Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the related titles. All credit goes to Tite Kubo.
A/N: Hey all! Here's the next chapter. Not much to say about it really. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 5: The Book
Rangiku stared out at the darkened sky, her face no brighter than the heavens before her. Her eyes were locked onto something that an onlooker would not be able to see and her expression was quite unreadable. It was more than obvious her mind was not with her, but off in a distant land, perhaps in the even darker lair of a sinister man she'd once trusted.
Sighing deeply, her head shifted, tilting to the other side as she continued to stare out before her. It wasn't until a small book appeared in front of her that she moved again.
"For you…" a voice whispered from over her shoulder.
Rangiku knocked the book aside, as well as the pale hand attached to it. "Go away…" she muttered bitterly.
She stood abruptly, moving away from the spot she'd been sitting only moments before. Gin had crouched behind her, and now watched sadly as she moved away, the book still clutched tightly in his fingers.
"Is something wrong, Rangiku?" he asked slowly, moving from his spot to follow her.
Rangiku shot him a glare, turning away sharply to move once again even further away from him. "I said, go away, Gin…"
Gin caught up with her easily, his free hand gently drawing her long hair from her neck, kissing the exposed skin. Rangiku didn't pull away this time, though she longed to with every fiber of her being.
"You don't mean that," he muttered, pulling his lips away from her neck. He held the book in front of her once again. "I brought you a present."
Rangiku stared down at the book curiously, though she didn't take it from him. She turned her head slightly, speaking to him over her shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked.
He shrugged coolly, his arms winding around her waist. "Dunno…didn't look at it…"
Rangiku placed her hands over his, pulling them away from her. Slowly, she stepped from him, leaving him once again by himself.
"You don't like it?" he asked softly as she walked away. "I thought you'd appreciate the information…"
Rangiku stopped short. "Information?" she turned to him. "What exactly is that?"
Gin grinned at her, holding the book out. "Why don't you take a peek?"
Frustrated, Rangiku stepped forward and wrenched it from his grasp, returning to her spot well away from him. Her fingers hurriedly flipped through the pages, her eyes hardly scanning the words on them as she did so.
"I see nothing important about scribbles, Gin…" she said bluntly, snapping it shut. She glared at him. "Is this your personal diary or something?"
Gin shook his head slowly, the grin unfading from his fox-like face. "Not mine…" he taunted.
Rangiku looked back down at the book, opening it slowly. This time, she managed to make out some of information written on the pages. Her eyes grew wide as she slowly brought her face back into view.
"Gin…where did you get this?" she asked breathlessly.
He didn't answer as he smiled at her, urging her to keep looking. "What's written there, love?" He cocked his head to the side. "Captain Aizen's secret recipes?"
Rangiku shook her head, hurrying back to his side, the book now closed tightly in her hand as she waved it at him furiously. "Do you have any idea what this is? D-Do you have any idea what you've-you've stumbled upon? This…this…this is incredible! Gin, you-you…"
"I know…" he smirked haughtily.
Rangiku's head moved as though it were on a hinge. "No…No, you don't know! This is the very information that could lead to Aizen's downfall! I can't believe you'd be willing to risk something like this! He's going to kill you if he finds out!"
Gin's smile faded quickly. "I told you…" he said. "I know." He started slowly away from her.
Rangiku followed him, catching the back of his coat. "Gin, please…"
He stopped suddenly, glancing at her over his shoulder. His usual grin had donned his face once more, only causing more pain in Rangiku's heart. "What is it, love?"
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her eyes soft with emotion.
Gin smiled and looked away, starting away from her again, only to be tugged back. Rangiku repeated her question, her voice becoming more insistent with every syllable she spoke.
"Do you have some kind of death wish or something?" her voice shook with panic.
Gin stopped to face her. It was his turn to shake his head. "I can't say I wouldn't deserve it," he said softly. "After all I've done, Rangiku. I'm a good-for-nuthin' murderer."
"No…" she whispered. "Not to me, you're not. Perhaps to everyone else, perhaps to all those who don't really know, you are nothing but a foul, scheming, sadistic bastard, but to me, you're something different. I think you're a bastard, and I hate you with every fiber of my being, but for some reason, I still trust you. I would hand myself over to you this very minute if you asked me to. I would follow you to the ends of this world if you told me there would be a life for us there. A life other than this. I would follow you, Gin." she gave her head a little shake. "Even if my death would be the only result, I would trust you, Gin, and I would follow you."
Gin stared at her, drinking in her words, almost made dizzy by their impact on her. She'd never spoken to him quite like this before, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He couldn't stay sided with Rangiku forever. They both knew that. In the end, she would not be able to follow him.
Perhaps it was only he who knew this part of it.
"You're a fool, love…" he replied, turning abruptly.
"Yes," Rangiku responded loudly, hurrying after him. "I've learned that. I am well aware of that. But that's not going to stop me." She stopped, falling behind. "If you truly intended to kill me, Gin, you would have done so ages ago. You never would have let this get this far."
Gin came to a halt, her words striking him like an arrow. There were several occasions where he saw it fit to kill her. He'd been given the perfect opportunity so many times before and yet the girl remained alive, she remained with him, even when she was not physically there.
He could never bring himself to do it. Every time he'd come close, something had prevented him from moving further. Something stopped him from calling the name of his zanpaku-to.
Shinso!
"And you never would have given me this if you didn't think there was a chance of us overcoming this," she continued. "If you didn't think we'd be able to make it through together."
"I didn't give it to you, because of us, Rangiku," he said matter-of-factly, turning back to her. "We had nothing to do with it. I merely wanted to do something decent for a change."
"But you said you didn't even know what this was," Rangiku pointed out. "What if it had proved to be something of no use to me? What then?"
"Then at least I would have tried and the effort would have been enough to redeem me," he answered, his smile almost mocking. "At least in my eyes it would be."
Rangiku found it ironic that Gin's eyes had become even more squinted with that comment, preventing her from seeing them. Rangiku glanced down at the book in her hand, sighing deeply.
"What is it you want me to do with this?" she asked, holding it up for him to see.
Gin's eyes relaxed as he peered down at her, his eyes falling onto the book. "Do with it what you want..." he replied quietly, his voice almost mystical. "I didn't see a thing…"
Rangiku watched as he turned away a final time and began to wander off into the distance. She called out after him, her voice raising although it was clear that they would probably be overheard if she wasn't careful.
"W-Where are you going?" She panted as she caught up with him.
"I can't stay here…" he told her, keeping his focus forward as she walked alongside him.
"Why not?" she asked, frowning.
He shook his head, the smile still not wavering. She wondered how he managed to keep it although it was clear he was disappointed.
"I've been discovered, that's why…" he turned. "I'm sorry, love…"
Without warning, he pulled her to him crushing his lips to hers. Rangiku's arms locked tightly around his neck, allowing his tongue to dance across her lips, finally entering the warm cavern. Rangiku pressed herself to him desperately, feeling vulnerable for nearly the millionth time in the past couple days. She wasn't used to this feeling, nor was she sure she enjoyed it much. It was not like a shinigami to be vulnerable. She had been taught that this was wrong. She had to fight it.
Pulling away, Rangiku pushed him from her. The book had fallen to the ground with their sudden actions and was snatched up by her as she hurried away.
"Rangiku…" Gin called after her.
"No," she protested. "Go!"
"Rangiku…" he repeated.
"Go!" she insisted. "Just…Just go!"
Nodding shortly, Gin started in the other direction. When she was certain he was gone, Rangiku turned to glance behind her. Sure enough, the pale Captain had vanished without a trance.
GINXRANGIKU
Rangiku stared down at the book in her hands. She hadn't paid any attention to the piles of paperwork lying on the desk next to her, but instead, kept her nose buried within the yellowing pages. Aizen's handwriting was difficult to make out at times, but she managed to make out a good portion of it. Her eyes glanced upward occasionally to make sure Hitsugaya had not noticed her actions.
Focusing intently on a particularly difficult passage to comprehend, Rangiku did not notice her Captain standing next to her, peering at the book curiously.
"What is that, Matsumoto?" he asked, his voice breaking her suddenly from her reverie.
Rangiku jumped, closing the book hastily. "N-Nothing. It's nothing."
"Diary?" Hitsugaya arched a fuzzy white eyebrow.
Rangiku nodded quickly. "Yes," she said. "I'm sorry. I-I got a little distracted."
She stuffed the book underneath the piles of paper, hiding it from her prying Captain's eyes. Hitsugaya didn't move from his spot.
"That didn't look like your handwriting," he pointed out.
Rangiku cursed him for having such keen eyesight, and the ability to remain silent for such long times without anyone noticing his presence. "It was…" said slowly.
"Are you sure?" he continued, as though he were trying to pry the truth from her.
"Yes," she answered. "I'm sure that I know my own handwriting…"
Hitsugaya sighed deeply, shoving his hands into his sleeves. Nodding, he moved back toward his desk, busying himself with his papers. Barely visible from behind his work, Rangiku made sure that he could not see her actions as she pulled the book out once again, slowly writing down as much as she could from it's pages.
…at which time the Hollows will be released unto the Soul Society…
A/N: Alright, so there it is. Yes, I have some things planned for the storyline of this, but if any of you have any ideas, I will present full credit in my future A/Ns to anything you provide and I choose to use. For some reason, I've been on a really bad stretch of writer's block and it's becoming increasingly harder to write these chapters. If anyone has any ideas on how to get my inspiration flowing again, those suggestions are greatly welcomed as well. Thank you all so very very much! Please review in the meantime!
