Hello there my lovely readers/followers! Before I say anything else, shout out to my latest reviewers: Dreaming Haven, Julz, bluetonic4390 and guest reviewers as well! You all are amazing people and I wanted to say thank you for taking just even a moment of your time to leave behind your thoughts on my fic :), it makes me really happy that you guys are enjoying it! And to Dreaming Haven: I totally agree with you, I could never bring myself to ship ByaHisa for the reason that I could just never like Hisana. Being an older sister myself, I know I never could've left my younger sister like that no matter what, so it bugs me that Hisana literally didn't say anything to anyone until she was literally on her deathbed (like she could've gone back for her or something way before it got to that). So I don't think I would've shipped them even if she were still alive, because I love Byakuya's complex character but hate Hisana's shallowness (sorry to any fans of Hisana), so I truly think Rukia would be a much better match for him ;) (as you said she never would've abandoned anyone like that, she was always selfless since young). Also for my followers who are big IchiRuki shippers: I do plan on writing a short fic for them soon, kind of an alternate what-should-have-been-canon ending thanks to Kubo's disaster. Not sure when I'll actually start writing it yet, but I have a rough outline so it will be out eventually, maybe sometime in December :). Alright wow if you read this much of my ranting, I commend you lol. Once again, thanks reviewers/followers and I hope you enjoy this chapter, it is my longest one yet! Please review and thank you!

Disclaimer: Bleach doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Tite Kubo.

Chapter 10- You Are Not the Only One

~Rukia~

Rukia went to the shop, thinking the whole way about the dream she had last night. She thought that Byakuya had kissed her, but she knew that was impossible. He would never do something like that. But it just felt so real...Stop it Rukia! Are you now having delusions as well?

When Rukia arrived, she noticed how mostly everyone seemed pretty chipper, considering that they had just been attacked the day before.

"Hello Rukia~ glad you could make it. Now where's Kuchiki-taicho?" Urahara said as Rukia came inside. Everyone else was already there, but Rukia noticed Orihime was not present.

"He should be here shortly. Where's Orihime?" Rukia asked.

"She left me a note saying she needed some time to herself, and that she's really sorry for letting us down but in order to get stronger she has to do so by herself." Ichigo said, handing her a folded piece of paper.

Rukia took the paper and read the letter:

Kurosaki-kun and all my friends,

I'm sorry for doing this to you guys now when you might really need me, but the truth is I'm not strong enough. I need to get away for a while from all of this so I'm going to countryside for a few days to train by myself. Please don't worry about me, I will be back very soon and please take care of yourselves. I'm sorry that I'm so weak and can't do much to help, but I think I can work on increasing my strength like you all are. This time, when you need me I will be there to protect you instead of it being the other way around. Please respect my wishes and don't come after me, I will come to you guys when I am ready. I am so sorry once again and I hope you understand.

Love,

Your friend Orihime

"Are we sure she's going to be okay?" Rukia asked, handing the note back to Ichigo.

"Honestly, Rukia, anywhere but here would probably be much safer for her," Ichigo responded.

"Heh, seems to me like she's running away because she's scared," Ikkaku said.

Lieutenant Yachiru then said, "That's not nice, Cue-ball," to which Ikkaku instantly shut up, clearly annoyed by the name but not enough to say something about it to his superior in the squad.

Byakuya then walked in, causing Rukia's heartbeat to slightly elevate. Damn it, just stop! Keep it together, Rukia! He then sat down across from her, avoiding eye contact with anyone as usual.

"Well look who finally decided to grace us with his presence today," said Ichigo, "Byakuya, you still fucking owe me for breaking through my damn window!"

To this, Byakuya just responded with, "Hmm." He then glanced over at Rukia for a moment too long, causing Rukia to notice. Almost instinctively, her fingers went up to touch her lips; Byakuya seemed to have noticed this and instantly looked away. His cheeks were slightly more pink than usual. Wait, is he...blushing?

"It would be nice if there were some tea here," Byakuya said, literally looking anywhere else besides in Rukia's direction. He then lightly started to tap on the table in front of him, to which Rukia gave him a puzzled look. He looked...uncomfortable.

As if on cue, Tessai brought over some tea and cookies. To Yachiru's surprise, he also gave her a lollipop to which she gladly accepted saying, "Thanks, braidy-head!"

Byakuya snatched the tea like it was some shot glass, and sipped too quickly which must've burned his tongue because he put the cup down and put his hand to his mouth.

"Nii-sama! Are you okay?" Rukia asked, clearly worried with his erratic behavior.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, avoiding eye contact with Rukia.

Literally everyone was surprised that the usually calm, composed captain of Squad 6 was being all nervous and jittery all of a sudden.

Ichigo commented, "The fuck is up with you today, Byakuya?"

"Ichigo, just shut up and show some respect for once would you?" Rukia said.

Byakuya then finally looked at Rukia, looked her up and down, and it seemed to Rukia like he was...checking her out. He then looked away again as if he were embarrassed and ashamed. What the fuck? Why would he look at me at like that? You're imagining things again Rukia.

"Can somebody explain to me why the hell we're here talking like sissies instead of out there fighting like we should be?" said Kenpachi, clearly bored at all the talks and itching for a fight as usual.

"Alright everyone, I called you here today to tell you that we're making progress on uncovering safe passage into 'Hueco Mundo'- where these Arrancars seem to be coming in and out from," said Urahara.

"It's about time, I've been waiting for another good fight," said Ikkaku.

"-But we are still working on it and we're not sure exactly how long this will take. So everyone gets a break while we figure that out! So go enjoy yourselves everyone."

"Oh my god! So I have more time to shop?!" Rangiku exclaimed.

"Matsumoto! How can you be thinking about shopping right now?!" said Captain Hitsugaya.

"But Taicho, I really need some new clothes! I don't have any of the latest trending clothes yet!"

Hitsugaya sighed, accepting defeat that his lieutenant would never change.

"Ruki-ruki, why don't you and Ren-chan go on a date, huh? Hehehe," said Yachiru, clearly in a good mood because of the candy given to her.

"Uhh…" stammered Rukia.

"I don't think now is the time to be thinking about dating," said Byakuya in his usual monotone voice, but Rukia thought she sensed just a twinge of annoyance from it.

"Now, now what did I just say? Go enjoy yourselves! There's really nothing else you can do now, until I figure this out," said Urahara.

Renji now awkwardly said, "So...Rukia, let's go on a date tonight? There's a fancy restaurant near that hotel you're staying at."

"Oh I uh.. I don't kn-"

"She would love to! Rukia oh my god you're coming with me girl, I'm going to get you ready for your first date~~Let's go shopping right now!" Rangiku said excitedly.

"Rangiku-san!" said Rukia, blushing, "alright, alright."

Renji then said, "Good, I'll meet you there at 8 tonight." He then got up to leave, but looked over at Byakuya for a moment, who was looking back at him, and it appeared as if a silent conversation took place between them.

Rangiku was heading over to Rukia, when Ichigo suddenly interrupted, "Rukia, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Rangiku-san, go ahead without me. I'll meet you at your hotel room soon," said Rukia.

"You got it Rukia!" said Rangiku as she headed off. Hitsugaya and Byakuya also headed out as well, but the rest of them stayed behind and ate the cookies that were on the table, while they talked about how they would take out the Arrancars.

Rukia headed to the back porch to talk with Ichigo.

"What is it, Ichigo?"

"Rukia, are you sure about all this?" Ichigo said, nervously scratching his hair.

"Huh?"

"I mean getting engaged to Renji..dating him and all, etc."

Rukia shrugged. "It's fine, why?"

"Like are you sure this is what you want to be doing? Or are you doing because you feel like you have to?"

Rukia sighed. "Ichigo, yes it was decided by the elders but I am fine with it. Renji's a little rough around the edges but he does care about me, so it's fine by me."

"So you're doing this because you want to marry Renji?"

Rukia took a deep breath. "No it's not like that. I have a duty to uphold as part of the Kuchiki clan. I'm just saying this is okay. It's what I have to do."

"Rukia you know you don't have to listen to them, you have your own life. You should get to decide what you want to do."

Rukia laughed, clearly surprising Ichigo. "Look, Ichigo, I don't expect you to understand, but I am bound to my duties. It's expected of me to go through with it, and I don't really see a reason to reject it."

"...Alright, Rukia if you're sure. I just want you to be making choices that you will be happy with I guess."

"Thanks, Ichigo but I'm fine with this. Truly."

But Rukia knew that was a total lie.

~Byakuya~

Byakuya was absolutely mortified with himself because of the behavior he was exhibiting earlier in the shop. He was 90% sure that everyone noticed something was up, especially Rukia because of the confused and worried look she had given him multiple times. He kept thinking back to his dream last night whenever he looked at her, so he literally tried to look at anything else besides her in the room. But when she told Ichigo to shut up for him, he just couldn't resist. He stole a glance at her. He looked at her entire body; she was a tiny little thing, but she certainly had some curves beneath what she was wearing no doubt. God damn it, stop stop stop looking at her! Stop thinking about her in this way, you cannot be doing this right now! ...Oh no has she noticed?

Byakuya was really annoyed with himself, but his annoyance with his lieutenant later on went way beyond that. He was asking her out on a date, and right in front of him to boot. I've clearly been going way too easy on him…

And then the Squad 10 lieutenant had offered to get Rukia ready. What is this? How can everyone be thinking about silly stuff when there's beasts out there that we need to fight?

And then Renji had given him that look before leaving. A look to say that Byakuya had better back off from Rukia. Byakuya wanted to knock his lieutenant's teeth out until he had none left.

Now even Ichigo wanted to have a talk with her. Holy shit, just how many men has she trapped... with those beautiful hopeful eyes, small and slender but womanly figure, and those ravishing lips...NO! This is no way to be thinking about your sister!

Byakuya had had enough. He could feel himself literally losing his sanity in Rukia's presence so left as quickly as he could. He needed to get himself under control before he did something stupid and rash that would completely destroy his family's honor.

Byakuya saw an art supply store on the way back to the hotel and decided to stop by. He decided he might as well do some painting or drawing to kill some time. While Rukia is going out on a date with Renji… He snapped out of it and went down the aisles grabbing some paintbrushes, pens, and a paint palette as well as sketch paper and a canvas. All the while, he noticed how the young girl behind the counter was staring at him. Do I look strange? But this is how most of the people here seem to dress…

He walked up to her and asked, "How much for all of this?"

The girl was clearly sick or something because she turned as red as a tomato and responded, "For you, it's free."

"I am not poor if that's what you are thinking."

"Oh no no, sir, that's not what I meant at all. I just meant you should take it for free as a gift from me- er this shop."

"You don't want any payment?"

"No...well actually, it would be nice if you could take a picture with me."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean with all the stuff you're holding, it would bring in more customers maybe. Would you do this for me?"

"Alright."

At this the girl took out her phone and ran over to his side. She was smiling widely, but Byakuya had his usual cold look as she took the picture.

"Thank you, thank you so much sir!" the girl said.

"It's nothing. It's just my payment for these items."

Byakuya went back to his hotel room, prepared to tune out any forbidden thoughts about Rukia while he sketched. However, things didn't go exactly as planned. He was originally planning on drawing a night landscape, with the moon and dark sky, but half an hour into drawing, he noticed he had started drawing a woman underneath the night sky. The woman had big violet eyes, a small nose, rosy cheeks, small but sweet lips, and short medium hair with some strands between her eyes. This woman looked a lot like his sister Rukia. Byakuya was now very angry with himself- the point of this exercise was to distract himself so he wouldn't think about her, but here he was literally drawing her. He took the sketch and flipped it around placing it on top of the drawer near his bed, deciding that he'd discard it later when no one would notice.

~Rukia~

After about nearly three hours of shopping with Rangiku, Rukia was completely worn out. Rangiku had literally gotten 10 bags full of clothes, which seemed ridiculous to Rukia considering that the only place she'd even get to wear them was here in the World of the Living. And of course literally all of them showed off her ample bosom.

She also made Rukia try on about twenty different dresses before deciding that this one black strapless one with a white bow around the waist was the perfect dress for her date. She also bought several other dresses for her though Rukia had insisted that wasn't necessary. The date dress had a built-in padded bra, giving a more full look to Rukia's chest.

"Rukia, you look so damn beautiful! Renji will be filled up with dirty thoughts when he sees you looking like this! HAHA," said Rangiku.

"Rangiku-san!" Rukia blushed. If only a certain someone else could have some dirty thoughts… Rukia you need to stop thinking about something that will never happen!

~~
After getting back to the hotel, Rukia glanced over at her Nii-sama's room for a second, which Rangiku must have noticed for she asked, "Rukia honey you're going on a date with Renji. Come on, just enjoy yourself for tonight, okay?"

"Y-yeah, of course."

After about an hour and half, Rangiku finally declared that Rukia was all ready to go. Rangiku had not allowed Rukia to look anywhere near the mirror while she was getting her ready, as she wanted it to be a surprise. She made Rukia sit on a chair near the bed, while she ran back and forth getting her makeup supplies.

"Ta-dah! Finally done. Look at yourself now Rukia! So beautiful!" Rangiku said.

Rukia walked over to the mirror.

For a second, she could not recognize herself. She had eyeshadow on, and perfect winged eyeliner. She had dark red lipstick which gave her the sexy look and completely went along with her dress. Most of her hair was pinned up, giving her a look of simple elegance. She also had on a small pearl necklace. And Rangiku's highlighting skills were right on point.

"You'll be the girl that every man turns their head to look at Rukia, oh you beautiful thing!" Rangiku said, clearly holding back from hugging though because she did not want to mess up any of Rukia's makeup. "Aaaand here are your heels!" she said while bringing out some killer black strapped stilettos.

"Oh, wow, thanks so much Rangiku-san. You're really amazing at this. I don't know if I can walk in those though," Rukia laughed nervously.

"Nonsense~ you can handle it! Here, try them on."

Rukia put the stilettos on and walked around for a bit, trying not to trip. It was definitely hard at first but after about an hour of trying, Rukia felt fairly certain she could make it through the day without tripping if she just walked slowly.

"You're finally ready! Have fun dear!" Rangiku said, slightly tearing up.

"Rangiku-san, what the hell!?"

"You're just so beautiful honey, you could make any man yours tonight! Good luck with Renji," she said while winking.

Rukia was relieved she made it to the fancy restaurant in one piece without tripping anywhere.

She gave her name and Renji's and one of the staff led her to the table with Renji. Rukia was expecting Renji to be dressed up nicely, but it still came as a shock to her that he cleaned up well and looked pretty good in a suit. Renji was literally gawking at her when he saw her.

"Wow-I- WOW. Rukia you look really nice today." Renji said.

"Thanks, Renji. You too."

"Sooo...our first real date haha."

"Yup." Rukia had never felt so much awkwardness in her life.

Renji started blabbing on about his training and other things which Rukia had literally zero interest in hearing about unfortunately. She totally tuned out and just nodded her head and laughed here and there, but the whole time she was thinking about Byakuya. She looked at Renji while he talked, but in reality she was looking right through him. She imagined someone else in his place.

Byakuya was there now in front of her, and Rukia was absolutely mesmerized. She could not stop staring at him. He was reading some paper, while sipping on his tea occasionally. Those beautiful grey eyes looking so intently at that paper made Rukia wish she were that paper in that moment. God how can one man be so beautiful…

To anyone on the outside, it must've appeared as if Rukia was completely infatuated with the boy in front of her. Until he had to call her name 10 times for her to snap out of it and finally respond.

"Rukia- shinigami to Rukia- are you there?" Renji said waving his hands around.

"What?" asked Rukia, finally back to reality.

"I asked you why you weren't eating your food. Do you not like it?"

Oh shit… Rukia hadn't even noticed the food was there, she didn't even remember ordering anything in the first place. I must've just said yes to everything...damn it. Yup I got the same thing as Renji. It was some giant lobster, which Renji apparently thought would be great but Rukia did not want to eat that thing that looked like a giant red cockroach.

"Look I'm really sorry Renji...but I have to go."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Renji said, clearly surprised because it seemed like things were going well earlier.

"I just- it's just too much too soon, Renji. I'm really sorry, but I just can't right now."

Rukia got up and took off the stilettos, holding onto them as she ran out of the restaurant and towards the man who was always on her mind.

~Byakuya~

He knew she was coming before she even reached the door. He could just sense her presence. He heard her knock several times. Oh no should I just hide, pretend I'm not here? Then he realized how ridiculous he was being. This is crazy! Be a man, Byakuya, come on. Just act normal.

He opened the door and man was he blown away by the sight of her. She had slightly heavy makeup on but it looked nice on her, and she was wearing a black strapless dress, that made her small chest look bigger than usual. She had very uncomfortable-looking shoes on, but they complimented her dress nicely and made her taller. Her hair was pinned up and she looked absolutely stunning. He also could not stop staring at her perfect red lips. So she had dressed up this nicely for the date with Abarai. Snap out of it. They're to be married, it's perfectly normal for her to dress up like this for him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Rukia as calmly as possible.

"I-I...I just need to know something." Rukia said with a new look of determination.

"What is it?"

"Can I come in?"

"..."

"I'll be quick." He stood to the side to let her in.

"Close the door," she said.

"For what reason Rukia?" Byakuya's heartbeat was starting to increase as his thoughts started heading down a forbidden path once more. But he did shut the door.

"Do you only see her whenever you look at me?" she said with a slight look of desperation.

Byakuya wasn't really sure what kind of answer to give her, hell he wasn't expecting a question like this. After a moment, he finally decided to respond, "No. I never said that."

"But you did. That one time…"

"Rukia, what are you even doing here? Are you not supposed to be on your "date" right now? You shouldn't be here right now, especially...looking like that. What would people think if they saw?" And as soon as he said this, he regretted it.

"Well I-I left. Because I felt like I had to see you. But never mind I realize now I'm just bothering you. I'm sorry, I'll leave right away...Nii-sama." She started heading towards the door.

"Wait… I did not mean it like that." He walked towards her. Damn it Byakuya what are you doing!?

At this, she turned back around, and was starting to walk towards him when she lost her footing because of those weird fancy shoes she was wearing. Byakuya caught her before she could fall to the floor, and she landed right into his arms and on his chest. It would appear to anyone from the outside as if they were embracing each other, and for a moment he just couldn't let her go.

"Uhh...thanks for catching me. I guess I'm just not used to walking around in these," she said as looked up at him and her face turned a beautiful shade of scarlet. He wanted more than anything else to kiss her in this moment, take her to his bed and make love to her in such a way that would be so unforgettable that she'd end up coming back to him to beg for more. Stop these impure thoughts immediately Byakuya.

"You look lovely, Rukia," he blurted before he could even think to stop himself. You idiot! Are you really going to encourage her right now?

"Oh-I, thank you…" she said, clearly feeling a bit shy as she looked down.

He then let her go, realizing it was weird of him to keep holding onto her like that for so long.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Rukia said looking at his shirt.

He happened to be wearing white that day and apparently her lipstick had left behind a smudge when she landed into his chest just moments before. Byakuya now felt even more awkward than before.

"Hm. It is not a big deal," was all he said.

"I guess I should go now…" she said, almost reluctantly.

"What brought you here in the first place? Did you need to speak with me about something important?"

"I...No I guess not. It's nothing," she said, her face crestfallen.

"I see," said Byakuya, not pushing it further.

"Do you like me, Byakuya-sama?" said Rukia, looking down.

This totally caught him by surprise. She never called him like that before...but he kind of liked it. Though he would rather just have her call him by his first name only. He was actually kind of jealous that she called the Kurosaki kid and his lieutenant Abarai by first names, but they were friends so it was to be expected. And then there was the matter of the actual question itself.

"Of course. You are family."

"No, um, I meant...like maybe in a different way..." she made a weird face, as this was clearly difficult for her to say.

Byakuya had to stop this before she got the wrong idea.

"Rukia, I am your brother. I'm not sure what it is you are expecting me to say to you."

"Okay, I understand completely now. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, Nii-sama. I guess I'm the only one being a fool right now haha," she forced a laugh.

"You are not the only one," he responded without thinking.

"Huh? What does that mean?" This definitely caught her by surprise.

"Never mind, it does not matter." He then noticed that she was looking at the bedside table, that had his drawing from earlier on top of it. SHIT. She started walking towards it and was about to flip it over, when Byakuya ran over and slammed his hand down on the paper before she could see it. This slightly frightened and surprised her, clearly. That was close.

"Rukia, you may take your leave now."

"I...Okay. Good night," she said, probably wondering what she did wrong. It's not you Rukia, it's me.

"Good night," was all he said back.

How foolish am I? 'You are not the only one'? You might as well announce to her what kind of dreams you've been having about her lately you idiot. And get rid of that drawing before someone sees it!

~Rukia~

Rukia was now completely confused. What did he mean "you're not the only one"? And why was he trying to keep me from seeing that paper?

She headed over to Rangiku's room, once again feeling like crap. Snap out of it Rukia you know he could never like you like that. You're just an unwanted reminder of his once beautiful past.

She knocked on the door to Rangiku's room. Rangiku opened the door two seconds later.

"Rukia! Why are you back so early?"

"I...I left."

"What? Why?"

"I just couldn't do it, Rangiku-san." Rukia said, now covering her face with her hands, trying to hold back tears.

"Aww oh dear, come here," she said, coming up to hug Rukia.

"I'll be okay." Rukia said, trying her best to appear strong.

"Rukia…" Rangiku gave her a look of pity.

Suddenly their phones went off, signaling the appearance of a Hollow nearby. Perfect. This is exactly what Rukia needed to keep her mind off things.

"It's just a regular Hollow, Rangiku-san. I've got this." Rukia said.

"But I could come help-"

"No, please. I just need this right now."

"Alright then Rukia, stay safe."

"I will, don't worry."

Rukia shifted out of her gigai. She jumped out the window, now in shinigami form.

Rukia took care of the small Hollow within two minutes. However, once sheathing her zanpakuto, she felt the air around her change, as if an alternate dimension had just opened. She felt a tremendous pressure of reiatsu.

"Who's there?" she yelled, taking out her zanpakuto once more.

"The name is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and don't you forget it," said the Arrancar smiling as he came out into the open. He had light-bluish hair, blue eyes, and half of the side of his mouth was covered by the teeth of a Hollow mask, showing his origins. He was the same one that nearly killed her days earlier.

Not wasting a second, Rukia yelled out, "Mae, Sode no Shirayuki-" but Grimmjow threw something at her which latched onto her. It was some sort of rope that twisted itself around her arms, completely paralyzing her. Shit, I can't move at all!

"Uh-uh-uh, shouldn't have done that," he said in a mocking tone.

"What the hell do you want?" Rukia demanded.

"I need you to come with me," he said grinning, "and don't worry, I won't kill you, because you're needed alive- at least for now."

He flashed over to her and picked her up. Shit shit shit!

Rukia Kuchiki knew she was utterly fucked, once again.

~That's it for this chapter folks! Hope you enjoyed it! And don't hate me too much lol, there will be sweet moments between our OTP soon enough so bear with me! Please review guys- once again both praise and constructive criticism are accepted, I just love when I check my account and see that more reviews have been added, I just love hearing your thoughts after reading the chapter :). I will try to update soon, and I've got soo many good things planned guys haha I'm so excited, and maybe I'll update sooner if I see your reviews to motivate me to start writing the next chapter right away ;) so don't forget to leave a review!Thanks again guys! -Much love from cggirl3