The Next Day

Author's Note: Hi everyone, very sorry for the confusion. If at first you only saw the Author's note and some random stuff, it's prolly because I made a mistake... o.0; I'm kinda bad with all this stuff, and seeing as I'm a new user, I'm just starting to get the hang of it well, this is the next chapter, and after this, the snowball fight will officially start! This one might be kinda short, but I like elaborating. Please give suggestions if you have any! Thanks :)

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Ukitake. Then he tried to regain his composure and cleared his throat. "Well, actually, maybe that's a good idea, Kyoraku, but the thing is...most of the people probably won't participate...You know they're a bit...well...uncooperative."

Kyoraku chuckled. "I know that, and that's why I have an idea. I'm gonna make this a contest, and whoever is the last one to stand, will get the prize that I've prepared for them!" Ukitake leaned forward, a little more interested. However, Kyoraku had ceased to speak, smiling expectantly at him.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Ukitake said, "Well? What's the prize going to be?" He wanted to know. Hmmm...maybe, just this once, he could join in the snowball fight too.

"I'm not going to tell you," Kyoraku simply replied. "I'm going to keep it a secret. I'll tell them that there IS a prize, but I won't tell them what it is. It'll give them a little more motivation, don't you think?" This was getting more and more interesting, but before the snowball fight could really begin, he needed to organize some things. "First of all, I think we have to have some rules and all that boring stuff. I was thinking, we could be the 'hosts' and kind of supervise them. As for the rules...well, anything's okay, as long as you don't kill anyone. Well, what do you think?" He looked inquiringly at Ukitake, who was actually fuming inside. How could he get the prize of he was a host?!

Instead of saying that out loud, Ukitake merely nodded and replied, "Okay, sounds fine to me, but we'll have to gather them all together. Should I send a message to everyone to come meet us on the snowy plains?" Kyoraku consented and they both went off to finish their personal business.

"How many more days till he comes?" Ichigo and Rukia were sitting in Byakuya's mansion, taking a short break before continuing their hard training. They had had nonstop training for at least a week now, and even though it was really tiring, they could actually see the progress that they were making.

"Idiot, how should I know," replied Rukia. "It's not like there's a set date. All we know is that he's coming soon, so it's better to be prepared than not. But, then again...this is really wearing me out, I don't know for how much longer I can work. Even though we can see how much we're improving, we need to rest and refresh ourselves, or the work will be a burden." It was true. Most of the Shinigami in soul society were starting to collapse from all the strain. The fourth division was constantly busy, tending to overly-stressed patients. It looked like the harder they tried, the more chaotic Soul Society was getting.

"Yeah, I've gotta agree, my body's always sore, and I find it harder and harder to get up in the mornings...Curse him, if Aizen doesn't come, I"ll go looking for him, I am so not gong to do all this non-stop training for nothing!" Ichigo was the kind of person who went looking for trouble.

"Well, how about this--" Rukia was stopped in mid-sentence by the sudden appearence of a hell moth. It landed on her wrist, and she listened carefully to the message it was giving. "Hmm..." Rukia looked kind of confused, as though she didn't know what to make of the message.

"What? Did Aizen finally come?" Ichigo started to reach for Zangetsu. However, Rukia stopped him.

"No, don't be stupid, it's something else." Rukia paused for a moment, and said, "Ukitake has sent us a message, demanding that we come to the snowy plains tomorrow at dawn, and make sure we dress warmly. Now, what do you make of that? I don't think it would be urgent, but it sounds like he really wants us to come. I wonder if anyone else got this message?"

Ichigo was just as confused as Rukia. At this moment, they heard footsteps approaching them, and they both turned around to greet their flaming-red haired friend.

"Yo, Renji, what're you doing here? Did ya come here looking for some fun?" Ichigo and Renji were always going at each other. It was almost a habit, something they did subconsciously. Shockingly enough, Renji ignored Ichigo, and said to Rukia, "Did you guys get the message from Captain Ukitake?" Rukia nodded, but she seemed just as puzzled as him.

"I think the only thing we can do, is go there tomorrow." Rukia was really curious, and she definitely thought this would be a pleasant break from the work they were doing. Maybe they were gathering to have a little relaxation time?

She couldn't have been more wrong.

Okay, I just had to put that in there, because it would sound kinda rushed if I didn't do it. I mean, jumping from the idea to them already in the middle of a snowball fight just seemed a little to sudden. I'm sorry if anyone got confused because they only saw the author's note at first, but I do believe I've finally fixed that. :P Well next chapter will definitely contain some action, but before that, please review, and give me some suggestions. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking of writing it like this: I will just kind of focus on the actions of one or two people each chapter. Ex: I might be writing from his point of view, and then maybe from Rukia's. Something like that...

Well, thanks again, I hope you guys will come back to see the next chapter