Hi again Folks. I'm back with a smile and hopefully a bit of humor to lighten the ending of the last installment. Bleach is not owned by me, I wish, that way I would be able to push some ……. I ramble. On with the show!
Housekeeping 101
Now the fun began. What do you do with one hundred and sixty warriors who live to fight and need to integrate into the local populous? How do you teach them to hold a job that is to be their cover while they are there? More importantly, what sort of job could these warriors actually even attempt to hold? And then there was the pairing up of the men and women.
Kira was pulling his hair out as he tried to figure out how to get these different groups to start working together as a team.
Ikkaku Madarame stuck his head in the window and yelled, "Hey Matsumoto! We got some sake here wann'a have a snort?" It was obvious that he had already imbibed a bit.
Kira reached out the window grabbing the tipsy shinigami by the robes and hauled him in through the window. He held him off the floor before speaking softly. "One, her name is Captain Tenaka. Two, she is working. Three, She isn't here." He then deposited Ikkaku on the floor by dropping him.
Kira started to turn back to his desk when a thought hit him. He turned to the slightly shaken Ikkaku, "Weren't you in high school when you were stationed dirt side a few years ago?"
"Yeah, what of it? I felt like a moron there. All that stuff that didn't mean a damn compared to what I was doing." His response was suspicious as he waited for his Vice Captain to finish his thoughts.
"Ikkaku, when you were there did you ever hear of a 'Sadie Hawkens' Dance?" Kira asked with the makings of a grin on his face.
"Um, no, I can't say as I did. I wasn't real interested in social events back then. What is it?" Ikkaku was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable.
Kira just glanced back at him and smiled. "Have the troops in the training area at 1900 hours tonight. No excuses for anyone to miss the muster tonight. If they miss it they are going to regret it for a long time. I also want you to take this list over to Fourth and give it to Captain Unohana please with my sincere thanks if she could supply the items I put on this list." He turned and scribbled down a list of items then folded it and handed it to Ikkaku. "It's thirteen hundred now so get moving I want everything set up by nineteen hundred."
Ikkaku just shrugged his shoulders. "You're the boss." He left on his errand.
Rangiku walked in as Ikkaku was leaving and cocked an eyebrow at her husband. "Where was he headed in such a hurry? Are you up to something?"
"I think I just figured out how to pair off our people. Well, I hope that I have."
She eyed him narrowly. "What are you planning?"
"Just a little icebreaker." He answered innocently.
"I hope this isn't another one of those crazy human ideas you are so fond of."
"What do you mean, crazy. My last 'crazy' idea you liked well enough, or were those moans of displeasure I heard from you? All night." His grin was plastered from ear to ear.
Rangiku blushed like a schoolgirl before answering. "That had nothing to do with the Fourteenth and you know it. Let's try that again, soon." She put on her most seductive look.
"Anything for my Captain. But before we get carried away I think that I have a plan …."
He explained his plan to her and made a few modifications at her suggestion.
1900 Hours (7PM):
All of the Fourteenth members were gathered into the training area. They were formed into two separate groups, men on one side and women on the other.
Unohana had come through with time to spare with the supplies requested transforming the training area into an open air dance. The ceremonial band had set up on a stage and were warming up as Kira talked to the band leader.
He concluded his discussions with the band leader and then turned to the assembled shinigami. "I bet you all are wondering what's going on. Well tonight is the night that the team partners will be chosen. Rather than letting you wait for us to figure out who to put with whom, I think that this will work out much faster and be much more fun for all of you. Yes even you FORMER Sixth and Second squad members." He paused to gauge their reaction so far. He saw a bit of confusion so he continued. "This is what is called a 'Sadie Hawkens' Dance. The rules here are that the women may ask any man they want out on the floor to dance with them. The men may not refuse. If you don't click then no harm done and it keeps on going until everyone has a partner for three consecutive dances. At the end of the night I would like to think that everyone here could find a partner. This isn't a marriage it is finding a partner that you can trust and work with. As an added bonus, food and drinks are provided. DO NOT GET DRUNK! Enjoy the evening and have some fun tonight." He turned to leave then turned back before the band started. "Oh, I almost forgot. No one from the same former squad can pair with each other and also your former Captains will be dropping by to enjoy the evening also. Carry on!" Kira then left the stage.
The Band struck up a tune that most of the shinigami were unfamiliar with but they had gotten the hint as to what they were to do tonight. The women started looking over the men and talking amongst themselves. The men looked distinctly uncomfortable as they were being sized up by the women. Some of the men went and got a drink almost immediately to steady their nerves. This was something that the feudal mind set of most of the men were not accustomed to. They were supposed to be in charge and they were to be the ones making any advances, not the other way around.
Ikkaku started laughing as he finally guessed at what Kira had been planning when he had questioned him that afternoon. "This should break a few spirits" He thought to himself. Then it struck him also. "Wait a minute. I'm included in this too!" He sweat dropped." I hope that one of the girls from the fourth asks me out, or maybe one of those cuties from the academy." He composed himself and put on an air of competence and composure. He was rewarded by several medics and students approaching him. His night was going very well in his opinion as he found a nice looking young woman named Fumico who was a graduate student in the medical arts before she volunteered for the Fourteenth. She stood just shy one hundred and eighty centimeters tall and carried herself well. After several dances together they took a break and visited with Rangiku and Kira who were just watching from the sidelines.
"You know that this was a dirty trick to play on everyone." Ikkaku said confidentially to Kira.
"Yeah, but I don't think that anyone will be too upset. Look at the smiles on the faces. And did you see the looks on the 'nobels' faces? I don't think that they thought that they would ever get to do anything like this. All of them look like they are having fun. My concern is the ninjas and the scientists. Those two groups are the hardest to crack out of their shells."
"What about my former shinigami?" came the voice of Soi Fong from just behind Kira. "Are they not doing something that they should be doing?"
"Oh it's nothing Captain. It's just hard for them to relax after you trained them to such ridged control. I'm sure that once they have a few drinks they will loosen up a bit." Kira remarked as he fought to keep the shivers from showing at her creepy arrival.
"I see." She said thinking to her self for a moment. "Maybe I should try and 'loosen' them up a bit." She said simply then disappeared as fast as she had arrived.
A few minutes later he spotted her out on the dance floor with several of the men from her squad and was actually smiling and looking like she was having fun. This did help break down some of their stiffness and they finally became approachable.
Several of the other Captains also showed up and spent time assisting in getting the shinigami to enjoy themselves. Shunsui Kyōraku and Nanao Ise showed up. Shunsui dragged Nanao out on the dance floor to a tango and impressed everyone and made Nanao blush as she had never done before. She was quite breathless after the intimate dance and fanned herself repeatedly afterwards.
Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi put in an appearance but had to leave quickly as it was Yachiru's bed time when they got there. Kenpachi glared at a couple of former shinigami from his squad and reminded them that the Eleventh "don't have no weaklings" He then departed but his words did not fall on deaf ears.
By the end of the night everyone was partnered and many were sitting at tables talking about themselves and doing a good job of getting to know each other.
As the band wound down from their last tune Rangiku took the stage. "Well it looks like tonight was a success and now begins the second part of your training. Up until now you have lived in barracks and have been separated men from women. Tonight that all changes. Each pair of partners will from now on be living in an apartment together. I don't expect you to be sleeping together but I expect you to be civil with each other. I'm sure that there will be some kinks to iron out so don't get too worried if you get on each others nerves at first. It's normal when you get thrown together for the first time. Pick up your apartment assignments on your way out and stay with your partner. The barracks are closed as of now." Outside the training area was heard "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" With that the two barracks buildings crumbled to the ground in a flurry of pink looking petals.
The look on the faces of the shinigami was priceless.
A/N: Thus begins the formation of the Fourteenth Expeditionary Squad.
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