Everything is Different Upon Review: 8
Ichigo and Rukia met up at Division 13's least used training ground, a scrubby grass field that needed more water, or less less so it could become simply packed sand. For the session, only bakudo and shunpo were allowed, with Rukia still having the decided advantage in the former, though Ichigo had become competent.
Ichigo finally caught her, binding her in the Kido rope of Hainawa. Arms and legs pulled tight together, Ichigo pulled on the chain and Rukia fell.
Ichigo laughed. Learning over her, he said, "You look like a caterpillar in a cocoon."
"It's about time you caught me," said Rukia. "I've caught you four times already."
Smirking, he released her.
Rukia casting speed would've done any rap artist proud. "Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro."
Ichigo went rigid, bound six rods of light, unable to move. He shouldn't have released her. He should've made her break the bakudo herself. The bitch, that was what she did to him.
Rukia patted his cheek, drew a marker from parts unknown, and drew a handlebar mustache on his face.
"What the hell?" said Ichigo. That was infuriating, but also incredibly nostalgic. She'd done that when they'd first met. It was the only time she'd ever done it.
Rukia said, "Hisana's wedding will be in six weeks."
"Yeah." That one year engagement had gone by quickly. He wondered if Byakuya would go on a honeymoon, and if so, how long it would be. He'd been promoted to 8th Seat and might end up being the second highest ranked officer at the Division building for some brief periods. But before worrying about that, he needed to break the bakudo and wipe off the damn mustache.
Rukia said, "Ichigo, I need an escort to Hisana nee-san's wedding."
He wondered where she was going with that. Watching her wring her hands, realization struck. "Me?!" he said, the mustache blown entirely out of his mind.
"Who else am I going to ask, you fool?"
"I thought maybe one of the Kuchiki cousins-"
"They already think we're dirt. Hisana nee-san and I will just look lower if I can't even supply my own escort. And you're a Seated Officer."
"8th Seat. In your new brother's Division. Couldn't you get your Captain or Lieutenant to take you?"
She kicked his shin. "Fool. Lieutenant Kaien is engaged, and you remember what happened. And I haven't been in the Division nearly long enough to ask Captain Ukitake. And if he did escort me, I'd look like a little girl who'd begged her Captain. But you'll do fine. Besides, Hisana wanted to invite you anyway. Just don't insult anyone for a few hours."
"Alright," he said. "I guess. Do I need special clothing?"
Rukia said, "We need dress uniforms. The really expensive ones. Don't worry, I have a special wedding expense account to pay for it."
"I'm not taking that kind of money from Byakuya."
"You'll be the escort of the bride's sister, Ichigo. You're part of the wedding party. You'll take the money, or I'll smash your teeth in."
"But-"
"Need I remind you that you're currently bound by my bakudo and unable to move?"
"Fine," said Ichigo. "I'll do it. I'll go to the fitting or whatever and let Byakuya pay for it."
"And you'll go to the dancing lessons."
Ichigo stared. "We know how to dance. We did fine."
"We did fine at the Academy Graduation. This is a Kuchiki wedding. We have to be perfect. We can't let them look down on Hisana."
Ichigo sighed. "I'll go the dancing lessons. Sheesh, the things I do for you. You better be worth it."
"Why, Kurokento-kun, do you need a reward after we finish dancing?" She fluttered her eyelashes.
Ichigo turned bright red and sputtered. Later, when he walked back into Division 6, still out of sorts and distracted, Saito asked about the mustache.
#
#
The ceremony was ridiculously beautiful. House Kuchiki had spared no expense in making it so. Music and bells, an ornate temple and an even more ornate kimono for Hisana. She practically shimmered, and Ichigo took comfort in the fact that none of the nobles in attendance, some of them doing little to hide their dissatisfaction, could claim that she didn't look the part.
The ceremony was also extremely long. It went on and on and on. Byakuya and Hisana probably hardly noticed, since they kept doing the 'lost in each other's eyes' thing, but Ichigo was bored.
He tried using the mentality that he would for a museum, but unlike at a museum he couldn't get up, move around, and take a closer look at things.
He tried exchanging a look of exasperation with Rukia, but she was predictably transfixed. Starry-eyed as she watched her sister marry.
Still, as everything must, it ended.
And then the freaking gifts and congratulations line started. That thing was gonna be long.
Fortunately, as the bride's sister, Rukia got to go in near the front, and as her date, Ichigo got to go with her.
He'd almost ended up with one of the Division gifts, but it had been decided that Lieutenant Suzuki and the 3rd, 4th and 5th Seats, who'd all been invited, would do it instead, so he only had his personal gift.
Byakuya and Hisana both liked art, even if Hisana's art was a hell of a lot better, so on one of his trips to the Human World he'd gotten them art books, a couple early manga and comics, and art supplies that couldn't be found in Soul Society.
By the time he'd set the bundle down next to Rukia's gift, she was concluding her congratulations with a request. "May I refer to you as Nii-sama?"
"You may," said Byakuya.
Rukia bowed her head, deeply pleased.
Ichigo said, "Congrats, Hisana, Byakuya."
Byakuya glared at the familiarity.
"What? You're not my Captain here. Just my friend's brother-in-law."
"Still. Even in a personal context, you should address me as Byakuya-san."
Ichigo stared. Had he just heard that right? He couldn't have. "What?"
"I said that in a personal context you should address me as Byakuya-san." He seemed amused at Ichigo's surprise.
"Right, that's what I thought you said." Byakuya-san? Really? Were they friends? Did Byakuya see him as some sort of little brother or nephew thing? It was just weird. But not bad. "Congrats, Byakuya-san. Hisana-san." And he ducked away so the stuffy nobles behind him could give their gift and congratulations.
Rukia covertly dug her fist into his kidney.
"What? I did alright."
"You're pushing it, Ichigo."
"Hmmph."
There wasn't much to do but watch the reception and gift giving. At first he'd thought the gift giving was strange, but Rukia had explained it was a chance for the other nobles to show off, and nobles seldom let that slide, and a chance for the marrying couple to accept a lot of valuable items, and nobles NEVER turned that down.
Some of the guests were circulating, of course, but Ichigo didn't want to mess with the nobles, or do whatever to Rukia's position by hobnobbing with the 6th Division Seats who'd been invited. Saito, in his capacity as a distant cousin of a branch family, was somewhere.
An arm wrapped around his chest. "My son!"
"Isshin," said Ichigo.
"I've told you to call me Daddy. I didn't see you at Sunday brunch. You left me and grandma so alooone."
Ichigo rubbed his head. Sunday brunch with Isshin and grandma was a tradition that he was embarrassed to say actually existed. "I told you I was called away as reinforcement." A nasty Hollow in District 53. That was how the Gotei operated a lot of the time. Rank and file shinigami made contact with the Hollow, then called in a high-Seated heavy. "I sent you a butterfly."
"And you didn't even try to reschedule. Why?" Isshin's voice rose. "Why do you try so hard to make Daddy sad?"
"We're at a wedding," hissed Ichigo. "Have a little dignity."
"Weddings are not the time for dignity," Isshin cried. "They're times of joy and celebration."
"Sure," said Ichigo, and the froze when he saw another figure in a white haori, standing just behind Isshin and smiling genially.
Ichigo's heart stopped, stuttered, and resumed. "Hey, Captain Aizen, is it? It's an honor."
Aizen smiled. "Yes, I am Captain Aizen. And you must be Isshin's son. I've heard a great deal about you, and all of it good." He smiled at Rukia. "And you as well, 10th Seat Kotsuki."
"You're too kind," said Rukia.
"No, no," said Aizen, "in these dark times, with Hollow numbers on the rise and us still struggling to work through the backlog of pluses created by that horrible human war, it's a comfort to see there are such bright talents among the next generation."
Isshin said, "A wedding is hardly a time to bring that up."
"You're right, of course. I apologize. I dwell too much on it of late."
"I'll bet," said Ichigo. He looked meaningfully at Isshin. "It's the sort of thing every Captain should dwell on quite a bit, don't you think, instead of getting mad at other Shinigami for missing out on a brunch in order to fight a Hollow?"
"Daddy just wants to be appreciated."
"Yeah, whatever, I've gotta go say hello to grandma."
Isshin complained, "Why do you call her grandma but you won't call me Daddy?"
Walking away, Ichigo called back, "Think about it and maybe you'll know the answer."
As they disappeared into the crowd, Rukia whispered, "Very well done, Ichigo."
"Yeah. I'm impressed with myself. Come on. I really do need to say hello to grandma."
Grandma was sitting in a chair, because she was past the age where prolonged standing was suitable, though she still walked fine with a cane. She was gray-haired and straight backed, with a very traditionally Japanese appearance aside from a bulbous and familiar nose.
Grandma was still sharp, but he thought she'd fade away soon. According to Isshin, she'd only held on so long because she wanted to meet granddad again, but time it right to seduce him as an inappropriately younger woman. Isshin implied that she had it all worked out with forbidden Kido. Ichigo assumed that was just Isshin talking stupid.
"Hey grandma."
"So this is your young lady," Shiba Azuki said.
"This is Rukia," said Ichigo. "But she's not 'my young lady.'"
"You talk about her enough for it. But you two are a bit young to be thinking much about it, I suppose."
Rukia bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shiba-dono."
"Don't stand on ceremony with me, young woman." And one cool, claw like hand reached out to grasp her face and chin, scrutinizing her closely.
Rukia hated when old women did that, but had learned to tolerate it. She waited for Shiba Azuki to pronounce that she'd grow up to be pretty.
Shiba Azuki said, "You're going to grow up to be strong and independent, aren't you? Or perhaps you already are."
"I hope so," said Rukia, eyes widening.
"Know so," said Shiba Azuki, releasing her. "They're a wonderful couple, but that ceremony was dratted long. I fell asleep. When Mashiro and I married, we made a promise, jumped over a sword together, and called it good and got to know each other better all night long."
"Really?" said Rukia, dazed.
"Quick and efficient, exactly how it should be. Of course, others disagreed, but by the time they dragged us out for a 'proper' ceremony they were so horrified that they didn't like looking at us and their ceremony didn't last long. We always celebrated our anniversary on the date of our ceremony."
"As you should," said Rukia, recovering.
"Kotsuki-san," said Kaien, coming up behind his grandmother with Miyako on his arm. "Congratulations on your sister's big day. They're a beautiful couple."
Rukia thanked him in a very proper and noble manner, raising eyebrows by doing so. Ichigo had worried earlier that her manners would get her in trouble one day, but in the future it would make perfect sense. She was simply acting the part of the sister of the Matron of House Kuchiki
Ichigo said, "Kaien. Your hair looks glued on." It was all flat, like. "Looks fine, though." After the first strains of anger and awkwardness had dissipated, he'd gotten on fine with the Lieutenant.
Ichigo glanced at Miyako and said, "Hey," before turning away, as short with her as ever. He'd heard about her calling Rukia a slut in front of the whole Division and hadn't forgiven her for it, even if Rukia had. Miyako had bowed and apologized a lot afterward, but she hadn't behaved apologetically, in his opinion. Besides, believing what she had, Kaien was the one she should've been mad at, not Rukia.
Kukkaku, with her rough-looking tattooed date on her arm, and a very young Ganju trailing uncomfortably behind, joined the group.
Ichigo said, "Good. You've still got both arms."
Kukkaku made her stinkface at him. "When are you going to stop greeting me like that?"
"When you lose an arm," said Ichigo.
Kukkaku said, "I know precisely what I'm doing with my fireworks. There won't be any accidents. Of that scale."
Ichigo said, "I was there last time you were 'testing out a new one.' Rukia, this is the maniac I told you about."
Rukia bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, Shiba Kukkaku-dono."
Ichigo moved on as Rukia and Kukkaku spoke. "Nice braids, Ganju. You look cute."
Ganju glowered. He really was a kid, which meant he'd aged quickly, and he clearly hated how prettily dressed he'd been.
Ichigo didn't know what had happened to Kaien, Kukkaku and Ganju's parents, but they had passed. It must be fairly recent, considering that Ganju couldn't be over 30, but no one seemed eager to talk about it and Ichigo hadn't pressed.
Even though it was his extended family, Ichigo let Rukia do the majority of the talking, listening with some concern as Grandma and Kukkaku advised her on her blossoming womanhood.
A unspeakably powerful, half-familiar presence approached. The reiatsu was tightly contained, yet impossible to miss. Like an awareness that something massive was just outside your vision.
Kaien, Miyako, and Rukia all quickly bowed. Ichigo waited just a moment, bending right before Rukia would've hit him, and he rose quickly, saying, "Yo, Yama-ji"
The Captain Commander looked at him sternly, but didn't remonstrate him. Powerful shinigami tended to be high strung, stubborn and eccentric, and the Captain Commander had to be used to it.
Rukia on the other hand... "Be respectful," she said, slapping him repeatedly on the back of the head. "What a pleasure and honor to meet you, Captain Genryusai Yamamoto-dono." To Ichigo, "Be respectful!" Having decided that bowing wasn't enough, she curtsied. In her annoying school girl voice, she said, "It's an honor to have you here, Captain Genryusai Yamamoto-dono. I hope the ceremony was to your liking."
The Captain Commander said, "It was a restful ceremony. Young Byakuya is growing well."
She laughed her fake laugh. "He is indeed." She elbowed Ichigo in the gut. "Now greet him again, but respectfully."
Ichigo said, "Stop hitting me. He's older than sin and stronger than hell. He doesn't give a shit about how brats greet him."
"He is not older than sin, Ichigo. Sins is surely at least as old as humanity, and while the Captain Commander is extremely old, even ancient-"
"It's a figure of speech, you confounded literalist."
Rukia drew back her fist, and Kaien put his arms around both of them. "Hahaha," Kaien said, half-facing the Captain Commander. "You two are as spirited as ever, but now isn't the time."
"Stay out of this, Shiba," Rukia said, eyes flat. "Ichigo is making his desired impression on the Captain Commander, and interference is not welcome."
"Not a very positive impression," said Miyako, smile strained.
"Never said it was," said Rukia.
"And you approve?"
Rukia said, "If I did, I wouldn't be hitting him." She smiled again at the Captain Commander. "If there's anything at all you'd like, tell me, and I'll be sure to arrange it."
Ichigo said, "He'd probably like to be treated like a normal person from time to time."
"Not by you," said Rukia.
"Ummm," said Kaien, distressed.
Shiba Azuki grabbed him by the back of his kimono and pulled him back. "It's never a good idea for outsiders to interfere in a domestic squabble. Don't you agree, Genryusai?" She practically purred the name, and the Captain Commander's stern expression took on a hint of worry as he paled slightly.
"You look as fit as ever," Azuki continued, taking a step forward.
The Captain Commander nodded stiffly, about-faced, and cut to the head of the reception line, no one being stupid enough to stop him.
Shiba Azuki watched him walk away. "That Captain Commander… The old beast is going to live forever. He was already old when I was young. I always was attracted to older men. But Mashiro was actually younger than me, wouldn't you know? I'd like to fix that."
Ichigo began to feel slightly ill.
Shiba Azuki said, "Kotsuki-chan, join us for brunch next Sunday."
#
#
As the bride's sister, Rukia was at the high table, directly to Hisana's left, Ichigo, as her date, to Rukia's left. It might be an old hat to Rukia, but he felt uncomfortable surrounded by absurdly rich people who wished he wasn't there.
He looked out over the hall. There were a lot of tables. One of the nearest and largest was drawing glares from the others.
Byakuya had invited his fellow Captains, and most of them had come. Gramps, Kyouraku, Ukitake, Unohana, Soi Fon, Isshin, Tousen. Komamura, wearing a stupid bucket on his head. And Aizen. Ichigo was careful not to stare, but also not to avoid looking at him. It helped to pretend within his own head that he and Aizen were both exactly what they appeared to be. He forced his mind to other things.
Judging from the glares at the Captains, some of the nobles resented how near to the front their table was. And it was interesting that Isshin was with the Captains instead of at the Shiba table with the others. That table was also getting looks. The Shiba were the black sheep of high nobility. Eccentric, informal, casually scandalous, and not nearly so numerous or wealthy as they'd once been, but ancient and still influential in the Gotei 13.
There were politics going on in the seating arrangements, but Ichigo didn't know what they were.
He also noticed that a lot of the nobles were strong. Hard to say how strong, but High Seat level for sure. Some of them had zanpakutou, he knew. If they'd just all join the Gotei, both worlds would be in much better shape.
House Jinushi was especially large and powerful. One of the Four Great Noble Families, and one with no tradition of service in the Gotei 13. Jinushi Gouman, the Head of the family, was a slim man of middle-age, with black hair and hooded eyes. It was hard to say, but Ichigo thought that Jinushi Gouman might be as strong as a Captain.
The man met his eyes, and Ichigo stared back for a moment, looking bored, until Jinushi Gouman looked away with a contemptuous curl of his lips.
Ichigo turned to the woman next to him. She was exiting middle-age, but would've still been beautiful if not for her frown lines and the harsh cast of her face.
"Hey," said Ichigo, figuring it was more formal than 'yo.'
She turned to him with an expression as if she smelled something rancid. "And you are?"
"Kurokento Ichigo, 8th Seat of Division 6."
"I see." The woman said, "It's unfortunate that Byakuya-sama had to arrange for one of his own officers to escort his new… sister."
Ichigo's polite smile was the best scowl he'd ever managed. "Nah," he said. "Rukia and I go way back. We were in Outer-Rukongai together, we went to Shino Academy together, and we graduated together."
"Outer-Rukongai," said the woman, as if the phrase itself was unclean. "District 78. It must've been difficult to adjust here. Reading. Writing. Eating with utensils."
"Nah," said Ichigo. "The difficult part was learning to stand on our hind legs. In Outer-Rukongai, we walked on all fours and ate live ferrets with nothing but our teeth."
Rukia pinched his thigh. Hard.
"Yes," said the woman. "That must have been an adjustment. Tell me again, what was your name? It seemed familiar."
"Kurokento Ichigo."
"Ah," said the woman. "You're Shiba's bastard, aren't you?"
"I am. And you're one of the Captain's unemployed silver spoon dependents?"
"I am his great Aunt, Kuchiki Chiyo, yes."
Rukia dug her fingers into his thigh again, and Ichigo settled in for a long night. At least the food was good.
#
#
Thank god for dancing. Ichigo felt vulnerable enough as it was without Zangetsu at his side or his eyebrow piercing in. If he'd had to spend one more minute listening to that Kuchiki bitch, he would've exploded.
But out on the dance floor, stepping to the music of koto, shakuhachi, and other traditional instruments, arms linked with Rukia, he was feeling like weddings were nice events, all things considered.
The dancing was rigid and rote, but that was alright. Moving to music was a pleasure he'd gotten more acquainted with during their lessons, in the charge of the Kuchiki's family dedicated dance instructor, who hadn't been that bad, all things considered. She'd adored Rukia, who was a 'natural.'
Ichigo didn't have the same 'innate grace,' and 'clean lines,' but he'd always been a quick learner. He didn't think many of the posh nobles around were doing much better than him, and no one was doing better than Rukia.
Rukia whispered, "I've been given a suite in the Kuchiki estate. In the main house."
"Is it familiar?"
"Not especially. I'm only his sister-in-law. But a suite in the main house is more than expected. I've been added to the family rolls."
"Your name..."
"My name isn't changing. I'm not being adopted. It's just an official acknowledgment that I'm Nii-sama's sister-in-law. He didn't have to do that. Considering circumstances, many people must've advised him not to."
None of that surprised Ichigo. Young Byakuya was a closet rebel. Ichigo was tempted to buy him rock albums and see what happened.
He had just spun her around when Rukia, wearing a teasing expression, said, "You've really gotten better at this. Perhaps we should go out dancing on our own time."
"Sure," said Ichigo.
Rukia gaped, eyes bugging out.
"Why not?" Multiple people had told him that for the long haul, he needed more to his life than just his duties and training, or he'd burn out. And he'd surprised himself by liking dancing. "I haven't been keeping up with playing the koto." Which he'd studied for two years as a student at Shino Academy.
They were pausing for breath at the end of a song when a fancily dressed boy approached them and said to Rukia, "May I have the next dance?"
The boy had dark skin and purple hair, appearance reminding Ichigo of Yoruichi, but a bit younger in physical age than them. Ichigo gave him his most intimidating scowl, and the noble boy shrank back.
Rukia stepped on his foot. "It's normal to dance with multiple partners." He could hear that the addendum, 'you fool,' was only left out for the sake of present company. "Shihouin-sama is sticking his neck out by being so welcoming."
And she took the boy's hands and swept back out onto the floor with him, Ichigo staring glumly after.
Ichigo ended up dancing a measure with 5th Seat Kara, which was weird and uncomfortable for him, though she seemed amused. He eventually worked his way back to Rukia, and the night continued.
#
#
The guests had mostly cleared out, Byakuya and Hisana politely seeing off every one of them. As Hisana's sister, Rukia was one of the few that hadn't yet left, so Ichigo was hanging around waiting for her, hoping they could leave soon. His fancy kimono had been fine at first, but it was bothering him more as time passed.
He stopped leaning against the wall and came up behind Rukia as the newly-weds approached her.
Rukia said, "Is there anything else before I leave you two alone?"
"You've done more than enough," said Hisana. "Thanks for all your help. I know it can't have been always been easy."
"It was no trouble," said Rukia.
Hisana said, "You impressed Kuchiki Chiyo, at least."
"We did?" Ichigo blurted out, thinking of the woman he's spent much of the night trading barbs with.
"Indeed," said Byakuya. "She said that you are both likely to go far."
Rukia and Ichigo traded looks of surprise, re-evaluating the woman who'd leveled so many insults at them. Definitely still an arrogant bitch, but perhaps nothing worse than that.
Hisana put in, "She said that you were very cute together."
They sputtered.
"With this fool?" said Rukia.
"I am not cute," said Ichigo.
"No," said Byakuya. "You're a hellion. While I'm gone, I expect you to defeat the 7th Seat in a Seating battle. Suzuki has been authorized to promote you."
"You don't think that's a little fast?"
Byakuya ignored him, turning to Rukia. "You surely have the skills to advance to 9th Seat at the least, but I encourage you to wait. The higher the Seat, the more dangerous the missions you'll be sent on. Maintain a buffer."
Ichigo said, "Hey, you saying you don't care if I go on risky missions?"
"Correct," said Byakuya.
:::
Let's just go with the idea that Ichigo is a talented actor. He did spend years pretending not to be able to see ghosts.
I vaguely recalling that there are some disappointing and annoying revelations about zanpakutou in the Quincy arc. So Imma just ignore that and say that a zanpakutou is a sort of personification of a spirit's power, an innate feature of people. The asauchi is a fancy sword that can be made with Kido or whatever, and it's useful in helping people to access their zanpakutou, and perhaps to form it into a weapon rather than something else. Nobles were walking around with zanpakutou long before the Gotei were founded.