Gin knew that it was very unlikely that the 29th of September was Rangiku's real birthday. It was a one-in-three-hundred-and-sixty-five chance, and the odds were slim - the current date had been chosen out of sentimental reasons, of course. It was their anniversary; the day Gin found his life's purpose, and the first day Rangiku started counting since her rebirth in the Soul Society. The 29th of September was the dawn of a new age... Their age.

Alas, the silver-haired man thought it was strange of him, to be wondering about when her real birthday was on one late summer's afternoon.

You see, August was his second favourite month (besides September, of course - Gin had always been sentimental, despite his protests). It was hot and sticky, and the sun poured liquid gold onto everything it could reach. The meadow outside his and Rangiku's modest little house in the sixty-fourth district always looked quite beautiful under that particular kind of yellow light. Heat waves rippled and convulsed above the ground, and Gin could see the steam rising off the lake at the bottom of the hill; truly, it was sweltering.

His own pale skin had produced a slick sheen of sweat, and his silver hair was plastered to his forehead; it was disgusting, yes, but the ex-traitor hardly had the energy to lift himself up and out of the welcoming shade of the persimmon tree. Walking down to the lake would mean walking out into the sun again, and he didn't think he could face another minute of squinting and burning and sweating under the pure summer heat rays beating against the ground.

Gin did not loathe much, but he loathed feeling so uncomfortable. Every breath he drew in through chapped lips heated his mouth, his lungs, his body; the humidity was pounding into him, seemingly forcing his eyelids shut and pinning his limbs to the yellowish grass.

Yet, despite the laziness that had overcome him, Gin couldn't possibly sleep. After all, the shade was unpredictable, and it would only take perhaps ten minutes out in the sun for his unprotected skin to burn to a shrivelled red crisp.

Of course, Gin was by no means a vain person, and normally such a thing wouldn't bother him; but, unfortunately, it was a truth universally acknowledged that a man with a blistering sunburn was not a handsome one. And ever since he got engaged just a handful of months ago, he'd decided that perhaps it was in his best interest to at least try to look good for his future wife. That plus the fact that ever since he'd been banished to the outer rims of the Soul Society, he'd had a lot more time on his hands to care about such previously trivial things.

"Giiiiiiiin~! I'm home!"

But this is all beside the point.

On this particular day (a month minus one day from Rangiku's chosen birthday), Gin's fiancee had been given the afternoon off. This was a surprise, considering her taichou's lack of sympathy and frankly frosty nature - perhaps the sun had melted his icy exterior, Gin mused as he watched Ran practically skip towards the house, her hands already working on pulling that sticky black shihakusho off.

(One thing he wouldn't miss about the Seireitei was the constant need to wear those heavy kimonos all year round. It was too hot in the summer; it was too cold in the winter. Autumn and Spring were unpredictable, so it was uncommon for one to stay completely comfortable for longer than two hours.)

Less than three minutes had passed before Rangiku reappeared on their porch, wearing something lighter, prettier, and altogether more flattering than her standard shinigami uniform. Gin noted with a half-smirk that her breasts were just as uncovered, and a delicious sheen of sweat glistened across her soft, lightly tanned skin.

"'Lo, Ran-chan," Gin sang, eyes cracking open despite the strain, and one arm lifting to beckon her over towards the shady paradise beneath his tree. "How're ya doin'?"

The buxom young woman sauntered over easily, grin almost as wide as his and arms waving as she began her recall of the Seireitei's daily gossip. Rangiku had never liked to leave Gin out of the loop, even when he was still a shinigami himself - she'd always had an uncanny gift at sniffing out the juiciest of gossip topics, and it was often him who would be the first to hear about it from her, even if such things disinterested him.

However, it was a fiance's duty to listen (albeit vaguely) to what his fiancee had to say, and thus Gin tried.

I shall stress the word 'tried'.

With the sun beginning to mellow and the breeze starting to pick up, the heat grew less intense; Rangiku's musical voice did not help, either. She sounded like a lullaby, quietly wittering away whatever she had to discuss, and Gin simply hummed as he fell into a deep snooze.

He dreamt idly of persimmons and breasts and the tickle of hair against his cheek, and Gin, Gin, Gin—

"—Gin!"

"Eh?"

"You fell asleep."

"I did?"

"Yes."

Silence. Staring contest. A silver eyebrow quirked comically. A pout morphed into a somewhat weary smile, and Rangiku allowed herself to finally laugh at his sun-beaten state.

"You look gross," she chided, tossing a lock of perfect golden hair over her shoulder. It shimmered in the sun and Gin was temporarily blinded by the beauty of her face, half-painted by the golden light and illuminating her smile. "The sun doesn't suit you, Gin."

He only hummed in agreement, feeling too lazy to come up with something witty and amusing to say in response. The silver-haired ex-traitor leaned his silver head against the tree trunk, and, with half-lidded eyes, watched her stand in between him and the sun with her hands on her hips.

While the sun did not suit him, it certainly suited Rangiku. The shade half-covered her when she stood at that angle, but the gaps in the tree canopy allowed the sun to pour at least a little of it's light onto her skin - she soaked it up happily, and Gin could practically see it glowing beneath her rosy cheeks and sparkling in eyes.

"Today's gorgeous." Ran mused aloud, and Gin was tempted to say something painfully cheesy, like, not as gorgeous as you, but the mood did not take him.

Today in general seemed to suit her, somehow. Her aura shone a little brighter, and her smile was as fresh as the scent of flowers billowing around them. Ran's lips seemed to twitch, as though her subconscious was rejoicing in a little secret that the woman herself hadn't quite grasped onto.

Gin's own grin grew lopsided as he examine his extraordinarily beautiful fiancee with practiced ease, all the while assuming that today must've been her real birthday. It was unexplainable, and there was always a chance that he could've been wrong. But today just seemed like Ran's day - the heat spiked like her temper and the breeze cooled his skin soothingly like her kisses. The grass danced around her ankles and the water sparkled off the surface of the distant lake just like her eyes did when she was presented with something utterly fantastic and amusing.

Gin was sure of it.

Heaving himself up, the man dusted the dirt off of his thighs and butt, before fleetingly kissing Rangiku's cheek and dashing into the house. A cool bath was in order; he wouldn't be able to cook dinner in this sweaty state.

"Hey— where are you going?" Ran called, hands still resting on her hips and smile wide.

Gin looked at her over his shoulder and easily matched his grin with hers.

"Gonna run a bath and get ready to cook yer favourite supper. How's that sound?"

"Pretty good." She laughed, and it sounded like chiming bells. "I might join in with that bath, though."

"C'mon then." He winked.

She began following him inside. "Anyone else would think it was my birthday, Gin!"

"Maybe it is," he replied, the twinkle in his eye growing mischievous. "Today, outta three-hundred-and-sixty-five others... That's pretty low odds, Ran-chan."

"You never know."

"Nope," Gin opened the front door for her. "Ya never know."

A/N;

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Courtney~~~~! Happy birthday to you!

This is a birthday gift to Courtney, aka Rangiku-mun, aka rangikuxmatsumoto (on tumblr), aka the best roleplay partner a lowly Gin RPer could ever wish for. I hope you have a fabulous day, darling. 3

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