Chapter: The Arrangement

Shalan's HooHa: Yeah… so this story has completely made me fall in love with it… teehee… and guess who he's gonna call huh? XDDD

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The haunting tones of "The Godfather" main theme could be heard from a cell phone on her bedside table. Her hand hit the table hard and she cursed lightly. "Kuchiki speaking."

"Kuchiki!" She heard a voice that she shouldn't be hearing from the other end of the line.

"Kurosaki," she twirled a finger in the air unenthusiastically.

"Think you can come down to the precinct?" He grinned into the phone and she sighed.

"Kurosaki… do you know what time it is?"

"Do you want me to live to pay you? Then get in your fancy ass car and drive down to the fucking precinct…" She frowned and stood up.

"Fine… I'll be there in 15 minutes," she hung up the Blackjack and walked across her flat. She sighed again as she pulled off her pajamas and chemise, pulling on her blouse for the next day and the gaucho pants. She slipped her feet into the black boots that covered her feet and left her hair back in the braid that she slept with it in.

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"She'll be here in fifteen minutes," Ichigo hung up the phone and folded his arms with a grin on his face.

"Who is she? What are you paying her? To be your girlfriend?" Toshiro blinked at him. Ichigo laughed slowly and Toshiro shook his head.

"No… as a matter of fact… she's my lawyer," Ichigo looked over as the door opened and a grumpy Rukia walked in, her black hair pulled back in a braid. "Hey!" He cheered and she stared at him with wide eyes. She knew now what was going on.

"No!" She turned on her heel and walked out. Ichigo followed her with a wink at Toshiro who rolled his eyes.

"Kuchiki!" He grabbed her arm and she swung around, wild eyed and jerked away from him, falling back onto the ground. He blinked as she scooted away from him. "Rukia?" His brows furrowed in curiosity as he reached out to her. She scrambled away from him and her hands shook as she tried to get into her car. "Calm down!" He grabbed her by the upper arm gently.

"St-stay away from me! St-sta…" She suddenly felt a hand on the side of her face and she snapped back into reality. "Kurosaki… what the hell! Get away from me!" She pushed him off and he blinked hard. Had she just been having some kind of flashback?

"You came so you could help me right?" He grinned hopefully. "Please… I'm not safe in my apartment… you have to help me…" His amber eyes met her azure ones and she gulped slightly. This wasn't worth the money she was being paid.

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Ichigo looked around the almost painstakingly neat house with interest. Her house was very different from her outside appearance. He had always believed that you could tell one's personality by looking at their living space, particularly their bedroom. He reached out to touch one of the expensive crystal statues, a statue of a beautiful swan.

"Don't touch anything!" She snapped and he drew his hand back.

"I thought you said you were from the streets of New York City right? So how did you end up a lawyer in Washington DC?" Ichigo looked around. The apartment was beautiful, huge glass windows covered an entire wall of the living room, beautiful cream colored drapes hid them from sight however. The deep cream of the couch was paired with the coffee colored loveseat and arm chair. A large flat screen was hung in the corner of the room and he blinked when she did finally answer.

"I am." But she sounded sad, almost depressed. His eyes scanned the room, a professional CSI agent would never be able to draw a finger print off of any of the surroundings in the house… everything was sparkling clean. Her kitchen was stainless steel with chocolate vanilla swirled marble countertops. He smiled a little as she led him down the hallway. There was a bathroom to his left and to his right a bedroom door stood open a crack. He peeked in at the messy bed. This was obviously her bedroom. "Here is your room… please don't mess anything up…" She motioned to a beautiful room to her right. It was a well furnished room with a large wooden desk and dresser, the canopied wooden frame of the bed had a beautiful cream colored canopy to it. The bed cover was made of down and was a deep chocolate color, the soft dark cream sheets contrasted nicely.

"Thank you for putting me up…" He looked around as he set his two suitcases down on the ground next to the bed.

"What's in the other bag?" She nodded towards it and he blinked.

"My computer and clothes of course…" He answered with a smile. She shrugged.

"Whatever… just don't break anything and we'll get along fine," she turned and walked out of the room. Ichigo laughed softly.

"And don't touch anything or go to the bathroom or think or breathe or move…" he said sarcastically. There was no way through to this girl otherwise… "I guess I'm going to have to do a little sleuthing on her…" He smiled a little.

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"Hey… Hitsugaya… think you could do me a favor?" He asked as he sat on the comfortable bed. It was 8 AM on Sunday morning… day three of his staying with Rukia. On his lap was his computer and in his mouth was a pen.

"Depends… what the hell do you want on a Sunday morning?" Toshiro grumbled from the other line.

"Well snowball… I was hoping that you could do me a huge favor…" Ichigo grinned and Toshiro grumbled something about him being a son of a bitch.

"What is it? And does it involve the murders?"

"No… it involves my lawyer… get me any information you can and email it to me…" He grinned and Toshiro hung up. "I am so good…"

"Time to… oh you're already awake…" She stared at him. He sat on his bed in his boxers, his black computer on his lap.

"Yep!" He grinned from the bed and she stared at him. "Uh…" He blinked and watched her turn around quickly and walk off. "Hmm…" 'She's afraid of men… I wonder… maybe… rape? Nooo…' He thought harder. 'But it would make sense… maybe we should conduct a little experiment…' He stood up and set his computer on his bed, sauntering out into the hallway he turned his head, swiveling to see where she was. The pretty black haired woman stood in the kitchen wearing a pair of high waist jeans and a loose grey sweatshirt. "Good morning Kuchiki…" he walked over to the bar and sat down, leaning on the countertop. Her eyes flitted up to look at him then looked away modestly. He got the feeling that she didn't like him being shirtless but she was too timid to tell him that.

"Kurosaki… is there anything I can get you?" She said in barely a whisper. She felt her throat close off as it happened again. His reply echoed in her ears as she was suddenly back in that room. Her eyes rolled back into her head and her body seized. Ichigo launched himself over the counter and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"Kuchiki? Kuchiki… RUKIA!"

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OMG! WHAT HAPPENED? XDDDD

Shalan