The third Kuchiki sibling

Hard, heavy winds crashed into the innocent citizens, sliding them back a number of feet. All of them stood confused, trying to figure out where the sudden weather change had come from. None of them knew the cause of those heavy winds, but at least one person knew the source of it, and how to fix it. Swinging his sword downward, Ichigo sliced the hollow's mask perfectly in half. Within a matter of moments, the creature dissolved. Another monster destroyed; oh how it felt so amazing to wield a zanpakuto again. He missed getting to take out his anger on these hollows, and was currently quite happy with himself for killing ten in only a day. The only thing right now that was bothering this happy go lucky Shinigami was one thing; his typical companion was missing. Rukia was supposed to have shown up to help him with these hollows! Where in the world could she be? As Ichigo began searching for where he'd left his body, the miniature lieutenant finally decided to make her appearance.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled at her.

"Little Ichigo struggling with the hollows?" she teased.

"No! Just expected to you to show up since you know, you mentioned something about helping me?" Ichigo reminded her.

Flicking him in the forehead, Rukia replied, "I had to help Kuro get settled in."

"Kuro?" he asked, taken aback by the odd name. Who names someone after a color? Then again, he himself is named after a fruit.

"Kuro Kuchiki; he's the newest member of the family. Byakuya found him wandering the halls of the academy, and was given the ok to adopt him into the family. He's only been with us a few days, so he's still trying to get use to it," she explained.

"So you've got a little brother now!" Ichigo pointed out.

"I guess he would be like my brother, but it'll be hard to see him in that light," Rukia replied lightly to herself.

What did she mean by that? Kuro was her new little brother; that should be easy to understand. Why would it be so hard to view him like her brother? With how those Kuchikis are, this boy had to look identical to both Byakuya and Rukia. Those two don't even have one mutual relative, but look like blood siblings. Kuro must match them! As he continued in his mind about how the three siblings look alike, Rukia had informed him of another hollow nearby, and was leading him in that direction. Even as Ichigo followed beside her, and listened to her talk about her lieutenant work, his mind went back to this Kuro Kuchiki. The only way she'd have such an issue in seeing him as a brother is if she felt something for him. Ichigo froze in that revelation. Surely... surely she wouldn't have a thing for her new kid brother... right? That would be incest on some level, wouldn't it? He stopped himself in his ideas there before it got any farther. This was Rukia. She wouldn't ever do something like that, or even dream of it. She was a perfect picture of nobility and would never fall low enough to do something like that. Now with his mind at ease, Ichigo actually paid attention to his jabbering friend. After wandering a few blocks, the pair came across the small hollow that had been bothering the area.

Holding her arm out to stop Ichigo, Rukia kindly said, "I'll take this one."

He only shrugged in reply to her, and watched as she easily split the hollow in two. She use to make hollow killing look so hard, but now she never had an issue with those beasts. With her nice skills, the Kuchiki family would probably have her train Kuro. Though with her explanations, the poor kid will probably get confused and think his shikai should look like a rabbit. If Kuro were older than maybe he stood a better chance.

"Rukia," he called. Now with the black haired girl's attention grasped, he continued, "How old is Kuro?"

Taking a minute to think on the question, she replied, "We think around fourteen or so. It's honestly hard to tell for anyone though in the Soul Society. A lot of us just have to guess our age, and hope we guessed correctly. The same goes for him."

"Wow; he must have died young then," Ichigo said, a small sound of sadness in his voice.

"A lot of us in the Seireitei died at early ages. The best guess for when Kuro passed on was when he was a few months old," Rukia explained.

That was the last conversation the two had about the new Kuchiki for the rest of the day. The rest of the day the pair took a break from hollow fighting to just enjoy the warm summer sun. Nothing like finding a nice tea house to make a summer day better! Once the night sky took over, Rukia informed Ichigo that she had to return home to the Soul Society, but promised to be back soon. And just as she promised, she returned that next weekend. Ichigo was glad to have his companion return, but noticed that she seemed a tad too happy. Her smile was wider than her typical one, and there was a new glimmer of excitement in her purple eyes. This level of happiness was unusual, even for a normal person. There was even a skip in her step!

Eying his friend as she approached, Ichigo finally had to ask, "What in the world has you so happy?"

"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked with a slightly confused look on her face.

"You were nearly skipping!" he replied. "The only time you'd ever skip is if you were pretending to be a school girl!"

"I was? Hmm, I'll just take your word for it," she said.

She didn't even notice that she was skipping like a little kid? Did something hit Rukia on the head?! Maybe something good happened today to her. Yeah, that would explain why she seemed so happy. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Ichigo began to wonder why she didn't mention this good thing to him. She usually would say if some spectacular thing had occurred; he'll never forget her waking him in the middle of the night to inform him of the new line of Chappy items coming out. Why would Rukia be secretive now? 'Maybe that little Kuro did something that made her this happy' he wondered as he followed alongside her. Why was Kuro the first thing that came to mind for this though? A thousand and one things have the ability to excite this easily amused Shinigami, so why would her new brother be the thing to put such a smile on her face.

Despite it being a long shot, Ichigo asked, "How's Kuro?" Perhaps if he got the ball rolling on the subject, she would say what the boy did to make her so happy, if it was him who did anything.

"He's doing well. Finally adjusted to the house, but he keeps wandering into my room in the middle of the night. I think he's afraid of being alone," Rukia replied.

"He goes in your room at night? That's just weird if you ask me," he said.

"I don't have a problem with it! I never mind having someone warm snuggled next to me at night!" she remarked with a smile.

A chill shot up Ichigo's spine at that thought. He... he sleeps in her bed?! Snuggled next to her?! The nerve of this guy! Doesn't know the girl for more than a few weeks and just hops into her bed! 'What's it matter to me though?' Ichigo asked himself. He kept quiet as they continued to their destination of Kisuke's shop. Instead of mentally yelling at Kuro, he began asking himself why it bothered him that another man was snuggling up to Rukia, literally. First, it's just bold of the boy to sleep in a woman's bed. But Ichigo knew that if the twerp tried anything that she would snap him in half, so that wasn't the concern. Was it the fact that Rukia seemed fine with this boy so close? It shouldn't matter what she does though! It's her life; she can do anything she wants. 'Even if what she wants is her new kid brother' Ichigo thought with a slight shiver. That idea there just disgusted him, but still it wasn't too horrible. Rukia and Kuro shared zero family relation, so there would be no wrong in it. 'Still don't like the idea of her with someone' he grumbled to himself. As if a light bulb had lit up in his mind, Ichigo figured out what it was that annoyed him. It was that Rukia was perhaps interested in someone, and that someone wasn't him. Dammit he should be a perfect choice for her! He had saved her countless times, was one of her closest friends, and did everything he could for her. What made Kuro so much more special?! Though his jealousy burned inside him, Ichigo managed to keep quiet about it. As the day went on, Rukia left him for an hour to have lunch with Orihime, and it wasn't until they returned that the anger and jealousy began to get the best of him.

With stars in her dusty eyes, Orihime begged, "You have to let me meet him! He just sounds so amazing."

Glancing up from the manga he'd happily been focusing on, Ichigo asked, "Meet who?"

"Kuro of course! Oh Rukia please let me meet him! The way you described him," the chipper girl's sentence trailed off from there as a dreamy look clouded her eyes. Now she loved that boy too?! She'd always chased him, and even though he had no interest in the pushy school girl, it did hurt seeing her interest switch so quickly.

Turning his gaze toward his Shinigami friend, he said through gritted teeth, "You've never described your new brother to me."

"I haven't?" Rukia asked with a slightly surprised look on her face. Shrugging off the issue, she continued, "I could have sworn I had. Either way, he's incredibly tall, with a nice muscular build, thick, short black hair and the most beautiful blue eyes. And his voice; it's the most respect commanding one you'll ever hear!"

Ichigo had to fight to keep from having his eye twitch. Tall huh? He was 5'11"! That's amazing tall for this area! And a muscular build? Did Rukia forget how he looked in his battles when his shirt had been torn off? And black hair? Black hair was overrated! It was just her who made it look nice. The only thing now lacking was the blue eyes, but what did she want? For him to buy contacts? Those things were a pain in the ass to put in your eye! Frowning at his own thoughts, Ichigo had noticed one last thing Rukia had seemed so star struck over; the voice. He had a strong feeling this kid somehow sounded similar to Byakuya. All those Kuchikis magically sounded the same, and looked the same! Besides those final two things, Ichigo had what this Kuro also had, or so he thought. Was he taller or stronger than him? 'Only way to find out is to meet the kid' he told himself.

"So, when do I get to meet your new brother?" he asked. Ichigo couldn't help but bring up the fact of this boy being her brother any chance he got. The more he could rub in the adoption, and remind her that they were family, the better.

"I'm not sure when Nii-sama would allow him to come to the world of the living. It would be hard on him coming here since his spiritual powers are lower than usual," she explained.

Ha! Well at least Ichigo could feel better knowing he had more power than the boy. "Well it's not like I couldn't go there," he pointed out.

"You want to go to the Soul Society just to meet Kuro?" Rukia asked as she raised an eyebrow to him.

"There a problem with that?" Ichigo asked.

The only response she gave was a light shrug, but before she could blink her orange haired companion had darted away. If Rukia didn't object to it, then of course he was going to go meet this guy! He had to see what it was she seemed to like so much! Racing into Kisuke's shop, Ichigo quickly yelled that there was a dire need for him in the Soul Society, and for no questions to be asked. In just a few minutes flat, he found himself charging through the maze that was the Seireitei, searching for Byakuya's home. The little twerp had to be there! Where else would he be?! Now in front of the Kuchiki house, Ichigo tried to refrain from busting the door down in his search. He couldn't look like a complete mad man. Calming down just a bit, he entered the house, and began called out for the young Kuchiki.

"Kuro! I'm Rukia's friend, Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm sure she's mentioned me to you," he called out. "You know, she gave me her powers, lived in my closet? I saved her life a few dozen times? Nearly died a few times for her? Ring any bells?" But as he wandered into every room, not a human soul was lurking.

A light shove alerted him, but when Ichigo turned to see was there, the only thing he saw was a black kitty. "No little guy, I'm not calling you," he informed the cat. Walking into the next room, he yelled out, "Kuro! Show yourself already!" The only reply he received was the cat's meow. For the next few rooms, each time he yelled for Kuro, the cat would merely paw and meow at him.

An annoyed look appear in the kitty's round eyes when he was ignored for the tenth time. Jumping effortlessly to the top of a bookshelf, he let out the loudest meow that his body could. That got Ichigo's full attention. Looking up at the yelling cat, a sinking feeling hit the poor, poor Shinigami. Standing atop the bookshelf was a tall, muscular, black haired, blue eyed cat with a deep, commanding voice. Ichigo pulled the kitty off the shelf, and sighed as he read the golden tag that dangled from his maroon collar.

"So... you sleep with Rukia every night, huh Kuro Kuchiki?" he said as he stared pitifully at the tom cat.

He'd gotten worked up and upset over a cat. A kitty cat. He nearly destroyed this house in trying to find... a cat. He was annoyed to think that he'd lost Rukia... to a cat. Sitting down on the floor, Ichigo was beginning to feel rather light headed from the whole ordeal. 'I'm adopting myself a dog when I get home. If Rukia reacts like this, then maybe we're a match' Ichigo declared to himself.