Author's note: Once again, THANK YOU for all your support/reviews/suggestions/advice regarding this story. It's been a total inspiration to know that a lot of people enjoy this story as much as I do writing it. I've been in such a Bleach craze lately (hence the quicker updates for this story) and your reviews have more than helped give me the momentum to continue with this! And so, happy reading, everyone, and see you next time!
Substitute Affections — A Bleach Fanfiction
by Akane-Rei
Part One: The Betrothal
Chapter Six: The Rumor Mill
Psst…
Did you hear?
Sixth Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki…
Are you serious?
Thirteenth Division Vice-Captain Rukia Kuchiki…
I thought they were related!
Nah…Kuchiki by adoption…
It's sooo romantic!
But they've lived as brother and sister for years…
Decades…
Ewww…
Maybe that's why she was adopted…
Are you kidding?
No way!
After all these years?
I heard he was married before…
I heard she was from Rukongai…
I heard the wedding was soon…
Why so fast?
Do you think…you know…
With Captain Kuchiki? Nah…
He doesn't seem the type…
You know what they say…
Still waters…
This can't be true…
Who started this?
The captain's going to be pissed when he finds out we're spreading false tales…
The captain's going to be upset when she finds out we're gossiping about…
But it's true!
I heard that vice-captain Abarai…
No!
And vice-captain Kurosaki…
Really!
Fourth division seated officers were seen leaving…
I heard it from another division who heard it from one of his teammates…
I heard it from one of the guards who overheard it from someone down the street…
One of the servants at the Kuchiki main house told me that she heard at breakfast this morning…
When Rukia entered the thirteenth division headquarters, she noticed the familiar silence that descended when she walked through the hallways and passed by the rooms. She could see the averted gazes after their greetings as well as the quick glances everyone sent one another. She sighed. It was amazing how the very atmosphere brought back memories of the first time she walked through these halls as a new recruit.
In the past, she had tried to avoid the snide remarks and the hurtful comments. She had pretended not to hear the whispers behind her back or the speculation that flew all around and about her. She had been used to it in her Shinigami Academy days once her adoption to the Kuchiki clan was announced. She hadn't been surprised when those same remarks resurfaced on the division she was assigned to. And so in those days, she had relied on Kaien-dono to smooth things over and protect her from the more malicious of jibes regarding her place in the division and her fitness as a shinigami.
But that was in the past. These days, she was the vice-captain. And as much as she had wanted, no, as much as she had ached to be the type of shinigami that Miyako-dono was, in the end, she ended up being more like Kaien-dono.
Maybe it was due to the people she spent most of her time with.
Who knew?
She looked back at her subordinates. Attempting to place an Ichigo-like scowl on her face, she turned to face the unfortunate group of thirteenth division shinigamis who walked past her with averted eyes after their initial greeting.
"Stop right there!" she shouted, pointing at the group of four.
"V-v-v-vice-captain Kuchiki!" they saluted, turning to face her before again facing down.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked menacingly as she approached them, or at least, as menacing as her less than five feet height would allow.
"Uhh," they said almost in unison as they looked at one another for obvious help.
She smirked. There were times when being vice-captain had its perks. She looked past them and made eye contact with every single shinigami in that hallway. "I thought I taught you peons better than this!" she yelled. "What's with all these whispering behind my back?" she growled.
"Eh-heh-heh, vice-captain Kuchiki," one of the four stepped forward.
She raised a brow. Kentaro, her mind connected a name with the face. Switched over from the fourth division several months ago. A move that was rare since most shinigami that began with the fourth division usually stayed there for obvious reasons.
"Ano…you see," he began, "we heard this rumor." He looked back at his friends who all shook their heads at the mere suggestion that they might be the one to talk. He looked back at her. "We didn't know what to make of it and—"
"I haven't got all day, Kentaro," she said tapping her foot and making a play at being impatient. Of course she knew what the rumor was. She just wanted the sheer delight of torturing someone to repeat it to her face. She grinned. Renji and Ichigo must be really rubbing off her.
"Yes, about that," Kentaro began again.
There were times when this boy reminded her of Hanatarou. Come to think of it, wasn't it Hanatarou who recommended him for the transfer?
"Kentaro!"
"WeheardthatyouwereengagedtobemarriedtoCaptainKuchiki!" he said all in one breath.
And she would swear that she would have been able to hear the flutter of the wings of one butterfly, the hallway became that silent.
She smiled and watched as a number of shinigami stepped back. "Is that so?" she asked in a deceptively soft voice.
She watched as heads nodded hesitatingly to her question.
"Is that all?" she asked, delaying the inevitable revelation that they were waiting for.
Again, nods all around.
"Then why the hell didn't you just ask me, you damn fools, instead of walking on eggshells all this time!" she yelled, and was about to give a couple of the shinigamis a good kick in the butt when she felt herself grabbed from behind.
"Ahhh! Kuchiki-san!" Kiyone's voice rang loudly against her ear as the third seat officer trapped her in a cross between a bear hug and a glomp. "I heard from Captain Ukitake that you're getting married!" She started to bawl. "My little Kuchiki-san!"
"Our baby's all grown up!" added Sentarou, who seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere to envelope them both in his arms.
She tried to desperately extricate herself from her two officers, her two closest friends in her division, while maintaining what dignity she had left at being squished between them. She gave a brief glance at the rest of the thirteenth division and found most of them holding back their smiles. She gave a sigh of relief. At least that awkwardness was over.
"One minute she's a new recruit, the next thing you know she's a vice-captain, and now a bride-to-be!" Sentarou continued his diatribe. "Oh Kuchiki! Truly you've grown up!"
"Hey! I was going to say that!" Kiyone protested. "Kuchiki-san, I ran here as soon as I heard you're getting married. I wanted to congratulate you on the happy event! Why, I just found out right this minute!"
"We both just found out," Sentarou interjected. "We were on patrol last night so we didn't hear until this morning." He paused for breath. "So," he said, "who's the lucky guy?" He gave her a big smile. "Is it Abarai or Kurosaki?"
And as soon as those words were out of his mouth, she felt and heard and saw the rest of the thirteenth division members who were their audience almost fall flat on their faces. She slapped her hand against her forehead. How even the non-seated members of her division knew who she was getting married to while her two third seat officers were clueless was beyond her.
"I thought you said Captain Ukitake told you!" she bit out.
"Well he told us you were getting married right when we arrived from patrol," Kiyone explained, "but we saw you walk in as soon as he told us and we just had to run here and congratulate you." She smiled sheepishly. "I suppose it's in bad form for us to not actually know whether you've chosen Abarai-san or Kurosaki-san, huh?"
Rukia heard the collective gasps behind her. She had a feeling that those shinigamis were trying to signal her two officers, but Kiyone and Sentarou were too focused on her.
She closed her eyes. Why did these two even think that it could be Renji or Ichigo? She opened her eyes back again and found Sentarou glancing behind her. Thank the gods the man finally noticed that the people behind her were trying to tell him something. Kiyone, however, was still staring at her.
"So," she giggled. "Who's the lucky groom?"
"What the hell are those idiots doing?" asked Sentarou, finally pointing to the rest of the shinigami behind her.
She took a quick look back and saw Kentaro and friends attempting to do a poor imitation of the number six (for sixth division, maybe?) while the rest were making signs for the two third seat officers to shut up. "I think they're trying to tell you something," Rukia answered helpfully. At that point, her subordinates noticed that she was actually looking at all of them and all the signs and body languages halted abruptly.
"Hey, those guys just signed 'six,'" observed Sentarou. He grinned from ear to ear and looked at her. "Does it mean that it's Abarai, then?" he asked excitedly. "Could it be Vice-Captain Abarai from the sixth division?" He gave a loud whoop, again failing to notice the loud groans that came from the other members. "Yes! I win! You owe me dinner," he told Kiyone smugly.
"You two had a bet?" she said lowly, looking at her two supposed friends.
"Kuchiki-san!" Kiyone cried. "How can you not pick Kurosaki-san? I was so sure—"
"Give it up!" Sentarou said gleefully. "I win! We Rukongai natives have to stick together!"
"Kuchiki-san," Kiyone wailed. "I can't believe you chose that other punk!"
"Actually," interupted Captain Ukitake's voice.
Rukia looked up, surprised to find her captain up and about this early.
"She did not choose Renji-kun," he finished.
"What?" Sentarou exclaimed, his jaw dropping. He looked evilly at Kentaro and his group of friends. "I thought you guys signed 'sixth division'!" he growled at them.
"They did," verified Captain Ukitake to the confused Sentarou.
"Huh?" Sentarou and Kiyone looked at their captain in confusion.
"I thought Abarai-san was the vice-captain of the sixth division!" Kiyone cried out. "Did he get promoted somewhere else then?" she asked.
"Kiyone, Sentarou," the captain's voice sounded mildly amused. "You shouldn't have left our discussion when you did."
"But I wanted to get to Kuchiki-san!" Kiyone protested. She turned to look at her. "Does this mean you're marrying Kurosaki-san then?" she asked before turning to Sentarou. "You owe me dinner!"
"Ah…Kiyone-san," Rukia tried to get a word in edgewise before finding herself hugged again. "Ano…"
"Kiyone!" Captain Ukitake said, exasperated. He looked at the two perennial third seats and sighed. "Rukia's not engaged to either Ichigo-kun or Renji-kun," he stated as calmly as he could. He turned to look at her, as if to prompt her to say something.
"Eh?" said Kiyone and Sentarou simultaneously, their heads going back and forth between their captain and vice-captain.
"Ah," Rukia assented. She took a deep breath. "I am to marry Nii—" she paused. "I am to marry Byakuya-sama," she stated quietly. At their blanks looks, she added helpfully, "The captain of the sixth division."
And again, for the second time that morning, the hall became deathly quiet as everyone digested the confirmation of the rumor of the day.
Seconds passed before finally—
"You're what!" Kiyone screeched, grabbing her by the shoulders, her eyes wide with shock and…dismay. She looked at Sentarou, Captain Ukitake and the rest of their audience before grabbing Rukia by the hand and away from prying eyes. "Girl talk!" she shouted back at them in hasty explanation, all the while bodily dragging the shorter shinigami to her side.
"Eh?" she could hear Captain Ukitake's voice rise. "Kuchiki! You make sure to come see me before the end of the day!" he called out.
Rukia nodded as she let herself be taken away by Kiyone, knowing her friend was about to give her an earful and truthfully, she would rather receive it privately instead of in front of her whole division.
"What the hell are you looking at, recruit!" Renji yelled as he noticed another idiot in his division staring at him for the umpteenth time.
The recipient of his question quickly shook his head before backing away into some corner he could hide from. Renji almost spat the timidity that was just displayed before him. He really needed to make sure these new recruits grow a little backbone. Damn fools wouldn't have lasted a second in the eleventh division.
"Renji-san is too harsh," the young shinigami, Rikichi, stepped up next to him. "They're merely curious, you know." He grinned. "At this time, they are all wondering how best to approach you with the number one question on everyone's minds right now."
"Che," he muttered. He could guess what the question was in everyone's mind right now. "Why don't they go straight to the horse's mouth?" he asked.
The dark-haired boy gave him a disbelieving look. "Ask Captain Kuchiki a personal question?" he gasped in mock dismay. "We all barely ask Captain Kuchiki even sixth division related questions for fear he'd think us stupid and cut us up into little pieces with his Senbonzakura." He shuddered. "Not to mention the fact that he's from a noble house!"
"What that got to do with it?" he demanded.
Rikichi gave him a disbelieving look. "Oh, I suppose you went straight to the horse's mouth?" he asked, half in jest and half in seriousness.
"As a matter of fact," Renji replied, "I did."
"What!" he almost shouted. "You asked Captain Kuchiki if he was getting married!"
Renji thought about that question and scratched his head. It didn't escape his notice that they were now the center of attention in the sixth division's courtyard. "I guess you could say that," he answered, thinking back to last night. Okay, so maybe he didn't exactly say the words that asked the question, but it had been his intention to confirm it when he went to the Kuchiki main house to confront his captain. Thinking back to that whole conversation altogether, he was still kicking himself for being so damned shocked that Captain Kuchiki actually called Rukia his betrothed!
"Well?" Rikichi's voice said.
He looked down on the shinigami in question.
"Well don't leave all of us in suspense!" he urged, gesturing to his fellow sixth division members in the courtyard who were avidly listening in on their supposedly private conversation.
He looked away. "Why are you all so interested anyway?" he asked.
Rikichi rolled his eyes. "Well in case you didn't notice," he began, "over half the shinigami women in our division—which granted isn't much—think that our captain is actually decent looking. They've been speculating for the longest time whether he'll deign to marry someone from the hoi polloi again or whether he would marry a noblewoman this time around."
Renji smirked. "That doesn't explain the inordinate interest of 90 percent of our members," he retorted.
"Renji-san," Rikichi said chidingly, "of course we're all curious about our captain!" He looked at everyone around them. "He's one of the most well-known and respected captain, not to mention the most powerful shinigami ever produced in the Kuchiki line. What's not to be curious about?"
"That's just stupid," he muttered under his breath.
"Renji-san, weren't you curious enough about it that you actually went and asked him the question?" Rikichi accused. "Even you must admit to that!"
"Hah!" he scoffed. "My reason for going to Captain Kuchiki had nothing to do with him!"
"Ahhh!" Rikichi looked at him speculatively. "Then it must have to do with—"
"Shhh!" Renji interrupted him. "What are you trying to do? Announce it to the whole Gotei 13?"
"Ah, Renji-san. I think by now everyone in our division pretty much knows how you feel about Vice-Captain Kuchiki. You did beat most of us up on your way to try and save her from the Soukyoku a long time ago. And you dueled with Captain Kuchiki as well in your efforts to reach her in time."
Renji flushed, remembering the details of that little incident.
"So," Rikichi said a little impatiently. "Is it all true then?" he asked. "Is Captain Kuchiki engaged to Vice-Captain Kuchiki?"
"Ah," he finally confirmed what they had all been waiting for.
And it was true. Rukia was engaged to his captain.
For now.
"Ichigo," a low voice called behind him.
"Chad," he greeted in surprise as he turned to look back at his approaching friend. "I haven't seen you in awhile," he said, clasping his hand in a firm handshake.
Chad nodded, falling into step beside him as they both walked down one of the many streets of Seireitei.
Knowing his friend's penchant for silence and yet curious over his recent activities, Ichigo gave Chad a sideways glance before asking, "Captain Kyouraku keeping you busy?"
"Vice-Captain Ise," he paused as if considering his words, "keeps a strict division," he replied.
Ichigo grinned, reading between the lines. It was true. Nanao Ise kept a strict division for the most part. At least, when she wasn't attempting to keep a tight rein over the antics of the eighth division captain. "You like it there?" he asked, curious.
It wasn't surprising to many that based on his strength, Chad was first assigned to the eleventh division. To Ichigo, however, he'd had his doubts on how well the pacifist would fit in with the fight-loving division and their captain. And soon enough, his doubts were confirmed when Chad had transferred away from the eleventh.
"It suits me," Chad answered, looking ahead.
"That's good," he commented. And he could see how it would. Shunsui Kyouraku was a man who did not enjoy violence. And if he had to pick between Kyouraku and Kenpachi for Chad to report to…well, the choice was pretty obvious.
They walked in silence for what seemed like awhile, but then Ichigo was used to that when it came to Chad. He was a man of few words and being a shinigami didn't change that. That was fine with Ichigo. Chad was one of the few people whom he could be around with and still be able to think clearly without their constant prattle distracting him.
"I've heard some strange talk this morning about Rukia Kuchiki," Chad finally said.
Ichigo nodded. Strange talk. It was that.
"Is it true?" Chad asked quietly.
Again, Ichigo nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Renji and I just found out last night ourselves."
"I see."
More silence as they wove past the people in the streets.
He heard a sigh beside him and he looked up to see Chad giving him a pensive stare.
"Is this alright with you?" Chad asked directly.
He looked away, not knowing how to answer that question at this time. Was it alright with him? Hell no! But was he willing to let the whole world know?
"I told Rukia it was for the best," he muttered, "when she told me that it was her choice."
"Oh?"
"And if it truly were her choice then I will abide by it." He looked up towards the distance. "However, if she tells me otherwise or if I believe that she's being pressured to do this, then I will do everything in my power to make sure she makes the right choice."
The continued to walk together in silence until their paths began to diverge. At the crossroads, Chad looked at him in the eye. "And right now?" he asked. "Do you believe that she is pressured? Without her having said anything to the contrary, do you believe that she's making the right choice?"
Ichigo looked away from his friend's intent gaze. He thought of last night and the confused Rukia that arrived for their small get-together. He thought of her drinking the sake, presumably to gain the strength to tell them about her engagement. And then thought of Renji's words and how they all seemed to fit.
He frowned. It still irked him that the tattooed vice-captain was able to make him see something he should have seen without any help.
"You don't have to answer," Chad finally said. "I just wanted you to know that whatever you do, you'll always have my support."
He looked up at Chad. Strangely enough, his friend's words filled him with foreboding. What did Chad think he'd do that he would need his support for? This is Rukia for god's sake. It's only an engagement. Once they've convinced her of the sheer wrongness of it all, it should be over, right? Rukia wouldn't be getting married and things would end up how they were before. Right?
As he looked at Chad's retreating figure, however, why did he have a strange feeling that things wouldn't be quite so simple?
He watched Sentarou's eyes focus on the two rapidly disappearing figures before them. If it wasn't for the near-violence they both saw flashing in Kiyone's eyes as she said, "Girl talk!" before hauling Kuchiki away, he had a feeling that Sentarou would have followed them to Hueco Mundo to get the answers to the questions he had in his own eyes. Thinking about it, perhaps he should have stopped his two third seat officers from running to greet Kuchiki before he had been able to give them the complete news. But he had wanted to see something for himself. He had followed his two officers on their way to see Kuchiki because he had wanted to be there when she told them of her decision. He had wanted to watch her eyes, observe her mannerisms as she informed them of her engagement.
He didn't know what he was looking for. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to know. But whatever it was he was searching for in Kuchiki that morning, he knew he didn't see it in the little scene before him. Something about the way she spoke and the way her eyes wavered told him that something was missing.
True, he hadn't been expecting a blushing or ecstatic bride-to-be this morning. His talk with Byakuya was enough to let him know that this marriage wasn't quite the love match that Byakuya's previous marriage was. Coming from a low-class aristocrat family with seven other siblings to support, he knew enough about family obligations to understand what drove both of them to accept the situation. Still, he had hoped for something better than the quiet acceptance he saw in Kuchiki's eyes.
"Captain," Sentarou finally said beside him. "Is this true?" he asked, his voice hoping for that denial that would never come.
"Yes," he replied. "Byakuya himself came and told me yesterday." And in such an emotionless voice that they could have been discussing the weather. He cringed, remembering his momentary speechlessness and disbelief. Of all the things Byakuya could have told him that moment, the news of his engagement with Rukia Kuchiki wouldn't have even made it on the list of possibilities.
"And Kuchiki…Vice-Captain Kuchiki has agreed to this?" Sentarou pressed.
He looked at the worried eyes of his third officer. "It would seem so," he answered as best as he could. Not that he could blame Sentarou for his concerns. Sentarou knew more than anyone the stigma that Rukia Kuchiki suffered in the early years due to her association with the Kuchiki clan. Furthermore, he wasn't sure that Sentarou ever entirely forgave Byakuya for doing nothing to prevent Rukia's execution that time long ago.
"But why?" came Sentarou's startled question. "Why should she agree to such a—" he stopped his next words as soon as Jushirou gave him a look. "That is to say this all seems so sudden! If Vice-Captain Kuchiki had been thinking about marriage, the candidates I would have expected did not include her brother by adoption."
He gave a wry grin. "Yes, I gathered that," he told his subordinate. "I think the whole division heard you."
"So what the hell is this about?" he finally burst out, clearly frustrated.
And it was a testament to the long years of friendship between the two that Jushirou Ukitake thought nothing of the casual and some would consider disrespectful way Sentarou expressed his disbelief to his captain. "After thinking about it last night," he began, "I think it could be a good match."
"What!"
"For Byakuya, at least," he added. And it was true. After spending a sleepless night in concern for his vice-captain and his former kohai, he had come to the conclusion that Byakuya at least was lucky in terms of the arrangement. In all the years he'd known Byakuya, the only woman he'd shown any ounce of concern for—not counting Hisana—had been Rukia. That's why it made some sort of sense that Sanada Kuchiki had grasped on to that fact and recommended Rukia for the marriage.
"Well of course!" Sentarou said loyally. "Anyone would be lucky to get Vice-Captain Kuchiki as a wife."
"Unfortunately," he stated, "we both know that the rest of Soul Society won't feel that way." Once again, there would be gossip, mostly from people who didn't know Rukia. They would claim how extremely lucky she was to have gotten the attention of a nobleman not only in adoption by now in marriage as well.
"Who cares about the rest of those boogers?" Sentarou declared. He looked at his captain. "But we're getting side-tracked here. How can this be a good match for Kuchiki when there are others who…others who love her more?"
Jushirou smiled ruefully. "Gossip again, Sentarou?" he asked.
His friend looked at him in askance. "Everyone knows that it was only a matter of time before either the first or sixth division vice-captains made their move," he said mater-of-factly. "The big surprise is the fact that they hadn't yet even after all these years." He frowned. "Those damn fools! What the hell were they waiting for?"
"It is their loss then," he stated softly. And it was. From what he'd seen, he believed that Rukia would have made a suitable match with either of those men, too. Now that she's connected to Byakuya, however, his mind began to explore the possibilities that maybe, just maybe, given time, this match might turn out to be for the best.
"Maybe she can still get out of it?" Sentarou said hopefully. "It's just an engagement, after all."
"That's not going to happen," he said flatly. He turned to look at his officer with serious eyes. "An engagement within the nobility, as soon as it is announced and decided as this one has been, has the same weight as that of a marriage. Death is the only way to break this engagement without losing face." He looked closely at Sentarou. "Do you understand?" he asked. "It would be seen as a breach of contract to call this wedding off. And Rukia will be the one to suffer because of it. Byakuya is protected by the wall of nobility he was born into, and Rukia will bear the brunt of it all."
"But…but…"
"Sentarou," he said softly. "There is nothing we can do now but support our vice-captain's decision." He smiled. "Surprised?" he asked. "In the end, it was her decision, too, you know. The Kuchikis would not have been able to proceed with this without her consent."
"I see."
"But," he continued. "You shouldn't worry too much." Even as he said it, he knew that he himself wouldn't follow his advice. While he wasn't too concerned about Byakuya, Rukia Kuchiki was another matter. Surrounded by well-meaning friends who no doubt would disapprove of her choice, would Kuchiki be able to rise above it all and see the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she could melt the heart that her sister had inadvertently frozen? With this marriage, would she finally be able to accept the family that adopted her?
To be continued.