CHAPTER ONE
*I do not own bleach nor do I own Frankenstein by Dean Koontz... never will ... ever
Alright! This fic will be mxm and fxm
Pairings will be as follows:
Byakuya x MC
Ukitake x Kyoraku
Ichigo x Rukia
Ishida x Inoue
Yuroichi x Urahara
ETC.
Enjoy!
Seireitei1 A.M.3rd Person POV[Constance Ukitake]The night breeze flowed across the tree lines. With a hiss of the painter's airbrush, it seemed to blow the iridescent moonlight like a mist of brilliantly colored paint across the slate rooftops of the squad barracks and the Seki Seki rock of the Senzaikyū tower. While the walls of Soul Society were bleached by the recent cold, the grass resembled ice in the lunar chill over December.
At one in the morning, Constance Ukitake, Connie for short, walked the perimeter of Squad Eights barracks. No lamplight to guide her only the light of the frosty moon on such a chilly night. The moon was full and larger than usual but beautiful.
From time to time she would hear a random noise issuing from the many housings that were lit by candle light, yet the noise didn't inspire any anxiety. Nothing really scared her, she carried no weapon at her side but it wasn't because she was resourced with confidence. Nor was it because she was trained well in hand to hand combat. No, she felt safe within the walls of her own home within the Seireitei.
She walked on, following the path towards Squad Six's barracks. Though late in the A.M., she dined to see Captain Kuchiki. She wanted to tell him something important, that was the only thing at the moment that was giving her a case of severe indigestion. Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of Squad Six of the Gotei 13. Always such an emotionless face and a very serious attitude. She had been graced to see him smile once or twice in her many years of knowing him from the Shino Academy and throughout their trials as Soul Reapers. Yet… if she had to choose, she wished he had her eldest brother's attitude instead. Captain Jushiro Ukitake of Squad 13. She smiled fondly at the old and new memories of him smiling and laughing away with his best friend Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of Squad eight. Her captain, she was his fifth seated member. He was always so happy go lucky and easy going, loving to annoy the lieutenant of their squad by lounging about and resting without doing his paperwork that seemed to always be piling up. Connie giggled to herself happily, her big brother may be ill but he was by far her favorite of all seven of her siblings.
As she made her way to Squad Six barracks she noticed the much more calmer atmosphere of their barracks. Not as much rowdiness as Squad Eight or even Squad Eleven and Ten. Most of the candle light was out besides a few here and there, although tons of candle light came from the large Kuchiki Estate along with a very strong smell of cherry blossom and incense.
She was anxious now, plagued by a suspicion that seemed irrational but none-the-less was one she just couldn't simply shake off. One of worrying that what she had to say to Captain Kuchiki would make him very angry. She had hoped a brisk walk in the cool nighttime air would have cleared her troubled mind. By the time she had circled the estate to the back where Captain Kuchiki seemed to always be, standing and staring sadly at his late Hisana's memorial picture bathed in candle light and incense surrounded by other late Kuchiki Clan members.
She arrived and as she thought, there he was. Silent as ever and just standing there staring on at his Hisana's pretty face with a twisted sadness to his expression. She understood it now that her suspicion arose not from deductive reasoning but instead from intuition. She was old enough that she knew that when your gut was protesting, your intuition is far from wrong. "What is it you need?" Captain Kuchiki asks voice deep and gentle yet authoritative.
Connie gasped and then stepped forward and bowed, "Forgive me Captain, I just wanted to talk with y-"
"At one in the morning, what is so important Constance, that you could not have waited for later on in the day?" He lashes out voice still calm but now with a sharp edge to it as he turned his head slightly to look at her through his peripheral vision before turning back to Hisana's picture.
Connie let tears slip down her cheeks, "Do I have to have a reason to visit my lover?" She asks voice soft and barely audible.
Captain Kuchiki makes a noise similar to distaste, "I thought we agreed you wouldn't say such things where others could hear you." He says turning around to face her expression unchanging and not wavering.
Connie looks up eyes shaking and full of tears, "You never hid Hisana from others view! You didn't care whether they saw you with her or that they knew she was your wife! Why am I any different than her?" She rebelled, angry and full of sadness and grief. Why did he shower Hisana with love and joy and make their love known but he can't bare the thought that his relationship with her, Connie Ukitake, be shown? Hisana had died long ago! Why was she still the only one he was gentle with? Why bother accepting that he wanted a commitment with Connie if all's he ever had his mind on was that woman!
"Enough, leave now." Captain Kuchiki says his words simple and final.
Connie wiped her tears with the handkerchief he'd given her the first time they'd met. She angrily stood up before storming over to him and pressing the soft cloth into his hand and turned to walk away but stopped for a minute, "I thought you loved me Byakuya. I guess I was wrong! I'll never compare to your precious Hisana! This relationship is no longer, I wish I had never confessed I had feelings for such a heartless man!" She says voice low as more tears started blossoming from her eyes and rushing down her cheeks to touch at the point of her chin.
"If that's what you wish then I will not hold you back." Byakuya says voice strained, he longed to shout his love for her, he wanted to hold her and apologize but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Pride always got in his way and it crushed his heart seeing this lovely and soft hearted woman cry because of him but he knew she deserved someone who could reciprocate her feelings not him. Connie looked at Byakuya one last time then took off at a sprint before deciding to use shunpo to go faster, rushing towards her squad's barracks.
As Connie appeared at the entrance to the barracks, she realized that another shared the night with her. She froze in place for a moment before turning around, not recognizing the assailants spiritual pressure. Glimpsing movement from the corner of her eye, she turned to her right to see what seemed to be a shinigami wearing the standard issue for one, the only difference was a hood that covered his face. He had his hand on his Zanpakuto, it was as white as snow with a tint of blue. The man was a few thousand feet from her and standing still, feet shoulder lengths width apart and just watching her from under the shadows of his hood menacingly. "Who are you? I don't recognize your reiatsu! State your name intruder." She says going for her own zanpakuto but gripping air as she reaches for it. Her eyes go wide and she gasps, 'No, I left it in the barracks!' She thinks frantically and takes a step back teeth grit.
"...Does my name matter, little soul reaper." The man sneers unsheathing his Zanpakuto and pointing it at her. "I'm going to kill all of you eventually anyways, so it doesn't matter if you know my name or not, girl!"
Connie sighs, 'I realized tonight I may die but there is no light in my revelation. It's a dark tide rushing through my blood- dark and cold, thick and insistent, telling me to live!' She thinks and then in a flash she turns so fast she's gone like a wave crashing to the sand. The man looks up and smiles, "You'll be like a gazelle to a cheetah, you may not know me anymore but we've known one another for a while now… I'm here to get revenge and though you may not be on my list, you're simply in my way Constance Ukitake." He whispered.
Connie felt the man catching up to her. She turned just in time to let out a Kido spell but he dodged it and slashed her from right shoulder to left hip. She started to scream but the sound didn't leave her open mouth as she toppled sideways onto her hip, then started crawling towards the squad eight office. It wasn't too far, she could see it just ahead as a foot stomped on her back and she let out a painful gush of air just as the zanpakuto was placed to her throat. He pulled her up to him by the back of her hair, wrenching her to her knees. "I've changed my mind, I'm going to keep you with me. Be glad girl because I was going to kill you and pin you to your own barracks wall for your little squad to find you." The man whispers.
Connie took in a breath, "I didn't do anything to you!" She spits angrily finally finding her voice again and let out a piercing scream. The man stopped his assault when a door opened fast and he was gone in an instant. "Who's out there!?" Captain Kyoraku shouted, his white haired friend coming out behind him.
Connie felt her vision dancing into darkness but with one last dash of hope she opened her mouth and yelled, "Captain! Oh Captain! He's going to kill us all!" She put her hand out in a feeble attempt to be saved.
"Connie?" Kyoraku asks his anxiety levels hitting the roof when he spots her a good fifteen thousand feet away about to go to her when he felt a large amount of unknown reiatsu flow out intentionally. The hooded man smirked and in an instant came out of his hiding place from within the shadows and sliced into the woman's back before grabbing a hold of her and taking off up into the sky.
Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake both went wide eyed as blood surfaced from Connie's mouth with the man's fast movements and her blood gushed out of her body and seeped through her shihakusho. "Constance!" Jushiro shouted and released his reiatsu, looking around when lights were going off all around them and the squad eight soul reapers were all rushing out to find out what was wrong. That's when everything went black for Constance Ukitake, Captain spiritual pressure was always too much for her but in her current state it simply knocked her out cold. Floating in her inner world, she didn't want to wake. It was peaceful here! Besides the constant whining of her Zanpakuto Spirit who was nagging her to hurry up and wake because they were in the midst of a fight.
Constance forces her eyes to open and shakily looked up to see Captain Kyoraku and her big brother Jushiro had out their sealed zanpakuto and standing maybe a thousand feet away. "Connie! Are you alright?" Jushiro asks and she goes to answer but instead her body is racked with several severe bloody coughs blood covering her lips, cheeks and chin. "You better let her go boy, my blades are almost ready to start playing and you won't like it if these two play with you." Kyoraku says, voice gentle yet intimidating.
Noritaka smiles then laughs maniacally, then goes silent and looks down at several downed Shinigami he'd taken out that had attacked. When Noritaka looked up he didn't see Jushiro but he could feel his presence. He turned and his blade locked with Jushiro's and he kicked out sending the Captain back and away from him with a fast spin kick. Noritaka opened a gateway and it ripped through the sky unsteadily only to hunch over when Connie slammed her fist into his appendix, he smirked at her, "I think this one will be enough for now, goodbye." He says and jumps back and through the gate.
"No!" Jushiro shouts angrily then goes into a coughing fit, Kyoraku holding him up as the gateway closes in the blink of an eye with the blur of a white wearing white haired boy entering the gate at the same second using shunpo.
§§§Fade to Black§§§
The sound of a cane hitting the floor resounded within the large room. The Head Captain sat at the head of the room with his eleven captain's formed in two rows of six in front of him. "This meeting was brought to order because I was informed of an infiltration! What's worse is one of our own I have been told has been taken hostage! Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, am I right in the fact that the two of you engaged the unidentified enemy?" Yamamoto states.
"Yes Head Captain, the man seemed to have spiritual levels bordering on that of a captain and it was as if he knew our fighting styles." Kyoraku informs.
Ukitake had his eyes shut for a moment then opened them, "We were unable to identify the assailant but he was able to open up a senkaimon gateway with minimal to little ease. The man injured several of squad eights men along with severely injuring and taking off with the eighth squads fifth seat, as a hostage." He says trembling in anger.
Yamamoto opened one of his closed eyes and eyed Jushiro, "Constance..." Byakuya says almost sounding emotional.
"Is there something you'd like to tell us Captain Kuchiki?" Yamamoto asks.
Byakuya looks at the Head Captain and was quiet for a moment then shakes his head, "It's not something we should be discussing in public." He says voice back to its harsh yet stoic tone as he closes his eyes.
"This is all very puzzling." Toshiro says hand up to his chin in wonder.
"What is it Toshiro?" Jushiro asks.
"All of this is troubling, an unknown with soul reaper powers that are nearly equivalent to that of a captain and he chooses a seated member as his target? What is he really after? Why take a hostage if he left? Why take her at all? I think there's more to this story than meets the eye." Toshiro counters.
"Who was the last to see the fifth seat before her attack this early in the morning?" The Head Captain inquires.
Byakuya sighed heavily, "The woman was in the Squad Six barracks prior to returning back to her own barracks and being attacked." He says.
"How is it that you were aware of this Captain Kuchiki?" Head Captain asks, suspicions in his close eyed gaze.
"Yes, I'd like to know as well." Kyoraku says all eyes pinned and looking to the Kuchiki now.
Byakuya went to speak but his words caught on his tongue and in his throat, he finally looked up, "She wanted to speak with me on matters that do not apply to any of you." He says making Jushiro squint his eyes. The captain's were all suddenly asking Byakuya what he meant by that's when Yamamoto slammed his cane's tip once again to the floor loudly this time, "Enough of this, Captain Kuchiki if you know of anything you are being ordered to say it and say it now. Withholding information on a kidnapping is a felony as you are well informed of." Yamamoto says voice stern, all captain's were once again silent.
Byakuya looks up and nods his head once, "If you're all so inclined to know of my private business… the girl was asking me questions that pertain to Hisana. I told her it was late and to leave so she did, anything after that I've no knowledge on." He says staring straight into Jushiro's gaze.
"Why would she want to know things about your late wife?" Kyoraku asks confused. Byakuya shrugs off the question for a moment but is reprimanded by Yamamoto so he looks at Kyoraku and explains in a placid tone, "She was upset that I simply cannot give her my heart when my heart belongs elsewhere…" He responds then turns face to the floor eyes closed and body language emotionless.
"Enough bickering, the man who has entered and disrupted the Sereitei has now become a fugitive. He has injured several men and has taken one of our own as a hostage. Stay on alert and do not engage him alone in battle if you do not have too." Yamamoto orders then dismisses them with no order to find the fifth seat. Jushiro sighs then starts to cough a bit.
FlashbackConnie When She Was Very YoungNoritaka Shiba§§§Children Laughing§§§
"Noritaka, you can't catch me!" A young Constance shouts playfully.
A small Noritaka was smirking like a cat, "Oh yeah? If I catch you, you're going to have to become my bride!" He shouts.
Constance laughed, her pretty black bobbed hair cut bouncing about her round face and her slate greyish blue eyes dancing with merth. "You can't catch me if I go as fast as my big brother!" She shouts then smirks as she touches her feet to the ground and then bursts into a slow flash step just like the Captain had shown her too. Noritaka smirks and does the same, tackling her to the ground and both rolling.
"See! I'm faster, I caught you so now you have to marry me!" Noritaka shouts and Constance laughs, "Maybe… but in the future not now." She tells him.
But the future was only made of devastation…
"Big brother! Can I visit Nori with Kaien-dono today?" Constance shouted, rushing up to her big brother, it was very early in the morning still dark yet without sunrise. Jushiro turned away and shook his head no. "Why not? Big brother it's been a while, I miss Noritaka so much! Why can't we visit him? Is Kaien-dono sick?" She asks innocently.
"Constance shut up!" Jushiro had shouted and Constance looked at her big brother with big confused eyes before letting tears stream down her face and chin.
"I'm sorry big brother." She says voice soft and runs off.
"Connie, come back! I didn't mean t-" Jushiro was holding out his hand then stopped once his youngest sister was out of sight. 'I couldn't bring myself to say that Kaien and his wife have been murdered.' He thinks before turning away again.
Constance ran towards the Shiba household and followed Noritaka's signature to the backyard. "Noritaka! Good morning!" She pounced on him while laughing happily and he pushed her away roughly, "Nori, what's wrong? I came to see you because we haven't seen each other in so long and I missed you so much!" She says seating herself on her knees in front of him. He had been crying, "Oh, Nori… Whatever is the matter to make you shed such tears?" She asks wiping the tears away from his soft eyelids and cheeks with her delicate thumbs. He smacks her hands away and glares at her. "I hate the soul reapers!" He shouts.
"No… Noritaka…" She whispers and hugs him, Noritaka glares and yanks her off of himself before he starts to choke her. Once he has her on the ground he starts choking her even harder then punches her directly in the face causing her to bite her tongue and blood to surface from her nose and mouth. "Stop!" She gags out. Ganju suddenly pulls Noritaka off of her and she turns onto her side crying and terrified.
"Don't, Nori." Ganju says then pulls Constance up by her collar into a standing position. "Get going, your kind are not welcome here." Ganju states.
"But, Nori… what did I do?" Constance begs ignoring Ganju.
Noritaka turns away, teeth bared as he tries to hide his tears. "You disgusting soul reapers killed my big brother! That's what you did!" He shouts.
Constance gasps and puts her hands to her mouth, "What? Why? No! I knew none of this! Please! I love you Noritaka! I'd never hurt you like that!" She shouts. Nori looks at her then flashes away. Ganju nods at her and tells her to please leave. "Wait! Who did this?! Who hurt Kaien-dono?!" She pleads tears in her eyes. "Why don't you ask that brother of yours, he ordered it and that bitch who brought him here dead! Full of bloody sword holes!" Ganju shouts.
Constance rushes at Ganju and hugs him tightly, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! Please believe me, I had no idea! I would never hurt Kaien-dono!" She shouts crying against his back.
Ganju puts a hand to her hands and stays there for a moment. He didn't hate nor blame this girl who was his friend and his younger brother's best friend. He was actually thankful for her apologies but that meant nothing compared to if it were the killer's having committed Seppuku, "I know but it still doesn't make a difference, you're still one of them Connie-chan." He says and pulls away to walk off.
Constance puts her hand out and grabs his hand, "Ganju-kun, you… think of me as the killer just because of my heritage?" She asks voice wobbly and tears flooding her face and dripping off her chin. "... That hurts my heart." She whispers putting her free hand to her chest and trying not to whimper.
Ganju bares his teeth and clenches his eyes shut, "I do not blame you but knowing what you are makes me feel anger towards you and I don't want to feel that way when you're innocent! So just go!" The young man shouts and yanks away. Constance gasps and moves forward to apologize again when Ganju's eyes widen as he hits her so hard she crumpled to her knees. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm sorry." She repeats until he walks away. Once she regains her bearings she stands up and ran back to the 13th squad barracks.
She rushed towards her big brother's office, slamming open the door angrily and ignoring Shunsui who was asking why her face was all messed up to rush up on her brother. "How could you! How could you! It's all your fault! You did it! You killed him, you killed Kaien-dono! I hate you!" She shouted all the while angrily pulling at his haori and robes.
"Now now, Connie. Jushiro did nothing of the sort. Do you really believe your brother would ever hurt anyone in his squad without reason, especially Kaien?" Shunsui tries to reason.
"You stay out of this, Captain Kyoraku! I want the answer to my face from my brother! Ganju and Noritaka told me to ask you personally! Said some woman from your squad drug Kaien-dono's dead body back and claimed she'd killed him! They wouldn't lie! Ganju said you gave the order!"
"Silence!" Jushiro shouts glaring down at Constance. Putting his hands to her wrists then turning his face away, "Yes I did give orders! I ordered Rukia Kuchiki to run for her life and I tried to seperate Lieutenant Kaien from a vicious hollow that had already taken over his body! He was already dying but he was fighting to try and control the hollow from inside himself! Rukia stabbed him through when the hollow used Kaien to attack her and he thanked her for saving him from the hollow that had control of his body! I didn't kill him, he jumped at the sword to release himself from the hollow that had already marked him for death! So don't come at me and accuse me! I am your older brother and I am a Captain, you will listen to your authority Constance!" Jushiro shouted before going into a coughing fit.
"Even so, he's still dead because you failed him as his Captain…" Constance says her voice full of acid. She was still crying and harshly yanked herself away before rushing off, Shunsui patting Jushiro's back to calm him while watching the young girl run away from her fears and the truth.
Flashback EndWORLD OF THE LIVINGConstance Ukitake
Connie woke with a start, she'd been dreaming of the past. About Noritaka Shiba… about the last time she'd seen him before she'd heard he'd run off after his big brother's death. Constance sat up and winced at the pain in her back and from her shoulder to her opposite hip. She groaned but as a soul reaper such injuries weren't life threatening unless untreated for long periods of time. "So you finally woke up." Someone says coming up to her, she looked up, it was night and they were in a cave with a small fire going. She looked at the hooded man and tried to figure him out.
"What is your name?" She asks curiously.
The man takes off his hood and she watches him for a moment before her eyes widen, "Noritaka Shiba?!" She shouts then winced at the pain shooting throughout her midsection.
The man squats beside her and then spits in her face, "I knew you'd recognize me even if we haven't seen each other in years. You killer." Noritaka says.
Constance glares, "How dare you spit in my face and call me a killer! I've never killed anything besides hollows! They don't even die! They purify and go to soul society's rukongai or to hell! Who are you to accuse me of being a killer! If anyone is a killer it's you!" She shouts then starts coughing up blood, it splashing onto the cave floor and her vision swaying.
Noritaka smirks, "Oh, so you forgot about you reapers killing my brother? How sweet of you Connie." He says hand digging into her jaw.
Constance yanks her jaw from his grip breathing heavily, "We didn't kill Kaien-dono!" She shouts and he pulls out a small rock, sitting beside her. "Your brother Captain Ukitake ordered that he was to die the day of Kaien's death but that's the past now, I need you to complete my plan Connie." Noritaka replies, tossing the rock up and catching it as it came back down.
Constance looks at Noritaka and then sits up a bit more, "Your plan?" She asks curiously. He nods his head silently, "Yes, my plan… Soul Society has probably already deemed you dead so you need to lay low but you're the one who wanted me to accept your apologies when you reapers killed my big brother. Do this and I'll show you mercy." He replies then glares when she shakes her head no.