"Let's get married."
It was sudden, it was random, it was... it was so very Ichigo. Rukia had only been standing in her office sorting some old papers when her captain trudged in with a slight panicky expression on his face.
Ichigo had moved to the Soul Society not long after the end of the war. He had barely turned 18 then- and now, almost two years later, he was both her boyfriend and her captain.
Boyfriend.. she wasn't sure if that was even the right word for him. They'd gone out on dates, sure, but... boyfriend just didn't seem like the right word. The way she saw it, they'd gone from being important friends to seeing each other as their significant other without really ever talking about it. It had just happened, naturally, along with Ichigo becoming a captain and every other way life had changed in the past 2 years.
Still. Even if they HAD gone out together many, many times.. were each other's support- especially from Rukia's side, who'd been Ichigo's right-hand and biggest source of support for his move- never discussing just what their relationship was and suddenly coming to her and asking for marriage was... something.
He'd walked into her office to find her standing next to her open filing cabinet, looking both childish and mature in his captain robe- was it possible to be both at the same time?- and grabbed her shoulders gently, making her look up from the papers in her hand in surprise, and with a furiously determined expression, declared, "Rukia, will you marry me?"
She'd looked up at him in confusion when he'd barged in and grabbed her shoulders suddenly, but when he said those words, her regular expression changed to shock. "...-What?!"
"Rukia," he repeated, smiling at her like this was totally normal, "Will you marry me?"
She stared at him, "What... what brought this on? Have you put any thought into this? This is very random of you, Ichigo.."
"..Of course I have.." his voice grew soft as her drew her closer to him, his hands sliding down from her shoulders to the sides of her arms, "I- we suit each other Rukia.. I know we never really discussed it but we've always had an understanding.." he paused, "You're right, this IS sudden but.. I'm sorry, I had to work up the courage to say anything to you. So then... will you?"
Rukia looked at him. He looked worried, like he was afraid she'd say no. Something about that made her smile, and she shook her head lightly, chuckling, "Yes Ichigo, ok. I accept your proposal."
His face brightened immediately, "Really?! That's- I'm-" he grinned at her, his hand reaching up and touching her cheek gently, "Thank you, Rukia."
She shook her head again, smiling, "So how soon do you want us to get married?"
"In a month?" Ichigo replied, watching her expression to see her reaction as he added hastily, "I can have everything planned in a month- the only thing you need to worry about is getting a dress, I can handle everything else."
Rukia inhaled slowly, as if processing what he was saying. Part of her said this was way too fast, that they needed time to sort things out and plan out things, but.. another part of her, a bigger part, said to give the green light. Things would surely work out in the end, regardless of having plans or not.. and in the end, it didn't matter anyway, she decided as she looked at her boyf- fiance's face. She would be fine with not having a party or a wedding at all, and merely signing some papers and moving into a house together.
It didn't really matter, as long as she and Ichigo would be together, in the end. And with that thought, Rukia nodded slowly, "Okay. I'm fine with it. Let's do it."
He grinned and pulled her close, "Why do I feel like this has happened before? Ah-!" He looked at her in surprise, "Look at me! I came to you and asked you to marry me, but I didn't even bring a ring for you." His expression was guilty as he looked around hurriedly, going to her desk as she watched in confusion.
Ichigo grabbed a silver paperclip from her desk, unbending and straightening the wire, he twisted it into a ring shape and turned back to her, blushing now. "Rukia, I'm- I'm really sorry... can you consider this a place holder until I get you an engagement ring?" he took her hand gently, sliding it on to her finger.
She smiled lightly, staring down at her smaller hand held gently in his before looking up at him, "This is enough for me Ichigo. You don't have to get me an engagement ring, just give me a ring at our wedding instead. I'd rather wear just one than two."
"Are you sure?" he looked at her quizzically before jumping suddenly, "Oh, crap! I forgot I had a meeting to attend!" he rushed towards the door, paused, and rushed back to her, hugging her quickly, "I'll see you later okay?"
"Yeah." she replied, smiling lightly as she watched him rush off before sighing and turning to her work again. "Time to make some calls.."
The coming month was going to be a whirlwind.
