"…Or Forever Hold Your Peace"
A "Bleach" Fanfiction by GeorgiaBoy223
Disclaimers: "Bleach" is owned by Tite Kubo. "…Or Forever Hold Your Peace" is inspired by Chapter 6 (formerly Chapter 2) of the Bleach fanfiction "There Was Once When" by Renji4eva; Renji4eva is thanked for her cooperation and consultation, and if you're an IchiHime fan like we are, check her stories out! Cover art created and owned by UsaBerryHime.
Author's Note: The events of this fanfiction take place almost four years after the end of the "Lost Agent/Fullbringer" arc. The "Thousand Year Blood War/Wandenreich" arc never happened. This fic will be mostly using English terms and naming conventions, with Japanese terminology used for groups and items I don't know the English name for. Please do not be discouraged by the use of English terms.
It was a bright, beautiful spring day in Karakura, Japan. There was nary a cloud in the sky, the temperature was just right, and the town's citizenry were in cheery spirits. It was a perfect day to live in or visit Karakura Town, and an especially perfect day for a wedding. In fact, a wedding was taking place at a chapel not very far from Kisuke Urahara's shop.
This, however, was not an ordinary wedding. This was the "Kuchiki Wedding Event", and any uninvited guests were "forbidden," as the sign outside the chapel indicated to any attentive passerby.
This was the wedding celebrating Rukia Kuchiki's impending union to the man she loved most.
Among the attendees were a few humans, all of whom were very close to the couple. In addition, a majority of the guests were several high-ranking officers of Soul Society's Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Normally, such an event would only see the captain and lieutenant of one squad among the guests, but due to the high standing of the yet-to-be-wed couple, one of whom being the adopted sister of 6th Squad Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, and both having been involved in several recent events important to the integrity of both Soul Society and the World of the Living, several more officers were invited.
The chapel was a rather large but plain one, having been chosen as the hosting location of the wedding due to its size to accommodate the thirty-eight guests as well as its simple appearance, so as to keep any human authorities from becoming suspicious of the unusual appearance and behavior of the attendees. It was designed to have enough pews to hold up to eighty guests, which gave more than enough room to the attendees; there were sixteen pews in total, eight on each side, with each one capable of seating five average-sized people.
The arrangements had been made with the Karakura municipal government that a 'large group of out-of-towners' had scheduled the wedding at the chapel out of monetary concerns, as well as having their own private officiator; had they chosen to use one of the more extravagant and expensive chapels in the town, it would have drawn suspicion due to the little-known (in the human world) Kuchiki family, which had previously been recorded having made a small number of low expense purchases, having suddenly spent a shockingly large sum of money on a lavish wedding and reception. There was also the fear that the human national governments were becoming aware of spiritual beings, so there was a greater security need for a wedding that was as low-key as possible, while still maintaining the grandiose nature befitting the nuptial ceremony of a member of the Kuchiki clan. Normally, such things would not be problems, but Rukia had wanted her wedding to take place in the human world, so that the small number of her and her fiancé's human friends whom couldn't travel to Soul Society could attend.
The dress code for all the attendees was typical of a Western-style wedding, with the Soul Reapers using Urahara's gigais as well; although the dress code for a wedding among the Soul Reapers back in the Soul Society was the same as their standard uniform, it was common sense that, in the World of the Living, a large group of people in black and white kimonos with strange swords would attract unwanted attention.
At the altar was Ichigo Kurosaki, who was adjusting his tie and becoming increasingly annoyed, wishing that the wedding would be over with and he could go on with the rest of his life. Shinji Hirako was there too, wearing his trademark smug grin; he was, in addition to being the reinstated captain of the 5th Squad, the 'private officiator' of the wedding (God Himself only knew how he managed to convince Byakuya to give him that honor).
Facing the altar on the left side, Byakuya and two Kuchiki clan nobles occupied the front pew. Behind them sat Shunsui Kyoraku and Nanao Ise, the latter of whom was happily chatting with Lisa Yadomaru, whom occupied the next pew with Hiyori Sarugaki and Mashiro Kuna. Rose Otoribashi, Kensei Muguruma, and Love Aikawa were in the fourth pew. Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa were the only ones within the next pew, and were also the only ones in the pews surrounding the sixth pew. Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi were occupying that one, the former of the two looking very bored and irritated, both of which bode ill for anyone surrounding him after a time, and the latter happily kicking her legs back and forth. There was no one in the seventh pew, as noted before, and in the eighth and last pew were Joushiro Ukitake and Kiyone Kotetsu, the latter of whom was excited that her captain had invited her to come along with him instead of Sentaro.
On the right side, Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihoin, and Soi Fon sat in the front pew. Behind them were Uryu Ishida and Yasutora "Chad" Sado, both of whom were leaving an oddly generous empty space between each other as the former was sitting in the space at the entrance to the pew and the later sitting at the end; Uryu also had his white jacket placed neatly in the space next to him, signifying that he was reserving it for someone. In the third row were Orihime Inoue, who was unusually quiet and had a smile that seemed oddly subdued for her usually cheery demeanor, Tatsuki Arisawa, and Rangiku Matsumoto (who obviously wore the most revealing dress of all the attending women). Keigo Asano, Chizuru Honsho, and Mizuro Kojima occupied the next pew; the first two were gleefully ogling most of the Soul Reaper women while Mizuro was sending a text message to his latest girlfriend. In the fifth pew were Toshiro Hitsugaya and Momo Hinamori. In the sixth pew, sobbing rather loudly, was Ikumi Unagiya, Ichigo's former boss and still a close acquaintance of his, and her son Kaoru, who was becoming increasingly embarrassed by his mother's crying. Sitting behind them was Hachi Ushoda; being large enough to take up an entire pew all on his own, he was sitting separate from the rest of the Vizards. There was no one in the eighth pew.
In the foyer of the chapel was Rukia and her entourage. Her bridesmaids were Ichigo's sisters, Karin and Yuzu. Ururu Tsumugiya was her flower girl, and Jinta Hanakari was her ring bearer; many would argue that both were too old for their respective positions, but Rukia wanted them specifically for their tasks. Rukia was, curiously, currently very angry; those that could hear her in the main hall could make out very disparaging remarks about 'the dumbass' while a flustered Yuzu tried to calm her down.
Orihime was supposed to be the maid of honor, but had replied to Rukia via letter that she couldn't attend; apparently, the bakery where she was now assistant manager at had received an unusually large number of orders for the week of the wedding, and they needed as many of their employees as possible at work. However, the night before the wedding, Orihime had called Tatsuki and told her that several of the orders had been cancelled and her boss gave her leave to attend the wedding, but had also told her not to inform Rukia; she thought it would be 'in bad form' to suddenly show up and ask Rukia to accept her as maid of honor after she had initially turned her down. Rukia herself had seen Orihime sitting in the hall, and while one half of her mind was still busy cursing 'that idiot', the other half was surprised and disappointed that Orihime hadn't taken up her offer. Rukia wanted only her as maid of honor; she made the offer to no one else.
There were still a few guests coming in. Isshin Kurosaki had just sat down next to Urahara, having spent the last hour with Rukia's entourage ranting about how his daughters were the most beautiful bridesmaids Karakura Town had ever seen, before deciding it would be best to move to his reserved seat after an increasingly frustrated Rukia had threatened to throw a flower vase at him if he didn't shut up. Before he sat down, he gave a casual greeting to Kyoraku, after having already given his greetings to Ukitake, Toshiro, and Rangiku. When Soul Society began their inquiries into Ichigo's life, many of Isshin Shiba's friends and associates had been shocked to find that he was indeed still alive and living under his deceased wife's name. When they had come to help defend Karakura Town against Aizen's Arrancar, Toshiro and Rangiku had convinced the rest of their advance team to take an unorthodox entry into the Kurosaki household, unsure of how to confront their long-lost captain about his disappearance.
After returning to help Ichigo defeat Ginjo and his XCution, Toshiro decided it was time to stop skirting the issue, and he and Rangiku had a sit-down with Isshin, finally coming to terms with his decision to leave Soul Society to protect Masaki – for reasons that Ichigo himself was still unaware of. Several of Isshin's old friends tried to convince him to come back, with a letter of assurance from Head Captain Yamamoto himself that there were no ill-intentions to be had. They eventually accepted, however, that Isshin was not returning permanently, as he had set down roots in Karakura Town and had no intentions of forcing his family to give up their lives so he could relive "old glories." He did occasionally visit, though; his first such visit to Kukaku and Ganju began with Kukaku punching his head into the ground, furious that it "took him so long to come back." The trio, plus Ichigo, were on good terms nonetheless, although Ichigo and Ganju dreaded the reality that they were related.
Retsu Unohana, captain of the 4th Squad, and her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, were walking down the aisle together until they separated to take their respective seats. To the surprise of many, Unohana sat next to a still irritated Kenpachi, who only nodded his head in acknowledgement of her; he didn't want to come to the wedding, having little interest in anything other than fighting – but Yachiru did, and he couldn't refuse her, bringing along Ikkaku and Yumichika as well. If something didn't happen soon, though, his impatience and boredom would explode in a violent tornado of sword strikes aimed towards anyone he considered worth his time as an opponent.
Isane took her seat in the empty space next to Chad, her boyfriend. After the humans and the Soul Reapers resumed regular contact, visits to the 4th Squad's barracks were some of the most common, especially whenever some new spiritually-aware madman had decided it was time to "take over the human world and/or Soul Society." As a result, Chad and Isane began spending more time together, learning that many of their interests were similar. Their relationship wasn't a "love at first sight" deal, but as time went on, they became closer, and they were in each other's arms before they knew what was happening. Chad smiled at Isane, who blushed and smiled back before turning her head away in shyness. Turning her attention to her captain, Isane saw Unohana smile at her in approval; most of the members of the Women's Association were glad that she was coming out of her shell and had finally gotten a boyfriend. Turning her attention further back towards her sister, she saw Kiyone grin at her and give her a thumbs up.
What Kiyone did next, however, left Isane nonplussed. She saw her younger sister's eyes turn slightly towards the entrance of the chapel and watched as Kiyone grimaced in shock. Looking towards the entrance, Isane felt her blood turn cold. Walking into the main hall of the chapel was none other than Nemu Kurotsuchi, lieutenant and artificially created daughter of 12th Squad Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Isane's eyes darted all about the chapel as she tried sensing Mayuri's spirit pressure to see if the insane scientist was hiding anywhere, but to her surprise, she couldn't see or feel him anywhere.
"What's Nemu doing here?" Isane thought to herself, sweat starting to roll down her forehead as Nemu walked closer to her pew, the cloned lieutenant's emotionless green eyes and expressionless face giving no hint to her intentions. "Does she even have any interest in events like this… or has Captain Kurotsuchi planned something?!" Isane began thinking of anything that Mayuri could have planned for the wedding, from instructing Nemu to spike the sake at the reception with poison or nanomachines, to implanting a bomb in Nemu that he could use to "take out the competition."
The truth, however, was more mundane than what Isane was thinking. Nemu really did want to attend the wedding of her own volition, Rukia said she could come, and Mayuri had given her leave to attend. Before anyone takes that as an indication that Mayuri was beginning to soften up, it sadly isn't; Mayuri simply had no need for Nemu in any of his experiments on the wedding day, and if he did have need of her, he would've beaten her senseless for "daring to suggest that her time was more valuable than his."
Isane felt her blood completely freeze as Nemu stopped at the entrance to the pew, her green eyes fixated on Uryu. To Isane's ever-worsening horror, he picked up his jacket and motioned for Nemu to sit next to him. Isane edged closer to Chad as Nemu took the offered seat, her wariness growing as she continued to wonder at her colleague's intentions; Chad, on the other hand, realized what was going on, and his surprised expression turned into a smile.
"So that's why everyone's been seeing you around the 12th Squad's barracks so often recently." Chad thought to himself, his fears that Uryu had been planning some kind of revenge against Mayuri being put to rest. "Well done, Uryu."
The tall half-Mexican man gave his friend a thumbs-up in approval, which Uryu appreciated with a smile. He turned his attention to Nemu, his unexpected girlfriend returning his affection with a smile of her own.
Unfortunately, Isane saw the corner of Nemu's mouth turn up and shrieked in terror, jumping back onto Chad and drawing the attention of most of the chapel. Uryu glared at her in annoyance, while Nemu simply observed her with her usual neutral expression for a moment before turning her attention back to her boyfriend. Chad simply gave Uryu an apologetic shrug. Isane wasn't the only one who behaved "inappropriately"; Rangiku interrupted her conversation with Tatsuki to inhale sharply and lean back in her seat, also expecting Nemu to do something "volatile", and Kiyone was shaking in fear.
The chapel went back to its previous state of affairs quickly enough after Isane's outburst. Nanao and Lisa went back to talking about what they had been doing since their last visit. Shortly after Ginjo's defeat, Nanao took it upon herself to go to the human world and see if Lisa remembered her; to her delight, her predecessor as Kyoraku's lieutenant hadn't forgotten about her, and was proud that she had advanced as far as she did in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. They maintained regular contact since then, rekindling their lost friendship. To see Nanao right now would leave many who only knew of her in shock: the usually strict and unsocial lieutenant was beaming with energy, eyes and smile wide as she and Lisa talked about a funny incident from the old days. Kyoraku, meanwhile, was smiling at his former and current lieutenants, glad that the two old friends were able to see each other again.
Now, if only he could stop thinking about the two of them in bed together…
Not everyone in Lisa and Nanao's immediate vicinity were happy, however. To Lisa's left, Hiyori was looking rather angry, her eyes set in their usual indignant glare and her arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed in a fashion that no one would ever expect the former lieutenant to allow herself be caught dead in: she was wearing a yellow sundress with white polka dots, and her pigtails were bound by large pink bows. Hiyori didn't want to come to the wedding, but Lisa and Mashiro blackmailed her into coming by telling her that they had taken photos of her sleeping with her sleep aid: a pink toy elephant she named "Mr. Trunk." She had activated her Hollow mask and threatened to rip both of them to shreds if they didn't give her the photos, but they told her that they had already sent the photos to a trusted source in the Soul Society (most likely either Shinji or Rangiku), and that they would be published in the paper in the event of their deaths.
So, here Hiyori was, looking exceptionally cross and having Mashiro sitting right next to her and laughing at her misfortune.
Rangiku had calmed down enough by now that she resumed her conversation with Tatsuki. One of the side benefits of Soul Society resuming contact with Ichigo's group was that the Soul Reapers they had befriended were spending much more time with them than even when they were fighting against Aizen. Rangiku and Tatsuki in particular had become very good friends due to their own mutual friendship with Orihime; the trio had been spending a lot of their free time together, becoming that one group of girlfriends that all the boys paid very close attention to when they were out and about.
When they received news that Rukia was getting married and that they were invited to the wedding, both Rangiku and Tatsuki were overjoyed for her. They both knew that Rukia had been crushing on her groom for a long time, and they were glad that they were finally tying the knot. They became even more excited when Rukia told them she had offered the position of maid of honor to Orihime; in their eyes, there was no one better suited for the task than Rukia's closest human girlfriend.
Understandably, all three were disappointed when Orihime politely refused but accepted that she didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. Rangiku was thus in for a delightful surprise when Tatsuki showed up with Orihime in tow; she was confused, however, when Orihime told her she wasn't going to ask Rukia to accept her as maid of honor. They had made their way to their pew, and Rangiku and Tatsuki started their conversation, their confusion at Orihime's uncharacteristically subdued behavior growing as she hadn't joined them in talking about the latest movie that they had watched together.
Finally, their curiosity got the better of them and they asked her why she wasn't happier.
"Oh! Nothing's wrong." The orange-haired beauty had replied, smiling at her friends. "I just had a really bad dream about the little blue men last night, and I haven't gotten over it. I really am glad for Rukia! She's the luckiest girl in the world right now!" Then, confusing her friends even more, Orihime looked away towards the altar and said "She really is the luckiest girl…"
Rangiku and Tatsuki looked at each other, concerned about their friend. They turned their attention back to Orihime, and were about to press her for the truth when the volume of the wedding music increased significantly, signifying that the bride was about to enter.
Many of the guests marveled at how beautiful Rukia was. Her dress was hand-stitched by some of the best tailors in the Rukongai, and she carried herself with the grace and dignity as expected of a Kuchiki princess. She walked down the aisle unescorted; it was a Soul Reaper tradition for brides to walk themselves to the altar, showing the world that they were more than strong enough to live their own lives, and to make their own choices as they saw fit. In front of her was Ururu and Jinta, the latter of the two being very glad that he didn't have to walk behind Yuzu, having worried that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from staring inappropriately at her. Behind her was Yuzu and Karin; Byakuya had offered to order a dozen of the finest handmaidens of the Kuchiki clan to be Rukia's bridesmaids, but she insisted that the Kurosaki sisters were the ones she wanted.
As the entourage passed Toshiro and Momo's pew, the latter of the two noticed that an interesting expression had suddenly appeared on her childhood friend's face. Noticing that his attention was on Karin, she giggled.
"So, you're interested in your old captain's little girl, eh, Toshiro?" Momo thought to herself as her amusement at his expression grew. Toshiro gave her a look that had "shut up" written all over it, but it did nothing to deter her.
Finally, the entourage reached the altar and took their respective positions. It was here that the wedding seemed to pause for a moment, as Shinji wasn't giving his speech as officiator. Some of the more impatient members of the audience were starting to seem antsy, irritated that the wedding was dragging on. Ichigo and Rukia took this opportunity to smile at each other warmly, both wishing that the ceremony would end soon and they could get on with the rest of their lives.
Looking at his watch, Shinji said, "Well, we're a bit behind schedule, so let's get this out of the way." Grinning as he turned his attention back to the audience, he continued, "If anybody has a reason that these two not be wed…" He held his hand to the side in an inviting manner as he finished, "… then speak now."
It was a rather poor attempt at a joke, but many members of the audience laughed anyway, as it cut through the tension that had been building up. Even Hiyori snickered a little, having grown accustomed to her fellow Vizard's sense of humor.
Not everyone was amused, however. Unohana stopped chuckling when she heard Kenpachi begin to growl. Turning her attention to her companion, a feeling of deep worry washed over her as she watched his all too familiar psychopathic grin begin to stretch across his face, his free eye narrowing at the group at the altar. Unohana knew that if something didn't happen soon, this day of bliss would soon turn into a day of bloodshed.
Ichigo and Rukia weren't amused either, and neither were the other members of Rukia's entourage. Ichigo glared at Shinji as Rukia let out a sigh of frustration. Finding their reactions funny, Shinji chuckled as he closed his eyes and shrugged. He opened his eyes as he put his hands behind his back, satisfied that he got some appreciation for his humor as he listened to the light laughter.
What Shinji did next, though, caused Ichigo, Rukia, and the procession members to completely forget their frustration at him, which was replaced with confusion. Shinji's grin disappeared from his face as his eyes widened in surprise, their focus suddenly fixated on one area of the chapel. Turning their attention to where Shinji was looking, they were similarly dumbfounded by what they saw.
The aura of confusion that had started at the altar spread throughout the chapel, and gradually everyone turned their attention to where Ichigo, Rukia, Shinji and the others were staring at. Ikumi stopped crying, her tearful joy at the ceremony completely replaced by bewilderment, and even Kenpachi stopped growling as his grin receded and his eye returned to its usual state as he was struck by the same confusion that had overtaken everyone else.
The only one who had yet to be taken by the new mood in the chapel was Mashiro, who was still laughing like a hyena at Shinji's joke – she had a weird sense of humor. She was brought out of her laughing spell by an annoyed Hiyori, who gave the green-haired girl a rather hard punch to the stomach. Mashiro glared at Hiyori, angrily yelling "HEY!" at her compatriot before her curiosity was aroused by the blonde Vizard pointing at something on the other side of the chapel. Mashiro forgot her anger as she and Hiyori turned their attention to the person of everybody's interest.
Orihime Inoue stood alone, her arms slumped at her side and her head tilted towards the floor, preventing most people from seeing her face. She wasn't doing or saying anything, giving no reason whatsoever for her action.
When Orihime turned her head up, everyone who could see her face were shocked to see that she had been crying, with her eyes slightly red and tears still flowing down her cheeks. She stared at the altar, still not saying anything. To everyone around her, she looked like a woman who had fought against the world, and failed miserably.
Ichigo finally brought himself to mutter her name, "Orihime…?" Normally, no one would be able to hear him at the volume he spoke, but with the chapel as quiet as it was, everyone could hear him as if he had just shouted Orihime's name instead of whispering it.
Orihime finally spoke, "Rukia… please forgive me." Her tone was flat and had a hint of despair behind it, which surprised those who knew her to be a cheery and upbeat girl.
Byakuya arched one of his eyebrows as he thought to himself, "Forgive you for what?"
Rukia herself blinked twice in confusion. She said, "What?" but Orihime didn't answer her. She didn't even seem to notice that Rukia had said anything.
"Ichigo…" Orihime said as a fresh stream of tears came down her cheeks, "… I love you."
TO BE CONTINUED
