Don't leave my side

Byakuya had been in his captains meeting for over an hour, and was now on his way back home, somewhat in a hurry. Everyone he walked by avoided direct eye contact with him, as usual. But there were the very few who actually stopped to greet him, although Byakuya would pay no heed, and continue past them.

……..

Once Byakuya had finally arrived home he entered his office and sat down, letting out a sigh of relief. He was glad to be home, the meeting to him was pointless. It probably wouldn't have been such a bad idea to stay home with Rukia… he then looked down at his desk and saw a small stack of paperwork. He instantaneously picked up his pen and began to read. About 20 minuets into this process, he heard his door open; he looks up and sees his sister.

"Oh, Brother! Your back!" she says as she hurried over to her brother's desk.

"When did you get back? I missed you!" Rukia said with a big grin on her face.

"Just a little while ago." Byakuya said as he continued to sign his papers.

"Oh…. Well would you like me to get you some tea?"

"Yes… that would be nice…" he said before letting out another sigh.

"Ok! Ill be right back!" With that, Rukia then hurried out of the room. Byakuya followed her with his eyes until she was gone, then looked at the clock. It read 7:23am. Considering how little paperwork he had today, which was unusual, he would probably finish it within the hour.

……..

Rukia sat quietly in the kitchen as she waited for the water to boil. She sat there for a good 5 minuets, once she hared the tea kettle start to whistle she poured the water into the tea cups, put the tea in and let it soak. Rukia stared at the water, and watched its pure color fade into a greenish one. She then put the cups on a tray, and quickly turned on her heel skillfully, without spilling any of the liquid. As she was walking down the hallway she noticed how quiet it was, all she could hear was the sound of her feet as she shuffled down the hall. The mansion was usually always this quiet. Most of the time, it bothered Rukia, the silence made her ears ring and it drove her crazy. With that, she begins to hum a tune. Unknowingly, it was the tune that her brother had composed for her when she was little. He played it on the piano for her whenever she asked, Rukia made him play it so often, she could still sing it after so many years. It was almost like the notes were etched in her memories to remain there forever.

Before Rukia knew it, she had arrived at her brother's office, she was about to open the door when she heard talking. She paused, and stopped humming. She tried to make out what the voices were saying. She could easily tell that one of the voices was her brother's, obviously, it was deep, smooth, and very monotone, but the other one wasn't as such, it was kind of annoying, and all over the place, it was somewhat familiar to Rukia's ears, if she was remembering correctly, she believed it belonged to her brother's new vice captain, Abarai Renji. Knowing that her brother didn't like to be interrupted when he was talking about important matters with people, she was reluctant to enter. But, she wasn't entirely sure what exactly they were talking about, or if it even was important. Maybe they were just….talking. With that thought pushed to the back of her mind, she took a deep breath and slid the door open.

"umm brother, sorry to interrupt… but the tea is done." Rukia said as she stood awkwardly in the doorway. She then looked at the couch that was in Byakuya's office to see his vice captain starring at her with a look of confusion on his face, and Rukia blushed, and quickly looked back in her brothers direction.

"Your not interrupting anything, come in." Byakuya said in his low, serious sounding voice. With her gaze now on the floor, she scurried to Byakuya's desk and placed the tray on top of it. He took one cup and began to slowly sip it. He then stopped and looked at Rukia, who had a worried and nervous looking face.

"Aren't you going to have some?" Byakuya asked

"Huh? Oh! Ya! Sorry…" Rukia took the second teacup and turned her attention to Abarai, who had been staring at her form the very moment she had entered the room, it was actually starting it bug her, she could feel his eyes going right through her skull. Rukia then turned her attention back to Byakuya.

"umm.. Actually brother, I have to go do something." Rukia said, placing the cup back onto the tray before backing up a bit, bowing to her brother, and Abarai, then exiting the room.

"That was… your… sister…?" Renji said as he slowly started to turn his head to his captain.

"I-I never knew you had one….! She kind of looks like you a little…" Renji said averting the captains eyes, not knowing if that was an appropriate thing to say.

"Yes. She does a bit, but more like her mother." Byakuya said in his stone cold voice, putting down the tea cup, and picking up his pen.

"I- I see…." Renji then looked down to his feet, and stayed silent while his captain worked.

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Rukia was now walking down the hallway, heading to her room. She wanted to get out of that room asap, she hated when people stared at her like that. I mean, you would think she was used to it by now, being the younger sister of the great Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the Kuchiki house. People would always look at her, as if she was some kind of goddess. It made Rukia feel uncomfortable, sometimes she wished they would all just treat her like a normal person… but she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Rukia was now at the entrance of her bed room. She slid the door open, let out a sigh, and plopped herself on her bed, although it wasn't as comfortable as her brother's, it would do for now. Rukia was exhausted, she took her covers and wrapped them around herself. She then looked out her door she had left open purposely to let some fresh air in.

It was a beautiful view, nice green grass, beautiful pink cherry blossom trees swaying in the summer air, and a small pond with koi fish swimming within it. It really was a lovely sight. As Rukia was about to fall asleep, she forced herself to open her eyes, it was too early in the day to take a nap, and she probably wouldn't fall asleep tonight if she did. As she stood up, and stretched, she heard her stomach rumble, come to think of it, she hadn't eaten anything yet. Rukia looked at her clock and it was 8:15am. So with that, Rukia made her way out her door and down the hall once again.

Still a bit groggy, Rukia walked into the kitchen and looked around for something to eat… unfortunately there wasn't much… so she grabbed an apple from the counter, and made a mental note to have one of the maids pick up some food later. Rukia then exits the kitchen and finds herself once again walking down the hallway, reluctant to go to her brother's office, in fear his vice captain may be present.

As Rukia walks slowly to her room, she stops, and let's out a small sigh, and looks down at her apple and takes a bite and begins to walk to her room. Then suddenly out of nowhere, she was slammed to the ground by some unknown force. She felt two hands holding down her wrists, and two legs on either side squeezing her waist tight restricting her to limited movement. She was face down and the apple she had previously held was now on the ground. Rukia struggled and tried to turn herself around and see who it was holding her down. The next thing she knew she felt a hard whack on the back of her head, and the bright world around her slowly began to turn black.

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Byakuya was in his office, alone, and the amount of paperwork that started off small had somehow managed to grow. Sighing heavily and feeling a bit tired, Byakuya looked at the clock, it was already 10:00pm. Getting up, Byakuya walked into his room, and began to change into his night clothes. Looking at his bed; he notices Rukia is missing. And come to think of it, he hasn't heard from hr since he was talking with Abarai, and that was hours ago. She most likely fell asleep in her room, which was unusual for her, considering how much she preferred to sleep in his bed with him these past few years…so with that, Byakuya went to go check on his sister, and see this rare sight. Perhaps she wasn't feeling well… he thought to himself. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he knew something was up.