Hello darlings. Sorry for taking forever, but here is chapter 5.

Mwahz

Chapter 5

The car ride to crime scene was almost unbearable. Ichigo was usually good at ignoring how attractive Kuchiki is. But tonight…he just couldn't. It was that dress, he concluded. It was easier to pretend when she was in her work clothes. He had an especially difficult time when she reached across him in the car. With the ends of her hair brushing his thigh, she was way too close. So close, that he could smell her flowery shampoo. He tried to distance himself as much as he could in that small space, but all he could do was press himself into the seat and hoped she hadn't noticed.
Damn Kuchiki and that dress.

Now, she was examining the body with CSI, while he spoke to two uniformed officers in a dimly-lit alley in Karakura's shopping district.
'We received an anonymous tip reporting a dead body,' one of the officers were saying, but his eyes focused on Kuchiki.
Ichigo scowled.
'Did anyone see anything? Or hear the gunshot?' Ichigo asked. Although they were in the shopping district and it was close to midnight, there still could have been witnesses.
'No, this is the shopping district, usually quiet.' the other officer answered distractedly, his eyes also flitting to and from Kuchiki.
'I know that' Ichigo snapped, his agitation growing.
'O-of course, Detective.' He at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.
Ichigo looked to the other officer. His eyes were still on Kuchiki. The man was practically drooling.
'Hey! Eyes here!' he ordered. These two would be of no help.
After sending them away to check for any cameras that could have caught something, he made his way to Kuchiki and the body.
She had crouched down to ground, trying to get as close to the body without stepping in the pool of blood around it. Ichigo looked at the corpse. It was a man, around his age, good-looking, black hair, bullet wound in his chest.
'The body's still warm. It couldn't have happened too long ago,' she informed him.
'We got an ID?' he asked.
'Yeah,' she flashed a light over the employee ID hanging around the man's neck.
'Ichinose Maki. Bount IT Solutions,' Ichigo read. 'It's a start, I guess. Did you find anything else?
'Nothing. But isn't this odd? The way his ID is kind of placed on his chest,' Kuchiki observed.
Ichigo looked at the body again. She was right. Usually, the ID would have fallen to the side.
'So, the killer wants us to know about the victim's workplace? What, like a clue?' Ichigo mused.
Kuchiki shrugged. She then called out to the CSI team and told them to check the ID for fingerprints.
'The amount of blood and bits of flesh here suggests the bullet went straight through. Let's see if we can find the bullet,' she told him as she rose from her crouch. He nodded and they did sweep of the alley, but found nothing.
'This is pointless. Let's just meet at the precinct tomorrow morning and go from there,' he suggested. Kuchiki nodded her agreement while she signed off on the body's removal.
While they waited for the CSI to finish up, one of the officers from earlier returned. His eyes immediately sticking to Kuchiki.
'There's one camera across the street that could have caught something,' he said, then turned to Kuchiki.
'So, you're Detective Kuchiki?' he asked. 'I've heard a lot about you. Didn't know you were this gorgeous though.' He gave her a slimy smile. Ichigo wanted to punch him.
'What?' she said, one eyebrow raised.
'You're gorgeous,' he repeated, as if he possessed all the charm in the world.
'Yes, I heard you, but this is a crime scene, Officer. Act accordingly,' she warned.
'Yeah, but you know, two birds -one stone…'
'Am I now a bird?' she asked, voice cold like ice.
'I only meant-'
'Meant what?' Kuchiki clenched her fist took a step toward the officer. She wanted to strike him. It was just like that day in court.
'Look, Officer, the last guy that hit on Kuchiki, got kicked in the gut. Thread wisely.,' Ichigo advised.
She whipped her head toward him, forgetting about the officer.
'Who told you that?' she demanded to know.
'Uryu and Chad told me, like, two hours ago.'
She looked scandalized.
'They also told me about the suspension,' Ichigo added.
'I'm gonna kill them!'
'It's not like Keigo and Mizuiro weren't feeding you stories about me all night.'
'They actually didn't. We had better things to talk about than you,' she said haughtily. 'And I don't need you coming to my defence.'
'Oh, please, you were totally gonna hit him. That's the second time I've saved you from assault charges, by the way.'
'You're insufferable!' she said, walking away angrily.
'Only when I'm right,' he called after her.
Without turning, she raised her arm and flipped him the finger.
Despite himself, Ichigo smiled.

Kurosaki was late. They had agreed to meet at the precinct at 7.30am. It was now 7.50. She sighed. She knew working a case with Kurosaki would be taxing, but she had at least hoped he would be on time. While she waited, she had researched Bount IT Solutions. They were a small privately owned IT company. Luckily, their offices opened on Saturdays. She also had time to run the victim's name through their databases as a precaution, but nothing came up. Without a proper lead, there was nothing else for her to do. She looked at her phone. Should she call him? Maybe something had happened…

And then he came waltzing in. She stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed. He stared back.
'Good morning to you, too?' he said.
'You're late.'
'I had something to take care of,' he said in the way of an explanation.
'Okay, whatever, I'm not gonna argue. We've already wasted enough time.'
She got up from her desk, grabbed her gun and holster and started toward him.
'The victim's workplace only opens at 10am, so we should revisit the crime scene the meantime. You're driving.'
'Fine,' he sighed in irritation as she pushed passed him, making her way down to the bustling ground floor.
When she had reached the landing, she was stopped by the officer from last night.
She was so not in the mood for this.
'What is it, Officer?' she asked impatiently. He began to mumble something, then his eyes travelled above her head. She turned around to find Kurosaki two steps behind her, glaring at the officer.
'Detective Kuchiki, I'd like to apologize for last night. It was inappropriate and I was out of line. I'm sorry.'
This was surprising. His demeanor was so different from that he displayed last night.
'Thank you. Don't let it happen again.'
'Yes, ma'am.'

During the drive to crime scene, Rukia went over that officer's apology. It was odd. People usually didn't change overnight, especially not men. Did he actually feel bad? Or, did someone make him apologize. Was it Kurosaki? He was the only other person aware of what happened. Was that the something he had to take of? The officer did look at him like he was scared. But what did Kurosaki gain from making that man apologize to her? Why would he even care?

'There's steam coming out of your ears,' Kurosaki's deep voice broke through her thoughts.
'Huh?' She blinked at him and then asked, 'Did you make that cop apologize to me?'
'No, why the hell would I do that?' he replied, his tone indicating indifference.
'It just doesn't make sense. Men like that don't usually apologize,' she explained.
'Maybe he was scared you might report him.'
Oh right. She hadn't considered that. Now she felt stupid. Of course Kurosaki wouldn't something like that for her. Not that she needed him to, she reminded herself.
'Yeah, you're probably right'
'I'm what? I didn't quite catch that? Did you say I was right?' he taunted.
She crossed her arms and pouted.
'Just drive.'

At the crime scene, they couldn't find anything new. And the camera that faced the alley had been disconnected for quite some now, they had learned.
'Fucking great,' Rukia mumbled to herself. She was still in a mood. She spotted a café, a few shops away. Maybe caffeine would help. She looked back at Kurosaki to find he was chatting to the shop owners who shared the alley. He caught her eyes, she pointed to the café and set off.
When she returned, Kurosaki was leaning against his car, long legs crossed at the ankle. Something in her stirred.
'Here,' she shoved a coffee in his face, ignoring the way the sun glinted in his eyes.
'Oh…thanks.'
'Yeah, sure.'
The was an awkward pause.
'Er, the lab called while you were away,' he then told her, 'They're done, and waiting for us.'
'Let's go, then' she said, and hurried to the passenger's side.

Ichigo tried not to looked too pleased that she had bought him a coffee-black, just how he liked it. It was just a coffee, he told himself. Nothing more. Now, at the lab, he watched her pace the length of the waiting-room.
'Would you just sit,' he suggested. He had long since made himself comfortable, sitting with his legs up on the coffee table.
'Fine,' she said and plopped down one seat away from him. He noticed her drumming her fingers on her knee.
That was strange. Even though Kuchiki was one of the most impatient people he had ever met, she was usually very poised. He had never seen Kuchiki fidget before.

'Hey, detectives, you can come in now,' Hanatarou Yamada, the medical assistant, called from the door.
'Finally,' he heard Kuchiki say under breath as she brushed pass him. What was up with her? They had only been waiting for ten minutes. He couldn't think of anything that could have triggered this. Maybe she had too much caffeine.

Even as Dr Koketsu explained her findings, Kuchiki was still on edge.
'We found gunpowder on his shirt. The mouth of the gun may have been on his body when he was shot. That also explains the way the flesh is torn at his back.' Hanatarou turned the body over for them to see.
'There were no drugs or alcohol in his system, no notable scars. Not even a tattoo,' she continued, 'but we did find a strange liquid in a small vial in his pocket. We sent it over for testing. I'll send you the results soon as.'
'Thanks, Doc,' Ichigo said.
As soon as he and Kuchiki left the lab, Kuchiki got on her phone, but whoever she was calling, didn't answer.
'Pick up the fucking phone,' she said as she tried calling again.
When she had hung up on the third call, he had to ask 'Who are trying to call? And what is up with you all of a sudden?'
'Nothing is 'up' with me, Kurosaki. And I'm trying to call the IT company.'
'Why? We're on our way there now.'
'What if we get there and it's not actually opened. We'd be wasting time,' she said emphatically.
'Then we will find out when were get there. This is literally the only lead we have, Kuchiki.'

When they got there, the offices where in fact opened. They could see the receptionist through the glass.
'See, they're opened. No stress,' he said as they got out of the car.
'Then she should have answered the damn phone.'
Kuchiki's agitation kept getting worse.
What the hell was going on with her?
They had entered the small office and Kuchiki made a beeline for the receptionist. She flashed her badge and said in a commanding voice, 'We're looking for information on Ichinose Maki.'
The receptionist simply said 'I'm sorry, lady. We're not allowed to give out personal information.'
Before Kuchiki could say something she couldn't take back; he grabbed her by the shoulders and gently turned her away from the receptionist.
'I'm sorry about my partner here, she's been having an off day,' he said, flashing her his best fake smile. He could feel Kuchiki rolling her eyes beside him.
'This is really important and you would be helping us a great deal if you could give us any information,' he continued.
'Or we could come back with a search warrant,' Kuchiki added.
'Ignore her. She all work and no play,' he flirted. Kuchiki made a disapproving sound and left the office.
After a little more flirting, he had managing to get something. It turned out that the victim didn't have an office and was more of a travelling technician. No one in the office saw him much, or knew that much about him. But luckily, they did have an address.

When he and Kuchiki got to the victim's apartment, they found nothing useful. The austere one-bedroom dwelling revealed nothing about Ichinose Maki. They had questioned some of his neighbours and they said the same thing the receptionist did: they didn't see him much, nor did they know him very well.
'Where to now, Detective Kurosaki?' Kuchiki asked him.
He had honestly no idea. They were still waiting on lad and fingerprint results. But, currently, they had diddly-squat, and so decided to call it a day.

Rukia ran until she could run no more. The cut on her abdomen wouldn't allow it. She leaned back on the wall of an abandoned warehouse. There was no way she could make it home on her own, and there wasn't a chance of getting a cab at this time.
Fuck.
She had no choice but to call Renji. She would think of an explanation later. Right now, her priority was not bleeding to death in a place she definitely wasn't suppose to be at.
With one hand over her wound, she unzipped her pants pocket with other. She pulled out her phone. She had about ten percent battery power remaining-she had to be quick. She went to her recent calls and tapped Renji's name. She slid down to the floor as she prayed for him to answer.
When the dial toned stopped, before he could say anything, she said quickly, 'I need you to-ow-pick me up. I'm at the old warehouse by the distillery. I-'
Her phone had died.
'Fuck,' she swore. She hoped Renji had heard her.

.