Author's Snippet: Ahoie! It's been a long, long, loooooonnngggg time since my last update and a looooooonger time since I last worked on this fic. But thanks to the last person who put this fic on story alert (THANKS DANZIG and HILDANSKI~!), I think I'm gonna keep this moving. :3

Hope you enjoy~

DOZO! .disclaimers included.

Chapter 3: Wasted

"Rukia, would you rather go to HenLin?" Byakuya asked after sipping some water.

"No Nii-sama. I'm good with this already." Rukia twirled her spaghetti. Things are really getting weird. Her brother wasn't really this kind and gentle with her. But ever since she woke up from the hospital she gradually saw a slow but very nice change in her brother's attitude towards her.

He was less stoic and less cold. He was actually starting to show signs of warmth and concern. Picking her up from school today was probably an effect of his attitude change.

Speaking of school, she thought that Karakura High was not half as bad as her former school, Hueco Mundo. She thought, of course, that Karakura High would be 'the cursed school that it is' as the people in her former school said it to be. People in Karakura were actually nicer. They showed more signs of being human than those people in her former school who were either nearly as stoic as her brother (like that guy Ulquiorra), or as much of an asshole like that guy Grimmjaw, or as bitchy as those girls who stalked those popular guys around. No, people in Karakura High were indeed nicer. Except probably for a few namely, that frozen-ass seatmate of hers - Hitsugaya Toushirou and...Hitsugaya Toushirou and probably Hitsugaya Toushirou. Apparantly she hasn't found other people to put in her "RUKIA's LIST OF SCHOOL ASSHOLES". Come to think of it, she really thought that he was her brother's number one fan. The nerve! She even introduced him to her brother and he, well he showed her his true colors.

Rukia finished up her meatball spaghetti and wiped her lips with the napkin. She noticed that Byakuya just finished eating too. She also noticed the small pile of plates that were at the side of the table.

Wow, Nii-sama sure eats hearty.

"Excuse me, the bill please." She heard him whisper to the waitress who fainted from being too close to her brother.

Really, he doesn't know what he's capable of.

"Excuse me, Manager-san….one of your waitresses fainted. She's also bleeding, somewhat." Always as ever, Byakuya's velvety voice drew people's attention.

"Oh my gosh! She's bleeding! She's bleeding!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

Oh yeah. Here we go again. How many times has this happened when we ate out?

Some of the customers panicked and a couple of waiters and waitresses rushed to help revive their co-worker. One of the waitresses was even reduced in to tears out of panic.

"Oh my gosh…Is she gonna die? Is she gonna die?" Her voice broke.

"I hope not. She's just bleeding through her nose anyway." Byakuya's face showed no emotion still, the girl swooned and fell beside her bleeding friend.

"Uh…Nii-sama, I think it's time to leave…" Rukia, being used to these kinds of things, stood up and grab her brother's arm before he does anymore damage.

"Yes. We've paid the bill anyway."

"Rukia."

"Yes Nii-sama?"

"Why do things like that always happen to me when I go out?"

Rukia SHOKKU~!

The younger didn't really know what to say because it never occurred to her that her brother could still have any naïve side to his personality.

"Uh…it's because you're too much for them."

Silence. It took a while for it to sink in to Byakuya's regal head.

"Am I really that annoying?"

Rukia tried her hardest to not laugh. This was just too much.

Alas, a small giggle escaped her smooth lips.

"What's so funny?" Uh-oh. I think I offended him.

"Nothing, it's just I never thought that you were oblivious to the powerful effects you have over the female species, Nii-sama."

"Ah. Is that so?"

A giggle escaped again. "Yes, Nii-sama."

"I never thought of myself as…what do you people call that…a hot commodity."

"But that's what you are Nii-sama."

"I see."

Silence. The car's engine roared as Byakuya pulled away from the traffic as the traffic light glowed green.

"Rukia."

"Yes Nii-sama?" Wow, I wonder what got him to be so talkative today? Did he get a girlfriend? OMG! I'll have to ask Pierre-san!

"Drop the honorifics. Nii-san is fine."

Rukia was too shocked to say anything. Whatever it is that caused her Ice Man of a brother to melt, it probably is a huge, huge miracle.

"Eh?"

"Oh you don't like Nii-san? Maybe Byakuya-nii or Onii-san or Nii-chan….or-" Rukia looked at her brother and saw that he was blushing and his face, betraying more emotions than she ever saw it do before.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY STOIC BROTHER!

She was utterly surprised at his request but she was not a fool to insist on calling him Nii-sama. She actually liked what her brother is trying to do, although what he's really planning is still not clear to her.

As the silence thickened, Byakuya started to show signs of unease and started to drive faster.

"Careful…You're driving too fast…Nii-chan." For a moment, Byakuya stiffened at the word Nii-chan but caught himself just as fast and started to relax and lower their speed.

"As you wish Rukia."

"Konbanwa, Hitsugaya-sama." The doorman greeted the prodigy as he entered the building. He didn't give a response whatsoever and just walked to the elevator, looking quite pissed.

"Level: Penthouse." The lady's voice said and Hitsugaya stepped out of the elevator. He turned left and walked a few steps.

P1. He slid his keycard and went inside. A chocolate brown labradoodle suddenly jumped on him and licked his scowling face.

"Not now Hyourinmaru. Not when I saw his face again. It still pisses me off to no end. Damn it!" The dog backs away a few paces, aware of its master's anger.

Toushirou sighed then threw his bag on his white blue couch and walked towards the refrigerator.

"Hey Hyou, you did'nt finish all the milk did you? Ugh. You did." He took out an empty carton of milk then a case of Heineken.

"Now I have to settle with a Heineken again." The labradoodle stared at his master, its brown eyes tender as if with concern.

"Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking. I'm not making up an excuse to drink. It's your fault. You finished up my milk. And for that, you have to join me tonight. Come on boy..." They sit on a furry white carpet by the glass window overlooking the city. Toushirou opened all the cans of beer and takes a swig on one.

==A FEW CANS LATER==

"Look at those lights Hyou! They're making funny noises! Hahahaha..." The dog barked in response to his master's remark.

"What? I've drunk too much? Tch.I'm sure that Matsumoto's happy right now. I'm making her proud, ain't I? " Toushirou struggled to stand, beer sloshing out from his 10th Heineken can.

"See? I can still stand…Hahahahahaha. Watch this, watch this…" He took a few steps forward and started to run around his flat.

Hyourinmaru barked and chased his master around. It barked a few more times as his master slipped and fell on his ass – drunk and laughing like a fool.

"How could he do that? How could he leave us? We could have won! We could have won it all! But he had to leave…right when he was most needed by the team. You know, I even looked up to him. Hahahhha. How stupid right? Hahahahahaha."

Again, the dog barked in response.

"He even said that I was the brother he never had. Tch. Who's brother? Who!" He threw the can he was holding. Hyourinmaru jumped out of the way and whimpered as his master drunkenly kicked the empty cans scattered around.

"FUCK HIM! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK YOU HUECO MUNDO BUTTS! FUCK YOU THEM ALL! FUCK YOU BYAKUYA! FUC-"

Hitsugaya Toushirou didn't get to finish his sentence as he slumped forward and passed out.

And now, let's move on to Gretchen with Spoof Balls!

Thanks Gerald! Today we've got a spoof game that shocked and shattered members and fans of the famous Karakura High Soccer Team - the Knights.

It seemed to them that there was everything to hope for, every body's hearts were full of hope to win over their archrivals, the Hueco Mundo Bats. The score was 7 – 6 in favor of their team – the Karakura Knights. There was nothing to fear and worry about. On their side were some of the most famous and most skilled players of this side of the country.

The host's voice spiked his attention.

Why bring this piece of shit up? Byakuya's inner self shouted in his mind as pictures of the said game flashed on the screen.

Images of his former team mates in their jerseys with sweat glistening on their brows caused him to wince inwardly. Their faces were bright and full of joy.

He could still remember everything vividly...

==FLASHBACK==

"Hey, what's with your face senpai?" The team's white-haired forward took the seat next to him.

"Don't bother Toushirou. He's just trying his best not to smile." Byakuya looked at his orange-haired middlefielder scoff at him.

"Cut it out guys, he's just proud of us that's all." Abarai Renji smiled at his black-haired senior.

"Hey! Come on! The crowd's cheering for us! Let's go and win this thing!" Hisagi Shuuei clapped Byakuya's left shoulder and squeezed it.

"Come on Captain. We need you." He watched as they left the locker room one by one.

"Well, well, well...You've got yourself one good crew Captain."

"What do you want?" Byakuya stood up and faced the source of the voice.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm not the one who wants something...No. On the contrary, you're the one who ones something from me."

The man waited for a response but got nothing from the calm goalkeeper.

"Okay. I'm going to make this simple for you goalie." The Kuchiki raised an eyebrow.

"You just have to make a very simple choice...your team..."

He watched the man took out a cellphone from his back pocket and pressed a button.

The screen showed a petite girl screaming her head off while biting at the men who were trying to gag her.

"You BASTARDS! My brother will KILL YOU! No-stop-DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! NII-SAMA! NII-SA-"

Her shout was disrupted as one of the men punched her in the gut. Her violet orbs slowly closed as she passed out.

"Or your sister."

Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes widened.

"Rukia. No!"

Author's Endnote: OH-KEH. That was, by far, the longest chapter I've ever written.^^ Hope you guys liked it. I'll be updating as soon as I can.*smiles*

Reviews are very much appreciated! Come on! You know you want to press that button!XD