He sat behind the chabudai facing the doorway, eyes partially closed as he waited patiently. He knew what was going to happen, and he did not like it one bit. It was a big brother thing, he supposed. Or perhaps it was just because he was jealous of one Kurosaki Ichigo. Yes, he was mature enough to admit that he was doing what he was doing not completely to protect her, but also because he was jealous.
Yes, he, Kuchiki Byakuya, was jealous of a mere ryoka. And perhaps Kurosaki was not a mere ryoka, because he was sure that Rukia had better tastes than that, having lived in the Kuchiki household for a number of years. But no matter. He was jealous of Kurosaki, and he knew it.
He was jealous of the fact that Rukia showed such a strong attraction to Kurosaki, jealous of the fact that she had never looked at him with anything other than respect. He did not crave the romantic love from Rukia, heaven forbid, no, but what he wished for, what he would indeed like to have, was perhaps a little platonic love. He knew though, that it was highly unlikely, and that really, there was no way he was going to get it.
But he would and could deal with it, anyway. It was not his place to interfere with Rukia's affairs. All would be fine, and perhaps, when most of the commotion had died down, he would be able to speak with her sometime soon. His lips twitched slightly in a smile that was quickly suppressed. If he was not wrong, and he seldom was wrong about things not concerning his own emotions, this sometime soon was going to be very soon indeed. And it was going to be amusing, to say the least.
He heard footsteps outside the door, a slow shuffling, and an extremely familiar reiatsu, one that he had been expecting. Again, the small smile was ruthlessly suppressed. Any form of joy would have to be expressed later. He had matters to handle.
The shuffling paused, and he heard no sounds, nor felt no movement in reiatsu. He could not help the smirk that came to his face.
"Come in, Kurosaki Ichigo."
He could almost feel the ryoka blanch from where he was seated. Suppressing a snort, Byakuya decided that he had been around the other captains, especially Ukitake and Kyouraku sempai for too long. Their mannerisms were really rubbing off on him.
The thin door was slowly slid open, and a nervous looking Kurosaki Ichigo entered the room. Byakuya could tell from the way Kurosaki's fingers were twitching that he was nervous, and that he did not really want to be here. It seemed like he would have to guide the poor clueless kid then.
"Sit down."
Kurosaki's inability to meet his own eyes, or even look at his face for the moment made it all the more easier to hold back his amusement, especially the smirk that was threatening to take over his face. Goodness. This was more amusing than he had expected.
"You wished to see me, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
His tone held a hint of danger in it, spiced just the way he liked it. If he had managed to pull it off correctly, and he suspected he had, for he had had decades of experience using the exact same tone of voice on his subordinates, then Kurosaki was going to feel intimidated. And possibly do something characteristically Kurosaki-ish, which was exactly what he was looking for. After all, playing poker with Yoruichi, Kisuke, Kuukaku and Kaien for the most part of a century did teach him some skills in manipulation.
Exactly as he had hoped, Kurosaki's head shot up half in shock and half in anger. This much he could tell from the confused look in his eyes. But he was still speechless. There was no sound in the room besides Kurosaki's breathing. (Byakuya had long since mastered the art of breathing silently. It was very good at frightening the others in a room, which he often used to his advantage.) It seemed like Kurosaki was going to need even more prompting.
"Was there a matter you wanted to address, Kurosaki Ichigo? If not, then kindly remove yourself from my presence. I have more urgent things to attend to."
It was not a complete lie, because although he did not have anything urgent to attend to, anything was more urgent than sitting with a certain oddly silent Kurosaki Ichigo across the table. He waited for a short while, approximately five seconds, as he watched said ryoka attempt to gather his wits about him and ask the all-important question.
"CanImarryRukia?"
Kurosaki was doing a very good job of focusing on his forehead and not meeting his eyes at all. Sadly for him, Byakuya was a master at noticing whether people were looking at him or not, and this meant that Kurosaki was not ready. Another push in the right direction would be required then. He controlled his expression, willing hard not to break out in a smirk.
He purposefully met Kurosaki's gaze, holding it.
"Pardon? I am afraid I did not quite catch that."
Again, another lie. But oh well, these were white lies, and frankly, it was not as if the poor scared-half-out-of-his-wits Kurosaki was going to be able to tell. And even if he was not scared half out of his wits, he was still too nervous to be able to tell, which meant that he, Byakuya, was still quite safe. He sat through an approximately twenty-second long period of semi-silence in which Kurosaki took in approximately forty-two deep breaths, though goodness knew how he had done that.
"I would like to ask you for Rukia's hand in marriage."
Goodness. Now, exactly who had taught Kurosaki some manners? His eyebrows who have shot right up had he been anyone else. But he was Kuchiki Byakuya, and Kuchiki Byakuya did not show great expressions of emotion. As it was, he raised his eyebrows fractionally, the expression in his eyes not at all changing. It was rather satisfying to see the slightly pale look on Kurosaki's face, before that changed to slight annoyance and defiance.
"What's the matter? Why don't you say something, Byakuya?"
Good. It seemed that his wits had not completely deserted him then. The eyebrows crept slightly higher up, before he composed himself and spoke.
"Rukia's hand in marriage is not mine to give."
He was pleased to see the shock on Kurosaki's face, as he looked both outraged and horrified. It was interesting to see the way he attempted to compose himself, before half spluttering out his next question, or at least part of a question.
"Wh-Wh-What?!"
The eyebrows continued their movement upwards.
"I do not like to repeat myself, Kurosaki Ichigo. Rukia's hand in marriage is not mine to give."
A pause.
"It is hers."
He inwardly smirked at the mixed look of horror and fury on his face. Not giving him time to interject, he continued.
"However, I do grant my blessing."
He paused again, watching the myriad of emotions flash past on Kurosaki's face, the confusion being strongest, closely followed by disbelief.
"Wh-Wh-What?!"
"Kindly do not channel Renji, Kurosaki. I see the man in the office daily, and frankly, that is more than often enough."
His glee was threatening to break through, but he would not allow it. Kurosaki blinked.
"What did you just say, Byakuya?"
A slight frown marred his features as he looked back at Kurosaki.
"Kindly desist from referring to me as such. You will need to start preparing yourself to address me as 'nii-sama'."
Kurosaki's gobsmacked expression did it, and a smirk appeared on his face, to be quickly wiped off in favor of a full blown grin. What he did not expect was for Rukia to come barreling through the door and to hug him around the waist, burying her head into his midsection and murmuring something into his haori which he attempted to translate, before realizing that he could not understand that and then repeating it once more.
"Arigatou, Nii-sama."
He blinked in surprise, tensing up in the embrace which frankly, he was not very used to. There was a slight pause on his part, Kurosaki still sitting there staring back at them in shock, and Rukia hugging him around the waist, a huge smile on her face.
"Y-You're welcome, Rukia."
The corners of his lips turned up slightly in a smile as he relaxed slightly into the hug. There were perks to being a big brother after all.
And perhaps it was coincidental, or perhaps it was not, but for the next few weeks, he found that Rukia no longer avoided him, and Ichigo (goodness, he was now on a first name basis with Kurosaki) was no longer alternating between hostile and fearful. He kind of liked that, although he would never admit it to anyone.
But Rukia knew, as all little sisters know how to read their big brothers.