A One and a Two (Shiro/Rukia)

"Hey, that's good to hear. That doesn't mean you'll actually get out of any other classwork, though, so I'd say it's a good idea to bring the textbook with you."

Allowing herself a very small smile at that, Rukia made her way through the 7th Division barracks, her pace not especially quick but also not lackadaisical. She had purpose in her stride, short as it was, and confidence that made it clear she didn't feel the need to hurry herself. Despite how much she related more to common people, her noble upbringing was nevertheless fairly apparent in the little things.

"I'd hope so. I don't relish the thought of you running off to the hills if something shows up, you know. Unless it's a pretty big threat, I might understand then. Might."

The nature of this interaction, of them both as members of the division rather than as teacher and student, meant that Rukia could relax her demeanor at least a small bit. It was nicer, not needing to stay professional.

For a very brief moment, Rukia felt fairly impressed with Shiro. That had been pretty serious of him, the kind of outlook that she could respect in someone. But, then he ruined it with a question she hadn't exactly been expecting at all from him. Just on instinct, she knelt down to pick up a stick from the ground, and threw it at Shiro with no small degree of speed. It wasn't necessarily hard or anything, she wasn't furious or anything. That just seemed like an appropriate response.

"Well, I'm sure one bed is cheaper than two, so it'll cost less for the division. What a gentleman you are, sleeping on the floor."

Despite the response, her tone was still fairly fairly lighthearted, a degree of exaggerated sass to it that she wouldn't have taken if she were genuinely bothered. It was, honestly, just nice to have a casual back and forth with a squadmate. Reminded her a lot of simpler times.

"Nobody's sleeping on the floor, moron. We're getting two beds. If you're poorly rested because you slept on the hard floor, that just means you're not working at your best. Then we both suffer."

His attempts at sass weren't lost on Rukia, though she didn't really know how to answer him. Instinctively, she wanted to just say no. After all, it was just protocol not to take longer than you needed in coming back. But, knowing the Captain, they could probably get away with asking for an extra day.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we put in a request to stay a little longer."

Truth be told, Rukia hadn't taken much time herself to just relax and enjoy things down on Earth. Of course, that was for a reason. She'd been busy lately, after all. But...it couldn't hurt, right?

Another stick flew toward Shiro after his commentary about her caring about him. Of course she cared, he was another member of the division and one of her students. Being apathetic toward him wouldn't be even remotely acceptable, now would it?

"We've got to get supplies first before we go. You're lucky we don't have to bring a tent, or I'd be making you carry it the whole time we were down there. Now come on, or we'll be in a rush all day."

Obviously they wouldn't need too much in the way of supplies, but there were still a few basics that always got handed out for any patrol. Emergency rations, official division funds for whatever needed purchasing, and of course a division phone for keeping in contact. All the usual stuff.

"You need any time to pack?"

Raising an eyebrow briefly at Shiro's insistence that he didn't need to pack anything, Rukia couldn't help but wonder if he actually knew what it would entail to be down there. Did he not actually need anything?

"You sure? Planning to just wear the same outfit the whole time we're down there? It'd probably be good to have a couple changes of clothes, you know."

There was no way he'd just thought that would work out for him, right? Obviously she didn't have her bag on her yet, but she was going to grab it after they'd gotten everything together. Rukia really hoped, for his sake, that he had other things to bring.