"What did Aizen-sama want?"
His voice drifted to her through the open door.
After Aizen's question of promotion within Seireitei ranks, he had gone on to discuss other matters. Rukia had spent most of what constituted afternoon hours, outlining her plan for the elite Exequias squad. He had broken the session with a call for dinner which she had declined as gracefully as she could without curling her lip. Stopping by the kitchens, she learned Ulquiorra had foregone his usual light meal in the dining hall, requesting two trays be sent to his room.
Now, she stood in the airy, light bathroom, washing up for bed. "He asked me if I wanted to become Fukutaichou. I told him I would think about it."
He was quiet for a time, then said, "those duties would take you from here."
"For a while." She admitted, dragging the brush through her hair. "Aizen believes I might learn something more about the Hogyoku's location now that Kurosaki has become a deputy Shinigami with Ukitake-Taichou's blessing."
Ichigo had indeed grown, he had fought many battles and often was joined by the Shinigami. It had made her feel strange inside, almost a vague feeling of being left out when she had learned about it through Ulquiorra's sight and later through Aizen.
"Rukia," the door swung open. He paused on the threshold. "Chryse sensed another spirit pressure with you in the forest."
He didn't tell him who it was. Should I?
"It was a Shinigami from Soul Society's past. He's been lost a long time, guilt-ridden over the deaths of his comrades." She bit her lip, staring into the mirror's reflection. "He saved me after I fell. I just wish there was something I could do to help him."
A few days had passed. Rukia resumed her usual schedule of breakfasting light, checking on the progress of the recently turned Arrancar in Neliel's charge. She was glad to have foregone missions in Hueco Mundo where invariably her thoughts would turn to Ashido. If Chryse had decided to kill him whether by impersonal cero or sending Hollows to end his life, haunted her. She saw nothing of Stark, who kept to his palace, wasn't it called the pillow palace? Once, she glimpsed Lilinette, the little one-eyed Arrancar, traipsing down the hallway, arms akimbo. So carefree...but alone. Rukia wondered about her, why the Primera duo never socialized with the other Arrancar. Stark never sparred in the training hall...even with Neliel. Neliel, who was the most human-like of the Arrancar or would it be Shinigami-like, with her love of books, her elegant taste in art and her mannerisms.
Whatever.
She couldn't forget what he had said to her after rescuing her from the Hollows in the forest. Don't leave my side. Those words had made her feel strange, maybe because she hadn't known how to respond. If they had been on mission together, Ulquiorra wouldn't have said them to her, he would've been there without question. She sighed to herself. It was the little things, truth be told, she enjoyed the most. Mornings, casual greetings, being close enough to feel each other through the walls of the palace felt an intimacy.
The occasional glance, light touches, a few comments about her choice of clothing being suitable.
But, all that would change once again if she chose to accept a position as Fukutaichou.
Again, she thought of putting it off.
No.
I have to decide. Fukutaichou. It's all for a purpose. Gradually slowing her pace, she approached Aizen's domain with a fast beating heart. She traced the code into the panel and watched it revolve back to reveal a different room lit by fake sunlight.
"Rukia entering."
He had been studying a map of Soul Society when she stepped inside.
"Welcome, Kuchiki-san. Is there something I can do for you?"
"What you said before," she wanted to appear strong, resolute but found herself faltering under his look. "I accept."
"Very well, I was wondering when you would come to me."
She took a seat when he gestured this time.
"When would you like the ceremony to take place?"
"A month from now. I want a little bit more time here and then a week or two in Seireitei to acclimate myself to future duties."
"That's understandable. Is Neliel recovered sufficiently enough to take full command of the palace guard?"
"Yes," the Exequias would answer to her and if she wasn't there, Neliel. She was about to say more when she felt it. A spirit pressure entering the main building of Las Noches. She halfway rose, reaching for her sword. But, he was alone.
"Aizen...,"
He looked to her for confirmation.
"It's him."
Why now? What does he want with Las Noches? Puzzling over it, she straightened, looking expectantly to the door. He had gone through the main building, speeding through, unhindered by the denizens of Las Noches. What was one more Hollow? Only Stark, Ulquiorra and she would know that reiatsu, the unbearable lightness of it like looking into a blazing sun.
Chryse stopped outside the door.
Rukia saw him reach for his zanpakuto from the corner of her eye. "Wait-" her hand shot out of its own accord, clasping the hilt. Aizen sent her a quick look, "Kuchiki-san?" Almost surprise lifting the upper end of his voice.
The door opened.
Kuchiki-san wouldn't let go of his sword. He wondered briefly if it had something to do with Gin...had anyone else known about his sword?
A glance to her face, a study of forced calm, she too was thrown for a loop with his arrival. And what a fine specimen he was. Equine body ending in the muscled torso of a man. The face...didn't she know it?
No, he supposed perhaps not enough to identify this ghost from Soul Society's past.
"What're you doing here?"
"I came to see if this place had more charms than sleeping under the desert sky."
"Fair enough. Aizen?"
No honorific. Kuchiki-san was indeed cold.
"If you will, dear? Show him around." That was it. Put him off the scent with magnanimity. Chryse's gaze lingered on him, then to the zanpakuto at his side. Rukia slowly, carefully, relinquished her grip. He thought there was time. He could still draw it, exposing the Hollow and Kuchiki-san to his shikai. She was one of the few who had never seen it, having fled Soul Society years before, she hadn't been privileged to see it.
Tension filled the air.
Rukia shot an accusing look toward his benevolent smile.
That wasn't good. She knew something was up.
He visibly relaxed; Rukia walked to the door, sending occasional reproachful looks over her shoulder.
"It's nice to see how much trust there is between you two." The Hollow commented, smirking to her sudden glare.
"Oh, there's trust alright. As much as you'd trust a viper with your back." Aizen heard her muttering as the door closed behind them.
"You resemble Hisana," he said, glancing to her face.
"Oh? Who was she?"
"I'm not sure. I thought you were her when I first saw you. But, I know now that you're not the same person."
"It's strange too," Rukia muttered, curious but uneasy walking beside him. "You remind me of someone as well." Yes...with his hair, his eyes...he's almost Byakuya's mirror image.
"How long have you been a Hollow?"
"I'm not sure either. I remember there being a fight inside me. Multiple Hollows fighting for domination but my current form...won? If I try and remember as far back as I can, I see a woman and know her name is Hisana. She was very fragile unlike you. Someone cared for her very much, but I don't know if it was me or another."
"It must be frustrating trying to remember." Rukia said, studying him closely. Something about him put her at ease. It was almost comforting...his reiatsu? Calm, steady, gilded like the sun. Even though he had almost killed her before, well- "This is the training hall." Rukia gestured to the arched door accessed by keypad. Within, she could feel a steady hum from newborn Arrancar getting used to their blades. Neliel was supervising, standing back with her arms crossed over her ample chest. She raised a hand in greeting, her gaze fixating on the two Arrancar in the ring.
Chryse stepped in behind her, his hooved feet ringing on the polished stone floor. She tried to imagine what it was like for him to see the white uniforms, the swords and broken masks.
"Do you know swordplay?"
"A little." Chryse scrutinized the stance of the Arrancar without comment.
"Who is the woman?"
"Neliel Tu Oderschvank. Former Tercera Espada."
"Former?"
"One of the Espada played a trick on her. She lost her memory and rank years ago. Just recently, she returned to Las Noches. I gave her the rank of guard." Head Guard, guardian something like that below me. Guardian of Las Noches indeed.
"And you?"
"I'm in charge of palace security."
"Yet I was able to walk in without hindrance."
"It's something we're working on." She said with a straight face. "Moving on, we'll come to the kitchens next." Those large rooms below the main floor accessible by stairs where cooks prepared a majority of the meals consumed unseen by the Espada. Aizen and Tosen preferred food similar to the Spartan diet favored in Seireitei.
Then, the palaces, the towers belonging to the Espada. Rukia ran her throat dry describing the interior of the few she had seen.
When he seemed satisfied with her descriptions, they returned to the main hall via the stairs.
"Where do you stay, Kuchiki-san?"
"In the Cuatro's palace." She had refused on several occasions, the rooms once occupied by Ichimaru.
Chryse looked to her for cues. Rukia shook her head. She had saved the last thing Hueco Mundo didn't have for last.
"And this...is the solarium."
The open portico, sand and a blazing sun. Midnight sun. Light. A faint breeze. Tosen had explained to her how it worked.
Rukia risked a glance to Chryse, discovering he had ambled closer to the edge, stepping off the circular stone floor onto the warm sand. Head tilted back, his eyes closed in enjoyment.
"The sun...how I've missed it so."
She heard the rapturous longing in his voice and quietly excused herself. "I'll return in half an hour." Closing the door gently behind her, she leaned against the panel for a few minutes. The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. It was Neliel.
"Is that Chryse?"
"Yes."
She could sense him moving around beneath the dome.
"He's not what I expected. There was talk," Neliel began, hesitating, then she smiled abruptly. "But, you know already."
Annoyed with her being around the bush, Rukia muttered, "no, I don't. I was kind of preoccupied with my own thing to pay attention to the servants nattering."
"Everyone said he might replace Stark."
She lifted a brow, "really? Chryse isn't nearly as strong and doesn't seem to be the type to be easily controlled."
"Hmm, that's true. I can't see Stark giving up without doing something," Neliel plainly disagreed. "What was his former appearance, has he changed any?"
"He looked like a centaur," Rukia frowned, remembering his horse-like body, the skull mask partially broken on his face. "From ancient myth."
"Chiron," Neliel appreciated the reference, "the wisest of the centaurs. It would be interesting if his Resurrection state returned his form to the horse-man archetype like the constellation Sagittarius." Then, on a less serious note, she smiled mischievously. "He's awfully cute too."
"Nel! You're not supposed to notice that!" Heat rushed to her face. She hadn't wanted to admit the resemblance between Byakuya and the Hollow brought to mind other uncomfortable thoughts.
"Hey, you've noticed too! It's alright, it's normal for us girls to notice cute guys!" Neliel squealed, suddenly enveloping her in a large hug. "They make life interesting!" Really? Nearly knocked off her feet, Rukia sighed over the affectionate Arrancar. I kind of ...have something with someone...Ulquiorra was right about Chryse for certain. He had the potential to be an ally or an adversary who was difficult to kill.
Chryse's eyes slid open. He sensed someone near. Rukia hadn't returned rather she had been joined outside the dome by the woman from the training hall. He tensed almost expecting an ambush, but the figure stepped into his line of sight, reiatsu suppressed. "I've switched the cameras off for this room." Ulquiorra said with a slight glance to the columned portico.
"I see, but why?"
"My absence would be noted if I left Las Noches" he said as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "I require your assistance concerning a Shinigami hiding out within Menos Forest."
Chryse felt a spark of interest. "Ashido...you want me to kill him?"
"No. I...,"
The choice is yours.
She had favored a seven day time limit in order for Chryse to acknowledge where his sentiments lay. He had said nothing at first to her command only studied her impassively. "Longer. I require more time if I am to consider allying myself with Aizen."
"If you want." Noncommittal. Annoyed. She had let him out using her personal code, watched as he disappeared from her sight. Replace Stark? She remembered Neliel's words and shook her head slightly. No, it would never happen. In the eventual case of the invasion, Stark would have to survive along with Ulquiorra and if the palace was attacked, the remainder of the Arrancar defensive forces. She couldn't accept defeat so easily anymore.
Someone tugged at her hand.
She looked down into Wonderweiss's face and the pad of sketch paper he had toted along with him.
"Alright," she took his free hand. "Let's go draw."
"Something's bothering you."
He wouldn't respond. Of course everything was wrong. With Rukia's impending promotion within Seireitei, their mission in Hueco Mundo would naturally cease for the time being. Subterfuge would serve as they resumed the mission in Soul Society. Szayel had informed him that the gigai was ready whenever he wanted to use it. Yeah, like I'm eager to wear a meat suit again. Being assigned to the Thirteenth Division meant she would be his superior...almost the same as here, he thought, without the Espada acknowledging it. But, things were different. He could no longer protect her the way he wanted to- no cero, no balas. Nothing remotely Hollow. Only a dull blade and his speed.
"It's the Shinigami, isn't it?"
Lilinette sat on him, her skinny legs splayed against his side.
"Yeah, a whole city full." He joked halfhearted.
"Not that Shinigami." She poked his cheek. "The Shinigami here. The woman Shinigami."
"She has a name." He said tiredly. She has a name I want to say aloud. A name that makes me think of her more. How I'll address her now. Kuchiki-Fukutaichou. Sounds right. He had deliberately stayed away. He had napped even when he hadn't felt like sleeping. When his body had felt restless. when he had expected Aizen would send them on a mission. But, no missions had come. Rukia was attending to her duties here, establishing Rudbornn Chelute, the 61st Numero in the army as chief of the Exequias.
Lilinette glanced toward the door just as it flew open.
"Damned straight, I do." The voice caused him to sit up, pushing off Lilinette who squawked indignantly. Rukia had entered the pillow palace, silently, suppressing her reiatsu well.
He ran his appreciative gaze over her latest ensemble: short-shorts fastened with a black belt, sleeveless crop top with a mandarin style collar and flared short cape that went past the hips. She wore white stockings over the knee and pointed sandals. The outfit showed off her toned arms and slender legs. With little fat present on her body, she still possessed the curves of a woman. His mouth went dry.
"Don't tell me...," he made a pretense of groaning. "Another mission?!"
"Obviously." Rukia stuck her hip out, propping one fist lightly. "I came to get you since you failed to show up for the meeting."
He waved off Lilinette who comically pouted, kicking his side. Rukia tilted a brow at her antics. Stark turned over, burying his face into the pillows. Even bright green fabric was better than where his eyes strayed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be ready. Soul Society is it?"
"It is..but we'll be coming back and forth. I...," hesitation clouded her tone.
Lilinette stopped kicking him.
"I'm glad you're coming with me, Stark." Rukia bowed clumsily, with something less than her usual grace, then with a swivel of her body, shunpo'd through the open door.
"What was that about?" His other half muttered.
"Nothing." He mumbled, but thought it was everything.
... Soul Society ...
The time has come.
"Congratulations," they say.
Words fail her so she smiled and nodded. Polite, respectful while formal introductions were made. In a rare moment, Hinamori-san comments how her serious work ethic and attention to detail made her an ideal candidate. Rukia thought a lot of things at that moment, some inwardly cringing.
Though, she almost forgot it for appearances sake, Byakuya attended briefly, presenting a tasteful gift, impersonal but of fine quality. "Thank you," She says, accepting the white tekko gloves. When she tried to catch his eye, his gaze slanted above her, slightly away, not seeing her. Always. Why?
An electrical tingle danced along her forehead.
Aizen wasn't present. If she concentrated hard enough on the disparate reiatsu swirling around the city, she could sense him in his office. Seconds later, she heard his voice in her mind.
"I was surprised, Kuchiki-san. Abarai-kun submitted his recommendation as well, stating you were fit for full duty after your previous absence."
"You're so condescending."
Rukia watched Byakuya evade the more drunken of the party goers, slipping past his fukutaichou. He must've said something because Renji glanced her way almost apologetically then turned to follow her brother.
"Kuchiki-Taichou was the only one who tried to block your appointment."
We were almost family once, she thought, cutting out synchronized consciousness. Leaving the party held in her honor, she escaped the well-wishers who had come for free drinks. Ukitake thankfully held court, regaling the younger Squad members with tales from his youth. Rukia hadn't seen Stark since their parting before the ceremony and didn't sense him nearby. Probably sleeping somewhere, shirking duty. She smirked at the thought of being able to discipline the lazy ass now. Strolling through the streets, she found her feet tracing a familiar route. She hadn't thought of it until the mansion loomed over the boulevard, the familiar wooden gates and family mon. The nod of a servant as she entered.
"Kuchiki-sama."
She almost asked if Byakuya was home, but stopped herself. It didn't matter. Besides, he had likely returned to his Division. She had mostly free run of the house anyway.
Even so, it was only a few minutes she needed. Stepping back out, she walked through the courtyard, past chattering birds and the dart of silvery-orange koi fish through the pond. Leaving her sandals outside the door, Rukia slid the door open carefully, glancing around and seeing no one. The servants were off in other parts of the mansion. The altar was rarely visited by anyone outside the family. Byakuya maintained it himself. Sighing, she approached the cabinet doors, laying her fingertips lightly on the metal hinges, she felt the tingle of a repelling spell.
A barrier ..
One that recognized her as family.
Rukia breathed a sigh of relief, tugging them open. The doors opened to an interior shelf. A white cloth and offering bowls resided beside photographs. One was Byakuya's mother, a minor clanswoman married into the family. She had died of the wasting disease that struck down so many. Rukia's gaze slid past her to the one that naturally followed. Her husband...Byakuya's father. She gasped and knocked over the blue offering bowl in her haste. The bowl shattered at her feet, spilling the grains of uncooked white rice.
She knew the face, the same gentle smile he had given her parting at the gates of Las Noches. Chryse...no, Soujun. Her heart ached suddenly, holding in her hands the portrait of the man he had once been. The man who could've been my adoptive father. The Hollow who almost killed me. The Hollow who hasn't confirmed whether he will become my enemy or ally. Fate is too cruel.
Behind the photo of Kuchiki Soujun, was another. Rukia glanced at it then looked again unable to quite believe her eyes. It was a woman's portrait. Dark hair, dark blue eyes, pale skin...it was her likeness down to the stubborn bangs hanging between her too large eyes. This woman could be me, but she isn't me.
"Rukia," she sensed Byakuya before he had spoken. "This place is out of bounds."
Taking the other picture, she whirled around accusingly, uncaring if Kuchikis never raised their voices. "Who is this?! This woman who has my face?" One of the dead...just who is she!? "Is this Hisana!?"
"She was my wife."
I went against clan wishes when I married her. Hisana was fragile, I didn't know that when I brought her into this house. At the time, my grandfather had left for a position in Squad Zero. My father, though serving as the 27th head of the Kuchiki clan had sickened and was soon to retire from his place as Taichou of Sixth Division.
"It wasn't long before that I lost both her, whose likeness you resemble and my father in the line of duty."
"A Hollow...," Rukia mumbled, numbed somehow to the news.
"Before she passed, Hisana made me promise something. She'd had a baby sister who she had abandoned in the Rukongai. Being frail she couldn't take care of her. She always felt terrible about what she did. She made me promise to find this child and adopt her, raise her as a Kuchiki."
He almost caught her gaze.
"That child was you, Rukia."
Hisana was my...sister?
Vividly, she recalled Chryse-ne- Soujun's confusion. He had lived in the same house as Hisana, he had likely given his eventual approval for the marriage despite the clan rejecting a commoner as a bride. They knew one another, he- could've been my father.
She looked down at the picture between them.
"I know I can't expect to ask your forgiveness."
"I...,"
It's all too much.
"Thank you for telling me." She got to her feet somehow, bowing as respectfully as she could. "But, I need time to sort out my feelings. I am sorry, nii-sama." I am, she thought, fleeing. Rukia didn't slow until she had passed the bounds of the mansion. Heart racing, she forced herself to resume a normal pace though her thoughts continued to weigh her down.
Once things could've been different. They could've been a family, she would've had belonging. Sickness and the Hollows had taken it from her but then how could she think that? I wouldn't have known Ulquiorra or Stark. I wouldn't know there was more to them than soulless beasts.
Slowing she glanced around then, set off down a different street past milling Shinigami. Aizen had briefed her beforehand on the location of the records. Rukia disagreed with his primary focus being the Taichou class. She planned on retrieving both sets of seated officers in case of future need.
Ninth Division. Tosen's copy was currently engaged in light braille reading. She wasn't sure the mechanisms of Aizen's technique but whatever it was, she thought it could wait.
Blending in, that was exactly what she needed.
"*Amaterasu Ōmikami."
(*Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven)
Rukia crouched behind the dusty shelves, propping open the record book. The zanpakuto name was listed beside its attributes. "The power of the divine deflects all. The shield of flames is particularly useful in battle."
"Soujun...," she stroked the picture of the long deceased man, saddened. How would Byakuya respond to the knowledge that his father had become a Hollow? "Chryse...," she remembered his face. That instant she had thought he knew her - a shadow of someone he had known in life.
Shaking her head slightly. Rukia copied the information into her book, magicking the rest of the records. Once that was accomplished, she replaced the books where she had found them and slipped out into the corridor. Several right turns and she stepped into the waning sunlight of afternoon. Glancing right and left, Rukia squared her shoulders.
"Kuchiki-"
She flinched unable to help it.
"Hisagi-san."
The tattooed man looked uncomfortable.
"Can I help you with something?"
Thinking quickly, she decided to act coy. "I don't know, can you?"
"Can I see the book you're carrying?" Hisagi seemed unimpressed with her act. He walked toward her, suspicion evident in the line of his body. "The copying of records is strictly prohibited."
With each step, she felt herself flinch inside. Here it was, she had been caught. She had broken the law, they were going to - "It's just a book," Rukia maintained, holding it out by the spine almost haughtily.
Hisagi's eyes flickered to her face then down to the book as though it might bite him. His fingertips closed around the edge and he took it from her, flipping through the pages.
"Poetry?"
She exhaled in relief.
"You have unusual tastes, Kuchiki-san."
She tucked the book back under her arm, flashing a smile. "Thanks, Hisagi-san. Good day to you too."
He let her go with a mild shaking of the head.
Rukia kept walking, her head lowered, gaze respectfully lingering on some distant point. She hurried through the streets, passing quite closely beneath the tree where Stark dozed. He glanced over his shoulder seeing her pause, look up with expectation.
She activated synchronized consciousness.
"I have it."
"Complications?"
"How'd you know?"
"You're not smiling."
"Thanks." She leaned against the tree instead of contacting Aizen. "I learned something that made me think of what could've been."
Stark scratched his nose, listening to the echo of her sigh. His slim fingers and unmarked back of his left hand brought to mind uncomfortable familiar thoughts.
They had returned to Soul Society night before last, taking up residence in his old quarters he lingered behind watching Rukia head off toward the district where the Kuchiki mansion lay.
He had almost missed Las Noches and the days of missions to Menos Forest. Recalling the moment of parting, Lilinette had kept asking him what was wrong? She could sense it too, the disquiet in their souls. Something had been terribly wrong since the day he had challenged Chryse in the desert, since he had realized Rukia, Shinigami, smart mouthed bitch was also human and not impossible to kill.
Faced with her own mortality, he had been struck by the fact that any of the Arrancar in Las Noches could easily kill her - or not so easily as in Antenor's case.
Ulquiorra entertained similar thoughts as he didn't like her to associate with lower forms of life as he called them, or was it trash? Stark assumed he did, didn't he? But, then if he had why hadn't he ripped Chryse's face off for causing her to get lost in the first place? Stark had certainly wanted to tear the Hollow to pieces.
Leaping down suddenly, he startled her by reappearing at her side. Rukia jumped a foot, her fist flying a second later. "Don't do that!"
He ignored her punch. It wasn't like it hurt anyway. "Tell me." He deactivated the mind link between them. One never knew if someone else was listening in.
"Tell me," he insisted. She looked away, visible discomfort in her lowered gaze and slight scowl.
"Rukia...," taking a hold of her shoulder, he thanked the undying gods for his speed. A cry of surprise from her lips never reached his ears, alighting beside one of his favorite places to take a nap. "Now tell me." Releasing her, she stumbled a bit, taking in the sunshine reflected on the water.
"It isn't right to keep all those feelings bottled up inside you."
She sat hunched beneath the shadow of the trees ringing the perfect circle of water. The lake was beautiful at this time of year. Stark was near her, almost close enough to touch.
"Chryse...he was a Shinigami once. His family name was Kuchiki, he was...or could've been my father."
"Your adopted father, you mean."
She shrugged slightly. "I went through old mission logs, I read what his contemporaries had written about him. He was a good and kind man who let his son marry for love."
The more I keep running through it in my mind the more I feel like fate has cheated me."
"Isn't that the way it is?"
She glanced over at him. He had threaded his arms behind his head, gaze staring out over the lake. "We never get what we want no matter how hard we try. I used to envy the weak because they were able to have companions. I wanted to be weak if that meant I wouldn't be alone or at least find companions who were as strong as me. I didn't remember my wolf pack once I evolved." His eyes swiveled to her. "You wanted a family, Rukia. Deep down, you may have had companions who were around you."
She remembered Renji and the others, all of them until it was only her and Renji left.
"You may have seen others who had parents and wanted the same. Companions couldn't be your family that's why it hurts you to think of what you could've had if fate hadn't been so cruel." He finished the last part softly. For a moment she felt her inner barrier recede, the pain in her chest become overwhelming. She thought she might cry.
Stark gestured, holding his hand out to her.
Come here.
She shook her head violently.
His eyes were patient, understanding.
Come to me.
"I-I'm not going to cry!" She snapped. Kuchikis never cried. But, at that moment she realized he didn't see Rukia the Shinigami, Kuchiki Rukia...he saw Rukia the girl she was before the streets and circumstance had hardened her.
Almost with a trace of impatience, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Night had fallen by the time they returned to the city proper. Rukia had cried little, her sadness lingering as a heaviness of heart rather than soul. The things she had said she could never have told Ulquiorra. He didn't believe in the sharing of feelings. He wouldn't have known what it was like to lack something outside one self. Had he ever longed for comrades the way Stark had?
Or was their meeting in the desert just one in a many line of coincidences?
Remembering her mission, she parted ways with Stark, giving a slight wave in goodbye, then turned her feet toward the Fifth Division. Hinamori smiled at her congenially; Rukia wondered looking into her warm brown eyes how the girl had conceived of the idea to recommend her for the Fukutaichou examination?
Or had it been completely Aizen's doing?
Probably.
She still accepted Hinamori's attempts at friendliness. The girl was a sweetheart, too soft for much work in Las Noches but perhaps a good companion and useful too in helping Nel Tu...Nel...yes, they'd work perfect together.
It had occurred to her that Aizen might be out. She waited while Hinamori announced her. Eventually, the door opened and the girl leaned out. "He'll see you, Kuchiki-san."
"Okay." Hesitantly, she went in and Hinamori closed the door behind her. He lowered the paperwork he had been squinting at. Again the guise of a kindly man rested awkwardly on his frame.
"Yes, Kuchiki-san? My congratulations were a little tardy, but your promotion was well deserved."
"Right," she muttered, raising a brow at his nonchalance. "Thank you. The book you lent me?" She handed it over with no small relief.
He accepted it with a smile, turning the leaves over absently. Rukia wondered what he saw...the copied folio?
"You've done well."
He folded the book closed and laid it aside. Her fingers itched to take it up again. He treated her hard work like some random thing!?
"Thank you, sir." She said stiffly unable to resist from adding sarcastically. "I enjoyed it very much."
"About Hinamori-san," he chuckled warmly. "I'm curious if you still think she's useful to us?"
"I do...,"
"Well, then, that is your next task. Get close to her. As two young women of the same rank you can train together. She can improve your mastery of defensive kido and you can become her friend and comrade, a nakama if you will."
"You want me to turn her?"
"Only if she can be. If not, then that's on your head and you will be the one to dispose of her. But, first you must deal with our recalcitrant friend. We haven't received a response from Chryse. I would prefer him as an ally, but if that cannot be, he too must be destroyed."
Her jaw tightened and she bowed from the waist. "I understand."
... Hueco Mundo ...
Weeks had passed since they had parted ways. Ashido still remembered the steel cold look in her eye, the unwavering length of blade she had levied to his breast.
He knelt in the crushed leaves, hand extended for the clump of moss growing in weird circular patches.
Ashido felt the bite of metal beneath his chin and knew he had been careless. "So is this how it ends?"
"For once, I've caught you off guard." Chryse snorted; the blade dissolved into a thousand reishii particles. "Pity, I'm not here to kill you."
"Ah, always a plus."
"You're a hard man to find."
"Thanks, I try to be. The only Shinigami per hundreds of Hollows. I need to make myself scarce..now what'd you come here for?"
Chryse allowed him to rise, watching him carefully to make sure he made no sudden moves toward his zanpakuto.
"Someone asked me to come, they wanted to give you a chance to leave this world."
His heart leapt. Immediately, he thought Rukia had sent the Hollow. But, why not come herself? But, then he could think of a dozen reasons why she wouldn't have come herself.
"Why?"
"I'm just the messenger. I didn't have to, but given the circumstances I thought it best." The Hollow with his humanoid face, his eyes with their bluish violet hue softened. He had almost the face of a friend. "There's going to be a war one day, fought here and in the other worlds. I cannot say more, but suffice to say that Kuchiki Rukia means more to the Arrancar than even loyalty owed."
Understanding dawned on him.
Chryse drew his fingertips across the atmosphere, the dimensional slats parted exposing blue, blue sky and sunshine. Blessed sunshine.
"It's your choice."
-TBC
AN: Thanks for reading!
No flames!
Please review ^-^