Chapter 3
Ichigo made his way to the bar through the well-dressed crowd. A familiar head of bleach blonde hair caught his eye and he smirked.
"Rum and coke." He told the bartender as the blonde crinkled his nose in disgust. "What's with you, Toshiro?"
"How you can drink that sweet shit is beyond me." He muttered.
Ichigo smirked. "And you're drinking what? Scotch neat? Gross. Besides," he picked up the drink the bartender placed on the counter. "When have you been old enough to drink?"
Toshiro's vibrant teal eyes glared at him. "Aren't you supposed to be out of town or something?"
Ichigo waved his hand in the air. "How could I miss this shindig, eh?"
"I wasn't aware you were particularly interested in this charity function."
"Of course I am very concerned about the…uh…" Ichigo blanked on what the event was actually for.
Toshiro snorted. "This is a benefit to raise money to support the new children's library and museum."
"I knew that."
"Sure you did."
"So, where's Ran-argh…" The rest of Ichigo's sentence was cut off when a strawberry blonde dressed in a low cut white evening gown jumped him and started to squeal her excitement.
"Rangiku, please unhand him."
She looked at him slyly and asked. "Aww, Toshiro, are you jealous?"
He sighed. "No, you are simply suffocating him."
She jumped back with a small laugh when she realized he was right. "Oops, sorry Ichigo."
Ichigo gasped a few times before he managed. "It's okay…" He took another large breath before asking. "So what table are the two of you at?"
"Ten." Toshiro's eyes flashed warningly. "No ironic comments please, it is purely coincidence."
Ichigo smirked but nodded anyways. "Yeah, me too."
Rangiku grabbed each of their wrists before pulling them forward. "Come on, you two…I'm hungry."
The two males followed her passively until they arrived at the predetermined table. Ichigo took the seat where his name was placed and noticed he was sitting to the left of Rangiku. He looked to his left and was unsurprised to see the name, 'Rukia Kuchiki' printed on the card. Urahara sure could pull some strings when he needed to.
He didn't have long to wait before a familiar figure with cold grey eyes made his way through the crowd to table ten. A petite girl followed closely behind him, smiling softly. The first thing Ichigo noticed that she had an air of someone who was used to being in other's shadows. He scanned her quickly, finding no sign of the black diamond.
"Kurosaki, I'm surprised to see you here." Ichigo and Toshiro stood in respect as Rukia took her seat.
"I'm here for the children, Bayakuya." He tried not to smirk as Bayakuya's face tensed a second before the emotionless mask fell once again.
"Indeed." He looked and saw his sister looking quizzically at the table's occupants. "Rukia, I would like to introduce you to a few of my, associates." His eyes flickered towards Toshiro. "Toshiro Hitisugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto and Ichigo Kurosaki."
She inclined her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you all." They returned her sentiments.
Rangiku smiled and tilted her head to the side. "So, Bayakuya, where have you been hiding her? Seems like I should have met her before now."
"Rukia has been studying in Tokyo the last four years. She stayed in Japan when I made the move three years ago. But now that her studies are over, I felt it was time she join me here." His eyes flickered towards Ichigo. "I thought you were visiting your sisters?"
"I was. Something came up, you know Urahara." He shrugged. Bayakuya nodded as if Ichigo's answer did indeed answer his question.
Something across the room caught Rukia's eye. "Oh, excuse me a moment. I just saw Momo. I'm going to say hello." All three men lifted out of their seats as she rose to her feet and dashed off.
Ichigo followed her progress across the room and looked towards the small group of people she was headed for. He couldn't keep the scowl from his face when he saw the tall dark haired man that was standing in the center, Sosuke Aizen. Rukia was talking to the girl on his arm and Ichigo's skin crawled when he noticed the man's eyes focus on her.
"Momo! How are you?" Rukia asked as she gave her friend a half hug.
The dark haired woman smiled and released her hold on her escort to return the hug. "I'm great. Stressed of course…"
"Ah, yeah. Your line's coming out in a few weeks isn't it? How's the shoot going?"
Momo smiled. "It's really going rather well. I found this new model and she's just fantastic. And she's not some snobby bitch like they all seem to be nowadays." She rolled her eyes as Rukia chuckled. "Your coming to the show, right?"
Rukia nodded. "Of course, you'd think I'd miss that?" They chatted for a few more minutes until Rukia returned to table ten as the dinner was getting underway. In her absence the table had filled and Bayakuya and Toshiro were deep in conversation about business.
"How are you liking LA so far?" Ichigo asked.
She smiled. "It's different." She admitted. "But I'm glad to finally be reunited with my brother. I only got to see him a few times in the last three years."
Ichigo nodded. "I know what you mean. I have two little sisters and work prevents me from getting to see them as much as I want."
"Oh, yeah? How much younger?"
Ichigo scratched his head in thought. "Uh, they're four years younger than me…I'm twenty-eight so that makes them twenty-four. They're twins." He added.
Rangiku leaned across Ichigo to talk to Rukia. "So have you scouted out the nightlife yet?"
Rukia shot a sideways look at her brother who raised an eyebrow at the strawberry blonde. "You will not be dragging my younger sister around those places you so routinely frequent."
Rangiku's smile widened. "Ah, Bayakuya. I was talking about Number Nine. You can't possibly think she could get up to any kinda shenanigans there." Bayakuya did not look convinced. She tilted her head to the side and went for the innocent look. "Besides, she would be with me, what could possibly go wrong?" Ichigo tried not to choke on his food.
"Brother, I think that's the place Momo was talking about…" Rukia added softly, as if she was merely stating a fact.
Bayakuya looked from his sister's face to Rangiku's. He sighed. "Fine. But I will be holding you responsible, Rangiku."
She smiled triumphantly. "Of course." Her focus turned back to Rukia. "I'll pick you up tomorrow night? Around eleven or so?'
Rukia nodded, a pleased smile on her face while Bayakuya looked like he was already regretting his decision.
Ichigo leaned back in his chair, a plan already forming in his head.
AN: so…review? Please?