Chapter 9
The rest of the week went by faster than I wanted it to. For three days, I had to go through a purification ritual that most female souls would complete before a marriage. Most souls didn't do this anymore but I liked the old ways. Wearing just a simple white robe, Rangiku and Momo led me out to the closest waterfall that we could find. We approached it and saw it fall down into a pool that sparkled brightly, Rangiku and Momo giving me a quick hug before telling me that they'd be back at the end of the third day. I waved goodbye before climbing down to the edge of the pool, seeing a set of rocks that were flattened just in front of the spray of the water. I sat down on the rocks, my legs dangling into the cold water and feeling the waterfall beat down on my back. Then I cleared my mind of all thoughts and closed my eyes, relaxing and listening to all the sounds. I went into a hypnotic trance, feeling Tatsuya purr within my mind as he settled into the trance as well. My spiritual pressure gradually rose as I sat there within the waterfall, not moving an inch for the entirety of the three days.
It felt like Rangiku and Momo had only left for a day when I heard them calling for me. I opened my eyes and smiled up at them, jumping into the pool and swimming over to the other side. I shivered when I got out of the water, running over to them as they gathered a fluffy dry robe around me and led me back to the Seireitei.
"H-h-h-how's T-T-T-Toshiro?" I asked as my teeth chattered violently. I hugged the robe to me as tight as I could, hoping the warmth would seep into my bones soon.
"Ichigo and Renji took him to the Human World for what Ichigo called a 'bachelor party,' whatever that is," Rangiku said, rolling her eyes. "They figured that it would keep him away from you before the marriage ceremony. It's bad luck for the soon-to-be husband to see the soon-to-be wife beforehand."
"H-how's he t-taking it?" I asked, the chattering slowly getting better.
"Rukia keeps checking in with him and he's not happy," Momo laughed. "He keeps asking her to take him with her and now has to sneak off if she wants to leave. I guess all he wants to do is see you."
"It makes you wonder what kind of sick torture they're putting the poor guy through…" Rangiku said thoughtfully, laughing after she caught sight of my expression. "Don't worry, Imayru. They're just doing things that drive him crazy because he finds them to be childish and beneath him."
I shook my head but walked with them back to Squad 5, where they immediately fell asleep and I stood at the window. Another shooting star could be seen and this time I wished to be with Toshiro, so I leapt out of the window and down onto the courtyard. I was extremely curious to see what this "bachelor party" entailed, so I created a gate and jumped through into the Land of the Living. I searched for his spiritual pressure, knowing that he must be in a gigai to be able to roam around the Human World and do whatever it is that guys do before marriages. Since he was definitely in a gigai, I could barely detect his spiritual pressure but I knew it well enough that it didn't take long before I found it. I was up and running in the direction that Ichigo had once told me he lived in, passing by the river and bridge until I reached a quaint neighborhood. I felt all three of their spiritual pressures in a house that had a sign mentioning a doctor's office and jumped up onto the roof of the house across from that one. I looked into the window to see Toshiro sitting on a bed while Renji and Ichigo were sitting in front of a television set with controllers of some sort in their hands. I got too curious and flew over to the window to get a better view. Oh, so that's the thing the humans call video games, I thought to myself with a laugh. It wasn't until a strange stuffed lion saw me peeking in the window were any alarms raised. Right before they all turned around, I had jumped through the wall like a ghost and grabbed the lion by one arm as it flailed, screeching nasty things at me.
"What is this thing?" I asked curiously.
"That's a mod soul I stuffed into a lion stuffed animal I found on the street and his name is Kon," Ichigo grumbled as both he and Renji turned back to the game. "Now, please set him down because I'm tired of his complaining."
"Please tell me you came here to save me from this," Toshiro told me, his eyes practically begging me to take him back to the Soul Society.
"She shouldn't even be here in the first place!" Renji protested fiercely, turning around to glare at me. "Women aren't allowed at these and especially not the soon-to-be bride!"
"Unfortunately for you, I'm just here to see what's so great about a bachelor party," I said, looking around the room with curiosity. "Rangiku and Momo were talking about it a bit and it piqued my interest."
"Was my sweet Rukia there?" I heard a voice say and looked down to see Kon the little lion looking up at me with bright hopeful eyes.
"Sorry, pal, but I haven't seen her since the party, so it's been a few days," I told him softly, his eyes darkening from disappointment. Toshiro grabbed my haori and pulled me down to sit beside him on the bed as Kon muttered something about missing Rukia and being mistreated by Ichigo. Ichigo tossed a shoe at him and smacked him into the closet as they continued on with their game. Toshiro huffed and began to play with my hair, so I decided to mess with him. "Hey, hand me a controller!"
All three of them turned to me and openly gaped at me, Ichigo pausing it quickly without looking and Toshiro freezing instantly. "You… want to play?" Ichigo asked, shocked at my request.
"Yes, I do! It can't be that hard, I am a Captain after all."
"Renji, hand her one. We'll see how she handles it first."
Renji tossed me one, a strange expression on his face as he did so, and I turned on the controller to sign myself in. They were playing a racing game and I picked the littlest car possible that had them both laughing, so I knew that I had them beat right from the beginning. Toshiro caught on to what I was about to do and stifled his smile , rubbing my back slowly as the lights counted down on the game and the green light flashed. I let both of them think that I was just getting used to the controls and that's why I was at the back of the pack when in reality I already had the hang of things. It wasn't until the very last leg of the last lap that I picked up speed, launching my car past them so fast that they didn't know what happened. I threw my hands into the air and screamed happily, laughing as they gawked at me again.
Renji stood up quickly, pointing down at me and nearly yanking his controller from the game system, and yelled, "Rematch! I don't know how, but you cheated somehow!"
"I don't believe in cheating," I said, looking down at him with a devious smile. "So the only explanation is that you just suck at video games."
Renji looked furious as Ichigo laughed hysterically, all of us watching as Renji's face turned the color of his hair in his rage as he took a step towards me. Toshiro glared up at him, making him stay still as I grinned up at him again. "Watch it, girl. I'll stomp you out in another game someday."
"We'll see about that," I said, starting another game. Once again, I beat them both just as easily, finally noticing that dawn was soon approaching. Toshiro tried to leave with me, but Renji and Ichigo grabbed him and held onto him until I left, hearing him call after me until I reached the roof and created a gateway. Jumping through, I made it to the Soul Society and quickly into my quarters before anyone woke back up. I crawled into the blanket fort and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
The moment the sun set, I awoke to feel an arm around me and a familiar warmth, turning slightly to see Toshiro behind me as he pressed a finger to his lips. He pressed his mouth against my ear slightly and whispered, "I escaped not long after you came here and have been with you ever since. Now they're all trying to find me."
I heard the door to my office open and a voice called out, "Imayru? Are you awake?"
Not having to pretend to have just woke up, I sleepily called back, "Yeah, why?"
"Is Toshiro with you in there?" I heard Rangiku yell to me.
I looked over at him for his answer and he shook his head. "No, I'm alone and have been all night."
I heard her walk back out and Toshiro sighed, smelling my hair and pulling me closer to his body. I heard him fall sleep and knew he must have been exhausted from all the festivities. I flipped over onto my other side and watched him sleep, noticing how young he still looked but still seemed old enough to be a man, even in sleep. I softly cupped his face with the palm of my hand so I wouldn't wake him and stroked my thumb over his cheekbone, careful to avoid scratching him with my claws on accident.
"Imayru…" I heard him breathe my name in his sleep.
When he woke up later, he snuck back to his office with the excuse that he was sent away to check on something. The last three days wouldn't pass by fast enough for us. He would always find some excuse to sneak into my quarters and sleep with me in my blanket cave, then just before night we would part and go our separate ways to get ready for the ceremony.
Since there wasn't a typical dress code for this sort of thing, Rukia got me a simple white sundress that one of Ichigo's friends, someone by the name of Uryu Ishida, put together for me on the condition that he could come to see it at the ceremony. I later told Ichigo that he could collect all his friends and bring them here if they wanted to come, especially Uryu. Ichigo rolled his eyes but said he would get them the day before it started and I skipped off.
The night before the ceremony, I finally was able to meet the ones that Ichigo and Rukia call friends as he led them through the gate here. I think I managed to surprise them a great deal by bounding up to them so fast. I don't think that they were expecting a Captain like me right then, one who was energetic and happy. I bowed in front of them quickly as their shock wore off, giving them a smile of glee.
"Hello, I'm Captain Imayru Hinamori of Squad 5!" I told them happily, watching as the orange haired girl bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. "I've heard a lot about you! I never got to see any of you fight when you laid siege upon the Seireitei and felt a bit put out by it."
"This is the girl that's marrying Toshiro," Ichigo explained, looking bored.
I shot him a glare as the orange haired girl ran up to me and gave me a hug. "It's so nice to meet you! My name is Orihime, the really tall quiet one is Chad, and the one with the glasses is Uryu! Thank you so much for letting us come to this wedding! I haven't been to anything this special and happy in a very long time!"
"I was going to do the introductions for you, Orihime!" Ichigo said, looking exasperated with her jolly antics. I had to say that I loved how happy she was about anything, feeling that it was a good sort of change to what I was used to with everyone else.
Uryu held up a folded dress in his hands and offered it to me. "Rukia said that you were around her size, just a bit bigger in the chest area. I think I've got everything sized perfectly once again."
I was in front of him faster than he could blink, unfolding it to finally get a good look at something I had been curious about for a long time. It was a strapless white dress with a ribbon wrapped around the waist to tie in the back that could be used perfectly to keep my Zanpakuto in place. The hem at the bottom of the dress was made from a fancy looking lace and the pattern on the skirt was hand stitched flames that were an intricate design. I gasped with euphoria, remembering that I wore a dress just like this under my captain's haori back when Tatsuya was a light dragon, although this dress was much more beautiful than the one I had back in the past.
"You made this?" I asked in awe, my eyes stinging from wanting to cry tears of happiness.
"Of course, I did!" Uryu exclaimed, looking very proud of himself as his glasses flashed in the lantern's light when he pushed them up higher on his nose. "I'm one of the very best in my school at what I do. The only thing is that I can't take credit for the design of the dress because Rukia was the one who told me all the details for it."
I looked over to her and asked, "How did you…?"
"How did I know that this was your old captain's uniform that you always insisted on wearing?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear. "Believe it or not, I did pay attention to you. You were one of the few people that I looked up to. You never once treated me differently for being one of the Kuchiki clan."
"One's birth matters not to me," I told her, smiling back happily. "What I think matters is what someone does with the gift of life that they received."
She ran at me before she fully thought it through, giving me a hug that was so tight I couldn't breathe. I hugged her back as tight as I could and then she pulled away with a horrified expression. "Captain Hinamori, I'm so sorry for the disrespect."
"Friends have no need for formalities with me, Rukia, and I consider you to be a friend. Just call me Imayru. And thank you so much for giving Uryu the design for the dress. I really appreciate it more than you know."
I told them all to enjoy staying in the Soul Society and ran back to my quarters to try on the dress before tomorrow night. It didn't take long to get there because of how fast I ran and I was panting heavily once inside my quarters. Toshiro was in his office so I knew that he wouldn't be there to see the dress before it was time. I undressed quickly and put the dress on, loving the feel of it on my skin. I looked in the mirror to see an almost flash back, seeing a girl I once knew that was Captain only grown up into a woman that looked fierce and independent. I hadn't seen that look in my eyes before, one that said I had seen too much but had survived to tell the tale. I looked away from me and down at my dress, noticing the familiarity of it and some new changes that I liked. For one, the back of the dress dipped down a little lower than before to show off the tattoo on my back. I had thin straps over my shoulders but this one was strapless and the ribbon was a pleasant addition. I knew that this dress was perfect and that I would probably end up wearing it all the time after things went back to normal for me. I changed back into the clothing I was wearing earlier and hid the white dress in the closet so that Toshiro wouldn't see it before the ceremony started.
It was part of the plan to have a big dinner the night before the ceremony, but Rangiku and Momo ended up cancelling it for the sake of keeping Toshiro away from me before the marriage. They instead opted to go around the Seireitei, reminding the people that were attending when and where to show up and bullying everyone else into going. I was deeply surprised at their tenacity, but knew that they had been waiting a very long time for this and wanted it to be absolutely perfect more than I did. I just shook my head and let them go about doing what they thought would be helpful.
It was an hour before dawn when Toshiro snuck inside my quarters from the window, smiling tiredly at me as he crawled under the pillow fort with me. We lay on our sides, just staring into each other's eyes as we relaxed into the other's arms. I just loved his eyes, especially since those turquoise orbs always sparkled and shone for me whenever I was around him. He slid his fingers between mine and placed his hand on my cheek, stroking my cheekbone with his thumb.
"Are you excited?" he asked me, his voice sounding hopeful as his eyes shone.
"Of course I am," I told him. "I'll finally be with you forever and no one will be able to change it."
"You're not thinking about backing out, are you?" he asked, whispering hopelessly as his eyes went glassy as if he were somewhere else besides with me.
"Shiro, I meant what I said when I agreed to marry you," I said, letting go of his hand to grab his face gently with both hands, forcing him out of his thoughts and back to me. "You're thinking about that day I snapped at you."
"How could I not? You said you didn't want to ever discuss being married to me again."
"But I'm here now," I said, giving him an apologetic look, "and I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to. I don't want to lose you."
"So you don't have any doubts about marrying me later tonight?"
"I have no inhibitions about marrying you. Believe it or not, I'm happy to be doing this, even if I am slightly nervous. It's a big change."
"I'm a little nervous, too," he admitted sheepishly. "It's definitely a big step. I was just afraid you'd leave right before the ceremony started."
"I swear that I wouldn't do that to you," I told him, letting him see how determined I was.
"Good," he sighed with relief. "I love you, Imayru."
"And I love you, Shiro," I replied back, surprising both him and myself as the words seemed to just tumble out of my mouth to ring true.
I heard him make a strange noise before grabbing me and holding me tightly, his body shaking with joy with what I had just said to him. I fell asleep in his arms, feeling tears fall down and soak the pillow beneath our heads. I felt uneasy and overly excited as I was unconscious, making a rough night to sleep for me and waking up a few hours before sunset was difficult. However difficult it was for me, it was doubly so for Toshiro. I had to shake him a bit just to get one eye to open to look at me, then he closed it again in an attempt to go back to sleep.
"Oh, no, you don't!" I told him, kissing his cheeks and watching as he tried to hide a smile. "Today's the big day and you've got to leave or they'll be suspicious."
"Can I see you right before the ceremony?" he asked sleepily. "I just want to see how beautiful you look beforehand."
"No, you may not," I laughed. "You can see me at the cherry blossom tree when the ceremony starts just like everyone else."
"But the girls get to see you before I do!" he said, kissing my neck in an attempt to con me into it.
"No, Shiro!" I laughed again, holding him by the shoulders and putting some distance between us. "They're just helping me get ready for the ceremony. You know they have to do all the girly stuff that makes them happy. You wouldn't want to be anywhere near me during that time. Now, get out of here before they have to track you down!"
"Ugh, fine," he grumbled, kissing me on the lips quickly before crawling out of the blanket cave. Then, almost as if it were an afterthought, he peeked down into the opening and saw his eyes shine like the pool with the waterfall I used for the purification process. "I love you. See you at sunset."
With that, he was gone, jumping out the window disappearing from my sight. I smiled and crawled my way out of the blankets just as the door to my office was slammed open and squealing girls ran inside. The door to my room was slammed open by three teary eyed women who ran at me with arms outstretched and practically tackling me against a wall as they hugged me. I was tear soaked within seconds before they finally pulled away, wiping their eyes and smiling brightly at me while laughing at the expression I presently had.
"I'm just so happy that you two are finally…" Rangiku started to say before bursting into tears again, grabbing Momo to sob into her shoulder.
"You'd think from looking at the three of you that someone important just died before your very eyes!" I exclaimed, still surprised with them.
"We're just very ecstatic that you're finally getting married!" Momo said, tears still falling down her cheeks as she gave me a smile.
"We've all been waiting a very long time for this," Rukia told me, her crying finally stopping as she wiped her eyes once more.
"You guys are terrible…" I said, smiling back at them, getting them to all calm down enough so that they didn't flood my room.
Almost like a whirlwind of hair and dresses, they got my dress out of the closet and practically threw it at me. They helped me out of the clothes I had on and into the dress, cooing gleefully at the sight of me in it and tears falling again. They had me sit down in front of the mirror to do my hair, grumbling when I told them that I wouldn't let them put makeup on me and then grinning when they got me to compromise to just a little bit of it. When it was all said and done, I had half of my hair braiding back into a tiny ponytail, two ivory horns braided into it like the old days. I had a little black makeup around my eyelids and a touch of red on my lips before they all started bawling once more about how beautiful I looked. I patted their backs comfortingly, not used to all the waterworks. Finally, there was a noise on the horizon that sounded like a bell being struck and the girls wiped their eyes quickly before adjusting the wrinkles from their clothes. Much to their chagrin, I grabbed my captain's haori to put it over the dress.
"You're not actually going to wear that, are you?" Rangiku asked, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Why, yes, I am," I told her, laughing at her expression. "I am Captain of Squad 5 and I will be wearing it whether you all like it or not."
The grumbling started up again as we left, walking to the cherry blossom tree with the others following behind me. I could hear plenty of people talking as we approached and I felt my heart begin to beat faster against my ribcage. Everyone that we knew had showed up for this occasion, even Kenpachi and Yachiru, who both looked a mix of happy and upset to be there at all. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves, and walked out into view as everyone turned around to look at me. I was even more nervous after that, definitely not used to being in the spotlight like this, but just walked down the little aisle they left for me and to the cherry blossom tree where Toshiro was waiting for me with Byakuya, who was the only one to know the words for a ceremony like this since the Kuchiki clan was known to keep records for almost everything. I saw Toshiro's turquoise eyes shine as he smiled at me and I could see him shaking ever so slightly while he waited for me to walk to him. When I was finally standing beside him, I turned to look at him as he grabbed my hands gently.
He stroked the skin on my hands as Byakuya started speaking, but I didn't truly hear the words as I looked into Toshiro's eyes. I only spoke up at the places I needed to and before long, the ceremony was almost over. Byakuya pulled out a red ribbon with a runic inscription painted on it in black and tied our hands together tightly, loudly uttering a strange language that made the runes on the ribbon glow gold before the ribbon disintegrated into thin air, leaving the golden runes upon our skin that seared a path all the way to my soul and I could tell from the look in his eyes that Toshiro felt it, too.
"You are now both irrevocably bound to the other's soul, even if death parts you from the other. Now, seal the bond and look forth upon the future you will have together for the rest of your lives."
I looked back up at Toshiro as his head came down to mine and he kissed me. I felt as if I had been hit with a bolt of lightning as half of my soul was ripped apart to mix with half of his, forming a link in between the other halves of our souls that we had left. It felt like a tether keeping me bound to him so that I would never be lost or lonely ever again. To my surprise, I could now feel emotions pour off of him in waves, mostly love and surprise of his own as he pulled away from me, looking at me with his eyes almost glowing. It was then that I heard the crowd behind us cheering and clapping, the three girls, Ichigo's friend Orihime, and surprisingly Kenpachi all cheering loudest of them all. Toshiro led me down to the three sobbing girls who all hugged me tightly again, Rangiku separating from them again to grab Toshiro into a big hug, who immediately squirmed in his attempt to get free.
"I'm so happy that you had enough sense to listen to me!" Rangiku wailed.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence in me!" I heard him say, awkwardly patting her on the back as he shrugged his shoulders at me.
"And I'm so happy that she had enough common sense to agree to marry you because any woman would be happy to have you as their husband!" she wailed again.
"Calm down, Rangiku!" I told her, rolling my eyes a bit. "You're getting a little out of control!"
Momo and Rukia led her away to get herself calmed down while others lined up to congratulate us, giving me hugs and just shaking Toshiro's hand in fear that he'd react the same way with them like he did with his Lieutenant. A few of Captain Unohana's subordinates put out tables for everyone because the girls set up a dinner for after the ceremony, one that I didn't know about until right then. The rest of the night went by in a haze of laughter and cheer as I sat on Toshiro's lap, feeling through the bond that he was content with being close to me. Rangiku got drunk with Renji and another Lieutenant by the name of Izuru and sang ballads to us all, regardless of all the boos and protests against it. People started to filter out into the night the closer dawn came; even Toshiro called it a night as he picked me up in his arms and carried me off to Squad 10 Headquarters because it was closer. Renji and Rangiku were shouting catcalls at us the entire time until we were out of their sight.
"Tonight was a good night," I heard Toshiro say, looking up into his eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He gave me a smile and leaned down to kiss me quickly before looking back up to see where he was walking.
"The gold runes on our hands have disappeared," I told him. "I kind of miss them already."
"They're still there, just imprinted to our souls."
He carried me inside and set me down in the office while he got the pillow fort set up for us. Then he led me inside, pulling me against his body and kissing me passionately. As he deepened the kiss, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he placed his hands on my hips. Little did I know that this would be the last moment of true happiness that I would have for a very long time.
