A/N: No real point, just a of slice-of-life oneshot in an AU where the Gotei 13 is an orchestra. Heavily based on experiences I've had in and of bands, especially amateur and concert bands.
"We've got our performance of 'Bleach' in three days, so this is our second last practice. Time to get down to business!" the conductor shouted over the noise of tuning instruments. The old, bald man scanned the room and was pleased to see that nearly everyone had turned up to the rehearsal on time.
"We're starting with the second half of the program. Take out 'No Clouds in the Blue Heavens'.
"Ready?"
He lifted up his hands and was disappointed when only half the band followed his instructions.
"Flutes! Saxophones! When I raise my hands, what do you do?"
He looked around and saw the smirk on the white-haired first flautist's face.
"Ichimaru! You should know better than to test me this close to the performance! When I raise my arms, you all bring up your instruments!
"Again! One, two, one two three four!"
The soothing, light melody filled the rehearsal room...
"Stop. Violins, where are you at bar 17? I could hear one violin on the first beat of bar 17."
A black-haired man turned to glare at his fellow first violins and a red haired man in the second violin chair winced.
"From bar 10!" the conductor shouted.
Just then, a young, black-haired girl walked in.
"Sorry I'm late, Yamamoto-san! My class ran overtime. Hitsugaya-kun is coming; he needed to go home to pick up his music."
"Just set up quickly, Hinamori. We're playing 'No Clouds in the Blue Heavens'."
She pulled out her clarinet and got to setting it up, just as a short, white-haired boy rushed in, looking harassed and a few folders of music in his hands.
"Sorry I'm late, Yamamoto-san," he muttered, nodding to the conductor before moving over to the back of the band.
"'No Clouds in the Blue Heavens', bar 10!"
And the music started up again.
"For the next song, we have a guest singer. I know we're cutting it pretty close to start the rehearsals, but we haven't been able to co-ordinate times until now. You've played it before, you know the drill."
At this point, a tall boy stepped forward from the choir. He had bright orange hair and a slight scowl on his face.
"'Soul Shout' everyone!"
Yamamoto was just about to start the song when a voice drifted to him.
"Kenpachi! Ikkaku! Unless it says 'talk' on your score, I don't want to hear your voices!"
The two percussionists didn't even look mildly chastised, but they did stay quiet. Yamamoto could get very angry when he wanted to.
"One bar in," the old man shouted.
It wasn't a bad song, lyrical, happy, and the singer's alto melded nicely over the backing of the band.
They got to the end of the song without Yamamoto stopping them, which was a first.
"Flutes, bar 23, make sure your articulation is tight. Saxophone, same thing. Trumpets. There's a rest on beat one of bar 27. Make sure it's there." A few more pages were flicked. "Ah, violins, bar 52, follow the violas. They've got it right, you're a bit out. Ichigo, nice singing, but it says decresendo at bar 34, and I need you to do that, otherwise your voice is too overpowering."
Ah, there was the customary tirade.
"Again."
At bar 28, Yamamoto stopped conducting. It took most of the orchestra until bar 30 to notice. It took Ichigo another bar to realise that everyone else has stopped.
"Trumpets!"
The short, black-haired woman looked angry and glared, but not at the conductor.
A young girl who didn't look much older than Ichigo and played the cello, leaned towards Ichigo and whispered, "here he goes."
"We'll rehearse 'Silent Wish' and then we'll break for twenty minutes."
Light percussion and a repetitive keyboard beat filled the room, joined by an oboe solo. It was a light melody, unlike the harshness of 'The Dark of the Bleeding Moon'.
Soon the oboe faded and a violin took over the melody line, which was in turn picked up by the keyboard.
Hitsugaya's talent shone through here. The little embellishments, with the continuing bass line sounded amazing against the soft sounds of the orchestra.
"Alright everyone. Break, then meet back here in twenty minutes exactly."
"Last piece for this rehearsal, 'Overture'. I know you can do this well." He paused while everyone looked for their music.
"I've lost my score for this, Yama-jii," one of the saxophonists said, raising his hand.
"Well, I have no spares here, Kyouraku. You'll have to share with Ise and I'll get you a copy tomorrow." He looked around the room. "Instruments up."
A double bass started playing, followed closely by a percussion line, then Ichigo's voice and the orchestra combining as a backing choir to the rock-like song.
They got to the end and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the rehearsal finished.
"Alright, rehearsal over! I expect all of you at the venue at one thirty for the final rehearsal. Not a minute late." At this point he glared at Kyouraku. "Now scram."
A/N: … why yes, I've just used song titles from the Bleach musicals. For anyone that hasn't seen them, they're amazing and awesome. Links to the songs used are available at the extended author's note, available at my tumblr: oakleaffic-tumblr-com/post/36731370146 (replace the dashes with dots).