"The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from every eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom, is, to die." - Oliver Goldsmith


Ichigo's hand gently caressed the side of her face as his lips pressed against hers tenderly…any other woman would have swooned at such a sensual intimation. ...However, Rukia Kuchiki's affect remained indifferent and apathetic. …Her present state of guilt was all-consuming, her eyes remained vacant orbs while her lips were scantly parted against his.

…It was surreal, her body was going through the motions while her mind remained an inactive participant. She was not unlike a posable doll as her attention level was scarcely enough to discern she was even aware of his presence. Her mood was reaching greater heights of toxicity as last evening's events replayed themselves in a constant loop, again and again, occupying her every thought.

…And unfortunately for Rukia, her odd behavior was not lost on Ichigo. …After a few more failed kissing endeavors, he finally gave up and stopped trying altogether.

"Hey there, anyone home?," Ichigo asked Rukia with a slight grimace.

"…Huh? Oh, …nothing, I'm fine. …What?!! …Look, I'm sorry, I just didn't get much sleep last night.," she said while avoiding his eyes.

"Really? That's weird, I slept great for a change. What?!! …Are you sure you're ok? Cause' you don't seem like it. I can tell something's bothering you."

"…You can?," Rukia said, quickly trying her best to mask any signs of guilt.

"Yes, and well…to tell you the truth, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.," he said looking away from her.

"Y-You mean to tell me you already know?," she asked with trepidation.

"Well yeah, it's written all over your face. ...And besides that, you've been acting really weird all morning. …I knew we were going to have to deal with this sooner or later… Don't worry, we'll face him together, you just let me know if I say or do anything stupid, ok? This really doesn't have to be a big deal.," he said, soothingly, while embracing her as one of his hands absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair.

"-But Ichigo, I don't know how to handle this!! Don't you think this should be more of a concern to YOU?!!," she said with outrage as she pushed herself away from him.

"Please, I barely know the guy! Trust me, you have WAY more experience with him than I do! And I know you two are alot closer now than you used to be."

"Y-You can't be serious…I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT TO ME!!," she said wide-eyed…just before punching him squarely in the face.

Ichigo immediately fell to his knees. Both of his hands clasped over his nose as his whole face began to swell up. And after the initial shock wore off, he started yelling-

"-WHA THE HELB?!! HEETH YOUR BROTHER!," he said as blood dribbled out from between his fingers and onto his favorite pair of jeans.

Rukia was momentarily stunned. BROTHER?? This whole time Ichigo had been discussing Byakuya. …Of course, now everything he said made sense. She'd forgotten that Ichigo had mentioned, just yesterday, that he'd hoped she would formally introduce them as a 'couple' to her only remaining family member.

"-AND YOU MATHE ME BITHE MY TONGK!"

It was an understandable mistake, Ichigo had no idea that she'd been abused by his inner-hollow only hours ago…and yet…Ichigo's ignorance of her plight was SO DAMNED INFURIATING-

"-WHA THE FUTH IS YOUR PROBLEBB, RUK-YA?!"

"…My problem? My problem is that you're a COMPLETE IDIOT!," she said as she huffed back into the house as her frustration began manifesting itself in the form of tears that she refused to allow him to see…

Ichigo was stunned. He stared at the house for several seconds and continued to gawk long after she entered it and he'd heard her slam the door to her bedroom, loudly.
…Within minutes, a stuffed toy lion plushy had waltzed out of the front door, rendering a look of contempt on his felt-lined face.

"Rukia is crying and it's all your fault! What did you do?? ," Kon yelled, his paws planted firmly on his hips.

"Nothinth! (sigh)…I thinth I neeth some helb with thith…can you juth go and geth me a paper towelb or somthinth?," Ichigo asked while still crouching on the ground and tilting his head back.

Kon closed his eyes and moved his head dramatically from side to side as he then crossed his arms in front of his stuffed chest.

"Pleath Kon, juth do ith, I'm bleedin' all over the plathe!"

"Uh-uh. No way, Ichigo, you made my precious Rukia cry. In my opinion that means you must'a done something wrong. And since that's the case, you can just go clean this mess up all by yourself!," Kon said condescendingly, strutting back into the house while making a very distinct *squeaky* noise with every step he took.

"Thathss great! …Thanth for nothinth!!," Ichigo said as he rolled his eyes.

…..

Rukia stealthily removed her sketch pad from the teacher's drawer of Ichigo's desk. She then quickly ran back to her bedroom and sat on her bed. Her head started clearing itself of her troubles, as she began to draw. …It was just something she did when she was sad or bored. *sigh*…Today, she was both.

After a few hours, she heard a distinct knock at her door.

"Come in.," she said in a daze, still adding some finishing details and shading to her latest rendition she'd titled "'Chappy' in Uniform."

Ichigo opened the door, setting one foot hesitantly in her doorway. ...Just before approaching her, he chivalrously pulled some long-stemmed hand-picked flowers out from behind his back, and quietly muttered *ahem* nervously before stepping into her bedroom.

"Listen, about this morning… I guess I was being a little insensitive and I really didn't mean to upset you.," he said earnestly.

Rukia looked skeptically at Ichigo, …before rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Leave it to you to apologize for something that I started. I'm the one who should be saying 'sorry.,'" she said as she took the flowers and put them into a vase that had otherwise been holding randomly colored marbles.

"If you want to wait a little longer to let Byakuya know about us, that's fine with me. I just don't want him to think I'm avoiding him. I mean, if somebody started dating one of my Sisters, I'd sure want to meet the guy…well, before scaring the crap out him, that is.," he said with a smirk as he lingered close to the doorway.

"Speaking of family, will you just get in here, already? Yuzu and your Dad wouldn't mind, but I don't want Karin to think you're a stalker.," she said as she closed the door, locked it, and pulled him onto her bed.

Ichigo laid down next to her and had just begun to relax…when he felt a sharp jab from a peice of spiraled wire. ...Not only was the metal poking his back uncomfortably, it had also just ripped a large hole into his favorite shirt. Perfect.

Ichigo reached underneath himself and pulled out the smushed sketchpad. He eyed the ridiculous drawing for a few seconds, before letting loose a snicker.

"What? Don't laugh, I spent hours on that!," Rukia said defensively.

"Yeah, I can tell. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Besides, I think it's hysterical that you have the ugly bunny wearing a 'Would you like fries with that?' pin. …Wait, you mean you didn't want it to be funny? Oh, come on! I mean, why else would anybody draw something like this?!!"

"Stop insulting my drawings! It's not my fault you're not looking at it the right way! Look at the letters in the word 'fries.' You see? They're rainbow colored. See? That illustrates creativity. This is ART!," she stated vehemently.

"Art, huh? You ARE aware that you sketched a bunny rabbit dressed as a McDonald's cashier, right? …And another thing, Picasso,, you drew this using my little Sister's Crayons."

"No, no! I'll have you know I gave those back! This box belongs to me and they just happen to be 'oil pastels,' not *ahem* crayons. And anybody even remotely creative would've known that, Monsieur!"

"Fine. I give up. It's a masterpiece. …You're exhausting.," he said as mid-yawn.

"Hmm…you know, an afternoon nap sounds pretty good right now.," she managed to get out, just before yawning herself…

Rukia was lightly stirred awake as she felt his warm tongue run along her exposed left shoulder. It was dark out now, but the moonlight bathing the room seemed to have softened up everything within its glow. Yes, between the moon, the warm blankets, and the feel of his naked skin pressed up against hers; the anger and frustration she'd felt earlier seemed to have all but washed away. …Everything seemed anew as she enjoyed the feel of his soft touch…

"Mmmm, that's nice.," she moaned as one of his hands slid along her waist and gently stroked a breast.

Her eyes remained closed as she felt him kiss her shoulder all the way up to her ear and begin nibbling slightly. It tickled her, but it was in that sensually good way. She smiled in the dark as the tickling became more intense. Then the nibbling grew harder, turning into biting. Every bite and spark of pain was followed by the sensation of him licking and sucking it all away… The pain grew more intense with every bite, but for some strange reason…the after effects felt insanely more pleasurable the longer he continued. Rukia's body was writhing, becoming absolutely intoxicated from this new experience…

"Mmm, more…," she quietly pleaded as she rolled further forward, though remaining on her side, slightly facing away from him.

He bit down on a lobe once more, forcing her neck to tilt upwards, as he pressed himself up against her. He began melding himself against her curves, spooning her hips with his own. Instinctively, she parted her legs and wrapped one foot around one of his calves, pressing his hardened length strategically against herself.

He gently ran his hand down the length of her back, before reaching his hand down between their bodies and placing himself just inside of her. Rukia moaned and slid back into his body as he pushed himself forward into her. She placed her palms against the headboard and pushed against it as hard as possible.

"Ohhhnnn..."

"-That voice, NO-!!," she cried out loudly before a hand clamped down hard, covering her mouth as she attempted to pull away…

"-Shh, don't spoil it, you we're being so cooperative tonight…," and, having said that, he nuzzled his face into the back of her neck…just before plunging himself deeply into her body as he simultaneously bit down on her earlobe hard.

"NNCHiGO!," she screamed out, though it came out muffled as his hand remained firmly constrained against her mouth. And then, the two of them stopped struggling and froze just as-

*knock, knock*

"Rukia? …It's Karin. Are you ok? …Dad thought he heard…hmm, Are you even in there?"

*silence*

"Hmm…ok, guess she must be out with Ichigo or something. 'HEY DAD, SHE'S NOT EVEN HERE. IT MUST'VE BEEN THE NEIGHBOR'S CAT AGAIN. …NEXT TIME, YOU CAN CHECK THINGS OUT BY YOURSELF…OR BETTER YET, BUY A DOG! …*yawn* …Whatever…I'm going back to bed!"

*silence*

"Now then, where were we?," the Hollow asked as Rukia swallowed her pride and tears…for the second night.

…This time, she couldn't claim the role of 'victim.' She'd, unknowingly yet willingly, participated. …And until he'd spoken, she couldn't even distinguish the difference between the two…it was over, she was lost.

…..

The following morning, Ichigo woke up alone in Rukia's bed. He had a slight case of dry mouth, but otherwise, he felt great. He looked around the room, only to find it…completely bare. Her closet door was open and it's contents had been emptied, and from the looks of things, in a hurry.

There were clothes hangers thrown haphazardly all along the carpet. …And then he discovered, taped to the window and just beneath the dusty shade…a sealed envelope. Within it, was a two page letter, hand-written in her typical nonsensical code. After about 40 minutes, he'd finally deciphered it in its' entirety…

"Ichigo,

I need you to know that this
was incredibly difficult for me. You are
the most generous, caring, selfless,
and giving person I have ever known.
I'll always care for you deeply but I
have to leave you and this place. For-
give me, but there is no right way to
say this. I feel trapped in a dark web of
my own making. I think it's better for
both of us if I remain alone.
No
rescue attempts, this is my choice and
how things were meant to be. Please
take care of yourself and your family.

-Rukia"


(Should I continue? ...)


Authors Comments:

I Hope you enjoyed it...please R & R and let me know,
-nic

THANYOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING, YOU MADE MY WEEK!

p.s. any errors in grammar will be fixed (hopefully) within the next day or so, thankyou for your patience, I edit these things myself...and it's exhausting.