"Mother, you can't be serious!?" The maids listened to the muffled shouting that was being done by their beloved Nikkiou Yuuki. She had been going off for the last half an hour in front of both Byakuya and Ginrei about this arranged marriage business. Had she honestly had no idea that she was chosen to be married to Byakuya, who was one day going to be the head of the Kuchiki clan?
"Please, Nikkiou, calm down." Kana, her mother, stated trying to calm you down as you pasted back and forth in front of all three of them.
"When was I going to be informed about this?" You asked, looking around at all three of them. Your mother sighed, looking up at you with the same blue eyes you had she frowned deeply.
"You were to be informed about this when Byakuya-san would take over heir to the Kuchiki clan." You shook your head and balled your fists. That was going to be very soon and you knew it. Byakuya had managed to become a Shinigami in such little time and all thanks to his grandfather's training, it was also one of the requirements to becoming head of the Kuchiki clan.
"But what about me, I'm going to become a Shinigami too! What then, I won't have time for marriage if I'm out there on the front lines!" Ginrei looked over at you, he watched as you talked with the strength of a man, but lacked the knowledge on how to approach.
"When you are married to Byakuya, you will not be a Shinigami."
"What!?"
"Nikkiou please, try to understand." Your mother spoke to you in a soften tone. "We only want what is best for you. We want you to be happy and be comfortable for the rest of your life with someone who would take well care of you."
"But, what about you telling me to follow my dreams? That if I put my mind to it I could become anything that I wanted! Whatever happened to all that?" The room went silent, nobody dared to speak or utter a single word after your statement. Your mother kept eye contact with you, but it was hard for her to come up with a reply.
"I get it," You said, your voice being just above a whisper as you lowered your head. Byakuya turned toward you, his gaze was soft and filled with worry and concern.
"You only told me those things, because you never thought that I would want to actually become a Shinigami, didn't you?" Your mother then looked away, she had been caught and she knew you were right.
"You thought that I would drop it because I was only a child. You thought it was only a childish dream that I had because of everyone I looked up to was a Shinigami. Well, it wasn't just a childish dream. How could you sit there and fill me with such hope and rooting for me to chase after my dream like that!?" You yelled that last part, your voice cracking in some spots toward the end. Byakuya grabbed you by the shoulders, watching as you struggled to stay on your feet as silent tears trickled down your cheeks. You pushed him away, not wanting to be anywhere near him or anyone else at the moment. Instead, you turned tail and ran out of the room, your kimono nearly tripping you as you fled. You ignored your mother's shouts to stop and come back, you just continued to run until you were outside of your home.
With bare feet, you continued to run down the street once again ignoring everyone's cries for you to come back. Byakuya had used his flash step and caught up to you quickly before grabbing you and holding you in place so you could no longer escape. You fought with him, you fought against him as hard as you could as you struggled to punch and kick at him. But your kimono was so constricting that you couldn't get in a good kick, but you could hit rather hard. One hit to his chest actually knocked the wind out of him and allowed you a split second to escape, but your wrist was grabbed by Byakuya and you were pulled back into him.
"Why won't you just let me go!? I don't want to marry you! I never wanted to get married! I want to become a Shinigami!" Byakuya released your wrist, allowing you to stumble backwards, but never falling. The both of you just stood there in the middle of the deserted street and looked at each other. You gulped, Byakuya's eyes were looking right at you and it made you feel so weird with the way they just looked at you.
"Byakuya, you're my friend, but-" You paused, you didn't know how to finish your sentence. You never had to worry about the opposite sex before, you just weren't interested in things like relationship and such and you didn't think you would ever be ready. You just wanted to be you and only you. You wanted to go where you pleased and did whatever it was that you wanted. You wanted to become a Shinigami and become strong to protect people and your mother, just like your father. Byakuya then pulled you closer into him, he was acting as if he was trying to understand where you were coming from. When his own father passed away, it only raised his determination to become a stronger individual, but he didn't want you to follow in the path of a Shinigami.
He wanted to be the one to protect you and care for you, to live by your side and know that you were safe and not have to worry late into the night about if you were doing alright or if you were laying somewhere hurt and... well, he just couldn't allow something like that to happen.
"Please, Nikkiou, I do care for you. And though it might have been the way you were raised, I know that you care for me as well, but just have trouble showing it." You placed your hands on his chest and pushed him slightly away. The idiot, why was he saying something like this to you and making you feel all weird and stuff? He was your best friend, not someone who you could see as your husband or anything along those lines. You looked away, it was then you noticed the man across the street and you gasped, drawing Byakuya's attention toward the man as well. His eyes widened slightly, it was a Captain that was watching the both of you in the moment of your fight. You blinked, quickly trying to remove yourself from Byakuya's hold when the man started approaching with a certain look on his face.
"Hey man, I think you should really leave the little lady alone." Byakuya did release you, but he stood in front of you and nearly blocked your view of the man. You scoffed, you didn't need this type of protection from this person who was obviously someone who could be trusted.
"This isn't any of your concern." You gasped, Byakuya was talking to this Captain with such a cold and venomous tone that even you were shocked to hear the words fall from his mouth. The Captain rolled his eyes before scratching the back of his head and sighed, his eyes glancing down to you as you shuffled your way around Byakuya.
"Yeah but, it became my concern when the lady started yelling at the top of her lungs that she wanted to be left alone. So, why not just move along and leave her be man?" Byakuya's eye twitched, he was beginning to grow tired of this man's chatter and his calm and collective self was starting to become less and less by each word that left this man's mouth.
"What's your name?" You asked out of the blue, throwing off both men. The Captain looked down at you, blinking before a very large smile appeared on his lips.
"Isshin Shiba, Captain of the 10th Division."
