.
Not your type
(but I can make you sway)
.
It's not stalkerish, he tells himself as he proceeds to be stalkerish. It isn't like he's following her or anything – he had people for that – not that he sent anyone – he isn't an idiot. He knows her brother is keeping an eye on her, Ichigo would.
Kuchiki Rukia was the only daughter of one of the oldest crime families in Japan, and no matter how much of a frigid asshole Byakuya is, he's notoriously overprotective of her if the measures he took was any indication. Careful to keep her name out of the books, and erasing any mention of her within the family to secure her safety; most people didn't even know she existed.
It was those kinds of tactics that were a double-edged sword for the Kuchiki heirs.
Byakuya's actions, well-intentioned as they are, held no question as to how important his only sister was to him; any failure on his part to protect her would be devastating for him.
As for Rukia, she knew nothing of her life on the other side of the law, at least not until a few years ago, from what Ichigo could gather. Regardless, of her minimal involvement thus far in the crime family chessboard, a bargaining chip was a bargaining chip, and Ichigo would find use of her.
It's why Ichigo, upon accidentally meeting her behind a Starbucks two months ago, resolved to find out everything about her.
Byakuya ran the family business with an iron fist in a silk glove, he rarely ever resorted to violence, preferring hostile takeovers and corporate espionage to get what he wanted; sophistication was in his DNA, and every action he ordered was done with intention – each move calculated, but seemingly insignificant to his opponents. To have the upper hand on him in any way would be advantageous for Ichigo's own plans to extend the influence of the Shiba family, and to her credit, Rukia doesn't make it easy for him.
She'd successfully hidden right under his nose for almost three years, after all.
Predictably, she changed her last name in order to study incognito. She lived off campus in a nondescript apartment block; taking seemingly random classes at the university that were a blend of finance, business, political science and international diplomacy sprinkled in with electives of literature and language courses in English, Mandarin and Korean. She drifted in and out of lecture halls like a ghost; being careful to do well enough to pass with honours, but not well enough to be of interest to any of the professors.
Rukia was polite and unassuming; her persona perfectly crafted to be forgettable.
Not that she is, really.
His interest in her after finding out her identity was done with all the subtly of a star falling out of the sky.
Uryuu had literally facepalmed a desk when he found out, but it certainly got her attention which was exactly what Ichigo intended.
The problem with a girl like Kuchiki Rukia though, was that she could smell bullshit a mile away, and just like her brother, she was cautious and wary by nature. Getting through that barrier required more from him than he thought especially as he found himself invested in her in more ways than he planned, though had been careful not to think about.
Until:
"Who's that?" Yuzu asks.
His little sister liked to drop by to make sure he was taking care of himself. Mostly by taking over his couch and leaning in close to get a better look at his laptop screen. Usually, this would be followed by commentary on his latest targets or the progress of recent family business. This time though, that isn't what she's referring to.
While the screen was taken up mostly be a report he needed to look over, a merger proposal by a gang he had shaken up a few weeks earlier, Yuzu's attention is on a smaller window overlapping that is a rare picture he found of Rukia at her boarding school.
Byakuya had managed to delete most of her online presence as Kuchiki Rukia which was why this one was so surprising.
Not only that Ichigo had found it, but that she looked so different in it, he'd tease her about the haircut if it didn't completely blow the fact that he knew who she was. Still, looking at it alone was enough to amuse him while sifting through the Karakura Seven's legal bullshit. He almost missed being one of his father's enforcers. Almost.
Impatiently, Yuzu prods, "Ichi-nii."
"Nn?"
"Who is that?" she asks again, pouting at being ignored.
Passing a glance at Rukia smiling at him as he finishes another paragraph, he replies, "Someone important."
To that, her consideration is done in silence, before, "Ano, important like family business-important or girlfriend-important?"
The reply comes easily and without much thought, "Both", and that's how quickly he realizes he's fucked up.
Because not only is Yuzu squealing and launching into a barrage of questions like, "Who is she? Where did you guys meet? How long have you been together? Is she nice? Are her eyes really that colour? Does she have any siblings? Do you know if she likes animals? What does she like to eat? When are we having her over? Ichi-nii, tell me everything!" She's also already got her cell-phone in hand with Karin on one end and their dad on another, and Ichigo's just sitting there like an idiot thinking, why the hell did I say that?
Yes, Rukia is a person of interest; a liability to her family until she's properly in the fold, and thus an asset to Ichigo's schemes. But –
His phone buzzes with a photo from the woman herself, though nothing as arbitrary as a selfie, just a shot of a takeaway coffee cup, the top pulled off to show the foam art made to look like a strawberry, followed by a cheeky caption that teases I like your replacement better than you.
And despite the near maddening buzzing of his brain at her name alone, his mind goes quiet.
He isn't just gathering information to use. He…he likes her.
Ichigo can admit he liked her almost immediately when he met her; she took no shit and was seemingly permanently unimpressed with him. But in the same breath, she cared so much he feels his smirks losing their sharpness in her presence, softening in increments as she fusses and soothes and yells at him for being an idiot and –
Beyond what she could represent and bring, Rukia – she-she makes him smile.
All that it means, and all the connotations attached to it, seem less like an epiphany of a lightning bolt to the head, and more like the clouds clearing and the sun coming out; gentle and illuminating.
It warms him in ways he doesn't understand, but with every touch after platonic, accidental or otherwise, the darkest corners of his mind begin to bloom, even though they wither right after at the realization – "Why is it you won't touch me?"
Releasing her lips around the straw of her juice box, tongue red from the cherry colourant, she gets so fucking close to his face that he could count every silverish glint shining like a piece of glass in the ocean of her eyes before he's startled by the flick of her finger against his forehead. "Satisfied?"
"Not even a little." Nudging her with his nose, their foreheads brushing past one another in some weird forehead bump-Eskimo kiss, he softly entreats, "Tell me."
"What's there to tell?" she challenges, voice low to match his, breath sweet against his lips.
"I'm not the only with secrets."
"You don't have secrets," she retorts, mocking him with his own words, "Everyone knows what you are and what you're capable of."
He wants to recoil – an unnecessary feeling of betrayal seeping into his bloodstream, though he knows it has no place. Ichigo is dangerous. He's in a crime family for god's sake. And Rukia, while she may be in one as well, she doesn't do what he does.
She's a smart girl.
She should be scared of him.
Their families weren't at war with one another, but the situation couldn't exactly be termed as friendly. His own interference in her life and the danger he was likely putting her in by interacting with her at all, is proof that she had every right to not let him in – to not touch him – to not let him in.
Before his defences can tighten him up and turn him cold, her nose brushes against his in a tease, and she looks up at him with blueblueblue eyes, and asks, "What if I did touch you…"
"And?" he prods.
"And you're hurt," she continues, half in a rush on the breath she exhales. "Like the first day we met. What if I jokingly punch you, and not realize that you broke a rib or something during a fight? What if I touch you, and I hurt you?"
Un-fucking-believable.
Ichigo searches her expression – looking for something-anything to give her away – unravel her lie, hint at her agenda, brush past an angle she's working – but he can't – he can't find any.
Instead, she only looks uncomfortable; an embarrassed flush rising from her chest, up her neck and to her cheeks and ears, even as she demands defensively, "What?"
She cares about him too.
"You don't want to hurt me," he says, and his voice is quietly awed and it's ridiculous – this whole thing is –
"Didn't I just say that?" she asks, rolling her eyes, and still pretending that she doesn't feel whatever he feels. That Rukia, headstrong and furious could ever – would ever.
"Rukia," he exhales, the back of his throat tickling with a strange urge to laugh because how did I find someone like you? "You really are something."
Snorting unconvincingly, and still bashful of her own emotions, she pushes him gently away, only to teeter dangerously on the edge of the railing she was sitting on. His urge to hold her close is answered, and with the smell of sunshine and her shampoo in his nose, he tells her, "I don't want to hurt you either."
Everything falls into line after that.
A car picks him up after he and Rukia separated at Rukongai with Ichigo waving down his men to let him go alone.
For now, Byakuya's men aren't there to intimidate him, only bring him in, though a redhead glares at him, hand poised over where his gun in warning. Ichigo's polite enough not to snort out loud.
Despite the traditionalism held dear to the old families, Byakuya's home is surprisingly modern; the only thing Ichigo notices is the koi pond and Japanese garden just outside Byakuya's personal office where Ichigo waits for almost twenty minutes before he is ordered to come in – like he's some disobedient school boy that needed a scolding from his headmaster.
"Kurosaki."
"Byakuya," he returns, lip curling in a smirk. Just like his sister, the man is irked with the familiarity. Unlike Rukia, there's no surprise that colours his expression. Byakuya knows exactly what Ichigo's done.
"Renji," the man says instead, "leave us." The office clears out, and for a moment they size each other up, until, Byakuya speaks again, "You know why you're here, Kurosaki."
"I do."
"You've been spending time with my sister, and I assume it wasn't just for the company."
"You assume correctly," Ichigo acknowledges, thankful that he hadn't tried to compromise by bringing at least some of his men in with to attend this impromptu meeting. Kaien could be a little shit, and he really didn't need to give Byakuya any wrong ideas about what Ichigo's been doing around Rukia, or with her, for that matter.
"So," Byakuya says, careful to keep the sigh out of his voice, "what is it that you want, Kurosaki?"
"I'm sure you have an idea or two."
"Territory."
Ichigo makes a not bad face, and if Byakuya's expression goes anymore severe it'll get stuck that way. Though, Ichigo wouldn't be surprised if it already is. Still, the other man is quiet for a moment, mentally cataloguing which he'd be willing to part with, until he surprises Ichigo by ordering, "Name it."
His brows are raised. "Any of them?"
"So long as you stay away from my sister; any of them will do," Byakuya claims, and there's a dangerous glint, like a glacier collapsing in a rush of ice water, as he warns, "Though, I can't promise you'll have it for long."
Ichigo had been right. Rukia means a lot to him. Can't say I don't understand that he thinks, pretending to consider the offer, before, "I have a question first: What does Rukia get?"
If Byakuya is displeased by how easily Ichigo says her name, he didn't show it. "If you want her territories, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. We aren't running the family business as two entities."
"So, she's being cut out?" It isn't exactly a surprise, Yuzu and Karin were more concerned with the business side of it, making the family look as legitimate on paper as they are on the streets of Japan. Still. Ichigo didn't expect it with the range of Rukia's studies, or her own intelligence and deft at manipulating others. It's a waste of potential, he thinks.
Something Byakuya is surprisingly forthcoming to agree with when he claims, "She'll be running with me, not separately."
"What?"
"I'm sure you're aware how things have changed for the old families," the other man says, leaning back in his chair. "We have a few undesirables amongst us."
"Aizen still fighting for his presumed place on the throne?" Ichigo poses, and to his credit, constipated ice sculpture or not, Byakuya echoes his sarcasm, "Precisely."
After another moment's contemplation, he continues, "I'm sure you've noticed the amount of security around my sister, and further to that, the amount of trust I have in her considering you've managed to get as close as you have." Another pause. "Rukia is all I have left in this world in terms of true family, in terms of people I trust completely, of people I'd kill for without question. And though I know she would never knowingly betray me, Aizen has been known to twist even the most unshakeable of people, inspire loyalty where it is undeserved. I will not risk making an enemy out of my only sister."
"So, you want to solidify your place as the Head so when Rukia is ready, you'll run your empire together as a unit," Ichigo muses aloud.
"Aizen can't divide and conquer if there is no divide."
"Fair." The Shiba family was of the same mind, at least now, letting Ichigo take the lead following his father's decision to retire, with his cousins, Kukaku and Uryuu, working together jointly over the Shiba-Ishida alliance.
"So, if you're hoping to get Rukia's share of the empire, she doesn't have any because what is mine is hers."
"And if I wanted all that is yours?" Ichigo continues to prod.
"Failure to establish control is the fastest way to lose it," Byakuya reminds, perfectly deadpan despite the way Ichigo knows he wants to sneer at his supposed arrogance. "How would you do it in multiple places at once, Kurosaki?"
"With her by my side." When the man's expression hardens, eyes narrowing in a glare, Ichigo continues smoothly, "I want Aizen's territory."
"That isn't mine to give."
"But it is mine to take."
Byakuya cocks his head, the same inquiring look that Rukia has, a single brow raising just enough to brush his hairline as he observes, "You want my help."
"I do."
"Why not just claim a territory I can give you?"
"Because" Ichigo begins. "I do want Rukia by my side, and if that means giving her a city, then that's what I'll do."
The silence stretches, and then, Byakuya affirms, "You want a merger."
"It would give the Shiba more territory and you would have a stronger force on your side when inevitably, Aizen worms his way into the other crime families and makes a play for one of yours. We'd all win."
"And the distribution of men within the territories?"
"Spread evenly throughout the city," Ichigo smirks. "We'd even be able to give everyone proper holidays off."
Byakuya's exhale sounded like a snort before he says, "A merger would be beneficial, but how much of it would hinge on bartering my sister to you?"
"None of it. I'm already hers." At that Byakuya finally deigns to show some semblance of surprise, making Ichigo smirk. "What she'll do with me is up to her."
Ichigo hadn't underestimated the work it would take to rip one of Aizen's territories away from him, and even with the extra men, collaborating with someone who was just as much of an alpha was new for him, and it certainly put him on edge given the level of his experience compared to Byakuya's.
Still, the work was almost done, and all that was left was the execution which they had both agreed would amount to chipping away at Aizen's territory of Hueco Mundo until they reached the epicentre. A turf war was out of the question, and while Ichigo could do waiting games and using more subtle tactics, it made him antsy, and it showed despite himself.
"You're grumpier than usual lately."
"You're as rude always," he retorts, not bothering to turn around until the smell of food roused his stomach, reminding him that Yuzu fed you just before she left – two weeks ago.
Rukia snorts. "Imagine that." Lifting his brows in curious surprise, Rukia irrelevantly informs, with a pizza box in her lap, "I bought food."
Already reaching into it after she slid it open, he wrinkles his nose, eyeing the slice he was able to snag. "Pineapples, really?"
"Beggars can't be choosers," she declares around the mouthful she took.
"You know I hate them," he complains, picking them off and flicking them at the open box, though Rukia immediately pilfers them for herself.
"Who said I bought this pizza for you?" she asks, snickering. "You're the rude one who just invited himself to it."
"Rukia," he begins on the heels of a dramatic sigh, "moon of my life, my sun and stars, thank you for providing me with sustenance in my time of mock exams, you're an angel and I adore you."
With a hum of amusement, it's her turn to lift her brows. "That's twenty sarcasm points, Khal, I approve."
"I aim to please."
"Though, I am going to have to deduct points for the corn."
"I can do a scene from Romeo and Juliet if it pleases the lady." She makes a 'go on' hand motion and clearing his throat, he recites, "'Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.'"
Never one to give him his dues, she rolls her eyes. "It's two in the afternoon, genius."
Dusting his hands clean of crumbs, he begins anew, "My dear love." He picked her ankles up off the table that separated them, dropping her feet on his lap instead, and wrapping a hand around her ankles securely, "the purchase is made, the fruits are to ensue; the profit's yet to come 'tween me and you'."
"Interesting choice," she hums, "that's from Othello, isn't it?"
"A girl who knows her Shakespeare? Rukia, you're out for my heart," he warns, much too late after the fact, and she sighs dramatically in return before winking.
"Yeah, nothing more romantic than a boy using Shakespeare to talk about sex."
And Ichigo has to fight the urge to smirk wider because damn it, this girl really does have him.
"I could do a sonnet," he proposes, wiggling his brows.
"I have no doubt that you could," she declares in the face of his absurdity, laughing as he cleared his throat again.
"'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun –'"
"Oh," Rukia interjects, "that's because you're the ginger one."
He deadpans, "You are not allowed to remix Shakespeare."
"Then you can't use him to disturb my ladylike sensibilities," she informs, preening in demonstration, and his cheeks really were starting to hurt a little from the effort of not smiling at her like an idiot.
Instead, he feigns surprise. "Me? Never! Do you even know the rest of the sonnet?"
"Oh yeah," she answers with a solemn nod, a rebellious strand of black hair falling between her eyes as she meets his gaze mischievously, "more sex. Nice, Ichigo, I know what you're deprived of."
He wiggles his brows, drinking in the sound of her laughter and the brightness of her eyes before he echoes, "You have no idea." Right around the time his phone buzzes in his pocket and a glance informs its time, does he regret to say, "I have to go."
At that, Rukia pouts at him. "So, now I'm done feeding you, you've gone to take care of the other problem?"
"With who?" He snorts. "I'm still trying to get you to touch me on your own." Sliding her feet off his lap and standing, he grabs his jacket before leaning over to drape it over her shoulders. He allowed his expression to soften just a bit as he looked down at her, and then resting his hands against the armrests of her chair, Ichigo informs, "I won't be back in time for you to steal my jacket like you usually do, so I'm gonna skip that part and just let you have it. It's more efficient, and you won't be at risk of pneumonia."
"I'm warm enough," she argues, and looks decidedly more petulant, though the blush on her cheeks is a remarkable distraction.
"Well, now you are."
Smiling deceptively sweet at him, she says through white teeth, "Get out of here."
He leans further until their foreheads touch and he's murmuring, "'Parting is such sweet sorrow'."
"I wouldn't know," she trails in abject disappointment, "you haven't left yet."
"You're such a little shit," he informs, though saying it does nothing to dissipate his grin. "I'm gonna get you back for that."
"I look forward to it." Ichigo shakes his head with a chuckle and takes exactly three steps before she adds, "Try not to break anything this time, how you expect me to hold your hand when it's broken is beyond me."
His lip curls as he thinks you're something else, Rukia.
Unfortunately, Ichigo can't keep that particular promise, at least not the third time he gets called away almost a month later.
He'd blame it on them making out on her couch hours earlier, and Ichigo's very violent annoyance at having been pulled from the bed as a result, but he knows better.
They always tell you never to go into a job distracted, but how the hell was he not supposed to when he gets called in while they were asleep, he doesn't know. Fortunately, they were actually sleeping and not…doing other things…Jesus, Byakuya would probably bust a cap in him and leave him in a ditch. Though Ichigo wouldn't put it past the frosty bastard to cockblock him on purpose.
In any case, most girls would be at their boyfriends' side, doting and devoted to their every need, when they found out they were injured. Rukia is not most girlfriends and – wait, did I even ask her to be my girlfriend? Did courting automatically make that a thing or…? Shit, I knew I'd be bad at this.
"You're pissed at me."
"No," she says, in a tone that suggested otherwise.
"Then why are you standing so far away?"
"Because you're in a hospital bed and whatever you have might be contagious."
"I broke a hand," he reminds with a furrowed brow.
"I meant the stupidity." When he can only scowl in displeasure, Rukia exhales; her expression carefully calm even as she set her eyes on him in a look that could freeze his sorry ass to the wall.
And he gulps because, damn it, she may be all of five feet, but she has all his numbers, and the family business – well, the family business suits her. That his girl has obviously mastered Looks Could Kill, and Other Dead Stares That Make People Feel Insignificant, does not help matters at all.
"What the hell happened to you? Do I even want to know? You were gone for nine days without saying anything, and then I get a call that you're here – in the hospital."
Well, shit. She's really pissed now.
"Things got crazy with the job and –"
"And you couldn't even call me? Shoot me a text? Nine days, Ichigo." She's pacing now. "You could have been dead for all I know! Would I have even known if something like that happened? Or would I just be around waiting for the next year until I realized hmm, maybe that asshole isn't coming back? And all that time, there I was thinking you were full of shit when in actuality – you'd be dead!"
"Now hold on a second," he says, and it's stupid to be grinning, he knows it is, but, "You'd wait a whole year before moving on?"
Despite the scowl, the flush on her cheeks doesn't fade and she scoffs. "You're an idiot."
"But I'm your idiot."
"That's debatable." The slight tug at the corner of her lips is sign enough of her defeat, and it seems the wider his grin got, the more embarrassed she got, to the point where she's avoiding his eyes and talking to the wall, "I'm glad you aren't dead."
"I'm sorry," he teases, "I can't hear you, gunshots are murder on your hearing."
Turning to him resolutely, an expression that is equal parts sweetly bashful and annoyed gracing her features, she repeats a little louder, "I'm glad you aren't dead, Kurosaki."
He hisses in disappointment. "I'm not hearing you, Rukia."
She takes a step closer, rolling her eyes as she does so. "Kurosaki -"
"No, no, still too far," Ichigo dismisses, "Come on, Rukia, are you scared of the big bad gang banger, Kuchiki?"
That seems to do the trick because she's at his throat now – literally – with a fistful of the hospital gown bunched under his chin. "I will kick your ass if you ever do that to me again."
"The bone breaking or the hospital visits? Because I can't guarantee either."
"Call me," she entreats voice surprisingly soft. "I don't care if you just want to tell me what you had for lunch. Just…do it, okay?"
"Got it," he agrees, his free-uninjured arm snaking around her waist and pulling her up on the bed to sit with him. "I actually haven't eaten anything. Hospital food is crap."
Rolling her eyes, Rukia lets go of his gown. "There's a gift basket right there."
"It's from Inoue," he points out, "God knows why she keeps sending me shit, or who even told her where I was; but if you wanted me to die, I'd thought you'd be kinder."
"Well, far be it for me to step on your ex's toes."
At that, he groans. "Can't believe she's still talking shit. We didn't even date for that long, she drove me insane; possessive and jealous as hell for no reason, she even accused me of cheating on her with my sister – my sister." Karin had immediately retaliated with a message that Ichigo would've had framed and sent to Inoue to keep as a memento if it were up to him. Of course, Yuzu had talked him out of that. Speaking of, "Yuzu probably told her where I am." Gaze flickering down to hers, he realizes that Rukia may have been unnecessary bothered by his too-short-to-call-it-a-relationship and begins with furrowed brows, "Is she bothering you because I could -"
"'Could' nothing, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I just wanted to find out what the extent of Inoue's claim on you was," Rukia informs smartly, still managing to look superior even as she sits comfortably on his lap.
"'Claim on me'?" he repeats, brows raised and expression incredulous.
"Ichigo," she begins slowly, smoothing out the hospital gown she had crumpled at his neck before meeting his eyes, matching smirk to his in place. "I may have an older brother, but I'm the youngest child; I don't do sharing."
"So, I guess getting you your own city was a good call then, huh?"
"Well, it wasn't the wrong one."
"Duly noted."
Sounding somewhat sympathetic and amused, she informs him, "If you thought I'd be less possessive and jealous of a girlfriend than Inoue, you have another thing coming."
"Oh, you're my girlfriend. That's a relief."
"What?" Rukia raises a brow. "Do you always offer cities to every girl you sometimes make out and share a bed with?"
"Excuse me; I intend to make that arrangement permanent."
"You and what army?" she challenges.
He hitches her closer until she's practically on his chest, noses brushing and mischievous grin just inches away from her suddenly breathless lips. "Who needs an army when I've got the queen right here?"
A/n: Follow me on everything-withered on tumblr and withered on AO3 for extra content and updates on the updates.