A quick little scene that's been bouncing around my head and taking way too long to get on paper.
Nervous, Ichigo tugged at her gloves, flexing each of her fingers as the snug black fabric stretched taut. Her hands kept tugging and twisting, at her dark clothes, at her hair, at her lip… She noticed what she was doing when she accidentally bit her own fingertip. Flushing with embarrassment even though no one else was there to see, she took a deep breath and forced her arms to her sides. It was going to be fine, she was fine, she was ready for this. Hadn't she spent the past week preparing? Everything would go according to plan, she just needed to stay calm.
Taking a deep breath, Ichigo bent over to do some extra leg stretches for good measure and to help calm her nerves. Her tail coiled and flicked behind her as she did so. Her cat ears were out as well, twitching at every rustle and snap in the surrounding trees. Honestly, it was a good thing she was nervous enough for her cat DNA to take over; her heightened senses and extra grace would come in handy.
Ichigo checked her watch, touching her bell necklace with her free hand. She'd thought about leaving it behind, but tonight she could use all the luck she could get, although she had stuffed a tissue inside to keep it quiet. Despite how tense she was, Ichigo found herself smiling. Even the smallest thought of Masaya could do that, and that's why she kept the bell. Alright, midnight – time to go.
One last look across the clearing (all clear) and Ichigo walked briskly out from the tree line, eyes locked on the building opposite. All the windows were dark, not even a single light left on upstairs. Still, Ichigo was glad she was wearing all black as she could blend with the shadowy ground. Her heart was thumping by the time she reached the brick walls. She waited, trying to pant noiselessly. Nothing moved and no lights turned on. Good.
Her target was in the basement, so Ichigo moved carefully around the building until she reached the ground-level windows. Earlier, when she was doing reconnaissance for tonight, she had jammed one of the windows so it was ever-so-slightly ajar. Her tail thrashed as she anxiously ran her fingers along the seam. There it was! With a sigh of relief, Ichigo pulled out a small bottle of oil, spritzing the hinges before using her fingertips to pry the window silently open.
Ichigo dropped to the ground and shimmied her way under the windowpane and through the small opening she had just created. There was not much room, but she had cat-like skill in getting through narrow spaces. She dropped to the ground hands first, doing a tight summersault to get her legs inside the room and up under her. Standing, she looked around, her eyes adjusting to the dim light in less than a second. The moonlight from outside was more than enough for her to find what she wanted.
As quickly and as quietly as she could, Ichigo strode over to the large desk covered in papers. Which one was it…? She rifled through the sheets, focusing on the ones near the top, bent over so she could skim the words faster. Aha! There it was!
Grinning, Ichigo grabbed the folder she was keeping in the back of her shirt and pulled out a near duplicate sheet of paper. She edged the replacement back into the mess, careful to make it look as natural as possible. Triumph and a kind of mad glee welled up inside of her - victory was hers. She held the original document and satisfyingly shredded it in half, just as the lights suddenly turned on.
With a scream of fright and surprise, Ichigo covered her eyes, dropping into a ball. She heard a sigh, and then approaching footsteps.
"You know the paper copy of your work schedule is just that, a copy, right? I have everything backed up on my computer. Sorry you wasted all that effort trying to break in."
Flushing, Ichigo jumped to her feet, hands balled into fists. "Well if you had just given me Friday off like I had asked, Ryou, I wouldn't have had to break in in the first place!"
Her blond-haired boss smirked and shook his head. "Make sure you don't destroy anything else before you go or I'm docking it from your pay." Laughing, he headed up the basement stairs, ignoring Ichigo's shriek of indignant rage.