This is a new Bleach story.
I didn't like how Ukitake was killed off during the Blood War, so he's still alive in this and is acting as the current Captain-Commander because Shunsui didn't like all of the paperwork. You know how he is.
Also, at some point Ukitake's illness went into remission.
Weirdly enough, it was Ichigo Kurosaki that started things off this time.
Though the young woman didn't seem to realize it. It had been several years since the Thousand Year war had taken place, and she'd helped the Soul Reapers to win it by obtaining even more incredible power than she already had.
Which had simultaneously caused the girl to no longer be able to live in the human world anymore without adversely affecting it.
And in that time the surviving Soul Reaper Captains, and Lieutenants, had had the unadulterated joy and watching the Substitute Soul Reaper grow and finally become an adult.
A very stunningly gorgeous adult.
So of course, it was now because she was an adult that the rumor mills had been spreading their usual nonsense. All of it were theories mostly. But they supposed that the fools simply couldn't help themselves or hold themselves back now that Ichigo was at the appropriate age to marry and settle down.
The young woman was after all quite a catch even by their standards and very accomplished as a Soul Reaper. Why there likely wasn't a single person in the entirety of the Soul Society that didn't know her name.
She was a war hero- several times over- as well as had very powerful abilities for a human woman. She was educated and could hold her own in a fight against pretty much anyone at all at this point. And she was still, strangely, unattached to anyone romantically.
It was normal to ask questions. Especially about such an interesting topic.
However, this time, the rumors had reached the new Captain-Commander Jushiro Ukitake. And because it had reached him, he found himself just as curious as the rest of them as to why Ichigo was still single.
Though he would never mention this to anyone outside of the other Captains during their private meetings. After all, he didn't want his curiosity to upset Ichigo or cause a rift between she nor anyone else.
Which was why he usually very, very careful.
But, after listening to the rumors spread for more than a few months now, he was almost at his wits end. Especially now that the rumors had finally reached the ears of everyone who cared about her.
Even his best friend Shunsui wasn't totally immune to what he had heard!
The man had all but kicked down his office door on several occasions, shouting about how the woman was so damned pretty that it was hard for him to even look at her.
Which always seemed to lead back to the same question from before, Why was she single?
They just didn't get it!
So finally, none of them could stand it anymore and requested that Ichigo attend one of their Captain's meetings so that they could all get to the bottom of things.
Ichigo walked through the door to the room next to Rukia wearing one of the pretty kimono's that she had been gifted with by one of the noble families that had become aware of her part in the war and had wanted to show her their appreciation.
And then once the door closed, she waited to see why she had been called to the meeting since it was unusual for her to be called to one unless there was some sort of disaster taking place.
Jushiro studied the woman covertly with a frown, unable to come up with even one reason why she wouldn't have settled down herself just yet.
Sure, she was still a living human. But with her spiritual abilities, it shouldn't matter anymore since she was no longer compatible with human males due to her Soul Reaper abilities growing exponentially over the past few years since Aizen's defeat.
Finally, he sighed and spoke. "Ichigo, do you know why you've been asked to attend this meeting?"
Ichigo fidgeted for a second or so, an action that belied her nervousness as she replied, "No, I do not."
Jushiro gave her a reassuring smile to let her know that she wasn't in any trouble before going on to explain. "Alright then, I will explain. Since you have come to live with us and finally became an adult several years ago, the rumor mills have been running rampant with theories."
Ichigo blinked at him, her expression blank.
"Theories about why you haven't settled down and married yet. We tried to shrug the rumors off as ridiculous but...well-"
"What Captain-Commander Jushiro is trying to say is; we have some concerns ourselves about why you haven't settled down and stuff." Shunsui said.
"This is why I'm here? Because of rumors." Ichigo asked incredulously looking somewhat annoyed with them. "Are the lot of you so bored now that it's peaceful that you feel the inexplicable urge to stick your noses into my personal affairs?"
"As mentioned before, Ichigo- we have some concerns. We have conducted experiments about this particular topic just to learn what we felt we lacked! And have come to the conclusion that human's do not thrive without certain things." Toshiro explained.
"Love and affection for starters-" Rukia chimed in with a nod of her head.
"Attention, is another thing." Byakuya added.
"Mind blowing sex." Shunsui said with a grin as he gave her an eyebrow wiggle.
Ichigo visibly shuttered where she stood and tried not to look as red as she actually was. Which earned him a perturbed look from Jushiro and everyone else present while she seemed to be fighting off the urge to haul off and punch the man for even mentioning the S word in her presence.
After all, everyone knew just how shy she was around the S word.
It was why many of them tried to avoid saying it within earshot of her. She tended to get upset, randomly destroy something and run off whenever someone did.
As it was, many of them were already mighty impressed by the fact that she hadn't blown something up just so that she could run away from them all just yet. But the day was still young, so it might still happen before the meeting was over with.
One never really knew with Ichigo since she had always excelled at surprising them.
Jushiro cleared his throat awkwardly and waited for a moment for everyone to focus back on the topic at hand. "As you can see, we are quite concerned about whether or not you have everything that you need here. We firmly believe that companionship and a life mate are both something that you can't really live without. Since coming to live among us once the war was finished, we know that you have sacrificed many, many things so that you could help us just to survive."
"We also know that you often hold yourself back when it comes to telling us what it is that you need to be content and comfortable here." Toshiro said as he gave her a pointed look as he tacked on. "Like that time that a particular drunk friend destroyed your home and you wound up living in the woods in the middle of the worst winter we've had in hundreds of years. And you said absolutely nothing to any of us about being homeless."
"Hey! I actually liked living off of the land and stuff. I got to brush up on some old lessons that dad taught me about survival." Ichigo said in a slightly miffed tone.
"Yes, we know." Shinji said. Finally deciding to put his two cents in after observing her and listening for the past few minutes. "But it wasn't exactly very fun for the rest of us to know that you had gone without proper clothing, and shelter for who knows how long."
"Not to mention food and other necessities." Someone else chimed in, but they were hiding themselves, so Ichigo wasn't able to glare at them like she was some of the others right then.
"Anyway, you can see our point here, right?" Jushiro said kindly as he stared at her.
She was frowning, but he could tell that she understood their point. She was simply reluctant to speak up because she knew that if she wanted or needed something and was going without- it tended to upset them. And rightly so too! They had promised that they would take care of her, after all.
Especially considering everything that she had had to lose and give up for their sakes.
They knew that it wasn't fair to her to no longer be able to return to her home and family. To not be able to complete her education at school. To no longer be able to socialize with other humans her own age and forge new bonds. To experience new milestones in her young life that others already had.
They understood that far better than she seemed think and they knew that it was cruel to her. They were trying to make things better for her. But it was difficult when she kept refusing to speak out about what it was that she lacked. And sure, they knew and understood that they couldn't get or give her everything.
Some things were simply out of their power to do so. But this one thing...they could help with. All she had to do was tell them what she wanted.
"Alright, I get your point." Ichigo finally said with an aggrieved sigh. "But I still don't understand what my settling down has to do with anything."
"I'm getting to that if you will just give me a moment." Jushiro said as he slowly rose from his seat to stand. "As we said before, we feel that you cannot thrive without-"
Shunsui cut him off with another loudly said. "Sex!" Causing Ichigo to look as if she were going to do something terrible to the man. So Jushiro decided to intervein on her behalf.
"Byakuya will you please gag Shunsui for me?"
"Of course, sir." The Kuchiki said as he moved swiftly and caught Shunsui by surprise, causing the man to squeal before he was promptly tripped and fell to the floor so that he couldn't scamper off. It barely took the younger man a minute after that to hog tie the other Captain and gag him as requested.
Then to add insult to injury, he seated himself on Shunsui's back so that the man could squirm as much as he liked, but he couldn't easily escape the younger man's weight resting on his back.
"Thank you Byakuya. You did very well." Jushiro said kindly, honestly happy that his best friend couldn't interrupt him anymore with the S word.
"You're compliment honor's me."
Jushiro chuckled and then returned his attention to Ichigo once he had taken a moment to make sure that nothing in the room was smoking yet. Thankfully nothing was. He would have to praise her for her restraint after the meeting.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted again. We are worried that you will not continue to thrive without a companion or life mate. It is somewhat puzzling to us that you would still be unattached at your age when others aren't. Miss Inoue has married and has two children now. Rukia and Renji are married and have a child of their own. Do you not wish for the same for yourself?"
Rukia cleared her throat delicately, drawing Jushiro's gaze her way before saying, "I think I can help answer that question."
"Very well, Rukia. Any insight that you can give us would be appreciated."
"It isn't that Ichigo doesn't want those things for herself. It's that...how do I say this? The only people thus far that have even approached her with those things in mind are...uh..."
"Low lives. Thugs. Jerks." Ichigo supplied helpfully, feeling a headache beginning to form behind her eyes.
"Yeah, all of those things!"
"You're kidding," Jushiro said as he glanced between Rukia and Ichigo. For some reason both of the women hung their heads, their shoulders drooping. It wasn't a good look for them. Especially since they were among some of the strongest people he knew. "The only people to try to seek your hand have been low lives? Truely?" He asked in an incredulous tone.
Ichigo lifted her head for a second and muttered. "Sadly."
"But why?" Jushiro asked, wondering what in the world may have possessed such people to even attempt to approach Ichigo in the first place. The woman was among the few Soul Reapers that had such great standing that she was practically acknowledged as a noble! And not a lower one either.
Her exploits in the war and with many other incidents had become so well known that she had been paid for her work in lands, many large chests of gold and silver, priceless, well-made silk kimonos and antiquities. Honestly, it was difficult to name all of the things that she had been given by others. But he knew that the list was a very long and extensive one.
However, that was simply the list of those outside of the Seireitei that had gifted her with things.
Those inside of the Seireitei that had survived the ravages of the war had given her things too. Their loyalty and devotion. Their oath that they would always fight by her side regardless of the circumstances that they found themselves in. Some even swore to serve and protect her.
Jushiro was among one of those people willing to serve and protect her.
Yet even so, he knew that she would never ask him for anything that he wasn't willing to give. And even more important, was the fact that she would never demand that he choose her over the Seireitei and the other Soul Reapers. She would rather die first.
Which was just part of the reason that he admired her so much.
"It has a lot to do with her power and abilities, sir." Rukia chimed in again. "Ever since she came of age, everyone that has even heard her name has tried to get close to her because of her power and abilities. Either because they think she's an utter moron and will easily fall for their nonsense so that they can use her. Or because they feel that their offspring would easily benefit from having her as a mother."
"I see," Jushiro said with a thoughtful look on his face. "That makes sense, I suppose."
And it did, really. But as much as it made sense it was also very disturbing to him. Not only that, but it also meant that some of the rumors weren't just nonsense.
That could be bothersome if some of the other rumors reached the wrong person's ears. Like one of the nobles that oversaw some of the Soul Reaper's activities and funding.
But more than that, he could already see that there was a serious problem in the lack of suitors for Ichigo. After all, given who she was- she should have had no end of suitors kicking down the doors of the Seireitei demanding her affections.
He knew for a fact that there were many men among the Soul Reapers that desired nothing but just to speak to her once. So, it wasn't as if she didn't have admirers.
Humming as he mulled everything over for a bit longer, he was about to speak again when he heard Shunsui's voice suddenly ask, "What do you want in a potential husband, Ichigo? Do you know?"
He glanced over where Byakuya had been sitting on his friend and saw that Shunsui was not only no longer gagged but free as well. In fact, he had somehow managed to switch places with the other man and was sitting on Byakuya's back while the younger Captain glared over his shoulder at him in utter murderous rage.
Not that Shunsui gave a damn any. He was enjoying his mischief.
Jushiro sighed and hung his head for a moment, finding his friend's antics tiresome right then. But still waited patiently for Ichigo to respond to the question.
However, after a few heartbeats of silence, he swung his gaze back around in Ichigo's direction to see if the young woman was alright and not just stalling for time due to how embarrassing the answer of Shunsui's question was going to be for her to say.
And found a very stunned and startled Yumachika standing where she had been mere moments ago, wearing an Ichigo-esque wig, and a duplicate of her kimono.
The poor man was on the verge of tears as he stared back at Jushiro who then pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before then turning back to Rukia to find Toshiro in a similar position as Yumachika.
But in a Rukia-esque wig and outfit.
Jushiro could do nothing but blink at the absurdity of what he was seeing as his mind attempted to understand exactly what he was looking at while Shunsui let out a whistle of appreciation and then muttered, "The girls have gotten really good at escaping, huh?"
'Good' didn't even begin to cover how well the two women had effortlessly managed to escape the room. Much less how they had done so while forcing Toshiro and Yumachika to act as their doubles- all while every eye in the room was on them both.
Finally, Jushiro couldn't hold himself back any longer and blurted out, "How the hell did this happen?"
"We don't know!" The two baffled men cried in unison before actually breaking down into tears.