It all started with one meeting of fate.
For one eighteen year old Rukia, life had been nothing short of a roller coaster. The girl was born to drug abusing parents, but she was kept safe by her older sister Hisana until she was eight. It was then that her parents got murdered over a drug deal gone badly, and both she and her sister were pulled apart. Due to how far apart in age the two females were, they were placed in different institutions and for the next decade the girl was raised in the household of the Ishida's.
And it was then that everything changed for her. Rukia learned that the world wasn't as normal as she thought it was, and for four years she was trained into one of the darkest arts out there for regular humans. The art of hunting supernatural beings. Starting from the lowest of the low, the teen years of the female were spent studying by day, and hunting these monsters by night. It also meant that she learned more via experience. But of course the territory brought danger. And tonight was no different.
For the most part the hunters never broke truce, instead they worked as freelance bounty hunters, and tonight she had a big event happening. Alongside the Ishida heir, the female had spent the day preparing, from gear to garments, all to make sure things went right. And as usual the female had her trademark masquerade mask to hide her looks. Not like she was hard to identify, but it hid a large part of her face, and worked wonders for what was coming next. Nighttime, the moon shun brightly over the household of the Kuchiki.
There was a meeting happening tonight, a hidden individual. The Ishida's were born angels, so having Uryuu with her meant she had a quick way out if needed. Infiltration and assassination was all up to her however, she was the only one small enough to easily sneak through the ventilation system. So clad in black, dressed in black jeans, a set of mountain boots, black turtle neck and her long locks of black tied in a long braid, this meant she was ready.
Infiltrating the grounds had been a rather menial task thanks to the scent blockers, mostly due she knew that those bloodsuckers had enhanced senses, so she at least made sure to keep her scent blocked as much as she could, alongside an angel amulet to help her. Soon enough she had found the right spot to infiltrate the entire manor. The window to the basement.
The entry was successful, and rather quiet too, as she managed to navigate rather decently in the dark, across the mountains covered in white sheets and the layers of dust. Luckily she didn't have to deal with the tickle of it causing her to sneeze, mostly because she was careful enough not to offset the dust and cause her location to get discovered all too easily. It took her a bit to find the stairs, but luckily by the time she did she was out of the dark and soggy basement and out across the halls.
It was quiet, rather too quiet of that. But it didn't take her long to find one of the foyers and end up finding the entry to the ventilation system. However it didn't end up being as easy as she hoped. The same was blocked by a large desk, and no matter how strong she was, the girl was only human, and there was no way she could push an entire piece of furniture made of mahogany out of the way.
This left her wondering on what to do next. Guess old fashioned infiltration was her task, but just as she was about to do that, she started hearing voices outside the exit she was going to use. Crap this wasn't good. If she got found out there was no telling what could be done to her, and Uryuu had been clear when he said that if she got caught there was no way he could drag her out of there. So every motion counted. The girl managed to hide inside a nearby wardrobe, activating a rune behind the amulet she wore, making sure she wasn't scented or heard for as long as it was on. Leaving a small creak, she watched what was about to unfold.
Inside stepped a series of individuals. Well more so four. One tall slender man she identified as the master of the household, one Byakuya Kuchiki. The long raven hair dropped down his back, and cold eyes seemed to hold no hint of love in them from what she could see. After him another male, tall, looking to be in his mid-forties, but it was hard to tell for how long he'd been that way. The girl immediately identified the man as the Vampire King, a man she had crossed paths accidentally perhaps a half a dozen of times, one Isshin Kurosaki. And with him came a female dressed elegantly at best, her arms wrapped around one of his.
She had bright orange wavy hair, and for the most part seemed to look as one of the kindest beings she had ever laid her eyes on. Assumption was that this was Isshin's wife, the Queen, Masaki Kurosaki.
The last individual to step in seemed to throw her off guard. Midst the elegance and formality, walked in a male, no older than early twenties with bright orange hair. The hair was short, spiky and wild, giving off this irrefutable sense of danger to him. He dressed casually at best, jeans, sneakers and a tee. Nothing too overly fancy, but from the looks, he was probably the next in line… The prince.
Ichigo Kurosaki.
"Are you sure this will even work, Lord Byakuya? It is a rather risky plot you have going on here" Isshin spoke out, and as odd as it was, Rukia didn't budge. She wanted to see what was going to come out of this. Something about a plot. However the other noble just looked away without answering.
The air seemed tense, but the only thing she could honestly read was that the youngest of the group didn't seem one nick of amused. Heck Ichigo seemed on edge, as if something bad was going to happen "I still don't see why we were needed here. Or me for that matter…" he said, reaching for the couch right next to the piece of furniture she was hiding in and stared upwards at the ceiling.
This clearly was putting Rukia on edge. All she could figure was that the group was talking through telepathy, as she saw them move and motion like talking, but there were clearly no words. But the one close to her didn't seem to be caring about the entire ordeal as he just stared at the ceiling absentmindedly.
'I need to get out of here and get to my mark…'
It was clear that the longer time passed, the more on edge she was, and it didn't take long for the male to lean back more on the couch and suddenly his eyes… met hers. And on instinct she knew it had happened because his expression changed from clearly not being amused, to his bright amber eyes shifting to bright ruby red.
The female kicked out of the piece of furniture and rolled on the ground, triggering one of her silver dust smoke bombs in the process. It wasn't harmful, but enough to cause mild irritation and disorientation as she used the distraction to run out the door and mentally traced her path to the room she'd been marked to go. The halls were obnoxiously empty. Odd for an household full of servants, but as soon as she made it to the main foyer, her hand reached for the whip she carried, cracking it free and reaching it up to aim towards the upper rail as to cut time and distance.
The cloud of smoke caught the quartet by surprise, but oddly enough Ichigo had been the first one to emerge from the room and follow on the tracks of the hunter that infiltrated the household. He might not be armed, but fuck if he needed that to fight a measly human of all beings.
He caught sight of her as she had just reached the upper floor and pushed on his feet, landing in front of the petite female that had so endearingly caught his eye. She was agile and crafty, for a human at that. No wonder his kin was so afraid of Shirayuki, but he was a whole different ordeal. He loved the rush, he craved playing with fire and she had that… she had that spark and finesse he craved.
Oh how much he would've loved just toying with her before bleeding her dry. But alas that wasn't what was planned, nor was he allowed to do that.
"You really think your smoke trick could last long, midget?" his voice was deep, and showed the coolness not usually seen in a pissed of vampire. His eyes showed his predatory gaze as he looked her over.
Rukia showed no sign of fear "Not really, but it certainly slowed you down, did it not?" she said, slowly reaching for the bright white blade sheathed behind her, letting it out of its enclosure as the moon's light made it shine "…I'd advise you to step out of the way. You're not who I'm here for…" she told him, not an ounce of hesitation on her voice showing.
Ichigo grinned, flashing his teeth and fangs to her before shaking his head. It didn't seem like he was going to move. Ah so she'd have to fight. Her eyes closed for a moment, most of her face still hidden behind her mask before she suddenly lunged at him. She was quick, but not quick enough to allow him to get hit. To him it was a simple motion to the side, her blade missed him before he'd grip the handle and downright headbutted her.
Well that did something alright. The scent of blood hit the air, her mask was sent flying, and she stumbled back about five feet as crimson now covered her point of view. Perhaps he had overdone it, but the moment he'd seen her face, he swore he was looking at someone else completely. She looked like a younger and shorter version of Lord Byakuya's wife. Lady Hisana.
His mother hollered at him to not kill the human, which he honestly couldn't do anymore. It must have been the scent blockers she had, but now that he scented her blood… His body felt like he was set on fire by the scent. He couldn't hurt her, he felt like he had to protect her. Like his job was to grab her, and hide her away from everything and everyone. For the very first time, Ichigo found himself incapacitated to move. He needed to move or he could clearly die.
Rukia's head hurt like hell, and she wanted nothing but to kick the ever living hell out of the male vampire. He wasn't fighting back, or attacking her for that matter. The girl reached of her belt, producing a silver dagger. She'd do it the old fashion way. Silver straight for the heart. Her form was on the move again, and if he kept being paralyzed she got her wish. Her right wrist that held the dagger moved out and she was about to connect when a hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her dead on her tracks.
Getting sent flying against the wall, rather softly and with little ill intent she hit the back of her head a bit, and once again it felt like the girl had a splitting headache. She was about to complain when she was met with a face she hadn't seen in a decade. Her eyes went wide, and she swore it was all a lie. It couldn't be, of all people, this was the last one she expected to see here. Rukia's form trembled, her eyes watered, and for the very first time she said a word she never expected to say ever again.
"…Sis…ter…"
And just like that her entire world went dark.