Chapter 1

The bright rays of the sun entered the room making the shadows dance as the curtain by the window swayed in the wind. Byakuya changed his position to ward off the sunlight and the shadows that fell on his face. He pulled the cover over himself as the alarm rang off as he was about to go to sleep once again. With a sigh, he got up from the bed, switched off the alarm and almost rushed to the toilet unable to resist nature's call. He came out and sighed once again. His sleep had unfortunately flown away as he was washing his face. He would wake up just after sunrise usually but he wanted to sleep in today as it was a Sunday but was of course he was unsuccessful. After having his Breakfast, he went out to water his plants in the lawn. He lived in his own single storey house that he shared with his sister who had recently finished her studies in the states and was back last month. She could have come soon after it was over but she stayed a month extra to enjoy some time with her friends for the last time. Sundays are Byakuya's day of relaxing. He would water the plants, usually taken care of by his sister; he would also clean his house a bit; watch the telly or go on a long drive or even take a stroll in the park. He would have late dinner and then fall asleep on the floor on summer afternoons or on the couch in the winter. In the evening he would prepare for the next day or read and then hit the bed early.

His so called sister stepped out into the lawn just as he finished watering the plants. Rukia stretched and yawn as the morning sun hit her as soon as she stepped out into the lawn to call her brother. Her brother was smiling at her and 'good morning'ed her before she could even say a word. She tiredly waved at him as if she has just returned from some desert. Byakuya looked at his sister and let a light smile show on him as he brushed passed her to arrange her a breakfast for Rukia is only awake after having half of her breakfast. Halfway through her breakfast, Rukia called her brother. "Nii-sama, today I don't have anywhere to be so let us go to the park on the hillside." Byakuya looked up from the sofa and after saying a 'sure' went back to reading the newspaper. Rukia finished eating and the cleaned the dishes, the windows and her room. When she came to her brother, she saw him vacuuming the carpet in the sitting room. A big black packet containing garbage was put near the door which they would throw when going out.

"After I am done with the carpet, I will take a shower and dress up, so will you and we will go to the park." Byakuya said as he did away with the last bit of 'carpet cleaning'. Rukia whooped silently and went to throw the garbage in the dumping place a few blocks away. After coming back she took a half an hour bath and wore a nice summer dress and white sandals. On her hands were one straw hat and a kite. She sat in the sitting room as she waited for her big brother. For Byakuya never missed his two hour bath on Sundays. After a few more minutes, Byakuya appeared wearing a light sky blue shirt whose three buttons were not done, A white tee could be seen underneath the shirt. His loose navy jeans complemented his white running shoes very well. Rukia faked a hollering cat call but immediately shut up when she received a deathly glare. They went out of the house and after locking the door, set off to the park at a snail's pace.

Ichigo hollered like a Red Indian and jumped out from the window of the sitting room into front side lawn as soon as he finished his breakfast. He was wearing black jeans and a flimsy, sleeveless black jumper with a white shirt whose arms had a 'ripped off' effect. On his neck dangled an ivory conch pendant and a symbol of '15' was graphitized on his left thigh in red and black flames. He wore black sneaker with red laces and was holding on to a black skateboard with 'fingerless' gloved hands. He was soon followed by a spatula that thunked on his head and fell down. Yuzu and Karin stepped out from the door and they were too dressed in black, followed by a black clad Isshin. "Ichi-nii, drop the skateboard. We are not going to the park you know." Karin tried to put some sense into her brother's 'happy thick' head. After all it was his first day out after the self imposed house arrest of his, in order to grow his hair dye out. "Well we are gonna go later of course!" Ichigo successfully countered. Karin scowled and went ahead of them, leaving a snickering Ichigo behind. "Well well my children! Please behave yourselves cos we are gonna go meet Masaki now! And I bet she wouldn't appreciate it if she sees you all bickering like this." That little talk of Isshin did the trick and soon they were silently making their way to the graveyard.

After walking for some distance, Ichigo couldn't resist and stood on his skate board. "I will wait for you all at THE HILL!" Ichigo shouted the last part as he took off leaving them in the dust. Yuzu and Isshin coughed light as Karin held up a hand to cover her mouth. "Dad I think it was a bad idea to visit mom when it is not even her anniversary yet." Karin asked. Isshin chuckled and let out a long sigh… "Let Ichigo be Karin. He has missed visiting Masaki too many times already and now that he can finally go out, he would do his best to make up for all those years. Besides, we are coming only this time, afterwards he is gonna go there anytime he wanted, all on his own." Yuzu hummed as she agreed with her father. "Ahoy! Kuchiki Kun! Kuchiki chan!" Karin and Yuzu shouted out to the two figures that were a bit ahead of them. The said people halted in their tracks and turned towards them. The Kurosaki trio jogged and caught up with them. "Are you going to some funeral?" Rukia asked curiously while Byakuya walked two steps behind them, side by side with Isshin. "Nah! My Brother wanted to meet our mom and since he will be meeting her after so many years, we decided to go with him and he wanted to wear black so…" Karin shrugged at the last part as she explained. "So Wait! You are telling me your big brother is back and you did not even think it was important to tell me yeah?" Rukia questioned, smokes threatened to come out of her ears as Yuzu nervously laughed at them, her lips twitching as she took a step back. "My son is back and well we have been busy so well…er…not many people know anyways. Besides, he has been back after so many years so it was only natural that he had some 'alone time' to get a hang of this place and get used to it."

Byakuya became curious when he heard 'many years' and could not resist, "What do you mean 'many years' Kurosaki san?" Isshin's face took a solemn expression, "Well, my boy went to the states to live with his uncle when he turned 8…and he is back now." Rukia who was listening quietly, smiled at her neighbor. Well, they weren't really neighbors but Rukia and the Kurosaki twins became good friends after they met countless times at the park when Rukia visited during her holidays. "Say, Rukia nii! You are not going back to the states again now are you?" Yuzu questioned silently. Rukia smiled at her, "Of course not! I finished my studies there, now I am thinking of getting a job here." "Wow that's awesome Rukia nii, Ichi nii also got a job. He works part time you see but today his boss was nice enough to give him a day off." Karin said and looked a cat that was sleeping on a roof of a nearby house. "Ichi…so that's his name…" Rukia muttered as she checked her surroundings. Behind her, Byakuya raised his eyebrow in a silent question and looked at his sister thinking why she was interested in the eldest Kurosaki. They weren't even neighbors or proper friends for kami sama's sake! They indeed lived too far away and did not take part in each other's family functions.

LOOOOK OOOUUUTTTT! A mysterious and shady figure zoomed towards them. In a state of panic, Karin clutched Yuzu and took position behind a lamp post. Rukia was pushed out of the way by Byakuya just before he was tackled by the figure. Byakuya felt himself knocked out of breath as he fell on the street. He almost fainted from the impact. Rukia gasped in surprise and the Kurosaki family looked on in surprise while the mysterious figure got up and dusted his clothes as if nothing happened. He paused midway and gulped nervously, visibly scared of the death glare that Byakuya was throwing at him."!" The once zooming person sputtered indignantly as he was unable to provide a suitable excuse for his deeds and by the looks of Byakuya he would rather not say 'I am sorry'. "Renji!" Karin yelled at him and rushed forward ready to punch him for what he did. "I-I…I just tried to steal Berry's skateboard and tried to run away with it. Because he was skating when I am to do his share of work too! Obviously, he shouldn't have gotten himself a day off if he was going to spend it doing nothing!" Renji huffed and looked at everyone who was present in the scene. "Hehehehe! Well, you were quite successful running away with my son's favorite skateboard or fleeing away and crashing rather…" Even Byakuya smirked at Isshin's joke while the Kurosaki twins snickered behind Isshin and Rukia behind his brother. "Rukia! You too! You are supposed to be my girlfriend…" Renji tried and failed as they stopped smiling and giggling and burst out laughing with Byakuya's smirk widening a bit more.