Not-so-long-author-note: Hey! This is the fifth chapter of It Takes Two to Make a Heart! I'll say more in the author note below, SO PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTE BELOW.
This is rated T for mild language.
Warning: Possible spoilers
It Takes Two to Make a Heart – The Zippers Zip In
Rukia loved her nii-sama, she seriously did. Many found it hard to believe that her love for him wasn't because of his money or fame, but because of his rare moments of kindness that was hard to express for him, and hard to catch.
She hadn't remembered her older sister, Hisana, nor was she sure she wanted to. Sure, Hisana was her older sister and she was the reason she could look forward to a financially stable, if a bit restricting future because of the wealthy and honorable husband she had left behind. But she had also abandoned Rukia, and in a dangerous, dirty, and deserted alleyway to boot.
Remembering some of the more unpleasant memories that she had experienced on her own made her feel bitter towards her sister, ever since she had been informed she had one. She wouldn't be human if she hadn't felt the least bit hurt, after all. But after fending for herself in that wretched city, where food and things were harder to steal than in a rural countryside, where adults or fellow kids held no qualms about abusing or killing you, where the police didn't care, and where nothing would change for those at the bottom of the world's food chain, she thought she understood her sister's reasons, and grew to accept them. It would have been nothing short of amazing for a person with the burden of one too young and too helpless to fend for the both of them in that seedy place.
As dangerous and dire as her life was in that city, she had maintained a strong will and spirit, and grew cleverer, more skilled, and more quick, all in order to survive.
After many adventures, many sorrows, and many puzzling memories and people later, her future nii-sama (though she hadn't known that he was related to her at the time) had found her, and the rest, was history.
Many citizens passed her by without a second glance, too busy or too arrogant to deign to acknowledge her miserable presence, but she had already bore the brunt of criticism, jeers, and unprovoked attacks, simply for being poor, being dirty, and being alone. It didn't concern her much. She grew warier from the more violent encounters, and learned to guard herself or learn tricks to wriggle away from dangerous predicaments with stronger and larger foes.
These experiences accounted for her actions when she saw a dark shadow in the corner of her eye, one rainy day. She had been caught in the downpour, and took shelter under a large, beautifully designed building, shivering and cold. As she stood there, sticking out like a sore thumb on the manicured and well-kept establishment, she noticed a tall figure walking towards her in her peripheral vision. Immediately not trusting the stranger, she stiffened but made no other move. She didn't know if he had a weapon, or if he was even willing to heckle or harm her.
The figure drew closer, and though her vision couldn't show her the upper portion of his face, she could tell it was a rich businessman, from his obviously expensive clothes and shoes, and his well-groomed long black hair, or what she could see of it. He had a frown on his well-defined chin, but she was pretty sure it was not due to anger, but more of apathy, or a stoic attitude.
"Hisana?"
She still did not turn around, for her name was not Hisana, but Rukia, a tough orphan trying to survive day by day, finding refuge on what was probably the approaching man's property.
"Hisana. Is that-?"
Rukia turned around then, for she had seen no one close enough to be the object of the man's calls, and she wondered what could have possibly caused such a tone of longing to enter the serious man's voice. She heard his gasp before she saw his face, and was stunned with what she saw.
What a handsome man, she thought.
His long black hair fell neatly around his shoulders, with what appeared to be an odd white clip holding some of his hair to the side. His dark blue tuxedo could not hide his toned shoulders or all of his pale white skin completely. He had a delicate nose, fine eyebrows, and deep dark grey eyes, which were widened in… surprise?
"Who are you?"
She almost flinched at his suddenly harsh tone, but not before seeing a flash of disappointment in his eyes. Well, she was only a city street rat, so who could he have known that looked similar to her? Whatever his problem was, if she stayed here any longer, trouble would come find her, so she made to leave.
"Wait!"
Now what? Why was his tone suddenly so desperate? She debated for a split second whether to stay or leave, but by then, the stranger had caught up to her, striding to her at a fast pace.
"What is your name?"
She eyed him, before deciding that it shouldn't matter if he knew her name, for it wasn't an official name, but rather a name given to her by the people who she had last stayed with before she ran away. And very soon, she would be running away again.
"…Rukia."
"Where were you born?"
She frowned again. Was he an illegal immigrant inspector? "I don't know," she admitted, "I was found in District 78, Inuzuri." Even with that piece of information, she decided, he wouldn't be able to track her down. Nobody kept tabs or cared about others in that low-class district.
His eyes widened even further, before they settled to a contemplative gaze. Rukia stood there, while her mind screamed directives to hurry up and get the hell out of here, because this stranger wasn't asking normal questions.
His gaze traveled up and down her body in a clinical manner, and she winced. What a sight she must be, with her ragged and worn-out dress. One couldn't even tell it had once been white, with all the filth on it. Her black hair was greasy and oily and hung limply, and the looseness of the clothes showcased how painfully thin her waist and limbs were.
"Come with me," he suddenly requested out of the blue.
Flabbergasted at his response, Rukia floundered in a suddenly childish manner that contrasted with her more serious demeanor earlier.
"W-w-what?"
"I will not repeat myself," he snipped testily, but Rukia noticed he seemed more cautious now towards her. She decided to take advantage of it, though she didn't know why he was suddenly careful with her. She shifted her weight imperceptibly so she was in the optimum position to kick off… into a run.
"Do not run. It is futile. My guards are coming even as we speak," commanded, much to the surprise of Rukia.
How had he known she was going to run?
Rukia scowled at her predicament and made to really run for her life, but he called out to her one thing she would never forget.
"Please… You are the only thing that can keep her wish alive."
Against her better judgment, she stopped again, struck by how oddly desperate the tone was of the proud man's last sentence. By now, she could see black tuxedo-clad figures approaching, walking calmly and crisply around her in a circle formation. She had lost.
"Who are you? And what do you want with me?" she gritted out, even as the figures drew ever closer, and the stranger's eyes seemed to draw farther away somewhere unknown, as if searching for something.
"I may… no, I am your elder sister's husband."
What?
"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya. 6th Division Captain of the Gotei 13. And I will adopt you as of today as your new adoptive brother-in-law…
"Kuchiki… Rukia."
"Byakuya…nii-sama…" Rukia murmured on the stage, "What did you… just say…?"
She had been enrolled in this school… on purpose?
"You must be kidding, right?"
She had been enrolled as a boy… on purpose?
"You must be tired. I'll arrange for our flight back home," she babbled on, still denying, still refusing to believe…
She had been engaged, without her knowledge, to the new 10th Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro… on purpose?
"Nii-sama, let us ret-"
"There is no mistake, Rukia," he cut off, his eyes closed. "Furthermore, Captain Hitsugaya has already agreed to this."
She swiveled her head to look at Toshiro, who was staring directly at her. He nodded once, as if to confirm what Byakuya said on a deeper level.
The audience was still as quiet as a tomb, and the Captains hadn't moved an inch yet. The tense air between the two siblings was reaching an unbearable pitch, and no one was sure what to do to break it.
Then…
"YAHOO! We're sweepin' in!"
"Baldy, we agreed on "zippin'" in!"
"Like hell I'll listen to anything you say, idiot!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT!"
With an almighty bang and several frightening crashes, 8 figures appeared on the stage in front of the Captains, a haze of smoke obscuring the figures momentarily. Various members of the audience shrieked, yelled, or vocally expressed their shock at yet another surprise.
"That landing was terrible, and we practiced day in and day out for that!" complained a rather whiny voice.
"Shut up! It's not like you practiced hard either! Little kids should shut up, take a piss and go home!" roared another.
"You know, wasn't this whole idea a bit too embarrassing to begin with?"
"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?"
"Keep whining and I'll stuff all of you into a sack and throw you!"
"It's especially embarrassing that we couldn't pull of our artistic landing in front of the Captain Commander."
"Um, that's not the issue here."
"Be quiet, you youngsters!" roared the Captain Commander, promptly silencing the whole auditorium into a state of silence once more.
"Now, introduce yourselves," grumbled the aged veteran, who had opened one eye and raised his voice to restore order, or more accurately, the silent shocked stupor of the audience.
The smoke cleared, and the audience beheld eight very different characters on stage.
Though they weren't speaking yet due to the Commander's earlier reprimand, two members of the group were growling in each other's faces. The first person, a tall and lanky young man dressed in a white collar shirt, a black tie, and black skinny jeans stared down at the shorter person by his side. His light brown eyes glared past his bangs and part of his side hair from his short blond bob cut. His companion, if they could be called that in the mood and position they were in, was an angry-looking blond pig-tailed girl, who wore worn peach flip-flops, a pink work-out suit with a jacket, and had large amber eyes and a large protruding fang.
To the left of them, a girl with short and shockingly bright neon green hair held down partially by goggles was surveying the audience with great enjoyment. Her white body suit clung to every curve of her body. Her accessories included an orange scarf, gloves and boots, which complemented her hazel eyes. The tall and muscular man next to her was an intimidating military leader-like figure, who wore combat boots, a sleeveless purple shirt and khaki pants. His short gray hair and piercings, however, couldn't distract the viewer's attention from his angry brown eyes.
A very apathetic-looking pair stood off to the right. The first of the duo had a long wavy blond mane that accentuated his thin sharp face and nose and slim build. He was garbed in a black tuxedo with a ruffled white blouse underneath, giving him a musician-like aura. His partner seemed a lot less formal, with a large star-like afro atop a brown face with sunglasses and full lips. An aqua-colored workout suit was his outfit choice. His build was almost as muscular as the gray-haired man.
A decidedly sharp Asian woman stood some inches in the front, staring out at the audience with one hand by her side and another holding a tiny book. The spotlight shone down on her, making her black braided hair shine and her glasses glint, covering green eyes. She looked as if she had come from an old manga, dressed in a sailor suit that bared a bit of her belly. Her companion was a great deal more round and bigger than her. He had pink hair with an odd black mark. He even had a pink mustache. His outfit was a green business suit with a yellow bowtie and underneath, a white T-shirt, all of it custom-fitted for his size and proportion. His golden eyes appeared rather sleepy yet alert at the same time.
"Hirako Shinji."
"Sarugaki Hiyori."
"Kuna Mashiro."
"Muguruma Kensei."
"Otoribashi Rojuro."
"Aikawa Love."
"Ushoda Hachigen."
The Commander called out their names in order, before turning to the audience from his front seat.
"I have now introduced your seniors and your teachers. Treat them with respect, and they will treat you with respect in return. The current Captains that stand in front of you will be your teachers in various subjects. The group I have now just introduced are this year's, and as some of you may remember, the Zippers of previous years."
Rukia, who was still on stage, remembered what Ichigo had said about the school hierarchy.
He did say that in order from senior to junior, it was the Zippers, Buttons, Stitches and Pins. I guess I can see now what he meant by that.
She noted that the Zippers all had traces of zippers on them, either on pants, shoes, shirts, etc.
Basically, zippers are the most efficient and sturdy in keeping clothes together, so that title would be given to the seniors for superior rank. Buttons are the next efficient, so that would be the juniors. Stitches would be next, but that probably wouldn't work for the school uniform, so they had it as Velcro like Ichigo's and mine. Makes sense, since Velcro can be said to be little stitches that hang on to strings of cloth. And the pins…
She scanned the crowd for young faces, and came to see a uniform with what appeared to be a blunt tooth on one side, and a closed loop of string on the other, through which the first object could be put through to secure the jacket.
So that "tooth" thing is like a blunt pin. And that would be the least efficient, or the least superior in school ranking, the freshmen.
She snapped to attention when she heard the Commander mention her name.
"As you have just witnessed, the first girl of this institute of boys is Kuchiki Rukia, who we have only allowed to enroll here for the time being since she is engaged to our new 10th Captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro. To answer some of your questions, she was enrolled as a boy through a loophole officially since the school system code has yet to be revised, and only allows boys. We will introduce more girls later in the year."
Murmurs spread like wildfire throughout the crowd.
"In addition," he pressed on, "we will be having a masquerade dance and exchange program with none other than Hueco Mundo Academy."
Tense silence gripped the crowd, and Rukia jolted in shock.
Hueco Mundo Academy was the rival school of the Karakura Institute of Boys, and was well-known, despite having only been formed several years ago. It was run by the 3rd, 5th, and 9th Captains that had left the Institute and had amassed much attention for its programs and its talented students. Their achievements outclassed all other schools but Karakura's.
"And one of the staff to be exchanged here…
"…will be Shiba Kaien."
Rukia's eyes widened, and she began shaking, an anguished look on her face. Uryu, Toshiro, and Ichigo quickly took note of this, and each watched her with different levels of discretion.
Byakuya, surprisingly, stiffened slightly and his eyes snapped open in what seemed to be shock.
The three boys did not know the reason for the Kuchikis' sudden expressions of shock. Had they been mind readers, they would have been surprised at their findings.
That is impossible, thought Kuchiki Byakuya.
How is that possible? How is that possible? Rukia frantically thought.
The two Kuchikis' thoughts overlapped, unable to comprehend what would become one of the first tragedies for the Karakura Institute of Boys… and for Rukia…
That can't be possible…
There is no way…
That that is feasible…
Isn't Shiba Kaien…
Dead?
Super-long-author-note: Hey guys, as usual, thanks so much for all the visitors and hits to my stories! While I'd love to hear from you guys by review or messaging, your interest in my fics has made me quite happy!
PLEASE READ THIS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Ack, writing Byakuya was really hard. Some people say he basically acts the same way most of the time, but nobility mixed with politics can lead to a very confusing mindset. This is mostly about Byakuya and Rukia's past meeting, and yes, this deviates from canon. I'm adding my own spin, but Bleach still belongs to Kubo Tite. Anyways, sorry that there isn't much action after so long, but I have a grand plot sketched out; it'll just take time to lead up to it.
The Visored… As most of you know by my penname, I think Shinji is one of the best Bleach characters, so I couldn't resist including him. And Zippers just seemed a nice title for them. So yeah, you'll be seeing them. And Rukia is still left in a whirlwind, poor her. And now on top of all the news, Kaien who should be dead… isn't? Stay tuned!
Some people were confused with the whole Pins, Stitches, Buttons and Zippers. I took the liberty of addressing that in this chapter. Also, a note of warning: I'm not going to include a lot of characters, and the plot will heavily deviate from canon at some points.
Plans for this fic… I don't think I'm confident in my strength or commitment to start my other plot bunnies yet until this is done. Sorry for being selfish. I just hope you guys enjoy this and go along with the ride.
To the reviewers of the last chapter especially, thank you so much for your thoughtful reviews and support! I did have an unpleasant week, but your support kept me going! Thank you!