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Chapter 3

“Thanks for the meal” Karin states as she slowly lowers her head and bows for the delicious meal her younger sister prepared for the family.

“I think I’m going to call it a night. I’ve got some reports that will need to be filed tomorrow.” Isshin states as he walks over and gives his youngest daughter a kiss on the cheek.

“You are just saying that so you can skip out on cleaning up the dishes.” Karin states as she elbow’s her father in the forehead preventing him from kissing her.

Rukia giggles at what she was watching. Ichigo simply continued to stay quiet while he downed a glass of milk with ease.

“I’ll help out with the cleanup.” Ichigo slowly removes himself from the dining room table and begins to help with the dishes.

“I was going to volunteer, brother. You should take it easy.” Karin replies as she tries to grab some of the plates.

Ichigo nudges Karin’s arm away from the plates as he continued to gather them, it caught her by surprise.

“It’s ok I’ve got this.” Ichigo states as he places the silverware in the sink.

“Big brother let me take care of this.” Yuzu states as she walks beside her brother with a concerned look on her face.

“That’s right; you have looked pretty fatigued since you came back from school. You should go and rest.” Karin states as she slightly pushes her brother so she could work on the dishes.

Isshin simply smirks as he heads off to his room, happy and content with how his children were behaving.

Rukia took notice that Ichigo seemed rather distant like he had much on his mind.

“Ichigo, there are some things I need to discuss with you; we’ll talk in your room.” Rukia states as she head’s out of the dining room.

Ichigo turned his head as he watched Rukia leave; he stayed silent until she was no longer in view.

“HEY brother, you sure you’re ok?” Karin yanks her brother’s orange hair to push him out of his trance.

“Ya, I’m fine, just a lack of sleep.” Ichigo states as he heads out of the dining room.

“Big brother…”Yuzu gives a worried look as she watches his brother head to his room.

“Just let him be, he’ll come around and with Rukia here, that should help brighten his mood a bit.” Karin begins to wash the dishes. Yuzu simply nods as she goes to help her sister.

“I’m more tired than I thought.” Ichigo states to himself as he enters his room. He quickly takes notice of Rukia who was sitting on his bed in a crisscross position; he was unable to take his eyes off her. She looked so innocent to him, with her looking up at him while wearing such juvenile pajamas.

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?” Rukia states as she blushes a bit while rubbing her nose a bit.

“No there is nothing on your face.” Ichigo’s falls on the end of his bed, the mattress stutters as he lays on it.

For around a minute, there was nothing but silence in the room, Ichigo then turned his head to Rukia who was curious as to what was going on in her mind.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Ichigo looked up to his smaller friend.

“Since my promotion as Vice-Captain I’ve been given much greater responsibilities and it is my duty to make sure that Soul Society’s interests are looked upon with great priority. And that is why until further notice I will be your superior officer and supervise your actions with all Hollow activity.” Rukia states with gleaming confidence.

Ichigo looks at Rukia before sighing to himself.

“So…The Gotei Thirteen…They don’t see me as a threat but still don’t have complete trust over me…Is that it?” Ichigo states with a dissatisfied look on his face.

“No…Nothing like that. You have got it all wrong Ichigo.” Rukia was surprised by how defensive her friend was becoming.

“THEN WHAT IS IT!?” Ichigo slams his hand on his mattress causing the bed to wiggle a bit.

A concerned look on Rukia’s face appeared before she spoke.

“I…I just wanted…I was concerned about you. It was my decision after all…To come here.” Rukia lowers her head, feeling like she made a horrible mistake.

Ichigo quickly sit’s up on his bed as Rukia hops off it.

“WAIT…Wait a minute, Rukia!” Ichigo quickly grabs her left arm, preventing her from leaving the room.

“What?” Rukia turned her head, not looking forward to what Ichigo was going to say to her.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to come off like that. It’s just with school, my family, and the fact I'm back to my Shinigmai related work. It’s been overwhelming; I didn’t mean to offend you. I really don’t mind if you want to stay here.” Ichigo picks up Rukia by her hips and places her on the bed, so she was sitting next to him. Rukia blushed a bit at how easy Ichigo was able to lift her small frame.

“I just don’t want to have to go through with anything like what we went through with Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.” Ichigo chuckles to himself to ease the tension he created.

“What’s wrong with that? I thought you enjoyed saving the damsel in distress, haha.” Rukia giggles a bit to herself, happy that Ichigo wasn’t angry with her.

“Don’t get any ideas. I’m just a simple High School student that works a side job protecting my city from evil monsters. If I have to save you again, that’s like asking for extra credit in school.” Ichigo gives off a smirk.

“Who knows maybe next time; I’ll have to be the one to save you. I can see it now. Oh GREAT Rukia, please SAVE me!” Rukia continues to giggle at the thought of their roles being reversed.

“As if I would let that happen!” Ichigo begins to tickle Rukia’s bare feet which caused her to fall back on the bed; she couldn’t stop laughing as Ichigo continued with his playful attack.

“If I were to get captured, I wouldn’t give the enemy any satisfaction from it. I would fight until my last breath.” A part of Rukia’s stomach was exposed which gave Ichigo a chance to tickle her near her belly button, the petite girl was laughing to such a point that tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

Ichigo began to notice how cute Rukia looked at the moment, especially with her childish pajama’s covering her. His tickling began to slow down and quickly stopped as his attention became focused on the girl’s complexion and that he was basically on top of her.

As Rukia’s laughter began to subside, she noticed that Ichigo was blushing a bit while giving off a perplexed look.

“Ugh, is there something wrong?” Rukia blushed herself as she took notice that Ichigo’s body was only inches from hers. She also noticed that his face was coming into closer contact with hers.

“Rukia.” Ichigo softly whispers to the girl as he continues to lower his head towards the girl’s.

Mixed emotions where all surging though the Shinigami’s mind at the moment. She wasn’t sure how to respond at the sudden change in the atmosphere. It only took her a split second to conjure a solution to her situation. She choice the one that was most comfortable in her mind, she quickly kicked Ichigo off her, she then leaped off the bed and ran for the door.

“I think it’s time that I got some sleep…Yes…That is exactly what I need.” Rukia states as she slams the door behind her. Ichigo was surprised by her sudden reaction, he then quickly face palmed after he took a moment to realize what he was about to do.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Ichigo slams the front of his face into his pillow, trying to forget his shameless approach.

“I thought I heard some noises. Is big brother ok?” Yuzu asks as Rukia enters her room.

“He’s all right. Just needed to some sleep…Which is what I need right now.” Rukia enters the lower bunk bed and throws the covers over her face; she places herself into a fetal position before closing her eyes.

“Ichigo you Idiot!” Rukia states as she bites her lip, not happy with how the night ended.

After placing Idaten in his crib, Ryujin slowly walks the lower levels of the building he resided in, he quickly took notice that there was no one in the main hall-way before walking down the steps at a slightly faster pace before he came across a steel gated door that was deep underground from the sandy scenery of Hueco Mundo.

As he slowly forced the door to open, his eyes were directed towards two individual’s that were near the end of the room. Ryujin took notice of the many items that were housed on a vast shelf to his right, much of which was taken from the Human World by the request of her mother. Many of the items ranged from furniture, food, books, and among many other things that could not be acquired in their world. He stood for a moment to look over what was currently going on in front of him.

A woman with dark purple hair with a length that stretched out to her ankles turned her head to see who was behind her.

“Ryujin…Is there something you need?" The woman states as she turns her head and continues to focus her attention at the older looking gentleman who seemed to be hard at work with a mechanical device that looked to be around five feet tall and ten feet in length, there were many wires connected to the boxed shape device. There was an opening in the middle of it, the older man seemed to have his attention on it as he was emitting Reiatsu into it the area.

“…It shouldn’t be long…Yes it shouldn’t be long now. You will keep your word….Right?” The man states with fear as he turns his attention to the woman.

“If you don’t continue to focus your attention on your work, then it won’t even matter.” The woman begins to emit an aura of Reiatsu around her body, showing her killing intent to the older man.

“Damn it! Damn it to hell!” The man continues to work on, he looked very exhausted and fatigued and his body was pushing its limits given the lack of sleep he was given.

“Megumi, there is no reason to treat our prisoner with such hostility. Even if he is a Shinigami and a member of the Research and Development Institute, we need him in top condition if Mother’s plan is to be successful.” Ryujin states as he crosses his arms.

“I’m just simply putting a little motivation into our humble Shinigami. He’s already Ninety five percent done with the device. Once it’s completed, we can send him on his way back to Soul Society. It’s a win-win situation.” Megumi smirks while stroking her broken Hollow mask that under her neck.

Ryujin didn’t look satisfied, while he respected and knew Megumi far more than Mikoto or Shugo who only seemed to care about their own self-preservation; he still felt that Megumi should have become less hostile after becoming an Arrancar.

“Given your back I assume our little sister has returned as well.” Megumi asks.

“Yes, she is back in her quarters, resting most likely.” Ryujin states.

“In that case I’m going to check on her, would you mind looking after our friend here. I’ll be back shortly to see that the device is completed.” Megumi states as she walks past Ryujin before he could answer and leaves the area.

“I’m sorry about her; she is generally a decent person but only to our kind.” Ryujin states as he takes a seat as he continues to watch over the Shinigami.

“Ever since your people kidnapped me, I’ve always felt my death was imminent no matter the outcome. But after meeting you, I’ve actually gained some hope. You are not like any Hollow or Arrancar I’ve witnessed. You seem to treat others as equal, which is quite unusual given your groups blood lust like nature.” The old man states as he takes a deep breath and continued to work on the device.

“I wasn’t all ways like this, quite the opposite actually. Back when I was a vasto lorde…and before meeting mother…I look back during such dark times I begin to wonder, why I couldn’t see the bigger picture. I have so much more to give than violence and death.” Ryujin looks at his hands as he begins to think of his past self.

“Wake up sleepy head!” Megumi begins to ruffle Inari’s short red hair, messing it up a bit.
“Ugh…Megumi? Is that you?” Inari scratches her eyes as she looks up from her crib to see the woman who began to pick her up.

“What did I say about calling me by my name? Can’t you just call me big sis?” Megumi places the younger looking girl on a changing table.

“Sorry about that. Old habits I guess.” Inari stretches her arms out after awaking from her nap.

“That’s a bad habit that can be easily changed, speaking of which, let’s see if you need one as well.” Megumi begins to undress the girl out of her red and black colored outfit leaving her in just her diaper.

“Looks like your dry for now. Let’s get you into your sleeper so you can be more comfortable for the night.” Megumi grabs a pink outfit from one of the dresser drawers in the corner.

“It’s all ways night here…It will never change.” Inari states as she bites her lip a bit.

“In that case, we could take a trip to the human world again. After concealing our Reiatsu we could shop for some clothes and many other exciting things. We just need to be careful as all ways to hide the part of our Hollow masks so we won’t draw attention to the Humans.” Megumi states as she puts sleeper on the girl.

“That sounds fun but I’m going to have to decline for now.” Inari hops off the changing table and walks over to her crib and slowly lies herself down in it.

“Why is that?” Megumi asks while she grabs a children’s story book from one of the shelves.

“I can’t say…I don’t want to get into trouble.” Inari throws the covers over her entire body.

“What trouble? I promise that anything you say here will not be relayed to mother.” Megumi takes a seat on the side of the crib while looking down at Inari with a curious smile.

“You promise?” Inari slowly reveals her head through the covers.

“Yes I promise. You are my precious baby sister after all.” Megumi states.

“Hmph…Baby sister…I don’t like it.” Inari states with an agitated look.

“What do you mean? I though you enjoyed…”Megumi was cutoff as Inari began to speak.

"RUKIA KUCHIKI! She doesn’t deserve that title from mommy. And I will make sure of it. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to the Human World to kill that despicable Shinigami!"

“So that’s what this fussing is all about. While I do agree that having a Shinigami as a part of our family is a mistake. We all made an oath to mother that her word is absolute.” Megumi begins to stroke Inari’s hair hoping to calm her down.

“I guess you’re right but still…”Inari places the pacifier she had laying on her bed back into her mouth to help her relax.

“Let’s not worry about such trivial things like that. For now, just relax while I read your bed time story to you.” Megumi begins to open the book so she could start reading it to her younger sibling.

“Inari pretended to listen but in the back of her mind, the only thing she was thinking of was how she could eliminate her rival without anyone noticing.