A/N: The feedback for this story is like crack to me. Especially when I get a review during work. XD
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.
Slightly out of breath, Rukia Kuchiki steadied herself against the alley wall. White hands shaking, she clutched her chest and glanced over her shoulder.
Perhaps an impromptu visit to Rukongai was not the best idea.
In a fit of desperation, Rukia had fled the Kuchiki Mansion to her old district in Rukongai. Only weeks after Kaien Shiba's death, she had not yet regained her composure, finding the air of the mansion stifling, almost choking on the tenseness in the air. Every glance she aimed at her adoptive brother was met with cold indifference.
So she made her way to Inuzuri.
Sticking to the shadows, her shinigami garb were overlooked as she walked the familiar streets, the ball of nerves that had settled in her stomach easing somewhat. Until the sun had set.
Having been raised in the hard scrabble district, Rukia was no stranger to thugs. As a child she had been picked upon and shoved around, but remained relatively unscathed due to her speed. That was not the case this time around.
She had overestimated their intelligence, assuming they'd leave her alone once catching sight of her midnight hakama and zanpakutou. She was wrong.
"Hey there girlie. What're ya doin' out her all by your lonesome. She looks awful tiny to be out and about unescorted, dunnit she, boys?" A slimy voice leered as a large figure stepped out in front of her.
The other two snickered in agreement, successfully blocking her in from behind. Attention focused on those behind her, Rukia was momentarily surprised when the first made a grab for her zanpakutou. With a sharp slap, his hand was sent reeling away.
The small shinigami took on a defensive stance as who she presumed to be the leader, growled in irritation.
"Shouldn'ta done that, girlie. Grab 'er." He sneered.
Whipping around, Rukia barely managed a quick kick to the temple of one thug, while ducking the grab of the next. With a burst of speed she dashed away from them, the age old fear curling coldly in her chest, just behind her sternum.
Rukia fled through the winding labyrinth of alleyways and small streets, every twist and turn familiar to her. Every glance over her shoulder and she expected to see a flash of red and black as Renji tried (and failed) to keep up with her, nearly drowning in the nostalgia of it all.
Finally, after five minutes of continuous running, she stopped.
They must've given up, Rukia thought, hand twitching to the sword at her side.
However qualified she was as a shinigami, hand to hand combat with three men that were four times her size was not within her capabilities. Not with her sleep deprived mind or her nearly starved body.
After the day her sword pierced Kaien's chest, Rukia found it hard to keep food down and soothed her aching stomach with plain rice or simple tea.
Heaving in a large breath, she moved to return to the Mansion where even the thought of the cold hallways was preferable to this. As she turned, two figures filled up the end of the alley way; true to form, the leader filled the other end.
The small shinigami smiled grimly. And I thought my life held enough cliches as it is.
"Thought she outran us, dinnit she?" One of the other two hissed, yellow teeth bared in a wide grin.
"That she did, that she did. Wrong though, weren't she?" The leader snorted as the three descended upon her.
One yanked away her zanpakutou as Rukia struggled in the grasp of the thug leader, lips already moving to form as high a level Hadō as she dared, lightning sparking at the tip of her finger. Seeing this, the third thug aimed a heavy punch at Rukia's face.
The last thing shefelt was the shattering of her nose before everything bled into black.
ooo
Rukia Kuchiki woke to the tail end of an agonized scream, and searing pain ripping through her mind.
Violet orbs opening, she blearily registered the two thugs limping away as their leader struggled to crawl after them, blood pouring from a wound in his prominent gut. A tall figure stood over him, waving a small sword at him tauntingly.
Ichimaru Gin.
Rukia let out a low groan, moving to sit up, only to collapse back unto her side again as her vision doubled.
Ichimaru turned at her groan and grinned widely. "Rukia-chan! You're awake! I was terribly worried, seein' the number that scum did ta yer nose." He intoned, concern honeying his tone as his smile melted off his face.
With that, he turned back to the man at his feet."Now now, where d'ya think yer goin', eh? Ya haven't apologized to Rukia-chan yet! Shoot to kill." The tall Captain said cheerily.
Shinsō darted forward at Ichimaru's command, piercing the thugs back with a sickening squelch. Blood splattered the brick wall, and stained Ichimaru's Captain's hakama, red bleeding through the white material.
With a whimper, Rukia descended back into unconciousness.
ooo
Waking for the second time, Rukia found a cool, damp compress settled on her forehead. Her face was pleasantly absent of pain, and a quick inspection with her hands found that her nose had been healed completely.
The room she was in was dark, and looking around, she found that she was in her room in the Mansion. Paling at the implication of this, the shinigami went to rise, panic rising in her throat.
A small cough sounded from the bedside. Turning, violet orbs found Byakuya Kuchiki siting in a chair beside her bed, face impassive.
"B-brother, I-" Rukia started, hands clutching the blanket that had been considerately settled over her. Raising a hand, Byakuya interrupted.
"Your actions tonight were ill-thought out. However, due to the timely" he said this with an air of bitter sarcasm, as if he somehow doubted it,"arrival of 3rd Division Captain Gin Ichimaru, you were spared. He then delivered you here, having healed you himself." Byakuya finished, looking displeased.
Rukia sat dumbstruck, hands falling limp beside her as her brother stood, adjusting his scarf.
"Despite this night's events, your punishment will be minimal in light of this month's...events. You will rest for the time being, as your health has been comprimised in recent days."
He left her sitting there in the dark room, cold compress lying forgotten on the floor.
ooo
She ran into him a week later on her way back from an errand she had run to the another division.
"Rukia-chan!" A gleeful voice shouted.
Freezing, Rukia paused before turning slowly, hands fisting at her sides. Ichimaru Gin towered over her, almost close enough to be considered improper.
Leaning forward, he placed a pale hand on her head. "How's yer face, Rukia-chan?"
Her face twitched in irritation.
"It's fine, thank you."
He ruffled her hair as he brushed past, grin fixed firmly on his face.
"Invite me next time ya take a walk in old Rukongai, wontcha Rukia-chan?"
