Gin watched quietly as his best friend awoke from her afternoon nap, stretching languidly and yawning with pink lips opened wide. Her blue eyes opened tiredly before they focused on the silver haired man by the doorway.

Immediately, her lips curved into a full blown, bright smile.

"Gin! What a surprise! It's been so long since you've visited me," Rangiku sang, teasing him lightly for not coming to see her for so long.

Gin smiled.

Rangiku walked over to him and embraced him tightly, ducking her head into his chest. "I thought you had forgotten about me," she said before pulling away, intending to look for her scarf.

Gin brought his hand up to hold the back of her head in the palm of his hand to prevent her from leaving.

"Hey, Ran, I have a question I've always been meaning to ask you."

"Uh?" she asked, curious, looking up at him.

He grinned. "Why do you sleep so much? You don't need to grow anymore," he said while glancing quickly at her large chest before looking away.

Rangiku remained silent.

Gin looked back at her questioningly. He watched as something flashed across her face. Her lips were pursed together in though and her brows furrowed together. After a moment, she shrugged.

"Time passes much faster when you're asleep. If you didn't make me wait so long, I wouldn't have to sleep all the time," she said, teasing him again before quickly slipping out of his arms.

Gin laughed. "Gomen, then."

She laughed along with him, her heart not really into it. "Where…that scarf, I was wearing it. Where'd it goooo?" she whined, starting to become annoyed that she couldn't find the pink scarf Gin had given her anywhere.

Gin coughed lightly. She looked up and saw the scarf in his hands. "Hey, where'd you find that?" she asked, reaching for it. Abruptly, Gin wrapped the scarf around her neck once and pulled her to him gently. Rangiku fell against his thin body lightly, looking up questioningly at him.

"Is something bothering you, Ran?" Gin asked lightly with a smile on his face.

Rangiku looked away. "No…there's nothing."

Gin's smile faded as he saw the distant expression on Rangiku's face but decided not to press it. He immediately put his smile back on when she looked up at him when he didn't answer.

"Hey, let's get somethin' to eat," he suggested.

She nodded, her face not as exuberant as it usually was and he let her go, leaving the room first to leave her to her thoughts.

Rangiku pondered over the innocent question Gin had asked her while she played idly with her scarf. Maybe it had become a habit picked up from her taichou?

She shook her head.

After a while, Rangiku finally came to realize the reason why she slept so much.

Gin had only taken a few steps out into the open before he felt Rangiku envelop him in a huge hug from behind. He stayed still and waited to hear what she had to say.

"You remember how we first met, Gin?"

He smiled fondly, remembering. "Un. Yeah. You were sleeping then, too."

She smiled.

"Yeah."

"I sleep because I hope that you'll be there the next time I wake."

Gin was stunned for a moment and then started to feel something tug at his heartstrings. "Gomen, Rangiku," he said this time, sincerely, knowing that his best friend needed him as much as he needed her.

Sorry that I'm never around.

"It's okay. After all, you came today, didn't you?"

Gin leaned his head back against hers and looked up at the sky. Unknowingly, he counted the number of clouds in the sky.

Just like the day we first met.

"Yeah."