Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.


Chapter 8

Rukia patiently waited by Byakuya's side for Shuuhei in front of their dojo. Byakuya refused to leave his little sister in at the mercy of half the uncultured men who attended the dojo. Granted, he knew most of them; hence, why he was in overprotective brother mode. Thank Kami, Shuuhei Hisagi was different, even if he was a little rough around the edges at time.

"Why are you standing with me again?" Rukia asked a stoic Byakuya as he threw glares at any man who even thought about approaching them.

"Shuuhei didn't want you to get lost, and I don't trust those men to leave a beautiful, young woman alone." Byakuya commented, which cause Rukia to smirk.

"Awe! Look at you being all tough!" Rukia patted her brother's arm causing him to grit his teeth.

He wanted to swat her away, but that wasn't what Kuchiki's did, especially to their little sisters. Instead, Byakuya settled for giving her a glare.

"Rukia, I will make Shuuhei regret promising to teach you if you keep this up!" He scolded her.

"But brother, you already promised he could teach me since you didn't want to do it yourself." Rukia countered. She knew that she won the round when Byakuya's eyes narrowed at his little sister's wonderful manipulations. Well, she did learn from the best after all.

Sensing he was losing this battle, Byakuya settled for plan B. "Since you're so energetic, why don't you drink this!" Byakuya handed Rukia a new drink called Monster. "It's blue raspberry flavor. It's supposed to help you concentrate on your practice."

Rukia eyed the drink skeptically, but it's not like Byakuya would lie to her right? So Rukia took this Monster and drunk all of it in nearly a single gulp. The flavor was different than she was expecting, but the after taste wasn't too bad.

Once she finished, Rukia gave the can back to Byakuya who discreetly threw it away.

Just as soon as Byakuya disposed of the evidence, Shuuhei walked up to join the group. It took all of Byakuya's will power to hide his evil smile. Shuuhei would eventually learn when Byakuya said no, he meant NO! Rukia didn't need a sword nor did she need to learn how to use onw. She'd just torture Renji with her newly acquired skills.

Greeting Shuuhei with a nodded, Byakuya pushed Rukia gently towards Shuuhei. "Here she is! All raring to go like promised. Y'all two kids have fun!" He called out watching the confused couple enter the dojo.

"What's up with your brother?" Shuuhei asked Rukia in a quiet tone as he opened the dojo door for her.

"He probably had a meeting that he was about to be "late" for. You know by Kuchiki standards for late is 30 minutes early." She told with a shrug.

"You sure he wasn't acting strangely though?" Shuuhei questioned Rukia once again as the entered the building.

"I thought you came here to teach me, not criticize my brother." Rukia countered with a dark look in her eye. Shuuhei knew that tone as well as the look. It was Rukia's "if you keep asking me this, I will smit you" tone.

"Rukia, come on I was just asking a question. No, need to get hostile on me." That's when Shuuhei turned to see a raven eyebrow arched at him, and those once beautiful violet eyes turned a dark, dark shade of purple. He was in for it now.

"Shuuhei Hisagi, if you value your life, shut the hell up." She growled at him. Needless to say, Shuuhei did as his girlfriend asked on pain of death.

"Here is the women's changing room, honey. I'll be waiting for you when you come out." Shuuhei directed Rukia towards the closed door with the Women's symbol on it. "Just look for the locker with your name of it! I had Tatsuki put in everything that you'll need for practice." He told her with a smile.

Rukia grinned at his comment. Maybe she was a little too harsh on him, especially if he asked Tatsuki to make sure she had all the proper gear in her own locker. Before she entered the changing rooms, Rukia spun around, grabbed Shuuhei by the tie, and pulled him into a quick, passionate kiss. "I'm sorry." She told him when she let him go.

A stunned Shuuhei stared after the petite wonder. "Maybe I should make her made more often if I get kisses like that!" He thought to himself.

After 10 minutes of making sure that she had all her gear on correctly, Rukia exited the changing rooms. She saw Shuuhei leaning up against the wall so she hopped and skipped over to him.

Noticing her upbeat tone, he asked, "Are you reading to get started?"

"OH COURSE!" Rukia told him a little too enthusiastically, but he just put it off that she was super excited. He couldn't really blame her though since Byakuya didn't want her practicing kendo to begin with.

Shuuhei led Rukia to a room he reserved, and no one would bother them thanks to Byakuya's heavy influence. "Go stand in the middle of the mat while I grab the shinai."

Rukia was standing on the mat thinking about doing cart wheels when Shuuhei handed her the bamboo sword. "This is how your supposed to hold it." He showed her the correct stance with the sword raised partly above his head.

Taking the shinai in her hand, Rukia attempted to mimic Shuuhei, but her stance was a little off. He placed her feet in the correct position. Then gliding his hands up her arms, Shuuhei pressed his body up against Rukia. Her heart was pounding in her chest as Shuuhei wrapped his hands around hers just like a teacher would, but he wasn't as unaffected as she thought. A tiny sweat drop fell down Shuuhei's face being this close to Rukia like this.

"Okay, love. You have to hit like this...now move forward." He said as he moved with her. Switching techniques on her, he told her, "This is how you cut, and turn into a block." The couple moved in one fluid motion. Rukia was silently thanking Byakuya for every dance lesson that he made her take.

"Alright, I think you're ready!" Shuuhei commented. Rukia placed on the mask that he handed her. "Ready?"

"Yep!" She replied.

Within ten minutes, Shuuhei was still blocking Rukia's blows but something changed. Rukia's eyes got a little fuzzy, then she bounced into a hyper active mode yelling from the top of her lungs as attacked Shuuhei with her shinai. "Take that you evil fiend!"

"Rukia, take it easy!" He yelled as she kept advancing on him. Shuuhei was blocking her attacks left and right. "Maybe we should take a break. You are getting too into this!" He called out, but all he heard was an evil laugh.

"I'll never surrender to the likes of you!" She charged at Shuuhei yet again.

"What the hell?" He asked as she took a swipe at his head. "What did you eat before practice?" Shuuhei asked skeptically as decided to advance towards Rukia.

"Just my normal snack." Rukia replied as she swung wildly at Shuuhei to throw him off guard. "But Byakuya did hand me a drink called a Monster. It's supposed to help me focus on the lesson." She told him with a smile.

"I'm going to kill him…" Shuuhei muttered, but he wasn't paying attention to Rukia at that point. He was just planning on how to get back at Byakuya when Rukia wacked him upside the head.

"Oh, now it's so on." He growled at his petite girlfriend, who had mock terror in her eyes. Shuuhei advanced rapidly on her, but Rukia was defending with all her might.

Soon, he knocked Rukia's sword out of her hands. "Give up yet, darling?" He replied as he tackled her to the ground.

"Not a chance." She replied with a saucy wink as the wrestled on the floor. Rukia hoped their little foreplay here was definitely going to fall over to the bed room.


Okay so maybe Byakuya's revenge planned back fired lol. I know he wouldn't normally do that, but it was too funny to pass up.

Shinai is the Japanese term for the bamboo kendo sword. If I get the kendo movements wrong, please forgive me. I would love to take kendo, but apparently, my town is lame and doesn't offer classes.

Thank you for reading and reviewing! Have a Happy New Years to all my lovely readers.