Oops, has it really been five months since I last updated? My apologies! I've been lazy and unmotivated and there are still no guarantees that I'll update any faster. Maybe some encouraging reviews will help?

III; Heartless

"Oh yes!"

The screams of the woman beneath me pierced through the night as my name left her mouth in cries of pleasure. Her nails dug into my back scrabbling for some sort of purchase while I pounded mercilessly away at her. Our sweat-slicked skin meshed wonderfully together, each touch, each kiss igniting a fire in my senses.

She would remember this day, oh, I was going to make sure of that.

No woman ever forgot the taste of my spice.

But even though I was determined to make this the best sex that Soi Fong ever had, why wasn't I satisfied?

And why, oh why, was I still thinking about Rukia?

Even though my hands were traveling the wonderful curves of Soi Fong's body, all I could think about was how that orange-haired brat had been doing the same thing to my sister.

And as Soi Fong leaned forward and pulled me into a kiss, the image of Rukia making out with that boy was in the front of my mind.

It was a good thing I had my hands propped up on the sheets at that moment because my hand curled into a fist at the very thought. It had taken every ounce of Renji's strength and persuasive skills to hold me back (it's not like he could have used physical strength to stop me), and even then it was only because a teacher had shown up and separated the two that I hadn't gone over and beaten the living shit out of the boy. But afterward, they had both left in his car off to do God knows what.

Holy shit.

If he had taken my sister's innocence…

A particular hard thrust into Soi Fong sent her over the edge. Her back arched and her nails bit deep crescent-moons into my skin as she reached the peak of her pleasure, her moans and cries all but deafening me. Her breathing had more or less turned into deep panting, her cheeks a furious red, and I'm sure she was seeing Nirvana at that moment.

But she was sorely mistaken if she thought I was finished.

She wasn't going to be able to walk straight for days when I was through with her.

I was going to fuck her senseless.

It was two o'clock in the morning when I finally returned home. Soi Fong worked as head of the security for Seireitei; they were the main company that owned a majority of the law firms in New York City, along with owning branches in other major cities. The Kuchiki family is just the head of one of these branches, albeit we're one of the more influential law firms. Her day starts early because her security services extended to the heads of the branches and most particularly the head of Seireitei himself: Yamamoto Genryuusai, or as we call him, Captain Commander. Don't ask me why, but you don't question a man with as much authority as him.

When I reached the front door to my home, I paused before entering, listening for any sounds within.

Silence.

That was good, because if Rukia was still awake, she was going to be pissed. And I was definitely not in the mood to deal with her bitching at me when I could call her out about not telling me about orange-head.

Sure, she might say it's not my business.

Well it is.

She might say that I'm being unfair.

Who gives a fuck?

She's not ready for love. She's not ready for how love can rip your heart of your chest without mercy, leaving you stranded alone, nobody listening to you even though you're screaming for help.

But that's another story.

Slowly, I opened the door and tip-toed rather unmanly-like into the kitchen, as silent as a shadow.

I soon realized that wasn't silent enough because as soon as I entered the kitchen the lights flickered to life, leaving me standing there dazed in the sudden brightness. My eyes adjusted quickly, and there, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently, was my sister. On the dinner table next to her was a beautiful plate of ribs, untouched.

Shit.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral as I slid off my jacket. I tossed it over the back of a chair, waiting for her response and not receiving it. I focused intently in loosening my tie, not even wanting to look at her at the moment.

She remained silent, and a flicker of irritation passed through my mind. "What, cat got your tongue?"

Apparently so, because she still said nothing.

Even more irked, I turned in her direction to giver her another snappy remark when I finally met her eyes.

Her watery, teary eyes.

My heart softened immediately as I reached for her, arms spread wide.

At first she hesitated, but then she flung herself into my embrace. She didn't sob, but rather her tears fell silently down her cheeks as she burrowed her face into my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my head on tops of hers, just letting her warm, soft body melt against mine.

When she spoke, her voice trembled with emotion. "I was so, so worried about you. You always answer your phone or leave me a message or something! After losing Nee-chan… I couldn't bear the thought of losing you also."

Feelings of regret and guilt washed over me, and I was so lost in my thoughts that the sudden sharp pain in my gut completely jolted me back into reality. I pulled back clenching my stomach, eyes wide with shock as I registered the smug grin on Rukia's face, her fist still raised in the air from where she had punched me.

My initial reaction was anger. That seems reasonable enough, right? After all, I had been sucker punched by my little sister. But another look at her face made it clear to me that her tears were authentic.

God, I was such a jerk.

I sat her down at the dinner table with a firm command to stay seated. Without a word, I reheated the food, set up the table, and served us both a hearty helping of the meal she had prepared. Sitting across from her, I happily shoved a huge chunk of the ribs down my throat. The heavenly taste hit me immediately, all spice and flavor and just plain goodness filling my stomach.

And I had really chosen a woman over this?

"So, how is it?" Rukia asked. She had dried her eyes while I was setting up the table, and now instead she just gave me a cautious glare.

In response, I took another huge bite of the ribs, not caring about stains that they could leave. "Are you kidding?" I mumbled through a mouthful, "it's delicious!"

This seemed to cheer her up, although I knew it was only temporary. The rest would come later. So for now, she laughed happily at me and chided me for talking with my mouth full. We finished our 2 A.M. dinner happily enough, and I was tempted to just go off to my room without further discussion.

But oh, how the concerned brother in me wouldn't shut up.

I let her get ready for bed – she had been waiting for me in her school clothes this whole time – before I lightly knocked on her bedroom door. "May I come in?"

"Sure!"

When I let myself in, Rukia was sprawled on her bed, her hair damp and a book on her lap. Seeing the serious expression on my face, she simply inserted a bookmark for her page while I made myself comfortable on the chair in her room. The time on her clock read 2:28.

"Shouldn't little girls like you be asleep on a school night?" I teased.

"Not if there are scary guys like you in my room."

I clutched at my stomach, feigning pain. "Ouch."

"You deserve it," she said simply.

Double ouch. But she was right on that point. Excuses rattled around in my mind as I considered the chances of me scraping myself out of this mess. A moment passed, and I settled on the most direct approach: "If I say I'm sorry, will you believe me?"

Rukia mused this over for a second, a serious expression on her face although there was a glint of mischief showing in her eyes. "That depends, what am I getting for my birthday?"

A sly grin crept up her lips, and I couldn't help but suddenly reach over and muss up her hair. She squealed in protest and quickly rolled away, hiding under the protection of her bed sheets.

"Nothing if you're thinking about keeping that up, ya brat," I said fondly, knowing that this was the best I was going to get out of her. She poked her head from the covers, a pout on her cute face. Her shirt slid down a little, revealing a bruise below her collarbone.

Except I that it wasn't just a normal bruise, and I knew exactly who had given it to her.

Rage ran through my mind, an emotion that was just hot and pulsing and blocking out every other thought. The change of expression on my face must have been immediate, because Rukia gave me a wary look. When she realized I was staring at her hickey, she let out a complete gasp of shock and quickly pulled the bed sheets well over her neck.

"Bya-nii, it's not what you think, I j-just fell!"

"Bullshit!" I roared. Within a second I had ripped the bed sheet away from her body. Her hand shot out to cover the mark, but I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled it away.

"Don't you dare bullshit me!" I screamed. "It was that orange-haired bastard, wasn't it?"

Her eyes went wide and she furiously broke free from my grasp and held her wrist close to her chest.

"Don't call him that, Bya-nii! Ichigo is a good man!"

I couldn't help the sneer that crept onto my face. "Oh, so his name is Ichigo, huh? He must be a really good man if you let him touch you so easily like that. How good of a man is he, Rukia? Hm?"

She squirmed in her bed, fumbling for the bed sheets once more as she anxiously covered her neck with her hand.

Some bell was ringing dimly in the back of my head, warning me I was going to far, that Rukia didn't deserve this kind of treatment, that I was being way too harsh for something this small. But that still didn't stop me from saying:

"So what do the two of you do when you're alone? I know I'm out a lot. For all I know, you could have fucked him on this very bed."

Her eyes grew wide again, her hands clenching the sheets violently.

"Of course not, Bya-nii!" She was blinking rapidly at this point, and it was then that I realized she was working very hard not to start crying. Those bells in my head turned into a fierce ringing, one that snapped me back to my senses.

I reached toward her, and she immediately flinched away. It was that simple yet painful sight that melted through my anger. Hell, all my other emotions must have melted away also because it felt as if my mind shut down at that point.

What the fuck was had I been thinking?

Without another word, I spun on my heel and left.

"So, you actually called her a whore, huh?"

I glowered fiercely at Renji as I came perilously close to slamming my coffee down onto the table.

"I didn't call her a whore," I said.

He raised an eyebrow and quirked a smile. "Yeah, but it was implied."

I grit my teeth and settled on glaring at the window, moodily sipping from my coffee, waiting for the caffeine to kick in. We were at the same cafe as yesterday, as the sun rose over the beginning of a new work day. After my confrontation with Rukia, I was too ashamed with myself to see even her in the morning, so I grabbed some clothes and made the short drive to Renji's apartment where I ended up crashing for the rest of the night. Although, that would imply that I had actually gotten some sleep last night.

Which of course, I hadn't. Sure, I had slept on people's couches before, but the anxiety and regret made it impossible for me to sleep. Of course, I wasn't going to wallow in my misery alone. I usually wasn't one for video games, but I had access to Renji's XBox and his account and hell, I just wanted to play a mindless shooting game. By the time Renji woke up, I had ranked up his account on Call of Duty by twenty-five levels.

And Renji said I was no good at games.

Sure, I now had bags under my eyes and I already had three cups of coffee trying to wake up, but hey, I could be a douche bag brother who just implied that his sister was a whore.

Oh wait.

I laughed loudly and bitterly at my own misery, at that moment wishing my coffee was a beer as I chugged down the rest of its contents. At Renji's incredulous stare, I smiled cynically at him as I began to gather my things.

"Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Now, I'm going to give you two options. To put it simply, only one of them has a happy ending for you. In this ending, you tell us where Kariya is and the prosecution will not push for the death sentence. Of course, if you choose not to do this, then the prosecution will push for the death sentence and we will thenhave you convicted of the rape and murder of thirteen women."

I said all this just as one would talk to his friend, my body language casual and my tone light and friendly. I flashed him a charming grin. "And then you will die."

Mabashi attempted to maintain his 'I don't give a shit' attitude by tossing back his hair and giving me a nasty sneer, but the panic that sparked in his eyes told me otherwise.

"I am giving you five minutes to make your decision." I slid a piece of paper and a pen across the table to him. "If you do decide to cooperate, all you need to do is write down everything you know."

He glanced down at the paper, then leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk. Snickering, he flipped me off. "Fuck you, asshole. You think you can get me to break just because you're throwing around the death sentence? Forget about it. You've got nothing on me."

Content with his little speech, he leaned so far back on his chair that I was sure he was going to fall - but of course, he didn't. The look on his face told me that he was fairly confident with what he had said.

Hah. Arrogant little prick.

A manila folder with several papers inside rested in front of me. I picked it up and quickly scanned through its contents. With careful deliberateness, I began to place several photos side-by-side on the table. Eventually thirteen photos were laid out.

"Do you recognize any of these women?" I said quietly.

He carelessly glanced at the photos in front of him, the corner of his lips turning up slightly. Each photo featured a beautiful woman, all somewhere within their twenties. The only thing that marred their beauty was the clean red line across each woman's throat and the blood that covered most of their bodies. "Of course not. Any reason that I should?"

The mockery in his voice didn't faze me at all. Instead, I calmly pointed to five photos in turn and said, "At the crime scenes of these women, traces of semen was found. Three of these samples were still enough in tact to be able to perform genetic testing on them. The boys at the lab tell me that they'll be done with testing soon." I paused, made eye contact with him. "I'm sure I won't be disappointed with their results." He gave me a cold stare in return, so I continued.

Opening the manila folder once more, I pulled out two more photos and placed them on the table. "These two pictures show evidence that was found near the bodies of Margaret Colt and Danielle Woodworth." He leaned forward to get a better view of the pictures, his eyes suddenly widening in surprise at what he saw. He quickly got a hold of himself, but his reaction was exactly what I wanted. "Yes Mabashi, hair was found by the bodies of these two women. Specifically speaking, long, orange-red hairs." Again, I pointedly stared at him. "I wonder where I've seen that before?"

He made a small sound under his breath and looked away, the gears seeming to visibly turn in his head. "You can't peg me on just that."

I smiled lightly at him. "You're right. No jury would convict you on just those pieces of evidence that I just showed you."

"Then-"

"You're going to be convicted because of everything else that I'm going show to the jury. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that you've been awfully sloppy at the crime scenes. It's only due to luck that you haven't been caught sooner."

I briefly glanced down at my watch. "Well, it seems that you only have about two and a half minutes left to make your decision. It is within your best interests to write down everything you know about Kariya on that piece of paper. I'm sure the alternative has been made clear to you at this point." I began to stand up and put the photos back in the folder. He was staring intently at the paper, hand reaching toward the pen, then cringing away.

"Don't forget to sign your name at the bottom when you're done." I said amiably on my way out. My hand was on the doorknob when he spoke.

"You're a heartless bastard, aren't ya?" His voice was weary, tainted by resignation and a sense of defeat.

His hand was curled tightly around the pen.

I turned and smiled at him. "That's why I'm the best."