Hello new chapter's out! But before reading i would like to add a couple of things.
1. As if you might have noticed, the description of this story had slightly changed.
In other words, Byakuya it's a also a main character, just like Rukia or Ichigo... Don't wory this story won't turn itself into a harem. As the 2 direction of the story seemed to have absolutely nothing in common for the moment, they will come across later. So once again...this is not only a story about Ichigo and Rukia, but also about Byakuya. I know i might risk with this, but i believe it's too late to change the course of the story... I just hope that Ichigo's fans will also start to like Byakuya... and Byakuya's fans will start to like Ichigo...
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2. As the main character are established. I also wanted to add that next to the 2 main plans, from time to time there i will also follow the other characters, such as...Orihime...Renji... The Ryoing family ...and later (much more later) Ishhin Kurosaki. I don't know if this will bother you, but i'm thinking...the original bleach was also running on 3 or 4 different directions and it didn't follow the main character in every episode/ chapter.
I'm also doing this because i'm trying to make this fanfic a little more complex by giving to every character a different story. I don't intend to write another fanfic so i'm pulling the best out of this one.
3. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT TOPIC.
This chapter you have Nene-cha's story. It was split in 2 chapters as it was quite long. Now, giving the fact that i have a couple of chapters written in advance i have a proposition for you guys. If you want to know the rest of Nene-cha's story i can publish it within the next chapter. But as the you readers are mainly Ichiruki fans i could swich chapters and publish next the sequel of Ichigo and Rukia's conversation in front of Urahara's shop.
In other words it's up to you...
That was all i had to say! :)
Otherwise enjoy the rest of the story ( if you weren't too disappointed with the latest news)
Haruna left the gardens and shunpo-ed without direction. She had feared this day ever since she had first left. When she first took a step into the Kuchiki mansion she only intended to greet Byakuya and talk to him about the small, insignificant things she has done during these past 60 years. It would have been so much easier to tell him about her 4 husbands, about her school dance and how much the real world had changed…But the moment she saw Hisana's picture it was as if all her rationality had checked out.
She stopped in front of what seemed to be a cheap bar and entered. With an exhausted expression she sat down at a table: "Bring me something strong…" she whispered to the servant who approached.
"Madam…are you ok?"
"Just bring me something strong, will you?" she said annoyed making him leave. She sighed and before placing her face into her palms. "Oh, Toto... My Toto" she whispered. And without knowing, old memories had started to flood back into her mind.
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~~Flashback~~
A small girl with light brown hair and grey eyes, who appeared to look no more than 7 to 8 years old, stood next to a man resembling Ryiong Goroza, expect for the fact he was younger. The little girl was not comfortable as she tried to hide herself by holding onto the lap of the man's clothes."D-daddy?" she said with a small voice.But the man didn't hear her as his attention was caught by other tall man similar to himself.
"Well…go and see the newborn" the man suddenly said to the girl, and showed her the open door of a room flooded in warmth and sunlight.
"I don't want to…I want to stay with you!" she said distressful.
"Haruna…come on, go and become friends with him"
"How can I be friend with 1 year old child?" she insisted seemingly annoyed.
"Do you think that matters? One day, that child may rule us all"
Haruna frowned seemingly confused, but as her father left the corridor to join the other lords, she found herself with no other option, then to enter in the warm room.It was a simple room, with no furniture…except from a cradle which stood in the middle. She approached it lacking confidence, but the moment she looked inside the cradle her eyes opened wide.The child was beautiful."Hi there" she tried.The child turned to her a pair of big grey eyes."I'm Haruna, your cousin…Haruna Ryoing…Can you say that?" eventually she sighed outta boredom. "Well of course you can't. You're nothing more than a year old shrimp!' she said out loud.She stood pondering something for a few seconds before turning to the child as if she had come up with a brilliant idea:"I'm your Nee-chan…Can you say Nee-chan? Come on that simple enough"The child blinked confused at her."Come on…Nee…Nee- chan"Again the child was paying attention, even though he couldn't understand a thing."Oh come on, at least say Nee… I'll let you drop the "chan!... Just Nee…Nee…Come on…Nee"
"Neee?" suddenly the child said.
"Great!" Haruna said applauding…."Yes, Nee!"
"Nee! Nee! Nee!" the child continued to say as he was encouraged by his "Nee-chan". Haruna then grinned in complicity and approached the child once again.
"Now let's add the 'chan'… Come on! Neeeee-chaaan!"
"Neee! Neee!... Neee!" said the child happily. Haruna sighed rather annoyed, before immediately taking a formal position as she saw a shadow coming from behind. She turned and saw none other then Ginrei himself. She immediately turned to stone as the presence of the head of the Kuchiki family was too imposing.
"Neee …Nee… Cha! Neee… Neee… Cha…Neeee!" the child kept saying. Ginrei immediately looked at the child with wide eyes and in the next second lord Ryoing entered the room, followed by the Shojin Kuchiki and a beautiful woman, which Haruna recognized as Shojun's wife. They all had astounded expressions.
"Did he just speak?!" the women said. "Did my Byakuya speak?"
"It appears so" Ginrei said visibly emotional.
"What did he say?" Shojun asked. "What did my son said? Did he say 'dad'?...maybe 'mom'?"As they were all nervous and excited, the child knew he had become the center of the attention and proudly began to prattle: "Nee…Nee… Cha…Nee…Nee…cha!"
"Nee-chan?" the women said seemingly confused. "But he doesn't have any sisters…where did he hear that word from?"
Haruna then began to take a few steps away from the cradle and looked desperately for her father's eyes. Lord Ryoing only gave her a meaningful look, giving her a subtle sign to remain silent. Haruna then turned to the child who was now in his grandfather's arms being applauded by the whole family for his achievement. She couldn't believe that the first word Kuchiki Byakuya spoke was the one he had learned from her. The child turned to her, reaching his arms out with a happy smile repeating: "Neee…neee… cha…nee…nee"
~~End Flashback~~
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"Madam…Madam…Here's your drink!" Haruna reached her hand for the glass without facing the servant. She was thinking about how odd it was for her to have become friends with a one year old child…and yet at the same time how warm the feeling of those memories were that afternoon. Things were just so much simpler back then. As she was emptying the glass, she kept thinking of her childhood…of how they ended up calling themselves by nicknames rather than their actual names as was proper for noble children. As Kuchiki Byakuya perceived her as his older sister, given that she introduced herself as "Nee-chan" she started to call him "Otouto" Hearing himself called that, Byakuya thought this appellative was one of his names and started to refer to himself as "Toto" as it was too difficult to pronounce 'Otouto' at his age. For no special reason, she too began to call Byakuya "Toto".
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~~Flashback~~
"Totoooo! Totoooo! Where are you?" she was calling while she was wandering through the Kuchiki's gardens.
"Toto's here!" a childish voice answered from the back of the yard.Haruna followed the sound of the voice before seeing the child leaning over the koi pond trying to catch the biggest fish in the pond. Her eyes immediately widened scared and angered at the same time. She came next to him and slapped him over his butt:"How many times, have I told you to leave the 'fishy-fishy' alone? You want to fall in to the pond and drowned yourself?!"The little Byakuya lowered his head with a guilty look. "Harunaaa! Harunaaaa!" a voice was heard from far.
"The others are here! Come, Toto! Let's hurry!" she said as took his hand.In front of the mansion, two boys around the same age as Haruna's were waving to her:"Hurry! Kaien had arrived as well! Let's play hide and seek!" one of them said enthusiastically, but the moment she approached them holding Byakuya, the boy put on a bored expression. "Why did you bring him, again? He's too little to play with us!"
"Well…I thought the reason Ginrei-sama brought us here…was to play with Byakuya!"
"But he's too young for hide and seek!" the boy insisted annoyed.
"Nene-cha, what is hide and seek?" Byakuya suddenly intervened.
"Why is he calling you Nene-cha?" the little Shiba Kaien asked confused.
"Because he can't call me Nee-san or Nee-chan" Haruna answered.
"Why's that, is he stupid or something?" the other boy asked. Hearing the word 'stupid' her grey eyes suddenly turned black form anger and she started to hit the boys until they ran. "Yeah! You better run! You cowards! Let this be a lesson for you! " she shouted as the two noble boys were running away. She turned to Byakuya who, even though he didn't really understand what just happened, kept a happy expression on his face knowing that his 'Nene-cha' stood up for him. "What?!" she said. "Don't look at me with those eyes…Even if you might be the only person for whom I'll ever care about"
~~End Flashback~~
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Haruna looked at the empty glass. Back then, they were always together. Back then everybody wanted them together…
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~~Flashback~~
"Nene-chaaa! Uncle Goroza!" the little Byakuya exclaimed as he jumped from the porch to the garden towards Haruna and her father, lord Ryoing giving both a big hug. "You two children go and play outside while I discuss a few things with grandpa Ginrei, alright?" The children obediently nodded while still holding hands, but the moment Ryoing disappeared from their sight they smiled to themselves in complicity and simultaneously ran into the mansion towards Ginrei's study. There, they stopped in the hallway and put their ears up against the wall.
"No matter how much I'll regret Kouga's treason, we must both admit that this is after all, for the best of the clan…" Goroza' voice was heard. "Now, we have a true Kuchiki next in line to lead the clan…"
"Indeed, Shojun is right to become the next leader…Even so, he was never raised with this in mind" Ginrei answered.
"This means that we only have one other option left" said Goroza.
"I'm afraid that you are right… Byakuya must be prepared to become the 28th Kuchiki clan leader" Ginrei concluded.From the hallway, Haruna turned to Byakuya, who even though he was still little understood what the words of his grandfather had meant.
"Now, even if the premises have changed, I guess that our deal is still standing" Goroza added.
"It is well understood, Goroza… Haruna will be a suitable wife for Byakuya" Ginrei answered.
Haruna's eyes widened and her heart began to beat so hard that it began to hurt. Both children stood there dumbfounded looking into each other's eyes, still holding hands."Toto…" she whispered."Don't worry Nene-cha…Everything will be alright"
~~End flashback~~
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"Everything will be alright" Haruna said to herself, but ever since that day things gradually changed…
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~~Flashback~~
Haruna, who was now a teenage girl, stood in the hallway of the Kuchiki mansion with a tense expression. In front of her was a closed door. Behind that door the voice of an annoyed Byakuya boy was heard:"I said I'm going to the Shiba's mansion to swim with the other children! I don't care about this shinigami thing…or leading the clan!"
"But my lord" a servant's voice was heard.
"I don't want to hear another word! I promised Nene-cha that we would be going together! So get out of my way! G-E-T O-U-T I SAID!"
On the hallway she listened to all his yelling and sight.
"Haruna?"
As she heard her name she turned. Shojun was behind her."I'm afraid that Byakuya won't be able to join you today. He must start his shinigami training"
"Oh…" she sighed sadly. " I see… I'll take my leave then, Kuchiki-dono" As she was walking away she heard Byakuya annoyed and yelling to the contrast of his father's warm voice: "Dad! Glad you came! Tell these servants to leave me alone so I can meet up with Nene-cha!"
"Byakuya… we already had this conversation yesterday. Today you'll begin your training"
"NO, I'M NOT!" Byakuya yelled.
"Oh, yes you are" Shojun replied calmly.
"But the others are going swimming today!"
That day Haruna didn't go to the Shiba's either, as she really wasn't in the mood for anything. She came back home immediately after leaving the Kuchiki's mansion."Haruna, is that you?..." lord Ryoing's voice was heard from the main room the moment she stepped in the hallway.
"Yeah" she answered with a bored air.
"Weren't you going swimming with Byakuya and the others at the Shiba's pool?" Ryoing said as he appeared in the threshold.
"Byakuya is not coming…and it's no fun without him"
"Why is he not coming? Is he ill?"
"No…He's starting his shinigami training today" she said upset.Ryoing remained silent for a few moments, creating some complicated syllogisms in his mind. Before turning to Haruna with an enlightened expression."My dear… I believe it's time you also start some shinigami training!"
"WHAT?!" she shouted almost scared.
"Why are putting that face on?" said Ryoing confused.
"I refuse!" she said categorically as she remembered Byakuya who didn't have time for playing because of the training.
"As if!" he father added untroubled. "If your husband will be a shinigami that, who knows might even become a captain one day... you don't expect to be the kind of wife who will stay at home sewing tapestry!"
Haruna's eyes widened scared."But mom is sewing tapestry" she said confused.
"That's not the point!" her father added, apparently deaf to his daughter's desires or comments. "The point is that Ukitake Taicho, here will be happy to add you to his division isn't that right?" he added and invited Haruna into the main room where she saw Ukitake.
"Taicho!" Haruna exclaimed happily and jumped into his arms. The white haired man, who apparently was used to this treatment, responded to her hug amused. "Taicho! Taicho! Taicho" she continued with a dolly voice. "I'm so glad to see you, but pretty please don't make me a shinigami! I'm too young to have someone ordering me around!"
Ukitake coughed during the middle of what she way saying and was about to concede in front of the lovely Ryoing girl, before meeting Ryoing's ruthless eyes: "Don't you even think about it"
~~End Flashback~~
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Even if Ukitake would have finally gave into her. There was no way she could have convinced her father. The next day, despite all her begging and crying, Haruna was enrolled into the Shinigami Academy. It intrigued her how her father would have sacrificed anything, even the comfort of his own daughter to be closer to the main Kuchiki family. At that time, his main purpose seemed to only be a marriage to the heir of the clan. For many years she despised her father for using her as a tool for his own benefits. Only later did she understand that he only did this because he thought it was for the best…for her. But by that point it was already too late.
However, as children neither of them were troubled by their engagement. It was just a part of their existence due to their noble names, so they never questioned it. They grew up knowing that one day they would marry but neither of them understood what marriage really was; so they never felt restrained by it. To cut a long story short, they were engaged but since their bond was much deeper than that, they never talked nor paid any attention to it.
Haruna didn't seem to like the Shinigami Academy. However she graduated from it diligently. As Ukitake had promised her father she was assigned to the 13th Division. She seemed a promising talent, as her zanpakuto had an interesting ability but after the graduation, she felt that she had done enough to please her father and her interest for a career as a shinigami faded in no time. She was often skipping her duties, sneaking into the Kuchiki gardens. There she watched intrigued by the tenacity with which Byakuya was training himself though he had yet to reach the appropriate age to enter the Academy. Often during these moments she was watched him, she wished they were both still children so that they could have all the time in the world to play…
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~~Flashback~~
She was what would have been in human years maybe 18 or 19. Dressed in a shinigami uniform, she silently approached the 14 year old teenage boy, who was dressed in comfortable clothes exercising with a wooden sword."HOW ARE YOU, TOTO?" she suddenly yelled in the silence of the Kuchiki garden.
Byakuya slowly turned to her with eyebrows slightly raised."I'm fine, Nene-cha, thank you!" he said sarcastically.
"You weren't even startled" she said surprised.
"You wanted to scare me? Ha! I sensed you long before you entered the gardens"
"Well… I guess you're no fun!" she added bored.
"What are you doing here anyway? Still skipping your shinigami duties?"
"Oh! Don't start to preach to me! Honestly, Toto…you were more fun when you were little!"
"When I was little I didn't have to worry about embarrassing the Kuchiki family!"
"Ooooooh, no!... There's that preaching again!" she said annoyed. "I think I prefer the office duties that I have rather than this!" and she took a step, pretending that she was leaving. He watched her from the corner of his eyes, pretending that he didn't care, but the moment she was preparing to shunpo he turned to her: "Want to play tag?... Shunpo style!" he said with a smirking look. She stopped with a satisfied smile on her face. "On 3…" she said.
"Fine!" he added while he stretched his muscles."1…2…"
"So you're playing tag? Mind If I join?" a familiar voice was heard from behind.
"Yoruichi!" Haruna exclaimed rather cheerful as the Captain of the 2nd Division made her appearance.
"Uuuuh!" said Byakuya making a weary face. "That were-cat again…I'll be inside, Nene-cha!"
"Hmmm…What is it, Byakuya-bo? Not pleased to see me?"
Byakuya growled annoyed."You know you're on private property on which you entered without permission, right?"
Yoruichi started to laugh."Well…then you better call the guards to catch me…Ooor, maybe you could try to catch me yourself, Byakuya-bo?"
"You wouldn't stand chance" he shot back
"Oooh!" she hissed pretending to take him serious before turning to Haruna. "So what were you doing here? You're off program?"
Haruna smiled with a tangled expression, then Byakuya gave her an 'I told you' look. "It's curious because I'm coming from the headquarters and Ukitake was looking for you." Added Yoruichi.
"Indeed?" she said defensively.
"It seems that he made you his first nomination for the lieutenant seat."
Both, Haruna's and Byakuya's eyes widened at the same time."Congratulation, Nene-cha!" Byakuya said happily.
"Oh, crap!" Haruna growled.
"Hmmmm…." Yoruichi stated.
Then a few moments of silence passed between the three of them."Well, this should be good news… Even Byakuya-bo sees it that way"
Haruna smiled without confidence. "What about Kaien?" she said. "He's been trying to get that position for two years, now"
"Hmmm…" said Yoruichi with a meaningful grin.
"I really think Kaien should be the lieutenant!" she insisted.
"I really think that you should be the one to tell him that and id hurry as captain Ukitake is there waiting for you right now!" Yoruichi added taking a step, approaching her.
"Crap!" Haruna whispered, before looking at Byakuya from the corner of her eyes. "Toto… on 3, 1...2…"Yoruichi's eyes widened for a second."Good-bye, you were-cat!" said Byakuya with an evil grin as he grabbed Haruna's hand."3!" Haruna shouted and the next second, the couple disappeared"
~~End Flashback~~
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"Madam…Madam…shall I bring something else to drink?"
Haruna came back to reality as if she had been woken up from a dream. She slightly turned her face. It was the servant… again.
"Madam?" the man said as she seemed rather confused by his presence.
"Bring me another glass of… whatever this was" she finally said, while pointing at the empty glass.
When she found herself alone she gasped.
The place where her memories were held was much warmer that the reality of these days. She knew she didn't have much time left…and somehow she was scared…because in the end she will lose the scent…the feeling…the memories of those moments… That's why, lately whenever she found herself alone she was deepen herself in memories.
" In days like this, Toto… I miss the ability of my zanpakuto" she whispered as she was trying recall…
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Thank you in advance for reading! And don't forget to mention if you want the in next chapter the sequel of Nene-cha's story... or Ichiruki!
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