I took so long to update this chapter. Allow me to tell you all a story about this chapter in particular. I had about half of it done like for a while now, so long that when I started reading this chapter like three months ago, I had no idea exactly where I was going with this chapter. So I kept of opening my word for a few minutes and then gave up. This was the cycle over and over and I strongly apologize for my procrastination... Well, I'm guilty, I've been working on other fics instead XD.

Chapter 20

Rukia

Uryuu's breathing as long since returned to normal but he's still much too pale to my liking and since he's unresponsive, I can't tell if he's experiencing any sort of pain or not but Captain Unohana doesn't believe that Uryuu is feeling anything at this point and for his sake I hope that it's true.

Uryuu has been through far too much in such a short period of time and his life has not been without sorrows which only make all of this even worse. It's like there's always something to cause Uryuu some sort of pain and grief and what gets to me the most in that all of those things that Uryuu's been experiencing is all he's ever known.

Uryuu has been suffering for so long that he knows how to hide his real feelings so well now to the point that you can't even tell that something is wrong. He's able to pretend that everything is alright ever so perfectly when nothing is and none can tell. The thing is that Uryuu only shows what he wants others to see and it's really scary how he does it so well.

We all believed that he was genuinely happy and without any sort of domestic problems. We never thought for a second that Uryuu was ill but all of that was nothing but a lie. Uryuu has never been truly happy, his happiness died long ago with the death of his loved ones and that hurts even more.

I'm angry with myself that it took Uryuu's health to come to a rapid decline for all of us to realize that something was seriously wrong and in turn everything else came into surface. His past, his losses and the struggles that he faces every day with his health… The constant reach for a father's love and approval that never comes into the form that he desires…

I wish I could do more for Uryuu, I wish there was something that I could do to ease his pain but nothing I can do would give him the love that he so desperately craves from a father that's never there for him when it truly matters.

"Ichigo and Urahara have been gone for some time. You don't think they're having problems with their objectives? Rukia?" Renji calmly asks taking me out of my thoughts.

"Ichigo might be having problems in finding the Bount; they're not exactly easy to track after all." I answer back, not removing my gaze off Uryuu in the distance.

Ever since Ichigo left, all I've been able to do is stare at his face still covered in his own blood that has long since dried up. If Uryuu was awake right now, I know for a fact that he wouldn't be able to stand being covered in blood like that. He never would have allowed the blood to dry up; he would have washed it off immediately…

"Yeah I figured that Ichigo might have a hard time finding the Bount but what about Urahara? Shouldn't he have been back with Uryuu's father by now?" Renji further asks.

Exactly what can I respond to such a question? That Uryuu's father is probably at work and doesn't feel like he should come to Uryuu's aid or that he just doesn't feel like his son is in any danger at all so he's simply taking his time to come? Or worse, he doesn't feel the need to intervene and he's letting us to deal with this problem on our own…?

How do I even come to explain to Renji that Uryuu's father is a very complex man and to be honest I can't come to understand this man at all? I initially thought that Uryuu was simply being difficult with his father and that he was simply not allowing his father a chance to prove himself but after meeting with Ryuuken Ishida in person. I understand clearly now as to why Uryuu behaved the way that he did towards his father. To be honest, I can't blame him either…

I slowly look up as Tessai enters the room with a pot of warm water and some cloths hanging on his left shoulder and before I even knew it I was already up to my feet and made my way to Uryuu and kneeled next to his unconscious body as I take a cloth from Tessai and begin to gently wash Uryuu's pale face; wiping away the dried and crusted blood from his snow white face.

"Rukia… I know it's pretty pointless right now but you're not to blame for this." Renji tells me as I feel his hand rest on my shoulder but I can't look at him and I simply continue to gently remove the blood off Uryuu's face.

Tessai doesn't say anything as he lays the other clean cloths next to the pot, gets up and walked away out of the room, leaving us alone once again and to be honest I prefer that no one else is around right now. I prefer the solitude…

"I can't let Uryuu die Renji." I state in a low tone that could have been mistaken for a whisper.

"Uryuu won't die Rukia. He's in the best care right now and even Captain Unohana said that his life doesn't seem to be in any danger-"

"What if Captain Unohana is wrong?" I cut him off sharply as I hold back the tears that are forming in my eyes.

I don't want to cry. I shouldn't cry, it's not my place to do so. Emotions are not needed right now, I can't be emotional but it's so hard. It's hard to repress all of those feelings that's been building up for so long because deep down, I know that Uryuu is in this condition because of me. If it hadn't been for me, he never would have come to the Soul Society and he never would have fought against Captain Kurotsuchi and he never would have lost his powers. Uryuu would have been able to defend himself from that first Bount if he had his powers and none of this would have happened.

"All we can do right now is have faith in the Captains." Renji calmly states and adds, "They won't fail, and you know that they won't."

I'm not so sure that the Captains will succeed… Nothing is going like it should; we just can't seem to catch a break. Every time we decide on something, the Bounts always seem to be one step ahead of us. It's like they can predict our every moves. It's as if somehow they manage to get information of the Thirteen Court Guard Squad and they know when we are occupied with something and that's when they act.

What if…

Could it be that?

We have already established that we can't sense the Bounts and even if I ask Renji if he had felt anything unusual during the Arrancar attack, he won't have anything to tell me. What causes us even more problems is that we know absolutely nothing about them, we are completely in the dark and as we tried to gain information about them we might have missed the most obvious answer.

"Renji, this might sound crazy but I need you to hear me out." I say as I finish wiping Uryuu's face clean.

"What is it Rukia?" Renji curiously responds.

"I think we have a traitor hiding somewhere in the Thirteen Court Guard Squad." I state as I turn my gaze towards Renji to meet his eyes.

"What!?" He quickly blurts out and adds in almost disbelief, "Come on Rukia, now why would one of us side with the Bounts?"

I know that what I'm saying doesn't make much sense. Why would a Soul Reaper from the Thirteen Court Guard Squad align themselves with beings that stand against everything that we stand for? Yeah I know it sounds completely ridiculous but after everything that's happened lately, I'm not going to push anything aside.

"Before, it would have been crazy to even think that a Soul Reaper would ever ally themselves with Hollows." I quickly reply as I think back at the sudden betrayal of Aizen and of two other Captains that caused a severe shift in power towards the Hollows. "Every time we are occupied with something in the Soul Society, the Bounts immediately act so someone must be informing them which then leads to my second theory." I add.

"And what is that?" Renji asks.

"We know that Uryuu was poisoned by the first Bount that attacked him." I state, leaving Renji rather unimpressed but I have a point.

"Yeah and the female Bount then interfered and took Uryuu away and somehow he was taken to his father's hospital." Renji adds and yes that is exactly true and it's part of what I'm going at.

"Exactly. That Bount in particular saved Uryuu back then. She deliberately went against her own kind in order to save him and not just once but twice." I explain and continue, "I think she knew that the other Bounts were coming for Uryuu during the Arrancar attack and she got to Uryuu first."

"Are you implying that she actually intends to protect Uryuu?" Renji asks. "That her sole end game is to protect Uryuu and nothing more? But why?" He adds and that's the only thing that I can't seem to come up with a logical answer as to why this Bount in particular would even want to protect Uryuu.

From the little that we know about Bounts is that they've lived for hundreds of years, maybe even more so this Bount in particular can't be familiar with Uryuu. I seriously doubt it that she ever made contact with him before now. However, she does know him to some degree and there's that sudden kiss that she gave Uryuu when Ichigo found them so does that mean that she might have some sort of feelings for Uryuu? From what Ichigo told me, Uryuu seemed somewhat shocked at the sudden action so if there is some sort of attraction, it's rather one sided.

"I don't know but what I do know is that she won't harm a single hair on Uryuu's head. If she truly wanted to do him harm, she had every possible chances to do so but she didn't." I state and I'd be willing to put both of my hands on hot burning coal if it turned out not to be true.

I sincerely feel like this Bount does care for Uryuu and now something else just came to mind. If she has been watching Uryuu for quite some time, maybe she has been watching him ever since he was a small child. She might have been active in Uryuu's life when he was younger and if she was well Uryuu is much too old to even remember meeting her in the past…

Ichigo told me that Uryuu's anger towards us Soul Reapers started after he witnessed his grandfather die at the hands of a swarm of Hollows and that we didn't come to save him in time all thanks to Captain Kurotsuchi. That even per say has always bothered me because if Uryuu was there and he witnessed his grandfather die, how is Uryuu even still alive?

The Hollows that attacked Soken Ishida should have been able to sense Uryuu's presence and after killing Soken, they should have gone after Uryuu and yet they didn't and now I'm starting to wonder if this Bount had something to do with it.

What if this Bount has been watching Uryuu since birth? She watched his grow and since we know that Bounts can't repopulate their species, she gained joy watching a young happy family and then things changed. The happy family she watched started to crumble away and then a little boy who was once full of joy suddenly became consumed with grief and loneliness…

"If she really isn't our enemy then why did she flee from Ichigo?" Renji asks taking me out of my thoughts and that answer is quite simple really.

"If you know that you're a target to be destroyed, would you stay or flee Renji?" I ask back.

"I guess you have a point." He replies but by his expression I know that there's something still bugging him in his mind and eventually after a bit of silence he asks, "But why Uryuu? Why not his father? A Quincy is a Quincy."

"Because Uryuu is a child." I answer as I return my gaze onto Uryuu as I pull the sheet up to his shoulders.

"Okay so we have a sick minded Bount who likes children?" Renji blurts out without putting in much thoughts I'm sure.

"This Bount, she can't have children of her own-"

"And the young Quincy is motherless so this Bount is consumed by motherly instincts towards the boy." Captain Kurotsuchi cuts me off as he adds his own version of what I was going to say but that's pretty much it and if my theory is right. If Uryuu was to be in danger, this Bount would more than just fight back. She won't stop, not as long as she's breathing and not knowing exactly what her limits are, it's almost frightening.