AN: Welcome to my attempt to write fanfiction. Just a warning it does contain a lot of my OCs and it is written in the first person - two things I know can drive people nuts. Oh and there's probably a bit of language, one of my OCs has a bit of a mouth on her, but it shouldn't really overpower anything. Anyways, feel free to review and tell me what you think or what not.

I don't own Bleach.

It started out as a simple dare from Reika and Hanatoro, to see if I could step into Lieutenant Renji Abarai's gigai. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - Hanatoro? Sweet innocent 7th Seat of the 4th Division being involved in such behavior as dares? The answer is yes, well ever since he started hanging out with Reika and me after we graduated from Shino Academy a few years back. We were a bad influence on him, especially since we figured out that he could get away with a lot because of his innocent demeanor. We'd made it a mission to corrupt him, and found the task incredibly easy. Hell, underneath his shy exterior Hanatoro was a devious genius when it came to pranks and he was an endless fount of information about schedules and gossip.

Reika and I were spending our off-duty day in the World of the Living, bugging Hanatoro while he was stationed in Karakura. Somehow he'd gotten roped into doing chores around the shop while everyone else was training or patrolling or (more likely) goofing off. It was 5 years after our side had won the Winter War and everyone was finally beginning to relax. Rules were much more lax under Head Captain Shunsui Kyoraku and it wasn't unusual for seated members to get "passes" to visit the World of the Living on their off duty days. Of course, one had to have a soul communicator on at all times and if you nearby a Hollow attack then you were required to go help, plus if you wanted to go anywhere but Kisuke's Shoten you had to have a gigai.

Which led to my current problem, my gigai was currently locked in a store room as "punishment" for an entirely harmless - ok mostly harmless - prank I'd pulled. Sheesh it'd only bit a few pinches of catnip I'd sprinkled on Yourichi's food, and suddenly Tessai, Rukia, and Kisuke have laid down layers of Kido to prevent me from getting my gigai, plus there was a padlock on the door courtesy of Ichigo. But without my gigai I was effectively grounded at Kisuke's, which led to a very, very bored Eri. And since I'd threatened to divulge a few secrets I knew about Reika (like I'd ever do that), and Hanatoro was still on duty, both of them were stuck with me.

So when Hanatoro was cleaning one of the empty storerooms and ran across what looked like an extra gigai for Renji, the temptation was almost too much to resist. Heh - one thing we all learned early on about Kisuke's Shoten was to never trust anything the man had tucked away. But then it happened.

"Eri," Reika's voice was bubbly with excitement. She dragged the gigai out of the corner and laid it in the middle of the room. "You should hop in!"

"Reika!" Hanataro cried in alarm. But even he was glancing between the gigai and me, with a very interested gleam in his eyes. Unease settled caused butterflies to flutter in my stomach as I stared at the gigai, and for once my common sense was winning over my "wouldn't it be fun?!" sense. I shook my head emphatically and even started walking towards the door.

"Oh come on Eri! Just try it on, then we can go and hit the beach," Reika grabbed my wrist. The beach did sound nice... "Or we can go and get some shaved ice..." Reika threw in casually. I narrowed my eyes at her, I knew what she was doing, throwing my favorite treat in as enticement. Sure the Seireitei had popsicles and juice and the ability to make ice, but somehow no one there seemed to be able to throw together the wonderful combination of all three that made shaved ice.

"The stand nearby sells strawberry pina-colada," Hanatoro cut in. Drool began pooling in my mouth at the thought of taste bud nirvana.

"Not a good idea," I sighed wistfully.

"Hey, if you're too chicken, maybe Toro will do it?" Reika smiled, and I flinched. I looked over at Hanatoro who grinned at me and started moving towards the gigai. Crap.

"Oh hell no, if anyone is going to try out another shingami's gigai it's going to be me!" I growled and shoved Hanatoro out of the way. Before I could lose my nerve I knelt beside the unmoving body of Renji and rolled the gigai so it was lying on its stomach. Then, glaring at a smirking Reika and a shocked Hanatoro, I moved into position to dive in. Of course I was fully expecting to just bounce off the hard planes of his back, and I was already planning my victory dance at having conquered such a dare along with how I was going to convince the two to go get my treat. So it took me by surprise when instead of resistance I fully slid into the body in front of me.

"Oh Shit," Reika exclaimed. I gasped, suddenly feeling the floor underneath very foreign flesh while getting used to the feeling of being much bigger than I was used to. Muscles jerking, I managed to maneuver two very big hands underneath me so that I could flip myself over, then managed to sit up. Both Hanatoro and Reika were staring at me with horror, and I was faintly aware of a very draining sensation.

"Um, g-g-guys?" I stammered, shocked by how low and hoarse my voice was. Mentally I knew it was the same pitch as Renji's but it lacked the lazy drawl and effortless confidence that usually haunted his sinful tones.

"I don't think that's supposed to happen..." Hanatoro trailed off as he continued to stare at me in shock. "Maybe you shouldn't stay in there."

Nodding, I tried to pull my consciousness out like one did with a gigai, but instead of the easy slip away all I met was resistance. It was almost like the gigai wasn't going to let me go and panic began to build as the draining sensation worsened.

"Eri, stop fooling around," Reika growled. The world started to spin as I resumed efforts to pull myself out of the gigai, only to find myself still trapped. There was a sharp increase in the surrounding Reiatsu, telling me that Kisuke was nearby, then everything faded to nothingness.