Six clouds in the blue heavens
Title - Clouds In the Blue Heavens
Characters - from Bleach (deep apologies to Kubo-san).
Notes - ravens_rising+blonde hair colour=crack AU fic. But I'm kinda getting into it...
Summary - Alternate reality for our friends from Bleach as the characters work in two rival host bars, Cloud and Throne.
Part One (The best job in the world...)
Part Two (Being hired usually isn't like this.)
Part Three (First song)
Part Four (Last drink)
Part Five (Celebration and cake)
Part Six (Mentor and judge)
~-~-~-
Ping-wirr-wirr-wiir-wirr-click.
Ping-wirr-wirr-wiir-wirr-click.
When Juushiro entered the locker room at Cloud, he found the source of the strange noise: Renji was flicking a coin around the table. As he watched from the doorway Renji picked up the coin again, flicked it with his finger (ping) and watched it dance around the table (wirr) before stopping it with his palm (click). He didn't even seem to register Juushiro's entrance, so he just moved on silently into the room.
By the time Juushiro had tidied up for the night ahead, he found the noise, and lack of conversation, to be absolutely grating. He moved in behind Renji and the next time he flicked the coin, Juushiro stopped it with his own palm, click. Finally this elicited a response from Renji, but not quite what he expected. What he expected was for the redhead to react with his usual hot temperament, but now he just turned sallow dark eyes on Juushiro.
"Wha- What ever is the matter with you, Renji? Sulking like this is completely beyond you, isn't it?"
The man looked down at his hands, picked up the coin and started fiddling with it.
"I... I bought a tie."
Juushiro couldn't help a breath of a laugh escaping his lips, but successfully held himself back from an outright guffaw.
"You bought a tie! And?"
"And..."
"Oh. Perhaps you remember Shunsui's advice? Good for you! Kuchiki is cold on the outside, but I'm sure that he will help a nakama* like you out with it. Well then," Juushiro straightened up and gave Renji a jaunty salute, "I will just go and get the chairs set up for tonight. Take your time!"
"Eh? Take my- take my time with what?" Renji seemed to be staring after Juushiro, and Shunsui for that matter, thinking 'what the heck' a lot recently.
Unfortunately he didn't have a lot of time to think about it alone, for he heard Juushiro cheerily greet someone out in the main room. Moments afterwards, Kuchiki entered the room, gave Renji a usual cool nod, and said "Good evening."
Tramping down on his irrational nervousness, and giving a hard kick to his pride for good measure, Renji stood up and walked over to Kuchiki with a fast stride.
"Kuchiki," Renji began, his hand going to his pocket, "I would like your help with something."
"Mmm?" The man carefully hung his long dark coat before turning to Renji. "What is it?"
"I'm going to try a new look tonight. I bought a tie. And-" calm dark eyes regarded him. They looked rather blue in this light- He stopped that tangent and fished the tie out of his pocket. "And, I need help tying it. If you would, please..."
"Ah, I see." Kuchiki raised his hand and Renji passed over the tie. "I was wondering if you would ever try it. I see, you are wearing the shirt from the other day. You are prepared. Well then, you just go like this," and he reached around Renji and placed the tie about his shoulders. "Make sure it lies flat under the collar," and his narrow fingers pulled up the collar, laid the tie along the crease, then folded the collar back down. Renji's neck craned to the side to try and watch the other man's fingers. "Then like this, and like this." He tied the knot and pulled the end through almost too fast for Renji to follow. "You might want to wear it a bit loose, like this," he then pulled the knot up and down until he was satisfied with the effect. The then put his hands on Renji's shoulders and turned him towards the long mirror. "I hope this is satisfactory?"
Renji looked at himself in the mirror, then looked at Kuchiki's face that was hovering behind his shoulder. He smiled at the reflection. "It's great. I think- the ladies will really like it. But you did it kind of fast..."
"Oh? In that case, ask me any time to do it for you. If the ladies do indeed like the look, we can't disappoint them." With that Kuchiki turned back to his locker, leaving Renji reflecting in the mirror.
-~-~-~
In the main room, another tie was being taken care of.
"Ah, I will have to think of something new to tease him about," sighed Shunsui as he quickly finished off Juushiro's tie. "But that was a lot of fun. Well, maybe I can still get a little mileage out of it."
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Juu said with an enigmatic smile, giving his friend a pat on the arm in thanks.
"Yah. Like, what about that hair. It looks fine down, but imagine it, say... in a ponytail!"
Juu snickered. "A ponytail?"
"High up on the back of his head! Oh, that's even better. He'd look like- a red pineapple!"
Juu couldn't help but dissolving into a laughing fit at the mental image. Shun joined him, gasping, "pretty good, eh?"
They were laughing together so hard that they didn't even notice the entrance of Kisuke, who then came up behind them and clouted them on the shoulders.
"What's the joke? I could use a laugh."
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Shunsui said, trying to dismiss it. However they both knew that it wouldn't work, so Juushiro said, "just imagining Renji with a different look."
"Oh, that would be interesting," Kisuke said with a grin. "Listen, guys. We'll be having a very important guest coming tonight. I'll need you all on your toes, and everyone will be pitching in to clean this place spotless-" Kisuke swept his gaze around the room then smiled widely. "Well, not that this place isn't always kept up well! Juu, we'll have to keep your requests light because I want the VIP to come to you. Unless," and his smile slipped, "she requests someone else. But we'll deal with it if it comes."
~-~-~-
The night moved on as it always did, but if the ladies noticed that the hosts were a bit more attentive than usual, or that Juushiro had a few less people around him, they didn't think too much of it. It was a bit unusual for Kisuke to be in front of house, but his easygoing nature made the atmosphere just that much more fun.
It was fairly late into the night when a very tall young woman strode through the doors and was greeted by Kisuke. Her short silver hair was complimented well by the bar's blue hued lights and small silver beads shone in the slender, long braids passing by her ear.
"I am Isane, Unohana's number one sent to you tonight," she said in a light voice to Kisuke, taking his hand in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my Lady," Kisuke said smoothly, motioning her inward. Just then Kisuke noticed some motion at the door and another woman entered. Her dark hair framed her face nicely and her dark green eyes immediately sought Kisuke.
"Just a moment, my Lady," he said to Isane. "Tonight, I would recommend the kind company of Juushiro. I will return to introduce you to the hosts in a moment-"
"It will not be necessary for you to divide your attention, Urahara. I am Nemu, Unohana's number one sent to you tonight." The petite woman with the dark hair extended her hand and Kisuke greeted her more on instinct than anything. This indeed is like Unohana, he thought with chagrin. "It will be a pleasure to serve you both, then," Kisuke said, giving them a winning smile.
Nemu gave him a small smile in return. "Actually, you are meant to find out which of us is truly Unohana's number one and serve that one accordingly. Aizen was able to do it," she added, sending a jab of cool shock through Kisuke. He could find out, could he? But that says nothing about the service they received. Bring it.
"Well, my Ladies. Whom would you like to request?"
And in unison they answered, "Isshin."
Keeping his customary poker face was becoming more and more difficult.
-~-~-~
"Isshin," Kisuke said, taking the man's attention from the table he'd just finished setting. "This is Isane and Nemu, the special guests were were expecting tonight. They would like the pleasure of your company. However, as part of the deal I told you about, you have been asked to discern which of these two is Unohana's real number one, and host only her appropriately. Ladies-" Kisuke did not even start a bow to dismiss himself when Isshin interjected.
"What?! Serve only one of these two ladies? Unspeakable, Kisuke. No matter if she's Unohana's number one or a cleaning lady from the docks, certainly we must treat them the same!"
"Yet it is part of the deal," said Isane patently. "I can understand your feelings, but-" Isshin was shaking his head. "You both requested me, right?"
"At the same time," Kisuke said, amused by where Isshin was taking this.
"Then you both get me! What a pleasure! I know," he said when he saw Nemu about to restate the rule. "I can certainly entertain both of you and still find out who is Unohana's number one, right?"
Nemu sighed. "It is against the rule."
"It can't be helped, I guess," allowed Isane with a patient smile.
"Yes, that's the spirit," chortled Isshin, steering them both back to the gauze-curtained VIP table. "Can I get you ladies a drink? Shunsui is on fire tonight with the cocktails."
---
A bit long this time, part fluff and part plot.
I actually saw a person cosplaying Renji doing that with a coin. There was something a bit surreal about the image, so I had to include it. ^.^
Characters - from Bleach (deep apologies to Kubo-san).
Notes - ravens_rising+blonde hair colour=crack AU fic. But I'm kinda getting into it...
Summary - Alternate reality for our friends from Bleach as the characters work in two rival host bars, Cloud and Throne.
Part One (The best job in the world...)
Part Two (Being hired usually isn't like this.)
Part Three (First song)
Part Four (Last drink)
Part Five (Celebration and cake)
Part Six (Mentor and judge)
~-~-~-
Ping-wirr-wirr-wiir-wirr-click.
Ping-wirr-wirr-wiir-wirr-click.
When Juushiro entered the locker room at Cloud, he found the source of the strange noise: Renji was flicking a coin around the table. As he watched from the doorway Renji picked up the coin again, flicked it with his finger (ping) and watched it dance around the table (wirr) before stopping it with his palm (click). He didn't even seem to register Juushiro's entrance, so he just moved on silently into the room.
By the time Juushiro had tidied up for the night ahead, he found the noise, and lack of conversation, to be absolutely grating. He moved in behind Renji and the next time he flicked the coin, Juushiro stopped it with his own palm, click. Finally this elicited a response from Renji, but not quite what he expected. What he expected was for the redhead to react with his usual hot temperament, but now he just turned sallow dark eyes on Juushiro.
"Wha- What ever is the matter with you, Renji? Sulking like this is completely beyond you, isn't it?"
The man looked down at his hands, picked up the coin and started fiddling with it.
"I... I bought a tie."
Juushiro couldn't help a breath of a laugh escaping his lips, but successfully held himself back from an outright guffaw.
"You bought a tie! And?"
"And..."
"Oh. Perhaps you remember Shunsui's advice? Good for you! Kuchiki is cold on the outside, but I'm sure that he will help a nakama* like you out with it. Well then," Juushiro straightened up and gave Renji a jaunty salute, "I will just go and get the chairs set up for tonight. Take your time!"
"Eh? Take my- take my time with what?" Renji seemed to be staring after Juushiro, and Shunsui for that matter, thinking 'what the heck' a lot recently.
Unfortunately he didn't have a lot of time to think about it alone, for he heard Juushiro cheerily greet someone out in the main room. Moments afterwards, Kuchiki entered the room, gave Renji a usual cool nod, and said "Good evening."
Tramping down on his irrational nervousness, and giving a hard kick to his pride for good measure, Renji stood up and walked over to Kuchiki with a fast stride.
"Kuchiki," Renji began, his hand going to his pocket, "I would like your help with something."
"Mmm?" The man carefully hung his long dark coat before turning to Renji. "What is it?"
"I'm going to try a new look tonight. I bought a tie. And-" calm dark eyes regarded him. They looked rather blue in this light- He stopped that tangent and fished the tie out of his pocket. "And, I need help tying it. If you would, please..."
"Ah, I see." Kuchiki raised his hand and Renji passed over the tie. "I was wondering if you would ever try it. I see, you are wearing the shirt from the other day. You are prepared. Well then, you just go like this," and he reached around Renji and placed the tie about his shoulders. "Make sure it lies flat under the collar," and his narrow fingers pulled up the collar, laid the tie along the crease, then folded the collar back down. Renji's neck craned to the side to try and watch the other man's fingers. "Then like this, and like this." He tied the knot and pulled the end through almost too fast for Renji to follow. "You might want to wear it a bit loose, like this," he then pulled the knot up and down until he was satisfied with the effect. The then put his hands on Renji's shoulders and turned him towards the long mirror. "I hope this is satisfactory?"
Renji looked at himself in the mirror, then looked at Kuchiki's face that was hovering behind his shoulder. He smiled at the reflection. "It's great. I think- the ladies will really like it. But you did it kind of fast..."
"Oh? In that case, ask me any time to do it for you. If the ladies do indeed like the look, we can't disappoint them." With that Kuchiki turned back to his locker, leaving Renji reflecting in the mirror.
-~-~-~
In the main room, another tie was being taken care of.
"Ah, I will have to think of something new to tease him about," sighed Shunsui as he quickly finished off Juushiro's tie. "But that was a lot of fun. Well, maybe I can still get a little mileage out of it."
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Juu said with an enigmatic smile, giving his friend a pat on the arm in thanks.
"Yah. Like, what about that hair. It looks fine down, but imagine it, say... in a ponytail!"
Juu snickered. "A ponytail?"
"High up on the back of his head! Oh, that's even better. He'd look like- a red pineapple!"
Juu couldn't help but dissolving into a laughing fit at the mental image. Shun joined him, gasping, "pretty good, eh?"
They were laughing together so hard that they didn't even notice the entrance of Kisuke, who then came up behind them and clouted them on the shoulders.
"What's the joke? I could use a laugh."
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Shunsui said, trying to dismiss it. However they both knew that it wouldn't work, so Juushiro said, "just imagining Renji with a different look."
"Oh, that would be interesting," Kisuke said with a grin. "Listen, guys. We'll be having a very important guest coming tonight. I'll need you all on your toes, and everyone will be pitching in to clean this place spotless-" Kisuke swept his gaze around the room then smiled widely. "Well, not that this place isn't always kept up well! Juu, we'll have to keep your requests light because I want the VIP to come to you. Unless," and his smile slipped, "she requests someone else. But we'll deal with it if it comes."
~-~-~-
The night moved on as it always did, but if the ladies noticed that the hosts were a bit more attentive than usual, or that Juushiro had a few less people around him, they didn't think too much of it. It was a bit unusual for Kisuke to be in front of house, but his easygoing nature made the atmosphere just that much more fun.
It was fairly late into the night when a very tall young woman strode through the doors and was greeted by Kisuke. Her short silver hair was complimented well by the bar's blue hued lights and small silver beads shone in the slender, long braids passing by her ear.
"I am Isane, Unohana's number one sent to you tonight," she said in a light voice to Kisuke, taking his hand in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my Lady," Kisuke said smoothly, motioning her inward. Just then Kisuke noticed some motion at the door and another woman entered. Her dark hair framed her face nicely and her dark green eyes immediately sought Kisuke.
"Just a moment, my Lady," he said to Isane. "Tonight, I would recommend the kind company of Juushiro. I will return to introduce you to the hosts in a moment-"
"It will not be necessary for you to divide your attention, Urahara. I am Nemu, Unohana's number one sent to you tonight." The petite woman with the dark hair extended her hand and Kisuke greeted her more on instinct than anything. This indeed is like Unohana, he thought with chagrin. "It will be a pleasure to serve you both, then," Kisuke said, giving them a winning smile.
Nemu gave him a small smile in return. "Actually, you are meant to find out which of us is truly Unohana's number one and serve that one accordingly. Aizen was able to do it," she added, sending a jab of cool shock through Kisuke. He could find out, could he? But that says nothing about the service they received. Bring it.
"Well, my Ladies. Whom would you like to request?"
And in unison they answered, "Isshin."
Keeping his customary poker face was becoming more and more difficult.
-~-~-~
"Isshin," Kisuke said, taking the man's attention from the table he'd just finished setting. "This is Isane and Nemu, the special guests were were expecting tonight. They would like the pleasure of your company. However, as part of the deal I told you about, you have been asked to discern which of these two is Unohana's real number one, and host only her appropriately. Ladies-" Kisuke did not even start a bow to dismiss himself when Isshin interjected.
"What?! Serve only one of these two ladies? Unspeakable, Kisuke. No matter if she's Unohana's number one or a cleaning lady from the docks, certainly we must treat them the same!"
"Yet it is part of the deal," said Isane patently. "I can understand your feelings, but-" Isshin was shaking his head. "You both requested me, right?"
"At the same time," Kisuke said, amused by where Isshin was taking this.
"Then you both get me! What a pleasure! I know," he said when he saw Nemu about to restate the rule. "I can certainly entertain both of you and still find out who is Unohana's number one, right?"
Nemu sighed. "It is against the rule."
"It can't be helped, I guess," allowed Isane with a patient smile.
"Yes, that's the spirit," chortled Isshin, steering them both back to the gauze-curtained VIP table. "Can I get you ladies a drink? Shunsui is on fire tonight with the cocktails."
---
A bit long this time, part fluff and part plot.
I actually saw a person cosplaying Renji doing that with a coin. There was something a bit surreal about the image, so I had to include it. ^.^