I won't keep you waiting...

Ukitake sighed and leaned back against the chair, exchanging glances with Ichigo as though to say "do you see what we're up against?" The orange haired boy nodded slightly, eyebrows raised as he watched the skinny boy onstage belting "Give my Regards to Broadway" at the top of his lungs, face expressionless and limbs stiff. Ichigo didn't pretend to know about theater or musicals, but he did tend to pride himself on having moderately good taste.

Shunsui just chuckled as the auditioner finished with an impressive high A in the tenor range, breathing laboriously and staring expectantly down at the table of judges. "We'll call you," Shunsui answered the boy's unspoken question, nodding reassuringly before turning to face Rukia, who was on his left.

"I think I see your problem," Rukia muttered, grey eyes wide as though she'd just been pelted with a bucket of gumballs. This was even worse than she'd imagined.

Both Rukia and Ichigo had arrived promptly at ten for auditions, butterflies erupting in their stomachs. Ukitake and Shunsui had met them at the door, smiling and ushering them in with an air of reassurance that calmed the pair to some extent. Ukitake and Shunsui sat beside one another, with their respective scouted-actors to their right and left, and picked the first name off the list to demonstrate their abilities onstage. This just happened to be give-my-regards-to-broadway-man.

As the actor left the stage, face unreadable, Ichigo happened to lean back and catch sight of the raven haired girl he'd walked in with; she was sitting erect in her seat, watching the proceedings with her eyebrows raised. She was dressed conservatively in jeans and a black turtleneck, but Ichigo hadn't missed the frighteningly attractive curves where her hips and breasts were located. She had a soft quality about her face that made him rather hot around the neck, but this didn't stop him from looking at her.

Rukia felt a pair of eyes on the back of her head and she glanced at an angle over her shoulder, noticing Ichigo staring at her from down the row. He blinked when he found his own dark eyes met with her smoky grey ones and he blushed, leaning forward in his seat; how embarrassing.

"Uh, wow," Ichigo said to Ukitake, eyebrows raised as he tried to forget his moment with Rukia.

"It's been like this all week," Ukitake confessed, sighing and rubbing his pale forehead lamely. "We're running out of hope for obvious reasons."

In two short hours of auditioning, the theater had emptied out until only Ukitake, Shunsui, Rukia and Ichigo were sitting behind the judges table, staring at the lifeless stage. Shunsui chuckled in his ironic way, murmuring, "Oh dear, we've scared them all away."

"Excuse me!"

The four friends glanced towards the door to the lobby where the voice had hailed from, exchanging glances at the excited tone. Hardly anyone on the stage yet that morning had seemed the least bit happy to be there. A girl soon came running inside, practically laughing with sheer joy as she smiled brightly and asked, "Are these auditions for RENT?" Ukitake nodded dumbly, looking the girl up and down.

She was slender and well built, normal if not for a rather large chest, with beautiful curtains of shining red hair cascading down her back. Her eyes were so honest, Ichigo wondered if she might be a missionary escaped from the church, here to evangelize the poor wayward show folk. She seemed, however, like she'd finally found the right place and she called, "It's here, everyone!"

"Everyone?" Rukia murmured confusedly, exchanging glances with Shunsui.

All unspoken questions were soon answered as, behind the redheaded girl, a group of no more than ten people arrived, all of them dressed in normal street clothes as opposed to the black unitards Ichigo had been making fun of all morning. They looked curiuosly around the theater, seeming pleased if anything, before turning expectantly to the table of judges.

"Are you here to audition?" Ukitake asked finally.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the redhead exclaimed, stepping politely in front of her group. "We're all here to audition!"

Ukitake's eyes seemed roughly the size of dinner plates as he stared at the throng of newcomers, clearing his throat in attempts to find his voice. "All of you? Are you a theater troupe?"

The redhead blinked her large brown eyes before explaining quickly, "Oh, no! No, we're not a theater troupe, we're...well, we're not really anything. See, I was doing an audition rodeo and-"

"Wait a minute," Shunsui interrupted smoothly. "An audition rodeo?"

"Yes! It's a day where I go around to lots of auditions all over town! I call it a rodeo!"

The four judges exchanged glances and Rukia asked quietly, "Is that a real term or-"

"No."

"Go on," Ukitake said bewilderdly, raising his snow white eyebrows and catching Ichigo's confused shrug.

The redhead continued happily, "I was really excited about this one and I would tell all the people I talked to during auditions about it. A lot of them wanted to come so I told them to meet me here at noon and we would go together. So we did! And these are all the people I met in nine auditions this morning!"

There was a silence inside the theater, one born only of sheer confusion and wonder as Ukitake and Shunsui glanced haphazardly at one another. The group of rag tag actors behind the redhead were still looking expectantly at the judges table, a fact which made both Rukia and Ichigo distinctly uncomfortable. Eventually, Ukitake said almost dazedly, "Well, that's...wonderful! Yes, well, line up and go on stage one at a time. State your name and sing your piece; I suppose there's no point in filling out sheets at this point."

The redhead nodded and turned to the group of people behind her, saying something too quiet for the judges to here, before she turned and skipped merrily onto the stage. Ichigo, while a bit preocuppied with the strange goings on, still couldn't seem to shake Rukia's face from his mind. In light of this, he sighed and stood, touching Ukitake's shoulder lightly in reassurance as he hopped into the next row back and walked leisurely down the way until he was a bit behind Rukia.

Rukia glanced up as the orange haired boy from earlier came waltzing down the row behind her, smiling in a friendly manner. The girl had since noticed that he had a certain air about him, one which seemed to draw people; perhaps it was his amiable smile or his looks, but something about him just seemed...comfortable.

"Hey," he said casually, sticking out a hand to shake as he sat down. "We never got a chance to meet. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Kuchiki Rukia," she replied with a smile of her own, shaking his outstretched hand. She could feel callouses on his skin, most likely from playing the guitar, and she couldn't help but notice how small her hands was in his.

"You ever done this before?" he asked, resting his arms on the back of the chair in front of him.

"No," Rukia admitted, "Never."

"Me neither. At least we're first timers together," Ichigo said, smirking in a rather handsome way.

So that Ichigo might not notice her strawberry blush, Rukia turned to face forward and said as levelly as she could manage, "I wonder what these people are going to do."

The redhead on stage clasped her hands in front of her blue flowered skirt and said clearly, "I am Orihime Inoue and I'll be singing 'When You Come Home.'"

After taking a breath, not looking the least bit nervous, Rukia noticed, Orihime opened her mouth to sing. Ukitake had been expecting a sweet little voice, perhaps with a bit of an operatic feel to it, but he was quickly proved wrong as the girl's voice ripped through the theater. It was full, loud and well trained, with some of the most hauntingly beautiful vibrato that Shunsui or Ukitake had ever heard in their careers. It seemed that, no matter how sweet this little girl was, she could still belt to rival with the best of them.

Ichigo and Rukia shared similar expressions of confusion and perhaps fear, exchanging horrified glances; what was a voice like that doing in such a girl?

"That's amazing," Rukia murmured, unable to remove her grey eyes from Orihime as she sang away, undaunted by the audience.

"What the hell?" was all Ichigo could find to say, shaking his head in silent marvel.

Orihime's piece was quite short, maybe only two stanzas, and she stopped so abruptly that Ukitake almost fell back in his chair. She just stood there smiling almost expectantly, eyes shining, before Shunsui found his voice. "My god," was all he could say, but he eventually continued, "Well, that's some voice you have there. Why don't you sit on the right side of the auditorium until we're finished here."

Nodding bouncily, the redhead skipped off the stage and took a seat in the specified area, smile never fading. Ukitake looked rather helplessly over at his best friend, who shrugged his broad shoulders before calling, "Next."

Shunsui and Ukitake founds themselves nearly blinded by the talent before them as performer after performer graced their stage, singing with such finesse that Rukia and Ichigo were growing paler by the moment. Every single person had talent, drive and a pair of lungs which could make Bernadette Peters blush; Ukitake was floating on cloud nine as he watched all nine of the singers delight him one after the other. Some excelled at singing, though others still were fantastic dancers. Rukia and Ichigo exchanged glances as these newcomers pirouetted and fouetted in a spinning dance before them. It was practically a blur; Ichigo was beginning to realize that perhaps this was a futile battle, thinking he could break into Broadway at this stage in the game and still hold any cards.

As the last dancer, a handsome young man with oddly snow white hair, finished his routine, Ukitake gave a contented sigh and leaned back in his chair, glancing over at Shunsui with twinkling black eyes. "This is it, Shunsui. This is the show I've always wanted. I can tell."

Shunsui chuckled and blew out a stream of air as he flipped his pencil boredly onto his paper pad. "I'm still in shock. Maybe we can talk about this later."

"Is this unusual?" Rukia asked Shunsui, fiddling with her pale hands in her lap; this made her rather nervous, despite how wonderful it was.

Shunsui snorted. "I've never had a cast walk in all at one time and audition one after the other. I haven't seen talent like this in years and now its all in my theater. This is so unusual I can't even remember what 'usual' is."

"There wasn't even one dud in that whole group of guys," Ichigo marveled, crossing his arms sadly over his chest. "How do you pick?"

"I already have," Ukitake said with a grin, sliding a piece of paper down to Shunsui. "On that piece of paper is a list of eleven names. Rukia, Ichigo and the ones who just auditioned are on it. And every single one of them has a role that befits them."

Rukia and Ichigo read the list over Shunsui's shoulder, glancing up ever so often to match names to faces in the small group talking near the stage. Shunsui shook his head slowly, sliding the paper towards his friend once he'd finished perusing it. "Well, I can't argue with any of that. But we're still missing a Benny and we could use another dancer. Where do you suggest we find those?"

"I don't know," Ukitake said in a more sober fashion, closing his dark eyes and leaning back in his chair, white hair spilling over the back. "I don't know."

Shunsui watched his friend pondering silently, massaging his pale temples in a delicate manner, before the larger man stood and clapped his tan hands together. "If everyone could gather around the table, that would be great."

The group near the stage glanced up and exchanged glances before heading towards the judge's table, confused about the request. It was rare that actors were asked to join the judges at their table and even stranger still that they should be spoken to en masse. This entire audition was rather strange and blurred, as though there were no lines or boundaries. As the group of nine performers stood before the table, watching the placid brown haired man temple his fingers with a small smile on his stubbled face.

"Well, this may sound kind of unorthodox and maybe even unprofessional, but well done. Ukitake and I are quite impressed. I'm happy to say that none of you will be going hungry for the next few months because the lot of you made the cut. The only question is this; will you assume your positions?"

Several eyes widened and yet more glances were exchanged. The handsome boy with white hair murmured confusedly, "Wait. All of us? All nine of us have a part in your production? How many have you auditioned so far?"

"Six hundred and fourteen," came Ukitake's ironic voice from Shunsui's right. "And I don't want a one of them. Just you."

A brown eyed girl beside the handsome boy barely even whispered, "Us? You want us?"

"You," Ukitake reaffirmed.

Shunsui smiled faintly as the brown eyed girl glanced up at the boy beside her, as though looking for confirmation. The white haired boy just shrugged, disarrayed fringe overshadowing his questioning eyes. Finally, Orihime broke through the ranks and stood before Shunsui, eyes wide and hands clasped before her smiling face. "We...we made it?"

"Yes," Shunsui replied amusedly. "You did."

"That's fantastic!" Orihime exclaimed, turning to face the others with her arms thrown askew. "We made it!"

The group finally began to chuckle and then laugh, tension flowing from their fingers as they realized this was not a cruel joke, but a blessing in disguise. Many began to shake hands and hug as Rukia and Ichigo looked on, still stunned by this entire series of events. "This was a bad idea," Rukia muttered, shaking her dark head stiffly. "A really bad idea."

"M'startin' to think that myself," Ichigo replied in a likewise quiet tone. "I can't do what they did. No way."

"Me neither," Rukia replied, close to tears. "I'm not my sister. I'm just me."

Ichigo only glanced over at her, confused, but knowing better than to ask. It wasn't until Shunsui turned to them that the two onlookers remembered they were actually in the room with all of the brilliantly talented performers. "Everyone, meet Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia, your Roger and Mimi."

Ichigo half expected someone to look down on them with disdain and snarl, "You're not real actors! You don't belong here! Get out!" But no one did.

Instead, the group smiled and some gave little waves, which somehow eased Ichigo's mind. "Hey," Ichigo said finally, shrugging and earning chuckles from the others.

After a moment of silence, Ichigo elbowed Rukia lightly in the side and she nearly yelped, "Hi!," turning to glare at Ichigo as more chuckles rang out.

"And your cast for the Royal Wycoff Theater's production of RENT is as follows," Shunsui said in a mock announcers voice, raising his hand to indicate each person in turn.

"In the role of Maureen, Ms. Orihime Inoue." The redhead gasped and practically beamed as those around her patted her on the back, whispering congratulations in her ear. "Maureen is the crazy lesbian singer who organizes and performs in the homeless rally. She is in love with..."

"Ms. Arisawa Tatsuki." Shunsui swung his hand around and it fell before a girl with wayward black hair, whose brown eyes were several shades darker than Orihime's. She was of medium height and strong build, as though she did her fair share of gym-time, and her hands were placed boredly in her pockets. She seemed as though she were going out of her mind with excitement but couldn't find it in herself to express it. When Orihime turned to address her new cast mate, smiling brilliantly, Tatsuki smiled in return and gave the girl a friendly wink. "Tatsuki will take the part of Joanne, Maureen's uptight lawyer girlfriend who interprets the law to her Bohemian friends."

"Mr. Madarame Ikkaku will be playing Collins, the gay ex-teacher who provides a soulful bass and loves Angel, his crossdressing boyfriend." Madarame Ikkaku grinned, a grin which seemed to melt the ice which lingered amongst the group. He was a tall, broad shouldered man with a completely bald head, though Ichigo noted that he couldn't picture the man with hair anyway. His arms were crossed over his equally broad chest as he continued to grin, brown eyes twinkling with mirth. Just the sight of this man made everyone feel warm and somehow safe.

"And his lover Angel will be played by Ayasegawa Yumichika," Shunsui continued, giving a nod to a thin man standing some three people away from Ikkaku. Yumichika was thin and obviously gay, as made obvious by his fingernail polish, glittering eyeshadow and unbelievably tight pants. His hair, a shimmering black blue, was silken and mesmerizing as he gave a delicate but excited smile, eyes glittering with happiness. He glanced over at Ikkaku and waved slightly, earning a deep chuckle from the bald man.

"Our Mark is...is everybody ready?" the cast nodded eagerly, wanting to know who'd received the main role. "Uryuu Ishida." The others follwed Shunsui's hand, which was gesturing to a thin boy with pale skin and dark blue hair. His face was rather pretty, if a word could be found for it, though his expression was incredibly severe. He wore glasses, which he adjusted under the scrutiny of the cast, and a pair of calculative dark blue eyes. He managed a small smile, which could barely be described as a smirk, when his name was called. He nodded to the others and they nodded curiously back.

"And our featured dancers will be Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya Toshiro, Hinamori Momo and Hisagi Shuhei." The dancers in question were comprised of a fit but buxom young woman with gorgeous features, the young boy with white hair and sea green eyes, the brown haired and kind looking girl beside him, and a muscled, tatooed man with a stoic face and grey blue hair. They all turned to one another and smile, the two men shaking hands as the women hugged.

"That's all for today, but we'll continue casting tomorrow. We're in need of another featured dancer and a Benny," Shunsui said to the group, handing the papers over to Ukitake, who gave them all bright smiles. "Congratulations to everyone. We'll reconvene tomorrow morning at 10 a.m sharp. See everyone then."

There was scattered applause as Shunsui smiled and reached down to grab his coat from the back of his chair. Ukitake did the same and they gathered the leftover papers, placing them in the bag as they followed the cast towards the door. Ukitake shook his head slightly. "I can't believe that just happened, Shunsui."

"You and me both," his friend replied with a deep chuckle.

"So much talent, and all of it right here in our theater. Is this a dream?"

"God, I hope not, or I just wasted quite a bit of my day."

Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the long update, but I've had a lot of stuff going on and whatever. But here you go! I know this is improbable, but that's the great thing about fanfiction; it can be as improbable as I want to make it. Haha! Thanks to everyone who left a review; you light up my life!

KOLU