Drabble 3
Characters: Gin Ichimaru and Rangiku Matsumoto
Rating: T (it's hinted though...)
Summary: He left, and he's never coming back. She hates that truth. Flashes of Rangiku's thoughts before/after/during the betrayal.
Genre: Angst, Tragedy and Romance
Daylight- Maroon 5
XXX
It was cold, the pale moonlight not at all warming up Soul Society when Gin came knocking at the door. Rangiku had not known who it was, and given that it was the weekend, and she finally had a break from Toshirou's nagging and had also had quite a bit of sake before returning home, had stomped to the door after getting out unwillingly from bed in nothing but her thin nightdress. "I swear, they do love destroying my sleep," Rangiku had grumbled while she was throwing the door open, not doing her usual reiatsu check. She had frozen upon seeing Gin, who was standing at the door at an impossible hour, his bony hands stuck into the pockets of his captain haori, his usual smile plastered across his face.
"Who disturbs yar sleep?" he inquires slyly, his grin widening even more at her blush. "I didn't mean it that way!" Rangiku protests weakly, tilting to a side and letting him into her house.
"You haven't visited for ages," she comments as he steps in, closing the door behind him. He doesn't say anything, knowing that anything he said would be something she already knew; he was busy, he had work as a captain, etc.
"But I have something for ya," he surprises her instead as he reaches into his haori and carefully brings out a box.
"What's that?" she steps closer, interested, her eyes carefully combing the box then his face.
"Chocolates," he offers with a smile, a real one this time, unlike the ones he usually show in front of others.
"Really?" He knows she is excited when her eyes light up and she tucks her hair behind her hair as she reaches out for the box. He just smiles again, and while she is still examining the box and attempting to tear it open, he distracts her with a kiss. She pouts and pulls away, still trying to open the box (not noticing the tape on the other end of the cover).
"Oh, so the chocolate is more important than me now?" Gin laughs and makes for the door. Rangiku takes about five seconds to notice he is leaving, preoccupied by the chocolate as she is, and by that time he is already at the door, slipping on his shoes with his hand on the doorknob.
"Gin, where're you going?" he hears her cry behind him, and he smirks and is about to open the door when Rangiku catches up to him and wraps her arms around his waist, laying her head on his back and inhaling softly, taking in his unique scent. His hand stills on the knob, just as the both of them knew it would, and turns around with a laugh and takes her into his arms, burying his nose into her hair and breathing in the smell of her strawberry shampoo.
No words are exchanged but the two of them move into her room, holding hands, thinking exactly the same thing.
XXX
He loves everything about her. Her long, silky locks of strawberry blonde hair, her clear laughter, her sweet, affectionate smile, all her little actions; tucking her hair behind her ear when she was excited, lips turning into a pout when slightly annoyed, arms akimbo and scowling when she was angry. Everything. He smiles again lightly, with a hint of sadness, his eyes never once leaving her face. Her fingers were dancing along his stomach, tracing his muscles lightly with her fingertips. He looked skinny on the outside, the haori hanging off his thin body, but he was definitely not skimpy under the haori. Well defined abs, muscular chest and arms (no matter how bony he looked)... She was fascinated at how he pulled it off. She certainly couldn't hide her well-endowed chest, no matter how she tried. She had tried on Gin's haori before, and even though he was taller than her, her breasts still managed to show. Smiling rather absentmindedly, she looks up at him to see his gaze transfixed onto her face, like he was a man dying of thirst and she was the oasis. "Ya know, Ran-chan, I sometimes miss da days in da Rukongai. Do ya?" he asks as his fingers reach for her face and strokes it tenderly, his palm cupping her chin lightly. She is silent for a long moment, and he is worried that she fell asleep, but she replies. "A little..." she sighs, her warm breath travelling across his stomach. He just smiles and continues to stroke her hair, enjoying the current peace and feeling slightly sad. But he puts all other thoughts out of his head and pulls her up next to his shoulder, slipping his arm under her silky locks as she buries her face into his neck.
He does not sleep, even when she drifts off, just watching her the entire night.
XXX
The next morning, reality slapped Rangiku in the face. It was Monday, which meant back to being nagged at by Toshirou, and no more alcohol until the weekend. More importantly, Gin was gone. Gone. Rangiku had woken up to a cold, empty bed, and even though the sheets were pulled over her and the heater was on, she felt cold and lonely all over. Gin never left her in the morning, and her sixth sense told her that something was very wrong.
That sense was confirmed when she got to her office and found Hitsugaya waiting for her. "Taichou. Is there anything wrong?" Rangiku greeted him rather dully, her usual coffee not at all helping to perk her up as it usually did. "We're going to investigate something, Matsumoto-fukutaichou," Hitsugaya informed her shortly, pulling on the strap of his zanpaktou sheath as his turquoise eyes scanned her while she put down her coffee and looked back at him squarely. "Where?"
XXX
After Gin left, Rangiku realized that she hated her job and everything it represented. Why was she here anyway? She asked herself, and came up with an answer almost immediately; It was because of Gin. Gin had entered the Shinigami academy too, and she was just following in his footsteps.
Everything she was doing now, why she was doing it, how she went about doing it, everything that she noticed, all seemed to have a little bit of Gin in them. Hitsugaya and Momo's slightly awkward childhood romance; they were kids too, when they first met. Flashes of pink everywhere reminded her of the pink scarf he had given her. She could barely eat chocolates now, and more often than not she found herself staring at the box of fancy, uneaten chocolates that was his last present to her. The nights were the worst; she couldn't turn over without missing his warmth by her side, couldn't hug her bolster without reminiscing about how he used to hold her, hell, even getting up for a glass of water reminded her of just how empty and cold her house was without his smile, true or false. It was still his smile, after all.
Going to the human world helped, in a way. She didn't have to face the reality of an empty bed as she slept in a sleeping bag on the floor, and eating weird food from Orihime helped her appetite. She was learning, learning to cope with the grief, learning how to act and lie about whether or not she was okay, learning to smile even when she felt like crying. Was this what Gin faced, all the time? She didn't want to learn, she didn't want to cope, she wanted to grieve her loss forever, but she didn't let herself. She moved, inching forward day by day, away from the emotion of sadness and away from the memories that she locked up deep in her heart. Locking it up was painful; she didn't want to, but she did it anyway. Out of her duty to help her taichou, to protect Soul Society, and most importantly to protect herself. She didn't think that she could handle losing him again, but again he turned her world upside down and she tumbled headlong into days of dark gray skies and cold, drizzling nights yet again.
XXX
He was still smiling when he saw her. She'd missed that smile, dreamt of seeing it day and night, but not in these circumstances, not while he was dying. He turned to meet her eyes while she fell to her eyes in front of him, and he must have seen the desperation in her eyes because he shook his head, his thin smile turning into a painful grimace. "Gin..." She sighed. She hadn't wanted any of this, hadn't wanted it to happen, hadn't forseen that the very last time he was with her would be like this.
Kurosaki Ichigo nodded at her and turned back to attack Aizen, and she was finally alone with him. Their last kiss was perfect, in a way. He didn't taste of blood, or death, but he tasted like regular oldGin. The desperate pull of their lips conveyed what they could never have the time and never would be able to say, soft and sweet, and tears escaped from her eyes when she leaned back, taking a shuddering breath. "Don't cry, Ran-chan, Kurosaki will defeat him. I don't like ta see ya cry," he smiled at her and she didn't know whether to kill him or laugh. "It's not that, you idiot!" she settled with that and his smile grew. "Not good ta call a dying man an idiot, Ran-chan," he lectured and she cried even harder, leaning her head against his chest and bloody haori. "Gin, don't... Don't!" she felt his breath still and shot up, holding his face in both of hers, almost screaming in desperation. "Ya know I have ta, Rangiku. Find someone else ta love ya, alright? Ran-chan?" His eyes slid shut properly for the last time and Rangiku's heart caught. "I can't Gin... You know that..." she hiccoughed as the tears came streaming down and she couldn't, wouldn't and didn't stop them. His smile was still there, and he looked as if he could just sit up and start laughing with her anytime, as his eyes were almost shut anyway most times. But she knew he wouldn't, and never would again, no matter how much she cried or begged for him to come back.
XXX
Her face was pale, and she had cried again yesterday night, so much that her bloodshot eyes were attracting more attention than her cleavage, Hitsugaya noticed. Not that he cared about her breasts, but he could see Higasi and Kira casting concerned glances her way during lunch time. I guess there's no helping it, he was her childhood friend and lover after all, he shrugged inwardly and finished up his lunch, getting up to go pay Hinamori a short visit before continuing on his captain duties. She would have to recover from it, just like they all had to. This was war, after all, and as young as he was, he knew that they all had their own wounds, and it was the Gotei 13th's job to cover up their wounds and be strong to protect the rest of their world. They had no time to grieve, simply because they had chosen this road to protect others. You'd better recover quickly, Matsumoto, or I'll have to kick you out of the Gotei 13th myself, he scowled to himself as he left the cafeteria.
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A/N: Ahaha I finally finished it~~~! It was so angsty ;_; or maybe it wasn't at all ._. I'll let you guys be the judge of that, though... Thanks for reading! And don't forget to leave extra requests!