I edited this story to be longer and better. Trust me, you'll like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"So?"

Saru looked over her shoulder to give her friend a blank stare. "So what?"

Shirayuki sighed dramatically as she draped herself against the locker next to Saru's. "So has anyone asked you to the winter dance Friday yet?"

The pink-haired teenager rolled her eyes annoyed as she gathered her items for her first hour class. "No and why would they? And why call it a 'winter dance' when it's November and technically fall?"

"Don't ask me." Shirayuki glanced around her friend and smiled wickedly when she saw someone down the hall at their own locker. "Why don't you ask him out?"

Saru peered over her locker and froze, for she had met the gaze of that someone. She moved her head toward Shirayuki with a blush, while the other smirked before continuing his conversation with his friends. "I am not asking out your brother."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Almost every girl in this school has asked him out." Saru stated like it was obvious. "The only ones who haven't are me, you, and your sister."

"Which is why you need to ask him!" Shirayuki exclaimed. Noticing she wasn't getting her friend's attention, she sighed once again. "Why are you so stubborn? You two used to talk all the time."

Saru slammed her locker hard, making the buzzing hallway silent. All the attention was on her now and she didn't care. She was glaring at her long time friend with watery eyes. With a shaking voice, Saru corrected, "That wasn't him. That was Senbonzakura!"

The halls filled itself with whispers once the name was said. Shirayuki felt herself blush from embarrassment, and tried to form a proper apology. "I-i'm so sorry. I-i-i-i didn't-"

"Forget it!" Saru turned her back toward her and stormed down the hall. Her head was bowed down, trying to hide the dam that was about to break.

A couple minutes into class, she was excused to leave. For the rest of the hour, she was outside, sleeping in the cherry blossom tree that was dedicated to a student that was killed protecting some people during a shooting.

"I am so sorry!" Shirayuki apologized for the umpteenth time that hour. "It's been a while since his death that I forgot that he looked similar to Byakuya."

"It seems you forgot he died almost a year ago." Saru offhandedly remarked as they trudged behind their gym class, who decided they wanted to walk on the trail outside because the weather was 'warmer today than it was yesterday'. "I didn't because my brother was killed a week before him."

"Are you still blaming yourself?" When Shirayuki didn't get an answer, she went on, "Saru, there was nothing you could do to save him or your parents. Nobody knew they were going to be killed by a drunk driver-"

"But if we hadn't gotten into that fight before they left, his last words to me wouldn't have been that he hated me."

"You know he didn't mean that. He was just upset that you didn't want to go-"

"Because I was going on a date with Senbonzakura that night." Saru finished for her. "Then we cut it short when we heard about the wreck over the radio."

"We always stuck to each other like glue," she concluded as they managed to catch up to the group because the group stopped to look at something. "When we were kids, he wouldn't go somewhere unless I went with him and that was the same for me until I reached high school. Even then he managed to convince the teachers to let him sit with me at lunch. I remember, when one of us got in trouble, our punishment would be we couldn't look, sit, or talk to each other until our parents told us we could."

Shirayuki giggled into the palm of her hand as the group started moving forward again. "I remember too. You would sneak over to my house so Hebe wouldn't get in trouble for breaking his punishment rules because he always had something to tell you."

The two were silent for a little while until Saru confessed, "You know, I do miss that little snake. You probably don't know, but we have the same middle name; 'Zabimaru'. You know, sometimes, I can't take my mind off the thought of if I had gone with them."

"I think I know something that might." Shirayuki began a little wearily because of the event that happened a couple hours before. "You could go to the dance. Somebody told me the hour that you were gone that he was going to ask you but just doesn't know how to."

"Do you really think-"

"Saru." A calm voice interrupted her.

The girls turned themselves around to come face to face with Byakuya Kuchiki, who had a dark red rose in his hands. Shirayuki smiled broadly while Saru blushed embarrassingly as she asked, "Yes?"

He extended his arm out in a manner that appeared he wanted to give the rose to her. "Would you go to the dance with me?"

Saru gently took the rose away from him and said without a moments hesitation, "I'd love to go to the dance with you."

A couple days passed and the dance was officially cancelled due to the early snowing weather. This, of course, upset Saru because she was looking forward to the dance since Byakuya had invited her. Now she, dressed in pajama shorts and a tank top, was sitting in her living room alone waiting for the storm to pass. She was also waiting for her older brother, Renji, to return from the job he worked during the night to pay for the house they lived him.

Unexpectedly, there was a knock on the front door. For a moment, Saru thought it was Shirayuki to keep her company for she was resistant to the cold. But when Saru opened the door, the visitor turned out to be Byakuya, unaffected by the snow, with a beautiful yet delicate bouquet of roses in hand.

"W-what are you doing here?" Saru stuttered and, inside her mind, winced at the fact that she did stutter out of nervousness.

"I asked you to the dance, yet it was cancelled," he began when he was let inside the house away from the cold. "I wish to make it up to you by hanging out with you, if you will allow it."

"Like a date?"

"If that is what you want to call it, then yes a date."

So, Saru took the bouquet to the kitchen to find a vase for it while Byakuya looked at the decorated walls. Each wall had some kind of picture on, but he noticed some pictures were taken down for some reason.

"They were pictures of or with Hebe," Saru asked the unanswered as she emerged into the living room and stood beside him. "When I saw them, I would have a panic attack. Renji found me when I was in the middle of one and managed to calm me down. He took me to my room and when I came down stairs the next day, they were gone. He placed them in our parent's old bedroom closet."

Byakuya gave her a knowing look. "Not that I do not believe you, but I highly doubt there was over thirty pictures that involved him."

Saru sighed, not wanting to explain but did so anyways, "Some of them had 'Zakura in them. It was too painful for me to look at them so Renji took those down too. They might be in my closet somewhere."

Byakuya waited for a moment or two before saying, "I am sorry for your loss."

Saru shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing to apologize for. After all, you lost a brother."

"So did you and a love."

"You lost a love too," she countered as she leaned against the back on the couch. "Shirayuki told me about Hisana. You two were engaged for a while, but then she died and you adopted her orphan sisters as your own."

"I did what I thought was best." Byakuya insisted, not liking that his ex-fiance was mentioned in the conversation.

Not knowing what overcame her, Saru moved closer to him. "What do you think is best right now?"

Byakuya looked down at her with the same gaze she was giving him. On impulse, he quickly moved his head down and kissed her. Saru didn't stop him. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeper. The kissing got more and more intense and eventually Saru had her legs wrapped around his waist to get him closer. Byakuya started walking and before they knew it, they were in Saru's room with door closed and the lights off.

The next morning Saru woke up with a pounding headache, not quite remembering what happened the night before. She reached for her phone that was on her night stand to see a text from Renji.

Renji: Won't be able to make it home tonight because of roads. Boss is letting me work over-time so I can have left-over money after bills are paid. I will be home tomorrow late afternoon for lunch then go back to work. Boss will be giving me time off until Tuesday so I can stay home with you.

After the reading the text and finding out that the time was a little pass nine, Saru placed the phone back at its appropriate and tried to will herself to get ready for the day. During that process, she just happened to notice a pile of clothing on the floor at the end of her bed; to be more precise, a pile of her clothes that she wore yesterday. Like a switch had been turned on, she immediately remembered what happened.

She sat up in her bed in alarm, making sure that the blanket covered her body. She hesitantly glanced at the other side of the bed to see if the other person was there. Instead of him being there, there was a small note that said:

Saru,

I had to leave early this morning to not worry my sisters about my disappearance.

If you want to talk about what we did last night, I will talk.

If you do not wish to speak a word about it, I understand.

All I ask is that you tell me your choice soon before something bad happens.

One last thing: I do not regret anything that happened.

-Byakuya

Saru carelessly tossed the note by her phone and got off the bed with a sore back. After getting dressed in comfortable yet warm clothing and disposing of the clothes from yesterday, she grabbed her phone and headed downstairs to the kitchen. While making cereal, she called Shirayuki's phone. Two rings passed and she answered.

"Morning sleepy-head," Shirayuki teased. "Did you have fun hanging out with Byakuya? He sure got home late."

Saru tightened her grip on her phone as she practically slammed her bowl onto the table. "Is he around you? I need to talk to him, but I don't have his number."

"Give me a sec." Shuffling was heard in the background and Saru eventually heard Shirayuki call for her brother. A second later, Shirayuki announced, "Here he is."

The phone was passed on and Byakuya's voice was heard instead, "Do you have an answer?"

"Yes," Saru answered after swallowing a bite of cereal. "I want to talk. Is there any way you can get here?"

"I will be over in ten," came the blunt response along with the end of the phone conversation. By the time she finished eating her breakfast, the doorbell ranged.

Making sure to wrap herself in a blanket, Saru answered the door and lead him to the living room. They sat away from each other; Saru laying on the couch and Byakuya sitting on the old rocky chair in the corner. The room was silent until the sophmore had the courage to ask a few minutes later, "Did you use anything?"

The senior shook his head and countered, "Will you keep the child?"

"I don't have any other options." Saru argued forcefully.

"Alright, then I will help you raise him or her."

"On one condition," when Byakuya raised an eyebrow in question, Saru continued, "if the baby's a boy, we're naming him 'Hebi'."

Byakuya chuckled at the terms of the condition. "Deal."

About three months passed and their siblings were the only ones to know about the pregnancy. The three, of course, freaked out about it but eventually came to terms with it. In that time the couple went on many dates to show everyone that they were together. Saru would have morning sickness before she went off to school, but was fine for the rest of the day. In between classes Byakuya would stop by her locker for a brief hug and a kiss to show his affection for her. At lunch they would sit close together with either Byakuya having an arm around her waist or Saru laying a head on his shoulder.

Everything was running smoothly until one school day close to Valentine's Day.

The innocent freshman Tobiume, shyly and quietly asked Saru early in the morning when there was hardly any students in the hallways, "Is it true?"

Saru gave a questioning look to Shirayuki before questioning, "Is what true?"

"That you're pregnant," Tobiume finished hesitantly.

Another was shared between the two friends with one of them noticing her brother walking toward them. Saru, however, didn't notice him and instead interrogated Tobiume, "Who told you that?"

"Haineko said she heard you made a comment about it to Shirayuki and Rukia in the locker room when you were getting ready for class. Something like 'the baby bump is starting to show'?"

Saru let a curse word slip from her lips, for she was trying to refrain from using those words until the baby was born, as Byakuya wrapped his around her waist placing one hand on her growing stomach. "Do not let it bother you," Byakuya insisted before kissing her cheek. "We will just have to 'improve' our relationship to where they will not think it was a 'one night stand'."

"What do I need to do?"

Byakuya kissed Saru's cheek one more time. "All you have to do is go along with what I say."

During lunch, on Valentine's Day, Byakuya was no where to be seen and Saru was growing worried. She was about to ask Shirayuki where her brother was, but stopped when she saw him, dressed very eloquently, walk in to the cafeteria toward her. Saru happened to notice that he was carrying a beautiful bouquet of her favorite flowers, cherry blossoms, and a black box that fit into the palm of his hand. Everyone watched as he handed her the flowers but not the box.

"A few months ago, I was planning on proposing to you during the winter dance," he began which effectively caught Saru's and everyone else's attention. "I did so at your house because the dance was cancelled. You said no and I tried to convince you to say yes. That resulted with you becoming pregnant and waiting for a proper proposal. So I shall ask again." He got down on one knee and presented her with the ring that was in the box. "Saru Zabimaru Abarai, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Saru smiled and kissed him. "That's better. Of course I'll marry you."

A couple weeks passed and the couple went to the doctors to get an ultrasound. A surprise was given to them. They would be having not one baby, but two! That night when they were alone in the house, Byakuya said, "I will help you raise both of children on one condition."

Saru moved her head to look at him and he continued, "If the gender is a female, one of their names has to be Zakura."

Saru smiled and kissed his cheek in happiness. "I was already thinking it."

The twins were born a couple months early at the beginning of June. They were fortunate enough to both a boy and a girl with their names being Hebi and Zakura as planned. Hebi had the same colored hair as he was named after but his eyes were the same as his father. Zakura had the same colored hair as the person she was named after except she had light green eyes like her mother. They were given the last name 'Kuchiki' even though the couple wouldn't be married until the middle of July.

Anyways, the twins and their mother was released from the hospital about a week before Byakuya graduated. When the graduation day finally came, Byakuya held his daughter throughout the ceremony because she had started to throw a fit moments before it began. When he was called for his diploma, he let Zakura grab it causing the audience to coo at her cuteness.

After the graduation ended, Byakuya's classmates wanted him to join them for a celebration. He declined with no hesitation. He wanted to spend that time with his two kids and soon-to-be wife. He made the right choice because on that night, those classmates had gotten into a wreck which sent most of them to the hospital for two or three days.

Even after getting married to the father of her children, Saru continued on with high school. There was an occasion or two when she would have to take Hebi with her, for he was a momma's boy. She eventually graduated and became a stay at home mom until the kids started preschool. After that she worked along side Byakuya at his big corporation that he owned.

To think, this all happened because of one question.

Finally done!

Please review!