so, I have this whole story planned out, and my very favorite scene happens in the next chapter. something to look forward to I guess:) when you read this chapter, make sure you pay close attention to the word choice, especcially towards the end (hint hint). I hope you like it:) notice i moved the rating up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

"Are you ready?"

It was a simple question really. The girl didn't answer at all, just stared at the double glass doors. Hisana was beginning to become worried. The three of them were standing in the reception area for over fifteen minutes, just waiting. For Rukia. To be ready to walk out of Karakura Mental Hospital for the first time in six years.

She hadn't said a word since they had began the discharging process over three hours ago. Minutes before, Byakuya had just convinced her doctor that she was fine, and that he could leave them. But it was a lie. Byakuya's guess of what was going on in Rukia's head, was as good of a guess as Hisana's.

But for now he was silent, as they waited for Rukia to say something. Do something. Anything.

The last year, had been amazing. Shortly after Hisana met Rukia for the first time, she and Byakuya visited Hawaii, and he proposed to her. It was one of the best moments of her life. Romantic, sweet, and in the perfect place with the perfect man. Just how she had always dreamed it would be.

After that, everything seemed to fly by, before the engaged couple knew it, it was Rukia's Birthday, and her release date. Which lead them to right now. Staring at a door. Becoming very worried.

Hisana gave him a look, pleading for him to do something. He narrowed his eyes, and stepped up to stand next to the petite girl. Although, right as he was about to speak, he closed his mouth and his eyes widened for half a second. If it were anyone other than Hisana, they would not have noticed the change in expression before going back to stony, cold features.

It was then that she decided to close in on them. She stood on the other side of Rukia, and suddenly understood the look on Byakuya's face in that brief half-second.

She was crying.

Not sobbing, or balling, or even sniffling. Just small tears running down her face. Rukia, looked up to Byakuya and spoke for the first time in 3 hours and 25 minutes. "I-I'm afraid" she spoke so quietly that only Hisana and Byakuya would even remotely be able to hear her.

"There is no reason to be."

Byakuya spoke softly, reassuringly. Hisana felt like she should do something, maybe hug her, but she knew that Rukia didn't like to be touched. Especially from anyone besides her doctor, or brother. Even though Hisana visited often with Byakuya, and she knew so much about her, Rukia was still uncomfortable around her sometimes. Touching her was out of the question.

The only time they had ever had any physical contact was the Sunday after their trip to Hawaii. It was Rukia's 15th birthday. She was so excited about the engagement, that she jumped up and hugged them both. Quickly afterward, she shyly pulled her legs into her chest and apologized for touching her.

Suddenly, before either Hisana or Byakuya expected, Rukia stepped forward, pushed open the door, and into the glowing sun. Of course, the two followed behind closely.

They had planned this day for weeks. Month's even. So why did it seem like nothing was going according to plan?

When they finally got to his car, Rukia, was terrified to be in it. Although, she didn't say anything; it was obvious by the way she clutched the seat-belt, and was looking anywhere but out the window. Rukia didn't notice the way he drove extra slow and careful, for her benefit, but Hisana did.

Dr. Kurosaki, warned them of this. He had a feeling she would be anxious, and scared about the smallest of things. He said, that after six years of isolation, and few people to talk to, that it would be very difficult for her emotionally to be put back into society. Unfortunately he was right.

The car ride to their apartment was drawn out by Byakuya's driving, but the BMW had finally pulled up to their apartment building. It was nothing less than incredible. As was expected of a Kuchiki. Rukia, was smiling like always as she stood on the paved sidewalk, gazing at the complex. She seemed to have quickly gotten over her fear in the car.

"Wow, this place looks amazing!" She said, with child-like wonder. Byakuya, nodded without saying anything, motioned for the two of them to follow him into the expensive building.

At the front desk, a young man stood, with a nice smile as he greeted them, "Ahh, Kuchiki-sama. I see your back, this must be the guest you were telling me about! I'll get you that spare key you asked me for." Was all he said, as he went through a doorway and out of sight. "Here you go, one key for a beautiful lady." The smiling man said a little to nicely, and held out the key to Rukia. She said nothing, and looked down at her feet, trying not to make eye contact with him.

He looked confused, and slowly with-drew his outstretched arm. "Is something wrong-" he was cut off by Byakuya's, cold voice.

"Thank-you, Takashi" was all he said before taking the key out of his hand. Hisana, who had just stood by the side until now, was not surprised. Byakuya was angry. Idiot was what she thought, of course he was going to be angry, the man just hit on his baby sister right in front of him! Although, to give the now frantic man credit, he didn't know Rukia was Byakuya's sister.

Rukia looked incredibly uncomfortable, and nervous. Byakuya lead the two of them towards the elevator, and they stepped inside. After just realizing what she was in the fragile girl began to panic.

She reached out and grabbed the supporting rail along the side. Hisana glanced at Byakuya, hoping he would do something. He was lost in thought, and glaring at the ground. He didn't seem to notice his sister's white-knuckled grip on the safety rail.

Before Hisana could even say anything to comfort the small girl, the elevator doors 'dinged' open, and Rukia rushed out onto their apartment floor. Byakuya still didn't seem to notice anything, as they silently walked down the wide hallway.

Hisana didn't know what to think. She was incredibly nervous for this day. So many 'what-ifs' were ringing in her head. What if Rukia didn't feel comfortable around her alone still. What if she had an attack without Byakuya around. What if Rukia got hurt. She could already imagine how upset Byakuya would be if anything happened to his sister.

Rukia's belongings (in other words, her books) had all been moved over the day before. And since the Hospital didn't allow her to wear or have personal things, that's all she had. So, weeks before Byakuya had sent Hisana out on a mission to stock his sisters soon-to-be closet with clothes. Byakuya seemed to think she would be extremely excited when she saw the clothing was all for her.

Byakuya stepped up the the double doors of their apartment, inserted the key, and unlocked the door. Before opening he turned to look at Rukia. She stared right back at him. He lifted a questioning eyebrow, as if to say are you ready?

Instead of responding to his sort-of question she stepped around him, and walked inside her soon to be home.

A soft breath of air was exhaled through small pouting lips.

"Rukia, I know you're upset, but you have to understand that I don't think you are quite ready for that yet."

Stormy black clouds, casting an ominous dark color throughout the sky, were what were present as the day had proceeded. But, not once had a single drop of rain touched the earth. It seemed like the weather was reflecting a certain teenager's mood.

"Why not! It is just right down the street, it's not a big deal!" Rukia quickly defended her reasoning as to why she should be allowed to walk to the on-campus cafe, by herself.

Three whole weeks had already gone by and Rukia was steadily becoming more and more comfortable. On her first day home she didn't even like being in the same room as Hisana alone, for any extended period of time. Now, she treated her just the way she treated Byakuya.

Byakuya, of course, had been right about her excitement to all her new clothes and accessories. She was like a child, who pretended to be a princess and changed clothes every five minutes. Surprisingly, she had amazing fashion sense. She was always mixing and matching things that Hisana would have never thought of. On more than one occasion, Rukia picked out Hisana's outfit for the day. When that happened, she never failed to get compliments from her fellow classmates on her clothing choice.

Rukia had been to her therapist everyday -besides the weekends- for the past three weeks. Her therapist, Dr. Kurosaki, thought that she was making progress on constant nervousness. Also he lowered the dosage of her anxiety medication from taking it twice a day, to once in the morning. Fortunately, she had not had one schizophrenia attack since being home.

"I'll go with you-" he started to say.

"No, Byakuya it's okay, I've been having a craving for coffee all day." Hisana interrupted, already putting her shoes on. Even though she lied, and really didn't want any coffee, she would gladly take Rukia. Besides Byakuya was busy studying for a test tomorrow. That was another thing, for some reason Rukia has become addicted to coffee. Of course, she was only allowed to drink decaf. The high levels of caffeine are not good with the medicine she takes.

Rukia, who couldn't conceal the happiness on her face, bounced over to the door. Even though it was her bi-polar disorder shinning through, it was still cute.

"Finally, Hisana let's-" As soon as she opened the door, her smile slowly peeled from her face, "go." Rukia was showing obvious signs of being nervous, and uncomfortable. She had a death grip on the door handle, she was looking towards the ground, and fidgeting.

She had a good reason to be because on the other side of the door, was the father of the Kuchiki siblings.

As soon as Hisana and Byakuya saw who was at the door, he gave her a very pointed look. She understood, and grabbed Rukia by the arm, pulled her out of the room, and down the hallway towards the stairs. Even if Rukia was becoming more comfortable, she still hated the elevator.

X

X

X

"Why is she here?" Was the first thing out of the older Kuchiki's mouth. His voice was cold and unforgiving to anyone who might hear it.

Byakuya set his books down on the table so soft, that he might as well have slammed them. He stood up, "Because, I want her to be." Both men looked angry at this point. The older of the two stepped closer into the room.

"Son, I know your trying to do the right thing, but your hearts in the wrong place." By his tone he was trying to be sincere. Byakuya was about to say something before he was interrupted. "She is sick, and always will be it's dangerous for you and Hisana for her to be here."

"Dangerous? How would you know, you have not said a word to her in six years!"

"Think about what you are doing Byakuya, she could kill you! Kill Hisana. Or do you forget when she tried to kill you with a kitchen knife?" He took a deep breathe before continuing, "Does Hisana know how in danger she is? How unstable your sister is? How at any moment she could go psychotic? Does she know about what happened to your mother?" He said the last part in almost a whisper.

Byakuya looked about ready to punch something, his jaw was clinched and his knuckles were white. "What happened to our mother was not her fault!" he tried to calm himself down, "is that why you can't accept Rukia for who she is? Hell, you can't even say her name! Do you really hate her that much?"

Now it was his turn to become more angry, "I'm just trying to protect you Byakuya, what will happen in the next few years when you and Hisana are both starting your careers and you have your sister always holding you back? Where will she go? It's not like she will get a job! With her condition she can't even work as a waitress! And what kind of respectable man is going to marry her? She will always be dependent on you. Do you really want that? In ten years when you have a family of your own, are you willing to risk their safety for her sake? So that she can feel normal? Well Byakuya she isn't normal! What you need to do is put her back in the hospital before she becomes too attached."

Byakuya was so surprised and upset about what his father just said that he couldn't even process it all. "You want me to put her back in the mental hospital?" He said it so calmly that one would think he was in a good mood. "You want me to return her to the place where the biggest highlight of her day was going outside for half an hour. You want me to return her to the place where she was so depressed that she wanted to kill herself? You want me to return her to the place where she doesn't have a single friend. You want the only person to ever see her for the rest of her life be me, for two hours every Sunday?" Byakuya sat down on the couch with his head in his hands.

"It might sound awful now but she will ruin you in the future." Byakuya gave a small smirk. He was so angry that he couldn't even be angry.

"Just get out." Was muffled by his hands over his face. The man continued to stand there. Byakuya removed his hands from his face, "get the hell out of my house." Byakuya never used cuss words.

"You might be angry now, but you will realize I'm right."

Hisana could only guess about what was going on in that apartment. Her and Rukia were both sitting at a table at the front of the cafe, drinking their coffee. They weren't really talking, Rukia seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Lately, Rukia had been different, she seemed to be a lot less nervous and anxious around everything new. A few weeks ago, she was afraid to even talk to strangers, now she could look them in the eye smile and start a conversation. When she opened that door it seemed like she was the same girl that she met months ago.

Hisana had never met Byakuya's father before, but she has seen pictures. All she knew about him was what Byakuya had told her. And from what she's heard, he isn't father-of-the-year. Apparently, he supports their relationship though. Which she never really understood, she was only a average scholarship student, nothing special. Byakuya was the son of one of the richest people in all of Japan. Wasn't he suppose to hate them being together? She would never understand the minds of the wealthy.

As of now, she was waiting for a call or a text saying that they could return, and that he was out of their apartment. But so far nothing, and it had already been almost forty five minutes.

"That man, was he my father?" The question caught Hisana off guard, fortunately before she could answer she felt a vibrating coming from her pocket. He's gone – Byakuya

"Um, I'm not sure, why don't we go back, ok?" Rukia, smiled and nodded in agreement.

It was around midnight and everyone was sleeping. Well, they were suppose to be.

Hisana was awakened, by the shuffling of the blankets, she turned over to face Byakuya getting back into bed. "I'm sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep."

"Byakuya, whats bothering you? Is it something that happened while he was here?" Once her and Rukia got back home, Hisana noticed that Byakuya was being very quiet. He stayed that way the rest of the night. Barely speaking. She guessed that something happened, but she didn't want to ask with Rukia around because it was most likely about her.

"Does Hisana know how in danger she is? How unstable your sister is? How at any moment she could go psychotic?"

Byakuya turned to look at her, "Hisana do you feel safe here?" Hisana immediately sat up, and looked down at him with a questioning gaze. "I should have asked sooner. I would understand if you didn't."

That was what this was all about? "Of course I do. There has never been a reason for me not to." She paused trying to think of the right words, "this might sound crazy, but I sort of... love her." Realizing how weird that sounded she swiftly thought of something else to say. "She is so sweet, and innocent and naïve, that she is like the sister I never had." Hisana paused once again, "am I making any sense?"

Byakuya smiled and nodded, he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer. Hisana leaned down and kissed him sweetly on the lips. When she pulled away she smiled lovingly at him. Apparently it wasn't enough, because he pulled her closer again, and began attacking her lips passionately. He rolled them over so that he was on top off her, and continued to work on her lips as his hand traveled down to the hem of her shirt, she gave a light moan.

She suddenly pulled away from him. "Byakuya, not that I don't want this, but you have a big test tomorrow and need to sleep." He smirked at her and laid down next to her, putting a protective arm around her waist. She curled into him.

"Whatever you say Hisana."

X

X

X

It was that next afternoon, unlike the day before it was sunny, bright and warm outside. The engaged couple just walked inside the apartment to see Rukia running into the kitchen. There was a beeping sound going off, and the air smelled warm and delicious.

They both glanced at each other for a second before walking into the kitchen. Rukia was setting two plates at the table. "Hey! I made you guys lunch," said Rukia with a sweet smile.

"Thank you Rukia, that was very nice of you." It was kind of a surprise, Rukia had never cooked before. The two of them sat down, and looked back at her. She seemed to be waiting for something.

"So... I was wondering, if I could go to the library... by myself." Rukia looked anxious, as if she was expecting the answer to be no.

"Do you have your cell phone?" Byakuya asked her seriously. Hisana almost forgot that Byakuya had bought her a cell phone shortly after coming to live with them. Rukia nodded, and smiled brightly.

"I guess, be back in an hour." Rukia was so happy, that she jumped up and ran over and gave him a huge hug before running straight out of the room.

"Do you think this is edible?" Byakuya turned and asked her seriously.

Hisana giggled and looked down at the unrecognizable, good smelling goo, "no idea."

The walk to the on-campus library was short and sweet. Rukia couldn't help but smile the entire trip there. This was the first time in six years that she was walking to a normal place, with normal people, all by herself.

As soon as she stepped into the air conditioned library, the smell of old, decaying paper filled her nose. She breathed in a big breath. Rukia looked around for a second before walking over to the romance section of the large library.

As she was about to turn into an isle, she collided into something and fell down backwards. The sound of another person falling over, and books being dropped filled her ears. When she opened her eyes, there was a hand being offered to her.

Rukia thought for a second, before shakily grabbing hold of the hand, and being pulled up. When the black haired petite girl looked up and glanced into the mysterious persons eyes, she was drowned in deep aquamarine pools.

Time seemed to freeze.

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