AN: Okay guys, second chapter! It's not as good as I wanted, but I hope it turned out okay. A lot is going to start coming together in the next few chaps, but that will also bring up more questions.

Thank you all for the reviews and follows/favs! I couldn't believe I got seven reviews for one chapter :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach sadly

I can't see the full moon today

The clouds killed it

As always, I am sitting at the table alone

Ichigo walked through the door of the clinic, his head hung low so that his bangs covered his eyes.

"There you are, my delinquent son! Dinner in this house is at seven! Moping all day is no excuse for tardiness!" Isshin yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his son.

Ichigo walked past the black haired man and started to walk towards the stairs.

"Are you listening to me?! You worried your sisters being out all day like that!" Ichigo stopped for a second, neither turning nor lifting his head.

"Sorry," he said quietly, his voice hoarse.

"Ichigo…" Isshin wasn't used to this side of his son. Normally, he would have received a punch to the face by now, but certainly not an apology.

Ichigo began walking towards the stairs again when Karin called out to him.

"Ichigo. This came in the mail for you. It's a little strange though. There isn't a return address on it or the name of the sender," the black hair girl stated, handing him a small box.

Ichigo looked down at the package in his hands with a mix of wariness and curiosity.

"Thanks."

Again he turned to walk up the stairs, this time making it with no interruptions. Ichigo opened the door to his room and walked in, setting the package on his desk and lying down. He had stayed on the beach most of the day, sitting through the small batch of rain, unwilling to leave that spot. He hadn't been able to bring himself to go meet the other at Rukia's grave. Since the funeral, he hadn't set foot anywhere near it, still holding out some hope that she might come back. But today, reality had sunk in. Rukia was never going to come back. It just wasn't going to happen, no matter how much he wished for it to.

"Are you going to open it, or not?" a familiar, feminine voice called.

Ichigo moaned. This had been happening all day, and was starting to drive him insane.

"You aren't real," he growled, lifting his head to look at the speaker. Rukia looked back at him and crossed her arms.

"That didn't answer my question, fool," she scolded.

"Why should I? For that matter, why am I even replying to someone who only exists in my head?" Ichigo asked, letting his head rest on his pillow again.

"I'm only here because your brain needs a way to cope," Rukia stated. "You shouldn't be made at me for showing up."

"Whatever. Just go the hell away," Ichigo grumbled, rolling over so that he was facing the wall.

There was no reply this time, and Ichigo almost missed Rukia's voice. Even if was just him going crazy, it was comforting to have her there.

"I told you it was just because you needed a way to cope," Rukia's smug voice stated, making Ichigo roll over and sit up, glaring at her.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault you're going crazy. It was bound to happen eventually though. You do have your father's genes," Rukia smirked.

"I am not going crazy! What the hell do you want with me?!" Ichigo was become distraught. Not only had the realization of Rukia's death hit him, but now he was losing his mind, imagining her wherever he turned.

"Just open the package and I'll leave you alone."

Ichigo jumped off his bed and grabbed the package, ripping it open and pulling its contents out. Inside was a dark, wooden frame containing a black and red butterfly. Just below the butterfly was a plaque that said Papilio protenor.

"What the hell?"

Ichigo flipped the frame over to see if there was anything written on the back and froze. Tapped to the back of the frame was something that was all too familiar to Ichigo. It was a delicate silver necklace with a charm hung on it. The charm was a beautiful and intricate silver moon that sparkled in the light of the room.

Ichigo felt as if his blood had frozen. He slowly reached up with one hand and pulled his own necklace out from under his shirt. It was a gold chain with a similar charm on the end, but his was black and gold sun that glinted wickedly in the light.

"I remember that necklace," Rukia said, peering over his shoulder at the silver moon. "You gave me one exactly like that a year and half ago."

Ichigo looked back down at the silver necklace, lifting it off the frame and stroking the charm gently.

"Rukia…"

Chapter Two: Clouded Moon

"Yes?" Byakuya spoke into the phone.

"I apologize, Kuchiki-sama. They say that the print dusting will have to wait. They have many other cases to look into at this current moment," a voice answered back.

"I understand. Put them on the phone."

The man on the other end of the phone began speaking with someone before the other voice came across the line.

"Kuchiki-san." the feminine voice said.

"I wish to speak with Kurotsuchi Mayuri."

"I am sorry, but Kurotsuchi-sama is not available at the moment."

"You misunderstand me. That was not a request," Byakuya stated coldly.

The woman seemed to ponder this for a moment before replying.

"Very well. Please hold." Byakuya waited calmly for the man to answer the phone, but the wait seemed to take an excruciatingly long amount of time.

"What do you want?! I am attempting to do research!" the man's voice broke through from the other line.

"Kurotsuchi-san. I wish for you to examine the item I sent to you for prints." Byakuya stated simply.

"I have no time for something so menial!"

"I see. Perhaps I could make it worth your time."

There was a pause on the other side.

"I'm listening."

"Examine the item for prints, and I will make sure your lab receives a generous donation from the Kuchiki Corporation to compensate you for your labor."

"All you want is prints?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… Very well! You will have the results by the end of the day!"

"Good." Byakuya hung up before receiving a reply, and set his phone down on his desk. The frame had been bothering him for most of the day, and he needed to know who was involved in its sending.

He stood and began walking to the door when his phone rang again. He turned and looked back at it. There was no way that they had already run prints on the frame.

Byakuya picked up the phone.

"Yes?"

"Kuchiki Byakuya?"

"Yes."

"Um… This is Kurosaki Ichigo, a friend of Rukia's."

This surprised him. He had never met Rukia's friends, even when he lived in Karakura, so for one to call him now was extremely odd.

"How is that you got this number?" Byakuya asked, suspicious.

"Rukia gave it to me once just in case anything happened to her."

That seemed logical enough.

"Is there something you wish to speak with me about?"

"Well, yeah, there is. This might sound odd, but… did Rukia…like butterflies when she was little?"

Byakuya froze. What did this kid know about the butterfly he had received?

"Why do you ask?"

"Um… no reason in particular… I just found this old note she wrote and it had a doodle of a butterfly on it is all," the boy stated quickly, laughing nervously at the end.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. There was something extremely odd about both this boy and this conversation.

"I see. I do not know of any interest she may have displayed in them," he lied. "Perhaps if we were to meet, we could discuss this further and I may remember something relevant to that question."

The boy hesitated for a long time before answering.

"Uh, yeah… sure. I guess we can do that. When and where?"

Byakuya's suspicion only grew. If it were really a question about a doodle on a note, then he would not have agreed to meet with him. There had to be a reason as to why he was ready to speak with him.

"I will send someone to you." With that, Byakuya hung up again. Things were getting stranger by the minute. Again, his phone rang, and Byakuya was tempted to just ignore it, but he saw the number and answered quickly.

"What are the results?"

"They got no prints off of the frame, Kuchiki-sama."

"None?"

"Not even a partial. Other than ours, it was clean."

"Very well. Bring the frame back to me. Also, I wish for you to look into a boy named Kurosaki Ichigo and give me as much information as you can on him."

"Kuchiki-sama?"

"I have reason to believe that he may be involved with that frame."

AN: Sorry about the short chapter and all the dialogue, but next time will hopefully be different. I just don't want to throw out too much info at once. I hope you guys like it, and feel free to ask questions and make comments!

Thanks!