I do not own Bleach, or any of it's charaters. They are all Tite Kubo's.
Ichigo hadn't told anyone about the incident in front of the school, although there was speculation going around.
"Hey did you hear there was an accident outside the front of the building?"
"Yeah, did someone get hurt?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Who was it, do you know?"
"Nah, but as long as no one was hurt, I guess it doesn't really matter…"
"I heard that it was a girl that got hit."
"WHAT?! What an irresponsible jerk!! If I ever find out who it was I'd-"
"Oy, Kiego, what's it to you anyways. Can't we just drop the subject?" Ichigo said cutting Kiego off. He was sick of listening to Renji and Kiego talk about pointless things. He glared at them, and turned back to his bento before he was disturbed again.
"Kurosaki-san."
The voice caused Ichigo to look up in surprise.
"Oh, hey Uryu. Ulquiora." He said nodding to them both. He wondered what they were doing here. Usually, they didn't want anything to do with him.
"I heard you were attending the opening night to the new dance studio." Uryu said casually.
"Yeah…" Ichigo was confused. Why did Uryu of all people care that he was going?
"I just thought you ought to know Kurosaki-san, Grimjow will be there too." Said Ulquiora without a second glance.
GRIMJOW!! The name deepened the scowl on the teens face. That was an old enemy he'd rather forget. But that's interesting…now he HAD to show up! That jerk never could learn not to rub salt in old wounds…Ichigo would just have to go and show him a lesson he'd never forget. That jerk has some nerve showing up here again…
The school day passed quickly for Rukia, much more quickly then usual. The incident from this morning was no longer on her mind, due to the fact that she was now anticipating the impending doom of going shopping with Orihime and Momo.
The last bell of the day rang, and she began to pack up slowly.
Outside she saw Orihime and Momo already sitting in the blue little slug-bug that Momo owned. Cute. She thought sarcastically. Oh well, Momo always did like that kind of thing…
Rukia climbed into the back of the car and they slowly began to pull out of the school lot due to traffic. Rukia just stared out the window of the car without saying much. Then, she thought she spotted something familiar off across the parking lot.
That car…THAT CAR!! That's the one that nearly ran me over this morning!!
Before she could get a better look, a car pulled in front of her window, blocking her view of the vehicle.
Damn. She though bitterly. Ah, whatever. I should at least try to enjoy myself anyways… and with that, she submitted to turning her head and glaring out the other window of the back seat.
The trio pulled into the mall and found a parking spot after about 15 minutes of searching. The entered the mall and, to Rukia's utter horror, went straight to the dress shop.
It was amazing. The assortment of dresses ranged from all sizes and shapes; some blue, others white and even a disgusting color Rukia hadn't seen before (and wished never to see again.)
Momo and Orihime were having the time of their lives flinging all kinds of dresses at Rukia. Some were long and elegant, others were short and simple, but none seemed to "completely complement you in every way" as Orihime had put it. After about an hour of trying on humiliating dresses, and going to about 10 different stores, Rukia, Momo and Orihime decided they should get something to eat before continuing the hunt for the perfect dress.
"Kuchzgi-zan" Orihime attempted to say with a mouth full of food, "woud deffindly wook bedder en a" she swallowed, "black dress!"
"Oh, I disagree Orihime-chan!" Momo cut it, "I think purple or blue would match her eyes better…"
The entierity of dinner was like this…Rukia sighed.
Then it was back to torture again. Orihime and Momo had already picked out their dresses and now were completely focused on finding 'just the right one' for Rukia. Honestly though, Rukia didn't feel that there was such thing as a perfect dress. That is until she saw it hanging up in back.
"Ano? What's this?" Rukia wondered aloud.
She picked out a black and blue dress from a hanger labeled OLD.
Wow…this is actually kind of…pretty! Rukia's grin widened when she slowly walked over to Orihime and Momo and gauged their reactions.
"Hey Rukia, OH! What's that you've got there?" Orihime said quickly examining the dress. Before Rukia could even get a word in, Momo pushed her off towards the nearest dressing room ordering her to put it on immediately.
I guess that means that this one's a keeper. She thought smugly when she exited and saw half the store gawk at her. Boys passing the store even stopped to look in. Rukia's face flushed as she tried not to notice everyone and their grandmas' looking at her.
"Er, how do I look?"
"OH RUKIA-CHAN!!!" Squealed Orihime and Momo together.
"You look beautiful" "You're so stunning!" "So lucky" "You should defiantly get that dress" "It's amazing" "Wow, you're breath taking! I'm so jealous" "Rukia-chan"
Rukia was bombarded by to much babble. She could hardly tell where Orihime stopped talking and Momo started! She sighed, Yep, this one's a keeper alright. She quickly returned to the changing room and in a matter of minutes, came back out wearing her normal brand-less clothes; her skinny jeans, Chappy shirt and a short-sleeved hoodie. She walked up to the register and using her own debit card, bought her dress.
Her brother had not allowed Rukia free access to his money, which was a good thing in her mind. Unlimited access equaled greed in her opinion and she didn't want to become greedy or snobby just because her brother was wealthy. Therefore, she had come up with her own solution and had gotten a job two years ago at the local coffee shop not to far away from her school. Nii-sama hadn't liked the idea at first, but it was better then having a teenaged girl with an unlimited credit card, so he had accepted the proposal.
"Thank you, have a nice day." Said the sales clerk as she handed Rukia the bag that contained her new dress.
"Yes you too." Rukia said waving back to the clerk and walking out of the store with Momo and Orihime in toe.
"OoooOOOoooh! Rukia-chan! You're going to look so pretty tomorrow!!" Orihime giggled!
"…Thanks " Rukia went a little pink.
Ichigo stared at his bedroom ceiling. Today was Saturday, and he had already finished all of his homework for that weekend and now was anticipating the up coming dance.
Let's see, Kiego said I needed to wear something nice, right? But just what does that encompass exactly? He wondered…
Maybe a nice shirt and some slacks? That should do it right? He looked at the clock which read 5:57pm. Great, I still have two hours to think about it he grumbled to himself.
Still, I wonder what kind of place this is? They didn't really tell me…
"ICHGO!!" Howled Isshin's voice from downstairs "OH SON~ WHY ARE YOU SITTING IN YOUR ROOM GLOWERING ALL DAY?? WHY NOT GO OUTSIDE AND ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUTH???!"
Sigh…
7:45pm
Rukia was fidgeting, and pacing around her large room.
I know that Orihime said that she would come and pick me up at 8…but this is taking to long! I'm so nervous! I wonder if I look alright? And what am I going to do about my bodyguard? I can't have him shadowing me all night…
She looked at her clock again. 7:46.
"AAAAARRRGGHH!!!" She growled. Why did time always have to pass so slowly??
---
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYY!! ICHIGOOO!!" The annoying goat faced man yelled up to his son. "KEIGO AND RENJI ARE HEEEEEEEERE TO SEEEE YOOUU!!" He yelled breaking down the door to Ichigo's room.
"THE HELL OLD MAN!!" Ichigo roared shoving his foot into his father's face.
"Buh Igigo," He said under his foot, "jor fhiends arh ere."
"Eh? Oh…" He said, quickly throwing on the clothes he set out to wear.
A few minutes later, the teen came running down the stairs to greet his friends.
"Naah, is that what took you so long Ichigo?" The red-haired man retorted looking over Ichigo's choice of attire. It wasn't fancy, just a good shirt and pants. They wore similar outfits to his.
"Can it Renji." Said Ichigo already irritated by the tattooed buffoon.
NeeeEEEeeeeeeehhhhh, Iiiiiiiiiiichigoooooooo~" Kiego said flailing his arms in his usual fashion, " Let's stop the fighting for once and just get goinnnnng!! I wanna meet some bump'n babes tonight!!"
Issin's ears perked up.
Oh hell no.
"Whaaaaaaaat??! Ichigoooooo!! You didn't tell me you were going to THAT kind of place!!"
"Wha-I'M NOT!!!" Ichigo yelled going slightly red in the face.
"OH SON!! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!! YOU'RE FINALLY GOING TO BECOME A MAN~!!!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP OLD MAN!! I'M NOT GOING TO DO WHAT YOU THINK I AM!!"
With that, Ichigo stormed out of his house closely followed by Renji and Keigo.
It took them awhile to get to the downtown section of Karakura, and then to find parking on top of that made it a regular nightmare, but after about 30 minutes of intense searching, epic parking (Renji decided it would be more fun to park backwards at 60mph around two cars) and then the recovering from the near death experience (AKA Renji's parking) the handsome trio set out to the dance club.
Ichigo wondered what kind of place this would be. He saw numerous individuals walking by, most of them seemed to be around his age and all headed to the same spot. Then Renji and Kiego stopped and Ichigo looked up. His face turned blue.
---
Could Nii-sama have picked weirder body guards than these two?! Rukia thought as she glanced back at the mismatched body guards. Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika walked behind her, earning her more then a few sidewise glances.
Nii-sama said that there would be ONE body guard, not two!! Rukia glowered.
I have to think of some way to ditch them if I can…I really can't have THESE two shadowing me all night!!...sigh, but I did promise Nii-sama…
"Rukia-chan!" Orihime said, seemingly unaffected by her body guards, "We're here!! Oh I can't wait!!" She squealed and ran inside.
"Teh, this may prove fun after all." Rukia said glancing up at the sign.
Just what the hell did I sign up for?
Ichigo's first thought was, as he stood staring at dance club where a bright, neon colored sign in front read:
THE SOUL SOCIETY
Where Solo Souls Can Find Each Other
"Come on Ichigo!!!" An annoying voice tore him away from his thoughts.
Sigh, it's to late to turn back now, I suppose… Ichigo thought bitterly, as he followed his friends inside.
The sight that met his eyes astonished him to say the least.
The room, as far as he could see in, was huge! Sure they were standing line, but Ichigo was taller then most of the guys there. It was dark, but the lights were flashing, and there were people inside…a lot of people. Ichigo surveyed the line in front of him. He noticed that girls and boys were…separated?? The girls were immediately let in, while the boys were escorted to a different side room? Strange…I wonder what's going on? Ichigo figured he'd find out soon enough.
The line slowly moved forward. Finally it was the trio's turn.
"Names please." Said the man in sunglasses.
"Uh, Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji and Asano Kiego."
The man whose name tag read 'Iba' scribbled their names down before asking
"Your age?"
"We're all 17" Physically anyways…mentally these guys…
More scribbling on the paper.
"Clothing sizes."
"…What?"
"Clothing sizes. We custom fit you to our attire."
"..oh, uh well.."
They each in turn gave the man their sizes. He finished writing the looked up.
"Is that all in your group?"
"Eh, yeah"
"Alright, then if you'll just step off to the left…" He said handing Ichigo, Renji and Kiego all small red slips of paper. As they walked through the doorway, Ichigo noticed that there was a sign above it that read "Hollows".
Huh, He thought, I'll have to ask about that later…
They all three walked into a room with men of an age range of 15-26ish all holding different colored papers. Some were green, some red and others were pink and blue.
They waited for five minutes in the room, which was beginning to get stuffy. Ichigo noted that all of the people in the room were guys, and there weren't any girls…just what was going on here?
Just then the door behind him closed and the lights dimmed slightly with a brighter focus at the front of the room.
"Excuse me gentlemen!" Came a woman's voice. The room went quiet quickly as attention was drawn to the speaker.
"Hello all!" Said the cheery, and very…largely blessed woman. Ichigo found himself going slightly pink trying not to look at her large bossom.
"Thank you all for your patience! My name is Matsumoto Regestu! I'm the manager of this fine establishment! Now, before I turn all you handsome devils loose on the poor girls, you have to listen to a few rules I have, so we can make this party a fun place!" She winked and the whole room was focused on her.
"First, I'm going to have to ask you to behave yourselves out there with all the bright beautiful young women. I don't want any trouble on my dance floors.
Next I want you to bring the slip of paper you have up to me, and I will give you a mask according to the color of paper you have. The marks on your mask will correspond to the color of paper you have and how full the mask is."
Everyone in the room started to mummer. "Mask? I hadn't heard about that." "Huh? Why do we need one of those?" "What's going on??" "Why"
The woman named Matsumoto smiled. "It's kind of like a masacrade, but only the males get to wear masks. Just think of how appealing a mysterious young man is to a lonely female." Wow this woman knew how to play her cards.
"Of course, if there is anyone who doesn't want to participate…" She said in a sad tone, "then you're free to leave."
No one moved.
"Wonderful!!" She said clapping her hands together. "Now there are a few rules about the dance floor.
You must use a code name. Do not use a real name unless you are outside my studio.
Keep your mask on at all times, this is like a game. The more times you come and meet girls the more leniencies you will have with your identity.
No harassing please!
I will give you a colored mask and your job is to find a girl with the same color ribbon as your mask. What you do then is up to you.
Please change into these clothes I am about to give you. Wear them in whatever way pleases you, but please keep your pants on and NO STRIPPING!! Save it for later…
That's about it…OH no fighting either. And for heaven's sake keep it clean out there!
"Well that's about all I have to say. When you come up to me, tell me what your code name will be, and I'll write it on the back of your mask. That way, you'll have your own mask for whenever you come here if you ever want to come back!" She smiled.
"Now can I have all the purple carded people over here?"
A few minutes later, Ichigo's color was called as he lined up with the rest of the crowd.
"Ah, ok and you're…?"
"Eh, Kurosaki Ichigo..?"
"Oh ok!" She said handing him some clothes after she checked her list. "and here is your mask!"
The mask she handed him was…cool, not to mention a bit creepy. It resembled a human skull, with slanted eye holes and what looked like red cut marks along the right side of it.
"Your code name…?" Matsumoto said.
"…Zangestu." Said Ichigo staring down at the mask.
"Oooh! I like it!" She said quickly handing him a marker so he could write his name and nickname in it. "Alright then Zangetsu, your color is red so go try and find a girl with a red ribbon!"
Ichigo quickly put on his 'uniform' over his clothes. He watched as the others did the same.
Then the thought occurred to Ichigo.
"Um, excuse me ms. Matsumoto," He said walking back up to her. "but why was there a sign that said 'Hollows' out front?"
Her face lit up, apparently he was supposed to ask this question.
"Well it's really quite simple! A soul is 'Hollow' until another fills it with meaning!" She said with a wink. "Now get out there and find your partner!" She said giving him a little shove.
Ichigo stumbled through the door. It was hard to see with this mask over his face…
"OY Ich-ah I mean Zangetsu!"
"Neh? Oh hi, er…"
"Zabimaru." Renji said from behind his 'hollow' mask.
"Zabimaru, eh? Cool." Said Ichigo.
"Yeah, I like it too. So anyways, I'm off to find some babes. Good luck man!" He said clasping Ichigo on the shoulder.
"Oh, yeah thanks." Ichigo grumbled.
Rukia chuckled to herself. She had accomplished at least one thing tonight; she had gotten rid of her pesky body guards. They had been separated from her at the beginning, and when they had demanded entrance, it only turned out badly. Rukia had instead compensated them, giving them money so they could go and buy sake and get a little wasted while she took care of herself. And it had worked! Rukia was beaming at her inner self for devising such a devilish plan…
Now she was inside the enormous studio, not sure what to expect… but there were so many people! Orihime and Momo had gone their separate ways too leaving Rukia all alone to sit in a corner. This really wasn't her kind of place at all.
In the beginning Rukia, Orihime and Momo had all been given a different colored ribbons, and they had decided to scatter, which Rukia now regretted, as she sat alone with a chair open next to her. She sighed to herself. Maybe I should just go home…?
Ichigo was getting tired of standing, so he made his way over to a corner of the large room. He had been searching for a girl half-heartedly, and didn't really feel like looking anymore. He grumbled to himself and sat down, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes.
So I take it this wasn't your idea either?" came a small voice. Ichigo's eyes opened in surprise. He looked down, and found himself looking at the top of a raven haired girl. Damn these things are hard to see out of…
"Yeah, you got me…" He said half-smiling under his mask.
He looked her over…She was small, and had a red scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face…so only her brilliant violet eyes peeked out.
Ichigo felt like he was stunned, staring at the vivid orbs.
W-wow…
"So," She said looking away and breaking her hold on him, "what brings you here?"
"Eh…my friends forced me into going…you?"
She smiled behind her scarf (he could tell because the folds moved a little).
"Same thing."
Ichigo noted that she had a red scarf…OH! He had a red mask…maybe this night wasn't going to be so bad after all…
"So…" he said trying to keep the conversation going, "What's your name?"
"Ah, well… Sode no Shirayuki" She said.
"..eh, What? You get a codename too??"
She looked offended. "Yes, is there something wrong with that?" She said in a stern voice.
"N-no, I just didn't know…"
Rukia smirked at the boy…
"So then, what's your 'name'?"
"Zangetsu." Said the masked boy.
"Oh." It was something about the name that caught her attention…that and the spiky orange hair that peeked out over his mask. Rukia had never seen anyone with hair like that…at least no one she remembered. His mask was slightly frightening, but the soft amber eyes behind it…
She caught herself, and shook off the last thought.
"So Zangetsu is it? How do you feel about dancing?" She said with a smile.
///////////////////////
Zenda: Helloz all!! I want to thank you sooooooooooooo very much for reading my story!!! Sorry for the late updates, I haven't had a ton of insparation (or time) lately... BUT none-the-less thank you again for reading!! I really enjoy it! And I love hearing from you! If you have any ideas (mostly cuz I'd love to hear some) or want character appearences I think it would be fun to hear your input! :D Again, I love you all (even though I don't know you) and am estatic that you would take the time to read an amature's story like my own! Please review if you want! I LOVE REVIEWS!!! (lol) Happy Turkey day! (even though it was yesterday...)
Rukia: . . .(she's weird..)
Ichigo: You just noticed T____T'