A tumblr prompt by darkmadors

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Masaki

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Everyone says that Masaki takes right after her mother. Byakuya doesn't disagree.

She has Rukia's impish grin; the same, delicate cherubic features; the same soulful eyes, and the uncanny ability to wrap Ichigo around her finger, and Byakuya as well, truth be told. Though it was a hard-fought battle, and Byakuya is ashamed he even tried to resist, yet another thing she has in common with Rukia.

While it's easy to see where his niece and his sister overlap, Byakuya knows that she'll be nowhere near as easy as Rukia was.

Brought in, essentially, as an adult, his sister had been self-sufficient, and despite the controversy involved with her adoption, Rukia has always tried to be unobtrusive, keeping out of the way and doing what was expected of her.

Her daughter, by contrast, demands attention.

In Masaki's defense, she is a baby.

But the point stands; she's a lot more work.

She throws temper tantrums, babbles her back-talk, touches things she shouldn't; escapes her playpen and her babysitters like it's fun for her. Not to mention her spiritual pressure is strong enough to knock over at least half the recruits when she's in a snit. She's a menace, well and truly her father's daughter. Byakuya blames it on the orange hair, the most obvious trait of her sire, as the source of her sins. Clearly its detrimental to their gene pool.

Nonetheless, her parentage is without question and Byakuya would be relieved if the sum of his niece's parts, at her young age, meant that she was as capable at defending herself as Rukia and Ichigo are.

Both being captain-class Shinigami, Byakuya had vaguely entertained the notion that Masaki would enter the world with Rukia's control and Ichigo's strength.

As it stands, Masaki has yet to fully master gravity. An unruly pigeon could best her.

(And with that thought, he abruptly shuts all the windows.)

Byakuya swears he ages a decade taking his eyes off her for a minute. Not even putting her down for her naps help, he just ends up sitting there anxiously waiting for her to wake up again, a fact no in his division is allowed to talk about under pain of death.

He doesn't know how Rukia and Ichigo do it, doesn't see how they could because frankly (and between you and him, dear reader), Byakuya is terrified of her.