A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEARY~!
This is my present to you :) I know you've been having a rough time lately, and I believe you deserve this very much.
To anyone else reading this, yes, it is the same Max and Meridian from DTIF, but this has nothing to do with DTIF's plot at all. Some of the characters might be slightly OOC, but I think it's totally worth it.
Our phone conversation gave me the idea for this, and I hope you like it, Max ;D
"Where are we going, Meri-chan?" Max asked, as Meridian led her through the streets of the Seireitei once again. Today was her birthday, and Meridian had taken her all over the Seireitei, doing fun random things. It was evening now, and Meridian had said that she had one last thing planned.
Meridian simply smiled, though the mischievous gleam in her emerald eyes didn't go unnoticed by Max. "It's a surprise, deary. Don't worry, we're almost there."
Max didn't bother pressing it any farther. She knew Meridian wouldn't say anymore, anyway. Meridian had told her at the start of the day that the final event would be the best, and Max had been trying to figure out what exactly that event might be for the better part of the last eight hours. But Meridian was infuriatingly stubborn and hadn't said a word.
Not that Max really expected she would. That was just Meridian for you.
Meridian finally stopped outside a gigantic, beautiful mansion, and Max stared in awe.
It was early winter in the Soul Society, and although it wasn't bitterly cold and there was no snow on the ground, the entire lawn glimmered as if covered in frost. The path leading to the house was lined with small, soft lights and pink cherry blossoms were scattered across it. Streamers and bright lights covered the front of the house, and paper lanterns hung from the cherry trees. She could hear loud music coming from inside- good, modern music that came from the world of the living, and she could tell there were a lot of people inside.
She turned to Meridian, whose excited grin was almost scary. "Welcome to your party at the lovely Kuchiki Manor~" she sang.
"The Kuchiki Manor?" Max repeated. 'That explains all the cherry blossoms, then.' She thought. "How the heck did you get Byakuya to let you do all this to his house?" she asked, baffled.
Meridian laughed. "Oh, I have my ways."
Max didn't doubt that for a second.
"Come on, Birthday Girl. Let's get to your party!" Meridian said.
Max grinned, glomping her with a shout of, "I LOVE YOU!" before dashing up the path towards the door. She heard Meridian laugh and follow her.
Max burst through the doors of Byakuya's house, Meridian right behind her, and stopped, shocked.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAX!"
The entirety of the 13 Court Guard Squads were there, even the Head Captain, and every single Soul Reaper was smiling right at her.
Max felt her jaw drop. The inside was decorated much like the outside had been, with bright lights, paper lanterns, and lots of streamers. There was a ginormous poster on the far wall that spelled out, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX' in cherry blossoms, and her favorite kind of music was playing loudly from unseen speakers.
"Hey hey, the Birthday Girl is finally here!" Kyoraku announced, holding up his sake cup. "Now the party can really start!"
The crowd of Soul Reapers cheered and applauded, and Max grinned widely. Meridian slid past her into the room and motioned for her to follow. "Follow me, deary. It's present time!" she announced.
Max obeyed, following Meridian to the middle of the room where a lone chair stood. Meridian motioned for her to sit, which she did, and then called out, "Hanataro! You got the songs ready?"
"Yes, I do!" she heard Hanataro reply. The music stopped, and then Adam Lambert's 'For Your Entertainment' began to play loudly. She was about to ask what kind of present needed that song, but her question was answered before she even had to ask.
Meridian gestured dramatically to the side, where the crowd of Soul Reapers parted to let five people through. She gasped, her face instantly turning bright red.
The five people walking towards her none other than Byakuya Kuchiki, Juushiro Ukitake, Shuhei Hisagi, Renji Abarai, and Kisuke Urahara. The reason she gasped, however, was because of what they were wearing.
Or rather, lack thereof.
The five men were wearing nothing but animal print speedos.
They approached and started dancing for her, and she couldn't help but fangirl scream. "OH. MY. GOSH!" She screamed, her eyes wide.
'How the hell did Meridian get them to do this! ?' She thought. 'It's surprising enough that she got Byakuya to let her throw a wild party in his manor, but to get him in a zebra print speedo and dance for me? I didn't think it was possible! Hell must have frozen over by now, but I do not even care!'
They danced for the entire song, but didn't stop after that. When it was finished, a new song came on: Bringing Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake. They danced through that entire song as well, and by the time they stopped her entire face was bright red and she was fangirling so hard she could barely breathe. She fanned her face frantically as they left, Renji and Shuhei's faces as red as hers with embarrassment.
Another song started and the crowd around her dispersed to enjoy the rest of the party. Meridian came up to her, ginning widely. "You okay, deary?" she asked.
Max nodded. "I'm more than okay." she replied. "That was amazing!"
Meridian laughed. "I figured you'd enjoy that." she said. "You look like you're really hot, though. Do you want to go step into the garden and cool off for a minute?"
Max nodded again and got up, leading the way to the garden at the back of the room. She opened the glass double doors and stepped outside, a blast of cool air hitting her face. She heard the door shut and click behind her, and she whirled around to see Meridian still inside the house, grinning.
Max frowned, confused, and Meridian pointed to something behind her. Max heard light footsteps and turned to see Ulquiorra standing there.
"Ulqui-kun!" she said, surprised. She glanced back towards Meridian, but her friend had already gone back to the party.
"Woman." Ulquiorra walked towards her, stopping when there was barely an inch of space between the two of them. Max felt her red face get even redder as Ulquiorra stared down at her, his intense green eyes shining slightly in the moonlight.
"Your loud friend has been trying to tell me what these feelings I have mean." he said, his expression giving nothing away.
"O-Oh really?" Max replied. "And what did she say?"
Ulquiorra replied, "That in order to fully understand, I must do this."
And then he leaned down and kissed her. Max's eyes widened in surprise, but her shock didn't freeze her. She immediately started kissing him back, her lips tingling. Ulquiorra broke away much sooner than she would have liked, and he stared down at her with an almost quizzical look.
"U-U-Ulquiorra," Max began, but he interrupted her.
"I see. The loud woman was correct." he said. He slid his arm around Max's waist and pulled her close, their bodies pressed against each other. His skin was cool where it touched her and Max shivered slightly.
"She was right about what?" Max asked, her heart racing wildly.
"That I enjoy kissing you." he replied. "I believe she used the word 'love'." Then he leaned down and kissed her again. Max kissed him back, pure happiness flooding through her veins.
'Happy birthday to me~'
A/N: As much as I know you would have loved to have Ulquiorra dance for you deary, I wanted to do something more romantic with him. I mean, you two are the perfect couple after all~
This was a lot of fun to write ^_^
And yessss, I am aware that chapter 31 of DTIF is tragically overdue, but this was much, much, much more important.
I'M WORKING ON IT.
Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN, DEARY! I LOVE YOU! :DDDD
