A/N: To all those who followed this story, I'm really sorry for the late update!! The school system went haywire during the enrollment for the second semester, and it the enrollment took up the rest of my vacation. Then came the holidays with its slew of parties... so I'm settling for now, the midterm season. Hahahahaha... I probably won't update so much because I have to study (Nooooo!!! I really hate studying). By the way, I changed my pen name from Ichizawa Tomine to Paraluman... it's a new year and I want to try new things. Enjoy!!:D

Chapter V

Ichigo slacked behind Rukia as she happily trodded through the cobblestone path leading towards the inner compound of the enormous Kuchiki estate. He understood that she was probably missed her old home, but just what the heck was to miss in this place? Ichigo noted the silence that could rival a cemetery's, and the eerie feeling that made him feel as if he was stepping into a haunted ghost town. There was barely anyone in sight, and the houses were mordidly identical. He experienced a flow of unpleasant memories when he came here some two years ago to ask for Rukia's hand for marriage – even with the whole entourage that had come with him from Karakura, it had felt ominous; what more when there was only him and Rukia?

"Oi Ichigo!" Rukia waved impatiently when she got to the main house's gate. "Hurry up!!!"

Ichigo was still some fifty meters away, deliberately slowing down his pace with every step. He felt some chills when in the horizon loomed the main house, and his body was covered with goosebumps when he thought of the man who headed the said establishment.

Rukia, growing irritated with every snail-paced movement Ichigo made, ran to him and tried, albeit rather unsuccessfully, to drag her husband to the gate. Unsuccessfully, because aside from the blaringly obvious difference in their sizes, Ichigo was also carrying a basket laden with presents.

"Move it, slow-berry!" Rukia demanded, still tugging at Ichigo's haori. "Can't you walk any faster?"

"I can if we're going in the opposite direction," Ichigo answered.

When Rukia gave him the look; yes, it was the look that only wives were capable of making, the look which made their otherwise nonconforming husbands obey their every order – he tried another reply. "You should have taken the carriage then! Then maybe we'd already arrived, and maybe I wouldn't be carrying this stupid heavy basket."

"Maybe if we'd come more often, I would be riding that carriage right now because I wouldn't miss home this much, and maybe you wouldn't be carrying that basket, because we'd be giving the presents at the proper times rather than dump everything to them whenever we make our rare visits. Nii-sama must think I'm disrespectful not coming to visit him often – "

"Che! Maybe you mean he's thankful you don't come often to visit," Ichigo replied. He never liked it when Rukia pointed out that he disliked her relations. It made him look the like the bad one.

So they quarelled once more, and they eventually reached the genkan of Kuchiki Byakuya's house, much to Ichigo's horror and Rukia's delight. Ichigo immediately became quiet, fearful that he should lure his brother-in-law outside. One of the guards, upon seeing his former mistress, rushed into the house to announce the couple's arrival. Ichigo's face became exceedingly grave, while Rukia managed to keep her sanguine appearance.

She let out a small chuckle; oh, if only her orange-headed dobe of a husband knew that they weren't there to exactly see Byakuya, he would be much more amiable, but his expression was just too priceless. The reason she had come to her brother's abode was to meet with his wife and her sister-in-law, the ex-head of Sereitei's Medical Corps, the gentle and graceful Unohana Retsu, who was now Kuchiki Retsu. Byakuya's marriage to her had not been anticipated by Sereitei's foremost matchmakers and mothers.

For a long time, Unohana Retsu had been the poster child of singlehood among women – while it was usually scorned to remain unmarried after twenty, she made it fashionable. She was once engaged to marry Sousuke Aizen, the easygoing lord of Hueco Mundo, but on the eve of the wedding, they called it quits though the latter is still known to carry a torch for the lady. Meanwhile, Byakuya was also an advocate of bachelorhood i.e. he made no secret of his having no plan to settle down. So one could easily imagine the stupor they caused.

Byakuya and Retsu married when Rukia was seven, and their seventeen years of marriage had brought them two children. Their eldest was a boy by the name of Yukihiro, aged 16, and their youngest was a girl, Hatoko, aged 5. Yukihiko was a sixteen-year old Byakuya – meaning, he was what his father had been when the duke was still a young lad – fiery, cocky, brash, and not to mention, equally handsome. The Kuchikis' older servants would often look back with nostalgia at how their master had been in his youth, not the silent man he currently was. But they knew better; Byakuya's actions spoke volumes, and this was enough for all those who knew him well. This probably had the exception of Hatsume, with whom Byakuya was considered to be 'noisy', speaking in low, affectionate tones with his youngest, since little Hatoko had yet to grow accustomed to her father's quiet ways.

Hatoko was a heartbreakingly beautiful child. Her silky dark hair ended in soft curls on her shoulders, and her cheeks and lips were kissed by a rosy pink hue. Her skin was as white as milk, and her eyes, which, if found in her father and brother, would come across as proud, was brimming with innocence. She had her mother's heart-shaped face and small, delicate lips. Everyone in the Kuchiki estate doted on their head's daughter, but for all the affection she had, Hatoko was awfully shy. She would often bury her head in her parents' kimono, or in her brother's. She was very much attached to her father, and fiercely possessive of her mother.

Rukia sighed happily as Hatoko's face flashed in her mind. She would be forever in love with her niece.

The guard later came back and led the two inside. Rukia had just taken off her geta when a shinai came out of nowhere and hit Ichigo's head downturned head.

"Ichigo!!" Rukia cried, and knelt to help her spouse.

"Gotcha, Sekihara!" yelled a triumphant looking Yukihiro. A moment later the triumph was tranformed into realization, and then into slight trepidation.

"A-Aunt Rukia?" he asked Rukia, unsure whether he got the situation right. His aunt never visited during this time of the year.

"Yes, Yuki?"

Yukihiro's eyes widened as he grasped the situation fully. He didn't hit his sensei Sekihara. He had just bludgeoned his uncle Ichigo. Oh dear, mom's gonna kill me later. "I just hit Uncle Ichigo, didn't I?"

Before Rukia could reply, Ichigo suddenly shot up and grabbed Yukihiro's shinai from his hand.

"What was that for?!!" he demanded. "I don't think Byakuya should allow kids to run amok with weapons."

Yukihiro's apologetic look was replaced by an indignant one in an instant. "And I don't think father should allow mindless nincompoops to enter the house when I'm training. And I don't mean you, Aunt Rukia."

"Of course," Rukia smiled knowingly, ignoring Ichigo's wide-eyed look that said 'why are you siding with him?!' At least now Ichigo's high-strung demeanor mellowed down.

"Then Yuki-chan," Ichigo rallied back, "the Kuchiki estate must be deprived in its assets to provide you a decent dojo. Why, back in Karakura, I had five all for myself."

"Well Uncle dearest, that was back in Karakura. You're in Sereitei now. And please, I am too old to be called Yuki-chan. Surely with five dojos, one of your masters ought to have taught you respect, be it to your senpai or kohai."

"I have been taught to respect only those who respect me."

"Really now? And am I not being respectful, Uncle Ichigo?"

"If you were anywhere near respectful, Yuki, you would never speak to your uncle that way," came in a voice which unnerved the smug boy.

"Unohana-san," Ichigo greeted, bowing to his elder sister-in-law. While many found it weird, Retsu preferred to be addressed by her maiden name. She came in the scene of battle, and clinging to her kimono was little Hatoko, who eyed Ichigo bashfully.

"And Kurosaki-kun," Unohana further reiterated, "I think you are too old to have verbal jousts with Yuki, ne?"

Ichigo laughed sheepishly. He then crouched down and reached for a small present in the basket and walked over to hand it to Hatoko. His scowl softened, and Rukia smiled at the almost unnoticable change. Hatoko took the small box timidly, and after taking off the top lid the box revealed a hairclip with pink glass sakura petals dangling from its end.

"Like it?"

Hatoko smiled, her cheeks pink as ever. Ichigo took the clip from her hand and pinned her hair. Rukia's smile grew bigger at this scene; it was a known fact that of the people not directly related to Hatoko, Ichigo was her favorite.

Before anything else, I would like to have a long long speech down here. If anyone of you read the manga, you probably saw how 'lovable' Byakuya was when he was younger(when he was not yet the uptight prick that he is now), and I couldn't resist the urge to revive the young Byakuya in who else but his son? As for the Unohana pairing.. well, I've always loved that pairing, so let's leave it at that shall we?

The names I gave Byakuya's children are actually tributes to Hisana(we just can't forget about her now can we?); Yukihiro (Yuki=snow... somewhere along the lines that it was the last full season Byakuya and Hisana remained together) and Hatoko (meaning 'dove' in Japanese... I assumed that doves came out in spring, the last season Byakuya and Hisana were actually together)... you get the picture.

Don't forget to review!!