Note: This is occurring in some strange time frame I created where Aizen and company never revolted, and Ichigo is still close friends with the Soul Reapers.


Chapter 1: A Meeting of Sorts

It was late in the evening, and the sun was still setting slowly over the horizon. Streaks of violent reds, haunting purples, and cold blues swept through the sky, with stars only beginning to peak out from behind the wispy clouds. The chilly breeze rustled dry leaves along the pathways of the Seireitei, the sound reminiscent of a lover's whisper. Crickets chirped quietly, their song echoing through the air.

Rukia Kuchiki was padding aimlessly through the Seireitei, enjoying the quiet evening by herself. She took pleasure in strolling through the stone walkways, watching the daylight fade in the company of her own comforting solitude.

The wind gushed strongly around her, whipping her short, black hair about her face. She absently raised a hand to hold back her hair, but the torrent died down before she got the chance to.

The air now lingered with the scent of cherry blossoms. Rukia took a deep breath, allowing herself to shut her eyes for a moment and bask in the beauty of the night.

At that precise moment, she was torn from her peaceful sanctuary by the harsh trilling of her Soul Pager.

She threw her eyes open and reached into the pocket of her Shihakusho for the tiny, silver device. She flipped it open and was greeted by a short message from Rangiku Matsumoto, the Lieutenant of Squad Ten.

To: Rukia

From: Rangiku

Hey. Women's Soul Reaper Association Meeting right now in the Squad Six Barracks. Don't be late.

Rukia's eyes narrowed in confusion. Why would there be a meeting now? It's so late in the evening, and we already had our monthly get together. What is going on? She thought irritably. And why in the Squad Six Barracks, of all places? We already set up headquarters in the Kuchiki Family Home, and now there's a meeting in Byakuya's Barracks? Brother is bound to be upset by all of this.

Rukia huffed as she pocketed her Soul Pager, turned around, and began walking towards the Squad Six Barracks.


By the time Rukia had made it to the Squad Six Barracks, the sun had fully set. The vibrant colors of the evening had been replaced with inky hues of blue and black, with the dim glow of twinkling stars faintly shining off in the distance. Shadows draped every structure, and Rukia felt herself shiver involuntarily. She hastily shoved open the doors to the Barracks, eager to get away from the night's chill.

The Barracks were bathed in a warm, golden glow brought on by many lanterns throughout the building. Rukia could hear the hushed voices of the Squad Six members behind many of the closed doors, speaking and laughing with one another. She briefly wondered where her long-time friend, and Lieutenant of Squad Six, Renji Abarai, was in the large complex, but the thought was pushed aside as she approached the Squad Six meeting room. There was a small, square sign on the door that read, Women's Soul Reaper Association Meeting Taking Place Inside. Rukia sighed as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and reached out to open the door. As she did so, a deep voice called out to her from behind.

"Rukia."

The petite Soul Reaper spun around. She knew that voice like one knows the wrinkles lining their palm.

Her brother, Captain of Squad Six, and Head of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya Kuchiki, stood before her, his robes swaying gently around his tall figure.

Before Rukia could speak, Byakuya held up a slender palm.

"Please refrain from creating unnecessary noise in my Barracks," said Byakuya sternly, "Do not begin to assume that I will allow this to occur again. Do not make me regret my decision to permit this."

Rukia was terribly confused. She understood that Byakuya did not like holding gatherings in his Barracks, but he seemed unusually irritated due to the fact this evening. Rukia did not want to set her brother off any further by asking questions. Instead, she bowed her head slightly, and let out a faint, "Yes, brother," before she met his eyes once again.

Appearing to be pleased, Byakuya Kuchiki turned to the left, and gracefully walked away from his sister, leaving her feeling more lost than she was initially. Rukia rubbed her head, and turned back to the door. Without a second thought, she grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open.


Byakuya wandered down the hall of his Barracks, through a door, and into his office. He slid the wooden panels closed with a quiet click.

The room was as dark as the Shihakusho he wore, the only light present leaked between the thin, partially drawn curtains lining the window behind his desk. Moonlight seeped through the silk folds, dancing about the walls and objects in his office.

The Captain of Squad Six elegantly strode forward, only stopping to turn his chair to face the window. He slowly sank down into the chair, his robes rustling delicately as he moved.

He felt as frail as the thin streaks of moonlight that poured onto his face. He felt his heart beating in slow, heavy thumps within his chest. He shut his eyes, and leaned back into the wooden frame of the chair.

He thought about his sister, the wide eyed girl who was utterly oblivious to what she would soon be a part of. He thought of how he wanted to refuse that boisterous Lieutenant of Squad Ten, but could never dream of doing so.

If it meant her happiness, he could not decline such a proposal, no matter how degrading it may be.

He tried to remember the last time that Rukia seemed truly happy, the last time she smiled out of pure elation.

Such a memory failed to resurface.

He knew he was cold, he knew he was more a Kuchiki than her brother. He knew what he was doing was wrong. Maybe not wrong altogether, but wrong in the way he behaved around her. Maybe wrong was not the right word.

Uphold the pride of the Clan, and follow the law, he thought, his hands now resting on the chair's slim armrests, his fingers hanging slightly off the edge.

He curled his fingers around the chair's armrests, the sculpted wooden structures digging into his hands as he did so.

Byakuya opened his eyes, staring up at the black expanse of stars and moonlight beyond his window.

I am doing this for you, Rukia, he thought, his stern expression finally relaxing into one of inner acceptance. I am doing this not as the Head of the Clan, not as a Captain. I am doing this as your brother-

"-and I want nothing more than to see you smile."


The first thing Rukia noticed was the food.

The Squad Six meeting room had been transformed yet again into another kind of area altogether.

Tables lined the back walls, each overflowing with an endless supply of foods, drinks, and snacks. The sound of chatter and giggling nearly drowned out the faint, upbeat music playing in the background.

Futons, pillows, and sleeping bags lined the floor, along with stuffed animals and plushies of all kinds. Discarded Shikaushos and robes lay strewn in unkempt heaps, littered around like makeshift decorations.

Rukia noticed that the Woman's Soul Reaper Association was indeed present, but each of the members was clad in sleepwear, rather than their uniform.

After a moment more of standing and gawking in confusion, Rukia realized what was going on.

The Woman's Soul Reaper Association appeared to be having a sleepover in the Squad Six Barrack's meeting room, with Byakuya's permission.

Rukia scowled when she realized the lengths these women must have gone to in order to get her brother to agree to something like this. Now she understood why he seemed to be acting so strange out in the hallway.

Rukia was about to make her way to the food table at the back of the room when a woman with a large chest and orange hair shouted her name. She immediately assumed it was Rangiku, but as the lady approached, she realized that she was wrong.

"Orihime?" said Rukia, now thoroughly confused. "What are you doing here?"

The human girl smiled brightly at Rukia, her long hair swaying with her movements. "Rangiku came all the way to my house to invite me to this sleepover! She said it was going to be lots of fun, and that it was for just us girls, so I came!"

Orihime was clad in a pair of tiny shorts, and a t-shirt. Her long legs were very exposed, and the shirt complimented her bust and flat stomach. She grabbed onto Rukia's arm, pulling her towards a door at the back of the room, one that led to a bathroom. "Come on!" she called, "Let's get you all dressed up."


Orihime opened up the bathroom, flicked on the light, and practically shoved Rukia inside. The black haired girl yelped in shock when a pile of pale blue fabric flew into her face.

"You get changed in here, and don't come out until you're all dressed!" ordered Orihime. With that, the orange haired girl shut the door with an ecstatic flourish, and flounced off to tell the other attendees that Rukia had finally arrived.

Rukia stood in the bathroom for a moment after the door closed, cradling the pile of sleepwear in her arms. She blinked away the shock and decided that she should indeed make the most of this night and go along with the shenanigans. It wasn't every day that Byakuya permitted a sleepover at all, let alone in his Barracks. It wasn't every day that she was invited to such an event anyway.

Rukia smiled as she thought about the night to come. It's been a while since I've done anything normal with the other Soul Reapers, she thought. This could turn out to be pretty fun.

With those pleasantries in mind, Rukia quickly discarded her Shikakusho and sandals, and donned the set of pajamas that Orihime had given her: a pair of pale blue capris with a t-shirt covered in Chappy bunnies. This isn't that bad of an outfit, she thought as she exited the bathroom.

Rukia maneuvered her way around the piles of pillows and furry toys to the centre of the room, where, wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags, were the members of the Women's Soul Reaper Association, all sitting in a large circle.

"What are we doing?" asked Rukia as she plopped down onto an unoccupied futon between Orihime and Rangiku Matsumoto.

Rangiku, flush from drinking sake, turned towards Rukia, "Oh, heeyy," she said, smiling at her, "About time you got here."

Rangiku was wearing anything but normal sleep wear. She had on a tiny, purple tank top that was clearly too many sizes too small, and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms covered in pink, cartoonish hearts. This combination exposed a fair amount of Rangiku's midriff, but it was clear to everyone in the Seireitei that Rangiku wore what she want, when she wanted to, especially if she felt like she looked good in it.

"Hey!" Rangiku shouted, waving an arm in the air to catch the attention of the other women. "Rukia's here! Let's start the game!"

Rukia turned to Orihime, who was nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie. "What game?"

Orihime smiled innocently. "We're playing truth or dare."

Rukia gulped. She was slightly afraid of the mess that she, along with the other ladies, would probably end up making as a result of this seemingly harmless game. There were Soul Reapers here after all. Boundaries were few and far between, besides Byakuya being present in the building. Even that wasn't exactly much of a boundary.

"All right," called out a languid voice that Rukia recognized as Captain Retsu Unohana's. The Captain of Squad Four was wearing a modest two piece pajama set, with plaid patterned bottoms and a long sleeved top. Her long, black hair was braided down her back instead of her front. "Who would like to go first?"


In another room inside of the Squad Six Barracks, a red headed, shirtless man sat glaring at a hand of cards.

Lieutenant Renji Abarai was relaxing with his friends in his room. The group of men were gathered around a small, wooden table, playing cards and drinking the gorgeous Friday night away.

Despite opening up the lone window and leaving the door open, the room was incredibly stuffy with the body heat of five anxious men. Renji had taken his hair out of its ponytail half an hour earlier when he'd only had one drink, and had complained vehemently about the fact that his characteristic hairdo was giving him a headache. He'd shrugged off the top half of his Shihakusho only fifteen minutes ago, when the room had become almost unbearably hot.

Now, he sat atop his bed, cross legged, with the wonderful, chilly breeze from the open window gently brushing against his overheated abdomen. The wind ever so faintly tousled his hair, but the movement was so slight that he didn't notice it.

Staring at the awful hand of cards he now held, Renji ran a hand through his hair, waiting for another player to make a move.

Across the room, leaning against his armoire, was the Lieutenant of Squad Nine, Shuhei Hisagi. The spiky haired Soul Reaper was not in uniform, but instead wore a pair of loose pants he usually trained in, and a black sleeveless shirt.

Shuhei let out a small, deep chuckle as he tossed his cards onto the table.

The other players in the room all groaned in unison, angrily or despairingly tossing their cards aside. "That's the fifth game in a row!" shouted Ikkaku Madarame, menacingly leaning over the table towards Shuhei, who was holding up his hands defensively, a smug look of satisfaction plastered to his face.

"Hey," said Shuhei, obviously enjoying the moment, "It's not my fault that you suck at this." Shuhei broke into a wide grin.

Ikkaku roared and attempted to upturn the entire table, but Yumichika Ayasegawa and Izuru Kira grabbed the bald headed man and forced him back down.

Renji had abandoned his cards and his cross legged position for a more comfortable arrangement. He stretched out his legs, leaning back into his bed as he tucked his arms behind his head.

"Hey, wake up," he heard Ikkaku yell. Renji's eyes were closed by this point. With the amount of sake he'd consumed, he was beginning to feel very sleepy. He wasn't aware of who Ikkaku was addressing. "I said, hey!" Ikkaku shouted, and Renji only had time to crack open an eye before a pile of his own clothing was thrown on top of his face.

Renji let out a startled yelp, a sound that was oddly high pitched for his large body. He flailed his limbs around wildly, attempting to get the mass of black and white fabric off of him,without injuring himself in the process. He began to feel very irritated with the fact that his friends had gone through his things, and in a fit of pure rage, Renji sat up and threw the ball of clothing to his right.

The clothing flew in a composed arc, straight out of Renji's window, landing with a dull woosh in the grassy fields outside.

The room was silent for a moment, with only the sound of creaking floorboards, and faint, feminine giggles resonating from somewhere within the Barracks acting as background noise.

It was Shuhei who started laughing first, with Ikkaku right behind him. The pair of men nearly doubled over, laughing great, whooping laughs, clutching at their stomachs the entire time. Izuru was in a state of silent, sobbing, chuckles, his laughter so violent that it produced no noise. Yumichika had a hand delicately covering his mouth as he impishly giggled to himself, refusing to make eye contact with Renji.

"I can't believe you threw your own shit out the window," coughed Ikkaku as he slung an arm around Shuhei, who'd gone into another fit of laughter, his face nearly buried in Ikkaku's shoulder. The pair had to use each other as support with how hard they were laughing. The alcohol in their systems did nothing to ease their elation.

Renji merely sat, feeling his hair brush against his bare shoulders with the gentle nudging of the wind, staring at his friends who were all collapsed in varying positions, shaking with laughter. His mouth was slightly open, and he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He turned and looked out the window where his clothing lay, a dark blotch against the moonlit yard.

He turned back to the room, and he too began to laugh.

Renji fell onto his back, holding on to his stomach for dear life. His whole body shook with loud, deep barks of laughter.

"I am such an idiot," he forced out between heaves.

The members of the Abarai bedroom all laughed in agreement.

"Hey Ikkaku," called Renji, who was still laughing as he propped himself up onto his elbows to look at the clean cut member of Squad Eleven. His red hair fell over his tattooed body, swaying slightly with the breeze. "Go outside and get my crap," he said, attempting to sound serious. The moment lasted for less than a second, and Renji threw his head back and began laughing harder than ever before.

Ikkaku sniffed against Shuhei, who'd passed out only seconds before. The Lieutenant of Squad Nine snored quietly against Ikkaku's shoulder, his head lolling this way and that. Ikkaku shoved the boy aside without a second thought, smiling as he addressed Renji. "Fuck no," said the Third Seat of Squad Eleven.

Shuhei, who'd been rudely awakened by being thrown to the floor, sat up and joltingly hit his head against one of the drawer handles on Renji's armoire. Izuru wheezed in another onslaught of chortles, and Shuhei slapped the back of the blond man's head in response, muttering a faint, "What the fuck are you laughing at?" This only made Izuru laugh even harder in his newly adopted position on the floor, where he lay on his side. Yumichika was sitting on the opposite side of the room, his face tucked into a pillow as he fought off bouts of his own laughter.

Renji and Ikkaku were silent for a few moments, but it did not last very long. The two men started laughing all over again, and they were not even slightly concerned about anything else.

Forgetting about his clothes altogether, Renji turned onto his side with his back to the window. This is going to be one hell of a night, he thought as a smile began to toy with his lips.


"Ooh! Me! I want to go!" exclaimed Rangiku. She clapped her hands as she waited for Captain Unohana to address her.

"All right, Rangiku. Who would you like to ask-" began Unohana, but Rangiku interrupted her none too kindly.

"I have a question for the group," the busty woman announced, slowly glancing over everyone's faces with her glassy eyes, "Which of the Captains do you think is the hottest?" Rangiku giggled devilishly as she awaited everyone's answer.

The girls all either looked down or away from Rangiku, blushes seeping into their cheeks. Momo Hinamori looked just about ready to answer when Yachiru Kusajishi jumped to her little feet.

"Kenny gets reaaaallly hot when he's hungry! When Kenny wants to eat, he gets a fever!" shouted the pink haired Lieutenant of Squad Eleven. She set her jaw and looked incredibly proud of her answer.

The women of the Seireitei, and Orihime, all turned to stare at Yachiru.

One by one, the ladies all broke out into small fits of childish giggles. Momo reached out and gave Yachiru a hug, to which Yachiru asked, "Did I do it right?"

Momo smiled at the young girl. "You're doing just fine."

It took a few moments before the clamor died down.

Rangiku wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye as she turned to Yachiru. "All right, Yachiru. That was a great answer. Now it's your turn to ask someone whether they want to answer a truth question or do a dare."

Yachiru dropped to the floor, landing in a pile of cushiony pillows, thoughtfully pondering over who to ask. At last, she made up her mind.

"You!" stated Yachiru, pointing a finger at Rukia, "Truth or dare?"

Rukia looked down at the bunny plushie she had in her hands. With a terribly blank look on her face, she simply replied with, "Dare."


Author's Note: Thanks for checking out my story! I have this entire thing all written out, and I'll be uploaded one chapter per week until it's all out here. I spent the past week slaving over this story, and it would be really great if you'd take a moment to review this piece.

Thanks for reading,

-Shan