Rukia awoke, with a start, breaking free from the nightmare images imprinted on her mind, and hoping that those dark thoughts had been simply nightmares. But she was quickly disabused of that happy thought. It hovered over her, inhumanly wide smile firmly in place. Her abrupt awakening had spoiled any chances that she might pretend to still be asleep or unconscious, and it was clear that she already had Its full attention. She stretched her limbs, assessing her physical state, surprised to find that her wound seemed to be healed, and her clothing was still in place except for where it had been loosened to attend to her wound. However, she was not at all relieved to find that she was bound, hand and foot, chained to some sort of platform, and that she seemed to be far weaker than she should be, considering the fact that her wound had not been life-threatening and was now healed. The clinking of the chains that bound her seemed to draw his attention and amusement.
"How do you feel Rukia-mine?"
Rukia wanted to refuse to respond. After all, she had already done her fair share of blindly accepting her fate when she had allowed the Gotei 13 to put her to death. Or at leas, allowed them to try to put her to death. However, she was convinced that the only hope she had of reaching Ichigo would be to speak to him, to It. "I'm angry" she replied finally, honestly.
"At yourself or at me?" he smiled.
"Both" she replied "and at Ichigo, of course"
"For not being strong enough?"
"For not believing he is strong enough" she clarified.
"And you, Rukia-mine, are you strong enough?"
She met his eyes, faced the blackness there, the inhuman gleam, and did not flinch "Always."
"You don't feel weak, drained somehow?" he taunted.
"Rukia did feel weak of course, a weakness that was steadily growing and was eerily familiar.
"You're more susceptible than most of course." He rose from her side, dropping partly from her line of vision as he stepped away.
"And you? Are you susceptible to whatever it is?" she asked, playing along.
"Rukia-mine, I'm disappointed in you. Haven't you figured it out yet?" I'm less vulnerable than most, of course for several reasons. I am a hollow, which gives me some immunity, this body's vast supply of Reiatsu gives me further immunity, and of course the fact that the death stone is embedded in the underside of those chains you wear, against your skin and away from me,also helps."
"Death stone" gasped Rukia involuntarily, no wonder the sensation of weakness felt familiar. "But it's not possible" she asserted. "Where would you get such a thing?"
"Ichigo has far less control over me than he thinks. And when he sleeps he has no control"
Rukia shuddered, causing the chains to clink faintly. The though of this hollow running around unsupervised night after night was almost more chilling than her current predicament. "You are a coward, " she hissed. "To stab me, chain me, and drain me, you must be thoroughly terrified of me, a lone Shinigami half your size.
"I'm not afraid of you, Rukia-mine, but I was worried that you might escape or try to hurt yourself before I was done playing with you. After all I have so many fantasies to fulfill."
He slinked back to her, a jungle cat in sight of prey, a soulless heartless being focused entirely on her. His eyes never leaving hers as he rose over her, suspending himself on all fours as he leaned in, closer and closer until his dark eyes and inhuman grin were all she could see. "Shall I show you my fantasies Rukia-mine?" He leaned in, even closer and ran his tongue up the side of her face; it was rough like a cats tongue, but impossibly cold.
"No" she said, as calmly as she could.
He ignored her quiet denial, just as he ignored her shouted threats, and screamed invectives against himself and Ichigo as he ripped her Shinigami robes from her body. His laughter and her shouts seemed to drown out the world. But when she felt the first sting of the knife cutting into her flesh, marking her, and shocking her, they both fell silent, and she read a world of dark promise in his fathomless eyes.