AN
Check out the new chapter for To Love a Warrior after reading this if you haven't already. Happy Holidays to all!
Disclaimer-I own nothing.
No Escape
Chapter 3
Ichigo forced down another bite of his sandwich, stifling a groan. He couldn't eat like a kid anymore, and there was no way he was keeping up with Kon's appetite. Still, he remembered how much he'd hated it when people watched him eat when he was Kon's age-how self-conscious it had made him feel, like he was some sort of freak show. The Amazing Bottomless Boy. Watch him eat more than he's worth in a single sitting.
If they were both eating, then at least Kon wasn't the only spectacle.
There was so much about Rukia's foster son that reminded him of himself. Not the physical stuff, like hair and eyes and build, but the attitude was there-the constant worry that tonight might be your last night in a warm, clean bed. He'd been through more foster homes than most because of his bad attitude, and although Kon didn't seem to have the same comsuming anger that Ichigo had had, there was still that wild animal skittishness about him that told Ichigo there was more to him than what showed on the surface.
Kon wasn't going to like having Ichigo here, because it threatened the status quo-and when things were going well, anything that did that was dangerous.
Ichigo pretended to be consumed with interest in his food as he listened to Kon and Rukia chat. Technically, Rukia chatted and Kon would occasionally grunt in response, but it was as close to a conversation as she was going to get with a teenage boy in the middle of a feeding.
"Do you have any homework tonight?" she asked him.
Kon gave an affirmative grunt.
"A lot?"
He shook his head and washed a mouthful down with a swig of milk.
"Need any help?"
"Nope. Got it covered."
If Ruki was disappointed that he didn't need her help, she did a good job of covering it. "You always do. You're a good kid, Kon."
The boy blushed, shoved the last quarter of his third sandwich into his mouth, and got up from the table in a clumsy rush.
"I'll clean this stuff up," offered Ichigo, giving him an easy escape route. "Thanks for sharing."
Kon gave a quick nod, grabbed his bulging backpack, and fled the kitchen. The heavy tread of his footsteps running upstairs nearly rattled the dishes.
Rukia winced. "I keep forgetting he's not into compliments."
"He'll survive," said Ichigo, giving her a wink. "Besides, they're good for him. Make him tough."
"If he was any tougher, he'd be shoe leather."
"He seems like a good kid."
"The best. He never gives me any trouble. I think he's afraid I'll send him away if he does."
Ichigo gathered up what little was left of the sliced turkey and mayo and stowed them back in the fridge. "He doesn't know you very well, then."
"And you do? After fourteen years and a few letters?"
It was more than a few letters. It was little bits and pieces of her life she'd chosen to share with him, and that was of more value than she'd ever know. She'd remembered him, and she cared enough about him to keep on remembering him even when he wasn't very good about writing back.
What was he going to write? He couldn't talk about his job beyond the surface stuff, like promotions, and there really wasn't a whole lot else in his life. Eventually, he got tired of thinking up stuff to say and stopped writing. Even so, Rukia kept writing to him.
"I know enough about you to know that you'd never throw a kid out for screwing up a little. I also know that any woman who cares about whether or not a kid has homework is certainly going to care about whether or not he has a warm place to sleep at night. You can't fool me. You're still as soft as ever."
And not just her heart. He could still feel the slippery weight of her hair gliding over his hand, the silky smoothness of her cheek beneath his fingertips. He wanted more. A lot more.
Part of him stalled out every time a thought like that went through his head, like he was invading on forbidden territory. She wasn't some woman in a bar who was expecting to hook up with him for a night of fun. And Ichigo couldn't give her more than that. At least not right now. He had plans. A new job waiting for him in Osaka. He had a schedule to keep that would hopefully lead him to a woman like Rukia in a few years, but not yet. He wasn't ready yet.
He had to be sure he'd burned every shred of his father out of his makeup before he committed himself to a woman. Until then, he'd never take the chance that he'd abandon a family and do what his father had done. Anything less would be unforgivable.
Rukia cleared the dishes from the table. "Do you think I'm too soft on him? I mean, maybe he'd be better off in a home with a father figure. That's something I can never be for him."
The insecurity in her voice made Ichigo want to kick himself. He went to where she was rinsing off dishes in the sink and pulled her around by the arm until she looked at him. "You misunderstood me. Soft is a good thing. Kon doesn't need anyone to teach him the harder lessons of life. Life has a way of taking care of that without any help, and probably already has in his case." He knew he shouldn't be touching her so much, but he couldn't seem to help it. He slid his hand down her arm and took her wet fingers in his hand, giving her a little squeeze. "What he needs is to know he's safe, that he has a home where he'l always be welcome, and someone to lean on when things get hard. You're doing all of that, so give yourself some credit. He's lucky to have you."
Rukia's eyes went shiny, and she blinked several times to clear them. "Don't you dare make me cry, Ichigo Kurosaki! You're here to help, not make me all sappy."
He gave her a wink, when what he really wanted to do was see if her mouth was as soft as the rest of her. "Fine. No sap here. I'm all about the help. How about I start by taking out the trash?"
She stared at him with a strange look that he couldn't decipher but said, "It goes in a bin around back."
Ichigo took care of the chore, but when he came back inside, Rukia was no longer in the kitchen. He heard her voice float in from the living room, along with that of another man. Not Kon. He said something to her, and when she spoke, her tone was tight with anger. "I won't do it."
"You have to," said the man. "Yammy will do anything to get his son back. You're not safe with Kon in the house."
"If you didn't think I'd be safe, then why did you bring Kon to my attention? We both know he needs to be here right now. I'm not kicking him out."
Ichigo ignored the fact that he was not invited into their conversation and stepped into the living room. Rukia looked stricken, almost like she was going to be sick. Ichigo went to her side so she'd know he was here for her. And to let the man in her living room know it, too.
He turned to the man standing there and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"
The man had frizzy, red hair up in a ponytail that made his head look like a pineapple. He was about as tall as Ichigo with a slightly stocky build that told him he had some muscle under his jacket. His most outstanding feature was the many intricate and odd tattoos displayed across his eyebrows and upper face.
He frowned and tilted his head up at Ichigo as if he recognized him. "Ichigo Kurosaki?" he asked. "Is that you?"
Ichigo tried to place him but couldn't.
"Ichigo, this is Renji Abarai," said Rukia.
She'd recovered some of her composure, but he could still see a slight tremor of tension running through her slim frame.
"Do you remember him?" she started to ask. Then shaking her head she said, "What am I saying. You could never remember names and faces well."
It was true. The man's name struck a cord in Ichigo's head, but he couldn't quite place him.
"I lived with Aizen, too," said Renji. "I was a few years younger than you at the time, so you probably don't recognize me."
Ichigo spent a lot of time trying not to think about the short time he'd lived with Aizen. Unfortunately, he remembered the faces of every one of the children he'd put out on the streets the night he'd killed his foster father. But this guy wasn't ringing a bell. "Sorry, man. It's been a long time. Must be the tattooos."
"Too long," said Renji as he extended his hand in greeting. "It's really great to see you again. Rukia didn't tell me you were coming for a vissit."
Ichigo shook the man's hand. "She didn't know I was coming. It was kind of a last-minute thing."
"I told him what's going on," said Rukia. "He's going to talk to the police tomorrow."
Renji's mouth flattened in a frown. "You need to stop worrying about those poor souls and worry more about what's going to happen to you if Yammy decides to come take his son by force."
A stab of fear for her made Ichigo's body tighten, and he took a half step closer to Rukia.
"Is that a risk?" Ichigo asked her. "You didn't mention it."
"It's an irrational worry. Yammy doesn't have any idea where I live."
"It's not irrational," insisted Renji. "The man has a record for assaulting women. He wants his son back. It doesn't take a genius to do the math."
"No. It doesn't," agreed Ichigo, giving Rukia a hard stare. "You should have said something."
Rukia gave him a back-the-hell-off glare. "Why? Because it's somehow your business?" She pushed out a harsh breath. "Listen. Yammy wants Kon back, and he's not going to do anything to mess up his one and only chance of making that happen by hurting me. He'd go back to prison if he did, so it doesn't make any sense. He's got to work inside the system, and he knows it."
Renji shook his head. "Men like Yammy spend their lives working around the system. I've defended enough men like him to know. Don't trust that he's suddenly developed some moral code since getting out of prison. I don't want to see you hurt. Or worse."
The whole notion that someone was killing Aizen's former foster children was bad enough, but knowing that there was some ex-con out there who might want to hurt Rukia made Ichigo want to find him and remove the threat. Permanently.
Down, boy. Rukia was right. It really wasn't his business.
Of course, that wasn't going to stop him from getting involved, either. Not if there was some kind of threat to her and the kid.
"I'll be fine," said Rukia. "Besides, Ichigo is staying here tonight, so you can stop worrying."
"Maybe longer," offered Ichigo. As much as he hated the thought of telling Uryu he was going to have to come later than planned, he hated the idea of leaving Rukia even more. Uryu could take care of himself. Rukia and Kon, on the other hand, needed him.
The news that Ichigo was staying seemed to relax Renji somewhat. "Good. Yammy probably won't try anything with Ichigo here. He's too much of a coward to risk anything unless he's sure he can get away with it. But what are you going to do when Ichigo leaves?"
"I won't leave until I'm sure there's no threat. I can promie you that, Renji."
She poked a finger at Ichigo's chest. Hard. He resisted the urge to rub away the sting. "You'll leave when I say you'll leave! This is my house! I'm in charge here! You'd both do well to remember that."
Wow. Rukia was hot when she was being pushy. Bright streaks of color lit her amethyst eyes, and a pretty flush brightened her cheeks. Ichigo almost wanted to push back to see what would happen, but not with an audience. Maybe he'd push later, when they were alone.
There was no way he'd agree to leave her and Kon on their own to face this Yammy asshole. "It's your house," agreed Ichigo without lying. "I won't forget."
"Yeah, sorry for pushing, Rukes," Renji piped up.
That seemed to appease her for now. Later he'd set the record straight and make sure she had some decent security set up. If he had to, he'd pay for it himself. Uryu's company had some cutting-edge toys that would go a long way toward making him feel better when he left.
"See that you don't." She turned to Renji. "If you'll stop being all doom and gloom, I'll invite you in for a cup of tea."
"I'd love to stay, but I have a hearing in the morning and I really need to prepare a little more. Rain check?"
"Anytime. Good luck with your hearing." She left Ichigo's side and kissed Renji on the cheek. In a quiet voice that Ichigo could barely hear, she said, "Thank you for worrying about me. It's nice to know someone care."
Ichigo felt an unreasonable flash of jealousy. He worried about her. He cared. Where the hell was his kiss?
It took him several seconds to calm down enough to remember that he hadn't been in Rukia's life for years. Renji was close enough to her that he dropped by without notice and got invited in for tea. Ichigo was just some guy from her past-not a friend who was there for her on a daily basis. He had no right to be jealous.
Too bad that didn't make it go away.
Rukia shut and locked the door. Before she'd had time to turn all the way around, Ichigo asked, "You two seeing each other?"
Rukia's black eyebrows rose nearly an inch. "Renji? Heavens, no! We're just friends!"
"Does he feel the same way?"
"Why do you care?"
She was taunting him. Maybe she didn't mean to do it, but she had, and Ichigo found himself unable to resist. He liked touching her and wanted to do it more, enough that she'd forget all about Renji and how close a friend he was.
He moved toward her, which backed her against the front door. From here, he could smell her skin and the sweet-scented lotion she'd smoothed over it. He lowered his head so that his mouth was right by her temple and breathed in deep.
His world spun for a moment, and he had to force himself to remember where he was and why he was here. "I care because I want you to be happy."
Her voice was thin, almost breathless. "And you don't think Renji could make me happy?"
"Maybe. I bet he'd like to try." Ichigo knew he sure as hell could make her happy. At least for a few hours. He'd love to make her so happy she'd howl for him.
Just the thought of getting the chance made him sweat.
Rukia pressed her hands against his chest and gave him a push so slight he wasn't really sure it had happened. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, and a sexy hint of color warmed her skin. "This isn't right," she told him. "You and I."
"Why not?"
"Because you're leaving tomorrow and I'm not into hit-and-run sex, no matter how good it might be."
Right. Ichigo knew that. She was a nice girl. A freaking elementary school teacher. He had no business pursuing her like this.
So why the hell couldn't he stop?
"And even if I was into it," she said, "Kon is right upstairs."
Kon. A kid. One who didn't need to see his foster mom sprawled out on the living room floor, next to his fish tank, naked with a total stranger.
That was enough to get Ichigo thinking straight again.
He nodded slowly and backed away from her. His blood was pounding hot and hard through his limbs, but he'd spent too many years controlling his body's reactions to let them get the better of him now. "Sorry."
Rukia swallowed. "How about some tea? That will keep your hands busy."
"No thanks. I've been on the road since two A.M., so I'm ready to hit the sack. I'll go see the police first thing tomorrow and see what they have to say." And he'd be sure to tell them about Kon's father, in the hopes that they might have a patrolman drive by her house a few times ever day. If Yammy was a coward, as Renji suggested, then he'd be less likely to mess with Rukia if the police were always around. If not... Ichigo would just have to stick around a while and find out.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Kon was deep into the futile effort of studying for the SAT's when he heard the click of a small rock hitting his window.
For a second he thought it might be Lirin and his heart kicked in, pounding hard. Her image filled his head, knocking out everything else that had once occupied the space. He saw her sweet smile, her long blond hair that always looked too perfect to touch. In his mind, she was still wearing that tight pink sweater she had on last Thursday that showed off her perfect breasts-the sweater that had him staying up until well after midnight to learn the history lesson he'd missed in class because he couldn't quit staring at her. She was so pretty he had no idea why all the other guys in his class hadn't fallen on their knees at her feet for just the chance to talk to her.
Maybe they were as gutless as he was, too afraid she'd turn him down to actually ask her out. As long as she hadn't said no, there was still a chance she might say yes, and that was the thing that got him out of bed every morning. A chance with Lirin.
God knew he needed something to get up for.
Another rock hit the glass, and Kon scrambled off the bed to see who it was. In his head, it was Lirin and she'd come to confess her undying love for him. He'd climb down to her and she'd throw herself into his arms. They'd find a nice, quiet place where they could make out, which would, of course, turn into a wild night of endless sex that would ruin her for all other men forever. They'd run off together to a place where SAT scores didn't matter, and he'd buy her a pink sweater for every day of the week.
When he looked down into the yard, all his hopeful thoughts that Lirin had fallen in love with him shattered. It was dark outside, but the neighborhood was well lit enough for him to recognize his dad's prison build and the expectant stance he'd used with Mom until the day he'd beat her unconscious and gone to jail for it.
Cold, bitter pain slammed into him, making it hard to breathe. He missed Mom so much. Rukia was nice, but it wasn't the same. It never would be.
Kon stared for a moment, choking on his anger and hatred for the man below. He knew that killing his old man wouldn't bring Mom back, but some days, it still sounded like a good idea. Yammy should have been charged with murder, not just assault. He'd beaten his wife so often she felt the need to escape with a hefty dose of heroin as often as she could get it. If it hadn't been for that, his Mom might still be alive.
As far as Kon was concerned, that was murder.
Yammy motioned for Kon to open the window. For a long moment, Kon considered ignoring him. Let the bastard freeze down there while he was safe and warm up in his room.
But if he did that, chances were Yammy would get angry. And when he got angry, he hurt people. Rukia didn't deserve to have that kind of shit come down on her just because she was nice enough to open her home to him. Kon owed her more than that.
He opened the window and stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. He'd been hitting the weights pretty hard for the past year, but he was no match for the strength of a full grown man-especially one who'd spent the past eight years with little else to do in prison but lift weights, getting stronger and meaner.
"I need to talk to you," Yammy whispered.
"Fuck off," Kon whispered back, adding in a hand gesture to ensure that his dad didn't misunderstand.
"Get your ass out here, boy."
"You're not even supposed to be here. Supervised visits only, remember?"
"I'd be happy to come in and let the little lady supervise."
Shit! Kon had heard Ichigo go to bed about an hour ago. Yammy would never mess with a man like Ichigo, one who radiated confidence with every breath he took, but if Rukia was alone... Shit!
"Hold on," said Kon. He grabbed his new letterman's jacket-the one that made him feel like he was part of something for the first time in his life-and crawled out the window.
The trip down wasn't too hard, but the trip back up would be interesting. Maybe he'd wait until Rukia went to sleep and sneak back in the back door. Assuming he didn't get caught first.
Kon reached the ground and stood eye to eye with his father. "Whatever it is you want, make it quick. I have homework to do."
"Well," sneered Yammy, "wouldn't want to get in the way of such important stuff, now, would I?"
Kon kept a tight hold on his temper. What the hell did he care whether or not his murdering-son-of-a-bitch dad approved of his life?
"What do you want?" he demanded.
Yammy pointed over his shoulder. "My car's down the street. We'll talk in there, where it's warmer."
For half a second, Kon wondered if his dad didn't intend to kidnap him rather than go through the messy process of regaining custody. Part of Kon hoped he'd try. He could kill the man and it would be self-defense. He'd get rid of his asshole father and avenge Mom's death all at the same time. Two birds. One stone.
"Okay," said Kon. "We'll talk in the car."
AN
That's it for now folks. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy my presents. Remember, the TLAW chapter is up as well if you haven't seen it already. Don't forget to review, and Happy Holidays!