On The First Day of Christmas - Part 7

"Nii-sama!"

"Rukia?" Byakuya muttered in confusion as Rukia burst into the sixth division barracks. "What are you doing here?"

"Nii-sama, merry Christmas!" Rukia said, bowing quickly.

"Merry… Christmas?" Byakuya was now thoroughly confused.

"Eh? Rukia?" Renji walked into the room at the sound of Rukia. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Do you know Christmas, Renji?" Rukia asked. Renji shook his head.

"I was at the living world, and right now they have a celebration called Christmas!" Rukia said excitedly. "There's gift-giving and decorating trees and someone called Santa Clause…" Rukia paused slightly before mentioning Santa, still not getting the whole idea of the jolly old Saint Nick.

"Oh. Christmas," Byakuya said as he turned back to his work. "Yes, I know of it. A petty human holiday when everyone does nothing but sit around and eat."

"Eh?" Rukia cocked her head. "That's not what Ichigo said…"

"Ne, I think taicho's exaggerating a bit…" Renji said quickly, seeing Rukia's face.

"Anyways," Rukia shook her head. "Like I said, there's gift-giving. I got you both presents from the real world," Rukia said, looking proud of herself. Byakuya and Renji accepted their presents from Rukia. "Open them!"

"Uh… Sure," Renji gave in, ripping the paper off the box. Once seeing what was inside the box, Renji burst out laughing. "What the hell is this, Rukia?" He said, chuckling as he picked up black sunglasses. Along the earpieces were the exact same designs that could be found on Renji's forehead, but in red.

"It's your present," Rukia replied venomously, not at all enjoying Renji's reaction. "Geez, you could at least pretend you liked it, Renji."

"No, no! I do like it," Renji said quickly.

"Put it on, Renji," Byakuya said, amused – and secretly wanting to see Renji make a fool out of himself. "Let's see how it looks on you."

"Well, okay…" Renji took off his white headband and slipped on the glasses. "How does it look?" Byakuya stared, then shook his head.

"It looks-"

"GREAT!" Rukia cut her brother's denial off. She shot her brother a look that said Let's-see-him-make-a-fool-of-himself-by-running-around-in-those-ridiculous-glasses. Byakuya shrugged and resumed his work. "Really, I think they are perfect."

"Really?" Renji asked, liking the glasses more and more.

"Yeah!" Rukia resisted the urge to laugh out loud. "You should definitely go around today wearing those!"

"Sure," Renji shrugged. Once he left the room, Rukia couldn't help herself – she started giggling rather loudly. Even Byakuya nearly cracked a smile.

"Oh, here Nii-sama," Rukia quickly composed herself and handed her brother another wrapped box. "This is for you."

"I don't need anything from the human world, Rukia," Byakuya waved off.

"Oh, please take it," Rukia bowed. "I got it especially for you, Nii-sama!"

"Alright…" Byakuya gave in, accepting the little box. He delicately tore the paper off of the box and lifted the cover. He lifted the pristine white scarf out of the box, admiring it.

"I thought you would like it," Rukia murmured, head still bowed.

"It is very thoughtful, Rukia," Byakuya said softly. "I do like the designs of sakura blossoms on the end."

"I'm glad you like it, Nii-sama," Rukia sighed in relief. She stood up to leave when Byakuya called to her.

"Yes, Nii-sama?" Rukia looked back to see her brother frowning at the scarf.

"Rukia…" Byakuya looked up at his sister. "You do realize this is a woman's scarf?"