Summary: For the IchiRuki Fan Club giveaway at Bleach Asylum "Whispers of Love". Theme: New Year's, Engagement. This turned out to be more of a Byakuya piece actually.
"Come in." Byakuya said in response to the knock at his office door. He did not look up from his work.
Rukia opened the door and walked over to stand in front of his desk. She gave a respectful bow.
"Ni-sama, I wanted to let you know I was leaving for the real world."
"Hmm." He said while still writing. "Spending New Year's at the Kurosaki's is getting to be something of a habit with you."
"You disapprove, Ni-sama?" She asked.
Byakuya simply shook his head. He put the paper he was working on aside and reached for the next one in his in-box.
Rukia took a deep breath. She had to gather her nerve for what she was about to say next.
"Ni-sama. Would you like to go with me?"
He stopped writing. Putting down his brush, he looked at her for the first time since she entered the room.
"Go with you?" He asked.
"Yes, Ni-sama." Rukia said. "You are always working. I worry about you staying here all alone. It would make me feel better if I knew you were relaxing every once in a while."
"I appreciate your concern." He replied. "You needn't worry. I am fine the way I am."
"Won't you at least consider it Ni-sama?" She asked. "If nothing else, it would be nice for us to spend some time together as family."
The thought actually touched Byakuya deeply. While he cared for his adopted sister very much, he knew he was not good at showing it. Still, the thought of a modern day party in the real world with its raucous informality did not appeal to him.
"I will consider it." he said.
He picked up his brush and returned to his work.
Rukia looked downcast at his evasion. She had really wanted him to go.
"Well, if you change your mind Ni-sama, the party will be going on till after midnight. Please stop by if you can."
Byakuya made a noise in acknowledgment and kept working. Rukia quietly showed herself out, sad that he wasn't coming but taking comfort in the fact that she at least tried.
Byakuya had finished his work on schedule as always. After dinner, alone, he went to the family shrine to reflect and pray for Hisana. It's what he did every year at that time. Finishing his prayers, he gazed at her picture, remembering her voice, her laugh, her smiling face. He missed her so much. Being without her hurt just as much now as when she died. When she had lived, he did everything he could to make her happy. He knew she loved him just as much he loved her. Still, there was always sadness deep inside of her he could not take away. The guilt she felt from abandoning her sister. He had used every resource at his command to find her, to take away his wife's pain and to make her happiness complete. He had failed. When he found Rukia, he had done all he could to keep her close and safe, thinking he was honoring his late wife's wishes and memory. In doing so, he later found that while he was providing her with material safety, he was killing her pride. He had failed Hisana again. His wife's face peered out at him from the photograph. There was no accusation in her eyes. No disappointment. That came from inside his own heart.
"Am I failing you again Hisana?" He asked. "Am I failing to do what I should for our family? Am I being an unworthy brother to her again?"
Hisana's face was serene as always. It seemed to tell him what he should do. Putting his hands together, he bowed low. Visiting the shrine always made him feel that Hisana wasn't completely gone. It always made it easier to listen to his heart.
Yuzu answered the doorbell. "Good evening, sir." She said to the tall dark stranger. "Can I help you?"
Byakuya gave a respectful bow. "Good evening to you as well. I am Kuchiki Byakuya. I believe my sister Rukia is here?"
"Oh yes!" Yuzu said smiling. "She said you may be stopping by. Welcome Kuchiki-san! Please come in and let me take your coat. I don't know where Rukia is right now, but I know she'll be thrilled you made it. Make yourself at home!"
With a polite nod, Byakuya let the young girl take his overcoat and entered the living room. Yuzu ran upstairs to put the coat in one of the bedrooms. Taking a moment to adjust his tie and to make sure his dark, tailored suit was in order, he quietly scanned the room. Music was playing in the background as people mingled and talked to each other, most of them with champagne glasses in their hands. As he walked through the crowd, he saw there were no children or young people. They seemed to be mostly middle aged and human. Dr. Kurosaki's friends and patients no doubt.
From out of nowhere, a slim brown arm threw itself around his shoulders.
"Hey, Byakuya-bo!" Yoruichi yelled, putting all her weight on him. "I can't believe you're here!"
Byakuya frowned at her, both for her slinky, low cut dress as well as for her obviously inebriated state.
"I did not come for your benefit, Shihoiun Yoruichi." He coldly informed her. "And I would appreciate it if you would stop hanging onto me."
"Really?" She said slyly. "There's a lot of guys who would appreciate the exact opposite!"
"That is not my concern." Byakuya said as he tried to pry her arms off. "I am here to spend time with my sister."
"Glad to hear it, glad to hear it." She burbled as she snagged a champagne glass off a nearby table. "Anything that'll make you lighten up is a good thing. Here, have a drink."
"I am fine, thank you." He said.
"Oh, come on! It's New Year's." She protested.
"I will accept it if you let go of me." He bargained.
She made a disappointed frown. "Fine you old stick-in-the-mud."
She let go of him as he accepted the drink.
"Now, can you tell me where Rukia is?" He asked.
"No," she said shaking her head. "I haven't seen her in a while. Dr. Kurosaki's over there if you want to ask him. It's his house, so he might have a better idea."
Spotting someone else she knew, Yoruichi waved at them and went over to talk, seemingly forgetting all about Byakuya. That suited him just fine. Moving in the direction Yoruichi had indicated, he soon saw Kurosaki Isshin in a corner with Urahara Kisuke and some silver haired gentleman he was unacquainted with.
"C'mon, Ryuuken!" Isshin slurred holding out a bottle. "You've barely had any!"
"Watching you two drunken clowns is more than amusing enough, thank you." Ryuuken coolly replied.
"You are not the man I knew when you were younger." Urahara said. "You used to put us all to shame. What happened to you man?"
"Some of us had to grow up." Ryuuken said.
"Not me!" Isshin declared. "Growing up is the first step to growing old. I mean just look at your hair, man!"
Urahara cracked up at that, making Isshin laugh too. Byakuya thought this would be a good time to interrupt.
"Pardon me gentlemen." He said.
"Hey, if it isn't Kuchiki-san." Urahara said with surprise.
"Welcome to the party." Isshin said holding out his hand. "Glad you could make it."
Byakuya politely shook his host's hand. "Thank you, Kurosaki-san. I was wondering if you had seen my sister."
"The kids are in the kitchen." Isshin said while pointing the way. "They wouldn't want to be around a bunch of old farts like us, so we set up something separate for them. That's where the food's at too. Be sure to help yourself."
"My thanks." Byakuya said, excusing himself with a polite bow. Behind him, he could hear the three men starting up again.
"I can see you trying to fill up my glass again Kisuke." Ryuuken warned.
"It's my best stock!" Urahara protested. "I'm telling you you're missing out…"
Their voices faded into the background as he made his way to the kitchen. He wondered if it wouldn't be easier to track down Rukia by her reiatsu, but with so many powerful people in one place, there was too much interference. That orange haired Kurosaki boy was obviously here, but his energy signature seemed to cover the entire block. He could be anywhere. Entering the kitchen, he saw it was filled with children from age 5 to 18, some playing games, the older ones talking or tending to the little ones. He spotted some familiar faces sitting at the table. Inoue Orihime was talking with the quincy, Ishida Uryuu as well as two girls he didn't know. They rose to their feet at his approach.
"Captain Kuchiki." Uryuu said. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Welcome."
"Hi, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime gushed. "I'm so glad you made it! Have you met my friends before? This is Arisawa Tatsuki and Honsho Chizuru."
"Very pleased to meet you." Byakuya said with a polite bow.
"Ah ha. Ha. Ha, ha." Tatsuki awkwardly laughed, her face stiff and her eyes glazed. She held out her hand, then took it back, then put it behind her, then seemed to not know what to do with it. Chizuru just stared with her mouth open.
"My apologies for interrupting you." Byakuya said."I am looking for my sister. Have you seen her?"
Uryuu pushed up his glasses. He knew where Rukia was, but he didn't think telling her brother would be a good idea. On the other hand, not telling him might make things worse. Quincy honesty won out in the end.
"I think she went into the examination room with Kurosaki a few minutes ago."
"What? When? I didn't see them leave." Orhime said.
There was no noticeable change on Byakuya's face, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
"The examination room you say." He quietly affirmed. "Thank you. I will look there."
With another polite bow, Byakuya took his leave. As he exited the room, Tatsuki finally managed to gain control of herself.
"Whoa! Rukia's brother is SO HOT!" She squealed.
"I know, right!" Chizuru seconded.
"I thought you didn't like men?" Orhime asked.
"He's the exception that proves the rule." Chizuru said as she wiped the drool off her chin.
They went by themselves to the examination room, eh? Byakuya thought as he strode down the hall to the small family run clinic.
There were many reasons why the carrot topped boy could have slipped away from the party to be alone with Rukia back here. At the moment, he couldn't think of a single one that he would approve. He felt around in his jacket pocket to see if his soul candy dispenser was ready. Just in case. As he paused to find the dispenser, he heard voices from the end of the hall. It was Ichigo and Rukia's voices.
"Ichigo, we're missing the party, are you going to stand there scratching you head all day or are you going to tell me what we're doing here?"
"All right, All right." He said. "This isn't easy for me you know."
"Why?" Rukia asked. "You know me well enough by now. You can tell me anything."
Ichigo sighed loudly. "I'm no good at this kinda stuff. Well here goes. Rukia, you and me…we have a pretty unique bond. It's hard for me to describe it, but it's there, don't you agree?"
"That's true." She agreed, so quietly, Byakuya could hardly hear.
"There's nothing that can break this bond we share, no matter what." Ichigo said. "And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's brought me more happiness than I could have ever imagined. You've brought me more happiness than I could have ever imagined. That's why I brought you here. Rukia, I have something I want to ask you."
"Ask me?" She almost whispered.
"Yes." He said. There was a significant pause. "Rukia…I…I…uh, here."
Byakuya heard Rukia gasp loudly. He decided he had stood there long enough. He opened to door and entered the room.
It only took a moment to take everything in. Ichigo, kneeling on the floor, holding up a small box. Rukia, her gaze transfixed by the ring it held. It only lasted a fraction of a second before they turned their heads to look at him in shock.
"Ni-sama!" Rukia exclaimed. Ichigo sprang to his feet.
Byakuya said not a word. He turned around and closed the door.
Ichigo and Rukia were stunned for a few seconds. As soon as Rukia could shake it off, she looked up at ichigo. Her face had blind panic written all over it.
"I have to go." She said.
Ichigo could only watch, rooted to the spot, as Rukia dashed from the room.
She found him outside, staring at the glass of champagne in his hand as if wondering how it got there. He swirled the liquid around and around, watching the ripples it made against the glass. She stepped before him and bowed low in apology.
"Ni-sama." She said. "I am so sorry. I had no idea he was going to do that. He doesn't know he had no right to ask. He has no concept of what it's like for nobility."
She stepped closer to her brother. He still wouldn't look at her. She cast her eyes down in shame as she tried to let him know she hadn't meant to disgrace him.
"I know as a member of the Kuchiki family, I must marry who you select for me, Ni-sama. I know it is a matter of improving ties between the families and strengthening the clan. My feelings are not important. I accept that. I will go to him Ni-sama. I will explain why we cannot be together. I will not dishonor you or the clan with my disobedience."
"You won't?" Byakuya said as he looked up from his glass. "You surprise me."
Rukia was shocked. "Ni-sama?"
"If you will not go against the laws and customs of the clan for what you want, for what you believe in, then you are not the Rukia I have come to know." He clarified. "Either that, or you do not truly love that boy. Speak to me honestly. Tell me what it is you believe to be right in your heart. What is it you want to do?"
Rukia looked up at him with tears forming in her eyes. Was she really hearing correctly?
"I love him Ni-sama." She said. "There is no doubt in my heart. I want to be with him always."
Byakuya looked down at his glass again. He sighed.
"Then you have my permission to do so." He said.
Rukia couldn't believe what she just heard. "But the clan? You're position?" She said.
"I do indeed have my responsibilities to the clan and the law." He replied. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "I also have responsibilities to you. I've tried living my life by always following our laws. They are important and should be respected. But sometimes, they can also be wrong. Sometimes there are situations where they just don't fit. You taught me that."
He took away his hand and turned his back to her.
"There will be some difficulties from this." He said. "However, as the head of the clan, I can make an executive decision and enforce it on the council of the family heads. And if they don't like it, they can…go to hell."
He took a sip from his glass. "I believe someone is waiting for you Rukia."
His sister stood looking at his stoic back, tears of joy blurring her sight. She wiped her eyes as best she could with her hands.
"Thank you Ni-sama." She said.
He merely nodded. He listened as she walked back into the house. He took a deep breath as he looked up at the moon peeking through the clouds. It wasn't going to be easy facing the council over this. That wasn't such a big concern. What was more troubling to him was the odd feeling of loss he was experiencing. It wasn't like Rukia was going away forever. It still felt as though he had just given away something very precious to him. The boy had better take damned good care of that precious gift.
Over the music of the party, he heard Ichigo give an ecstatic yell. There was a lot of hubbub from the people inside. It lasted more than a few minutes, but was interrupted by Yoruichi.
"Hey everybody, time for the countdown!" She shouted "Ten, nine, eight, seven…"
Byakuya took another sip from his glass.
"Hisana my love." He whispered, "I didn't fail you this time."
The End.