After Ichigo got his 'lunch' and it was gone, he had nothing else to do but sit in his vehicle and wait for traffic to move so he could get to the most tortuous part of the day, shopping. What he hadn't noticed when he left the house was what a nice day it was. The sun was out, a few clouds in the sky and a nice summer breeze blew threw his hair as he sat in traffic with the windows down.

Rukia waited till she couldn't hear the Tahoe anymore and then quickly called Uryu to pick her up. She knew he had to come back to campus to pick up Orihime anyway so it wouldn't be a hassle for him. When they arrived at the club Rukia sent Uryu and Orihime to set up the tables and chairs that had been put away so the floor could be cleaned. Rukia decided to double check her list of preparations and make sure everything was ready to set up when she got back from picking up the rest of the guests. Rukia noticed that Shinji was digging around in the back and decided now was a good time to borrow his vehicle to pick everyone up.

"Hey Shinji, you're going to let me borrow the club bus so I can pick up the other guests, right?" inquired Rukia.

"Where is the Tahoe at?" questioned Shinji suspiciously.

"Duh, did you forget that I had to let Ichigo use it today so we could get things ready for tonight? Besides the bus has more room than the Tahoe" replied Rukia with an irritated look on her face.

"Oh yeah, I suppose. Just don't let anyone get it dirty, especially Kenpachi." he replied with a glare.

"Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. I'm sure Ichigo will too!" yelled Rukia as she hurried to leave.

-Okay now, I've got to pick them up and make sure they all have a gigai from Urahara and then get them all back here together in one piece. Yeah, piece of cake- thought Rukia sarcastically.

Just as Rukia arrived at the underground training area of Urahara's shop she noticed the last of the guests coming through the senkai gate. As she waited she silently counted off all the guests. There was Renji, Rangiku, Toshiro, Ikkaku, Hanataro, Kukaku, Ganju, Shunsui, Jushiro, Yachiru, and finally Kenpachi. Rukia sighed as she was glad there wasn't anymore or they would have had to have two vehicles. Luckily though Yachiru, Toshiro and Hanataro were small enough that everyone else should have enough room to be comfortable, though she wouldn't mention that out loud. They all went upstairs and quickly got into the gigai that Urahara had prepared. Some of them already had gigai from previous trips here so really only a few of them had to actually adjust to the body. After helping anyone who needed it and making sure everyone's worked to their satisfaction they all piled into the bus and headed back to the club to start setting things up.

By the time Ichigo reached the mall, he was almost ready to pull his hair out. He definitely had a bad case of road rage, which explained why no one ever let him drive unless he was alone. Byakuya had been generous enough to help with their financial situation, but after Ichigo purposefully ran into a few people who had rubbed him the wrong way, Byakuya made it a point that if Ichigo was going to drive he had to pay his own insurance. Considering his age and his 'accidents' it did help Ichigo think a bit harder about what he did behind the wheel. That monthly payment had become a constant reminder and a serious pain in the ass.

As he got out of his SUV he double checked to make sure he had the list and plotted the quickest way of getting in and out and hopefully doing so with his sanity intact. After an hour of shopping he found that most of the items had been fairly easy to acquire except he had to go to 2 or 3 different stores to find enough boxes of hot wings and single use cameras that were on Shinji's list. He seriously considered telling Shinji that this was the last time he ever shopped for work.

The least favorite part of the trip was when he was looking for the toilet paper, he happened to run into one of his fan girls from the bar. It was only three in the afternoon for crying out loud and she already looked ready to hit the club… or more like the street. The thought made Ichigo smirk, especially at what Rukia would say, unfortunately his smirk was taken as an invitation from the unwanted person in front of him. She happened to be a couple years his senior, with long auburn hair that flowed with soft curls and she had an alright body so he couldn't deny that she was good looking… somewhere...under all the makeup. He'd seen her before without it and wondered why she did that to herself, yet right now, in the little tube top and tight mini skirt with those heels in a store like this was just downright tacky. Ichigo's only assumption was that she had spied him walking in here and followed him.

"Oh, Ichigo! What a pleasant surprise it is to see you here. What ever are you doing here shopping, when you should be out celebrating your birthday?" questioned the girl whose name suddenly slipped his mind. Brought out of his thoughts he stood there dumbstruck due to her personal knowledge of him, during which she managed to sidle up to him and touch his arm.

"Oh, erm, uh" Ichigo stuttered through a nervous laugh, as his arm flew from her grip and reached behind to scratch his head, "Shinji asked me to pick up a few things before I start my shift tonight."

"Oh really. That's so unfair of them to make you work on your birthday. You should be out living it up, with a girl on each arm." she replied, giving him that 'I'll be one of them', look.

"Well, I've got plans with the gang to have an early dinner before my shift starts" Ichigo lied through his teeth, but hoped his acting skills were enough for her to believe.

"Oh, well that sounds nice. Do you need a date, maybe?" she asked as she fluttered her fake lashes. Ichigo was about to become nauseas from the gallon of perfume she had on but decided he needed to make a hasty retreat before he ended up in a situation he didn't want to be in.

"Oh, well Rukia made the reservations so there are only a certain number of spots" Ichigo replied hoping that would get her off his ass. At the mention of Rukia, the other girl all but clammed up and hurriedly said her goodbyes with an added, "Don't tell Rukia about this" before she was gone from his sight.

Though he was mildly aware of what people thought of him and Rukia, he didn't know exactly how much control Rukia had over the females that wanted but didn't approach him. He knew because of him and Renji that it was very seldom that any guy came with 10 feet of Rukia with anything more than a 'Hi', even though on several occasions Rukia had socked him and Renji in the gut for growling at some guy who was looking at her in a way they didn't care for.

Ichigo sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time today and it was still so early. He finished up his shopping and loaded everything in the Tahoe. After grabbing a drink from the soda he bought, he started up the vehicle and made his way across town to the distribution center. He hoped that Shinji hadn't put in a very big order, cause he knew the center had an awful time getting them right. At one time the club only made orders monthly, but after him and Rukia spent the better part of 3 hours getting the mistakes in the order fixed they decided that every other week would be better.

Rukia was glad that it was still fairly early when she arrived back at the club with everyone. She was also glad to notice that everyone else had arrived also. Urahara, Yoruichi, Tatsuki, Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo had all arrived and looked as though they were having little trouble following the orders of what needed to be done, even if Hiyori was the one doing the ordering.

"Why did we have to come here so early?" questioned Toshiro.

"Oh, don't you remember, Shiro. Rukia, Yoruichi, Orihime and I have to practice our performance for tonight." reminded Rangiku.

"I know that, but why did I have to come this early. There are more than enough people here to setup and Ichigo isn't even suppose to be here for a few more hours" stated Toshiro with a look that clearly stated he wasn't happy wasting time. He had given up a long time ago with getting anyone who was familiar with him to call him 'Captain'. Though he made sure that everyone else gave him the respect he deserved.

"Oh… well I suppose that I forgot to mention that we needed a few fill-ins for Ichigo's spot during our practice." replied Rangiku sheepishly.

After a moment of thought, realization his Toshiro as to what Rangiku was getting at. "There is absolutely no way I'm sitting up there and letting you women embarrass me by doing who knows what." said Toshiro decisively.

"Oh come now Toshiro. Let the girls have their fun. You might just enjoy the show." stated Kisuke with a hint of mischief in his voice. "Anyway, I'm off to find the perfect place to set up a spot for some future blackmail." he said casually as he walked off toward the stage. Toshiro wasn't sure what the man was up to but he knew he would probably regret not finding out later.

"Yes, as enjoyable as all the paperwork I have waiting back in my office." stated Toshiro gruffly, though a hint of a smile showed through the look on his face.

Everyone hurriedly got to work so they could all watch the practice run, as hearing bits and pieces of it from the women had everyone wondering what exactly they were going to put Ichigo and his 'substitutes' through. Considering the size of the club, holding around 300 when at maximum capacity, it didn't take them long to get everything pretty much done. They only really had to worry about the bar and stage, everything else just needed to be set up for a regular night. Rukia knew though that Ichigo would be happy that he didn't have to do that for once. It was usually part of his job to get the tables and chairs set up before the late night rush.

They decided to take an hour for a couple practice runs and then finish getting ready for Ichigo. As everyone gathered around the stage the girls first pulled Uryu up to sit in Ichigo's spot this time.

-Ichigo owes me big for this- thought Uryu, though he couldn't deny that he was kinda excited about what was going to happen. He knew he and Orihime would be two of the only people who remembered everything tonight since they still weren't old enough to drink.

As the girls sang through their song, dancing in provocative ways and causing most of the men in the room to blush; Uryu noticed Orihime walking up to him. She came up behind him and ran her hands down the front of his chest and walked around to the side of the chair and laid across it and Uryu's lap. As she laid there for several seconds, Uryu thought he was going to pass out, she was so close and his hands itched to touch her. He knew his face was several shades of red, but then he was brought out of his thoughts as she abruptly sat up and gave him a quick kiss. Uryu sat there in silence until the end of the song and afterward Orihime helped him off the stage and to a seat where he finally started to calm down.

Everyone stood up clapping for the performance and for how utterly embarrassed Uryu had been at the end. Rangiku noticed Toshiro trying to escape but quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him on stage for his 'turn'.

Before they started singing again, the girls discussed what they would do different this time, because of certain things that they felt didn't go right or they didn't like the first time around.

As Toshiro sat and watched the performance he did everything he could not to pay much attention to it. He didn't want to end up like Uryu and figured this was the only way for him to go about it. Toshiro was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Rangiku walk up to him. He had spaced off and was staring into his lap when a face appeared there with a rather noticeable set of breasts under it. Toshiro was startled back to reality when he realized that Rangiku was practically nose to nose with him. He went to move away from her, but only succeeded in hitting his head on the back of the chair. Before he could react, Rangiku had climbed onto his lap and proceeded to whisper something in his ear. By the time she got up he was twice as red as Uryu and in desperate need of some fresh air. Luckily though, the song ended soon after and he rushed outside to cool off.

The girls quickly discussed what they had liked of both performances and the changes they would make for the final one. Rukia was getting excited since it would soon be her turn with Ichigo.

Thankfully, Ichigo managed to get across town rather quickly, since it wasn't a busy time of day. He went into the front of the building to check if the order was ready. They said it was and that he needed to park around back so they could load it. After parking he got out of the vehicle and checked his watch. He noticed that it was around four so he had almost three hours before his shift started. As Ichigo climbed up to the loading dock, someone handed him the order forms so he could double check everything and then sign off on it. The first thing he noticed was that they had handed him the wrong order form. So after asking four different people about the issue, he finally got someone who gave him the right order form. As he went down the line reading off items as they were loaded into the Tahoe, he noticed that a couple things had been forgotten. So after spending 20 minutes arguing over the mix up in the paperwork and then another 30 minutes waiting on them to find the merchandise and get it loaded, Ichigo was finally ready to head back to the bar. It was right around five thirty when Ichigo started his way back through the traffic. He was glad everything was straightened out as fast as it was or he would be late getting back. Ichigo decided to sit back and relax and hopefully work would go better then the rest of his day had.

After the girls had caught their breath, everyone looked around for anything that needed finishing up before the guest of honor arrived. Rukia decided that it was about time for Ichigo to be on his way, especially after all the stuff she had set up to go wrong during his day. First getting Shinji to slip the information to that girl about Ichigo being out and then telling the guys at the distribution center to purposefully mess up the order. Ichigo would kill her if he ever found out she had planned it all. Hell, she figured he would be pissed off enough after he found out the trip itself was just a way to get him gone for the day, but she fully planned on making it up to him. After calming down from the excitement of everything going on around her, Rukia slipped out the front door to call Ichigo. She knew if she was inside, then he would surely recognize someone's voice and wonder what was going on. She dialed the number and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Oh hey Rukia, what's up?" questioned Ichigo.

"Oh, not much really. Just wondering if you were on your way. Shinji is beginning to think that you flaked on him." she responded laughing at the intentional jab that she knew would get Ichigo going.

"Why that untrusting ass. Like I've ever 'flaked' on anything while working or doing something for work." replied Ichigo. Rukia could just tell there was a scowl on his face and she felt sorry for anyone driving on the road with him at the moment.

"Well you know there was that one time you tried to leave and fight that guy who was hitting on Tatsuki. Unfortunately, I think everyone had a little too much to drink that night." laughed Rukia at the memory. It had taken a threat of Chad sitting on Ichigo and letting the fan girls go for what they could get for him to straighten up and get over his grudge.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Rukia. Anyway, I just left the distribution center a few minutes ago so I'll be there shortly before my shift starts." replied Ichigo.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." answered Rukia.

"Bye." came Ichigo's response before hanging up. He always had to have the last word, that ass.

Rukia went back inside and stood there admiring all their hard work. The large circle, oak bar was decorated with streamers and balloons. The center of the bar contained a round cooler that went to the ceiling and was covered with mirrors on the outside and had shelves containing different liquors that reflected off the glass. In the areas where there were no shelves, Rukia and Orihime had gathered together a ton of pictures of Ichigo from the time he was little until now. Some of the pictures were even from their time in Soul Society. The girls had arranged them in a collage fashion so that at the end of the night it could be removed and sent home with Ichigo. Rukia had laughed so hard at some of the pictures of Ichigo as a child that Isshin had supplied. Tatsuki had brought some of them from karate class, several of them including a crying Ichigo and overly happy Tatsuki. They even included some of them setting up the party tonight and they included everyone's signatures and a message from each guest to Ichigo.

The stage also had streamers and balloons, but also had an array of extra lighting; including some strobe lights and a fog machine. The catwalk had lights that trailed down each side and there was a large disco ball setting above where Ichigo would sit. Deciding that everything was finished, they just had to sit back and wait for Ichigo to get there.

"Alright everyone. Ichigo will be here in about an hour so we just need to tidy things up and get ready for one hell of a night!" shouted Rukia in hopes that everyone would hear her. She went to check on the final preparations and thought to herself, -Tonight is going to be perfect-.

Okay. Well, the next chapter is the big performance we've been waiting for. I hope everyone enjoys the show.

ORIGINAL POSTING DATE: May 21, 2009

WORDS: 3223