Sorry this took so long, but there was school and no motivation, except for mikaylamillward. Thanks for reviewing, and sorry you had to keep coming back to check. Oh yeah, and I think the teacher's hate me BECAUSE I try to be their pet. Besides, my classmates already make fun of me, and I don't need anymore trouble from them.
Nothing else to say here, except that I'M GOING TO SEVERE ALL TIES WITH THEM (stupid classmates). If you want to know why, leave me an email address or sign in to ask and I'll tell you why.
Disclaimer (which I shamelessly forgot about for the other two chapters): IF I OWNED BLEACH, THEY WOULD NOT BE THIS SUCCESSFUL I WOULD HAVE MORE MONEY.
Party of the Year
To: Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13
The venue of the party has been finalised. It will be held in the Great Hall. We shall have a final rehearsal one week from now. By this time, all of you should have sufficient supplies and skills needed for it. The Ninth Squad will also print programmes for the guests.
There will also be a dance for the guests, as well as anyone who wishes to participate. Seventh seat Yamada Hanatarou from the Fourth Squad will act as the DJ.
Also, because some people feel very strongly about this, Vice-Captain Kusajishi Yachiru will perform something for us of her choice. She will not have to perform at the rehearsal.
Signed,
Captain General Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai
Cheers erupted throughout Soul Society – February the Second was so far away, which gave them more time to practice and catch up on paperwork.
As it happened, all the Captains and Vice-Captains were so elated that they managed to finish all their work in half the time, a new record.
--7788773—
By the time the middle of the week had arrived, everyone was bored from having no work. Not that they were complaining.
As most of Captains and Vice-Captains lazed around in a special lounge, the door was flung open. In stormed none other than Byakuya Kuchiki himself, who rushed quickly to the back room which had a telephone.
Now, this might not have been unusual had the phone been a normal one, but this was a special phone. It could contact people in the mortal realm.
As he flung the door shut behind him, all heads turned to look in his direction. Then, after looking at one another, all the Vice-Captains and some of the Captains rushed to the door, their ears all pressed against it.
"The dateline has been changed. Four days from now. I don't think I can stall them much longer. You can do it before the dateline?" His voice sounded relieved. "Good. Where do I meet you? Underneath the Sakura trees behind my house three days from now? Perfect. See you then."
The shinigami rushed back to their seats, trying to look natural. The moment the noble stepped out of the room and the door closed behind him, the room burst into noise. Some asked what the conversation was about, while others discussed it fervently.
Hitsugaya shook his head and sighed. Before two days passed, he knew, at least half of Soul Society would know about Byakuya and his 'secret friend'. Well, at least it would keep things alive around here.
--7788773—
Three days later
A surprisingly small crowd of people were gathered behind rows of rose bushes or behind Sakura trees. Either the top gossips of Soul Society had actually managed to keep their mouths shut, which was highly unlikely, or the gossips managed to convince the overly-curious people of Soul Society not to go. The latter choice seemed more likely.
Byakuya stepped of his porch and went through his back gate into his Sakura garden behind him. He stood there for a few minutes, getting impatient, before an oddly familiar spirit force engulfed the waiting crowd, some of which barely managed to conceal a surprised gasp.
A figure clad in green and white appeared before the tense crowd. He was holding what appeared to be a green and white box, which was slightly bigger than a normal shoe box.
Byakuya sighed, relieved. "There you are. I thought you went back on our deal."
The figure pulled a green and white fan out of his sleeve and hid the lower half of his face, with his green and white bucket hat hiding his forehead, exposing only his eyes. "Me? Back out of a deal with the head of the Kuchiki clan? Never…"
Byakuya did not respond. Instead, he held out his hand for the box, which most of the crowd had just seemed to notice. Urahara lowered his fan and continued, "Of course, you mustn't forget your end of our bargain; you have to-"
Byakuya held up a hand to silence him. "I know what I have to do. We will arrange another meeting in the future to further discuss the details. But for now- the box."
Urahara seemed slightly hesitant. "Are you sure about this, Byakuya? You can always return it after you're done with it." He passed the box to the Sixth Captain.
He seemed to consider it far a few moments before agreeing. "Very well. When we next meet to discuss the details of my bargain, I shall pass it back to you."
With that decision made, the two parted ways; Urahara disappearing again while Byakuya made his way back to his house. Just before he reached his gate, he peeked into the box. Satisfied, he continued towards his door.
--7788773—
The next day, shinigami from all squads made their way to the Great Hall again, armed with supplies. This was their final rehearsal, with the other shinigami going as guests. Anyway, they would already be going, so it was like a taste of what they would get. They also had to pay for tickets to see the show.
There were no decorations in the Hall, simply because it was not the real event. There were, however, booths set up around the Hall, waiting to be occupied.
Chairs had also been set up around the Hall, some of them with names on them, obviously reserved for Guests-of-Honour.
The Captains and Vice-Captains filed into the Hall about one hour before it began in order to prepare.
Captain Kurotsuchi's arms were laden with paints and brushes, while Nemu followed behind, carrying an enormous banner.
Behind them, Vice-Captain's Renji and Hisagi marched to their adjacent booths, carrying similar items.
Then came fifth seat Yumichika, who only carried a giant flag. He headed towards the booth which he had specially requested to be designed, with a little room at the back for private discussions.
In a booth near the entrance stood Captain Komamura, without his helmet. His booth had been specially designed to look like a petting zoo, although he was not the one who had requested it.
At the centre of the Hall, there stood two tables. One of the tables was laden with cutlery and all kinds of food, including a special rabbit-shaped egg from the human world which had been donated by one of the Kuchiki siblings.
On the other table, there were lots of cups, and an all-you-can-drink sake buffet. Of course, people like the Eleventh Captain started drifting in its direction, but they were fended off with a sign which said, 'This is just a display. There is no sake here.'
Hanatarou had set up his DJ station beside the stage, and a huge area surrounding the tables for the dancing later on.
His eyes skimmed the Hall, and went around once more. Everyone was either laughing, arguing, or working their butts off. 'It's going to be one heck of a day', he thought and sighed.
--7788773—
An hour later, shinigami started coming into the Great Hall. They did not have programmes yet as the Ninth Squad had not yet printed them.
The guests mingled with each other, chatting and laughing merrily. Hanatarou had started up the music, and some people were already dancing, while others attacked the tables.
When the Eleventh Captain went to see why people kept approaching the sake table. Now, a new sign hung below the first one. It read, 'Fooled you."
Kenpachi roared before grabbing a cup. He drank quite a lot before Vice-Captain Iba approached him, followed by Vice-Captain Matsumoto. They got into a heated argument while almost everyone else stared.
Captain Soi Fong had brought along her black pet cat. As she entered, she passed it to Captain Komamura, who growled at it before placing it into a pen for cats. He glanced at the dog pen beside it, which was still empty.
There were queues outside the other booths, most of them being young teenagers. The line outside Yumichika's booth was entirely made up of girls.
In front of Renji's and Hisagi's booth, there were several young men waiting in anticipation, several of them bouncing on their toes while waiting eagerly for their turn.
Captain Kurotsuchi's queue was the shortest of them all. Maybe it was because most of them were scared of him, or maybe it was because of his banner. IT had a picture of him on it, and it read, 'This is my specialty. Won't take more than 10 minutes. If it does, you can have the privilege of becoming my personal guinea pig- mine died recently…Didn't last more than two weeks.'
Oddly, Captain Ichimaru was one of the people waiting in line outside Captain Kurotsuchi's booth. People shot him strange looks, but no one asked him anything.
By the time the MCs stepped on the stage with microphones in hand, everyone had settled in one chair or another, some sporting tattoos and face paint. Most of the younger people who were still in the academy had gathered at the front of the room, where Captain Hitsugaya sat with them, wearing ordinary shinigami robes.
Behind them sat the Captains and Vice-Captains, followed by the squad members. Captain Kyoraku was the only Captain who sat with the squad members; even the shinigami who had to tend to their booths and the Vice-Captain of the second squad could join their Captains. Vice-Captain Yachiru was also near Captain Hitsugaya, munching on something from a paper bag and glaring at anyone who even spared her a second glance.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our first annual party! I'm MC Kaien and with me are MCs Sentaro and Kiyone!"
"Our first event is… Uhh… Hey, drunkard, what is our first event anyway?" Kiyone shot at Sentaro.
"I don't know booger-girl, why don't you go and pick your nose instead of asking me?"
"Go and get drunk! See, the table is riiigghhtt over there," she pointed it out to him.
"Sorry you had to see that. Please welcome our first act, Vice-Captain Chojiro Sasakibe!" Kaien said before shooing his fellow MCs off the stage.
Captain Tousen focused the spotlight to the centre of the stage using a remote control as Chojiro nervously stepped onto the stage, followed by his Captain, whose sword had already been released.
They both bowed and the Captain General waved his sword like before. This time, five small, bite-sized flaming balls appeared without much hesitation.
They dropped into a pair of waiting hands before being juggled for several minutes as the audience cheered him on. Then MC Kiyone's voice sounded, "And now, be amazed as the Amazing Amberman attempts to swallow them!"
Chojiro nearly dropped his balls when he heard that name. Since when was he the Amazing Amberman??! He decided to get even with them later and follow his cue now.
The five balls flew through the air one last time before falling towards the open mouth. They fell in amidst loud applause from the audience and smoke billowing from his mouth.
He hiccupped and more smoke emerged, but bowed together with his Captain and left the stage.
MC Kaien appeared on the stage alone. Evidently, the other two MCs were backstage quarrelling.
"Thank you for that...umm… heart-warming performance, Vice-Captain Chojiro. Up next, we have a game for everyone who wants to participate. Winners will bring home their very own fireball to practise with!
"The object of the game is to wipe the creepy smile off Captain Ichimaru's face." He pointed at him and a sea of heads turned in his direction. "You will be given a total of five minutes or longer should Captain Ichimaru wish to stay on the stage. Come on up here, Captain."
The captain stood and went onstage, waiting for anyone who was willing to try and win. "What? No takers? Wha' a surprise indeed…"
He stood there for a few moments and waited. Then a young boy in the front row stood up and ran onto the stage. The boy was quickly followed by several other children, eager to claim the prize for themselves.
The little boy ran up and stood in front of him, before looking up at him and yelling at the top of his lungs, "YOU ARE A REALLY CREEPY OLD MAN!"
Captain Ichimaru glanced at him and bent down, still smiling. He whispered something into the little boy's ear, and in about half a minute, the boy burst into tears and ran off the stage. He glanced at the line, and about half of them quickly ran to their seats.
The next little girl went up. She stared at his face, then circled around him twice, before yelling, "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!"
Captain Ichimaru bent down to her level. "Well I, little girl, know things that could scar you for life. Let me give you just one word. Algebra."
The girl's face contorted as though she had been poisoned. She immediately turned and ran screaming out of the Hall.
--7788773—
Five minutes later, the line was completely gone. Either they were shaking in their seats, or hiding in some corner of Seireitei, bawling their eyes out.
"Thank you, Captain Ichimaru, for scaring the children senseless. Now, please welcome Vice-Captain Izuru Kira, who will demonstrate kido for us."
The crowd clapped politely for him, unsure of what to expect. "Captain Tousen, please turn off the lights for the duration of my performance." The Captain pushed a button, and everything went black.
Something appeared to explode in the Hall. Everyone looked as multi-coloured lights glowed, and fireworks appeared to explode within a bubble.
--7788773—
"Another round of applause for Vice-Captain Kira Izuru for his wonderful performance!" MC Kaien hollered as Kira headed back to his seat in the audience.
"And now, we will have a short break so that you will all have time to enjoy the food, drinks and booths which we set up," he continued. His fellow MCs were no where in sight.
Most of the audience rose, and headed towards the booths and food tables. Vice-Captains Iba and Matsumoto stood guard beside the sake table, making sure that not too much sake was drunk.
The queues outside the booths were forming again. Most of them were guys, saying they wanted face tattoos just like Renji and Shuuhei.
Hanatarou put on some music, and couples from all around the room began to sway to the tune. As they swayed, Captains Kyoraku and Hitsugaya mingled with the crowd, squeezing as much information as they could about the party so far.
After half-an-hour, MC Kaien came back up on stage alone. He cleard his voice and said, "Break is over, people. Oh yeah, and the other two MCs are kinda… tied up at the moment, so they won't be able to join us."
In a little room backstage, two third seats sitting on chairs and tied back to back cursed him mentally. They would have cursed him as loudly as possible and fought with each other, but they had been gagged as well.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our two final performances. Of course, we have left the best to last, so be prepared to be amazed ladies and gents! Please welcome Captain Aizen Sosuke and his Vice-Captain and lovely assistant, Hinamori Momo!"
Aizen and Hinamori walked on stage, and bowed graciously. Aizen whispered something to his assistant, who nodded and went backstage.
He raised his hands to the audience to quieten them down, before speaking. "Thank you. Now, we will perform a trick so spectacular that you won't believe your eyes. But first, a warning. Do not try this at home, or anywhere else for that matter."
Hinamori reappeared, holding a huge, blood red cloth, big enough to completely cover Captain Komamura.
"I need a volunteer now." Several hands shot up and Hinamori went offstage. She walked to a young boy of about ten years old near the front and escorted him upstage. She then took the cloth and wrapped him in it, with only his head showing. The boy was so excited he was all smiles.
Aizen pulled his sword out of his sheath, and in one quick movement, beheaded the boy. He picked up the head and stuffed it into his oversized sleeve.
There were a few moments of silence before screams erupted throughout the Hall. Women fainted and men gasped. The children near the front stood up and cheered, thinking it was part of the trick.
Hinamori blasted the figure beneath the red cloth with kidou. The cloth burned away and the audience gasped again.
There was nothing under the cloth. The audience stood up and looked around for the guy, some people glaring at Aizen.
Aizen, however, calmly pulled a big cloth out of his sleeve and threw it over his assistant. He waited a second for the audience to notice him, before pulling the cloth of the person.
There stood the boy with Hinamori, still smiling from ear to ear. He took the prize for volunteering and hurried back to his seat, where the kids around him immediately pestered him about what had happened.
The audience was silent for a moment; then it burst into applause. The applause even managed to last for about two and a half minutes, and some people even whistled. Aizen and Hinamori stood at centre stage and bowed graciously until the MC ushered them off.
"Thank you for you kind applause. Now, please put your hands together again for our final act, Byakuya Kuchiki!"
Byakuya walked on stage with something in a box. A chair had been placed near the front of the stage for him to sit on. He sat down, opened his box and reached his hand in. When he pulled it out, it was attached to a puppet of a cheeky-looking monkey.
Before it had even been completely taken out of its box, the monkey opened its mouth and spoke in an equally cheeky voice.
"Look! A bunch of lower life losers!" The puppet pointed at the audience. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at it, and turned and whispered something to the puppet.
The puppet smiled and said, "Aww, fine. My boss here just told me that I had to play nice today."
The audience chuckled lightly and fell silent, waiting to hear what the puppet had to say. Then Byakuya spoke up. "Koko here has some jokes to tell, don't you, Koko?"
The monkey glanced sideways at him before grinning and nodding. "I sure do. Where to start?"
10 Minutes Later…
"So they told the scientists, 'maybe you should try defrosting the chickens first.'"
The crowd roared with laughter again. Some people where clutching their sides desperately, gasping for breath, while others had already collapsed on the floor.
Byakuya picked up the box from the floor and started stuffing the monkey in when MC Kaien started signalling to him that his time was up. "No! NO!! Please, don't put me back in there! Please! NOOO!!!" His last word was muffled as Byakuya closed the lid over it. He then picked it up and strode gracefully off the stage and to his seat.
MC Kaien instantly took over. "Please give a big round of applause to Captain Kuchiki and his puppet, Koko!" The audience cheered loudly, and a few flowers flew in Byakuya's direction.
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your time and support. Our show is now over; please feel free to leave anytime you like. Of course, if you want to stay, you can help the Fourth Squad to pack up everything…" Most of the audience suddenly disappeared.
He went backstage and untied his fellow MCs. He would have died had he not been their superior. They followed him to the floor, where everyone was gathered around the Captain-General.
"Vice-Captain Shiba, good work out there, especially managing to get rid of your MCs. I think the audience also liked your work."
"For everyone who performed or set up booths, you did quite a good job as well. But it doesn't matter what I think on this matter." He turned to Captain Kyouraku and Captain Hitsugaya. "Well?"
The taller man started first. "The adults were polite as you predicted. However, I sensed that they meant most of what they said -that it was spectacular, and that they had never seen anything like it."
The white-haired captain spoke up, "Well, at least you were able to get something out of your group. All I could get out of the children was candy, what the boy who helped Aizen did, and candy."
The General-Captain nodded and concluded, "Well, I know that we're all tired, so I'll end this quickly. Keep this up, and everything should go smoothly on the big day itself. Dismissed."
The Captains muttered to themselves and split up to head back to their quarters, some discussing to themselves about the day's events.
--7788773—
FINALLY DONE! No bonus bits for this chapter because I can't think of anything to write about. Now, before I forget, I need ideas for Aizen's performance, jokes or something cheeky for Koko to say on stage, and any spelling or grammar errors.
Any ideas that you want to see in the fic and ideas for my next companion fic are also appreciated. It's going to be about Byakuya paying Urahara back for helping him out. All ideas concerning that fic, or any ideas at all are welcome. If you want to challenge me to a fic, I don't mind, but you might have to wait for a while.
Thank you for waiting so long without spamming or anything people. I just hope that you haven't forgotten about me, or how to review, or I would be a very sad author. Thanks again for your everlasting patience, readers.