Chapter Eleven: Lovers Reunite
Rangiku walked nervously behind her taicho wondering what exactly he could be thinking.
"Uh . . . taicho . . . " she gulped. "Why are we doing this?" she asked.
"We're doing this to see how much you really love me", he answered oh-so-casually, as if he were talking about the weather.
Rangiku looked to Ichigo and the others, her clear blue eyes pleading with all of theirs for help.
Ichigo just shrugged and the others followed suit.
Rangiku was on her own and there was no one to help her. Not even her little taicho.
"Draw your weapon", he called from across the battlefield.
Rangiku just stared at her taicho and shook her head. "I can't. I won't!" she shouted back to him.
"Matsumoto-fukutaicho, that was an order!", he yelled gripping the hilt of his own zanpakuto.
"Please taicho, don't make me do this", she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't want to fight you!"
"Tough", he shouted lunging straight over her head and unsheathing his zanpakuto.
Rangiku unsheathed hers in the nick of time and counter acted his assault.
"Good", he smirked. "Your skills haven't completely diminished yet".
"Taicho please!" she cried again as she block another one of his attacks.
"Fight me fukutaicho!" he growled striking his sword at her head.
"Taicho, please, come to your senses", she dodged it and ran behind him.
He turned around and swooped the sword over her form but she leaped in the air, landing on the dull side of the blade.
"Taicho, snap out of it!" she grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
He pulled his zanpakuto from underneath her and let her fall to the ground. Then he aimed his zanpakuto at her throat and gave her one of his coldest icy glares.
"I love you Rangiku and I always will, but if you don't love me enough to make our relationship work, then do me this one last favor", he tilted her head with the tip of his zanpakuto. "Kill me now so I won't have to suffer watching you live happily without me", he finished.
Rangiku couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Her taicho, her friend, the man she loved so much she wanted to marry him, wanted her to end his life.
No. Rangiku wouldn't, couldn't do something so cruel as to kill the man that she loved.
She had already felt guilty for almost ending his life the first time. No. she couldn't watch him die again. She couldn't sit there and see his body bleeding, and in agony waiting for death to come. No, she wouldn't do it.
"No", she said to her taicho.
"What was that?" he cupped a hand behind his ear.
"I said no damit!" she shouted. "I can't watch you die. I can't watch you die knowing I'm the one that killed you", she pushed his zanpakuto away and stood and pointed her zanpakuto at his head. "New game", she said. "How about we make a deal?" she asked.
"Alright", he smirked.
"If you win", she began. "I'll do as you ask but if I win, you promise to live and you and I remain friends", she smiled.
"Nope, no deal", he pushed away her zanpakuto. "How about . . . if I win, you marry me but if you win, I'll kill myself", he smiled, as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"But taicho—"
"Take it or leave it", he smiled again.
"Fine", Rangiku sighed. She knew that once his mind was made up, you either had to go along with it or give up and let him do it his way anyhow. So, she decided she'd let him have it his way.
"Good", his smile spread even further. "Let us began and this time, no more holding back", he smiled even more.
Rangiku thought it was creepy but knew why he was doing this. He was trying to hide the pain of losing her and he was doing way better than she gave him credit for. Still, she could she the pain in his eyes and she couldn't bare to watch anymore. She wanted her old taicho back, she wanted the Toushiro she had fell and was still falling in love with.
Rangiku now knew what she had to do. She had to fake fight with Toushiro, let him win but make it look good all at the same time.
She could do it but she had to make sure he couldn't tell. Or he'd stop the fight and kill himself anyway.
She didn't want to hurt his pride as well as his heart. She needed to give it her all but not kill him or defeat him in the process.
Sounded simple enough but doing it would be the tricky part. So she just hoped her plan would work and she would have the same old Toushiro back and they could finally be together and get married.
Rangiku raised her sword and shunpo-ed over to Toushiro.
Toushiro dodged her attack and followed through with his own. He cut the sleeve of her shihakusho but did not cut the skin.
If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was toying with her.
Deciding she was not happy with his little game, she took to the air and landed on his blade, slashing at his head.
He dodged it and flipped backwards, causing her to stumble but not completely fall.
She cart-wheeled after him and kicked him in the face.
He faltered a little but did not fall. Instead, he smirked, grabbed her leg and flipped her over. She landed on her rear end and peered over her. "Ready to surrender?" he smiled.
"Never", she smiled back. "You're going down", she leaped to her feet and pushed him back.
She wasn't even concerned with winning or losing anymore. She was just so happy to be fighting her taicho the way they used to spar. He was always so alive, as was she, when they fought.
And after they had had enough and were all sweaty and the adrenaline began pumping through their veins, they would make love until the sun came up.
Rangiku realized how stupid she had been. All this time, he was in love with her, not Momo. How could she let that Aizen love puppet get the best of her?
Rangiku had always prided herself in her abilities to listen to her heart and not her head. Then again, she did used to date Gin. And in her heart, she always knew he was no good, but her head wouldn't let go of the memories she shared with him and now, she was making the same stupid mistake all over again.
Here Toushiro was fighting to save their relationship and what was she doing? She was hating him for that silly kiss with Momo and causing him even more pain.
Rangiku had promised herself a long time ago that she would always be there for her taicho and never let anyone, including herself, hurt him the way Gin did her and the way Momo had done him.
So, Rangiku raised her zanpakuto one more time and readied for Toushiro's assault. As he shunpo-ed towards her, Rangiku dropped her zanpakuto to the ground, gather Toushiro in her breasts and hugged him like never before.
"Oh I forgive you Shiro-chan", she pressed him further into her bosoms.
"Angiku, I ant eethe", he mumbled.
"What did you say?" she pulled him out of her breasts of death.
"I said", he gasped for air. "I can't breathe" he grabbed his chest.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that taicho", she patted him on the head.
"You know I hate when you do that", he growled.
"I know, but . . ." she kneeled down in from of him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "But I really missed you and I thought you had left me again", she cried.
"Come on Rangiku", he chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere. I came here to get you, remember?" he smoothed her hair.
"Really?" she looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes.
"Of course I came for you, I love you", he kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"I'm flattered taicho, but that's not what I meant", she shook her head and smiled. "I meant, you not going anymore", she said.
"Oh", he smiled then kissed her full on the lips. When they broke apart, he smiled again and said, "I was never going anywhere. I love you way too much to do something crazy like that".
"Oh Toushiro", she buried her head into his chest. "I was such an idiot. I should have known you could never hurt me but I didn't", she cried. "I thought you really wanted to be with Momo, when all along, you were trying to be with me. I'm such an idiot Toushiro. Can you ever forgive me?" she looked up into his teal smiling eyes as tears ran from her own. "Please . . ."
"Of course I forgive you Rangiku", he beamed hugging her tightly to his chest. "I forgave you the moment I saw your face this morning walking into Ichigo's house".
"Thank you Toushiro", she nuzzled her face further into his chest.
"No, thank you", he fell to ground in front of her and cried along with her. Never letting go of her from his arms.
"Hello, room service?" Toushiro said into the receiver.
"Yes, this is room service, how may I help you?" a perky woman said from the other end.
"Um yes, can I get a bucket of champagne, ten bowls of strawberries, a gallon of chocolate sauce and . . . oh yeah, strawberry whip cream", he answered the woman.
"So that's . . . a bucket of champagne . . . which kind would you like sir?" she stopped mid-sentence.
"Uh . . . what kinds do you have?" he asked.
"We have blueberry, blackberry, strawberry—"
"Strawberry", he cut her off then thought. "Uh no, I think I might want to try blackberry", he smiled on his end of the phone.
"Are you sure sir?" the perkiness dropped in her voice and a bit of annoyance seeped in.
"Yes ma'am, I'm sure", he smiled happily not caring how annoyed he had made the woman. Toushiro was just so happy to finally have Rangiku back and was going to let nothing ruin his day.
"Okay", she huffed on the other end of the phone. "That's one bucket of champagne, blackberry, ten bowls of strawberries, a gallon of chocolate sauce . . . a gallon of CHOCOLATE SAUCE?!" the woman shrieked.
"Yes", Toushiro smirked on his end of the phone. "Is that a problem?" he asked.
"Uh . . . n-no sir . . . i-i-it is not a problem", she stuttered. "Again", she sighed. "That's one bucket of champagne, blackberry, ten bowls of strawberries, a g-gallon of ch-ch-chocolate sauce, and a can of strawberry whip cream", she finished.
"Make that strawberry whip cream a gallon as well", Toushiro added.
"Uh . . . y-y-yes sir", he heard a clatter in the background, as if the woman had fell back in her chair. (she did)
"Your total comes to 1,874 yen", she said after a moment. "Would you like to pay for that in cash, credit, or debit sir?" she asked.
"Cash", Toushiro replied.
"C-c-cash", she fell again.
"Hello? Hello?" he shouted into the receiver. "Ma'am . . . ma'am . . ."
"We'll send someone right up to your room to deliver your order right away", a man answered the phone. "Have a nice evening sir".
"Thank you", then he hung up.
Was that Renji's voice? he thought to himself. Nah.
About an hour later, there came at knock at the door.
"Hello", Toushiro said as he opened the door.
"Hi ya", a man in a black slacks with a white shirt and apron with red hair waved.
"Renji?" Toushiro blinked his eyes repeatedly. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.
"One, to deliver your food", he grinned then added, "And two, to wish you luck", he held up two thumps.
"Oh you did, did you?" Toushiro smirked. "So, when did you get a job here?" he asked curiously.
"About a month or so ago", Renji replied. "I figured I would need one to make money and support Tatsuki. She may seem sweet and innocent, but that girl loves to shop. Almost as bad as Matsumoto. So I figured I should get a job to make ends meet back in Soul Society. But here, I'm as a rich as the mayor or something", he laughed.
"I see", Toushiro nodded.
"So, where do you want all this chocolate sauce?" Renji asked.
"Uh . . . you can put some on the bowls of strawberries and the rest . . . ", he smirked at Renji. "Melt and pour into the bathtub", he smiled.
"Are you serious?!" Renji gawked at the squad ten captain.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" he smirked gathering a few cans of whipped cream and spraying some on top of the strawberries.
"Abarai sir, we're done setting up", one of the other room service men informed him.
"Good", Renji nodded and followed them out to the door. "Good luck Hitsugaya-taicho", he called over his shoulder.
"Thank you Abarai-taicho", he nodded as Renji shut the door behind him.
Now all Toushiro had to do was go retrieve the guest of honor and let the festivities begin.
"Will you stop biting your nails so I can do them", Rukia snapped at the fidgeting strawberry blonde.
"I'm sorry. It's just . . . ", she stared out the window. "I'm so nervous and excited and anxious all at the same time. This will be our first time together since the breakup. How will he act? How will he feel? How will he—"
"Rangiku!" Rukia shouted in her face. "He will be the same as he always was, the man you fell in love with" she said a bit more calmly.
"It's just . . . I've put Toushiro through so much pain and agony", she cried.
"You sure as hell have", Ichigo piped in.
"Ichigo", Rukia scowled at him.
"He's right though", Rangiku laughed bitterly. "I have put him through so much. I nearly got him killed when he came to rescue me from Gin and now . . . ", she looked down at her feet. "I could have nearly killed him again".
"But the important thing is you didn't", Ichigo said walking over to her. He placed a hand over her shoulder and smiled down at her. "The fact that you feel guilty proves how much you truly love him. And I'm sure he knows that. Ya know, Toushiro is a lot smarter than you give him credit. How about putting a little more faith in him, eh?"
"I will", Rangiku smiled back feeling comfort in Ichigo's words.
"How about I finish getting you ready for your date?" Rukia cut in.
"Oh right", Rangiku turned around and let Rukia finished doing her nails.
After Rukia finished doing her nails, Ichigo helped pick out her dress.
"So, what about this one?" she held up a green one with pink sequin flowers all over it.
"What are you, going to are garden party?" he laughed.
"Ichigo", Rukia slapped him on the back of his head.
"Well she does", his grimaced holding the back of his head.
"Well", Rukia took a look at the dress. "It does make you look like a flower", Rukia stated then walked back into the kitchen. "Ichigo, your soufflé is on fire", Rukia shouted.
"Oh shit!" he ran, more like hyper sped to the kitchen. "Oh man! And it was so perfect too", he cried taking the soufflé out of the oven.
"We can make another one", Rukia came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Ichigo intertwined his fingers with hers and smiled, "That's okay. I wanted dinner to be perfect but as long as you're sitting at the table beside me, it will be", then he turned around and pulled Rukia in for a deep and passionate kiss.
Rangiku really had to smile at the two of them. They really did let nothing get in the way of loving each other. Not a kiss, not a fight, and not even the disasters of this world or Soul Society. It was as if they had promised to love each other to the end of time and would let nothing stop that.
Rangiku realized she had really been foolish all this time and should have let nothing, especially a little twit like Momo, get in the way of their love.
But she had and realized it had almost cost her the man of her dreams.
So, she decided she wasn't going to wait any longer. She was going to go see Toushiro and love him until the end of time. Or at least until her breath gave out and she couldn't anymore. (the 'love' refers to lovemaking. Just in case some of you didn't know)
"I have to go", Rangiku ran past the kissing couple and grabbed her purse.
"Wait . . . where are you going", Rukia called after her. "You still have to finish getting ready", she shouted as Rangiku closed the door on her words.
Rangiku didn't care if she looked her best or not, she couldn't, wouldn't wait any longer. She was going to make love to her man and she was going to do it right now.
Just as Rangiku turned the corner, she saw a white limo pulled up to her and stop.
What the hell? she thought. Why is this limo pulling up to me?
"Need a lift?" she heard a sultry voice say to her.
Rangiku felt a vein begin to throb at the top of her forehead.
She hated when guys hit on her but this one had the audacity to actually pull up beside her and think she would be impressed with the fact that he was in a limo.
"Listen you loser", she clenched her fists, resisting the urge to punch a dent in his limo. "I'm not interested and I don't care what you think—"
"Well then", the door to the limo opened and out stepped the jerk.
"Look", she placed her hands on her hips. "I said I wasn't—taicho!" she screamed and threw her arms around his neck. "Where'd you get the limo?" she asked eyeing the long white vehicle.
"I rented it", he smiled at her. "So, you ready to go?" he asked.
"Go? Go where?" she looked at him puzzlingly.
"You'll see", he held the door open for her.
"But taicho", she began. "I not even dressed for the occasion. Just give me—"
"Already taken care of", he cut her off. "I have the perfect just for you in the limo. Now please, I don't want us to be late for our reservations", he gestured to the inside the limo.
"Ooo! Reservations! Alright then", she smiled and stepped into the limo. "Let's go", she stuck out her hand to him.
"As you wish my dear", he bowed then took her hand in his, kissed it gently and stepped inside the limo beside her and then they were off.
This is the end. I must leave you off for now but I promise, I shall reveal all in the next chapter. Oh! And one more little tid bit, the chocolate sauce in the next chapter will be devoted to a certain friend of mind. I know how you hate to be left hanging but I couldn't resist. To torture you brings me joy. Well, please review.