Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 10

She stumbled, arms wrapped around her chest, tears blurring the world around her. She wasn't sure where she was, she didn't care. Niisama was dead and now she wasn't a Kuchiki anymore. She was no one. Taichou couldn't help her, he still had the title, but they'd been given a new Fukutaichou and he didn't care about anything except orders. They'd stripped her of her rank, for not attacking Ichigo and Hirako, despite being outnumbered and vastly overpowered. She'd heard some mumblings about reassignment too. Some of the Eleventh had been looking at her too, they'd lost one of their officers to Ichigo in the battle, and the looks they gave her… she had nowhere to go.

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Shinji motioned a stop to Rose as Ichigo cocked his head to the side, listening. It had taken a day on their last patrol to realise the other Visored's senses were better than his own. Ichigo looked at him and motioned down and to the left so they shifted on the roof they'd stopped for a break on and looked down. Sure enough, beneath them was a figure in Shinigami black, stumbling around. It took a few seconds, but Shinji recognised her, the young Kuchiki. She looked like she hadn't slept since the battle and…was that a sob? He glanced at Ichigo and noticed the way his eyes had narrowed, yeah, it was a sob. "Ichigo," he hissed and Ichigo looked at him, so he nodded down. "We'll watch your back in case it's a trap."

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Seeing Rukia like that was a shock and then…she sobbed…he'd heard that noise only once before, after Byakuya had been killed. And then Shinji was okaying his going to her but what could he say? He swallowed and got up, dropping quietly to the ground below. He hesitated, not wanting to scare her. "Are you alright?" he called softly, as gently as he could and she started, stumbling back and he moved in, grabbing her arm to keep her from falling. "Easy, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," he promised as he steadied her.

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Hearing a voice she had startled, trying to turn to fast and then she was falling but a hand wrapped around her arm, keeping her on her feet. Her head shot up as she recognised the voice, the tone gentler than it had been last time she had heard it, the grip on her arm was firm but not painful. She stared into amber eyes, knowing her own were wide. Why would he promise not to hurt her? They were enemies. "Why?"

Instead of letting go of her arm he gently tugged her over to a pile of rubble and pushed her down to sit. "Are you hurt?" he asked, dropping down into a crouch so he no longer towered over her.

Only two people had ever shown so much concern for her since she had become a Shinigami. One was dead and the other was likely to die soon. They had laughed when she had said how much Ichigo looked like Kaien-dono, like she was stupid.

"Here," a water bottle was held up in offering and she hesitated but then slowly took it and sipped, enjoying the cool liquid. "Are you hurt?" he asked again, and she shook her head.

She was shaking, she shouldn't be shaking! They may have taken her name and rank, but she was still an experienced Shinigami, and this was the enemy….then why couldn't she see him as one? He had killed her brother; it was all his fault…so why did he make her feel safe? She shivered, she didn't usually have much trouble with the cold, even without being in Shikai, and then a jacket was being settled over her shoulders. She looked up to see he had used his own jacket, leaving him with bare arms….and scars, old scars. Sensing her gaze he shifted slightly hand shifting as if to tug a sleeve down, but his shirt had short sleeves.

"Why are you here?" he asked, voice still gentle.

It hits her then, there is no way he's out here alone. She should have fled, or something. She'd heard the stories about what they did to prisoners and the idea terrified her, she didn't think she was strong enough.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you Kuchiki-san," he promised, and she shook her head.

Even if she could believe his promise, that didn't mean his comrades wouldn't. "Not a Kuchiki anymore," she whispered, eyes on the ground.

"Okay, what would you like me to call you?"

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Shinji and Rose watched from the rooftop while also watching for anyone else, they were talking softly but the nature of the alley helped carry the sound up to them. Shinji couldn't help feeling sorry for the girl. He knew what the Kuchiki were like and even they had heard the story of Byakuya adopting his sister. With his death his protection of her had ended.

"What did she see?" Rose asked softly.

"What?"

"His arms."

Shinji sighed, Ichigo always kept as much skin as possible covered, even in their quarters, keeping most from realising. "Scars," he finally admitted, and Rose nodded.

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Ichigo was beyond mad at what she had been put through, all because he had killed Byakuya. It was obvious she hadn't just been kicked out of the family, her uniform was missing all sign of any rank mark, though she still bore the insignia of the thirteenth Division. But he kept that rage from his voice as he asked what she wanted to be called since technically he shouldn't know her name and maybe she'd had another family name before the adoption. He had never seen her like this, not even when she'd nearly been executed, during the war, nothing. She looked so small, smaller than he remembered, broken almost and he hated his role in putting that look on her face.

"Rukia," she finally whispered, and he offered a small smile.

"Hello Rukia, I'm Ichigo," he offered, in case she hadn't remembered. He pulled out a ration bar and offered it to her. "How long have you been out here?"

She shrugged but slowly reached out and accepted the food. It had been two months since the attack, the clan would have taken some time to kick her out, right? But why had she been seriously demoted? Surely not for not attacking him? This girl isn't the spitfire he'd known and loved as friend and lover both over the years. Girl…she'd been so much older than him and yet here, she appeared the younger. He moved to sit beside her on the rubble, feeling her tense but he kept his hands in view, resting on his thighs. Her blade is on her waist, close to hand, he appeared unarmed.

"We're not the bad guys, Rukia. I don't know what you've been told, but we aren't monsters," he promised.

"Hollows are monsters that consume souls," she answered, and he sighed.

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As she said it she couldn't help wondering, Hollows consumed souls…did that mean that Ichigo did too? Was he going to eat her? She had seen the mask on his face in the battle, knew he was infected by a Hollow. Was this all a trap to catch an easy meal? She couldn't help tensing and then a hand was resting lightly on her shoulder.

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Ichigo didn't need to be a mind reader to realise what she was thinking, and it hurt. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promised. I don't…I don't eat people Rukia. This," he indicated his body, "this is a real flesh and blood body. I eat food just like everyone else. We all do. As for Hollows, yeah, low level ones eat whatever souls they can find. More powerful ones eat other Hollows," he explained gently.

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Rukia stared at him in shock. A real body? She slowly reached out and then hesitated, but he nodded so she let her hand touch his chest, feeling warmth through his shirt, able to feel his chest move with breath, his heart beating steadily. Touching him, she could feel it, this wasn't a gigai or spiritual body. "How?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Everyone seems pretty puzzled by a human gaining Shinigami and Hollow powers. To me it's normal."

How could a human gain their powers, let alone those of a Hollow as well? It didn't make sense and yet he seemed perfectly sincere. She looked up and spotted movement on the roof, stiffening.

"I'm not allowed on solo patrols," Ichigo told her and she frowned before nodding, whoever was with him was up there, watching them.

"Aren't you worried they'll think you're a spy?"

"No, they okayed my coming down here," he shrugged. "Not like you've made a move to your sword or anything either."

"Oh," she whispered, glancing up again and seeing the shock of straight blonde hair…Hirako. He'd been the one to give the okay to allowing her to live and retreat, even if it had been Ichigo's idea. "What are you going to do with me?"

"What?" he sounded genuinely confused and she looked up at him, meeting his eyes again.

"I'm your prisoner now, aren't I?"

"Um…" he looked up and then she forced herself to remain still as Hirako dropped down to join them.

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Hearing her question Shinji sighed and got up, dropping to the ground to join the conversation, trusting Rose to watch their backs. He bowed slightly, there was no reason to be impolite to the poor girl. If this was true then she'd been kicked enough. "I assume you know who I am Rukia-san."

"Yes sir," she agreed, eyes a little wide and he grinned.

"Relax, I've got no reason to hurt ya if you don't start something," he promised, leaning against the crumbling wall. "But yeah, we're gonna have to take you in. Ichigo's right, we're not monsters, you won't be harmed as long as you're peaceful. You'll need to hand over your Zanpakutō to Ichigo," he offered, it made sense since Ichigo didn't visibly carry his and he thought she might feel more comfortable with him carrying it. The two had bonded and he was hoping that would mean she wouldn't fight. He didn't want to hurt or even kill her. Ex-seated officer or not, she was still pretty young and maybe she could be shown the truth. He had the feeling she was beginning to become disillusioned with her superiors now. "Do we need to restrain you?" He asked and she swallowed but slowly reached down to remove her sheathed blade and hand it to Ichigo who quickly tied the sheath to his belt.

"I won't let anything happen to her," Ichigo promised while Shinji waved Rose down to join them.

They moved out with her in the middle, moving at a slower pace since she seemed exhausted and eventually Shinji stopped at a familiar building. It was the one he'd woken in when Ichigo had saved his life. "We'll camp here tonight."

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As soon as Ichigo accepted Sode no Shirayuki from her, she had expected things to change, to be tied up, knocked out, something. All that had happened was they had begun walking, keeping her in the middle. Not that she'd try to run without her Zanpakutō. They walked for hours and she knew she was slowing them down, but they did nothing to force her faster, even helping her up when she stumbled. As the sun began setting Hirako moved into the shell of a building and Ichigo chuckled for some reason before moving to set up camp. Hirako nodded at her to sit so she did, keeping her hands folded in her lap.

"Here," this time it was Hirako offering her food and water and she took it, eating slowly. "Get some sleep kid, want to make it home tomorrow," he told her, and she nodded, shifting to curl up on her side. It was cold but she was too tired to care, and she didn't stir when minutes later the jacket was removed and replaced with a blanket.

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Ichigo sat before the fire, taking first watch while everyone else slept. He was honestly shocked by the days events. He hadn't been expecting to see Rukia again, not so soon and not under peaceful circumstances. His hands balled into fists, his anger at Soul Society rising. He'd thought the government dumb enough in his world but here? He was getting more and more tempted to go deal with the idiots, permanently. Take out enough of those in command and Sōsuke could waltz in and put his own people in charge. It still felt strange, being on the same side as him but he had watched carefully since arriving in the camp, seeing how the people interacted with each other, with those in charge…and it all felt genuine. Would they be scared of him if he did that? Would he lose the friendships he was making? He sighed and then glanced over at where Rukia was sleeping, she looked so small and frail, worse than the time his Rukia had been skewered by a poisoned blade and nearly died. This one…it seemed there was very little of the spirited child from Inuzuri, or had it just been buried too deeply? Eventually he got up and woke Rose before rolling into his own bedroll to sleep.

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Sōsuke blinked and went to watch as Shinji led his patrol plus one into the compound. What was it with the blonde and discovering strays lately. He got a good look and an eyebrow went up, very interesting. Maybe her presence could help solve the mystery that was Ichigo. While her theory about the young man was…fanciful, her likeness to an old friend and lover may held bring him out a bit.

TBC…