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Matsumoto knows something is wrong but how and why? Read and find out.

The Secrets We Hide

Ch.7 Unbelievable

"Have-have you been hitting Rukia?" Matsumoto asked shakily. She didn't really know if the words had slipped out of her mouth or not, for she was shocked that she would ever need to ask Kurosaki Ichigo such a question.

His eyes were wide and full of surprise. "Wha-what did you just say?" He nearly whispered.

Matsumoto looked away, not being able to bear the pain. "Ichigo, just say yes or no." Hitsugaya muttered, his height now bearing over Ichigo's.

Ichigo finally snapped out of his gaze and answered. "Of course not! What the hell are you talking about anyways?"

Another long silence followed, but Ichigo didn't say anything. He only waited, not sure if he wanted to know why they would suspect him of something so horrible.

"Ichigo, well," Matsumoto began. "We had a vice captain meeting this morning, and Hinamori tapped on Rukia's arm when she winced." Hitsguya pressed his hands tighter into his folded arms and kept his eyes downward as Matsumoto continued slowly.

"Hinamori saw Rukia's pained expression and realized something was wrong and pulled up Rukia's sleeve to see a horrible bruise crawling up her arm. She said that Rukia wouldn't look Hinamori in the eye and kept her hand over the part of her arm where Hinamori had just barely tapped it."

Ichigo still didn't understand what she was getting at. "Rukia paused for a long time and told her she fell and Hinamori asked her a question about you and if you had seen the bruise and Rukia immediately started to cry." Ichigo was now very concerned.

"Hinamori pulled Rukia out of the room to ask her more about it but she just kept repeating that she fell and that you had nothing to with it. So look, we don't want to point any fingers, but we all know that Rukia wouldn't just cry over some thing like that.

"Hinamori also said that the bruise looked like it had been there for a while. I know it's none of my business, but Rukia is a dear friend to me, so please, be honest and say you at least know what really happened to her bruised arm."

Ichigo was at a loss of words for Rukia had never mentioned anything about bruises. "No, I really didn't know…How early this morning?" He finally managed to ask.

"The meeting was at 9 o'clock." Matsumoto replied. Ichigo thought hard. They had left that morning from their house at around 8:50-ish.

"Even if Rukia had gotten hurt or something on the way to the meeting there was no way the bruise would already have formed so badly onto her arm like you say Hinamori saw." Ichigo said.

He started to head out the door. "Where are you going?" Matsumoto asked. He stopped for a second. "Rukia is at home so I'll go ask her about it." Ichigo began walking again but Hitsugaya stood in front of him.

"Are you sure that is wise Kurosaki?" Hitsugaya asked, glaring at the other captain. "Why wouldn't it be?" Ichigo responded. Matsumoto now stood next to Hitsugaya.

"Hinamori said Rukia kept saying over and over that you have nothing to do with it. Well, with what? Getting the bruise or something else? It sounds like Rukia was acting a bit hysterical if you ask me."

Ichigo flashed an angry look at Matsumoto. "Why would she be acting hysterical? Rukia isn't the sort of person—"

"Wouldn't Rukia have just told you about the bruises? Now, seeing as you just got home yesterday I am assuming you hugged or at least touched Rukia and she didn't say anything. Hinamori just barely tapped Rukia's arm and she winced so Rukia must be hiding something from you. Why would she hide something like that Ichigo?"

Ichigo was once again dumbfounded. "So you think that Rukia had the bruises possibly before I got home and she was just hiding them from me?"

Matsumoto nodded her head. "Yes, that is a possibility." Hitsugaya spoke next.

"How has Rukia been acting around you at home? Is she normal?" Ichigo thought for a second but quickly found his answer.

"She told me she was sick with a cold and that her captain let her leave a little early from her division which would explain why she didn't want me around her too much."

Matsumoto perked up at this. "So she is hiding something." Ichigo still was sticking to the plan of going and asking Rukia about it and started heading out the door.

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto both placed a hand on his chest. "Listen Ichigo, the only reason I found out about this was because Hinamori sent me a top secret letter which in this case meaning that I could only read what the contents said. So look, Hinamori thought this was important enough to make sure that I only received this information and to tell you what is going on. The only reason my captain knows is because he was there when I received the letter from her.

"We can't tell Rukia or say anything about this around her. She wouldn't just hide something serious like this from you for no reason. Especially if it caused her to cry, which Rukia never does. I know this is going to be hard for you but you need to act normal and stay calm around her until we can figure out more about this."

Ichigo was silent for a long time. Something was happening to Rukia and she wasn't saying anything to him. He knew that she didn't want him being overprotective of her, but if what Hinamori saw was true, than this was much more than serious.

Rukia would never get so upset in front of others, not even in front of him. He also had the idea that what ever happened occurred while he was away.

"Alright," Ichigo muttered. "I won't say anything to her about this. But seriously, we need to figure out what and fast. I don't know how much I will be able to take."

The other two nodded. "Don't say a word to anyone Ichigo, not even someone like Renji. Continue to observe Rukia and I'll do the same. I'll meet you here again tomorrow night." Matsumoto said.

And with her last comment they left the deserted building and went their own ways.

The walk home was a slow one. Ichigo was now extremely worried about his wife. What could have caused such a horrible bruise? Why had she started to cry at the mention of Ichigo? Rukia was not the sort of person to act out like that.

He tried to think of something that would cause her to act like this, but nothing could form in his mind. Was someone hurting her? Did someone attack her while he was away and perhaps threaten her?

But Rukia would surely tell Ichigo if that were the case. If Rukia got injured or hurt while at the division doing something, that was one thing, but to immediately start crying when asked about it?

Ichigo shook his head and looked at the ground. He had received so much information in the past ten minutes that he wasn't sure if it was all real. Matsumoto had only heard everything from Hinamori, so should he talk to her about it?

Hinamori did send Matsumoto a very secretive letter though, so maybe not. Maybe Hinamori knew that Rukia didn't want anyone to know, though that was obvious.

If Rukia couldn't tell Ichigo, her own husband, then who could she tell? She hadn't even really told Hinamori anything. The only reason Hinamori knew something was wrong was due to the way Rukia acted towards Hinamori's question.

Finally reaching the front door, Ichigo slowly pushed it open. The house was strangely quiet and eerie, much like the first time he had returned to his home, only Rukia was not waiting at the top of the stairs.

Wondering where Rukia was exactly, he crawled up the stairs, assuming she would be in her room. Sure enough, sitting on a chair across the large bedroom sat Rukia, looking to be writing something down.

Ichigo didn't know what to do at first. He immediately wanted to bother her with questions but knew that he should listen to the advice Matsumoto and Hitsugaya had given him.

Finally scratching his orange head, he sighed and spoke. "Rukia" He said a bit softly. She stopped what she was doing and slowly turned to look at him.

Ichigo soon realized that Rukia looked extremely tired. "You ok?" He asked instinctively, hoping he didn't give something away. A cough soon escaped her mouth.

"I still feel sick; this cold is getting on my nerves." She said irritably. Ichigo forced a smile out. "Well why don't you sleep then?" He asked.

She only shrugged her shoulders. "There's too much work to get done." If Matsumoto hadn't said anything to Ichigo, he might have believed everything she said.

Rukia did after all never get ill, so how was he supposed to know how she would act to it. Even if something was happening to her, Rukia would toughen it out. Being stubborn was a key part of Rukia's personality, which for some unfathomable reason Ichigo loved about her.

As she started writing again, which he saw as a note to her captain, he watched her every movement as he changed his clothing.

Something he quickly noticed was how tense she appeared from behind. Her shoulders were hovering a bit higher than usual and her free hand looked to be shaking slightly.

Ichigo tried to see if he could catch a glimpse of her arms to see the bruise, but her sleeves were too far down.

Even before Matsumoto had said anything to him, he already suspected something. Now that his fears were true, he wasn't sure of how he would approach this to Rukia.

Rukia sealed up the note to her captain and set it aside, but still stayed in her seat. Ichigo looked at her face, in her eyes, but he didn't want to get caught staring at her.

Lucky for him, she started looking around for something, giving him the chance to look at her. Ichigo saw what he had never noticed before.

It was one thing for her face to be paler than usual, but her eyes, they looked so dull. He knew that when people became ill they always looked a bit dead, but Rukia's dullness looked to be somewhat different.

Another unnatural cough escaped her mouth she took a deep breath. "You really should go to sleep—"

"I'm fine." She snapped back. It was in that instant that Ichigo understood why Rukia's eyes had the strange dullness in them.

She was afraid.

"But what would Rukia possibly be afraid of?"

The night went on in silence, and finally, an hour later, Rukia crawled into bed next to Ichigo, but didn't scoot close to him.

An idea came into his head. "Maybe once she falls asleep I can glance at the bruises." He thought. Hinamori had seen them on her arms, so maybe when she was deep enough asleep…

Ichigo tried to move closer to Rukia, but instantly heard her deep breathing and understood that she was already asleep. "If she isn't sick, then why is she so tired?" When Ichigo first arrived home she had gone to bed early that night. If she had gotten into a fight of some sort then that could be the case.

He remembered a long time ago how her body had been weakened due to her spirit being injured and not her physical body, making her tired easily all the time. Was this the case?

Unfortunately, due to Rukia's sleeping position, Ichigo could not reach her arms without her possibly waking up.

Ichigo sighed and fell asleep himself, where he had nightmares of Rukia pushing him away and rejecting him.

The next day was the same. Rukia didn't say much to Ichigo and kept complaining about her stupid cold. Ichigo tried to say as much as he could to her, hoping that she would say more to him than she already was.

It seemed strange to him. The first day that Ichigo came back Rukia had acted pretty normally, besides the fake coughing and drowsiness, but now she barely looked at him and almost seemed to be avoiding him.

Didn't Rukia realize that Ichigo knew something was wrong? It was really eating at him. He wanted to know, he needed to know.

Ichigo had the nature of wanting to help others, so with the present situation, it was really messing him up. Nothing bothered him more than Rukia, his own wife, the one person he trusted the most, to be hiding something so large from him.

He knew it had to be something big because her behaviors proved it. The little "I'm sick" act was getting old and fast. The more Rukia coughed and tried to look miserable (which she did) was already dying down.

The day at his division was a long one. His vice captain gave him the wrong set of papers to do, causing him to do more paperwork, and all of the new shinigami weren't paying attention as he trained them.

"If you guys don't feel like listening to me than you can just leave!" Ichigo shouted. He knew he was never this harsh to them, but taking out his anger and frustration on all of their small little faces seemed to be pleasing at the moment.

A few of the smaller girls watched everyone else to see what they would do, and after another moment of everyone staring at one another, they began to spar again.

Ichigo sighed and watched as they continued to fight. When the day was done, he once again saw Matsumoto standing outside the same designated building like before.

After getting a nod of approval from her, they stepped inside the room, but this time Hitsgaya was not with them.

"The captain was called to speak with Yamatoto-taichou." She said sharply before Ichigo could ask anything.

"So," She began. "Did you notice anything?" She asked. Ichigo didn't understand what she meant at first, but then answered her question.

"Rukia is definitely acting strangely." Ichigo said. He explained to Matsumoto how Rukia wouldn't look at him and always seemed shaky.

"You said you think she is afraid of something?" Matsumoto asked, pondering over his words. "Yah, it was sort of hard to see at first, but the more I watched her, the more obvious it became." Ichigo responded.

Matsumoto didn't say anything for a long time. "I don't know what to do. If someone is hurting her…"

Another moment of silence passed through the abandoned room. Ichigo and Matsumoto whipped their heads up at the same time to see someone coming inside through the door.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." Matsumoto said surprised. He stood in the door looking a little out of breath with a small envelope in his hand.

"Yamamoto-taichou wanted you to have this." He said handing Ichigo the envelope.

Ichigo already knew that this could only mean one thing. "There have been more attacks?" Ichigo asked irritated. Hitsugaya stood in his usual folded arms stance. "It looks that way, and we have to go investigate."

"When do we leave?" Ichigo asked. Hitsugaya paused for a long time. "Within the next hour."

Ichigo's first response was to go, but then he remembered Rukia and how something might have happened to her while he was away. Would something happen to her again if he left?

Hitsugaya seemed to know exactly what Ichigo was thinking. "Listen Ichigo, there won't be anything you can say to Yamamoto-taichou to allow you to stay, I'm sorry."

"I realize that, but I don't want something to happen to Rukia." Ichigo muttered. Matsumoto finally spoke. "Well, what if I kept a close eye on her?" She asked. Ichigo turned his head to her. "How will you manage that? You're captain will be away too making it busy."

Matsumoto thought for a second or two and spoke again. "Maybe I could ask the division of technology for some help. Perhaps they could give me something." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"That won't work Matsumoto. They've got a lot to worry about right now with the illness of their captain." She started to look angry. "Well I want to do something! We need to figure out what's going on!"

Ichigo was pretty surprised by how much Matsumoto wanted to help and he was grateful for it. "Why don't you start by watching before and after you work? I doubt something would happen to her while she's at the division, too many guards around and what not." Hitsugaya said. He looked as bored as ever.

Matsumoto slowly nodded her head. "It's not much but it might help us find out something." Ichigo agreed. "As soon as you find anything out I want you to tell me." He demanded.

After they each left the building, Ichigo made his way home to tell his wife of his second departure in the past week. He had only been home a few days and he already had to go back to the human world.

Once he entered his home, he saw Rukia lying asleep on a nearby couch. "That's bizarre, she never sleeps here." He whispered. She had been sleeping so much lately, what was going on?

Than another thought hit him. "Could Rukia be pregnant?" He thought. Though that wouldn't describe the bruises, she was always tired and snappy. His thoughts soon disappeared as he remembered a law in Soul Society.

"No child can be born in Soul Society until after ten years of marriage." He rolled his eyes. Out of all of the Soul Society rules, and there were a lot, that was by the far the strangest. It's the only way children can be born though. "You have to be married, and for ten years, otherwise it is impossible."

Ichigo felt relieved that Rukia wasn't pregnant because he just wasn't ready for it yet. Even though they had been married for seven years, it's really nothing compared to the length they will be in Soul Society.

Of course Ichigo wanted to have children and Rukia did too, but they wanted to be ready and prepared for a baby.

"Rukia" He said softly while pushing on her arm gently. When she didn't budge, he remembered what he wanted to see last night. "I can see the bruises now." He thought to himself.

Slowly moving his arm closer to Rukia's, he gently started pulling her sleeve up. After pausing to make sure she didn't move, he continued.

His eyes grew wide with shock. Right below Rukia's elbows were the deepest and darkest bruises he had ever seen. Anger immediately threatened to pour out, but he had to calm himself.

Rukia couldn't know that he knew something was wrong. He still didn't know why it was such a big deal to keep it from her, but something in his gut told him to.

After completely calming himself down, he woke Rukia up. Ichigo now had to explain to her the attacks. "Rukia," He said again. She opened her eyes to turn and look at him, but there was still fear and doubt in them.

Deciding he wouldn't be able to look at Rukia while he said this, he averted his eyes to the ground. "What is it Ichigo?" She asked.

"I just received word from Yamamoto-taichou, there were some more attacks, and I have to leave in the next thirty minutes."

When Rukia didn't say anything, he finally looked at her and regretted it. Her face was somehow even paler than before and her eyes were wide yet dull still. When she realized Ichigo staring at her, she shook her head and looked away.

"I hope it isn't always like this." She whispered. Ichigo moved to the couch she was sitting on and looked at her confused. "First it was a week, and now it's only a few days, soon you'll never come back. You'll always be gone." Rukia had never sounded so depressed and Ichigo really considered blowing off his mission and staying.

"I know Rukia. I really don't want to go." Ichigo said softly, taking a hand and putting it in Rukia's. For a moment she looked about to say something, but dropped her head instead.

"It's ok, I know you have to do it." Ichigo moved closer to her and gave her a hug. Rukia slowly relaxed under his grasp and reached her arms out around him.

"Please come back soon and try to stay for more than a few days." Rukia whispered. Ichigo chuckled. "I'll try k?"

She moved back just a bit to look at his face. "Ichigo" She whispered, and he began to kiss her.

Then abruptly, there was a knock on their door. Ichigo pulled away from a breathless Rukia and went to retrieve it.

A minute later, Ichigo returned with Renji and Hitsugaya. "It looks like we have to go now, I'm sorry." Ichigo said. Rukia slowly stood up and gave him one last hug and kiss, ignoring the two other men in the room.

"Be careful" She whispered.

"Love yah" He whispered back. With one last kiss he left again. The moment the door closed Ichigo knew something was wrong, but for the time being he had to ignore the pang in his stomach.

"Please be safe Rukia" He thought giving his home one last look.

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A/N: This chapter was pretty long eh? Well I hope you all enjoyed it and Ichigo finally realizes that something is not right, but he is pretty far from knowing what's really happening, and when he finds out, those two men are going to wish they never messed with Rukia!! The next chapter is going to be more of Ichigo's POV also, and he might finally realize what is going on!! Please review and tell me what you thought, I'm dying to know!!