the Red Bandits? There are a lot of rumors going around about them", she said.
"What gang?" Rangiku said surprised that Akiko suddenly began a conversation, usually Rangiku was the one who have to take the first step. She really began to like this girl.
"The Red bandits. The rumors say that they are robbing and kidnapping people."
"What? Where did you hear this?" Rangiku knew that gossip and rumors was the closest thing to news you could get around here. It was quite usefully to know what was going on in the town, like which gang to look out for.
"Oh, the boss told the chef to watch out for them yesterday" Akiko informed Rangiku.
Rangiku wasn't blind, of course she'd notice how strange the boss acted around the pretty chef like he didn't know what to do and that nervous expression on his face! Rangiku couldn't hold back a giggle.
"And they say that the Red Bandits only come out after twilight when the dark is coming." Akiko said dramatic as she continued. "The boss told her how to recognize a Red bandit. He said that they all wore a red scarf around their arms."
"What did she said then?" Rangiku asked, getting more and more interested.
Akiko smiled. "She said that if she saw a Red Bandit she would kick his ass."
The both girls began to laugh. Rangiku suddenly wondered why she hadn't seen this girl before.
"Are you new here? I've never seen you around here", Rangiku said.
"Me? No, I've actually worked here for some months now" Akiko said and dried the dishcloth. Rangiku had almost forgotten that they were dishing. Times goes quickly when you have fun, she thought.
"What? How could I not meet you before?" Rangiku said obvious confused.
"Uhm, I think it's because I usually take the late work time. I probably starts working when you already have gone home", Akiko explained.
"That's why! But I don't understand why you doing that. I think we both know how dangerous the streets can be, especially for girls like us." Rangiku wondered. She was lucky to not have to work late, as long as she started to work early she didn't need to work late. There had only been a few times when she had been forced to work late. All of those cases she had successfully avoided all kind of people.
"No, not at all. I live with my family just around the corner." Akiko pointed at the opposite direction from the way Rangiku used to come from. Rangiku felt an unwanted sting in her chest. Akiko had a family, she wasn't alone like her.
It was early afternoon and Rangiku should go home. She got a little bag with food in to dinner. But before she could get the chance to step out through the door the owner stopped her. Rangiku almost walked into him. In surprise she took a few steps back.
"Girl, as you might know there's coming some important guests two days from now. So the following two days we need you to work late instead." The boss said strictly.
"W-what?" Rangiku did absolutely not feel to work late, especially after her conversation with Akiko about The red bandits.
"That was no suggestion! The boss pushed her aside and made his way straight.
Next day she went to the pub in the middle of the afternoon. It was so crowded in the streets. People were running around in hurry, screaming children and people who tried to make other people to buy their stuff by yelling. Rangiku was surprised that it was so noisy. Finally, which seemed like forever, she was there. It was harder to work late than early because it was more crowded. After a while she notice that some men started to be drunk. Rangiku tried to stay away from them as good as possible by hiding in the kitchen, not in sight for them.
The time passed by quickly and soon it was dark and the inn was about to close. Akiko and Rangiku finished their by cleaning the tables after all the costumers.
"Looks like we are done here", Akiko said and tried to smile but she was too tired so instead she yawned.
Rangiku was also totally exhausted, she was not used to work late. She grabbed a little bag with food in, to eat next day to breakfast.
"Girls, you should go home and have some good night sleep. Tomorrow the important costumers will arrive so it's going to be very much preparation and hard work", the chef said and started to look the other doors. They were the only one left, all the others had already gone home.
"Yeah, I'll guess you're right. Bye!" Rangiku said and she and Akiko went out in the cold night.
"It's really cold tonight, don't you think?" asked Akiko and shivered.
Rangiku agreed.
"Well, I'm going the other way so I'll see you tomorrow!" Akiko had already began to walk home to her family.
"Bye!" It was a long way home and she was so tired. The blonde-haired girl was fully aware that this wasn't a safe place to be standing on, all alone. Rangiku started to run, trying to keep herself worm. The streets that she usually used to pass every day looked so different in the moonlight. It was empty in the streets, too empty. She was half way home when a sudden movement from the side caught her eyes. It was a man, standing in the shadows with his back against a wall. Rangiku felt his gaze on her and began to run faster. Even though the man was just standing there Rangiku felt every nerve in her body screaming out DANGER! Then the man in the shadow began to walk at her direction. Now she was scared!
"Hey girl!" The man shouted out to her.
Rangiku froze. What would she do? She was just about to ignore him when he just collapsed on the ground.
"Help me…" the man whispered loud enough for Rangiku to hear. Without thinking she immediately turned around to help the man. A moment later she stood in front him and reached out a helping hand. But instead of take her hand he grabbed on to her shoulders. The man was quickly on his feet.
"Are you okay, sir?" Rangiku asked.
The man smiled at her, a dark smile. Rangiku noticed that the man didn't let go of her shoulders.
"Foolish little girl", he said and his grip around her shoulder tighten.
Rangiku was too scared to say anything. The man merely smiled as he pulled her closer to him. The proximity made her feel sick and she felt the man's hands moved from her shoulder down to her waist. There was no doubt what the man was after. He wanted her.
"What a pretty face you have little girl, it seems that I'm lucky tonight." His breath met her face and she could never image that a breath could smell so disgusting that she wanted to throw up. He moved his hands lower in her body again. Rangiku exploded. She couldn't let this happen! She felt something started to burn in her chest. That was nothing she ever had felt before, but she knew. The fire burning in her chest was the fire of pure rage.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" With an incredible strength that she didn't know she had Rangiku broke free from the man's grip. She turned around in order to get away from him as quickly as possible but stopped immediately when she stared at the five men that had surrounded her. And the worst part: they were all Red Bandits.