Guest - Yay! Someone new! Welcome! :3 I love Rukia as well. Apart from Ichigo, she's one of the characters I have fun writing. :3

Guest - That's always the part I have difficulties on. :3 Their character development is very hard to grasp. I don't want everything to go into flames but I have to pace it a little by a little. Thank you! :3 Your review made me smile, I am glad that you like the character development and slow rhythm between Ichigo and Rukia. :3 It will be hard for Rukia to fight back seeing that she's more of a scaredu-cat and is easily scared of things but we will see. :3 That's why the island scene is important, it gives Ichigo different perspectives about his life. :3 There will be some instance where readers would still think Ichigo is a jerk but yeah... Old Habits Die Hard. :3

Guest - Ichigo's inner thoughts are always fun to write. :3 How he is confused about his feelings towards Rukia and everything. :3 And, how guilt is eating him up, that is also a factor to consider. :3 Judging by the direction, she might leave this marriage. :3

A (Guest) - I can imagine myself laughing while writing that scene. XD I know, Ichigo is a very bad Ichigo. D: Hm... She has a income from the magazine that had maligned her so if she really does divorce, I think she will be okay. Yeah, main issue is really Ukitake over here. Although Rukia's feelings are changing, I can't see her really staying in this marriage for Ichigo if Ukitake recovers or dies, either way. D:

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

Hips swaying. Sweat dripping. Hands grasping. Currently in the middle of a dance lesson, Rukia had never been so close to another person in her life. Let alone the partner in front of him, Ichigo Kurosaki. "And turn!" The moment Ichigo had spun Rukia, she felt air escaping her lungs. She felt off balance and clumsy, unlike every other person in the room whom moved like professional dancers. Everyone with the exception of Rukia was so graceful and annoyingly good. Luckily for her, Ichigo had happened to be leading. Otherwise, they would probably have been a pile of mess on the floor by now. "Good! Now, closer." Mio, the dance instructor, a gorgeous woman with straight black hair and gray-blue eyes, wearing nothing but a very revealing tight outfit, placed her hand to Ichigo's neck. "Even closer, Kurosaki-San." Mio all but purred. She had felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand. An animal instinct within Rukia sparked. A disgust so pure, a sudden hatred so intoxicating that she had almost forgot herself. Wait, what was happening to her for her to hate Mio? She was just a dance instructor for goodness' sake! "You move very smoothly, Kurosaki-San." Mio said as Ichigo led Rukia in another step. "With a proper partner, who knows what you would be capable of."

Rukia wanted to trip this woman and watch her fall on her skinny butt, that will definitely show her who's boss. Wait, was she possessive of Ichigo? Had she actually, possibly felt jealous over Ichigo? No, that couldn't be it. Just a few days ago, she had been speaking with Ino the possibility of ending the marriage entirely. Now, she was jealous? Was this feeling just a hormone of her own or a side effect of feeling Ichigo's hands on her body and spinning her around like a rag doll like she was his to do what he wanted? In a way, she supposed she was, but... "Let me lead." Ichigo whispered.

He had sounded more amused than anything. Rukia frowned, confused before realizing that, in her anxious stupor, she had begun to direct their movements. "You need to be more graceful, Kurosaki-San." Mio said with a gaze directed at her. "Try to stop overthinking and just breathe..." Was she serious? Taking a deep breath, Rukia watched as a couple rushed past them, moving in perfect tandem and she found herself so in awe of their beautiful fluid motion that she had failed to watch her feet.

"Rukia!"

She had landed flat on her butt in the middle of the dance floor. She heard a few people gasp, and she could have sworn Mio snickered before bending down and offering help to Rukia, plastering a pitying look onto her face. "Oh, poor thing." She said insincerely.

"I got her." Ichigo said, kneeling down and lending Rukia a hand. "Come on, it's all right."

Huh? What? His tone of voice... His gestures... Rukia was honestly surprised as her cheeks reddened by his gentle tone of voice and his lack of impatience at her obvious ineptitude when it came to dancing. This wasn't the same Ichigo who had screamed at her 2 days ago. This wasn't the same Ichigo who had a woman in his room. As both of them stood up, it was as if Rukia saw Ichigo for the first time. How his muscles drenched in perspiration, how his jaw locked and how his eyes sparkled with mischief. Okay, despite how Rukia hated him, she has to admit that he is handsome and hot. And, she needed to halt her thoughts right there. Ichigo Kurosaki, the person who hated her and she was fucking fantasizing about him? But, it had seemed that she wasn't the only one fantasizing about Ichigo. When Rukia had looked around the room, she saw many women staring at Ichigo practically drooling. The worst of the women was possibly Mio as she took his hand. "Let me show you how it's done, Kurosaki-San."

Mio nodded to a fellow instructor who had restarted the song and suddenly, Ichigo and Mio were twirling around the room, Mio not keeping her hands off Ichigo. Rukia noticed that Mio's hands were travelling. From his back, to his ass. Seriously, how was she still a dance instructor when she just squeezed his ass? A strange anger flared up inside of Rukia once again, the strange urge to stomp onto the dance floor and rip Ichigo away from Mio. Wait, what was she thinking? Ichigo was toxic for her, she knew that. She should be thinking about getting a divorce, not about how handsome her husband looked! Yet, there was something that Rukia had noticed as Ichigo and Mio danced. Ichigo's eyes had never met Mio's, but they had met Rukia's. Even when Ichigo was holding another woman, his gaze had stayed on Rukia. Biting her lips and looking away, Rukia blushed. She never had eyes that looked at her so intensely before, especially not Ichigo's...

They had arrived home, both sweaty and disgusting, both immediately splitting to shower. Ikkaku had driven us and although neither of them had spoken, Ichigo had told Ikkaku to put on the music that they had been dancing to in the lesson. As Rukia's lips curled into a smile, Ichigo did a cheer in his heart knowing that had meant that she had liked the lesson somewhat. As the dancing lesson first begun and their hands clasping, something in Ichigo's mind had just clicked, all of his angers and frustration had disappeared for a brief moment. In its place was pure physical attraction. His brain still wasn't making any sense but feeling Rukia's body against his as they were dancing did all sorts of things to him. As Ichigo stepped into the bathroom, wanting to solve this hard-on that he had, he was halted by a quiet exclamation. "Kurosaki-sama!"

In the shower cleaning, was Momo. Well, this was awkward. "Momo." Ichigo blushed and used a hand, trying desperately to cover the bulge. "I didn't realize you were in here."

"I apologize, Kurosaki-sama, I am cleaning." He could certainly see that now. What should he do? He needed to get clean because the smell of him perspiring was disgusting to say the least but the bathroom was taken. A smirk formed on his face. "Should I get out and let you..."

Ichigo shook his head. "There's more than one shower in this department."

Without even bothering to knock, Ichigo barged into Rukia's bedroom. In his defense, this was his house and women were notoriously slow in the bathroom. With the thought that Rukia hadn't even stepped in the bathroom yet, he simply barged in and... okay, he really should think twice before doing anything at all. Rukia, on the other hand, heard someone barging into the room and squealed, trying to cover herself, allowing Ichigo to see that she was wearing nothing but a black underwear. "Ichigo..." She averted her eyes. "What..." Biting her lips, she tried again. "What are you doing here?"

Rukia was covering her chest but from the position Ichigo was in, he could still see the shape of her chest. For a second, Ichigo had wanted to give Rukia her space, considering him barging into her bedroom as a violation but the next second, he had changed his mind. Rukia was his wife. Why did he need to hide from Rukia? Taking off his shorts and his briefs, this had effectively caused Rukia to blush, seeing what Ichigo was doing from the corner of her eyes. "Sorry, honey." Ichigo had said with a smirk. "My bathroom's being cleaned and I'm in a rush to get to work. I hope you don't mind."

Stepping towards Rukia, he noticed Rukia's gaze lowering down and go wide. It was as if she hadn't seen a man's hard-on before. Until now, that is.

Okay, what the fuck was Ichigo Kurosaki doing? He walked towards Rukia, buck-naked and Rukia suspected he was about to try something. She instinctively stepped back but Ichigo had walked right past her, into the shower. Rukia held on to her chest, she hadn't wanted him to see anything but... Yeah, not going into the direction of her thoughts. She had wanted to run out of the bathroom but somehow, she had felt that her feet were tied to brick and were frozen. Stepping into the shower, Rukia watched as the water splashed against his body, against his... Okay, stop! "Sorry..." Rukia shifted her feet. "I will just..."

"I let the shower door open for a reason, Rukia." Ichigo had said with a smirk, causing Rukia to blush even redder. "You are welcome to join me. We both need a rinse, right?" What? Was he suggesting what Rukia was thinking? Okay, yes, she needed a shower but not with Ichigo in the shower and not with... With... With that! Well, should she be surprised? Ichigo had slept with women before, it's not like this is uncomfortable for him. Remembering those girls a d the times that she had caught him, her eyes hardened. No. She would not stoop that low and give Ichigo Kurosaki the satisfaction. As she was about to leave the bathroom, she caught Ichigo's exposed back, the long scar, the same one he had told her about on the island. Rukia couldn't help but wonder: What were the circumstances? As long as Ichigo was unwilling to open up, she would be unwilling to consider herself attracted to him and she would force her body into submission if she had to! She turned and stormed away from the bathroom, hearing Ichigo calling after her. "My sweet wife is such a prude!"

"Oh. My. God. RUKIA!!!" Toshiro had nearly dropped her cappuccino when she had told him what had occured between Ichigo and her in the bathroom. Quickly sitting across from Rukia and ignoring 2 other customers waiting for him to return to the bar so they could order, Toshiro exclaimed. "Details, woman. I need them. Right now." She blushed, hardly knowing where to begin as the scene inside the bathroom was replaying over and over in her mind. Ichigo catching her half-naked, Ichigo stripping, Ichigo in the shower, water glistening against his miscular chest, dripping down to his... Okay, stop! "Hellooooooooo?" Toshiro called, waving his hand in front of Rukia's eyes. "Stop daydreaming and start talking, Missy."

"Well..." She started, a little uncertain. "I thought for a second he was coming towards me. But then... He went into to the shower."

"And, he left the shower door wide open, right? Basically saying: Come in. In more ways than one."

If Rukia had been drinking her cappuccino, she would have spit the whole thing in Toshiro's face. "I seriously think he was simply messing with my head. He doesn't really want -- "

"Rukia!" Toshiro threw his hands in to the air and sighed, exasperated. "Your life is finally start to get interesting! Why are you trying to make your life de-interesting and I know that isn't a word."

Rukia shook her head. "I'm trying to be realistic here. He's not into me since he sleeps with whomever he wants. I'm simply just a girl who he has to live with."

"And who he strips in front of."

A blush. "That's not the point, Toshiro."

A mischievous smile. "So?"

Rukia frowned, confused. "So... What?"

"Did you see it?"

Toshiro was not making her remember that. She averted her gaze from Toshiro, the colour rising to her cheeks. "Toshiro, we are in public."

That had seemed to give Toshiro the cue to continue. "You saw it! You totally saw it! How big was it? Was it huge? No, it was tiny, wasn't it? That would explain his obsession with all those massive Kurosaki Hotels. Overcompensating, am I right?" A blush was all the answer Toshiro needed as his grin grew wider. "So, it's not small, I see..."

In all honestly, seeing Ichigo's groin was... Yeah, not going there but all Rukia could remember was the scar behind on his back. To Rukia, it was a reminder of the short time that they had spent on the island after the plane crash. How he had finally opened up about the car accident only to shut her off again. Call it curiosity but she wanted to know the whole story. "Toshiro~" Rukia whined. "This is already so weird for me, do you have to make it weirder?"

"Sorry, Rukia." Toshiro simply shrugged. "Can't help myself. I'm a penniless artist in need of inspiration. What can I say?"

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Hardly penniless lately from what I hear."

"It's true." Toshiro said with a gracious nod. "I'm doing way better, thanks to all your help with the gallery and everything. But, I'm also sort of a big spender, so..."

"That's why you still work here."

"Yup." Toshiro popped the 'P' sound.

"How have they not fired you yet?"

"I have NO idea. Hold that thought."

Finally standing up, Toshiro approached the customers who had looked positively furious by how long they had to wait. Toshiro, on the other hand, hadn't seemed to mind in the slightest by him flashing a smile and taking their orders. Gazing at Toshiro, Rukia was feeling grateful for Toshiro being by her side. Sure, she could have talked to Ino about most of the stuff but when it comes to sex-related topics, Toshiro would be her first stop. Apparently, Toshiro likes to talk about such stuff and somehow, even as a gay man, Toshiro knew more about female bodies than Rukia did. Furthermore, it wasn't as if she could talk about these kind of stuff with Ino when she was dating Shuuhei. Nope, nada, she would very much like to steer clear of it, thank you very much. It was all very new and confusing to Rukia but when it came to talking to Toshiro, she wasn't complaining. As a 23-year-old virgin, she needed all the insight she could get, anyway. She was about to take a sip of her cappuccino when she felt a buzz on her phone.

Hello Beautiful Lady. Did you miss me?

Who is this?

Oh, Rukia... Don't act like you don't know who I am...

Um... This is kind of weird. Please leave me alone.

Oh... No, no, no... I don't think so. We both know you miss me. You NEED me.

Stop. This isn't funny. I will go to the police.

So cute when you resist.

I'M SERIOUS.

Please, Rukia, you know the truth, no one says No to me.

"Rukia, what's the matter? You look like you saw a ghost or something."

"I... I..." She averted her gaze from Toshiro before taking a deep breath. "He texted me, Toshiro."

"Ichigo?" She shook her head. She knew that she was crazy, thinking that he out of all people would text her when he was in jail but was there any other explanation? "Rukia, talk to me!" Toshiro said, sitting down across from Rukia and grabbing her hands.

"A-Aizen Sosuke..."

Instantly, Toshiro' face was as white as a sheet. Rukia had told Toshiro about her old boss, Aizen Sosuke, about how he had made it his life mission to destroy her, about how he had made sure that Rukia would never be hired by any company again, all because she had rejected his advances. She had thought she would never have to hear or think about his name ever again after Isshin had ensnared him in that honey-pot trap months ago. How could a man in jail be texting her? "Can I take a look?" Toshiro said, grabbing Rukia's phone. Rukia nodded, unlocking her phone such that Toshiro could see read the messages. Returning the phone to Rukia, Toshiro frowned. "Are you sure it's him? You told me he's in jail. That means he would need to use the prison's messaging system but this number is unlisted." Huh? What? Prison's messaging system? "I have a weird Uncle I have been visiting in prison for years, you learn these things."

Rukia shook her head. "But... It has to be him... There's nobody who wants to hurt me the way he does, especially after what I did. How I got him sent to jail..."

Toshiro nodded his head. "Even if it's him, Rukia, I can tell you this much. He's behind bars, that's a fact and he can't touch you in real life, you are safe."

Rukia wasn't convinced. "But, what if..."

"Don't waste time imagining the worst-case scenarios, trust me." Rukia gazed at Toshiro, noticing how serious Toshiro was being now. Toshiro had never really opened up to Rukia about his past before. "Since I was a kid, my Uncle had always reached out and made these promises from jail, saying that he was getting out soon and taking me to Disneyland."

Rukia smiled. "He sounds sweet."

"He is." Toshiro said, smiling sadly. "He is also a liar, Rukia. He's never getting out of prison and all his messages, all his promises... They are just empty talk." Dustin tapped her phone reassuringly. "This text is the same. Empty talk. You are going to be okay."

There were a few moments of silence before Rukia finally smiled and threw her arms around his neck, hugging Toshiro. "Thank You."

"No worries. Now, you better let go. The customers who looks like they wanna kill me are increasing."

Rukia laughed before releasing Toshiro, grateful for the fact that it had happened in Toshiro's coffee shop, that Toshiro was there to calm down Rukia when she was scared.

Rukia ran back home, feeling more energized than ever. It felt like a phrase that she could have applied to any situation. Whether it be Ino telling her way too intimate details about her relationship, the doctor describing even more things that could go wrong with Ukitake or Ichigo yelling at her, they were just words. As the elevator doors opened, Rukia had felt like she could take on anything. Yet, as she stepped out, Ichigo surprised her yet again... With a suitcase that was currently rolling towards her. "You are finally here." Ichigo said. "Hurry up and get showered."

Huh? Say that again? "Wait..." Rukia was confused more than ever. "What's going on?"

"Pack your bags, we are leaving for the weekend."

Just words, huh...? Sighing mentally, Rukia gazed at Ichigo as if he had grown another head. "Where are we going?"

Currently on his way to the elevator, Ichigo gazed back at Rukia before smiling one second and shrugging the next second. "And, spoil the surprise? Where's the fun in that?"