The King's Death

Chapter 2:Kuchiki Manor

"What about Ichigo?" I murmur catching my brother's attention and noticing the slight twitch of his brow.

"Rukia you remember what you promised the elders when we adopted you it's only reasonable that they ask you this. Plus they would never allow you to marry a human of non-noble blood anyway so why don't you forget about him?" I turn to him and sigh before going to my room silently. Nii-sama never understood why I loved Ichigo the way I did. In fact no one ever did except maybe Yoruichi. They didn't know him like I did. They didn't know him as the sweet kind caring man that he was at home or the soft sensitive artist he was during art class. They only knew him as the powerhouse fighter that he is. They also didn't know his tender side that he showed during that stormy night or when his sisters would cry. I miss him sometimes when I'm here and he's there all the time.

Oh Ichigo, I only wish I could tell you how I really feel. The elders would never approve though so I kept my feelings a secret, I could tell that sometimes we were close and then sometimes you pushed me away and I did the same to you. I can only hope you'll forget about me. Please Ichigo, I beg you to forget about me and live as normal of a life as you can.

Night comes and goes and I'm walking around the streets trying to figure out what to do when a flash of orange hair catches my attention near the 6th division barracks. I shake my head and as I round the corner I run right into Ichigo.

"Ichigo what the hell are you doing here?" I say grabbing his collar. I watch his eyes flicker around quickly.

"Rukia come with me." He says pulling me inside a building nearby and locking the door behind him. His eyes find mine and his fingers find my chin as he drawn it up so he can look at me directly. "I came to talk to you."

I shake my head fiercely back and forth stopping him from talking anymore and removing his hand from my face. He moves back a step grunting in surprise before looking at me with sadness in his warm brown eyes. I had never rejected a show of affection from him...not once.

"Ichigo we can't be friends anymore, I might be getting married soon. I'm sorry please I beg of you to forget me." I murmur before moving toward him and pressing my lips to his before running out. The feeling of that one kiss lingered on my lips more so than the searing ones of pain or of lust. This kiss was sad and filled with so much longing and hopelessness from both sides that I could hardly bear the weight that had settled on my heart in its wake.

Tears hit my cheeks and roll down them as sobs try to escape me. I watch as two men walk out the 6th squad barracks. They wear the royal guard tattoos so they must have been there to talk to my brother. I run past them and through the streets until I'm home. Running to my room I fall onto my bed and sob quite loudly releasing all of my pain. After a while my brother enters slowly and sighs softly pulling me to him.

"Rukia I know this will be hard but you'll be okay I promise when you meet the Spirit King everything will be okay. I can't say you'll meet him anytime soon but he is meeting with the elders tomorrow." I look up at him scared and heartbroken and sob again falling into his chest. His arms wrap around me hesitantly and his fingers run a soothing pattern across my back calming me enough to fall asleep. Everyone asks what Byakuya is like because he is so distant and yet to me he is like any older brother warm and loving but still his distant disposition is there hiding in the background when we argue. It's because of Hisana. In some ways he reminds me of Ichigo when he is with Yuzu and Karin.

After some time Nii-sama stands and leaves allowing me to resume my solitude for the remainder of the night. Sleep didn't come to me so as the sun began to rise I dressed for duty and walked toward the 13th division barracks to sit for a while or maybe go back to the backfield and watch the sun rise. In the long run I ended up going to the back field and watching the breeze roll across the grass as the dew slowly dried.