DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. They belong to their respective owners. This storyline, however, does belong to me.

Juud: Haha, yeah. Arisu's getting a little ahead of herself; it's part of her personality, as you'll soon see.

Zammy: Hm... a good name for the elders... old farts:D?

A/N: Sorry this didn't get up yesterday, my internet got screwy. ;-; Thanks for all your lovely reviews, though. To make up for not posting this yesterday because of unforeseen circumstances, I added more to the original chapter twenty and now it's nice and long! Yay:D That, and I only just got in my connection back and whatnot. But anyways. Enough of me! ONWARDS!

The House of Kuchiki

CHAPTER TWENTY

Arisu ran down the hallway to Byakuya's room and pounded on the door bright and early the next morning. "BYAKUYA! Open up! FAST! I need heeeelp!"

Byakuya, who had been awake for a decent amount of time doing Lieutenant's paperwork, stood up from his desk with a sigh and went to open the door.

"I could be dying, Byaku-- FINALLY." She pushed her way into the room and watched him close the door.

"What is it, Arisu?"

"What color is she gonna wear as a wedding kimono?" Arisu dropped herself down to be sitting on Byakuya's bed.

"... what are you talking about?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Hisana-san, you moron! What color is she going to wear? More importantly... when is this wedding?" She bounced up and down in excitement.

"... Arisu." Byakuya walked over to his desk slowly and sat down, turning his chair to face her. "We're not even engaged yet."

Arisu's eyes went wide. "You... aren't?"

Byakuya shook his head.

"What are you waiting for, then?!"

"These things need to be timed well, Arisu," he replied calmly.

"Awww! That's my Bya-chan!" She jumped off the bed and went over to him to pinch his cheeks, causing him to swat her hands away like flies with a frown. He hated that nickname. Yachiru had overheard it used once and he'd never been rid of it since. Stupid Arisu and her immaturity.

Arisu walked to the door. "Do you have an estimate as to when the wedding should be?"

Byakuya pondered this for a moment, then sighed, shaking his head. "We don't even know each other well enough, yet, Arisu."

"But you love her, don't you?"

Byakuya visibly tensed up. Did he...? Looking back at his desk, he resumed the paperwork, choosing not to answer his cousin.

---

The next five years went by relatively quickly. Hisana and Byakuya spent every day together – unless Byakuya had a mission, of course – and she began spending the night at the residence regularly. She had grown accustomed to staying there, and, quite honestly, she had no complaints, either.

The servants loved her, she noticed, which was a nice change compared to the usual dirty looks she received from every Kuchiki other than Byakuya and Arisu. The elders never even bothered looking at her, and Byakuya was constantly called out on having her stay. He quickly put them back in their place, however, stating that the house was under his command, and if he wanted a guest to stay there, the guest was going to stay and that was final.

They had resumed their night walks and went walking in Rukongai in search of Rukia every night, a trip Byakuya wasn't comfortable with for at least the first two months. Hisana understood his tension with being in such a terrible district and when some drunk, and seemingly insane, thugs decided to try to attack them, Byakuya quickly defeated them and sent the thugs running. Hisana immediately noticed the tremendous difference between herself and Byakuya; she would have panicked and tried to run, whereas he was quick to defend her and was certainly strong enough to do so.

Needless to say, she felt safe and happy around him and whenever he had brought up going to Inuzuri to try to find her sister, it touched her in a way she never knew possible. He obviously cared a lot about her, but whether or not the care had developed into love was still unclear.

She did know that she definitely felt something for HIM and when she had talked to Arisu privately about it, Arisu nodded quickly and told Hisana that if it wasn't love, she had no idea what it could be.

Arisu, who had been patiently waiting for Byakuya to propose to Hisana, had brought up marriage with Hisana several times. Hisana never fully responded, but she knew she didn't feel ready to fully commit herself to Byakuya until she found her sister. And with the academy taking up a huge amount of her time, taking time out to plan a wedding was certainly out of the question. But she did want to marry him, she decided. She enjoyed his company and his tiny ways of showing affection far too much to be without him.

But first... a proposal was needed, and from what Arisu could tell, Byakuya was close to finally proposing. He was certainly more perceptive than she was and she realized that he more than likely knew how Hisana felt and simply decided she wasn't ready for marriage yet and was waiting for the opportune moment.

Either that, or he wasn't ready, but from the way he looked at her and the fact that he smiled more during the day – at home, at least; he had an image to uphold, after all – he was certainly ready.

In regards to news in Soul Society, there had been two deaths of captains during a mission and the resignation of another. The details surrounding these captains was quickly patched up and hidden away to only those closely involved and rumors were spreading rapidly. Fourth Division's captain resigned shortly after the importance of the deaths of the Sixth and Tenth Division captains had mysteriously been discarded. Apparently, the captain didn't like the way things were being handled and 'jumped ship', so to speak.

Of all the death gods who specialized in healing, most of the remaining captains of the Gotei 13 had decided that Unohana Retsu was certainly the only one fit for the job to replace the captain of Fourth Division. Six of the captains recommended her, and three had approved of her, and within the blink of an eye she had her lovely white captain's haori and was greatly admired by all of the females in the fourth division. Soon after, having been working on it already, she had successfully achieved her bankai, and gained the respect of the remaining captains who didn't think a mere seated-officer could replace a captain.

The position of Tenth Division captain was given to the child-prodigy and past classmate of Retsu and Byakuya, Hitsugaya Toshirou. He had, much like his speeding through the academy, gotten his bankai faster than most had expected and proved his ability to use it, gaining him the position of captain. With much snickering and taunting, Hitsugaya moved into his office and set everything up, becoming the youngest captain to ever gain the position.

Finally, the position of Sixth Division captain was assigned half a year before that of the Tenth, and was given to none other than Kuchiki Byakuya. Proving himself with bankai, he also was given his haori and an office and became, if at all possible, more famous in Soul Society. Upon hearing the news that his bankai had been a deceivingly beautiful array of flower petals, the fangirls had increased their oogling over him and begged to see at least his shikai, hoping it was at least half as beautiful as his bankai had been famed to be.

One afternoon, three months after Hitsugaya's promotion to captain, Hisana and Byakuya were walking through the academy courtyard towards the exit. The school year had already been in session for almost four months, and the start of the second semester was drawing ominously close. Wearing his white haori to symbolize his rank, he had his fingers entwined with hers as she leaned on his arm.

It had been not too long ago since they began holding hands in public and it still drew stares, glares and jawdrops from all around. His facial expression was blank and cold, as usual, only smiling slightly when he spoke to her.

"You know... the flowers at the estate are very nice this time of year." Byakuya looked down at Hisana. "We should get you a nice one for your hair."

Hisana nodded, ignoring the glares she was receiving from the fan club as they left the academy grounds. "I didn't get to eat any lunch today; had to talk to my instructor."

"I haven't either... Captains' meeting ran extremely late," Byakuya remarked with a slight frown. "We can eat under the large tree if you wish."

Hisana nodded again, looking up at Byakuya with a smile. "That would be nice, Byakuya-sama."

"And while we're there... there's something I wish to talk to you about, Hisana."

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Phew. Covering five years of their lives was tough. Not a lot of speaking, but oh well. Chapter 21 will certainly be up tomorrow.