I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SO SORRY!
I took FOREVER to update and I feel so bad! I was in holiday mood to the max! But I snapped out of it….enough to write this, anyway.
I apologise in advance if you don't like it but I promise I'll make the next one better ;)
P.S TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED OR ADDED ME TO THEIR FAVES AND STORY ALERT LISTS…..YOU GUYS ARE THE AWESOMEST!
On to the story!
Disclaimer: Same old story….I don't own any of it!...*sniff, sniff*
Rukia
"Rukia." The sixth division captain greeted.
"Nii-sama." She greeted back after perfectly executing a low bow.
He appraised her for a moment. "The elders have given me several options that will strengthen the Kuchiki family as they see that the family could become stronger. I have chosen one of these options; the option that I see will benefit our family in the present and in the future. "
Rukia swallowed audibly. When it came to family matters, Byakuya, being the head of the Kuchiki family, was always—if it was possible—all the more serious. She waited for him to continue. "The Kuchiki clan is counting on me as the head of the family to take care of this matter, and take care of it I will.
"A month from today, on the night of the full moon, there will be a marriage of the Kuchiki clan to the Tejima clan."
Rukia stood frozen. The Tejima and Kuchiki families were two out of four of the noblest families in all of Soul Society. The members of the Tejima family were the first nobles (apart from the Kuchikis) that she had met.
The head of the Tejima clan had three children; the eldest was the only daughter, her name was Misaki. Her younger brothers Tsuyoshi and Yuudai were well known to Rukia and the older one, Tsuyoshi had—as Rukia had noted—had feelings for her that were more than just friendly…..
Rukia's eyes widened slightly. Was it that Byakuya was trying to marry her off to one of the Tejima boys? Obviously he could….but would he?
Her brother's voice cut through her thoughts. "You will report back to Soul Society a week before the wedding, but if you wish to come back before then, then do as you wish."
She nodded once. He waited a few seconds before talking again. "Do you have any questions?"
Rukia blinked a few times, then cleared her throat. "No questions, nii-sama. But I will return to Soul Society soon."
He nodded. "Very well. I personally, will escort you home from the Senkai gate."
Rukia was amazed. Her brother would escort her? Why would he do something like that? She blinked before continuing. "I'll make sure that everything is in order before I return one week from today."
Her brother nodded once; both acknowledging what she had said and dismissing her at the same time. Rukia understood this and bowed before the screen went blank.
She straightened up and replayed the conversation in her head. In a few weeks, she would be a married woman, and her husband wouldn't be Renji. Her heart seemingly deflated in her chest.
But that only lasted a few minutes because she pushed that feeling to the side and filled herself with pride at the thought that she had been chosen to strengthen her family.
She sighed and left the apartment, heading towards the Urahara Store. But it wasn't Renji she needed to see.
Renji
After Renji had left Rukia's apartment, he was ecstatic. He was elated to the highest degree. He felt like he could fly. He needed sake.
He knew there was a bar on the end of the street so he quickened his pace and went in hurriedly. The sake went down easily, but he didn't have as many as he would have had in Soul Society. He spent about half an hour in the bar and then left, not really wanting to talk to anyone.
The feeling of elation didn't leave, and with the addition of the sake, Renji wondered why he wasn't flying yet.
He slowly made his way back to the Urahara Store, only to find the man himself waiting outside the store.
"Ahh, Renji-san!" he said happily, he then inhaled deeply, smelling the air. "Aww, you've been having sake….without me." he said, looking genuinely disappointed. The look of disappointment disappeared before he started talking again. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in! I'll get some more sake."
Renji blinked a few times before following the blond into the store. Renji sat down at the table with a thud, Urahara doing the same, except quieter.
"Jinta-san! Jinta! Could you bring us some sake…..please?" Urahara called out, adding the last bit with a slight smirk.
There was a low murmur of a grumble, before Jinta came in and gave Urahara a large bottle of sake and some small cups.
Urahara feigned seriousness when Jinta threw him an accusing look. "What? I said please."
Jinta snorted. "You added it in afterwards...way afterwards."
"Well, I'm sorry, Jinta." Urahara said as sincerely and he could.
The younger of the three sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." His eyes landed on Renji for the first time. "Hey, what's up, Baboon-man?"
Renji's left eye twitched. He breathed deeply to calm himself; he wasn't going to let Jinta ruin his night. "Great. You?"
Jinta blinked, not expecting Renji to let the baboon comment slide. He relaxed, scratching the back of his head. "Nothing much."
Renji nodded, pouring himself some sake. Jinta nodded, looked at Urahara, and then left the room.
"We've been working on our manners." Urahara explained, pouring himself some sake, drinking it slowly. He looked at Renji seriously. "So, Renji-san, have you decided what you're going to give to Zambimaru?"
Renji sighed heavily. "No…I'll leave that for tomorrow. No use trying to think about it when I'm sake-d up and not thinking straight."
Urahara nodded, sipping his sake. He looked at Renji's empty cup and smiled. "More sake?" Renji nodded letting Urahara pour him some more. Urahara snapped his fan open and hid the smile that had turned sly. "What's the occasion?"
Renji looked at him blankly. "Wha—I don't know what yer talking about. There's no occasion, it's just that I haven't had sake in a while."
"Ookaay, then." Urahara murmured, pouring more for himself.
Rukia
Rukia knew Renji had arrived and she was waiting in the basement for him to go to sleep before she could leave. She didn't feel like seeing him; not after her conversation with her brother. She hoped Urahara was keeping him busy somehow, while his right hand man, Tessai put up a barrier to hide her reiatsu.
She had come here to find out what she could about Renji's condition before she would leave in a week. It turned out that he wasn't getting any better; but he wasn't getting any worse either; he was stable.
Urahara had explained what help from Zambimaru would do. Renji's reiatsu was locked up deep within him. It was like a dam; blocked by a barrier with no direction. But with Zambimaru's boost of power, it would give Renji's reiatsu current and direction. Renji's reiatsu would flow towards the barrier, breaking it.
It was all theoretical, but Urahara was sure that would be how it would work.
It took a few hours for Urahara to come down and tell her that Renji had conked out on sake. He hid his face behind his fan and handed her a package. "Here. This'll help you get back to your apartment undetected. You probably wont need it now that he's out cold, but you can never be sure."
Rukia slowly opened the brown parcel and pulled out a dark, hooded cloak. "What is it?"
Urahara cleared his throat. "Well, uh, it's a cloak that'll hide your reiatsu."
"And you didn't want to give this to me a few hours ago?" Rukia said, sighing. She put on the cloak, and looked at Urahara.
He looked back at her. "See? If it weren't for the fact that I knew you were here and where exactly you are, I wouldn't have a clue that you were anywhere near this part of town."
"Thanks, Urahara." She muttered with a small smile.
"No worries. But you better get back to your apartment, Rukia-san. I think you'll find your supplies all renewed to your liking," He said with a wave.
Rukia rolled her eyes. She noticed on a couple occasions when she left the apartment for a few hours, that the Urahara gang had restocked her fridge, pantry and other basic supplies, and cleaned up the apartment.
She turned and left the Store, wondering why they felt obligated to do so. It wasn't like she payed them or anything….
She let her thoughts wonder as she jumped onto the roof of the Urahara Store. She made her way home quicker when she jumped the rooftops, and before she realised it, she was in her apartment.
There was a loud, thundering knock at the door of Rukia's apartment. Rukia practically fell out of bed. She had gone to bed only a few hours before, her thoughts keeping her awake. She thought of things randomly; Renji, her future marriage, the Urahara gang, Renji….
She pulled the door open and nearly fell flat on her face, when, through sleepy, raven eyes, she saw Renji in the doorway.
He looked her up and down slowly, then at her zombie-like face and grinned. "Late night?"
"You have no idea." She mumbled dryly. "Gimme a sec." she muttered.
She had a lightening fast shower…in cold water. And got changed in record time. She ran a brush through her damp hair and went out into the living room to find Renji on the couch with a bag of chips, watching T.V.
She rolled her eyes at him, and went to get herself a bowl of cereal.
Renji turned to her. "So Rukia, how's your captain?"
Her hand froze in front of her face with a spoon full of cereal on its way to her mouth. She realised she must've been like that for a few minutes, because Renji raised an eyebrow at her.
Forcing herself to move, Rukia put the spoon in back in the bowl and grabbed a drink from the fridge. She opened it and took a sip, letting the cool, liquid flow down her throat.
He's good…..everyone's fine." She muttered, nodding. "Hey, what's the time?"
"Four." He said, suddenly looking at her suspiciously. She was doing it again; hiding something from him.
She feigned surprise, already knowing the time. "Really? It's so late."
"Yeah, it is." He mumbled, getting up from the couch. He made his way toward her slowly. He thought for a moment before smirking slightly. "You didn't tell him, did you?"
She shook her head, sipping at her drink. "I told you I wasn't going to tell him, Renji. My brother doesn't need to….." her eyes widened as his triumphant grin. Damn it! "Hey that's not fair, Renji! How'd you know?"
He shrugged at her. "I know these things, Rukia, I know these things. Besides, how often do I catch you reaching for a beer?"
She looked down at the bottle in her hand and internally groaned. "You've got to be kidding me…."
"No I'm not. And I can tell when your lying, or hiding something from me." He declared happily. "So, you gonna tell me what your nii-sama wanted?"
Renij noted her grimace at his words. "Umm, y'know, the usual." He glared at her, unconvinced, knowing she'd cave within minutes.
She sighed. "Ugh! Renji! Its just stupid family politics!"
"Uh-huh, either your lying is getting better or you're only partially telling me the truth." He grumbled.
"Fine, Renji!...Not long from now, I'm…I'm going to get m—"
Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep.
Renji muttered a curse under his breath as his hollow detector interrupted Rukia's confession. He whipped it out and shook his head, knowing that he would forget to ask Rukia about their previous conversation later.
"The northern most parts of Karakura….and there are quite a few."
Rukia sighed. "We should head out."
Renji hesitated. "Rukia, I'm just letting you know that I may not be of much use." When he saw her questioning gaze, he elaborated. "First year, remember?"
She nodded slowly. "Still wanna come?"
"Like hell I do! Come on, we better hurry." He muttered, popping his mod-soul into his mouth.
Rukia did the same and within seconds, the two were nearing the hollows.
Upon first inspection, the two noticed that the hollows weren't all that big or strong, but there were a lot of them; thirty at least.
There was a small yell and then a murmur of some words before an orange glow erupted a few yards away where the hollows gathered.
Rukia's eyes widened. "Shit! Orihime!"
Renji took out the hollows that were nearest to Orihime. He was surprised at how easily it was. He had expected to find it hard, but then he realised that only his reiatsu was that of a first year shinigami; not his actual skill.
He grinned and sliced through some more, then outright laughed. The feeling was indescribable. He felt good, because in these few single moments, he didn't feel so weak.
Rukia sliced and diced a large number of hollows before one of them spoke.
It was a brown hollow with red claw-like hands. His face was particularly uglier than the rest of the hollows, and his hollow hole was at the centre of his abdomen.
It liked its lips with a long narrow tongue and grinned maniacally. "I haven't had me a Shinigami yet….but I hear that you taste rather delicious, and I've waited so long to have one. I can't wait anymore!"
Rukia scowled at its words, as Renji defeated more hollows. A bead of sweat formed at the top of her head. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble and I hope you enjoy disappointment, because I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a while longer."
She launched at the discusting creature and managed to cut off it's arm. It let out a screech of agony and tried to grab her with its remaining arm. She dodged it effortlessly and hacked its left foot off. The hollow was in disarray. With only two limbs left, he fell.
He screamed in anger and in pain. "You bitch! You bitch! You little Shinigami bitch!"
"I know." She shrugged, before putting the hollow out of its misery.
She turned and there were still a good number of hollow still around. She was impressed with Renji, and then Ichigo appeared.
He landed smack bam in the centre of a bunch of hollows and defeated them all without effort, then after killing the rest of the free ones, proceeded to kill the one Renji was on his way to defeating.
Renji felt like exploding. "Asshole! I didn't need your help!"
"Sorry, Renji." He said, meaning it. "I was in the zone."
"So was I!" Renji yelled.
Ichigo shrugged, turning to Rukia. "Hey."
She inclined her head in his direction. "Hey, yourself."
Renji scowled, but relaxed, while Ichigo half smiled then turned to Orihime, who was trying to leave the area unnoticed. "Where are you off to in such a hurry, Inoue?"
She froze and then chuckled nervously. "Kurosaki-kun! Oh! Heheh, thank you all for saving me….again."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. "You know we'd do it again, Inoue. But you still haven't answered my question."
Renji looked at her curiously, Rukia doing the same. She was never one to attempt to sneak away after a hollow attack.
Orihime blushed at the attention. "Uh-Well you seeee…..ummm its reeeally just a long story, heheheh."
"One we're all eager to hear." Ichigo added. He was genuinely curious.
She sighed. "I think I must've attracted all those hollows….sorry Kurosaki-kun, Abarai-kun and Rukia-san."
Renji grinned. "I've told you a thousand times to call me Renji, Inoue-san. And we already guessed that you attracted the hollows….right?"
Rukia nodded while Ichigo shifted nervously. Renji laughed hard. "Seriously, half-breed! Anyone could've guessed that!"
Ichigo scowled at Renji but turned back to Orihime. She bit her lip. "I was having an argument with Tsubaki about something, and I guess our reiatsu must've attracted the hollows….sorry."
Rukia went the her side. "You don't have to keep apologising, Orihime. What was the argument about?"
"He wants me to go see Urahara about something." She said, not wanting to go on about it.
Rukia nodded. "Do you wanna go there now?"
"That's where I was sneaking off to, actually." She said quietly, scratching the back of her head.
Rukia nodded again. "Me and Renji will come with you, okay?"
"Hey! I'm coming too!" Ichigo added forcefully.
"Pfft! No you're not." Renji said as if it was the most obvious thing.
"Yeah, I am! Inoue's my friend too, y'know!" Ichigo yelled, a vein ready to burst on his forehead.
Renji was about to yell something back when Orihime spoke up. "Um, Abar—I mean Renji-san…can Kurosaki-kun come too? Urahara and I will need him."
Renji looked from Orihime's innocent face to Ichigo's annoying, triumphant grin. "Alright Inoue-san…he can come. But only because you asked."
Rukia sighed. "Okay, but we have to go and pick up our gigais first, Renji."
He nodded, walking up to Orihime. "Come on, Inoue-san. Up you get."
She looked at him, confused. "What do you mean Abara—"
She was cut off as Renji picked her up bridal style. "I told you not to call me that, remember? Now would you rather I carry you like this, or would you like a piggyback?"
Her face went beet red. "I-its up to you Aba—Renji-san"
"Hmmm….This way; that way, if you accidentally let go, I'll still have a good grip on you." He said smartly.
"O-Okay." She said nervously.
"Lets go." Rukia said, breaking into shunpo.
Renji did the same, Ichigo following close behind. They arrived at Rukia's apartment and Rukia burst through the door to find the two gigais sitting on chairs, waiting patiently.
Rukia was in her gigai within seconds. Renji promptly put Orihime down before getting into his gigai.
Ichigo walked in slowly, appraising the room. "Nice place."
Rukia looked up at him. "Uh, yeah, I guess." And that was the last thing they said to each other for a short while.
Renji cleared his throat, Orihime already in his arms. She put her arms around his neck and held on tighter; being carried during shunpo felt weird or maybe it was just the way he carried her.
In any case, they were at the Urahara Store rather fast, and Orihime was quick to talk to Urahara—after she bowed respectfully to the members of the house and thanked her three saviours again.
Ichigo took a seat and sipped at the tea Tessai gave him while Rukia stood in the corner, waiting for Orihime, and letting her thoughts wonder.
Renji however stood at the opposite corner with a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had forgotten something…..
If you felt that this chapter was kind of all over the place, I'm sorry
There you are! Sorry if it was a little out of character, but its gotta happen to make this story work. Like I said before, these chapters never end the way I expect them to….
Please review?