She was happily sipping at her newly found invention that was called the juice box and watched curiously beside a twitching orange headed man. She sipped at the box and looked up at the man with wide, child-like eyes. She looked back, straight ahead of her and surveyed the sight. She shrugged it off and began to skip out of the room in her skimpy black and white dress again. It was white strapped and a thick, white rim went around the top with a black ribbon on the side, a thick, white stripe at the bottom of her dress too. The back of her dress began to stretch as a man at the age of 24 that wore a white t-shirt that said Bite Me in graffiti and baggy jeans had grabbed the back of it, preventing her escape.

"Care to explain what happened while I was at work…?" Ichigo growled low in his throat, Rukia still facing the door. His room had two beds on either side of the room, the closet now moved in between the two mattresses, against the wall. She slipped out of her dress and shamelessly ran away down the hall, skidding to a stop at the end and then running down the stairs while Ichigo stood in his doorway to his old room with a horrified expression.

"RUKIA!!!"

Isshin hummed happily as he shook the laundry to get rid of any unwanted pests and then folded it neatly into a pile. Since Yuzu had gone to stay at a friend's house till dinner, Isshin had taken up the liberty of doing laundry himself. His humming and smile dropped when he heard a thundering noise, almost like a hippo stampede. He shrugged it off.

"Perhaps it's my stupid son watching the discovery animal channel," he said nonchalantly. He began his ridiculous humming again and stretched out the shirt that belonged to Yuzu, shook it, and then folded it, adding it to the pile of her clothing. Again, his humming stopped when he heard the stampede like noise. He raised a brow in mock question and leaned sideward a little, turning around and looking at the wooden stairs that led back upstairs from the basement. The stampede had stopped, and it was once again silent.

Isshin shrugged once more, and as soon as he turned around again, he jumped in surprise when he heard the roar of an angry lion that was runaway from discovery channel.

"PUT SOME GODDAMN CLOTHES ON RUKIA!!!"

Isshin swerved around and stared in horror and slight embarrassment when he saw a bra less, underwear-wearing Rukia laughing and running away from a bright red Ichigo that was running around chasing her with a dress in hand. Isshin stared in horror nonetheless while the two continued to play a sick and twisted game of cat and mouse. Rukia paused and smiled happily at the kind doctor, waving in a bubbly manner.

"Hello Oji-sama!!" she cheered. He could only nod dumbly in reply and turned back around to hang the laundry and get rid of the image of his naked third daughter out of mind. Even though she was still a patient staying at the clinic until she was healthy, she was still considered a third daughter. No matter… how bold she was…

The giggles and laughing had travelled upstairs, followed by the roaring and screaming that was holding her only article of clothing.

She had just settled into the couch and began flipping channels when her boredom had begun to take over. Karin yawned loudly and then sleepily blinked as her thumb just automatically clicked the next button click after click. She was undisturbed when a happy melody came on and the couch seat beside her suddenly became occupied as a lithe figure jumped over the top of the couch and bounced next to her.

"Can you keep it on this channel?" Rukia asked eagerly. Not paying attention to the bare woman beside her, Karin nodded. She nearly dozed off to the sound of Chappy the Rabbit TV show until she head a stampede, than a roar.

"PUT THIS DRESS ON NOW, WOMAN!!"

Karin jumped from her place and turned towards the direction where Rukia was sitting in to look behind the couch at her fuming brother. He was bright red, whether from anger or embarrassment, she couldn't tell, but he was steaming, and in his hand he held a dress.

… A very familiar dress…

Karin looked beside her and screamed at the sight of a Rukia now wearing a black and white striped bra and matching underwear. Karin grabbed the pillow beside her and hid her red face, screaming into it. It's not that she couldn't stand the sight of another woman. She was just very surprised to see someone half naked. Nearly naked. Heck, practically naked.

Rukia laughed beside Karin and she could hear it past the muffled world of her pillow. She could feel Rukia's cool hands ruffle her hair as she walked off. She grabbed the dress from Ichigo and leaned up, pretending to kiss him. He began to stumble backwards with his arms up in surrender, as he tripped on a random wooden table behind him, sitting on it. Rukia giggled and skipped off to his room to change.

He sighed and dragged a hand down his face. He looked over to the horrified Karin sitting on the couch.

"…"

"…"

"How long is she gonna stay here…?" Karin mumbled quietly.

"Not long if I can help it," Ichigo growled low in his throat, his face bright red.

"Hn…" Rukia inspected as she stared at the long body length mirror that moved from Ichigo's apartment to his old room here in the clinic. She smiled at the handiwork that foundation powder could do now. Oh the wonders of non-shitty make up. They worked perfectly in hiding the long, agonizing scars on Rukia's back. Rukia smiled and slid the dress back on. Oh how teasing this family was fun. Even if it was to experiment if foundation powder actually worked in hiding her hideous past.

She tiptoed downstairs and noticed that the family was sitting quietly on the couch now, minus Yuzu. They watched TV blankly, as if they weren't even paying attention. Rukia cleared her throat and three heads turned towards her at the same time. Two blushed and looked away while one gave a big smile. Isshin stood up with the smile still on his face as he wrapped an arm around Rukia's shoulder and led her towards the clinic room downstairs.

"Good girl, you remembered your appointment checkup!" he chuckled. Rukia smiled at him with a smile they both knew was fake, as they walked towards the cold, white room filled with sharp, dangerous objects. She obediently sat down on the white bed on one side of the room and watched as Isshin calmly grabbed a needle and began to rip open the packet.

"So, Rukia-chan, may I ask what occupation you have?"

"Prostitution," she answered bluntly. He winced slightly at the dead tone and decided to move onto a happier topic. No wonder she was so shameless just now. Rukia's eyes began to widen when he connected a HUGE tube to the end of the needle looking thing. She noticed it was different from those other normal needles.

"Ah, so, how old are you?"

"21," she answered in an unsure voice. She began to shake as he came closer with the needle. "Ah, wait, wait, hold up!" she said shakily, backing away from him on the bed, holding her hands up. "Oji-sama, what's that?!" Her voice raised itself to a higher octave as she had indeed seen similar needles like so, except they weren't used for medicinal purposes.

"Oh, no need to worry Rukia-san, this is just something everyone needs to do in order to be able to helped in medical emergencies, or I could just examine it, since I know you're in bad health," he soothed.

"Stop it!" Rukia closed her eyes tightly and blocked out the voices with her hands as she clutched at her head, and rolled into a ball.

"Come on little pretty, it won't hurt, it's just a lovely nice feeling!"

Isshin was alarmed when he saw tears gather at the corner of her eyelashes, her mumbling becoming small, sobbing whispers.

"Stop it, no, I don't want it!"

"Sure you do! We want a fun night don't we?" one of the men cooed, holding a needle in his hand, filled with whatever drug he bought that night. The other man stood behind her, gripping her arms behind her back.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Rukia…" Isshin said cautiously, advancing towards her slowly, as if she could crack with the slightest movement. The moment his fingers brushed her skin, she screamed.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!!"

Ichigo took a deep inhale of the coffee smell that was in his hands right now, the best coffee he had ever tasted, not like those shit ones back at the hospital that were meant to keep the night shift people awake. He closed his eyes and smiled, holding the cup with both hands close to his mouth.

"Don't have an orgasm right on the spot Ichi-nii," Karin said bluntly as she walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Bite me," Ichigo snapped back at his sister, no longer holding the coffee with love.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Ichigo dropped his coffee and ran towards the sound of Rukia's distressed scream as Karin dropped the jug of juice she was holding and followed suit. Coffee, glass, juice and plastic fell to the floor unnoticed as two beings ran as fast as they could towards the sound. Ichigo jumped the steps and landed, rolling onto his feet and once again standing up, running. Karin decided to be smart and save her bones as she leapt the steps 2 at a time. Ichigo found the room door that was slightly ajar and slammed it open, watching in shock as there was a crying Rukia in the corner on the bed as Isshin stood to the side helplessly with a blood test needle.

Karin appeared not too long after and panted, trying to catch her breath much like her brother now. She looked at Rukia and felt sympathy for the poor girl. Ichigo walked over and took the needle from his father gently, giving him a look that told him to leave. He nodded and gently began to usher Karin out the door, closing it quietly behind him. Ichigo set the needle down on the table and stood with a hand on his hip, the other running down his face as he watched the wall for a moment to contemplate what he should do. His eyes flickered back to the horrified girl on the bed who shook all over, her face pale and her eyes red with tears.

Ichigo walked over and sat on the bed. Feeling a presence close to her, Rukia began to cry louder as she curled up into a tighter ball. Ichigo's warm hands eased the tight grip she had on herself. She slapped the hands away and sat up, shouting at him.

"Don't you even dare try to fucking help me!" she hissed. He gave her a stern look as he held both her wrists. Her tears continued to fall. "Don't, don't you dare, I don't need it! I don't need it!!" she began to scream, trying to break free of his grip. He brought her hands to his chest and boxed her in, her head now lying on his chest. She had given up resisting as she began to cry more tears that wouldn't stop.

"Shhh… it's ok…" he murmured into her hair, rocking his body back and forth as she sat on his lap, stroking her hair. She fisted his shirt in her hands as her tears of anguish and reminisced pain came back. No one came to save her that day. She wasn't meant to be a princess that had a happy ending and prince charming to come save her. She didn't have a hero to escape the clutches of evil.

No.

No one had come to save her that day as she was drugged unconscious, raped, heavily beaten, and god knows what they did to her body, as she had found it sore all over, inside and out.

"You don't understand!" she sobbed, her face scrunched into pain. "You wouldn't understand!" she cried once more. Ichigo's eyes had a faraway look in them as he held her to his chest.

"No…" he whispered quietly into her hair. "I wouldn't understand." This blunt statement of his had somehow broken Rukia's heart further. Haha. Funny. Her heart was never even there to start with. "But I could try to," he whispered later, holding her even tighter to his frame. Her cries became louder in desperation as she tried her best to believe that. Ichigo opened one eye when she was definitely not looking behind her. Ichigo slowly and unsuspectingly opened the drawer beside the bed and grabbed a pill from successfully opening a small bottle. He slowly slipped it into his mouth and brought his hands to Rukia's face as he lifted it up.

Her teary eyes shone brightly in the light, her tears wetting her face further. Ichigo wiped the tears away and smiled at her, bringing her lips to his and kissing her sweetly. Next moment, Ichigo slipped the pill into her mouth and held her mouth closed with one hand as she began to struggle, her eyes wide in shock and heavy fear. She began to struggle, but Ichigo closed his eyes to block out the pain he was feeling. Once he felt the body go limp, he laid her down on the bed.

She was fast asleep.

Ichigo looked down at her with guilt and picked up the needle on the bedside table. He slowly injected it into the softest area of the inside of her elbow joint and the tube began to fill with black-red blood. He remained unmoving and emotionless as his father nearly slammed the door open.

"Ichigo, what did you do," he growled in a low tone. He had watched from the small window that was on the door, showing the head and shoulders of Isshin. Ichigo remained silent and counted down the seconds to when the tube would be filled. He further ignored his father when he walked closer to his son. Ichigo hurriedly took the tube off of the needle and quickly pressed a medi-swab against the spot where the needle had been, pressing hard to stop the blood flow. When Rukia was safe, Ichigo put a Chappy the Rabbit band aid, seeing as it was the only one present in the drawer now.

Isshin held his son up by the collar.

"What do you think you're doing boy?!" Ichigo shoved his father's hand away and began to walk out the door. He stood there in the doorway and held the doorknob, stilling his movements.

"I think I would rather care for her health first, rather than her feelings." Isshin's eyes widened at the harsh words that came out of his mouth. He paid attention when his son said the next set of words. "If we do not care for her health first, what feelings will there be to feel if she dies?" And with that, he left his father standing alone in the room.

Ichigo sighed in annoyance as he quickly allowed his reflexes to shut the clinic door before the spoon the patient threw actually reached his face. It hit the door with a loud clang and made a loud noise as it clattered to the floor. Ichigo waited for a moment of silence as he rubbed a hand down his face and waited for the screaming inside to stop. Once it was silent, Ichigo grabbed a pillow from the waiting room couches he was standing near and opened the door, blocking his face from a bowl of hot, rice porridge coming his way.

He dropped the sticky and now dirty pillow and walked towards the seething patient on the bed.

"Don't touch me!" Rukia hissed.

Yup. She was still mad about the whole knocking her dead and stealing her blood thing. Ichigo ruffled his hair and sat down on the bed next to her. She wiggled further away and leaned against the wall, far away from him.

"Well, we found out a lot of things thanks to that blood test," Ichigo tried to comfort. Rukia glared at him and snapped back

"Like what?" Ichigo took the clipboard that hung at the end of her bed and began to observe it.

"Well… your calcium and iron is low, you're having a few symptoms of anorexia…Oh, and my dad did all the work in observing your blood, not me. And what else is there… well to put it bluntly, you're really unhealthy," Ichigo deadpanned at the end. Rukia scoffed and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.

"Hah. Tell me something I don't know."

"You need new clothes."

Her mouth was literally watering as she stood there outside the shop, staring down through the mirror and the glass that was blocking her from her eye candy. Ichigo walked back a few paces as he stopped to watch what Rukia was staring at. He was walking ahead talking to her when he realized she stopped at the cake shop. He began to observe the cakes himself and his mouth began to water too. They looked so appetizing…

Yuzu's cakes are better, Ichigo mused in his head. He was snapped out of his pride of his sister when Rukia asked him a question.

"S-sorry, what was that?" Ichigo asked as he stood behind her.

"Which cake do you want?" Rukia asked. Ichigo chuckled. He knew he was the one with money not her, and yet here she was, offering to buy it.

"I like that one!" Ichigo jested, pointing to a vanilla sponge cake that had vanilla icing and strawberries. It had a thing layer of strawberry icing in the middle too. In a flash, Ichigo was left to stand all alone and horrified as Rukia dashed inside the store, jumped over the counter, elbowed the shop keeper in the temple, smashed the glass open with her fist, and grabbed the cake and started running.

"RUKIA!!!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?! I swear, I'm gonna get white hairs just looking after you," Ichigo sighed, dabbing at her hand with a large cotton ball, the disinfectant on it stinging her hand greatly.

"Ouch!!" she yelped. Ichigo kept her hand in place. He sighed again and put the anti-bacterial cotton ball down, now wrapping her hand in bandages. She cut it while she broke the display glass for the cake, and when the police shot her. Ichigo screamed like crazy and ran in the middle of the crossfire, and his eyes bulged out of his head when he saw Rukia pull a handgun out from a thigh holster under her dress. Ichigo hid her from the police's view and held her close to his body to block the shot she was going to make. He could see the murder in her eyes.

He wasn't protecting her from the police, he could tell.

He was protecting the police from her.

"Honestly, what would make you steal like that? Aren't you rich or something?" Ichigo murmured while bandaging her hand. He was shocked when Rukia tilted her head back and began to let out a harsh and bitter laugh. Wasn't her job well paid?

"Ahaha! You're a funny one, you know that?" she mocked with a deadly smirk, her eyes creased in a sinister smile. But he noticed, no matter how good she was at hiding things, that her eyes held sadness in them, a longing that made her yearn. Ichigo scratched the back of his head and packed up the first aid kit. Rukia tried to roll her wrist around to stabilise it. Ichigo packed away the cupboard and face her again.

"You know I still haven't bought any clothes for you yet?"

"Yea, sorry 'bout that Yuzu," Ichigo said quietly, defeated.

"It's ok nii-chan, we'll do anything for Rukia-neesan!" Yuzu said cheerfully on the other line.

"Yuzu, we're not their slaves, why can't they get bloody clothes for her themselves?!" Ichigo could hear Karin shout.

"Bye!" he quickly blurted out before hanging up. He put the phone back on its hook and stood with a hand on his hip, and another hand running down his face. He turned around to Rukia, who was sitting innocently on the couch. He glared and sat down next to her, his elbows on his knees. He rubbed the contours out of his face and turned to Rukia.

"How old are you again?" he asked wearily.

"21," she chirped. 3 years younger than me… Ichigo thought in his head.

"And, uh, have you had any shopping experience at all? Like, any?" he asked. She began to survey the room, and noticed a poster of a beautiful woman with the words 'Masaki Forever' written underneath. Must be a celebrity…Rukia mused. She continued to ignore Ichigo's personal questions of her life that she never wanted to answer and looked around. When she noticed a photo on the small bookshelf beside the TV, she stood up to examine it, ignoring Ichigo's frantic shouts.

She walked over and picked up the photo of the happy family of five.

Five…? Four… What happened to the mother..? Rukia asked herself quietly in her head.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" a voice snapped at her, slamming the photo frame back down and faced down, so no one would be able to see it. She glared at him.

"I am only doing what you are doing to me," she snapped. He glared back, unafraid of the icyness in her eyes.

"And what the hell was I doing, per se?" he hissed. She slapped him with a velocity he never knew existed as he stumbled and fell over the coffee table onto the couch.

"Who do you think you are, who gave you the right to fucking just walk into my life and ask questions I don't want to answer?!" she shouted at him, a superiority in her tone and stance. She stormed up the steps and slammed the door to one of the rooms, God forbid it be his. Ichigo rubbed his eyes and stood up abruptly, slamming a pillow onto the wooden table to make a large noise of anger.

He stood there panting heavily when he realised the coffee table had a crack in it due to the pillow. He kicked the coffee table over and contently listened to the shattering of glass. He stormed up the stairs to cool off in his own room and nearly tore his hair out when he realised that Rukia was lying on the other bed with her head in the pillow.

So that was what the second bed was for… Ichigo thought angrily in his head. He strode over and grabbed the hairs on her head, lifting her face up. She complied without struggle and gave him a deadly glare that she gave when defending herself.

"Get the fuck outta my room," he hissed in her face. Her glare became deadlier as she refused bluntly. He began to toss her hair to the side, towards the door, but she did a roundhouse kick and sweeped his feet off the floor. He fell with a loud thud and had no time to react as the bitch standing above him had sat on his lean stomach and grabbed the collar of his shirt, punching his face. He quickly spat the blood out and did a flip to stand back on his feet, reaching a leg out to kick her.

Yes, he had become a master of martial arts after Tatsuki had kicked his ass over and over again, and no, he wasn't scared of hitting a girl. Tatsuki counted, didn't she? She jumped back, narrowly avoiding the kick and jumped atop the bed, trying to run for the door. Ichigo noticed her intentions and ran towards the door, leaning against it heavily with his body, crashing into it. Rukia yelped as her arm got caught between the door and Ichigo's heavy weight. He had totally forgotten his soul purpose was to make her exit the room, not stop her.

She used advantage of her arm being secured heavily in place and swung her body off the bed and propelled it forward, aiming for his ribs with her legs. He toppled over and fell heavily to the floor, bashing his head against the doorknob, successfully denting it. She quickly leaped for the dented doorknob and tried to yank the door open and realised in horror that Ichigo was blocking the way with his body, and kicked her off her feet much like she did earlier to him.

"Fuck!" they both swore. Rukia backflipped to her feet again and then jumped onto Ichigo's bed with her hand reaching under her dress. Ichigo leaped forward and held her neck in a fatal position, where one movement of his hand could break her neck completely, whereas Rukia held a gun to his head. They stayed still in that position, not daring to move.

That was how Isshin found his son and third daughter. Isshin blinked and stood in silent horror as he was witnessing a lot of laws being broken.

"I... um… I'll just give you guys some space-AH!" he yelped, slamming the door shut as a bullet and a glass cup was thrown his way. He listened to the bullet thunk against the door and the glass shatter upon contact. He ran downstairs to warn the girls not to go up there.

"Oh Yuzu, thank you so much! They're beautiful!" Rukia exclaimed, holding up the new pair of pyjamas the twins chose for her. After being scarred for partial life after seeing a certain someone naked, Karin asked her father if he could take her to pick up Yuzu and he gladly agreed. They both left with Yuzu just to do some window-shopping in the mall when Ichigo had called up for some proper clothes for Rukia. Yuzu and Isshin had the time of their lives while Karin just stayed down at the arcade and spent all her money.

"Honestly it's the least we could do for you Rukia-chan," Isshin said marvelously. Rukia gave a pained grimace that somewhat resembled a smile. She began to rub at her neck unconciously as she tried to hide the purple-blue forming there.

**

The pair was breathing harshly; their breaths shallow and desperate, for they both knew a wrong move could kill one or the other. Taking no chances like those people in movies who waited forever and were killed, Rukia shot Ichigo in the shoulder where it could easily be dislodged and ducked as she ran for her life and her neck. She left the man kneeling in his room howling in pain as she slammed the door and held it shut by pushing against it.

Once sure that he would not come after her, Rukia ran for it downstairs, trying to find some sort of sanctuary. Instead, she found the twins and their father.

**

Rukia retired to the bathroom for the current moment as she winced at each little movement she made with her hands, foot, and tweezers. She began to apply pressure to the surrounding area, hopefully trying to get out the shard of glass she had stepped on trying to get out of Ichigo's room. She had faced worst before, she'll live. She smiled in triumph when she heard the faint tinkle of a piece of glass falling to the ground. Though she couldn't see it, she knew there was a little piece of glass hidden somewhere in the huge puddle of blood she created.

She slowly reached out for the bandages she brought with her just a moment before to wrap around her foot. What a relief it was to feel your muscles relax again after being freed from being stabbed for a long, agonising half hour. She couldn't exactly tell them she was walking around with a piece of glass stuck up her foot, so she kept quiet for the time that the family was talking to her. She began to clean up the mess on the floor. Bending down and hovering over the floor too long, her back began to ache. She straightened up and stretched, giving a tired yawn while at it.

The rag beside her was soaked with blood as it floated eerily in the water bowl she had prepared. Rukia looked at her foot once more for careful measures and then smiled to herself satisfactorily. She stood up to clean the rag before anyone from the family found it but-

The door opened to reveal a scowling orange-headed man that glared at the young woman who occupied the white tile room. She stared at him for a moment before tipping out the contents of the bowl and washing the rag. Ichigo's eyes shot from her small face to her tiny hands that were washing blood?

Ichigo rolled his eyes, totally not guilty of injuring her. She fucking shot him in the shoulder, and he was meant to sympathize for her?

He didn't think so.

He strode over to the sink where she stood at and easily opened the cupboard above her head without hitting it to his displeasure. He grabbed the first aid kit and then went over to the bathtub to sit on the edge. He opened it noisily and rummaged for the long pair of tweezers that he knew were in there…

Somewhere.

While rummaging, he cursed when his thumb ran over something sharp. He glanced up at the shadow that momentarily towered over him. He straightened his back and almost laughed at loud, if the moment weren't so serious. He was almost the same height as her, sitting, while she stood straight and tall. She held in her hand the pair of cursed tweezers he was looking for and stared down at him.

Looking down at her hands, he noticed past those delicate hands, he saw a bandaged foot. Ichigo glared at her one more time before shedding off his shirt quickly and snatching the tweezers away from her. He glowered at her one final time before looking down at his shoulder where she shot him. She scoffed, almost laughing harshly, and began to walk away.

Though he tried his absolute hardest, he couldn't help but let out that single yelp of pain that broke Rukia's heart. She stiffened and closed her eyes tightly, teeth bared as she tried hard to hold in the tears that dared to spring again. Her stiff posture that held the doorknob told Ichigo there was something wrong, but he paid no mind as blood began to pour from the wound once again.

**

The little girl was running, running, running.

She didn't know what time it was. Only that it was late at night or early in the morning. The mud and puddles beneath her splashed as they gave away her location to the many that were chasing the poor girl's body. She was only 10. God had merely thrown her into the whirlwind that took her into the world of drugs, money, sex, and killing. It had only been ten years since she was thrown away.

She didn't know how she had been able to survive on her own for so long but she didn't think it'd be long now. A bullet shot through the air at an unimaginable pace and lodged itself deep into her arm. An ear piercing scream shot through the air as the girl stumbled and her arm went limp. But she kept running.

She had to if she wanted to live.

She had to.

The gunshots increased as the men that chased her realized that she was closer than they thought. There were around 3 of them. They felt a sudden longing for blood, and found their targeted fun walking alone. They began the chase then.

The girl used her unharmed arm to shield her head in a weak attempt to save herself as she ducked down low and ran for her life. Ran like she never did before. The bullets became rain as they hailed at her, one by one, lodging themselves into her body. Her screams lasted long for each one of the bullets, as they slowly brought her down.

The puddles and mud beneath her gave way, her body falling slowly in pain. Once satisfied, the three men that shot her stood around her body, laughing, chuckling, and shot some more until they were satisfied.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to the real world.

The light began to leave her eyes while the rain began to pour harder, drowning everything around the girl that slowly began to lose life. Her fingers twitched and her legs moved slightly, but not without a shoot of pain worming its way throughout her whole body. Her moving became slower and her breathing almost non-existent, but she knew what kept her going.

Hope.

That was the only thing that kept her going now. So once again, hope had filled the naïve child's heart as she heard the clacking sounds of high heels, a woman. Young as she was, the ten year old still lived along stereotypes, despite her own living conditions. Women were safer and kinder than men. She had learnt that the hard way. The young ten year old looked up at the passer by that would've almost passed by the alley she was lying in, if it weren't for that small call of help.

The clacking of heels stopped, the pitter-patter on the woman's coat became heavier as she stood still. The woman, the ten year old noticed, was indeed still a teen, perhaps 5 years older, give or take. But no life was seen in the older girl's eyes as she looked down on the poor soul that pleaded for help.

The black high heel boots came to the young woman's calves halfway, a dirty, ruined, beige coat covering most of her body till her knees. Though she was alive and well, her eyes had no life in them. The ten year old moaning on the floor gasped for more breath. She knew her time was up. God was going to take her into his arms. But she couldn't. Not yet. No.

She was too young to die.

She had never experienced the true joys of life.

"Please…" the girl cried on the floor, mud and water dirtying her vision along with a small side of blood. "Help…Please…"

The clacking of the high heeled boots began again as the older girl began to walk away. A desperate, cold hand grasped her ankle, forbidding her movement. Her head whipped back down to the dying girl on the floor. She had hope in her eyes. Yes… Hope… It was still there.

The older girl's eyes turned into slits.

No one in this town should still have that scrap of hope still in them. And yet, she found hope in a dying girl.

"Please!" the girl gasped. Her breathing began to heave in and out, her calls becoming more desperate. The older girl's eyes returned to normal as she realized with satisfaction that hope was finally leaving the naïve girl's eyes. "Help!" The older girl waited for the young, naïve, ten year old to die as she patiently stood there in the down torrent of the rain. She waited till that despicable thing called hope disappeared. The gasping ten year old on the ground was determined, and stubborn however, and the older girl around to be 17 once again slit her eyes.

Damn that cursed hope.

The clutch at her ankle, the older girl noticed, became tighter. The girl on the ground with the skinny boned body and the black drenched hair began to cry. "Please!" she cried out. The seventeen-year-old hissed in displeasure, the first sound that the ten year old heard, and jerked her leg out of its tight grasp. The clacking of the high heeled boots resumed again, only, never to stop.

The boots that clacked on the ground never did stop again nearly that alley, as the ten year old lay there to die. She watched her only source of hope walk away. She was dying, 46 bullet holes in total in her non-vital spots, only to torture her with slow death. She was dying, she pleaded for help and yet-

She walked away.

The ten year old began to finally let go of the light in her eyes called hope as she began to cry with the rain.

"Why is god so cruel…?" was the last whisper Rukia heard in the rain before she completely walked away from the dying little one.

**

All I ever did do was run away…

Walk away.

The tears stilled and stopped wavering in the now older girl's eyes as she controlled her breathing and her tears.

No.

She would not cry anymore.

She wasn't in that town anymore.

Not those slums.

She was in town. Karakura town. She was in a healthy, clean and sanitized clinic home. She was starting, what she could call, a new life.

Something that she had dreamed of, but never wished for.

No. She knew. She knew exactly.

God was cruel.

He gave nothing to those who asked.

She knew never to wish for anything, for it would never come true. Her prayers would always remain unanswered.

She turned around and was about to help the man that was dislodging the one bullet out, but bolted towards the toilet bowl in pure shock and pain. Her empty stomach relieved itself of purely nothing, but forced it to purge itself clean, until there was purely nothing left. Her small, frail body jolted at each vomit, her body weakening and weakening. After her stomach was satisfied of emptying everything that was practically non-existent, the world turned black, and a surprised male voice shouted out in surprise.

Rukia fell down with hope long lost in her eyes.

Perhaps this is what it feels like, to die?

I would have to ask that girl later… in Hell.

Author's note - Ahaha, yes, yes people, I LIVE!

After hibernating for possibly not one, but two seasons, I have suddenly become inspired, and started writing again! :D

Lucky me ^^

But yes, I understand it has been a long while, so please don't kill me for this shitty chapter. And I mean no insult to those who are religious, I know all I said just now about God were cruel, but I myself don't believe any of that because I believe strongly in God, so yea.. I felt a little guilty hehe ^^;

But yes, hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope that I can upload again soon, I'm just as excited as you guys for next chapter!

Ruki-chan