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For the longest time, Rukia hadn’t given much thought to updating her Soul Pager.
After all, she only really used it for receiving mission briefings from the Seireitei and occasionally keeping in touch with their old friends in Karakura.
It had served her well enough in those situations and didn’t seem necessary to replace.
Not to mention the custom Chappy design she’d had made that she couldn’t think to part with.
Shinigami didn’t tend to rely on that technology to communicate as much as humans did. They had hell butterflies and in dire situations, Kido. It was only useful when they needed to relay messages in the human world.
Her mind changed, however, when she saw her husband using his to video-call with Ichigo.
Such technology had also previously been used within the Seireitei, but had been manufactured by the 12th Division Captain, Mayuri and was nowhere near as efficient. It used giant monitors with frames made out of long, fleshy tentacles. Rukia shuddered at the thought.
Unfortunately, she did not share her daughter’s fondness for the man.
Achieving the same result with a hand-held, portable device was much more appealing to her.
She hadn’t been based in the human world in some time and didn’t get to see their friends as often. Since Aizen and Ywach’s threats had been vanquished, there was little reason for Shinigami to visit, especially Captains such as herself. Any Hollows that appeared in the absence of Ichigo and the others could easily be dispatched by lower-seated officers.
Because of this, Rukia couldn’t remember the last time she’d visited their friends in Karakura. Being able to call and message them was nice, but seeing their faces was a rarity. She had missed Inoue and was disappointed she hadn’t been around when Ichigo called Renji.
But, it seemed silly to have to borrow Renji’s pager whenever she wanted to speak with them.
So, Rukia put in a word to Urahara’s Shop, requesting a new, top-of-the-line Soul Pager.
She suspected that she’d be able to get a special discount, after all she’d been through thanks to that man’s plots.
Though she had seen Renji’s pager before, she hadn’t taken the time to examine it closely and notice all the differences. Weighing the device in her hands, Rukia was confused at first, finding that the keypad she used to type out messages was all but gone. Instead, there were only a few buttons at the bottom. It took a moment for her to realise that the keys now showed on the screen instead.
The device was slimmer, with a much larger screen, something that had worried Rukia may make it more susceptible to cracking. She had been reassured, however, that there were protective covers you could buy to prevent this. This sweetened the deal for Rukia, as she wondered if they had Chappy-themed ones.
Rukia frowned, sensing that the pager may take some time for her to relearn. Still, she supposed it would be a worthy trade-off for the larger screen. That would give her a much better view of her friends whenever she called.
The camera was also of much higher quality. Shortly after Ichika and Kazui had been born, it became common for Rukia and Inoue to share pictures of their babies back and forth. Rukia was never quite sure why the pictures she sent were so much smaller and blurrier than her friends.
Her examination was interrupted by the chirrup of her pager as a new message came through. Her first one.
Rukia’s eyes widened in excitement as she saw it was from Inoue.
She had sent her new number through to Ichigo, who must have passed it on to Inoue.
Her fingers flickered clumsily across the screen, opening the message as quickly as she could, eager to speak with her friend.
She was surprised though, to find not a line of text greeting her, but instead a photograph.
It was a close-up of Inoue’s face as she beamed at the camera, with Ichigo’s resting nearby it. She had wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into the frame, seemingly taking him by surprise, as his eyes were facing away from the camera.
His normal dour expression was relaxed, as his eyes settled warmly on his wife. It was still a little surprising to Rukia, not an expression she was especially used to seeing from Ichigo. Though she supposed it was hard not to feel happy around Inoue with the energy she radiated.
Rukia smiled softly, pride welling up at the sight of the two together, happy. It was what they deserved.
Still, something about the photo puzzled her. How had Inoue managed to take a picture so close up?
She couldn’t have asked someone else to take the photo for them. Those were usually taken at a distance. Besides, Ichigo was a fairly private person. He couldn’t imagine he’d be comfortable allowing someone to photograph such an intimate moment, even if it was someone else close to them, like his family or one of their friends.
The casual nature of the picture also stood out to her. Much of the photographs she’d taken with her and Renji were more formal, significant occasions. Their wedding and registration, or Ichika’s birth. Human technology, such as cameras, didn’t exist as widely in the Seireitei.
To take a picture of such a mundane moment together though unusual, was endearing to her and struck her with a longing to do the same. Rukia glanced down at her new pager, wondering if could help. Urahara had mentioned that it was also fitted with a camera.
Rukia examined Inoue’s photo more closely, happening to notice that her free hand was stretching out towards the screen. It seemed like she was the one holding the phone.
But how could that be?
“Renji,” she called, beckoning her husband to come outside.
Even though Renji was much more familiar with these devices, Rukia had initially sent him away, her stubbornness and pride leading her to want to learn to use the pager on her own.
Unfortunately, that plan hadn’t gone as smoothly as she’d hoped. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to sheepishly call him for help.
It was a little embarrassing, after, in the past, she’d normally been the one to explain human customs and technology to him, having spent more time stationed in their world. However, since moving back to the Soul Society, she’d gotten rusty.
Renji, on the other hand, had kept up to date with the latest Soul Pager technology and tended to receive more missions to that realm; albeit, very occasionally. There was a chance he might be able to explain.
Renji wandered out into the garden, dressed in one of his floral robes.
“What is it?”
“Inoue sent me this picture,” Rukia answered simply, turning the screen towards him.
“Hm? Oh yeah. I’ve heard that human couples take photos like that together all the time. ”
“Oh. Is that so?”
With that understanding, Rukia glanced back at the photo with newfound interest.
She was thankful for the thoughtfulness of Inoue’s message and that she had been the first to reach out to her. She enjoyed seeing them together. It reminded her of old times. She wanted to respond but felt obligated to keep with the tone Inoue had set. Though, that would have to mean…
Her gaze shot over her shoulder briefly to Renji, who was leaning closer to examine the picture. It only seemed appropriate that she greet Inoue’s couple photo, with one of their own.
Rather than a pose he’d taken deliberately for the photo, she could capture a more genuine expression if she took Renji by surprise.
Noticing Renji still stooped behind her, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
However, weighing the pager in her hand, Rukia realised there was a problem.
The camera lens was on the back. It wouldn’t be easy for her to frame the picture properly when she couldn’t even see the screen. Not to mention, how could she tell if she’d hit the button to take a picture?
With impressive dexterity, given her limited familiarity with the device, Rukia managed to move it in front of her, finger pressing blindly against the screen.
A bright flash filled her vision and reflexively, Rukia flinched, soon realising her mistake.
“Huh? Did you just take a picture?”
Cursing under her breath, Rukia scrolled through to the gallery, opening the most recently taken photo, hoping the result wasn’t as bad as she anticipated.
Sadly, though. The result was about what she expected.
Her head was turned to the side and eyes screwed shut tightly, having been blind-sighted by the unexpected flash.
Though she had angled the pager upward, hoping to accommodate for their height difference, she had only managed to frame as high as the tattoos on Renji’s chest; his loose-fitting robe nicely accentuating his toned pecs, which filled up the rest of the image.
Beside her, Renji smirked.
“Hey, you’ve captured my good side well, but I’m not sure how Ichigo will feel if you send this.”
A tinge of pink dusted Rukia’s ears, though she couldn’t disagree with him. She’d always been fond of snuggling against his chest. It was definitely one of her favourite parts of him.
Rukia switched back to the camera function, hoping Renji hadn’t noticed her decision to not delete the photo.
“Here. Like this,” Renji offered eventually, clasping her hand and holding the phone sideways in front of her.
He turned the pager around and traced his fingers over the screen. Suddenly, its perspective completely changed. Rukia’s eyes widened, as she now could see the focal point of the camera reflected on the screen before her. To her surprise, it was facing inward, capturing her own bewildered face.
“That’s amazing! How?”
“It has two cameras,” Renji explained. “One of them faces the front. That’s what you use to take those kinds of pictures.”
With the longer reach of his arms, Renji had an easier time fitting both of them into the frame. Though actually being able to see what he was doing likely also helped.
He dipped lower until his head was hovering around Rukia’s. Satisfied, his fingers pressed against the screen a few more times, before holding it still in front of them.
Turning, Rukia noticed a number now flashing on the screen, counting down. Judging by the effort Renji appeared to be putting into the relaxed grin he wore, she knew it must have been a timer, showing exactly when the picture was going to be taken.
He must have known that Rukia planned to send this photo to Inoue in return and that Ichigo would likely see it. For that reason, he was putting his effort into taking the best picture possible, not wanting to be outdone by Ichigo.
Rukia rolled her eyes, the competitive rivalry between the two still very much alive.
Smirking mischievously, Rukia saw another chance to capture the spontaneous photo she had wanted.
When the countdown approached its final seconds, Rukia shifted her head slightly, pecking Renji on the cheek just as the flash went off.
Quickly grabbing the pager from Renji’s hands, Rukia grinned triumphantly as she scrolled to the latest photo in her gallery.
She had timed it perfectly.
Renji’s deliberate, relaxed pose had shifted under her touch, his eyes bulging slightly in surprise. She swore she could even make out a light dusting of colour on his cheeks.
Rukia’s eyes softened. As attractive as she secretly found Renji’s cocky, boyish grins, this was a cuter, more vulnerable side of him that not many people outside of her got the chance to see.
She studied the photo fondly, feeling that, she may have already taken one of her favourite pictures of them together.
For that reason, after studying the picture a moment longer, Rukia decided against sending it, wanting it to remain a moment just for the two of them. Though, she made sure to save a copy, knowing it was one she wanted to keep.
Before she could ready the camera for another picture, however, Renji looked toward her with a playful grin of his own.
“Oh, so that’s how it is, huh?”
Rukia shrieked as she was pulled abruptly into her husband’s lap, cushioned perfectly against that solid, warm chest before his lips took hers in a deep, drugging kiss.
The pager slipped forgotten from Rukia’s loose grip, her hands reaching up to frame Renji’s cheeks, dragging him closer.
It was some time before Rukia had a chance to reply to Inoue’s message.