A Brother's Instinct
-A Bleach Fanfiction
(Just a little drabble on episode 94, which is one of my favorite episodes in the Bount Arc. I got inspired while browsing the previous episodes. Kyodai ai. ByakuyaxRukia. R&R please!)
"Would you lend us a hand, Byakuya? We need your strength."
Kuchiki Byakuya looked at Kurosaki Ichigo coldly, carefully studying his grave expression.
"What?"
Under normal circumstances, Byakuya wouldn't even answer Ichigo. But his unexpected request surprised the noble.
"Those bastards tried to mislead us by attacking Rukia, knowing full well that she hadn't recovered from her battle. I can't forgive those bastards! You must feel the same way."
Byakuya maintained his emotionless façade, but he couldn't deny that what the brat said was true. He didn't show it, but anger suddenly welled up inside him. He wanted those Bounts to suffer more than what his little sister did.
He wanted to avenge her, but first he needed to get this brat out of his way.
"I refuse."
Ichigo tried to convince him to fight with him, to take the Bounts down, but he didn't relent.
"You should go back to the World of the Living."
As if suddenly enlightened, Ichigo acquiesced, which Byakuya thought was a little odd. But nonetheless, he was thankful that one of the hindrances is gone.
"I'll let you take care of Rukia, Byakuya."
And with that, Ichigo took off, with Inoue Orihime and those mod souls running along.
Byakuya looked on, wondering if Kurosaki Ichigo saw through him…
Inoue was struggling to catch up with Ichigo as they ran on the outskirts of the Rukongai. Seeing Inoue's attempts, Ichigo slowed down, enough to let her catch her breath.
"What's up, Inoue? Are you alright?"
She tried to hide her anxious feelings, but to no avail.
"Are you sure this is alright, Kurosaki-kun? I mean, not having Byakuya-san's help? I'm sure he didn't mean to say those earlier…"
Much to her surprise, Ichigo actually smiled.
"Well, I think he didn't too. But if he didn't say those, I won't be running here now, right?"
Inoue knitted her eyebrows together, confused. "I'm…not sure I understand, Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo glanced at her briefly and contemplated for a moment before answering her.
"Byakuya didn't mean those really. He just wanted to get rid of me, that's why he said those. At first I was pissed, but when he said that I should just return home, I realized that he wanted to fight alone. He himself wanted to fight those who hurt Rukia."
Inoue's face suddenly lit up. "So you mean—"
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. He plans to go after the Bounts alone. Seriously, those bastards will have a taste of Byakuya's anger later."
Inoue smiled and thought of her own brother when he was still alive, and how Ichigo tried his best to protect his little sisters when they were in trouble. So Byakuya-san was finally joining the league of overprotective brothers, huh.
"Wait, Kurosaki-kun. How did you know what Byakuya-san wanted by those words?"
Ichigo stopped running and looked at the setting sun. Inoue also stopped and looked at Ichigo curiously.
"Kurosaki…kun?"
Ichigo just grinned. "A brother's instinct, I guess."
-owari
(A/N: Yey! Finally done with this one! Since I wanted to try writing about ByakuyaxRukia in another perspective, I decided to use Ichigo. I think it's actually nice to read what the other characters have to say to another character. I wrote this on a whim, so please bear with me! I am a bit depressed about the anime on break, but there's nothing I can do about it *teary eyed*. Thanks for reading and please R&R!)