Thanks for the Favs and Follows!
*A special shout out to 'Ulquiorra9000' for literally reviewing in every chapter! You are the most amazing person ever! Thanks so much!
*This chapter is dedicated to 'Jobananasan' for requesting the 'Lady Royals Society' meeting. And for guessing almost everything right! Wow! I was speechless after reading your review! Kudos to you!*
Disclaimer: Kubo owns Bleach. Credits to my cousin Ninya.
Chapter Fifteen:
"How do I look?" She told Inoue for probably the sixth time that afternoon as she stared herself at the mirror by the living room. Inoue and Rangiku insisted Rukia dress in signature Lady Royals fashion, pastels, pearls and pumps for the tea party. As if the three P's weren't enough, Inoue had to coach her on tea party etiquette.
"You look fresh, refined and lovely."
"You look like a 'Lady Royal' but still very much what I'd expect of Rukia Kurosaki," Rangiku added, smirking.
She took a deep breath as she turned away from the mirror and faced the other girls."Well, we can at least count on my last name to get me through the door. Let's just hope they don't kick me out before we can sit down for tea."
"You'll be fine, Rukia-san." Inoue reassured her as she picked up the hostess gifts she was taking with her. "Just remember to count to ten before you say anything really important just in case it sounds different when you say from how it sounds in your head."
"Got it," Rukia said with a firm nod. "And no clanking noise when stirring. Let the tea spoon touch only the bottom of the cup but never the walls. Do no more than five graceful swirls and don't lick the spoon." She glanced at Inoue with her brows furrowed. "I remembered all the important parts, didn't I?"
The bubbly woman nodded encouragingly. "You did. You're not uncivilized, Rukia-san. You have good manners."
She squared her shoulders. "Even though I obviously don't have the required refined set of them, I'll just wing it. No guts, no glory, right? I'm all out, ladies. Balls to the wall!"
Rangiku chuckled. " You may want to avoid using terms like, wing it and balls to the wall. They don't quite go with the whole Lady Royals rule book. Just saying."
"Right," Rukia said, flushing a little. " If they did, they'd be more fun."
"And you know the board members names and profiles by heart so you can easily start a conversation with them and show that you've taken interest," Inoue added as she led them to the door. " You're being invited at a vital time because their new chairwoman is going to be announced today. It could be anyone from the current board, depending on the vote. After they declare it internally, they will do a press release and conduct the officiating rite a week from now. That's also when they announce new members of the board."
Rukia secretly groaned at the mention of the board members because one of them was a woman named Hallibel who inconveniently happened to be Riruka's best friend. According to the profile report Inoue put together for her about the Society, Riruka had become a member as well but stopped actively participating after she got busy starting her own business.
It relieved her that Riruka would most likely not be at today's tea party and she was crossing her fingers that her friend wouldn't be an issue.
"Are you ready?"
"I'm ready." Rukia said with a stiff nod before following Inoue out of the penthouse to the waiting car.
They dropped Rangiku off along the way and she fought the urge to ask Inoue to accompany her to the tea party for the rest of their drive to the venue — an old mansion that had been declared a heritage home by the city about ten years ago. Apart from being a tourist destination, it also functioned as the official headquarters of the Lady Royals since it was owned by the family of one of the Society's founding members.
"We'll come pick you up around four, okay?" Inoue told her with a smile as Ikkaku pulled over by the front steps of the mansion. "Call if you need us sooner or later than that.
"I will.'' Rukia took a deep breath before scrambling out of the car after Ikkaku opened the door for her.
He walked her to the front door where a smartly-dressed, aging doorman greeted her in such a flat, lifeless fashion it was almost catatonic. He took the gifts she brought and led her down the hall to the large solarium where a half dozen chairs were circled together around an oval table draped in white cloth with intricate embroidered edges. And pretty china tea cups were spread out on the table, enjoyed by the women gathered around it.
Their conversation paused when Rukia appeared at the doorway and she swallowed hard before smiling at them broadly while secretly surveying each of their faces.
There were seven of them, all wearing the same 'Lady Royal' outfits but with different colors and design. Her eyes focused on a very familiar pink head wearing a sorbet-yellow mod dress — Riruka Dokugamine.
She looked up at her with her eyes rounded in surprise and Rukia fought not to let her jaw drop open in front of everyone.
"Oh, hello," One short-haired blond she instantly recognized as Hallibel, greeted her as she rose from her seat. "Rukia Kurosaki, what a pleasure," Hallibel said as everyone else took their turn to appraise her. "We were wondering whether you were still going to join us today since we'd started about half an hour ago."
Rukia frowned and glanced at her watch. "It's one-fifty-five. The invite said two p.m."
Hallibel's brows arched delicately, her smile tight with impatience. "The tea party was scheduled for one-thirty. I mean, if everyone else showed up at that time, it must be correct. We certainly understand if you were held up. It must've been something very important. You could have hardly meant to be tardy to a Lady Royal tea party, if you follow my meaning."
Rukia's fist clenched. "I'm not tardy. I have the invite in my purse if you care to look at it.
Hallibel smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, please, it's not a big deal. We could hardly peer at a diamond when it's not big enough to matter, right? Besides, you're not even a member yet so no crime has been committed. And as I've said, we completely understand. There's no need to apologize."
Rukia raised a brow. "I certainly don't recall apologizing in the last thirty seconds since I've stepped into this room so there's no need to liberate me from the necessity of it. Are you sure you're following me in this conversation?"
Silence filled the room and that wasn't a good thing.
"I'm Tier Hallibel, the newest chairwoman of the Lady Royals Society as of today," she said as if that answered Rukia's question, which it didn't. "You would've learned that if you had arrived on time."
"Congratulations," Rukia said slowly and calmly, lifting her chin up at Hallibel. "Clearly, you've already made huge strides in being a true political leader, artificially charming, outright manipulative and a practiced prevaricator who can whistle lies through her teeth."
Gasps erupted all over the room and Hallibel's face blanched before the blood rushed back beneath the surface of her tanned skin.
- I am too pissed off to play it nice. If they sought to intimidate me by sending me an incorrect invitation and bully me enough that I wouldn't even bring it up, they clearly had no idea who they were messing with. -
With her shoulders squared, Rukia whipped out the invitation from her clutch and slapped it on the surface of the table before sliding it forward, her eyes never wavering from Hallibel's.
"Being caught in a lie is like being a fish caught in a hook, the more you struggle away from it, the more likely you'll lose your head or your intestines" She said with a smirk. "I'd feel sorry for you if you weren't so predictable.
She turned away from Hallibel and faced the other women, flashing them a broad, sunny smile. "Since I'm inclined to believe in the good nature of mankind, I'll assume that no one else knew of that sloppy trick to make me look bad on my first meeting with you ladies so I'll start over. My name is Rukia Kurosaki. I'm honored to have been invited as a guest to your tea party today. I'm very interested in the work you do when you're not busy instigating juvenile catfights and I'd be happy to help out where you can use my assistance."
"You have no right to insult us like this!" Hallibel, who seemed to have recovered her speech, snarled from behind her.
"Don't dish it out if you can't take it."
"I am the leader of this Society!" she practically yelled and Rukia felt the urge to take cover before this blister burst and spewed puss and all kinds of disgusting things all over them.
She grimaced and glanced back at the other members who were sharing an almost uniform expression of disbelief and shock, even Riruka, except for a tall, black short-haired woman who was sitting back smiling, her eyes shimmering with laughter. The fact that someone was seeing the humor in the situation other than herself made Rukia instantly feel better.
She grinned. "I think some of you may have to reassure Hallibel of her new post here since she doesn't seem to believe it. I mean, she keeps saying it. It probably hasn't sunk in yet.
"How dare you say that to her!" Another member said. "We invited you here as a courtesy to the Kurosaki's but Hallibel-sama was sure that you wouldn't fit in well with the group and we can clearly see that now. You're insolent and disrespectful!"
- Hallibel - sama? -
"Don't let her get you so riled up Apacci." Another woman, calmly said.
"Shut your freaking hole, Mila Rose."
"Please refrain yourselves. It makes you look weak when you guys do that."
"Shut up! Sung-sun!"
Rukia sighed, knowing that there was no stopping her now. " I appreciate the tact you admit your motive with considering how disrespectful it is to slap it on someone's face just how uninterested you are in their company and make it sound as if you're doing them a favor by putting up with it anyway. No disrespect intended but I think at this point, it's hardly fair to call out my insolence when your prejudice provoked it."
"We are an esteemed society of female philanthropists and you would do well to remember that!" another member, spoke up sharply. "We don't just pick up the next trailer trash to have stumbled into the marital bed with a rich man."
- Wow. Clearly, someone's dug my hole so deep I just plunged right into it when I walked in here today. Unbelievable. I never even had a chance. -
Rukia thought of how Ichigo would be so disappointed in her for blowing this but she fought the pinpricks of tears in her eyes and thrust her chin up.
- He'd be more disappointed in me if I let them walk all over me. -
Tilting her chin up, Rukia said in a calm voice. "It's a real pity that the only charity you all seem to be capable of is limited to your glitzy fundraisers and cozy tea parties. If you can't even be charitable to others with less impressive backgrounds than yours, I can't figure out why else you would do your philanthropy if not just to simply make yourselves look better by helping the poor and earn the tax credit for it."
Hallibel started to make some kind of protesting noise but Rukia pinned her with a glare. "As for you, I simply regret that someone of your vindictive nature gained the opportunity to make a difference when all that you seem intent in doing with it is to play the high school queen bee."
She swivelled her gaze over to Riruka who was flushed a deep shade of red, still mute in her seat. What a lovely coward. "If your fight with me is for your friend Riruka, I'm afraid that your crusade is in vain. I did not steal anything that was still hers to have. I did not wish for this to be ugly and I had hoped that you would be better than this but if you're simply taking me down because I happened to marry Ichigo, I suggest you give it up. Whether my last name is Kuchiki or Kurosaki, whether I sleep in my old, ratty double bed or in a king size thirty floors up in the sky, whether I'm in heels or sneakers, I'm the same girl I've always been the kind who will not stand down because you feel like kicking me around. I will kick you right back and it will hurt."
Her heart beating rapidly from the dangerous excitement of her declaration, Rukia straightened her shoulders and gave them a half-smile." When you've learned to be better than a bunch of petty hypocrites, look me up, I might be interested to help you then."
With that, she turned and strode out of the house, walking until she found herself strolling toward downtown which was only a few blocks away.
Despite her famous last words from that tea party, Rukia felt defeated, mostly because she didn't even get a chance. She shouldn't have been surprised though. Having read about the Lady Royals from gossips online, she had known that they wouldn't welcome her with open arms. Despite their claims to charity, most of them had reputations for being prissy and arrogant but she had always been the type to cut most people some slack and she thought she could manage that with them.
- The only problem with giving people a chance is that they don't always return the favor. -
Rukia wondered how she would tell Ichigo. She wondered how she would tell Inoue. She would be devastated. She had such great faith that the Royals would meet Rukia and all love her because Inoue thought the world of her.
Determined to feel better, she undid the tight bun of her hair and wiggled it loose. Then wandered around downtown for a good half hour, grateful for the anonymity that reminded her of how simple it used to be just being good, old Rukia.
She went into one of her favorite shoe stores. Rukia used to gaze at some of the pretty shoes here that she couldn't afford before.
"Hello," A young girl greeted her as she surveyed a rack of leather ballet flats. " What can I help you with today?"
"I'm just looking," Was her automatic reply out of habit. She would never even bother the store clerks before with trying on anything because she couldn't afford it then.
The girl smiled at her in understanding and nodded to her shoes. "Those booties are fabulous. I saw them in a couple of magazines. They're one of this seasons most coveted pairs and they're crazy expensive."
Rukia felt herself blush because she didn't really know how to react properly. She didn't even know how much the shoes cost. "Um, thanks." Knowing that the girl could probably use some commission on a slow day like this, she pointed to another rack that featured the different sneakers they carried. "I'd like a pair of those high-top Chucks in white and women's size six and a half, please."
Surprise flickered across the girl's face but she quickly recovered her composure and nodded before heading to the back room. Twenty minutes later, Rukia emerged from the store wearing her new pair of Chucks and carrying her booties in a paper bag where she tossed in, her clutch as well. She took out her phone and texted Ichigo.
[Hey, what u doing right now?]
A minute later,her phone buzzed with his reply.
[Big meeting about a possible acquisition. Been at it since this morning. How's your tea party?]
She resisted the urge to be forthcoming right away. He was in an important meeting and she didn't want to distract him with her problems.
[Done. Can I come to ur office? I'll wait till ur done. I'm in downtown anyway.]
[OK. Done for the day after this but it might be another hour. We can dine out after. I'm starving.]
[Sure. How many ppl u meeting with?]
[Six. Why?]
[Just curious. OK. See u soon! Kiss!]
[Kiss. Kiss again. And again.]
[Get back 2 work, u lazy bum. =P]
[Yes, ma'am. =P]
Rukia grinned, imagining Ichigo's expression as he interrupted his meeting to send her silly replies. Spotting the Kurosaki Towers a short distance away, she headed toward it with a renewed sense of purpose. She stopped by one of her favorite pizza places, and grabbed two large pizzas and a dozen-pack of soft drinks. Working at Urahara's trained her on hefting large and heavy orders in her arms.
It wasn't until she walked through the front door and faced a reception/security desk that stood between the turnstiles that she realized she'd never even been inside the building before and she had no ID or security pass of any sort.
A tall, intimidating man with a 69 tattoo on his face, looked up and frowned at her and the stack of pizza she had her chin perched on. "You need to call the number of the person who ordered the pizza because they're expected to come down and pick it up on their own," he said without preliminaries.
- Really? You think I'm a pizza delivery person? Who goes around delivering pizza in a dress and enough pearls to buy a luxury car with them? -
Rukia fixed the smile back on her face and glanced at the name tag pinned on his shirt. "Hello, uh Hisagi-san. I'm not really here to deliver pizza." He raised a brow at her. " I mean, not technically like a pizza delivery guy, or girl. You see, I'm here to see my husband, he's in a meeting and I'm bringing him some food as a surprise since they've been at it since this morning apparently. I don't know where his office is. I've never been here before."
"And what's his name?" Hisagi asked, exhaling sharply as if he was drawing for patience from some inner well.
"Ichigo Kurosaki."
Hisagi looked at her with a You're-shitting-me face.
-I wish I were, buddy. I wish I were.-
"Can I see some ID please?" he asked warily. Rukia would guess from his cautiousness that he was probably aware that his boss had married but since he didn't seem the type to read the gossip rags, he probably had no idea who the new Mrs. Kurosaki was.
"Sure," she said, placing the pizza boxes on the counter and digging into her clutch for her mini-wallet. Since she didn't have a driver's license, she usually provided her passport as photo ID but she didn't bring that with her today. She pulled out a credit card that Inoue gave her instead.
"Here you go,"
He took it and with narrowed eyes, looked up at her in question. "It says Rukia Kuchiki."
She bit her bottom lip. "Yes, well, I haven't had a name change yet. I just got married a couple weeks ago and a lot of things were going on. My assistant is getting it all done by the end of this week. She's been hounding me for it but I've just been so busy."
Hisagi didn't seem swayed by her explanation. "This is a credit card."
"I know that. It's a black credit card, you see? It's supposed to mean something. Apparently, really rich people have it. If I was just a pizza delivery person, would I have one?"
"It depends whether a certain Rukia Kuchiki is missing a credit card somewhere," Hisagi replied baldly, handing her back her card. "You're going to have to do better than that, miss. There's no food delivery past this door unless you have authorization. I asked for ID and that's what I'll need to see if we're going anywhere with this," he said sternly. "I am not looking at your credit cards or anything else that doesn't qualify as ID."
"Fine, fine," Rukia muttered with a loud sigh. " Alright. How about you give Tatsuki a call? She's Ichigo's personal assistant. She knows me."
Rukia had only met the woman a couple of times and she was like the female version of Hisagi actually, now that she come to think of it.
Hisagi's brows furrowed. "I don't disturb Ms. Arisawa unless it's something she's directly dealing with. I haven't received any memo from her detailing your arrival."
She glared at him. "Of course not. Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I said it was a surprise. Who announces they're coming when it's a surprise?"
When Hisagi's expression just tightened, she shook her head and scrolled through the contacts list on her phone. "I'd really hate to do this but you're not giving me any choice."
She called Ichigo's office number and after a couple of rings, Tatsuki Arisawa picked up. "Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki's office, how may I help you?"
"Hey, Tatsuki!" Rukia greeted brightly and loudly enough for Hisagi not to miss a single word. "Its me, Rukia. I'm just down here at the front lobby actually. I brought food for Ichigo's meeting but I don't have any ID with me or anything I can use to get through security. Could you please let me in or something? I don't mean to impose but I just didn't want to stand here and wait with the pizza or it'll get cold."
"Rukia!" Tatsuki said in surprise. "Of course. I'll call the front desk. Don't you worry. Hang on, please. I'll just put you on hold while I make that call."
She kept the phone to her ear as the hold music played and smiled sweetly at Hisagi. It wasn't her intention to throw her weight around but he wouldn't even bother to inquire about her and whether she was telling the truth or not.
The front desk phone rang and Hisagi eyed it nervously before picking it up. "Yes, Ms. Arisawa. "he replied into the receiver, a thin film of sweat forming on his upper lip. "I understand. Yes. I apologize. Yes, I will. Thank you. Alright, bye."
Tatsuki came back on the line with her as Hisagi lowered the phone back to its cradle. "You're cleared, Rukia. I'll make sure to have facilities and security updated with your info so this never happens again. I apologize if you had a hard time."
"Don't worry about it, I totally understand that Hisagi-san is just doing his job. I'm good now so thanks. I'll see you in a bit."
She hung up with Tatsuki and grinned at Hisagi. "I'm so glad we sorted that out, Hisagi-san. I'm sorry for the trouble but I couldn't think of anything else."
"I apologize Mrs. Kurosaki." the man said awkwardly. "I, uh..."
She shook her head. "Please, call me Rukia and don't worry about it. I won't get you into trouble."
"Thank you," he said in obvious relief as he guided her through the turnstiles. "Would you like me to find someone to escort you to the office and help you carry all of this?"
"No, I'm good. Thanks," Rukia told him as she took the pizza from him. "I used to be a waitress in a diner so I have strong arms. By the way, how do I find Ichigo's office? I forgot to ask Tatsuki."
"Twenty-ninth floor. Turn right when you arrive at the lobby. The hall leading to it is labeled."
"Awesome, thanks!" She gave him whatever wave she could manage before walking toward the bank of elevators.
Following Hisagi's directions, she walked down the hall on the right and stepped in through the open office door until she saw Tatsuki look up from a desk.
"Hi!" She flashed the woman a big smile as Tatsuki stood up to help her.
"That's Ichigo's office there," Tatsuki said, pointing to a closed, heavy oak door. " You can go in and freshen up or wait for him there. It's up to you. His meeting is in a conference room just down the next hall."
"I was hoping to serve the pizza," she told Tatsuki as she propped one box open. "If it's too much food, we can leave some here and whoever else wants some can have it. Ichigo said he was starving."
"We did serve lunch earlier but that was about three and a half hours ago and it was mostly just light sandwiches," Tatsuki admitted. "Well, we can grab both boxes and the drinks and go knock on the door. At this point, they might be grateful for the reprieve."
The thing that she liked Tatsuki, even though she had only interacted with her once or twice, was that nothing perturbed her. The woman never looked at her in confusion or thought that she was crazy or something.
Together, they toted the pizza boxes and the soft drinks down the hall.
"Maybe you should let me go first in case he gets totally pissed and blows up for the interruption," Rukia told her as they paused by the door. "I can take the full impact."
A rare smile curved on Tatsuki's lips. " Nah. I have no problem with that. You know, I was a substitute teacher in our Dojo class in high school." The woman smirked. "And Ichigo was my student."
Rukia couldn't help but laughed. Poor Ichigo. She knocked but before she gave anyone a chance to answer the door, she pushed the knob open and poked her head in. Seven heads sporting scowls turned her way. She grinned and waved. Ichigo was sitting at the head of the table, looking up at a wiry, older man who was in the middle of a presentation. When their eyes met, his expression softened and he smiled so broadly, she felt the tremors of its potent power all the way to her toes wiggling inside her sneakers.
"Rukia!" he said, rising to his feet and coming toward her. "Ladies, gentlemen. Please meet my wife, Rukia. It looks like she came to rescue us with some food. What do you all say? Fifteen-minute break?"
"I could certainly use it," the man who was doing the presentation said dryly, smiling at them. "That pizza smells good."
In the most rushed five minutes she had ever witnessed, Ichigo introduced her to the other people in the meeting before dragging her out of the conference room and down the hall, heading straight for his office.
"I've barely said hi to anyone there," Rukia complained as Ichigo slammed shut the door of his office behind her. "They seemed really nice and ump—"
Ichigo's mouth slanted over hers, smothering the rest of her ramblings as he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up. Her legs wrapped around his hips as he walked backwards until they suddenly fell back on a large and comfy leather love seat.
"Thank you for the food and for dragging me out of that meeting," Ichigo said after they finally broke away to catch their breaths. He leaned his head against the backrest of the seat and placed his hands on each side of Rukia's hips.
"I believe you were the one doing the dragging," She said with a smile as she tugged at the moss green tie he had on with his crisp white shirt and dark gray business suit. "Long day, huh?"
Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "Yeah. With Dad being pretty much hands-off now on the executive board, a lot of the decision-making is left up to me. I've been sitting there so bored out of my mind already. All I kept thinking about was coming home to see you."
Her heart gave a fierce kick at his words. It became a mad thrashing when he softly smiled at her as he nudged aside a lock of her hair and brushed her cheek with his thumb. He gave her a confused look as he twisted to the side to look behind her. "Did you wear these sneakers to the tea party?"
At the mention of the epic fail of a tea party, her heart sank.
"No. I bought these after the tea party. I went shoe shopping.''
"Is this it or do you have a whole cart of shoes stowed away somewhere?"
Rukia wrinkled her nose. "No, this is it."
"You went shoe shopping and bought a pair of Converse sneakers?" he asked, chuckling. "You have money to spend and that's all you got?"
"What should I spend my money on? Hookers and blow?"
Ichigo's eyes widened but he just laughed harder. "Rukia, I swear, you're killing me."
"I can kill you for real, if you'd like," she snapped, glaring at him.
He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I thought I would never hear myself say this but I actually adore you in these sneakers. It's just that when my sisters used to tell Dad they went shoe shopping before, I would always see him break out into cold sweat a little bit."
"They're my comfort shoes, okay? Rangiku-san said shoe shopping always makes her feel better so I figured she meant she would buy her favorite pair of shoes kind of like when you eat your favorite comfort food to feel better."
Ichigo's laughter stopped abruptly and he frowned at her. "What happened, Rukia?"
She just shook her head and sagged against Ichigo's chest. "Nothing."
He cupped her shoulders and gently pushed her back up so he could look at her. His expression was tender and kind. ,"Hey,what's wrong? Tell me what happened. Please."
Rukia chewed on her bottom lip as she deliberated on what to say. Exhaling a sharp breath, she gripped the lapels of Ichigo's suit and muttered, "The Society and I have mutually decided that it is not in either of our best interests to work together."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Was Riruka there? Did she do anything to you?"
She let out a dry, ironic laugh. "Oh, she was there but she did nothing. The Society as a whole just isn't really the right kind of place for me so I'm sorry that you're not getting a Mrs. Kurosaki on that board. I'm afraid I just can't do it."
"I don't care if you get on that board or not," he replied, scowling. "I hope you didn't push yourself with this thinking that you owe it to me to join the Royals. I thought maybe spending time with those women will help you navigate this world better and gain you some friends but if they're only going to make you miserable, I would take you out of the group myself."
She gave her husband a tremulous smile but he wasn't done yet. His expression was fierce and his hazel eyes were flashing angrily. "In fact, I'll make sure we don't associate with them completely. Let them see just how much they needed the Kurosaki's"
- The Kurosaki's. Like the two of us. God, I love this man. -
"It's alright, Don't withdraw your support from meaningful charity work just for my defense. I'm afraid that I didn't try very hard to resolve the issue myself either. I might have gotten a little mouthy with them. In the end, I was just happy to get out of there. The long walk gave me a lot of time to think about it."
"Inoue and Ikkaku have no idea you're here, do they?"
"No,'' she admitted. "I'll call them in a bit. I was just having a bad day. I thought I'd come see you."
Their gazes held for a moment before he sat up straight and pulled her close, their foreheads touching. "Whenever you're having a bad day, you come and see me, okay?"
She smiled. "Thank you, Ichigo. I do feel much better."
He rubbed the small of her back. "I'll get back to that meeting and wrap up and then we're going to go. We'll go somewhere, do something, eat whatever you'd like for dinner it's totally up to you."
She beamed at him as he lifted her up with him when he rose from the seat. "Okay."
He kissed her forehead and lowered her back on the floor. "Stay here if you like or go exploring but bring your phone. I'll probably only be just another half hour."
"No rush, hotshot, I understand that there are multi-million-dollar mergers still to be made. I can wait."
"Stay out of trouble!" was Ichigo's parting shot before he closed the door behind him. As soon as silence filled the room, Rukia went and stood by the large glass window that overlooked the city, marvelling at the beauty of it and wondering if she'd ever seen it from this height.
Including your life.
Today's Lady Royals catastrophe was her first real obstacle in being a true Mrs. Kurosaki as Ichigo had envisioned. But she doesn't have to be that way.
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, fill a tall glass, hold it up and say cheers," Rukia mumbled with a firm nod at her resolve before turning away from the window and heading out of the office. She grabbed her clutch and texted Inoue about her whereabouts before stepping out. She assured Tatsuki that she would stay out of people's way while looking around and popped into the elevator. Ten minutes and with directions from a couple of random employees later, Rukia found herself in the rec room. Apart from a scattering of bean bag chairs and sofas, it also featured an epic big screen TV, an assortment of video game consoles, an arcade basketball station, a ping-pong table and a foosball table.
A handful of people had been hanging out there when she came in, mostly guys from IT. She was taking her turn shooting hoops while the guys stood behind her when Keigo came up next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I've got to get back to work, sweet pea, but I can certainly hang out with you again later," he said in typical attempt at a smooth maneuver, winking at her. He'd been blatantly flirting with her since she first approached their group with some mild interest in conversation and despite the others' constant jeering of him and her own dismissal of him, he still didn't seem capable of taking a hint.
"Er, no, thanks," She said with a shake of her head. "I told you I'm just waiting for my hus—"
"Why don't you give me your number and we can get together?" he asked, oozing extra charm on his over-practiced smile as she tried to wiggle away from him without causing a scene.
"Why don't you take your arm off my wife and I let you keep your job and the arm?"
All their heads rotated to the side at the sound of the gruff, menacing voice and found Ichigo standing there a few feet away from them, jacket-less with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his eyes blazing and his jaw taut from the scowl he wore.
Keigo yanked his arm away from her as if the contact burned him. From the way his eyes bugged out with recognition as he stared agape at Ichigo, she figured he felt like he was about to be raked over the coals.
"M-Mr. uh... Mr. Kurosaki, I, uh..."
Rukia went over to Ichigo and squeezed his hand out of the fist he'd curled it into. "I was just passing some time waiting for you and the guys were nice enough to include me in the game." While she sputtered on with the names, he had slinked his arm behind her waist and pulled her not so subtly against his side.
"so yeah, great game, guys. See ya! Toodles!" She inwardly cringed at the last word which she picked up from Inoue, who even really knew what the word meant?
"Why didn't you tell them you were married to me?" he finally demanded in a low, sulky tone, his lips pressing together into a tight line. He'd stopped in the middle of the front lobby where a few employees milling about had turned to look.
"The last thing I wanted was to be regarded as someone completely unapproachable because I felt it important enough to point out to them that I was married to the boss," She told him with an indulgent smile, her fingers catching the sides of his white shirt as she tiptoed closer to him.
His brows furrowed as he studied her for a moment. "Are you sure they didn't do anything terrible?"
"Oh, they did," Rukia said with a shrug and a mock-serious expression. "They called me all sorts of rude names because I was kicking their butts. But I sympathize with sour grapes, you know? Since they can't have what they want, I let them have their misery at the very least. I'm generous that way."
A second passed before Ichigo broke into a grin that cleared the clouds from his expression. "You're trouble but you're my trouble," he said as he shook his head and slung his arm around her, steering them toward the front door. " Come on, let's go."
"Where are we going?" She asked, slipping her arm behind his waist. They passed by the front desk where Hisagi was still stationed and she smiled and waved at him. He looked uncomfortable for a moment but gave them a brief nod of acknowledgement. "Where's your car?"
Ichigo pressed the tip of his nose on her temple as they came down the front steps. "The car will be wherever we wish to be picked up later."
Rukia looked up at him with her brows scrunched up in confusion. "Okay. Why? What are we doing?"
He gave her a smile a near match of the bright afternoon sun. "We're going on our first date."
She skidded to a halt at his words, her eyes widening. "date?"
"Yeah," he answered with a shrug although a shy shade of pink tinged his cheeks. "We haven't been out on one just for the sake of going on a date."
- That's because our marriage is a practical business arrangement. Business partners don't go out on dates. -
"Why?.."
"We'll most people go out on dates to get to know each other better. And I want to get to know you more.'' He gazed at her warily, his amber eyes hopeful but nervous. "Would you? Go out on a date with me?"
Rukia's heartbeat sped up so fast it felt like it would take off any moment. She grinned and nodded slowly. "Yes, I'd love to."
He smiled and lifted her off her feet for a slow, sweet kiss.
Thank You: JoTerry / RukiYuki/ THing/ achalida/ Nolly/ Ichiruki4vr/ 2Unknown4U/ Break blade/ Guest/ Amethysthazel/ Guest/ Gooeystar83/ Jobananasan/ Verlorem im licht/ EUeu/ Uin/ Guest/ anonymous2234/ Insomiac970/ only luna/ Cc/ blissbeat and Peachberrylove For the awesome reviews! Thanks for your support guys!
Nolly: aww, what a nice thing to say. To answer ur question, Yes Byakuya is already in my list of characters. Renji? Still, thinking about it and other characters will have a minor role like Tatsuki.:)
Peachberrylove: Hi! Sorry, but you wont be able to read his thoughts for a while. Will you wait with me? Pretty please. :)
Guest: There will more HitsuKarin, dont u worryworry. ;)
More intelligent people! Welcome to our fic: 2unknown4U, EUeu and Peachberrylove.