Author's Note : Yay! Chapter 2 is here! I had fun writing this chapter that I managed to get it done within a few hours. I have a new story in my mind so I'm going to try to finish this one as fast as I could so I could start writing that one. With all these plot bunnies jumping around in my head... I wanted to write them all but I can't. *cries*
Thank you for reviewers for the first chapter : Miwa03, AvioNN, MrsMoshae, zodious, MiszIceQueen10, NaruHinaFanboy, Hime4life, Fostersb (I wrote Nel in for you!), mariquyta, and jack_345. You guys made me feel inspired to write more! =)
Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter! And... review, please!! XD
Warning : This is the first story I wrote with strong sexual innuendos (I love this word!)... & also a warning for a very professionally polite Kurosaki Ichigo in this chapter.
Disclaimer : I don't own Bleach.
9.00 A.M.
The grape farm was unimaginably large. As they made their way to Grimmjow's mansion, Ichigo and Renji were greeted with a pleasant scenery and the sweet aroma of ripe grapes.
When Renji pulled up in front of the incredulously large mansion, Ichigo couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy toward the lucky bastard.
"Wow!" Renji exclaimed in awe as they got out of the car.
Ichigo chose to stay silent and walked straight to the majestic oak door. He rang the bell as soon as he reached the doorstep.
They waited for a few seconds before the door opened with a loud creak.
A small, pale man wearing a cheap suit stood before them, bowing politely.
"How can I be of help to you gentlemen?" he asked.
Renji answered for them. "We're here to see Miss Inoue Orihime. We had an appointment with her."
He eyed both strangers for a moment. "I'll let her know. I hope you gentlemen will wait here patiently," he said, and to their annoyance, he slammed the door shut.
"What the hell? That's rude!"
"Quit it, Renji. They're just being extra precautious."
"But-"
The door swung open again, revealing the same man. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. You may enter now," he said, stepping aside as he held the door for them.
"Thank you," Ichigo muttered to him and followed Renji inside.
The living room was indeed impressive. Pieces of elegant furniture decorated the huge space; the sofas, side tables, a rustic mirror, and an old fireplace were among the decorations that stood out.
The man closed the door behind them and motioned the two gaping men to take their seats.
"Miss Inoue will be joining you shortly," he informed and with one last bow, excused himself.
"Man, this house is insanely huge!" Renji said as soon as the pale man was out of sight.
"There's nothing to be so impressed about."
Renji glared at his best friend. "Don't try to deny it. You're as amazed as me about this house, aren't you?" Leaning back against the comfortable sofa, he added, "Wonder if I'll be able to have a house like this one day."
"Stop daydreaming. Unless your dead father turned out to be a millionaire, it won't happen."
"At least I have a dream! What about you? Are you really satisfied with what you have now?"
"Kurosaki-san, Abarai-san, forgive me for making you wait." The female voice coming from behind them stopped their little argument.
They stood up abruptly to greet her, and Ichigo held his breath at the beautiful sight before him.
Her long, luscious auburn hair framed her beautiful face nicely. She was wearing a white silk nightgown, and with his newly-gained extrasensory perception, he swore he could see her smooth, creamy skin under the thin fabric. When his gaze landed on her chest, he felt blood rushed up to his face. Blame it on that damned extrasensory perception, because her erect nipples was distractingly visible.
Ichigo swallowed thickly at the thought of having his mouth sucking hungrily at her lovely twin mounds.
She must have noticed him staring because she called for the pale man who immediately rushed to her side.
Renji elbowed him and mouthed, "Pervert!"
"Get me my robe," she said to him.
He disappeared again and returned with a pink robe in his hand, which he handed immediately to her. "Thanks, Ulquiorra-kun," she muttered and wrapped the robe around her body.
"Do you think she noticed?" Ichigo whispered to his red-haired best friend.
"Of course she noticed. You were gawking at her breasts like an idiot!" Renji hissed.
She sat across the two men. "Gentlemen, please, take your seats," she told them when she saw they were still standing.
Legs crossed, hands folded neatly on her lap, she asked for the purpose of their visit.
"Like I said to you on the phone earlier, we would like to meet every single person in this house and perhaps we could ask them a few questions regarding your missing fiancé," Ichigo explained.
She nodded, and a few strands of hair fell across her face. Ichigo felt a strong urge to wipe them away. He cursed mentally to fight the urge. What was it about this woman? It was as if she had cast a love spell on him. Wait... love? No, I did not think that!
"Ichigo!"
"W-what?"
"She said we can start meeting everyone in this house. We're allowed to stay until noon."
"Oh."
"Close your damn mouth already! Geez, you really are an idiot!"
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9.30 A.M.
SUSPECT 1 : ICHIMARU GIN (Manager to Jaegerjaquez Corporation)
For some reason, the man insisted that they met him in Grimmjow's office. A room with a feel of old-century elegance, decorated with antique furniture.
The silver-haired man greeted them, flashing them what looked like a sly grin. Ichigo took note of his neatly pressed, expensive black business suit. He offered them to sit on the other side of his gigantic wooden desk. Renji took out a small notepad and pen as soon as he was seated.
"How may I be of help?" he asked, his tone professionally calm.
"We're here to ask some questions regarding Mr. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. We were informed that he disappeared three days ago."
"Oh? Are you with the police?"
"No, I am Private Detective Kurosaki Ichigo and this is Private Detective Abarai Renji."
"Private detectives, eh? May I ask who hired you?"
"Miss Inoue Orihime stopped by our office yesterday and asked for our help."
"I see. I wonder why she came to you gentlemen for help?"
"Perhaps to avoid media attention, sir," Renji answered, speaking for the first time since he entered the room.
"Oh, yes, the media can be a hassle at times." Then, he slapped his desk suddenly, startling Ichigo and Renji. "I forgot to introduce myself! How rude of me! I am Ichimaru Gin, Manager to the Jaegerjaquez Corporation."
"A Manager? Could you explain what is it that you do, Ichimaru-san?"
"Well, let me put it this way. My old friend Grimmjow call the shots, I carry them out."
"Meaning you're the one who keeps his business running."
Gin let out an amused laugh. "I took that as a compliment, Kurosaki-san."
"How long did you know the victim?"
"Victim? I don't like the sound of that."
"I'm sorry, but until we find him, we can't assure that he is safe or not."
"I understand. And I've known Grimmjow since I was a child. My parents were both lawyers working for the Jaegerjaquez family."
"So you were friends?"
"We're friends from when we were kids until our college years. Now we were more like business partners."
"Could you explain that?"
"Personally, I don't think adults are incapable of having an honest friendship like the ones we had in our younger days. We spent time and shared problems like normal friends did but I can't be too carefree around him because there are limitations since he is my boss."
"I get it."
"You do, Kurosaki-san? Good."
"When did you find out he was missing?"
"I don't really keep track of his whereabouts, honestly. It was Orihime-chan who came to me and told me he hadn't come home for the night. She was worried because he never went anywhere without informing her. I advised her to be patient and waited. But I had been very busy so I forgot all about it. Maybe she misunderstood it as me not regarding my friend's disappearance seriously, so she decided to take matters into her own hands."
"Was she wrong?"
Gin flashed another sly grin. "She was wrong."
Ichigo nodded. "When was the last time you saw him?"
"It was the day before he disappeared. We were planning on producing a new brand of red wine, so we had a discussion about that."
"This is my last question, Ichimaru-san. What sort of man do you think Grimmjow-san is?"
"A deductive and well-prepared man. He was also very cautious, I might say, always making sure he knew what was going on in the business and who are the people surrounding him, be it in his personal or professional life."
Ichigo waited for Renji to stop scribbling into his notepad before he returned his gaze to Ichimaru Gin. Standing up, he offered his right hand at the man. "I guess that's all the question I have for you today, Ichimaru-san. I'll contact you should I need more information from you."
"I hope my answers helped."
"I'm hoping the same thing, Ichimaru-san."
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"Did you get everything?" Ichigo asked Renji as soon as they were out of the room.
"Of course I did. You ask the questions, and I'll make sure I write down all of their answers."
"Good."
"Man, that Ichimaru guy is a bit creepy!"
"Yeah."
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10.00 A.M.
SUSPECT 2 : NELIEL TU ODERSCHVANK (Grimmjow's Secretary)
They were back at the living room, and the next person to be interviewed was the missing man's secretary, a hot woman with luscious pale-green hair, and her chest proved to be bigger than Inoue Orihime's.
"So, Miss Oderschvank-"
"Please, call me Nel," she interrupted.
"Yes. Nel, you are Grimmjow-san's secretary, right?"
"Yes, I am. By the way, can I call you Ichigo?"
Ichigo cleared his throat, a bit taken aback at the unexpected question. "Yes, you can."
"Thank you."
"Do you work specifically for Grimmjow-san or for Ichimaru-san as well?"
"Though it might be hard to believe, I acted as secretary for both men."
No wonder Ichimaru Gin didn't seem to be so fond of his so-called childhood friend. They had to share the same woman, Renji mused.
"But I mostly attend to Grimmjow's needs more than I did to Gin's."
Aha! All the more reason to be pissed at your boss! Another silly thought entered Renji's mind.
"Can you tell us what sort of tasks your job required you to do."
"Just the normal stuffs a secretary needs to do; taking care of their meetings and appointments, reminding them of the stuffs that they seemed to have forgotten about, answering phone calls, serve coffees, you know, all the boring stuff."
"How would you describe the relationship between Grimmjow-san and Ichimaru-san?"
"Competitive."
"Care to explain more?"
"Well, I guess Grimmjow is the kind of man who has the Midas touch. Almost everything he did turned out to be a success, while Gin worked hard to keep up his achievement. I know he always wanted to be like Grimmjow but he could never be."
"Was there any kind of dispute between those two in the past?"
"Nothing I was aware of. They had disagreements over business matters, but that's normal."
"How long have you known Grimmjow-san?"
"I met him in college. He offered me this job before I graduated. It was like a blessing to me."
"You owed him, huh?"
"Truth is, I don't. I was an excellent student and I could work anywhere I want. But I couldn't refuse the offer."
"Why not?"
"Have you ever be tempted by something, Ichigo? A temptation you couldn't resist no matter how hard you fight it?"
Ichigo's mind flashed back to the delicious sight of Inoue Orihime's plump lips, her chest, her legs...
"Judging by that blush you have now, I'm going to say you know what I'm talking about."
Renji shot an annoying look at Ichigo who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"What sort of man is Grimmjow-san to you?"
"Like I said, a very tempting, attractive man. I adore him."
"I see. You are very upfront about your feelings." After a brief consideration, Ichigo asked again, "Are you on good terms with Inoue Orihime?"
Nel laughed. "You're asking whether I'm jealous of her. No, we are on good terms. She loved him while I was more like... infatuated with him. I guess I like the fact that he is someone I can't have." Leaning forward, she added in a low voice, "Because... I usually can get almost any man I like."
Ichigo tore his gaze away from her cleavage. "I think that's all for now, Nel. I'll be in touch."
"You're a cute man, Ichigo." Averting her sultry gaze toward Renji, she said, "And so are you, Renji."
Renji stopped scribbling. You don't get to be complimented by seductive, sexy women everyday, do you?
She left the dazed men with a sweet smile.
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"Ichigo, can we hire a secretary?"
"If you're willing to pay for the salary, then we could."
"......"
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10.30 A.M.
SUSPECT 3 : ULQUIORRA CIFER (Butler)
"The lady of the house said you gentlemen want to see me."
"Oh, yes. Have a seat, please."
The pale man sat, keeping his posture straight.
"You work as the butler, am I right?"
"Yes. I manage everything in this house. I make sure everything's cleaned and everyone's comfortable."
"That's pretty hard to do in a large house like this."
"I'll do the best I can to serve my master."
"Good. Can you tell me what sort of man your master is?"
"He is a very kind-hearted man. Though he may not appear so, but he is very nice to everyone, especially to the lady of the house."
"The lady of the house? Would that be Inoue Orihime?"
"Yes. The master met her at a charity dinner and they developed a liking to each other. He proposed to her and brought her to this mansion in a matter of few months. I think he such act caused disagreements between him and Ichimaru-san, as well as Nel-san."
"Why?"
"Nel-san likes the master very much, I'm sure she told you that. And Ichimaru-san believed that the engagement would be too much of a distraction."
"Do you agree with them?"
"I don't believe I have the right to judge that."
"Come on. You don't have to be so cautious around me, I won't say anything to them."
"Well, the lady of the house had been nothing but very nice to me. I'm glad they got engaged."
Ichigo muttered his understanding.
"She was a very beautiful lady, so I'm sure she will make the master happy."
"I believe so."
Ulquiorra's gaze lingered on Ichigo's face for a few seconds, trying to see if the man was lying, but he was satisfied with the honesty he saw reflected in the detective's eyes.
"When did you find out that your master is missing?"
"I waited with the lady early that morning. She was worried because he hadn't come home that night."
"What were you doing on the night he supposedly went missing?"
"I went to bed early after I made sure I finished my chores."
"Is there anyone who could testify to that?"
"I shared a room with the driver. I think you can ask him."
"We will. Thank you for your co-operation."
The butler bowed politely before leaving the room. "I'm glad I can be of assistance, Kurosaki-san, Abarai-san."
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"I sure wouldn't want an emo butler moving around my house."
"As if you can afford having butlers, Renji."
"You're so damn annoying!"
"Whatever. Just make sure you won't miss any words from our suspects."
"Okay! Okay!"
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Review, please?