The man scanned the bar; he wasn't looking for anything in particular, nothing was really catching his interest. His scanning came into a halt when he felt a presence appear behind him.
"Excuse me, Sir, but I couldn't help but notice you over here." The woman started, "You here alone?"
This had been the fifth woman who had approached the man since he stepped into the bar.
"Actually, I am." The man ran his fingers through his orange spikes, "I kinda want it to stay that way."
"You loss, buddy." The woman huffed and walked away.
The man turned back facing the bar.
"You're quite the ladies man, Ichigo." The bartender teased
"Yea and you just scare them away," the ginger retorted
"Don't push your luck, Kurosaki." the other man warned, "This is my bar."
"Okay, just calm down, uh—Re—Uh..."
"My name is Renji!" the crimson haired bartender yelped, "You are a regular here and you can't even remember my name!"
"Sorry, I'm not every good with names." The man scratched the back of his neck
"That, man is really playing hard to get, huh." The woman started, "That's like the third one since we got here…Rukia? Rukia, are you even listening to me?"
"Huh?" the other woman looked up from her drink, "Yea that man has been sitting there for a while now" The raven haired woman said.
"Why don't you come up to him?" The woman ushered her companion off the booth.
"Are you crazy, Rangiku?! He rejected all the other women. What makes you think he won't do the same to me?"
"You're different, Rukia." The busty woman insisted
The raven haired woman gave into defeat
"I'm going because I want a drink not for the man, okay? Rangiku?" Rukia left no room for debate
"Okay! Just go!" Rangiku lightly pushed her companion.
Rukia walked towards the bar, but suddenly stopped when she saw a certain crimson haired man behind the counter. "Oh god…" she groaned
The crimson haired man's eyes lit up when he saw the petite woman walking towards him.
Ichigo noticed the other man's reaction and turned to see where it had came from. There he saw a woman with short raven hair that gracefully hung above her shoulders; the woman was in a very flattering black strapless dress that stopped slightly above the knees. What struck him most was the woman's amethyst eyes.
"H-hey, Rukia." The crimson haired man stuttered lightly blushing
"Can I have the usual," the amethyst eyed woman said playing ignorant to the man's blushing face
"Sure n-nothing." The crimson haired man quickly went to work on the woman's drink.
Ichigo eyed the woman from head-to-toe
"Renji, are you sure you want to serve her a drink," Ichigo asked, "Doesn't she look a little young to be drinking?" the ginger continued to eye the girl.
Rukia didn't notice the ginger until he had spoken. She turned to see the person who questioned her ability to drink. The first thing that caught her eye was his spiky orange hair, the man was wearing a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, he was wearing a pair of black jeans and black shoes.
Ichigo froze when he saw the woman's head turn towards him. The lights that lit the bar left silver specks in her amethyst gaze. After a few moments something suddenly occurred to him. 'Is she checking me out?' he thought.
Rukia turned herself completely towards the ginger. "What makes you think I'm not old enough to drink?" Rukia lightly smirked, "I am, for your information."
"I won't believe that until I see your ID." Ichigo's eyes narrowed.
'Arrogant Asshole' she thought. The raven haired woman swiftly took something out of the pocket of her dress and flashed it the orange haired man's face.
Ichigo's eyes grew slightly wider when the woman flashed a SS Armed Forces badge.
"Enough ID for you?" The woman smirked
"Soul Society Armed Forces, huh?"Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you didn't get that from a kid's meal?"
Rukia's eye brow twitched in frustration. "If I were not a part of the SS, why would I have this?" She then lifted part of her dress. Renji's face turned as red as his hair; Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise of the woman's sudden actions. Rukia just rolled her eyes. Then from under the skirt of her dress revealed a Walther P-22 Pistol holstered snug on a black holster that was strapped to her thigh.
"What are you doing with that? I thought little girls can't play with toy guns." Ichigo mused
"It's not a toy." Rukia clenched her jaw
"You sure, it looks like a toy to me." Ichigo shrugged
"How about I shoot you and you can tell me if it's a toy or not." The raven haired woman felt a vain stick out of her forehead; she then smoothed out the skirt of her dress back to where it once rested.
Ichigo leaned towards the woman until their faces were only inches away "Okay, then you'll have to nurse me back to health," he gave her a mischievous grin.
Rukia felt a small thrill run through her body "Pervert," she huffed as a light blush graced her features, "Oi, Renji is my drink ready yet?" she turned to crimson haired man.
The bartender neither answered nor moved. He was still shocked by the moment before; the heavy blush on his face confirmed it.
"Idiot," Rukia rolled her eyes and jumped over the counter and started to make her own drink.
"Don't tell me, you're a bartender as well." Ichigo lightly teased; there was something about her that really intrigued him, he wasn't sure what though. He just stared into her mysterious amethyst eyes.
Rukia noticed the pair of amber eyes watching her every move, "What are you looking at?" she snapped, but didn't turn.
"Temper, temper, just a minute ago you were blushing like a school girl. Did I make you mad?" Ichigo said as if her were talking to a three year old.
"I wasn't blushing!" she yelped
"You know it's not good to lie," Ichigo continued to talk as if she were a toddler
Rukia was at her last straw, she felt like slugging him. She knew she couldn't, although she couldn't help but think how good it would feel if she did. She finished making her drink and cleaned the area.
Ichigo was just waiting for what her answer would be. He surely wasn't expecting what he got.
"Go to Hell." She said as she walked passed him and went back to her table.
As the woman walked passed him, Ichigo noticed something he hadn't before. There on the woman's right shoulder was the number 13 tattooed onto her pale skin and beneath it a black butterfly with its wings spread wide, with the color red laced around the wing's edges.
'Who are you?' Ichigo thought
'That's what you get for trying to mess with me.' Rukia thought triumphantly
"So…," Rangiku started, "how did it go?"
Rukia raised an eyebrow, "How did what go?"
"How did it go with the man at the bar? Did you get his number?"
"No." Rukia said like she didn't care
"What?! You two were talking and everything. What did you say?" Rangiku was stunned by her companions reply, "He was a handsome guy, and you just blew your chance!"
"I didn't say anything." The raven haired girl quipped
"You must've, I mean seriously you didn't even get his number. Rukia, I know you could've easily gotten it." Her busty companion bubbled
"I-" Rukia was unsure whether to tell the woman or not, "I told him to go to hell. That's all," she shrugged
"You didn't" Rangiku said unbelievingly, "Was he that big of a jerk?"
"Well sort of. He thought I was a kid and treated me like one too. It just annoyed the hell out of me." Rukia grumbled, "I also threatened to shoot him with my gun."
"Really?" the tangerine haired woman couldn't believe her friend, "What did he say?"
"Something I really didn't expect."
"What?"
"He went up really close to my face, and said that if I shot him I would have to nurse him back to health." Rukia explained
"Rukia," her busty companion drawled, "You didn't know what to do so you lost your temper." She was starting to understand.
"I-I didn't lose my temper." Rukia's face flushed pink
"Yes, you did. You panicked and didn't know how to react." Rangiku's voice was soft and ginger, like a mother talking to her child. "It's okay." She smiled 'She's so innocent when it comes to this' she thought
"Uh…Rangiku. Why are you staring at me like that?" Rukia tapped her friends shoulder.
"Yo, Renji." Ichigo waved his hand in front of the crimson haired man.
"Yo, pineapple head snap out of it." Ichigo tried again.
Renji still didn't respond
Ichigo snapped his fingers in front of the other man's face and as if the crimson haired man was in a trance woke up.
Renji looked around as if to remind himself of his surroundings. "Where's Rukia," Was the first thing he said.
"Well, she lifted her dress skirt and you froze like an idiot, we talked, she made her own drink, told me to go to hell and left." Ichigo said casually
"Why did she lift up her dress?" The crimson haired man's face was still scarlet
"She flashed her gun at me and threatened to shoot me with it."
"That sounds like her." Renji tapped his chin
"How do you know her anyway?" Ichigo asked
"Eh? Oh, we grew up together." Renji replied, "She was always quick tempered, even now. But she also stood for what's right."
"That explains the SS badge." Ichigo mumbled
"Yea, she joined because of that and because her brother is one of the captains." Renji explained "I'm the lieutenant of squad six. Her brother is my captain."
"Wait?! You're a part of the SS too?" Ichigo scowled confused
"Of course," Renji said and took out a badge that hung on a chain under his shirt, "See?"
"Then do you have the same tattoo that woman had?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the image of the amethyst eyed woman's tattoo flashed in his mind.
"Rukia? No, I have enough tattoos as it is." The man said as he pointed to his eyebrows and his arms
"Then why does she have one?" The more Ichigo learned about the woman the more he wanted to know, "What's with the 13 and the butterfly?"
"Okay, the 13 stands for her squad number. Squad Thirteen. The butterfly stands for one of the nicknames she's called by." Renji answered
"One of the nicknames?" Ichigo blurted
"Well you see Rukia is pretty infamous to criminals. She was sent into a gang fight, because one of the gangs were involved in a homicide, and the case was top priority." The crimson haired man started
"Wait they sent her all by herself?" Ichigo scowled
"Yea, just her. She volunteered to do the job. When the day came she was in all black and wore a black trench coat that covered her whole body. All she took with her was her Walther P-22 Pistol."
"Wow. Then what happened?" Ichigo asked like a child listing to a bed time story.
"She took all twenty-four of them down without taking out her gun." Renji responded
"So you mean to tell me, she took all those men out with her bare hands?" Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ichigo looked back at the amethyst eyed woman who was sitting at a booth talking to a busty tangerine haired woman. He turned back to Renji, "Go on."
"Yes. Witnesses also say that when she was fighting, all you could see was her black trench coat waving in the air like wings. Thus, calling her The Hell Butterfly. The crazy thing is, she only came out with a couple broken bones, cuts and burses; while all the men she fought were all beaten to a pulp" Renji crossed his arms over his chest.
"Couldn't someone have made that up?" Ichigo scowled
"I guess, but the medical records on all the men suggested all wounds were caused by hand-to-hand combat. Also they checked Rukia's gun and talked to witnesses, no gun-shot was fired."
"What if someone helped her?"
"Like I said there where witnesses, they all said it was her. Plus, the forensic team looked at all the x-rays from everyone involved all evidence supported the theory that it was just Rukia. In the SS if you do something like what Rukia did, they would look deeply into it to make sure it was true. If it was, the SS would add it to your file."
"That's a good thing, right?" the orange haired man asked
"Definitely." Renji nodded
"How was she able to do all that?"
"Rukia was trained by the best of the best. She had three teachers. Her first teacher was a man named Kaien Shiba, he taught her both hand-to-hand and armed combat; most of her weapons are guns and knives. Her second teacher was her brother, who also did hand-to-hand. Her third teacher was Yoruichi Shihouin she taught her speed and agility. All three of them were her Masters, without them she wouldn't be able to do what she does." Renji finished
"Damn. She's Badass." Ichigo said with his jaw dropped.
"She sure is." Renji nodded
Ichigo turned to look at the infamous beauty, who was now walking out of the bar. Her amethyst eyes glowing like gems. He thought to himself,
'Rukia, The Hell Butterfly.'