Disclaimer: Tite Kubo still owns Bleach and everything related to it. He can own this story too, if he makes this pair canon. Seriously, is that too much to ask Mr. Tite?

Chapter fourteen

I Rage War Against Myself

Ichigo woke up to a sudden wave of pain as if someone was trying to open his chest apart from the outside and chose as soundtrack Renji's frantic calls. He scrunched his eyes and tried to breathe but the ache in his chest intensified, so he tried to avoid this vital process. If breathing was so painful, then he was having none of it.

"Ichigo! Ichigo! Answer me, goddamn you!"

"Stop shouting and maybe I will." He mumbled, short bursts of breath doing it for him though the pain was still really bad. It was as if he had been hit in the solar plexus with the hammer. Repeatedly.

"Goddamn you, you beautiful son of a bitch." Renji's worried face came into his view and the broken sound at the end of the sentence was definitely accompanied by a wince, which Ichigo would have found rather funny if it weren't for his state. "You have more lives than a cat."

"You people are really dangerous for my health." He slurred the words, making Renji frown.

"Whatever, man, the fact that we can still talk is a good thing. Maybe next time when I suggest wearing bullet proof vests even to a fucking stint, you won't wine as much."

"Nope, you kind of saved my life." He groaned in pain as he tried to get up. A sudden wave of nausea hit him and he just turned his head before puking on one of the guys.

"Hang on in there." Renji carted his fingers through his hair and caressed him soothingly. "Ikkaku is bringing the car, we'll get you to the doctor in no time. The bullet didn't touch you but I think the impact was quite hard for your ribs."

"No shit." Ichigo spit the horrible taste in his mouth and leaned back, his whole upper body screaming in pain. "You guys are okay?"

"Yes," Renji glowered, while Shuuhei kept his distance. "And you and I will have later a discussion about taking fucking risks. You were lucky that the guy shot you in the chest. What if he shot you in the head?"

"But he didn't." Ichigo's head was spinning with him. "What happened after-?"

"He disappeared. It was like he had not been there." Shuuhei finally answered. "Ichigo, I'm so sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for." Ichigo closed his eyes again. "Guys, not feeling so good. Think I will-"

He passed out again before he would finish the sentence, letting the unconsciousness filling up the voids between his heart and soul, the pain just a blessedly past memory. And it would have probably stayed like that if his body hadn't betrayed him and made him woke up later with a jolt.

Ichigo opened his eyes groggily and a cool hand was caressing his orange hair, making him lean into the touch. It was rather soothing and it hit him again how much he starved for this sort of reassuring touches. His whole life had been rather filled with violence and now he could have this. He knew who the person was before he could even open his eyes.

"You shouldn't be here. It's not safe." He murmured, his throat scratchy from disuse and the remains of the vomit. Byakuya's eyes softened even more and he gently pressed his lips against Ichigo's forehead making the younger man close his eyes briefly in pleasure. Then he took a glass of water and helped ichigo take small sips from it.

"If you'd stop being a reckless bastard, I wouldn't be here." The mobster replied keeping the light tone, but he couldn't lie to Ichigo. For such a closed off person, Byakuya sometimes was so easily to read it wasn't even funny. His shoulders were so tensed they were forming a straight line of repressed anger and menace. His shirt was opened two buttons and there was no tie. His hair was a beautiful mess of raven soft tresses and Ichigo swallowed hard because he really liked this man.

"What's the damage?"

"You have two cracked ribs so it will hurt laughing for the next week. A pretty bad bruise and a nice concussion caused by your impact to the ground when you fell." Byakuya continued the soothing movements and Ichigo sighed happily.

"Will the Doc let me go home tonight?"

"Yes, if you behave." Byakuya smiled briefly, a small shadow of what it could have been. "Care to explain me what were you thinking?"

"Well, mostly it was just trying to get Shuuhei alive." Ichigo rolled his eyes at Byakuya's sarcastic tone. "But I just don't understand how that guy knew we were there. There was no suspicious movement all morning against us and it seemed as if we went unnoticed. And then this Ulquiora just suddenly shows up. What happened after?"

"Renji's attention was focused on you when you got shot and apparently, all happened so fast that not even Ikkaku was able to get the guy. He is still alive. For now." The sudden harshness in Byakuya's tone made Ichigo shudder.

"What did you do?"

"I made sure Aizen learned his lesson today." It was the Ice Lord that answered the question, no trace of Byakuya left. "If you think that I will let this petty useless idiot believe that that he can come after what is mine and threaten you and Renji and get away with it, you have another thing coming."

"Byakuya, I don't want a war because of me."

"The war had already started but-" Byakuya blinked and seemed to be caught up in some sort of horrifying dream for he looked at Ichigo as if he was rather talking with his ghost than him. Gently Ichigo took his other hand and settled it on his heart. Silently, the gesture seemed to crack Byakuya open for his face crumbled and he leaned forehead against Ichigo's. "Renji and Shuuhei told me what you did. You can't keep putting yourself in danger, Ichigo." His right hand pulled a little at his hair, his breath a sweet caress on Ichigo's face. "When I heard what happened, I think I may have lost my head a little."

"How much is a little?" Ichigo asked reluctantly, because he was not sure he wanted to hear the answer. Byakuya pulled back a little and looked at Ichigo, his left palm still encompassing the entire heart, almost like he wanted to take it out of his chest and maybe guarded safely somewhere on a deserted island.

"I destroyed all the places left." His voice seethed with righteous anger, shocking Ichigo into silence. "I will kill for you, Ichigo Shinamori, and I promise you that when I find this Ulquiora person, I will tear him apart piece by piece and I won't let anyone hurt you any more."

A cold sweat washed Ichigo's body in a wave. Such promises and threats coming from the Ice Lord himself reminded him that he went to this man willingly to be held, he came to this man for comfort and touches and maybe something deeper that he was not going to mention even into his own mind. But the monster part of Byakuya was never going to leave. It was an intrinsic part of him. And if he ever found out the truth about Ichigo, he was not sure that the monster part was not going to win.

"How long was I out?"

"Half a day. It's evening now."

"You're telling me that in half a day, you ruined mine and Renji's work by destroying those places without thinking about consequences?" Ichigo's vocie steadily rose. "What about the Russians? What were you thinking? Now you will have both Aizen and the Russians on your tail. Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Yes, yes I was!" Byakuya raised his voice stunning Ichigo and making him keep his mouth shut. His grey eyes burned brightly. "I will burn them down, tear them apart because goddamn you, you make me feel. Don't you see, Ichigo? You make me fucking feel!"

Ichigo was floored. He opened his mouth a few times, gaping like a fish but no sound left his lips for he was caught up by Byakuya's eyes, by the conviction of his words, by the fire that burnt brightly into his eyes, consuming Ichigo with the conviction of his words.

"I don't matter, Byakuya." He muttered avoiding that grey light. It was all too much. "You have to protect yourself and this means that you can't let yourself be affected by what happens to me. Aizen is not going to have any mercy and he will strike where it hurts you the most."

"He already did." Byakuya took his hand from his hair and grabbed his chin tenderly making Ichigo look back into his eyes. "He already did, Ichigo. And you are important to me, I am the one that cares about what happens to you. But not only me. Renji, Shuuhei, my sister, everyone at home. We all care about you, Ichigo. Get this through your thick skull because the next time you pull out such a stunt, I will personally throttle you."

"You sound so menacing." Ichigo grinned at him, ignoring the pang in his heart, because the truth of Byakuya's words was drowning him, settling around his ankles like stones.

"I am not kidding." He gently pecked Ichigo.

"I stink." Ichigo mumbled flushing slightly.

"That you do." That still didn't stopped Byakuya from kissing him closed mouth. "I will call doctor Muguruma to have a look at you and then I will take you home, all right?" Ichigo nodded and he didn't analyse too much the emptiness that suddenly caught up with him when Byakuya retrieved his hands and went out to call the doc.

Doc Muguruma came into the room unaccompanied and tsked at Ichigo before he took another look at his wounds. The bruise was indeed looking horribly. Shades of blue and purple swirled massively in the middle of his chest and Ichigo didn't know whether to be thankful he survived this. Another wound, another scar to add to his collection. His cracked ribs were impeding him to breathe deeply but the pain could have been so much worse. The doctor gave him some pain killers and asked him to take it easy and Ichigo smiled at him wobbly because by now, the Doc treated him far more often than he would have liked.

Doc helped him put a clean shirt that Byakuya brought with him and Ichigo mumbled his thanks. Upon hearing the words, Doc's hand slightly trembled and squeezed hard on Ichigo's shoulder making the younger man gazed at him properly since he came into the room. The Doc's eyes were filled with gratitude and it was almost unbearable to look into them.

"Thank you, Ichigo." Kensei's voice cracked the pressure by now intolerable. "Without him-" The chocked off sound pulled at Ichigo's heart like a cat scratching at a door. He smiled softly.

"I know, Doc. Don't worry."

"Anything you want... Anything you need..."

"There's no need, but thank you Doc." Ichigo knew there would come a time when he would have to ask for the doc's help, when probably Byakuya would hunt him down. But it wouldn't be fair to have Kensei involved into this mess so he promised to himself in that moment that he would not ask for help from the Doc. It would have been too much even in exchange of a saved life.

Byakuya was waiting for him outside the room, making Ichigo smile again, and the older man helped him get to the car. A sudden tiredness caught up with Ichigo and he slowly let his head fell on Byakuya's shoulder. Who would have guessed that a mobster's shoulder could be so comfortable? He woke up only once they arrived at the mansion however he didn't remember much as he was taken to Byakuya's room and settled between cool sheets. Someone was making him change into some pants and made him take his shirt off. He might or might have not whine like a two year old for all he wanted was to sleep. Was this too much to ask?

"Tell Byakuya I'll be fine." He mumbled, his eyes already closed. The cooing sounds froze in the air but he was too far gone to care. "He will worry. And I need to be strong. I need to be so strong." He sobbed into the pillow and the cooing sounds resumed. Someone was holding him, strong arms around him, his chest still on fire.

"Why do you need to be strong, Ichigo?" The kind voice asked him.

"I can't tell you. But this secret is crushing me." He sighed deeply. "I will be dead because of it. It will literally crush me. But tell Byakuya not to worry."

"I will tell him."

"Thank you."

He and unconsciousness were beginning to be really good friends as he fell asleep and it was blessedly without any dreams. He thank the Lord for small miracles.

He woke up the next day around noon, in Byakuya's room but alone. The bed was immense and he closed his eyes again trying to remember how he ended up in the room. He opened his eyes again taking in the room. It was quite big with walls painted in soft tones of blue, with furniture pressed neatly against them. The carpet was from end to another and a rather big window dominated the eastern wall. In front of it there was a small desk with a laptop and some papers on it. It was quite small but very elegant in the design. Everything was elegant but masculine at the same tine, from the dark green curtains to the brown furniture to the books left array on one of the night-tables. He liked it. It felt lived in, which was rather shocking because he always expected that Byakuya's room would be rather Spartan in its designed and furnished scarcely.

This room was rather cosy and dominated by the king-sized bed. It was personalized. He got up and felt the familiar pull of his ribs. He looked down at his chest and tried not to shudder. The blue hues were much deeper today and it looked like someone took a baseball bat at his chest. He ignored the fact that he was dressed in Byakuya' sweats. He opened one of the drawers to spot an array of t-shirts, which looked comfortable and worn and Ichigo chose a blue one. He went to the adjacent bathroom and washed his face, brushed his teeth with his fingers, trying to chase away the stale taste. He went back to the room just in time to see Byakuya entering with a tray in his hand appearing surprised to see the bed empty. He was comfortably dressed into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt and seriously, Byakuya Kuchiki needed to stop breaking his heart a little every time he showed up like this.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"Well, I was taking a piss, unless you wanted time ruing your bed." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that?"

"Breakfast." Byakuya settled it on the bed in front of Ichigo. "Or brunch."

"What's the time?"

"It's around two in the afternoon." Byakuya kissed him softly. "Hmm, you brushed your teeth."

"I wanted to be ready." Ichigo flushed and then avoided Byakuya's gaze by taking in what was on the tray. "Seriously, I'm not an army."

"You need to take some pills and doctor Muguruma mentioned that you should eat well before doing anything else."

"Fine." Ichigo rolled his eyes but settled against the pillows and began to eat. He was actually quite hungry. Byakuya settled next to him reading some files. "What do you have there?"

"Yumichika managed to retrieve some files from one of Aizen's men. And I am trying to make sense of them."

"Do you need any help?" Ichigo asked half of curiosity as the cop he was, half because he was genuinely wanted to offer his help. Wow, this was so not going like he planned.

"No, thank you." Byakuya dismissed his offer, his smile sweetening the sting. "But I might ask for it later." Ichigo nodded and finished eating, then settling back against his pillows, dozing against Byakuya's shoulder.

"Hey, are you asleep?" Byakuya murmured, his lips brushing against Ichigo's temple.

"Nope, I'm just comfy." Ichigo nuzzled his face into Byakuya's shoulder and the older man just leaned and kissed him. It was as if Byakuya was kissing him with all he had, draping himself over Ichigo careful of his wounds. Ichigo moaned in pleasure as his hands travelled to Byakuya's back up and down, as if he was trying to sooth him.

When Byakuya began kissing him along his jaw and then neck roughly with teeth, as if leaving marks in his trail, Ichigo closed his eyes in pleasure as his fingers tightened on the other man's hips, breathy moans escaping from his lips. It sounded so much as pleasure. It sounded so much as surrender. Byakuya pulled away a little and carefully took off his t-shirt, letting it fall next to the bed. Then carefully without speaking another word, he helped Ichigo taking off his, his breath hitching when he saw the terrible bruise in the middle of his chest.

"I'm fine." Ichigo whispered as he reached for Byakuya and carded his fingers through silky tresses. The older man just huffed a breath like Ichigo was most definitely not fine and there was so much more than this. He leaned forward again to kiss him deeply, tongues brushing together as hands wondered gently. There was a fire burning in Ichigo's stomach that could be dampened only by Byakuya's touches. Kuchiki trailed a blaze of hot kisses till he reached his wound and then so softly pressed his lips against it and gently circled it with the tongue.

"Can I?" Byakuya asked as his hands moved lower towards the waistband of his sweats. His voice was rough as if he hadn't spoke in a long time. Ichigo couldn't speak any more so he simply nodded. Although it hurt to prop himself up on his elbows, he very much wanted to see Byakuya, he didn't want to miss another second of this. The older man's face was a little flushed, his lips slightly swollen and he looked at Ichigo as he pulled his sweats down in a way that it was making the cop wished he could have looked away but he couldn't.

By the time both were naked, Ichigo was mindless with desire and his hips were rolling against that of Byakuya, who was holding him in his arms, their bodies flushed, and the heat between them was so precious, it made Ichigo moan in pleasure time and time again. Their hard ons were pressed against each other but it seemed like their sweat and pre-come were creating enough freedom of movement and both of them looked reluctant to take their hands off each other to do more.

Byakuya was propped on his elbows, trying not to put any weight on Ichigo but somehow still managing to move his hips in such a delicious way that Ichigo simply dug his fingers deeply into Byakuya's back. But as the pleasure started to build deep into his belly, Byakuya pressed even closer to him, kissing his jaw again, biting his neck and then whispering.

"When you get better, I won't let you get out this bed." He breached heavily in his ear. "I will kiss you and taste you until you can't take it any more and then I will start all over again. Make you come apart. Make you mine."

Ichigo's heart stuttered in his chest upon hearing the words and his whole body ignited as Byakuya kissed him. Seconds later he felt Byakuya's release on his hip and it made him feel proud that he could take this man apart as well. The breaths resounded harshly in the silence of the room, but Ichigo couldn't care less. It was a feeling of contentment which escaped him for so long that he could barely breathe with its weight on him.

Byakuya took his shirt and cleaned them both and then settled next to Ichigo, his hands wondering soothingly over his body, whispering sweet nothings into his ear and Ichigo closed his eyes and let himself fall and fall.

The next few days were spent in blessed quietness with Ichigo rarely leaving Byakuya's room, mostly reading or napping or simply be with Byakuya, ignoring the reality and what happened and generally trying to heal. Ichigo was good at ignoring a problem or at lying to himself. And he needed to lie to himself a lot like this episode was not going to matter, like the words exchanged in between them wouldn't affect him into accomplishing his mission.

""Well, well, well," Yachiru's voice brought him back to reality as he took his eyes from the TV. "He let you out of his room?"

"Now, now, I thought we were going to behave nicely."

"I was until you decided to risk your life stupidly." She pouted and then sat net to him on the couch getting her feet under his thighs.

"You know everyone calls me stupid but you all seem to forget I saved Shuuhei's life."

"Getting shot in the mean time." She rolled his eyes at him. "Seriously, how do you feel?"

"I feel better and probably tomorrow I'll be back to work. You know I wasn't actually shot."

"You moron, you were actually shot, you just didn't have a bullet hole in your chest." Yachiru peeked at him from under her fringe. "I've never seen Byakuya so furious, not even when police raided papa's business in Osaka. It was as if he would personally go and kill Aizen."

"I'm sure he would have been just as furious if it would have been Renji."

"You do like to lie to yourself." Yachiru shook her head. "I told you that he is dangerous and that he will not take lightly to you defy him each time. And you went and got involved with him."

"This is so not a subject of discussion with you."

"I warned you once, I am not going to do it again. It's up to you from now on. I just want to be friends again." She rested her back against the couch and gazed sadly at him. "Can we be friends again?"

"I thought we were friends." He gave her the bowl of popcorn and she took some smiling at him. They watched in silence the show about sharks and afterwards, they changed to Discovery watching some crime-inspired documentaries. They were so engrossed in the drama on the screen that they were taken aback by Renji's arrival.

"Hey guys. What you're up to?"

"Just watching TV. You?"

"Not much." His face closed off completely and looked at Ichigo. "I need you outside. Can you come?"

"Yeah, sure." Ichigo made an effort of getting up and covered Yachiru in the comforter. "You better watch it until the end. I want to know who the murderer is."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her beautiful eyes at him but smiled gently so he just winked at her and left the living room accompanied by Renji. The red haired was dressed in some black slacks and a white shirt with its sleeves up. His holsters were making his back looking even more threatening and Ichigo swallowed hard as he saw that Renji was taking him in the back of the house where he was last time taken when they threatened him when they thought he was a cop. He felt really undressed in his sweats and a grey t-shirt.

"Renji, is everything all right?" His friend peered at him over his shoulder and then his shoulders seemed to sag.

"A couple of days ago, Yumi and Ikkaku helped us retrieve some files from Aizen's men."

"Yes, Byakuya told me that. He also told me how he ruined our stake out by attacking all those places without a backup plan."

"Let's say that he might have lost his mind a little bit. Which I am not exactly sure if it's a good thing or not." Renji sighed tiredness marking his face and Ichigo wondered what exactly he missed in the last few days. "Akiyama asked Aizen and Byakuya to meet again and reach a truce because too much blood was shed and the Russians were getting really angsty. If the Russians get involved, this whole war will blow out of proportions."

"Renji, you know more about this I will ever do. Is it really impossible to find a common ground between them?"

"Nope. For some reason, Aizen is really determined to end Byakuya and the boss wouldn't accept a truce now, after everything that happened." Renji pinched his nose. "This is more than a turf war. Egos are involved and when this happens, recklessness is not a good thing."

"Is anything I can do to help?" Ichigo asked resolute in his wish to end with Aizen and his clan.

"Not at the moment." Renji smirked at him. "But I want to show you how determined we are to protect our own."

They entered the accursed building. A couple of the Kuchiki's men were watching the hallway standing guard and they nodded briefly to Ihcigo as a sign of respect. Shuuhei was waiting for them at the end of the hallway. He was just as crumpled as Renji, but he seemed happy enough to see Ichigo.

"Hey, man." He shook hands with Shuu, then raised an eyebrow. "Now guys, you do understand that this is making me nervous. The last time you guys brought me here was to threaten me with death and disembowelment. So what's this about?"

"Relax, Orange Menace." Renji smirked using his old nickname making Ichigo scowl at him. "This time is about showing you what we do with people that threaten one of our own."

They opened the door to the room and let him enter first. The room was large enough with bare walls and no furniture. It would have looked normal if it hadn't been for six chairs arranged in the middle of the room. On one end Byakuya had his arms crossed in front of him and watched impassively as Zaraki was working on one of them men. Ichigo froze. On the six chairs, there were tied up five men and one woman. All of them were bloodied, various parts of their bodies swollen or bleeding. There were clear signs of torture.

Zaraki was punching the guy in his liver with a precision and a determination that made Ichigo want to vomit. It was as if the man was simply a slab of meat used to instigate pain. Constant pain by the grunts that the man was making. Ichigo took a few steps in the room and the sudden realization that the man Zaraki was working on had no tongue left made him want to just simply turn around and just walk and walk and never leave. The woman's eyes were filled with such a horror that Ihcigo almost took a step back. Two other were unconscious but the cop had no doubt that it wouldn't be for long.

Zaraki stopped when he saw him and nodded at ichigo. Byakuya on the other hand didn't acknowledge his presence. Not that there was any trace of Byakuya in the room. The Ice Lord was ruling over an empire of blood and sweat and broken limbs and weaknesses had no place in such an empire.

"Hey, Kenpachi." He kept his tone levelled. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, Ichigo. This poor son of a bitch was one of the few that had information about Ulquiora and we wanted to find out as much as possible."

"He doesn't look to me like he has much left to say."

"Well, he sang a lot before we cut his tongue. He was becoming too noisy."

The whole experience was so surreal in its absurdity and cruelty that Ichigo couldn't believe that this was his life now.

"I don't think there's any need to punch him at this point. He ain't going to say anything else."

"Yeah, but it feels good."

"I got that." Ice ran through his veins, filling him up with enough cold to make him able to breathe the same air as these monsters and keep his tone as unwavering as possible. He looked at the other victims and he tried to keep his disgust to himself as he asked:

"Did you find out anything interesting?"

"Yes, we actually did." It was Renji's turn to reply as he made his way to one of the men dressed in some worn jeans and a t-shirt that used to be blue. "This one knew the most and he sang like a canary because apparently Byakuya is a fucking demon. Or because he didn't want to hurt his girlfriend over there." Ichigo glanced at the blonde woman whose eyes were filled up with pure hatred and horror. If he gave her a gun in tat moment, no doubt that this woman would have killed them all for what they did to her man.

Renji grabbed the man by his hair and pulled up sharply making the man groan in pain. His face was almost entirely swollen, he could barely open one his eyes and he was bleeding profusely from a wound at the right of his abdomen. Enough to cause massive pain, not enough to kill. The woman's arms spasmed against the duck tape that had pulled her arms so far off her back it must have been painful for her to sit there and take it all in. Although she was bruised as well, her wounds couldn't be compared to those of her boyfriend.

"They were in charged of the Russian side of the operations. How they must regret getting employed by Aizen." Shuuhei said as a matter of fact but Ichigo continued to stare at the woman as she kept on trying to catch her boyfriend's eyes in an attempt to show her support. It was a vain attempt. There was no chance of them getting alive out of this.

"I wonder how he will feel when he finds out what we had planned for his girlfriend. I am sure that Unohana-san has some demands for sick as fuck scenarios and this stupid bitch could fulfil every one of them." Zaraki chimed in. "This bitch will make all those scenarios very pleasurable for some sick fucks."

"You promised." The man gasped in pain. His only working eyes looked pleadingly around the room.

"And we keep our promise." Renji growled. "We won't hurt her. We'll make sure others will. Now I just wonder what to do with you. Keep you alive enough to see what happens to your girl or simply kill you and put an end to your-"

The sudden gunshot exploded in the room with such a force that they pulled up the guns pointing them at Ichigo. The undercover cop had managed to take one of Shuuhei's guns and pulled the trigger splaying the brains of the woman all over the chair, herself and her neighbour who screamed silently under the duck tape that covered his mouth.

Her boyfriend made a keening sound as if in so much pain that he seemed to damn Ichigo to an eternity of pain and torture. But his only working eye was filled up with such a fierce gratitude that made Ichigo sick to his stomach.

"What the fuck, Ichigo?" Zaraki shouted and even Renji watched him in apprehension. The only one who didn't seem to react was Byakuya.

"If we torture women, we are not better than fucking Aizen. And I ain't going to sit around here listening to you talking about how you are going to hurt a woman. I don't care with what the fucking bastard comes at us."

"He would do the same to any of us. Yachiru, Rukia! Everyone that he would catch!" Ichigo's hand trembled on the gun as he listened to Zaraki's furious shouts."We don't need your fucking hollier-than-thou attitude, Shinamori! It has happened before and we had to do your dirty work."

"Ginjo was my fucking friend, Zaraki! And you fucking killed him." Ichigo's icy voice made even Byakuya step away from the wall.

"He was a fucking undercover cop and he wouldn't have hesitate to betray you. Do you think your friendship would have mattered when he was going to turn you to police? If that fucking bitch of Soi Fon wouldn't have shot you, thanks to his work you would have been behind the bars by now."

"You had no fucking proof other than what that fucking bitch said."

"Maybe, but it was enough for me." Zaraki kept approaching him menacingly. "And I wasn't wrong. Just two weeks later, police raided up all our operation, destroying it in the process and having enough proof to keep me in the jail for the rest of my life. After all this time, you're telling me that you still believe in his innocence?"

"Maybe he wasn't innocent and maybe he was going to betray us all, but people are more than just pawns to be used in a war, and torturing them isn't making us better than Aizen."

"I don't want to better than fucking Aizen, I just want to end that son of a bitch." Zaraki's eyes glinted in true psycho fashion.

"If you want to have a go at him, that's fine by me. Kill the son of a bitch, kill them all but stop torturing people even after they offered you their information because guess what? Tortured people want to get rid of pain so they'll just tell you what you want to hear."

"Interesting. Now you defend these people." Zaraki growled. "If Ginjo was your friend, and you care so much about these people, then maybe we should question your loyalty, Ichigo."

"My loyalty?" The cop bristled even more when he saw that Byakuya wasn't saying anything to protect him, just stood there and watched the whole exchange in between them as if it was a mere show. "I just killed a woman in front of you, I got shot and whipped in the name of your fucking clan, and maybe Ginjo was a fucking undercover cop, but I never betrayed you, Kenpachi. I would say to be careful with your words or next time I won't be as friendly with a gun in my hand and it won't be as easy to forget where my true loyalty stays. Which is most definitely not with you."

Ichigo raised his gun and pulled the trigger again killing the woman's boyfriend as well, trying to ignore the gratefulness in that eye. He wasn't going to allow anyone to be tortured as such by these guys as long as he could breathe. He would rather wash his hands in their blood rather than having them on his conscious. If he would have let that woman, under Unohana's protection she would have tried to kill herself several times.

He gave the gun back to Shuuhei and glanced at the whole room with the remaining four victims in the chairs. There was no way to save them all or put an end to his misery. He could try and save as many as he could but there was going to be blood on his hands by the time this operation ended. He stared back at Zaraki defyingly.

"This isn't over." Ichigo threatened making Kenpachi grin back maniacally because apparently the man had a kink at being threatened.

"Be sure of that."

"I'll let you to it then." Ichigo nodded in Byakuya's direction because he knew what as best for him and this was as much as a test as it was about getting revenge for what happened on that blasted roof. As soon as the cool air of the night hit his face, he went towards the side of the building and puked his guts. Then spit the bile that continued to rise.

"Your first kill at close range?" The levelled tone didn't surprise him. Ichigo straightened himself and looked back at Byakuya.

"No." He wiped his mouth with the back if his hand. "Probably won't be the last. Look, I didn't want to say this in there but seriously, do you need to shed so much blood?"

"Some extreme measures are necessary at times."

"You didn't make Renji call me there if you didn't have an alternative reason." Ichigo replied scowling. "You know how much I hate seeing blood spilled even if it is for a right cause."

"When I brought you back from the Doc, you told me that you have a secret that it is crushing you and it will ultimately kill you." The revelation caught Ichigo by surprise and it took him all the restraint in the world not to flinch for the Ice Lord was studying him like an insect under the microscope and any weakness would be judged and found lacking.

"And you think that I would tell you the secret now?" Ichigo seethed. "Really? After the blood bath that's inside there?"

The Ice Lord took a few steps towards him and then stopped when he saw that Ichigo matched his movements by trying to get away from him. Ichigo wanted, oh how, he wanted to trust this man but in spite of the good moments that passed between them, there was something utterly terrifying about Byakuya.

"Was your secret about this Ginjo?"

"Don't say his name!" Ichigo hissed. "You know nothing about him. And of course it was about him. How do you think it would have looked if I had told you that during my stint in Osaka I had been friends with an undercover cop? You guys suspected me since the beginning, I wasn't insane enough to tell you about it."

"Then if it is over, why did you say that it was going to kill you?"

"Does it look to you like everything is water under the bridge between me and Zaraki?" Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Maybe you can repress your feelings and not show your emotions, but even if Ginjo was an undercover cop, he was still my friend and we did share blood together and the way he was killed... There was no dignity to it."

"But he betrayed you." The Ice Lord pushed further. "Are you a traitor, Ichigo Shinamori?" The heaviness of the question made a new wave of bile raise into his throat. This was the million dollar question. He thought about the tens of files copied and put aside in that small locker room in the bus station, he thought about the conversations he managed to record in between, about the whole information he gathered, about the fact that he knew more about the workings of the Kuchiki clan than any other agency or cop ever alive. And that in spite of all this work, betraying these people was at the moment inconceivable so he answered to the best of his capabilities, staring straight back to the Ice Lord's eyes without flinching.

"No. I am not, Kuchiki-sama, but I am not a killer either. And I will not kill mindlessly just because you ordered me too."

"Then why did you shoot these two people tonight?"

"It was an act of mercy." He passed his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Wouldn't you have liked for the same act of mercy if instead of that couple there would have been Renji and Rukia?" The Ice Lord actually flinched upon hearing the words.

"You're perplexing."

"And you are not." Ichigo finally dared to approach Byakuya and cupping his face between his hands, although they still shook and showing a small sign of weakness in front of this man was pure suicide. "I want you to win this war, but I don't want you to stoop to Aizen's level. You have to be better than this. You have to keep making me believe in you."

"Do you believe in me?"

"Till the end."

Byakuya wanted to reply but Renji cleared his throat and made them both step away from each other. He looked a little bit chagrined that he interrupted them.

"Sorry," he said seeing something on Byakuya's face, "but the Russians are here." Ichigo looked surprised at Byakuya who simply nodded.

"Send them to my library. It's time we settle some scores with them."

"Yes."

"Do you want to come?" Ichigo simply nodded. "Then go and change and accompany Rukia in the office. We will wait for you. My sister needs to hear this too. She's a hell of negotiator."

Ichigo wondered how many more times he could dodge death as he went to his room and changed into a dark suit and then went to Rukia's office. She was already dressed accordingly in black slacks and a white shirt with a vest on top. She looked extremely intimidating. And he realized that he lived ins his own bubble since he was hurt forgetting to pay attention around him. Rukia had known that the Russians arrived and about what they wanted.

"You ready?" She asked in her throaty voice. She definitely embodied the role of a very shrewd business woman who would probably have the Russians by their balls by the end of the night.

"I will remain silent and keep the observations to myself."

"Atta boy." She patter his cheek smiling and then Ichigo opened the door and let Rukia settled on one of the armchairs brought especially in the room for this meeting. Renji was the right hand side as well. On the other side, on armchairs as well, two Russians were sitting down, while other three were standing behind them, most likely bodyguards with no importance in the procedure. In the middle at his desk ,Byakuya was presiding from his desk, very much composed as the Ice Lord.

One of the Russians took a brief look at them as they made their way into the room. His blue eyes did a double take when he spotted Ichigo. The man was really tall and even sitting down, he seemed to dwarf his colleague.

Seriously? Ichigo thought as the Russian stood up suddenly and looked blazingly at Ichigo, a grin settling on his full lips, lips that Ichigo knew all too well.

"Ichigo fucking Shinamori! I can't believe it!"

"Sergey Shukov." He nodded respectfully. "Are you still fucking alive?"

"Yes, you damn asshole!" Sergey came and hugged him hard, making Ichigo wince in pain.

"Do you know each other?" Byakuya asked politely but there was no kindness in his eyes.

"Yes, Ichigo and I go way back!" And before anyone in the room react, Sergey pressed his lips against Ichigo's into a sudden kiss, as explosive as the eruption of a volcano.

A/N: So I finally had some days off so there you go, have a new chapter, and try to ignore the mistakes left, which I'm sure are still out there, in spite of trying my best to avoid them. I just have a special thank you to give to all of you for your awesome and incredible support. Seriously, it is much appreciated. Thank you, thank you, thank you.