Author's Note:

I'm being unsocial and watching Shanghai Noon in my dorm room because my toes are cold and I'm planning on going out tomorrow night. So I figured I'd write another one up and get closer to actually finishing wheeee! Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed — both the last drabble, and thus far. You're all so wonderful. :)

OKAY, so this is actually an AU drabble because… I don't really wanna write angst because there's been so much of it in this series. XD I might throw in a couple more AUs because they're fun to write aaaand because it's not long until the end (which is just tons of angst). This is something from a fanfic I wrote yyeaaaarssss ago that I still kinda liked, soooo here you go!

Kaleidoscope
a Bleach (© Kubo Tite) fanfiction

Theme #83
mad

Opening Song: "This Girl" - The Punch Brothers

The strawberry blonde found herself sighing once again when she had opened the door. A bouquet of chrysanthemums sat on the doorstep, accompanied by a small pink note tucked inside. Cursing under her breath, she reluctantly swooped up the flowers and kicked the door shut behind her. She tossed the bouquet onto the coffee table, paying them no mind, and maneuvered her way into the kitchen, where she threw herself into one of the chairs.

"Who was it?" chirped Orihime.

Rangiku simply shook her head as she perched her elbow on the table and leaned her cheek against her fisted hand. "He just sent me more flowers."

"Ooo, were they pretty flowers?" Rangiku sent her a sharp look, in which she could only laugh and turn back to her cooking. "I don't know why you're being so mean to him, Rangiku-san. It seems to me like he's really sorry... I think you should talk to him."

"I'm done talking," she grunted. "If he's just going to blow me off without so much as a warning, I'm not going to go through the trouble of meeting up with him just so he can grovel and beg for mercy. I've been down that road enough times."

"Oh, but we all know you can't keep this up much longer." With another dangerous glare, Orihime turned forward and focused on her cooking, though the knowing smile never left her lips. Stuff like this always happened between the two. They'd be able to work it out, no matter how stubborn Rangiku wanted to be. In the end, she would forgive him, and all would be well. And then he'd screw up again and the process would go on, as it had for years.

As much as Rangiku hated to admit it, it was true. It didn't matter how many times Ichimaru Gin messed up; she ended up forgiving him anyway. She didn't really know why, but ignoring and giving the silent treatment to her childhood friend was much more difficult than she expected. The longest she had been able to duke it out was five days; she had ended up caving in, just as Orihime and the others had predicted.

She didn't know why she put up with it — why she put up with him. They would always make plans, whether it was just a walk along the beach or a movie, and half of the time he would break them without so much as a call until the day after (which would remain unanswered and unreturned). He had his friends, she realized that, and she also realized that they were creeps and she wanted nothing to do with them, but she knew that he'd want to spend time with them as well. She had her own friends as well, but she had managed to set aside time for both them and him! ... Well, she would have had time set for him had he actually showed up for any of their plans. In which case, she didn't know why she bothered to set them up with him anymore; she knew she'd just end up waiting for an hour, then forced to go home by herself. Wishful thinking, perhaps?

Well, either way, she was just sick of it. And there was no way she was going to forgive him this time. ... Until she broke her five day record.

"Dinner's ready!"

Her eyes instantly lit up at those two words. "Woo-hoo! My favorite time of the day! What are we having tonight?"

"I thought it'd be nice to go back to some classics since we've been trying so many new things lately," said Orihime as she placed two bowls on the table. "I made some soba with mayonnaise and mustard! And we have green tea to drink!" She dropped the tea pot on the table, followed by two cups. She sat herself in the seat across from Rangiku and clapped her hands together. "Itadakimasu!"

Just as she began to slurp down the noodles, the phone began to ring. Orihime, who was in mid-bite, pouted at the careless expression on Rangiku's face. "I'll get it..." she mumbled, albeit slightly bitterly, as she dropped her chopsticks. Picking up the flashing, multi-colored phone, she brought the receiver to her ear. "Matsumoto residence, this is Orihime speaking!"

Rangiku almost snorted at the business-like line that seemed too foreign on the ball of sunshine's lips.

"Ooo, alright! Rangiku-san, it's for you!"

Rangiku glared at her as she gnawed violently on the noodles, as though saying, "I dare you to interrupt this." But Orihime was adamant, and not even Rangiku could say 'no' to that cheerful smile. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the table and snatched away the phone, which allowed Orihime to begin her meal. "This better be damn important," she thought. "Hello?"

"Did'ja get the flowers?"

Instantly she felt herself freeze. That damn bastard! He cheated! She turned to glower at Orihime, but the orange-haired princess was too consumed in her dinner to pay any notice (though she could have sworn she saw her smirking). Knowing that she had fallen into the trap, Rangiku sighed and answered, "What do you want Gin?"

She could practically hear him grinning on the other line. Stupid, stupid bastard. "There ya go. An' here I thought I'd have ta go another three days without talkin' ta ya."

Ugh, had it really only been two days? Damn, she was getting really shabby. "What do you want?" she repeated, adding a bit more edge to her tone.

As usual, he remained completely unfazed. "I'm sorry I didn't show up at the movie. I kinda got caught up, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. I always know."

"... Yer still mad."

"Well that's quite the observation . I never knew you were so sharp, Gin."

"Ouch. Quite sarcastic today, aren't we, Rangiku?"

"I'm going to hang up on you."

"Aww, hold on a sec', Rangiku. I really am sorry. How 'bout I make it up ta ya?"

"What? So you can ditch me again? Sorry, not gonna happen."

"I'll come pick ya up."

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She knew better than to say yes, that she'd probably be stood up at her own house, but something told her otherwise. She inhaled deeply, and slowly let it out. "... When?" Oh how she gave in so easily.

"Great! I'll be there tomorrow, around five PM sound good?"

"Sure."

"G'night, Ran-chan."

"... Don't push your luck, Gin." She heard him chuckle on the other line before he hung up. Quietly groaning, she too hung up and turned to take her seat, but stopped when she spotted the sly expression on Orihime's face. "... Stop looking at me like that."

Orihime smiled innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, Rangiku-san."

Closing Song: "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men

This is actually really, really old, ahahahah. I'm kind of cheating for recycling things but oh well gets the job done.

xx, der kapitan