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Rukia Kuchiki and the Unfortunate Denial

Dinner with the Burnedeads was, as expected, strange.

The food itself was great despite the portions reminding Rukia of the scarcity she experienced in the Rukongai. How could Burnedead be so physically capable despite eating nothing but creampuffs, small legumes, and a few vegetables?

"Is the food not to your liking, Ms. Kuchiki?"

She looked up, momentarily embarrassed. "Ah, no! I was just curious, that's all."

Regro tilted his head, "About what?"

"Your son has quite the musculature, yet all he eats are sweets?"

He laughed, looking over at Mash worshipping his plate of creampuffs. "Yes, it's mind-boggling isn't it? It's been like this since forever, even when he was a baby."

Leaning in, he motioned for Rukia to do the same. Rukia did so, curious as to what secrets he might entail. "I actually found my little boy on top of a building, I don't know how he got there but I could've sworn there was a whoosh sound. He must've fallen down from somewhere!"

Blinking, Rukia tried to comprehend the situation. "He's adopted? Hold on… he fell onto a building?"

Regro nodded, "Amazing, isn't it! My sweet little boy has always been tough! Just like his old man!" He gave a hearty laugh as he started fist-pumping into the air.

Rukia frowned, "I mean no offense, but why tell me this? A perfect stranger."

He stopped fist-pumping, "Isn't it obvious? You have no line, there's no one you could report Mash to."

"A line? Is that what you have on your face?" She motioned to the curvy line on the left side of his face.

He gently touched the black mark, "You don't know?"

"Uh, well… I'm from a secluded community. We don't really interact with this wor-Country! This country is new to us, so I'm not familiar with this whole 'line' thing."

He started breathing a little heavier, eyes wide at the implication. "Are you saying you lived somewhere with no magic!?"

"Ah, no, where I lived the magic users lived just fine with the non-magic users." She stretched the truth, just a little bit. While it was true Soul Society wasn't perfect by any means, at the very least people didn't discriminate due to one's Kido ability. Well, for the most part. "Funny thing is, the physical fighters actually mock the ones who use magic due to them believing it to be a cowardly way to fight."

Rukia stopped as she felt her plate rumble, the ceramic bouncing off of the wood in sporadic jumps. She looked to her hosts in confusion but found no help in Burnedead as he simply used the rumbling table to bounce creampuffs into his palms, juggling them before throwing them up into the air and having each and every one of those sweet balls of cream land into his open mouth. He swallowed each of the treats one by one as they fell, twisting his body from all sides so not one of his cream-filled prizes went to waste.

He gave a shallow bow as he finished, his face never moving one muscle. Rukia thought that was ironic.

She shook herself after watching that display of… whatever that was, Rukia looked to the older Burnedead and found the source of the rumbling table. Regro Burnedead trembled in his chair, holding on to the seat of his chair with so much grip that Rukia knew he was restraining himself from leaping at her.

That was fortunate, Rukia didn't want to accidentally bisect her 'friends' father. Her reflexes were impeccable given her long life, even if she was considered young by Shinigami standards.

"Do you think… do you think they would take my son?" Mr. Burnedead's voice came out a rasping whisper like he was choking on something.

"I'm sorry? What do you mean by that?" Rukia needed to make sure she heard him right.

"Mash! Would they accept my son? I just know he would be-

"Sir." Rukia's voice cut through his plea, firm and resolute, even if internally she was quite confused. "I'm sorry to say this, but the only way to join my community is through… extremely specific and unorthodox ways."

"It doesn't matter! Please you must-

He stopped as Rukia held up a firm hand, waiting for him to calm down before speaking. "Why the sudden desperation?"

Mr. Burnedead sank into his chair, letting out a heavy sigh. "Right… you don't know." He sat there with his brow furrowed, eyes intent.

Rukia knew very little about this world, only that it was important for her to meet with some of its leaders. Captain Ukitake said that she would know everything when she met them, but why all the secrecy? He never kept things from her before, besides classified information of course. She didn't have a problem with him being tight-lipped until now, where her limited knowledge was preventing her from grasping the situation properly. She waited for her host to gather himself, and she waited she inwardly bristled at the loss of control.

Information was key in life and death, without it, missions would fail, people would die, and the universe would be unbalanced. Total anarchy would reign supreme!

She blinked, where had that come from? This world was getting to her, and it hasn't even been a day!

"This country…" She brought her attention back to Mr. Burnedead, who has finally calmed down. "Nay, this world, is not kind to people like Mash. In fact, they cull all those they deem unworthy to live in the world of the Gods."

Her eyes widened, "That sounds…"

"Horrible? Despicable, downright vile?"

"If there was a way to combine all three of those words then, yes."

He cracked a small smile at her words, then continued. "It gets worse, the culling begins as soon as they're born. It's why we live deep in the woods so that no magic-user can find Mash." Regro Burnedead lowered his head in his hands, looking every bit the old man he was. "My one and only, Mash… if anything happened to him, I-I…"

Rukia bit her lip, this mission kept getting more and more complicated every second. A world of magic supremacists? The idea is absurd, it also didn't help that her captain absolutely insisted on her complete discretion regarding her mission. Something's remiss about all of this, too many things were being kept from her.

"Ms. Kuchiki? Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I'm alright."

"You just look like you have a lot on your mind."

"I do, but I'll first get this out of the way." Rukia took a deep breath, no matter how many times she has to deny the desperate it never gets easier. Giving Mr. Burnedead a firm look she started, "Let me assure you that if I had any say in the matter, I would absolutely be honored to accept your son into our community. However, my superiors would not allow Mash Burnedead entrance at this time or anytime soon. My deepest apologies." She finished with a shallow bow, though she couldn't help but internally wince as the hope died in his eyes.

Regro swallowed his protests, he knew better than to argue. She simply couldn't help his son, he had to accept that. It was out of both of their control. "I understand… heh, it was quite pathetic of me to ask a complete stranger to break her own laws."

She frowned, pathetic? Rukia knew a good man when she saw one, and Regro was no different than other desperate parents begging her to take their children away from the Rukongai. Just for them to have a chance at a better life. It was only a century ago when she was in the same position as them. The Soul Society wasn't the greatest, but she didn't starve anymore, didn't have to scavenge for the right to live.

Mash Burnedead would absolutely flourish in such an environment, in the Acadamy alone, he would dominate the physical training necessary to become a Shinigami. Rukia could clearly see how much Mash's father cared for him, and how he was giving Mash the best life he could with his limited resources. If he could become this strong by training alone in the woods all his life, then how much of a monster would he be after a full curriculum in the Shinigami Acadamy?

"U-Um, Ms. Kuchiki? Your face just got really greedy all of a sudden…"

Indeed, in her musings, Rukia's face changed into a thoughtful, yet greedy expression. Just thinking about the good Mash could do in the Soul Society was enough to make her giddy.

It wasn't until she heard her host's concerned words was it that she blinked and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself."

"It's okay?"

"If you'll excuse me I promised your son a training session. Rukia bowed her head, "Thank you for the wonderful meal."

Regro scratched his cheek, "I don't know, it's getting late and I still have to read Mash his bedtime story."

Burnedead still has storytime? That's utterly adorable! "I understand, however it won't take long. Also…" She bit her lip, "By getting a good reading on your son, I could make a case for whether he should be allowed to join us."

Regro's eyes lit up, allowing slight guilt to well up inside of Rukia. "You will?" He moved to hug her with tears in his eyes. "Oh, thank you!"

Rukia sidestepped him easily, catching the emotional man before he tumbled into the hardwood floor. "Please don't hug me, not a big fan."

Regro wiped his glittering eyes, "Right, of course. I'm just so happy!"

She didn't how to deal with overtly physical acts of thankfulness, so she just nodded before calling out to Burnedead. "The sun's getting low."

Mash, who had been quietly watching the entire time unknown to everyone, nodded eagerly. "Kay."

Join them? Who's 'them'? Why are Pops and Rukia being weird? How many creampuffs should I take with me?

Mash pondered as he walked up to Rukia. He stopped at the door, twitching slightly. He gulped, then laid a hand on the rickety doorknob. Taking a deep breath he slowly twisted the doorknob and pushed.

The door slid open without any issue.