Well…
I blame my best friend. I was planning on writing some sort of short Bleach AU, so I asked for a job type that I would write about. This was about the time that I was writing a ByaRen fic—which will get posted someday, I swear—so she ended up suggesting something along the lines of 'florist Byakuya gets together with astrophysicist Renji,' which didn't really strike a chord with me.
The NEXT thing she suggested was people who worked in a newspaper business. I've taken that idea and flown with it, and it's turned into—well—this. I have about ten chapters typed up so far, with more to come. This is just a beginning.
As for pairings, there'll be many, both het and yaoi. I've categorized this under Shunsui and Nanao because they'll be one of the foci, but others will include: ByaRen, IchiRuki, GinRan, HitsuHina, UlquiHime, StarkLilynette, NnoiNel, UraYoru, ShuuKira, IkkaYumi, SentarouKiyone, UkiUno, and, if I get around to adding the Vizards, KenseiMashiro, ShinjiHiyori, and Rose/Love or RoseLisa (I honestly can't decide). Some of these will, obviously, get a bit more screentime than others, but they'll all definitely be featured. There's three (or four) yaoi pairings in there, so if that offends you, just skip those parts. I may even add a few more crack pairings because I'm bored—GrimmYachi, anyone?
And this story will not totally be about romance. There's quite a lot of other stuff in there.
Disclaimer: Bleach does in no way belong to me. Neither does any newspaper company. If you think this is anything at all like a real company operates, you're sadly mistaken. ;P
Well, I'm done monologuing. Enjoy!
Chapter One
In Which the Plot Commences and Renji Converses with a Great Many People
4:00 pm, May 8th
Seireitei Chronicle HQ
"Stop the presses!"
The cry was heard so often in the headquarters of the Seireitei Chronicle—serving from Rukongai to Karakura for more than twenty five years—that most of the writers, editors, and temps located in the building rarely paid attention any more. However, as Renji Abarai, star reporter, was not generally one to scream and jump up and down like a maniac in the face of a simple news story, the crowd paid a little more attention than they would have normally.
Shuuhei Hisagi, editor-in-chief, poked his head out of his office door and glanced over at Renji. "Something, Abarai?" he queried.
Renji nodded happily as Hisagi and his assistant, Izuru Kira, meandered over. "Check it out," he said enthusiastically. He held out a handwritten page on which the words 'Ex-felon Weds Billionaire Heiress' were boldly written along with several pages of notes and a few grainy snapshots attached by a paperclip.
Hisagi blinked.
"Not that it's not interesting, Abarai…" he said slowly, "but isn't that more of a society gossip type thing? Send it over to Matsumoto's department."
Renji shook his head. "You don't understand," he told them. "Look who the man is!" He pointed to one picture where the blond's face was mostly visible beneath a truly ugly hat. Hisagi held the photograph up to his face and squinted.
"Is that…is that Kisuke Urahara?" he asked, sounding rather disbelieving.
"Yup."
"You mean, our Urahara? The guy whose story we spent months covering after he was arrested for kidnapping and attempted murder? The guy that you and Kuchiki finally proved was innocent, only to have him drop off the face of the earth? That Kisuke Urahara?"
"That's the one!"
"And now he's marrying this…" he checked the notes, "this Yoruichi Shihouin, sole heir to one of the wealthiest families in the world?"
"Looks like it, yeah."
"Wow." Hisagi looked impressed. "Nice job."
"What, him or me?"
"Well, I was talking about him," Hisagi admitted, "but good job to you too for uncovering that."
"Thank you."
"So, what are we thinking," Hisagi murmured, turning away to consult with Kira with Renji's notes clutched in his hand, "full frontal spread? Above the fold? Maybe with all our articles about his sort of summarized into a timeline?" Kira nodded enthusiastically.
"Hey, Ichimaru," Hisagi called, pulling his head writer over, "can you cover this?" He didn't sound particularly enthusiastic; truthfully, Hisagi disliked Gin Ichimaru for his smile and his eyes and how his chances of getting with Rangiku Matsumoto were so much better than Hisagi's own. But he was an excellent writer, and there was really no one else better to cover the story now that Aizen, the former head writer, had left.
Gin smiled. "Sure thing," he drawled, snatching the notes away.
"You heard the plan?"
"Ears like a bat," Gin said. Damn, that smile was creepy.
"Fine." Hisagi nodded. "Get with it." Gin left. "So," he continued, turning to Renji, "how did you learn of this…development?"
Renji shrugged. "The boss and I were down in Karakura Town," he began, referring to his boss and the paper's lead reporter, Byakuya Kuchiki, "when we heard that there was this whole hullaballoo going on down the way. Kuchiki didn't really want to go, but I was sick of our hotel and so I wandered down. This is what I saw." He gestured emphatically at the notes Gin was referencing. "I talked to both bride and bridegroom. Plus this friend of the bride—foreign, crazy, and really loyal—maybe a bodyguard." He grinned. "She didn't seem so happy about the wedding, let me tell you."
Kira had wandered over to where Gin was flipping through the photographs. "Who on Earth wears a hat to his own wedding?" he asked incredulously. Then, seeing that all eyes in the room had suddenly turned to him, blinked in confusion. "I mean…it's odd." Gin smirked at his former assistant and pulled the pictures back.
Renji, seeing nothing better to do, pulled up a chair and sat down next to some of the editors. "How's it going, guys?" he asked.
Ikkaku grunted. "Fine. Boring as hell." He gestured at the man behind him. "Yumi's working on a story. Some shit about clothes or something."
Yumichika tossed his head. "How uncouth of you to refer to it as such, Ikkaku," he told his friend—or, according to half the gossips in HQ, lover. "It's high society fashion. And it's a piece I'm editing for Rangiku. She asked me to especially."
Ikkaku rolled his eyes. "So, what's with you?" He addressed to last remark to Renji. "How goes it working under the Ice Princess?"
Renji smirked. His boss's cold demeanor and rather effeminate good looks—although nothing compared to Yumi's—had earned him the nickname over the years. "Kuchiki? He's…he's…challenging." Ikkaku nodded in sympathy. "All with the, 'I'm so, so much better than you' thing. Gets a little annoying after a while. But he's a crack shot reporter."
"You're friends with his sister, right?"
"Who, Rukia? Yeah. She was a couple of years behind me in school. Still in college right now."
Ikkaku raised a suggestive eyebrow.
"Oh shut it. Friends. She's taken up with some classmate of hers now, anyway. Orange hair, loudmouth, real annoying."
"Sounds a bit like you," Yumichika piped up, not looking up from his computer.
Renji growled.