A Midsummer night's Dream
This has probably been done a million times before. I should probably start by defending my casting choices, or my wonderful timeline which makes no sense, and will probably soon be rendered useless by upcoming events in the manga. We'll save all these very complicated things for another chapter.
All I have to say is the following:
Don't try to make sense of this story. You will only end up more confused than you were to begin with.
Invisible Disclaimer:
I don't own Bleach. I don't own Kubo Tite. Nor do I own Shakespeare, Shakespeare's name, works, plot lines and characters. I also don't own this computer. A sad fact.
Prologue
Kuchiki Byakuya was sitting before Shihouin Yoruichi, goddess of flash, and sharing a calming cup of afternoon tea. Needless to say, he had been forced to take extreme measures. Very extreme. Extremely extreme.
There was only one thing which could bring a captain Byakuya's caliber into the real world without orders from the superiors. And that was a very headstrong sister. Said sister had already left him with a terrible headache, which was now compounded by a distinct worry about what Yoruichi would suggest. Her smirk wasn't helping the situation.
"What have you come to speak with me about, I wonder, taichou?"
Her tone of voice made Byakuya's toes curl, but it was too late for regrets now. All he could do was launch into his complaint.
"I have come to speak with you about my sister. You know I have promised her hand in marriage to Captain Kurosaki?"
"Of course." Yoruichi acknowledged the claim with a slight nod. This had been common knowledge for a long time now.
"Then you also know that my cur of a lieutenant have been courting her? Against my express wishes, and enchanted by his fine words, though you would never believe it, all her obedience towards me have been replaced with defiance. Now Rukia and Abarai have fled into Rukongai, and I fear their intention is…marriage." He spat out the last word, as though repulsed by the very idea.
"And in you, her guardian, surely she must put her trust before in herself?" The expression on the woman's face made the good Captain wonder if she was being completely serious, but he ignored it none-the-less.
"She will marry whom I choose, or she will die. It is the law, and I refuse to lose face in this matter."
There was an eerie silence as both Kuchiki Byakuya and Shihouin Yoruichi slurped their tea. The silence was pierced only by creaking footsteps outside the door. Byakuya ignored it. Babysitting Urahara Kisuke was hardly one of his duties. Yoruichi also ignored it, though he suspected her reasons might be slightly different.
"I hear Captain Kurosaki has seduced Arisawa Tatsuki, and now abandoned her for the hope of marrying your sister."
A muffled sound as of something heavy dropping on the floor just outside the door prevented Byakuya from answering straight away. He still ignored it, however. If Kuchiki Byakuya had decided something didn't exist, it didn't exist. Simple as that.
"Regardless, she should marry him. What do I care of some lowly, unseated slip of a girl from another division? She will do as I say, or suffer the consequences."
"If you are quite sure, then she must…" Yoruichi continued sipping her tea, and tried desperately to ignore the almost chuckling-like sounds from the other side of the door. This spelled trouble.