THE IVORY TOWER

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Episode 7: The Adjudged

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"The defendant calls for a recess!" Cries the Judge from his post, bringing all the attention to him. "We will resume Kuchiki Rukia's trial in three hours."

The mallet claps against the block of expensive, polished wood. The sound mimics Rukia's doom against the gleaming walls, echoing her fate. "Court adjourned!"

Rukia sits in her upholstered chair, unmoving. Well, slightly shaking. Her hands grip the polished wooden armrests until her finger tips and knuckles burn white under the pressure. Her eyes are downcast.

"Hey," a warm hand suddenly rests on her forearm. Rukia reacts to the touch, cringing away from the feeling. The hand slips off her arm. She hears a sigh escape from the man's mouth.

"It's going to be alright, Rukia." The voice doesn't sound as convincing as it should. "They don't have enough evidence against you."

"Yes they do." Rukia speaks for the first time in an hour. During court, she basically just sat there while the opposing side derided her and persecuted her. Rukia's eyes flick to the man's face quickly, up and away. "They have an eye witness. Oh, and I'm legally insane. That helps my case a lot."

"But that doesn't mean-"

"Yes it does, Aizen!" Rukia shouts at the man with curly hair, rectangular glasses, and a sharp lawyer's suit. "If the hospital can prove I'm insane then so can the court! You're a lawyer. You know this."

"Rukia…"

"I'm going to prison, aren't I?"

"Rukia, no…"

"Just admit it. Then I can accept it and I won't have to worry about it later."

"No, Rukia." The man whispers. He pauses, thinking through his words carefully. With a long sigh, he looked into Rukia's eyes and spoke. "You will most likely be sent to an asylum, under strict supervision."

Rukia turns roughly away from him, partially in shock, partially in scorn, her handcuffs clinking together. She furrows her eyebrows and stares off into space, completely ignoring her "trusted lawyer". In all honesty, Rukia hadn't wanted Aizen to represent her in this case, not at all. In fact, in her parent's will, it stated that he would be her legal guardian if Kaien Shiba, her godfather, died.

Aizen was, apparently, an old family friend. And conveniently a lawyer.

So, of course, Rukia had no choice. Her parents left her a very large fortune after their death, but it would only be legally hers once she was eighteen. The money would be taken under the care of her legal guardian until she turned of age. Her legal guardian now being Aizen, he had control of her money.

The catch was, he could only spend the money on food, clothes, and housing for Rukia.

This pissed Aizen off. He wanted that money, needed that money for his own selfish purposes, and Rukia was getting in the way. Aizen recollects himself, putting on a concerned façade and spoke to the raven haired sixteen-year-old.

"I know this may seem hard now, but I promise you, I will do everything in power to make sure that doesn't happen. Now—" Aizen rises from his chair, and holds out his hand towards Rukia. "Get up. I only have three hours to figure out how to win this case."

Rukia stares at the hand being stretched out to her. The skin was smooth, nails trimmed and cared for. It looked soft. Rukia decides that she can trust his hand and hesitantly takes it. Aizen pulls her up, the twinkling bell-like sound of chains between them.

"The police will escort you to a waiting room while I work this out. Don't give up, okay sport?" Aizen smiles at her, trying to be reassuring. The young girl had no idea that he only wanted her parent's money. She had no idea at all.

He's supposed to be their friend.

Only when a pair of police men accompanies Rukia through a set of huge double doors and into a waiting room does Aizen allow his smile to fall. It was replaced by a deep, malicious smirk.

He had a lot of work to do.

~.~.~.~

"The case of Kuchiki Rukia, and the wealth of Kuchiki Byakuya and Kuchiki Hisana, will now commence."

The mallet falls.

~.~.~.~

"The defendant calls Kuchiki Rukia to the stand!"

..What?

"Aizen, what are you doing?" She hisses to her lawyer, who is looking down at her with a apathetic expression. "Why are you doing this—"

"Just go, Rukia. I know what I'm doing." Aizen cuts her off, and gives her a pat on the back that's a little bit too hard. Rukia reluctantly rises and approaches a police man holding a Bible out to her. She puts her right hand on the cover.

"Kuchiki Rukia."

She nods.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do." Rukia mumbles, and slides her hand off of the Bible. The Judge glares at Rukia from his pedestal, his withering chin resting on his hand. The Judge is not a fan of mumbling.

"Kuchiki Rukia, please take the stand." Says the officer and then returns to The Judge's side obediently.

Rukia hesitantly walks over to the booth. The chair creaks painfully when she sits down in it, and Rukia briefly wonders how many damned and tortured souls have sat in this very chair. Rukia zones out at the thought, trying to conjure up the faces of the damned with glazed eyes. The sound of Aizen's smooth voice brings Rukia out of her stupor.

"Kuchiki Rukia." He says.

"Yes?"

"You are sixteen, correct?"

"Yes."

"That would make you a minor, meaning you have no access to your Kuchiki Byakuya's and Kuchiki Hisana's wealth until you are of age. In their last will," Aizen shuffles through a briefcase, then holds up a fancy-looking document. "Which I have right here, states that you must be eighteen to require said wealth."

"Yes."

"Alright, just making sure."

Rukia furrows her eyebrows. What is up your sleeve, Aizen? She thinks, watching the man step around the table to stand about five feet away from her, in between her and the judge. He shows another document to the jury before setting it on The Judge's podium.

"This is a certificate of mental insanity signed by five different doctors, all from separate hospitals."

"You bastard!" Rukia finally understands. Aizen isn't trying to win the case for her, he wants to lose it. She finally realizes that it's her money that Aizen wants in the end.

"Control yourself, Ms. Kuchiki, or I will have Officer Lin personally hold you down!" The Judge exclaims. "Continue, Mr. Aizen." He says as he puts on his glasses to read the document. He grunts, and hands it back to him.

"Thank you, Your Honor." Aizen says, giving Rukia a glare. She grits her teeth together. She couldn't believe she was letting Aizen practically steal her parent's money like this. Her hands grips the chair's sides, fuming.

"This documentation of Ms. Kuchiki's mental instability legally makes her unfit for the wealth of the Kuchiki family, and the inheritance of said family's energy corporation."

"Fuck you!" Rukia screams at him. "You're supposed to be my lawyer! I trusted you!"

"Ms. Kuchiki!"

Rukia stands up quickly, causing her chair to topple over with a loud crash. She grips the side of the podium and glares at Aizen. If looks could kill.

"Thereby, the wealth and fortune, according to these two documents, would legally belong to Kuchiki Rukia's guardian." Says Aizen, a smirk playing on his thin, snake-like lips.

"No!" She screams. He can't…. he can't do this. He was supposed to be their friend! He was their friend!

"No further questions, your honor."

The audience in the courtroom claps, congratulating Aizen on a soon-to-be completed case, even if it was totally backwards. All Rukia can do is stare at them with shock. Numbness takes over her body, and her tongue feels as heavy as lead. She realizes she cannot speak.

He was their… friend.

Aizen chuckles to himself, gathering the two documents and putting them in a briefcase.

"Order, order!" Cries The Judge, hammering his mallet. "The fortune of Kuchiki Byakuya, and Kuchiki Hisana, will belong to Kuchiki Rukia's legal guardian the day after her eighteenth birthday unless she can prove her sanity. Kuchiki Rukia will be transported to the Seireitei Asylum until her sanity is approved by two doctors. Case closed."

The mallet falls, the sound echoing throughout the room, and it's over.

It's all over.

~.~.~.~

He cocks his head to the side, his orange bangs partially covering his eyes. "…what exactly did you do?"

Before I know it I've picked up the television and smashed it against the wall.

It shatters, sufficiently killing it.

That's enough talk for now.

I walk over to my white cot; lay down in it, my spine straight, and legs shoulder-width apart. Waiting to be strapped into my restraints patiently.

I'll need them tonight.

Not ten seconds after I committed the murder to the television, Sode no Shirayuki barges in, a few guards in tow. The guards strap me down, and I don't protest. Sode no Shirayuki just sighs when she looks at the television's graphic remains, and the guards leave with a beep of my door.

"Oh, Rukia, what am I going to do with you?" She purses her lips and sits down in a chair across from my bed. I stare at the ceiling, choosing to ignore her question. I'm pretty sure it's rhetorical anyway, because nobody knows what to do with me. Nobody has, ever since Aizen took my money the day after my eighteenth birthday. On that dreadful day, I was in Sode's office for at least four hours. She tried coaxing me with words, telling me that if I didn't speak that I wouldn't get my inheritance. She couldn't prove my sanity if I didn't talk to her about my problems.

It's a shame, really.

They tell me that Aizen invested all my money into some sort of scientific experiment. The head doctor's name of what they call the "Hollow Project" is Ulquiorra Cifer. I remember Sode brought me a newspaper to read once, with him in on the front page. He's a very pale, thin man who dresses in white clothing and has piercing green eyes, like an emerald. All and all, he creeps me out, and I feel a sense of loathing towards Aizen for whenever I think of him throwing all of my money into his work.

"Rukia, why did you break the t.v.?" Sode asks suddenly, pulling me out of my sea of lethargy. I raise my head to look at her, but I don't feel like talking anymore.

"Please, Rukia, will you just tell me? I want to help you get better." She says, her eyes tearing up slightly. "I mean that."

Her heartfelt words almost make me open my mouth, but I don't. I bet she's lying. She just wants to get paid. I lay my head back down on my pillow and stare at the cracks in the ceiling. I begin to count them.

I'm at crack three hundred and sixty-one when Sode no Shirayuki finally decides to stand up. She brushes away invisible dirt from her sun dress, opens the door, and leaves.

"I'm sorry, Sode." I whisper before the lights in my room shut off, my eyes flutter closed, and I drift into a restless sleep full of blood, silent words, and dangling feet.

I'm sorry.

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A/N: Well there you have it. I know this chapter is short but I update fast so please don't complain. :D

So the plot is starting to unfold! Dun dun dunnn!

Please review, because it's my oxygen.

Have a lovely day.

-Liym Enello