log; complete

[shardsofsakura.livejournal.com]

When; February 21st, after food fight
Rating; G
Characters; Kuchiki Rukia juicebox_woes and Kuchiki Byakuya shardsofsakura
Summary; Byakuya makes Rukia clean his hair since she dumped pudding in it. However, his motives aren't just to have her clean his hair. He wishes to inquire more into the troubled Rukia/Renji relationship and act more like a big brother.
Log; Byakuya walked haughtily through the hallways of the apartment complex. With whipped cream, pizza sauce, and pudding covering his head, he wasn't a pretty sight. He glanced behind him, making sure Rukia was still there following him. When he reached the apartment door, he opened it and held it open for Rukia to walk in. He had noticed that she was depressed over the past few days. He thought some quality brother time may cheer her up.

Blueviolet eyes downcast, Rukia shuffled along behind the tall form of her brother. She wasn't really sure what he was planning, but he couldn't...actually want her to wash his hair. Could he? Either way, the prospect was not only daunting, but embarassing. Afterall, despite the fact that they weren't related by blood, he was still her brother. She direly hoped he wasn't actually going to strip down and expect her to wash his hair. Stepping inside, she nodded slightly to him, still refusing to make eye-contact.

Opening a few more doors, he lead her back to the bathroom. Byakuya made sure not to drip on the floors or else suffer the wrath of Hisana. He loosened the knot on his robe and pulled his arms out of it. It dropped down to his waist, leaving his upper body bare. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub and and looked back at Rukia. "You can begin."

"H..Hai...Nii-sama." Biting her bottom lip, she fumbled for the showerhead. Reaching over, she turned the tap and held her fingertips underneath the stream of water to make sure it wasn't too warm. Ignoring her nerves, she waited for the temperature to turn. This was...strange. She supposed it was her own mood talking, but she couldn't help worrying if she'd offended her brother. Hence, she had simply reverted back to the old familiar way of interaction. Distant, polite, formal. Do nothing that might incite his displeasure, be sure not to speak unless spoken to. All the things she had begun to un-learn over the last few weeks. When the water finally ran warm, she silently directed the spray over the mussed obsidion locks.

The warm water flowed through his hair, loosening it up from it's tight style. He looked down at the bottom of the tub, watching the water fall in a stream from the ends of his hair. He gave a small sigh, giving up his act he had been playing. "Rukia. What's wrong with you and what is wrong with Abarai?"

His words came as such a sudden surprise that she jumped, dropping the showerhead. With a yelp, she floundered for it, slender fingers grabbing the smooth handle just in time to keep from drenching him with the water. Straightening back up, she ran a hand through nightblack locks as she resumed rinsing the chunks of chocolate goo from his hair. Setting down the sprayer for a moment, she picked strands of black out of the way to pick at the white ceramic that rested on the crest of his head, taking a moment to slip the kenseikan out of his hair and rinse it off. "Nothing's wrong, Nii-sama. As for Renji, I'm not really sure what you mean."

Her soft fingers straightened out his hair, causing the confortable feeling of his scalp loosening up. She was a lot like Hisana in many ways that he would probably tell her. Especially how she tried to half heartedly pull the wool over his eyes. "I talked to Abarai today. When I mentioned you, he became excessively angry." He stopped talking for a moment to allow his voice to soften up. "I'm your brother. You can talk to me about it."

Combing fingers through his sopping black hair, she could feel some of the tension start to uncoil. At least he didn't seem angry with her. She shook her head slightly. "I...really don't know what to tell you, Nii-sama. I can't say what's bothering Renji, because I don't know."

He shook his head, slinging droplets of water onto Rukia. Careful to not turn his head up as to drip water on himself, we turned his head again and looked up at Rukia. "Rukia. I don't like to do this." He stopped for a moment, not wanting to regret his actions. It went against everything he stood for as a nobleman. "Could you please tell me? I....I want to listen."

Frowning slightly, she cringed from the water that splashed onto her before reaching around the shower curtain, fingers feeling for the shape of a shampoo bottle. Curling her hand around the plastic, she pulled it out and squirted a blob of the stuff into her hand. As she reached to rub it into his hair, she froze at his words. He...wanted to listen? Wanted her to tell him? It seemed...off, in a way. But....even if she wanted to, it wouldn't be right. She'd promised Renji she wouldn't. Shaking her head, she began massaging the soap into his hair. "I...I can't, Nii-sama. I don't want anyone to be angry with Renji."

"It will be between the two of us. Whatever is said in this room stays in this room, alright?" Byakuya closed his eyes so the shampoo wouldn't get in and burn it. Then he began to smell something suspiciously sweet. "And Rukia. Did you check to see which shampoo you were using?"

"Promise me? That you won't say anything. To anyone?" She glanced up with a slightly startled expression at his mention of the shampoo. "Uh, I just grabbed the one from the shelf and.." Taking a closer look at the bottle, eyes widened in surprise. Considering that the bottle was lavender and decorated with all manner of floral motifs, it was likely NOT her brother's shampoo. Which meant.... "Gomen! I think...I think I grabbed Onee-san's..."

"I promise. And you know I keep my promises Rukia." He wiped his face with his hand, hoping Hisana wouldn't tease him later. He could already see what was coming but he didn't hope she would try to sweeten up his hair even more with sugar lying around. But then again, she could just wash his hair too.

Massaging his scalp with small hands, she smiled slightly. As strange as this was, it was...nice. Casual, in a way that she'd never been able to be around her brother before. Sighing slightly, she started to speak again. "I..alright. I went over to see Renji a few days ago. To catch up. We were...always close, up until you adopted me, Nii-sama. I wanted to see him, to...reconnect, I guess you could say."

He kept his eyes closed an ears open, enjoying the feeling of his scalp being massaged. It made him feel drowsy but he made sure half his brain was still awake. "That makes sense. But shouldn't he be happy to see you, not angry or frustrated?"

Rukia nodded, working the lather down the length of his hair with an almost automatic motion. She might have thought it unusual to be washing someone else's hair, but she could remember days in Rukongai when she'd helped Renji wash the mud out of his after they'd been forced to take drastic measure to avoid being found by those they stole from in order to survive. "Not...necessarily." She swallowed, mind turning towards somewhat painful memories. She'd never really shared with the elder Kuchiki her history with his scarlet-headed vice captain. "You know Renji and I grew up together, right? Well...when you wanted to adopt me, I went to Renji to ask for his advice. On what I should do. He....told me how happy he was, that he was almost jealous because it was such a great honor. That I should go for it...." Hands stilled as her eyes fell, studying the tiles on the floor. "But....that wasn't what I wanted to hear, I guess. Either way, we went our seperate ways. And Renji...pulled away."

Of course, all this was familiar. Renji would talk about Rukia quite a bit when he made him a Vice Captain. It seemed out of his own character to be angry at Rukia or even generally frustrated with her unless it meant her life was in danger. "What do you mean pulled away? As in he seems different now? Or did something else happen?"

She shook her head. "Not like that. He stopped talking to me. We..drifted apart, I guess. We used to be so close, like siblings. He was...my best friend. But now....he's always angry." She didn't want to say the reason why, that was now so obvious to her. That it was because of his feelings for her.

Angry. Angry. Angry about what? He asked that himself with a flat mind. With the way he always talked about her, he seemed to adore her. Then it hit him. He wasn't happy about the relationship between Kurosaki and Rukia. He reached up and put his hand on Rukia's hand. "I understand. I understand why he wouldn't be happy. But what would set him over the edge to be angry?"

"I...don't really know. It's like...ever since we came here, he doesn't want to be around me. To talk to me, or anything. Everytime I try...." Sighing, she rinsed her hands and picked up the sprayer again,, directing it over his head while her other hand rested over his forehead to keep the soapy water out of his eyes. "Anyway, I went over to visit him. And...at first things were ok. But then....he got angry again. Broke the bottle he was drinking, out of the blue. It...scared me. And I've never been afraid of Renji before..."

He was listening once again. Then Rukia got to the last part about breaking the glass. Byakuya jerked at the statement. "He what?!"

"It wasn't like he hurt me or anything. We were just having some drinks. And...it was like he got so angry that he just clenched his fist and broke the bottle. Then he calmed down again. Until....he saw the scar. Then he got angry again. Even moreso then before. He...yelled at me about it."

If he hadn't made that promise to Rukia, he would have had then intention to go see Renji now. While sopping wet and shirtless, he would have went to seek him out and tell him not to act around his sister. But he couldn't do anything right now. "I'm sorry Rukia. If it means anything, as his superior, I apologize on his behalf. I just..." His own right hand was slightly trembling with anger at how he treated his own sister, even though she wasn't blood related.

She shook her head again, and continued rinsing his hair. "You..don't have to do that. He...when he calmed down a little bit, I think he felt bad for yelling. He...told me I was beautiful. Even with the scar. Then...he made it go away. As though he knew how much I hated it, even though I didn't want to say... He..he hugged me. It was...nice. Almost like old times. But then..." She trailed off, not sure whether she should tell him the rest or not.

Although some of it was good news, he was hesitant to hear the rest. He spent half a minute letting Rukia continue what she was doing, letting everything soak it. Then he spoke up. "And then what?"

There was a long pause, as she collected her thoughts. She couldn't tell him what Renji said. Somehow...she knew that was something that she didn't have a right to share. Running her fingers through the dark hair, making sure all of the soap was out, she sighed. "He...kissed me."

Kissed? He knew Rukia had been doing...other things with Kurosaki. For some reason, Renji kissing her almost made it sound like a violation. Of course, he wasn't to happy about that. "Why did he kiss you? And then what happened?"

Gathering his hair into her hands, she squeezed the excess water out of it, pulling a towel from the bar and draping it over his head. "I...don't know. One minute he was standing behind me, hugging me. Telling me he was glad I was alright. And then...the next thing I knew I was facing him and he was kissing me. I...I was too shocked to do anything, but before I could, it was like he realized it and shoved me away. Then he..told me to leave. I didn't know what to do, so...I just ran."

Byakuya wondered if there was anyone that did such a thing to Hisana when she had married him. The two were so similar, he didn't doubt it, so he made a note to himself to ask her. With the towel over his head, he stood up and dried his hair himself. "I know you really care for Ichigo and you find it hard to tell Abarai that you only see him as a friend. Is there anything I can do to help you out?"

Shaking her head, she busied herself with putting things away. At least that activity would keep her mind off of what was really bothering her. She'd hurt him. Hurt her best friend. Possibly been hurting him for years, without even noticing. How did one go about apologizing for that? Making up for that? She knew she couldn't love Renji, not the way he loved her. But...would her friendship ever be enough for him? Would he even want it, if he couldn't have what he really wanted? "It's...not that. Renji knows...that I love Ichigo. He...feels like he's betrayed both of us. But I..I don't blame him. He didn't mean to do it, I know he didn't. But now...now he'll..he'll..." She paused in her replacement of the shampoo on the shelf, hands gripping the porcelain edge of the sink tightly as she bit her borrom lip. No. Don't think about it. Don't think about how things would just happen all over again. He'd leave, he'd push her away again. Just like before. And this time, just like before, it would still be her fault.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his chin on her head. "It's alright. I'm here for you Rukia. That...that is what older brothers are for, right? Don't worry about letting go. It may make you feel better."

As much as she hated to be weak in front of him, to show any sort of pain, his embrace brushed aside her resolve. Turning, she buried her face in his chest and started to cry. Over Renji, and how much it had hurt when he'd left before. How lonely she'd been, and how much she'd missed the one she'd spent her childhood with. Over how afraid she was of the same thing happening again now. Over Ichigo and how she was afraid that the curses would ruin things between them, and that he would blame her for what had happened with Renji. Over being left behind, and watching the others advance so far. Over so many things that had just seemed to well up and overwhelm her over the last few days.

"Rukia..." Byakuya kept his arms around him, giving her the comfort she needed. She had always tried to hide everything behind a stern face and a sarcastic attitude. Everyone needed to let go. Even Byakuya had to at some point. When he sobs had died down, he pulled the towel off his head and put it on hers. He cleaned off her face the best he could and tossed the towel to the side, for Hisana to pick up later. "You shouldn't keep so much stress upon yourself. You know, if you have a problem, don't be afraid to come to Hisana or I for an answer. Just because we are older doesn't mean we don't know what we are doing. We both care for you and don't wish to see you like this. We'd rather have you happy and satisfied with your life."

Wiping her eyes with the towel, she glanced away from him to try and hide the burning redness that suffused her cheeks. Regardless of what he said, it didn't mean that she was comfortable with the idea of opening up. Things were still... strange, in a way. And though his words of comfort certainly helped, it was just hard for her to trust much of anyone. Especially with her own weakness, as she dubbed it.

He moved to her side and put his arm around her shoulder. "Let's get you back to your room so you can clean up. I don't think Kurosaki would be happy with me if he saw you like this after you were with me." With that, he lead her out of the bathroom and to the exit of the apartment. Since her room was next door, it was a simple walk to get there.

She nodded slightly, though his mention of Ichigo brought fresh doubts to her mind. Thanks to what Kon and others had said last week, it was likely a sure thing that her brother knew at least somewhat what had transpired between her and the orange-haired man. Which meant that Byakuya possibly running into Ichigo was NOT a good thing. Glancing up, she bit her lip slightly. "Nii-sama....you aren't...going to try and kill Ichigo, are you?"

A little bit of heat rose to his face when he remembered that day. Everything that happened was uncharacteristic of him. He looked down at her, his eyes soft. "Only if you promise not to kill me for what I did with Hisana."

That didn't make much sense. Afterall, Hisana was his wife. It was only natural that they'd...be intimate that way. She cocked an eyebrow at him with a quizzical look. "Nii-sama....she's your wife. You're supposed to do those sorts of things with her."

WIth a creak, the door to her apartment was opened by him. He motioned her inside, holding the door open for her. "I believe this discussion has come to an end." Byakuya paused for a moment before picking his sentence back up. "And thank you. It means a lot to me that you would talk with me."

A faint smile before she nodded. He was trying, really trying to be the sort of brother he wanted to be. And even though they were both a little clumsy, a little hesitant, she had to give him credit for the attempts. "Thank you for listening, Nii-sama. I...feel a little bit better now."

Maybe one last time before she left. At least that is what he wanted. He opened up his arms to give a final hug. He really hoped that she would because not only would it be embarassing if she refused but if she did, he thought that would mean she hated him.

She paused for a moment, in slight surprise. Afterall, Kuchiki Byakuya wasn't really the sort of man who just doled out hugs. Regardless of the circumstances. But...he seemed to really want her to. And truthfully, she wanted to. So with a smile, she leaned into his embrace, thin arms wrapping around his waist in a hug.

He inwardly sighed in relief when he felt her arms go around his waist. His went over her shoulder and across her back in return. "Don't fret to much Rukia. Sometimes you just have to get past the bad to enjoy the good. The monkey that tries to catch the moon by grasping it's reflection in the water will always fail because he is looking the wrong way. So keep your head up and I'm sure you'll grasp the moon in your hand one day."

Rukia nodded slightly against his chest, his words comforting. Pulling back, she gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you, Nii-sama."

He returned her smile with a warm one of his own. One that was reserved for family members only. "You are very welcome."