The Fallen Series: Part I - Victory Falls

by Seth's Kiss

Canon Divergent: 'They made the biggest mistake of their lives. They forgot Aizen always had a back-up plan, with it usually being far worse than the first'. DARK Fic. Rated M (violence, horror, torture, non-con), also has MxM, MxF, FxF and many unstable pairings (for now). Warnings in each chapter for safety. Proceed with caution. BEING EDITED: Chapters may vanish till completion.

7. Part One: Chapter 5 P1

The Fallen Series (a Bleach Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:

A/N: Ohaiyo! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Chapter 5! Actually, I give you half of it! As it ended up being chapter very hard to write with a tough time organizing its structure...Until I finish the other part (which I'll upload as soon as it's done, near end October, with any luck), I hope you'll like and enjoy it for I may be going even slower on the updates than before, sorry. Firstly, because next chapter (the 6th) is going to be a lot of work: see, I have no real good experience describing battle scenes (you've probably noticed) and a war is all about that so, in order for it to be readable, I'm going to go a little slow (do some research and stuff). Secondly and mostly, I'm going to be caught up with the sad cruel world called reality, draining away my time...Dramatic, dramatic. Bear with me and wish me luck, for I intend to finish this fic...unless I die, but other than that I really have it in mind to write till the end!

P.S: Note to those who are grand fans of Byakuya: he's going to go through hell starting now, thought you should know...and if you really love him: turn around now while it's still safe...

To Guest 1: Hello and thank you for your review! I am honestly and deeply flattered by you qualifying my fic as, I quote, 'awesome work'. And that happy face just made my day...and I was actually having a really bad one prior to that so thank you. I am flattered because I am but a beginner and to have such a review at but my 4th chapter is such an honour...Ok, I'm making a big deal out of it. Not cool: Must play it cool... By regaining all seriousness, I would like to formally express my gratitude...and now I sound like a snob... I suck at this, made a fool of myself...and didn't at all think of hitting the delete button...Hm... Thank you for your review and I hope to keep up writing to your expectations! Bye!

To Enjali: Hi there! So nice to hear from you again! Very good question I must admit and the fact that Aizen knows (remember that Kyoka Suigetsu told him) makes it all very intriguing, doesn't it? I don't want to spoil anything, but let's say that...Orihime will try to take advantage of the fact that Aizen's needs her powers, for her to hopefully keep Ichigo and the others out of Aizen's game. Question is: will it work? Suspense, mystery, intrigue...I hope (coughs awkwardly). Anyway, in Aizen's case...well, you got the picture: he is the epitome of evil (even in the official series)...and that makes him the best villain ever...and I may be a little too infatuated with him...Is that wrong? Thank you for your review and hope to hear from you soon!

To ChizomenoHime: Always a joy to hear from you! And yes, you were right about Hinamori! And if she surprised you last chapter, I wonder how much she'll surprise you in this one... As for Orihime, like I mentioned above, she is hoping to draw Ichigo and the others out of Aizen's plans in exchange of her powers at his service. And yes, she is relying on Grimmjow to protect the former Shinigami Substitute and she can count on him: a promise made, is a promise kept, for this version of Grimmjow anyway... Again, will it work? I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and I hope you'll like this one too! See you next chapter!

To Guest 2: Thank you for your review! Oh my God, thank you! I'm honestly flattered! I'll try to do my best! Hope you'll like the rest! Bye!

Rating for this chapter: The stakes are upping a bit: Violence, slight horror, a few character deaths...Nothing written that severely in my opinion but still: tread carefully, you never know.

Part One: Victory Falls:

Chapter 5: Unexpected Treachery Amidst (Part 1):

By the time Byakuya had reached the Kuchiki estate, he was completely and utterly out of breath, though not out of exhaustion...it was out of apprehension, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, dreading what he would find should he move past the threshold upon which he now stood stock still.

He simply couldn't fathom that this was all...actually happening: talking about Aizen's eventual liberation, envisioning the chaos and havoc it would bring, knowing that the immortal had a personal vendetta to carry out against the Kuchiki...those were all intangibly vague concepts...that had yet to occur.

So while they did draw unease and dread, they were thoughts, words, illusions, delusions, speculations...all in all, none lethal.

Now...when actually witnessing it, enduring it, living it...that was just far too overwhelming to describe or even assimilate.

That was what was truly terrifying: Living that very moment when the threat becomes real.

Before Inoue Orihime's warning, Aizen Sosuke himself had told him that he'd come after him, after his family...a threat taking place fast, far too fast for Byakuya.

It's like...The end of the world...only it's just your world that's ending. Just yours.

Inhaling deeply, he walked on in, unease escalating when he was met with stillness and quiet, prompting to accelerate his step and, by doing such, collided straight with Tetsuya in one of the halls.

"Oh my!" he laughed with a smile that instantly fell as he took in his cousin's taut expression "Byakuya-sama, you are quite pale. Is something wrong?"

"Tetsuya" uttered the young grey-eyed noble as he grasped at the blue-eyed's shoulders with a shaky grip "Is the Kuchiki household alright? Unharmed?"

"Uh...Yes, Byakuya-sama" faltered the other hesitantly whilst slowly tilting his head with concern "Everyone is fine. Why do you ask?"

Brief relief flooded the Kuchiki clan's leader as he exhaled: "Oh good. I made in time."

"Byakuya-sama? I have to be honest with you and admit that you're scaring me."

"Excellent. You should be" declared the grey-eyed noble leading his cousin to stare at him half in astonishment, half in confusion "Assemble every clan member: our family is in grave danger."

"Yes, well, that we already know with Aizen and all... Can you tell me what's going on, Byakuya-sama?" questioned Tetsuya gently, not quite sure he actually wanted to find out.

Nodding his consent, the Kuchiki's clan leader began to walk away hurriedly: "I shall. Just do as I told you: everyone needs to hear of this. I will join you shortly."

"Yes, Byakuya-sama" heeded the blue-eyed noble solemnly as he too set off "Right away."

Byakuya then accelerated his pace in order to activate the Kuchiki mansion's defence seals, when a delicate voice called out to him, making him pause in his step: "Goshujin-sama (1)?"

Turning his attention towards the person in question, he is faced with a pretty young long black-haired woman with the trademark silver grey Kuchiki eyes that were lowered as she curtsied down low and elegantly to Byakuya.

"Majiko (2)" acknowledged the young Kuchiki clan's leader with a nod "Have you heard?"

Maintaining her stance, she spoke up gently with a voice filled with devotion and admiration: "I have, Goshujin-sama. But with you as our revered leader, I do not fear danger."

"Still...Please, make your way to the gathering room" he urged insistently as he began walking off again "I have something to do before..."

"Goshujin-sama" she called out tentatively, making him halt once more "If I may..."

Sighing in exasperation as he constantly dreaded holding any kind of conversation with this particular member of his family, he relented reluctantly: "Yes, Majiko, you may. But be kind as to make it quick."

Noticing his irritation, she was quick to apologize: "Forgive me, Goshujin-sama, but I have rarely seen you these days, and I was hoping..."

She cut herself off as he narrowed his eyes at her disapprovingly: "Now is not the time."

"Is it ever?" she muttered as she in turn glared at nothing in particular.

"Majiko."

"I know, I know" she sighed, a hint of annoyance and another of sadness to her voice "The Kuchiki Clan's leader has duties that need to be attended to before the rest. You've become cruel, Goshujin-sama."

"Do not speak so hastily" voiced Byakuya quietly as his expression slightly moderated when he saw Majiko's eyes shine with ready to be shed tears: this young woman, his younger cousin, adored him...way more than it was necessary and that was exactly what made him uncomfortable around her.

"Forgive me, Goshujin-sama" she apologized yet again, before eyeing her cousin wistfully, longingly "I miss the time when we were young...without a care in the world, always happy and smiling. Where did that part of you disappear to?"

"It left with my responsibilities. I no longer can indulge in leisure when I must stand up and defend this clan. And I..."

"Can you not at least smile for me? You used to smile back then for Lady Hisana..." countered Majiko before she winced, realizing too late that she should have never said that.

Indeed, Byakuya, now livid, was quick to bring to conversation to an acerbic end: "You're not Hisana. Now if you'll excuse me..."

And with that, the Kuchiki clan's leader swiftly resumed his route, not once sparing a glance towards a remorseful Majiko, head hung low.

Silently outraged over having lost time futilely over utter nonsense, the young noble headed over to the centre of the mansion to activate a group of a seals in order to shield to the Kuchiki's estate, ensuring the defence and protection of its inhabitants.

Then he summoned the mansion's guards and ordered them to reinforce their numbers as well as the security on either side of the now functioning shield.

Once that was all dealt with, Byakuya then made his way to the gathering room where all the Kuchiki members had been assembled by Tetsuya and were patiently awaiting him.

Inside, he found his grandfather, Ginrei, his father, Sojun, his two uncles, Hitachi and Nowaki, as well as Majiko, Hitachi's daughter, Yaten and Michiru (3), Nowaki's daughters, and Tetsuya, four of his cousins, what remained of their family, all solemnly seated and waiting for what their Head leader had to say to them, who was quick to let them in on the situation: from his findings to his head-to-head with the immortal to Inoue Orihime's words.

"Oh dear me" whispered Sojun nervously, worry written all over his exhausted ill features "This is rather terrible."

"I agree" asserted Ginrei tensely with a deep frown"It's rather evident who this is about."

Raising an eyebrow, Hitachi, with grey eyes and black glossy hair swept up in a neat ponytail, sought clarification: "Is it? Please do tell."

"Look around you. Byakuya is the last living unmarried male heir" pointed out the 27th in all seriousness, whilst the one mentioned frowned, wondering to where his grandfather's words would lead "Do you have any idea what it would mean if Aizen Sosuke killed him? The Kuchiki would cease to exist...Completely. Then no one will be left amongst our clan to stand up to the children of chaos."

"You knew" voiced the young leader austerely, as he regarded Ginrei with a reproving expression, now all the warnings he'd received from the elder Kuchiki holding a new meaning: Ginrei knew of Aizen Sosuke's heritage and was not that oblivious to it as Shihoin Yoruichi had previously thought.

The old Kuchiki locked eyes briefly with his grandson before looking away as he answered sombrely: "Yes. Yes we did. Too late, but we did."

"And why did you never tell me of this?" demanded Byakuya frigidly.

"You didn't need to know" responded Ginrei just as coldly, earning a displeased glare from the young Kuchiki clan's leader.

"Forgive me for saying this..." spoke up Byakuya's father softly, interrupting the former two's glaring contest "...but I honestly do not believe that Sosuke has any intention of killing him. On the contrary...He is more likely to kill the Kuchiki name, not Byakuya in person."

Brows furrowed in puzzlement, Nowaki, holding similar features to his siblings only his hair was short and slightly unkempt, questioned: "What difference does that make? Either way, he'll..."

"Need to get his hands on Byakuya..." completed Sojun gravely, before his gaze flitted over to his son's "...which is why, my child - with what's coming - you must, even if temporarily or for far longer than that, go into hiding..."

"That is out of the question" refuted the young clan's leader vehemently as he shook his head for emphasis "As I've told many before, I. Will. Not. Run. I am not a coward, father."

With a small smile veiling sadness, Sojun's eyes softened: "This isn't about cowardice, my son. It's for your own safety."

"I'll be fine" reassured Byakuya gently, though he himself sincerely doubted his own words.

And his father simply confirmed his doubts: "With Sosuke holding the reins to all the upcoming chaos? I sincerely doubt that."

"Either, Byakuya" verbalized Ginrei slowly yet staunchly as he offered a different option whilst staring directly at his grandson "You chose one of your cousins to produce a last heir."

There was a rather pregnant pause in the room before a few exclaimed aloud, with fully taken aback expressions: "WHAT?!"

"Excuse me?!" bellowed out Yaten lividly, looking and sounding more male than female as her uncaring uncouth streak fell into play "Forgive my tongue when I call bullshit!"

"Yaten" grounded out Nowaki in a reprimanding tone, whilst he inwardly sighed at his eldest daughter: she was a tall rough tough 'boy' with short neat hair and sharp harsh features, a daughter who competed with males in everything but her body. Sometimes, due to her behaviour, even he forgot that Yaten was actually a girl.

"Are you bloody barking mad, old man?!" she carried on furiously, not at all paying heed to her father's warning, seemingly more concerned with her younger sister's welfare, Michiru, onto whom she was clinging like a lifeline "She's too young, damn it! I will not let Byaka (4) get anywhere near Michi. Get it?!"

Smoothly ignoring his granddaughter's insolence for he was unfortunately used to it, Ginrei addressed her calmly: "And what about you, Yaten?"

Eyes narrowing, she hissed between tightly clenched teeth: "Not even if he was the last man alive."

Sighing jadedly, Hitachi gently drew his own daughter's attention: "And you, Majiko?"

In contrast to loud Yaten, Majiko spoke softly, politely, yet her answer was swift and steady: "No."

"No?" echoed her father in puzzlement, for he knew of her strong feelings for her cousin "But you...You love him."

"I never said I've stopped. I've simply grown over the need to be bound to him" she explained easily, her gaze flickering over to Byakuya who, having overcome his shock from his grandfather's words, silently nodded his gratitude towards her and she tenderly smiled back in response: forgiven and forgotten, now they moved on...

"It's not as if any of you have a choice" jutted in Ginrei firmly, in a tone of voice that was so stern this time that it left no room for contradiction "Your cousin is unwilling to run so it means the latter alternative is in play. Yaten. You are the eldest, so..."

"No way in fucking hell!" she barked out furiously, causing her younger sister to wince while their father's expression turned horrified.

"YATEN!" Nowaki yelled out in reprimand, his cheeks reddened in miffed mortification.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Byakuya suddenly, startling the other Kuchiki for it was truly rare for him to raise his voice at all.

Clearing his throat, the Kuchiki noble spoke up again in his normal tone, as if he hadn't just yelled out in exasperation: "That is enough. Not only you are coercing them, but you are also forcing me. I refuse to comply with this...choice. There must be another way."

"There isn't" stated Ginrei strongly, eyes firmly narrowed "Do you know what the 'Fall of the Purebloods' means, Byakuya? If a child of chaos gets their hands on a pureblood and holds on to them, for whatever reason...that will be our downfall, the downfall of every soul here, in this very mansion."

"You are being unclear" mentioned the Kuchiki clan's noble in bewilderment for he truly did not catch onto his grandfather's words.

"You are still pure, Byakuya. You married once and yet remained untouched" explained Sojun swiftly, careful not to mention Hisana for many reasons, one of them being that it was a rather sensitive topic to breach with Byakuya, another being that Ginrei had never accepted her.

The old Kuchiki carried on the explanation in his son's stead: "You will still remain of pure blood if you are joined with someone as pure as you and will be able to transmit that purity to future generations. We are purebloods because we have kept hold of the Kuchiki ancestry since forever, since the very beginning of this clan. That is why you must tie the knot before Aizen gets out, with the aim of having at least another pureblood child in hiding."

Checking to make sure he had understood, Byakuya cautiously reworded what he had just been told: "You speak as if Aizen Sosuke will end our bloodline if I do not marry."

"That's exactly what I am saying" asserted Ginrei with a nod, expecting Byakuya to now voice his consent since currently knowing of their predicament.

The old man was very wrong: "Well, know that I will not marry Yaten or Majiko or Michiru."

"You'd better not" muttered Yaten under her breath, tightening her hold once again on Michiru who, with her long wavy hair and angelic face, patted at her elder sister's arm in hopes of soothing her.

"I love them, true, but as my cousins" carried on Byakuya fluently, earning a few mellowed out gazes in his direction, including Yaten's "Nothing more."

"What of Tetsuya?" spoke up Majiko tentatively, earning surprised stares from the one concerned as well from Michiru, who blushed a little "Can he not marry?"

Ginrei's stern grey eyes flickered over to her as he stated impassively: "His mother was not a Kuchiki so he is merely half pureblood. It's not the same."

Whilst Tetsuya lowered his eyes and remained quiet, the Kuchiki noble inhaled sharply, eyes narrowing in disapproval: "That's unfair to speak of him as such. After all his done for us?"

"That's the way it is" uttered the old grandfather in a dim implacable tone "It's already a privilege for him to even be amongst us."

"And that's insensitive" whispered Sojun quietly, he too unhappy that Tetsuya was being slandered as he had a soft spot for the gentle blue-eyed noble - who had always been by his son's side, no matter the reason - just as many amongst them...except Ginrei that is. Ever since his misadventure with Aizen Sosuke, the elderly Kuchiki has become unrelenting and wary towards anyone who was not a Kuchiki, the sentiment especially increased when considering the Rukongai people...Still, Byakuya's father found that way of thinking flawed and unwarranted.

"I am still not agreeing to your option" declared the Kuchiki clan's leader firmly as he stared defiantly at his grandfather.

"This isn't a request, Byakuya. It's an obligation."

"As Clan Leader, I am not obliged to do anything you ask of me" countered Ginrei's grandson firmly, leading the grandfather to glance at Byakuya's father with a raised eyebrow.

"Byakuya, my son..." sighed out Sojun before giving out a weak smile to the young noble "This is for your own good, believe me."

"Father, I am sorry but this I cannot accept" apologized Byakuya genuinely before his voice lowered a little as he spoke of a sensitive subject "I have and will always love Hisana only."

At the mention of that woman's name, Ginrei's composure snapped leading Sojun to wince and close his eyes, knowing what his father would say: "We do not associate with rabble, Byakuya! You already married without our consent. Brought in someone from the Rukongai without our consent. This time, you will do what you are supposed to!"

Clenching his teeth, Byakuya was about to retort vehemently his refusal yet again, when he came to an abrupt realization: "What did you just say?"

"Father!" shouted Sojun crossly, not all sympathetic of the line Ginrei had just crossed "This was entirely uncalled for! Lady Hisana was exemplary, a gentle soul! That aside, you cannot possible admonish Byakuya for your own past deeds! You are the one who associated with Sosuke's family to start with! Look where it has led us!"

"I wasn't aware of the magnitude of my thoughtlessness until afterwards!" his father retaliated just as intensely, guilt slowly seeping into his features.

"Clearly! Otherwise we wouldn't be here!"

"How was I to know that bringing a child of chaos amongst us would only enhance the curse instead of nullifying it?!"

"Don't you think that you should be wondering why you brought one in the first place regardless of the warnings?! We're cursed to be loathed by them! And that won't change!"

"Hold on" spoke up Byakuya suddenly, interrupting the dispute the moment they paused to catch their breath, whilst everyone else present remained rigid and silent, not daring to interfere "Grandfather, what did you say?"

As Sojun fell into a coughing fit with all the agitation leading Tetsuya to rush to his side, Ginrei frowned in perplexity as he regarded his grandson: "Are you abruptly hard of hearing...?"

"What did you just call Hisana?" repeated the Kuchiki clan's leader unwaveringly, wanting to make sure that his ears weren't playing tricks on.

Byakuya's question caused a strained Sojun to stare in his father's direction with intent: "Father...Don't."

Only Ginrei didn't heed to him, answering the question with blunt truth: "That woman was and will always be of the rabble in my eyes, Byakuya. And we Kuchiki do not blend with them. We are above them after all."

Byakuya stood stock still, eyes slightly wide and his lips pressed in a thin line as he tried to grasp why that particular word disconcerted him. A word just like any other, but it sounded so familiar and slightly sinister...

"I'd watch out mainly for your family if I were you, dear Byakuya. Especially for the rabble..."

In addition to Inoue Orihime's recent warning, Aizen Sosuke's chilling words of caution from before, the ones he had ominously uttered to him right after his trial, ran full force through his mind, making him blanch as he finally got who he had been talking about back then.

Wide eyes taking in his family members, the rigid young clan's leader demanded urgently: "Where is Rukia?"

In Karakura Town, the Kurosaki Clinic:

Kon was pouting...In a corner...Facing the wall...whilst an exasperated Ichigo was glaring daggers at the back of the soft toy's head.

Why he was pouting was because he had been left out...Pouting because he had and was still being ignored...Pouting because Nee-san hadn't come back. And he had been left alone with stupid, stupid Ichigo...who lost his powers...meaning he could no longer go around and 'play'.

"Kon!" called out Ichigo angrily with crossed arms as his foot thumped repeatedly upon the ground, a vein threatening to burst upon the teen's forehead "Don't ignore me!"

"'Don't ignore you'?!" echoed Kon furiously as he jumped up and pivoted to glare threateningly at the teen...as threateningly as a plushie can do so "What about me?! Do you know how long I have been ignored?!"

"This isn't about you" the orange-haired teen sighed as he rubbed at his temples in irritation: how could a mere plushie drive a person this crazy? Where was the off-button for complaints again?

"See!" yelled out the little yellow lion unhappily, tears forming at the corners of its small black beady eyes "That's your problem, right there! You never think I'm good enough!"

Shaking his head, the teen exhaled loudly: "You sound like a desperate housewife whose husband just cheated on."

Kon's jaw dramatically dropped to the floor in mortification: "WHAT?!"

"Listen" insisted Ichigo firmly in all seriousness this time as he knelt down beside the plushie "I want you to do something for me."

"Nope" refused Kon petulantly, turning his face to the wall again "Not doing it."

Raising an eyebrow, the former Substitute Shinigami taunted lightly: "Ah? Not even if it meant seeing Rukia again?"

The reaction was instantaneous, the little soft toy quickly turning towards Ichigo and shifting into a salute stance, with sparkly eyes: "Kon, reporting for duty, Ichigo sir! What do you need me for?"

"Typical" muttered the orange-haired teen with an annoyed smirk "Look, things are little...chaotic in the Seireitei, especially with the recent events and all. The Gotei's most impertinent dilemma is Aizen right now, but I have the feeling they're missing something. And I also have the feeling that Inoue knows what that might be."

"Inoue?" repeated Kon inquisitively as he tilted his head in puzzlement, before he asked a more pressing question "How is our gorgeous beloved goddess by the way?"

"I..." hesitated Ichigo with uncertainty as he recalled the last time he saw her, the words exchanged, the sadness that seemed determined to inhabit her "I...I don't know."

"Hm..." huffed the plushie reprovingly as it crossed its little chubby arms and lifted its tiny button nose in the air "Some friend you are."

"Shut up" bit out the teen half-heartedly, for Kon had struck a nerve, before hastily returning to the matter at hand "So...Since I can't go to the Seireitei, now that I'm no longer Shinigami, can you go take a look for me?"

Nodding his consent before he stopped as a thought struck him, Kon raised both eyebrows questioningly: "Not that I mind, but why not ask Glasses or Muscles instead?"

"They're not allowed to go there anymore, like me" informed Ichigo with a shake of his head before he stared at the plushie intently "This has to been done discretely."

"Roger!" saluted Kon enthusiastically yet again, before he dashed off, rushing down the stairs and making a beeline for the door.

"Wait!" called out Ichigo as he followed, making the soft toy halt in its tracks "How are you going to do this?"

"I'll think of something" shrugged Kon nonchalantly as he stared at his triangle-like claws, leading the orange-haired teen's eyebrows to fly upwards.

When the little yellow lion didn't continue, the former Substitute Shinigami pried persistently: "Such as?"

"It'll come to me. Don't worry" reassured the plushie smugly before hurrying out the door.

"I'm worried already" muttered Ichigo as he stood on the doorstep and watched Kon scamper off, realizing that he just confided an infiltration mission...to a plushie.

He might just be losing his mind.

When he suddenly heard Yuzu squeal and Karin giggle, both with unbridled joy, he definitely began to think that was the case: last he checked, Karin did not 'giggle'...unless his coma left him outdated on a few things.

As his sisters joyous laughter grew louder, Ichigo's curiosity took the better of him and, rounding the corner that led to the back of their house, he came to a sight that nearly made his jaw drop in utter shock.

In their small back garden(5), he found his two overjoyed sisters petting and cuddling a rather large and majestically imposing white panther, with scarce black markings, that was tranquilly indulged them, gently nuzzling their smiling faces.

As Ichigo's breath hitched loudly in astonishment at the spectacle, the feline's ears perked up and twitched in his direction before they then flattened against its head as the creature slowly turned its head to stare in the teen's direction, revealing to the latter a pair of vivid blue eyes.

"G...Gr...Grimmjow?!" stuttered out the orange-haired teen in an utterly stunned tone of voice, completely flabbergasted that this big...'cat' that was with his sisters was the same manically violent deadly irascible blue-haired he knew.

The feline version of said Arrancar narrowed his eyes at the other whilst silently baring his teeth, as if quite displeased by being caught in his current form, before he turned his head away and, after raising his nose high in the air, made a soft snorting noise.

Making the most comically shocked expression none has ever seen on him, Ichigo's tried to grasp what just happened: "Wait a bleeding minute. Did...Did you just...snub me?"

"Oh holy no way!" guffawed Karin hysterically at her brother, Yuzu doing the same whilst Ichigo was willing to bet that the feline had just smirked "Ichi-nii, your face was priceless! Oh my God, I can't! Jeager-san, do it again! So, this time I'll get on camera!"

Overcoming his surprise, the orange-haired teen corrected his little sister who was fiddling with her phone in case of an instant replay of hilariousness: "It's Jeagerjaques, Karin."

The black-haired twin furrowed her eyebrows as she grimaced: "Yeah, well, Yuzu and I still can't pronounce it. And he doesn't mind..." Karin paused as she glanced over to the feline "You don't, right?"

In response, Grimmjow made a sort of shrugging motion to show his indifference which led Karin to smile brilliantly in her brother's direction, making a V out of her fingers in triumph.

"This is just too surreal" stated Ichigo truly stumped, as he ran a hand over his face, suddenly feeling a little dizzy "I'm going to lie down."

Frowning as her brother began to stagger away, the black-haired twin called out jokingly to mask her actual concern: "You're always sleeping these days, lazybones!"

"Right back at you" the elder brother threw back just as teasingly over his shoulder at her before disappearing around the corner.

"Hey! I'm not lazy!" shouted back Karin crossly in retaliation despite no longer seeing Ichigo.

"Yes, you are, Karin-chan" confirmed Yuzu good-naturedly with a quiet giggle.

The other twin sister spluttered defensively: "Don't side with him, Yuzu!"

Leaning upon the adjacent wall on the other side, Ichigo shook his head at his sisters' antics.

He had to admit that whilst he had been mostly taken aback by the previous scene, he had felt a certain relaxed feeling as well as he witnessed Karin and Yuzu blissfully happy.

Ever since his 'near death experience' - as Uryuu called it - his two younger sisters weren't as cheerful and as carefree as they used to be, even though they hid it well. It was clear that they had been shaken and Ichigo had no idea how to comfort them or open up to them about what happened. His loony dad wasn't any better at that either.

Though he had been than ready to die more than once, he had never once thought of how it would affect his family, notably his sisters, realizing only recently that it would in fact take a terrible toll on them...

And yet, here they were, Yuzu and Karin, both with broad smiles that reached their ears, having the times of their lives with a giant version of a fluff-ball. Not that he'd word it like that out loud.

So in a sense he was quite grateful towards Grimmjow, even more so than before: the Arrancar seemed to smooth the roughened edges instinctively, without anyone telling him to.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

Blinking away the haze in his eyes, Ichigo stared up at the Arrancar who had resumed his humanoid form: "Weren't you with my sisters?"

"Nel took over. Says I'm hogging her time with them" explain Grimmjow with a roll of his eyes before he glared intently at the teen "You didn't answer my question."

"No trouble at all. I'm fine."

The blue-haired's eyes narrowed further as he smirked sardonically: "You're a terrible liar."

"I'm fine" repeated the orange-haired teen with a jaded sigh as he straightened up and headed for the house, only to have the Arrancar swiftly slam his hands against the wall behind the teen, on either side of Ichigo's face, effectively keeping the startled orange-haired put.

"No, you're fuckin' not" snarled out the blue-haired feline with a low growl whilst wide brown eyes looked on at him in stunned shock "I'm not bloody blind. You're starting to have bags under your eyes."

For emphasis, Grimmjow traced one of them lightly, leisurely with a finger, whereas Ichigo remained rigidly still, before the Arrancar retrieved his hand and continued speaking, this time with a gentler tone: "Nor am I damn deaf. I hear you at night."

Grimmjow was right of course: ever since his coma, the former Substitute Shinigami felt constantly tired and lethargic, incapable of doing much, for the slightest excess in exertion led to a feeling of an undeniable urge to sleep. And yet, every time, not long after he did fall asleep, he truly wished he was awake instead, for nightmares plagued him incessantly, refusing to let him heal.

And while he appreciated the other's concern, albeit forceful, there was nothing the Arrancar could do help him here. And Grimmjow had already aided him so much, to an extent Ichigo wasn't sure he could ever repay...

Closing his eyes, the orange-haired teen sighed again before he set his hands against the Arrancar's chest and gently pushed, signalling to the other to let him pass, to which Grimmjow eventually relented. And so, Ichigo walked back inside, not once glancing behind him.

And yet, his mind was reeling, for he still didn't quite understand the blue-haired Arrancar. There were times where he thought he grasped Grimmjow's personality and then, right after that, he'd reveal a whole other very different side.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques was an individual full of contradictions: he was rough yet could be gentle, generally insensitive and despite that cared more than he'd bother to admit, sarcastic and yet never lies, crazed with bloodlust in battle and yet reasonably sensible when not. Overall, Grimmjow was the most dangerous enemy or the most trustworthy ally to ever have.

Crossing the hallway and heading up to his room, Ichigo pulled his curtains shut to shield the room from the sunlight before quickly readying himself for bed.

As sleep claimed him, once again, a strong sense of foreboding, under the form of a twisted nightmare, abruptly appeared to him.

It was often the same nightmare. Often because it was nearly always different at some point or another, yet the general vision of it was practically the same.

Everything, in each corner of every surrounding, was drenched blood red. Not another colour prevailed as this one, the other scarce colour present being black. It was so omnipresent that it made one's eyesight bleed in response to the overflow of the deadly colour.

A world bathed in blood...its coppery scent invading one's scent like burning fire and ash...

A world crawling with mindless disfigured souls, blackened by pain, darkened with sin, creeping around with disconnected, disjointed steps, giving them a semblance to broken marionettes, and amongst them, were Humans, Shinigami, Hollows, Arrancars...

A world where all these poor unfortunate souls were all laughed at by an immortal high above them, dressed in white, who stood smugly behind kneeling people, their faces deep within the dirt, as the immortal in white moulded himself against their bodies, each in turn, ensnaring them, invading them, vilifying them, slowly yet surely ruining them, tainting them to the core...

This...This was the way he envisioned the entire world and the way he wished it to be...

The way it might, in time, eventually come to be.

And there was nothing Ichigo could do, for he was still a prisoner to that orb from when he was in a coma...only this time, he was suffocating, unable to breathe...in the end just to die and come back to the same scene, over and over again...

Flying into a sitting position, Ichigo woke up panting and sweating, staring dead ahead with wide open eyes, afraid that if he'd close them again, the nightmare would start all over.

A trembling hand flew up to clutch as his soaked shirt, leading him to feel his erratic heartbeat thumping wildly against his ribcage, before he clenched his eyes shut to shake away the images that persisted in haunting him, even awake.

"Nightmare again?"

Eyes flying back open and flitting over to his left, the teen found bright blue eyes staring right back at him in the dim-curtained room: "Grimmjow?"

"Fuck, you've been shaken up pretty bad" grimaced the feline Arrancar slightly as he saw, from where he was seated next to the room's closet, the orange- haired teen's form shaking hard "Want to unload?"

Exhaling deeply as he tried to calm down, the former Substitute Shinigami shook his head slowly: "Not really, no. I'm f..."

"If you say that you're 'fine' one more time, I'll make you fuckin' regret waking up" threatened Grimmjow lightly with a tightened fist before he sighed when Ichigo didn't react, still caught up in his dread induced stupor.

Deciding to give the orange-haired teen some space, the blue-haired got up and headed for the door, but just as he was about to turn the knob open, Ichigo spoke up in a tight whisper that Grimmjow would have missed if not for his heightened hearing.

"Chaos" uttered the teen tensely, still shaken, not sure why he was actually speaking of his nightmare out loud to Grimmjow of all people, who had turned around to face Ichigo as he talked "I saw...an order of utter chaos. The way Aizen envisions the world, the way he wishes for it to become. The entire world, with just...everyone enslaved, bending to his whims, far too gone...to dare fight back" the orange-haired's words faltered abruptly before he glanced over to the blue-haired with wide expressively distressed eyes "Grimmjow? What...What is Aizen really capable of?"

Face void of expression with the exception of tautly narrowed eyes and furrowed eyebrows, Grimmjow remained silent for a moment before he stated with sheer loathing: "The worst."

If he had fully recovered from the haze, he would have glared at the other for receiving such a reply: "That's not an answer. I need to know what he can or will do to us if he ever gets out."

"Us? Meaning you too?" questioned the feline Arrancar sceptically before he shook his head "I wouldn't worry about you, at least not when powerless. Aizen won't come after you."

Raising both eyebrows, the former Substitute Shinigami regarded the other doubtfully: "Look at me and tell me, honestly: do you think that Aizen won't come after me?"

Although he didn't respond to voice it aloud, Grimmjow's expression quite clearly said it: No, he didn't believe it either...that Aizen would relinquish hold over someone of such interest, just like that.

"If he really is going to get out, I doubt he is going to let all of us walk free, after everything. And I..." swallowed Ichigo hesitantly, his mind needing to authenticate something before it was too late, before it happened, so he requested cautiously "Tell me what he did to you."

Glaring at the teen darkly, Grimmjow's clear-cut response was immediate and biting as he gritted his teeth: "No."

"Look, I won't judge you or anything" reassured the orange-haired teen with sheer sincerity as he stared directly into the other's eyes "I just...I have to know."

"No, you don't" denied the blue-haired feline firmly, his glare darkening further as he spoke in a dangerously heavy voice "You have no idea what you're asking and believe me, that's the last thing you'd ever want is to fuckin' know."

"But I have to know! To know if...what I saw..." Ichigo's voice broke off with a shudder as a specific scene from his nightmare flashed before his eyes, leading him to renew his demand with an even more insistent tone "Just tell me!"

"You really wanna know, huh?" stated Grimmjow slowly before seemingly pondering on something in silence, and then, a sinister mirthless smirk was the only warning the teen got "Ok then."

Promptly crossing the distance that separated the in the small room, the feline Arrancar wordlessly grabbed at one of the teen's wrists in a fierce grip and forced it down on the bed, powerfully pinning it there.

Jumping into full panic at the indescribable violently ominous look in those blue eyes, the former Substitute Shinigami, though completely taken aback by the change of atmosphere, valiantly fought back, aiming punches with his free arm and kicking out with his legs...only there was a slight problem: now that the teen had lost his Shinigami powers, he was nothing but a plain human and was at a total drastic disadvantage against an Adjuchas Arrancar, so before long, though not without an elaborate struggle, Ichigo found himself pinned to the bed with Grimmjow towering over him, trapping the orange-haired's wrists beside his head and blocking his legs, by setting his entire and greater upon the former Shinigami Substitute.

Both panting due to the effort, in addition to the Arrancar still being livid and the other now slightly apprehensive, Grimmjow glared straight into those wide brown eyes beneath him as snarled quietly: "Since you were so fuckin' intent on hearing me out, I'm not letting you run away from this. If there was a word stronger than evil, than I'd definitely use it for him: He'll resort to anything to get his hands on someone he has set his mind on crushing: if you have no one important in life, he directly encages you to mould you, but if you do, he blackmails you with those you hold dear or love, then, once he has you, once he owns you, he rips away your sanity, strips you of your dignity, violates your intimacy, breaks your identity, and even when you're nothing but a begging shitty mess pleading for mercy, he spares you absolutely none."

"Grimmjo..." began the teen only to have the rest of his sentence die in his throat as he yelped slightly when the Arrancar brutally tightened his hold on the teen's wrists, leaving them now throbbing with a start of numbness: it had been awhile since he had bruises.

"Shut. Up" warned the blue-haired feline with a low growl, with no intention of stopping now that he had started "All the while I was his Sexta Espada, he had reduced me to a plaything, a fuck-toy" when Ichigo's eyes widened even further at his words, Grimmjow's dark smirk from before returned "Yeah, that's right, Kurosaki. Aizen values power more than anything, and what better way to flaunt it off than to merge it with sex, rape at best?"

That was it, what Ichigo wanted, needed to confirm and yet sincerely dreaded to hear, to be aware of. And now that he was...

Like most adolescents his age, with all the modern technology, it wasn't that hard to have an early view of sex of all kind, and though it never really attracted him in sense that he hadn't truly found yet anyone to lose his virginity with, someone he loved - for he believed in true love, as ironically as it sounded for a guy like him who generally expressed zero interest in it - Ichigo wasn't unaware of it. Shy, a little naive and very awkward about it, yes, but not oblivious, for the thing is, when you lived in a clinic, you were bound to hear about it sooner or later, notably even if rarely, under the form of rape.

These recent years, Ichigo has assisted his father on such occasions when, thankfully enough his sisters weren't around, they were approached by people who were too afraid to go to the hospital, and yet, were far too damaged not to be healed: one time it was a housewife who was abused by her drunken husband and brother-in-law; another time, it was a young student that was gang-raped in the streets; and one other time, it was a settling of scores but it was done to a guy instead.

The orange-haired had expressed surprise at the fact, for the possibility hadn't truly occurred to him, before he was given a brief but solemn explanation by his father that, though the reasons varied, non-consensual sex could happen to anyone.

And the mere thought of anyone at all having to endure it from Aizen, made Ichigo feel sick...

And the more the Arrancar spoke, all the while hoarsely whispering directly in the teen's ear, telling him of what he had endured at Aizen's hands - though not that explicitly - letting him of how the immortal exactly knew how to make him tick, knew of every spot on his body that was sensitive, that he could exploit to his sadistic advantage, the sicker then teen felt, until he couldn't take it anymore, feeling the undying urge to cover his ears to the horror of what Aizen Sosuke was capable of: "Please, Grimmjow, stop."

"You fuckin' asked" hissed the blue-haired feline meaningfully, drawing away from the now burning red ear and nearing the teen's half-flushed half-horrified face instead, the two now so close that their noses touched and their breaths intermingled, as Grimmjow carried on speaking in a low dark tone "Do you know that sex, no matter its form, isn't just about pain or pleasure? It's also about power, and that fucker really knows how to make use of it."

What truly astonished the Arrancar, was that, instead of fearing what Grimmjow may or may not do to him given the vulnerable position he was in, Ichigo was far more horrified by what he was hearing and it eventually led him to lower his eyes, ashamed by where his persistence led to, before apologizing with a quiet choked up tone: "I...I'm sorry."

After a deafening moment of utter silence, Grimmjow finally relinquished his hold on the other and sat back, leaning against the wall beside the window.

As Ichigo also sat up slowly and rubbed at his wrists - that were beginning to turn purple, definitely bruising - he glanced over ruefully towards the blue-haired, who had visibly calmed down, before the orange-haired received a shrug and a rolling of eyes, as the other muttered: "Tch. Of course you are."

Clearing his throat as he tried to get a grip upon all he had just found out, the former Shinigami Substitute tried to speak, though with difficultly: "So...He...Aizen...He...You..."

"Raped me" finished the blue-haired dully, snorting as he saw the teen cringe at the sentence "It's funny how you humans can't say it. I wasn't the only one but he did seem to favour me, for some ridiculous twisted reason."

"You're not...ashamed? Mortified that...it happened to you?" uttered Ichigo in pure shock at the blue-haired's indifference: the Arrancar wasn't really behaving like a rape victim - not like those he had met or read about anyway - it was like he became totally detached to the fact. It was admirable yet chilling at the same time...though the teen now understood the other's apparent lack of concern when it came to personal space or physical contact: he just...no longer cared.

Raising an eyebrow, Grimmjow countered apathetically: "Why would I? I've got nothing to hide or be ashamed of...Especially not when Aizen's the one who took it all away."

"I'm so s..."

"Stop it" snapped the feline Arrancar tersely as he looked away, fully fed-up of meaningless and useless apologies "It's too late: it's been done. I don't need your fuckin' pity."

Turning back to face the teen, he saw Ichigo with a strange expression, which looked half-way between indecisive and reluctant, but as Grimmjow was going to ask about it, he found himself with the teen's arms wrapped around his neck, drawing him into a warm embrace.

Stunned rigid, the Arrancar's wide blue eyes glanced down towards the bright orange hair of the teen whose face was against his neck: "What the fuck...are you doing?"

Heart thumping wildly at the bold absurdity of his action and yet feeling as if it was something he just had to do, Ichigo breathed out against the other's skin, no longer capable of backing out of the awkward moment he was responsible of: "You're right: you don't need pity. You just need a little show of humanity."

Although he had come to realize that the Arrancar wasn't in any way adverse to contact, the teen half-expected to be flung out the window for even suggesting that the other needed some form of comfort. Instead of that however, much to the teen's surprise, the Arrancar eventually relaxed in the other's hold, setting his chin on the orange hair and exhaling jadedly: "You and that girl with you altruistic ideologies...No wonder you're so bloody easy to step on."

Not daring to ask what the other meant in case it broke the moment, though he had caught on that the blue-haired was talking about Orihime, Ichigo tightened his hold over the other and Grimmjow indulged for a moment longer, though he never once returned it, before he cleared his throat and patted at one of the teen's arms: "Ok, that's enough. I'm not a bloody teddy bear, Kurosaki."

The comment taking him aback, the orange-haired pulled back instantly to give the blue-haired an incredulous look, deciding to play with the Arrancar's words to shake off his embarrassment: "If you're not a teddy bear, what was that back in garden with my sisters? And besides, since when can you turn into a cat anyway?"

"I'm not a cat, Kurosaki, I'm a feline" grounded out Grimmjow with a lackadaisical glower "A panther...Making way more dangerous than a simple fuckin' housecat. This Gigai thing your friend made allows me to turn into that form at will. He was very and oddly happy when he found out what kind of I was, so he went out of his way to accommodate me. Freakin' weird guy that one."

"Yeah, you bet he is" fully agreed the teen with a roll of his eyes "And...The letting Karin and Yuzu hug you part?"

"Will you fuckin' drop it already? They're kids. I'll spoil them any day."

"So...you're actually a big softie at heart, aren't you?

"Another bloody word, Kurosaki, and I'm knocking you out."

Quietly laughing a little, Ichigo sobered as the previous part of their conversation crept back to him: "How...How did you endure it all?"

"What do you mean?" the feline Arrancar frowned, not following the sudden change in the discussion.

"How did you not break?" asked the orange-haired teen with concern, as he tried to imagine how suffering of such an existence would take toll on his friends, his family...himself...

"Who says I'm not broken?" responded the other softly, shaking his head when Ichigo stared at him wide-eyed "I've learned how to pretend...not fuckin' necessarily how to cope."

"If...If Aizen...He ever..." the former Shinigami Substitute couldn't finish his sentence, but the meaning of it was clear: if Aizen ever did that to him, Ichigo honestly didn't know if he'd have the sufficient strength to overcome it.

"Yeah" accepted Grimmjow unwaveringly, having understood, steadfast blue eyes locking with apprehensive brown ones "Yeah, I'll be there for you."

"I kind of feel a little weak and stupid admitting this but...I'm afraid" confessed the teen in a hushed whisper, with a nervous smile "Not for me specifically, but...my family and friends... I couldn't live with myself if they got hurt because of me..."

Eyes briefly going wide for a fraction of a second, for Orihime had said exactly the same thing, Grimmjow's expression then softened as he drew closer to the teen to murmur just as quietly: "Kid...If you weren't afraid, I'd be worried. Fear's a strong emotion we can't live without: no matter how hard we try to ignore it or avoid admitting to it, we'll always eventually feel it. It's a very powerful motivator...Just don't let Aizen use it against you. Or it'll destroy you."

Brown eyes fluttered open, not recalling when he had closed them, Ichigo looked around blinkingly before his eyes fell upon the sight Grimmjow deeply asleep beside him on the bed. With what he knew of the Arrancar now, he could stare at the other in awe and realized that this was the first time he had an undisturbed close-up view on the blue-haired feline's features, that exceedingly more striking when he was relaxed.

Ichigo considered himself straight and yet there was no denying Grimmjow's dangerous beauty: it made the teen wonder if that was the reason Aizen showed interest him. He then decided that no, it was a little too shallow for the immortal to the think that way: an ulterior motive perhaps?

As his mind mentioned the prisoner of Muken, the former Shinigami Substitute cringed and curled up on himself, accidently bumping his head against the Arrancar's chest and though it didn't wake him, Grimmjow instinctively and gently wrapped an arm around the teen, as if sensing the latter's distress, stunning the orange-haired yet again.

Nope, Ichigo still didn't fully understand the enigma that was Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

As he pondered quietly to himself on deciphering the Arrancar before him, he recalled a particular conversation he had with Nelliel some time yesterday, whilst Grimmjow was up sleeping in the attic and his sister were preparing dinner. No idea where his father was though.

"Nel? Why're you doing out here in the cold? Come on, let's go back in."

"I want to tell you something about Grimmjow-sama first. To help you understand him better. And I don't want him to hear..."

"Look, I...I'm curious, true, but I don't want to pry or anything."

"Itsugo's not prying. It's just me telling you."

"Yeah and if I let you, that means that I'm prying."

"Grimmjow-sama was once known as El Felino Rey in the Hueco Mundo."

"El Felino Rey?"

"Yep. The Feline King."

"Was he king?"

"No, but he did reign over the Hueco Mundo."

"How is that possible? Doesn't a reign involve...I don't know, being king?"

"It was different for us at first. Rulers in the Hueco Mundo were rare for they were often overthrown by others who sought to claim the title of supreme ruler. At that time, at the time when Grimmjow emerged, there were very few Vasto Lorde, three of them you know: Hallibel, who was on a quest of survival, Stark, whose presence was too overwhelming to get close to, and Ulquiorra, who I honestly don't know much about. Anyway, of these few Vasto Lorde, none were interested in ruling over the others, so the Hueco Mundo remained like that, majorly kingless with the Adjuchas fighting each other endlessly to no avail. But then Grimmjow appeared and, despite he too not being interested in reigning over everyone, was quick to be recognized as someone worthy and powerful enough to follow and obey, inadvertently drawing many Arrancars to trail wherever he went."

"That's when he got a herd...One that he eventually grew to care about."

"Yes...Only he'll never admit that loud: too much stubborn pride on his part for that. What made him different, what made him great was that he was amazingly fair: he spared many, feeding to his fill, never hunting just for the thrill. He also saved each and everyone us, saved me, and wanted nothing in return, no matter how willing we were to offer. Anyway, for a long time, it was just us, and everything was perfect. Unfortunately, it was too perfect for it to last forever. First was the arrival of Barragan Luisenbarne who crushed a good half of the Arrancars, forced many of the survivors into submission and pursued with a promise of death those who refused to bow down to him. Grimmjow-sama of course was of the latter, as were some of us in the herd, but another few, terrorized by the thought of being targeted by Barragan, left either to swear allegiance to Barragan - like Ggio-chan, Findor-chan and Abirama-chan, the latter doing so to spare Cirucci-chan- or to seek refuge from other Vasto Lorde - like Mila-chan and Sun-chan who ran over to Hallibel. Those who stayed by Grimmjow-sama's side were Luppi-chan, Cirucci-chan, Illfort-chan, Eduardo-chan, Di-Roy-chan, Shawlong-chan, Nakim-chan, Pesche, Dondochakka and me, all of us constantly on the run but always looking out for each other. And then Aizen came along and took everything away from us and from Grimmhow-sama, everything he ever had. The only things he has left are his survival instincts and his willpower...and the latter may be the only thing still keeping him together."

"You make him sound as if he's not afraid of anything, even when beaten down."

"Grimmjow-sama can be afraid, but to him, there are things far more important than fear..."

It was undeniably strange, albeit twisted logic - then again, it wasn't like him to think logically - to feel safe in the arms of one of the most deadly beings he knew, but with all the hardships the Arrancar had been through and survived against, it led one to remain hopeful that, as long as Grimmjow was on their side, the outcome of anything faced would be far more...liveable.

It was a brittle, very vague, hope, but, Kurosaki Ichigo was more than willing to cling to it...

000000000000000000000000000000000000

Renji grumbled under his breath in annoyance as he swept the halls with fierce energy, feeling slightly conned, for it truly seemed that wherever he went, he was incontestably stuck with chores...

Here is how it went: most of the Shinigami and Arrancars were tired and mostly bored, when

Rangiku suggested a friendly game of poker. And to make things more interesting - though Renji sincerely didn't get how it did - there was a penalty of housekeeping for a week to whoever lost...

So, between Rangiku, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Findor, Illfort, Cirucci, Abirama, Sung-Sung - who quite literally had a poker face - and himself, it so happened that the one who lost was no other than the 6th Division's lieutenant, Abarai Renji in person.

In the end, whilst everyone went out to go to the mall - Rangiku's idea also - he was stuck alone, sweeping, scrubbing, dusting and tidying the house clean, and gosh were the Arrancars a messy, careless bunch. Most of them anyway...Though none of them outshined the 10th Division's lieutenant in that department.

At least Ichigo, Nel and what's-his-name were all three due any minute now to come and visit, something that made both genuinely cheerful and yet slightly apprehensive.

Cheerful, as it had been awhile he hadn't seen the teen...not since he was faced with Toshiro's downright and not so gentle refusal to allow him back to the Seiretei.

Renji had felt terribly sorry for the kid: he had looked vexed beyond words. And that's what was making him apprehensive.

Had Ichigo gotten over that or was he still mulling on it? According Rukia, the former Substitute Shinigami had a bad habit on dwelling heavily on depression when he felt useless or powerless or both...

Then again, the blow would have been a lot harsher if had come from his own captain, wouldn't it?

"Abarai."

"AH!" yelled out the redhead with fright as he jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound of his captain's voice "Good God, Kuchiki-taichou! You nearly gave me a heart attack...!"

"Have you seen Rukia?" questioned Byakuya pressingly, casually ignoring his lieutenant's dress wear, though with slight difficulty: Renji was covered in soot and dust, a bright pink apron over his casual black jeans and white T-shirt.

Flushing a little in embarrassment as he saw his captain raise his eyebrow at his get-up, the 6th Division's lieutenant tried to focus on answering: "Uh...yeah, but that would have been yesterday. She was here with us then went over to see Ichigo before leaving for the Seireitei. You do you ask?"

Renji watched perplexed as Byakuya's lips drew into a thin line and his eyebrows furrowed deeply when Ichigo suddenly called out as he neared the house's entrance: "Hey, Renji! How are you...? Byakuya? Oi, Byakuya! I need to ask you something!"

The Kuchiki noble tsk-ed in annoyance as the orange-haired teen accelerated his pace towards them, before Byakuya glanced over to his lieutenant: "Remember not to tell him anything."

"Taichou...what's going on?"

The young Kuchiki's voice was but a whisper in the wind as he shunpo-ed away: "Not now."

By the time Ichigo and the two Arrancars reached the redhead, the 6th Division's captain was gone: "Damn it, what's his hurry?"

Still bewildered, Renji opened his mouth to speak but found himself all tongue-tied: "He's...uh...He's pretty busy...and all. Like...all captains, you know?"

"Why was he here then?" inquired Nelliel innocently, though her question was spot on to counter the 6th Division's former words.

"He..." hesitated the redhead cautiously, wondering what he should say whilst his mind was still reeling over the bizarreness of his captain's impromptu appearance and tense behaviour "Wanted to remind me to not forget about my paperwork..."

"Byakuya..." deadpanned Ichigo incredulously, his eyebrows slowly inching upwards with every word "The Byakuya, captain of the Gotei and more specifically the 6th Division, as well as head leader of the Kuchiki Clan, came all the way here...because of paperwork?"

Rubbing at the back of his neck nervously, Renji nodded with a tight smile: "Yep, totally 'cause of that."

"Oi, Shinigami" cut in Grimmjow with a raised eyebrow, whilst Ichigo stared at the Arrancar in silence: it felt funny to hear the feline use that word for someone other than him.

"Hm?" acknowledged the 6th Division's lieutenant absentmindedly.

"I don't know about Kurosaki but I'm definitely not stupid" stated the blue-haired steadfastly whilst Ichigo glowered at the other for his words "What the fuck's going on back there?"

The redhead didn't need to ask where 'there' was, but he was simply far too puzzled to think straight: "I...I don't know."

Rolling his eyes, Grimmjow snorted with a smirk: "Well, at least you're being honest now."

"Renji?" questioned Ichigo with slight concern, not at all liking the dreadful sensation of foreboding from earlier that was swiftly crawling back to him.

"I didn't ask" confessed Rukia's childhood friend with a sheepish smile, before laughing it off "Look, don't sweat, ok? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing big. Let's go on inside, ok?"

And though Renji said that to make himself feel better as well, he still had a terrible feeling...

Back within the Soul Society, somewhere in the Rukongai:

"I'd watch out mainly for your family if I were you, dear Byakuya. Especially for the rabble..."

Aizen Sosuke's threat rang incessantly within Byakuya's head whilst he searched high and low for Rukia...to no avail: she had completely disappeared, not an ounce of her reiatsu out there to help detect her.

He had sifted through both the Seireitei and the Rukongai, went over to the Human world and even to the Hueco Mundo...His searching had led to absolutely nothing.

He had felt it safe not to let anyone know about Rukia's disappearance for Byakuya had no idea where it would lead if he did. So even back home, he had only voiced his concern as to where she was before he set off, not once telling them of the real danger that she might be in.

The Kuchiki's clan leader felt a knot form itself in his throat as unpleasant possibilities of what could have happened to her weighed down on him. Was she alive? Was she dead? If Aizen was involved, which of the two was worse, given how Ichimaru Gin, Inoue Orihime and the Arrancar Jeagerjaques held the immortal in dread? What worth was his promise to his beloved now?

The Kuchiki noble halted abruptly his rushed pace, absentmindedly taking his surroundings in and making note that he was currently lost somewhere south of the Rukongai, before he exhaled deeply and closed his eyes with furrowed brows, whilst trying to collect his thoughts.

If he were Aizen Sosuke - grateful as he was not to be - where would he have his allies hold Rukia?

'Somewhere strategic' supplied his mind helpfully, as he sifted through his line of reasoning logically 'If, as things were previously speculated, I am to be blackmailed, Rukia would be held out of my reach, yet not that far as to allow anyone else to get to her in my stead...So, definitely not in the Seireitei, nor in the Hueco Mundo or the Human World. That leaves the Rukongai. Still, where in the Rukongai would she be? Not in plain sight, of course. So, far from the districts, meaning that leaves...'

"The forests..." completed Byakuya out loud, as he opened his eyes again and glanced around.

Right now, he was near one, so he could start here...but with the sheer amount of wood and shrubbery covering every dark corner that offered each given forest of the Rukongai, the noble would never get this over with in a mere couple of hours.

Grey eyes darting up to the slowly dimming sky, evening ticking closer by the clock, another word of warning ran through his mind: 'Whatever Aizen has planned for us is seemingly very close to completion and according to him, we have only until tomorrow night.'

They already were tomorrow meaning the entire Seireitei had until night to prevent Aizen's liberation.

And according to recent events, it was probably close to becoming a real event...that's why Rukia got involved, to drag Byakuya in. Just like Aizen had planned. Damn that man...

Byakuya inhaled deeply before sprinting off again, diligently searching at his best, vowing not to rest lest he found a semblance of a trace that he wouldn't let go until it led to his sister...

Moments later, something caught the noble's eye, glinting from where it was embedded in the ground right in the middle of a glade: it was Sode no Shirayuki,

The instant he registered what it was, Byakuya was about to make a sudden mad rush for it when he noticed the setting: it was almost...inviting, far too convenient for mere coincidence.

Setting foot on a branch high up in a tree near the clearing, he looked around carefully and, with sharp eyes, saw the thin near invisible wires surrounding the zanpaktou: had he ran to Rukia's sword head on, Byakuya would have hacked himself to pieces.

Vigilant eyes trying to discern the source of the wired strings, the Kuchiki leader's heart nearly fell to his stomach when he was met with the sight of a petite black-haired, head hung low, gagged and bound to a different tree down below, being watched over by two females dressed in white, one with short blonde hair, the other with long black hair in twin pigtails.

This time, he did rush over and, oddly enough, as soon as he made his presence known by setting his foot on the ground near them, the two females, startled, instantly departed, disappearing with a loud resounding sonido.

Frowning in slight bewilderment and hence still on his guard, he made his way over to his captive sister and in a flash, once he drew his sword, freed Rukia from her bindings, leading her to fall limply into his arms.

Lowering her still body to the ground, Byakuya tentatively checked her vitals for he could not sense her reiatsu, exhaling deeply in relief when he felt a steady gentle heartbeat.

Carefully checking his younger sister for any general injuries and grateful to find none, he watched as she gradually stirred, her dark lashes fluttering slowly before she opened and raised her disoriented eyes to her brother's.

As recognition filled them, Rukia smiled softly, whispering croakily: "Nii-sama."

"Stay still, Rukia" hushed the elder sibling soothingly, eyebrows frowned in concern "There's something wrong with your reiatsu and you may be weakened as a result."

"Oh, nii-sama" breathed out the petite Kuchiki in a relieved tone, before she sat up and threw her arms around Byakuya's neck, taking him aback and making him go still "I so afraid! I had no idea what to do! But...I knew you'd come for me. I just knew!"

Trembling slightly, she drew herself closer to her brother and buried her face in the crook of her brother's neck, sniffling quietly before going instantly rigid when she felt the tip of a blade at her throat.

Teary wide eyes blinking with innocent confusion, Rukia drew back a little to stare up at her brother only to flinch when she saw him staring hard at her: "N...Nii-sama?

Grey steel eyes narrowing even further, Byakuya's voice was deadly: "You're not Rukia."

"What?!" stammered the petite Kuchiki with a half-horrified half-shocked expression "What are you saying? Belay that, why would you say that?! Of course I'm me! Do you not recognize your own sister?"

"You are not Rukia" he persisted knowingly as he pressed the blade even further, ready to draw blood had the other not hastily backed away from him "Your disguise may be perfect but your acting is way off."

Rukia's shocked expression slowly turned dark, lips now carved into a broad malevolent grin and eyes shining with haughtiness and distaste, as she spoke in a very different tone of voice, this one deep and suave yet sinister and demented: "Well, I'd better be more vigilant next time, hm? It's just so hard being...well, any of you, pesky Shinigami."

Readjusting his zanpaktou, Byakuya's shifted into a defensive stance as Rukia's body began to shift, to change, to morph until the noble was now facing a very different person entirely.

Lanky and dainty yet tall looking in contrast to Rukia, a female now stood instead with a silvery blonde colour for hair which was cut finely to frame her angular face, her skin was a very pale ashen tint similar to snow and her eyes were crimson blood. With pale grey eye-shadow, her lips were dyed black and a Hollow mask was situated directly upon her face, revealing the evenly cut row of teeth carved straight into her right cheek.

Her form, quite shapely and voluptuous all in the right places, was barely covered by her uniform, which consisted of a white sleeveless jacket with the usual black motives, zipped upwards half-way thus exposing her generous cleavage, with her hands and arms covered by black fingerless gloves, revealing silver painted well-manicured nails. The jacket prolonged itself beyond her hips and her scanty black shorts, brushing her ankles that were clad in the shoes formed like mid-thigh high-heeled boots.

Between her left boot and the bottom left side of her shorts, the revealed skin was marked with a large black gothic nine.

The identity of this female wasn't lost on Byakuya: he was facing an Espada.

A sudden sound of sonido echoed once again and there were now the two other females from before standing silently beside her: the one with short blonde hair had a green eye and the other with ebony hair held in pigtails had a cerise eye, both wearing the same Hollow mask yet on opposite eyes.

Fracción, he supposed.

When the Espada waved at him coyly, the Kuchiki noble did not react with the exception of him tightening his hold firmly on his zanpaktou, leading her to sigh dramatically: "And here I thought my act was perfect as usual. Pray tell what gave me away."

"Not only Rukia would never mention being afraid, but she also wouldn't be so comfortable touching me. Both are mannerisms we Kuchiki do not indulge in."

"I see..." uttered the female Espada with mocking fascination, before she smirked sinisterly "So...Kuchiki Byakuya..."

Without bothering to ask her how she knew who he was - it was pointless after all: Aizen must have had all the Espada aware of the Gotei 13's identities - Byakuya immediately raised a hand, cutting off the other as he stated coldly: "Until I know that she is safe, I have absolutely no interest in what you have to say."

"Is that so?" she taunted smoothly with raised eyebrows, before she sauntered over to him and halted in her steps as soon as she was in the blade's field of play "How about this: if you hear me out, we'll let you see her for yourself. Wouldn't you like that?"

Not trusting her yet not wanting to risk passing up the opportunity to find his sister, the Kuchiki clan's leader lowered his zanpaktou slightly: "Where is she?"

Smirk growing exceptionally wider, the Espada turned her back on the noble and walked off, before stopping at her Fracción's level and looking over her shoulder, she beckoned at him with a finger and scathing tone of voice: "Follow me, Kuchiki Byakuya, and you'll know."

000000000000000000000000000000000000

The first thing she noticed when she was beginning to come to was that the air around her was cold and humid, her back uncomfortable against a rocky damp surface.

The next thing that came to her attention was that she was bound at her ankles, folded and aching beneath the weight of her body, as well as her wrists, tied together behind her back.

As she blinked away the haziness and slowly started to take in her surroundings, she let her fingers touch the surface behind her to confirm her suspicions before her eyes did: apparently she was in a cave, and according to the atmosphere, she still somewhere in the Soul Society, more specifically in the Rukongai, only she didn't recognize where she was.

The next thing she forced herself to do before attempting to free herself - after becoming slightly more conscious and seeing that Sode no Shirayuki was not beside her - was to remember what had let to this.

One moment, she had been calmly taking her time to walk back to the Kuchiki estate, the next moment, after waking, she found herself here...

So between these two instances...what happened to her? How did she even fall asleep? Or was it pass out? Had she been knocked out?

She couldn't recall. Her mind was muddled and her thoughts jumbled. She felt lethargic...sick.

It was then that she noticed that whilst she was aware of her entourage, meaning that she still had access to her reiatsu, it was clouded by a presence - well, more than one actually - that cut off her perception of anything else.

Her eyes were quick to fall upon the ones responsible, who were completely ignoring her in favour of speaking amongst themselves in mostly neutral whispers, with some being discreet and some being utterly oblivious to that term.

Much to her horror, she then took in that she was in fact looking at Aizen's Espada and their Fracción, feeling quite a chill upon that very realization.

Quietly, she analysed each and every one of them, counting, much to her total dismay nearly twenty, the ten top Espada included: their demeanour, very different from the others, easily distinguished them as such from the few Fracción present.

Though their names were lost to her, she recognized four due to their appearances, as those who had fought or met them had spoken of them during reports, well after the war: there was the Octavo Espada, who had fought against Renji, Uryuu and Mayuri, before being killed by the latter; the Septimo Espada, from whom she had been protected from by her brother and had then been slaughtered by Byakuya's hand; the Quinto Espada, who had battled against Kenpachi and lost; and the Cuatro Espada...the one who had died after his battle with Ichigo.

Seemingly, the rumour was no exaggeration: clearly, the Espada had been brought back to life. Now the question that remained was how?

Dark indigo eyes scrutinizing, Rukia's attention was drawn towards the six other Espada, those completely unfamiliar to her, before she noticed that there was only one left, the other five having apparently left whilst the petite Shinigami was focused on the former Espada.

The one that had remained was hissing animatedly at the 5th and 8th Espada, baring her teeth angrily whilst they merely sneered at her.

She was of average size and rather feminine in appearance yet had a quite hefty build, giving her a somewhat muscular allure. With flaming red hot messy short hair, she had a slightly tanned complexion and very bright neon green eyes, shining angrily as she argued with her colleagues.

She wore a dark fuchsia eye-shadow and her mask was what looked like a bull horn protruding from the left side of her head, its roots buried beyond her unruly hair.

Her uniform was overly simple: she had the lower white hakama and dress shoes as most of the others; her upper clothes were composed of a short long-sleeved white jacket with a black vest beneath it, moulding her chest.

Nearby, a few Fracción were stationed quietly here and there, some focused intently on the dispute occurring between the trio mentioned above.

Rukia let her eyes drift once again over the group dressed in white before she shut her eyes and shivered, curling up on herself as much as she could: they were powerful, very powerful.

A dark and overwhelming energy emanated from them and it made her feel ill to her stomach. Before, an Espada's reiatsu was merely suffocating and that was bad as it was; now, it nearly felt like Aizen's reiatsu, only slightly dimmer.

The petite Kuchiki swallowed nervously: she didn't want to think of what a battle against any of them would lead to...

"Oh" exclaimed abruptly a voice, startling Rukia and leading her to open her eyes to see that Aizen's allies were now all focused on her "The Shinigami's awake."

Drawing her face into one of bravery and boldness, the 13th Division's lieutenant questioned steadily: "What are you doing in the Soul Society, Espada?"

"Is she an idiot?" deadpanned the muscled female Espada from before, addressing all yet none of her colleagues in particular, before she snarled at Rukia "Why do you ask the obvious, Shinigami?"

"Be gentle with her" chided the Octavo Espada with a pat on her shoulder and a click of his tongue "She just woke up from a rather brutal blow to that pretty little head of hers...courtesy of our imbecilic telegraphic pole here."

Said Espada glowered down at the pink-haired Espada: "Looking to get fucked up, Szayel?"

"As if you could give me satisfaction, Nnoitra-san" scoffed the other before he focused his attention back on the petite Kuchiki "We are here for Aizen-sama, hence we came to invade. Aren't going to welcome us?"

"How...How did you get in?" asked Rukia in bewilderment, her forged expression slipping "And that, without us even knowing?"

With a quirk of his lips, Szayel taunted with a sing-song tone of voice: "Mysterious, isn't it?"

Seeing that her question wasn't going to be attended to, the petite Shinigami asked another: "Why did you capture me?"

"Why else do you think...if not to lure your dear brother to us, hm?"

Rukia's eyes instantly narrowed at that as she declared smugly with a proudly raised head: "Then you are wasting your time."

"I think not" joined in the Cuatro Espada, his voice unnaturally devoid of emotion which sent shivers down the young lieutenant's spine "Seeing how important you are to him."

Fumbling with her words, the petite Kuchiki murmured quietly: "Well, no...Not that much."

It was the Septimo's turn to get involved in the conversation: "Did you forget how he ruthlessly brought me down for simply suggesting to attack you, little girl?"

Yes. Yes, she did. Well, she had been unconscious at that time, but Hanatarou had later told her everything of that time, so she was aware.

Though how they were positive that it would draw in her brother she did not know, for Byakuya wasn't exactly the most overly expressive person: she didn't understand how they would be conscious of his over-protectiveness for her. Lest Aizen spoke of it...

So she persistently insisted on discouraging them: "Still...it won't work."

"Then clearly you underestimate your value to the Kuchiki clan's leader" stated the Cuatro Espada with finality, which led Rukia to be unable to find a comeback for that statement. Aizen had definitely told them.

Eyes darting over to the female Espada with a single bull horn, the 13th Division's lieutenant asked tentatively: "I didn't recognize all of you. Who were the other five and you?"

"I am Furia, the Decimo Espada" responded the one in question, speaking loud and clear as she raised her head arrogantly "We are a few of Aizen-sama's initial creations. We are the ones who failed the first rickety transactions."

"Failed?" repeated Rukia with a stunned expression, as she tried to decipher what the other meant "As in you...died? How are you still alive then?"

Furia raised an eyebrow: "What makes you think we're alive? There's no coming back for a Hollow that was initially destined for hell. Once we die, we are damned there for eternity. There are however some exceptions..."

"Such as?"

"Well, to make it simple..."

"You are not telling her anything" cut in Szayel severely with an utterly aghast expression, as if telling her 'what-in-the-Hueco-Mundo-are-you-thinking?'

"Why not?"

"Just don't do it" the Octavo Espada spelled out exasperatedly, giving the impression that he was trying to convince a particularly dumb individual.

"Tough luck, kid" shrugged Furia casually as she closed her eyes and walked off "Looks like you're staying in the dark on this one."

"But..." began Rukia with a frown before she gasped out aloud in aghast shock instead when someone beside Szayel caught her eye "Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou?!"

It was a wonder how the 13th Division's lieutenant recognized her because Nemu Kurotsuchi was very different from the one she had once known: with dead pale ashen skin, the 12th Division's lieutenant now had pale lavender hair instead of it being natural black and dimmed yellow amber eyes instead of her usual dark green ones. Whilst she still had her hair in a braid and now wore a black choker around her neck, this Nemu was dressed mostly in a white uniform which consisted of black knee-length boots, an even shorter white skirt than the one she wore before, and a sleeveless white top dipped down low to the middle of her chest, revealing her cleavage.

Her arms were majorly uncovered with the exception of grey manacle-like bracelets around her wrists.

The most chilling of all in her appearance was her empty eyes: it was like she wasn't here...

At Rukia's recognition of the female standing beside him, Szayel smiled chillingly: "Oh? You know her? Or rather knew her. Forget the one you once knew, little girl: she's no more."

The petite Kuchiki watched on in dismay as he circled his arms around her waist and drew her towards him, with her all the while passively letting him. He then locked taunting eyes with Rukia before he languidly dragged his tongue over Nemu's cheek, from bottom to top. Again, she didn't react. At all.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" cried out the 13th Division's lieutenant in utter revulsion, disgusted by the Espada and worried beyond words for her fellow Shinigami.

"Nothing much" shrugged Szayel with a sinister smirk as he fully turned to face her and let his arm rest around Nemu's shoulders "And yet everything you couldn't possibly ever imagine. Anyways, allow me to introduce Neveromina: I merged her with two of my Fracción, Verona and Lumina, thus giving birth to my latest creation and ultimate Fracción. Isn't she an utter dear?"

"You dreadful fiend!" cursed out the petite Shinigami, glaring at the pink-haired Espada with all the hatred she could muster "I once thought Kurotsuchi-taichou to be deranged: I now realize that there's worse than him!"

"I'll take that as a compliment" guffawed Szayel with a mocking expression as he took a bow before tilting his head to the side as someone came out from the shadows "Now, why don't you say hello to one of Aizen-sama's four horsemen, hm?"

As the person emerged, Rukia merely stared not at all identifying the young dainty girl with a fierce darkened expression that was now standing before her.

This girl, who was slightly taller than her, was dressed majorly in leather black: high-heeled black shoes and criss-crossed black ribbons all over her legs, a pair of black shorts, a black top zipped up to her and with sleeves that halted at her elbows, her hands covered with fingerless black gloves and her nails polished black.

Even the girl's lipstick and eye-shadow was black, darkening her features, mostly her brown eyes, and giving her a foreboding air, whilst her loose strands of silky auburn hair ran down her back.

And it was only when the girl's expression softened and she smiled gently at Rukia, that the latter, in sheer and utter horrified shock distinguished who she was: "Hinamori-san? WHY?"

Kneeling beside her and raising her hands as if dealing with a frightened animal, Momo hushed the other girl with a soothing tone: "It's alright, Rukia-chan."

"No, it isn't!" rejected the young Kuchiki strongly as she backed away from the nearing hands, eyeing the other girl with consternation "First, Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou, now you?! After all he's done to you, why do you side by him?! As a horseman?!"

"I don't feel like spoiling anything just yet..." Momo sighed softly with an indulgent smile directed at Rukia, before the girl's brown eyes turned steadfast "But I can tell you this: I am unconditionally devoted to Aizen-sama."

"Unconditionally?" echoed the black-haired girl hysterically as she glanced over the other girl's shoulder, expecting to find someone else turned against them "What about Hitsugaya-taichou? Your friends? Everyone else?"

To Rukia's utter dismay, the brown-haired girl's expression didn't falter one bit as she stated indifferently: "They are but sacrifices I am more than willing to make. Shiro included."

The 13th Division's lieutenant couldn't believe her ears: Hitsugaya-taichou was her best childhood friend, just like Renji was to her. Momo couldn't...she wouldn't... No. This wasn't her. It couldn't be her. Something was wrong with her just like with Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou.

"He..." breathed out Rukia with difficulty, as her words clogged within her throat "Aizen's controlling you, isn't he? Or one of his Espada? Like with Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou, right? Right?!"

Shaking her head at her with a laugh, Momo eyed her patronizingly as she set a hand to her own chest: "These words you hear, Rukia-chan, are my own: I am perfectly awake, perfectly aware, perfectly lucid and perfectly conscious."

"No...Oh God, no..." whispered Rukia shakily, her eyes now blown wide open with anxiety: she was horror-struck, unbelieving to whom was actually willingly betraying them in Aizen's name... If Hinamori Momo, such a kind and dedicated soul, adored by everyone, turned out to be one of the horsemen...who on earth could be the other three? Suddenly, the 13th Division's lieutenant didn't want to know.

"But let's not fret upon that, Rukia-chan" waved off the brown-haired girl as she smiled excitedly at the captive in front of her "Can you not see Aizen-sama's generosity?"

The petite Kuchiki's voice was quiet as she repeated heavily, incredulously: "Generosity?"

"Yes" nodded Momo smilingly, reaching in and tenderly cupping Rukia's face in both of her hands, as if dealing with a particularly precious treasure "He spared you."

"Spared me? Hinamori-san, what are you talking about?"

"The great Aizen-sama...will save the Rukongai...from the Kuchiki...by ultimately destroying them" explained the brown-haired girl blissfully, dreamily, before she frowned slightly at Rukia's expression "Why do you look so horrified, Rukia-chan? Don't be afraid: you're not concerned."

"And how am I not concerned?" uttered the black-haired Kuchiki as she stared at Momo aghast: the girl seemed completely out of her mind, let alone the ghastly weight of what she was saying.

"You're not Kuchiki by birth, only in name. You're a child of the Rukongai. Like me. Like Aizen-sama. So you won't be involved."

"I will be involved! I won't ever deny my origins, but right now, I am a Kuchiki! And if they fall, I shall fall with them!" declared loudly the petite Shinigami, her eyes burning bright with the defiance of a fighter and the defence of her family.

Withdrawing her hands and eyeing their captive quietly before closing her eyes, Momo sighed sadly: "I'm very sorry to hear that, Rukia-chan. But if that is your wish..."

"...we can only accept it" completed another voice, which drew Rukia's attention towards the owner before her breath hitched abruptly within her throat "Don't you think, Kuchiki Rukia?"

"You?" choked Rukia in a shaky whisper, her wide eyes full of apprehension as she stared at the other dressed in a hoodless blood red cloak.

The man smirked at her darkly whilst his emerald eyes glinted with sheer malice: "Yes. Me."

A/N: I won't write down 'to be continued' since this chapter isn't finished yet. Other than that, see you soon (like I mentioned before, I may finish the other half end October (for Halloween maybe), if not, then count around the start of November). Wish me luck! Bye!

(1) Goshujin-sama: is a very archaic and formal way of saying 'master' or 'lord'; Can also be interpreted as 'my lord' or 'my master'; in another context, it can also mean 'husband'.

(2) Majiko Kuchiki: is an O.C, a female cousin to Byakuya, daughter to Hitachi Kuchiki: see, the Kuchiki clan is seriously lacking female members (you gotta love girl power) and I personally envision the Kuchiki with at least a few women/girls here and there, not only guys...which is totally fine for me with the official series of course, but I mean come on...Where the heck are all the Kuchiki ladies?! Dead or inexistent according to the official series, yes sir...

(3) Yaten Kuchiki: is an O.C, a female cousin to Byakuya, elder daughter to Nowaki Kuchiki and older sister to Michiru Kuchiki.

Michiru Kuchiki: is an O.C, a female cousin to Byakuya, younger daughter to Nowaki Kuchiki and younger sister to Yaten Kuchiki.

(4) If you look really closely, it's as if Yaten's nickname for Byakuya spells out 'baka', meaning 'idiot' in Japanese.

(5) I don't think they've got one in the series...so I felt sorry for them and gave them one...