Attempting a multific after a long hiatus of something like 2 years. A slow start and introduction...and who even reads these..

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1. Will lose 3 kilos by the end of June. (need that pretty bikini for summer)

2. Will stop drinking. (wine doesn't count- it's basically just grape juice)

3. Will stop cutting classes and playing hooky.

4. Will not fall in love again. Ever.

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Chapter 4

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"So wha' excuse is it going ta be this time?" Ichimaru's mouth twitched in amusement.

It had been a week since Rangiku had given Gin his umbrella back and somehow every morning since, he'd just happened to be there to ambush her before class with the same question, to which she replied with varying answers but essentially all were a form of rejection.

Rangiku let out a theatrical sigh, head tipping forward, allowing her hair to curl alluringly around her shoulders and face.

In all honesty, she was flattered that someone had taken an interest in her. She was grateful for the attention. The harmless flirting was doing her some good, the empty days seem to pass faster and she found herself waking up each morning with motivation. Something which she hadn't experienced in a long time. She often sat in class daydreaming about her next response to the inquisitive, teasing fox face. She liked giving him witty replies which he laughed at. She liked the teasing atmosphere they built together over one simple question, it was light hearted and friendly and he genuinely seemed like hearing about what she had to say. She also appreciated the fact that his eyes never flicked down to her voluminous chest, no matter what top she wore, he didn't even so much bat an eyelid. That in itself, told Rangiku a lot about the kind of person Ichimaru was. Rangiku knew that she should cut the teasing and just tell him flat out that she wasn't interested. But somehow, she couldn't summon the words or the courage to tell him each time.

And deep down inside she knew she'd be lying to herself if she said she wasn't interested.

So...tempting.

Rangiku cleared her throat, focusing on the silver head sitting in front of her. She beckoned him with a finger to put his head closer so she could whisper to him.

"Shall I tell you a secret?" She said in a breathless undertone.

He nodded.

"I'm… getting betrothed to some rich prince of some random country overflowing with oil and I'm pregnant with little royal fetuses. Guess I should have told you sooner, right?" She pulled away and let out a hum of fake disappointment, batting her eyelids in an exaggerated manner. "He doesn't like me talking to other men, he's the super jealous and possessive type so you better watch out or you might lose a limb or two."

Ichimaru's face didn't change, his smile ever present.

"I guess I can't win against some prince. But I'm pretty sure tha' an imaginary one ain't much trouble." He winked.

"Excuse you. My prince is real and even if he wasn't, no one could possibly replace the ideal prince." Rangiku suddenly flushed, her words had come out more dismissive than she'd meant them to. But Ichimaru didn't seem to notice or care. On the contrary, he leaned in closer, so close that she feel the flicker of breath tingle her lips… so close that she could see the flecks of dark silver in his irises under heavy lidded eyes. Her breath caught in her breath a little as he parted his mouth,

"I could."

"You're overrating yourself." She barely managed as he sat back.

"If ya have dinner with me tonight, maybe you could find out." Gin countered smoothly, unfazed by her words.

Rangiku just laughed.

"I have to go." She stood up to leave, bag in hand. Neither replying or denying Gin's statement.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll make ya say yes." Ichimaru called out after her retreating form, watching her as she pushed the door open.

The strawberry blonde paused, she couldn't help it.

"Really now, I'd like to see you try."

"I'll get a proper answer out of ya tomorrow, you won't be able to escape like ya always do."

"What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday, sweetheart. Can't claim class as an excuse to run off and leave me hangin'." Gin informed her, his gaze intensifying.

Damn, he was right.

"We'll see about that." Rangiku walked out the door and daringly blew him a playful kiss through the window before running to catch her bus, heart racing and looking positively like the Cheshire Cat as she managed to board the bus just before it left without her.

"...Matsumoto. Matsumoto, are you even listening to me?"

"What?"

Toshiro sighed gustily, and pushed a lock of white hair from his face.

"I said, for the fifth time, have you done the homework for class?"

Rangiku's heart dropped and her face paled slightly. Trust Toshiro to bring her out of her happy mood with the topic of school work. She bent down and rummaged through her bag, hoping that by some magical force of nature that she'd done the homework without knowing and had placed it in her bag. But after thoroughly flipping through each folder, shaking out each notebook, she had to admit defeat and turn to the white head who had an exceptionally knowing look etched on his face.

Organising her features into look of pure submissiveness, she prepared to beg in her sweetest voice.

Toshiro held up a hand, the other waving a sheet of A4 with numbers written on it in neat handwriting.

"Please?" She wheedled.

"I seem to remember you telling me that you'd complete every single piece of homework for this class, after the New Year?" Toshiro held the paper out of reach as he watched Rangiku's hand inch towards the thing that would help her pass stats once and for all.

"I was drunk and it's just one slip up this term." She grumbled as she nearly fell off her chair in her effort to yank the piece of paper which was just out of reach due to the fact that Toshiro was leaning back as far as physics allowed him to without toppling over.

"You were actually very sober and once you get into your lazy habits you never grow out of them." He corrected her, but he relented and grudgingly slid the paper across the desk to which she seized eagerly and began copying down his answers.

"There's no point in just copying down the answers. You have to understand the formula and how each equation works, that's how you learn. Otherwise that's just a bunch of useless numbers." Toshiro lectured, watching Rangiku hastily copy down his work in her trademark loopy handwriting.

"Yeah, but they're all correct aren't they?" She looked up for a brief second.

"That's not the point!" He hissed as the professor walked into the room and began to start the class.

Rangiku promised that she'd pay more attention in class as one of her New Year's Resolutions, but how could she even possible try to concentrate when all she could think about was how she would refuse a certain fox-face tomorrow. Her heartbeat increased as she relived the memory of the way he'd leant in close to her face, they had been so close that it wouldn't have been hard to seal the small distance between them with their mouths. She could practically feel the light puffs of air that ghosted across her lips and cheeks as he whispered how he was better than the man of her dreams.

On one hand her brain scoffed at the idea, Gin was being cheesy as fuck and no one could achieve perfection. No one could possibly be the ideal man but at the same time she hoped that he was. She wondered if he was. She wanted to see if he was. Too bad her heart was still feeling the aftershocks of what it was like to be used and abused.

Would she really be able to refuse him tomorrow with thoughts like these running rampant in her head?

She lay her head in the cradle of her arms.

"Poke me and I'll end you." She murmured through the corner of her mouth.

"Who said I was going to poke you anyway?" Toshiro said waspishly, prodding her with the end of his pencil anyway. She swatted his away hand half-heartedly and let out an involuntary sigh.

"That's the fourteenth sigh since class began."

"You counted?"

"Well it's hard not to when it sounds like Kansas 2.0 over here...Did anything happen?"

"No...not really." Not yet, she corrected herself in her head. It would all depend on tomorrow wouldn't it?

Toshiro raised a skeptical eyebrow, wondering whether to pursue the subject or not. He could tell by her pink cheeks and bright eyes, not to mention the amount of sighs she'd been emitting since she sat down that there was definitely a man involved in Rangiku's life right now. He wasn't the exactly the kind of guy who liked talking about love and relationships, but he grudgingly made allowances for close friends. He decided not to ask until she mentioned anything.

"If you say so."

"So what do you think I should do?" Rangiku wailed as she tore into some warm bread, licking the garlic and italian parsley off her fingers.

Nanao pushed her glasses up on her nose and contemplated her answer before replying.

They were both sitting cross legged on the floor leaning against the sofa, watching a nature documentary whilst eating pizza and garlic bread. Toshiro and Momo couldn't come over tonight because they had already made plans to watch a film at the local cinema together, but that was fine- the only person Rangiku wanted to confide into was Nanao who was the only person who knew what was happening between Rangiku and her silver haired stranger. She could always count on Nanao to give her a level headed answer.

By this point in time, she already knew what her answer would be, but she needed reassurance. She needed another opinion to help her justify her actions. She was only human, she was allowed to make mistakes right?

"Well," Nanao took a bite of the pizza slice that she had folded in half to avoid cheese drippage. "To be honest, I think you should think about this more carefully. You only just met the guy and Rangiku, you've never dated a stranger before. From past experiences, you only dated people who you became friends with first. I mean," she took another bite and swallowed, "I'm not saying you shouldn't date this man, you seem happier lately and you've actually done your share of the chores. I just don't want you to be hurt again from something that you could have prevented."

Rangiku stared at the slice of pizza in her hands. She couldn't help the disappoint that welled up in her at her friend's answer. It wasn't the answer she'd really been looking for. But perhaps Nanao was right, maybe it was too soon to be moving on to a new person. She wasn't sure that she could handle the overwhelming disappoint and regret after yet another painful mistake. Mistakes that she really ought to learn from.

"On the other hand, I suppose there's no harm in just seeing what one date is like. At least you can cut things short before you get into some really hot water. And I highly doubt you were actually going to stay away from him, even if I said anything." Nanao said bluntly. "I promise not to say 'I told you so' if anything happens."

Rangiku giggled at the latter part of her statement, she turned to Nanao but she was already engrossed in the film on the television, chewing through her pizza slice systematically.

She knew she wouldn't be able to stay away from him either. There was just something about Gin that drew her to him.

I guess one date can't hurt, right?

TBC