Sorry for such a late update! My internet was not working X( But it is now, so enjoy!

CHAPTER 10

Ichigo and Toshiro hurried hand in hand out of the small room into the waiting area a few feet down the hall. The taller man's mind was racing, trying to formulate a plan in case he had to take action. What the hell could Byakuya be doing here so early? Jushiro didn't even expect him for at least another couple of weeks! And where is Soi Fon? This is too goddamn confusing!

The lovers rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and almost ran right into the older Kuchiki. Hearing them, Byakuya turned around to stare at them, no emotion showing on his poignant face.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I have come to warn you and Hitsugaya," Byakuya stated, also noticing the confusion on the lovers' faces. "I am sure that you are wondering why I would decide to help you two."

Ichigo looked up at the taicho of squad six. "The hell I am! I thought everyone was against us!" He ran an exasperated hand through his orange mop of hair. "Damn, this shit is confusing. I thought you and Soi Fon weren't supposed to come for a while." He shot Byakuya a suspicious glare. "So why are you here helping me and Toshiro?"

The room remained quiet for a good thirty seconds before Byakuya answered. "I do not feel it is right for two people to be punished for being in love, even if it is against the law." He turned his head to look at his younger sister, his dark eyes showing a slight hint of sympathy. "I know from experience."

Of course, Ichigo had no idea what was going on. "Rukia, what is he talking about?" As the younger girl was about to answer, the substitute shinigami adorned a small look of mischief in his chocolate eyes, along with a small smirk. He walked over to Byakuya and poked the taicho in the shoulder. "You had a girlfriend, didn't ya? You were in love before, yeah? Don't you deny it, Byakuya Kuchiki! I knew you were a bit of a softie!"

As she watched her brother's eyes become wide, Rukia took it upon herself to knock some sense into the orange haired baka. She leaped across the room and took the liberty of landing her foot directly on Ichigo's forehead, kicking him to the floor. "Don't talk to Byakuya nii-sama like that, you idiot!" She huffed and helped Ichigo up off the floor, noticing Toshiro chuckling as Ichigo made his way over to take the small taicho's hand in his own. "Anyway Ichigo, nii-sama is going to explain the plan the Soul Society has come up with to deal with you two and the threat of Aizen's possible return, so listen close!"

Ichigo lifted his free hand and made a mock solute, a big grin on his face. "Yes ma'am!" He was forced to lower his arm quickly to protect his side from being beaten by his fiancé, who was eyeing him with a strict look in those teal eyes.

"It is time to be serious, Kurosaki! We need to know what to expect and how to plan for these upcoming events." As he saw the saddened look in his lover's eyes, Toshiro squeezed the taller's hand for comfort. "Just listen for once. Please?"

The strawberry complied with a squeeze of his own. "Okay, yuki no hana. I'll be good, I swear."

Byakuya took this opportunity to continue. Eight pairs of eyes in the room turned their attention to him as he spoke. "As far as I know, the sotaicho has planned to deploy the stealth force to Hueco Mundo to find any evidence of recent activity, or any evidence at all to confirm that it is indeed Aizen who is still alive." His dark eyes drifted tentatively to rest upon Toshiro. "We all know that Gin Ichimaru is indeed alive."

Toshiro felt a pang of fear run through his body, causing him to shiver. This caused Ichigo to wrap his muscular arms around the smaller body in front of him. "Byakuya, let's get back to the plan, shall we?"

Awareness made its way to the Kuchiki's face. "I'm sorry, Hitsugaya," he apologized, bowing out of respect for the fellow taicho. "As far as we can figure, no one even knows if Aizen's base of operations is still in Hueco Mundo or if he is operating elsewhere. But this is not the main task at hand as of yet." He turned once again to face the two lovers with a face that resembled something like regret. "Five years ago, Aizen had wanted to take both Ichigo and Hitsugaya to use for his own purposes. Yamamoto sotaicho is using this as a kind of cover up to apprehend both of you. I find this fact repulsive and unjust. This is why I had to find a way to warn you all. I would like to side with you for the upcoming battle, along with my fukutaicho."

As soon as Byakuya was done with his sentence, the fukutaicho of squad six, Renji Abarai, came into the small waiting room, all eyes turning to watch the red headed man walk through the doorway.

Ichigo's face twisted in fury at the sight of the bastard that had tried to have a way with his now fiancé. He let go of Toshiro and ran across the room until he was face to face with Renji. "You son of a bitch! I'll kill you for what you did!" Ichigo's fist made contact with Renji's jaw three times before finally knocking the fukutaicho to the floor, almost dislocating the jaw entirely. Before he could leap on the read headed bastard, Ichigo felt a small hand encircle his wrist.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, don't you even think about it!" Toshiro's bright teal eyes tore through Ichigo's light brown ones, filled with a mixture of rage and confusion. "Don't you start anything here. Not now. Believe me, I would like nothing more than for you to knock some sense into this dick, but we need all the help we can get." The small taicho's grip on Ichigo's wrist softened, trying to communicate his reasons to the taller man.

Ichigo complied by intertwining his large fingers with Toshiro's, smiling when he looked at his soon to be husband. "I know. I'll take care of him when all this is over." His eyes came into direct contact with Renji's reddish brown eyes, the bastard still dazed on the floor, seeing stars. He made his way to where Renji was sprawled, lifting him up from the floor, but keeping his fist tightly wrapped around the collar of Renji's kimono. "I'll let you live, but only because Toshiro and I need help. Although, I can't promise that I won't bust your sorry ass when this is over, and for the remainder of this incident, I would strongly advise you not to come within at least twenty feet of Toshiro and if you do, I'll personally see to it that you're carried away in a body bag. Do you understand me?"

All eyes in the tiny waiting room were wide and staring at Ichigo and Renji. "Okay Ichigo, I get it! Just let go! You're choking me!"

Ichigo smirked at the fact that he was choking Renji. "Well, in that case, I won't let go just yet. This is kinda fun."

Toshiro, noticing Ichigo slightly losing control, sped across the room to tug on Ichigo's arms, trying to get him to loosen his grip on Renji. "Ichigo, Ogichi, you let go of him right now! Remember what I told you! We need him!"

Ogichi's voice manifested itself through Ichigo. "Come on, babe, I wanna kill 'im! He made ya and king go through hell! Just let me maim 'im! He'll still be livin'!"

The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees as Toshiro tried to calm down Ichigo and his hollow, being careful not to freeze Ichigo's arm. I hope Ichigo was right about me being able to trust his hollow indefinitely "Now you listen to me, Ogichi, right now I need you to give Ichigo back to me so I can talk to both of you and so Ichigo doesn't kill this man, do you hear me?"

Although Ichigo still appeared to be Ichigo, by this point, his eyes had adorned the black and golden eyes of Ogichi. The hollow turned his head to look straight into aqua orbs filled with concern and frustration. He loosened his grip on Renji, black and gold filling with sorrow. Taking one last opportunity to glare at the red head, Ogichi tossed the fukutaicho onto a nearby chair. "I heard ya Shiro, and o' course I'll letcha talk to king. Give me a sec."

The hollow grabbed Toshiro and pulled the smaller man into a kiss, slowly giving control back to Ichigo as the heated kiss slowly progressed. When a very startled Toshiro pulled away, he noticed he was staring into the familiar chocolate eyes he had come to know and love.

"Sorry about that, yuki no hana. He just pisses me off."

Toshiro slapped Ichigo across the face, but had a smile on his face. "That was for Ogichi. Tell him not to surprise attack me like that again or I'll come in that idiot mind of yours and kick his ass."

Ichigo couldn't help but burst out laughing at his fiancé's weird sense of humor. "I'll be sure to relay the message," he said, wrapping his arms around his lover's slim waist.

They were about to kiss again when they heard scoffing from the other side of the room. Ichigo looked across to see Uryu covering his mouth and pretend to be coughing, but with a smile. "Excuse me for interrupting, Ichigo, but we were in a meeting discussing our current situation including you two. Would you like to come back to reality?"

The substitute shinigami made a scoff of his own towards his best friend. "Whatever, Uryu. But you're right. Let's get back to our little discussion."

Ichigo then took the opportunity to ask Byakuya a question that had been gnawing at his brain. "Byakuya, when should we be expecting Soi Fon to come with the stealth force?"

"Since they have just been deployed to Hueco Mundo, I expect that they won't be sighted in the World of the Living for at least a month or two." The older Kuchiki looked at Ichigo with a slightly suspicious expression. "Why do you ask, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo smiled so brightly that one could swear they saw the sun beaming in his eyes. His arms tightened around Toshiro, looking down at his lover with a fiery passion. "Because I want to know how long I have to get my fiancé to finally let me marry him."

Toshiro's cool teal eyes went wide with surprise. "Ichigo, you…"

Ichigo ran a hand through Toshiro's soft white spikes. "That's right. I want you to be mine. As soon as possible. I wouldn't be able to handle losing you again. What do ya say, yuki no hana? How 'bout we get married tomorrow? Everyone here can be invited and we can find a preacher somewhere and…"

"Ichigo!" Toshiro's eyes drifted up to Ichigo's chocolate orbs, a grin on his smooth face. "I already agreed to marry you, but do we have to do it so soon? Don't you feel like if we get married too soon that it won't work?"

"Toshiro, my life wouldn't work without you in it. I will not lose you again." The orange headed man turned his head to smile at the rest of his friends. "What do you say, guys? Would you like to see us get married tomorrow? It'll be the wedding of the century! A lowly substitute shinigami marrying a full fledged taicho!"

Orihime and Rangiku both squealed their delight while Ukitake chuckled at the two women. Chad grunted his approval while Uryu grinned at the lovers.

Rukia came to put her arms around her orange haired friend she had considered another brother and the taicho of squad ten. "You'd better marry him, Hitsugaya-taicho, or I'll have to listen to him mope forever!"

Laughter spread throughout the room at that statement, knowing full well that it might become true. "Rukia is right, Hitsugaya," Byakuya stated. "No one ever knows what tomorrow may bring, or even what will happen in a few seconds from now. Getting married as soon as possible is a logical decision, and also the right one."

Toshiro leaned up and brought his soon to be husband down for a quick peck on the lips, smiling into the kiss. "Tell Ogichi that we'll be getting married tomorrow then. I don't want to lose you either. I would die if I lost you, Ichigo Kurosaki. I am looking forward to spending the rest of my days as Toshiro Kurosaki."

Ichigo almost jumped with joy on the spot, but let out a loud laugh and embraced his young lover deeply. "Tomorrow it is then! Hey everyone, I'm getting married!" His face suddenly looked as if he would pass out any second. "I'm… getting… married…"

As Ichigo stared off into oblivion, Byakuya stepped in between the lovers and helped Ichigo stand. "We'd all better get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. I'll help carry this one to his room."

Toshiro wrapped his skinny arms around Ichigo's broad waist. "I'll help you. I'll sleep with him tonight to make sure he's alright. When he gets excited, he becomes unstable. He's been sick. Very sick."

All other eyes in the room fell on Ichigo's dazed form, the orange headed man still in shock from the reality of being married the next day. If one of them bothered to look closer, they would have noticed a thin layer of sweat forming on Ichigo's skin, making it look slightly glazed. Toshiro and Byakuya carried Ichigo up to his room, making sure to be extra careful with the sick but excited man.

"I think it's time for all of us to get some rest," Ukitake stated. "Tomorrow is not going to be exciting just for Ichigo. We also need to be ready for anything. If Yamamoto were to somehow find out about the wedding, he might pull Soi Fon and the stealth force from Hueco Mundo to stop it."

Ichigo woke up in a daze of dizziness, not remembering how and when he had made the trek up to his room. He stretched his stiff muscles, slowly drifting back into sleep.

"Well, look who woke up. Are you feeling alright now?"

Ichigo almost fell on the floor at the sound of the voice from beside him, not noticing the other person in bed with him. He looked down and sighed a relief when the voice belonged to his Toshiro, the white haired boy placing a cool hand on his forehead to check for remaining signs of a fever.

Ichigo took his lover's hand from his forehead and intertwined their fingers, smiling brightly, trying not to show any sign that he was in pain. "I'm fine now, yuki no hana. As long as you're with me, I'll always be fine."

Toshiro scoffed. "Baka. You're still very warm, and you seem to be shivering. Maybe I should leave, I'm probably making you feel more cold than you need to be."

As Toshiro made his way to get up, Ichigo tightened his grip on their entwined hands. "Don't you leave me, Toshiro. I can't stand it when we're apart." That earned him a scoff and a body cuddled up against his own. He rested his chin on Toshiro's head, feeling the softness of the white spikes. "Just think, yuki no hana. This our last night of being just boyfriends. Tomorrow, we'll be married." He kissed the head of his lover beneath him. "We will become one. And I could have never asked for a better husband."

Toshiro smiled brightly, the thought of spending the rest of his days with Ichigo thrilling him; so much in fact he couldn't sleep. He leaned deeper into Ichigo's broad chest, sighing in content. "Tomorrow I'll no longer be myself. I will proudly take the name of Toshiro Kurosaki."

Ichigo chuckled at that. Toshiro Kurosaki does have a nice ring to it. "And don't forget our wedding night!"

"Ichigo, you pervert!" Toshiro chuckled, lightly bringing his elbow into contact with Ichigo's abdomen.

The taller man winced slightly at the contact. "Ouch, careful Toshiro. Try and sleep. And when you dream, try and dream about us."

Toshiro turned his face and kissed his husband to be deeply. "I couldn't dream of anything but."

Again, thanks to all who review! Especially Toshirokun13! i wuv u 3 anyway, the wedding will take place next chappie *fangirl squeal* I'll be sure to make it awesome! Also, I wanna tell everyone that my friend and I are planning a Naruto Bleach X-over that I'm gunna be starting soon, so that's something else to look foward to! I love you all *tear drips down cheek*