A/N: Again, based on a very real, very true event. Sorority initiation week, my pledge sisters and I get to have some fun with the whole thing, and well, this happened one night. Quite by accident. And freaking hilarious. This is longer than I hoped, but I don't know how to shorten it. If the length bothers you, I apologize.

Also, a novitiate is a girl/woman who has pledged a certain sorority and is only waiting to be initiated (as in all of the fees are paid, prior required ceremonies attended) and a neophyte is the male version of this. At least on my campus. I'm an ΑΓΔ (Alpha Gamma Delta) alumni myself!! Woot! Go AGD!

Title: Initiation
Date: 11 November, 2008
Words: 1464
Characters: Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Ishida, Orihime, and Sado.
Pairings: Hitsugaya & Matsumoto (implied, as always), some hints of Ichigo & Rukia
Inspiration: Totally and completely based on a true story.
Rating: PG – Please, don't try this at home.

A group of Shinigami and their friends in Karakura Town stood huddled in Orihime's apartment in the hallway leading to the living room. They had all been instructed to wash their hands, and well, with no clue why. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, however, stood in the living room, preparing for the "Initiation," as Matsumoto dubbed it. Hitsugaya was reluctant at first, as none of the men actually serving under the tenth Taicho's command had to go through this sort of initiation, but he figured that if it went well with the people he was in charge of here, it might become a new tradition. Even he needed a good laugh now and again.

Matsumoto took the blindfolds in one hand and made her way to the door of the hall and inside it. "Okay, I'm going to blindfold you one at a time, and then I'll lead you out to Toshiro. Why don't we go in order of height?" she told the awaiting novitiates and neophytes, who promptly decided to start with the shortest first. A slightly fearful Rukia stepped away from the wall, unlike Ichigo and Renji, who had happily shoved her forward. Orihime gave her a quick hug for good luck as Matsumoto wrapped the blindfold over her eyes and lead her down the hall.

They reached Hitsugaya and she stopped Rukia directly in front of him. "Kuchiki Rukia," he started. She jumped a bit at being addressed by him in such close, unrealized proximity. Matsumoto held back a giggle at the sight. "As a temporary inductee into the tenth division, you must swear to the following oath. Raise your right hand and repeat after me:

"I, Kuchiki Rukia."

"I, Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia stated, swallowing nervously.

"Do hereby promise."

"Do hereby promise."

"To serve, to the best of my abilities, the Tenth Division." He frowned and shook his head in disbelief. Why did he let Matsumoto talk him into this oath?

"To serve, to the best of my abilities, the Tenth Division."

"As well as upholding my status as requested by my previous duties."

"As well as upholding my status as requested by my previous duties," Rukia sighed in mild, and very temporary, relief as Hitsugaya told her she could drop her hand.

"Okay, now you have to stick your hand in here and pull out whichever goldfish you want to," Matsumoto trilled, forcing Rukia's hand to a small goldfish bowl filled with fish. Rukia shook visibly with nerves and even Hitsugaya let a small smirk reach his lips.

Rukia fished around in the bowl and caught one of the tiny goldfish in her hand. Before she could do anything dangerous to the poor fish, Matsumoto stopped her.

"Let me see," she pretended to inspect the fish Rukia held. "That's no good. I don't think he was meant for you. Try from this bowl instead."

Rukia, very much still shaken and half-relieved returned the fish to it's former container and Matsumoto directed her hand to the new bowl, coincidentally filled with soggy Swedish Fish. Rukia reached into the new bowl and produced one. Matsumoto commanded her to hold it out for inspection.

"Ah, that looks better. Now, swallow it," Rukia's mouth fell open upon hearing her words. "It's best not to chew."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, that is an order, Kuchiki," Hitsugaya directed, fighting very hard to control his laughter.

"Hai, Taicho," Rukia put the candy into her mouth and tried to swallow, but just couldn't. Matsumoto leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"It's just gummy candy this time, I promise. Chew it up and make a horrible ruckus about it," a visible wave of relief washed over Rukia, and she did as instructed. Matsumoto removed the blindfold as she chewed.

"Oh, wow, Kami, that's disgusting! I can't believe I had to swallow that! I think I'm going to be sick, where's the sink? Poor fish!" she called out as loudly as possible for the gross effect Matsumoto wanted, just before running to the sink and pretending to retch.

"Woohoo! Go Rukia! Welcome to the division!" Matsumoto cheered, giving her a tight hug. Hitsugaya just gave her a curt nod and a handshake, accompanied by a rare smile.

Next in line was Orihime, who's "trial" proceeded much the same way. Following her were Ishida and Ichigo. Ichigo put up a bit of resistance over the whole ordeal, and it took an elbow to the ribs from Rukia to make him follow the procedure.

"If you want to make it as a taicho, I suggest you follow my orders, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya threatened in the coldest and most menacing voice he could muster.

Following him, Yumichika, who made a terrible ruckus (mainly about his hair and eyebrows) before Matsumoto even put the blindfold on, and Ikkaku went next. Renji and Sado were up for last, and being very close in height decided to take the rock-paper-scissors route to see which suffered first.

With all the commotion going on in Orihime's living room, Renji almost regretted the fact that Sado went first. Finally, Matsumoto stepped through the door.

"Renji, your turn," she called. He heaved a heavy sigh and a visible, nervous swallow as she wrapped the blindfold around his eyes. He let her lead him by the hand into the living room.

"Abarai Renji," Hitsugaya began, about to repeat Matsumoto's before tonight not existent oath for the final time. He was relieved. "As a temporary inductee into the Tenth Division, you must swear to the following oath. Raise your right hand and repeat after me."

Renji raised his right hand reluctantly. Hitsugaya began the oath and he repeated. Finally, he was presented with the first bowl of goldfish. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Ichigo, and even Sado and Ishida started a chorus of "Renji-ji! Renji-ji! Renji-Ji!" to cheer him on.

Knowing what had occurred – if Rukia's "Poor fish!" and Orihime's "Yay, I swallowed him whole!" and advice from Yumichika to not chew, because it wouldn't be pretty were any indication – he was going to be forced to swallow a goldfish. Whole, uncooked. That poor goldfish, he thought, I really hope he knows I don't mean this…

In one swift motion, he stuck his hand in the first bowl offered and scooped up a fish. Matsumoto tried, even Hitsugaya tried to give him a direct order, to get him to show her the fish, but to no avail. By the time those words met Renji's ears, he'd already stuffed the goldfish in his mouth and swallowed it whole. At least Matsumoto had had sense enough to set the bowl down.

The chatter and noise in the roomed ceased immediately. No one bothered to breathe after their initial, collective gasp, and everyone's mouth hung open. Noticing something amiss, Renji removed the blindfold to look at everyone. For a long moment all they could do was stare.

Suddenly, latching onto Ichigo's shirt, Rukia burst into such a fit of giggles that the others thought she might have gone temporarily insane. Rukia collapsed, going weak in the knees, and Ichigo held tightly to her for her support.

"I don't know if I can forget such an ugly scene!" Yumichika exclaimed.

"I can't believe you actually did that, Renji. Wow!" Matsumoto finally found her voice. Ikkaku and Sado gave him a congratulatory pat on the back.

"What did I do wrong?" Renji growled at his audience. "I was supposed to swallow the damn thing, wasn' I?"

By this point Orihime, Ikkaku, Matsumoto, Ichigo, and even Ishida and Sado had joined in with Rukia's laughter. Hitsugaya just placed a hand on his forehead, grinning in amusement and disbelief.

"Abarai, you weren't actually supposed to swallow that. We have these gummy fish here for you to swallow. The gold fish was just a joke. Rangiku tried to get you to show it to her, so that she could make you put it back and eat a gummy instead. I even ordered you to…" Hitsugaya trailed off, sighing heavily at the wonder.

All the very embarrassed Renji could muster in response was a weak "Oh."

He was the talk of Seireitei for the next six weeks whenever he had to report in to Soul Society. Being the "star" of the night, and to give him a chance to brag, he was elected to act as the go between for the incredibly long mission. When he saw the amusement and praise he received from Hisagi, Kira, and especially Hinamori, he no longer felt embarrassed, but a totally different kind of brave.

He did try not to ever think about the goldfish when drinking or eating, though, for fear of losing his lunch and the fishy remains coming back to haunt him. Nor did he care to think about expelling the remains from his system, either.

A/N: Well, that's pretty much the story of one of my initiation activities. Sadly, that's now considered hazing, and we can't do it anymore. By the way, in all honesty, I didn't swallow the goldfish. It was one of my sisters. I knew what from the 'ceremony' thanks to some older sisters, so I was prepared to not swallow the real thing. Thank Kami luck was on my side that night.

But, being Greek is awesome. If your College/University offers you the chance to join a social sorority or fraternity, I suggest you take it!

Swedish Fish, for anyone who doesn't know, are a type of red, gummy fish sold here in the States. (We used these, too!).