The Proposal

Disclaimer: I don't own both Bleach and The Proposal.

A/N: Feliz Navidad, sweeties! I figured I'd post the next chapter a little earlier, as a small Christmas treat for all you lovelies! c:

xx

Rangiku mustered her best smile, "Hell-hello, Mrs. Hitsugaya." And to the elderly woman, "Pleasure to finally meet you too, Gammy."

The brunette's eye softened, "Oh, you must Rangiku! I'm Yumi. Toushiro's mother." She introduced, leaning forward to hug Rangiku.

"O-oh, uh, it's great to finally meet you too!" Rangiku said, returning her hug warmly albeit it being awkward first. "Shiro's told me so much about you!"

Yumi laughed merrily, "Good things, I hope!" She then motioned everyone to get into a car. "Oh, come on now, don't just stand there. Let's go back! I'm sure everyone at home can't wait to meet Toushiro and Ran!"

Toushiro's residence

"Once again, thank you so much Yumi for letting me be a part of this weekend." Rangiku said before getting out the car.

"Oh, you're welcome! We're thrilled to have you! Come now, the driver will get your baggage. Everyone's waiting in the fort!" Yumi exclaimed excitedly.

"Fort? Shouldn't we be in our hotel by now?" Rangiku poked Hitsugaya urgently.

Before Hitsugaya could even think of a reply, Gammy interrupted, "Oh, we cancelled your reservations, family doesn't stay at hotels! And you're practically family now!" Gammy said, overhearing the couple's conversation. "Now, come on!"

The door swung open and about fifty or so people began shouting in unison, "Welcome home, Toushiro!"

Hitsugaya cocked his head to face his mother, "Okaa-san, what is this?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a small welcome party. All your friends and families are so excited to meet you!"

Hitsugaya dragged Rangiku to a corner, "Rangiku, I'll have to leave you to go socialize with my family. My mother is insisting. Is that okay?" He asked with a sigh.

"Sure it's okay! Go! I'll be, uh, around here getting to know your friends too." Rangiku assured, running a hand down her peplum top to get rid of imaginary creases. "So when are you going to tell them?"

Toushiro stared blankly at her, "Tell them what? That we're engaged?"

Rangiku nodded several times.

"Later. I'll find the right time, okay? Now go socialize. And try not to get lost." Hitsugaya pushed Rangiku into a group of talking ladies and disappeared almost instantly.

"Sorry! I lost my, erm, footing just now. I'm Rangiku." She said shakily, extending her hand out.

"Oh, no worries! Are you the friend Toushiro brought over? I heard from Yumi he'd be bringing over a friend from New York to Sitka." A lady with braided hair returned her handshake.

"Yeah, I suppose that's me. Girlfriend." She added with a light chuckle. "So, are you ladies relatives of Toushiro?" Rangiku asked politely.

Another lady wearing plaid smiled teasingly, "Toushiro sure got some game left inside of him if he managed to snag someone as pretty as you, eh? I always made him up as the 'all work and no play' kind of guy." She punched Rangiku in her arm playfully. "Yeah. We're cousins." She pointed to the braided girl and said, "This is Yuki, my sister. And I'm Tsubasa."

Rangiku laughed out loud at Tsubasa's previous statement, "You have no idea. Anyways, enough about me. I totally love your dress! Where'd you buy it?"

"This old thing? I forgot. Bought it at Sitka Central, I think." Tsubasa said, glancing down at her dress, before placing a finger on her chin.

Rangiku talked for a bit and after a while, tired, she lounged near the refreshments table. She reached for the punch and was just about to help herself to some punch when a hand rested on her shoulders.

She looked up, "Hey you. I'm totally thirsty, I've been talking for an hour full. You want a drink?"

Toushiro shook his head. "Listen, people need to start to think we're in love, so I figured now's the right time to drop the bomb. Ready?" He asked in hushed tones.

Rangiku shrugged, "Whatever. Sure, I guess. I can totally be the doting fiancée." She crumpled her paper cup and tossed it to the trash bin.

Toushiro placed his hand in Rangiku's and led her to the living room where people were gathered, "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen, I have an important announcement to make."

All eyes in the room swiveled to him and he cleared his throat a couple times, "So I think most of you already know my girlfriend here, right?" He rested his arms around her waist, "Her name's Rangiku, and we, uh, we're getting married!" He clinked the glass he was holding a couple times for good measure.

Everyone stared at both Hitsugaya and Rangiku blankly for a while before cheers erupted. Congratulations could be heard everywhere.

"Someone bring out the champagne!" The local technician hooted.

"So how did he propose?" Gammy asked Rangiku from her seat, excitement laced in her tone.

"Yeah, yeah, tell us how he proposed!" Yumi joined in.

"Yeah! We'd love to hear the story! You can know a lot about a man by hearing how he proposes." A man winked.

Toushiro finished the last sips of champagne and at last said, "Well, actually, Ran-ran loves telling this story." He swallowed. "So uh, I'm just gonna go ahead and let her tell this time." He hastily sat down on a recliner, leaving Rangiku flustered and panicked.

"I... I do, actually." She agreed after shooting a glare at her so called fiancée. "So, um, let's see, where to begin this story?"

"Well, uh, Shiro invited me out to a restaurant for our first anniversary and um, I just knew somehow, he was going to propose. So I didn't go." Rangiku paused for emphasis. "You see, I wanted to torture him a little. He couldn't win me that easily, right?" She conjured with a nervous chuckle.

"Whoo! My homegirll!" Tsubasa hooted.

"Yeah." Rangiku laughed awkwardly. "So then I phoned him, and told him I was sick. He immediately thought I was seeing another man, because I skipped the last date we had too." She licked her lips and glanced around the room for ideas.

"Then, uh, he, um, just broke down entirely on the phone. He cried, and begged me to not break up with him. And then he gave me an address and told me that if I wanted to break up with him, he wanted to have a… last dinner with me." Rangiku made up, silently hoping the story wasn't too bad.

Hitsugaya rose up from the recliner suddenly, "Ac-actually, that's not what happened." He walked up next to Rangiku and chuckled deeply, "Ah, my darling here always gets this part wrong."

"So actually, I pretended to cry and beg her. Just another trick up my sleeve, you know." Toushiro said, looking around. "Then I, uh, waited for her to get there."

"So yeah. Anyways, the address he gave me turned out to be a… garage. A broken down one. And he decorated it with fairy lights, and carton hearts, and all sorts of pink… pink trinkets with photos of us both." Rangiku cut in. "And when I opened the door, and saw him, he was knee-"

"Standing." Hitsugaya said with a glare.

"Kneeling down on one knee and proposed to me with tears in his eyes. Like a fragile, tiny, tiny, bird." She trailed away softly. "Yeah. And then he said, Matsumoto Rangiku, the woman of my dreams, will you marry me?"

"Yep. Then she said yes. The end." Toushiro clasped his hands. "So who wants champagne?"

No one paid any attention to Hitsugaya's champagne offer.

"That was so beautiful." Yumi breathed. "Oh, you got me all teary eyed!"

"Yeah. That's my sweet, sweet, Toushiro." She gazed deeply into Toushiro's eyes and smiled in triumph.

Hitsugaya gazed back and pulled her close, "Paper hearts? Me, crying? Seriously?"

Rangiku smirked and whispered back, "That's payback for leaving me alone, and making me tell that story."

"Let's see a kiss from the sweet couple!" Gammy cheered all of a sudden.

And pretty soon, everyone was clapping and demanding the couple lock lips much Rangiku and Toushiro's horror.

Oh yes, they weren't getting out of this anytime soon.

To Be Continued..

Author's Note: Ah! No regrets leaving you guys with a cliffy muahaha.