Chapter 4
When Ichigo stepped into his classroom the next morning he noticed how everyone turned to look at him with widened eyes and he didn't blame them, he probably looked like a zombie. He scowled and everyone stopped looking at him.
"Long night?" Renji asked approaching him "or perhaps a long weekend?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"It was a fucking emotional rollercoaster" he said "Renji, she made me go to church."
Renji laughed.
"You have to tell me everything, dude" he said "I mean it."
Ichigo nodded.
This was going to be a tiresome day.
"Is a good thing that the call lasted more than a minute" the young boy said "although, it would've been better if you had tracked it since the moment you received it."
Byakuya frowned.
The boy he had hired to track the call was annoying but Byakuya knew that he was going to be useful so he let him talk. It was a good thing that he always saved the calls he received, his father used to call him paranoid because of that but now, his so called paranoia, proved to be convenient. The boy connected a device to the phone and started to download information about the zone, several locations popped out on the screen and Byakuya sighed.
"Don't worry, Lord Kuchiki" the boy said "it'll take just a couple of minutes."
Byakuya nodded and Ginrei stepped into the room.
"Any luck?" he asked.
Byakuya observed his grandfather, there were bags under his eyes and he was using the cane. He only used the cane whenever he was feeling tired, it was obvious how Rukia's call affected him but Byakuya decided not to point it out. He couldn't blame him, after hearing his daughter crying and deciding that she didn't want anything to do with the family anymore he couldn't help but feel quite… uneasy.
"Just a couple of minutes!" the boy repeated and Ginrei took a seat.
"I'm worried" Ginrei said "what if… I mean, you heard her. Someone's helping her, I don't even want to know in exchange of what, she probably doesn't even understand the position she put herself in."
Byakuya crossed his arms.
Of all the things Rukia said, that was the one that bothered him the most. The fact that a male accepted a girl out of nowhere in his house was bad, the fact that the girl happened to be his daughter was worst, Rukia was an idiot, and whoever was helping her to hide would be in jail in no time, Byakuya promised that to himself. Hopefully the call would give them some clues.
"Tada!" the boy said "I cannot track the exact position of the call but I do know from which city the call was made."
Ginrei's eyes widened.
"It's…" the boy paused surprised "oh, the call was made from here, from Karakura."
"What?" Byakuya asked "are you sure?"
The boy nodded.
"Completely, Sir" he said "like I told you I cannot say exactly from where but judging by this map I would bet that it was made from the center of the city, I have no doubts."
Ginrei smiled.
"Those are great news" he said "she's closer than ever, we'll find her soon."
Byakuya nodded.
They needed to find her soon.
"Okay" Rukia said while grasping some courage "it's going to be okay, you can do it."
She felt silly while giving herself the pep-talk but there was no other choice. She was in front of Seireitei High School, ready to enroll herself so she could finally find out how fun school was, she didn't understand why she was so nervous. Taking a deep breath she stepped into the building and walked towards the Principal office.
Ichigo told Renji everything, starting from their little breakfast on Saturday until last night when she decided to fuck up his sleeping schedule by actually kissing him. It was lucky that they were waiting for the teacher to arrive otherwise he wouldn't have found another time to tell everything to Renji without being interrupted.
Renji's eyes widened.
"Wait" Renji said confused "she kissed you? Isn't that a little too daring for a novice?"
Ichigo shrugged.
"I thought so too" he said "I'm guessing that she did it with all the innocence in the world which honestly makes it worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she's going to live with me for a while" Ichigo explained "if she keeps doing random stuff like that I'm going to be in trouble."
Renji smirked.
"So…" he said "I'm guessing that your days won't be boring anymore."
Ichigo sighed.
"Tell me about it" he said "hopefully, she won't do anything crazy today, I hope she waits for me before going outside, if my father were to see her..."
Renji chuckled.
"Your father would kill you!"
"I know" Ichigo said "luckily Rukia won't surprise me anymore, I know she'll stay at home and wait for me."
Rukia was sure that she had just pointed a gun at her own head.
When they took her to the Principal's office she expected to see an old man or woman to whom she would explain her situation calmly and then they would let her stay, it was as simple as that. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side. Because the moment she stepped into the office she came face to face with a familiar face, Jushiro Ukitake, one of her father's friends.
"Rukia?" he asked shocked and she gaped.
"Ukitake-sama" she said nervously "I didn't know… I mean, oh my God."
"What are you doing here?" he asked "last time I saw you Byakuya sent you to…"
Rukia took a deep breath. She thought about leaving the room as fast as she could, she thought about jumping through the window and never come back but she saw Ukitake's confused look and remembered that this was Ichigo's school and decided that she would take the risk, if it didn't work out she could always escape.
"Ukitake-sama" she said while closing the door behind her "if I explain you everything, will you help me?"
Ukitake nodded.
"Come on, take a seat."
Ichigo looked around the classroom and sighed.
The day was boring as he expected. Once he finished telling Renji everything about his weekend classes resumed normally, history was interesting enough, physics was quite well, but now they were in the third period and Kyoraku-sensei wasn't the best at teaching literature, perhaps he was hangover, he left them reading some random passage on the text book and decided to take a nap in the middle of the fucking class. Luckily, they were allowed to comment on the book with the other classmates, that way no one would die of boredom.
"Okay" Renji said putting the book down "Ishida, explain."
Ishida Uryuu was a thin, bespectacled, dark haired boy who somehow ended up becoming a good friend, Ichigo couldn't stand him at first due to his stuck up attitude but after some arguments they managed to be civil with each other.
"Explain what?" Ishida asked "we just have to read, is not that hard."
"I don't feel like reading" Renji said and Ichigo had to agree with him "what do you think about the book, Chad?"
"Uhm" Chad, a dark skinned tall boy said and Ichigo chuckled.
Chad was a man of few words, or not words at all.
"Fine" Renji said and looked at the other classmates.
Yumichika and Ikkaku didn't look really interested in the book either and Keigo and Mizuiro were out of the question, they looked as if they could fall asleep at any second.
"Do you think I should ask her?" Renji asked pointing at Riruka.
Ichigo scoffed.
Riruka was the only girl in the whole class, she had pink long hair and mean eyes, she didn't get along too well with the rest of the class but somehow she had been with them ever since elementary school. Ichigo sometimes felt bad for her, especially when he saw her studying or eating on her own, unfortunately her personality made her quite… unapproachable.
Seireitei High School was not a school only for boys but it got that reputation a long time back, so most parents always preferred to enroll their daughters to their neighbor school. That's where Tatsuki and Inoue, two really good friends of Ichigo, were. He sighed, perhaps it was for the best, some boys wouldn't concentrate on their studies whenever they saw Riruka so he didn't want to imagine if another girl were to arrive out of nowhere.
"Nah" Ichigo said "come on, stop trying, you're not good at reading."
"You're right" Renji agreed "physical education is more my thing."
Ichigo shuddered.
He didn't like physical education.
"I understand" Ukitake said after Rukia ended up explaining everything.
In the end she decided not to lie to him, she didn't need to make her situation even more complicated. Besides, Ukitake was a wise man, he would be able to see though her lies without problems. Rukia gulped, she didn't know if he would let her stay.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be away from Byakuya, Rukia" he said and Rukia frowned sadly.
"But…"
"Listen" Ukitake said "I do agree that locking you in a convent was… ludicrous. But Byakuya is your father, he must be worried sick along with your grandfather and your great grandfather, you're a Kuchiki."
Rukia felt a pang of guilt but let it aside.
"But I've been doing all right, and I really want to study" she explained desperately "besides grandpa and granddaddy are…"
"Grandpa and granddaddy?" Ukitake asked confused.
"Oh" Rukia said blushing slightly "I'm sorry, it's just that I call my grandfather "grandpa" and my great grandfather is "granddaddy", he doesn't like to be called great grandfather."
Ukitake chuckled at that.
Kuchiki Ginrei always refused to believe he was getting old.
"The thing is" Rukia continued "that a boy from this school has been helping me, studying with him would be fun and convenient."
"Yes" Ukitake said "you mentioned that this is the same boy who saved you, what's his name?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo" she said and noticed how Ukitake's eyes widened.
"Oh" Ukitake said and then smiled fondly "then I have nothing to worry about."
Rukia tilted her head confused.
"Why is that?"
"Listen, Rukia" he said "I'll let you stay and I won't tell Byakuya about this, but on one condition."
Rukia nodded.
"You'll be coming to see me often and tell me everything about how the people at school is treating you, I want to know where you live and I don't want you to leave Ichigo's side while you're hiding from Byakuya."
Rukia thought that all of that sounded weird but she agreed.
"Also" Ukitake continue "I want you to be open at the possibility of talking with your family, not now of course, but I want you to think about it, you have to forgive them at some point."
Rukia looked aside.
"I won't discard the possibility of forgiving them, but I don't think I'm ready to see them yet" she said coldly.
Ukitake nodded sadly.
"I understand" he said "I cannot blame you for that, will you be staying?"
Rukia smiled at him.
"Your conditions are weird, Ukitake-sama" she said "but if you're the one who's managing this school I cannot imagine a better place for me to say, being under your wing is an honor and a privilege."
Ukitake smiled at that.
The reason why he wanted Rukia to stay was because he wanted to keep an eye on her, he knew that eventually he would have to tell Byakuya where she was but for now he would let her enjoy a normal life. As far as he was concerned Byakuya deserved the cold shoulder from her daughter, Ukitake had tried to prevent Rukia from going to the convent but he failed and now the Kuchiki heiress was back, Ukitake wanted to take care of her for a while.
Not to mention that she was living with Kurosaki Ichigo, Ukitake couldn't imagine a safest place for Rukia.
"Then" Ukitake said finally "let's take you to your class."
Ichigo kept his eyes glued to his phone, Byakuya had sent him a message explaining that he would need him earlier than usual on the office. He frowned, what for? That would definitely ruin his plans, considering how he wanted to see Rukia after class but well, Rukia would have to wait. He was so caught up reading the messages that he never noticed when the teacher was called to the hallway.
Five minutes passed and Ichigo heard the teacher coming back inside, he never stopped watching his phone and he ignored the murmurs that ran around the classroom.
"Okay, guys" the teacher said "we have a new classmate today, as you know we're in the middle of the semester so please be kind with her, her name's Rukia."
Ichigo looked to the front of the class so fast that for a second he thought he had broken his own neck. There she was, Rukia, wearing the girl's uniform and a big smile, he gaped. No, this couldn't be happening, how did she find the way to school? What kind of tricks did she use for the Principal to let her enroll in the middle of the semester? He wanted answers but at the same time he was afraid to ask.
Renji looked at Ichigo with widened eyes.
"Ichigo, did you know…?" he whispered.
"No" Ichigo whispered back "I don't even know how she found the school."
"Now, you can all get to meet her later" the teacher said smiling knowingly "for now, we should find you a place to sit, oh there's one next to Dokugamine, please go on."
Ichigo ran a hand through his hair as he observed how Rukia took a seat next to Riruka of all people.
His day was barely starting.
"Okay" Soujun said as the chauffer parked outside the hospital "Kurosaki Isshin is already waiting for us, this shouldn't take long."
Ginrei frowned at his son.
"I told you and Byakuya that I'm fine" he said "we should be looking for Rukia right now, not worrying about my health."
"Father" Soujun said calmly "we all want to find Rukia, truly, but we need you alive for when we find her, God knows you're the only one of us who that girl will listen to."
Ginrei scoffed.
"I'm perfectly fine!" he excused himself.
"Then this will be fast, just a checkup" Soujun said as the chauffer opened the door for them.
Rukia didn't know that this school was mostly full of males, she glared at one of her new classmates who was gaping at the sight of her and he stopped and looked aside. Ichigo never mentioned this and when she looked at him he simply looked at her with shock written all over his face. She smirked, she surprised him at coming here without letting him know and that made her happy.
Still, the males around her weren't giving up with the staring.
"Do you ever get used to it?" Rukia asked to the girl next to her.
The pink haired girl looked at her and sighed.
"Not really" she said "but greeting them with the middle finger helps sometimes."
Rukia chuckled at that.
"So…" the girl said "my name's Riruka and I'm here because this is better than the other school, believe it or not, what's your story? How does a rich girl end up in this place?"
Rukia shrugged.
"I'm not rich" she said "and I came here on my own free will."
Riruka crossed her arms.
"Saying that you're not rich it's like saying that I'm blonde" she said "the way you walk, the way you sit, even the way you grab your pencil gives you away. Come on, share your story."
Rukia looked at the girl sitting next to her and frowned.
She looked mean but she guessed that it came with the territory, being the only girl in a class could be quite intimidating. Rukia smiled, this was her chance at having a female friend, a chance to forget about the bitches in the convent, but could she trust her? She wasn't sure, sighing she looked at the pencil Riruka was holding and her eyes widened.
"Oh my God" Rukia said "I'll tell you what, you and I, we're going to be friends."
Riruka smirked.
"You're weird" she said "but sure, in exchange of what?"
"In exchange of you taking me this afternoon to the store in which you buy that Chappy pencil."
Riruka's eyes widened as she saw the pencil she was holding.
"Deal" she said looking at Rukia "anyone who appreciates Chappy is my friend, so I'm guessing that we'll get along just fine."
Rukia smiled at that, she didn't have doubts about it.
"Everything's in order" Kurosaki Isshin said smiling.
Ginrei sighed.
"That's what I told them" he explained "but my son wouldn't believe me."
Isshin nodded as he started to put away his stethoscope.
"I cannot blame him, you look tire Ginrei-sama" he said "I suggested your retirement because a little bit of rest would be beneficial for you, and now you're retired but you don't look more at ease."
Ginrei looked at the doctor in front of him.
Kurosaki Isshin had met Byakuya at college and while they both studied different things they somehow manage to maintain a weird friendship. He had been an amazing friend and he was in charge of monitoring the health of every member of the Kuchiki clan. He knew he could trust him and Ginrei felt the need to let everything out of his system.
"Do you remember Rukia?"
Isshin nodded smiling.
"Byakuya's little princess" he said "he sent her to study overseas for what he told me, I never asked the details, did something happen?"
Ginrei shook his head.
"She doesn't want to come back home" he explained "I do not know how to convince her."
Isshin sighed.
"She's near Ichigo's age, right?" he asked "Byakuya was really overprotective with her, ever since she was born so I never met her personally but I'm guessing that she must be having a good time, youngsters appreciate freedom more than anything."
Ginrei sighed.
"I don't know what to do" he said "I wanted to spend my retirement with her by my side."
Isshin put a comforting hand on Ginrei's shoulder.
"Don't worry" he said "for what Byakuya told me that girl adores you, give her some time, she'll come around eventually."
Ginrei nodded.
He prayed that Rukia would listen to him once they found her.
There's something about this story that makes me happy, really.
Guys, thank you so much for your reviews! It means a lot to me, they help me to keep myself inspired!
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Pd. I apologize for my grammar mistakes!
