Rukia's Report

another ordinary mission, right?

disclaimer - you know.

/

"Rukia."

"Captain!"

Rukia Kuchiki entered the office of the Thirteenth Division's captain. She looked over at her desk, the smaller one which faced his, and was relieved to see that very little paperwork had accumulated over the past three days.

Ukitake smiled at his lieutenant from behind his desk. "Your mission is completed, I take it?"

"Yes, captain. It took longer than I expected, but Ichigo Kurosaki and I were able to track down and destroy the hollow."

"Was it a tough one?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Captain Ukitake made a mental note that Rukia had gotten cockier since her promotion. "It was just difficult to pin it down."

"How so? Was there something wrong with the tracking equipment? If the Twelfth Division made a mistake, I want to know about it."

"No, sir, it was nothing like that. The hollow was just good at masking its spiritual pressure. And it kept lingering around crowds of people, so we wouldn't have an opportunity to fight it."

"It sounds smart. Were any bystanders hurt?"

"No, sir. We finally got it in an alley and destroyed it without anyone seeing us."

"Good. Well, you haven't missed much around here."

Rukia approached her seat, but hesitated before sitting down.

"You know, captain," she said, "every assignment in the World of the Living I learn something new. There are so many details that I have to get right. Like, this time, Ichigo really surprised me when he licked my ear."

"How so?"

"Well, we had tracked the hollow to an area around a street festival, and while we were walking through it, Ichigo just bent down and licked or sort of nuzzled my ear. I wasn't expecting it. But he said that it's a custom or something, and he was just trying to blend in with the crowd."

"Uh-huh."

Rukia walked over to her captain's desk.

"Only, I didn't see anyone else doing it. There were some people who were kissing, but they looked like couples. And Ichigo didn't say anything before he did it. He usually warns me if there's something I'm doing wrong or if I forget to do something, but not this time. He only said something afterwards. And he was really defensive about it."

Rukia was right up at her captain's desk. "Doesn't that seem odd to you? Like he was making up an excuse?"

Ukitake said, "Ah, customs. They do change as the centuries go by. It makes me feel old." He stretched his arms. "We're fortunate to have that substitute Soul Reaper to guide us."

Rukia studied her captain's face for any reaction.

"I suppose we are", Rukia said. She held his gaze a second longer, then walked over and sat down at her desk.

Ukitake opened a folder on his desk. His face hadn't betrayed him, he knew. Rukia thought of him as a Captain of the Gotei 13, but he was first and foremost a wing man. He was wing man to the legendary cad Shunsui Kyoraku. He was a wing man centuries before the term "wing man" was invented. He would easily provide cover for an overheated teenager.

And he had to admit that Rukia had cute ears. She should wear her hair back more often.

He returned to his paperwork, and she to hers. There are two kinds of excuses, reasoned Ukitake, the ones you tell to save your life, and the ones you tell to save your pride. He thought about Rukia's temper, and figured that Ichigo's story had probably done both.