Saturday had finally arrived, and all of Rukia's plans had come together. Even the weather was cooperating. They set up their food station around noon, and the line was moving quickly. Renji was boiling the ramen at the grill while Rukia passed out the food. She looked at the line. She wasn't used to seeing the residents of Rukongai so well-behaved. She realized that this was probably the first time that the shinigami had done something decent for them other than killing Hollows. She checked out the line again, and wondered if she'd bought enough food. Things could turn ugly if they ran out of food early.

At that moment, she noticed what might be the first sign of trouble. A girl was cutting in line. Rukia recognized the girl from earlier. She shot a glance over to Renji, who followed her gaze back to the line. He left his station and went to check on the situation.

She was a young girl, by all appearances; if they had been in the World of the Living, she might be a year or two behind Ichigo's class. That didn't count for much in Soul Society. She was thin, bursting with energy. As Renji approached her, she frantically looked around for a place to hide, then slumped and fell to the ground. He hurried over and helped her up. The girl pushed her long brown hair out of her face and looked up at Renji. "I'm sorry, sir", she said. "I guess I ate too fast. I'm not feeling so well."

"So you were in line for seconds?"

"Yes", she said, embarrassed.

"Aren't you full?"

"No, I'm still really hungry."

Again, Rukia and Renji exchanged looks.

"What's your name?"

"Ai Kihara, sir."

"Well, Ai, I think you should have some more food. Why don't you go over behind the food stand and my friend can take care of you."

/

Captain Ukitake waited just outside the door of the Thirteenth Division headquarters, his assigned meeting place for his date for the evening. He was calm about the whole affair. Fortunately he'd had a few days in a row of good health. He felt a familiar spiritual pressure approaching: Captain Kyoraku, presumably here to offer words of encouragement (and embarrassment). He turned, and saw that the captain was approaching – with a ticket in his hand.

"What, you bought a ticket? Don't tell me you've given up chasing women."

"Well, I only bought one."

Ukitake's irritation showed. "What's that supposed to mean? I know about you and games. The number you bought doesn't matter. At least if you'd bought a bunch we could've raised more money."

"All right, this is unusual, I know. And I shouldn't have sprung this on you. But...I wanted to go have a night on the town like we used to."

"What do you mean, 'like we used to?' We did some crazy things, a long time ago."

"Yes! Exactly. Before we had any responsibilities at all."

"I don't think I can, not like that anyway. We were a lot younger back then. I was healthier."

"Yeah, I know, you're sick, and I'm lazy, and neither of us ever do anything. We've got to change that."

"It's a lot easier to stop being lazy than to stop being sick."

"Yeah, but you can still do more stupid things in one night than anyone else can in a year. You know, the kids today, they don't have anything to aspire to. They think if they burn down a bar, that's a wild night out. We've got to show them what it means to really hit the town. Besides, I've got the winning ticket, so it's my date."

Ukitake smiled resignedly. "I suppose I could summon the energy for one good night."

/

Captain Unohana waited at the designated location, a quiet park bench in a shaded corner of Seireitei. She had her misgivings about the Romance Raffle, but it was a peaceful and lovely evening, and she allowed herself to hope for a pleasant night out.

She looked down the footpath, and there she saw the dignified form of Captain Kuchiki, ticket in hand, approaching.

"Captain", she said, standing. "I can't say I'm surprised. I know it's supposed to be confidential, but Lieutenant Ise told me that you made a large purchase of tickets just before the end of the Raffle."

"It seemed to be the gentlemanly thing to do. I know what it feels like to be perceived as unapproachable."

They threw themselves at each other, practically shunpo'd into each other, kissing, groping, hands running through each other's hair. They toppled backwards over the bench...