Soul Society and the Living World

By: Ryou's 01 Fan

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it.

Italicized sentences are thoughts

Note: Aggg so sorry it took forever to update!!!!! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!!!!!! Your reviews not only made me continue with this fic, but I have thought of some good ideas just by reading them. I don't know how that works but yeah, thanks a bunch!!!!! And I will apologize in advance as for I have no clue how you slow dance or what dresses look like, so I'm sorry if my descriptions aren't accurate or confusing. Ok, now that this long note is over, here's chappie 11.

Chapter 11: Short Dancing Lessons and the trip to the Mall

Where we last left off…

"This concludes our Spring Dance assembly. Return to your classes and have a good day everyone," The principal said. He left the stage and the students began to head towards their classes.

"Renji," Rukia said turning to red haired shinigami.

"Rukia," Renji said looking at her.

"I don't know how to dance!" They both said at the same time.

Minutes Later…..

"What are we going to do Rukia?" Renji said as they were walking back to class. The school hallway was empty since they had been the last ones to leave the auditorium.

Rukia stayed quiet. She continued walking alongside Renji and suddenly she stopped.

"Rukia?" Renji said, turning to look at her.

"We are going to learn how to dance Renji," Rukia said confidently. "We are going to have to dance in front of the whole school."

"But we only have 2 days," Renji replied.

We've never danced in our lives, he thought.

"I know. Start looking for someone who knows how to dance," Rukia said. She continued walking and Renji followed her.

They entered the classroom and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Renji and Rukia quickly took their seats before they could start blushing. No one had ever given them that much attention before and it made them a bit uncomfortable to be in the spotlight.

"So Renji, are you ready for Friday?" Ichigo said grinning when Renji finally took his seat.

"Shut up," Renji said, not looking at Ichigo.

I wonder if Ichigo knows how to dance? Renji thought.

"Ichigo, do you know how to dance?" Rukia suddenly asked, as if she had known what Renji had been thinking. Ichigo blinked. He looked from Rukia to Renji and then back to Rukia.

"You can't dance?" Ichigo asked them.

Heh……... He doesn't know how to dance, Renji thought.

"Don't they have dances back in Soul Society?" Ichigo continued.

"No," Renji and Rukia said at the same time.

In reality, there were dances in Soul Society. Rukia and Renji just didn't know about them.

"Well I can't teach you……but Inoue knows," Ichigo said.

"Ahh! Inoue! Why didn't I think of that? Where is she?" Rukia said scanning the room. Inoue was in the front of the classroom talking to one of their classmates. "I'll go ask her right now."

Rukia got up and walked towards Inoue. Ichigo turned to Renji.

"Think you'll be ready in 2 days?"

"I hope so," Renji said looking at Rukia. She was talking to Inoue and then Inoue jumped and hugged her.

I guess we are going to learn how to dance, Renji thought.

"Okay class, let's all get back to our seats," The teacher said as she walked in. Everyone returned to their assigned seats and opened up their textbooks.

Rukia sat back in her seat and turned to Ichigo.

"Inoue is coming with us after school today and then we'll go to the mall to get the dress," She said. "We're going to learn how to dance first."

"Sure," Ichigo said opening his textbook.

A couple hours later….

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The school bell rang, letting everyone know that the school day had finally ended. Ichigo watched as his classmates gathered up their things and left the classroom one by one. Inoue came over to the back of the class where they were all sitting.

"I can't wait to teach you how to dance!" Inoue told Rukia, who had gotten up from her seat.

Rukia smiled. "I hope it's not too hard."

"Don't worry Kuchiki-san! It'll be easy," Inoue said.

"Let's go Ichigo," Rukia said. Ichigo got up from his seat. Renji, Hitsugaya, and Ganju were already heading out the door.

Walking home…….

"Hey Renji, what about your job?" Ganju suddenly asked the red-headed shinigami. He had just remembered that Renji worked after school and they had passed the Pizza Palace Restaurant awhile ago.

"Did the manager give you a day off?" Inoue asked.

"Yeah, I asked the old man if I could have the day off today. He agreed but………I have to do the night shift tomorrow," Renji said unhappily.

"The night shift?" Ichigo said. "That place is still open at night?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many people order after 11 pm," Renji said. He knew this because the two guys who worked the night shift always complained about it.

Seriously, who ordered pizza at midnight?

"Hmm…..maybe Kurosaki could help you Abarai," Hitsugaya suggested. Rukia let out a laugh. The idea of Renji and Ichigo delivering pizzas at night was too funny for her. Inoue smiled.

"No way! It's his job, not mine," Ichigo said.

"Ha, you just don't want to do it because you're scared," Renji said grinning.

"Scared? Of what?" Ichigo said shouting. Seriously, sometimes Renji didn't make any sense at all.

"The night shift. Ichigo, you're scared," Renji teased him.

Renji realized that if he could get Ichigo to help, the job will be done quicker and then he could go to sleep faster. Also, he really didn't want to work the night shift all by himself but he wasn't going to admit that.

"Fine, I'll help you with your stupid job," Ichigo said.

"It's not stupid," Renji said.

"Yeah it is," Ichigo responded.

"No, you're the one who's stupid, you stupid."

"You are the only one here who is stupid."

"Shut up," Hitsugaya interrupted. "Really, you sound like a couple of fighting children."

I can't wait to return to Soul Society, Hitsugaya thought. Byakuya, you will pay for this.

"Whatever," Ichigo and Renji said at the same time. They had finally arrived at the house. Ichigo unlocked the door with his key and everyone went inside.

The house looked fairly clean. Rukia went into the living room and noticed little bubbles floating around the room.

"Ichigo, what did you do?" She said. Ichigo went into the living room and stared at the bubbles. More and more were appearing. They were coming from the laundry room which was right next to the living room.

Rukia went to open the laundry room door and POOF! Bubbles burst out everywhere.

"RENJI!" Ichigo shouted as he popped out of the bubble mountain that was created. It looked like it had snowed inside his home.

The living room was covered in bubbles. Ichigo went over to the washing machine. He opened the door and there was Kon………….all wet and covered in more soap bubbles.

"NEE-SAN!" Kon yelled, jumping into the mountain of bubbles. Rukia pushed some bubbles aside and saw Kon flying towards her.

SMACK!

She caught Kon by the head and handed him over to Ichigo.

"Renji, what did you do?" Ichigo asked holding up Kon so that Renji could see. Renji had been the one that had put him in the washing machine.

"I just put the soap in like Rukia said," Renji said. "This isn't my fault, stupid."

Ichigo turned to Rukia who was busy trying to push bubbles aside. She was small so the bubbles kept covering her up. It was a complete mess.

"Why are you looking at me Ichigo? You always put soap when you wash the clothes," Rukia said. "This is not my fault."

"Yeah it is. I only use one cup of soap, NOT THE WHOLE FREAKING CONTAINER!" Ichigo yelled.

"Here, we'll help you clean up," Inoue said, getting a handful of bubbles in her hands.

"Let's put them in the sink," Rukia suggested. They all agreed and started working.

For the next 20 minutes, Renji, Ichigo, Rukia, Inoue and Ganju grabbed handfuls of bubbles and placed them in all the sinks all over the house. Hitsugaya had suddenly vanished but they were all too busy cleaning to notice.

Finally, the place looked normal again. Ichigo had washed Kon in the sink and had put him outside to dry.

"Can you teach us how to dance Inoue?" Rukia asked when they were done.

"Sure," Inoue said cheerfully. "Let's rearrange the furniture so we have more room to use."

Renji and Ichigo moved the tables and couches until there was a big enough square in the middle of the living room.

"Ok, the first dance is always a slow kind of dance. This is really the only one you need to know," Inoue said. Rukia nodded.

"So what do we do?" Renji asked.

"Abarai-kun, you must take Rukia's hand and lead her to the center of the floor," Inoue said. She waited for them to move but Renji just stared at her blankly. Ganju was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Wait…...you mean right now?" Renji said, noticing that no one had said anything.

"Duh," Ichigo said grinning.

"Shut up," Renji said.

"Yes Abarai-kun. Let's practice so that on Friday you and Kuchiki-san will know exactly what to do," Inoue said.

Renji took Rukia's hand and walked over to the center of living room. He noticed that Ichigo and Ganju were staring at them. Renji suddenly realized that Hitsugaya had left but he didn't say anything. It was a good thing that the taichou wasn't here.

"Don't you guys have something else to do?" Renji said irritated. He didn't want to dance in front of Ichigo and Ganju.

"Nope," Ganju said.

"Everyone in school will be staring at you so you better get used to it now," Ichigo said crossing his arms and leaning against a wall.

"Fine," Renji muttered.

"Ok, now Kuchiki-san put your arms around Abarai-kun's neck," Inoue said. Ichigo turned to look at Rukia.

Rukia slowly raised her arms and placed them around Renji's neck. She was a bit short but with her high heels, it would be perfect on the day of the dance.

"Good, now Abarai-kun place your arms around Kuchiki-san's waist," Inoue said. Renji blinked. Rukia started to turn a light shade of pink.

He, like Rukia, slowly moved his arms so that both of them were resting on her hips. Renji and Rukia were looking at anywhere else but each other.

"Ok, now for the music. I brought with me a CD with some songs. We'll practice the song they used last year," Inoue said taking out a blue disc from her purse.

"Here, I'll put it in Inoue," Ichigo said. Inoue handed the CD to Ichigo who placed it in the stereo system.

The music began to start. Rukia was surprised at how quiet and slow the music was.

What kind of dance is this? She thought.

Inoue turned to Rukia and Renji, who by this time were as red as cherries. They were both looking down at their feet.

"Kuchiki-san! Abarai-kun! You can't dance like that," Inoue said.

This caught their attention for Rukia and Renji looked up to look at Inoue.

"What do you mean? We did exactly what you told us," Renji said confused.

"No, I mean you two are just looking down at the floor. You have to look at each other," Inoue said.

"Fine," Renji and Rukia said at the same time. They turned away from Inoue and looked at each other. Renji said, a grin spreading across his face.

"What?" Rukia said staring at him.

Why is he grinning? She thought.

"You have bubbles in your hair," Renji said laughing.

"Renji…….you have bubbles too," Rukia said looking at his hair which was covered in bubbles. They had been trying so hard to not look at each other that they had not realized the bubbles that covered their hair.

"This is great!" Inoue said looking at the two. "Now we just need to dance. It's so easy, all you do is move from side to side. Abarai-kun, you lead."

"Where do I move?" Renji asked her.

"Anywhere. You have all this space to use. Just listen to the song and go with the flow," Inoue said happily.

Renji moved to the right and Rukia, who wasn't prepared, almost tripped over his feet.

"Kuchiki-san, follow Abarai-kun. If he moves one way, then you move in the same direction as well," Inoue said.

"Ok," Rukia said, "Let's try again." Renji nodded.

He swayed to the left this time and Rukia followed. Then he swayed to the right. They started dancing around the space they had in the living room. The music seemed to grow louder as they danced around and around. It was a miracle they didn't bump into anything. Finally the music came to a stop. Rukia and Renji let go of each other and looked at Inoue for approval.

"That was beautiful!" Inoue said. She went over to Rukia and gave her a hug. Rukia hugged her friend back. It really had been beautiful. She had felt so carefree and happy……..without any worries at all.

Renji looked over at Ichigo.

"Nice job Renji," Ichigo said grinning.

"Thanks," Renji said. He was surprised that he had actually enjoyed the dancing.

"Are we leaving now?" A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and saw Hitsugaya wearing normal, plain human clothes.

Now he shows up, Renji thought.

"Yes, let's go!" Inoue said. "The bus will leave soon." Everyone nodded and started heading out the door.

Outside the mall….20 minutes later…….

"Wow, the doors open by themselves!" Ganju said observing how the automatic front doors would open whenever a person was nearby. They were heading towards the mall which was a huge building made out of glass and brick. People were entering and leaving the store and cars kept passing by.

"Ah Ganju, don't you have doors like that in soul society?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, but I never thought humans would be smart enough to invent them," Ganju replied. He then realized what he had said and looked at Ichigo. "No offense."

"Whatever," Ichigo replied. They entered the mall and stopped when their eyes took in what was inside.

"Man, there are so many things here!" Renji said looking at all the displays of shoes, clothing, toys, and appliances. Adults and children were everywhere, talking and shopping. Some people had turned to look at them but then went on with what they had been doing.

"Matsumoto would love this place," Hitsugaya said looking around. There were a few teens at the mall. Since it was a school night, it wasn't surprising that they didn't recognize anyone from school.

"Let's go look at the dresses!" Inoue said.

"Do you know where they are?" Rukia asked. She had been here before, but she didn't know the mall well enough to know where everything was.

"Yes, it's in the middle of the store on the top floor. I always used to come here with my brother," Inoue said.

Everyone followed her as she led them deeper into the mall.

Hitsugaya noticed that the further they went into the store, the more things seemed to appear. Ganju and Renji kept touching whatever was closest to them as they walked on by and Ichigo walked behind them to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

Finally, they had reached the middle of the mall. Here, the ceiling was shaped like a dome and there were escalators leading downstairs. Restaurants and all kinds of stores where all over the place.

"There it is!" Inoue said excitedly, pointing to a store nearby. "Come on, Kuchiki-san!" She grabbed Rukia's hand and led her inside a store that was filled with dresses. The guys followed after them.

Inoue started looking at the dresses on the clothes rack.

"Here, I'll pull some out that are your size and you decide, okay Kuchiki-san?" Inoue said.

Rukia nodded.

"How about this one?" Inoue said, holding up a bright red dress. It was long and had thin spaghetti straps but above all it was bright.

"Too red," Renji said. Rukia nodded in agreement.

Inoue put the dress back and took out another one soon after.

"How about this one?" She said, holding a black dress with a very low V-neck.

"Yeah, that one's nice," Renji said. Ichigo grinned.

Rukia turned to look at them. "No," She told Inoue.

Inoue nodded and returned the dress back.

"After this, we have to find a nice shirt and pants for Abarai-kun," Inoue said while she was searching for another dress.

"That's true," Rukia said. "Hitsugaya-taichou is also going to need one." They turned to look at Hitsugaya, who was leaning against the wall.

"So that's why you're here," Ichigo said.

He also has a date, he thought.

"Shut up," Hitsugaya said.

"Ah, I got it!" Inoue said cheerfully, "How about this one Kuchiki-san?" She was holding up a nice, light blue dress.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Rukia said, touching the dress.

"Do you want to try it on?" Inoue asked her. "The dressing room is right here."

"Yes, I think I will try it on," Rukia said, getting the dress.

"Ok," Inoue said. Rukia went into one of the dressing rooms.

7 minutes later……..

"Hey Rukia, are you done?" Renji called out. "I'm getting hungry."

"Same here," Ganju said.

"Uh……" Rukia said from behind the white door.

"Do you need help, Kuchiki-san?" Inoue asked.

"No, I'm fine. I just don't know about this dress," Rukia said.

"Oh, I'm sure it looks fine on you Kuchiki-san! Come out so that we can see you," Inoue said.

"Fine, tell me what you think," Rukia said.

The white door opened and out stepped Rukia. She was wearing a strapless, sparkly, light blue dress that spread out at the bottom. Her small shoulders were being covered by a see through shawl, the same color as the dress. It was a simple dress yet pretty.

Everyone stared at her.

Rukia noticed that they weren't saying anything and said, "I get it. I get it. I'll take it off."

"No," Renji blurted out. "It's great. The dress. You look…..really nice."

"Really?" Rukia said. She looked at Inoue who was smiling.

"I think you should get it," Inoue said.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed. "It's nice."

Ganju nodded. Hitsugaya didn't say anything.

"Ok. I'll get it," Rukia said. "Let me go change." She went back into the dressing room.

After she was done, they went to the cash register where Renji paid for the dress. They left the store and started walking when Ganju, who was in front of everyone, stopped.

"Hey guys! Let's get on that thing," Ganju said pointing at...

Ahh I'm done!! Another weird chappie...but it's done. Chappie 12 will be out soon. One of the reasons I took forever on this chappie was b/c I was stuck. I had different ideas and then I just gave up but I know what's going to happen on chappie 12 which will be a longer chappie b/c it will be a long day for them. Well hope you ahhh understood it hehehehehe and feel free to review! Night night, I'm going to bed. Jez