Nel received her orders with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Something was indeed going on in the living world, enough to recall Rukia and for the Director General to leave. She never noticed Tosen's presence one way or another. He regarded the Hollows with a sense of awe at their power, but spoke very little to her. Nel had observed his polite distrust of Rukia on more than one occasion, wondering at its true cause.
She walked through the halls of the fortress, receiving a few polite bows of respect from the servants. Aizen had ordered they were to stand watch, increasing vigilance over the many entrance ways into Las Noches. Nel thought Rukia might alert the Exequias and the Privaron Espada. If they acquitted themselves favorably, Aizen might see fit to raise their importance. Thus her head filled with orders she needed to give in Rukia's absence, Nel stumbled upon Ulquiorra almost by accident.
"Cuatro." She greeted less effusively.
The slender dark-haired Arrancar leaned against a pillar, arms crossed in an attitude of general boredom. He passed a glance at her when she spoke but offered nothing in exchange. He simply straightened and started walking.
"Hey, you could at least offer up a greeting."
"Cease your useless nattering, woman."
Nel's mouth snapped shut. She was almost inclined to point out that once she had been his superior. But the feeling was fleeting. Nel never flaunted her strength and wouldn't start doing so now. "Where are you going?" She decided to settle on that question since it assured a perfectly valid response. Or so she thought.
"To carry out my orders."
"I know more about the security of Las Noches than you do." She said with a faint trace of smugness. Rukia had taught her the things she didn't know. Nel was certain that despite Ulquiorra dwelling in the same palace as Rukia, he knew very little about how she operated. "We should deploy the Exequias to patrol the outer perimeter. If they encounter anything, Chelute should dispatch one of the Numeros to raise the alarm." Her plan was sound as far as spreading them out.
"Then set about accomplishing your task."
He was such a cheery little bastard, wasn't he?
"You're coming with." She said tonelessly, her smile fading. "We were ordered to carry out this task together and I won't have you failing Rukia out of stubbornness."
Rukia wasn't good at waiting. She had seemingly waited hours for the interminable meetings to come to an end. Aizen had chosen to attend in person signifying his concern over the incidents. Rukia had garnered her share of stares before, but the ones from Fifth Company were beginning to grate on her nerves.
"Is this on business with Thirteenth Division?" The fourth seat inquired politely again.
She supposed it looked strange for her to be seeking him out. "I loaned a book of some value to him and I wish to retrieve it."
"I'll pass it on to the taichou. He's been busy as of late."
She directed her coldest stare to the youngish man of medium height. He stared blandly back at her as if door keeping was one of his tasks. "Is there something else, Kuchiki-fukutaichou?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, since Aizen-taichou is busy and a tad forgetful as of late, allow me to retrieve it myself." She reasoned with a fake smile. "He informed me that he had already read it."
The lackey processed her words, sizing her up with a glance. Rukia had made sure her badge of rank was visible. She outranked him and he knew it.
The man allowed a curt, stiff nod to precede his gesture to the door to the office. Rukia had intended to wait for him but as he hadn't returned yet, found her lack of action paring down her nerves. She rose up from her seat gracefully, murmuring thank you. Now more than ever she wished Aizen's illusion would take over and let her stay and wait for him undisturbed. Rukia sighed softly once she was in the office with the panel slid shut behind her. The officer had been called away to help with the increased workload piling up in Hinamori's absence.
She glanced around the tidy desk seeing few papers out of order. Aizen had left a book of Basho's poetry beside an emptied tea cup.
It occurred to her then that he might've had something to disguise himself. A garment of some kind or a spell that concealed his presence as he set things in motion. She couldn't imagine where he would've kept something so integral to his plans. Rukia began searching around, rifling through drawers as quietly as possible, trying to find a false bottom or hidden spring.
Where-where-where-
She was sure he had used it to disguise his presence when he...
The outline of a door formed in front of her. Rukia gaped open-mouthed, staring incredulously at the wall. The outline grew sharper until the panel slid open and he was standing there. "How-how did you-?!"
"Please close your mouth, Kuchiki-san. It's most impolite." He stated firmly, stepping into the room. Rukia watched the door fade away, forgetting to be irritated. "Okay, how did you do that?"
"Simple dimensional displacement."
She wanted to know more about it but decided it could wait. "I need to get to the living world." She blurted out as he took a seat behind his desk.
"Might I ask why? You were given orders that tie your hands here." He removed his glasses, running a hand through his thick wavy brown hair. He looked tired, she thought. Like he'd slept uneasily and woken early by their summons. "You've always found it hard to go against their orders so I find it unusual that you demand to do so now." He said silkily.
She frowned at his calmness. "This is serious."
"Yes, it is."
"More could get killed."
"That is a likely outcome." He agreed, palming his chin. Rukia stood to his right side, fidgeting. "How can you be so damned calm?" She stamped her foot causing the tea cup on the desk to rattle faintly. "Momo's out there!"
He looked at her, unconcerned over her fleeting ire. They were allies on enemy ground. "I am attempting to mitigate losses on my own terms. If they don't heed the warnings, then there is nothing I can do."
"What are you saying?" That it could be so much worse...?
He gestured that she take a seat. Rukia ignored him and sat down on the edge of the desk, facing him. "There's something else you know... I'd like to hear it."
He hardly raised a brow at her as if expecting her to ignore his offering. "It isn't much, beyond an old story they used to tell in the Soul Academy. I was reminded of it when I saw the togabito as they call them, the sinners, and the skeletal guards, the Kushenada. Research and Development produced footage of them, captured in the living world."
Rukia hadn't seen it. They hadn't shared it with the fukutaichou meeting. She tried to imagine it from the scant little she knew, fear growing.
"What is it? What was it they said?"
"They say that when a Shinigami dies, their essence...their ah- reiryoku becomes part of Soul Society."
Rukia nodded slightly. Yes, it was common knowledge just as the zanpakuto of a Shinigami dissolves into nothing when they experience true death of the soul. It was supposed to be comforting as a warrior to know that your final essence became part of the world you fought for.
"But what happens when someone of high reiatsu passes on?" He was looking at her now, his brown eyes searching her face for the answer. Rukia tentatively answered, feeling like it was wrong. "They become part of Soul Society too."
"Ah, but what if they were some of the strongest Shinigami? What if three...four or more taichou class Shinigami ceased to exist. Imagine their power becoming pure reishii, Rukia." He held her gaze and she saw something in it that she had never seen before. Something close to fear. "Tell me, do you still believe they would return to the dirt of Soul Society?"
She couldn't stop herself from imagining Byakuya as he was. The cold, aloof noble whose true power frightened her. She tried to imagine his final demise, her mind reverting to the image of Soujun and the way she imagined his death had come about.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it's too much. All that power they've accumulated has to go somewhere." She finished quieter, seeing him assent. Her answer was the right one.
"Good, you understand my reasoning now how dangerous it is for any of Taichou class to approach this...problem. The reishii in their bodies is too dense with reiatsu to become one with anything. In the event that one of them passes, a ceremony is held and the deceased taichou is cast into Hell to stop that overabundance of reishii from wandering around the spiritual plain."
She stared at him openly, horror stricken. "N-No...that can't be true...they wouldn't-" in the back of her mind, worry blossomed. If taichou strength reishii couldn't be reabsorbed, then what about the Arrancar... Agitated, she stood up, unsure of what to do. Rukia saw now the reason for his worry, appreciating suddenly the finer points of his mind. He wasn't so ready to dismiss old legends.
"I recounted the story to them and argued for them to immediately bring back all those dispatched to the living world." Aizen said, lifting his gaze to her again. "Hinamori included. Mitigation efforts to seal up the Hell portal are more important than understanding the cause," his smile was ghastly. "But fools they are, don't believe. Four of the highest class of Shinigami are descending down to Karakura Town."
"But you...you were going to kill them." You are. We are. She found her voice. "Why stop them now?"
"Oh, my dear Rukia, that isn't the case at all. Their remains were to be consumed by our ally's foot soldiers, strengthening the next generation of Hollows. Their reishii wasn't going to be committed to the soil of Soul Society." He looked momentarily offended that she thought he hadn't had the foresight to plan ahead. "I wouldn't waste their final...gifts. I do shudder to think of what could happen if they were consumed by Hell."
Chryse...Soujun...she felt faint considering the horror of it, then of more concern, thought of what would happen to them if the worst occurred. "We need to close the gateway to Hell."
She had gumption.
Aizen was surprised that she included him in her quest. It hadn't escaped her notice about his interest in old texts. "They said there was a rejection between realms. If that was stopped then the gate might close." Rukia walked ahead of him. They'd slipped out under the watch of his seated officers.
"It's reasonable to expect." He approved of her quick mind. "But the cause is tied to a human."
Inoue Orihime.
Rukia kept her expression forcibly neutral. If only Ulquiorra had carried out more than his duty and rid the human world of her. Aizen led the way to the repository of knowledge held by Ninth Division. Few took notice of his arrival leading Rukia to assume he was a frequent visitor.
"Do you know what we're looking for?" She surveyed the daunting deep shelves filled with scrolls. Five rows deep, they stretched to the back of the large chamber. A few desks were set against the walls with flat, uninviting floor cushions beside them.
"Anything pertaining to Hell." He bypassed the first shelf, fingertips skimming the rolls. Rukia grimaced at the dust, coming away on her hands, sifting off into fine puffs of neglect when she pulled out one from a lower shelf. She dearly wanted to ask if he was pulling them out by random or if he really knew where something was. "Does anyone read these things?" She finally chose an armful of colorfully illustrated rolls that didn't flake apart at her touch.
"Those in pursuit of scholarly knowledge." He sounded amused. "Or curious about draconian punishments found in court documents."
She unfastened the bind holding the scroll together, smoothing out over her lap. Rukia skimmed the legend above the sketch of a pit in the middle of a city street.
"You're right about that." She tucked the scroll away with a shudder. Rukia went through the rest of her pile, sighing when she didn't find anything even close to being relevant. After some time, she wandered over to where he was. Aizen pored over a small scroll on yellowed parchment, the colors of the illustration were bright and vivid despite its advanced age. Peering over his arm, she noticed the curved lines of a gateway made of bones beyond normal human proportion. Something about it made her uneasy and she averted her eyes. "Did you find something?"
"It appears that there is a spell used for transporting someone out of Hell without breaking the gates." He explained, frowning at a notation. "But it appears that the spell requires the permission of the Soutaichou."
"So nothing on how to seal them." Rukia muttered, disappointed.
"No, this could still be useful to us."
She didn't see how, glancing from his expression to the parchment. "What are you getting at?" But he wouldn't answer her. He made a copy of the spell number and the shelf he'd found it, then wrote up a quick missive on a spare bit of parchment left behind at one of the desks. "Deliver this to Ukitake. Whatever they choose to do with it, is up to them."
Rukia's fingers reluctantly closed the letter. "Is that wise? Leaving it up to them?" The disapproval in her voice caused him to glance at her. "Do you have something else in mind?"
She did as a matter of fact, but was certain he would never agree to it.
Kiyone found him in his favorite tree. She had been looking for him all around the Thirteenth Division's barracks; she hadn't thought until then to look up. "Hey!" She called, lobbing a bag of sweet candies from Kariya's, up into the tree. Faster than the eye could follow, he caught it one-handed, eyes remaining closed.
"Must you be a pain? Go bother Kotsubaki."
She shifted her weight anxiously. She had already one-upped Sentaro on the paperwork while he ran around trying to find something to outdo her, Kiyone shielded her brow, gazing upward at the man lounging indolently in the shade of the large old oak tree.
"Thanks," she said, "I really mean it."
From what she could see of his face, furrowed slightly. Kiyone went on hurriedly, "I know you probably don't think of it as anything much, but I..."
"You're welcome." The words fell a little flat as if he was testing them out in his mouth. Kiyone smiled anyway. "I was wondering if you-" she uttered a little squeak as he rose smoothly to his feet and lightly leapt down to the ground. "If I what?" His imposing height made her instantly flustered.
"Nothing! I just um...she couldn't quite get the words out, not when he was looking at her like that. "Isane- that's my sister- we were going to get together and um..."
"Kotetsu." He wasn't looking at her strangely. He wasn't! He was looking up at the sky. "Kuchiki-fukutaichou said you had taken a shine to me?" He was confused about Rukia's exact words and their meaning. Kiyone colored to the roots of her blonde hair. "R-really?" She got out weakly.
"What does that mean? I'm not familiar with the phrase."
"W-Well um-" she was saved from further red-faced embarrassment by Rukia's sharp voice.
"Kotetsu!"
"Yes!" Kiyone jumped to attention, glad that her rival Kotsubaki wasn't around to make fun of her blushing fit. Rukia strode across the lawn, frowning at catching the two of them conversing. Kiyone wondered if their taichou's observations about Rukia and the grey-eyed Shinigami had some truth to them.
"Deliver this to Ukitake-taichou." Rukia presented her with a sealed letter. Kiyone sensed her superior's agitation and took her leave. She didn't want to be seen as dawdling about when a task needed to be completed and too, Rukia sent her to deliver the letter instead of Kotsubaki. She had plenty of time to catch up to Gingerback later, or so she reassured herself.
"What was that all about?" Ordinarily he wouldn't have asked, glad that he could resume sleeping instead of running menial tasks around the barracks. Rukia turned her attention to him now. "It might've escaped your notice, but there was another incident in the world of the living."
He saw where her irritation stemmed from."You needed to sleep. So I let you sleep."
"That's beside the point. I've spent the past few hours seeing the same thing." She didn't hesitate to name it. "Complacency." He could see how the dismissiveness of the Shinigami rankled her. "This is serious and that's all I see -" she gestured to the city beyond the barracks. "Them laughing and joking and not doing anything to prepare."
"Sorry." He said because he couldn't think of what else to say to ease her worry. Rukia stared at him then she softened. The hardness in her eyes was gone, but her mouth remained a thin line.
"You don't need to apologize. It's difficult to remain annoyed with you for long."
He almost asked why. Her annoyance wasn't like the minor irritations of the squad members. He mostly listened to Rukia and truthfully, he didn't mind her annoyance. That impatience was part of her like Lilynette planting her foot in his backside. Except that Lilynette was part of him and Rukia wasn't. "What're you so worked up over?"
"Someone I know is deployed over there. They sent her there to investigate the strange occurrences in Karakura Town."
"Ah." He didn't understand her concern. "Aizen-sa-taichou's second."
Rukia gave no sign of noticing his slip. They started to walk slowly. Movement always helped free her thoughts, he noticed. "How is this different from your concern over the Cuatro?"
She looked uncomfortable with the question. "There is no danger he couldn't win against for the time being. But for her, the possibility of a worse fate remains."
That made him feel strange. Hinamori... wasn't the same as Ulquiorra. "Why?" In his mind, all companions were equal. Rukia sighed in exasperation proceeding to launch into a semi-detailed explanation of the Hell gate complete with drawings from a small sketchpad she kept somewhere on her person. Stark was more confused about her hell bunnies portraying vicious sinners than the point she was trying to make.
"I think I understand." He said even though he didn't. Disagreement would only upset her more. Rukia eyed him doubtfully, but put her sketches away. "That's about the long and short of it. Aizen said the story is no longer told in the academy. I know I'd never heard it until he spoke of it."
"Does he plan on doing anything about it?"
She thought she heard a note of hope meaning he was more interested in sleeping the rest of the day away. "No, he said to lay low and see what happens." She disagreed with his assessment, but then she understood the risks involved. If they wouldn't listen...she sighed in frustration. If she had been able to return to Las Noches, she would've hit the training floor with Nel. A good round of zanjutsu kept her mind occupied. She looked at the Arrancar, measuring the light of late afternoon left around them.
"Would you spar with me?"
The question though unasked, went through his head, lingering long after they entered the training ground. Rukia had nervous energy. She was stressed, throwing caution to the winds. The grounds were empty at this time of day. He obliged her because she asked. Very few would ever consider going toe to toe with his power.
Why was there a difference between Hinamori and Ulquiorra? He wondered if it had something to do with their races. Or was it simply their difference in power? He thought there was more to it, but Rukia wasn't in the mood for answering questions.
Stark fended off her barrage of strikes one-handed which seemed to incense her more.
"You don't have to hold back so much." She leapt back, breathing hard through her mouth. She had worked up a sheen of sweat. On this day, she had pulled her long hair up into a simple claw accessory clip. The shorter strands swept the sides of her face, softening her scowl.
"I've seen the way you fight. Do you dislike it so much?"
He felt a flicker of alarm pass through him. Of course Rukia had been aware of how he handled conflict. She had observed from the sidelines during their mission in Hueco Mundo. She knew how he despised fighting and would go out of his way to avoid it.
"Yes, I do."
She looked at him over the edge of her soul cutter. He flinched from the expression on her face.
"That disappoints me. All that power and no will to use it."
He disappointed her...? The concept was strange to him. Aizen was satisfied with his level of power, demanding him to coerce other Hollows by any means necessary to join the cause. One day he would be forced to fight for real...against an opponent he might lose against. He didn't like to think of those things for long. That day wasn't here yet.
"Why don't we...find a shady spot somewhere and take a nap?" Stark suggested not to lull her into a false sense of security. He could see exhaustion creeping into her stance. Rukia wavered then disappeared from sight. He sensed her bearing down on him from the right. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he successfully blocked her high swing. Their swords grated apart and Rukia was forced back.
"He said that you fought him. You took him seriously after you thought that I...," Some of her surety, her confidence vanished. Rukia sounded confused, her eyes lowering to the ground. "Why would you do something like that for me?"
Chryse.
That was...
They shouldn't have been having this conversation. Stark ran one hand through his hair, pressing his palm to his head. Of course Chryse wouldn't have kept his mouth shut. Stark began to wish he had finished him off when he had the chance. "Someone like him who attacks an ally shouldn't be allowed to live." He started to feel irritated for no reason at all. "I've explained my actions already. You're always such a pain in the neck."
Rukia ignored his grumbling, demanding."Would you do the same for one of the others?"
One of the Espada?
Stark thought of the nine before him.
What a joke.
He had been forced to see...they were comrades in name only. They were not his friends in any sense of the word. Before his mission to Soul Society, when had he exchanged more than a handful of words with any of the Espada? He felt their envy for his position but nothing else. No true feeling of camaraderie existed between them. The answer was clear. "Why would I?"
Her shock made him if possible angrier.
Why did she need to ask that?
Why couldn't she accept there was a difference between her and the Espada?
Rukia wanted to say more. She wanted to argue with him that the Espada were worth fighting for. Unfortunately, how well he knew that she was the only one who felt that way.
"You don't understand anything." He said and disappeared in a blur of afterimages. He knew she wasn't weak. He knew it. But against one of the Espada, against the power that crushed the souls of others -- he reappeared behind her. She was too slow to react, searching where she thought he'd be -- her power was nothing at all.
Silence wrapped around him. Ulquiorra had slipped away from the former Tercera once her loud fracciones had swarmed her. Their uncouth antics and playful banter had enabled him to escape her insistence on checking the major points of entry into the fortress. Dondachaka and Pesche treated their superior in a child-like manner, something which he found incredibly irritating. Ulquiorra glanced over the monitors providing surveillance over the Espada.
Most of them were in their separate palaces. Grimmjow having sensed Neliel's absence from the training area, went to harass the Numeros and unranked Arrancar that could be found there. Ulquiorra noted with interest that Neliel was retracing her steps. He tracked her through the upper levels until she had located Chelute. An argument ensued over something...yes, it appeared to be the Arrancar's unwillingness to carry out his orders. Ulquiorra easily located the Calaveras in another wing of the fortress. So it seemed the Exequias, specifically their leader, still refused to follow the dictates of the female of the species.
The fact was, Tosen wasn't unaware of the problem, believing that the presence of the Cuatro would lend weight to Neliel's orders. What the Director General didn't understand was that respect had to be learned. Ulquiorra watched Neliel elevate her formidable reiatsu when words failed.
She crushed the lesser Hollow under the weight of her power. Chelute finally knelt to her, head inclined. Reluctantly, Ulquiorra approved of her methods. She wasn't solving it from behind the back of someone else. She was proving herself to still be worthy of her old rank. He wondered if Rukia would have approved. If she would have taken the stubborn Hollow to task for refusing to listen. He doubted Rukia's spirit pressure would've had the same effect. Thinking of her, brought to mind the prior night.
He had eliminated a number of the smaller Hollows, returning to the palace only when he had become bored. The room where he'd left her was empty of course, devoid of the ever present chill from her reiatsu when she was there. She received orders and so had he. But for the longest time, he had stood there at the doorway to her bedroom, staring at the place where she had been.
The servants restored the bed to neatness. The blanket he had used to cover her, was folded into sharp angles on the foot of the bed. They had also taken away their plates and the rubbish drawing he had crumpled up with the used napkins.
Her bedroom felt disused, empty, as if the occupant wasn't returning. The absurd notion persisted the longer he stood there, hovering in the doorway.
When had he become so greedy with her attention? Ulquiorra thought to simply have a place and security provided by Aizen's rule, was enough. She came and went sometimes without his being aware of it. Never had it disturbed the carrying out of his duties, but on this day...
He was bothered by something outside himself. He could see no true reason for his unease except for her absence. Was she in danger? He viewed the scans of energy fluctuations filtering in from the living world. Despite Ulquiorra's distaste for the Octava, he had to admit the technology he developed was likely on par with or surpassing that of the Research branch of Soul Society's military.
If she...,
He saw nothing to raise alarm. The spirit pressure read out suggested Soul Society had responded to the threat with some of their highest officers. Rukia wouldn't be among them. Aizen would see to it that his right hand subordinate wouldn't be sent to the front lines. Still, worry remained like a heavy stone in his chest.
"I'm sorry."
"That's all you ever say." Rukia scoffed, lying on her back, surrounded by plumped up pillows. She had been stunned by his last blow, the one which sent her crashing into a wall. She surmised she must've lost consciousness for a time, coming awake in the hospital ward of Fourth Division. Her lips fought off a quirk of annoyance as she contemplated the fact that she'd never escape until the little medicoes had tortured/treated her every ill. "Thanks to you, I'll never leave here under Unohana-taichou's watch."
Rukia gradually became aware that he didn't share her amusement. "What's wrong?" His normally bland expression of disinterest had changed into one of utmost seriousness. She had never seen him so close to anger before.
"Don't ever ask me to spar with you again."
She blinked in surprise, not expecting her flippancy to have angered him. "Hey, it's fine." Rukia peeled up her sleeve to show him her smooth, unmarked skin, forming a fist experimentally. "I'm durable! I'm a warrior too, remember!" Oh, ho, ho! "I have a rep to protect. Can't be seen as slacking when an unseated Shinigami knocks out the fukutaichou. What're you, freakishly strong?"
He looked away from her, large fingertips rubbing the place on the back of his left hand where his Espada tattoo had resided. When she saw that her pretend strong act had no effect, she dropped the facade. "I'm okay. Really. I survived worse, remember Chryse?" And Ichimaru and Hueco Mundo...,
His grey eyes were downcast. "I thought you were going to disappear."
She was struck wordless.
That he...he thought...
Then Rukia knew. She extended her hand to him, catching his fingertips, stopping their ceaseless motion of tracing the tattoo. The reminder of his hidden strength. "I'm not going to disappear on you, dummy. I have too much to accomplish and too many idiots to whip into shape." She grinned as she said it, squeezing his hand. "And I have to keep you and the others safe."
To anyone who had passed by the room and overheard her words, they would've thought nothing of it. Rukia spoke deliberately vague, choosing her words with care. The Primera Espada's eyes briefly widened then he held a finger out in a gesture she recognized.
"You promise?"
"I pinky promise." Rukia affirmed, unable to keep from smiling. They interlocked pinky fingers then he seemed to relax. "Will you tell me now, why you're so afraid for that girl?"
Rukia sank down into the pillows. "She's my friend."
"So she's different than him."
"No."
"Then she is like me?" He did not say the word. It was there, hopeful, silent, hovering in the background. Companion.
"Well, yes." Rukia shifted on the pillows, unsure why the Fourth Division's medicoes had brought so many.
"Then, we are the same."
Too late, Rukia realized she had been backed into a corner. She didn't have the patience or the desire to explain the difference in degrees of companionship to him, at least right now. Momo was...
"She's like Neliel." Rukia said finally, remembering the first time she had met the green-haired woman in her child form. Neliel had worn rags, her streaked face was beaten and bruised. One of the Privaron Espada had dragged her in after finding her in the underground entranceway. When Rukia asked Aizen about her, he had dismissed her as a failed project.
"There's potential in her." She blurted out the words as he observed her calmly. "Let me have her." All Rukia could see in her mind's eye, was the scarred child's teary face. She hadn't cared about the broken mask lying on the mop of wavy green hair or the blubbering lisp.
"Alright. Even Gin had his friends. Do with her what you will."
She remembered the child before she was reverted back into her adult form, pitifully running to her legs and hugging her in gratitude.
"If anyone hurt her... I'd kill them myself. I don't care who it was." Rukia murmured, studying her sword bearing hand. "That's how I feel about her." Maybe it was the years she spent living in the desert where only the strongest survived.
Stark looked at the petite woman who murdered a taichou class Shinigami once. He felt the same way about her.
"Then, what're you waiting for?"
Rukia smiled ruefully, her hand falling to her side. "This time I'm not sure if there's anything I can do. Aizen's right, we're on the cusp of losing everything. Maybe I can't do anything to stop it. I can't even leave Soul Society right now."
"If it's you," he said, turning to scoop up something that was pooled on the floor. "You can do something about it."
Rukia was left to wonder how he was able to pull her out of her darkest thoughts. What kind of power was that to make her feel better just by expressing something so small as belief? Her rational mind wanted to argue words were cheap, but somehow she felt he wasn't lying.
The awkward Hollow who sat on the floor, his back hunched to appear smaller beside her resting form, watched her with a furrowed brow. "I can get you out of here." He held out the cloak shimmering with a vague translucence. "If that's what you want."
She looked from it to his face, realizing he must've known where to find it. He had stolen it for her...he was offering to take her to the living world - and risk Unohana's wrath. This last thing he was probably unaware of or just didn't care.
She started to sit up ignoring the slight twinge in her back. He had even brought her a clean uniform to change into, politely turning his back to her while she discarded the white yukata. Rukia picked up her zanpakuto, threading the scabbard through her white sash. She took up the cloak last, studying the thin material, the way the weft captured the overhead light.
"I'm ready."
He knelt down, lacing his hands behind his back for her to climb up. Rukia did so, her stomach flipping in nervousness from his proximity. Stupid, she chided herself. This was Stark. He'd transported her before with his teleportation-like speed. Something was different now though. She felt him shift uneasily, his broad shoulders tense. So he felt it too.
"Rukia?"
"What?"
"Come back. That's all I ask."
Everything was too quiet for his taste. Ashido had resumed his solitary patrol aware of the huge spatial distortions in the sky above the ordinary citizenry going about their lives. He glanced at it frequently, noting the fluctuations from the gate itself in response to the Kidoshu's barriers. Word had come via Hell Butterfly that a contingent of Shinigami would be arriving shortly to assess the danger level. He had been briefed on the nature of the attack but was told little else. Ashido kept his counsel to himself, dismissing the attempt to assert control over a situation that had begun to spiral out of their hands.
He was mostly disappointed that they seemed to be no different than the officious idiots of his generation. He sighed as a passing cloud unveiled the light of the moon over the sleepy ward. He turned eyes toward the direction where the Kurosaki clinic was located.
They'd arrested Ichigo after numerous attempts to break through the gateway. He was being held in Second Division's custody in a secure location. Ashido felt for the boy's father who had come home to an empty house and missing children. Lost in reverie, Ashido was unaware of her coming upon him until Hinamori's soft voice broke the quiet.
"Hey, thanks for earlier."
He grunted something in reply. He had felt like she was in over her head and was blindly following their lead. Hinamori wore the bronze badge of fifth on her shoulder. She looked young to him, terribly young and frail. Seeing her, reminded him of their conversation cut short by the arrival of the togabito.
"You never did answer me about Kuchiki-fukutaichou."
Hinamori shrugged, "that's the same as asking you if Kurosaki can be trusted to do the right thing. I'm positive Rukia always will."
He smiled up at the dark night sky. "And you're saying Ichigo can't be trusted."
"I don't know him at all." Hinamori admitted gently. "But from what I've seen he's bold and reckless...and stubborn." She described Ichigo perfectly, but even so broke out into an unwilling smile. "He reminds me of someone I know."
The two Shinigami observed the transit of the moon in the sky for a time. Hinamori finally stirred herself when he mentioned the late hour. "I couldn't sleep a wink with all that's happened." She admitted sheepishly. "Tell me something, is Kurosaki close to his sisters?"
"He'd do anything to protect them. That sense of duty encompasses his friends and his hometown. I've never been fortunate to know anyone like him." Ashido said, humbled. "What's remarkable to me is how young he is. Ichigo has the pure soul of a Shinigami."
Hinamori looked a little guilty. "Kano-san, I know where he's being held. Would you like to see him?"
-TBC
CH.33 Review Replies
Mhysamoon: Thank you! True, it was supposed to have IxR elements but after the next chapter or so...
UxR used to be one of my favorite (crack) pairings, but I agree with you that the relationship between Stark and Rukia is more defined. Rukia can talk to him easier than she would Ulquiorra whose views are very different regarding companionship. I think Stark's relationship with Rukia has come the furthest in terms of development.
Guest: Thank you!
Guest2: Thank you! I appreciate your reviews because you analyze the character interactions :-)
nc13am:
Merci! J'apprécie vraiment quand les gens prennent le temps de réviser. Plusieurs personnes m'ont posé des questions sur StarkxRukia donc pour l'instant ça va probablement être un triangle amoureux d'autant plus que j'ai une partie de la fin écrite...alors oui, au suivant ;-)
AN: has anyone read the one-shot for Bleach's 20th anniversary? Let me just say, wow. It was good and definitely worth reading. I worked in some of the new lore surrounding Hell into Atonement since this tiny arc involves Hell (and it makes sense Aizen would know something about it)
Thanks for reading!
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