Chapter 4
Slowly but steady she begun to pull herself up, feeling her heart beat fast and hard. She glanced at the men that stared back with wide eyes full of fear. They couldn't believe what they saw. A few moments ago she had been weak and completely helpless and a second later the leader had suddenly taken a few steps back. The wind was blowing, consuming her like an aura around her. But it wasn't just the wind that was blowing around her, the ash from the fire swirled around her as well, like it was alive. From nowhere they were hit by an invisible force. It was like a heavy pressure upon them forcing them down on their knees. It took their breath away and they couldn't fight it in any way. With an extremely strength she took off and ran towards them. All the Red bandits froze, as she came closer the pressure increased. But the girl didn't stop to take revenge for all they had done to her, instead in a flash she ran pass them like they weren't existed. The brief second she passed them her eyes met the man's. Then she was out of sight and the pressure did disappear. In relief they all fell into black unconsciousness.
Rangiku didn't know how long she had run. Hours? Minutes? It didn't matter. The only thing she know was that she was on the road, running so far away from her hometown as possible. No, it wasn't her home anymore. Though, it was frost on the ground and her clothes was dirty and worn out which left more of her skin uncovered, she didn't freeze. She kept on going. Slowly she could feel the unknown power fade away. A part of her was glad it was gone. Another part was graceful. Whatever it was, it had saved her.
It was almost dawn when she collapsed on the ground of exhaustion. She manage to roll over so she had her back against the ground. All her strength and energy was long gone. She glanced up at the sky, wishing she could go back in time. The sun was about to rise and still it was so cold in the air. Rangiku could barely feel her fingertips. She was so cold…so hungry…and so alone…
When she was at the edge of starvation and certain her life would end a shadow fell over her. A boy leaned over her. The first thing Rangiku noticed about the boy was his silver hair. She had never seen a hair color like that. The boy smiled and reached out a piece of some kind of dried fruit.
"Eat", he said with a kind voice. "The fact that you collapsed of hunger means you have it, powers?"
Rangiku merely blinked. She couldn't move her body. Though her throat felt dry as a desert she somehow manage to form her lips into two words.
"You too?" she whispered.
"Yeah, me too", he kept smiling. Never before in her life had someone smiled to her like he did. It made her feel warm inside. "Ichimaru Gin, nice to meet ya."
Rangiku's sight began to become blurry as all the shadows and forms melted together. She knew it was a bad sign. The silver-haired boy was still smiling.
"Ichimaru Gin?" she frowned slightly. "What a wired name…" Her eyelids felt so heavy so she simply closed them. And so everything became black.
When Rangiku woke up she found herself lying in a soft bed in a cold room. In a half second, she sat upright so she could get a better view over her surroundings. She was in a little house with only one room, quite similar to the house she used to live in. By now her house and everything in it had become ash. She didn't want to think about it. What had really happened? She shivered and wrapped the blankets tighter around herself. The walls was made of wood so no wonder why it was so cold. She could hear the rain clatter against the roof. She was glad the roof was waterproof.
"Feeling any better?" the voice came from the darkest part of the room, furthest away from the small window.
Rangiku almost jumped out of the bed in surprise. She tensed and instinctively prepared herself. Wait, didn't she recognize that voice?
"You're the boy from yesterday!" she exclaimed and pointed a finger towards him. He stepped out in the middle of the room. She could see him clearly now. His silver hair covered the most of his forehead and his eyes. So she couldn't really see his eyes. He was smiling like he did yesterday. He was very pale but she thought he was kind of cute. She put her pointing finger down and smiled carefully. Who exactly was he?
"I'm fine, I'll guess. I'm slept quite long, didn't I? So where are we?" She wanted to ask him a million questions but she knew it wasn't the right time.
The boy settled down on the bedside. He made sure to keep a comfortable distance between them.
"We're in my house", he said simply.
"Wait, how did I get here?"
"You were unconscious so I carried ya home to me." He said and Rangiku thought he looked a little amused. "I'm a lot stronger than I look like", he added when he saw Rangiku's disbelieving expression. "Ain't ya hungry?"
Rangiku hadn't thought about it until now when her stomach gave out a large protest. Gin probably heard the sound because he laughed friendly at her.
"I'll guess I am hungry", she said a little embarrassed.
The boy gave her the same kind of fruit she had been offered yesterday.
"Thanks!" she said and took a bite of the dried fruit he had given to her. It actually tasted good.
"What's your name?" Gin suddenly asked.
"Rangiku Matsumoto," she said and smiled. "Can I call you Gin?"
"Of course, I can call you Rangiku?"
"Yes, where are you going?" She saw him open the door. The rain was pouring down outside.
"I'm going to fetch some wood so we can warm this house up. Stay here, I'll be back soon." With those words he closed the door behind him and left Rangiku. Though she was alone in the house she could feel the empty hole in her heart was beginning to heal.
"Thank you…Gin."
A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update! I've been sooooooooo busy with school. Fortunately, it is only three weeks to the "autumn break" (we in Sweden have a one week break from school in the middle of the autumn.) Don't forgett to review! :DDD
