Yay! Another update. Being on Christmas break has been wonderful and is giving me plenty of time to do lots of writing so I hope to get a few more chapters out before I start my second semester in January. As always, thank you for all the amazing feedback. You guys have no idea how happy your reviews make me. I hope you guys like this chapter!
Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryuu Ishida sat at the table, their gazes fixed on a certain petite woman who was pacing back and forth muttering every curse word in the book.
"You know, Kurosaki, I get that she doesn't like you, but I still wasn't expecting such a…negative reaction," Uryuu commented as he watched the former Kuchiki heiress ball her fists up and stomp her foot on the ground before she continued her pacing. Though Uryuu would never dare voice his opinion out loud, he couldn't help but think Rukia looked rather comical.
"Yeah. I think you broke her, Ishida," Ichigo commented, his face completely void of emotion as he watched his newest employee throw a silent tantrum in front of him.
"Are you two freaking shitting me right now?" Rukia abruptly shouted at the two men, causing them both to jump in surprise.
"You want me to work for him? I wouldn't work for that bastard if he was the last person on earth."
Ichigo knew she was upset, but he couldn't deny how much that comment stung.
"Ms. Kuchiki, I understand your frustration, but you have to try to be rational right now."
"Rational? You want to talk about being rational? This whole plan of yours is the most irrational, illogical thing I've ever heard. This is Sosuke Aizen we're dealing with. The most dangerous businessman out there. The man that took down a billion dollar company overnight with a single document!"
"Ms. Kuchiki, believe me, I am very aware of what Aizen is capable of. That's why I need your cooperation. I don't know how else we can take him down if we don't have you."
"Then please explain to me why I'm so important."
"I've been trying to, but you threw a fit before I had the chance," Uryuu said with a calculating glance. Rukia avoided his stare and looked down guiltily. She hadn't even let him explain before she flipped out. She needed to learn to get a better handle on her emotions.
Uryuu took her silence as a willingness to listen so he began to explain his plan. "We know that Aizen works from the inside to take down companies. He targets specific people and uses them to execute his plan. Isn't that right, Ms. Kuchiki?"
"Yeah," she affirmed quietly, knowing that was exactly how her brother had come to ruin.
"So, the easiest way to get to him would be through whoever he decides to target. Give him a taste of his own medicine, if you will."
"But how do we know who he's going to target?" This time it was Ichigo asking the question.
"That's exactly it. We don't know. We can guess, but chances are that Aizen is going to go for someone who no one would suspect."
"So what does that have to do with me?" Rukia asked.
"It has everything to do with you. Who would be the last person anyone would suspect to work with Aizen to bring down Kurosaki Corp?"
Ichigo looked as though he was finally beginning to understand what Uryuu was getting at. Rukia still looked as confused as ever so he decided to answer for her. "The girl whose life was destroyed by Aizen's take down."
"Exactly."
"Wait, so you're saying that you think Aizen is going to expect me to agree to work with him from the inside? That doesn't make any sense. I would never agree to that. I have every reason to hate that man," Rukia said indignantly.
"Yes, you do. But what if Aizen offered to completely restore everything you and your brother lost and give him back ownership of his company?"
Rukia scoffed at that. "Why would Aizen just hand back a company he worked so hard to take down in exchange for my help?"
"You may not like it, Ms. Kuchiki, but Kurosaki's company is worth two-maybe even three times more than what your brother's company was once worth."
That bit of information irked her no doubt, but she still couldn't figure out why that was significant. "So?"
"Aizen has a reason for everything. I may be completely wrong, but I think I may have him figured out to a certain degree. I have a hunch that the only reason Aizen took down your brother's company was so that he could have some good bartering material."
"Wait a second. So what you're telling me is that the only reason Aizen brought my family to ruin is so that he could use my brother's assets to get me to bring down an even bigger company?"
"Essentially, yes."
Rukia looked shell shocked, to say the least. She put a hand to her head as she absorbed all the information being thrown at her. Aizen wanted to use her to bring down Ichigo and his company. What was worse, he probably only took down her brother's company so he could have something to hang over her head to make her do it. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. But there was still something she couldn't quite understand.
"Wait. How could Aizen possibly know that I'm going to be working at Kurosaki Corp?"
"That's actually one of the reasons why I believe you need to start working there as soon as possible. I don't think Aizen is capable of knowing that we're planning on getting you a job at the company, but he still needs you to work there to fulfill his plan. I think at some point he was planning on reaching out to you through one of his cronies and getting you a job there himself. That's why your current relationship with Kurosaki helps us stay one step ahead of him," Uryuu explained.
"I'm not really following," Rukia said with a look of confusion.
"We're going to get you a small job at Kurosaki Corp before Aizen tries to do the same. He'll immediately know too because god knows how abuzz the business world will be when it gets out that the former Kuchiki heiress is working a lowly job at Kurosaki's company."
"So why does that help us?"
"Because the only way for you to have gotten a job at the company is through a close relationship with someone already working there. Namely, the CEO."
"But how would he know that it's Ichigo that got me the job?" Rukia asked.
"Don't be naive, Ms. Kuchiki. Aizen has probably already noticed how often you both have had contact with each other. He's probably already suspecting a close relationship that he can use to his advantage. And once he finds out that you're working at the company, he'll know his suspicions are correct and that there is something between you and Kurosaki. It'll make you that much more desirable to him as a target. You'll be the perfect person to execute his plan."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Rukia said, still trying to absorb everything.
"Now do you see why you're so important to us, Ms. Kuchiki? It was sheer dumb luck that Kurosaki noticed you and began some sort of something between the two of you. But we can use that luck to our advantage. We cannot accomplish this without your help."
Rukia looked between Uryuu and Ichigo, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout the whole exchange, and sighed. Though she was still fuzzy on the details and even a little hesitant to believe Uryuu had completely figured out Aizen's plans, she knew that what he had said made sense. He was right. She needed to work with them both to help bring down Aizen. The only way to do that would be to go along with whatever Aizen had planned for her until she could turn the tables on him.
She sighed and said, "Okay, I'll do it."
"Wait a second," Ichigo interjected quickly causing both Uryuu and Rukia to turn to him in surprise. He looked almost distressed. Eventually he looked up and locked eyes with Rukia.
"Rukia, what we're asking you to do is going to take a lot of work. And it's going to put you in a lot of danger. Aizen could very easily figure out what we have planned if he hasn't already. Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked her.
Rukia thought it was ironic that in the end he, of all people, would be the one second guessing this. But she had already made up her mind.
"Don't underestimate me, Kurosaki. I'm a Kuchiki," she said with her chest puffed out in pride. "And Kuchiki's don't back down from a challenge. I was born ready for this."
Ichigo smiled slightly at her sudden air of determination and shook his head in disbelief. She really was something.
"So, I have one more question, Uryuu," Rukia said.
"What's that?"
"What exactly will I be doing at the company?"
"You will be the secretary for Jushiro Ukitake, the head of human resources."
"Why are you putting her with Ukitake?" Ichigo asked.
"From what I've heard about Ms. Kuchiki and what I already know about Ukitake. I can tell that they would be a good match. That, and Ukitake has been too friendly with some of Aizen's known cronies lately and I need someone to keep an eye on him."
"That makes sense," Ichigo said as he remembered when Ukitake raved about a lunch meeting he had with Gin Ichimaru, one of Aizen's closest allies and a well known con man. Having someone close to Ukitake to help keep him in line was a good idea.
Eventually, Uryuu stood up from his place at the table and extended his hand to Rukia. "You start Monday morning, bright and early, Ms. Kuchiki. Congratulations, you're hired."
Rukia shook Uryuu's hand as best she could. Though she had given off an air of confidence a few minutes before, she couldn't deny how nervous the whole situation made her. Everything was moving very fast. Only a few weeks ago, Ichigo Kurosaki was just that annoying millionaire that kept coming to the coffee shop asking to go out with her. Now, he was not only her partner in crime but also her new boss.
Orihime is going to have an absolute fit when I tell her.
Uryuu left the apartment first, giving both his friend and his new coworker a short goodbye. Rukia left not long after him. Before she walked out the door, Ichigo put a hand on her arm to stop her.
"Welcome to the company," he said with a small smile before she nodded her head and left his apartment as quickly as she had come.
This was definitely going to be interesting.
Interesting, indeed. Well I hope you guys have kind of a better idea about where I'm coming from with the whole Rukia working at Ichigo's company thing now. Things are definitely going to get more exciting now that the plan is finalized. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out soon. I'm pretty excited to write it since it's going to be all about Rukia's first day as an employee at Kurosaki Corp :) Let me know what you thought!