Hello my lovelies and welcome back to another chapter of Coffee Flavored Kisses. I know it has been forever but I have some great news. I have officially graduated from college! YAY! That means that I am now able to focus more on my writing instead of writing essays. I am pushing towards weekly updates and I'm thinking Monday might be a great day to start pushing for the weekly updates. I'll be honest dear reader, writing stories and books that people want to read and enjoy has been my dream since I was a little girl. College broke me a bit. I wholeheartedly blame essay writing for the destruction of my creativity. I'm trying to re-teach myself. So please give me any recommendations/critics as you can and let me know what you liked and didn't like (please don't drag me completely). I'm a paralegal so sometimes my legal writing slips through my writing so feel free to point that out as well. I'm so happy I get to post this and can't wait to post my next chapter soon. Lots of love XOXO~GirlX

Chapter Four - Reasoning

Shunsui raised his hands in shock as he stumbled back from her. The smack of her hands made his chest sting. She had some strength to her. While he was not expecting or used to such a reaction from a woman it was her next reaction that made him freeze. She began shaking like a leaf holding desperately to a branch in a large gust of wind.

Shunsui paused and pulled away further as he watched her shaking figure. Now, he had made women tremble before whether it be quivering from excitement or ecstasy. He was a bit proud of that fact. Still, he had never had a woman shake like that though. That wasn't right. It was so violent and startling that he not only pulled away from her neck but he took two steps back.

"Ichigo..."

"Sorry!" Ichigo cried. The crack in her voice caused him to flinch as if she'd slapped him. "I know that we're supposed to do it."

That caused Shunsui to raise his eyebrow. Did she just refer to sex as 'it'? He caught himself giving the look of disbelief and quickly schooled his features into a calmer and hopefully comforting expression when she wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's okay, I was moving too fast," Shunsui consoled.

"I've just never done this before -god that sounds so stupid. So juvenile. I know that sounds stupid. I can do this. I can." She pled and Shunsui felt a pang of sympathy. This wasn't right. "I mean, I've dated before this. So I did kiss and hold hands and make out. There may have been some groping. So I can do it. I'm not completely inexperienced. Just give me a minute. I'll calm down and we can continue."

"We can stop for now. Don't focus on it, let's just calm down okay?" He just wanted her to stop shaking. "I understand that this entire situation must be difficult for you."

"I'm sure it's difficult for you, too," Ichigo stated after she forced a minor hysterical laugh out. "You likely weren't planning on having a seventeen year old virgin for a wife."

"Seventeen?"

Oh.

Oh this poor girl.

She didn't even have time to seek out a romantic relationship that would give her experience. She was just pushed head first into a mature relationship and expected to thrive. He was told he was marrying a woman not a girl. He was expecting someone more mature. While seventeen wouldn't be frowned upon in the Soul Society, it was a bit concerning. She was young, and innocent, and probably only had a few dates before this marriage arrangement. He had no idea what to do with this information.

"Yes, didn't you know?" Ichigo asked in a shocked tone. The hysteria in her voice had dimmed down and the shaking had stopped for the most part. These were good signs. The change in topic had diverted her attention. She began lowering her hands and Shunsui had to stop himself from sighing as he felt the uplifting feeling of relief wash over him. "I thought you were aware. It was part of the agreement that when my last year of school started I would be able to spend Monday through Fridays in the world of the living so that I could complete my education. Didn't you read it?"

"I wasn't privy to all of the agreement, only certain sections. It was mostly discussed with the Central Forty-Six." A fact that truly irritated Shunsui. Yamamoto refused to give the entire contract stating that he was preventing any conflicts of interest. He went with it because really, he didn't have a choice.

"You agreed to marry a woman you didn't even know without reading the entire agreement?" Ichigo asked in an astonished tone.

"I trust their judgment."

"Well that's stupid." The tone of her voice made Shunsui bark out a laugh. Since he had first met the woman he had only heard her polite voice, even while she was shaking from what Shunsui guessed was fear. Not a tone of frustration or sarcasm had touched her tongue. Perhaps the startling situation had given her an opportunity to open herself up to him. He had to agree, going through with this marriage without reading the entire contract had been stupid, but he truly was not at liberty to see it in the week he was informed of his engagement.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Though in my position and with this situation I didn't have much choice."

Ichigo's face heated up when she realized what she had just said and then his response forced her to pause and think back on the dreadful night she had tried to run away from the arrangement. She recalled her father's arms around her as he walked her home in the rain. As she read the letter from her teacher that explained why it was most prudent that she agree to the marriage. She didn't have much choice either, thus, she shouldn't be judging Captain Kyoraku.

"I guess you and I are similar in that regard."

"I'm sure we are."

"Captain Kyoraku-"
"Shunsui, please," Shunsui cut her off with that stupid kind smile he had been flashing at her throughout the day. "We are married."

"Right," that was not happening. "I have a copy of the contract if you want to see it."

"I, oh," Shunsui stumbled. "I would actually. We can look at it later. You're still shivering a bit," He reached out a hand to her in a comforting manner "How about we go back inside. I'll start moving your boxes into your room and you can relax a bit."

With a nod from her the pair went back into his - their - lodgings. Shunsui led her to his room and gestured for her to sit at the table he had in there. His room had a masculine touch to it. His futon was located in a corner. A privacy screen blocked her from seeing his entire futon but she was able to see that it was a lot bigger than her twin sized bed back at home and that the bedding had earth tones. His dressing table held a collection of leather hair wraps and combs. There were no other hair pins or other hair accessories.

"He must only wear the two," Ichigo whispered to herself as she took in the organized dressing table and lack of hair pins. There was a nicely made wooden box on the table but it didn't look like the boxes her mother and grandmother kept their hair pins in so Ichigo determined it must not have had any additional accessories for the man. The floral hair pins he wore made her originally think he would have a collection of them. Perhaps those were just special.

The day caught up with Ichigo and she soon found herself slumping in her seat. She was so tired. She'd been up since early morning to take the journey from Karakura Town. She just wanted to sleep. She knew though, that sleep wouldn't come until they upheld their responsibility to finalize the marriage.

After Shunsui led Ichigo into his room to rest he began moving her belongings from the sitting area into her own room. He had a futon and bedding set prepared for her room in case she didn't want to share a room with him and chose to turn her room into an office of sorts. While he tugged and carried her luggage into the room and set it up against the furthest wall Shunsui considered that the futon and bedding would likely be put to use and the room would be her bedroom and he would keep his own bedroom. He was okay with that. With her reaction earlier Shunsui couldn't see the night ending how he had earlier anticipated. In fact he didn't see the marriage working as most arranged marriages he'd been witness to. After experiencing her fear he knew that pushing the issue would only force her away and completely damage any relationship they could have. They had vowed to a life together and Shunsui didn't want to have an unhappy wife. Nor did he want her to have an unhappy life with him. He didn't like making women sad and his new wife wasn't an exception. They would need to take it slow.

Shunsui sighed and walked over to the closet containing the futon and bedding and began unfolding it near the shoji doors leading to the patio. His own bed was in a similar spot in his own bedroom. As he patted the bedding to ensure her comfort he considered the matter of consummation. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. If what she said was true then she was a seventeen year old young woman that had never taken this step in a relationship before. She deserved to be swept off her feet and to feel desire and be desired. Not like this. Not another box check in the to-do list of this union. No, they would take that step when she was ready. No one needed to know. If anyone asked, not that they would with his reputation, he would take care of it.

"All ready," Shunsui smiled as he entered his room. Embarrassed at being caught, Ichigo jerked herself out of her slouching state. Shunsui seemed to ignore it though or at the very least didn't comment on it. "The living room isn't so crowded anymore, if you'd like to move there and you can tell me about your family."

"And after that?" Ichigo had hesitated in asking, but a part of her needed to know. Probably the headstrong part she inherited from her mother and father. Ichigo was not naive, she knew what happened on wedding nights. Just because she freaked out earlier didn't mean that things were called off.

"Sorry?" Shunsui paused.

"The, uhm, consummation of the marriage," Ichigo was red under her veil. She could feel it. Her face felt like it was doused in fire, even her ears burned.

"Ah yes, that. Well to be truthful Ichigo, I'm not sure if doing that right now would be a good idea. Not because I don't want to, it's just that we really don't know each other yet and we should take this slow. I mean, do you really want to take that step tonight?"

"Honestly? No, but, from what I was told it was what happened on the wedding night."

"Well yes, couples consummate the marriage on the wedding night. But this is our wedding night, and our wedding isn't like every other wedding. Besides, that doesn't even matter, not for something as big as this. Can you really say that you are ready for that step?" he lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you?" She spat out under her breath. No, she wasn't ready, but she didn't want to be told that by him.

"I mean no offense Ichigo but, you can't even take off your veil at the moment. That in addition to what happened earlier," he sighed and gave a soft smile. "Let's just take it slow."

"That, that's different. I just freaked out for a minute and it's just a veil," she desperately urged. "People in arranged marriages do this all the time and I bet they don't look each other in the face every time either." Ichigo chose to ignore that he was biting his lip as if he were preventing himself from laughing.

"Yes and people who are put into these arranged marriages have a better understanding of each other before they take this step. Really, Ichigo, are you ready for this step?"

Ichigo hadn't looked up from the tea that Shunsui had prepared for her. She just wanted something to do with her hands. She hated this discussion. She hated this situation. No, she didn't want to have sex with him. Not now, not ever. But what choice did she have? Whether she liked it or not they were "Captain and Wife" now. That is what married couples did. That's what all couples did. She knew that since she was a disturbed wide eyed thirteen year old girl and her father was explaining where babies came from with a pop up book.

In truth though, she'd been forcing herself to prepare herself for this night. She had forced all thought of it away during the day so that she could bite the bullet tonight. Once it was done, she would be able to say she did her part of accepting the marriage and move on. Not consummating the marriage tonight would put all that effort she put into preparing to take the plunge feel like a waste. A comforting waste, but a waste nonetheless Additionally, and more importantly, if she didn't do it tonight, she didn't think she ever would be able to.

"Won't we get into trouble?" she asked finally- her fingers had begun to tap on the side of the cup.

"Why should we? No one is going to ask; that would be offensive."

"Don't they have ways of checking?"
"Only grooms lacking honor and loyalty would demand such a request and only a groom's request would be heard. Families and the Central don't have a right to that information. We can wait until you're ready."

"How can I be sure you won't request it when you've decided you don't want to be married to me anymore?"

"I would never do that."
"Yes, I know that is what you say but what is actually preventing you from doing so?" It was a valid point. What was he offering her to have her believe him; to trust him?

"Ichigo," he reached forward across the table and took her hands in his. "I know that right now you don't trust me. I know that right now it seems as if I am the enemy along with everyone else out there. But I promise you, I meant the vows I said today. You are my wife. The vows we gave each other today is what made us husband and wife, not us having sex. I will not lie to you. I will not betray you. I will protect you and there is no way that I would do something to demean your honor. We can wait until you are ready. We don't need to force this issue. We have the rest of our lives, my dear."

Ichigo didn't respond as his words sunk in. She gazed at her hands encompassed by his larger ones. There was something ironic in that image but she didn't have the energy to figure out what that was at the moment.

"What if I'm never ready?" She finally asked. Her voice cracked a bit and it caused her to clench her jaw.
"Well," Shunsui said after a pause. He forced himself to maintain the distance between them despite his wanting to pat her on the head. She didn't need to push herself and he wanted to reinforce that idea somehow. They had time. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I promise you Ichigo, we aren't going to do anything until we are both ready. We'll take every day a step at a time. Okay?"

Ichigo contemplated the man. His hands around her were warm. His eyes attempted to bore into hers as if he was trying to connect to her on a level their very short relationship would allow. He appeared sincere. "Okay," she looked up and nodded her head after she contemplated his words. "One step at a time."

"There's a dear. Do you want more tea? Probably something herbal considering the hour, we still have to see the old man tomorrow morning."

Ichigo's nerves were still too shot to ask who the old man was so she just shook her head. "No thanks. I'm really tired and I just want to go to bed."

"Understandable. I set a futon up for you in your room. I figured you would feel more comfortable in your own room and your own bed. I moved all of your things into your room but feel free to spread it into the sitting room as well. It's your home now too," Shunsui urged.

"Thank you," Ichigo yawned out. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Best get to bed then. Let me know if you need anything, I'll just be in my room."

"I will, thanks."

Shunsui paused before leaving the room. He considered kissing her. He would gently lift her veil up just slightly to kiss her and then be on his way to his room.

"Goodnight," he said instead, and stood aside as she left the room and entered her own. With her guarded behavior throughout the day it wouldn't be a good idea to kiss her. It might send her into a panic.

"Night," Ichigo murmured quietly before she closed the door to her room. She leaned against the closed door and took in the room. Her belongings sat piled against the wall. A futon with light pink bedding was set up for her. She gave a smile at his kindness despite herself. Fighting the urge to rub her eyes she made her way towards the boxes that held her lifelong belongings. She could start unpacking now but really wasn't in the mood. Instead she went to her luggage and pulled a pair of pajamas out. Sitting just below her pajamas was a stuffed lion. It didn't move despite Ichigo expecting it to. The lion had been a stuffed animal given to her by her parents when she was a small girl. While she didn't sleep with it anymore she had kept it on a shelf with other things she had received as gifts from family and friends. When she got Kon in the form of a "candy" shaped in a little ball and told that he or she would be her mod soul when she left her body to fight, all hell had broke loose.

Kon had been set to be terminated but had miraculously made it into the hands of Kisuke Urahara, her teacher. Kons batch of mod souls was considered unusable. There was some kind of flaw with all of them. All the pain Kon experienced during the termination of his friends and family in addition to his escape had made him angry. He originally took it out on Ichigo. Using her body for mischief and getting into fights. He caused havoc all around the city and brought undue attention onto her, her friends, and her family. He had to be stopped. Ichigo was forced to cut him with her zanpakuto, thus cutting her own body with her zanpakuto. Kon and Ichigo had what one would call a heart to heart and when Kisuke Urahara showed up to take her mod soul and replace it with a more compliant one she venomously declined. He was hers now. But she knew he wouldn't be happy only being able to use her body and see the outside world occasionally. So she tried to put her into her stuffed lion to see if he could live there, and it worked. Since that day Kon had been her annoying, perverted, yet faithful companion. He went with her everywhere, even the Soul Society. His original form was packed safely into her book bag. She kept it there in case anyone looked through her bags before she moved in. Her cousin Uryu had sewn a secret pouch for her to keep it safe during occasions his stuffed lion form was missing. Such occasions were generally the lion body taken hostage by children, or Kon being extremely annoying and Ichigo needing him to simply shut up. She'd unpack him and keep him somewhere safe tomorrow, until then the lion body would stay near her bed and Kon would stay safe in her bag.

After quickly changing into her pajamas Ichigo blew out all the lanterns in the room and rushed into her bed. As she struggled to make herself comfortable in the futon that wasn't the bed she was used to growing up, she thought back to the Captain's promise. Honor her? Protect her? Could she really believe that? No one has ever fought for her. Even her ex didn't fight for her and he had every opportunity to. So for her to have this man, who she just met, promise to protect her and to allow her to consummate the marriage when she was ready made her feel...nice. No she wouldn't trust him, not completely. That would be a foolish thing to do. But she would give him a chance and in the meantime be wary.

"Protect me?" Ichigo whispered with a small chuckle. "I don't need protecting." Her sentence was cut off with a yawn and her heavy eyes were becoming difficult to keep open.

She expected the sounds of night would cause her to stay awake. The chirping of crickets and overly quiet caused her to feel completely and utterly alone. At home she would hear her sisters random sleep induced sentences from the wall that divided their rooms. She would hear her father's snores echoing throughout the upstairs and an occasional car drive by. It would sooth her to sleep. Instead, Ichigo tossed and turned in a state of alertness layered with exhaustion. It was just too quiet here. It had been at least an hour and a half until she began to feel the stressful day finally cause her body to actually feel tired. She had just began to drift off when a grinding sound caused her to become alert again. The grinding sound would start and end repeatedly. Fade in and fade out. She glanced desperately around the room looking for the source. Her heart had begun to transfer her body back into fight or flight instincts. A cold sweat took over her body and she gripped her blankets. Seeing no one there to harm her she forced her body to calm as she took in the sound fully. It was snoring. More specifically it was her husband's snoring. It was loud like her fathers, but it was also softer in tempo. While her father's snores would cut off abruptly when he would exhale, the Captain would smoothly go into an exhale and back into an inhale. Ichigo gave a slight huff at herself for being so worried about hearing a person snore and turned from her back onto her side. She listened to his snores with her eyes closed for about fifteen minutes. She didn't even begin to notice that her breathing had begun to match his tempo. Nor did she realize that his snores had somehow lulled her to sleep. She didn't notice until the sun's rays were tickling her eyelids, and she had woken to a brand new day.

Ichigo learned that morning that the "old man" Captain Kyoraku had discussed the previous evening was the Captain General himself, Captain Yamamoto. Ichigo and her grandmother walked side by side through Captain Yamamoto's gardens. He had invited them to take a stroll after a meeting took place between her grandmother and the old general. Shunsui had stayed behind to discuss other matters with Captain Yamamoto regarding a situation with there not being anyone eligible to take over one of the open captain's positions.

"Where is Uncle Ryuken?" Ichigo asked as they turned and walked slowly amongst the sakura trees.

"He is discussing your health file with Captain Unohana, in case you fall ill," her grandmother explained.

"I see."

To that response Lady Kimiko's lips hardened into a firm line and she took a glance at her granddaughter. She couldn't see her face due to the veil that she would be forced to wear until matters were settled with the vizords and the soul society, whenever that would be, but she could feel her granddaughter's depression. Her granddaughter would have pitched a fit and commented "couldn't he just have dropped off a file or something?" rr "let me handle it?" As a stubborn socially awkward young woman, she would not have easily accepted someone discussing her. Lady Kimiko suppressed a sigh and turned back to the gardens. She would need to wait and see if Ichigo would overcome this.

Ichigo thought back to the night before. She appreciated Shunsui not pushing her to consummate their marriage, but she couldn't help but be worried about it at the same time. What would this mean? Did this mean that if someone found out they would be in trouble? Would she be put into jail? He didn't seem to worry but it was troubling. While her husband had given valid reasons to not consummate their marriage, especially the one regarding her veil, Ichigo grew concerned as to why he was so willing to give such reasons. Why did he not proceed? Was it because of her young age? Sure she was physically seventeen but that shouldn't cause an issue, right? Afterall she'd been raised to mature faster than her age group. The position she was born in and the powers she was born with didn't allow her to mentally stay within her age group. Or was the reason he didn't want to because he had someone else he cared for and he wasn't prepared to be intimate with someone else.
A great sense of dread washed over Ichigo as she contemplated that thought. If he did have someone else he cared for that would make Ichigo a homewrecker more or less. He may be understanding of the situation right now. He would consider her an innocent party but give it a few years and he may grow to resent her as the reason he couldn't be with the one he wanted. That, or he would begin an affair which would cause great shame to her family name. Not that Ichigo would really care about the shame, but, it was easier to care when she was prevented from defending her family's position. If she could fight, really fight, she could hold her and her family's position as a warrior family. But, she couldn't. She didn't know when she would be able to again, and that scared her. She would have to depend on him to keep her family's name respected and if he didn't stay loyal to their marriage then that would cause a lot of problems.

"Ichigo," her grandmother's voice cut through her musings. "Ichigo are you listening to me?"

"Hmm," Ichigo snapped her attention to her grandmother and their surroundings. "I'm sorry I was just thinking. What was it you said?"

"It's nearly time for lunch with the Central Forty-Six's families," Lady Kimiko had been calling for her granddaughter for nearly a minute. Whatever it was that she was musing about had completely taken her completely away from her surroundings. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, of course," Ichigo said and began walking back towards Captain Yamamoto's office. For now she needed to keep her head down and just do what was directed. Worrying about it wouldn't do anything except cause stress and Ichigo had enough of that already.

Shunsui watched his bride during the meeting with Captain Yamamoto and Lady Kimiko Kurosaki. She was quiet throughout the meeting. Her grandmother tried to bring her into conversation by asking her questions, but Ichigo only gave short answers. It irked Shunsui because he felt they had taken a step into the right direction last night. She was a lot more open last night but alas she was back to the quiet young woman he had met during the wedding ceremony and reception.

Shunsui wondered if it was the appearance of her grandmother. Perhaps she always behaved in a quiet and mild manner in front of her grandmother. But that didn't make sense either because if that were the case surely she wouldn't have spoken to him in the manner she did last night. She would have waited until she was sure she could behave in such a way. A process that could take weeks. At the very least she would have been more talkative that morning when they were each preparing for the day. Alas Shunsui woke to his wife closing the door to her room followed by her using the shower next to his room. Breakfast was another quiet affair. After asking how she slept -fine- and if she would enjoy something else for breakfast -traditional japanese was also, fine- they ate in silence, moved about the quarters before it was time to leave in silence, and then walked to the first division, in silence.

Captain Yamamoto and Lady Kurosaki were already there when they entered the old man's office. Another round of introductions were uttered and the meeting began. Most of the meeting discussed plans regarding the upcoming problems caused by Aizen. The current problems caused by Aizen. The continued alliance when Aizen's betrayal has been dealt with. How the alliance between Soul Society and Kurosaki Clan would be beneficial for both parties. After that the women had taken a walk through the gardens, leaving Shunsui to handle his old teacher.

"What do you think of her?" Yamamoto asked once they were far enough into the garden to listen in.

"Does it matter?" Shunsui returned. Yamamoto raised a single eyebrow and Shunsui sighed. If it was anyone from the Central he could easily ignore it but unfortunately this was his respected teacher. He felt obligated to tell him. "She's quiet, but then again what seventeen year old would be chatty after getting married off to a man that could be her father's age."

"Does she seem sincere?"

"In her vows and her position in the alliance?" Broking no response from his elder he continued, "Yes, she's sincere. It looks like she brought everything she owned from the World of the Living with her. She'll be unpacking it for the next few weeks. At the very least it will be unpacked by the time she starts school again."

"And you?" Captain Yamamoto asked. "Is there anything I should be aware of?"

"You know me Yama-jii, marriage wasn't exactly in my playbook; but, it isn't a bad thing. I made vows to her that I'll keep, just as she did. Though," Shunsui narrowed his eyes. "I would like to know exactly what is going on. I've done as you ordered, but, I can't uphold my vows without knowing everything."

"Very well," Yamamoto kept his gaze on him for a while longer before looking back towards the paperwork on his desk. He selected a file from the top of a small stack and held it out to him. "I selected you to marry this woman because I knew you would keep all vows in protecting her, Shunsui. Thus, expressing to her clan that our union will be upheld. That they can trust in us, just as we can trust in them."

Shunsui took the file and opened it. The first page was a report from a Kurosaki Clan member indicating times that Sosuke Aizen had been sited in the World of the Living. This confused him because the record started at least twenty years ago. It was obvious that the report had been handled between different people as multiple writing styles were used. He was correct, this union wasn't as random as they had indicated.

"This is why you wanted to form the union." Shunsui stated and flipped through more pages of the file. Incidents with hollows while Aizen was around were also reported. Shunsui noted he'd have to see why that was important to the Kurosaki clan later. He needed to see what the old man's intentions were first. "You are ignoring years of hostility because of their interests with Aizen?"

"Do you know of a reason we should continue hostility with this clan?"
"No, I wholeheartedly agree with forming a union with them. We've allowed prejudices to guide our behavior with them for too long. They are not ones that we need to make enemies with."

"You and I are of the same opinion. There are Quincy clans that do cause concern, but the union with the Kurosaki's will also allow us to consider which ones should be deemed as threats."

"But we're going off topic Yama-jii. This union was brought up because of Aizen, correct?"
"Yes."

"What are their interests with Aizen?"

"It is not what their interest is with Aizen, but rather it is what is Aizen's interest with them. We are not privy to all of the details as the Lady Kimitko is somewhat restricted in what information she can release at this time; but, there has been indications that Sosuke Aizen may be interested in a member of the clan. A high member."

"Someone like my wife?"

"No, she does not have enough spiritual powers to impress Aizen," Yamamoto stated and

looked out his window to his gardens. Shunsui followed his gaze and took in his wife walking amongst the garden with her grandmother. She wore another kimono and veil today. This time the pattern had multiple butterflies of different bright colors. Pinks, blues, and purples decorated her kimono. He urged his senses to pick up her spiritual pressure. Her spiritual pressure was so low that one had to actively seek it out to sense it. "But she is still the eldest granddaughter of Lady Kurosaki, they could try to use her against the clan."

"I see. And now that we are married you can actually give me this information, rather than just telling me I'm getting married and to deal with it."

"I didn't want you to have to go into this blind, Shunsui," Yamamoto's gaze poured into Shunsui's. "But, it was imperative that the marriage took place before we announced anything. We needed to further discuss the details with Lady Kurosaki which wouldn't take place until the marriage took place."
"I don't want to be uninformed anymore. If she is being targeted, or her family is being targeted, I need to know everything," Shunsui tilted his hat back with the file and narrowed his gaze to his elder. "I made vows. To the Soul Society and to her. I can't keep those without all of the information."
"Of course," Yamamoto stood from his desk and made his way to the doors to his office. It was nearly time for the celebratory lunch for the union between the Soul Society and the Kurosaki clan. "Now that you have the information, I will need you to cross reference it with all of the findings we currently have."

"Right."