Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me in any way shape or form. Obviously.
The war had ended. That alone should have been enough to make everyone smile again. But it wasn't. Some pains still lingered. The fallen weren't magically restored to life simply because the fighting had ended now. Around every corner there was someone who had lost everything to the invasion. Some had lost their families, their friends, even their lovers in the wake of destruction.
Even with all the death and devastation scattered around, it was still fact that the world was in better position now than it had been. Even if some wounds would never quite heal, the world was bound to recover in time. Stability would return and peace would reign across the universe again. Or at least, the closest thing to peace the world could know. There may not be a genocidal maniac attempting to overthrow god anymore, but that didn't mean that all conflict would just cease now. But a few petty crimes here and there were preferable to the cessation of existence as they all knew it.
It was with these somber thoughts whirling around his head that Ichigo found himself wandering around the ruined Seireitei. It had been two weeks since Ywach had been defeated and the Soul Society seemed to finally be picking the pieces up again. Reconstruction efforts were in progress all over, workers bustling around carrying lumber and other materials needed to rebuild.
Ichigo's thoughts had been all over the place concerning the end of the war. On the one hand, everything was shaping up to be peaceful again and there didn't seem to be any major threats remaining to the world anymore, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel worried. After all, he had already saved the world from two separate maniacs who wanted to kill or depose the closest thing to God in the universe. And both of them within two years. Unlikely as it was, Ichigo was worrying that a third time wouldn't be far off. He was growing untrusting of peace time. After all, during war at least you knew what the enemy was and who to be worried about. Peace however, was more complicated. And Ichigo wasn't a big fan of complicated.
He was pulled out of his train of thought at the sight of a familiar face in the distance. He walked faster towards the petite figure. She seemed to be ordering around some of the lower ranked members of her squad. Seeing Rukia issuing orders to a large group of people who were all larger than her and seemingly older too amused Ichigo slightly. She was the closest thing that Squad Thirteen had to a captain anymore, but he just found imagery funny. For a brief second, he imagined her giving a speech to an entire army from behind a podium, but due to her rather…diminutive stature being basically hidden behind a podium. Ichigo shook the silly though from his head and approached her.
"Oi!" He waved to get her attention. A brief look of confusion flashed across her face before she realized the source of the voice, with a few quick orders she dismissed the few workers still standing around her and then she smiled slightly as she walked over to Ichigo.
"Well, someone's awfully loud," She chided him. "What's got you wandering around the streets alone? I figured you'd at least have some royal attendant glued to your behind the entire time."
Ichigo sighed. After the war, he had been assigned "personal attendants" by whatever remained of the nobility. They had learned of his Shiba blood, and since they were kinda-sorta nobles at one point or another they decided this meant that Ichigo was a lord of some standing. He hated it, always being followed around by the creepily cheerful butlers and maids. Always smiling and being way too nice. It felt fake. Manufactured. Like they were playing the role of being a helpful assistant. It felt more like they just wanted to spy on him. Which after his newfound popularity as the "Hero of the World" made sense.
"No, I made a point to lose them as soon as I could. I don't need the babysitting all the time." He waved his hand dismissively.
Rukia chuckled, "I'm not so sure about that, you know…."
"What? You think I need watching over?" He challenged, a hint of irritation in his voice.
Rukia smiled, "I mean, yeah. I pretty much have to keep constant watch on you in order to make sure you don't get all mopey. Remember?"
Ichigo grimaced. He didn't need reminding of the period of time she was alluding to. After he'd lost his powers there was indeed a period of time where Rukia hadn't been around, and he had gotten "mopey" but those things were completely unrelated. He didn't need her to watch over him to be happy. He could manage just fine with the speed of the world without her in it….Or so he told himself anyway.
"Yeah, yeah. But enough about me. What are you doing out here?" Ichigo deflected.
Rukia looked around, "I'm having Squad Thirteen assist in rebuilding the Seireitei. Technically, all the rebuilding is being done by Squad Eleven, but I can't just sit around and let them do all the work."
"How'd Squad 11 get stuck doing all the clean up?" Ichigo asked.
"Well, they have the most…enthusiastic workers," She said with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "They're always so energetic, so it was decided that they'd put that energy towards something constructive for once. Surprisingly, even Kenpachi went along with it."
That shocked Ichigo for sure, Kenpachi didn't ever really do anything but nap and fight. Rebuilding the city was the last thing Ichigo could imagine him ever doing. "That's …unusual." He said.
"Yeah, that's putting it mildly," Rukia answered, "Honestly, I think he just wants something t distract him…from Unohana being gone. I think it really bothered him."
That made sense. Ichigo had heard the story about what happened between them after the war. He wasn't really sure what sort of relationship the two of them had before, but he could see that her death wouldn't be an easy thing for Kenpachi to move on from.
"Morbid topics aside, I'm actually happy to see you," Rukia said after a brief moment of silence. "How have you been holding up? Where have you been staying? The Squad Four barracks? Did you get treated after the battle? Are you-"
Ichigo waved his hands around to cut through the endless barrage of questions, "Rukia, relax. Take a breath. One at a time please. But to answer you're questions in order; I'm okay. Squad Four's. Yes. And yes. I'm completely injury free." He did a small spin around as if to emphasize this point.
Rukia realizing that she had gone a bit overboard blushed slightly, but quickly regained her composure. She had barely seen him since the war ended. She had meant to talk to him sooner but her responsibilities had kept her busy. She was happy to have run into him here, and even more so to see that he was alright. Even so it was embarrassing that she had rambled on like that.
She had been about to say something else when a new voice called out to her. "Lady Kuchiki." She turned to see an older man who she recognized as one of her brother's servants addressing her, "And Lord Kurosaki as well. That is most fortuitous."
"And why is that?" Rukia asked him, curiosity brimming.
"Lord Kuchiki is currently requesting your presence. Both of you. He said he has important matters to discuss with the two of you." The servant bowed low and made his exit without waiting for a response from either of them.
Ichigo was slightly concerned, being summoned out of the blue by Byakuya was not his idea of a fun surprise. "Any idea what that's about?" He asked Rukia.
Her voice was uncertain as she replied. "No idea. But it's probably a bad idea to keep him waiting."
With that exchange, they made to leave before Rukia stopped for a second to issue more orders to the men there. She quickly wrapped up with them and rushed over to Ichigo and the two of them began to make their way to the Kuchiki estate.
Along the way, Ichigo began to wonder what exactly Byakuya wanted to see him about. Rukia he understood, it was most likely some sort of family business in that case. But Ichigo hadn't so much as spoken to Byakuya since the war ended, and it's not like he was the type for social calls. It also seemed unlikely that it had anything to do with the Soul Society as a whole, since those orders would most likely come from Squad One. He couldn't think of anything he could have done to offend him lately either, though he wouldn't be too surprised if he had somehow. Byakuya was way too uptight and old-fashioned. Hell, that applied to the family at large as far as Ichigo could tell.
Without coming up with any solid guesses as to why he was summoned, his feet finally brought him to the Kuchiki estate. He entered the grounds side by side with Rukia and decided to let her lead the way, it was her house after all. Ichigo followed behind her quietly, just taking in the scenery. He was rarely ever here, and it was always under more stressful circumstances. He had never really appreciated just how beautiful the place was. His home was a modern house, and not exactly high class either. But even if he had been used to living in luxury all his life, he still doubted it could compare to elegance of the Kuchiki estate. It was an older styled mansion, like the rest of the Soul Society, but it still felt a class apart from the rest. Ichigo was by no means an architect, so he couldn't really say anything too detailed about the style or construction, but he felt impressed nonetheless. To be expected of Byakuya's house, he supposed.
Within a few minutes they had arrived outside Byakuya's study. Taking a breath, Rukia knocked lightly on the door.
The reply from inside came shortly thereafter, "Enter."
Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other for a moment, then nodded before the two of them opened the door and proceeded into the study. The walls to the left and right of the door were completely covered in bookshelves and hundreds upon hundreds of books and scrolls. Directly ahead of the door was an ornate desk with large windows behind it. Byakuya was seated at his desk, with a small pile of paperwork in front of him. He looked up as the two entered and gestured wordlessly to the two chairs in front of his desk. The two of them sat down and waited a moment for Byakuya to speak.
Byakuya finished the paper he had been writing on and sat the pen and paper off the side before looking directly at the two of them finally for the first time since entering the room. Gray piercing eyes analyzing the two of them. "I apologize for the sudden summons, however there has been a recent development that I believe the two of you should be informed of as soon as possible."
"Development? What kind of development?" Rukia asked her older brother.
"As the two of you are surely aware, the reconstruction efforts have been proceeding smoothly. The Seireitei stands to be completely rebuilt within the next two months." Byakuya began.
"That's great news, but I don't see what that's got to do with us…" Ichigo interrupted.
Instead of answering, Byakuya simply shot an icy glare at Ichigo as if to reprimand him for cutting in. He then continued, "The repairs are going well, but there is still the matter of the public morale. The building may be getting restored but that is meaningless without the wellbeing of the citizens in them. The war took a heavy toll on all of us. Many in the Soul Society have been dealing with severe stress and PTSD. And despite our best efforts, it seems that the public isn't going to recover nearly as quickly as the city itself. It's difficult for them to move on when everything going on in the Soul Society is still being impacted by the war in one way or another." He closed his eyes and took a breath before continuing, "As such, the Great Noble Houses have come up with a plan in order to lift public spirits and get their minds off of the war."
"That's great news! Is this plan why you summoned us, brother?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, I mean I'm all for helping out."
Another deep breath from Byakuya. It almost seemed like he was dreading what he was about to say. "That is indeed why I asked for the two of you. The nobility has decided that in order to counteract the negative emotions floating about that all that the people need is some happy occasion to take their minds off of the conflict."
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, I could see that working. But what exactly would we need to do for that?"
Byakuya paused before he answered, as if he was trying to find the best words. "The nobility would like…to announce your engagement."
Stunned silence followed, eventually broken by Ichigo stammering, "E-engagement? To w-who?"
"To Rukia, naturally. It would do wonders for the morale of the people if two of the heroes of the war were to be married." Came the matter of fact response. Followed by a slightly more bitter tone of voice, "As much as I am …not fond of you marrying into the Kuchiki family…I have to concede to the elders on this. Their logic is sound. Besides, it was only going to be a matter of time before Rukia was going to asked to find a husband anyway. At least this way, it can be with someone she knows and trusts and not with some noble she does not know."
Ichigo looked over at Rukia for the first time since hearing the idea and saw that her face was a brighter shade of red than Renji's hair. She quickly seemed very interested in what was on the ground and cast her gaze downwards. He looked back at Byakuya. "This is…" He started to say before he completely ran out of words. He didn't know what he wanted to say. This is crazy? Too sudden? Ridiculous? All of the above? Whatever he had been meaning to say was thrown out the window when he heard Rukia's voice.
"I understand. I…accept the engagement." Her voice was hesitant, but there was no denying he words she had said.
Ichigo was shocked, he could feel his face growing redder by the second. "Wait…what? You do? I mean we can't…We're-"
"Kurosaki, are you implying that there is something wrong with marrying Rukia?" Byakuya interjected.
"Yes!" Ichigo exclaimed, before seeing the mistake he had just made. "I mean no! Of course not! There is nothing wrong with Rukia, I just had never considered …marrying…her…before." His voice trailed off as he looked back and forth between the two Kuchiki's. Byakuya's face was as stony as ever, but on Rukia's there was a strange look he couldn't quite place. Ichigo was trying very hard to not just start rambling gibberish. It was very difficult for him to think clearly at the moment. And being around Byakuya wasn't helping matters much. He felt like one wrong word and he would have to deal with a sudden increase in flower petals in the room.
Byakuya's cool voice cut across the silence, "I understand that this is a very serious matter, that the two of you would need to think about for a while. Therefore, I give the two of you until this time tomorrow to give me your answer. Take your time and discuss it amongst yourselves. I await your favorable reply."
With that, the two of them were free to leave. As the door to the study slid shut behind him, Ichigo found himself thinking back to his thoughts from earlier. Peace was definitely more complicated than he liked.