Chapter One:

She hated it. She hated the whole idea of it. That was the very thought Rukia Kuchiki had in her mind at the moment. She sat there in her beautiful pink kimono which her sister thought would be perfect for this particular occasion. Her dark hair was lifted up in a bun with a hair pin which was a typical Japanese hair style. Her full pink lips were pursed grimly. Her eye brows were knitted in frustration as she thought the whole thing over.

Her parents died when she was little, yet she never thought that they had already decided how she would spend her future days. The will they left was unraveled only a few days ago. She knew that her assets would not be given to her until her twenty fifth birthday but she never knew that there was a condition tied to it. It was weird that whatever she requested from Hisana was given to her without the least bit of thought from her sister. Rukia did not know that her sister was chaining her rather than giving her freedom to do whatever she wanted. When Rukia first decided to engage in the world of fashion designing, her sister was the first one to back her up. She gave Rukia money from her trust fun, and made sure Rukia had whatever she wanted. Little by little, the small clothing line Rukia started making itself known in the world of fashion.

Rukia thought life had started smiling at her, especially after her last relationship crumbled. With her approaching twenty fifth birthday, she was supposed to finally own her small company, but then the tricky part was revealed. Her assets are not to be handed to her unless she was married. If she was not able to find a partner, which was the little bit of freedom her parents granted her, she is to be married to a man of their choice, the son of another rich family.

It was absurd! The dark haired woman never wanted to be here, but her sister convinced her that there was nothing to lose by coming and that she might actually like the guy. But all Rukia could think of was her dignity. She was losing her dignity by putting herself on display like that, specially that she was dressed like a doll as if she was trying so hard to make an impression.

Since the meeting was sat, it was obvious that the other party was tricked the same way she was. However, he was in a better condition than hers. At least one of his parents was alive so that he could vent his anger on. She on the other hand, was not able to even question her parents' wisdom in this whole thing.

Suddenly Rukia felt a jab and then the chastising voice of her eldest sister saying :" would you please stop acting like that and start wearing a smile? Even if it's that trade mark fake Kuchiki smile of yours, it'll do better this foul grim face of yours?"

The dark haired woman turned to her sister and said: " Try putting yourself in my shoes and see if you can actually smile."

" Honey we can't help it. This is the life of the upper class. We cannot choose our partners. It was our dead parents wish to see that their precious younger daughter is married once she turns 25."

Rukia said nothing to that. Yes, she wanted to honor her dead parents wish, but it was simply outrageous to even choose her partner for her. And what was even more infuriating than that is that they couldn't express their loyalty and love to their friends without throwing her and their friend's son in this mess. Their well was clear. If Rukia could not find a partner at the age of twenty five then she is to be married to the son of the Kurosaki family. It was an old agreement done between their parents when she was young, and she never thought of worrying over the matter of being single because she had her first love and boyfriend since the age of nineteen, but he left her two years ago after scarring her heart and making a mess out of her life.

The dark haired woman's attention was brought back to reality when her parents' friend got back to their table after excusing himself for the third time. He sat down, sighed and bent his head towards her, her sister and her brother in law apologetically, then said :" I apologize on my son's behalf. I have called him and he said he was held back. But he'll be here shortly."

Byakuya, her brother in law replied:" There's no need to apologize Kurosaki san. I'm sure that he could not help it. We will hear from him once he gets here."

Rukia was grateful for her partner's delay. She was not quite ready to meet with him, yet. Besides. She was hoping that he would leave such a bad impression on her only family enough to make them rethink this whole matter and tell her that it was okay to not abide by her parent's wish.

Rukia's eyes started scanning the surrounding. The place they chose to sit the omiai in was beautiful, graceful and had it not been for her current state, she would've also considered it relaxing. It was a hotel built in what resembled the tradition Japanese setting. Greenery surrounded them, and the sound of running water and the sense of tranquility it brought was soothing to her ears. Suddenly, the echoes of footsteps registered their presence, and she turned her head instinctively to see who was coming towards them.

The sight that confronted her almost made her wince. The guy she was hoping she wouldn't see finally showed up. He was dressed in a casual attire even though it was not appropriate for such an occasion. His spiky hair was a soar sight to her eyes at the moment, and his frown made him look like a demonic lord from hell. Apparently, he was torn between giving a bad impression and not making his father look bad. He greeted Hisana and her husband and turned to greet his father but was met by a glare instead. He then spoke :" I apologize for keeping you waiting. My car broke down and it was hard to find someone who would give me a ride."

It was an obvious lie, and the way he said it made it clear that he wanted to be caught. She expected Byakuya to react to that but he just nodded. Then stood up and said:" since we could only stick around for one more hour, Hisana and I will excuse ourselves to let you two get to know each other."

No! He could not be serious! Byakuya was going to do nothing about that and was actually going to let him sit with her. Or wait! Was he trying to pay him back for keeping him waiting by letting him go straight to the meeting he was sure this Kurosaki dreaded? Why did he have to drag her into this? If you had a problem with the guy, tell him and don't bring innocent people into it. That was the very thought in her head as if her presence here was not actually to meet this guy.

Violet eyes watched dreadingly as her family and his father left the table. Isshin Kurosaki bowed his head to her before he left the table, allowing his son who did not bother to even introduce himself to take a seat.

He sat there, eyes staring at her in a gesture she could not even understand, but one thing she was sure of. He was not staring at her lovingly or admiringly. He was most probably trying to get on her nerve. If that was the way he wanted to play it, then she would tag along by all means. She fished her blackberry out of her purse and started working on her schedule and stuff. A few minutes later, she found him doing the same thing. Her eyes went back to checking her work priorities as a small smile tugged at her lips.

Things weren't so bad after all. He hated this as much as she hated it. Mutual consent is bound to bring this ridiculous matter to an end.

Hisana's mouth gaped open as she saw each of her sister and her omiai partner paying more attention to their work than each other. She looked at her husband with pleading eyes, but he simply continued sipping his tea. She called to him with exasperation evident in her voice :"Byakuya?"

"What is it?"

" Do something!"

"what do you expect me to do?"

" I don't know."

" Then why should I know?" He asked calmly after taking a sip of his tea

Hisana's eyes were cast down as she said, " I'm ashamed to admit this, but you know Rukia more than I do. She had always listened to you. Talk to her!"

" What about the guy. He doesn't seem to like being here as well?"

" Do what you're always good at. Intimidate him!"

Byakuya sighed and looked straight at his wife:" Hisana, I'm not going to encourage Rukia to do the biggest mistake of her life. She deserves a man better than this scum."

"shh! What if he or his father hear you say that?"

" I did my little investigation. That guy has issues. He slept with half the women in the city and you still want to sit him up with your sister."

" I don't know why, but I feel that he's the right guy for her. You know about the incident and you know that Rukia has the same commitment problem. She couldn't get over the last relationship."

Byakuya sighed at that, but said nothing to his wife. He looked over at Rukia and found her still fumbling with her phone, as did her partner. He looked back at his wife and said :" Nothing you say will make them talk to each other. They are doing this to spite us even though we have no hand in the matter. You wanna force them to talk, confiscate whatever they have that might keep them busy during this one hour session."

Hisana stood as if on cue, and went to the young couple's table. She stood there for a few seconds to make her presence known. The young couple lifted their gaze almost simultaneously and both arched an eye brow in question. Hisana smiled at that then said sweetly: " Gomen ne" before she snatched their cell phones from their hands. They both jolted up from their seats, screaming together: "Ne-chan"

" Oy!"

But they were both silenced by Byakuya's remark which he uttered without bothering to stand up or even look their way :"Do we need to remind you both that all assets which you've obtained from your parents are not to be yours unless the will is fulfilled."

They stood there with sparks flying from their glare, and hands fisted at their sides. Rukia was the first to give up. She threw herself back in her chair, defeated, crossed her arms over her chest and turned her face the other way in disobedience.

Ichigo had other plans. He remained standing and was about o say something back to Hisana, but before he could talk, his father smacked him at the back of his head causing Ichigo to change the recipient of his glare, "Damn you old man!"

"Don't you dare even think of talking back to the lady!" his father warned.

Ichigo stared back at Hisana then sat back in his chair with annoyance written all over his face.

The hour passed by with neither parties saying anything to the other, and with neither families able to do anything about it. Rukia was the first to stand up. She snatched her purse, smiled to the older Kurosaki and said sweetly : "Pleased to make your acquaintance Kurosaki-san" then walked without giving him a chance to reply.

Ichigo was following right behind her after bowing towards the older Kuchiki and her husband.

Both families stood there dumb founded, but deep down they knew for sure that those two would not be able to escape the trial up ahead.

Author's Notes:

This work had been plaguing me for months. Though I wanted to quit writing fanfics for good, I couldn't ignore my nagging muse anymore. Here you go, and I hope you'll like it.