Oh wow, I am so sorry I have not updated in the longest time. The past few weeks had been extra busy, especially with the Olympics and school starting up again soon. I haven't felt the creative juices running and I admit I was overtaken by sloth for a while. Sorry if this chapter is short, but I wanted to give you guys something.

Ch. 7 Me Against the World

The orphanage Rukia grew up in had a remarkable history. It stood tall and strong since the early 1900's. It had been built, rebuilt, and remodeled. It contained within its walls layers upon layers of memories. Sure it needed some fixing up but no one minded the antique feel. Every time the building would be restored old walls would come down and new walls would come up. Sometimes small spaces would be closed off. Ukitake's orphanage contained a number of these secret closed off spaces. It was in on of these very spaces where a young Rukia sat hugging her knees with dried tear stains lingering on her pale skin. This was her secret room where she escaped into for whatever reason. The room was made for her, seeing as her petite frame was a perfect squeeze to get into the space. Handrawn pictures were pinned to the walls and in the corner of the space was a wooden box which her eyes were glued to. Just thinking of what laid inside returned the stinging sensation to her eyes.

It had been two days since Ichigo had broken up with her. Byakuya had asked for an answer to his proposition in a weeks time, leaving her five days. Up until two days ago she would have turned him down in a heartbeat, but now she was starting to wonder. Maybe it was better if she went with Byakuya. Maybe all this was a sign telling her to say yes to him. Ichigo was her main reason to stay in Karakura. She couldn't help but think that he was pushing her away for some other reason. The whole time he was breaking up with her, his eyes were downturned. Every time she did catch a glimpse of those amber orbs, his words seemed so hollow and meaningless. After a few moments of deliberation she decided she'd go and have one last talk with Ichigo. No matter what he said, Rukia coudn't convince herself to believe that Ichigo truly stopped loving her all of a sudden. His eyes told her a completely different story from the words he spoke.

She crawled out of the small space and headed downstairs before anyone could stop her. She grabbed her raincoat and headed out the door. She kept fiddling with the ring around her right ring finger, which Ichigo had given her for her birthday. Not being able to stop fidgeting with her hands nervously, she stuck them in her coat pockets. Rukia slowly walked towards the Kurosaki house, not sure about how this talk would turn out. Even if she couldn't have Ichigo as a boyfriend, she'd settle for friends. Her family was here in Karakura, not with Byakuya Kuchiki. Ukitake practically raised her like his own, Renji was the closest thing she had to a brother, and then there was Ichigo. Ichigo, who was her guardian, her best friend, and love of her life. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving the Kurosaki family who she adored to bits. This was her home and unless something absolutely horrible happened, nothing could make her leave.

Her heart was racing as she came around the corner towards the Kurosaki's house. As she walked along the brick wall and neared the front entrance she heard voices growing louder and louder. She recognized Ichigo's immediately and it sounded unusually tired. The other voice was a female's who she could not place.

"What is it Inoue?" Rukia heard Ichigo.

"Renji told me about you and Rukia...and I guess I was wondering if we could go out now?" she asked in her soft voice.

'What the hell? Renji knew? Go out now?!' Rukia thought. No one had told Renji anything yet. A strong feeling of betrayal raged through her body.

Wanting to know who this girl was, Rukia grabbed the top of the wall and pulled herself up just high enough so she could peek over the top. She was greeted by the sight of a strawberry blonde girl in school uniform who had her lips pressed against Ichigo's. Both of them were standing in front of the house door alone, and she finally remembered the girl to be Orihime Inoue. Rukia, not being able to hold her position any longer, lowered herself onto the ground again. She pressed her back against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. Rukia was filled with fury and despair. How could he throw everything they had away so quickly.

Appearing in the entrance of the walls she yelled out, "How could you? Is this really why you wanted to break up? Was it all for her?" Rukia ran before anything else could go wrong. In the distance she could hear the door to the house open, and heard Yuzu's sweet voice ask, "Was that Rukia, brother?"

Rukia kept running, trying to keep her inner thoughts at bay. Growing tired she slowed to a walk, and finally sat down on a crooked bench. So Renji knew all along, huh? He knew about Ichigo's plans to break up. Sitting on the bench, she decided what her answer to Byakuya would be. She'd leave this town and all the painful memories. She was so tired. She had loved Ichigo for so many years. Even if they had only made it official only two years before, she had thought that they truly loved each other for years before that. He was her protector. But now, all he did was hurt her. Rukia had always felt a sense of abandonment, and it could never completely fade away. Not unless Ichigo was there because she knew he completely wanted her. Or at least she thought she knew. In life there were so many unknowns, but Rukia believed that what she had with Ichigo was something real. It was the one thing in life that she could count on without a doubt, and now without it, to think that her one hope in life was all a lie. It doused out the fire inside and numbing sensation set in. She sat all alone on a bench in the middle of who knows where with only tormenting memories of betrayal to keep her company. The heaven's opened up and let its tears fall while Rukia's warmth and life slowly drained away.

Rukia felt something cold and wet run down her face as she awoke. As her senses finally returned she realized she had been crying, and she remembered the dream. 'God, not that one again,' she thought with a groan. She hated that dream, no nightmare, with a passion. It forced her to relive that morbid day over and over again. Her body felt so heavy and she barely had the energy to lift the comforter on top of her. She needed coffee, badly. 'Wait...bed? How did I get here?' she thought. A raw and wild smell filled her nose. She bolted upright at the realization that she was not in her apartment.

The sound of a soft snore filled the silence and she peered over the edge of the bed to find Grimmjow. He lying on his side on the floor with a pillow beneath his head. His mouth hung open and his arms and legs were sprawled out in front of him. She struggled to contain her laughter at the sight of him. He almost resembled a sleeping dog in his position. As she pulled on the comforter her bag, which was lying on the bed, fell onto the floor with a loud thud.

"Freeze!" Grimmjow yelled.

"Wow, your a cop 24/7, huh?" Rukia asked while shooting him a quizzical look.

"Oh you're awake. Sorry, you just startled me," Grimmjow's eyes narrowed with suspicion, "Have you been crying?" He pulled himself off the ground and sat down on the bed wiping away at her tears before she could fully comprehend what he was doing. Rukia's face was a clear picture of shock.

"Just a bad dream. Don't worry about it," she replied with a smile. "So what exactly happened last night?"

"Oh well I couldn't find your keys to the apartment so I decided to let you crash here. I felt I would overstep my bounds by undressing you, so I let you sleep in your clothes," he replied, purposely avoiding the subject of her dream due to the melancholic tone in her voice.

"I can't tell you how thankful I am, and how completely sorry I am. You don't deserve the shit people dish out at you," she replied, grabbing his rough hand and placing them in between hers.

'Oh how wrong you are, Kuchiki,' Grimmjow thought, while keeping his facial expression nonchalant.

"Aw, you don't need to be sorry for anything. You look like you need some coffee," he stated with a grin.

"Coffee! You know me so well," she squealed while giving his hand a light squeeze.

"Now go and get cleaned up, I'll be over soon with your cup of joe," he replied while getting up and heading towards the coffee maker.

"Can't wait. I'll leave my door open," she replied. Normally she'd always lock everything up, but she felt safe in Grimmjow's presence. She got out of his bed, grabbed her purse and headed into the apartment. She stripped down and got into the shower in record time, allowing the hot water to cascade down her body, enveloping her in a comforting warmth.


He poured the coffee into a cup and headed into her apartment. He placed the cup down on her table and slipped a piece of paper underneath. The shower could be heard running and he let a smirk appear on his face for the briefest of moments. 'This is too easy,' Grimmjow thought. His eyes slowly scanned over his surroundings until they fell on the object he was searching out. He walked over to her bag and started to rifle through the content. He grabbed a piece of folded paper and opened it to reveal the wanted picture for Yammy. Just then the shower's noise receded until it stopped altogether. Grimmjow quickly folded up the paper and placed it carefully back into her bag and got out of there.


Rukia walked out of the misty bathroom clad in a wet towel and immediately smelt the coffee's pleasant aroma. She got dressed and picked up the cup to spot the paper underneath. She unfolded it and read: After you're done, come over and I'll give you a ride.

'God, I do not want to go to work! Ugh...okay...suck it up Rukia. You can get through this. Just pretend nothing happened. Ichigo is just a colleague. Nothing more, nothing less,' she thought to herself. She must have needed the coffee more than she thought since she gulped it down in record timing. It wasn't black as she usually had it. She indulged in the sweetness she had deprived herself of for so many years. She grabbed her bag and headed over to Grimmjow's. She could hear a muffled and deep voice speaking in a tone of great urgency. It was eerily unlike Grimmjow's usual charismatic tone. Deciding not to dwell on the subject too long, she knocked on the door. The last of his murmurs was heard as the call was abruptly ended. The door opened to reveal his charming face, devoid of any sense of urgency or distress.

"Hey, you ready?" he asked, picking up his keys.

"No, but I can't do anything about that," she replied, as they started to walk down her familiar hallway. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem. Do me a favor and tell me if he bugs you again, yeah?" he asked, keeping his eyes straight ahead of him.

"I can handle it," she replied in an annoyed tone. One thing she could not stand was when people saw her as weak.

"Don't get me wrong. It's just...I don't like seeing people get hurt. I might not be one to talk, but it really does bother me. Especially when it's you, because you really don't deserve the shit people dish out at you," he replied with a fierce voice.

"You really are a one of a kind Casanova aren't you?" asked Rukia with a grin.

"Why thank you," replied back impishly.


Ichigo sat with his back slumped against the desk chair. He stared off into space as he contemplated yesterday's events. He managed to hurt a lot of people in one day and then dig himself a deep grave. If that wasn't enough, he pushed himself inside it and could see no way of crawling out.

"Ugh, why do I have to be so...so...-"

"Thoughtless? Asinine? Imprudent? Fatuous?" Renji finished for him.

"Wow I never knew your vocabulary extended past bitch or jackass," Ichigo replied, clearly distraught with how each word fit him perfectly.

"Jac...Asshole. So what if Grimmjow won? We'll get her back, don't worry," Renji replied, while munching down on a box of chocolate chip cookies.

"It's not a game Renji. It's Rukia and right now I have no idea how to get her back," Ichigo replied while reaching for a cookie.

"Get your own!" Renji yelled while slapping Ichigo's hand away. "Tatsuki made it especially for me."

"Brave security girl, Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked. "You guys dating now?"

"Actually, we sort of are. She took me out to lunch, and then one thing led to another," Renji replied sheepishly.

"Wow, aren't you supposed to be the one treating her out to lunch?" Ichigo asked, all the while chuckling.

"Fuck up. She wanted to apologize, so who was I to deny her?" Renji retorted.

Rukia and Grimmjow entered at that moment, and Ichigo's face turned painfully serious. It killed him inside to see her with him. It wasn't because he was jealous. No...no way in hell was he jealous of Grimmjow. He was just protective, that's all. At least that's what he told himself.

"You want to do lunch today?" Grimmjow asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great," she replied, while starting to pull away but he grabbed her arm and gently tugged her back.

"Don't let him get to you, okay?" Grimmjow asked with a ferocious look in his eyes. It almost reminded her of a wolf when it got protective. He grabbed her in for a quick hug, before Rukia pushed him away. She was startled by this new protectiveness. Rukia certainly wasn't used to it. She almost missed it, but after going through life with a "you against the world" mindset, it was pretty hard to rely on others.

Ichigo's knuckles went white as he gripped the arms of his chair. He was itching to run over there, pull Rukia away, punch Grimmjow in the face. How dare he? In Ichigo's eyes, all he saw was that Lothario putting his hands all over Rukia. He could see that Rukia was clearly uncomfortable in her predicament. It was almost reassuring to see her push Grimmjow away. It brought Grimmjow back down to zero, even though Ichigo was somewhere in the negatives. Either way, she didn't want Grimmjow, and that was enough to lighten Ichigo's mood.

Poor Ichi, and what is that naughty Grimmjow up to? Sorry for the short chapter. I actually was planning on writing a lot more and I did, but now I have to find a way to join the future section with this. I didn't want to crap it up and just fling you into a whole other scene. I'll try to be quick, but school is starting in a few days and I gotta get ready.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I'll be looking forward to them, and I promise on a longer chapter because the next one has a lot of things happening. Hint: You'll finally see what ever became of beloved Ukitake, and you'll find out what is inside that wooden box.