Chapter 28
The Brawl
Rukia lets Ichigo stand in front of her protectively for the moment, since she wants to give him back up, but the first two guys who head for Ichigo end up being greeted by Tatsuki and Renji, and Sado quickly rushes the three girls by Ichigo and Ichigo quickly lets them around him and they run down the hall, away from the commotion.
Rukia hears herself breathing hard, and she can feel the adrenaline pumping throughout her entire body. She concentrates on channeling it so that it will be most effective when she's forced to strike. With this many men in the room, it's going to be necessary for her to pull her own weight, and help Ichigo.
Ichigo feels his chest tighten. No way in hell are any of these guys going to hurt Rukia. He'd kill one of them before he'd allow that to happen.
Ichigo's eyes narrow and he feels grateful that his best friend Sado is there. Sado seems like he's made of iron more than of regular flesh and bones. He can take a beating like nobody's business and he can knock an opponent into dreamland using just a smidgeon of his strength.
Ichigo is grateful for Renji and Tatsuki's presence too. Between all of them, they should be able to turn the odds in their own favor, dangerous as that endeavor may currently seem. Ichigo knows Rukia can handle herself but he has no doubts about his gut instincts, and his instincts are telling him that once again, Rukia is the target of an abduction.
Hell will freeze over before any piece of shit can take her away from me. Ichigo's never been more ready to fight in his life.
Sado immediately turns and stands a few steps in front of Ichigo as the other men creep in, a bit more slowly, which may have been a small mistake, because Renji and Tatsuki don't need much time to finish the men they had engaged in a fight. Renji chokes his opponent almost instantly, and Tatsuki jammed her foot into her opponent's groin and then punches him square in the nose as he doubles over. He's writhing on the floor in mind shattering pain, clutching at his crotch.
The other men decide to close in together, and complete pandemonium fills the room. Sado knocks out the first guy to come with one punch One guy had dodged around him and uses his brass knuckles to deck Sado in the head, since he's obviously a threat. Sado takes the hit and turns his head to look at his opponent calmly.
"Was that supposed to hurt?" Sado asks softly in a deep voice before punching him into the wall, making a hole there from the force at which his head hit the wall. "It didn't hurt at all."
Inoue sees one man heading for Kurosaki-kun and in her drunken state, she flips her leg out in an effective side kick, sending the man flying into the floor. She falls back onto the couch from the impact and her lack of balance, and Ishida moves directly in front of her once more.
Three men have made it through the shield of the other students due to the large number of men who helped them get through, and Ichigo lands a wicked right hook to one man's temple and he falls to the floor instantly. Ichigo immediately flows into a kicking combo and he easily takes care of the other two men in front of him.
The man Inoue kicked stands back up and decides he wants to punish her for attacking him. He rushes at her, completely ignoring the ridiculously skinny kid standing in front of her. He's completely focused on the obviously drunk girl who had interfered with his intentions.
Ishida yanks his house keys out of his pocket and punches, aiming for the guy's eyes as he charges. His aim is true, and the man screams as blood pours out of his right eye at the contact. His scream makes several people in the room cringe, due to the obvious pain heard in it.
When Ishida yanks the keys back away, the right eyeball comes out stuck onto his key, and Inoue starts screaming and gagging at that gruesome sight. Ishida looks a bit pale at the sight as well. He has a sick feeling in his stomach. He's never seen an eyeball out of its socket by force like that before. It's a lot larger than he had imagined in his head.
He does feel like he was useful though, and that makes him feel a little bit better. He drops his keys when he can't look at the eyeball a second longer.
Renji and Tatsuki have both downed two more opponents, but the men who invaded had come in numbers, and when two men engage Ichigo at the same time, a third man dives towards Rukia and gets a good grip on the material of her halter top. Swear words are being muttered and yelled all over the place as the scuffle ensues.
Rukia immediately grabs the arm holding her with her hands and quickly gains control of one of his fingers. She jerks it back the opposite way in which it should go so quickly, and the man lets out a frightening scream. Rukia thinks he sounds like a little girl, and then she calmly proceeds to break his wrist as he screams. The angry look in her eyes is blurry to the man she's hurting since he's in so much pain, tears are blinding his sight. He keeps up his blood curdling scream as he hears bones snapping at the pressure she's applying.
This instantly gains Ichigo's attention and he brings his fist down in an unforgiving hit onto the back of the offender's head. Then he realizes that it was not Rukia who had been screaming. He shouldn't have been surprised. He turns his attention completely to the rest of the gang in the room.
Sado has just sent one man flying across the room, and Ishida ends up confronting a man who gets too close to he and Inoue in the attempt to get to Kurosaki or Kuchiki. Ishida isn't sure yet who their target actually is, since both seem to be getting the main focus of the intruders. Ishida manages to land an effective hit in the man's crotch, sending him crawling away to recover.
The man that Tatsuki had first brought down comes to his senses and stumbles to his feet. He glares at the girl who took him down and whips a knife from his belt. Renji notices him and punches him in the neck before he can swing his knife near Tatsuki.
The remaining five men, still standing, rush at Ichigo and Rukia, and they side step Tatsuki, Renji, and Sado, causing the three of them to run towards Ichigo and Rukia as well.
Rukia sees something shiny flying right at Ichigo and she reacts without thinking. She kicks Ichigo's feet out from under him, sending him flying to the floor and the knife is now flying straight at her.
Ichigo who had landed on his back, stares up in horror as he can see the knife coming straight for Rukia and without hesitation he brings his foot up into the air to meet the wrist holding the knife and he watches as the knife flies harmlessly to the side, but now all he can see is red. A few men who were knocked down or out are starting to wake up and are ready for retaliation.
Ichigo lets out an angry yell, and he bounds up to his feet quickly, using his palm to push Rukia completely out of the room. He isn't sure he'll be able to keep his calm for a whole heck of a lot longer. He cannot stand the way these men keep coming relentlessly for Rukia. He'll stop anyone from hurting her. He doesn't look at her but he talks to her.
"Fuck! Stay back, I'm going to tear these mother fuckers apart, they won't know what fucking hit them," Ichigo growls. Rukia takes a quick step back, as does Tatsuki. She rushes over to stand next to Rukia.
Ichigo, Sado, and Renji form a three man roadblock between the intruders and the two girls. The men seem to think they can still out power the kids, and several more have regained their feet. They creep towards the teens in a group, sensing that they'll have strength in numbers against the three blocking them from their target.
"Give up," Renji tells them in an angry voice.
"Persistent mother fuckers." Ichigo growls next.
"Ah." Sado says, concentrating on the remaining opponents.
Several of the men are brandishing hidden weapons that they hadn't thought necessary on their first attack, and Rukia feels true concern for Ichigo's safety and welfare. She suddenly remembers she has hidden blades of her own. She wishes she had remembered that a bit sooner.
He's only in danger because of me, I have to help him if I can! I won't let him get hurt because of me!
Tatsuki is looking incredibly nervous next to her as she has noticed the increase in weapons. She clenches her fists in dismay. Rukia starts pulling barrettes out of her hair.
Ishida is still standing guard in front of Inoue, though none of the intruders seem focused on them. Noriko is crying on Keigo's shoulder and he's got his eyes closed with tears running down his face and is chanting about how he doesn't want to die.
Noriko suddenly smells something disgusting, as though someone defecated in their pants. Keigo is too busy panicking to notice that he's shit himself. Noriko can finally move. She jumps away from him and gives him a look of disgust.
"Nasty!" She tells him, even though he's in a mental terror so strong and mind numbing that he doesn't hear her. Noriko can't even believe what in the hell is happening in front of her face. Nobody is paying any attention to the two of them though. Noriko stares avidly at the commotion near the hallway. For her it's like an impossible nightmare come true.
Rukia opens up the blade on one barrette and offers it to Tatsuki whose eyes widen at the sight of it. Rukia wonders if Ichigo's idea of blades in the barrette will come in handy. She hopes so. Just knowing she has them makes her feel better for some reason. Trust Ichigo to put more power in her hands when she's feeling powerless.
"Kuchiki-san?" Tatsuki asks, but her voice is drowned out by another brawl breaking out directly in front of them.
Rukia pulls a second barrette out of her hair and the girls watch as the guys start beating down the remaining men who have yet to be attacked, or who have recovered from being attacked once already and have stood up for more. Rukia watches to see if she's needed at all. She flips the blade out on the second barrette with more speed than she had done with the first. Her hair looks funny now, but that doesn't matter at a time like this.
Tatsuki watches in amazement when Renji breaks one man's arm, and then punches him in the face. The man lands on his back, holding his arm and shouting in pain. Tatsuki can hardly believe how completely amazing he is, particularly in the midst of a heated battle.
Rukia watches wide eyed as Ichigo tears through four men in about six seconds. His arms and feet are shooting out everywhere, catching opponents in places that hurt, their faces, their necks, their groins and their guts. The loud satisfying groans of pain that comes from the felled men greatly pleases Rukia's ears.
She feels a rush of relief at the fact that the tide of the fight seems to have swung into their favor.
Thanks for always protecting me, Ichigo.
A few of the men who entered are now so injured that they're crawling towards the open door as quickly as they are able to escape the highly violent teenagers they've had the misfortune of encountering tonight.
Ichigo's fist hits one opponent in the neck and he flies towards the door knocked completely out.
J J J J
Kira's eyes widen in amazement when he sees several of his men crawling out of the house, seriously injured and struggling. Kira gets out of his car and starts helping the men to the safety of the getaway vehicles.
"What in the hell happened in there?" Kira asks with dread.
"Those are no normal kids," one man says before he passes out. Kira glances at the house and watches as a couple more men stumble out. He looks at another man.
"What in the hell, happened? Fuck!" Kira says, wishing this weren't happening. One girl is all he has to capture to be done with this scary unsatisfying life of crime.
"A bunch of the kids fought back. They were really strong," the man answers with a pained groan. He isn't even exactly sure what happened. One minute he was attacking, and the next he'd been waking up after getting knocked unconscious.
Another two men come out, and Kira's eyes widen in horror when he realizes one man is missing his right eyeball, and has blood pouring from where his eye should be. They're supposed to be fucking kids!
"Damn it! Fuck! Holy fucking shit!" Kira is a lot louder than he should be at a time like this. He runs over to help a couple of others who are stumbling down the front lawn as though they're seeing stars.
As a result of the kicked in door, he can hear the sounds of the fight continuing inside. He's already recovered seven of his men. He is starting to wonder if they've attempted an impossible feat in trying to take Kuchiki Rukia by brute force.
What in the hell kind of kids are inside to do this much damage to my men?!
J J J J
Rukia's eyes widen as she realizes the amount of intruders has been drastically reduced thanks to the three teens barricading the hallway that contains Rukia, Tatsuki, and further away most of the other guests of the party.
She watches in amazement as Ichigo slams his elbow into one guy's face, sending him flying back about four meters. He's immediately focused on another guy who he ends up kicking in the face as the man tries to charge him. The man crumbles to the ground with a lingering moan of pain.
The man quickly crawls out. Renji has one man in an shoulder lock and Tatsuki watches as he mercilessly dislocates his opponent's shoulder sending the man to the ground crying like a girl. When there are only three men left standing in the room, they rush out of the house in complete fear of being seriously hurt, and they forget one of their buddies. A guy that Sado had punched so hard they thought he might be dead.
Noriko stares at the fucked door as all but one of the intruders has left.
"My party! My house! My parents are going to kill me!" Noriko wails. Keigo suddenly realizes he shit himself and runs off embarrassed to the max, to go clean himself up.
Rukia nods in relief at the fact that it's all over. She lets the rest of her hair down and pockets the spare barrettes. Tatsuki hands her back the barrette that Rukia had handed her too. Rukia keeps one barrette with the blade out in her hand.
Everyone else in the room looks down at the unconscious man and Ichigo squats to feel if he has a pulse.
"This son of a bitch is still alive," Ichigo tells them. "That's fucking great because I have so many questions for this piece of shit." Ichigo finishes, and Renji nods his head in agreement.
"I want to wash my hands, is there another bathroom I can use?" Renji asks Noriko. She nods and stands slowly to show him the way.
When Renji reaches the bathroom, he pulls out his cell phone to call Kuchiki Byakuya and find out if there are any specific questions that he should be asking this thug. Renji is a bit too shaken up to think properly and he thinks being instructed would be best.
He figures Byakuya should know immediately that yet another attempt has been made to nab Rukia.
J J J J
Kira is really disturbed by the incidents of the evening. His men had left one man inside, which under no circumstances should they have done. Not one of his men had been willing to go back in and retrieve the man either. They all said it was better just to let it go, and get as far away as possible. He has a hard time erasing the image of one of his men returning without an eye.
Aizen-sensei is going to be pissed off when he finds out about this.
Kira's hands tighten on the steering wheel in his anxiousness. He can hardly believe how injured his men had returned to him. He hadn't expected in a million years that a bunch of drinking teens could outfight and out power the large group of strong men that he had gathered.
He dreads making the call to Aizen. The job at the Tokyo Shimbun is out of his grasp now as well.
"Fuck!" Kira hisses, as he drives as far away from the kids party as he possibly can. He has tears in his eyes at all that he has lost tonight with his failure to capture Kuchiki Rukia.
J J J J
Byakuya can hardly believe it. Rukia and Ichigo had attended a party and the place had been raided by many men in an attempt to abduct her. Byakuya is glad he called Renji for back up support in Karakura Town. He hadn't sure how useful it would be, since it was unlikely Rukia would allow Renji to interfere when it came to her rekindled love with Kurosaki Ichigo. He had been surprised to learn that some of Ichigo's friends had helped in protecting Rukia as well, one was even a young lady.
Now he realizes that sending Renji was the perfect plan. Even if Renji can't always be around Rukia, he can keep Byakuya updated about the events surrounding her, and he can be around when she's in a group setting like she had been tonight. Byakuya feels so strongly that this will not be the last time that his sister and her fiancé face insurmountable danger. He wonders if there is anything more he can do to protect her beyond what he has already done.
Byakuya suddenly remembers Karin, Ichigo's younger sister, and how she had reminded him a bit of himself as a child. He thinks it's time to install the same kind of security system in their house that he has installed in Rukia's house. Byakuya wonders if Gin could somehow be involved, as unlikely as it may seem.
Byakuya has already made several calls to have the girl's house restored to its previous appearance since the kids had not called the police. Ichigo seemed to insist that the police would get in the way of questioning the guy. Byakuya has mixed feelings on this decision.
Byakuya sends a text message to Renji telling him to let the host of the party know that her home will be completely cleaned up and restored first thing in the morning.
Byakuya closes his eyes and pictures Hisana. He can practically see her smiling at him.
Rukia's alright, she wasn't hurt. Once again, Kurosaki saved her life.
The one thing Byakuya is unaware of as he falls asleep that night is how Rukia kicked Ichigo's legs out to prevent him taking a stab from a knife that should have hit her, had Ichigo not reacted at the speed of light and kicked it out of the way. If Byakuya knew that, he certainly would not be quite as calm as he closed his eyes to fall asleep.
J J J J
"Has the asshole woken up yet?" Renji asks the group as they come back. Ichigo ignores him, he's holding Rukia and looking at her in a way that Renji is taken aback by.
Ichigo is staring at her as though she's a mythical creature he must not let out of his sight for fear of her disappearing. A rare treasure he must not let get too far out of reach for fear of it being lost forever. It's an obvious look of love, and anyone looking can tell he cherishes her beyond what mere words could ever expain.
"Not yet, Sado really did a number on him," Ishida tells Renji.
"Damn, he's a strong guy. I'm glad so many skilled people were here to handle that group." Renji replies.
"I wonder why they were so focused on Ichigo and Kuchiki-san," Tatsuki says quietly.
"I don't know, but maybe once this dumb fuck ass wipe wakes up, we'll find out the answer to that question." Ichigo tells her.
Renji walks over to Noriko and gives her a look that makes her pay attention.
"Don't worry about your house, there will be a cleaning crew here in the morning and the door will be taken care of too," he tells her very quietly. Noriko's eyes widen. Did she dare believe him? It sounded way too good to possibly be true.
"Okay," Noriko tells him. It's not like she has much choice to say anything beyond that. She wishes she had hooked up with this guy rather than a guy who shits his pants at the first sign of danger. Her boyfriend really is pathetic.
"Someone get a bucket of cold water to wake his ass up," Ichigo commands loudly.
Tatsuki runs to find something to hold the water. She's curious to know why the party got crashed by so many thugs tonight too.
"I wonder what we'll be able to get out of him," Rukia says to Ichigo softly, she's so glad he's unharmed. He looks amazing as he stands there, furious over how they were attacked tonight. She can hardly believe she's engaged to such a wonderful man.
"Rukia, give me one of your barrettes." Ichigo tells her. Rukia hands him the one she's holding even as she loses her adoring look and takes on a concerned look instead.
"What are you going to do to him?" Rukia asks, wide eyed.
"Scare the living shit out of him. We're going to find out exactly what these douche bags had in mind tonight." Ichigo says in a hard and angry voice. Rukia gulps.
He wouldn't commit murder…would he?
J J J J
Aizen cannot believe what he's hearing.
It's fucking impossible.
How in the hell could a small group of teenagers overpower twenty men, and not only that, one man had been left behind. It was a horrendous failure and Aizen clenches his fists angrily.
He had been so confident about this plan, he had been so sure that a huge group of men coming in like a swat team or small army would subdue the teens instantly, but that hadn't been the case.
They had fought back, hard. There were broken bones, a fucking missing eye, broken teeth, bruises, black eyes, and of course one man hadn't made it back.
I am surrounded by incompetent useless fucking fools. It seems fate wants to laugh at me, and punish me for not taking a little bit better care of my past two pets. Is it really karma?
Once again, Kuchiki Rukia has managed to fucking escape his grasp.
Fuck!
If Aizen wanted to handle things the proper way, he'd end his obsession with Kuchiki Rukia here and now, but for some reason, he isn't able to do that. Gin will be in town in a week.
Aizen wonders type of plan they should use for the next attempt. It gives him a new puzzle to ponder.
There's no way he can let this go now. He'll follow it through to the end. Only one of them will be left standing in the end.
You want to fucking challenge me bitch? I will own you completely. You may not be worth all of this effort, but it will be so fucking great to break you-mind, body, spirit, and soul. I'll take it all bitch, just you wait and see. I will not lose. It will be your loss, and yours alone.
I will come up with so many new ways to fill your eyes with fear and pain. Get ready bitch. You'll be addressing me as Aizen-sama and I'll become the center of your world for the rest of your living days.
I'll take away every last bit of pride you ever held in that tiny little body of yours and I will enjoy every fucking second of it. I want to see tears of shame run down your face as I force you to beg me to fuck you. I can't fucking wait.
J J J J
Tatsuki comes back with a bucket of cold water and Renji helps her splash it on the only intruder left in Itou's house. The man's eyes widen in apparent fear when he sees a furious orange haired teen glaring down at him with a knife in his hands. The man gasps in fear as he looks around at the scene.
Not one of his comrades has stayed behind or is in sight, and a group of kids are looking at him in almost a hungry way. He feels chills crawl up and down his arms at the snarl that appears on the boy with the orange hair.
"We want answers. You are going to give them to us." Ichigo tells him in a soft and dangerous voice as he points at the man with the knife. Rukia just stares at Ichigo with the concern running through her brain that maybe he might commit murder.
"If you do not give us the answers we want then we will make you regret it," Rukia adds and the man doesn't even look at her, since he can't tear his eyes away from Ichigo's scary expression.
"You understand, don't you?" Renji asks the guy in a low voice. "Answer me now."
He gulps as he stares at the abnormally scary teens surrounding him. He feels totally and completely fucked. He doesn't know how far they're willing to go to get answers to their questions, and he definitely doesn't want to dwell on that thought.
Ichigo pushes the blade closer to the intruder's face and watches as the man looks terrified enough to satisfy Ichigo into asking his first question.
"What was your objective tonight, why did so many men attack this party tonight?" Ichigo asks the man softly. The man gulps again at the scary way the kid is focused on him. He knows he shouldn't tell them anything, but the moment a look of defiance appears on his face. Rukia shoves her foot into his groin and starts to slowly apply her weight in an unforgiving motion.
"We're waiting. You had better answer him now." Rukia tells him in an icy cold voice. Ichigo nods his head and moves the knife even closer to the man. He exhales quickly at the tremendous pain she is applying to his most sensitive area and he lets out a very loud pained moan.
"Don't keep us in suspense." Renji tells him in a hard voice. "We still have lots of questions, you asshole." Renji says it with a scoff.
"You kids are crazy!" The man breathes in fear, and Ichigo lets out a hollow laugh at his words.
"We're crazy? You and your buddies are the ones who broke in here and brandished weapons at us. Why did you do it? Answer us and be quick about it!" Ichigo says, his voice slowly growing louder. Rukia adds more weight to his sensitive area.
"Your procrastinating will only make it more painful." Rukia informs him angrily. The man can't take one more second of the blazing pain she is sending searing through his entire body with her foot.
"We came here to abduct you!" He spits out honestly. She swiftly adds the rest of her weight, causing him to let out a very loud high pitched scream in agony. He flinches as the orange haired kid looks like he wants to end his life here and now as his hand tightens on the blade. He wonders what other pain they'll inflict on him with their interrogation.
"That was a stupid, idiotic, and dangerous idea." Rukia snaps at him before she lifts her foot away from him. The man's face is red from being in pain and he wonders if he'll leave this house alive tonight. That thought sends an icy chill up and down his back.
Rukia studies the man. He's a bit larger than ordinary men, but he has an average complexion, with average eyes, and average hair. There's nothing outstandingly unique about him and dressed all in black, he just looks like an ordinary slim Japanese man, probably in his early thirties or maybe a bit older.
"I'm so fucking pissed off right now," Ichigo growls in a terrifying voice. Tatsuki and Renji look at him with surprised concern. They expected him to be pissed, but he looks like he's about to erupt where he stands. He's glaring angrily at the only man left for him to pummel from their attempt to abduct Rukia.
"Who sent you here to abduct her?" Renji asks since Ichigo looks like he's about to blow steam from his ears and is obviously too angry to think straight right now. The man is too much in pain to show his surprise at that question.
"I don't know, only the leader knew who that was!" The man answers quickly. He's learned his lesson with the dark haired bitch they came to take.
"Who was your leader?" Renji asks next.
"We all called him Kira. I don't know if it's his real name or not though!" The man replies, properly terrified.
"What was the plan?" Rukia asks in a soft and dangerous voice. She puts a hand on Ichigo's arm and that brings an instant calmness to him.
"We were supposed to take you and run you to the car where you would have been put to sleep and taken away by the leader!" The man explains in a strained voice.
"Have you and your boys been following us?" Ichigo asks him next, wondering if they're the explanation for his uneasiness this past week.
"There have been people watching you." He confirms. He knows that much.
"Where was your leader going to take her?" Renji asks him next.
"We were all told to meet at a specific place after everything finished smoothly but those plans have probably changed since she wasn't captured." The man tells them.
"Where?" Ichigo asks him.
"We were all supposed to meet at Ueno Park." The man tells them.
"In Tokyo?" Rukia asks in surprise.
"That's where Kira lives." The man explains in a raspy voice.
"What does this Kira person look like?" Renji asks next. Tatsuki is impressed, he seems to be so clearheaded in this complete nerve shattering mess.
"He's average height, blond hair, not really long, but not really short either. He's kind of young, blue eyes." The man answers. Rukia doesn't recall ever seeing anybody that fits his description in Japan.
"What do you know about the last attack on her home?" Ichigo asks next.
"I don't know anything about that." The man says, looking at the faces of the teens standing around him. "I didn't know there had been a previous attempt." He tells them, hoping they believe that since it's the truth.
"If it was only supposed to be an abduction, then how come you came so heavily armed with weapons?" Rukia asks the man. He swallows and feels the lump in his throat seem to grow larger.
"The weapons were supposed to be insurance that we successfully captured you and…" The man trails off as he realizes this is going to sound really bad.
"And?" Rukia asks in a demanding voice.
"We were warned that there may be some guys inclined to fight us and we were supposed to use our weapons to incapacitate them." The man explains in a choked voice.
"You said that Kira lives in Tokyo. Do you know the exact location?" Renji asks the man next.
"No. I just know that's where he lives, although after tonight's incident, I imagine he'll relocate fairly quickly." The man tells them.
"What about a way to contact him then?" Rukia asks him next.
"No. We were supposed to stick together. I wasn't supposed to get left behind." The man says in a quiet and fearful voice.
"They didn't really have a choice but to leave you behind though," Ishida tells the man with a look of disgust.
"I'm beginning to feel like you haven't been very much help to us," Ichigo says with a dangerous glint in his eyes. The man's eyes widen. Rukia gives the man an unforgiving look.
"If you value your life, you might want to think of any information that you have that might be useful to us." Rukia informs him. The man squeaks.
"There is one order we were given when it came to the operation tonight. We were ordered not to rape you." He tells he, racking his brain to think if there's any other useful information he can give in exchange for his life.
Ichigo and Rukia exchange glances at that bit of information. It completely contradicts what the men had in mind for her last time. Something seems totally wrong.
"Was it Kira who wanted her?" Renji asks softly.
"I don't know! I was under the impression that it was someone else, since Kira left to make a call about fifteen minutes before we busted in here. If you ask me what my impression was, it was that the girl would be sold." The man explains.
"Were you warned about me?" Ichigo asks him softly. The man swallows and nods.
"We were told to be very wary of an orange haired kid if he happened to want to fight us." He admits realizing it sounds as if they did know about the attack on the girl's home last time, that the kid had previously mentioned. Especially considering all of the information they had coming into the party.
"What are we going to do with this guy?" Tatsuki asks Renji.
"Check his wallet. I want to know his name." Renji tells her, and the man feels another stab of fear from these scary teens.
Ichigo shoves the man to his side, using his foot to nudge him, and Ishida squats down and slides the man's wallet from his pants.
"Takahashi Jiro" Ishida reads, once he pulls the man's ID out of his wallet.
"Did you know your target was only fifteen years old?" Ichigo asks Jiro with a furious voice.
"No, I didn't even see her until I watched her enter this house for your party," Jiro admits, wondering what will happen next. Ichigo and Rukia's eyes widen in surprise at that new bit of information.
"You saw us come in here?" Ichigo asks him with the amazement evident in his voice.
"Yes, we were observing to see how many kids would be present." Jiro replies.
"You were here before we were?" Rukia asks in shock. "How did you know about this party?" She asks him suspiciously.
"One of the guys who was tailing you, overheard you talking about it, we were ordered to follow the other kids you hang out with today, and not to follow you today." Jiro tells her. "That's all I know."
"Write down his information." Renji tells Tatsuki, and she takes the ID from Ishida.
"We're going to want a phone number to contact you at in case we come up with any more questions." Renji tells him in a hard voice. Jiro blinks. They're actually going to let him go?
"Is that such a good idea, letting him go with no punishment?" Ichigo asks Renji. Jiro squeaks. The girl had put her weight on his nuts, isn't that punishment enough?
"I'm not going to let you murder him." Renji tells Ichigo. "If we aren't calling the cops then we have to let him go."
"Really? I can't thank you enough-" Jiro starts to say but is silenced by a hard unforgiving elbow of Ichigo's flying at him and nailing him right in the temple. He passes out.
"We can't kill him. We just can't." Renji tells Ichigo with worry evident in his eyes.
"Sado, do me a favor and get that guy out of my sight before I do kill him. Renji, wait outside for him to wake up if you want his phone number that badly. Rukia, come here." Ichigo grabs Rukia's hand and leads her around the corner where he crushes her up against his chest in mind numbing relief that they got through the ordeal unscathed.
Everyone hurries to follow Ichigo's orders, since he doesn't look like he's in the mood to play.
"Something stinks in here," Inoue says as she wrinkles her nose. Noriko blushes.
"Keigo shit himself." She tells them. Ichigo and Rukia overhear this, and this is just what the group needed to finally let loose their worried breaths and chuckle at the humor of how Keigo reacted compared to the other men in the room. Noriko doesn't meet anyone's eyes as the laughing doesn't stop. They all let their anxieties out and everyone begins to feel much better as they laugh.
Tatsuki doubles over in her laughter, and she can't stop laughing at the fact that Keigo shit his pants while they were kicking ass. What a coward!
Something shiny catches Tatsuki's eyes and she stops laughing to examine the object more closely. She walks closer to the hallway and realizes it's Kuchiki-san's locket, and it must have come off in the scuffle. Tatsuki also realizes that it had landed on the ground completely open.
As Tatsuki is picking it up and observing the tiny half faces of Ichigo and Rukia at a terribly young age, she hears Kuchiki-san's voice and it sounds frantic.
"My locket! It's gone! Ichigo!" Rukia says urgently.
Tatsuki straightens up as she carefully observes the picture and then gazes towards the hallway with narrowed eyes. Ichigo and Rukia quickly come back into view and appear to be looking at the ground. They don't notice what Tatsuki is holding right away.
Tatsuki holds the locket open and up as she clears her throat.
"Kuchiki-san…were you looking for this?" Tatsuki asks with a raised eyebrow.
