Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 17

For an hour, Izuru drowned his sorrows in few bottles of sake. His date abandoned him, his girlfriend left him, and any other woman passing by him gave him weary glares. There was only so much a man could take! He was about to leave for tonight when Shuuhei came up to him. Izuru was too consumed about his women woes to that he missed Shuuhei's performance.

"What do you want?" Izuru slurred to his best friend as he tried to by-pass the mountain of muscle standing in his way. Shuuhei caught his friend before he could go around him.

Shuuhei was glancing around the area. He was shocked to see Izuru drinking and all alone. "I thought Rukia was supposed to be with you. Where is she?" Concern laced Shuuhei's voice as he searched around for his petite friend.

"Oh, you mean the Ice Queen? Last time I saw her, she was talking to Momo probably bad mouthing me." Izuru groaned loudly. "How the hell did everything end up this badly, Shu? I didn't even want to date the girl then my father was like 'Son you must attempt to court the Kuchiki girl. Bring honor back to our clan, and win her heart!" Izuru mimicked in his father's voice before he returned to his depressed blank stare.

Izuru's over dramatic hand motions, slurring, and loose mouth were a clear signal to Shuuhei that his friend was drunk - extremely drunk at that! He knew that he'd need help with Izuru later so Shuuhei pulled out his phone from his pocket to call Momo when Izuru lunged at him. "Don't you dare call the witch! We broke up earlier!" A red faced Izuru yelled into Shuuhei's ear.

A loud sigh escaped Shuuhei's lips. He knew tonight was going to be a long night if both the girls were going to be pissed at Izuru. Maybe he could sober Izuru up and fix the mess Izuru was in. "Did you tell Momo that you were going to date Rukia because you had too?" Shuuhei asked. He hoped that Kira was smart and sensible about the whole situation, but Shuuhei highly doubted Izuru's capabilities with deal with the females at the moment and sometimes ever.

"I tried, but she didn't believe me! She thought I was trading her in for Rukia! I couldn't even get out that I was going to give Rukia to you when you got off stage." Izuru pouted as he tried to swipe more sake from a passing waiter. Izuru was so drunk that Shuuhei had to grab him before the drunk blonde face planted into the ground.

"How hard did you try to convince Momo that the date would be fake?" Shuuhei asked with no pity. He had a feeling he knew why Momo broke up with the idiot.

Izuru thought about it for a minute. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. A total dazed and confused look appeared over Izuru's face

"Just as I thought!" Shuuhei concluded. "You were more concerned about pleasing your parents and your fake date to explain everything to Momo. Why didn't you bakudo'd Momo to a chair to make her listen to your case as you plead your undying love? She would have seen you were honest and determined. She'd probably be pissed, but you could have easily made it up to her! But no! You had to argue and yell at her! Do you realize that YOU are the cause of all your heartache? Dumbass! You probably sent Momo on her own drinking binge, which Rukia saw her upset! Rukia, being the amazing lady that she is, probably went over there to see what was wrong. That's why you're such an idiot! You screwed over two wonderful women!" Shuuhei yelled at him as he slapped Izuru upside the head twice.

"What was that for?" Izuru yelled angrily at Shuuhei.

"I just freaking told you that! For a brief recap, you were an idiot and rude to two of the most wonderful ladies in the whole Soul Society! Momo nor Rukia deserved you being an ass, especially when you wouldn't even stand up for yourself!" Shuuhei growled at his drunk friend. He was trying to refrain from strangling Izuru.

"But why am I to blame? No one bloody cares about my feelings anymore!" Izuru cried. Tears started to slide down the man's eyes.

Shuuhei shook his head in aggravation. He's done everything possible to talk sense into the crying man in front of him. With the expectation of killing Izuru or join him in drunk oblivion, what was he supposed to do now?

After an hour of searching, Momo and Rukia found Izuru. They eyed him wearing seeing that he was drunk; although, the other person at the table surprised them. Shuuhei and his band had played amazingly earlier, but the girls didn't expect to see him sitting next to Izuru. The tattooed lieutenant looked a little uncomfortable patting Izuru on the back as he tried to pour coffee into drunk man's system.

The ladies approached them apprehensively. Rukia cleared her throat the get the men's attention. "Awe, look! It's the two most beautiful women in the Soul Society!" Shuuhei commented as he sent Rukia a wink.

Well at least one of the guys was happy to see them.

Rukia gave him a big grin while Momo was flushed from his sweet comment. "Hi, Shuuhei!" Then Rukia's vision landed on Izuru. "Is it safe? How much coffee have you managed to make him drink?"

"I'd say three to four cups so far. I've also been attempting to shove water down his throat, but he's having none of it!" Shuuhei complained.

"Is he that drunk still then?" Rukia asked since Izuru was still glassy eyed.

"He's better than what he was!" Shuuhei said with a laugh. "But apparently, he was drinking all his sorrows away because he thought that you and Momo were going to ganging up on him and probably murder him. Hence, the bottomless pit of empty sake bottles over there."

Momo appeared on the other side of Rukia after having hearing the tale. "Izuru! What have you done to yourself?" She ran to hug her boyfriend.

"What do you want, Princes Peach?" He mumbled. Rukia raised an eyebrow at him while Shuuhei shrugged. He knew better than to get in-between the love birds, especially when alcohol was involved.

"You idiot! I was coming to apologize to you because Rukia explained everything to me! Then I put two and two together! You were bringing her here for Shuuhei to hang out with! Why didn't you explain this to me earlier?" Momo said to Izuru. She turned back and gave Shuuhei and Rukia grateful glances.

Izuru grinned at her sheepishly. "Do you forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive, Izuru! But if it makes you feel better, I forgive you!" Mom squealed as she wrapped Izuru in a tight hug.

"Awe! Look how cute!" Shuuhei commented into Rukia's ear. She couldn't help but smile. "Why don't we leave the love bunnies to themselves while we go have fun on the dance floor?"

"I don't think I've had enough of sake to dance how they are moving out on the floor!" Rukia joked; although, she was particularly serious.

"I could always go get you some." Shuuhei commented earning a playful glare from Rukia. " Or better yet, I could teach you some new moves! I promise you won't regret it!" Shuuhei said with a devilish smile.

Damn the man was handsome! Even his rock look only enhanced his sex appeal. The leather pants and the tight black shirt only emphasized his muscular physique. Okay, so maybe dancing with him wouldn't kill me.

Shuuhei wrapped a hand around her waist as he walked Rukia to the dance floor. Her nerves sent slight trembles down her body as they were engulfed in the sea of people. "Don't be nervous, Rukia. You'll do great! Just follow my lead." Shuuhei's eyes held a gleam of confidence and a bit of something extra.

For the second time in the past week, Rukia was on the dance floor. Fortunately, the chances of her running into any influence nobles were slim, so she decided to let loose a little bit. Shuuhei was an excellent teacher and the perfect gentleman grabbing her in all the right places. Rukia felt extremely comfortable with him.

The duo stayed on the dance floor until Rukia felt another pair of arms wrap around her waist. But this grip was different that Shuuhei's. She turned around to punch the forward asshole in his face only to see Iba standing there grinning like an idiot.

He looked over Rukia's shoulder to Shuuhei. "It's my turn now, bro." Shuuhei nodded in acceptance as he left the two to dance.

Rukia turned her attention to Iba. "Did you want a fist in your face? I thought you were some perv!" She yelled at him so he could hear her over the music.

"Nah, beautiful. I just wanted to surprise you! I couldn't let Shuuhei have all the fun now could I?"

"Shuuhei has fun no matter where he's at. Rukia concluded she watched Shuuhei try to go to the bar only to get tackled by a drunk Rangiku. She pulled him back on the floor to dance. "But I think he'll be just fine."

Rukia laughed as Iba swept her through the dancing bodies. He attempted to show her a new style involving extremely close body contact so she slipped away only to wind up in another man's arms yet again. Emerald green eyes greeted her.

"Hi, Ulquiorra!" She said happily as Iba and Shuuhei glared at them. Iba was so focused on Rukia that he didn't see Rangiku in front on him with free, large bottle of sake until Rangiku nearly poured it on him, and Shuuhei deterred from glaring at them when he was confronted by three of his female admirers.

"Oh, they are such a trip!" Rukia exclaimed as she swayed in Ulquiorra's arms to a slow song.

"Trip?" Ulquiorra asked. He expected Rukia to explain her weird phrase.

"It's a phrase in the World of the Living. It means funny."

"Ah, okay." He replied still slightly confused a to how trip could mean funny.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" Rukia asked curiously.

"Kukaku and the two fullbringers are here. It's like a big family field trip!" He said with sarcasm.

Rukia tried not to laugh. She was proud of the ex-Espada for attempting to blend in and become a part of the Soul Society. So she just continued to sway with Uliquiorra as he told her more about his life with Kukaku and her gang.

After two songs, Kukaku signaled to Ulquiorra that it was time to go. "Thank you for dancing, Rukia." He said with a bow before leaving to find his new family.

Feeling hungry, Rukia made her way off the dance floor to a food stall to grab food. She retreated back to her friends with a cup of sake, ramen, and fried dumplings in tow. The table Izuru and Momo grabbed was now combined with another additional one to accommodate all their friends. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, Rangiku, Shuuhei and Iba were all at the table. Cups of sake were passed around like water glasses. But Rukia knew her limit. She only had two while the rest of the group was still drinking except surprisingly for Renji.

Shortly after she finished her food, Ikkaku grabbed Rukia and toted her back out to the dance floor. Sometimes being so small had its disadvantages. Out on the floor, Ikkaku was trying to make up for feeling left out. He wanted at least one dance with Rukia too so he had to attempt to teach her his lucky dance. But he ended up with a foot in the face when he tried to pick her up like a baton. "Put me down, cue ball head!" was the last words he heard for 10 minutes. Ikkaku kept seeing little stars pass by his head while Yumichika fanned him and threw water. Nothing Yumichicka tried worked to bring Ikkaku back from to the land of the living or the soul reaper version of it anyway.

While Rukia was occupied with yelling insults at the dazed Ikkaku, Renji swooped out of nowhere and threw her over his shoulder. Angry shouts of their friends followed them as he flash stepped with Rukia to a wooded area on the outskirts of the festival.

"Let me go, you stupid baboon!" Rukia kept yelling at him while she pounded on his back, but her efforts were in vain.

"Why should I?" Renji answered in a smug tone. He liked having control of the petite soul reaper for a change. Rukia started to move around again only to have Renji readjusted her on his shoulder and slapped her butt to her astonishment.

"What the hell was that for, Renji?" Rukia asked in astonishment.

"I can't kick you in your butt to make you be still so that slap had to work. Now, shut up so I can concentrate!"

"You mean like how you're already planning on how to avoid my brother after this?" Rukia responded coldly. Her friend recognized that deadly tone.

"Rukia just enjoy my company! Who knows how many more times we can hang out, especially if you marry a stuffy noble." Boy, he sure did know how to take most of the fire out of her. "Besides, I am looking for a great place for us to talk like old time! It's easier just to carry you around."

"Then put me down! I promise to refrain from killing you for patting my ass." Rukia said sweetly. Renji knew if he could see her eyes she'd be batting her eyelashes with an "I'm going to kill you" smile gracing her gorgeous face.

"But if I put you down just yet, someone else may steal you." He whined. Renji also didn't believe that Rukia wouldn't try to kill him. Although he was pretty sure if Ichigo or Byakuya found out then he would be a walking dead man – more so than normal.

"Who's going to steal me out here? We're in the woods by ourselves. If I didn't know you any better, Renji, I would question your intentions." Rukia said calmly hoping that Renji couldn't see the murderous glint in her eye. In all honestly, she was just going to kick in the shins a few times and maybe punch him in the face a time or two. She'd never deathly hurt her childhood friend.

He ignored her jab at his character. Realizing he picked a fight that he never could win, Renji left out a huff. "You'd be surprised who hides in the shadows." He said as he placed Rukia on the ground. His eyes widened ins horror to watch her disappear into the shadows along the ground.

This could only be the work of one person, and he was dead set on winning the betting pool of Rukia's love life. "Dammit! Why couldn't you wait till I got the information from her!" He yelled at the hidden captain.

"Shut up Renji! You're not even on her list of suitors so stop complaining!" Yoruichi said as she emerged from the shadows with a glimmer of a pink kimono by her side.

"But I'm betting on them just like you!" He complained to them. "I thought we were on the same team!"

"Pineapple head, everyone is betting on her love life. I might as well find out who's going to win from her, or rather sees who comes to rescue her." Yoruichi replied with a wink.

"Dammit, Yoruichi! You and Captain Kyoraku aren't playing fair!"

"Relax, Renji! She'll be fine! We'll treat her wonderfully!" Kyoraku said with a devilish glint under his wide brown hat.

"Besides my brother can entertain her while we wait for you." Yoruichi stepped up to thump Renji on the nose. "Didn't you know all is fair in love and war?" Yoruichi asked with a wink right before she and Kyoraku disappeared back into the shadows going who knows where.

"Byakuya's going kill me for this! Hell, so is Ichigo." A frantic Renji exclaimed as he paced around trying to plot his next step.

Hi, all my lovely readers! Thank you for reading! I hope you loved this fun chapter! Let me know what you think!