As always, Bleach belongs to Kubo.


"Hey!" Rangiku exclaimed brightly as she swung open the door.

"Morning." Nanao greeted her kindly before she took in Rangiku's appearance. "Do you have your proposal?" Her hair was mussed up significantly and her lips were still slightly plumped and reddened from the night before. She looked like she just rolled out of bed, yet not alone.

"Yeah, wait here a sec." Rangiku dashed towards the dining table and scooped up the forms that she had dumped there before attempting to straighten up the place a bit. She turned to return to the door but gasped as Nanao had already let herself in, her indigo eyes darting to a set of shoes that were way too big for Rangiku's feet.

"I didn't know that you had…company." Nanao tutted as she entered the kitchen and glanced at the two plates in the sink. Her eyebrow arched at the sight of a large, male robe draped over Rangiku's shoulders as well. Baby blue eyes followed the scrutinizing look and Rangiku felt her heart in her throat. She almost always wore Byakuya's robe around her apartment as a habit and she forgot to throw it off before answering the door. Plus, she didn't even notice his shoes were still at the door, either. It was way too obvious that there was a man in the apartment. She needed a plan and fast.

"Yeah, he's asleep. We had a—rough night last night." Rangiku informed her with a sultry smirk as she placed the forms in her friend's hand, ignoring her disapproving look. If she could pass off Byakuya's presence as another random hookup, maybe Nanao would take the bait and leave. Nanao was the worst type of prude and would quickly flee once she got the hint. Even though she had not had a hookup in forever, she kept up the guise of sleeping around to make sure that her friends wouldn't worry about her. Seeing as how she never discussed her personal life anymore, Nanao might figure out that she isn't telling the truth. Hopefully that would not be the case.

"You could've told us all the truth." Nanao was amused now. Damn.

"I did…I'm single!"

Nanao tutted her teeth. "You never keep a man around until morning and you are wearing his clothes. Plus there's two plates in the sink and no man would willingly eat your cooking unless you had a serious situation that was going on. That doesn't come off to me as single, Rangiku-san. This isn't something that you do."

"I felt like being nice to him and let him stay the night. Are you done interrogating me? I want to finish cleaning." Rangiku whined as she pushed Nanao towards the door. She was right, Rangiku was the absolute opposite of a domesticated woman. Also, admitting that it was the man himself that cooked breakfast for them to share was even more incriminating.

Nanao was about to say something else again, but a series of loud sneezes interrupted her. Her eyes widened with surprise and she turned her head in the direction of her bedroom for a moment before turning back to a viciously blushing Rangiku. This was odd. Rangiku, under normal circumstances, was quite proud of her conquests with the male gender and was never so…meek.

She let these observations flit through her mind for a moment before she came to the conclusion that Rangiku might actually want this man for more than one night. This might even be the same man from the day when the SWA attempted to pester it out of her and that was over a month ago. Rangiku's boyfriend had to be behind her bedroom door! Still, she owed it to her friend to respect her wishes and decided to retreat for now and pry later.

"I'll leave you to your—cleaning." She over-enunciated the final word and Rangiku would be damned if she didn't see a twinkle in her friend's eyes. "You will find the final details in an email by Monday."

"Yeah! Alright, bye!" Rangiku practically shoved Nanao out and locked the door, bolting it for good measure. She wanted to sink to the floor with relief that the confrontation was over, but she knew that she had an entirely different problem to tackle.

Meanwhile, Byakuya rubbed at his nose pitifully as he searched for a keepsake of hers to take with him. Unfortunately, there were not many objects of hers that he could have for himself that wouldn't immediately label him as a pervert, and the large dust cloud that puffed in his face as he searched her top shelf did not aid matters either.

The bedroom door swung open and Byakuya was caught red-handed in the cookie jar.

Rangiku was rightfully flustered at the previous encounter, yet the view she was gifted had her keeled over in peals of laughter.

This man was sitting on the edge of her bed, gripping a handful of tissues and sniffling pitifully in front of a dusty box of old clothes that she hadn't yet had the chance to donate yet.

"Wha—" Rangiku was almost in tears at the sight as she approached and sat next to him. "Panty burglar!"

Byakuya blew his nose into a tissue and gave her a frustrated look. "This box does not contain any of your undergarments." He argued weakly before another sneezing fit overwhelmed him. As the women spoke outside, Byakuya remembered that he wanted a clothing item of Rangiku's to keep with him when they were apart. He searched her closet, pointedly ignoring the various sets of lingerie and saw a box on the top shelf. Reasoning with himself that she wouldn't mind to part with an item or two inside, he retrieved the box and opened it eagerly to have a sizable puff of dust hit him in the face. His dust allergy sent him into a sneezing fit that he couldn't silence in time.

Rangiku grinned at him teasingly and pushed his shoulder, preparing to bombard him with more teasing words before she noticed his smug smirk. "What's that look on your face?"

Byakuya blew his nose again. "You informed Ise-fukutaicho that I am your newest conquest. It is…amusing."

She suddenly remembered the confrontation just five minutes ago and felt her stomach tighten into knots. "I wasn't convincing enough; the girls won't let me hear the end of it once she tells everyone else." Her eyes connected with his and softened considerably. "I haven't been with a man for a long time now, so I just pretend to keep it up."

"Are you afraid that they will judge you?" Byakuya felt sweet relief, he was always concerned that she was seeing other men to keep up appearances and he was glad that he was wrong about it. The thought of another man having Rangiku in his arms was borderline infuriating.

"No, no…they'll think that something's wrong with me if I don't act like I'm in a man's lap every other night. It was my thing, you know." Rangiku waved him off nonchalantly.

"Why aren't you? It would appeal more to your tastes and image if you did that." Byakuya decided to push the envelope a bit.

"It's not the right thing to do now." Rangiku responded quietly after a moment.

"That's something that never used to concern you before."

"You really don't expect me to be with you like this and another guy at the same time, do you? Who do you think I am?" Her voice tightened and Byakuya knew that he was poking the sleeping bear. Nevertheless, he pushed.

"Be with me in what manner?"

"You know exactly what I mean…" Rangiku stood up and retrieved another tissue and wiped the snot that was starting to trickle down Byakuya's nose. "Blow." She ordered him and he complied immediately, feeling a bit embarrassed at her ministrations. After properly disposing of the soiled tissues and washing her hands, Rangiku wanted to disappear from his sight quickly and resume cleaning, but his large, warm hand enveloped hers and stopped her.

"Answer me." He requested gently; his dark gaze was beseeching. "Please, Rangiku-san."

Rangiku looked at him for a moment, contemplating whether or not she should try to explain herself and then made the decision to yank her hand away, speeding from the room and leaving him to his thoughts. He frowned to himself, that little stunt of his probably earned him a week or two of her distancing herself from him. Kyoraku's words rang clearly in his head and he inhaled deeply before sneezing again, swearing nastily under his breath at these wretched allergies.

"Patience, patience."

He wandered into the living room after a short period of time and he noticed how she stopped sweeping, giving him a weary look, almost as if she was just waiting for him to say the wrong thing again.

"I'll make tea." Byakuya offered placidly and entered the kitchen, turning on the stove and watching the kettle heat up too slowly for his liking.

"Your clothes are done." Rangiku commented after a minute as she pointed towards the table where his clothes were neatly folded on a towel.

"Thank you." He murmured as he gathered the clothing and headed back into her room to change. Rangiku watched him go before she plunked herself fitfully on the couch, feeling the desire to clean quickly disappearing. She felt terrible for leaving him out to dry like this. Suddenly feeling restless, she stood and walked into the kitchen to finish up the tea that Byakuya had started and made his cup just the way that he liked it.

Byakuya stood around the corner and listened to her hum as she made tea. He wanted more answers and he damned well deserved it. The goal was not to upset her into stubborn silence. Well aware of the fact that he would have to stay in Rangiku's apartment until the coast was clear, he decided not to bother get dressed just yet in his freshly laundered clothes. He dug through one of her drawers and found a shirt of his and tugged it over his head, wondering fleetingly to himself how many of his clothes Rangiku had here.

After attempting to use one of Rangiku's razors and a stray toothbrush to make himself feel somewhat normal again, he returned to the living room to find Rangiku sitting on the couch waiting for him. Two piping hot mugs of tea sat on the table in front of her and he saw how the clouds of steam reflected in her pearly blue irises. Hearing his footsteps, her head shot up and her eyes widened slightly before she cleared her throat.

"I was just—" She trailed off when she looked up at him, squinting at his face before patting the couch cushion next to her. "Come here."

Puzzled, Byakuya immediately strode over to her and sat down. His cheeks stained lightly with a blush as this woman peered directly into his face with a scrutinizing stare.

"Did you use my razor?"

"Yes?"

"Byakuya!" Rangiku exclaimed with annoyance. "It was brand new!"

"That was why I used it." Byakuya replied with a patient sigh. "I did not want to cut myself."

"Damn it, it was my last one!" Rangiku complained before shaking her head. "Never mind, I was—" she clasped her hand on his knee. "I'm really bad at this…"

"Take your time." Byakuya said patiently as he reached for his tea.

"What I meant before was that—I—uh…" Rangiku stuttered lamely and hung her head in exasperation. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him but simply could not find it within herself to let it all out.

"You do not have to—" Byakuya started to say before she silenced him with a finger pressed to his lips.

"There's a lot of boundaries that we've pushed past in the last few months. Kissing, sleeping together, all of that." Rangiku now spoke confidently, a sharp contract to how she was several minutes before. "Sometimes…it can be a lot…"

Byakuya felt a sense of dread in his heart at the thought of Rangiku wanting to end their intimacy to save their friendship. Naturally, he would try to keep his feelings out of it but even he knew it was near impossible. He treasured their established friendship more than a potential romantic relationship and he knew that he could not have it both ways.

"Does this make you feel uncomfortable?" Byakuya questioned as he tried to keep his emotions intact. "Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" He thought to himself and feared what she was about to answer him with.

"No, never." Rangiku placated him immediately as she shook her head. "I'm just not used to…" She paused for a moment and looked at him. "I don't want to take advantage of you, Byakuya…I just feel guilty about this; I practically jumped all over you and ran off right after. Then you saw that stupid picture that I should've dumped ages ago and…look where we are now."

"I don't regret what we did last night." Byakuya said after a moment of silence before covering her hand with his. "I also cannot find any fault in what you did."

Rangiku stared at him. "But you were so upset…"

"That was a separate incident." He replied shortly, suddenly feeling defensive at being reminded of his weakness. Rangiku flinched and he immediately stroked the back of her hand tenderly as he checked his tone. "Rangiku-san, you told me just this morning that keeping my thoughts bottled up was unhealthy. I listened to you. Now you must do the same for me."

"I know, but—"

"Please."

Rangiku gazed into his eyes and felt her will to resist, her desire to close herself off immediately go away. She owed this man so much and transparency was just the beginning of it all.

"Last night, I felt something…I looked into your eyes and I…" Rangiku spoke softly. "I couldn't help myself and I didn't want to, either. So I kissed you like that…" She trailed off for a moment before continuing. "I actually regret the fact that I stopped."

Byakuya didn't react to his information at all; he simply gazed at her. Rangiku felt self-conscious and made to stand up, but he took her hand and pulled her back to the couch. Once she was seated again, he cupped her face with his hand and planted his lips on her cheek. A soft sigh was drawn from her and that only made Byakuya want more. Knowing that they were still in the midst of a conversation, he pulled away and felt satisfaction at the sight of her leaning in to feel him again.

"Do you feel it now?" Byakuya whispered after he pulled away.

Rangiku nodded silently, utterly speechless.

"Mm." He hummed. "It seems that we are both taking advantage of each other.

The haze in Rangiku's conscious was immediately blown away at Byakuya's comment. "What?"

"I said that we are both taking advantage of each other now." Byakuya repeated himself smoothly, his signature stoic countenance made its reappearance after a day.

"That's you way of saying that you feel it too, isn't it?" Rangiku said after processing his statement.

"This feeling of yours, I have felt it since the beginning." Byakuya drew away from her and Rangiku frowned slightly at the loss of physical contact. "It's all-consuming, even unnatural, correct?"

"That's not unnatural." Rangiku said as her eyebrows furrowed at him. "We both know that's not true."

"It is unnatural for a man such as I who was never permitted to feel." Byakuya leaned in once again and wrapped his right arm around her body. Vivacious curves immediately melded against toned muscles as she settled her body against his.

Rangiku's eyes softened as she listened to him and she placed her hand on his now-smooth cheek. "Well, it also might be for someone like me who was hellbent on being the absolute worst with my choices in men." Her posture was now relaxed; it now seemed as if they were past the most difficult part of the conversation. Byakuya hoped that now that Rangiku seemed to be more at ease that she would be more willing to disclose her feelings on their current situation.

"Don't say that about yourself." Byakuya chastised her softly.

"I said was, Byakuya. Past-tense." Rangiku clarified as she glanced at his lips.

His eyes widened imperceptibly as he begged his mind not to overanalyze her words. Was she trying to tell him that it was he who changed her outlook on romance?

Rangiku spoke again under her breath, so quietly that Byakuya wouldn't have heard her if he wasn't waiting for her to speak again. "I just wish that I didn't try to make things that feel so right feel wrong."

Byakuya felt his heart flutter at her words. What did she mean? If things felt so right with him, why not simply say so instead of keeping him guessing?

"What about you?" She glanced up at him inquisitively.

"I try not to overthink." Byakuya replied simply. "I try to enjoy. Live in the moment and cherish it." "Cherish you…" He thought to himself as held her closer.

"Hmm." Rangiku hummed thoughtfully. Byakuya was right. Why not just simply enjoy what they shared together? Why worry herself with a bunch of 'what ifs' every waking moment?

"You taught me that."

"Huh? When?"

Byakuya squeezed her closer into his body before he responded. "Not when, how. Your actions, how you carry yourself, how you live your life unapologetically." He looked at her fondly. "You've inspired me in more ways than I can properly describe, Rangiku-san."

She smiled brightly at him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Huh, and here you thought that I could run around with other guys while you say such sweet things to me on a daily basis." She jabbed a finger at his ribs before continuing. "I was offended, you know. No matter what you hear around town, I've never done anything like that before."

"I was—curious." Byakuya muttered although the correct word was terrified. "I didn't intend to accuse you of such a thing."

"I know what you meant." She rubbed his arm soothingly. "But I told you that I'd rather be with you than anyone else, you know that already. Around the girls I have to be the gossip and around the guys I have to be the slutty alcoholic." Rangiku said as she waved her hand around dramatically. "With you, I feel like me again and I really value the time we're together, Byakuya."

"I do as well and that is why—"

"—you don't want to share me with anyone else." Rangiku lifted her head to look at him and winked mischievously.

Byakuya frowned petulantly after being read like an open book yet again. No, he did not want to share. If she were to suddenly ask him to spurn the company of the meager people that happened to be in his life at the moment in favor of her, he would do so without question. Was it odd that he was so possessive of her while they were still technically friends? Of course it was and Byakuya had quickly reconciled with himself that their entire situation was odd.

"I couldn't imagine being curled up on my couch with Shuhei or Izuru, that even sounds weird." Rangiku continued before glancing furtively at Byakuya from the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction. His frown was even more pronounced and she could feel his jealously wafting off of him with a vengeance. She loved this territorial side of him about her.

"Unacceptable."

"It wouldn't happen anyways, c'mon." She nudged at him playfully. "That's why you're here. You provide me with all the cuddles and attention that I could ever need."

He did a damn good job of it too. Sometimes Rangiku wondered how Byakuya stayed single for so long; he knew how to make a woman feel like she was the queen of the world.

Byakuya arched an inquisitive eyebrow as he looked at her and stayed silent, undoubtedly waiting for Rangiku to further inflate his ego with more compliments. She didn't take the bait and he finally spoke. "And?"

"Hmm, well, you accept me for who I am, you comfort me, I can depend on you for pretty much anything—you know, the whole package." She counted off of her fingers before trailing off. After a moment of reflection, she faced him directly. "And—well—when you kiss me, it's just…" She trailed off and the blush on her cheeks coupled made it obvious how she felt about it.

Byakuya's eyes strayed to her lips for a long second before reconnecting with her eyes. She met his gaze and he could feel the countless amount of emotions flowing through her. His mind drifted back towards the previous night for a few moments. Although he was quite inebriated at the time, he still remembered everything. The guilt at the thought of betraying his wife's memory, feeling insecure from breaking down in tears in front of Rangiku—all of it was still quite fresh. Naturally, he couldn't help but remember what came afterwards.

As cold-blooded as most of his peers attempted to attribute him as, he was far from it. Byakuya's wandering eye was no different from any other man's. While he would not allow himself to leer after every woman with a curvaceous waist or bountiful bosom, that did not mean that he didn't notice and enjoy what he saw. Naturally, being attracted to a woman who exemplified such beautiful attributes tested him daily. As time went by and as he had the opportunity to know her better as a person, it was not particularly difficult to keep it together. Sure, sometimes he stared at her longingly, but it wasn't as blatant as it was in the beginning.

Sometimes he would squeeze her a bit closer into his body than usual in a hug or let his hand linger on her waist, but those were innocent actions. Rangiku had never displayed any discomfort and he found no reason to refrain. After over a year, Byakuya could confidently say that he was somewhat immune to Rangiku's most alluring wiles. However…

The way that she said his name made him tremble.

Byakuya had never heard a sound so gorgeous before in his life.

Coming back to the present, he licked his lips and appraised the woman seated beside him. She uncrossed her legs and scooted over to him slightly before allowing her hand to rest on his thigh. His decision was made in an instant.

"I don't want us to stop." He admitted quietly as he started to lean in, the near instinctive urge to feel her lips against his overwhelmed him.

"Me either." Rangiku said softly as she closed the distance between their lips, humming softly at the contact and pulling him in closer by the front of his shirt. She rose to her knees and laced her arms around his neck with the intention of gaining as much physical contact with him as possible.

Last night, he confessed his need for her. He needed her. Rangiku knew what it felt like to be wanted, yes, but needed? It was unbelievable. She had spent the entire morning trying to process this knowledge and she was still overwhelmed. What was it about this man that made her reconsider everything that she had known to such a degree?

Why should she continue to deny herself this?

Byakuya wrapped his arms around her waist with the intention of bringing her closer as much as possible. She cupped his face in her hands and nearly bowed him over onto the couch until she felt herself almost lose her balance. This sudden movement jolted her back from this heavenly embrace of lips to reality. Rangiku nipped at his upper lip softly as they mutually began to wind down from this intimate embrace.

They separated after a few moments and gazed at each other.

"This is complicated." Byakuya commented honestly, a bit out of breath.

"Yeah…" Rangiku sat back down and agreed as her fingers fiddled with a loose string at the end of Byakuya's shirt. "Complicated doesn't mean bad, you know. What we're doing isn't wrong."

"I am aware." Byakuya nodded as his gaze drifted to the ground. "Our positions in this life have caused this."

Rangiku noticed this and placed her hand on his cheek and stayed quiet.

He covered her hand with his atop his face before he spoke. "What will happen now?"

Rangiku didn't answer right away. She wasn't quite sure herself. They were so close to getting caught and it would be extremely difficult to continue what they were doing now that more than a few eyes would be on them. At the most inopportune time, her cell phone began to buzz insistently. After giving Byakuya an apologetic glance, she reached for it and sighed heavily as she scanned the messages. Nanao worked quite quickly—there were numerous queries as to who was currently in her bedroom. While none of the girls were bold enough to rush over to her place to see for themselves at this very moment, it was only a matter of time before they began to mobilize and plan how they were going to get such juicy information for themselves.

"What is it?" Byakuya peered over her shoulder to see for himself.

"The news is spreading fast." Rangiku replied tonelessly as she closed the phone. She rested her elbows on her thighs as she cradled her face, staring off into space blankly. Always under the impression that she would have time to prepare for a public debut with Byakuya, Rangiku found herself completely at a loss.

Byakuya looked at her quietly for a few moments before speaking. "I see." There really wasn't much else to say at this moment.

"I was afraid of this, you know." Rangiku smiled with a slight chuckle under her breath. "Getting the juicy details of other people's business was one of my favorite things to do and now it's backfired on me."

Byakuya awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. This was more than unfamiliar territory for him; he could count the amount of people he conversed with on a regular basis on one and and none of them—aside from Rangiku, obviously—strayed too far into his personal affairs.

"I…" He wasn't sure what to say. "What are you going to do?"

Rangiku shrugged and shook her head. "No clue." She gave him a teasing glance. "C'mon, don't you have a bright idea for me?"

Byakuya sweat-dropped. "Not an inkling."

Rangiku crossed her leg over her knee and looked towards the ceiling. "We're pretty limited on options. Nanao has already told the girls that I had a guy spend the night, so the friendship angle isn't going to work for us anymore." She suddenly recalled the intense makeout session and blushed a bright red.

Byakuya noticed her blush and cleared his throat, also feeling a slight pang of embarrassment at his boldness. That was the understatement of the century. In his mind, he would no longer be satisfied at being known as Rangiku's friend only in public. A moment later, her phone started to ring and Rukia's name popped up on the screen. Byakuya noticed his sister's name and gave Rangiku a pointed look, unsure if she was going to answer the call. Rangiku took a deep breath and accepted the call and Rukia spoke barely a moment later.

"Rangiku-san, is my brother with you right now?" Rukia questioned quietly as if she assumed that someone was eavesdropping. Rangiku held the phone out to Byakuya after putting it on speaker. Judging by the hints that Rukia had been dropping over the past few months, she was definitely aware of what was going on with her and Byakuya, it was only a matter of time before she spoke up.

"Rukia." Byakuya spoke awkwardly. "Good morning." Gods, this was so awkward. He ignored Rangiku's snicker of amusement before continuing. "Are you well?"

"I should be asking you that, Nii-sama, especially after what I've just heard a few minutes ago." Rukia almost sounded as if she was teasing him, a significant change in their relationship in the past few years. Rangiku's eyes gleamed with amusement and she decided to interrupt.

"What did Nanao say? Tell me. Did she say that I had him tied up in my room?" Rangiku attempted to add some levity to the situation and jumped when she felt Byakuya pinch her thigh. "What? I'm trying to lighten the mood!"

"No, but she definitely implied that there's something going on. Should I ask?"

Rangiku looked at Byakuya before she spoke. His "I guess you can say that now." She confirmed simply.

Byakuya's eyes widened comically and his jaw dropped in shock.


Well, well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Three years is a long, long time. The recent return of the anime stirred the writing urge in me, so I decided to get back into it.

Thanks for reading and please review!