Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. Title of owner goes to 久保 帯人. :3 Nor do I own anything related to the Hana Yori Dango drama or manga.
AN: I'M BACK FROM JAPAN! Although I kinda wish I wasn't, LOL. I wish I could tell you all that happened but I can't so I will summarize it up in one word: AMAZING. Definitely going back soon. As for Bleach related, I bought two fandrawn Bleach mangas that were IchiRuki focused plus some cute keychains from their coin machines. I am quite mad that I didn't find any plushies as I planned but next trip I'll be on the look out. I really wanted to go to Karakura just so I could say "I've been to Karakura" but my sister wanted to go to the famous places more. D:
By the way I had a little surprise for you guys and gals... I'm not that great of a drawer but I wanted to do a certain scene from this chapter (refer to end of the first scene). BUT, my stupid scanner does not work since my Mac isn't compatible with it. I might take a picture of it but it's not the same than seeing it full on screen... Let me know what you think.
Hope this chapter satisfies your needs! Some comments to my reviewers:
skytracer: Hah, good one pointing that out! Just think of it hidden under Ichigo's coat sleeves and that the robber was more focused on getting money and didn't want to feel up Ichigo like he did with Rukia.
Hail the Wolves: Actually I did add "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" which is the same as "doozo yoroshiku". You can add "doozo" or "onegaishimasu" and it's the same thing. The full form is of course, "doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu".
Miichiya Mikan: I will say that the robber DOES have something to do with Byakuya. That is all.
happyfacez: Now that you mention it, Rukia is cold but I intetionally did that. xD And I love Ichigo too! He's like my character baby... if that makes sense.
Welcome to the new readers and a big I LOVE YOU to my reviewers!
Japanese words/phrases:
Sumimasen: 'Excuse me/I'm sorry'
Nee-sama: Honorific for 'older sister'
Imouto-chan: 'little sister'
Yosh! よろしくお願いします！
Chapter 10
"Yeah, ten bucks a pop, can you believe that?" Janitor 1 said to his fellow co-worker.
"No way. That's ridiculous!" Janitor 2 replied. "I'd rather... hey, who the hell blocked the door?" He stopped short when he noticed a metal bar propped up against the door of the utility closet.
"I don't know, man. Should we even attempt to open it? What if some rabid animal is stuck in there?" Janitor 1 said.
"Hmm, but we need to mop the floors before the restaurant opens since we skipped out on it last night. I'll just open it an inch and you take that metal bar so if something comes out you can swing at it." Janitor 2 took initiative and approached the door.
Although Janitor 1 was not happy that he would be the one to swing at whatever was inside, he reluctantly took the metal bar and waited for Janitor 2 to open the door.
"Okay. On the count of three... One. Two. Three." Janitor 2 opened it just a crack and peered through. A certain rumbling sound met his ears.
"Is that... snoring?" He opened it just a bit more and stuck his whole head through. He grinned at the sight. "Heh heh. Well, well, look what we have here." He opened the door widely for his co-worker to see the sight before them.
In the middle of the floor under the dim light lay Ichigo and Rukia both snuggled underneath Ichigo's coat. Ichigo (who was the one snoring) had an arm wrapped lazily over Rukia's torso and her head was buried under the crook of his chin. Neither of them had realized throughout the night the position they ended up in. Their sleep-induced minds and cold bodies were geared to find warmth and that's how they found it.
Janitor 2 went over to Ichigo and shook his shoulder. "Hey kid. Wake up!"
"Mhm... what?" Ichigo woke up from his slumber and looked up at Janitor 2.
"What are you doing here?" Janitor 2 questioned. He moved his thick caterpillar eyebrows up and down in a lewd fashion. "This isn't the right place to be doing that sort of stuff. Go get a hotel room."
"Huh?" Ichigo said groggily. He felt something up against his chin. Looking down, he yelped in surprise seeing Rukia so close to him. "Gah!" Like an instant reflex, he scooted himself away and in the process, startled Rukia awake.
As she propped herself up by her elbows, Rukia tried blinking a few times to stop from squinting. "What the hell...?"
"Get out of here, you two!" Janitor 1 grabbed a broom and pretended to shoo Ichigo and Rukia away with it like they were animals.
"Sumimasen." Ichigo said quickly and grabbed his and Rukia's things. He took hold of Rukia's arm to lead her up, out of the door, out of the basement, and out of the building. The sky was barely light and the sun had yet to come out.
Ichigo put his coat back on and saw that Rukia had his scarf wrapped around her neck. He didn't bother to remove it himself so he decided to let her have it. He looked at his watch for the time and found that it was barely 5:30 in the morning.
"Damn, we were in there for a long time." He peered to his side. Rukia had her hands in her pockets and was staring off in another direction. She didn't seem like she wanted to say anything.
"Are you okay to make it back home by yourself?" Ichigo asked her, just to be courteous of course.
"Yeah, I guess." Rukia answered. She still had a bit of the sniffles but she did not feel as cold or hot as she did earlier. She turned to face him. "Ichigo. About what went on..."
"I'm really sorry for what happened." Ichigo apologized to lift some of his guilt away, not letting her finish her sentence. "I know what I did was wrong and... I shouldn't have let that happen to you."
Rukia raised an eyebrow at his apology. "Well, then..." She looked away once again, losing her aloof exterior bit by bit. "I should apologize to you too."
"Huh?" Ichigo stared at her dubiously. Rukia apologizing? What was the world coming to? Before he could say another word, Rukia lifted herself higher by standing on her tiptoes. She inched her face closer to his, aiming for his lips... She was going to kiss him.
"Ano... so did you two kiss then?" Hanatarou asked when Ichigo visited him at his mansion the next following school day at lunch break. Ichigo was currently telling of the events that happened on Saturday. Hanatarou still did not return to school and feigned sickness in bed.
"No... I backed away before she could. I have no intentions of kissing her... Again." Ichigo added quietly.
"Oh..." Hanatarou momentarily fiddled with his fingers before asking Ichigo another question. "Your family must have been really worried for you that night. Did they call the police?"
Ichigo scratched his head uncertainly. "Well..."
As Ichigo sat in front of his father and sisters, he bowed low to the ground in apology for his absence without notice the night before. Isshin, the emotional wreck, was loudly crying tears of frustration and embarrassment for his son. Yuzu was handing her father tissues one by one after he blew into each and discarded them on the floor. Karin had her arms crossed, her eyes shamefully glaring at her brother.
"I never raised you to be like this!" Isshin cried out. "Staying out the whole night and not telling me! We thought you had gotten into trouble!"
"I'm really sorry." Ichigo replied, feeling just as bad as he did when Rukia got sick.
Karin had enough of this wreck. What was her brother really doing? She stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Ichigo. "Never would I have thought my own brother would do such a thing! You're supposed to be our role model! Who do I look up to now?" Her face scrunched up and eyes watered but she quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before going off into her room.
Ichigo flinched at the slam of her door.
"We had no way of contacting you! I-I thought you might have died!" Isshin cried out once more.
Ichigo sighed heavily after he told of his family's reactions. "All because I've never been away from home for a night in my life."
Hanatarou nodded. "Well, did anything happen at school today?"
Ichigo's face formed a lopsided grin of sorts, recalling the events that happened earlier that day in school. "What happened was what I think... a total mess."
"A total mess?" Hanatarou repeated in interest.
That morning, Ichigo walked into Takaimono's entrance yawning. Besides having to deal with his family, he had to finish up on a few homework assignments the night before, resulting in loss of hours for sleep. He turned a corner and found Ikkaku, Shuuhei, and Yumichika with arms crossed and a hateful sneer on their faces aimed toward him. Ikkaku scoffed loudly and turned another direction with the others following behind.
Ichigo shrugged, used to their attitude toward him. As he walked to class he heard someone call out his name... or rather a nickname.
"Ichi!"
He turned to find a group of his homeroom classmates, female and male, walk toward him with smiles on their faces. "Eh?" Ichigo said dubiously.
"Way to go, Ichi!" A male classmate called out enthusiastically as he approached him. He gave Ichigo a pat on the back. More friendly gestures and praises surrounded Ichigo as he stood there confused by all the... weirdness.
"Did... something happen?" Ichigo asked them.
"Well of course, you sly dog, you! It's all over the papers! Come look!" Another male classmate answered with a wide grin on his face.
The group followed Ichigo, whispering excitedly to themselves. Ichigo was led to a bulletin in the dining hall. There was a large clipping cut from the daily school newspaper tacked onto it. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock at the headline and at most of all, the picture.
'F4's Kuchiki Rukia's Romance with Kurosaki Ichigo!'
Underneath the bold headline was a photo shot at the very moment Rukia stood on her tiptoes to try and kiss Ichigo. Even though Ichigo avoided the kiss, the shot at that moment could fool anyone of what happened.
"I'm so envious of you!" A random boy behind him said. "Kissing THE Kuchiki Rukia."
"Yeah, I can only imagine." Another boy said dreamily.
"Hey since you're Rukia's boyfriend, let's hang out tomorrow night, Ichi!" One of his fellow classmates said. He placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "There's this club every one at Takaimono knows about. It's gonna be off the hook!"
Ichigo tried to correct them about him being Rukia's 'new man'. "Wait, I'm not-"
"So we'll see you then, right? It'll be fun! And don't worry. It's casual wear. Here you go." Another classmate handed Ichigo a slip of paper with an address of a venue on it. There was also a note at the bottom that said it was a V.I.P slip guaranteeing free access into the building.
"Ah... sure." Ichigo said, unsure of what to think of all this.
Hanatarou listened in amazement as Ichigo recounted the events. "This is unbelievable. So every one changed their attitudes toward you?"
Ichigo nodded. "The power of the S4 does crazy things." He recalled what happened during lunch that day. "Then there was Rukia..."
For Ichigo, lunch was as different than any normal day at school. The students that self-titled themselves as his "friends", invited him to sit with them at their table. He agreed but found that most of them wanted to ask questions about his relations with Rukia. Ichigo half-answered some questions while changing the subject on most topics.
There was an excited chatter that filled the room as S4 walked in. Rukia stood a moment at the entrance, looking around the dining hall for Ichigo as Renji and Toshirou went ahead and proceeded to walk over to their table. Renji stopped when he realized Rukia wasn't following them but going over to the table where Ichigo sat. He stopped Toshirou from moving forward and beckoned over at Rukia.
"What is she doing now?" Renji questioned.
Ichigo halted a conversation he was having when he caught sight of Rukia coming over to him. He placed his chopsticks down and quickly got up from his seat while facing her. He took notice of the healthy color that returned to her face and was secretly glad that she wasn't sick anymore. Rukia stopped a few feet in front of him, her lips curling up in close-mouthed smile.
"Hey." She greeted him simply.
"Whoooooo!" The whole room filled with whoops from the student body that stopped what they were doing to witness the scene between Rukia and Ichigo. Renji was doubly confused by all the commotion until he saw the picture from the newspaper clipping on the bulletin board. He ran up to it and read the headline with his mouth wide open in disbelief.
"Rukia! You didn't tell us about this. Did this really happen?" Renji asked her, almost ready to tear Ichigo apart if she said any thing other than 'yes'. His eyes were practically burning with malice for Ichigo.
Ichigo noticed his tension and tried to answer. "No, no, it's not-"
"Yes it's all true, Renji." Rukia said over him. More whoops from the student body could be heard after Rukia's affirmation. In his complete shock, Renji's jaw would have dropped to the floor if it weren't connected to his skull.
"What?" Ichigo yelled out. He shook his head. "You're leading them on-"
"It seems Rukia is finally growing up." Toshirou interrupted Ichigo as he came up beside Rukia and nodded contentedly.
Ichigo sighed in frustration. Why was everyone interrupting him today?
Rukia turned toward the other students and smiled brightly. "Everyone should be happy for me so I want you to all to clap for us." She grabbed Ichigo's arm and forced him to stand next to her.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Ichigo tried to pry her fingers away but the more he fussed, the harder her nails dug into his arm. He groaned and stood there with a deep scowl while Rukia stood beside him with a pageant smile for the crowd.
The unassuming students happily obliged to Rukia's demand and produced an uproar of cheers along with their unified clapping.
"So it was pretty unbelievable." Ichigo concluded.
"Rukia must really like you." Hanatarou commented quietly with his eyes downcast. He fidgeted with the lining of his comforter.
Ichigo shook his head in denial. "I really don't want to think about it." Another thought came about instantly. "Hey, you can definitely return to school now! Since all that's happened, it should be safe." He informed Hanatarou.
Hanatarou was unresponsive and it took Ichigo to say it again to make sure Hanatarou heard what he said. "Just come back to school, okay?"
"Ano… are you sure it's okay?" Hanatarou asked him with brows furrowed in worry.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Ichigo gave a reassuring smile to emphasize his answer.
His eyes moved downward for a moment when he spotted in his peripheral a large leather bound book on the ground. It was some kind of school yearbook. Thinking that it dropped it to the ground accidently, Ichigo picked it up and showed it to Hanatarou. "Did you drop this?"
Hanatarou's eyes became huge when Ichigo showed him the book. He grabbed it from Ichigo's hands before Ichigo could give it to him. He avoided eye contact with Ichigo while clutching the book tightly to his chest.
"Sorry." Ichigo apologized sincerely. The yearbook seemed too important for even him to hold.
At the Kuchiki mansion Renji, Rukia, and Toshirou were all playing their own separate games. Renji was shooting darts, releasing the anger he felt from earlier that day when Rukia declared her relationship with Ichigo. Toshirou had his own set of cards in front of him as he casually played solitaire.
Rukia had a jigsaw puzzle in front of her, no clue as to what the final picture would be. It was placed in scattered pieces on her table when she arrived home. Her maid, Momo, had told her it was from Byakuya who wished that Rukia would complete it as soon as possible.
It confused Rukia greatly trying to figure out her brother's intentions for finishing the puzzle but she worked on it any way. She hoped it would mean a nice present in store for her.
Feeling in the mood to start conversation after his game, Toshirou spoke up while placing his deck of cards in a box. "Rukia, I'll support you and Ichigo." Rukia gave him a pleased smile in response.
Renji stopped his game and shook his head disapprovingly at Toshirou's comment. "How can you support this? You know that with our status, people we choose to date need to be approved by our family first. With Ichigo, Rukia will never know the consequences of their relationship. In the end, it is likely Ichigo will get hurt more than Rukia will." He explained with fervor.
"That's where you're wrong, Renji." Rukia countered. She connected two jigsaw pieces together that formed a corner of the puzzle. Thoughtfully she placed a finger atop her mouth and nodded as if making a final decision. "From now on, I won't do any thing that would hurt him."
"Hey, hey, wait!" Renji said quickly and walked over to her. "Are you forming an… obsession over him?"
"No!" Rukia answered hotly. "It's not an obsession at all."
Toshirou came over and sat next to Rukia. "Don't listen to Renji. He's just jealous." Renji's face fumed red and he held up a fist, ready to sock Toshirou. Skillfully, Toshirou blocked his punch and Renji's fist met with the hard wooden table instead.
"I think you've changed for the better due to Ichigo. You seem to have gotten nicer to him. How does it feel?" Toshirou asked Rukia ignoring Renji yell out in pain.
Rukia laughed. "Hah, I didn't need to be nice to him. We really haven't gotten 'official' yet." She answered truthfully, using air quotes to emphasize.
This gave Renji a fit when he realized what Rukia meant. He pointed at her in shock. "B-b-but you spent a night! Together! With him!" He was too dumbfounded to get out the words coherently in one sentence.
Rukia nodded. "Uh huh. And we were natural toward each other. It's best to be natural always. It was an interesting experience, whatever it was…" She bit her lip uncertainly.
Renji exchanged looks with Toshirou, making sure he heard what came out of her mouth. Toshirou nodded, a slight smirk on his lips. Both of them actually thought she did "it" without the first date and without being official.
"Impossible… already?" Renji muttered to himself, all the while trying to hold himself upright from fainting from disbelief.
An alert rang on Rukia's phone. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" She exclaimed after checking her phone. She grabbed her handbag and left the room without saying another word to Renji and Toshirou.
"She really just goes off without telling us where the hell she's going." Renji said after she left.
Toshirou shrugged in response. "I do wonder what she's going to do in such a hurry like that."
"Ichigo, Sado! Come out to the front! I've got a surprise for youuuu." Urahara bellowed out as Ichigo and Chad were in the back, gathering supplies during work.
"I'll tell you more about what happened later." Ichigo told Chad after Urahara beckoned for them. Chad nodded, quite disappointed that Urahara called them when Ichigo's story was getting interesting.
They spotted Urahara standing straight up, the fan he always carried covering the lower part of his face. "I would like you to meet your newest fellow employee."
"Eh?" Ichigo and Chad looked at him in confusion. There was no one in the room other then them.
"Where is he?" Ichigo questioned.
"It's 'she', you doofus." Urahara sidestepped to reveal a young girl with black short, boycut hair.
"Tatsuki?" Ichigo and Chad yelled in unison. It had been a while since Ichigo had seen Tatsuki. She was a longtime friend of his and they went way back to days before elementary. It was safe to say they knew each other longer than Chad knew Ichigo.
Ichigo had not seen her since his last days in middle school when they all said their final goodbyes to Ichigo before he entered Takaimono. Being a tomboy from the start, Tatsuki hung out with Ichigo and his friends making a respectable name for herself in the group. Just like Chad, Tatsuki was another friend Ichigo considered his best friend.
The past few months, Ichigo had lost contact with Tatsuki even though she attended the same high school as Chad but Chad failed to mention any news concerning her. As Ichigo heard, Tatsuki left their group when Ichigo left and currently had new friends she hung out with. Chad and the others understood completely, knowing that Ichigo was her best friend.
Tatsuki engulfed Ichigo in quick bear hug. "Old buddy, it's been a long time!" She laughed and before Ichigo could react, she ruffled his hair in a rough manner.
"Ow, you haven't changed at all, Tatsuki." Ichigo said as he put his hair back into its previous style. "But I'm glad to see you too."
"Ah, yes! Reunions are wonderful but it's best if you work while you do!" Urahara said cheerfully but strictly at the same time and pranced to the back of the shop. Chad went over to help a customer that just entered the shop so that Ichigo could talk with Tatsuki.
"So why are you working here now?" Ichigo asked her.
"I've been needing extra cash so I decided to get a job. I passed by this shop the other day and it said 'Help Wanted' and then I remembered that you and Chad work here! I applied and instantly was given the job." Tatsuki answered happily.
"Eh? Help wanted?" Ichigo didn't recall Urahara putting the sign up. Where he and Chad not good employees? He silently cursed the old man under his breath.
"Did you say something?" Tatsuki questioned when she heard Ichigo's incoherent words.
"Uh, nothing important. Any way, we've got a lot of catching up to do. You won't believe all that's happened at Takaimono."
Tatsuki listened in amazement at Ichigo's summary of what happened in the past month and a half. They were outside, taking the trash bags out to place in the street designated for trash pick up.
After hearing about Rukia, Tatsuki couldn't help but add that she liked her character. Ichigo couldn't believe that came from her mouth. But after a moment, he could understand why. Tatsuki was a tough girl and would admire someone as tough as Rukia.
"Hey! I've got an idea!" Tatsuki said once they got back inside the shop. "We should go on a double date. I'll bring my boyfriend and you bring-."
"Wait a second…" Ichigo stopped her from going on. "You have a boyfriend?"
Tatsuki nodded. "Yeah… Why? Think no boy would be attracted to me or something?" She raised her fist in a threatening manner to his face.
Ichigo laughed and put his hands up in defense. "No, no. I just thought… you played for the other team." He guffawed and ran off before she could pound him.
"You asshole! That's even worse to think!" She cried out and chased after him.
Ichigo ran over to Chad and placed himself behind him to hide from Tatsuki.
"Chad, please move so I can knock his lights out." Tatsuki ordered, face red with annoyance.
"No, he's not moving." Ichigo placed his hands on Chad's shoulder to keep him from going. He peeked out his head from the side. "And for your information, there's no way I'm going on a double date with Rukia. I told you that nothing would happen between us."
Chad's face lit up from Ichigo's remark and he turned around, forcing Ichigo to remove his grip from his shoulders. "You said 'us' meaning you and Rukia. That means that you're admitting there is something between you two officially."
Ichigo gaped in disbelief at his friends. One who was trying to beat him up and one who was trying to find a loophole in his words to tease him. "Forget I said that. I'm not opening my mouth on the matter any more from now on."
Tatsuki laughed from behind Chad at Ichigo's awkwardness. She too began to tease Ichigo along with Chad.
Ichigo groaned at their annoying antics. Yet truthfully, Ichigo enjoyed the company he had with his two best friends.
As Rukia rode in her limo, she thought back to what Kaien told her earlier on.
Most importantly, you cannot buy a person's love with money. In order to receive love, you must give your love back.
She nodded, thinking she fully understood what he meant. "Yes…"
During that time, Ichigo had left work and was walking back home by himself. He too thought of what Kaien had told him previously about Rukia.
To cut to the chase, I think she really likes you, Ichigo.
"No, no, no." In denial, Ichigo rigorously shook his head of the thought and walked at a quick pace toward his home.
"Tadaima!" Ichigo called out to his family after he arrived home. He took of his shoes and put on a pair of house slippers. There was no follow-up to his 'tadaima' with the usual 'okaeri' and he quickly strode over to the living room in curiosity.
To his utter surprise, Rukia was there sitting on a chair with a bowl of rice and chopsticks in her hands. His father and Yuzu were sitting on the ground next to her with big grins plastered on their faces. Karin was sitting by the table with an arm propped up against her head as she looked with amusement at her family.
Ichigo noticed that Rukia's shoes were on and he pointed in disgust at her feet. "What are you doing here? Your shoes! You're supposed to take off your shoes!"
"Why?" Rukia said in the middle of chewing and blinked her eyes in confusion.
Isshin waved a hand at Ichigo to stop him from intruding. "It's okay, it's okay. She can leave her shoes on. Rukia-chan just came to apologize for what happened the night you were gone. Why didn't you tell us before that you were with her? It would have saved us from worrying so much."
"Huh?" Ichigo looked at him dumbfounded. "What are you saying?"
Isshin ignored his son and turned back to Rukia. "From now I sincerely hope that you take care of my son just as he will take care of you. Get married, have kids, grow old together as soon as possible!"
Rukia's contented smile shone at Isshin's approval of her. "I pictured that would happen too but the grow old part can wait a while." Isshin and her exchanged a hearty laugh at her comment.
Ichigo felt like pushing his dad along with Rukia off a cliff that very moment. The mumbo jumbo they were talking about was too serious and exaggerated to really happen.
Ichigo tried to stop it. "Wait, wait! You both are out of your mind!" No one was listening to him at all.
"Nee-sama, do you want a bottle of beer?" Yuzu asked Rukia happily.
"What? No, not you too!" Ichigo yelled out at his sister's action.
"Hmm, okay. If you don't mind, imouto-chan." Rukia accepted although she was no drinker.
"It's no problem at all!" Yuzu practically leaped up for joy and went over to the kitchen.
"She's not even old enough to drink beer!" Ichigo tried to say to Yuzu as she passed by him.
"Yes, beer for me and Rukia-chan!" Isshin exclaimed with jolliness.
"Dad!" Ichigo went over to his father and tried to shake some sense into him. "Why are you being so nice?"
Isshin got out of his son's grip and brushed his shoulders off. "We're all family now. This niceness is unconditional!"
Yuzu zoomed past Ichigo with a bottle of beer. She almost succeeded in handing Rukia the bottle but Ichigo was quick enough to intercept and grab it from her. He quickly placed it on the table as Yuzu pouted with disappointment from not being able to give Rukia the drink.
"You!" Ichigo pointed at Rukia, his temper slightly rising.
Rukia looked around as if he were pointing at something else. She pointed to herself after a second in surprise. "Me?"
"Yes, you! I have something to say to you so come with me." He swiftly grabbed her wrist, making her drop her bowl of rice on the table.
"What is it that you can't say here?" Rukia questioned but let him drag her outside any way.
"Just hurry up!" Ichigo snapped back after slipping on his shoes and then exiting the door.
Isshin's Cheshire cat grin formed on his face as his eyes followed Ichigo taking Rukia away. He gave a thumbs up to Yuzu and Karin after they were out of sight.
"We are in luck!"
Byakuya was always dressed in the finest of suits and even during dinnertime this was no exception. He sat at the head of a long oak wood table with a delectable selection of meals in front of him. The only people in the room were his two personal bodyguards who stood in back and a butler who waited for any beck and call from Byakuya.
He was about to delicately cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth but was stopped when his assistant appeared in the room. Nanao went over and bowed before starting.
"Sir."
"I'm having dinner right now. Do not bother me." Byakuya ordered, keeping his stoic posture.
Nanao nodded. "Yes… but sir-"
"Is it that urgent that you must say it during my meal?" Byakuya interrupted her with a question.
Nanao froze for a second but cleared her throat after. "The puzzle you left in Rukia's room… you used to detest when she played with jigsaw puzzles after your mother and father passed away… I just thought that…"
Byakuya chuckled. "Is that all? I thought you said it was urgent. Leave."
Nanao bowed once more. "I'm sorry for interrupting, sir. I will go."
Yet at the last second, what Nanao said got Byakuya thinking. He placed his fork down and called out for Nanao to stop before she got out the door. She quickly came back and bowed again.
"Yes, sir?"
"I want you to monitor Rukia's recent activities and report it back to me." He ordered her simply.
Nanao nodded, an uneasy feeling formed in her mind for having to basically spy on Rukia. "Certainly. I understand." She bowed once more before leaving.
Byakuya swirled the wine in his glass before taking a sip of the deep red liquid. A corner of his lip lifted up in a smirk. Plans were forming in his mind.
AN: I love Byakuya, I really do. I was hella excited when I got this little keychain voicetalking thingamabobber that had his picture on it and when you press the button he says something in Japanese. I need to translate what it is... Any way, how was it? Thoughts, comments, anything? LOVE. :D I'm working on the next chapter so I can fish that out next week or this weekend if possible. A little more IchiRuki-ness in the next chapter! *big grin*
Thanks! ありがとうございます！