Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach.
Sorry for the long delay people, shit happened, I'm back.
Hope you Enjoy!
"Ha!" Renji called out in glee as Ichigo growled menacingly under his breath "You snooze you lose! I get to choose the punishment!"
The orange head gave Renji his best scowl, but it did nothing to deter him in his path to humiliating Ichigo. Rukia, who was sitting on the engawa watching everything patiently took a sip of her tea that hid her evil smile. Served the strawberry right.
"You cheated, I know you did!" Ichigo declared in a vain attempt to avoid whatever crazy thing was going on in Renji's brain.
"Nop!" Renji declared happily as he placed his hands on his hips, a wide smile firmly planted on his face "I win, so I declare that today, for the rest of the day, you must… uh…" he stopped to think as Ichigo looked on apprehensively.
Almost by pure fate, at that very moment Byakuya strolled into the Kuchiki compound, the prefect mask of composure firmly planted on his face like every single day as he stalked towards the main entrance where they were loitering around.
"Ni-sama." Rukia greeted calmly, as Renji scrambled to make his own excuses before a light bulb turned on over his head.
"I've got it!" he stated enthusiastically as he disregarded the Kuchiki "For the rest of the day you have to act all noble, prim and proper like captain or you'll get a tattoo of my face on your ass!"
Everyone looked horrified, and after a second, Renji seemed to realize what he has said in front of his captain and froze in horror too. As Ichigo's brain started to work again, he turned from Byakuya, to Renji and then Byakuya again before nodding.
"O-kay…" he began nervously "I'll go with the Byakuya idea."
Everyone still stared in silence, and for a minute Ichigo thought Byakuya would actually explode before he caught the tell end flicker of amusement on usually impassive gray eyes.
"I believe I can help with your bet, Kurosaki Ichigo." He intoned calmly after what seemed like an eternity.
Oh no. Ichigo thought worriedly as he tried to not run in the other direction. But he would stand his ground, he would not, under any circumstances, even if he was asked to kiss Kenpachi, going to get a Renji tattoo on his ass.
"O-kay…" he repeated nervously "Start?"
"Uh," Renji stammered nervously before nodding "On the count of three?"
Ichigo nodded.
"One."
He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and concentrated. He tried to focus on his core, find his inner peace to avoid losing his composure throughout the day.
"Two."
He exhaled, his reiatsu mirroring the notion as it seemed to spread around him like an embrace before settling down into a peaceful hum in the background. He heard Rukia make a surprised sound, but ignored it as he concentrated,
"Three!"
Ichigo snapped his eyes open calmly and slowly as he made sure his posture stayed straight and stiff. He gave a barely there smile, before inclining his head in the Kuchiki clan head's direction.
"Apologies for not doing so earlier, but excuse my intrusion in your home, Kuchiki-dono." The orange head intoned calmly in a tone of voice that had them thinking it was made of honey.
Shocked silence before Byakuya caught himself and nodded respectfully as well.
"It is no bother. I may have not said this before, but you are welcome in this household anytime, Kurosaki-san." The raven head answered back with a practiced efficiency even though Ichigo could tell the man had actually meant it.
Ichigo's smile twitched ever so slightly, but his mask remained firmly in place "Much appreciated, but I am afraid I must correct you Kuchiki-dono. My proper name is Shiba Ichigo; Kurosaki is my human surname." He explained to the raven head, completely ignoring his shocked audience.
"I see." Byakuya didn't even twitch, as if this hadn't been a surprise to him as well "Am I to presume your Cousin is making preparations?" he rose an eyebrow questionably.
"Of course," Ichigo agreed placidly "the main compound is being cleared off, so we're moving back into Sereitei as well."
The raven head nodded in understanding "And I imagine –since she has no children to call her own- that you are stepping up as heir to your clan?"
Ichigo's smile widened ever so slightly, but it remained politely on his face with no trace of malice. Rukia and Renji kept on staring at the two nobles, their shock evident in their face as they tried to process the fact that this straight faced, respectful orange head, was their brash, scowling friend.
"I assure you it was not my idea." Ichigo commented ever so hesitantly, as if he was placing a lot of trust on the Kuchiki Head to have said that out loud.
Byakuya hummed in agreement as if he had expected nothing less before turning towards the entrance of the building with his usual composure.
"I'm about to settle down for tea with some of our clan elders." Byakuya informed them "Maybe it'd be a great opportunity for the Kuchiki Clan to extend their formal friendship towards the Shiba Clan?"
Ichigo's smile didn't even twitch, but the tell-tale gleam in his eyes told them all he was more than agreeable to the idea.
"Of course," the orange head drawled expertly "Please lead the way, Kuchiki-dono."
While the two entered the manor as if it were a common occurrence, the two lieutenants stayed dumbstruck in their positions as they watched the two interact like pleasant acquaintances.
"Did that just-" Renji tried to point out lamely as he shared a wide eyed look with the raven head.
"It never happened." Rukia agreed as she tried to get over her own shock "Ni-sama and Ichigo did not just become tea buddies. It. Never. Happened."
The redhead blinked in shock as he tried to delete the scene from his memory with little to no success before a voice interrupted his thought process.
"Oh, and Abarai-san," Renji turned towards the rich voice and was visibly pained to see Ichigo standing by the door once more with a pleasant and polite smile that Renji was now willing to dub let-us-happily-bond-over-a-detailed-examination-of-your-entrails. "I wasn't able to resist in mentioning-" the smile grew a quarter inch "-Your wit never ceases to underwhelm me." He gave a slight nod and turned back inside "Good day."
"It never happened." Rukia whispered venerably.
Not to be continued…