A/N: Hey everyone! Here is my latest story which is a Bleach Mafia fanfic. Needless to say this was written for my friends, so there are A LOT of OCs in it. This includes, HichigoXOC, AizenXOC, GrimmjowXOC, UlquiorraXOC, GinXOC, HyorinhmaruXOC (and I probably spelled his name wrong) and lastly, RenjiXOC.

Warnings: Language, sexual content, violence, and character death.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN BLEACH ... although I do keep Hichigo tied up in my closet...

The Less by Night

"And God made two great lights, great for their use To man, the greater to have rule by day, The less by night."

The stone felt cold against my back and I shivered as the rain continued to pour from the black heavens. The small out-cropping above my head did little to protect me from the downpour and my clothes were already thoroughly soaked, yet I did not move from my seat, a stone ledge on the 13th floor of the lofty building. I looked down at the cars and people, all looking as though they were being pushed by an outside force, walking fast, with their faces down, trying to get on with their lives. Their normal lives. An angry shout broke my moment of solitude.

"Karui! Karui, where the hell are you?"

I sighed angrily; leave it to Ichigo to ruin a perfectly peaceful moment like this. "I'm out here Ichigo!" I called, frustration clouding my voice.

A second later, a head with a shock of orange hair stuck out of the nearest window, "What do you think you're doing out here? You're gonna get yourself killed either from falling to your death or hypothermia and I'm going to get blamed for it!" Ichigo cried furiously, brown eyes glaring at my green ones.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, not at all meaning it, "I'll come right in." I stood from my ledge and crossed it, slipping back through the window as Ichigo drew his head back in. As soon as my boots hit the floor I started to shake all the water out of my long dark blonde hair, effectively making it messier then it already had been, but also getting Ichigo wet in the process.

"Gah!" He cried, throwing an arm up to protect his face from the onset of rainwater, "watch where you're shaking why don't cha?"

"You're one to complain," I said, holding up the damp hair, "it's going to take weeks to get these knots out."

"Well next time you want to be alone, try locking your bedroom door. Do not find the most dangerous ledge, made slippery by rainwater, and friggin' take a nap."

"I wasn't going to fall," I protested, turning to walk down the dark hallway, Ichigo right on my heels, "I know this place inside and out, grew up here remember?"

"Right, right, of course you weren't." Ichigo said, giving me that look that meant he didn't believe me. I smiled and shook my head. Ichigo and I had been friends forever so we knew every little thing about each other. I know he has two younger sisters and a dad who was the first in their family to join up. He knows that I come from a long running family and I have an older sister who has already moved on. We met here, in this Mafia gang and grew up together. The only thing he doesn't know is my real name, no one does.

Old man Yamamoto came up with the idea a long time ago, to give everyone fake names so as to conceal our identities. Yamamoto was the one who started this "family-run organization" for lack of a better word, and has been giving everyone fake names ever since. So even though the main headquarters is in New York City, everyone goes by Japanese names as Yamamoto is Japanese, and, as he puts it, it's "easier to remember".

Our group is the only one in New York, so we run the city with no barriers at all. We can conduct our business, illegally of course, without any fear of rival gangs moving in on our turf. It's a good business, there's a lot of money in it but unfortunately, every part of it is illegal. The Mafia, or Soul Reapers as we were dubbed a long time ago, is a tough business and you have to stay on your toes as to avoid the police and any other arrogant fool who thinks that he can go up against us and win.

The hallway was coming to an end so Ichigo and I stepped into an elevator and he pressed the button for the 5th floor, where the kitchen was.

"Hungry?" I questioned raising an eyebrow at him.

"Duh" He replied, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest, "so…why were you up there?"

I sighed; I should have known he would never let it go. "I was wallowing in self-pity, ok?" I shot back.

"Which would be because…?"

"I rode my bike into a volcano." I said, smiling.

"Oh, ha ha." Ichigo said, rolling his eyes at me, "I'm trying to be serious here Karui."

"They rejected my application for school, ok?" I mumbled turning away from him, feeling the white hot anger building up inside of me.

Ichigo grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him again, staring at me like he always does when he thinks that I'm being a fool. "It was going to happen sooner or later, Karui. The school would find out that your part of the Soul Reapers and then kick you out. It happened to everyone, unless they dropped out before it could happen."

"Are you trying to make me feel better? Cause you suck at it." I said angrily.

Ichigo completely ignored me and went right on with his tirade. "Seriously, you should have dropped out. I did when I turned 16, practically everyone did. Toushiro's about to, seeing as his birthday was last week."

"He is?" I cried as the elevator stopped moving and the doors slid open, "I need to go talk some sense into the boy."

"Like he'll listen to you." Ichigo said as we stepped out of the elevator and started heading toward the kitchen, "He never listens to anyone, not even Rangiku who is four years older than you."

"He doesn't listen to Rangiku because she has seemingly convinced herself that since his older brother moved on he needs some sibling affection in his life. You know he hates it when she unloads her work on him and playfully makes fun of him." I argued back just as we reached the kitchen.

Steeping into the brightly lit room I saw Suzu in her usual work place behind the counter. She was named the unofficial mafia cook awhile ago and has since taken to her job like a fish to water. She flipped her long, black hair over her shoulder as she furiously chopped up what looked like carrots and onions. Ichigo and I headed to the long table in the center of the room. Ichigo flopped into his seat with all the grace of a drunk grizzly bear while I slid into mine right across from him.

"Hey Suzu!" Ichigo called over, "can we get some snacks or something?"

"Please!" I finished, giving him a glare for being rude.

"Sure!" She called, ever the helpful one, "What'll it be?"

Ichigo thought for a minute. "How 'bout some pancakes?" He called across the kitchen.

"Ichigo! What type of snack is that?" I asked, shaking my head at him.

"What?" He cried indignantly, "I'm hungry."

I shook my head at him, mumbling "men" under my breath, "I'll just have some fruit salad please." I called over to Suzu, who had abandoned her vegetable chopping and was already working on what looked like pancake mix.

"No problem!" She called, turning to pull fruit out of the fridge.

"Ahhh, I love her." Ichigo said turning back to face me.

"Yeah, 'cause she cooks for you." I shot back.

"And your point is…?" Ichigo said, smiling his idiotic grin at me. My face muscles betrayed me and I had no choice but to smile back. "So anyways…" Ichigo said picking right back up where we left off, "being kicked out of schools is no big deal, I mean seriously, your set in the Soul Reapers, why would you need another job?"

I sat back in my chair, pushed my hair out of my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "Maybe I don't want to always be a part of the Soul Reapers? Huh? Ever thought about that?"

"You? Not part of the Soul Reapers? Now there's a laugh and a half. Your family would disown you." Ichigo stated raising one eyebrow at me.

I sighed, "Yeah, I know, sucks to be me right?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes at me. "So you got kicked out of school, so what? You've got family and friends who love you and a set job for life. You'll want for nothing, which is more then I can say for most people these days, so stop sulking and get over it."

I smiled; Ichigo always brought me back whenever I was feeling depressed. He was about to say something else when a voice cut into the conversation.

"You dropped out of school Karui?"

I looked up to see Suzu leaning over the counter, twirling patterns in the air with her chopping knife and resting her head on her other hand.

"I didn't drop out; they found out about my involvement with the Soul Reapers and "politely declined" my acceptance for my final year of high school." I said bitterly.

"It was going to happen sooner or later," Ichigo said again, "And you'll probably be next Suzu."

"Ha, I wish." She said, "My family is not really connected to them and they don't know of my involvement, so there's no chance they'll kick me out, you're so lucky Karui." She looked at me admiringly.

"Are you fucking crazy?" I cried, "now I'm stuck here whether I like it or not! I can't get a real job now! And you call me lucky?!"

"At least you don't have to go to school every day and listen to teachers drone on about boring subjects!"

"Ha! Like you go to school every day! Everyone knows that you skip most of the time!"

"Well at least I don't…"

"Ok that's enough!" Ichigo interrupted, "let's stop fighting about a pointless argument, grass is always greener on the other side and all that."

"SHUT UP!" Suzu and I both called at the same time, turning to glare at Ichigo. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders in a "hey, I tried" sort of manner. Suzu and I quickly turned back to each other about to continue the fighting when a tried voice broke through.

"Vhy are you all so loud?"

We turned to see Hotaru standing in the doorway, her light brown hair was tousled and she had bags under her eyes. She walked in and dropped into the seat next to mine. I looked over ad saw that her corset top was buttoned the wrong way and her jeans were wrinkled looking.

"Walk of shame?" I questioned amused.

"Ha, I vish" Hotaru said turning her amber eyes onto me, her slight Romanian accent evident when she talked, "I vas out late last night, I just got up."

"Doing what exactly?" I asked.

"Trust me, you don't vant to know, let's just say it involved Suzu...and whipped cream..."

"WHAT?!?!" Suzu cried from behind the counter.

"Just kidding love!" Hotaru called back, she turned back to Ichigo and I, "she's just shy."

"Sure, cause you know the fact that you hit on her almost everyday has nothing to do with it." Ichigo stated.

"Uff course not, ve all know she likes it." Hotaru replied assuredly, flipping her layered hair over her shoulders.

Ichigo and I laughed, as Suzu walked over with Ichigo's pancakes and my fruit salad. She then turned to Hotaru.
"And is there anything you want?"

"Yeah," Hotaru said, smirking slightly, "you, in my bed, in handcuffs, while I'm..."

"Ok! Well if you decide on anything let me know." Suzu quickly interrupted, before turning and walking back to her safe spot behind the counter to resume vegetable cutting.

Hotaru grinned her cat like smile. "I'll get her one uff these days you know."

"Oh I don't doubt it." I said smiling back.

"You guys are insane." Ichigo said, munching down on his pancakes.

"You're just jealous I don't hit on you, sorry, but I like my men older." Hotaru took a fork from another place setting and started to share my fruit salad with me.

"Well that must be hard, 'cause you're practically ancient." Ichigo retorted.

"Excuse me? I'm only 24, you're saying that because you're really young, I mean 19? Seriously? Shouldn't you be in like, school or something?"

"Dropped out, but unfortunately for you, the nursing homes still want you back."

I smiled and tuned out their conversation. Hotaru was really nice, but I was still getting to know her. She was one of the newest members in the Soul Reapers, even though she joined when she was 17, so I didn't have the long running history with her like I did with Ichigo. Still, she was hilarious, practically hitting on everyone, girl or guy.

Hotaru and Ichigo's conversation was still carrying on when yet another person sauntered into the kitchen. This person didn't bother to say hi to anyone, they just walked straight toward Hotaru. We all looked up into the cold eyes of Kurenaiko.

Kurenaiko slammed a pair of fuzzy handcuffs onto the table right in front of Hotaru. "What are these?" She demanded, pushing her long red hair away from her eyes.

Hotaru tried to look innocent. "I don't know, whoever vould put those dere?"

Ichigo and I looked at each other and snickered under our breaths. Kurenaiko eyed Hotaru menacingly. You wouldn't know it to look at them, but Kurenaiko and Hotaru were the closest of friends, well, as close as you can be to someone like Kurenaiko. She tends to be distant and cold to people. Ichigo always jokes to me that secretly she is planning the downfall of us all, and that's why she is so quiet.

I was caught up in reminiscing when sudden movement caught my eye. I watched as Kurenaiko grabbed the handcuffs off the table and handcuffed Hotaru to her chair before sweeping out of the room. Ichigo and I roared with laughter as we watched Hotaru try to get out from the handcuffs.

"KURENAIKO COME BACK! Please! I don't have the keys!!!" Hotaru cried, struggling to free herself.

Ichigo looked at me and motioned his head toward the door. I smiled and nodded. We both stood up from the table and, thanking Suzu, proceeded to walk out of the kitchen.

We walked down the hall listening to the cries of "Hey! Vhere are you two going? Come back! I need help!!"

Ichigo and I were still laughing as we turned the corner of the hall that lead toward the personal living rooms.

"That was brilliant! We seriously need to take lessons on how to be cold and emotionless from that girl." Ichigo stated as we entered his room.

"Yeah, I can see that going well, Hey Kurenaiko, we were wondering if you could teach us to be heartless and cruel, she would eat our souls." I joked back.

"I would if you would." Stated Ichigo, flopping on to his bed in the right corner of the room. I took my traditional seat on the arm chair beside the bookcase.

"I'll think about it, anyways when is your next assignment?" I questioned. The Soul Reapers gave out "assignments" that almost always came from Yamamoto. These assignments were almost always illegal, assassinations, robberies, extortion, blackmail, threats, espionage, you name it. They assignments got more dangerous as you got older, meaning there's not as many older people in the Soul Reapers as there are young. In fact, when you hit 30, your considered old and a veteran, that's if, you can last that long. The only way you can escape that fate is "moving on". You can move on when you hit 20, which means you basically drop out of the gang, but you're still under their rule and they can call you back at anytime. Other than that, you're free to live your own life. My older sister moved on just this year as soon as she hit 20.

"I don't know," Ichigo said answering my question, "things have been slow recently, I'm going to get old and fat if they don't give me an assignment soon."

"Like hell you will." I retorted attempting to get the knots out of my now dry long hair. Ichigo chuckled and closed his eyes. I continued to work on my hair, enjoying the quiet. This quiet is the only type of quiet that can be enjoyed with a best friend, where you know each other so well that there's no need to talk, you just enjoy each other's company.

My own eyes were slowly closing and I would have fallen asleep if a voice had not come over the intercom system.

"Would all personnel please report to conference room K, I repeat, all personnel please report to conference room K."

"Hey Ichigo." I called over to where he was lying on the bed. I got a grunt and slight movement but nothing else. I reached over and grabbed one of the books rom off the bookshelf and then proceeded to throw it at Ichigo. It hit him right on the chest with a resounding thud.

Ichigo shot up in bed, "Ok, ok I'm getting up, sheesh."

I smiled and got off of my chair. Ichigo and I left his room and proceeded down the hallway, opting for the stairs as we figured the elevator would be full since this meeting involved everyone. The conference room that we were headed to was on the 3rd floor so upon reaching the stairs we proceeded to head down. Looking down the stairs, I saw a black and pink-streaked head bobbing down in front of us.

"Hey Usagi!" I called jogging down to meet her.

She turned around, pushing her giant headphones off her ears and adjusting her glasses. "Oh hey Karui, heading to the meeting?"

"Aren't we all?" I replied. Usagi was one of the few people that they Japanese name worked for, as she was actually Japanese. She immigrated her awhile back, but she's always vague on the reason why. She was the Soul Reaper tech expert, usually holed up on the main floor, surrounded by flashing computer screens. I could never understand how she managed to watch all of those screens at once.

"So, what do you think the meetings about?" Usagi asked me, while we excited the stairwell, Ichigo right behind us.

"Probably something stupid, maybe Byakuya had another hissy-fit about people disobeying protocol and decided to through a meeting about it." I joked. Ichigo and Usagi laughed.

"But can you imagine him actually leading a meeting? He'd probably go up there and just stare at all of us." Usagi said smirking. Ichigo and I chuckled as we entered the meeting room, which was already mostly full. Usagi waved goodbye and went to find somewhere to sit, her pigtails bouncing in the air as she walked away.

Ichigo and I looked around for two empty spots, not wanting to be separated. I finally spotted two beside Arisu, another long running family member like me.

"Hey Arisu, these spots taken?" I asked as I slid into the spot next to her, and Ichigo sat down next to me.

Arisu turned her golden eyes to look at me, "No, you may sit there." She said in her child like voice. Arisu was sixteen years old, but you wouldn't know it to look at her. She had a childlike face and golden ringlets. Even without that, she was very short, completely adding to the child image. Looking at her, it's hard to believe that I was only a year older than her, but even though she looked like a child, I knew she was deadly, and to not mess with her.

I looked around to see that everyone had taken a seat and were looking expectantly at Yamamoto, who was seated at the front. Yamamoto cleared his throat.

"I called you all here to tell of a growing threat to our society. A new organization has appeared and our threatening our security." He said, his old voice sounding worried.

Of course no one took this to heart. Chuckles and snickers broke out from the crowd, everyone relived that it was nothing serious. We've dealt with rival gangs before and it was always so easy.

"Who's dumb enough to attempt to go up against us this time?" Renji, another member I'd known from birth, called across the room. We all laughed at his statement.

'Silence!" Yamamoto called, banging his cane against the table, "none of you understand the severity of the situation. The rival gang is being lead by Aizen."

The silence that followed was deafening.