A/N: Thank you for all feedback, favorite, alerts as usual. I would have updated a little sooner, but I got sidetracked by the new feature that was added on FFN. Can't say if I like it or not, but I can tell it'll take a while to get used to the new look. Anyhow, you're not here for my ranting, so I'll stop and let you read the new installment. :)
4: Dance, Fan and Lanterns
Ichigo never really cared much for a Bon Festival. Contrary to the famous belief, ancestors' spirits did not return to the World of the Living during those days of the Festival of the Dead. In fact, spirits that had passed on to Soul Society would not return to the World of the Living unless they were sent back to be reborn, or they became Shinigami and got dispatched to the World of the Living on some kind of mission. Therefore, Ichigo didn't see any point to have such a festival – except as an excuse to have a family reunion, which didn't serve any purpose in his case since he was still living with his family.
His father and sisters, however, didn't share the sentiment. They were in their obnoxiously good mood since the beginning of the day. Then Isshin, who clad himself in a black yukata, barged into Ichigo's room, intending to wake him up with a kick in the face.
How he had survived being Kurosaki Isshin's son for eighteen years was beyond Ichigo. However, he knew it would only be a waste of his time to argue with his father when the old man wanted him to dress in yukata like everyone in the family, so Ichigo decided to humor the old man, like he did every other year, and change into a white yukata with wave patterns at the sleeves.
After that, the day went on in the same routine with every other year before. Ichigo was assigned to set up a small table as a temporary altar so that the whole family could later offer food and set up flowers then light a small paper lantern and then pray to all of their ancestors' spirits to come home and accept those offerings. After that, they would go out to visit their dead relatives' graves. Then later in the afternoon, they would attend a local fair to eat some festival food. Then in the evening, they would watch the traditional Bon Odori dance if not participating in the dance themselves.
Their plan for that year, however, was slightly different from the previous years. Instead of heading to a fair in Karakura Town as usual; Isshin, Yuzu and Karin decided that they wanted to see a festival in the neighboring city since they heard it was bigger and that there was a carnival set up there with some games and rides so there would be more activities than just to eat and dance. Therefore, they dragged Ichigo out to said festival without asking his opinions.
Thus Ichigo found himself in Naruki City in a certain part where the Bon Festival was held. Despite the heat of the afternoon, the area was crowded. Just as his father and sisters said, the fair appeared to be much larger than the one in Karakura Town. There were more booths set in the area around the yagura wooden scaffold that would be used as a platform for the band, singer and dancers to perform the Bon Odori folk dance later in the evening, and more importantly, there were really a carnival with rides.
Ichigo was looking around the area that was decorated with red and white lanterns when he vaguely heard his father saying that he would be taking the girls to play some games that they wanted to play.
Not in a particular mood to stand in a long queue in the crowd in such a hot day, Ichigo replied:
"You and go with them first, oyaji. I'm gonna go and buy a fan from that store then I'll follow you guys there."
Ichigo then pointed to a certain stall that had some rounded hand fans on a display to show his father where he would be, so Isshin nodded his acknowledgment and then happily went off to one of the game booths with Yuzu and Karin.
After he paid for the fan, Ichigo decided to wander off a bit so that he could buy some shaved ice to cool himself a little more. He could swear he didn't wander off that far or take too long lining up for the shave iced, but when he went for the booth that his father and sisters were supposed to be at, none of them were there.
"Oh, great! Now I've lost them," Ichigo muttered to himself.
He wasn't worried, however. It wasn't as if he was a kid who would freak out just because he couldn't find his family in a crowded place. Thanks to modern technology, it was difficult to lose someone in the crowd when you could just call them on their mobile phones – if there was a reception and the people you wanted to call actually carried their phones with them, that is. He believed the only reason his father didn't call him right after they left the ride was possibly because Isshin was too busy having fun, and the old man didn't worry too much about him, since he was a boy and Isshin knew that he was more than capable of taking care of himself should something bad happen.
Still Ichigo wasn't sure if it was a pain or a blessing to have lost his father and sisters in the crowd then. On the one hand, it meant he wouldn't be dragged along to all games and rides, but on the other hand, he would still have to worry about where they were and how to meet up with them later.
Since he couldn't quite decide, Ichigo thought he would just look for his family while he ate his shaved ice, and if he still couldn't find them after he was done eating or if his family still didn't call him during that period, he would make a call himself since his hands would be free to dial his phone by that time.
Ichigo didn't intend to look up because there was no way for his family to be up on that scaffold stage. They would be walking among the crowd or be in one of those booths, playing games and what not. He only looked up to the sky because it was a hot afternoon and Ichigo was a little frustrated. And there, behind the glare of the sun, stood a lone figure in the place where Ichigo couldn't picture any living person to be standing, since the place was the roof of the scaffold stage.
For the first time, Ichigo wondered if spirits really did come back to the World of the Living during the festival period. The Substitute Shinigami narrowed his eyes and brought his free hand up to block some of the sunlight before he stared at that roof to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After all, he stood quite far from the aforementioned stage, and the sun glare might have done a few tricks to his eyes.
The figure still remained at the same spot when Ichigo took the second look, and as if Ichigo's stare could be sensed from such a distance, the figure turned slightly to his direction. However, before Ichigo could tell whether that figure was a good spirit or a bad spirit, the figure disappeared from his sight.
Ichigo frowned slightly before he looked back down and blinked for a couple of times to adjust his eyes. Hopefully, whatever he saw wasn't a bad spirit, because he would hate to transform into a Substitute Shinigami and leave his soulless body behind in a crowded place.
"So it is really you, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ichigo jumped slightly, as he did not register the fact that someone had appeared right next to him until he was spoken to. Although he recognized the voice, he still turned to the direction just to confirm with his eyes. It was when he saw a dark spot on the person's face that he realized he might have been staring up into the bright sky for too long.
"Byakuya! Should I be alarmed to see you here?"
Ichigo wasn't surprised that the person who stayed on top of that stage was a Shinigami, since he knew that Shinigami often stood at a vantage point where they could see the entire town from one spot. What surprised him, however, was the fact that said Shinigami was a captain. If he knew anything about how the Gotei 13 operated, they wouldn't have dispatched a captain to the World of the Living unless they felt that it was under a serious threat.
"I'm only here on a patrol duty," Byakuya replied in a tone that made Ichigo felt as though he had just asked a very stupid question.
"A patrol duty?" Ichigo repeated in disbelief. "Since when have you been demoted?"
He then looked at the noble Shinigami from head to toe and saw that the Shinigami was still wearing that white haori that signified his captain rank, which only meant that Byakuya would think of Ichigo's second question as even stupider than his first.
"Just because I took on a job that no other captains wished to do doesn't mean that I got demoted," Byakuya remarked.
"Yeah, I get that, but isn't that usually more Tōshirō's thing? Being assigned to a job that no other captains want to do?"
"Don't ever mention that to Hitsugaya-taichō," Byakuya commented. "Anyway, I actually volunteered for the job, so it is slightly different."
Ichigo blinked for a couple of times when he looked at Byakuya because his eyes still needed to adjust to the level of brightness and because Byakuya almost sounded like he had grown some sense of humor.
"Okay, so tell me again why a captain is sent to the World of the Living if there isn't any big threat to the world's or Soul Society's safety?"
"I believe the technical word is 'precaution'," Byakuya replied. "Those Pluses that haven't been sent to Soul Society often come out in the Obon period, and more often than not, they would draw attentions from Hollows. It doesn't help that people also gather around in one place, making them easy targets for any Hollows that cross over, so more Shinigami are assigned to come to the World of the Living in this period, and someone needs to be in charge of this special mission."
"Is it really necessary for a captain to come?" Ichigo wondered. "I mean, even if Hollows really did come, it would still be kinda overkill to have someone in a captain level to deal with normal Hollows."
"As I said – precaution," Byakuya replied, "though I volunteered because the festival interests me personally."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"Why would you be interested in an Obon?"
"Because there isn't a festival like this in Soul Society?" Byakuya offered.
"Oh, I get it now," Ichigo said, nodding. "You never saw this in Soul Society before; and being born and raised Soul Society, you didn't have any clue why we have this festival at all, so you became curious and wanted to see for yourself."
Instead of confirming or denying Ichigo's conclusion, Byakuya replied with a question of his own.
"What is your excuse for being here, by the way?" he asked. "The last time I check, you do not reside in Naruki City."
"No, I'm not, but people are allowed to travel around sometimes, you know. And since we're on this subject of cities, there are much less spiritual activities here than in Karakura Town, so are you sure you are really dispatched here? I mean, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you chose to station in Naruki City because you figured you wouldn't see me."
Byakuya lifted his eyebrow slightly when he looked at Ichigo as if trying to figure out what gave the boy such an impression.
"If I really wished to avoid you, Kurosaki Ichigo, I wouldn't have come to greet you after I spotted you from the yagura," he stated. "Besides, Karakura Town has more than enough protectors already, so my being there would undoubtedly be 'overkill'. However, I cannot say I am not surprised to see you here."
Ichigo chuckled softly. If anything, he was grateful that Byakuya didn't actually ask the question that was obviously written on his face earlier, since Ichigo wasn't in the mood to give a long, drawn-out explanation, consisting of reasons Byakuya should have already known and some that Byakuya should never find out.
"Yeah, well, that makes the two of us," Ichigo said in good humor. "I wouldn't have come here today if my father and sisters hadn't dragged me to this city because they heard the fair was bigger than the one in Karakura Town, which is true, by the way, but now I've lost them somewhere in the crowd."
And as if Isshin realized someone was talking about him behind his back, the eccentric pediatrician chose that moment to call his son on his cell phone, causing Ichigo to jump slightly at the vibration of the phone that he placed in the fold of his yukata near his chest.
Ichigo furrowed his brows and almost asked Byakuya to hold on to the plastic bowl that was filled with shaved ice for him for a moment so he could answer the phone, but then he recalled that no one in the area was able to see the Shinigami so it would certainly cause a big commotion if anyone looked at their directions and saw a floating bowl of shaved ice.
"Excuse me for a moment," Ichigo said before he turned slightly away from Byakuya so the Shinigami wouldn't see him awkwardly dug his hand into his yukata and picked up his cell phone. He flipped the cell phone open and looked at the caller's ID on the screen then sighed as he saw it was his dad. Hitting the answer button with his thumb, he replied, "Oi, oyaji, where are you? I couldn't find you at that game booth."
"Well, your sisters and I have left the booth. Karin then wanted to have some takoyaki, so we went to buy some, and then Yuzu wanted to eat a chocolate banana so we went searching for a kiosk," Isshin replied. "After that, we went and bought something to drink because we feel thirsty after we ate some food and sweets and then—"
"Just tell me where the heck you are, oyaji," Ichigo repeated his question, not really wanting to hear how many kiosks his father and sisters had gone to while completely forgotten that he was supposed to be there with them.
"Well, looks like Yuzu and Karin want to ride a carousel, so we're going to find if there's one around," Isshin replied. "Oh, but before that we might drop by to by some dango first."
Ichigo sighed. "So I should meet up with you guys at a carousel, if there's one, then?"
"Yeah, looks like it," Isshin replied before he added in a dramatic tone, "I'm sorry we've lost you, Ichigo. You must have felt so lonely by yourself. Daddy will buy you some sushi and ice-cream once we reunited and–"
"Stop being so dramatic, oyaji, I'm not a kid," Ichigo replied, deepening his scowl. "Jeez, I'm glad I didn't have to stick with you for the whole time. Besides, I'm not exactly alone here."
"Eh! But you're supposed to be lost and lonely, Ichigo," Isshin said as if he thought 'lost and lonely' was the only condition Ichigo should be in.
"Well, I kinda run into a friend here, so it's okay. There's no need for you to act like a drama queen. I mean, seriously—"
"A friend? Ah, I see!" Isshin cried into the phone, making Ichigo wince and pull the phone away from his ear for a moment. "It's a girl, isn't it? Ha-ha, now I know why you didn't call me right away when you couldn't find us at that booth. I'm sorry I called and interrupted your sweet time together, then."
"What the heck, oyaji? Don't just assume crazy things!"
"My, my, Ichigo, there's no need to be shy. Spend time with her. Your dad and sisters will be okay without you. We don't really mind if you'd ditch us so you could be with a girl. After all, you're at that age when you'd care more about your love interest than your family. Oh, my, I can't wait to go back home and tell your mother this. Ah, I bet she'd be happy to know that spring has come to our beloved son, though it's not exactly spring."
"Oi, oyaji!" Ichigo felt he needed to interrupt before his father's idea had gone any crazier. "I'm not with a girl."
Isshin was quiet for a moment before he replied, "So you're with a boy? Oh, well, I haven't really seen that one coming, but don't worry, Ichigo. Daddy will love you all the same no matter what your sexual orientation is. Oh, no! Does this mean we'll have to have 'the talk' again in a different way?"
"What!? No! Are you nuts?" Ichigo's jaw dropped as he heard what his father was babbling, though when he came to think about it later, he shouldn't have been astounded by anything Isshin said. After all, he had already decided since a long time ago that his old man was crazy. "That's not—"
"Oh, right! I'm interrupting your date, sorry. I'll hang up now and we can talk later. Anyway, if you still want to go home with me and your sister, let's meet at the yagura when the Bon Odori starts, okay? But if you'd rather go somewhere else instead of going home with us, I'd understand. I've been a teenager before, after all. Just be sure to use protection. Bye-bye."
And without waiting for any sort of reply from his son, Isshin just hung up on him, leaving Ichigo to yell at the phone as he heard the line being disconnected, "Oi!"
Ichigo grunted and stared venomously at the phone before he flipped it close and then placed it back into the fold of his yukata. He was surprised, however, that when he turned back to where Byakuya stood, the Shinigami had yet to leave, since he had half expected that Byakuya would be off while he was talking on the phone. After all, they had already exchanged polite greetings, and he doubted Byakuya would want to do more than that if the circumstance didn't require otherwise.
"Sorry about that, Byakuya. My old man is being crazy. Again," Ichigo said with a sigh. "He thought I was with a girl and more or less encouraged me to spend the night with her. I mean, seriously? What kind of dad advises that to a teenage son?"
"His kind, apparently," Byakuya deadpanned. "Though, I suppose I can understand his point. When I was physically your age, I already had a wife."
"Yeah, but when you were physically my age, you were like a hundred something years old and not still in a high school, right?"
"Touché."
Again, Ichigo chuckled.
"So," Byakuya said, changing the subject, "where are you supposed to meet up with your father and sisters?"
"I don't know. They're supposed to be somewhere looking for a carousel or a dango stall or both. Either way, it's gonna be a pain to go and actually look for them, so I'll just hang around here until the time of the dance and then I'll look for them around the yagura. I don't know," Ichigo said with a shrug. "I'm beginning to think that maybe it's better to be alone for a couple of hours than to be dragged around by them."
Lord Kuchiki nodded.
"If you don't mind my company, I could stay with you until the time of the dance," he offered, "if there wasn't any Hollow alert, of course."
Ichigo found it strange for Byakuya to make such an offer, but then he realized Byakuya might have spent the whole day standing alone with nothing better to do on the roof of that stage, so the man might have been really bored that he would be willing to spend time with anyone just as long as it gave him something to do.
"Are you sure? I mean, the dance won't start until nightfall," Ichigo asked just to make sure. "I mean, I'm fine by myself, really."
There was a hint of amusement in Byakuya's eyes when the nobleman looked at Ichigo and remarked, "Now I have a feeling that you are the one who does not wish to see me."
"Now why would you think that?" Ichigo returned and when he saw a look on Byakuya's face that asked him if he really wanted the Shinigami to elaborate, he added, "I just thought you might want to go back up on that roof so you can have a better view point in case some stupid Hollows decide to show up. That's all."
To that answer, a corner of Byakuya's lips curved up slightly, but it was only there very briefly, so Ichigo wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
"I have other means to detect a Hollow aside from searching for them with my eyes."
"Then what are you doing on top of the yagura if not for a vantage point in case some Hollows show up?"
"Watching humans in general," Byakuya replied, "I did tell you I was interested in this festival, did I not?"
"Right, because there isn't festival like this in Soul Society so you were curious."
"I never said I was curious," Byakuya stated, "In the Shinō Academy, there were lessons on all festivals in the World of the Living that may cause the rise in Hollow activities. I volunteered to be here during the period because I want to see the dance."
"You want to see the dance?" Ichigo asked, incredulous. He assumed that with Byakuya's noble background the man would have been entertained with many more beautiful dances that required more artistic skills than the Bon Odori, which was just a folk dance that anyone on the street could participate by imitating the professional dancers on the stage.
Byakuya nodded.
"There is a certain beauty in its simplicity."
"Right," Ichigo said, nodding. "You have already seen way too many complex, artistic dances in your noble life that you were bored, so you now find entertainment in something that is simpler. Now I kinda get why you'd chosen to marry a poor peasant when you could have picked any prissy noblewoman."
Ichigo bit his lips and felt like slapping himself upside the head after he spoke his last sentence.
"I don't believe I have ever told you about Hisana."
Ichigo winced slightly, feeling that he might have stepped on Byakuya's landmine and swerved their conversation to a less civil path. He slowly sent a look to Byakuya's direction to gauge the nobleman's reaction so that he could decide whether he should apologize and then scram or he could stay and try to lead the conversation back to a less sensitive subject.
He almost sighed when he realized that there wasn't that certain look in Byakuya's slate eyes that was usually there whenever the Shinigami was about to butcher someone in cold blood. If anything, Byakuya was simply curious as to where Ichigo had heard the story from and why he cared enough to remember.
"No, you haven't," Ichigo said. "Rukia did, though."
"It wasn't her story to tell."
Although he was already risking Byakuya's wrath as it was, Ichigo still felt the urge to defense his friend.
"Well, since it actually involves her, I think she has some right to tell. Besides, I don't think she would ever tell me if I hadn't got frustrated and asked her why she acted all forgiving and loving to you when you had been such a big jerk to her. I guess she only told me the story to shut me up. For what it's worth, she kicked me in the chin before she retold that story and then kicked me again after she finished because, obviously, no one was allowed to say anything bad about her nii-sama."
Byakuya nodded.
"In any case, I'm not criticizing you or your choice of wife," Ichigo continued just to make sure he didn't end up on Byakuya's bad side again – not after all the progress they had made in their relationship. "If anything, I understand. I mean, you can't choose the person you love, right? I'm just saying that it changed my view of you for a much better way. Because obviously a guy who loved a woman enough to break all rules for her and then honor her dying wish for decades couldn't be such a bad guy."
A long silence followed after Ichigo finished his sentence, but before Ichigo could decide to just leave Byakuya be, Lord Kuchiki closed his eyes and replied, "Thank you."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He didn't know if the nobleman thanked him for saying that he wasn't a bad guy or for understanding why he chose a certain woman as his wife when his family never truly did. Then again, if the years of knowing Byakuya had told him anything about the man at all, it would be that the nobleman was full of conflicts and that the man had been wearing so many masks at the same time for anyone to truly understand him. It was one of the reasons why he always tried to get to know Byakuya better, regardless of the way the nobleman treated him at times.
"Anyway, is the Bon Odori the only thing you like about this whole festival?" Ichigo asked, changing the subject back to what they had previously discussed.
Byakuya blinked at the sudden change of subject, but he seemed to appreciate the thought behind the action.
"Well, other activities in this festival only make me feel left out, since I cannot actually eat any food, play any games, or float any lanterns since I am not in a gigai," Byakuya replied before he glanced at Ichigo and the plastic bowl the teen had been holding. "Speaking of food, you should eat that shaved ice before it all melts away."
"Oh!" Ichigo cried, realizing that he had almost forgotten about the dessert. He took the chance that Byakuya mentioned it to eat whatever remained of the ice then continued walking so that he could find a bin to throw the bowl away after he was done eating. Then a thought hit him. "Wait! Does this mean you didn't just watch but you also participated in the dance as well?"
Since Byakuya didn't deny it right away, Ichigo gave Byakuya a smug look.
"You did, didn't you?" he asked. "Now I really can't wait for nightfall so I'll get to see the great Kuchiki Byakuya dancing Bon Odori. Man, this is gonna be priceless! I should have brought a camera, though I suppose I can just take a picture with my phone."
The Shinigami gave the human a wary look.
"What makes you think that I would join that dance when you are around?"
"Because if you don't, I'd tell everyone you're a lousy dancer?"
Byakuya narrowed his eyes and glared at Ichigo, who gave him yet another very smug smirk in return.
"You really do have a death wish, don't you, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Ichigo shook his head.
"No, but I really want to see you dance," Ichigo said in all honesty. His brown eyes shone brightly with enthusiasm.
"Why?" Byakuya asked, furrowing his brows.
"Because knowing you, you'd be either remarkably bad or extremely good at it. Either way, it would be interesting to watch," Ichigo said before he added, "and of course, it's because I can't picture you dance. At all. So please, don't decide not to dance because of me. I promise I won't tell anyone or take any pictures. I'll even dance with you if you're nervous about having an audience."
Byakuya once again, narrowed his slate eyes as he looked at the Substitute Shinigami.
"Do you really want to see me dance that much, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
"Yeah, well, mostly I'm just being persistent because you keep refusing to do so," Ichigo replied with a shrug, not wanting to admit that he actually wanted to see Byakuya dancing so much that he would try every way to coax the nobleman into it.
"I'll think about it."
"Fair enough," Ichigo commented before he continued to search for a bin. If the fact that Byakuya hadn't just shunpo off somewhere was any indication, Ichigo felt Byakuya would be more inclined to dance than not to.
After that, time flew by as they continued to discuss about several random subjects that were somehow brought up in their conversation. To be honest, Ichigo didn't expect Byakuya to be a pleasant company, since they came from very different backgrounds and most of the time, they didn't know what each other was talking about, but he supposed the fun part was to try to explain what they were talking about to one another, and each subject often ended with either one of them saying, "You should find a chance to see it for yourself sometimes." And before they noticed how much time had really passed, the sky had become dark and they both could hear drum rolling in the background, indicating that the dance would take place soon.
"Oh. It looks like the dance is about to start. We should head to the yagura," Ichigo said, motioning to where the scaffold stage was, and hoping that Byakuya would decide to dance.
"Yes," Byakuya agreed, "you are supposed to meet up with your father and sisters there, correct?"
Ichigo blinked then hoped that Byakuya didn't catch on to the fact that Ichigo had forgotten that he had an appointment with his father and sisters.
"Right," he replied, "it would still be difficult to find them, though, since everybody is going to gather there."
"You could, of course, try to find them after the dance is over."
"Yeah, and maybe we could dance to pass the time," Ichigo added hopefully.
"We could," the nobleman agreed, and Ichigo had to do his best not to show how happy he was to hear those two words because while people were supposed to be happy during the Bon Festival so that the spirit could feel welcomed, no one was supposed to be that happy just for the thought of someone else joining a folk dance. Besides he would be scaring Byakuya off if he appeared to be overly enthusiastic.
When they arrived to the scaffold stage, the dance had already started. Many people had already gathered around the stage in a big circle and began to dance along by imitating the gestures of the dancers that were leading them on the stage.
The joyous look on everybody's face when they tried to copy all moves from the lead dancers that were dancing around the stage, though they might not be able to dance perfectly, made it impossible for Ichigo not to have a joyful feeling as well.
"This is the reason why I find this dance more enjoyable than others," Byakuya commented. "People are just having fun and no one laughs at anyone if they were being bad at the dance."
Ichigo nodded.
"Yeah, so do you still insist that you will not join the dance? I mean, I'm the only one who'll be able to see you and I'm certainly not gonna laugh."
"Since we're already here, why not?" Byakuya replied, and Ichigo wondered if the joy of the people had actually affected the nobleman's mood. "Though I must say this is the first time I would actually perform this dance in the dance circle."
Ichigo furrowed his brows.
"Huh? Where do you usually do it then? And don't tell me on top of the yagura."
Byakuya gave Ichigo a look that said the Substitute Shinigami had guessed correctly.
"Then you seriously haven't experienced a real Bon Odori, Byakuya. Come on, let's get into the circle."
Ichigo then moved to the circle where people were dancing. He would have grabbed Byakuya's wrist and led the nobleman there, but it would look weird for the people who could not see spirit, and he doubted Byakuya would appreciate that gesture.
Because he intended to watch Byakuya dance, Ichigo chose to stand one step behind Byakuya when he took a moment to look up to the stage so that he could imitate the dancers' movements. After all, he hadn't participated in a Bon Odori in ages, and even if he did join the festival, he only just watched as he claimed that folk dance was really not his forte.
When he turned to Byakuya's direction; however, Ichigo almost forgot that he was supposed to dance, since the graceful way Byakuya moved his arms and body just took Ichigo's breath away. There was something captivating and somewhat otherworldly about the way Byakuya danced. The precision of each movement and clapping made it seem as if the nobleman had practiced that particular dance forever that he could easily put the professional dancers on the stage to shame.
Ichigo would have stood there and watched in a stupor if the people behind him hadn't stepped forward and made him realized he needed to start dancing and following other people's steps, though his moves were very awkward, especially when he compared them to the fluid movements of Byakuya who was dancing right in front of him. A part of him wished everyone else could see the graceful way Byakuya was dancing, but another part of him felt so privileged to be the only one who could see it and did not want to share it with anyone else. It was a strange feeling to have, but he had it anyway.
Minutes had gone by and several songs were sung by the singers to accompany the dance; however, no matter how many songs and how many steps had changed, Byakuya could perfectly keep up with all of them. When there was a song that required dancers to turn around, and Ichigo didn't turn around quickly enough, he caught a glimpse of contentment on Byakuya's face, and he had to say that it was the happiest expression he had seen on that otherwise stoic face, and he was glad he could share the moment with the nobleman. He wished he had taken a picture or two, but then again, it didn't really matter much since the scene had already been imprinted in his mind.
They stopped dancing when the singer decided to change from singing traditional songs to singing a modern pop song as the final song before the dance would officially end for the night. It was then that people began dancing in their own styles, and Ichigo swayed with the music since he happened to know how to dance to modern music, even though he might have been bad at a folk dance.
Byakuya, on the other hand, had stopped completely and looked as though he was lost as to what he should do in that circumstance.
"So you don't know how to do a little street dancing, huh?" Ichigo asked though he had a very good idea what the answer would be. However, instead of waiting to see Byakuya fail at street dancing, which would be entertaining in another way, Ichigo chose to lead Byakuya out of the dance circle. "In fact, does anyone in Seireitei know street dance?"
"I cannot answer that for sure. There are not many social events in Seireitei that require participators to dance."
The answer didn't surprise Ichigo. After all, Soul Society looked like a world that came out of a history book, so he didn't expect them to have any dance parties. If anyone were to dance, he could only imagine the dance to be some kind of traditional dance with certain sets of movements rather than street dances which everyone could dance in free style.
"You're good at the Bon Odori, by the way," Ichigo said, although he believed good was really an understatement for the performance he had seen earlier from Byakuya.
"I'm certain that you only said so because you did not want to get reacquainted with Senbonzakura."
"You're right," Ichigo admitted lightly. "I didn't think it was good. I thought it was spectacular. Anyway, I never expected that there would be a day I would actually say this, but I had a very good time today, so really, Byakuya, thanks for not disappearing once you looked down from the yagura and saw me."
"I should be thanking you for making the day not completely boring."
There was certain lightness to Byakuya's tone that made it impossible for Ichigo not to give that nobleman one of his rare smiles.
"I'm glad to be of any service to you, Byakuya," Ichigo replied.
The pop music that was played in the background had already faded, indicating that the dance had officially ended for that night. People then began to leave the circle, reminding Ichigo that he really needed to go and look his father and sisters before Isshin came up with any stranger ideas how he had spent that whole time away from his family.
"Anyway, I should be looking for my dad and sisters already," Ichigo said. "My dad already has enough crazy ideas as it is."
"Yes, you should," Byakuya agreed.
And while Ichigo should have used that opportunity to say goodbye to Byakuya and then call his father, he opted not to do so as he felt a strange urge to speak to Byakuya just a little longer.
"So you'll be in the World of the Living for two more days, right? I mean, you said you were dispatched to watch over the World of the Living in the Obon period."
"Yes, but I will probably be in a different city in the morrow and the day after, considering there were not any Hollows activities in this area today."
"Oh... right... of course."
There went Ichigo's plan to come to see Byakuya again in the next two days, though when he came to think about it again, he couldn't see why he would want to do so in the first place.
"Well, I should check up with my subordinates and see if there are activities in other towns, so I suppose it's time we said goodbye, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Yeah, for tonight anyway," Ichigo agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll see you later."
Byakuya gave Ichigo a hint of a smile before he nodded.
"The next time you visit Seireitei, drop by and have some tea."
Ichigo didn't have time to reply when he felt his phone vibrating against his chest, so he furrowed his brows before he instinctively glanced down to the location of the phone. When he looked back to Byakuya, the Shinigami had already gone, though to where Ichigo wasn't sure.
Sighing, Ichigo dug into his yukata for his phone. Then before he actually flipped the phone open and answered it, he looked up into the dark sky and whispered into the wind:
"I'll certainly hold you to that offer, Byakuya."