After dinner Sousuke and Momo returned to the penthouse for the remainder of the night.
"So, I take it that you and Ms. Ise had a nice chat," Sousuke said as they entered the elevator.
"Yes, I did, sir. She's a really nice person," Momo said.
Sousuke smiled at this.
"I'm happy to hear it. She doesn't normally warm-up to the women I bring to these events. Of course many of the women I bring to these things aren't always the most pleasant women to be around," Sousuke admitted.
"Well don't worry, she was quite nice to me," Momo assured him.
"I'm pleased to hear it," Sousuke replied.
"How did the rest of the evening go for you and the others?" Momo asked feeling a little awkward after having heard what they said earlier.
"It went well enough thank you. Though we did exchange a few heated words," Sousuke admitted.
"Oh, I see. I hope it wasn't too serious," Momo said uneasily.
"We've had more heated conversations in the past. It's nothing to be concerned about," Sousuke replied.
"That's good to hear. The four of you seemed like such good friends and I would feel bad for you if something were to change that. For anyone," Momo added.
"That's very considerate of you," Sousuke said.
"A lot of my friends are like family to me and I know it would hurt to lose even one of them," Momo said.
"I would imagine so," Sousuke replied.
"Is something wrong, my dear?" Sousuke asked when he noticed the way the young woman was fidgeting.
"Why would you think something is wrong?" Momo asked.
"I don't know, but you seem to be a little off," Sousuke explained.
"Its nothing. Don't worry about it," Momo said.
'I hope this isn't about whatever Byakuya said to her. She seems rather uncomfortable about something,' Sousuke thought to himself.
"Are you quite certain? I heard that Byakuya may have said somethings that upset you," Sousuke explained.
"Oh, that? Don't worry about it. Mr. Kuchiki apologized and everything is alright," Momo answered trying to sound at least a little cheerful.
"If you insist. However, if any of my colleagues said or did anything to make you feel uncomfortable I would like to know about it. You deserve to be treated with just as much respect as anyone else," Sousuke said.
"Thank you, sir. I think I may have been a bit nervous about everything this evening. After all, this is the first time I've ever done anything like this," Momo said.
"There's no reason for you to be nervous, you did great this evening and I'm impressed with the way you've handled things," Sousuke assured her.
Thank you, sir," Momo said, relief evident in her voice when she said this.
Sousuke smiled.
'She is quite innocent. She's so eager to please and quite sweet,' Sousuke thought to himself.
"Other than what Byakuya said I trust that my friends treated you well," Sousuke said.
"Yes, sir. They treated me quite well," Momo said shyly as she recalled the more gentlemanly way that Shunsui and Jushiro treated her. She never imagined that she would be in a social setting where she would be flirted with the way Shunsui had flirted with her.
It was nice and unexpected. Especially in light of the situation she was in that evening.
"I'm pleased to hear it," Sousuke said as the exited the elevator.
"So, what do you want to do when we get back to your room? I mean, do you want me to do anything different from what I did with you before dinner?" Momo asked a little nervous.
"Don't worry about that right now," Sousuke replied as he opened the door and allowed her to enter the penthouse first.
"But, Mr. Aizen," Momo started before Sousuke interrupted her.
"If it's alright with you, I would like to chat a little before we retire to the bedroom for the night," Sousuke explained as he guided her to the living room.
"Okay. What would you like to talk about?" Momo asked.
"Well tell me a little about yourself," Sousuke said taking a seat on a leather sofa and motioned for her to do the same.
"What would you like to know?" Momo asked as she took a seat next to him.
"Tell me about your education," Sousuke said.
"I went to college for a few years, but I decided to take some time off when my foster-mother became ill," Momo said.
"I see. I'm sorry to hear about your foster-mother. I take it she didn't recover," Sousuke said.
"No, sir. She died," Momo replied.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear. That must have been hard for you," Sousuke said sympathetically.
"Thank you, sir. It was. After she died I thought that it might be better if I took some time off before returning since I didn't think I would be able to focus on my studies while I was still grieving her death. I also needed to help my foster-brother with his studies. Little Shiro is younger than me so I was the one in charge after our foster-mother passed away," Momo explained looking down at her hands in her lap.
"I see. So I take it you were unable to return to college," Sousuke said.
"No, I'm afraid I was unable to. I had to continue working to pay rent and put food on the table," Momo explained.
"I'm sorry to hear," Sousuke replied.
"It's alright. Things could be worse for us," Momo said.
"Forgive me, but I find that rather hard to believe in light of your current situation," Sousuke said sounding sympathetic.
"I could've spent this evening on the street instead of talking with friendly people like Nanao and the others. I can't imagine that I would've been able to eat well this evening if I had been on the street," Momo pointed out.
"I suppose you are right. Even so, I feel rather ashamed of the way things turned out for you this evening," Sousuke said.
"Well you shouldn't be, Mr. Aizen. You and the others have treated me quite well despite the fact that I was working as a prostitute," Momo said glancing up at him sideways.
"Despite the fact that I only met you this evening, I believe that you are a good person and you deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. I feel that I failed to do that," Sousuke said looking away this time.
"I think that you treated me with more respect and dignity than most of my potential clients would have my first time. I don't think they would've been as understanding and patient as you were," Momo said.
Sousuke smiled at this.
'She really is quite sweet and forgiving,' Sousuke thought to himself.
"That may be true, however I still feel that I failed you. I won't claim to be a virtuous man, but I have always been able to say that I never made a woman do something I they weren't comfortable doing. But after what happened between us this evening, I can no longer claim that," Sousuke said sounding ashamed.
"Yes you can. You didn't make me do anything I consented to what we did together. You gave me more than enough chances to change my mind, but I insisted that I was okay," Momo insisted.
"That may be, however you deserved better," Sousuke said.
"Maybe you're right, but I'll be alright. Maybe we should talk about something else," Momo suggested.
"Very well. You said that you went to college for a few years. What was your major?" Sousuke asked.
"I majored in art. Mostly sketching and painting," Momo answered.
"Sounds fascinating. Did you have a favorite subject matter?" Sousuke asked.
"I like sketching people mostly. Sometimes I like sketching fashion designs. Sometimes I like to paint landscapes or fashion designs. Just to name a few things. I don't mean to brag, but my professors said I was good," Momo said shyly.
"Sounds like you should consider working as an artist or designer," Sousuke commented.
"That's very kind of you to say," Momo said blushing a little, before adding, "unfortunately being and artist right now won't help pay the bills with the economy being what it is right now. My room-mate and I both need to eat," Momo said.
"Perhaps you should show me some of your work sometime. If I like what I see, perhaps I could hire you to do a piece for me sometime," Sousuke suggested.
"That's very kind of you sir, but I don't know..." Momo trailed off.
"Just think about for a while. I don't need an answer tonight. I'll give you my card tomorrow before you leave and you can contact me sometime," Sousuke offered.
"Thank you, sir," Momo replied before changing the subject.
"Um, Mr. Aizen?"
"Yes?" Sousuke replied.
"I overheard some of your friends saying something about a brother-in-law..." Momo started.
"Yes, he's my sister's husband," Sousuke replied sounding a little exasperated at the thought of the conversation he had with his annoying brother-in-law.
"I'm sorry to pry," Momo said.
"It's alright. I'm not annoyed by you for asking, I'm annoyed with my brother-in-law. Don't get me wrong, he's a good man. However, he has a number of flaws in my opinion," Sousuke said.
"I'm sorry," Momo said.
"It's alright. It isn't your fault. In all fairness to him, his faults are more a matter of his eccentricities,"
Sousuke explained.
"Oh, I see. Would you care to discuss it?" Momo asked.
"I would hate to bore you with the details of my family," Sousuke replied.
"If you don't want to tell me all the details of your family if you don't want to, but if you want to talk about some specific issues than I'm willing to listen. Isn't part of a prostitute's duty to listen to a client's problems and act as a therapist in a way?" Momo pointed out.
Sousuke chuckled a little at this.
"For someone who just started working as a prostitute, you seem to know your job," Sousuke commented. Momo blushed a little at this.
"Alright, what do you want to know?" Sousuke asked.
"Only whatever you're comfortable telling me," Momo replied.
Meanwhile, at the Kurosaki residence, Toushiro worked on fixing Karin's laptop. He had had the biggest crush on her for the longest time, but due to the differences in their social standings he figured that she would want nothing to do with someone like him.
Karin watched Toushiro as he worked on fixing her laptop. She had to admit that she thought he was kinda cute. She had never really cared much for most of the guys in her social circle. Sure there were a few guys that were decent enough, but none of them really interested her as far as dating went.
'Sure, this guy seems to be a little bit snarky, but I kinda like him,' Karin thought to herself as she watched him work.
'Maybe that's because he's kinda like me in a way,' Karin thought.
"So how is it coming along?" Karin asked, trying to make small talk, not something she was very good at.
"It's taking awhile. Do you ever even bother to run a virus scan on this thing?" Toushiro asked.
"Not really," Karin answered.
"Well you should. This thing has a lot of spyware and malware on it. If you're not careful you are either going to have to get this thing wiped or replace it entirely," Toushiro responded.
"Sheesh! You're starting to sound like my older brother," Karin said slightly annoyed and a little defensively.
"Maybe you should take his advice," Toushiro said.
"Yeah, whatever," Karin said annoyed.
'I know that money is no object to her and people like her, but this is getting ridiculous! Why can't she just do the smart thing and run a simple virus scan weekly to save some money is beyond me,' Toushiro thought.
"Well if you aren't careful about taking care of it then you might lose all the information on the laptop. Especially if you don't back everything up regularly," Toushiro warned.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I haven't gotten around to doing that either. Do you think you could take care of that too?" Karin asked.
"Of course I can, but it will cost you extra," Toushiro replied.
"That won't be a problem," Karin said.
"Good, because this may take a while. Judging by how long this thing is taking to scan all your documents it looks like there's a lot to back-up and could take hours! Hell, maybe even all night," Toushiro said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, seeing as the weather isn't getting any better you might as well stay the night. You can rest if you need to. You'll still get paid. Even for the time you spend sleeping or taking a break," Karin said.
"That's very generous of you, Ms. Kurosaki. However, today is my room mate's birthday and it wouldn't be very fair of me to skip out on her birthday," Toushiro said.
"Oh, I see. May I ask what you two are going to be doing?" Karin asked.
"Actually, come to think of it, she and a few of her friends were going to go bar hopping to night," Toushiro answered.
"Are you even old enough to be in a bar?" Karin asked.
"Not yet, and I actually wasn't going to be joining them for the bar hopping part, but we were going to celebrate a little before they went out for the evening," Toushiro explained.
"Well considering how bad the weather is, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to go out tonight," Karin pointed out.
"That may be, but I wouldn't be a good friend if I bailed on her," Toushiro pointed out.
"Well that's true, but if you can't finish the scan in time you might not be able to make it anyway," Karin pointed out, trying to come up with an excuse for him to stay. She really liked him and liked being around him.
Toushiro looked at the time and then at the scan and sighed defeatedly.
"Yeah, you're right. Between this scan and the weather I won't be able to make it out of here in time to make it to celebrate with Momo," Toushiro said defeatedly.
"I'm sorry that my carelessness with my laptop is keeping you from making it out in time to celebrate with your friends," Karin said apologetically.
"No, it's okay. I probably wouldn't have been able to make it home in time in this weather anyway. Besides, this way she can at least go out clubbing without feeling guilty about leaving me behind," Toushiro said.
"Well I'm happy that I'm not keeping you from anything because of my computer problems," Karin replied.
"But I am still very sorry that you aren't going to be able to make it to your friend's birthday party," Karin quickly added apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, she and I still need to pay the rent and pay to get things fixed at our apartment since the no good landlord keeps making excuses to avoid fixing anything himself," Toushiro said sounding a little annoyed at the thought of the man.
"I'm sorry to hear. Is it really that bad?" Karin asked.
"You have no idea," Toushiro said still sounding annoyed.
"I'm sorry to hear," Karin replied.
"It's not your fault," Toushiro replied just as his cellphone started to ring.
"Anyway, I should answer that, it's probably her and need to let her know so that she doesn't worry. Right now your computer is still scanning for viruses. Would it be alright if I spoke the her while it's still scanning?" Toushiro asked.
"Of course it is. Take as much time as you need," Karin assured him.
"Thanks and I'm sorry about this, we have a cellphones in case of emergencies," Toushiro explained as he retrieved his cellphone from his back jeans pocket.
"Alright, I'll leave you to that in privacy," Karin said leaving the room.
"Thank you, I appreciate it, Ms. Kurosaki," Toushiro replied as Karin left and went out to the living room.
When she was gone Toushiro hit the answer button on the device and held it to his ear.
"Hello? Toushiro?" came his friend's voice on the other end, before he could reply he heard her say something to someone else on her end. Before he could asked who she was talking to her cheerful sounding voice came back on the line.
"Hey, Toushiro. How are you? How was your day?" Momo said.
"Hey, Momo. I'm fine thank you. Work was pretty good today. How are you? How was work?" Toushiro asked.
'I hope she had a good day today. Especially after all the trouble she's had due to taking overtime,' Toushiro thought to himself.
"I've had better days I'm sorry to say. They had to make cut backs at the factory and they let me go," Momo answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully you'll still be able to have fun with Hisana and Rukia while you three are out celebrating your birthday. I'm sorry that I won't be able to make it myself. How about Renji or Izuru? Are either one of them going to be there?" Toushiro asked his friend.
"Actually, I won't be able to make it out clubbing tonight either. I've already called Hisana to let her know that I won't be able to celebrate tonight and I'm sure that she's already told Rukia that the partying is off for tonight. As for Renji and Izuru, Renji is working late and Izuru is out of town with his parents," Momo explained.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I take it Shuuhei isn't available either," Toushiro added.
"I'm also sure that Shuuhei is working late as well. Last time he and I spoke he said that he would probably be working late every night at least until the ninth or the tenth," Momo explained.
"I'm sorry to hear. But you haven't explained why you aren't able to go out celebrating tonight. Is there something else wrong?" Toushiro asked.
There was silence on the other end and Toushiro started to wonder what had happened.
"Momo? Are you still there?" Toushiro asked.
"Why can't I go out celebrating tonight?" Momo said repeating his question sounding a little off to him.
"Yes, that is my question," Toushiro replied.
"Um, well the reason I can't is... well, it's because I..." Momo started to trail-off.
Toushiro thought he heard someone on the other end say something to her.
"I'm looking into a new job," Momo answered.
"At night? That seems an odd time to be looking into a job," Toushiro said.
"Yeah, it is an odd time to be looking into a new job, but...? Momo started trailing-off again. Once again, Toushiro though he heard someone say something to her before she answered him again.
"It was the only time my potential new employer could meet with me," Momo answered.
"I see. What time do you think you'll be returning home?" Toushiro asked.
"What time will I be returning tonight?" Momo repeated the question again. Once again, Toushiro could've sworn that he heard another voice saying something to her on the other end but he couldn't make out what they were saying.
"I might not be able to make it home tonight. My possible employer may have me working a night shift and wants to see how well I do working late hours," Momo answered.
"After working all day today? You're going to be exhausted tomorrow!" Toushiro exclaimed.
"Well, it may not be the entire night, but since I may also be asked to do a morning shift, my potential employer is going to put me up for the night," Momo hurridly explained.
"That seems a little strange," Toushiro said.
"Well they are really considerate and don't want me to get hurt if there is an accident or something in this weather," Momo replied.
"Alright. I suppose that sounds reasonable enough. I'll probably be working all night myself. I'll probably be working all night myself. I'll probably get a nap in on a break or something," Toushiro said glancing over at the offending computer that was still scanning.
"That's good to hear," Momo said.
"Just be careful, Momo. If you feel like you're in danger call me immediately. If the person tries to hurt you, call the police first and try to get out of there!" Toushiro warned.
"Of course. I'll be careful so don't worry. I'll see you sometime tomorrow," Momo said reassuringly.
"Well, in that case, good night, happy birthday and God bless," Toushiro replied.
"Thank you, Toushiro. Good night and God bless," Momo replied before she hung-up.
Toushiro returned his cellphone to his pocket.
'That was weird. I wonder what's going on with her. I hope that everything is alright with her,' Toushiro thought to himself.
With all the bad luck that she had been having holding down a job because of the bad economy and in spite of all of her hard work, Toushiro couldn't help but worry if maybe she might do something desperate.
Deciding to set aside his worries for the time being he looked again at the computer scan to see how things were progressing.
'Still a lot more to scan judging by the amount of space in use on this computer,' he thought to himself.
Toushiro decided to take a short break while he waited for the computer to finish scanning. Heading out to the living room where Karin was.
"Hey, Toushiro," Karin said from the kitchen.
"Hello, Miss. Kurosaki. I thought you were in the living room," Toushiro said going to join her.
"Hey, I'm younger than you so don't call me Miss. Kurosaki like I'm some kinda old lady! I got a little thirsty so I came to get some water. Do you want something to drink?" Karin asked.
"Now that you ask I am a little thirsty. Thank you," Toushiro said.
"What would you like?" Karin asked.
"I'll have whatever you're having," Toushiro answered.
How was your friend?" Karin asked as she got a glass and got some water for him from the fridge door.
"She said that might have a new job and that she was meeting with her potential future employer right now," Toushiro said.
"That's good news, though it seems a little unusual for an employer to meet with someone they might want to hire at this hour," Karin said.
"That's what I thought. I'm worried about her. She hasn't had an easy time holding down a job. Don't get me wrong, she's responsible and works hard. But unfortunately, she works over time at places that are only able to hire part-time so she is always one of the first people let go during cutbacks," Toushiro explained.
"That sucks. I hope that this job works out for her. Did she say what the job was?" Karin asked.
"No, but she has more than one set of skills, fortunately," Toushiro said taking a sip of water.
"May I ask what kind of jobs she's had to work in the past?" Karin asked trying to make conversation.
"Sure, she's worked in retail as a salesperson in clothing stores and convenient stores, as a waitress, as a barista..." Toushiro said trailing-off as he thought.
"Wow. She sure sounds busy," Karin said taking a sip of her earlier today she worked as a seamstress in a clothing factory," Toushiro explained.
"So she was let go of then?" Karin asked sympathetically.
"Yeah. She knew it was coming. She was only hired there to work part-time, but she put in more time than many of the full-time workers and she worked harder than most people there. It was only a matter of time before she was let go of because of it," Toushiro said.
"That really sucks," Karin said.
"I know. She always worked hard, played by the rules...and yet it still falls down around her," Toushiro said a little bitterly.
"It sounds like it. What time did she say she would be going home?" Karin asked.
"She said that she wouldn't be making it home. That her potential employer was going to put her up for the night," Toushiro answered.
"Well that seems nice of them. Although..." Karin said.
"I find it a little suspicious. I just can't help but worry that it may be some guy who's going to mess with her or something," Toushiro said.
"I'm sure she'll be alright," Karin said trying to reassure the troubled teen.
"I hope you're right. With all the bad luck that she's been having I can't help but feel like it's only a matter of time before she does something desperate to keep us off the streets," Toushiro said.
"Don't worry. I'm sure things will work out. If she really has had that much bad luck then hopefully her luck will change for the better," Karin said trying to be optimistic for once.
"I hope you're right," Toushiro said.
"What's your room mate's name?" Karin asked.
"It's Momo, Momo Hinamori," Toushiro answered.
"How long have you two known each other?" Karin asked.
"Since we were kids. We grew-up in the same foster home together. She's like an older sister to me, in case you were wondering if she was my girlfriend or something," Toushiro said.
"Why would you think I would wonder if she was your girlfriend?" Karin asked sounding a little panicked.
"Well, isn't that what you were thinking?" Toushiro asked.
"No, I wasn't!" Karin said sounding annoyed.
"Whatever. I should probably go check to see if the virus scan is done. Thanks for the water, Miss. Kurosaki," Toushiro said as he turned and headed back to her room.
"I said not to call me that! My name is Karin!" Karin said sounding irritated.
Toushiro chuckled at this.
'She really is something else,' Toushiro thought to himself.
"Is that what you would like me to call you then?" Toushiro asked glancing back at her.
"Well, duh! What else do you think I want to be called?!" Karin demanded.
"Alright, Miss. Karin," Toushiro replied.
"Don't call me Miss. Karin! Just call me Karin!" Karin demanded annoyed.
"Yes, ma'am," Toushiro replied not turning to face her so as to keep from bursting out laughing at her enraged facial expression.
"Hey! Don't call me ma'am either! I'm not some old lady! Hey! Look at me while I'm talking to you!" Karin demanded.
Toushiro turned around to see the flustered teenager glaring back at him and he couldn't help himself, he just burst out laughing.
"Hey, what's so funny?!" Karin demanded.
"I'm sorry but the look on your face is just too hysterical right now," Toushiro said between laughs.
"Why you little!" Karin yelled.
"Hey, Karin," Ichigo said as he stepped out of his room and started walking toward the hot-headed teenage girl.
"What is it, Ichigo?" Karin asked turning to her brother.
"Can you keep it down? You're getting on my nerves," Ichigo said.
"Why don't you just mind your own business?" Karin snapped before she turned her attention back to Toushiro who had taken the moment to head back to her room to finish whatever scans and updates were necessary for her laptop.
"Hey! Just where do you think you're going?!" Karin demanded.
"I'm going to finish my work on your laptop," Toushiro said casually.
"Fine, but we're not through yet!" Karin said through gritted teeth.
Toushiro returned to her room to finish his work and Karin turned to head back to the kitchen when Ichigo stopped her.
"What was that all about?"
"It's none of your business," Karin answered stubbornly.
"If you're gonna verbally abuse the people who work for us then I might have to make it my business as well as mom and dad's business."
"I wasn't abusing him, I was just telling him not to address me as Miss. Kurosaki or ma'am," Karin said irritation in her voice.
"And you needed to yell just for that?"
Karin let out a growl of frustration.
"By the way, what's going on with the outfit?" Ichigo asked.
"What do you mean?" Karin asked pink creeping up into her cheeks.
"I don't know. It just looks to me like you're trying to impress that guy or something," Ichigo commented.
It was true, Karin short black cut-off jean shorts and a short tank top that hugged her figure and showed-off her cleavage that was only more noticable because of the skull and crossbones across the chest. Her mid-back length hair was down but pinned back on either side.
"Why would I want to try and impress him?" Karin said as she headed back to the kitchen.
"I don't know. Maybe because you like him," Ichigo suggested as he followed her.
"I do not!" Karin snapped.
"Whatever. You're not fooling anyone," Ichigo said annoyed.
"What are you talking about?" Karin snapped.
"Oh, give me a break, Karin. It's not too hard to scan your computer at least once a week but you won't do it even once a month. It's like you're begging for computer problems just so you will have an excused for him to come over here to work on it," Ichigo said getting a can of beer out of the refrigerator.
"I'll give you a break! I'll break that freaking skull of yours!" Karin said trying to cover up her embarrassment with anger.
"Oh knock it off already. Sheesh! I don't know why you don't just ask him out or something. I've never known you to be shy about anything," Ichigo said as he opened his drink and took a sip.
"I am not shy!" Karin said.
"Whatever. If you keep being such a jerk to him he might lose interest in you," Ichigo warned.
"What are you talking about? Toushiro's not interested in me!" Karin said.
"Oh, please. Just be grateful dad isn't here or he would probably scare Toushiro away before you have a chance to ask him out," Ichigo said as he headed out of the kitchen and back toward his bedroom before he stopped.
"If you ask me, you should say something to him before it's to late to do so," Ichigo added before heading back to his room leaving Karin blushing like crazy.
'What do you know, Ichigo?!' she thought angrily to herself.