Vertigo

AN: Thanks for all reviewers of the last chapter! Here's more!

Rukia had been reading a manga in her closet, when she heard Yuzu calling frantically for Ichigo.

"It's fine Yuzu!" she heard Karin shout.

"But you're bleeding Karin! Let me get him!" And with that Yuzu was in the room.

"Rukia? Where's brother?" Yuzu must have truly been bothered, crying at this point. Then again she cried pretty darn easily to begin with.

"I'm right here, Yuzu. What's all the fuss about?" Ichigo entered from downstairs looking grumpy.

"Karin stepped on her snow globe! I told her it was bad to leave her stuff on the floor!It broke and cut her foot, and she won't let me look at it!" Rukia hugged the crying red head, feeling sorry for both sisters, but finding it rather ironic that the one in more distress wasn't the one with glass in her foot. Ichigo walked rather urgently into the room their fallen comrade was in. His sense of sweet urgency made Rukia smile.

"Lemme look." She heard him say gently.

"No. It's fine. I got the glass out. See?" Karin said, almost shakily.

"Eww! You pulled it out yourself? Lemme look at the cut, Karin. I need to know how deep it is." Rukia and Yuzu were openly eavesdropping now. The whole situation was rather dramatic.

'I can take care of myself!" growled Karin.

"I know you can, but I love you and I want to help."

"I'm not weak. I can clean it myself."

"Karin. Let me see."

"Okay, if you want to so bad."

"That's going to need to be cleaned. All the glitter from the snow globe is in it. Come on."

"Fine, but no carrying me." Rukia chuckled a little.

"Deal." She followed him to the bathroom like a puppy with it's ears down.

It took only a few minutes to clean the cut, but it felt forever to Rukia while she waited for the two to return. Ichigo would tell her later how hard glitter was to wash out of a cut. Karin had been ambushed by Isshin at the front door, who was very concerned, and Ichigo was sweeping up the rest of the glass. Yuzu and Rukia had decided to enjoy some ice cream in the shade outside. It was starting to feel like summer.

"She's a lot like you, you know." murmured Yuzu to Rukia.

"How so?" Rukia took an absentminded lap at her popsicle.

"Well she hates when people worry about her. You didn't seem to like having brother worried about you when you were sick." Yuzu pointed out delicately, munching her ice cream bar. Had she not been so sweet about it, Rukia would have said she didn't know what she was talking about. Yuzu spoke again.

" Mommy died and everyone felt it. But we felt it different. Dad got sillier, I started doing more housework and Karin got quieter. Ichigo hates it when people get hurt. He wants us all to be happy, and he worries a lot that we are not. It doesn't mean he thinks you or Karin are weak, it just makes him so sad when something makes you two hurt."

Rukia blinked, dumbfounded.

"You are the smartest little girl I know. Thank you Yuzu."

And it made sense now.

"I can take care of myself!"

"I know you can, but I love you, and I want to help."

Maybe it made a bit too much sense.

AN: Well? How was it? Enough Ichigo older brother fluff? Enough Yuzu cuteness? Before anyone asks, yes I did indeed step on a snow globe. It broke and I pulled the glass out myself. My mom cleaned out the glitter and at 13, I cried like a baby. Man it stung! Please R/R!