Title: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Summary: AU Rukia is a young attorney with quite an impressive reputation; Ichigo is a detective with a reputation of his own. With a homicide pinned on him and a murderer on his tail can she keep herself away from the hot blooded young convict? IchiRuki

Shalan's Blah Blah: YO! Another story today you say? I hope you guys like this one too! It came to me while I was tanning… read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach BTW…

Glossary:

OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Chapter: The Criminal

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He was famous across the United States… they called him the Sherlock Holmes of Washington, the Dick Tracy of DC. He was on magazines and the TV, he had written two books, both of which were best sellers, he had solved over a hundred cases in the past two years alone… the police department of DC and the FBI called upon him to solve their cases for them. If only he hadn't been in the wrong place at the wrong time…

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She walked down the hallways towards her office, her devil may care red lips pursed together. Her black hair was curled stylishly away from her face, the Farrah Faucette look working well for her. Her hot-off-the-runway steel grey Prada suit paired with a pale azure silk blouse from Kate Spade matched with her steel grey Marc Jacob boots. The young woman tossed her jacket onto the coat rack as she walked into the law office.

"Good morning Miss Kuchiki… you have one new case in… it's a young man with a murder trial on his heels…" The secretary handed the young woman a file. Rukia looked at it as she sipped from her Starbucks cup. The lawyer walked into her large office and kicked the door shut behind her.

"Morning darling…" She heard from her desk. The lawyer looked up and saw her brother sitting at her desk, his hands folded neatly across his stomach, his feet on her desk. Her eyes bulged.

"FEET!" She pointed at his feet and in one motion also spilled coffee all over her blouse. He gasped and put them down as his sister rushed over and pulled out a hand wipe and began to wipe down the table. He rolled his eyes.

"How do you even live in a city like this like that?" He lifted an eyebrow and the lawyer looked over at him.

"Because… it's a good place to make a living… isn't it?" She lifted her eyebrow. "Didn't I tell you not to put your feet up on my desk?! I eat there you know!" She slapped his leg. He frowned. She was such a prude… and so OCD.

"Alright, so how have you been doing?" The black haired young man looked over as his younger sister panicked about having coffee on her shirt.

"I've been alright…" She replied as she scrubbed her shirt down. Byakuya grinned as she fussed.

"Calm down Rukia… you can just buy a new one if you need to…" He sighed and stood up. "Anyways business has me in town for a while so I was thinking that maybe we could go out to dinner…" Byakuya asked.

"Set up a date with my secretary…"

"But I don't want to date your secretary."

"Byakuya!" He laughed at her.

"Sorry darling… I will see you later then… call me," with that he kissed her on the cheek and took his leave. The attorney sat down in her comfy leather chair and continued to scrub her shirt off.

"Miss Kuchiki you have a call on line 2." He heard her secretary's voice over the intercom.

"Thank you Sarah… please connect them," she picked up the phone, pressing the button for line two. "This is Kuchiki… go."

"You're a woman?" She heard a surprised voice on the other end of the line. "Oh… well… anyways… can you tell your boss that I need to speak with him? My card is on his desk. Thanks babe…" The caller hung up and she frowned over at the card.

"Thanks babe?" She frowned and picked it up. "Detective Ichigo Kurosaki huh?" She reached over and pressed a button on her phone. "Sarah… get me Detective Kurosaki's address would you?" She stood up and walked out of the office.

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Ichigo sat on his butt, on the coffee colored leather couch in front of the television, drinking a scotch. He swirled the ice around in the glass and his eyes diverted themselves from the television only to look at another more depressing object, the small box around his ankle that prevented him from leaving his house.

There was a knock at his door and he looked over. "It's OPEN!" He called and the door opened to expose a pretty woman in a silk blouse and a pair of steel gray pants. The blouse was buttoned all the way up to the neck and he raised an eyebrow.

"Detective Kurosaki… how rude of y…" She froze as she looked around the dimly lit apartment. Dust specks floated in the air and at least three day old pizza sat on the countertop. She felt her eye twitch.

"Sorry about that… haven't really been able to take my trash out…" He said sarcastically then turned to look at the TV again.

"Don't ignore me after you called me babe over the damn phone!" She nearly shouted at him. He turned back around only to see her walking towards him with a handkerchief over her mouth and nose.

"I can call you babe if I want to... anyways… who are you?" Ichigo blinked over at her.

"My name is Rukia Kuchiki… your attorney," the woman folded her arms and Ichigo looked back over at her.

"You're my attorney… I thought I asked for the best… not the most feminine…" he raised an eyebrow and she felt her anger tick upwards.

"What the hell is wrong with you? It's a wonder that you even became a detective with your people skills!" She glared at him.

"Get me out of house arrest and maybe I'll consider making you my permanent lawyer," he said, still watching the television.

"No wonder no other lawyer would even talk to you! You're a… a… meanie!" Ichigo laughed and turned around.

"Awe… now what… are we in kindergarten?" He let his eyes fall down her body from her pretty face. The blouse which was buttoned all the way was also rather loose, not allowing him a good look at her figure and the pants were also rather baggy and he frowned. She was a complete prude. His eyes picked up the coffee stain on her breast and the dirt at the bottom of her pant legs. "So… did you spill your coffee before or after you stepped in the mud puddle?" He raised his eyes up to her.

"I'm leaving," she turned on her heel.

"Wait!" She heard his voice and she stopped. "I need to get off house arrest…" He stood up for the first time and she nearly stared. He was tall, just above average height with muscular arms. He wore a wife beater and a pair of black trousers.

"And… why do you need me to do that?" She frowned from behind her handkerchief.

"Because… I have to solve this murder…" his eyes bored into hers and she found that he had extremely beautiful eyes, brilliant amber irises surrounded by a ring of black.

"Murder? Oh you mean the murder that you committed?" She peaked an eyebrow. Ichigo stared her down.

"I didn't kill anyone…" He stated plainly. "Why can't anyone understand that? I haven't done anything!" She backed away as he nearly threw a conniption.

"Fine! FINE! I'll help you…" She shook her head, wondering why she was.

"Good! Thank you!" He grinned cheerily. "I…" He heard it, his sensitive ears caught the sound of a gun being cocked. "GET DOWN!" The detective twisted and pushed Rukia to the ground as a round of gun fire came in through the window. She gasped as blood gushed from two wounds, one in his arm and the other had grazed his ribcage.

"What the HELL?" She cursed for the first time in a long time.

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Just outside the emergency room Rukia explained what had happened in the apartment, including the disgusting feel of his filthy floor. She walked into the hospital afterwards to see about Ichigo.

"Don't die before you pay me Kurosaki," she told him and he nodded with a sarcastic grin on his face.

"Yeah… thanks for all your concern Miss Kuchiki," he barely flinched as the doctor pulled out the bullet; he laughed slightly as Rukia gagged. She had already thrown up in his toilet twice while he was walking out the door to get the police there. He had laughed at her then as well.

"You're fairly tough…" she observed as he rolled his eyes at her.

"I was in the military for four years," he replied softly and her icy façade cooled a little, it must have been a difficult four years.

"So what…" She toughened herself back up, "I lived on the streets of New York City for fourteen years of my life… and look where I am…" she folded her arms.

"You have no clue do you?" Ichigo looked over at her and she felt her anger flare again. He was insulting her once again.

"You'll be safe in jail. No one can shoot you there…" She folded her arms.

"I'll go to jail for a few days but I'm not going to stay there… do you understand me?"

"I got you out of house arrest didn't I?" She smirked and he threw her a dirty look as the doctor bandaged his arm. It was then that she noticed his upper body; beautifully carved with a complete set of iron pectorals and abdominals, the etched V in his hips only completing the godlike physical appearance of the detective before her.

"See something you like Kuchiki?" He grinned from the bed. He nodded as the doctor spoke to him telling him not to strain his arm muscles too much.

"No… I was just thinking that you should be more careful Kurosaki," she covered her blush quickly.

"I'll try," he flinched again as the doctor gently scrubbed his side with alcohol.

"Good… don't die before you pay me," she told him.

"Is that your motto? Kuchiki Attorney at Law "Don't Die Before You Pay Us?" Ichigo joked then he knew it was the wrong one because the woman who had once been standing in front of him stormed out of the room.

"She's cute…" the inter told Ichigo.

"Yeah… but she's got one hell of a temper…" Ichigo frowned and the intern laughed.

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Rukia sat across from her brother at dinner that night in a shapeless turtle neck black dress, a necklace of pearls placed over the collar. Byakuya smiled at her a little. He had heard about her brush with death earlier in the day and he wanted to hear about it.

"So how was death? Was he nice?" Byakuya chuckled.

"Not joking Byakuya… it was terrifying…" She shuddered. "I saw my life flash before my eyes…" He saw goose flesh jump up on her skin and he looked down. He knew what was bothering her.

"Let's not bring it up alright?" Byakuya reached over and placed a hand on hers. Rukia nodded, tears almost breaching her face but they disappeared quickly. She hadn't cried since that day.

"Sorry brother…" she looked down and he smiled lightly. "Just… I don't know… It took me back to New York…" She frowned.

"Yeah… I know…" Byakuya squeezed her hand tightly and she bowed her head.

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Ichigo sighed again, looking out the barred window to his cell; the orange jumpsuit he had been forced into was unbuttoned, exposing his bandaged chest to the moon light. "I guess she wasn't so bad…" He thought back to her physique. "She must have had a run in with a man in the past…"

He had noticed the fidgety way she held her hands and she tapped a foot uncomfortably. Her body was curved away from him, one foot behind her as if she would run at any second. She kept her eyes lowered from his at almost all times except for that one time. He sighed lightly.

"I could write a freakin' book about women and their body language couldn't I?" He spoke to no one in particular.

'Yes… yes I could…' He thought and relaxed a little, which was hard to do with a hard metal spring grinding into one's back. Ichigo sighed deeply and took in a deep breath then coughed… what the hell? Blood? He stood up and looked around. The scent of blood was powerful and nearby.

"HOLY SHIT! GUARDS! GUARDS!" Ichigo called, staring at the cell across from him. "GUARDS!" The guards came running. "HIM!" He pointed and they looked over.

One of them ran off to get help and the other stayed there. "Did you see what happened?" The guard asked him. Ichigo shrugged. "And could I get your autograph?" Ichigo blinked and smiled.

"Yeah… sure…" Ichigo reached out of the bars and signed the piece of paper that was offered to him.

"You are like my idol! I have always wanted to meet you! I mean… not under these circumstances but… you know…" the young man looked away sheepishly and Ichigo laughed.

"Don't worry about it… I understand… I once met my idol and do you know what I did?" Ichigo asked him.

"I'm afraid I don't sir."

"I hugged him," Ichigo laughed and the young man laughed with him.

"Stop talking with the prisoners and help me…" Another guard to him and the young guard walked away. Ichigo watched with interest as the men carried the other inmate away.

"Come with me…" another detective pulled Ichigo out of the cell and he blinked as he was taken from within the cell to the interrogation room. He sighed impatiently, folding his arms.

"Ichigo Kurosaki?" He heard a voice enter the room. It was a usual scare tactic that most detectives employed to make their subjects nervous… he knew this… so he wondered why they were employing it.

"I didn't do it." He said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"We know you didn't do that one…" The other detective replied. "I just want to know what you know about it…"

"C'mon Hitsugaya… I just freakin' smelt him… it smelled like seeping blood so I called the guards…"

"You know… they say that only those who have experienced blood…"

"Spare me the psyche bull shit Hitsugaya… I know what you're getting at and you know why I know the smell of blood…" The carrot-top shot Toshiro a pointed look and the white haired young man rolled his eyes. "Anyways… I don't know anything…"

"You the fucking divine brain! You know everything there is to know about the freakin' crime scene before the forensics even come back!" Toshiro pointed at him.

"Yeah… so…" Ichigo looked away from him.

"What is the connection between the murder you've been blamed for and the other three murders earlier in the day?" Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed.

"Well I'll tell you…" Ichigo leaned forward…

"Good…" Toshiro leaned forward and the two's forehead touched lightly. "Now tell me so I can send you away."

"I… don't know!" Ichigo sat back with a laugh. Toshiro threw his hands up in the air.

"Either your sleuthing skills are getting rusty or you're bull shittin' me…" Toshiro folded his arms. "Either way… you have to stay somewhere else other than at your apartment… do you have someone you can stay with that won't throw you out on the street?"

"Yeah…" Ichigo grinned devilishly. "Yeah I do…

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Am I cool or what?

Shalan