5Disclaimer : I don't own Bleach.
AN : This is set before the timeskip. I had an urge to write brotherly Ichigo with Ururu, so here you are!
Ururu had had enough.
Jinta always teases her a lot, but this time she can't take it anymore. So she flung her broom at him ( he should help her sometimes, that idiot ) stormed into their shared room, and slammed the door, vaguely aware of Kisuke and Ichigo staring at her in surprise.
Not that the emotion was visible on Kisuke's face, of course.
"So...what happened to her?" Ichigo asked, after a few minutes of silence.
Kisuke, as cool as ever ( Ichigo swears his composure is unnatural ), takes a sip from his tea before answering.
"Maa, I think Jinta might have angered her."
Ichigo mulls over this for a moment. "Maybe I should talk to her. You know, calm her down, because the brat doesn't seem to be apologising anytime soon."
They both look towards the redhead, and sure enough, Jinta is pretending to be a baseball pro again.
"You, Kurosaki-kun?"
The Substitute Shinigami snorted and placed his cup of tea on the floor."Did you forget in your old age that I have two sisters? At least have some faith in my ability to handle girls her age-"
"You sound like a pedophile Kurosaki-san. What will your father say?" Kisuke tugged on his hat and gave his signature teasing smile.
Ichigo flushed a bright red ( he really looked like a strawberry, Kisuke noted ) and retorted hotly, "Shut up Geta-Boushi! What I mean is, let me deal with her."
Without waiting for a reply from the shopkeeper, he stood up and walked over to the door of the children's room and knocked softly.
"Ururu? Can I come in?"
"I-Ichigo? She asked, bewildered and hesitant before agreeing.
Ichigo entered the room and closed the door before him. Ururu surely would not have liked her emotions to be seen by everyone who passed by the room, even if they were people close to her.
Especially if they were people close to her.
Focusing on Ururu, he gave one of his rare smiles ( usually seen by his sisters ) and sat down.
"So what's got my little Ururu so angry, hmm?"
Her permanent blush darkened further, and she nervously mumbled something under her breath. The little girl was not someone who could hold on to anger for long, her shy and polite personality taking dominance once again.
Ichigo was once again reminded that this was not one of his sisters. Yuzu would hug him tightly and pour out her worries, while Karin would grumble about how she was not a five year old kid, but give in after a few moments and telling him what was bothering her.
Ururu was so different, and yet at the same time so very similar.
Heck, Ichigo did not even know what possessed him to go and comfort this child who may not even want to be comforted by him. After all, neither of them knew each other that well. But the moment he had seen her storm into the room, his big brother switch had been flipped on, and it would not turn off until he took care of whatever the problem was.
But his current problem was to make Ururu put her shyness aside for a while so that she could tell him what happened between her and Jinta. So he decided to give her a little push, "Can you speak a bit louder Ururu? I can't help you if I don't know what is troubling you," he prodded gently.
"Jinta- Jinta called me useless," she said, "and he said that I always mess up."
Ichigo frowned at this. Ururu was quite a hardworking girl, and she also helped a lot around the shop. Ah. Jinta must have been teasing her like usual, but this time Ururu was really hurt.
"That brat was being his usual rude self. I don't think you need to pay any attention to him."
"But you had to face a lot of trouble because of me! I was the one who gave you the mod-soul!" And unable to control herself, the little girl burst into tears.
Ichigo scooped her up in his arms and stood up. "Everyone makes mistakes Ururu. And I don't mind Kon, really. He can be quite a decent guy without any ladies around. Now, how about some ice-cream?"
"Does Jinta have to come too?" Came a muffled voice from his shoulder.
"Not if you want to."
Ururu gave him a watery smile. "I think he should come."
And so, Kisuke watched with concealed surprise as Ichigo took the two children from some ice-cream. After Jinta apologised, of course. The boy could be rude and callous, but he knew when to say sorry.
Kisuke smiled after they had left. Perhaps, underneath all the scowls and anger and brashness, there was a kind and gentle young man. All those characteristics were what Kurosaki Ichigo is.
The number one protector.