Attempting a multific after a long hiatus of something like 2 years. A slow start and introduction...and who even reads these..

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1. Will lose 3 kilos by the end of June. (need that pretty bikini for summer)

2. Will stop drinking. (wine doesn't count- just grape juice)

3. Will stop cutting classes and playing hooky.

4. Will not fall in love again. Ever.

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Chapter 1

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The rich warmth and bittersweet smell pleasantly assaulted the young woman's senses as she opened the door. Rangiku Matsumoto stood in the entrance for a brief moment savouring the small luxury she allowed herself each morning. Coffee. How could she start her day without it? Damn, that wasn't even a question worth answering.

Someone coughed pointedly behind her and she quickly walked in and placed her order. As she waited, she looked around wondering absentmindedly if the place had added something to the interior decoration. Her brightly coloured nails clicked on the shiny wooden counter as she contemplated the menu for today. The coffee shop was a tucked away affair on the corner of a large busy shopping street. A cosy, seemingly timeless place that welcomed newcomers as well as regulars. Rangiku smiled with pride as she knew she was now considered one of the know-how's, being known by name and coffee. Well. It was kind of hard not to be known, seeing as she's been here every morning without fail for the last six months or so, and with her bad habit of routine- she'd ordered the exact thing for… Six months or so.

"Black one milk two sugars!" A cheery voice rang out, placing her order on the counter.

"Wait, I didn't order the croissant." Rangiku started as she saw the pastry steaming, golden brown on a plate next to her coffee.

"Shh, it's on the house." A girl with bright green hair winked at her.

"Next!"

Rangiku giggled but took her coffee and pastry anyway, finding her favourite place to sit. The sky was overcast today but she didn't mind.

Taking her place at a small round table by the large window, she took out a tabloid and started reading.

Rangiku was a woman of indulgence. She took care of herself and the people around her. She thought that she should enjoy life the way it was given. Over the years, she'd given into the temptation of chocolate boxes, flowers, little trinkets and of course… Men. She knew she was fairly materialistic but weren't most women anyway to some degree? Perhaps she was more materialistic than others, but only because she just happened to love pretty things. And love pretty things she did. She wore her favourite tops till they were tattered rags, she kept flowers till they congealed green and sticky in their vases… And she dated men till her heart fell to pieces. If it was one thing she couldn't do, she couldn't say goodbye to anything, no matter how she knew she ought to.

Rangiku put down her paper to take a bite out of her warm croissant. The delicious pastry melted into buttery pieces of richness in her mouth with minimal effort. The top of the croissant was baked to crispy perfection while the inside was warm and chewy, just the way she liked it.

As she sipped her coffee her wandering gaze made eye contact with the man sitting in front of her. He gave her a friendly smile which immediately made her pick up the tabloid to hide behind it once more.

Rangiku was a woman of indulgence. But there was one indulgence she wasn't planning on giving into this year. This year she wasn't going to nurse a broken heart. She refused to feel the ache and frustration of a failed relationship. With that thought in mind she viciously tore into her croissant again chewing it savagely as she immersed herself within her tabloid once more.

Her phone buzzed urgently on the table making Rangiku jump, an irritating alarm going off quietly telling her she needed to move her ass unless she wanted to be late to class. She quickly folded the tabloid and drank the rest of her coffee that had gone cold in the past hour. The shop had been moderately busy when she came in but now the shop was packed to capacity, with people lining up outside. Rangiku stared longingly at the deli sandwiches that had been placed in anticipation of the lunch rush hour but she knew if she waited in line to buy them there would be no point in showing up to class.

Edging out the door, jostling a few people to get by she found herself on the pavement walking towards the bus to get to her university.

The bus ride had been much too quick in her opinion and she found herself staring ruefully at the whiteboard and the small frail but surprisingly strict lecturer that stood in front, tottering in front of the podium. The lesson plan had been written up on the board and Rangiku groaned not understanding a word of what was written there. God she hated statistics. She hated maths in general. She had excelled at most subjects at school but maths and anything that involved maths proved to be another situation entirely.

A bony little finger worked it's way painfully into the sensitive place between her ribs and she hissed a low ouch before turning to face her seatmate crossly.

"Wake up."

The offending finger and voice belonged to a small boy, too young to be in university and too smart to be in high school. Though despite being described as "young" he was officially eighteen (eighteen last month) and taking second year classes. His messy white hair, half hid an amused stare as he looked at a defeated Rangiku.

"You have to pay attention or you'll fail this class…again." He smirked, twirling a pencil between lithe fingers.

"Don't remind me." Rangiku grumbled, a light blush working it's way on to her cheeks. She couldn't afford to fail statistics again. One because if she didn't pass stats she wouldn't be able to graduate and two, going through another semester of statistics would be hell and three it would just be extremely humiliating.

Toshiro had actually passed stats way back in his first year, in fact he didn't actually gain any new knowledge from the class because he'd learnt everything in his advanced mathematics class back in high school, however the university still deemed it necessary for him to take it in order to pass. So why was he taking it again in his second year when he'd already passed the course? The answer lay with his strawberry blonde friend who was currently whispering in his ear rapidly, asking him to explain what the fuck the teacher was talking about. It was an easy class and he didn't mind taking it again. He'd be a fool to deny that he had used to harbour a tiny crush on his curvy and attractive friend but who didn't? The feelings were soon gone due to the fact that Rangiku had shown absolutely no interest in him and didn't even seem to realise he'd liked her, even just a little bit. He couldn't honestly say he cared that much though, it was more his body speaking than anything else. He liked being with Rangiku as a friend more than anything else. Anyway he was happily with his girlfriend of six months, who he was currently texting under the table whilst explaining what binomials were to a clueless Rangiku.

"I don't get it." She muttered again for the umpteenth time, pushing her pencil between her lips.

Toshiro sighed heavily, his patience running thin. He wrote out the theory again and explained what each part was with examples attached.

"Wait I think I kind of get it." Rangiku hurriedly scribbled something in her notebook and showed it to him. He nodded curtly and turned back to his phone which told him he got a new message.

"Everything still good with Momo?" Rangiku asked winking at him.

Toshiro blushed furiously. Everything was more than alright with Momo, especially if last night was anything to go by.

"AHA. Someone got laid last night." Rangiku poked him back in the ribs, payback for earlier.

"Shut up."

"Did you follow my advice? Did she like it?" Rangiku asked cheekily, remembering how Toshiro had asked her the other day on how to loosen Momo up and have her relax more in bed. It had taken Toshiro everything not to implode into a quivering mass of embarrassment as he asked his trusted friend on such matters. Rangiku, of course, had milked the moment for all it was worth taking a mental snapshot of the flustered young genius.

"…"

"Well did it?" She prodded him again.

"…Yes." Came the inaudible mutter from her left. Rangiku nearly screamed in triumph and happiness for her friend. Math was long forgotten as she spent the rest of the lesson teasing and trying to find out more of what happened last night.

"And what about you- isn't it time you got some?" Toshiro shot back, face burning with the choice of topic, trying to regain the upper hand in the conversation. At the question, Rangiku's laugh died in her throat along with the teasing gleam in her eyes.

"No." She said. Hands twisting the fabric of her skirt. "It's… It's too soon. I don't think… I can't..."

"You know there are other people who'll treat you right. Everyone isn't like him, you know."

"I know… But it sure seems that way sometimes."

Toshiro had nothing to say to that. There was nothing he could possibly say to Rangiku at this moment to change her mind given her past relationships. Which had all ended in a broken heart. In the quests to mend her broken heart, which he'd sat through countless times passing her the obligatory tissues and boxes of chocolates as she'd sobbed into his shoulder whilst patting her back awkwardly, he wondered if she would ever learn to stop giving her heart away in full. There was no one he knew that could guarantee to take her heart without leaving so much as a scratch. To be honest, he didn't even know how much glue and scotch tape was left to mend her heart if she broke it again.

"It's fine. I'm not interested in dating at the moment anyway." Rangiku said determinedly pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She looked down at her paper which she'd doodled full of cats without realising. She stuffed the paper in her bag.

"What do you have next?" She asked as the bell rang signalling the end of class.

"Last period of the day." Toshiro grinned. "I'm going to see Momo now, I think."

"Oh yeah that's right. You have afternoons off every Friday don't you." Rangiku remembered, tapping her full lip thoughtfully.

"Exactly. The only time I get to see Momo without you cockblocking us." Toshiro teased. In truth, neither Momo nor Toshiro minded Rangiku's presence. Ever since her last break up they'd been mindful of their fragile friend.

Rangiku just laughed. She knew she was spending too much time with the happy couple lately. But she couldn't help herself. She was addicted to the bubbly happiness the pair created effortless and deep down she tortured herself with the image of perfect young love that she seemingly never had or could ever achieve. Not that she'd ever tell Toshiro that.

"I'll just head for English then." Rangiku said, "Have fun with Momo."

"Not skipping today?"

"Nah. I made a few New Years Resolutions." Rangiku smiled to herself.

"Yeah, let's see how long those will last." Toshiro snorted and answered his phone that suddenly started ringing.

Rangiku quickly waved goodbye and walked to her next class.

The next ninety minutes were spent with Rangiku outlining her essay for class whilst trying to block out the chat of her classmates that consisted entirely of boys, relationships and going out which led to the topic of one night stands. Topics she used to be in the thick of, gossiping about anything and everything. But things had changed now, she couldn't muster the strength to join in the conversation, without experiencing stinging memories from her latest break up. She hoped that she wouldn't be asked anything-

"And what about you, Matsumoto? Where's your lover boy?" An obnoxiously sweet voice questioned her.

Rangiku pulled her mind back with difficulty to deal with the girl and question.

"What do you mean, Riruka?"

"You know, your dreamy eyed lover you've been seeing for the past, I don't know, half a year?" Riruka rolled her eyes and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm not seeing him anymore." Rangiku said with a tight smile and turned back to her work pointedly.

"Oh, it didn't work out?" Riruka cooed, refusing to let her prey go that easily.

"It didn't." Rangiku agreed easily not looking up. She wouldn't give up the private details away that easily, and definitely not to the biggest gossip monger on campus.

"That's a shame then." Riruka said disappointedly. Disappointed at the unresponsive Rangiku rather than her failed relationship. She turned back to whisper amongst her friends and no more prying questions reached Rangiku's ears.

Class ended and with no time at all, Rangiku had packed eager to leave the gossiping girls and campus in general. She yawned. How she managed eight classes during high school everyday, she had no idea. Tomorrow was… Saturday, which meant doing absolutely no homework and relaxing to the maximum. She grinned, she could buy a bottle of wine to go with dinner tonight. Her roommate and herself often drank on friday nights, just to celebrate getting through the week. Well actually, it was more Rangiku celebrating getting through the week while Nanao toasted her accomplishment with a glass of wine. Besides, she hadn't skipped all week, it was a start compared to last term when she had blown off over fifty percent of her classes effectively failing her seminars and electives thus losing credits. She had to work hard this term or else she would never graduate, and god knows Rangiku was tired of assignments and essays. A bottle of wine would definitely do her some good- plus it was good motivation.

On the way home she stopped by the store to purchase a bottle of cheap wine and a block of cheddar. Waiting patiently in line at the cash register, she noticed a young couple her age, cuddling in front of her. They were stealing kisses pretending to be subtle, giggling in their protective bubble of love. Rangiku just stared. She knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help it. Could it be that the girl's hair was a little, fuller? A little, shinier? Maybe her smile was just slightly bigger. Her cheeks were radiant as her eyes sparkled for none other than the boy standing behind her, hands on her waist protectively as he bent down to kiss her hair again.

Her grip tightened on the wine bottle and she forced herself to look away. Funny how when you're single it seemed like everyone else was paired up like penguins. But when you're in a relationship...when you're in that golden period where no one exists but you and your significant other, it's like the world slips by quietly making room for the feelings of affection that draw two people in closer. It's like you can get away with anything as long as you're with that person… Rangiku shook her head again to clear her thoughts. She wouldn't think of what she had with him. It was over, and it was going to stay over.

She paid for the wine and cheese and headed back to her small apartment. The cold January nights had become even colder, her scarf was doing nothing to keep out the chill. She breathed out puffs of white air and with numb fingers she fumbled around her pocket for her keys.

"Nanao! I'm home!" She yelled up the stairs as she kicked off her boots.

The rich warm smell of homemade tomato sauce wafted out and immediately made her mouth water.

"Hey Rangiku!" A small face popped up by the bannister waving at her. Momo Hinamori clattered down the stairs taking the bottle of wine and cheese from her friend after giving her a quick hug.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Rangiku asked as they climbed the stairs together to get to the kitchen.

"Yeah, Nanao invited us."

"Us?"

"Toshiro's here as well. I hope you don't mind." Momo smiled apologetically.

"Of course not, the more the merrier." Rangiku said cheerfully, making her way into the kitchen seeing Toshiro chopping up a salad and Nanao watching the sauce on the stove with a critical eye. She giggled at the matching aprons.

"I brought wine!" She announced cheerfully.

The night was spent eating endless plates of homemade pasta heaped with cheese, and between the four of them they had managed to drink through three bottles of red wine. It was a warm atmosphere. The small apartment was filled with laughter and jokes as the hours passed. The warmth from the stove and friendship was enough to forget that it was still a cold winter's night outside. They ate and drank and drank some more. Some time after dinner, someone decided to break out the playing cards and they all sat up till late, scattering cards and jokes. Rangiku didn't know when she fell asleep, but when she did, she knew she'd fallen asleep on a full stomach and a head full of happy thoughts.

TBC