Omiai Kekken

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, If I did it would be all about Ichigo and Rukia raising
a family of cute rabbits in their backyard.

Chapter 1:

"Gomen ne" Kuchiki Byakuya said to his adoptive sister. Usually he wasn't the kind of man who apologized to anyone for any reason. In fact there were only four times in his life where he could remember apologizing. Each of those times he was apologizing to someone who already passed.

"I understand completely, nii-sama" Rukia said in a cool and collected voice.

While her voice may have been steady, her eyes weren't. Those violet orbs were giving away all of her feelings. She was scared, nervous, and sad.

Byakuya wished he didn't have to do this. He was typically a by the rule books sort of guy. He learned his lesson years ago that following the rules blindly can lead to disastrous consequences.

"I will be there the whole time. If you want to escape just give me the signal."

"Yes, nii-sama" Rukia said. She knew that even if she gave the signal to escape this would just be the first of many dates she'd have to go on.

The Kuchiki clan elders had been nagging at Byakuya to find a suitable wife for decades. They said he needed to produce an heir. Byakuya always declined. He could never replace his late wife, and just the thought of it would send him into a rage. He decided to name Rukia his heir but they wouldn't allow it. Yes, she can have the Kuchiki name, money, and privilege but she didn't have the Kuchiki blood, therefore she couldn't be the next Clan head.

Since Rukia was indeed a clan member they decided it was time she did something useful for the clan and strengthen their ties with other clans by marrying one of their sons.

There were four great noble houses and 12 lesser noble houses. It was part of your duty to the clan to know who was who in all of the houses. The Kuchiki elders handed Byakuya a list of 40 potentials. Byakuya shorted the list down to five. They were all hard workers, smart, had money sense, knew how to follow the rules, but weren't the type of people who would judge someone because of their blood status.

Byakuya didn't want Rukia to have to marry some jerk who thought less of her because she wasn't born into a noble family.

"The omiai will take place at 1800 hours at Nihon Ryori Ryugin. Mai has already set out a yukata for you to wear. It's in your room."

"Hai."

"That is all, you are dismissed."

Rukia waited until she was far away from Kuchiki Manor to let out a sigh. She knew this would happen eventually. She expected it when Byakuya first adopted her into the family. She isn't a big believer in love. Sure she loved her friends and she loved her brother, but she had never been in a relationship before, never gave much thought about wanting to be in a relationship. It's kind of sad if you think about it, being a hundred and fifty years old but never been kissed. Her friends had their relationships, flings, one night stands, but it was never something Rukia sought.

As a child she didn't want anything but to survive, and she did that. When she got older she wanted to become a shinigami, and she did that too. Then she wanted to become a seated officer in squad 13, hell not only did she succeed in that one, she because the 2nd seat.

If she married some rich noble he'd probably make her give it all up, her seat, her job as a shinigami. She'd be expected to please her husband and give him male children. If that happens she won't be Rukia anymore, she'd be a shell of a person that she used to be.

"Rukia!"

There was only one person who would call her without any honorifics, and that was her oldest friend Abarai Renji.

Sure enough the redhead came jogging her way, waving his arm wildly.

"Renji" Rukia said demurely.

"What's with that greeting? We haven't seen each other in two weeks and the way you greet me?"

"I saw you yesterday at the lieutenant's meeting" Rukia pointed out.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that" Renji said.

Rukia wondered how her brother put up with Renji. Byakuya was very rules-based while Renji was more rules-optional.

"Just came from Kuchiki-taichou's place?"

Technically it was her home too, but Rukia didn't comment. She spent most of her time recently at her flat in the 13th division.

"Yea, I had a meeting with nii-sama."

Renji knew not to ask anymore. Every since she became a noble there were thing she couldn't talk about. They grew apart for over forty years and only recently became friendly again. What Rukia didn't know was that everything Renji did, he did for her.

When all of Renji's friends died except for Rukia he knew he'd do anything to protect her. They became shinigami together. He hoped to impress her with his skills since he was on the fast track, however she got adopted into the Kuchiki family and they lost contact. Renji worked off the rest of his school years with one goal in mind: beat Kuchiki Byakuya. He was sure that if he trained hard enough he could surpass the captain, beat him, and then Rukia would return to her rightful place by his side. But Byakuya isn't an easy man to reach. Renji became his lieutenant hoping that if they were closer he'd find the secret to defeating him. And then everything went to hell. Rukia was set to be executed and there was nothing he could do to save her. He didn't think they'd actually kill her, with her being a noble and all, but central 46 don't back down on their orders. A lot of things happened after that, it was a lot going on at once. Renji fought Byakuya and he lost, and realized that his plan would've never worked. In the end, Rukia was saved by a human ryoka. A male human ryoka! It made Renji jealous but he kept it to himself and he came up with a new plan.

Renji decided he'd get closer to Rukia again, hopefully they'd remember all the good times and she'd maybe want to get with him one day. At the same time Renji was an exemplary lieutenant. He did everything Byakuya asked him to do and then some. He hoped to think they were becoming friends and that one day when everything was going well with Rukia he'd ask Byakuya for her hand. He figured Byakuya would say yes if he knew how much of a great guy Renji was.

"We should meet up for lunch, or an early dinner" Renji suggested. "It's been a while since we had a meal together, just the two of us."

Rukia thought about it. The early dinner was out, she had an omiai to attend. But lunch might work, there was a lot of paperwork waiting for her at her office but if she managed her time well she should be able to spare half an hour for lunch.

"I have a lot of paper work to do, check in with me at noon and I'll see if I could go" Rukia said.

"Great!"

Rukia watched Renji walk away with a new spring in his step. She wondered what was up with him. He probably reached some new achievement he wanted to brag about over lunch.

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Rukia managed to get all of her paperwork completed by noon. She and Renji went to his favorite restaurant. It was a casual place that was known for their takoyaki. They had barely ordered when they were joined by their fellow lieutenants Rangiku, Kira, and Momo. Renji rarely got a chance to talk to Rukia who spent most of lunch discussing magazines with Rangiku and Momo. Before he could offer to walk her back to her barracks she up and left saying she promised some of her no-rank squad members that she'd help them train.

"You're still pining after her, aren't you?" Kira asked.

"I'm not pining" Renji scoffed. He was and he knew it.

Kira didn't know how to tell him, but he heard that Byakuya-taichou was setting up omiai for her and that Renji might lose his chance if he didn't do something. Being a lesser noble himself, Kira knew his name was likably on the list of potential suitors. Was she pretty? Yes. Was she nice? Sure. Kira thought she'd probably make some guy happy, but he didn't want to be that guy. Kira considered Renji to be a close friend, and there was no way he'd marry his nakama's crush.

"You should just ask her out already" Momo said.

"You really should, before someone else does it for you" Rangiku said. "I overheard Kajomarau Hidetomo flirting with her just the other day."

Renji frowned. He never even realized that another guy might ask Rukia out.

"Who is Hidetomo?" Renji asked. Maybe he needed to pay this guy a visit and see what his intentions are.

"The sixth seat of squad 13" Momo supplied.

Renji scoffed. As if Rukia would ever date someone weaker than her. As if Byakuya would allow it. "A sixth seat? He's not a threat."

"I don't know, he's kind of cute" Momo said.

"Plus I heard he's been training with his sword a lot lately. Maybe he's learning bankai? He could be a captain one day" Rangiku added.

Renji poked a takoyaki ball violently.

"I have to go" Renji said suddenly.

He stormed off, no doubt to go have a conversation with Hidetomo.

"That wasn't nice" Kira said quietly. "We all know Hidetomo has no interest in Rukia."

"I'm tired of listening to him whine about Rukia. Maybe he'll get jealous and do something about his attraction to her and instead of the usual brooding he normal does" Rangiku said.

Momo agreed although she was hardly one to talk. She was still brooding over Aizen. Yes he's a traitor, yes he's done a lot of bad things but Momo just couldn't stop her heart from loving him.

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The yukata was purple, violet to be exact. It matched the color of her eyes. The obi was pink and there were plum blossoms at the bottom of the yukata that matched.

Rukia insisted that she dress herself but her handmaidens weren't having it. The forced her into the bath, washed her hair, covered her in scented oils, dressed her and then posted her hair up. They put expensive hairsticks in her hair, waxed her eyebrows, and pampered her in makeup. Rukia was sure she looked like a kabuki doll. She hadn't looked in a mirror because she was afraid she wouldn't recognize herself.

There was a light knock on the door.

"Rukia-san, are you ready?"

Rukia looked to her handmaidens with wide eyes. They both nodded.

"Yes, nii-sama" Rukia said feeling nervous. She knew she shouldn't let any of her nervousness show. It was a weakness and she didn't need to make the Kuchiki family look weak.

She took a deep breath and put on her poker face. It had been what, two, three years, since she last wore an emotional mask, but she found slipping into it as easy as it was back then.

She slid into her Okobo as the handmaidens opened the sliding door.

Byakuya was standing there in his own yukata only his was all black, even the obi. It looked like it had some sort of texture but it was hard to tell. Rukia wanted to frown, he was practically wearing his shinigami clothes, why couldn't she do the same?

"Good, you're ready to go" Byakuya said.

It wasn't like Rukia was expecting a compliment, but he could've given some indication that she didn't look like a freak.

The two walked in silence to their destination.

There was a private table waiting for them. Their guest was already there.

Rukia recognized them immediately as Yukimura Saito and Yukimura Akira. Saito's aniki, Sora, was the current clan head. When Rukia heard she was going on an Omiai she thought she'd be set up with a member from one of the lesser noble families like the Kiras or god forbid the Omaedas, she hadn't expected a Yukimura. They were they 3rd most influential of the great noble houses.

Saito had semi-short brown hair that clung to his neck and dark brown eyes. He was tall and lean and naturally carried himself like a noble. Akira inherited not only his father's height but his eyes as well. His hair was long and black like Byakuya's only longer. His skin was decently tanned and he looked like he was as nervous as Rukia felt.

Rukia tried to keep her calm as introductions were made. They were all seated. When a waiter came to take their order Byakuya ordered for her. She supposed it was a good thing, if she opened her mouth she was likely to puke. She prayed that she wouldn't embarrass her brother like that.

Rukia was too nervous to eat. Akira hadn't spoken much but he rarely took his eyes off of her. She had no idea what was going though his head and she wished he would look away.

Naturally most of the conversation was between Byakuya and Saito.

"You must be a great shinigami in order to have become a lieutenant of Division 13" Saito said, "Of course when you marry Akira you'll have to give up your post."

Rukia stiffened.

Byakuya put his hand on her arm to stop it from shaking. Rukia put her chopsticks down slowly. Deep breaths, deep breaths, she knew that that would come up. She expected it. Maybe not so bluntly put, but she expected it.

"If we get married, Rukia-san doesn't have to give up her post. I'm sure she worked very hard to get it" Akira said speaking up for the first time.

"But surely she can't take care of the children and work at the same time" Saito said.

"Rukia is great with children. I'm sure when the time comes she'll be able to handle it appropriately" Byakuya said.

Rukia turned to Byakuya with wide eyes. He was supposed to be helping her not pitching her. From the corner of her eyes she could see Akira looking at her so she resumed her usual mask.

What was Byakuya thinking? Great with children? The only 'child' Rukia has been around is Yachiru and she's 100 years old.

"I assume of course, that your sister is pure."

Rukia blushed, she couldn't help it.

"Of course" Byakuya replied easily.

"Good, Akira is as well. I raised him well so you don't have to worry about any bastard children running around."

Rukia wanted a hole to open up below her feet and for her to fall into it. How was she supposed to eat her dinner if they were talking about that as if they were discussing the weather.

Rukia wasn't the only one embarrassed. Akira wished his father would lay off on the heavy questions. Truthfully he wished he wasn't here at all. For half a century his father had been pushing him to get married, he guessed he finally got tired of waiting for his son to look for a wife and decided to get one for him.

It wasn't that he wasn't attracted to women, like some rumors said, it was just that Akira had been around for two centuries and he knew how noble women acted. He didn't want to marry a puppet who was only doing what she was told. What was wrong with a little passion? In his two hundred years Akira never once saw his parents get into an argument. His mother blind-fully accepted everything his father said and did. She worked relentlessly to please him, yet he rarely showed her any attention. That wasn't what he was looking for in a marriage.

Looking at Rukia, Akira, still had yet to decide what kind of woman she was. Since she wasn't born a noble Akira figured she'd be different from all the other noble women. Oh, she held herself like a noble. Head held high, back straight, only spoke when spoken to, but there was something in her eyes.

Akira had never seen anyone with violet eyes before. They were so big and expressive. It was easy for him to see that she was uncomfortable. She didn't frown, nor did she twitch, but those eyes kept looking around as if she were searching for an escape route. He wondered who was making her more nervous her brother or his dad.

"It's a little stuffy in here. Perhaps Rukia-san and I can talk a walk to clear our minds while the two of you continue to hash out the details" Akira said. He saw the look on Byakuya's face and quickly added, "With your permission of course."

"Sounds like a good idea to me" Saito said.

"Sure, sounds like a good idea to me as well" Byakuya said. He voice might have sounded cool and calm when he said it, but his eyes were threatening Akira with bodily harm if he tried anything funny.

Akira stood holding out his hand and Rukia took it. She was surprised when he didn't let go once she was on her feet. The two walked out of the restaurant.

They walked in silence towards no particular destination. They were both trying to figure out the other's intentions.

After a few minute Akira asked "What are you thinking about?"

Truthfully she was thinking about taking off her shoes so I'd be easier to walk.

"Nothing much, I was just noticing it is a full moon out" Rukia said.

Akira looked up, it was a full moon out. It illuminated the street quite nicely for them.

"Hm, in the moonlight your eyes almost look blue" Akira said. "I've never seen eyes like yours before they're beautiful."

Rukia didn't know why she wanted a blush. It's not like she's never been complimented before.

"Thank you" she replied.

"You're in Ukitake Juushiro's squad, right? How has he been?"

Rukia wasn't expecting the question to it took her a second to reply. "Ukitake-taichou is doing well. His sickness has not bothered him for quite some time."

"That's good to know" Akira replied.

"Do you know Ukitake-taichou?" Rukia couldn't help but ask.

"For a short while I thought I wanted to become a shinigami and Juushiro-san agreed to train me. I never did pursue it formally. My family wouldn't have allowed it. But we kept in touch and about a hundred years ago one of his brothers married my sister, so we see each other sometimes. I'm glad to see he's doing well."

Of course now that he mentioned it Rukia remembered when she had to study all of the noble families.

They continued to walk on in silence. The silence wasn't awkward, it left them both free to think. Rukia wished he would stop looking at her so intently and possibly give her her arm back, while Akira wanted to know what she was really like. She couldn't always be this shy.

"You don't have to be nervous around me" Akira said.

"I'm not nervous" Rukia replied.

Akira raised an eyebrow. "You're not? You're different from most women I know. They would be nervous having a omiai with someone they don't know. And most of the women I know had a lifetime to prepare for it. I take it this isn't the way you initially intended your life to go before you were adopted by the Kuchikis."

Rukia knew it was going to come up sooner or later, her adoption. She was surprised it lasted this long.

"I don't know how my life would've gone if I hadn't been accepted into the Kuchiki family. I don't think about things like that because I'm so grateful that Byakuya-niisama took me in."

Akira nodded.

"It was quite a scandal. Everyone assumed since you looked so much like Hisana that Byakuya took you in to be his mistress and saying you were his sister was just a cover."

Rukia spluttered and stopped walking. "People thought…me and nii-sama…?" Just the imagery in her head was making her stomach flop again. "What the hell is wrong with people?"

Akira laughed. Finally he got some emotion from her.

"There were other rumors, none of them very positive, surely you must know by now that the nobles love to gossip."

Yes, Rukia did know. She remembered hearing some of the rumors when she was first adopted into the family. Some people thought Rukia was Hisana's love child with another man. Rukia never believed it and she tried to ignore the rumors as much as possible.

"When we get married, it should put an end to all the rumors" Akira said.

"They're still saying them?!" Rukia asked causing Akira to laugh again.

It did not go unnoticed that now he said 'when' when earlier he said 'if'.

"Why now?" Rukia asked.

Akira raised an eyebrow. "Why now choose to get married?"

Rukia nodded, "If you don't mind me asking."

"My father has been pressuring me for a long time to get married. I don't think it is a question of why now. It wasn't like I was waiting for a right time to give into my father's meddling. It's more of who. I have no intentions on marrying a woman who was raised to do whatever her husband tells her just because he tells her. I watched my mother for years and I'm not convinced that she's happy."

"You don't think I'd do whatever you tell me to do" Rukia said.

"I don't want to marry a robot. I don't think you're a robot."

Funny, because at times she felt like a robot. When she was adopted into the Kuchiki clan she did whatever Byakuya or the elders told her to do. They molded her into their image and she lost her sense of self. Or at least she had until a couple of years ago when she broke the rules for the first time.

"You don't know me" Rukia said.

"Not yet."

AN: Okobo are those really cool shoes Geisha wear with their kimonos.