(Recap)
Shaking his head in amusement, Ichigo turned to his phone and proceeded to look through the company database for her profile.
Rei… Ren... Rika... Riko... Rin...
Rukia.
Smiling at the screen, Ichigo pocketed the device and got out of his seat. Placing a hand over Rukia's slim waist, he pushed the chair back with his feet at the same time, placed a hand just under the hem of her skirt – stopping it from falling and exposing her under garment. In his large overcoat, she looked like a cocoon in his arms. Rukia nuzzled into his chest and Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle. If she were conscious of what she was doing right now, he would've been skinned and burned ten times over, "lets get you home."
Driving through the vacant street, Ichigo felt a small sensation of eagerness pound at his heart and couldn't help but find it fascinatingly amusing. It certainly wasn't his first time having a woman in his car and driving down a forlorn highway, on his way to finding an appropriate destination of some sorts to settle business. Regardless of the pure carnal pleasure he sought after, Ichigo always knew he had issues that had to be catered to – arguing with that would've been a stupid move on his part. To deny his past hobbies and act as if he was acquitted from his former track record of females was also something he wouldn't do – if he had, he would've been a cowardly con-artist who couldn't accept his own blame. Was it pride? He didn't know. Ichigo vaguely supposed that it was also his great stubbornness that refused to simply sweep things under the carpet and leave it at that.
Giving out a sigh, dark amber shifted to the rearview mirror to observe Rukia's figure. Chuckling under his breath, Ichigo had to say that this would've been the first time he would've taken a sleeping woman back home. All other times, they were either clinging to his arm, fixing their make-up or drunk over his seats. Remembering the faces of some of those who had ridden in his car, Ichigo found his eyes lingering back on Rukia once again. Knowing the little spitfire, she probably wouldn't have allowed him to deny his past anyway. Because it made him a better man? Maybe. Because she was jealous? He secretly hoped so.
In all honesty, Ichigo wondered if there would ever be a time where she would be just as effected by him talking to another woman, as he was with her with other men. It was childish, he knew. But his greatest fear was him finally finding someone he genuinely loved, to only watch her from the sidelines. Even now, despite being persuasive in his advances, Ichigo had to say that Rukia was doing one hell of a good job on hiding her thoughts. With her, he just didn't know. Was she expecting him to take two steps forward or two steps back?
The woman was such a challenge for him. She seemed to be predictable one minute, then completely unpredictable the next. It wasn't like any kind of coquetry game he had ever played… if she was even playing at all.
Turning into the parking lot just off of the large apartment building, Ichigo turned the engine off and rested against his steering wheel to collect his thoughts. Reaching for the door handle, he got out of his vehicle and opened the back seat door. Gently putting himself halfway back into the car, Ichigo rummaged through her handbag for the apartment key before collecting the petite figure in his arms and closing the door with his feet.
Making his way across the ground floor of the building, Ichigo occasionally glanced down in his arms to take in Rukia's fine facial features. She buried her face closer into his chest with a small whimper, and he found it hilarious at the fact that even the she-demon looked peaceful when asleep. Smiling to himself, Ichigo couldn't help but imagine – he wouldn't mind going to bed and waking up every morning to this face.
Reaching the door with the large, steel number five nailed above its frame, Ichigo opened the door with the key in his hand and made his way into the dark flat. As soon as he came in, he took his shoes off, dropped the key quietly on top of the shoe rack and shuffled his way across the tiled floor -directly to the only room the flat seemed to have. Ichigo had to give an entertained snort at how white the entire complex was.
Reaching the bed, Ichigo propped a knee onto the surface and slowly began to bend down – quietly maneuvering his hand under the cover and easing Rukia in. As soon as she was in her bed, under the blanket, Rukia slid a hand around her pillow and gave a small mumble. Letting go of his breath, Ichigo slowly moved his hand to brush the hair out of Rukia's face. His heart jumped in surprise when her other hand suddenly grabbed onto his sleeves. Ichigo supposed it would've been wrong to take the gesture as an invitation – the woman wasn't even conscious! Shaking his head, Ichigo brought his face closer to her cheek and let his lips tenderly flutter across her skin. "If I stayed with you tonight," he whispered softly into her ear, "you'd slaughter me in the morning."
'…And then all my efforts would go to nothing…'
There was a familiar orchestra of birds singing in the morning. The sunlight trickled softly through ivory drapes into the spacious room to give its overall white texture a warm, yellow hue. As the light climbed gradually higher on the bed, it hit the delicate features of Rukia's youthful, slumbering face; illuminating it. Frowning at the sudden pink brightness behind her lids, she cracked open her eyes and squinted at the luminous intrusion.
Softly groaning, Rukia cuddled into her pillow and shifted under her alabaster tinted blanket. Breathing a deep sigh and rubbing her eyes open, she slowly gave herself up to arousal and sat up from the comfort of her bed, making sure to stretch out her limbs at the same time. Giving a satisfied purr as she extended her arms out above her head, her blouse lifting to expose a little bit of snowy, porcelain skin.
Glancing around her pure, white room, violaceous eyes landed on the digital clock stand that flickered quarter-past-seven. Silently cursing to her breath, Rukia bolted out of her bed and fumbled to put her slippers on, 'Jesus Christ, I need to get my skirt and sto…ckings…on?'
Staring down at her legs, Rukia found that she was already wearing a pair – one in a fine shade of Black Dahlia. The exact same one she had worn yesterday. Giving herself time to process what had just happened, Rukia concluded that she was, in fact, not in her regular pajamas and was still in her office attire – sans the blazer. Frantically shuffling through her mind, all Rukia could remember was having a short rest in her arms at the cram meeting, falling asleep… then nothing…
Something was very… very wrong here…
Scuttling towards her handbag, half in a daze of confusion and weariness, Rukia began to hunt for her phone. When it was in her hands, she searched around to find her objective. Holding the cell to her ears, Rukia impatiently mumbled under her breath as the dial tone continued to reverberate; "come on; come on; come on… Pick up."
"Good morning! Ruk-"
"Rangiku! What happened yesterday? How did I get home?" Rukia held the phone closer to her ear, "and why the hell am I not in my pajamas!"
There was a very brief period of silence; from the other line, Rangiku gave a hearty laugh, "oh, that!-" Rukia could almost imagine Rangiku casually waving her hand dismissively at her, "I told boss-san to take you home. Although-" her voice suddenly took a perplexed undertone, "I can't explain you not being in your sleepwear, I assumed he'd get the hint and…" The rest died off into nothing in Rukia's mind.
I told boss-san to take you home.
I told boss-san to take you home.
I told boss-san. To. Take. You. Home.
She screamed bloody murder, "you did what?!" A hand reached to grab at raven hair, "are you insane? That man could've taken advantage of me!"
A scoff was Rangiku's reply, "give him some credit, Kia-chan! At least he's hot!"
Rangiku, Rukia thought, had the Gods to thank at the fact that she was too disorientated at the moment to even throw crippling, verbal abuses at her. He had taken her home… that berry idiot had taken her home. She could paint a thousand-worded picture of how very wrong this was. Not caring whether her friend was still talking, Rukia hung up on the call. She palmed her forehead and sat down at the foot of her bed. The day hadn't even started yet and she was already in a foul mood.
In the middle of her despondent musing, her phone vibrated softly in her lifeless hand. Looking at the unfamiliar number, Rukia frowned and placed it back to her ear again, "hello?"
"Open the door."
Doot.
Doot.
Doot.
'What? What. What. What. What. What?'
What… in bloody hell just happened…
Rukia searched through her phone call history and found the nameless number situated at the very top in its recency. It couldn't be… it just couldn't be… She never gave him her number… she never gave him her bloody address! But the voice… that God forsaken voice; it couldn't be anyone but him!
Calling back, she felt a dreadful knot in her stomach when an instrumental ringtone of Schubert's 'Ave Maria' played from behind her flat's main door. Her phone crackled as the call successfully went through, and she noticed that the ringtone from the other side of the door had ceased, "are you naked or something, demon-midget. Open the-"
The phone was dropped onto the bed in mid-conversation and Rukia practically flew to the handle, as if she had a magnetic attraction to it. Virtually ripping the door open, her eyes widened when the figure of the all-too-familiar orange idiot stood right outside the threshold of her home, his phone to his ear and his lips parted in mid dialogue.
Ichigo closed his mouth and turned to criticize why it had taken her so long to open the door when a bunny-slippered foot painfully connected with his shin, "Shit! What was that for!"
"You!" She couldn't find herself even articulating a proper sentence, "You! How?!"
Giving a sigh and glancing at his phone, he entered the flat by a single foot; they had time, "get ready for work, meanwhile, I'll explain."
Sense was completely lost to Rukia. This man. This tall, over-grown, orange-haired, stupid berry of a man had the audacity to come into her place as if he bloody owned the place and instruct her to get ready for work when they clearly had unsettled fucking business. She was losing it… absolutely losing it. Leaning against the nearby wall, Rukia rubbed her aggravated temple.
Looking at the spectacle Rukia was making, Ichigo only exhaled and shook his head. You'd think that after knowing a person for a number of years, as tenaciously coquettish as he was, that you'd have at least a reasonable acknowledgment and understanding that he wasn't simply going to jump your bones at the first chance he gets. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, "Rukia."
Voice firm and resolute, Rukia turned to look at him, having somewhat calmed down from the unappreciated horseplay that had unfolded this morning. Ichigo gave her a long stare, "relax... and get ready." He finished off with a small smile.
Exhaling deeply, Rukia gave a small nod and headed towards her bedroom. Too drained to really maintain a prolonged resistance. Reaching the door, she placed a hand on the frame and pivoted her head back to him, "You stay outside. And no peeking."
Ichigo brought his hands up defensively, "I'm not that much of a creep, have some faith in me." Rukia gave him a final, warning glare before shutting the door behind her. Letting his hands drop back to his sides, Ichigo just grinned at the door before panning around to check out her apartment – he didn't have the time to take a closer look when he was here yesterday night.
Just like her office, the majority of her living was white – white walls, white tiled floor, white cabinets, white tables. There were different shades of it too – ivory, alabaster, beige, snow. A lot of the furniture and housewares, however, were also black, navy or indigo. Ichigo found it to be a largely monotonous world she placed herself in. He couldn't really ruminate on the shade of white. It was empty, basic and had no characteristic to exclusively express what it was. However, thinking of the little devil, Ichigo couldn't really think of any other color that could've defined Rukia as well as white could. Certainly, tinges of violet or the occasional blue would've sufficed – she seemed to have a liking for the cobalt shade and the lilac reflected her eyes. Those fierce orbs shining alight with passion and willpower whenever she was hooked onto setting things right – one of her charms lying in such a strong sense of being. He found it humorously ironic at how white could be so plain when the actual person favoring it was anything but.
"Hey!" Her voice sounded from the other side of the door, "Start explaining!"
Walking around in lazy steps and tinkering with the few ornaments on display, "well… you fell asleep, Rangiku requested that I take you home-" Ichigo silently chuckled to himself at yesterday's events, "I shook you to ask where you lived, but you insisted that I was Rangiku and just fell right back to sleep."
Ears perked at the sound of a handle turning and Ichigo took it as a cue to straighten up and turn to the object of his desires, "so, I went through the company database, pulled up your profile, found your address and at the same time, got your cell phone number."
"I'm pretty sure that's abuse of power, you ass," Rukia growled whilst fixing up her collar, "you could've just woken me up, like a normal person." He simply shrugged, "but this way's more entertaining."
Rukia walked over to her handbag and mentioned for Ichigo to get out of her apartment as she walked towards the door. He slightly frowned at her, "shouldn't you have breakfast?"
"The meetings in an hour and a half. We'll finish the presentation and I'll grab something to eat then."
Rummaging through her bag to obtain her keys, her other hand reached out to grab the handle when a much larger one gripped her wrist. Frowning, she lifted her head up, "Kurosa-"
"The meeting is in an hour and a half-" Ichigo gently squeezed her thin wrist in his grip, "there are other people working at the company too, Rukia. Leave the preparation to them and get something to eat."
She would've protested. Really, she would've. But he was looking at her with such a serious regard that any form of witty retorts she had formulated in her mind died at the base of her throat – he was becoming good at doing that to her, she ruminated, "but… the meeting…"
"A good leader needs to know how to take care of herself first before reaching out to help others," reaching over and taking the keys from where he had left it yesterday night, Ichigo lead Rukia outside her flat. He closed and locked the door behind him, his grip on her never loosening and tugging slightly on her hand. Making their way across the ground floor, he lead her outside the dwelling complex, "I promise it doesn't have to be big, but you are going to eat something."
Rukia felt her hand warm under his large hold and her cheeks burn against the chilly atmosphere of the morning. This was so embarrassing… "O-oi… I get… I get your point. So let go…"
Glancing behind over his shoulder, Ichigo found Rukia following behind him with her face tinged an adorable shade of pink and persistently avoiding his gaze. His clutch slightly tightened and Rukia thought that he would refuse in his usual childish manner, instead Ichigo just gave a small smile as he slowly let go of her hand, the cold morning breeze rushing into the fill the empty space, "we're going in my car because yours is still back at the building, okay?"
Rukia gave a small nod, suddenly, all the fighting-power in her had withered at his unwavering remark, "alright…"
It was awkward.
Painfully awkward.
Sitting across Ichigo at the restaurant's table, Rukia trained her eye solely on her food; lettuce, tomato and eggs. Her ears occasionally twitched at the sound of fork connecting to plate and the murmurs of conversation other people held near their table, "I can't believe you took us to a restaurant for breakfast…"
Halfway through his eggs, Ichigo looked up from his platter and raised a brow, "well, it wasn't like you had anything edible in your fridge, Rukia."
Frowning at this, Rukia craned her neck up to stare at him, "how would you know something like that?"
A fork waved lazily in her general direction, "took you home, remember?"
Pair of amethyst immediately dropped back down to concentrate on the vegetables on her plate. Right… right… she forgot about that…
Poking at her lettuce, Rukia pursed her lips at what she was about to say, "I… I'm sorry…"
Ichigo stared at her and wondered why she was being so formal without the usual sarcasm and disdain laced behind her words. Of course, he had seen her icy professional conduct many times throughout the years, but this was too civilized… it was weird. "For what?"
Rukia could feel her ears growing warm under his gaze, "I'm sure you heard me yell in my apartment… I know you're not the person to take advantage of people. And I know that you at least have some sort of morale… I was just… worked up…"
As much as she had and will deny, Rukia admitted that Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't a bad man. In many ways, he was a great man. But with the sudden nuptial request, proposed out of genuine sincerity or not, his all too-familiar orange head and deep honey tinted eyes occupied her thoughts way too many times then she should've allowed.
"Well yeah," Ichigo plopped a cooked tomato in his mouth, tasting a lingering flavor of the bacon and egg that it shared the plate with, "you didn't have to accuse me of taking advantage of you. That was just too far."
"Yeah… I know," the petite woman frowned, more so at herself than at the man's frankness, "I'm sorry for that."
"You don't necessarily have to be sorry, but I'll reiterate that I'm not joking, Rukia." The fork was set on the surface of the wooden table, leaving the plate of food unattended. Ichigo gave an intense gaze at Rukia's down-casted eyes, "the last thing I want to do is lose the trust you have in me -as little as it may be."
"By the way," the fork was picked back up and already driving into the strip of bacon, "are you an ovo-vegetarian?"
At the weird spin of topic, Rukia lifted her head to stare at her boss. The question completely threw her off course, "what? No? Why would you ask that?"
His fork pointed almost offensively at her near-empty plate of food. What the hell was wrong with it?! "You've got no real meat on your plate. How do you even stay standing?"
Rukia felt a vein twitch and in reply, she forked her last piece of tomato into her mouth, "it's called being healthy. You should try it sometimes, Kurosaki Ichigo." In retaliation, she used her knife to point at his plate – a single strip of bacon surviving on his dish.
Ichigo only shrugged and finished off his breakfast. Picking his glass of water up, he spoke into its rims, "it's called real food, Rukia. People need red meat to survive, not rabbit food."
Gulping down her own glass of water, Rukia only scoffed, "with all the oil you're putting in your body, it won't look good forever, you know."
Smirking at her little slip of tongue, Ichigo leant forward provokingly, "you think my body looks good?"
With her mouth agape, Rukia was left speechless. Had she really said that? 'Oh, shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Save face, Rukia! Save it right now!' "N-no! I'm just saying! You're going to be a pig when you get older! I… just… shut up and go!"
Making their way towards the exit, Ichigo could only laugh at Rukia's flushed face. Oh, he was never going to let her live this one down.
Rangiku let out a long sigh and took repeated glances at the silver, office clock positioned above the front counter. The meeting was in thirty minutes and she hadn't seen Rukia anywhere around the building! That woman was always ahead of schedule by a good hour or so, always presiding over the preparations and helping out in case there were last minute modifications that were needed.
Thinking back to yesterday night, Rangiku had to wonder if something really had happened between those two. Groaning out loud and clutching at her hair, she hoped to God that Rukia would at least be able to make it to the meeting! She didn't want to face Gotei alone! She'd age ten extra years in advance from the trauma she'd have to endure through!
Sprawled in woe over the front desk, the workers at the reception tried to comfort the whimpering woman by repeatedly exclaiming that all would go fine and according to plan, "oh! There she is, Matsumoto-san!" one of them eagerly told her, a trace of relief lacing their tone at the presence of Rukia making her way through the main entrance – Ichigo trailing next to her.
Head of strawberry-blond perked up and pivoted at the familiar voice of her friend bickering with her boss. Rangiku's mood immediately brightened before she heard frantic whispering near her in hushed tones.
"What are the chances that they came to work together? Acting so righteous all the time, can't believe she fell for Kurosaki-kun."
"I was here early in the morning and her car was still in the parking lot… I never pegged her as such a loose woman."
"Well, I saw her with his coat just a few weeks ago! Can you believe that! The audacity!"
Rangiku straightened herself and pursed her lips in a fine line, unimpressed at the words being tossed around so brazenly, 'such audacity, indeed…'
As they mumbled together, unaware of an extra ear listening in, Rangiku made her way towards the three women - irritation building at the light accusations lacing their words. "Excuse me, ladies."
The three women froze in the middle of their murmuring and looked up at the taller woman. Rangiku's gaze turned icy at their shameless, and almost bored, expressions. One of the women turned to face Rangiku, her arms crossed over chest and her brows dipping into a frown, "can I help you?"
At the snarky retort, Rangiku fought down the urge to slap the scowl off of her face. Instead, she closed her eyes, counted to ten in her mind and took a daring step forward – invading into the latter's personal space and towering over her by an entire head. Her smoky, blue eyes glinted with an eerie light as they bore mercilessly into presumptuous brown, "Insecurity can be such an ugly thing; making you hate people you don't even know-" Rangiku's eyes skimmed over the name tag pinned over the right breast, "Mizuno-san." The shorter woman faintly flinched at how her name was spat out.
"If you have something to say, say it to her face. If not, then keep your mouth shut." Rangiku leant in closer to the woman's face and was about to open her mouth to speak again before a hand clapped over her shoulder.
"Is there a problem, Matsumoto-san?"
Collecting herself and leaning back up, Rangiku turned to Rukia with a large pout, "I've been waiting forever for you, Rukia-chan! Good morning, Kurosaki-san!"
Ichigo nodded his head in acknowledgment, "Yo."
The corner of her lips twitched as Rukia gave her friend a bright smile, "we'll have a small talk after the meeting is over, Matsumoto-san, for what you put me through yesterday." Dropping her hand back to her side, Rukia glanced at the three women standing by, "is there anything I can help with, ladies?"
Rangiku turned back to the trio and flashed them a cautionary smile. Taking the hint, the three hastily bowed in apology before scampering off towards the elevators – effectively earning a puzzled look from Rukia and Ichigo. Rangiku turned to face her friends and clapped her hands together, "well, let's not keep the preparation team waiting! The meeting's going to be in fifteen minutes!"
On their way towards the conference room, Rangiku slightly pulled on Rukia's forearm and whispered near her ear, "what happened in the morning, Kia-chan? You're usually not this late." Immediately, Rukia's face soured at such a question, how could she even ask that after what she did! After what she put her through! "Who was the genius who thought it'd be funny to let the boss take her friend home? Hmm, Rangiku, I wonder."
At the biting sarcasm, Rangiku could only give an empty laugh, "Oh, you don't have to compliment me, Kia-chan. I'm sure things went ecstatically."
Glaring over her shoulder, Rukia sent her an 'I'm watching you' gesture with her fingers, "remind me to kill you after the meeting, Ran-chan."
Sulking, the voluptuous woman contemplated the options she could use to escape execution at the hands of a certain Ice Princess…
And it came out in the form of one Kurosaki Ichigo.
Despite the number of people inside the conference room, it was absolutely silent.
This was the first time Rukia actually had the opportunity to meet the President of Gotei United Incorporations – The prominent Yamamoto Genyruusai. Despite his age, he was one of the largest profiles to lead the economic market, and a major contributor of exportations of produce to companies outside the national border. Partnership with him meant money, reputation and power that would usually take years to foster for any mediocre enterprise – with a single signature from this man, you could establish your company's life in the stock market for years to come.
As such, with the great responsibilities carried on his broad shoulders – and the sheer magnitude of opportunity it presented, being in his presence almost winded Rukia. Yamamoto-shacho hadn't even spoken a word and she could already feel her palms sweat. Amethyst orbs trained solely on her heels as the petite woman tried to desperately calm her hammering heart. Taking quick glances at the aged face, Rukia couldn't tell if he was satisfied with their presentation or not, "so who was the one to overlook this preparation?"
Rukia unnoticeably stiffened at the sudden sound of his voice filling the otherwise silent room. Several pair of eyes belonging to her colleagues shifted to the silent woman. Rukia took a small breath and willed herself to face the elderly man, "the project was under my direct care, Yamamoto-shacho."
Responding in a steady voice, Rukia mentally patted her back at her perseverance. It didn't stop her from feeling nervous, however, when the man turned to look directly at her, "Rukia-san, was it?"
Slightly frowning, Rukia wondered if he was going to question her lack of surname, "yes, Yamamoto-shacho."
"I'm certain that the sudden change in schedule threw you off course," his sentence trailed off into silence, and Rukia realized that he had wanted her to answer his statement. Why, oh why, was he targeting her!
"It was definitely… abrupt-" Rukia admitted, from the opposite corner of the room, Rangiku made frantic hand gestures at her throat. 'Don't get yourself killed, Kia-chan!' she mouthed. Rukia clenched her jaw at the sight before turning her attention back to the seated president, "- however, we took immediate action in order to meet your requests."
Yamamoto observed the woman's responses with a critical mind. He found it impressive that in the short amount of time, and at the sudden demand, that she was able to produce a draft of this quality. It seemed as if that Kurosaki boy had a sturdy work force by his side of decent caliber. He pressed on further with his interrogation, "and I'm certain that it wasn't an easy task to do, with the sudden requirement of manpower from your side to fulfill this request…"
Just as Rukia was about to reply, fully intending to disagree and insist that it wasn't a problem, Ichigo slammed his hand down on top of the conference table, his finger pointing accusingly in Yamamoto's direction, "damn right it was, old geezer. Our team broke their backs trying to bring everything together in such a short time!"
Shuuhei tried desperately to quiet his friend down while the lean, Chinese woman standing next to Yamamoto growled, "who do you think you're talking to, Kurosaki!"
In Rukia's mind, all hell broke loose.
Pivoting her head to glare at the man standing next to her, she felt a sharp pain shoot up the side of her neck at the sudden movement. Her mouth was slightly agape in silent rage and she found herself forgetting how to breathe. Normal –sane - people didn't go around calling one of the most notoriously known business heads in the market old geezers. She suddenly felt lightheaded at the lack of oxygen regulating through her body. Her small hands gripped firmly at Ichigo's elbow, "are you fucking crazy, Kurosaki Ichigo. What do you think you're doing!" she hissed under her breath.
In response, Ichigo acted as if he hadn't heard anything -which was total bullshit because she knew he heard her!
"Soifon." The General manager turned back to her boss and silently withdrew at his expression -her piercing glare fixed on the other man. Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and stared at the young man, he also took notice of how frantic the shorter woman next to him had become at his rude outburst. "Do you have something to say, Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Irrespective to her fervent warning, Ichigo gripped Rukia's wrist and brought it in front of him, "don't get me wrong, Mr. President, I'm not trying to offend. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't play such a troublesome game simply to test us. I don't know about you, but -" Rukia stopped struggling when she felt the grip around her wrist tighten, "-My subordinates aren't tools."
A tense silence fell in the room.
One of the board leaders gave out a low whistle and chuckle softly, "well, that's something we haven't heard before; ne, Joushiro?"
From the other side of the table, the pale director tried to usher his elated friend to calm down, "please, Shunsui."
Letting out a grunt, Yamamoto called back for the attention of those in the room – his gaze still set on Ichigo. Certainly, in all of his years working as the head of GUI and putting possible allies through demanding tests, he had never seen this type of response before. So this was the man they called Kurosaki Ichigo. He heard rumors surrounding this ambitious leader, and certainly he lived up to them this very moment. Shifting his gaze to the pile of paperwork, Yamamoto couldn't help but acknowledge that the value of the project was something he was willing to share mutual alliance over.
Everyone tensed as Yamamoto got out from his seat and began to walk towards the younger man. Rukia wondered if this was what facing death felt like, "Y-Yamamoto-shacho, please, I can explain. If you're willing to overlook this one incident, I assure you that Kurosaki-shacho will not-"
Yamamoto silently lifted his hand in front of Ichigo's, his single gesture managed to silence the stuttering woman and gain an unwavering stare from Ichigo, "well done, Kurosaki-shacho, I accept your project."
Rukia blinked rapidly at the sudden proposal. She took her hand back and stared at the stationary man. 'Wasn't he going to shake his hand?'
Letting out a sigh, Ichigo gave the old man a grin, "Rukia-san was the one to overlook this project, sir. I think it's better to seal the deal with her."
With a small, knowing nod of approval, Yamamoto brought his hand lower on level to Rukia's own, "will you accept, Rukia-san?"
Caught by surprise, Rukia hastily bowed and took the large, calloused hands with her own, "y-yes. Thank you for your co-operation!"
Allowing her arm to return to her side, Rukia took a quick side-glance at Ichigo as those of from the other company began to pack.
'And just like that… you did it again…'
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To be continued…
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Read. Smile. Review.
I will say this now.
If I have a chapter that's finished, I will upload it! I have no intentions of dragging it out, only to update later in the month :]! Either way, I tried to give you guys a bit of a longer chapter! And tried to keep in mind some of the constructive advices that were given (though, I still need to adjust it to my usual style of writing xD).
Shacho – President (of a company or business).
GUI – Gotei United Incorporations.
Trivia:
1. Rukia's flat number is 5, the reason I didn't put 15 was because it would mean she wouldn't be living on the first floor. If I ever lived in an apartment complex, I'd make sure to live as close to the ground as possible – you know, in case a fire breaks out and I need to get out of the building quickly!
2. Violaceous: I didn't even know this could be a word xD.
3. Black Dahlia colored stockings: when I describe an article of clothing, I actually Google different shades of color, style of clothing and material for accuracy! Eerily enough, when Googling stocking colors, I found one that said 'Black Dahlia' (beautiful shade by the way). When I clicked on the 'Search' button – it linked me to a horrific murder case of Elizabeth Short (nicknamed Black Dahlia) who was murdered in California (NSFW and gruesomely explicit photos).
4. I mention deities quite a bit in my story; God, Jesus, Buddha and what not. I'm actually agnostic.
5. Yes, Rukia has Chappy slippers.
6. Ovo-vegetarian: type of vegetarianism which allows for the consumption of eggs. I was going to have Ichigo ask if Rukia was an Ovo-lacto vegetarian but it was too much of a mouthful.
7. I got the surname Mizuno from the character; Ami Mizuno (otherwise known as Sailor Mercury from the series 'Sailor Moon'). I chose her, because out of the five main Sailor Senshi, I disliked her the most :P (my favorite was Mars and Jupiter).
8. Answering DinieLuvYunho's (Korean? I'm an Australian-Korean!) Question: "Buddha, Jesus and peanut butter" is actually just a spin off from "Amen, Hallelujah, and peanut butter". Hilariously quoted by the character Dutch, from the anime series 'Black Lagoon'. Just tipping my hat off to one of my favorite anime series :D!
Regards,
M.