IMPORTANT! - First off I want to explain that this first chapter is more of a prolouge, or backround history of Rukia. there will be a time skip in the next chapter, and Rukia will actually be in it. Do NOT be put off when you read, and not see much of Rukia, because she IS the main character. like I said this is mainly just backround history!

*updated 6-26-12

Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach.

Thanks for reading! :)

It was a slightly cold yet beautiful Sunday morning.

The clouds were full and low, the sun was high but not intense enough to burn skin. Just perfect for a small warm feeling when you step outdoors. That was exactly what Hisana felt when she stepped out of her boyfriends BMW.

"Where are you taking me Byakuya?" She said with a small smile and a light laugh. The two of them have been dating for the past seven months and were currently sophomores in college. From the moment they met, their relationship kept getting stronger and stronger. Hisana was comfortable enough to say that she was head over heels in love with the man. Although he was a little cold sometimes, and rarely smiled -or had any fun for that matter- he was the sweetest, most kindest man she had ever met and hopefully will ever meet.

"To meet someone," was all he said as he grabbed for her hand. It was kind of strange actually, he was never one for public displays of affection. Even though she was at average height, her boyfriend seemed to tower over her. Well, that was what she was thinking as they walked down the crowded city sidewalk. They were walking for a while if they had any luck, they wouldn't be bombarded by reporters.

It seemed like that happened everywhere they went. Although she was a normal, average as it can get women, he was extremely wealthy. His father was very powerful and when it came down to things, he owned just about everything of importance in Japan. When he retired the job of CEO would go to Byakuya himself.

"Who?" She asked with another light smile on her face. He just looked at her and gave her that look. Which clearly said 'you'll see when you get there'. She laughed at him, and he gave her one of his rare slight smiles.

Being rich and famous was probably the reason she never met his father. Byakuya rarely talked about him and didn't speak to him much besides occasional phone call or dinner party. He lived in a expensive penthouse apartment right inside the college grounds. Hisana herself lived in a dorm-room with a room mate, but she was going to be moving in with him soon. Byakuya was obviously taking business courses and all, but Hisana was studying to be a psychologist. They only shared one class together, which was a class on mental diseases. She never really understood why he was taking it and didn't ask.

Hisana was brought from her thoughts as she heard a loud car horn go off somewhere down the street. Now that she thought about it, she was incredibly excited. Byakuya seemed to disappear every Sunday for hours at a time, she always wanted too know where he went, but he would never tell her. She initially thought that maybe, he might be cheating on her but time and time again he assured her that she had no reason to worry. Today she would finally know after months of waiting.

If she was as good at observing people as she would like to say she is then she could dare say that the almighty Byakuya Kuchiki was anxious. They way he continuously looked at her before quickly looking back down the street, and his tight grip on her hand were strong indicators in her mind.

A flower shop? Was what rang through her mind, and was confusing her to death. Why in the world would he bring them to a flower shop? The place really was gorgeous. So many different colors and smells. "Ahh! Byakuya-sama, you are a little early today; and what's this? a girlfriend?" Came from a older women who was slightly plump. She had wrinkles around her mouth and eyes, which appeared to have occurred from smiling too much.

"Well, aren't you beautiful? You can call me Kiko." Said the women, as she extended her hand to her. Immediately Hisana shook it, and in her own graceful voice replied her name. "Well, the usual I take it, unless you have something else planned." She now projected at Byakuya.

"Yes, Please." Byakuya said in his usual tense, cold tone.

Hisana was still more than confused, she decided not too even think about it, and let it just play out. Which was a very unlike her move.

All in all, they only stayed at the little hole in the wall flower shop for five minutes. The women seemed to have already prepared the bouquet of flowers before hand, and Byakuya paid the correct amount without having to be told what it was. Hisana was very unsurprised when she saw what the bouquet actually was. Cherry Blossoms.

He seemed to have them everywhere, even in his apartment. She never really wondered why. "Byakuya?" he lifted his head as if asking for her to continue. They were currently walking down the street once again. "Why do you love Cherry Blossoms so much?" he gave her another look which once again, she knew what he was trying to say. Be patient.

She really didn't have much time to ponder it, before they once again stepped into a building although this time, it was very large. Immediately after walking in there was a reception desk to your right, and a small waiting room of sorts to your left, which was occupied with a few people. "You can go take a seat, this will only take a minute." she nodded and left his side.

He wasn't kidding, the time he took at the reception desk was more or less around a minute. Byakuya came back, and sat right next to her. She took the flowers out of his hand, and smelled them; unlike most bouquets there wasn't plastic wrap around the side, just the flowers.

"Now will you tell me who were going to see?" Hisana asks; she was beginning to become impatient with the way things were going currently. Byakuya didn't respond at all, only squeezed her hand tightly to reassure her. She sighed, and mentally agreed to sit quietly. Luckily it wasn't long until the sound of a large door broke the silence of the room.

"Kuchiki?" After a second they both stood up, and followed a man down a wide hallway. The older man looked to be about 40 or so. He was wearing green hospital scrubs, and he led them to a high security door. He opened the door with a card that was attached to his uniform. He handed Byakuya a similar card, then he left them just like that. But, not without saying, "You know the rules." In a whispering voice.

As soon as they walked through the door, Hisana noticed that it smelled like a hospital. Everything was white: the floors, the walls, even the doors that were on either side of the hallway. She was beginning to get a little nervous. Even more so when she noticed a flyer on the wall with the heading: Karakura Mental facility.

Before she even had time to think about it, they stopped outside one of the doors. Byakuya stopped and looked at her before doing anything else. She once again got the feeling like he was slightly anxious. "Don't be nervous or it will scare her." he paused for a second, "I told her last week that you were coming, but she may have forgotten." Hisana couldn't even utter a word before he swiped the card down the intricate lock.

Before opening the door, he paused to look at her one last time and took the flowers from her hand. He soon pushed it open. Hisana felt those nervous butterflies in her stomach stop and die away as soon as they stepped into the surprisingly small space.

The girl couldn't have been older than thirteen or fourteen. She had the most beautiful violet eyes that Hisana had ever seen, and the exact same hair color as Byakuya, which reached down to her elbows. She was so incredibly pale, almost like a ghost. She was sitting on a bed reading a book in the corner of the very white room. The girls first reaction was to smile like she had never smiled before at the sight of the tall man before her. "Byakuya! Your early!" The look in her eyes was like a light bulb being flipped on.

When she glanced at the women by his side, she quickly dropped her smile and looked down refusing to make eye contact with either of them. "Do not be afraid, we talked about this last week, remember? This is Hisana, my girlfriend." She glanced up for only half a second, before returning her gaze back down. "Hisana, this is my sister, Rukia"

Sister? Was all that registered through her mind. She had no clue that Byakuya had any living relatives other than his father. For a brief second, she was angry that Byakuya would hide such a huge part of himself from her for seven months. Then she realized, that this was a big deal. He had a sister who was obviously mentally ill, and he trusted her with that kind of information. He trusted her enough to not tell anyone or think differently of him. Byakuya didn't trust anyone. He told her that himself a while back. She smiled and looked up at him with a loving gaze. He gave a smile back.

"H-hi, it's nice to meet you." Rukia directed at Hisana, still not looking at her. The two of them took a seat on the small bench next to the bed that she was sitting on. Rukia's voice was soft, yet sweet at the same time.

"It's very nice to meet you. I love your hair it's so beautiful." Hisana said with a smile, which awarded her a huge smile in return from Rukia.

Feeling braver, the small girl looked up at Hisana, "Thank you." Rukia was obviously ignoring the fact the Byakuya had the exact same hair, besides length. Speaking of him, he decided to make his presence known once again, by handing the bouquet to Rukia.

"You remembered!" She said, very excitingly as she pushed them closer to her face and smelled them.

"Do I not always?" He said with another small smile, it was driving Hisana slightly crazy. She had never seen him smile so much in one day. Also the way he talked to Rukia, she had never seen before besides with herself. She placed the flowers in a plastic vase that held no water next to the bed on the small table. Looking around the room, there wasn't much at all. There was a small bookshelf to the right that was overflowing with books, a bed and a bedside table. Oh, and the bench they were sitting on. Around the corner there was a door, which probably led to a small bathroom. "What are you reading now?"

"Romeo and Juliet," she said with another megawatt smile, her tone could be called musical.

"And?" Was all Byakuya said. She didn't get to respond because the door opened and a nurse stood in the doorway wearing the same green scrubs as the man from earlier.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Byakuya-san, there is paperwork that I need you to fill out." He nodded and looked at Hisana with an eyebrow raised, trying to say 'will you be alright here by yourself?' She nodded and he stood; Byakuya left the room without another word along with the nurse.

"So?" Hisana said, as soon as the door was closed once again, and they were left alone. Rukia looked at her questionably not knowing what the older girl meant; "Romeo and Juliet?"

"Oh, um I like it but, it's hard to understand." Rukia, once again looking down and less brave than before without her brother in the room. "I like to read love stories."

Hisana nodded, "me too." Rukia looked like she wanted to ask something, but decided against it. Hisana smiled at her, as if trying to encourage her. It seemed to work.

"How did, you.. and my brother.. meet" it was said as more of a statement than a question. Rukia kept pausing through the sentence, unsure if she should continue. Although she was glad she did when she saw Hisana's own smile light up her face.

"Well, it was nothing special really. We were assigned to be partners on a project, that required us to meet outside of class. At first, I really hated his guts." -Rukia let out a small laugh at hearing this- "but, after a while it just kinda faded, and he asked me out on our first date." Rukia seemed to light up at this.

"What was that like? your date I mean." She said, much more hurried and rushed kind of like she was afraid that if she didn't ask soon enough, then she wouldn't get an answer. Hisana could only smile at that, but was happy Rukia didn't ask what class it was for.

"That, was interesting. He took me to a really nice American restaurant, unfortunately the paparazzi was all over it. They got a really good couple pictures when I walked out with drink all down my dress." Her mouth feel open in surprise.

"Byakuya threw a drink on you?" but, before Hisana could correct her, a voice did for her.

"It was an accident.," they both looked over to see the man in question leaning on the door obviously listening in to their conversation for a while; "I bumped the table standing up." Rukia gave a light giggle. Hisana couldn't help but think it was the most beautifully innocent thing she had ever heard.

It was silent for a couple minutes, "how have you been?" Byakuya asked in a more serious tone. Rukia's happy and light mood seemed to stop and die at the question.

"Hinamori's community service hours will be finished tomorrow." Rukia said, obviously upset about it. Although, it seemed to only last a minute, "how are you?" Hisana being the psychologist-in-training that she was, couldn't help but notice how fast she shifted from one emotion to the next.

"I'm doing well. The semester ends in a few weeks, and me and Hisana are going on a trip." It was true, spring break was coming, and they were going away for a week and a half. Hisana smiled just thinking how excited she was about it.

"Where? How long?" Hisana realized that Rukia was extremely easy to read, she wore her feelings on her sleeve -unlike her brother. At the moment, she was neither happy nor sad, just.. cautious. As if she knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Hawaii, it's a island off the coast of America. We will be leaving two Thursdays from now and returning a week and a half later on a Monday." The words flew out of Byakuya's mouth. This time, it was obvious Rukia was not too happy.

"That means, that you can't can come see me for two weeks."

Hisana was immediately upset for the girl. She was only allowed to see her brother once a week (she figured this out on her own), and it just so happens that she won't be able to see him for two whole weeks. If she herself had a brother (or sister) then she too would probably be upset.

"Hinamori-san could come visit you." It was as if Byakuya knew that that would make her feel better, because the smile that she was beginning to get used to seeing, was up on her face. Then, it faded to a small little smile.

"But,-" once again the same nurse from before stood at the doorway, interrupting Rukia.

"I'm sorry, but the time is up," was all she said, before smiling sadly, and leaving the room. Byakuya stood, which signaled Hisana to stand as well. Rukia once again looked upset.

"I'll be back next week." Byakuya said, before bending down and kissing the young girls forehead. Hisana almost dropped her jaw in shock. Byakuya Kuchiki showing emotion? I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. Rukia reached up and gave a brief hug to the older, male look-alike.

"Don't forget my flowers, please!" She said in a childish way followed by a laugh.

"Do I ever?" Byakuya gave another small smile, that Hisana still couldn't get over.

"Good-bye, Rukia, it was nice to meet you."

It was early afternoon when the couple stepped outside of the mental hospital. The two were currently walking down the side-walk on their way back to Byakuya's car. They still haven't spoken, since they walked out of the room that held his younger sister. Hisana had so many questions, that she didn't even know where to begin.

A few minutes later, they arrived back at his black, shiny BMW. When they both got in Byakuya looked at Hisana with an elegant, black eyebrow raised, not even moving to start the car. She understood that this meant that she could begin asking questions.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?" Was what came out of her mouth first. Well, actually a different question was what she really wanted too know, but she didn't want to ask. She was slightly afraid at what he might say.

He just stared at her for a good thirty seconds. "Hisana, you are the only one other than my father and myself that knows Rukia exists." he paused for a second, "besides her doctors." It really was a Byakuya style way to answer a question. Leading away from the real question.

Feeling slightly braver knowing that piece of information she asks, "um... what's wrong with her?"

Byakuya stopped looking at her for a minute, while he tried to think of what too say. "When Rukia was nine, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia."

After hearing about Rukia's condition Byakuya explained to her that the younger girl also had problems with a bipolar couldn't believe it. Hisana was so caught up in how impossible everything was that she didn't notice Byakuya starting the car.

X

X

X

The drive to the park was about ten minutes, but in those few minutes Hisana had thought of hundreds of more questions that she couldn't wait to ask. When they finally parked, Byakuya led her too a series of trees with a few benches under them. Hisana took a second to look at her boyfriend. He looked nervous and sad at the same time. It was like, he didn't like to talk about his sister. Which she could understand. Rukia was a really sweet girl, if not too nice. Just the thought of her having a serious mental illness that caused hallucinations and delusions was slightly unbelievable.

Before she could ask a question, Byakuya started speaking. "Rukia's school would call complaining that she would have panic attacks during class" Byakuya paused in his as a second thought, "this wasn't too out of the ordinary, Rukia had always had high anxiety." After explaining he continued on, "anyway, sometimes I would come home from school and she would be hiding in a closet screaming that something was attacking her." He paused to catch his breath. "I was worried, and my father didn't really seem to care, but he told me too take her to the doctors, so I did. They did several tests on her, and asked me a lot of questions." Hisana was listening very closely.

"Days later they called and asked to meet with my father. He was busy, of course, but I convinced him that it was important. The doctors told us she had schizophrenia, but that it was manageable under heavy medication and therapy." Byakuya paused again to look at her expression. "So he really didn't think twice about it, just paid the bills for the medicine, and made Rukia go to the therapist twice a week." He started to look angry, as he continued talking. "He pulled her out of school, got her a private tutor, and made sure the public had no idea that he had a schizophrenic daughter. He had business associates come over, and while I was forced to sit through the long boring dinners, Rukia was hidden away in her room." Hisana had too hide a gasp away.

"It was four days before her tenth birthday and I was 16. We were in the dinning room with a CEO of a major corporation, although I forget his name, he was very important in a agreement between the two companies. Anyway, we were eating when Rukia came out of the kitchen, yelling and attacked me with a knife." Byakuya stopped speaking, and pulled the sleeve of his shirt up to show a long shallow scar, that when from his wrist to his elbow. Surprisingly Hisana had never seen it before, no matter how many times she has seen him with his shirt off. It was hard to believe that the small innocent girl from earlier did that to him.

"I'll never forget what my father said to his business partner, as me and Rukia were put in an ambulance." He paused to control the look of anger on his face. "'That must be one of the maid's daughters'" Hisana again had to quiet a gasp. "I've only been more upset one other time in my entire life." He was looking into her eyes as he told her this.

"When?" She didn't know if she should ask because he had never told so much about himself in the seven months they had been dating.

He didn't answer for a few seconds. It was almost like he didn't want to say it out loud. "Rukia's tenth birthday." He paused once more to control the emotion on his face, "The day my father had her admitted." Byakuya stopped trying to look calm, "she didn't do it on purpose, it was an accident. He just used it as an excuse to lock her away. She will never forgive herself for it either, she always apologizes every chance she gets." Hisana didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't say anything. Instead she grabbed his hand in an act of comfort.

"My father has never visited either. He lets me handle everything involved with her. He once told me, that if word got out that he had a 'crazy' daughter, then it would ruin him." Hisana could officially say, that she hated his dad. He sounded horrible. What kind of father doesn't even visit his own daughter for four years? It's not Rukia's fault, that she was unfortunate enough to develop the illness.

"Not, that I don't love you telling me all of this, but..why now?" Hisana finally asked after she decided he wasn't going to speak anymore.

"I pulled some strings and Rukia is being released into my care when she turns sixteen next year. If your going to be moving in with me, then I need you to accept her, because she will be coming to live with us as well."

Hisana couldn't help but have two tears streak down the left of her face. She was always an emotional person. It seemed she cried more often then not. Byakuya, knowing this wasn't alarmed. He just simply wiped the tears off her cheek with his palm, and waited for her to respond., "Of course, I accept her." she let a smile warm across her face.

Hisana couldn't even begin to imagine what it was going to be like, living with Byakuya and his sister. All she knew was that she couldn't be more excited for it. Even if it was a little over a year away that Rukia would join the two of them.

Hisana glanced up, and looked at her boyfriend, who wasn't looking at her but at the grove of trees in front of them. More particularly the cherry blossom tree in the center. The man she was looking at was so incredibly amazing, she decides. She almost wants to tell him how much she loves him, but thinks against it. He already knew, and she did not want to break him from his daze.

Everything was slowly making sense to Hisana. The angry look, he always got when speaking of his father. Always being 'busy' on Sundays. Taking a mental illness class as a business major. It all clicked, and she was not a bit angry at him for not telling her sooner. She understood his reasoning. Hisana understood Byakuya. It was that simple. Black and white. No gray.

Although she would wish everything was that simple. What would it be like to live with a mentally ill teenage girl? Hisana really was excited, just cautious. What if she messed up and did something wrong to upset Rukia? From her classes as a psychologist-to-be she knew a lot about schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders, but she suddenly felt like it wasn't enough. All this self-doubt was put into the back of her mind as Byakuya began to speak.

"Do you remember when you asked my why I loved those so much?" He said in a somber, quiet voice as if afraid someone else would hear. His gaze was still on the single cherry blossom tree in the field. Hisana didn't need to nod, because he continued anyway.

"I do not love them; I love my sister."

So what did you think? good? bad?

please Review!

Thanks :)