"Byakuya-nii-sama!" Rukia caroled loudly, waltzing into the 6th Division's headquarters and straight up to her nii-sama's desk. Members of the 6th gave each other broad smiles, glad that the diminutive little shinigami was there to visit. Their fukutaicho hadn't shown up today, and while Byakuya had assured those brave enough to ask that he was merely at home resting, their captain had been unusually silent and depressed all day.
Byakuya raised his head to look at his tiny little sister. Rukia gave him a beaming smile, not put off in the least by the blank look on his face. "Yes, imoto-chan?" he asked, and Rukia's smile widened at his public acknowledgement of her place as his little sister.
"I'm going on assignment in the Real World, and I wanted to say goodbye to my favorite men! But one of them isn't here. Where's Renji, nii-sama?" Rukia looked around the office as if expecting to find the redhead hiding in a corner. "He usually never leaves your side."
"Renji is at home resting, imoto," Byakuya replied. "He nearly worked himself into collapsing, so I sent him home yesterday with orders to not show up today." He didn't comment on Rukia's remark about Renji never leaving his side. It was true, and now that Renji wasn't there Byakuya realized how much he relied on his fukutaicho's presence.
Rukia nodded. "Thank you for doing that, nii-sama," she said.
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect me to just work him until he collapsed?"
"No, of course not!" Rukia waved his question away. "Renji is very bad at knowing his own limits, so he often needs someone else to tell him to go rest. He's always been like that, even when we were kids. He'd always try to do more than he could handle. So it's good you told him to go rest, otherwise he probably would never have mentioned how tired he was." She bounced over and very daringly gave her brother a quick peck on the cheek. "I've gotta hurry if I want to have enough time to say goodbye to Renji. Bye, Byakuya-nii-sama! I'll tell Ichigo you say hello!" And she waltzed right out of the office again.
"Don't bother," Byakuya muttered to her retreating back. He was still angry about what, in his mind, had been an attempted seduction of his fukutaicho when they had met up with the substitute shinigami in the Real World. Why can't that boy be normal and pursue Rukia, like any ordinary straight man would? Renji is off-limits!
The irony of the fact that he was figuratively throwing his little sister to the wolves while protecting a man who was of no relation to him (adopted or otherwise) was lost on the 6th Division taicho. Then again, he always was a little slow on problems involving emotion.
—
Renji woke up from an incredibly nice dream involving Byakuya and no clothes to find Kuchiki Rukia leaning over him with a smirk on her face. "Aaugh!" he yelled, flailing around in panic. That was not the Kuchiki he had expected to see upon waking!
Rukia expertly avoided the flailing arms and legs with the ease of long practice, the smirk never leaving her face. "Seemed like you were having a pretty good dream there, Renji," she chuckled. "I had no idea you could say nii-sama's name so many different ways."
"You…who…wha…gah!" Renji said, as what she said finally processed. He could feel his face heating up and he spluttered again, at a complete loss. What do you say to your best friend when she catches you having a wet dream about her older brother?
Rukia didn't seem to think it was a big deal, saying, "I've gotta go soon but I just wanted to let you know that I'm going on assignment in the Real World. I already stopped at nii-sama's office expecting to find you both there. Imagine my surprise to find my brother doing his paperwork alone."
"Alone?" Renji asked. "What time is…oh shit!" He leapt out of bed. "I'm so late! He's gonna fillet me!"
"Renji, sit back in that bed right now!" Rukia ordered, fists on hips. Renji instantly obeyed the tiny woman. "You have the day off today, remember? I was simply commenting that it was odd to see nii-sama without you next to him. Usually you're glued to his side." She gave him a wicked grin. "And now I think I know why."
Renji's eyes widened. "Listen, Rukia, I can explain—" he began, really unable to explain anything.
"Renji, I'm not mad," she interrupted. She gave him a soft smile. "I think you would be very, very good for nii-sama. I'm actually astonished that I didn't see it coming before; you two are practically like an old married couple."
"We are not!" Renji denied, relieved that his best friend—indeed, his only family—didn't seem to have a problem with him perving on her brother.
"Well, you fight like one, at least," Rukia replied, clearly enjoying herself immensely.
Renji cocked an eyebrow. "How many old married couples do you know whose fights regularly destroy Seireitei's real estate?"
"That's true," Rukia conceded. "You and nii-sama certainly can go at it." Renji let out a strangled meep at her phrasing. So did she, once she realized what she'd said. "I meant fighting!" she said desperately. "Not…er…anything else!"
Renji groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "Please leave me to die in peace."
"And miss all of the fun when you actually start courting nii-sama? No way!" Then the small shinigami paused. "You are planning on courting him properly, aren't you?" She pinned her friend with a severe stare.
Renji moved his pillow from over his head to under it. "Rukia, I don't think he'd say yes. And I don't think I can handle that."
A tiny fist smacked down on his head. "Don't be ridiculous! Of course he'd say yes! And you'll just have to blow him away with your courting so that he can't possibly say no to marriage!" Rukia's eyes grew glazed. "Nii-sama would look incredible in a wedding dress…"
"Rukia!" Renji yelped. "I haven't even told Byakuya that I'm interested, and you're already planning our marriage?"
His friend smiled sweetly. "It's never too early to start planning. Now I really do have to go, everyone's pulling double shifts these days to cover for the people guarding Ichimaru. It's too bad the rank-and-file can't watch him; life would be so much easier. But Ichimaru would crush them in a second if he got free. No!" She glared as Renji made a move to get up. "Don't you dare get out of that bed! I know you've been pulling triple duty at least lately, and I also know that Byakuya-nii-sama expressly ordered you to rest today!"
"But I should be helping!" Renji pounded his fists against the bed.
Rukia smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "You do help, silly, more than you ever know. Don't worry. We have enough captain-class and vice-captain-class shinigami to watch Ichimaru for a long time to come. I'll see you when I get back, 'kay? I'll tell Ichigo hello for you. And don't you dare make nii-sama an offer while I'm not around to see it!" She left with a wave.
Renji flopped back on his bed with a groan. "Well, that could have gone a lot worse." He stared at the ceiling for a minute, then grinned goofily. "Byakuya in a wedding dress…"
Well, there's that. Thank you everybody for your wonderful reviews! I'm so glad people are enjoying this story as much as I do! I hope to have chapter 11 up soon, but I make no promises. I've finally learned my lesson. ^_^ Please drop me a few lines!
~Lara