A/N: You thought that I won't be updating at all huh? Nope! It's my duty since this is what I wanted to do... Alright, I'll stop blabbering and get on with it... Enjoy reading! 3

Sober

Akiru approached before Higurashi with rapid breathing from dare her friend say running? The slight taller woman bent down to her petite form who was holding her knees in exhaustion that made her even smaller. "What's wrong Akiru-chan? It's like you saw a ghost or you're running away from one..."

She took a while before finally answering, in between breaths, "Nothing...I...just...had to make sure...that he won't follow me..."

Then, she instantly grabbed Higurashi's arm and headed out of the building. "Let's go somewhere...quiet; you know, without him."

Her friend simply nodded at what appears to be like a plea thinking that the boss' advances to her must be going overboard.

In the midst of their 'fast-walking' , she asked her directly, "How come you're avoiding him? Women are throwing themselves at him, yet his eyes are set on you Akiru-chan!"

Akiru rolled her eyes, "I wish that his eyes would be attracted to someone else. I know! How about you Higurashi-san?"

"Eh! Oh dear, no. I'm happier to see you guys together than me being with him. Despite his irresistible sex appeal, I don't really see myself with him." she stated, fanning her right hand in front of her face.

The petite woman wore a disbelief look on her face but continued to walk--on a slower pace, this time--and headed to a snack bar, few meters from the corporation.

Ichigo was eating his homemade lunch,alone. Dammit. If only he didn't get close-- too close--to his lovely secretary while she was typing certain documents that'll be used for the meeting tomorrow, then he wouldn't feel lonely having no one around. He actually wanted to check something on the monitor and was supposed to tell her to change it, but her scent caught him off guard.

She just smelled so sweet: different flavors mixed altogether.

As soon as Akiru sensed him leaning closer, she immediately exited the office. He wanted to follow her but it might get worse if he did.

Next time Ichigo, don't get lost in your actions and thoughts when you're near her.

He guessed that what happened to make her such a reaction was quite understandable. He felt that he needed to smell her for a bit longer since it's been a long time that he hadn't. Ichigo sighed longingly.

When someone entered. "Aki- oh. Takahashi-san, what's the matter?"

Takahashi bowed and said in a calm manner, "My apologies, Kurosaki-san. Akiru-san wants me to inform you that she'll be taking the rest of the day off. What would be your next move, sir?"

The executive officer ruffled his hair and swirled his chair around and stopped as he faced his assistant again, "I see. And I thought I'll be able to share her my bento. Don't worry, I'll take things from here. Thanks for the heads up, Takahashi."

The said man left the office and said 'excuse me' before closing the door.

It was 6:15 in the evening as Akiru went out of Misaki-san's humble condominium after a long chit-chat. Higurashi was still teary-eyed as ever in front of their former manager; nevertheless, it was a fun moment for everyone of them. She missed it very much. It took her snack period to fully decide that she'll take the afternoon work session as a non-working one through Takahashi-san. It was a good thing that he complied to her permission, or request, rather. It actually helped to take her mind off of the 'event' that occurred between her and Ichigo. At least, she had somehow convinced herself that it was nothing more than an accident. She didn't get on why would she overreact on such a simple thing, though. Not that she wanted an answer to that or anything.

As she and Higurashi separated ways, she suddenly got angry at herself for being such a fool. Realization of the fact that her jacket and her bag were not held by her hand struck her like lightning. She was so carried away of escaping and also for taking a half-day off that she forgot her other valuables at the office. She slapped her head and hurriedly ran back to her work station.

Approaching the front doors, she saw Takahashi preparing to take his leave (or so she thought). "Takahashi-san, is the office of the executive still open? It seems I lost my train of thought earlier that I forgot some things of mine."

The man finalized some papers and set them aside then spoke at the female, "Just in time, I was about to pick him up; He wasn't responding at my calls a few minutes ago. I haven't seen Kurosaki-sama leaving as well so probably, you can still get your belongings."

Akiru raised an eyebrow, "He didn't leave yet?Why would he work overtime?"

"I'm not sure, this is the first time I've encountered this situation, but of course, the night when you made him muffins is a different story."

The woman blushed and questioned him, "Wha- How did you know that?"

He laughed softly and spoke, "I used my observation skills quite perfectly ."

She didn't react to what he said and just murmured, "I'll tell him to go downstairs and go home then, excuse me."

Takahashi formed a small smile from his lips as he watches Akiru to head up to the top floor.

Arriving at the said place,she was shocked to see Ichigo sitting almost on the edge of his chair and arms splayed across the table like a corpse. As her sapphire eyes roamed to the far side of the wooden furniture, she spotted a bottle of wine.

She had never expected him to be like this.

Sure, she hated him because of several character traits but never crossed her mind that he was an alcoholic. She always felt that he's not like other businessmen, all greedy about money, power, women and wine, especially. She somewhat felt that he's a really kind person despite his 'bad boy' appearance.

After gathering her bag and wearing her jacket, she was about to go. She was planning on lying to Takahashi that she tried to wake him up, not mentioning about him all drunk and instead, he fell asleep deeply.

When she felt him stir a bit, it's as if her feet were stuck to the floor and instead of going out, her feet unconsciously dragged her to go to him and before thinking twice, she was by his side already.

She poked him and whispered, "Sir....wake up...Takahashi-san's worried on why you're taking so long...turns out you're only drinking...Seriously, what the heck are you doing?"

He didn't budge.

She slowly began to ruffle his orange hair, "Hey...Ichigo..."

He tossed his head to his face wherever the voice was coming from. He grabbed the hand that was playing with his locks and placed her palm under his warm cheek, "Just a minute, Rukia....can't we stay like this for a bit longer?"

"Ichi-"

She was about to say her real name and to stop playing games but stopped saying the last syllable of his name when she felt her hand being snuggled tighter and something else.

It was wet.

Then, Akiru saw the corner of Ichigo's closed eyes filled with tears at the corners. She felt her heart drop at the sight of him, looking like that.

Why would she feel like this?

She shouldn't shouldn't feel bad for him.

She shouldn't be on the verge of crying because of a reason she doesn't know.

She came to ignore--for tonight only-- that he calls her a different name. Her alert movement then dissolved and said with a light smile, "Come on Ichigo, if we don't leave, they're going to lock us up and we'll have to wait for the next day for them to open it."

"I don't care; they can lock it for the rest of the week for all I care." he replied with a glower but wearing a joyous expression, nonetheless.

She sighed heavily, "Idiot."

Ichigo smirked and opened his eyes blearily, still holding her hand under his cheek, "I love you, Rukia...Don't leave my side, 'kay?"

After his response, he dozed off for good with a smile printed on his face. She couldn't say anything after hearing those words. For some reason, her heart was touched by it. Whoever this person was, she couldn't help but mumble to herself, "This 'Rukia' person sure is lucky. Why would she leave you like this? He still needs to be looked after or more than that, I think."

A deeper voice interrupted her monologue, "She is lucky, indeed. Unfortunately, she passed away 2 years ago."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." she replied, her eyes not meeting his but was looking at Ichigo's peaceful rest.

The voice revealed his identity as he came out behind the door, which was slightly open, "The reason he was like this is because you left him alone."

She was practically surprised but looking at him, he was really serious and was not joking. "Takahashi-san..."

Akiru bowed at the main executive's righthand man "I'm sorry if this caused trouble. It'll never happen again!"

"No, it's not you're fault; in fact, it proves how he's very happy ever since you stepped your foot in this company."

Akiru eyed Takahashi confused, "What do you mean,exactly?"

The assistant moved towards both of them and gazed at the window, "I've worked under Kurosaki-sama for almost a year and I had observed that despite working and living a normal life at foreign countries, he doesn't seem to be alive at all. I'm not actually sure if this was connected at Rukia-sama's death. However,since he saw you, relief washed over me as I saw his lively side, it was a completely different experience."

The raven haired woman glanced at Ichigo and then gently removed her hand from Ichigo's so he won't stir further. Heading at the elevator, she requested, "Don't tell him about this moment, please. Let him assume that it's just a dream. Take care of him and drive him to his home, safely."

After receiving a 'yes' reply from the man, she went off, her thoughts filled with questions about Ichigo's past relationship with Rukia.

A/N: and to compensate for not updating last week, read the next chapter after this one, 'kay! Reviews are very much appreciated (not only for this one but also for the next chapter)... :D