Chapter 2: The hunt
The dark details of what Rukia saw and lived when she was a child in that failed ritual only her mind knows, but when she was able to speak thanks to the help her father sought for her, it was inevitable that the person responsible would pay for his crime.
Her uncle was jailed for various charges other than kidnapping and his sentence went beyond spending the rest of his life in jail. The entire legal process against his uncle lasted longer than he spent in jail.
There are dark stories of what happens in Inuzuri, one of the largest and most dangerous prisons in the country, but everyone knows that rapists are treated the same way they treated their victims.
One of the charges Rukia's uncle was prosecuted for was rape and he didn't have such a good time in that place because during the welcome ritual, the only screams that were heard in that cell were his.
It wasn't that the guy did anything to Rukia, she had to be as pure as snow for that ritual, but the man had a long list of sins where the least of them was kidnapping.
When Rukia's uncle's body was taken out of jail, the man had all the marks of torture on his body and he was missing all his teeth because without teeth, he couldn't bite anymore. Nobody asked anything, nobody said anything and the case was taken as something more than what happens inside that hole called Inuzuri.
After that terrible moment in her life, when she finally regained her speech and everything calmed down, Rukia started to hear a voice in her head telling her what to do and what not to do. The voice sounded like hers but in a more demanding tone, stronger and more confident.
When Rukia went to her medical sessions with her psychologist, she told the therapist about that voice and everything that voice told her. That therapist did not hesitate to declare her schizophrenic because of the trauma and filled her with medication.
The demon inside her didn't like pills and it was something Rukia learned in a bit of a weird way.
Rukia had a wide variety of medications to keep her calm and solve each and every one of the problems that her life had since that sectarian episode. The voice inside her head began to tell her how to get rid of the drugs and Rukia, tired of living with pills for everything, began to listen to that voice.
So it was that, after starting to keep information to herself on the advice of that strange voice in her head and switching to a new therapist who would be her primary psychologist from that moment on, Rukia, little by little, was showing a considerable "improvement" and the medications began to be reduced.
The one thing that would never stop would be her therapy sessions, but Rukia could handle them because her therapist was quite a handsome man who was in awe of her mind.
When Rukia became a legal adult, the voice in her head told her that it would be fun to go on a trip, so Rukia convinced her father to allow her a trip before she entered college. She no longer took so many medications, she had shown a very considerable improvement after all the years of therapy and, after consulting that decision with her primary psychologist, Rukia's father allowed that trip.
The trip was to the neighboring city, where her father could arrive in a short time if necessary, but that didn't matter to Rukia because the mere idea of traveling alone filled her with emotion and happiness; part of her was also nervous because she didn't know what she would find in the world outside the protection of her father and brother.
The voice inside her head was silent during most of the days that Rukia was in the city visiting museums, cafes, libraries and parks; but the night that she decided to go out for the first time to party, that voice appeared to tell her to be careful.
"Hide the folding knife in the shoe. Nobody checks the shoes."
Rukia looked at the folding knife and stuck it into a gap in her sneakers. It was uncomfortable walking with it embedded in the side of her foot, but she knew she would be searched at the entrance of any place and it would be easier to remove it from her sneaker and put it in her pants pocket when she entered the place.
When she found a place that seemed fun, where there was interesting music and lots of lights, she went inside.
Rukia thought that world of music, alcohol and colored lights that she hadn't been able to know was truly incredible, and she supposed that it would be better if she had gone with friends but she didn't have them. At school she had always been alone because she was "weird" and her only companion was her inner demon.
A young man with a charming smile approached her, asked if she wanted to dance with him, and although Rukia refused at first, the guy was so insistent that Rukia agreed. Rukia didn't know how to dance but the guy encouraged her until she found herself jumping to the beat of the music. The only thing she didn't like was that the guy touched her waist as if he wanted to bring her closer to him.
The voice in her head told her to be careful.
When the music stopped, Rukia thanked him for the dance and went back to her seat but the guy didn't seem to want her to get away from him. The guy insisted on buying her a drink and Rukia, to get him to stop being so pushy, accepted it. A short time later, the guy came back with a couple of glasses and handed one to her.
"Don't drink it. Pretend to take a sip and then leave it on the table. Tell him you're going to the bathroom and let's get out of here. That guy is hunting."
Hunting. The very word made Rukia shiver.
Rukia did as the voice in her head told her and she could see a mischievous gleam in the guy's eyes as she brought the glass to her lips. A moment later, she told him she was going to the bathroom and left the place as fast as she could.
She took the knife, which at that moment was already in her pants pocket, and began to walk quickly in search of a taxi that would return her to her hotel, but before she did, someone grabbed her arm too tightly.
It was the same guy from the nightclub and he seemed angry.
She tried to let go but the guy was stronger and dragged her with him into an alley while telling her that she wouldn't leave without first giving him what he wanted. Rukia kept trying to get the man to release her, but she couldn't and was about to panic when the voice spoke.
"Do not resist. Let him think you'll do what he wants and then you stick the knife hard in his stomach and cut him open like a pig."
Rukia obeyed the voice.
Before the guy could do anything to her, the knife stabbed into his stomach and the guy let go of her because of the shock and pain he was in. Rukia took advantage of that moment and stabbed the knife several more times into the guy until the voice in her head told her to stop because the man was dead.
Rukia felt adrenaline rush through her body.
What she did to that man felt good that somehow, a part of her, felt that this man deserved what happened to him. Men like him deserved death.
"The hunter was hunted. You know what would make it more interesting?"
— What? — Rukia asked out loud, feeling the adrenaline subside and seeing the guy in the alley lying in his own blood.
"Let the prey eat the hunter."
Rukia's hand moved on its own until it was close to her mouth.
— Don't do that, you know I don't like it when you control my body.
"It will be fun. You already took his life, what does it matter to taste his blood? I am hungry and you are cruel to me."
— I don't want to get sick. — Rukia answered, regaining control of her body and walking out of there. — I'll give you some of my blood at the hotel.
"I don't want yours."
— Nothing, you will stay hungry.
Somehow, she managed to wipe off some blood and enter the hotel without arousing suspicion. The blood was the least of it, the feeling of those hands touching her and trying to do who knows what else, was unpleasant.
Rukia thought a lot about what she did while the hot water relaxed her body in the bathtub of her hotel room, she didn't feel any guilt or remorse, but she felt a kind of relief that made her feel too good.
In college, she had friends and got to see the world in such a different way that it seemed incredible to her. She was a good student, there was no denying that, but she was also good at nights out with her girls friends and over time, Rukia allowed herself to have a physical relationship with a girl who offered to teach her what she needed to know about this world of carnal pleasure.
The voice that kept her alert was silent most of the time, from time to time it murmured something interesting but Rukia had never done again what she did in that alley with that man. Killing hadn't become an addiction yet but her girlfriend had several injuries when Rukia bit her because the demon that lived inside her needed a blood tribute.
At university, she met a guy with red hair and many tattoos, and she wanted to experiment with him because her girlfriend, with whom she shared the bed and the apartment, filled her mind with the idea that the guy must be very good in bed.
It was a very intense and very pleasurable ménage a troi, and Rukia discovered that she liked sex with men more than with women. That night was repeated many times, but that ended badly because the guy with red hair had an obvious preference for her and her girlfriend didn't like that little detail.
Rukia left her girlfriend and stayed with the red-haired guy.
It was a good season until the guy became possessive and unbearable because jealousy gnawed at him and he accused her of sleeping with everyone who looked at her on the street.
She wasn't to blame for attracting people, it was because of the demon inside her that made her look like a snack worth eating, and since that wasn't something she could explain without seeming like she was completely crazy, she tried to make the guy understand that she didn't sleep with random people.
The guy didn't seem to understand it or maybe he didn't want to understand it, and every time that topic came up because she was late from college or because she was out with her friends or because some guy was being nice to her, these kinds of fights would break out.
Passionate relationships are fun until the prejudices of those involved are known, and the red-haired guy had several which Rukia did not intend to tolerate because the therapy had served for more than overcoming the fear of people.
Rukia got tired and ended that relationship when the guy made the mistake of pushing her to the bed in a clearly aggressive and violent attitude, and she had to break a bottle over his head as a defense measure.
As fast as she could get out of that room she grabbed a knife from the kitchen intending to cut his throat for what he had tried to do to her. No one could touch her without her permission.
"Nope. Run away from here, go to the police station and report it. You can't kill him because you were with him, they will blame you for it."
— It's self-defense, no one will miss him.
"It is not convenient for us. They will return us to the house and lock us up. We don't want to be locked up."
Rukia cursed the fact that the voice in her head was right and ran out of the guy's apartment, snapping and ripping her clothes a bit before finding a police officer. The police officer, seeing her so nervous and with torn clothes, did not hesitate to take her to the police station so that she could file her complaint.
It was at that moment that Rukia met Ichigo Kurosaki, aka "the lawyer of evil", who was there because of one of his clients. He offered to help her by hearing her situation because he was a lawyer and she was a helpless victim, and he had to help her.
The next thing the redheaded guy knew, there was a restraining order against him and he couldn't get close to Rukia unless he wanted to end up in jail. He was also booked as a sex offender, courtesy of evil's lawyer, and from that moment the guy with the red hair and tattoos had his life ruined.
The worst mistake of Renji was going to look for Rukia at that moment.
Ichigo was with Rukia at the time, along with a police officer that he had asked for Rukia's protection because he knew how the world worked and he knew that the guy would look for her as soon as he had the restraining order in hand. Ichigo wasn't wrong, he was never wrong and that's why he was the best in his business.
The redheaded guy got violent as Rukia told him why it would be better to keep his pineapple head away from her and the police officer stopped him before he physically assaulted her. Ichigo immediately grabbed Rukia around the waist in an unprofessional way to protect her and stayed in that position until the police officer took away the guy who was yelling some meaningless threat.
Rukia could feel the strength of Ichigo's grip and her entire body shuddered. It wasn't unpleasant, it was something that made the voice inside her head make an obscene noise of pleasure as she realized that under that expensive suit there was more muscle than it seemed.
Evil's lawyer didn't charge her for the service, claiming he was doing his good deed for the year, and Rukia was able to keep that incident a secret so her father wouldn't find out. Her life had not been what her father had wanted and she hoped that he would never find out and her excellent grades would suffice for him.
She also began to fantasize about the evil's lawyer.
Rukia finished college, didn't reconcile with her former girlfriend but made new friends, and as a way to celebrate the end of that stage of their lives, the girls took a celebratory trip to a beach.
Rukia had the permission of her father and her primary psychologist, along with a good dose of money for expenses, and she set out to enjoy the party because when she returned she would start working in her family's company.
The voice in her head woke up again and it went to party with her.
One of those nights, when all the girls decided to go dancing to a place that seemed very exclusive, and which they managed to enter because one of the girls knew the guy who guarded the entrance, Rukia looked at the evil's lawyer and the voice in her head made that same obscene noise of pleasure.
"I'm hungry."
The evil's lawyer was in a private area, with several bottles of some drink that must have been quite expensive, a couple of friends and some girls who seemed anything but friends. Rukia paid special attention to the girl next to the evil advocate and saw from the way he touched her as he talked and laughed with his friends that he too seemed to quite enjoy the girls who tried to touch them a little beyond what was allowed.
Rukia left and saw him and decided to enjoy the night with the girls, dancing and drinking the odd colored drink to quench her thirst, but from time to time she turned to see the place where the lawyer was, who little by little seemed more animated and whose girl became more affectionate regardless of the fact that there were a couple more people with them.
"He is quite handsome. Can you imagine what it would be like to sleep with him? I know that yes, you have moaned his name when you masturbate. Look at her, that's how those kind of women hunt."
Rukia looked at the girl from the evil's lawyer and discovered that the girl was too close to him, sitting in such a way that the neckline of her dress was visible to Ichigo and running one of her hands slowly from his abdomen to his leg. Rukia choked a bit on her drink as Ichigo grabbed the girl's hand letting her touch him before leaning close to the girl's ear to whisper something that really cheered the girl up.
"They're going to go. He's going to fuck her when they get out of here."
— Let him go.
Rukia turned her gaze to her friends who were talking about how much fun everything was in that place.
"You're jealous. Let's thank him for helping us and maybe his intentions will change. I'm hungry and he must taste very good."
Rukia had no way of denying the initial words of that voice, she was jealous because the girl who was with the lawyer was going to fuck him, although the most certain thing was that the lawyer of evil was going to fuck the girl because Ichigo had the face of a predator.
When the girl who was with Ichigo got up to go to the bathroom and he adjusted his pants where an erection was clearly marked, Rukia apologized to her friends, who were finishing their drinks before going to dance, and walked over to where he was.
Only Ichigo was there, his friends had left with the girls who attended them.
Ichigo recognized her at that moment and bought her a drink from the same glass he drank while asking her how everything was going with her life in a courteous and pleasant way, as if he hadn't been smelling that girl's perfume before.
Something inside him growled with the excitement of a new hunt.
Rukia didn't know how to seduce him because she had never hunted like that, she was like a Venus flytrap and just waited for them to come to her and fall into the trap, so she did the first thing that came to her mind and sat on Ichigo's legs making the dress she was wearing at the time ride up a bit on her legs.
For a moment she thought Ichigo would reject her but he didn't, he just looked surprised and asked what she was trying to do as he held her tightly around the waist with those hands she had been fantasizing about for some time.
The evil's lawyer had delicious strength.
— I remembered that I hadn't properly thanked you for helping me with that guy.
Rukia said that and did the same thing that girl had done before, she ran one of her fingers down Ichigo's chest, but he stopped her before she reached his pants line.
— And how do you intend to do it? — Ichigo had a sly and dangerous smile, the ones that Rukia had learned to recognize as the one that hunters had. Rukia didn't reply and felt the lawyer let go of her hand so she could finish what she wanted to do. — You are a dangerous woman, I can feel it, and letting you thank me in this way is not a good idea.
— Why not?
Rukia settled better on Ichigo's legs, to the point of getting as close as was morally allowed in public, waiting for a response from him. Ichigo held her tightly by the waist, took her chin and caressed her lower lip with his thumb. Rukia stuck out her tongue, just the tip, and licked Ichigo's finger, all without either of them breaking eye contact.
— Because you can get me in trouble. A little bunny like you is usually excessively expensive.
— I promise I will not sue you for sexual harassment. — Rukia smiled as she said those words.
— I don't intend to allow that to happen. If you're going to thank me this way, you're going to sign a couple of papers first to keep yourself from changing your mind while I tie you to the bed. — Ichigo had a sly smile as he said that. Rukia felt how he grabbed her buttocks and made her feel his erection between her legs. — So you decide, little bunny. Think about it, I'll be back in a couple of minutes and if you're still here, I'll let you thank me like this.
Ichigo made her get off his legs and went from there to do his things.
"He called you 'little bunny' and wants to tie you to the bed. The lawyer also fantasizes about you. I no longer know whether to eat him or let you fuck him."
A while later, the girl Ichigo was with approached her and tried to kick her out, but he came back, grabbed Rukia and sent the girl away by giving her a couple of bills to pay for the pleasure of her company. The girl's expression indicated that she didn't want the money but something else.
— Was she a prostitute? — Rukia asked when they were both in Ichigo's car. A basic rule was supposed to be not to get into strangers' cars but Rukia knew how to defend herself.
The lawyer of evil was not wrong when he said that she was a dangerous woman.
— No, I don't sleep with prostitutes. I'm selective. — Ichigo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, trying to keep most of his attention on the road, and smiled at what he was going to say due to the personal joke. — I have a strict diet.
The voice inside her head made a strange noise upon hearing that sentence but it kept quiet, which was strange because usually the demon in her head always said what it thought. Rukia ignored that fact and changed the topic of conversation to why they called him "the evil's lawyer" and Ichigo just laughed before clarifying the reason for that peculiar nickname.
— Because I advocate for criminals. If you kill someone, call me and I'll defend you, only I'll charge you cash.
Rukia didn't say anything because she had a couple of bloody secrets, instead she slid her hand up Ichigo's leg and stroked him a bit starting to warm up her food.
When they got to Ichigo's hotel room, a rather elegant suite, Rukia checked that he hadn't been lying with what he said at the club.
Ichigo handed her a consent form for what they were going to do that night and Rukia read it carefully before putting her signature. It wasn't just any document, it was one that protected him from her, and vice versa.
The voice inside her head made the same noise again of not being entirely convinced that it was a good idea to be there.
"Ask him which master he serves. The letterhead on the page looks familiar to me."
Ichigo handed her a glass of liquor and sat on an armchair inside that suite, he looked at her carefully and made a sign for her to go with him so she could sit on his lap.
Rukia kicked off her heels and walked over to him to sit on his legs, pulling her dress up again and feeling Ichigo's hands gripping her buttocks tightly. She'd been fantasizing about that moment ever since he'd held her that afternoon the pineapple-headed idiot had come to claim her for the restraining order, and she wasn't going to waste this night.
The doubts in the voice in her head went to hell when the lawyer made her taste the taste of that liquor from his tongue.
Rukia moaned Ichigo's name like she had every time she fantasized about that moment and no part of her was left untouched. Ichigo made sure to make her come so many times that her legs were shaking and the voice in her head was completely speechless.
They ran out of condoms before morning came and just for that, they had a break. Rukia told her friends that she wouldn't be back until the following night and Ichigo bought more condoms.
When she returned to the hotel where they were staying, her friends questioned her ad nauseam and Rukia took it upon herself to tell them only the most scandalous things that had happened that night. The jokes about her needing a wheelchair didn't stop after that talk.
Rukia saved Ichigo's personal number perfectly well in her cell phone contacts.
When Rukia started working in her family's company and had to leave the city for the same reason, she met Ichigo many times and all those times they repeated what happened on that celebration trip.
The pleasure of having him between her legs could not be compared to anything, Ichigo took her to places of pleasure that she would never have imagined and it made her happy to hear him say that between her legs was the best place where he could be.
The age difference was something neither of them cared about, but she was clearly younger than him.
Condoms never seemed to be enough, and after a few lab tests that indicated they were both perfectly healthy, Rukia got a contraceptive implant and the nights just got infinitely better.
They were a couple and had a contract that ensured mutual fidelity with a small clause to open the relationship to a third party if both parties agreed. They weren't kids, Ichigo was divorced with a son, and Rukia hadn't been shy about enjoying her sexuality in every possible way.
They both knew what they wanted and both had tasted more things than could be mentioned.
— What master do you serve?
Rukia's question caught Ichigo off guard as he towel dried his hair. Both had met at a hotel in the city where Rukia had traveled on business and Ichigo had not hesitated to drive a couple of hours from the city where he was just to see her and go to dinner.
— It's a dangerous question, I could ask you the same thing. — Ichigo pointed to the table where their lunch was served.
— I investigated you. — Rukia whispered, but Ichigo didn't flinch because it was something he expected her to do. — I found nothing beyond your infamous reputation for freeing criminals. Very good at what you do, there is no way you can lose and you always manage to make those who hire you happy.
Ichigo smiled at that and leaned back in his seat like it was a small throne.
— I'm the Devil's Lawyer, little bunny.
After that afternoon of revealing discoveries, Ichigo took Rukia to her first feast and introduced her as his mate to the guests who were enjoying those ravenous pleasures. They weren't like the sect her uncle was involved in, they preferred to call themselves by another name and ate only meat of a specific type.
The voice in her head was actually pleased with the place.
The crimes she committed over the years went beyond defending herself against assault. Rukia found pleasure in what she did and just for that, she did it again. It was like a drug whose dose lasted long enough to keep her calm and have a quiet life before she needed another dose.
Until she made the mistake of staying too long with the latest victim.
Neither Ichigo nor Kaien were happy, but they arranged for her to be in the clinic where Kaien, her primary psychologist, worked.
