Taiski, IchigoMoonCutter, Noxy the Proxy, pmw928, yagami rin, Phantom Claire, IchiRuki, annia9semi, DinieLuvYunho, chinguchan, ilovebks, scottusa1, anon, LittleRuky, CharlieCharlisle, David12leca, TomoMee, purplepam, Avalon360, Lawr, penlina. Thank you all for your reviews! I want to remind you how each review counts and it helps me to keep up with the updates (even though the story i'm fond of is A frozen ocean of rain)
A little announcement if i may...
I lately discovered fictionpress and i stared a story there. If some of you may be interested. I have the same pen name "Supergirl waiting for Reamonn" and the story it's called "Punk and other love songs" (and if it happens to drop by could also leave a review ^^?)
Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!
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Operation dealing the nobility part 2
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Luckily, Rukia managed to escape from Sentaro and Kotetsu just in time to get to dinner. When she arrived home she went directly to the dining room where she found Byakuya, already having dinner.
"Good evening, Nii-sama"
"Good evening, Rukia." He replied. "Were you with Ichigo until now? Did you managed to improve his tea ceremony skills?"
Rukia blinked.
"Actually I—"
But here she swallowed her words as Ichigo's voice echoed on the corridors of the house, approaching the dining room like a storm.
"YOU!" he growled pointing at Byakuya. "There's no way I will change my family name!"
Byakuya turned calmly to his sister.
"So you told him." He stated simply.
"There's no way is going to happen!" Ichigo snapped as he stood up in front of the table.
"Unfortunately, it already happened." Byakuya answered.
"No, it didn't because you need my signature for that, and I can assure you that you will have it!" Ichigo concluded with an evil grin. "So this time it's my win! Ha! My name will stay Kurosaki. Rukia will have it as well and that's that! End of story!"
Byakuya raised his eyes from his plate and faced Ichigo with his most calm expression.
"I'm sorry to inform you, Ichigo…but you already signed the papers" he informed.
"WHAT?!" Ichigo shouted.
Byakuya gasped as he turned to Rukia.
"He's too loud. Do something about him so I can enjoy my dinner in peace."
"M-Me?" Rukia asked confused.
"Well he's your fiancé not mine," Byakuya replied.
"What do you mean by "I already signed the papers"?" Ichigo asked half worried, half horrified.
"Have you forgotten already?" Byakuya asked.
"I haven't signed anything!" he snapped back.
"What about the papers I gave you in my office, the day you accepted to marry Rukia?" Byakuya said.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"No! No! No! Stop it right there! Those… those… you told me they were the engagement documents!"
"Precisely," pointed Byakuya as he took a bite of his pork steak.
Ichigo was puzzled, standing on his feet next to his chair. On the other side of the table, Byakuya also looked confused, unable to understand what part of his words the orange haired man, couldn't get.
"Just take a seat, Ichigo… the food is getting cold" Rukia tried to intervene, but he ignored her:
"I still don't get it. What does the engagement have to do with being adopted in this family?" he asked.
Byakuya raised his eyebrows surprise.
"Well you weren't expecting for this wedding to be allowed unless you would have been brought to this family. Ichigo, your family is inferior to Rukia's, which means that by marrying her, you'll be adopted into this clan."
Ichigo leaned over the table with an angry expression.
"But don't worry, if you wish you can keep the Kurosaki name, as well" Byakuya added calmly.
"Hmmm…Mr. Kurosaki Kuchiki…" Rukia commented with a slight laugh. "What do you say about it Mr. Double K?"
Ichigo suddenly turned to Rukia with a scolding expression.
"That's not funny, Rukia! Because if I'll be Mr. Double K, then you'll be Ms. Double K!"
Rukia's laugh suddenly disappeared and Ichigo slowly leaned on his seat with the air of a defeated but still shocked man.
"I've been tricked," he stated talking to himself. "I'm doomed!"
"You're just being a child, Ichigo! You should be grateful to be added into one of the most powerful families in Seireitei!" Rukia said with a scolding voice, "You are going to become a noble!"
"Become a noble and what? Compose poetry and perform tea ceremonies for the rest of my life?!" he snapped back.
"I don't think you are sensitive enough to write poetry," Byakuya stated simply. "But the tea ceremony it's absolutely required."
Ichigo made a weary face.
"This reminds me," Byakuya added. "Today, before leaving I said that you will serve us the tea tonight."
"Yeah, right!" Ichigo replied sarcastically.
"Perhaps, I didn't make myself clear" Byakuya repeated, this time using a colder tone of voice. "Tomorrow we will have tea with the four Elders who actually retain the control in the council and you have to prove yourself worthy of the Kuchuki name."
"Good to know that Byakuya. In this case, I won't even show up at the meeting."
Byakuya frowned.
"Don't worry, Nii-sama. I will make sure that Ichigo will make his appearance even earlier than predicted."
"Good," concluded Byakuya. "So now Ichigo, serve us the tea the same way you will do it tomorrow."
"Huh?!" Ichigo snapped. "Me? Serving the tea? If you want tea, go ask the maid!"
Byakuya turned to the maid and Ichigo displayed a cocky, self pleased smile on the thought that he finally won a battle against Byakuya. One second later though, the smile disappeared as the maid brought in front of him the herbals and the hot water, along with all the utensils he used during morning.
"Now Ichigo, please show us how you improved your skills…" Byakuya invited him.
"Hell no!" Ichigo replied. "You tricked me, you made me sign things without knowing what I was doing, and now you're expecting me to serve you tea?! Well you know what? I won't—!"
"UUUUUH! JUST SERVE THE DAMNED TEA, ALREADY!" Rukia suddenly growled with angry eyes.
The table turned silent for a couple of moments as both men widened her eyes. They blinked, starring at each other, until Ichigo made the first move. He silently took the bowl of herbals and started to prepare the tea.
"I-I'm sorry." Rukia said a couple of moments later bowing to her brother.
"It's alright," Byakuya replied with a slight smile, "Apparently yelling has done a bit of good for some people."
He watched Ichigo for a couple of moments, but as he was fully absorbed by what he was doing he finally turned to Rukia:
"The Elders will arrive at noon. We will first serve lunch and then we will move to the garden to have tea," he said, "I will take a day off from work so I will also be at home to receive the guests."
Rukia nodded.
"There will be Katsuya, Ryoin, his brother Nanakuma and Saito. You already know them very well, but you will have to pay attention to Katsuya because he's the one who proposed to the council for two of us to get married"
"I see…" Rukia said.
Meanwhile, without paying attention to their conversation, Ichigo was struggling to mix the herbals. After he spilled half of the content on the table, he succeeded on turning the plants into fine powder. He took a deep breath and reached out his hand to pour water over the composition…but then his hand stopped suspended on the air as he couldn't remember in which bowl was the hot water and in which one was the chicken soup for the dinner.
"Ryoin already signed the agreement and his brother as well. That means there is only Katsuya and Saito left to acknowledge the engagement. Once we receive their approval we can proceed with the rest of the wedding."
Ichigo was totally confused. Both of bowls were hot and apparently they had the same smell. He could put a finger inside and taste to see which one contained the water, but right in that moment Rukia turned to him with suspicious eyes. Intimidated by her glare, he just grabbed the first bowl that came to him hand and powered its content in the cups. He had a confident look, but the truth was that he had no idea of what he was doing.
"The tea is ready," Rukia said and the maid approached to take the cups and serve them to Byakuya and Rukia. They slowly took the cups, approaching them to their mouths.
Not sure of what he put them in those cups, Ichigo leaned over the bowl from which he powered. The moment he saw the insights of bowl he closed his eyes.
"Oh, fuck…" he whispered.
One second later Rukia began to choke violently, while Byakuya remained still with a weary expression frozen on his face. Ichigo didn't put green tea nor chicken soup in the cups, but vinegar.
"I think…" Byakuya said as he put the cup down. "It would better to serve the tea myself tomorrow, instead of Ichigo."
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"How could you put in vinegar?" Rukia asked as she sat at the dresser of room and brushed her long dark hair.
"All the bowls looked the same," Ichigo replied shrugging his shoulders. He approached her bed and laid on it, letting a big yawn out of his mouth.
"And what if all the bowls will look the same tomorrow? Are you going to serve vinegar to Katsuya, as well?" she asked.
"Well you heard Byakuya. He said he's going to perform the ceremony in my place…and I think that's the least he can do after he tricked me into changing my family name," he replied.
Rukia gasped and put down the brush, approaching him.
"Nobody tricked you, Ichigo. You are going to receive the Kuchiki name only for appearances." She said as she sat on the edge of the bed, next to him. "When we will go back to Karakura, you will still be Kurosaki. When you will be at the headquarters, Ukitake-sama will still call you Kurosaki."
He looked at her diffidently.
"Trust me, your name it's already a brand…no matter what, you will always be Kurosaki Ichigo… " she added.
"What about you?" he suddenly asked. "Is it your name also a brand or are you willing to become Ms. Kurosaki?"
Her cheeks suddenly turned red and that girlish reaction of her made him smile. In that moment he noticed that it was actually the first time he smiled during that day. That was because lately days with Rukia had been crossing on the fine line of exhaustion and exasperations. Yet, during evening as they were both tired to yell, they were cuddling around each other, embracing themselves with comforting and sweet words. It was a cozy and comfortable atmosphere that almost felt like a home. Maybe that was the reason he slowly cached the sleeve of her night yukata and pulled her to the bed next to him. He put an arm around her and Rukia didn't riposte, even though she didn't know if the one who was hugging her it was a friend or…her future husband.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you during dinner," Rukia whispered.
"Did you?...I don't remember," he lied.
"Really, I am sorry. It's just that I'm so nervous about tomorrow. Those Elders are so hard to satisfy and I really want to make this work…our marriage I mean." She added.
His eyes suddenly widened.
"I know I put a lot of pressure on you and for your knowledge, I also find the tea ceremony stupid. But for Nii-sama and for those Elders it's important," she said.
Ichigo paid only half of attention to her words since his mind remained stocked on the words:
"I really want to make this work…our marriage I mean".
"Do you Rukia? Do you really want to make it work?" he asked with a whisper.
She looked at him slightly surprised and she opened her mouth to give her answer, but the next moment someone knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Rukia said as she instantly got up from the bed.
"It's Mariko. I've came to take Kurosaki-sama to his room."
Hearing the maid, Ichigo also got up from the bed with a confused expression.
"What?" Rukia asked with an innocent look, "I don't suppose you were expecting for us to sleep in the same room."
"Rukia, we shared the bed for a whole week back home!"
"Back at your home…not mine. Here, in the Kuchiki manor we are must act in conformity with our etiquettes. Don't forget Ichigo, now we are both nobles and we—"
Ichigo rolled his eyes with boredom as another "The Kuchiki's are the most noble among the nobles" episode was about to begin. He left the room while she was still talking, too passionately to actually notice his absence. By the time she would the end of her speech, he'd probably be already asleep…in this own room.
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Until next time you know it! Read and review~! :D