Rukia, age 114.
Kuchiki Byakuya was certainly an impressive sight. He wore his finery like it was his birthright - well, it was. Rukia had never seen so much beautiful fabric and neat stitching in her life. But what was up with that thing in his hair? Rukia had never seen anything quite that ugly in her life. Well, maybe if you were rich enough, you could say it was fashionable and no one would say anything about it to your face.
Sode no Shirayuki was whispering at her to watch this example of a high-class soul, so Rukia could better imitate him later on. The damn sword was always after her to behave elegantly in life, to be a person worthy of the snow princess that was her sword. It was incredibly annoying, although Rukia probably just should've been glad she could hear her sword at all.
On the upside, her sword was willing to let her act however she liked during a battle. Sode no Shirayuki might not have really approved, but Rukia thought that there was no point in elegance while you're razing the field of enemies.
The butler guy that had kept one step to the left and back of Kuchiki stopped talking, and Rukia's mind combined the line of thought that was concentrating on fashion commentary with the line of thought that had actually been listening to the old man ramble on. It had been something like - "Blah blah, four noble families, blah, resemblance to dead wife, bliddy blah, we'll compensate any family you might have had before."
Rukia kept a blank face. She was sitting formally and her legs were cramping underneath her. She was fairly certain she'd missed something important from the guy's speech.
After a moment of silence, Kuchiki helpfully clarified, his own face as blank as Rukia's, "I wish to adopt you as my younger sister."
Crap, what were you supposed to say to something like that? None of the kids in Abarai had ever had this problem. Well, if they had, she'd probably be bumming off them for food instead of working her own way into Soul Society.
Kuchiki must have seen something in her face that made him think he knew her answer. "You'll be pulled out of the academy immediately and placed in the Thirteenth, as it is one of the less combat-intensive divisions. I will require that you never accept officer-"
She had intended to let him finish talking, but that was a bit much. "Please forgive my interruption, Kuchiki-dono, but you misunderstand. I must respectfully decline your generous offer." There, that was right, wasn't it?
"Rukia-sama, I'm afraid-" the butler started, but Rukia ignored him and brought her legs out from underneath her ass so she could rub at the cramps. Her sword sighed heavily and Rukia ignored her too.
"I'm not meant to be a noble or whatever," she explained cheerfully as she massaged her calf. "No offense, but I've got family that'd rather have me than any compensation, and I don't need you to place me anywhere. I'll work my way up myself, no help from you, and I'll do just fine wherever I end up."
Kuchiki didn't show any expression at her sudden lack of manners. "I will not give up on this. I will oppose any application you make to reach officer status."
"Do what you want. I'm planning on joining the Eleventh." As if Kenpachi would do anything some stuck-up priss told him to. Sure enough, Kuchiki's right eyebrow twitched, just a bit.
Rukia grinned and stood up, then bowed deeply, since she wasn't exactly sure how far was the right amount. "I won't give up on this," she said firmly, echoing his own words with a smile bright on her face. "See you around, Kuchiki-dono."
And then, because it felt good to do it, she turned her back on him and walked out.
Renji was walking down the hall outside the room and raised his hand to wave at Rukia as she closed the door. "Hey, Rukia! I passed my secondary kidou exam!"
Rukia's already luminous smile became brilliant. "Good job! I told you all that training would pay off, didn't I?"
He caught up to her and they walked side by side down the hallway, heading towards the nearest exit. "Oh, have you finally recognized my superiority over you?" he teased.
The edges of Rukia's smile twitched angrily. "Oh yes, Renji-sama. I am a lowly member of the B-class who worships an A-class student like yourself, who finally managed to pass the same exam I passed three months ago, Renji-sama."
"As long as you know your place," Renji affirmed. Then, seeing that Rukia's hands were twitching and she was staring at his neck, he changed the subject. "What were you doing in one of the meeting rooms, anyway?"
"Oh, that?" She passed a hand in front of her face as if to wave off the subject, calm once more. "Some rich guy wants to adopt me."
Renji gave her an incredulous look, then said, "Did you show him what Rukongai brats'll do to rich perverts?"
Rukia laughed easily, happily, because who the hell would think she'd give up her family for a bit of money and a false sense of security? Being part of some noble family wouldn't make her safe or happy. Happiness came from the family she'd chosen, and safety came from beating the shit out of anyone who stood in your path.
"I didn't really get a 'perv' vibe," Rukia replied. "Though he did want me to call him 'onii-sama'." They left the building and turned east towards their preferred training field.
Renji snorted. "I dunno, you might be old enough but you still look like a kid. Sounds like prime pervert fodder to me!" he called over his shoulder, having run off before he finished talking.
"I didn't give you permission to take a head start!" Rukia yelled once his comment registered. Sode no Shirayuki murmured something about her lack of elegance as Rukia took off at a run. Renji might have been bigger, but Rukia was faster and Renji had to start sprinting to get out of her range. "Get back here and fight me, you chickenshit!"
Author's Notes: This started out as a story about Rukia turning down the adoption, and turned into a small series about the kind of person Rukia would be if she flourished under the 'mentorship' of Zaraki Kenpachi. (I use the word 'mentor' very lightly, haha.) I don't know how many there will be, but I've got a few more written and will update every once in a while.
The stories will be posted as chapters to this story, and won't take place in chronological order. I hope you enjoy them.
