Chapter 11
The Scoop
"Do you think they'll leave you alone now?" Rukia asks, as she settles onto Ichigo's floor to sleep, and he wishes she'd get back into the bed with him, but she's proving to be more stubborn than ever on that subject.
At least she stays in my room with me…
"I hope so…" Ichigo tells her as he hops out of his bed, grabs his pants, and reaches deep in the pocket.
"What are you doing?" Rukia ask curiously, and Ichigo smiles at her as his hand closes around what he's looking for.
Rukia's heart skips a beat when she sees him smile at her like that, and she feels herself get a bit breathless as she awaits his answer.
"With everything that happened, I didn't get to do this yet…will you stand up" Ichigo asks, and Rukia sits up looking confused.
"Why?" She asks, even as she's already getting to her feet.
Ichigo drops down to one knee and looks up at her with his face red, grabbing her left hand into his hands.
"Because…even though you've already agreed to marry me, I just wanted to make it official." Ichigo says, as he slides the ring that his father gave to him onto her finger.
"It's beautiful!" Rukia breathes, as she stares at the ring in shock and excitement.
I've never felt this happy in my whole entire life!
"I'm glad you like it." Ichigo says softly, before standing up and turning off the light.
"Good night, Ichigo…" Rukia says softly, and Ichigo is tempted to tell her it would be a good night if she'd get back into his bed but he's able to restrain himself in time.
"Good night, Rukia."
Isshin is standing outside of the door, smiling hard since he knows how his son must be suffering. For some reason he finds that fact very amusing.
"I don't think my first grandchild can come quickly enough!" Isshin whispers so as to not be heard by his son and future daughter-in-law.
"What are you doing? Spying again?" Karin asks dryly, and Isshin flinches from not expecting her.
"Since the engagement party is tomorrow, I was just making sure it was peaceful," Isshin says, and Karin rolls her eyes.
"That wouldn't have worked even when I was a child." She retorts in an irritated voice and Isshin chuckles.
"I know. You always were way too observant." Isshin remarks, and Karin balls up her fist to slug him, but Isshin darts off ahead of her, and she chooses not to chase him like her stupid brother would.
"And he'd most likely be stopped by Rukia-san again too." Karin mutters, even as she tries to keep herself from smiling.
"You like her don't you?" Yuzu asks, and Karin nods looking amused.
"Who wouldn't?" She asks, and Yuzu shrugs at that one.
"Karin-chan?" Yuzu asks from around the corner and Karin finally grins.
"Yeah?"
"I made pudding!" Yuzu tells her, and Karin grins.
"That's the perfect bedtime snack. Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Karin asks, and her sister blushes before responding.
"Yes…what if Rukia-san's brother dislikes our family?" Yuzu asks, and Karin tousles her hair.
"We don't have anything to worry about. I'll punch anybody in the face if they dare to insult you." Karin assures her and Yuzu begins to shake her head.
"You can't Karin-chan!"
"Nobody better look down on us." Karin says in a tight voice, and she cringes at the thought of being looked down on when she's all dressed up.
I wouldn't be sure how to handle it…
"You shouldn't fight when you look beautiful!" Yuzu says again, and for the first time in a long time, Karin is shocked.
She blushes a bit from being called beautiful, since she can't remember ever hearing it before.
"Beautiful huh?" Karin finally says, and Yuzu smiles.
"I think I'm worrying for nothing…after all, I don't think anything could stop them from getting married." Yuzu says and Karin smirks.
"I agree. It would take death and nothing less to stop them."
When Isshin heads to the store in the morning, he does a double take when he sees the smuttiest magazine available for sale and nearly falls over when he sees the aforementioned magazine has released a front page story with his son as the feature story.
"The future husband of Kuchiki-Rukia…in another woman's arms just weeks before the wedding!" Isshin gasps out, and then he blinks a few times when he realizes the photo shows his son naked in the arms of the big busted young woman he went to school with.
This is bad…
Ichigo is woken up by his father dragging him out of bed, and then out of his room and down the stairs in a not so gentle manner.
"What in the hell are you doing, that hurts!" Ichigo is practically yelling until he reaches the bottom of the stairs with his father and then is shown the reason.
"What is this!" Isshin asks, and Ichigo's mouth practically hits the floor.
"No fucking way…how could this happen?" Ichigo breathes, snatching the magazine up, his eyes as big as dinner plates, but his father smacks him so hard on the back of the head that he feels like his brain is rattling.
"That's what I'm asking you!" Isshin snarls at his son who looks more than disturbed by the picture staring up at him from the cover of the magazine.
"That is so wrong." Ichigo says in a low angry voice, and Isshin furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Why are you saying it like that?" Isshin asks, but Ichigo looks spooked by the cover of the magazine.
"This makes it seem like I'm cheating on Rukia!" Ichigo says, his voice actually cracking mid-sentence in his horror.
"That's what it looks like to me," Isshin quickly agrees and Ichigo glares at his father.
"That's not what happened!" Ichigo snaps, and Isshin rolls his eyes, clearly disbelieving his son's words.
"Could have fooled me…" Isshin says, and he watches as his son clenches his fists.
Then Ichigo gasps. Because he'd been woken up so abruptly, he had forgotten today is the day he meets Rukia's brother.
"I'd better wake Rukia." Ichigo says quietly, folding up the magazine so he doesn't have the picture in view.
"What!" Isshin asks in shock, but Ichigo is already on his way upstairs leaving his father staring at his back, speechless for once.
What in the hell!
"Wake up Rukia." Ichigo's voice sounds so grim that Rukia sits up pretty fast.
"Ichigo?" Rukia asks in a sleepy voice, making Ichigo wish he could smile at her and give her a good morning kiss, but he already knows it won't be a good morning…
"Something terrible has happened." Ichigo says in a tight voice, and Rukia gives him a puzzled look.
"What?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo unfolds the magazine to show her the cover story.
She is visibly hurt and bothered by what she sees, but she realizes when it must have been taken.
"This was when you were-" Rukia starts to say, but Ichigo cuts her off in the middle of her sentence.
"Yeah." Ichigo doesn't want her to finish the sentence.
"How?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo shrugs.
"I'm not sure but if I had to guess…Tatsuki must have been the one to take it. I can't imagine any reporter getting past her when she was guarding that room so that Inoue could take advantage of me." Ichigo says in a quiet voice, hoping his sisters aren't passing by his room, and then he sees Rukia's eyes widen.
"I have to call Byakuya ni-sama!" Rukia is digging in her purse, pulling out her cell phone and she groans when she sees she has twenty missed calls and lots of voicemails waiting for her to check.
"You're calling your brother?" Ichigo asks in shock and Rukia nods, deciding to check the messages after she calls her brother.
"I have to." She says simply, dialing and then waiting for him to pick up.
"Rukia." Her brother's voice greets her, sounding as bored as ever.
"Byakuya, ni-sama, I have something to discuss with you!" Rukia says in an excited tone, and her brother sounds annoyed.
"I already know. You want to call off the engagement party, right?" Byakuya asks her, and Rukia hurries to answer.
"No I don't want to call it off! I want to tell you that the tabloid picture is a fake! Ichigo didn't cheat on me!" Rukia says quickly, and Ichigo goes to the bed to sit down.
I wish I could hear the other end of that conversation…
Ichigo sighs as Rukia's face gets red in anger at whatever her brother just said.
"I already told you ni-sama…I don't want to call it off and that's final." Rukia says before hanging up and letting out a frustrated sigh.
"What did he say?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia just blushes profusely, refusing to answer him.
Instead she starts listening to her voicemails one by one. Every single one of the calls has to do with the article. Three of her girlfriends who are supposed to be at the engagement party called, all saying things that Rukia wishes they wouldn't. In addition to that several newspapers and television shows also called, begging for interviews from her. Right when she hangs up from listening to her voicemails, her phone rings again, and Rukia bites her lip when she sees it's her longtime friend Renji.
Ichigo sat there the entire time watching her face as she listened to the messages, but the moment her phone starts ringing, he stands up to leave and give her some privacy.
She said she didn't want to call off the engagement party, so I don't have to worry about that, but I bet every person I meet tonight will have seen that damned picture of me and Inoue…
For Ichigo, Rukia, and Isshin, the ride to the hotel is a very long one. Only Yuzu and Karin are chattering excitedly, wondering about all of the people they'll get to meet. Miraculously, neither one of them saw the tabloid, or have heard about it yet. Ichigo figures it's only a matter of time before they do, and he's sure they'll want an explanation seeing as how they've already grown attached to Rukia themselves.
When they do arrive, Ichigo starts to get out first, preparing to offer Rukia his hand, but she grabs his butt on his way out of the car, earning a lot of laughter from his father and sisters. Rukia winks at him, and Ichigo feels his pants get tight.
She'd regret that if I did what I want to do and decided to drag her into the bathroom to have my way with her…
Blushing, Ichigo offers his hand to Rukia. She grabs his hand rather tightly and pulls herself out of the car gracefully before letting go to take his arm. Several camera flashes go off as Rukia exits the vehicle and Ichigo realizes that there are dozens of reporters at the hotel that were just waiting for them to arrive.
At least Rukia looks damned good…
Her royal blue knee length dress with silver trim brings out the blue in her eyes, and her hair is pulled back into an elegant French twist. She's wearing dangling gold earrings that have a tiny chain with a diamond dangling at the bottom of them.
Rukia has a bright smile plastered on her face, and Ichigo feels tense but he forces a smile as well. He doesn't need any made up stories hitting the next set of papers on how he doesn't even look happy with his bride-to-be. He keeps his head held high, despite the embarrassingly long looks he gets from the other guests arriving at the hotel and the flashes of cameras continually going off.
"Excuse me, Kuchiki Rukia-sama!" A male voice calls out and since it sounds somewhat familiar, Rukia doesn't pretend like she can't hear it.
When she turns, she's surprised to see the same young man who had interviewed her about her approach to making the world a better place.
"Hisagi-san?" Rukia says, wondering if she remembered correctly, and the young man bows at her, looking elated that she remembered who he was.
"Yes, that's me! I thought it would be best to see you in person, and I was hoping you'd be willing to come to my office for an interview for the magazine again." He says, looking hopeful, and Rukia gives him a small smile.
"Sure, but for now I have a party to attend." Rukia says, and Hisagi bows at her again.
"Please come to my office tomorrow!" He says hurriedly, and Rukia simply nods at him.
"I'll be there." She tells him, and he grins like he's just won a huge prize.
"Thank you!"
Ichigo tugs Rukia along since his family has already gotten to the door and are waiting off to the side for them. Dozens of flashes continuously go off until Ichigo and Rukia actually get inside the doors of the hotel, and near the entrance of the party hall where there are several guards dressed in black suits in who stop the reporters dead in their tracks.
"You cannot enter if you are not on the list." The biggest one looks like he'd love to fight any reporter who would dare to try and get inside. Every sense in Ichigo's body tells him that the man is the most dangerous man he's ever seen.
"Who are they?" Ichigo whispers to Rukia and she gives him a raised eyebrow.
"They're employed by the Kuchiki Group, and normally they guard the building ni-sama works in. The largest one is Zaraki Kenpachi." Rukia says as quietly as possible as they are quickly ushered inside.
"They're on the list." Rukia says in a brisk voice that doesn't allow for any arguments, nodding at Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin.
The guard nods his head in acquiescence and they all take a good long stare at Ichigo like they don't possibly think he's good enough to be marrying Kuchiki Rukia.
"What's with the looks they were giving us?" Ichigo complains as they enter and Rukia rolls her eyes.
"I'm sure they know about it…probably saw it." she says, and Ichigo suppresses the urge to scowl at that.
"I still can't believe that damned Tatsuki!" Ichigo says, even as he realizes that everyone within the hall is quieting down to take a good long look at the man they've already seen nude in the arms of another woman besides the one he's got on his arm now.
Karin's eyes grow wide as the room grows so silent you could hear an earring hit the floor.
"Everyone is staring…" Yuzu says under her breath, but Ichigo could hear her since it was like the room just went on mute. Ichigo wonders if everyone is holding their breath since it is far too quiet for the number of guests present.
Ichigo realizes several men have stopped checking him out, to give his sisters long looks, as they try to estimate whether or not they're ladies of fine breeding.
Yuzu is in an ankle length light pink form fitting evening gown that brings out her femininity, with spaghetti straps and light pink gloves on her hands, with a finishing touch of light pink low heels. Karin is in a forest green dress that is the exact same style as her sister's, with gloves and shoes that match her dress as well. His sisters have never looked so beautiful, and Ichigo realizes they're growing up fast.
Still, the room is far too quiet, and Ichigo feels Rukia's grip on his arm tighten the smallest bit, and then he hears the footsteps. He feels his mouth go dry as a man looking about as rich as they come is heading in their direction fast.
Isshin stands behind Ichigo and Rukia, and Rukia releases Ichigo's arm to greet her brother. She's tempted to grab Ichigo's ass again, but as tense as he is in the moment, and she can clearly sense it, she's afraid he'd scream if she did that…and then he'd never live it down.
"Ni-sama…" Rukia says demurely, before she bows to her brother, and he fixes her with a cold stare which she meets without flinching.
"Rukia. Congratulations on your engagement." Byakuya says in a very tight voice, but Rukia just smiles brightly at her brother, almost enjoying the treatment she's getting from him, which confuses the hell out of Ichigo.
"Thank you ni-sama. I think it's time you met the man I've chosen to marry." Rukia says softly, and Ichigo feels his throat go completely dry as Rukia's brother's eyes meet his own.
"Ah yes, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun, right? I recognized you immediately." Byakuya says in a tone that suggests Ichigo be careful with how he decides to respond.
"Yes I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. This here is my father, and these girls here are my sisters." Ichigo says, choosing not to address the fact that Byakuya recognized him from the magazine.
"Rukia, please excuse us. I have something I'd like to say to my future brother-in-law, in private." Byakuya says, and Rukia blinks in shock.
"Ni-sama?" Rukia says, looking more than a little bit shocked, and the man looks at him with a bit of disdain in his eyes.
"Come." Byakuya orders Ichigo, and Rukia sighs before nodding at Ichigo.
"You come back to me alive, okay?" Rukia says with a wink, before she taps his ass, and Ichigo gives her a death stare while at the same time trying not to react to her touching his ass yet again.
"Definitely." Ichigo says before he follows her brother . He doesn't notice two bodyguards are trailing behind him, but Rukia does, and she shakes her head at her brother's attempt to act like he actually cares.
If ni-sama does anything to Ichigo, I'll kill him myself…