AN:

Frigg Nevia07 - Yes there's a bit of Uryu X Rukia in the story. Don't worry this chapter is pretty long.

Princess-Sera - Thank you! Thank you for the support! I'm always curious of my dedicated readers reactions to each chapter.

rruki4087 - XD

jobananasan - Uryu is very secretive. You'll see why he broke up with her shortly. No Ichigo this chapter sadly. ): But he'll be back. Byakuya might, I think I wrote Ginrei OOC lmao. I don't remember much about him to be honest. XD. Ichigo VS Byakuya is the best fight period. Hmmm perhaps Ishhin may know something about her Mother. Or not? Who knows? (:

diah77 - Wow thank you for the long review! You can rant and vent and ramble on and on as much as you like haha. Thank you for taking time to read the story. Yes I love Rukia to death as well. I wish she was the main character of Bleach. So I made her the main character in my story. I'll try not to troll my readers haha. Yes I tried to give her a depressing life and backstory to try to make her grow and become strong. I'm glad we have another fangirl on board! Don't worry soon there will be more to fangirl about. (:

Chapter 20: To the Death

Rukia led her kind aunt outside, to the back of the restaurant where they dumped the garbage. Her aunt wanted to find out so many things about her and begged her to talk to her. She even went to the manager to ask his permission to talk to her for a few minutes. And here they were with five minutes allotted for them to talk.

"Rukia, are you alright? Jushiro did not tell us what happened, except that you will no longer live in his house!" Aunt Retsu burst out right away once they were away from other people.

Rukia smiled tightly at her aunt. She really was so kind to her. "I'm alright, Aunt. It's just that…" Rukia wet her lips first. "It's just that I already know the truth about my mother."

That visibly stunned the older woman and she paled considerably. "You… you did? Who told you?!"

"Dad and Shunsui did." When Rukia saw how appalled the woman was, she felt the need to reassure her. "It's okay, Aunt. I think it's just right for me to not show my face there when I knew I was probably hurting them."

Her aunt sighed and tapped her in the shoulders comfortingly. "You are faultless, Rukia. You should not let your mother's history affect you. It was such a long time ago."

But it did. Her mother's dark history had certainly affected her now and Rukia was following in her footsteps unexpectedly. It was in her blood and she had failed to escape that. It was following her even after she stopped prostituting in the form of Ichigo and Byakuya.

Rukia focused her eyes on the garbage can as she answered her aunt. "Shunsui told me that I looked like my mother a lot. Is that true?"

Aunt Retsu's smile was quite fake. Deep down she was nervous to really answer that question. A drip of sweat fell down her face but quickly wiped it off as it was nothing. She recalled the horror that was Rukia's mother and the crimes her mother committed. But back to Rukia's question, she knew she had to say something." To be honest.. It's like looking in a mirror. No joke. You two look nearly identical from head to toe.. same height, same body, everything. You are pretty like her. But your mother was quite cold, mysterious, and hollow, not wanting to speak much. She would have been overprotective of you if she was able to raise you.. " Her aunt exclaimed.

Rukia nodded contemplatively before she replied to her aunt. "Then all the more reason I can't go back there, Aunt Retsu. How must my dad suffer when every time he looked at me, I look like the crazy woman who ruined his life… How must Shunsui anger when every time he looked at me, I reminded him of the woman who nearly killed him?"

Rukia glanced back at her aunt with a forlorn smile. "My mere existence was a curse to them. So it's better this way, Aunt Retsu. I can live on my own."

"They were both acting stupidly. I swear they're both gonna get it from me when I go back home tonight!" Rukia's aunt was seething with anger, she even clenched her hands at her sides.

Rukia chuckled lightly as she convinced her aunt to calm down. "It's okay, aunt. I swear. I'm not mad at all. I even understand them better now." It was Rukia's turn to tap Retsu's back comfortingly. "I wouldn't want all of you to fight because of me. Please?"

Her aunt did calm down and nodded hesitantly. "Alright, I won't confront them. But please, Rukia, take care of yourself."

"I will, aunt."

With that, her aunt went back inside the restaurant as she lingered outside for a bit to compose herself. She could feel her emotions rising from deep inside her as she was reminded of the events that happened in the past weeks. She did not like to deal with them too much. They confused her and made her feel vulnerable all the more. That was why she tried to bury them inside her mind whenever they tried to surface. She used her usual tactic of detaching herself as she felt those pesky emotions settle back in her mind. Her face remained blank.

It was when she succeeded in resettling her emotions when something jumped in the direction of the dumpster, making the lid of the garbage fall into the cement and creating a loud cluttering sound. Some of the garbage spilled out. She shook her head and went to clean the mess up. As she approached the garbage can, she saw a tan cat that looked like a lion lying motionless inside it.

"Huh? Was that cat lion thing dead or alive?" Rukia spoke to herself. She bent down to collect the spilled trash and put them back into the garbage can when the cat suddenly jumped, startling her for the second time.

"Holy shit! What a crazy cat!" Rukia cursed out loud. She shook her head and finally dumped the spilled trash back to the trash can again. She had not even put back the lid into the garbage can when she felt someone tapping her shoulders lightly. Out of surprise, one of too many for a single night, she dropped down the lid into the garbage can, irritating her ears as she grimaced from the sound it made.

"Goodness gracious! You're too jumpy for a young lady! Be careful or you might have a heart attack at your young age!" A scratchy voice from an old man came from behind her.

Rukia turned to the direction of the voice, and there he was, the old man who almost gave her the heart attack he had warned against. He was probably about 60-70 years old and he was dressed in tattered clothes. He did not seem very dirty like the usual homeless men she saw though.

"Musume? Are you alright? Did I frighten you that much?" The old man prodded her again.

That woke up Rukia from the fright-induced stupor that she experienced. Rukia nodded.

"Hey, gramps. Don't scare people like that again or they might die sooner than you will," Rukia replied with a hint of slight disapproval.

The old man laughed, revealing some missing teeth. "Well, I'm sorry about that. I just want to ask if you work in the restaurant?"

She nodded. "Yes, gramps. What's the matter?"

"Well, I'm just wondering if you could be so kind as to give me some leftovers from the kitchen? I haven't eaten for the whole day as you can see."

Rukia knew that she might get in trouble if the management learned of it, so she told the homeless old man so. "You see, gramps, we are not supposed to do this, but I'll make an exception for you. So I need you to stay and hide here while I get any food that I can inside. That sounds alright?"

The old man smiled toothless at her. "Do what you need, Musume. Thank you so much in advance."

She then went back to the kitchen and saw how the rest of the staff was so busy to notice her. Rukia got the food that was supposedly her free meal as an employee of the restaurant, and when the opportunity let her, she slipped right back outside. She found the old man crouching on the cement street and playing with the cat that had startled her earlier.

"Here you go, gramps. This is fresh food, by the way. Sorry I could not add some more. They might get suspicious."

The old homeless man thanked her profusely as he got hold of the food she carried. "You're so kind, Musume. I hope you snag a rich man someday."

Rukia smiled in chagrin as she heard what the old man said. "Eh… I don't know about that gramps. Besides, I've never heard of a male fairy godmother," Rukia joked.

"You never know," the old man replied in the same joking tone.

Rukia shook her head at the old man. "Alright, gramps. I need to head back. the manager will be looking for me."

When Uryu started that day, he did not expect to be running to save his life at the end of it, along with Renji. What he did expect though was to start that day being the social pariah. Everyone avoided it except for his loyal best friend Renji. He was joining the ranks with Rukia, the undisputed pariah of the school. He would admit that he was not that sociable, but he was not as isolated as Rukia had been. He still had his own circle of friends and when he was not in the mood to be with them, his aloofness was seen as cool.

All that changed though when he broke up with Orihime, the campus princess. It was not that he was happy about it; in fact, he was sad. After all, they had been together for two years. He did love her, but the bitter truth of incompatibility had started to weigh more on him. When he told Orihime that she would be better off without him, he was telling the truth. Because honestly, a person running for his life was not someone you'd want to be involved with.

"Uryu! This is a dead end!" Renji hissed at him as they came into a cul-de-sac that was obviously the back door of an establishment and a bunch of trash cans on the side.

This made Uryu despair more and the fact that he had a flesh wound from a bullet in his right upper arm did not help at all. He could hear hurried footsteps coming close. Deep inside Uryu' heart, he was thinking that this might be his last day of being alive. However, he would try to stay alive if he could.

"Renji, let's hide behind the trash can!" Uryu hastily went behind the trash can and hid behind it, startling the sleeping cat on top of the lid.

He and Renji had only gotten crouching behind the trash can when the back door suddenly opened and a person wearing a black hoodie stepped out of it, carrying some trash bags. Shit! If the person discovered them, got startled, and screamed, it would be the end of all of them. It also did not help that the goons running after them were probably close.

Please, please don't notice us! Uryu was praying to the god that he stopped believing in after he saw his mother die.

"Oh, it's you again, crazy kitty cat!" Uryu heard the person speak.

Wait, the voice sounded familiar. One thing was sure though: the person was a female. He signaled Renji beside him to still and listen carefully.

"You know you really nearly caused me a heart attack earlier. Don't do that again. Okay?!" The person chastised the animal like it was an errant child. Funnily enough, he heard the cat actually meow in response, like it was actually conversing with the girl.

"To your credit though, it was really hard to tell if you were dead or alive that time. Maybe you were both? It was not until you jumped out that I was able to confirm it," the female continued talking to the cat as she crouched and petted it.

As he was listening to the girl, he felt Renji beside him tapping his shoulder. He turned to him and heard his whisper, "Rukia! That girl is Rukia! Our classmate in JapCons. Remember?"

The realization made Uryu gape. "Oh, yeah… That's why the voice sounded familiar!" He whispered back to Renji. Rukia was probably working here as a part-timer. The cat, on the other hand, meowed back at the girl.

"Alright. I guess I'll call you Konpaku." Uryu forgot for a brief time that he was actually hiding to save his life as he watched Rukia with amusement as she nodded to herself after informing the cat of the name she gave it. Talking to an animal like it was a sentient person could look weird to others though. In a way that most likely had contributed to Rukia's isolation, a situation he was beginning to understand these past few days.

"Oh, well, Konpaku. I need to throw the trash first, and then you can go back to defying physics or whatever." Uryu saw Rukia stand up and gather the trash bags and walk in the direction of the trash cans. He and Renji waited with bated breath, hoping that she would not notice them.

Uryu's hope was dashed because after dumping the trash bag, Rukia's eyes widened as her eyes stared right at his eyes.

"Huh –" Rukia started to exclaim but Uryu held up his finger to signal that Rukia must remain quiet. Rukia clamped her mouth shut right away. It was then that the men chasing them appeared at the alley. Uryu prayed to the high heavens that Rukia would not reveal their hiding place.

"Excuse me, Miss. Have you seen any suspicious two men? They ran in this direction," he heard one of the goons ask Rukia. Uryu waited with bated breath for Rukia's reply.

"No, I didn't. I just came here to dump trash. Didn't see anyone 'cept for this cat." Uryu heard Rukia reply. Somehow, the nonchalance in her voice impressed Uryu. He did not expect that Rukia could lie convincingly.

The man did not reply right away. He was probably still weighing Rukia's answer. Uryu felt Renji gripping his shirt in panic.

"Alright. Thank you, Miss." They heard the man finally answer back. "Come on, guys! Let's look at the other way!" Uryu waited for the steps to go away.

"Hey, I think they're gone." He and Renji looked up to see Rukia whispering down to them. They stood up and emerged from the place they were hiding from.

"Whoa! That was close!" Renji exclaimed as he stretched his torso. Uryu kept on pressing down his bullet wound.

"Hey, you're wounded, dude." Rukia gestured at the blood dripping down his right arm and to the cement below them.

"Holy shit! You're bleeding!" Renji panicked at the sight of his best friend's blood.

"It's okay. I'll manage. It's just a graze," Uryu grimaced as he lied and tried to assure the two persons fretting over his wound.

"Well–" Rukia was not able to finish what she wanted to say when the goon who questioned Rukia earlier reappeared in the alley.

"I knew you were lying. Didn't you notice that the small drops of blood revealed where these fuckers are hiding?!" The goon taunted the three of them as he pointed his gun.

The three of them huddled together as they unconsciously stepped back while the guy with the gun advanced at them.

"Renji, you shield Uryu since he's wounded. I have a plan," Uryu heard Rukia whisper to Renji. What the hell was this girl thinking?! He watched with wide eyes as Rukia held both of her hands up and slowly approached the goon.

"Hey. Why the fuck are you trying to kill these two anyway? They're just simple college students." Rukia, out of bravery, or maybe stupidity, met the gun's barrel head on.

"These two? Nah. They're rookie drug dealers. And they stole something from my boss and for that, they need to die. Now, get out of my way so that I can kill them off and after that, you are next."

"Is that so?" It was so fast that Uryu was not able to keep track of what happened with his blurring eyes as a result of wound pain. It was just that the next thing he knew was that the gun was knocked out of the goon's hand and Rukia was on the ground scrambling to get it.

"Renji, take Uryu outta here! There's a police checkpoint three blocks from here!" Rukia said as she got ahold of the gun.

Renji followed Rukia's instructions and he went on to support Uryu' back. However, he hesitated when he saw how the burly man kicked Rukia in her ribs, which resulted in the petite girl being flung into the trash can, the lid of it falling on her head. A pained groan was heard from her.

"Rukia!" Renji exclaimed. Uryu' best friend was torn between going to the aid of the injured girl and on supporting Uryu's weakened body.

"Go to her," Uryu encouraged Renji. By this time, it was clear to him that escaping was out of the question now.

Renji, in response, made a move to guide him to the ground, just when a shot echoed in the vicinity. Uryu was dropped unceremoniously as Renji jumped in surprise. For a second, he thought that Renji was hit by the bullet too, but a quick look on him showed he wasn't. It seemed like the bullet just got embedded on the wall of the establishment.

Both of their attentions were grabbed when they saw Rukia, blood running down the side of her head, was hanging off the goon's back, trying to restrain him with all her petite strength. Another shot was fired that bounced off on the wall again. Renji, seeing his chance now, hastily went to wrestle the gun out of the goon. Meanwhile, Rukia was thrown off again to the ground, but she succeeded in giving Renji an advantage over the goon.

As his best friend and the goon struggled, Uryu watched Rukia crawling to his direction, clutching her right side with a pained expression. It happened so fast that his own eyes just widened as he saw Rukia fall flat to the ground at the same time another shot was fired. He was not able to stop himself from screaming his poor classmate's name.

As the rush of adrenaline faded, Rukia began to feel the onslaught of pain from her head and ribs. Still, she needed to get to Uryu's side as she could see how the guy was bleeding quite heavily. She had to get him to the hospital and call for help. However, she was not even halfway into reaching him when she felt a sharp pain on her thigh and she promptly fell to the ground. With the combined pain on the head, ribs, and leg, Rukia's consciousness was slipping. The last thing she remembered was someone telling her that she was pretty stupid or something. She thought that she supposed she needed to retort, but sleeping really did seem to sound nicer right now…

Byakuya was packing his things after a night of overtime in the law office when his smartphone rang. He checked it and saw the name of his annoying old man. With a sigh, he pressed the phone to answer the insistent call. Better to get this over with.

"Hello, dad. What is it?" Byakuya greeted his dad.

"Hey, son! I just called to tell you that I approve of her!" Señor Ginrei shouted on the other line.

Byakuya was confused for a while about the girl that his father was referring to, so he asked, "Her? Who are you talking about dad?"

"Who else? Rukia, of course! I talked to her earlier. She was a pretty amusing young woman. You need to marry her fast!"

The lawyer's jaw promptly dropped after hearing what his father said. "What did you say, dad?! How were you able to talk to her? Tell me!"

Ginrei's mirth was palpable even through the phone. He really was enjoying teasing his son a lot. "Alright, alright! Well, you see, I had this crazy idea of pretending to be a beggar…"

Byakuya listened with a rapt interest as he listened to his crazy old man's tale of his meeting with Rukia.