Wow, I'm actually posting something. That's like a miracle I swear. Enjoy

Chapter 7:

Glances

Of course Ichigo spent his first night in the guest room. The afternoon and evening of his arrival remained considerably uneventful. Byakuya had insisted that Ichigo and Rukia spend as much time together as possible but they made no attempt at conversation.

When Byakuya had even suggested that Rukia should give Ichigo a tour of the house, she pulled aside one of the maids to do it for her as she fallowed in the back, making quiet groans and sighs that only Ichigo seemed to hear.

When no one was paying any specific attention to the couple, they glanced at each other back and forth, as if a game of tag. Neither one of them was willing to show their obvious curiosity.

By the time everyone sat for the evening meal, Ichigo couldn't help but feel even more desperately curious to her Rukia's voice. All I've heard her do is scowl, he realized. He thought that maybe if he could hear some hint of softness in her tone that would say that she was not as harsh as she had so far proven to be. Maybe they could come to some mutual agreement, but then again, maybe not. Rukia didn't seem too overly fond of any sort of relationship. Whether it was ally, acquaintance, friend, or lover. Definitely not lover.

The guest room was just as extravagant as the rest of the house, if not more. The matted straw floor was perfectly woven to the very last strand. Like all the other beds, his was a futon, stored in the closet during the day to save space.

When Ichigo returned from his bath he found that the futon was already spread out onto the floor. It was light and fluff. It seemed overly weird to have people invisibly waiting for him on his hand and foot.

This will be my life now, he thought to himself, I'll have to get used to this.

The house proved to be even more beautiful in the morning. The sounds that surrounded with the early dew made if feel like a dreamy sanctuary.

Ichigo listened to the Japanese Robin which sand outside. He knew that it was probably released from its cage just for the morning. No more than a pet to make the house seem even more magical. Or maybe they liked its tune. Well, its song was absolutely beautiful.

There was a faint voice from behind the door that interrupted his peace: "Kurosaki-sama?"

Ichigo made no sound and wondered if he should respond. He thought that he might as well and crawled from his bed, putting on his yukata.

"Kurasoaki-Sama?" The voice said again.

"Come in." He had finished tying the robe after much difficulty. At home, they never use yukata as much as they used to.

The maid slid the door open but kept her head on the ground. Ichigo watched her struggle to sit in the uncomfortable position and realized that he would never be treated as an equal again. The lady spoke hesitantly.

"Kuchiki-sama, your fiancé, wishes to speak with you."

"Where is she?"

"In her room, lord, would you like me to lead you there?"

Ichigo looked down at his robe. He wasn't dressed for any sort of formal meeting. As if reading his thoughts the maid spoke again. "Formal clothing will not be required for this meeting lord, it is a casual breakfast."

Ichigo nodded and the maid slowly rose from her seat. She was careful not to look at Ichigo's face. She made a good job on not looking at him at all actually. Have I become some sort of taboo to look at now? He decided he would never understand the noble court.

The house was far too large for his taste. He was used to the small compact walls of the city. The kind where it took only a couple seconds to travel from one room to the next. There where some hallways inside the walls of the mansion, but most of the rooms where traveled to from the outside, everything being on a high porch like most traditional Japanese houses.

The sudden chill of the morning still hung in the air and Ichigo felt that his yukata was a little too light. But he knew that would change as the morning grew on. The heat would rise high, as it would on any other early summer morning.

Before turning a corner they passed by Byakuya. The maid came to a complete stop and bowed at her waist. She waited for Byakuya to leave sight before they continued on. This was another thing that irked Ichigo. But he played along and bowed his slightly out of fake respect. Of course, Byakuya pain no attention.

They finally stopped in front of a widely open room that was lined with screens along the outside porch. It reminded him of the old noble princesses. No man outside their family or below their rank was aloud to look at them. They spoke through the screens instead. Ichigo wasn't sure he was allowed to look at her again until the wedding but she put him as an exception. Before the maid was even able to announce his arrival, Rukia's hand jolted out and pulled Ichigo through the screen. The maid gasped slightly and Ichigo balanced himself before falling to the floor.

Rukia shooed all the maids away, telling them she wanted to be alone. But they all seemed a little worried about leaving her unattended. Ichigo suddenly felt a little sorry for her; she never gets any privacy.

For the first several minutes they seemed to do nothing but stand and openly stare at each other. He soaked in each feature of her face. Ichigo felt that he should say something but he hardly even knew her reason for calling him.

When Rukia finally grew bored she kneeled down at the table where morning tea was steaming and freshly served. She didn't feel in the mood for tea but he sat himself down anyway. He gaze at her turned into a harsh scowl.

For some reason this seemed to please her more and she retuned the scowl with an amazingly intimidating smile.

"I'm assuming you don't like this arrangement much either." She finally stated. Ichigo knew his answer would be obvious and he would not have answered if the words weren't burning inside of him.

"Like hell I would marry you."

"Then it agreed. Our relationship will develop no further than that." She paused for a while before continuing. "However, that must be kept a secret between us."

"what?"

"You no nothing of political matters. But this is a marriage arranged by our respected leaders. For whatever reason they believe we would be a reasonable match and we must not insult their decision." She pause again, making sure Ichigo was keeping up. She clearly had a low regard for him. "We must pretend to be a completely happy couple."

Ichigo nodded. He couldn't help but feel that it would be harder than what he expected.

An: I never thought I would write another chapter of this again! I've been having unbelievable writer's block lately and on top of my busyness, it's just been a pain to write.

But after reading a review from Saria19, I suddenly had a slight inspiration to write and decided to just go with it. So thanks! I don't know how but you got me out of my writers block. Now I have to figure out what's going to happen in the next chapter. .' …… oh yea, I still have the wedding to go through. Ok, never mind, I know what I'm writing now.

The little part where I talk about Rukia being behind the screens and no man being able to see her except certain people and whatever. I'm not sure how completely true that is (I couldn't find any solid information on it). It's only the conclusion I've gathered from reading several books and watching anime.

To answer a few questions: I'm not sure how much of a role Ichigo's dad is going to play in this. I'm sure he's going to have an idea of what's happening but I still have to decide if he's going to play any role in the story. I am going to poke some fun at it though. And yes, Ichigo is going to have Shinigami powers. He's going to kinda almost get them in the same way as last time but It's going to be more subtle.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. A nice long reply really does help to burst a writer's energy!