AN: Okay, random one-shot that I've been meaning to finish for weeks now and since I have time (for the first time in forever!) I decided to pump this little piece out. And while I'm not usually one to dabble in super odd pairings, I find this one sort of amazing. Not to mention that this has been sitting on my mind for months ever since I wrote Riddles. And it's all thanks to a conversation that I had with djAngelynn that this became a plot bunny, which eventually spawned a story all its own. So, if you don't like this, blame her. XDDD

Summary: Now that Kurosaki Ichigo has taken his sister, tradition dictates that Byakuya must steal his, a test for Rukia's hand. Karin just finds the whole thing distasteful. And weird. Byakuya/Karin friendship, maybe romance; mentioned IchiRuki

Warnings: Nothing really except crushing on the most eligible man in the Gotei Thirteen. :)

It shouldn't surprise her anymore when ridiculously handsome men dressed in old-fashioned kimono walk out of shoji doors that appear in the middle of the street. After all, that kind of thing was fairly mild in the face of monsters the size of buildings and swords that took human form. But since most of the commotion from Soul Society had finally blown over, Kurosaki Karin thought she'd be living her double life rather inconspicuously, no longer attempting to fill Ichi-nii's enormous shoes since he'd gotten his shinigami powers back in full. And that meant there was certainly no reason for these ridiculously handsome men dressed in old-fashioned kimono to demand anything from her.

Obviously, this guy hadn't gotten the memo.

"Are you the sister of Kurosaki Ichigo?" the shinigami asked, his dark hair framing a handsome face even Karin could admire. While she had no interest in pretty boys, she occasionally admitted that some were much more beautiful than need be. This man was one of them and then some. It didn't help that he carried a certain air of nobility, as if he merely had to ask and the world would shift to his whims, something that made his powerful aura seem that much more potent.

Swinging her hand bag to the side, the raven-haired girl could only watch him with marginal caution, not sure if he was friend or foe as she looked him up and down. "Depends on who's asking."

His beauty hardened for a moment, obviously not used to have his questions usurped by an offhanded quip. It almost made her smirk. "Are you or are you not?"

"If you don't know who you're looking for, you should probably turn back, Shinigami-san. Wouldn't want to spook the other spirits or draw some 'unwanted attention,' if you know what I'm sayin'." Shrugging easily, the fifteen-year-old adjusted her uniform before turning away, wondering about what Yuzu made for dinner. It was Friday so she was in the mood for curry or maybe katsudon, anything with meat.

"I see. So you really are his sister," the old soul spoke, the bass of his voice halting her steady steps. "Only the dead and those with exceptional spiritual powers may see me, let alone know about Hollows and the like. Also, your reiatsu is rather saturated for a human and much better controlled than your brother's." She didn't see how his glare narrowed on her back, inspecting her just a bit more. "If things had gone differently, you might've been the one who'd have caught Aizen's attention, perhaps if you were a bit older."

"Look, I don't know who you are—" Her words were cut off as she turned, meeting the obsidian gaze of her new acquaintance. The last thing she remembered was the soft but sure grip on her wrist and a flash of blinding light that came with the reopening of the magic-driven gateway. And then, nothing.

"So, let me get this straight. All this is a test, for Ichi-nii?" Looking up from her fresh cup of tea, Karin's narrowed eyes slid over to the traditionally clad leader in front of her, who sipped his own share as if he had no care in the world. But he wouldn't, of course. After all, one had no problems when they were the kidnapper rather than the kidnapped.

Setting his cup down, the Kuchiki head met the incredulous eyes of his 'guest.' "It is. You see, the scriptures of the Kuchiki House have postulated that, in return for the hand of a daughter of our clan, he must endure the loss of one of his own female family members. To prove his worth, he must find track her down by any means necessary, a show of what he would do if Rukia herself was taken."

"Hasn't he already done that? I mean, sure they weren't dating at the time but he kind of broke into Soul Society just to save her from execution four years ago. That has to count for something." Although she shrugged indifferently, the heat of her gaze wasn't lost on him. They were the eyes of a fighter, and while he had only known the woman before him for less than a few hours he was becoming well acquainted with her mood swings.

Placing his cup down and pouring himself another serving, Byakuya answered in a mild tone, one that was starting to annoy her with its lack of inflections. "He'd done it to pay back a debt and to restore his honor. While noble in and of itself, he had not yet made his intentions known and therefore it is invalid. Now, it is you he must rescue."

As he continued to sip silently, the odd contraction of Karin's left eyelid had her taking in a deep breath, counting to ten, before she asked another question. "So you're telling me that he has to hunt me down, even though he has no idea I'm missing?"

A soft, courteous nod. "Yes, as our custom demands."

"Let me ask you this, Byakuya—" If she noticed the sardonic raise of the other's brow at the informal use of his first name, Karin didn't do anything more than glare a little more harshly at him, "—before all of this went down, was Rukia-nee-chan ever educated in this 'Kuchiki Code of Honor and Marriage' thing, or are you assuming she'd just know it because she became one of you?"

When a thoughtful look adorned the captain's placid face, his guest nearly slammed her face into the table, immediately knowing that what he was going to say next would not be good news for her. Honestly, what was it with men and thinking that their rules applied to everyone? She was pretty damned sure she wasn't going to kidnap Ururu when Jinta finally grew a pair and asked Yuzu out, whenever that was. This scenario would be no different. When he meets her gaze after a long moment, she hated that her suspicions were true.

"Yes, I could see how that would impose a problem."

What the hell. Are you saying I'm stuck here until someone files a missing person's report? The thought bounced in her head and nearly spilled from her lips in anger, as she surveyed his rather untouched response. Obviously he had the ability to hold her hostage and the means to keep her imprisoned, as evidenced by his rather lethal sword and gigantic house, respectively.

But, truthfully, going missing wasn't really a big deal. In fact, her biggest problem was that she had a math test on Monday and she'd rather not tarnish her academic standing for her brother's dead (albeit, very nice and super cool) girlfriend. For some reason, going missing was sort of a rite of passage in her home, although she was still trying to figure out why.

Taking a large grasp of patience from somewhere she hadn't even realized she'd housed it, Karin tried to reason with the Sixth's captain one more time. "You do realize who we're working with, don't you? I mean, it's Ichi-nii."

An apprehensive gleam began to enter Byakuya's dark eyes.

"This is the guy who still has no idea that Inoue Orihime has been in love with him for four years and, the one time she confesses to his face, he thinks she's talking about his shirt. Seriously, he may be my brother, but he is as dumb as a door nail."

At the point-blank insult of Ichigo's intelligence, Karin watched as Byakuya's impassive face lit up with the slightest twitch of his lip, obvious amusement entering his eyes. Truly, a face like that was wasted when it was bathed in complete contempt for the world, and the tell-tale color on her cheeks was proof of that. But she kept that particular sentiment to herself, as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, embarrassed for her own wandering mind.

After a minute, he spoke in his characteristically decisive tone. "Then I suppose we'll just have to wait out your brother's ignorance and hope he comes sooner rather than later." Her gaping mouth, saucer-wide eyes and sputtering protests did nothing to sway her host, as he stood and escort her to what would become her room for how-ever-long it took Ichigo for save her.

As the night of their second day settled in, the Sixth Division's taichou could only sigh in discontentment, the flask of sake cooling his temper but doing nothing for his edgy nerves. He'd been irritable all day, earning panicked and strange looks from his subordinates, especially those who delivered any sort of news. For some reason, he was half-expecting to receive a report from his home that the west wing had spontaneously imploded or the roof had magically caved in on itself. Even his lieutenant, who usually kept his thoughts about any oddities in the Kuchiki's behavior to himself, had asked him if he was okay, the fearful glance compounded by true concern. After that comment, he'd deemed himself worthless for the day, excusing himself from his duties reluctantly and heading home. And it was all because of her.

Because, in the span of her first twenty-four hours, the Kuchiki leader had learned that Karin was as nearly as destructive as her brother on a smaller but terrifying scale. But instead of demolishing the city or even a structure or two, all of the carnage was set within the limits of his home. And if he'd learned anything from the experience, it was to never underestimate a Kurosaki's power, even those who had not completely manifested soul reaper powers. It saved one from many temple-throbbing, seizure-inducing headaches and barely contained temper tantrums unfitting of his position.

Well, temper tantrums, at the very least.

Rubbing his temples, he sighed exasperatedly, remembering what he'd come home to. That day replayed on a reel in his mind, forcing him to relive the encounters again and again, as if retribution for doing his duty and paying respects to tradition. And through it all, Karin wore the simplest of smiles, as if daring him to toss her out and leave her to her own devices. But, no matter how tempting, he'd been dealt worse enemies to deal with. A child wasn't going to get the better of him and his temper, he'd promised. However, she was doing a rather good job of trying him.

"Yo, Byakuya. Did you actually like that bonsai tree in the back? Because, if you did, it was totally like that when I found it."

He'd only been growing it for the last half of the decade or so, and it was one of his few means to relax within his home, so no, not really.

"There were koi and I was bored. Put two and two together and you get that."

Why his most prized fish were belly-flopping in front of his most honored guests and scaring both the man and woman while Karin smirked in faux innocence was a mild conundrum, at best.

"I've always thought your guys' swords compensated for something. I mean, Ichi-nii's might but yours takes on the shape of flower petals. How does that work?"

And now he will never be able to unsee the images of Kurosaki Ichigo and his presumably small penis etched into the back of his eye sockets. The therapy after all this would be extensive and cost a small fortune, if Unohana-taichou had her say. And not so suddenly, he couldn't wait for Ichigo to finish his damn quest and reclaim his sister. At this point, he was willing to throw Abarai in too, if only he'd hurry up and take the little hellion off his hands.

For the first time in centuries, Byakuya could really go for a drink.

Which was why he sat on the outside terrace, his captain's haori stored away for the night and replaced by a bottle of sake. He'd almost foregone the cup but it would look strange to anyone in his home to see him having anything but the most particular manners. And while it was tempting to down the drink, his reputation be damned, propriety won out in the end, as he sipped from the small, circled tray and tasted the liquor-stained drink as it found its way down his throat.

"Hey, Byakuya?"

Just the sound of her voice gives me a migraine, the usually composed Kuchiki thought, as he nodded to his visitor, closing his eyes as he willed the pain away. Because while she was a nuisance and menace and all-around troublemaker, Kurosaki Karin would have to do much more than disturb a few guests and make strange comments to be half as annoying as her older brother. After all, it was he who was taking his precious sister away and the human girl—and his well-maintained castle, obviously—was merely a casualty.

Settling herself a bit away, she dangled one foot over the edge of the wooden path way, curling the other up so she could put her chin on top of it. Out of the corner of his gaze, Byakuya saw her wrap her arms around herself, as memories of old crept into the front of his mind against his will. A gesture that spoke of protection, of steeling oneself from the outside world and the dangers that seemed to lurk in every corner. He knew because he recognized it, remembered it from when Rukia first began to call his home her own. It spoke of distrust and uncertainty, and at the time he'd done his best to give her space, deciding it was best for her to find her own place than have him make one for her. If only he'd known that she'd needed the opposite, perhaps her transition would have gone smoother.

However, it wasn't his sibling who looked so painfully small and unsure now but Kurosaki Ichigo's, and for once the animosity he'd come to associate with her was waning, making way for something else entirely. It wasn't regret, but a pang of admission similar to it. Perhaps something along the lines of sympathy, a sensation he couldn't grasp and one he'd numbed himself to long ago. Over the decades, his once-colored world had been drained to shades of gray, mixing in with the black and white he had always so easily seen.

This time, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Do you miss her?"

He didn't understand, though he kept the bemusement from his features. His voice held all the authority of his position and none of the emotion he'd long lost. "Who?"

Turning her head, her gray moon-colored stare called his, a shadow of something old and haunting in her eyes. In the back of his mind, he wondered what had caused the rambunctious Kurosaki girl such trauma, a contrast to her innate liveliness. However, her reply didn't inspire anymore empathy from him. "The woman in the picture, the one who looks like Rukia."

It took him a second to realize what she was talking about, but the anger was quick to follow the understanding. His glare was only a narrow of the eyes, barely a squint, but it was a look that could have so many cowering, falling over themselves in pleas and apologies in order to gain his forgiveness. But it seemed that no one told Karin she had to do the same for she met him with a frank glance of her own, one that murmured a sense of companionship in his loss, as if she'd shared in it. But his was many decades older and he saw her as little more than an infant, no matter what her aged eyes said.

"My past is no business of yours." Clipped in tone and defensive in nature, he turned his gaze back to the moonlit lawn, intent on losing his thoughts in the shadows of his estate. He'd gone years without discussing Hisana to anyone and he wouldn't break that streak for some girl he was forced to take under his wing for the moment. Not even Rukia had managed to tear the confession from his lips and that was how he preferred his secrets.

But with a spine that only her family could possess, Karin pressed on anyway, as her own stare fell onto a distant shrub, looking a little more lost but with a voice that was certain. "No, it's not but I'll ask anyway. You don't exactly seem like the type to share your feelings with anyone."

"And you think you're different from them?"

"No. I think the two of us might just be the same," she shrugged, as she pulled her other leg up and tucked them both beneath her chin. But even though she looked more vulnerable, smaller and bottled up within herself, the hardened look she shot him screamed more than any words she could've said, reflecting thoughts eerily similar to his own nowadays. For the first time in his long life, Byakuya was forced acknowledge that loss experienced at any age, at any time, manifested the same symptoms, scarring over but never quite healing.

But even as he eyed her warily, Byakuya pushed the girl away, to keep her from seeing through him with that dark gaze that seemed to know far too much. "I am much older than you, I have many more experiences. How could you and I be similar?"

"You also forgot more powerful, more arrogant and obviously more stubborn, but I guess it's not a contest," Karin snorted easily, disarming him with nothing but a few sarcastic words and a casual tone. Truly, he'd never met a woman half as cavalier as this one, perhaps only comparable to Matsumoto-fukutaichou. "Haven't you ever considered the idea that people can understand strangers, even if only just a little?"

"No." No one understood Hisana's death the way he had and quite simply no one else had tried to either. Not even Rukia could say she mourned her unknown sibling, mostly because she hadn't known her, so there was no way he could accept that this halfling could do any better.

However, the reaction Byakuya received was far from the one he expected.

It had been a long time since someone had looked at him like that, he pondered to himself, watching as the young girl unfurled herself and turned her upper body to face him fully. With irises that resembled an approaching storm, a gentleness he hadn't known she was capable of broke through her muddled gaze, recognizing something in herself in him. And as his chest tightened with reluctant comprehension, Byakuya could admit that first impressions were hardly ever accurate.

"My mother died when I was a kid, you know. She's the reason my family is the way it is." Although it was an accusation, there was no bite to her words, only fragments of long gone happiness and unanswered questions. He reasoned that maybe her tone murmured words far more understanding than the ones her lips made for a faint flame of camaraderie was growing in him, her sincerity almost as tangible as the glimpses of empathy breaking through her composure. "So while I don't know about losing a spouse or anything like that, I know what it's like to lose someone you love too soon. I know what it's like to be left behind."

The smile that curved on her fair features was grim and he couldn't help but find that the Kurosaki girl might just be beautiful underneath that harsh exterior and well-planned disobedience, a testament to the protective shell she created over the years. It wasn't unlike the one he wore, a shield that blended perfectly into his normal façade, a detached exterior surrounded by insurmountable pride, one that no one ever saw through. At least, not until now.

"And I bet that's what you're scared of, right? That Rukia will leave you behind because she has Ichi-nii." The frown that marred Byakuya's face didn't respond well to the idea of fear, a notion he had no use for and had long given up in the pursuit of power and order. But Karin was able to read the expression on his face faster than he could form the words because she chuckled then, completely and wholly at his expense. His already dark impression blackened but she was no more moved than when he first tried to pull rank with her. It was odd how her indecency to be just as inflexible as he was actually made him respect her more, as galling as the suggestion of them being equals was. As far as the Sixth's leader was concerned, Kurosaki Karin had a few more lifetimes to live before she even came close.

But what she spoke next did something that nobody else had done in centuries, something he'd been sure only Hisana could do. In the heat of the early summer evening, Byakuya discovered even he could still be moved, calmed and soothed like a babe to its mother with a few honest, well-meaning words. With a wry tilt of her head and a matching smile, Karin watched him with nothing but friendship in her eyes, as if a beacon at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.

"But Rukia won't ever do that, you know. She can't because she loves you." Dragging her gaze downward, she stared at the wooden panels of the floor and continued in a quieter voice. "And you have to know that Ichi-nii would never hurt her. He wants to protect her more than anyone else, even though he doesn't have to and even though she hates it."

A bittersweet smile tinged her expression, turning forlorn. "I'm sure my mom would've loved her."

He made no motion to respond to her, only lifted his cup to take another drink, finding it tasted a bit sweeter than it did earlier in the evening. Byakuya had been given much more to think about and Karin was well-versed enough in silent signals to let him have the time to contemplate it. And while the silence reigned between them, Byakuya couldn't help but wonder that maybe Hisana might've liked the Kurosaki family as well, would've approved of her baby sister's union with a halfling that made her so desperately happy. If nothing else, he could safely guess that she'd like its youngest member at least, who sat beside him well into the night, counting the stars until she drifted off to sleep next to him.

"Where the hell is she, Byakuya?!"

Bursting into the room and taking down the sliding doors with it, the older man made a mental note of calling a handyman in to fix that. And while this wasn't how he wanted to spend his day-off, the Kuchiki head supposed there were worse ways to begin breakfast.

"Hey, Ichi-nii. You hungry?" Karin asked, making a gesture at the small feast before them before returning to her own portion of it. Neither she nor her host commented on Ichigo's dumbfounded appearance as he surveyed the scene of them having a quiet meal together, his sister in one piece and well at home in the strange surroundings

Obviously that wasn't what he was expecting. "What the hell, Karin? I come to save you from Byakuya and you don't even have the courtesy of looking happy to see me?" He shifted his gaze to said kidnapper, as the nobleman took a sip from his bowl, eyes shut as if to ignore the orange disruption. "And you! How dare you kidnap my sister?! I had to hear from Yoruichi-san about your damned custom, but only after she made me run around Karakura doing her errands for an entire day! I would kill you if I didn't think Rukia would hate me afterwards!"

"Ichi-nii, you are way too loud. Can't you see Byakuya and I are trying to eat?" Karin tsk-ed, shooting him a disapproving glower, one that was only met by his incredulousness. "If you want to rant, wait until afterwards. Sit outside and occupy yourself before I go over there and remove you."

But while the words were straightforward and easy to comprehend, Ichigo's dumbfounded stuttering implied that he needed an even simpler approach. Sometimes she found it a wonder that they'd come from the same parents, dipped in the same gene pool and all that, considering how thick-headed he was. Definitely a male thing, she decided.

To her satisfaction, it seemed that Byakuya agreed. "It's a gesture of great good that Kurosaki-taichou had two more children after your older brother. Surely he couldn't let his line be continued with him as the main source of genetic material."

Smirking, the raven-haired Kurosak replied over the lip of her cup. "Now you understand why he has to have Rukia. She's the only person that can save him and his future children from himself. It only seems fair that you give him your permission since obviously no one else will have him."

A sardonic snort that was compounded by a nod. "Indeed. I can't have powerful shinigami running around in the future without a whit of intelligence in their heads. If we're lucky, the majority of genetics will come from Rukia."

"Oh, absolutely." And even though her voice managed to remain perfectly leveled and true, the gleeful conspiracy gleamed in her eye as she shot her brother an amused grin. Knowing that he'd lost whatever fight he'd entered, a grumbling Ichigo plopped on the floor beneath him, not even caring about the doors he'd settled himself on.

With a smile, Karin took a sip of tea, as her eyes unconsciously made contact with the man in front of her, looking extremely content with how everything had turned out. But the smile he shot back in return, barely an upward curve that had none of the haughtiness he was known for or the stiffness she was so used to seeing, had Karin heating uncontrollably, as she swiveled her head away while the blush contoured her cheeks.

For her safety, Karin decided that staying away from ridiculously handsome men dressed in old-fashioned kimono was going to become her top priority from now on if she wanted to keep her sanity—and heart—intact.

AN: Well, how was it? I actually found this really refreshing to write. I write the same pairings over and over again so to have a bit of a challenge was kind of fun. Umm, not much more to say...

Thank you all for reading and reviewing is highly encouraged. Haha. Until next time~