A/N: I make an effort to try to respond to all the reviews that I get for each chapter as soon as I can, but I was unable to do so for Chapter 01 due to time constraints. But! I promise to respond to all reviews from here on out. Hope you enjoy this chapter... even if it was all written in one sitting because of plot bunnies. :-D


Chapter 02- What's in a Name?

"Soooo... Are you gonna keep the dog?"

Rukia sat in the Officers Lounge dressed in a simple white bathrobe. She cleaned her ears with the loose ends hanging from the towel spiraling atop her head as she pondered Kiyone's question.

"I dunno… nii-sama won't be home for another three months..."

Rukia briefly wondered if the short-haired shinigami had heard her response as she was busy smoothing out the puppy's fur with a brush to keep it from looking like a ball of fluff. The puppy yelped when Kiyone pulled the brush through a tangled knot.

"I can look after it, if you--"

Kiyone was interrupted when Sentarou barged through the Lounge door headed straight for the comfy chair at the center. Crossing the room, he noticed Rukia's state of dress and tripped over the coffee table, effectively shattering it.


Bykuya didn't like the nosebleed Kotsubaki was sporting on the floor. The man could claim that it resulted from his head banging on the table, but he knew better: the nosebleed had begun the second Kotsubaki had laid eyes on his sister. Perhaps it was due to his superior eye sight as a dog or that as Captain, he noticed things that passed under the radar of seated officers, but he wasn't about to take whatever the man said at face value.

Byakuya had seen the stupid grin Kotsubaki had on his face enough times to know what it meant. He had caught Renji often with the expression plastered on his face in the lounge room when the redhead had been too into his questionable "reading material" to notice his Captain come in. Why his Lieutenant would do so in the lounge and not in the bathroom or for that matter, in the privacy of his own room he knew not. Either way, Kotsubaki's nosebleed meant one thing, and one thing only: he liked what he had seen.

"Is that dog glaring at me?" The man asked as he held a cupped hand to his nose.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Kiyone abandoned her position as Byakuya's groomer to whack Kotsubaki with the hair brush.

"Up yours, Kiyone!" The man yelled with a brand new black eye as he ran outside being chased by a 5 ft. woman.

Byakuya noticed Rukia blinking in amusement at what had just transpired. His sister shrugged and smiled at him as she patted the seat to her left.

"C'mere you cutie, you."

When he didn't obey her, Rukia sighed. It wasn't that Byakuya didn't want to, it simply had to do with the fact that he wasn't used to be called "cute" or "cutie", dog form or not. The last time he had heard the term directed at him, Yoruichi had used it to rile him up for another chase marathon. If he hadn't appreciated the name as a teen, why would he do so now?

"Doggie, c'mere now or I'll name you Chappie."

Given that threat, Bykuya concluded that she intended to keep him. Why name an animal if it is going to be given away? Then again… then again it meant that Rukia planned to keep the dog while he was on a mission.

She is doing this behind my back, Byakuya narrowed his eyes.

He blinked. Technically, Rukia is not, because I am the dog and therefore, I know of her plans.

"Hey. You. Doggie."

This presents a problem indeed.

"Fine. Be that way! I should've let you in the rain for all I care!"

This exclamation brought Byakuya back from contemplating the paradox. He trotted to the couch where Rukia was seated and attempted a climb to the summit.


"Awww! That's so cuuuute!" Rukia brought both her hands to her mouth to stop herself from gushing further. The sight of a pup struggling to jump the distance from the floor to the couch was enough for even someone like Mayuri Kurotsuchi to squeal "kawaiii!"

Well, maybe not Kurotsuchi.

Rukia helped the pup the rest of the way up by grabbing its' midsection and plopping it down next to her.

Speaking of Kurotsuchi…

"Hey, you didn't run away from the Twelfth Division, did --?"

Rukia laughed at herself for asking the dog a question as if expecting for it to respond. Now that she thought of it, the dog looked like it had been in the rain for some time before she came upon it. For that matter, Isane, who had been paying her sister a visit, claimed that the dog had a minor cold. She was no veterinarian, but Rukia would take her word for it.

The slight possibility that the dog presently staring at her had been prepped as a guinea pig or worse, as a meal for the Hollow kept in the Twelfth Division subterranean facility sealed the deal on the dog's next home.

Rukia smiled and patted the dog. "I sort of thought my first pet would be a bunny… but you'll do!"

The white puppy was then hugged.


Byakuya was presently sitting on the floor next to Rukia as she spoke to her Captain seated at his desk. She had set him down the second they had crossed the threshold, thinking that he wanted to sniff the various items decorating the office. But this dog was no ordinary dog: this dog was Byakuya Kuchiki.

Somehow, saying it in that manner was both better and less insulting than the much shorter "Byakuya Kuchiki is a dog". He allowed himself a small chuckle, which came out as a happy bark.

"What have we got here Rukia?" Ukitake asked with a large smile.

"I found him outside," his sister began to explain, "I want to keep it here in the office for the time being." She paused, "With your permission of course. Just until the end of the day when I take it home?"

"What's this?" Ukitake raised an eyebrow, "'It'? You haven't named the dog yet?"

Byakuya shook his head. Rukia was clearly seeking not to disappoint her Captain, as she had just been promoted not to long ago to Lieutenant.

"His name's… Ringo-chan!"

What on Earth…?

What had Byakuya done to deserve being named after a fruit?

... and for that matter, why 'chan'?


A/N: These chapters are fun to write. R&R ladies and gents!