Belonged

There's no place to go, no place to go, to dry her eyes

Broken inside

Avril Lavigne _ Nobody's Home

Tonight, the rain was falling on Karakura town. The transparent, little droplets of water kept falling hardly, hitting the earth heartlessly, and sweeping every single inch beneath the sky with its cold touch.

Even though the sight in front of her became blurry because of the curtains made from the water fell from above, Kuchiki Rukia didn't care, and she kept walking. She ignored the cold, needles-like water that stung her body; she just walked, tottering to nowhere in particular. Her purple eyes stared dully to the wet street spread out in front of her.

As her legs moved weakly along the empty street, Rukia's mind wandered; she wandered about her life, about where she really belonged.

Did she belong to the Kuchiki family? No, she didn't. Sure, there was Byakuya-nii-sama. He was a great man, and he was kind to her; he took care of her like she was really his sister. But there were the elders of Kuchiki as well. Rukia hated them just as much as they hated her. She hated the way they stared at her, the way they talked to her; they treated her as a nuisance, like she was a trash put in a box full of jewels—the place she wasn't mean to be. And the part Rukia hated the most was that the elders was right, she was indeed a trash put in a box of jewels. Rukia knew she was and would always be just a mere shinigami. She was not a part of the noble.

Did she belong to the 13 division? She wasn't sure. Though Ukitake-taichou was really a kind, warm-hearted man, the 13th squad wasn't the same anymore without her mentor and her best friend, Shiba Kaien. Plus, there was no day when Rukia didn't feel guilty for Kaien's death. Honestly, it was driving her insane to carry such guilt inside her on every single day.

Did she belong here, in the Living World? No, she didn't. True, she had great friends here. There were Ichigo, Inoue, Ishida, Shado, and the others. But she couldn't be part of them. They were humans, while she was a shinigami. Rukia knew better that her life as a human had ended a long time ago when she was still a baby. Yes, Rukia had died when she was still a little, fragile baby. And the life she lived now was the aftermath life as a soul. She couldn't stay here; the Living World wasn't her place.

So, where did she belong?

She didn't know….

Rukia really wanted to go home…. She was tired of something that she didn't even know what. But… where she had to go? Where was her 'home'? She was rejected by her environments. She had no place to go, no place to rest and close her eyes to sleep. She was lost…. Rukia was lost… and she felt lonely, like she had no shoulder to cry on.

Now, Rukia's body grew numb, she couldn't bear the coldness of the night and the rain anymore, and she couldn't bear the heaviness inside her very being. She felt so weak, so insecure. And her legs didn't want to move anymore; they gave up. So, Rukia just let her body fell to the wet pavement beneath her, receiving the pain as her body hit the hard surface carelessly.

She just laid there on the wet ground like a broken doll, letting the cold water falling onto her body. She didn't care if her black shikakuso and hakama became dirty because of the mud on the pavement. Her wide, purple eyes kept staring dully to nothing in particular.

"Where do I belong…?" she whispered weakly to herself.

Suddenly, she felt a reiatsu coming by, the strong one. She knew this reaitsu…. It was his….

Slowly, she could see a pair of foot walked towards her.

With some efforts, Rukia woke up to a sitting position. Then, she stared at the wet figure stood in front her, tracing every single detail of his appearance with her eyes. His white hakama, black sash, white gi jacket, his teal-colored zanpakutou, his extremely pale skin, black hair, and finally his enchanting green eyes with the infamous cyan lines descended from both of them.

No doubt, it was him, the Quatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer.

But… what was he doing here? Rukia wondered as she watched the unfathomable expression held on his face.

For a moment, both of them just stayed silent in the embracement of the rain, staring at each other's eyes. No one dared to spoke.

Out of sudden, Ulquiorra took his right hand off his pocket and extended it to Rukia.

Upon seeing this, Rukia's eyes widened. She stared at his pale hand, then back to his expressionless face. She didn't understand, what the heck was he doing? She was indeed confused by his action… and by herself. Why? Because she felt something was moving inside her chest, something that pushed her to take the hand extended for her, the urge to held it tightly in her own hands. How strange….

Hesitantly, Rukia gave up to the strange urge screaming to her; she held out her hand and reached for his. And as their hands finally connected, Rukia's eyes heated. Soon, she felt the hot tears flowed out from her purple eyes, mingled with the raindrops that ran down her face. She was crying. She didn't really know why she was crying. Was it because she was afraid of him? No, it wasn't because afraid or sadness. Besides, if she were afraid of this Espada, why would she reach for his hand? So, was it because she felt relieve? Why she felt relieve, then? Because he was here…?

Slowly, Ulquiorra pulled her up into a standing position. And as soon as Rukia got on her foot, she fell again, though this time she didn't landed on the hard and cold pavement since Ulquiorra caught her first.

Ulquiorra held her body with only his right hand, while his left one was reached out to open a garganta.

Watching the black hole appeared in the air, Rukia's mind began to understand. Ah… Rukia had finally understood where she belonged as Uquiorra led her walked into the garganta, letting the petite shinigami rested her head on his chest.

Actually, it was very simple. If she didn't belong to Kuchiki family, nor did she belong to the 13th squad and the Living World, that meant there was only one place left for her…. It was the place where the certain green-eyed Espada live: the place where she truly belonged.

FIN

A/N: Erm…. This random fanfiction is just based on what I thought Rukia would feel about herself and her circumstance…. And I'm aware that it's rather… confusing…. Hehehe… *ducking the shoes thrown by the reader*

Anyway, please forgive me for the tenses/grammar errors I made in this one. English isn't my native language (and until now, I still find so many difficulties with it), so please bear with me! _

Disclaimer: Why does Kubo Tite own BLEACH? Because I don't own it! XD *get kicked by the reader*

Eh… well, thank you for reading this random fanfictionfic of mine. Review please?