Rukia Kuchiki gently set her feet down on the pavement she landed on after leaving the Soul Society, a determined look on her features. She was sent by Byakuya to figure out why Shinigami kept going to the human world and never coming back, something she wasn't too excited for but still believed she could pull off. After all, they weren't dying-the Soul Society would know if they were. Chances are they were just using their missions as a vacation.
Her first stop was, of course, the shop of Kisuke Urahara, as shady guys often knew shady things about shady events, right?
So without hesitation, she threw open the shop doors, dressed in her usual black robes. "Hello? Is anyone here?" She called out, stepping inside.
"Ah, Rukia-san! What a pleasure!" Urahara said, stepping out of the shadows. "You're just in time!"
"Just in time for what?" She questioned. "Anyway, I have a question to ask you. Do you know anything about the vanishing Soul Reapers? They come here from the Soul Society, but then they don't come back."
"As a matter of fact, I do. In fact, I'm the cause of it!" Urahara admitted, snapping open his fan.
"You are? What's happening to them then?"
"If I told you, you'd never believe me! Best to just show you." And without another word, he pulled on Rukia's arm and pushed her into a dark closet. "But first, you must get dressed for the job. Here." He handed her a bundle of clothes and a Gigai, then shut the door.
"What..." Rukia wondered, but figured she might as well go along with his strange demands if she wanted to follow her own orders.
She first fumbled around in the dark for a light switch, finding a chain hanging above her head and pulled on it. The dark yellow light blinked on instantly, dimly lighting the room. She shrugged, figuring it was enough to get dressed by, and first slipped on her Gigai much like would a coat, the arms first, and everything else.
Afterwards, she hurriedly put her outfit on, although she took a brief glance at each garment to make sure it wasn't something perverse-and found herself wishing they were.
Her outfit was a white T-shirt with Chappy on it, a grey and violet striped track jacket, blue skinny jeans with a white belt, brown high-tops, and a dark purple scarf around her neck. She tied her bangs back with two pink rabbit barrettes, and nervously stepped outside for Urahara's verdict.
"These clothes...don't you think they're a bit childish?" She asked shyly.
"Not for where we're going!" Urahara changed his clothes too, into a professional-looking business suit. "Now let's go!"
He led Rukia to the back of his store, then through his backyard and into town, never once mentioning where they were actually going. Rukia kept her calm composure, but was worrying on the inside, and the fact Urahara wasn't talking to her just made it worse.
Finally, he stopped in front of an archway covered in sculpted bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles, and smiled at Rukia. "We're here!"
"What is this place?" She asked, looking at the massive, brightly-colored building.
"It's an idea Yoruichi-san and I had one morning. We wanted a way for the Gotei 13 members to be kept busy and in one place when they were on Earth, and we also wanted them to learn about human culture. But what could we do? We finally decided on making a daycare for both human and Soul Reaper children! That way, we can learn about each other!" He smiled.
"But aren't you worried that Hollows will attack this place from all the Spiritual Pressure?" Rukia asked.
"They're all in Gigais! Besides, the staff members working here are strong enough to handle anything." He waved his hand.
"So, I'm to work here?"
"Nonsense! You're just old enough to be a member! You'll be playing the role of the quiet and studious Spanish-Japanese girl, Lucia! At least, around the humans."
"I suppose I could get used to this. After all, I do love children!" Rukia grinned, thinking of Ichigo's little sisters.
"Perfect! Now get in there!" He pushed Rukia in through the door and shut it, leaving Rukia alone in a bright blue room with several colorful benches and tables, as well as a long green desk coated in glitter and a computer.
"Welcome to Live n' Learn Daycare, where we treat your children like they're our children!" A professional voice greeted her, and she turned in that direction. "Oh, it's you Rukia-san! What were the odds of seeing you here?" The voice belonged to Unohana, who had her hair in her usual braid, but it was draped on her shoulder and she had a big red flower in it. She was wearing a purple housedress that went up to her neck and was speckled with dark red polka-dots, and matching red heels.
"What are you wearing?" Rukia asked in shock, still staring at Unohana's heels. Around her neck was a red nametag that simply read: 'Miss Unohana' and had a stethoscope sticker on it.
"Something modest and sweet, so the parents will see that we take pride in our establishment." Unohana answered with a polite smile. "I'm in charge of the front desk! I'm to sign members in and out, handle the paperwork for accidents and illnesses, as well as behavior reports, and I also register new members!"
"So the reason you haven't come back is because you're working in a daycare?" Rukia pieced together, trying to figure out how she'd break the news to Byakuya. He'd probably consider such an activity a waste of time, and mingling with human children? Inexcusable!
"Luckily, you're already registered as a member here." Unohana continued, typing something on the computer. "Here's your membership pass." She clipped a tag off a keychain and handed it to Rukia. "You're upstairs, with the other teenagers."
"Okay." Rukia nodded in understanding, pocketing her pass and climbing up the steep stairs to the teen room, smelling something delicious. Her stomach growled loudly in response, and she wondered if lunch was soon. Or a snack. Or something food-related.
She finished climbing the stairs and softly knocked on a closed door, labeled in Dry-Erase Marker as the 'Teen Room'. It also informed her that she needed to knock before entering, otherwise she'd get attacked.
Instead of another Soul Reaper opening the door, it was a cute little human girl, who looked around fourteen or fifteen. Rukia smiled at her, and she ushered her inside.
"Yo, the new member's here!" She called into the room, and Rukia was nearly knocked over by a group of human teenagers, who all wanted to know about her.
"Hey, leave her alone! Can't scare her off!" Someone teased, and the teens scattered. Rukia looked up to see who would be in charge of her, and her face fell slightly. "Hey, how old are you, exactly? They didn't say how old the new member would be, just that she was a teen."
"I'm fifteen, and my name is...Lucia." Rukia answered.
"Fifteen? That's a riot! You look twelve and dress seven!" A hostile voice called out, and Rukia nearly got it in the face with someone's sneaker.
"Hiyori! Leave the new girl alone!" Shinji yelled at her, throwing her sneaker back to her.
"Uh, I assume you're in charge of us?" Rukia asked the taller blond, and he simply grinned.
"Yup! You're supposed to be all formal and call me 'Mr. Shinji' like on my nametag, but you guys are too old to be formal. Call me Shinji." He tipped his hat at her.
"That name sounds familiar..." Rukia tried to think of where she had heard it before, but came up empty. She looked around the room and found it painted a very nice shade of violet, with a massive red carpet spread out over the grey tiles. A small TV with a gaming system was packed into the corner, and crammed into another corner was a black bookshelf. Two couches were set across from one another, but both were filled, so Rukia took a seat at the white table, which was decorated with chess pieces.
"Rukia-chan! I didn't know you were going to be our new member!" Momo greeted cheerfully, lowering the book she was reading. "I didn't know whether we'd get a human or Soul Reaper teen, but it's nice to finally know!"
"Yeah, it'll be good to have another mature teen here. The humans and Hiyori-san give Mr. Shinji such a hard time." Toshiro added, not looking up from his book.
"It's Power Hour right now, when we're supposed to do homework or read, but it's your first day here, so Mr. Shinji will let you off the hook!" Momo reassured her. "Just don't forget to bring something the next time!" She went back to reading.
"Since you're still new here, why don't you look around and meet some of the other staff? We haven't had a new member in forever, so I'm sure they'll be delighted to meet you." Shinji asked, putting his hand on Rukia's shoulder. She could've sworn she saw something silver gleam in his mouth, but chalked it up to her imagination and nodded.
"If you want me to." She stood up and left the room, wondering which part of the daycare she should look at first.
As she stood there wondering, she was almost toppled over by someone darting out of the staff bathroom, but they stopped to apologize.
"Rukia-san! Imagine meeting you here!" The childish voice giggled, and Rukia looked up to see the adult form of Nel standing there.
"Nelliel? How did you return to this form?" She asked from curiosity.
"Urahara-san gave me this pretty bracelet that lets me turn into an adult! He had a vacant position, so I signed right up!" She showed off a golden bracelet on her wrist that glowed slightly with Spiritual Pressure. Rukia noticed that where Nel's Hollow mask usually was, there was instead a black headband. She figured it was because of the Gigai and didn't question it further.
"I'm the new member around here, and the Teen Coordinator wanted me to look around the club." Rukia explained.
"I'd be glad to show you around! Just make sure my bracelet doesn't fall off, okay? It's weirdly loose..." She fiddled with it slightly, then led Rukia into a study area with six bookcases and a long table with chairs that filled up most of the floor space. "Ssssh! This is where the 4th-6th grade girls do their homework! We mustn't disturb them!"
One of the counselors noticed Rukia and walked over to her, adjusting her glasses. "Rukia-san, you must be the new member. A pleasure." Nanao greeted formally. Her hair was up in the usual bun, except pink chopsticks were stuck neatly into it, and she was wearing a tight salmon-pink sweater, tight skinny jeans, and pink heels. A pink nametag identified her as 'Miss Nanao' and featured a book-shaped sticker.
"I'm showing her around!" Nelliel announced, apparently forgetting her own rule of being quiet.
"I can see that. Do you like the setup so far? Urahara-san said it took him only a few days to remodel the old apartment building and turn it into a daycare!" Nanao asked.
"I like it so far. Everyone seems so energetic!" Rukia smiled. "But, if this place is for Soul Reapers, than why is she here?" She pointed over at Nelliel, who was helping a human fifth-grade girl with her math.
"Urahara-san doesn't discriminate when it comes to employees." Risa explained in a serious tone, looking up from the book she was reading. She claimed one of the side tables all to herself, and was lounging on it. Her attire also seemed out-of-place, with her white cocktail dress, black cardigan, and black heels. A white bow was tied to the end of her braid, and a black nametag announced she was 'Miss Lisa', although she didn't have a sticker by it. "She was amazing with children during her interview, so she was hired. As long as you're good with children and responsible, you're hired."
"Risa-chan and I are in charge of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls here. It's not as demanding as it sounds though, they're very well behaved!" Nanao gestured over to the table.
"Trust me, when they aren't in Power Hour, it gets really noisy really quick!" Nelliel laughed. "We have about fifteen minutes left until Power Hour ends, so we better hurry before we're run over!" She grabbed Rukia's arm and led her into a smaller room off the library that strongly smelled of paint and glue. The table was coated in dry paint and glitter, and two guys were in the room, mixing paint together.
"Art room?" Rukia guessed correctly.
"Yup! This is what I'm in charge of! And so are they!" Nelliel pointed to the two guys, who Rukia recognized as Izuru Kira and Shuuhei Hisagi.
"This is our new member, right?" Kira asked, setting down a paper plate filled with blue paint. Rukia nodded. "Nice to meet you then!"
"We're doing a fun craft today. We're taking the tops of balloons, dipping them in paint, and pressing them to paper to make designs!" Hisagi enthused. "Want to try it first before all the good colors are gone?"
"You bet!" Rukia grinned and took a seat at the table, and several more paper plates of paint were placed in front of her.
"Just pick a color," Kira instructed, setting out a piece of paper for her. She pointed to the purple paint, and was met with a nod. "Now pick a second color." This time, she picked blue, figuring the two colors would nicely mesh.
"Here's your balloon! Knock yourself out!" Nelliel handed her a yellow balloon that was already blown-up, and Rukia smashed the top of it into the purple paint, then the blue paint. Afterwards, she slowly rubbed it onto her own paper, coming up with a nicely-meshed oval of color.
"You picked some nice colors there!" Hisagi praised.
"We want to hang these up somewhere once all the kids are done. Can we hang yours up too?" Nelliel smiled, and Rukia nodded. She kept going until her whole paper was filled with seven neat little rows of ovals, some more purple than others as her blue paint wore down.
"Nice job," Kira said simply as he took her paper and neatly laid it down on a rack to dry. "It'll be done by the end of this day, in case you want to take it home."
Take it home? Rukia wondered how that discussion would go with Ichigo. Speaking of which, was he there? Knowing Urahara, he wouldn't let Ichigo get away without doing some sort of work here, but she hadn't run into him yet.
"Oh no!" Nelliel suddenly cried, and Rukia whipped her head in that direction to find a little green-haired girl on the floor, frantically reaching for the bracelet that had slipped off her wrist.
"Not again, Miss Nelliel!" A familiar voice scolded, and Rukia happily ran over to it.
"Renji! You work here?" She asked nicely, and he looked over at her.
"Sure do! Mashiro, Soi-Fon, and I are all in charge of the sports club. Want to come outside and help us set up for the kids? We're playing kickball and football today!" He rubbed her hair, and she grinned.
"Sure!" She walked out of the room, not knowing whether Nelliel actually put her bracelet back on or not, but she assumed she had.
Renji led Rukia downstairs and out the backdoor, leading her to a picnic area and a shed, plus a large grassy area that was already set up with kickball bases.
"Mr. Renji!" Mashiro called, running over to him. "Which ball do you want? The green one or the blue one? The green one is slightly deflated though!"
"The blue one, duh!" Renji shooed her away. "And we're both staff! You don't have to call me Mr. Renji!" He then turned to Rukia. "Where's your nametag? You work here too, don't you?"
"Actually, I was registered as a member because I resemble a teenager..." She admitted in embarrassment.
"Ooooh, that means I'm in charge of you!" Renji's eyes lit up, and he slid one of Rukia's barrettes out of her hair. "I'm writing you up for wearing too many bunny-related items." He said in a completely serious tone.
"You can't write up a member for something stupid like that!" Rukia challenged, and he slid her barrette back in.
"Sometimes, I kinda wish. Some of these human children are really disrespectful."
"Hey! Quit your socializing and help me!" Soi-Fon yelled at Renji, storming over to him. "These kids are going to be outside in less than ten minutes, and I don't have my football field set up yet! You!" She pointed at Rukia and tossed a bundle of tiny orange traffic cones at her. "Set those up over where I tell you to."
To Rukia's surprise, Soi-Fon was wearing a dress; a tight, black sporty dress, with matching black armbands, black trainers, and black tights. The dress only went to about mid-thigh, and around her neck was a white nametag that boasted a 'Miss Soi-Fon'.
"Pardon me asking, but why are you here? You don't seem very...child-friendly." Rukia chose her words carefully, setting up two separate rows of cones so the kids would keep the ball inbetween them.
"I'm only here because Lady Yoruichi owns this place and stops by sometimes. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste my time on these brats." She snapped.
The study time was announced as being over when a flood of young kids poured out into the backyard, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to burn off some energy.
"How's everybody feeling today?" Renji asked loudly, and the kids answered him back in a positive way. "Perfect! Miss Mashiro and I are going to have a lot of fun playing kickball with you guys, isn't that right?"
"Heck yeah, it's right!" Mashiro fist-pumped the air, and the kids followed. "Come on, let's go line up!"
Several other braver kids lined up to go play football, or soccer, with Miss Soi-Fon.
"I wanted to go play kickball though," A human child admitted, looking down. "My friend dragged me over here."
"Oh, did he really? I suppose you think football's a boring sport, huh?" Soi-Fon glared at the boy who spoke up, and he nodded. "Well, I have some news for you. You're stuck here playing with me, so throw your dream away of kickball! The longer you live in life, the more you realize, life only exists to throw your dreams away and waste away your life! So shut up and line up in front of those cones, we're going to play some stupid football!" She glared darkly at the kids, and some shuddered.
"I just wanted to go play kickball with Mr. Renji and Miss Mashiro!" A little girl cried.
"There were lots of things I wanted too, but life isn't fair, sweetheart!" Soi-Fon bounced the soccer ball on her knee, then kicked it over into the crowd, making her own children scatter.
"I think you're a bit too strong on them!" Mashiro called over to Soi-Fon.
"Yikes," Rukia said simply, sneaking back inside while she still could.
Inside, she was attracted to the sounds of driving, so she hurried into the TV room and found a bunch of little girls happily jumping up and down in front of a wide-screen TV, holding video game controllers. One of those little girls was Yachiru, who happily ran over to Rukia once she saw her.
"Hi, Rukia-chan!" She waved. "This place is so much fun! If only Kenny could be here...but he'd probably scare the kids!"
"If Soi-Fon-san is allowed to be here, anyone can be here," Rukia teased, sitting down on a bench. "So, who is in charge of this group?"
"Rukia-san!?" An overly-excited voice reached Rukia's ears, and she found herself being tackled into a hug by none other than Orihime Inoue.
"Inoue?!"
"Oh, it'll be so much more fun with you here too! Are you watching the first, second, and third grade girls?" Orihime asked, letting go of Rukia. Unlike the other Soul Reapers, she wasn't dressed like a hipster college kid, instead wearing her school uniform. Around her neck with a green nametag that said: 'Junior Staff Member: Miss Orihime'.
"Actually, I'm registered as a member because I look so young...but I suppose there's no harm in helping you out!"
"Really? I'm a member here too, but Urahara-san said if I turned in all my paperwork, I could be made a junior staff member, and I did! So...ta-da!" She posed for Rukia, making her giggle. "You should do the same thing! You don't get paid like the other staff members, but you still get to hang out with the little kids!"
"Who else is in charge of this group?" Rukia asked, but her question was answered when Yachiru announced that 'Miss Rangiku' was in the room, and ran over to her. "That makes sense."
"Rukia-chan! Fancy meeting you here!" Rangiku gushed, walking over to her. Her outfit was actually really modest, being a dark purple peasant blouse with a matching skirt that went down to her ankles, and a woven brown belt and matching brown sandals. Around her neck was her silver necklace and a pink nametag coated in various stickers, spelling out her first name and title. Even her hair was braided. "Who knew the new member would be someone we knew, right? Have you met the teens yet? My Captain's with them!"
"Don't talk like that! He hates being made a member and not a staff!" Orihime playfully scolded.
"Not his fault he looks like a thirteen-year-old."
Rukia's stomach suddenly growled loudly again, and she held it in embarrassment. "Sorry...I haven't eaten lunch yet."
"Oh, we already ate an hour ago, but we made sure to save some for you!" Rangiku smiled and led her into the kitchen, which had a counter lined with black baskets filled with brown bag lunches. "The teens haven't eaten yet either, so it'd be really great if you could go upstairs and tell them to get some."
"Alright!" Rukia agreed and took a bag for herself, then climbed up the stairs to the teen room, then walked right in since she figured they were expecting her. "Hey, lunch is re-!"
"Can you not read the sign?! Go back out and try it again, dummy!" Hiyori yelled at her, launching a book at her face.
"I'm a member here! I don't have to knock if I don't want to!" Rukia yelled back, hurling the book at Hiyori, who ducked. The book sailed and smacked into the window, scaring Hanataro, who had the misfortune of standing right beside it.
"Rukia-chan!" Momo smiled, leading her inside the room. "Is lunch ready?"
"It is! I was trying to tell you guys that, but nobody's listening!" She sat down at the table and started taking the items out of her bag.
"None of these guys really listen, so Mr. Shinji just lets us do our own thing." Toshiro huffed, leaving the room with Momo to get lunch.
"Hey, what'd they give us for lunch today?" Hiyori demanded, jumping up from behind Rukia.
"Uh, looks like a sandwich, juice, a fruit, and some milk." She answered, looking over the items.
"I know that, I'm not blind! I meant what kind of food?" She crossed her arms over her chest and stared Rukia down. Her outfit was updated too, she now had on a pink hoodie, brown high-tops, jean short-shorts, and a dozen bracelets of all different colors and textures on both wrists.
"The sandwich looks like...ham? Is this ham? I can't tell." Rukia opened the bag and dumped the sandwich onto the table, then looked at it closer. She peeled the wheat bread off, then looked at the meat, which was a dark red and had the texture of rubbery ham. "What is this?" She asked, poking at it.
"That's so friggin' nasty, I'm not eating lunch today." Hiyori decided, taking Rukia's juice-box away and drinking it herself. "Move, it's my turn to play on the Xbox."
"B-but I just got on here!" Hanataro protested.
"Don't care. It's mine. And if you don't give it up in five seconds, I'll punch you in the face!"
"She can't do that. Do something, Mr. Shinji!" Rukia worried, forgetting for the moment to be casual with him.
"Like what? She's always like this, even when she does get write-ups." Came his answer. He didn't even look up from his phone.
"I'm giving you to the count of five, Healer-Pansy!" Hiyori carried on, cocking her fist. "1...2...3..."
Rukia impulsively threw her apple to get Hiyori's attention, missing by a long-shot. It loudly slammed into the window.
"Fine, here you go!" Hanataro handed her the controller, and she snatched it away from him and took his spot on the couch, laying on her stomach.
Momo and Toshiro came back, holding their own lunch bags as well as some ketchup and mustard.
"They said we could put condiments on our sandwiches today!" Momo said happily, placing the two bottles on the table.
"Does anyone know what kind of meat this is?" Rukia asked again, but was met with shrugs.
"The food place we get donations from is pretty shady. A lot of times, our food is spoiled! We just make do with what we have." Momo said.
"Shady? What's the name of the place?"
"None of the members know. Go ask a staff." Toshiro bit into his apple.
As the other two ate, Rukia pulled out her membership pass and took a look at it, finding it listing her full name, her address, which was really the address of Ichigo's house, which she found funny, the age group she was in, which was 13-18, and also what sort of member she was, a Full-Time Member, whatever that meant.
Kiyone walked into the room, carrying a Tupperware container of macaroni and cheese. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible! I didn't know rush hour was this early!"
"It's five, isn't it? I thought that's when rush hour started." Toshiro threw his apple core into the trash can.
"Oh well." Kiyone was wearing a nice yellow sweater with matching Converse and baggy jeans, and set her container on the table. "I don't really like the food here, so Mr. Shinji lets me bring my own food!" She ducked suddenly, and the Xbox controller sailed over her head and loudly slammed against the wall hard enough to knock the batteries out of it.
"Screw this game! I can't beat it, and that was my fourth time!" Hiyori snapped, giving the screen a good kick while she was at it. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"
"Oh no, the batteries went under the rug!" Momo cried, reaching her hand underneath it, only to have Hiyori step on her hand hard.
"Don't find them. Let the controller sit there motionless and think about what it's done." She threatened, a scary look on her face.
"Ah...okay..." Momo laughed awkwardly, trying not to think about her crushed hand.
"It's just a game. Stop taking everything so seriously, and stop being so overdramatic." Toshiro said calmly, bundling his empty lunch bag into a ball and tossing it into the trash over his shoulder.
"What'd you say to me, you little punk?!" Hiyori challenged, storming over to him. "You're just upset they made you a member instead of an actual employee!"
Toshiro's eyes twitched slightly at this, but he cleared his throat. "Nonsense. I became a member on purpose so I could keep a close eye on Momo."
"That's a lie, and you know it! Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth!"
"That is the truth, you irritating toad!"
"You can't call a lady like me a toad!"
"You're hardly a lady!"
Momo pulled her hand out of the rug and secured the last battery into the controller, then closed the back and neatly placed the controller on the TV. She looked over at Shinji, who was still playing on his phone.
"Uh, don't you think you should stop them?" She asked nervously. "After all, it's forbidden to fight here!"
"Must I? They won't listen to me." Still, Shinji slid his phone back into his pocket and stood up. "Stop your fighting, otherwise I'll write you both up and give you a one-day suspension!"
"Yes, Mr. Shinji." Toshiro apologized instantly, but Hiyori glared at him.
"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try to write me up!" She challenged. "You think you still hold some sort of authority over me? You hold nothing over me!"
Kiyone was simply watching this from her spot at the table, calmly eating her food.
"Is it always like this?" Rukia asked, and Kiyone nodded.
"Hiyori-san gives him the most trouble, although a lot of these human teenagers are pretty rowdy too. We have a part-time staff member who helps out on holiday breaks and Friday afternoons, but since she's still in high school, we don't see her too much." Kiyone explained. "But luckily for both of them, you're respectful and responsible! What are the odds we'd both be teens, huh?"
"Well, it makes sense since we look like teenagers." Rukia shrugged. "Does your sister work here too?"
"Yup! She works at the front desk with Captain Unohana. She's so good at her job, and she looks so pretty! Have you seen her yet?" Rukia shook her head. "Oh, and Captain Ukitake works here too. He organizes all our fun field trips!"
"Who knew the Soul Reapers were vanishing from the Soul Society not to take a vacation, but work at a daycare?" Rukia was still in shock over it.
"We have a rival daycare center too, but we don't like to think about them too much." That was Toshiro talking.
"What is their name?"
"Hollowed Souls Daycare."
"Who'd even sign up for a daycare called that?" Kiyone wondered.
"It's pretty obvious who's in charge of it," Momo shivered, walking over to their table. "But luckily, our daycare is far more popular than theirs will ever be!"
"Their staff aren't very good with children," Toshiro stated, watching Shinji tug on Hiyori's pigtails as she screamed for him to stop. "Well, more so than ours."
###########
"We made cupcakes." Halibel said in her usual stoic tone, holding out a tray of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Several human children ran over to them in excitement, and she bent down so the children could reach the tray better. "I hope they taste good."
"As you can see, our staff are impeccably trained, and fantastic with children." Sosuke Aizen explained to a few potential patrons. "Do not be intimated by the blue and black color scheme, it is merely to calm the children so they can focus on their homework better. And my staff are some of the best you will ever see. Children love them, and they love children."
"Excuse me, Mr. Grimmjow?" A little boy nervously walked up to the blue-haired Espada, holding one of the cupcakes. "Can I please trade my cupcake for a chocolate one? I don't like vanilla."
"Yeah? Well I don't like being here, but here we are! You get what you get and you don't throw a fit, punk! Now get out of my face!" He snapped at the kid, who teared up and ran off in fright.
"Grimmjow, please try to control your temper better around the children. Otherwise, Aizen-sama will berate you again, or even worse, fire you." Ulquiorra scolded, walking over to him.
"Tch, I don't care what Aizen thinks of me. I don't want to be here!"
"Hey, none of us really want to be here, but we're just here because we were forced to!" Apache chimed in.
"See, the problem with this sentence is that it's a run-on sentence. Now, to fix the run-on, first you have to-" Cirucci was explaining to a sixth-grade human boy, who nodded and interrupted her sentence.
"Yeah, I think I'm getting it now."
"Did you just interrupt me in the middle of my explanation?" She suddenly snapped. "I don't care if you get it, I do not like to be cut off when I'm speaking, you rude little hog! Next time you don't get something, see if I help you with it!" As a final act of anger, she shoved all of his books off the table and stormed off into the kitchen.
"As I said, excellent with children." Aizen adjusted his tie and walked into the study room, where his employees were.
"I don't think it's a good idea to keep telling interested parents that your staff are amazing with children, especially if they can blatantly see that's a lie." Gin said in a worried tone, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, I am not so worried about that. After all, I already have their child's souls collected for my experiments, and the number of members already registered are more than enough to put those silly Shinigami and their colorful daycare to shame." Aizen smiled.
"Yes, but their staff don't fly off the handle."
"I am glad you mentioned that, because I was actually thinking about how I needed someone new to manage my daycare. I thought about it for quite a while, and I think the best manager would be you, Gin."
"Me? Well, alright." Gin simply smiled.
"Don't fail me in this."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
#########
After Kiyone ate, she insisted on bringing Rukia downstairs to show off Isane to her, although they had to wait a bit because a little eight-year-old human girl banged her head on a door badly and needed an accident report filled out, which was being done by Isane of course.
Much like Unohana, she was dressed like a housewife, in a mint-green sleeveless gown, black lacy gloves, matching black heels, and a black choker with a green emerald on the center. Also around her neck was a black nametag with the name 'Miss Isane' and a house-shaped sticker, for whatever reason.
"There you go, just hold that ice on your forehead for a few minutes and you should be as a good as new!" Isane beamed, and the little girl sat on a nearby bench and did as she was told with a sniffle.
"Hey, Big Sister!" Kiyone greeted cheerfully, and Isane smiled at her.
"Hello. I see you've met our new member." Isane motioned to Rukia. "Did you know your captain worked here too?"
"I was made aware." Rukia said simply. "When does this place close, anyway?"
"It closes in just a few minutes, so prepare yourself for the rush!" Unohana smiled. "I love closing time the best, because I love seeing all these children get picked up by their parents and older siblings!"
"Of course, I leave with Big Sister, and she doesn't leave until seven, when the last member leaves." Kiyone explained, hoisting herself up onto the desk.
"Kiyone-san! You're not allowed to be up on the desk!" Orihime scolded, shooing her off.
Kira came downstairs with the painting Rukia did earlier and handed it to her. "It's all dry now, but the blue didn't dry that well. You can't see it."
"Mind if I touch it up?" She asked.
"Sure, but the art room is locked. You can do it at a table down here though." He left to get her some more blue paint, and she sat down at a table and watched everyone leave with their child or sibling.
Rangiku carefully walked down the stairs, carrying a sleeping Toshiro on her shoulders. "He's had a long day," She smiled, then left. Momo came downstairs too, but she vanished into the kitchen.
"Oh, I had sooooo much fun today!" Mashiro cheered in a tired voice, kicking her leg up like a cheerleader.
"Careful, your shoe's untied. Don't kick around." Risa warned her, and the two girls left together.
Hiyori raced down the stairs, holding a cell phone close to her chest. "When you take back my write-up, then you get your phone back!" She shouted up the stairs, then dashed out the front door, nearly knocking down the other two Vizards.
"I'm not going to take it back for fighting with a staff member! That's a serious offense!" Shinji ran after her. He ended up tackling her outside, making Mashiro cheer.
Kira came back with a plate full of blue paint and a red balloon for her, and she eagerly got back to work on fixing her painting. Several more children left with their parents, then Nelliel came downstairs to say goodbye and then left to some unknown place.
Rukia got so caught up in her work that she failed to hear Orihime's telltale: "Kurosaki-kun!"
Orihime ran over to Ichigo. "You're walking me home from work today?" She asked happily.
"Yeah, Tatsuki-san kinda made me. But I don't mind, I like walks." Ichigo stated, then glanced around the club. "So, this is what the Soul Society decided to do in their spare time?"
"Yup! It's actually a lot of fun, and it's super cute to see the Soul Reapers bonding with human children!" Orihime smiled, then hung her nametag on a hook. "Let's go home!"
"Wait a second..." Ichigo walked over to the table Rukia was at and stared at her hair intently. "Those barrettes...that shirt...it couldn't be..."
She looked up right as his mind made the connection, and she was so surprised she accidentally smeared the balloon-paint onto the table.
"Rukia?!"
"Ichigo!?"
"What are you doing in a daycare?"
"It's a long story..." Rukia laughed nervously, looking at her ruined picture.
#####
Author's Note: How cute? I just really wanted the Bleach characters to work in a daycare, and yes, I was inspired by Happy to Serve You, how obvious was it? This is a one-shot, but if anybody wants me to, I'll gladly expand this to include more Soul Reapers, field trips, and of course, the ever-popular Hollowed Souls Daycare!