A/N: Hello thar! :) I want to thank everyone for sending me the reviews! Glad to see everyone so eager to see the next chapter; that just tells me that you guys are liking the fanfic! :D Anyway, here's the fourth chapter and well hopefully you all like it! I enjoyed writing it ha ha Alright enjoy you guys!
-Sephire
Song inspiration for the chapter: 'Shot for Me' by Drake (I swear this'll be the last Drake song! I just love his music and I think it fits Gin's conflicted feelings for Rangiku. But this'll be the last one, I promise!)
"Shot for Me" - Drake
I can see it in your eyes: you're angry
Regret got shit on what you're feeling now
Mad cause he ain't like me
Oh you mad cause nobody ever did it like me
All the care I would take,
All the love that we made
Now you're trying to find somebody to replace what I gave to you
It's a shame you didn't keep it: Alicia, Katia
I know that you gon' hear this: I'm the man
Yeah I said it!
Bitch I'm the man
Don't you forget it
The way you walk – that's me
The way you talk – that's me
The way you've got your hair up: did you forget that's me?
And the voice in your speaker right now – that's me (that's me)
And the voice in your ear – that's me
Can't you see that I made it? Yeah I made it
First I made you who you are, then I made it
And you're wasted with your ladies
Yeah I'm the reason why you always getting faded
Take a shot for me, oh oh oh oh
Take a shot for me, oh oh oh oh
Take a shot for me
A shot for me oooooo
A shot for me oooo..
Gin wasn't sure what he had to do. He didn't want to leave her side, yet he knew that if he stayed anywhere near Rangiku, he would cause her more pain. He wanted to heal it all; all of the pain that he's caused her.
His hand was lightly placed on Rangiku's naked shoulder, until he felt her furiously turn around, removing his touch from her skin, "How many times do I have to tell you to not fucking touch me?!" She didn't want to look at him, yet her icy blue-grey eyes didn't want to pull away from his handsome sharp features.
Her tears had finally dried off, but you could still see the sadness in her eyes. Gin scooted closer to her, "… Ran, ya need 'ta let…"
"Gin Ichimaru, I must say that you're a tough man to find."
Rangiku and Gin's attention was taken by a tall well-dressed man. Gin plastered his wide smile, as he focused his slitted eyes on the gentleman, "Ah, Aizen-san. I gotta say it's a pleasure seein' ya here." Aizen shook Ichimaru's hand, yet Aizen kept his chestnut brown eyes on Rangiku.
'He looks familiar.' She thought.
The brown haired man gracefully walked up to the strawberry blonde woman, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. I assume that you might be President Ichimaru's date, yes?"
Rangiku observed him from head to toe. His hair looked silky and slicked back, leaving thick strands of hair hanging in front of his forehead. He seemed pretty well-built, and he had the most beautiful deep brown eyes she's ever seen. He was definitely the tall, dark, and handsome type.
She then realized what he had said to her, giving Gin a disgusted face, "Actually no." She crossed her arms, as her eyes looked back at Aizen, "I'm the Vice President of the 3rd Division Inc."
The brown haired man faintly smiled, "My mistake, Miss. Well then you must've come in here with a date. I'm sure a woman as beautiful as you would have many options."
She smiled back at him, "You're very sweet, but no, I came here alone."
Without leaving his sight of Rangiku, he gently placed a kiss at the back of her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sōsuke Aizen, President of the 5th Division Inc."
The way he would stare at her made her blush faintly. He had these pair of brown eyes that felt so heartwarming, yet seductive, "I'm Rangiku Matsumoto."
"…Rangiku…" He just gazed at her, as he thought, "Wait a second, I believe we have met before, well not met, but I certainly know who you are."
Rangiku then gave him a confused look, "We have?"
Gin had rudely interrupted their conversation as he took Rangiku's wrist, "Ran, may I speak with ya fer a moment?"
Rangiku tried to let go of his grip, giving him a small fake smile, "I'm sure that it can wait."
"Please Rangiku, we can talk some other time." He reached into the interior part of his suit, revealing a small business card, "Here's my card. I would love to get to know you."
She smiled back at him, as she annoyingly walked with her childhood friend. Once they had both reached near the corner of a wall, Rangiku placed her hands on her hips, just waiting for Gin to speak up, "…Well?! What did you want to tell me? I'm guessing that it's something very important since you rudely interrupted my conversation with Sōsuke."
He shoved his hands inside the pockets of his slacks, "It ain't such a good idea 'ta become best buddies with Sōsuke-san." He smiled at her, as his thin gray eyebrows lowered.
"What makes you think that I just want to become friends with Sōsuke-san?" She analyzed his reaction.
His smile grew wickedly, letting out a small laugh while he fairly lifted up his pointy chin, "I forgot how funny ya were, Ran. That ain't happenin'."
She unconsciously crossed her arms, "…What. You didn't like the flirty conversation?"
He didn't know how to answer her question, "…He ain't tha person ya think he is. I'm just try'na look out fer ya."
She frowned, "Stop treating me like if we still have something going on. Those days are over, Gin. I happen to like Aizen-san… I happen to like him a lot." She turned around, until her head tilted to the side, eyeing the silver haired man, "I don't want you to interfere in my life. Unfortunately, I only see you as a simple coworker; not as the good friends that we used to be." She could certainly feel a small knot clogged in her throat, realizing those last few words that swayed out of her lips.
She had finally left him all alone. His smile was still wide and thin as his eyes were still unseen. He had the same poker face mask, but it seemed like she stabbed him right in his chest with those last few sentences. He couldn't believe that she was ready to let go of him, after so many years of their friendship and love. It hit him hard after she left him in that cornered wall; she was trying to forget the terrified past. When Sōsuke was flirting with Rangiku, he could feel the blood in his veins boil. Was it jealousy? Of course it was; he wasn't afraid to admit it.
But Gin knew that his jealousy would never let his instant actions kick in. He was able to control himself pretty well.
He just couldn't imagine his loved one in the arms of another man. But his love for Rangiku is so strong that he was willing to let her live her life. He was willing to let her go and let her fall in love with someone else, even though it would destroy Gin in so many ways.
His thoughts were soon interrupted as he felt a long arm dangle on his neck, "Hello Ichimaru-san!"
"Uh… Kyōraku-san?! How are ya?"
He didn't really answer his question, "…Want some sake?" He brought up the bottle of alcohol up to Gin's face. He could feel the strong alcohol scent in Shunsui's breath.
"No thanks… I already drank 'nough sake fer t'night." He always found it funny how Shunsui would always be the first person to get drunk when it came to these kinds of events. But he was never a wild drunkee; he was always friendly and calm, yet lazy to even walk.
"Kyōraku-san!" An uptight dark haired woman with clear glasses walked up to the brown haired drunk man.
"Ah there's my sweet Nanao-chan." He said adoringly.
She gently grabbed Shunsui's other freed arm, as she looked at Gin, "My deepest apologies, Ichimaru-san. I told him to lay off on the drinking."
The corner of his lips curved, as he waved his hand, "Nothin' 'ta worry about. Shunsui-san's just havin' a lil' fun."
2:09 A.M. - Guastavino's
Rangiku lightly pushed Izuru's shoulder, as she began to chug down the rest of the sake that was in the bottle. They both began to laugh hysterically, "This party was a fucking mess for me." She began to laugh out loud again.
"Remember when I told you that I wasn't going to drink much?" She leaned closer to the drunken blonde man's ear, as she whispered loudly, "It was complete bullshit."
"Izuru? Rangiku?" They both looked up, seeing the familiar tall lanky man.
The red headed girl giggled, dropping the sake bottle on the ground, "What're you staring at?"
"Yer clearly drunk and a mess. Ya need 'ta go home, Ran and so do ya, Izuru-kun. Tha party's over." He exposed his trademark smile.
"Stop being such an asshole and join the party, Gin!" She gets up and hands him a full bottle of sake. Without even a second thought, he sets the bottle on the nearest table.
"Yer goin' home, Ran. Like I said, tha party's over!" She definitely looked tipsy. She looked worse than Izuru. If he had to guess, the drunken duo had probably taken about 6 bottles of sake together. Gin's head shifted towards the younger blonde man, "Izuru, I'll ask someone 'ta take ya home. I'm takin' Ran with me."
Rangiku's eyes darted at Gin, "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"Ya ain't drivin' home." Almost everyone was gone. Gins scanned the area, hoping that someone would miraculously pop up and help him out with Izuru. If not, that meant that he had to carry two drunkees at the same time. He then spotted a young dark haired, green eyed girl, picking up her belongings. It seemed like Nemu Kurotsuchi was the only person that was in the building, "Kurotsuchi-chan, ya think ya can take Kira-kun home? I kinda have my hands full." He pointed at the buzzed light red head.
Rangiku looked at Gin with offended eyes, "I am not drunk!" She then started to giggle out loud once more.
The black haired woman walked up to the group, "Of course, Ichimaru-san."
2:26 A.M. Gin's Place
He practically had to drag Rangiku with him to the car. This had brought back many memories when they were in school together. Not one of the most pleasant ones, but he definitely loved them.
"I thought you said you were gonna take me home. This looks nothing like my penthouse." A light hiccup that came out of her mouth made her easily giggle like a little girl, "I'm not staying here, Gin. I wanna go home!" She then gave him a maddened scowl.
"Yer stayin' here fer t'night, Ran. I dunno were ya live." He really had no idea where she lived. He wasn't just going to leave her at Guastavino's, knowing that she was completely drunk. He gave her a smile, finding cute how she would behave when she would drink. She would become this clumsy little girl who would laugh at anything she would say.
Gin lightly pushed Rangiku towards the hall of bedrooms, as he guides her towards one of the guest rooms. It was a pretty spacious room and it had everything that you really needed in a luxury room: a comfortable king sized bed, a walk in closet, and a personal bathroom.
"Here's yer bag. I found it in yer car; luckily there's extra clothes in there fer ya!" Gin placed on the cushioned bed, "I doubt that ya would wanna sleep in a dress."
Gin then began to walk towards the front bedroom door, until he heard the red head's soft voice, "Where you going?"
"I ain't sleepin' in these clothes." He flashed his smile at her, as he pointed at his formal grey suit.
2:50 A.M. Guest Room
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The purple-silvered haired man's head popped inside the guest room, as his thin eyes searched for his childhood friend, "Ran? Did ya change already?"
He then saw her come out of the bathroom more drunk than when she was at the dinner party. Her eyes were sort of droopy and she undoubtedly looked drowsy. Gin walked in the room spotting a small sake bottle on her left hand. 'How the hell did she sneak that in here?'
"Ah! Gin! Look, I changed already!" Rangiku had this cotton fabricated red shorts and a loose v neck grey shirt on. She started to giggle one more time, trying her best to walk towards the tall shaggy haired man. It looked like her long legs were getting wobbly and weakened.
"Whoa!" Gin caught her in his arms, before she would hit her pretty little face hard in the floor. Her arms instantly encircled his long neck, as she tried to stand properly on her two feet.
"Go 'ta sleep, Ran. I don't want ya drinkin' anymore. T'morrow mornin' ain't gonna be too pretty." He looked down at her as he widely grinned. Part of him didn't like seeing his Ran drinking so much, but he couldn't help but find her amusing when she would get wasted. She would be this fierce, independent woman, but Rangiku was a bit different when drunk. She would become feeble and needed, which made Gin hold on to her more than ever.
She crossed her arms as she found it difficult to walk towards the bed. It was a challenge but she made it to the mattress, "I'm not drunk, okay? I swear I'm fine."
Gin began to take a few steps towards the slightly opened door as he turned off the bedroom light, " 'Night, Ran." He said lowly.
The Next Morning - 9:50 A.M.
Her eyes felt puffy and swollen; Rangiku found it hard to fully open her eyes. She instantly knew that she had a hangover, just by feeling the massive pounding in her head.
"Ugh…" She sat up, as she lightly moaned with ache, "What the hell happened last night?" Her index fingers began to rub her temples, wanting to ease the headache. It was not working at all for her.
Her eyes were then shot wide opened, as her head went from left to right. She couldn't recognize where she was at, "How the hell did I end up here?" She said quietly.
Last thing Rangiku remembered was having an unpleasant conversation with Gin and found Izuru talking to his colleagues. They both started drinking heavily; then everything was a blur, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid, Rangiku!" She clung her head, still feeling pretty lousy.
"Hold on…" She gasped loudly, "I don't remember ever changing into these clothes!" She looked at the corner of the bed, spotting her faint gold dress. 'I couldn't have had a night stand…' She thought. Rangiku was really confused; she wasn't in her penthouse, she didn't have these clothes on before she completely got drunk, she had no idea if she had a night stand with some stranger.
The light red head girl took a deep breath, "Calm down, Rangiku. I mean what's the worst that can happen?" She then placed her hand against her head, remembering the enormous headache that had woken her up. The slender sober girl slowly walked towards the bedroom door, as she slowly opened it. Rangiku prayed that no one was home; she knew that things would undeniably get awkward.
It seemed pretty quiet, so she confidently opened the door, "Looks like no one's here." She let out the extra air that was stored in her mouth, "Alright, I'm just gonna find my way out and leave this damn place."
She tip toed her way down the hall and made her way downstairs, "Ah looks like sleepin' beauty has finally woken up!"
'This has got to be a fucking nightmare.' Her head moved towards the other side of the house, following that familiar voice. There he was; sitting on a chair, resting his head on his palm. His long closed eyes absorbed Rangiku's every move, " 'Morinin' Ran-chan!" He smirked, while he playfully waved at her with his freed hand.
He was already dressed in his dark colored slacks with a long sleeved light blue business shirt. His long pale forearms were exposed, seeing how he had rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows. The first few buttons were undone, revealing a small section of his bare chest.
She calmly walked towards him, as she placed her hands on her hips, "Care to explain how the fuck I ended up here?"
"Guess ya don't remember a thing. What is there 'ta explain, Ran-chan? Ya got drunk and ended up in my place."
"Yeah well where's everything?! Where's my car?!" She then stretched out the grey v neck shirt that she had on, "And how the hell did I end up with my spare clothes?!"
"Relax! I had one of my men drop yer car off at tha 3rd Division valet parkin'. And yer clothes, well I found 'em in yer trunk."
Rangiku was getting impatient. She didn't have time to play his little question and answer games, "Stop acting like if nothing happened last night. How did I end up in these clothes?"
Gin knew what she was trying to ask; all he could do was smirk at the thought of having drunken sex with her, "…Nothin' happened last night."
"Stop lying! You obviously saw how drunk and vulnerable I was, so y-you…" She didn't want to finish the sentence. That was until Gin spoke up.
"...What? Had sex with ya?" He got up from his chair, standing in front of his best friend, "I ain't like that, Ran." His head then got closer to her, as his mouth was placed near her ear. Rangiku lightly gasped, realizing how quick he had gotten to her, "Unless ya wanted 'ta have sex, I wouldn't mind doin' it with ya right now." He gently whispered.
Her heart began to pound faster, feeling Gin's warm breath caressing her ear, "You're sick…" She lightly shivered.
Gin pulled back, loving how he could easily tease her and he knew that she wouldn't do anything about it. They both fell into the silence for a few seconds until Rangiku broke the quietness, "…So, you didn't see anything while I was changing…did you?"
"Nah…ya were just unhookin' yer bra…" Rangiku widened her blue eyes. It looked like she was about to punch the shaggy haired man. He raised his hands up, making his palms face Rangiku, "I'm just kiddin'! Nothin' was seen!"
The strawberry blonde crossed her arms one more time as she comfortably sat down on one of the emptied chairs and crossed her long light tanned legs. For some reason, she did believe Gin. No matter how untrusting he seemed, she didn't know why she believed his every word, "…Thank you." She mumbled.
Gin sat close to her, "What did ya say? Ya need 'ta speak up, Ran." He was definitely mocking her.
She took a deep breath, as she rolled her eyes, "…Thank you for putting up with me last night." She took a quick glance at the grinning fox, "I was probably a mess at the dinner party." She said disappointingly.
Gin then laughed out loud, "Ya ain't the only person who got drunk. I wouldn't be exaggeratin' if I said that half tha people came out of tha buildin' completely wasted.
Rangiku then rested her back against the softened chair, not wanting to imagine making a complete fool of herself last night, "I just wanted to set a good first impression to everybody. Show them that I could be the perfect Vice President…"
" …Ya seem pretty perfect in my eyes."
Rangiku looked up at her childhood friend, not expecting him to say those words. Her fingers tried to cover the small smile that was forming on her lips, until she was able to keep a straight face, "Compliments won't get you anywhere." She responded.
He raised one of his eyebrows, as he observed Rangiku's lovely face, "…Doesn't hurt 'ta try." His smile grew, noticing the faint blush that appeared on her cheeks.
AN: *gasp* Aizen's involved in the fanfic. I'm sure some girls are fangirling right now lol So Rangiku wants to (well wants to try) forget about Gin and takes Aizen as her target... and then she gets buzzed! Please review, and I will give you a virtual hug! :) Thank you guys so much for the support!
-Sephire