Chapter One

The sky was colored as the sun began to set.

"Miss Kuchiki."

No one saw it the way I could. They would not get the same image as I did, the only one who could see its true beauty and elegance.

"Miss Kuchiki."

The sun was dancing as it set; trying to coerce the moon into coming out and shining it's bright light to the world, asking it to the dance floor.

"Miss Kuchiki."

And it was not just because I could see colors that no human could see. But no one could know that. No one could know my secret.

"Your brother requests your presence, Miss Kuchiki."

Not even him.

I nodded to the servant, standing up from the grass and gazed one last time at the sun. The light danced off the meadow, touching every flower, tree, bush, blade of grass... Peaceful. Free. What I wanted to be. I turned my back on what I wanted and walked forward to what I wanted to shed.

My head was held high as I walked back home with the servant in tow. I tried my best to have my Kuchiki face on, trying to mask the desire I had for freedom. My face was composed by the time I entered the glorious Kuchiki house. Like a palace, it was grand inside, a huge chandelier hung at the entrance for all new comers to see.

"I'll notify your brother that you are waiting," the servant murmured and left with bow.

I sighed and walked into the living room. The T.V. was in the middle, the news blaring onto the screen.

The female newscaster turned her attention to a different camera angle and spoke.

"Police today found ashes in another city surrounded by the same pool of blood. This is the fifth reported account so far this year. And the police have no way of identifying the victims which led many to wonder what is the connection and who are the ones responsible..."

It was obvious to what was going on. At least, to me it was. The T.V. reports only thought of it as a mass murder. There was blood everywhere when the police would show up, as reported. But the law would never find the bodies, also as reported. Their bodies were gone once they were killed. It was how his kind managed to survive if one of them was to ever fall.

They had to be injured; losing the blood that could no longer course through their veins was how an opponent was weakened. Then they could light the wound on fire, the blood that remained in the opponent igniting like gasoline. If they lost all the blood that was lingering, there was no chance for that person to create another of their kind. All that could be left was unidentifiable ashes.

So many had been killed around Tokyo. And every time that occurred, I was located close enough to each of the murders. Too close for comfort or peace of mind. 'Which was why you've become a homebody,' I told myself. I had no peace of mind, no solid way of staying safe. Even here I was at risk of being caught and having the same thing done to me.

Peace of mind was fleeting fast.

"Miss Kuchiki, Kuchiki-sama is ready to see you."

I nodded to the servant, walking towards my brothers' office.

But I would out live all of them. I would have my freedom. Away from this house, these rules, this life. To be the Rukia I was - am.

Hesitantly, I knocked on my brother's door.

"Enter," his voice rang.

I took in a deep breath, bracing myself, then turned the knob and entered.

My brother sat tall and regal in his office chair, his eyes focused on some of the papers that lay on his cherry wood desk.

"You wanted to see me, Nii-sama?" I asked.

"Take a seat"

I tried my best to sit without stumbling in any form in front of him. I wanted him to think that I was contributing to the Kuchiki name, not detracting. There was already enough criticism on me as is.

Silence was resonating in the room. I tried to keep my head low, anxiety fluttering in my stomach. The stillness in the room grew, not letting up. Silence grew louder and louder. It pressed onto my skin, adding to the pressure of the butterflies until-

"We are moving."

I kept my head bowed slightly, looking in the direction of my brother's glacier gray gaze. His face was emotionless as always, hair falling onto his face. There were no signs of him kidding, as it was not a part of my brother's nature.

"T-to where, Nii-sama?" I politely asked.

"Don't stutter," he chided.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Karakura," Kuchiki Byakuya replied emotionlessly. "The servants have finished packing everything except for some of your items, of which they are in the process of doing so."

"When will we be departing?"

"Tomorrow."

I felt my body freeze momentarily, taken back by his answer. 'So soon?' We had barely settled down here, this being our residence for less than a month already.

"Is there a problem?"

I shook my head furiously, the short locks from my cropped hair brushing my face gently. "No," I responded. "Just surprised."

He remained silent, gray momentarily flashing at his me. "You may retire now."

I bowed to my brother and rose quickly, trying to contain myself from running to my room to escape the pressure. In my desperation to run, I almost forgot to slow my running to a decent speed.

There was two of the servants in my room, taping the box flaps together. They stopped momentarily and bowed to me, then resumed working. I sighed at the sight of them and sat on the floor, my back presses to the edge of my bed.

This would be the fifth time we moved this year. And again we would have to start at square one. Sometimes I just could not stand this constant moving around. But there was nothing I could do. All of it was because of Nii-sama's job and status.

Every time I tried to break free, I would end up back at square one. Something would end up happening and I would be back under my brother's care once again. Nothing went according to plan - at least not my plan. Women in the Kuchiki clan were not allowed to leave until they were married, something that was not in my plans or the immediate future.

And I had a long future ahead of me.

"So that is why we are in the process of moving again?"

I tilted my head slightly. The assistants probably thought that I was asleep by now, having my eyes closed in thought for the last couple of minutes.

"Yes," the other whispered in response. "It seems that Kuchiki-sama has decided to pick that up as part of his recreational activities."

"But what an odd activity."

"Still, he does it to protect society; it elevates his status."

'And in turn the Kuchiki clan.' Everything for the clan.

"Still, it is the only explanation for Kuchiki-sama's growing collection of weapons."

I heard one of the attendants leave and opened my eyes. My gaze focused on the other attendant, soon to be victim.

"What recreational activity?"

The attendant jumped a little at the sound of my voice. She gave a quick, deep bow. "Forgive me, Miss Kuchiki. I thought you were asleep."

I shook my head. "It's fine." I gave her one more glance over. She looked caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "So what is my Nii-sama's new pursuit?"

"Well, Miss Kuchiki, Kuchiki-sama has decided to add some physical pursuits to the ones he already has now."

"Physical pursuits?" I asked.

The attendant nodded.

"And it is?" At this rate, I was never going to get an answer.

The attendant's face flashed with nerves. It looked as if she had told me too much.

"K-Kuchiki-sama has decided to take up the pursuit of-"

"You may leave."

The attendant and I looked at my brother standing in my door.

"Hai, Kuchiki-sama," the attendant said and bowed, running out of the room.

I looked at my brother with a coat of fear in my eyes. Byakuya kept his cold gaze on me.

"We leave for the airport in a couple of hours," he said. "Retire until then."

He walked out with those few words, the door closed behind him.

I tapped my fingers lightly on the wood floor. The attendant was nervous to tell me what my brother's new hobby was. My brother himself interrupted her in telling me. Now, no attendant would. Though not verbalized, the message in my brother's attitude was loud and clear. He did not want me to know.

Then the light bulb shined.

Fine, I would 'retire'.

I would stay in my room for a few hours, enough to lull people into thinking that I was still here. But I was going to find out my brother's secret.

Tonight.

#!*#!*#!*#!*#!*

The clock said it was ten-thirty. I had been in my room for a few hours. It was go time. I peeked out into the hall, checking for people who could be roaming in the halls. Empty.

I took in a deep breath and walked quietly out of my room. The only reason I was doing this was because no one had wanted to tell me of my brother's interest and he obviously did not want me to find out. If it was an acceptable pursuit as everyone claimed, then there would be no problem for me to know. The secrecy suggested otherwise.

I was standing in front of my brother's room, and focused on his room. There was no sound of my brother inside; the closest sound being of an attendant that was ten rooms away. There were voices that were whispering about downstairs that were faint starting to come up the stairs, none of them aware of me.

I opened the door into my brother's room. The first thing I noticed was it was spotless. Covered in white, there were no decorations. The only thing that could count as a decoration was a picture of my sister.

My nerves were twitching me every which way as I stepped into my brother's room. I had never been in here before. I felt like someone was over my shoulder, waiting to say I was caught and give me my punishment. But they were waiting, waiting to see if I was going do something more severe.

I walked over to my brother's closet and opened the door and took a step inside, closing the door behind me. The closet was the size of another bedroom, with one window in it to the right. The closet was with a suit and a pair of casual clothing hanging on one of the racks that were built into the walls. There were some suitcases packed in the middle, probably filled with the rest of his clothes for our move. Everything fit in perfectly.

Everything but the dark black trunk that was in the far right corner of the snow white closet.

Up close the trunk was a faded black with faded brown vines twisting in different shapes and directions in a tribal-esque style. The design culminated at the top where a web design was sprawled.

Gently I placed my fingertips onto the lid of the box and lifted. It didn't budge.

Locked.

Even the items owned in this family were complex.

I pressed my lips together in thought. There had to be a key to open the trunk. The key had to be somewhere safe and secret, yet easy to attain since it had to go with us now that we were moving.

Looking up, I saw another picture of Nee-chan.

You always want something secret hidden in sight, somewhere that would not be suspicious if it was viewed for a long amount of time.

There.

I reached for it began to take the back of the frame off. The key was slightly rusted, shaped in a Victorian style design in the color cream and gold. It was taped to the back with a piece of paper that was touching her picture so the key couldn't be detected.

I tore it off carefully and slid the key into the lock.

Click!

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily.

I clamped my hand over my mouth and widened my eyes, realizing I had probably given away my position. Quickly I lifted the lid and looked inside.

The sun of happiness was quickly demolished and the cloud of doom firmly reigned.

The click of Nii-sama's door automatically brought me out of my trance and my senses went into high alert. My brother was in his room. His breath was even and calm, pulse slow and at ease.

I closed the truck quietly, locked it and put the key back into the frame. Everything was in its place.

My brother's footsteps paused at the closet door.

And opened it.

Eyes closed, he walked over to the two pairs of clothes that were still hung and took them down.

Byakuya turned in the direction of the trunk and opened his eyes.

Subconsciously, I shivered.

He walked over to the trunk, ice in his eyes.

And rested his hand on it.

Motionlessly, he stood there.

I knew he couldn't see me perched out on the window seal. His vision was nothing like mine. Unless he came over to the window and he would see me freakishly positioned in an inhumane form.

With a deep breath, I turned and looked down. The sun was long gone and only the dark cloud of the moonlight was raining down on the sky. I could make out the ground below, noticing the slight dry patch of grass that could not be seen by human eyes.

Exhaling, I jumped...

There was a moment of ecstasy as I fell, the adrenaline pulsating throughout my body, making me feel alive with the speed and the rush of the freedom. I could hear the air rush past my short hair, the grass slowly coming slower towards me. I looked down and positioned my foot, ready for the soft landing.

The tip of my right foot made contact with the ground, the tip of my left foot following afterwards.

The night was undisturbed from my flight.

I ran back to the direction of the manor my room was in and I creaked my window opened, jumping inside.

I locked the window and pulled the curtains closed. I walked over to my bed, pulling the covers over my head. My mind began to reel as I recalled what I saw in the trunk.

I was living in the lions' cage...

In my own home. I went from being cold treated and unwanted to now having fear of waking up with a blade sharply pressed against my neck.

My life- My existence was now in danger.

That trunk...

There was a map of Karakura town and others of small towns near our old homes.

Question marks around various locations.

And weapons.

Steel weapons.

Weapons that were used to murder...

Newspaper articles of the burnt ashes…

Ashes of…

Vampires.

My brother was the man behind the blade.

I was the vampire behind violet eyes.

#!*#!*#!*#!*#!*

I closed my eyes tighter as I felt the sunlight trickle onto me through the airplane window. I didn't want to see it, another reminder of the nightmare was too much to handle.

A bitter smile twitched on my face slightly. The sun was reflecting the slight happiness that I had before I found out about the death box my brother had.

We had left the airport behind schedule, much to Nii-sama's displeasure since there was a slight problem with the engine.

It was a little trick played by me to quickly check where on the plane brother had his weapons stored so I could destroy them.

However, because of me, Nii-sama had a heated 'discussion' with the pilot who had blamed the co - pilot and was fired. As much as I didn't want to be the one to cause some guy to end up without employment, in the game of survival it's self-first, others second.

The weapons were on the far end of the plane underneath the upside down coach. There was worry 'hidden' from my ears the weapons would be damaged or lost in the transition.

It didn't help either when I snuck off to the compartment when I was supposed to be in the restroom and was almost caught.

#!*#!*#!*#!*#!*

I had to find a way to damage some of the weapons in that trunk. My footsteps were taken between the tightly compact furniture and crawling over some of it.

The good thing was I learned to pick a lock a long time ago. I snuck out the bobby pin I had hidden in my hair. Using the rounded end, I jiggled the pin around.

Five minutes later, the lock popped right off.

With the bobby pin in my pocket, I contemplated how to make the weapons look accidentally broken.

Maybe it tumbled around and one of the hits caused it to open?

I'd believe that.

The box rang loudly a few times, but looked damaged enough to have opened accidentally. I grabbed one of the dozens of weapons threw it with enough force to hit the wall and shatter the blade and crack the hilt in half.

"What was that?" a voice asked faintly.

"It came from the cargo area," another voice replied.

Damn! It broke loud enough for a stewardess to hear.

Micro - seconds later I emerged from the restroom to see Byakuya reprimanding the stewardess and a newly hired co-pilot.

The moment I opened the door the three had their eyes on me.

With my best Kuchiki face - one that my brother would have been impressed by, if I could tell him - met their eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Go back to your seat," my brother commanded, turning his attention back to the two.

#!*#!*#!*#!*#!*

After all the trouble it took to break in, only one blade out of the hundreds the trunk held were broken.

With my brother's fury over his precious trunk at an all time high, he was probably itching to incinerate a vamp.

I was determined to stay far away from him as possible.

Keep your friends close, enemies closer - easy when family is the enemy.

With my eyes slightly opened, I looked at my brother from the corner of my eye. He was busy on his laptop and had his phone in hand, speaking into it with a furry.

I always had a secret fear of him. I knew my brother was dangerous, but it was usually in the 'ruin your life and your business way'. Now he was dangerous in a whole different way; in the 'ruin your life by killing you if you are a vampire' kind of way.

It was never in my plans to tell my brother the truth about what I am, much less now that I know this deadly piece of information about him. Duty was everything for him. More important than his life. He'd die to fulfill his duty. He'd even kill me to do it.

My time was limited in the Kuchiki house then. My twenty - first birthday was soon approaching; there was at least nine years before my non aging appearance was set to make itself noticeable when there was no sign of an age mark upon my face. The other members of the family would demand he kill me if they knew what I was. Or they would do it themselves.

As long as they were rid of me, they would not care.

I was nothing more than a disturbance. They were constantly looking for a reason to convince my brother to get rid of me. This would do that and more.

My brother's pulse quickened, probably displeased at what he was being told. He ran Kuchiki Corp. with a firm hand, if anyone was out of line, they were warned once. Out of line again equals fired the second time. The 'family' we are was probably handled no differently.

I would have to think of something when the time came for me to leave. I always tried my best to never be a disappointment to Nii-sama, the news on who I really was would do just that. A way for him to not be disappointed in me and one that would never cause him to look for me or try to look after me. The 'sibling' bond we had would have to die.

I heard him hang up the phone.

"Is something wrong, Nii-sama?" I asked. I don't know why. It's not as if I would actually care about the company, but I did care about my brother, and since he cared about the company (more than me I am sure), I mildly cared about the stature of the company.

"No."

I waited for him to say more, though I knew he wouldn't. Talking to a wall, but the wall was warmer than my brother.

"Sir, we're about to land," a flight attendant said.

He nodded slightly, eyes still focused on his computer.

Great. Karakura town, here I come.

I kept my eyes on the clouds as the plane began its descent down.

The plane landed quickly. We walked out and the first thing we saw was our luggage being towed out. I vaguely caught any of my items. The only thing my eye caught was that black trunk of death.

By the time we were outside, our boxes were already being placed into a white car and a black limo was stationed next to it, door was held opened by the chauffer. My brother stepped in first; I slid in last with the door closing behind me.

Karakura town was a little on the home feeling side; it felt small but big at the same time. The major part of the city was bustling with life. But Nii-sama never liked living in that part of town. He preferred the quiet, demure section of any city. The more desolate, the better. That and there were some crazed obsessed fans bent on capturing the heart of the wealthiest bachelor in Japan. The distance helped ward them off.

We were in the limo for about thirty minutes before we arrived at a huge mansion with a black metal gate. Great. Another cage.

The thing that surprised me the most was that house was painted green with white borders. Usually everything even the house was white. It was practically a requirement. But it was nice after the initial shock. Green made it feel like more of a home.

Like our previous residences, it was plush with green grass and coated in trees with a pond.

Out of nowhere movers instantly began to carry things into the house and ran back and forth with boxes. Looks like this was the beginning of the end. Again.

Seeing all the movers carry things inside made me feel empty, hollow. I had to get away.

"Nii-sama, would it be acceptable if I were to explore Karakura town more?" I asked.

There was a brief twitch in his eye. It wasn't noticeable at all. With my human sight I would have never noticed the slight movement. These eyes could pick up anything.

He had to let me. First of all, I had to know my surroundings. It would be weird if I didn't do some exploring of my new home town. Secondly, I had to get out. I needed to find where I was going to hide in the city when life at the manor was too much for me - even on the days where I had to quench the urge.

If he said no, I would just go out when my brother was asleep. All the servants knew better than to interrupt me in my sleep unless the house was burning down or I was late to a meeting.

"There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow," was all he said and went inside.

Frowning, I turned around and began to walk a few paces behind him.

I hated walking. It was too slow. I had no reason to go at a slow pace. As a human I did. Back then, life was short. I had to make the time to enjoy the simple things because I was not going to be here forever.

Now I was going to be here forever. I could take the time to go fast and enjoy it. Ninety years of a human life would be nine months in mine. So sometimes, I had to pick up the speed.

What I really wanted was to run, to feel the wind whipping around me as I felt freedom capture me entirely. Even though I was denied, freedom and I would become acquainted later.

I kept walking farther as I heard the steps of the movers tap against the concrete. Faintly, I could hear my brother telling one of them to not step on the grass.

Inside the house was stunning, even if there was no actual furniture or decorations yet put into it. The living room was white, as always, the floors were a glassy champagne tile. There was silver pattern on them, leading to the hall. With my head down, I followed it into the hall. The white doors were closed to some of the rooms. I kept on walking up the curved silver stairs to the second story.

Which room is mine?

I tapped my fingers on the metal as I looked up and saw more white doors.

Okay, seriously. I know my brother might be boring, but even he needs to switch it up a little.

Then I noticed a purple door at the end of the hall. Instantly I walked over to it. Opening it, I saw my Chappy the bunny on top of my purple comforter.

Some of my clothing was already hung in the closet on the far right. My luggage of most of my clothing was in the middle of the room.

So this was my new room.

At least it didn't have the white decor. The walls in it were plum purple. The borders of the windows were painted silver as were the borders on the door.

There was a knock on the door.

"Miss Kuchiki."

Ugh. Don't tell me my brother wants to see me.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.

I heard two more sets of footsteps make their way to my door. Pulse even and calm. There was a bit of an edge in my throat. I didn't have my proper breakfast on the plane - the chef, who didn't know that I had a dislike for cheese in my food, had decided to make everything with cheese.

After two bites, I was done.

The chef didn't make the same mistake at lunch, but the food was too salty for me to eat. Nii-sama didn't seem to notice, to him the degree of salt overdose was enough to make it noticeable, but uncomfortable.

If I didn't have my fill of human food, my other hunger would start to emerge with a vengeance. I couldn't risk revealing my nature now more than ever.

"Kuchiki-sama has sent us to help you unpack," was the reply.

This was a test. A cruel test. Three people with warm, pulsating blood. It was too much.

I felt a chill crawl over my skin. The edge was slowly starting to make itself prominent.

Must stay under control. No one can know. Deep breath. Control of hunger. Tonight. I can get a drink tonight. Just have to be in control for a few more hours.

My first mistake was letting the thirst get to this point Lapses of time without indulging in the thirst led to me becoming more violent and submissive to it.

"Enter."

Sure enough, there were three attendants. The three lambs immediately scattered to the luggage with my clothing and began picking up speed as they walked between the closet and the pile. I took in a deep breath and bit the inside of my lip.

Why couldn't it be night time already?

Hearing their pulse thunder through their veins was torture. It was too tempting to do something to them.

Just tune it out and it will all go away. You've been hungry before and you'll manage just fine. But I had never been this thirsty before. Not even when I was first created was I this ravenous.

Not even when I saw those eyes. Those deadly eyes.

Sitting on my bed, I pressed my eyes closed tightly together.

Just a few more hours few more hours few more hours few more hours to freedom few more hours few hours...

"We shall take our leave now, Miss Kuchiki."

I opened my eyes, seeing the three lambs - err, attendants bow. I nodded and they took their leave. The second the door closed, I exhaled in relief. There was no doubt about it. I would have to go out tonight.

#!*#!*#!*#!*#!*

I was pacing back and forth in my room as I waited to hear life at the Kuchiki Manor pause and rest for the night. I just had to find a way to get out! Once Nii-sama was asleep, I would be fine.

It was ten at night, the sun was down and darkness was again looming the house. I heard light, forceful footsteps walk in the hall. Based on the smell of blood, it was Nii-sama.

His footsteps trailed to down the hall and stopped in front of my room door.

I heard him take in a slow deep breath and heard his feet take a turn and walk to the room across from mine. His door opened and closed quietly.

Waiting to hear his pulse calm by sleep, I opened the window and stepped on the window seal. The cool night air beckoned to me, asking me to join in the night.

Slowly my brother's pulse slowed to its rest state.

A smile crossed my face.

Accepting the night's invitation, I took a jump into the air. The moment my body was in the air, I closed the window leaving it slightly opened. I was going to need a way back in, after all.

My feet hit the ground and I took off running, making sure there was no trace of sound of steps. To anyone who would have heard me, it would just sound like a flash of thunder or a sudden tense burst of wind.

I slowed my pace down the moment I took a step next to the tree outside the house property. Which was actually father than I remembered.

I had traveled about half a mile away from the house. The house, even in darkness, was still in my range of sight. It was as clear as day. I could even see some patches of green paint that would soon need touching up.

No one would be able to tell for another couple of months.

A smile touched my face.

Freedom awaits.

With a deep breath, I positioned myself. Ready...

Go.

My eyes flew opened wide as I took off. The wind was whistling through my ears. Grass and trees flew by at top speeds. The rustle of tree leaves reached my ears minutes later as I flew by. My footsteps touched the ground quietly as I ran.

There were some forest animals who had frozen when they heard my approach. They immediately scattered as they saw me. I was the dominate one on the food chain.

The end of the forest was quickly met by a freeway. A solitary car stood at the side, the driver peering in at the engine.

I thundered by the car, the driver looking dazed at the sudden untraceable surge of air that followed me. No human eyes could follow me. Only another vampire could tell where I was.

Them, and only an extremely skilled vampire hunter could have the skill to faintly detect a vampire's moves.

My steps stopped.

Byakuya could then.

He never did anything half way and call it good. It wasn't who he was. He practiced until he excelled and dominated; that was the bane of my brother's personality. If I slipped up, he would be able to tell.

My mind continued to race as my body went on auto pilot.

I had to act more human than I usually did. At least until I was twenty - nine. Now it was to survive.

I would need a job. My own source of income. Save money now and then I would be able to live on my own after I faked my own death. Enough to move to a different country and afford a house, clothes, car, food...

My feet gradually began to walk on a concrete sidewalk, signaling I had approached the town.

Real food.

The taste of it was richer now that I could sense it with a refined palate. Other vampires would not like food, but I did. Then again, I was a strange one. Even I didn't know how to explain my condition.

Subconsciously I noticed some cars and some people walking past me in conversation.

Vampires were not supposed to have beating hearts.

A bell rang as a door opened.

Even at night, the small town was full of night life.

Humans were not supposed to have enhanced speed and strength.

Footsteps took off running.

What was it that made me not fit into either worl-

"UGH!"

Something instantly collided into me.

Lost in my thoughts, I had crashed into a warm body. I felt my hands skid against the pavement (where there were now two half circle shaped dents in it) and landed on the top of the other being.

"Urgh!" I heard something protest under my weight.

I felt the heat of the humans' head next to mine, heard the racing of their heart beat and tasted the very scent of their breath. And I saw it.

Before I had closed my eyes, though I knew it was impossible I saw it.

From the corner of my eye, at eleven p.m., with the round porcelain pearl moon shining high in the sky, I saw it.

I saw the sun.

LC333:

Love to: Peridot0814, TheHedgeHog22, and Thornspike (you know why).

Thanks so much!

Oh, and - as much as I ask - I don't own Bleach...

Next chapter, we finally meet him, the orange haired guy himself!