Disclaimer: Bleach and all related subjects are the property of Tite Kubo. I just rent the characters for 75 cents an hour. I try to write fast, but this explains why I never have any money...

My first Bleach fic! Well... no, I wrote a short one-shot before, but one of my hall mates at CTY stole it and lost it, so yeah... I got this idea from my friends, and she said she got the prompt from somewhere, so I'm sorry if I am copying anyone!

1. Cat's Tongue

There is something in existence called "mail", and that very fact was the reason why tenth-division's Rangiku Matsumoto was in a bad mood. The disgruntled Shinigami sat down heavily at her desk with a large box overflowing with fanmail in her arms.

"What's the point of sending fanmail anyways?" she grumbled, tearing through what must have been her twentieth envelope. "The sender always writes something like 'From your admirer', so it's impossible to send any back. And some of these are really irrational…" Rangiku then let out a laugh. She was criticizing others of being irrational?

Finally, only one letter remained unopened. Rangiku frowned at the pink envelope in her hand. The company "Nekojita Milk Candy" was printed in the corner and a picture of a white cat with its tongue sticking out adorned the front. What was this place? She had never heard of it before, so why were they sending her mail? Rangiku opened the envelope to find that the folded sheet of paper inside had her name written on it in a thin, spidery handwriting. Her frown deepened as she recognized the handwriting, and she felt the urge to crumple it and toss it into the fire. Nevertheless, she unfolded it and began to read.

My dear Ran-chan,

Hey! How are you? I haven't seen it in quite a while. I know that I have no right to send letters to you, but I felt as though I needed to apologize for my sudden leaving. I didn't want to hurt all those people; to leave the Soul Society in chaos and anger like I did, but it was necessary. You probably don't understand, and I don't think that you will unless I explain it to you face to face instead of through paper. I'm sorry…

It's so boring here in Hueco Mundo! There's no one here except Aizen, Tosen, Arrancars, and a bunch of Gillians. Aizen is too busy commanding his underlings and feeding his ego and Tosen follows in his footsteps. That is very unwise, as Aizen always runs into walls. I mean that both figuratively and literally because he doesn't see very well without his glasses. The Arrancars are all conceited and none of them seem to like me, and the Gillians are numbnuts. It's like trying to talk to potatoes; the Gillians just grunt and stare at you. I really wanted to talk to you, Ran-chan, like we used to. Remember when we used to live together when we were really little? In the dead of winter we used to sit as close to the fire as we could without getting burned and just talk through the night because you were too scared to go to sleep. I always found that so funny, especially since you always fell asleep while I was the one who ended up staying awake. I just had to sit there with you leaning against me because I didn't want to wake you and go through that whole "I can't go to sleep!" speech. Not that I minded, though.

Speaking of that, I also truly meant it when I said I wouldn't mind if you had held on to me a little longer when we parted. I don't want to sound like a pervert when I say that! I just meant that… well… I can't really explain. Maybe I am a pervert? If so, please excuse yet another imperfection of me! I just miss you, Ran-chan! How can I not? I really want your company here. You made me smile. I mean really smile.

I hope that you are well, and I hope that Seireitei is too. I would feel like scum if I had hurt you. I feel like scum now, actually… Did we leave too much damage behind? Sorry if we did! But Aizen's plans are extreme when needed. Speaking of him, I hear him coming down the hall now so I better wrap this up. He wouldn't be pleased if he knew I were writing to you, and I'll ask that you not tell anyone back in the city about this either? For safety issues, you know.

Love forever,

Gin

P.S. I know that I don't deserve it, but I would really love it if you were to write back to me! If you do decide to, please send it back in the envelope it came in. Aizen will become suspicious if I receive mail from the Soul Society.

"…" Glued to her chair in shock, Rangiku finally remembered how to breathe and did. She reread the letter once, twice, and again before the message registered in her head. Gin was sending her mail…? But why would he do that? Even though they had grown up together, she had felt their strong bond dwindle through the past years serving the Thirteen Gotei.

"…Should I reply? My captain would kill me. I think he still hasn't gotten over the fact that Aizen and Gin almost killed Momo-chan… But Gin did defy Aizen and write to me all the way from Hueco Mundo… How did he even get it sent here? Did he tell one of the Gillians to bring it over here to the Soul Society?" Murmuring to herself, Rangiku plucked a fresh sheet of paper from the disarrayed pile on her desk and retrieved her brush from the inkpot.

"Gin… If it weren't him, I wouldn't bother." She dipped the tip of the brush into the ink and, despite her hand aching from hours of paperwork, began to write.

After she completed a letter that she deemed satisfactory, Rangiku lightly fanned the ink to dry it and sighed. "Somehow, I hope he writes back…"

-o-

Erm... I hope that Gin wasn't too OCC in this, but I got the impression that his attitude is kind of like that around Rangiku. Sorry, the pairing is abbreviated as Gin/Ran, which is a lot like Shin/Ran, as in Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mori from Detective Conan, and I write for that pairing too, so it has a bit of Shin/Ran air... Very sorry! I hope that you will read on, please?