007 – Kuchiki

Prompt: Confusion

Word Count: 661

The head of the Kuchiki family founded a company manufacturing electronics in early 20th century in Osaka. What started out as a small family business, grew during the decades to be one of the leading corporations in Japan today. The most remarkable thing about K-group was that unlike many other big companies, it was still owned by the Kuchiki family.

K-group's current president was Kuchiki Byakuya. He had taken over the company five years ago, when he had been only 25 years old, because his father had fallen ill and had to step down.

This morning, like every morning, Byakuya sat in the dining room, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee. His wife was still in bed, but his sister usually joined him at breakfast. This morning, however, Rukia seemed to be sleeping in, so he had sent a maid to wake her up.

He sipped his coffee and read closely the latest news and articles in the economy section.

"Sir?" the hesitant maid called to him in the doorway.

"Yes?" Byakuya replied, not raising his gaze from the newspaper.

"Rukia-sama is not in her room."

This got Byakuya's attention. He looked up, fixing his cold glare at the nervous maid.

"What do you mean she's not in her room?" It was seven in the morning, where else could his sister be at such an early hour?

The maid swallowed and walked over to her master, handing over the note she had found.

"This was on her desk, sir."

Byakuya took the note, and the maid instantly slinked back.

His eyes quickly scanned the lines. The note crumbled to a tight ball, as the hand holding it balled into a fist the moment Byakuya got to the short letter's end.

Cold anger was rising inside of him. He had approved of the marriage meeting. It was a good prospect for Rukia, and he had hoped that marriage would help to calm her down. Rukia had an independent streak, and she had rebelled against the rules he had set for her ever since she had turned 18. She would have wanted to go to a college, to get a degree and build her own career. Byakuya, of course, had put a stop to that ridiculous idea. Rukia had never seemed to realise that she was not like everyone else. She was not a normal young woman, she was a Kuchiki. And with that name came certain expectations. Unfair or not, that was a fact of life.

Byakuya sipped his coffee, his mind working on highest gear. He did not have that much of a problem with her turning down the marriage meeting. Byakuya was not a monster; he would not have married Rukia off against her will. If she did not wish to marry the man, that was fine. It was a bit rude of her to refuse to even meet with him, however.

No, the real problem was that she had run away. He didn't even want to imagine the scandal that would take place if the media and the reporters caught wind of Rukia's rebellion. Her little stunt would make the Kuchikis a laughing stock in the eyes of the whole nation! And with the instable situation in the economic world, he had his hands full without a family crisis, especially if it would make the headlines. Such things were bad for business.

Of course, such media circus was only the best case scenario.

Byakuya had no illusions about how the world worked, and that was why he had tried to keep Rukia as guarded as possible. But now she was somewhere out there, alone. What if someone would recognise her? What if someone decided that they could earn millions? Hold his sister hostage and ask for ransom.

He knew Rukia had always felt restricted with his rules, but to him, having someone threaten his sister was a true fear.

Byakuya needed to find her. As soon as possible.

008 – Omamori

Prompt: Lucky Charm

Word Count: 720

They had taken the train, to another part of Tokyo. This seemed to be mostly a residential area. The rain still had not stopped, but it was slower and gentle now, no longer a merciless downpour.

The house he stopped in front of wasn't too far from the station. The lot it stood on was protected by a tall stone wall, just like Rukia's home. That's where the similarities ended, however, she mused as they stopped at the gate and Ichigo pressed the buzzer. The building on the other side of the wall was tall and sleek, a modern and high-class apartment building. It was a world apart from the traditional Japanese styled mansion her family had built in 1920s.

She heard the click of the lock, and Ichigo pushed the gate open. They walked to the front door and stepped in. Ichigo nodded at the security guard sitting behind his desk as the two of them crossed the lobby to the elevators. Rukia felt both excited and nervous, standing in the enclosed space of the elevator with the young man. It was something new for her – she had not spent much time with men, certainly not ones around her own age. Every school she had ever gone to had been a private all girls' school, designed to teach and house rich little ladies like her. Of course, there had been the countless rather boring parties and galas where people of their status were expected to attend and socialise. And then there were the servants at her house or her brother's business associates. But all in all, Rukia has not had so much contact with men.

The elevator stopped with a cheerful bing. Ichigo stepped out and Rukia followed. He dug the keys out of his pocket and opened the door, motioning for her to step in.

She stopped in the entrance way, taking in the apartment as she took off her shoes. It was a modern through and through, spacious, light and open. The kitchen, the dining and the living areas were all in one big room.

"We should warm and dry up, getting a cold would be a real pain in the ass," Ichigo grumbled as he closed the door and took off his shoes. "You got any spare clothes with you?"

"Some, yes," Rukia replied, hugging her backpack. "But I am not sure if they're still dry. The rain was pretty hard."

Ichigo nodded.

"I'll find something for you then. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you."

The boy went into his room and Rukia stayed on her spot, her fingers toying with the strap of her bag. She realised that this was the very first time she had ever been in a man's apartment, alone. And she did not even know him!

For a while she wondered if she had always been this bold or reckless, or if those two traits were recent additions due to her running away.

Then, Ichigo was back, with a towel and some clothes.

"Here, go take a warm bath or something, the bathroom's on to your left."

"Thank you," she replied, for the first time fully meeting his eyes.

She went to the bathroom and locked the door. She rummaged her backpack. It was soaked through. She took out her spare clothes and hung them to dry. She found her wallet and set it on the bathroom counter. She dug out her journal. The little hard-covered notebook was her whole life. On its pages she felt was the only place where she could truly be herself, writing down her thoughts and feelings, to keep it all from being bottled inside of her. She set it down next to the wallet. She reached in to grab the few pens and pencils from the bottom of the bag, when her fingers brushed against something soft.

It was an omamori, a protective charm, one that her mother had given to her on her first day of school. Back in those days, life had still been happier in the Kuchiki family – her father had never been the same after mother had died. She held the omamori in her hands, the only item she had took with her to remember home by.

She tucked it carefully into her wallet and turned her back to the past.

009 – Crossroads

Prompt: Choices

Word Count: 549

A warm bath improved Rukia's mood a great deal. She carefully dried her hair – a simple routine that now felt rather weird, due to her spontaneous haircut. Another thing that felt weird was putting on the hooded sweater and grey sweatpants Ichigo had got lent her. The clothes were something she would never usually wear; kimono and dresses were more befitting to a Kuchiki, especially in her brother's opinion.

Rukia almost giggled as she studied herself in the bathroom mirror. Ichigo was clearly above average height, at least as tall as her brother was, and over a foot taller than Rukia, who had always been very petite. Stifling the giggles, Rukia left the bathroom.

Ichigo was lounging on the large sofa in the living room and watching TV, but he turned to look at her when she stepped into the room. His eyes widened slightly and he quickly looked away. Rukia thought she spotted a slight blush on his cheeks. The young man stood up quite abruptly and mumbled something about a bath, before he brushed past Rukia and disappeared into the bathroom.

His reaction surprised her, and made her think he didn't have a habit of picking strange girls off the streets and taking them home with him. But that was a good thing, and only reinforced Rukia's opinion of him – underneath that gruff exterior, he was a kind person.

Rukia went to the kitchen and brewed some tea for the both for them. It was the least she could do, after Ichigo's hospitality.

Taking her tea, she wandered back to the living area and plopped on the couch. The TV was still on, but she did not really pay much attention to whatever program was on. Instead, she turned the mug in her hands, while her mind was pondering the latest dilemma.

She felt anxious to be on her way, to put as much distance between her and Osaka as possible. Her sense of propriety was also kicking in; Ichigo had already helped her tremendously, so she didn't want to burden him any more than necessary. Maybe it was best for her to get going tomorrow morning, and head for Hokkaido.

But another part of her felt like staying for a while, to enjoy this newly found freedom. And while she did not want to be a burden to Ichigo, she did feel very grateful to him, and wanted to repay his kindness. She could not really do that, if she left as soon as possible.

There were two voices warring to gain her attention, one urging her to get going, fast, and the other simply asking what harm would a few days' stay in Tokyo do.

Right now, Rukia wasn't sure which of these voices she should listen to. Maybe if she slept on it, she would have a clearer picture in the morning.

She sipped her tea and raised her gaze to the TV. The program had ended, and now some music video was on, a rock band playing on the stage. Her foot tapped to the rhythm of the music, and she looked at the TV screen more closely.

Then, she froze completely, when suddenly there was a close-up shot of the band's vocalist.

The scowling, orange-haired male on the stage looked awfully familiar.

Note: Just pointing out about Ichigo's height (181 cm / 5'11"): even though here in the West we'd see him as average height, in Japan he's considered tall.