To Comfort a Child

This is basically a sequel to my Bleach one shot story: Exchange of Flowers. It is still possible to read this story without reading Exchange of Flowers and not be too confused, but it still is advised, lol. Have fun with this story.
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Ever since that rather unsettling day that he first talked to Hisana, they had talked to one another during school, to the horror of the rest of the girls in the school. For a while, he was unaware that the girls were trying to torment her. They were calling her names, leaving scathing notes in her locker, and sometimes even tripping her in the hallways. When he found out he was very angry, how dare they do those nasty things to her just because he talked to her and they were jealous.

He knew that if he tried to outwardly say something to them Hisana would just stop him, telling him something along the line of forgiveness, and that they weren't worth it. And really, she would be right, but he still didn't want her to suffer because of their friendship so he would watch her a little closer and when he saw one of the girls approach her he would clear his throat a little to get their attention and then glare at them a little. Not such a scary glare, more like a warning. Usually they got the hint and just walked away since they didn't want to upset him. That wasn't the point of this, they just wanted him for themselves. On such occasions that they looked like they might do something anyways, he would gently shake his head at her, then they would walk away. He knew he didn't catch everything they did, but he did all he could.

Why did those girls do that anyways, they just talked, nothing more. They talked about their likes, dislikes, and occasionally about things they've done or wished to do. He was uncomfortable in asking her about her family because he didn't want her to feel like he was prying, or that he would judge her because of her obvious lack of wealth compared to his. And he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by talking about his family either, so by unspoken agreement, they never talked much about their families.

So it was rather a shock to him one day walking through the park that they had first talked to see her walking with a little female child that appeared to be around three, holding onto Hisana's fingers tightly. They were a ways away still, but he could see that Hisana was dressed in a shabby pale pink kimono. But despite that fact, she was looking down at the little girl with a tender, loving smile.

He had never seen that particular smile on her before so he took a closer look at the young girl and at first could only stare. He couldn't help it, the little one was a miniature Hisana. In most every way, the only difference that he could see, because of the distance, was that while she did have bangs that hung between her eyes, they weren't as thick.

As they walked closer he also noticed that while the petite girl was smiling up at Hisana, she had a different kind of smile than her. It was a more excited happy smile, Hisana's smile was always a quiet tender smile.

He also noticed that while one hand held onto Hisana's fingers, elfin Hisana held in her other hand a little stuffed animal. He was wondering what kind of animal it was when Hisana looked up and saw him.

"Oh, hello Byakuya-sama."

With her greeting, the young girl looked up at him and he could also see that while she had large dark purple eyes, they weren't quite as large as Hisana's, and also didn't have blue in them.

Byakuya bowed a little, "Good afternoon Hisana-san, I didn't expect to see you here."

Hisana smiled down at the little girl, "I often walk here with my little sister."

"So she is your sister then, I thought so, she looks a lot like you."

Hisana squatted down next to the little girl and she looked at Hisana, "Rukia, this is Byakuya-sama. He's the one that gave me my beautiful necklace." She then faced Rukia to him and looked up at him, "Byakuya-sama, this is my little sister Rukia."

Rukia looked up at him for a few seconds then tried to hide behind Hisana, but she didn't act like she was shy, "Rukia, it's alright. He's very nice."

Byakuya blushed a little that Hisana might find him nice, most people didn't think of him that way. People often found him cold, and distant. While it was true he never really tried to become close to anyone, he didn't consider himself cold, just aloof.

But he didn't want Hisana to seem like a liar to her little sister so he bowed a little to Rukia and said as nicely as he could, "Hello Rukia-chan, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Little Rukia looked out from behind Hisana, looked at him in, not exactly a calculating way, but in a way that made it feel to him that she was sizing him up, then waved a little with the hand that held the stuffed animal, and he saw that it was a little rabbit. It also looked a vaguely familiar, but he wasn't sure on how.

Hisana smiled and stood up, "Well, that's about the most you can expect from her for now. She likes to be alone and doesn't make many friends easily." She looked up at him, "So Byakuya-sama, what are you doing here?

"I was just taking a walk, is that what you were doing?"

"Yes, just walking and spending time with my little sister"

"Would you mind if I joined you and Rukia-chan?"

She smiled up at him, "That would be nice Byakuya-sama."

He smiled a little and stepped to the other side of Rukia so she would be between him and Hisana, but she still seemed to be unsure of him and switched to the other side of Hisana and once again took hold of her fingers.

"I'm sorry Byakuya-sama, I hope you don't take offense to her."

"No it's alright, I'm a stranger to her."

Hisana smiled at him appreciatively and they walked together. They didn't talk very much, they were both comfortable with silence and so it never was an awkward silence between them. And he was grateful that Rukia never shattered the calmness by chattering non-stop.

Usually he did not like children. They were noisy, rowdy, disrespectful little monsters who could not, and would not be tamed. They were always bouncing and begging for something and were constantly dirty or sticky, sometimes both. But that wasn't the case for Rukia. She would just walk quietly beside Hisana, and occasionally look up at her and smile. She was a puzzle for Byakuya.

Something else that he noticed about her that was different from Hisana was that she didn't look like she was as underfed as her sister. Did Hisana give Rukia some of her share of food? He wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that was the case. That would be something he expected from her.

They were walking downtown trying to avoid being separated by the crowd when Rukia's expression lit up with excitement and pulled Hisana to the a window of a store. It was a television store and Rukia was pointing to the TV that showed a children's show that enlightened his mind as to why the rabbit doll that was in Rukia's grip was so familiar.

It was a show called Chappy's Adventures. It was about a ridiculous little bunny having simple little adventures in the forest with her friends and tried to avoid the villainous fox. Obviously Rukia was a big fan of the show. She stared excitedly at the screen for several minutes until the episode was done. Thank goodness it was basically over when they had arrived.

Though Rukia wasn't happy it was over. Her shoulders drooped and she hung her head as she started to walk away.

"Oh Rukia sweetheart, I'm so sorry we weren't able to watch more of it." Hisana picked up the disappointed little toddler and held her against herself. Rukia leaned her head against Hisana's shoulder with a limp arm hanging down that ended with the fist that was holding onto her Chappy swinging back and forth beside Hisana's slim waist.

"I'm sorry for the scene Byakuya-sama. As I'm sure you can see Rukia dearly loves that show, but we don't have a television at home. So she isn't able to watch it much and was very disappointed to only watch a few minutes."

"It's alright Hisana-san."

He looked at the petite little girl in a new light. He had always been able to have anything he wanted, within reason. His grandfather, who was raising him, wasn't an overly generous man. So there were a few things he had wanted that his grandfather forbade him. But now that he was older he could see that his grandfather was right in denying him. But in this case, he couldn't see a good reason for this little girl to not be able to watch the show. It was an innocent little show, unlike the others that were going around now a days.

He wondered what he could do for Rukia to make her happy again. He couldn't just go and buy a television for the family. For one thing that would drive up expenses for the family with electricity and other stuff, and plus it would look like charity to the family and he knew that Hisana wouldn't accept that.

He was still debating a few minutes later when he looked up to see a toy store down the street a little ways. When they came in front of the door he stopped, staring into it.

"Byakuya-sama? Are you alright?" He looked toward Hisana and saw that she walked a little ways before she realized that he had stopped.

"Yes, I'm fine. But I just remembered I needed to get something. Could you wait out here for a few minutes?

"Sure, Rukia and I will wait here for you."

He smiled a little and walked into the store.

A few minutes later he came out and found Hisana was sitting on a bench with Rukia on her lap.

"Did you find what you needed?"

"Yes I did," he smiled and then took a deep breath to steady himself. He's only really given something to someone once before, so even though this time it was to a child, he was a little nervous.

He knelt on one knee to look Rukia in the eye and Hisana gasped a little at his action. He smiled at Rukia, "I'm sorry we weren't able to watch more of the show Rukia-chan." Then he reached into bag and pulled out a pink Chappy doll and held it out to her. The doll was only around 30 cm high, but it was still larger than the bunny that Rukia currently clung to herself.

Rukia stared at him, then at the Chappy doll, then back at him. She did that a few times, then snatched the Chappy from his fingers and held it against her with all her might like he was going to change his mind and take it back, then smiled, happy again.

He chuckled and then stood up. Hisana stared up at him completely shocked. "Byakuya-sama, you didn't have to do that."

"I know, but once again I wanted to." He reached out his hand to Hisana to help her up and Rukia slid from her lap to stand as well. Hisana smiled and took his offered hand when she stood up she went to her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"You have a good heart."

She smiled at him since it was his turn to be shocked and started walking again. He started walking as well and then felt a tug on his fingers. When he looked down he saw Rukia had taken his hand and was walking with him.