It had taken some doing on her part, but Ichigo finally decided on a job that she was certain that she would like to do. She was going to be a mechanic.
She had developed a skill for it when both her dad and Chad had gotten vehicles that tended to break down on them in one way or another when she'd been in high school. And it was one of the most underrated and underused abilities that she had that put both her hands and her brain to good use.
Besides fixing things that were broken was a nice way to pass the time while earning some money. And she did enjoy it. So, she figured why not?
And with those thoughts firmly in mind, she then set out to find a place not too far from her home that she could use as a garage of sorts. Luckily, she had noticed some buildings in the area that were for sale. So, she decided to go and get a good look at them and figure out if any of them could be used.
She had good fortune enough to find one about half a block or so away from her home. It was an old brick building, but it had also appeared to be a small warehouse of some kind in the past. Which meant that it had space enough for her to create a decent sized work area.
She could also get some necessities and store them there.
She bought the place once she had a plan and then started to collect things to use. Tools, air pumps, tires, metal frames, car windows, brake lines, steering wheels, paints, oil, engines- the list seemed to go on forever because there was simply so much that was needed to run a garage successfully.
She heard the word 'omega' a few more times from some disbelieving auto repair shop owners and others while she was collecting her stuff. But would silence whoever dared to say the word with a glare that promised swift and brutal violence.
However, despite the occasional offense from those people, she didn't let their mutterings and head shaking stop her. She was almost at her goal.
And then finally after nearly four months of binge shopping that would have made even Yoruichi cringe with shame- she was finally done. She had everything needed to fulfill her task and do the job that she had set for herself. Opening day for her garage was in a few more weeks, which would give her enough time to do anything else that she needed to do to prepare for the big day.
But tonight, she would celebrate a job well done as she took one last, look around at her handiwork and then locked the garage up for the evening and then left.
There was a place nearby, a restaurant if she recalled correctly, called Yukimura. She'd walked past the place a few times while she had been out and about running errands and stuff. And knew that the place seemed to be a good one since it was always busy in one way or another.
So, she had decided to go there to celebrate finally being done with setting up her garage.
Yusuke was cooking up a storm for his evening customers when he smelled something sweet over everything that he was fixing. And was able to give the inside of his restaurant a quick, cursory glance before finally locating the source of the smell.
It was an omega.
A really exotic looking one that also appeared to be unescorted if the lack of an Alpha or Beta packmate stepping inside with her, was any indication at all.
Usually, he didn't bother even looking at omegas. At least not since he'd managed to finally mate Keiko, anyways. But there was simply something about the one standing in the door that tugged at his senses until they practically screamed at him.
Right now, he was curious why she was out walking alone so late in the evening since it simply wasn't safe for such a pretty little thing to be out alone near sunset. Even in the nicest of neighborhoods, sunset was typically when the ne'er-do-well assholes came out to play.
The ones that he usually heard about in the evening news or were wanted by the police for one reason or another.
Which was partially why he was paying such close attention to this one. A frown worked its way across his face as he eyed her critically. Checking her for any visible signs of distress as she cautiously stepped a bit further into his territory and looked around.
Physically, she looked just fine.
There were no visible signs of injury or upset at all. But that didn't necessarily mean that she wasn't in some sort of trouble. So, after taking a moment to weigh the pros and cons, he let out a loud whistling sound to get the attention of one of his employee's so that he could tell them that he was going to take a break for a few minutes.
Once that was done, he shed his apron and then walked out from behind the counter to go and talk to her.
After all, even if he was a happily mated man, he couldn't very well turn a blind eye to her if she was in trouble. He'd never be able to live with himself if he did.
Walking over, he watched her for any sign skittishness or wariness caused by his approach and was just a tad bit startled by the fact that she zeroed in on him automatically and even managed to send a chill down his spine with a mere glance of her piercingly beautiful gold eyes.
Blinking at the weird edgy feeling that she'd just given him, he filed it away in the back of his mind for the time being and rolled his shoulders, a bit to hide his sudden spike in nervousness while he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets as he finally reached her and let a friendly smile make its way onto his lips.
"Hello there, can I help you with something?"
"Hello," She said politely. Her slightly soft and sultry voice hitting him like a ton of bricks upside the head. "Uh, sure. I've never been here before and the place looks so busy. I can't help but wonder where I should sit and what I should order. Do you think you can give me any clues?"
Blinking as he mentally turned her words over in his head a few times, feeling somewhat relieved that she didn't seem to be in any trouble. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't be later.
Especially since there were quite a few Alphas dining there at present.
He could practically feel some of their eyes boring into his back, trying to get a good look at her. Accessing her as if she were a piece of meat. And to some of them, she was. Though he doubted that she would appreciate knowing that since it would likely scare her.
Taking a moment to think of the best way to shield her from those assholes before they decided to try something, he quickly told her that he could show her to a table and even tell her what was on the menu since some new stuff had recently been added to it.
She gave him a small, grateful smile as he quickly started to lead her through the restaurant to the back. There was a nice area there that was usually only used by his friends whenever they visited. Which meant that it was much more comfortable than the front or bar areas.
The tables were nicer, the chairs were cushier- the artwork on the wall was even more pretty than what he had hanging up front. There was also some Karaoke stuff set out for whenever Keiko and the girls were feeling like singing and getting a little bit rowdy.
It would be a nice quiet place for the omega to sit and eat while being hidden from prying eyes. And once she was done, he'd offer to walk her home just to make sure that she got there safely.
Once they reached the back area, he watched her move around him and sit down at one of the tables nearest to the wall dividing the front from the back while he rattled off as much of the menu as he could remember from the top of his head.
She looked at him as she listened and seemed to light up a bit with interest when he mentioned that one of the new food items recently added to the menu was sushi.
So, she ordered that with several side items and some tea to drink and he nodded his head and left to get her stuff ready.
