It was the middle of summer in Karakura town and Toshiro was on his way to the hotel Rangiku was staying at. A few days back she had requested some time off to visit Orihime in the World of the Living. She had been working hard in the weeks before it in order to get in his good graces, she thought it was subtle but he always knew when she wanted something. She had done some good work though so in the end it didn't matter to him.
The only contact he'd had from her was the nightly call to let him know she was ok. It was on her insistence that she do it in the first place. He knew she could handle herself but she said he would probably worry anyway. She wasn't wrong though. If they ever went days without seeing each other he would often begin to wonder as to her wellbeing.
He'd briefly visited Orihime to inquire as to where Rangiku was staying and rapidly excused himself when she offered to invite him in for dinner. Now with a location in mind he figured he should do some shopping to get her a few things to pamper her with. He had gotten her candy of all sorts, snack foods, dramatic romance movies that he'd double bagged so she couldn't see through them. He took a look at the alcohol aisle and sighed.
"The things I do for that woman." He said as he grabbed two bottles of wine and took them to the counter. He sighed again as the damn computer beeped reminding the clerk to card him. He placed the picture ID he had been provided by Kisuke into the clerks hand and waited for the inevitable.
"You look kinda short to be buying this." The clerk at the counter said looking him up and down.
"I assure you I am quite old enough to be buying alcohol." Toshiro says with his eyebrow twitching. The clerk shrugged and placed the bottles into one of the bags. Toshiro paid for the bottles and snatched the bags from the clerk with a little more force than was necessary.
Now that he was out of the store he allowed a smile to form on his face. Rangiku had no idea he was coming and he'd asked Orihime to not say anything. He hoped she would be happy. He wanted to take care of her for the rest of her time off if she allowed him to. She always did so much for him that he took every opportunity he could to repay the favor. She always insisted he owed her nothing but he still felt like she deserved something in return. This would be something small on the way towards repaying her fully. Plus he wanted to see her reaction. Good or bad it would most likely be amusing in some way.
But that could wait. He made his way through the halls of the hotel with the keycard Orihime had given him. Rangiku always gave someone a keycard to her room in case of emergencies. He stopped outside the room and couldn't help the smile that came to his face. He opened her door and stepped in. Rangiku was laying on the couch watching something on tv. Most likely soap operas of some kind. She looked up at him startled. She blinked a few times as if to make sure she wasn't seeing things. A gorgeous smile split her face and she held her arms out to him.
"Huggles!" She said loudly causing Toshiro to stop in the doorway and raise an eyebrow at her.
"What did you say?" He asked and couldn't help but smile as Rangiku clearly realized the odd word she'd said and began to blush. He sighed and walked over to her, setting his bag of goodies on the floor behind him. He noticed the way Rangiku subtly shifted to try to get a better view of the bag.
"I wanted to say the word hugs but I was thinking of cuddling and the words jumbled together." She says meekly and then her eyes narrow. "Wait a minute, what are you doing here Captain?" Toshiro laughed as he had been wondering when she'd ask that question.
"Clearly, I am here to visit you. I know you were looking forward to this trip so I wanted to make sure you could still have fun even while you're sick." He answered her and finally handed her the bag, which she wasted no time in tearing open and squealing. He had bought her all her favorite sweets as well as an assortment of movies, from horror to romance.
"How long do you plan on staying? I know how antsy you get away from the division for too long." She said giving him her usual look of concern. He gave her a reassuring smile.
"The division can wait. And I plan on staying as long as you want me too." He said and rolled his eyes as she gave yet another ecstatic squeal. "Also there is something I want to talk to you about but it can wait." He said walking over to the tv and putting in one of the movies he had gotten her. From the cover it looked like one of the romance ones.
They had spent hours watching movies and chatting into the night. Rangiku had at one point laid her head on his lap. He'd begun to stroke her hair absentmindedly. There weren't many people she let touch her hair. He knew why though, he had been witness to the hours she spent taking care of it.
"Rangiku, are you awake?" He asked quietly. He felt her stir and hum an affirmative. "Do you think after this, when we go back we could do this again? Something just between the two of us?" He says almost in a whisper. His heart starts to pound in his chest as the silence continues.
"Toshiro, are you asking me on a date?" Rangiku asked sitting up next to him. She smiled at his subtle nod. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I would love to go on a date with you!" She all but screamed. 'Man if I knew getting sick would finally get him to ask me out I would have done that months ago!' She thought to herself as she laid her head back on his lap. This vacation wouldn't be a bust after all it seemed.