Day at the Beach part 2.

A/N: It's been ages since I worked on this one and quite frankly I'm upset I never finished it. So here goes C:

Read & Review :3

Day at the Beach (part 2)

Ikkaku sighed heavily, running a hand over his head, his eyes trained on the tenth lieutenant. Rangiku flopped down on the couch, clad in sweats and a large shirt. She looked over at him, her eyes saying something unfamiliar to Ikakku while her lips parted to speak.

"Thanks." She said softly, looking at her bandage hand. "It's been awhile since I felt pain in my hand alone." She laughed, her eyes looking to the ceiling. "It's a different matter when pain is throughout the body, you grow numb to all of it. But when it's concentrated in one spot," she curled her fingers against her shirt. "For some reason it hurts more."

Ikakku took a seat in the armchair, smoothing a hand over his shirt.

"It's because you've trained your body to deal with multiple wounds and forgot to train to deal with just one wound." He said, turning his palms over. He heard her shift and looked to find her back towards him, her front towards the back of the couch. "Ranno-chan?"

"Ranno?" She repeated, turning her ear towards him. "Why 'Ranno'?"

"Because everyone else calls you Matsu." He said carefully. She looked back at the couch with a sigh.

"And you're not part of that?" She asked.

"No, I'm not everyone else." He said, getting up to rummage in the cabinets for a drink. "Now stop sulking cause of a minor flesh wound."

"Minor" -she slammed up snapping at him and hurling a cushion -"flesh wound?! My ass Madarame!"

Ikkaku laughed, pointing a finger at her. "Ranno-chan, baka."

Rangiku flopped back onto the couch, frowning and hiding her eyes beneath her hand. Ikkaku came over, bending over the back of it, extending a shot of Saké.

"Oi, there's no need to get upset Ranno-chan. Besides, the date isn't over."

Rangiku flushed, grumbling "don't remind me" before drinking the shot. Ikkaku twirled a strand of her long strawberry blonde hair around one finger, wondering just why their Taichous paired them two up that night. His trance was broken by the sound of the front door opening.

"I'm Home~" Rukia chirped from the entryway, slipping off her shoes. "Oh, Matsumoto-san, Madarame-san, hey."

"Hey." Rangiku sad softly, disappointment crossing her face.

"It happens to the pros as well Matsumoto-san," Rukia began, holding up an envelope of photos. "It doesn't mean you can't go back to surfing."

"It's not that I can't surf, it's the fact.." She groaned. "It's the fact I embarrassed myself."

Rukia extended the photos and laughed warmly.

"Matsumoto-san, we all do."

"But on a date?" She asked dryly. Ikkaku smirked a bit.

'So that explains her mood.' He thought to himself. She wasn't half bad as a person. And truth was he did like her, but didn't know how much.

"I'm still winning this bet." He said proudly, trying to still lift her spirit.

"By the way," Rukia asked as Matsumoto flipped through the photos, ignoring Ikkaku. "What were the conditions again?"

"Taichou," Rangiku huffed. "Betted against Zaraki-Taichou about who's more liable to get a date. Naturally he said me" -she rolled her eyes but smiled- "and Zaraki-taichou said Ikkaku had a chance."

"Well we lost a former bet to them," Ikkaku explained with a frown. "And consequence was to be forced on five dates whether we want to or not." They both grew quiet.

"The last," Matsumoto drawled. "Has.."

"To end with a k-kiss." Ikkaku mumbled.

"But the conditions are we can't kill each other and have to make an effort to have a good time." Rangiku added quickly, getting to her feet, the photos sitting on the coffee table. "Well I'm off to nap."

"Yeah." Ikkaku said, watching her leave. Rukia looked at him with a wry smile. "What?"

"You're falling for her." She teased.

"Am not!" He shot. "Why would I fall for gorilla tits?!"

Rukia laughed and handed him a photo. "Because, she's likable, and balances out you somehow."

"Still." He said, not wanting to admit she had a point. He took the photo gently, staring at it. He's cheeks flushed, and he looked up at Rukia. "This is Matsumoto-san?!"

Rukia nodded, smiling proudly. "Yup yup."

The portrait was not what he expected. It was indeed Rangiku, but when it was shot he couldn't say. It looked about mid Autumn, the pale pink scarf pulled around her neck while the rest of her donned her shinigami robes conservatively around her. It wasn't the modesty of the shot but the expression caught that made him blush. Her eyes, usually playful and full of mischief, were cold, calculative, and blended with a sharp distaste and just a barely visible hint of hurt. Her lips were pressed in a tight line, jaw tight, and her eyebrows knitted together slightly.

"I took that last fall." Rukia explained. "When Matusmoto-san wasn't looking. No one knew why she was dressing modestly that month, nor why she was always in a foul mood. She did her paperwork without lip, did everything she usually doesn't do."

"Like not drinking?" He asked, about to hand her the picture back.

"Keep it." She said. "And yeah, she did stop drinking for a while. Of course that meant going through withdrawal, which she did, and well...no one knows why she changed that month."

"Hmm..." Ikkaku slipped the photo in his pocket and sat down by the coffee table. He fingered through the stack, examining each until his eyes hurt. Rukia let him be, and the hours passed by with Ikkaku's eyes scouring the prints for something in them.

"I hate photos." Rangiku murmured over his shoulder. Ikkaku jumped.

"Gahh! R-Ranno-chan!" He stammered. "When did you get there?"

"Bout ten minutes ago." She smiled a little, scooping the photos up. "But, it's after twelve Madarame. I'm calling this date over."

"Yeah.." He said, rubbing an eye when he glanced at the clock. "Guess so."

'Still,' he thought watching her go up the stairs, stopping halfway as if to turn and say something, then decided against it. 'What are you hiding?'