Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters! Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!
Before the rain . . . there's always darkness. — Me
Before The Rain — V
"What are you sulking for?" Hinamori asked, smiling as she sat down on the bed beside Rukia.
Rukia, who had been in her room since earlier that day without coming out even for breakfast, sat up and smiled at Hinamori.
"No reason, really. Just life, I guess."
"Huh. Well, guess what? Shiro-chan wants me to marry him!"
Rukia's eyes widened and she temporally forgot about her troubles. Hinamori looked as though she was positively bursting with happiness as she showed Rukia the ring that the white-haired boy had given her. The band was a soft, silver color and right in the middle of the ring was a clear, beautiful stone that Rukia was sure was diamond. On each side of the diamond there was a smaller, red stone. The overall look was beautiful with the red reflecting off of the diamond and casting a light red glow across the silver band.
"Wow . . . it's beautiful," Rukia said, not quite able to tear her eyes away from the ring. Hinamori was radiating with happiness. Rukia asked, "But aren't you a little young to marry?"
"I'm older than you," Hinamori pointed out. "I'm already sixteen. And besides, you're getting married soon, too, right?"
Rukia nodded sadly, the memories of everything that had happened within the past few hours crashing back to her.
"What's wrong, Rukia? You know you can talk to me, right?"
Rukia nodded again, looking up to meet Hinamori's eyes.
"Yeah. I know. And . . . Well, I guess I don't really want to get married. I'm happy how I am. If I were to marry, I would be expected to have a family to carry on the Kuchiki family line. And I'm not ready for a family. I mean, you probably would mind because you've known Hitsugaya since you were a child and you love him, but whoever I marry will be someone I don't even know! I mean . . . It wouldn't be that bad, but being, you know, involved . . ."
A blush spread over Rukia's face and it dawned on Hinamori what Rukia meant.And she, being the slightly less shameless one when talking about such things with a girl, ask her to talk to it with a boy and it'll never happen, said,
"Oh! You mean sex?"
"Yes," Rukia said, not quite sure how her cousin could be so easy about it.
"Well . . . that would be a problem. I've heard that in arranged marriages, you get a week to know each other before the marriage, and it would be offending to the other person if they didn't, you know, sleep together, on your marriage night."
"Hinamori; this is not helping me!" Rukia said, her eyes disbelieving as Hinamori just blushed and shrugged.
"Well, you always have the choice of marrying someone you know," she pointed out, falling back onto the soft blankets of Rukia's bed. Rukia fell back with her, glad to have some company. To get Hinamori off of the subject of her own troubled, Rukia said,
"You know, a few days ago while I was walking through the stables, I met this kind boy. He helped me up when I tripped."
Hinamori perked up, forgetting about the arranged marriage and smiling brightly as she stared at Rukia.
"Really?"
"Mm hm. He was really nice, but then I didn't see him for a few days."
"And?"
"Well . . . when I went riding one day, I was talking with Renji when we heard a loud crashing coming from inside the stables; we went to see what it was, and I saw the boy again, but he was covered in feeding buckets. He'd knocked them all down."
"What's his name?" Hinamori asked, turning over on her side so she was now facing her cousin.
Rukia smiled at her eagerness.
"You know, when you're around people besides me, you seem more shy and quiet, but when we're together, your like . . . a whole new person!"
"That's because we've known each other since birth. And no changing the subject."
Rukia laughed and began telling Hinamori about Ichigo, but forgetting to tell her cousin his name. How they would ride together, talk together, and how she ended up telling him everything about her mom; which she had never told anyone else before. Hinamori drunk it all up happily.
"Wow! He seems awesome! But you said he's a stable boy?"
"Mm hm. Yeah."
"Can I meet him?"
Rukia bit her lip and sat up, crossing her hands in her lap and looking away from Hinamori. Her eyes glanced briefly across the room to the small, wadded piece of paper in the corner that used to belong to the picture she had spent so much time working on when she believed that she and Ichigo could really be friends.
Her smile fell and she tried to hold back tears.
She couldn't believe she had said those things to him . . . yelled at him . . .
"Rukia?"
Hinamori's voice cut into her thoughts.
"Are you alright?"
Rukia turned around and looked bravely at Hinamori.
"Yeah. I just can't bring you to meet him."
"Oh." Hinamori seemed disappointed. "Why not?"
"Because we had a . . . a fight, I guess. He must hate me now," she said sadly, staring out her window at the falling snowflakes. They slowly drifted down, in not any certain pattern, but beautiful nonetheless. She wished she could be the snow. The snow was free; it did whatever it wanted, went where it wanted and was like what it wanted.
It didn't have to form itself to others wishes.
"Ah . . . come on, he doesn't hate you. Everyone has fights; even me and Shiro-chan."
"You fight?"
"Sure! But only a little."
Rukia glanced briefly over at Hinamori and smiled a small, sad smile.
"Well, this was bigger than just a little, Hina. I know he must hate me now."
Rukia honestly didn't know why she cared so much if Ichigo hated her; she was to be married in a few weeks, and then she would barely ever even see him again. She really shouldn't care.
She shouldn't, she kept telling herself . . . but then. . . why did she?
"Hey, I know. Let's go cheer you up!" Hinamori said, standing from the bed and placing her hands on her hips. Rukia smiled at the sight before her; Hinamori was wearing a light blue, jean skirt and a pink sweater, but the determined look on her face and her pose, with her hands on her hips and her feet placed firmly on the ground, made her seem like a whole new person.
"OK, Hina. What do you want to do?"
"Hm . . . Well, you like riding - "
"No," Rukia said firmly.
"Oh. Right. The stable boy . . . by the way, what's his name? You somehow avoided my question earlier."
Rukia smirked, then said, "Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Right. Well, you could meet Shiro-chan. You haven't seen him in like . . . two years," Hinamori suggested happily. Rukia agreed and they set out to find the white-haired kid. They had no sooner started looking than when they came across Hitsygaya, talking with Byakuya, in the living room. Hinamori walked in, slightly less bubbly than when she had been with Rukia, and walked up behind Hitsugaya, laying her hand gently on his shoulder. He turned around and smiled.
Standing from his seat, he bowed quickly to Byakuya and spoke.
"Thank you, Kuchiki-sama, for your blessing."
Then Byakuya also stood, and, with one final bow, walked out of the room. Hinamori turned to Hitsugaya.
"Shiro-chan, what were you talking about?"
A vien popped in Hitsugaya's head.
"Don't call me that. And Kuchiki-sama said he gave us his blessing. As your uncle and the highest noble in the family, he says he approves or our marriage."
Rukia stood back and watched, with a smile on her face, as Hinamori hugged Hitsugaya. She wished she could be like that; happy with someone. She could have been . . . once upon a time, with Kaien. But he was gone now.
With a sigh, Rukia forced the fading smile back onto her face.
The past was the past, and no matter how painful that was, she had to let it go.
Then why was it so hard?
Ichigo kicked a pile of hay as he walked along, finally dumping the horse feed into the different buckets where they belonged. Over the past four hours, he had been dwelling on what an idiot he had been. How could he have said those things? And who was Kaien? Had she . . . had Rukia . . . really killed a man? She just . . . it didn't . . . hell, he wasn't sure of anything anymore. And he blamed it on that pretty, raven haired princess that had fallen into his life. She had turned everything upside down and made him feel like be actually belonged somewhere . . . then this happened.
He was such an idiot.
Even admitting such to himself completely broke his ego. He knew that he should say he was sorry . . . but he was a mere stable boy. Unless she came back, there was no way he could get in touch with her.
How would he say he was sorry, even if he could get in touch with her?
Ichigo stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked a bucket on the ground. It flew across the stalls and hit into the wall, alarming all of the horses. Sighing, he dropped down into a pile of hay and put his head in his hands.
What in the hell had he done?
"Kurosaki."
Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin as the voice spoke. His head flew up to meet the eyes of Byakuya Kuchiki. Jumping to his feet, he quickly brushed straw off of his worn jeans and black, turtleneck sweater before making a quick bow to Byakuya.
"Sorry, Kuchiki-sama."
"How are the horses?" Byakuya asked, walking around to the different stalls and petting the different animals. Ichigo was utterly confused; Byakuya never came in here to talk to him like this.
"Uh . . . they are fine, Kuchiki-sama. Zabimaru should be ridden more often, though. He gets restless and kicks at the stall doors. I am afraid he will break something."
Ichigo watched as Byakuya walked around. He finally came to a stop only about ten feet from Ichigo and stared him in the eye for a minute. Ichigo was uncomfortable under his gaze, but didn't break it as it would be disrespectful, and his family might already be in danger from what he had done earlier.
Byakuya broke the stare and turned around to begin petting Senbonzakura.
"As you no doubt already know, you were not supposed to receive this job in the first place."
Ichigo didn't respond; he knew Byakuya wasn't done speaking.
"I gave it to you, although you seemed quite capable of working in the fields, for two reasons. The first would be my sister; she seems to like you. I do not approve of this, however, but she has had her heart broken too many times for it to be hurt again."
Ichigo felt a pang of guilt in his heart; he had already hurt her. And he couldn't take it back.
"The second is because I knew you would do it without causing trouble. Aizen-sama, your previous owner, said when he sold you to us, that you must be treated the same, and that your family must be threatened in order to keep you in line. But you seem to be working fine like this and doing everything you can for these animals, so I see no reason to threaten your family."
"Thank you, sir," Ichigo said. Byakuya turned around to look at him.
"That being said, I also feel the need to tell you that your sister, Yuzu, works at my castle."
Ichigo's head snapped up and, momentarily forgetting to be respectful, yelled, "What?!"
Byakuya let out a small, amused smile.
"Yes. She is a cook, and a good one at that. She has been working under my control for about three years now. She is happy, but when she heard you were working here, she desperately wanted to meet you. I am not one to usually grant my slaves wishes, but she is such a kind little girl, I thought it was the least I could do for her, seeing as we just received work a month ago that your father passed away. You are to come up to the castle with me when I leave here today, and you will be allowed to see your sister for a few hours. Understood?"
Ichigo nodded numbly. Yuzu . . . she was alive! But his dad . . . he had always assumed the worst, but having it confirmed. . . God, his dad . . .
"Thank you, Kuchiki-sama. If you do not mind my asking, do you know where my other sister, Karin, is?"
Byakuya shook his head.
"No. Now, ready my horse. I wish to ride him."
Ichigo nodded and ran over to the stall where Byakuya was standing. In ten minutes, the horse was ready and Byakuya jumped on, not offering another word as he departed.
When he left the barn, Ichigo collapsed back into his position on the pile of straw.
He was going to the castle . . . to see Yuzu. He hadn't seen her in five years; what did she look like? Was she different? He knew it was going to hurt him. The last time he had seen his sister she was six and wanted to be held when she was scared and asked for a goodnight kiss before curling up beside him and falling to sleep. She wouldn't be that same little girl anymore . . . and he wasn't sure he could face it.
Rukia dropped down onto a chair inside the kitchen, Hinamori following her. A little, sandy haired girl ran up to them, bowed and said,"Would you like anything, Kuchiki-san?"
"Yuzu . . . please, call me Rukia. And yes please, could I have some tea?"
The little girl nodded and, after Hinamori asked for the same thing, she bounced off to get it.
Rukia turned back to Hinamori and said, "OK. That little girl who just ran up to us is Yuzu Kurosaki. The red-haired girl is Orihime Inoue, and the other girl is Ururu. They're all young, I know, but they're wonderful cooks. Well, accept Orihime; she cleans. But don't tell her her cooking is bad, alright?"
As Hinamori nodded, the red-haired girl, Orihime, walked over and smiled at Rukia.
"Oh, Kuchiki-san! It's so nice to see you again!"
The two girls hugged and Orihime sat down beside Rukia, wiping her hands off on a cup-towel.
"How has everything been you you, Inoue?" Rukia asked. "Oh, and this is my cousin, Hinamori."
"Hi!" Orihime greeted happily. She then said, "Well, things around here have been good. Do you know that no one likes Raman with green celery and bean paste? It's so weird."
She looked mystified.
Rukia shot a glance at Hinamori as she stuck out her tongue, suddenly understanding what Rukia had said earlier.
Orihime continued talking. "And guess what? Yesterday, while I was bringing the workers their lunch, I got to talk to him again!"
"Really?" Rukia said, her eyes glowing.
Hinamori was just completely and utterly confused. Rukia took notice and said,
"Oh, there's this boy she met on the trip when they were transferred here. His name is Ishida Uryuu. I think she likes him."
Orihime promptly turned red and tried to deny it, but soon both Rukia and Hinamori were poking at her, laughing and giggling. Yuzu came back and gave them their tea, then went back to cooking dinner. As Hinamori watched Rukia and Orihime squabble, she smiled. Just as she was about to get up and put her cup in the sink, something clicked in her mind. She turned around to face Rukia and said,
"Wait! That's Yuzu Kurosaki. Isn't the boy you were telling me about Ichigo Kurosaki?"
Rukia jumped, her eyes going wide as she nearly dropped her cup. Yuzu, who was apparently listening, stopped what she was doing and walked over to Rukia.
"You know brother?" Her eyes were glowing with hope and she was smiling happily. Rukia nodded and Yuzu's smile grew. She asked, "What is he like? I don't remember him much. Does he still have orange hair?"
"Yeah. He has orange hair and brown eyes and he's strong and kind."
Yuzu was on cloud nine as she listened to the stories Rukia told her about Ichigo. She told the little girl about how she had met him, how she had found him the second time, covered in buckets, and how he was always to nice to her.
"Kuchiki-sama said I could meet him. When he comes back from his ride today, he's going to be bringing Ichi-nii!"
Rukia gasped quietly.
Ichigo was going to be in the castle?
Rukia walked out of the kitchen nearly twenty minutes later. Her hands were in her pockets as she stared down at her feet. Hinamori, beside her, was trying to cheer her up.
"Come on, maybe when he's here, you could talk to him. I bet you anything that he doesn't hate you; he is probably waiting for you to say something because men are so thick headed that way."
Rukia just shrugged.
They continued walking and neither spoke. When they were nearing the staircase to Rukia's room, Hinamori suddenly said,
"Rukia, watch out!"
But it was too late. She ran head on into something. Or, more precisely, someone. A hand reached out to help her up and she took it, finally looking into the face of the person that had helped her.
"That's the third time I've helped you up," the voice said softly.
Rukia gasped.
"Ichigo!"
Well, that was long. But I wrote it pretty quickly then had to wait days and days to put it up because of the stupid alert system. Anyway, I hope you liked this! I introduced Ishida and Orihime, too.
Please Review!