Thanks go out to all my patient readers for hanging on! You rock!
Up till now, no one had been so much as delighted to be put up on the block. Moreover, this thing had begun to look like a morbid funeral procession after Ulquiorra's arrival and departure.
That was, until Rukia found out she was being put up on bid for all the customers to clammer at.
Her spontaneous outburst, which could only be interpreted as a somewhat overjoyed chortle, bounds off the walls of the studio and back as she scurries around the swarm of auction-goers and under the trampling feet of people far taller than herself. Arriving at the head of the stage, she grabs onto the edge of the platform and hauls herself up at my feet.
MisplacedSanity: "Looks like I'm going to have to up the ante, eh? (no, I'm not Canadian)."
"I never thought you were," I say.
"Rukia, whaddaya say to a British armada of Chappies? In 358 colors. With some that change different colors when you put them out in the sun. They also sing and dance to good music. And I'll borrow Ichigo for a bit, and clone him 45 times so they can all be your personal butlers. Or you can just kick 'em whenever you feel the need to. They're clones. They don't mind."
"Eeee!" Rukia begins to leap up and down quickly, clapping her hands so fast they're a blur.
The ink black strands of her hair bob to the rhythm of her movement.
"Gimmeeee!"
The cluster of auction-goers jam-packed into the assembly arena buzzed with activity, now in earnest.
In the heat of the flurry Kiyone and Sentaro began a fierce battle of elbow-jabbing which resulted in them diving for the other's neck and flopping down onto the ground, entangled in an epic clash, under the feet of the crowd. A few scattered individuals hop out of the way to avoid being dragged into the fray.
At the back of the aisle parting the formation of chairs aligned in order for the guests on either side of the stadium, people began to bustle. The group of bodies pressed in together in the passage part, stepping into the rows of chairs to make way for someone who was crawling up the aisle at a snail's pace.
I step back a fraction as a bloody hand grips the edge of the platform. Alchemistofpeace comes into view, all tattered and bloody, and crawls up to Ukitake with much effort before grabbing his robes and dragging herself up to see him face-to-face.
"Please, Jushiro-san. End this. End it now. I don't care who you pick. I am going to DIE if I keep it up with Anime-kisses." With that, she flops down onto the floor and slithers away.
"Well," I say, "there's really no need to display Anime-kisses' review. Jushiro has already chosen." I throw my arms into the air and grin insanely. "CONGRATS TO ANIME-KISSES! YOU'VE WON UKITAKE!"
"It was really hard. Alchemistofpeace, you were so close." My shoulders slump with relief now that the situation has resolved itself. "Don't worry! You can keep trying. There are still plenty of characters left to be put up on the block. The same goes for everybody else."
Ukitake chuckles, all chipper now, and bounces up on his feet, adjusts his uniform, straightening out the creases so he'll look proper, before heading backstage to well-acquaint himself with his owner.
Rukia shouts out loudly to her commander and flaps her arms around in what is reminiscent of a gesture good-bye. The motion picks up a gust of air in my direction, fanning me.
maaka oro: "I bid an army of magic ninja bunnies for Rukia, 15,000 strong. Now if anyone messes with her or Chappy, the ninja bunnies will snap their necks. And then nom a brustlesprout, cuz they rock like that." :)
The petite woman looks back at me with round, owl-like eyes the size of saucers.
"Can I have them?" she squeaks.
I shrug my shoulders. "Unless that's who you've chosen, then, yeah, it's cool." Rukia squirms on the spot, gnawing on her lip indecisively and wringing her slender hands together with inner conflict.
Mangareader125: "(Hopefully, I'm not too late!)"
"No," I inform. "In fact, things are just getting started!"
"For Rukia, I would like to bid a hundred paper hearts that have a special chappy collectible item on each one, a magical pen that will never run out of ink, and that also brings life to the things you draw if you will it to do so, a matching sketch pad that will never run out of pages, and finally, a pound of the finest seaweed in the world so you have it when Byakuya wants you to get it for him (reference to the Bleach 3rd Phanton video-game)."
Rukia plops down on her bottom, legs crossed, brow creased, lips pursed. IT WAS SO HARD TO CHOOSE FROM ALL THE CUTENESS!
The dark: "I'll give Rukia a Chappy planet where Chappy bunnies roam 4 someone 2 make queen Chappy."
Rukia squeals and tosses her weight back onto the floor, rolling back and forth so fast she's a blur.
"EEEEK!"
Everybody from the Bleach cast is quiet for once. They'd all been outdone.
I put my hands over my ears to muffle the sounds of delight being emitted by the raven-haired Shinigami and exit offstage.
To be continued...
da man wit da plan and 0Kuro Tenshi0, I have received your advanced plans and will definity use them when the time comes. Congrats again to Anime-kisses for winning Jushiro Ukitake. My sympathies go out to Alchemistofpeace. I assure you, you can continue to bid.
Right now, Misplacedsanity, maaka oro, Mangareader125 and The dark are at the top of the list for Rukia. You can stick with the bids you have now, but I recommend submitting another just so you'll feel covered.