Aka you asked for this…….. Rukia & dealers choice, neighbor au & marriage of convenience au
– gogogadget-im-going-gogoat
( 😃😃😃 I asked for this, huh? 😃😃😃 )
Rukia slowly climbs the stairs of her apartment building, scowling at the open letter in her hand. Someone had notified the Kuchiki Elders that she and her friends were planning to run a Kickstarter to fund their video game and the elders had taken offense at that. As expected.
(“Kuchiki do not lower themselves to working in such a base medium!”)
She resists the urge to ball up the letter as she reaches the landing, already exhausted by the thought of the battle to come. It’s one she’s had to fight again and again, pushing back against every decree, having to rely on her brother’s quiet support to stay in school even after the Elders deny her the money she needs and her relation to such a prominent Clan denies her the ability to apply for scholarships or loans.
(She never expected Byakuya to support her as much as he did. He’d always seemed so cold, so aloof, that she had no idea what her sister saw in him, but from the instant she picked her major and focus he’s been… surprisingly consistent.)
(She doesn’t think he approves at all, but that hasn’t stopped him doing everything he can to let her chose her own path.)
“My my, that’s a large frown you have,” someone says as an arm drapes over her shoulder and Nelliel’s smirking face appears in her line of sight. The woman ruffles Rukia’s hair and laughs at the sputtering protest that receives. “What’s gotten you down this time, hmmm?”
“Probably those fuckers that always get her down,” Grimmjow says as he hops over the stair railing and his boots thud loudly against the floor. “You sure you ain’t want me to ruin their lives? I know some people–”
“No!” Rukia yelps before Nelliel’s far-too-bloodthirsty partner can finish the thought. She blushes when Grimmjow arches an eyebrow, a smirk curling at the corners of his lips, and turns her attention back to Nelliel instead. Nelliel she can probably talk down. Probably. “Nii-sama’s doing so much by himself already and it’s wearing on him, if the Elders end up having any more issues then he won’t have any time for my sister at all and, and…”
Nelliel pulls her into a hug, her pale green hair falling across Rukia’s face as she rests her cheek atop Rukia’s head. “Hush, hush, it’s alright. Grimm won’t do a thing, will you love?”
Grimmjow takes a step back, hands raised in surrender, and a giggle bubbles up in Rukia’s throat. Grimmjow looks the epitome of a dangerous punk in his spiked jacket and dark clothes, blue hair spiked to match and piercings adding an air of danger to his face, and to see him backing down in the face of Nelliel is fun.
Paper crinkles in Rukia’s hand as Nelliel tugs the letter away from her to give it a once over. Part of her wants to scowl and swipe her letter back but… Nelliel’s a cunning woman. Maybe she knows a way to get back at the Elders without causing too much trouble for Byakuya.
“So their contention is that the Kuchiki name attached to the project will bring them shame?” Nelliel muses as she hands the letter to Grimmjow and guides Rukia down the hall to their apartments. “Well, if the name is the only thing wrong, you could use your birth name?”
Rukia shakes her head. “Everyone knows that name too, because of the big scandal of Nii-sama marrying my sister.”
There’s a glint in Nelliel’s eyes that makes Rukia stiffen.
(Nelliel, Rukia belatedly remembers, has a record just as long as Grimmjow’s. She’s just better at getting away with things, which means she’s done more than Grimmjow ever has.)
“Well if one name can’t be used because of scandal, and the other name can’t be used because of potential scandal… how about a third name with an entirely different notoriety?” Nelliel offers with a cheerful grin, opening the door to her own apartment and gesturing Rukia in with a flourish. “How do you feel about being part of a triad?”
“A WHAT?!”
(She’s going to give her brother a heart-attack!)
(… And maybe a few of the Elders too.)
(Hmmmmmmm…)