"Please, father, I swear I'm capable. Please..."
"No means no, Rukia. If its your brother, it's fine. But you're a woman," the man took off his shades and turned his chair to face his daughter. He radiated an aura of leadership and professionalism, handsome face sparkling with charisma that wasn't affected even by old age. "I love you, you know that. After that incident with your mother, I couldn't possibly let you handle a company alone-"
"I've got a master's degree on medicine and I've aced all those stupid law exams you told me to take, every one of them. I'm a black belt in Taekwondo, I know how to use guns, I'm a genius at long-range shooting! I could easily pull off as a member in a mafia, or a good doctor with the best reputation, and even a lawyer-"
"Silence!" he roared.
Rukia lowered her head and refused to look up. Regardless of her anger, she had learnt to respect whoever was higher above her in general. And parents were absolutely the top in that list.
"Do you honestly think that being all smart can protect you against people who beat up your mother's bodyguards?" His voice was quiet but cautious, his teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed. "I'm a rich man. I can afford to hire the best bodyguards in Japan, hell, even the best in the world! And yes, these bodyguards are of guaranteed quality." He slammed the table, and Rukia flinched. "But they were found, lying in the blood pool with your mother! What, you think your brains can handle these people? You think your so-called 'black-belt Taekwondo' can beat the crap out of them? Or maybe your kendo skills that you forgot to mention?"
God, she hated how right he was.
"Look," her father sighed. "Get married to a stable man who can provide you with what you need. Then you can take over her company."
"Really?" Rukia's lips curved into a smile as she started looking up, beaming eyes greeting her old man straight in the face. "Really, father?"
"You have my word."
"It'll be soon," she murmured, just loud enough for her father to hear, and refrained from breathing a sigh of relief as she got up, bowed, and gently closed the door behind her.
"That means revenge, motherfuckers," she snarled under her breath before storming into the dojo.
It wasn't long before her 24th birthday celebration that she came up with the perfect idea to set herself up with a guy she deemed suitable to play the husband for the moment. And the celebration seemed to be the best timing to grab a good guy for the job.
"I think you should reconsider," was what Tatsuki, her best friend and Taekwondo companion, said. "Marriage is one of the most important stages of life. I really hope you don't regret your marriage, Rukia."
She knew that what her friend said could mean great advice to some people, but to her, it was complete bullshit. No such thing as romantic love ever existed in her whole life, not since she was born. Being forced into a priviledged girls' school for around twelve years before university meant being single and not ready to mingle in her older years.
She never understood about romance, but never cared to understand either.
"Come on, darling, let me see that gorgeous midnight blue dress on you." Cirucci, her personal tailor, clapped her hands in joy. "Marvelous! Bravissimo! Love it, sweetie! It goes beautifully with your dark hair and pale skin, mon dieu! I'm such a genius!"
There stood Rukia, not remembering how many times she rolled her eyes as the tailor ranted on and on about her superior fashion taste and holding out her arms like an idiot for the tailor to tug on the corset lines from underneath.
She gasped as Cirucci gave one last hard tug.
Her waist, already small enough, got scrunched into a smaller size than it already was because of her corset.
Oh dear. Dinner was impossible now. "Thanks Cir," she muttered, only to meet the enthusiastic hugging from the tailor and some of the ladies who were there to help with the makeup.
They slowly led Rukia down the corridor and let her descend the stairs herself. She looked around and saw people chattering away, holding glasses of champagne, while the younger ones enjoyed their fruit punch and plates of food happily in the corner.
"Rukia, my love, you look breathtakingly gorgeous."
She spun and found her father in a traditional kimono smiling warmly at her. Her eyes lit up and she gave him a tight hug. "Father, you do too."
Her father chuckled. "You mentioned something about him coming tonight, right? I want to meet him."
The smile froze on Rukia's face as she let out a slightly confused "hm?" and nearly dropped her black clutch.
He sighed. "Did you forget? You said you invited your potential fiance to this party."
"Oh," Rukia ran a hand through her hair. Oh god, she did. It's okay. She can do it. "Y-yes, father, uh, I will go and have a look-"
She was immediately cut off by a sudden crash of glass onto the floor and some shouting. Hurriedly, she trailer her very concerned father to the ground floor of the ballroom and frowned at the commotion as she got closer.
"I thought you said you loved me! I saw you dancing away with a couple of other girls, now what does that make me!" A pink haired girl wearing a slutty white dress crossed her arms and Rukia swore the girl was about to wreck the floor by stomping on it with her LV stilettos.
"I never said I loved you." The cold answer came from an orange haired boy dressed in fitted black slacks and a rolled up pink formal shirt. Rukia couldn't see his facial features clearly but he was familiarly handsome to her. "You're just being delusional. And mind your manners. I don't like getting into fights with ladies."
"Ichigo...you... ugh!" The girl named Riruka stormed off.
Ichigo. That name rang a bell.
Rukia took a step closer to observe the man. Only when he wiped his chin did she realize he had taken a wine shower. When he caught her staring, he held her gaze with his dark, mesmerizing orbs.
She'd definitely seen him somewhere before.
"Napkin," he said suddenly. Caught by surprise, Rukia wasn't able to react immediately. Thank god there was already a waiter beside him that helped him wipe off the red wine on him and offered him a change of clothes, or not she would've made a complete fool of herself while stumbling to tend to her guests.
"Aren't you going to apologize?" They spun and saw a furious man charging like a bull towards the orangette and Rukia's father stepped forward, holding out his arm to prevent any act of violence.
"Apologize to who, sir?" The orange haired guy (named Ichigo, if she'd remembered correctly) remained indifferent as the angry man growled and snatched at his collar.
"To my daughter whom you cheated on!" he roared, voice echoing through the silent ballroom.
Rukia crossed her arms and looked at her father, whose expression told her that he was unhappy with what was happening but would not step in until it was the right timing due to his position as bystander throughout the argument. When he caught her looking, he smiled expectantly and nodded towards the fuming man.
It was as if he was telling her to show him her capability. A test to see whether she could deal with hard situations like these if she was going to take over her mother's company.
"Kind sir, I am Kuchiki Rukia," she stepped in before the young man named Ichigo could say anything rude in return. "Thank you for coming to the party."
The angry man suddenly frowned, confused, then his eyes lit up a little. "Oh, yes, Miss Kuchiki. I sincerely wish you a happy birthday." He looked immediately embarrassed. "I have to apologize for my daughter for stirring up a commotion..." he glared daggers at Ichigo, "...and also for this man who ultimately wrecked a good night."
"It's alright, Mr...?"
"Dokugamine."
"Oh!" Big name. "Mr. Dokugamine!" She held out her hand and beamed as he shook it. "I've heard all about you from my father and I am very impressed by your art conservation works and museum management! I'm so glad I met you tonight!"
Before she knew it, the music began playing, the waiters and waitresses were busy cleaning up the stuff, and the other guests began chattering again. Her father was good at making everything go back to normal, wasn't he.
"I am too, Miss Kuchiki. And you have my regards for your mother's death. You must be devastated. We are looking for special collaborative opportunities too, maybe that can help revive your mother's company." He looked at Rukia sympathetically and she had to slightly clench her fists to avoid showing any signs of disgust.
Fake. Everyone's fake. All they wanted was to take her money. Collaborative opportunities my ass, she thought.
"Sounds wonderful, but I don't want to talk about work tonight. I simply want to enjoy my birthday. Please have a good time here as well, Mr. Dokugamine." She nodded respectably before slipping away into the crowd.
Ichigo Kurosaki had taken his 23rd wine shower.
It wasn't as if he did it on purpose, but girls tended to overthink. Just because they stuck to him DID NOT mean he liked them back, let alone for him to be dating them.
He knew he was attractive. But he also knew women were despicable. Thirsting for sex, riches and love at the same time, requesting loyalty but not wanting to give any in return. Selfish creatures, they were.
His mother had died pf sickness when he was about ten. His father had an extremely cheerful personality, and so did his sisters, and although they didn't look affected on the outside, he knew they were only being strong.
Just a few months ago, someone burned his mansion. He was out doing training work with his father but Karin and Yuzu was having a break from university, so they were at home. He had received the bad news about an hour later, and soon realized that there was nothing left of his mansion. Nothing. No sight of his sisters, but he knew that they were now nothing but ashes.
The police did nothing much to investigate this matter. The case was marked as arson, but the arsonist was never found. The case was soon dropped after a month, and his father, being the good-natured and carefree person he was, decided to let it go.
But no. He was never going to let it go.
Yuzu and Karin, his beloved sisters, were definitely murdered. It was no household incident, even the police knew that. The security tightened at his new place after the incident, but he wasn't convinced.
There was one thing he never let the police or his father know.
He fished out a ring from his pocket which had "Hueco Mundo" carved on it. This was found on the day of the arson, right at the crime scene. It was a clue he wouldn't give the police, because he knew they were useless.
With his resources, he would track them down and make them pay for his sisters' dead lives.
"Mr. Kurosaki, right?"
He quickly put the ring away and turned around to find the woman who had butted in the argument earlier.
She wore a long midnight blue gown with a decent slit from her lower thigh to the ankle, the dress hugging her every curve. She was attractive, no doubt. His eyes slid from her outfit to her snow-like bare skin.
"That's me," he smiled his usual charming smile. "And you are Miss Kuchiki?"
"Yes. Formalities aside, I am Rukia, nice to meet you." She held out her hand and he, instead of shaking it, took her by surprise and kissed it. She jerked it away in reflex, probably not expecting what just happened.
"I'm Ichigo."
"I know that." She glanced at him, and he noticed her gaze sliding over his entire body. "We've met."
"Have we?" He frowned, trying to remember. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't collect a memory where he had ever been with this woman. Definitely not in bed, not at any party. No. If he had met her, there was no doubt he'd remember such a breathtakingly gorgeous lady.
"At the dojo, when we were younger."
"Dojo!" He laughed. "You, in a dojo?"
She snarled, obviously angry. He responded with a look of amusement on his face. At least she had character.
"A kendo dojo," she said with narrowed eyes.
Kendo! He stared at her for a while longer and yes, an image popped into his mind. A young girl, hair so short she could be mistaken as a boy, her eyes fiery with competitiveness and fists clenched, ready to fight anyone who blocks her way.
His kendo rival when he was around 15.
"What a shame," he said, hand reaching out to stroke her hair. She was short, like before. Now he remembered. She was a girl with fiery spirit and she was strong as well. Her skills rivaled his and they were always in a tie. "A lady shouldn't be able to fight."
She slapped his hand away gently so the other guests wouldn't notice. "Let's go to a quieter place to talk?"
"You mean your bedroom?"
She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. "Bloody hell, what? I was going to say the garden!"
"That was only a suggestion," his eyes gleamed with mischief and before she could get caught up with his attractive appearance again, she hurried towards the garden, making sure he trailed as well.
"You're a big pervert," she muttered on her way.
"They call me a sex god," was his witty response, and she grunted, resisting the urge to punch him.
"Look, seriously. I have some business to deal with." She stopped and turned towards him, staring into his eyes. "I..."
"Hm?" He had pulled her closer, but she was too mesmerized in his alluring eyes to notice. "What are you trying to say?" He leaned closer, and her eyes fluttered.
He was making her speechless.
She was honestly a fun woman to play with. He didn't want to hold back on one of the most attractive girls he had ever laid eyes on in his whole life.
Maybe a little more teasing first.
He blew a breath of hot air on her neck, pleased when he felt her shudder. He leaned in and smiled, one hand on her waist to pull her in and another resting on her warm cheek.
She was already reacting, two arms circling around him. He looked at her and realized that she actually was so mesmerized by him that she didn't know what she was doing.
What a sweetheart.
He delivered gentle kisses down her pale, smooth neck and drunk in her soft pants. "Tell me," he breathed. "What you wanted to say."
Her eyes suddenly fluttered open and she pushed him away, as if to realize what she had just done with a complete stranger.
"What the hell," she muttered, hands over her head as she gritted her teeth, as if trying to figure out what just happened. "Right, what I wanted to tell you was-"
He put a finger on her mouth. "Shh. Relax. Then tell me."
She flung off his finger and took in a deep breath. She looked a lot more calm and serious this time.
"I heard about your father's company. It's on the verge of collapse."
He narrowed his eyes. That was true indeed. After his mansion was burned down, they had already lost a great deal of money. His father hadn't even been able to work well after the incident because of the hurt and trauma of losing his two daughters. Naturally, the company wasn't doing very well and they desperately needed big money to save it.
"You need money for the newly opened hospital your father opened for the deprived as well," she said.
"I do." It wasn't exactly news. "We do. What, are you going to financially support us?"
"Yes."
He crossed his arms. "With what conditions?"
She inhaled a shaky breath. "Marry me."
"Excuse me!?" He looked at her in disbelief. "What!?"
"Don't take it the wrong way," she scowled. "I have to take over my mother's company but my father wouldn't let me unless I marry."
"You're not serious." He chuckled but her stern expression stopped him. He frowned and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't all women think of marriage as the most important life event? Won't you regret marrying a man like me?"
"We will only act like a married couple publicly. We can have a divorce after I... Finish off with my business."
"And how long will that be?" He crossed his arms. "And I might want to leave my first marriage to a woman I actually love."
"You sleep with everyone and you seem to hate women, you don't look like you want to be chained with loyal marriage anytime soon," she retorted with a smirk. Oh he liked her alright. That was so true.
"I don't know how long I'll be done with my business. Half a year, perhaps, and if longer, maybe several years. Can you put up with that?"
"And I get-"
"You get financial support in return. Whatever you need, just tell me."
"Sounds good." He tilted her chin. "One thing though."
"Yes?"
"I don't like clingy women."
"Good. I don't like clingy men either."
I'm sorry that Ichigo got a little too OOC. I'm working on his character. How was the first chapter? Please R&R! First Bleach IchiRuki fic ever in my entire life please tolerate my bad writing skills if you don't like it.
(Oh if I have any typos, I'm sorry. I typed some of it on my phone so. Yeah. And the grammar too. Tolerate my grammar pls.)
Opening a Q&A corner here, feel free to ask anything!
