Enjoy The Day
Five-year-old Abarai Ruo sat on his godfather, Byakuya's lap, eating New Year's rice cake while his godfather finished up the last few documents that needed to be read, sealed, and filed for the New Year. His father had been helping by taking away the stacks of file folders to records and back, as were all the other lieutenants, helping their captains.
But none of that mattered to the Abarai child as he finished his rice cake by licking his sticky fingers clean of the red bean paste. And now that he was done eating sweets, there was nothing left for him to do but slide off his godfather's lap and leave the room.
Byakuya didn't mind much, but as a guardian he had to ask the basic questions. After all, Ruo is five-years-old, and still very curious of the world. Plus, Seireitei was not a safe place for a child to play by himself.
"Ruo-kun, where are you going?" he asked, stopping the curly red-haired child. Ruo looked back at him with large brown eyes, his small body stretched up to reach the hand-hold of the paper screen door.
"I want to go play in the snow, ji-san." Ruo answered with all the innocence of a child.
"Very well, but put on your jacket and gloves. I don't want your mother yelling at me if you catch cold." Byakuya said, remembering the first time he was asked to look after Ruo and the boy had tripped and scrapped his knees and hands. Byakuya received an earful from Reira. The woman was much too protective for a mother.
"Ji-san, help." Ruo said, trotting up to him behind his desk, needing assistance with the zipper of his jacket. His gloves, cap, and scarf were already on and all that was left was to zip up the poofy winter jacket. Byakuya slightly bent down to reach the bottom of Ruo's jacket, and zipped it up as far as it would go.
With a toothy grin, Ruo turned and waddled out of the room.
Outside was cold, as winter should be, and everywhere was covered in a thick blanket of snow, as winter should be. Ruo walked down the hall, making his long journey to the gates that would take him out into the Rukon District, where he knew other children his age would be.
And it wouldn't be the first time Ruo left the walls of Seireitei by himself, he's done it a dozen times before, and always came back before it got too dark. The Gate Keeper, Jidanbou always let him back in without anyone else being alert of his absence.
Ruo was exceptionally popular with Rukon children, and had no trouble making friends. And playing games never got boring as they'd always come up with new ones.
Suddenly Ruo snapped out of his day dream of games and cake when he found himself in the wrong area. He had somehow made a wrong turn and ended up outside the lieutenant's lounge. Oh well, Ruo shrugged, turning around to retrace his steps, trotting pass Matsumoto and Kira.
"Ruo-kun, where are you running off to in such a hurry?" Matsumoto asked. Ruo skid to a halt and looked back with his large brown eyes.
"I'm going to go play with the other kids in the Rukon District, so please don't tell anyone. Especially Oyaji and ji-san!" Ruo said.
Matsumoto and Kira looked at each other and smiled before looking back at the boy.
"We won't tell," Matsumoto said, "But don't you want some cake and tea first?" Cake? As in, another one? Like Matsumoto had to ask!
"Yeah!" Ruo said, running up to the two lieutenants with a big smile and bright eyes, taking Matsumoto's hand. In an instant, Matsumoto had crouched down to smother Ruo with a back-breaking hug. Her womanly instincts caving in to the cuteness of the boy.
"Oh you're just the cutest little thing ever!" she squealed, while poor Ruo endured it, and Kira standing by with a sweat-drop over his head.
"Is it really okay to give all these sweets to him?" Kira asked, eyeing the spread of cakes, pudding, and all of the traditional New Year's sweets upon the table. And Ruo, sitting between Matsumoto and Yachiru, along with the other female lieutenants fawning over him (except Yachiru, she was enjoying the cakes like Ruo), while the men sat estranged from them.
"Yeah, wouldn't Reira-san get upset?" asked Hisagi, "I mean, what if he gets a stomach ache from eating all this junk?"
"Don't be silly, Shuhei-kun." Matsumoto said, waving her hand, "Don't ruin it for Ruo-kun."
"Where'd all this food come from, anyway?" Ikkaku asked.
"I bought all of this for Hitsugaya-taichou, but he just yelled at me for treating him like a kid and kicked me out of his office." Matsumoto said, "And since I bought so much, I thought I should just share with everybody. And luckily," she slung to Ruo who was busy eating a warm red bean bun, "I heard Ruo-kun was here today."
"So, Ruo-kunn," Yumichika began, getting the boy's attention, "I heard you're going to be a big brother soon."
"Hah? Your kaa-chan's having another baby?" Yachiru asked.
"Uh-huh!" Ruo said, "Kaa-san says it's going to be a girl."
"How exciting!" Matsumoto said.
"But oyaji says it's going to be a boy." Ruo added.
"What do you think it'll be?" Yachiru asked.
Ruo shrugged his shoulders, "I just wanted a puppy."
The table went silent before an uproar of laughter burst from everyone at the blunt reply of Ruo. Some of the shinigamis had tears in their eyes from laughing too hard. Ruo just sat there, thinking to himself, What's so funny about wanting a puppy?
After having his fill of tea and cake, Ruo scurried off (more like slipped out when no one was looking) to continue back onto his beaten path towards the Northern gate to the Rukon District. He passed by several shinigamis who were making their rounds and such, and had to occasionally make a detour to avoid being seen by any of the sixth division members.
For a five-year-old, he was pretty clever when it came to slipping pass full-fledged shinigami. Also, he knew how to get around Seireitei almost as well as finding the bathroom from his bedroom in the middle of night back in the human world.
He was only a long staircase and a mad dash away from reaching the gate when he slipped on ice and skid across the ground. Sitting up, Ruo stifled a fit of tears from hitting his head, because "big boys" don't cry.
"Ruo-kun, are you hurt?" Ruo looked up to see Nemu of the twelfth division walking up to him. Wiping away the tears with the back of his sleeve he shook his head "no" and stood up. "You shouldn't be running around so much, the ground is covered in ice."
"Hai, nee-san." Ruo said, having been told to call all of the women big sister (mostly because almost all of them dislike being called auntie, which makes them feel old).
"He's what?!" Renji choked as he slammed down his cup of tea on the table in the lieutenant's lounge after finishing helping his captain.
"We don't know what happened," Matsumoto began explaining, "He was here, sitting with us for one moment, and then the next, he was gone."
"You're all lieutenants, and a five-year-old slipped right past you! Unbelievable!" Renji ranted, grabbing his head in disbelief of the situation.
"I don't see how you can be so surprised, the kids done this a dozen times before." Ikkaku said, who was lounging comfortably on the floor.
Renji's head slammed down onto the table, thinking of what his wife will say if she ever finds out about this. Or worse…Give him the silent treatment and never make him another home cooked meal again.
Where would a five-year-old go? he wondered in dismay.
Only a sprint away before Ruo was past the gates of Seireitei and in the Rukon district. Soon, he'd be playing with the Rukon kids and having a snowball fight until their hands and face were so numb with cold that they'd be raw with frost bite.
Just a little further…! Ruo thought eagerly, reaching his goal, before noticing a giant snowball coming straight toward him.
"What the—?" Ruo gasped, skidding to jump out of the snowball's path. He rolled in the snow and pushed up quickly onto his feet. "Where did that come from?" he wondered, looking around.
Without warning, the walls of Seireitei came crashing down from the sky, bordering the home and headquarters of the shinigamis.
"Ah! No way!" Ruo said, finding it unfair that his fun snow day was ruined.
"Yes, way," came a gruff reply. Ruo froze, knowing whose voice that belonged to. And sensing him standing directly behind him, Ruo hesitantly looked up to his oyaji towering over him, looking rather annoyed.
Ruo gave a sheepish grin. The sheepish grin that normally gave him away of being guilty.
"O-oyaji, you're done helping ji-san, already?" he asked with a shaky voice. "Itai!" Renji bopped his son on the head, the only form of physical punishment he deemed effective.
"Ya nearly gave me a heart attack!" Renji said with his hands on his hips. "What were you thinking, running out towards the Rukon district by yourself?"
"But I wanted to play." Ruo sniffed.
Renji sighed.
Running around looking for Ruo, the feeling of panic, it was like he was reliving the day Yamamoto-sama was announcing the blessing and initiation of Ruo all over again. Or the time he was left at home to take care of Ruo by himself for the first time.
"Oyaji," Ruo began, getting his father's attention. "Duck."
"Duck?" was Renji's only response before a snowball hit him square in the face. A resounding flood of laughter soon came after as Renji wiped and spat snow from his face and mouth. Looking wildly around, he noticed Madarame, Hisagi, and Yumichika were all rolling with laughter, though Yumichika was trying to look good about it.
"Did you see that?!" Madarame howled with laughter, "Too frazzled to even notice a snowball!"
Grumbling, Renji had bent down and scooped up a large portion of snow, packing it down into a ball and threw it straight at Madarame, which hit into his open mouth, making the cue ball choke on the cold powder. Another round of rolling laughter resounded, but this time Madarame was not laughing.
Renji scooped up another portion of snow to make a second ball while grinning down at his son. "If you wanted to play today, you should have said so." he said, and threw the second snowball at Yumichika, hitting him in the chest, who was not at all amused. Though Ruo squealed with laughter.
Hisagi, the only one who hadn't eaten snow yet, was the only other person to laugh at his friends' expense until both Madarame and Yumichika smashed his head down into the snow.
"Oh good, you found Ruo-chan!" Matsumoto chimed, appearing next to Ruo with an unwilling Hitsugaya behind her. Taking in the scene, the busty shinigami asked, "What's going on?"
"We're about to start a snowball fight," Renji said with a wicked grin.
"Want to play, too, nee-san? Nii-san?" Ruo asked, looking at both Matsumoto and Hitsugaya with his big brown eyes that not even the hardiest of shinigamis could resist (just ask Zaraki of the 11th unit, or even Mayuri of the 12th unit).
"Of course we'll play with you, right, taichou?" Matsumoto said, looking back at her captain who made a move to leave but was stopped by his lieutenant who gave him a dark look. "Right, taichou?"
"Ah…h-hai." Hitsugaya said with a sweat-drop.
In a matter of seconds, everyone had split into their own teams. Renji, obviously having Ruo on his team, were against the Hitsugaya/Matsumoto team, and also against the Madarame/Hisagi/Yumichika team. Although there were no rules or terms to go by as snowballs flew which direction.
At one point, Zaraki, who was looking for his two members, got caught in the crossfire, ended up attacking everyone with his much larger, and crudely made snowballs. Yachiru was sitting on top of a roof, watching and cheering "Ken-chan" on.
Then some time after Zaraki unknowingly joined in the game, Mayuri had just so happened to come by to inspect the snowy brawl. Of course, when a snowball innocently hit him in the face (followed by several others and then one giant, crudely made one), he lost his temper and, from somewhere in his captain's coat, pulled out a giant shoulder canon, and thus, unknowingly, joined in the game.
It wasn't until the day became evening and Ruo grew tired of throwing snowballs did the game stop. Renji scooping up his son into his arms, and heading back towards the living quarters with Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Madarame, Yumichika, and Hisagi. Zaraki and Mayuri were still battling (Zaraki with his crudely made snowballs and Mayuri firing chunks of snow from his canon).
In the warm living quarters, Renji was pulling off the last of Ruo's wet snow gear while his comrades were all lounging and relaxing from the day's event. Everyone, even Hitsugaya, all admitted it was a fun day. And this fun day would have been wasted if little Ruo had not been around.
"Oyaji," Ruo yawned, "I want cake."
"Y'know your mom doesn't like it when you eat sweets before dinner." Renji said, hanging Ruo's wet snow gear to dry.
"We should visit the human world tomorrow and see Reira-chan!" Matsumoto suggested.
"You just want to take advantage of the tag sales." Ikkaku said.
"That too!" Matsumoto piped.
"But then that means we'd have to scrounge for a decent place to stay for the night over there." Yumichika pointed out, "And sleeping outside in the cold is a very ugly situation."
"I'm sure Reira won't mind having guests, we do have a spare room." Renji said, "And Urahara-san can spare rooms, too."
"I also want to see how big Reira-chan is now!" Matsumoto said, "I bet she's round like the time when she was pregnant with Ruo-kun!"
"She's only nine weeks pregnant," Renji said.
---
"Kaa-chan, we're home!" Ruo called, hurriedly taking off his snow shoes and ran down the hall.
"My, I see Reira-chan's redecorated." Matsumoto said, scoping the room of its warm atmosphere. "And this smell…smells sweet."
"Reira probably has something cooking in the oven." Renji said, hanging up his jacket on a hook on the wall. "Reira, we have guests!" Renji called.
Reira came walking out into the front den smiling warmly as she greeted them, "Welcome home."
"Reira-chan! It's so good to see you!" Matsumoto said, leaping forward and hugging Reira's shoulders. "So, is the baby going to be another boy, or is it a girl this time?"
"It's too soon to tell, Rangiku-san." Reira said.
"Kaa-chan, kaa-chan! guess what Oyaji and I did when we were in Seireitei?" Ruo said excitedly, tugging on the hem of Reira's apron. "We had a snowball fight with Toushi nii-san, Matsu nee-san, Ikkaku ji-san, Yumichika ji-san, and Shuuhei ji-san! Even Ken ji-san and Mayuri ji-san played with us! But when we were done, Ken ji-san and Mayuri ji-san were still playing!"
Renji sweat-dropped, knowing that his son knew nothing behind the reason as to why Zaraki and Mayuri were still battling it out with snow.
"It sounds like you had a good time." Reira said, leading everyone into the kitchen where she was preparing to make lunch.
"Hai! And when we were there, Byakuya ji-san gave me New Years cake, and Matsu nee-chan and everybody else gave me even more New Year's cakes and tea!" Ruo said, sitting at the table next to his dad.
"Let's hope you don't get a cavity." Reira said, smoothing down her son's unruly curly red hair while she gave her husband and painful pinch on the arm.
Renji rubbed the sore spot on his arm, giving his wife a pathetic grin as to try to silently convince her that it wasn't his fault. Matsumoto giggled behind her hand while Hitsugaya could care less about small matters such as cavities and who-to-blame.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the day." Renji said, ruffling his son's curly red hair fondly.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this story. Please Review and tell me whether if I should create another story and make a series of one-shots or not by sending me fantastic ideas.