Disclaimer-I own nothing.
No Escape
Chapter 2
Rukia couldn't let Ichigo stay. It wasn't safe for him, and it certainly wasn't safe for her and all of the plans she'd made for her life.
"I'm a big girl. I haven't needed a protector since I was sixteen."
Ichigo's jaw muscles bunched as his gaze slid away, and she immediately regretted bringing up the past.
He'd killed a man to save her. Sure, he'd saved a lot of other kids, too, but Aizen had come for her for the first time that night. Ichigo had pulled Aizen off of her, protecting her from that hellish fate so many of his other foster kids had suffered. Because of Ichigo, Rukia had to deal with only attempted rape rather than the horror the rest of those children had faced.
"I'm staying. You might as well fill me in on everything." His voice was hard and unyielding.
"I just told you everything."
"There's got to be a reason you think these people were murdered. Tell me what it is."
She swallowed hard to ease the lump of relief tightening her throat. He didn't assume she was crazy, as she'd feared. He didn't assume she was lying or making things up just to get attention.
He hadn't seen her for years, yet he gave her more benefit of the doubt than her closest friends.
"You do have a reason, don't you, Rukia?"
"I do."
Muscles along her spine unclenched, and until now, she hadn't even realized just how tense she'd been, just how relieved she was that someone wanted to listen to her.
She'd show Ichigo her files, and he'd tell her she was reading too much into what she'd found, and she'd be able to let it go and get on with her life. "Follow me."
Rukia went down the hall that led to the small bedroom she used as her office. Every few steps, she glanced back to make sure he was still there. She should have known that Ichigo wouldn't ditch her, but life had given her enough nasty surprises that she wasn't entirely trusting. She'd been left behind one too many times to be that foolish.
She flipped on the office lights. The secondhand desk was a little the worse for wear but big enough to grade homework as well as house her PC.
Using a key she kept with her, she opened the locked file cabinet. She didn't want her foster son to accidentally stumble on her findings and worry himself. Kon had enough to deal with on his own without fear for her safety adding to the mix.
She pulled the drawer all the way open and reached into the back for an expandable file where she kept everything she'd found.
"Here you go. Look at these and tell me what you think."
She moved aside her ungraded homework and the Consumer Reports article on swing sets and laid everything out on the desk. She let him see the newspaper clippings and medical examiners' reports without saying anything that might sway his opinion one way or another.
She watched him as he picked up each paper and read over it. His jaw tightened more with every page he read. The glittering interest in his eyes darkened to lethal menace.
Light from the desk lamp washed over his features, casting deep shadows on his face. She could see a couple of small scars-one on his cheek and another over his left eyebrow. The split lip Aizen had given him hadn't left a mark, which relieved her. She didn't like the idea of him carrying a reminder of that night where he'd have to see it every time he shaved.
Ichigo set down the first stack of pages and reached for the next. Rukia stayed silent, watching him.
She knew exactly what he read. Page after page revealed the facts around the deaths of six people. Nemu was the first. She left her car running with the garage door shut and the car doors open. Then Sentaro. He hanged himself from a beam in his basement after his wife left him-his wife who had been missing for weeks. Ikkaku jumped from the tenth floor of his apartment building. Senna overdosed.
She hadn't really known any of those people well, but she'd known Shuhei and Orihime, who had also reportedly killed themselves.
Rukia knew in her gut that was a lie.
Ichigo set the last paper down on the desk very carefully and turned that menacing gaze to her.
"Who are all of these people, and exactly how are you connected to them?" he demanded. His voice was hard and cold, and Rukia had to stifle a little shiver of apprehension.
"You're connected to them, too. Every one of them was Sosuke Aizen's foster child at one time."
His mouth tightened in a disgusted grimace at the mention of that man's name. "How did you find that out? Aren't those records private?"
Rukia felt the heat of a blush crawl up her neck. "I'm not going to tell you how I got that information. It would get someone else in trouble, someone who was trying to help me."
He accepted that and moved on without hounding her like the police had. "Are you sure all of them lived with Aizen?" he asked.
"Positive. What I'm not sure of is that any of them committed suicide."
"Aizen did a lot of terrible things to the kids in his care, Rukia. Maybe these people never got over it."
Even though Ichigo had saved Rukia from being raped, the fact that she'd come so close to being another of Aizen's victims still haunted her sometimes. She'd see a man who resembled Aizen at the grocery store and stop dead in her tracks. Once, a student's father had reached out to shake her hand and those blunt, gnarled fingers-so much like Aizen's-had flung her back to that horrid night. She'd run to the bathroom to throw up and never could bring herself to go back to face the baffled father.
If she still dealt with what had nearly happened to her, how much worse was it for the kids Ichigo hadn't been around to save? Bad enough to commit suicide?
"I'm not sure anyone ever gets over something like that," she told Ichigo, "but I still don't think they killed themselves."
"Why not?"
"I just don't," she stated with every ounce of belief she possessed.
"Give me something to go on here. I'm trying to understand."
"Shuhei and Orihime were not suicidal. I knew them. I'd bet my life on it."
Ichigo's mouth flattened at her choice of words. "Okay, let's say that's true and they weren't suicidal. What about the rest of them? Did you know them, too?"
"No. And as sick as it sounds, I really want to believe they killed themselves. It's much easier to think that they took their own lives to be at peace than to believe they were murdered, made victims yet again. The problem is, everything in me is screaming that's what happened."
"Why?" Not judgment, just curiosity.
Rukia shrugged. "Women's intuition? Instincts? I don't know! All I know is that if I'm right, then there are others out there in danger. Including you."
That news didn't even rate a shocked flicker of his eyelid. "I can take care of myself. It's you I'm worried about. If you are right, then we've got to talk to the police about this. Get you some protection, especially since you're digging up all of this stuff. If someone is killing people and disguising murder as suicide, they aren't going to want you figuring it out. If they find out you're investigating, they'll try to stop you."
Rukia stuffed everything back into the file, feeling a familiar rise of frustration. No one believed her. Maybe she was wrong. "I've already been to the police! They don't have any proof that a crime has been committed, and some of these apparent suicides are way out of their jurisdiction."
"Let me guess, they want to help but say they can't."
"Exactly."
"What about the missing woman?"
"Kiyone. She's Sentaro's wife. They looked for her for a few days, but I doubt they're putting much manpower into it. Sentaro had a note from her in his hand when he died, saying she'd run off with another man."
"But you don't think she did?"
Rukia shrugged. "I didn't really know her or Sentaro well enough to say one way or another. They both had left Aizen's before I arrived."
"This is a hell of a mess, isn't it?"
"I really didn't want to dump this on you."
"I didn't give you a choice."
"And now that you know, what do you think we should do?"
Ichigo was silent for a moment as if waging an internal debate, then straightened his shoulders and pushed away from the desk. "I know exactly what to do."
"Does that mean you believe me?" She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
"I believe you believe it. For now, that's enough. We'll figure this thing out. Don't worry."
Don't worry? Right. Easier said than done. At least he didn't automatically jump to the conclusion that she was crazy to even consider looking into the possibility of murder, the way her friend Renji had.
Ichigo held out his big hand and waited expectantly for her to give him the file. Rukia wasn't ready to give it over so easily. Not until she knew what he planned to do with it. Gathering this information had taken weeks and used up about every favor she'd ever earned.
She flattened it against her chest and crossed her arms over it, ensuring that he wouldn't snatch it away. She wanted his help with this, but she didn't want him to take any risks without her there to watch his back. No way was she letting him take over and go all macho on her!
"So what are we going to do?" she asked.
He ignored the fact that she was holding the file against her breasts and slid it away from her. She was sure he hadn't meant to make her nipples bead up with the inadvertent caress, but they did anyway. It was enough to make a girl wonder how her body would react if he actually touched her-the teenage girl lurking inside her with the bad case of hero worship.
Thank goodness that girl wasn't behind the wheel anymore.
Rukia shifted her arms to cover the shameless effect he had on her body. He didn't need any more advantages over her than he already had.
"We're not going to do anything. You're going to go about your life," he told her, ?and I'm going to look into this. Talk to the police again and see what I can figure out."
So much for him not going all macho. "I never intended for you to swoop in and take over."
"No one's swooping. Besides, you've already done all the hard work researching everything. Let me take a turn."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"I thought you already said the police couldn't help you."
"And you think they'll help you?" she asked, her voice rising up an octave in irritation.
Ichigo shrugged. "Maybe. It's worth a shot. If you're not the only one coming to them with the concern that there's something going on, maybe they'll be convinced to look into it more thoroughly."
As much as she hated to admit it, that made sense. In fact, it would probably strengthen her case if he went to the police on his own instead of with her.
A slow, languid smile curved his mouth. "Besides, we don't want them to think I'm being swayed by a pretty face, now, do we?"
Rukia surpressed the shiver his compliment caused and forced herself to focus. It didn't matter if he thought she was pretty. Not one bit! And if she kept repeating it to herself long enough, she'd believe it.
"If we do it your way, you have to promise to come back and tell me what they say."
"Coming back is not a problem," said Ichigo. "Until this is settled, I'm staying here with you."
She stood there silent from shock, able only to blink and stare at him like a fool.
Ichigo sleeping under her roof only a few feet away, so very accesible? Ichigo at her table, sharing meals and conversation? Ichigo in her shower all naked and slick with no one to wash his back? She'd never survive it! Even if she managed to stay strong enough not to seduce him while he was here, her house would never be the same again. She'd see him everywhere she looked. "You can't."
He actually had the audacity to look hurt, giving her a sad little pout that made her feel like she'd kicked a puppy. "What? I'm not invited?"
No. He absolutely was not! Not if she wanted to stay sane. "You're not good with rejection, are you?"
"Not enough practice, I guess."
"It's nice to know I can help you learn this valuable life lesson, then. I am a teacher, after all."
"Maybe, but I'm sure as hell no second grader."
Rukia was stunned silent again. How had he known she'd moved to teaching second grade? She'd never told him. "Have you been checking up on me?"
He pointed to the stack of ungraded homework, to where her student's name was. Right under that was Miss Kuchiki, 2nd grade.
Ichigo lifted his orange brows and shot her a charming grin. "See? I'm not too shabby at this whole investigative stuff. You should let me stay."
"I thought you said you were starting a new job. I don't want you to get fired."
"Let me worry about that. I've got it covered."
"What will Kon think?" she asked.
"Kon?" His eyes shot to her left hand, and she knew he was looking for a ring. The smile slid from his face and his eyes went flat. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend."
No way was that jealousy she was hearing. Not from Ichigo I-can-get-any-woman-I-want Kurosaki. Was it?
"Kon is my foster son."
His smile came back, so bright she could hear it warm his voice. "Seriously? That's great!"
She hadn't realized until that moment how important his opinion of her decision to become a foster mom was. A satisfied glow filled her up, making her steps a little lighter. "He hasn't been here long, just since August. It's working out well, though. He's a great kid. Well, nearly a man, I guess. I only wish I'd found him sooner." For too many reasons.
"Why's that?"
"He's had a rough time. His mother is dead. His biological father was released from prison a few months ago and wants him back, which I'm not going to let happen. The man was locked up for assaulting his wife, for heaven's sake! He says he's rehabilitated."
"Rehabilitated my ass," ground out Ichigo. "Once an asshole, always an asshole."
Rukia grunted her agreement. She couldn't have said it better herself. "I'd love to adopt him, but I don't see that working out."
"Why not?"
"Even if there wasn't an issue of Kon still having a father who wants custody, I don't know if the adoption paperwork would go through before he turns eighteen in a few months."
"Eighteen is still young enough to wish you had a family," said Ichigo.
Rukia's heart squeezed hard for a moment. Ichigo would know all about how it felt to be a young man with no family of his own.
She kept her tone light rather than let him think she felt sorry for him. After all, she also had no family to call her own. "Kon will always be part of my family, whether or not we have the paperwork to prove it."
"You've grown into one hell of a generous woman, Rukia."
His praise made her face warm. If he kept acting like this, she wasn't going to stand a chance of keeping her distance. He'd walk away again with her half in love with him, and she wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it.
Only this time, it wouldn't be puppy love.
That thought scared her straight. She had to be careful with Ichigo. He was her weakness. Her childhood hero. She needed him to talk to the police, but that didn't mean she needed to fall for him in the few hours it would take him to do so. It was best if they just kept their distance and dealt with this as quickly as possible, with all of her body parts still her own and him well on his way to his new life.
"Does your son know what's going on?"
"No. And I don't want him too, either. He's got the SAT's coming up, and he's working his butt off studying for them. I don't want anything to distract him."
"If you let me stay, I promise he'll hardly notice I'm here."
Rukia snorted at that. "You couldn't go unnoticed if you wanted to."
He lifted a brow in challenge. "Wanna bet? I could tell you some stories that would make you change your mind." He gave her a smile that made her legs tremble. "Though I do have to admit that the idea of you noticing me has its appeal."
"Don't you dare flirt with me!" she warned him.
He took a step closer so that his body nearly touched hers. He lifted up a few strands of her slippery hair to his nose and breathed in. His low hum of approval vibrated the air between them. "Why not, Rukia? A little flirting never hurt anyone."
Rukia felt frozen, unable to move away from him. "Maybe it never hurt you, but then, you're not the one left behind wondering what went wrong."
God, he was so handsome! Age had been good to him, honing his features to sharp, masculine edges. He looked harder, stronger, like the kind of man a woman could count on to stick around. She had no idea how he pulled off the illusion, but she couldn't let herself fall for it.
"Is that what happened, Rukia? Is that why you're alone? Someone left you behind?"
Too many someones. Her mother had given her away at birth, more than a dozen foster parents had decided not to keep her, countless friends had walked away over the years, along with two men she thought had loved her. Even Kon would be leaving for college next fall.
People left. That's just what they did.
"I'm not alone. I have Kon."
"You know what I mean. Why aren't you married yet? Why hasn't some man snatched you up so the rest of us can't get to you?"
An old ache throbbed inside her, but she was so used to it she hardly noticed. She wanted too much from the men in her life, and she'd never found any who loved her enough to give it to her. And she wasn't willing to settle. Her future was too important to too many special people.
"I guess no one has been good enough for me yet," she told him.
He slid his long finger over her brow and along her cheekbone. Rukia had to work hard not to shiver at his touch and give away the effect he had on her.
"Now, that I can believe," he said.
"Don't do this," she begged.
"Do what?"
"Touch me like this." Even as she said it, she leaned closer to him, unable to stop herself.
"Like what?"
"Like I'm a woman."
Ichigo laughed and cupped her cheek in his wide palm. "Babe, you're all woman, but if you want me to keep my hands off, I swear I'll try."
His hand fell to his side so he was no longer touching her, but she still couldn't pull out of that gravitational well that surrounded him. She stood there, unable to move or even blink. She'd had too many girlish daydreams about this man over the years, and here he was, only inches away, coming on to her. It was too surreal.
He kept staring at her with that wicked light glittering in his eyes. "I have to admit, you surprised me. I was expecting some tiny little frail thing. You're all grown up and did a great job of it, too. And I don't just mean your killer body, either. Taking in Kon couldn't have been an easy decision for you."
Killer body? That kind of praise was nice from anyone, but coming from Ichigo it was practically a narcotic.
"You're wrong," she told him, struggling to focus on the rest of what he said. "It was the easiest thing I've ever done."
Ichigo shook his head, giving her a crooked grin. "Like I said. All grown up."
She wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that, but she let it slide. There was still the matter of him staying here for her to deal with. "All things considered, I don't think you should stay here. What will Kon think?"
"It's not like I'm asking to sleep in your bed. The couch will work fine. I'm just an old friend in for a vissit."
"An old friend who can't keep his hands to himself or stop flirting long enough to have a conversation."
He gave her a dashing, almost apologetic grin and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "I'll be good. I swear it."
Rukia never had a doubt that he'd be good. She had fantasized about just how good more nights than she cared to remember over the years. Maybe it was because he'd been her first real crush. Maybe it was simply chemistry. Whatever it was, a piece of him had lived inside her for fourteen years, sparking thoughts and memories of him when she least expected it. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"
"Not a chance. At least not until I know you and Kon are safe. Sorry. You're the one who put the worry in my head, so you're just going to have to deal."
"Fine." The only thing she could do now was put him as far out of reach as possible. "You can sleep upstairs. Next to Kon's room."
The smile of victory curving his mouth was only going to add fuel to her fiery fantasies of him. The ones that left her sweating and aching for relief that never came no matter how hard she reached for it.
Rukia let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Go get your stuff and I'll show you your room."
Ichigo sauntered off in a long-legged stride that made her mouth water. Everything about him was appealing to her-his graceful stride, the way his jeans clung to his tight butt, his carelessly tousled hair, and that confident glint in his eyes that said he knew just how to please a woman. Over and over.
But all of that by itself wouldn't have affected her. As handsome as he was, she could resist him if it weren't for that noble streak a mile wide-the one she'd witnessed firsthand.
He hadn't just hopped in his car and driven away with a thanks for the warning. Not Ichigo Kurosaki. He was staying to help. Staying in her house, right within reach, after fourteen years of being nothing more than a long-distance fantasy.
Rukia sat down and laid her head on the cool desk. She was doomed! A bad case of childish infatuation was one thing. Add to it the instinctive knowledge of just how good she knew she and Ichigo would be together, mixed in with a case of it's-been-way-too-long-since-I-got-laid, and she was simply doomed. In way over her head, fated to suffer, doomed!
"Rukia?" came Kon's worried voice from down the hall. "There's some guy outside."
Rukia took a deep breath and forced her head off the desk. By the time Kon came into the office, she was pretty sure her face was still flushed with thoughts of Ichigo and the kind of lover he'd be.
So much for being a good mom dedicated only to what was best for her son.
Kon's dark hair was ruffled from the wind, and his letterman's jacket made his shoulders look as wide as a grown man's. Of course, that's what he nearly was at seventeen, and it still shocked her sometimes. Right now, his grayish colored eyes were filled with worry and a hint of fear. Kon wasn't the most trusting of boys-it had taken him six months after he'd moved in to learn to trust her-and he wouldn't enjoy having a stranger in the house. Especially not a man.
"It's okay, Kon. That's Ichigo. He's an old friend of mine who's going to stay for a day or two. Are you okay with that?"
Kon shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."
Rukia stood and looped her arm over Kon's shoulders as they walked to the kitchen. He was taller than her, as she'd come to realize, most people were, even now. "Come on, I'll introduce you. Are you hungry?"
"Starved," answered Kon, as she knew he would.
"You're going to like Ichigo."
Kon stiffened. "You got something going on with him?"
"No! We're just friends," she said, though her body was clamoring for more. She was going to have to keep it under control.
"Uh-huh."
"Really!" she insisted.
"You know, you haven't dated since I came to live here. I don't want to cramp your style or anything. I like it here too much."
As if she'd send him away because he got in the way of her dating. Kon had no idea how much she loved him, but she knew better than to go all mushy. He hated that, so she settled for giving him a one-armed hug and said, "You're not cramping my style."
"You're allowed to have sex if you want."
He sounded like the thought grossed him out, which made her grin. "Thanks for your permission."
"I mean, don't go doing the nun thing on my account."
Rukia laughed. "Is that what you think is going on?"
"Must be. You never even date, and I know you've been asked out."
"Not by anyone I was interested in."
"But this Ichigo guy? He interest you?"
Way too much. Maybe Kon sensed it somehow. Through the window, Rukia could see Ichigo heft a duffel bag onto his wide shoulder and head toward the house, muscles bulging in a mouth-watering display. Even with the heavy load, his stride was smooth and effortless.
She still couldn't believe he was staying here, still wasn't convinced that it wasn't a huge mistake for her to let him.
"He's only passing through," she told Kon, forcing herself to recognize the truth.
Kon's eyes brightened as if he was relieved Ichigo wouldn't stay. "Oh? Well. If you want to hit that while he's here, or whatever, I'll go study at the library."
Rukia's cheeks heated with embarrassment. "'Hit that?' How charming. Can we please discuss something other than my love life? Like how your practice test went today?"
Kon pulled away from her and shoved his head into the refrigerator. He mumbled something grumpy and incoherent as Ichigo came back in the house, keeping Rukia from asking him what he'd said. If the practice SAT hadn't gone well, she didn't want to embarrass him by making him talk about it in front of a total stranger.
The files Ichigo had taken from her office were nowhere in sight, thank goodness. Then again, in his line of work, she figured he knew a thing or two about keeping information to himself.
Kon backed out of the refrigerator with an armload of sandwich fixings and a gallon of milk.
Rukia pulled a plate out of the cabinet to encourage Kon to actually use it, instead of eating over the sink.
"Kon, this is my friend Ichigo Kurosaki."
Rather than stick out his hand, Ichigo took the milk that was dangling precariously from one of Kon's fingers. "Good to meet you. Is there enough there for two?"
Kon laid the huge quantity of food on the counter. "Guess so."
Rukia pulled out another plate and watched as a pile of sandwiches started to disappear.
She hoped they figured out this mess soon, because at this rate, she wasn't going to be able to afford to feed both Ichigo and Kon for very long.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Yammy Riyalgo watched Kon go into the the big brick house of the goody-two-shoes bitch who was nothing more than a glorified babysitter. Kon was his son, and no one was going to keep them apart. No one. The boy had some serious learning to do, and Yammy was going to see that he did it before it was too late.
The first thing he was going to do was make the boy burn that fucking jacket. No son of his was going to proudly display the fact that he'd lettered in debate. Yammy wasn't going to have his only son acting like some kind of nerd. The boy needed some backbone-a little toughening up. He'd turned into a pussy since Yammy had been in prison, and he couldn't stand by and let that happen.
Yammy was ready to be a father now, though it had taken him a while to realize that. He didn't have much time left with the boy before he grew up, and if social services didn't hurry the hell up and pull their heads out of their bureaucratic asses, Yammy was going to have to take matters into his own hands.
He put his piece-of-shit car into gear and eased away from the curb. Ulquiorra, his caseworker, said he'd have to find a decent job if he was going to have any hope of getting custody of Kon again.
Yeah, right. It wasn't like good jobs for ex-cons were as common as dog turds. It was easy for Ulquiorra to say. He got to boss around parents for a living and tell them all the ways they weren't good enough to raise their own children.
What a prick.
Maybe it would be better if he just took Kon and left town. He'd be violating parole, but he didn't care. Life might be better on the run, anyway. At least then it would just be him and Kon, without anyone sticking their nose into family business.
He'd go to the job interview for the bouncer position he'd applied for and see how it went. If he got it, maybe he'd stick around and play by the rules for once.
If not, he knew exactly how to play outside of the rules. And he was damn good at it. He'd been watching the goody-two-shoes bitch long enough to know her patterns, her friends, and her vulnerabilities. Taking back what was his was going to be easy.
AN
Don't forget to review, you guys. And Happy Thanksgiving to all!
