Chapter 11 – The True Bloody Colors

Byakuya Kuchiki was emotionally upset. His heart was torn up to shreds in worry. In anguish.

Yet there he stood. Calm as the eye of the hurricane—going to work—doing all he normally did. His servants never saw him fret, his co-workers never saw him shed a single tear. Moving normally, constantly like a well-oiled machine.

However, there were several internal factors everyone missed catching. He had trouble sleeping, taking sleeping aids to knock him out every night. He suffered from terrible stomach pains, and she moved out of his loft condo back to the manor which is an Edo-style mansion where all the family treasures where stored.

He, himself had gone downstairs to the lowest floors and places more locks on top of the locks he already had, because a gut feeling told him so.

Renji hit with the murder of Matsumoto and the disappearance of Rukia, was robbed of spirit. He never saw the body, they never let him, but after insisting, he saw pictures. He constantly heard Matsumoto's pleas asking him to come and visit her. He would walk pathetically to the foot of her apartment muttering,

"I'm here, Matsu, I'm here."

Ichigo couldn't take it anymore and so one day he literally dragged the redhead to his home where he lived with Orihime.

"Renji—snap out of it!"

He grabbed a bucket of water and doused him with it. After several different attempts like this, Renji became a bit more functional. Still a bit lost and absent minded but at least he reacted to Ichigo's voice.

"Where's Rukia—did you ever find her?" he asked sitting across from him in the living room. Orihime wasn't home, she was out food shopping.

"She's gone, the kiltltokthemmawawyy…"

"Renji," Ichigo stood and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Try and say that again, what happened to her?"

"She's missing since that day—that same night Matsu was—Rukia was gone—she ran off—I couldn't—It's all my fault."

"What the hell are you talking about? How could it be your fault? You were always there for Rukia—I've been nothing but a total jerk to her. It's because she—and the way I…" Ichigo closed his eyes before speaking again, "Let's start searching for her,"

"It's no use," Renji shook his head bitterly, "The police is on it anyways…"

"And you think that's good enough? Hell, come on, Renji, we'll lift earth and sky to find her—and in the end we'll find her, damnit."

Renji looked up at him.

"You have to think about it that way, we have to—I'll never forgive myself if Rukia was—," Ichigo choked but tried in vain to conceal his fear.

Renji smiled feeling his will coming back.

"Alright—let's start off with someone who could help up."

Byakuya was filling out several forms when his secretary Nanao Ise walked in.

"Kuchiki-san you have two visitors Abarai-san and Kurosaki-san. They arrived without appointments, what shall I do?"

"Let them in."

"Yes, sir."

The two young men entered the room. Renji whose eyes avoided meeting the steel grey ones. And Ichigo, his expression firm with his hands set deep within his pockets.

"We-we're,"

"What is it?" Byakuya interjected cutting off the stuttering red-head.

"It's been three days—and there's no sign of Rukia and with reports of a murder on the loose doesn't that move you to actually do something?!" cut in Ichigo.

"This is none of your concern. I already have made the necessary actions to find her. All of your efforts are futile and a waste of time," Byakuya shuffled through some documents as he placed them within their proper folders.

"Tch, for a worried older brother you're pretty energetic. Looks like you really don't care at all," Ichigo scoffed.

"Did they come up with anything?" asked Renji.

The grave attorney calmly closed his eyes as he withstood as sudden stomach spasm. His expression never showed his pain, not a single inch of his body twitched.

"You are the last person that should ask that. It was because I trusted you that this happened."

"!!!"

Renji clenched his teeth and turned his face away.

"Hey! How could he know that this was suppose to—,"

"Leave."

"But!"

"I said leave," His eyes opened and displayed a rage that was far more intense than any verbal outrage, "Leave my office at once and never come back."

"I'm sorry," Renji bowed to Ichigo's surprise, "You're right, I don't deserve to ever be with her, to love her, watch over her for that matter—that's your place. But I could say this; if you would have been there for her when she needed you, when she called out to you—maybe things wouldn't have ended up the way they did. She would have wanted to stay at home, she would be able to talk to you without fear or doubt or hesitation…"

"Leave."

"The source of her insecurity, of her loneliness—is you."

"Renji…" Ichigo gasped in shock.

Byakuya glared at him wordlessly.

"Don't worry—I'll leave you and won't have to ever see me—don't expect anything else from me. Unlike you, I bled and let my feelings show. How else can anyone see? I love Rukia and I can shout it out to you a thousand times—even if she doesn't love me in return, I love her as my dearest friend and nothing, not even you can ever change that."

Renji brushed roughly pass Ichigo and stormed off.

"Hey!" Ichigo called. He looked back towards the desk and saw that Byakuya was wincing in pain. His eyes widened and he rant towards him.

"Byakuya!"

"Shut up, leave me alone," he rasped between clenched teeth.

Ichigo backed off and ran out of the office, "Yo! Somebody!"

"Bastard…" he harshly whispered. As he stood the pain was unbearable.

The pills?

It's not hunger,

My head is spinning,

Damnit, hide it!

Why does it have to show?

No.

No one.

Never…

Nanao rushed in, with Ichigo close behind. She found the man collapsed on the ground.

"Oh God…" she gasped.

Sosuke was in his office in the college campus reading a book after he just finished going through a pile of papers. His reading glasses casually settled at the bridge of his nose while his pupils traveled through the row of words.

The doorknob slowly turned and his gaze causally lifted. He hid a smirk expecting the man all the while.

The sliver-haired man soundlessly entered closing the door expertly behind him. He saw the college professor was re-reading an old copy of A Dying Shadow, one of Kira's many books. At this he couldn't help but honestly smile.

"He's a good writer, isn't he? It's so sad he quit publically—does he still write?"

"Sometimes,"

"Sit."

"Nah," he replied, "I'd rather stand."

"Fine by me," Sosuke calmly replied, "I've noticed you've been fooling around a bit," with this Sosuke pulled out the Karakura newspaper with Matsumoto's murder on the front page.

"The police are actively searching for you."

"Heh, I don mind. It's been a while since I've played hide-an-seek."

"What have you done with the money you said you needed?"

"Supplies an' things. I got the Kuchiki girl outside of town, it's only a matter a time before the heist."

"Gin, I've been thinking about a different approach."

"Ho?"

"I know Kuchiki-san personally and I could safely say that I'm in good terms with him."

"I gotta better idea, why don't you let me do it—my way?" he cooed pulling out his blade to fiddle with.

"Hm. I see you feel like I'm controlling the situation a bit, but Gin this is something that can't go wrong in any possible way."

"Sure, sure… 'course I get it. I neva failed in anything. Any job I ever did, but there's always that 0.1 chance outta the 99.9… I could screw up, sure, sure," He replied casually with that unchanging smile.

"Listen Gin, I arranged that group you have at the hideout—,"

"I didn't wanna a group, I work alo—,"

"—I even placed my personal hitman Ulquiorra to work with you—I believe I have enough say in the matter at this point. I have a lot riding on this and I'm not going to let you fuck this up."

"Ooooooh, Azie's getting real mad," Gin's fingertips tickled the sharp edge of his blade, "Whadda ya gonna do—kill me?"

"Relax, we're on the same side,"

"That's wha'cha think."

The blade shot out, stabbing the professor through his shoulder penetrating into the leather covering of his seat.

Sosuke winked as he tried to reach for a pistol he had in his desk drawer next to him, but no avail.

"You're a bucking' asshole, Aizen Sosuke…" he hissed.

"Heh, is that what you've always thought of me?"

"Oh, no no no," cooed Gin while he twisted the blade with sick pleasure written over his face, "That wasn't from me—a lil' message from Momo—member her?"

His eyes shot open in shock.

"Sure you do… she paid me a pretty penny, ya know."

"Arggh!"

Gin retracted Shinso, he could hear the blade hissing for more.

Sosuke stood grabbing his shoulder. The glasses slipped off his face and the pupils in his eyes constricted. A deep gurgled laugher escaped from deep within his throat, "You kill me here, and it will be a matter of time before they capture you, Gin, you value a little transaction over our partnership?"

"Well what can I say—I get bored easily."

Sosuke reached for the red button on his office phone when Gin almost immediately brought down his blade severing his hand from the rest of his body.

A loud blood-curdling scream could be heard from down the corridor and Hitsugaya Toushiro heard it. People rushed away from the scream, he decided to run towards it.

His head came next and the body dropped like a heavy sack of rice. Crimson red sprayed the walls, the papers, the desk, the chair and Gin's clothes, his face and the lips which licked it off.

Until there is no recognizable figure,

Until there is nothing left of him.

I want him beyond dead.

I don't care.

Go crazy.

He stabbed him again and again and again and again and again.

"Hello! Hello?"

The door behind him rattled.

"Professor?! Professor what's going on?"

Gin grabbed the headless corpse with one hand and trailed slowly towards the door.

Hitsugaya backed off as he saw the lock come undone and the knob slowly turn. The door swung open and the bloodied silver-haired man bent forward towards Hitsugaya.

"Why don'cha see for yourself?"

The corpse was lunged at him and Hitsugaya collapsed under it's weight.

The blood seeped and oozed all over him. He shuddered and used all the strength he had to push the dead weight off him. His entire body shook, he couldn't stop rattling—shaking, shaking, shaking. His vision veered in a blur, his throat ran dry as his racing heart began to ach in his chest.

The man was gone. He has stared into those eyes, eyes that made him immediately fear death. Those bloody kitsune eyes.

Byakuya awoke, alone, at the hospital. The sound of the television sucked his mind into the reality of his predicament. An iv attached to his arm and he wore hospital attire.

"Hello, this channel 5 news reporting here in Karakura-chou. It seems that another murder struck. Similar tale-tell signs, such as decapitation, and multiple stab lead authorities to confirm that it may have been done by the same person."

Byakuya sat up, noticing that he felt surprisingly well.

As the reporter spoke on, the door opened. Dr Ishida Uryuu walked in. He smiled seeing that he was up and well. He gaze towards the TV.

"Awful isn't it? Karakura used to be a really safe and peaceful town…." Uryuu whispered slowly shaking his head.

"My question is, how could an outsider enter into a place like a university? That to me, doesn't make any sense."

"Hmmm… you have a point there."

"Do you have any connections to the mental hospital on the other side of town?"

"Oh, you mean Rukia. Ichigo told me about it. No, I really don't, asking my father would be your best bet. Since he's the director, he has connections with other medical facilities."

"…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure she ran away somewhere to blow off some steam. She'll show up soon enough you'll see—she usually does." He walked up to him tapping through several screens on his computer tablet, "Do you take medication for sleep?"

"Yes,"

"Might want to ease up on the dosage a bit. And avoid taking anything with alcohol for a while. Otherwise, you're fine,"

"What happened?"

"Stress."

"…"

"Simple as that. For some people, the stress is manifested in the head in the form of headaches and bouts of amnesia, to others, it's the stomach. Have you ever avoided food before a nerve-wrecking event? It's the nervous system. The stress is was so great it was attacking your stomach. And the medication you're taking does a number on it as well. So relax, take deep breaths and open yourself to someone. It doesn't hurt once and a while."

"…"

"Besides that, there is nothing else for me to do, you can go home when you are ready."

"Thank you,"

"You welcome," Ishida made his way towards the door," I wish you luck on your search."

Byakuya motioned his head in a single nod in response.

"Three, four, five, six… guess I could stop here," mumbled Gin to himself as he stepped over the mutilated bodies. He trailed the alleys during the heated summer night prowling for prey. But at this point he was nearly satisfied.

A woman ran around the corner and accidently spotted him. Shinso dripping with blood. She stifled a scream and began to run. Without moving, he shot out his blade stabbing right through latching her body on to the steel, it dragged her deep within the alley as the blade retracted.

In a few swift motions, the woman laid dead. Her eyes open in frozen horror. He bent down to close them, right then, he noticed the black shirt she wore had Chappi drawn in front.

His long fingers reached for the painted cartoon figure to touch it. His stained hands tainted the pure white image with red. He smiled sadly in spite of himself. Seeing it, took away all the desire to keep killing. Standing up, he began to walk off.

"Aww… damn. Really sucks, doesn't it?"

He laughed.

"Well, well… at least ol' Azie ain't here to bug me anymore," He padded his pocket that contained the numbers needed to access his bank account.

"Can't say it wasn't a waste of time, now can I? I wonder how I'll break it to the others?"

END CHAPTER

Notes: I checked this chap over kinda fast so forgive me it you stumbled over several errors... T-T

Preview

As the hours passed, the head drooped a bit and towards the dawn, he fell asleep.

Rukia, who slept for a sprinkle at a time, crawled out of bed stealthily creeping towards the sleeping blonde.

The notebook was nestled underneath his hands. Her habit of looking through people's stuff was still in her, and not one ounce of guilt ever passed over her because she felt that what she did was a matter of survival.

Gin himself was sneaky—why can't she do the same?

She crept away and turned on the candle because there wasn't any windows in the room. Quietly she opened his notebook and skimmed through the pages…