alright, shorter chapter today and more deck chair shuffling, but there's IR this time I promise! really though Saturday really snuck up on me this week. I almost dived into D2 (if you know you know) without posting the chapter today.

Kukaku sighed as she looked over the plans for the coming week's celebration. One of Byakuya's suggestions again. She'd hate how much she was listening to him if it weren't for the fact that he was right most of the time.

The point of the celebration was to celebrate the reinstatement of the Shiba clan. The invitation list was pretty much a who's who of the Seireitei. There were captains, lieutenants, nobles of varying pedigree, and family. Isshin had told Kukaku that Karin would be able to come to Soul Society that day, which made sense since she had chosen a day that Ichigo's friends could visit.

She sighed. This would be the first time three of Ichigo's friends have ever seen Soul Society, let alone the Seireitei, and they'd be in the same courtyard as some of the most important people in it. Fortunately, Kukaku was not a fan of purely formal affairs, the Kuchiki's did that better anyway. She wanted to remind everyone how the Shibas did a celebration, food, alcohol, and fireworks.

There were also going to be some interesting guest interactions. Uryu had declined, citing lingering political tensions between quincy and shinigami, and he had a point. Isshin had recommended inviting Rangiku, Kukaku had initially tried to get her brother to rethink inviting a person who had every reason to deck him, but he had cut her off, so she just decided to sit back and watch on that one. Rukia and Byakuya were givens as they were Kuchiki and knew Ichigo. Rukia had even offered to help organize the event, an offer Kukaku took up because she had no idea where to start when the planning phase began.

Now she had a list of people in front of her. Many were individuals she barely knew. She never really interacted with the Yayahara clan that much, they were a watchdog family like the Tsunayashiro, but instead of watching the living world, they monitored hell, or tried to. Hell being hell meant it was a pain in the ass to actually look at, and expeditions were expressly forbidden due to the risk of losing people down there permanently. So they just looked at a bunch of screens making sure the lines stayed where they should. Not inviting them would be rude so she had little choice. Tokinada on the other hand, he had given her every reason to snub him. When he had visited proposing a political alliance, he had done just about everything to get kicked out. She wasn't a fan of getting cozy with someone who had killed a Shiba in the past, but she had mistakenly given him a chance to make his case. It had become quickly apparent why he supported reinstating the Shibas, power.

The documents which codify the order of Soul Society in the current era say that Central 46 can only be overruled by decree of the Soul King. What that actually meant was that all five clans had to vote unanimously to tell the old coots to go fuck themselves. However, since the Shibas were disinherited, the conditions of the original legal framework couldn't be reached. It's why the 46 came down on the Shibas like a ton of bricks after her brother ran off with Masaki.

In current events however, the arguments brought forward to the 46 for reinstatement were more or less unchallengeable. Ichigo wiped clean the family name, and as the single strongest Shinigami since at least Yoruichi, pretty much made it impossible to say no.

So yeah. A lot of people were coming to a semi-formal event where there was going to be beer, sake, food, and fireworks. Honestly, it sounded like fun so far. She just hoped that Ganju and Isshin wouldn't embarrass the family, but then there were matters of some rumors surrounding Ichigo and Rukia. Kukaku grinned at the thought.

Yuyu Yayahara was not a happy girl. She was a first daughter in a branch of a noble clan. In the eyes of her clan, she was political capital, not a person, and so she was treated as such. She was raised to be a submissive wallflower. Look pretty, be silent unless spoken to, and respect the men of the family.

She played along but she hated it. She hated it so much that she joined the Shino Academy against her family's wishes. Then she joined the eighth division, then under now Head Captain Shunsui Kyoraku, and now under his former lieutenant Lisa Yadomaru. Her father was livid. It was well known that the Gotei 13 would not deny a shinigami candidate once they had shown potential, especially a member of one of the great houses, no matter the political situation surrounding them. They simply couldn't afford to be picky when it was hard to get good shinigami, especially now as they were still recovering from the war with the quincies.

Her path to the eighth was not direct. She had first joined the sixth under Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. Her idea being that her father couldn't conceivably pressure him into doing anything. While she was right, the sixth was too regimented, too structured, and thus reminded her of her home too much. She had brought these concerns to her former captain directly, and ironically he was the one to recommend the transfer to the eighth.

So when the letter from her father wasn't an idiotic plea for her to retire or a demand that she marry some well-to-do nobody asshole, she was surprised. It was even more surprising when it had stated that their family, including her, were to be part of the Yayahara delegation to the celebration being thrown by the recently reinstated Shiba clan.

She would have declined out of hand if it weren't for one thing. The heir of said clan was Ichigo Shiba, formerly Kurosaki. The man who had looked at the sentence given to the one who gave him his powers said fuck that, invaded Soul Society, breached the sekiseki barrier with a reiatsu cannonball, beat Kenpachi Zaraki, achieved bankai in two days, and then blocked the Sogyoku. The single greatest rebel against the status quo in the history of Soul Society.

Yeah. She was going. She began writing her response. She was still using the noble calligraphy she had been taught, not for decorum or respect for her family, but simply because that was just how she wrote. She hated that but it was drilled into her, and right now she really didn't care.

Once she had finished writing her response she waited for the ink to dry and got an envelope before looking in the mirror. Her straight black hair in a long hime cut framed her pale face as it should have. She hated that she looked like the perfect noblewoman her father tried to make her, but that was the Kuchiki genes expressing themselves. Her mother was a distant cousin to Byakuya, an outer branch of the family. She could tell her mother grated under her father's iron fist, but like the good Kuchiki she was raised to be, she kept her displeasure off of her face, and only said anything once the order of the house couldn't be disturbed, and then only vented to her daughter. She loved her mother, she was the only reason she played along as long as she did. When she told her family she had been accepted into the academy, while her father was livid, her mother was proud and gave her a small, imperceptible smile.

And so for the sake of her mother, and to meet her hero, she would go.

Byakuya Kuchiki was both pleased and annoyed. Since his sister began training Ichigo rumors had started surrounding the two. While this did lower the amount of paper he fed to Senbonzakura every week, to both his and his zanpakuto's relief, it also caused the elders to have a conniption, and whenever they had a conniption they were doom driven to make it his problem, especially if it involved his sister. In their mind the fact that she hadn't been married off yet was an insult, and whenever marriage popped up someone would inevitably ask why hasn't he remarried yet, and then the meeting just went to shit.

This had been exacerbated further by rumors surrounding Rukia and Ichigo popping up again. When he had first confronted the boy about the matter before his departure to the living world, he had said that they weren't courting. He noted Ichigo's choice of words there. He didn't deny any feelings of attraction, only that he hadn't acted on them if they were there. Two years ago? He would have seen Ichigo as wholly unworthy of Rukia in every way. Now, however, he found himself putting Ichigo's name on his incredibly short 'maybe' list.

That maybe was very conditional maybe though. First and foremost, Ichigo would have to either decide to stay in Soul Society or be barred from returning to the living world on a long-term basis by Central 46. Most expected him to simply ignore them after such a ruling, but Byakuya knew better. He had crossed blades with the boy's bankai, his very reason for gaining such power wouldn't stand for putting people at risk unnecessarily. If they said he had to stay for the safety of those in the living world, he would comply, if begrudgingly. Only if those events transpired would he consider the possibility of marriage, and only if Rukia reciprocated the feelings that Ichigo so clearly harbored.

Then it came back to his sister. She had been overworking herself prior to their little prank war making it into a captain's meeting. It was fitting revenge, though he partially hoped that Rukia was suitably distracted with training Ichigo to come up with a suitable reprisal. He may have been better at resisting her pranks, but his sister had always been the more clever sibling, and him keeping her in the unseated rank for so long was beginning to lightly bite him in the ass. He simply hoped that she didn't pull anything at the celebration, as due to it being a Shiba event, it was Shiba rules of decorum, meaning Shiba pranks were on the table.

Oh no… Shiba… Isshin Shiba…

Ichigo was in the foyer checking in on the entrance display Rukia had insisted on making for the event. The arrangements so far had proven to be something else. Rukia had an eye for them, probably something she picked up in her time with the Kuchiki. The arrangements for the Shihoin, Kuchiki, and Yayahara delegations were already done. They were quite understated, and while Ichigo didn't pretend to know what they individually meant, he was sure Rukia had done everything with the utmost attention to detail. It was beautiful. The division arrangements were also impressive. Though Ichigo glossed over them for the most part.

That was until he saw Rukia working on what was supposed to be the arrangement for her division. She was slowly putting in a combination of what he recognized as the division's flower, the snowdrop, and another flower he couldn't quite name off the top of his head. Though the arrangement was different, it was similar to the fourth's. Then it dawned on Ichigo, this was an arrangement done in memory of Ukitake.

"Hey," he announced his presence. He kept his space and maintained a quiet tone.

"It's fine," Rukia deflected what she thought was an offer of aid. Ichigo was considering offering to help finish, but he was more concerned that it looked like she was about to break down.

"I'm more worried about you," Ichigo could tell Ukitake meant a lot to her. He was the kind to care for his own men like a father would, and while she had Byakuya as a steadfast part of her life, Ukitake had predictably become a father-like figure for her, especially after she became lieutenant. The news of his death had hurt everyone who knew him, especially those under his command.

"I… I can do this," Grief wasn't a new feeling for Rukia. She knew of her own mortality long before she even considered being a part of what facilitates the cycle of transmigration. She had lost close friends before she and Renji even knew why they were going hungry, but Ukitake was different.

Many captains, her brother included, demanded respect due to their rank as a captain, and the duty of their subordinates to the Seireitei. They still led, they still charged forward, but Ukitake, he would go out of his way to earn your respect. He would give you an ear on a bad day, and do your work so you could get that much-needed rest. He was a different type of leader.

"Let me help," Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder. He rarely interacted with Ukitake, but his first memory of the late captain was when he visited him in the fourth and thanked him for rescuing his subordinate. That one moment had told Ichigo everything he ever needed to know about him.

"Alright," Rukia slowly guided Ichigo through the process. Each flower was placed with the utmost care. Before the hour was up they were done. It was then that Rukia finally let the dam burst. A full year of suppressed grief came out as quiet sobs. Ichigo simply found a place to sit down and let her cry into him, not caring if she stained his clothing.

"You know this won't help the rumors right?" Ichigo looked over at the shorter woman with a light smirk.

"Shut up." Rukia spoke quietly. But they both knew that there was an entirely different meaning to the exchange.

Yes, that is Yuyu from the hell arc. I wanted to mess around with her character before she went in that direction, but at the same time, make her going in that direction believable.

as for the grief? nobody had gotten the time to greave in TYBW, and even after there really isn't the time for it as the Seireitei rebuilds. The world marches on, and the Seireitei cannot afford to let it march on without them.