A/N: Hey, a quicker update this time! Although, it's only because I'm sick, and not in school, and bored. So I wrote! I probably should be preparing for my English Assessment coming up next week, but...nah. Boring. And technically, this is English, right? So, anyhoo, I was so so so so so happy with the response to the last chapter! Thank youuuuu! I'm so glad you guys like it! *cries*
Anyway, these are the people who reviewed/favourited. Worship them, guys!
chesxca
dragonballzlover2499
angelprincess ino
hopelessromantic1470
splitheart1120
and...metsfan101! So grateful to all of you, thanks so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. All credit goes to Kubo-sensei! I also don't own Cry by Rihanna, which doesn't actually have much to do with this chappie, but the few lines I wrote down there kind of explain Rangiku's state of mind, for reasons to be revealed! =D
Cry
"My mind is gone,
I'm spinning round.
And deep inside,
My tears, I'll drown."
Rangiku padded over the bare floorboards on her way to the kitchen, still half asleep. She'd barely got any rest last night, as a result of the cold weather and the cold she caught from it, and had still been asleep when Gin had gone to his paper round. Again. It felt to Rangiku like he was always out of the house these days. She missed him. Everything was boring without his creepy grin.
She dragged herself blearily into the kitchen, rummaging around in the cupboards for a mug and a teabag. When she found them, she flicked the kettle on and waited for it to boil. While the water bubbled away happily, she collapsed onto a chair next to the table and attempted to keep her eyes open until her dosage of caffeine was ready. The kettle clicked off, alerting her to the fact the water was ready, and she poured herself a mug-full and chucked the teabag in. She poked it for a bit, then got bored and threw it in the trash. She spooned in way too much sugar than was good for her, blew the steam away, and took a good, long slurp, paying no attention to the scalding temperature of the liquid. What time was it now? Not long before eleven, she reckoned, judging from the amount of light dripping into the damp room. She looked at the radio clock. Hey, 10:30, she was up earlier than expected. Gin should be back soon, she noted with a pleased expression.
As if hearing her thought, the door creaked open and the sound of someone coming in was heard. They brushed off their shoes and then—nothing. Huh. Gin would've usually called to her by now, to tell her he was home.
"Gin?" she tried, picking up her mug of tea and carrying it with her to the door of the kitchen. "Gin? That you?" she called again. Then, she gasped, dropping the mug and leaving it to crash to the floor.
Gin stood, leaning his full weight on the door, head tilted back, looking incredibly pale and sickly. A light sheen of sweat was prominent on his waxen face, giving him the look of someone dying from an extremely painful disease in hospital.
Gin does not get sick! Rangiku thought, before rushing over and grabbing him by the shoulders. "Ohmigod, Gin, are you all right?"
Gin took in a rasping breath. "I'm—cough—fine, Ran-cha..." He passed out on her shoulder.
Yeah, fine my ass. Rangiku thought, fuming. This was all they needed. Then her anger quickly turned into panic as she remembered the boy in her arms. She tried to drag him over to his blanket on the floor, and on failing that, brought the blanket to him, adding hers for good measure. Christ, he really did look ill. She tucked him up in the blankets, trying not to hyperventilate when she thought about all the horrible illnesses he could have contracted out in the cold damp. She should have stopped him going to work so much, there was no way it was healthy.
Her terrifying reverie was interrupted by the sound of Gin stirring. She quickly bent over him, putting her face near his and whispering, "Gin? Are you awake?"
"Hm? Ah, yeah. What happened?" he asked, still quite out of it.
"What happened? You friggin' passed out, that's what happened! Never do that to me again!" Rangiku's previous fury made a reappearance.
"Heh...sorry, Ran-chan. It's not like I can help it, ya know." Gin chuckled weakly, dispelling her rage.
"Gin...I—Are you—I..." Rangiku finally choked up with sobs, lowering her head. Gin's eyes shot open, revealing ice blue, before he struggled into a sitting position and took her into his arms.
"I'm sorry, Ran-chan! Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean ta make ya cry!" he said hoarsely, rocking her back and forth. She clung to his shirt, struggling to get the words out.
"No, Gin, it's not you...It's just, I—I don't know what to do, Gin, we can't afford a doctor, and I have no idea what's wrong, and—"
"Shh, shh, Rangiku. It's okay, I'm fine." he lied, trying to reassure her.
"Not buying it, Gin." she sniffled, giving him a watery glare from under her lashes. He sighed in resignation and lay back again, too weak to hold himself up. Rangiku started tearing up again, before an idea hit her.
"Gin! Will you be okay for about five minutes? I think I know someone who can help!" she scrambled up and ran out of the door, not waiting for an answer.
"Uh..yeah..." Gin smiled, and tried to sort out the lump in his pillow.
...
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang ba—
"Will you shut up? I'm freakin' coming already!" yelled an extremely irritated voice from the other side of the apartment door Rangiku was breaking down.
"What?" Toushiro demanded, wrenching the door open and fixing her with a terrifying glare that kind of lost its drama on a person of his height. His expression quickly softened into one of worry, though, when he saw the desperate face he was met with.
"Matsumoto? What's wrong?" he inquired, surprised at seeing his babysitter again, less than a week after he'd met her for the first time.
"It's Gin. You know, the boy you saw me moving in with? The one with the creepy grin? Yeah, well, he's sick. Like, really sick, and I don't know what to do and he looks like he's gonna die any second and we can't afford a doctor and—"
"You're babbling, Matsumoto."
"...Sorry." No questions about who was still in charge here, then.
Toushiro sighed and leant against the door post, running a hand through his snowy hair. "My father is a doctor. I can't make any promises, but I may know what's wrong with your friend. Don't get your hopes up, though." he said hurriedly, seeing her joyful expression.
"I won't!" she sang cheerily, proving Toushiro's suspicion that it was a bit too late to dissuade her. "Follow me! We live down there!" She grabbed the hand of the smaller boy, who, she'd found out with surprise on her babysitting night, was only a few years younger than her. She'd thought at first his parents must be crazy, hiring her to look after him, considering how young she was herself, before remembering she'd said she was fifteen on the advert she posted.
Rangiku paused halfway down the steps. "Hang on a sec. Won't your parents mind? You haven't told them where you're going."
"Meh. They're at work, and even if they were here, they wouldn't care. I can take care of myself." he waved off the concern nonchalantly.
"...Sure. But, wait! Aren't you supposed to be in school?" she realised, eyes widening.
"Faked sick. School's pointless anyway. The teachers are all morons." he deadpanned. She raised an eyebrow, but quickly started pulling him down the stairs again upon remembering Gin.
"In here!" she announced, pointing at said door.
"Right." said Toushiro, pushingit open. Rangiku had to hand it to him, the kid had good self-control. Didn't even flinch at the sight of the less-than-pristine state of their apartment. Her eyes strayed from the grimy carpet to the surprised Gin, who was still lying on the floor.
"Uh...Ran-chan? When ya said ya knew someone who could help, I didn't think ya were gonna fetch a kid." he said, receiving a glare from Toushiro as a result.
"Nah! He's like, a super-genius! And he said he can help, so stop being rude!" Rangiku said cheerily, smacking him lightly on the head.
"Might, I said, might." Toushiro muttered, walking over to where Gin lay and eyeing him. "Don't try to bite me." he warned.
"What? Why would I do that?" Gin was slightly concerned about this obviously insane midget advancing on him. Still, he lay quiet while Toushiro felt his forehead and checked his ears for inflammation.
"Well? What's wrong with him?" Rangiku asked anxiously.
"Nothing too bad. He's got a fever. Quite a bad one, but if you go get some medicine from the store, it shouldn't get worse." Toushiro informed her, standing up again.
"Oh, thank goodness! But, we can't afford medicine!" she remembered, "That stuff's expensive!"
"For the love of God..." Toushiro grumbled, fishing in his pocket for a few notes and shoving them at her, saying, "It's not too much, so you don't have to bother paying me back."
"Thank you, Toushiro-kun!" she sang much more happily, before dancing out of the door to buy the medication.
"It's Hitsugaya-san!" he called to her retreating back. When the only answer that came was a peal of laughter, he sighed and turned to Gin. They glared at each other for a couple of minutes before Gin sighed and said, "I suppose I should say thank you. Ya didn't haf'ta help Rangiku, and ya definitely didn't haf'ta give us money. So thanks."
Hey, the creep's not so bad after all, Toushiro thought, before saying out loud, "It's okay, I guess."
...
Rangiku came back from the store in record breaking time, dosed Gin up and pulled the blankets up to his chin when he fell asleep. She then turned to Toushiro, who was getting ready to leave.
"Thank you." she smiled at him.
"'S alright." he muttered before exiting the apartment.
Rangiku chuckled at his 'tough guy' façade before turning back to Gin and mopping his face with the damp washcloth she'd fetched from the bathroom. Was it her imagination, or was Gin looking better already?
He stirred slightly at the cool material, before opening his eye a crack and whispering, "Thanks, Ran-chan," and slipping back to sleep.
Rangiku leaned over and kissed his too-hot forehead. "No problem."
A/N: Naw...how cute! Just so you guys know, that was an innocent kiss, as a friend! WAY too early for them to fall in love yet, I think! I don't want this to be a short fic. I'm trying for at least ten chapters, but I'm running out of inspiration, so any ideas you guys have for later chapters are very much appreciated! And, as you can probably guess, I completely adore Shiro-chan, so he will be making appearances in this story quite often, if I can think of a plot that includes him. Just so you Shiro-lovers out there know that... =P