The forest glade was silent.
The leaves dripped blood.
"Put me down." She ordered calmly though she was anything but. A slow slide to her feet and she couldn't even look at him. Ulquiorra slipped his clean hand into the pocket of the white hakama, the other dripped blood from slender fingers like the leaves.
For some reason, Rukia wanted to cry when she glimpsed the torn pieces.
The Hollows slaughtered Thirteenth's new surveyor team.
He slaughtered the Hollows.
Where did that leave her? I was supposed to die...avenging my comrades deaths-! That fact was inescapable in her mind. She was a survivor like with Kaien. He died while she lived, such a bitter thing the memory was replaying over and over like a broken record. Rukia gripped her tiny fists so hard they hurt, felt the tears she so desperately wanted to hide, leak out traitorously from the corners of her eyes.
Why can't I forget you?
Ulquiorra never moved even when she chose to break their immobility.
Her hand was still upraised, her palm having connected to the cold porcelain mask of his expressionless face, stung faintly. Slight redness lingered on the pale flesh from her strike, Rukia felt a sense of accomplishment in the action.
"Why did you leave me?" she demanded harshly, ever aware of the raw desperation in her voice. Slowly, his lifted a pale hand (the bloodstained one), touching the place where she had struck him. "There were others approaching, I believed you would be in better hands with those of your own kind."
Logical, the passing thought went through her mind.
Her heart denied it.
"Stupid!" Rukia yelled, grasping fistfuls of his jacket and shaking, "I.."
I never wanted to be parted from you.
- I...
We were fine together- I was fine with you, what more did I need except to be taken from you and forced to return into a world where you can never belong? But, she couldn't speak those words, only yelling them in her mind where he couldn't see, couldn't hear.
It wasn't as though he could understand her pain anyway.
"You're so stupid..." her voice broke, her eyes welled with tears. Almost angrily, she thrust him away and turned her back to him, forcing the stinging, salty liquid to disappear. "Stupid! Stupid fool! I-" Rukia spun around, her fists clenching. She wanted to say something, anything to hurt him. To make him feel her pain- but it choked off. Wide-eyed she took in the sight of the tall man bearing a sword aloft and the eerie smile of the other behind him.
"Ai-Aizen-Taichou? I..Ulqui-Ulquiorra! Get away from here!"
"You were watching?" He ignored her, green eyes slanting to the side.
"For a short while." Aizen admitted cheerfully enough, "Szayelaporro was suspicious of your actions and sent word to me immediately when your Zanpaku-to was left in place of you in your room. I must admit that was a fairly intelligent ruse, seeing as your sword possesses the same reiatsu signature to thereby confuse anyone who might be keeping watch on you."
Though she hadn't a clue as to what Aizen referenced, she knew she didn't like his nor Ichimaru's proximity. They were Taichou class and Shinigami, at any moment they could choose to decimate Ulquiorra right before her eyes. Rukia's fingers tightened reflexively. -and why in the hell was he just standing there so expressionlessly?
Taking action had never been her strong suit. Even with her history of incompetence and failures in the past she knew she just couldn't let - anything - happen to him. She drew her sword. With the flash of silver, she thought of Byakuya and her Taichou, she thought of Kiyone's attempts to get her settled in - they were all for naught weren't they? It was hardly a regret, a faint hint of remorse for betraying their expectations, but she could hardly care when Aizen tilted his head at her, the light catching his glasses in a particular glint.
"What are you doing, Kuchiki-san?"
Even Ichimaru was observing her with a stilted smile. If she hadn't any doubts about what they were planning on doing they were erased now. Rukia caught the glint of a responding sword in the silver-haired man's hand. The whole moment seemed frozen, she between a silently watching Ulquiorra and the two Shinigami Taichous.
...doing what my heart wants.
Her first swing went awry. Ichimaru's sword became a lightning fast lance of light, bouncing sharply off her blade with almost enough force to send it flying from her hands. Rukia was barely able to keep a grip on it, charging in low. She wasn't foolish enough to think that she would land a hit, she glimpsed Aizen's faint smile before he simply vanished, reappearing to the side to let Ichimaru have a clean shot. Angling to the left, she pressed two fingers up over the hilt of her sword, "Shakkoho Red flame cannon!"
Ichimaru merely glanced off the red kido blast. Smirking in a way that made her skin crawl. "Ne, Rukia-chan? What's this? Attacking a superior officer for.." the pause in his sentence came as they directly clashed. Rukia wished desperately Ulquiorra would snap out of whatever analysis his mind was contemplating and get the hell out of there. Aizen-taichou preferred to stand on the sidelines and watch, but for how long she did not know. Rukia knew instinctively, being so close to Ichimaru that his reiatsu was denser, thicker than hers. At best she could feel the subtle pressure of it like an electrifying tingle of horror build up. He made her skin crawl even with the determination burning in her veins. The question was how long could she hold him off?
"...a Hollow?" Ichimaru finished with a light lilt that could've passed for amusement in any other. Rukia saw it as mockery, anger twisted her expression as she ruthlessly countered back. Ichimaru's swing that could've easily decapitated her, went high, Rukia shaken though she was by his skill, unnerved by his presence saw her opening anyway.
She charged forward almost blindly, thanking her diminutive size just then as her blade with a dull shunk sound, sunk deeply through Ichimaru's ribcage. The Taichou of Third exhaled sharply, blood streamed out over her clenched hands, staining the white haori coat.
From not far away, Aizen-taichou's surprise came out softly. "Oh my."
Just that. Rukia leapt back to a safer distance, taking up stance again. It was not a fatal wound however it would slow him down. Speculatively eyeing the silver-haired man's almost astonishment touching his wound and his hand coming away slick with lifeblood, she quickly decided it would be better to end it while his guard was down...never mind the consequences later. She had already dismissed them when she had first attacked a superior officer. She was only briefly amazed that she was still alive at this point.
"Ya cut me, Rukia-chan..." Ichimaru had raised his bloody hand closer to his face as if amazed that there was actual blood staining his long pale fingers. "Ya actually did."
Stabbed you, you fool. Her thoughts couldn't resist jeering. Then she moved before her fake courage could die a slow death in the anxiety-ridden depths of her mind. Rukia hated indecisiveness, her weakness. She wanted to protect Ulquiorra the way he protected her - but Ichimaru was a Taichou, he countered swifter than her, his spear of light arcing off the ground in a shaft of carefully controlled power - then he pierced her with it.
She felt every second of the light transforming into a thin blade. Inches really, a half step before delivering the full weight of her lunge and laying bare his torso to spill its gory secrets, she remained tauntingly inches away from her goal, suspended inches off the ground by Shinso.
Ichimaru chuckled softly, his damnable smile reaching new heights of malicious amusement at her predicament. Rukia could only growl and struggle weakly, her blood dripping off the silver sword.
"What can I say, Rukia-chan? You should've thought, " he dared to lift a spidery thin-fingered hand and flick her nose, "before actin'." She gritted her teeth to suppress the urge to snap that he could stuff his wisdom where the sun never shined. Ichimaru tilted his sharp chin at an angle, looking past her to the sound of a step.
"Now, 'Kyorra-kun...your turn is coming."
Rukia froze, her struggles ceasing. Her body felt cold all over like ice had replaced all the blood in her body with ice-tainted crimson. Her violet eyes narrowed then widened, fixating on his narrow fox face and thin lips forming those hateful words.
I've been looking forward to playing with you for a very long time..."
The ice gave her strength.
"Shi-Shirafune!" Rukia choked out, breathing in shallow shards of ice. The hand she raised, gripped Sode no Shirayuki's hilt infallibly, the tip sunk shallowly into the upper part of Ichimaru's chest. His narrow, slit-eye glance wandered down to it almost amazed, then a smile broke out on his face along with the crackling burst of ice from the frozen sword.
Rukia felt herself fall backward, body limp from blood loss and even then, the ice numbing her pain. The sky tilted in a slant, a subtle noise from Ulquiorra, a calculated exhalation of air from Aizen-taichou and the crackle of speed.
Her back never touched the ground. Her mind registered who it was somehow without surprise even before stormy grey eyes and messy dark brown hair came into sight.
"Stark," Aizen-taichou acknowledged with a dangerous note. "I recall ordering you to observe not approach."
The Shinigami - was he even that? Said nothing at first, wrapping strong, capable arms around her back, then under her legs. She felt limp, barely able to feel her breaths leave her nose, her chest heaving with the effort. She forced her head up, her gaze unwavering from Aizen-taichou's. The man was barely readable at that moment. His brown eyes slanting from the iced over remains of Gin Ichimaru to her then to the side. For the briefest of seconds she had the distinct feeling he had not planned on this- on her partial victory. Rukia could barely believe it herself, barely conscious of the consequences of killing a Taichou meant.
Execution -
Aizen-taichou's sudden, vague smile distracted her from her thoughts.
"Whatever shall you do, Kuchiki-san?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, refusing to back down even for an instant. His look was mocking, tone caressing. "You've murdered a Taichou of the Thirteen Court Guards. You have at least two witnesses, one a Taichou and the method of his demise was unmistakably caused by your weapon."
"As if I'd try to hide my guilt!"
"Oh?
She had never known the kindly man to harbor such maliciousness. Such calculating cruelty reflected in molasses brown eyes. Rukia felt something in her chest fall, a plummeting, sinking sensation that made her feel sick as enlightenment dawned.
"What do you...want?" she breathed, unflinching even as he stepped closer, hand lifting and reaching out. "You've taken life, Kuchiki-san. So now you must give-"
She didn't like how his malevolent gaze rested on her, capturing her eyes in a fierce battle of domination. "What the fuck are you-" deep inside she felt her desperation rising, her fear of the unknown. Ulquiorra hadn't moved, his expression never changing from a vague detached glare focused somewhere above her. Stark- she realized. It was as if he was ignorant of the fact that Aizen-taichou and Ichimaru-taichou (previously) were his mortal enemies. Or were they- ? As Rukia struggled to wrap her mind around the fact that Ulquiorra - her mind longed to label him with a possessive pronoun -my- Ulquiorra could be aligned with a Shinigami - but for what purpose?
Aizen-taichou had reached her.
Stark tensed behind her.
"Put me down." Rukia ordered faintly, sounding distant to her own ears. She barely trusted her legs to hold her up, but counted on the power of her sword to keep herself from bleeding out, from falling over with the frigid coldness permeating already the outer layer of her shihakusho. Stark hesitated for a moment then gently let her slide down to her feet, stepping back as he did so. The difference was immediate without his presence. Rukia felt the cold more acutely but somehow managed to not shiver when her head turned up to regard the solemn Shinigami.
"I asked you what you wanted from me." She said carefully, her eyes violet flints. "More or less, what do you propose?"
Aizen-taichou smiled down at her. "Gin was a useful pawn to me and my game. You, my dear, Kuchiki-san must rectify his loss. Now how you do so, remains entirely up to you." His hands appeared on her shoulders. Rukia hadn't seen him move. She disliked his touch immediately. Aizen-taichou's voice curled softly in her eardrums, a pleasant velvet like smooth undulating chocolate. It was the voice of a snake and she knew it.
"Think about it. Your existence ended at the edge of execution and judgment for becoming a murderess or..." he trailed off delicately, molding her limp body with his hands, both of them turning at the same time to Ulquiorra's stationary form. He had barely moved, barely seemed a touch out of place amongst the wild green verdure of the forest. The only thing marring his perfection was the blood staining one hand and his porcelain cheek.
She stifled the quiet sob arising in her throat. Aizen's warm breath melted the icy surface of her skin as he knelt low beside her, his voice meant for her alone. "Think of it in this way, Kuchiki-san. A Hollow slaughtered Thirteenth's team...a Hollow that you alone destroyed." His fingers felt like vises, curling around her chin, forcing her eyes open, her gaze to fixate solely on the Arrancar. "That Hollow could be Ulquiorra."
She struggled weakly.
His breath was a warm chuckle against the shell of her ear.
"If you wish to preserve his existence then you will obey me."
"What?" Rukia bit out, her head twisting in his hold to glance sharply at his smirking profile.
"You will take Ichimaru's place, dear Kuchiki-san. As adopted sister of the great Byakuya Kuchiki only recently returned to the clan, your inside knowledge should prove worthy as well as your assistance-"
"In what!" She hated the way her voice trembled, the way her body threatened to shake. Here she was again betraying her race, her old life - for- for-
"In retrieving the Hogyoku." Aizen-taichou said simply as if everything were made clear by the mention of something she had never heard of before. "So do you accept?" His piercing look returned in full force, his chocolate brown eyes staring into hers with a soul-baring intensity that Rukia trembled at. She despised that tiny show of weakness, teeth sinking down into her bottom lip hard.
She had to know...
"Will I be able to see..him whenever I want?" Her voice came out barely above a whisper. Aizen smirked at the tiny flush rising to her cheeks; she wanted to be selfish for once. "Certainly. All I ask, Kuchiki Rukia-san...is for your full cooperation and obedience."
It sounded like a death knell to whatever was left of her old life before Hueco Mundo - before Ulquiorra.
This time when he stepped back and offered his hand, she accepted it.
As per the norm, reports in the living world rarely circulated around the Divisions, unless they happened to be of the anomalous kind. Or simply the area he had isolated for his scrutiny in the mortal world. The tiny town Rukia had been found in.
The weekly report of the Shinigami stationed there, reached his desk. Abarai brought it in as soon as it had reached the appropriate Division, Byakuya's gaze slanted away from the eyes of Rukia's childhood friend. Such bonds weren't meant to be maintained. With that thought in mind, he sent Abarai out on a menial errand, preferring to peruse the rambling report of one Kuromadani assigned to Karakura town, in private.
His eyes skimmed the usual few Hollow sightings until a date specific to the prior week. A night in which Kuromadani had gone in search of a Hollow in the downtown area and discovered upon reaching the site, an orange-haired male with a sword as tall as he was and dressed in black robes...
-To be Continued
AN: thank you for reading! (sorry for killing Gin off):
No flames!
Reviews loved! :) and motivate the writer to write faster~!