Five 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)
~-~-~-
Kisuke hated things like this. Across the table from him in the very seat Rangiku had vacated earlier sat Shuuhei. He had called the man into his office at the end of the night in order to get his version of what had happened, but all the same it smacked of some sort of discipline.
"I have seen her around," Shuuhei admitted, looking into his cup of tea. "She's beautiful. I think she lives in the same area I do, because I notice her a lot. Well, someone like her is hard not to notice." Kisuke nodded, even though Shuuhei wasn't paying attention. It was just as he had told Ran. "I was thinking about getting up the courage to talk to her. But then, tonight-" he broke off and Kisuke could easily see Shuuhei's face flush.
"Tonight Rangiku was very drunk and probably disturbed by something else that's going on. I explained to her that any living man would look at her and that she would easily notice you because of your tattoo. However, she's in no frame of mind to think soundly right now." He sighed and leaned back in the chair, hands mussing with his blonde hair in irritation. "This is a host bar, not a matchmaking service! I can't really do anything about you and Ran, but she has been told that she can't come back here. Unless," and he cracked a smile, "she apologizes. Then I might think about letting her back. Anyways, don't worry about what happened as far as your place here goes. I understand the situation."
Shuuhei finally raised his eyes and gave Kisuke a small smile.
"Thank you, sir."
"Now go home and get a good rest! Oh, and I'll be leaving right away too, so don't worry about getting the door on the way out."
-~-~-~
Just before Kisuke had started hosting, he had often gone to hostess bars. Although he hadn't known it at the time, his favourite (and the most expensive) was the property of the premier hostess, Retsu Unohana. Although fairly old now, she was a great mentor and role model to every hostess in the area, not to mention owned nearly every hostess bar in the area. She was a mentor to Kisuke too, as he had looked to her for advice when starting to manage Cloud.
And now, this evening, he had been summoned to the bar Lotus, where the woman now headquartered herself.
The fragrance of mild spices greeted him as he entered the tall frosted glass doors. After the chorus of 'welcome' from the young ladies at the entrance one stepped forward and motioned gracefully with her hand for him to come inward.
"I am pleased to bring you to Lady Unohana. She is expecting you," the girl said. She glided forward through warmly lit hallways until they came to a plain wooden door. After one rap on the door she opened it, clearly showing that Unohana was indeed expecting him.
Kisuke entered the elegantly appointed room and was greeted by the elegant woman herself. Her long, dark braided hair and kind, ageless face were the same as he remembered them.
"Kisuke, I'm glad to see you are well," she said in her soft voice, embracing him.
"I'm glad to see you are well too. It's a pleasure to be invited here."
"Oh, I don't know if you will be so pleased once you hear the reason," she said mysteriously as she motioned for him to sit at a small round table to the side of the room.
"And I so love surprises," Kisuke said with a tinge of sarcasm.
Another tap and the door opening forestalled any reply Unohana could have given. And the entry of Sosuke Aizen made words fly from his mind for a moment.
After giving Sosuke the same courteous greeting he was seated at the table, and they both edged looks at each other like two rival animals. Unohana skilfully and quickly poured tea for them and then took a seat herself.
"My dear boys, I know you are uncomfortable in each other's presence, so I will try to be brief. Sosuke, you are ambitious. I know that you have a wish to take over all the host bars in the prefecture. In a way I can understand. Kisuke, some very unnerving things have happened at your bar recently, and even just tonight. You are an unstable mix of shrewdness and heart. This also I can understand. So, as your mentor, heed me now."
The looks that both Sosuke and Kisuke had on their faces clearly told that they wanted to respond to what Unohana had already said, but heed her quiet, steady voice they did.
"Before Aizen can employ any more underhanded methods of causing disrepute to Cloud, and before the hosts of Cloud can cause any more disrepute to themselves, I call for a challenge. The stake will be Cloud. Sosuke wants it for his empire. Kisuke wants to keep it as it is, including it's... oddest additions. Should Sosuke win my challenge, Cloud will fall into his hands to do with as he pleases. Should Kisuke win my challenge, Cloud will stay as it is and Sousuke will leave it alone. You know I can back this."
Out of the corner of Kisuke's eye it seemed that Sosuke was nearly visibly burning with ambition, surely seeing Cloud within his grasp through a much easier way than he'd ever imagined. Well, Kisuke would hardly back down.
"The challenge is simple. I will send my number one hostess to each of your bars. She will then come back to me and tell me whose hospitality she enjoyed more. That one will be the winner. How does that sound?" Kisuke could hardly believe his ears. He didn't know Unohana all that well, but well enough to know that it couldn't possibly be as simple as that. However there was no disputing the fact that this would be the most straight-forward way of getting Sosuke off his back for ever. And in the end, Unohana's involvement meant that she would take no more 'nonsense' from either of them and they'd better agree to this.
"I agree to your terms," he said with his best smile, giving nothing away of his thoughts.
"As do I," Sosuke said coolly, something that might have been a smirk crossing his face.
"Wonderful!" Unohana said with her smile seeming to say that she'd known all along that they'd agree. "I'd like to clear this up as soon as possible, so she'll be there tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow?" Sosuke asked. His tone didn't betray any concern, but his mind was certainly thinking along the same path as Kisuke's. It was hardly any time to prepare for such an important guest. Even worse, Rangiku had just drunk two of the best bottles of wine in Cloud. It would be hard to replace them on such notice, but he would have to do something.
"Yes, tomorrow night."
Suddenly something clicked in Kisuke's mind.
"Will she introduce herself to us as being from you?"
Unohana looked amused by his question. "Yes, she will. Anything else?"
Nether man seemed to have anything to add, so Unohana stood and the others followed.
"Then I wish you both a good evening. I look forward to meeting with you again to share the result."
---
Blah, serious Urahara >.< But more plot wanted to come out, so there it is! Just another story or two of plot then it'll probably just fizz out into fluffy short stories XD
I think parts two and five were my favourites so far, so I'd like to try more like that.
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)
~-~-~-
Kisuke hated things like this. Across the table from him in the very seat Rangiku had vacated earlier sat Shuuhei. He had called the man into his office at the end of the night in order to get his version of what had happened, but all the same it smacked of some sort of discipline.
"I have seen her around," Shuuhei admitted, looking into his cup of tea. "She's beautiful. I think she lives in the same area I do, because I notice her a lot. Well, someone like her is hard not to notice." Kisuke nodded, even though Shuuhei wasn't paying attention. It was just as he had told Ran. "I was thinking about getting up the courage to talk to her. But then, tonight-" he broke off and Kisuke could easily see Shuuhei's face flush.
"Tonight Rangiku was very drunk and probably disturbed by something else that's going on. I explained to her that any living man would look at her and that she would easily notice you because of your tattoo. However, she's in no frame of mind to think soundly right now." He sighed and leaned back in the chair, hands mussing with his blonde hair in irritation. "This is a host bar, not a matchmaking service! I can't really do anything about you and Ran, but she has been told that she can't come back here. Unless," and he cracked a smile, "she apologizes. Then I might think about letting her back. Anyways, don't worry about what happened as far as your place here goes. I understand the situation."
Shuuhei finally raised his eyes and gave Kisuke a small smile.
"Thank you, sir."
"Now go home and get a good rest! Oh, and I'll be leaving right away too, so don't worry about getting the door on the way out."
-~-~-~
Just before Kisuke had started hosting, he had often gone to hostess bars. Although he hadn't known it at the time, his favourite (and the most expensive) was the property of the premier hostess, Retsu Unohana. Although fairly old now, she was a great mentor and role model to every hostess in the area, not to mention owned nearly every hostess bar in the area. She was a mentor to Kisuke too, as he had looked to her for advice when starting to manage Cloud.
And now, this evening, he had been summoned to the bar Lotus, where the woman now headquartered herself.
The fragrance of mild spices greeted him as he entered the tall frosted glass doors. After the chorus of 'welcome' from the young ladies at the entrance one stepped forward and motioned gracefully with her hand for him to come inward.
"I am pleased to bring you to Lady Unohana. She is expecting you," the girl said. She glided forward through warmly lit hallways until they came to a plain wooden door. After one rap on the door she opened it, clearly showing that Unohana was indeed expecting him.
Kisuke entered the elegantly appointed room and was greeted by the elegant woman herself. Her long, dark braided hair and kind, ageless face were the same as he remembered them.
"Kisuke, I'm glad to see you are well," she said in her soft voice, embracing him.
"I'm glad to see you are well too. It's a pleasure to be invited here."
"Oh, I don't know if you will be so pleased once you hear the reason," she said mysteriously as she motioned for him to sit at a small round table to the side of the room.
"And I so love surprises," Kisuke said with a tinge of sarcasm.
Another tap and the door opening forestalled any reply Unohana could have given. And the entry of Sosuke Aizen made words fly from his mind for a moment.
After giving Sosuke the same courteous greeting he was seated at the table, and they both edged looks at each other like two rival animals. Unohana skilfully and quickly poured tea for them and then took a seat herself.
"My dear boys, I know you are uncomfortable in each other's presence, so I will try to be brief. Sosuke, you are ambitious. I know that you have a wish to take over all the host bars in the prefecture. In a way I can understand. Kisuke, some very unnerving things have happened at your bar recently, and even just tonight. You are an unstable mix of shrewdness and heart. This also I can understand. So, as your mentor, heed me now."
The looks that both Sosuke and Kisuke had on their faces clearly told that they wanted to respond to what Unohana had already said, but heed her quiet, steady voice they did.
"Before Aizen can employ any more underhanded methods of causing disrepute to Cloud, and before the hosts of Cloud can cause any more disrepute to themselves, I call for a challenge. The stake will be Cloud. Sosuke wants it for his empire. Kisuke wants to keep it as it is, including it's... oddest additions. Should Sosuke win my challenge, Cloud will fall into his hands to do with as he pleases. Should Kisuke win my challenge, Cloud will stay as it is and Sousuke will leave it alone. You know I can back this."
Out of the corner of Kisuke's eye it seemed that Sosuke was nearly visibly burning with ambition, surely seeing Cloud within his grasp through a much easier way than he'd ever imagined. Well, Kisuke would hardly back down.
"The challenge is simple. I will send my number one hostess to each of your bars. She will then come back to me and tell me whose hospitality she enjoyed more. That one will be the winner. How does that sound?" Kisuke could hardly believe his ears. He didn't know Unohana all that well, but well enough to know that it couldn't possibly be as simple as that. However there was no disputing the fact that this would be the most straight-forward way of getting Sosuke off his back for ever. And in the end, Unohana's involvement meant that she would take no more 'nonsense' from either of them and they'd better agree to this.
"I agree to your terms," he said with his best smile, giving nothing away of his thoughts.
"As do I," Sosuke said coolly, something that might have been a smirk crossing his face.
"Wonderful!" Unohana said with her smile seeming to say that she'd known all along that they'd agree. "I'd like to clear this up as soon as possible, so she'll be there tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow?" Sosuke asked. His tone didn't betray any concern, but his mind was certainly thinking along the same path as Kisuke's. It was hardly any time to prepare for such an important guest. Even worse, Rangiku had just drunk two of the best bottles of wine in Cloud. It would be hard to replace them on such notice, but he would have to do something.
"Yes, tomorrow night."
Suddenly something clicked in Kisuke's mind.
"Will she introduce herself to us as being from you?"
Unohana looked amused by his question. "Yes, she will. Anything else?"
Nether man seemed to have anything to add, so Unohana stood and the others followed.
"Then I wish you both a good evening. I look forward to meeting with you again to share the result."
---
Blah, serious Urahara >.< But more plot wanted to come out, so there it is! Just another story or two of plot then it'll probably just fizz out into fluffy short stories XD
I think parts two and five were my favourites so far, so I'd like to try more like that.