Sorry for the wait again but I made this one really long so hopefully that will make up for it! Thanks for all the reviews, as always. You have no idea how motivating your feedback is! Hope you guys like the chapter, there is a really important IchiRuki scene toward the end that will hopefully explain a few things and get you guys excited for what's to come. Things are heating up!
"Oh! Hello Mr. Ukitake. Are you going up as well?" Rukia Kuchiki asked with an air of surprise as the elevator doors opened to reveal her white-haired boss.
"Yes. Seventeenth floor, please," Ukitake responded with a warm smile as he indicated the panel of buttons Rukia was standing beside. She obediently pressed the button with the number seventeen on it and the elevator whirred to life, taking them farther up the large building.
They waited in comfortable silence. Rukia never felt awkward around her direct boss. He was one of the very few people at this company that she had gotten to know and subsequently liked. Kiyone and Sentaro were nice as well but they were a little too high strung for her to want to spend ample amounts of time with. Ukitake was always welcoming and encouraging. It also helped that he seemed to be in on whatever Uryuu and Ichigo had planned. And, now that Rukia was more confident about her personal fight with Aizen, she no longer felt guilty every time she saw the handsome head of human resources.
Eventually, Mr. Ukitake's eyes wandered back to the panel of buttons and noticed that the top floor one was illuminated. A knowing smile graced his lips.
"So, on your way to see Mr. Kurosaki again, I presume?" he commented.
Rukia had to fight to keep the unwanted blush from spreading across her face. "Uh…yes. I am."
"I see. You know, I had heard some rumors about the two of you. Just your basic office gossip but I wanted to wait and see how accurate they were from you directly."
"It's nothing serious," Rukia was quick to defend, her cheeks becoming redder by the second.
Ukitake laughed. "Oh no need to worry, Ms. Kuchiki. I know for a fact you wouldn't do anything like that for selfish reasons. Mr. Kurosaki has had eyes for you for a while. Everyone can see that plain as day. I was just curious as to what you thought about it. I guess I know now."
Rukia's eyes wandered around the elevator trying to her best to keep a straight face. Though it was true she had never felt awkward around her boss, she still wasn't keen on discussing her relationship with his boss. "Like I said, it's nothing too serious." Rukia thought for a moment and quietly added, "At least not right now."
Ukitake smiled at that. "Well, it's good for the both of you, all the same. I'm glad you've decided to allow yourself some happiness. With everything going on you certainly deserve it. And I have no doubt in my mind that Mr. Kurosaki could make you the happiest woman in the world," he said before the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Rukia stood with her mouth hanging slightly open while Ukitake said a polite goodbye and exited. The doors shut behind him and the elevator continued moving while Rukia processed her boss's mini speech. She certainly hadn't been expecting him to say anything like that. She would be thinking about his words for a while.
Eventually she reached her own destination and walked across the familiar top floor of the Kurosaki Corp building with her face flushed red. Just what she needed going into her lunch date with Ichigo.
Nanao wasn't at her desk so she figured she could go on ahead to his office. She knocked on the doors and was beckoned inside, as per the usual routine.
Though when she slung open the door she was greeted with a rather unfamiliar and unexpected sight.
"Hi Rukia!" a young woman who couldn't have been older than Rukia herself with dirty blonde hair practically squealed when she entered the room. Another young woman with black hair and a familiar scowl merely grunted in greeting. And, between the two of them stood the man who occupied nearly all of her thoughts recently with a content smile on his face.
"Hey," he said as he met her halfway in the middle of his office. He looked ready to greet her with something a little more intimate than a smile but quickly remembered who was standing behind him watching them and instead awkwardly kept his hands to himself.
"Hi," Rukia said, unsure of what to make of the two young women standing in Ichigo's office. They looked familiar somehow, but she couldn't quite place where she knew them from.
As if reading her mind, Ichigo turned to look back at the women. "You remember my sisters, don't you?"
A light bulb turned on in Rukia's head as she remembered seeing them way back when she was still working at the coffee shop and Ichigo Kurosaki was still that annoying rich bachelor who seemed to have a thing for her. "Vaguely," she replied.
"Oh, that's right. You never really met them, did you? Well, this is Yuzu and Karin," he said as he indicated each of the twins. "Guys, this is Rukia Kuchiki."
Yuzu practically tripped over herself to emphatically shake Rukia's hand. "It's so great to officially meet you. Ichigo has told us a lot about you."
Rukia turned to the twins' older brother with a smirk. "Has he now?" she teased as Ichigo looked away with an embarrassed expression.
Rukia then turned toward the other twin who was still casually leaning against her brother's desk. "Hey," she greeted in an uninterested tone. "Nice to meet you."
"You too," Rukia replied, unsure of what to make of the polar opposite sisters.
"Yuzu and Karin are spending some time with me in the city since it's their summer break."
"Yep! Today we wanted to see Ichigo's office," Yuzu offered.
Karin scoffed. "Yuzu, we've seen brother's office tons of times. You just wanted to meet Rukia."
Yuzu looked indignant. "That wasn't the only reason!" she defended, though she was quick to add. "Though it is an added plus."
"Well it's nice to officially meet the both of you. You guys are in college right?" she asked. Though Ichigo had talked about his sisters, there was still a lot about them she didn't know.
"Yeah. We go to school a few hours outside the city in Karakura Town, where we grew up," Yuzu said.
"Oh, I didn't know you grew up in Karakura," Rukia said, this time directing her question to Ichigo.
"Yeah. We lived there for awhile with our parents before my dad jumpstarted Kurosaki Corp and moved us to the city," Ichigo commented offhandedly as he walked back to his desk to grab his wallet.
Rukia pondered that bit of information. Now that she thought about it, she had no idea what Ichigo's early life was really like. She knew that his dad had started the mega company Ichigo now ran and that he was no longer around. Ichimaru had mentioned that the whole dealing was rather shady and that there were a lot of questionable aspects of Ichigo's rise to power but Rukia had decided to not address it. She didn't really care what Ichigo had done as long as it was not something terrible. And she had a feeling whatever he did had to have had a reason behind it. She wondered if the two young women standing on either side of him were part of that reason.
"We were just on our way to lunch. We'd love it if you'd join us," Yuzu said enthusiastically.
"Oh, I don't want to get in the way of your family time."
Both Yuzu and Ichigo looked like they were ready to protest before Karin unexpectedly spoke up. "Please, I spend enough time with these idiots. It'd be nice to have some sane company for once."
"That's not very nice, Karin," her twin sister commented indignantly. Ichigo decided to let it go. Karin never had any kind of interest in the women he normally spent his time with. Even though it sounded like an offhanded insult, he could tell his baby sister was actually excited to meet and talk with Rukia. She just expressed it in her own uniquely sullen way.
"Well, if you don't mind," Rukia offered uneasily. She wasn't sure what would happen on a lunch date with Ichigo and his sisters but she was still curious about them and wanted to get to know them better.
"It's fine. Besides, I promised you lunch, didn't I? Let's go," Ichigo said as began to exit his office, his sisters following after him. Rukia took one last, quick glance around the room, a habit of hers that had formed now that she knew she was being watched by Aizen. She still didn't know what she was looking for, but she couldn't help her curiosity.
"You coming?" Ichigo asked, as he waited for her at the door, presumably to wisely lock it behind them.
Rukia quickly remembered her situation and gathered her senses. She wasn't trying to help Aizen anymore, at least not really. She needed to stop being so secretive and nosy. "Yeah," she amended as she quickly exited the office, Ichigo's eyes following her the whole way.
The four of them had decided on a quaint café a few blocks from the building for lunch. They all ordered their food and then the girls went to go find a seat while Ichigo paid.
"So," Yuzu started the moment they found a table and sat down. "Are you and my brother dating?" she asked.
Rukia was completely taken aback by the sudden nature of her question. She figured they would be curious given what she suspected Ichigo had told them but she wasn't expecting a question like that right out of the gate. "W-what?" she stammered.
"Ichigo won't tell us the details, but we figured as much given the way he talks about you. So are you a couple or not?"
"Oh…uh…well, we're not exactly…I-I mean it's…kind of complicated," Rukia offered, trying her best to form words while also keeping an annoying blush from appearing on her face.
"No, it isn't. Either you are or you aren't," Karin said, that permanent and familiar scowl still in place.
Rukia gaped for a few more moments, trying to think of something to say that would appease the twins before, blessedly, Ichigo appeared and sat down.
"I leave for two seconds and you guys begin the grilling," Ichigo said as he shot accusatory glances at his sisters.
"We were just asking some questions," Yuzu replied innocently.
"Uh-huh," Ichigo commented, knowing his sisters better than that.
"So, Rukia, Ichigo told us you really like to dance," Yuzu said, expertly brushing off Ichigo's accusations and moving on with the conversation.
"Yes, it's one of my favorite things to do," Rukia said, feeling much more comfortable with this question than with the last one.
"That's so cool! So what kind of styles do you usually do?"
"Mostly ballroom. I've dabbled in others but I work best with a partner."
"Have you roped Ichigo into being your partner yet?" Yuzu asked with a giggle, apparently thinking the image of her brother ballroom dancing was hilarious.
"Once or twice."
"Ha! Ichigo on the dance floor, I bet that's a sight for sore eyes," Karin added.
Ichigo glared at her, causing Rukia to let out a small laugh. "He was pretty klutzy at first, but he's gotten a lot better."
Ichigo turned in surprise toward her. "I'm pretty sure that's the nicest thing about my dancing skills you've ever said."
"Oh don't get me wrong, you're still terrible and I still have high standards when it comes to my partner, but you're getting there," Rukia told him with a flirtatious smile, completely forgetting about his little sisters sitting next to them, watching with knowing glances.
The rest of the lunch went pleasantly well and for that Rukia was thankful. Even though they weren't really in any kind of a relationship, meeting Ichigo's family was a step in the right direction and she could tell how much it meant to him that they seemed to get along. Yuzu was of course friendly about everything and she had no doubts about getting on her good side. Karin was certainly harder to reach but both Ichigo and Rukia could tell she liked her, even if she wouldn't express it.
Rukia loved hearing about the sibling dynamic between the three of them and how it evolved over the various portions of their lives. She got a kick out of hearing about how Ichigo would stand up for the bullies that pestered the twins on the playground or how, when the girls started getting interested in boys, Ichigo made explicitly clear (using no small amount of promised violence and intimidation) to any guy who wanted to be with his sisters that he knew what would happen if he hurt either of them. It was sweet thinking of Ichigo, the flirtatious and wealthy bachelor, as a caring and over-protective older brother. She thought about her own older brother and how starkly different her relationship was with him than the one Ichigo and his sisters had. If Rukia presented Byakuya with a potential boyfriend, he would be disapproving sure, but it was less out of over-protectiveness and more out of a desire to keep the Kuchiki line pure. She always knew Byakuya would look out for her but there was no real sibling love and affection between them like there was with Ichigo and his sisters.
As they wrapped up their lunch and left the restaurant, Ichigo quickly stopped the group.
"Shit, I think I left my keys inside. Hold on a second," he said before he rushed back inside, once again leaving Rukia alone with the twins.
Rukia heard Karin mumble something about her 'irresponsible, dimwit of an older brother' (which she secretly laughed at) and turned questioningly toward the pair. There had been something nagging her since she first had met Ichigo's sisters.
They kept mentioning their father throughout the course of lunch. Mostly it was just in passing to add to some elaborate story about their childhood, but he was always there. In contrast, there was not once any mention of their mother. Rukia had to wonder about that. She had first thought his father was dead and Ichigo had inherited the company afterward, but maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he was just somewhere else. There was still so much about Ichigo she didn't know. Sure she knew a lot about this part of his family (especially after today), but both of his parents remained a curious mystery. She figured one of the reasons the trio of siblings never mentioned their mother was because she was probably dead or significantly out of the picture and talking about her brought back bad memories. But there were no qualms about their father. They talked animatedly about how he was such a goofball who used to pull the craziest of stunts, how he had provided for them until his startup company boomed into a global corporation, and how he had taught Ichigo everything he needed to know about running a business. The only thing Rukia didn't know was where he was now.
"Can I ask you guys something?" Rukia started.
"Of course," Yuzu replied sweetly.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but there's something I've been wondering about for awhile."
"What is it?" Yuzu again replied.
"Well…it's just that you all kept talking about your dad and all the stuff he did for you and for the company. The only thing is, I've never seen him around or heard anything about him recently. I was just wondering what happened…to…him," Rukia trailed off as she noticed both of the twins took on equally apprehensive and cautious glances, as they seemed to be silently communicating something to each other. Rukia didn't know what to make of their expressions. They didn't look particularly sad, as if Rukia had drudged up a bunch of bad memories. They just looked strangely…cautious.
"Our dad is dead," Ichigo said, suddenly appearing behind them. Rukia quickly swiveled around and looked at him with wide eyes.
Suddenly she felt like a pile of bricks had been dropped on her head. How could she have been so stupid! How could she just have thought their dad wasn't dead because they didn't make it sound like he was? She felt awful at having mixed it up. It was just the way their family talked about him that confused her so much. They spoke about their dad as though he was alive, so she had thought that maybe he was just off doing something else for a little while. She couldn't believe how stupid of a mistake she had made. She looked back at the twins and noticed them particularly intent on avoiding eye contact with her. She turned back to Ichigo with an apologetic glance. "Oh god…I'm so sorry…I just thought-,"
"Don't worry about it," Ichigo said suddenly, interrupting whatever apology Rukia was trying to sling together. "You didn't know."
That didn't make her feel any better. She tried to think of something else to say but before she could Ichigo was leading them back to his office. She hated that she had to insensitively bring up something that had to have been a sore spot for all the siblings, because now the atmosphere between all of them was tense.
Still, Rukia couldn't figure out why all three of them had no problems discussing their father in conversation but then suddenly get so tense and uneasy the moment Rukia asked about him. Something was clearly going on that she wasn't aware of. There had to be more to the story of their dad than she knew.
Yuzu tried to make pleasant small talk, but the easygoing dynamic between the four of them had been killed. They eventually made it back to the Kurosaki Corp building and to the elevators leading up to Ichigo's floor. Here Yuzu and Karin bid farewell as they were planning on doing some shopping and sightseeing. Yuzu gave Rukia a sweet hug and Karin grunted out a goodbye as if nothing had happened, but Rukia could tell something was bothering them beneath the surface. Once again she cursed her big, nosy mouth.
When they stepped in the elevator, Ichigo pressed the top floor button. Trying to save herself any further awkward and tense conversation, Rukia went to press the button to the floor she worked on, but before she could, Ichigo grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"I want you to come with me to my office real quick," he said.
"Okay," Rukia relented, though she was still uneasy about the situation.
They rode the rest of the way up in silence and then nonchalantly walked across the top floor and into Ichigo's office. He closed the door behind her and then walked to one of the two couches in the middle of the room. He sat down and then motioned for her to join him. She did, though apprehensively.
"Look, I just wanted to apologize for making it awkward with my sisters back there," he told her once she settled onto the couch.
"No, you shouldn't apologize. It was my fault for making assumptions and asking questions I wasn't supposed to."
"It's not your fault, Rukia. My sisters reacted that way because I told them to."
"What?" Rukia asked, thoroughly perplexed by that statement.
Ichigo sighed and began his explanation. "My dad's death sucked, but it wasn't as hard as you would think. He was sick. Really sick. For a very long time. He had been battling a disease for years almost. He was dead months before he actually passed away," Ichigo said, his voice growing somber. Already Rukia hated this conversation.
"Oh," was all she could offer.
"We had been preparing for the inevitability of his passing for awhile. When he finally did go, it was more of a relief because we knew he wasn't in pain anymore."
"So that's why you all could talk about him so easily," Rukia said, realization dawning on her.
"Yeah. He was the kind of guy that wouldn't have wanted us to grieve over him. He went above and beyond in everything to make sure his kids were happy. We knew that us getting sad about his death would be the opposite of what he would've wanted."
"I see."
"Our mom's death was different," Ichigo said quietly, his voice growing weak. Rukia could tell he was opening up a whole new side of him to her.
"She died suddenly. Unexpectedly. We were all really young. It got us all pretty bad. Even talking about her now still stings, you know," he said.
Rukia nodded her head in understanding. She knew exactly what that felt like.
"So that's why I assume you wanted to ask about him. Because we talked about Dad as if he was still alive but we never mentioned our mom, right? I don't blame you for being curious."
"I still shouldn't have brought it up. It's not my business."
"Technically it is," Ichigo added almost so quietly Rukia didn't catch it.
"What does that mean?" she asked in confusion.
Again, Ichigo sighed as if he was preparing to tell her something big. She braced herself.
"The last moments of my dad's life and his death do involve you, in a roundabout way. Yuzu and Karin weren't sad when you asked them about him. They were cautious."
Rukia was still completely at a loss for what Ichigo could be trying to tell her with all of this. "Why?" she asked.
"Because I told them about Aizen. About what he's doing with you."
Realization came over Rukia like a flood. "And they didn't know what information they should give me."
Ichigo nodded his head, his face solemn. "Exactly."
"Oh, I see," Rukia said, her voice growing weak. The sudden reminder of her position in Aizen's scheme made what Ichigo was telling her hurt. Even his sweet sisters were cautious of her. Even they were forced to hide things from her. It made Rukia feel like an outcast.
"I had to warn them," Ichigo said, as a justification.
"No, I understand," Rukia reassured, though the knowledge still stung.
"There are things about my dad and what he did that Aizen wants to know, wants to use. Even unwillingly, you could still give that information to him. I had to be careful."
"I know," Rukia said, an annoying prickling sensation welling up in her eyes.
Ichigo reached out his hand and covered hers where it lay limply on her lap. "I want to tell you," he spoke quietly.
Rukia tried to hold back her emotions before she looked at Ichigo and saw his face full of concern for her. "I know you do. I believe you do. It's just-," Rukia stopped short as she again looked down, trying to think of words to say. Finally, only one thought came to her. "I hate this so much."
Ichigo began to rub comforting circles on her hand. "Me too."
"I hate not having any control over things that matter so much. I'm just a pawn in this game."
Ichigo wasn't really sure what he could say to comfort her since, at least for now, there was no way he could stop Aizen from controlling Rukia, but he did know one thing that could help. "When this is all over, I promise I'll tell you everything."
Rukia turned to look at him skeptically. "When this is all over? That could mean two very different things," she told him. Aizen could be stopped and everything would be fine once it was done or Ichigo could be bankrupt and possibly in jail and they would all be left with nothing.
Ichigo looked determinately at her. "I mean when Aizen's ass is sitting in some jail somewhere and you and your brother are running the Kuchiki Company, I'll tell you everything."
"Really?" Rukia asked, still unsure if that would ever happen.
"Yes, I promise," he said before a thought came to him and he continued. "Also, when that happens," he said, his determination never once wavering, "I'm going to take you out on a real date. Not one where some snake-like prick is stalking you or where you hate my guts for opening a door for you," he paused, and Rukia couldn't help but smile at that memory. "But a real, honest-to-god, date. For a real relationship."
A part of Rukia's heart swelled at that statement and the look of pure confidence in Ichigo's eyes. Though a part of her brain was still screaming at her that none of this would work and that they could never beat Aizen, her heart was still believing every word coming out of Ichigo's mouth. Oh how badly she wanted it to come true.
She let a sly smile come across her face. "Then will you actually kiss me?" she challenged.
Ichigo smirked and Rukia couldn't help but be comforted by how familiar this felt. "I could kiss you right now if that's what you want." He paused for a second and cocked his head to the side, as if he was intently studying her. "But something tells me that's not what you want."
She smiled at how well he understood her. "You're right. Not yet. Not until we know we've won this," she said seriously before she smiled again and said, "Besides, I'd rather not have Sosuke Aizen listening in on us making out."
Ichigo laughed heartily at that. "Alright then, sounds like a plan." Rukia nodded her head in affirmation.
They sat there a few moments in comfortable silence before Ichigo smirked and said, "Don't you have a job you should be doing?" as he nodded to the door.
Rukia rolled her eyes and said in her best fake secretary voice. "Yes, Mr. Kurosaki." She stood and walked to the door, not before leaving one last reassuring glance for Ichigo.
The rest of the day went splendidly well as she had an extra spark in her step. She couldn't help but daydream about what Ichigo had promised and maybe, just maybe, actually starting a relationship with him. She shook her head at herself. Who would've thought she would be thinking these things? Only a few short months ago she practically hated his guts. Now, she couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to be wrapped up in his arms as they passionately melded their lips together.
Once five o' clock rolled around, Rukia gathered her things and began her trek home. She felt as though she had no cares in the world and walked confidently with a smile on her face. When her phone rang she didn't even bother to check the caller ID before she picked up with a chipper, "Hello?"
"Why hello there, Ms. Kuchiki," a familiar voice said through the phone.
Rukia stopped dead in her tracks, a chill running down her spine.
"I've been meaning to talk with you for awhile now. I was thinking we should arrange a meeting sometime soon," said the voice, perfectly calm and at ease while Rukia's eyes widened in fear.
Rukia remained silent so the voice continued. "You see, I've been gathering a lot of information and I think there are quite a few things we need to discuss."
Rukia reached into the pocket of her jacket and fingered the tiny piece of plastic that had been on her person ever since Ichigo had discreetly given it to her. "When?" she asked, trying to stay calm.
Before the voice could answer, the sound of a car pulling up beside her caused her to slowly turn. A black SUV parked next to her and two men in dark suits with near deadly expressions on their faces got out.
"How about now?" Sosuke Aizen said to her over the phone.
She slowly lowered the phone before pushing the button to hang up the call. She took one calming breath and then determinately walked toward the two men. One of them opened the car door for her and she got inside. They shut the door behind her, got back in the car, and began speeding off down the street. Rukia tried to stop her trembling. She knew what she had to do and what she had to say. She needed to remain calm for this to work. A fleeting thought in the back of her mind wished she could call Ichigo, but she knew that would be foolish. She had to do this on her own.
Here we go, Kuchiki. She thought as she continued holding onto the plastic listening device in her pocket. It's game time.
To put it simple: Shit's about to go down. We're actually getting pretty close to the end guys, which is CRAZY. Hope you guys liked it and drop a review! It would make me so happy!