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Ichigo and Renji had long since forgotten about the rest of the party. Usually,the gigai was very uncomfortable for the tall redhead but right now at this partyone of the shorter Shinigami's friends had thrown.

Truth be told he had only come because Ichigo had hinted around that there wouldbe alcohol. He had been hoping for sake. He was not happy to find wine coolers init's stead. How sneaky! And for most of the party, he had been convinced the ryokaboy was hiding a smirk due to his amusement at having tricked the disguised soul.

At first he had not understood why it was so important for the young human boy tohave him at the party, too. But, then he had realized why. It had sort of made himfeel sorry for the kid, but he pushed that emotion away immediately. He knewIchigo didn't need anybody feeling sorry for him. Hell, the kid emo-ed about stuffenough as it was, he didn't need anybody else's help in that area.

But, the only people who seemed to be trying to include Ichigo into anything wereInoue and that weird dude that Renji had kicked on his first day meeting Ichigo'sryoka friends. The ones that hadn't barging into Soul Society to save Rukia.

And...well, Ichigo looked so out of place. It was no wonder he wanted somebodyelse around. Keigo was just annoying, but he was the one throwing the party so he

was allowed to be annoying. The music was loud and frankly even Renji was amazedthe neighbors hadn't called the cops or whatever the ryoka law enforcement wascalled.

Still, even as annoying as the orange-haired teen usually was and even as often asthey got into arguments...that admittedly he started at times just to have anexcuse to get close to Ichigo, he couldn't stand it when the boy looked just...soout of place! So, he had done the only thing he could do. He got Ichigo to dancewith him by issuing a challenge.

It was true that Renji was the last person somebody would figure knew how to dancein any ballroom fashion. But, he wasn't used to the bump-and-grind sort of dancingthat they did here. It was probably very easy to do, but it looked an awful lot

like having sex and he didn't know if his rep or Ichigo's rep would ever be thesame again if they were seen at a party by ANY of their mutual friends oracquaintances bumping and grinding up against each other's hips and bodies. Thatwould just be too much. And, besides, Renji was more confident with ballroomdancing as it more common at functions he usually attended. Such as anythinghosted by Kuchiki-taichou.

But, he had found out that Ichigo knew many types of ballroom dancing throughforced lessons by the insistence of his father. He had undoubtedly thought Inouewouldn't mention it. But, she'd let it slip one day when she was babbling aboutsomething or other. He didn't know how anybody kept track of the, admittedlysweet, girl's babbling.

And given the challenge that the young Shinigami representative could not possiblyout-dance Abarai Renji when it came to ballroom dancing. He had been counting onthe fact that no matter how outrageous or stupid the challenge was, the gorgeousstrawberry had not yet turned a single one down that had been issued thus far inthe relatively short time they had known each other.

He was right, too. The tall redhead could only grin when Ichigo had angrilyaccepted th challenge, acting affronted at the mere thought that Renji would thinkhe could outdo the shorter ryoka teen at ANYthing, especially dancing!

So, that was exactly what had started this incident now. Although, he was

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distinctly sure that Ichigo no longer remembered any kind of challenge,considering the way he was looking at Renji as he danced.

He was always so concerned of stepping a foot out of the confines of hisreputation in the Living World and yet right now Renji was positive that the youngryoka didn't even truly remember anybody else was here, that the music didn'tmatch the steps in their waltz or that everyone else had stopped dancing, and forthe most part, screaming and laughing with each other, to watch the two redheads

dance.

Keigo was even quiet and truly he hadn't ever put much stock into ballroomdancing. It was old, outdated, and didn't look like much fun what with all thesteps a person had to memorize just so that you didn't step on your partner'stoes. But...when you looked at the way those two were waltzing, Keigo forgot allabout the fact that neither Renji or Ichigo were luscious women with big breastsand that it was sort of odd to see that expression on Kurosaki's face...it wasjust so...well, he didn't know what! But, it was a good thing and it left even himspeechless!

They both stared at each other in a way that Inoue had only seen in the moviesbetween actors and actresses that had extremely good chemistry with each other.

She sighed happily and smiled, before glomping onto Ishida unexpectedly.

Ishida's eyes went a bit wide for a moment before he straightened up again andpushed his glasses up into place once more. What is it, Inoue-san? he asked.� �

Isn't it so beautiful the way they look at each other? And the way they dance?�  It's just like in those old movies I watch sometimes late at night, do youremember those that we rented to watch the other day when I was lonely becauseTatsuki was gone to visit a relative in Tokyo and you were nice enough to spendtime with me? She asked, before continuing the second Ishida was about to�  actually answer her.

He sighed and looked over at Abarai and Kurosaki. Sure, he supposed they had a

certain...look about them. Ishida, for one, thought it was about damn time. Thosetwo had been beating around the proverbial bush with each other for long enough.And Ishida had been about damn tired of it.

Sado was just quietly watching. His usual stoic expression was still there, exceptfor the tiniest tug of a smile at the right side of his mouth that only someonewho knew him very well would have noticed. He had never seen Ichigo look happylike that. He'd seen him looking smug and he'd seen him pretending to look happy.But, this was real. It may not have been ridiculously obvious, but it was stillhappiness. Sado could tell the difference between the moods that crossed Ichigo'sface at times.

However, it was Ganju who had not only crashed the party but had been raiding

Keigo's fridge since around twenty minutes before the two had begun dancing whobroke the awe-struck silence. Well, with the exception of Inoue still rambling.

Oi, why're they dancin like that? he asked, loudly, through a mouthful of food� �  even as he began to stuff part of a sandwich into his mouth.

Everyone close by Ganju glared at him and used various paper products to smack himover the head with when the two men blushed and stepped away from each otherhaving finally realized that the ballroom dancing wasn't the only reason they werebeing stared at so quietly and intently.