Kimi arrived at her new office at promptly 7:30 Monday morning. Pulling out the shiny silver key to her office gave her a sense of pride and excitement. However, it was a bittersweet feeling because she would miss getting to see her lovable boss and fiancé all day on a daily basis. She had been wonderfully spoiled by that and would not be ashamed to admit it, but they were already living together and would be married soon as well. This could quite possibly be a sanity saver for the both of them in addition to being a great financial move. She pushed the key into the lock and twisted to reveal her tailor made office. It was so lovely and inviting. Since it was so early in the morning, she was struck with the temptation to curl up on the leather sofa for a short nap after covering up with the cream colored throw blanket laid across the back. Her eyes roamed around the rest of the office, pleased with what she saw. Ryūken had followed her wishes to the letter and had even added a few touches like the blanket, some throw pillows, and a few pretty framed pictures of unique chocolate confections in a sepia tone.

A small, rectangular shaped box on her desk caught her eye. It was silver and tied with a slate blue bow. She did not have to guess who it was from. The card on the front welcomed her to the staff of Karakura Hospital. Opening the box, she found a lovely silver bracelet with the hospital's signature cross hanging from it. She would have been offended by the gift if she had not noticed the necklace worn by the receptionist the day of her interview. His administrative assistant also wore one.

"Would you like help with putting it on?" a deep, familiar, and most often, unwelcome, voice inquired behind her.

Kimi could not stop the apprehension from stiffening her spine when she felt his presence very close to her. She held her breath as he reached around her to take the bracelet from the box. Her abdominal muscles tightened when his arms surrounded her and his chest pressed against her back. Her eyes followed his hands as they wrapped the bracelet around her wrist and clasped it.

"There," he murmured in her ear.

Kimi felt goose bumps rise over her entire body from his warm breath moving across her ear and neck. Shockingly enough, he was rather warm to the touch rather than frigid. Her lungs ached for air, and she pulled in a noisy breath when he promptly backed away. She sighed with relief when he moved to the other side of the room by the wall of windows in her irregularly shaped office. The room was shaped like a lower case t with her desk and filing cabinet sitting at the top. A wall of windows covered one side of the cross bar where the couch and chairs sat while floor to ceiling bookcases filled the other side. A short hallway led to her door.

"This building is very uniquely designed," she commented, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"How do you like your office?" Ryūken asked, sitting in the chair next to her. He gracefully crossed his legs in a way that almost made her envious. He was so incredibly formal and proper.

"It's beautiful and just the way I wanted it. Thank you," she said with genuine gratitude.

"I have big plans for you here. I've invested a lot of time and money fulfilling your wishes to bring you here. I will continue to do so to keep you. I trust my investment will pay off," he stated in a rather intimidating manner.

Kimi smiled confidently, unable to elicit even the beginning of a grin from the Ice King. "You will not be disappointed, sir."

...


"I hate him," Kimi grumbled to herself, allowing her head to smack down on the desk. She did not notice the slight pain because she already had a headache throbbing in her temples.

Ryūken had buried her in paperwork in the most literal sense of the word. Her desk was covered with four two foot high stacks of paper across the front. The paperwork ranged from supply inventories to company memos that been sent out. She was expected to go through each stack to organize and file them. Then she would have to engage in some legwork to reconcile the inventories to the actual items on each floor. Karakura Hospital had eight floors, each one dedicated for a specific purpose. She would spend the next six months settling the supply stock alone. A pitiful moan left her lips and disappeared into thin air. No one cared how overwhelmed she was on her first day and she completely believed he had done this on purpose. He had probably ordered his administrative assistant to search for every piece of archaic paperwork on the premises for her to account for it and organize it. She had been through this before and survived, she could do it again. At least all of the papers were not spread across the floor or heaped in boxes this time.

Kimi smiled when she thought of Isshin; he had that effect on her. She never thought she would trust a man with her heart again but she had. Somehow two lost hurting souls had found each other and filled in the empty spots that had been troubling them for years.

"Sweetheart? Kimi?" Isshin called.

Wow this was amazing! She was just thinking about him. Rising above the paperwork and looking rather like a gopher popping out of a hole, she answered back, "Here I am!"

"Oh? Oh! Hi there, Baby! This looks familiar except last time you were sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of paper," he said giving her one of his patent smiles that literally warmed her heart and her whole body. He walked around the desk so he could reach her to kiss her.

Kimi stood up to meet him, savoring his embrace. She missed it. She did not realize just how truly overindulged she was until this moment. Holding onto him tightly, she pressed her face against his chest not caring that he was wearing a Hawaiian monstrosity of red, yellow, and blue decorated with colorful exotic birds. Where did he find this thing? She thought she had hidden them all. She could not bring herself to get rid of them because he loved the tacky shirts so much. They seemed to suit his equally vibrant and sometimes histrionic personality.

"I brought you something. I thought you might be hungry, and I know how you get distracted when you're busy. I wanted to make sure that you ate something," he told her, sitting the bento box that Yuzu had made for her on the desk amidst the paperwork.

"Thank you. You take such good care of me," she murmured, looking up at him. She smiled against his lips when they touched hers. Her stomach growled which caused them to giggle and break the kiss.

"You better eat. We always have tonight," he reminded her, stealing another quick kiss.

Kimi sat down, unable to stop smiling. She was so incredibly happy with him. The thought of coming home to him every night was extremely pleasant and exciting. They had decided to switch over living arrangements earlier than planned. She had moved all of her clothes and a few items she felt she could not live without into Isshin's house while Ichigo transferred to her apartment to live with Senna. It would be interesting to see how their relationship develops from here along with Senna's pregnancy.

"What's that?" Isshin asked, touching the bracelet on her wrist.

"It's a gift from Ryūken," Kimi answered in the briefest manner possible as not to interrupt her shoveling food into her mouth.

"Really? Getting friendly with the boss?" he queried, raising a dark eyebrow almost to his hairline.

"No. I've already done that once, and I am his alone," she remarked guilelessly. "It's strictly professional. He gives them to all of his employees. His receptionist and his administrative assistant wear a necklace like this."

"Both of those women were once his mistresses," he informed her with a growl.

Kimi choked, sending a spray of rice across the stack of paperwork in front of her. Once the rice was dislodged from her trachea, she drank several large gulps of tea to send the rest down her esophagus so she would no longer be in danger of choking to death.

"I didn't know!" she wailed, staring at the bracelet as if it were a live, venomous snake wrapped around her wrist.

"I wonder what it means since he gave you a bracelet instead of necklace," he muttered thoughtfully, studying the bracelet with his anger narrowed dark eyes.

"It means nothing, you gossipy old woman," she chided him. "Speaking of that, has Mrs. Nakimura been in?"

"She had an appointment this morning. She was upset when she did not see you. She began beating me with her cane before I could explain. Needless to say, she was quite relieved to know that we're still getting married. She did not even apologize for hitting me and said I deserved it anyway for allowing you to take this job. Stop that," he scolded her when Kimi would not stop snickering.

"You know I love you," she told him, leaning forward to kiss him.

"So what did you do to get the bracelet?" he inquired with a devilish gleam in his dark brown eyes.

"I can't tell you. You might be jealous because I haven't done it to you yet," she joked, playing along with his game.

Isshin smiled and looked around the office. His eyes landed on the couch then swiftly swung back to her. Keeping quiet and waiting until she was done eating, he pulled her out of the desk chair and into his arms. Picking her up like the blushing bride she would soon be, he carried her to the couch. His lips covered hers after he sat her down on the smooth leather. He knelt on the floor, positioning himself between her legs as he pushed them apart. His hands slid over her knees and under her skirt, pushing it up to her thighs.

"Are you insane?" she demanded, attempting to shove his hands away from her womanhood but he had found something he wanted and would not be dissuaded.

"No. Just excited to see you," he murmured, hooking his arm around her hip to pull her against him as if to prove it.

"Isshin! I really don't think – " Her words were hushed by his lips applying themselves to hers again, and suddenly, with that kiss, she could not think anymore. Her hands went to his jeans while his hands covered her breasts and massaged them through her shirt rather than taking it off.

"We're being stupid, you know," she cautioned him.

"I know, and I like it," he whispered, sliding into her as he held the barrier of her underwear to the side.

"What if Ryūken walks in?" she asked, sighing with pleasure as he moved inside of her.

"What is he going to do? Fire you? Wouldn't that be doing the both of us a favor?" he asked. He covered her mouth with his to stifle the subsequent moans after she cried out with satisfaction. "There's no reason to call attention to ourselves though."

"It's your fault. Maybe you shouldn't feel so damn good," she muttered, gritting her teeth to hold back another exclamation of bliss.

"Oh, Baby, you know just what to say to flatter me. Besides, it's only right that I dedicate your office by staking my claim to you," he murmured in her ear, thrusting forward hard enough to make her bite her lip.

"You're so mean," she accused, pressing her lips to his to muffle both of their declarations of ecstasy as they reached their end.

"I'll have to visit you for lunch more often. I like having you for the dessert."

...


Kimi had managed to rid herself of one stack of paperwork and started on the next. She heard the knock on her door mere seconds before it was opened without her approval for entry. Her heart sank when Ryūken confidently strode in with his head held high. He did not look tired at all despite being at work nearly twelve hours like her. Of course he had his administrative assistant, his receptionist, and now her to take care of him and do all of the real work. So what did he do all day? Probably think of new things for everyone else to do.

"Shouldn't you be going home?" he suggested, pointing to the watch on his wrist. "It's six thirty."

Kimi resisted the impulse to cattily inform him that she knew how to read a watch that was not digital. She sat down the papers in her hands and rose from her desk chair. Her back ached from sitting so much. She had forgotten to get up and move around periodically. This was rough on her body after being accustomed to being on her feet all day. She grunted and rubbed the small of her back. Her eyes flew open and met a pair of gray blue eyes when she felt a larger, stronger hand massaging her lower back.

"Director Ishida, could you please stop? You're making me uncomfortable," she stated in a low deadly voice, avoiding his eyes.

"I apologize. I was not being forward. I was merely trying to help," Ryūken rejoined, removing his hand from her back. He almost appeared wounded by her caustic tone.

Kimi blushed with embarrassment. Perhaps her imagination had been working overtime, and she was being oversensitive. She straightened up and began preparing to leave by gathering her purse and jacket.

"I know your fiancé was here earlier," he divulged for no apparent reason as he stood in front of her blocking her way. "The walls are not soundproof."

Unrelenting mortification added to her embarrassment causing it to blossom into full blown shame while making her blush to deepen. Kimi raised her eyes to meet his and saw an emotion she did not expect to encounter: amusement.

"By the way, I did have affairs with both of those women," he enlightened her unnecessarily. He turned on his heel, walking from her office to leave her gaping mutely from the astonishment of confirming the rumor.

What the hell was she supposed to do with that information?