Of Birthdays and Siblings

Dancing Screens

The sound of Toshiro's small feet hitting the ground was a light melody as he attempted to follow after his sister. He figured that he would be able to find her quickly as she had left only a few seconds before her. When he turned the corner he found himself unable to see her and he found his throat tightening up as he hurried forward and turned a few more corners.

"That was stupid." His dragon spoke up.

Toshiro let out an irritated sound and glanced around. The different doors looked very similar and he let out a deep sigh. "Yes... that was stupid. The reason they haven't allowed me to go places on my own is because this place is huge." A smile suddenly spread on his face. "However... I can freely explore and figure out where things are on my own."

He then found himself twisting down the corners and noting various land marks and making a mental map in his mind. He came to a point where a couple of the guards were standing in front of a couple of doors when a voice spoke up. He turned around and found a young male glaring at him, his arms folded across his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm looking for Ba..." Toshiro paused, snapping his mouth shut. "I almost called her Baba-nee in front of someone." His cheeks flushed up and he glanced at his feet. "I'm looking for Bambietta."

"It's Lady Bambietta." The young man continued to glare at him. The boy had dark hair with a white streak in it.

"Apologies... I..."

"Just because your new doesn't mean you can forget proper protocol here. The only reason you're acting this way is because she favored you."

Toshiro found himself glancing to the side. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It doesn't matter if you intended it to happen, it in fact did happen. Why are you so close to Lady Bambietta that..."

The young man was interrupted by a female voice sounding off. "There you are Toto-chan!" Toshiro glanced up in time to see his sister hurrying up with a smile on her face. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the other male child glaring at him, making it clear that he felt like he was intruding. "We can play now."

The female grabbed Toshiro's hand and tugged him towards the door with the guards. She stopped short when the other boy spoke up. "Lady Bambietta..."

She turned her head to look at the boy. "Sorry. But I've been waiting for a very long time to play with Toto-chan, so I'm not going to share him today."

The sound of the other boy's jaw clenching could be heard as Toshiro found himself dragged away. The small boy found himself glancing at the ground. "I don't think he was upset about what you think he is. I don't think he likes me."

"Don't worry. You'll make good friends with Gabrielli and the others tomorrow." Bambietta spoke up as she tugged her brother along.

"So... he's related to Gabrielli?"

"She's his older sister." The female tugged him to a room where a thin layer of dust covered everything. A few places showed signs of having been intruded upon, but for the most part it was rather obvious it hadn't been lived in. "This is grandma's room."

Toshiro found himself choking slightly as he glanced around the room. It was one thing when his uncle had taken him to his fathers room, but this was different. "I'm an intruder."

"Toto-chan!" The small female walked over to a wardrobe and swung the doors open. "Look! The kimonos are beautiful."

His interest was at first pure boredom but he came over and glanced into the dresser drawers. He found his eyes widening and his throat tightening. One of his hands reached out and touched an elaborate kimono that was in his preferred colors. There were quite a few this color and he found himself noting that a good deal of the objects in this room matched color wise. "Rangiku would love these."

"All of mother's kimonos are in her room. They're different colors then these. We can go in there, but it also depends on uncle's mood."

"Uncle doesn't like mother?" Toshiro asked, his eyes blinking a couple of times.

"Uncle blames Soul Society first and foremost for taking you and father away, but he blames her next." Bambietta suddenly frowned. "He doesn't usually get angry and he loves to spoil me with stuff, but mother is a tricky issue with him. He doesn't like talking about father at all, so it doesn't feel like I know them like grandmother. I've always been allowed to play with this stuff, but I'm not allowed to bring the other kids in here."

"And the point of that is?" The small male shook his head.

"I haven't had anyone to play dress up with." Bambietta suddenly spun around on him with a smile on her face.

Toshiro found his eyes suddenly narrowing. "Baba-nee... you do realize that I am not a girl?"

"So?"

"So... do you think it is appropriate that I dress like a girl?"

"You look like a girl so it is fine."

Toshiro found his jaw dropping at the comment. "But... but..."

He felt his sister place his hands on either side of his face. Babietta began to chat his ear off. "You're prettier then I am."

"You're pretty."

The female let out a laugh. "I know I'm pretty, but you're a lot prettier then I am."

"Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" The white haired boy shook his head.

"And your white hair goes so well with those pretty eyes of yours."

Toshiro let out a deep sigh and glanced back at the kimonos. The thought of how soft the one he touched was crossed his mind and his dragon spoke up. "You are interested in trying one on. Not to mention your lessons with Matsumoto in traditional dance possibly rubbed off a little more then you would like to admit."

"I only took those lessons to get over my balance problems... but..." Toshiro's hand reached in to touch the cloth again.

"So please! Play dress up with me!"

"No." The small male let go of the kimono and turned to leave as he figured that would end the subject.

A sudden yank that chocked him caused him to back up slightly.. Babietta's tone became demanding. "Please!"

"No..." Another tug and then another came at the back of his clothing and he could feel the cloth stretching out. "All right! All right!" The tugging didn't stop though and he realized she was trying to pull his clothing off. "Hold it! I can undress myself." He glanced over and saw a rather elaborate changing screen. "I'll change behind that, all right."

"I'll pick out the dress."

It needs to be a kimono, not a dress."

"Why?"

"Because I am a boy!" Toshiro snapped before disappearing behind the screen. A hand reached around the corner and he found his eyebrow twitch. "I won't play with you if you don't play by my rules."

A sigh was heard and the item was pulled back and a kimono was pushed unceremoniously around the corner. Toshiro found himself undressing and removing the clothing he disliked so much. Glancing a the kimono, he found himself glad that she had picked out the color he licked, though he had the feeling the reason she had picked it was because it was the most elaborate.

Once the tight clothing was off, he found the next task an easy one as he was more comfortable in this kind of clothing. He stepped around the corner, only to find himself freezing from shock.