Monstrosities Part Eight: The Verging Path

First of all, I don't own any Bleach other than cleaning supplies but that doesn't count for much . Second, thank you personally to those who reviewed, you feedback is what keeps me writing this story.

As always, thank you to Tatsuki-Taichou! You are the best! I appreciate you always encouraging me even when I feel like my stories suck!

Dear fans, I want to personally apologize. I will try harder to update faster but these past two weeks, I had to study for a HUGE trig test.

ON WITH THE SHOW!

Rukia felt herself being carried. The arms around her were strong and felt very familiar but she couldn't put a name to who it was; her mind couldn't process right. She had lost so much blood that she was drifting between life and death. Every few minutes she would float off into darkness and then the man's stern voice would tug her back into his protective arms.

The next thing she knew, she felt the softness of a bed underneath her could body. She felt like she was violently tugged forward and all of a sudden, she was looking down at herself. Renji sat next to her, almost violently shaking her empty body. She could feel the pressure of his warm and tense hands of her shoulders and she could see his mouth moving but she couldn't hear anything. Nearby, she saw Ichigo helping Unohana and Isane with the preparations to heal her recently vacated body.

The scene that played out before her looked so wrong. There was so much blood surrounding her broken body and there was even more blood covering Renji's shinigami uniform. She decided that he must have been the one carrying her. For a reason she found strange, she felt a lot better knowing that he was the one who had carried her. She wanted to vomit but she didn't have the physical being to do so. She felt absolutely powerless and alone. And cold. Everything was so damn cold.

She turned her attention back to Renji when she felt a sudden pressure on her cheek. Had he just slapped her? She looked into his tear-filled eyes and saw all of his emotions there. The raw power that she saw in his emotions almost scared her. She could also see his mouth moving, telling her things that she still couldn't hear. In this world, it seemed there was no way to hear the living.

Then, as if she was tied by a rope, she was violently pulled back into her cold body. It was so painful, she wanted to scream but she hadn't gained control of her body yet. Then, when the pain subsided and her mind cleared, she realized where she was. She wasn't going to die; she was back in her own body again. She could feel herself being hugged tightly to Renji's broad and warm chest but she couldn't persuade her body to move or form words. Had Renji just brought her back from the dead? She still couldn't hear anything that was going on. She concentrated on Renji's natural warmth; anything was better than her cold body.

Rukia's limbs felt heavy and she realized she felt very tired, almost sluggish. She knew it was because of all the blood she had lost but she couldn't fight anymore. She drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep, her dreams plagued by pictures of the hollow that had nearly ended her life.

When she awoke, Rukia felt her brother's reiatsu by her side. When the fog in her mind cleared, she noticed that he was trying to suppress it, trying not to awake her. She giggled at his futile attempts and made a side note to try not to laugh; her body was stiff and hurt like hell. She pulled her eyes open when she heard her own (very weak) voice. She tried to sit up to see if she really was in her own body again but agonizing pain shot through her body and she let out a weak cry. Her brother's strong hands helped her smoothly lie back down without any pain.

"Nii-…sa….ma?" she looked over, glad and surprised to see her brother there, even if he did look pissed off.

"Rukia. Glad to see that you've endured." He said in his usual dispassionate tone. She was happy that he showed that he cared, even if he masked it with neutral wording. "Try to relax. I want to ask you a few questions about….your incident."

"Hai…." She answered. She could barely choke the word out, her throat was so damn dry and her wound was making it difficult to breathe."

"Why didn't Renji protect you?" His question was so blunt and straightforward that it surprised Rukia. She was also somewhat offended at the assumption that Renji, her best friend, wouldn't protect her.

"He saved my life." She stated coldly.

"Only shortly after he let you lose it." He quipped back.

"I told him to stay back, I thought I could handle the hollow on my own."

"Foolish…." He muttered in disgust.

If her whole bad didn't hurt so bad, she was sure she would have taken up some action against him.

"Why do you hate him so much? Why can't you just drop your damn mask of ice?" Rukia was frustrated with his constant hatred towards his Fukutaichou.

"He is Rukongai filth. He shouldn't look at you the way he does; you are a noble."

"I was Rukongai filth too! So was my sister, your 'beloved' wife!" she sarcastically spit out the word 'beloved'. She never believed that he had loved her sister, she felt like he was making her into a charity case.

"Don't ever speak of Hisana that way." He threatened coldly, his deep steel grey eyes cutting through her with anger and what seemed like pain. "Unlike you, she did not belong there."

One step too far. Rukia didn't care about the pain raging through her body; she sat up to face Byakuya.

"She was my sister! I didn't even want to be a noble! You both decided that for me! You know something? It's truly ironic the way you talk about the people of Rukongai like they're filth but YOU'RE the one who married one. Watch your words, Byakuya." She spat his name out. "You criticize what you know nothing about and you don't have the wisdom to see what's right in front of you." She finished, her voice nearing a yell. She didn't care who had heard her, nobody was going to mess around with her or her 'family' in Rukongai.

Never ever had she disrespected him like that. He loved her sometimes feisty attitude but hated fighting her; she was always right.

"That tone will not be tolerated in my presence. I gave you and my WIFE everything! Hisana was wrong to want to find you. You really are Rukongai dirt; not noble material." He had himself under control again but could barely keep the words that were tumbling out of his mouth under control. He regretted most of what he said but there was no taking it back now.

"Leave." Rukia muttered as she looked straight into his steel colored eyes, challenging him to say otherwise. His intimidating stare used to scare her but now, she felt like she had nothing to lose and nothing to fear.

"Excuse me?" He said with narrowed eyes; his only sign of anger and discomfort.

"I said LEAVE. Do not think you are welcome near me anymore."

Byakuya was about to go off on her again but then he realized he wasn't doing anything to help his situation. He silently did as she wished. He walked back to the 6th squad's barracks. When he got there, he sat behind his desk and picked up his brush to continue on his paperwork. Then, something struck him: maybe this was how the rest of his life would be. Every day he would wake up alone, go to his office alone, do his work alone, and go home, only to fall asleep alone. Every day. For the rest of his existence. He counted how long he had already lived, about 175 years. Normally, most shinigami lived for 800 years.

Byakuya laid his brush down and as the setting sun's light filtered into his office, he rested his head in his hands. He wept for the loss of his wife and he wept for what would never be.

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Rukia quickly drifted off to sleep only to find that her tired mind would not find peace. Her mind picked up where it had left off. The man's arms wrapped around her and her dream self eased up. She rolled over to see who it was who could make her feel 100% safe and calm at such a restless and frustrating time in her life. She held her eyes shut tight, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

She ran her hands up his bare arms and up to his muscular shoulders. He let out a pleased sigh and nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck, bringing the two even closer together. Her hands rested on his warm chest for only a short moment until she moved them to either side of his neck, feeling his soothing pulse underneath her fingers. She considered not opening her eyes at all. He wove his arms around her waist, his face still nuzzling her neck, giving her small and ever so gentle kisses.

Damn it all, she thought. To hell with it. She was dreaming, after all. It wasn't like this was reality. She slowly opened her eyes to see a mass of orange hair. She accidentally let out a small yelp. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream! She kept trying to convince herself.

Dream Ichigo's handsome face stared up at her in curiosity, his strong arms still binding them together.

"What?" He quietly asked, his brown eyes taking in her surprised expression. She couldn't form any words, she just stared back at him, eyes taking in the sight before her.

"You look like you've just seen a hollow," he chuckled at his own pun.*

Rukia just closed her eyes and prayed for the dream to end so she could sleep off her pain and her emotional mess.

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*did you get it? Eh? Hehehe silly Ichigo.

REMEMBER! If you don't review, I won't know what to put in the next chapter! Thank you to all of you who waited patiently for this!