Guest - Thank You for you taking your time to write such a lengthy review. Honestly, when I started writing this story and when I started Rukia as the main character, I was honestly afraid how readers would perceive of this Rukia because of how different she is in this story than Bleach. But, I am happy to know that I did a good job. I feel that other than backbone, (Really, it depends on my thinking just like this chapter, it wasn't originally like this, I twisted one sentence because I had enough of Rukia being submissive to Ichigo. XD) Rukia traits of thinking for others and kind are still in this story so I am slightly thankful for that. . Hm~ The fake voice can be used, I will place that into consideration, perhaps only when their relationship is better and she only uses that to annoy Ichigo, definitely not now. :3

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor ots characters. :3

I apologize, Rukia, I can't talk right now.

Okay, it's no problem.

Throwing the phone across the bed and looking at the time, Rukia noticed that it was 7am. After she had gotten off the phone with Ino last night, not once had she left her bedroom. Instead, she had sunk into her bed, closing her eyes until she had fell asleep right there and then. Thinking that sleeping early had its benefits, it apparently wasn't the case as she felt as alone as she did last night. The mirrors that were hanging around the room hadn't helped much, either. She had attempted contacting Shuuhei seeing how Shuuhei's jokes always had a way of cheering her up when things were really tough on her but Shuuhei wasn't interested in talking to Rukia as well, judging by the message that Rukia had received. Sitting up and looking at her reflection in the mirror, she sighed. Deciding to have a jog to at least freshen herself up, she jumped out of bed and threw on some legging and a sweatshirt before stepping out of her own room. Thankful that she hadn't met anyone in the house, she marveled at how fast the elevator was, bringing her from top floor to ground lobby in just a few seconds. That was one more issue that she wouldn't get used to, just barely. Not looking where she was walking, she had bumped into Hanatarou. "Oof."

"Are you alright, Kurosaki-San?" Hanatarou asked in concern, causing Rukia's cheeks to burn out of embarrassment.

"I'm fine." Rukia said quickly, opting to push open the door herself. "I'm sorry for bumping into you."

Not waiting for Hanatarou to respond, she jogged out into the open air. Cool breezing hitting her face instantly, it helped to take matters out of her own mind. Taking a right and jogging towards a nearby park, she smiled as she noticed people wanting to see a little nature first thing in he morning. People were out here together, enjoying life and doing their best. For some reasons unknown to Rukia, it lifted her spirits. If people could be out here, trying their best to live through life, couldn't Rukia do it as well? Hope blossomed in Rukia as she continued jogging and as she slowed her jog to a walk a few minutes later, she came across a quaint-looking coffee shop just around the corner. Not seeing anyone behind the counter at first, Rukia was confused. Looking around the coffee shop, it was then that she had spotted the man, with tirquiose eyes and short spiky white hair, sitting on a small bench beside the counter. Rukia figured that he was too immersed into reading the newspaper that he hadn't noticed anybody coming in. Either that, or he hadn't cared. Rukia, being in such a good mood, hadn't minded at all. Walking over to the guy, Rukia started talking. "Hi!"

The guy in question gazed up. "That was quite a Hello." He noted the happiness in Rukia's tone of voice as he stood up. "You must be in a good mood today."

"I guess I am. At least for now, anyway..."

"Now?" He tilted his head before walking towards the counter and beginning his job.

"Past couple of days have been a rollercoaster ride. Guess I just needed a run to get it out of my system."

"One of these weeks, huh?" Rukia nodded and he smiled. "Well, what can I get you?"

Looking around the coffee shop, Rukia was surprised that besides the Barista, she was alone. Scanning at the menu located on the chalkboard leaning against the wall on the counter, Rukia made her decision. "I will have a peppermint latte."

"Interesting choice." He responded before proceeding on making the espresso. "You jog in the neighbourhood?"

"Through the park, yeah. I just moved around here, actually."

"Explains why I have never seen you around before now." Rukia simply nodded and he began steaming the milk. "Whereabouts?"

It took a moment to decipher what he was asking. "Right by the park, actually."

"Hm~ Which one?"

Rukia was trying to avoid the answer like plague but not wanting to be rude to a person she had just met bright early in the morning, she had no choice but to answer. "Kurosaki Residence." Rukia whispered, knowing that she was already saying too much. The Barista raised an eyebrow in question but said nothing. "My husband... He already lived in the building, so I am simply moving in with him."

It seemed that the news hadn't clicked in. "You just got married, or something?"

"Just a few days ago, actually."

"Well, congratulations." Rukia simply nodded, not offering her Thanks. As if the news finally clicked, the Barista spoke again. "Oh, I know who you are!" He exclaimed, pouring the milk over the espresso. "You are Ichigo Kurosaki's new wife." Gazing at the floor, Rukia had the urge to grab her coffee and go. Yet, she hadn't paid yet. "Right?" He asked.

Mentally counting to 3 and taking a deep breath, she nodded her head. "Yes."

"I knew it!" If people heard him right now, customers would have mistaken him for a fan of the Kurosakis' or something. "I recognized you in the newspaper and photos of your wedding were everywhere. I can't believe I hadn't recognized you from the start." Handing Rukia her cup, he stated straight at her. "So, why the rollercoaster of a week, then?"

Knowing that he was technically a stranger and was simply curious, she smiled forcefully. "Oh, it's nothing. How much do I owe you?"

Knowing that the customer in front of her was trying to avoid the conversation totally, he chuckled. "Real response." He shook his head moments after that. "It's on the house since you are a first-time customer."

"You don't have to do that..."

"Seriously." He placed his arms up, as if in surrender. "It's nice to meet you and please take the drink, it would be bad if I made an espresso for the customer and said customer isn't taking it." Rukia giggled. "I'm Toshiro. Toshiro Hitsugaya."

Taking the hand that Toshiro offered her, she shook it. "Rukia... Kurosaki."

It still left a bad taste in her tongue. "Hi, Rukia." Rukia simply nodded again. "Okay, you don't have to tell me anything because I'm clearly a stranger, but whatever your mood swing was about, just know that you have it pretty good. You are married to the richest, coolest man in the city. Seriously, I mean it. Every girl wants to get a taste of him, and every guy wants to be Ichigo Kurosaki. You feel me?"

It wasn't too long ago that Rukia had felt that way, that every woman would die to be in her shoes. But... Well, Toshiro certainly have an unfiltered way of talking, at least. "No, I know all of that and I am really happy to be married to Ichigo." Despite saying that, Toshiro kept his eyes on Rukia and Rukia mentally hoped that her eyes hadn't gave anything away. "Anyway, Thank You for the latte. Nice to meet you."

Proceeding to the door, Toshiro's words halted her steps. "Hey, I'm here, like always. You ever want a friend, or another ridiculously good peppermint latte, come on over."

Turning back and giving Toshiro a smile, she nodded. "Okay." Heading out of the coffee shop and thinking of checking her phone if she had any missed calls from Shuuhei, she noticed the screen had turned black, indicating it had ran out of power.

WHERE

ARE

YOU

?????????

Back in the elevator, Rukia was daydreaming about the warm shower that she was gonna take once she was at home. About to indulge in more of her fantasies, the sound of the elevator door opening snapped her out of her fantasies. Right in front of her, sitting on the cream-colored armchair in the living room, was Isshin. "Ah, there she is! Come, my dear."

Walking over and smiling, she noticed an angry Ichigo across the couch from Isshin. "If I knew you were coming, I would have been here."

"Nonsense. I didn't want to disturb your day. Anything fun planned?"

Rukia smiled. "I was just jogging." Her gaze travelled over to Ichigo who was, for some reasons, shooting daggers at Rukia.

"Do you have anything fun planned, Ichigo?" At the very least, Rukia wanted to be civil to Ichigo in front of Isshin.

"I go to work on weekdays." Ichigo replied, staring at Rukia as if she was an idiot. "I'm actually running late, old man."

"Right, of course." Isshin said, standing up and proceeding to leave. "Well, I just wanted to drop in and see how the lovebirds are doing. It looks great in here, doesn't it?"

"It does." Rukia said and Ichigo simply nodded in response.

Walking towards Rukia and hugging her, Rukia reciprocated the hug only to find Ichigo having a dark look on his face, as if ready to murder her in cold blood any moment. "I'm happy you are here, Rukia." That was what he had said to Rukia before proceeding to the elevator. "You are a part of the family now."

"Me too." Refusing to look at Ichigo's expression at that moment, she clenched her fists. "Thank You."

Instantly, at the next moment, she heard a crash and gazed back at Ichigo to find a glass vase, beside him, in pieces. Had Ichigo accidentally swept it out of anger or purposely dropped it? "Clean it."

To say Rukia was surprised was the understatement of the century. "W-What?"

"You heard me." Ichigo's tone was firm and cold at the same time. "You want to cause problems in my life, inviting my own Father over without giving me some advanced warning. Then, I will throw it back at you. This is a mess I made and you can clean it."

Oh, she was pissed. "Weren't you listening to anything I said earlier, Kurosaki? If I was the one who had invited him, why would I be late?"

Ichigo shrugged. "You can lie all you want. Wouldn't be too out of character for you to lie, anyway."

"I'm not lying." But, Ichigo had already made his way to his bedroom and Rukia heard a female giggle. Looking down at the fragments on the ground, Rukia sighed. Knowing she was maligned by Ichigo but also knowing that she couldn't find it in herself to leave the fragments here and not clean up for someone could get hurt, she found the dustpan and got to work with the broom, sweeping the fragments while mumbling 'Brainless-husbands-who-couldn't-think' or something alongsude those lines.

"I will do it." Rukia turned to the direction of the voice to find Momo.

Rukia shook her head. "It's okay, I'm almost done."

Momo walked towards Rukia, suddenly hugging her for a second before pulling and walking away. Rukia looked at Momo's retreating form in thought before gazing at Ichigo's bedroom. Had her actions earned her an ally? Even if that is so, how much of Ichigo's 'Torture' could she endure before things turned out for the better? Would things even turn out for the better?

Is this Rukia? I am Renji, from Kuchiki Enterprise.

Hi?

I am Mr. Kuchiki's assistant.

Oh! What can I help you with?

I actually think I can help you... Would you be able to meet me for a cup of coffee this afternoon?

A block away from the meeting place that she was supposed to meet Renji, her nerves were in haywire mode. Mr. Kuchiki was a big-time President in an important linguistics company and Rukia had really thought back then that she had nailed the interview. She had walked out of Kuchiki Enterprise afterwards, convinced somehow that she had gotten the job and had no need to entertain Isshin's proposal for what it was worth. Mr. Kuchiki had a daughter that was Rukia's age and was quick to tell Rukia how impressive her academic results were in the interview. That was precisely why, when she had the interview rejection email, she had to double-check it to make sure that it was real. But now, why had Mr. Kuchiki sent his assistant to meet her? Was he here to apologize for his mistake and see if Rukia was still in need of a job? Rukia seriously doubted so. Taking a deep breath and pulling the door open, she allowed a businessman to exit the place before stepping inside a busy coffee shop. "Rukia! Over here!"

Rukia turned to the direction of the voice to see a guy with brown eyes and long crimson hair kept in a high ponytail. For some reason, he looked nervous. "Hi." Rukia smiled, offering her hand out for a handshake and he took it. "Nice to see you again."

"Thanks for meeting me." Rukia simply nodded, noticing how Renji seemed to have scanned the whole area of the coffee shop, as if wanting to make sure nobody would have overheard them. "I know this isn't exactly conventional and I know that the last you heard from us, you didn't get the job..." Rukia nodded again, waiting for Renji to finished speaking. "But, I just... I just wanted to let you know why. Why you didn't get the job."

For some reason, the starting of the conversation confused Rukia. Since when was an assistant obligated to tell a failed interviewee why she hadn't gotten a particular job? Was there more to the story to the failed interview email that she had gotten? "Okay."

"Mr. Kuchiki liked you, you were his top choice in actual fact."

That confused Rukia even more. "I was?"

"I was already preparing your contract when he got it."

With the way that Renji was talking in circles, Rukia would have snapped his neck into half sooner or later. Leaning forward, Renji got closer to Rukia and whispered in a soft tone, such that only Rukia could have heard her words. "You were working at Sosuke Cooperation beforehand, weren't you?" Rukia nodded again. "Mr. Kuchiki... He received a document from Sosuke Cooperation. From Mr. Aizen Sosuke, specifically." Flinching at the name, Rukia narrowed her eyes but said nothing as she bit her lips. Aizen Sosuke was Rukia's old boss and the sole reason that she had needed another job. "Mr. Aizen wrote a letter to us, or rather, a warning."

"A warning about me?"

"No." Renji shook his head. "More like a warning for us. Sosuke Cooperation is a multinational company with power over many of our clients. It has the ability to interrupt our business on a massive level. And Aizen... He made sure it was clear that if we hired you, he would make things hard for us."

"But... Isn't that illegal?" Rukia clenched her fists.

Renji sighed. "Illegal, immoral, it's all of those that Aizen is known in the industry for. He's the guy who fights every battle like World War 3, you know? Mr. Kuchiki is a good man but he didn't want to risk it."

"Not when there are much more applicants, I get it." At that moment, Rukia really understood Renji and the Vice-President's predicament.

"I wasn't even supposed to know, but I read the letter right when we got it. I read most of Mr. Kuchiki's emails, but this... I had never seen anything like this. I could lose my job if anyone finds out that I told you, but I thought you deserved to know, at the very least." Reaching across the table and patting Rukia's hand, surprising Rukia that the gesture felt genuine, out of all things. "I don't know what happened between Aizen and you, but he's clearly keeping tabs on you. He has pull over most companies. So just... Be careful. Powerful men don't think twice about screwing over young women, you know?"

Gathering his stuff, he was about to leave the coffee shop when Rukia spoke. "Thank You for telling me."

As Renji's words haunted her mind, Rukia had a hunch that Renji's words rang true and she had witnessed it beforehand as well. Aizen Sosuke was the man she had dreaded seeing when she was still working in Sosuke Cooperation. Not only was Aizen her old boss, he was also the one who had sexually harassed and stalked her. He was apparently also the man whom reminded her everyday of her life that saying 'No' would bring destruction to her career and more important, her life.

Today was so not Ichigo's day. After the commotion of the wedding, in addition to having his 'Wife' moved in with him, work not going his way, Ichigo desperately needed today to be his day. Although the day had started out fine enough, that is. Ichigo had gotten through his morning gym session without anyone attempting to talk to him. Going to the gym in the morning had been Ichigo's outlet ever since the beginning of the year after that happened. Pumping iron made Ichigo easily forget that he had been a fool once. Being in the gym got his stress and aggression out. Until he left the gym and everything came back to him, that is. While he was in the gym, he felt in control. During lunchtime, Ichigo had gotten a call from Paris, alongside the lines of delayed development in one of the business which Kurosaki Enterprise have had dealings with. At the tip of the iceberg was Isshin, who wasn't too thrilled to have heard the news. Ichigo had rolled his eyes, he had understood why Isshin felt frustrated but...

"Ichigo, this shouldn't have happened."

"I will have you know that this was out of my control."

"Nothing's out of our control. I understand that you have had a couple of distracting weeks, but..."

"I'm not goddamned distracted."

"Watch your tone."

He wasn't even in Paris and yet, Isshin had found a way to blame the entire incident onto him. With that, the gala that he had been trying to avoid, he would have to go either way. Last time he had been in Paris, he was there whom he thought was his one true love. The one who took his heart and dropped it like a fucking porcleain doll. Worst still, they were there for her wedding gown, the one she would have worn down the aisle. Deciding to calm himself down from those negative thoughts, he had Ikkaku pick him up from his office. Ichigo sighed as he desperately needed a way to get out of Paris but luck wasn't on his side as his car stopped abruptly. "Okay, what the fuck was that?"

"Not sure, Kurosaki-sama." Ikkaku replied before stepping out of the car.

As Ikkaku checked the car for any faults, Ichigo saw steam rising through the windshield, decided that he is not dying in a car explosion in the middle of the road, climbed out and walked away from Ikkaku, without any care in the world.

Leaving the coffee shop in a daze, Rukia felt tears threatening to fall. She knew, if it wasn't the letter that Aizen had sent, she would have been Mr. Kuchiki's employee, she wouldn't have to accept Isshin's proposal and she wouldn't have been Ichigo's punching bag, for lack of a better word. Everything would have been normal with Ino and at least, her family would have been proud of her. Walking along the streets, she noticed a car that was suspiciously Ichigo's car with Ikkaku being the driver. All of a sudden, the car released a sound and halted, coming to a full stop. After a few second, Ikkaku stepped out of the car and Rukia noted there was smoke rising up. Walking towards the car, Rukia saw Ichigo leaving Ikkaku to his own devices without even having the decency to tell Ikkaku, causing Rukia to frown. "Hey." Ikkaku gazed at Rukia. "You need some help?" It took him a few seconds to recognize Rukia.

"What do you know about cars?"

Rukia hadn't replied Ikkaku, only began observing the car and pointing to a coolant hose. "The hose needs to be replaced. But, for the meantime, a coolant flush will do it. Do you have any in the back?" Ikkaku stared at Rukia as if she had grown a second head. "A blue bottle called 'Coolant'." Ikkau gazed at Rukia for a few moments before going to the back and pulling the bottle that Rukia had said. "Awesome. Thanks." Getting to work, Rukia had known a little about Ikkaku in the time period of her fixing the car. Ikkaku had been in the army and handled 2 tours before he was recruited by Isshin Kurosaki's security team, job scope inclusive of looking after Ichigo and driving him around. Ikkaku opened the car door for Rukia as she gazed at Ikkaku. "Ikkaku, do you mind keeping this between us?"

"'This'?"

"That I helped with the car. I don't want Ichigo to know."

"Is there a reason why you wouldn't want him to know?"

Rukia simply shrugged. "It feels a little out of place."

Knowing better than to question further, Ikkaku nodded. "Oh, okay, sure."

After they had reached the house, Rukia bid Ikkaku a goodnight before heading right through the door. Rukia hadn't known if she could trust Ikkaku to keep what she had did between them but she knew that if Ichigo had found out about the incident, there would only be more reasons for Ichigo to hate Rukia. And, Rukia knew for a fact, she couldn't handle any more hostility for the day.