A/N:

It's all thanks for Darling-Corinna that I can update this quick. She edited a chapter in one day!

Thank you everyone who has read and reviewed this story.

Just a reminder about the warning for this story (not for this chapter, but for the story as a whole): AiGin, AiHina, Ichihime. Possible OCCness. Not a fluff story.

(3/14/12)

His father's personal assistant Choujirou Sasakibe also entered the room with some servants to arrange the food on the table. As he was about to leave with the maids, his father stopped him, "Sasakibe, sit down. Sunsui's not here today. Let's have a family dinner with me."

Sasakibe bowed, "My honor, Yamamoto-sama."

The old man took a sip of sake and looked at Aizen warmly, his usual rigid and cold facade was gone, "I'm very happy today. I just heard that Sousuke has found himself a girlfriend."

The faces of everyone sitting at the table brightened, and it annoyed him a lot. It was not their business how he lived his life. So what if he liked men before?

"Congratulations, Sousuke." His brother smiled at him gently, "Is she a good girl?"

The mention about Orihime wiped all of his irritation away; just a mere thought of her warmed his heart. He had been worried too much; maybe his family would like her. Again, who would not like her? If they approved their relationship, he wouldn't have to worry about his family using their power to take her away from him.

He nodded, "She is the best girl I have ever met.'

They laughed happily. His father said, "Sousuke is really a grown man now. You are a very difficult man to please; she must be very beautiful and smart."

He nodded again, forgetting to hide his emotion and eagerness, "She is also very kind and gentle. She is really a very good girl."

His brother smiled again, "I guess your tie is her present for you."

Aizen couldn't hide his happiness and he returned the smile, "How do you know?"

"You seem to treasure it a lot. Ever since you came in the room, you have not let it out of your touch."

His father knitted his eyebrows together as he looked at the simple black and white stripped tie, "Does she go to your school?"

Feeling the ominous outcome from his facial expression, Aizen nodded slightly, "Yes, Yamamoto-sama."

"Most of the students from our university come from rather well-known family but we also give scholarships and financial aid for students with lesser income but have high academic achievement and potential. I guess the lady is from the second group."

Trying to hold back a frown, Aizen calmly answered, "She is a highly intellectual girl with a very kind heart. It would take me a whole day to list all of her good attributes. I believe that her good virtue is much more valuable than where she comes from."

Trying to reduce the increasing tension, his brother put more food on his father's plate, "Father, as long as Sousuke likes her, that's all that matters."

His father sniffed his nose slightly, "Sousuke, you are still young. I'll give you the freedom to have your fun. You can fool around as much as you want, just make sure to not shame our family. Today, I have arranged a meeting for you to meet the lady of the Hinamori Clan. We'll meet her later after meal." His voice told Aizen that it was a final and he had no say in it.

Angry, Aizen put his chopsticks down, "I'm not fooling around, and I have no intention to play with Orihime. I love her. I want to be with her and her only. I will not meet any other women."

"Nonsense." His father slammed his hand on the table, "You are still very young. Young people change girlfriends all the time. You'll get bored of her before you know it. How many girlfriends and..." his skip over the word 'boyfriend' was painful, "have you had up until now? Do you even remember all of them?"

"She's different. I have never felt like this before. I know it. It's love.'

"Sousuke, you disappoint me. I thought that you were different. I cannot believe that you believe in things like love. There are much important things than love."

His brother coughed heavily, blood evident on his handkerchief. Looking at him worriedly, the two men stopped arguing and returned to eat in silence.

Wiping his mouth, his father told him, "Sousuke, I do not object who you want to be with. I'll do nothing to stop you from seeing this woman, but I'll never let her enter into this family, so do not even let it across your mind. As long as you accomplish your duty as my son and the future heir of the Yamamoto Corporation, I'll let you have a comfortable life as you please, but I have chosen a good girl to be your life time partner."

Aizen tried to hold back his anger. He had expressed his real emotion too much today, anymore and he would ruin everything. His face emotionless as he continued to listen to his father.

"She is a real lady, coming from a noble and well-known family. She's really pretty, smart, and kind-hearted. I'm sure she'll lives up to your standards. After this interview, we'll have an engagement party, and then you can marry her after you graduate."

Feeling the rebellion from Aizen, his father continued, "If you really like that woman, you can buy her a house and give her everything that people like her dream of. Money and power, we do not lack. I have no objection if you still want to live with her after your marriage. Now, let's go and meet your fiancée."

He stopped at the door and added, "If you do not listen, Sousuke, this woman will not have a good ending. You are a smart man; you know what's best for her."

XxXxXxXxXx

Yamamoto rested his back against the huge black leather chair, fingering the picture of his family: he, his late wife and his three sons. Sousuke was not himself today. He had displayed too much emotion on his face. Although as a father, he was grateful that his son opened to him more than usual, but that was a weakness, and Sousuke did not have any weaknesses, not until today. He smiled... but he never saw Souuke this happy before, talking about that girl. Maybe if that girl was not too bad, he would compromise for his son's happiness. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

He placed the picture back, and kept his face stoic as his personal assistant came into the room.

"Yamamoto-sama."

He nodded slightly, "Do you have the file of that girl yet?"

Sasakibe placed the file on the huge wooden rectangle table, "Here it is, Yamamoto-sama."

While he looked over the file, Sasakibe continued, "It seems like the Hinamori family is very pleased with Sousuke-sama's performance today. I heard that Lady Hinamori took an immediate liking to him. I think the marriage will be very easy to arrange."

Yamamoto nodded and leaned his back against the chair, throwing the file on the table "No doubt that Sousuke likes this girl, Orihime that much. She indeed is very charming and beautiful. Choujirou, who do you think is better for Sousuke?"

"About appearance, Inoue Orihime has more of an advantage. However, Hinamori is a gem in the ocean. Pretty, kind, smart, courteous, calm, strong, and determined, not to mention coming from a wealthy and noble family. She is the best candidate to be the family future head's wife. With her soft nature as well as her determination and her family influence, she certainly will be a great help for the young master in the future."

Yamamoto nodded and sighed, "I also think that Momo's good nature is a perfect match for Sousuke. She would take good care of him and help him through and through. She will be loyal to him until she dies, just like my late wife. How about Inoue Orihime?"

"According to our information, she is very strong and special. Since her brother died when she was fourteen, she lived alone and worked hard to get into the university. She is extremely smart and always places the top in school. Young master might find her more compatible intellectually. However, her family is very questionable. Her mother was the infamous Inoue Hitomi, and her father was an alcoholic and a gambler. Her brother was just a normal secretary who died long ago in an accident."

"So you think that her family is the only thing that did not fit well with Sousuke?"

Sasakibe looked at Yamamoto briefly before answering, "I don't know what you mean, Yamamoto-sama."

"She is too beautiful. That's one problem. She's too smart, that's another problem, but the biggest problem is that Sousuke is deeply in love with her."

Sasakibe lowered his head in confusion, "You mean that her good attributes are actually what does not fit well with Young Master."

"Beautiful flowers should be for decoration only. I don't want my son having to worry for the rest of his life about his wife's faithfulness, feeling upset every time a man looks at her inappropriately. She will be a great distraction to him especially if he loves her. He needs to use all of his time and energy for the family, and having a beautiful wife who attracts every man that lays an eye on her does not help. She is smart, so it's less likely that she will listen and follow whatever he says. I need him to have someone who will support him all the way, be with him in good or bad time, accepting and helping him regardless of his action, and she is not the one. The worst is that she makes him soft, too soft to be a good leader."

Yamamoto sighed and clasped his hands together, "Sousuke might not see it now, but it would be disastrous if he marries her. Love itself is a weakness. I rather him marry someone he does not love and fulfill his duty as an heir than marrying someone he loves and be destroyed afterward."

"Do you want me to arrange something to break-"

Yamamoto raised his hand, "Do not do a thing. That will only make him love her even more. He is a man who easily gets bored. Just let it be. Sooner or later he will leave her, or if she is really a good and kindhearted girl like he said, she'll leave him. They are not meant to be. I don't believe that they could last long. Arrange more meetings for Sousuke and Momo. After that, proceed to the engagement party. You can leave now."

Sasakibe bowed his head and left.

XxXxXxXxXx

Aizen opened the door and got into his apartment. The anger he had towards his father was suffociating him, robbing him of every last breath. He just wanted to have a good sleep now.

So frustrated.

Why were they doing this at this moment?

Ichigo and Orihime was studying together, too busy talking happily that they did not even know his existence. They laughed together, smiled together, looking at each other.

Too frustrated.

She did not even this open with him before. Why was she so friendly with someone that was not him? She was not allowed to. She was his. She was not allowed to be open with any other men. She was not allowed to look at another man like this, or talk with him like this, or laugh like this. Not allowed to.

Too frustrated.

He headed straight to his room and slammed the door.

Too frustrated.

He threw himself on the bed. He wanted to be more control of his emotions, but whenever she was around, he could not do it. He could not put his mask on anymore.

The door was softly opened and closed, and a pair of arms wrapped around his body, hugging him from behind. "I miss you."

It did not look like she missed him. She had too much fun being with another man just now.

She kissed him lightly on his neck, tracing her fingers around his stomach, sending him several waves of pleasure. "Are you hungry?'

Not answering, he closed his eyes.

"You know, I'm here for you, whatever happens, I'll be here for you." She took his shoes off and covered him with a blanket before lying next to him and hugging him from behind again.

He felt so sleepy. He always found it hard to sleep, and rarely slept well before, only four hours a day, but with her around, he found it so peaceful that sleep just came naturally. He always felt safe with her close to him like this, and he slept.

XxXxXxXx

A first ray of sun light shone into his face, disturbing his peaceful sleep. As he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of gray orbs gaze into his. She rested her body on one of her elbow and smiled, "Good morning, Sousuke."

"You watched me sleep?"

She traced her fingers around his face, from his temper down to his jaw, "You are even more beautiful when you are asleep."

He pulled her down and got on top of her, "Only I can watch you sleeping. You are not allowed to." He crashed his lips on her. Only a day but he missed her lips terribly. She giggled, "Sousuke, you'll be late for school. Come on. I'll make you some breakfast while you take a shower, ok?"

He sighed and nodded, eyeing her back as it left, further and further away from him.

He raised his hand, trying to reach her, but failed. He curled his hand into a fist. He always got what he wanted.

XxXxXxXxX

He smiled at her, putting his hand on top of hers as they were eating tofu soup for breakfast. The meal was quite exquisite. He knew she had tried hard to please his stomach, even giving up on her weird taste. He wiped his mouth with his napkin, "Thank you, Orihime. It was a great meal. Let me make you something next time."

She smiled while taking the dishes away. "You don't need to thank me. Kurosaki-kun has helped me a lot to overcome my weird taste." Her eyes trailed off into another world as she began to wash the dishes, "despite his indifferent and cold attitude, he actually is friendly and very intelligent. I had a lot of fun, studying with him. He is very knowledgeable."

Aizen put the dishes away, trying hard to keep his calm.

"He's so kind. His big dream is to build a big hospital in Africa and help poor people there who do not have money to go to a hospital." Her eyes were brightened as she turned to meet his gaze, "I can't believe it. He is so cool. I wanted to go there and help him too."

She dried her hands, "He is also a very fine martial artist. He said that he did not know much, but he is actually a black belt in Judo."

He curled his lips into a smile as he came closer and stroked her hair, "I'm a black belt in Judo, Karate, and Taekwondo."

"Is this so?" Her smile faded, "You never told me."

"You never asked." His face darkened as he leaned closer and kissed her, irritated as the way her body slightly resisted him.

"Do you like him?" He licked her earlobes while his fingertips rubbed her back of her cap.

"I do." She did not even hesitate to answer him. The bug in his stomach grew bigger and bigger.

"He and me, who do you like more?"

She looked at him firmly, "I do not like you. I love you."

Pulling her into a passionate kiss, pleased at the way she moaned in his mouth while he slipped his hand under her baggy hoodie and squeezed her breasts roughly. However, the bug had not fully disappeared. He wished he could cage her in a small box and kept her by his side all the time. Unfortunately, she was a spirited bird who wanted to fly into the sky. If it was caged into the box, it would wither and die. He hooked her legs around his waist, but she stopped him, "We'll be late for school. I won't be here tonight. I have late shift today and I will spend the night in the library."

He nodded, "I also have night shift at the hospital."

"Orihime." He called as she turned her back away, "No matter what happens, always remember that I love you."

She smiled at him and nodded.

A/N:

Warning for the next couple of chapters: we have been enjoyed a fairly slow gentle pacing in which three or more chapters only cover what happen within a day. A lot of flashbacks and characters' backgrounds are introduced. From now on, the pacing may go a little bit faster, and there will be what we call drama. I need to set up a stage so that when things happen, it will make sense. Hope you now have a gasp of characters' motivations and feelings. Real things will begin soon.

Also, now that I found a new beta, updates will come fast. Which one is better for you? Twice a week? Once a week? Or every other day? No firm promise because I only get about two chapters ahead from my beta, but it's nice to know.

Thanks for reading. Comments and constructive criticism are highly appreciated.