jobananasan - I am happy you reviewed when some of the readers from the beginning had given up on this story. I must explain something to you though. Ichigo didn't lose his memory on that island. He landed on his head since he hadn't had the seatbelt so his wounds were more serious. He hadn't lost his memory, he was just thinking he was dead when Rukia attempted to treat him. But then, he saw Rukia, who was helping him despite him treating her badly. Normal people would have left him to die but Rukia did not. That's why his impression of her changed. He neither lost nor regained his memory, he thought that he already died. If you look at the Chapter when Ichigo asked Rukia if she would stay, Rukia remembered the cruelty Ichigo treated her with, just that she chose to start over. She forgave Ichigo but she never forgot. Rukia suffered in the 1st arc and is still suffering because of Ichigo's mistake, I can admit that but you cannot deny that Ichigo has been sweet to Rukia as well. From what I see, Ichigo is galling in love with Rukia and Rukia feels that she is falling in love with Ichigo as well. I don't think you are right in that sense. Rukia may be one of the thousands that Ichigo had slept around but from how the story is progressing, I can feel that Rukia holds a place in Ichigo's heart. I feel that Ichigo genuinely likes her back. He could have taken her virginity at any point of tome but he hadn't. To a woman who is a virgin, virginity is the most important. But, he held back and told her he would only do it of she agrees. The 1st arc Ichigo wouldn't have done that. From the Chapter yesterday, I am surprised you hadn't caught the fact that Ichigo wasn't comfortable with the topic that his business associates were talking about and had called Rukia in just to make them stop. So, he does have some respect for women after all. :3 Whether he will go ape shit, let's find out in this Chapter together. :3

Guest - It's honestly understandable, Ichigo being sweet to her doesn't mean that she can forget all of the previous things he had done to her. We will see how Ichigo reacts in this Chapter. Hopefully, he is not in his anger mode. D: I honestly think because Ginjo is Ichigo's business associate, that's why she thinks that Ichigo will side with Ginjo seeing that he won't offend his business associate. And, perhaps she still thinks Ichigo hates her despite all the things he's doing, that's why he thinks he would side with Ginjo instead of her. :3

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

Managing to crawl from the bathroom and up to her bed, Rukia covered herself with a blanket and felt like she had been swallowed whole. She could neither breathe nor move. She felt raw, like she had been filleted open and left for the birds to rip her apart. How could this be fucking happening again? Would she need to move home for good this time? Maybe she could help take care of Ukitake and stay out of sight. Would it be worth giving up her dreams for some peace and quiet? It was hardly as though she was living them out now. "Rukia?" Ichigo had called out, crashing through her bedroom door and causing Rukia to wince in response, sinking further into the bed and awaited his verbal assault. Blanket thrown back, Ichigo towered over Rukia. "You lying -- " It was as if something stopped him as a fresh wave of panic had built within Rukia as Ichigo's dark gaze ran over her body, taking in her position that she had laid in and her tear-stained cheeks. Then, something had shifted within Ichigo. His brow furrowed and his breathing slowed, no longer in anger mode anymore. He crawled into the bed beside her and pulled Rukia against his chest. Ichigo then settled behind her and squeezed her closer before placing the lightest of kisses on her jaw. "What's hurting you, Rukia?"

Rukia was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head, her voice shaky and raw. "I... I can't tell you."

Ichigo hummed, his finger tracing circles around Rukia's hip. The touch was neither demanding nor sexual, causing a sort of calm to wash over Rukia, a sort of calm that originated from that spot and spreaded outwards. "If you won't talk to me, will you go with me somewhere?" Thinking for a moment and awaiting for the usual terror to spring forward and anchor her forward, she was surprised when it hadn't came. If Ichigo had wanted to have his way with her, he wouldn't have wasted time taking her out in public for there were witnesses there. If there was one thing Ichigo had hated anything more than Rukia, it was Rukia ruining his public image. Rukia nodded her head once as Ichigo began asking. "Can you walk?" She nodded her head a second time. "I will get our coats. Wait here."

Ichigo had taken her to a nearby park. The walkways and field, swarmed with people in the summer, were empty now. Pulling her scarf over her cold nose and taking a deep breath of cold air in, Ichigo's pace slowed down as Rukia looked around, trying to orient herself before realizing that they were on the path she had used to take when walking home from Ino's shop. There was something else that had seemed special about this place, she couldn't quite catch the wisp of memory, though. Pulling her over to a bench that faced a pond with an ancient weeping willow on its bank, they sat down, looking out upon the frozen water and at the sunset painting its icy surface a wash of purples and golds. "I come here to think." Ichigo had began speaking. "To clear my head." Ichigo then released a sigh, making vapor billow from his mouth like a dragon's. "Old man told me this is where he first met you."

Was that why this place had felt familiar to her? "I was handing out lilies."

Ichigo turned and gazed at Rukia. "He said that was how he knew you were the one since lilies were her favorite."

"Who?"

Ichigo, in response, nodded to the bench. "Okaa-San."

Ichigo had never spoken to Rukia about Masaki before, he hadn't so much as mentioned it. That was probably why Rukia was afraid to speak after that, for fear that it would have broken this frozen moment. For some reasons, Rukia had felt a little of the ache in her chest beginning to lift. The Ichigo Kurosaki she waa seeing now was the Ichigo Kurosaki she had seen in brief flashes over the past few months and she was sure this was the real Ichigo Kurosaki. "I came here a lot after the accident. After..." Rukia waited, allowing Ichigo to take his time gathering his words. "You have seen the scar on my back." Rukia nodded her head. "It was raining the night I got it." Ichigo continued. "I was coming back from a business trip." He stopped then, as though it had hurt to remember, as if he hadn't wanted to remember at all. "When I walked in and found them together, I lost it and ran out of the apartment, out onto the street. Inoue, my ex, followed me and stepped off the curb just as a car shot around the corner. I pushed her back but I wasn't fast enough to jump out of the way too." Ichigo took a deep breath, not gazing at Rukia as he continued. "It hurt and it still hurts. Whenever I see the scar, I will always think of her and hurt in a whole new way."

Rukia bit her lips. She was curious about how the scar formed but she hadn't expected... Rukia closed her eyes, feeling Ichigo's pain as if it was her own's. "I'm sorry..."

Hearing Rukia's words, Ichigo pulled her against his chest, Rukia not retaliating. "You have nothing to be sorry about, you of all people. I'm trying to tell you something here, I'm trying to tell you that sometimes, the hurt that I have been carrying around hasn't been so bad recently. Sometimes, I even forget that it's there and that's because of you. Because you hand out lilies to strangers and because I know for a fact that you would be the one to jump in front of a car for me."

Leaning against his chest gave Rukia a new type of warmth, a type of warmth that had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Ichigo, I -- "

"You saved me, Rukia." Ichigo had said, his lips next to her ears. "Not just on that goddamned island." The emptiness in Rukia was nearly gone now, as if Ichigo's words had magically healed her. She had neither believed nor hoped that Ichigo would be honest with her. She hadn't thought once that this overbearing and alpha-male personality had allowed for such intimate gestures. She had never been so happy to be wrong, for once in her life. "I can see you are hurting, Rukia." Her whole body froze at those words as Ichigo pulled back and held Rukia's cheeks in his large and rough hands, leaving Rukia having no other choice but to gaze back at Ichigo. "I want you to know that I will be there for you too. I want you to know that I am here. I can be that person again, the kind of man who jumps in front of a car for you. I would be willing to do anything, even if it meant going back to that fucking island, I just hope that you will let me prove it to you."

There were more to his words than it had seemed and as Rukia's tears uncontrollably rolled down her cheeks, she could see that now. It was as if Ichigo had this opening just for her, an olive branch and a stepping stone in the right direction. The last few days since she had agreed to date Ichigo was tumultuous, but it was she who had agreed to try. She had owed Ichigo the truth, hadn't she? She could only pray that this would bring them closer and not be the final straw that destroyed their marriage. As Ichigo wiped her tears away, she spoke. "Ichigo, I have something to tell you."

Ichigo, what's going on? My assistant just informed me that the Paris contract is off. That's month of work up in smoke. Meet me at the office at 6am to discuss. To make things clear, it's a MANDATORY meeting.

"Morning, Ichigo-sama." His assistant greeted as he walked past his desk the very next day. It was still dark out, hardly daylight yet, and the office was empty.

"Thanks for the coffee." Ichigo replied, grabbing the steaming cup from his hand. "Is he in there already?"

"You bet. Will you need me to take notes?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I need you to get everyone from the Paris Project together. I will speak to them at 8am sharp." Not waiting for a reply, Ichigo pushed open the door to his office and Isshin was standing in the middle of the room. Isshin was supposed to be semi-retired but he had a habit of showing up in Ichigo's office unannounced. Really, Ichigo should be happy that Isshin was willing to help out but most of the time, it had pissed him off. "Old man -- "

"I'm not interested in your excuses, son." Dropping onto his chair and massaging his temples, Ichigo felt a migraine coming his way. "You dropped the ball big time." Isshin had said while pacing in front of Ichigo's desk. Isshin had always tended to move when he was mad, as if the problem was some sort of tiger or bear that he could scare away by making himself bigger. It would have worked if Ichigo wasn't on the receiving end of his hand gestures and loud words one time too many. "I couldn't believe it when I heard that you terminated our contract with Ginjo last night. My son, or rather, my new son doesn't do that sort of thing. That's what the old car-racing, money-burning irresponsible Ichigo Kurosaki would do. Not the Ichigo Kurosaki who I entrusted Kurosaki Enterprise to."

Taking a sip of his coffee, Ichigo attempted to speak sense. "Old man -- "

Isshin crossed his arms. "How could you sabotage the project like that, Ichigo? That's months of work just gone out the window. It will take weeks to get things up and running again, to find another partner."

Not in the mood for Isshin's verbal assualt today out of all days seeing that he hadn't gotten enough sleep, he gritted his teeth before shouting at Isshin. "GINJO TRIED TO RAPE RUKIA!!!"

"W-What?"

"Ginjo tried to rape Rukia." Ichigo repeated, his tone being quieter this time. It had hurt to say the words, knowing that he had failed her back at the gala. Last night was a testimony to how much Ichigo had been working on his temper. He had sat quietly as Rukia told Ichigo what Ginjo had done to her, how he had cornered her and touched her. At that moment, he had allowed the fury to wash over him and build in his stomach. After they had gotten home and Rukia falling asleep, he had channelled the fury into something powerful.

"What? How?"

"He stalked her in Paris and trapped her in a side room at the venue. I already called the Hotel and had them release the security camera footage to me."

Isshin fished his phone out of his pocket. "Have you called the authorities? Do I need to get my team involved?" Isshin was the epitome of calm now, all business and determination.

"Of course." It had stung a little hearing about Isshin's lack of confidence in Ichigo's desire to protect Rukia. It had stung even more knowing that he had deserved it. "The police are looking for him now. It looks like the bastard had caught a private plane back to France. Interpol is waiting to catch him at the airport."

Isshin raised an eyebrow before leaning back in his chair. "You did a good job, son."

"He hasn't been caught yet."

"He will be caught. Do you have an idea what his motive was?"

That was the question Ichigo had been hoping to avoid but no one became as powerful as Isshin Kurosaki without asking tough questions. Looking down, Ichigo cleared his throat, finding himself unable to hold Isshin's gaze. "I think it might have been for revenge."

"Revenge for what, Ichigo?"

Ichigo had felt shame heat the back of his neck. "I slept with his girlfriend."

Isshin held up his hand. "I don't want to know more. Just tell me you have ended it."

"I have."

"And?"

"I put the girl up in one of our hotels. I don't want her to get hurt because of something I had done, after all."

Isshin nodded. "You did good, son. Now, get out."

Ichigo blinked, gazing at Isshin as if he had grown a second head. His hand had tightened around his mug subconsciously. "What?" That was it? Was Isshin asking him to get out and let him handle it? What the fuck?

"You need to be with Rukia right now, she's extremely vulnerable." Isshin explained and Ichigo sighed mentally. He had known that Rukia was in a vulnerable state, that was why he had stayed up all night holding her until she fell asleep. That was why he had been making calls to hunt the slimy French fuck down, that was also why he had ripped apart the biggest contract the company had ever had in his time as CEO.

"I need to be here to see this through, not sitting at home and hoping that it will end well." Ichigo gritted his teeth, fuming in anger. "He laid his hands on her, old man. He hurt her and I won't let him get away with it."

"We won't. But there is more to the story that you don't know, Ichigo. This isn't the first man who had threatened Rukia."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Ichigo had felt his fury beginning to build in him once more as Isshin told him the truth behind the nudes of Rukia that had leaked on the internet, telling him how her old boss, Aizen Sosuke, had stalked her and threatened her while keeping it from Ichigo upon Rukia's request. Rukia hadn't trusted Ichigo with the truth. Now that he had thought about it, it was logical that Rukia hadn't trusted Ichigo since he had berated Rukia when the pictures had made the news and called her an attention-seeker, gold-digging whore and lying slut. He couldn't have been further from the truth as it was. "I was a fucking bastard."

Isshin smiled. "Yes, you were. You have a chance to redeem yourself now, go to her. I will take care of everything here."

Ichigo nodded his head and stood up. "Thank You."

He had failed Rukia in more ways than he had ever known, he refused to let that happen once again. "And, Ichigo..." Isshin called as Ichigo was halfway out the door. "I'm proud of you, you did a good job."

"Did you find the pictures of the venue?" Ino's voice sounded faraway, as if Rukia was underwater.

Rukia shook her head. "No, sorry."

Frowning, Ino pushed down the screen of Rukia's laptop. "Is everything okay, Rukia? You look like hell."

Rukia probably should have made herself more presentable before she had arrived. The truth was that she was simply too tired to cry and it would probably have been kinder for her to cancel their plan. A little girl time had seemed like the perfect outing to get her mind off of last night. Instead of helping Ino, she had been staring at her computer screen for the past hour, unable to shake the feelings of Ginjo's eyes on her. It wasn't like she could tell Ino that too, it would have worried her. She had already told Ichigo the issue of Ginjo with less than stellar results achieved. "Just didn't sleep well." Rukia smiled at Ino. "More coffee should do the job." Pushing herself up, she had known it was silly to believe that Ichigo had cared more about her than his business deals. She hadn't known much about the operations of Kurosaki Enterprise but she had known enough to know that Ginjo was a key player in European Holdings. It would have been bad for the company of the news had broken out that they were working with a rapist. Refilling her mig with coffee, she sat down beside Ino. "I will find those pictures now."

"Yeah, a couple of options. There is a halter-neck here I think that looks nice." As Ino spun her laptop toward Rukia, her phone had buzzed on the table.

I have some terrible news. My studio was broken into last night.

Oh no! Are you okay?

I'm fine.

What about your paintings?

Untouched except for one... The asswhipe stole your painting. I'm so sorry.

Don't be silly. I'm just glad you aren't hurt!

I promise I will make you a new one.

Any idea who might be responsible?

They are looking into it. Hopefully, they will find my masterpiece soon.

"You sure you are okay?"

"It's nothing." Rukia smiled as her hand tightened around her phone subconsciously. "Someone broke onto Toshiro's studio, that's all."

"Is he okay?"

"The person simply stole the painting Toshiro had made for me, the painting of both Ichigo and me."

Ino was confused to say the least. "No offense but who would want a painting of both of you?" Rukia was silent at Ino's question, knowing the answer already. But, how could Ginjo have known the painting had existed? He hadn't known Toshiro. If he had known such a painting existed, he was more likely to set it on fire than hang it over his fireplace. Still, there was no other name that came to mind. "Rukia, you really don't look so good." Ino frowned, her gaze running over Rukia. "You sure there isn't something you wanna talk about?"

Rukia closed her eyes and shook her head. "There's nothing I wanna tell you, Ino."

Ino pulled Rukia into a hug and Rukia silently vowed that she wouldn't allow this incident to be a repeat of last time. When the pictures of herself had leaked on he news, it hadn't affected only her but Isshin, Ichigo and her family as well. This time, Toshiro's studio was broken in and it was only a matter of time before someone else got hurt. Ginjo, using this news, had declared that he was coming for Rukia in a way. The question was: When?