"Captain, may I have a moment?"

Renji tried to keep his expression calm, composed and yet determined. Even though Renji intended to ask his captain for something, he wanted to make sure to let his superior know that he was completely determined to have his own way no matter what.

On Byakuya's part, he looked up calmly from his paperwork and fixed Renji with his usual cool detached expression as he said, "Yes, I believe I can spare a few moments."

Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart and forcing his hands to remain at his sides, Renji said, "I would like to ask for both your permission and blessing to take Rukia as my wife."

If Captain Byakuya Kuchiki felt any surprise about Renji's blunt statement, then he was very adept at hiding it because his only reaction was to lean back in his seat, steeple his long fingers and say to Renji, "I see. It has been a while since I had any occasion to pay attention to the ways in which a man will try to win a woman's heart and hand, but I imagine that the practices of courtship are still in place yet it seems as though you are asking me to skip over that custom in an effort to bind Rukia to you legally. In light of that information, I must ask myself why you would wish to do such a thing."

Renji blinked in slight surprise. He had expected Byakuya to give some sort of objection to his proposal, but he had been preparing to defend his position, his income or his future prospects. The possibility that Byakuya might not approve of the fact that Renji had not asked to court Rukia first had not even crossed Renji's mind, so for a few moments the vice-captain said nothing.

After he had collected his thoughts, Renji said in a less serious tone, "To be perfectly honest Captain, I had not even considered courtship as a possibility or necessity. Usually courtship is a practice used to get to know your potential spouse a little better before you become engaged. I have known Rukia since we were both children in the Rukongai, moved to the Soul Reaper Academy and moved up the ranks in our different squads, so while I would be willing to court Rukia properly to show you and her that courtesy, I would do so with the understanding that I would be allowed to propose to her very shortly."

Fixing Renji with an unreadable look, Byakuya said, "What you say is true about you knowing Rukia as a person for all these years, but you seem to have conveniently or unintentionally forgotten about Rukia's societal status now. She is a part of the Kuchiki clan and certain practices and traditions must be upheld for the sake of the clan's honor."

Standing up and walking over to the window, Byakuya continued, "You obviously know that the Kuchiki clan is one of the most prestigious families within the Soul Society as well as one of the wealthiest. Also, because Rukia is the adopted sister of the Head of the Kuchiki clan, it only stands to reason that the bride price would be very substantial for the man who managed to ask for her hand in marriage."

Something clicked on in Renji's mind and he struggled to keep his voice even despite the fact that he was becoming quite angry, "Yes Captain, I assure you that I am well aware of the fact that Rukia is a part of the Kuchiki clan and your sister and that her…dowry would have to be agreed upon. However-"

Byakuya cut Renji off saying, "The Kuchiki's have always been leaders in all areas of life, from within the home to their workplace. Any Kuchiki who is unable to attain certain status through his own hard work is not considered to be anyone but a Kuchiki in name only and not a true member of the clan."

Looking out a window and clasping his hands behind him, Byakuya went on, "Obviously, I have been the Captain of Squad Six for many years and my grandfather held the position before me. Rukia has now achieved the Vice-Captaincy within her own squad after many years of hard work and training and maybe one day she will become Captain if she continues to do her duties as admirably as she has been."

Trying to keep his temper in check, Renji said slowly, "I'm sure you are very proud of Rukia's accomplishments and I am as well. Wha-"

Renji really shouldn't have been surprised when Byakuya cut him off again saying, "As a result, it only stands to reason that the man who comes asking for my permission to marry Rukia would have made similar personal advancements within his own squad, otherwise he never could be truly accepted into the Kuchiki clan. This would show the man's ability to follow and give orders, be responsible, complete assignments and tasks in an orderly fashion and begin to develop his own sense of leadership. He would also have to be training consistently in order to improve his own skills and better the members of his squad by setting an example."

Keeping his eyes focused upon the outside world, Byakuya said, "With all these qualities though, the man would have to show that he can be more than just a follower. A leader has to be able to follow orders from those whom he is under, but if all he does is act and react without thinking for himself than he is no better than a puppet. He is no man at all. A true leader is able to think for himself and decide what is best for those who look up to and follow him. He cannot think of himself at all."

Turning to look at Renji once again, Byakuya asked in a cool tone, "Do you not agree that only a man with these qualities would be worthy of a woman of Rukia's caliber and status?"

Renji opened his mouth to retort, but something held him back and so he replied simply, "Yes, Sir. Rukia deserves such a man who can prove himself worthy of her."

Nodding curtly, Byakuya said, "I'm glad we agree on that point. Then I would simply say to you that Rukia is fond of cherry blossoms and we have many fine specimens in the Kuchiki gardens. That might make for a very picturesque and memorable site for a proposal, don't you think?"

Renji blinked once again in surprise and a little confusion as his captain sat back down and became once more absorbed in paperwork. Not sure what had just happened, Renji hesitantly began to walk away when he heard Byakuya say one more thing that instantly cleared away the remaining cobwebs in his brain.

"It is a common Kuchiki practice to present one's new fiancée with some sort of token or memento."

"He actually said yes?"

One would think after so many years of fighting alongside one another would have allowed Renji and Ichigo to overlook the other's faults and flaws, but the amount of times they had 'battled' against one another still far outweighed how many times they were able to work together.

Renji's voice was beyond irritated as he said, "I already told you that Captain Kuchiki gave me permission, so what's with the skeptical tone?"

Grinning and shrugging his shoulders, Ichigo leaned back and said, "It's just that if I'm hearing you right, Byakuya told you in no uncertain terms that Rukia's future husband has to be a good leader."

Renji ground out, "And just what are you trying to say?"

Rolling his eyes, Uryu cut in, "Ignore that idiot and get to the point Renji. It sounds like you already have Byakuya's permission, so why did you call us all here?"

Turning a little pink, Renji scratched his head and said, "Well, I don't know how I should…you know…"

"Pop the question?"

Renji shrugged, "When you put it that way…yeah, I guess…"

Orihime clapped her hands delightedly and said, "That's so excited Renji! I'm so happy for you and I'm sure you and Rukia will be so happy together! And you'll have adorable babies with big eyes like their mama and bright hair like their papa and I'll babysit them when you both have to fight Hollows and Chad can carry them on this shoulders to take them to the park and Uryu will sew cute dolls for the little girls while Ichigo teaches the boys how to fight with swords and-"

Renji cut in harshly stating, "I'll only let that idiot teach my sons how to fight when I want them to kill each other off out of sheer ignorance!"

Jumping to his feet, Ichigo retorted, "Is that so?! Well maybe they would only kill each other because I was doing it right, but their stupid father tried to butt in and taught them wrong!"

Copying Ichigo's actions, Renji retaliated, "Oh really?! Say that again you orange haired delinquent!"

"I'm the delinquent?! You're the one with neon red hair and enough tattoos to put Lizardman to shame!"

Tatsuki stood up and 'Maka-chopped' both Renji and Ichigo's heads as she growled, "Knock it off! People are starting to stare, you idiots!"

Once everyone was calmed down again, Uryu adjusted his glasses and said drolly, "Thank you, Tatsuki. Now that we have order again, let's start again. Renji, you are looking for proposal ideas from us, is that right?"

Renji nodded and said, "I want to make it special not only because it's Rukia but because Byakuya reminded me just how important the Kuchiki clan is, so I have to get this just right."

Uryu folded his arms and replied, "I don't know what kind of proposal customs have been established in the Soul Society, but here it is not uncommon for the man to buy an engagement as well as flowers. While there will be flowers in the garden, it might be a good idea to bring some of your own."

Orihime asked, "What kind of flowers are in the Kuchiki garden?"

Renji replied, "Cherry blossoms."

Orihime nodded and said with a smile, "Well that's a really good start since the cherry blossom speaks of spirituality and beauty, so we need to make sure that the flowers you bring only help to enhance those meanings."

Renji looked confused as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

Orihime explained, "Oh well, there is something known as the 'language of the flowers' where each flower and even the different colors of that same flower have different meanings. So when you mix them together in a bouquet, you can give Rukia a kind of secret message."

Looking thoughtful, Orihime said, "For example, let's say you combined red carnations, baby's breath, purple pansies and blue violets, the red carnations stand for 'pure love', baby's breath for 'purity of heart', purple pansies 'you fill my thoughts' and blue violets mean speak of love and faithfulness. Basically, you would be telling Rukia that your love and heart were pure and faithful and that you are constantly thinking about her. I can't think of a message you could give that would be more romantic than that."

Renji nodded slowly as he said, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Orihime's eyes shone as she went on, "So if you gave her that bouquet, you could then take a little time to walk around the garden and talk about all the things about her that you have fallen in love with. And you could hire a choir to serenade you both softly as you speak about your love…how about a choir of centaurs! And they could bring harps and lutes and then the mermaids could dance gracefully on the shoreline with some of them riding on dolphins and sharks! But then maybe the dolphins would start picking on the poor sharks and a fight would break out and the mermaids would be in danger so the mermen would start protecting their precious lady partners! And just when everything begins to calm down, an octopus who was not invited would come and start throwing rocks and broken coral at everybody and you would have to protect Rukia with Zabimaru before you both get on the big sword and ride away into the sky to say hello to the moon and stars and then the Milky Way would invite Byakuya to come up and dance at your wedding and we could all fly with the shooting stars!"

Everyone could only stare at Orihime before finally Renji managed to say slowly, "Well, that would be one option…"

Author's Note:

So this is the first part of the two-shot story requested by RomaniaBlack for winning the 'Summer of Friendship Contest' for the 'Orihime-the-Great' group over at deviantart . com (take out the spaces).

Anyway, I hope I started off ok and everything is beginning according to the details you told me.

Hopefully, this was explained, but just in case I wasn't clear, that whole scene with Byakuya was basically showing Renji in his own way that he did approve of Renji as becoming his sort of brother-in-law. Renji was the one who faced off against Byakuya when Rukia was about to be executed, so he showed his ability to think for himself. Also, Renji used his own body to shield Rukia to the best of his ability and Byakuya did the same later on. Also, besides the very beginning of Bleach, I can't think of one time when Rukia has come to Ichigo's aid and Renji has not been with her as well showing that Byakuya gave him persmission to go as well.

Hope you enjoyed the first part of your story sweetie and I'm working to get the second out really soon!