Not-so-long-author-note: Hey! This is the third chapter of When It's Rukia! I'll say more in the author note below, so please read the author note below.

This is rated T for brief references to violence and language.

Warning: Possible spoilers


When It's Rukia – Yamada Hanatarou

"Oi, you, move the surgical trays to Room 15! And while you're at it, take these bandages!"

"Squad 9 officers from 5th seat to 10th seat have arrived heavily injured! Requesting backup medics at Room 23!"

"Move it, move it, hurry up! We've got injured people here!"

"Ugh, patient 496 spilled his soup again… Geez…."

"Oi, you!"

He sighed. Another busy day at the 4th Division healing center, and another whirlwind of commotion, orders, disorganized supplies and taxed medics. The same thing time and time again. Weak and timid he may be, but Hanatarou couldn't help but wish for something more interesting than this daily chaos, even if said chaos was already hectic and frazzling enough.

"Out of the way!"

"I-I'm sorry!" This he squeaked as he jumped out of the way of the 9th seat of the 4th squad, who was juggling rolls of bandages, parchment, blankets and soup while running at full pelt down the hallway. After watching the officer for a moment or two, he set off to the entrance to see if there were any more incoming patients, having run out of obligations to do. The 7th seat darted between people as best as he could with his miniscule body, and managed to reach the entrance in good time. He stuck his head out past the open doors and took a whiff of fresh air. Though he was accustomed to the smell of disinfectant, blood, puke, and all the nasty odors people associated with their squad's healing quarters, nothing quite beat the smell of fresh grass and the feel of energy in the air, charged with soul particles.

He was shaken out of his reverie for a moment when he felt an odd vibration. He flicked his head up, shaking his hair out of his face, and spotted a rather sizable dust cloud some distance off. He withdrew his head in called out to his passing senior officer, Yasochika Iemura.

"Third seat Yasochika-san! The 11th Division is coming again!"

A collective groan went up around him from those who could still hear despite the clamor and those who had begun to feel the telltale vibrations under the soles of their feet. Iemura, who was always frazzled, appeared even more agitated than usual. One arm tucked against his body held numerous scrolls within its grasp, but were sloppily bunched together, a lock of hair was hanging loose from his slick hairdo, and he was sweating buckets of sweat, with eyes darting this way and that under his glasses.

"We don't have time for those brutes right now!" he growled in frustration. "Almost all rooms are completely full today, and we have news that more are on the way! Geesh, can't they keep their brawls under wraps for just one day?" He ran down his intended path, but not before ordering Hanatarou to somehow prevent them from entering the building. After all, as Iemura put it, sniffing disdainfully, "those brutes never have major injuries to begin with."

Little Hanatarou shook with fear at this implication, wondering how he would ever manage to quell the bloodthirsty fighter group known as the 11th Division. It turned out later, that he needn't have worried. The vibrations stopped and everyone who was accustomed to the brawlers unannounced and unwelcome visits looked around in confusion. Hanatarou peeked out his head to see what the cause was, before shock flitted across his face. Byakuya was staring impassively down at the group of fighters, and though some were acting tough, many were quailing under his ice-cold stare and the faintest flicker of Spirit Pressure that he was purposely leaking. And next to him, smaller in stature…

"Rukia-sama!"

"I told you before that you can drop the honorifics, Hanatarou," she admonished half-heartedly. "Well, that was months ago." Rukia entered through the doorway, her face an odd mixture of happiness and of pain. Distracted, Rukia quickly glanced back, and bowed. "Thank you nii-sama, but I think I can manage fine now." Rukia's odd phrase drew Hanatarou's attention back to her, and he gasped, horrified. "Rukia-san, your shoulder!"

Rukia glanced at said bloody shoulder, and shook her head dismissively. "It's nothing, Hanatarou. And nii-sama, I'll be fine an-"

"Fine in a place where 11th Division members do not know their place? I think not," came the cool voice of Kuchiki Byakuya. "K-Kuchiki-taichou!" addressed the young Shinigami, waving his hands about. "Would you like something? O-oh, first, would you like to sit somewhere? And-" He was interrupted however by Iemura, who bowed to Byakuya, before steering his sister hurriedly to one of the available rooms. Iemura called to Byakuya, "We have received your hell butterfly sir, and rest assured that Rukia-san will be of first priority for our healers." Byakuya gave no comment except a small grunt and sat down on one of the chairs on the left side of the hallway, looking around and apparently unimpressed.

Though the walls and floors were squeaky clean, Hanatarou had to admit the sweaty, pushing masses of healers and patients in and out of rooms in a clearly disorganized state, evidenced by their lopsided attire or supplies could hardly make a good impression to most visitors, especially Kuchiki Byakuya.

Kuchiki Byakuya. Hanatarou still couldn't quite get over his fear of the noble, despite the past incidents he had lived through during Rukia's incarceration. He had always appeared cold and scarily powerful, and his attempt to kill him after wounding Shiba Ganju hadn't exactly been the ideal follow-up to his impression of the 6th Division captain. But then again, it was due to his actions that he had been there in the first place, to save Rukia.

Yamada Hanatarou may have been a 7th seat of the 4th squad, and one of Unohana-taichou's favorites, but even so, not many people regarded him as an equal, if they even noticed him to begin with. That's why he was so taken with Rukia's personality, who, despite her noble status, looked upon him as if he were merely another a person, an equal. Finally.

His first jail visit had been nerve-wracking, since it was his first time dealing with a noble prisoner with such a fantastic crime. The minute he had walked into the 6th Division jail holding, he was struck by how solitary and subdued she seemed. He let himself in with his key, broom in the other hand.

"U-um, Rukia-sama! I will begin the jail cleaning!"

Rukia flicked her gaze up to him, and offhandedly, he thought how sad the eyes were, sad as the sight of her in jail had been from the other side of the bars. Something in her expression twitched as if she were remembering something unpleasant, so he braced himself for the punishment he was sure to befall him, despite her status as a prisoner. Nobles held much power in Soul Society after all.

"Please don't address me as '-sama.'" She gently scolded him, her voice deeper and softer than he had thought, and infinitely sadder than her expression. It distracted him for a bit, before he blinked in shock, a few unintelligible noises of surprise escaping him. Huh? She did not want to be called with honorifics?

"W-well, um, t-then, Rukia-san?" he tried out awkwardly, again flinching slightly for the expected punishment. Such a reaction had been ingrained into him since he had come to associate what pain meant, how he didn't like it, and how to avoid it.

"Thank you." The words were uttered softly, her eyes softening as she thanked him. He was startled, naturally, by her response. She hadn't punished him. Rather, she had thanked him. And now she was giving him a sad smile, as if her attempt to express her thanks was still inhibited by her gloom. But it was one of the only thanks he had ever received.

They didn't speak much as he swept the pitifully small holding, but he didn't feel as tense as he thought that he would be. In fact, he felt at peace around this strange noble girl, who had refused to be called by her appropriate title and had thanked him for it. She didn't watch him sweep, absorbed again in her thoughts, but he found himself aware of everything about her. Her slumped posture, her white robes, her equally droopy hair and her large (blue, or was it perhaps a shade of purple?) eyes, though they were shrunken now in thought. He swept the dust, of which there wasn't much, into a container he had brought with him, and backed his way out of the cell, bowing as he did so.

"I-I… will be returning to-tomorrow to clean again," he breathed, and watched as her head turned slowly to him. She nodded, acknowledging his words and perhaps, he thought as he walked down the brightly lit hallway, thanking him a second time. Two thanks in one day, from the same person who happened to be a noble no less. His heart pounded. He frowned in concern. Was he scared still? He didn't think so, for he wanted to go back to her cell… Go back to her cell… He stopped in the middle of the hallway, people sending him curious glances as they hurried to their own destinations. He blinked again. He wanted to go back to her cell. His thudding heart could not be the result of fear. Rather…

"Thank you."

It was of excitement.

He returned the next day, somewhat wary, yet expectant. She was in the same position as he had last seen her, though he now noticed a food tray in one of the corners.

She had barely eaten anything from it.

He allowed himself in with the key, and set to sweeping, murmuring a shy greeting and waiting with bated breath. Rukia, who seemed somewhat happier than before, quietly answered back with her own greeting. After several minutes of sweeping, she asked a question.

"What's your name?"

Name. No one had ever asked him for his name with the simple intent to familiarize. His timid heart opened up more. "Y-Yamada Hanatarou." She nodded, and did not introduce herself for there was no need. She was already infamous outside these walls.

The same silence settled, but Hanatarou felt a difference. He did not feel tense at all.

Hanatarou gradually came to enjoy coming to the 6th Division barracks, his heart lifting at the sight of her, the only highlight in his daily life. Days flew by, and gradually they began to communicate with each other. With every exchange, Rukia's eyes grew brighter, her tone stronger and less sad. Food soon became a scarce sight on each of her trays. The sad thing, Hanatarou mused later, was the thing that she lacked most and was deprived of was simple contact. It didn't have to be anyone specific, just the presence of a member of the same species was comforting enough to most in solitude.

He found himself growing bolder in asking her questions, mostly about the real world for they fascinated him so.

"Juice box?"

"Yes, a juice box, it's a difficult drink. It requires a trick to drink it. It even gave me trouble."

"Oh, really? A drink that gives you trouble…" Hanatarou exclaimed in wonder.

"You," she stated amusedly, "might not be able to drink it even after learning the trick."

"What?"

"He taught me how to drink it."

He. "He" being Ichigo he later learned, was held in high esteem in Rukia's eyes, but not like that of someone superior. It was strange; it was certainly more than equality. Was it perhaps…? Well, he would ruminate over that later. At least these conversations made her happy at times, which outshined how she would get a sad, wistful look after relating a story.

Then Byakuya had come.

"Do not make me repeat myself again and again. The class one felon, Kuchiki Rukia, shall be confined on death row…and twenty-five days from now, shall be put to death in the Central Court."

He had left it at that, with Rukia considerably sadder. Hanatarou realized with a jolt that that had been her brother. How could her brother tell her that with such aloofness, as if he had no care as to how her fate, her life turned out?

"Rukia-san, is the person you gave your Death god powers to the one you always talk about…?" he ventured.

"A man named Kurosaki Ichigo. He and I only spent two months together, but strangely, he was someone I could trust completely. And yet… And yet…" It was here, her fists clenched in her robes, and her eyes swelling with tears and emotions, that her voice choked up slightly. "Because of me, his fate has been twisted and he has been hurt terribly. No matter what I do, I can never fully atone." Afterwards, she had fallen into a melancholy stupor. Tactful enough not to press her any further on this, he finished his sweeping and left.

He shook himself out of his ponderings when he saw Iemura from the corner of his eyes. Byakuya stood up, looking at the 3rd seat expectantly.

"She will heal without infections," claimed the blond, his chest puffed in pride, "you may see her now, if you'd li-"

"No need."

"Eh?"

The Kuchiki noble turned around and began walking in a dignified posture to the entrance. He paused, and said "See to it that she returns to her duties," and then walked out. Ever the enigma as always…

During this exchange, Hanatarou had been sidling out of sight, and went to the room he knew her to be in. She was sitting upright on a bed, looking unchanged except for a wrap of white gauze around her left shoulder.

"What happened, Rukia-san?"

"An errant Hollow, nothing big. I was just careless," she stated with a proud, defiant expression, though spots of red shame colored her cheeks. He accepted her response, then sat himself on a guest chair in the room. She raised her eyes curiously at him. "Are you waiting for someone?" she asked. "Oh no," affirmed the 4th squad 7th seat healer, "I'm j-just staying here… t-to keep company, and that's okay, if you don't want company that is, I totally understand t-that you might prefer other company, and-" he babbled, nervousness welling up inside him. She eyed him strangely.

"There's nothing wrong with your company. You're a friend," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

The young male was startled. Friend? He thought back to their time in the jail, their conversations, and his stance against Byakuya with Ganju for Rukia…

A smile spread across his face.

Yes, he didn't mind being friends with someone like her. Someone like Kuchiki Rukia.


Super-long-author-note: Oh gosh~! I got my first review on this fic! Squee~! o I'm SUPER DUPER HAPPY. I'll reply as best as I can here!

First Reviewer: (I dunno if you want your name on this or not, even if your review shows the name you inputted, but I'll just keep it anonymous for security concerns. Haha, thanks for your effort! It wasn't double. And I'm just so happy that somebody reviewed that I'll give a free oneshot to you, and leave the other standing for the next person (though I doubt anyone's eager for one from me, seeing as I just got around to posting my fics). But seriously, you made my day! Yes, Rukia has interacted, however small, with many characters, and her contrasting personality sides makes her interesting. She's not a typical girl you see in manga and I like her character very much. She has a very rich and interesting past, so there's a lot of potential for topics about her. I'm not sure if I get the hang of the character's viewpoints, even if they are a type of removed-third-person view, but I'm glad you liked this one! I know that too, I've seen a lot like mine. That's a good point, thanks for the advice. That definitely would strengthen the overall fic. I'm just testing waters as of now. Ehehe, Ichiruki FTW~ Thanks for your well wishes! If you have an account, please sign in and let me know your preferences for the oneshot! If you don't have an account, please make one! It takes less than 20 minutes of your life, and you're not obligated to write any stories! I'd love to talk more personally! Thanks so much!

And another note, yes, the free oneshot is still up for grabs, and see the last chapter's author's note if you don't get what I'm talking about. Remember that while I love reviews, I'm not going to nag you guys for one. And another thing, I'm just BLOWN AWAY by how many visitors my fics have garnered altogether. All my account shows me is the number of people from a country, and nothing else, and I'm astounded at the variety of people reading this. I hope I reach out to all of you through my fics! Welcome! I had a not-so-good day, but seeing the stats and reviews and alerts and favorites just made my day. I'm flabbergasted in a good way.

I've decided to also give a little background info about each character's viewpoint, so as to transition a bit more smoothly. Also, I'm going to try shifting styles, like the different styles for the first two. I'll reuse a style today, but I'll think of more as I go along. I'm gonna mix it up with important and not-so-important characters as I go on. I'll also add some scenes of my own making not seen in the manga. I honestly can't see how far I'm going to go with this. Seeing such positive reactions has inspired me to keep writing. We'll see… This is actually a rather important viewpoint, Hanatarou's, because I think he has been deeply affected by his interactions with Rukia. A lot of people don't find him interesting, but please give this a try. I kinda based this off of how it happened in the manga and anime and some scenes of my own imagination, sorry for any confusions.

Speaking of giving a try, please consider reading my author notes and visiting my profile. My author notes usually have important stuff so stay tuned. And for those of you who are growing sick of this, I'm kinda sorry. Another author that I can't remember the name of said not to be afraid to write long author notes. I'm rather talkative, so I took to this ideal eagerly, and here's the result! If you'd like shorter author notes, I ask that any reviewers please create accounts or sign in to review, so I can private message with you. Anonymous reviews are Ok, but I usually type more in a private message. Also, I'm updating a lot for now since I'm so hyped, but I have limited time, so please be patient. Thanks and love to those who set me on alert. I'll try not to keep you guys hanging!

Some other things I'll mention here. I'm a big supporter of correct mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization). If you see any mistakes in mechanics or grammar in my works, feel free to notify me. I won't get mad, in fact, I'd be glad if someone would help. I want to learn from my mistakes, and it's better if someone else points it out for you.

I'm not review-hungry, so I won't nag you guys for any. But I'd like to voice the opinions I think most authors on this site have: We don't always want reviews saying "Update, please!" or "That was sexy!", etc. Most of us want to know how we did, where we can improve on, and what elements to keep and expand upon. A lot of the authors' goals on this site are to have fun sharing and reading stories. So please, the next time you are moved or impressed enough to write a review, write a little bit more, no matter how short, like: "You have good humor!" It makes a lot of positive difference. :)

Before this review gets any longer, I'll end it. Please check my profile for more info. I might set up a poll in the near future.