Disclaimer: Bleach is the property of Kubo Tite, who makes lots of money out of it. This is non-profitable fanfiction, from which I glean only enjoyment.
The Best Laid Plans...
Plans are always fluid, everyone who has ever been trained in the art of war knows that. Byakuya, who had suffered Seireitai's finest teachers from an early age, as well as the overly frequent lectures from his Grandfather, had been taught that particular piece of wisdom at the tender age of six. He had never expected to find himself applying it in this particular situation.
The walls were pink.
Not magenta, or cherry blossom, but fuchsia. He suppressed the shudder that scuttled down his spine; such a reaction was unbecoming of a Kuchiki. Rukia was sitting in the middle of the room, hands on her hips as she looked around proudly. She had a smudge of the vibrant paint above one eyebrow, and appeared to be wearing Kurosaki Ichigo's clothes. The neckline of the t-shirt was so wide that it had fallen off of her left shoulder, and the jeans pooled around her ankles. Her toes poked out from beneath the folds of denim in an undignified fashion, and her toenails were purple. And sparkly. He could feel a twitch beginning as the muscle above his left eye tensed. He assumed that the jeans were being held up by a belt; the t-shirt was too long to see.
"Nii-Sama!" she said cheerfully. "How are you?"
"I am well," Byakuya replied carefully. This strange display of impropriety and colour was clearly a sign of something. He wondered if she had picked up some strange disease in the Real World. It would have to be something truly malignant to affect her spirit to such a degree.
"What do you think of the room?"
Byakuya could not suppress the twitch any longer. He had just noticed that the pink paint had dripped in several places onto the tatami. "It is very bright," he replied, certain that stating the obvious would not offend her.
Rukia's face fell. Her eyes sparkled suspiciously. It appeared that even being careful, he had managed to say the wrong thing. "I thought it was cheerful," she said quietly.
Byakuya began to feel strangely desperate. "Pink is a cheerful colour," he tried, fully aware that he was grasping at straws.
Rukia's smile seemed to brighten the room even further, and he found his own lips twitching in response. "Yachiru-chan and Matsumoto-san helped me to choose it," she said, gesturing cheerfully at the walls. "Of course, it isn't finished yet."
Byakuya's stomach dropped. "It isn't?" he asked, suppressing the urge to peer around wildly to see what new horrors were reserved for what had been one of his favourite rooms.
"Oh, of course not. I bought the things I would need to paint Chappy the Rabbit designs. I thought that that would finish it off perfectly, don't you agree, Nii-sama?"
Byakuya found that faced with her suddenly cheerful countenance, the best plan seemed to be to agree and then retreat. "Of course," he said as he turned to leave the room.
"Oh, Nii-sama?" Rukia said quickly, taking a step towards him and nearly tripping on the overly-large jeans.
"Yes?"
"Why did you come to visit me?"
Byakuya felt the curious sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach again. He had come to ask for Rukia's opinion on how the guest bedroom in the West corridor should be refurbished, but considering the current state of her room, he would have to revise his plans. He made a mental note not to ask Matsumoto-fukutaicho or Kusajishi-fukutaicho for their assistance either. Now, he had to think up a plausible reason for his presence, and quickly. The silence was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"I… wanted to see how you were," he said, keeping his calm expression firmly in place. Rukia looked so happy that he immediately felt guilty for lying to her. Still, telling her the truth wouldn't serve any useful purpose.
Far better to be silent in such things. His Grandfather had taught him that too.
/End.