Rukia Kuchiki (sleevedsnow) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-21 20:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, renji abarai, rukia kuchiki |
Who: Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai
What: Showing Rukia around
Where: The mall
When: A couple of days ago
Rating: G
Status: Complete
Renji was circling the park a few times anyway. If Rukia was in there, she could run after the car or throw her shoe at it, because that thought made him laugh.
What didn’t make him laugh is that Rukia didn’t go ‘o hai i remember u’ or anything on the internet, so he gathered she hadn’t had any dreams yet. That was ok by him. It might weird him the hell out, but hanging out with Rukia was something that he remembered doing tons of in his dreams. He hoped this time wouldn’t be any different, and maybe being around her would jog her memory and her brother’s memory, too.
Really? He wanted to kick that guy’s ass in a fair one-on-one fight, but he also had this weird thing where he also respect him at the same time. Even while he realized that Byakuya in his dreams seemed a real dick about everything and anything. His adherence to rules and regulations was like what he imagined trying to hang out with a supreme court judge would be like. Everything by the book. Byakuya probably never even got a parking ticket or a citation or anything in his entire life.
Renji’s face was of the profoundly UGH expression at the mere thought. He didn’t even notice it was the twelfth time he had circled the park in his 1970’s, partially rusted Toyota crapmobile.
Getting out of the house without a lecture from her brother was the hard part. Now that she had successfully done that, she was on the way to the park to meet Renji. She wouldn’t put it past her brother to have her followed. Maybe they could lose them if she saw they were. Hm. In any case, Rukia is just looking forward to getting the hell out of the house and not being around anyone.
Except for this guy who was apparently going to show her around. She’d really only said yes because she had no idea where anything was around here. Rukia was always lost. Coming up to the park, she spotted the guy with the red hair and gave a small wave.
“Hey.”
That worked, because Renji was rolling slowly in the car, with the window down and his arm hanging all the way out it, drooped down. With the long red hair and the tattoos on his eyebrows and forehead (even covered up by a bandana), it looked like he was driving around waiting for a drug deal or a prostitute. He abruptly hit the brakes and - because he didn’t have his seatbelt on - his chest met the steering wheel of the crapmobile.
“Ooof!” He winced and then popped his head out the window, along with his arm. “Hey, you.” It was definitely Rukia. This stuff was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. “Surprised your brother didn’t show up with a list of shit to do and not to do, only the not to do part would be a mile friggin’ long. Get in and I’ll show ya the area. Unless you want to just walk around the park. Whatever works.”
He nodded over to the passenger side of the car, which was unlocked, and left the choice up to her.
Rukia supposed that it took all kinds. Looking at him in person was more than a bit amusing. Not that she had his choice in clothes, or style or anything like that. Nothing against it either. No wonder her brother didn’t want her hanging out with him though. Of course that made Rukia just want to hang out with him a bit more. The bandana very nearly made her snicker though. Nearly.
“If I know him, he has people in the woods who are watching us as we speak.” Which she didn’t get at all, but whatever. Rukia went around to the other side of his car and slid in. “Definitely don’t want to sit in the park all night. Show me around.”
It was covering up the tattoos! It also made him look like a biker gang reject. That might be bonus points for pissing off older, overprotective brother types.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Renji said with an eyeroll and then drove off a lot faster than he had been circling the park. Luckily (at least this time) there weren't any flashing lights going off from a cop car in a prostitution sting, or else those two would have a lot of s'plaining to do with Mr. Kuchiki. Mmhm.
"All right, on your left, there's a pool and a gym there...and if we keep going down this street, you're going to hit the beach," Renji explained, while trying to tell himself not to sound like a total freak ass by mentioning dream stuff. "What kinda stuff are you interested in and I'll see if I know where it is."
Because it's not like Renji has a GPS navigation device in his crapmobile. It's a miracle the thing doesn't play 8 tracks. It plays cds. No mp3's. Only cds. And the antenna's bent and hanging on by a wing and a prayer, so good luck on picking up any radio stations.
The less things that actually pissed off her brother, the better. Still Rukia was always fond of making him just a little bit angry. And then rebelling every chance that she got.
She sat back in the car, glad just to be away. Maybe Renji could lose the secret ninjas. Of course that was easier to do when you knew where the person following you was. It didn’t look like anyone was following them, which probably meant that someone was.
“I’ve never been to the beach. Hm. I guess I should know where the mall is. Places to eat. Things like that.” If she could think of something else, she’d tell him.
That might work if Byakuya actually displayed any outward signs of anger, which he didn't. He simply found workarounds to make rebelling more difficult, while still conforming to his concept of what was fair and justified, based on the three R system: Rules, Regulations, and Respect. Which he, himself, has been known to bend or find loopholes so he justifies his own actions. Tsk tsk. ...ahem... Law, order, justice, duty! Yes, those things. >_>
P.S. - someones are following. And they have smartphones with video and that handy nighttime photo filter, for clearer images. Now you too can be stalked in real time by over protective family!
Of course, Renji wasn't expecting that either and was simply driving normally. After the third time he looked in the rearview mirror and didn't notice anything suspicious, he simply didn't bother looking again. It was more important to make sure that the rustacular crapmobile was going to keep rolling down the road and not have the engine die in mid-roll.
"I'll stop at the beach last so you can see it, but it's not the same lookin' at it in the dark. And yeah, there's Fashion Island or some dumb shit name like that, but I never go there. You wanna hang out in malls? HEH!" Renji pointed over at her, but he took a turn. Yay for steering one-handed. "What're you gonna do? Shoplift to piss your brother off?"
Rukia was trying to just ignore it and act like it wasn’t happening. Because she couldn’t prove that it was. It was easier that way. “Right, I’m sure it’s much different.” She didn’t even know if she wanted to go to the beach during the day. She wasn’t really a water kind of person. “Fashion island?” Yikes. Her shoulder shrugged and she looked over at him to give him a definitive ‘not amused’ look.
“I just want to know where it is. In case I need things.” Her eyes narrowed and then she rolled them. “I’m not going to shoplift. That’s ridiculous. We have a lot of money. He has a lot of money. I don’t need to shoplift. I just want to see in case.”
Renji didn't mind the beach, but it wasn't like he hung out there, either. It was work, work, more work, and the gym...with a side of trying to cow tip. And sometimes one of those little old ladies that he used to do yard work for would phone for help, and he would get guilt tripped into mowing their lawn for them.
"Oh right. Girl things," he said, like he expected Rukia might want some of that stuff sometimes, and he guessed they did have a lot of money to throw around. He shrugged and turned into the parking lot. "Here it is. It's pretty big. If you tell anyone that I was here, I'm gonna deny it. Just so you know."
As he circled around in the parking lot to keep the car in motion, he was silently praying and hoping he did not get dragged into the mall. Please, don't drag him into the mall. Please please please....
There was too much sand for Rukia’s taste. She could do without it. But she was interested in seeing it. She’d never been to the beach before, so she was curious as to what it was like. “How about just regular people things, and you don’t be a jerk?” she offered, looking over at him expectantly. Because she didn’t have to go out with him. It was nice of him to take her out and show her around, but still she was not going to put up with his crap. When he didn’t seem to stop, she just kind of opened the door and then looked annoyed.
“Stop the damn car so I can get out,” she barked. “You can wait here if you want.”
Since they were in the mall parking lot, Renji sort of beady-eyed glowered straight forward, his hands gripping the steering wheel. There wasn't any sand around! Yet, but maybe the mere thought of sand pissed Rukia off.
To add insult to that injury, Renji's temper flared up when he was barked at, and he hollered back at her, "Hey! I'm showing you around all right?! LOOK, ITS THE MALL. So get the sand outta your crotch already! I'm not ditching your ass, because you'd get bent outta shape about it and your brother would get pissed off at me!"
Renji parked, cutting off some old granny who threw a slushie drink out her car window as she zoomed off. That'll teach you young whippersnappers to have better reflexes and take her parking spots.
"Fine! We're goin' in!" Renji told Rukia, like he was the one who had sand in his crack now too.
And so it begins.
She wasn’t pissed off! Well not completely. Not enough to grab him by the ear and smack him around. Yet. Rukia just wanted to be treated seriously and not have him mutter about girl things. Jerk. She glared back at him. “I know! So stop the car already. You get the sand outta your ass and stop whining about going in the damn mall. It’s just the mall. You’re getting bent out of shape, not me.”
Once the car was parked, she climbed out of the car and sighed. How had she ever gotten stuck with this guy? Oh right, he had said he’d help. Go figure.
It was his way of helping. Kind of like shaking someone who just fell on their head and asking them if they’re ok.
"Hey! Nuh uh. You got bent outta shape first!" He was getting out of the car anyway, as he complained. He was also SO going to get his ear thwapped and then swatted upside the head. It's inevitable. "What the hell do you mean, sand in my ass? WHINING? I'm a dude, we don't WHINE."
He swatted the slushie cup off the top of his car and glared off in the direction that grandma went, because that old bitch had aim. NEW FOE. Never underestimate the elderly.
"Whatever, Rukia. I'm not going in any panty stores," Renji announced, loudly, causing a mom with two kids walking by to start hurrying their pace, because there was some crazy punk biker guy talking about panties in the parking lot.
“No, I really didn’t. You were the one who decided to make fun of the mall instead of being polite.” Okay so maybe she was sounding a bit like her brother at the moment. Oops. Sometimes he rubbed off on her. Dammit. She would have to work on that. She might have hit him, if she knew him better. If he said one more thing though…
Rukia was pretty sure he was going to be like that for the rest of the night. “You’re whining right now.” She gave him a bit of a look. Ugh.
“No one is going to any panty stores,” she grumbled right back and that was when she flicked his ear. “That’s gross. Cut it out.”
Byakuya was sitting at home staring at the computer for live updates, and suddenly felt his ears burning. If he knew Rukia had said that, he would have a moment of extreme big brother pride.
"OW, what the hell, Rukia!" Renji hollered, rubbing his ear and his lower jaw sticking out funny, as he followed Rukia, right into the mall. "I was being polite by telling you that the mall's dumb and that's where girls get their panties so what gives?! You didn't need to flick my ear. AND I AM NOT WHINING." In a much, much lower voice he clarified, "I'm complaining."
Which is a codeword for man whining.
A very large part of her had an urge to grab him by the head and ask him if he knew what the hell he was saying and if he realized what he was saying. That part of her was buried deep inside though, and would probably come out more and more when she started dreaming. “That’s not being polite, dumbass. It doesn’t matter if the mall is dumb. I know the mall is dumb. You still should be polite and take me anyway without giving me a bunch of lip. You know nothing about women.” Clearly.
She groaned and rolled her eyes, then stalked off to one of the nearby shops so that she could possibly get away from him before she stabbed him with a spork.
And that was a normal reaction for most people when dealing with Renji: the spontaneous desire to stab him with a spork.
"Hey! It's rude to go stomping off like that, smart ass!" he proclaimed, while pointing at her. Then Renji followed along, into the shop, and took a look around. He wasn't sure what Rukia had led him into, but he hoped it didn't have smelly girl candles or girl powder or girl spray or whatever girly girls liked. Rukia wasn't a girly girl unless it was bunny related stuff, so none of those things would suit her anyway. As far as he knew.
He did have to stop and remind himself that Rukia wasn't yet Rukia. She wasn't kicking him in the face, taking charge, and obviously not looking up to Byakuya the way that she did in her dreams. Then again, she had always been trying to please Captain Kuchiki, because he wouldn't give her the time of day and she felt guilty for some reason she never knew about, and that he didn't really know about, either. He might have been the second in command of that company, but he couldn't say he knew a lot about Byakuya, either.
"Hey," he said, approaching her and taking a stab at being more understanding toward someone who had been - in his dreams - a childhood friend. "Sorry about yelling and stuff. I guess ya got a point. I am supposed to be showing you around and this is part of the area. Is there anything you really wanna look at, in here?"
In fact it was a book store. So he could just quit his complaining. As if she would ever go into a place that had girly smelling things. No. She used soap and shampoo like a normal person and that was it. “I wasn’t even being smart.” At least she hadn’t thought so. Oh well. Not that it really mattered. And she was not going into the romance novel book department.
She’d never been into an English bookstore. Her English was pretty good, but she had never actually read a book that was full of it. But she was keen to try. “I just want to see what the differences are. That’s all. If I need books for school, I need to know where to go.”
"Girl books are that way," Renji said with a stupid smirk, pointing toward the pink sign that pretty much announced it was the youth romance section. It would have probably helped if he didn't look like such a smug shit eater while he was doing that. He is begging to get clocked upside the head with a book or two. "And I meant smart ass as in you were being sarcastic. Not smart."
He stopped short of further teasing and crossed both arms over his chest, looking down at her with one raised eyebrow.
"I think you can get those outta the school bookstore," he told her. Then mister big mouth went blurting out, "Why don't you just wander around and look at some stuff. You probably want to since it's all new to you. This crap's old hat to me and it's a bookstore. Only reason I'd be in here is for MMA magazines."
Then one hand shot out and Renji gave her a friendly clap on the back. Because that's what buddies do, and he was obviously not from the stuffy uptight Tokyo elite school of etiquette.
This time she punched him, though a bit lightly on the shoulder. “Enough sexist bullshit jokes.” She didn’t even care if he left her at the mall. That was the last time he was getting away with that. “Every time you say something like that, you get hit harder.” She was pretty sure she could kick his ass.
Rukia glared, but then she wandered off and went to find something fun to read. Maybe there was something that she wasn’t used to. Oh yeah, she would go to the magazines. She was really curious about what they looked like over there.
Renji laughed at the punch and being glared at, which probably irked Rukia. That was okay by him, because it was what felt normal for them. Even the threat seemed more in character from her, enough that he felt a little more at ease and a little less on edge. If only she would show some sign that she remembered him, too, then he might be able to tell - from someone he was closest to - that he wasn't going as crazy as everyone else around him seemed to be.
He followed along until they were at the magazine racks, picking one up and opening it so he could look at the articles.
After a quiet moment, he gave her a nudge in the shoulder with one of his elbows.
"I didn't mean it as some sexist bullshit, only as a joke," he said, in a low grumble of a voice that was hard to hear. It was his way of apologizing. "It's not like I was going to drag you over to the preschooler books. You're not really that pissed off. Are you?"
After all, it wouldn’t be cool if he pissed off the girl that he had a long-standing crush on, in his dreams. It was too bad that he was crap at saying anything about that to her or anyone else.
Refraining from hitting him again harder this time when he laughed, she just kind of stalked off and left him to his own devices. Man that guy was a giant pain in the ass. And sadly she hadn’t had any dreams yet. Maybe it would have changed the way she reacted to him, but probably not. Right now she would just have to wait. The both of them would. If he said something to her now, she’d say he was crazy.
“Guess what? Being a sexist dick, isn’t a joke.” She pointed out. “No, I’m not really that pissed off. You’re just a brat.” She picked up a magazine and flipped through it. Wow. They really liked half naked women and muscles.
For a few seconds, Renji looked about as red as his hair, in a hint that Mt. Abarai was about to go boom and explode.
"HEY. I wasn't being a sexist dick, but I was making fun of you because you're just as serious as...NO...you're taking everything too damn seriously. Chill out, Rukia." He had been pointing a finger at her, because he's rude, and then he noticed he was pointing at a half naked woman with muscles. That? Was priceless. Forget having a temper! "HEH! Now I know why you aren't into the cutesy crap. Unless you didn't mean to grab that."
He leaned in, giving the side of her face the world's most stupidest, most retardiated grin.
Feel free to hit him with the magazine, instead of a book. He deserves it. Aim right for the middle of his face.
There was no getting through to him. She could go on a rant about feminism and men who told women to lighten up or whatever when they were being completely ridiculous. Instead she took the magazine and smacked him right in the middle of the face. Because it was far too tempting not to. “You chill out. And I’m not gay.” She was pretty sure she wasn’t gay anyway. Did it matter? No.
Rukia hit him in the face again for good measure and put it down. “Ugh. You’re hopeless. Do people generally dislike you? This is why.”
He had his mouth open like he was going to say something to her, but he was whapped and some of his hair came loose out of the ponytail it was held up in, giving him a stressed out look of shock and incomprehension. Then when she whacked him again with it, he flailed and looked like all six-foot-whatever of him was doing the tapdance of angriness in place for a second.
"Why'd you do that?! People don't dislike me! Ugh." He took a magazine and thwapped her on the shoulder with it, with one eye twitching. "It doesn't matter if you're gay or not, I don't care. I live with a bunch of lesbians by choice, for fuck's sake. And you’re a fine one to talk. You’re not the most likeable person either. Why are you so cranky anyway? Is it Cap---Bya---your brother? Heh! NOTHING NEW THERE."
Everyone spent all their time bending over backwards or striving to best Byakuya Kuchiki, just to either get some sort of positive reaction out of him or feel like they had accomplished a major feat. He hadn't even met the guy here, yet, and he already was annoyed (and maybe a bit intimidated, but the hell if he was ever going to admit that publicly).
"Whatever. I'm hitting the food court and getting somethin’ to eat," said Mr. Impatience, throwing the magazine aside and heading for the door. If Rukia was going to be accusing him of sexist biased stuff when he was joking around, then fine. He could wait until she remembered him and then hang out with her. He just held one hand up in the air as he walked off, and left it up to her if she wanted to tag along or not...although his bet was on the big fat NOT part. He didn't have high expectations.
Thankfully the magazine didn’t hurt so much, and she was kind of expecting it. “I’m cranky when people say shitty things and assume things about me and are sexist.” She wasn’t surprised to hear that he lived with a bunch of lesbians. It was so not any of her business what so ever though. She was still sure that he was completely crazy and people didn’t like it.
She looked a bit confused at him though. “Yes of course he’s my brother. I mean he’s not technically my brother. He’s my brother-in-law. And he treats me like crap.” Imagine that. But he could probably figure that out as well. Rukia watched him stomp off to the food court, and then went back to her magazines. It would be easier to look through them if she didn’t have to have him talking about muscles and chicks in bikinis and stuff. Someone needed to teach him a lesson in sexism.
Eventually though she showed up at the food court. Well it was the same as home sort of, but it was filled with crappy food. “We’re supposed to eat this?”
Sitting at one of the food court tables, a very hunched over Renji looked up at her with his cheeks chipmunked out, with a half-eaten egg roll clutched in one hand and a fully stuffed burrito with one bite taken out of it, in the other. The tray was piled high. There was a gyro, a burger, three fistfulls of fries, a pile of ketchup packets squeezed onto the fries, a bowl of yakisoba, a calzone, and a giant nacho cheese filled pretzel. All of those were on the tray that he hadn't even touched yet, and there was a mountain of empty crunched up wrappers beside him from food that had been slayed by his big mouth. Lately, eating had become ultra serious business. He wasn't fully in training or anything, and he wasn't gaining a single pound, even if he was eating like a vulture. It was another weird thing he couldn't figure out, but wasn't really concentrating on...because Renji? Is not the brightest star in the heavens, but he was the most stubborn. Byakuya and Rukia and even Ichigo or Orihime would probably figure things out and admit it a lot faster than he would.
He gulped down what he was chewing on and took a big swig off his bucket sized lemonade, before he answered.
"Whaddya mean? It's food. You stick it in your mouth and chew, then swallow it and it lands in your gut to digest. You want some? Here, take this. It's not fancy like your brother-in-law would probably be picking at, but it tastes good. So eat it or go get something else from one of the hundred friggin' places to eat here...and don't hit me with that if you don't want it. I'll eat it instead."
Renji truly was the blunt and no-nonsense gift that kept on giving. He dropped the egg roll and picked up the bowl of yakisoba and plonked it on the table for her, then went right back to ravenously eating. Eeesh.
Though there was more food there than she was pretty sure that she had ever seen in her whole life, she didn’t say a word about it. She didn’t know why he was eating so much, other than clearly to put something into the empty space in his head. If she opened her mouth, then something smart ass was going to come out, just like that. So she shut it. And tried not to gag at the smell all of the food was mixing together. She didn’t know what half of the stuff on the table was. It was a wonder there was room for her to sit down at all. So gross.
She leaned over when he offered her food and gave it a sniff. Well it didn’t smell like it was going to make her throw up. But that didn’t mean she was going to eat it. “I don’t even know what that is. I just mean that Americans have food I’m not used to.” That’s all. Even though her brother had decided to get some chef to cook them American things so that they could get used to it. It was still bizarre and she didn’t know if she liked it.
So she decided to take a bite. Well. That was interesting. Rukia made a face.
When it came right down to it, Byakuya absolutely (and very much silently) hated the American food, too. In about one more week of them both suffering through it, he would send an assistant down to the kitchen to tell them the American chef's services would dwindle down to once a day without complaint, or their services would no longer be required. Entirely. Then it was back to what they were used to. Because it didn't taste clean or look appealing. That's that.
And that assessment pretty much applied to about half the stuff on Renji's food court tray: it was a mishmash of flavors and it didn't look appealing all smunched together like that. And that yakisoba was supposed to be Japanese, but it was really only oily fried noodles with a too sweet teriyaki sauce and some cabbage and carrot chips thrown in as a poor excuse for veggies. It was entirely geared toward an American palate.
Renji swallowed a mammoth bite of burrito he had been gnawing on and mirrored the expression on her face right back at her.
"Hey. What's wrong? Don't like it?" he asked, not sure what that face meant. He held out the wrapped gyro to her. "Here, try the greek thing. It's not crappy. I ate one of 'em already, you can have the other."
It wasn’t that she was against trying new things. She hadn’t hated American food as much as her brother had, but they were now pretty much having none of it at home, and she had only been here a little while. Clearly Rukia it hadn’t gotten out of the house that much. Just school or whatever. She ate American food there of course. She couldn’t really get around that. She was going to get used to it. But she really doubted that she was going to stuff it in her face like Renji was.
“Um.. no it’s not too bad. It’s just different. And American. And I think it might give me a heart attack.” How he had not gotten a heart attack was beyond her. Surely all of this had to be bad for him. She took the gyro for him, and looked at it. “This is that lamb thing right? I heard about it.” Never tried it. And not the American version of it.
Rukia took a bite and hm’d. “Okay that’s not bad. It’s a little dry. Is all American food like that?”
Well, they were going to get the American chef once a week, but the rest of the time, it was Asian cuisine. American cuisine was one thing that Byakuya simply was not going to get used to, but he would tolerate it. At some point or other.
"Yeah, those guys that wear togas eat that stuff," Renji said with a nod. Then he shrugged and held out the last bite of the burrito. "Dry? No, not really. Some of it's squishy, oily, crunchy, or really sweet. This burrito's really squishy, but this is the stuff those sombrero dudes eat so...you know...it's got beans in it."
Renji is oh so culturally sensitive. Can't ya tell?
"Here, have some french fries," he moved the tray over so she could try some. "They're from where those beret guys eat the long loaves of bread and drink a ton of wine."
“It tastes a little dry to me,” she countered. “Maybe it was sitting out a little too long.” It wasn’t like any food that came from a food court was ever fresh. She missed the freshness of her food that came from home. All of here it was packaged and reheated. Gross. She didn’t care either way for beans, so she just shrugged.
“I thought Americans thought that up, even though it’s called french fries.” Ah well. She took a couple of ate them. They were by far the best of what she had eaten so far. “I know where food comes from, but it’s not very authentic.”
Renji had a blank look on his face when she informed him that french fries weren't french, like all of his illusions about it being somehow foreign and fancy had been shattered in one fell swoop.
"Uh. Well, yeah. I guess it's not. I never really thought about it. It just ends up in my mouth. I work at burger place, Rukia," he pointed out, like that might explain it. Since she seemed to like the fries, he just let her have the rest of the pile. "It's probably a lot different than you're used to. Go ahead and eat those, since I haven't gotten dessert yet."
Oh yeah, he's not even done. Sad, but true fact.
He also thought maybe, since they weren't up each other's noses now and things felt a bit strange but more normal to him, that he might try actually talking...instead of being a jackass.
"I saw you two going at it on the network. Did he finally listen to you about the school stuff? Business classes would be friggin' boring as hell."
Oops? Rukia tried to look a bit sheepish at the fact that she had just shattered his dream about french fries. “There’s nothing wrong with french fries. They’re more edible than some of the other things that you’ve got on your table.” And there were things that she wasn’t going to touch, no matter what. “What’s it like, working at a burger place?” She was sure that Byakuya would never let her anywhere near one.
She watched him eat for a moment, figuring that maybe she would just wait and let him eat before doing anything else. “No, he didn’t listen. We came to an arrangement though. I had to do what he wanted in order to let him do what I want. I hate business. I don’t want to be in the business. And this.. is all my sister’s fault.”
He was chewing much slower as he listened, aware not only from those stupid ass dreams he was having that Rukia had a lot on her mind and a burden on her shoulders all of the time. Whether it was because of her brother adopting her or because of feeling like she had to take care of the other orphans they ran with, it was no wonder she was so serious face a lot of the time.
What she said about her sister kind of hung in the air between them, because that was something Renji knew nothing about.
"Uhh, it's a burger place. Its an easy job but people are jerks, so you kinda gotta be firm with them sometimes, or else they'll try to get away with all sorts of crap." He was well aware that Byakuya probably wouldn’t be too keen on his sister hanging out at a place like that, so Renji didn't even hint at her stopping by. "That he even made an arrangement with you must be like a freakin' miracle. But...uh...how is it your sister's fault, again?"
There was a whole lot of pressure on her, and she didn’t really know how to handle it all. Was it right that just because her sister died, now Rukia was forced to do everything that she had been supposed to do? She didn’t know. There was all of that honor and family stuff going on, but honestly Rukia never felt more stuck in one place in her life.
She grabbed some french fries and shoved them in her face, just like he had done earlier. The whole thing was just depressing to talk about. “Because she’s supposed to be doing all of this, not me. I didn’t ask for any of it. And no one asked me if this was okay. People are constantly telling me what to do and how to behave. It’s shit.”
At least she was stuffing her face, which Renji thought was a good thing. The entire dream situation was getting a little depressing for him too, since he remembered already that Rukia was going to be executed and her damn brother, his captain, didn't seem to care about that, either. He really just wanted to kick Byakuya's ass from there to the world of the living, and back again. Of course, thick-skulled and stubborn Renji still didn't know what to make of the whole dream mess. But everyone has to just bear with him, seeing as how he's a tad bit slower with learning curves than everyone else. And the 'tad bit' is an understatement.
At the very least, Renji felt he should at least make sure Rukia was eating. Even if it was junk food. And even if he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, so to speak, Renji knew the language of loss better than anyone. It was enough to guess there what happened.
"She's dead, right? I'm sure she probably didn't really plan on that happening, Rukia. And your brother's one of those hard asses who tries to do everything by the book, so...." Renji had been about to take a big swig off his lemonade, before he just about fumbled with it, trying to backpedal and cover up what he was saying. "I mean, he seems like one of those hard asses, that's all! You know, from the stuff I was reading on the network? Yeah. That."
Stuffing her face, it was more like eating her feelings. But whatever. Same thing. “She’s dead, and I know she didn’t plan it that way, but she pretty much made sure that I was looked after by a tyrant. And now he has pretty much complete control over what I do.” Rukia didn’t know how to get out from under his thumb and just do what she wanted. To be her own person. She had no idea how that was supposed to work.
“Hard ass is putting it mildly. He just thinks everyone should behave like him, and I have some kind of honor to uphold. When that’s not what I want. But instead of becoming a doctor.. I have to take over the family business.” Jeeze, her life was like a book. It was kind of ridiculous.
Yep, that pretty much sounded like the Byakuya he knew and had to be a vice-captain to. There was no pressure there at all, either. Ugh.
"...you wanna be a doctor?" Renji asked, and then snerked, like that was kind of funny. He didn't even think it was rude, it just didn't seem like something he'd hear come out of Rukia's mouth. "You'd make a better actress than a doctor."
He became more serious when he said, "I don't think your sister would do that if she liked the guy though...would she? I mean there has to be something good about him. He can't be a total asshole. Right?"
He knew Byakuya was a hard ass and did do things precisely by the book. Up until that whole execution fiasco, he was a model captain - if not the most aloof captain - in the entirety of Soul Society. He never broke a rule, he was very thorough, but everyone looked up to him and respected him. Renji wanted to kick his ass to prove that some street kid was better than the rich guy, but also because Byakuya had taken Rukia away when he adopted her into the Kuchiki clan, and there was a little need for revenge and personal grandstanding there. Maybe if he beat him, then he could prove he was good enough for Rukia.....
Renji suddenly shook his head and made a face like he tasted something bad, because that was only bleed over from dreaming. It never happened here. They hadn’t met before. He was sitting with Rukia in a food court, and there must be some stupid chemical leak in the water that no one’s found out about yet, that was making him think crazy things like that.
Rukia shrugged some. “Honestly? I have no idea. I know what I don’t want to do, and that’s some business crap. I don’t know anything about it. It’s boring. I’d rather do anything else.” But she was still stuck doing all of this stuff. School that she didn’t want to go to. “Actress? No, I can’t act.”
That was a very good question. “Honestly I don’t know what their relationship was like. I don’t think my sister would, but it’s possible she didn’t have much of a choice. Sometimes he’s not all bad, but it’s not like he talks to me. Or anyone. Like a normal person. He’s like a robot.” And she didn’t like him very much. “I think I’d rather be on the streets than taking his money, but I think even if I said that and tried to leave, he wouldn’t let me.”
"Heh. That’s true, I guess. You probably lay it on too thick if you did try to act," Renji said, without thinking, because he had dreams where Rukia could lay on a good sob story, then turn around and be giving the rest of the orphan kids a thumbs up, to let them know she was getting away with it. Which ruined the entire acting in the first place.
He roughly scrubbed one hand over his face, because he needed to keep that out of his head for right now. But while he was reminding himself of that, he was speaking without thinking. It was purely on auto-pilot. That was, after all, Renji's default state. If one wanted to look for the brains of the 6th Division, they looked to the captain. Not the lieutenant.
"Yeah, he is kinda robotic but he probably feels responsible, and he takes that shit...and everything else...real seriously. He wouldn't let you live on the streets. Not because he wants you under his thumb, even if he's a control freak, but because he probably wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you. Even if it seems like he doesn't have any fucks left to give."
She tried not to look affronted. “You don’t know what I’m like,” she complained. He was getting weird, and she was looking at him funny. How did he know that she did that? Because she most certainly didn’t. BUt still. It was weird. There was going to be some explaining to do, if he didn’t watch himself.
Rukia shrugged some. “I think we have different opinions. And you don’t know him either. He just wants to control everything to have it perfect because heaven forbid it not be.”
There was a long moment in which Renji was blank faced and then his eyes bugged out like he was horrified. Did he say that outloud?
"...god dammit," he grumbled under his breath, aimed at himself. Time to backpedal again. "I'm guessing. That's all. I mean, you know how, like, you meet someone and you can get a good idea of what they're about, so you kinda...slap that idea onto them. But it doesn't really fit, so you the person kinda goes, hey, asshole, don't do that? Well that's what's happening right now."
He stared at Rukia like he hoped that made sense. He's really staring. Hard.
"IT MAKES SENSE, OK?" he said, loudly, to help her realize that it does.
Yes. He said that out loud. Which was why she was just kind of staring at him, and even more so now that he could tell she was looking at him oddly. “Uh.. okay.” She didn’t think that made sense at all, but what did she know. Man this guy was weird. She’s staring right back at him, though of course she just looks confused.
“I.. don’t think I got any of that,” she admitted.
Renji, of course, was an open book. He stared back at her before his shoulders slouched down in the manner of someone who was defeated. It didn't take much, because that was the same serious face he was used to seeing, when he fell asleep. Only now, he was pretty sure he was awake.
After a long moment, Renji sighed and grumbled reluctantly, "It'll make sense, eventually. I guess. Just don't do anything stupid for right now, Rukia. You gotta promise you won't go running off, and if something happens with you or your brother, lemme know."
That was all he would say about that for now. It was much like the vague warning he had given Ichigo, and Renji figured that was enough. He carelessly wiped his mouth on the back of one arm to make sure he didn't have any burrito clinging there.
"We can go drive by the beach or go look at more shops. Or if you wanna go home, I'll drop you off at the park again, so he doesn't suspect anything."
And across the food court, with their cellphones on ZOOM, there were people taking pics and video. Way to not use a napkin, Renji. Way to not napkin.
There was definitely something going on. She wanted to know, but at the same time she didn’t. She kind of figured that he was just really weird. If she asked him, he was going to give her some really weird answer. Well that was until he started in with that cryptic stuff that just made her completely confused.
“What the hell are you talking about? If you tell me that you’re some kind of weird fortune teller and this is your odd schtick, you can save it. Because that stuff is nonsense. It will make sense eventually?” How creepy was that?
Okay maybe that was all he was going to say, but she was still so damn weirded out. Rukia just stared some more and then finally pulled her head away to stop staring at him. “Let’s just.. go to the beach. And then home.”
"Hey," he said a little more sharply than he intended, to get her attention again. "I'm not a fuggin' fortune teller. I don't know what it is, so I can't explain it like someone else might be able to. I guess...I don't want to freak you out or make you worried about something else, more than the stuff you told me that you're worried about. So just don't go losing your shit and tell me if you have any weird dreams. OK?"
He stood up and impatiently piled all the wrappers and things on the tray, so he could dump it all in the trash. And after that was done, he shrugged a little and told Rukia, "C'mon, let's bail. Beach, then home."
“Weird dreams?” She echoed, and then stared at him like he had ten heads. Which was only slightly different than the look she’d been giving him two seconds ago. It was slightly with a bit more ‘you’ve lost it’ than actual confusion. But still. What the hell was he talking about? Okay clearly she needed someone else to hang out with who wasn’t completely nuts. “Uh.. right. Yeah.. let’s go.”
Because this was too weird to have a conversation about. And Rukia didn’t even want to have this conversation. Too weird. He was crazy. Let’s go home.