A/N: Woop another chapter, I'm so glad this week and a half I've had more free time. I can now honestly say I love my boyfriend! He is awesome, I swear he's the best tutor, I'm lucky to have found such an intelligent and chivalrous guy, not only that, but I underestimated his artistic abilities, who says chemical engineers can't be wonderful photographers right, it's so unlike me to be gushing about stuff like this, I just feel so lucky.
Momo had spent most of her week in the manor inside the guestroom; the servants brought her meals there because she refused to wander anywhere in the castle. That morning Ichigo would be leaving to the Northern Kingdom. It was a foggy morning; Momo awoke and slipped out of bed, she was wearing one of Rukia's night dresses. She noticed that all of Rukia's belongings were very luxurious; she wore the most modest night dress she could find, it was a simple yet beautiful white cotton night dress with short somewhat puffy sleeves that were a little ruffled at the end, it had a pink silk ribbon under the breasts; from there down it flowed loosely down to her knees.
She walked over to the large window and leaned beside it. Outside, a black car was waiting; Ichigo walked outside and stood in front of it speaking to the driver for a moment.. It was then that he looked up and saw Momo through the window; Momo was about to step out of view but by now it was too late, so she remained there. Ichigo, tipped his hat and smiled at her; his amber eyes looking at her in an all so alluring way, such a forward manner that for a moment her heart leapt. Then he walked inside the car and eventually the car disappeared into the foggy driveway.
She sighed and relaxed a little bit; she looked over at Rukia's drawer and her eyes danced along the dresses. She was tired of staying inside the room; maybe it would not be such a bad idea to roam the castle now that Ichigo was gone. She quickly made up her mind on a simple red dress that was not as revealing on the chest as the others; it fell down to her knees in an A-line, it was laced from the front like a corset but was not tight; she left on her combat boots because she did not know how to walk in high heels.
The castle was very large, but then again she could expect no less from the royal family of the Eastern Vampire Kingdom. She walked down the staircase and into the dining room, the table was long and well adorned; it was so large that it was able to seat thirty people. She sat somewhere along the middle and looked down at the expensive china.
When she looked up she was startled to find an astonishingly handsome man in a green shirt and black leather pants, he appeared to be in his early twenties. His red hair fell down his shoulders; it had good volume and was a bit shaggy. His face held haunting features, his skin was incredibly smooth, and his eyes were a rich brown, only slightly darker than Ichigo's. He looked at her through curious eyes emphasized by long black lashes; he rested his cheek on his palm and squinted his eyes as if trying to examine her most minute of features.
"Well, you don't look that much like her, there are some differences; your eyes are larger I think, and of course, brown, and your hair's longer; I think she was shorter too," said Renji.
"You are Ichigo's brother?"
"I'm Renji. We're twins, not identical, he's my elder by five hours. I look more like my father and Ichigo like our mother; Ichigo likes to keep his hair short; I used to as well, but fashions these days call for hair closer to long or medium length," explained Renji as he flipped his bangs out of his face.
"Oh," said Momo surprised by his behavior.
"What? Did you think I was gonna pounce on you and bite you? Don't flatter yourself, I'm picky with my prey," said Renji smiling at her mischievously.
"Arrogant bastard," said Momo; Renji smiled at this.
"You're a spicy one…just like Rukia, what an awful temper."
"I only respond in such a way to bad sense of humor," said Momo as a matter-of-factly.
"Yes, I assume you must also taste spicy," said Renji licking his fangs; reminded of the fact that he was a vampire, Momo lowered her look to the silver china.
The maid brought their breakfast and they both ate in silence. Renji took his wine glass and drank, never taking his unmistakably flirtatious look off Momo. Momo ignored him but was very self-conscious as she ate; she was very careful making sure she didn't spill anything or did anything too ungraceful. She soon failed and accidentally let out a burp; she flushed red in embarrassment. Noticing her embarrassment he snickered.
"What beautiful sounds you humans make."
"There's no need for sarcasm."
"I wasn't being sarcastic, you have no idea how beautiful your kind are in front of our eyes, how warm, and lovely…even your most disgusting of acts."
"You like imperfections?"
"Mmm…sexy foul gases, I love them, such sultriness," said Renji, but this time sarcastically; he couldn't hold back a laugh; Momo was a bit angered with the fact that he toyed with her.
"Darling I'm a vampire…we have an extremely sensitive sense of smell, of course we detest your foul gases," said Renji taking a sip from his glass. Some of his drink dripped to the side of his mouth and Momo figured out by the density and hue of the liquid that it was blood. Noticing her realization of this and her reaction towards it he smiled at her, flashing her his fangs.
"Nothing's better than virgin's blood in the morning, it's our version of what is coffee for humans," said Renji as he finished drinking the blood, "you're a virgin Momo, I'm sure you would taste just as delicious," said Renji teasingly; he leaned across the table and looked at her hungrily only a couple of inches from her face. Momo flinched and drew back.
"You don't know that."
"Of course I do, I can smell your innocence, and…it's simply mouth watering," said Renji in a low sultry voice; he was evidently toying with her, but she still did not let her guard down.
"Yes, but you wouldn't bite me."
"How do you know that?" Asked Renji grinning and looking at her dangerously. He pounced on the table and crouched in front of her on all fours.
"Because I'm here on business, and if you did kill me Ichigo would never forgive you, you would have spoiled a treaty and caused your brother who is a man of his word to break it, thereby spoiling his name," said Momo very quickly, growing more nervous by the second.
"You're right, partly, I would never want to bring shame to Ichigo….but you also overestimate me. You see, I'm a man with strong impulses; sometimes I find it difficult to control myself. Your blood Momo, is intoxicating…I might just lose control and eat you up," said Renji growling seductively; he drew his face closer to her neck but someone grunted from the entrance of the dining room.
Renji and Momo looked up to see Uryu entering the dining room. Momo noticed that Uryu was a very beautiful almost androgynous man; his smooth blue-black hair fell down his neck, his eyes were a dazzling blue, and his skin was like porcelain. He looked from Renji to Momo and then reddened in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry if I have interrupted you," said Uryu tilting his head down apologetically.
"Who are you?" Asked Renji suspiciously, he got off the table and sat back in his chair looking oddly at Uryu. Uryu immediately blushed at his question.
"I am…I am Ichigo's…friend, my name is Uryu," said Uryu sitting at the end of the table; he was a good distance from them.
"You're Ichigo's lover?!" Asked Renji shocked.
"Well, yes, I suppose you could say that," said Uryu avoiding eye contact with both of them.
"So you're the reason behind the problems my sister and Ichigo had?! You're the reason he killed her!" said Momo standing up angered.
"What? Oh heavens no, if anything Rukia was the one that brought me here; she was the one that converted me into a vampire. I was her lover, hers and Ichigo's," said Uryu a bit embarrassed.
"What?! That's disgusting! You're lying Rukia would never do such a thing!" Said Momo outraged.
"Of course she would. It makes sense now that Ichigo made you his lover Uryu; he would never have considered having relations with a man otherwise, but if it was Rukia's idea…then he surely would have in order to please her, and if I remember correctly…Rukia was quite the swinger," said Renji as the maid served him more blood in his glass, "it does surprise me that he would keep you after her death though."
"It surprises me too, I thought he would get rid of me. I think it's because he needs company; he's afraid of being alone and I…" said Uryu silently.
"What? You love him?" Asked Renji laughing, "you do know that my brother will never love you…he only had eyes for Rukia and Rukia alone, he was obsessed with her."
"Then why did he kill her?" Asked Momo.
"I don't really know, I wasn't here at the time. She was with him for seven years, the first year she was a happy blushing bride, but the second year everything started to change…she started to change. They were always arguing, or at least Rukia was always arguing, and Ichigo followed her around like a lost puppy trying to make her happy again. She demanded fine dresses, jewelry, fresh blood, things which he could very well provide to her. But just before I left she demanded boys from the village for her to sleep with and then killed them because she grew bored. Ichigo hasn't told me much about it, but apparently Rukia did something very bad, more than one thing actually, many things; that's why he left to speak to King Aizen; he needs to make amends for the things Rukia did to his kingdom."
"That sounds so unlike Rukia, the Rukia I remember was kind, considerate, humble…"
"I'm not saying she never was kind, she definitely was; when she first came here, she almost died because she refused to feed on humans…but that changed eventually," said Renji.
"I wonder why? What caused my sister to become so…"
"That's because she had no heart," said Uryu suddenly speaking; he did not look at Momo and Renji, but out into space thoughtfully.
"What? Do you know something about Rukia Uryu?" Asked Momo; Uryu snapped out of it and stood up.
"Only what you know, nothing more, Ichigo never told me of what happened between them, I should be off now," said Uryu.
"But you haven't had breakfast yet," said Renji.
"Oh it's all right, I think I'll hunt down my breakfast," smiled Uryu, and he left.
"I think he knows something," said Momo.
"Yeah, you're right; there's something odd about that man, but I can't get my finger on it."
"Well I plan on finding out," said Momo rushing to the door and looking down the hall cautiously; Renji walked up behind her.
"What are you doing?"
"Shh…come on, let's go," said Momo holding his hand and sneaking into the hall.
Momo and Renji followed Uryu all the way into the forest; once there he disappeared into the fog. Momo sat on a tree trunk in defeat; she lay her chin on her palm and sighed disappointed.
"We lost him."
"No we didn't," said Renji looking up ahead into the fog.
"What?"
"I can smell his scent; we can follow him, but he's running, we'll have to move fast. Climb on my back."
"Okay," said Momo looking at him hesitantly before climbing his back.
They rushed quickly through the forest; Momo could feel the leaves come in contact with her face as they moved; the cool moisture in the air hit her face violently. Renji stopped a moment later and Momo climbed off his back. She followed Renji behind a bush where they both observed Uryu speaking to a handsome young man with blonde hair and green eyes; he was perhaps in his late teens early twenties. "Master wants to know of your progress." Said the man in almost a whisper.
"Do not worry Kira, so far all is going as planned, the only thing against us at the moment is the unexpected arrival of Rukia's sister Momo, but I am positive that Ichigo will quickly rid of her once he comes back."
"But what of the evidence? What of Rukia's secret letters? Have you found them yet?"
"No, so far I've no luck, but I will soon brother, do not doubt that I will, she must have left them somewhere in her room, but with Ichigo being there everyday after her death I was not able to thoroughly search the room, I've searched through it shallowly, but I will need more time. Once Momo is dead and Ichigo is gone to the mountains for his young brother's burial…well…then I will have more time, at least two days, you know how far the family burial site is from the castle," said Uryu. Renji gasped and Momo placed her hand over his mouth. However Uryu managed to hear something.
"We're being watched…we will discuss this another time, until then, farewell," said Uryu; he grabbed Kira and pulled him in for a hug; then he whispered something in his ear that Momo and Renji were not able to hear; Kira grinned, nodded, and then left.
Uryu left briefly after Kira; Momo and Renji came out in the open; Momo looked shocked and somewhat confused. Renji sat on the floor and looked worried.
"Brother's burial, are they attempting to kill Toshiro? Or me?""I don't know, either of the two," replied Momo rather coldly.
"What's your problem?! Don't you see?! They want to kill my little brother!"
"And why should I care? Your older brother murdered my sister."
"I thought we were past that Momo."
"Past that? Why do you think I'm here?! I'm here to avenge my sister's death, not to save her murderer's hide!"
"Yes, but Toshiro has nothing to do with this, and for that matter neither do I! Rukia, was like a sister to us!"
"That's not true, stop lying! This is coming from a man who had virgin's blood for breakfast this morning!"
"That has nothing to do with this, we need to drink blood to survive, you eat animals and we don't judge you for it."
"Yes, but we are humans not animals."
"Well I honestly don't see the difference," said Renji crossing his arms over his chest defensively; Momo looked at him outraged and turned to walk away.
"Wait, I'm sorry, but I cant help what I am. We need to work together on this though Momo, don't you want to know what really happened to your sister?"
"I already know what happened to her, your brother killed her," said Momo bursting into tears.
"That's true, but Ichigo loved her, he wouldn't have killed her unless she went against herself and destroyed the woman he loved all on her own. She was destroying herself, she was dirtying your family's name and killing innocents; that's why Ichigo killed her. But don't you want to know her reasons?" She paused suddenly, sobbing; Renji stood in front of her and wiped her tears away, smiling at her kindly.
"It's all right, I promise you, we'll redeem your sister's name…we'll help each other," said Renji; he wrapped his arms around her as she wept and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
When they got to the castle Renji walked her to her room; he stood by the door looking at Momo for a moment; she blushed and looked away.
"If you need anything, even if it's just company…my room is six rooms down the hall to your left," said Renji.
"Thanks Renji, and I'm sorry about all the things I said to you earlier…"
"It's okay, I don't blame you, if I was in your place I would feel the same way…"
"Well, I'll see you later then," smiled Momo.
"Yeah," said Renji brightly; he hesitated for a moment but then he embraced her; the embrace seemed to last longer than expected. Once he let her go he blushed furiously and left.
Once inside she decided to look for the letters; she surveyed the room looking for a good place to start, the place was extraordinarily large; just the closet was the size of her room back at home. She was going to search along the bed but was reluctant; she knew her sister and knew that she would not be so thick as to put it somewhere so obvious. She thought for a second…if I were Rukia…where would I hide them? The Rukia she knew would have regarded such a large room as a waste of space; she probably only used the bed, mirror, closet, and bathroom areas. But where did Rukia spend the most time? She stood by the window and looked outside; the fog was still there; it had been here since she had arrived. She went back to the bed and looked up at the canopy. Ever since she had arrived here everything became a routine; she detested routines, when she was in her home her days were full of unexpected events; she would find herself in a different adventure every day while slaying evil vampires.
She remembered that Rukia was just like her; her older sister would do crazy things to break routines whenever she found herself trapped in them; sometimes she would even provoke problems just to get some action. Momo sighed and closed her eyes; then when she opened them again the first thing she saw was the roof of the canopy…then she had an idea…if she was right then the letter…but could it have been so simple all along?
She stood up on the bed and searched the canopy; she had to loosen some of the fabric from the wood, but surely enough, there it was, a letter. She took it in her hands and looked at it fascinated; there on the envelope a name was written in elegant red letters, and it was hers.
To My Dear Sister Momo
Forgive me for what I am about to tell you, for the information you will be given, may just put your life in mortal danger…follow my secret letters, slowly, the pages of my diary will reveal to you the truth, a truth so great that it consumed me. Be very careful, do not let anyone know its contents, feign ignorance until you have read the very last words. Forgive me for the shame I have brought upon the family name, forgive me for burdening you with the task of clearing the facts…
I have hidden theses letters for you, because given certain circumstances…I suspect I may die. If you have found this letter, it's because I am dead, pray that the lord may forgive my grave sins, and for the innocent lives I have taken, that their families may find peace. I'm sorry for everything, for not visiting, and for not making you your favorite rice omelets one last time. Say hello to mom for me, and tell father that I'm sorry…for everything.
Love, Rukia