028 – Nice enough

Prompt: Coffee

Word Count: 346

"I'm back," Hisagi called at the door.

"Welcome home," Miyu's voice echoed over to him from the kitchen. "How was it?"

"Good. All three songs got the ok from the company. Ishida-san figures they could be released as a single, but the higher ups are the ones to decide that, so we it will probably still be a while until we get to recording."

"Well that's good then. You have time to rehearse the songs at the least."

Hisagi walked into the kitchen. Miyu was pouring coffee into a mug. He tiptoed over to his girlfriend and looped his arms around her waist. She smiled and turned to glance at him over her shoulder.

"Do you want a cup, too?"

"No thanks, Ishida-san served me coffee at the company. How was work?"

"Frustrating," Miyu grumbled. "The client was really opinionated and didn't want to even try on the first outfit I put together. At least the producer and the staff had my back, though, so it wasn't too bad."

"I'm sure you handled the situation very well. But that does remind me, Ishida-san said the Star magazine wanted to do an interview and photoshoot with the band. Are you free next week?"

"I'll check, just a sec…" Miyu reached for her phone and opened her calendar. "What day and time?"

"Starting at 1 PM on Thursday."

"You're in luck, I have a free slot there! So I'll be there to doll you up as always."

"Great."

"Well, I wouldn't want to leave your wardrobe in anyone else's hands, so I might have made room for you if you asked nicely enough."

"Oh, really?" Hisagi grinned, tightened his hold of her and planted a kiss on her shoulder. "Is that nice enough for you?"

"You didn't convince me at all," Miyu countered, pouting slightly.

"Well then, I suppose I have to really put my heart into it," her boyfriend's deep voice whispered into her ear, right before his tongue flicked out the taste the side of her neck.

"Do that again," she breathed out.

Hisagi gladly obliged.

029 – Quirks

Prompt: Old Habits Die Hard

Word Count: 555

His new friend was a bit odd sometimes, Ichigo noticed. First of all, her manner of speech really stood out. She had at some point told him that she was from Osaka, but there was no hint of the Kansai dialect when she opened her mouth. Rather, she sounded very formal and old-fashioned, largely due to her brother, Ichigo quietly suspected.

She had started to act more relaxed around him and his friends, laughing and chatting, even showing her temper at times. With strangers, however, such as Miyu whom Rukia did not know as closely, she was quiet and reserved, only speaking when spoken to. It was not really shyness. Ichigo knew Rukia was far from being shy, with him she was very blunt at times. No, it was more that she was used to being alone, and did not really seek contact with other people. It just took a while for her to build that trust and to open up.

She had found herself a new past time. First she had been almost glued in front of the TV screen, as if she had almost never seen a TV before. She seemed to have tired of it, however, and was now reading her way through Ichigo's bookcase. Most of the books he owned were comics, though, and definitely in the boyish end of the scale with lots of action and battles, but Rukia seemed to gobble them down nonetheless. It was very odd to see her read them, though. The other day he had chanced to pass by her room. The door was open, and he had seen her in there, sitting on the tatami in a perfect posture, and leafing through the comic book. It made for such a peculiar sight, to see her reading boys' comics in traditional surroundings, in that formal sitting position. In that setting he could almost picture her in a kimono and doing some recognised or old-fashioned things like flower arranging or calligraphy or tea ceremony. Idly, he wondered if she actually knew how to do some of those things, he wouldn't put it past her. If her brother was so set on things like family status he might as well have enrolled her in such courses, the same way he had enrolled her into those fancy all girls private schools Rukia had hated. The other day they had talked about school, Ichigo had recounted his, Tatsuki's, Mizuiro's and Sado's high school days, and Rukia had confessed she had gone to a prestigious private boarding school where she had never quite felt comfortable.

Sometimes, she appeared fascinated by the most ordinary things. When they went to do grocery shopping in the supermarket, she behaved almost as if they had gone to a zoo or an amusement park. She didn't quite point at things in wonder, but she came pretty damn close.

Then again, everyone had their own quirks. Sado hardly ever opened his mouth, and even though he was a big guy, he absolutely loved cute things. Tatsuki was a complete tomboy. Mizuiro had his messed up love-affairs and Ichigo himself, well, he knew he was gruff and maybe took things too seriously most of the time. So even if Rukia was a bit of an oddball, she didn't really stand out too much in their little group.

030 - Permission

Prompt: Talents

Word Count: 538

It was Saturday evening; Deathberry's regular and scheduled training session. Once again they were in the familiar training room at the basement floor of the building. They were practising the new songs, concentrating on the little things that needed to be worked out, such as the intro or the solo or Ichigo's articulation of the lyrics.

Rukia was on her usual spot, in the corner of the room. Her foot was tapping to the music the band was playing. She would never get tired of watching them interact. Each of them was talented in their own right: Mizuiro's fingers danced on the keyboard so fast that they seemed almost to blur, Sado seemed to have the beat in his blood and successfully transferred that to his drums, Tatsuki's eyes shone with excitement as she plugged the strings of the bass, the slight gruffness in Ichigo's voice added an extra edge to every song. Hisagi, too, was really good with his guitar, but his real talent was in his hard work and the way he lead the band, how he was able to help everyone to achieve their full potential. It was amazing to see all these individual artists come together and form one unit, one band, one sound.

"Alright everyone, few things before you leave," Hisagi said after the practice had ended and they were wrapping things up. "I went to the company yesterday and spoke with Ishida-san."

"How's the manager?" Mizuiro asked.

"He's well. He said these new songs are good and reckons they could be published as a single. He wants us to practice more before recording, though."

"Alright, I knew the songs would get an ok!" Tatsuki cheered.

"Also, the Star magazine wants to do an interview and a photo shoot next Thursday, at 1 PM. Over at Studio Zen, so make sure to mark it on your calendars."

"Cool," Tatsuki mused.

"Is Miyu-san coming?" Mizuiro asked.

"Yes, she'll be there," Hisagi replied.

"Excuse me?" a polite, hesitant voice cut in.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the petite woman sitting in the corner.

"Could I come?" Rukia asked, glancing at everyone in turn, trying to assess their reactions.

Sade was silent, as always, Ichigo was wearing his trademark scowl, and Mizuiro was smiling in his usual manner.

"I think that would be awesome!" Tatsuki said with her typical enthusiasm.

"I would not mind that," Hisagi started carefully, his tone a bit apologetic, "but I am not sure if the magazine would agree to that. It will probably be quite hectic, so I think they'd feel any extra people might get in the way."

"Of course, I understand," Rukia replied quickly with a false cheer. "I just thought it sounded really interesting."

Everyone was quiet. Ichigo looked at his friend. He knew that Rukia was not officially a member in their band, but she was slowly but surely becoming a fixture in their staff, the same way Miyu or their manager Ishida was.

"What if she helped Miyu-san? She wouldn't really be in the way then, right?"

"Oh, good thinking, Ichigo!" Tatsuki grinned.

Hisagi stayed silent for a moment. Then he smiled.

"I guess that could work. We'll still need to ask Miyu, though."

Chie: This story will be taking a holiday break, and will resume as normal in January. Happy Holidays! :3