Hi everyone! I'm YGP and this is the first Bleach story that I have put out in a few years. I wrote Bleach stories before but they weren't really going anywhere so I've decided to try again. This story has a little more romance than anything. I hope that you will enjoy it and thanks for reading.

Chapter 1: The News:

Rukia's eyes widened as she stared across the room to the dark haired man in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Brother." she whispered. Byakuya kept watching a stunned Rukia as she continued to be speechless. She had taken the news just as he had expected her to. Not once did he change the serious expression from his face. "But…" Rukia started to say.

She gazed down toward the floor. She wasn't sure how to change her mind of what Byakuya just said. Instead, she asked him something else. She lifted up her head toward him with a sad look on her eyes. "Can I…at least say goodbye to my friends in the World of the Living?"

Byakuya turned and walked pass her to the door. He was on his way out on captain's business but wanted to tell Rukia something important first. "I figured you would want to." he replied. "I'll give you a few days. Then-."

Rukia glanced back toward him. She knew what he was about to say. "I know. I'll be back in time." she assured him.

He walked out of the door and slid it shut. Rukia walked toward the door on the opposite side of the room that led to the porch near the pond. She sat down on the edge of the porch without sliding the door closed. She continued to think about what she was going to do. It still felt like the news was hitting her all at once like she had been hit with something hard. She stared at the tiny fish swimming around her. They were trapped in a place just like she was. She sighed. "How am I going to do it? How am I going to say good-bye to all my friends? Orihime, Chad, Uryu...?" Her eyes lowered more once she thought about the one name that kept popping into her mind. "Ichigo."

Outside of the Kuchiki complex, Byakuya was getting ready to walk down the street when a red haired man began walking toward him. The man wanted to smile a little, knowing that Byakuya probably did what they agreed upon but he kept a serious, professional, and lieutenant look. "Captain Kuchiki." he spoke with a stern tone in his voice.

Byakuya walked a passed him a little and looked back. "Renji."

Renji had gotten nervous about asking him if he told Rukia. He wasn't sure about what to say. "So um?...Captain Kuchiki?...I was wondering…"

To make sure that Renji didn't take up too much time with what he wanted to say, he cut straight to the chase. "Yes Renji. I did what we agreed on. Rukia knows now."

Renji was a little surprised. "Oh." He wondered how Rukia took the news.

"Everything is set up. She'll be ready in a few days." Byakuya ensured him. He wasn't going to go back on their deal.

"Oh…Um? Thank you sir!" Renji had begun to sound happy. He managed to maintain some of his excitement but on the inside, Renji didn't show how truly glad he was. This was the happiest thing that he had heard in a while.

Byakuya turned around and walked away, carrying on to where he needed to be. Renji walked into the Kuchiki complex. When he thought that Byakuya was far enough, he raised his fist in the air shouting "Yes!"

A few soul reapers around looked at him confused, wondering what he doing. Renji didn't care. He finally had gotten what he wanted. He went over to one of the soul reapers. "Hey! Have you seen Rukia?"

The soul reaper looked surprised. She thought that maybe Renji would've known where she was. "Yes. I last saw her talking to Byakuya in her room. I don't think she left after that."

Renji kept smiling. He didn't care where Rukia was as long as he got to see her. "Okay. Thanks."

The soul reaper smiled as she placed her hands in front of her. "I'll go see for you." She walked over and called out to Rukia before sliding the door open. Through the crack of the door leading to the porch, she could see Rukia sitting outside. She walked over and stepped outside. "Rukia? Sorry for interrupting but Lieutenant Abarai is here to see you."

Rukia was surprised that Renji had came so soon. Still, she was in no mood to see him now. "Tell him that I'm not here."

The soul reaper was amazed. She couldn't understand why. She knew that they were good friends. "Are you sure-?"

"Yes." Rukia responded without hesitating. She kept staring ahead as she looked serious.

The soul reaper decided not to question it and left her alone. She walked out of Rukia's room and slid the door closed behind her. She had decided that she would make up an excuse for Rukia. "Um…? She's not in right now. Maybe later."

Disappointment started to show in Renji's face. He was looking forward to seeing her right away. "Oh. Okay then. I'll be back later. Tell her I stopped by." He turned around and walked away.

The soul reaper continued to wonder what was going on. Usually, Rukia was always with Renji but now she didn't want to see him.

Rukia sat alone, thinking to herself for almost an hour before she had decided to get up. She got dressed and headed out to the World of the Living.

Later on at sunset, Rukia had made it back to the World of the Living. She stopped in the street, wondering about who she should go and say goodbye to first. She knew that she couldn't say good-bye to Ichigo yet. It just wasn't in her too. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him about what was going on.

Finally, she had decided that she would stop by Orihime's apartment first. She walked the streets of the town alone for a few minutes until she made it to Orihime's. She knocked on the door a few times, hoping that she was there. A few seconds later, someone had looked surprised as she saw Rukia. It had been a while since they seen either other since everything was over with Aizen and Hueco Mundo. "Rukia? I thought you were still in the Soul Society."

Rukia smiled with her eyes closed. "Yeah. I hope you don't mind that I stopped by."

Orhime smiled. She was glad to have the company. "No! No! I missed you being here. So does everyone else. Come in."

Rukia walked in and closed the door. They both sat down at the table across from each other. "So? How are things going?"

Rukia looked toward the floor, starting to get sad. "It's…okay."

Orihime started to look concerned. It was easy to see that something was bothering her. "Rukia? What's wrong?" Orihime asked a little afraid.

Rukia kept staring toward the ground. She had decided to come out and just say it. "Orihime. I came to say good-bye."

Orihime looked stunned. She couldn't believe what she had just told her. It sounded as if she meant forever. "Rukia? What are you saying?"

Rukia looked up at Orihime. "I came here to say goodbye to everyone. After that, I'm going to be staying in the Soul Society and probably won't be able to come back here."

Orihime had started to get worried. There was nothing that came to her mind that could possibly keep Rukia away from them forever. "You can't come back? Why?"

Rukia had noticed her voice starting to rise. "Orihime. Calm down. It's okay."

Orihime pressed her fist against her skirt tightly. She didn't want to lose her friend. "Please tell me. Why can't you come back?" Orihime whispered.

Rukia started to get a little sad. "It's nothing. I just…can't come back." Rukia looked up to Orihime who looked more devastated than she was. Orihime was looking down toward the table, wishing that Rukia would just tell her the truth. Rukia wasn't sure about revealing to anyone about what was going on but she didn't like when Orihime was sad. She sighed as she closed her eyes and then looked up at Orihime. "I'll tell you the reason why but you can't tell anyone else. I should probably be the one to."

Orihime started to cheer up a little as she looked to Rukia. Rukia continued. "I just heard the news today. From Byakuya. It seems that…I'm getting married."

Orihime's mouth dropped as her eyes widened. Like Rukia, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Married?"

Rukia glanced down. There was no turning back. It would only make it official."Yes. To Renji."

Orihime was still amazed by the news. "Wow. I didn't think you two were that close."

"We're just friends." Rukia assured her. "Nothing really happened between us but it's something that Byakuya thought would be the best thing for me. He told me that since things were calm now, I should take the time to reflect on the rest of my life and that maybe I should settle down and continue the Kuchiki clan. I'm not surprised that he picked Renji for me."

Orihime remained speechless but she could see now why she might not come back. Rukia looked down toward the table. "He figured that all of this would keep me busy enough not to come back here."

Instantly, Orihime's face change to sadness after hearing her last words. "I see." she whispered. There was nothing she could really say that would help. "But still! You should tell Chad and Uryu and Ichigo!"

Rukia had let a sigh out as she looked down. Orihime was surprised when she had done it after hearing Ichigo's name. She started to feel a little uneasy, wondering why. She was almost afraid to ask but a little part of her had to know. "Rukia…?" she said quietly. Rukia looked at her after barely hearing her name. "Do you…not want to tell the others about what's going on or…just Ichigo?"

Rukia looked surprised, trying to hide her answer. "Why? Ichigo should know like the others."

Orihime jerked a little, unsure about digging in deeper but then she thought about Rukia's situation. Even if she had feelings for Ichigo, it didn't seem like she was going to get out of marrying Renji. She had thought for a while that there were some feelings between Rukia and Ichigo. "But you sounded like you didn't want to tell him."

Rukia sighed once more. She didn't want to but then again she didn't know how Ichigo felt so would it really matter? There was a silence between the both of them. Orihime had decided to press on it further since it seemed like Rukia wasn't going to tell her and she had really wanted to know. "Do you…care about Ichigo?"

Rukia smiled her cutest smile with her eyes closed at Orihime. "Of course I care about Ichigo."

Orihime didn't return a smile. Rukia's act wasn't fooling her for one minute. She kept her same concerned expression. "I didn't mean as a friend Rukia."

Rukia looked at her. The smile had gone off her face after taking notice of Orihime's. It told her what she needed to know. "Orihime? You're not worried about something like this are you?"

Orihime looked away. She was still in love with Ichigo. It was written all over her face. Rukia smiled a little as comfort. "Orihime. You don't have to worry."

Rukia pressed her hand against her chest. "I do care about Ichigo...I really do but…" She lifted her head up and smiled. This was her way of letting whatever feelings she had for him go. "I'm with Renji now and if you really care about Ichigo, then I'll be happy for you two. You should see how he feels."

Orihime did wonder how Ichigo felt. About them both. "Well anyway. I stopped by to say my good byes. I better go find the others." She stood up from the table.

Orihime stood up after her. She had wanted to spend more time with Rukia. "I'll come with you."

Rukia smiled. It wouldn't be too bad having someone else along. "Thanks Orihime."

Orihime made a call to Uryu and Chad. All of them met at Urahara's shop. They all had sat around the table in the back. Uryu had looked around as it seemed they were missing someone. He looked over at Rukia and Orihime. "Where's Ichigo?"

Urahara smiled as he put his hands in his sleeves. "That's a good question."

Rukia had gotten a little nervous at the question. She couldn't tell them the real reason why she didn't. "Um? I was actually going to go see Ichigo later. I wanted to see everyone else first." Rukia answered. "There's something I wanted to say to everyone. I wanted to tell everyone good-bye."

Everyone's faces had turn into surprise. The same reaction that Orihime had got the first time she heard it. Rukia and Orihime looked around at everyone. Orihime looked over at Rukia, saddened. "Maybe you should tell them why."

Rukia looked down thinking about how to say what was going on. Then, she head rose up to look at everyone. "I'm getting married…to Renji."

Everyone's mouth had dropped a little more. They weren't sure about what to say. "Married?" Uryu said.

Urahara just smiled. He kept his hands in his sleeves. "Well Rukia. I didn't except you to be getting married anytime soon."

Yoruichi looked over to Rukia. It had spiked her curiosity. "I didn't think anything was going between you and Renji."

Rukia just shrugged her shoulders with her eyes closed. "Well. There wasn't much to tell." Orihime looked over at Rukia worried. She wondered if Rukia was going to tell them that Byakuya had set it up. "So I won't be able to come back to World of the Living once things get started."

Everyone had looked a little unhappy. There was nothing more Rukia could say that would make them feel better. "Well…" Everyone turned their attention to Chad. "If you're happy, then we should be too."

Urahara grinned. "He's right."

Rukia closed her eyes, smiling a little. "Thank you…everyone."

Everyone spent a few more minutes talking to Rukia. By the time, Rukia and Orihime had walked out, night was all ready out. Rukia turned to Orihime and smiled. "Thanks for coming with me Orihime." Rukia was grateful that she did.

Orihime nodded as she smiled. Rukia took off walking. She had decided to make one more stop for that night. She and Orihime parted ways after leaving Urahara's shop. Rukia walked down the streets alone until she had reached her next stop. A sigh had left her before she had jumped up. She landed inside the windowsill of a familiar home.

Inside, a young man had turned around. He was a little surprised but then he smiled a little. "If you're trying to scare me then it's not going to work."

Rukia smiled a little, gently. It was good seeing him again. She stepped inside. "I wasn't trying to scare you Ichigo. I just came by to see you."

Ichigo turned around in his chair at his desk, confused. "At night? It doesn't look like anything is going on."

Rukia shook her head with her eyes closed."No. Nothing is going on."

Suddenly, a stuffed doll had jumped toward her. "Rukia! My darling Rukia! You came back!" He almost came close to landing on her chest but all he met was the back of her fist. Rukia kept her eyes closed as she had an upset look on her face. Kon had done that almost every time he seen her. She threw her arm back. Kon fell off and landed on the bed.

Ichigo just sighed as he closed his eyes. He thought that Kon would never get it through his stuffed head that he couldn't get close to touching Rukia. "Anyway. What are you doing here?"

"I just came by for a visit. I came here late because I had seen the others before I got here." Rukia answered.

"Oh." Ichigo replied lowly. He guessed that he could understand now.

Rukia flopped down on the bed with her arms crossed. Kon took another opportunity to try and hug onto Rukia but he was knocked back by Rukia's fist again. Ichigo shook his head and sighed. They continued to talk for most of the night. Rukia decided not to tell Ichigo about what was going. She was happy just talking with him again.

Rukia had time in the Soul Society to think about her life and noticed that things weren't the same without Ichigo around. It was then that maybe she had realized that she had hidden feelings for him. It was something that she thought would pass until now. Now, she had to be married to someone else. For some reason, those feeling didn't slip away.

When it was late, she slept in Ichigo's closet in the usual spot.

Well. Like I said, I hoped that you enjoyed the story. I wanted this to be like a in the future thing when the fighting would stop somewhat. Anyway, if you like the story feel free to let me know.