The sun was below the horizon when Ichigo returned to the world of the awake. He glared when it felt like the world was weighing on his chest, and his arms and legs screamed with liquid fire in every muscle. The part of his mind he used to associate with Zangetsu mentioned that maybe he should call off tonight, but he reasoned that he agreed to take Mocha's shift so he owed it to his co-worker to at least try. Whatever his dad had forced on him hours ago had brought his fever down, and his chest didn't feel quite so itchy inside. He glanced at the clock; he had two hours.
Pulling himself out of bed, he ripped his sweat-drenched tee shirt from his body and dragged his feet to the bathroom. In the hallway he could hear his father and sisters eating dinner. His stomach growled, but he knew what his father would say if he showed his face downstairs. So, he told the organ to shut up and turned on the shower. He shivered at the feeling of the water, but it woke him up a bit.
Back in his room, his muscles still dragged, but he was able to put on a neon green thong, and black vinyl booty shorts that hugged his hips without much trouble. He pulled a baggy pair of jeans, a long-sleeved tee-shirt, and his hoodie over top of his 'working' gear. A spare pair of sneakers in the back of his closet got him ready for the growing darkness outside. He glanced once more at his closed door with a shallow sigh, before climbing out of his window.
It took an hour and forty-five minutes for him to make it through the darkened city to the club. Even the twilight was gone now, but the street was lit up in bright neon blue, pink, green and yellow. The bass poured out into the chilly night air. Saturday night brought all kinds of people to his work place, which meant one thing for the orange-haired dancer: big tips. Oh yeah, tonight would be good, he could feel it.
Skirting the building, he entered through the same door he used to leave a little over 17 hours before. He saw Pineapple out on the floor intimidating some punk that had gotten too close to the stage, and shook his head. Stupid kids. Geez, when'd he become so jaded? No matter, he turned down the narrow hallway to the dressing rooms. He was breathing easier than he had been for weeks, whatever Goat Face had given him really worked!
"Hey, Strawberry!" One of the few female dancers called cheerfully.
Nobody knew anybody's real name, not even the owner of the club who went by the double entendre Candy Man. So, Ichigo grinned, "Evening, Tutti." He took his seat, already removing his hoodie and shirt to don the theme for the night, tuxedos.
Tutti Frutti was a Scene-style girl with a rainbow streaked mop of chunky hair, and always dressed in vibrant, clashing colors. But she had a huge heart. So, she came over to help him get the backless shirt fastened. A pair of shimmer pants were pulled on over his shorts, and a matching jacket completed the outfit just in the nick of time. The announcer's voice over the PA told the pair they had seconds to get up to the stage. Climbing the stairs, Ichigo's breath caught and his hand flew to his chest.
"You ok, huny?" Tutti Frutti frowned, her hand on his back.
He nodded with a smile, forcing the feeling down, and they joined the line-up in the wings. The announcer addressed the club this time, "Ladies and gentlemen, whores and sluts, step right up, behind this curtain is where all your fantasies come to life. This is a place where you can escape! Welcome to CANDY LAND!"
That was their cue, the flashy, JPop-Scene female strutted her stuff, shaking vibrant ruffles and catching the spinning lights on sequins across her costume, leading the double line of black shimmery tuxedo clad dancers down the main stage until she met the pole in the middle of the catwalk. She jumped up in time to the techno music to grasp the pole and spin around upside down. Ichigo led his line of fellow dancers to the side stage along the wall where the patrons could watch the eye candy gyrate from all sides. Across the room the second line mirrored them.
The first song wasn't very long, but the hyped up confectionary laden lyrics introduced their lines. Tutti Frutti did her spins and kicks, keeping the momentum going as the beat changed. The lights went down and the LED lights along Tutti's skirt lit up. The first line, "This is the time to party" triggered a chain reaction as each of the dancers in a line hit a button under their left heels to make a running strobe light effect. It cast them in black and white as the jackets came off to reveal muscular shoulders and bare arms. The stop-motion strobing only high-lighted Tutti's more colorful glow-stick style as she removed the pieces of her costume.
Ichigo's legs trembled with each bass beat that he slammed his heel into his flash switch, but he lost himself in the music. This was the only time during his day where none of the weight of the world he carried pressed down on him. So, even though he could already feel his muscles burning and his chest heaved with the effort to take in enough oxygen, he never felt better.
In a darkened corner of the club, Grimmjow watched his berry, knowing exactly which dancer in the line-up was HIS. He sipped black light reflective alcohol and growled that he could only look, not touch. Around him were several lounging figures.
The music changed again, a growling techno beat as the first of the dancers began to trickle away to change for their individual dances. More LED lined costumes joined Tutti Frutti, and again Ichigo's line of dancers along both walls kept the beat with strobe lights, now having lost the pants to those fake tuxedos. This was the last of the floor show, after this song the individual dancers would begin.
So, Grimmjow enjoyed the secrecy of being able to ogle his favorite flavor without making himself known. The group around him were just as enthralled with the flashing lights and revealing skin. Most of them were either high as a kite, or stoned out of their minds. One or two still had their partial wits about them, and these sat closest to the blunette. The only drug in his system, as it had been for the entire month since his berry had started dancing for pay, was a minute trace of alcohol. He'd win him back, even if that meant he had to give up all of the things he'd discovered since becoming a Visored in the Living World. He took a pull on his drink, smirking as the last of the dancers filtered out.
A quick change into a new costume between sets brought the Strawberry back out onto the main stage. The piano at the beginning of his first individual song for the night gave him the entrance he needed to catch his breath. As soon as the drums and synth cut in he was gyrating and commanding the audience with his body. He strut to the pole, without ever removing a piece of clothing, to spin in a vibrant whirlwind with the drum roll. He fell back, holding on with one hand and reaching over his head to the edge of the stage, rubbing the crotch of the skin-tight white bell bottoms up and down the pole in time with the music. Lifting a leg, he wrapped it around the pole bending his spine to reveal toned abdomen between his crop top and his pants, the strings of his thong curving over his hip bones. The second time the piano took over he was back up on his feet, this time with his ass against the pole sans bell bottoms, treating it like a partner at a rave. The second drum roll was a ripple through his body as he reached behind him with a leg, the whole time working his shirt off to display silver rings through his apricot nipples.
The lights cut out and a voice came through the speakers, "Pause for dramatic effect." A spotlight flipped on to show his hand, holding the black boy shorts, that fell when the beat came back in sync with the flashing lights around the edge of the stage. This revealed Ichigo, on his knees in nothing but the lime green thong, straddling the pole. He gyrated his hips, working himself back to his feet with the synth machine. As the piano began a third time, he wrapped his body around the pole and sank to his hands and knees to prowl like a jungle cat to the edge of the stage, each placement of hand or knee a note on the piano. The last few notes brought him back to his knees, bending backwards with his spandex clad package highlighted for the crowd. His back met the stage when a soft voice asked, "Too loud?" And the lights cut out on the final piano notes.
Surrounded by darkness, Grimmjow could hardly keep his tongue in his mouth. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. Oh, yeah, that was his berry alright. All sex and innocence wrapped up in one delicious package. He gripped his glass tightly, and almost didn't hear the voice in his ear.
"Grimm, I've been looking for you everywhere." The pierced African brunette with hot pink streaked dreadlocks gripped his shoulders tightly. Was the kid strung out on something? In the darkness between shows he couldn't tell.
"What's up, 'Cril?" He asked, using the liquid of his drink to wet his tongue, and the burn of drinking it too fast to distract himself from the tightness of his jeans.
Hands decorated with rings on every finger grabbed his face frantically in the dark. "Dude, Gemma got the red card from the motsotsi! She got gone yesterday!"
"Ja real?" One of the others around him asked, fear obvious in his voice. The whole group was listening now.
"Ya! She done got her boarding pass few weeks 'go." The hands gripped him tighter. "Tell me ya worn a rainbow when ya doinked her, man!"
Blue eyebrows drew together. These people had no idea what he was, but he was as ignorant of their slang and phraseology as well. He gathered that whatever a 'red card' and a 'boarding pass' were that his understanding of the terms was different than what his friends meant. So, using the split second to guess at the 50/50 chance he had at calming his friend, he said, "Yeah, o' course. 'M not stupid."
"Good. I wouldn' want ya and yer boytoy ta join tha departure lounge." Cril relaxed too soon because the relief was broken a moment later.
A scream cut through the anticipatory silence when the lights came up to reveal Ichigo's prone body in the same position as he had used to end his dance. At first Grimmjow just assumed the kid had popped out, but a casual scan of the reiatsu in the area had him on his feet.
"Oi! That's ya boytoy, ain't it, Grimm?" Cril asked from behind his shoulder as they moved quickly through the crowd.
The blunette was on the stage faster than anyone could blink, and had his sensitive ear to Ichigo's chest. He looked down at the unconscious face, lips slightly parted. "He's breathing!"
The dancer who'd screamed had somebody's cell phone talking to 9-1-1. Pineapple and the other bouncers were circling the stage, keeping everybody else back, and a man in a dark green business suit with a bucket hat shading his eyes stepped up on to the stage using a wooden cane for leverage.
"Well, well, Grimmjow. I thought you were keeping an eye on him." The wavy-haired blonde stated, standing over the pair.
"Ura—" The blunette was cut off.
"Mr. Candy Man, at your service. I do hope you take better care of our Strawberry from now on." His grey eyes glinted. Then the EMTs arrived, and were trying to get through the crowd. So, Mr. Candy Man called out, "Let's let these fine fellows through please? We'll give an extra show tomorrow night for your cooperation—half price!" That removed most of the inferring crowd, except for one pale man with hard eyes.
"What about tanight! I paid good money ta see ya show! I'm gonna get a refund er I ain't movin'!" He demanded.
Pineapple growled, grabbed the man by his shirt and hauled him off of his feet. "We gotta dancer down! Yer gonna move, even if I gotta move ya!" The pale man appeared to want to say something else but the bouncer just tossed him. Glass exploded from the broken wall that nobody had realized was a window due to the pane having been blacked out with paint. Blood dripped from the bouncers hands and lower arms, but he didn't seem fazed by it.
With the last obstacle out of the way, the paramedics brought the stretcher up to the stage. Grimmjow held his breath as they shifted the unconscious orangette onto the gurney. He leapt from the platform, following, and intent on getting into the ambulance with Ichigo.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him, and Candy Man's voice said, "It'll be easier on everyone if you take your car."
As soon as he was behind the wheel, Grimmjow was on the phone with Isshin, "Doc!"
The man's voice was tired. "Moshi moshi, Grimm. What's going on?"
"Ichi passed out on stage! Candy Man called the EMTs. I'm tailin' 'em now." He slammed on the breaks as he got caught by a red light.
Isshin frowned. "He was supposed to be in bed. How'd he get to work?"
"I dunno, but I was there wi' a couple o' my guys, an' there he was dancin' as usual. I thought ya were gonna keep him home t'night?" Blue eyebrows mimicked black.
"He was the last time I checked. Before dinner. I just assumed he was sleeping. People suffering from pneumonia like he is shouldn't be able to even get up and walk around, let alone dance."
"Doc, this is Ichi we're talkin' about here. He does tha imposs'ble like it's goin' outta style." He rolled his eyes, and turned the car, following the ambulance.
"What hospital are you headed to?" It sounded like the ex-captain was pulling a coat on.
"Karakura General, looks like. Should I tell 'em ta get Doc Quincy?" It was only a few blocks away now.
The door of the house opened and closed, "No, I'll get Ryuuken. You stay with Ichigo. Use reiatsu if you have to, but keep him stable until we get there."
"Sure, Doc…" He trailed off for a moment.
"Is there something else, Grimm?" Isshin paused in his movements to get into his own car.
"Just somethin' one o' my fraccion said. Doc, what's motsotsi?" Grimmjow felt cold when the line went silent. "Doc?"
"It's a Zimbabwe slang term for AIDS, Grimm."
References:
Cril's slang: www . plusnews Report / 78809 / AFRICA-Mind-your-language-a-short-guide-to-HIV-AIDS-slang
Candy Land floor show: www . youtube playlist ? list = PLDCA2D752ADD508B9
A/N: Yes, the announcer's words were directly copied from the song Candy Land by Blood on the Dance Floor, and I couldn't help it, the songs that became the floor show were the ones I was listening to while writing. XD