"-taichou" is the suffix for "Captain "

This fic is rated R because of language, violence, and sensuality. If any of the aforementioned offends you, please do not read.

Review if you like. No flames, please.

kaerichi
Chapter 4

As soon as Ichigo walked into the conference room, there was such a sudden burst of applause and cheering so loud that it nearly knocked him off his feet. But he welcomed it. He, too, had an abnormally large smirk on his face.

"Great job, onii-chan!" Yuzu was saying as she jumped off her chair. She was still so short, she only came up to his stomach. "You caught that vamp that got away the other night! I knew you could do it! I'm so happy for you, onii-chan!"

Ichigo grinned at her as she sat back down, shaking hands, accepting praise and pats on the back. He was still smirking when Yoruichi walked in to commence the short meeting.

"All right, I'm sure all you here present know what this is about, but let me state this just one more time: Kurosaki-taichou, congratulations on capturing a live vampire, especially such an unusual one." She nodded in his direction, and he nearly swelled. "The vampire is currently being held in detainment sector 13-1. All those not of level five or higher who wish to see the vampire will have to obtain passes from either me or another commanding officer. However, I suggest you have good reasons for doing so. This is not just some creature to poke fingers at or make googly eyes like you would at something in a zoo. This is a creature of scientific study. Anything to jeopardize our plan will be dealt the harshest penalty possible. Is this very clear?"

There was murmured assent, but already Ichigo could hear some grumbling about the level five and over rule.

And sector 13-1? Wow, that vamp must be something, to warrant such security.

"Anything we learn from this vampire, inclusive of attacks, origin, or vampire society, shall be informed at the next meeting. I do not know how long this will take, so, until then, keep an eye on the post board. Just because we have managed to make a big bust does not mean we can be slacking off. This is most likely the best time to attack. I expect to see all your faces here for our next meeting, alive, and perhaps a little more experienced. Dismissed."

With almost half his unit gone from last night's events (9 percent deceased, 38 percent injured), there was little for Ichigo to do, duty-wise. He spent an hour alone in the hunter's den, flipping channels and trying to get comfortable with a cup of coffee. But something continued to bug him, and finally he gave up trying to squash his urge to see the vampire.

He'd been the one to catch her, after all. And as captain of the second unit division, he was of level six. There was nothing holding him back but himself.

When Rukia had opened her eyes, the light that had met it had been so blinding, she thought that her irises would never be the same. Her wings had instinctively flared out.

That was when she realized she couldn't move them.

Slowly coming to a sitting position, she looked over her shoulder to see that the arch of her wings had been clamped together, making it impossible to fly. Also, there were strange blue bands on her wrists that wouldn't come off, no matter what she did. And to top it all off, she felt so lightheaded, as if she could just barely feel the fringes of her inner conscious.

My…aura… she realized. It must be these blue bands…they've restrained my aura somehow…Hitsugaya was right; they are learning how to detect auras!

After she could see without squinting, Rukia realized she was in a small circular cell, surrounded by glass…kind of like a capsule. There was cool metal under her feet, a bright fluorescent light over her head, and just the glass surrounding her. The cell had to have been only four meters in diameter, raised about a meter above the ground.

But what bothered her the most was that the cell seemed to be in another large room of sorts, like a scientist's room with all sorts of computers and large machinery.

And, beyond the glass, there were humans. Hunters. Looking at her, whispering, and so thoroughly invading her privacy that she felt like she was being molested by their eyes.

Not wanting them to see her wings, she retracted them until they disappeared; the metal band fell with a harmless clatter to the floor.

Rukia saw a young man and woman, the woman tugging on his arm before the man pulled away. He walked right up and rapped on the glass to get her attention.

"Hey, bloodsucker! Comfortable in there?" he asked, rising a laugh from those watching. Rukia could hear him quite well – she supposed there was a sound transmitting system somewhere in the cell – but she remained silent and shot him a glare that could have, quite literally, killed. If only she had her aura…

"I sure hope you don't die in there, because that would be a shame," the man continued on, causing more laughs from the crowd, "After all, you are a "creature of scientific study" and I sure wouldn't like to be a recipient of "the harshest penalty possible." Right, Chizuru?"

Rukia had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"Right, right…okay, Keigo, you've had your fun, so we can go now," the red-haired woman was saying as she continued tugging on his arm. "Come on, we aren't–"

"…supposed to be here? Was that the end of your sentence?"

The woman looked suddenly horrified as she turned towards the voice, which had come from the doorway. Rukia's undead heart leapt to her throat as she saw some very familiar hair.

Ichigo, casual in jeans and a sweater, sauntered inside, ignoring some people's looks of horror and directing his gaze to Keigo. "Might I ask how you, a level two trainee, managed to get inside sector 13-1 to see my vampire? I highly doubt Shihouin-san would have signed you a pass to simply come here to make fun."

"Uh, well, Kurosaki-taichou, you see…uh…"

Ichigo sighed. "Look, Asano, I know Mizuiro's your buddy, but for God's sakes if he keeps letting you pass, I'm going to have to bring this up."

"I'm very sorry, Kurosaki-taichou."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get your ass out of here, and all you level threes."

My god, Rukia thought, he looked so much like him. Their voices were nothing alike, but she could still see the traces of his movement, the same curve of his face, the square of his chin…how could this one bastard hunter be like the only vampire she'd ever truly hated?

He'd turned to her. "Hey. Bloodsucker."

She nearly growled from the term.

"How're you feeling? Good? I hope so. Because when they're finished cutting you open, there won't even be a shred of yourself left to recognize." He laughed. "I guess this is what they call karma! You hurt my sister, I get to kill you. Funny how the world works, isn't it?"

He was so much like him. Even in his arrogance, it was written all over him.

Like a whisper, her lips parted.

"…sh – shut up."

That stopped him. He'd been so sure she wouldn't respond. "What?"

"I said shut up." Rukia drew herself to her knees, then stood slowly, hands on the glass for support. "You think you know me? You don't know shit about me."

"I know that you hurt my sister the other night. And I let you get away." The rest of the people in the room, high-level unit members, were watching in silence.

"I hurt your sister? I hurt your sister?" she practically shouted. "I don't even know who the hell your sister is, but if I did take blood from her, all I was doing was being who I am! And what about you? What do you consider that massacre of my kind, a favor?" She was almost trembling; the pain on Hitsugaya's face, all the dead…it was overwhelming.

"It's a favor to humankind; who knows what you bloodsuckers would have done if given the chance to be let loose without hunters in the world!"

"Don't call me a bloodsucker."

"Why? It's what you are! Isn't that what you said, bloodsucker?"

"I said don't call me that."

"Why not? It goes well with you–"

"I said DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" Rukia nearly screamed as the memories built up to an irrepressible level. The blue bands on her wrists were humming, vibrating against her skin, and it was glowing an even brighter blue than before. And the power was so close! The lightheadedness was vanishing…she could feel her power as clearly as it had ever been, and it was just one fingertip away!

Rukia realized that there was shouting outside the compartment; but before she could reach out to grab her aura, a thick fog suddenly spewed from the top of her capsule cell, thick and opaque. She choked for a bit before stopping breathing.

Breathing was something that most vampires did because it helped blood circulate, but it was by no means necessary, and they could survive without air. Rukia thought she would be safe. But then…why was she still falling to the ground? And she could feel her power receding again, like waves on the shore…

The sounds and pictures ran into one big blur, and she barely noticed that the capsule was opened somehow, and there were hands on her wrists, doing something…and then a cloth was over her mouth – she was breathing again, from force of habit – and then everything was black.

Rukia's eyes cracked open before she became fully aware of wanting to wake up; her mind was so unsettled that she had to think for a minute to figure out which was right-side up. It wasn't like her mind to be so…cloudy.

I can't believe how advanced the hunters are now… she thought to herself, the anger at the orange-haired hunter having drained her emotions. They knocked me out with something, I don't know what…my healing rate used to be fast enough so that I wasn't affected by any outside gases. I don't think I'm slowing down, so that must mean that the hunters are speeding up.

The light was intense, washing everything out into a pale white. She wasn't used to so much light. However, it wasn't UV; that much she knew.

She looked down at her arms. Now, instead of just one blue band, she had three up her arm, like a row of fences. In a way, they were – blocking off her only source of comfort, her aura. They must have slapped it on her after knocking her out with that strange gas.

Incredibly, with everything that the hunters had stripped from her – her pride, dignity, aura, you name it – she still had her original clothes and robe on. It could've passed for artfully ripped with all the holes in it. But there was no mistaking the blood. Her wounds had healed, but the clothes always remained the same.

And…

Fucking shit.

She was getting cold.

After the incident with the vampire in detaining sector 13-1, Ichigo had left to train the time away, wondering what the hell kind of power could nearly break one of their aura-restrictive power bands. It hadn't been a joke; just five seconds more, Yoruichi had said, just five seconds more and she would've broken through.

But he was fed up with training. So that was why, when the clock struck 12:00 a.m., he headed up to the security control booth. This was peak hour and the place was bustling with activity.

He noticed the familiar head of hair at the chair long before he approached. Approaching quietly, he suddenly leapt forward and spun the chair around once. "Hey, fearless security manager, how is my captured vampire doing?"

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime had gasped, hanging onto the sides for dear life as the chair finally stopped spinning and came to a halt. "You shouldn't do that to me! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Yeah, and I bet Ishida wouldn't be too happy then with me, eh?"

She blushed a light pink. "W – well anyway, Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing here?"

"I asked: how's my bloodsucker doing?"

Orihime frowned and bit her lip. "It's funny you should ask, Kurosaki-kun, because I'm afraid to say not well."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know," she replied, as she typed in a series of commands to the computer, which brought up the several video surveillance cameras stationed around sector 13-1. Another set of commands, and the one with the best view enlarged on the screen.

It showed a slumped figure, huddled deep in her robes, very visibly shivering.

"She looks cold," Ichigo observed. "Shouldn't you turn up the heat in the cell?"

"But, Kurosaki-kun, that's the whole point. I already have it at 85 degrees. That the equivalent of a balmy day in Hawaii. I've used several thermometers to check the temperature, and they all read the same. It just doesn't seem to be affecting your vampire."

"I don't understand what's wrong," a voice cut into their conversation before Ichigo could reply. "This is the first live vampire we've had that we've kept alive, but it just seems to be dying from the cold. The cold! When, as Inoue-san already mentioned, the temperature is at 85 degrees." Yoruichi frowned. "Things just aren't adding up."

"Maybe she needs blood," Ichigo suggested. "Don't all vampires need blood to survive?"

"Of course, that was the first thing we thought of, but she has refused to drink from any of the blood we took from our blood bank. She refuses to talk to anyone. If this keeps up, we may have to resort to gassing her again and force-feeding her."

"Hah, what's up with them? She's not talking? The vamp was sure talkative with me."

Yoruichi turned to regard him with her fair amber eyes, standing out clearly from the dusky color of her skin. Every time she looked at him directly, Ichigo felt as if her eyes saw things deeper than what most people did, like she was prying. He wondered if he was the only one to feel this way.

"If that's the case, then, Kurosaki-san, you should try and talk to her. Who knows?" she shrugged lightly. "The vampire talked to you once; she might talk to you again."

"I don't think–"

"You are unwilling to try?"

She was still observing him with her eyes. More to get away from her persuasive stare than anything else, he sighed in resignation. "Fine. Fine, Shihouin-san, I'll try."

He headed off to the detainment sector after securing another bag of blood, heaving it over his shoulder like a piece of luggage. When he arrived, the scene was exactly like how he had seen it on camera. Nothing had changed. It was still pale, pale white, the vamp was in the same position, and she was still shivering.

Rukia was cold. She was so cold.

This cold was not like human cold, where it blew along and nipped at exposed skin, making the receiver hurriedly find some warm pocket or crook of body to warm the cold limb. No, this was cold from the inside out – a strange feeling, it was. Her hands were frozen numb and even when she rubbed them together, there was no warm, welcoming friction to add some heat. There was friction, but her hands remained as cold as dry ice.

Momentarily looking up, she saw him. What was he doing here? And a whole lot of other people, too, with a lot of weapons.

Oh. The hunter had a bag of blood over his shoulder. Not again.

"Hey, you." It was on the tip of his tongue to call her "bloodsucker," but since he wanted her cooperation, Ichigo didn't think that would go down too well. "Vampire. You're shivering 'cause you're hungry, right? Well, here. You can eat this blood."

He was so incredibly dense, just like the whole lot of them.

At her silent reaction, Ichigo's impatience fizzed up. "Hey! Why don't you eat? Aren't you hungry? If you don't eat, they're gonna gas you again and force you to eat it anyway! So instead of humiliating yourself even more, why don't you just eat what I give you now?"

This idiot actually thought that she was being defiant by not eating? It wasn't the appropriate time for such a gesture, but Rukia couldn't help it: a small, sarcastic laugh bubbled up from within her frigid self. It was a dry and hollow sound, but still distinguishable nonetheless.

"I think I missed the joke," Ichigo said, eyes narrowing.

"You're idiots, the whole lot of you are," Rukia rasped, her throat painfully parched, and trying desperately to control her shivering. She was just so, so cold. "You actually…you actually think that dead blood is going to…going to…" she coughed, unable to complete the rest of her sentence.

"Excuse me? Dead blood? This came from a live person, thank you very much!" Ichigo snapped, as he lifted the bag to his shoulder again.

"That isn't…that's not…" Rukia shook her head and gave up. Her shivering had grown beyond her control.

Ichigo lowered the blood from his shoulders.

What was this in front of him? This shivering, helpless, fragile woman who didn't even have the strength to complete a single sentence? This was one of the feared vampire leaders? This was the leader they had to kill? This was the leader who was probably responsible for countless deaths over decades? This was her?

All she reminded Ichigo of, at the moment, was a lost, shivering child.

He stood watching her for a few seconds before it clicked.

Setting the blood bag on the floor, he approached the cell until his face was just inches from it, the closest he had ever come to her when she wasn't unconscious. "Hey. When you say "dead blood," does that mean blood that's already been drawn from a person?"

"Yes," she whispered. That was all she could manage.

"But you do need blood, right? You need it from a live person?"

She didn't answer, but that was all the answer he needed.

"And you're cold because you haven't eaten anything? Is that normal?"

Again, Rukia said nothing, but Ichigo had already figured it out anyway.

Shocking everyone, Ichigo punched in the code to open the nearly invisible cell door, pulling it open and climbing inside. Blazes, it was warm in there.

"Kurosaki-taichou! What are you doing?" the others in the back asked, their grip on weapons tightening, though none made too much of a hurry to move forward. "Don't get too close to that bloodsucker! What if she bites you?"

"Oh, for the…" Ichigo cursed, "this vamp's got on three fuckin' power limiters, she's probably hours away from dying of starvation, and you've all got guns that could blow a fucking hole in her head before she could twitch a finger! What are you all worried about?"

They were silent.

"Exactly."

He crouched down right in front of Rukia, unbuttoning his shirt collar and pulling it away from his neck.

She just stared at him.

"What the hell you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Go on! Drink!"

"Kurosaki-taichou, this is unwise!" a guard shouted. "Were she to suddenly take advantage of our position, and use you as a hostage, or perhaps even take all your blood, we would not be able to do anything!"

"Just give her ideas, why don't you? But keep your pants on; I think I can handle it. Don't underestimate me," he said, voice a smooth, sarcastic drawl. "Besides, all of the best hunters have had blood taken by vampires before. I never have, so this'll be some experience for me." He turned his face back to her. "Go on."

Rukia wanted to refuse. She really did. But how could she, when, even with all her power restrained, she could still feel the force of his life so close to hers? So tantalizingly close…

She cursed softly to herself. She needed more time until she figured out a way to escape from here, so until then…she had no choice.

"Give me…your wrist."

"Why?" The question slipped out before Ichigo remembered that she had taken blood from his sister the exact same way, from the wrist instead of the neck. That was strange. Blood didn't flow as fast from the wrist.

She reached a hand out to his wrist, and Ichigo had to restrain himself from flinching. The touch of her skin on his was like dry ice.

Bringing the wrist up to her lips, she brushed her cold lips over the veins, eyes closed, before opening them to his. This boy, this Kurosaki…he was a jerk and a bastard and looked too much like Kaien, but still, she was going to owe him her life, and that was a pretty big debt.

She could at least do this much.

"Look…look into…my…eyes…" she managed to get out.

And Ichigo, not thinking, looked.

She may have had several power limiters on, but there was still that intensely miniscule sliver of her aura that she could tap into, to use to seduce her prey's mind like she always had…

Her eyes met his.

Something sparked.

If you took the feeling as if you'd just won the lottery, combined it with finding the love of your life, and rolled it with the atmosphere of a perfect sunny day, that was exactly how Ichigo felt as Rukia eased his mind with the power of her will. His gaze turned unfocused, dreamy…and his head tilted back even as Rukia took his wrist and gently broke the skin.

The blood was like hot chocolate on her tongue; it was so warm and thick that Rukia had a difficult time restraining herself from making the wound bigger. The first spill of it was enough to eke out the tiniest bit of strength back into her limbs.

She could hear some guards shouting in the background, but she had this hunter, and she had his blood…Rukia thought all this before realizing that the blood limit was close.

She didn't want to let him go.

But if she didn't…

With the last spill, she held her tongue against the wound, not knowing how much of her restricted vampiric aura would heal it. Normally she could heal bite wounds, but that was at full strength, and what remained was only a marginal amount of what it'd been before.

The wound didn't fully close. There was still that wonderful taste…but Rukia shoved him away from her, and he landed in an awkward position against the open door. With the jarring impact, her aura over him broke. Ichigo blinked before anger overtook his features.

"What the…what the fuck just happened?"

tsuzuku