Title: Earrings
Date: 11 January, 2009
Words: 920
Characters: Matsumoto, Hitsugaya, Hisagi, Renji, Ichigo, Rukia, Nanao, Shunsui, Ikkaku, Yumichika
Pairings: Hitsugaya & Matsumoto, you can apply others as you see fit. 8-)
Summary: Matsumoto gets her ears pierced. Renji gets put down. Hitsugaya brags.
Inspiration: I can find no proof that Matsumoto already has her ears pierced, so, therefore, she does now. I pierced mine again on Dec. 20 (for my birthday gift to myself) and have been thinking about this fic since then.
Rating: PG – one innuendo, some unkind remarks to everyone's favorite RED-redhead.

Please enjoy, read, and review!
-Rachel Noelle

He couldn't believe it. He simply could not believe it. Rangiku was scared. Not the same kind of terrified you were apt to be when facing down an Arrancar, or just a big hollow. No, the same kind of scared as kids are of the boogey man. The scared people are of big dogs. The terror experienced when riding a roller coaster for the first time.

All because of a thing less than a centimeter long. Scratch that, two things, each less than a centimeter.

"Okay, dear," the kind lady tending the beauty shop was telling her, "It's going to hurt, like a shot or a bad pinch, but it will only last a couple of minutes."

Rangiku sat in the chair at the beauty shop, trembling and squeezing Hitsugaya's hand so hard he was sure she'd break it. "Ran, you've got to relax. She'll never get to do it if you don't. Man, are your friends going to laugh when you have to tell them you chickened out." Hitsugaya tried to help her calm down. It wasn't working.

The fukutaicho of division ten could take a terrible blow from a hollow, meant for him, without thinking twice. But she was nearly beside herself with the prospect of those teeny, tiny studs.

"Since we're using the gun, the earring will go straight through and the back will lock on in the same instant. When we could only use needles, we had to put the earring in the hole by hand. It's much easier, and barely hurts, I promise," the lady comforted Rangiku, voice soothing. "See, I've had mine done five times. If it was too terrible, no one would have it done."

Rangiku squeezed her eyes shut and Hitsugaya's hand twice as hard. "Ran, you've got to loosen your grip, you'll break my fingers," he pleaded.

"I can't," Rangiku whined, "Just, hurry and do it, okay?" She begged the lady piercing her ears to be quick. Hitsugaya placed his free hand soothingly on her back, trying to ease her tension.

"Okay, dear. I'll count from three. Three… two… one." The sound of the trigger being pulled echoed in the quiet of the room. Rangiku clenched her teeth together and squeezed Hitsugaya's hand still harder. Well, she hadn't screamed yet.

The lady walked to her other side. "See, was that so terrible?" Rangiku nodded.

"It hurts. It hurts bad." Hitsugaya thought she was going to cry.

"Only one more," the lady encouraged.

Rangiku inhaled deeply a few times, trying to psych herself up for the next one. She finally relaxed her grip on Hitsugaya's hand. He flexed his stiff fingers, hoping they really weren't broken.

"Alright, I'm going to count again. Or do you want me to surprise you?"

"Count."

The lady smiled softly, feeling terrible for the young woman sitting before her. Luckily her little boyfriend was supportive. "Okay, here's the second one. Three… two… one."

The crack of the gun sounded a second time and Rangiku did scream. Hitsugaya just knew that must have been the sound of his fingers cracking.

"See there, dear? They're just lovely, and it's all over now," the woman doing the piercing offered Rangiku a lollipop, which Rangiku happily accepted. A few stray tears silently trekked down her face.

Hitsugaya chuckled. He never thought she could be brought down by something so simple. Rangiku stood from her chair and Hitsugaya pulled her into a hug. She sniffled a few times, trying to calm herself. The lady brought her a hand mirror to be able to look at her new earrings.

"Your ears will probably be red for a few hours, maybe as much as a couple of days. You need to clean them at least twice a day to keep them from getting infected or anything. After six weeks you can take them out and put a new pair in. You have to keep earrings in the holes for at least six months to insure they don't grow up. Nothing too heavy until after your six months, and they have to be some version of the stud earrings." The lady instructed Rangiku in the care of her new piercings and handed her the solution. Hitsugaya paid the tab and they walked out the door.

On the other side of the shop's door stood Yumichika, Ikkaku, Renji, Hisagi, Rukia, Shunsui, Nanao, and Ichigo. Nanao immediately rushed to Rangiku's side, hugging her tightly and complimenting her on her new purchase. Yumichika and Rukia complimented her on a job well done, and Rukia even agreed to pierce her ears on the condition Nanao would do it, too.

The rest of the crowd offered to buy her a drink in celebration.

Hitsugaya agreed to accompany them out for the evening, seeing as it was in celebration of Rangiku's birthday. Ikkaku, Renji, and Hisagi were locked in a fierce discussion over the event.

"Man, that had ta hurt. I wouldn't do it," Ikkaku intoned.

"Me neither," Hisagi agreed, "Give me an Arrancar any day."

"Man, I never thought I'd hear her scream like that," Renji mused, quite innocently.

Hitsugaya, not one to let his pride be damaged by the simple statement, felt it necessary to interject. "Then the sound barriers are working. I'd hate to disturb you over in the sixth division while you're trying to sleep. Alone." The caustic remark was accompanied by an evil smirk from the prodigy.

Renji flushed crimson, looking terrified of the young taicho. Ikkaku and Hisagi snickered heartily, telling him, "You asked for that, buddy."