Author's Note:
I am seriously flattered by those of you who find this old thing and read all the drabbles in one go. Especially since my earlier writing wasn't all that great and needed some furnishing. XD I want to thank all of you so much, though, for your support of this series - and hope you'll continue to do until I (finally) finish. :)
Special thanks to those who reviewed the last drabble: TigressfromFiore, Bullet2tm, lucid somnia sub sidera, DragenEyez, Guest, VampyreAtHeart, Kami-SamanoShukusen, Amber Angelina Liliac. Your words of encouragement mean so much to me!
Kaleidoscope
a Bleach (© Kubo Tite) fanfiction
Theme #71
rumors
Opening Song: "Starlight" - Muse
He's made his choice, she tells herself over and over again. He doesn't care anymore. So I don't care anymore.
It doesn't sound right.
When she sees him, it's in glimpses. He never lingers in one place for too long, never stays long enough for her to approach him - which, she tells herself, she wouldn't do anyway. He has become public enemy number one, so he doesn't spend much time among people. In his absence, the whispers surround her, suffocating her.
"… Aizen-taichou's murderer…"
"… ruthless, heartless, cruel…"
"… conspirator, destroying Seireitei and the Gotei 13…"
Worst of all, they anger her. They shouldn't because they're probably true, because he's done nothing to prove them wrong. He has perpetuated everything everyone says about him - it's all his fault. But when she hears passersby whispering his name, bringing him up in conversation, she brims to the top with unjustified fury and she just can't understand why. She wants to yell at all of them to shut up, that they don't understand anything.
And then she realizes that she doesn't understand anything, and the red-hot fury simmers down into cold hollowness.
It hits her like ice, and the following sting lingers. She can't make sense of what has happened to Gin or her - of both them, together. She can't rationalize his actions, can't define his silence, just can't. All she can do is hypothesize like everyone else, like people who haven't known Gin for as long as she has. Rangiku feels awfully average, and part of her just wants to hate him for it.
She doesn't take part in the rumors, even if it would temporarily relieve the stress and anger that's constantly boiling within her. She doesn't whisper hurtful words or add fuel to the fire of his supposed conspiracy. She just listens to the way they talk about him like they know him, like they've been able to read him from the very beginning. Maybe, she thinks at one point, they do know her better than she does. Maybe she's just been blind to it this whole time.
So Seireitei whispers, and Rangiku feels like a fool.
Closing Song: "O Children" - Nick Cave
Oops, I accidentally angst.
Also, my summer ends this Friday, but hopefully I'll be able to update regularly. Fingers crossed!
au revoir!
der kapitan