No A/N for the beginning of this chapter! :D Just read and enjoy!
Confessions~
"Rukia, I am glad you are here. Sit down." Byakuya said, pulling a chair out from the dining room table. Rukia gracefully took her seat and looked up at Byakuya with still hazy eyes from just waking up. It wasn't even dawn outside and he wanted to have this conversation now? Rukia had only gotten up out of bed to get a glass of water. But Byakuya was up and dressed, looking fabulous as always. Just how the hell can he do all this stuff and always be perfect?
"Yes, Nii-sama…what is it?" Rukia had a bad feeling that she was going to be kicked out of the Kuchiki House earlier than expected.
"While Unohana-Taichou was healing me, some surprising news was brought to my attention that I feel we need to discuss." Byakuya said, fidgeting with his hands. Byakuya was actually nervous for the first time in his life. He has never had to talk with Rukia about stuff like this. Why did he have to do it now? It wasn't too late to back out.
"Nii-sama, I apologize for getting you dragged into this. I will be out of your hair soon enough. Please don't be angry with the Elders. They just want the best for you, as do I." Byakuya was confused by what she said. Byakuya sat down, too; for he had a feeling this was going to be a long talk.
"Rukia, explain." Byakuya was trying to figure out if they were even talking about the same thing.
"Well, you see…I am not exactly sure of the reason…but, as you know, the Elders are kicking me out..." After hearing this, Byakuya rose from the table, reiatsu flaring, and flashed over to Rukia. Rukia wasn't even sure if it was shunpo or if he was just so angry that he was faster than light. He grabbed Rukia by the shoulders, scaring her. Rukia was expecting to be hit. She remembered her days in Inuzuri when being hit was common when you made someone mad. Rukia had lived her pampered life in the Kuchiki Manor for a long time. If it had been only a couple years ago, she would've expected him to hurt her. That was just what people did. But Byakuya didn't hit her. Not with his fist anyway. He shot her the most emotional look she had ever seen in her life.
His eyes were filled with sorrow, anger, frustration, compassion, and fear all at the same time. Rukia had never seen a person hold so much emotion in their eyes. And for a person like Byakuya Kuchiki, who never showed emotion, to show all of this emotion at one time, was truly shocking to Rukia. She stared at him, mesmerized by his sudden show of emotion. He was so upset by this information. 'Didn't he already know?' she thought.
"Rukia is that what happened at the Elders Meeting that got you so upset?" He said, still staring into her widened eyes.
"Y-yes…isn't that what you wanted to talk about?" At that moment something inside Byakuya snapped. He knew now that what she said was true. The Elders are kicking her out.
"No. No it wasn't." Byakuya let go of her shoulders and sunk into the chair right beside her.
"What we are going to do is: fix this – misunderstanding – with the Elders and then we are going to continue our discussion. I will hold an Elders Meeting right away." Byakuya said, getting up and pulling out Rukia's chair so she could get up.
"B-but Nii-sama are you well enough? You just got out of the hospital yesterday and Unohana-Taichou said that you need your rest." Rukia said, standing up and following Byakuya out of the dining room.
"Yes. I am fine. This is part of what I wanted to discuss with you, and as I said before, we will talk about that later." Byakuya was walking to the meeting hall in the eastern wing of the manor.
"Hai, Nii-sama."
~.*.*.*.~
"I require an emergency meeting to be held at once! Gather all of the Elders here immediately!" Byakuya barked at the poor old man with the job of calling the Elders into the meetings.
"Y-yes Lord Kuchiki-sama." The old man replied.
Byakuya turned to look at Rukia. Rukia and Byakuya were waiting in the meeting hall, directly outside the meeting room. Much like the actual room, the hallway was westernized as well. It was not Byakuya's preference. In fact, Byakuya hated this room very much. He tried to change it when he was still the young hot-headed successor. Even as a teenager, heck, even as a child, Byakuya hated this room. When he became the head of the family, Byakuya ordered to have it changed immediately. But apparently, the Elders have more control over the look of their meeting room than he does.
The Elders and the Head of family hold equal amounts of power. If the Elders don't like something that Byakuya does, it normally doesn't get disputed about. Normally, Byakuya will get what he wants, just like all of the other heads of family before him, due to the fear the Elders have for him. But in some situations, the Elders will stand their ground. Byakuya, being the stubborn and thick-headed person we know today, also stands his ground. So the two parties come to comprise. That is what happens for the normal everyday things that they have to take care of for the noble family. Unfortunately, this is not a normal everyday thing… And Byakuya is mad.
'I see no way this can turn out well.' Rukia thought to herself.
Byakuya noticed that Rukia was nervous. She was biting her lip and playing with her night kimono. Her night kimono was a bright purple knee-length kimono with Chappy embroidered on the bottom.
'That's right. Rukia had just woken up. The Elders will not be pleased if they see Rukia dressed so casually.' Byakuya thought to himself.
"Rukia, while I wait for all of the Elders to file into the room, you go get changed into one of your more formal kimono." Byakuya said almost pushing Rukia out of the hall.
"Sure Nii-sama. I totally forgot about that. Forgive me." Rukia took her bow and left the room.
~.*.*.*.~
"Kasumi!" Rukia pushed open the shoji door of her room.
"Hai, Rukia-sama." Kasumi, a pretty young lady answered. Kasumi had short brown hair that swept across her unique face and very large blue eyes. If her eyes were darker they would largely resemble Rukia's. She also had a small curved nose that Rukia guessed that she broke at one point in time. Kasumi was one of the richer of the servants of the Kuchiki Family. Kind of like how the Fons served the Shihoins. Kasumi was born as the third daughter of the Suzuki Family. All of the Suzukis served the Kuchiki family over the years. Kasumi's mother, Hikari, is Byakuya's personal servant and Kasumi's sisters, Ayame, and Hana are the personal servants of Ginrei Kuchiki. The Suzukis are the closest people to the Kuchiki Family, since they both have been together as long as the two clans' history goes back. The Suzuki Family is of a lesser noble clan. They are not nearly as wealthy as the 4 noble houses.
But ever since Rukia has lived in the Kuchiki Family Manor, Kasumi and her family have been there for her. They have helped her through countless situations, and they were about to yet again.
"Kasumi, Nii-sama is holding an Elders Meeting right now on my behalf so I really need to look good. Can you get me one of my best kimonos, preferably one that the Elders have complimented or liked at all?
"Yes, Rukia-sama. I do recall the Elders liking this kimono very much when you wore it a couple years ago." Kasumi said pulling out a beautiful silver kimono, trimmed with light pink flowers with a gold and purple obi to tie it. Rukia also remembers the day she was talking about. It was the first time the Elders or Byakuya had ever complimented her. The Elders had said that she had looked quite noble for trash. And although, to others, it may have sounded like an insult, it was the nicest thing they had ever said to her. After the meeting that day, Byakuya had looked at her for the first time and told her that she looked beautiful in it. It only happened a couple years back, before she went to Karakura Town for the first time.
"That one is perfect."
~.*.*.*.~
"Oh, if it isn't our little Byakuya-kun! I heard you were sick." One of the Elders said. Most of the Elders were in the Meeting Room now, which Byakuya had gone to while waiting for Rukia.
'I heard you were a dead man.' Byakuya said under his breath. But Byakuya didn't realize that his grandfather, Ginrei was standing right beside him. And everyone knows that the Kuchikis' have the best hearing.
Ginrei patted his grandson on the shoulder, surprising him, and said, "I know that you are angry, but you should try to watch your mouth. You are starting to remind me of when you were a teenager." Ginrei was laughing at Byakuya's reaction to his comment; which was sheer rage.
"Grandfather, were you aware of what was going on with Rukia?" Byakuya said, mentally trying to stare into the respected man's soul.
"Yes, quite. I believe I was the only one who tried to stop it." Ginrei said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Byakuya shouted, earning stares from all of the Elders in the room.
"Well, you were sick, Byakuya. Was I supposed to do? I cannot go up against the entire council of Elders." Ginrei pointed towards the table which now had all of the Elders sitting around it.
"Byakuya, Ginrei, would you like to sit down and continue this discussion at the table?" One of the Elders said. Byakuya sighed. He needed to calm down. He hasn't lost his cool like that since he was a little kid. Byakuya never would have thought that the thought of being without Rukia hurt him so much. Of course, Byakuya had become much closer to her after the defeat of Aizen, when he felt he could be truer to his feelings. But Byakuya didn't think that Rukia would have this much of an effect on him. Byakuya took a deep breath and shut out all of his anger and sat down.
"So Byakuya, why have you summoned us here?" Another one of the Elders asked.
"I would like to know why you have taken advantage of my time in illness, and decided to throw Rukia out of the house. May I remind you, before you decide to speak, that I AM the head of this family and also one of the strongest people in this room." Byakuya said, still choking down his anger.
"Oh, that? I didn't think that you would have a problem with that, after all, you are known as -" One of the Elders began.
"HUSH sis! Do you want to get us killed?" The previous Elder's brother said in a hushed tone. Apparently Byakuya's message was received by someone.
"…." Byakuya looked at them suspiciously. Did these Elders seriously involve themselves in such rumored gossip? No wonder Byakuya was never respected by these old hags! They were out there making rumors about him while he is the one who actually runs the damn thing!
"If I may please interrupt," Ginrei said politely, "I believe that there is no reason for Rukia to leave. I mean, what truly has the girl done wrong?"
"What hasn't she done wrong? Ha!" One of the nastier Elders said, chuckling on Rukia's expense. Byakuya bit his tongue and held down his reiatsu.
"I will not stand for any unnecessary insults! We need to be serious here. Rukia is a part of this family and deserves the respect of being talked about seriously." Ginrei said, standing up for his adoptive granddaughter. In fact, although he was scary at times, Ginrei Kuchiki was probably the kindest of all of the Kuchikis. He was very easy to get along with, as long as you showed him respect. So Rukia and Ginrei were actually quite close. Ginrei would often take his 'granddaughter' out for dinner to just talk to her. For Rukia, Ginrei and Kasumi were probably the only reason she stayed in the Kuchiki house in the beginning, before Aizen's defection. The two people helped Rukia keep a warm smile in the midst of all the Kuchiki coldness. And that smile that Rukia kept was one of the main reasons why Byakuya respected Rukia as much as he did.
Byakuya, after his teenage years, immediately turned into a cold hearted bastard. It was hard to stay human in front of these ice cubes that were called the Elders. Rukia had the ability of doing something that Byakuya couldn't and for that matter, most people couldn't. And that earned Byakuya's respect, trust, and pride.
At that moment Rukia walked through the doors of the Meeting Room. All eyes in the room were layed upon her. Byakuya didn't even hear her enter because he was thinking so hard, but when he looked up and saw all of the Elders faces turned in shock, he looked towards the door to see what they were looking at. Byakuya's breath hitched. He could've sworn his heart skipped a beat and traveled down to his stomach. She was beautiful. She looked like…an angel. Not only that, she looked like a true Kuchiki.
Rukia was adorned in her silver kimono and many pieces of invaluable jewelry. Rukia had a stunning diamond necklace around her neck and a shiny gold bracelet on her small petite wrist. Her bracelet itself probably cost enough to buy a house, her necklace, probably a couple of mansions. Her raven black hair was pulled up with two beautiful French braids that came from the sides of her face to come together at the top. The rest of her hair was curled and she had a swirly bun right above the spot where her braids tied together, while everything else flowed down her neck to the top of her shoulders. She also wore perfectly done makeup that you probably couldn't tell she was wearing because it was so well done. She wore a lot of makeup on this occasion but no one knew. All they knew was that whatever it was made her angelically beautiful. Rukia wore elegant black eyeliner and black mascara. She had light purple eye shadow that made her eyes absolutely pop, and the perfect shade of subtle pink lipstick. Her maid wanted to put blush on her but Rukia told her that it wasn't necessary, as she was sure she would be blushing enough on her own. She looked like a woman. Her kimono helped with that, too, as it was fairly tight, but not in a slutty or low-class way, and showed Rukia's great figure from being a shinigami.
Ginrei Kuchiki was the first to speak. He said, "Rukia, my, you do look lovely if I may say so myself; a true, respectable Kuchiki." Then he looked back at the Elders and said, "This girl is one of the most respectable people in this clan. Not to mention that she is a high ranking shinigami that only improves our clan's status. This girl – No. Lady, should I say, is a great asset to this family. Just because she is not a blood born Kuchiki doesn't mean that she doesn't count for anything." Ginrei looked back and smiled at Rukia who was now seated right next to Byakuya.
Byakuya was still in awe. He didn't hear a word that his grandfather said. He was simply dazed by this holy-looking creature that approached him. His world went into slow motion as she walked towards him. He knew nothing more at this moment, besides this woman that walked towards him. She was beautiful. It didn't even register to Byakuya that this was his little sister that he was so protective of.
"Nii-sama," Rukia whispered. "Nii-sama, are you okay?" She leaned forward and whispered close to his ear.
Byakuya began to babble incoherently quite loudly. This worried Rukia who began to shake him. "Nii-sama! Nii-sama! Hey!"
Byakuya finally began to come to his senses. "Rukia?"
"Yes, Nii-sama, I am right here, are you okay?" Rukia asked, with that look of worry spread all over her pretty face. Rukia leaned over and touched his forehead, not caring who saw anymore.
"Ginrei-sama, he is burning up." Rukia looked over at Ginrei, her eyes asking him what to do.
"Take him to bed, Rukia. I believe that our discussion is done here anyway." Ginrei said at Rukia but was still glaring sense into all the Elders.
"Yes, Ginrei-sama." Rukia said, taking Byakuya's arm and wrapping it around her shoulders like a blanket and helped him leave the Meeting Room. The two retreating figures were being watched by everyone in the room as they sat, stupefied, by the events that just occurred.
Soon afterwards, Ginrei left the room to leave the Elders talking amongst themselves about reconsidering their judgment and swallowing their pride.
~.*.*.*.*.~
Rukia opened Byakuya's door and carefully helped him onto his bed, sitting up against the headboard "R-Rukia...?" Byakuya said, questioning if it really was Rukia who was standing beside him.
"Yes, Nii-sama what is it?" Rukia asked, taking Byakuya's hand.
"Y-you look…" Byakuya started with his lips quivering, "Unbelievably beautiful." Rukia blushed furiously, letting go of Byakuya's hand.
"Nii -" Rukia began but was interrupted.
"Please don't call me that anymore." Byakuya said taking Rukia's hand again.
"W-why?" Rukia asked, now her entire body was the shade of a red apple.
"Because Rukia, when this is all over you will be the Lady of the house." Byakuya said.
"What do you mean-" Rukia began but was once again interrupted, this time by Byakuya putting one of his long, slender fingers to Rukia's surprised pink lips.
"Let me finish. When the Elders figure out the mistake they made, which if they don't after today, I will MAKE them realize their mistake…I want you to be Lady Kuchiki. I understand the position was left open if I was to marry a woman of a noble heritage, but it turns out I won't be doing that. Maybe it took the fear of losing you to make me realize this, but Rukia…I-"
Just then every single one of the Elders came into Byakuya's room.
A/N: Hey everyone! I have a question for all of you: What do you think the Elders nicknamed Byakuya? Eh? I am quite curious to know what you think. I already have thought of something, but my mind is easily changed by creative reviewers! :) I will mention what I decided on in my next chapter. Also, this is my longest chapter yet. But the most important thing: We have reached an important milestone in this story! We have reached 2,000 Hits! Yay! Thank you so much! I love you all for reviewing and reading! So I would like to give a shout out to my very important reviewers: Byakua's sakura petal, TRANSIENTFREEDOM, SuKuchiki, RunSakura, Kiss of Imortality, and a shout out to Byakuya-sensei! She is helping me write a future lemon for this story! So thank her, too everyone, because without her you wouldn't have a lemon for this story! ^.^