Okay... It's been more than a month since an update and I feel really bad about that. I was suffering from a big case of writer's block. I knew what I wanted to do but... It just didn't seem to be enough. But then about three days ago I had an epiphany and found out how to make it work! I made some changes from my original plans but I hope it works out in the end. And as an apology for my inactive-ness, I made this chapter really long and I think the story will soon hit its climax. I know this isn't a very long fanfic but it is my first and it's still an experiment. I just hope everyone can enjoy it.


Chapter 12: Round and Round it Goes

January 13; One day to go

"Wake up, you fool, we have to get ready to leave!" Rukia shouted as she threw a pillow at Ichigo's sleeping face. He instantly flew up with a confused look.

"W-What? Whaddya mean?" Ichigo questioned, rubbing his sleepy eyes. (You can just picture him being so cute sleepy, can't you?) He looked around and saw Rukia's soul pager on his desk and suddenly remembered. "Oh. Right..."

"Just get up and get dressed or shower or whatever you have to do and come downstairs for breakfast. We have to leave soon, okay?" Rukia said. She was already showered herself and was heading downstairs for breakfast.

Ichigo slowly get up out of bed and groaned. He straggled over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Hmm... Only one day away now, huh? It seems just yesterday I was told about the whole thing. He got into the shower and was finished quickly and got dressed. He headed downstairs and noticed that Rukia was already finished eating and waiting on the couch watching the ever-so-famous Don Kanonji.

"Come on, Ichigo, would you hurry up already? We have to leave in five minutes!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm down, would you?"

Ichigo scarfed down a small bowl of cereal (unfortunately he didn't have time to eat Yuzu's 'exquisite' cooking) and was ready to go.

"Do you have the iHome?" Ichigo asked. He didn't want all the hard work they put into gathering all the songs last night to waste.

"Of course! How on earth could I forget it?"

"I'm just making sure."

He and Rukia were out the door right as the Senkaimon opened and they were about to leave when Ichigo suddenly remembered something. The present!

"Hold on, Rukia, I'll be right back," he said and quickly went back inside

"What? What do you nee-" she cut herself when she realized Ichigo obviously wasn't listening. What on earth could he have left in there?

Ichigo swiftly ran up the stairs and went into sock drawer and grabbed the present. It was messily wrapped in wrapping paper with cartoon bunnies on it. "Man, I hope she likes this..." He tossed it around back and forth for a minute but then remembered that Rukia was waiting outside, probably a bit annoyed by now. He ran back down the stairs and was about to go when Isshin walked down the stairs sleepily in his robe and slippers.

"Leaving alreaaady?" He yawned as he stretched his arms.

"Yeah. Apparently he wants us there early..."

Isshin walked over the the his coffee pot and poured himself a cup. "Why's that?"

Ichigo groaned. "I wish I knew. I could really use some more sleep right now."

Isshin laughed quietly. "Well son... I'm wishing you the best of luck."

"Luck? Why?" He asked with a confused expression.

"Well, to be honest, I don't think you really need luck at this point. I mean, you pretty much already have the girl in the bag, but hey, a little luck can't hurt right?"

Ichigo scowled. "What are you trying to say? Are you talking about Rukia?"

"Who else would I be talking about? Tatsuki-chan? Certainly not that Inoue girl. To be honest, I never really liked her that much. Rukia-chan is mush better suited for you."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, old man. Sometimes I think you've really lost your marbles."

"COME ON, ICHIGO! HURRY UP, WE CAN'T WAIT FOREVER!" Rukia shouted from outside.

"Look, I gotta go now! See you tomorrow at the party!" Ichigo said as he ran out the door.

"Just remember, CONDOMS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS!"

Ichigo just stomped out the door, rolling his eyes. "What was that all about?" Rukia asked.

"Please don't ask."

"I kind of just did..."

"Whatever, just don't bring it up again."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When the two arrived in Soul Society, they were greeted by Momo and Toshiro. "Hello Rukia, Kurosaki-kun." Momo said.

"Hi Momo. Long time no see, huh?" Rukia joked.

"Hey, Hinamori. No need to be so formal, 'kay? Ichigo is fine."

"Oh, yes, of course Kurosa-, I mean Ichigo," she smiled back.

"Hello Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki," Toshiro greeted.

"Hey, Shiro-chan." Apparently Momo's nickname for Toshiro wasn't just hers anymore.

"Just consider yourself lucky because I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Toshiro said with a mean look on his face. Momo laughed at his response and grabbed his arm.

"Are you ever in a good mood?" She said jokingly.

Toshiro laughed. "Not around morons like these, that's for sure!"

"Well, lucky for you, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear THAT." Ichigo said with a similar look similar to "Shiro-chan's"

"Well, anyway, Kuchiki-taicho asked us to bring you over to the 'party room' when you got here, so I suggest we get going. You are a little late, too," Momo said.

"You can thank Ichigo for that," Rukia said.

"Hey, it's not completely my fault! My old man was stalling me for some stupid reason." Ichigo tried defending himself.

"You just love blaming all your problems and mistakes on him, don't you?" Rukia teased. But she wouldn't be surprised if Isshin really did have something to do with it.

"I swear, this time he really did try to stop me! He was babbling about giving me 'good luck' or some crap li-" He cut himself off. He didn't want to tell Rukia about their 'You have the girl in the bag' discussion. "Nevermind."

"Okay then..."

"Okay, I say we get going now!" Momo said as she lead them to the party room.

As they opened the doors, they saw about fifty people putting up decorations and such. It didn't look much like a party room anymore. It was certainly Cinderella's ball room now, no doubt about it. The gorgeous marble floor had been polished thoroughly and there was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. There wasn't much change, but nonetheless it was beautiful.

Ichigo wasn't one to be interested in this kind of stuff, but he too was impressed. "Pretty nice get up you got going here, huh?"

"Hell yeah," Rukia said. "I guess I'm pretty important," she joked.

"Guesso."

"Oh, Rukia, when are the others coming?" Momo asked. "Hanataro was asking. He wanted to know how many rooms to prepare."

"Hanataro is preparing the rooms for everyone?" Rukia reassured. "It's been a while since I last saw him. I'm going to have to go see him some time soon. Anyway, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu, and Sado Yasutora will be coming this evening but everyone else from the world of the living will be coming the following day. That includes Kurosaki Isshin and his daughters Yuzu and Karin, Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi, and a handful of Vizordes."

"Okay, I'll be sure to let him know."

"Hey, Rukia, Ichigo! Why don't you come over here and give us a hand with this?" They turned to see Renji trying to hang some drapes from the railings from the balcony that circled the room but they kept falling over.

"I'll help!" Yachiru yelled from across the room on the lower level. She stopped what she was doing and ran over. She jumped onto the drapes and started swinging back and forth. "How's that?"

"Hey, quit it! You're not helping at all! Stop before they start to rip!" Renji shouted frustrated. He angrily pulled it up all the way back to him and grabbed Yachiru. "Now listen Kusajishi, I gotta make this perfect and I don't need you screwing with me right now!"

"Oh, are you trying to impress Rukia-chan or something? I see, that's how it is! But I think she's more interested in Ichi-kun, so I would back off I were you," Yachiru teased back with a wide grin.

"Now listen you..." Renji began but was cut off by Rangiku.

"RENJI! Would you just put the poor child down, she doesn't know what she's saying, calm yourself!"

He pulled her off the drapes and when she was let go she ran back to the long stairs and slid down the railing. "Nice one, Yachiru!" Rangiku high-fived her. Renji just shot the both of them a scowl.

Rangiku looked over to see the four by the door. "Hey guys!" She ran over with a smile. "Four of my favorite people! But it's about time that you got here." She said and pointed to Ichigo and Rukia. "From what I understand Byakuya wanted to talk Ichigo about something, but I don't know what."

"Oh joy. I can't wait for that," Ichigo joked.

"Do they want us to help set anything up?" Rukia asked.

"Actually, I think we may have everything set. At least for now. We're going to take a break in a minute." Rangiku turned around and signaled to everyone that it was okay for them to take a break. A large amount let out a sigh of relief and quickly left the room leaving only Ichigo, Rukia, Toshiro, Momo, Rangiku, and Renji in the room.

"Holy crap, this place seems even bigger when it's empty!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"That's usually how it works," Toshiro remarked.

"How long did it take to build this place anyway?" Ichigo asked ignoring Toshiro's response.

"About two weeks," Rangiku said. "It didn't take as long as we had thought it would. But we had a team of top men working on the project," She paused for a minute. "Oh, Ichigo, I think there's someone here that would like to see yo-"

"ITSYUGOOOOOOOO~!"

Ichigo was attacked by tall beauty known by the name of Nel, who was quickly followed by Grimmjow. "Nel, would you please calm down?"

"Grimmjow? Nel?" Rukia said in surprise.

"What's it to you?" Nel pouted. "You're still my rival! Itsyugo will be mine! MINE!"

"I apologize. I'm still working on her," Grimmjow said. "I guess you're probably wondering why we're here."

"I'M WONDERING WHY YOU'RE NOT TRYING TO GET HER OFF ME!" Ichigo shouted in a frustrated tone trying to pry Nel off of him.

"Come on, Nel-chan, you can't 'get him' if you stop his breathing," Momo cooed. She and Rangiku lifted her off him and Ichigo finally caught his breath.

"Jeez, are you trying to kill me or something?"

"Tee hee, sorry Itsyugo. I just got a tinsy winsy but excited," Nel chimed in her cute voice.

"Anyway," Grimmjow started. "We're here to sort of... apologize. Now that Aizen's gone we've decided to not terrorize Soul Society anymore."

"Ah, I see," Rukia said happily. "No tricks now, right?"

"Of course! I would never try to hurt Itsyugo or his friends!" Nel defended herself.

"Okay, guys. How about we go see Hanataro and give him the information about who's staying and help him get the rooms set up, Ichigo," Rukia suggested.

Ichigo nodded. "Sounds good to me. It has been a while since we last saw him. See you guys later."

"Okay! We're probably going to head to get lunch soon! See you there?" Momo said.

"Hopefully. You never know how long it'll take, so don't wait for us," Rukia said as they headed for the door.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

As Ichigo and Rukia made their way over to the Squad 4 barracks, Ichigo started to spark up a conversation.

"So... have they made any new decisions as far as replacement captains go? I mean, it's been a while now."

Rukia nodded and thought for a moment. "I honestly haven't heard any news either. For the time being the lieutenants have been in charge of all their squads. Sort of like Kaien used to..." She trailed off in thought as she remembered Kaien's letter. That's right... I still have to open his letter.

Kaien? Ichigo thought to himself. I could've sworn I heard that name somewhere before. It sounds so familiar... He scratched his head then shrug his shoulders. Oh well. I'm sure that I'll remember it eventually.

"So... are you nervous at all?" Ichigo asked trying to keep a conversation up.

Rukia sighed deeply. "How could I not be? I mean, I don't really know what I have to do or what's expected from me. It's been less than a week since we were told about it in the first place and... I just don't feel very confident, you know?"

Ichigo merely smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you this 'weak' before," He wrapped his arm around the little Kuchiki girl's head and with his other hand, he gave her a noogie as he laughed maniacally. Rukia tried to break free but he was too strong. "What happened to the strong girl I used to know? You have to be confident!"

After finally letting her go, Rukia said, "What the hell was that for? I'm going to have a sore head for a weak now!"

"A wake-up call!" Ichigo said. "But seriously, you don't need be nervous. Stand up strong like you always do, I'm sure you'll do great." He patted her head. "That's the woman I know you are in my heart."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" The first figure asked.

"I'm absolutely positive," the second one confirmed. "It's for her own good."

"Do you think she'll cooperate?" The first one asked wearily.

"I highly doubt it. But we can always hope."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Rukia stared at Ichigo with a blank expression.

"Does that speech sound at all familiar to you?" Ichigo asked, annoyed.

"That's the man you are in my heart!'

It clicked. "Oh. Right."

"Did you think I forgot about it?" Ichigo asked with a smug look on his face.

"I would hope you wouldn't forget... I mean, it's important to keep in the back of your head, you know?" Rukia said blushing.

"Then why didn't you remember?" Ichigo questioned. "I don't understand you sometimes."

"I... I... I'm sorry," Rukia replied, hanging her head down.

"There you go getting all upset on me again! I think you need another noogie!" He said, and followed suit by giving her the noogie she deserved.

"Rukia-san? Ichigo-san? Is that you guys?" A familiar, meek voice asked from behind them.

They stopped their argument and turned around to see Hanataro, who seemed to be in the middle of sweeping. "Hanataro? We were just talking about you!" Ichigo greeted and walked over. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Hello, Hanataro. It has been a while, hasn't it?" Rukia said as she walked over.

"O-Oh, yes it has been quite a while! I was just finishing up my cleaning duties..." He said as he gripped the broom. "W-Would you like to go for lunch afterward, maybe?"

Ichigo and Rukia both nodded. "We're actually going to go meet some of the other guys in a little bit. Wanna come join us?" Rukia offered.

Hanataro's face lit up, something it rarely did. "Yes, of course, I'd love to join you!"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
-Flashback-

"Hey, Ichigo, why exactly are you trying this hard to find Rukia a present?" Renji asked.

Ichigo scratched his head for a minute. "Well, why shouldn't I? I mean, it's a special day isn't it? And I bet a ton of those stuck-up Kuchikis are gonna get her something that'll blow her mind, so my present probably won't seem that great..."

"I think it'll be great as long as you put a lot of thought into it, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime chimed in.

Ichigo sighed. "I just want it to be able to mean something, I guess. By the way, what did YOU get her, Renji?"

"It took FOREVER to finally get my hands on it, BUT I was determined!" Renji announced proudly. Yes, Rukia is a big Beatles fan.

"Dude, just tell us what you got her."

"An authentic Abbey Road album, signed by ALL FOUR BEATLES."

Ichigo's mouth dropped down as far as it could go. "Holy shit, dude!" How much did that all cost?"

"More than you can imagine. But I swear, finding it was so frickin' hard. As if the internet wasn't confusing enough..."

"Well, I'm sure Rukia'll be quite pleased. I can tell you've been trying to impressive her," Ichigo teased.

Renji sighed. There were two reasons behind trying to impress her, but it was complicated. "I... I know. But there's more than one reason behind it."

Ichigo obviously didn't care much about his excuses and he pointed out the next store he wanted to try out. "Let's try this one! I've got a feeling about it!" But of course his feelings were proven wrong. Again.

-End Flashback-

"Ichigo! Wakey-wakey!" Rukia said as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Wah?" Ichigo said, confused.

"You must have been zoning out or something. Kinda weird, I never thought you were the type of person to do that kind of thing."

"Shut up, Midget," Ichigo fumed back.

"Oh, look, we're here!" Hanataro said excidedly.

I wonder what Renji meant by more than one reason behind it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find out eventually. Ichigo thought as they entered the restaurant.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Later after lunch and after they had set up a little more for the ceremony, they started walking towards the main gate of Seireitei. The others were supposed to be coming soon. As the gate opened, the first one to come running out was Orihime herself, carrying tons of things.

"Oh, h-hey guys! Nice to see you again!" Orihime greeted everyone, almost tripping over her things.

"Hey, Inoue-san. Umm, do you need any help with that stuff?" Ichigo offered.

"She offered to carry it all, actually," Uryu said, coming in after her. Chad walked forward last, simply grunting in agreement.

"Oh, I see..." Rukia said, laughing a little bit. Rukia walked towards them. "Do you need any help carrying that stuff, Inoue?" She offered, reaching towards a pink bag with a bunny on it and tons of hot pink tissue paper.

"Oh, no, no, no! You can't touch that one! It's one of your presents, and there's no peeking now, is there?" Orihime said worringly. Rukia immediately backed off.

"You guys got me presents?" She asked, a bit confused.

Orihime laughed. "Well, of course we did! We're friends, aren't we?"

Rukia smiled back. "Oh, of course. Thank you guys so much!"

Hanataro lead Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Uryu, and Chad to where they would be staying for the night. They were small rooms within the Squad 4 barracks. The rooms each have one low platform bed and a low-to-the-ground desk. Hanataro decided to help Orihime with bringing in all her things.

"That sure is a lot of stuff you have there," Hanataro said.

"Yeah, I know. I tend to over pack a lot, I guess," she giggled.

Hanataro laughed meekly. "Well, I guess it's better than under packing."

Orihime was about to say something when they heard Ichigo and Rukia talking in the other room.

"What do you mean you're not sleeping here?" Ichigo asked.

"Hello, I actually live here in Seireitei, I'll be staying in the Kuchiki manor," she said in a 'matter-of-fact' voice. "You have a problem with that?"

"No, it's just that I kind of assumed that you'd be staying here."

"What, you upset because you can't stare at me in my sleep now?" She joked.

"Of course not! That's disgusting!" Ichigo fumed back.

"Oh, you know you want to," Rukia teased. That was the last of the argument they heard as they walked away.

Orihime signed in a somewhat admiring tone. "They really are close, aren't they?"

Hanataro nodded. "They sure are," he agreed. He looked over to Orihime who had a sad expression on her usually happy face. "You like Ichigo-san, don't you?"

Orihime sighed again. "Is it really that obvious? Well, it can't be helped. I try to leave the two of them alone, but... I can't help it, I can get so jealous of Kuchiki-san sometimes..." Orihime said, with a tear trickling down her face.

He whipped the tear off of her face. "I wouldn't worry about it that much if I were you," He comforted. "Try to realize the feelings of others around you. Especially Ishida-kun."

"Ishida?" Orihime asked.

"Quite frankly, yes. I think he may just have a soft spot for you," Hanataro said with a smile.

They heard a soft knock on the door. "Hello? Inoue, Yamada, are you in there?" It was Uryu.

Hanataro got up and opened the door. "Hello, Ishida-kun. Did you find everything alright in you room?"

"Yes, indeed I did. Thank you very much for setting the rooms up for us."

Orihime got up and decided to take the chance she had. "Umm, Ishida? Would you like to take a walk with me? From what I understand some of the gardens in Seireitei are supposed to be amazingly beautiful!"

"Oh, sure, of course," Uryu agreed.

The two walked out the door, leaving Hanataro behind. Playing match maker can be fun sometimes. He said to himself.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Later that day Ichigo was wandering around by himself when he suddenly remembered why he had came early in the first place. Shit... Byakuya wanted to talk to me about something, but I never actually saw him! He quickly hurried over to the area where the Kuchiki manor was. It was dead silent and there was no one to be found. "Hello?" He was about to turn a corner when he bumped into the man he was looking for.

"Oh, hello, Kurosaki. You came a bit later than I expected, but no matter. Let's get straight to business," Byakuya said in his monotone voice.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Ichigo agreed, a bit nervous.

Byakuya brought Ichigo into one of the rooms in the house and they both sat down on their knees. "Now, Kurosaki, this is serious."

"I understand," Ichigo said, trying to be serious himself.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Renji was wondering around the Squad 13 barracks, in search of Rukia. Dammit, where the hell is she? I seriously need to talk to her... He walked by one of the doors and saw her outside and it appeared that she was singing to herself.

"To ten million fireflies, I'm weird 'cuz I hate good-byes. I got misty eyes as they said farewell," she sang.

Renji stepped outside quietly. "Rukia? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Rukia quickly turned around and stopped singing. "Oh, Renji. Umm, okay."

"Rukia, you have to believe me when I say this. I was told not to tell you this but... I know we're not as close as we were when we were kids, and I feel awful about that. But nonetheless, you've always meant so much to me. When Ichigo was going to save you, I was so jealous that I couldn't do it myself. I felt like I wasn't good enough for you, and that killed me inside. But I've become stronger. I've become a man, a man that's right for you."

Rukia's simply starred at him. "Wha... What do you mean, Renji?"

"I was told under strict orders to not tell you this, but I can't help myself. Tomorrow at your ceremony, Byakuya wants me..."

"He wants you to..."

"Rukia, I was going to do this whether Byakuya told me to or not to. I just want you to know I want it, too."

"Renji, you're not making any sense!" Rukia said nervously.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"This is a final decision. You are not allowed to interfere at all. If you do, I'll have your head," Byakuya said strictly.

"I get it, would you please just say it?" Ichigo asked, frustrated.

As Byakuya told Ichigo his plan, he was shocked. F*ck... I could really use that luck that my dad wished me right now.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Renji got down on one knee. "Rukia, you are the world to me. You're more than my best friend, you're the one that I truly love." He pulled out a diamond ring and Rukia's mouth dropped open and tears started coming from her eyes. "Kuchiki Rukia... Will you marry me?"


DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN! :O CLIFFHANGER! Okay, I know, I suck for that... But I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! And it won't take as long, promise! And I'm sorry if anything was confusing, I really wanted to finish this chapter. I have to get up early tomorrow and I seriously need a lot of sleep right now. I didn't go back and re-read it and fix anything, so if it sucks, that's why. If I really need to fix something, I will in the morning. Thank you guys so much for your wonderful reviews! They mean so much to me!

-RozenPitch, A.K.A. Bree