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Wheel of the World
Chapter Eight: The Will To Be Strong

"Rukia…"

The raven haired girl gasped, looking around in all directions, "Ne? Ne! Who's there!"

"Your soul…mm," The voice continued, "It smells delectable."

Hands reached out, grasping for the Kuchiki woman. Bony fingers interlocked around tufts of her ebony black hair and pulled her deeper into the blackness that she was surrounded by. Violet eyes widened in a panic as she struggled to break free of the hold the creature had on her. Her arms flailed in front of her, weakly, as she swatted at something…anything to protect her from the horror that was enveloping her. A scream tore from her throat as she connected with something. It wasn't a scream of fear, but one of pain.

Rukia brought her hand to her face and examined the damage. Her hand was swollen and bleeding, blood trickled from the pinky-side of her hand to her elbow in a long, deep gash that was almost to the bone.

"Now, now," The disembodied monotone said, "Don't fight. It only makes it harder for you."

She felt the cold breath on her face, misting around her, and she whimpered as she felt the object come closer to her.

Suddenly, there was light.

Brilliant, blinding light illuminated every inch of the space where she was. There was no space left untouched by the white light. It took a while for her eyes to adjust, but when they did…

She screamed.

"Rukia, Rukia!"

"Kuchiki!"

"Rukia!"

A cacophony of voices awoke her from her slumber, all sounding concerned and scared for the petite girl's well-being. The Kuchiki girl was jerked up by a pair of strong hands, while another was feeling her back, no doubt where her wounds used to be.

Rukia looked around, wide eyes seeing nothing and too much all at the same time.

"Uryu…Matsumoto…Hitsugaya…" She murmured, her eyes almost watering with relief.

Her nightmare wasn't real.

She started gasping in as much air as she could. Her hands wound themselves into Ishida's shirt. The raven haired man's hands were on her shoulders, while Matsumoto still searched her back for her wounds. Hitsugaya just stood beside them, a worried look marring his attractive features. Rukia gulped and finally found her voice, "Nothing's wrong…I'm fine."

"You didn't sound fine, Kuchiki." Hitsugaya said, looking at her with eyes of ice that penetrated her very heart.

She blinked from Hitsugaya to Matsumoto to finally Ishida, who still had her shoulders trapped between his bony, yet strong hands. He was pale, paler than usual, and looking at her with as sense of urgency that boggled her mind. His navy eyes were intense, and she felt shards of ice solidifying in her heart. All these faces had been in her dream. Her lips parted, desperately wanting to tell them what happened, but thought better of it. Wouldn't want them getting the idea that this was all too much for her. She needed to be strong. Kuchiki Rukia had been through far worse than a simple nightmare. And she wouldn't let her friends be so worried because of a stupid night terror.

But here they were, looking worried anyway.

"You were screaming in your sleep, Rukia," Ishida quietly prodded, his thumbs working in smooth, massaging circles on the fronts of her shoulders.

Rukia looked at Ishida, her violet eyes wide with worry and desperation. She so badly wanted to collapse into his arms and sob. But she wouldn't. She couldn't. They would see that as weakness. But her shoulders shook anyway, giving her away.

She didn't have to collapse into his arms, it turned out. Ishida gathered her in his thin, strong, muscular arms and held her tightly against his chest. Rukia buried her face into his shirt, fists clenching into his shirt.

"What happened?" Hitsugaya demanded in a commanding voice.

Ishida shot him a glare, "Can't you see she's shaken up? The last thing she needs is you yelling at her. Get a grip!"

Matsumoto chuckled and slung an arm around Ishida's shoulders, "Taichou acts that way when some one he cares about is hurt."

Her whisper was slight, but both Rukia and Ishida heard her. The Kuchiki girl looked up from her position in Ishida's arms, large eyes curious, searching. The strawberry blonde girl sent her a reassuring smile and Ishida felt her arm tighten around his thin shoulders, as if reassuring him as well. Reassuring him of what exactly, Ishida couldn't be sure.

"What did you say, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya said in a paranoid manner, but the demanding tone never left his voice.

"Nothing, taichou."

"Whatever…" Hitsugaya rolled his icy eyes and walked closer to the girl who was enveloped in Ishida's arms. "Kuchiki…are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Came the weak reply.

His hard eyes softened, turning from sapphire gems into a pool of turquoise. "Whatever it was, you can tell us."

Ishida noticed how when Hitsugaya said us, it sounded like it meant me.

"I…know." Rukia said, her eyes not leaving the white haired shinigami's. "I just…don't want you…don't want anyone…to think that this is too much. That I can't handle this. I want to be strong, but I had - the dream…"

Hitsugaya quirked a quizzical white eyebrow, "A dream?"

Ishida looked down at her with kind eyes, "Dream?"

Matsumoto looked at the scene in front of her with curious eyes. Curious as to what Rukia's dream was about, but also curious as to the protective poses of both the males surrounding the Kuchiki girl.

"It's nothing…nothing important. Don't worry about it, Uryu, Hitsugaya…" Rukia said selflessly, sighing comfortably against Ishida's strong shoulder.

How obvious. Matsumoto thought, giving the Quincy a smile, and noting at how the raven haired boy was looking down at the crown of Rukia's head with the tenderness that looked like someone looking at their lover. But sweet.

The sight of it made Matsumoto's heart clench, and she raised a loose fist to the center of her chest, as if to try to decipher why it was like that.

"Uryu…"

She's taken to calling him by his first name. Matsumoto smiled, and this too, caused a warm feeling to enter her heart by the very sight of Ishida looking at her with pinked cheeks and wide, happy eyes, just at her calling him by his first name. Wonder what caused the change.

"Yeah?"

Ishida could sense that she wanted to get up, so he loosened his hold on her and she pried herself free, before getting up from the couch and standing on her own in her tattered, bloodied school clothes. She looked down at herself and a genuine chuckle escaped her lips, "Well, there goes this uniform."

Hitsugaya felt a small smile crack on his lips despite himself. Even in torn clothing that hung like rags around her, clothing that was stained with dried blood, she still looked…cute.

She walked forward, her small feet taking hesitant, cautious steps, as if she was afraid they would give out beneath her. Rukia didn't want to mention it, but she felt slightly woozy, light headed.

Rukia pushed herself forward, though, maybe too forcefully, for the next thing she knew, the ground was spinning beneath her, her head was swimming, and she felt her feet give way underneath her. She fell forward, throwing out her hands to brace herself for the fall, squeezing her eyes shut in the process, waiting for the ground.

But the ground never came.

Instead, a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped around her. But these arms weren't the familiar ones of Ishida, nor the feminine ones of Matsumoto - she was familiar with both of the embraces, however fleeting or lingering they may have been. This one was unfamiliar, foreign to her, but pleasant nonetheless.

She wondered idly who it was for a moment before she opened her clenched eyes to be met with the intense gaze of Hitsugaya. His chest was pressed tightly against her, and she realized he had shot forward in the midst of her falling to catch her. His arms were taut, toned, and securely wrapped around her thin form.

His eyes bored into hers and Rukia felt her heart skip a beat. "You alright?"

Rukia could only manage a nod, and then it was over. Hitsugaya let her go, waiting with anxious eyes as she righted herself, waiting for a moment she would falter and he would have to save her again. She seemed to be okay, so his gaze relaxed, but the tendons in his muscles didn't. They were flexed, his whole being ready to jump forward at the slightest hint of weariness threatening to overwhelm her.

She was free of his arms, and her whole body was tingling due to the contact. Rukia exhaled a breath she didn't even know she had been holding as she gulped shakily, "Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit dizzy is all."

"Not surprising," A suddenly sweet voice said from across the room, her brown eyes kind. Hinamori looked at the three people beside the couch from her position at the large opening that connected the living room to the kitchen, "You lost a lot of blood, Rukia."

Rukia blinked, obviously not used to having the bun haired girl talk to her, "Ah…is that so…" She did feel oddly drained, maybe that was the reason why.

"Hinamori healed you," Hitsugaya spoke up, sending a kind look in the shinigami's direction, one that sent slivers of ice deep into Rukia's stomach for some unknown reason, "She's the one most proficient with that…that and kido."

"You're welcome." She said airily, smiling gently.

"Oh, uh," Rukia said awkwardly, "Thanks, Hinamori."

"No prob."

Rukia idly wondered why Hitsugaya was suddenly looking at Hinamori so tenderly. Maybe it wasn't sudden. Maybe he had always looked at her that way and Rukia was too distracted to notice. Distractions had been commonplace in the Kuchiki household lately, come to think of it.

"I'm going to take a bath…" Rukia announced suddenly, her heart thudding as she did so. From the fact that she was dizzy or the fact that Hitsugaya just held her, she didn't know. "I smell like blood and sweat…" She said idly, mostly to herself.

"Need help up the stairs?" Hitsugaya offered; Ishida gave him a dirty look.

"I'll help her." Matsumoto said, swishing away, "And I'll guard the door, too, so no perverts will peak."

As she said the word perverts, she looked pointedly at both Hitsugaya and Ishida.

"Come on, sweetie." Matsumoto grasped on her arm, feeling the thinness of it in her slender hand, between her long fingers. The strawberry blonde smiled to herself at just how vulnerable Rukia felt at this moment. But she could also feel the reluctance to grab hold of Matsumoto's shoulder. She didn't want her help, but she needed it.

"It's okay, Matsumoto," Rukia began. "I don't need any help, really."

"You're ashy pale, kid, and you look like you can't even stand on your own. I'll help you. No excuses, Rukia-chan."

Rukia sighed as she relinquished control underneath Matsumoto's statement. It was the truth, though. She did feel like hell. Like she had gone through hell and back, to be accurate. The raven haired girl guessed it would be to her best interest to at least let Matsumoto help her.

As they walked toward the stairs, she felt eyes watching her every move.

"We were all worried sick about you, Rukia-chan."

Large, jewel-like eyes blinked in an innocent gesture, "Really…?"

"Yup." Matsumoto said, grinning down at the shorter girl, "Really."

Rukia felt warmth encircle her heart. They're all so kind…I truly don't deserve this…them caring so much about me…

They were at the top of the stairs now, at the landing, and Matsumoto helped her into her room, where she helped Rukia pick out the clothes she would change into after her bath. Certainly, the uniform she was wearing right now wasn't reparable, not even with Ishida's mastery in sewing and Home Ec. No way anyone could save the remnants of what the Kuchiki girl currently had on.

Rukia ended up getting a pair of baggy sweatpants and a extra large, dark purple t-shirt, along with underwear, of course, and taking it to the bathroom, Matsumoto following carefully, every time Rukia stumbled, she would reach out, lightning fast, and lock her hand around her arm to keep her from falling to the ground.

The blonde haired shinigami noticed the sweat that dewed on Rukia's brow, and it immediately concerned her. Rukia should be resting. But, she had to admit, she would sleep much better once she was comfortable and clean. Matsumoto took Rukia by the shoulder and steered her into the bathroom, where Rukia got a look at herself for the first time since the hollow attack.

"Oh, my…"

To say she was stunned was the lightest adjective anyone could use. Wide eyes, tinged with tiredness, stared back at her from the mirror. Her hair was in disarray, and she could see dried blood caked into it. The cut on her cheek was gone completely, but the blood that had run from it and onto her neck and collarbone was also dried. Her uniform was pretty much torn to shreds. The back of it hung open like a hospital gown, and she could see the dried blood that was smeared all over the porcelain skin of her thin back. Her skirt was also in tatters, and her legs were lightly covered in dark blood. She bit her lip and tasted the coppery feel of the crimson liquid that had caked onto the plump surface.

Somehow, there was a tear in the front of her shirt, and she could see just the under wire of her bra. The tips of her shoes were caked with blood as well.

Rukia reached her hand to her face tenderly, and stroked the area were the cut had been. It was deep, but Hinamori had healed it as if it had been something as trivial as a paper cut. "I really got it handed to me, ne, Matsumoto?"

The shinigami's bluish-gray eyes softened. She could detect the sense of guilt she had in her voice. "It wasn't your fault, Rukia-chan."

Rukia looked back, doubt in her eyes, "If you say so." She clearly was too tired to argue, but she was still carrying that guilt with her, and that was never a good thing.

So Matsumoto cut in again, "Nothing's your fault; you have a gift. That's not your fault. Hollows want it. Not your fault. Yeah, you got attacked by a hollow today, but no one else was hurt other than you, Rukia-chan. It wasn't your fault. Just a freak moment when we were caught off guard. Understand?"

The Kuchiki girl gulped, and her eyes started to water, but she fought off the tears that threatened to come, "Yeah…yeah." Matsumoto's words made her feel better, so she smiled, despite her weakness, "Thanks, Matsumoto."

Matsumoto reached over and lightly ran a hand through her blood-caked hair, "Now, need any help bathing?" She joked, her eyes glinting.

"No, I think I'm good." Rukia laughed. "Now, wait outside the door to ward off perverts."

"My job in life." Matsumoto said, grinning in a catlike manner before leaving the bathroom, cracking the door behind her.

Rukia laughed as the blonde took her place outside the door, leaning against the wall next to the crack in the door. Her laughter turned into a sigh as she slipped out of her clothes - what was left of them, at least. She turned and saw that the majority of her body was covered with crimson stains. The scarlet color contrasted sharply with the ivory of her skin. She sighed again uneasily, shakily, wondering if she could possibly get the dry, caked substance off of her form.

She walked over to the tub, and started the water running, not even bothering to let it get moderately deep before she stepped in the steaming liquid. The blood on her ankle slightly dissipated from the space it occupied and stained the water around it a red in color. Not all of it was cleaned from her skin, however. Rukia knew she'd have to scrub to get all of it off…

She sat down in the tub; the water was now deep enough to slosh around her waist. It kept pouring in around her, touching every part of her body. When it was up to her chest, she turned the water off and leaned back so she was completely submerged except for her head. "Mm…" She groaned as the hot water covered her.

"You alright in there?" Matsumoto called from out the door.

"Yes." Rukia said, sitting up again, "Don't expect this to be a quick bath. I plan on taking one of those girly, indulgent baths." She chuckled.

Matsumoto laughed along with her, "No problem there, Rukia-chan."

Rukia laughed, but after a few seconds, it turned into a weak, mirthless sound that even the raven haired girl could determine as fake. Her eyes lost their shine and she glanced down at her hands submerged beneath the water, and the caked blood stained on them. "My dream…" She started, trailing off like an uncertain child.

"Ne?" Matsumoto asked, quirking a brow. "The dream you just had? The one that scared you?"

Blinking somberly, Rukia kept her eyes downcast, "Yeah…I didn't want to tell them down there because…well, they'll probably see me as weak, but you…Matsumoto, can I tell you in secrecy? I trust you and you…"

"Of course." Matsumoto said, looking toward the crack in the door as if that were Rukia's own face. "I'll keep it to myself, though I doubt anyone would take you being scared as weak, Rukia-chan. Everyone gets scared. Some people just handle it differently. Today, that whole room was scared. For you."

Rukia felt her cheeks turn pink, "Ah…" A sheepish laugh escaped her lips, "I am glad…that people care."

"Of course we do." The blonde shinigami reassured fiercely, "No need to ever doubt that."

The Kuchiki girl reached off of the side of the tub and got a wash cloth. She dipped it into the water before bringing it up again and squeezing it. "Well," She gazed at the orange cloth in her hands and said, "I was being chased…"

Matsumoto sat, waiting for her words to flow, outside the door, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration, with her legs spread out in front of her casually. Her palms were pressed lightly against the floor, arms stick straight as she leaned her head back against the wall. She had long since changed back into her gigai, as well. She murmured, "Mm-hm," as if encouraging her to go on.

"…it was a hollow. A hollow was chasing me." Rukia said as she once again dipped the cloth under the water. This time, she put soap onto it while it was still wet and rubbed it to get the foam going. "I was running, and it was pitch dark. I couldn't see a thing."

At this point, she had begun washing herself. She started with her cheeks and neck, scrubbing the caked blood from her skin, wiping away crimson to reveal beautiful, unmarred skin.

"The thing got a hold of me. It grabbed my hair and yanked and told me he wanted my soul. I protested and flailed about and I ended up hitting the hollow with my hand, but it must've been a sharp edge of the bone of the thing, because it cut into my hand and it felt so…terrible."

Matsumoto began to feel sympathy for the girl unlike anything she had felt for anyone in a long time. She put her left hand against her chest and closed her eyes in thought for the girl. The picture she was painting of her dream was all-too vivid and it made the fukutaichou sad for her.

"He told me not to fight, that it would make it worse for me. He breathed on me…" Rukia said in disgust as she moved to dunk her head under the water, "He breathed on me and then…" Her head was partly submerged in the water, raven locks floating about her features. She rose from the water and the droplets rolled from her form.

Running a hand through the soaked locks, she sighed, "There was a bright light. I could suddenly see everything." Her voice cracked on the last word, as if this was the part of the dream that truly scared her. Her eyes were wavering with emotion and she shook her head slightly. "There was you, Matsumoto. You were…dead. And bloody."

Matsumoto hid a gasp.

"Ishida…Ishida was also dead. It was horrible…he was…it was…" Rukia trailed off, and the strawberry blonde could hear her start to cry somewhat. "He was so…mangled."

"Then…" Rukia had to collect herself, "…there was Hitsugaya…" Her voice cracked again on his name, "He was the worst one…I could only recognize him by his hair…and even that was almost completely red with…"

The door swung open.

Rukia looked up at Matsumoto, her eyes filled with tears that glinted in the dull light of the bathroom, "M-Matsumoto, what are you - "

She was next to the tub in one second and Rukia was in her arms in the next. The blonde didn't seem to care about modesty, and that made Rukia smile in spite of her tears. That still didn't keep the scarlet blush from coating her cheeks. Matsumoto held her tightly, as if comforting someone who had been through a horrible ordeal, not someone who had a bad dream…but, once she thought about it, she had been attacked by a hollow today. Maybe Matsumoto thought she was cracking.

That turned out to not be the case.

"It'll be okay, Rukia-chan." Matsumoto started, pressing her cheek against her wet, still somewhat bloodied, hair, "Everyone has dreams like that sometimes…losing the ones you love. But you don't have anything to worry about."

Rukia felt her body relax at that, and the next statement by the fukutaichou.

"None of us will die."

And, though Matsumoto knew that was a ridiculous statement, she believed it, and wanted to say it for Rukia's sake. She felt that the raven haired girl was becoming like a sister to her and she wanted to comfort her as much as she could. She parted from the smaller girl and smiled.

"Now, let me wash your back. I doubt you can get to it."

"Hey!"

Matsumoto took the wash cloth from the side of the tub where Rukia had left it as she had leaned back into the water and grinned.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"I'm not so sure about that."

The sound of Matsumoto's laughter resounded through the entire house, and then Rukia's joined it.

After washing herself and feeling cleaner - both physically and mentally - than she had in a while, Rukia walked downstairs with one thought on her mind. It might not be something they were ready to face yet, but Rukia would spring it on them. And, as Ishida knew, Rukia was terrible to refuse when she was determined.

And right now, she was determined.

Matsumoto offered to help her down the stairs, but she refused. The sudden adrenaline that coursed through her after her realization just a few minutes ago made her step forward without even tumbling once. She was sure to feel the after effects of this later, she was sure of that.

Her feet led her down the stairs with a confident air. She needed all the confidence she had in her for it to work. For them to actually consider…

Rukia shook her head, feeling confident. The talk with Matsumoto had made her feel better and gave her a brilliant idea.

"None of us will die."

That's what Matsumoto had said to her in the bathroom, while she embraced her.

And, Rukia's thought while she said it?

No one will die. I will make sure of it.

So here Rukia was, walking as if she hadn't had a brush of death just mere hours ago. She finally was on the first floor, and walked into the living room, where the group of shinigami and one Quincy sat around on the floor, watching some program on the television.

Hearing her approach, Ishida immediately looked up, "Rukia." He gave her a genuine smile and Rukia returned with a smirk. He looked at her quizzically, quirking a delicate brow at the Kuchiki girl.

Rukia turned the corner around the couch and walked over to Hitsugaya, standing in front of him with a determined look in her jewel-like orbs. The white haired shinigami looked at her with a confused stare, wondering what was going on.

"Kuchiki, you really should be in bed - "

Rukia shook her head, cutting him off. "No…not yet."

Renji and Ichigo exchanged glances, while Hinamori looked at Matsumoto with alarm deep in her brown eyes. No one should be up and moving when they've lost that much blood. The bun haired girl thought in awe and concern. She knew this wouldn't end well.

"Rukia…" Ishida started to plead, "Please, go rest before you decide to have a confrontation."

Rukia shook her head again, and in a way, she looked slightly crazed with this idea, but in a happy, excited way, though none of it escaped her eyes or mouth. Her face was ashen pale and anyone could see that the girl was exhausted. Her hair had its normal sheen to it, though, and it shone in the light of the living room.

"Hitsugaya…"

"Yes?" Even the ice shinigami was surprised she hadn't fallen out right there in the middle of the floor.

"I want you to start my training. As soon as possible."

Hitsugaya looked at her with wide eyes. He hadn't been planning on training her until at least a couple of months passed. Why now? Why would she…

"I want to be strong, Hitsugaya. I want to help…without being a burden to anyone. Please, Hitsugaya. Train me! I want to be strong!"

Everyone stared at the conviction in the girl's words, impressed by her drive and strength of will.

But, before Hitsugaya could answer her, Rukia swayed, her eyes clouded over and became blank before closing in unconsciousness.

Hitsugaya caught her before she hit the ground.

"Is she okay?" Ishida said, his navy eyes filled with worry.

"Yes," Hinamori piped up, "She's just pushed herself too far…the lack of blood in her system made her weak, caused her to faint."

Ishida looked relieved at that. Good. Maybe she can get some rest now without us forcing her to.

Hitsugaya wasn't paying attention to the commotion around him. His turquoise eyes gazed down at the Kuchiki girl with a kindness and somewhat admiration. This girl came down here…despite lack of blood…just to tell me this. Just to ask me to train her. She forwent sleep just to say that she wanted me to train her.

Rukia groaned slightly in her sleep, and he noted how pleasant the contrast between her dark hair and pale skin was. Her plump, pink lips were parted, steadily taking in air. A feeling of innocence wafted from her body, and Hitsugaya didn't notice that his grip tightened in a mixture of protectiveness and the fact that he was proud of this human girl.

She'll make a fine warrior.

With that, the icy taichou scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her room.

End Chapter Eight.

I'm finally done with chapter eight! I'm so happy. I never thought I'd get done with this. It seemed to take forever to get into it and write, but I have to admit, typing on a laptop is just more fun and it made this more fun to write. (Lousy excuse, I know, lol.) But yeah, this chapter was longer than most in this fic, and hopefully you enjoyed it. Hopefully you weren't bored to tears. Haha. Congrats to my Lakers, who won the championship game! So very happy!

Well, anyway, this was basically to set up events to come. I hope you liked it! Please review with your thoughts and opinions!

Arigato!