"Uh.." Shuuhei replied dumbly, his face a brilliant shade of red. Of all the things his Captain could overhear, it just had to be that. All he could do was gape at Kensei and wonder why he had such bad luck. Did the Soul King hate him or something? Was it karma? Did he do something terrible in his past and this was his punishment? Whatever it was, he didn't care, all he wanted was to curl up in a ball and hide in a dark corner.
"Ya know what? Never mind, I don't wanna know." Kensei finally said, realizing that Shuuhei was too stunned to form an answer. "Unohana told me everything, so get your ass home and rest. If I see you trying to work, even a little, I'll knock you out and personally tie you to your bed. Understand?" He asked menacingly, and Shuuhei could barely manage to nod in agreement. He didn't doubt Kensei would do something like that.
"Good. Now scram." Kensei said as he walked away, smirking as his Lieutenants reiatsu vanished instantly. Shuuhei wasn't about to stay there any longer, he hated hospitals and being on Kensei's bad side. While bed rest sounded mind-numbingly boring, he knew nothing was worse than an irritated visored.
I wonder where Izuru went.. He belatedly wondered, having just now remembered the blonde being in his room when he woke up. Probably to tell the others I'm okay. Stupid Renji and his bankai... If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be on lock down. Three whole days of no work? I'll never make it.
As he landed in front of his barracks, he immediately started thinking of things to do. He wasn't hungry, so cooking was out. His guitar playing still needed work and he didn't want to disturb every squad member, and he was also too lazy to go outside of the Seireitei to play, so that was out. What else could he do?
"Shuuhei!" A sudden voice called out to him, just as he was about to open the doors to his home. A small grin appeared on his face as he recognized the sweet voice calling him. Perfect timing. "You poor thing, Izuru told me everything!" He turned just in time to see a giant set of boobs coming straight for his face, and practically let himself fall into her embrace, sighing as he did so. A hug from Rangiku was always welcome. So he told everyone, eh? Fine by me.
"You just come with me and I'll take care of you." She said, suffocating him in her breasts. He eagerly nodded, liking the sound of that and wondering just how she would take care of him. His gray eyes snapped open as another painfully familiar voice ruined his moment of heaven.
"Getting him drunk won't fix anything, Rangiku." Renji said as he approached the two, smirking as Shuuhei glared at him from Rangiku's chest. "Hey man, you feeling better?" He asked, laughing as Shuuhei flipped him off.
"Drinking fixes everything! Haven't you learned that yet? Or was last time not enough?" The strawberry blonde asked, watching as Renji's face turned green. "Don't remind me. I'm never doing that again."
"Nonsense, we're doing it right now!" She exclaimed, causing both Renji and Shuuhei (who was still firmly nestled in Rangiku's chest) to widen their eyes.
"Wha- why?!" Renji asked in disbelief, not wanting to have another drinking session with Rangiku so soon.
"Because Shuuhei needs company and we're his friends, that's why! You heard Izuru, he isn't allowed to work for three days, and we all know how much he likes to work. So we're going to distract him as much as possible!" She explained, fixing Renji with a dirty look. "Besides, it's partly your fault he's like this! So you can't complain!"
"But... But I have to work tomorrow!"
"Well then you better start thinking of an excuse for Captain Kuchiki, shouldn't you?"
Shuuhei grinned at Renji's disgruntled face. Serves him right.
As it would turn out, Izuru really did tell their group of friends. Ikkaku and Yumichika were at the bar when they arrived, as well as the blonde himself and Iba. Add Rangiku, Renji and himself, and it was sure to be a long night. Even Hinamori was there, though Shuuhei had a hunch Rangiku forced her. The girl wasn't much of a drinker like the rest of them. But, he was glad to see she was doing better. After the whole Aizen incident she had been in and out of the fourth, but it looked like she made a full recovery. Which was good, since she would need to be at full health if she planned on staying. Rangiku would force everyone to drink until they were incoherent, but usually they all did it without her having to tell them to. Ikkaku had clearly started long before they showed up, as he was already obnoxiously loud. And, as usual, he was having a drinking contest with Iba who never could win.
"Oi, Shuuhei, hurry up and have a drink would ya?! We gotta celebrate you not dying!" The bald man yelled as soon as he saw the scarred lieutenant enter their usual bar. Yumichika sighed next to him, sipping on a small cup of sake. "Ikkaku, he wouldn't have died anyways."
"Ah, you made it. Sorry about earlier, you know how Renji is." Izuru said, walking over to his friend with a guilty smile. He felt bad for letting Renji and Ikkaku fight him, and for not knowing that Shuuhei was in such bad shape.
"Don't worry about it. It's not his fault he's an idiot." Shuuhei replied, taking a seat between Rangiku and Izuru.
"Uh, hello, I'm right here!" The redhead yelled, ducking as Ikkaku threw an empty bottle at him. "The fuck was that for?!"
"Shaddup and start drinking, ya pansy!" The third seat replied, grinning as Renji narrowed his eyes at him and sat directly across him. Shuuhei knew a huge drinking contest was about to start and figured he might as well join in. He had nothing else to do.
Ah... But wait, I can't drink to relieve stress. Unohana told me to be careful. How is this supposed to work then?
"Bottles of sake, all around! Renji's paying!" Rangiku shouted as she started drinking, pushing a cup into a nervous Hinamori's hands. Said redhead paused in his chugging and unceremoniously sprayed sake all over the table. "I'M WHAT?!"
Shuuhei laughed with the others and knocked back his drink, figuring he could just stop when he felt buzzed. He was a grown man, he could handle himself. "Be quiet and drink, Renji, I want to see you lose already." He said, loving the way Renji glared at him. "Oh yeah? Care to make a bet on that?"
"Oh, if we're betting, I'm putting my money on Rangiku." Izuru said, His fair skin already tinted pink. He always had been kind of a light weight.
"Why thank you Izuru dear! You've made the right choice, I never lose!" She replied happily, several empty bottles already around her, making Shuuhei sweat drop.
"I ain't gonna lose either! Come on, Rangiku, it's on!" Ikkaku yelled, slamming down his cup of sake as Iba fell backwards. "One down, er... Uh... All of you to go!"
"There's six of us left, Ikkaku, and I think dear Momo is already done." Yumichika pointed out calmly, watching as the girl swayed to the right. Rangiku caught her and laughed, giving the girl another cup. "Don't be so silly, Yumichika, I'll just order her some food and she'll be good to go. We all ate before starting, right?" She asked, and there was a pregnant pause as everyone came to the same conclusion.
"Ate?"
Well... Maybe one night of getting completely drunk wouldn't make a difference.
The morning after never was kind to Shuuhei. Usually he could just sleep it off, but today his stomach decided to get rid of everything in it, which is why Shuuhei had been puking in his bathroom for the past hour. His head hurt more than usual too, which only made him puke more until nothing would come up. He did manage to pass out again, while hugging the toilet, and woke only a few hours later to someone knocking on his door. He wondered who would bother him on a day like this, and wished they would stop knocking so damn loud.
"What do you wa- Oh, Rangiku?" He was surprised to see the woman so early, especially after last night. She had won the contest, of course, but everything after that was a blur. He was pretty sure Renji passed out... And he had a very hazy memory of Yumichika dragging Ikkaku home by the back of his shihakusho.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine. Just thought I'd come see how you were doing." She greeted with a smile, looking completely well rested and utterly normal, the complete opposite of Shuuhei.
"Ah, the usual I guess. I just woke up actually. You know Rangiku, you don't have to keep checking up on me. You shouldn't feel obligated." He said, finding it odd that she would come see him like this. Not that he didn't want to see her, he was actually happy she cared so much, but he really didn't want any of his friends feeling the need to babysit him.
"It's no trouble, really, and after last night I just wanted to make sure you were alive. I bet you don't even remember how you got home." She said, causing Shuuhei to pause. How did he get home? Rangiku laughed at his confused face, remembering how far gone he was last night. "Your welcome."
"Wait.. You?" He asked, face heating up in embarrassment. His own crush had to drag him home, all because he got too drunk. God, I hope I didn't do anything stupid.
"Yes, me, I was the only one capable of walking besides Yumichika. He took Ikkaku home and went back for Iba, while I took you, Izuru and Momo home." She replied, making him feel even worse. If he wouldn't have gotten so drunk he could have taken Izuru and himself home.
"I'm so sorry! If there's anything I can do to make it up to you just tell me." He said, surprised at what she said next.
"Actually, I was going to ask if I could come in."
He blinked once, twice, wondering if he heard right. Was his dream finally coming true? Had she finally returned his feelings?! If only he wasn't hungover!
"Uh, s-sure, but I haven't cleaned up yet." He said, mentally slapping himself for letting his house get so dirty. Between all the work, he completely forgot to clean.
"Oh please, it's nothing compared to my house." She said, walking inside and looking around. Shuuhei closed his front door and straightened his uniform, hoping he didn't look like complete shit. "Please, sit." He said, gesturing to his couch which thankfully wasn't littered with clothes. They sat down and Shuuhei immediately started thinking of where this could be going. Would she confess to him, and say she's loved him all along? Would she start stripping like in his dreams? Probably not the last part, but he could hope.
"So, Shuuhei, I came here to tell you something important." She said, completely unaware to what he was thinking. Hearing this made his hopes go even higher. "We haven't spent much time together lately since you've been so busy, and I feel so bad because of that. I had no idea you haven't felt good."
"It's nothing, Rangiku, really." He replied, knowing that any minute she would confess.
"Maybe not to you, but it is to all of us, to me.."
Yes, yes, go on!
"So I came here to give you.."
Your heart? A kiss?
"These.." He watched as she reached into her shihakusho, causing his nose to almost erupt with blood. She was reaching for her chest! It's even better than I imagined! She's giving me her wonderful breasts!
"Scented candles!"
"..."
He felt like he was just in a terrible accident. All of his hopes had promptly crashed as she pulled out several small candles from her robes, and he almost started crying. Of course she wouldn't return my feelings.
"They're great for handling stress, especially these lavender ones. Plus they smell so good! I figured you could use them since you need to relax." She continued explaining, oblivious to his crestfallen expression.
"Wow, thanks..." He grumbled, taking the candles and looking at them with a glare, as if it were their fault.
"I know you're not thrilled about staying away from work, but it's for the best. It may have been Renji's fault for knocking you out, but you would have ended up in the fourth division anyways. Why didn't you tell us you were stressed, Shuuhei? We would have helped." She said, giving him a disapproving look.
"I just.. Got caught up in it, I don't know. I didn't want to bother you guys.. And I thought I could handle it. I mean, I've been running this division for a while, I should be used to it!"
"It doesn't matter, Shuuhei, it's too much work for one person. You may have been used to it but working so much like that catches up to you eventually. You have to give yourself a break." She said, and Shuuhei suddenly felt a sense of deja vu. It was almost like he and Rangiku had this conversation before.
"It's not like I had a choice. It wasn't-"
"It wasn't your fault Tosen left, I know. You did what you had to do just like Izuru and Momo. The only difference is you overdid it and never asked for help. Momo would sometimes ask my Captain, and Izuru asked me a few times. But you would always do everything and never ask us to help. It wouldn't have bothered us, you know. You're our friend and we never wanted you to end up like this."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I'll get better though, I promise. Now that Captain Muguruma is back, it'll give me a chance to wind down and be a lieutenant again." He replied, feeling terrible for never asking for help. The thought never crossed his mind, really, he just got so busy he didn't think about anything else except work. And now he was stuck like that.
"Speaking of which, how is your new Captain? I hear he's strict." She asked, deciding to change the subject.
"He is, but he's still alright. We get along pretty well. The only thing I'm not use to is his hollow powers, and his old lieutenant. Training with them is difficult." He answered, recalling how easily Mashiro had beaten him.
"I heard he brought some girl, but I wasn't aware it was his old lieutenant. I didn't know a Captain could have two lieutenants."
"Well, apparently he can, and nobody's going to tell him otherwise. He's got quite the temper. It's pretty funny to watch sometimes, as long as he's not mad at you."
"Sounds like my Captain." She said with a chuckle, knowing Toshiro was probably throwing a fit since she wasn't doing work right now. "Momo told me her Captains really strange, and Izuru said his isn't much better. They're both nice, I remember them before they got exiled." She said, causing Shuuhei to gape at her. She laughed nervously, realizing she let that slip out.
"B-but that was so long ago! How do you... Rangiku, how old are you?!" He asked in amazement, forgetting that you shouldn't really ask a woman her age. But still, he had been just a kid when Kensei got exiled, how could she remember him? Did she meet him too?
"Let's just say I've been a lieutenant for a while, okay? I was here when they were all Captains and I remember all of them being very nice, interesting people, that's all! Your Captain hasn't really changed, actually. Come to think of it, none of them have." She explained, a flustered look on her face.
"Yeah, I know. I met Captain Muguruma when I was little." He said, flushing as he remembered crying in front of the man. He really hated that Kensei remembered that too. "How are you not a Captain, Rangiku? You're strong enough."
"Oh, stop, you'll make me blush. I'm perfectly fine with staying a lieutenant. Besides, there's no way I'll kick Toshiro out of his spot. The paperwork would never get done." She said, both of them laughing. "Oh, before I forget, I was going to see if you wanted to have lunch today. You should get out of your house so you don't go crazy."
"Sure, sounds great. I'll come by the tenth later on. Maybe twelve?"
"Perfect! Well I should get going before the Captain hunts me down. You better relax, mister!" She said, following Shuuhei to the door. Shuuhei laughed, knowing that he would probably just go back to sleep. "I'll try." He said, eyes widening when she hugged him. Usually she would smother him in her boobs, like she did to everyone else, but this was different. It was gentle and... Caring, maybe? Like a mother hugging her child. It felt... Weird.
"Just get some rest, Shuuhei. I'll see you soon." She said before flash stepping away. It took Shuuhei several seconds to realize she was gone, and even as he walked back inside and returned to his bed, he couldn't shake the weird feeling. A part of him said she really did return his feelings, or that she was worried. But something else told him it was different.
They're great for handling stress, especially these lavender ones.
You may have been used to it but working so much like that catches up to you eventually. You have to give yourself a break.
It wasn't your fault Tosen left, I know.
Just get some rest, Shuuhei.
He thought about everything she said, and how it felt like they had the same conversation before. Did he say something last night? Something that would make her worry? God, I hope I didn't start talking about how stressed I've been. Still.. It almost sounds like... She knows exactly what I'm going through.
"Why does she know so much about stress?"
A good question indeed. Well, I think it's safe to say that next chapter things are gonna start getting interesting. And, like in the current manga, Rangiku is going to play in important roll in all of this. Did you guys know Rangiku's past is apparently super important to what's going on in the recent chapters? I forget where I read it, but I think Kubo said something about it. Weird, right? Makes me wonder if Gin would be involved too. I hope so! I miss him:(