bleach drabble
ichigo/rukia
rukia has a request...

note : spoilers to post soul society arc, just a what-if situation, and yup, i still don't own bleach (858 words - my bus number, weird!)

One of the Family

The huge memorial poster of Kurosaki Masaki that graced the wall of Rukia's new residence had always been a great source of puzzlement to her. With all the wailing, and the ranting, and the laughing done in front of it... by Isshin-san, of course.

And as for the other Kurosakis, well, their reactions were also pretty interesting. Ichigo usually ignored it as if it wasn't even there. Karin always took the opportunity to make some smart remark about her father's mental state for putting it up. And Yuzu would sometimes just smile at the picture of a mother that she barely remembered.

Rukia had wanted to broach the subject on the exact purpose of the poster many times, but manners that had been drummed into her at the Kuchiki household had always made her think twice.

One particular Sunday in May, however, curiosity finally got the better of her.

As was usual on lazy mornings, Rukia and Isshin-san were the first two to get up and were already seated opposite each other at the breakfast table, quietly sipping their morning coffee. Ichigo soon walked in but instead of just walking past the picture as he usually did, Ichigo actually looked at it in silence for a moment before sitting down beside her.

She was just about to question him, but Karin had appeared at that moment and whispered a soft "Oka-san" as she dipped her head in a small bow before taking her seat next to her father. Even stranger, was when Yuzu burst into the room right after and skipped to the poster with an enthusiastic greeting for it. "Happy Mother's Day, Oka-san!"

Rukia blinked in surprise as Yuzu claimed her seat but finally manged to voice out a question. One of many running around in her head now, but one that had immediately caught her interest. "Today is Mother's Day? You have a day for mothers?"

Karin gave her a strange look. "Yes. There's all sorts of days for special people."

"Special people. Like a mother, huh?" Rukia whispered, almost wistfully.

She caught Ichigo looking at her with narrowed eyes. "What?"

"I know that you're an orphan and all but how can you not even know about Mothers' Day?" he asked thoughtlessly.

He was swiftly punched from across the table by his suddenly loud and energetic father. "Oh, Ichigo! That was a cruel comment to Rukia-chan! She is almost like part of the family now! You must be nicer to her, son!"

Ichigo's glare was now directed at him instead, as his head throbbed painfully. He rubbed it soothingly and was about to talk back to his father when Rukia spoke up quietly.

"Can I call her 'mother', too?" All eyes turned to her in surprise. Suddenly embarrassed that she had even made such a request, Rukia started talking faster as she tried to explain something that she herself did not understand. "Just for today, I mean. Since it's Mothers' Day and all, and she's the only mother I've ever known? Wait, I don't mean that she was a mother to me. I mean - "

"Of course, Rukia-chan!" Isshin enthusiastically agreed, halting her stumbling words. "As I have already said before, you are like the daughter I never had! Practically part of the family! One of - "

"Sure. I'm cool with that." Karin shrugged, easily talking over her father's loud proclamations of family and such. Yuzu gave her a shy smile and nodded her consent, too.

She turned hesitatingly to face Ichigo and was surprised that he wasn't scowling at her, but his words were definitely surly. "Fine. You can call her whatever you want." He got up abruptly to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Fine, I will," Rukia muttered childishly, slightly peeved that he had to agree so grudgingly. She turned to the poster and bowed respectfully, "Oka-san..."

When she looked up, Isshin-san was smiling at her in an oddly serious manner. "That is the first time that I've seen Ichigo willing to share his mother with anyone," he said softly, so that Ichigo would not hear him. "As a child, he always wanted her focus on him. I think he was jealous of any time that she spent with his sisters, heck, even me."

"What? Really?" Rukia looked to the sisters for confirmation but they just shrugged. She turned back to Isshin-san, who smiled widely.

"Yup, really. These two don't remember much of her, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that he really didn't like sharing his mother with others. But it seems that he's willing enough to share her with you. Interesting... Anyway, I'm glad that you wanted to call her 'mother' on this special day, Rukia-chan."

Chagrined at her own display of sentimentality, Rukia didn't have to say anything to that, so she just picked up her cooling coffee and sipped slowly. But Isshin's next comment really made her wish that she hadn't.

"Well, maybe someday, when you're both ready, you'll get to call me 'dad' for real, huh?" He gave her a suggestive wink and she promptly chocked.

end

i know it's way too early for a mothers' day gift, but i would still like to dedicate this to my mother. i love you, oka-san!!!