Late, and actually not very good. But I still wanted to do something for Byakuya's birthday.
ooo
"Happy Birthday, Byakuya!"
The young boy woke up to see the smiling face of his father. He immediately jumped into his arms and hugged him happily. He got dressed and left his room, hand in hand with his father.
On their way to the kitchen, he was greeted and congratulated not only by the servants, but also his grandfather. He cheerfully thanked every one of them.
They finally arrived to the kitchen, where the family cook was giving the final touches to a beautiful cake. When the boy asked his father about it, he said it was a custom he had learned about while in the real world, and thought he might like it.
Then the cake was finished. Even if the boy preferred spicy over sweet foods, it was one of the best things he had ever had. It was so good he didn't even complain when the demon cat appeared, wished him a happy birthday, ruffled his hair, and disappeared with a piece of cake.
He was again congratulated by his smiling father, and Byakuya couldn't be happier.
And then he woke up.
Was that a dream? No, it wasn't. It was a memory. He still remembered Soujun, his kind and cheerful father, who had always made his childhood enjoyable. How fun he made each and every one of his birthdays.
He had dreaded the date since he had died.
Byakuya sighed and got up from his bed. If he had some luck, Renji might have taken the hint last year and realized Byakuya did not want to celebrate his birthday with the messiest party a former eleventh division member could muster. Perhaps if he pretended there was nothing special with this date, then everyone would follow his lead.
He dressed and placed the kenseikan in his hair in brooding silence. He was ready just in time to get to his office with a relaxed shunpo. He preferred walking, but he might meet people and their unwelcome congratulations if he did.
Byakuya opened the door to his room just in time to see a small foot sticking out of black hakama pants disappearing around the corner. He paused.
Which was a good thing, since he was about to walk into a cake left just outside his door.
It was a pretty small cake, covered in blue icing, with something clumsily written in pink icing. He leaned in to take a closer look.
Happy Birthday, Nii-sama, said the cake.
Making sure that no one was looking, he gently swiped a bit of icing with his index finger and put it into his mouth. He nearly gagged. It was just way too sweet. Maybe a bag of sugar fell into the mixture or something, judging by the taste of the innocent piece of dessert.
Yet, Rukia had made him a cake. A horribly sweet one, but a cake nonetheless. Even if he didn't really like celebrations, she managed to do it in a way that wasn't as bothersome as what other people might have tried (his mind automatically provided the faces of his vice-captain and the demon cat).
He supposed it wouldn't be too life-threatening to eat a small piece of the cake. It might not be the beautiful cake of his memories, but it still was something. Byakuya held the cake with great care as he shunpoed to the sixth division barracks (he was definitely still to be there before Renji).
Sitting down and bracing himself to bite into the minuscule piece of cake he had cut, he smiled to himself.
He might actually learn to enjoy his birthday again.