Author's Note: I know I shouldn't be starting another story when I have another one in the works, but I've had this idea in my head for ages and just HAD to write it down...But I swear I will still update both! As soon as I get this story going, I'll continue to update Unforgettable Memories. Now, this is an Ichiruki pairing, but
A million thanks to nostalgic-maiden foe helping me edit this chapter! Without her, this piece would be full of mistakes and grammar errors!! Thank you!
Summary: Trying to ask Byakuya Kuchiki for his sister's hand in marriage wasn't the smartest idea the orange-haired shinigami ever had, but he got what he wanted in the end, even though he had to go through hell to get it.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own BLEACH. BLEACH belongs to Tite Kubo, who I will never be. This disclaimer applies to the entire story, since I'm going to forget to put it in future chapters.
Complications
byakuxhisa4eva
Prologue
Soul Society was generally a very calming place to most people compared to the human world. Seireitei was even more so, being the richest and most well-ruled part in the said dimension. This particular day however, was just about the soon-to-be most dreaded day and moment in Kurosaki Ichigo's life.
Now, Kurosaki Ichigo was a man of strong will. And power. He drove back a Menos Grande when he hadn't even reached shikai, achieved bankai in three days, and defeated most of the Soul Society to save one girl. Of course, that girl wasn't just any girl. For Ichigo to have turned the Soul Socity upside down to save this girl, she must have really been something.
Ichigo could no longer deny that he cared about her. Liked her. Hell, even LOVED her. But he knew this already for several years.
After several years of what the human's called 'dating', and what the Seireitei referred to as 'courting', said substitute shinigami was ready to ask for Kuchiki Rukia's hand in holy matrimony. In other words, he was ready to propose. Spend the rest of his life together with the one he loved.
But before he could do that, he had to ask his (hopefully) future bride's brother, for her hand in marriage. While most people think that it wouldn't be that bad, Ichigo was faced with a totally different situation.
Firstly, Kuchiki Rukia was no ordinary shinigami, or noble. She was from the noble Kuchiki family. The Kuchiki were no joke. They were the highest-ranking of the four highest-ranking of the noble families. To put it simply, they ruled the non-shinigami population of the Soul Society. To marry off a member of their oh-so-great family to another, or to bring another soul into the prestigious family, you'd have to meet their ridiculously high standards. Luck alone was no help in this situation.
Secondly, Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't a normal shinigami either. He may have been a descendant of a strong and famous shinigami, but he wasn't born a shinigami. With a half-human, half-shinigami bloodline, he was rather unusual in the world of the shinigami.
Thirdly, no normal person, shinigami or human, had to deal with asking THE Kuchiki Byakuya for his beloved sister's hand in marriage. The sister who was the only remaining, and most important, piece of the Kuchiki noble's marriage to his beloved wife fifty years ago. The Kuchiki Byakuya who is said to be the strongest in the history of the Kuchiki clan, and the most well known and feared of the Thirteen Captains. Most souls would tremble at the mere mention of his name.
Thankfully, as we all know, Kurosaki Ichigo is not most souls.
But that didn't change the fact that Kuchiki Byakuya despised Kurosaki Ichigo with every fiber of his well being. Not only for getting his sister in an unbelievable amount of trouble with the Council of 46, but for dragging him, and his honor, into the mess as well.
Nor did it help that the captain of the Sixth Company never actually approved of his sibling 'dating' the carrot-topped shinigami. In fact, he had stated in almost every way except in a clear 'I do not want you dating Rukia' statement that he did NOT want Rukia to be involved in any sort of romantic relationship with him.
So now, three years after Kuchiki Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo started to officially 'date' each other, the man of the relationship, who was not ready at all to be dealing with Kuchiki Byakuya in any sort of approval seeking way, found himself standing in front of the elaborate gates of the Kuchiki manor.
With a look towards the sky, praying to the non-existent gods of the Soul Society for their favor in what he was about to do, Kurosaki Ichigo lifted the heavy brass knocker bolted to the gate of the manor in front of him, and asked to see Kuchiki Byakuya. He had some feeling that he was stepping into what would be several hours of hell, if he weren't already there.
Little did he know, that he would be stuck in a fate worse than hell, not for the next few hours, but for several days, if not weeks, to come.
And this is where our story begins.