07/07/2014: This is a new, updated chapter. The original (which is still posted on AO3 if you want to read it, my username is the same on there, and there is a link in my profile) was written while I was unsure whether I wanted to keep it as a oneshot or continue with it and make it a multi-chapter. As I have decided to turn it into a multi-chapter I re-wrote this to fit into the format a bit better (and to try and fix some of the OOC-ness/general editing). I prefer this version, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1: Family Pressures

Ichigo stared at the girl sitting on his bed, knees tucked up to her chest. He had always joked about how small she was, calling her a midget and whatnot, but it genuinely surprised him how small she looked now. Despite the serious situation, Ichigo couldn't stop himself from wondering if that was one of the reasons Rukia hated opening up and being vulnerable. Ichigo knew full well that Rukia was clueless on what to do next, even though she would never admit it. It did all happen pretty fast. Both Byakuya and Rukia had almost died in the battle just gone. Ichigo understood that if both of them died, then the Kuchiki family didn't have anyone to take over as head of the family. He also understood why the family were being so hasty, but what it meant was that all of sudden Rukia was expected to get married and have children with some 'respectable' noble man that she hadn't even met yet. Ichigo did understand why the Kuchiki family were doing it, but that didn't mean it wasn't pissing him off beyond belief. Admittedly, Ichigo didn't know all of the details, but from what he had gathered, she was going to meet a carefully selected group of men and she would then choose from them.

The marriage itself didn't bother Ichigo. Well that's what he told himself, but he was struggling to believe it. Not that it mattered anyway. This was about her. Ichigo did not save her from that damn tower for her to get locked up again. He knew it wasn't the only reason this bothered him, but he had already come to the decision that any romantic feelings he had for Rukia had to be shut down now, given the circumstances. What she needed right now was a friend to lean on, not someone to complicate things further. Ichigo sighed. Rukia told him that she had agreed, but he doubted she had a choice. Ichigo doubted that even Byakuya has a choice in the matter, otherwise surely he would've tried to do something. Unless he was in the process of trying to do something. Ichigo clenched his fists, trying his hardest not to put them through the wall. How could they do this to her? Ichigo stared at Rukia again, studying her face. Ichigo was usually good at reading her expression, but he couldn't figure this one out.

This was a difficult situation to say the least, and Ichigo was very aware that this wasn't a situation you could fix with fighting. It needed to be handled with care, something that Ichigo was never really good at. Truth be told, Ichigo kinda felt like crying for Rukia as he realised how hard it would be to get out of this. Although, Rukia wasn't even looking for a way out. Running away wasn't really her sort of thing. She was looking for a way to cope. Ichigo sighed again as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to Rukia. She had been silent for a while now, waiting for Ichigo to talk.

"It might not be so bad." Rukia looked up at Ichigo, confusion in her eyes. Ichigo felt awkward, he was never good at the whole talking thing, but it was what Rukia needed. "I mean, I know it seems really scary, but arranged marriages can work. And it's not like your choice isn't taken into account."

Rukia shrugged. "It doesn't matter that I get to pick. They're all the same really."

"What are they like?"

Rukia sighed angrily. "None of them seem to do much. Most of them seem to spend their time lounging around, taking part in hobbies, that sort of thing."

"Maybe that's not so bad. What if you share interests?"

"But I don't want to spend my time lying around. I want to continue being a shinigami, I want to keep my position."

Ichigo was starting to understand why this was freaking Rukia out so much. This marriage didn't just mean getting married and having kids, it meant a radical lifestyle change. Nobles were traditional, there was no question about that. Ichigo reckoned that a traditional noble guy having a wife who was a Vice-Captain (or any other high position in the Gotei 13) was probably unheard of. Ichigo doubted that her potential suitors wanted a wife who appeared more accomplished than them. Or, if one of the potential suitors was actually a good match for Rukia and well and truly cared about Rukia, what was the likelihood that he wanted her to go into the field?

Ichigo was more than aware that Rukia could take care of herself, but he doubted that the nobles would believe that. She was tiny, and not to mention female. Ichigo knew full well that the idea that men made better soldiers than women was bullshit, but the chances of the traditional noble men sharing this view was low. The way Rukia acted around Ichigo was proof that she could take care of herself. But then again, she couldn't act like that in front of these men. Ever. Ichigo scowled as he realised that Rukia wouldn't be able to be herself in front of these potential suitors. She wouldn't be able to keep the dreams and goals she had. Christ, would she even be allowed to come and visit the human world? Would Ichigo ever see her again? Ichigo shook his head. Nope. Rukia wasn't ok with this, and Ichigo certainly wasn't.

"I'll do something."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "There's nothing you can do."

Ichigo spoke harshly. "Bullshit." Rukia quickly tilted her head up to look at Ichigo, surprised at his sudden change of mood. "There's nothing you can do. You're in a too awkward position, but that doesn't stop me. And it won't stop me. I can't let this happen Rukia. Maybe I could if you were happy but you're not."

Rukia glared at him. "What are you gonna do? Barge into my family's house, demand that they change what's happening? That's not going to do anything. You'll just get yourself thrown out. You can't fight this!"

"That doesn't mean I won't try."

"What's the point? You know it will fail, so why even try?"

Ichigo stood up from the bed and started pacing around the room. "Because I have to Rukia! It's bad enough that I have to stand by and see you get married to someone else, but someone you don't even love? Someone that doesn't make you happy? I can't..."

Ichigo trailed off, only just realising what he had said. Judging from the look on Rukia's face, she had noticed it too. It was last thing Ichigo wanted to tell her right now. Rukia needed a friend right now, someone she could talk to. Instead of helping her, he was complicating things, something she really didn't need right now. Rukia stood up and took a few steps toward Ichigo. "What do you mean, it's bad enough that I have to stand by and see you get married to someone else?"

Ichigo scowled at her. Surely she knew what he meant, yet she asking anyway. His scowl faltered however, after he caught sight of her expression. She looked desperate for an answer. "What I meant, I mean...you shouldn't...you shouldn't marry someone else. You should stay with me. But it's impossible, I know that. So just ignore that I ever said it."

Rukia shook her head. "You know as well as I do that I can't forget that." All Ichigo wanted to do was hug her when he watched her eyes gloss over with unshed tears, but he didn't want to make the situation any worse. Rukia's lip trembled slightly before she punched Ichigo hard in the chest. "That's not fair Ichigo! You can't tell me that! Not now! I'm supposed to be getting married soon! Why are you making this harder than they need to be?"

Ichigo felt empty inside. Making things harder? Did she mean that she liked him back but couldn't act on it any more? Or that the friend she thought she could rely on just made talking about her future marriage a hell of a load more awkward? Ichigo had no idea. And he really needed to know. "How am I making things harder?

"Because! Because...I have to marry someone soon...And I know I don't want to marry people like them. I want..." Ichigo raised an eyebrow, coaxing her to go on. "I want...Someone like you." Ichigo was usually bad at reading between the lines, but he knew full well that 'someone like you' was actually code for 'you'. Ichigo was an oddity, there wasn't anybody like him, not in her world. But Rukia's inability to be open made it damn near impossible for her to actually say it.

"But it's not an option. It was easier to ignore what I wanted because I didn't think it would ever work, but now you're telling me that I should be with you and I..."

Ichigo finished the sentence for her. "And you can't. Even though it's what you want." Ichigo knew the lack of a reaction meant he was right. Talk about a hollow victory. "I'm sorry Rukia. I knew I shouldn't have said it. I never meant to say it. I just-"

She nodded, cutting Ichigo off. "I know. You never think before doing."

"Tch. I think you think too much. Did you even object to this sudden arrangement or were you too busy thinking about the consequences?"

"I tried to object. But it's a little difficult to object when every 15 seconds they complain at you about your manners, or how much I owe them for adopting me."

Yeah, that didn't surprise Ichigo. "Ok well ignoring that, you still over-think. You should try being impulsive from time to time."

Rukia raised an eyebrow at Ichigo, an apprehensive look on her face. "Like now?"

Ichigo knew he was about to make an ass of himself, but he didn't care. This could be the last time he'd see her for all he knew. He knew if he didn't do something now he'd miss his chance. "Yeah, like now."

Rukia shook her head. "Ichigo, you know that's not a good idea."

"I don't care Rukia. I know it's a mistake. But sometimes you have to make mistakes. Because even though pretty much all the evidence points to the fact that it's a mistake there's still a tiny chance that it's not, so you try anyway."

"That's stupid, you realise that?"

"Maybe. It probably is a mistake. But you haven't said no yet. You're not actually all that opposed to it, so surely that means that there's a chance that it isn't a mistake." Ichigo knew Rukia would never make the first move, but Ichigo got the feeling that she wasn't going to object if he did. But it was better that way, because if it did turn out to be a mistake, at least she could blame it on him. Ichigo bent down and closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around her waist. Rukia made a small sounds of surprise, standing stiffly for a moment before giving in, tiptoeing to wrap her arms around Ichigo's neck, returning the kiss. Ichigo pulled Rukia closer, making her whimper slightly. Ichigo, realising that she had been on her tiptoes for a good minute now, lifted her up and wrapped her legs round his waist, having no intention of stopping if she didn't. He wouldn't hesitate to stop if Rukia wanted to, but she showed no signs of slowing yet.

She broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily, resting her head on Ichigo's shoulder. He looked carefully for any signs of worry on Rukia's face, but instead he found an small, very embarrassed smile on her face. He smiled before kissing her on the cheek. Hilariously enough, little gestures like that seemed to embarrass her more, Rukia's face going even redder than it was before. Ichigo kissed her on the mouth again, before catching her neck and sucking hard. She gasped loudly before quickly covering her mouth with her hand. Ichigo smirked against her neck. "Rukia, no one's home. Dad's god knows where and the twins are on a school trip. You don't have to worry about being quiet."

"I know...But...It's embarrassing."

A kind smile replaced the smirk on Ichigo's face. He knew full well that she could be pretty self-conscious. And it was to be expected really, in this situation. He doubted she had ever been in such a position.

"Ichigo?"

Rukia's quiet voice pulled Ichigo out of his thoughts, studying her face for a moment. Ichigo had seen that expression several times before, she was worried about him. He mumbled out a quick sorry before continuing, making her dig the nails into the back of his neck. At the minute, Ichigo wanted to focus on this and only this. He started trailing his tongue from her collarbone down, making Rukia's breath hitch. Ichigo lifted her higher on his body so he didn't have to crane his neck down so much. It was cute that she was so small, but it did create certain logistical problems.

I didn't take long for it to become apparent that her dress was getting in the way. Ichigo pulled it over her head easily, making Rukia go bright red. She paused for a moment before pulling Ichigo's arms away from her, keeping herself wrapped around him with her thighs alone. She roughly grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled up. Ichigo lifted his arms and helped her pull his top off, it joining her dress on the floor. Rukia grabbed Ichigo's neck and pulled him towards her, kissing him. Clearly she wanted to start taking matters into her own hands, but Ichigo was having none of it. He wanted tonight to be about her. Ichigo gripped her waist securely and pulled her away from himself before practically throwing her on the bed. He followed, straddling her, putting most of his weight on his knees so he didn't hurt her.

Ichigo looked down at Rukia for a moment, making her blush and turn her head. He leant forward and kissed her, sliding his hands from her waist to her breasts, kneading softly. Rukia gasped before reaching up and slapping Ichigo lightly. Ichigo stopped immediately, looking closely at Rukia. She rolled her eyes, looking away. "You're gonna ruin my bra if you continue like that."

"Oh...Oh right! So you're still happy to continue? You don't wanna stop?"

Rukia nodded a little, still looking away. "If I want you to stop I'll tell you, ok?"

"You sure?"

Rukia turned to face Ichigo, nodding again. Ichigo leant forward again, reaching behind her back, fumbling a bit before getting her bra undone, leaving Rukia trying to stifle giggles. He smiled down at her, hooking his fingers under her bra straps and pulling down gently.

With cheeks tinged with pink, Rukia watched as Ichigo kissed a path from her shoulder to her breast before latching on to her nipple and sucking. She cried out, arching her back towards Ichigo, dragging her nails down his back. Ichigo hissed slightly. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like it. She bucked her hips up, meeting Ichigo's, making both of them groan. Ichigo hesitated for a moment before sliding his right hand down to her hip. He looked up at Rukia to find her watching him, waiting for him to continue. "Yeah?"

Rukia nodded slightly. "Yeah."

Ichigo brought his hand from her hip and dipped in between her legs, causing her breath to hitch.

Ichigo started stroking her gently through her underwear, watching her reactions carefully. He changed his position slightly, the sounds escaping Rukia making Ichigo painfully aware that skinny jeans were a poor clothing choice in these sort of situations. She started wriggling slightly, and Ichigo took that as a cue to go faster. He tried rubbing her a little harder, and she moaned louder, hands clinging to his arm. Ichigo pulled away and placed both hands on her hips. Rukia pouted slightly, speaking breathlessly. "Why did you stop?"

"I wanna try something."

Ichigo hooked a finger on either side of her underwear and pulled down, tossing the article of clothing to the side. The red returned to Rukia's face, and Ichigo noticed that she seemed to be fighting the urge to cover herself.

Ichigo moved up and kissed her on the lips. "You're so beautiful." Ichigo smiled, truly smiled, when Rukia tilted her her head up to look at him straight in the eyes with a mixture of vulnerability, gratitude, and her usual spark. Ichigo held eye contact as he kissed a line down her body, feeling her pulse speed up as he got lower. Ichigo stopped as he got to her belly button and looked up. He saw some insecurity, but her eyes were daring. Remembering that Rukia had said she would stop him if she wanted him to, he continued kissing down, gently spreading her legs. Rukia's breath hitched when Ichigo kissed her clit. Ichigo paused for a moment. He knew what to do in theory, but it was strange, actually doing it for real. He looked up at Rukia's face, watching her facial expression as he darted his tongue out against the area he just kissed, earning a loud gasp. Ichigo took that as a good reaction and continued, stroking his tongue against her clit repeatedly.

He was tempted to try and 'explore' a bit, to try and learn her body, but Rukia's hands seemed quite determined to keep him right where he was. Ichigo obeyed, trying different techniques instead, watching her to see what she liked best, watching her lose control of her own reactions, even her own muscles. She moved to unclench her thighs from his face, but instead Ichigo pulled her legs towards him, positioning her calves on his back, her knees bending over his shoulders. If he did this right her thighs were only going to end clamming tight again anyway. He gripped her hips tightly, in an attempt to stop them from bucking too much as he worked his tongue on her. Ichigo kept up a steady pace, stroking his tongue over her clit over and over, but he desperately wanted to push her over the edge. He started working faster, with more force, causing Rukia to moan louder, gripping his hair tightly, but it wasn't quite enough. After thinking for moment, Ichigo sucked on her clit making her cry out loudly, muscles jolting, taking Ichigo by surprise.

He pulled back for a moment. Had she orgasmed? Ichigo looked up, watching Rukia as her breathing calmed down a bit before looking back down. She looked a lot wetter than she was before, and while she looked embarrassed, she did look pleased. "Did..Did you?"

Rukia nodded, still struggling to catch her breath. After a few moments Rukia opened her eyes and looked over to Ichigo. She sat up, her knees now bending over the edge of the bed rather than Ichigo's shoulders, pulling at Ichigo's arms so he stood up, now looking down at her from between her legs.

Rukia looked up at Ichigo, her face still slightly flushed from her climax, before turning her attention on his belt. By the time Ichigo had figured out what she was planning on doing Rukia had already thrown the belt half way across the room, his trousers around his ankles. Ichigo looked into her eyes. He had wanted this to be about her, he wanted to make her happy, for her to be the focus, but he wasn't about to complain if she was going to reciprocate. Ichigo stepped out of the trousers and kicked them to the side. Rukia appeared to be a little nervous about taking off the last article of clothing however.

"Rukia, if you don't want to you-"

"I do, it's just..."

Ichigo knelt down on the floor so they could be face to face. "What?"

Rukia took a deep breath before speaking, admitting weakness was not an easy thing for her. "I don't really know what I'm doing."

"Rukia, neither do I."

Her face flushed, and she replied in a quieter voice. "I beg to differ."

Ichigo grinned. "Well ok, but I've never actually done anything before. Besides, guys are a lot easier to get off than women, you'll be fine." Ichigo kept smiling as Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Only you could be so crude in about 10 words."

"Oh I dunno, I could've said something worse."

Rukia rolled her eyes again. "Don't."

"I won't, I won't. You seem to get embarrassed quite easily in these situations."

"Why are you saying that like it's a weird thing!?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I'm not saying it's weird, but, well, from what I've heard people may age just kinda go through all of it without stopping to think and get embarrassed. Teenagers aren't as careful as they should be half the time."

Rukia nodded slightly. "Hmm. I've noticed that humans generally seem more...Eager than shinigami."

"Tell me about it. If it wasn't for a certain few Vice-Captains I wouldn't have even realised that you guys have sex drives."

"Yeah. There's actually a reason for that."

"Oh?"

Rukia nodded again. "Yeah. You know how pregnancy for humans is pretty exhausting?" It has a tendency to be worse for souls. You have to have a decent level of reiatsu to be able to withstand it, because of that reason it's only those who have higher levels of reiatsu that experience sexual desire."

Ichigo nodded a little, digesting the information, it's not what he expected, but he guessed it made sense. "How high do the levels need to be?"

"Oh not very. Any shinigami would be capable, as well as Rukongai residents here and there, it's not like you need a Captain's level of reiatsu to have children, but lack of reiatsu is the reason why you don't see many infants in Rukongai."

"Right. Using that logic, surely the higher the levels of reiatsu, the better off the mother and child will be?"

"Probably. I think so anyway."

"I imagine that makes you pretty desirable."

Rukia shrugged. "If you say so."

Ichigo couldn't decipher the look on Rukia's face, so he tried elaborating. "In terms of noble marriage anyway. I can think of several other factors that make you desirable." Rukia's expression turned to one of disbelief, albeit with a light blush on her face. "For example, you're beautiful, you're cute, you kick ass-"

"That's not a desirable trait for a noble woman you know."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Maybe not for some people, but hey it works for me."

Rukia bit back a laugh. "I swear you're a masochist."

"Well maybe a little." Ichigo winked at Rukia in an exaggerated manner, making her giggle. Ichigo leant forward to kiss her gently, which Rukia responded to happily, wrapping her arms around his neck. Ichigo couldn't remember how she ended up in his lap, but she did. He pulled away, but Rukia didn't. She went to kiss him again, being stopped by Ichigo firmly putting his hands on her hips. "Rukia?"

Rukia pulled back a little. "Yeah?"

"Um, if the higher reiatsu you have correlates to how easily you have children, if this a good idea? Given that I er, don't have any protection?"

Rukia looked up at Ichigo. "Oh," she spoke quietly, blushing, "Probably not. I hadn't thought of that."

Ichigo kissed her neck lightly before speaking against her skin. "Hmm. Maybe you're just as bad as us eager humans." Rukia sent Ichigo a glare, but the effect was diminished as she was blushing furiously. Ichigo couldn't help but tease her a bit. "I wonder if sexual desire is correlated to reiatsu as well. I mean, that would make your libido pretty damn high."

"Well that theory would certainly explain you."

Ichigo laughed. "Only you would manage to come back with something like that while you're naked and flustered."

"Damn straight."

Ichigo smiled, kissing her briefly again. Rukia rested her head on his shoulder, her hands placed on his chest. She took a deep breath. "Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to marry someone else."

Ichigo nodded. "I know. If you did, you wouldn't still be here." Rukia stayed silent. "Do you even want to get married?"

Rukia nodded. "I do, I think. I've always liked the idea of getting married, but it was always something I figured would happen much later on."

That wasn't all too surprising to Ichigo. She may be a lot older than him, but she was still very young in terms of shinigami. " I see." He held his breath for a moment, his voice coming out quieter than he wanted. "If you had to marry someone, but you could choose absolutely anyone, who would you choose?" Rukia looked up at Ichigo, a pointed look on her face. Ichigo found himself holding his breath again. "Me?"

Rukia nodded, staring down at her lap. "You."

"How long do these arranged marriages take to organise?"

"Well, you get the initial match meeting, which tend to take weeks as you meet the potential suitors one at a time. Then you pick a suitor. Usually the first dates, as you would call them, are just meetings, similar to the initial one, where you just get to know each other, to see whether the match is appropriate, in front of family members from each side. That tends to take a couple of months, as there's often a lot of negotiation with Kuchiki weddings. Then you start meeting without the family. Generally it's expected that the couple spend at least a year together before getting engaged. The engagement tends to last about two years or so, as noble weddings tend to take a lot of planning, and there are usually a lot of compromises that have to be made. Each noble house will have their own traditions that they want honoured."

The information gave Ichigo hope. It would be at least 3 or 4 years until she was married. It gave him some time to suck up to the Kuchiki family to maybe be considered as one of her suitors. Truthfully, Ichigo didn't know if he was in love with Rukia, but he knew he cared about her a great deal, and the idea of her getting married to someone else made his blood boil. And besides, if they weren't in love now, they had a few years in which they could fall in love. They had never dated before, they had never opened that door before, so maybe they would fall in love. Even if it didn't work out, Ichigo didn't think he'd be able to forgive himself if he didn't try. And imagine if it did work, the thought alone made Ichigo happy. He had to try.

"Rukia?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna do something about this."

Rukia stared at him. "What could you do though? This isn't something you can just fight your way through."

Ichigo nodded. "I know. But I'll find a way. I always do."

XxXxXxX

Rukia tried to itch her head as carefully as she could. She wasn't used to having ornaments in her hair, so they irritated her head, but she wouldn't hear the end of it if she ruined her hair. The first three match meetings had not gone well. All of them were so boring, to the point where Rukia genuinely struggled to pay attention. Her matchmaker entered the room Rukia was in. "Are you ready to meet your fourth potential match?"

Rukia bit back a sigh and nodded. The matchmaker starting to lead her to the room where her next 'match' waited, talking quickly the entire time.

"Rukia, this particular match was not only approved by your brother, but was actually put forward by him too, so you must make sure to leave a good impression." Rukia didn't listen to anything else her matchmaker said. Byakuya had actually put someone forward? He didn't seem at all approving of her getting married, but he had suggested someone? Who? All sorts of questions were running through her head. Her matchmaker opened the door and Rukia couldn't stop herself from gasping. "Ichigo?"

He smirked at her. "Hey."

I'm not convinced they're brilliantly in character, but I think it's better than what it was. Anyway, I'm a little out of practice with writing these two (and this is the first thing I've written/re-written quite so M-rated as well) so suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!