Challenge #024; Family

Oct 11, 2005 19:01

Out of the many, many things that made Ichigo and Rukia so different from each other - aside from the fact that they were both crabby shinigami - they both came from entirely different families.

Leaning against the door to Ichigo's room, pressing her ear against the wood, she strained to hear the voices coming from the Kurosaki's kitchen. Isshin's jubilant shouts and proclamations of love for Yuzu and another delicious dinner, followed by Yuzu's stammered welcome and Ichigo and Karin's groan of "Shut the hell up, old man!"

Rukia smiled. Ichigo said he hated his father - not in the way Ishida hated his father, no, more in the way that Isshin was a total dork and took many, many opportunities to embarass his eldest son - which included tackling him out of bed, getting into fist fights with him, and dropkicking him in the face when he didn't meet curfew - while shower the girls with love ( which Karin didn't exactly want, according to Ichigo ).

It was a bright, lively family, where things were unpredictable and the children had to expect the unexpected when living under Isshin's roof. Rukia thought it was endearing, Ichigo thought it was stupid.

"Rukia-neesan! Are you spying on Ichigo?" asked Kon, the animate plushie hopping down from his seat on Ichigo's bed and strutting over to Rukia. Rukia scowled and pressed her finger to her lips.

"Quiet, Kon! I'm trying to listen to the family meal conversation!"

Kon titled his head. "So wouldn't that constitute as spying, Rukia-neesan?"

"Ye - no, I mean, no!" Rukia huffed, flustered, and smacked Kon backwards. "It's only spying if you get caught."

Kon, however, was not interested in what his Rukia-neesan had to say. "Owww," he whined, "why must I be hurt by the ones I love?" Rukia decided to ignore the perverted plushie.

... though, the ever-horny Kon did have a point. Much as Ichigo resented being with his family, the night she met him, she knew he cared. He risked his life and sacrificed his humanity to save Karin and Yuzu. And on the fateful day of June 16th, she saw his tears, his anguish, and his self-loathing over the death of his mother.

She smiled the same lonely, bitter smile Ichigo and Kon would see her wear whenever they asked about Soul Society. Byakuya was a lot of things to her, but he was not the same kind of brother Ichigo was.

The Kuchiki clan was a priveleged one - Renji had always assured her what an honor it was to be accepted among their ranks, one of the four great families in the Soul Society. Rukia was priveleged and honored among the shinigami and the Gotei 13, but...

But sometimes... sometimes she felt like she didn't belong there. She was adopted into the clan, she lacked the proper birthright to be any kind of heir, and Byakuya barely gave her the time of day.

The more she spent time on Earth, the more she wanted to become a part of the Kurosaki. To be embraced and harassed by Isshin, to help Yuzu around the house, to be the motherly figure Karin lacked, and to be protected by Ichigo.

Suddenly, the door to Ichigo's bedroom opened and Rukia gave a little shriek, falling onto the floor. Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Spying on me again, eh?"

"I was not!" she exclaimed, jumping up and dusting off the dress she "borrowed" from Yuzu, "To know thy neighbor is to know thyself, Ichigo!"

"Right," he drawled, shaking his head and lying down on his bed. "Sure you weren't, Rukia. It's not spying unless you get caught, right?"

"Uh, well," Rukia stammered, taking a seat at the foot of Ichigo's bed, "... yes, exactly!"

There was a pause, silence stretching over the two teenagers with the occassional sigh from Kon, who eventually decided to go back to the magazine Ichigo bought for him, until the orange-haired shinigami opened his mouth to speak. "Hey, Rukia. What was your family like? Y'know, back home."

And Rukia smiled her lonely smile. "It's a nice one. So, how was dinner?"

(Teh table!)

bleach, fanfic100

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