AN

FafaCute - Find out what happens in this chapter

Sunmoon Lancaster - He does. Rukia might lose her mind with this men haha!

jobananasan - I also wish FFN would let you add GIFS. But this chapter will shock you in many ways.

Chapter 17: Lies and Truth

The cold winds of the January night assaulted Rukia as she walked down the street, her trusty hoodie the only thing shielding her from the harsh headlights of the cars going past her. But her mind was far from the surrounding hustle and bustle of the streets around her – her previous conversation with her dad still haunting her.

"Ahmm… D-dad… I can explain– " Rukia stammered as she turned to face her dad.

"Was it true?" He cut her off.

Seeing no way out now, she averted her eyes and nodded lightly. It was all the confirmation that her dad needed. She then shut her eyes as she waited for the slap in the face, but it never came.

"Hah. I should have known," Rukia heard her dad say. She swirled her head in his direction, confusion etched on her face.

"What? Your mother was a whore too. I should have known that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," he said with indifference lacing his voice.

Why was her dad acting like this? Her dad's reaction and behavior was scaring her more than she thought she would be if he had reacted violently to what she did.

"W-what are you saying dad? I mean, I know I screwed up, but I just did what was needed in that situation. I'm sorry!"

"Tch," Jushiro scoffed. "You did not screw up at all. You only acted according to your nature." He shook his head again, muttering, "I should have known."

When Rukia continued to stare at Jushiro with a mixture of confusion and hurt, he finally turned to her.

"I tried, you know? I thought… I thought that if I raised you, away from the influence of your mother's family, that you would end up differently. That you would escape your mother's fate. But apparently, I was wrong."

The pain in Rukia's chest was indescribable as she failed to even form coherent sentences. She stood there like a gaping fish. After an eternity, Rukia opened her mouth.

"I did it for you!"

"I don't need your money if it was from such a dirty trade!"

Rukia couldn't believe what she was hearing, and as she replied, her voice broke. "But you would have died…"

"Then I preferred to die than to receive help from you." Shaking his head again, Rukia's adopted father uttered with disgust, "You disappoint me. Don't show your face to me again." The older man then turned around and exited the backroom.

When her adoptive dad was finally gone from her sight, Rukia was not able to stop the fat tears from escaping from her eyes, but harshly wiped them away and made up her mind. She needed to know the truth and the only one who could provide that was one person: Shunsui.

Rukia's heart was pounding when she finally turned the corner and arrived at the Death God's building. The security guard knew her and let her in. When she arrived at the 14th floor, she saw that there were very few clients and escorts around. She merely nodded to the ones she used to know until she reached Shunsui's office.

She knocked on the door and Shunsui's reply told her to just come in. When she did, Shunsui was in front of the mirror, inspecting himself. He turned in her direction and gasped in surprise.

"Rukia! It's nice to see you!" Shunsui rushed to her and held her hands. "To what do I owe the visit?"

She sighed. "Shunsui, are you busy? I wish you didn't mind, but I need to talk to you…"

Shunsui seemed to notice Rukia's distressed countenance so he hastily led her to her desk and told her to take a seat in the chair in front of him while he went to his own seat.

"Okay, now tell me what happened," Shunsui demanded.

Rukia took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her mentor. "Dad finally found out about my escort service stint."

"Oh. So… how did he react?" Shunsui asked slowly.

"He was disappointed. He told me not to show my face again," Rukia answered, the emptiness she felt palpable in her voice.

Rukia's mentor had an unreadable expression on her face. "Was it all he said?"

. "No… Actually, that's the reason I'm here." He looked back at Shunsui. "He said something about my mother."

"He… He did?!"

"Yeah." Rukia leaned towards her mentor's direction. "Please tell me, Shunsui. Do you know anything about my mother?"

Shunsui averted his eyes. That was all Rukia needed to see to know that Shunsui knew something about her mother. After a few moments, her mentor finally nodded.

"Yes, I do."

Rukia opened her mouth to reply but Shunsui cut her off.

"But before I do, tell me what you know about her."

"Nothing much. I don't have any photos of her, nor do I even know her name. I don't even know what she looks like. I just remember my aunt and uncle telling me when they were beating me that I was an unwanted and forgotten child.. After I was rescued by the Social Services, I was placed into the orphanage, and finally adopted by my dad, Jushiro. I never became interested in knowing any more about my parentage. Why would I? When I never knew them anyway."

Shunsui nodded after hearing her story. He then added to what she knew.

"It was true, Rukia, you were a forgotten child. Your mother had a strange accident. She had amnesia shortly after you were born. She never even remembered that she had a child. You were left in the care of your aunt and uncle, until you were taken away by the child services and put into the orphanage."

"B-but, how did you know my mom?" Rukia asked with great curiosity.

"The four of us, your mother, Retsu, Jushiro, and of course, me, were all childhood friends. Your mother was scouted in our province back then by a woman who promised her a job as a waitress in the city. Your mother was desperate to escape our little village, and was hungry for a change of surroundings. There was nothing in the village, you know? Just the fields and mountains. So she took our chance. Little did we know that she would end up as a prostitute in the big city."

Shunsui had a far-away look in his eyes as she was reminiscing about the past. "We were so young back then. We were all fifteen." She smiled in Rukia's direction. "But we were so brave too, like how you were when you first took your chance here in the service."

"How about my real dad? Do you know what happened to him?" Rukia asked.

"No one really knows who your father is. It's speculated that she met someone in the escort service and got pregnant by him. "

Rukia was silent for a while as she was digesting the load of information she had just received. The tense silence was broken, however, by Shunsui.

"Rukia," she called her attention. "Since Jushiro finally revealed the truth to you, it seems like I also need to tell you the truth."

Rukia's heart beat so fast at the thought of another truth bomb exploding on her, but since it seemed like tonight was the right time for the revelation of buried truths, she steeled herself.

"Go on, Shunsui. I'm ready to hear it," her bravado fueled as she spoke.

Shunsui wet his lips first as he readied to tell her another secret. "Rukia… I… I… actually hated you and it was my plan to make you a whore, like your mother."

What Shunsui said sounded so weird to Rukia that she thought she was mishearing things, so she had to ask again. "Huh? C-come again, Shunsui?"

Shunsui surprised Rukia when he abruptly stood up from her desk and walked to face the window, turning away from her. His voice was quivering when he spoke up again.

"When I first met you that time in the hospital, when I first saw your face, I immediately abhorred your existence." Shunsui swiveled to Rukia again. "You know why? Because you look too much like your mother!"

Rukia did not reply yet. She figured she had to let Shunsui tell her everything he needed to.

"We heard that your mother after giving birth to you who was her child with a different man, was taken by the mob boss of The Vizards. Jushiro insisted that we had to rescue her and take her away there! When we got to her, your mother refused to go with us and chose that violent mob boss. When the mob boss caught us, we were tortured while your mother merely watched." Shunsui laughed sarcastically. "But it's okay, for I finally got even when you, her spawn, continued her whoring legacy."

By that time, Rukia didn't even feel betrayed by the revelation. She felt nothing, numbed, after such an overwhelming assault of emotions in just one night. She'd probably mull it all over later when it finally sunk in, but right now, she just felt empty.

"Don't you think that's unfair to me though? I mean… I never even knew my real father," she said in her deadpan manner.

"Hah!" Shunsui sneered. "Do you know what your mother did to us? We were forced to become a part of her lover's gang in exchange for our lives!"

"Whaaa…What?" Rukia had a ridiculous look on her face. "B-but dad had always been a sickly man. He couldn't have joined a gang in his condition!"

"Oh, you're right." Shunsui answered with a patronizing voice. "That is why I had to beg your father to let me exchange places with him. Jushiro would be freed while I would be a member of the group for the rest of my life."

Shunsui laughed bitterly. "I had lots of dreams when I was younger. I never wanted to become a part of a criminal group! Now, look where I am? An escort manager of a brothel run by a Mafia! Jushiro though, bless his heart, when he learned of your existence in an orphanage, he insisted on adopting you. I've always thought that it was foolish of him to do that. I would not have wanted anything to do with your mother's spawn."

So, that was how it was… It was finally becoming clear to Rukia. Shunsui's ire ran much deeper than she thought. Shunsui walked towards Rukia until she stopped in front of her to look down upon her.

"Jushiro always hated the fact that your mother had become a whore, and he told me once that he would do everything for you to not end up like your mother. That's why he put you to school." Shunsui's expression suddenly took on a mock pity. "Imagine how disappointed he would be if after all that effort, you still ended up as one?"

Rukia, strangely, did not even feel insulted. In fact, she even admired the sheer brilliance of Shunsui's actions. She finally stood up with the intent to leave.

"You're right, Shunsui. It was indeed the perfect revenge." Shunsui certainly managed to spit on the three people who hurt him: her mom, her mother's lover, and of course, her – whose sole existence brought grief into his life.

Rukia managed a tight smile that made Shunsui's eyes widen for a second, breaking her composure before Shunsui's expression settled back to its spiteful stance.

"Still, Shunsui, I do want to thank you, for everything. I never regretted becoming a whore, because it saved the life of the person who raised me even though he possibly also hated my existence."

With that, Rukia walked towards the door to see herself out, leaving her former mentor in a seething silence. When she was finally alone in the elevator, memories rushed in her mind. She finally knew now. All those times she wondered why her adoptive dad did not even seem to talk to her, even look at her. When she received her very first gift of a hoodie from him, she was so surprised because it was out of his character. It also now made sense why it always seemed like Jushiro was always more happy with his friends than with her. Rukia could not help but feel sorry for her adoptive dad. It must have been hard being with the daughter of the woman who tortured you and almost killed you...