A Happy Bunny Day to you all. Something light and fluffy and oh, so sweet to celebrate the occasion. Enjoy~
Kaien sighed heavily, sitting behind his desk in the Thirteenth Division. He had, finally, accepted Ukitake's proposition of becoming the division's lieutenant and today was his first official day of work. Ironically, it fell on a foreign holiday that he had heard of from his wife. Easter, it was called, and celebrated in certain countries of the transient world. He knew, from previous experiences, that Ukitake loved to celebrate any holiday he learned of. Especially if it elicited the distribution of chocolate and presents. Of course, he had no idea what this holiday was about, only that it involved enormous amounts of sweets.
"He's not usually this late, is he?" the raven-tressed man wondered, glancing idly out the office's window. The spring weather was so pleasant and he didn't wish to be trapped in this office any longer than necessary. Was this really the way to repay someone practically doing a favor for you? Of course, it had been a great honor from the beginning to have been offered the position. Even if he still maintained that many other shinigami were better-suited for the position, he couldn't deny Ukitake so many times. The man had grown on him, to say the least.
Finally, the door to the office slid open and a rather-spunky figure bounced into the room. Literally. Kaien stared, dumbfounded, as a what looked like a large, human-shaped rabbit bounded into the division's office, its arms filled with colorful baskets that spoke of childish glee. Framed by the fuzzy, white suit, Ukitake's gentle features greeted Kaien's unblinking gaze.
"Good morning, Kaien-san!" Ukitake greeted, his soft voice barely raising with the effort. His broad smile didn't falter a bit as Kaien didn't respond, but continued staring. "Here you go." He placed a blue basket on the lieutenant's desk, colorfully-wrapped chocolates and other sweets nestled in vibrant, green, fake grass that spilled over the basket's edge.
"What...is this?" Kaien eventually asked, poking around the foil-wrapped chocolate. He picked up a bright yellow one, studying the smiling bunny's face as it grinned back at him. It was kind of creepy, really.
"It's Easter," Ukitake explained as he unloaded the rest of the baskets onto his own desk. "You'll help me deliver these, right?"
"Deliver them?" Kaien repeated, choosing to use the conversation as an excuse not to eat the chocolate mammal. "To who, exactly?"
"The other captains, of course." Ukitake motioned to the baskets crowded on his desk, each thoughtfully prepared in a color scheme that fittingly enough depicted each captain's personality quite well.
Raising an eyebrow, the emerald-eyed man pointed a finger to a particularly bright basket-- hot pink with equally blinding yellow grass protruding around the treats. "And who is that one going to?"
"Yachiru-chan, of course."
"I thought you said only the captains were getting them?"
Ukitake waved a hand. "She would be so upset if I forgot her on an occasion like this." It was possible that Yachiru loved sweets even more than he did.
Kaien sighed again and dropped his hand to the desk. "Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" After all, Ukitake was his captain.
Nearly beaming, Ukitake rummaged through the mass of gifts before pulling something from them. He turned, presenting Kaien with a horrifyingly familiar white, fuzzy outfit. "Go on," he urged as the younger shinigami hesitantly took the costume. "Try it on!"
One look at the excited face of his elder and Kaien succumbed to the request easily. This was going to be so embarrassing.
"Happy...Easter." The pensive look he received on his first stop didn't help to fade the stain of red that ran across his cheeks. Kaien lowered the light blue basket onto Hitsugaya's desk, his eyes shifting to the voluptuous lieutenant that was sprawled on the office's couch, giggling madly.
"This is...from Ukitake," Hitsugaya assumed, almost as horrified by the seemingly endless amounts of chocolate packed into the basket as he was by the bunny-clad lieutenant standing in front of him.
"Yeah," Kaien confirmed, shifting slightly. He still held three other baskets that needed delivered, and wasn't quite sure how to excuse himself from the awkward situation.
Hitsugaya hesitated for a moment, crystal blue eyes running over the unwarranted gift. "You may go," he finally dismissed. As Kaien clumsily bowed and slipped from the office, Matsumoto broke down into a chorus of laughter. Hitsugaya rubbed his temples with a frustrated sigh-- perhaps he would suggest that Ukitake enlist her as a helper the next time he felt inclined to such an activity.
The next stop was admittedly more relaxed. Unohana greeted him with a gentle smile that reminded him much of his own captain, and graciously accepted the gift.
"You'll really eat all of that?" Kaien wondered, peering at the deceptively-pleasant wrappings.
"Of course not," she confirmed. "I give the treats away to my patients. The children especially appreciate them."
"There are children in the Gotei 13?" As far as Kaien had seen, no prodigies other than Hitsugaya had made their way into Yamamoto's acceptance.
"Keep in mind that I've been here nearly as long as your captain," she said, leafing through the chocolates. "You're all children, to me."
Kaien hesitated before folding himself into a bow. "Of course. If you'll excuse me..." Upon Unohana's nod, he left her to sort through the candy. Scary woman.
"Explain yourself."
Kaien groaned, the ears of his costume flopping forward as his head hung lowly. Why him? Why in the world did it have to be him? This was no way to treat your lieutenant. "It wasn't my decision."
Narrowed eyes studied the ridiculous sight. Soi Fon crossed her arms over her chest as her lip nearly curled at the distractingly-bright basket tugged at the bottom of her vision. Despite the pale purple and blue of the present, the colors were still too bright. Also, she would have preferred yellow to blue, though the purple suited her just fine. It was the color of Yoruichi's hair, after all.
"Who ordered this?" she demanded, her voice at nearly a shout.
"Ukitake-taichou," Kaien said quickly, hoping that it wasn't as irritating a response as his previous. If Unohana was scary, Soi Fon was downright terrifying.
The captain's gaze softened just the tiniest bit and her shoulders relaxed back from their tense state. "I see." How troubling. Well, she couldn't exactly deny the gift-- Ukitake's intentions were only the best. "You're dismissed."
Kaien never ran faster in his life.
His previous encounter was tense. His current one was nerve-wracking. Even with his laid-back nature and friendly attitude, Kaien felt the need to approach Byakuya with the utmost formality. The silent, reserved captain bid him to enter the Sixth Division's office and it seemed as if he regretted it the moment he did.
Byakuya's eye twitched slightly as white basket was placed in front of him, pale pink-purple grass tucked neatly under cherry blossom petals and, of course, a bounty of treats. Ukitake. It had to be. His eyes shifted to Kaien, who seemed to tense merely under his gaze. His fingers interlaced and he rest his chin on them lightly. He studied the human bunny until a faint sound caught his attention. Slowly, his coal-black eyes slid to the left where Renji had his head lowered, pressed firmly against his desk, his body convulsing with restrained laughter.
"Renji," Byakuya spoke, his words ghosting from his lips on an air of irritation. "Is there something you find amusing about this situation?"
Instead of responding formally, cursing himself for not having more control over his reactions, Renji's head whipped back in an uproarious laughter. "He's...he's a goddamn bunny!"
Kaien's eye was the one to twitch this time. He knew he would be mocked for the costume, but certainly not by someone of equal standing. "I'll be going now," he said, quickly excusing himself.
"Wait a moment," Byakuya said, snapping his gaze to the retreating man.
Kaien froze in place, head cocking over his shoulder hesitantly. "Uh...?"
"Remove that costume." It was likely the first order Kaien had been happy to oblige to that day as he quickly shed himself of the humiliating outfit. "Now, give it to Renji."
The laughter ceased nearly immediately. Renji blinked a few times as a smirking Kaien handed it over and quickly looked to Byakuya. "What do you expect me to do with this?"
"Put it on." Byakuya motioned with his head slightly to the basket sitting in front of him. "Then deliver this to Rukia."
"Wh-what?! Ya gotta be kiddin'!"
Kaien saw in the stony-faced expression the captain gave that he was, most definitely, not joking. Suppressing a faint snicker, he bowed to the higher-ranked man. "Happy Easter."
"You're just jokin'...right?" Renji asked as the door slid shut behind Kaien.
"Be sure to make it quick, you still have plenty of work to complete," was Byakuya's only answer.
"I'm back," Kaien announced, slipping into his own office, grateful to be back.
Ukitake looked up from his desk, his own costume still fitted comfortably on his body. He wasn't surprised that his lieutenant returned without the guise and was fully prepared. "Welcome back." He stood from his desk, where his work has just been started, and approached Kaien carefully. He saw the suspicious look in his subordinate's eye and only smiled pleasantly in response.
"What are you up t-" He halted in his speech as a pair of white bunny ears, attached to a headband, were slid into his hair. He lightly prodded one of them and sighed as it sprung back against his finger. There was simply no escape.
Still smiling, Ukitake leaned forward and rubbed his nose lightly against Kaien's. "A bunny kiss," he explained to his wide-eyed and blushing lieutenant.
Kaien let out a soft, shuddery breath as Ukitake gave a short laugh and patted him on the head. He quickly slunk behind his desk and avoided eye contact with the older shinigami. Was every day going to be like this? Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
I want to see a picture of that now. Adorable~