When We Were Young
"But, sir, please, we just need two more documents filled out…"
"No. It's Friday, 2:00pm, and I have a car waiting outside already."
"Sir, it's just-!"
He turned around and looked down at his assistant.
"I will see you on Monday. Have a good weekend."
And with that, he left the office in a quick, stern stride.
His assistant left out a frustrated, and somewhat frightened, sigh.
"Why does he always have to leave so early on Fridays?"
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"All right children, time to clean up!" the teacher called, clapping her hands.
A chorus of "aw" and a scuffle of little feet running to the toy bin signaled the end of the day.
A dark-haired little girl sat properly in her chair, delicately sniffing her nose at the other grubby children running past her. She was small and elegant (well, as far as elegant can go when concerning children) and well-mannered, folded hands and crossed legs and all. She was neat and tidy, and not a hair on her head was out of place.
Until her friends got to her.
"Rukia-chan! Rukia-chan!"
Two little bodies bowled her over and out of her chair, hands scrabbling at the air, someone's nose getting snubbed into the carpet, and a foot lodging itself in another's mouth.
A scrawny red-haired boy sat up in the midst of the confusion and rubbed his red nose.
"Hey, Rukia-chan! What are you doing after school today? My uncle's off work today so we can go play at my house!"
She was about to respond when the other boy emerged from the tangle of bodies, spitting out Renji's foot.
"Ew, gross! Renji-kun! That was gross! Ew, ew, ew!"
"Oh, don't be such a crybaby, Ichi-kun," Renji said, wiping his foot on the carpet.
Ichi-kun stopped scraping his tongue off on Renji-kun's shirt long enough to glare at him through watery eyes.
"I'm not a crybaby!"
"Are to."
"Are not!"
"Are to."
"Are not!"
"Are t-
"Shut up, the both of you!"
Both of the boys stilled with their eyes wide, watching her brushing herself off and glaring at them.
"Hmph! I'm not going to play with either of you today! I have a date!"
The girl composed herself before glaring at the multi-colored clock as well, and marched over to the door, where she stared at it magnificently, as if demanding it to open.
The boys sat there for a second before Renji-kun whispered, 'She said the "s-word"…!'
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Usagi-san (as the children call her) dusted her hands of chalk and turned to greet a visiting teacher, "Lobo-san."
They chatted for a cheery minute before Lobo-san pointed out the dark-haired girl staring down the glass doors of the kindergarten room.
"Oh, don't worry about her. Rukia-chan is always like that on Fridays."
"May I ask why?"
"Fridays are date-days.
Her brother comes to pick her up and they spend the rest of the day together. Cute, huh?
She always tries to stay clean on these days, but having the friends that she does…," she indicates the boisterous pair running around the room, and laughs.
"Usually she'd be running around with them. They're such a handful!"
"They look like it. I'm getting tired just from watching them."
"Don't even get me started.
Now, would you like to have some tea with me later, Lobo-san?"
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Outside the classroom, parents drove up and parked in neat little rows and chatted with each other cheerily, bragging about their child's success in spelling and writing, etcetera.
They glanced at their watches as they observed more and more little faces gather at the doors, looking for their parents, eager for hugs and more play time at home.
All except for one.
The parents giggled good-naturedly at the dark child who stared regally through the glass and refused to join the other children in their shouts to find their parents.
The clock struck 3 and the parents bravely ventured up to the doors to pick up their children, who clamored excitedly at the approaching adults.
----------
Usagi-san warmly greeted the parents before taking note of the lone figure not moving at the glass doors.
She scanned worriedly over the crowd of thinning parents and children, and defeated, looked back at Lobo-san, who shook his head.
"Where is he?"
----------
She sits down next to little Rukia, who steadily watches other parents leave with her enormous violet eyes.
Usagi-san decides she needs to distract the girl from her post, and maybe ease her anxiety (and her own) a bit, so she ventures to ask her about what she plans to do with her brother this sunny Friday?
Rukia pauses and answers, "Ice cream."
Usagi-san thinks for a second, hoping to coax a conversation out of the girl.
"Perhaps that is Rukia-chan's nickname for her older brother?"
Rukia stares at her surprised, and then giggles suddenly, shaking her head "no."
Usagi-san "ah's" and conclusively says, "I guessed wrong."
----------
The conversation seemed to be doing the trick, since Rukia-chan turned her full attention to her teacher, and was no longer forlornly looking out of the window. She brightened considerably since they began talking about her Nii-sama, and animatedly traces out in the air the stuffed bunny that her Nii-sama had given her when she was born.
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"What do you like about your Nii-sama then?"
Usagi-san is surprised when Rukia-chan grows quiet again.
Rukia contemplates this and subconsciously twists a handful of her dress, blushing.
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Lobo-san has since settled himself into a kiddie chair, as he waits for his and Usagi-san's promised tea date.
He chuckles to himself and thinks, "He is very lucky."
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As Rukia continues the description of her brother, a familiar black car pulls up in the front, and Usagi-san interrupts the girl to point out the car.
Rukia falls silent, and Usagi-san thinks that Rukia-chan looks especially excited.
A man steps out of the car and straightens himself to a very tall height, indeed, and it seems like everyone left in the kindergarten room holds their breath.
He opens the glass doors and immediately stops before the girl. Taking off his sunglasses, he bends down to look straight at her.
Rukia-chan visibly blushes under his gaze and clutches at her little pink backpack.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Rukia."
Rukia then smiles shyly and says clearly, "That's okay." (She does not mumble; Kuchiki do not mumble.)
Nii-sama scoops her up, and she gets to ride on his shoulders today, all the way back to the car.
All the way up there, the entire six feet, Rukia smiles widely.
End.
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A snapshot of the life of Kuchiki Byakuya and Rukia-chan! Hope you liked. It's been sitting around in my head for a while. I hope it came out all right. I've had to edit it so much I'm not sure it meshes quite right.