Rukia exit the spirit gate with the three elders; she noticed that they were now standing in front of the Kuchiki manor. Byakuya was standing there waiting for them. They approached him and Rukia immediately bowed.
"Nii-sama," said Rukia respectfully; she noticed that he did not meet her gaze. His pensive distant eyes looking at the elders without regarding her.
"Sleep, Rukia," said Byakuya, his eyes fixed cautiously on the elders, almost glaring at them. She was walking away when one of the elders grunted, and she paused.
"Our meeting will commence at sunset tomorrow, we expect to see you there without delay, Kuchiki Rukia." Rukia nodded and proceeded to walk inside the manor. She couldn't shake away the notion that something terribly horrible was going to happen, the elders' eyes were filled with malice, and there was a frightful worry in Byakuya's eyes. She knew her nii-sama as a very calm man, it was very difficult for anything to shake him, but yet, this time he failed horribly in hiding his inner dilemma.
The next morning did not go by without that same notion nagging at the back of Rukia's mind; there was a certain stillness in the air, and the shadows dancing along the corners seemed to be stalking her. As was accustomed, she had breakfast with Byakuya; his usually pensive distant eyes were filled with worry; when he noticed her realization of this he tried to mask it but with little success.
She poured tea into his cup and he quickly glanced at her as he reached for it; then he looked away with usual coldness. He set the cup on the table and finally looked at her.
"Rukia, your fate rests in your hands alone, do not let anyone persuade you into taking a path that will stray you from the road you have already chosen," he said; then he stood and left, leaving a very confused Rukia behind.
Ichigo was lying awake on his bed, he was still wearing yesterday's clothes and the bed was still undone. He did not manage to get much sleep; he found the ceiling had become an interesting canvas on which his mind drew out the scenarios explaining why the elders took Rukia.
One of them involved a gory battle with dangerous Hallows that had invaded the Soul Society. Another involved a long journey in which she and a few comrades were sent on a mission to retrieve a priceless artifact that would become a menace to humanity if obtained by the wrong person. But the scenario that perhaps frightened him the most was one in which Rukia had unknowingly broken one of their ridiculous noble rules and would be paying highly for it, perhaps with her life. He turned to his side and fell to the floor when he heard the door open; it was Ishida.
"Did I scare you?"
"Of course not," said Ichigo standing up and looking offended, "what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to speak to Rukia," said Ishida scratching the back of his neck nervously..
"Well she's not here, and even if she was isn't it a bit early?"
"It's past noon."
"Really, that late already?" Said Ichigo surprised, he must have pondered a bit too much on the scenarios playing themselves in his mind.
"Yes, so where is Kuchiki?" Asked Ishida sitting on the chair next to his bed.
"She was taken to the soul society by some of the elders from her clan."
"Why?"
"I don't know, they didn't say why, they just ordered that she leave with them."
"How strange," said Ishida scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"So what did you want her for?"
"Oh, nothing, I guess it can wait," said Ishida blushing scarlet; Ichigo looked at him curiously and then glared at him.
"Pervert," he said crossing him arms over his chest and trying to suppress his jealousy.
"What? Oh, no, it's nothing like that! Don't worry she's all yours!"
"What?! That's not what I meant either," said Ichigo turning as red as a tomato.
"Well, Orihime called me earlier; she was thinking maybe we could all go watch a movie at four, are you coming?"
"I don't know," said Ichigo; Ishida noticed the worry in his voice.
"She'll be fine, she went willingly after all; if she sensed any danger you would have noticed her hesitation."
"You're probably right. I'll meet you there later, I need to shower."
"Yes…you do," said Ishida wincing; Ichigo glared at him.
"See you later Kurosaki, I'll be taking my physics book," said Ishida picking up the book from the table and walking out of his room.
Once inside the theatre, Ichigo sat in the far end, Orihime sat next to him, then Ishida, Tatsuki, and Chad. They were watching a movie about a serial killer that had escaped the asylum and was once again on a killing spree. Ichigo thought it was cheesy and overrated, but Orihime looked genuinely scared, she held on to him every time something unexpected happened. After the first hour of watching pointless blood shed, Ichigo sensed a familiar reiatsu and immediately stood and ran out of the theatre and into the snack bar.
"Why did Kurosaki-kun leave?" Asked Orihime disappointed.
"He needs to speak to somebody," said Ishida lifting his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Oh Uryuu!" Screamed Orihime wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the crook of his neck as the killer on the screen massacred his second victim; Ishida immediately blushed.
Ichigo walked into the Snack Bar and saw a very familiar Renji Abara lined up for popcorn; he rushed to him immediately. Renji was surprised to see him there but smiled nonetheless.
"Ichigo, how are you? Surprised to see you here!"
"I came to watch a movie with the others, and you, who did you come with?" Renji signaled over to Ririn Yoruichi, Urahara, Nova, Cloud, and Kon who was being carried by Ririn. Kon had been spending the last couple of days at Urahara's shop helping him with chores to obtain a human gigai.
"Hey Ichigo!!" Screamed Urahara waving his arms frantically in the air. Ichigo walked over to them and Ririn immediately hugged him.
"Ichigo I'm so excited, it's our first movie!" Screamed Ririn excited; she along with Cloud and Urahara were making a very big deal about it.
"So what are you watching?"
"Ririn, Cloud, and Kon are watching Lord of The Flings, Renji and Nova are watching Exterminator III: Extermination Day, and Yoruichi and I are watching Lust In the Time of Pneumonia," said Urahara cheerfully.
"Oh," said Ichigo surprised at the cheesiness of their choices.
"What are you watching?"
"Day of The Dead: Return of The Skinning Psycho."
"Oh," said Urahara not looking at all impressed, "you should drop by at the shop one of these days, we haven't seen you in such a long time. Well, we really should get going, the movie is about to start," said Urahara.
They all started to leave; Ichiro held Renji back; Nova stayed as well, but was far enough to give them their privacy. Renji looked at him confused, and immediately the look on Ichigo's face worried him.
"What happened?"
"Have you seen Rukia lately?"
"No, why?"
"Three of the elders from the Kuchiki Clan came for her yesterday."
"What for?"
"For a meeting."
"That all? It's perfectly normal," said Renji relieved.
"I know, but, I have a bad feeling about this, the way they looked at Rukia…"
"They're nobility they look down on everyone, especially people like Rukia, they weren't excited about Captain Kuchiki adopting her as his sister you know."
"Yeah but…"
"You're overreacting, Kurosaki, she'll be back before you know it, now if you excuse me I have a movie to watch, come on Nova!" Said Renji; he and Nova left.
Rukia was walking towards the temple in which the Kuchiki Clan gathered for their meetings. She was wearing an elegant yet uncomfortable Kimono, she hated dressing like this, but given the occasion dressing up was required of her. She lowered her gaze to the floor as she drew closer to the temple. When she looked up she saw her nii-sama standing by the doors, his eyes were shut and his arms crossed over his chest; it seemed as if he had been waiting for her to arrive. Once he heard her footsteps draw close, he looked at her through cold distant eyes. She approached him and bowed slightly; he looked at her and walked away, his cold gaze no longer meeting her.
"Nii-sama, will you be attending the meeting?"
"This is strictly between yourself and the elders. It is not my meeting to attend."
"Then why are you here?" Asked Rukia confused; he briefly looked at her before walking away without saying a word. She watched him as he left and then looked down to the floor and smiled; although vague, this must have been Byakuya's way of showing his support for her.
She turned back to the door and observed it fearfully. The doors to the temple were vast and luxurious. There were elegant designs; all were either religions or held historical figures of the Kuchiki family; the beautiful images were imprinted in gold, silver, and with valuable gems. She grabbed one of the handles and knocked on the door; immediately the taunting vast doors opened for her, and she walked into the highly unwelcoming darkness.
