Hi guys! I am back with chapter 10. i am specially nervous about this one, so please tell me if you liked it.
As always: I DON'T OWN BLEACH, TITE KUBO DOES! I own the story though ;)

I SO HOPE YOU LIKE IT!
HAPPY READING

Rukia looked at Renji angrily, hurt and completely frightened, while he just lowered his head and placed the golden box on top of his bed.

"How could you?" she was angry, but also disappointed.

"I was just trying to help... I asked him to give me your 'rejection' papers, but he refused" Renji eyes were wide and honest; Rukia lowered hers and they darkened a bit.

"Of course he did... I am sure he wants to tell me in person how much shame I brought on the Kuchiki name... How ungrateful I am", as he observed Rukia what really intrigued Renji was her voice. It sounded so dull, so empty.

"Rukia, you don't have to see him if you are not ready, I'll tell him to go away, I..." his eyes found his friend's and he saw there were a bit brighter than usual, and much, much colder.

"It's alright, I am going to change clothes now... If he is so eager to humiliate me, then so be it" she moved to the box and started opening it, but Renji's strong hand gripped her wrist; she looked up to him with emotionless eyes.

'It's like staring into No Sode no Shirayuki's eyes' Renji thought 'Oh please, do not tell me she...' Renji lowered his head, fighting back tears.

"You gave up, don't you?" he asked bitterly.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" of course she did, and Renji knew she did. He released her wrist.

"I will wait for you in the living room" Renji walked out of the room and closed the door slowly, taking one last glimpse of her.

'I am sorry, Rukia... I didn't mean to betray you' Renji shed a lone tar, and headed for the living room.

When Rukia came out she was wearing a silk purple kimono with lavender sakura patterns embroidered on it, her hair was up, held by an ivory comb. She looked so beautiful, Renji's eyes widened; he was about to compliment her about her looks when he noticed her eyes looked dead and her skin was paler than usual. She sat beside him, staring blankly at the floor, and both remained silent for about half an hour until a bang came from the front door.

Renji looked at Rukia while standing up, but she just sat there as if nothing happened, he felt sad, and headed to the door.

'Fuck it, let's get this shit over with' he thought.

He opened the door and saw Yumi, Rukia's personal servant observing his puzzled face.

"Good evening, Abarai-San; I am here to fetch Rukia, is she ready?"

"H...Hai" he was about to let the servant pass when he felt Rukia's freezing cold hand over his arm.

"I am ready, Yumi" her voice came out so emotionless and dead, it worried her servant a lot.

"Alright then, come with me... both of you" Renji was confused, but glad at the same time, he was going to be by her side, it was his chance for redemption. Rukia just nodded and followed Yumi; Renji did so after closing the door.

They walked the path to the Kuchiki mansion in complete silence; upon reaching the front gates, both Renji and Yumi heard Rukia sighing, when they turned to look at her they found her trembling very slightly, but then again her face showed nothing.

Once inside they went straight to Byakuya's study, Yumi entered first and announced them; she then let Renji and Rukia in and closed the door behind her.

Lifting her head, she could see Yoruichi signing some papers and Byakuya sitting on his desk talking to the family counselor, and her heart skipped a beat. He was wearing a kimono identical as hers; his Kenseiken looked whiter and shinier that usual, contrasting with his impossible glossy midnight black hair beautifully.
When he fixated his gaze on her she forgot how to breathe, he looked so amazingly gorgeous she blushed and lowered her head.

"Good evening Abarai... Rukia" Byakuya said dragging her name on purpose. They all bowed their heads lightly.

"Kuchiki Rukia, could you come closer?" asked Byakuya coldly, she felt a shiver running down her spine as she walked toward his desk.

The family counselor handed some papers to her and said very formally:

"Kuchiki Rukia, please, sign these" she obliged, not even reading what it was she was signing, she could barely stand being in the same room with him anymore; she just wanted to get this over with, quick.

"By this mean you are now dismissed from the noble Kuchiki family as Kuchiki Byakuya-Sama's sister." Rukia did not shiver, she did not look up, and she did not speak; she expected this to happen, and her heart was already broken when she came here, so there was nothing left to break.

"Now please, sign these," said the counselor handing her more papers.

The old man held the second piece of paper up and spoke again.

"Hereby you are adopted into de Shihoin family as Yoruichi-Sama's daughter, and you are given full nobility status" now Rukia was shocked, she turned to look at Yoruichi with questioning eyes but the older woman kept her eyes closed and a smile on her face.

Renji was completely lost, he was about to ask what in hell was going on there, when the counselor addressed to him.

"Abarai Fukutaichou, I will need your signature here," said the old man handing Renji another set of papers. The crimson-haired lieutenant was so confused he also signed without reading what it was.

Yoruichi signed after Renji and Byakuya after her. Rukia's eyes were focused on the floor again, and she did not notice what was going on around her until she felt Byakuya's slender finger hooked under her chin, motioning her to lift her head.

She looked into his eyes and saw nothing; his gray orbs remain impassible and unreadable like always.

"Sign here, Shihoin Rukia" he said harshly, Rukia wanted to go; she needed to get the hell out of there. She sighed, those were the last moments of torture, soon enough she would be escorted out of this house and she would never see Byakuya again. That thought terrified her. She started panting, and her chest hurt; sensing this Renji stood by her holding her hand tight and lowering his head to whisper something in her ear.

"Come on Rukia, we have seen worse than this, just sign and everything will be better, I promise" Rukia looked into his eyes and saw truth there he really meant that. Encouraged by his words she grabbed the quill and signed her new name on it.

She was focussing on Renji so much; she did not notice Byakuya was staring at her intensely while the counselor checked the documents they just signed.

"Well, Byakuya-Sama, everything seems to be in order," commented the old man.

"Is it done then?" asked Byakuya.

"Yes sir, it certainly is" Byakuya let out a half smile, it was a kind of cocky smile, and Renji wanted to jump at his throat and slash it open with his teeth, but for Rukia's sake he tried to calm down.

"You may take your leave now, all of you," Said Byakuya coolly.

Renji left the room first, he was afraid if he stayed a little longer he would unleash Zabimaru on his Taichou; Yoruichi was just behind Renji, Rukia tried to follow her when she felt Byakuya's warm hand holding her wrist.

She looked at him with confusion, and her eyes showed him lots of pain.

"Hey Byakuya-Bo" said Yoruichi grinning from the door.

"What is it now, were-cat?" he asked not diverting his gaze from Rukia.

"Be gentle, that's my baby girl" she blinked and eye to Rukia.

"Oi, where is Rukia? Why are you pushing me Yoruichi-San?"

"Iare Iare, Renji, what about we go and have a nice warm sake, ne?"

She slammed the door and dragged Renji god knows where.

Now Rukia was alone, alone with Byakuya. His hand still had not let go of her wrist and she could feel his gray eyes fixed on her.

"Rukia, we need to talk, please come with me," he asked in a very gentle way, which surprised her, so she just nodded and followed his lead.

Her eyes were steady on the floor the entire time, so she really did not know where they were when she heard a door slide shut behind her; she looked up and did not understand what she was seeing.

She was sure she had ever seen this part of the mansion before, at least certainly not this room.

It was a very large white room with back wooden floors; on the right side of the room, there was a huge white silk-covered futon with red pillows and cushions. A single, but very big, purple paper lamp that hanged above it gracefully, illuminated the futon.

Across the front door, Rukia could see a garden, it was very large and so much prettier that any other garden she had ever seen, however she found it rather strange, for the garden had only sakura trees and jasmine flowers on it.

"Would you like to have some sake with me in the garden?" asked Byakuya holding her hand again. All she could do was nod. 'Since when does Nii-Sama asks me to drink sake?' she wondered, while following him outside.

They reached a beautiful black silk blanket waiting for them in the center of the garden, a small table with very delicate sake set upon. They sat across each other; Byakuya examined her sad beautiful face and spoke.

"Rukia, would you please serve the sake for us?" what she could not understand is why was his voice so warm and caring; he never treated her like that...EVER! 'Maybe he is being so nice because he won't ever have to see me again after tonight' she thought sadly.

"Hai, Nii-Sama"

"Rukia, I thought you understood that you are not my sister anymore, you can't address to me in such way" he scolded her.

"I... I am s...sorry Ni..." she took a deep breath in order to calm herself, she was not willing to cry in front of him again, "I am sorry Kuchiki Taichou" she said bowing her head.

"That's better, but not quite exact Rukia," she looked at him puzzled, he smiled a bit. "No not worry though, it will do...for now" his eyes sparked a little when he said for now, and she feared the hidden meaning of his words.

Rukia was about to pour the sake when she noticed something strange, there was only one cup; she served the sake anyway and offered the cup to Byakuya.

"Why are you not drinking, Rukia?" he sounded harsh.

"Oh, there was only one cup, Kuchiki Taichou" she lowered her head.

"Well, I guess we are to share this one then" there it was, that spark again, she could not put her finger on it, but it made her nervous.

"N...Kuchiki Taichou, you don't have to, it's alright"

"But I insist, Rukia" how could you say no to that?

"A... Arigato" she mumbled. Then Byakuya took a sip of sake and handed the cup to Rukia, who sipped from it as well. Then Byakuya sighed and looked intensely into her eyes before he start talking.

"When I was cast the spell upon, I was very young" his eyes suddenly found her surprised ones, and he felt his heart warming up.

"You asked me about it when I told you about the spell, remember? But I avoided giving you a full straight answer back then."

"I...its r...really ok Ni... I mean Kuchiki Taichou, you don't have to explain anything to me, I think I better go now, thank you so much for everything you have done for me in all this years I won't forget that you know I am leaving I am so sorry thank you very" she was trying to stand up, but he held her arm firmly and placed a finger over her lips to silence her.

"Hush, Rukia; this is my time to speak, and your time to listen and be quiet" his gray eyes looked so deeply into her violet ones she found herself out of words, she nodded.

"It happened two weeks before I married you sister" his eyes trailed off and she prepared herself for more pain.

"You already know how I confronted my family" he searched her eyes, but she just nodded with her head down. He sighed and continued.

"As our wedding day came closer, I started having doubts…I finally came to admit, deep in my heart, that my family would never truly accept Hisana" he stopped and took a deep breath. He wanted to make her pain disappear so much, but he needed to tell her the truth right now.

"So one day I was training with Shihoin Yoruichi and she felt my doubts…I know now she was only trying to help me; she thought I was having cold feet and cast the spell on me because she thought it would help clear my mind" he laughed faintly, and her surprised eyes finally found his.

"Do not look at me like that Rukia, I already told you I did not called Hisana's name" she lowered her eyes again.

"Hai…sorry Ni…Kuchiki Taichou"

"Old habits die hard, Rukia, huh?" she blushed.

"Anyway, even though I did not say Hisana's name, and even though my so called love for her vanished as soon as the other woman's name came out of my mouth…I still knew I had to marry her. I had given her my word, I had fought my family…there was no coming back for me back then" he held the sake cup and took another sip, passing it to Rukia who did the same.

"W…Whose…name…did you said, Kuchiki Taichou?" he observed her intensely, making her blush again.

"Rukia..." her eyes met his, "please, call me by my name" his eyes were so tender, and he was so out of character; she thought she was dreaming or something.

"Byakuya-Sama?" asked Rukia reluctantly, he smiled at her.

'Oh, please stop doing that…you look so irresistible when you smile' she thought.

"Drop the honorifics, Rukia…we don't need them anymore" her heart ached at being reminded she was now officially out of his life, she nodded in an apologetic way.

"You see, Rukia, fate works in extremely dark ways. Back then, when I said my true love's name, she did not exist…yet" now she was lost

"What do you mean…B…Byakuya?" she asked shyly, and he thought his name sounded amazing coming from her mouth.

"Fate made sure I knew her name before I marry Hisana, so when I found her I would feel absolutely no regrets; but I guess fate did not count on me being scared"

'Scared? He would never be scared…of anything! What was he talking about?'

"I don't understand you…," said Rukia, Byakuya took a final gulp of sake and handed the cup to her, she drank it and he finally sighed in relief.

"A couple of years after we married, Hisana told me about you; we looked for you everywhere but we could not find you. Eventually your sister's health deteriorated and in her death bed she made me promise I would adopt you as my sister if I ever find you" Rukia nodded, she knew that story very well.

"I found you at the academy, a year after she died. The first time I laid my eyes on you I felt…strange; but I knew for sure you were in deed her sister, so in order to fulfill my promise to Hisana I hurried to look for you name" he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"There it was, Rukia…your name was Rukia, and if I was to adopt you your name would change into Kuchiki Rukia" he held her hand and hooked a finger under her chin in order to meet her eyes. She looked confused and still hurt; Byakuya licked his lips while staring into her amazingly beautiful indigo-violet orbs.

"And suddenly, the name of my true love finally made sense" he waited patiently for her to understand what he was tying to say. All of the sudden, a frown appeared on her lovely face, and her mouth flew open.

"Yes Rukia, the name I said when Yoruichi cast the spell on me was Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia; do you understand now why the name made no sense back then?" she was shocked, completely.

'Wait a minute, he called my name? HE SAID MY NAME. DOES IT MEAN HE…?'

"Do you mean…you…you feel" she was blushing like a maniac, and his heart was banging in his chest"

"What I mean, Rukia, is that the same thing you feel for me I felt for you for over fifty years" he smiled at her, he was smiling at her and his eyes were filled with love, she was about to cry now.

"H…How could you… Why did you…WHY DID YOU WAIT SO LONG?" she was kind of shouting, but honestly? She did not care anymore.

"Like I told you, I was…afraid" he looked away, but she still did not understand, she shyly but lovingly caressed his cheeks making him face her again.

"Afraid of what?" one look at her and he could easily tell she was confused, surprised, but definitely not hurting anymore. He sighed.

"The spell has no guarantees, Rukia. At first I was ready to forget my promise and marry you at once" her eyes widened at that 'marry me? He thought about marrying me?'

"But then I saw you with Abarai, and suddenly I did not feel so sure. After a few years you two were not close anymore, and I felt like casting the spell upon you again…Until I saw you with Shiba Kaien " he looked away, but she could see the pain in his eyes, and she fully understood him. She came closer to him, and searched his eyes again, only to find them glazed, as if he was about to cry; however, he did not.

"And then, when you were assigned to Karakura, I said to myself that was the last time I was to be afraid, I promised myself I would cast the spell as soon as you returned from you mission…But we both know what happened there".

"Ichigo" she mumbled

"Yes, Kurosaki Ichigo, the man who saved you while I stood there watching you die" Byakuya looked away, ashamed.

"I was thinking about following you, you know?" he said faintly, she smiled at him.

"I know" his eyes widened in surprise.

"H…How could you possibly…?" she smirked at him.

"I do not know if you are aware of this, but your zampaktou tells my zampaktou a LOT of things about you" Byakuya could not believe Senbonzakura's betrayal, but then again, Rukia was smiling at him, so he actually did not care.

"I thought Kurosaki was your true love…I mean the boy is obviously mad about you" she looked away sadly.

"I know, but I…I am not" she said sadly, but he let out a cocky grin.

"I know you are not," he said slyly, making her blush.

"You are mad about me," he said coming closer to her. Rukia's heart was banging in her chest, painfully.

"W…what…makes…you so…sure?" she tried to sound carefree, but he smiled at her and whispered into her ear, huskily:

"Because you said MY name, Rukia…" his hot breath was tickling her neck, and he was nuzzling her skin, sending shivers all along her body. However, Rukia was feeling a bit brave, and did not want to be surpassed by him, so she let out a small laugh.

"I think you are forgetting something here," she said flirty, he smiled and looked deeply into her eyes again.

"Oh really? What would that be?" her smile widened

"You also said MY name," she stated. They stood there, inches away from each other; his scent was intoxicating her, while his eyes fell to her tempting, inviting lips.

"Rukia you are so beautiful," he said

"So are you Byakuya," then both leaned forward and slowly brushed their lips. Rukia's lips were so soft and warm, Byakuya found himself desperately needing to taste more of her, so he leaned in to capture her fully with his mouth.

The kiss started slow, shy; but soon became passionate and possessive.

Byakuya tasted so good, it felt so right to her, like she was not meant to be kissing anyone else. Truly, she was not.

He encircled her waist with a strong arm while sliding his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him until she was on his lap, straddling his hips with her legs. Her hands tangled in his hair, she never felt something so incredibly silky and soft, one of her hands traveled down his back, and she felt his toned body shivering under her touch making her shiver as well.

Her lips were incredibly soft and sweet, and he was already holding back his desire for her; he licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance, and she happily obliged, allowing him to deepen the kiss. He then caressed her tongue with his, tasting her hot wet cavern, as if he was to drink her whole. A deep moan escaped her throat and that sent Byakuya almost over the edge. The need for air suddenly became unbearable and they reluctantly pulled away from the kiss.

They looked into each other's eyes and right there nothing else existed; they were panting, their eyes darkened with passion.

Suddenly a frown appeared on Rukia's face again, and she distanced herself a bit from him

"You…you dismissed me from your family" he could see how confused and puzzled she was, a faint blush tinted her cheeks, her lips were swollen and slightly parted; her breath was still uneven, but there she was, confronting him... 'I love this woman' he thought 'I love her so much'.

"Would you prefer to continue our relationship as my sister?" she looked away, ashamed; he was playing her, but he could not stop himself, she was so innocent and naïve.

"No…I…wouldn't like that" god was she cute.

"So you do understand why I had to dismiss you as my sister?" he asked looking for her averted eyes.

"Hai…but…why did Yoruichi-San adopt me as her daughter?" his eyes were sparking again; she could tell he was holding back a laugh.

"I am sure you are fully aware of my obligations as the head of the Kuchiki clan, Rukia…I made a promise on my parents grave I would never break the family rules again after adopting you" she looked confused, so he explained a little more

"Once I dismissed you as my sister, you ceased to be a noble, Rukia; that meant I could not marry you" She blushed even more, but looked into his eyes nevertheless

"Wha…?"

"I asked Yoruichi to adopt you as her sister, but that wicked were-cat found the possibility of being my mother in law way more…interesting" he said a bit angry, while Rukia's eyes widened as she understood.

"You…You want to marry me?" her big violet eyes looked at him in surprise, disbelief…and hope.

"No, Rukia" he stated coldly, as she looked away deeply ashamed.

"S…Sorry I…" he lovingly caressed her cheek, making her look at him once more

"I already marry you, an hour ago" he smiled, and she was shocked

"WHAT?"

"You should really read what you sign from now on, Lady Kuchiki" he touched his nose to hers lovingly.

"I…I am your…wife?"

"Of course you are," he whispered softly, lightly brushing her lips again, her body trembled in his arms.

"B…But the ceremony…the witnesses I…"

"Yeah, Abarai should read what he signs too, i am going to have to punish him about that... it's not very suitable for a Fukitaichou, you know?, and for the ceremony…we already drank from the same sake cup…three times" he smirked, as her mouth formed a silent oh.

"And now, my beautiful Lady, there's only one more thing to do to make our marriage…official" he ran his hands up and down her sides, until they were resting on her curvy hips, and Rukia blushed wildly. Byakuya smiled and leaned forward to capture her luscious mouth in another mind-blowing kiss.

Did you like it? was it ok? LET ME KNOW
As most of you may assume the next chapter it's going to me rather...lemony...MUAJAJAJAJA