oOOOo
When they opened, we were met by a quick burst of flashes from Yumichika's camera.
Holding Momo's hand, we walked in the room as the guests clapped to welcome the birthday-girl.
The birthday girl
"Everyone! Don't panic! The venue is ready, everything's set!" Rangiku screamed. "DO NOT PANIC!"
"We got it, Ran. Geez." Rukia yawned, as she checked her watch. "Alright people, pucker up, 10 minutes to go!"
"And don't panic!"
I sat by one of the big round tables with a bouquet of red roses as the center-piece and scattered petals all over the white cloth. Momo was in some other room, doing whatever girls do to prepare for parties, accompanied by Orihime, and her mom.
The venue they chose was the biggest one available here in Karakura, usually used for all sorts of community events. The white walls were decorated by hundreds of pink and red paper-butterflies, one of the few jobs the girls left for us boys to do. Along the butterfly-things, thin strings of light hung down the walls into cascades.
The red heavy curtains were all pulled to the sides of the large floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a beautiful view of the sunset on the beach.
"Hey, grumpy fella!" Rangiku smacked my shoulder with all her might. "You should go and get ready with Momo, the guests will be here soon."
Nodding, I stood up and got my coat "Off I go." I sighed, as I made my way to search for Momo. Maybe I should've asked Rangiku in which room she was supposed to get ready. I'll just text her, it's got to be one of these doors in the hallway.
Excuse me sir, can you tell me where I might find Platform 9 and 3 quarters? – Toushirou
At the end of the hallway, the door next to the stairs, Mr. Potter. Think you're being funny? :P – Momo
Huh… she actually got the joke. I thought to myself as I made my way to the said door.
I wonder how Momo's feeling, she must be excited for her party.
Oh, can you bring me some food? I'm sooooo hungry! – Momo
What? I'm already here though! Ugh. What do you want to eat? – Toushirou
Hmmm burger and fries. Oh, and some ice cream! – Momo
Jeez. – T
Mwaaaaah! – M
I hung my coat on the doorknob and turned to leave.
On my way out of the big building, I saw Kira pacing back and forth in front of the double glass doors.
What the hell is he doing? "You okay?" I asked, once I reached him.
He looked at me, surprised by my sudden presence "Toushirou. I'm nervous." On cue, his hand reached for the back of his neck.
"Nervous for what?" I glanced at my watch; the party is gonna start soon, I better hurry up and get the damned burger and fries before she turns into a hungry demon.
"What if I trip while we dance? I don't want to ruin her party! Oh, my palms are sweaty. I don't want to touch her with sweaty hands. Do you have a napkin?" Kira spurred out in a nervous breakdown.
"Calm down. You'll be just fine." With a reassuring pat on his shoulder, I handed him my handkerchief and left.
Momo's favorite fast food is not so far from here, but I still need to hurry up, so that she can eat before she has to make her appearance at the party.
In 10 minutes I managed to get back to the venue; people were already filling up the place, while familiar and friendly faces greeted each other. The two heavy wooden doors, leading to that big room we all worked so hard to decorate, were open, welcoming the guests as they arrived. Momo's parents stood by the doors to greet each guest.
Where's my food? – M
Ok, no time to waste, better feed her before she really turns into a demon. With the paper bag in my hand, I rushed to her changing room and knocked. "If you don't have food, you can't get in!" I heard her chirpy voice from the other side of the old wooden door.
"I've got burger, fries, cola and ice cream!" The door sprung open, and there she was. Her eyes sparkled in happiness, directed to the paper bag in my hand.
She pulled the said paper bag and me in the room before I could even react, and I saw Rangiku with her hands in her hair, desperation clearly etched on her face. "Momo! We still have to fix your hair!"
"My hair doesn't need any fixing, it looks fine!" Momo shrugged as she devoured the burger in a matter of seconds, along with the fries "Ah… this is soooo good!" She gave me a thumbs-up, "You're the best, Mr. Escort."
"More like 'errand boy'." I rolled my eyes.
"Is everyone already here?" Rukia asked me, looking the exact opposite of Rangiku: calm and composed.
"I don't know, probably." I glanced back towards the door. "Should I go and check?"
"NO!" Rangiku screamed "I'll go and check, you" she incriminatingly pointed at me "stay here with that little pest over there. I'm going to check and let you know when you have to make your grand entrance!"
Momo stuck her tongue out as Rangiku left the room "My hair looks fine like this, ne, Toushirou?"
I glanced at her, sitting on a chair in her strapless red dress, with a heart-shaped neckline decorated with lacy and sparkly things, the skirt was wide, also covered in lace, but less sparkly than the upper part of the dress. A big and super sparkly necklace donned her slim neck, making up for the space the deep neckline of her dress offered. Her hair was pulled up in some sort of complicated looking twirly and braided bun, some strands of her hair fell in curls, but she still looked good. "It looks okay."
Her eyes look kind of different than usual.
"It's just make up and false lashes!" Momo batted her eyes after reading my mind. "And I didn't read your mind, you said that out loud." She grinned "It's kind of heavy on the eyes, but it looks great!" She fluttered her lashes on cue. "Doesn't it?"
Sighing, I stuffed the spoon filled with ice cream in her mouth "Shut up and finish your food, or Rangiku's going to have some sort of mental breakdown."
"And we need to re-touch your make up before you go out there." Orihime said with a smile, prepping whatever sort of make-up she had to use on Momo.
"I feel like a celebrity with all of this make-up and with this dress." Momo laughed in her usual wacky way. It's kind of funny seeing her acting in her usual careless attitude while being dolled up so carefully. "I can't wait to get these false lashes off and eat without worrying about messing up my dress."
"Why are you even eating, you've got a buffet waiting for you four rooms from here." Rukia laughed. "Hello? Ran?" She then answered her phone. "Okay, let me know when they're closing the doors, I'll send them out then." She stayed silent for a second, then suddenly pushed the phone away from her ear "Calm down, will you!? Jeez, you're going to destroy my eardrums. What? You want me to what?" I swear, I saw her steal a glance towards Momo then me. "Oh. Okay. I can do that. Bye."
"Oh gosh, is that our cue?" Momo jumped up from her seat, licking off the ice cream from her lips.
"Ah, the ever so graceful Momo Hinamori." I muttered, earning a sucker punch on my arm. "OW."
The girls busied themselves with their final touch-ups, or whatever they called it. I went out on the balcony to enjoy the sunset over the sea, suddenly feeling nervous for the party.
"Toushirou." I heard Momo say as she stood behind me. "Thank you." She said with a shy tone in her voice.
"You're very much welcome." I glanced at her when she finally made her way next to me. "What is this? Did you get taller?"
She turned to look at me, in her full toothed grin "Yah! I grew up overnight. Totally not because of these skyrocket-high heels." Her foot peeked out of her big-ass skirt, showing her black high heel.
"Right, those traps are going to make you trip and roll on the floor later." I teased.
"Hush, I practiced walking with these 'traps' for weeks!" She answered confidently. "Plus, you'll be next to me the whole time, I'll drag you down with me if I fall."
I laughed and glanced down, only to realize that I didn't have my coat on.
"Looking for this?" Momo pulled up my black suit, which she was apparently hiding behind her huge skirt "You should have told me you were already at my door when I asked for food, earlier."
I shrugged "It's no big deal." I reached for my suit, but she pulled back with a silly smile.
"Let me help you put it on. Just like in the movies!" She was almost jumping up and down in excitement, and in a second she was helping me put my coat on. She even went ahead and straightened my necktie. Her brows furrowed in concentration, though I had no idea what she had to concentrate about when she was just straightening my necktie.
She looks cute, though. Wait.
What?
"Alright, newly-wed couple over there, you two need to go now." Rukia teased. "Wait for Rangiku's intro before going in, the doors will open on cue."
oOOOo
"I'm so nervous."
We were standing side by side, in front of the closed wooden doors, waiting for Rangiku's cue to walk in. Momo was fidgeting with her hands, a rare sight for this bright girl which caught me off guard.
"What if I trip because of my heels?" She turned her chocolate-brown eyes at me, in a silent plea. "What if I trip and roll on the floor, like you told me earlier?"
"You practiced on those traps for weeks, didn't you?" I reassured her. "Plus, I'll be next to you the whole time." I could hear music playing on the other side of the wooden doors, I think this is our cue. "I'm not going to let you fall."
Her eyes widened in surprise, and before she could say anything, the doors began to creak open.
When they opened, we were met by a quick burst of flashes from Yumichika's camera. Holding Momo's hand, we walked in the room as the guests clapped to welcome the birthday-girl.
We reached the end of the room, where a temporary stage with a white antique couch stood at its center, surrounded by decorations in red and pink.
When she sat on the couch, while I stood next to her, I stole a glance at her face, worried that she might be uncomfortable from all the eyes in the room staring at her.
But there she was, less than a minute ago she was close to tears from anxiety, now smiling in such a dazzling way as she greeted happily every single guest from where she sat.
I couldn't help but smile. This girl is going to drive me crazy.
Wait… what?
Shaking my head, Rangiku went ahead to liven up the party. When the introduction to the party's program ended, we went to our designated table, where the rest of the gang sat.
"You two look like a newly-wed couple."
"Where are you going for your honeymoon?"
"Hey, pass the bouquet to Yumichika later."
In the midst of the group's teasing, Momo and I sat between Rukia and Kira, as Momo bickered with everyone.
"Want to switch seats?" I whispered to Kira after noticing his endless stolen glances towards Momo.
He quickly shook his head, his face flushing immediately. "That would be too obvious."
Shrugging, I turned to Momo. "What do you want to eat?"
She glanced towards the long row of food across the room. "It's okay, I can go and get it."
"What are you even talking about, Momo. He's your slave for this evening! Use him!" Rangiku began rubbing her hands together, with an evil glint in her eyes. "Ne, Toushirou, why don't you go ahead and get a huge fill of curry, tonkatsu, seafood pasta, and—"
"Hey hey hey, he's Momo's escort, not yours." Rukia nudged Rangiku and pointed her finger to the rest of the guys. "Be useful like Toushirou and get food for all of us."
Following the girls' orders, we made our way to line up for food at the buffet tables.
"Dude, seriously though," Ichigo swung his arm over my shoulders and whispered "Momo and you look like a couple."
I rolled my eyes and began grabbing all sorts of food "Ha-ha. Funny."
Renji was nodding to himself "Momo looks stunning, dolled up and everything."
Ikkaku went ahead to smack him right on the forehead "Stop having dirty thoughts, you baboon head."
"WHAT? I'm not having those kinds of thoughts, you stupid bald head!"
The two continued their bickering, Ichigo continued his teasing, and I was mentally thanking God that Kira decided to stay back at the table with Ishida and the girls. "Stop that. You know Kira likes her."
"Yeah, everyone does. And I think everyone also knows that it's time for him to move on and understand that sometimes, things don't go as we want them to." Ichigo shrugged, "Too bad, too sad, he's already been rejected, man. Too many times."
Ah, the sad and cruel truth. Poor Kira, everyone used to root for him, now they just want him to give up and move on.
I wonder if Momo's going to give him a chance this time.
I snapped out of it. Why am I having these thoughts. That's none of my business.
"Agreed." Renji interrupted my train of thoughts with his mouth full of whatever he was eating.
oOOOo
After eating all sorts of food, playing countless silly party games and other traditional ceremonies for the party, it was time for the dances.
Kira couldn't sit still on his seat, I could see him from the stage.
Momo made me sit next to her on the white couch, saying how stupid it seemed for me to just stand there while she was sitting pretty.
"Now, it's time for the last and most awaited event." Rangiku cheered. "The 18 Roses!"
The 17 chosen guys were already lined up, each of them with a red rose in their hand.
The dances started off with Momo's dad, slow music engulfed the room and covered the buzz from people talking.
I decided to join the other 17 roses, waiting for my turn. Kira was the 17th rose.
"T-t-t-toushirou, I hope I won't mess up."
I rolled my eyes "Don't worry, you just have to sway slowly to the beat. It's going to be okay."
"Is my dance with Momo going to last that long?" His eyes widened in panic. "I can't last that long with her."
"No, man. That's the first dance, it's always the dance that takes up a lot of time." I laughed, since that was something everyone in this village knew about. "Calm down, you'll be fine."
As everyone took their turn to dance with Momo, people laughed when Renji took his turn and danced some sort of tribal dance, Ikkaku danced with weird crab moves, Ishida turned slow dancing to salsa, for which I have absolutely no idea how he did it, and then it was Kira's turn.
"Go, dude!" I gave him a small push towards the middle of the room, where Momo stood holding 16 roses in her small hand.
A part of the room started cheering, I guess other students from our school know about Kira's one-sided-love.
As they slowly danced, I noticed Momo suddenly blush. She looked at Kira with sad yet serious eyes and he averted his gaze from hers. The atmosphere between them turned awkward, and their dance dragged on until it was my turn.
Momo smiled as I handed her the last rose. "Toushirou."
With a hand on her waist, and the other helping her hold the roses, we began slowly swaying to the music. "What is it?"
Her eyes moved back towards the big wooden doors, as she's been doing during the whole party. "He's not coming, is he?"
Aizen. I tilted my head, cutting off her sight of the door. "You're still waiting for him?"
"Not anymore." She paused, not saying a thing for a couple of seconds. "My feet hurt."
I burst into laughter. "And here I thought you were going to say something serious!"
She couldn't hold back a smile of her own "It is serious."
Our eyes met in the midst of our laughter, and something happened. In that moment, in that instant, something changed. I don't know what, or why, but I just knew that everything was going to be different from that moment.
As our dance came to an end, a shiver ran up my spine. No.
No, no, no. This can't happen.
I clenched my hands into fists as I let her go. She smiled, a kind of smile I've never seen before.
No.
oOOOo
Countless games went on, laughter and music filled the room. In other words, the party was a blast.
"Before we end this party, let us all have one final dance." Rangiku announced, "Everyone, find yourselves a partner!"
Slow music started to play, old married couples began to fill the dancefloor. Friends went ahead and joined in. Ichigo (obviously) invited Rukia to dance, Renji went with Orihime, Ikkaku found himself a partner from another table, so did Ishida, while Yumichika was busy taking photos of everyone. Rangiku was busy talking with some guy, so only Kira, Momo and I were left at our table.
'Come on man, this is your chance.' I tried to telepathically tell Kira through a wide-eyed stare, but he just blankly looked back at me and shook his head. "I'm going to the toilet, you two should go ahead and dance." He said instead.
My brows shot up in surprise. Did I just hear that right? This was such a huge chance for him. I glanced at Momo, her back was turned to me so I couldn't see her facial expression. What happened during the 18 Roses with Kira?
Then she turned towards me with a smile "They all look like they're having fun, huh?"
I glanced at the people on the dancefloor "I can't disagree." I smiled, "They're all enjoying themselves. I guess it's pretty normal, you know we don't have many big events to celebrate here."
"I'm glad I organized my birthday party to be this grand, then." She turned back to look at the guests with a smile.
Around 10 pm people started to leave, the next day they were going to repeat their usual routine.
We started tidying up the venue after letting Momo's parents go home, while the birthday girl decided to stay behind and help.
Something was weird, though. Kira and Momo, to be specific. I wonder if it has anything to do with what he told her when they were dancing.
And what exactly did he tell her? Momo tried to approach him earlier, but he seemed off, so distant and awkward. In fact, he didn't even stay behind to help us, which is quite unusual for him.
"Did Kira tell you?" Renji whispered, but his whisper was way too loud to be even called a whisper.
"What?"
"I don't know, man. Whatever happened with him and Momo! Like, when they were dancing!" On cue, Renji got whacked on the back of his head.
"Can you guys keep it down?" Rukia hushed both me and Renji, though why I was included in the scolding, I have no idea. "I can hear you across the room."
"Alright, the three of you. Instead of chatting, mind your own businesses and clean up so we can go home." Ichigo divided the three of us, and once again, I'm still not sure why I got included in their scolding.
I headed towards the long tables that held the buffet, the catering service already took away their food containers and whatnots, all I had to do was throw away all the plastic cups sitting randomly on the tables.
I wonder, though. Did he confess again?
Momo was on the other end of the row of tables, I could see her wincing.
Before I knew it, I was already standing by her side, holding her up when she almost stumbled down. "You okay?"
She laughed it off. "Yeah, thank God this didn't happen during the party."
"Oh, Momo-chan. Your feet must be killing you." Orihime said with a concerned look.
"It's okay, I already took my high heels off." Momo pointed towards the white couch where she sat before, as her shoes rested under it.
She lifted up her skirt to check her feet, they were swollen and incredibly red on the sides. "It's not as bad as it looks. I'm okay!"
"You're actually walking with bare feet when they're in that state."
"It's okay, it's okay." She dismissively waved her hand. "I brought a pair of sandals to change into anyway–"
"I'll go and get them" I said as I helped her up on the stage to sit on the white couch. "Stay here."
After a long sigh, she agreed "Aye, sir."
I went to the said changing room and looked for her shoes or sandals, or whatever she brought.
And only in that moment did the things that happened during the past week really sink in my head.
The preparations, me being her escort, Kira probably confessing again, Momo still waiting for that Aizen guy… and that… moment. How is that even supposed to be called? It never happened to me before.
I quickly shook my head, pushing these thoughts in some dark corner in my brain. Everything I've done was in favor of a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
I didn't expect to enjoy the party as much as I did. I didn't expect to be surprised by Momo's dolled up appearance. I didn't expect to enjoy being by her side during the whole party.
Ughhh stop having weird thoughts. Yeah, I really should stop. Oh, there are her sandals. God, they're so small; have her feet always been so small?
There's no reason for me to have such thoughts. My best friend is madly in love with her, I can't do this to him. I made my way back to the main room where everyone was at, and I noticed Renji and Ikkaku standing by its entrance, whispering to one another while focusing their attention on one direction.
"What's going on?" I asked, immediately smelling something fishy about their middle-aged-women-like-behavior.
"Hurry! Look over there!" Renji whispered loudly enough for me to hear as I approached them.
"He's pretty cute." Ikkaku quickly added with a nod.
"Who is?"
I curiously peeked in the room; Orihime, Rangiku and Rukia were grouped up in the left side of the room, whispering and bickering with each other; Ichigo and Ishida were still concentrated on their tasks of cleaning up the venue; I looked up on the stage where I left Momo and a tall unfamiliar figure was standing next to her.
She was looking up at him with a huge smile on her face, and I quickly understood who it was.
"That's Aizen Sousuke."
A/N: Hello everyoneeeeee! It's been so long since I last updated, I'm so sorry! I've just been so busy with university and all of that jazz, this year is my last year as a student (yay) and I can't wait to just get over school and everything. I'm currently in the middle of my exam sessions, but I did my best to finish this as soon as I could!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please do leave a review or PM me and let me know what you think
XOXO
SNOWYFOREST