A/N: OMG research paper took up my life! D= But I'm back (sorry about the wait). I promise I will update in the next month at the most. I might update on Raindrops On Roses, but IDK since I lost my inspiration for it. If I think of something, I'll take care of it. For now, enjoy this chapter ^.^
Disclamer: I don't own Bleach nor the song Beautiful, Dirty, Rich (by Lady Gaga)
Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
Our hair is perfect while we're all getting shit-wrecked. It's automatic; honey, but we've got no money. *Bang, bang* We're beautiful and dirty-rich
Ichigo barely saw the flash of red and yellow Hawaiian shirt when he opened his heavy eyelids Sunday morning and had absolutely no time to react to the overly excited middle-aged man who was poised to tackle him.
"Hello Ichigo Kurosaki!!!1!" Isshin, Ichigo's father, yelled in his son's face.
Ichigo managed to sit up and push his dad off him.
"Jesus, Dad! It's Sunday! You could try to let me sleep in for once," he wasn't all that surprised, though. Isshin's "sneak attacks" (that weren't exactly what you'd call sneaky… who yells the person their sneak attacking's name before they sneak attack?) were routine for Ichigo. They started out when he was thirteen for no apparent reason as far as Ichigo could tell. He stopped wondering if it was child abuse a long time ago.
"Now, now. Don't change the subject!" Isshin popped up from the floor "I need to know why you came home so late last night."
Ichigo didn't bother telling his father what really happened because:
he was extremely tired from his gang battle experience, so he wanted Isshin off his back and not to tackle him again,
it would raise many questions that Ichigo really didn't need at the time (again, he was tired and just got attacked so he didn't want to answer them) and,
to be completely honest with himself, he didn't even want to talk about what happened last night.
So, he went with his original reason for going out that night.
"I was at Keigo's, remember? Time got away from me," Ichigo sighed. Ichigo had always been good at lying (a talent he never really used), but Isshin would see right through every one. It seemed like the lie would work today, but Isshin had a sudden mischievous look on his face.
"This party of his… had girls at it, correct?"
Party? What party? Hey! What the hell is he getting at?! Oh Isshin and his perverted thoughts. He knew his son was lying, but was way off on the reason why.
"Dad-"
"No need to explain!" Isshin interrupted, "Your hormones must have gotten the best of you when you saw a beautiful woman and-"
"What the heck? Dad, I-!"
"I know! You're confused about your feelings! I guess I'll have to have 'the talk' with you again."
Okay, he heard it once from his father and never EVER wanted to hear it from that old pervert again. And where was Karin? Wasn't she usually the one who reeled him in when he was going nuts?
"Knock it off, Dad! It's nothing. I whent to Keigo's house, didn't make out with anybody, lost track of time not making out with anybody, and came home late! Satisfied?" Ichigo prayed his dad would just shut up and let things go, which was the case. Isshin shrugged and headed towards the door, but once he got there, he had one final thing to say.
"Fathering a child is a very difficult responsibility for someone as young as yourself, so-"
Ichigo slammed the door in his face before Isshin could say anymore. He leaned on the door. Thinking back on that seriously wrong conversation, Ichigo didn't get it. His father never cared where he went or when he came home. It was a fact that Ichigo figured out around the same time that the "sneak attacks" started that Isshin cared more about his twin daughters than his first and only son. Isshin must have known that something was up at Soul and was suspicious.
Maybe Ichigo should tell him what happened. His family was involved with the situation, so it was probably best to say something. But those men from that night could have been bluffing. Maybe they didn't know where he lived. Maybe they'd just drop it. Those chances weren't big, but, judging by the way his stomach turned the more he thought about it, he figured it could wait another day.
Or maybe he was just hungry. It did smell like breakfast was ready.
Ichigo made his way downstairs for the usual morning routine. It was the same every day. Ichigo would get downstairs late for breakfast. His sister, Yuzu, would act concerned since he wasn't on time and "couldn't get the proper amount of nutrition" or something like that. Isshin would throw another sneak attack at him, which usually made Karin intervene when the two got too obnoxious. Today, though his sister stayed on her spot on the couch and completely ignored them.
"Why?" was all Ichigo said to Karin when he sat on the couch after his battle.
"You were home late, you deserved it," Karin mumbled, keeping her eyes on the television screen, "Now shut up so I can hear this."
Another ritual thing in Ichigo's home: the Good Morning Pop Hour, an early morning pop culture show that involved a couple of ditzy looking women yammering on about the antics of random celebrities. Most of the time, though, the show revolved around one group of people in particular.
"And here," an over-tanned blonde pointed to a screen behind her, "we have our exclusive look at what happened at the once yearly opening of Soul, along with some video of the Soul Pack!"
"Yes! I've been waiting for this!" Yuzu sprinted from her place at the kitchen sink to the living room couch in no time flat as soon as she heard what was on TV. She curtly shoved a plate of food at Ichigo while plopping down on the couch the opposite side of him.
He mumbled thanks, but knew Yuzu would be too focused on the stars on television to pay attention to him. In fact, both twins were staring at the TV as if it was the most important thing in the world. The image on screen: the infamous "Soul Pack" prancing around half drunk while paparazzi frenzied around them. These where the people Yuzu, Karin, and everyone else Ichigo knew were obsessed with. To be frank, the entire Soul Fad thing drove him insane.
The Soul Pack was a group of annoying skanks and tools to Ichigo. They were all too perfect. The girls were pretty to the point of looking fake and the guys all looked as if they were shooting steroids. Yet, time after time of heckling from normal people (not the ones mesmerized by the Soul-ness), they (as well as Ichigo's sisters) denied anyone having plastic surgery. Right, all of them were just that naturally good looking.
And, Ichigo had thought of this many times before but got yelled at when he voiced his thoughts to his obsessive family, the Soul Pack did absolutely nothing productive with their lives. They didn't have jobs. Ichigo was pretty sure they didn't sell anything that could make them money, since his sisters would be all over those things if they did. They did absolutely nothing and still managed to be some of the richest and most famous people in America.
What were they even famous for, anyway? Everyone knew they were rich and famous, but how exactly did they become celebrities? It seemed like they always had been at the top of the A-List, but Ichigo had no idea when it even started. His best guess was because they went clubbing all the time but that in itself isn't enough to make you famous.
"…last night's gun activity near Soul is actually being linked to the Soul Pack! Can you believe it?" Ichigo was brought out of his thoughts by the blonde's shrill voice. Her jaw hung open as if she just said the most absurd thing in the entire world.
"No!" both Yuzu and Karin cried. Ichigo smirked at Karin who hated getting caught fan-girling, but she just glared in return.
Then again, another option for why the Soul Pack was famous was the drama and intrigue that surrounded them. This wasn't the first time the Pack had been accused of gang violence. It happened to them a couple of times before and, come to think of it, Ichigo was around Soul when he got attacked by those two guys. If the Pack's involvement in the whole gang thing was true, Ichigo knew his family wouldn't believe him if he bothered to tell. In his house, the Soul Pack could do no wrong.
"Dad, can you believe that they think the wonderful Soul Pack is connected to a gang!?" Yuzu cried and waved her arms at the television angrily. Isshin glanced at the screen and sighed.
"No," he started out calmly but then- "those young people are too innocent and loving to be apart of something so horrible! Look at those angelic faces!" Too bad the image on screen was a girl, Rosalinda, Ichigo recognized, who looked as if she was molesting the youngest guy there. Yeah, they were totally innocent. Though, as far as Ichigo could tell, they sure were loving.
"Well then…" Isshin covered his daughters' eyes quickly.
"Hey!" they protested and tried to shove their father's hands away from them.
"Though, if Ichigo wants to look that's fine with him because he's a young man and he has his needs!" Isshin grinned and turned to his son, but Ichigo was already well up the stairs, trying to escape his father's perverted comments.
"Well that wasn't a close call at all."
"Yeah, it could have gone better."
"Could have?"
Rose could have sworn she was by herself when she fell asleep last night, or maybe she was so smashed that she couldn't' remember who she went home with. But why was she hearing so many voices?
"Can you guys shut up so I can sleep?" Rose mumbled and cuddled into the pillow under her head.
"Come on, Sleeping Beauty," Rukia said, "Even Rengiku didn't sleep in this late."
Ah why did she need to be awake? Why were there so many voices? Rose was incredibly drunk last night, so moving around would most likely kick start a possible hangover. Seeing as Rose hated vomit with a passion, she ignored everyone.
"Excuse me," Rose thought she heard Kiesuke mumble something just before she got drenched with something cold.
She shot up and screamed from the ice cold water and looked around the room, eyes wide. Rose quickly took in the faces of her friends, most amused by her very rude awakening. Then she observed the familiar monochromatic room where all but the couch was the same grey color, then stared at that comfy black leather couch she was sitting on. Renji sighed impatiently. He could almost hear the gears turning in her head.
"Oh," Rose finally looked up slowly and scratched the back of her neck, "was there a meeting today?"
"Oh no! Of course not," Toshiro rolled his eyes while trying to keep back a smirk, "We're all just gathered in Kieskue's to watch you sleep in the nude."
Rose glanced at her favorite set of Louis Vutton lingerie that she was still wearing from that night. Rose then proceeded to smack Renji for quote "dragging me [her] in my sleep to Kieskue's stupid base (no offense Kiesuke) without letting me even get decent". Which Renji responded to in a panic with "I [Renji] had to get you [Rose] to come because everyone else was there and it's really freaking hard to get you up the morning after you get drunk".
And so after Rose's argument with her friend, Rukia handed Rose her clothes with a laugh. Kiesuke started to talk while she got dressed.
"Well now that everyone's conscious," Kiesuke smirked when he saw that Rose was still death glaring at Renji, "we have to talk about last night's attack."
The room grew silent. Rose quickly finished putting on her clothes and sat down. Everyone knew that last night was a close call. They all could have been exposed and, even worse, innocent lives could have been lost. But on a superficial note, everyone in the room sighed in relief for themselves. They were glad no one was put in jail. If they didn't have that amnesia educing gas or that subliminal message music track, everyone would have been panicked and angry instead of happily drunk at the end of the night.
"Now we've got that whole 'Soul Pack Gang Leaders' thing on our heads again," Rengiku sighed, breaking the silence.
"That's true," Kiesuke sighed quietly. He decided what he was going to tackle first.
Rose shook her head. The press and paparazzi were always looking for ways to bring the seemingly untouchable group of socialites down, but this particular rumor was partially true. Though Rose could say that they were far from just a "gang", they were Reapers, which were completely different. The Reapers were and ancient underground society spread across the nations dedicated to keep the world's order or, at least that's what Rose was always told.
"You see," Kiesuke started abruptly, pulling Rose out of her thoughts, "that attack last night wasn't very characteristic of the Hollows."
"Exactly, Yoruichi chimed in, "this attack was much too complicated for them. It was too well planned out."
"Right, because the Hollows are just as smart as they are beautiful," Yumichika said sarcastically with a flip of his hair.
"No one asked you, Chika," Rose mumbled, already annoyed with Yumichika's cocky attitude. It was too early in the morning to listen to his crap.
"Well somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…" Rengiku giggled.
"I didn't wake up on a bed. I woke up on a couch thanks to someone around here," Rose stuck her tongue out at Renji, but before the redhead could do anything about it, Kiesuke cut in.
"Excuse me, but we do have some serious things to talk about," though he shouldn't have been surprised. As good fighters as they were, his Reapers had very short attention spans. It was rare any serious conversation could be kept without someone finding something to argue about.
"We have reason to believe that the Hollows weren't acting alone when they attacked last night," Yoruichi said. Her face went from the amusement of her Reapers to hardness when the Hollows were mentioned.
It was obvious everyone was lost when Yoruichi told them this, but Rose couldn't help the feeling of deja-vu. She never remembered Hollows working with others the entire time she was a Reaper, and yet the conversation seemed familiar.
"I can tell you're confused, but this was before your time, so you wouldn't really remember," Kiesuke started, talking from under the rim of his hat, "but almost 30 years ago, the Hollows weren't in existence. They were known as Arrancars then. I can't tell you much about them right now, since it's against Society rules to talk about this and it isn't confirmed that that's who were against, but they were a bit more violent than the Hollows. They also had knowledge of Reaper weaponry, fighting style, and other classified information."
"Which they studied through their trademark surveillance and hacking techniques," Yoruichi chimed in, "The attack wasn't too different than what the old Arrancar attacks were. Last night all of our systems, cameras, computers, anything electronic was hacked. It must have been a sound bug, something that let all of our electronics deliver the vibrations of noise to them. It's more advanced than what the Arrancars used to use, but then again, technology knows no bounds…" she trailed off, sounding as if she was talking to herself.
"So… what's to say that they aren't listening to us now?" Toshiro asked.
"Don't worry, I saved all our systems," Yoruichi grinned, happy with her work.
"And even if she didn't, though I highly doubt it considering how brilliant Yoruichi is with these things," Kiesuke smiled at Yoruichi warmly and confidently, "it's not like we're talking about anything they don't know already."
That much was true. They only talked about what happened last night and about how the Arrancars were suspected. Nothing secretive was discussed at all yet. But, Rose thought, it would have been extremely embarrassing since she had that argument with Renji.
"Oh, and by the way," Kiesuke turned to the gigantic flat screen behind him, "they have a new target." Everyone froze in their places, confused.
"They're planning on killing someone? What's new?" Renji stated the obvious.
"Well, no. Its more like a new recruit," Kiesuke messed with the buttons on the remote to the TV. The scenes flashed by quickly but everyone knew what was going on. It was the back alley of Soul. The Hollows were running in through the back door which was, sadly, easily broken through. The time in the corner of the screen ticked away, minutes on the tape passed in seconds while Kiesuke mumbled.
"Ah, here we go," Kiesuke pressed play on the remote and let the tape play out.
It was two Hollows on screen now. It looked like they had cornered someone in the alley. Someone with bright orange hair came on screen. He was fighting the two off.
"This is who they've decided to recruit," Kiesuke paused again when the boy's face was completely on screen and made the picture become a close up. Rose could tell even from the blurry surveillance video that he was quite good looking. Also, Rose noticed while starring at him more that even though he was against two gang members with guns alone in the alley, he looked extremely clam.
"As you can see," Kiesuke pressed play again, letting the boy on screen kick some Hollow butt (Rose grinned to herself. He was hott and a natural fighter? It was almost too much for her to take quietly), "he's not all too interested."
"Well he took care of those Hollows quick enough," Ikkaku nodded, "we're the ones that should be recruiting him." He smirked and Rose could practically tell what he was thinking from it. It was something along the lines of 'He's good, but I could so totally kick his ass.'
"That's actually our plan," Kiesuke rewound the tape so they could see the boy's face again; "This is Ichigo Kurosaki. He's important to the Hollows (Kiesuke mumbled the next part,) for some classified reason (and returned his tone to normal) so now we need him on our side for protection. Plus he is a very good fighter so he could be helpful to our cause."
Rose thought she heard Yoruichi mumble something about "how grown he's gotten" but Rose wasn't exactly all there that morning because of the whole hangover effects setting in, so she may have misheard.
Though, Rose knew Kiesuke said that the reason Ichigo was wanted was "classified". She surely wasn't imagining that, but Rose really wanted to know why. It was obvious that the guy could fight, but why should the Hollows choose him out of the tons of people in the city?
Rose's headache was keeping her from thinking, so she figured she'd get the reason out of Kiesuke after she downed the bottle of aspirin.
A Phone Conversation
"Hello?"
"Kiesuke."
"Oh my, it's been a while since I've heard from you, hasn't it?"
"Yes," the man sighed, "but I didn't exactly call to catch up with you."
"Well, to what do I owe this rare conversation, then?"
"I heard about what happened last night."
"I'd be surprised if you didn't," Kiesuke chuckled, "what with all this publicity nowadays."
"True, it's gotten worse since we were the ones in the spotlight."
There was silence, each man pausing for the serious conversation they knew was coming.
"My son was at Soul last night, wasn't he?"
"Yes, but Tessai tried to get him and his friends to hurry home. They were rejected at the door, and it looked like they were going to leave, but…"
"Ichigo came back."
"Right, but it was only because he was being trailed, from what I could gather."
"I figured as much. He did seem a bit off this morning."
"They know he's your son, Issin. They want him on their side."
"That won't be happening anytime soon. He has a good head on his shoulders, but I'm hoping your promise is pulling through."
"You know me; I'm a man of my word. I've just briefed my Reapers on the situation and, from the way she lit up when she saw your son, it seems like Rosalinda was very excited to move on with this new mission."
"Well, what can I say? He got his looks from his old man."
"Always the humble one, with you. And by the way, Rose is exactly like her mother."
"Oh, I've seen," he chuckled, "so I guess your job is going to be easy."
"I wouldn't say that, but don't worry. I've got everything covered."
