A/N: Sorry for the late update; my computer got busted (you all can guess why). My sis pointed how it was sometimes confusing to skip to different times in the story, so I added page breaks. Plus I want to thank her for helping me in my grammer and stuff (I lub you sis). I also want to thank you all for the awesome reviews. Hugs and cookies for you all!

Ehehe...I recently found out that you can reply to reviews...so I'll be replying to them from now on.

Disclaimer: I really don't have to tell you what I should be telling you because you already know.

Chapter 6

Four days had passed and nothing had changed. Rukia still tried her best to be pleasant around nii-sama, but it seemed that he was purposely avoiding her. Whenever she would spot him, he would flash step somewhere else. She didn't mind it that much; being next to him never ended well and even though she had to tell him about the lieutenant post, she didn't mind waiting a few more days till she had a better plan. The breakfast idea had been dropped like a hot potato, she still felt too embarrassed to think about it.

My GOD she had tried to kiss him! Her brother! He probably hadn't known what she had been about to do and thanked God her conscience had kicked in before she had made a fool of herself. She shuddered to think what would have happened if she had gone and done it. Nii-sama would have probably killed her with his Senbonzakura for trying to commit incest.

But it really wasn't incest, was it? They had no blood relation and-Urgh!

Rukia whacked her head hard and shook it. She shouldn't even wonder about things like that! Incest or not her brother was a law-abiding man and would never ever forgive her if she behaved that crudely.

So she took the cowards way out and avoided her brother. Unfortunately, four days of ignoring her brother had done nothing to stop those wild thoughts of hers; the ones she couldn't control. She practically dreamt that same dream every night and now she even daydreamed about how kissing him in the dining room that day would have been if she hadn't stopped herself. Four days and she was still disgusted with herself. She hadn't known she had it in her to become so pathetic.

She fingered her soul slayer. Time was running out. Captain Ukitake had given her a week to get an answer from Byakuya about being Lieutenant and Rukia was having trouble mustering up the courage to ask him. She had three days left. At this rate, she'll never get the post.

A heavy hand suddenly plopped on her head and started to mess up her hair.

"So, what do you plan on giving me for my victory then, huh?" asked Renji as he stood behind her looking down, his upside down face inches from hers. His grin was humongous, stretching till both ears. Rukia punched his chin, receiving an 'OW!' in return. "I just gave it to you," she answered innocently.

"Why you…" Renji grumbled, ruffling her hair harder than before. Rukia just sat silently on the bench, looking ahead at nothing in particular. Seeing how she wasn't being affected by the hair tangles Renji was making, he stopped and sat down beside her. Renji stopped smiling to look at her carefully. She had been acting like this for some time, lost in her thoughts, the stress clearly evident on her features.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Huh?" Rukia looked sideways at him. She stared confusedly at him but then smiled after a second, "no, it's nothing, I'm sorry I've been ignoring you Renji, I-I just have a lot of things on my mind."

Renji scrunched up his face and jabbed Rukia in the ribs. Rukia gasped.

"OW! What did you do that for moron!?"

"How many times have I told you to stop apologizing?" Renji stated in a bored voice, resting his arms on the back of the bench, "friends don't do that. God you're so dense!"

What! She was dense!? Rukia spluttered, "I'm not dense you idiot!" She jumped off the bench to stand in front of Renji. She jabbed a finger at him. "You're the dense one! You only won against Ikkaku because you got lucky!" Renji grinned like a maniac; he seemed to be enjoying himself, which only annoyed Rukia more.

"And for your information, I could easily beat you if I reach Bankai as well!" Rukia fumed.

Renji laughed at that, "Bankai!? You!? Hahaha…Rukia, you can be so funny!"

"THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!" Renji just continued to laugh hysterically.

Rukia dealt Renji with another punch, directly in the stomach. He made an 'oof' sound but continued to laugh. "Idiot," she mumbled.

Renji stopped laughing, "hey, at least I got your spirits up and." He turned serious all of a sudden. "I was serious about the telling me anything part, Ruk. If it's about the lieutenancy, I'll be glad to talk to Captain Kuchiki for you." Renji thought for a moment and then added, "he doesn't glare at me like I'm dirt that much anymore, seems to be able to bear me now."

Rukia just shook her head, smiling all the same. She was so glad she had Renji back as a friend. They had become very distant with each other after Rukia had been adopted but they had thankfully settled all those problems. Renji was her first family; he was like her big brother. Even though she had a family now, he would always be an important part of her life.

"It's okay Renj, I'll talk to nii-sama myself. He would probably call me a coward if anyone else told him for me."

Renji gave her shoulder a tight squeeze, "it'll go alright kiddo and-"

"Don't call me kiddo."

"Shut up, I'm talking here. AND, hey! If you become lieutenant then I'll at least have some decent company during those lame-ass Lieutenant meetings." He scrunched his face, "they're pure torture."

Rukia laughed, feeling more optimistic then she had ever felt in these days. She would need it to face Byakuya.

A messenger had been delivered to Rukia right after she had eaten, asking her to see Byakuya as soon as possible. She wondered what the matter was. Her heart was racing with every step she took towards his room.

Had she done something wrong? She had eaten all her food, even though she hated soup. She had kept herself clean. She had remembered to walk and not run in the house. Rukia mentally went through all the things she had done that day, panicking all the same. Maybe Renji had done something and nii-sama was going to blame her. Stupid Renji, Rukia thought, I've told him so many times to behave like a human being. Disgraceful ass, he probably went ahead and played with the chemistry set Orihime had given him.

Rukia fumed. If she got punished for his crimes she was not going to let him live!

Rukia let out a shaky breath. Of course she didn't believe that. Whatever the reason was, she still wasn't prepared to see him just as yet. Rukia reached his door. She lighted tapped it.

"Permission to enter, Byakuya nii-sama?" Rukia thanked God her voice wasn't breaking.

"Enter."

Rukia frowned. Did he sound angry? How the hell would she know, he never expressed his emotions, not by his voice and never by his face. She silently entered.

Nii-sama was sitting by his small desk, seated on two big cushions. Rukia was glad to notice that his back was facing her. He was in his night clothes; a white robe. He didn't look at her and continued to write on a piece of paper.She shifted her gaze to his room.

Out of all of the Kuchiki bedrooms his one was no doubt the finest. Beautiful sakura trees with their petals flying through the wind were handpainted on the walls. He had exquisite furniture, all in dark wood with intricate patterns hand crafted in gold. His bed was different from the other beds in the house. It was bigger and had a canopy made of both silk and something transparent like. Delicate designs were painted on the silk as well. He had a few decoration pieces placed in the room, all of them perfectly matching the mood of it. Everything was beautiful. Rukia had also heard that the bathroom was amazing, all black and marble, as would fit someone of his status. Even though nii-sama had arranged that Rukia's room be equally grand, it could never match the fineness of his room. Stepping into his room was like stepping into heaven.

Or maybe she liked it more because it smelled so much like nii-sama, all spicy. Entering his room always gave her tingly sensations. Rukia avoided looking at his bed too much.

She sat quietly a few feet behind Byakuya and bowed her head, "you called for me, Byakuya nii-sama?"

He put down his pen and turned to look at her straight in the eye, "Captain Ukitake has told me that you are nominated for lieutenancy." He narrowed his icy eyes, "When were you planning to tell me about this?"

Rukia froze. She hadn't wanted to bring up the matter this way, she had even planned to keep it a secret for at least one more day.

She panicked, wondering if she would get caught if she lied. No, she was horrible at lying and she wasn't going to get any better in two seconds. She decided to stick to the truth. "I-I was planning to tell you within this week. I'm sorry for not informing you of it sooner it was just…I was waiting for the right time," she finished lamely, keeping her head bowed.

"No."

Rukia looked up "What?"

Byakuya looked back at her coldly, "you do not have my permission to become lieutenant."

Rukia had known he would say that but felt a spark of anger none the less, "but why nii-sama?"

"Because they are required to do far more dangerous tasks than lower ranked officers," he calmly explained.

"But I have gotten stronger!" She could feel her anger rising.

It was the first time Rukia had directed her anger at him. It felt strange, but it was his responsibility to protect her, "no Rukia, you are not strong enough."

She stood up to tower over him, "but I really want to become lieutenant! I've been practicing so hard only for this!" She was furious now. "I HAVE improved and even Captain Ukitake says that I'm MORE than worthy of becoming a lieutenant!"

Byakuya raised his eyebrows at her outburst. "Are you disobeying my order, Rukia?" he silently asked.

That made Rukia pause, bringing her back to her senses. She suddenly remembered who she was shouting at and hastily bowed down at the waist. She coolly replied, "I'm sorry for my outburst Byakuya nii-sama, it was highly rude of me, but…" she looked at him, her violet eyes slightly pleading, "…if you could at least take the time to see how much I am worthy of this position, perhaps during my practice session, I am sure you will change your mind."

He looked at her eyes for a second before slightly looking down. He closed his eyes and turned back towards his paperwork. "You are dismissed," he quietly said.

"Understood, nii-sama." Rukia turned and walked out of the room, silently shutting the door behind her. She took a deep breath, lieutenancy gone straight out of her thoughts, her mind thinking about something entirely different.

It might have been a trick of light but, just after he had looked at her eyes, had he looked down at her lips?

E/N: Next chapter. Seireitei is after Byakuya and Rukia kicks some ass during practice.