Why hello again. It's been a week longer than usual, unfortunately. Sorry for the delay, but the past few weeks have been a mess:(. This past week was Chinese New Year, which is the start of a new year based on the Chinese calender. Don't ask me, I've no idea how it works :P. Safe to say I've been out a lot, plus I have a major test and assignments to hand in next week T.T

Oh, not to mention the writer's block. I'm starting to see a trend though... Dialogue-heavy chapters, like this one, take me forever to write, because I keep wondering if the dialogues are in-character. I literally spent hours I don't have thinking of how to continue:(. Two rewrites later, I'm finally done. You'll see what I mean later.

Poll results:
Yes: 76 votes
No: 81 votes
Neither: 49 votes
Either choice: 32 votes

Kinda a close fight between two choices now. Remember, I personally want to go for both of them having hollows, but if the floor says otherwise, I'll be fine with it. So if you are voting for yes, vote! If you aren't, disregard this reminder. Haha...

Anyway, thank you all for the reviews and favs/alerts, and continue doing so, especially the review part:).

Recap: Ichigo's now officially the tenth division captain, but Byakuya suddenly wants to speak with him about Rukia. What exactly is it about? Read on!

Disclaimer: In other news, the WHO (world health organization) let the dogs out.

Chapter 36: Big Brother Is Watching You

A While Earlier

Rukia was back in the thirteenth division after Ichigo had insisted that she didn't need to stick around. She'd felt like defying him, but ultimately chose to leave, bumping into Matsumoto Rangiku along the way.

Today was a slow day. There was no scheduled training, so everyone was more or less free to do what they wanted. Thinking that Ichigo would probably be busy for the rest of the day, she went to the division's training grounds to train.

Now that Ichigo was the tenth division captain, Rukia found her desire for attaining a higher rank increasing. After all, it wouldn't do to stay in Ichigo's shadow, and seeing Ichigo achieve Bankai, she wanted to achieve it herself one day. She wanted to make a name for herself, and rubbing it in the face of the elders had nothing to do with it. No, nothing at all.

She didn't really get very far though. About an hour after she started, one of the newly graduated shinigami called for her.

"What is it?" she asked.

The shinigami had an awed look on her face. "Um… Kuchiki-senpai, Ku-Kuchiki-taichou is looking for you. He's waiting at the division office."

Rukia frowned, the cause of the shinigami's reaction quite obvious. Newly promoted unseated shinigami seldom had contact with other division captains. It wasn't of importance though; why did Byakuya want to look for her? While their sibling relationship was unrecognizable from the past (he'd even brought her to see Hisana's grave a couple of times), he never looked for her in her division, since any questions could be asked back home. She supposed it was something important.

Thanking the awestruck shinigami, Rukia hastily made her way to the office. No sense making her brother wait. The fact that he was out probably meant that Ichigo's inauguration was done anyway.

She found Byakuya waiting outside the division office, with no one else in sight. No one wanted to be near the noble captain and be subjected to his icy gaze. Strangely, Ukitake wasn't there.

Byakuya looked at her as she approached. "Nii-sama, what do you wish to see me for?" she asked.

"Rukia. I hope you were not in the middle of something important. I wish to speak to you in private."

For Byakuya to look for her in her division when he never used to, it had to be something quite serious. She wasn't going to say no. "Here?" she asked.

"That is up to you, although I do not wish to be overheard."

Nodding silently, Rukia led her brother behind the division office. She turned to Byakuya, unsure of what to expect. Apparently deciding the location was private enough, Byakuya continued. "Rukia, what is your relationship with Kurosaki… Taichou?"

If Rukia had been less surprised, she would've noticed the slight reluctance in her brother's address of Ichigo's new rank. But the fact was, she was caught entirely off guard.

"Uh…" she started, but stopped immediately. They were still supposed to be only best friends in the eyes of others; there should be no need for hesitation. "He's my best friend. Why do you ask, nii-sama?" she said, looking at Byakuya and doing her best not to avert her gaze as she stared at his cold, grey eyes. She could feel his eyes boring into her, piercing through her brain and uncovering the secret she and Ichigo had kept for five years.

Unfortunately, the other choice of looking away was a sure sign of lying, and wasn't an option.

If Byakuya could tell she was lying, he didn't show it. "Are you sure?"

Rukia nodded, not trusting herself to unwittingly reveal something. In a way, it was a half truth, since they were that and more. "Nii-sama, why do you ask?"

"I have heard rumors that Kurosaki… Taichou-" Rukia caught the slip this time. "-is… overstepping his boundaries regarding you."

Rukia put on an air of doubtfulness. "What exactly do these rumors define as overstepping his boundaries? If it's simply because we spend a lot of time together, I apologize for sounding crude, nii-sama, but that's ridiculous," she said, choosing her words carefully, wary of accidentally letting something slip.

Byakuya didn't reply immediately. "Considering your hasty defense of him, I would say that is pretty obvious."

"I don't mean to be rude, nii-sama, but Ichigo has done nothing wrong," Rukia replied, not adding the fact that she was fine with it in the first place.

When Byakuya didn't say anything, she began wondering if he knew she was lying. "While I am inclined to doubt your words considering your likely partialness towards Kurosaki, his time in the sixth division has shown that such a possibility is quite unlikely."

Rukia wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. It sounded like she was off the hook.

"However," Byakuya continued. "If I receive word that Kurosaki has acted inappropriately towards you, I should inform you that I will not hesitate to step in. Regardless of your view of him, I will not allow him to sully your reputation, nor will I allow him to stain the clan's reputation as well."

Amidst her relief, Rukia couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at Byakuya's words. From the sounds of it, he wasn't going to approve of their relationship if he ever came to know about it. She'd hope that, after these last few years, he could see and accept that his sister was in love with his former lieutenant-turned-captain. Besides, since he was a captain now, surely that had to count as something?

"Even so," Byakuya continued. "I shall take your word on this matter. I trust that I have not intruded into your time for too long. That will be all," he finished, turning to leave.

He took a few steps before stopping. "I believe I have never told you this before, Rukia, but Hisana's eyes would betray her whenever she lied, most evident when she tried to hide the fact that she was still searching for you when we were just married."

It took all of one second for Rukia to realize what Byakuya was implying, but by then, he had already left. Rukia's eyes widened in horror as she stared at the spot Byakuya had last occupied. He knew she was lying, so why then had he not called her bluff?

This didn't bode well.

Ichigo stared at the Jigokucho lazily flapping its wings while resting on his finger. Maybe if he stared at it hard enough, it might just take back the words he'd just heard. He could infer nothing from Byakuya's tone as usual, but the words said enough. "I wish to speak to you concerning Rukia."

'Ok, let's look at this logically,' Ichigo thought. 'Perhaps Byakuya merely wants to talk to me about how Rukia's doing, or maybe he wants to look for her. Maybe he wants to know what to buy for her birthday, since it's tomorrow.'

In a bid to convince himself that Byakuya wasn't going to confront him about his relationship with Rukia, Ichigo began coming up with other possible reasons Byakuya was looking for him. It didn't work.

If anything, Ichigo just left himself feeling more unsettled than before by the time he sent back his reply, saying he'll meet his former superior that evening in the sixth division. None of the other possibilities had a remote chance of happening.

So Byakuya was likely going to confront him over his relationship with Rukia. To be honest, that wasn't what bothered Ichigo the most; it was the fact that Byakuya was after all the Kuchiki clan head, and he could make things difficult for the two of them.

If Byakuya didn't approve of their relationship, Ichigo couldn't care less. He wasn't going to entertain the thought of breaking it off, and he knew Rukia wouldn't either, but Byakuya could easily make things much more inconvenient for them. He could get someone to keep watch on them, do his best to force them apart, or worst, force Rukia into an arranged marriage.

Then again, none of those possibilities sounded like something Byakuya would stoop to doing, so the noble might simply fight Ichigo, just to determine if he was capable of defending Rukia. While Ichigo would gladly take on the challenge, he was afraid relations between the two siblings would sour again.

Of course, there was that possibility that Byakuya might actually approve of Ichigo, but how likely was that? Not really high. For one, he wasn't a noble, and Ichigo couldn't really see Byakuya bending the rules for Rukia, despite the fact that he did so for himself when he married Hisana. Perhaps that could be used as a bargaining reason…

"Taichou, are you ok?" a voice suddenly said, jolting him out of his pondering. He turned to see Matsumoto looking at him with a weird looking smile on her face. "You've been standing there for the past five minutes. What're you thinking about?"

"Not really, Matsumoto. It's… private," Ichigo said, although he now wasn't sure it would stay that way for long.

Matsumoto pouted a little. "Come on… it can't be that bad," she pestered him.

"Maybe later," Ichigo said. 'Or never at all, if I can help it,' he thought at the same time.

Many a times, both he and Rukia had entertained the possibility of actually going public with their relationship, at least to their closest friends, but ultimately, they always rescinded the thought. They didn't want the possibility of someone blabbing to Byakuya. Of course, it also wasn't a nice thing to keep it a secret; he kept telling himself that they would tell Byakuya eventually, whenever that was, but he never accounted for the possibility of Byakuya actually finding out on his own.

But till he was sure, he wasn't going to say a thing. "Never mind me. What is the rest of the squad doing now?"

However, Matsumoto didn't seem like she was going to give up that easily. "Come on," she whined. "Can I make a guess?"

Ichigo mentally groaned. He hadn't even officially been the tenth division captain for half a day and Matsumoto was already pushing her gossiping attitude onto him. Sure, she could work if she wanted to, which was not very often; one of the things she did like to do was gossip, and she often did so during fuku-taichou meetings, despite not many people being interested in it. The only ones that did appear interested were Kurotsuchi Nemu and Hisagi, the latter who was probably more interested in her than what she had to say. But regardless, he was her captain; he couldn't give in unnecessarily. "Perhaps you may later. Right now, we have more pressing issues, since I don't want to remain idle for too long. So, what is the division doing today?"

Matsumoto seemed a little put off at his change of subject. "Nothing much," she shrugged. "I just told them to do what they want. Toshiro said he would take charge of anyone who wanted to train."

Ichigo frowned. "Matsumoto, I need to get a feel of how the division operates. I meant for you to have an official training session for them so I can gauge their standards. Not everyone would want to attend an optional training session, or might want to do their own." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Then again, I suppose I wasn't clear enough."

To her credit, Matsumoto gave him a slightly sympathetic smile. "You'll definitely learn quickly, taichou. I've been acting taichou for the tenth for quite awhile; it's definitely not easy. Thankfully, with you here, my workload is much less!" she ended with a smile.

Ichigo wanted to shake his head. "Uh… right. Let's go to the training grounds. I shall organize something for the remaining shinigami."

When Ichigo got to the division ten training grounds, he was surprised to see what seemed like the entire division milling around the training grounds. As it turned out Toshiro had gotten everyone to stay back, since Ichigo did mention that he wanted to watch how they carried out their daily activities.

In fact, aside from his looming, possibly disastrous talk with Byakuya, he also found himself faced with another huge dilemma - that of what he should do with Toshiro. Although this was the first time he was able to observe the young prodigy, it quickly became quite clear why many others regarded him as being quite capable of being a captain.

Aside from Ichigo himself, Toshiro was probably the next most powerful in the division, since he had Bankai and all that, and not even Matsumoto did, and the division knew it, although he was still only the fourth seat. However, he never tried using it to assert his power, since he was still pretty green.

In some sense, his behavior was pretty similar to Ichigo's when he first joined the sixth - he respected those of a lower rank and didn't belittle them. Of course, that alone wasn't enough to qualify as a leader, but as Ichigo observed, the young shinigami worked well taking charge of whatever was given to him by Matsumoto, and come to think of it, this was the most serious he'd even seen of his fuku-taichou during his tenure as one. She'd always given him the impression of being extremely laid back, but, as it appeared, she could be serious if she wanted to.

Herein laid his problem. What was he going to do with Toshiro? Since he lost out on being a taichou, he should at least be given a fuku-taichou position. While he could simply just leave him in his current position, Ichigo had seen how Rukia's self confidence was affected when she was placed in an unseated position - a position that her ability well exceeded. Toshiro's character seemed different, but Ichigo didn't want to subject him to the same situation.

But then… where would he put Matsumoto? He couldn't possibly get her to swap positions with Toshiro. Transferring either one of them seemed like another likely choice, but if he did, who was he going to transfer? There was also the possibility of getting Rukia to transfer to his division as well, but that wasn't really a priority.

In any case, it wasn't a decision he could solve after a mere day of deliberating, so he shelved that thought for the moment and concentrated on familiarizing himself with the division.

As the day wore on, Ichigo, having gotten some pointers from Ukitake, could see that there were some things that the tenth did lack, despite their strong familial relationship. For starters, their discipline was quite relaxed. While Ichigo didn't really like how stringent Byakuya was with discipline, he acknowledged that it was necessary to keep them all in line. He planned to incorporate some of it, just… not as strict.

Also, he found that he could inject some new focus in their training. Matsumoto knew what she was doing, but he noticed she didn't really focus on swordsmanship. Toshiro had not as much experience in leading training, so that limited his effectiveness, which brought him back to his dilemma of where to place him.

It probably had something to do with them not having a captain for so long. Why wasn't Ichimaru Gin placed in the tenth anyway? They'd gone without a captain longer than the third had. Which reminded him - he was curious as to the identity of the previous Captain. He only knew that the previous captain was said to have been killed, but curiously, no one could tell him his identity.

Eventually, the afternoon passed, too quickly in Ichigo's opinion, but at least his task was keeping him busy and took his mind away from his meeting with Byakuya later… until he received yet another Jigokucho sometime in the afternoon. It was again one used by the nobles; it had the Kuchiki clan symbol on it too. He wanted to sigh when he saw it, but seeing that he was still in front of his men, he merely stretched out his hand. Surprisingly, it was Rukia's voice that drifted out instead.

"I have no idea if you're around anyone else right now, so I figured I'd use my own. I suggest you brace yourself, Ichigo. He knows." Her voice sounded slightly tense, but with good reason. "Oh, and unfortunately, he caught me lying, so I think it's best you didn't."

So now he knew why Byakuya wanted to speak to him, at the cost of his concentration. Of course, it did nothing to quell his uneasiness. At least his job at hand kept him preoccupied, although he struggled to maintain concentration.

But then again… why was he being so pessimistic? He wasn't really doing anything wrong in the first place. He loved her and the feeling was mutual. Well, based on the noble rules, that didn't matter, as long as he was a noble, which he wasn't. What year were they living in anyway? They were both happy together, and spending an eternity with her didn't sound all that bad. He was a captain; didn't that count for something?

Besides, this wasn't the first time he'd locked horns non-violently with Byakuya, and more often than not, the outcome was different than expected. Why couldn't this be one of those times? One of the reasons he joined the sixth in the first place was to gain Byakuya's trust regarding Rukia. After working with him for so long, he could be trusted, right? If Byakuya really didn't approve, Ichigo wasn't going to give up without a fight.

With that thought, Ichigo's confidence rose by a miniscule notch as he entered the sixth division, much to the surprise of his former men.

"Kurosaki-taichou! What brings you here?" one shinigami asked.

"I'm here to see Kuchiki-taichou," Ichigo replied. "Is he in?"

"He's in his office."

Ichigo nodded. "Thank you, Makoto. Now, I'm sorry, but I really need to speak with Kuchiki-taichou urgently." Bidding his former subordinate goodbye, Ichigo headed for the office, but stopped right outside it, momentarily unsure if he should just enter or not. Eventually, he took a deep breath and gave the tatami doors a sharp rap. "Kuchiki-taichou! Kurosaki here!" he called. Pausing for a second, he slowly slid the door ajar.

He saw Byakuya sitting at his desk, so he entered and sat himself across Byakuya, like he'd done so for many years prior. He was a captain this time, of equal rank, but given the likely topic of their discussion, he didn't feel like one.

"I trust your first day as a captain was fruitful, Kurosaki-taichou?" Byakuya asked formally.

Ichigo wasn't fooled, knowing that Byakuya seldom made small talk, taking into account the topic at hand. He always considered such things trivial, a waste of time and beneath him. It was probably a ruse to get him to let his guard down or something. "I'm still familiarizing myself with a taichou's duties, but I've had help."

"That's good to hear. The tenth has gone without a captain for long enough." Then, his attitude suddenly turned a little icy. "I believe you know why I've asked to speak with you."

"You wish to speak with me about Rukia," Ichigo responded, keeping it vague. At that point, it occurred to him that while Byakuya had taken his words to heart and changed his attitude towards Rukia, he'd yet to be thanked personally for it. It was actually a little amusing, considering Rukia had told him her brother was grateful.

"Rumors have reached my ears that you two have been seen acting intimately with one another," Byakuya continued, once again sounding as if he was merely stating a fact.

Ichigo was about to ask if he was being called here on a mere rumor when he realized something. Byakuya wasn't one to confront others on the grounds of a rumor; he either asked for evidence or tried to obtain it himself. That meant that he had probably seen them together. Now, he was glad that he had managed to stave off the temptation of taking things further with Rukia. The only question now was: when did Byakuya find out? It couldn't have been that long ago, since he hadn't been attacked yet.

"While I do wish to know who relayed those rumors to you, we're both well aware of the fact that you will not take action based on a rumor unless you have investigated it on your own, so let's not waste time beating round the bush," Ichigo replied.

Byakuya looked at him silently. "Very well. In that case, let me ask you this. What exactly is my sister to you?"

Ichigo frowned at the way the question was phrased, but before he could reply, Byakuya held up a hand and continued, "I understand the question may sound a little… offending; however, given the number of times I've had to deal with my subordinates getting into… what was that word… flings, both men and women alike, I wish to know if you see this as something casual. Be warned, though, that the consequences will be worse if you lie. So, answer the question, if you'd please."

The fact that he hadn't already been attacked the moment he entered the office spurred his confidence a little, but he didn't understand why Byakuya was asking him such a question. If he'd been watching them, surely he would know how much Rukia meant to him? It was then, though, that Ichigo realized how awkward it felt to be discussing about this with Byakuya.

Unfortunately, he didn't think that awkwardness would sit well as an excuse for not answering the question, so he replied, "Surely you know the answer to that question already, right?" He held his breath as he carried on. "Rukia means a great deal to me, something I've established with you when I first entered the sixth. That hasn't changed and it never will." He felt his face heat up a little as he spoke.

Byakuya, as expected, didn't react, but after starting, Ichigo was beginning to gain his stride. "For the record, I wasn't the one who initiated it. She's told me a lot about the nobles' attitude towards common occurrences these days such as dating and their intolerance with getting involved with commoners. Given my own status, I can't say that I agree with that, but I would've been willing to keep silent had she not confessed first." 'In the best way possible,' he added in his head, resisting the urge to smile at the memory.

Byakuya though, still looked strangely calm, although Ichigo didn't know if that was a good thing. "Nobles entering into casual relationships, only to break them off, tarnish their clan's name. They are seen as loose and untrustworthy people, a reputation that can and will extend to the rest of their clan. Dating encourages that," Byakuya said in his infuriatingly calm voice, which was giving Ichigo no chance to let his guard down.

It really felt like he was arguing his innocence, and as much as he hated doing this, it was necessary. "And Rukia has told me as much. Look, Kuchiki-taichou, I don't know what you think, but Rukia's not just some casual fling to me. I've been in the sixth division up till today; you know I'm not like that." He closed his eyes for a moment before forcing out the next few words awkwardly. "I love her, okay? And unless I've been a poor, deluded person, she still feels the same. Yes, I know I'm not a noble, and yes, I know it's against the clan rules, and so does she. In fact, I pointed that out to her, but she's willing to go against the rules. She's even said that she would leave the clan if necessary, and before you say anything, it wasn't me who-"

"I did not call you here to listen to what Rukia thinks," Byakuya interrupted. "The person we're discussing right now is you."

Ichigo blinked at the interruption, then hardened a stare at his former superior. "Even if we weren't together, I would die for Rukia. It hasn't amounted to that, but I know for a fact that I would. And while I know she's strong enough, I'm still not going to let anyone hurt her, and good luck to anyone that does." It was a direct challenge to Byakuya. "And I'd rather not have the chance to prove it. Does that answer your question?"

Byakuya silently stared at Ichigo, who didn't break his gaze. He wanted to show he meant every word. Eventually, he said, "The last time a clan's elders forbade such a union, a shinigami went into self-imposed exile so he could marry someone who was a… who was not a noble. That was about ninety years ago."

Ichigo frowned. "What has that got to do with me? And what do you mean the last time? Then what about you?"

A flicker of… something… flashed across Byakuya's eyes briefly. "I do not wish to discuss about my deceased wife, but I will say that unlike previous cases, I defied the rules, something I am not proud of."

It was the closest showing of any emotion aside from anger Ichigo had seen from him, so he kept silent. Then, Byakuya continued, "I have worked with you for the past couple of decades, Kurosaki. However, I have not been entirely convinced that your intentions towards Rukia are entirely pure."

A mixture of anger and disappointment rose in Ichigo, but he supposed he should've expected it. "Considering the circumstances, however," Byakuya then continued, and Ichigo's head snapped up so quickly it popped, "I will be willing to allow your relationship with Rukia to continue. It will, however, be subjected to intense scrutiny, to determine if you are indeed eligible, should you eventually decide to marry her. If I find that you are not, I will not hesitate to step in."

The unexpected turnaround was confusing Ichigo, who was once again completely taken aback with Byakuya's decision, such that he almost didn't hear his next few words. "However, I must ask this. Have you two… consummated your relationship?"

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed, immediately sobering up. "No, we haven't," he said, not adding that he wanted to, but didn't, for a few reasons.

Byakuya regarded him for a moment, then seemed to decide he was telling the truth. "Very well. I shall take your word on that. Also, you will be required to go through the process of Miai. I trust you know what that is?"

"Yes, but I don't know how it works," Ichigo replied, not even bothering to argue that making him and Rukia go through matchmaking sounded absurd.

"Given that the Kuchiki clan currently has no heirs, and that Rukia is of a marriageable age, the clan elders have long been pressuring me to arranging omiai for her. In fact, many names from other noble clans have already been submitted to me; as her only relative, I am required to act as the nakodo, hence I'm required to set a date. At your formal request, I will add your name to the list as well."

At this, Ichigo couldn't help but ask, "But… why? I'm not even a noble," he pointed out.

Byakuya paused. "You need not concern yourself with that," he said ambiguously. "Unlike normal miai processes, though, the Kuchiki clan requires all potential candidates to be placed in a more public setting during the selection process, to ensure a better screening of character. Once a potential candidate or potential candidates has been chosen, she, along with me, will have to meet with the candidate for a more formal introduction. Anything you wish to ask?"

Actually, Ichigo had a million, but the first one he asked was, "Uh… does Rukia know about all this?"

"Not yet. The initial process will take a long time, as I am required to screen all the candidates first. As best estimate, the first public event will only take place about a year from now. Do note, however, that once the miai process begins, you will not be allowed contact with Rukia for any other purpose."

The thought of Rukia being subjected to the leering stares of other noblemen irked Ichigo more than it made him uneasy, but he didn't voice it out. "That's all I need to know for now, Kuchiki-taichou."

"Very well then. I do not wish to keep you any longer, so you may leave. Be reminded that our discussion about this hasn't ended, and I will be scrutinizing your every movement when it comes to Rukia, so do not force my hand by acting inappropriately towards Rukia, which includes letting it affect your running of your division."

Bowing to Byakuya, Ichigo made a hasty exit, wanting some fresh air so he could process everything that'd just happened. The one thing he did know, however, was that he'd somehow survived his confrontation with Byakuya, and he was still allowed to date Rukia.

Once Ichigo left, Byakuya slowly sat back down and let out a long sigh. His conversation with him had left him feeling a little drained. He often noted how similar Rukia was to Hisana, which apparently included the same giveaway when they lied.

But, in the process, he spotted some of himself within his former subordinate. Byakuya never admitted it, but he found it immensely entertaining to watch Ichigo's gobsmacked expression every time he gave a response he hadn't been expecting. However, as Ichigo was defending his feelings towards Rukia, Byakuya recognized the look in his eyes. It held the same fire and determination he himself had when he was courting Hisana and had to defend his actions to the clan elders.

Unless Ichigo was a superb liar, Byakuya was sure of one thing. The newly promoted captain was definitely in love with his sister, and if he was going to deny them this privilege, he would be nothing but a hypocrite. Ichigo also wasn't exactly a commoner, so they weren't really going to break the rules, even if neither of them knew it yet. Byakuya allowed himself a smirk as he imagined pulling another fast one over his former lieutenant; this one would definitely take the cake.

Glancing down, Byakuya stared at the picture of Hisana he'd stashed under his desk, visible only on his side. The five years he had with her seemed to flashed through his mind as he sat in the silence of his office. Even if he'd lost the happiness he used to have, he wasn't going to deny it from her, and now, his only kin.

It was morning when he finally realized he'd been sitting there all night.

Hate it? Like it? Not exactly the huge confrontation many of you are looking for, I suppose. Remember, circumstances are different. This didn't seem like a good time for Ichigo to sound brash and deny everything, so I didn't go down that route.

I'm aware that I might be contradicting some things, but after some research, I realized that omiai actually means matchmaking and not arranged marriage, so there's a common misconception that such marriages are more often than not loveless. At least, that's what my research dug up. Think of it as your parents setting you up with someone, but you can say no if you want to. This contradicts some things in earlier chapters, but oh well.

So, after a delay, I hope this chapter's up to scratch. Even if it's not, continue showing your support by reviewing and favorite/follow it. Ack, parallelism... Next chapter will hopefully be up in two weeks. If I don't update by the same time a fortnight from now, it unfortunately means you'll have to wait another week.

Till then, hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you soon!