Disclaimer: The only kind of bleach I own keeps my underwear nice and white.
Just know for this chapter, that a lot can happen in a short period of time, thus why there are only two chapters left, instead of many more.
The title of this chapter is not mine, but a song title from Dallas Green. Beautiful song, you should check it out, as it goes with this chapter (I listened to it while I wrote this chapter.)
XD ENJOY XD
Hierarchy
Ch.25 Day Old Hate
Rukia woke up on a Wednesday morning, surprised to find her apartment cold. Rising from her bed with her Chappy blanket wrapped around her, she moved to the Air conditioner and turned the heater on a bit. She smiled when she opened the front door to her apartment to feel cold air. "It's May and it's cold." Rukia whispered, closing her eyes as the coolness hit her face.
It was like some sort of good omen for Rukia when a cold front would creep up suddenly during spring times. She loved winter, and to feel it at times when it wasn't supposed to come made her happy.
Getting ready for work followed, and Rukia realized it would officially be her fourth week at the new building. "The weeks have really gone by quick." Rukia mumbled, buttoning her skirt up. She didn't know why, but she wanted to dress extra cute. Perhaps it was because of the weather, or that Rukia at the moment felt content. In fact, she had felt content for two months, and she knew exactly why.
Remembering Ichigo would be picking her up in fifteen minutes, she prompted to finish getting ready, and even had time to have two glasses of her strawberry lemonade. Rukia spotted some ice cream in her freezer, and had to make a mental note to tell Ichigo that they would be going to her apartment that night.
She sat on the stairs as she waited for Ichigo to come, watching the people on the sidewalk walk by, some nearly jogging to reach their destinations, while others walked slowly, they too looking to like the feel of the cold. Rukia smiled again when she saw a Trail Blazer pull up. She made no movement when Ichigo opened the door to his car, closed it behind him, and made his way up the stairs.
"What are you doing?" Rukia asked when he sat down next to her.
"I got here a little early, and I figured you would want to sit out in the cold since you like it so much." Ichigo said. Rukia smiled at him, taking his hand slowly. Ichigo could be sweet in the smallest of ways.
"So you'll be coming today since its Wednesday?" Rukia asked, glancing at Ichigo and his head full of orange. Ichigo nodded his head.
"I'll try to come and say hi to you, unless you're already in Ichimaru-san's office." Ichigo mumbled. Rukia chuckled.
"I try to avoid his office, you know that." Rukia added, looking back down at the stairs.
"Is everything ok still?" Ichigo asked, his voice more serious. Rukia knew what he meant, and kept her head forward.
"Yah, it's been fine." Rukia replied. She never told him about the incident when she saw Gin and Yoruichi talking to one another, because she didn't think she needed to.
"So Inoue-san is finally getting the hang of things?" Rukia asked. Ichigo sighed, leaning his free hand on the rail next to him.
"She's been doing a lot better, but every once in a while something gets her behind. I'm not stressing so much over that anymore, as I have other things to worry about." Ichigo mumbled.
Rukia nodded her head. "You'll be alright." She said. Ichigo stood following, pulling Rukia up with him.
"We better get going." Ichigo said, staring at the stairs beneath them. Rukia stumbled on her heels when they reached the bottom, causing Ichigo to laugh.
"You know you shouldn't wear shoes like that if you're gonna fall all the time." Ichigo mumbled, letting Rukia lean an arm on his shoulder as she checked to make sure her shoes were ok.
"I can walk in the shoes fine, there was just a rock there." Rukia added truthfully, though she knew Ichigo didn't care to hear it.
"You're short and you're clumsy, how attractive." Ichigo said sarcastically. Rukia hit his arm.
"And you're abusive." He mumbled. Rukia glared at him.
"Well you're rude, so we're even." Rukia said and climbed into the car. Ichigo shook his head with a smirk on his face and sat in his seat. After Rukia requested that Ichigo roll the windows down due to the nice weather, Ichigo turned his music up, which was a new band she had never heard of. Rukia was used to it, and didn't bother with asking who the band was, mainly because Ichigo never knew about ninety percent of the time.
The drive to work was pretty quiet, but enjoyable none the less. Rukia and Ichigo weren't usually very quiet, but she didn't mind. When the car stopped, Rukia was surprised that they were already there. She was extremely tempted to ask Ichigo to play hooky again…
"Don't trip on your heels again when you walk into the building." Ichigo said, smirking at Rukia. She rolled her eyes, placing her purse on her shoulder.
"I told you, it was a rock." She replied, leaning over on the seat to catch Ichigo's lips. He kissed her back fully, setting a hand gently on her shoulder. Rukia pulled away before she knew she wouldn't be able to, and said her goodbyes to him.
"Try to look for me when you come today." Rukia said as she opened the door.
"I'll try." He replied. She waved at him and closed the door. Rukia watched him drive off, glad he wasn't going to stay and make sure she didn't trip. To her luck, Rukia was trip free up the stairs, and entered the building as any normal person would. Before putting her things down in her office, she stepped into Hitsugaya's office, seeing Isane in there as always.
"Good morning Rukia-san." Isane said kindly, turning her head when she saw Rukia walk in.
"Good morning Isane-san, Hitsugaya-san." Rukia replied, looking at the short guy in his chair. He was reading some sort of file.
"Work hasn't even started yet and Hitsugaya-san is looking at something." Isane said teasingly, though Hitsugaya said nothing.
"How was your second date with—what is her name again?" Isane asked. Hitsugaya sighed, setting his paper down.
"Hinamori Momo." He replied with an aggravated tone. Isane chuckled, patting Hitsugaya's head.
"I really want to meet her, since Rukia-san knows her." Isane replied, ignoring Hitsugaya's hand trying to slap hers away.
Rukia smiled, happy to know that two of her friends were interested in one another. Though Hitsugaya was not exactly a close friend of any sorts, she liked hanging out with him, and wanted to possibly bring up the idea of her and Ichigo double-dating with them.
"I still can't believe she works at the other building, what a small world!" Isane exclaimed.
"Yah, I was really surprised when Hinamori told me. I still don't see how you two didn't run into each other at the party." Rukia mumbled. Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders.
"We've gone out two times now, and we're going on a third date, so it's not so much of a problem." Hitsugaya added, a smug look on his face Rukia smiled.
"Well I'm glad for you and Hinamori. Anyways, I need to get to my office. I'm a little behind from yesterday, so I'll see you guys a little later ok?" Rukia asked. They both nodded and Rukia left, opening the door to her office for the first time that day.
Matsumoto was in there, looking upset about something. She confused Rukia, because sometimes she was kind and outgoing, while at other times she acted serious and straight to the point. Rukia really didn't know how to act around her.
"Sorry for coming in your office, but I wanted to ask you something." Matsumoto said, taking a seat in front of Rukia's desk. Rukia put her purse in her drawer and sat down next to the computer.
"Yes?" Rukia asked, giving Matsumoto her full attention. Matsumoto gave Rukia a smile.
"Relax a bit. You always act too formal around here Rukia-san, slouch a little." Matsumoto stated, fumbling with a pen next to her.
"Look, I wanted to ask you a personal question. You don't have to answer it, but I'm kind of on a limb here. " Matsumoto asked. Rukia nodded.
"Well look, I know you're dating Ichigo-san, and I'm just wondering, how do you deal with it? I mean, work wise. Isn't it weird?" Matsumoto asked. Rukia was kind of thrown off by the question, as she had no idea what Matsumoto meant by personal. She was glad Matsumoto at least had the kindness to warn Rukia before hand that it would be a rather personal one, unlike someone else she could think of…
"I don't know. I don't really see him since he's at the other building, so it's not really a problem, why?" Rukia asked. Just because the question had been a little strange didn't mean Rukia wasn't interested.
Matsumoto bit her lip before speaking. "I'm just curious, because of all the people around, and I'm sure people whisper about you, right?"
Rukia shrugged her shoulders. "If people do say something, I just ignore it. It can get annoying, but trying to stop it will only make it worse, causing more drama."
Matsumoto sighed. "Well sorry to ask such a random question, but I know a friend who's having some trouble, and I was just trying to help her out." She said as she stood from Rukia's seat. Rukia smiled at her.
"Just tell your friend not to worry, and even though it's probably basic advice, just don't listen. Make it obvious even. Kiss—I mean, tell you friend to kiss her boyfriend in front of everyone so they know, and the annoying rumors will eventually stop. That's what Ichigo and I finally did."
"Well what if that friend wanted to…break up with her boyfriend, because of reasons, surely that rumor would get out." Matsumoto mumbled, keeping her eyes glued to the pen.
"I don't know what to say about that one, as it hasn't happened to me personally yet. Just ignore the rumors once again I suppose."
Matsumoto smiled, nodding her head. "Right, of course. Thanks for hearing my strange question." She said standing on her feet.
Rukia shook her head. "No problem, I'll see you later."
"Oh, and I put your work in your slots as usual, if you need anything feel free to ask me." Matsumoto said before closing the door.
Rukia took the pen that Matsumoto had and put it back in her pen box, wondering why Matsumoto had asked her about something. "So she wants to break up with Ichimaru-san?" Rukia thought. It wasn't any of her business as to why she would want to break up with the weird guy, though Rukia couldn't see how she was dating him in the first place.
They day dragged on like any other day, though Rukia had some trouble copying some files because the copy machine was out of paper, so she had to search different floors to find a copy machine or some paper. It took a good half an hour, and Rukia hoped she wouldn't lag too far behind. Rukia felt relief in knowing that no one had asked to go into Gin's office lately, which was always a good thing. She knew she would have to get over her fear for him, but it was extremely difficult with that smile of his. Even though Rukia didn't like Aizen for what he did to Hinamori, she could at least talk to him without feeling fear, because something in Aizen's smile was comforting.
Rukia sat with Hitsugaya only at lunch because Isane was behind on some sort of project that was due.
"How has your day been going?" Rukia asked as she pulled her typical sandwich and strawberry lemonade out. Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders. Rukia smiled when he pulled out a huge rib sandwich, stacked with barbeque galore.
"How can someone his size eat that?" Rukia thought.
"Ichimaru-san keeps throwing loads of junk at me, asking me to organize it. I'm not here to organize his stuff." Hitsugaya muttered, taking a huge bite into his sandwich. Rukia nodded and took a bite of her own, thinking that maybe she should bring bigger sandwiches to eat.
"What are you drinking? I always see you drinking it but I never ask." Hitsugaya said, staring at Rukia's pink container. She grinned.
"It's strawberry lemonade, homemade, would you like some?" She asked, feeling like some sort of dorky homemaker wife. He smirked and nodded.
"I actually like strawberry lemonade, so why not." Hitsugaya replied. Rukia smiled, happy to finally run into someone who appreciated not only lemonade, but the strawberry added to lemonade, making it all the better. "Stupid Ichigo…" She mumbled to herself. Come to think of it, Ichigo hadn't even tried her lemonade yet. Then again, he hadn't gotten much of a chance to, since every time he came over she was out.
Rukia poured a small amount into a coffee cup, and passed it to him. She watched curiously for his reaction.
"Hey, this isn't bad. You said it's homemade?" Hitsugaya asked, taking another sip. Rukia mentally squealed.
"Yes it is. If you want I can make you some." Rukia replied, hoping she didn't sound too eager. Hitsugaya nodded and drank the rest of it in one big gulp.
"It's nice to finally find someone who likes it." Rukia mumbled, taking a sip out of her own container. Hitsugaya nodded, and continued wolfing down his barbeque sandwich, which in about five minutes was completely gone. Rukia finished hers within ten minutes.
Lunch went by quickly, and after walking back to her office with Hitsugaya, Rukia said goodbye to him. Finding files she hadn't spotted before, Rukia took a deep breath and continued to do her work.
She smiled unexpectedly. Maybe it was that someone liked her strawberry lemonade, or for the fact that Ichigo kept popping into her mind. It always happened, but her day had been going extremely well. Even if the work wasn't different, or that the people she talked to acted overall the same, something about that day felt nice. Rukia turned to the window in her office, staring at the other buildings around. The sun was out with just a few clouds, cascading shadows in different spots. She smiled again, nearly tempted to open the door to her office.
Her cell phone rang.
Rukia snapped her head away from the window to dig for it. Her purse was shoved tightly into her drawer, and she nearly missed the phone call because it was buried at the bottom of her bag. She answered the phone quickly, hoping it wasn't a problem for her to be talking at work.
"Hello? Hey Hisana, how's it going?" Rukia paused, her face turning serious with each second. She closed her eyes, nodding her head.
"You got the test results back a few days ago? No its ok, I know you're busy. So —"
Her eyes widened, feeling a little bit of moistness.
"Breast c-cancer? Are they sure Hisana? I mean, it's a little soon to —" Rukia paused again, listening to her sister talk. She could feel a tear running down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry Hisana." Rukia paused again before speaking. "You're coming into town? That's great, I can't wait to see you. Yes, mom and dad will be thrilled that you'll be with them. No Hisana, don't worry about it. Ok, I know you've got a lot on your mind, but please, if you need anything, I'm here for you. I love you. Alright, bye."
Rukia hung up the phone and slowly sunk into her chair, bowing her head weakly. Another tear fell. "Hisana." Rukia whispered. She wanted to talk to her more and see her, but she couldn't, not yet. Hisana hadn't said much, just that the doctors knew that there was for sure breast cancer, but Hisana didn't say anything about the cancer spreading or anything, leaving Rukia completely lost.
Would Hisana have to do chemotherapy? Rukia didn't know a whole lot about it, but she knew that many patients diagnosed with cancer had to undergo it. She wiped another tear that fell down her cheek, and sat up, taking another deep breath.
"Pull yourself together." Rukia whispered to herself, stretching her back out. It wasn't like Rukia could do much at the moment. "I'll take tomorrow off so I can be with Hisana." Rukia said to herself.
Hisana was her other half, and knowing that Hisana was in pain gave Rukia pain. Rukia needed to be strong for her sister, and do everything in her power to comfort Hisana.
"Hisana would want me to work right now, and not worry." Rukia whispered, trying to form some sort of smile.
A knock on the door caused Rukia to jump. Matsumoto opened the door following, a weak smile on her face.
"Hey, Ichimaru-san wants to see you right now, he says it's very important." Matsumoto said, leaning her back against the side of the door. Her face changed to something of worry.
"Are you alright Rukia-san?" Matsumoto asked. Rukia put all her energy into the smile she gave Matsumoto.
"Yes, I'm just fine." Rukia replied, standing from her desk to leave her office. Matsumoto shrugged her shoulders and leaned off the door so Rukia could exit the office as well.
Matsumoto waved goodbye to Rukia when they reached the elevator. Rukia smiled back, and pressed the down arrow. It only took a few seconds for the elevator to come, and she was glad that no one else was on when she stepped aboard. When the elevator doors closed, Rukia moved to one of the corners, and stared up at the ceiling, forgetting about her fear of the elevator all together, though she had to ride the elevator so often it was kind of pointless to be afraid.
What could she do? Rukia felt confused suddenly. What happened to her beautiful and wondrous day?
For once, Rukia didn't feel fear when she walked to Gin's office, simply because of everything else on her mind. "How can Hisana even have cancer? I don't think anyone in our family has ever had it." Rukia said to herself.
She waited for the woman next to Gin's desk to call him to let him know Rukia was there, and when the woman pointed her finger, Rukia proceeded forward. Ichimaru Gin was sitting at his desk like always, looking exactly as he always did.
"Kuchiki-san, please take a seat." Gin offered, pointing to the seat directly in front of his desk. Rukia sat down, waiting for Gin to say what he wanted to say.
"Please bear with me as I say this, cause it's extremely important." Gin said, his arms planted on his desk. "Kuchiki-san, it's come to my attention that you've been doin really good here, gettin done what needs to get done ahead of time. So look,".
Ichimaru Gin stood from his desk and walked over to a shelf next to him, fiddling with something. "We're gettin a third building for our corporation, and we're making Kurosaki Ichigo the head boss over there, which means we'll be in need of a new assistant."
Rukia's eyes lit up, hoping that what he was going to say would be what she wanted to hear. She was going to be Ichigo's assistant. She would be with him and away from Ichimaru Gin.
Gin moved away from the bookshelf, and walked slowly over to where Rukia sat. She tensed in her seat a little. "So here's the deal, Matsumoto Rangiku has agreed to go and be his assistant, which leaves her current position over here open. Would you by any chance wanna take that position?" Gin asked.
Rukia's eyes dulled following. No, she didn't. She froze when a hand suddenly touched her face, caressing it. Rukia jumped up from the chair quickly, making a good three feet distance from Ichimaru Gin.
"So whatcha say? You're resume is impressive, and I think you'd be great with me." Gin said, moving closer to Rukia. She continued to back up, her fear for him clear. Rukia gasped when she hit a wall, finding it impossible to move in another direction.
He kept moving too, and Rukia only watched in horror when he stopped in front of her and leaned down. His hand touched her face again, caressing it in a much slower way than before.
"No…" She whispered, her eyes still wide.
"Why not? You'd be great assistance to me. Aizen-san and I wanna go for a fresher and younger look, and you scream that, not to mention ya know another business rival of ours pretty well."
"What-what are you t-talking about?" Rukia whispered, her voice breathless for some reason.
"Kuchiki Byakuya of course, and his successful business. You could really help with that ya know." He whispered into her ear, kissing her neck. The hand on her cheek traveled down her neck, reaching her chest slowly to where her buttoned shirt was. She flinched when his hand began to unbutton the shirt.
Another tear rolled down her cheek, and she suddenly felt anger. Why was she crying? She didn't want to cry in front of him. Ichimaru Gin didn't deserve any tears. He didn't deserve anything.
"NO!" Rukia yelled, and pushed the disgusting man off of her. Ichimaru's face did not look happy, and he quickly grabbed her wrist.
"If ya turn this down, then you can kiss your career with Seireitei Inc. or any other company goodbye." He warned, tightening his grip on Rukia's wrist. She tore her arm away from him and made her way out of the room as quickly as she could.
Rukia ignored any glances she could, and took the stairs to avoid people. She kept her head down, feeling ashamed for some reason. Rukia was tempted to stop and just let her tears fall, but she didn't want anyone to see her looking so pathetic and weak.
"What's wrong with me?" Rukia thought, quickly running down the stairs. Her office was right next to the stairs, and without turning anything off or putting anything away, she grabbed her purse and jacket, and made her way out of her office for the last time.
Rukia went down the stairs the rest of the way as well, glad everyone else liked to be normal and take the elevator. When she reached the first floor, she opened the door quickly; looking up to make sure no one would see her crying. Seeing the coast was clear, Rukia moved towards the entrance quickly, but not before bumping into someone.
She knew it was rude, but she said nothing and walked past the person. "Rukia! Wait!" The voice called from behind. Rukia froze, instantly recognizing the voice.
Ichigo walked up next to her, concern filling his face. "Rukia, what's wrong, why are you crying?" He asked in a softer voice. Rukia stared up at him. She wanted to burst, and say everything to him then and there. How she just found out her sister had cancer, and how Ichimaru Gin had just molested her.
But because Rukia was Rukia, stubborn, and at the moment too upset to really want to say anything, even to Ichigo, who made her feel safer than anyone or anything in the world, shook her head, looking down at the ground.
"I-I have to go Ichigo." She said, turning her heel to leave. Ichigo, being stubborn as well, grabbed a hold of her arm. Feeling too much, Rukia yanked her arm out of his grip.
"Look, I can't talk about it right now ok? I'll talk to you later." Rukia said, turning quickly to walk away. She heard Ichigo calling her name, but she ignored him. She called for a taxi as quickly as she could, getting in without a second glance. Rukia knew she was being foolish, but she just couldn't take it anymore.
Rukia never did like Seireitei Inc. She wouldn't say it was a waste of time, because it taught her a lot of how the business world works, and though Rukia felt strange to admit it, she wouldn't have met Ichigo.
She thought of the time she nearly quit before, because of Ichigo, but she was pulled back, because of his kind words, which motivated her. But nothing could bring her back, not a single word. Not even Ichigo, though he really didn't have anything to do with why she was currently leaving the corporation.
"He's going to be in charge of another building." Rukia whispered to herself, clenching the side of her purse. How would they cope with everything? How could Rukia explain to Ichigo about her sister, who was sick? Another tear slipped out of her eye, slowly falling. Rukia made no movement to wipe it off.
She would go home for a little while, and when she felt good enough, she would call someone, maybe Hinamori, or even Renji. Rukia really missed Renji. "Why can't I talk to Ichigo?" Rukia asked herself. What scared her about wanting to talk to him? She loved him, so why couldn't he know?
Rukia would tell him, but not yet, not until she talked to someone else first. Her mind screamed to talk to Hinamori, because she was always the person Rukia went to during tough times.
It was funny how her day had turned into something so horrible.
One minute she was smiling, ready for the future ahead of her, and the next, her heart felt confused and lost, descending in a different direction that Rukia could no longer control.
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A/N: I know, this was kind of depressing, but I wanted it to be this way. If I were Rukia, I think I would have a hard time talking to Ichigo, simply because she ran into him right after it happened. Anyways, what's going to happen now? Why am I ending it after the next chapter? Well, you'll just have to read and see. Will Ichigo find out somehow? How will he react? Poor Rukia, having to deal with her sister and now her ex-boss. I feel for her (and Hisana of course). Some people also pointed out that I haven't been doing Gin's accent, and I apologize. I tried writing it some in this chapter, and I'll probably go back and edit the previous ones.
Anyways, I know this chapter was kind of on a gloomier note, but do review! You know I love them! Only ONE more chapter, and then….the EPILOGUE! I can't believe it… Seriously…
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!