So...apparently people like the fic so far, which is good cuz I wasn't sure what reception it would get. You guys have probably noticed, but I'm trying to be as realistic as possible. I'm also trying not to have Kubo Tite's charries be too OOC. If someone sees a loophole, please tell me. I came across a bunch when writing this, but I've gone back and corrected them (we can only hope that I didn't miss any xAx). Hope y'all enjoy this (you avid fanfiction readers you x3)!
I forgot this in the first chapter, but… I don't own any of Kubo Tite's characters or storyline (but if I did~ Ichigo and Rukia would have done it chapters ago XD)
In the hospital, Rukia sat by Byakuya's bed as she watched his sleeping form, her eyes full of worry. Kaien came in with two cups of coffee, handing one to Rukia before going to sit down in a chair in the corner of the room. Kaien took a sip as he watched her. Instead of drinking, Rukia just held the steaming cup in her hands as she continued to watch over Byakuya. Kaien looked at the heart monitor. He hoped and knew that Byakuya would live, for Rukia's sake at least. Soon a nurse came in and asked Kaien, since he was not a family member, to leave because visiting hours were long over. Offering to take Rukia back, the young woman said that she wouldn't mind staying there overnight. When the nurse and Kaien left the room, Rukia took a sip of her coffee. It was still warm and helped calm her nerves down a bit. Looking at her brother sadly, Rukia didn't even hear the door of the room opening.
Kurosaki Ichigo closed the door softly as he watched Rukia carefully, a bouquet of flowers behind his back. It was then that Rukia quickly looked up, her eyes somewhat alarmed by his sudden appearance. He reassured her that it was okay with a smile, before taking a few steps forward and holding out the flowers. "I'm from your brother's corporation. I was recently hired to work in his office. My name is Nakamura Jin." Walking up to the small table at the end of the bed, Ichigo placed the flowers down. Rukia watched him the whole time with firm eyes.
"…how did you know my brother was at the hospital?" She had never met or heard about this man before in her life. She wanted to be certain about his story. It took a lot to get Rukia to trust you.
"Shiba-san called me. I have worked closely with both of them in the past few days and Kuchiki-san helped me get settled into my new office. So how could I not come by and visit to make sure he was okay?" Ichigo gave a warm smile, making sure to sell the lie, but it seemed that Rukia wasn't fully convinced. As she continued to observe the man, the more certain she felt that he wasn't the person he claimed to be. She had a gut feeling, that this man, this 'Nakamura Jin'...was the man who had tried to kill her brother. When the assassin was running off into the night, Rukia could have sworn that she had seen a flash of orange.
"…what do you do in my brother's office?"
"Mostly answer the phone, head up the management team, stuff like that. I'm pretty new to the job, so I couldn't give you the full details…" Rukia squinted her eyes, absolutely sure that this man didn't work in her brother's office. She knew everyone that worked there, and never before had she heard of this man. Plus she usually talked to Kaien about happenings in the office. He would have certainly mentioned this guy days ago.
Placing her coffee down on the nightstand, she stood up and walked over to Ichigo, her face determined to find out the truth. Standing more than a foot away from the orange-haired man, Rukia's hands were clenched into fists at her sides. What should she do? He was probably armed and knew other ways to kill people without a weapon. Should she scream? Run to the door and run down the hallway to the nurses' station? Rukia could see that this man was toned and athletic looking. He could easily stop her.
Behind his soft looking-eyes Ichigo was glaring. This kid knew something was up. His damn lie didn't work, and now he would have to kill her quickly before she pulled some stunt. Sauntering up to Rukia, his hands in his pockets, Ichigo smirked down at her. He, without a doubt, could deal with this girl in seconds. But just how loud and fast could she scream?
"…who are you?" Rukia began to slowly back up, making sure to keep some distance between herself and the man. Her eyes quickly darted around for some kind of weapon, but none were to be seen.
"I already told you. I'm Nakamura Jin, and I work for your brother's company." Ichigo took one step after the other, noticing how his movement made Rukia back up even further. Soon, there would be nowhere for her to go.
"That's a lie and you and I both know it," Ichigo stopped suddenly which made Rukia gasp quietly in surprise. His eyes were angry and his eyebrows furrowed.
"So you figured it out. Kudos to you," Rukia glared up at Ichigo before turning her head quickly to look at her brother, his chest rising and falling slowly. Taking what looked to be a defensive stance, Rukia readied herself for an attack. Ichigo lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
"Heh, what are you doing midget? You gonna to fight me?" His mocking tone made Rukia want to punch him in the face.
"If I have to, yes."
"I must admit…you got guts. But you can't beat me, Rukia." Rukia clenched her teeth in anger. How dare this man use her first name so nonchalantly!
"I won't let you kill my brother."
"Look kid, I don't have a choice. It's my job so I gotta do it."
"What do you mean your job?"
"I'm a contract killer. He's my target. Doesn't matter what he did or who he is. He's my mark, and I hafta kill him. And if you didn't get in the way, I wouldn't have to kill you too." Right then Rukia made her move. She abruptly darted forward to run past Ichigo to the door, but he caught her just as she rushed by him. Flailing, Rukia grunted, trying to wriggle free of his grip. He had one arm around her waist, holding her tight to his torso. The other arm was pinning her shoulders down, preventing Rukia's arms from moving too much.
"Let me go you bastard!" Ichigo then squeezed harder and Rukia stopped moving all together. She felt like her bones would be crushed, the man was too strong. Clenching her teeth, Rukia closed her eyes. She wanted the pain to end and fast. Her feet were no longer touching the ground as Ichigo held onto her, mostly because he was over six feet and she was just above five.
"Make any more moves, and I'll kill you faster than you can scream your brother's name." Opening her eyes, Rukia let her body go loose, to which Ichigo lessened his grip a bit. Glad that it was no longer painful, Rukia lifted her head up, trying to get a glimpse of her captor's face. Ichigo scoffed as he looked at her 'belligerent' expression. He had to admit…the girl seemed kind of cute angry.
"Okay midget. You and I know both know how this is gonna go down." Rukia's eyes didn't waver one bit as Ichigo stated the obvious. She was going to die, and it most likely wouldn't be in the hospital. She suddenly wished that guards were put outside the room, but since none of the policemen thought it was necessary, Rukia and Byakuya were left unprotected. "I'm going to kill your brother, and then we're going to leave this room, and we're going to do so silently. We'll make it look like I'm comforting you and taking you home. You will not say a word to anyone. Make one gesture, and things will go from bad to worse."
Rukia could tell that the man was being serious, but she had to do something. She couldn't let her older brother, her only family left be killed in front of her eyes. But what could she do? She was driven into a corner, but did she even have the power to bite?
Just then the door slowly opened. Ichigo quickly let go of Rukia, and once her feet touched the floor, he snaked both of his arms around her waist. She didn't even have time to react as Kaien stepped into the room. He had been worried about leaving Rukia there all alone. "Hey, Kuchiki, I was on my way home when I just couldn't-" Kaien stopped and his facial expression turned from pleasant to surprised. In front of him, Rukia stood with a man holding onto her intimately. Ichigo smiled at Kaien while Rukia's expression was blank. She had had very little time to hide her fear.
"Who…who is this Kuchiki?" Kaien's feelings could have been mistaken for annoyed or angry as his eyebrows wrinkled while staring at the pair. Rukia would have certainly mentioned a boyfriend or a boy she felt close to, but she had mentioned neither…so…who was this man?
"I'm a close friend of Rukia's. The name is Nakamura Jin." Rukia wanted to scream at Kaien that it was a lie, but Ichigo squeezed her to warn her not to. Rukia then quickly closed her mouth and stared at Kaien, hoping that he would leave before he got threatened with his life as well. Kaien was, like Rukia, somewhat unconvinced of Ichigo's story, but Rukia soon reassured him that it was okay.
"Jin is a good friend, Kaien-san. He's one of the lawyers I talked to for my senior project." To this Kaien gave a look of understanding before nodding, his usual smile returning to his face.
"Ah, of course, of course. Sorry if I seemed a little forward there Nakamura-san." Rukia gave a small smile and Ichigo scoffed.
"No worries Shiba-san." Kaien looked slightly amazed.
"Eh, I didn't even introduce myself, yet you knew my name." Rukia looked up at Ichigo before he gave a nervous laugh. Shit, he had managed to fuck up again, and he needed to cover his ass, and fast.
"Rukia has told me a lot about you, so I assumed that you were Shiba Kaien." Kaien gave a hearty laugh before scratching the back of his head.
"I guess I'm the only Kaien that Kuchiki knows." Kaien smiled before returning his hands to his pockets. "But still, you-" Kaien gave a sudden grunt as his eyes widened. Both Ichigo and Rukia were alarmed by the man's abrupt action.
"K-Kaien!" Rukia struggled against Ichigo's grip, however, he only held onto her even tighter. "L-Let go of me!" Ichigo wasn't glaring at Kaien but past him as he straightened up, keeping only one arm around Rukia's body. In a couple of seconds Kaien collapsed to the ground, blood on his lips. Rukia struggled as she tried to get to his side, but failed. There was a knife wound in his back. Quickly looking up, tears in her eyes, Rukia was greeted with a ferocious looking man with electric blue hair. He was wearing a pair of torn up jeans and a t-shirt, but what was even more noticeable than his hair was his sadistic grin. He toyed with his knife as he looked at the pair.
"Found yourself a pretty girl, eh Ichigo?"
"Grimmjow," Rukia stopped struggling and leaned her head back to look at him. So that was his real name...Ichigo.
"Sorry I had put a stop to yer fun, but I got some fun of my own ta do." Grimmjow grinned as he pointed his knife at Byakuya. Rukia immediately glowered at him, along with Ichigo. Grimmjow laughed as he kicked the door closed with the back of his foot. He then sauntered towards the pair, smirking at them with pleasure.
"…why are you here Grimmjow? It hasn't been an hour yet." With only a few inches between them, Grimmjow stopped in front of Ichigo and Rukia, his thumbs hooked in his pockets. He made sure to keep his knife visible.
"What can I say? Ya fucked up. So them pen-pushers sent me here ta make sure you got the job done." Ichigo clenched his jaw as Grimmjow's face lit up at the thought of what his own comment meant. Rukia, however, was lost in what was being said. She didn't understand the relationship between the two men. It was competitive. They weren't exactly friends nor were they enemies, but Grimmjow would do anything to top Ichigo. Since he fucked up, Grimmjow then had the chance to fulfill the order of killing Kurosaki Ichigo if he failed to kill the target. And currently, that's what Grimmjow saw, a failure.
"You bastard. You know you won't win."
"Maybe, maybe not," Grimmjow walked to the right of Ichigo and began to circle the orange- haired man and Rukia, his eyes raking over Rukia as if she were some kind of object. He then stopped in front of the pair once again. Unhooking his hands from his pockets, Grimmjow held his knife up; almost admiring the blade as he softly ran his finger along the edge. Rukia could feel Ichigo's body tense up behind her. "Doesn't mean I won't kill ya."
"Why would you though?" Both men were slightly surprised by the girl's question. Grimmjow snickered as Ichigo stared down at her, unsure of what to say.
"In our line of business girlie, you got the top dogs and you got the worker dogs. But there are better worker dogs than others. So Ichigo here, as dumb as he looks, is a top worker dog. One of the best. Me? I'm better than him, yet, he's apparently better than me." Ichigo slowly took in a deep breath to keep his calm. He didn't want to beat Grimmjow into a pulp just yet.
"So in other words, if you kill him, you'll get his place."
"Bingo. You're not just some sex doll after all." Rukia quickly reminded herself to keep herself under control because like Ichigo, this guy could kill her too.
"But isn't he your comrade? You can't just kill him off can you?" Grimmjow gave a look of disgust as Ichigo looked at the watch on his unoccupied arm.
"You serious? Me and him? Comrades? I may know the dumb bucket of shit, but I ain't his friend. As far as I'm concerned, he's an obstacle," Ichigo scowled at Grimmjow's snide comment and facial expression. "Yeah, an hour ain't up, but who's ta know? Since when do the dead speak?"
Rukia stared at Grimmjow in horror. Now it all made sense. It didn't matter if Ichigo had completed the job or not. Grimmjow planned on killing him from the start when he was given the order. He would kill Ichigo, become one of the best contract killers, and even score extra points for taking care of the targets. Rukia suddenly felt as if she was going to be sick. If Ichigo hadn't been holding her up, she would have fallen to the ground.
"So now you know my master plan," Grimmjow snickered as he walked towards Byakuya's bed, while Ichigo, along with Rukia, turned in his direction. It wasn't smart to keep your unguarded back facing your assailant. "Guess that means it's time for happy hour ta start." Looking down at the sleeping Byakua, Grimmjow's face went passive as his body came to a stop. Why do you ask? Well…there wasn't much fun in killing an injured or sleeping person. Grimmjow was the type who liked it when his food fought back.
Rukia, although her face no longer displayed her horror, was even more disturbed by what Grimmjow had just said. He simply enjoyed killing people, versus Ichigo, who apparently took no pleasure in murder. Looking down at Kaien to see if he was okay, Rukia verified with her eyes that he was still breathing, but obviously bleeding from his wound. Tentatively moving her head to watch Grimmjow, she was partially stunned by his change in expression. At that moment, Rukia was no longer certain if this sadistic human being would end her brother's life or not.
Ichigo, instead of worrying, was formulating possible outcomes of what might happen. The best solution was to run the fuck out of there. Grimmjow would most likely chase them down, but at least they could get a good head start. Yes…they; he couldn't just leave the girl. The brother had a chance, but the girl…leaving her would be the same as killing her in cold blood with his own two hands. Slowly, and quietly, taking step after step towards the door, Ichigo's eyes were trained on Grimmjow's still form. One false move, and the blue-headed panther would be on them in seconds.
"…where the fuck you going ya piece of shit?" Grimmjow snarled, his eyes unmoving. Ichigo immediately stopped and Rukia held her breath. They were both observing him, making sure that they could respond in time if Grimmjow decided to make his move. Glaring at the two out of the corner of his eye, Grimmjow watched them with an upturned lip. He thought that Ichigo would be at a lesser advantage with the kid, but knowing the orange-head, the guy could probably come up with a decent escape plan. Too bad today was not his day.
It seemed to Rukia that everyone could hear her heart beat. She wasn't just freaking out on the inside, she was terrified. Looking from Ichigo, to Kaien, and back to Grimmjow, she didn't know what would happen next. Would she be strangled? Beaten? Stabbed like Kaien? It took a second for Rukia to realize that they were screwed, but it took a few more seconds for her to realize that Ichigo was their only hope.
Okay folks, be honest when answering this question…who was upset when Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez died in Bleach? Seriously, I was mad, but alas, I knew that it couldn't be helped. Character death is a necessity for a plot to move forward (as well as for a character to develop)! Yes guys, I am foreshadowing something, get excited 83
