So, after debating whether I'd ever write a fanfiction, I finally decided to write this one! First fanfiction, please read and review (constructive criticism appreciated).
Word Count: 2703 (Hey, not bad for a first timer!)
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Standard Copyright applies.
It was in the quiet moments that she would reminisce; although, if Rukia were to be honest with herself, those moments were more so a rare luxury than a regular occurrence.
In the hazy, hot summer days in the Rukongai, it wasn't an uncommon sight to see the younger version of Rukia sitting high up in the trees, hoping that a small breeze would cool her small body down. These attempts, though, soon became something more.
She would sneak out of whatever makeshift home she and her friends had erected or found for the night and climb the highest branch, giving her an unobstructed view of the night sky. There, she would worry—where would the next meal come from? Where would her small family sleep the next night? However, these thoughts would almost be balanced by more quiet moments. Up among those branches, Rukia could envision herself somewhere far away from the 78th District. Somewhere where she wouldn't struggle day-to-day to keep her friends safe. Somewhere where Rukia could be free to be whoever she wanted to be without the burdens children shouldn't have to bear. Some nights, Renji would come out to whisper fervently at her to come down before she broke her "stupid neck." He would soon get irritated though when Rukia chose to ignore him; Renji hadn't changed in that aspect at all. Even after all these years, Rukia knew that ignoring him was the best way to irritate him. To this day, she still took silent pleasure in knowing that he she could one-up on him by pretending to not hear a single word he said.
When Rukia entered into the Shinigami Academy, these moments were just as rare, yet more precious than those fleeting times in amongst the trees in the Rukongai. Rukia knew that there would be a chance Renji and she would be in separate classes, yet she never expected her oldest, dearest friend to fade out of her life so quickly as he did. Rukia understood that Renji's more advanced classes were much more time consuming but that didn't change the fact that there was a hollow place in her heart. She'd lost good friends to the hardships of the Rukongai—she hadn't expected that even when those hardships were no longer there, she would lose her best friend. It made her wonder about the bonds that kept the two of them together. Were they not strong enough to last even a few years in school?
Still, Rukia would take pleasure in the quiet moment afforded during a class break. She'd close her eyes and listen to the sounds of the wind through the branches of the trees. She would think upon the previous days events and wonder whether Renji managed not to blow himself up yet again in class. He was famous for this. These were the times Rukia would debate whether to ask Renji if he'd like help practicing, but then would quickly banish away those thoughts, knowing that he was proud and would rather choke on his own zanpakuto before asking for her help, especially if it potentially meant looking bad by asking someone in a lower class to help him.
Once she was adopted into the Kuchiki clan, her quiet moments soon became her respite after dealing with the Elders and her Nii-sama. Kuchikis were not meant to meander through life, yet it became more of a habit than anything for Rukia to sneak off to the gardens in hopes of avoiding her "family." Rukia felt that every moment spent with these people were somehow changing her. She never once thought that her behavior was ever an issue; now, if Rukia sneezed at the wrong moment, she would receive a lecture from one of the Elders while she felt the stoic gaze of her Nii-sama bearing a weight down on her head. It was tiring. Rukia would reminisce about a time when she could run free without caring what other's thought of her appearances, where having one yukata was more than enough to make a little girl happy. Now, her belongings could clothe a good number of women in Inuzuri, but having so much was not something Rukia took pleasure in. That's why her escape into her own little world was a blessing.
A blessing that would soon become a curse.
Despite what many would believe, Shiba Kaien had been the role model Rukia never had the fortune of having in her life. She loved him, yes, but loved him like a sister would love her doting older brother. He was who she thought Byakuya would be to her, yet had failed so elegantly at executing. So when she ran her zanpakuto through him, it was as if she'd taken her sword and run it through the closest thing to a real family she thought she would ever have.
Ukitaki-taicho had thought that giving her time off would help her cope with the loss of her fukutaicho, yet those quiet moments were a nightmare. Rukia knew that the only way to handle her grief was to keep her mind busy. She knew it was selfish and cowardly, but by keeping her mind occupied, and therefore fleeing from her own solace, Rukia could grieve the loss of person who had given her confidence in herself and her abilities. By not confronting the truth of the matter: that Kaien would not have wanted to become a hollow and Rukia had done exactly what anyone else should have done in the situation, she could console herself by taking this sin upon her soul. Rukia was as alone as she had been the day Renji had given up on their friendship.
Of course, all that changed when she met that orange-haired fool.
Smirking, Rukia leaned back against the bench, stretching her arms over her head. The Kuchiki gardens were the most beautiful this time of year. The blossoms of the Sakura trees were at its fullest. There was an inner peace to the gardens that very few, albeit a very loud few, could break. It had been a long time since she'd avoided being alone with her own inner thoughts, but now Rukia savored these moments even more as she had when she was younger.
In the 25 years since the battle with the Vandenreich, Soul Society emerged from the ashes of its predecessor to become an even stronger unit. This meant that as fukutaicho, Rukia's duties doubled. Not that it bothered her, really, but when she was given a moment to herself—one where Kiyone and Sentaro weren't yelling in her ears about something incoherent involving taicho- she took full advantage of it.
Sighing, Rukia closed her eyes and propped her elbow on the armrest of the bench. This sort of quiet is so lovely, she thought to herself. It probably had to do with the fact she was the only seated shinigami not working at this time of day, but she wasn't going to complain, nor make noise about it.
Ukitake-taicho had been kind enough to let her off duty early due to her brother's dinner engagement he arranged last minute. Inwardly, Rukia had hoped that Ukitake-taicho would send her on a spur of the moment mission to deal with a horde of Hollows, but apparently today was not her lucky day. Those Hollows looked more appealing than dealing with her angry Nii-sama
Not that she didn't love her brother like her own flesh and blood. If anything, their relationship had grown stronger since the war with the Vandenreich. However, that didn't deter Byakuya from wanting to have a stern talking to with his younger sister, except unlike the past where Byakuya would lecture Rukia on Kuchiki's customs reputation, this sort of lecture would be a little more… personal. Yes, they were closer, but Rukia knew that this dinner may or may not cause sibling discord, if she knew the attendees of this pseudo "family dinner."
This is why I shouldn't talk to Renji in front of Rangiku, Rukia inwardly kicked herself for the umpteenth time. Now I have to deal with Nii-sama and that orange-haired, hot-headed, idio—
"Oi! Rukia!"
Yelping, Rukia nearly slid off the bench (albeit as gracefully as possible). Luckily, the person that voice belonged to grabbed her by the elbow and steadied her. Huffing, Rukia slowly turned to look at the very person she had been calling names in her brain, her face tinted a faint red.
"You fool!" Slamming her fist into his gut, Rukia took silent pleasure in hearing the gasp, followed by a string of curse words spew out of his mouth. "Don't you know any better? You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sneak up on you?" Ichigo managed to wheeze out. "I've been calling your name for the last three minutes!"
"… Oh," Rukia blinked, looking down at her fist, then back at Ichigo.
"Oh?! That's it? Oh?! How about 'oh, sorry, Ichigo. I didn't mean to space out and randomly punch you!'" Ichigo said in a mocking voice, glaring at the petite woman sitting next to him.
"Oh, Kurosaki-kun! I'm so sorry! Please let me take care of your poor, pathetically weak body!" Rukia placed her hand delicately on her cheek, sighing dramatically; it didn't escape her notice and sadistic pleasure to see Ichigo's eye twitching. "I'm just a small, fragile girl with no strength whatsoever!"
"Fragile, my ass." Ichigo griped out, rubbing his stomach one more time for good measure. "What are you doing out here anyways?"
"I was attempting to have a quiet moment to myself, but clearly today isn't my lucky day," Rukia muttered, rubbing her temples. "I've had to listen to Kiyone and Sentaro about organizing Ukitake-taicho's pen collection in alphabetical order.
"… I'm going to regret asking this, but how do you—"
"Don't even ask me," Rukia interrupted, shaking her head. "Apparently it's only something they understand. Ukitake-taicho let them figure it out though. It gave us a chance to get those reports ready to send to your division."
"Che," Ichigo scowled and tugged at his white Captain's haori. "Take your time, I don't want to deal with those two near my division anytime soon."
Chuckling, Rukia smiled at the former shinigami daiko. Even as a Captain and full-fledged adult, Ichigo tended to act like the once surly teenager he had been when they'd first met. Time had been good to him, though. Even though he still carried that scowl on his face like his own signature, Ichigo looked more at peace with the world than he'd ever seemed before. He knew who he was (though it had taken a good amount of beating from Rukia and Isshin to bring him back to his old self), and he knew where he belonged. Rukia, even back when they had first met, knew that Ichigo had been a wandering soul in his own way, lost and confused—he attached to a human body. Being a shinigami had given him the purpose he'd once lacked in life, and even after those seventeen months, even after being told he wasn't a true shinigami and needed to go back to his roots, Ichigo had proven to all the detractors that where he belonged was right in Soul Society, wearing that haori.
"Oi, idiot. You're spacing off again. That grin is a little creepy," Ichigo poked her in the forehead.
Swiping his hand away, Rukia did her best to glare back at him. "And this is why it was so peaceful before you showed up. I could space off as much as I want and not have to listen to anyone."
Grinning, Ichigo leaned closer to Rukia. "So, you agree with me that you were spacing off?"
"Don't make me hit you agai-"
"Eh… Kurosaki-san?"
Two sets of eyes, one an intense gray-violet color, another warm amber, turned to look at the new speaker. Flustered, the servant stuttered out "I mean, Kurosaki-fukutaicho. Kuchiki-taicho is ready for you."
Ignoring the grumbling coming from her husband, Rukia gave a heartfelt smile to her brother's head servant. "Thank you, Kenji, we'll be right in."
Kenji opened his mouth, but promptly shut it when he glanced over at Ichigo. Hesitating, he seemed to make up his mind about something. "And… Kuchiki-taicho would like me to tell you that if you 'brought that Ryoka boy' he won't take issue with him at dinner, because it's rude to beat a guest, even one so lowly as a Ryoka, to a bloody pulp…"
Rukia's eyes twinkled and she turned to gaze at the sputtering Captain. She noted that his face was turning to an interesting shade of red. "Anything else, Kenji?"
"… But to remind Kurosaki-taicho that he isn't technically a guest, so that means one word out of him and he'll remind Kurosaki-taicho of how it felt to get pounded by a superior warrior."
"OI!" Ichigo jumped up, shaking his fist. Rukia attempted to hold his arm so as to spare Kenji's life, but she was laughing too hard to make a concerted effort. "That was one time! One time I tell you!" However, by the time Ichigo managed to yell that to Kenji, the servant had fled back into the confines of the house in hopes of his life being spared.
"Your brother is an ass," Ichigo groused as he flopped back onto the bench next to Rukia.
"I thought you two were finally getting along?" Rukia inquired.
"We were! But then Matsumoto had to go and open her big mouth to Hisagi, who of course went and told everyone else! I thought he was going to go bankai in the Captain's meeting earlier today with the way he was glaring at me," Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, turning his head away from Rukia. "He even reverted back to calling me 'Kurosaki Ichigo,' as if I wasn't his brother-in-law."
Rukia tilted her head inquisitively at him, cocking an eyebrow. "You're scared of him, aren't you?"
"NO!" He yelled out, which confirmed Rukia's suspicions. "I just don't want him to kill me before the baby is born. How would you feel raising our child fatherless?"
"We're married though! Nii-sama has no reason to interfere with what we do with our lives," She snapped back.
"Yeah, tell that to your precious Nii-sama—oof!" Ichigo winced as Rukia whacked him in the head.
"Don't make fun of Nii-sama! He just worries about me."
"Worries about you! He should worry about me with how much you hit me!" Ichigo snapped back, then stopped when he saw the smile on his wife's face. "What are you smiling about?"
Shaking her head, Rukia stood up, extending her hand out to the orange-haired captain. "Nothing, just thinking that once this baby is born, there'll be even less time to have a quiet moment to myself. Nothing has been quiet since I've met you."
"Tell me about it," Ichigo complained, but laced his fingers in Rukia's, pulling himself up. "Ever since you floated through my wall, my life has been one big clusterfu—Ow!"
Rukia took her foot off Ichigo's instep, smiling sweetly up at him. "What were you saying again?"
"I bet Ishida doesn't have to put up with this from Inoue," Ichigo mumbled, but tugged on Rukia's hand as they began to walk towards the house. "Hey?"
"Hmm?" She answered back, glancing back up at him.
"You know I wouldn't have it any other way, right?" He said quietly, but Rukia caught the words. Smiling up at him, she leaned her head on Ichigo's shoulder, listening to his steady breathing. She had always used those quiet moments to reminisce, to escape from the burdens and hardships of her life. But, being here with Ichigo was all the solace and peace Rukia needed in the world. Especially with the life-changing prospects their first child would bring.
Tonight may not be full of those moments, but once Byakuya finally calmed down and the couple officially announced the fact that they were having a child together, then that escape Rukia had so desperately wanted when she was younger would be something to reminisce about some day in the future.
"I know."
Thank you for reading!