A/N: I had to get this off my chest, try it, you might be pleasantly surprised. SBK will be the next updated, I can't promise anything, but I will tell you I'm already working on it.

This is one of my personl favorites, it was inspired by Wuthering Heights, Place: Blind, Placebo: Sleeping With Ghosts (hence the title)

SUMMARY

Ichigo is a nobleman, the grandson of King Yamamoto. He's very promiscuous, a careless womanizer. When his uncle Kaien dies in a freak accident with his wife Miyako, he is made count of Rukongai.

Rukia is a serf, and an orphan living with an old woman, both live in Kaien's land.

On the eve of the last day of Kaien's wakening, Ichigo and Rukia meet, and their story begins...

Nineteen years later, Mizuki, Rukia's daughter, leaves for the Kurosaki castle in hopes of finding out more about her mysterious dead parents. What she doesn't know, is that she has stumbled into a labyrinth of lies, secrets, betrayal...and will become yet another victim of a love that is so strong it has destroyed entire kingdoms.


"Soulmate dry your eyes, soulmates never die…"

..........

"My lord, we've found her," came the proud reply of his second general, Satoru Yasutora. The young general stood in front of his lord with great pride, after fifteen years of searching, the girl was found in Venice. They were in the conference room, his lord sitting on his throne with an unreadable expression on his face..

His lord, now in his forties, held the countenance of an evil, jaded, man; his cold unfeeling character had frightened away both enemies and friends alike. And now he was alone, residing within cold walls of stone, impenetrable fortresses that protected him from all. Ichigo Kurosaki was a powerful, dangerous man; his past a mystery to most. There were many theories about what caused a once seemingly harmless nobleman to change his promiscuous ways to turn to war, and invade, but none had yet been confirmed to be true.

Ichigo's jaw tightened, a light that almost appeared foreign to him bringing life to his cold unfeeling gaze. His mouth relaxed, and his lips parted slightly in surprise. A powerful mouth, with a firm jaw, lips perfectly shaped…a single command from those lips could bring down kingdoms…could bring about the slaughter of thousands. No other man in the world had a voice like Ichigo Kurosaki's, it was a deep baritone that was equally enticing and horrifying.

"You've found her," said his lord, his look impassive, it took several seconds for the information to sink in, and his eyes which had for years been devoid of life, filled with a warmth that Satoru himself had never seen, "you've found her."

"Yes."

"Where was she?"

"Venice."

"Where is she now?"

"She is in the quarters we have prepared for her, just as you ordered."

"How much have you told her?"

"Nothing, the girl was curious about her past, she wanted to know about her parents…she knows nothing about them, when we offered to let her know about her past if she came with us, she came more than willingly."

"I see," said Ichigo thoughtfully.

"Are you going to tell her the truth?" Came a voice from behind the back room; it was Sado Yasutora.

"I don't need to go into details," said Ichigo; he waved his hand to his second general, Sado's son, and the young man left the two older men alone.

"She will want to know, and not just about her mother, but her father."

"Her father is rotting in hell! I made sure of that, and she will never know of him," said Ichigo furiously; his face turned red with anger, but slowly his calm returned to him. The room was quiet again, his first general had no words of response to him, and Ichigo was too deep in thought to continue on to say anything else.

The silence was broken when the sharp clicking of shoes entered the room; Ichigo's expression turned cold again as his wife walked inside. She paced around watching the two men closely, then her drunken gaze directed at Ichigo as she ran one index finger over Sado's jaw line. Sado stepped away from her but Orihime grabbed him by the chin and kept him in place; she kissed him on the lips briefly before turning away from him and towards her husband.

"It doesn't matter Chad, he won't hold anything against you, it's impossible to make him jealous, he'd thank you for taking me off his hands actually," she said bitterly; she walked over to Ichigo and played with his hair; he pushed her hand away.

"There was a girl in that shrine-of-a-place in the west wing. Don't tell me you've found her, is that really her? What are you going to tell her? That you and her mother were sweethearts?" Asked Orihime bursting into an eerie laughter as she walked away from him again, "are you going to tell her that she loved you? Rukia never loved you! There is nothing you can do to change that! You're a crazy man Ichigo! Crazy!" Orihime burst into laughter again, she was laughing so hard that she had to hold her sides; a moment later two women walked in the room and grabbed hold of her, slowly pulling her away from Lord Kurosaki.

"What is she doing here?!"

"Forgive us Lord Kurosaki, we didn't see her leave the room," said the eldest of the two, an old woman who seemed to be in her early fifties.

"Let go of me! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" Burst out Orihime crying, but her screams were ignored by the people around her, and she was dragged out of the room kicking and screaming.

"What about Orihime?" Asked Sado looking over at Ichigo.

"What about her? She has no say in this, what she thinks about this doesn't matter, it never has, it never will."

"And your son?"

"Ichiro knows not to meddle in my affairs. He would never raise his voice against me…he will not object."


Mizuki stood in front of the strange painting that hung on one of the walls of the large eerie room. It was the painting of a woman, the woman was beautiful, her long locks were as black as night, her skin pale like the moonlight, and her eyes a mix between purple and blue, like the top two layers of the sky during dawn. She appeared ethereal, her eyes somehow…haunting.

Mizuki was distracted by a knocking; she walked over to the door and opened it. It was the same young maid that had welcomed her into her room earlier.

"Miss Mizuki, Lord Kurosaki has requested that you dine with him tonight."

"But, what will I wear?" Asked Mizuki somewhat nervous.

"Oh, no problem, Lord Kurosaki has kept this room well in stock, he had the dresses in the wardrobe updated two years ago, he figured you had grown since the last dresses had been placed there."

"He-he did that?" Asked Mizuki surprised, she never would have expected lord Kurosaki to do something like that for anyone, especially her. Why would anyone do anything like that? From what the maid had told her since her arrival here, it sounded as if he had been waiting for her all this time…this was frightening to her, his actions crossed beyond the line of concern and transcended into something akin to obsessive.

"Yes, he has been very dedicated to updating everything in this room," said the maid looking around the room and smiling.

"Well, tell him I will join him for dinner, I have many questions to ask him."

"Yes, understood, I will come before sunset to help you get dressed."

"It's okay, don't let me bother you, I can do that on my own," said Mizuki scratching the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well it's not a bother at all it's my-"

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to this, all of this," said Mizuki looking around the vast room, "I'm used to dressing myself, it would be strange to have someone assist me."

"Oh, all right then, understood," smiled the maid, "be ready by sunset," then she walked out of the room.

Mizuki walked over to the large canopy bed and allowed herself to fall back on it. She stretched her arms as she sighed.

"This place is huge! And the people are so nice, why wouldn't uncle Renji let me come here?" She said to herself. Silence settled inside the room, and Mizuki found her mind wandering to the reason she had come here on the first place.

She was curious to know her history, her past, the name of her mother, and father. She knew no other life outside of the Urahara shop in Venice, not that she was complaining, there wasn't a dull day there. People came and went from the shop, people from all over the world, she learned new things every day, met different people, but just as people came, they left, left home, home, something she didn't quite feel she had yet.

She had asked about her parents, countless times, but uncle Renji refused to reveal anything about them, even their names, saying her parents' past was a dark one, one that was better off left hidden…and he didn't want their past coming to find Mizuki too. But how could he ask that of her? Ask her to forget, to give up, let go? She felt incomplete, she would not rest until she knew about them, because ultimately, she was a part of them, just as they were a part of her. A piece of her was missing; it was only expected for her to try and find it, to come full circle, and fill the void that had been in her since the warmth of her mother's arms…the presence of the woman that created her, disappeared forever from her life.

Mizuki sighed and walked over to the mirror. She was wearing a simple dress, nothing too elegant, but a nice dress for a girl with a descent home and acceptable social status. The top half of her black hair was tied in a ponytail while the bottom half fell loosely down to her waist. Her large eyes so filled with energy and life were a little puffy from the lack of sleep during their trip here. She had been told a lot of times that she looked very much like her parents, she had her mother's features, but her father's eye color and built. She was taller, or so they said, her mother, aunt Ururu described, as the most delicate beautiful creature she had ever perceived, she was small, much shorter than Mizuki herself, but exuded as much confidence as a powerful man. The bits and pieces she knew of her parents she learned from aunt Ururu herself, since no one else would tell her anything. Her father, she said, was a very handsome man, dark, brooding, and incredibly intelligent. He was a talented writer, though no one but her mother knew about it, something she found out about later on in their marriage. From what she'd heard of him, they were fascinating individuals, what she wouldn't give to have known them…

Mizuki sighed, and stood off the bed, she paced around the room again, it was large, luxurious, oh so lovely, the sounds of the ocean could be clearly heard, and the ocean itself could be observed through the balcony. It was beautiful, decorated in shades of violet and blue. The curtains behind the balcony doors were blue like the sky, and fluttered as the ocean breeze made its way into the room. Mizuki shuddered, the wind chilling her. It was such a beautiful, but…lonely place. The walls and furniture appeared to be weeping, having had stood still in time for so long. The furniture did not creek, having lain unperturbed for more than a decade, there was no sound, holding all it had witnessed in secrecy, leaving the lonely ocean alone to tell its tale.

The chilling breeze guided her towards the painting, where all its force seemed to be focused. The painting of the woman in blue, the woman with the haunting eyes…who was she? She must have been someone very important for Lord Kurosaki to keep such a large painting of her, it was painted with intricate detail, and was practically life-sized, had this been her bedroom?

"Mizuki…"

"What?!" Mizuki turned around frightened, her heart beating fast in her chest. The curtains over the balcony doors fluttered harder.

"Mizuki…" it was the voice of a woman, a woman that sounded like she was crying.

"Who's there?!" The curtains stopped fluttering suddenly and the room grew colder. Mizuki instinctively took two steps back as a strange coldness began to move towards her, chilling her to the bone. Whatever it was, was now standing right in front of her, she could not see it, but she could feel it, and hear it, the sound of howling wind was right before her, even though there was no longer any wind coming through the window.

She sighed when it appeared to be gone, but then wanted to scream when she felt the cold presence right next to her, touching her cheek. She wanted to scream, but could not, she was petrified with fear, shaking as the presence circled around her, settling itself right behind her.

"Leave Mizuki…run…" the whisper was clear as day, and came from right behind her, then the presence disintegrated, leaving an air of peace in the room again.

As quickly as she could, Mizuki turned around the see if the culprit was still there, but instead was met with the large painting of the woman, her eyes, her haunting eyes staring right back into hers.

She ran out of the room as quickly as she could, down the hall, out of the west wing and into the east. She ran all the way to the end of the hall, there was a balcony there, and she rested her hands on the ledge trying to calm her beating heart. There was a rose garden below, and the sweet smell of the red and white flowers seemed to calm her. She walked back inside the castle, and found a beautiful woman standing there, staring at her. She was not frightened of her, she could tell she was part of the living. She could tell by the way the woman regarded her, that she did not like her. She looked at Mizuki's disheveled form, and smirked.

"You've seen her haven't you? It wouldn't surprise me, everyone else has, in one form or another."

"What was that?" Asked Mizuki still a little out of breath.

"That? A sick, disgusting, wretched thing, it can't seem to leave us in peace, even after all these years," said Orihime regarding her closely, "pay no attention to it, I'll tell my husband to move you to the east wing, I can't imagine why he put you over there, no one ever goes in the west wing, only the servants from time to time, to clean it, I'm Orihime by the way, I'm Lord Kurosaki's wife."

"Oh, forgive me, I'm Mizuki, Mizuki Abarai," said Mizuki bowing.

"Abarai? You are Renji Abarai's daughter?" Asked Orihime surprised.

"Oh, uncle Renji gave me his last name, he and aunt Ururu adopted me."

"And your parents?"

"I…I don't know them, they died when I was a baby."

"What were their names?"

"I…I don't know their names," said Mizuki a little embarrassed.

"Oh, you poor thing, it must be horrible not to know ones own parents, not even their names."

"Well, that's why I'm here, Lord Kurosaki knew my parents, he's going to tell me about them. And you lady-Kurosaki, did you know them?"

"Why child, why on earth would you think I might? As Lord Kurosaki's wife, I am a busy woman with a long list of contacts, how would you expect me to remember people like…your mother and father?" Mizuki didn't miss the derogatory tone in her voice, but paid not attention to it.

"You're right lady-Kurosaki, forgive me if I have troubled you," said Mizuki bowing again.

"It's all right sweetie, come, let's get a servant to bring your things to the room next to mine, you'll be more comfortable there," said Orihime taking her hand and walking down the hall.


It seemed lady Orihime was right, she was much more comfortable in this room. It was smaller, and less luxurious, but cozy and beautiful. The contrast between the west and east wings was amazing, the east was warm and lively, the sun illuminated the halls casting a golden glow on it. The west wing was luxurious and beautiful, but cold, the halls were dark, and there was a sadness to it that made Mizuki's heart feel heavy.

Mizuki looked at herself in the mirror once more, before walking out the door of her room. She was going to dine with Lord Kurosaki, she had not met him yet, and was a little nervous. Would he be kind and understanding with her, or would he be as cold and ruthless as people described him?

She walked into the dining room to find Lord Kurosaki waiting for her by himself. He looked at her with a smile, but that smile faded once he looked her over more carefully. She had to admit, Lord Kurosaki was very handsome for his age, and he looked very young. She bowed silently, then sat across the table from him.

"Good evening lord Kurosaki," she said.

"Good evening." Their dinner went by very silently, it was unnerving to her, she could feel his eyes scanning over her, examining her features. Once they were finished eating, he stared back at her, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Now then, the reason you came, you want to know about your mother do you not?"

"Yes, and my father," at the mention of her father, he frowned.

"What…" Mizuki calmed herself, there were so many things she wanted to ask him, but she had to take it slow.

"What was my mother's name?"

"Rukia."

"Rukia," said Mizuki with a smile on her face, liking the way it sounded, "what was she like? How do you know her?"

"Your mother, was the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, large violet eyes…so deep…" he seemed thoughtful suddenly, "I met her many years ago, when we were both nineteen, she was…everything to me…"

"Were you and my mother…?"

"Lovers? Yes," he said looking at her, his eyes mischievous, she felt awkward all of a sudden.

"What about my…my father?" Ichigo's smile faded again, and for a reason she knew not, turned to look away from her.

"Well I'll tell you this, you look more like him than I hoped you would. You, hardly look like Rukia," he said almost accusingly.

"Oh," was all she could say, and took a nervous sip of her wine, was she supposed to apologize about it?

"But, you are Rukia's daughter nonetheless, and you're welcomed in my home," he said with a smile, and gulped down the wine in his glass in one drink. He looked bitter, she noticed, and did not feel so comfortable being here anymore.

"Is there…anything else you can tell me about my parents? Who were they? Why doesn't uncle Renji want to talk to me about them?" She asked a meekly.

"Uncle Renji? You've been living with Renji all this time?" He asked surprised, and she nodded.

"Heh, that Renji is a coward, he should have faced me like a man, he didn't even come for her body after it happened."

"Her body? You know where my mother's grave is? She died here?"

"Yes, she died giving birth to you."

"Giving birth…to me?" She asked, guilt beginning to seep through her veins. Her mother was dead because of her.

"Yes, she died three days after you were born, lost too much blood."

"Why wasn't father with her?"

"Because, your father was already dead," said Ichigo looking at her with an evil glint, and a smile.

"H-how did he-"

"Lord Kurosaki, we have breached Kuchiki territory from the west," said General Satoru walking into the dining room; when he saw Mizuki there he immediately bowed and apologized.

"Well, these are unexpected news, but good news nonetheless, Mizuki, I'm afraid we'll have to finish this conversation another time, stay here, I'll be returning in a week," he said, then he and his General left.


After she finished eating, Mizuki found herself wandering the west hall again. She was not too sure what brought her here, curiosity perhaps. Her steps brought her to the room originally assigned to her again, in front of the painting. She looked up at the woman, and after having looked at it so long in one day, realized something, this woman, the woman in this painting…was her mother. Was that her mother that spoke to her earlier? The strange entity? She lifted her hand, and placed it over the painting.

"Mother," she whispered. She heard voices outside, and noticed it was Lord Kurosaki, he was walking back inside the manor. Mizuki picked her dress from the sides, and left the room as soon quickly as she could.


Ichigo reached the bedroom at the end of the west hall, Rukia's old room, and walked inside. He stood in front of the painting for a while, then grabbed the edge of it and turned it to the side the way he would a door, on the wall, there was a door, and he opened it, the room was pitch black, he did not go inside, just stood by the doorway.

"Rukia," he said, then he paused, finding the right words to say, "I found her, I know you didn't want me to…but I did. Now she's going to be with me forever…because you couldn't…because you wouldn't," he said correcting himself as he laughed bitterly.

"It didn't have to be this way…we would have been so good together, we could have found a way to make it work," he said, a strong pain shot through his head, and he clutched his head with his hands, trying to block out the white noise.

"Oh god!" He cried falling to his knees, sobbing like a child, "why couldn't you love me enough?"

"I will never forgive what you did to me…"

"For the love of god Rukia we loved each other!"

"What good is love…what good's religion…when it's each other we despise…"


A/N: So what d'ya think?