Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Eva's After Dark

Act 1: Scene 5:

So Now You Know

"Tessai!" Rukia's voice rang out and a broad shouldered giant with glasses and cornrow braids seemed to appear out of nowhere though he had really been standing behind the bar at the sink and simply turned and stepped forward at the sound of his name.

"Yes, Ms. Rukia?" He said in that rumbling bass, the light gleaming off of his glasses, so that it was impossible to see his eyes which made him that much more intimidating.

Wide-eyed Ichigo stared up at him as he seemed to loom over him even from behind the bar counter.

With a smug smile, Rukia folded her arms over her chest, an eyebrow quirked upward, silently daring the young man to make further comments about her stature. "I was just telling Mr…?"

"Kur-Kurosaki." He answered still looking startled by the presence of the other man.

"Mr. Kurosaki," Rukia continued seamlessly, "That I have been acquainted with you and Mr. Urahara for years now. That we are all practically like family. And we take care of family around here." She grinned and her teeth shone threateningly as she continued to assault Mr. Kurosaki with her eyes.

"Oh yes! Indeed, Ms. Rukia." Tessai responded emphatically, squaring his shoulders as he blushed with pleasure at her comment, "Like family."

"Mr. Kurosaki was just-" Rukia looked over at Tessai with big innocent eyes, appealing for sympathy.

But Ichigo knew better than to allow her to finish her likely condemning statement and interrupted quickly, "I was just saying that I was pleased to meet her, but I really have to be going." He flashed what he hoped wasn't a nervous smile and gave a wave as he took a step back.

The young woman pouted, "Oh? Too bad." She watched as he shot her one last baleful glance that spoke of retribution and hurried away to a shadowy corner across the room. She waved after him, "Bye bye, Mr. Kurosaki! It was nice chatting with you!" With a satisfied smirk she turned to Tessai and patted him on the arm.

"Good work." She said.

Tessai frowned in confusion looking from the boy that had scurried across the room so abruptly to the girl who was hopping the bar counter to drop down next to him, which seemed impossible for someone of her height but she always seemed to manage somehow. Finally he simply nodded and headed to the entry a broom in his hand.

There was a small step stool behind the bar and Rukia stood on it to wipe down the wooden counter as though the odd exchange had never taken place. Last call had already been sounded before the band's last song and the house lights were coming up, thus the crowd was slowly starting to disperse the murmur of voices sprinkled with occasional drunken laughter and scrape of chairs on the floors, buzzed all around. Glasses and dishes clinked as Ururu and Jinta quickly cleared the tables, darting between the patrons with speed and without causing any disruption on their part.

While Rukia appeared to simply be occupied with clean-up before close, she was actually keeping tabs on several things at once despite the noise. First she noticed the gathering around the stage, not an unusual sight, of well-wishers and friends/fans that were eager to chat up the band. Girls outnumbered guys in the semi-circle surrounding the band that too was rather customary as the fellas were all good looking and skilled musicians. Unfortunately for these girls all male members of the band present were rather shy when it came to flirtations with the opposite sex and thus they did not get much conversation out of them as the young men distracted themselves with gathering and storing their equipment. Evy however had taken her heels off and was sitting on the edge of the stage with her own group of admirers both male and female, conversing genially. Rukia smiled and glanced to her right where down at the other end of the bar Urahara was trying to interest three young women in purchasing Eva's merchandise, t-shirts, shot glasses, and his own homemade brand of sake. Rukia rolled her eyes. And in a corner, still cast in shadow, the ignorant SOB named Ichigo Kurosaki stood with none other than Byakuya Kuchiki. They seemed to be in a heated debated, well Ichigo seemed to be heated, and Byakuya was unshakable as always replying evenly, his chin up, while his eyes were cast downward. Rukia watched in clear surprise, her hand suddenly motionlessly. How on earth did a punk like that come to know Byakuya Kuchiki? Then again, Renji seemed to have found himself a comfortable position in the man's company, so it didn't seem all that strange. But then again, Renji knew when to keep his mouth shut and how to take orders, whereas the spikey-haired lout didn't seem the type to listen to anyone or ever shut-up for that matter. With all these rampant thoughts bombarding her brain, she did not notice when the person who was consuming her thoughts swiped the presented card from his boss' hand with a grimace and headed toward her with a scowl.

He was standing across from her, the bar between them before she noticed him with a start. With the stool under her feet they were almost eye level and she couldn't help but notice how with the lights on his face he wasn't as unattractive as she had originally thought.

"Hey," He said briskly offering her the card in his hand, "Give this to your singer. It's Byakuya's business card. He'd like to meet with her… He has a proposition."

She blinked up at him and he was entranced for a moment by how her eyes really did seem like gems in the full light. She looked at his hand with the card. After a moment he shook it at her impatiently, "Take it!" She did, though she frowned at herself for obeying.

She looked up from studying the card to eye him suspiciously, "What kind of proposal?"

He shrugged, "I don't know exactly. The business kind."

She grimaced, rolling her eyes at how unhelpful he was, "Obviously."

"Then why'd you ask?" He smirked.

"I thought you'd have more details then that!" She returned in agitation. She couldn't help but feel a little off-put by this. Shouldn't Mr. Kuchiki want to meet with her as well, being Evy's manager? Should she even allow Evy to meet with him on her own knowing her client's tendency to be brutally honest? She looked up at him again, "And why is it he couldn't deliver this himself? Are you his errand boy?"

He had been looking away from her, waiting for some confirmation that she would indeed deliver the card to her client. His head snapped up at her and he scowled, "What? No- I'm not his errand boy! I'm a record producer!"

The shock written all over her face somehow made her look even younger, if that was possible. But then the left side of her mouth tugged upward and she snorted in disbelief, crossing her arms, "You? You're a record producer?"

His eyes narrowed, "Yeah. I am. And?"

She eyed him slowly scanning upward from the black Van's and dark blue jeans to the gray t-shirt sporting an odd graffiti-style design in black and a black jacket. The image he was portraying wasn't that farfetched however as record producers seemed to get younger and younger, no longer older men in business suits but ambitious young people with a deep love of music. Still Rukia wasn't about to make it easy for him by just blindly accepting his explanation.

She gave him a mocking smile, "You just don't look like a record producer is all."

"Oh? And what exactly are they supposed to look like?" He rolled his eyes. Hadn't they had this conversation before?

Her gaze travelled past him to Byakuya Kuchiki who was currently on his phone, his face betraying nothing about what the person on the other end of the line might be discussing with him. Ichigo scowled, he knew exactly where her eyes were. Finally she said, "Not like an orange-haired delinquent." He felt heat instantly flood his face, but chose not to rise to the bait as he could suddenly feel his boss' impatient stare at his back.

Shoving his hands in his pockets and struggling for an even tone the young man shrugged again, "Look I don't know what his agenda is- but I'm sure it's favorable for your girl." Silence fell between them and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

With a mental sigh and shrug she nodded, "I'll make sure she gets this card then." He nodded and turned away, but then hesitated, turning back slightly.

"Aaannd- is there something else you need?" She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah- I need to see you again." He said with little thought. Her eyes widened and her face paled before flushing with warmth. He glanced over at her and must have realized how his words had sounded as he sputtered, his own cheeks coloring, "I didn't mean- It's Byakuya- he asked me to meet with you!"

Still slightly reeling from his first statement she focused in on the one thing that could keep her from dwelling on it. "Oh… Wait. You call your employer by his first name?"

Ichigo frowned at this, having recovered, "Yeah. So? He's not the king of England."

Rukia rolled her eyes. She was about to inform him that there was no King of England at present and that she doubted that he would acknowledge him properly in his presence even if there was, but she simply settled for a sigh. "And what could we possibly have to discuss?"

"I told you. I'm a record producer. What else other than a record?" He looked at her as if her question had been completely inane.

She glared at him a moment before his words rang in her head and she simply looked up at him with a sort of awe. The look caught him by surprise and he couldn't help but smile. He turned away before she could take note of it. "Yeah- so meet me next Tuesday at the park on third. We can talk about it then." Before she could offer either a protest or another question he started to walk away from her. She had opened her mouth about to call after him, but instead watched as he approached the CEO of Kuchiki Corp and followed after the man as he headed out up the steps. Her brow furrowed and she looked back down at the card in her hand.

"Whatcha got there, Ms. Rukia?" Urahara had sidled up silently and she had to catch the card mid-float as she startled at the sound of his voice.

She gripped the card between both hands a look of agitation settling on her features, "Byakuya Kuchiki's card. It's for Evy."

"Ahhh," Urahara watched her, no doubt smiling behind his fan, "And that young man you were talking to?"

She shot the man a glance warning him against further prying, but then her expression began to flicker from one emotion to another. She was anxious about giving the card to Evy, sure that her friend would shrug away any cautionary advice her manager might give and call as soon as possible to set up the requested meeting. Not only anxious, but she was quite vexed by how that so-called record producer had walked away from her without waiting for her to put her two cents in; it seemed like he just expected her to show up! But over all she was simply worried. Could having Kuchiki Corp's attention be more troublesome then helpful? While her pride would not allow her to simply give up on Eva's, she couldn't help but wonder if associating with a large corporate enterprise would bring more harm than good.

She shook her head, her shoulders slumping slightly. She was tired. All the tension she had felt throughout the night finally wearing on her. "Kurosaki. I guess he works for Mr. Kuchiki, though I don't know why he allows such an ill-mannered, arrogant- obnoxious boy to work for him." She muttered this last part. She cleared her throat slightly and continued, "He calls himself a record producer."

"Oh my! So that's the boy I had heard so much about!" Urahara sounded delighted. Rukia looked over at him in surprise as he snapped his fan shut and grinned at her. "This is good news then, Ms. Rukia! Surely he wishes to offer our foursome a record deal, yes? Ahhh, and to think- this is where they were discovered!" His eyes were taking on a diamond-like gleam, "My own humble establishment." The man gazed down at the card with a hungry expression and Rukia gasped realizing he had taken it from her without her noticing. She seemed to be easily taken unawares tonight.

She snatched it away from him with a hiss, "It's your establishment we're trying to save- not run head long into the music industry!"

Urahara hid the lower half of his face behind his fan again as he replied, his tone oddly serious and his eyes dark with an unknowable emotion, "But you're already in the music industry, Ms. Rukia."

"I- that's not-" Rukia blinked, finding that she was caught off guard by the club owner's valid point, "I know that! But- it- it's not the same! You know what I mean! A recording contract was never our intention here!"

"Perhaps not, but now that the opportunity has presented itself, perhaps you should explore it, no?" He replied thoughtfully, his eyes still glinting sagely over the top of the fan.

The young manager opened her mouth to retort, but found she could find no fault in his comment. She shut her mouth with a sigh, tapping the card mindlessly on the bar top. It wasn't her place to make this decision on her own, she knew. Evy might be the soul force behind the band, but the boys were just as invested and talented as their singer. In all honesty the band deserved the opportunity, they had been collaborating on the music composition and the lyrical arrangement for three years now; they had their own fan base and even a few websites dedicated to them. Their hard work shown through on every one of their songs. It really could be a promising break for them all. Perhaps the age old saying was true. Perhaps it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Rukia's eyes narrowed decisively. She'd put it to a vote.

Next Chapter: We do a mini-time warp. And see some familiar faces!

Thanks!