One of the things the Gotei 13 loved most about the
Kuchiki-Kurosaki union was all the Human convenience goods that Byakuya became
first interested in, addicted to, and was now dispersing throughout Seireitei.
Not a day went by that Shinigami didn't come
to work sweet-smelling, clean, and most importantly, with good teeth. With such
old-fashioned methods of tooth hygiene, it was hard to find a perfectly white
smile, or anyone who could defeat bad breath for more than an hour.
Toothpaste and toothbrushes changed all of that. Now there
were clean mouths everywhere, and a variety of different styles of brush and
paste were now widely available.
This wide range of oral-cleaning individuality, dear reader,
is about to cause havoc in a certain Shinigami
household … that of Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku . . .
-
It was dark and warm under the covers when Gin woke up. He
huffed quietly, knowing he wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep anytime
soon, and snuggled Ran-chan for a moment more of peace. A moment passed.
Sighing, Gin deftly untangled himself from Rangiku’s clutch-y parts. After
that, the few blankets were nothing to get through. Gin pulled himself to and
off the edge of the bed, taking a moment to stretch his spine.
Hearing a satisfying crunch, Gin let himself down from his reveille and headed for the apartment
bathroom. Since moving in with Ran-chan, things had been a little awkward, but
those things had been settled by now. A routine had formed. And part of that
routine was brushing their teeth in the morning.
The bathroom lights were still off, so that Ran wouldn’t be
woken up before her due, and because the darkness makes Gin feel safe. Heh,
like a snake! Well, this snake’s eyes don’t need the light~ The
act of brushing his teeth had become so routine, Gin could find everything by
touch. Sure enough, Gin found toothpaste, toothbrush, and facet all well in hand.
So certain was he that everything was the same as usual, Gin
never even thought twice about sticking the wet toothbrush into his mouth. It
took a moment, but before he knew it, Gin was spitting and shuddering and
trying to wash his mouth of the disgustingly
sweet melon flavor … ! Gin dropped his toothbrush like lit TNT, turning on the facet,
and practically throwing the water into his mouth. He rinsed every few seconds.
Spitting the last of the god-awful foam into the sink, Gin took a moment to
rest in the silence. Then he turned on the bathroom lights.
There was a thump from the bedroom, but Gin paid it no mind.
He was a little too upset about the melon-flavored
paste where his matcha toothpaste
should’ve been. The problem was that Gin despised sweets with a loathing matched only by his hate of
rainy days and maybe Aizen; and he just
put something sweet in his mouth. So it was with a rising temper Gin looked
up from the bathroom sink to the other apartment occupant.
Rangiku was standing at the door, blinking blearily in the
light, still in her night clothes. Most likely having just rolled out of bed,
Gin noted, glaring at Rangiku. That woke her up quick enough.
“W-w-wha’,” Rangiku was interrupted by yawn. Okay, maybe not
entirely awake, “I do to you dis’ time?” Rangiku smacked and licked her chops,
hiding another yawn behind her hand. Gin spared a moment to be distracted by
the sheer kawaii of that move, before
imperatively picking up the melon-flavored paste and waving it in front of Ran’s
face.
“This.” Ran eyed
the bit of green paste sticking out the top, and raised her eyebrow.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t produce toothpaste.
The Humans do that for us.” Ran commented, already losing interest in the
conversation. Instead, she focused on her nails. Ah, might be time for a new
coating … maybe in peach this time … or maybe light blue, like Gin’s eyes . . .
Unaware of Rangiku’s thoughts, Gin was trying very hard not
to just lose his temper then and there. But he didn’t, because at the very
least Ran deserved to know the reason for being chopped in two by Shinso. “Because,”
Gin continued, “Last night, you moved
my toothpaste . . .” Rangiku looked up, sensing where this was going and
already frowning, “And now I have sweet stuff between my teeth!”
“Hey, don’t blame this on me!” Rangiku pushed off the
bathroom wall, glaring.
“And who else would’ve done it?” Gin’s tone was icy. His hand
was inching backwards, towards the sink. He needed something to grab.
“Oh, I don’t know, your friend Kira last night?” Rangiku
hissed, shoulders set and ready to fight.
“As if! Kira wouldn’t touch my stuff, ever. Even if I asked
him too!” Gin’s hand was firmly wrapped around something solid, though he didn’t
know what it was yet, “He worships me!”
“And somehow you’re proud of that?!” Rangiku marched
forward, eyes shining brightly.
“Who wouldn’t be?” The sheer awkwardness of that answer just
put the whole conversation on hold, before Rangiku launched herself at Gin,
hissing furiously. Gin responded by backing up and swiping his unknown weapon out.
It was a toothbrush.
There was another awkward pause. There was even still some
paste on the bristles . . . Gin ignored the embarrassment and jumped at
Rangiku, who was on top of the sink. Rangiku grabbed the nearest hand object,
her toothbrush, up to block.
The weight of meeting was too much for the brushes, and the Shinigami sprang apart, nursing bruised
plastic. Bruise met bruise in another forceful impact, before separating into
different corners. Ran was balancing on the bathtub, and Gin was next to the
door. Gin sneaked a peek down the hall, noting the bigger space, and saw
Rangiku watching him.
Gin turned tail and ran down the wooden hallway, Rangiku hot
on his heels. They stopped in the middle to clash again, and broke apart to
keep running. Gin reached the end first, and propelled himself backwards off
the door. Rangiku skidded to a halt, span around, and raced after Gin.
Gin was already in the bathroom, sweeping in quickly for
toothpaste, and then running back at Ran. Ran swerved to avoid the brush aiming
at her face, and jumped away from the now-sticky ground. Clutching the hallway
beams, Rangiku stopped to take a breath.
But Gin was already moving, launching himself towards Ran
and forcing her to move to the right. Gin kicked out at her, catching her on
the hip, and forcing her to roll awkwardly. The roll was completed in the
bathroom as Gin landed softly. Rangiku popped up, ignoring the pain in her
side, and grabbed the remaining paste. Gin eyed her choice of weapon amusedly.
Smirking, Rangiku rushed out of the bathroom, neatly
sidestepping the paste on the floor, and squirting her paste out in a wide arc,
hoping to blind Gin. Gin moved to the left, outside of the range, and jumped
up. When he had enough height, Gin kicked down, plunging Rangiku into the
sticky mess below. But Ran wasn’t done yet.
Twisting right before impact, Rangiku caught Gin’s leg and
pulled, dragging him down with her. They both hit the ground with a gross-sounding
splat, and spent a few moments just
in shock. After getting over their revolted feelings, the couple immediately
detached themselves from the floor. Gin and Rangiku looked at each other.
Gin held up Ran’s melon-flavored toothpaste, “Well, that was
a small tube.” Said tube was held limply in Gin’s hand, totally empty. Not to
mention covered in goo along one side. Rangiku held up a similarly empty tube,
only it was green tea flavored,
“Sorry, looks like you won’t get to brush your teeth today.”
Ran dropped the plastic container on the ground, not wanting to continue
touching it. Gin shrugged.
“I got to brush my teeth. But what about you?” Gin watched
Rangiku grimace and gesture helplessly to the paste on their clothes. Gin’s
signature smile was starting to pull at his lips.
“Maybe we should buy permission flavor from now on, ne?” Gin offered, and smiled fully when
Rangiku nodded enthusiastically. “Just … not right now.”
“What?! I still haven’t brushed my teeth! You have to go buy
permission-flavored paste for me, right now!”
“Why should I? You’re the one who started this whole fight
in the first place. Maybe if you’d left my toothpaste alone, we wouldn’t be in
this mess. And then maybe you could’ve brushed your teeth.”
“But I did brush my teeth! Last night! With your paste! Why do you think I was so
gung-ho just now?!”
“Hm … I was thinking you were just on your period . . .”
“Nani?!”
So very domestic for these two! I have to admit when you said you were going to write a Gin/Rangaku fight, I did NOT expect it to be over toothpaste! That was kind of hilarious.
ReplyDelete*grins* I love these kind of fics~ So I'm really happy I wrote one, and that you liked it! Yay! That makes me really happy. C:
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