Uchiha Yato entered the Kuchiki Estate just as noon arrived.
The Kuchiki Clan was one of Soul Society's great noble houses, an early backer of the Soul King's establishment of order across the Three Realms. Its traditions were solemn, its members held themselves up as models for Soul Reapers, and it was rigidly old-fashioned.
Byakuya's wedding naturally followed the Three-Day Rite to the letter.
On the first day came the Shared Food and Drink Rite. Chestnut cakes, sea bream, and sake were laid out in the bedchamber. Husband and wife knelt together and shared a meal, then spent the night beneath the same canopy. Only after that was the rite complete.
On the second day came the Surname-Returning Rite. The couple visited the ancestral shrine together and paid respects to the spirit tablets of every past head of the Kuchiki Clan. An elder read the documents aloud, entered the bride's name into the Kuchiki Family Register, formally granted her the surname Kuchiki, and held a small family banquet.
On the third day came the Public Proclamation Rite: an elegant banquet for the clan, with other nobles and important figures from Seireitei invited to witness the public announcement of the lady of the Kuchiki household.
Today was that final banquet. As captain of the Ninth Division and a friend of Byakuya Kuchiki, Uchiha Yato was bound to attend.
A servant led Yato into the courtyard, where he took a careful look around.
More than fifty years ago, Kaien Shiba and Sōjun Kuchiki had fought here and wrecked most of the
place.
Though it had long since been restored, Uchiha Yato, who had been there, still remembered it vividly.
I wonder if the Shiba Clan will send someone. But with the two families at each other's throats these days—
Unlikely.
With that