Chapter 1

"Oy, Rukia" came Renji's robust voice as he sat outside in the warm sunlight, lazily draped over the porch guard rail.

"Hm?" the petite girl replied as she sat inside at the short table, writing some report papers as she listened to her former childhood friend from across the way.

"I got a new assignment comin' up tomorrow. I'm gonna be goin' out to investigate around the Devari Canyon. The activity seems to be getting worse, and Taichou says they wanted to send an officer out with a team to do a thorough search, so I told him I'd do it. Could be dangerous." he said as looked at her from over his shoulder, while his long legs dangled over the side of the porch.

Rukia flipped a paper over, reading a bit as Renji talked her ear off. "Ah, you should have fun then." she muttered as she began writing again.

"Yeah, if I'm lucky." he smiled, "I'll probably be gone for a while, You wanna like… I dunno, go grab a bite and hang out later? Seems like we never hang out 'nemore." he added, almost desperately.

Rukia stopped writing her report and turned to look at him with a small frown on her face, "Sorry Renji, I have too much to do today. I'm a little behind since I've been at Ichigo's this week."

Renji's eyes turned to the ground and he nodded, "Ah, It's understandable. Don't worry about it then. I mean there's always next time." He said with a dejected smile, before turning back to his former position.

"Mm, definitely next time, though." she replied, feeling a little guilty.

... ... ...

It was two weeks and Rukia had just returned from Ichigo's, where the pair had had more fun than they had worked, much to her regret as she pondered over what to write in her next report. She was in a pleasant mood as she walked down the halls of the Kuchiki manor. She knew she owed Renji a day out for them to catch up, and she had to admit it had been nice falling back into his swing after so long.

It felt like they were kids again sometimes, and even though she would hardly describe her childhood as 'good times,' with Renji there, she'd never felt alone. When they'd parted ways so many years ago, she had felt so lonely. Byakuya, was hardly welcoming, and no one really spoke to her much, except the occasional servants. It had been hard then, even though she knew her future would be brighter. She was used to him being there when she was lonely, and suddenly there was no one. So she'd hardened her heart, and learned to deal on her own. When she was finally accepted in the thirteenth protection squad, under Ukitake-Taichou, she had already become independent, and the few times she'd seen Renji on assignments, they had become awkward… strangers almost.

Since the red-head had become Byakuya's vice-captain, however, he'd visited the manor often, and the pair had rekindled their somewhat forgotten friendship. When he'd helped save her from being executed, Rukia had been moved to know he still very-much felt their childhood bond; a bond she couldn't recall very well.

Well she knew Renji would probably be in the office with her brother, unless they'd been called out on assignment, but since the fire-haired vice captain had just volunteered on that last assignment she figured that wouldn't be the case.

As she reached the sixth squad's work office she knocked softly on the door, "Nii-sama, It's me." She called before she proceeded to enter, without waiting for a reply.

Byakuya looked up from his desk, pen stopped in mid-sentence as he laid eyes on the little shinigami, "Welcome home." he said distantly as he returned his eyes to his work.

Rukia glanced over at Renji's empty desk, making a puzzled face as she mused on where he might be. "Do you know where Renji is? We were going to go out and do something."

The dark-haired noble's demeanor changed ever so slightly at that instance, and he stopped writing and put the pen down, "Rukia," he started, the tone drawing her immediate attention, "You know he went on assignment 2 weeks ago."

She nodded, her eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar.

"I sent them to Devari Canyon, to investigate the appearance of some strange Hollow sightings along with several dead bodies. He was due back last Friday, but the squad did not report in as scheduled. So I sent out a search party. They found the four men he took with him. They were all dead, most likely by a Hollow. Abarai was not with them, but they found, what was described to me as, a fair amount of his blood at the scene. That was 6 days ago. I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before they find…"

Rukia could not believe what she was hearing. "Renji…" she felt herself suddenly trembling and began to shake her head, "No." she heard herself say as the words echoed around her, "No. No. No." She repeated ever louder before tears began flooding her vision and her hands flew up to cover her face as her knees gave out from under her. "Renji! No, it's not true! No!" she cried, shaking her head vigorously.

Byakuya got to his feet and went to her side, feeling somewhat distressed at seeing the usually composed girl so hysterical. As he knelt beside her and placed a hand on her back, she flung herself into his chest, arms huddled against her body and hands shielding her face as she sobbed loudly. Byakuya wore an obvious frown on his features as he looked down at her and rubbed her quivering back gently. "I'm sorry, Rukia… I… didn't realize you were so close to him." he muttered at a loss.

"Ren…ji" she repeated as she burrowed her face further into her adopted brother's haori.

It was at that time Ukitake arrived at the office doorway and was startled to see his little Rukia sobbing her heart out on Byakuya's chest. He frowned and lowered his gaze, not willing to speak just yet.

Rukia found herself suddenly being dragged to her feet, with her brother's impassive voice ringing in her ears again, "Come Rukia, get up off the floor." His strong hand clamped onto her bicep as he lifted her up and straightened her out.

Rukia's breaths came shakily as she tried to inhale with her quivering diaphragm. Both men stood quietly in her presence for a moment until she had quieted enough to speak, "I…I-mmm.." she struggled to speak, "I'm g-going to go to my r-room… f-for a bit…"

Byakuya nodded and patted her back once more before she finally shuffled out, passing by a concerned Ukitake as she left.

The sixth squad captain wasted no time in changing the subject, however, "The search parties returned intact, I assume." He said flatly, walking back to his desk.

Ukitake's eyes followed the composed captain despondently, "Ah… They didn't find anything."

Byakuya let a soft sigh escape as he folded his hands and rested his forehead against his interlocked fingers.

The thirteenth captain spoke softly, "Some of the other captains offered to send a team out if you-"

"No" Byakuya cut him off, "I've lost four men and a vice captain. Sending more out when we still don't know what did this is the work of a fool." he lowered his hands then and looked up at the older man before him, "Call it off."

Ukitake pursed his lips and frowned, "Are you sure?"

"There's no hope of finding him alive at this point. It's been over a week with a dire wound." He said as he stared ahead at nothing in particular and breathed steadily in thought, "I should have gone…" he finally uttered in guilt.

The sickly captain shook his head, "You couldn't have known." he turned then and started to walk out, "I'll go inform the others of your decision."

... ... ...

Another week, and Rukia had been fairly reclusive toward everyone. Even Byakuya had found himself shunned, but he gave her her space, knowing she was in the process of mourning. It was on that day Ichigo came calling. He hadn't heard from the little shinigami in a while, and he came to check up on her, knowing nothing of the events that had taken place over the past couple weeks.

As the substitute shinigami walked down the somewhat foreign halls of the Kuchiki manor, it was not Rukia whom he found himself bumping into in the pristine hallways.

"What are you doing here?" came Byakuya's domineering voice.

Ichigo went rigid with surprise, "Gah! Byakuya, ah.. Jeeze, give a guy a heart attack, will ya?"

The sixth squad captain narrowed his deriding eyes and pursed his lips at the spiky-haired young boy at hearing his name spoken in such familiarity. "Hn."

"Ah I just came to see Rukia. She usually drops by , but I guess she's been busy lately… She around?" Ichigo asked innocently as he tried to avoid Byakuya's scornful gaze.

"I'd assume she's in her room, as she's barely left for the past two weeks." came the captain's reply, "Although I'd suggest you go home and leave her to her business."

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly, picking up on the older man's undertones. Something was very wrong, "What do you mean? What happened?"

The captain's displeased expression persisted as he turned away from the youth and walked away, "I mean it. Go home, Kurosaki."

The wide-eyed boy could not bring himself to follow the sixth squad captain's instructions after that. He knew something was up and he'd not been informed of it. Naturally he'd have to find out, cause Byakuya sure as hell wasn't going to tell him… ass that he was. He reached Rukia's quarters and knocked lightly.

"Leave me alone. I told you all I don't want anything! Just leave me alone! I just wanna be alone…" came a distressing sounding reply.

"Ah- Rukia, it's Ichigo. What's going on?" he called back, softly, since she sounded upset. He'd grown increasingly more worried as he barely pressed his ear to the sliding door. "You okay?"

"Ichigo…" came a small whisper and then the door was sliding open to reveal a rather un-kept appearing small girl. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled over her small frame.

Ichigo observed her, mouth ajar in his shock, "You look like shit."

She exhaled sharply and her eyes narrowed before she turned away and climbed back into her well-used futon, where a few papers were strewn about, as well as a picture frame, face-down in the middle of the blankets.

The orange-haired shinigami meekly followed her in and shut the door behind him. "What happened?" he finally asked as he sat down beside her, seeing the grief in her dark pools.

Rukia seemed stone-faced for a moment but in a matter of minutes her lips grew tight and her eyes began to brim with tears. Ichigo felt immensely guilty as she began to sob softly into her palms. "He's… He's dead" She choked out, "Renji…"

... ... ...

Ichigo sat on the flight of stairs that led up to the main entrance to the manor. The sun had grown low in the sky and the clouds on the horizon were showing a brilliant purple and orange hue. The usually energetic shinigami was limp and slouched in gloominess. As Byakuya again discovered the boy he scowled in annoyance. " I told you to go home." he called at the boy's unguarded back.

The spiky-haired young man noticeably jumped and hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe his face before he turned to face the stoic captain. "Ah." he said as he got to his feet, " I think I will." He turned and began to descend the stairs when he stopped and turned back to the dark-haired captain once more, "Hey, Byakuya" he said.

The older man cringed again, the lack of proper title in his name forced an earnest glare upon his face, yet again.

"She's really hurting…" Ichigo stated gravely, "Even though she says she wants to be by herself… don't leave her alone too long… would ya?" He asked as he raised his eyes up to the ice-hearted man at the top of the stairs.

Byakuya's expression softened ever so slightly before he gave a brief nod.

... ... ...

As the comforting dark haze slowly ebbed away crimson eyes slid open. The viscous copper flavor in his mouth was less noticeable than the dryness that tightened his throat and cracked his tongue. How long had it been he'd been chained up in this hell hole. He didn't know. All he knew was that he hurt. Everything hurt… His left arm was badly broken just below the elbow, and his abdomen look like a pack of dogs had chewed on him for a while, and his back displayed a colorful pattern of deep lashes. The ground under his abused knees was heavily stained with blood but all the while all he could think of was a glass of water.

The door in front of him swung open with a screech, allowing the painfully white light to spill in and attack his eyes. He could see movement, but he was too weak and disoriented to comprehend anything that was happening. Something touched his chin and he felt his head being drawn up to face the shadowy figures that loomed over him. He cringed as his dazed mind suddenly anticipated more fiendish torture… something he didn't think he could make it through again.

"Well Abarai-san you look significantly less enthusiastic today. Did our sessions clear up that disobliging problem of yours?" Another figure came close ,but Renji couldn't see them clearly. "Well then shall we get started. I don't think he'll be any trouble for you this time." the man said as he dropped the battered man's head unsympathetically. Renji felt his body snap at the sudden weight drop and whimpered despite himself.

"Ah yes. It should be fine. Here's the drug, sir."

"Excellent"

"Isn't it a waste to use it on someone's whose in such a condition?"

"Hm. It makes little difference. If it works properly we should see something rather miraculous."

The haze began to grow ever so slightly as he hung there staring down at the stained ground. He felt a dull prick on the side of his neck as the men administered the drug, but he didn't react, feeling his consciousness slowly evaporating as the mystery liquid was pumped into his veins.

'I don't wanna die here.'