Yay for chapter 11! Hope you enjoy!

The Master Plan: Chapter 11

"Nii-san? Hello, are you there?" Orihime said into the phone receiver as the ringing which had been occurring just a minute ago ceased.

"Orihime? Yes, I'm here." The calm, kind voice of her brother stated. Orihime's face lit up, her features contorting in happiness and excitement as she replied joyfully,

"I have wonderful news, nii-san!" The orange-haired girl pulled away from the receiver to take a deep breath and calm herself, before putting it to her ear once more.

"Oh?" he asked, interested in why his sister seemed happier than she ever had been. "Is it for what I think it is?" Orihime felt her face warm, marveling at how well her older brother knew her.

"Yes," she replied. "I want you to meet him. I know you're busy, but is there any time you might be able to make for it?" She bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty, as she knew that her brother wasn't a man with much time on his hands, and it was very rare that she ever asked him to make time for something.

"I suppose I could do it in about 2 weeks," he said after a moment which had surely been spent checking with his agent, who was probably nearby since it was the middle of the day. Orihime smiled.

"Thank you, nii-san," she chirped happily. "I'm sorry to do this to you-"

"-You don't have to apologize, Orihime," her brother interrupted. "You know I don't mind. Now what's this man's name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki," answered his cheerful sister. "He's a very good man."

"Alright," said Sora. "Well, goodbye Orihime, I should be getting back to work. It was nice talking to you, and I can't wait to meet him. I love you."

"I love you too, nii-san. Goodbye!" With that, the phone was hung up, and Orihime set the receiver down, her smile never fading.

"What's up, preggo?" asked Ichigo as he swung into Rukia's office, leaning his side against the entrance to her cubicle. Rukia's head snapped up from her photo-covered desk to look at the orange-haired man, her eyebrow arching in confusion.

"Huh? How do you know, I haven't told you yet." Ichigo smirked.

"Are you kidding? It's really obvious, you're starting to show." Rukia threw her arms around her stomach, dawning a face of horror.

"W-What! Really!" Ichigo burst into laughs, extremely amused at her out-of-character reaction.

"No," he assured between the remaining chuckles. "Orihime told me."

"Ass," said Rukia, flustered and angry. She swiveled around in her chair to continue with her work.

"Seriously, though," said Ichigo, "Congrats. You must be really happy." Rukia smiled warmly.

"You have no idea. Just the thought that Renji and I are going to have a little baby of our own that we made together is making my heart wanna explode." She left out the part about the Kuchiki family, not wanting to pull anyone else into the situation.

"Wow," commented Ichigo, not even able to process how happy she seemed. "How's Renji taking it?"

"He feels the same as I do," she replied, then added, "But enough about me and my husband; how is it going with Inoue since the move-in? We haven't talked in a couple days." Ichigo forced a smile.

"She met my dad." Rukia snorted, stifling a laugh as she smirked.

"And how did that go over?" Ichigo's head drooped.

"I was more embarrassed than I was when he tried to take me to the mother-son dance." Rukia, unable to hold it in any longer, laughed wildly, her eyes tearing up.

"And what did Orihime think of him?"

"She claims it's fine, but I really don't know." He added, "Either way, I'm going to meet her brother soon." Rukia's chuckles subsided.

"You're going to meet Sora? Wow, Orihime must really like you." Ichigo quirked an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"He's a really busy guy, and Orihime only likes to ask him for his time when something's really important." Ichigo frowned a bit.

"I don't want her to feel guilty..."

"Well, odds are she's already asked him, so you probably shouldn't say anything. If you do, it'll probably make it worse."

"Yeah," stated Ichigo. "I guess you're right...Well, I've gotta be getting to my cubicle. See ya, Rukia."

"Bye, Ichigo."

"What's this?" asked Hisana, as she watched a lone Renji stroll into her hospital room. "Where's Rukia? Is something wrong?" She was obviously concerned, and Renji wanted to calm her fears as soon as possible.

"Everything's fine," he assured. "She's just been taking so many days off lately that she couldn't really afford to do it again, but she still wanted you to get a visit, so she made me take a day off to come see you." Hisana smirked.

"That does sound like Rukia, doesn't it?" Renji nodded.

"Yeah. She'd feel really guilty if one of us went too long without visiting you."

"How is she taking it?" asked Hisana suddenly, changing the subject and making the meaning of her question obvious. "I know that it upset her deeply." Renji lowered his eyes.

"Yeah. Especially at first, she was crying and a complete wreck." It was obvious from his expression that Renji didn't like recalling her sadness one bit. "But it's gotten a lot better since then and she's okay now." He added quickly, "Well, more or less."

"I see..." said Hisana sadly. "I do hope that it doesn't trouble her too deeply."

"Has Byakuya-san talked to the family yet?" asked the redhead, extremely curious about their response.

"He told me he was going to speak to them today, so it shouldn't be too long before they have a fit." It was a solemn response, and both individuals wanted to gravitate away from the topic.

"How is Byakuya-san, by the way?" asked Renji, breaking the silence.

"Well, he is as kind as always," replied Hisana. "And, of course, he is also upset, but besides that, he is doing well."

"That's good. I hope he can talk the family out of doing anything rash..."

"Don't worry, Renji," assured Hisana. "We already told you, it's going to be alright." Renji smirked happily.

"Thanks, Hisana-san."

"Ichigo-kun!" called Orihime. "I'm home!" She locked the door behind her with her recently-obtained key, and made her way to the kitchen in search of him.

"Ichigo-kun," she said, searching the apartment further. "Ichigo?" She walked into their bedroom, looking around everywhere.

"Gotcha!" shouted Ichigo, suddenly coming from behind and grabbing his girlfriend around the waist. He held her tightly, kissing her cheek in greeting. Upon being snatched, Orihime had squealed in surprise, before relaxing upon the realization of who was holding her.

"Hello, Ichigo," she laughed, placing her hands on his arms which stayed around her. He smirked, pulling them back to sit on the bed together.

"What's up, Orihime?" he asked. "You seem happy, so I'm assuming you had a good day." Orihime grinned, turning enough in his arms to place a chaste peck on his lips as she replied,

"Yep! And I've got really good news, too!" Her face confirmed the news, and the carrot top couldn't help but be curious.

"And what would that really good news be?" he asked.

"Sora can see us in two weeks!" she beamed. "Like I said, it's lucky we could see him that soon." Ichigo was ecstatic, and very glad that he wouldn't have to wait that long to meet Orihime's brother.

"What did you say he does again?" asked the redhead, needing to refresh his memory.

"He's the CEO at Rose Electronics, the technology company, remember?" she stated.

"Oh, yeah!" replied Ichigo, a light bulb going off in his brain as he immediately remembered the information. "Hence why he doesn't have a lot of time on his hands."

"Uh-huh," said Orihime.

"But," he said happily, nuzzling his nose into her neck, "We're gonna get to see him pretty soon, so it's all good." Orhime grinned happily.

"Right!"

"Grimmjow," commanded a dark-haired man, looking up from his desk at the other man before him. The man had light blue hair, his eyes just a slightly darker shade of the color.

"Yes, Sora-sama?" asked the suit-clad subordinate. He was an agent, loyal only to the higher-ups at Rose Electronics. Whenever something needed done that might have been hard to do normally, this man had the skills and resources to do it.

"Would you please do a full background check for me?" Though giving out instructions for something he considered extremely important, Sora maintained his kind mood and tone.

"Of course, sir," replied Grimmjow obediently. "Who is it you want it done on?" Sora tapped his fingers on the table, looking the man opposite him straight in the eyes.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

END OF CHAPTER 11

Woo, it's done! Sorry, I know it's a little late, but I have it up! If this chapter sucks, I'm sorry, I don't really feel like I've been doing my best writing lately...either way, I hope you enjoyed this chap. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, not myself, and I love and appreciate all opinions!