Bleach 1. Descending Back to Soul Society

**I've Never Been with Somebody**

_**Chapter One: Descending Back to Soul Society**_

"Kasumioji-sama, you called for me." The Knight of One kneeled in front of her master, the princess of the Kasumioji noble clan. Although she herself had been from an equally noble clan, the knight chose to abandon her clan because of the humiliation that her twin brother had brought upon them.

"Rika. I am grieved to tell you that Yamamoto-soutaicho has asked for your service in Gotei 13," the young princess said. Her eyes were melancholic as she stared at her friend. Rurichiyo felt really, really sad. For years, her Knight of One served under her even though she is a noble herself. Ichimaru Rika is a very loyal woman.

"I will understand any decision you make, Kasumioji-sama," Rika said. Her crimson eyes gazed at the floor, finding it interesting at that moment. Her silvery white hair shone under the light glare from the grand chandelier hanging from above.

Rurichiyo sighed. "Well, I cannot possibly let them take my knight away. So I told him that I will allow you to give them your service but you will still be a part of my Numbered Knights," she said with a smirk. Rika glanced up and smirked also.

"You are so crafty, Rurichiyo-chan," Rika said, chuckling slightly. Rurichiyo laughed. "Well, it's my best friend they're going to take. I cannot possibly allow that," the princess stated flatly.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure Enryuu and Kenryuu would take care of you. They should," Rika said. Rurichiyo told her to stand up. "I'll see you around, Rika-chan. Come and visit the palace sometimes," Rurichiyo told her friend. Rika just smiled.

"I will. I really will."

* * *

Rika walked around the hallways of the old building of Gotei 13 still wearing her knight uniform. Lowly shinigamis stared at her and whispered to each other. She wore a black pencil skirt stopping on her mid-thigh; a white tube top; black jacket with sleeves wide at the end and going past her arms and of course; the two symbols that showed she served under the Imperial Palace of the Kasumioji: her silver pocket watch, engraved with the symbol of the Numbered Knights of the Kasumioji clan; and the black choker around her neck. It had a black rose on it and a silver chain with a silver cross on it.

Her black stiletto heels sounded loudly as she walked confidently to Yamamoto-soutaicho's office. Her zanpakutos [Yes, she has more than one.] lay secured on her waist with a white obi-like cloth tied around her waist.

Her face was deathly calm and serious but not in a scary way. Her white hair was up in a high ponytail, and her bangs were kept in a clip. She reached a door, which had a plate saying:

Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni, First Division

Rika knocked twice on the large wooden door. It stood towering above here, nearly three times her height. The door creaked open slowly, and revealed Yamamoto inside. But the other captains were also there. They all stared at the new comer.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho." It was all what Rika said.

"Please come in, Knight of One, Ichimaru Rika," Yamamoto said. There were hushed whispers.

Ichimaru? Is she related to Gin? That traitor?

She looks like a female version of Gin. She _might_ be relatedto him _somehow_.

Why is she here? And more importantly, why did the Soutaicho ask for her presence?

Rika stepped inside the room. She could feel every stare on her. She understood. After what her brother did, after his betrayal, surely, this reception to his _twin_ would be like that. Rika bowed.

"It is an honor to have the Knight of One of the princess of Kasumioji clan here," Yamamoto said in that old voice of his. Crimson eyes stared at him.

"As it is an honor to represent Kasumioji-sama here," Rika replied. And she bowed once again. "Now, Ichimaru-san, do you know why your presence is asked here?" Yamamoto asked.

"Yes, Yamamoto-soutaicho. Gotei 13 is asking for the service of the Knight of One," Rika replied politely. Yamamoto nodded. The other captains simply stared at the soutaicho and the girl related to Ichimaru Gin.

"Very well. I would like to offer the position of captain of the 3rd Division."

"I refuse. I refuse to take the position," Rika said firmly. Her reply was fast—as if she had expected the offer and had decided already. Her eyes became dark and cold. There were some gasps.

"I can accept any position you would like to offer except that one," she went on. Her tone was stone-cold. Yamamoto was unfazed. "And may I ask why you do not want to accept the position?"

"I…" Rika hesitated for a moment. Her eyes softened for a little. "I don't like the idea of being captain of that division since I…had some issues with its old captain. Besides, wouldn't it be improper to everyone's eye that I become the next captain of the 3rd division, since we have the same last name, I'm afraid," she explained in a soft tone.

"Isn't Ichimaru Gin your brother?" Yamamoto asked.

"Gin was disowned by our family long ago."

"What can you say about the 9th Division?" Yamamoto offered. Rika was really hesitant. "To tell you the truth, Yamamoto-soutaicho, I am made to be a knight and not a captain. But since Kasumioji-sama requested me to leave her side and be here, I shall accept. I will perform any position, as long as it is not in the 3rd Division," Rika answered.

"Welcome to the Gotei 13 then, Ichimaru-taicho of the 9th Division. In a while, your lieutenant, Hisagi, is going here to escort you to the 9th Division barracks."

* * *

"Yamamoto-soutaicho, you called for me."

It was a black-haired guy with a tattoo of the number '69' on his face. He wore a white cloth tied to his arm, meaning he was a lieutenant.

"_So this must be my lieutenant," _Rika thought.

"This is Ichimaru Rika. She will be your new taicho. Help her adjust here in Gotei 13," Yamamoto introduced. Rika bowed to him. Hisagi bowed back.

"Ichimaru-taicho, he will be your lieutenant. This is Hisagi Shuhei. I hope you'd both get along," Yamamoto went on. Rika gave the old man a nod. "Hisagi-san, would you be kind to bring me to our barracks?" Rika said kindly. Hisagi blushed a little with her soft, feminine voice.

"Right. Ichimaru-taicho, follow me. Yamamoto-soutaicho, we'll be going now," Hisagi bid. The old general gave a nod and Rika and Hisagi left.

After a while of walking, Rika decided to break the silence. "Ne, Hisagi-san, what is it like to live in Gotei 13?" she asked casually. She threw a friendly smile to her lieutenant. Hisagi thought for a moment. "It's fairly normal. Aside from lots of paperwork, we usually go to the Living World for missions in fighting hollows," he said simply. He glanced at his new captain.

"I've never done so much paperwork in my life. Back in the Kasumiojis, all I did was to stay by the princess' side all the time. I've never been to the Living World either," Rika said excitedly. She looked kiddy.

Hisagi chuckled. _"I guess she's a lot different from Ichimaru Gin," _he thought. "You must be lucky then, Ichimaru-taicho. Doing paperwork is a lot of trouble," Hisagi said. Rika giggled. "Well, standing around all day is a lot boring. Not to mention it causes too much fatigue on my legs," she said.

"Taicho? Just call me Shuhei okay?" Hisagi suddenly said. Rika smiled at him brightly. "Okay Shuhei!" she replied energetically. They finally reached the 9th Squad barracks. There were some people outside, and Hisagi greeted them.

"Good morning, Hisagi-fukutaicho!" two men saluted. Hisagi nodded. "Guren, Makio, she is our new taicho: Ichimaru Rika-taicho. Bow to her," Hisagi said. The two of them bowed low to their new captain.

"It's a pleasure to finally have another captain, Ichimaru-taicho," Guren said. Makio agreed with him. "The pleasure to be with all of you is mine, Guren, Makio," Rika said softly. Hisagi led Rika inside the offices. They met a brown-haired girl with light brown eyes.

"Ne, Takeuchi-san, she is Ichimaru Rika-taicho. She's our new taicho. Ichimaru-taicho, she is Takeuchi Mizuki, our 3rd seat," Hisagi introduced. Rika bowed and Mizuki gave her a friendly smile.

"It's nice to finally have a taicho. After so many years, we can now have our own taicho signing our paperwork, ne Hisagi?" Mizuki said. Rika giggled while Hisagi laughed.


	2. Ninja Attack and Rika's Past

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_**Author's Note**_: Hey! This is my first Bleach fanfic and my first fanfic in . I hope you enjoy! :D Read and Review please! :D

**Disclaimer**: Bleach and its characters aren't mine. (c) of Tite Kubo. Only Ichimaru Rika, Ichimaru Miyuki, Rui and quite a few more are mine. Oh and so is the plot. :)))

* * *

_**Chapter Two: Ninja attack and Rika's Past**_

After settling down in her new home and unpacking, Rika instantly started work and wore her captain uniform already. However, her silver pocket watch and choker were still present. She sat on her chair as she wrote and signed carefully on each sheet of paper. Hisagi then entered her office, carrying a large stack of papers.

"Here's the last batch, taicho. Do you want help from those? You still have five stacks to finish," Hisagi said. "All right Shuhei. You could get this stack. Thanks for your help," Rika said without looking up from her task.

"You sure, taicho? That's quite a load," Hisagi said, unsure. "Yeah, Shuhei. After that, you could deliver it here and you all can rest," Rika replied. Hisagi walked out. A few moments later, Hisagi went back in without carrying any stack.

"Shuhei, if you insist on getting another stack from me, I'll get the first stack back," Rika said unconsciously. "Um, actually, Kuchiki-taicho is here to see you," Hisagi said. Byakuya stepped inside Rika's office. The girl captain looked up from her paperwork and stood.

"Kuchiki-taicho. I did not expect you," Rika said, smiling. Byakuya merely nodded. "Yamamoto-soutaicho asked me if I could check on you. I can see that you're doing fine then," Byakuya said.

"Yes. I guess my squad is making it easier for me to adjust to my new work. Would you like some tea, Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika offered. She looked at him straight in the eye and smiled. "She smiles like Gin so much. However, I think hers is more genuine," Byakuya thought.

"I'm sorry, Ichimaru-taicho. But I still have loads of things to do. Maybe some other time," Byakuya said as he turned to leave. Rika followed him with her gaze. "Feel free to stop by my squad anytime, Kuchiki-taicho," she called out. She saw him nod as a response.

"Well, that was unexpected. Kuchiki-taicho visiting us," Hisagi commented. "You're right. It's kind of weird," Rika mused. She sat back again and continued her work.

* * *

The next day, Hisagi and Rika walked together to the Captains-Lieutenants meeting. They had just come from a small restaurant with Mizuki for lunch when hell butterflies came and told them about the meeting. As they strolled leisurely at the halls of that building since they still have an hour to go, Rika sensed many reiatsus coming their way.

Hisagi didn't seem to notice because the reiatsus were well concealed. But being a part of the Ichimaru clan, Rika was used to the reiatsu concealment of ninjas—their archenemy along with the Kasumioji clan. Rika stopped walking; so did Hisagi.

"Is there something wrong, Ichimaru-taicho?" Hisagi asked. Rika became serious.

"Shuhei. Go immediately to the meeting. I'm sure there would be some early comers there. Tell the soutaicho that ninjas infiltrated the Gotei 13," Rika ordered.

"Ninjas? What—"

"I'll answer your questions later, Shuhei. This is important. Now go!" Rika ordered as she went down to the grounds. She flash-stepped her way to the gates of Gotei 13 that led outside to the outskirts of Soul Society. She stood still, waiting for the ninjas to enter. She was pretty sure that the guard of the gate would not be able to hold them off. They were just too many.

* * *

"Yamamoto-soutaicho!"

Hisagi stormed in the office of the general commander. Several responsible captains like Byakuya, Toshirou, Unohana, Ukitake and Komamura were already there. The captains stared at the frantic yet confused lieutenant.

"Hisagi-fukutaicho. Where is Ichimaru-taicho?" Yamamoto asked.

"Well, taicho told me to go here and tell that ninjas are infiltrating the Gotei 13. But I cannot feel any odd reiatsu around," Hisagi explained.

"Thank you for reporting, Hisagi-fukutaicho. I think we should entrust Ichimaru-taicho with these matters. Ninjas interacted with her so much in the Ichimaru and Kasumioji households. Kuchiki-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, Komamura-taicho, go and assist Ichimaru-taicho," Yamamoto ordered. The three captains complied and followed Hisagi back to Rika.

* * *

Rika's eyes narrowed as she faced the leader of the thousands of ninjas she is going to face: Domyouji Ike.

"How are you doing, ne Kodachi-chan?" Ike said casually. Rika narrowed her eyes more until they were slits. She allowed nobody to call her 'Kodachi' except for her twin brother Gin.

"Why the hell are you here, Ike?" Rika asked icily. Her crimson eyes showed no compassion but pure hatred.

"Is it wrong to check on an old friend of mine?" Ike asked. He smirked, seeing Rika's angered expression.

"Whoever implanted that ridiculous thought on your rotten mind?" Rika asked. Ike smirked even more to Rika's insults.

"Well, we were nearly engaged," Ike reasoned out. "Airhead," Rika muttered to herself darkly.

"Of course we're not. You really wanna know what I'mma feeling right now?" Rika said bluntly. "Gosh, I'm sounding like Gin. Him and his informal way of speaking," she thought irritably.

Rika unsheathed a sword from her waist and pulled out a white handkerchief. She put it in her mouth, together with the hilt of the first sword. She pulled out her two other swords and got into a fighting stance.

Ike laughed maniacally and moved out of the way. "Let's see how long you could put up with thousands of ninja foes," he said threateningly. He sounded confident—too confident for Rika's liking.

Rika used Shunpo and made a tornado-like technique, slashing ninjas from every direction. Blood splattered everywhere. It was a gruesome scene. Rika stopped spinning and panted. It really drains her energy when she does that.

"**I guess I have no choice now, ne Raikou? Ayame?" **Rika thought inside her head.

"**Yeah right; can't handle lowly ninjas by yourself?" **a manly voice told her.

"**Oh shut up, Rai. If you don't want to help me, I'll have Ayame instead. You lazy ass," **Rika irritably said in her head.

"**Oh all right, Miss-I'm-Not-Lazy. I haven't exercised for a while now, anyway," **Raikou said.

"**You can count on me always, Rika. Unlike some people," **mumbled a female voice in her head, which should be Ayame.

Once confirmed that her zanpakutos are ready, Rika spit her sword on the ground.

"Uchitoru, Raikou no Benitenkuu." The sword on her left hand burst with crimson light. The sword enlarged and transformed into a red scythe, towering over buildings in Gotei 13.

"Himei, Kuro no Ayame-hime." The other sword on her right hand glowed black, and transformed into a large katana [similar in Zangetsu's normal and Shikai state] with a reverse edge. Its blade was silver with black floral markings.

Rika's eyes, from crimson, turned black with red specks. "You'll see what I want to convey, Ike," Rika said forebodingly. With a wave of her left, then right hand, the ninjas were found dead, bloody and motionless on the ground. Ike managed to escape. Rika cursed.

"Ichimaru-taicho!" Hisagi, Byakuya, Toshirou and Komamura arrived at the scene, while Rika was wiping the blood off her face with her kimono sleeve. "Are you all right, Taicho?" Hisagi asked, concern filling his voice.

"I'm all right, Shuhei," Rika replied faintly. "But Taicho, you're all covered with blood," Hisagi reasoned out.

"Oh. This is not my blood. It's their blood," Rika stated flatly, pointing to the bloody ninjas on the ground. Rika walked over to the nearest body and turned it over. She found it still breathing but would soon be dead.

"Who sent you over here? And you even brought Ike with you; pathetic," Rika said to the ninja.

"I—uh—hah—won't tell—huh—" And with that, the ninja took its last intake of breath.

"Useless," Rika muttered. She used the ninja's blood and drew some markings on the ground.

"Kokudo no Kurayami, Way of Sealing number 78," she whispered and the bodies of ninjas turned into specks of spiritual dust. The blood just vanished. Rika stood up.

"I think that's everything I need to take care of," she commented simply. She turned her gaze to the three other captains. "Kuchiki-taicho, Toshirou-kun and Komamura-taicho, right?" Komamura nodded.

Rika gave each of them a curt nod. "Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn't you be all be in the meeting?" Rika asked, wondering.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho told us to assist you but since you handled them on your own, shall we proceed?" Toshirou asked. Rika nodded.

"Shuhei, go back to the barracks and finish your paperwork. I'll be back," Rika informed her lieutenant and she flash stepped away with the other captains.

* * *

"Since all matters had been discussed well, I shall see you all until next time. You are all dismissed." Captains filed out of the 1st Squad barracks. Rika was one of them. She was having an animated talk with Kyoraku Shunsui about the Living World.

"You really have to see the living world, Rika-chan. It's really fun there. There are so many ladies and their sense of fashion is good, I must say," Shunsui said while waving his hands. Rika laughed.

"I would really like to visit the living world. It must be so…unique," Rika said, still chuckling. Shunsui chuckled.

"I'm sure you'd be sent to one mission to the living world. I hope I can come with you then," Shunsui assured Rika. The girl just smiled at him.

"Well, I have to get going then Rika-chan. If I don't hurry up, I'm really going to get it from Nanao-chan," the man bid. Rika nodded and waved to the retreating captain.

Rika walked around the Gotei 13, her mind wandering off to some parts of her past.

____

* * *

"_Ne, Kodachi-chan, aren't ya goin' ta eat with me? Imma eatin' yer favorite sweet, ya know," Gin told his sister. Rika scoffed at him. "If you don't stop speaking that way, you're really going to be punished by Otou-sama and Okaa-sama," Rika scolded her twin._

"_Oh fer the love of Kami. I don' care 'bout them anymore," Gin told his sister crossly._

"_I don't want them either. It's always going to be you and me Gin," Rika said, hugging her brother's neck. Gin chuckled. "Y'know, you're meh precious Kodachi. No one's ever gonna hurt ya while I'm 'ere," he whispered to his sister. He wrapped his arms around her and planted a soft kiss on her hair._

"_Promise me you won't leave me, Gin. Promise me you'll always be here by my side," Rika whispered. She felt her eyes get teary. Gin mumbled something that Rika didn't quite catch but she considered it as a yes._

* * *

"_Imma really sorry, Kodachi. I wanna be a shinigami that bad. I can' go with ya to the Knight Academy. I'm really sorry," Gin said. Rika was crying hard. She wasn't speaking to Gin when he told her the news._

_The day when Gin was about to leave for the academy, Rika raced out of her room in an unlady-like manner and called out to Gin. Gin turned and engulfed Rika into a big embrace._

"_I'm so sorry, Gin. I'm really sorry. I'm going to miss you so much," Rika said to her brother. Hey eyes were red because of days of crying. Gin hushed her and rubbed her back gently._

"_I should be the one ta apologize, Kodachi-hime. You're my only Kodachi; my hime," Gin whispered to his sister._

"_Kodachi Ai! That is a disgrace! Release yourself from that monster of a traitor. He is no longer a part of the Ichimaru clan!" their father roared._

"_But Otou-sama—Gin is my brother! No matter what he does, he'll always be my twin! He's the only one I have!" Rika yelled to her father._

"_Kodachi! You insolent little girl! Behave yourself and stop adding shame to our family! Guards, pry Kodachi away from that outsider," their mother ordered. Rika was pulled away from Gin._

"_Gin! No! Release me, you foul monsters! Gin!" Rika trashed around and kicked the guards._

"_Release her! I will not leave until I see that Kodachi is in good condition. Now release her," Gin yelled. The guards loosened their grip on Rika's arms. Gin was pretty sure those will leave marks on his twin's sensitive skin._

"_Take care, my dearest Kodachi," Gin said as he rode the carriage to the Soul Reaper Academy._

"_Gin. I promise—I'll be strong. I'll get out of this hell," Rika swore to herself. With that, she stormed in back to the house and into her room. She closed off herself from everybody and became distant._

* * *

**cassandrajillenchantress **

here! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it and if you liked it, I hope you liked it enough to review. That would be great, since I'm new! Yeah. :) Anyway, I'd love to get reviews. Although criticisms can be degrading, they're part of life. So, critics are welcome here. There. I hope no one flames me! I'm sorry for mistakes. You can always correct me, right? ^^ Ja ne!


	3. Hospitalization and Zanpakutos

**Author's Note: **Here's Chapter three! In this chapter, we take a closer look to Rika's zanpakutos and you guys would probably have a nice impression of how their personalities clashed. You may also start to wonder how she could keep talking to three, different zanpkutos in her head without going crazy.

Well, that's all.

Rika Ichimaru: **cassandrajillenchantress DOES NOT **own Bleach nor its characters. (c) to Tite Kubo. She owns merely but her OCs, Ichimaru Rika--for now. :)))

I hope you enjoy this one! Read and Review please! ^^

OHH! And before I forget: thanks to **rockbabyval **for reviewing! With reviews like that, I would definitely keep updating! Please review! I won't update often if I don't get many reviews. Anyway, don't ya guys worry. I have everything planned out upto the last chapter so I hope I could finish this and start a new one. I can't start now, 'coz I'd be disracted and I won't be able to finish this! :D Anyways, toodles!

**_

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**_Chapter Three: Hospitalization and Zanpakutos_**

Rika closed her eyes and walked silently back to her barracks. Until then, she bumped into someone.

"My apology, I was not—Kuchiki-taicho! I—ah—my apologies, for spacing out," Rika said, stuttering. She bowed.

"It's all right, Ichimaru-taicho. I should apologize for stopping right in the middle of the road," Byakuya countered. Rika smiled at him, though the head of the Kuchiki clan noticed that it was weak.

"May I ask why you are here, Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika asked curiously. Byakuya's façade remained impassive. "I sensed your reiatsu grow fainter and fainter but I heard you coming so I wondered why," Byakuya explained.

"Ah. Thank you for your concern, Kuchiki-taicho. I guess I'm just worn out after my encounter with the ninjas," Rika replied softly. She and Byakuya started to walk again.

Byakuya noticed how regal Rika carried herself. She, after all, is still a part of the Ichimaru clan and had worked for the princess of the Kasumioji clan as a knight and escort. She had that confidence of a noble around her, surrounding her whole aura. Her face was calm and composed. He then remembered seeing two zanpakutos on Rika's hands a while ago. He did not want to meddle with her life, especially since she is still Gin's sister but his curiosity got over him.

"Ichimaru-taicho?" Byakuya said, quite hesitant.

"Is there anything wrong, Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika asked, concerned.

"No. I am just curious. Did I see you have two different zanpakutos there?" Byakuya asked. Rika sighed.

"Actually, I have three. But I am not on speaking terms with my third one. We—we had a little row recently," Rika said, her voice lowering into an almost whisper. But Byakura heard her very well. He simply nodded to hide his obvious surprise of her power. Ichimaru Rika is definitely not an ordinary woman.

The two of them stopped walking when they reached the 6th Division's barracks. "See you around then, Kuchiki-taicho," Rika bid.

"Are you sure you'd not want me to walk you to your division, Ichimaru-taicho?" Byakuya offered. Rika gave him a kind smile and shook her head.

"It's been too much wasted time that you chose to walk with me until here. I would not want to bother you, but still, I express my deepest gratitude," Rika said silkily. Her voice was smooth and devoid of any fake masks. Unlike Byakuya's or her brother's.

"Very well then, Ichimaru-taicho," Byakuya said as he turned and went to his office. Rika walked away.

* * *

Arriving at her office, she met Hisagi and Mizuki who were both talking casually whilst signing some papers. The two of them looked up and greeted Rika who gave them each an acknowledging nod.

"Ne, Taicho, how was your meeting with—"

Hisagi's voice was shunned from her head as she felt darkness envelop her in its deadly grasp.

* * *

_Rika opened her eyes. She saw herself in a place of white infinity. She was the only distinct thing there. Rika looked around. "Psh. Ikazuchi's place, probably. Or am I dead already?" Rika said to no one in particular._

"_Rika-chan."_

_Rika turned and saw her zanpakuto [well, her third one], Ikazuchi. His blonde hair swept in a way that his fringe did not totally pierce his midnight blue eyes. He was having a cartooned version of himself, with exaggerated puppy-dog eyes that no one but Rika could resist. Ikazuchi sniffed._

"_I told you you'd be crawling back to me. Why aren't you crawling?" Rika said coldly. But deep inside, she enjoyed tormenting her narcissist of a zanpakuto. He was such a crybaby and Rika always laughed at him when he cried and begged her to polish and sharpen him._

_Ikazuchi fell down to his knees and hugged Rika's feet. His butler uniform, which consisted of a long-sleeved, white button-up shirt and black vest with a red tie and black slacks and shoes, looked tattered after weeks of being unpolished._

"_I'm so sorry, Rika-chan. I won't disobey and challenge you ever again," Ikazuchi cried. He sniffed again like a child and whined. "Please forgive me," he added._

"_I could never tolerate such impudent behavior towards me. I, Ichimaru Rika, master of __**TWO **__other zanpakutos, forgive one, disrespectful zanpakuto? I don't think so," Rika stated cruelly. More tears swelled up from Ikazuchi's eyes._

"_No~! I shall do anything to please you, Rika-sama! I shall fight every hollow that would want to destroy you! I shall protect you no matter what!" Ikazuchi declared, desperation coating his raspy voice._

"_I have Raikou doing all of that for me already. Ayame's so kind to watch over me always. What can you do, Ikazuchi? I have more than enough zanpakutos," Rika said. Her face remained impassive but deep inside, she was rolling on the floor, laughing really hard._

_Ikazuchi wiped away his tears. He stood up, bowed to Rika and walked away. Rika sighed. Ikazuchi really is stupid._

"_Ikazuchi." He did not respond._

"_Ikazuchi." He still did not turn. Such a hard-headed idiot zanpakuto, Rika thought._

"_Ikazuchi. I was only joking," Rika said flatly. Ikazuchi turned._

"_Are you joking?" Ikazuchi asked excitedly, eyes shining like an appraised dog._

"_If you're talking about me saying that all those cruel jokes are untrue then I am not joking," Rika said. Ikazuchi squealed like a teenage fangirl and attacked Rika with a massive hug._

"_Get away from me, Ikazuchi!" Rika yelled, sounding disgusted but she laughed anyway._

_Rika and Ikazuchi settled down on the plain white ground and rainbows, multi-colored flowers and bears erupted. Ikazuchi's real world for his hime. "You're so gay, Ikazuchi. What kind of meeting place is this?" Rika said, playfully pulling Ikazuchi's ear._

"_I know. That's why you love me so much," Ikazuchi said smugly. "Oh right. I did love you. Why am I here anyway?" Rika asked._

"_You fainted in your office. Hisagi and Mizuki-chan brought you here," Ikazuchi answered._

"_I know that. I mean, why did I faint? I surely ate lunch—I was with Shuhei and Mizuki-chan," Rika said, wondering._

"_You obviously did another icky sealing of trash into 'tattoos' in your body. Check it out. You have another one on your collarbone," Ikazuchi pointed out. True enough, Rika saw new markings on her collarbone. There markings appear to increase whenever she uses Kokudo no Kurayami._

_Kokudo no Kurayami is the own technique of the knights of noble clans. They are similar to kido spells but are more exclusive to knights, especially of higher levels, like Rika who is in the highest level. However, knights can still use kido spells as efficient as they use Kokudo no Kurayami._

"_Ugh. I hate these things. I need to unload them again somewhere," Rika said, disgusted with her body "tattoos". "You know, go and wake up now. Raikou-kun and Ayame-chan materialized already and are watching over you in the hospital," Ikazuchi said._

"_You mean Shuhei and Mizuki even bothered to bring me to the 4__th__ Division? I am such a shameful captain," Rika murmured._

"_Actually, it's that Kuchiki who brought you there. He said you left something and saw you falling and caught you. It was romantic," Ikazuchi said, twirling around like usual._

"I guess I'm thanking Kuchiki then," _Rika thought. And everything around her vanished. She woke up with a start and pain seared through her body._

* * *

A few moments before Rika woke up, her two other zanpakutos, Raikou and Ayame, materialized inside Rika's ward.

"She's got nasty tattoos already. She doesn't find time to empty her realm," Raikou commented dully. Ayame sat down on the chair beside Rika's bed. "You know, I think Rika is pushing herself too much. She always handles herself on her own. She does have a twin; doesn't she know that?" Ayame said, sighing warily.

Rika turned his almost-silver gray eyes to the girl clad in black. He tried to adjust in the size of the room, shrinking his bat-like wings into smaller ones and tossing his long, braided light brown hair aside from its peaceful nestling on his shoulder.

"If you don't remember, Gin is not here. He's in prison," Raikou said. Two people stormed in the ward. It turned out to be Byakuya and Unohana.

"Who are you and how did you know about Gin being imprisoned?" Byakuya demanded; his face deathly calm. Raikou put his hands on his pockets while Ayame leaned back on his chair and crossed her legs together. "Raikou, you explain to the Kuchiki and the doctor," Ayame stated.

"And why would I do that? Not explaining to them would make Rika more suspicious, which could lead her being banned here and us back to the Kasumioji household with Ruri-chan," Rika said continuously. Ayame rolled her eyes.

"You hate it here that much?" Ayame asked, although she knew the answer.

Raikou shrugged. "Sure I do. This place is dangerous for Rika," Raikou said, scoffing.

Ayame threw him a glare and a grape. She stood up and said, "I am Ayame; Kuro no Ayame-hime, Rika-chan's second zanpakuto." She bowed slightly. Byakuya stared at her.

"The name's Raikou, Raikou no Benitenkuu; the original zanpakuto of Ichimaru Rika," Raikou introduced. He had the whole aura of arrogance in him that could rival Kurosaki Ichigo's.

"Are you telling us that both of you are zanpakutos? I've never heard of zanpakutos who just materialize without any special circumstance," Byakuya said coldly. Raikou narrowed his eyes.

"Well, you're seeing us here. And I have wings. And I most certainly look not ordinary," Raikou stated arrogantly. "I've never seen a zanpakuto as arrogant as you," Byakuya snapped.

Unohana cleared her throat. "I think it is best if you stop this argument and I check on Ichimaru-taicho, ne Kuchiki-taicho? Raikou-san?" Unohana said. Raikou's gaze turned to her warm personality.

"Oh all right. Unohana-taicho, isn't it? Well then, take care of our master then," Raikou said while he and Ayame stepped aside to a wall. Byakuya was at the door. All of a sudden, Rika's eyes fluttered open. And that leads us to the current situation.

* * *

**Next chapter: **Rangiku leaves her daughter, Miyuki, with Rika for a while. Miyuki easily adjusts to the environment, especially meeting all of the captains.

Keep on reviewing this story please! Critics are welcomed! Sorry for mistakes! :D

~**cassandrajillenchantress.**


	4. Gin's Daughter

**Author's Note: **Here's another chapter! It's delayed; I know. I'm sorry, okay?

Ne, minna-san, why don't you read this chapter and review the story? It'll really boost my confidence, 'coz I think this story is lousy. Forgive me for mistakes , for I am merely an amateur.

Anyways, on to the disclaimer!

**Miyuki Matsumoto-Ichimaru: **The story of Bleach nor its characters DO NOT belong to Cassa-chan! Mou... If she did, then Byakkun would have fallen in love with Rika-baa-chan at once and never hesitated to show a little 'playful' side to her. (c) to Tite Kubo-sama [Cassa-chan told me to address him as such]. I belong to **cassandrajillenchantress **along with Rika-baa-chan and Rui-chan. Read... Review... And TOODLES! *giggles*

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**_Chapter Four: Gin's Daughter_**

"How are you feeling, Ichimaru-taicho?" Unohana asked the young lady. Rika cringed.

"Pretty awful. My body's in full pain," Rika replied, grunting a little for trying to sit up. Unohana placed a gentle hand on Rika's shoulder.

"Ichimaru-taicho, please do not try to sit up right now. Rest until tomorrow," Unohana said gently. Rika sighed and sunk back to her hospital bed.

"Kuchiki-taicho, I am gratified that you brought me here when I fainted. My third zanpakuto told me," Rika said, bowing a little to Byakuya. He, in turn, gave her a curt nod.

"Do not burden yourself. It was nothing," Byakuya replied. Raikou spoke up. "You're on speaking terms with Ikazuchi again?" he said and smirked. Rika rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah right," Rika started and she smirked. "But with a little persuasion, at least." And sure enough, with the mention of his name, Ikazuchi materialized from everyone's eye.

"She's cruel, like Gin!" Ikazuchi accused, pointing a finger to Rika.

"No she's not," Raikou and Ayame said together. The two of them, with Rika, loved to tease and torment Ikazuchi because he was so vain.

"I must take my leave, Ichimaru-taicho, Unohana-taicho. Get well, Ichimaru-taicho," Byakuya said out of the blue. Rika turned to him and smiled.

"I am very grateful to you, Kuchiki-taicho. Thank you and good night," Rika said softly. Unohana nodded to Byakuya and he went out of the room.

"I'd be going then. Good night," Unohana said and she closed the door behind her back.

* * *

The next day, Rika was lucky enough that Unohana let her off that morning. She insisted that she really did not want to burden her lieutenant Hisagi to fill in for her when she is well enough to work. Rika strolled quietly and reached her division's barracks with no difficulty at all. All her tattoos were gone already, except for the two ones on the back of her hands.

"Are you all right now, Taicho?" Mizuki asked. She checked Rika up and down. Rika gave her a reassuring smile and went straight to her office. She found a boy with blue hair and blue eyes there, standing still at the corner. He wore a suit from the human world. Catching sight of Rika, he rushed to her and checked her forehead and neck.

"Ojou-sama! Are you all right? Is there anything you want? Are you feeling dizzy? Feverish? Tell me please," he stated, checking Rika's face. Rika just chuckled.

"Rui, I'm perfectly fine. Unohana-taicho took care of me and Raikou, Ayame and Ikazuchi watched over me for the whole time I slept," Rika explained. Hisagi and Mizuki stood at the doorway, smiling at the scene of servant and master.

"When I found out that you were hospitalized, I sought Kasumioji-sama's permission to escort you while you are here," Rui explained. He still looked a bit frantic.

"I'm fine here, Rui. I'm enjoying myself and I find Gotei 13 as an interesting organization," Rika said. Rui nodded a bit. "Well then, since you're here, why don't you go and prepare vanilla tea for Shuhei, Mizuki and me? It would help a lot with these papers to sign and write on," Rika said.

Rui bowed to his master and went to the kitchen for a while.

Later that afternoon, while Rui dutifully stood beside his master, a knock could be heard again. Rika gave her permission and Hisagi entered. "Taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho and Matsumoto-fukutaicho are here to see you," he said. Rika gave him a nod, signaling him that they could enter.

"I just started here and many people are visiting me already," Rika commented as she stood up. She saw Toshirou enter, and so did Rangiku. Rangiku squealed and hugged Rika, almost crushing her.

"Can't—breathe—Ran—chan," Rika managed to choke out. Rangiku broke free.

"Oh right. Hi Rika-chan! I'm here with Taicho!" Rangiku said, giggling. Rika smiled at the small captain.

"Good afternoon, Toshirou-kun. It's a pleasure to see you again," Rika greeted.

"The pleasure is mine, Rika-chan. I heard you were brought to the 4th Squad last night. Are you feeling well now?" Toshirou asked.

Rika nodded happily. "I'm all right now. Unohana-taicho took care of me well. And hey, is that Miyu-chan I'm sensing?" Rika said happily, trying to see if her niece was there. She saw the little girl's head bob from the door and giggle.

Ichimaru Miyuki's pale skin contrasted very much with her bright tawny eyes but not to hair silky white hair. Her wavy hair was tied into two pigtails tied with blue ribbons that paired with her light blue kimono with pink lotus designs on it.

"Rika-baa-chan!" Miyuki greeted her aunt. Rika welcomed her niece's warm hug and embraced her tightly.

"Kami knows how much Obaa-chan missed you!" Rika said, kissing Miyuki's forehead.

"I missed you too, Rika-baa-chan! All those work you had kept you busy, didn't it?" Miyuki said, pouting slightly. Rika laughed while Rangiku smiled lovingly to her friend and daughter.

"Rika-chan, Taicho and I are going to the real world for a while. And I can't leave her alone at home. So I brought her here and maybe you can take care of her while I'm gone? I'd really appreciate your help, you know," Rangiku said, a little embarrassed. Rangiku rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously.

"It's all right. I can take care of Miyu-chan while you're gone. Besides, Rui's here to assist me anyway. Leave this to the Obaa-chan!" Rika said cheerfully, pointing a thumb to her. Miyuki broke into an excited grin.

"Yay! I get to stay with Rika-baa-chan! Miyuki's going to behave herself, really!" Miyuki said cheerfully, glomping her aunt.

"Ah. I knew I could count on you, Rika. Take care of Miyuki for me, okay?" Rangiku said, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek. Miyuki hugged her.

"Do take care of my mother, Shiro-kun. She tends to be really reckless," Miyuki said, kissing her mother's cheeks. Rika, Toshirou and Rangiku laughed with Hisagi. Miyuki giggled.

"I will, Miyuki. I will. Besides, you're right. Your mother IS reckless," Toshirou said, gaining him a smack on the head.

"So it's you who influences my daughter with those thoughts, ne Taicho?" Rangiku said sternly. Toshirou glared at her.

"We better go now, Matsumoto. Let's go there earlier, so we can arrange our things in Urahara's shop," Toshirou said, pulling his lieutenant.

"Right, right, Captain. Bye Miyuki, darling! Behave yourself and follow your aunt's orders, okay?" Rangiku kissed Miyuki's forehead one last time and was gone with Toshirou.

* * *

"Miyuki, this is Hisagi Shuhei. He's my lieutenant. You can call him Shuhei, if you want," Rika introduced. Miyuki bowed a little to Hisagi and said, "I'll call him Shu-chan! I'm pleased to meet you, Shu-chan! I'm Miyuki! Call me Miyuki!"

Hisagi smiled at the little girl. "Hello Miyuki. I'm pleased to meet you too. So, you're staying here at the barracks for a while then?" he said.

"Yep. I'm staying with Obaa-chan. Mommy's away for a mission and Daddy's not here. He's gone, I think," Miyuki said a little sadly.

Hisagi patted Miyuki's hair. "That's all right. You're going to have many fathers here in Gotei 13," he assured her. Miyuki smiled brightly.

"I don't really mind not having a father. I mean, I've got Mommy, and Obaa-chan. There's Shiro-kun. Rurichiyo-sama, Rui-chan, and many others! I've got lots of friends," Miyuki said cheerfully.

"You're a really positive girl, aren't you?" Hisagi commented. Rika had gone back to her work and smiled when she heard Miyuki.

"Yeah, I guess. Besides, Mommy and Obaa-chan said that Daddy's always smiling. I guess I got that from him," Miyuki said, her smile growing wider.

"Yeah. He does that a lot," Hisagi said, catching Rika's eye. Rika smirked and shook her head, slightly amused.

"Hey, it's already dark. You think we should all go home now?" Rika asked her lieutenant. Hisagi shrugged.

"Maybe we can. But you still have an emergency nighttime meeting, right?" Hisagi said. Rika slapped her forehead. Rui came into the room, carrying a tray with a mug of ice-cold milk on it.

"Crap. I totally forgot about that," Rika said, shuffling through her documents. Rui put the mug down on her desk and said, "Ojou-sama, don't say 'crap'. It's improper."

Rika stood up and put the piles of paperwork aside. She waved her hand to Rui and got the mug, chugging down the milk in one drinking. Hisagi almost laughed out loud when Rika finished. She sighed and went to get her white and black scarf from her drawers.

"Ojou-sama, you should not drink that way. It is highly inappropriate for a lady like you," Rui chided. Rika ignored his warning.

"Ne, Rui, go home early today and prepare dinner. I'm going to the meeting. Hisagi, you're dismissed," Rika instructed. She wrapped the scarf around her neck carefully to not cover up the choker on her neck. Hisagi left.

"Obaa-chan, can I go with you to the meeting?" Miyuki asked, plopping down on Rika's seat. Rika glanced at her. "You sure? It would be totally boring there," Rika said, getting another scarf from her drawer.

"Yes. I wanna go and meet some captains. I usually see them in Mommy's office, but not all. Usually, it's their lieutenants I see," Miyuki explained. Rika knelt down in front of the little girl and tied the pink scarf around her neck.

"Okay. But promise me, you won't do anything, all right?" Rika said gently, adjusting the scarf on her niece's neck.

"All right, Obaa-chan. I promised Mommy I won't do anything mischievous while she's gone," Miyuki said simply, skipping off the chair. Rika smirked.

"Oh you could do that. WE can do that. Pranks? I'll go with ya," Rika said, giggling.

Miyuki giggled. "Really? Mommy said you and Daddy were good pranksters!" Miyuki exclaimed, hugging her aunt's waist.

"Yes and no. We'll talk about mischief later at dinner, okay? For now, let's meet up with the other captains," Rika said, clutching Miyuki's hand with hers.

"Okay Obaa-chan!" Miyuki said cheerfully, raising her fist up into the air like some sort of victory.

Rika and Miyuki walked down Gotei 13's halls, chatting about random things like the weather and flowers. Miyuki LOVED flowers. She always enjoys herself when Rika visits her and gives her pots of flowers to plant.

* * *

Rika knew about the events in Gin's life and was always there to watch him. She was there when Rangiku was pregnant and that was the first time she met Rangiku. She was there when Miyuki was born, and made friends with Toshirou as he often visited his lieutenant in the infirmary. Rika was there in every birthday and Christmas that Miyuki had. It was all what she could do to make up for Gin's absence in his daughter's life.

Nearing the 1st Squad's barracks, Rika felt Byakuya's familiar reiatsu and slowed down to meet the captain. Seeing him, she smiled and greeted.

"Good evening, Kuchiki-taicho." Byakuya gazed down at her and then to Miyuki, who was playing with a butterfly.

"Good evening, Ichimaru-taicho. Is she your daughter?" Byakuya asked, eyeing Miyuki with interest. Miyuki gave up on the butterfly and looked up to Byakuya with slight interest.

Rika smiled and shook her head. "She's my niece. Miyu-chan, why don't you introduce yourself to Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika said, beckoning her niece to Byakuya. Miyuki smiled at Byakuya and bowed.

"Good evening, sir. I am Ichimaru Miyuki. I am very much honored to meet yet another powerful captain," Miyuki introduced. Byakuya still eyed her curiously.

"She's Rangiku's daughter, if you're wondering. And of course, my brother's," Rika said softly, her voice barely audible when she mentioned her brother. Byakuya nodded.

"I see." And with that, Byakuya entered the hall. Rika sighed. "Don't mind him, Miyu-chan. He's just like that. Don't be discouraged," she said, patting Miyuki's head. Miyuki smiled at her brightly. For a moment, Rika thought she saw the Cheshire grin of Gin on her niece. Or did she really see it?

"I'm not discouraged at all! He seems so…_interesting_ and fun to bug!" Miyuki said happily. Rika smirked. Miyuki grew up with her mother, and of course, Rika supported her mischievous ways and even joined her.

"Yes he is. You know, I had that same impression on him. Come on, kid. Let's go meet the other captains," Rika said, leading her niece to the hall.

There was a slight buzz as captains talked to each other. Shunsui was talking to Jushiro and Unohana. Rika spotted him and joined them.

"Good evening," Rika said. She earned three more greetings from the three legendary captains. Unohana noticed Miyuki at once and her special reiatsu.

"Hello there, little one. What's your name?" Unohana asked Miyuki. Miyuki bowed again and said, "Good evening. I am Ichimaru Miyuki."

"Is she your daughter?" Jushiro asked. Rika smiled at him.

"No. Actually, she's Rangiku's daughter. And Gin's, of course," she replied, holding Miyuki's shoulder. Shunsui beamed.

"Oh really now! I didn't know that Gin was the father of Matsumoto's child," Shunsui said. Miyuki gazed at the elders, talking about her father. She was quiet and listened to them carefully.

"Like you really don't know, Kyoraku-taicho. Gin and Ran-chan hit it off even while they were still in the academy," Rika said, rolling her eyes playfully. Shunsui laughed while Unohana and Jushiro chuckled.

"She's right. Gin and Matsumoto seemed really close, even before they became shinigamis," Unohana commented.

"I could agree on that," Jushiro said. He turned to Miyuki. "Hey there. Is it okay if I call you Miyuki-chan?" he asked gently. Miyuki smiled softly and nodded.

"Well, hello Miyuki-chan. I'm Ukitake-taicho," he introduced himself. Miyuki bowed. Jushiro smiled. Shunsui knelt down in front of Miyuki.

"You can call me whatever you want! I'm Kyoraku Shunsui!" he said, smiling like a kid. Miyuki giggled. "All right. I'll call you Sui-chan! If I'll call you Shun-chan, I might get you confused with Shu-chan," Miyuki said, smiling cutely.

"Oh Kami! You're so cute. Why can't I have a daughter like you?" Shunsui said, laughing. Rika and the others laughed too.

"Well, if you weren't fooling around with Nanao-chan for a long time, you could have kids by now," Rika commented slightly. Shunsui stood up, a little pink tint on his cheeks.

"Nah. I wouldn't bug Nanao-chan about that," he said, chuckling. Right at that moment, Yamamoto arrived. Captains lined up properly and Rika held Miyuki's hand carefully.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **Rika bonds with Yachiru and Miyuki for the whole day---along with the ever-stoic Byakuya! The world must have reached its end... *faints*


	5. Family Day

**Author's Note: **Hey! It's been hours since I last updated but here are chapters five and six! I'm updating really fast, but please do consider reviewing my story. I still have only ONE review. Please review. :(

Anyway, here's chapter five. In the "preview" last chapter, I said Byakuya was with Rika and Miyuki and Yachiru. Well, here it goes. I hope you like it. But I feel it's lousy.

**Disclaimer: **No one will be doing it for me today, because Rika and Miyuki are out with our favorite captain and the little pink cutie of 11th Division. Bleach and its characters are not mine [boo-hoo :(]. (c) to Tite Kubo, the genius who constructed Byakuya Kuchiki, Gin Ichimaru, Juushiro Ukitake and there. Haha! I own my OCs, Ichimaru Rika, Ichimaru Miyuki, Rui and a lot more on the coming chapters. Oh! And so is the plot. :3

Please review! :D

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**_Chapter Five: "Family" Day_**

"Good morning Obaa-chan!"

Rika grunted with the noise and turned to the other side of her bed. Rika never liked sleeping in futons because her back ached and her shoulders get strained.

Rika took her pillow and covered her ear. Someone was shaking her arm excitedly. Rika ignored the person and threw the covers up to her head. The person trying to ruin her sleep jumped onto her bed and began jumping up and down.

"Obaa-chan! Wakey wakey up!" the person yelled. She pulled the covers off Rika and tried again but to no avail. Rui came in the room and motioned to Miyuki to approach him. This Miyuki did, silencing Rika's apartment for a while. Rui whispered something to Miyuki whose eyes glinted with glee and mischief.

"Thanks for the tip, Rui-chan. That's going to be great," Miyuki told the older boy. Rui only smiled at the little girl and went out to prepare his master's bath.

When Miyuki got back on Rika's bed, her aunt already had the covers back on her whole body. Miyuki carried an ice cube on one hand, slowly melting from her touch. Miyuki pulled off the blankets again, and slipped the ice cube to her aunt's sleeping yukata.

Rika sat bolt upright and jumped off her bed with a loud thud. Miyuki then burst out laughing and fell on the floor, clutching her stomach. Rui reappeared in the room again, smiling to his master. Rika threw him a glare.

"You—taught—her—how—to—wake—me—up—the—mad—way!" Rika slowly said. Rui nodded a bit, still smiling. Rika ripped off the blanket that entangled on her and threw her pillow to Rui's face. Rui did not make a move to avoid it.

"You're still excellent at aiming, Ojou-sama," Rui said, picking up the pillow that fell when it hit him.

"Oh yes I am, Rui. And that still doesn't pay up your mistake," Rika said irritably. Miyuki was still giggling on the side.

"Yeah, you did it Miyu-chan. Did you take a bath already?" Rika asked, frowning slightly to the little girl. Miyuki stood up and smiled at her aunt brightly.

"Yup. I'm all clean now. You go take a shower and then we'll eat breakfast and then we'll go play!" Miyuki said cheerfully.

Rika grumbled and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Rika was being tortured alive by her niece, Byakuya was another story. Yachiru had been bugging him since this morning he arrived in his office. Yachiru was there, eating a lollipop.

"Good morning Bya-kun!" Yachiru yelled cheerfully. Byakuya chose to ignore her greeting.

"Kusajishi-fukutaicho, why are you in my office at this eerie hour of the morning? Shouldn't you be in your squad, reporting to your captain?" Byakuya said coldly, irritation slightly hinted on his voice.

"Mou…Ken-chan isn't here in Soul Society. He's off for a mission somewhere. And Shiny and Pretty Boy are still sleeping in their houses, probably. You're the only person to be here in this hour," the pink-haired girl replied, jumping off Byakuya's desk to sit on the chair in front of the desk.

"Why are you up this early?" Byakuya asked with a sigh. He began shuffling through papers on his drawer and brought them out.

"I wanted to play the whole day, so… I woke up early. Ne, Bya-kun, you wanna go play with me outside? You still don't have paperwork anyway. Why don't you leave everything to Pineapple-kun? He should work sometimes," Yachiru said, pulling out another brightly colored lollipop from nowhere.

"I know that Renji is very lazy. And so, if I skip work, I would set such bad example to him," Byakuya said. He really hated explaining to his certain kid who is the lieutenant of the 11th Squad.

Yachiru pouted. "No way. I just wanna play with you Bya-kun. That's not slacking off," she said, frowning.

Byakuya shook his head. He could simply NOT skip work and let the little fukutaicho play ALONE. It's like—whoever she approaches to play with, he/she already has the obligation to comply.

"Obaa-chan and I are goin' to play! Obaa-chan and Miyuki!" Miyuki said happily in a sing-song voice. Rika was a bit awake now, having showered already. She changed from her black tube top and short jeans shorts topped with a sleeping yukata into a black kimono with yellow lotus designs and wooden sandals.

Miyuki was wearing a matching kimono, although hers was white and with pink lotus designs. She was also wearing wooden sandals, just like Rika.

"Do we really have to wake up at this early hour just to play?" Rika asked, a little bored.

"Of course Obaa-chan! You're goin' to give me a tour around the place and then we'll play!" Miyuki said cheerfully. Rika groaned. She was never a morning person.

"But haven't you toured Soul Society already? Shucks, you grew up here," Rika reasoned out. Miyuki thought for a while.

"Right about that, Rika-baa-chan," she said, slightly wondering. "Oh I know! I'll tour you around instead!" Miyuki then dragged her aunt anywhere and started the tour.

* * *

It was not until later that Rika and Miyuki met up with Byakuya and Yachiru.

Miyuki bowed to the two. "Good morning Kuchiki-sama, Chiru-chan!" Miyuki greeted cheerfully. Yachiru was riding on Byakuya's back [piggy-back ride] and jumped off when she was greeted by Miyuki.

"Good morning Miyu-chan! Good morning Rika-chan!" greeted Yachiru in an equally cheerful tone. Rika looked at the two girls curiously, half amused and half wondering.

"Good morning,Kuchiki-taicho, Yachiru-chan," Rika greeted faintly. She flashed them a smile and bowed. The Kuchiki gave her a slight nod and said, "Good morning, Ichimaru-taicho. You're up early."

Rika nodded. "I…_promised _my niece that I would go out with her today. And she ended up touring me, instead of me touring her," she said, chuckling slightly. Byakuya merely gave her a curt nod. Rika turned to the two girls chattering.

"You know each other?" Rika asked, amused.

"Uhuh. Chiru-chan usually visits Shiro-chan and Mommy in their office. She plays with me sometimes, when she's not busy with work," Miyuki replied smiling brightly.

"What are you doing with Yachiru-chan anyway, Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika asked. For a moment, Rika thought she saw Byakuya cringe and then she knew the answer.

"Oh. I know now," Rika muttered, blushing slightly for her stupidity. She realized that with Yachiru's over-cheerfulness might have given the stoic captain no other choice but to play with the little lieutenant.

Byakuya sighed. "I guess we're stuck with kids then," Byakuya commented. It was supposed to be humored, but when he said it, it seemed to be a flat statement.

Rika winced when Miyuki turned to look at her. She had that mischievous smirk on her face. Rika gave her an I'll-wipe-that-smirk-off-your-face-later look, which only widened Miyuki's smirk.

"Ne, Chiru-chan, why don't we play all together? You, me, Obaa-chan, and Kuchiki-sama?" Miyuki asked, her gaze never faltering from her aunt.

"Call him Bya-kun! Okay, that is a great idea, Miyu-chan! Bya-kun! Let's go with Miyu-chan and Rika-chan!" Yachiru ordered, jumping on Byakuya's back again.

"Can't you walk by yourself, Kusajishi-fukutaicho?" Byakuya asked, sighing yet again.

"Mou… I love piggy-back rides! And it's Yachiru, Bya-kun. Ya-chi-ru!" Yachiru said, pouting. Miyuki giggled and dragged her aunt.

"Come on, Obaa-chan! You have to be alert every morning!" Miyuki scolded her aunt playfully. She then tugged on Rika's sleeve and smiled brightly.

"I'm not a morning person, Mi-yu-ki. I hate mornings," Rika said dully.

"Let's go shopping, Obaa-chan!" Miyuki stated, looking at the older Ichimaru with pleading eyes. Rika pulled out her phone and dialed up Rui.

"If we're going shopping, we need Rui," she explained as she talked to Rui in a short time.

"Can we go shopping to, ne Bya-kun?" Yachiru asked, eyeing the captain with puppy dog eyes.

"I suppose," was Byakuya's blunt reply.

"Ne, Obaa-chan, are we not going to help Rui-chan in any way?" Miyuki stared at her aunt curiously, who had lightened up when they went from shop to shop at the market. Rika was humming to herself when she turned to Miyuki and to Rui.

"Of course not, Miyu-chan. That's his punishment for teaching you to wake me up on the wrong side of the bed," Rika said simply, smiling to her niece.

"Come on, Kuchiki-taicho. You better hurry up, or you'll be left behind. You need to unwind sometimes," Rika said, pulling Byakuya's sleeve so he could catch up with the three girls. Rui was left behind, carrying a large amount of shopping bags and boxes.

Byakuya flinched slightly to Rika's touch but kept quiet, instead, politely pulling his sleeve from her.

"What did Rui-chan do?" Yachiru asked, curious.

"Rui-chan told me that to wake Obaa-chan up, I should put an ice cube inside her yukata," Miyuki explained. Yachiru nodded a bit seriously. Rika pinched Miyuki's cheek.

"Ow! What was that for?" Miyuki asked, pouting.

"That's for telling Yachiru-chan and Kuchiki-taicho how to wake me up wrongly too," Rika replied with a stern but amused face.

Miyuki giggled. "I'm sure that would be very handy," she said, looking over to Byakuya and Yachiru. Yachiru giggled as well.

Rika turned back to Rui. "Hurry up, you stupid slowpoke! There are still a lot of shops here," Rika said.

"Yes Ojou-sama! And don't say 'stupid'. It's—"

"Unbecoming, improper; what else? I know, Rui. I know," Rika interjected flatly.

"Of course you do, Ojou-sama. That's why I wonder why you still say those things," Rui said, catching up a little bit to his master.

Rika snorted. Like she really cared. Rika spotted another store of candies and dragged Byakuya inside. Yachiru and Miyuki were overjoyed already and got in first.

* * *

After a whole day of shopping, Rika was exhausted. The two "kids" decided it would be best to go to the park of a little more playing. Rika sent Rui home, bringing all the packages that they bought. She instructed him to deliver everything Yachiru picked to Yachiru's apartment.

Byakuya still trailed with the girls, even though he rarely spoke that day. Yachiru and Miyuki then spotted an ice cream parlor.

"Please, Obaa-chan, can we go buy ice cream? Please? Please?" Miyuki asked, using her best puppy-dog eyes on Rika. Rika sighed in defeat as Miyuki and Yachiru giggled to each other. Rika pulled out a bag of coins from her kimono sleeve and gave it to Miyuki.

"Now, Miyu-chan, I don't want you and Yachiru-chan wandering off somewhere, okay? Only to the ice cream parlor. And I want two tall glasses of vanilla ice cream. I think I need them," Rika said, patting the two girls' heads. They both giggled and ran off.

Byakuya had sat down on a bench, and Rika followed him and sat beside him. For a moment, they sat there in silence, until Byakuya broke it.

"I thought you worked in the Kasumioji household," he said. Rika looked at him oddly.

"Yes I do. Why? Is there anything that bothers you?" Rika asked, looking confused.

"How did you manage to know…err…Miyuki?" Byakuya asked; hesitating a bit to mention Miyuki's name without an honorific.

"Oh. That. Well, I just knew Gin had a girlfriend of some sort, and I had an investigator to look for her. Then, I found out about Ran-chan. I took it there and started helping her and Miyuki. Somehow, I feel obliged with them for Gin is my other half," Rika replied quietly. The orange sky was filled with flying birds, forming V-shapes. Rika sighed.

"You don't need to take responsibility for your twin's actions," Byakuya commented, staring at the trees.

Rika nodded a bit. "You could say that. But in your clan, the action of one reflects the whole. The actions of the head reflect the whole clan. I could relate it to that," Rika said with a sigh.

She stood up from the bench where she sat and looked around.

"That's odd. Yachiru and Miyuki should be here by now," she muttered, her face contorting with worry. Byakuya followed up.

"I think we should go to the ice cream parlor," he suggested. Rika nodded in affirmation, and the two of them flash-stepped to their destination.

* * *

**Next chapter: **Rika would get in trouble in the ice cream parlor. Byakuya stands there, doing nothing like a post that girls are crying on. And then, Rangiku and Toshirou are back on Soul Society. The matchmaking goddess is back!

Please review! **cassandrajillenchantress. :)**


	6. The Return of the Matchmaking Goddess

**Author's Note: **Chapter six up! I'm doing my best to update and update so I'm hoping that many would be so kind and at least drop by the review list just to say hi or hello. And sorry because this chapter is short. My mind is in complete chaos, because schooldays are back and are right at the corner. I have to be prepared! :D

**Diclaimer: **I don't own Bleach nor its characters. (c) to Tite Kubo. :3

Please review!

**_

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**_Chapter Six: The Return of the Matchmaking Goddess_**

Rika and Byakuya saw that there was a slight commotion inside. Entering, they saw Yachiru and Miyuki being shouted by a lady, who was holding the hand of a crying girl. Rika snorted.

"It's obvious that the kid is faking it. And her mother is stupid enough to fall for it," muttered Rika darkly. She took a few strides until she was with the terrified Miyuki and a Yachiru who almost wants to cry.

"Please don't shout over my children," Rika said coldly, eyeing the woman who was in a monstrous rage. People were staring at the scene, no one bothering to stop the woman.

"So this is the mother of these mean young ladies. Well, I have the full right to shout over them! They made my daughter cry!" the woman spat at Rika.

Rika was not amused; nor did her façade change. It was cold, and piercing. Inside, Rika was boiling up. She wanted to tear this woman's face already—if it wasn't in public.

"No you don't. They are not your responsibility; thus, you have no right to do anything to them. You don't even have the right to shout at me either," Rika said, kneeling down in front of Yachiru and Miyuki.

"Yachiru, Miyuki, did this woman hurt you?" she asked gently. Yachiru and Miyuki started to cry. They hugged Rika right there and then.

"She—she—she—pushed—Miyu-chan and Chiru-chan! And—then—she spilled our—ice cream!" with that, Miyuki and Yachiru wailed.

"They're lying! Those stupid girls! They were the ones at fault! They stole from my daughter! My poor daughter—she only wanted to buy a cone of ice cream and these girls snatched her money bag away!" the woman accused, pointing to Yachiru and Miyuki.

Byakuya stepped in and Yachiru and Miyuki rushed to him when Rika told them to do so.

"May I see the money bag you're talking about?" Rika asked calmly. Her face was deathly calm—almost menacing.

She turned to the wailing little girl and saw the slight smirk on her face. The girl stopped crying and threw her nose into the air.

"Junko would not give it to you! You're the mother of thieves!" she yelled, sticking her tongue out. Rika smirked.

"Oh really? Well, I assure you that I am not after a few coins that you have—if it really is yours," Rika said, taunting the little girl.

The girl glared at her. "Why would Junko give it to you? You're just a poor woman—no manners!" the girl retorted. Rika raised an eyebrow.

"Miyuki, darling, where is the money bag I gave you?" Rika asked, glancing to her niece. Miyuki shook her head.

"That girl has it! She borrowed it from Miyu-chan and then she started crying!" Yachiru blamed, pointing to the little girl named Junko.

"She's lying! They have no money to pay for the ice cream they had! Look at them! Junko looks a lot fresher than they are!" little Junko yelled. She was starting to throw a fit. Her mother, on the other hand, glared at Miyuki and Yachiru.

"Insolent girls! Maybe they got their manners from their mother!" she stated, and she started laughing.

Rika snapped. In a flash, she used shunpo to retrieve the money bag from the girl's hand and appeared in front again. And then she showed the bag.

"Thief!" the kid shrieked. Byakuya examined the money bag. It was made of pure black silk, and embroidered on it was the Ichimaru clan symbol.

"Wench kid, is this what you're saying is yours?" Rika said, her eyes flashing dangerously. The girl began to wail and stomped her foot.

"Give that back! That belongs to Junko! Thief!" The girl began trashing around. Her mother glared at Rika and tried to pull her hair but Rika pushed her off.

"Mind your manners, woman. You don't know who you're talking to," Rika said icily.

The woman got into her feet again and charged to Rika who pushed her off her feet again. "Who're you calling wench!" the woman screeched.

"You. You and your daughter—the _real _thief. In case you both don't know, this money bag is a property of the Ichimaru clan. Dare saying you're part of that clan?" Rika said, glaring at the woman and her child.

"Of course we are! You worthless git!" the woman yelled. With that, Rika laughed.

"Really now? I don't remember you being a part of _my clan_. Since my clan is running short of members, I quite know everyone. And I DON'T—and I mean DON'T—remember you being a part of _our _clan," Rika said.

The woman and her daughter silenced. There Rika stood; towering over them was the rightful owner of the money bag. A true member of a powerful clan like the Ichimarus. Scared, the woman picked her daughter up and they ran out of the store.

"Thank you for being with us today, Kuchiki-taicho. Thank you," Rika said. She bowed before the noble captain who acknowledged her.

"It was nothing. But I must say, I was amused with your little fight with the wench," Byakuya said, giving Rika a small smile that vanished immediately.

Rika blushed. Did she just really see that ghostly smile? Rika laughed a little. "Well, I really did not like people messing up with Miyuki. Especially hurting her. She's really like a daughter to me," she replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"I'm sure you'd be a good mother, Ichimaru-taicho. I must leave. Good night," Byakuya said. And with that, he vanished. Rika's face turned completely red. Did Kuchiki Byakuya just praise her? Her maternal instincts, moreover? She felt like she wanted to jump for joy. But she controlled herself, and merely left a smile on her face as she went back inside her apartment.

And right at that moment, the taicho and fukutaicho of the 10th Division stepped out of the gateway from the Living world.

"Hah! Soul Society, I am back!" announced Rangiku as she wrapped an arm around her captain's neck. To which earned her a hard glare and struggle.

"Let go of me, Matsumoto," Toshirou ordered. Rangiku shrugged and walked away with her captain.

* * *

The next day, everything went uneventful to Rika as to the fact that Rangiku was back and so, she would be taking Miyuki back. She sighed as she carefully wrote a character on the paper she was reviewing as she thought about the incident the day before.

"Too many people are already abusing the name of the Ichimaru clan… It really needs a head, but I cannot be that head," she whispered audibly. Rui cast a worried look to his master.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the 10th Division barracks…

"And you know what Mommy—Rui even taught me how to wake Obaa-chan up! Well, I'd rather not resort to that, because Obaa-chan punished Rui afterwards by making him carry large stacks of boxes and paperbags!"

Miyuki was talking to her mother animatedly as she grinned every time she mentioned something funny she experienced with her aunt. Moreover, Toshirou gave up on telling his lieutenant to work, for she is busy with her daughter.

Ever since Rangiku had Miyuki, Toshirou noticed the woman become more responsible than usual, although she still drinks sake during office hours and skips off paperwork sometimes.

"What were you doing yesterday, ne Miyu-chan? You seem so tired when I came to pick you up," Rangiku said, brushing a stray lock of Miyuki's hair off her face.

"Well…" But before the little girl could continue, the 3rd and 5th seat of the 11th Division, Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika barged in.

Annoyed, Toshirou said, "You should learn how to knock, Madarame, Ayasegawa." The two seated members did not mind him.

"I'll tell you what Miyuki did yesterday," Ikkaku said, grinning widely. "She was with her 'Obaa-chan' with Kusajishi-fukutaicho _and_… KUCHIKI-TAICHO!"

Rangiku gasped. "He wasn't! Is he, Miyuki?" Rangiku exclaimed, turning to her daughter.

"Ika-chan's right, Mommy. Bya-kun was with us yesterday!" Miyuki replied triumphantly.

"How is it that kids have more privileges than me?" Rangiku asked no one in particular.

"It's because children are depicted as _innocent _and so, Kuchiki-taicho doesn't mind. However, when it comes to you, Matsumoto, I doubt that anyone would view you as innocent," Toshirou commented simply.

"Hey… That's not nice, Tai-cho," Rangiku said, pouting.

"I told you: you don't look as innocent as you think," Toshirou said firmly. "And please get out of my barracks, Madarame, Ayasegawa."

"But Taicho… Wouldn't you want to hear the rest?" Yumichika said, smirking.

"I am not interested about Kuchiki-taicho's business; and so is Ichimaru-taicho's. I suggest you stop gossiping about them," the midget captain replied coldly.

Yumichika shrugged. "Oh well. You would hear me, anyway. So, the four of them were together, right? And you know what, Matsumoto?"

Rangiku leaned in a little closer. "What is it? Come on, Ayasegawa—quit goofing around!" she yelled, whacking the narcissist's head.

"Okay… If you were there, you would have thought that they were…"

"A gang of weirdoes?" Ikkaku asked, slightly amused with his comment.

"No, you idiot! They looked like a cute little family," Yumichika said dreamily. Rangiku squealed.

"Really? Oh my gosh—I think it's another work for… THE GODDESS OF MATCHMAKING~!" And she did this weird pose in front of Ikkaku, Yumichika and Miyuki who all sweat-dropped.

And with that, Rangiku plotted different ways to get the two captains together—without making Toshirou say anything, anyway.

* * *

**Next chapter: **OMAKE! Yeah! \m/


	7. Omake Chapter: Strip Truth or Dare

****

Author's Note: I'm so happy! People are reviewing my story! :D Yay! I feel energized, so I'm releasing two chapters today. Chapter 7 & 8. :) That's a treat for you guys!

Anyway, I would first like to thank the following people:

~ **Reason to Scatter**: I'm so glad you found it interesting. :3 Anyway, you'll eventually find out and since you asked it, I think I'm going to explain it in the story earlier than what I have planned. :)

~ **DaRkZeRoGaL**: thanks for the compliment! Oh! I read your profile and found out that you like Yuzu Kurosaki. :D I like her too, and I suppose I'm going to have her quite some appearance when Rika goes to Karakura some time. :)))

~ **soraironoame**: thanks! I thought it would be great if Rika already had a connection with someone from the "enemy side" so there would be some spice. And I love Gin, I just can't bear it that he had to defect from Soul Society because of his "foolishness" as others would put it.

~ **rockbabyval**: thanks for the review again! I'm still updating, and I still have everything under control.

I hope you'd all like this chapter. I couldn't feel satisfied until someone reviewed it and I think I had it messed up. Review please!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach. Boo hoo. But at least I have Rika-chan, Miyu-chan, Rui-kun and more on to the following chapters! :DDD

**_

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**_Chapter Seven: Strip Truth or Dare [an Omake Chapter]_**

The day was obviously boring in Rika's office. Hisagi was nowhere to be seen. Thinking for a moment, Rika concluded that he might be off, drinking with Rangiku somewhere.

Rika sighed and continued to doodle on a piece of paper. She had finished the day's paperwork already, and stayed in her office for nothing. There was a silent knock on the door.

"Come in." The door opened, revealing Mizuki, her third seat.

"Ah. Mizuki-chan. Is Shuhei back already?" Rika asked, hoping that her lieutenant had come back with another load of paperwork. At least, she thought, she's still going to have something to do. The brunette shook her head.

"Ah, Taicho, I was wondering if you would want to join the SWA," Mizuki said. Rika was puzzled.

"What's…the SWA exactly?" she asked. Mizuki looked up and said, "It's the Soul Society Women's Association. It's a little organization of the women here in Soul Society and Kusajishi-fukutaicho is the president. We're actually going to have a meeting today—would you like to come, Taicho? I see that you're not busy anymore, I guess," Mizuki explained.

Rika nodded a bit. "Okay. I guess it wouldn't hurt if I attend, would it?" Rika joked. Upon hearing her reply, Mizuki's face brightened and led her captain to the meeting place of the SWA.

* * *

"Okay, everyone let's put the meeting into order!" Yachiru yelled cheerfully. Shinigami women settled down and sat in a rectangular formation with Yachiru, Nemu and Nanao sitting on the head.

"Today, we will be welcoming a new member with us: Ichimaru Rika-taicho," Nanao announced. There was some polite applause and giggles as Rika bowed to everyone.

"I'm glad I followed Mizuki. Now I'm having a great way to spend my free time," Rika said and many chuckled.

"On with the meeting, our first agenda today is, again, our Photo Book," Nanao started. Nemu scribbled everything down in a black notebook labeled "the SWA: Meeting Record Book".

"As we all know, Kuchiki-taicho is still the most voted captain that we wanted to release a photo book of. However, like we all know too, he refuses anyone who wants to take a picture of him—moreover, a photo book. And when we try to _persuade _him, he just releases Senbonzakura."

The women looked solemn. In Rika's case, she was trying to understand why they wanted Byakuya's picture. Since she doesn't want to disrupt the meeting, she kept it to herself.

"Does anyone of you have any suggestions on the photo book? Other captains are kind enough to allow pictures, while others merely drove us away _without _their zanpakutos," Nanao said again.

"Once, my Taicho was so angered by my bugging him that he also unleashed Hyourinmaru to me," Rangiku said out of the blue. Some of them shuddered at the thought of angering the 10th Squad captain.

Rika raised her hand. "If I may not interrupt, Ise-fukutaicho, maybe we can just have a portrait of Kuchiki-taicho drawn by an artist rather than risking our lives for a single picture," she suggested. Every head turned to her. She DID have a point.

"Great idea Rika-chan! Nyaa! Glomp attack!" Yachiru yelled and she glomped Rika who stumbled backwards at the force. Nanao took action quickly and bribed Yachiru some candies. When the pink-haired lieutenant was gone, Rika managed to thank Nanao.

"That is quite an idea, Ichimaru-taicho. It IS less risk-taking and more practical; however, we do not know an artist of a kind," Nanao said. Rika pondered for a while.

"I can look for somebody," she volunteered.

"It's decided then. Ichimaru-taicho, we leave the task of searching for an artist to you. On to the second agenda then." Yachiru appeared again in the meeting and avoided glomping more people already.

"Our second agenda for today is the SWA Slumber Party this coming Saturday. The details have been finalized already, and guests are going to be captains and vice-captains of each squad—although Yamamoto-soutaicho already said no," Nanao explained.

"Now, let's just all get ready for the party, ne? Bring your best sleeping yukatas and get ready for the most extreme games and sake! And candies of course!" Yachiru said cheerfully.

"Anyway, we won't be sleeping at the same place anyway. It's like a party, anyway, with us wearing our sleeping yukatas. We'll go home afterwards," Nanao explained to Rika who seems to be confused.

"Oh. Okay. I'd be sure to come then," Rika said, smiling lightly.

"Since there would be no more matters to discuss, the meeting is adjourned."

* * *

The "slumber party" was held in a private hall in Seiritei. Captains and lieutenants came one by one or by small groups towards the venue, carrying futons and wearing only their sleeping yukata. And then, the president of the SWA, Kusajishi Yachiru, arrived finally. She wore a cute pink pajama with blue teddy bears designed on it instead of the usual sleeping yukata.

Kenpachi was wearing a dull gray sleeping yukata and was holding a—bunny plushie!

"No way! Why is Zaraki-taicho holding a plushie? Poor bunny!" someone yelled.

The 11th Division captain ignored them and set his lieutenant down and handed over the plushie. Oh… It was Yachiru's plushie. Many heaved a relieved sigh. They never imagined someone as tough as Kenpachi ever hug a plushie when he sleeps. It just sounds disgusting.

"Welcome everyone! Yay! It's the official SWA Slumber Party!" Yachiru announced. There was a loud cheer from over-enthusiastic lieutenants and some captains like Kyoraku Shunsui and Kenpachi, who was forced to pretend happy for the sake of his lieutenant Kusajishi.

"Now… Why don't we take attendance first?" Yachiru suggested. There were some grumble but Kenpachi turned to them and yelled, "Do pay some respect, yah know!" and there was silence.

"Okay… Squad 1 declined. Squad 2 all here. Squad 3, check. Squad 4, excellent. Squad 5, cupcake. Squad 6—yay! Bya-kun's been thrown here with Pineapple-kun! Squad 7 said no. Mou… Squad 8—"

"Nanao-chan and I are here!" yelled Kyoraku, earning him a whack on the head from his precious Nanao-chan. "Behave yourself, Taicho. Be at least ashamed of yourself," Nanao stated sternly. Her captain only chuckled.

"Okay… Squad 9—Rika-chan's present too! Yay! And then, Squad 10, present! Whiiee! Squad 11—me and Ken-chan are present! Squad 12—Nemu-chan's here and Clown-taicho isn't invited…"

There was a loud uproar from everyone and cheers erupted everywhere. It only showed how much the Gotei 13 _loves _Kurotsuchi Mayuri. Nemu did not have a reaction at all.

"Settle down, everyone! Lastly, Squad 13 ever-present! Okay—we're all complete! Let the party begin!" Yachiru announced as many jumped for joy and brought out sake bottles. Kenpachi had the mind to remind some people not to give sake to his pink-haired lieutenant as to the fact that she gets crazy when she does.

* * *

Immediately after the uproar, Kyoraku dragged Byakuya through his yukata sleeve towards a small group of male captains.

"I would appreciate if you would release me, Kyoraku-taicho. After kidnapping me from my house, you'd drag me to this so-called party of yours? I don't think so," Byakuya said coldly, prying the 12th Squad captain away from him. But to no avail.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya. Here," Kyoraku said. He handed the irritated captain a sake bottle and a cup. "Drink with us! It's once in a hundred years that the girls would even allow us into their slumber party!"

"Speak for yourself, Kyoraku-taicho. I don't even know why I am dragged in here," Toshirou commented darkly.

"Oh little Toshirou! Don't worry. It's not like I'm going to piss Nanao-chan off tonight. If I did, she will throw me out," Kyoraku said happily. He took another swig from his sake bottle. Byakuya settled down beside his old senpai, Ukitake Jushiro, and watched quietly as some male lieutenants, including Renji, pulled out playing cards and started to play.

"I'm not little!" Toshirou retorted but that only earned him a chuckle from Kyoraku and Ukitake.

"Mou… Taicho, there you are!" Rangiku suddenly appeared, looking flustered. She wrapped her arms around her captain, resulting Toshirou suffocated.

"Let—go—can't—breathe!" Toshirou managed to sputter.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Taicho! Here, take a swig from this sake bottle!" Rangiku said mischievously as she made her captain drink.

"What the hell, Matsumoto! Go and play with Ichimaru-taicho instead!" Toshirou yelled at her, wiping his mouth off his yukata sleeve. Kenpachi and Kyoraku were laughing at him.

"Oh all right! Hey, Rika looks stunning in that yukata," Rangiku commented as she ran to glomp a clueless Rika who was playing with Yachiru and talking to Nanao and Nemu.

"Shut up, Kyoraku, Zaraki," Toshirou said firmly as he drank from a sake bottle.

"Now that's more like it, Shiro-chan! Now, now, Byakuya-kun, aren't you even going to drink that sake? Incredulous!" Kyoraku said, putting an arm on Byakuya's shoulder.

"All right. This is the challenge. Whoever manages not to sleep or sleeps last would be winner!" Kenpachi announced.

"I can accept that," Ukitake said, chuckling slightly.

"I am not joining," Byakuya said quietly. Kyoraku snorted.

"Aw come on, Byakuya! Don't chicken out!" Kyoraku said, slapping Byakuya's back.

"Whatever," Byakuya said, glaring at the drunkard captain.

* * *

"You look cute today, Yachiru-chan!" Rika praised. She gave another brightly-colored lollipop to the little pink-haired girl.

"Thanks Rika-chan! Ne, you look pretty in that yukata too! And I like your garments inside: black tube top and short shorts. Cute!" Yachiru said, glomping poor Rika again.

"Ne, thanks. What's up for today anyway?" Rika said while Yachiru nuzzled on her like a little kitten. She sat up again with Yachiru on her lap.

"Hah! Tonight, we will be drinking sake indefinitely and play strip truth or dare!" Rangiku announced. All men looked up to her, hearing the word 'strip'.

Rika noticed. _"Heh. Perverts," _she thought to herself. She slowly inched her way away from the group and towards Shuhei, Renji and the other lieutenants who were all playing poker.

"Shuhei, your deck sucks," Rika commented. Her lieutenant rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Rika grabbed the cards from him and Renji and rearranged it. "I challenge you, Renji. Poker," Rika said with a smirk.

"Ne, just to warn you Ichimaru-taicho. I am Seiritei's poker champion," Renji said smugly. Rika's smirk grew wider.

"What a coincidence! I myself am a poker champion too," Rika said.

And after a while…

"Royal flush again, Renji. You lose…_again_," Rika said triumphantly. "If this was a real poker game, I'm already a multi-millionaire."

"I want another rematch!"

"Hey Rika-chan, what the hell are you doing there! Come here!" Rangiku said, pulling the white-haired girl towards a rather large circle of girls who mostly were in their undershirts already.

"I don't want to strip, Ran-chan," Rika said flatly.

"Of course you won't strip—if your answers and dares are satisfying," Rangiku told her. She then forced Rika to sit down in between Hinamori Momo and Nanao. Momo was wearing only her thin undershirt and shorts only and Nanao had a sleeve off. She was slightly uncomfortable, since she felt like someone was looking at her.

"Okay. You spin the bottle, Nemu-chan!" Rangiku said cheerfully. She had an intent look on the bottle and it landed on Kotetsu Kiyone.

"Hey! It's my fourth time already! I take dare!" she grumbled. Rangiku laughed maniacally and whispered something to Nemu's ear, much to Kiyone's chagrin and the others' amusement.

"I dare you to kiss your taicho's cheek," Nemu said in a monotonous tone.

"WHAT! I CANNOT POSSIBLY DO THAT! DAMN RANGIKU—"

"Or if you don't like Ukitake-taicho, you can always kiss Kotsubaki," Nemu went on, unfazed my Kiyone's outburst.

Kiyone huffed. "I'd rather kiss the foot of an ogre than kiss that Sentaro," she said firmly.

"Then go kiss Ukitake-taicho already!" Rangiku yelled. Unbeknownst to them, the captains were listening to them.

"But—there is a 'but'. I'd rather kiss Sentaro than my captain. I have great respect for him," Kiyone said as she stood up. She strode towards the lieutenant and seated officer males and kissed Sentaro lightly on the cheek. She then backed up and sat again.

"Hey Kiyone! You owe me that!" Sentaro yelled, blushing furiously.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" countered Kiyone as she hid her face which had a red tint on it. Rika giggled at this.

* * *

"Ne, Jushiro, it seems that your 3rd seats are developing a little romance," Kyoraku commented, sipping from his sake cup.

"Well, they've been my 3rd seats for a very long time now. And besides, with all those constant bickering, I'm sure they would have felt something," Ukitake said with a knowing smile.

"I don't know why you're letting them be like that," Byakuya commented after he sipped from his cup too.

"Nah. They're old enough to know what's right. Besides, I think they are still oblivious about their feelings," Ukitake said with a smile. Byakuya chose not to respond.

"If my seated officers acted like that, I would have smashed their head on the floor. And if they were having romantic feelings for that little brat I have for a lieutenant, I would have killed them at once," Kenpachi said casually.

"You really are protective of Kusajishi-fukutaicho," Ukitake said contentedly.

"'Course I am. That brat is still a kid," Kenpachi grumbled.

"Hey, which of those girls do you think have the smoothest shoulder, ne?" Kyoraku asked out of the blue.

"You pervert! Don't ever think on being a peeping tom!" Toshirou warned. Kyoraku laughed while Ukitake merely chuckled. Byakuya still had a serious face while Kenpachi shrugged.

"Of course I won't. Nanao-chan will kill me if I do that. Let's just watch for a while. I bet Nanao-chan has the smoothest shoulder," Kyoraku said smugly.

"I wouldn't trust that brat to have a smooth shoulder," Kenpachi said.

"I've seen Matsumoto's shoulders countless times already," Toshirou confessed. Kenpachi slapped him at the back.

"It's okay to be a grown-up man and see less-innocent things!" he said with a laugh.

"I AM a grown-up," Toshirou said firmly.

"You had good candidates but I assure you that it is Ichimaru-taicho who has the smoothest shoulder," Ukitake said with a knowing smile again.

"Ukitake-senpai, I didn't know you had it in you," Byakuya said flatly. To that, Ukitake merely responded with a grin.

"I don't. I'm just stating the obvious. Besides, Gin once showed me a picture of him and his sister," Ukitake said.

"HA! The bottle finally landed on you Rika!" Rangiku yelled triumphantly, jumping up and down.

Heads turned to the girls playing strip truth or dare.

"The rule is simple. If you choose truth, I'd have to ask a question. If we're not satisfied with your answer, you first peel off your sleeve. Then the other. Then the whole yukata. And the rest is history! And is dare, you do a dare," Rangiku said menacingly.

"Sure. I take truth first," Rika said casually.

"DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON KUCHIKI-TAICHO?"

"Idiot. You should have asked her who her crush is among the captains instead," Nanao said. Rangiku covered her mouth.

"No! I take that—"

"Of course I have none. Why would you even think of me crushing over Kuchiki-taicho?" Rika asked innocently.

"Aw man, Byakuya! It seems that Rika's not hitting on you," Kyoraku said, laughing loud. Byakuya merely glared at him.

"That's a bit degrading to the ego," Toshirou commented quietly, taking another sip from his cup. Byakuya ignored him.

"There is actually a person who is not attracted to the noble Kuchiki Byakuya?" Kenpachi said haughtily.

"NO WAY! I am not satisfied with your answer! Strip!" Rangiku yelled as she pouted.

"Mou… But that's the truth, Ran-chan," Rika reasoned out.

"It's still unsatisfactory. Now slide that first sleeve off," Rangiku said, crossing her arms over her chest.

This Rika did. "See? I told you she has the smoothest shoulder," Ukitake said victoriously.

"Whatever perv," Kyoraku said, while he grew mushrooms because his Nanao did not have the smoothest shoulder.

* * *

Everyone partied until three in the morning and everyone was exhausted, drunk, sleeping already, or looking groggily to each other, trying to support one another to walk out of the building. However, Byakuya was not one of them. He still had that composed look he always had but as he scanned around, he saw his lieutenant Abarai Renji, knocked out from drinking too much sake and is already snoring loudly beside Hisagi Shuhei.

"Oh hey Kuchiki-taicho. You seem to—withstand—liquor [yawn]…well." Byakuya turned and saw Rangiku who was struggling to help a knocked-out Rika up.

Earlier in that party, Rika was given the dare to chug down Byakuya's sake bottle. Of course, being the stubborn cow she is, Rika did so and wasn't able to hold her horses. In an instant, the 9th Division captain was knocked out.

"Yah know Kuchiki-taicho, since you're the only one who seems to be all right, can you please bring Rika home? I don't want some random perv hitting on her," Rangiku said as she swayed slightly. Byakuya chose not to say anything but assisted the large-bosomed lieutenant into carrying the sleeping captain.

Rangiku pulled away, swayed again, and fell down, face first.

"Troublesome woman…" Byakuya muttered under his breath as he stared at Rangiku. He then carried Rika over his shoulder (since carrying her piggy-back might be dangerous) and flash-stepped away to Rika's apartment.

When Byakuya arrived, he saw Rika's attendant, Rui, standing outside her doorstep, pacing back and forth. When Rui saw him and his 'Ojou-sama', he immediately went alert and helped him with Rika.

"Heavens! What happened to her, Kuchiki-sama?" Rui asked as he held the noble inside Rika's spacious apartment. Byakuya caught glimpses of large portraits of the twins, Gin and Rika, each of them containing a different motif but the same large smiles and happy aura from them.

"She didn't hold her alcohol well," Byakuya replied simply.

"I told her not to drink anything. She's really stubborn," Rui said with a sigh.

"You could put her down here," Rui said as he arranged a blue futon on the floor. Byakuya laid Rika down on the futon and gazed at her for a moment.

"Ojou-sama… You are so troublesome," Rui said with a whisper. He and Byakuya stood up.

"Thank you for bringing Ojou-sama back here. I am deeply in debt with you, Kuchiki-sama," Rui said, bowing deeply to Byakuya.

"Hn."

Rui led the young noble out to the door and thanked him again.

* * *

Heavens! I'm so sorry for mistakes! I struggled to make two chapters that I didn't have time to check everything. Please bear with me. :'(


	8. The Wrath of a Woman with Hangover

**Author's Note: **Here's another chapter! God, I am so careless. This surely sucks. I'm so sorry if this is a chapter for suckers. I'm a sucker. My life sucks. Please continue reviewing for the sake of my sanity. :| Oh, please bear with the OOCness of some characters, like Hitsugaya-taicho.

~ **Amelia Numps Phantomhive: **I'm sorry if Rika seems to be a Mary Sue and I don't really know what it is in general until you presented it in your review. Anyway, if you could help me direct Rika's character away from being a Mary Sue, I'd greatly appreciate it. And with the fast-pace, I'll try to slow down. :D Thanks for the review, no offense was taken anyway. :) Plus, I think I had come up with an excuse about Rika's "nickname" to Toshirou. I put it in the next chapter, which I might release tomorrow or so. :3

~ **NobleButterfly2711: **Thanks for the compliment! :D I really find it funny that I even thought of "giving" my OC three zanpakutos, and they all had clashing personalities, which could be totally mad. :D And about Raikou and Byakuya, when I thought up of Raikou's personality, I somehow made him Ichigo-like with a little coolness in him. :3 And so, I think he and Byakuya would have more issues and little arguments in the following chapters. :))) I'll try to slow the plot down, and I hope I can satisfy you all.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach. End of story.

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter Eight: the Wrath of a Woman with Hangover_**

"Dammit Rui! Go and fuck away!"

It was a bright and cheerful morning in Seiritei. But not for Rika, for she was having a hangover. Her attendant and all-around butler, Rui, was trying to get her to take a shower and go to work, but to no avail.

"Ojou-sama, a lady doesn't curse like that. Come on and get up. You will be late for your work. And that's not a good example for your subordinates," Rui reasoned out, pulling on his master's arm.

"Fuck Yamamoto who gave me this job for suckers," Rika mumbled angrily.

"Ojou-sama, that is unbecoming of you," Rui lectured.

"Go and lecture a fucking mouse, Rui. I'm staying at home," Rika said.

"Ojou-sama, please get up or else…"

"The fucking kid's even trying to intimidate me and scare the hell out of me. The fucking nerve…" Rika mumbled to herself.

* * *

"Good morning Taicho," Hisagi greeted, squinting his eyes. He had just arrived and decided to check on his captain if she was already there. Well, like a dutiful captain she is, Rika was already there.

"It's not a fucking good morning, Hisagi, and you're late. Penalty," Rika said threateningly. Hisagi stiffened. He had never heard his captain curse before, and she never threatened him when he arrives late. This must not be his captain.

"Who are you and why are you pretending to be my taicho!" Hisagi demanded, pointing an accusing finger to Rika.

"Idiot. I AM your taicho. I am just having a fucking hangover," Rika said slowly, looking up from her paperwork to glare at her lieutenant.

"Oh. I'm very sorry I was late, Taicho! I woke up late and—"

"I don't want to hear your fucking excuses. Just go and do your damn paperwork," Rika hissed. Hisagi readily complied, not wanting to face the wrath of his captain who was having a hangover and probably… PMS. Hisagi shuddered at the thought.

Mizuki bobbed his head in Hisagi's office and looked at her superior. "What's up, lieutenant?" Mizuki asked.

"Did—did—did—didyouseehowtai choactedtomewhe niarrived!" Hisagi was scared. [Translation: Did you see how taicho acted to me when I arrived?]

"Oh yes. Well, you've got to deal with it for the whole day because you'd be interacting with her forever," Mizuki said with an evil grin.

"Nooo! You're evil too!" Hisagi said, pointing to Mizuki. Mizuki pointed to herself.

"Me?"

"Good morning Squad 9!"

A dark-skinned woman with long, violet hair entered their barracks.

"Yo-Yoruichi-sama!" Mizuki and Hisagi yelled, surprised.

"Hello, Gin's little flower."

Rika looked up from her paperwork and saw the cat demon, Shihoin Yoruichi.

"Why the fucking hell are you here!" Rika demanded. At that same moment, Rui entered her office, carrying a mug of ice cold milk, Rika's favorite treat. He bowed low to Yoruichi, recognizing the noble head of the Shihoin clan.

"Ojou-sama, a lady does not speak with the head of a clan like that," Rui said sternly. He put the mug down on his stressed out master and stood straight.

"To hell with all nobles and their fucking stick up asses," Rika cursed darkly. She continued to read reports, although her head was pounding hard like it was about to explode.

"Ojou-sama! Stop cursing already," Rui scolded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Yoruichi merely chuckled. "Having trouble with your hangover, ne Kodachi?" she said playfully.

"An awful hell, yeah," Rika replied, still focusing on her paperwork.

"But I'm sure after a little, you know, _kiss_, from Byakuya-bo, I'm sure all the pain will vanish," Yoruichi said dreamily yet mocking.

"What are you implying?" Rika hissed.

Yoruichi pretended to be shocked. "Why, don't you even remember, Kodachi? You and Byakuya-bo—no, never mind. You wouldn't want me to tell," Yoruichi acted.

"Come on, Yoruichi-_san_," Rika warned, emphasizing on the honorific.

"Oh. You wouldn't really want to know. You'd be embarrassed," the playful cat said dramatically. Rika had enough.

"Well then, Shihoin Yoruichi, if you have nothing to say, you can go bug your _Byakuya-bo_, rather than me," Rika said calmly; however, no matter how anyone would put it, she looks seething to the soul [**A/N: **Notice the pun when they're already souls? :D Sorry. I can't help it].

Yoruichi pouted and walked towards the door. But before she left, she said, "Oh are you jealous?"

Rika banged her fists on the table. "GET OUT!" Yoruichi laughed out loud and closed the door behind her. Rika was breathing heavily to control herself from throwing anything to the door where the were-cat retreated.

Rui tried to calm his master but Rika is already in her boiling point and she would never cool off now. Rui knew. "Ojou-sama, you still have paperwork to do. Don't do anything reckless," Rui soothed.

Rika sat down and banged her things while she resumed signing and reading paperwork. Her temper is at its worse state already.

* * *

Later on, Yoruichi strolled to the 10th Division's barracks. She met Rangiku who was about to enter inside. "Hey Matsumoto!" Yoruichi called.

Rangiku stopped on her tracks. "Oh hey Yoruichi-san," Rangiku greeted.

Yoruichi had a triumphant smirk plastered on her face. "Do you want to piss Rika off today?" she offered. Rangiku brightened up immediately.

Yoruichi whispered something to Rangiku who smiled with glee. "Oh that would really be great, Yoruichi-san. You already started the flame. I'm going to add fuel to make it a large fire," Rangiku said.

Toshirou's head appeared from the doorway. "I heard you, Matsumoto, Shihoin-san."

Rangiku pouted to her captain. "Mou… Taicho's going to ruin the fun," she said, glaring to her captain.

"Matsumoto, go back to your work and don't even bother Ichimaru-taicho. And Shihoin-san, please stop planting more mischief into my lieutenant's head," the short captain of the Tenth warned.

"Oh puh-lease, _Hitsugaya-taicho_, I am not doing such outrageous things," Yoruichi denied in a fake manner.

Toshirou looked at him sternly. "I hope you're really not. Matsumoto has enough of those little tricks you know, and I would live better without them," he said calmly.

"Mou… You doubt me now, Taicho?" Rangiku said with her best puppy-dog eyes.

"I am merely giving you another 'lecture', Matsumoto. Now go back to work and don't ever slack off," the white-haired captain ordered. Rangiku frowned and bowed to Yoruichi before disappearing back to her barracks.

Before Toshirou could say another word, the Goddess of Flash was gone into another part of the Seiritei.

* * *

That afternoon…

"Damn it! Why can't I focus?" Rika yelled furiously as she again banged her fists onto her desk. She was purely not in her best mood and a single death glare from her made her lieutenant retreat back to his office before he could even deliver another set of paperwork. And so, it was Rui who delivered them personally.

Another scene flashed in Rika's mind. Byakuya wearing his silk white sleeping yukata embroidered with black dragons with the finest black thread in Seiritei. This pissed Rika more.

"To hell with these hangovers!" she yelled as her crimson eyes flashed dangerously. She was ready to kill someone who would mess her head up, and Byakuya is the number one on the list.

She called for Rui, who immediately entered her office without even knocking. With a temper like that, he wouldn't need to do so or else he would have his head off his body.

"Ojou-sama, you called for me," Rui said, bowing.

"Bring these papers out to Shuhei and tell him to deliver these to all divisions. I put some tabs so he would know which papers belonged to which divisions," Rika barked. Rui scrambled to his feet and managed to hold the stack of papers that Rika put on his arms. Rika opened the door for him, and shut it with a thud afterwards.

She paced around her office as there was no more paperwork to do. Quite surprising, because paperwork seemed to flood every division captain. But with Rika's short patience, she had to do everything quickly before the thin line of her patience breaks.

"**Lookie. Rika's pissed." **Her first zanpakuto, Raikou, materialized in front of her. Rika stopped dead on her tracks to glare at him.

"**Don't try her patience, Raikou. You wouldn't want to break it." **Her second zanpakuto followed afterwards.

"**Like I even want to try," **Raikou said dryly. He sat on the couch at the corner, making himself comfortable. He threw his legs on the low table in front of him and put his hands on the back of his head.

"Like hell I would even spare you if you tried, Raikou," Rika mocked. She walked back to her seat behind her desk and faced her zanpakutos. Ayame soon settled beside Raikou, crossing her arms over her chest.

"**It looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, Rika-hime." **Ikazuchi was the last to materialize and he sat down on the seat in front of Rika's desk.

"I am aware of that, Ikazuchi. Don't be an idiot and try not to make my patience wear thinner," Rika threatened.

"**You've been so distracted ever since this morning. And why is that Kuchiki's image wearing a sleeping yukata keep on playing and playing on your mind?" **Raikou commented.

"Fuck! I don't even know!" Rika yelled, glaring hard to Raikou. _"He said he wouldn't try my patience," _Rika thought angrily to herself.

"**You're crushing on that Kuchiki?" **Ikazuchi asked, tears filling his eyes. He had always been intent on asking Rika out but he never got a 'yes'.

"NO. WAY. Ikazuchi, how could you make such ludicrous assessments!" Rika asked irately. Ikazuchi shrugged. Thinner. Thinner. Rika's patience is getting thinner and thinner with every moment.

"**Hey, let's better be gone. Someone's coming," **Ayame proposed and then she vanished. Ikazuchi and Raikou followed afterwards, leaving fuming Rika alone in her office. The door then banged open, revealing an over-happy Matsumoto Rangiku walk in Rika's office.

"Hello Rika! How was your night when Kuchiki-taicho brought you home?" Rangiku asked mischievously.

"_Kami, why did you have to make her come right now? What I don't need the most now is Rangiku teasing me with something I don't even know," _Rika thought exasperatedly.

"What do you want now? Go to fucking hell!" Rika yelled, her head on her hand. Her headache is getting worse and worse.

"Rika-chan! A lady—"

"Doesn't curse like this? I know! I had enough from Rui! And I'm not feeling lady-like today. Oh not today," Rika said, standing up.

"But Rika-chan, you do know what you did to Kuchiki-taicho, did you?" Rangiku asked, playing all giddy.

"God! Why can't just people tell me! It's killing me softly," Rika said exasperatedly, her voice barely resonating when she said the last word.

"So you don't know. Well, I'm off now. If I tell you, it would be embarrassing—"

"GO AHEAD AND ROT IN HELL! MAN! WHAT HAS GOTTEN OVER THESE PEOPLE TODAY?" Rika bellowed. Everyone in her division heard her, even the 10th Division and 8th Division.

* * *

_**In the 8**__**th**__** Division barracks roof…**_

"Wow. Rika-chan sure has some anger managements," Kyoraku commented.

"Taicho! Stop slacking off already!" Nanao stomped towards her captain who was lying lazily on the roof, his pink women's kimono and hat ever-present.

_**In the 10**__**th**__** Division…**_

"Matsumoto, I told you not to mess up with Ichimaru-taicho." Hitsugaya Toshirou was clearly angry as his lazy lieutenant strolled into his office carrying a stack of papers.

"Huh? But I didn't do anything! I didn't provoke Ichimaru-taicho by teasing her with things that didn't even happen when she was drunk last night!" Rangiku replied defensively.

Toshirou eyed her sternly. He sighed and sat back on hic chair. "You know, you're lucky enough that Ichimaru-taicho has enough self-control not to go after you and kill you," he said coldly.

Rangiku only smirked. "I know, Taicho. That's why I provoked her in the first place. Because I know she won't beat my ass up," she said smugly. Her captain could only shake his head.

* * *

That's it? I must really suck. Please review. I don't intend any harm. PBB just sucks now that everyone is quarreling. Bleh.

And I'm sorry for making Rika yell all those cuss words. I thought it would only be Hiruma Yoichi who I would allow to have a potty mouth, because he really has. Please forgive me and Rika if she offended you with her outbursts. And yes, Hisagi Shuhei's guess about Rika having PMS is true. *sigh* I'm very sorry for all the cuss words. :(

Please stay tuned for the next chapter!


	9. Nurse Byakkun

**Author's Note: **Oh my God. It's been ages since I last updated! I'm so sorry! I got caught up with things at home, and I couldn't post chapter nine. I'm still not done with chapter ten, I'm sorry again. Anyway, one person commented that Rika seems to be Mary Sue-ish. Since I'm new, I really did not know a Mary Sue until Amelia Numps Phantomhive told me. I'm so sorry about that. And about Rika's zanpakuto, I think I'm going to further elaborate their abilities later on. Plus, Hitsugaya's reason for allowing Rika to call him 'Toshirou-kun' is here. Well, I managed to make an excuse-a poor one, not to mention.

Also, I'm planning to switch into calling some people, mainly some captains, by their last name. Example: Toshirou, Jushiro, Shunsui, etc. I know it's inconsistent, I'm so sorry. If it bothers you, you can tell me. I can just redo everything. :)

Please bear with me. I know Byakuya is so OOC here; it's just that poor Rika is all alone at home, and she needed some comfort, especially since she's missing Gin so much.

I also found out recently what Rurichiyo is really like and I almost slipped and made her OOC. But now I know, thanks to Bleachpedia! Hehehe. :3

I absolutely adore Raikou now. He's so-I don't know-childish when with Rika. Cute! And I explained how Rika's zanpakutos can just materialize into thin air and be seen by other people.

Thanks to **Valinor's Twilight **for four, consecutive reviews. More knights are going to be introduced in the next or next, next chapter so stay tuned!

I'd love to get more reviews if possible. It's really enlightening.

On to the story then.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach. (c) Tite Kubo

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter Nine: Nurse Byakkun_**

"Rui…"

Rika struggled to get out of her bed, feeling very tired and weak. Her voice was raspy, and her throat was burning and painful.

"_I think I'm going to die now," _Rika thought.

"_Why did even Kami allowed her to be our master? Idiot Rika. You just caught fever, couch and cold," _Raikou said in her head. Rika resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"_You're the idiot, Raikou. It's not 'couch'. You mean cough, dummy," _Rika told her zanpakuto.

"_Oh no! My precious Rika-chan is sick! Quick! We need to materialize to take care of her!" _Ikazuchi suddenly said. Ayame rolled her eyes.

"_Don't you ever get more idiotic, Ikazuchi? That's ridiculous; we need to leave Rui to take care of her this time," _Ayame said, smacking the blonde narcissist's head.

"_Ow! Hey! That hurts! Why'd you do that? Besides, why can't we take care of Rika-chan?" _Ikazuchi whined.

"_Obviously, since we can materialize only because we get out forms from Rika's reiatsu, definitely, we will burden her more when we materialize—especially all three of us," _Raikou said bluntly.

"_Oh" _was all what Ikazuchi could muster.

"Good heavens! Ojou-sama!"

Rui rushed to his master's side, worry painted on his innocent boyish face. He knelt down beside Rika's futon and checked his master's forehead.

"Ojou-sama! You're burning up with fever!" Rui exclaimed, panic now visible in his soft blue eyes.

"Oh… Not only that Rui, I also feel terribly awful, not to mention that I have cough and cold," Rika whispered. Her voice was failing her and whispering was her only way to communicate with her servant.

"But… I think I will go and shop food for you, Ojou-sama! Please stay there for a moment," Rui soothed as he stood to get a basin of water and a cloth.

"Like I could even sit up," Rika muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"_Behave yourself today, Rika. I'm sure you're sick because of your uncured hangover yesterday," _Ayame told her sternly.

"_Yeah, yeah. Like I don't even know it," _Rika told Ayame irritably.

"_What a boring day this would be. Hey. You better inform your drunkard of a lieutenant that his ever-so-responsible captain would be taking a leave for the day," _Raikou ranted.

Rika's feebly eyes shot wide open and she tried to sit up. Rui found her trying too hard and had to push her gently back to her futon.

"Ojou-sama! I told you to stay in bed!" Rui scolded, placing the basin down on the table nearby.

Rika groaned. "I'm still on bed, okay? I'm just trying to…_hoist _myself up to a sitting position," Rika reasoned out. Her personal and ever-so-loyal attendant turned to her firmly.

"Ojou-sama, I wouldn't want you to sit up either. Just stay in bed, lied down. I will go on a grocery for a while—I'd be quick! And when I arrive, I'll prepare many meals for you," Rui told her while he put a cloth on Rika's forehead.

"But Rui… I need to go to work today. At least inform my lieutenant to take over for this day and do the paperwork—I mean his paperwork. Bring my paperwork over here, okay? I would not allow you to come back here without my paperwork," Rika threatened.

Rui heaved a sigh. "All right. But you shouldn't strain yourself, Ojou-sama. You need to rest," he said. With that, he left quietly for the market.

* * *

**In the 10****th**** Division barracks…**

"Hoi, hoi, Toshirou—"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Kurosaki—it's Hitsugaya-taicho or Taicho to you!" The white-haired captain is again in another epic battle of putting some lesson into the Substitute Shinigami's head about respectfulness towards captains, especially him.

"I don't care about that 'Taicho system' Toshirou. I'm here for another task that that old Yamamoto would want to request on me," Kurosaki Ichigo said, ignoring the angry outburst of the small captain.

"If so, why are you here in my barracks! Get out—and address me properly, Kurosaki!" Toshirou yelled. Ichigo still ignored him.

"I was hoping that I could catch Renji here. I wouldn't even want to run into Byakuya while I'm here," Ichigo said truthfully. Toshirou rolled his blue-green eyes.

"If you want to run into Abarai, get out of my office and move! And if you don't want to see Kuchiki-taicho, stay out of every squad's barracks!"

Hisagi then entered with Rangiku. "Why are you all shouting? I could hear Hitsugaya-taicho from our barracks," the lieutenant of the 9th asked.

"It's just Toshirou being a hard-ass and wanting me to call him 'taicho'," Ichigo stated flatly.

"Now that I remembered: why do you let my taicho call you by your first name?" Hisagi asked.

Now that the issue was brought up, Toshirou winced at the sudden flood of "unwanted" memories from the past, when Rangiku was still pregnant with Miyuki.

_**~ Flashback ~**_

"_Taicho~! I want some strawberries!" Rangiku whined. Rangiku was still in her fifth month of pregnancy, and was still craving for different foods._

"_Matsumoto, I would l advice you not to get attached with strawberries. Your child might grow up an idiot, like that poor excuse of a rampaging rhino when in battle," Toshirou told his lieutenant bluntly. He was currently visiting his lieutenant at home._

_When he found out that Rangiku was pregnant, he immediately had her have a leave on her fourth month, constantly visiting her in her apartment._

"_You mean that Kurosaki Ichigo? Yeah, he's a rampaging rhino. The way he swings that large sword of his…" Rangiku trailed off._

_There was a knock on the door_

"_Ran-chan, I brought you some things." It was a female voice. Toshirou opened the door for his immobile lieutenant. And there he saw, for the first time, Ichimaru Rika._

_She was wearing her usual knight uniform inside a dark cloak. She was carrying bags of goods on both of her arms, a bright Cheshire smile on her lips._

_Toshirou and Rika were introduced, got acquainted and became on good terms, although the former was still hesitant whether to trust the latter who was the twin of the traitor Gin. But somehow, the insightful captain felt comfortable around the lady, unlike the creepy feeling when he meets Gin on Seireitei._

_Everything that day seemed to be a blur, when Hitsugaya Toshirou met Ichimaru Rika. Stories were told, pasts unfolded and the captain found himself suddenly in a bet to the mighty noble clan knight because of his pregnant lieutenant's "persuasion skills"._

_What's more is that…he lost. He now faced the lady from the Kasumioji household, a Cheshire grin similar to Gin's, present on her smooth and flawless face._

"_All right; I lost. What do you want in return?" Toshirou said with a sigh._

_Rika chuckled. "Since you have some honorific issues, can I call you 'Toshirou-kun' instead?" she said with a genuine smile._

_Toshirou heaved yet another sigh. _"Women…" _he thought. "All right. At least it's not that bad," he said. He never thought that a beautiful girl like Rika could be _that _creepy too._

_**~ End of Flashback ~**_

"Hello? Earth to Taicho?" Rangiku was poking her captain's cheek. Toshirou blinked and glared at her.

"What do you want, Matsumoto? Go back to your office and do your paperwork!" he ordered her. The tawny-haired woman pouted childishly.

"I was just concerned with you spacing out, Taicho. But anyway, I was informed by Hisagi that Ichimaru-taicho is sick today," Rangiku said as she went out of the barracks.

"Oi! Matsumoto! Get back here!"

"Wait—Ichimaru? Don't tell me that bastard Ichimaru has been allowed to be a captain again! Gramps really needs to lie down for a while!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Will you just shut up, Kurosaki!" Toshirou yelled angrily. _"This kid is really getting on my nerves," _he thought.

"Hey, that's no way you can talk to my taicho," Hisagi interjected, glaring at the orange-head.

"YOUR taicho? I thought Kira was his lieutenant? Gah! What's happening to Soul Society?" Ichigo yelled, pulling his hair in frustration due to his lack of information.

"It's not Ichimaru Gin we're talking about. My taicho is his twin," Hisagi explained to the idiot.

"Morons! Why didn't ya tell me!" Ichigo shouted.

"HISAGI! KUROSAKI! IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO SHOUT HERE IN MY OFFICE, YOU BETTER GET OUT BEFORE I UNLEASH BANKAI ON YOU TWO!"

Hitsugaya Toshirou was really fuming.

"It's his fault!" Hisagi blamed, pointing to Ichigo.

"What—"

"SHUT UP!"

"But Hitsugaya-taicho—"

"I SAID SHUT UP."

"Taicho, I need some paperwork to be gathered for Ichimaru-taicho, since she cannot go to work today," Hisagi insisted.

Toshirou calmed down for a bit. He raised an eyebrow to Squad 9's lieutenant. "YOU'RE going to do your captain's paperwork?" he asked.

Hisagi laughed nervously. "Heh, actually, Taicho sent her attendant to pick up all her paperwork for today and bring them home," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought so. Well then, here they are. And if you see Matsumoto, tell her she's dead," Toshirou said, handing Hisagi a stack of paperwork.

The said lieutenant turned out to be in another squad, not too far away, when Hisagi found her. She was in the 9th Division barracks, stacks of papers with her—not to mention, the noble Kuchiki Byakuya.

Hisagi vaguely could remember how everything turned out, because it was all a blur to him. Kuchiki Byakuya was in their squad barracks, carrying flowers and a stack of paperwork. He told him to give all the paperwork to him, the captain, the more responsible one. He said he would be personally delivering them, instead of him.

And then the flowers. And Hisagi's captain.

_"Kuchiki-taicho and MY taicho! Huh?"_

So when his co-worker and friend, Takeuchi Mizuki, came out of her office to ask him what's wrong, Hisagi could only gawk.

* * *

Byakuya was silently strolling by himself towards his destination. Although he wanted himself to use shunpo already, he carried with him a large stack of paperwork for the sick captain of the Squad 9. Moreover, he also carried a bouquet of delicate kodachi, a gift that the well-endowed [in the chest part, that is] Matsumoto Rangiku wanted to give to her friend.

It was a custom to Byakuya to visit a captain when he/she is sick, but only to the ones that he considers as a close acquaintance. A perfect example is Ukitake Jushiro. However, it is still quite unexpected for him to even visit a captain who he doesn't even regard as one.

Ichimaru Rika is not the usual captain you will encounter. She is polite and graceful, yes; Byakuya's first impression of her was that. She is strong, as he can sense, but liked to keep it to herself. Come to think of it, only a few people knows she has three, ridiculous zanpakutos. Amongst them, Byakuya thought, only the female one was sensible enough. The two other males were annoying. The blonde was a narcissist, and the brown-head was nothing but rude—just like Kurosaki Ichigo. It may have been that trait of his that he and Byakuya instantly clashed the moment they met in Rika's hospital ward once.

Byakuya was even surprised to discover that the three zanpakutos Rika possessed could materialize without any special equipment or circumstance. It was purely the girl captain's reiatsu, he knows, that allows her zanpakutos to materialize. It was proof, that she has greater reiatsu than anyone could imagine. Well, her brother had a vast amount of reiatsu too; no doubt.

Gin's woman counterpart, however, can be a nuisance if she wants. She was even immature enough to let her hangover take over and shout profanities to anyone she meets. Byakuya had come to know about it when he overheard two lowly shinigamis from the 8th Division talk about that incident the day before.

Arriving in front of the apartment door, Byakuya knocked twice. There was no answer. He knocked again and still no answer came from inside.

"Ichimaru-taicho?" he called out. No one answered.

Byakuya thought it might be odd that even Rika's personal attendant didn't even open up or respond, at least. He slid the door open, and saw that the living room was clean—spotless and shining. The kotatsu was in the middle, and at the corner, there was a small pile of mats. Walls were decorated with pictures and portraits of Gin and Rika, both smiling either serenely or mischievously. Byakuya walked up to them for a moment, feeling the great closeness that the twins have for each other.

After a few moments there of staring at the twins, he hesitantly opened the door that led to Rika's room [he brought her when she was drunk once]. He found her there, flushed and breathing heavily.

Her zanpakutos lay unharmed beside her, and a basin of water was nearby on a low table. He set the paperwork and flowers down on the table. He approached Rika's sleeping form, and touched her forehead. Byakuya had to withdraw quickly, because Rika was too hot.

Nurse Byakkun took action.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"I have to be quick. Ojou-sama is really sick. Just her temperature and I can conclude that she's not going to be well without me taking care of her," Rui told himself. He was walking home alone, carrying bags of groceries that towered over him.

As he struggled, people merely stared at the peculiar yet strong boy. Suddenly, a stray cat was in front of him. Rui's eyes glinted with glee.

"Wow! What a cute little cat! Come here, kitty!" he said. He set aside the bags he carried and petted the kitten.

More cats came to him, even puppies and a few more little animals followed up.

Rika is surely in danger if Rui doesn't remember his purpose for buying that much of food.

* * *

Back in Rika's apartment, Byakuya was now watching over the shivering Rika. He had re-adjusted the covers on her already, but still it did not help. Rika cracked an eye open and looked to him, surprised.

"Ku-kuchiki-ta-taicho…"

"I came here to bring the paperwork you asked for. I did not trust your lieutenant in handling these. Plus, Matsumoto wanted to give these flowers to you, since she has some things to do herself," Byakuya said, gesturing to the low table where the paperwork and bouquet lay.

Rika smirked lightly, even though she was shivering uncontrollably.

"She just didn't want to come and see Gin's pictures here," she said bitterly. She glanced at the picture frame that hangs on the wall in front of her, which had Gin in it in, wearing a midnight blue hakama and top.

"You know, Gin's really an idiot. Scaring everyone off with that silly grin on his face… Joining forces with that bastard Aizen… But you know, even though my mother and father disowned him, I still…kinda treat him still the same… And I feel bad… Because I wasn't able to stop him… And now he's in prison…"

Byakuya was not too shocked when he heard Rika say Gin was in prison. He heard her zanpakutos talk about it, when she was in the 4th Division; surely, it was not a surprise that she already knows.

"It's not your fault he did that. It was his own decision," Byakuya said as he gazed to the serene face of Rika. He could not help but respond to her, like by doing so, he is repaying her for sharing such important things in her life to him.

"I know that… But he's my twin… And somehow, I feel responsible for his actions," Rika said weakly, a tear visible in her eyes.

Why she suddenly wants to tell the stoic captain about her brother, she doesn't know. All Rika feels is aloneness. The loneliness of being alone, being without her only family—Gin, all gnaws at her heart. And in one way or another, Byakuya's presence was enlightening to her. And she felt she wanted to pour out all those frustrations, all those sadness, all those feelings she felt when she misses her brother. Because it might be her only chance, before she goes back to her usual peppy self, full of life that did not really exist.

"You know you're not," Byakuya said. He felt sorry for Rika, but why, he doesn't know. Hell, he doesn't even know what's he's feeling sorry for.

"And this sinking feeling in my stomach won't go… It's here, ever since Gin left me in that house, which is really a hellhole, honestly… I miss him so much… Even though he's so evil… Even though he's so foolish… Even though he's an idiot… And… I'd forgiven him already… Without him apologizing for just leaving… Because that's how much I love Gin…"

Tears streamed down to Rika's face continuously, and sobs were suppressed. She sniffed but her nose was clogged. Byakuya wiped the tears away using the cloth.

"I personally don't think you should dwell on him. You should move on. I see you're good friends with Matsumoto, and Hitsugaya-taicho, your squad. And you have your niece too," Byakuya whispered.

Rika closed her eyes. "I wish doing it can be as easy as saying it. Gin has only been my only family, all those years before I made friends with Rurichiyo-sama and the other knights… He was my only family, even though everyone in our clan always chastised him cruelly, and made me stay away from him in sometimes…"

"He's that special?"

"Yeah… He's the only one I had who loved me dearly and cared for me… When I'm tired of loving, he was always there to love me equally, like recharging me in a way so I can care… for other people again."

Byakuya stood up. He took the basin and refilled it to cool Rika down. Gradually, her fever had gone down, although she was still pretty warm.

* * *

It was sunset already. Rui had gone astray to a field where hundreds of small animals gathered around him. He was playing with a certain white kitten, until he caught sight of the sun.

Rui stood upright. "Oh no! I forgot about Ojou-sama! Rui, you are despicable!" he told himself as he rushed to pick up all the groceries he had to run home.

When he arrived, Byakuya was still tending to Rika inside her room. He rushed to her side and bowed deeply to the Kuchiki noble, his nose touching the floor already.

"Please accept my apology, Kuchiki-sama, for burdening you with my work. And thank you for taking care of my mistress. I am deeply sorry, and grateful to you," he said guiltily.

Byakuya merely looked at him without emotion. He stood up, and fixed his white haori.

"Don't just leave your master like that. Ichimaru-taicho had really been lonely, but don't worry. I managed to cool her down," Byakuya said coldly.

Rui stood and bowed again. "Please forgive me. And thank you for staying beside Ojou-sama. She really tends to be sad when she's sick," he said quietly.

Byakuya merely nodded. "I'll be leaving now. Take care of Ichimaru-taicho," he said and he was gone.

Rui returned to his mistress.

"Rui?"

"Yes Ojou-sama?"

"You're dead when I'm well."

* * *

Was it all right? Please tell me! Review please! :D I'd appreciate it really. Stay tuned!

**~ cassandrajillenchantress**


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Bleach, Family, Romance