Rukia Baby

by

Mojo-licious

Chapter Fourteen

- Transfer -

Seireitei, Thirteenth Division..

Located more towards the back of the division and near the thirteenth division gardens was Ukitake Jushiro's private room; equipped with medical supplies and a futon, it was averagely accommodated, and used whenever he needed to rest. The white haired captain lay on his futon as he looked outside the open shoji at the pretty Sakura blossoms drifting across the landscape. The sun was out and the air was light and breezy. The lush green grass and plant life were blossoming and the fragrance of roses and jasmines wafted into the room, but Ukitake was unaware of the beauty surrounding him. Anyone watching him would think he was admiring the view, but his gaze was unfocused and his mind was churning over last weeks events. He shuddered involuntarily and inhaled the cold air before suddenly leaning over and going into another one of his coughing fits. After a few moments he lay partially hunched over his side as he caught back his breath. He stared at the pristine wooden floors before looking down at his hands which gripped his blankets.

"Weak," he whispered detesting his condition. He clutched the sheets tighter and frowned. Often he had tried to write off other people's concerns for his health with a smile, but alone, Ukitake often pondered the reason for his illness and cursed it to its very core. He understood well what it felt like to be sick for so long, to continue living in a prison controlled by ones health. He had been born with this disease wracking at him, limiting him from performing his best. If it wasn't for his mother's optimism and his father's work ethic he doubted he would have made it this far. He probably would have succumbed to depression and perhaps ended his own life as a result. A bored sigh escaped his lips as he sat up on his futon. If Kiyone or Sentaro had seen him up they would have chided him and forced him to lie back down. As much as he loved the two, there were times when he felt they intruded on his privacy. In such occurrences Ukitake masked his annoyance with a smile and complied to get them off his back. He was grateful that the two were busy making sure the others were practicing their morning drills. Pushing back his hair he shifted his form so that he faced the open shoji and relaxed his shoulders a little.

'Kuchiki,' he thought, wondering where she was. She had been missing for a week and there was no sign of her. Worse were the recent missing reports, the tenth division had no leadership as both captain and vice-captain were missing, along with the second division captain, a healer from the fourth division and the human girl. Ukitake shook his head wondering how they could have lost so many people in such a short span of time. It had been a grueling week that began with Rukia's disappearance; then came the never ending stream of hollows both normal and those marked with an X. Two captains and one vice captain went missing during the course of the attacks. Only later when the attacks had died down were they able to place where Rukia was last seen along with the human girl. It was assumed that they had disappeared together and the water pouch that belonged to the missing fourth division healer meant that he had probably disappeared with them. The whole thing was puzzling and worrisome. Besides quelling the retaliation, the Gotei thirteen were swamped with repairs, tending to the sick, burying the dead and controlling the small fights that erupted between and within divisions. Things got especially heated with the shinigami representative who had come bursting into a captain's meeting. If General Yamamoto hadn't intervened, then Ukitake was sure that Kuchiki Byakuya and the youth would have fought right then and there as the boy's blade had been drawn ready to tear apart anything standing in his way of getting Rukia.

A small smile graced Ukitake's lips; the orange haired youth was indeed very intriguing. There were very few people who could get Byakuya riled up to even consider the use of his blade and the representative was certainly one of the few. Despite the attacks on Seireitei and the disappearance of Rukia and the human girl, the human group had returned to their realm deciding to figure things out from there. Ukitake had seen them off at the gate where he had tried to explain the reasoning behind the experiments. He wasn't sure if his words had any impact but he had promised to keep the group up to date with whatever information came his way. He felt he had agreed to such a thing because of his own guilt for allowing Rukia to be experimented on. Perhaps if he had gone against it, his subordinate might still be with them. He shook his head and sighed, there was no use in contemplating the what if's or what not's; doing so would strip away his sanity and that would be far more troublesome than his current state. Wearily, he rose from his position and stood, wavering a little at first before regaining his balance. Slipping on his sandals he pulled on his captain's haori and stepped outside his room deciding that a walk around the place would do him good. Anything was far better than sitting about listlessly. He only hoped that his third seated officers were distracted enough to leave him alone.

Underground in a hidden base..

The prisoners from Seireitei stood lined inside individual glass cylinders at one end of the coliseum. For the most part of the week everything had been fairly quiet. Inoue and Hanataro had been the first to join Yoruichi, Urahara and the Arrancar. Then Soi Fong was added and more recently Matsumoto and Hitsugaya were brought in. Though the others had yet to be visited by the enemy, an X marked hollow would appear during the middle of the day and supply them with water and food. One meal a day was far better than nothing and most were grateful that their captors hadn't done much of anything else. What troubled them though was that they had yet to see Kuchiki Rukia.

The day for the most part was like any other. The prisoners were left to their own devices and the food had yet to arrive. They were in solitary confinement, unable to hear or speak to each other despite being so close. Undeterred, the shinigami managed to read lips and sign to each other using familiar codes they often used on the battlefield. Not much information was gained and in the end all they could do was wait to see what would happen next. The artificial weather in the room was dull and gloomy unlike most days when it was sunny. Hitsugaya frowned as he shifted in his cell wondering what time it was. The cell space was enough to fall asleep with your body stretched out. There wasn't much room to pace about, but then again for a cell it was far more luxurious than the cells he had seen in Seireitei, especially the ones in the twelfth division. A chill shot down his spine at the thought.

His green eyes shifted towards the end of the coliseum when he heard creaking noises. Absently he wondered if it was lunch time, which meant it was midday. Scanning the area he noticed that the others had their eyes focused on the entrance as well. The door at the end of the coliseum burst open and a tall figure could be seen in the distance dragging something along the floor.

"Dam brat!" the being spat angrily; he tugged the chain harshly eliciting soft whimpers from the form attached to it. The form coughed and sputtered blood along the sands as it was dragged towards the end of the coliseum where the prisoners were kept. The others watched with bated breath as the being finally stood before them. He was tall and well built like Zaraki Kenpachi, but that was where their similarities ended. The pale faced man bore sinister blue eyes and a high chiseled jaw line. He had shoulder length blonde hair that was messy and unruly and had blonde bushy eyebrows. Dressed in similar black garb as the shinigami, his sleeves were rolled up revealing blonde hairy well muscled arms and hands with elongated fingers and sharp nails.

"I'll teach you to disobey me," he grunted, revealing fierce pearly canines. He slammed the side of the wall and soon the light in the area brightened considerably. All eyes fell onto the semi-conscious form that had been dragged to this area. The head was bowed making it difficult to see past the dirty messed up unruly hair that hid the face from view. Everyone's breath hitched realizing that the form had to be a child, as the proportions were too small to be considered an adults. The clothes the child wore were torn in several places revealing horrible burns marks, cuts and deep lacerations that probably penetrated the muscle tissue. A large metallic collar was fitted around the child's neck and a chain was attached to it. The loose collar revealed heavy bruising around the neck as well as red horrendous cuts from the metal which rubbed against the skin. The child's left arm looked broken as the bone stuck out at an odd angle. The fingers that hung limply were scorched and bleeding profusely. A thud was heard as the small form was dropped to the ground; the tall man strode across the room searching for something on the walls.

"Blasted walls," he spat and then after a few moments found the button he had been looking for, he slammed it down; immediately the grounds beneath shook. A feral smile crossed his features as the grounds parted a few feet away from the cylinder chambers revealing a circular platform several feet deep and several feet wide. In the middle of that platform was a large hole that was pitch black. Even the light pooling from above could not penetrate the darkness. The prisoners peered into the darkness and soon found several red, green and yellow dots gazing at them from beneath. The sound of chains rattling diverted everyone's attention back to the man who now stood dangling the injured child over the large hole.

"WAKE UP BRAT!" the man shouted and tugged the chain, half choking the already injured child. The bent head slowly lifted as an eye fluttered open. The shinigami felt their stomachs convulse as they realized that the child was indeed Kuchiki Rukia. Her lip was split and bleeding; and her left jaw was severely bruised. Rukia's right eye was shut, her eyelids puffed and swollen red. Blood, dirt and sweat marred her face from the scratches she received and a nasty gash on her left temple bled profusely. Her form was jolted as the blonde haired man shook her in annoyance. The muscles beneath his uniform rippled as he tortured the child brutally with his constant tugs on the chain. Her body jostled like a marionette. Gaining no response from his actions he growled and narrowed his eyes onto her limp form.

"Next time when I tell you deliver a killing blow you better do it." He grabbed the metal collar and flung her towards the hole, eliciting several reactions from the prisoners.

Inoue screamed; Matsumoto raised her hand out as she called out her friends name in horror; Hanataro placed his hands on the glass in dismay; Hitsugaya and Soi Fong stood in shock at what they were seeing; Yoruichi pummeled her fists against her barrier angrily while Urahara tried desperately to summon his powers. All their attempts had been in vain. In moments the hole was sealed and the blonde man stood with his arms folded across his chest quite pleased with himself. His blue eyes shifted to the prisoners and he grinned in amusement at the glares he received from them. Only the Arrancar seemed disinterested and the sandy blonde girl seemed too busy sobbing to even look his way. After a few moments the large man left.

Several minutes passed before the door creaked open and two new forms appeared. One was a tall lady with short cropped white hair. Her whole ensemble was black, from her high heeled boots, to her leather pants, tank top and leather jacket. A katana was strapped to her back. The woman was slightly tanned and bore bright yellow eyes. She placed her hand on the child standing beside her. The girl looked up at her mentor and then back onto the grounds.

"There lies another," the tanned woman stated. The girl stared at the grounds, her bright blue eyes widened and a sinister smile crept across her face.

"Is she dead?" the question caused the white haired woman to frown. Yellow eyes gazed down at the golden head of hair while absently wondering what type of a child she had been given to mentor. Apparently unlike the one buried beneath the grounds, this one seemed to bask in the glory of a kill. It was somewhat disturbing to see the girl coated in the blood of her enemy and grinning ear to ear.

"Well is she?" the question snapped the older woman out of her musings. She looked down at the girl questioningly.

"Is she dead or do I have to kill her?" the girl asked exasperated.

"No. She isn't dead."

Yellow eyes watched as the girls bright blue eyes darkened instantly at the thought of a kill. A chill shot down the woman's spine as she wondered how the child would be once she was put in the age traveler. Would she be this crazy when she got older?

"Shion?" the girl called. The woman named Shion was about to answer when a call came for her. Shifting off to the side she quickly tapped her comm link and nodded her head.

"Norie I need to check up on something, I expect you to stay here and wait until I get back." Without a second thought the woman named Shion flash stepped away leaving the blonde alone to her own devices. The girl named Norie was dressed in the black robes of a shinigami. She looked nine or ten at the most as she was taller than Rukia and looked more mature. Norie kicked the dirt and frowned as utter boredom settled in. She snorted and then turned her attention towards the large glass cylinders that housed the latest prisoners. She eyed them curiously and felt severely bored as none of them were free for her to play with. Her well trained ears picked up the feint sounds of a rumble. Soon the grounds cracked and the place shook with such force that Norie was thrown off balance and fell sharply on her backside. Her blue eyes watched in fascination as the earth caved in where the hole was. The sudden shift in gravity had her whole being pinned to the ground as someone's reiatsu flared up. It was high, surprisingly high unlike the others she had met. An explosion from beneath sent dirt and chunks of cement soaring into the skies; it took several minutes for the dust to settle and when it finally did Norie saw a bloody disheveled girl standing before her in tattered robes that once resembled her own. Crimson eyes settled on blue before the small form collapsed sinking into unconsciousness. Norie sat watching the unconscious form curiously. There was something about this particular child that pulled her almost alluringly so. The blonde smiled giddily, she had taken up an immediate fascination with the blood stained form. She bit her lips realizing that the other children would probably take an interest in her as well. She quickly searched her sash and pulled out a small pocket knife.

The others watched as the girl straddled Rukia's waist. They soon began pounding the glass in an attempt to get her attention or at least stop her from carving something into Rukia's chest. What was even more disturbing was that Rukia remained motionless throughout the whole ordeal. Blood seeped out of the cuts the blonde had made in the girl's flesh. Without a second thought she leaned down and licked it making sure to coat her lips in the red liquid.

The prisoners were aghast by what they were seeing.

'Bakemono,' they thought as their eyes widened in terror at the cruelty that such a young mind could inflict.

"NORIE!" a voice called and the blonde immediately rose up and turned looking towards her stunned mentor. Shion stared at the girls blood red lips while hiding her own fears. Norie was getting out of hand and it was getting to a point where Shion was beginning to question her own safety when dealing with the psychotic child.

"I was just putting my name on her in case the others wanted her," Norie explained, causing her mentor to do a double take mentally.

'Possessive,' Shion thought remembering that the girl often cast daggers at those she mingled with. It was apparent that Rukia would also feel the brunt of Norie's possession just as Shion had.

"Get back to your training," Shion stated. Like a child her age Norie pouted and shook her head.

"But I want to play with her," she whined.

"She's in no condition to play with you. Perhaps when she's better, now run along or else you'll be punished."

The last statement had its desired effect and the girl's face fell at the thought of punishment. Clenching her fists she got off the prone form and stood glaring at her mentor.

"FINE!" she screamed before disappearing in a flash. Shion ran a hand through her cropped hair wondering just what the hell she had gotten herself into. This was certainly not what she had signed up for, training children to become cold blooded killers. Worse yet was that among all the potentials, she had the most psychotic child. She paused remembering that there was still another more dangerous child, one even worse than her own. She shuddered inwardly wondering just how terrible the girl would be as an enemy.

"You seem disturbed," a voice spoke. Had Shion not felt the presence beside her a fraction of a second earlier she may have yelped in shock. The woman merely sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's nothing."

The cloaked being disappeared and reappeared kneeling beside Rukia, its cloaked form faced the prisoners. From beneath the robes an ashen hand stretched out. The palm faced upwards revealing a closed red eyelid. After a few incantations the eyelid opened and a yellow eye peered out searching the vicinity. The palm was turned over so that the eye could see the small form beneath. After a few moments the palm was flipped up for the cloaked being to inspect, the eye had turned crimson.

"Who cares for this child?" the being asked.

"Manabu."

"I see. I shall speak to him later. For now she will be under my care."

Shion remained still, she could feel her flesh crawl at the very thought of this being caring for a child. She had heard the rumors of the hooded figure being recruited straight from the depths of hell, but none had seen the figure's face and discerning its sex was still impossible as the voice was both male and female all at once. Her yellow eyes watched as the figure lifted the injured form off the grounds. In an instant it disappeared.

The tanned woman sighed and then eyed the remnants of the hole which now reeked of death. Apparently one of the many punishment holes was out of commission. She surveyed the area and eyed the prisoners before slamming her fist against the wall; the lights dimmed projecting a dull gloomy day. She disappeared and a second later the prisoners could hear the sound of the door slamming shut. All eyes fell onto the strewn rubble wondering just what the hell was going on.

To be Contd…

Bakemono means monster/ spirits /ghost.. thanks to those who reviewed for the heads up on that..

Hope you enjoyed the chappie, more to come when possible.