Kickin' It!
Ch. 2: Stranger Danger!

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez…," Rukia murmured to herself during class. What a crazy guy.

It had been a day since the whole gun incident and Rukia was still shaken up. She had never, ever had someone point a weapon at her before in her life. Despite the chaotic fear Rukia had felt during the confrontation, it was almost sort of fun.

Maybe that's going a bit too far. Rukia thought. It was…

Different, Rukia concluded.

Grimmjow was definitely someone different. She had seen some crazy looking guys before, like her friend Renji, and the couple that used to live next door to her, Ikkaku and Yumichika, but Grimmjow took the cake. His spiky hair and blinding smile could be spotted from a mile away. As well as his tan skin. And the tattoos.

Rukia could feel herself blushing and she shook her head. Okay, so she thought Grimmjow was attractive. She tried to not start fantasizing. The guy was some gangster punk and she was a little schoolgirl. It would never work out.

Suddenly, a pink eraser head bounced off of Rukia's forehead.

"Ow!" She yelped, immediately rubbing the spot that got hit. She looked up to see her Chemistry teacher, Mr. Iba, scowling at her through his black shades.

"Look alive, Miss Kuchiki!" He said to her in a stern voice. A few giggles could be heard around the class.

"S-sorry, Mr. Iba," Rukia replied.

The rest of the school day went by slowly until the final bell rang. Rukia departed from her friends and walked with Tatsuki into the girl's gym locker.

"Hey, did you see the shooting yesterday? It happened right by the school!" Tatsuki asked as they were changing into their soccer uniforms. Rukia jumped slightly at the word 'shooting' but answered quickly.

"No, I went home a little early yesterday because I was really tired. I saw it all on the news though!"

Half of that was true. When Rukia got home and turned on the TV, the local news station was already doing a report on the incident. The pale guy and the huge guy apparently got away. A lot of civilians were answering questions and they even showed a little video clip from someone's cell phone.

Rukia almost panicked upon seeing that, but fortunately all the video showed was the pale guy shooting at Grimmjow as he ran down the street.

"I heard it had to do with the Espada," Tatsuki said in a low, curious whisper. Rukia blinked at the word.

"Espada? What on Earth is that?" Rukia questioned. Tatsuki's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief.

"You don't know what the Espada is!" she exclaimed. A few other girls in the room turned their heads.

"They're pretty much the most powerful yakuza this side of Tokyo!" a girl by the name of Hiyori piped in.

"It's true!" Tatsuki agreed. "Remember that huge shooting in Hachioji(1) a year back? I heard that happened because the Espada had tried to get rid of one of their rival gangs."

"And you know how there's been this whole drug craze across the country? It's because of the Espada!" Hiyori added.

"Here's something interesting," a girl named Hinamori came into the conversation. "There was this lady I knew named Rangiku. Her fiancé, Gin, was apparently involved with the Espada. Then one day, he just went missing. "

"That happened to one of my cousins!" someone else joined in.

Rukia was very surprised at how many people knew about the Espada. How come she had never heard of them before?

"Alright girls!" the soccer team coach, Soifon, called from the entrance of the gym locker. "Enough with the chitchat, it's time for practice!"

As the team filed out and dispersed across the field, all Rukia could think about was the Espada. Was that Grimmjow guy involved with them? What did he do to cause such a fiasco? Her thoughts were interrupted by Soifon.

"Rukia! Get in focus!" her coach yelled. "The game is only three days away!"

Rukia nodded with determination. What was she doing worrying about that Grimmjow guy and the Espada anyways? They had nothing to do with her and she had a lot more important things to think about. Clearing her mind of everything besides soccer, Rukia started to do her drills with one of her teammates.

As they were finishing up their drills, Rukia noticed that a black car was pulling up by the side of the field. She couldn't see anyone through the tinted windows but she knew there was going to be trouble.

Aizen had his back facing Ulquiorra and Yammy. With one hand in his pocket and the other toying with two dice, he was staring out of the floor to ceiling length windows of his office. The room was deadly quiet, except for the metallic sound of the two die being rotated around each other. Yammy was shaking while Ulquiorra looked blank. Despite their difference in appearance, the both of them could sense that they were in some deep doo-doo.

"It looks rather pleasant outside, does it not?" Aizen finally said. Aizen turned to face his subordinates. His smiling face instilled both comfort and fear in the two men in front of him. It was more fear than comfort on Yammy's part, though.

"Tell me," Aizen inquired as he sat down at his desk. "How long have the both of you worked for me?"

"Almost a year now, Mr. Aizen," Ulquiorra answered firmly.

"Th-The same goes for me, sir," Yammy stuttered.

"I haven't given you two a break and nor have you both asked for one," Aizen acknowledged. The dice made a sharp sound against the glass desk when Aizen set them down.

"I do believe that the clumsy performance you two made yesterday was because of the lack of rest you've both have had," Aizen explained. Ulquiorra frowned bitterly at the word 'clumsy'.

"So, I've decided to give you two a break. The rest of this week, the both of you are allowed to do whatever you please." Aizen said with a smile.

Yammy looked completely shocked. He didn't expect Aizen to be so benevolent. He really thought he was going to lose a finger or hand today. Or his life.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Aizen!" Yammy couldn't contain his joy. Ulquiorra on the other hand looked stern.

"Are you sure that this is alright, Mr. Aizen?" Ulquiorra asked. Aizen smiled reassuringly to the pale man.

"You both deserve this. You've been very busy little bees."

Once the two left, Aizen ran a hand through his hair. His façade of being a merciful man was getting a bit tiring.

"Why didn't ya just kill 'em?" A voice said from the office entrance. Aizen smirked.

"Now where's the grace in that?" Aizen replied. "Have a seat, Gin."

Gin walked in with his hands in his pockets. He made his way to the couch and seated himself and crossed his legs in a businesslike fashion, his hands still in his pockets.

"That's a nice suit," Aizen observed. Gin's mouth formed into a fox like grin.

"Thanks. It's Armani."

Aizen chuckled. "You're quite the spender, Gin. Cigar?"

Gin nodded and Aizen opened a desk drawer. He took out a box of cigars and displayed it to Gin. Gin took one out and Aizen did the same. As Aizen set the box down, Gin played with the cigar in his hand.

"Gurkha(2)? Now look who's the spender."

After Aizen lit the both of their cigars and sat down in the armchair across from Gin, he rested his face onto his palm.

"Let's start talking business," Aizen announced. "I must admit, I'm a bit worried about Grimmjow."

Gin shrugged. "The boy's just cocky. He'll be crawling back here for more work soon enough."

"No, he won't." Aizen contradicted.

"Oh? An' why's that?"

"He won't need any more work," Aizen replied. "He re-routed the drug shipment."

Gin's eyebrows raised in interest.

"Now where and when did Grimmjow find out how ta do that?"

Aizen let out a breath of air and leaned back. "I don't know. What I do know though is that my product isn't going to be delivered to Manila(3) as I planned."

Gin took a deep drag of his cigar. He watched the smoke float into the air above him.

"So just what do you think we should do now?"

Aizen stared at him, long and hard; the gentle, father-like gaze that he had before dissipated.

"I think we need to find out where Grimmjow is," Aizen said icily. "And I think this girl has some very valuable information for us."

Aizen took out a photo from his breast pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. It was a blurry, black and white photo; a blurry, black and white photo of Rukia.

Rukia felt sick. She wasn't coming down with a cold or anything but deep down in her gut there was a massive pit of anxiety and fear beginning to swirl. The car she had seen during practice didn't leave until Soifon announced they could go back to the lockers. No one else even noticed the car. Rukia was starting to believe she was just getting paranoid, but she could feel eyes on her. She could feel that she was being watched.

Back in the lockers, Rukia quickly washed her face and got a drink of water from the fountain. She didn't even bother changing out of her soccer uniform. All she wanted to do was go home.

As Rukia stuffed her things in her bag, a note fell out. She picked it up and looked at it. A phone number in messy writing was scrawled across it.

"Hey," Grimmjow had said to her the other day. "Since you saved my life I guess I owe you one."

Rukia remembered how he ripped some paper from a nearby poster and quickly wrote his number on it. After that they parted ways.

Rukia crumpled the paper and threw it back into her bag. What a horrible guy. He was the one that got her into his mess. Just how was he going to help her now?

"Hey, Rukia! You wanna come get something to eat with Hiyori and me?" Tatsuki asked as she tugged her pants on. "We're gonna meet up with Orihime too."

Rukia slung her bag over her shoulder and shook her head.

"Sorry, but I'm feeling kind of dizzy. I just want to go home," she said. Tatsuki's expression looked worried.

"Oh, ok," she said. "I hope you feel better."

"Thanks," was all Rukia could say in reply.

Before she left, Soifon stopped her.

"Rukia, are you feeling alright?" Soifon inquired. Her tone was firm but caring.

"You seemed distracted during practice. Was it because of that car?"

Rukia felt her insides shift. It was a bit relieving that her coach had noticed the car too, but it kept her thinking of her fears and anxieties.

"Yeah, Coach," Rukia said. "I just…I felt like someone was watching me."

Soifon's eyebrows rose. "Has someone been bothering you, Rukia?"

"N-no, it's just, well…I don't know, I just felt like I was being watched," Rukia tried to explain herself.

"Would you like me to drive you home tonight?" Soifon asked. She was genuinely worried now. She didn't want any of her team members in danger.

Rukia shook her head for the second time that evening.

"I'll be fine!" Rukia reassured her. Soifon crossed her arms.

"Alright," her coach sighed. "But if anything happens don't be foolish. Call the authorities right away."

Rukia rushed home after that. The sun was starting to set and Rukia didn't want to be caught alone at nighttime. The last glimpses of sunshine were beginning to disappear right as Rukia got to her apartment building. When the elevator opening to her floor she ran to the apartment and quickly went inside.

Once she secured all the locks, she leaned against the door and let out a long breath of relief. After setting her things by her room, Rukia changed out of her uniform into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

As she clicked on the TV and sat down on the couch Rukia dialed her brother's number on her cell phone.

"Hello?" he answered with his usual strict tone. Rukia was immediately calmed when she heard his familiar voice.

"Hi, Byakuya," Rukia greeted him.

"Oh, hello Rukia," Byakuya's tone softened a bit. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Rukia replied. "How did the meeting go?"

Byakuya was often away on business trips. He was a very successful businessman and valued by his company. This showed in the furniture and design of their apartment. Persian rugs, polished wood floors, vintage dining table, shiny kitchen appliances; the list went on.

"It was quite tiring," Byakuya began. "I'm trying to get this man's business up and running but he hasn't a clue about good marketing."

Rukia smiled. "I'm sure you'll whip them into shape."

"I sure hope so."

"I'm sorry darling, but I need to go now," Byakuya apologized. "I have a dinner appointment with some associates."

"Wait," Rukia blurted. "When will you be hom-"

"I'll be home by the end of the week," Byakuya interrupted her. Rukia bit her lip.

"Will you be here for my soccer game?"

She could hear Byakuya sigh. "I don't know darling, but I'll try."

After they said their goodbyes, Rukia threw the cell phone on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest. She was going to be alone for the rest of the week. She had done this countless of times before, but not when she was worrying about someone stalking her.

Rukia took in a deep breath.

I'll be fine, she assured herself. Like Coach said, if anything goes wrong I'll just call the police.

Her newfound confidence went away just as quickly as it came when Rukia heard a knock on the door.

Notes

1) Hachioji is a city located in the Tokyo prefecture. While I was searching places up I was really surprised to find out that Tokyo is a prefecture, not just a huge mother of a city. Man, did I feel dumb.

2) Gurkha is a cigar brand and a really expensive one at that. Their cigars can run from $750-$1,150 USD for only one cigar. A chest of Gurkha Black Dragons costs over $100,000 USD. (I love giving out useless info…) I always imagined that Aizen would be one of those really big spenders, business tycoon types.

3) Manila is the capital of the Philippines. I really just wanted to throw in the Philippines since I'm Filipino, bahaha!

A/N: Thanks for reading chapter two! There wasn't much of Grimmjow in this chapter, I know. He'll be making his second big appearance in chapter two though, so stay tuned! Anyways, please review and tell me what you think of what's going on so far. Thanks again!