AN:

rruki4087 - Rukia doesn't need no simps hehe.

jobananasan - Oh my gosh! You really cried cry? ): Let's just say Ichigo doesn't have quite the access to info about her mother, despite him being the mob boss. Only one person would really know and you'll meet him very soon. Even Ichigo doesn't really know the truth about Rukia's mother. I tried to make both Ichigo and Byakuya fight over Rukia just like in the SS arc haha. Anyways short chapter here, the next one will be pretty long.

Chapter 19: Not Bothered

Rukia returned to her classes the next day. She knew she had a lot of catching up to do after three days of absence, not to mention that her work started at 5 – 10 pm after classes. One of the professors asked her about her absence, which actually surprised her. She didn't think that someone would notice her missing. She told her the same thing that she told Orihime, about how "she had to learn how to be an adult and the best way to do that was to find a job." Anyway, Orihime did not question her too much. The princess of their department seemed distraught and troubled too.

This day made her nervous because she knew she might meet Ichigo at any time. After all, he still had a Judo class to teach in other sections. Maybe she'd just hide at her secret place at school, the rooftop of the Humanities Building. Hardly anyone went there that she thought she was the only one who had discovered its hideout properties. With two hours of free time before her next class, she could finish her homework so that she wouldn't have anything to do after her shift at the restaurant later.

She was halfway through reading her handout of Roland Barthes' Death of the Author in her hidden corner when she heard the door to the rooftop burst open up. The sounds of an arguing couple followed it. Becoming curious about the people who disturbed her peace, she peered out but stayed hidden. Her brow rose when she saw that it was Orihime and her boyfriend, Uryu. Well, it was not her business so she continued reading the overly-complicated piece by Barthes. A part of her was annoyed that she'd forgotten her headset at home so she couldn't filter the lover's quarrel that was happening right in front of her.

"I'm your girlfriend, Uryu! I just want to know what's troubling you so I can help you," Orihime said with a pleading voice.

A brief silence followed before she heard Uryu utter, "I'm sorry, Orihime, but I can't." Meanwhile, Rukia's eyes were stuck to the same sentence that she tried her hardest to understand, but couldn't, not with the noise coming from the other two on the rooftop.

"Why won't you let me in, Uryu? We've been together for two years but never have I felt that I have truly come to understand you." Rukia heard Orihime shakily sigh. "I just want to understand you…"

Oh, for chrissakes, Rukia really did not want to see or hear this, but she could not move from her place without them noticing. Yes, she must read harder, even if she had been stuck on the same page for five minutes already.

"I know… and I'm sorry for that, but I can't right now, Orihime." A short terse silence followed again before she heard Uryu drop the bomb. "I think we need to break up, Orihime… I just keep on hurting you like this…"

"Uryu! How could you–"

"It's better for you! You deserve someone who is better at connecting to you than I do!"

Disbelief and pain was audible in Orihime's voice, even if Rukia couldn't see her face as she spoke. Ugh. Emotions. Rukia tried to read harder again.

"Uryu…"

Rukia then heard Orihime's sobs as she ran out to the door and went down the stairs until they faded. Cautiously peering out again, she saw how Uryu tiredly shaking his head and looked for a place to sit. Uh oh… Seeing how the only part of the rooftop that has shade against the heat of the sun right now was the part where she was sitting, it meant that Uryu would ultimately discover that she was there all along.

Bracing herself and keeping up an appearance of becoming too engrossed with what she was reading, she waited for Uryu to discover her.

"What the! Rukia?" Uryu exclaimed as he stood right in front of her.

Assuming a look of surprise, she raised up her eyes with an indifferent look. "Oh. What?"

Uryu took up an annoyed expression on his face, crossing his arms as he stared down at her. "Did you just listen to the argument I had with Orihime a while ago? If I hear any rumors regarding what happened here, there would be no one for me to suspect but you!"

Wow. What a diva. Rukia continued to stare blankly at the guy as she held up her handout. "For your information, I was reading. I was so occupied with Barthes that I did not even hear what you were arguing about. That happens to me." She shrugged. "Besides, I really don't give a flying fuck about the affairs of others."

"You expect me to believe that? How would I know that you won't talk about what happened here to anyone?"

"I don't even have friends. I'm not interested in you and your relationship with Orihime." She waved her hand. "So can you step aside? You're blocking out the light. I need to finish reading this handout today."

Orihime's boyfriend (or should she say ex?) groaned as he dropped his hands and did what she told him to. Rukia resumed reading, finally moving away from the sentence she had been stuck on now that the disturbance was gone. Uryu probably felt her dismissal and walked a few paces away from her and dropped to sit down. She continued ignoring him, because Barthes' complicated words required the full faculty of her mind. Why did social and literary theorists feel the need to use such highfalutin words?

"So son, a little birdie informed me that you finally found a girl that you're interested in. When will I meet her?" Señor Ginrei Kuchiki greeted his son as he sat on the chair in front of the lawyer's desk.

Damn. It must have been his secretary. He should have known that his nosy father wouldn't pass up any chance to spy on him. Byakuya sighed.

"Yeah, about that… It's a bit complicated."

"Complicated? How so? What kind of girl will refuse you?" His father asked in surprise.

"Well, she just did. She even told me to stop bothering her…" Distraught was palpable in Byakuya's voice.

The old man just gaped at him, unable to believe that someone just rejected his son, the one who was voted to be the most eligible bachelor in the country by the country's leading society magazine. When the man finally got over his surprise, it was Byakuya's turn to get shocked when his father laughed out heartily, his chuckles reverberating in the four corners of his spacious office.

"Now, that makes me more excited to meet her! She sounds interesting!" Señor Kuchiki leaned conspiratorially at his son. "Now tell me more about this girl."

The lawyer shook his head and gave up. His old dad, with his desire for grandchildren, would surely not stop pestering him until he satisfied his curiosity about the prospective wife of his son.

For the next few days, Rukia had been hiding in her secret spot at the rooftop that annoyingly had become not-so-secret anymore. After his confrontation with Orihime, Uryu had also been going to the rooftop, maybe to escape the hostile attention of people after the news of his breakup with the campus princess circulated. He even tried to accuse her of spreading the news, but once she pointed out that Orihime had been crying in public, making it obvious what happened, he shut his mouth.

The day after the confrontation, Rukia returned to the rooftop, as she used to do, and did not find Uryu. That made her relieved. However, about 15 minutes after she had settled comfortably in her spot, the door opened and revealed Uryu who looked thoroughly haggard. Their eyes briefly crossed before the guy averted his eyes and sighed as he sat down to the seat a few distance away from her. She could not give two shits at the guy whose existence did not mean anything to her at all. She went back to solving her statistics problems for her subject in Demography that she needed to finish before she went to her shift.

Curiously enough, Ichigo seemed to have gotten her message properly this time. Even in their classes, he did not touch her any more than necessary. It was kind of unnerving to see Ichigo behaving professionally for the first time. Was this how he handled his men in the Mafia? If so, she could now understand how despite the mob boss's reckless demeanor, he was able to run such a big group of men. Still, to be safe, she did her best to disappear and hide in her not-so-secret place.

One time, she was munching her chips as she stared blankly ahead in front of her when the door revealed a Uryu who seemed to be in an even worse shape than usual, if that was even possible. It was past lunch and it seemed that the guy had not yet eaten. Wordlessly, she extended her chips to the guy who gaped at her.

Rukia shrugged and insisted on her chips. "Just eat some. You look like crap. Seriously."

Orihime's ex sighed and relented. He got some of the chips in his hands and settled back in his seat away from her. Rukia returned to eating her chips, not saying another word.

"Thanks." Rukia whipped her head at Uryu' direction. He still was not looking back at her. "This is the first solid food I had for the day."

Rukia did not reply. The next day, as she was reading another handout, this time from Durkheim, she was surprised when something was tossed to her abruptly. As she looked down, she was a bag of chips. When she looked back up, there was Uryu with another bag of chips in his own hand as he was walking towards his spot. Confused as she was, she said her thanks to the guy who did not reply. She went back to reading and ate the chips she now had in her hand.

Rukia carried the menu to the customer waiting at the table near the door. The woman was turned away from her, but the build of the woman seemed familiar. She approached the woman briskly, since there were still so many customers waiting to be served. The restaurant was filled to the brim tonight.

She approached the woman and handed over the menu. When the woman looked up to her, both of them widened their eyes in surprise.

"Rukia?!"

"Aunt Retsu!"