"Escort"

Ichigo crouched over in the bathroom stall with his head practically in the toilet. He hurled over, vomiting the drink he downed earlier. "What a girl! You can't even handle four bottles?" Grimmjow taunted, standing behind him with a pleased expression. Ichigo let out a cough, feeling ill to the bone.

Ichigo placed his hands on the toilet seat, lifting himself up. Ichigo barely managed to walk correctly. "Shut up."

"Quitting now?" Grimmjow raised a brow, "I always knew you were pathetic. Aizen was a fool to think you'd make a great host. I'm number one and always will be," he stabbed Ichigo in the chest with his finger. "Hurry up; there are more customers."

God... this was like a relay race and Grimmjow was Ichigo's coach, screaming in his ear to reach the finish line. Though, Ichigo didn't feel a little motivated at all from his insults. "I heard you the first time," Ichigo mumbled, giving him the finger before getting back to work.

Next Day

Rukia woke up that morning entangled in her bed sheets, but found the bed Ichigo-less. She frowned, thinking it was really strange. Before when she used to make him sleep on the sofa, he'd give her a lonely look that begged for permission to let him sleep beside her. Now that she did let him, he didn't want to be close to her? "Make up your mind, idiot," Rukia mumbled, still half-asleep. She lingered towards the bathroom, "Good morning Kon. How was your sleep-..."

Rukia paused, seeing Ichigo sprawled across the bathroom floor. Did she dare check to confirm if it was his corpse or not? Kon hopped over to Ichigo's side, licking his nose. "Mm... Rukia?" Ichigo slowly opened his eyes while puckering his lips for Kon.

"Up here," Rukia kicked Ichigo's feet. He shot up as if he was just resurrected from the dead. "So, sleeping in here is better than sleeping beside me huh?" Rukia glared, a little annoyed. Ichigo winced, feeling like collapsing again. Oh, the hangover was terrific. The pain of a thousand needles stabbing his brain was just agonizing. "I didn't know working as a security guard could make you drunk. So, what happened last night?" She crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the ground.

Huh, what did happen last night? Ichigo could barely recall. Slowly, it was coming back to him. He could hear girls laughing and Grimmjow's bitching in the back of his head. "I went drinking," he said. It wasn't a lie. When Rukia asked why, he responded stupidly with, "I don't know." Ichigo was always a bad liar. "I just wanted to uh... have some alone time and do that sort of thing."

Rukia picked up Kon, giving a little 'hmph' while turning her face away. Ichigo sighed, a little happy even though now wasn't the time to be beaming. Like this, it seemed like they were a married couple and Kon was their son. "Why would you feel the need to get drunk?" Ichigo could tell her question was not out of anger, but mainly curiosity and perhaps a hint of worry.

"Don't tell me you think I did it to get rid of stress?" Ichigo asked. Of course, most women would feel that way. "You're not stressing me out if that's what you're trying to say."

Rukia held Kon closely to her like he was her stuffed toy. "Am I just being paranoid?"

"A little, yeah."

Rukia felt silly. Here she was being overly dramatic for no reason, she thought. "You must think I'm an obsessed girlfriend now, huh?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No, but I do think you need to stop thinking for me," he laughed, standing up. Rukia cowered before him, "I think it's cute how you're worrying for me." Ever since Ichigo had ran away from home, he never had anyone to lecture him and worry for him. For Rukia to scold him, he felt... cared for.

"Y-Yeah well... pull this stunt again and you're dead," Rukia threatened, though that wasn't what she intended to say. She didn't want to get too sweet and say, 'Oh, honey I'm glad you're fine; that's all that matters.' No way would she ever let those words slip out of her mouth! "I'm going to work soon; watch Kon and the house," she said before leaving him.

Ichigo laughed to himself, "She loves me."

That Night

"My god... what a beautiful man."

"How much for the whole package?"

Ichigo stepped into Hueco Mundo with eyes practically devouring him. The women brushed their hands along his chest while harassing him. To think that a long time ago, he was the kind of person who slept with girls like these. As usual, Hueco Mundo was filled with women and the hosts; it was a sanctuary for ladies. "Would it kill you to smile?" asked Ulquiorra, who was dressed in a fine suit along with the other hosts and Ichigo.

"Yeah, it would," replied Ichigo.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, looking like he was restraining from strangling Ichigo. "Your presence here already lead to an increase of clients. If it weren't for that, Aizen-sama would surely fire you." Ichigo never thought there'd be a day where he would be thankful to his father, but today he was happy his dad passed down some good-looking genes. "A woman requested you today; she's at table four."

Ichigo sighed, hoping it wasn't Nanami. The girl practically destroyed his kidneys by making him drink so much last night. Since working as a host, Ichigo had finally realized that women were evil. They saw men as toys and liked to manipulate them in anyway they could to entertain themselves. "It's a pleasure to meet you; I'm very glad to be able to spend this night with a beautiful woman like you," said Ichigo through gritted teeth as he approached the woman.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo's fake smile broke as he recognized that voice. "Inoue?" he blurted out, seeing Orihime's equally surprised expression. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting beside her. Man, working here was making Ichigo realize all new things. Who knew Orihime was the type to turn to host clubs? Ichigo was beginning to see her in a different light.

"I should be asking you that," Orihime responded. "There were rumors going around saying a handsome orange-haired man was working here... for some reason, I suspected it was you. Apparently the rumors were true."

Ichigo hung his head low; was he that popular among the ladies? What a curse it was. "Yeah well... here I am. This is a pretty degrading job, isn't it?"

Orihime didn't laugh. Her eyes drooped with sadness, "Is there a reason why you're working here?"

"It's a long story."

"It's because of Kuchiki-san, isn't it?"

Ichigo couldn't find the right words to say to Orihime. He sighed, irritated that he got stuck in such a situation. "Don't tell her about this," was all he mumbled. The conversation became awkward as neither of them knew what to say. "W-Well, you're only wasting money by sitting here with me. Now that you've confirmed the rumors, you should leave. This place isn't good."

Orihime shook her head, smiling innocently. "I'll stay here with you. From the looks of it," she glanced around, seeing Grimmjow getting wasted and Nnoitra making out with someone, "it seems like you need protection from these women. The least I can do is book you for the night so you don't end up throwing up later."

"Ahh, thanks for not leaving me for dead. I really hate doing this."

"Is she worth this?" Orihime asked unconsciously. Her hand immediately clamped her mouth, "I- I didn't mean to..." Now Ichigo was going to think she was a selfish person, she thought. It's just that she didn't like to see him working at such a place; she wanted to know why he was doing all this for one girl.

Ichigo hoped to show that he wasn't offended by laughing, "I know what you mean. Most people would find it hard to understand how one person could suffer for the sake of another..." Ichigo pondered to himself before answering Orihime. "Rukia's worth everything."

Orihime grimaced, feeling a sharp pain through her chest. "Really?"

"Really." Ichigo and Orihime sat in silence for a moment. "When my mother died, I hated myself and the entire world. Everyone pitied me and scolded me for being stupid, but Rukia didn't. She was just a friend that I needed."

Orihime finally smiled. "I'm glad she was able to save you."

"Me too."

One Week Later

Once again, just like the past few days, Rukia found Ichigo sleeping in the bathroom. She sighed, not bothering to wake him up. She couldn't figure out why he developed this strange habit of coming late and sleeping by the toilet, but she felt she'd just let him speak when he felt like it. When Rukia asked Ichigo why he was acting strange yesterday, he told her that he didn't feel like talking.

Slowly, Rukia felt like Ichigo was slipping through her fingers. She thought that their relationship would improve after she gave her virginity to him, but it seemed quite the opposite. Despite being worried, she still had to get to work.

The day carried on as usual and Rukia knew that by the time she returned home, Ichigo would be gone like usual. "Perhaps he's... no," she shook her head, laughing at her stupid assumptions. Rukia just thought for a moment that Ichigo became a prostitute again. Ichigo changed; he wouldn't betray her... or so she hoped.

"Hey!" Rukia jumped, feeling a slap to her back. She turned around, seeing Rangiku with her casual grin. "The mixer is tonight~ You sure you don't want to go? There will be sexy men and-"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Rangiku noticed the frown on Rukia's face. "You know... the mixer isn't important to me. If you need company tonight, I can..."

"No no," Rukia waved her arms in front of her. "Thanks so much, but I don't want to be a burden. Besides, I've got things to do later." By 'things,' Rukia meant feeding Kon.

And so it was left as that. Rukia spent the rest of her day organizing paperwork for Ukitake and Rangiku spent the rest of her day wondering which outfit to wear for the mixer. "Huh? You're all bailing out on me?" Rangiku bellowed as Momo and Nanao apologized.

"I need to keep an eye out on Kyoraku at the party so he'll be my date..." Nanao said grudgingly while pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"And Shiro-chan didn't have a date, so I'll be there with him," said Momo.

Rangiku sighed, holding her head in despair. "I guess I'll be all alone tonight then," she moped. Rangiku returned home that night. Her apartment place was quite small (and extremely messy). Such a pretty lady like herself was not fit to do housework, she felt. Rangiku sighed, standing in front of the mirror while holding out her red dress that she was going to wear for tonight's mixer.

If Gin were still with the Gotei 13, would he be her date? Rangiku's glare suddenly vanished. She had a great idea.

Hueco Mundo

"And then we can go to my place..."

Ichigo fought to stay awake. At two in the morning, he was feeling sluggish and weary even though there were pretty women in front of him. Maybe it was the alcohol? Or perhaps he was just didn't give a damn. "Where... the fuck do you think you're touching?" Ichigo asked, a little drunk. The woman beside him was clearly trying to unbuckle Ichigo's belt.

"Aw," the girl whined, "I got caught," she laughed playfully.

Ichigo usually wasn't the type to cuss at a girl, but perhaps it was the alcohol too... or maybe he really just didn't give a damn.

"Ichigo," spoke a serious voice. Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see Ulquiorra, "there was a specific request for you by someone. Head to Aizen-sama's office." Ichigo sighed, yanking his arm away from the girl. "And don't screw this one up," Ulquiorra stopped Ichigo, "she's paying extra money for your service."

Great, thought Ichigo. Was it sex? It would be the first time someone requested that from him while he's been working here. "What is it?" asked Ichigo as he entered Aizen's office.

Sitting behind a grand oak table was the almighty Aizen. He smiled to Ichigo, gesturing for him to sit. "It seems you are quite popular with the women, despite your dog-like behavior."

Ichigo scoffed, sitting down in the fancy leather chair. "What can I say? Women are masochists."

"Indeed. You must be wondering why you're here?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "If I have to perform any sexual acts for some woman, you'd best believe-"

"Gin," Aizen turned his attention away from Ichigo and towards the fox-like man. "Has Ms. Matsumoto paid the entire bill for an entire day with Ichigo?"

Gin looked displeased for a second before his smirk returned. Ichigo worried. For what reason would a woman rent him for an entire day? It was extremely costly - surely something was up. "She has," replied Gin, who was practically biting on his tongue.

"Ichigo. Ms. Matsumoto has booked an entire day with you to have you as her date at a cocktail party. She is paying a lot of money for this, so I expect you to be on your best behavior. Understand?"

Ichigo hated being spoken to like a child, and especially by Aizen. "Sure."

Gin grabbed Ichigo by the shoulder, and with his eerie voice, he told Ichigo, "You'd best be like a prince and treat her like a princess, or it'll be the end of ya."

Ichigo sneered, pulling away from Gin. How hard was it to be a date? All he had to do was smile and look cute like a little marionette doll. "You have my word," replied Ichigo.

A/N: Sorry it took me forever to upload this chapter. I was away - y'know, having fun on my winter break (yeah, I do have a life)! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review :)