Chapter Six: Shopping With Momo
Rangiku felt bad that she had caused her fiancé to drink.
She knew he hated to drink and hated being hung over even worse.
So she decided she was going to make up for that. Even if it was the stupidest thing she had ever done in her life. Well, according to her opinion.
What Rangiku was going to do today was shop. And not just by herself or for herself like she normally would. Nope, Rangiku Matsumoto, lieutenant of the tenth division of the thirteen Gotei was going to shop with her mortal enemy and Toushiro's childhood friend: Momo Hinamori, lieutenant of the fifth division of the thirteen Gotei and the biggest bitch in Rangiku's book.
So, the next morning, after their little fling in their office, Rangiku woke up early. She showered, shaved and dressed before Toushiro even heard her and left their apartment to spend the day with Momo.
"So, where are we going?" Momo asked cheerfully.
"Listen Momo", the tall blonde stopped short in front of the brunette. "I'm only doing this because my Toushiro was so unhappy about me not wanting you at our wedding. But just so we're clear, if you ever hurt him or try to come in between us again, I will not hesitate to take you down. Do you understand?" she stared at the younger shinigami coldly.
"Yes ma'am", the brunette gulped.
"Great", Rangiku chirped clasping her hands together. "Now, let's find you a dress".
Meanwhile . . .
Toushiro woke up to an empty bed that morning.
He wondered where his lovely and gorgeous fiancé had run off to but decided he was tired and would sleep a longer.
When he rolled over to get into a better position (and not have to look at the empty spot beside him) he saw a pink piece of stationary laying on the nightstand beside his bed.
As he picked up the paper, he read:
Morning honey. Just had a few more wedding
errands to take care of this morning. Be
back later. Love you. Rangiku.
Well, now that he knew where she was, the question was, what else could there possibly be left to get?
Deciding he didn't want to wait to find out, Toushiro got up, showered and dressed and headed over to the fifth division to ask its captain where she could be.
As he stepped through the corridors of the fifth division, he made sure to check around every corner and lower his reiatsu just in case Momo was lurking around anywhere.
It wasn't that he hated Momo it was just that she was a lot to deal with. What with her being upset and depressed all the time and her and Rangiku at each other's throats, he just couldn't handle running in to her.
"She isn't here ya know", a voice said behind his back.
"Ahhh!" Toushiro leaped in the air unsheathing his zanpakuto. "Oh. It's just you Abarai-taicho", he turned around resheathing his zanpakuto.
"Momo isn't here so you don't have to worry about running into her. Wasn't that why you were lurking around my division like a thief or something?" he asked the silver haired taicho.
"Uh . . . well, sorta but that's not why I came. I came to ask you have you seen Rangiku by any chance", he looked up at the tall red haired taicho.
"Yeah, she came by early this morning then she and Momo left", Renji informed him.
"Did they say where they were going?" he asked Renji.
"I think she said shopping to help Momo pick out a dress", he answered Toushiro.
"But why would she want to do that?" he scratched his head.
"Beats me", Renji smiled then walked away. "Maybe she just wanted to make it up to you", he called over his shoulder before leaving Toushiro to his thoughts.
Toushiro couldn't understand. Rangiku hated Momo, heck, he was mad at Momo.
Momo hated the idea of him marrying Rangiku and not because she was jealous and liked Toushiro but because she thought Rangiku was a whore and wanted him to be just as miserable as she was. Momo really wanted him to devote his time to her needs and her needs alone but yet she couldn't love him the way he had loved her.
Toushiro had done everything imaginable to win her over. He even had become a captain for her but did she appreciate it? Nope. All she cared about was her captain Aizen.
He didn't need Momo. He had the love a wonderful woman and a great lieutenant. What more could he ask for?
Then it suddenly hit him.
Rangiku took Momo shopping for a dress, which could only mean one thing: that she had changed her mind and would let Momo come to the wedding.
He didn't know whether to smile or curse.
Sure, he was glad that Rangiku had changed her mind but he knew how much this would bother her. Rangiku hated Momo more than she ever hated anyone, even Gin.
So why is she doing this? He asked himself.
Because she loves you, you idiot. His ice dragon for a zanpakuto snapped at him.
But she hates Momo for what she called her and told me she didn't want her at the wedding. What would make her change her mind?
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you were hung over from drinking and she knows how you hate to drink and only drink when something really bothers you.
Is that why she thinks I drank the other night?
Well, that's what Haineko told me.
I didn't mean to make her worry and I certainly didn't want her to invite Momo to the wedding if it would discomfort her.
I'm sure you didn't but the thing is, Rangiku loves you and she knows how much it would mean for you to have Momo at the wedding and that's why she is doing this.
Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure I want Momo at the wedding.
Why? Is it because you know how unhappy it would make Rangiku?
No. It's because I don't think I have someone at my wedding who really hates the woman I'm about to marry and almost tried to kill because her taicho told her to.
But I thought Momo was your friend.
I thought so to, but for her to say that stuff about Rangiku and almost kill me, well I just can't let that go. The Momo I knew would have never done those things, but this Momo is not her. My childhood friend is gone and all that is left is the psychopath who would do any and everything to please Aizen and I can't have that.
Master, what's wrong?
I don't know but I think Rangiku was right. Momo is only putting on a front and is really trying to split us up. And since neither Rangiku nor I will call the wedding off, I think she might do something crazy as to actually take Rangiku out of the picture. Permanently. And that scares me.
Well, do you have any proof of this master?
Not right now but I do plan to investigate further.
Right. I'll see what Haineko and all the other zanpakutos know.
You do that. I'll keep a close eye on Momo.
"What about this one?" Rangiku held up a peach silk gown in her arms.
"Hm . . . I don't know . . . too peachy", Momo answered her.
For over an hour it had been one turn down after another. 'Too pink', 'too short', 'too long', 'too dull', 'too shiny', 'not my color', 'it makes me look fat', 'this one makes me look like a hooker', on and on and on. This girl hated everything or was just trying to get on Rangiku's nerves, which she was doing quite well.
"Momo, not that I really want to get back to work, but I do have a job to do that I really must be getting back to", she smiled as politely as possible at the small brunette. "How about black? You can never go wrong with black", she pointed out.
"Um . . . maybe", Momo shrugged.
"Plus, black makes you look really slim", she added.
"Um . . . okay", she chirped then ran over to a nearby rack full of black dresses. "I like this one", she pulled off a long, satin spaghetti strapped dress with a pink bow in the back.
"Perfect", Rangiku smiled, happy that she had finally chosen a dress and she could leave. "I'll just let you try that on and I'll go find the sales clerk", she chirped leaving Momo to change.
A few minutes later, Rangiku brought back the sales clerk.
"So is this the dress you will be purchasing?" the sales clerk asked.
"Yes ma'am", Rangiku answered her.
"Okay", the blonde smiled at her and ran back to the register in front of the store.
"Now are you sure that was the dress you wanted?" Rangiku glared at Momo.
"I'm positive", Momo rolled her eyes at her.
"Well alright then", Rangiku beamed. "Let's go pay for that dress".
When they approached the cash register, Rangiku nearly fainted when she heard how much Momo's dress was.
"How much did you say?" Rangiku asked.
"That will be four eighty. Cash or credit?" the blonde woman smiled.
Rangiku knew Toushiro was going to kill her for charging a five hundred dollar dress on his card. But she had no choice because all her card had been maxed out.
"Credit", she stuttered as she handed the sales clerk Toushiro's barely used yet limited credit card.
"Okay", the woman smiled taking the credit card.
It seemed that the sales clerk was only capable of smiling and Rangiku was sick of seeing that god awful Barbie look-a-like smile. If she smiled on more time, Rangiku thought she was seriously going to punch out her pearly whites.
"Your total comes to five hundred and twelve dollars and sixty-four cents. Thanks for shopping Dresses 'R' Us and have a nice day", the woman smiled and waved.
Rangiku gave her a fiery glare and the Barbie cashier quickly leaped behind cash register, trembling in fear and ceasing her damn smiling and waving.
"That was so much fun", Momo exclaimed when they were half way back to the Seireitei. "We should go shopping more often", she added.
"Uh yeah . . . sure", Rangiku said after a moment.
"Hey, listen Rangiku, I'm sorry about all the stuff I said before. Really, I am. I know how much you hate me but I'm glad you really invited me to the wedding. It really means a lot to me to see Toushiro getting married. So thank you. For everything", she said.
"No problem. Just remember what I said this morning, if you do anything to split us apart, I won't hesitate to take you down."
"Okay", Momo gulped.
"Good", Rangiku nodded then left Momo to go met Toushiro.
"Honey, I'm back", she shouted into the apartment as she unlocked the door. "Honey", she shouted again when there was no answer. "I guess he isn't here", she shrugged then went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
About an hour later, she heard the door open and footsteps step through the threshold.
Did I remember to lock back the door? She thought to herself.
Rangiku quickly and quietly grabbed a knife from the wood block beside her and crept towards the doorway.
As the footsteps got closer, she raised the knife above her head and jumped out, "Got you!"
Her intruder slapped the knife out of her hand and pinned her to the wall.
"Toushiro?" she said as she looked up into teal eyes and white hair.
"Rangiku?" he said looking down at her. "Just what the hell were you trying to do, kill me?" he released her and stepped back.
"I thought you were an intruder, so I armed myself, just to be safe", she replied trying her best to smile.
"Where's your zanpakuto or more importantly, why did you think I was an intruder?" he glared at her.
"Well, my zanpakuto is in the bedroom and I thought you were an intruder because you didn't say anything when you came in and . . ." she trailed off averting his gaze.
"And you left the door unlocked again, right?" he glared at her even more.
"Well, I just forgot. I'm sorry. But the good news is, I didn't kill you", she chirped, smiling up at him.
"And the bad news?" he walked around her and headed toward the living room.
"I charged five hundred and twelve dollars and sixty-four cents to your credit card", she said softly.
"You what?!" he screamed.
"See, I took Momo shopping for a dress to wear to the wedding and she picked out—"
"Speaking of Momo", he cut her off. "You don't have to invite Momo to the wedding just for my sake. If you really don't want her there, I'll understand", he came over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"But Toushiro", she pulled away from him. "Momo is your childhood friend and plus she really wants to see you get married", she looked at him.
"But sweetheart", he looked back at her. "I don't want to feel uncomfortable at your own wedding".
"I promise. I'll be fine. Really", she smiled at him.
"As long as your fine with it", he peered at her.
"Yes, I'm sure", she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and headed back to the kitchen.
"Now speaking of this credit card charge", he followed her into the kitchen.
"Un huh", she nodded. "I think I smell something burning".
"Don't try to change the subject", he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into him. "But since you insist", he leaned down so his lips were inches from her ear. "I have something else on my mind".
"Oh you do now?" she cooed in his ear.
"Yes ma'am I do", he lifted her into his arms and started towards the bedroom.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love you and how happy I am to be marrying you?" she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Every single time we lie in bed together", he teased.
"Well, then you won't mind if I tell you again, now will you?" she teased back.
"I look forward to it", he nuzzled her neck then carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him.
That's it for chapter six. Please review and tell me what you think.