Filler chap.
It took a little while, in between eating and talking over some things. But eventually, they managed to get back into the good mood that they had both been in before Byakuya had ruined it.
Ichigo had showed him the notebook with the wedding notes in it. And he got to see the unicorn sketch.
He'd done his absolute best not to laugh too hard at it since his betrothed had been four or five when she'd first drawn it. So, he had known that it was going to be funny. But in the end, he'd managed to laugh himself completely breathless and had even taken pictures of the sketch to print out at home for himself to keep.
He was already planning to place one of them on his desk at work. And the other was going to hang somewhere in his home. Preferably somewhere he could see it easily and grin every time he thought of Ichigo as a child, drawing it.
After she finally finished pouting- which he also teased her about- they spent the next few hours just sitting at the table talking about various things. But mostly, they just went over any wedding plans and details that they could think of.
"You want a short engagement? And a small wedding?" He asked curiously as he stared at her in an almost appalled manner. He couldn't fathom why she wouldn't want a big wedding with all of the bells and whistles. As far as he knew most women tended to favor the big and showy ones.
But his betrothed had just shocked him completely by saying that she wanted a very short engagement with a very small wedding.
She nodded her head and the second that he found his voice again he replied to her idea with, "You do realize that the both of us are quite well off and can afford a large wedding, right?"
"Of course, I do." She replied easily before then explaining. "But I'd prefer something small, private and simple. I'm a minimalist, Shuichi. Big and showy just isn't something that I'm comfortable with. It takes a lot of time and energy to put something like that together. And there are other things to consider too. Like where would we hold a large wedding? How many people would we want attending?"
He opened his mouth to suggest Byakuya helping them there- but then cringed at the very idea since the man likely would overstep himself. And neither of them wanted or would even appreciate that as she went on to say.
"I don't know about you, but I have a lot of friends and many of them are...strange. Plus, the fact that you are an eligible bachelor and marrying someone like me-" He cocked his head, a frown marring his features as he tried to think of what she meant by 'someone like her' as she continued on. "Would be considered newsworthy to some. And would even give rise to rumors that could negatively impact both of tour lives. We would likely have the local press crash the event- and that would cause even more drama."
He visibly cringed again in sudden understanding.
"Alright," He reluctantly said after a moment or so of careful thought. "A small wedding would be far more ideal and less stressful. I understand."
Once that was out of the way they then figured out how short their engagement should be. Ichigo suggested that it should be between one to three months, so that he would have ample time to plan for how much time he wanted to take off of work for their honeymoon.
He understood that easily enough. So, he had no arguments and nodded his head and then asked her if they should try to keep their upcoming marriage a secret. After all, if the local press caught wind of it- they would be followed around, watched, filmed, etc.
She thought for a moment and then told him that she would abide by his decision there since she wasn't entirely sure how it may affect his job or work.
He was startled to know that she had a basic understanding that some of the older clints he had tended to use his status as a bachelor to take the chance to throw their unmarried daughters, siblings, and even granddaughters at him in an effort to seize his company and everything else from him.
It was an annoying ploy for them to use against him. But on occasion he did find himself tricked into some rather compromising positions.
So, in the end, it was decided that since marring may affect his work, that they would hide their engagement and marriage for a little while.
But only because he worried about what may happen if his clients decided to go after Ichigo and cause her trouble.
After all, even he hadn't realized that she was wealthy or even a noble before the omiai. He had simply thought her to be a good Samaritan, and a simple woman who enjoyed being a librarian. However, he could easily imagine some of his more incensed clients going after her for upsetting their plans- especially without knowing anything about her first.
They would likely upset her. Possibly even try to do her harm in an effort to frighten her off and drive a wedge between them. And that was simply something that he would not allow.
After finishing up that part of their agreement, he then asked her if she wanted to do some ring shopping.
He couldn't exactly help himself. Even if they had to hide their engagement and upcoming marriage, he wanted her to wear a ring on her finger. Call him crazy, but he didn't want anyone getting any terrible idea's that she was still free and up for grabs.
He'd never really thought of himself as the jealous type before- but he could feel the stirrings of jealousy welling up within him when the two of them left the restaurant, and he caught a few men openly staring at her as they walked past them.
The way that some of them let their eyes travel over her body nearly set his teeth on edge. And it didn't help things much that she seemed totally oblivious to the stares that she got either. He couldn't help wondering if this was normal for her.
Or if she were pointedly ignoring the stares so that she didn't accidentally encourage anything.
Whatever the reason, it gave him a chance to wrap one of his arms around her shoulders and pull her close to him while he shot warning glares at the men. So maybe it didn't matter.