Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Chapter 2
The duo slowly made their way to the end of the tunnels. A giant steel door blocked their exit. Senbonzakura told Rukia that all she had to do was place her hand on the scanner near the door, and it would open. Before she braved opening the door to whatever hell awaited them on the other side, Senbonzakura told Rukia to reach into his pocket.
A blush crossed Rukia's face as she searched for his pockets for his phone. The poor man couldn't remember which one he placed it in.
I'm doing this ONLY at his instruction of course! I'm not enjoying this one bit…Yeah keep telling yourself that, Rukia.
"Huh…That's not my phone, Rukia." Senbonzakura muttered as a small hand grazed his inner thigh.
"Sorry…" She said as she tucked her head down to hide her brightly, flushed face. Sure, they were physically close a lot, but this was a new meaning of close for either one of them.
After a few minutes of awkward digging and finding a hidden ticklish spot on his muscular, inner thigh, Rukia pulled the phone out of Senbonzakura's left front pocket.
"I need you to call Byakuya." He said as he wrapped his hand around her's that held the phone.
"Who is Byakuya? You've never mentioned him before" Rukia told her beloved friend.
"Just call him, Rukia. I'm starting to see two of you. I don't think I can handle two of you. One is more than enough." Senbonzakura said with a small smile. He was trying to keep both their spirits alive.
"Fine." Rukia kissed him on the forehead. "But you know that you love me."
"Sure. I love you because no other man would have you!" He replied as he coughed. "Trailing after you causes me all the heartache a man could want."
"Quit complaining, Zakura. You leave your own trail of heartbreak. Now, shut up so I can call this mysterious Byakuya. I'd hate for you to see four of me by the time he gets here. Poor soul would think you'd die and gone to heaven." Rukia counted.
Senbonzakura blew her a kiss. Rukia rolled her eyes at him as she searched for Byakuya's name. After a brief scroll through, she tapped his name, but no face showed on the face. The phone began to ring.
Mhhh.. Zakura normally doesn't keep his friends a mystery. I wonder who this man is.
"Hello?" A deep, cold voice answered.
Who the heck is this guy? He definitely doesn't have a bedside manner.
"Hi! Is this Byakuya?" Rukia asked almost suspiciously. How were you supposed to act with a man that you never meet while your shared friend is bleeding on the floor?
"I should be asking who you are and how you got this number, miss." His voice was like cold steel cutting to the core of the problem.
"Look, you ass." Rukia took a deep breath before she continued trying to reign in her temper. "Senbonzakura is bleeding, and probably seeing his worst nightmare, which is four of me! We need you to come pick us up before the attackers come back to finish the job!" Rukia told this Byakuya person in a cold, deadly voice that was just one of the lovely things Senbonzakura taught her.
"What's your location?" A new emotion finally entered into his voice. Zakura must mean a lot to him to get this cold-hearted bastard to change his tune.
"Hang on just a minute…" Rukia leaned down to get Senbonzakura's attention. He glazed up at her with soulful blue-grey eyes. She could tell that he was trying to figure out which Rukia was real and which was the delusion.
"What you don't even know your location! What type of bodyguard are you?" Byakuya asked. It seemed his voice caused the room they were in to drop 20 degrees.
"Actually, I'm his assignment, and I've kept him alive this long." Rukia replied snarkly. She chose to ignore a colorful expression that he muttered into the phone. Her small hand shook Senbonzakura as he was stared into space. "Zakura, I need to stay with me. Please!"
Finally, his eyes cleared some once he felt Rukia's hands. "Hey, beautiful." He said with a lazy smile that he only gets when he's drunk.
Damn blood loss is getting to him! "Hey, Zakura, we have to move, but I don't know where this tunnel exits. Byakuya needs to know where to meet us."
"Corner by the Yokiosha Cemetery. We 'll exit out of the family mausoleum." Senbonzakura told her a little loudly as he leaned into her leg.
"Byakuya, did you catch that?" Rukia ask as she pried Senbonzakura off of her.
"Yes. I shall see you shortly." The cold voice replied.
"Be safe. Those guys weren't messing around." Rukia warned him.
"Don't worry. They should be the ones to be scared." He said confidently.
Twenty minutes later, Rukia saw a dark silhouette lining the doorway of the mausoleum. She grabbed one of Senbonzakura's throwing knives from her hip tossing it at the figure as he pushed opened the gate. The intruder deflected it with a hidden blade.
"Zakura, your aim was a little off. You're slipping on your skills, brother."
Rukia emerged from the shadows that concealed her small body. "It wasn't Zakura's aim that was off. It was mine."
Byakuya took in the sight of the short figure before him. The dark hid most of her features, but he guessed that she couldn't be older than 18. "Where is Zakura?" He asked her.
Leaning down, Rukia helped Senbonzakura from his hiding spot. Byakuya saw the determination outlining her tense, petite body as she placed Senbonzakura's right arm over her shoulder. Instead of offending this proud female, he decided to left Senbonzakura's left shoulder to help her balance his weight.
"Where did you park?" Rukia asked before they left the safety of the mausoleum.
"If you're worried about the men, then the ones who were left at the house are dead." He told her. His voice helped no trace of emotion. Strangely, Byakuya's tone reminded her of Senbonzakura's, but he never mentioned family before. The men must have trained together before Senbonzakura branched out.
"Thank you." Rukia whispered as she saw the smoke coming from her house. She would have time to process everything later. Inwardly, she knew her parents were dead. Those men were after something. She just didn't know what.
The led Senbonzakura to a car parked near the curb. An armed man was standing out front guarding it. As they got closer, the red-haired guard opened the car door, and they ushered Senbonzakura inside.
After a twenty minute ride of silence, they arrived at the a mansion. "Where are we?" Rukia asked Byakuya as kept pressure to Senbonzakura's wound. She kept glazing at the man under her.
Byakuya saw the worry etched into the young woman's face. Was she his lover to care so much about his brother? Instead of asking the two questions that he wanted most to know, Byakuya simply replied, "Our house, or rather Kuchiki Manor."
"Kuchiki…" Rukia stopped to think for a moment. "No!" She yelled rather loudly causing her patient to stir.
"Rukia, what's a matter?" Senbonzakura asked. Large amethyst eyes looked at him with new light. This was the reason he never discussed his family with her. The Kuchiki Clan was the Murakami Clan's biggest rival.
A shell-shocked looked covered her face. "You're a Kuchiki?" She asked in a high pitch voice causing both men to flinch.
Astonishment crossed Byakuya's face. No one was ever ashamed to be a Kuchiki except for his brother. "You didn't tell her?" Byakuya asked.
"No. I never could find the words to." An exhausted Senbonzakura replied.
"Okay, well I know now." Rukia stated with a watery smile. "Once you get better, I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Until then, we really need to get you some help." Senbonzakura smiled weakly at her.
Noticing his brother starting to pale a little more, Byakuya tried to calm them with reassurance. "Dr. Unohana will have him patched up in no time. Then you can kill him if you want too."
"Dr. Unohana?" Senbonzakura stuttered. Terror filled his eyes, and Byakuya sighed at his brother's reaction.
"Did you really think I could call that man?" Byakuya asked.
"She's scary…" Senbonzakura replied still in shock.
"She should be arriving any minute. Dr. Unohana ordered us not to move you any more until she arrives." Byakuya looked over to Rukia. "You're in charge of keeping him alive till then."
"Like I would let him die? I'd just bring him back so I could kill him myself for leaving me with you." She told Byakuya with a smirk on her face. Senbonzakura felt the tension in the car.
"Be nice you two." Senbonzakura told them before he fell asleep with Rukia yelling at him to stay awake.
Not even five minutes later, a middle-aged woman with long braided hair opened the car door.
Rukia paced in front of the family surgery room in Kuchiki Manor. "You should stop worrying. He's in good hands." Byakuya's voice interrupted her thoughts. He was kind enough to bring her some coffee.
She took a sip of her drink only to choke and spit half of it out on Byakuya. "What the hell is in this!"
Stoically, Byakuya just wiped the coffee off his suit with his pocket handkerchief. "It's called whiskey. You need something to help calm you down."
"I'm perfectly calm." Rukia growled at him. A raven eyebrow arched at her. "Alcohol makes me worse. Just ask Zakura." She told him quietly.
Instead of addressing her interesting statement, Byakuya asked, "Can you tell me why my brother ended up with gunshot wounds?" His tone of authority caught Rukia off guard since until a few hours ago the man never existed in their little world.
"He got them saving me. Zakura told me to run leave him, but I went back for him. If I didn't we both may be dead because I sure as hell didn't know about that tunnel in my room."
Byakuya sent Rukia a glare. She avoided his question, and that was never good in his book. He tried the less subtle approach. "Why were you targeted by the Yakuza?"
"Ah, that's what you meant. Sorry." Rukia looked at the floor. "Honestly, I don't know, Byakuya. All I know for sure was that Dad was cleaning up some areas in the rougher districts of Tokyo and a few other cities. He was partnering with a man named Aizen. I only met him once, and by Kami, I hope to never again. I wasn't going to be fully involved into the business until I finished my master's degree."
Byakuya watched as a shiver ran down Rukia's body as she said "Aizen". He wasn't sure if she was lying or telling the truth about her father's business since she was the heir. The only thing he did know for sure about the Murakami Clan's newest leader was that she loved his brother. The petite fairy in front of him risked her life to save Senbonzakura. Her actions counted for a whole hell of a lot in his book, especially when she had no clue who Senbonzakura was nor did she care. Rukia's only concern was saving and keeping her friend alive.
A quiet voice drew him out of his analysis on the raven-haired fairy's actions. "You know, until last night, my only real care was finishing my college degree and enduring tea with the elders. Now, I'm a clan leader - an unwed female on top of that! Currently, I'm in my clan's greatest rival's house, and I have a damn large target on my back. What the hell am I going to do?"
"You're going to survive, Rukia." Byakuya told her with a calming voice. A small part of him wanted to wrapped the petite woman in his arms, but he was scared that he would be stepping on his brother's toes. Just before he made up his mind, Unohana came through the two double doors with a light smile on her face.
"He's going to make it." She told the couple before her.
Rukia let out a deep breath of relief, then she turned to look at Byakuya smiling at him. She was so caught up in the good news that she wrapped her small arms around their savior. "Thank you."
Unbeknownst to them, Byakuya let a barely there smile to grace his lips. Everything was going to be alright.
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Anon: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you are looking forward more of the story!