Note: So many reviews from the previous chapter! :O That must've been a good chapter, then. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope the following chapters will pay off your good reviews :) I plan to write one more chapter after this before Christmas (or to be posted on Christmas Day). I simply must have my Christmas moment for this AU lol Feel free to ask anything that confuses you etc etc.
to blaise: Yay! I'm no longer alone in my one-person fandom of SodenoxRukia lol Of course this series is still IchiRuki but this entire AU has subtle hints of all the pairings I secretly adore. You make me happy for seeing it XD
to catherinevellis: Admittedly, this entire AU started off as a simple love story (and my simple want to have Domyouji meet Rukia lol). It threatened to blew out of my original plan when characters keep showing up and now here it is. It's still true to the original plot, at least.
to eggsandwhich: At first, I was simply going to pattern the Japan in this AU after the current political system of modern day Japan with the variation of the 4 noble houses. It got harder to push it in that direction (as I know very little of the current parliament) so I've taken full liberty to completely deal with the political system the hanableach way. lol
Chapter 14: A Better World
"Makino, stop looking at her. You two, also! Soujiro and Akira!"
"Shut up, Tsukasa. We've nothing to do and the nobles became interesting all of a sudden." Akira nudges Soujiro with his shoulder and he tilts their chairs backward to be able to see across the balcony and at the nobles.
Soujiro shoves Akira's hand off before his chair tilts too much and he falls over. "I've always thought that princes and princesses will be doing something different, you know. They're pretty normal, the way I see them."
"They're no prince or princess!" Domyouji snorts. "I'd know if they were."
"They practically are. Just not the imperial prince or princess. Small difference there, Tsukasa."
And the boys enter an argument about putting one word that'll make a ton of difference. Domyouji's so weird. Tsukushi shifts and turns her head enough to scowl at Domyouji before she returns to watching Eitoku's tiny nobles. She wonders if all nobility are as tiny as these three. They're like expensive life-size dolls in their tiny corner of the Eitoku cafeteria.
Ever since the escapade last week, the nobility has surfaced from the background to the spotlight. Now everyone's watching them and it's obvious the group do try to pay the people no mind and go about business as usual, just like ordinary people. They even stick to wearing uniforms, unlike the four behind her.
It's amazing how they try and fail at it every passing day. Now that people are aware of them, they can't hide in the crowd anymore. Their three friends even stand out more than the actual nobles. The pretty boy with eyebrow accessories always argues with the loud baldy one and the blonde woman is really, really pretty and very…busty. She guesses that the three weird students stand out so much, they're able to hide the two nobles before because the attention is always on them when they walk.
The nobles don't have an exclusive area to dine in during lunch or any other day but their corner of the cafeteria might as well be an exclusive spot. No one goes there even if the group shows up late for lunch. She grins as she watches the Kuchiki stiffen when she's finally aware of all the girls watching and copying her every move. It's been going on for a while now. Soifon is harder to copy since she eats with her chopsticks and is fast about it. There's very little ceremony there. But Kuchiki eats with the silverware, so does Hitsugaya and those who have a clear view of them tend to copy how to eat soup, slice meat, which fork to use for the appetizer and which one for the meal.
And when they stop eating, everyone stops eating. As if to eat more is social suicide. Tsukushi chuckles.
The F4 eat like them, also, she notices. It must be bred into rich families to have as much silver on the table as possible and just know what to do with it. But since the F4 have this exclusive area which is on the second floor of the cafeteria, no one gets to see them eat, let alone copy. Two similar groups and yet so very different.
The nobles somehow blanketed Eitoku with an air of fantasy and Tsukushi must admit that she's fallen for that same magic. She is one of the many people who continue to watch, entranced. The F4 is like a glimpse to a world where everything is grand and expensive that people try so hard to catch their attention and approval. They're always in society magazines and fashion trends. The nobles are something else, something akin to a mystery. No one knows about them and what they do. These heirs aren't even in magazines she's seen the girls in her classroom tend to bring.
Their slight builds only feed the fantasy and it's easy to imagine them as ethereal elfin beings that came to visit the lowly creatures of earth and dine with them during lunch. She wonders what happens in their classrooms. It must be annoying.
"Poor people are so easy fool," Domyouji says gruffly and loudly. "They're just normal people who eat and drink for lunch. Why's everyone watching them?"
"They'll watch us, too, if we were down there." Thank you, Rui.
"So? Why do people need to watch? It's not like we do something different. Everybody eats!"
She supposes that's also true. But, she remembers when Domyouji first came to her house and ate dinner with her family. Her family is an embarrassment of epic proportions next to Domyouji's dining etiquette. And that's saying something, considering Domyouji's like an overgrown child let loose without a sitter most of the time.
"They're just different from the four of you, that's all," she tells Domyouji.
"And how so?"
"They wear uniforms," she replies blandly and is truly curious about his reaction. She knows he doesn't like the uniform and likes the freedom of wearing what he wants.
Domyouji throws his hands up. "Is that it? I like my clothes fine."
"They're nice and polite." Tsukushi scowls. She feels the need to defend the nobles against Domyouji. Why, she doesn't know. Maybe because of that short and only encounter she's had with Kuchiki.
"No, they're not. They're politicians. They're bred like one. They will be one. That's why they're heirs, you know!" Domyouji inhales deep, preparing for a long rant. "They're only nice and polite because they have to. I hate liars. At least that Hitsugaya snaps at people when he's annoyed. That Shihouin is pretty quiet but she tells people in their faces to fuck off. But that Kuchiki? Faker. Big faker."
"You take that back, Domyouji!"
"You're starting to act like all those fools down there! I don't like it!" Domyouji pushes away from the table, his chair falling off with a loud thud. The clink and clang of utensils in the entire cafeteria stop with it. Once again, Domyouji's managed to take the world's attention and back to him.
He glares hard at her and walks over to the balcony. He points at the table where the nobles are and yells, "You, Kuchiki Rukia, are a faker!"
Tsukushi's jaw drop, her heart has stopped beating, too. The entire cafeteria must have felt the same. She needs to breathe.
Her head snaps to look at how the girl will retaliate. It's true that since that day, Kuchiki hasn't done a single thing but be polite and courteous to everyone around her. She always smiles and returns the greeting to everyone who gives her one. When people invite her to join them, she will say yes and then leave after a short while or when she sees her friends. She's actually very sweet and even smiles at Tsukushi whenever they come across each other although the smile is very…different, when it's directed to her. As if Kuchiki is always silently asking how she is with a single look and a half-smile. It's as if the girl who's kicked and slapped Domyouji is just a forgotten memory.
Kuchiki's jaw also drops then snaps shut. Her grip on the teaspoon tightens and she carefully returns it on the small plate under her ice cream cup.
Oh god. Tsukushi feels her heart speed up.
"Do you hear me, Kuchiki-sama?" Domyouji sneers and spits the honorary suffix out in disgust. He grips the railing and leans over, eyeing Kuchiki with true malice.
"Stop him!" She hisses at Domyouji's so-called friends. The two playboys only shrug. They want to see what will happen, too. These brats! She looks at Rui, her last hope.
He's not in his chair!
She looks around in panic, wondering where Rui is. And she feels her heart break when she sees him right next to Domyouji, also leaning over to look at the nobles.
The first to react are the three weird students. Baldy picks up his wooden sword and lets it rest on his shoulder. Eyebrow is up on his feet, also, and not arguing with Baldy. Pretty Woman looks stern and is also up and away from her chair already. Tsukushi really needs to know their names but she'll find that out later, she frowns.
"Sit down!" Hitsugaya snaps at them and emphasizes it with a slam of his hand on the table. He glares at Domyouji and that's the meanest Tsukushi's seen the boy. Soifon has her eyes closed as if counting for patience but Kuchiki still hasn't moved from her place. She hasn't even looked up from her ice cream.
She might snap or she might… smile sweetly? Tsukushi honestly doesn't know.
"Can't react the way you want to, little faker?" Domyouji baits some more. He turns and steps down the stairs, already making his way towards that table. His approach has all three students up on their feet once more and Hitsugaya grits his teeth. "Where was that little spitfire that first day, huh? Oh, you're the perfect Kuchiki now, I see. Everyone's little princess."
Tsukushi runs down the stairs and after Domyouji. Even from the second floor she can hear Domyouji's loud voice. The silent room isn't helping much when everything seems to echo.
She grits her teeth and grabs Domyouji's arm, "Domyouji, stop it!" He doesn't budge, of course. He's so huge and strong and this is one of the many times she regrets that fact. He brushes her hands off with a flick of his arm and slams that hand on Kuchiki's side. Her plates rattle and the teaspoon falls to the white tablecloth. Her ice cream wobbles but thankfully stays balanced.
Finally, Kuchiki speaks and her voice is low-pitched and collected, "Call me little one more time and you're going to regret it."
"Is that a threat, little Kuchiki?" Domyouji leans down and grabs her chin. "What are you going to do, then? Are you going to send your bodyguards to beat me up? Can't accept the truth that you're little? Oh, I forgot. You're a faker. I should give you a new name, Little Lying Kuch---"
First, the ice cream flies.
Next, plates shatter.
And there's a hard crash of wood hitting the floor, must be the chair, Tsukushi thinks. She can't look elsewhere but the violent couple.
Kuchiki's managed to climb behind Domyouji in a couple of blinks and have him on the ground as they both fall over. She tries to scissor his neck with her legs but for someone of Domyouji's size, he is fast, too. He uses all of his weight and height to his advantage. He's braced their fall with his arms and grips a leg. He's about to stand up when her free leg kicks his head hard and he lets go, falling over the chair behind him. She lands back on her feet like a trained gymnast, hair a mess and uniform crumpled once again like before and her eyes blazing with life for the first time. And Tsukushi is suddenly aware which Kuchiki is real.
As expected, Hitsugaya and Soifon are also up with furious faces, "Kuchiki!"
Why are they both angry at Kuchiki instead? This confuses Tsukushi.
"Control yourself." Soifon walks over to Kuchiki and straightens her uniform as much as possible and at the same time, restrains her arms. "There's already too much attention on us as it is," she mutters but Tsukushi still heard.
"Ah, for a rich girl you're violent." Domyouji stands up and dusts off his jeans with a smirk. "Where'd you learn that move? The streets? I thought the Kuchiki heir is prim and proper. I guess the entire school is just stupid for thinking like that. OR," Domyouji smirks, "the Kuchiki are such good phonies they can fool everyone. Is that what your private tutors train you?"
Kuchiki pushes Soifon aside which sends the girl to the ground. She is back at Domyouji, her face openly livid.
Domyouji expects her kick this time and is able to block it with his arm. He twists his arm around and grabs her calf with a victorious grin, "Gotcha, little girl."
She's half hanging because of Domyouji's height and grits her teeth. She swings her entire body low and grabs the chair instead. She whacks the table hard with it and it falls apart, with one solid piece in her grip which she whacks Domyouji behind the knees with. His knees buckle but he doesn't let go of her and he doesn't fall either. Baldy has his wooden sword against Domyouji's throat while Eyebrow has Kuchiki in his arms to prevent the blood from rushing down her head at that angle. Pretty Woman has a hard grip on Domyouji's wrist and there is pain registering in Domyouji's face. He is just very stubborn.
"This is my fight," Kuchiki snaps at the trio. "Release him!" And there is authority in that tone. Something Tsukushi's never heard from her.
"Kuchiki, that's enough!" Hitsugaya is incensed, eyes so narrowed they're slits. "We're not here to start a fight."
"I didn't start anything!"
Tsukushi is red in the face and wants to help, but doesn't really know how. The short skirt of the Eitoku uniform has placed Kuchiki in a very, very vulnerable position upside down like that -- even when Eyebrow has her body tilted to as comfortable a position as possible.
Soifon steps around their chaotic group and glares at all the students watching agape. "What are you all looking at?" She points at the door, "Get out. All of you!"
And as one, the students pack up their things and file out. Not once looking back at the mess. The rest of F4 stay on their balcony, not helping Domyouji or trying to stop this whole fight either. Tsukushi wonders if she should go out, too, or stay and help even if she's not done anything to be of help so far.
"Let her go, Domyouji," Hitsugaya says, hands fisted as if he's at his limits.
"Or what? You take her place?"
"Domyouji, just stop it! You've gone far enough!" Tsukushi yells at him. "She didn't do anything to you!"
"I told you," he looks at her, "I hate fakers. I hate liars. Everyone's a fucking liar, especially this girl!" He shakes his hand, therefore shaking Rukia as well.
"Let me go, Ayasegawa." Kuchiki has regained her bearings, it seems. There's no emotion on her face left. So Ayasegawa is Eyebrow, then.
He doesn't let go but she glares at him and her fingers tap the eyebrow with accessories as a threat. He immediately complies and she dangles freely. "Madarame."
Baldy also moves back, pulling out his wooden sword.
Kuchiki turns slightly and looks at Hitsugaya, and he looks at Soifon. The two nobles finally sigh, both exasperated and defeated. When Hitsugaya nods, Pretty Woman also lets go.
When all restraints are loose, Kuchiki pulls her body up and grips Domyouji's wrist. Her free leg swings upward and down Domyouji's shoulder with a crack. Tsukushi actually panics when she hears the sound of bone on bone. That must've hurt on both sides. He lets her go then and she tries to land on both feet but falters. She is favoring one leg as she stands up.
"Congratulations, Domyouji." Kuchiki shakes her hands and cracks her fingers before curling them into tight fists. "Your immaturity the first time has cost us our anonymity. Your selfishness has cost me my family name. You should know why we act the way we do. It's called being civil!"
"You say civil, I say lie. It's all the same!" Domyouji points at her and she automatically slaps his hand away. "I don't have to like it. I hate people like you! You're always doing what people ask of you. You have no brain. You simply follow."
One weak leg isn't going to stop Kuchiki from hitting back, it seems. She kicks from the ground with her good leg and sends Domyouji back to the floor with an elbow to his cheek. Tsukushi is frankly amazed. She wonders if the girl is still holding back at this point or is ready to use all the strength she has in that small body to beat Domyouji for every insult given.
"And what about you, asshole?" She snarls, her tone now menacing, as she leans down at him. While he's on the ground, she can glare straight at his eyes and practically spit at his face. "You brag that you're a Domyouji and do as you please. You don't care about anybody but what you want." She takes a deep breath and yells in his face, "You don't care if you're destroying the name that's given you those clothes, this school and every moron on their knees begging a speck of your time and notice. You step on everybody who aren't good enough in your eyes. Is that what you call leadership? You have no sense of responsibility!"
"At least I don't play nice and let people believe I like them when I don't!" he screams back, matching her.
She grabs his shirt and screams louder, "No, you just act like they're cretins and dirt under your feet! If it wasn't for your name, no one would even look at you!"
And he gets even louder, "That goes the same for you!"
"Okay, that's it. You two, stop it." Hitsugaya steps forward to stand between the two, and pushes Rukia off Domyouji. "Don't force me to join in this stupid fight. We'd all end up nowhere and bleeding at this rate. In the end, we have to be tolerant because we'll be seeing more of each other as years go by so stop this nonsense right now! We all have names. It's a fact so live with it!"
"Finally, some brain," Soifon mutters under her breath. She rubs the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I might've killed someone if this didn't stop."
These are the very people who will lead her country, Tsukushi thinks solemnly. She is very worried about the future.
"Let me guess," Domyouji stands back up. No one can really keep him down. "Tomorrow, everything is the same again. Everyone greets everybody with a polite nod as if nothing's happened. Give me a break. It's because of this shit that people end up backstabbing each other."
Soifon rolls her eyes. "You should grow up, Domyouji. We're not going to be high school students for long. You'll soon find out that it's best to be civil than to be outright rude. How many people did your parents pay to save your ass because of your loud mouth?"
Domyouji grits his teeth.
At this point, the rest of F4 are off their balcony and behind Domyouji. They remain silent, but their presence is like a silent support.
"Believe me, Domyouji," Kuchiki hisses, "if I have to stab you, I'll do it from the front. You'll see me coming." She's obviously had enough of him.
"See? How hard is that?" Domyouji huffs and starts brushing the dust and dirt off his clothes. That makes everyone blink. His friends look confused, too. "Being civil," he snorts. "Look at Makino over there." And he points at her.
She blinks in surprise. She's fine being a spectator, thank you. Now all these powerful people are looking at her as if waiting for wings and a halo to pop out or something.
When nothing happens, Soifon finally asks, "What about her? She looks normal to me."
"Exactly!" Domyouji beams as if that's a praise and for him. "She's actually a nobody."
Again, everybody blinks in surprise at such a casual insult and yet he's smiling.
"She's so poor I can actually get from her front door to her dining room in five steps." He nods to himself as if that's made a good point, which to be honest, Tsukushi isn't following. And she's starting to get pissed off at the barrage of insults directed at her being poor. "But she doesn't care about what people think of her. What you see is what you get! She says what she thinks, she does what she wants and she even wears no-brand clothes because it's the only thing she can afford. She doesn't need to pretend just to please people." He beams happily at her and slings an arm around her shoulder. "It's actually my birthday soon and there's a boring formal party, so I'll send over a nice dress for you to wear. The old hag's going to be there, for once, so I want you to meet her."
She's too shocked to react. Old hag?
"If everyone's like Makino, world's going to be a simpler place." He nods once more and with confidence.
Kuchiki has a strange smile on her face. And then she does something unladylike, as if her previous violence isn't already a giveaway that she's anything like the perfect princess. Kuchiki snorts.
"It's true!" Domyouji lets go of Tsukushi and points a finger at Kuchiki's nose.
She slaps the hand away. "I'll forgive your immaturity, Domyouji," she says with a grin. "Let's call it a truce from here on. There's hope yet for the Domyouji Group with you."
"I didn't apologize, little princess." Domyouji snorts as he pokes her forehead. "And I still don't like your play-acting."
"Because of you, the play-acting part is ruined." Kuchiki kicks his shin. He doesn't even wince.
"Then you should be grateful. See. Now, you owe me."
She punches him this time.
And everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Tsukushi almost smiles. He truly is a simpleton.
Outside the cafeteria, sitting on a bench are three people. One has short cropped hair and alert green eyes, the one next to him has longer hair tied in a low ponytail and pale blue eyes. Their sharp and slender features are similar but one looks older and taller. The last one is the only girl in the group with two buns on her head and gold ribbons that dangle from each.
"Looks like I don't have to intervene," says Shirayuki.
"You've always been overprotective, brother."
Suzumebachi rolls her eyes, "You'd have done the same, Hyorinmaru. Stop being a hypocrite."
"True enough," Hyourinmaru crosses his arms and leans back.
Shirayuki stands up and stretches. "I'll leave Rukia to you two for a bit. I still have to hunt down her katana. Ukitake said it's been gone for a while."
"She's thrown it again, I see." Suzumebachi shakes her head, scowling. "Is she going to train once more?"
"She's had time enough to grieve. Now she must move on. I don't want to be her executioner." Shirayuki waves a hand and leaves Eitoku grounds without another word.
Ichigo slams against the wall and the frames that hold the displays rattle then fall to the ground with a loud crash. He winces as he straightens up. He's going to be the one to fix all of those one by one later on as punishment. He needs to focus. He can barely see Yoruichi move all over the dojo floor as it is and each time he lands on the floor or the walls aren't helping his brain. His only hint at her approach is the wind and the sound of whiplash from her strikes.
This is so much more than her previous lessons before the confrontation with Byakuya. At least at that time, she's talking him through all the moves. Now, all she's told him is to let his senses be as sharp as his instinct.
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, you're going to destroy Kenpachi's dojo if you don't catch Yoruichi's tags." Urahara is having tea with Kenpachi, the resident war freak. The two of them somehow are able to see Yoruichi and are able to move themselves and the tea set to relocate before Ichigo's hopeless body lands on their spot.
"Yes, Ichigo! And I will not be happy if that happens!"
And there's enough threat in there to make Ichigo try harder.
"Understand Shunpo," Yoruichi tells him as she waits for him to stand up properly and get his bearings. "I can delve on the philosophy of nothing and how Shunpo practices it but I know you won't listen. So just free your mind. Don't think of anything at all. Be the wind," she moves her arms and encircles the very air around them in one gesture, "be nothing. There is nothing around you, including you."
"How the hell do I even do that! How do you become nothing!" Ichigo is frustrated. The closest he's gone to catching her is a brush of her shirt as she passes.
"Don't think, Ichigo!" Yoruichi snaps. "Here I come!"
And she disappears right before his eyes. Holy fucking crap!
He feels her hard 'tag' again and he falls flat on his face. Damn this shit! He rolls to his left and hears a loud bang on where he used to be, that must've been her palm tagging. He has to move fast or he'll be tagged again where he's at.
He rolls to his right next, then forward until he's standing up. He's heard every slam on the floor each time but right now he's a step ahead. He still can't see her, but his body is moving ahead of her. He feels a wisp of a movement to his left so he strafes right, ducks down and rolls back. He's anticipating her now, at least, but he needs to catch her tag. They've been at this for days and she said this is only the first lesson.
She catches him again when he ducks when he should've jumped. This is the first time she's tried to tag him on the knee, though. So he must be getting better.
That one strike has cost him several, however. First she tags his knee, and then he feels her on his right arm, then her palm hits his nape and last his forehead. "You can't lose it like that, Ichigo. Even if I get you on that first strike, you have to be fast enough for the rest of my attacks as long as you're still capable of moving. There is no time to stop, how many times do I have to repeat this?" She crosses her arms and taps her foot, frowning at him. "With those four strikes I've already managed to shatter your knee cap, break your arm, and numb your spine. The forehead strike is simply a reminder."
Ichigo sighs and wipes his sweat with his shirt. "You should've trained me like this at the beginning."
"I should've, but I figured then that we have time so I was willing to tone your muscles first to accommodate the speed required in true Shunpo mastery." Yoruichi frowns thoughtfully and it grates Ichigo's nerves that she's not broken a sweat doing all that.
"I'm faster than Byakuya, but he's still my best pupil. There were a few rare moments where he came close to beating me. You have potential to reach his level, Ichigo." Her sharp eyes meet his and it reminds him of Rukia a bit, how she simply knows he can do better and expects it. "Your instincts are sharp, but you lack the kind of concentration and discipline it requires to see. Nothingness is just one aspect of Shunpo. The other half of it allows you to see that nothing."
"Alright, already. I need to train some more." Ichigo shakes his shoulders and jumps on his feet a few times. "Let's go!"
Yoruichi disappears again.
To be continued...