A sis for a sis

A/N: I don't own Bleach and its characters.

Byakuya snorted as he downed another saucer of his sake. It was something any normal person like you and I would not have the privilege to witness. Kuchiki Byakuya snorting? Who would have thought it possible for such an uncouth sound to emancipate from the stoic, stone cold taichou of the Sixth Squad – the head of the noble Kuchiki clan, no less. It would have been expected from the guy he was sharing the sake session with but definitely not from this stick-in-the-ass brother of the Kuchiki princess.

The other thing no one would've expected possible was that this boorish behaviour of Kuchiki-taichou comes out to play only in the presence of this particular guy who had become his best friend (he would die by his own pretty pink-petalled sword before admitting this) after the Fullbring War. The guy in question being the orange-haired moron slash substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo.

And that would be the third most unexpected thing – the fact that the Kuchiki Head and the ryoka boy are even friends, to begin with.

"Hey, don't you dare laugh at me, Byakuya," Ichigo furrowed his brows at his drinking partner. "You're one overprotective brother yourself. In case you haven't noticed, I have yet to gain your permission for your sister's hand… even after ten years!"

Byakuya cringed at the thought of Rukia being married to this imbecile. "You have not proven your worth yet, Kurosaki. And I wasn't laughing at all. The snort was merely an expression to replace the unsaid, 'now you know what I mean' with regards to my protectiveness over my sister."

"Whatever... My case is different. My sister is already going out with that Jinta boy and I can't do a thing about it," Ichigo grumbled as he shook his head and pounded his fist on the table, making the saucers and sake bottles bounce a bit.

Byakuya shrugged and took another slow sip from his saucer. He wasn't the type to care about other people's affairs; as long as marring of the reputation of his clan was not involved.

Ichigo was complaining about his little innocent sister, Yuzu dating the shop assistant of the Urahara Shoten. He never liked that rude and loud redhead monster.

"Ah, but he's a lot like you except for the hair, my boy," Isshin had said when Ichigo questioned his father's permission for Yuzu to begin dating. "And besides, one of you has got to start something somehow. Otherwise, I won't be able to get any grandbabies, seeing that you're not very successful in your relationship with my third daughter."

The elder Kurosaki was then seen hugging the poster of his late wife, weeping away with a bruise on his head, complaining about how their children were disrespectful of him.

No one could blame him, though. Ichigo was already 26 and his sisters were 22. While the strawberry was still trying to get Byakuya's approval to even take Rukia out on a date, Karin also didn't look like she would be interested in anyone any time soon. She was so engrossed now in studying medicine at the university, intending to be the third doctor in the Kurosaki household, while coaching the soccer team at Karakura High. Isshin was desperately hoping to hear wedding bells before his gigai gave way.

The Kuchiki head had never met any of Ichigo's sisters before even though they had been friends for over ten years… well, more like eight actually, considering the fact that Byakuya disliked the substitute shinigami a little less only after they revived his powers again. Being a noble, he couldn't let himself be bothered with matters that were 'below' him. He rarely came over to the World of the Living, today being one of those rare occasions because he had lost in a sparring match with this orange-head idiot.

Part of the deal was that he would get himself into a gigai and they would both have their drinks at a bar in the World of the Living, among and as part of the living who are 'below' him. The other part was that Ichigo would never go out with Rukia ever again, even as friends in a group with other friends. That alone had fuelled the ryoka's zeal to beat the arrogant taichou into a pulp. Even Unohana-taichou had a hard time healing him.

Just then, the door of the bar swung open and in came a rowdy group of university students, talking and laughing out loud. The group of about eight took their seats at a table next to the bar counter where the two shinigami were.

"Ichi-nii!" cried a voice behind the two men. Ichigo turned immediately and was surprised to find his dark-haired sister being one of those students.

He gave her a smile that only very few knew of and opened an arm out to embrace her. "Taking a break from all that cramming?" he asked. He, of all people, would understand about the stress of studying medicine. He had spent eight years of his life there himself. Now that he's a residence at the Ishida Hospital, his face-buried-in-books schedule had only been replaced by odd hours of shifts and was plagued with regrets of lives he couldn't save.

Karin nodded, pulling away from his embrace. She had dark circles around her eyes which were framed by her black hair, making her look like a Goth princess. She glanced at the man sitting quietly next to her ani and motioned to him. "Who's that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper over the rock music played at the bar.

Ichigo turned his body to reveal more of the tall taichou clad in a black button down dress shirt and black slacks. "This is Byakuya. Byakuya, this is my sister Karin," he introduced.

The Kuchiki lifted his head to face the younger Kurosaki. There was a moment there that he held a stare. Karin smirked, knowing her effect on men as she had experienced, although she had never been in a relationship with one. But to her amusement, this Byakuya guy just nodded and went back to staring into the space in front of him.

Karin's eyes switched to her brother's, curious. He chuckled. "Sorry about that. Byakuya's not really a people person."

"Really, now?" The dark-haired beauty raised a brow. "Byakuya… where have I heard that name from, Ichi-nii?" she asked, stealing her brother's sake, much to his dismay. Even though Karin and Yuzu were no longer minors, Ichigo still saw them as his baby sisters.

He scowled and snatched the empty saucer from Karin. "He's Rukia's uptight brother that we always talked about."

That earned him a glare from the taichou and a giggle from his tomboy sister.

"Did you just giggle like a girl?" Ichigo asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

Karin laughed out loud. "I am a girl, Ichi-nii!" she exclaimed, her eyes never leaving the tall and handsome man she just found out was Rukia's brother. "So this is the person between you and Rukia-nee?"

Byakuya directed his glare at her this time. "The universe will shatter into pieces before your brother marries a member of the Kuchiki clan."

Again, she raised a brow. It was her favourite facial expression. "How come you get to hang out with him and Rukia-nee doesn't?" she challenged him.

Byakuya scoffed, his eyes still on the girl he just met. To be honest, he found himself beginning to be fascinated by her. Just a little, though. She had a certain kind of enigma to her character that somehow intrigued him during the short time they had had their conversation. "So this is the girl Hanakari-san is courting, Kurosaki?"

Karin burst out laughing even louder than before. Ichigo smirked. The Kuchiki man appeared annoyed at the fact that what he said had induced such reactions.

"Wrong sister, dude. That would be Yuzu. I'd be insane to go out with an ass like Jinta," Karin said, trying to calm herself from her outburst.

Byakuya's expression softened. He thought he felt his heart skip a beat when the girl's laughter alleviated into a smile – the most beautiful smile he had ever seen since Hisana's. Even with her coarse language, which he would normally disapprove of, she had an air of elegance in her voice, much unlike that cretin brother of hers.

"Umm… I've got to take this call. I'll be outside for a bit," Ichigo excused himself, snapping the two from the staring contest they didn't realise they were having. Even Ichigo didn't see the current that seemed to be going on between his sister and Byakuya because his phone had alerted him to Rukia's secret call to him.

Byakuya blinked and turned to face the bottle of sake again. He could feel the heat traveling up behind his ears as he tried to ignore the hard gaze Karin was fixing on him while she took over her brother's stool.

"Would you have liked me to be the sister that was going out with Jinta-kun?" Karin asked softly, breaking the silence.

Taken aback, Byakuya gulped down his sake and thought carefully about the question that was so courageously directed to him.

Karin smirked. "I'm sorry…" she began but was cut off when Byakuya turned around to face her again.

"Am I right to assume that you are always this forward?" he asked.

The girl bit her lower lip, glanced at the bottles of alcohol on the shelf behind the bar before looking back at him. "No," she shook her head. "I've never been interested enough to do something like that."

It was his turn to smirk. The image of Kurosaki waiting at the altar for his sister, not such a bad idea all of a sudden. Perhaps, he could learn to like this 'World of the Living, among and as part of the living' kind of thing. "Perhaps I could work something out with your brother."

Karin laughed and nodded in understanding. He could really get used to hearing that laughter too.

This is my first fan fiction. May be kind of OOC at the end on Byakuya's part. All very mild hinting of the pairings. I'm a huge fan of Bleach and IchiRuki. But I sometimes feel that there isn't nearly enough ByaKarin fics around. This one came to my mind as I was driving.

31 May 2016: Did a bit of editing.