Author's Note: Sorry it took me forever to update; but here's the second chapter to this fic.

"Are the four of you ready for the first of four trials?"

Aizen, Byakuya, Ukitake, and Ichigo all nodded, some more reluctantly than others.

"Then, let us begin," Yamamoto spoke, facing the four contestants, the prince at his side. "As you know, he who has the good fortune to earn our prince's hand in marriage will be the future king of this kingdom, as well as their own, if applicable."

At this point, Aizen beamed proudly, Ukitake shrugged, Byakuya did nothing, and Ichigo scowled.

"As such," the emperor continued, "A king must manage money well, lest their kingdom fall into debt or financial difficulty. With this in mind, I will now explain the first task."

Ichigo swallowed. He had never even touched a single article of money before in his entire life, since he was only a servant. How could he possibly manage it?

"For the first round of our contest, I will provide each of you with a total of 200,000 yen in solid cash. With this twenty thousand yen, you are to go out and spend it as you see fit, making good, conscious choices in how you choose to do so. You have a total of two hours to complete your spending. If you make any purchases, make sure to bring them back here after the two hours are completed. Your time beings now."

Byakuya, Ukitake, and Aizen all set off, leaving Ichigo to stare stupidly at the sum of money in his hands, wondering what the hell he was supposed to "wisely" spend it on.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Hitsugaya addressed him, "Is there something wrong?"

"N-No, Your Majesty!" Ichigo spluttered. "I have lots of good ideas, I swear!" Babbling on and on, he quickly scurried out of the room, faking a confident smile and a cheerful wave as he hurried out the door.

"Damn it, damn it all," the strawberry muttered to himself, pacing back and forth in the hallway, muttering to himself. He didn't want to fail the first stupid task already, but to be honest he had no idea what was supposed to be "wise" to spend money on.

"What do I do?" he groaned. "I'm such a freaking idiot…I shouldn't have complained in the first place, 'cause all I'm going to do is make myself look like an idiot in front of Ouji-sama…"

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"Eh!?" the orange-haired teen spun around, only to find himself staring into a pair of ceruluean eyes. "Oh, Y-Your Majesty," he mumbled, "I…uh…I was just…doing some brainstorming and stuff, to, well, you know…Refine the good ideas I already have for this task- thing."

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Hitsugaya apologized, "But it really seems that you have no idea what you're doing," he added bluntly.

"Er…"

"If I were you," the white-haired prince continued, "I would think in terms as if I was the emperor and what I would spend the money on as emperor."

"You have a point!" Ichigo exclaimed, beaming. "Thanks, Ouji-sama!" Without thinking, he automatically threw his arms around the smaller boy in a cheerful hug.

"Um, Kurosaki-kun…"

"I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty!" Ichigo squeaked, springing away. "Uh…Thanks for the help!" With that, he ran away down the hall as fast as his feet would take him, his cheeks burning red.

Meanwhile, Ukitake had strolled downtown, roaming the streets, watching as some peasant children ran by.

One of the children tripped and fell, and sympathetically, Ukitake knelt down and patted the young fellow on the head. Yes, he had a knack for children.

"Here," he said, handing about 1,000 yen to the fallen child. "You may take this and buy something nice for yourself."

As the minutes moved by, he did this occasionally: stop and hand out some money to a few who passed by, looking like they were in need of a few extra yen to provide for their families with.

"Ah, goodness!" he said, looking at the time, "Already, only half an hour left? Well, I do have some extra money, so perhaps I should buy a little something for the dearest prince." Humming a tune to himself, the white-haired suitor made his way back down the street, heading straight for the local candy shop.

The candy shop itself was fairly neat inside, and an array of drool-inducing confections was arranged in glass cases. Taking his time, Ukitake picked out some of the more expensive and high-class chocolates the store had to offer.

And so, after making his selections, he headed back to the palace, cheerfully carrying a pink-and-white striped paper bag loaded with sweets.

As this was occurring, Aizen, too, was on the move.

200,000 yen wasn't too scant of a sum of money, he thought to himself. There were lots of things he could do with it, but of all the things he could think of, he couldn't convince himself that it was entirely worth it.

After all, he actually did have his own interests in priority.

Fluffing his hair for maximum volume with a smile, the brown-haired ruler of Hueco Mundo pocketed the cash, patting his now full pocket cheerfully.

Sure, he was planning on keeping all the money for himself.

But, in times like these, there was nothing that a little white lie couldn't help out with. He already knew exactly what he was going to say.

With this already out of the way, Aizen decided to use the remaining time he had to spend a little quality time with the very person whose hand in marriage was being competed over for, in other words, the little prince himself.

He wandered down the halls, searching for signs of white hair and teal eyes.

At last, he spotted the boy standing a way off in the nearby hallway. He appeared to be talking with someone else, and upon closer inspection, Aizen discovered that it was Ichigo. Then, without warning, the strawberry suddenly flung his arms around the prince in what looked like a very crushing hug.

"Why, that dirty piece of rubbish," Aizen thought to himself as he watched the mortified orange-haired teen scramble away. As soon as he was gone, he stepped forward.

"The nerve of that lowly servant boy," he spoke, approaching the prince, who turned around, looking startled to see him. "Touching you with his filthy hands like that…He ought to be ashamed of himself."

"Such talk," Hitsugaya retorted, "Is not acceptable. Perhaps you should consider being more respectful towards someone who I'm sure will do much better than you in this silly 'contest' that the emperor has proposed."

"Now, now, fair prince," Aizen answered in what he hoped was a smooth and suave manner, "You needn't bother speaking in defense of a mere servant. After all, he is uneducated and most likely is as ignorant as a donkey."

"Kurosaki-kun is not stupid," Hitsugaya shot back coldly. "If you'll excuse me, sir." With that, he walked away, disappearing down the hallway and leaving Aizen to stare stupidly at his retreating back with an appalled expression on his face.

So much for smooth and suave.

Byakuya, on the other hand, was in a big pickle.

He had been concentrating very hard, sorting his money into two even piles, each consisting of equal amounts of 100,000 yen per stack.

He had been intending on first dividing the cash, and then deciding which segments to spend on what, but in the midst of his pondering, some crazy freak with red hair resembling a pineapple ran over, snatched one of the halves, and dashed away, laughing maniacally.

So that left the stoic nobleman with only 100,000 yen. With little more than an annoyed grunt, he got up and shuffled away.

Precisely two hours later, all four participants assembled themselves into the throne room.

The Emperor, Yamamoto, was standing in front of the throne, leaning on his wooden walking stick, and, as usual, Hitsugaya was standing a little off to his side, a bored expression written onto his pretty little face.

"Well," Yamamoto announced, "Let us begin the judging of the first task. We shall start with Aizen-san. Tell us, Aizen-san, what did you do with the money provided?"

"I invested it all in the royal funds," Aizen smiled, his hand absently drifting to the pocket in which all of the money was actually being held, "Of course, with the prince's best interests in mind."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and scoffed softly as this, but fell silent as the emperor gave him a reprimanding glare.

"Very well. Next, we will have Kuchiki-san speak."

"Half of it was stolen," Byakuya stated, quite plainly, in the usual deadpan voice.

"And the other half?" Yamamoto inquired as all heads swiveled to stare at the stony nobleman in disbelief.

"…I bought a shipment of cherry seeds to plant an arbor of cherry trees in the royal gardens. Perhaps his majesty, the prince, will be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms in the spring."

Nodding, Yamamoto turned to Ukitake. "And you, Ukitake-san?"

"I donated some to passing citizens in need," Ukitake answered, "And with the remaining amount…" At this point, he reached into his robes and produced the bag of candy. "…I purchased a gift for our beloved prince."

"I see," the elderly emperor answered. "And finally, what about you, Kurosaki-san?"

"Uh," Ichigo answered sheepishly, "I decided to pay the servants."

There was a long silence.

After some deliberation, Yamamoto finally spoke again.

"I have decided," he announced, "That the winner of the first round…is Ukitake Jushiro."

Aizen and Ichigo both nearly choked on their own saliva at these words, Hitsugaya looked slightly surprised, Ukitake looked pleased, and as for Byakuya…Well, I suppose there's no need to state the obvious.

"You see," the emperor spoke, "The most important way for an emperor to rule effectively is to gain the trust and favor of his people. With Ukitake-san's charitable behavior, that has already been established. In addition, indulging the prince in a gift every now and then isn't a bad idea, either. After all, a proper husband for the prince must treat him well."

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Ichigo managed to catch Hitsugaya's sympathetic gaze for perhaps only an instant, before he quickly looked away, noticing that Aizen was glaring at him.

"The first round is now over," Yamamoto announced, "And, as such, I expect all four of you to meet here again, tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock sharp, where I shall tell you of the second task."