Hello readers! I decided to address you here, after the prologue.
This is my newest piece of work; a GinRan fanfic!
I just love this pairing so much. I love that they were best friends for so long.
So that's why I decided to write my fanfiction from the beginning.
As you will notice as this fanfiction goes on, it is not written in chapter format.
After the prologue, each "chapter" is a series of stories from a certain portion
of their life. Each portion has a title and date. The dates do not jump from past to
future to past. They are in chronological order.
There are five portions in this particular series, the Rukongai series, from
when Gin and Rangiku were just children. It begins with year 0, because
Rangiku only started counting when she met Gin :D I also included the age
that Gin and Rangiku appear at the time, because they age more slowly than
the years that pass!
I'll shut up and let you enjoy now! I do not own Bleach or any of its characters!
Please review and let me know what you think!
It Was Always You
Written by Illuminate the Shadows
Rukongai Series
The Beginning
September 29th, Year 0
Gin appears to be 7
Rangiku appears to be 6
His young eyes had taken in more than he cared to see. He watched people fight for shelter, babies left alone in allies to die, and people starving every day in Rukongai. Even he, himself, sometimes starved for days when he could not find food. And when he saw those people fighting, he turned and went the other way. When he saw the babies crying in their baskets, he kept on walking. So why, he asked himself, didn't he keep walking when he saw her? Why did he change direction and walk down the hill to stop beside her collapsed figure?
He held out a piece of fruit. She stared at it for a long time, life slowly flooding back into her blue-gray eyes. "Yer hungry right? If yer hungry, then ya must have spiritual energy."
She sat up weakly and took the persimmon. Her hands were shaking. "I guess so." She took a bite, and then another. "You too?" He nodded, sitting down beside her as she finished the fruit. She had short ginger hair that framed her face. Her clothes were dirty and ragged; no different from his. She must be no older than him.
"Better?"
She nodded. "Thank you..."
"What's yer name?"
"Rangiku," she murmured, gazing at him curiously. His eyes were so squinted that she couldn't even tell what color they were. "I'm Rangiku."
"Rangiku. I'm Gin."
"Gin?" He nodded. "Gin." She wrinkled her little nose.
"What's wrong?"
"That's such a weird name!"
Just Like You
May 3rd, Year 8
Gin appears to be 8
Rangiku appears to be 7
"Gin!" Her small feet stirred up dust as she ran after him. "Gin!" He halted, and she stopped too. He didn't turn around. "... Gin? Look what I found." Discreetly, he wiped the blood from his hand on the inside of his kimono before he turned around. A mischievous grin curved his lips.
"Look'it tha snake." He touched the little scaly creature upon Rangiku's palms. A forked tongue darted out to taste the air. Gin's smirk disappeared. "Ya oughta put 'im down, Ran. He migh' be poisonous."
The girl cringed and gently set the snake amongst the grass where it slithered away. "I didn't think about that." She raised her head to find that her own snake had also slithered away. "... Gin?"
"Over here."
Rangiku pushed her way through the undergrowth, stumbling on a tree root sticking out of the ground, and came upon Gin crouching by a patch of flowers. "What are you doing...?"
"Shh." Curiously, the girl kneeled beside him. A pink butterfly clung to Gin's index finger, wings fluttering in the breeze. Rangiku watched in awe. She had never seen Gin in such a gentle state.
"Yer snake was like me, so I figured I'd find somethin' tha' reminded me'a you."
Her lips curved into a small smile.
Stormy Nights
August 8th, Year 14
Gin appears to be 10
Rangiku appears to be 9
"It's gonna storm t'night," Gin murmured as he unceremoniously dropped the firewood into the pile. "We'll havta go ta the shelter."
"It's always crowded there."
"Do ya wanna sit in tha rain an' cold all nigh'?" The ginger-haired girl shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest. "Then come on." He held out a hand. She took it, and she didn't let go until they had walked the eleven blocks and arrived at the shelter. Sometimes adults would be refused when it was overcrowded, but they always let children in. Gin found a corner they could sit in and wait it out.
The roof was old and beginning to leak. But it was better than no roof. More and more people began to loiter within the crowded shelter, but no one bothered them. Hell, even these people didn't have the hearts to kick two kids out of their corner.
Rangiku clung to his arm for the long span of time that came between their arrival and the handing out of food. She ate the bread and rice they were given. But the moment the very first flash of light lit the room through the window, she buried her face in his shoulder. Her entire body shook as the thunder cracked overhead.
"Shh, s'okay Rangiku," he mumbled, touching her wrist. The young girl whimpered softly and crawled into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he listened to the wordless murmur of the people and the pitter-patter of the rain outside. He felt her tense on his lap with each rumble of thunder. He had quickly learned that Rangiku was afraid of thunderstorms, although he didn't quite understand why. To him, they were majestic.
"Rangiku, when's yer birthday?" he murmured into her ear in an attempt to distract her. The technique usually worked.
"I-I don't know," she whispered softly. "I don't k-know how long I was in Rukongai before... I mean, I didn't start counting the days until I met you." Her small hand clutched at the fabric above his heart as another clap of thunder unsettled the night air.
"How 'bout this," he murmured quickly, desperate the take her mind off her fear before she began to cry. Tears were already welling up in her eyes. He hated it when she cried. "How 'bout we make yer birthday the day we met? Since ya only started countin' then?"
She blinked once, causing a tear to trace down her cheek as she smiled faintly. "Okay." Gin reached up to wipe the tear away with his thumb.
"Dun' cry. It'll go away."
And when morning rolled in, the thunder was gone, just as he had promised. Only, Rangiku wasn't awake to notice. So an exhausted little boy could be seen carrying a small, sleeping girl on his back eleven blocks to their makeshift home.
Promises
June 16th, Year 22
Gin appears to be 12
Rangiku appears to be 11
"They move so perfect. Like water. Or maybe like air."
The silver-haired boy's smirk stretched across his face. "Ah, tha's just somethin' ya'd say, Ran." He leaned back, hands flat on the grass and legs outstretched. Rangiku lay beside him on her belly, watching the students of the academy train in the field. During the summer months, they trained outside a lot. Rangiku liked to come watch them from their hidden spot beneath the oak tree.
"Don't you think it's cool?"
"I guess," he replied halfheartedly, shrugging his shoulders for emphasis. Rangiku shot him a look that nearly made him feel guilty.
"Well I think it's cool."
"Jeez Ran, ya sound like ya wanna join 'em..."
"Too much violence for me. I don't really like fighting. It's really dangerous."
"Ya could always be on'a those healin' shinigami."
Rangiku turned to look at him oddly, and he immediately wanted to take those words back. "How do you know that?"
He calmly shrugged his shoulders again. "If they figh' all tha time, then they gotta have someone ta heal 'em, stupid."
Rangiku wrinkled her nose – something that Gin always found cute. "You're the stupid one! I bet they all can heal. They all learn how to fight, don't they?"
Gin kept his mouth shut this time; it was a rhetorical question anyway. "Want some more persimmons?" The ginger-haired girl eagerly took one from the handkerchief he had wrapped them up in, munching on it as they watched the shinigami begin to practice kidou. It was quiet for a long time, the sound of the birds' chirping above breaking the silence every so often. Rangiku didn't find the silence awkward or uncomfortable. She and Gin sat in silence together quite often. Sometimes back to back, sometimes side by side. When they didn't have anything to say, they still enjoyed each other's presence.
"Gin?"
"Mn?"
"Where did you go last night?"
Silence found its way between them again. He felt her icy blue eyes on him. Sad, yet curious. Betrayed, yet intrigued. Accusing. He couldn't lie to her.
"Ah, I can' tell ya tha', Ran-chan. At least, not yet."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "That's not an answer."
"I'd rather tell ya tha' than lie ta ya, Ran."
Rangiku looked down at the blades of grass threading between her fingers. She didn't want to look at him, just in case she could see his eyes. He always used them to his advantage, and they almost always made her give in. But, at the same time, they made her feel special. No one else saw them, as if they were reserved for her.
"I don't like it when you keep secrets from me," she mumbled to the daisy poking up through the grass. "I don't like it when you leave because I don't know when you'll come back."
"Awh, but I always do come back, righ'?" She nodded and shrugged. He hated keeping secrets too, but it was for her. He had to do it. "Listen, Ran." He waited until she raised her eyes to look at him. "I can't tell ya now, but someday ya'll know. And every time I leave, I'll always come back ta ya."
A small sniffle, then she smiled faintly. "Promise?"
Slits of diamond blue gazed at her evenly, and he held out his pinky. She reached out to twine her smaller finger with his.
"I promise."
Change
December 23rd, Year 28
Gin appears to be 13
Rangiku appears to be 12
Winter was settling in. Rukongai always got quite cold in the winter. She thought it very lucky that they had found an abandoned shed in the outskirts of downtown before it had begun to snow. Bending over to pick up a branch from the forest floor, she scowled to herself. It was more along the lines of Gin helping her clear out the old junk left behind in the shed, the disappearing like the wind for nearly two months. She had been finding her own food and gathering firewood alone every day. But she knew he would come back. He would come back and she would yell at him for just leaving suddenly and reappearing whenever he pleased. He would say he was sorry, and she would ignore him for a few days. But, she would forgive him. She always did.
Tucking the branch into her basket of firewood she'd been gathering all morning, she continued on along the forest path, bare feet padding lightly on dirt. She would have to find fabric to make shoes so their feet wouldn't freeze when they had to go search for food in the snow. Maybe he would come back today. She really didn't mind living alone; she was independent and could take care of herself when she needed to. And although she got a bit lonely sometimes, there was a stray cat that kept her company. What bothered her most was sleeping alone. She didn't like the emptiness beside her and the silence where the sound of his even breathing should be.
A figure ahead of her caught her attention. Crossing her path, the robed person walked quickly. She recognized that walk.
"Gin...?" She dropped the basket. "Gin!" Her feet hit the ground as she ran after the boy. "Oi, Gin!"
Finally, he stopped. Rangiku came to a halt a few yards behind him, glaring. "Baka, why did you make me call your name three times?" No reply. Looking him over, the girl took notice of his clothes. "... Are those shinigami robes? Where'd you get those?"
Gin turned his head partially to the side, and suddenly, Rangiku felt scared. Scared of what he was going to say? Scared of the specks of blood split on his cheek? Scared of him?
"Gin, what's going on?" He hated the apprehension in her voice, as if he was a monster. Perhaps he was. Perhaps it would be better this way. Part of him still clung to the hope that she would not follow him.
"I'm gonna become a shinigami, Ran."
She was quiet for a moment. "... Why would you do that?"
"So ya don' havta cry anymore. I'm gonna change things. I'm gonna make it so ya have no reason ta cry."
He felt her eyes on his back, staring, frightened. He wondered if he was as frightened as her. There was another long pause before she spoke. "Then I'm coming with you."
He turned around slowly. There was determination in her eyes. She was still the same stubborn girl he'd met decades ago. "Tha's just like ya, Ran-chan."
Truthfully, part of him was relieved. He wasn't sure he was ready to be without her just yet.