It wasn't long after they had placed their orders when the boy returned with their drinks and started to set them down. Mikey was pleasantly surprised when he placed a big piece of strawberry cheesecake down in front of him along with his drink.
Shooting the kid a curious look, all he got was a warm smile and a brief explanation of, "To snack on while everything else is being prepared for you. It's on the house."
After that he needed no other explanation and happily dug into the food as the boy disappeared again.
Mikey happily started munching on his slice of personal heaven when he heard one of his men ask, "You like that kid don't you, boss?" Causing him to pause for a moment and let his eyes flicker away from his food to his men as if to gauge their thoughts by studying their expressions.
The only really telling looks that he got from any of them was Ran's leer. Mikey knew that if the kid gave the guy half the chance he'd be out of those skimpy little shorts and fucked into unconsciousness. Which...may not exactly end well for the boy since most of Ran's lovers tended to wind up either dead or sold into whore houses and then eventually killed.
Whereas the other executives kept their faces carefully blank as they stared right back at him. Gauging his thoughts as best as they could.
It was a snap decision on Mikey's part, and probably not the absolute best one at that. But he finally said, "Yeah. I do." His men smiled as he then tacked on. "He's not afraid of taking my hand." He didn't dare say that he liked having his hand held by the boy.
That would simply cause everyone trouble. Especially the kid.
"Do you wanna take him home?" Rindou asked curiously as he took a moment to search for the boy subtly. "You could fuck him-"
Mikey suddenly slammed one of his fists down on the table, startling everyone in the general vicinity of them as he bit out the words. "I don't fuck children. Ever."
Rindou and the others stared at his angry expression for a heartbeat before quickly agreeing with him. Screwing kids was very, very wrong.
Of course, they were hoping that he wouldn't pull out his gun and shoot any of them for Rindou so much as suggesting such a thing. The others didn't want to die for his lack of morals.
It was around this time that the kid suddenly walked back up to their table with Mikey's order and took a moment to study all of them before reaching out and lightly laying a hand on Mikey's shoulder to get his attention.
The man whipped his head around with the intention to snarl at the dumbass touching him but froze when he saw the boy's face. His scathing words and threats died on his tongue as the kid carefully set his food down while leaning over so that his mouth was close to his ear and asked him if he was okay while shooting his men a dark look.
And if not for the fact that he was so thrown off balance by the kid's sudden shift in behavior, he might have found the situation funny. If only a little bit.
His men didn't know how to react though. They looked like a bunch of deer caught in the headlights of a large truck. Not a damn one of them made any movements- not even to open their mouths to defend themselves.
Finally, Mikey decided to do something. It may not have been another great idea on his part, but he wasn't sure what else to do right then. So he just asked, "Will you sit with me?"
The kid looked a mite started by his request but once he'd scooted his chair out a bit and patted his lap to indicate that he wanted him there- the kid's face positively flamed. It was such a cute look on him that Mikey silently swore to make him blush some more.
Later though. Right now Mikey wanted him to sit down.
The boy didn't really hesitate- not in the conventional sense, but he did seem to weigh the pros and cons of sitting in a customer's lap before finally doing so.
And the second that he seated himself in Mikey's lap, all of the tenseness and anger that he'd felt mere moments prior just, up and vanished like magic and he found himself latching onto the boy the same way that he once used to latch onto his former friends.
Though he didn't normally latch onto others anymore, Mikey felt oddly happy that the kid didn't seem to mind the small display of childishness from him. Despite the series of knowing grins and leers his men shot in their direction.
The jerks. He thought darkly, deciding that if they said anything remotely sketchy to the kid that he'd put bullet holes in them.
Mikey took a few moments to reign in his turbulent emotions, while simultaneously taking notice of just how light the boy felt in his lap. Almost as if he was borderline starving even though the man couldn't see his ribs sticking out from under his skin.
The sudden thought of the boy not eating like he should bothered Mikey for some unfathomable reason. So much so that he found himself suddenly asking him, "Do you like cheesecake?"
The boy turned his head to peer at him from over one of his shoulders, giving the man a closer look at his exotically colored eyes as he slowly nodded his head.
"Want to have some of mine?" Mikey asked. The odd urge to at least try and get the kid to eat something fattening, temporarily hijacking his brain.
The boy merely smiled at him, but politely told him no. Which was a bit disappointing to him since Mikey wasn't used to being told no by anyone. At least not anyone who wanted to live, anyways.
But he didn't dare to push him to eat some of it anyways. Not when he could simply have someone hack the club's computer and get the kids address so that he could send him some stuff to his home to fatten him up instead.
Mikey lost track of how long he practically kept the boy hostage in his lap until the blond guy from the door earlier walked up and asked if the kid was okay. He wouldn't swear to it, but he was fairly certain that the man might have been a bit upset about the boy sitting in his lap.
Because of the 'no getting handsy with the dancers' rule, no doubt.
The kid merely nodded his head curtly in response to the man's question as he was then casually informed that he was wanted behind the curtain for his 'dance' before the man walked off. The boy sighed, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but on stage right then. But still excused himself from Mikey's lap to go and do as he was told.
Mikey would be lying if he said that he didn't feel disappointed by the boy moving away from him but resigned himself to watching what was going to happen next anyways.
Ichigo felt like she was going to throw up as she peeked out at the club audience from behind the curtain. Her nerves felt as if they were frayed and barely hanging in there. Her stomach was doing flip-flops and she was sweating. And to be honest, if she believed ever for a second that having the jitters would get her out of dancing- she would totally vomit on someone.
Rangiku, maybe? Since she was the one who blackmailed her into this anyways. Yeah, that could work. Though she was pretty sure that the woman would punch her in the tit for it in retaliation. But whatever.
Yoruichi would find it amusing. She was just warped that way.
Still...even though she wanted too- she knew that she shouldn't. Not when it could wind up costing the club and everyone who worked there in the long run. So, she swallowed down the bile that burned a trail up her throat and took a moment to count to ten. Three or four times before she felt Rangiku walk up behind her and felt her lay her hand on her shoulder before finally saying, "What are the rules of having me dance?"
"No stripping." The blond woman said automatically.
"What else?"
"Teasing is fine, but be careful where I touch."
"What else?"
"No hickies." Rangiku said with a frown.
"And?" Ichigo prompted.
The blond woman sighed and then muttered, "Absolutely no causing any wardrobe malfunctions. Especially ones that can cause your mark to be see."
"Very good." Ichigo said as she heard the music start. Taking one last deep breath she quietly followed Rangiku out onto the stage for their performance.
After that, everything seemed to blur for her. Mostly because she was busy trying to keep from falling on her face at some point since she was fairly certain that the stage had been waxed or something.
She believed this because Rangiku fell off of it at one point and practically faceplanted in some poor guy's lap. Which was...terrible. And despite how unprofessional it was of her, Ichigo still found herself laughing at the other woman's misfortune.
At least until Yoruichi came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her neck, scaring the hell out of her.
Thankfully she didn't scream at the burgundy haired woman's sudden appearance. Though she did wind up dancing with her instead since Rangiku was a bit busy trying to get back to her feet and failing.
Ichigo wouldn't swear to it- not completely anyways- but she thought that the blond woman might have twisted one of her ankles when she fell. But whatever, there wasn't anything that she could do about that right then.
Focusing on Yoruichi and her movements, Ichigo managed to mirror them perfectly. Giving the audience watching them the impression that they had both practiced the routine repeatedly until they had gotten it down. Which was fine. However, there were drawbacks to dancing with Yoruichi.
For starters, her dancing was much more provocative then Rangiku's.
After all, Yoruichi herself was sex on legs. Every movement, every breath, every glance of her exotic golden eyes- was pure sensuality in a way that neither she nor Rangiku could compete with.
Not that she tried. To be honest, Ichigo was just fine with not being considered sexy at all. She wasn't so insecure with herself or her appearance that she cared overly much what people thought of her.
She liked herself as she was.
Which was why dancing with Yoruichi tended to be such a challenge for her. She had to bring a level of confidence to the stage that she didn't always feel. Keep up with every step, every motion of her hips, every way that Yoruichi's body bent all without falling on her face.
And by the time the dance ended, all she could hear was the howls of the men in the crowd, demanding more.
Ichigo merely stood there for a second trying to catch her breath while Yoruichi collected the money that had been thrown at them along with her clothing before turning to see if she was alright.
She was holding herself too still again. It was something that she sometimes did out of habit without realizing it. One that had served her well back in the day when she'd still been a Soul Reaper wading through endless piles of bodies and blood.
And for a second, she could almost swear that she was a kid again. A Soul Reaper. She could feel the heavy weight of Zangetsu on her back, the coppery taste of blood mixed with the rancid taste of ashes on her tongue...
Yoruichi startled her back to herself by lightly slapping her cheek to get her attention. She wasn't able to withhold her jump this time around, but she doubted that the other woman minded that fact all that much.
"Hey, you okay?" Yoruichi asked her quietly as she carefully turned her around and then linked their arms together so that she could help her off of the stage since she was a bit disoriented.
"I-I'm fine." She stammered out, uncertainly. "Just...got caught up in my head for a second."
Yoruichi hummed but didn't comment as she steered her off of the stage and into the back of the club to the dressing room where she gently pushed her down into a seat and then finally said, "I know. Let's get you changed into your normal clothes and let you go home, alright."
Ichigo merely nodded her head and stayed seated while the woman went to find her regular clothing for her.