"I did not say that I would marry him! I was only saying that in jest before he..." The lady of the house blushed at the boldness her protector displayed in front of all creation only hours prior.
"He seems to think you are. It is too sudden and just plain improper! You've scarcely known one another for two days and he is a mere mercenary. For that alone you are not a good match." The lady maid huffed, still fuming from the morning's excitement. She couldn't believe how self entitled the young man seemed. He was as good as a slave and he had set his sights on the accomplished, yet naive Orihime Inoue, who attracted the eyes if many wealthy suitors.
"He is still a human being." Orihime shot back, clearly agitated with her friend. She had every right to be upset. Tatsuki frowned at where her own thoughts were going on the subject. She had started to sound like the master of the house. She was becoming downright snobbish. Money and power was not the equivalent of good character, nor should it be the sole deciding factor in who the young woman should marry.
"You are right, but your father wouldn't have it." She quickly righted herself.
"I do not want to be another one of his bargaining chips. I am of age and I can feel it coming. Any day, he's going to sell me off to the highest bidder like a piece of property. Like he tried with Sora before..." Lady Inoue fought to keep her composure at the thought of her late brother. It had been many years since his death and she still missed him terribly. He wouldn't want her to still be crying over him. He also wouldn't want her to fall into the same fate as him. "I will marry Soldier."
"You don't even know his real name, much less anything else about him!" Surprised at her friend's eagerness to give the rest of her life to complete stranger. A match that would be judged by all of society as completely idiotic - though as nice as he may be.
"Do you know it?" The redhead asked sincerely. "His name, I mean."
"I know what you mean! Yes! I've heard it a dozen times coming from that old, demanding aunt of his." The brunette paused to look at her companion who wore a face of great anticipation. She smiled and continued. "His name is Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Ichigo Kurosaki." Orihime echoed in almost a dreamy tone. "What an interesting name! That elder woman is his aunt? No wonder she looks after him so closely."
"Hime, please wait a little bit longer before you make a decision."
"Okay."
()()()()()
A young Orihime was playing with her new doll under the desk in her father's study. It was a quiet place she could be alone with her vivid imagination. Far from the judging eyes of those who wished her to be seen and not heard. It was a place she wasn't supposed to be, and if caught, would be punished severely.
In one end of the room she heard the door burst open, followed by the stomping of two pairs of feet and low bickering. Her father and brother.
"I cannot do this any longer father. It is unfair to these women!" Her brother growled, his voice threatening to break into a yell. "They long to be loved and I won't seduce them into a loveless marriage."
"You will! You must! Think of our future! Think of your sister!" The elder of the two stormed towards the desk, slamming his fists down onto the solid wood. The young girl in hiding nearly toppled over from the surprise, but managed to keep herself quiet. "It is your duty!"
"No. If you had not gambled all of our money away. Mother's money away, we would not be in this predicament." The young man argued back, trying in vain to keep as calm as his nerves would allow.
"Sora, if you won't do your duty as my son, Orihime will have to take your place. She is sure to grow into a lovely young woman and will definitely catch the eye of a rich man, or two." The older man knew his son's weaknesses, and his little sister was one. The younger cringed.
"Neither of us will marry for anything other than love and we will do it honestly." Sora's words were firm. He would not back down and comply this time. He looked towards the desk and noticed the edge of a little shoe peeking out from underneath it. He smiled slightly. "Orihime! Come! We are leaving."
The young girl crawled out from under her shelter, eyes fixated on the angry eyes of her father.
"If you both leave, you will be dead to me. I will disown you both from this day forward!" The older man's words spewed like venom, causing the girl to feel the choking pain of guilt. She rushed to her father's side while looking to her brother with pleading eyes. She could see his heart breaking as he returned her stare.
"I will come back for you, Hime." Sora whispered as he turned to leave. He took the air from her lungs as he walked away. A heaviness weighed on her heart that she felt she could not bear. How could they make her choose between the two of them? It was cruel.
A few moments passed as she clung to her father in shock, tears running rivers down her cheeks. Her heart burst with the thought of never seeing her brother again. She tore herself out of her frozen state and ran as quickly as her legs could carry her towards the stables. Her brother was surely to be there, securing his horse for an escape.
Within minutes the young girl could see the stable in sight and quickened her pace. She hoped she'd arrive in time to catch her brother before he left.
She turned the corner of the building and met its entrance just as her brother did. The sudden movement startled the horse and it began to buck with the young master astride it. Orihime watched in shock as her Sora lost control and was thrown into the nearby stone wall. She could hear a loud crack as his skull smacked against the corner of a window sill.
"Brother!" She sobbed as she rushed forward, gathering him in her arms. An odd, but comforting golden light materialized over her and her sibling. The cuts and bruises slowly disappeared from his body, but he would not wake. She felt his pulse. Nothing. He was dead. She assumed that the light had healed his outward wounds, but could not bring him back. His soul had left his body before she could get to him. How useless she was.
She sat there for another hour, showering him with the golden warmth, just in case, until her father came to pull her away. It took him enlisting five other men to separate her from her brother. Each one took a rather good beating in the attempt. From that day forward she would never speak of Sora's death, or sit atop a horse.
()()()()()
It didn't take long for Tatsuki to find the now infamous Kurosaki. She knew he would be somewhere trailing the lady of the house like a lost puppy. She knew he was there to protect but found it odd that he stayed mostly out of sight, choosing to keep an eye on his charge from a distance.
He was sitting quietly under the shade of a tree gazing at the woman of his affections as she went about her day, ignorant to the fact that she was being watched so intensely. His eyes shifted from the redhead to her maid as she approached.
"We need to talk." The brunette spoke in his language with her thick, foreign accent. Ichigo found it odd that she shared the telltale features of the women from this land, but did not sound like them. He nodded for her to continue. "You cannot marry Miss Inoue."
"I have to." He responded calmly as he got to his feet. "It is not a matter of pleasure, or love. It is necessary."
"I find at least the pleasure part hard to believe, Kurosaki." The young woman let out one bitter laugh in disbelief. She was not blind to Orihime's effect on anything with a pulse, men and women alike, and would not believe that this person of the male gender was any different.
"She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, it is true, but there is more." He leaned against the tree and looked to the lady of the house once more. She was sitting amongst the tall grass and a colorful array of flowers, examining them with great curiosity. She had such a fascination and respect for all of life. The corners of his lips turned up very slightly in as much of a smile as he could allow himself. "I need her to stay by my side."
"You are her bodyguard. Is that not enough?" Tatsuki noticed the very slight upturn in the curve of his mouth and followed his watch to her friend.
"No. If she were to marry, a new husband would not take kindly to our connection. If I were to be sent away it would be dangerous." His permanent scowl depended. He was obviously distressed at the thought of her with another man, or the unending danger he seemed to believe was so real.
"How?" She responded with obvious skepticism in her tone.
"There is something inside me that awoke when she arrived. Something that had been sleeping since I was a child. It is a danger to everyone and only she has the power to control it."
"You are delusional. Everyone in this place is delusional!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. Ever since they had arrived she had been warned about this curse and that omen. She could not believe their diehard belief mysticism. Magic didn't exist in America, it didn't in England, and this new world surely wasn't any different.
"I pray that you won't ever have to see it." His eyes locked with hers. He was serious.
"Hime!" She yelled at the too of her lungs. Orihime was instantly shaken from whatever deep thought she was having and looked towards where her name was being called from. Tatsuki and Soldier were both staring at her intently. She gulped and slowly picked herself up. Her face was red and her head hung low. She looked as if she were being lead to slaughter. Her friend sounded irritated and she wasn't ready to face the man who wanted to wed her. As soon as she had arrived in front of them, the brunette began quite the intimate inquiry. One of which she had chosen to keep the answers to herself at one point, but her maid was demanding, stubborn, and downright frightening at times. "He says he has this thing inside of him that only you can control. How does he know this?"
"T-Tatsuki! I..." She didn't want to say it, but the brunette gave her a look she could not defy. "I found Soldier in pain our first night here. He changed and... Attacked me. But I was okay! I am okay."
"He attacked you?!" The lady maid's fists balled in anger.
"He changed! It wasn't him. I mean, it was him but it wasn't? Regardless, I was able to defend myself against whatever is in him with..." She paused and looked from one companion to the other. She hadn't planned on telling Tatsuki about her ability. Her brother had told her to keep it hidden for good reason, but she was sure she could trust her closest friend. "My light."
"Your light? I knew you'd always had quite the imagination, but to lie to me?" The brunette folded her arms, displaying her disappointment for both to see.
"P-punch him. Punch him g-good." The redheaded woman stuttered.
"What?" The lady maid wasn't sure she heard quite right. Soldier looked down at the two of them very confused.
"Fine! I will!" Orihime pulled her small fist back as far as it would go and then thrust it forward into Ichigo's shoulder. He looked at her questioningly and acted as if she'd just hit him with a pillow. She mouthed a sorry to the young man and bowed like her father had taught her to do.
"You have always punched like a girl! I thought I taught you better than that. First you draw back." Tatsuki drew back her arm. "Then you put all your anger and energy into your fist as you hit them."
The tall man fell to the ground as her closed hand left the side of his face. He could feel warm liquid flowing from his nose and over his mouth. It tasted like metal. He was bleeding. Normally he would have been prepared for such an attack, but he was not expecting one from either of the ladies. He was so distracted by the pretty one's weak attempt that he did not see the other one coming.
"Oh, Soldier!" Lady Inoue cried out and dropped to his side on the ground. In her distress the golden light appeared and formed a dome around her and the fallen man.
"Orihime!" Tatsuki said with wide eyes. "What...?"
"I think you broke his nose!" The redheaded woman leaned forward and examined the man now in her care. It looked painful, swollen, and mangled, but would be fixed soon. Slowly, the blood disappeared and the swelling diminished, yet he still lay there silently, eyes closed as if he were asleep.
"Ichigo?" She leaned in even closer, her concerned face hovering only inches above his own. His heart fluttered at her use of his given name. It was the first time she had called him anything but 'soldier' and it was a sign of intimacy, at least in his country. Her soft hand smoothed itself across his cheek. He covered it with his own and lifted his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.
Orihime stared back at him in disbelief. He had stolen yet another kiss from her. As much as she liked him and found him almost irresistibly handsome, his blatant disregard for her innocence flustered her to no end. She shot up and stormed off towards the house, leaving her patient and a gawking lady's maid behind.
"S-she wasn't lying." Tatsuki mumbled. Her words fell on deaf ears as the language she spoke was only shared between her and the lady of the house.
()()()()()
The rain poured heavily on the earth. Each drop pounding on the roof above, creating a symphony that soothed all that resided beneath it. All but two; Ichigo and the object of his affections. Orihime had barely made eye contact with him for several days since he had stolen her second kiss. He did not understand why she shied away from him when they had kissed before. She did not protest then, or maybe she did? Upon recollection she had stood there frozen as he violated her lips. She also did not lean into his embrace. He hissed in irritation. He was so stupid and clouded by their mystical connection he had become blind to her needs.
The young lady of the house sat in the distance lounging on a sofa, attempting to read a book as the man who guarded her stood near the doorway, leaving against one of the many bookcases that lined the walls of the library. She was still frustrated with him and now it wasn't only because he had stolen two kisses from her, but because he made her uneasy in so many ways. He was good to look at despite the permanent scowl that graced his face, there was an unmistakeable connection between them - magical and physical, she often wondered what his body looked beneath the uniform he wore - he was a seasoned militant and had probably spent many a day, month, year wielding that large sword in training and combat. Her eyes drifted towards his form, only to catch him staring at her. The rose in her cheeks deepened and she quickly averted her gaze to the book in her hands. She sunk deeper into the couch as she tried in vain to comprehend the words on the page. For that moment she had completely forgotten how to read.
"Hime! There's a letter from your father!" Tatsuki burst in the opposite entrance and rushed to her friend's side. She handed her a sealed note which she opened clumsily. It was the first contact she'd had from her father since she'd left to sail to this new land. With her reading ability instantly restored, she skimmed the letter. Her lady maid looked at her frantically, wanting to know what news it brought. "Well?"
"It says I am to prepare the house for a guest. For a Bya... Byakuya Kuchiki and his sister... Ru... Kia?" New friends! Her heart fluttered with excitement. Ichigo's heart faltered at the mention of the two names. Particularly that of Lord Kuchiki's. He was a noble, born to old money, a talented fighter, and known throughout the land as the handsomest man to grace the earth by women from miles around. He knew the young woman's father was up to something and he would do everything he could to prevent it from becoming fruitful. Orihime was meant for him, not some dry aristocrat.