A Mile In My Shoes.

By Erik Howlett.

Disclaimer: Bleach is the sole property of Tite Kubo, licensed to VIZ Media. I do not claim any of the characters or elements of Bleach as my own, and am only writing this story as a leisurely past time and because I am a humble fan of this genre simply telling a story.

Well, gang, it's time for the fun to begin. With Chimpette and Renji now thoroughly infected by the power of the Yuta no Kagami as a result of their destruction of Byakuya's precious calligraphy, the time has come for them to truly see which of them has the more difficult life. But for that to happen, they're gonna need to undergo a little, 'cosmetic surgery' of sorts to really get the feel for what it's like to live in one another's skin. Will they learn their lesson from this experience? What fate awaits them as Byakuya's kido activates? Will hilarity ensue as a result? All I can say, True Believers, is read on to find out!

Oh, and I'd like to mention that the warning of "M" rating in the last chapter takes place in this one mostly, as it is here where the metamorphosis takes place. Just making sure you know for personal and censorship reasons on the part of the 'innocent kiddies'. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2: The Change Begins.

"Ahhhh," sighed Renji as he lowered himself slowly into the therapeutic embrace of the onsen, its water's working their magic on his taxed and tired muscles already.

The steam-filled room had all the appeals of a classic hot-spring: cobblestone floors, wooden pathways that led directly to the boulder encompassed waters of the bath, small cubbyholes against the far way by the entrance for clothing and other apparel (where he'd stored his headband, sunglasses, armband, and shihakusho,or "Garment of Dead Souls"), a small bathing station to the right of the baskets, and a few decorative pieces of plant-life sprouting up here and there around the bath. Beyond all of these amenities, on the opposite side of the pool-sized bath, was a small screen that veiled the interior from the elements outside, yet still allowed some light to shine in during the day when the overhead lamps weren't required. Not only that, but since some of the Seireitei had come up to pace with most of the Human World's technological advances, the introduction of speaker-rocks had also been included in the construction of Kuchiki Clan's onsen, pumping the welcoming, serene sounds of a koto, biwa, shakuhachi, and shamsien into the bath from a hidden CD player somewhere in the room. The combination of the atmosphere, the therapeutic properties of the steam and the minerals in the water of the bath, and the music all helped to calm the mood the lieutenant had been in most of the morning.

All in all, he felt more relaxed than ever before. He really needed to thank his captain for allowing him access to this part of his home, once he had finished with his bath of course. As he sat there on one of the rocks beneath the clear surface of the water, the moss clinging to its frame acting as a sort of cushion for his bare buttocks, he reclined back against the rocky edge of the bath, tiling his head upwards to stare blankly into space as he felt the aches and pains of the past few days begin slip way and dissolve in the waters. Everything was slowly leaving his body, as if he were going through a full detox of life itself. The tightness in his muscles began to loosen, the tension in his lower back began to ease, the kink in his neck slowly melted into oblivion, the stiffness in each of his joints began to drift away, the aches in his extremities all started to vanish, and even the migraine he'd felt coming on during his argument with Chimpette was now starting to weaken.

'Chimpette…,' he thought quietly to himself, a slight twinge of guilt tugging at the back of his mind for berating her like he had. Their whole argument now seemed pointless to him, like they were acting more like children than Snakey or Yachiru from the 11th Division. They were supposed to be adults; they should've been able to see the idiocy behind their words and just dropped the subject, agreeing to disagree. But they didn't, or rather, they couldn't. Their personalities and their behaviors were so much alike that they couldn't help but rub each other the wrong way, much like it was when he first met Ichigo Kurosaki for the first time. But, it was different, arguing with Chimpette. It was like he was arguing with himself, and in a sense he was. It was difficult to see it sometimes, but that bull-headed part of him was reflected in her, and that was something he needed to learn to control.

"I guess I should apologize to her when I'm done here," Renji admitted dolefully with a long sigh, closing his eyes in peaceful relaxation as he reclined his head, his long crimson locks (which he'd taken out of their pony tail before entering the bath) becoming a pillow to his neck even as they tickled his tattooed upper-back slightly beneath the water. "Still, she does have it a lot easier than me. Heh, I wonder what it would be like to be rid of all this stress for a while? No patrols, no paperwork, no report-filing, no mediating between squad members, no babysitting newbies during training. Man, that'd be the life."

Having said his piece, he decided to just enjoy the serenity of the onsen for a while, and allowed melodic rhythms of the music and the massaging warmth of the bath to soothe him and dull his senses, his entire body becoming numb with restfulness as his mind drifted off into space.

The moment Renji shut his eyes and his mind slipped from cognitive, conscious thought, the full effect of the Yuta no Kagami that Byakuya had placed on both him and Chimpette as punishment for their behavior suddenly and swiftly began to take effect, a pinkish glow haloing the semi-conscious shinigami's form. Now, because of the cascading warmth of the onsen and the healing properties of both its waters and the ambient steam that it gave off, the physical sensations of the transformation the 100th bakudo triggered were somewhat dulled to the point where they were almost nonexistent. Also, seeing as he and his fellow victim were of the same height and mostly the same weight, that part of the metamorphosis was not as drastic or extreme as the rest.

Still, make no mistake, as his mind was lost in the relaxing spell of the onsen, Renji Abarai, lieutenant of Gotei 13's 6th Division, began to change.

The first steps were merely cosmetic in a sense. The thick, ebony ink of the many intricate tribal tattoos that adorned his upper body as mementos to his accomplishments over the years slowly began to dissolve into his skin, living no trace of their existence on his dermis. Next, beneath his closed eyelids, his pupils altered and changed color, cerulean blue giving way to a piercing, emerald green, like the color of the deep forest in spring. Content that his eyes were finished, the change shifted its attention to his skin, which began to darken a bit as it became lightly tanned, though this was nowhere near as deep a shade as that sported by the famous Yoruichi Shihouin. Not only was it tanning, but its texture was softening as well, calluses, scars and body hair melting away to leave behind skin that was incredibly smooth to the touch. While this was happening, his already damp hair was experiencing something of the opposite nature, the fiery crimson strands now lightening to become a rosy shade, whilst a set of thick, black lines appeared in those follicles nearest his scalp, the coarse strands starting to lengthen and spiral downward. In moments, a few month's worth of hair had grown passed in mere seconds as it cascaded down into the water to flow out around him, and if at full-length, it would undoubtedly measure past his knees!

At the same time, his hands and feet were beginning to change as well. His fingers became finer and more delicate, with his fingernails following suit, almost a quarter inch in length. His feet started to become smaller and more graceful as well, an odd sight, had he been able to see it and not off in relaxation. At the same time, his neck muscles began to rearrange themselves, his Adam's apple retracting back into his throat to reveal a smoother, more effeminate neck. Beneath that, his vocal cords were shifting as well, reforming to give his voice a more sensual pitch on par with that of a professional soprano. Behind his lips, his canines grew as well, lengthening to become considerably sized fangs. As these changes were happening, his face began to alter as well. His eyebrows began to thin out, eyelashes doubled in size to turn thick and curled, his lips became full and sensual, his nose became smaller and narrower, and even his cheekbones shifted to a more feminine position. Had he looked in a mirror at that moment, his face would look identical to Chimpette's!

It was then, after his face had become the equal of Chimpette's own profile, that the more drastic changes began to kick in. The energy of the kido shifted its' focus to his core body, shaving off more and more of his dwindling male appearance to give him more of the elegance of the female he was slowly becoming. This also helped to make his muscles, already hardened from training and combat, more pronounced along a more slender frame. His thighs became thick and supple curved, creating the kind of legs that seemed to go on for miles and would drive even Olympic athleates wild with envy. Renji's biceps twitched and bulged along smoother toned arms. In moments, his chest began to shrink and narrow out, large pectoral muscles all but vanishing from his build.

Even further beneath the surface of the water, Renji's numbed joints and bones were spared some discomfort as they crackled and his waist began to collapse, his stomach tightening to become somewhat waspish and more alluring, while still retaining the well-muscled abs he had flaunted once before. At the same time, his hips began to flare out and grow wider, leaving him with a rather full figure, one more fit for baring children. In conjunction with this, his small male ass grew out, ballooning into a full, round posterior. If not for the moss beneath his bottom already cushioning his seating, Renji might very well feel as though he were sitting on an incredibly soft pillow with his new plump, heart-shaped tush. A quick tug on the base of his spine further perked his newly padded rear. Still, the change went unnoticed, even as the energies traveled further downward on his body. Now, normally, a change this drastic would have caused anyone male to notice it, but in his current state, the lieutenant had no way of knowing as his crotch began to reform, the lack of male-defining organs diminishing as they were reshaped to become what would unmistakably be recognized later as a woman's vagina.

Finally, the final change that would undoubtedly draw Renji from his pseudo-slumber and into the strange new reality he was becoming went underway, the energies of the Yuta no Kagami traveling back up his body to focus on his chest, satisfied with his new bottom heaviness. As it went, there was some twisting and shifting internally, as organs began to rearrange themselves for different uses. Though already diminished to a fraction of its former size, the lieutenant's hardened pecs gave way to more plushness, layers upon layers of fatty tissue piling over them as his chest expanded outward, swelling at a steadily increasing rate. Within moments, the coup de' gras of his metamorphosis was complete as the last of Renji's masculinity faded away. Pulled to the water's surface by their natural buoyancy were a pair of plump, full and inviting breasts the same caliber as Chimpette's, complete with a subtle beauty mark on the left one near the inside of his, or rather HER, cleavage. Just then, as the changes finished, Renji was at last brought out of her daze by the slight tugging on her shoulder muscles that her new breasts made as they bobbed like corks on the surface of the onsen.

"Hm?" she thought aloud in something of lax state of mind, puzzled by the strange new sensation that pulled at his chest. "What the Hell is that?" Just then, Renji noticed the new, higher pitch in her voice, and almost immediately her eyes snapped open, wide as dinner-plates. 'Hold on a sec, was that… Chimpette's voice? No, no way, it couldn't be. I'm in here alone, and she's outside training. But… That voice just said what I thought about saying. And, I definitely felt my mouth move.'

Confused and cautious at the exact same time, Renji swallowed hard and forced herself to sit up in the water, the strange tugging sensation continuing, though this time it had more of a jiggle to it. And something else; she could feel that something else, something extremely important, was now missing in action. Slowly reaching under the water, her hand gently felt around her newly female crotch, whimpering slightly upon discovering the warm vertical slit that had replaced HIS two best friends. In a panic, Renji shot to her feet, water from the bath spraying everywhere as her hands shot to her chest to grasp her new breasts, a sudden gasp of both surprise and fear escaping her lips upon actually finding purchase of that part of her new anatomy and she stared down at them with jaw slacked and hanging open. It was then that she felt the dampness of her hair clinging to her back, and even further downward with its newfound length. Her hands didn't know what to do for a while, flying this way and that in a comedic panic as they when from one part of her altered physiology to another.

"Wha-what the fuck's going on?" she shrieked in fright, stumbling a bit in the onsen as he tried to get the hang of his new center of gravity. "What the Hell happened to me? I'm a fucking girl! I'm-!" It was at that moment that she finally caught sight of her reflection in the steamy waters of the bath, and yet, it was not her own. No, this was a face that should not have been on her body at all, a face that she knew all too well. "I'm… Chimpette?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" came a loud scream of terror from behind her, one that not only arrested her attention at the sheer immensity of its volume, but shook the very foundations of the mansion as well. Causing further fright and panic to grip Renji's mind, she realized that she knew that voice. That was her voice, or at least the voice she used to have in her original, male body! Just what the Hell was going on around here?

It didn't take long for the reasoning behind the phenomena to click in her mind. A second after the scream had silenced, Renji looked down at her new body, realizing how much it looked exactly like Chimpette's, then slowly glanced over her shoulder in the direction the voice had come from as the full weight of what was going on started to sink in.

"Oh, please, don't tell me…" she groaned pathetically as she quickly lifted herself out of the onsen and made to collect her shihakusho, still weirded out at feeling the tugging of her newfound breasts on her chest and the sashaying motion of her hips as they swayed back and forth as she walked. Even drying off felt bizarre, as there were sensations from probably a dozen different sets of nerves that shouldn't be there. Still, she couldn't think about that now, she had to confirm if her suspicions were true, even if, deep down, she wanted to blow all this off as being some strangely realistic hallucination from staying in the steam-bath for too long.

Upon reaching into the basket for her effects, she was surprised to find her fingers touching not the smooth fabric of her black uniform, but something like coarse fur. Yanking the furred article out in irritated annoyance, she found that not only had her body changed to become an exact copy of Chimpette's but so had her shihakusho! What had once been a multi-garment uniform had now condensed into a simple unitard of dark green fur that was open slightly in the front to reveal a good portion of her sizeable cleavage and inner abdomen before stopping just below where her bellybutton would be. Not only that, but there was also a thick black chain lying in the basket as well, supposedly replacing what had been her obi. Reluctantly, Renji decided that if she was going to get to the bottom of this, she would have to put it on. Sure enough, the fur unitard fit like a glove, and it surprisingly held her significantly ample bosom and kept her breasts from spilling out as well. Knowing she couldn't delve much further into her questions without getting to the heart of this mystery. Quickening her pace, she practically raced for the door and threw it open…

-Only to find herself staring face to face with her male form, which seemed equally surprised to see her as she was, looking like Chimpette as she did.

For a moment, neither one said anything, simply staring at each other in shock and amazement, looking each other up and down to take in the full effect of the change they had undergone. It was uncanny! They both seemed to be staring at their perfect doppelganger, each resembling the other's original form right down to the smallest detail. Just then, both of them decided to try something, just to see if all of this was real. Without warning, either of their hands shot out and took hold of something on the other's body, something physical that might warrant a reaction of some kind. Renji immediately went for one of the lines of her former self's tribal tattoos not covered by the black uniform, whilst her male-form's double went for a strand of hair and yanked it out hard.

"OW!" shrieked Renji in discomfort, her free hand darting to the spot on her head and massaging the pained area.

"YIKES!" shouted her double in response to the cold touch of her hands, shivering a bit. At that point, either of them pulled back their hands and clutched them gingerly, almost a perfect mirror of each other. Staring at the other intently, it was Renji's clone who broke the silence. "Renji?"

"Chimpette?" replied the lieutenant in confusion, the sudden widening of her zanpakuto's eyes only serving to cause her own to do the same as her hunch was proved correct. They'd somehow been transformed into one another!

"You're me, and I'm you?" exclaimed both shinigami and zanpakuto at the same time in befuddled panic, pointing from each other to themselves and then back and forth in a truly hilarious fashion. Just then, both Renji and Chimpette felt as though they were being watched, stopping their exclamations of surprise and disbelief to slowly and warily turning their heads in tandem to survey their audience. To their further surprise, who else would be standing there, a smirk on his face that barely held back a roaring fit of laughter, than Snakey, Chimpette's other half. Behind him stood the silent, stoic form of Byakuya Kuchiki, who had a subtle and uncharacteristic smile etched on his face as he regarded the changed duo with his usual, quiet demeanor.

"T-taicho!" exclaimed Renji in surprise and embarrassment at her current situation, backing away from Chimpette, who now resided in her male form.

"Snakey!" yelped Chimpette, reacting in a similar fashion upon seeing her other half. However, seeing the extremely tickled expression on the serpent-boy's face gave her cause for suspicion.

At that moment, the young zanpakuto spirit couldn't hold it in any more and burst into a fit of side-splitting laughter, throwing his head back as he rocked back and forth in time with it. Every few seconds, he would seem to calm down, breathing shallowly and ceasing in his laughter… Then he'd take a look at the two mismatched beings before him and it started up all over again. Finally he could not keep his balance anymore and fell to the floor, literally rolling with stentorian outbursts of humor. This reaction only further founded Chimpette's suspicions that he knew more than he was letting on, and further confused Renji, who was already lost as to the reason why she was suddenly a perfect copy of Chimpette and the zanpakuto woman was now his doppelganger.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" roared Snakey in amusement, slamming his fist heavily on the floor boards as tears began to stream from his eyes he was laughing so hard. "(breathe) Right down to the Lard-ass' lard ass! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, this is priceless! HAHAHAHA! I-I-I think I'm g-g-gonna, pass out! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You little pervert!" Chimpette snarled in annoyance and rage as he swooped in and swiftly put his other half in a headlock, pulling on his cheek as she attempted to get him to stop laughing and explain himself. Immediately he was surprised with how much strength Renji's body had for a shinigami. As a zanpakuto, he used to having superhuman strength above that of is wielder, but now that he was Renji physically, he was impressed by this own power, though it was less than his own. "What the Hell did you do to me!"

"To the contrary," admitted Byakuya nonchalantly, his face showing now true emotions other than an unreadable calm as he spoke, earning a puzzled look from both Renji and Chimpette, who had stopped tormenting Snakey long enough to hear what he had to say, "I am the one responsible for your current state, thanks to the one hundredth bakudo, Yuta no Kagami."

"Taicho, you did this?" Renji could barely believe what she was hearing. How could her captain do this to her, and for what reason? Byakuya was never one to act without some rationality behind him, so why would he turn her in to Chimpette and vice-versa? It just didn't make any sense! "But…"

"Why the Hell did you turn us into each other?" exploded Chimpette angrily, dropping Snakey hard on his butt as he released him from the headlock to stamp his feet enraged. "Change us back, right the fuck now!"

"I am afraid I cannot do that, Chimpette," sighed the Kuchiki heir as he continued to explain, again, earning him a befuddled and panicked look from either party involved. "You see, the effects of the Yuta no Kagami last for as many days as there are hands engraved on the mirror of Amaterasu in the ancient myth, so in short, eight days. So, you will be stuck like this for a week and one day, giving you enough time to fulfill your collective wish."

"'Collective wish?'" Now Renji was really confused. What did the captain mean by that?

"Well, the two of you both wanted the other to know 'just how hard it is to be me,' so now you have the chance to find out who has the harder life in a more… 'hands on approach,'" reasoned Byakuya smoothly, finally sensing that the light-bulbs were starting to go on in the heads of his lieutenant and said lieutenant's zanpakuto, which was confirmed a second later when their faces started showing it as well. "And, if I may make a suggestion for the future," he said as he leaned in a little closer to the two, an ominous shadow suddenly covering his eyes as he spoke, a thick cloud of serious killer intent radiating from him as well, "If you're going to complain and argue so combatively over such trivial matters, do it in a more civilized matter, one that does not interfere with my calligraphy practice. Understand?"

At that, both lieutenant and zanpakuto (Chimpette and Snakey) swallowed hard and began nodding their heads up-and-down furiously, knowing full well what happened to people who pissed off Byakuya Kuchiki. If he was made enough to transform them into each other just for their unintentionally messing up his calligraphy, then there was no telling what he would do to them if they ticked him off even further! Satisfied that he'd gotten his message across, Byakuya's usual stoic demeanor returned and he leaned back to his full height, hands folded in front of him and face calm once more.

"Now then, if you wish to stay for the Calligraphy Society meeting in a few moments, then you are welcome to do so, however, I do not want to hear any more arguments from the three of you. If not, then you are free to leave and go about your usual activities." And with that, Byakuya turned on his heel and left the room for the club's designated practice room, stopping along the way to remind a couple of the servants to keep a vigilant eye out for Division 11's lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, as she would most likely show up just to eat all of their snacks and annoy him again, something he was truthfully in no mood for today.

Left alone with their already tumultuous thoughts, both Chimpette and Renji couldn't help but stare off into space as the full reality of their current condition began to fully set in. They were both stuck like this for eight whole days! Eight days of living the other's life in the other's body, with all the responsibilities and problems that person had! This was either going to be heaven or hell, neither of them could tell. One thing was for sure though, they were going to have to at the very least make the best of it. Things could be a Hell of a lot worse, after all. Byakuya could've made them think and act like the person they'd become as well. Still, the idea of living the other's life was a little hard for either of them to accept, being as stubborn as they both were.

'I'm gonna be stuck in Pineapple Head's body for eight frickin' days!' thought a shocked Chimpette as he palmed his forehead in exasperation, dragging his hand down his face to exemplify his dissatisfaction.

"I'm gonna be stuck like this for eight whole days?" thought Renji aloud as she looked down at her body (still Chimpette's body) and gestured at her newfound 'assets' to no one in particular, still confused as to why her new breasts and ass continued to jiggle and sway at the slightest motion even when she stopped moving (though Chimpette's outfit offered them some form of support).

Click!

Upon hearing that sound, like the lock on a prison door slamming shut on his social life for the next few days, Renji couldn't help but gulp in realization of the second half of her punishment, slowly turning her head in the direction of the noise. Sure enough, there was Snakey, smiling up at her as pretty as you please, having just latched his collar back onto its rightful place at the end of the chain that now found itself wrapped around Renji's newly waspish waist. Sensing what she was thinking, Snakey couldn't help but continue to beam up at his master and now partner with an impish gleam in his eyes.

"Actually," he chimed in with a slight giggle, still amused by both Renji and Chimpette's current situation, "you're stuck like that for eight whole days, with me attached to your side."

'Ugh, the final nail in the coffin,' bemoaned Renji as a bead of embarrassed sweat formed on her brow in response to the annoyance that she felt, rolling over the raised vein that had popped up as a physical manifestation of that annoyance as well. Seeing no point in leaving the Kuchiki manor just because of their condition, as that would be extremely rude to her captain as their host, Renji sighed in defeat and turned to Chimpette, the sight of each other suffering together offering them both some small form of consolidation. Misery does indeed love company. "Well, should we stay for the meeting?"

"(sigh) Why not?" answered the former baboon spirit in an uninterested tone. "It's not like we're be doing anything really boring for eight more days anyhow. 'Might was well get it over with."

Nodding in agreement, Renji followed Chimpette's lead out the changing room that separated the onsen from the rest of the house, her newly heightened senses telling her that the rest of the club members had started to arrive and the meeting would be starting soon. As he started after Chimpette, she heard the sound of a chain rattling followed by a pair of bare feet sprinting towards her. This was her only warning, as a second later, Snakey leapt up and landed heavily on her shoulders, his tail wrapping itself around her waist as he settled into his second favorite spot when traveling, resting his chin comfortably on her head with his arms hanging loosely about her neck. It was all Renji could do to restrain herself from wailing on the serpent boy as she gritted her teeth and tried to bear with it, slamming the door to the onsen shut behind her.

"Heh, got milk, Abarai-chan?"

"OH, WILL YOU SHUT UP, SNAKEY?"

Author's Note: Heh, well, True Believers, looks like things are gonna be a little complicated for Renji and Chimpette from here on out. With both of them now living in the other's shoes, they're gonna have to see how the other half lives for eight days straight. How will they react to the different elements present in each other's life? Will they learn their lesson when all is said and done? Will Renji and Chimpette finally understand each other a bit more personally now? Is there a possibility that this could bring them closer together in more ways than one? Will Snakey drive Renji totally bonkers with his incessant chattering and childish nature, or will the little tyke start to grow on him? Well, I guess that all depends, True Believers. Should this story continue on to show more of the duration of their curse, or is it okay as a simple two-shot, as it was originally intended? The choice is up to you, dear readers, so be sure to R&R, giving your opinion on the story's continuation or completion. Remember, flames will be doused, trolls will have bridges dropped on them, and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Well, thanks again for the read, True Believers, and I'll look forward to hearing from you in the future. Until next time, stay awesome!