Wha?! Two in one day! Now you can see how bored I am stuck up in bed.

Sorry, unlike what I previously told you, this is not the end of the first task, it's the beginning of the end. No really! It is!

Chapter 13 : It's tricky

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Hitsugaya sat nervously, watching the clock, counting the seconds he had left

Twenty... Nineteen... Eighteen...

He hadn't had time to do much. Every time he started with some fabric he had to throw it away; it being either covered in white lines, cut to the wrong size, or sewn in a knot somehow. He didn't know how Kya would react to his 'outfit'. He knew how he would react, but then again, he wasn't the type of person to set such an insane task anyway.

Fifteen... Fourteen... Thirteen...

He had settled for something less than basic. Frankly, it was embarrassing, who could have guessed that the child prodigy would be so bad when it came to making clothes? Not him that was for sure, but after all, he hadn't tried to do so before this task.

Eleven... Ten... Nine...

It would have to do. He didn't have any time left, after all.

Seven... Six... Five...

He could sense the tension in the room. No one moved. Even their breathing seemed to disappear. They all waited.

Three... Two... One...

Kya burst through the door as the minute hand hit twelve.

"Happy New Year!" she shouted out. She paused and looked thoughtful. "Wait... no, that's not right, is it?"

Dark lines appeared on everyone's faces where their eyes should have been.

They were all standing or sitting on tables in the centre of the room. They had been waiting anxiously for Kya to turn up, far too nervous to actually try and look at their creations again. The only one that had been missing was Matsumoto, who had woken up ten minutes ago and started running around like a headless donkey, yes donkey, you got a problem with that?

"And so..." Kya said her voice deep and enriched with fake evil, "Judgement Day had come for those who were so sure nothing could defeat them. The highest ranking Shinigami all collected in one room. One must win, but not everyone must survive. Mwahahaha!"

Sometime in her speech the lights had gone out and a torch had been turned on, pointing up underneath her chin in the classic ghost story way.

"Oh well" she said back in her normal voice. The lights flickered on again and she threw the torch over her shoulder. "Time's up, people!"

Now a megaphone appeared in her hands. Where was she getting all this crap from?

"Put down your scissors and step away from the sewing machines." She spoke into the megaphone imitating a police officer from the real world. "I repeat, put down your scissors and step away from the sewing machines."

She threw the megaphone over her shoulder as well. Hitsugaya would not like to be someone just walking innocently behind her, knowing full well you were likely to get hit in the face with some odd piece of junk.

"So then" she continued normally, well, as normally as Kya could get, "everybody finished?"

"No!" came a muffled cry from somewhere in the room. Hitsugaya sighed. Kya looked shocked.

"And why not, Matsumoto?" she asked in false outrage.

"Because I fell asleep and no one woke me up!" Matsumoto appeared from behind one of the screens looking dishevelled. A piece of deep red material was in one hand and a roll of sticky tape was in the other.

"Oh... well..." Kya sounded almost nervous, "why was that?"

A few people fell over. She knew why no one woke Matsumoto up! It was because she threatened to kill Hitsugaya if he did!

"I don't know!" Matsumoto ran over to Kya and burst into tears. Kya embraced her in a hug and started stroking her hair comfortingly.

"There, there, don't worry, there'll be other tasks, and some I'm sure you'll win." She consoled the crying woman with enormous breasts. She should bloody console her! It was her who got her into this mess in the first place! "Besides, I haven't seen what you have done yet, so for all I know, it could be brilliant! The unfinished look is making a come-back, you know?"

"Really?" Matsumoto looked up through sobs. Kya nodded warmly. Matsumoto smiled and jumped back into the group.

"Anyway," Kya continued now talking to everyone in the room. "if you could please bring your outfits on the manikins and meet me in the main hall of the 6th division."

"Wait! 6th Division? Why us?" Renji complained.

"Because I said so, Abarai Renji." Renji furrowed his eyebrows, which creeped people out seeing as they weren't actually eyebrows but weird tattoos.

"Be there in ten minutes. And no more working!" Kya said as she left.

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"No"

"Why not?" Hisagi asked through the door.

"You can't come in until you put those sheets on top of your manikins!" Kya replied.

"What? Why?" Soifon now asked.

"Because I want it to be a surprise, duh!" Kya answered. Shuffling was heard coming from outside the door as twenty people draped white cloth over their work. "Ready?"

"Yeaaah!" about seven people told her.

"Ok then!" the door flew open and Kya stood there with a large smile on her face.

"Alright, alright, settle down" she said to the already silent Shinigami. "Come in and line up along that wall there, any order will do, it doesn't matter"

She stepped out of the way and the officers entered the room, pushing their outfits with them. Slowly a line started to emerge across the room as everyone found a place they were happy with. For once they weren't in their ranked places; they were stood with friends, or in a couple of cases, just wherever they ended up. Each stood beside their manikins nervously. No one talked. That is, except Kya, who had been talking non stop since they arrived.

"This is so awesome! I finally get to see them! I'm so excited! Aren't you all really excited too? You should be; it's a very exciting position to be in! Oh my God! I cannot believe that, afters days of waiting, I fin-"

Zaraki interrupted her ramblings.

"Can we just get on with this?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, of course, I almost forgot." She stepped up to the middle of the room, took a large breath, and cleared her throat dramatically.

"Ladies, gentlemen, weird clown type things" she addressed them. Mayuri's eyes narrowed but she ignored them, "Today is the day we have been waiting for! On this day, we reach back to hallowed antiquity, to bring you a recreation of the second fall of the mighty Carthage!... On the barren plain of Zama, there stood the invincible armies of the barbarian Hannibal. Ferocious mercenaries and warriors from all brute nations, bent on merciless destruction, conquest. Your emperor is pleased to give you the barba-"

She was looking into the distance, chest inflated and one hand over her heart. Dramatic music had started playing softly in the background. Suddenly it stopped and she looked at them seriously.

"Wait, no, that's from Gladiator, isn't it?" she said thoughtfully.

Any eyes that were not already dots had now shrunken to the size of them. She shrugged.

"Ok, I'll just start my speech again." She again cleared her throat and looked very important, "This speech is my recital, I think it's very vital, to rock a rhyme, that's right on time, It's Tricky is the title, here we go, It's tricky to rock a rhy-"

She stopped again and looked annoyed at the floor.

"Dammit, why do I keep doing that? First it's New Years, then I'm in some movie about Ancient Rome, and now I'm a member of Run DMC. God, what is up with my brain today? I must have eaten something weird." she said frustrated at not being able to say her own thing. "...And I so wanted to give an impressive speech."

She looked up and saw the, oh, so perplexed faces of the captains and lieutenants.

"What?" she asked as she laughed nervously. No one's expression changed.

"Alright then, since you're so eager to get this started, can we have our first contestant please?" she announced. No one moved. Kya sighed.

"Ok, I'll just choose someone then. Hmmm" she looked over everyone thoughtfully, finger outstretched in front of her. It settled on someone. "Mayuri! Congratulations! You get to be our first competitor!"

Mayuri stepped forward. He dragged him manikin over to where Kya was and looked at the others. A weird smile crossed his face.

"Prepare to be amazed" he told them.

He whipped off the sheets and everyone gasped. Kya walked up to it, not showing her emotion. She inspected it closely and touched the hems and some of the detail.

"Good... good... Well, I have to say Mayuri, you really have surprised me here, the technical skill required to make this piece is outstanding!" Mayuri looked proud at hearing Kya's praising words.

"I just have one question..." his face dropped.

"Yes?" he asked carefully.

"What is it?"

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Haha! You'll just have to wait until next time to find out what it is!

After reading this chapter again, I realise how stupid it is. It's just wasting time really.

I'll show you a mouse if you review...

Meh, I'll show you anyway ('-.-')/