AN:

Frigg Nevia07 - Yes the chapters are gonna get quite long now! Everyone stalks Rukia in this fic haha!

FafaCute - That's the point, I'm trying to make you confused with Rukia's lovers hahaha.

Guest - Oh! That's a pretty good guess there! Let's see if you're right! Her mother will be shown very very soon!

jobananasan - Don't worry, Ichigo will be back shortly. Uryu and Renji truth shown! No they not for the Vizards but that's a good plot point! Yep , everyone is stalking Rukia in my fic haha. Kon appears a lot in the story not just a one off!

Chapter 21: One of Us

A groan escaped Rukia's mouth as she opened her eyes. There was a dull pounding on her head, and as she gazed around the room she was in, she realized she was in unfamiliar surroundings. Itdidn't even look like a hospital. It seemed like she was in a luxurious room. Her arm was connected to an IV while her head was wrapped with a bandage as she gingerly touched her head.

"Yo." Rukia whipped to the gruff voice on her left. Her mouth gaped in shock as she saw who the guy was. It was Ichigo. Why was he here? With widened eyes, she followed his figure as he moved towards the door.

"I'll call the doctor first," he said before he got out of the room.

Rukia settled on the bed with a sigh. Everything was so confusing right now. Last thing she remembered was that there was a goon wanting to kill all of them. That reminded her… Renji and Uryu were with her! Where were they?

The door opened and revealed a tall man with reddish-brown spiky hair wearing a doctor's coat. O-kay. Why did the supposed doctor look more like a gangster? The guy even had a facial scar. She watched with suspicious eyes as the doctor went closer and started writing something on his clipboard.

After he finished writing, the doctor finally faced her and gave her an easy smile. She responded by creasing her forehead. Having a brush with a goon who wanted to kill her made her very suspicious of everyone, especially with a doctor who did not look like one.

"Hello, Lady Rukia. I'm Doctor Ashido Kanō, the official doctor of Sir Kurosaki's group. I'm a trauma surgeon specialist. Just call me Doc Kanō."

Rukia just stared at him. When she sensed that the doctor was waiting for her answer, she stammered. "U-uhmm… Where is Ichigo?"

"He's outside. He'll come after I finish checking your vitals," the doctor replied amiably.

Rukia did not respond to the doctor. She was still trying to absorb the fact that she was alive after the encounter with the goon and that she was currently in some place that Ichigo owned. The doctor probably understood her confusion though and he merely smiled at her.

"I can see that you have a lot of questions to ask, but first things first. Let's tackle your injury. You had a mild concussion on your head, which apparently was a result of having a trash can lid falling on you after you were thrown in its direction – according to your friends that we questioned. A CT-scan showed that it was not that serious, so that's a good thing. You also have bruised ribs on your right side. We were afraid that you broke them, but after checking it in the x-ray, we were relieved they were just heavily bruised. I'll prescribe painkillers for you to manage it."

The doctor paused for a bit before continuing with his diagnosis. "Finally, you had a gunshot graze on your thigh, which, I must say, was very lucky." The gang doctor shook his head gravely. "You could have died within a matter of minutes had it struck an artery, or at the very least, the affected limb could have been amputated, if the bullet indeed pierced right through it, Lady Rukia."

That reminded her that she was wondering why the doctor kept on calling her 'Lady,' so she asked him as her forehead creased out of curiosity:

"Why do you keep on calling me 'Lady?'"

Dr. Kanō chuckled with a tinge of amusement. "Well, it's obvious that you're the precious Lady of The Vizards. The fact that you know his first name means you're a special woman in his eyes." The doctor's expression instantly morphed into seriousness. "I've never seen the Don panic as much as he did when he rushed to our underground warehouse hospital carrying you as if you were unconscious."

"What do you mean?" Rukia honestly could not understand what the doctor was telling her. Why would Ichigo panic over her?

"It was simple actually. Since you passed out and came in bleeding on your lower extremity, we thought that you were shot in the thigh. Gunshots to the lower extremities are very serious because it might involve the femoral artery, which, if injured, might cause you to bleed massively in a matter of minutes. The very fact that you passed out could be interpreted as a result of hypovolemic shock, a result of blood loss that could be fatal a lot of times if not immediately mitigated."

The doctor slightly shook his head in contemplation as Rukia listened in silence. "Sado told me that Sir Kurosaki almost wanted the car to fly, and to be honest, it almost seemed like it did. Sado was able to shorten a normally ten minute-drive into just two minutes, with Sir Kurosaki apparently screaming in his ear to make the drive even faster."

"He… He did that?" Rukia looked curiously at the doctor. "Uhmm… That's… weird." Upon seeing the way the gang doctor raised his eyebrow, Rukia clarified what she said. "I mean, for a person like him, that's really weird; don't you think so?"

The doctor nodded in agreement. "True. If I had not personally witnessed it, and if it weren't for Sado's information, I also wouldn't have believed it. It wasn't in Sir Kurosaki's nature to panic over a girl… When we found out that your wound was only a bullet graze and that you passed out primarily because of your concussion, no one was more relieved than him. And when you were unconscious for the whole day, he stayed beside you without even getting a wink of sleep."

Rukia mulled over what she learned from the doctor in her head. A few moments later, she sighed. "I guess I'll have to thank him later." She glanced at the doctor too. "And thanks also for treating me."

"Oh, no worries at all!" Doc Kanō held up his hands. "It's my pleasure to serve the Lady of the Vizards Group."

"Err… I don't think it's like that at all." Rukia frowned. "I guess your boss was merely bored and found helping me as something to fill his time." 'He just wanted to amuse himself with me because I used to be his personal whore,' was what she wanted to tell the Doc, but she refrained. He probably already knew about that bit.

"Oh, trust me, it isn't just like that," the gang doctor chuckled.

"By the way, what happened to Renji and Uryu?" Rukia changed the topic.

"Hmm... The guys who were with you at the shoot out? They're okay… just being held for further questioning by Sir Kurosaki."

"But one of them was shot too. How was he?" Rukia inquired.

"Oh. That one. He's fine, nothing to worry about. He's one lucky bastard; I told him as I was treating him. The bullet did not hit the brachial artery nor shatter any bones. So I just prescribed him antibiotics because wound infection was my biggest concern. He'll need to wear a splint for a while, but he'll live."

Hearing those words greatly assured Rukia. They also reminded her that she would need to ask Ichigo how he found them that night.

"A real big thanks for saving my classmates, Doc Kanō ."

"Don't thank me. Thank Sir Kurosaki." The doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Although they might need to be monitored thoroughly since they were able to see what happens inside of the Den of the Vizard Group."

"Wha-what do you mean? Are you going to kill them? They're just college students!" Rukia protested.

"No, I don't think Sir Kurosaki would. He needs them for questioning after all. I must tell you though that they are not as innocent as you think."

"Yeah, the goon said something about them being drug dealers or whatever. I still find that hard to believe actually." She did remember Orihime always complaining about Uryu's lack of time before. Was that the reason why Uryu avoided Orihime? In any case, it was not her business, but considering that she was dragged into whatever this thing was, Rukia could honestly say that she was curious.

"What will happen to them when Ichigo finishes questioning them?" Rukia was honestly concerned because it would seem like Renji and Uryu were going to be dragged into her business.

"That I don't know. You'll probably need to talk to Sir Kurosaki about that."

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks doc."

"Alright." Doc Kanō stood straight. "You'll need to remain in bed for two days for rest. A nurse is assigned to help take your meds on time."

"But I need to go home… And oh my god! I missed work and school!" Rukia panicked as she remembered her responsibilities.

"Don't worry about it. Sir Kurosaki already took care of it and filed out excused absence letters. I'll go now so I can check your friend's wounds." With that, the gang doctor exited the room.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of cars.

At least, that was the philosophy by which the adoptive family of Renji had operated for decades. Some part of it must have been true, as they got rich through selling them. As he stared through the window of the examination room they were in, he could see numerous vehicles parked outside, a lot of them luxury brands that weren't even part of the products of their car dealership. He spotted a Bugatti, Maserati, BMWs, a new model Tesla car that he thought was not yet available in Japan, a Panamera and other unusual brands of cars that were commonly hard to come by. Jesus, how much money could being in a Mafia bring a person? By accounting those cars, Renji surmised that it was a looottt.

Uryu was being examined by this doctor who had dyed hair – which was not comforting at all. Renji was really cursing their luck. They managed to escape one gang, just to end up in the mercy of another one, which, by all accounts, was much bigger and sophisticated compared to the first group they joined and, more fearsome. If he only knew that they would end up in this situation when Uryu suggested that they apply as dealers, he would have declined. But then again, that was classic him: doing things and not thinking of the consequences. What Uryu suggested sounded like an adventure, and in a moment of rebellion, he agreed. Personally though, the most he had tried was to smoke some weed. He stayed away from hard drugs like the ones they were selling to the some of the rich kids they knew because he did not want to affect his athletic career.

However, their interrogation yesterday by the Mafia leader revealed a lot of things that Uryu did not tell him. It honestly kind of annoyed Renji. He and Uryu were supposed to be best friends, yet his student council buddy had apparently still kept secrets.

He and the goon, a man they called Pepe, from whom they used to receive goods and remit their money, were struggling with guns. Rukia had given him an opening at the expense of another injury. Renji was aware that wrestling with a gun involved was stupidly risky, but at least with this, they had a better chance than if they just let Pepe have it. A couple times, the gun went off accidentally and it was lucky no one was hurt. However, the third time it went off, Uryu's horrified scream got his attention and he saw in his eye's periphery how Rukia fell. That little distraction was enough for Pepe to get the gun finally, and in that moment, Renji was prepared to die… then a wild Shiro Zangetsu suddenly appeared behind Pepe.

He caught the gunman – who hadn't anticipated the much bigger man – by surprise as he used his size to choke him from behind as he snapped the arm holding the gun, making it drop to the ground. Pepe lost consciousness after about a minute.

Renji had seen this guy in the campus and even heard girls talking about him as a "heartthrob" and a "real stud." He heard them say that the new Judo instructor knew a lot of martial arts and his class was strenuous but fun. Renji was skeptical when he heard those claims; after all, they were made by impressionable fangirls. However, seeing his moves, perhaps the rumors were true.

The judo instructor went straight to Rukia's unconscious body on the floor while Renji, who finally gathered his wits, also went to Uryu' side, worried about the fact that he was bleeding.

"Sado, take these two with us. We need them for questioning. Call the clean up team too. I don't want the cops on this case. Do it quickly!" Renji heard the urgency in Mr. Zangestu's voice as he felt someone's presence prodding him and Uryu.

"I'll carry your friend so that we can move faster."A tall man spoke beside him. The guy kinda looked like a Chinese mestizo with tan skin, he offhandedly noticed.

Renji thought that the Judo instructor and his companion were going to take them to the hospital, but as the Judo instructor went ape shit at the driver telling him to drive even faster as he cradled Rukia's body, he realized that they were going in a different direction. He was tempted to ask but the judo instructor intimidated him. They entered a very exclusive subdivision and then a gated compound with a long driveway after two minutes. Renji was pressing on Uryu's wound but it did not stop him from observing the surroundings.

There were two buildings which are separated by a driveway, a large and nice-looking two-storey mansion on the right side and a steel warehouse on the left. Their car went straight in the direction of the warehouse. He could see a lot of men, bulky and tattooed ones, foreign and Japaniense, waiting for them at the entrance with stretchers and wheelchairs. When the door of the car opened, Mr. Perez did not even wait for the men and hurried inside carrying Rukia bridal style. Seeing the man's reaction puzzled Renji. What could have been the instructor's relationship with the weird loner girl?

As for the two of them, a tall man and a tattooed white man assisted them. They put Uryu on a stretcher and hurriedly took him inside. And as Renji followed, he was surprised to see the interior of the warehouse. It was a fully functioning hospital! There were hospital beds on each side and he could see various parts labeled with department names like the Surgery Room, Outpatient Room, X-ray Room, etc. Curiously enough, there were no nurses in white going on rounds; rather, there were men, gangster-looking ones, scurrying about. What kind of hospital was this?!

Later on, after Uryu was properly treated, his best friend's arm wrapped with a tourniquet and supported by a splint, they were led on to the mansion on the other side. It turned out that the bullet hit the fleshy part of Uryu's arm and exited above the elbow. It narrowly missed a major artery and the bone, which was very lucky according to the 'nurse' accompanying them. He told them that Uryu would have died in a matter of minutes as a result of a massive blood loss. Renji's best friend paled considerably after hearing that.

As they entered the brightly lit hall, he saw dozens of men lined up, each of them tattooed with human eyes in front of their shoulders. Some had roses and knives etched on their arms, but everyone carried guns at their sides. Renji found himself swallowing hard as they were led to the center where he could see Mr. Shiro Zangetsu sitting on a brass chair. What the heck had they unwillingly walked into? It definitely felt like they were going to be put through some serious interrogation.

When they reached the center, facing the judo instructor, the 'nurses' forced them into a kneeling position in front of the man. Renji was beginning to understand that the so-called judo instructor seemed not to be who they thought he was. There was something amiss here.

Mr. Zangetsu sat on the brass chair with a brooding expression; on his hand, he was twirling a balisong. For a second, Renji's attention was fixed on the way the judo instructor was playing with his butterfly knife. He remembered the balisong tricks that he only used to see when he played CS:GO and Team Fortress. Seeing it live was cool… but also seriously intimidating. It did not help that everyone around had a dangerous air about them.

"Aren't you the new judo instructor at school?" Renji heard Uryu ask beside him. He did not know if his best friend was just being brave or stupid – to think that he spoke without being addressed first. He almost wanted to slap the idiot on his head.

The 'nurse' in charge of them made a move, but Mr. Zangetsu held up his right hand, the left one was still playing with the balisong. It was spinning like a fan now. Damn, this guy had some sick knife skills.

"I am." The instructor answered, authority seeping subtly in his voice. "But that's just some whim, a public persona, you can say. Most of the time, I lead our Mafia group." A gruff gasp escaped from Renji's mouth as the mob boss mockingly held up his right hand like he was showcasing something. "Welcome to our Kyōdai ai, or in English, brotherhood."

Renji gathered some bravado and spoke aloud. "Why did you call for us here, Sir Zangetsu? Can we go home now?"

The mob boss finally stopped spinning his balisong and closed it with a snap. He then glanced at his direction and answered, "They call me Sir Kurosaki here. In any case, that's the problem actually. I can't let you loose now that you've seen and entered my private property. Our hideout and underground hospital are supposed to be kept secret. Anyone who is not a Vizard, that is, a member of the group, cannot leave this place alive."

Renji blanched at the suggestion while Uryu beside him spoke again. "Does that mean that you're going to kill us? Then what's the point of treating my gunshot wound if you would just kill us?" Renji agreed that what they did was ridiculous.

"I did not say I will kill you… yet. You see, I still need you to answer my questions."

"And if we don't want to?" There was Uryu again, defiant to the core.

"Ever heard of that famous line from the Godfather? 'I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse.' So I found out that your Father and Grandfather live in Quincy Village in Karakura while you were being treated. It's funny because you know, I have contacts there and it's so easy to go inside the village since the guards are not that strict. Maybe I could send my men to say hello to them?"

"Don't bring my family into this!" Uryu screamed beside him.

"Then you will answer my questions," Ichigo said with finality.

Renji elbowed his best friend. "Dude, just agree. There's no point in being too proud when we're in their territory."

Uryu sighed. "Alright. What do you want to know?"

"I sent my clean up team on the site and we got your gunman. He can't talk though. Seemed like I damaged his windpipe rather badly when I choked him. So, the other option is to ask the two of you. Why is a member of the Espada Gang after you?"

"How did you know it was the Espada gang?" Renji asked in wonder.

"The guy had a black number tattooed in his skin. That's their symbol." Ichigo shrugged. "In any case, again, why was he after you?"

"I stole something from him," Uryu answered.

"Is it this flash drive?" Ichigo dangled a red flash drive in front of them.

Uryu audibly gasped beside Renji. "That's mine! How did you get that?"

"We found it on the breast pocket of your shirt after the nurse gave it to me when you were being operated on." Sado answered beside Ichigo.

"Then give it back to me, please. It's very important. I risked my life to get it." For once, there was despair in Uryu' voice.

"Why would a college student be interested in the remittances to the bank account of a former Seiretei leader?" Ichigo asked, curious.

Renji felt Uryu bristle as he asked with surprise, "You know Sosuke Aizen?"

"Yeah, whatever. The guy's a big rival in our drug trade over the China-Pacific route. I can use this data against him. Now, answer my question."

To be honest, even Renji did not know why Uryu had to steal the flash drive, or even wanted to join the Espada Gang for that matter. The reason he gave him before was that he wanted more money. Renji did not ask because he honestly did not care about anything as long as it sounded cool. Uryu was silent for awhile before he spoke in a low voice:

"That man killed my mother. We searched for him for 11 years, but to no avail. Then one time, when Renji and I were at a party in a bar six months ago, I saw him with the boss of the Espada Gang. He was heavily guarded, with five men on his side that night, but Boss Sexta was able to come close to him…"

The revelation stunned Renji. He did remember that night. He could recall Uryu looking like he'd seen a ghost and being so interested with the Sexta After a night of brooding, he suggested that he and Renji join Sexta's gang. Sexta and his dad knew each other because he was the protector of his dad's business from rivals. Now, because of Uryu, Renji did not know how it could affect their business. Sexta could stop providing protection, or worse, destroy their business as revenge for his betrayal. Add the fact that he did not even tell him the truth. What happened to sticking up with each other? He suddenly had the urge to punch his best friend in the throat.

"And what do you plan to do if you really did come close to him? Kill him?!" Ichigo guffawed.

"Yes," Uryu said coldly.

That stopped Ichigo in his tracks and he looked at Uryu with amusement in his eyes. "I doubt you could do that. Aizen is hard to trick, being that he's a master trickster himself. He's wanted even by the Seiretei, in addition to the Interpol, after he betrayed a deal to a Colombian crime group so that he would become a leader of a separate branch himself."

Ichigo leaned down to gaze directly at Uryu. "Even with that, he's never been caught. He's been on the run now for 22 years. That's how slick he is. And you think you can do that on your own?"

Uryu was rendered silent again. Even Renji was silent as he was absorbing everything that he had learned. It seemed like he got into the middle of something really serious here. Well... he wanted an adventure, right? That old adage about being careful on what you wish for was so fitting.

"Then what should I do? I want to kill him! I can't rest if I haven't killed him!" Uryu had gone a bit hysterical now.

"I have another offer that I think you will not want to refuse," Ichigo stated. "I'll tell the both of you later. Now… how the fuck did Rukia get into your trouble?!"

The gang doctor finally finished cleaning and re-bandaging Uryu' gunshot wound. He told them that Sir Kurosaki, as they should call him now, was expecting them at his office after this. Renji just hoped that whatever deal they would have would also be beneficial for them.