Kurai 2
Orihime sat at her desk next to Ulquiorra.
"Ichigo and Rukia are late," she commented.
Ulquiorra nodded quietly.
-X-
Rukia wiggled around, trying to get out of Ichigo's grip. She knew he was asleep, and simply thought he was 'cuddling,' but he had kept her up ALL NIGHT, and even though she technically didn't have to breathe, she did prefer to.
-X-
At last, Ichigo and Rukia walked in the door, just as the bell rang. Rukia was glaring irritably up at Ichigo while finger-combing her hair. He had his eyebrows stitched up moodily.
Orihime guessed Rukia had scolded him again. She did a lot- she was always very sensitive, and tended to get irritated over little things, but Ichigo always managed to talk her down.
"Good morning, Kurosaki and Kuchiki, it's a pleasure you made it," the teacher said sarcastically.
Ichigo threw her a quick smile, but Rukia ignored her, instead settling at her desk.
"Well, everyone, we have a new transfer student today!" The teacher slid the classroom door open. "Come on in."
The teen that entered was thin, with soft, wavy brown hair. He had glasses, and brown eyes.
"Everyone, this is Sosuke Aizen."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Sosuke said politely.
Ichigo looked up at him. He could smell that this man was a vampire, but there was something else…
"You can sit there next to Kurosaki."
Sosuke walked slowly down the aisle and slid into his seat.
At once, Ichigo tensed. The stench rolling of the other vampire's skin… it was like a rotting body, tainted with the metallic smell of blood. It seemed to swirl around Ichigo, sapping life out of him…
At once, it was over.
Ichigo looked over at Toshiro, who was sitting on the other side of Aizen. He, too, seemed shocked. His blue-green eyes slid over and the two vampires' gazes met. A silent message passed between them.
This one would be a problem.
-X-
As the class got up for lunch break, Ichigo looked up to see Aizen standing next to him.
"It's nice to meet you, Ichigo Kurosaki," he said, smiling.
Ichigo stood, gave the other vampire a cold look, and then made his way to Rukia.
The dark-haired girl stretched and yawned. "Hey…"
The orange haired vampire gently pulled her up out of her seat. "Come on, I gotta talk to Toshiro."
"Okay, no need to be pushy…"
When the couple got up to the roof, Ichigo had resorted to carrying Rukia. He set her down next to Orihime. "Rukia's just gonna take a nap. Will you look out for her?"
Orihime blinked. "Uh… OK but-"
But Ichigo had already run across the roof to where Toshiro was leaning against the railing.
"About time you got here," the white-haired vampire muttered. His voice carried a tone to it that informed Ichigo that he was still freaked by the earlier event.
"Sorry. Rukia was tired. I had to carry her up here."
"OK then. So do you know this Aizen guy?"
"Not at all. I've never even heard of an Aizen family."
"Maybe they're not nobles?"
"Or he's the only one, just some kid who got turned."
Toshiro nodded and put his head down on his arms. "Whoever that guy is… I don't like 'em."
Ichigo nodded and shivered slightly. "I've got to go back to Rukia… I'll check the Blood Society database when I get home."
When Ichigo sat next to Rukia, she quietly leaned on his shoulder. "Anything I should know about?"
"I'll tell you when we get home."
-X-
That night, Ichigo slid into the computer chair, opening up the laptop he and Rukia shared. He quickly opened up the Blood Society database, a collection of files ranging from vampires' criminal records to reports on nobles' parties to deaths in the hidden community.
He logged in as himself, then typed "Aizen, Sosuke" into the search bar.
A few records listed themselves on the screen. He scanned the titles until one caught his eye.
"Mysterious Murders in the Society, Five Vampires and Nine Humans Dead."
Ichigo clicked on it.
"You are not authorized to view this file."
'What?' he thought. 'I'm a noble, I should have clearance for this… it must be really hush-hush.'
"Hey Rukia, will you log into the Blood Society for me?" he asked, logging out. His mate was the younger sister of the head of one of the top four noble families- she should be able to see it.
The vampire walked out of the bathroom, her hands busy trying to dry her dark hair. "Why?"
"Apparently, I don't have clearance to see something."
Rukia draped the towel over her arm and peeked over Ichigo's shoulder. She moused to the top of the page to see what he was searching.
"Why are you searching about Sosuke? He seemed fine."
"Did you smell him? He smelled like rotting flesh, like death…"
"We're vampires, Ichigo, we kill people."
"But we don't smell like gore."
Rukia sighed. "We have showers. He was probably traveling, and didn't have access to anything like that."
Ichigo shook his head. "You didn't next to him, Rukia. You don't know what I mean."
The vampire straightened and crossed her arms, her mouth pulling into a frown and her eyes narrowing. "So because I didn't smell anything, I couldn't possibly understand at all?"
"That's not what I mean-"
Rukia just closed her eyes and shook her head before leaning over and typing in her name, last the first, and her password. But her keystrokes were quick and angry, telling Ichigo that his little mate was very irritated.
"There," she muttered, straightening again and walking towards the bed.
"Rukia, why are you so irritated over this?" Ichigo leaned back and looked at her.
"Because, Ichigo," she leaned on the soft, dark red sheets and looked at him somewhat coldly. "I thought he was a nice guy. While you were talking with Toshiro, he came over and we were chatting about blood types. He's very polite and kind."
"He talked to you? Why didn't you tell me?" Ichigo raised his voice, alarmed at the thought of that vampire's rotting bloodlust being anywhere near Rukia.
The skinny vampire jumped slightly. She wasn't used to Ichigo yelling. Whenever they fought, he had always been relaxed, very calmly stating his opinion and feelings while listening to her more heated own.
But… Now he was yelling… and Rukia did not know how to react to that.
So she did what she always did when she was confused, or hurt, or uncertain.
She lashed out.
"I didn't TELL YOU because it WASN'T OF YOU CONCERN!" she snapped back at him.
"None of my concern! Rukia, you're well being is my concern! You don't know what he'll do to you!"
"What, afraid he'll bite me? I can fight for myself!"
Ichigo stood up, dwarfing Rukia even at his distance. He paced forward and firmly placed his hands on her shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was softer, calmer. "Rukia, I'm just worried about you."
But Rukia was unaffected by his tender tone. She closed her eyes and shrugged out of his grip. Slipping under the covers of their bed and laying with her back to her mate, she simply muttered, "Goodnight, Ichigo."
"Rukia-"
"Goodnight."