AN: Fluffy family piece. Inspired by a scene in the Fade to Black movie, where Byakuya walks into Rukia's room at the Kuchiki Mansion and notice a doodle of Chappy on the side of the desk. Oh, and the omake involving the Seireitei-sized Chappy from Ukitake.

Art, Taste, and Siblings

Byakuya knew he completely failed to be the brother Hisana wished Rukia would have. Hisana wanted Rukia to have someone whom she could call "brother," and Byakuya was exactly that: a brother in name and nothing else.

When he first found her, when she was only Rukia of Inuzuri, she was penniless, but she was confident and lively. She had hope, optimism, and a future she was creating for herself. She knew how to survive in poverty, violence, and lawlessness, but she was defenseless against the merciless impositions of a noble household.

When she became Rukia Kuchiki, suddenly the "Kuchiki" part of her name held so much more significance than "Rukia." Nobility and its influence overshadowed every other aspect of her. Her manners, tastes, or anything that anyone could think of, were stripped from her and she was educated in the etiquettes and expectations of being a noble. Even her career in the Sprit Arts Academy and the Gotei 13 was no longer a product of her own talent and ambition, but a product of the Kuchiki family's intervention.

The Elders called it "refining" her, but all Byakuya could see was Rukia's spirit breaking down, and he didn't do anything. He didn't know how he could. He couldn't break the rules for her again. Even if Byakuya wanted to indulge her, she probably wouldn't survive in the world of nobility without following its rules.

He noticed her losing motivation in classes and her grades and skills slipping. He recognized her handwriting looking more like her tutor's than her own. He saw her sitting through condescending lectures from the Elders that would cause Rukia of Inuzuri to leap up and kick them in the face for. He watched Rukia going through what would make Hisana's heart break should she find out, and he was at a loss for what to do.

Then one day, he received yet another complaint from an Elder, who heard from the housekeeper, that the adopted child (they wouldn't even acknowledge her name) had taken up the horrid and most childish habit of scribbling on furniture. Byakuya was shown the desk that was doodled on, and the Elder arranged to have it thrown out and replaced. Then it happened again and again, until a housekeeper recognized the drawing: it was Chappy, a rabbit mascot of an inexpensive brand of Candy popular in the outer Rukon districts.

The Elders were outraged; they were always easily outraged by Rukia. They had a full lecture prepared: childish behaviour, inappropriate choices (inexpensive brand? from the outer districts?), unrefined taste in art… They asked for the art tutor to be fired, and Byakuya agreed. However, he never hired a replacement, nor did he allow the Elders to actually deliver that lecture.

He noticed something when Rukia's rooms were searched for evidences of her "crime": she really liked rabbits, and she really, really liked Chappy.

It never occurred to Rukia why so many good things happened so quickly. Her art lessons were discontinued (She never liked them. The teachers all deemed her "incorrigible"). She wasn't punished for doodling AND her Chappy-doodled furniture was no longer thrown out (She thought the Elders gave up spending money buying new ones for her). There were more rabbit-themed decorative artworks placed throughout the Kuchiki Mansion (It eventually inspired a wave of rabbit-craze among noble and fashionable echelon of Soul Society).

Most importantly of all, Chappy's company suddenly gained an anonymous private investor, under whose direction the company's Chappy line of products expanded and were upgraded to luxury goods that nobility quickly accepted. Rukia could walk into a boutique in the Seireitei and find almost everything with Chappy, and she could keep them and adore them as much as she wanted.

Rukia also didn't know that she wasn't supposed to add illustrations to her formal reports. Then again, the original reports of an unseated officer would never reach the First Division. Byakuya Kuchiki had once suggested, very subtly, at informal gatherings, that Captain Ukitake and Lieutenant Shiba should simply overlook "extra supplementary materials" they might find in their reports, and refrain from commenting on these said materials, as their presence should not affect the captain's and lieutenants' ability to do their work. Ukitake and Shiba were sharp enough to take the hint.

If Rukia cared more about the leisurely habits of the noble society in general, she might have also noticed some other subtleties. For example, any artist or critic who spoke against the artistic merits of Chappy the Bunny, related designs, or rabbits in general would immediately lose the patronage of the Kuchiki family. Byakuya Kuchiki, who was once famous for his graceful ink paintings of landscape and scenery, refused to speak of that again and pretended it never happened.

Byakuya instead proudly presented his new design: Seaweed Ambassador. It took some practice to that with a straight face. After carefully studying the artistic styles of Chappy and related characters, Byakuya created one that was different enough to not be considered a rip-off of them, but still retained everything that Rukia considered "cute." It was something special they could share as siblings, something Rukia could admire about her brother, something nobody else would understand.

It didn't matter if Seaweed Ambassador earned him weird looks. As long as it was something that Rukia could look at and smile, it was enough for Byakuya. As long as it was something Rukia could like about him, it was enough. Because there was so little else that he could do for her, so little else that he knew how to do for her. Because Rukia had so little freedom to be who she really was and like what she really liked.

Byakuya couldn't break all the rules for Rukia, but he could bend a few them so she could retain this piece of her personality, and indulge in this one hobby that was so very Rukia while still being a Kuchiki.

-fin-

I hope you enjoyed that!

My first Bleach oneshot and first attempt at humour, fluff, and lack of murder and evil scheming ...

I would love to get some feedback on this!

Thank you!