Wow. It had been so long since the first chapter. Aside from writer's block, life got in the way. But anyway, I remembered I have three unfinished stories which I do not plan to abandon at all. And hence the update for the first one. Updates will happen randomly though.
So to the following who left me a review or sent me a message:
Guest & 1234567 – hopefully you two can leave a name so I can thank you properly…and if this is the same Guest who left a review before, well, here is an update and hopefully you won't get disappointed with it…
VitaAuir , and laexdream and anna-chan – thank you for the review and yes I will continue this story. The only problem is I won't update regularly. I still hope that you haven't given up on this one.
xMousex – thank you for the review and the message. Yes, there are few Ulquiorra and Rukia stories. I'm an Ichiruki fan actually but I wanted to explore the crack pairings – especially this one. I'm curious how to make their characters match up. But anyway, Byakuya?...well…he will appear in the future chapters and
Disclaimer: The usual goes. I don't profit from this story and I simply borrowed the characters owned by Tite Kubo.
Ulquiorra played with his drink as he watched with boredom. He was seated at the farthest corner of the bar, quietly observing the people that occupied the place. This bar used to be run by Starrk but the old guy retired into a quiet life in Hokkaido or so he heard anyway. Business dealings had been far easier when Starrk used to be around.
In his one-year absence, it seemed that so much have changed. So much have happened in fact. And now this became a hideaway place for a certain Kuchiki. Profits from the bar is of no concern to the Kuchiki but he heard that he bought the place out of whim. Words from the grapevine said that Byakuya made it his hideaway place whenever he chose to step away from the prying eyes of the media. Of course, up front, the place is owned by Hitsugaya Toshirou.
"It's rare to have a celebrity hang out in this rowdy place."
He looked up to find a beautiful woman with strawberry-blond hair. She was smiling at him and for a moment, he was reminded of a woman who died in this very same place five years ago. The woman whose death weighed on him. Not because he killed her. Nope. He did not feel any inch of remorse. It was because it started for him here.
"I used to come around here with some…acquaintances," he said, refusing to call them his friends. He shrugged. "Starrk was the owner then."
"Oh, I hope you find the service to your liking. Stark-san has so many loyal customers, I see," she commented and walked away, going down to the counter while talking to some customers. Ulquiorra only watched her for a fraction of a second before he shifted his gaze and turned towards the man who now occupied the seat across him with his foxy smile.
"With that kind of beauty, I wonder why she settled with you," he commented offhandedly making the guy chuckle lightly.
"You don't hold back, do you?"
Ulquiorra answered with his usual nonchalant shrug. He briefly glanced at the people downstairs before he turned to Gin.
"So, what do you have for me?"
Gin pulled out a small envelope and tossed it at the table. "It has Jin's full schedule for the next month or two. I have arranged for you to be introduced to him as an honored guest seeing as you both share the same stardom. He will be holding a party for the Liberal party next weekend. If we are to take the Butterfly Killer's warning, then she's going to attack."
Reaching for the envelope, he peeled it open and read a few before he tossed it back at the table. "She's so certain that the Chameleon will appear."
"Yes. Will you?" Gin asked curiously.
Ulquiorra blinked only once. "Maybe. Maybe not. Seems a challenging opponent if she managed to finish a lot of the Berets. But that's only because she was up against small fries. She has yet to test her mettle against the elites – if she managed to survive an encounter with even one, then I will take care of her." He stood up and once again glanced downstairs. "I wonder how Kuchiki Byakuya ever managed to hide in a filthy place as this."
Gin raised his brow. "It's not really his hideaway place. Byakuya never even set foot in this place. The only reason he bought this place was because two years ago, a small pendant was found here. An heirloom. He believed that if he could keep an eye on this, the owner of that will someday return to retrieve it."
"You know this because…?" he asked, giving him a skeptical look.
Gin smiled lazily. "I know a lot of things Ulquiorra…it's my area of expertise after all. And depending on my mood, I can give information for free or I can charge a high price for it. This time, that was only a tidbit of information I have given for free because I like you."
He chose not to comment and simply walked away, passing by Gin who was giving him a wolfish grin. He always wondered what made this man tick. He's as difficult as him to crack.
"You should visit Rukia-chan every now and then you know…she's always so lonely."
He stopped just as he was about to step down and slowly turned to the foxy guy. "Keep away from my personal business, Gin."
Said guy grinned even more. "You always, always have a different aura whenever she's mentioned. Sad thing you gave her up."
Ignoring him, Ulquiorra left Gin and walked away from the bar.
"Don't kill her…she…she doesn't know about this…"
Whoever that woman referred to, Ulquiorra did not bother to find out. He left the bar after he killed Inoue Orihime. But he did not leave yet when he heard that cry of vengeance from a person he did not give mind. To him, his only mission was to eliminate Orihime Inoue with no other casualties that's why he left and never looked back.
Gin watched the back of the man disappear from the crowd and into the door before he sighed and brought out the pendant.
"I wonder if I can uncover more…" he muttered, staring at the picture of the woman locked inside the pendant. "Kuchiki Rukia eh...how much will Byakuya pay for the information, I wonder." He stood up and gathered the papers before he disappeared in one of the rooms, with a guy closely following behind.
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Rukia slipped from the nurses' prying eyes as she took off the IV attached to her arm. She needed to get out of this place. She has more pressing matters to attend to. Momentarily, she remembered her last visitor.
After leaving her, he came back into her life and just like that, he made it sure through his actions that he doesn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Out of obligation, he merely came to check on her because he happened to be the one who caused the accident.
"When did you become so sneaky, Rukia-chan?"
She almost jumped in surprise at the quiet tone from behind her. When she turned around, she found Neliel looking at her with curiosity, her hand holding a bouquet of roses. Neliel is a widely known artists and Rukia became friends with her when she was dating Ulquiorra. Even when Ulquiorra left, Neliel remained being her friend and from time to time, she would call for a snack, a movie, a dinner etc. if it wasn't Ulquiorra who left, she would have thought that perhaps Neliel was merely keeping an eye on her for his sake.
"Nel."
"Ulquiorra sent me a message earlier."
"Did he now?" she bit back.
Not at all surprised, Neliel only smiled at her faintly. Rukia had to remind herself that nothing can faze Neliel. She's so similar to Ulquiorra in that regards, making her joke once that perhaps they are related.
"So, where are you sneaking to?"
"I don't want to be in this place. It's suffocating."
"Ah. Then let's go."
"Eh?"
"I came to visit you but since you plan to escape, then I might as well accompany you. Besides, aside from the head, you looked fine to me. No wonder he had no reason to worry." The last statement stung but Rukia paid it no mind.
They quietly walked towards the exit and as soon as they managed to get out from the hospital, Rukia sighed in relief. She turned to Neliel. "Thanks."
"No problem."
With ease, she managed to sneak away with Neliel. The woman shook her head as soon as they were settled at the backseat of the cab. She sighed as soon as they got away and Neliel regarded her momentarily.
"I can't help but notice but you always have that reckless tendency to cause trouble or attract one to you. Anyway, how did it go…?" she asked, her curiosity not at all masked away.
She only blinked at her tall friend, not comprehending for a few moments. Then as soon as she understood, she frowned. "How do you expect it would go Nel?"
The mentioned woman only shrugged. "I envisioned a lot of scenarios actually but none of which you would suffer from an accident. Did he say anything when he dropped by."
Embittered, Rukia gave her friend a dry smile. "What is there left to say Nel? He dropped by only to tell me he came on a whim. Would you imagine that? He did not even offer any explanations as to why he disappeared for two years."
Her tone was hysterical making the driver look at them with curiosity. Neliel placed a hand on her arm, gently placating her. It was always effective whenever she was in panic. "Considering the circumstances, I don't think it was the best time for him to explain. I mean, knowing him, yes, he told you it was out of whim that he dropped by to visit you. But Ru, I have known Ulquiorra for a long time and he's the type to never act on a whim. I'm sure he went there using that pretense but actually he wanted to make sure that you were really okay."
Rukia only bit her lip a little remembering his words. Then she sighed and looked outside, ignoring her friend.
Perhaps it was for the best. At the moment, she doesn't need any distractions. Her next mission is her top priority now and she couldn't really afford to sit idly. She needed to finish this one until she can face the Chameleon – whoever that person is.
Remembering the Chameleon, she could not help but look back once more. On the event five years ago. After she buried Orihime she started her training with Zommari and a few others. She'd sometimes tag along with them for a mission. Two years ago, the mission took place in the same place where Orihime was killed. And there she lost something.
That necklace given to her by Byakuya. It was the only gift from him that she brought along with her when she ran away. And it was also the only memento she had from her sister. That necklace was given to her as a birthday gift by both Byakuya and Hisana.
The last gift she ever received from them before her sister's untimely death.
Her effort to find that treasured gift was futile though until she finally gave up on it and pursued her training with the Reapers.
"I was invited to for Kariya Jin's birthday," Neliel announced all of a sudden making her turn to her friend. Of course, it's no surprise for that. after all, they move in the same circle. Neliel beamed. "I heard rumors that this party – although in celebration of Jin's birthday – is actually a comeback party for Ulquiorra. He's going into racing again, you know."
Fuck, she thought to herself. Why did Ulquiorra have to be there? Her mind already started thinking of some alternative actions in case she ran across him in that party.
"I thought he gave that up?" she asked.
"He didn't."
"Apparently."
Neliel blinked at her this time, taking note of her bitter tone. "Do you….hate him?"
"No," she admitted. "But…I wish I do…for leaving me." She sighed and gave her friend a regretful look. "I just wished…that he did not go away…"
Because somewhere at the back of her mind, she knew that he was her saving grace. She remained conflicted up to this time. Ever since Orihime died, she vowed to avenge her. But her resolve wasn't so strong then. Especially when she met Ulquiorra and she tasted a life as normal as she could hoped to be. She wanted that life with him – one where she enjoyed cooking for him, receiving his quiet complements. One where she would go and quietly support him in his races. And then they would celebrate together away from the prying eyes of the media.
She was ashamed to admit that her vow to have revenge was momentarily forgotten. But then, he left without a word to her, ended their relationship without any explanation at all. And to make up for the guilt that ate at her, and to forget the pain as well, she trained hard and killed more than she could count on her finger.
And now, she is no longer the Rukia that Ulquiorra dated. Nope. She's already a cold-blooded killer, breaking laws and even toying with the law if she so pleases.
She heaved a deep sigh. "I just wish I knew why he left. It would give me some sort of closure. Was it my fault? Was I lacking in something?" she asked, already done with being bitter. Emotion, she found out earlier after his visit, is something that will only hinder her. But even with throwing away those emotions, questions need to be answered.
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"Why did you leave her?"
He refused to acknowledge the newcomer as he leaned to look down below, watching the city lights and the cars speeding at the road. In his hand was a picture of her. In that picture, she was smiling widely, her eyes bright with happiness.
But when he visited her at the hospital, he was met with a different woman. No longer was she smiling. Of course, given the circumstances, that's understandable. But her eyes – it was always her eyes that he loved most. Those eyes that used to shine so brightly, those eyes that reflected her emotions – they were already dead. And cold.
It was the pair of eyes that had given up on the world.
His friend leaned at his back, his left arm resting on him. They were now back to back on each other. Him, smoking and his friend, drinking.
"Because." His answer was curt and final.
Grimmjow scoffed. "She changed a lot you know. I kept an eye on her as promised."
Before he left, he asked Grimmjow to watch over her. The others do not know about her after all. Only Grimmjow and when they had accident with her, his friend did a good job acting like he did not recognize her.
"You never let the organization find out about your relationship with her and that – I understand. But still – "
"They'd have killed her."
Grimmjow leaned away from his friend and gave him a surprised look. "What?"
Ulquiorra took a dreg of smoke before he turned his eyes off the street and moved so now he could look up at the dark sky. "There's just so much to say but back then, I needed to get away."
For a moment, Grimmjow was rendered speechless before finally he understood. "Otherwise you will be the one to kill them."
"I respect the members of the organization, I acknowledge their strength even."
"What happened a year ago, Ulquiorra? What happened that forced you to leave without a word?"
The raven haired guy only shrugged. "Not much but enough to question the motive behind. I'm looking into something and I prefer that you keep out of this. It has something to do with the death of that woman five years ago."
This time green eyes met blue ones and they stared at each other.
"Fuck man, it all started five years ago. I'm certain you did not fall in love with her. But why are you very much affected by it?" Grimmjow asked incredulously.
"Because that woman was a victim as well."
Callously, Grimmjow laughed. "Are you shitting me? Did I seriously just hear that from you?"
Ulquiorra would have laughed too. Because honestly, in the Beret's business, there are always casualties. He understood that. Grimmjow understood that. But in the years of doing this kind of work for the Beret, it was probably surprising for Grimmjow to hear those words from the most cold-blooded among them all.
Walking back inside the room, Ulquiorra crushed his cigarette against the ash tray then walked towards the door. His destination is certain.
"There are things you have yet to know, my friend. Things that once shed into light will also make you question what we have been doing from the very beginning. You are the only one who knows about this. Let this be a warning though – do not interfere. I will not hesitate to shoot you down."
"Do you plan to betray the Berets?"
"Far from it. I simply want to protect her."
"From what?" his answers beg more questions from Grimmjow.
"From those who dared to threaten me using her. In the meantime, I believe I have a party to prepare for. Gin sure work fast. Later, my friend."
And Grimmjow was left confused and suspicious. What secret did Ulquiorra discover? What happened one year ago that involved a certain midget? He thought about it before he decided that he will get the answers he needed.
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And I will leave it at that. Later guys.