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Chapter 10

'I want to join too!' whined Rangiku from the seat next to him. She had been desperately trying to join the drinking contest that Yumichika, Ikkaku and Renji were currently involved in-one they had somehow roped Izuru into joining.

'No!' said Ikkaku firmly, slamming his glass onto the table. 'The last time you drank with us, I woke up wearing a dress and a wig!'

It was a well-known fact that Rangiku could out-drink all of them, and often goaded them into doing embarrassing things that she records for blackmail purposes.

'That wasn't my fault. You wanted to wear that wig,' Rangiku pouted, while Yumichika and Renji laughed at the memory.

'He said it made him feel pretty,' Kuchiki said, laughing along with the others. She was seated across from him, and right next to her was Shuhei fucking Hisagi, who, up until now, had been keeping her attention as he regaled her with stories from his oh, so amazing life.

It took every ounce of his being to stay in his seat and keep his mouth shut.

Ichigo had always believed he was a man who was in control of his emotions-something that he had proved to himself back at Hueco Mundo. But whenever Rukia Kuchiki was involved, he just couldn't get it together.

Earlier, he had walked out of their precinct because he knew that if he stayed at any longer, he would tell her how beautiful she looked with her hair loose. And that she also looked beautiful with her hair in that knot she always wore. That she was beautiful when she frowned at him; and she was beautiful when she smiled.

He should just go home. That was the sensible thing to do.
But he couldn't leave first. He had to know whether Kuchiki would leave the bar alone or with Hisagi.
So he stayed -no matter how torturous it was watching someone else win over the girl who occupied his head 24/7.

'You guys seem to have a lot of fun here,' Hisagi said, slinging his arm across the back of Kuchiki's chair.
Ichigo gripped his glass tightly-his fist itching to connect with Hisagi's jaw.

'Murders and drug busts don't happen every day in Karakura. We have to fill the time somehow,' replied Yumichika with a flip of his hair.

'Yeah, could you imagine if we were in Rukongai. From what Renji says, we would never have a day off there,' Ikkaku said, knocking back another shot.

'What would Renji know? He came straight here from the academy,' Rangiku said dismissively, 'Rukia was the one who actually put in hours there.'

All heads turned to Rukia waiting for her to speak. Ichigo would have never guessed she was from Rukongai-a place well known for its social divide. There was North Rukongai for the uber rich elites and South Rukongai…where crime was a way of life; a necessity for most to survive.
If he had to guess, he would say she was from the North.
As violent as she was, she still had that polished way about her.

'Wow, you were a detective in Rukongai? A friend of mine went there to consult. He had nightmares for weeks when he came back. He still won't talk about happened,' Hisagi told the group, but his eyes were on Kuchiki.

'Yeah, Rukongai isn't for the faint-hearted,' Kuchiki said, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

'Is that why you transferred here?' Hisagi asked, 'Was it all a bit too much?'

Ichigo knew everyone thought Hisagi was being sympathetic, but to Ichigo's ears, it sounded condescending.

'Yip,' was all Kuchiki said.
Ichigo almost laughed out loud. Whatever her reasons for leaving Rukongai, it definitely wasn't because she couldn't handle it.

Ichigo wracked his brain for something to say to change the subject, but thankfully, there was a thud that saved him the trouble. Turning toward the sound, he saw Kira face-down on the table.

'Jesus, you guys,' Rukia admonished the other three, 'You could have gone easy on him!'

'I should take him home,' Hisagi said with a sigh.
He hefted Kira up by the arms, and, with a smile, said to Kuchiki, 'I'll see you in the morning.'

With Hisagi gone, Ichigo's chest loosened. But only for a little while.

'Oh my God! He likes you! Shuhei likes you! Like, like likes you!' Rangiku announced excitedly, bounding over to sit next to Kuchiki.

'No, he doesn't,' replied Kuchiki, crossing her arms.

'Are you kidding me? He barely took his eyes of you. And that smile! If that wasn't an I wish I was leaving with you instead of my drunk friend smile…'

Rangiku squealed, all high-pitched and girly, 'Finally! My prayers have been answered. You now have a man to love.'

'Rangiku. I only just met him today. I barely know the man.'

'So? He's dreamy and has stable income. And he is sooo clearly into you,' Rangiku went on, with her hands clasped at her chest.

'Really? Earlier, you were talking about me and-' Kuchiki stopped herself, flicking her gaze at him.

And who?

'Now Shuhei is the one for me?' she continued; one eyebrow raised.

Who?

'Did someone finally seduce the great Detective Rukia Kuchiki?' Yumichika asked, half-drunk after he downed yet another shot.

'Yes,' Rangiku said at the same time that Kuchiki said 'No.'

Renji laughed, 'As if anyone could seduce Rukia. Not even hotshot Ichigo here could swing that.'

'Ichigo, I will give you a hundred-no, a thousand bucks, if you can seduce Kuchiki,' Ikkaku said, a drunken grin on his face.

'Yeah, Kurosaki. 'Seduce' me,' she said mockingly, batting her eyelashes at him.

He just scowled at her, and swallowed the rest of his drink. He knew she was being sarcastic but that didn't stop his heart from thumping madly in his chest.

Rukia looked at her watch for what felt like the millionth time- it was four minutes past two in the morning.
She had been waiting on a low rooftop in the old part of town for that past three hours. Her informant had finally found a meeting place for the Hollows-the gang she been looking for, for the past two years.
She reminded herself to be extra cautious. The last time, when she learned of their name, she had let her guard down and received another scar to add to her collection.
She had to be better this time.

She looked at her watch again-nine minutes past two.
Impatience gnawed at her.
This could be it.
If she lived through this night, it could finally be the end of it all.
She could maybe even go home and make things right.

While she waited, she went over the information she had about the hollows-which was precious little. Their base of operations was here in Karakura, but they would strike their enemies wherever they found them-like they had done in Rukongai. At the station, she couldn't ask anyone or search the system, lest it attract any suspicion, so she had gone through as many case files as she could, but only found a few connected to them.
They were all murders, all brutal enough to make even her stomach turn.

The sound of footsteps had her alert. She peered over the edge of the roof and saw a group of men congregating under the sole working lamppost. Rukia made out eight men, each wearing a variety of face masks. None of the masks were familiar to her; none of them were bone-white with that long, horrible nose that plagued her dreams.
Disappointment settled in her gut.
It seemed she still had more work to do before she could put this to rest.

She quickly readjusted her plan and watched the group carefully. She couldn't hear what they were saying but that didn't matter. She wasn't interested in gathering evidence. She just needed to catch one of them alone.

An hour later, when the group dispersed, one man remained, smoking the rest of his cigarette. The other men had left him behind and were already out of sight.
Perfect.

She shimmied down a pipe and pulled out a knife that she strapped to her leg, and waited for her target to pass by. As he did, he caught him by the ankle and pulled him into the darkness. Before he could react, she jumped on his back and smashed his masked face into the filthy ground with one hand, and with the other, she plunged a knife into the man's hand, pinning it to the ground. As he yelled in pain, she pulled out another knife-this one thin and long, much like a filleting knife- and pressed into the joint of his shoulder.

She had learned early in life that the easiest way to take down a man twice her size was to inflict the most pain as soon as possible.

She pushed the knife deeper into the shoulder joint, and asked, dropping her voice low, 'Who are the ones with the white masks? The ones with the long, sharp nose?'

'Bite me, bitch.'

She pulled the knife half way out and drove it back into the wound. Blood dripped onto the ground- the smell of it stung her nose. The man's groans of pain were stifled by the mask he wore.

'Now, you can tell me what I want to know, or I can separate your shoulder from the rest of your skeleton. Your choice,' she said told him.

'They will kill me…' he said, his breathing rough with the pain she was inflicting.

'Not the answer I'm looking for.' she said, severing a tendon or two, just to make her point.

Another stifled yelp of pain followed.

'What do you know about a white mask with a long nose?' she asked again, moving the knife against his bone.

'Ahhhhh…I…fuck-Menos-they're called the Menos-we answer to them. That's all I know. I swear. I swear!'

'Thank you.'
He yelled out as she pulled the knives out of him, and sprinted back into the shadows. She didn't wait to see if he called for help, or if he was able to get up from the ground. She ran to her car parked all the way on the main road. She jumped in the driver's seat, and pulled off her wool gloves before she drove away.

It was around 5.00am when Rukia made it to her back apartment. She went straight to the shower and stripped off her filthy clothes. She stood under the stinging hot water until her body felt a little looser.

Absentmindedly, she traced the now itching wound on her side-the wound that would always bear the handiwork of Ichigo Kurosaki.

She was too tired to stop herself from thinking about him. At the bar, she thought that he had been staring at her. But maybe it was just her imagination.

Seduce me- she had told him; the words were out of her mouth before she knew it.

Her exhausted brain wondered what it would be like if he actually seduced her; if he really was the type to pin her against a wall.

She heaved a sigh as she turned off the water. She dried herself and dressed quickly. She had spent too long in the shower and if she dallied anymore, she would be late for work. She reached for the foundation on her dresser and used it to cover the scar on her right bicep, just below where her short sleeves of her t-shirt ended. She didn't have the time for buttons today, nor did she have time to blow dry her hair, much less put it in its usual knot.
As she rushed out, she told her self that she wouldn't care about any comment that Kurosaki might make about her appearance today.