The following day, the Yellow Penguins trudged into the arena, followed by the Green Monkeys.
Renji looked rather miserable. Who could blame him? After all, he was forced to run non-stop right after puking his guts out.
Ichigo surveyed the seven shinigamis in front of him.
"All right! Today's challenge will be a physical one! Oh, and because I won the massive jyan-ken-pon face-off with Geeky Boy over there, no one is sitting out today."
The Yellow Penguins groaned at this.
Ichigo smirked.
"Today's challenge is very simple: lifting weights. Whoever can lift the weights for the longest time, wins. Of course, since this is group work, if you win, it means that your group wins. Now, I have a very special assistant here today to help me out. Please welcome lieutenant of the Third Division…Kira Izuru!"
Kira stepped out into the arena. One hand was on the hilt of his sword, the other, pushing back his massive bangs.
"Kira here will release his sword, and will keep hitting that 1 kg weight until you collapse. The longer you remain standing, the heavier the load you carry. Whoever collapses within the longest period of time, wins. Simple?"
The seven shinigamis nodded.
"Then, without further ado, we shall begin."
Kira stepped up to the center, and drew his sword.
"Raise your head…Wabisuke."
His sword became angular and bent.
"Okay, I'm ready."
Hisagi, in the audience, grinned. Stuffing a fistful of popcorn into his mouth, he did his best to ignore the rice-cracker crumbs falling onto his hair from the fat idiot sitting behind him.
Gin walked forth, face set. Bending over, he picked up one of the seven 1 kg weights on the ground.
Kira looked at a stopwatch Ishida was holding up at eye level for him. He was to whack the weight once every fifteen seconds, and Ishida was to stop the timing once the contestant collapsed.
"Begin."
Thwang. The sword contacted with the weight, creating a harsh, metallic sound.
1 kg multiplied to become 2.
Kira whacked it again.
Gin just stood there, holding it, grinning.
At 8 kg, Gin's arms were beginning to sag, just a little.
At 16 kg, beads of sweat began to trickle down his face.
At 32 kg, he collapsed.
Ishida checked the timing.
"1 minute, 1.5 seconds."
Gin staggered off, while Yoruichi stepped forward, picking up another 1 kg weight.
Kira began to whack it.
2 kg.
4 kg.
8 kg.
Yoruichi's face began to show some strain.
16 kg.
She winced, and dropped it, narrowly missing her foot by less than a hair's breadth.
"55 seconds."
Yoruichi scowled.
Nemu walked forwards nervously.
She picked up yet another 1 kg weight.
Ishida began timing.
Kira hit it once.
Twice.
She dropped it, her thin arms shaking.
Ishida glanced at the face of the stopwatch.
"18 seconds."
"Ow!"
Rukia came tumbling forwards, having just been pushed forwards by Renji.
She made a face at Renji, before turning to pick up a weight.
Kira's sword hit the weight.
He hit it again.
And again.
Rukia's legs began to tremble.
Right after Kira's sword had made the weight 16 kg, she dropped it.
Renji sighed. Pathetic, he thought. No one has beaten that Ichimaru-taichou's score yet.
"45.5 seconds."
Urahara bounced forwards. Grabbing a weight, he waited impatiently for Kira to begin.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
At 32 kg, he collapsed, with a timing of 1 minute 10 seconds. He had beaten Gin's score.
Matsumoto walked forwards. Held the weight.
At 16 kg, she dropped it…right on Ishida's foot.
"YEOWCH!"
"Oops. Sorry."
Ishida hopped away, massaging his throbbing foot, leaving Chad to read out the timings.
"Eh…46 seconds."
Renji sighed. He was the last one left. I must beat Urahara's score! I must!
Scowling, he bent to pick up the one remaining weight.
Kira began to hit it.
2 kg.
4 kg.
8 kg.
16 kg.
Renji's face remained impassive.
32 kg.
He gritted his teeth. He was so not going to lose out to that shopkeeper.
64 kg.
And then, Renji dropped the weight, squishing a few spiders on the ground, and ruining their touching family reunion, as well as orphaning a few spider babies.
But he didn't care. He'd won!
Ichigo grinned.
"And…the winners are…the Yellow Penguins! Congratulations, you've just won yourselves a day trip to Ishimura Town!"
(A/N: Ishimura Town is a fictional town next to Karakura.)
The Yellow Penguins whooped. Ishimura was a town famous for its food, its yukatas, and its 100-something km long Ishimura bridge, connecting it to Kyoto.
(A/N: Kyoto is a real place. In Japan.)
"As for the losers, you guys get to go to Ishimura too, but you guys will have a very different experience. Let's just say it involves lots of speed and stamina."
Ichigo grinned evilly.
Nemu put her face in her hands.
"I am in deep trouble."
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
The next day, the Yellow Penguins were feeling particularly happy. They had an allowance of 10,000 yen to spend in Ishimura.
The Green Monkeys woke early, and began to warm up. All were dressed in shirts and shorts. After all, it seemed as if their punishment was going to involve strenuous exercise, according to Matsumoto's 'gut instinct'.
Matsumoto's 'gut instinct' was correct.
When they arrived at Ishimura, they were confronted with four rickshaw sets.
"Okay guys, today, you guys will be rickshaw pullers. Go around town, and lug the people around town. Whatever money you guys earn will be donated to fund the hospitals in the Fourth Division. Report back here at five. Got it?"
A chorus of dull groans arose.
And so, their day began.
A fat, portly man flagged down Urahara's rickshaw.
"Ishimura hospital, please."
"Okay."
Urahara glanced at the mini-GPS he had temporarily installed on his rickshaw handle.
He kept glancing at it during the entire trip. Resulting in him running randomly across the road, barely missing traffic, and leaving a trail of angry drivers in his wake. Fifteen minutes later, he dropped off his pale, shaking client, who tossed 100 yen in his face and ran away, muttering something about a bathroom.
Urahara fished a coin out from the folds of his shirt, where it had landed.
"Weirdo."
Nemu wasn't having much luck. Her client had asked to be taken to the shopping center. It was a mere 15 km away. Unfortunately, halfway through, Nemu collapsed, and was excused from all further trips. Unfortunately, this caused an outcry of rage when Ichigo announced it over the walkie-talkies that the others had. Therefore, Ichigo, slightly annoyed with the other Green Monkeys, told Nemu that she was disqualified, that he was very sorry, none of this was his fault, and that it was her teammates pressuring him to do this.
She sighed.
"It's okay."
Matsumoto sighed. She was hot and tired. Luckily, not many people came to find her, probably distrustful of her running ability with her 'assets'. She sighed. Hopefully, nobody would ask her to cross the bridge.
Little did she know that Gin was suffering that fate. He had stumbled upon Yoruichi, who had promptly asked him to ferry her across the bridge. When he reached the other side, breathing heavily, she threw him some money and walked away. Barely a minute later, Rukia appeared, boarded his rickshaw, and ordered him to go back across the Ishimura bridge. He spent the rest of the day ferrying people back and forth, over the bridge.
When 5 o'clock finally came, Ichigo, accompanied by Unohana, located the three collapsed shinigami on the streets of Ishimura. (Nemu had returned to Soul Society following her disqualification.) They were dragged all the way to a secluded area, where Unohana released Minazuki, which swallowed the three shinigamis up, and opened a senkaimon.
Needless to say, they all suffered severe leg cramps when they woke up.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Just to clarify, Nemu was disqualified, because all her team members felt it was unfair that she didn't have to go through the punishment while they had to.
Next chapter: Yet another physical challenge! The contestants go military.
Please, please, please go vote on the poll on my profile page! It's a revised one, so if you voted before last week, this is sort of brand-new.