Author's Note:
Guess who doesn't wanna go to summer chemistry tomorrow?

-waves hands spastically-

Opening Song : Bite Your Rhymes - Mindless Self Indulgence
Closing Song : Get This Party Started - Stretch Armstrong

Theme #36
Trump Card

Gin was tired. He had been working all day and all night for the past two months, training his ass from the crack of dawn until it was so dark he couldn't even sense where his bed was. It had been nothing but pure and utter torture, but it would be worth it in the end — he had been told he'd be able to graduate after this year. After only one year of attending the Shinigami Academy, he would be able to leave and join the Gotei 13. It was a relief, but at the same time slightly disappointing. He hadn't been able to spend as much time with Rangiku as he had wanted...

Ah well, he was working on making both of them a better life. The fun could wait.

With a heavy sigh, the silver-haired male fell backwards onto futon, in which he instantly groaned at the impact of his back hitting something solid. His muscles cried and ached, his limbs begged to be amputated, and Gin was certain that he never wanted to move again. Rest had never seemed so nice.

His slumber seemed to last a total of five minutes, though in reality it was probably more like five hours. Either way, he awoke with a jolt, and it wasn't because of his freakish nightmare of being pelted with prunes (1). No, the sleep that he yearned for was interrupted because of screaming, yelling, cheering, and bad music playing just outside of his dorm. Gin wanted to yell, to scream at them, "Shut the fuck up, ya insensitive morons!", but not only would that have been out of character, but his throat was refusing to release anything other than a whisper.

Gin rolled around several times on his futon, trying to ignore the pain in his body as he attempted to block out the sounds.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

It was then that he could no longer take it, and no matter how much his body was punishing him for it, he pulled himself to his feet and dragged himself to the door. He slid the shouji opened, glaring at everything and everyone in sight.

Strange enough, he found no one in the halls. A beaming light extending from one of the nearby rooms, however, quickly earned his attention. He stole a quick glance out his window, and discovered it to be completely black outside. Geez, had these kids always been this obnoxious?!

Inwardly cursing at the world, Gin made his way towards the room with leverage from the walls, and once outside of said room, he poked his head inside.

There must have been fifteen or so students, male and female, cramped within the tiny dorm. Most, if not all, were completely drunk as they danced around, singing loudly and off tune to a clearly drunk huqin (2) player. What caught his attention the most, however, were the two adolescents in the center of the room. One was a male and the other female, and both were downing sake shots. The male looked as though he were about to collapse any moment, while the female was obviously the most sober, though a light dust of pink lingered on her cheeks.

"Rangiku," Gin grumbled under his breath.

The male in the competition downed one last sake before he groaned and fell to the floor with a burp. Everyone in the room seemed completely oblivious, however, as Rangiku grinned triumphantly and raised a cup of sake to her defeated opponent, and drank that down as well.

Despite the pain that followed afterwards, Gin couldn't help but slap his forehead.

"C'moooon!" Rangiku cooed, waving around the sake bottle. "Anyone else wanna take me on?" There were no direct responses, but rather slurred yells and shouts, in which she only laughed. "Yeah, I know what ya mean!"

Apparently drunks had a language of their own.

Sighing, and knowing full well that he would probably regret this later, Gin made his way to the middle of the room, in which he went by completely unnoticed by everyone except the strawberry blonde. "Giiiiiin!" she cheered, clapping her hands together, a grin stretching across her features. "Gin, come join the party!"

Gin hovered above her, his arms folded across his chest, a blank look on his face. Even his signature smile had been wiped off completely.

She blinked. "Uh-oh. That can't be good."

"Rangiku, go back to yer dorm," he instructed in a tone that clearly said 'Listen to me now or I'm gunna knock you out'.

Despite being the most sober (aside from Gin), Rangiku was still a bit tipsy, and thus she simply giggled in reply. "Nooo, don't be a party popper, Gin! C'mon! Sit down! Ooo, ooo! I bet you can't beat me in a drinking contest!"

He stared blankly at her. "No."

She cocked her head to the side and blinked. "No, you can't beat me? Geez Gin, at least you—"

"No, I'm not gunna participate in this stupid game. Go back to yer dorm so I can get some slee—"

"Oooo, I bet you're scaaaaared, aren't you?" she taunted.

"No."

She pouted. "C'moooooon Gin!"

Gin was stuck between two choices now: go back to his dorm and try to sleep through this racket (which would probably be unsuccessful), or participate in this game under the condition that everyone goes back to their dorms.

He sat down at the table, kicking aside the former loser, and sighed. "Fine."

The grin almost instantly reappeared on Rangiku's face as she clapped her hands together (again). "Alriiiiight! Now it's a reeeeeeeal party!" she squealed, pouring both of them their cups of sake. "First one to conk out looooooses!"

...

Gin had lost count after the thirteenth cup. He breathed a small sigh as he calmly sipped at yet another cup, his eyes averted in some random direction, when he heard a thunk against the table. He looked down, where he found Rangiku snoozing away, a cup of sake just inches away from her hand.

It was a good thing he had always been a very alcohol tolerant man.

He looked around the dorm, in which everyone who had been in there was slumped against the wall or on the floor, sleeping away. He shook his head, deciding to leave them to themselves, and instead helped Rangiku to her feet, despite her unconsciousness. Several slurred murmurs escaped her lips, though she was completely out of it, and he dragged her back towards her dorm.

Fortunately, her dorm was in the same building as his own, only several corridors down. He laid her down on her futon, tucking her in. He managed to catch a whiff of her, and instantly slapped a hand to his nose (which could now be added to the enormous list of what ached on his body). He had always known that Rangiku's alcohol tolerance was higher than most, but just how much had she been drinking?

Either way, she wasn't going to have a very pleasant morning.

Shaking his head, he headed for the shouji. It had obviously taken him off guard, and he had almost completely shut off his senses, but he could help but allow a small scream to escape his throat when he tripped over something and landed on the ground. He groaned loudly, cursing at the pain coursing through his entire body. He glanced over his shoulder, where he found an empty sake bottle. He dropped his forehead to the ground in defeat, but he couldn't help but think he saw a smirk on Rangiku's face.

Word Count: 1262

(1) Remember the flashback of when Gin first met Rangiku and he offered her that weird-lookin' food? It looks like an oversized prune. XD

(2) A Japanese string instrument.

Here's something longer for you amazing kids who keep reviewing. :)