SO… This chapter is going to be a Byakuya centered. Now who's ready for some protective big brother fluffiness?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 8

Byakuya was sitting under his sakura trees enjoying his afternoon tea when the annoying, orange haired substitute soul reaper showed his face at Kuchiki Manor. He felt his blood pressure rise at this pest's sudden appearance.

"Byakuya!" Ichigo yelled as he appeared in front of the emotionless captain. The ice façade hid Byakuya's real instincts. He wanted nothing more than to teach the boy some manners. But he refrained from sending Senbonzakura after Ichigo for the time being. Rukia would be displeased if he hurt one of her best friends – at least without a good reason- and Byakuya did owe Kurosaki a bit of respect for saving Rukia and the Soul Society multiple times.

The men stared at each other for a minute before Ichigo blew Byakuya's mind with a simple question. "Why the hell was Rukia in the World of the Living with Shinji Hirako?" He yelled at the captain.

Deadly slate grey eyes drilled into his skull. Ichigo realized his error a little too late. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you are to lower your voice before I cut you down for disrespecting a captain."

"Look, Byakuya, you know I wouldn't come here if it wasn't important." Ichigo said softer when he realized that Byakuya might attempt to kill him at any moment, especially since Rukia was nowhere to be found.

"Rukia has been in her office all day, unless Captain Ukitake set her on a brief mission." Byakuya countered as he picked his tea back up.

"The hell she has! She was at the Mystic Café with Shinji! I saw them drinking coffee, and I even confronted her!" Ichigo's temper rose slightly as he watched Byakuya's face twitch into a smirk? No that couldn't be right! This must be a delusion from something or another. Byakuya Kuchiki did not smirk or show emotion at all.

Byakuya hid a laugh. So what if he lied to Ichigo? He knew Rukia hasn't been in the Soul Society since lunch, but the look on Ichigo's face was priceless. The substitute soul reaper was jealous.

"Why would you care Ichigo? Rukia is an adult. Besides, Ukitake probably sent her to Uahrara's, and she stopped to get a drink. You know how she loves the Chappy chocolate frappuccino's there. Shinji probably was just there for a drink as well and joined her. They do work together once in a while you know." He said an eerie looking smirk.

His cool words hid how Byakuya really felt. Rukia actually going on a date with Shinji willingly was not possible. The only vizard she greatly cared for was the one in front of him. But of course, Byakuya had to believed Kurosaki about the date. The substitute was too upset to lie to him about that. So how the hell did Rukia end up on a date with Shinji? Yes, dating was the whole point of this matchmaking scheme. But that Shinji was too unpredictable for Rukia… Unless Shinji was a tool. The ultimate tool to make Ichigo realize he felt something for Rukia.

A hand landed on Byakuya's shoulders pulling him from his thoughts. The substitute dared touch him? "Kurosaki, if you would like to keep that hand, I suggest you remove it."

Ichigo let out a huff and removed his hand. "Well, you were ignoring me as I talked! What else was I supposed to do!"

"Wait till I finished thinking." Byakuya said coldly. Ichigo rolled his eyes at Byakuya's reply. Then something clicked in Byakuya's brain. Rukia never told him about the matchmaker.

Starring Ichigo in the eyes, Byakuya asked the dreaded question, but he needed confirmation for them to continue this conversation. "What do you know about Rukia's life lately, Ichigo?"

The amber eyes narrowed at Byakuya in suspension. "Rukia was supposed to be on a mission in the Soul Society for a while. She refused to even meet with us last week because of this last minute mission. Now, I hear that she has been in her office, and she was on a date in the world of the living. What the hell is going on, Byakuya? Why I she slacking on her duties? It's not like her unless she got wounded. Even then she still wouldn't have going to the World of the Living without reaching out to … us."

"You're worried for nothing, Kurosaki. She is on a mission of sorts, but it's up to her to explain it."

"Why can't you tell me, Byakuya?" Ichigo demanded.

"It's not my place. Now, I think it's time you leave." Byakuya commanded.

But unfortunately, Ichigo was hard-headed. He wasn't satisfied until Byakuya chased him off Kuchiki Manor with Senbonzakura. Once he sensed Ichigo's spiritual pressure leave the Soul Society. Byakuya went in search of the matchmaker until he learned that Rangiku requested Shinji for the date. Now, he had his new prey.

Rangiku set the date with Shinji. Byakuya was still in shock from that revelation. The blonde beauty had a death wish to see all of Senbonzakura's petals. Byakuya kept muttering to himself as he made his way to the Squad 10's office as he hid his spiritual pressure. He didn't want his prey running off before he could talk to her.

As soon as he arrived, he knocked on the door and entered without warning. Byakuya walked into the common area of the office to see his sister happily sitting next to Captain Hitsugaya as she helped him with paperwork. Byakuya slowly crept back towards the door as he silently glanced around for Rangiku.

A muffled laughter filter through the room as Rangiku came in carrying a tray of tea. She froze when she noticed Byakuya standing near the office door, but the two other occupants of the room were oblivious to the sixth captain's presence. He made a motion for her to set the trays down and accompany him outside.

Once she placed the tea and snacks in front of Hitsugaya and Rukia, Rangiku met Byakuya under a shaded tree at the back of the office. Byakuya was even kind enough to cast a bakudo barrier spell for their impending discussion.

"Lieutenant Masumoto..." He said in his iciest voice. The blonde lieutenant gulped as her veins froze with fear. Byakuya Kuchiki was one of the handsomest men in the Soul Society, but he was also one of the deadliest.

"Yes, Captain Kuchiki?" She replied as his eyes narrowed. Her throat closed up a little bit at the realization that he had found out about her scheming.

"I heard that my sister went to the World of the Living for a date with Shinji Hirako; yet, I find her in the presence of your captain. Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

Rangiku didn't think it was possible, but Byakuya's eyes became an even colder steel grey. "I wanted to involve Ichigo in the matchmaking. It kills me that Rukia blew off all her friends in the World of the Living for these dates! She always has been avoiding talking to or about Ichigo like the plague. Her date with Shinji was supposed to cause Ichigo to take Rukia away where they could talk about everything going on. Unfortunately, the coffee shop was packed, and the only thing that their date caused was massive confusion and two very pissed off soul reapers." The words flew out of Rangiku's mouth as she tried to catch her breath. She was scared her explanation came out as one big jumbled sentence, but Byakuya was scary when he wanted to be.

Byakuya calmly listened Rangiku. He figured her motivation was a little more like to get Ichigo to admit his hidden feeling, but that still left one question. "Where does Hitsugaya come in, lieutenant?"

"His involvement would by my doing as well, captain." Rangiku murmured. She watched as Byakuya just stared at her. He wasn't going to let her off the hook this easy. "Captain Hitsugaya and I finished our mission in the World of the Living. I led him to the coffee shop."

Byakuya glared at her even more. He knew there was more to the story. " Okay, fine. I think Rukia and my captain would look adorable together! So I had to devise a plan to get them together."

Before Byakuya could stop her, Rangiku went down her mini rabbit hole. "So I made captain follow me to the coffee shop. I initially just wanted them to talk. Afterwards, I had hoped to convince my captain to sign up for a date with her. But when he walked in, he saw that Rukia wasn't happy, and she had a murderous glare on Shinji. So Captain Hitsugaya helped her escape her dread date. He had other plans for them though. I don't even know how she talked him into, but Captain Hitsugaya took Rukia to this awesome ramen shop Ichigo always talks about. They stayed talking for two hours, and now they are back here! Not that I was spying on them or anything! I only caught up with them after Shinji and I discussed the success of our operation." Rangiku finally let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

With a sigh, Byakuya asked, "You want to add Hitsugaya and Kurosaki to the list then, correct?"

"Yes, Captain Kuchiki." She said almost as a plea. The woman really wanted his support in adding the two men to Rukia's list.

"Does Rukia even like either of them?" Byakuya asked. He did want what was best for his sister after all.

"Well, I would say Rukia likes Ichigo probably a little more than a friend from Shinji's observations. As for my captain, he knows her, but he doesn't know the real her. Don't get me wrong, I love Shuuhei too, but the old woman wants more nobles for Rukia to date. I just don't think she will be happy with a noble unless he was a soul reaper. The three soul reapers I chose so far have the best chance of making her happy."

Byakuya let his mask slip slightly as his eye twitched, but Rangiku just thought the sunlight got into his eyes. "Thank you for putting her happiness first, but from now on, Lieutenant Matsumoto, you will not pull another stunt like that again. Do you understand? I don't think you would like to sit down with me and the matchmaker to explain why you chose each man and list his qualifications that make him a suitable match."

Rangiku nodded and bowed to take her leave from the captain before he stopped her. "Lieutenant, I suggest you follow my advice, or you'll have a trail of sakura petals after you." Her eyes widened in fear as she watched Byakuya leave. She knew that he would follow through with his threat, but he let her off easy this time because she did this for Rukia.

Thanks for reading y'all! If you enjoyed it please review! I always look forward to seeing what you write! :)

I want to give a special shout out to Ulquiorra9000 and BlackLeafTree. You two are awesome for always reviewing!