A/n: Thanks for the favourites, follows and readers. So... I see that it has been a while *checks date* two month. But come on, reading the recent Bleach chapter with Toshiro's height joke put me in a good mood. And poor Byakuya xD I want to give him a 'you tried' star

Also, I currently sit in my car in over a thousand degree heat... With no wind... WHYYY MUST IT BE SO HOT? Then again, I am sitting in a car...

Warning: Swearing, violence and grammar errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach - that is all... But the following OC characters are all mine :D

Chapter 53: Triumph with Sake 3

He held in a gasp as he saw the area, but it wasn't long until he let out an excited cheer to show his enthusiasm. Other shinigami stared at his cheerful mood and tried to back away from him, but it would've been difficult since the crowds were rather large.

"This place is amazing!" Hozumi chimed brightly, looking around the festival with a cheerful gaze in his eyes. "I can smell the great food, hear the cute giggles of pretty ladies, and I can taste the sake within the air." The streets that were normally plain and boring were filled with shinigami, colours and stores that would make most festivals look like a drag. Of course, there were better festivals than this one back in Rukongai but he couldn't attend most of the time since he had to work for the captain.

But now that the festival was closer, Hozumi didn't had to ask Captain Hitsugaya for permission to join in for this time. But not one worker failed to make the streets of Seireitei look like a rainbow had painted the place.

The unseated officer wore a grey kimono to match his eyes, but he didn't have the headband that he was accustomed to wearing. Instead, he let his black hair go over his face as he strolled around the area with a giddy smile on his face. His eyes were wide at first, but when he recognised the second division Lieutenant, he scowled in disappointment.

"Omaeda..." Hozumi noticed that the man was extremely lazy. Instead of getting dressed up like ninety-nine percent of the shinigami, he decided to remain in his uniform. His scowl deepened and crossed his arms over his chest in disappointment, "Omaeda... you were meant to dress up."

"Don't start Aoki," The lieutenant hissed as he rubbed his face. "For one – I look great in anything I wear, so I don't need approval from you or anyone else." Hozumi's eyes widened when he noticed the darkened skin around Omaeda's cheeks, "It was because of you I ended up getting kicked in the face by my captain."

"Let me remind you that you didn't have to choose the second division," Hozumi replied smugly which made Omaeda glower in his direction. Before he could return the glare to his companion, Hozumi noticed something in the corner of his eyes and squealed cheerfully, "It's time for sake!" He cheered in excitement and pushed Omaeda out of the way to rush to his destination.

Omaeda let out a surprised yelp at the sudden strength, but regained himself as the cheery male scurried off with another cheer in his fancy kimono. He really hated the fact that it was Hozumi's fault that Omaeda was here in the first place anyways.

As the unseated officer ran off to a complete different direction, he left Omaeda alone to stare at the space that Hozumi once stood in. Omaeda's eyes remained wide as he turned to watch Hozumi retreat from the scene and he blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Once he finally got a hold of himself, the lieutenant shook himself out of the daze and managed to speak up with disbelief, "Did he just squeal? And those lousy peasants call me the pig."

-:-

Why did he have to come here?

Renji scowled in annoyance as Kira and Hisagi began to their drinking. He wasn't sure if he should've hung out with the other lieutenants. Sure he held the same rank, but seeing them drunk made him rather uncomfortable, especially when he hadn't touched a drop of sake just yet.

Renji knew that Saskibe wouldn't even dare to join them. Omaeda the lazy pig probably didn't even bother coming. Isane Kotetsu was attending with her sister. Hinamori had mentioned she wasn't joining them due to her slow recovery. Iba was off with Ikkaku and Yumichika, possibly drinking sake or fighting outside the festival. Nanao would probably be forcing the captain to work. Matsumoto had insisted that she was going with someone else (yet it was a big mystery on the who part – also much to Hisagi's displeasure). Nemu and Yachiru were definitely not coming along at least with the lieutenants.

Now in front of Rukia, since she had invited herself to be with Renji. He was glad that they were friends again, but he wished that she would at least ask if he was going before dragging him here. When Rukia offered to bring along Rosa, Renji was rather confused by it and did so.

Normally, Renji would've worn his shihakusho but Rukia smacked his skull so he wore a simple grey kimono that he hadn't worn in years. It was rather confusing as to why Rukia demanded for him to actually wear something nice. Maybe the years as a Kuchiki made her... bitchier...

Of course he wouldn't say that out loud. Rukia would probably bash his face in for that.

It was a mission from hell itself when he gained the guts to go to the eleventh division to see Rosa; Renji hated the fact that he had to be nervous when he spoke to her. If he slipped up with this whole feeling for Rosa thing... he might lose his head and jump into the mouth of a bloodthirsty hollow. But, luckily Rosa wanted to join him to this bright festival... well more like join his friends for a drink...

After all, it had been a while since they had time to relax – this had been the first break since forever.

Damn it... Renji really had to get himself under control. He needed to stay calm and not say anything too stupid. Anyone could probably sense the worry that he had for every passing second.

"Did you let Rosa know where to meet?" Rukia asked with a raised eyebrow, looking over to the redhead. She didn't look like she was the same girl that tripped over some guy when he had attacked Renji back in Rukongai, but like a true lady of the Kuchiki clan. Her hair was pinned up to an elegant bun and she wore a clean white kimono.

"Of course I did," Renji hissed in annoyance. "She'll find us I'm sure of it." Well... he hoped that Rosa could find him. He knew well of how Rosa was with crowds – especially when she wasn't in the world of the living since she could draw her zanpakuto out on random bystanders.

The look on Rukia's face turned gentle and Renji wondered if he had said his thoughts out loud, "Just take care of her tonight..."

But he was already planning on taking care of her – if that didn't sound weird or anything. Before Renji could say anything to prove his point, he heard a loud shout from Izuru. Renji nearly jumped out of his skin when the third division lieutenant clamped his hand on Renji's shoulder. It was strange to see the usually glum blonde to scream out in excitement.

"Ah," Kira smiled at the sight and made a weird sound, "Rosa-san is here!"

When Renji had turned to see the mentioned fourth seat, he would've sworn that his eyes were actually deceiving him. Rosa entered the scene with a half a smirk as she waved towards the group of lieutenants (plus Rukia). While her messy raven hair was still messy, it looked like Rosa attempted to keep it flat on her head. For once, Renji didn't see her zanpakuto in sight but noticed her turquoise coloured kimono – a kimono he would never thought he would see on someone like her.

"Oi nice to see that ya actually decent Renji," Rosa chuckled and Renji turned away to ignore her cheerful attitude.

Okay, she just trying to be friendly... there was no reason for him to be so embarrassed-

Kira tightened his hold on Renji's shoulder, "She's looking pretty tonight Abarai-kun!" And that cued his embarrassment of the night. Rukia rolled her eyes at Renji's actions, before she turned to see that Rosa was still trying to flatten her hair with a scowl.

"Good evening Rosa," Rukia greeted the crazy woman before elbowing Renji roughly in the ribs. By instinct, Renji jumped and rubbed the sharp pain from the brutal elbow attack. He scowled at his childhood friend, cursing Rukia for ever bringing up this ridiculous idea.

What was he meant to say to compliment Rosa anyways? That she looked decent as well? A mental scowl only deepened in the back of his mind, realising that he was a lot more nervous since Kira opened his loud drunk mouth.

"Hey," Renji spoke gruffly and winced at another elbow attack. There was a part of him that wanted to snap at Rukia for hurting him, but honestly he was in no mood. As he turned to see his lieutenant companions, Rosa and Rukia he noticed that everyone was prepared to leave.

"Let's go then!" Hisagi cheered, as Kira released Renji and wrapped an arm around Hisagi's shoulder.

Rosa watched the scene with a mischievous look in her midnight eyes. "Okay if one of them starts flirting with the other, then I will not drop it," With a teasing smirk, Tahani whispered her thoughts to Rukia who merely smiled in agreement.

The small group went through the crowds, noticing that Renji saw many recognisable faces from his own division. It instantly reminded him of the captain, and Renji wondered of how Captain Kuchiki was going – after all, Byakuya didn't want to attend to the festival since it contained noise and other people. He sighed to himself, realising that his captain was completely hopeless when it came to social events.

"Oh my, it's adorable!" Rukia's cheerful voice dragged Renji out of his thoughts and he turned to see that her eyes were glistening with admiration. Renji followed her gaze and scowled at the store full of Chappy merchandise; some of them looked rather useless in his opinion. "I'm going to check out this store for a bit, hang out for a second."

Son of a bitch. She was doing it so that Renji would be alone with Rosa (plus the two drunk men that were currently singing about their forever alone problems). This is what he got for talking to Rukia about his possible feelings for the raven haired fourth seat. He had to remind himself that he was going to get her back somehow. If only Ichigo was around.

Renji glowered at Rukia, before he noticed Rosa also glowering at her. Was there something that Rukia intended more than just leaving them alone? But it didn't matter to Rukia because her crazy obsession with bunnies made her race to the store as she admired the pointless junk.

Slowly, Renji turned to Ta- Rosa and she flashed an awkward grin, "So... what's there to do in a boring event like this anyways?"

Now was a great time for his drink.

-:-

"See Laria-chan, isn't this fun?"

The mentioned brunette scowled as she strolled through the streets, taking a moment to stop her pouting to look at the scene around her. Laria had to admit that the job was done nicely and it agreed to be an excellent social gathering but Laria was still in no mood to attend. Instead, Laria shook her head and ignored her lieutenant; hopefully the silence would shut Rangiku up.

It was unfair – Laria's defeated look deepened as she considered her unfortunate fate. Tahani and Hozumi didn't have to go – even though the latter probably went anyways to drink the ridiculous sake that he obsessed over. Normally Rangiku would've gone to an event like this with the other lieutenants but instead she chose to hang out with Laria.

"Come on Laria-chan," Rangiku obviously noticed the annoyance on the brunette's face. Like Laria, Rangiku was dressed up for the event. Her hair wasn't touched so it bounced around her shoulders but she had a baby pink kimono with faint flowery patterns made it obvious that she was taking the entire event seriously by looking pretty, "There's more to life than just work – just go out and see! If you keep acting like this, you'll end up just like Nanao – flat chested and forever alone."

There really was no use to arguing to her lieutenant. Laria sighed hopelessly and accepted her defeat for the first time. There was no way that she was changing Rangiku's mind any time soon. So Laria allowed Rangiku to drag her to the different stores, seeing the unique things that Laria had only seen in the human world when she was first starting to become a shinigami.

It's strange, Laria realised as she watched Rangiku engage in a conversation with a stranger who prepared a drinking contest with her. Back then, I would've never thought I would've gotten this far... but really, I did things that no ordinary shinigami would've. I met humans, I achieved bankai – I even fought against an espada and lived.

And it was all because of Ichigo Kurosaki. He was the one that suddenly disturbed their peace by rescuing Rukia Kuchiki with the rest of his human friends. It was because of Ichigo that he managed to protect Rukia from Aizen, saving her life and claiming her innocence when Aizen revealed his true intentions. Then there was the big mystery, did Aizen have anything to do with their previous captain's disappearance?

Sometimes Laria felt that he wasn't dead. There was always a part of her that hoped that he was slowly recovering his shinigami powers. While it was uncommon for a shinigami to lose his powers, it did happen. Maybe one day, Laria would meet him once again but for now, he will remain in the back of her mind surrounded in mystery.

"Lighten up Laria-chan," Rangiku suddenly chanted as she wrapped an arm around Laria's petite frame.

Surprise flashed in Laria's expression, "Matsumoto-san? Weren't you drinking just a moment ago?" She looked around to see if she recognised her competitor, but the stranger was down for the count; completely and utterly intoxicated.

"He was a light weight," Rangiku replied with a shrug. Her eyes brightened up at the familiar store and dragged Laria suddenly, "Let's go see if we can get a souvenir for the captain!" They went to a particular store and the brunette noticed the strange but foreign equipment.

"Most of this is gathered from the world of the living," The owner of the store explained and Laria's eyes flickered back to the owner. "Some of it is from different parts of the world as well."

"I think the Captain will like this cup," Rangiku picked up a small cup and showed it to Laria. "It would probably be nice to give him something since I broke the last one."

Laria's scowl deepened in displeasure, "You broke his last cup? I blamed that on Aoki."

"I'll take this too!" Rangiku took a fancy green straw and paid for it, "The captain will love this... don't you agree Laria-chan?"

Immediately the third seat sweat dropped. "He's going to take it the wrong way," And she knew that he would. Even though she respected the captain, (also had childish feelings for him) Laria knew that he had a short fuse over childish things like she did.

"I'll deal with that later," Rangiku shook the problems like they were nothing and she turned in another direction before she widened her eyes in realisation. At first Laria thought that she just saw something horrific behind Laria's back but it wasn't what she expected, "Captain?"

Suddenly turning with Rangiku, Laria turned around to see her captain scowling as he strolled through the crowds in his shinigami and captain garb. Laria's eyes widened in recognition, she noticed that the captain caught their gazes and his eyes narrowed in annoyance as he approached the duo.

"What is it?" He asked icily, noticing that Rangiku suddenly hide the bag behind her back. It looked like she was taking advice on Laria's words for a change.

"I'm surprised that you're here Captain," Laria spoke to stop Rangiku from panicking. Surprise flashed in Toshiro's turquoise eyes once he noticed her, but it was only for a moment. He immediately kept his eyes away from the females.

"I needed to take a break from the paperwork – I'm already tired as it is," The captain replied curtly before he looked at the darkened sky. "But I'm beginning to regret coming here; it's noisy and crowded – it would've been better off if I had stayed back."

"So why are you still here?" Rangiku wondered, turning to see that Toshiro looked rather alarmed at the sudden question. Before Laria could agree, he turned stiffly to look away from them.

"Because I need a break," He repeated as he faced his subordinates with a scowl. "Now come on, I heard there was going to be some amanatto." Hearing the familiar treat, Laria couldn't help but suddenly pause to herself, remembering that Momo had once mentioned that her captain enjoyed it before he became a shinigami. It made her wonder how nostalgic it was whenever he thought of it, since Rie Kuri often ate it with him...

"Alright Captain!" Rangiku cut Laria's thoughts and she was already leading the group ahead, which consequently left the duo alone. It only took Laria a moment to understand what really happened. She cursed to herself when Rangiku's figure disappeared from their sight.

Laria had every right to not trust the devious smile!

A/n: So on recent news, updates are and will be slow. I've got a new job, and I've been working on my assignments recently. *Bangs head on a brick wall* I hate it soooo much...

But hurray for Matsumoto for abandoning Laria with the captain right? :D

18-03-2016* Happy Easter for next week. Easter is the time for more chocolate :D

Please Review.