Anime Short Stories Collection I

Smile [Gin Ichimaru Ficlet]

[Name] stared down at the framed photograph in her hands. She could remember the moment like it was yesterday and, like it had then, it made her smile as she thought about it.

Gin had asked her to go out on a picnic with him. Naturally, she had agreed; she was in love with the man after all. On her way out of her home to meet him, she stuffed her slim silver camera in her pocket, knowing that it would definitely take some cajoling to get Gin to agree to even look at the camera, much less take an actual picture.

Gin had gone all of the way: he'd brought a blanket, a little wicker basket full of food, a bottle of wine. It had made [Name] giggle at how serious he had been about that date. Then again, Gin Ichimaru was serious about every date that he ever took [Name] on. He said it was because he loved her and [Name] really did believe him.

Their picnic had been in a nice little clearing; no one else was around to bother them except for the birds in the trees and the occasional bee or butterfly. At the end of the day, they sat sipping their wine as [Name] had pulled her camera out. Gin had sighed almost immediately, sending her the look he always got when he saw a camera.

“Come on Gin! What are we going to show our kids when they ask us about how their dad courted their mom, hmm? Just give me one picture,” she had whined, pleading with him to get her way.

Gin had easily given in, but it was the smiling part that he didn't seem to grasp. [Name] tried to fix his lips for him, in what would be a nice and non-creepy smile, but it just ended up with her rolling around in a fit of giggles, clutching at her sides and trying to catch her breath.

Gin had eventually just grabbed the camera himself, lying back on the blanket beside her and snapping a picture with the best smile he could muster. [Name] had been laughing at the picture and Gin, even though he had smiled, still hadn't been looking at the camera because he had been too busy looking at her.

[Name] knew that's what she loved most about it; perhaps Gin had meant to erase the picture afterwards. Maybe he had forgotten about it. But [Name] had found it, printed it out and still had it to this day.

A knock on her door made [Name] lift her head and she smiled when she saw a familiar little boy in the doorway.

“Mommy, come on! Daddy's teaching me how to cannonball!” the boy said joyously, causing [Name] to laugh and get up, walking over to her son.

“Alright, alright. Let's go see your moves then,” she stated, following the boy outside. He was just like his father, down to his smile, but she knew that her son would one day find someone just like Gin had who would try to get him to smile, would fail miserably and yet, he would still love her.