Hey people! I'm finally here with an update. I'm so, so sorry for the delay. To be honest, I lost a little confidence and kept putting it off. And then I got a little carried away with my new story, Cupid Makes a Mistake. But I have to thank all my reviewers who really helped inspire me to write another chapter: Nathalie Shiffer, 1SuperKawaii, Darth-Taisha, Vicky73, onlyluna, L, loveyouso, silverqueen, seras3791, and DRUON. I am so grateful for each and every one of them x

Vicky73 – Thank you, again, for your messages! X If it wasn't for you asking me to update this story every week I don't think I would have typed a single word =p You must have a 'lemon' complex lol (well okay, me too! HA-HA!)

L – Special thanks to you for your back to back reviews! You really cheered me up x

silverqueen – I find vampire stories just so tempting... And Byakuya as a charming pureblood is real HOT lol

seras3791 – Thank you for your sweet compliment. This chap might not be as hot but hopefully you'll still like it x

DRUON – Let me know what you think of this chap. Hopefully, it doesn't disappoint. I am truly sorry for the wait x

And for those who also read Cupids, I will get writing the next chapter soon... Maybe tomorrow... maybe lol

This chapter goes out to all my reviewers. Love you all! x

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach just this plot

Blood Bank

Mild anger began to coarse through Ulquiorra as he watched Byakuya step away from Rukia's bedroom door. How many more times did he have to chase away other men from his fiancé? He wished they could wed as soon as possible. Maybe then, when she is finally his, everyone would give up on pursuing her. But he had to wait. Their wedding was pushed back. Everything was delayed. This whole ceasefire business with the humans was most important not to mention the Sub-Blood tests. Aizen was quite serious about the matter.

As Byakuya walked down the hall he noticed the last person he wanted to see. He stood only a few feet away from Ulquiorra who had the same passive face as usual. Byakuya never saw him lose his temper. To be more accurate, no one ever saw him angry.

'What business do you have with my fiancé?' His voice raised a little. He just couldn't remain calm when it concerned Rukia.

At least he always puts Rukia at first place...

A half smile appeared on Byakuya's face. It was rather awkward. It didn't belong there. That's what he felt. His eyes closed as he took a deep breath. He took his time to make up his mind. Once his eyes were opened he tried to ignore his attachment to Rukia; pretend that his heart wasn't hurting.

I can't believe I'm about to say this...

'Take care of her. Make her happy.'

Ulquiorra's eyes grew big with surprise. His calm resolve was finally broken. Those words were simple but powerful enough to actually shock him. That didn't happen often.

So he's allowing me to be with Rukia?

How very gentleman of him

How very noble of him...

Ulquiorra watched as Byakuya slowly walked past him. All of a sudden he stopped and looked back up as if he had forgotten something. His misty grey eyes darted across to meet the emerald eyes of his love rival.

'If you hurt her, I swear I'll make you pay for it. And you will regret it.'

Rukia's tears would not stop. She slid down along the door until she fell to the floor. Her body shook as her sobs got harder.

My heart belongs to you...

...only you

Byakuya's footsteps were fast disappearing. He was slowly leaving her. She was slowly losing him. Bit by bit.

Please...

Don't...

All that was left was a slight muffled tone in the far distance.

Don't leave me!

Rukia pushed herself up. She weren't sure what she would do or say. But she felt if she didn't do something it would mean the end of her and Byakuya. It would be over completely.

You can't leave me!

She opened the door and rushed out to the hallway. It was so dark but she knew where she was going; who she wanted to find.

'Wait! Bya-'

Her voice got caught in her throat. The words were burning her; desperately trying to get out. But the sight of Ulquiorra, her fiancé, was stopping her even if Byakuya was only standing a little away.

Who should I choose?

'Rukia, my dear...' Ulquiorra whispered and chose for her.

Her heart raced faster as Ulquiorra walked nearer towards her; closing the gap between them. Her eyes caught the sight of Byakuya staring right back at her. He looked in pain. Rukia's secret glances at Byakuya did not go unnoticed.

No one else can have you

She gasped as he cupped her face bringing it towards his. His hot breath tickled at her throat before he ran his hot tongue along her pulse. He felt it pump fast. The sweet smell of her lavender perfume mixed with her natural scent was intoxicating. He was drowning in it.

'Itoko... san...'

Her voice hitched a little higher as Ulquiorra pushed his lips to her neck and sucked at it. Little tingles shot through her entire body.

'Please... don't-'

Without warning, Ulquiorra bit into her flesh. Hard. Her blood gushed out and dribbled down her neck and soaked her clothes. Ulquiorra stifled a grunt as he drank greedily from her. It was probably painful. He never had fed on her so roughly before. But in that moment, when he saw Rukia and Byakuya exchanging glances, a jealous rage hit him. He had to remind Byakuya that she was his now. But more importantly, he was reminding Rukia herself that she was now his woman. She now belonged to him.

She closed her eyes and held onto his shoulders for support. Her nails dug slightly into his white uniform. A little groan from pain and the colour on her face turned a little pale.

'Itoko-san... too much... Ah...' She winced in pain when he chewed on her some more.

Ulquiorra opened his eyes and looked directly at Byakuya while he continued to feed on Rukia. He slowly withdrew his fangs and licked his lips that were covered in blood; savouring the flavour. Some blood fell from his mouth to his chin and under his neck but he didn't care. He leant down and began licking at the blood over her neck with long and slow strokes and never broke eye contact with Byakuya. He even ran his tongue over the puncture wounds which healed immediately.

The blood tasted wonderful. He wanted to bathe in her blood if he could. It belonged to him. Only him. And he wanted to make sure Byakuya understood that. In fact, he wanted everyone to know it.

Byakuya's blood boiled as he watched Ulquiorra touch Rukia, penetrate her body, drink her delicious blood. He wanted her blood all to himself. He wanted her body all to himself. He wanted to tear Ulquiorra away from her.

'Itoko-san... too much... Ah...'

Rukia was suffering or was she indulging in pleasure? Or perhaps both? Byakuya's entire body stiffened.

No, Rukia, don't let him touch you...

Push him away...

His rage grew as he watched Ulquiorra lick at Rukia's small nape. Byakuya knew he was doing it deliberately. He was marking his territory. Ulquiorra was looking directly at him and telling him who Rukia belonged to. Byakuya clenched his fists so hard he almost drew blood as his nails dug into his skin.

He was in agony. Every part of him wanted to take back what he said and runaway with Rukia. But was that what she wanted?

Itoko-san is a good man...

He's looked after me and protected me for all these years...

Everything he does is for me...

He knew very well that Rukia would never forgive herself if she abandoned Ulquiorra. She might even hate him for making her choose between him and Ulquiorra. And Byakuya most definitely didn't want that. So he did something he might regret in the future. He swallowed his pride and walked away. He had to force himself to ignore it.

If you still want to be friends with Rukia ignore it

If you don't want to risk losing her ignore it

If you want Rukia to be happy ignore it

Ignore how you heart is breaking.

Ignore how you want to make Rukia yours.

Ignore it all... All for Rukia...

'Captain Hinamori, Urahara Kisuke has arrived,' a middle-aged servant said as he bowed.

Her hand slipped and her brush jerked the black calligraphy ink off the paper. The petite Captain of the 5th Division was writing up a report. Now it was ruined and she had to start all over again. She let out a short sigh.

'Please, show him in.'

She wore a standard black Shinigami robe under the white Captain haori uniform. Her black hair was fixed into a bun at the back covered with a white tied cloth. The short ends of her hair fell gently over her cheeks. You could say that Hinamori Momo looked rather normal, but after seven years of serving in the Soul Society, she managed to become a captain. There was nothing normal about that.

She placed down her calligraphy brush onto the ink rest and sat back in her chair. Not long after, Kisuke entered the room and bowed at her.

'Good evening, Captain Hinamori'

'It's good to see you again, Captain,' she said with a beaming smile. She always looked so innocent like butter wouldn't melt.

'I haven't been your captain for a very long time. Even my office now belongs to you.'

Both shared a slightly uncomfortable smile. It had been such a long time since they last met. So much had changed. After Kisuke was forced to retire, his vice-captain, Hinamori Momo was later promoted to take his position. Kisuke felt rather strange being within Soul Society divisions after so many years. But he had missed it.

'Please, do take a seat,' she referred to the chair closest to her office desk.

'Domo.'

'So, I hear from Yumichika that you wanted to see me regarding the purebloods. Are you planning on taking revenge on them?'

'My eyes are set on their Skeleton Key.'

Momo's brown eyes grew big. Now she was definitely interested. Legend had it that the Skeleton Key opened the gates to Hell. No human was even known to have seen the key. But it was lead to believe that the key fell into the hands of the purebloods and heavily guarded by them.

'So you want to use it to send all the vampires into Hell?' she asked. 'Does it even exist?'

'If it does, I'll definitely find a way to find it. This will regain my pride within the Soul Society. But I will need your assistance. See it as a favour from your old master.'

'Of course, but why are you so certain you will find the key?' she questioned and raised an eyebrow. She wasn't truly convinced.

'I have someone on the inside that will fulfil my plans.'

'Is that so...?' A little smirk came and went from Momo. It was so faint Kisuke barely noticed it.

'URGH...!' one of the guards at the Secret Chamber groaned.

'Oi! What's wrong with y-'

The other guard's voiced disappeared too. Both of them were experiencing the same pain. Their bowels rumbled and pain coiled through their intestines. It was a bad spout of food poisoning. One was unable to hold his sword anymore and dropped it recklessly onto the floor as he ran off.

'Hey! Where are you going? We're not supposed to leave this chamber unguarded!'

'I can't hold it in anymore!'

'Wait! You can't-'

Another surge of pain shot through his bowels. The pain was too great that meant he had to find a toilet. FAST.

'Stuff it! It'll only be a few minutes,' he told himself before running off in the same direction as the other guard.

Soon, the hallway was empty again and Rukia stepped out from around the corner. She had deliberately placed drugs into the guard's lunch so they would get diarrhoea. They had no choice but to leave their positions giving Rukia the perfect opportunity to step inside the Secret Chambers.

As she lifted the heavy steel bolts and creaked open the heavy door she wondered why all the vampires were forbidden from such a place. It puzzled her even more when Kisuke asked her to sneak in to find the Skeleton Key. She had no idea what he was talking about but since she had no choice in the matter she just went along with it.

It was dark. The castle was always poorly lit because vampires were sensitive to light but the Secret Chamber was almost pitch black. Rukia kind of worked out that it was a small corridor with a little gleam of light at the end that escaped from around the corner. It even smelt a little funny. Rukia could smell blood. A lot of it. And it seemed to belong to many different people. There was so much different smells all mixed into one she couldn't quite tell what or who the blood belonged to. It didn't help when it was also shadowed over by the essence of various chemicals.

A sudden chill crept upon Rukia. She seemed a little scared to find out what lied ahead of her. What was she about to walk into?

Why do I suddenly feel so nervous?

'That's enough,' Yoruichi ordered and held a firm hand over Ulquiorra's.

Ulquiorra remained looking calm but he wasn't backing down. He didn't care if she was another pureblood or Aizen's latest whore. He was the King's most important soldier. He wasn't going to be bossed around by anyone.

Yoruichi was losing her patience. This man in front of her always forgot his place. He often challenged her even though she possessed the second most powerful pureblood line. Her golden eyes flickered.

'Did you hear what I said?' She spoke with a little more force.

You will do as I say

Bravely and slowly, Rukia took a few more steps into the huge room. It looked like a basement. It was damp and that funny smell she could sense previously thickened. There was a buzzing and humming noise coming from what looked like medical machinery. Her eyes peeled wider in horror when she took a closer look at the machinery.

The entire room was filled with several medical white pods like massive containers. There must have been at least 20-30 of them. Inside each pod was a body with several tubes and drips branching out from them. It was hard to tell if the bodies were alive or dead as they had their eyes closed. It looked rather gruesome to her.

'That's enough.'

Rukia's head swirled around to where the voice came from and decided to creep over towards it. As she walked she couldn't help but glance at the different bodies she walked past.

Why do these people look somewhat... familiar?

'Did you hear what I said?'

Rukia looked up. In the near distance, two figures stood in front of another medical pod. She instantly recognised them. The atmosphere felt quite tense and she opened her mouth as to speak but something more important caught her attention. That particular pod contained a body she most certainly knew.

It can't be...!

Rukia's eyes tred to look harder. He was really tall. His face was white and had a strong neck. His spiky hair was black but looked slightly blue in the bright light.

No, it's impossible! They said he was dead; killed by a-

But she saw the most convincing evidence. The Shiba family crest was etched onto his arm in black ink. Who would have thought that Kaien would re-appear in front of Rukia's very eyes once again? But how could this be?

'WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?' Rukia interrupted the silence.

Her voice caught the attention of both Ulquiorra and Yoruichi. His hand pulled away from the buttons that functioned the pod. He looked at Rukia and back at Kaien in the pod a few times and began to lose his stoic composure.

'Rukia, I can explain. This... This-'

'You said to me that Kaien-sensei was executed by a Shinigami...!' Ulquiorra began to panic as Rukia raised her voice.

'You said you saw it with your own eyes! What... Why is he... What's going on? I don't understand! You said he was dead!'

Rukia was babbling. She was very much confused. Was Kaien dead or was he still alive? Why was he in a pod? What about the other people in the pods? Were they vampires too? Or were they human? But she was angry at something more worrying.

'Why?' Rukia's voice cracked a little. 'Why did you lie to me?'

Ulquiorra got caught out. He never thought she would find out. This place was absolutely forbidden. It was a secret project. Only those with special permission from Aizen were allowed to step inside. He was totally lost for words.

'I-'

'He didn't lie. Kaien is as good as dead anyway.' Rukia's eyes began to fill with tears and glared right at Yoruichi.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean-'

'Yoruichi,' Ulquiorra barked as if to stop her from revealing anything.

'His body is dead. He's only kept alive by the machine. All we want is his blood. If he wasn't a pure-'

'I think you have said quite enough,' Ulquiorra hissed.

'His blood?' Rukia asked.

'Welcome to our pureblood bank,' Yoruichi continued.

'I said that's enough!' Ulquiorra ordered.

He never once raised his voice like he just did. Sensing that she had taken her little game a little too far Yoruichi decided to step away and out of the room.

'A blood bank? You're harvesting his blood? You can't do that!' Rukia cried.

'You don't understand.' He walked closer to her and pressed a secure hold onto her shoulders.

'Our pureblood numbers were falling,' he continued. 'Some vampires had to be sacrificed to keep our blood supply. It's all to save the entire pureblood population as a whole.'

'Sacrifice? Did you ever ask Kaien-sensei if he wanted to be sacrificed? Did any of these people get a choice?'

Her hands gestured to the rest of the purebloods in the other pods. She was incredibly angry. How could her cousin, the one she respected the most, be so cruel? How could he do it? And this was her beloved sensei...!

All those vampires that disappeared, ran away or got killed by soul reapers were in fact taken for the blood bank. Lies. They were all lies.

She couldn't bear looking at him anymore. She was mortified. And it was all making her sick. She couldn't breathe and needed to get away from the Secret Chamber as soon as possible.

Ulquiorra's heart clenched as he watched her turn around. He feared she was going to leave him; that it was over for them. He panicked so much he clutched at her wrist with a bit too much force.

'Don't touch me!' Rukia shook off his touch.

'Rukia...' he pleaded.

'And what about nee-san?' She hesitated for a moment. She actually feared the answer. 'Is she here too?'

He didn't dare answer her. It would definitely kill her. But she knew already just from his body language. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. That guilty look on his face said it all.

'I hate you.'

Those words were spoken low and soft but they sure cut him deep. She might as well have knifed him in the chest. His heart twisted in knots. Now he got to watch her leave him behind as his world started to fall apart. He called out to her several times but she ignored them all and ran away.

It feels like I'm dying...

She ran and ran. It was like she couldn't get far away enough from it all. Everything was a mess. Everything was just a lie. She trusted Ichigo but betrayed her. She trusted Ulquiorra but he took away the two precious people she had. The tears wouldn't stop pouring even if she could control them.

She walked aimlessly on the rooftops of the castle. She needed some air. It was like she going to pass out. Her eyes were about to turn to the stars when she sensed a familiar energy even if it was shrinking.

'Stay,' she whispered.

A warm excitement flowed within Byakuya as he saw the little beauty. Every part of him wanted to walk up to her but he was scared. He was scared that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from embracing her and offering himself to her again. Instead, he decided to curl away and disappear into the shadows.

'Stay.'

His blood pumped faster as soon as he heard Rukia's words. Of course, she had sensed him but more importantly, she didn't want him to leave. Although he was over the moon he just stepped into the moonlight and gave her a weak smile. Actually, he was uncertain what she was feeling or what she wanted.

'Byakuya, take me away from this place...'

Ah, so things are finally getting better for ByaRuk finally. I know a lot of you have been screaming for them to get together especially telling Rukia to make up her mind =p

I got my inspiration from some vampire films, one was Daybreakers, which gave me the blood bank idea. I wrote that scene so many times (sigh)

Ooh and I even placed one of my story titles in this chap... Marking his territory... well sort of lol Random, I know.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update this. I've got some training courses coming up soon so I'll need to prepare for that... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Let me know what you think. All reviews welcomed. Ja x