A.N. First thing: I don't own Bleach, even if it would be cool, but no, this isn't mine. The only thing that is mine is the computer used to write this story.
Hi everyone, this story has been on my computer longer than I can remember, and when I found it today while searching after another file on my computer I just thought it would be fun to post it. Just know that this is just an old idea I had and I don't know if I'll ever continue it after the second chapter.
The story begins just after Ichigo and the others have left Soul Society after having saved Rukia and learned about Aizen's treason, so the bounds never came and Aizen is still waiting in Hueco Mundo.
As for the pairing, this is Ichigo/Rukia.
As we are near the end of the year, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Hope you enjoy,
Lisy
Byakuya's plan.
Chapter 1 – The proposition.
It was a day like any other in Soul Society, with nothing else to do than paperwork, and as Kuchiki Byakuya was seated at his desk in the sixth squad's headquarters he decided that for once he would allow himself to reflect a bit on the recent events in Soul Society, and of course it lead him to the treason of Aizen. This train of thought inevitably brought him to think about Kurosaki Ichigo, the substitute shinigami, the only one who had been able to see through the lies and save his sister.
Thinking about Kurosaki always put him in a bad mood. He knew that he should respect the boy, as he had fought for the right things and was very powerful, more powerful than himself and probably even more than the captain commander, but he couldn't bring himself not to want to crush him with his Senbonzakura.
He knew however, that if he ever tried to do that Rukia would never speak to him again. He knew she loved the boy, no matter what she said; he could see it in her eyes when she was near him, he had seen how much she loved Kurosaki when the boy came to save her against all odds. He also knew the sentiments of the boy towards his sister – it was obvious, after all he had gone through in order to save her from her execution. But he knew that Rukia would never be able to be in a relationship with him as she was a noble in Soul Society and he was a living nobody. It had almost been the same problem for him when he married Rukia's sister all those years ago. He had had to go against the elders of the Kuchiki clan and it had been a difficult battle, a battle that Rukia had too much respect for the family to fight.
Byakuya knew that his sister would never be happy without Kurosaki, just as he would never have been truly happy without his wife. He may not like Kurosaki, but he loved Rukia, and even if he didn't want it, he knew Soul Society had a debt toward the boy and as a man of values he didn't want to let any debt unpaid.
That's how, slowly but surely a plan formed into his mind.
He woke up from his desk and turned to his lieutenant. "Abarai Renji, I have an important errant. You are to take control of the squad in my absence. Please also finish the paperwork." And without waiting an answer, he flash-stepped to the office of the captain commander to tell him of his plan and ask him permission to put it in motion.
After explaining his plan and reasoning to Yamamoto, Byakuya waited several minutes for the old man to speak.
"Do you believe this could succeed, Kuchiki-taicho?"
"Yes, I do" answered Byakuya without any hesitation and in his usual voice.
"Very well, I will let you proceed as you see fit, however I can not let you have more than 3 months to accomplish the first part. Good luck Kuchiki-taicho"
"Thank you" said Byakuya as he bowed.
Not even a minute later, he was standing in front of the senkai gate. Without waiting much longer, he went to the living world. Then, he directly went to Urahara's and rented a gigai and 10 minutes later he was in front of the Kurosaki's house.
He knocked on the door and 10 seconds later Yuzu opened the door.
"Hello" she said.
"Hello, am I at the Kurosaki's?" asked Byakuya.
"Yes, my name is Yuzu, what can I do for you?"
"I am Kuchiki Byakuya. Could it be possible to speak with Kurosaki Ichigo, please? I have an offer for him." asked Byakuya with as much politeness as he could – never let it be said that he wasn't polite!
"Yes, of course, please follow me inside, I'll call Ichi-nii" said Yuzu.
When they were inside, Yuzu called her brother "Ichi-nii, Kuchiki Byakuya is here to speak with you!" she yelled.
"Comin'" was the response from Ichigo.
A minute later, he descended the stairs.
"Yo, Byakuya, long time no see. What's the problem this time?" he asked. Yuzu left the room.
"Kurosaki Ichigo" said Byakuya "I'm here to make a proposition to you".
"Heuh? What do you want?"
"As we do not have a lot of time, I'll ask you to forgive me as I'll have to be direct" Byakuya answered. "But before we begin, I have a question I want you to answer honestly. Are you in love with Rukia?"
That was not something Ichigo had expected, first Byakuya shows up in a gigai and asks to see him, and now he asks him if he loves Rukia?
Ichigo did the only thing he could do in such a situation: he laughed "OK, Renji, that was a good one and you can do Byakuya very good, seriously, where did you find such a stupid idea for a joke? You baka! Now remove the disguise"
"I can assure you, Kurosaki, that I am indeed Kuchiki Byakuya and not Abarai Renji." Said Byakuya "but if you want a proof, I can come out of this gigai"
"No need, ok, I'll believe you. Renji is not clever enough to do something like that anyway" said Ichigo "Now, I'd like to know why in hell would you ask me such a question?"
"Please, answer my question, Kurosaki."
"Hell no, I won't, because if I say no, you'll want to kill me because you'll think I don't think your sister is good enough for me, and if I say yes you'll kill me because I'm not good enough for her. So no, I won't answer your question. I'll also tell you that it is not your business."
"I see" said Byakuya "then, as we don't have much time, I'll have to explain things to you. I know Rukia is in love with you, and I want my sister to be happy. The only way for her to be happy is to have you with her. However, you are a living human and she is a noble in Soul Society, thus making it impossible for the two of you to be together."
"Yeah, I can understand that" said Ichigo "but I doubt Rukia could ever be in love with me"
"Do not assume that, Kurosaki, but I disgress. There is no way I can possibly make Rukia a living human, but it is possible to make you a noble, or at least good enough in Soul Society for you to marry Rukia."
"Olla, olla, slow down Byakuya, you want me to marry Rukia?" asked Ichigo.
"Yes"
"You're sure you're really Kuchiki Byakuya?" asked Ichigo more and more bewildered.
"Yes" was once again the stoic reply.
"I think this is a dream" said Ichigo "After all, something like this would never happen in reality."
"I assure you, this is not a dream, Kurosaki."
"Alright, let's say I believe you, why would YOU want me to marry Rukia?" asked a sceptic Ichigo with a full scowl.
"To make Rukia happy. Also helping you to become somebody in Soul Society would help to repay the Kuchiki clan owes you for saving Rukia and helping Soul Society."
"Riiiiiight" said Ichigo.
"Do you believe me now?" asked Byakuya.
"Well, it's a bit too strange to be a dream, and I don't know anyone who would be able to put such a joke, not even my father would go that far, so I don't have any choice but to believe you" Ichigo said while scratching his neck "but it's a bit hard to take. I never imagined you, of all people, would ever say something like that."
"Good." Said Byakuya. "Now that you are convinced, please answer my question: Do you love Rukia?"
"You do know that if you hadn't explained to me, I wouldn't have answered you? You do know that if this is a joke I'll kill you? You do know that if you ever repeat what I'm about to say to anyone I'll hunt you down, right?"
"I know" was the simple response the captain gave.
"Yes, yes I love your sister, even if I never told her. I want her to be happy, I want to give her the world, I love her more than my life and I would do everything for her. I'll always be there for her; I will always protect her with my life if necessary." Said Ichigo in a quiet voice and with a look in his eyes that spoke even more than his words.
"Thank you, Kurosaki." Said Byakuya. "Now, I have a proposition for you."
"I listen"
"I want to help you to achieve a good enough status in Soul Society for you to be able to marry Rukia."
"What's the catch?" asked Ichigo
"You would have to stop being a human and come living in Soul Society."
"You want me to die?"
"No, Kurosaki, the fact is that when you won your powers after I had broken what Rukia gave you, Urahara had to cut your chain of life, am I right?"
"Yes, he did… How did you know?" answered Ichigo
"I know it because it is the only way it could have been possible after the state I left you when we first met. But what it means is that if he did that… then your body is now no more than a well detailed gigai. You are already dead Kurosaki." Said Byakuya in a flat tone.
"I… I'm dead? No way!" Yelled Ichigo.
"I assure you this is the truth. Your body still lives, but your soul isn't connected to it, you are technically dead. Everyone could use your body as a gigai and you could use any other gigai as well."
"You're telling me I'm dead? Urahara killed me?"
"Why do you make such a fuss about this?" asked Byakuya losing a bit of his patience "Yes, you are dead, but may I remind you it is not something new as it happened weeks ago, and it was the only way for you to be able to gain your powers. More, you have been like this for that long and it didn't bother you before."
"Well… yes, guess you're right, but I'm dead, you know?" said Ichigo exasperated.
"So am I." was Byakuya's answer. "And as you can see, I can come to the living world with no problem at all."
"So, you're telling me that I'm dead and I can come live in Soul Society?" asked Ichigo.
"I do not like to have to repeat myself, but yes, this is what I am telling you."
"And what about my family and my friends? Would I ever see them again if I went to live there?"
"It would be like if you just moved out to another town, as I already told you it is not hard to come and go from Soul Society to the living world, you could visit as often as you wish."
"What about my body?" Ichigo asked after a few minutes of silence.
"If you want to be able to come and go as you please between our two worlds, you would have to destroy it or put it in a stasis at Urahara's shop to use it as a gigai when you visit. You could also put a modified soul inside, but then it would be harder for you to visit without being suspicious." Answered Byakuya.
Ichigo's scowl widened and he closed his eyes like if he was thinking very hard. After some times he let out a sigh.
"Alright, let's say I go with this plan and I find an excuse for why I wouldn't be here any longer, how does it help me with Rukia?" he finally asked.
"Soul Society owes you a lot. Were you able to pass the exams, we would make you a captain. I would personally train you in kido and reiatsu control as it is the only aspect of the shinigami training you seem to lack. However, you will only have three months to master everything as the captain commander thinks that we can not allow more time before replacing the three captains we lack at the moment. With your exploits, if you were able to become a captain the captain commander agreed to make to house of Kurosaki a noble house. This would enable you to officially court Rukia and ask her hand."
"This seems a bit far fetched to me, Byakuya. Whose idea is it?" asked Ichigo when Byakuya finished explaining his plan.
"Mine, in name of the Kuchiki clan to repay the debt we owe you" was the response.
"And you think I could be a good captain? I mean, there must be better people for the job than me, no?"
"You would be trained, and there are worst people than you. Besides, Soul Society will probably need you help for the upcoming war against Aizen."
"And the old man agrees?"
"Indeed, Yamamoto soutaicho agrees with me."
Again there was a silence which Ichigo broke after a few moments.
"What if I can't become a captain in time?"
"Then you become a normal shinigami. You could still visit the human world, but you would never be able to marry Rukia."
After a few seconds, Ichigo woke up and spoke.
"Alright, I'll do it."
"If this is the case Kurosaki Ichigo I will come collect you tomorrow at 7.00 please be ready."
"See ya, Byakuya."
And with that, the shinigami captain disappeared.
That evening, Ichigo tried to explain the situation to his family while making it believable, he told them that Kuchiki Byakuya was an important person who worked for the government and that he had seen potential in him and offered the opportunity to study in a prestigious program where he would travel a lot and wouldn't see his family very often. As it was a one of a kind opportunity Ichigo couldn't turn it down and so told them he accepted his offer and that Kuchiki Byakuya would collect him the next day.
They took it well, if you forget Yuzu's cries and Isshin shouts of "Oh Masaki, our son finally takes care of his future! I'm so proud!" After that he called all his friends and they met at Urahara's where he explained what was going to happen. All of them took it well, except Inoue as she still had the biggest crush possible on him.
When all the drama was finished, he arranged with Urahara to take his body and put it in stasis the next day when he was gone to Soul Society.
The next morning, Ichigo said goodbye to his family and went to Urahara's shop where they put his body in stasis, all costs paid by Kuchiki Byakuya. He had asked his friends not to come and to go to school. After some politeness a senkai gate opened and said Kuchiki Byakuya appeared to bring Ichigo with him to Soul Society.
This is the end of the first chapter, I hope you liked it and I also hope that there weren't too much mistakes as this chapter is a bit more than 1 year old, so my English was not as good as he is now – even if I'm not an expert, I'm still better now than a year ago.
The next chapter is something I came with after re-reading this first chapter, but I will wait a bit to post it because I would like to work a bit more on my HP stories first.