Bound by Duty

Light of 1000 Stars

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Just write about it.

Warnings: Well, Hanatarou and Urahara are a bit OOC.

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Chapter Two

"Is that a cut?" Hisana asked, gently taking Rukia's hand and taking her into the house. "Rukia, what did you do?"

"Sister, it's just a small cut," the young eight year old replied. "I was playing with Renji and my friends."

"And?" Hisana's eyes were scribbled with worry.

"I tripped and a rock scraped my knee."

"I see. You should be more careful." Hisana saw her sister trying her best to hold in tears threatening to spill over, and struggling to keep her smile up.

"Do you need to cry?" Hisana asked with a smile. "You can, Rukia, if you need to. I'm right here."

"No," Rukia's tiny voice wavered. "Don't worry."

"Well then, let's patch this up." Hisana got up to retrieve bandages.

A little later that evening, Hisana listened through the paper thin wall that kept Rukia and Hisana away from each other. She heard Rukia's tiny sobs through the shoji door, and realized that she had been holding in her pain all along.

Hisana understood. Rukia only dared to cry where no one could hear; where no one was watching her.

And Hisana realized Rukia's strength and courage since then.

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So it seemed logical that it was truly Rukia sitting upon the floor before her—not some imposter. It seemed logical, and yet at the same time, did not.

Rukia was still crying several moments after Renji had left.

Rukia only dared to cry where no one could hear; where no one was watching her.

Torn between the desire to comfort her sister and the thoughts of barging into her private moments, Hisana just stood.

In the end, she left Rukia there, truly believing that all her sister was some time. Just time. Time to think things through.

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"Mr. Kurosaki," the orange-headed woman asked carefully. "you are to be wedded this evening?"

"Yes," he answered simply, refusing to face her. He stared at the mirror, looking at his scowl as if trying to perfect his look of menace. "That's true."

"Um," Orihime stuttered, a blush creeping to her cheeks. "May I ask if y-you are betrothed?"

"I guess you can say that," the young man answered back, running a hand through his spiky-orange hair. "I met her when we were very young. I've been told since then that we were to wed in the eighteenth summer of our lives."

"Ah," Orihime nodded, trying to keep her smile despite the pain that whizzed past her heart.

"Besides, her brother and sister have paid good money for her to marry into the Kurosaki family." He stood from his western-styled stool and turned to face his maid. He grinned at her. "Something about marrying into good blood."

She widened her eyes, a bit embarrassed to see him grin at her (and she couldn't figure out why). Orihime absently lowered her head in a bow, feeling her cheeks burn.

"I see," she answered, and keeping her head down, she asked: "Are you nervous, sir?"

"I think I should be," he looked puzzled. "but I'm not."

Orihime smiled beneath the shadow of her bangs. That's just like you.

"Well, I have been informed that she will be here within the hour sir."

"Thank you, Orihime."

With that, the maid left the room.

Ichigo Kurosaki sighed. He wasn't sure about all of this marrying stuff—he hardly noticed any beautiful women when they giggled at him on the street, let alone love someone he's only met once.

He had to admit, he was a bit curious to find out how his wife-to-be has grown up to act like, but at the same time, all of these ceremonies that he had been told about were going to be tiring. There were so many things he had to go through, things that took time and effort.

He sighed a second time and rolled his eyes. "Within the hour is going to take so long. I'm already done."

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"Hn." He thought for a bit, then turned to her with his best fake smile. "I'm happy for you."

"Why?" Rukia looked at her large house, staying away from locking her eyes with his. "I'm not even happy for myself."

"You get a new life. You get to leave these dumps. A new place to live in. Someone to take care of you properly." Renji placed the bokkens on the ground and grabbed his old friend's shoulders, forcefully turning her to face him.

"You'll be happy." He concluded, his smile becoming harder and harder to keep up.

"Lie to him then!"

"It isn't proper for a devoted wife to lie to her husband,"

"Renji!" she swiveled around to face his retreating back. "We've talked about this before!"

"Yeah. And every time, I've made my point. And all you've done was make my point even clearer." Renji turned and narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't care for anyone except your new husband right now."

"Renji!" Rukia called out angrily. "That's not fair! I don't care for him! I never even met him before!"

"Mistress, you'll wrinkle your kimono."

"Hn?" Rukia widened her eyes, only coming to realize she had been fingering the hem of her sleeve for the past several minutes.

She turned to face her company in the seat before her—Urahara and Hanatarou. And put on another smile. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

Hanatarou put his had over hers and smiled. "Don't be nervous, Mistress." His dark hair bounced around his face as their carriage made a few bumpy turns. "You'll be fine."

Rukia smiled wider, assuring him that she was fine. No matter how much she knew she was not.

Urahara's hat fell a bit crooked as the carriage bounced once more. It tipped to the side of his head.

"Ugh." He breathed. "We've been bouncing for an hour already. Stupid long rides. I'm going to throw up here, then become blind from your husband's hair color."

Rukia let out a mental gasp. My husband.

She hadn't been thinking about him all of this time. Renji had taken over her mind's space. She looked at her protectors with curiosity.

"Urahara, have I met this man once?"

He thought for a minute. "Yes. You have. Age five."

Rukia looked out the carriage at the quiet landscape. Nothing but grass fields. She saw small huts here and there—but mostly, it was made of vast, empty lands. The carriage ride was slow.

"I can't seem to remember him." She replied after a second of thought.

"How can you forget a little spiky orange-headed kid as ugly as him?"

She scowled. "My husband is ugly?"

"Now, now, Urahara." Hanatarou warned gently. "It's rude to worry the Mistress this way."

"Honest truth can't hurt," the man muttered lowly, fingering his cane.

Rukia eyed Urahara. "I can't remember at all."

Hanatarou smiled. "You were only five, Mistress. Don't blame yourself."

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"Rukia, you're beautiful." Hisana had told her earlier before they departed. "More beautiful than I was on my wedding day."

"I doubt that, sister."

Hisana smiled, repositioning the flower in her hair. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she lowered her gaze to meet Rukia's.

"You were crying earlier. Is everything alright?"

Rukia's violet orbs widened before looking away.

"Oh of course. Please do not worry on my behalf, sister. It was nothing. I think it was because I was a bit nervous."

"I see." Hisana answered slowly. Then, a smile radiated from her face. "There's nothing to worry about. You may not remember meeting him, but Ichigo Kurosaki is a nice young man. I'm sure of it."

"How are you sure?" Rukia asked childishly. "I don't remember him at all."

"You've heard of his name around, haven't you? His family name is unsoiled by any hardships. Don't worry."

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"Urahara?" Rukia asked without facing him.

"Mistress?"

Rukia closed her eyes. I'm afraid.

But she couldn't bring herself to tell the older man.

"Your hat is on crooked."

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Hat's on crooked. You might wanna fix that.::

Author's notes: After writing my first chapter and getting so many reviews, I was able to write this chapter in a day (was planning to update all Fridays)! I loved the ending to that chapter. Hehe. I know I didn't characterize Urahara correctly, but I wasn't sure how he'd react in this situation. Oh yeah, and Hanatarou is really confident and un-wimpy, but oh well. They aren't major characters in this fic anyways. Oh, and hope you liked the tiny Ichigo/Orihime moment; just in case there are any of those fans reading this.

Review pleeze! The more I get, the faster the chappies come!!