Disclaimer: You know what I'll say.
The sakura in Byakuya's garden bloomed beautifully, the pink-petaled flowers blooming on each branch of a tree. The moderately strong wind added beauty as some of the petals flew into the wind, dancing endlessly. But he wasn't there to watch the view.
A brush with the tip full of black ink, made a small dot on the calligraphy paper and started to make beautiful strokes, leaving no stray mark. The stoic Captain's eyes focused on each character that he would write next, and he made sure that he wouldn't make any mistake at all.
With her brother-in-law's birthday nearing, Rukia wanted to give him a good gift. Calligraphy paper is too common. A self-made birthday card would be too lame. Nothing seemed to be a good gift, and since Byakuya doesn't like sweets a cake would most likely not be a suitable present.
Rukia scratched her head in frustration, and bumped into Renji all of a sudden. "Owww..." her friend winced, rubbing an area between his back and his bottom that got sore from the impact. "Sorry." she apologetically mumbled as both got back on their feet.
He looked closer at her, who looked distant while her eyes halfheartedly focused on the sky. "What happened? It's not like you to daze off into space while walking." He didn't get an answer, so he waved his hand in front of her to bring her back to her senses.
"It's none of your business." she defended, shoving his hand away and looking somewhere else. "Maybe, but it's rare that you look so concerned like that. Especially with the furrowing of your eyebrows." In response, she quickly rubbed the gap between her brows and sighed.
Since he's her brother's lieutenant, he might as well know. "There are a few days left till Nii-sama's birthday, and I want to get him something. I feel obligated to do it. I never did that before nor did I feel comfortable on thinking about it, but I want to do it now."
Renji immediately understood. A sister and brother, no matter what kind of relationship they have, would care for one another so deeply. He and Rukia are like that, like siblings as well even though they're merely the best of friends.
"I do know that by engaging in a lot of boring activities with the Captain, he would always eat spicy food whenever it's lunch break. He ate nothing but spicy stuff-" He was cut off when Rukia shook his hand with such gratitude and hope.
"I get it! Then I need to get him some spice that he never got before!" Renji watched her leave in a second's time, and merely sighed with a smile. With her sword piercing the air and twisting it, a large Senkaimon opened and she ran inside without encountering any problem like the pesky Cleaner.
Her feet landed on the rooftop of a building, and no one would see her anyway since she's not in her Gigai. She "What was it that Ichigo's sister cooked while I was still staying with him?"she wondered, pacing around the rooftop while holding her chin in wonder.
She remembered that it had meat in some reddish-brown paste and it tasted very spicy but also had a delicious aftertaste once the spice went away. "I'm sure that Nii-sama never ate that before." With a few more paces of walking left and right while thinking deeply, she finally stopped. "I need to go to Ichigo's house."
While jumping from building to building, she hoped that Ichigo was at home right now. Inoue would be another choice for she cooks for herself, but she's one horrible chef and Rukia's face turned green while remembering that last time when the busty orange head gave her chicken ramen with vinegar and chocolate.
"Disgusting." she admitted, while sticking her tongue out. With a few more leaps and flash steps, she was finally standing against the window of her friend's room. He was asleep, with a notebook covering his face.
It irritated her, but she sighed at the fact that at least he's in the house. Rudely, she knocked on the glass window that made loud banging noises and he woke up like he's in a reflex. "Who's there? If it's you got-face I don't have time for your stupid 'training'."
"Hehehe." she chuckled after hearing his angry wake-up talk. "It's not your 'goat-faced' dad, it's me." she spoke, and with lazy movements he unlocked the window and slid it open. "Why couldn't you open it yourself?" he muttered, yawning and glaring at the alarm clock.
"I could open the door myself, but a lot of people are walking down the street right now and would suspect some ghost activity in your house." Ichigo rolled his eyes, as if he's in disbelief. "Since when do you care?" Slowly, he felt energy again. He stretched his limbs and his back which caused a crack or pop sound.
She sat on the bed, to rest her legs from standing and walking all day long. Right now, she doesn't have as much stamina like before for she spent almost all of it with thinking. "You have those books that tell you what food is this and what ingredients are that, right? Recipe books, if I recall correctly."
He immediately got confused. When did she ever ask about cooking since the first time they met? "Why?" He didn't hesitate to let his confusion and curiosity show in his voice. Meanwhile, she was a little embarrassed to tell him the real reason.
It may have come from her pride but she really couldn't help it. Telling him might make the teen tease her. "I got an interest in cooking." she lied, and before he could speak up as he saw through her lie, she glared at him and that meant that she doesn't want to say the real reason.
Though he wanted to press her for answers, he's not in the mood to be yelled at today or get smacked or kicked or whatever. "I get it, I get it. He quietly grabbed a thick book from the drawer. "Here you go."
She quickly opened the book and flipped it page over page. It took an eternity until she saw the dish, looking just like the one that she thought of in her head. "Mapo tofu..." she read, her finger scrolling over the words. "Mapo tofu? What about that spice?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"I get it. You're making this for Byakuya." He smirked at her shocked reaction. "How could..." He shrugged his arms. "Lucky guess? Instinct? I don't know. It just got to me." Her lips curved down to make a frown. "What for, though?"
"His birthday. It's only a day away." He almost laughed but knew what he would get if he did. "I know you're just being considerate but I don't think he would care about his birthday." She didn't get mad, and she knew what he meant. A man like Byakuya wouldn't care much about those occasions.
"True, but I still want to give him something at least. He cared for me and did a lot of things for me that I might not be able to repay with the equal amount of gratitude. Saying thank you's not enough. And this, I at least want to..." She found it hard to complete her sentence and sighed instead.
Ichigo's eyes closed in understanding.
A/N: I know it's supposed to be one chapter for each character's birthday, but making Byakuya's birthday a oneshot proved to be way harder than I thought.