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: I actually had to research a lot, and even now I'm not so sure I got it right, but that's okay. What matters is that they're married! I actually modified the marriage process a bit and made it slightly simpler.

thelovablechelsea: Ah, thank ya for pointing that out to me. :D Graduations aren't... too bad. The part that's the most fun is the throwing the caps in the air. :3

A/N: Guys! Princess LeBlanc wrote a sister-ish fic to this as a diary from Matsumoto's point of viewwww. :D Go readddd The Long Lost Diary of Rangiku Matsumoto I'm actually super flattered. And I love her dearly, so you should go read. :3

The House of Kuchiki

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Once they had arrived at the manor, Byakuya was quick to demand that he bandaged her wrist up for her because she certainly would have a tough time doing it herself. Hisana quietly agreed after little fussing, at this point suffering from too much pain to resist much.

Once in his room, he waited for her to sit on his bed before sitting next to her, carefully examining her wrist. "You really should let me take you to get this healed, Hisana..."

Hisana shook her head, obviously struggling to hold back tears. "It's not that bad..."

Byakuya looked at her sadly, lifting the bandage up to begin wrapping it. "I hate having to see you in pain..."

"It really doesn't hurt that badly, Byakuya-sama." Hisana forced a smile, inwardly thanking him for having the capabilities of being so gentle. Byakuya simply sighed, obviously knowledgeable in the pain of broken bones.

As he finished wrapping her wrist up, Arisu barged into the room. "BYAKU-CHAN."

Byakuya frowned. Another day, another nickname.

"I need your advi-- Okay, I'll come back later." Arisu turned to leave, obviously assuming things as a result of her inability to see what they were actually doing from where she was standing.

"What is it this time?" Byakuya turned to look at her, rather annoyed at the new nickname and that his cousin was making ridiculous assumptions.

"You should put some sort of a marking on the door if you're going to spend time alone with Hisana-san, you know." Arisu turned around and flinched at his glare, coming to the realization that she was wrong. "Or I could learn to knock... Anyways... I was wondering if I could move the wedding up a couple of months? To next month maybe?"

"You might not want to do that."

"And why not?" She put her hand on her hip as Byakuya stood up slowly, revealing Hisana with a bandaged wrist. Arisu's jaw dropped. "What HAPPENED to her wrist?!"

Hisana looked down at her lap. "Long story, Arisu-san..."

Arisu sighed and looked at Byakuya. "Three months from now it is, then..."

---

Three months later, as the academy year was drawing to a close and graduation examinations for Hisana and her classmates were around the corner, Hisana found herself with a healed wrist, lots of stress, and tons of fear.

There was no way she was going to graduate with two months lost from an injury, even with the last month dedicated to attempting to catch up.

Luckily, she wasn't too bad at demon magic, so that should be fine. But sparring against the instructor with her soul slayer? That wouldn't go well. Especially with her now extremely moody wrist.

Sitting underneath the cherry blossom tree near the river of the Kuchiki grounds, Hisana tried to catch her breath. At least I don't have to duel him for the final...

Byakuya stood across from her, Senbonzakura drawn as he waited patiently. He watched Hisana tightly grasp the hilt of her soul slayer and stand up slowly and with great effort. "We can take a break, Hisana."

"I don't have time for a break. If I can't even land a hit on you when you're going easy on me, how can I expect to pass my final?" Hisana raised her soul slayer shakily.

"You're pushing yourself too hard. You'll injure yourself." Byakuya slowly began putting Senbonzakura away. "We're taking a break."

---

Arisu, in her quickness to schedule things without planning ahead, had made the foolish mistake of planning the wedding the day after the graduation ceremony for those who had passed their finals. Thus, many preparations were still underway, most of which Hisana was desperately needed for, but opted not to attend.

As a result, neither did Byakuya, who decided he would stay with Hisana to help her remain sane and confident in her abilities as they did last minute training in all the subjects she needed for the death god license.

In a state of panic, Arisu ran about the grounds searching for them, finding them in their usual spot, Hisana practicing demon magic incantations. "You! I need you!" She pointed a finger at Hisana and then at Byakuya. "And YOU! Where have you two been?!"

Hisana sighed and looked at Arisu. "Here. Training. I have finals."

"No no, you have a WEDDING in a little over a week. You need to be picking decorations and kimonos and floral arrangements!"

"No. I need to be studying."

Arisu shook her head, gaining a glare from Byakuya. "You BOTH need to be planning this wedding."

Hisana narrowed her eyes, very irritable from the stress. "You don't understand. I need to pass to graduate. I won't be in the mood to get married if I fail these exams."

"Hisana-san..."

"No, I said! Just go away and leave me alone! I'm busy! You can take him with you! He'll help you with your decorations and flowers and all that nonsense!"

Byakuya sighed and walked towards Arisu. "Let's go, Arisu. You've caused enough trouble for one day."

As a result of her panic, Hisana successfully passed each of her final exams with wonderful marks. Her cramming had not gone in vain and when she received her death god license with Matsumoto and the rest of her class, she couldn't help but run over to Byakuya and kiss him in public.

Byakuya, slightly shocked at first, pulled back reluctantly. "What happened to keeping us a secret?"

Hisana smiled and took his hand, pulling him towards the manor. "Come on, let's go back before Arisu-san has a heart attack."

---

"Okay. So today, Byakuya's going to wear his captain's haori and his death god uniform and soul slayer, as is custom with captains getting married. And Hisana has to get changed and we need to have her have a grand entrance of sorts... and she has no real family, does she? So Matsumoto's going to be her representative, and I'll be Byakuya's because he doesn't have living parents either and the elders are stupid."

Arisu paced back and forth in front of Hisana, Byakuya, Kanaye, Matsumoto and the entire wedding planning crew.

"And we need to make sure the guests are comfortable and there's enough tea to go around before the sake ceremony."

"Alright, everyone. We have three hours before the wedding ceremony officially starts. So Hisana needs to come with me and Matsumoto back to her house and we're going to get her all dolled up for the wedding. And Byakuya can handle dressing himself because... his outfit isn't complicated."

Arisu turned to look at the wedding crew. "You all have to show the guests in. The captains of the Gotei 13 sit with each other at the nice table. And, Captain Ukitake has to sit closest to the seat where Byakuya is going to sit. Hisana's seat is obviously next to Byakuya's and the classmates have the various little tables where they can pick their own spots, alright?" She watched the servants nod slowly. "Good. Let's get this plan started then!"

---

After what seemed an eternity, Arisu arrived back at the manor to help check up on things as the first guests began arriving. Hisana was going to show up a little later than the time on the invitation to make sure everyone was there for her entrance in her white kimono. Byakuya spent time talking with the captains who had already arrived, most of them shocked about the whole situation, but equally happy for him.

"It's a strange sight to see Kuchiki Byakuya smile," Ukitake pointed out, "and if anyone is the cause of his smile, he should stay with that person at all times."

When Matsumoto finally arrived, the entire outdoor area of guests went silent. Standing next to a very nicely dressed Matsumoto was a figure in all white, walking in such a way that she appeared to float. Byakuya, who had been talking to Ukitake and Hitsugaya, stopped mid-sentence when he caught a glimpse of his future bride out of the corner of his eye and went silent, his eyes full of admiration.

He had seen the kimono when Arisu held it up, but didn't get the chance to actually see it on Hisana, the shock of how stunning she looked rendering him speechless. Arisu and Matsumoto approached each other with boxes and exchanged them, each box holding a gift from one family to the other.

After an hour or so, Arisu stood up and signaled the servant to bring forward the cups for the sake ceremony between the bride and groom.

Byakuya and Hisana came forward, the whole area going silent again. Arisu stepped forward and set three cups down in front of them: one small, one medium and one large. Pouring a small amount of sake into each, she put the bottle down and lifted the smallest one, handing it to Hisana. "As the guest to this house, Hisana-san, you drink first. Please take three sips before handing the cup to him."

Hisana did so, taking three sips before handing it to Byakuya who did the same. Arisu then lifted the middle medium-sized cup, handing it to Byakuya, telling him the same process. The last cup reversed the process once more and Byakuya put the large cup down, taking the last sip.

Arisu smiled and put the set aside. "This ceremony represents the unity of the two of you as a married couple. Hisana-san, if you would please accompany me back to your room."

After Byakuya and Hisana had left the area to go change their outfits, Byakuya changing into his noble's haori and removing his soul slayer and Hisana putting her red over-kimono on top of her white one, they entered the area together and sat down next to each other at the head of the large table.

Arisu brought the sake set forward again, the servants placing small cups of sake in front of everyone else at the reception.

"Now, as the head of the house, Byakuya drinks first and the process is repeated." Arisu handed the smallest cup to Byakuya, watching him take three sips before he handed it to Hisana, who did the same.

The process cycled through once more and Arisu turned to face the guests. "In front of you is a small cup of sake as well. Drinking your glass symbolizes that the unity isn't limited to just the two of them, but reaches out to their family and friends. We drink together now as a combined family," Arisu raised her glass up, the rest of the guests doing the same.

Matsumoto stood up and held her now empty cup up high. "Let's get this celebration started, hm? More sake all around!"

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Yay. :D Finally married. I altered the traditional wedding ceremony a bit to make things less complicated; usually there's a shrine and a priest and more outfit changes and whatnot, but meh. Chapter 27 up tomorrow at some point, hopefully. :D Day one as a married couple!