Ichigo had spent half an hour with this woman, and so far all he had learned was that she could drink him under the table. She was a perfect example of an alcoholic if he ever saw one.
They were sitting at a bar and while he was woozy after the first few shots, she was seven or eight shots deep and still pounding away.
"I rrrarly drink succch guuud boozzze." Ichigo slurred.
"And I rarely drink with children." Byakuya responded. "I didn't know you couldn't handle your liquor or I wouldn't have gotten you any of the top shelf alcohol that I've become accustomed to."
"An I didn knoo yew weeere soooo pweety." Ichigo slurred before his world went black and he fell off his bar stool.
"Children." Byakuya sighed.
The next thing Ichigo knew he was lying on a bed in a room he had never seen before. Lavender walls blended with the white bedding. It was all pretty minimalist and simplistic, it suited her style.
"Sorry for passing out on you back at the bar." Ichigo said walked down stairs still in nothing but his boxers.
"You seem to have made yourself quite at home here." Byakuya scoffed.
"Well seeing as how you took the liberty of undressing me I thought you wouldn't mind." Ichigo snapped back.
She could do nothing to hide the blush that reddened her cheeks. And looking at him she knew he had a point. His abs were toned in a way that suggested that he knew how to handle himself, and the many scars that littered his torso told her that he could take a beating.
But her standards were much higher than a pretty face, some nice abs, and a perfect ass.
She was still trying to figure him out as a person.
"You still haven't told me who you really are." Ichigo said following her and sitting down on the couch next to her.
"Well I realized very young that I have a talent for getting into places I wasn't supposed to be." Byakuya started, and Ichigo couldn't help but be mesmerized by her voice. "Myself and two other friends that grew up in a small town together discovered that with my brain, and their brawn we could make all the money we could ever count. So we started out small, pulling jobs for local gangs, trying to build a name for ourselves. Then we moved up to the big fish, the shot callers. They liked the way we did business. But as we got our name out there, my crew became increasingly more and more unstable. Soon they were killing with no remorse, and no longer did it only when they had to, but because they wanted to. So on our last heist together, one of them took a bullet, and I made off with most of the money. I never found out what happened to Renji, but there was no way he made it out of that blood bath alive." She finished her story, but kept her eyes on her glass of whiskey, as if searching for some long-lost friend.
"Wow, I don't even know what to say." Ichigo said after a few minutes of silence. "I've never even left Karakura city, and even then I barely managed to crawl my way out of the gutter."
"Well it seems that you've got some talent for this line of work or you wouldn't be here, you just need to find your specialty and refine it." Byakuya said finishing off her whiskey.
"Come on, go get dressed, I've got somewhere to be, and you are going to drive me." She said before standing up and walking away.
Ichigo couldn't help but stare, hypnotized by the swish of her hips.
She knew he was staring, and she couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed being looked at like that.
Renji, she though with a shudder, she hated every time the man put his hands on her, but he would never take no for an answer, he took what he wanted, and at the time, he wanted her.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ichigo asked, he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable and distraught she looked.
"Yes. I am fine. I'll meet you in the garage. You best hurry. We don't want to be late." She said shaking off the old feelings.
Ichigo never in his wildest dreams thought he would ever get to sit behind the wheel of a 2003, BMW GT3, his dream car, with the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on in the passenger's seat.
"So you are a better driver then a sneak, I hoped that would be the case." she said as she got out of the car and walked over to the apartment building and read the name listing.
"Just what are we doing here?" Ichigo said looking around at the dilapidated apartment complex.
"We are here to see an old friend of mine." Byakuya said.
The two walked up the stairwell to the top floor and down a series of hallways before they stopped.
"Room 257." She muttered before knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" came a sickly sweet voice from the other side.
"Just open the door Kisuke." Byakuya growled.
No sooner had she spoken, a very unkempt looking blonde man opened the door.
"Bya-hime! Its been too long!" He shouted pulling her and Ichigo into the apartment.
Ichigo couldn't believe that this stoic, alcoholic, ill-tempered woman would let anyone call her "Hime", as he watched the raven haired woman hug the dirty blonde man.
"It has been too long Kisuke." She replied.
"Who is your friend here?" Kisuke asked.
"I would think you already knew, are you losing your touch in your old age?" Byakuya asked almost playfully.
Kisuke looking like she had wounded his very pride, though that didn't look like it counted for much by the looks of him.
"Why I'm offended Bya-hime." Kisuke whined. "Ichigo Kurosaki, six foot one, one hundred and eighty-two pounds, lives with his father and two sisters down by the docks. Roughly three hundred dollars in his bank account." He said with a sniffle.
Ichigo had never met this guy in his life, he had no idea how he knew so much about him.
"How do you…" Ichigo trailed off, it was almost impossible to form words after hearing all that.
"I make it my business to know every single player in this city." Kisuke explained. "Now, I told you I might have a job for you, if you think its been long enough well I have something right now that requires a brain, and a driver."
"Who's offering?" Byakuya asked.
"Kenpachi." Kisuke replied.
"I swore I would never work with that barbarian again." Byakuya responded.
"Oh come on Bya, just because he likes you doesn't mean you shouldn't work with him. There is money to be made!" Kisuke said in a sing-song voice. "Besides, I know all about…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Byakuya had slapped her hand over his mouth.
"We swore an oath to never speak of that again, we take that to our graves." She said solemnly.
"Well he certainly hasn't kept his mouth shut." Kisuke said.
"Who knows?" She asked hesitantly.
"The whole Gotie knows, the Vizards, and most of the Espada." He said in that grating sing song voice.
Ichigo had heard of all of those gangs, they pretty much control most of the city, and couldn't help but be surprised that this woman had ties to all of them.
"You know people from those crews?" Ichigo asked.
"Just what does the kid know about you?" Kisuke asked.
"Enough." Byakuya responded.
"Anyway, Grimmjow, who was a member of Bya's orginal crew, was a first six member of the Espada, Shinji, the leader of the Vizards, and Bya-hime go waaaaay back, and I think we've already gone over Kenpachi from the Gotie." Kisuke said.
The Espada, where a small motorcycle club that had a foothold on all the gunrunning in the city. They were small, but each member was worth ten men, the Gotie was the largest yakuza outfit in the country, and the Vizards were a small group of ex Gotie captains and lieutenants.
"Grimmjow was a good man." Kisuke said, "I was sad to hear of his passing."
"He was unstable." Byakuya responded.
"Bya-hime!" Came a booming voice from the doorway, and Ichigo noticed Byakuyas face go even paler.
"You didn't tell me he was going to be here now." Byakuya blanched.
"I thought it would be a fun surprise." Kisuke said in his trademark sing-song voice.
Then there was a giant standing in the doorway, he must have been seven feet tall, and weighted at least two hundred and eighty pounds.
"It's been awhile Bya-hime." Kenpachi said with a small gleam in his eyes.
"Call me that again you barbarian and you won't be able to speak again." Byakuya said with narrowed eyes.
"Oh come on Bya-hime, we shared such a great a great night together." He said with a smirk.
It was as quick as a flash of light, but before anyone knew it Byakuya had pulled a bowie-knife out of god knows where and had it pressed to Kenpachis' throat.
"If you speak of that night again, you beast, I will finish what I've started." Byakuya seethed.
"You know I love it when you put up a fight Bya-hime." Kenpachi said.
What happened next surprised everyone.
Kenpachi found himself on the ground, with a sore jaw, looking up at an orange haired kid standing over him.
"Show the woman some respect you fucking ogre." Ichigo spat. A fire in his eyes that none of them had seen in a person.
Byakuya couldn't help but smile. 'At least he has some manners' she thought to herself.
"Heh, so the kid has some fight in him." Kenpachi smiled, standing up and brushing dust off his suit.
Kisuke couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that all of this had occurred in the middle of his apartment.
"Well how about we get down to business." The blonde haired man said.
