A/N: Well, guys, here it is, the penultimate chapter! Love this one, but I'm afraid I cannot tell you why for multiple reasons...ehehehe...*evil laughter*
I have had two pairing requests for fics; HitsuMatsu and UlquiHime! I adore both of those pairings, but I have agreed to write a Rirukio fic with someone else. However, I'm not actually sure when that's going to happen, if ever, so those of you who have me on alert, you may see some new stories with those pairings anytime soon! Or not, if I have Writers' Block. You can still request pairings or support the ones that have already been suggested to make them more likely to be written, and my conditions from my last A/N still apply!
Ohmigawwwd, such an amazing response to the last chapetr! Look how many people reviewed/favourited!
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and lljj, who reviewed in PORTUGESE! Awesommme...I didn't understand it, but Google Translate did! XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. All credit goes to Kubo-sama! OMG, has he updated his manga yet? No... :(
Second Wish
Gin whistled cheerfully as he prepared the breakfast for that morning. Today was one of their rare days off; it was a Sunday, so Gin didn't have a paper round, no one was in town, so busking was out of the question, and Rangiku was surprisingly free from babysitting duties that night.
Gin wondered whether his attempt at breakfast was too simple, then shrugged and went over to the refrigerator to fetch the milk. Ah. None left. Dry cereal it was, then!
"Mm…Gin?" came the bleary voice of a semi-lucid Rangiku. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Makin' breakfast. Though it ain't no good." Gin admitted. "No milk," he informed her, pointing to the fridge. "An' what kind of moron'd put an empty milk carton back in the fridge, anyway?"
"You, Gin." she reminded him.
"Oh yeah…"
"Dear God…Gin, sometimes I wonder whether you act dumb just to piss me off." Rangiku rolled her eyes, already more awake.
"Nah. It don't really work on ya no more. 'S more fun t'irritate other people now." Gin chuckled, grinning evilly.
Rangiku's eyes bugged. "Right. That's my second wish."
"Huh? What is, Ran-chan?" Gin looked confused.
"For you to smile properly. Nicely. That…that thing just now looked utterly nightmarish!" Rangiku said, cowering away from him to prove her point.
"Oh, good. At least this wish'll be easier ta do than the last one." Gin observed happily.
Rangiku looked at him for a long minute, then shook her head slowly. "Gin…a smile that bad is gonna need a lot of reformation."
…
"Right. So how do I start?" Gin asked, seating himself cross-legged on the floor opposite Rangiku.
"Well, let's see your initial attempt at a human smile first." Rangiku suggested.
Gin obliged, causing Rangiku to lurch backwards violently and cover her mouth to prevent the bile rising up her throat from entering the outside world.
"Not good, then?" Gin asked, dropping his grimace slightly.
"No." Rangiku told him bluntly. "You have to make it look natural. Like this," She flashed him a show-stopping smile.
Gin attempted again, trying and failing to relax his jaw slightly. "Better?"
"Let me think about this…no."
"Now?"
"No."
"How about this?"
"Dear God, no!"
After at least half an hour of Gin's smiling lessons, Rangiku sighed and flopped onto her back.
"I give up! Let's try a different approach. Think about things that make you happy."
"Like…?" Gin prompted, unable to muster the will to try and think for himself.
"Uh…kittens? Puppies? Ice-cream sundaes? Snow? Magazines? New clothes?"
"Ran-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"Those're things that make you happy."
"Right. Okay then! Long, random walks!"
Gin's mouth twitched.
"Hey, we're getting there! Uh…playing tricks on poor, unsuspecting bystanders!"
Gin's small smile transformed into a demonic grin.
"…On second thought, maybe this wasn't such a great idea…"
"Well then? Are ya gonna give up? I could give ya a refund on yer wish." Gin suggested, also quite tired of the activity.
"No way! I've given myself a challenge now! I'm not going to let it go until I absolutely have to!" Rangiku declared determinedly.
"Okay then…" Gin looked at her, only slightly worried about the state of her mental health.
"What if I bribe you?" Rangiku suggested.
"Nah, that ain't right? Ya can't bribe me ta grant ya yer wish, I promised I'd do it in penance fer…uh, that thing I did." Gin reasoned, stepping smartly round the danger-zone of the 'I love you Ran-chan' topic.
Rangiku raised an eyebrow. "Are you gonna be able to do it otherwise?"
"…"
"…Didn't think so. Tell you what, if you smile, I'll cook a dinner of your choice tonight! Anything you'd like!"
Gin's mouth curved upwards in a so-very-nearly-there half-smile.
"You're almost there! Hold that expression! Uh…I'll let you annoy people and play pranks with abandon for an entire week!"
"Ran-chan, I do that anyway…" Gin reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm running out of ideas here!" Rangiku waved him off. 'Already…' she added silently. "Ah…Okay! How about this?" She took a deep breath. "If you smile properly, I'll kiss you."
Gin's expression immediately became sober. "No, Ran-chan. That's it, I'm not gonna let ya squander away yer kisses fer somethin' as hopeless as this." he said, getting up from the floor.
Rangiku grabbed his sleeve. "But Gin! It's the only thing I can think of! I really want you to smile properly!"
"It ain't worth it, Ran-chan. Now stop, please." he half-pleaded.
"Don't you want me to kiss you?" she asked him, giving him unnecessary puppy-eyes.
"…" Gin's cheeks reddened visibly as he turned his head away.
"There! See, I want you to smile; you want me to kiss you. It's a win-win situation!" Rangiku sang cheerfully.
"Ran-chan…" Gin shook his head wonderingly at her innocent outlook on life.
"Gin!" Rangiku's eyes widened.
"Huh? What is it?" Gin raised his eyebrows.
"You smiled, Gin! A real one!"
"I did?" Gin was flabbergasted.
"Yup! And you know what that means!" Rangiku was surprisingly eager as she sprang up from her place on the floor and flung her arms around his neck, pushing her lips against his.
Gin's eyes bugged, revealing ice-blue, before they slowly slid closed as he began to return the kiss. He was expecting it to be quite short, taking into account Rangiku's apparent concept of him as a just-friend-and-nothing-else, but was taken by surprise when she suddenly pressed her mouth harder against his, tightening her hold on him. Her soft tongue found its way inside his open mouth, and Gin's self control shattered.
Growling predatorily, he locked his arms around her body, tackling her tongue with his. His hands travelled up and down her back, from her shoulder-blades to her waist and up again. She returned the kiss with equal amounts of passion, fisting her small hands in his hair as if to hold his head in position. At a gentle nibble of her lower lip by Gin, she let out a loud moan, startling the both of them back into reality.
They sprang apart, lips swollen and cheeks flaming. There was an agonized silence before Gin raised his eyes to hers.
"Ran-chan…I'm so sorry, I—" he choked out, breaking off when tears threatened to spill over. Her first proper kiss and he'd stolen it, like a sly fox that cared nothing for anything else's feelings.
"No…no, Gin. I'm sorry. It-it was me who started it, and let it get out of hand. I don't know what happened, I just…Sorry." she whispered finally, her own tears already sliding down her scarlet cheeks.
"Ran-chan…" Gin walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I…well, I didn't exactly mind, y'know?"
Rangiku laughed through her sobs, turning so she could bury her face into his chest. And, though he wasn't sure if he was just hearing things or not, Gin could have sworn he heard her mumble, "…I didn't mind either…"
A/N: AAAAHHHHH, KISS! AAAAHHHHHH, RANGIKU MIGHT HAVE REALISED HER FEELINGS FOR GIN! AAAAAHHHHHH! Can you guys guess why I loved this chapter? I wrote it last night at ten without a lamp, so it probably wasn't that great, but hey! I edited it just now! Please tell me what you think, I really don't mind reviews in other languages, as long as Google Translate can cope with them! Oh, but if you can speak English, please review in it, it just saves me a whole heap of effort when I'm on my Kindle! (which doesn't seem to support multiple tabs...)
