Chapter 2: Playing Detective

This was not, in fact, the first time that Ichigo had looked up one of his clients online. The most recent occurrence, which was still about a few months ago, was most peculiar. A girl had spent the entirety of her ride telling him about her "ultimate life dream" of opening a bakery and left him with a business card as a parting gift. She even advertised to him her Kickstarter that was meant to crowdfund her potential business, apparently.

After returning home that day, he had entered her name and a few key terms onto a search engine. Sure enough, the Kickstarter campaign popped up. After a brief moment of consideration, he even contributed a small amount, which led him to find a couple of coupons mailed to him months later, offering sizable discounts from "Sweets & Treats Bakery." He supposed that meant everything worked out for her.

However, what made his search on this Rukia Kuchiki slightly different from the other ones was that all the previous ones had been done simply out of curiosity. This time, it was slightly more...practical. At least, that's what he told himself.

His sisters, Yuzu and Karin, had graduated from college just a month ago, and had both received relatively good job offers right off the bat. Well, Karin did have a little more difficulty finding one than Yuzu, which he attributed to the former's devil-may-care attitude, which didn't exactly bode well in interviews. Nevertheless, they were excited and informed Ichigo of their plan to find an apartment together, intending to split the rent and navigate the difficulties of adulthood together for at least a little while.

All was well, until approximately yesterday, when they told him exactly which apartment they had picked out in the end, which just so happened to be in the same building as one Miss Kuchiki.

And so now...now he was just doing some homework on his sisters' future neighbor to make sure she was a respectable person, that was all. Maybe he was also just a little bit curious about her, too, as he did enjoy the ease with which they were able to joke around with each other–but definitely more so the more practical reason.

His shift ended right around eight o'clock, which was much better hours than what some of his coworkers had. He parked the cab in the company's garage and walked the few blocks home.

His own apartment was rather small and spartan, with just a few mismatched pieces of furniture scattered with no discernible theme or design in mind. Just the essentials, and he was fine with that. The few times that his parents had visited him, they had reprimanded him for the lack of decorations. As a result, their Christmas presents to him always tended to consist of things like wall decorations, throw pillows, and the like.

Tossing his worn clothes into a hamper, he took a quick shower, grabbed some leftover pizza, and sat down with his laptop.

Rukia ... Rukia Kuchiki ...

He quickly found the website of the company she worked for, as it had a short biography and picture online for all their upper-level employees. Ichigo was genuinely surprised. She seemed rather young to be holding such a prestigious position.

The article explained that she had graduated cum laude and valedictorian of her class from a prominent university, one of the top business schools in the nation. After being scouted by her current company, she rose in quickly in ranks with her work ethic and intelligence.

Ichigo quickly closed out of the browser. "She's way out of my league."

Rukia was exhausted after returning leaving work, having pulled two hours of overtime without having that be in the agenda. It wasn't until she heard her stomach growl that she realized her apartment was all out of food. Sighing, she cursed herself for getting so consumed by her tasks that she forgot about domestic matters. She'll just have to settle for some takeout.

While waiting for the elevator to bring her up to her floor, she took some time to check her phone for messages that she had neglected to respond to during the work day.

Ah, one from Momo.

Rukia! I think just created my best red velvet cupcake recipe yet, you gotta try! I'll bring some over tomorrow afternoon or evening if you have time?

Rukia typed back a reply, telling her that she'd be welcome anytime after six and scrolled to the next message. Her brother, Byakuya, this time.

Do not forget about the meeting tomorrow morning. Make sure to arrive twenty minutes before the scheduled time, as we still need to discuss the declining performance of the Las Noches branch of operations. -BK

She sighed again. Byakuya only ever seemed to contact her for business-related reasons. While she understood that he was technically her boss within the company, it would be nice to talk about something other than work occasionally.

After composing a response, she made sure to double-check the grammar before hitting "send," just as the elevator made its signature beep, informing her that they've arrived at the thirteenth floor.

It took her by surprise, however, to find that the apartment door next to hers was open. She didn't think anyone lived there ever since a family of four had moved out a while back; she had even helped them load the furniture, as was the etiquette of being a good neighbor.

The takeout can wait, she decided, and popped her head into the doorway. "Hello?"

"Hi there!" The response came immediately from inside. Footsteps sounded on the wooden floors as a short woman with light brown hair ran up to greet the newcomer.

"I'm guessing you're going to be moving in soon?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, me and my sister, Karin. She's cleaning the bathroom right now." The woman turned her head and gave a shout, "Karin, get over here!"

There was muffled grumbling heard in the background before a dark-haired woman appeared, looking slightly disheveled and annoyed at being beckoned away from her task. "What is it?"

Rukia extended a hand, "It seems like we're going to be neighbors relatively soon, nice to meet you both."

All three of them shook hands, and the light brown-haired woman introduced herself, "I'm Yuzu."

"Karin."

"Well, it's a bit late, so I'm going to get going," Rukia said. "If you need help with anything, I'm right next door. Do you need a hand with moving in the furniture? I know I look short, but I've helped several neighbors move in and out, actually."

Yuzu's face lit up, "We'll be happy to have your help, if you're free. My brother's going to be coming around with some of the furniture tomorrow afternoon, actually."

"See you then." They bid their farewells, and Rukia returned to her own apartment.

Her stomach audibly rumbled again, signifying to her that she had a difficult decision to make–Chinese takeout or Indian.